pinwheel letterpress tags

I don't know about you, but I'm getting really excited for spring. And with the change of seasons on my mind I've been planning all kinds of spring-inspired projects. One thing I always think of when the warmer weather arrives is birthdays, and who doesn't need a few extra birthday tags on hand?

Another thing that reminds me of spring is pinwheels. So, I decided to get out my We R Memory Keepers Pinwheel Punch Board and create some colorful pinwheels for my birthday tags. Don't they add a happy celebratory touch to this project?

While making the pinwheels I discovered that the 3" size was too small for these tags, and the 4" size was a bit too big. So I trimmed my paper to 3 1/2" squares, punched it, and lined it up halfway in between the 3" and the 4" guides on the punch board. Then I followed the directions to create the pinwheel. It worked perfectly!

I created the tag sentiments using my Letterpress tool. I printed them on A2 Flat Letterpress Paper, and then cut the tag shapes out using the second largest of the Nesting Tag Dies and my Evolution Advanced.

To finish off my tags I punched holes at the top with my Crop-A-Dile and added some Sew Easy Baker's Twine for tying. These fun tags will sit in my finished card basket ready for the next birthday party!

To see the original post which includes a full supply list, visit the We R Memory Keepers blog HERE.

best friends card

My favorite paper collections always seem to be the ones that are versatile and have a good balance between themed colors, patterns, and images, and generic ones that can be used for any occasion. The darling new Echo Park Paper Anything Goes collection is no exception for me. I love the mix of feminine and masculine colors, and the wide variety of trendy images ranging from birthdays, to friendship, to summer, to celebrations of all kinds.

With so many beautiful colors to choose from I decided to create a friendship card with a bit of a twist—I selected the masculine colors in the collection instead of the feminine ones to create this feminine friendship card. To balance the masculine understated feel to the card I added some fun feather stickers and a few stamped custom accents.

I used the coordinating stamps from the Anything Goes collection to create my custom accents. I stamped a circle with the text “love” in the center and I stamped a couple of small heart icons, all on smooth white cardstock. Then I cut them out and adhered them to the card with foam squares. I also stamped the card sentiment using navy blue ink on aqua paper from the coordinating 6x6 paper pad to create a tone-on-tone effect.

I’m so happy with how my friendship card turned out, and I can’t wait to create more generic and themed projects with this versatile and beautiful collection!

new BPC classes!

Seriously. It's finally here! The brand new, fresh, and lovely Big Picture Classes platform. [Sigh...]

It is gorgeous, up-to-date, and even more interactive. There are some familiar faces and some new ones. And I can't wait for you to see it!

I've got a new class series called Document 2015. The idea behind this class is that each month I will provide a new multi-photo example layout, sketches, full instructions, design tips, and videos to inspire you to create 12 month-in-review layouts for 2015. If you follow the entire series, you'll end up with a entire album full of gorgeous pages documenting your whole year.

This is a great way to set aside time each month to keep up with your story-telling. The first two installments in this series are already up on the new website.

For January's class CLICK HERE.

For February's class CLICK HERE.

March's class will be up mid-month. I'll be sure to let you know when it's ready. I'm so excited about this series because it's helped me to stay current with my scrapbooking goals, and I know it will help you too. There's something so satisfying about getting stories and photos into albums.

So, let's Document 2015 together. See you in class. =)

winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Thanks to all who entered! It was fun to read through all of your potential projects using this kit. Now, down to business. The winner of the Lemon Lush kit is...

Gina200 said...

These are gorgeous colors. I think I would scrapbook all the fun photos from last summer that I haven't quite got to yet - just ordered a big stack of photos so I'm ready to go!

February 24, 2015 at 6:14 AM

 

Congratulations Gina! Please send me an email (link's the the sidebar) and I'll ship out your prize ASAP! Enjoy!

DIY mini notebooks

Shall I share with you my latest post for the We R Memory Keepers blog? Alrighty then, here goes...

