Gams

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Another quick Jillibean Soup card


Hi blog friends!  I am back again with a quick post today, to share another card I whipped up for the challenges posted on the Jillibean blog this weekend.  If you missed my first card post yesterday, you can find it here.

This time the challenge was to use Jillibean's placemats in a layout, card or project.  By the looks of this card, you might think I had enlisted the help of a fancy diecutting machine, but that is the beauty of the Jillibean placemats. That fancy lattice work is actually a premade 12x12 piece of diecut paper - the 'placemat'.  I cut it down to fit inside my white cardstock rings and then backed it all with different patterned papers. 


Supplies used: Jillibean Soup - placemats, patterned paper, buttons, soup label sticker; Other: kraft card and enevelope, crochet thread, tombow mono adhesive.
I cut off the ends of a soup label sticker, to better fit my card.  The addition of a Jillibean button tied with string adds just enough extra pop to draw your eye to the card's sentiment.

 
And a few more buttons ... just because I can't help myself and they are so darn cute!


Enjoy the rest of your weekend and come back and visit me again soon!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Quick thank you card

Happy Saturday!  We've had a busy day of shoveling, playing in the snow and kid's sports.  Somehow, I still managed to sneak in a little time to play along with one of the challenges on the Jillibean blog, though (and hope to keep working on them, when my littles are tucked into bed for the night!  Soon, soon!).
 
I derived inspiration for the layout of this card from sketch #1 that was posted on the blog on Friday.  I dug into my latest Jillibean favorite, Cold Avocado Soup, to whip together this quick card for a special friend!


 
Supplies used: Jillibean Soup - patterned paper, button, label sticker, stamped sentiment; Doodlebug - flower dies, enamel dots; Studio Calico - sequin; Stampin Up - ink, splatter stamp; Fiskars - punch; American Crafts - cardstock.

That sweet stamped sentiment is a Jillibean stamp from the Cold Avocado line.  I love the type-set and it stamps great with my small stash of Stampin' Up inks.


In the sketch there was a place for splatters along the top of the card.  I used a Stampin' Up stamp and ink to achieve the same look.  So, yeah, those are fake splatters!  You'd never know unless I told you, huh?  I love that the stamp allows you to have 'controlled' misting!  That's just perfect for my OCD-self! Ha!

 
Thanks for visiting today!  Hope you're stealing away some crafty time this weekend, too.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Channeling the summer heat

At this point in the season, I know I'm not the only one wishing for warmer weather and dreaming of sandy beaches, the sound of waves crashing and a pina colada in my hand, right?  The brutally cold temperatures we've been having, have me looking back through our summertime pictures to remember what it feels like to be outside in the warm air and sunshine! I fear I might have forgotten! And since, of course, I'm not caught up on printing and scrapping most of those pictures - now seems like the perfect time.  If nothing else, my mind will be in a warmer place than my body! Ha!

At the start of last summer, my kids and I sat down and created a 'summer bucket list'.  It included all the activities we hoped to participate in and things we wanted to accomplish.  By summer's end we still had a few items left on our to-do list that we wanted to squeeze in.  One was a bike ride on the local bike trail.  I had several pictures from this day, so they necessitated a two page spread.



Out for publication!  Be back soon!

I went through my stash of Jillibean products for this page.  Other than the oh-so-perfect bicycle patterned paper, I knew there were several other elements that I could mix and match to achieve a bright, summery look.  This sweet bicycle diecut from the pea pod part package, just HAD to be included.  I accented it with some diecut clouds and a fun little flag that looks as if it's carried along by the bicycle.

 
To tie in the second side of the page, I continued the journaling again accenting it with some favorite Jillibean diecut pieces.  I loved the cloud shapes in the pea pod parts so much that I ended up tracing them onto several other blue colored patterned papers, and cutting them out to use as additional accents.  A few additional embellishments, including the button and camera clip add interest and draw your eye throughout the page and pictures.




I hope this post finds you enjoying warmer weather than I, and if not, we can dream of the heat together as we scrap our summer memories, huh?  Desperate times call for desperate measures! LOL!

See you soon!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Themed pages and products

It's always fun to get extra creative with your scrapbook supplies and use them for a purpose other than what they were intended.  I often find the creative challenge of that to be stimulating and fun.  But at the same time, sometimes it works to go by the ole phrase, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.  And the latter are just the type of projects I will be sharing with you today. 

I've never made it a secret of my love for the cute and bright designs that Doodlebug produces. They make some of the cutest theme-y papers and products in the industry. I dug into my stash of one of their older Christmas collections to pull together a festive page of my kiddos visiting Santa back in 2012.

Supplies used: Doodlebug Designs - cardstock (background), patterned papers, buttons, gems, 3 dimensional sticker; Bazzill - embossed cardstock (white); Elle's Studio - label; Studio Calico - sequins; Technique Tuesday - stamp (phrase); Stampin Up - ink; other: machine stitching, Veteran Typewriter font (journaling), Marmaletta font (title)
Since I went so 'literal' with the supplies and theme of the page, I challenged myself to get creative with the journaling.  Instead of telling the story from my perspective, I chose to write a letter to Santa in the voice of my children.  It was fun to document the memory from what I imagined would have been their perspective and gives the page a little more depth and meaning than the typical who, what, when where, why summary.

 
This next page uses many pieces from Doodlebug's recent fall themed 'Happy Harvest' collection.  The colors and theme were the perfect compliment to these joyful photos of my three frolicking in the fall leaves. 

Supplies used: American Crafts - cardstock (background); Bazzill - cardstock (red); Doodlebug Designs - patterned paper, sprinkles, twine, letter stickers, 4x6 album insert cards; Simon Says Stamp - heart die; My Mind's Eye - enamel dots; Other: foam adhesive, machine stitching; Veteran Typewriter font (journaling)
Again, to mix up the predictably of using a themed collection for it's intended theme, I got creative with the patterned paper.  Rather than use the paper in strips, squares or large pieces I chose to cut in in the shape of leaves (hand drawn) and scatter them down the right side of the page as if they were falling.
 
 
I hope these pages show you that even if you stick to the predictability of a themed product, there are plenty of other ways to infuse your own creativity into your design and journaling! 
 
Thanks for stopping by to visit me today!