Life's Trivialities

Guest Designing for Pebbles

I have the honor of guest designing for Pebbles Inc today! I used to design for Pebbles and so when the call came out to apply for the design team, I thought, what do I have to lose?! I really love the fresh product and bright colored collections! I was offered the opportunity to guest design, which, honestly, is perfect for me right now. With the kids getting older, our schedules fill up too.

I'll share some close up here but be sure to check out the Pebbles Inc blog HERE or Instagram for the full layouts. I have two layouts to share today. The first process video is up on my YouTube channel and the second video will come next Tuesday.

 

Fitting given that Mothers Day is tomorrow, don't you think?

There is some stamping on this layout that is NOT a Pebbles Inc stamp. This layout was inspired by a graphic design piece that I saw on Pinterest and, of course, cannot find again, unfortunately.

Thanks for stopping in today!

 

A Father Is.... / Bella Blvd Guest Designer

I am absolutely thrilled to have been asked to guest design for Bella Blvd! This week I will be sharing with you four projects that I created using two of the new Winter collections. The first two projects I created were done so using the "Dad Style" collection.

The rich, earth tone colors of this collection are SUBLIME! Stephanie has changed up her designs a little bit and while she still has the whimsical feel to her collections they are less cute. I hope that makes sense. I feel like the subtle change is perfect for me as my children age and I want whimsy but not cute for these tweens and teens. The dress shoes in this particular collection are fantastic, they really drew me in when I saw the collection for the first time at the booth at Creativation!

The main focus of this layout is a quote about being a father and to pay homage to what a great father Michael is. I wanted something a little different and felt that I was able to acheive that with this particular quote. By using a different font for "father" and "guiding light", I was able to add visual interest to the layout.

There really isn't much on this layout in the way of embellishments and show casing those as the business of the patterned papers really was enough from a design perspective. I did add a splash of mustard water color behind the title to pop the blue and tie the colors of the layout together. To see more use of the die cuts, stickers and pennants, be sure to come back tomorrow!

 

If you have been looking for a collection that is a tad more grown up and masculine, this is definitely one to consider! Thanks for stopping in today! I hope to see you back tomorrow and later this week!

 

Sweet Belle / Stuck Sketches

Hey! Hey! Happy St Paddy's Day!

I am this half of the month's guest designer over at Stuck Sketches today! What an absolute honor it is to be joining Laura and her gals! Be sure to check out the new sketch HERE and see what the other designers did!

This is what Laura sent me to work with. At first I pulled St Paddy's Day pics to work with but I couldn't find embellies that made me happy or worked well with the papers I had pulled. I quickly abandoned that idea and went with some adorable pics of Belle, our cat.

The lovely Little by Little collection from Shimelle was perfect for this layout background and set the color palate. I pulled in scraps from various manufacturers in the same hues are support to complimentary embellies that accompanied the Shimelle collection. I could have stuck with the collection alone but I really wanted bits and pieces of the bigger flowers from My Mind's Eye.

I used my circle punch to cut circles from the 6x6 pad of the floral circles as well as fussy cut the same floral wreaths from the 12x12 patterned paper. It's amazing how the different paper size can give you two different looks, don't you think?

I had some flair that I recently ordered from Feed Your Craft that was SOOOO very appropriate for this page! I used 3 pieces of the set, the ones that coordinated best with the layout.

I stuck pretty much with the sketch; four pictures, the long strip, the embellishment cluster to the right edge and the circles. Really, the only difference is that I went with rectangular pictures instead of the squares. I love that this sketch called for more than one picture and really made me think out of the clean and simple box that I am rather comfortable in. This is a rather a busy page, especially busy for me.

Stuck Sketches has some great sponsors this month and there is always another guest designer position up for grabs! If you have the time, I know things are busy as we move into Spring Breaks, Easter and the various other events of Spring, it would be great to see what you create based on this sketch!

 

Little Moments - Crafting With Black & White

Hey scrappy peeps! My scrappy friend Christine Meyer invited me to join her this week and share a process video crafting with black and white patterned papers. I chose to use watercolor as a means of sprucing up the background patterned paper. I used a mix of Koi and Peerless watercolors and then outlined various sizes of the hexagons that can be found within the busy geometrics of this paper.