For years I've carried a mini notebook around in my purse. Despite how much I rely on modern technology (read my iPhone) my mini notebook always comes in handy for something--from keeping my preschooler entertained in the grocery store, to taking notes, to writing down funny things my kids say, to making grocery lists. Don't know what I'd do without one. So...when my current notebook ran out of paper of course I could have bought one at the store for a buck, but making one is so much more fun. And it looks cuter too!

I used some leftover Albums Made Easy 3x4 journaling cards from the Indian Summer collection to create my notebooks. The journaling cards make for quick and easy covers, and they break up the plain lined paper inside the notebooks as well. It was easy to find the journaling cards I was looking for in my Albums Made Easy Card Cabinet Organizer.

I simply trimmed down some 8x8 Chipboard to fit the 3x4 journaling cards and rounded the corners with my 3/8" Corner Chomper. I adhered the journaling cards to the chipboard, paying careful attention to the edges and corners.

Then I cut up some loose leaf lined paper into 3x4 pieces, rounded the corners, mixed in some journaling cards, and bound it all between the chipboard covers using my Cinch tool.

These little notebooks are for me to keep, but they'd make great little gifts for friends, neighbors, co-workers, or teachers. Creative cheers!

the power of creativity

"Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, to educate, inspire and motivate."
--Harvey Fierstein

Over the years I've had the chance to interact with crafters and scrapbookers from all over the world. As I've taught classes I've been inspired by many stories, and I've learned what crafting and scrapbooking means to some people.

One story consistently touches my heart and makes me feel even more glad to be involved in such an amazing hobby--scrapbooking and crafting brings hope and healing.

I've known some women that have serious struggles with health and depression, and who have endured some great losses and tragedies. For these women scrapbooking and crafting provide a sense of hope, healing, and inspiration. It's what they live for each day. It's what keeps them going.

That is powerful.

"Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting." --Edward de Bono

I have a dear friend and neighbor who is homebound and struggling with serious health issues. We recently had a conversation where she shared with me that each day part of what keeps her from losing her mind is her time in her scrapbooking room. I smiled when I heard that. I'm so blessed to participate in such a great endeavor.

That is powerful.

Scrapbooking and paper crafting has meant so many things to me. Friendships, learning, excitement, challenges, happiness, opportunity, fulfillment, connections, creativity, peace. It's something I look forward to each day. It gives me great pleasure and fulfillment. I love what it has brought into my life. I don't plan on changing that. Ever.

So, what do scrapbooking and paper crafts mean to you?

let's party layout

Today I'm sharing a fun new Echo Park Paper layout. While browsing through my photos the other day I found some from my daughter’s third birthday party in 2012. It was so fun to see her little smiling face, and I just had to scrapbook my favorite photo of her. 

The colors and celebratory theme of the photo fit perfectly with the fun new Anything Goes collection, so I pulled out some papers and embellishments from my stash and came up with this fun page.

This collection is full of awesome embellishments and journaling cards so I decided to create a collage design element on my page, and then sprinkle some of the lovely goodies around for fun. I love the result!

I’ve got a few tips to share with you for using some of the fun items in this adorable collection. I’ll start with a tip for using the brads. Previously I shared a tip for using brads on cards HERE, and today I’ll show you a tip for using brads on layouts. I like to use a paper piercer when attaching brads to my layouts. That’s an easy way to make a little hole where your prongs fit perfectly without creasing your paper.

Once I insert the prongs and set them, I cover them with a piece of washi tape. That way they don’t get caught as I’m inserting the layout into the photo sleeve. Plus, I know my washi tape is safe to use and won’t destroy my photos.

The next tip will help with adhering intricate die cuts to your pages. When I’m cutting a thin font, or an intricate design I like to add an adhesive transfer sheet to the back of the paper before die cutting. Then I simply peel the sheet off the back and adhere the die cut to my page. Easy peasy!

