Keeping Calm & Carrying On

Riverbend: A Play Date layout

 

Sometimes it's just about getting a page done, right?! I struggled with this one...moved things around, thought it was boring, needed something, etc. But....sometimes you need to just move on, right?! Do you ever get stuck on a layout like that and get frustrated?

 

I  feel like the layout isn't finished, but I'm putting it into my albums just like this, the way it is!

What are you up to this weekend?

(Products used on this layout include my Play Date products, Daily Chevies, Camped Out collection and washi tapes).

A Quick & Simple Card: Designer Washi Tapes

Happy first day of September! Around here that usually means summer is coming to a close. September is typically a busy month for me, traveling and teaching, and this year is no different. In between designing new Bella Blvd workshops, I like to create quick & easy cards with my scraps laying around on my desk.

Do you have a ton of Designer Washi Tapes laying around like me?! Bella Blvd's Washi tapes are super bright and colorful and come in so many different prints like stripes, dots, chevrons and more. Just pick up a scrap of white cardstock for the base, fold in half and create a colorful pattern using the washi tapes. Finish off with a hand doodled sentiment and Crochet Heart!

For more ideas with Bella Blvd's Designer Washi Tapes check out the Tape Gallery here.

Scrapping with Memorabilia

Keeping papers, artifacts and souvenirs are always fun, but sometimes challenging. Today's layout is quick & simple, showing you an easy way to scrap with important documents :)

Last week I shared a layout from my cousin's baptism (remember using up all the buttons? See it here.)  The companion page in my album is the one I'm showing you today:

I chose only 3 more of my favorite pictures: mommy & daddy with the little guy, brand new grandma, and then me and Lucas :) By narrowing down the photo selection I was able to leave a large amount of room for the church bulletin from the special occasion.  And by keeping the color palette neutral, the bulletin doesn't get long on the layout.

The square photo of Lucas and I in the center of the page actual hangs of the edge of the bulletin. That overlap doesn't have any adhesive under it, creating a flap to turner and open the bulletin. This way we can see the entire order of service.

I kept my embellishing to a minimum, just adding a couple monochromatic buttons here and there, creating some dimension.

Don't forget to save important things like bulletins, tickets, and more. Years from now, you'll be glad that you did!

Hollywood, California Feature 2: Hollywood BLVD

Page no. 2 of my series from California includes the star walk on Hollywood Blvd. I had so, so many photos from this little adventure that I had to just choose favorites and narrow it down. After doing that, creating a simple-style layout was easy!

I mentioned I'm into the scattering thing right?! Love love love that sketchbook camera by Amy Tan. I wish I had that die cut in bulk, I'd use it on so many different layouts and projects!

Instead of journaling on the die cut journaling blog I drew lines on the chipboard cloud embellishments and wrote my captions there instead.

Here's the layout:

I cannot even tell you how old those "BLVD" Pink Paislee chip alphas are...but I loved them. I thought this picture told the story of the day well. Traveling with Angela has been a fun perk of having her work at Bella Blvd and I thought that this photo would remind me of that. Also, Michael Jackson has recently passed away at the time of our trip...which is why I thought it perfect to use the photo including his star.

Christmas Layouts: Bella Blvd

Well, it's "Christmas In March" around here today as I continue plugging away at 2010-year end scrapbooking layouts. What do you do with your annual Christmas Card? What do you do with some of your favorite Christmas cards?

In 2010 I saved my sisters Christmas card and mine as well. They were both 5x7 photographs that I just love.  I didn't want to distract from the photos at all, do I kept my patterns and embellishments minimal. By using 1 and 2-color patterns the page stayed simple and not busy.

Of course I wanted to incorporate some Christmas colors so I added only two .75" strips and red bows. (tis the season). Here's how the layout turned out. Gosh that's nearly 2 years ago already. Time goes by so quickly!

The layout is a combination of all things Bella from the Winter Wonder, Christmas Wishes and Sophisticates product collections.

At the same crop, I completed this next page, documenting mine & Steven's St. Nick tradition.

Each year St. Nick comes on Steven's birthday (Dec. 5^th-Lucky him I know right?!) We each prepare stockings for each other and also little treats for Baby Mio and exchange that night. It's fun to see what he puts inside---some of my favorite things usually like Reese's peanut butter cups and "pink" things. So sweet.

Baby Mio is always very curious too---Christmas is 1 out of the 2 days of the year we dress up the little pups. In 2010 he had the cutest little Santa outfit ;) The entire layout features my Christmas Wishes collection for Bella Blvd.

Love layering those Cute Cuts elements, and playing with the miniature sized patterns on the Quadrants papers. Here's the final product:

For more Christmas Wishes layouts and ideas, visit the Christmas Wishes Collection idea Gallery over at the Bella Studio blog!