Black and white papers can come in various "weights". By that I mean the heaviness of black to white, or the weight of one color to another. The background paper I chose from American Crafts is heavier in white than black and thus the color I added didn't need to be as bright as one would like need were it heavier in black. The lighter photo was made "heavier" with the black 4x3 cut apart from Bella Blvd and balanced by the triangle in the top, right. A third "heavy" in the header of the layout creates that visual triangle that guides your eye around the essentials of the page.

It's a bit of a lengthy video, lengthier than I would like. It was tough to find what could be eliminated. I don't create my layout ahead of time, I am literally creating as the camera records so there is a lot of shuffling around of elements of the page. I try and explain why I put things where I do but sometimes there really isn't a good reason other than, it looked right! LOL! Please feel free to ask questions if you have any.

I didn't use any specific manufacturer but rather created a kit of my own consisting of black and whites and the teal/aqua scraps I could dig out of my stash. In the pre-planning stages of this layout, when I chose the hexagon paper as my background, I knew that I wanted to use the snowflakes on the layout as well as the picture is of Mia was sitting in the nook reading while the snow fell outside the window. I also felt that the shape of the snowflakes mimicked the hexagon in the patterned paper too.

The shimmer that is scattered through out the page adds to the sparkly snow feeling I tried to create. I tried to tie the Thicker cloud into the rest of the layout by incorporating other elements from the Thicker packet such as those little crosses.

You can't see some of the more delicate features of this layout very well but there is silver thread and a white snowflake to the left of the Thicker cloud. There are a trio of snowflakes in the layout, each from a different material; white cardstock, silver cardstock and vellum.

I hope you get a change to visit Christine's channel as well! She has a giveaway running all week. If you leave a comment on both her channel and mine, each is worth and entry into a drawing for a $20 scrapbook.com gift card! Very generous! You can find Christine's channel here; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm2cTnMvJ-FqZqM96oDEeDw
Her specific process video today is here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fW4xy1ADpY

Thanks for joining me today!

Paper Camellia March Guest Designer

I am thrilled to be guest designing for Paper Camellia scrapbook kits this month! The kit was fun to work with and I just love the mix of manufacturers! I worked with the main kit and was able to churn out two layouts and a card with plenty to spare.

Here's the fabulous kit I got to work with;

Simple Stories, My Minds Eye, Pebbles and Heidi Swapp goodies!

As my kit came sans puffy stickers due to the timing of the shipping, I wanted some additional embellishments. What better way to add embellishments that by using cut files?! You can cut the cardstock or patterned paper that comes with the kit. For this layout, I used the Floral Bouquet Cut File from 17turtles as both a mask on the cardstock and the cut flowers themselves.

You can see that I used the cut file which was a mask on the layout as well as a clean, unmisted flower and leaves. Such a lovely little perch for that chipboard Simple Stories birdie!

This picture does a much better job of reflecting the gold that is in this great kit! I have a soft spot for the Simple Stories I AM... collection and just love how the My Mind's Eye and Pebbles is paired with it.

Because I have no allegiance to size and I wanted to show you that you can create a lot of variety, I also created an 8.5x11 layout as well.

I have said before and I will say it again, I just love the My Mind's Eye and Pebbles paired with the Simple Stories, they are sublime together! The colors are perfect compliments to one another.

The arc of the the header with the gold circles really softens the geometrics of the triangles don't you think?

And last but not least, a card. I am not a card maker. You know that. We all know that. But I am really pretty chuffed about this card. It's simple. That's what I do with cards, simple. But it's simply elegant.

If you haven't already snatched up some Simple Storied I AM... and are looking for a great kit club, this is definitely one to consider! I really had a grand time working with it!

Make Your Own Glass Ornament / 17 Turtles and Core'dinations

Welcome to my blog if you're new here! My friend Juliana from 17 Turtles invited me to guest design for her with some of her amazing cut files today and you can see the layout I created with some Christmas files on her blog over HERE. I also shared a Christmas ornament that I made with those files and have instructions below on how you can create your own.