Finally, I love to layer bits and pieces of journaling cards and stickers when creating a collage element on my pages. I’ll often have just a bit of an item peeking out from behind something else. To make my supplies stretch further I trim those items before adhering them to my page, and save the other bits to use on another project.

Check out the darling new Anything Goes collection. It’s perfect for celebrations of any kind. I hope these tips were helpful. Be sure to try one on your next layout. Let me know how it goes!

lemon lush giveaway!!

Last fall I launched two new paper craft e-classes over at Craftsy. My Celebrating Everyday Moments: Playful Scrapbook Layouts class used a gorgeous kit from Studio Calico that included the items from the Lemon Lush collection pictured below.

I just passed the 300 follower milestone on my Facebook page and to celebrate I'm giving away one of these awesome kits! 

If you'd like to be considered for this giveaway, please leave a comment below telling me what you'd do with this kit if you won. I'll select a random winner and announce them on Friday morning. Comments will remain open until 11:59 (MT) on Thursday night. Good luck, and don't forget to check back to see if you won!

**If you need some inspiration and/or ideas of what to create with this kit, check out my Celebrating Everyday Moments: Playful Scrapbook Layouts class over at Craftsy. You'll get $10 off the retail price if you CLICK HERE. If you're new to Craftsy and would like to try out a free class, CLICK HERE.

To watch a short intro video about my class, CLICK HERE. Enjoy!

photo sleeve fuse

One of the hottest tools that debuted at CHA last month is the We R Memory Keepers Photo Sleeve Fuse. If you've been dying to get your hands on one, HSN has a very limited quantity available HERE. Don't miss out and don't wait--they're going fast!

This awesome tool can cut and fuse together photo sleeves giving crafters endless possibilities when it comes to pocket page projects, shakers projects, and much much more. We R recently released a video demonstrating some project inspiration using this much-anticipated tool. To watch it, visit my Facebook page HERE. Super creative ideas!!

I had the opportunity to use this fabulous tool to create some projects for CHA last month, and I thought it would be fun to share those with you. Check out a 12x12 pocket page I made with the soon-to-be-released Hello Darling collection.

I used The Fuse tool in a few different ways on this layout--first I cut a 3x4 pocket diagonally and fused the bottom of one to create two triangular pockets. Then I created a shaker pocket filled with confetti, die cuts, and sequins. I fused the top of the pocket to secure the confetti inside.

Then I used one of the 4x4 waterfall sleeves that are sold separately and fused it to the top of the page over one of my photos. I inserted a 4x4 Instagram Journaling Card from the Sheer Metallic collection which allows the photo to show throw the lovely frame on the card. I added a few sequins to the card as well.

Finally I cut one of the 4x4 pockets into four 2x2 pockets, fused the bottoms, and then added some 2x2 photos and journaling cards.

I also used the Photo Sleeve Fuse to create an Instagram Mini Album about my daughter's 4th birthday party. I ran out of time to photograph it before I mailed it in, but my fellow teacher at Big Picture Classes, Tami Morrison, photographed it in the We R booth while she was at CHA so I borrowed hers.

So, what do you think about the new Photo Sleeve Fuse? What would you use it for? Is this a tool you'll be adding to your wish list, or will you be passing this one up?

inspired by pinterest

Raise you hand if you're a Pinterest fan. (I am! I am!)

Pinterest is one of my all time favorite places to find inspiration for projects of all kinds. Recently I came across something that really inspired me on Pinterest to create a fun piece of home decor--a Washi Tape Letter.

I was inspired by a pin that was originally from Anthropologie (another favorite place of inspiration) and I loved it. Here's it is:

When I saw these Candied Letter Desk Clips I just knew I had to replicate the concept with washi tape and paper. After thinking and planning for a while here's what I came up with!

To learn how to create this decor piece click here to visit the We R Memory Keepers blog.

If you'd like, you can hot glue some twine on the back of the piece for hanging, or you can stand it up on a shelf to display it. I love what this decor piece adds to my craft room!