So, what are you scrappin' these days? I have a few more Christmas-themed layouts to do and then I'm onto 2011--woot woot! Slowly but surely I'm playin' catch-up!

Layout: Painting Party

Ciao ciao! Today I have a fun, simply and colorful birthday layout to share with you! Using my Sunny Happy Skies summer-themed products and an enlarged photograph, I documented my neices birthday party!

With a pencil, I freehanded the scallop edge and cut the border. A couple embellishments and a sticker title later, and wha-la! Finito!

It feels good to be getting layouts done! Don't you love that feeling of accomplishment? ;)

KISS: Pocket Page

How do you include memorabilia on your layouts? Sometimes if I don't have a lot of pieces I like to create a simple pocket on my page.

The majority of the page contents are from Jillibean Soup. 

I loved the postcard invite for The Cruise's Third Annual Gathering Gallery Night that I wanted to include it on my page. So I added a couple sticker tabs and called it a day!

This is something I try to go to every year to support my friend Jen, who's a fabulous designer.

Layout: And Counting...

As promised, this is the last layout featuring Canada photos. (at least for now!) It's quick and simple one that I hope will inspire you to document a special friend or someone in your life you are grateful for. After all, don't forget the month of November it's all about an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!

When I sat down and thought about it, I met Allyson when I was 16 years old. (that's more than 10 years ago!). We've been friends all this time and never once have traveled together, just the two of us!

So in honor of our "11 Years and Counting..." of friendship I created this simple single page layout. I wanted to include purple because it's Allyson's all-time favorite color and everytime I see something purple I think of her!

The journaling is important here and reminds me how great of a friend she has always been!

What friendships are you thankful for? Don't forget to let him/or/her know it!

 

Layout: Home From Texas

Today's layout is sure NOT to diappoint when talking about keeping it simple! I thought it was the perfect time of year to share this one with you...seeing that the Texas Rangers have made it, once again to the World Series!

Last June Steven and I were lucky enough to catch a Rangers Game while we were visiting Texas for one of my work trips (The Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington.) I don't have any close-ups unfortuneatly but the entire layout was designed around the computer printed journaling. I also kept the ticket stubs from the game and told kept the main, most imporant photos to remember the 100+ degree day!

Have you created any super simple layouts lately? I must admit sometimes it defintely is more about quantity than quality as I'm trying my hardest to catch up on my personal scrapbooking albums!

I've got a super duper easy one for you today.

My puppy has a girlfriend. Her name is Dezna. ;)

They are like a little bride and groom and just love to play together. It's super funny because Mio doesn't really play nice with that many other dogs. 

Products Used: Tail Waggers & Cat Naps pet collection from Bella Blvd (papers and chipboard), Thickers from America Crafts, black glitter alpha stickers from Doodlebug, and twine from The Twinery.

Bella Double Page Layout

More patriotic inspiration for you today!

Today's K.I.S.S feature includes a couple paper punches, colorful buttons and my favorite Bella Blvd papers and you're good to go!

It's been a long time since I've used a paper punch to actually krop a photograph.

It's also been quite a while since I've created a double-page layout....so today's you're lucky. You get the K.I.S.S. feature x2!The coordinating page is even simple-er (if that's a word, ha!) bringing in the flower embellishments each punched from patterned papers in the Family Dynamix Collection. I sanded the edges of the photos to help them pop off the navy blue background (patterned paper from my Mr. Boy collection). And added our ages with Lily Bee's tiny alphas...one of my new favorite scrapbooking things. I think I have bought them in every single color!

 

New Regular Feature:

I'm so excited to start introducing some "constants" around here. This is the first of many new features that will show regularly. Seeing that we are all busy people,

do you find yourself sometimes spending hours on one layout? Are you searching for quick & simple layout ideas with good design elements? Do you have a huge pile of photos to scrap and want to make some progress? Just need a break from all the product out there and want to use some scraps? 

If you answered yes to any of the above, then I think you'll be inspired by my K.I.S.S. posts. I'm busy too. Between owning a business, traveling, running errands, spending time with my family, nurturing a personal relationship and dare-I-say a social life,

I want to stay on top of my scrapbooking too! 

Just a couple blocks of patterned papers, some design tape (black polkadot) and various mixing & matching alphabets I whipped up this layout in less than 30 minutes. 

It's great to keep all the focus on the photographs sometimes, isn't it? 

(Sticker letters: Basic Grey, Dooblebug, & Cosmo Cricket. Flowers:Prima & Martha Stewart. Die cuts: My Minds Eye, Elle's Studio. Other: doily.