Amazing, right? And super simple to make! My daughter's best stroke in swimming is breaststroke so this will be for and later, my son who is a talented backstroke swimmer, will get a matching boy backstroke ornament.

Here's how you make them.

Materials;

Glass or Clear Plastic Christmas Bulbs

1 sheet of Transparency Film

1 cut file per Bulb you are making (Swimming Strokes Girl Digital Cut File by 17 Turtles)

Silhouette or other digital cutting machine

Core'dinations Sticky Backed Glitter Sheets

Snow (Stampendous Mica Fragments)

Sequins (American Crafts)

Ribbon (May Arts)

 

Directions;

1.            Using your Silhoutte cut your transparency film to be slightly smaller than the size of your ornament. My ornament is 3.5 inches wide so I cut my circle to be 3.25 inches wide.

I resized this file from Lori Whitlock available HERE.

 

2.            Again using your Silhouette (or other electronic cutting machine) cut the image that you want from Core'dinations Sticky Backed Glitter Sheets. I used Juliana Michaels' backstroke swimmer and sized it the width of my transparency.

 

3.            Peel back the backing of the Stickey Backed Glitter Sheet to reveal the sticky surface and adhere this to the center of your transparency sheet. Use a bone folder to burnish the back and ensure tight stick. Trim the overlapping edges with scissors.

 

4.            Roll up your transparency as such:

5.            Insert the tight roll into the opening of the ornament. It's kind of like putting a message in a bottle! Once inside, it will pop open and if necessary, use tweezers to center and position the insert where you want it.

 

6.            Looks great, right? But you want a little more pizzazz so here comes the messy part. Using a funnel, add some snow. I used Stampendous mica fragments but you can buy cheaper snow this time of year at the craft store. I wanted a little extra "umpf" so I added some snowflake and star sequins both in front of and behind the transparency.

7.            Snip off the top of the transparency so that you can insert the little silver (or gold) topper back on the ornament. Tie a pretty bow and if you have one of those nifty Imaginisce ribbon cutters, use it to seal off a nice "v" to the ends of your ribbon!

 

Voila! You are finished and now you have a wonderful swimmer to hang on your tree. Or gift to your swimming friend! Or swimming child!

 

 

Feel free to grab a PDF of my instructions Download Glass Ornament_SuzannaLee.

 

Be sure to check out Juliana's Etsy Store for fantastic cut files such as the ones used here and on her blog where I'm guesting today! These particular swimming files come in both boy and girl and with rectangle frames around them as well as "plain" though there's nothing plain about them!

Top Dog Dies Guest Designer

Top Dog Dies is a new online store that offers their own brand of wafer-thin and steel-rule dies, along with dies from brands you already know and trust, including Little B, Lawn Fawn, Taylored Expressions, Savvy Stamps and Cheery Lynn Designs. Top Dog Dies is also the leading U.S. retailer for Tattered Lace, a new line of intricate dies designed by British designer Stephanie Weightman.

Wow! What an amazing opportunity! I am so excited to be guest designing for Top Dog Dies! I am sharing a project here, but be sure and head over to the Top Dog Dies blog and check out the layout I have for you there, that features two of their stunning dies; both a wafer thin Vintage alpha die and a steel rule Photo Mats!

The Photo Mat die was the center piece of this card! It's such a versatile piece; here I have a card, on the Top Dog Die blog a layout. Others have used it for a mini-album. Or, as the title suggests, a photo mat!!

This die would be the perfect compliment to any crafters collection. Remember, it is larger in size, there are three size photo mats contained within one die. When running it through your die cut machine, you will need to use the longer platform.

And because Top Dog Die wants to share their awesome products with you, there's something fun for you, my awesome blog readers and followers! You have a chance to win! Head on over HERE and enter to win! The winner will receive $50 worth of exclusive dies from Top Dog Dies of your choice! Register via the Rafflecopter app on the page to enter. Monday, June 30 at midnight Central Standard Time is the deadline to enter. How incredibly generous!

 

PageMaps Guest

This month the designers from Imaginisce were invited to be guest designers over at PageMaps. It was an amazing opportunity and I had a great 12x12 sketch to work with. If you haven't already visited PageMaps this month, be sure to swing on by. The sketches are great and the samples are particularly inspiring!

