Embellishing Your Patterned Paper

Sometimes I get a piece of paper that the design on it is so beautiful or fun I just can't bear to cut it up. So I came up with a fun way to use it as my background piece but still add a little more to it by embellishing the design already there. Here are some fun things to help you embellish your patterned paper.

• flowers, stars or the asterisks from letters stickers
• rhinestones and glitter
• Of course Stickles
• paint or ink
• rubons or stickers
• Letters or numbers
• Brads or eyelets
  

Here are just a few examples:

This paper was from the TTT January Kit #3 and I just loved the cake. I added an M for Makenzie,stickles, rhinestones, stickers, and flower asterisks.


This page was just too cute. I loved the little monsters on the bottom so decided to add a few more. Then I added googly eyes to all of them to make them pop and decorated them with Stickles. For the tree I glittered the leaves with Stickles and added a hat rub on to the owl. He also needed some googly eyes ;)



On this page the flowers were just so fun I couldn't cover them up. I used brads to embellish all the circles around the flowers.

Monthly Sketch Layouts- February 2011

Every month the Design team creates a layout with their kits all using the same sketch. It is alot of fun to see the different interpretations of the same sketch. This month we chose a 2 page layout from Pagemaps if you have never visited her site she has different sketches debuting the first of every month plus loads of fun on her blog. Check out all the fun variations of the 2 page sketch!


Chrissy's take:

Nathalie's take:

Anna's take:

February 2011 DT Kit Reveals- Kit #3

February Kit #3 was a fun new project kit also featuring My Minds Eye Fine and Dandy papers and embellishments. It comes packed with everything you need to make this mixed shape chipboard mini album. Here is what the design team came up with.

Carrie's Creations:

February 2011 DT Kit Reveals- Kit #2

February Kit #2 featured 3 fun boy lines all mixed together to make one fun kit! It comes packed with stuff from My Minds Eye, Basic Grey and Echo Park. Here is what the design team came up with.

Nathalie's Creations:

February 2011 DT Kit Reveals- Kit #1

This month Kit #1 featured the new line by My Minds Eye called Fine and Dandy. It is the perfect spring, love or girl kit to get you in the scrapping mood. I loved the matching chipboard shapes and the new puffy glitter stickers by KI Memories. Here is what the design team came up with.

Anna's Creations:






Chrissy's Creations:

Using Coaster Block Transparencies for Titles

I love the fun TTT Coaster blocks that come in our kits. Sometimes I have a hard time using them on my pages or figuring out how to make them pop. So I have come up with this flawless technique to pop them up on your layouts and use them as the title for the page all at the same time ( I am pretty sure Monica had this in mind too when she created them as my punches worked perfectly!)

• Gather your coaster block transparencies
• 2 inch punch
• 3-3 1/2 inch punch or circle cutter
  
• 4 inch circle cutter
• Stickles, Rhinestones, gel pen optional
• Letter Monogram, Number stickers or little letters
  
• Glue dots and pop dots

Start with cutting your first circle 2" this will perfectly fit the inside circle of the transparency. Attach with glue dots. Then cut a 3-3 1/2 inch circle for the smaller outside circle. Mine is abot 3 1/4 inches because I liked it to stick out a little from the transparency circle. Attach it with glue dots also. Then cut your outer 4" circle and glue together. Embellish the outer edge with hand drawn stitches, Stickle dots, or rhinestones. Then add a number or letter that corresponds with your page. It could be the date, the year, age, Monogram, saying or anything. Add to your page using pop dots.

Here are a few examples:

Flower Pots

With spring around the corner, it's time to think about spring cleaning. The perfect way to clean and reorganize your scrappy supplies is using flower pots! They add such a bright, cheerful decor to your scrap space. Plus, they are perfect for holding just about every scrappy supply, except paper : ) Here are a few ideas to help with your spring cleaning this year!

I bought these at Micheal's last year:
You can even use cute little buckets like these:
You can buy a flowerpot and decorate it yourself:

This was a present:
This was on clearance from Southern Living:

This is my favorite. It was a gift from my mom:

So have fun organizing and start a new collection of flower pots or add to the ones you already have!! Happy spring!!

Valentine Photo Ideas

Valentines day is just around the corner and whether you are taking photos of you and your sweetie or just your little ones here are some ideas to help you capture the day.

Give your little ones a giant lollipop and let them enjoy!

Capture photos of your child creating Valentines and then them with their creation.


Dress up your cuties on their Valentine best and capture some great photos at a nearby park.


Or on a dock or at the railroad tracks