Nikolas got a new bike in February. Here he is taking it out for it's first official ride in the streets of our neighborhood. A "real" bike in that he is now riding an adult size bike. He no longer looks like Kermit on a bike with his knees all the way up into his braces. Needless to say, it's easier to ride that way too!

Love these little stamps from Imaginisce! So fun and so many things you can do with them!

I did as I do; mixed and matched across collections. Letters and arrows from Love You More, patterned papers from various lines, etc.. Trudged upstairs to the sorely neglected sewing table and used the sewing machine!

Fun stuff! I hope Nikolas thinks so too!! I had hoped this would be a page he would journal upon... He's developed his Dad's fear; writing on and ruining the page... So much for their participation in memory keeping!

PageMaps has a monthly sketch contest. If you like the Childhood Memories collection from Imaginice, be sure to play along! You might just win yourself one of my favorite collections from Imaginisce! Link me up too if you play; I'd love to see what you do! You don't have to use Imaginisce BTW!

CSI Case File #46

Qui

ck share before I head out to my monthly crop with the gals! Yesterday a new case file went up at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, file number 46! Be sure to check it out and play along. It features the color purple!! Not many color palates include this color. Not many manufacturers use this color, my favorite. It was a tad difficult to find purples that matched and worked, I must say.

First things first, the case file;

Secondly, my layout;

Apparently the journaling got washed out in the picture taking process... Hmm... I really need to take my camera in and get it checked. The little swim at Great Wolf Lodge hasn't helped matters...

My die from Papertrey Ink has come in very handy! Packed and in the bags of goodies to take today!

That top left corner ends up looking like stugg clumped up there. It doesn't thrill me... But, it is what it is.

Will come back later and share the evidence and testimony tomorrow. Really want to head out the door now!

Happy cropping! Hope you get something done today!

We R Memory Keepers Guest Designer

I was honored to be asked to be a guest designer for We R Memory Keepers! I received a wonderful box of goodies from their Antique Chic collection to play and create with. At the time, Michael's niece had just gotten married and Mia had a role in the wedding party as flower girl. The yellow was a perfect compliment to the sunflowers in Amber's bouquet and the formalness of the line went perfectly with a wedding!

I hand embossed the Coredinations background paper for a little added texture and to carry over the diamond pattern into the background.

You can't have a wedding without lace, bling and flowers! The flowers are cut using a Tim Holtz die and my Big Shot. I hand cut the Mr and Mrs from a piece of patterned paper and used a sticker from the sticker sheet for a bigger "&". The diamond and the zig zag created by the tops of the diamonds are inked to make them stand out a bit from the background paper.

The journal spot is a piece of the patterned paper that I cut down to journal size and tucked in beside the picture. You can see from the picture here where I pop dotted up the embossed sticker with the date and location of the wedding.

Amongst the treasures in my box were some die cuts. As it was, the Dress die cut wouldn't have worked on this layout but it made the perfect background for some layering. There is a dress laying underneath that yellow "congratulations" embossed sticker. The added texture of the embossed stickers really adds to the layout. The quality of WRMK product is phenominal!

It's funny, I created this layout a couple of months ago and seeing it again, just makes me beam! Though it's called Antique Chic, you can see from this layout, it doesn't have to be reserved for just antique.

Generous as they were, there was plenty more paper and stickers to create another layout! I've had fun experimenting with 8.5 x 11 layouts lately. This one may be considered vintage! At least, there are days that I feel that way! Our marriage isn't! 13 years young that one, with many more years (hopefully decades!) to go!

Again, some of the stickers didn't work with what I had in mind "straight up" so I personalized. Both the sign and the circle have overlays upon the original.

This layout is entirely WRMK with the exception of the thread, bling and ribbon. That ribbon has been in my stash forever, not even sure who the manufacturer is. Heidi Grace at a guess...

Thank you We R Memory Keepers for the opportunity to guest design this month!

If you haven't already, I suggest you take a stroll over to the We R Memory Keepers facebook page, "like" them and give them a shout out that I sent you! They have lots of wonderful inspiration for you.