Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Layouts On Wednesday

It's time for another round of Layouts On Wednesday's. We have a great winter layout about a little boy sleeping in the snow. A cute springtime layout, about an adorable little puppy. A fun two page layout, featuring a divided page protector filled with lots of goodies. And a pretty layout, about a beautiful little four year old girl. Hope you enjoy!

"Asleep In The Snow", by Kim Arnold.

I have been holding onto this photo for years waiting for the right paper range to scrap it, and there was no doubt in my mind that Winter Wonder was it! I loved the punches of red in this range which were just perfect with my little boy’s red snow outfit. The yellow chevron paper would also have to be one of my all time favorite papers!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Borders, Icy, Cute Cuts, Alpha & Bits, Miniatures

"Easter Pup", by Lynn Ghahary.

Our sweet little Puggle puppy Buddy joined our family on Easter weekend last year. We didn't plan it that way, but that's the way it happened and we couldn't have been happier. This is a photo I took of Buddy sniffing his way through the lilacs in my mom's front yard on Easter morning. I love the fresh color palette of the Spring Flings & Easter Things collection. To help bring out a bit more of the purple in the collection and to better coordinate with the purple flowers in my photo, I used the "B" side of the "Countdown" patterned paper from the Socialite collection. I also used a strip of the "omigosh" patterned paper from the Flirty collection as well. I love that I was able to easily mix colors and patterns among both old and new Bella Blvd collections to better on this layout.

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Miniatures Stickers, Alphab & Bits 12x12 Stickers, Cutes Cuts, Borders, Sunny Sunday, Mom's Bouquet; Miniatures: Card Sentiments Stickers; Socialite: Countdown; Flirty: Socialite

"Good Times", by Loredana Bucaria.

Hi everyone! I recenly discovered this size layout, and I am crazy for it now! It's a double page layout and it's very cool to use a divided page protector, as I have used for the second page! You can play around, creating a lot of tiny pages and embellishments within each pocket! I had fun playing with different kinds of letter stickers and chipboards too. I adore the words and phrase stickers, as they make your page so full of journaling and style! I love the color combo of grey, white, yellow, and red. What do you think about this color combo? It's very different from my style, but i think it's fun to dare myself, and to use something that I normally wouldn't think I could use :) Try and let me see your results!

Supplies:
Lovey Dovey; Hello Beautiful: Alpha+Bits stickers; Estate Sale: Ciao Chip, Alpha+Bits stickers; Finally Fall: Chipboard Icons; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Oyster; Sophisticates Essentials: Brownie & Champagne; Bloom-a-Bella; Stamp: Notes From Today

"Four", by Wendy Wagner.

For today's project it was “Anything Goes”, so I embraced another picture from my lovely daughters 4 year old photo shoot! It goes perfectly with the title of the first page I did "Sweet & Sassy". I mean, how adorable is the expression on her sweet face! My background paper is from the new Spring Flings & Easter Things collection, I love the chevron paper! I also used some Estate Sale and Sophisticates papers. I took two different colors of Blooms-A-Bella flowers apart, and mixed them together. I folded it, sewed it where I wanted it, layered it with a green flower and added a smaller flower on top!  The two tags by the flower on the right are from the Spring Flings & Easter Things Miniatures stickers.

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Don't forget, we have lots more Christmas projects to share with you tomorrow! We'll see you then!

Big Picture Classes *GIVEAWAY WINNERS*

Reclaiming My Time workshop, taught by Karen Grunberg.

Congratulations Ruth! Please email me with "BPC RECLAIMING MY TIME GIVEAWAY WINNER" in the subject line, at lauravegas.bellablvd@yahoo.com. Class starts on Thursday, so we want to get you all signed up and ready to start!

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Cooking Up Cards self-paced class, taught by Kim Kesti, Allison Landy, Betsy Veldman, and Teri Anderson.  

Congratulations Niki! Please email me with "BPC COOKING UP CARDS GIVEAWAY WINNER" in the subject line, at lauravegas.bellablvd@yahoo.com. This is an instant download class, so you'll have access as soon as we get your info from you!

Tuesday Inspiration

Welcome to our second Tuesday Inspiration day for November. Inspiration is all around us, and it's so interesting to see how a group of designers can all start with the same image, and be inspired by it in so many different ways.

image credit: pottery barn teen

Our second inspiration piece is one that can be used in so many different ways. Whether you choose to pull from the colors in the image, or the vertical bookends, the large chunky letters, or even the stacked books. I put this image out to some of our layout and card designers, and I love what they came up with.

"Thinking Of You" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

This is such a fun inspiration piece! I was inspired by the soft colors. I also like how the "text" enclosed the other items and I tried to do something similiar on my card. I even dug dug deep into my stash of Bella products to find the cool text paper from the Estate Sale line. It is such a cool piece of paper (I almost hated to use it! ha!)!

Supplies:
Spring Flings and Easter Things: Sunny Sunday, Egg Hunt, Cute Cuts, Alpha + Bits; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiments; Estate Sale: Linens

"Love" card, by Alice Carman.

Love is in the air for card making! For today’s inspiration image I pulled the colors to create my card. I love the yellow, blue and pink! What an adorable color palate and perfect for using the Lovey Dovey collection.  I also used the color placement from the image to create my design. What do you think?

Supplies:
Lovey Dovey: Alpha+Bits, Circle of Love, Cute Cuts, Love is in the Air, Border N’ Blocks; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Banana

"Sweet", by Jamie Harper.

I loved this inspiration!! Everything from the color combination to the words going vertical, so I decided to follow the inspiration pretty closley. I loved the mix of greens and pinks, they just make me happy and scream baby girl. I followed the inspiration by doing my title vertical up the side of the photo.

Supplies:
Lovey Dovey: Love is in the Air, Bear Hugs; Sophisticates: Petite Pieces, Ciao Chips; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Pickle Juice

"Live Today", by Megan Klauer.

When I first saw the inspiration piece this month I knew right away that I wanted to do a vertical title. I love to play with my title work and this was a great excuse! I continued with the vertical design by using strips of paper to mimic the books shown in the original piece. I finished it off with just a few horizontal pieces to balance it all out and to keep the eye flowing.

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Quadrants, Cute Cuts, Leaf Pile, Borders, Bliss, At the Patch, Alpha + Bits, Journaling Stickers, & Icons; Sophisticates: Chipboard Simona #s White, Chipboard Simona Salt Water

"Little Pumpkin At The Patch", by Nancy Damiano.

The first thing that really caught my eye in the inspiration photo were the bookends. I love the big huge words and how clean and simple they look. I used the Simply Simona chipboard alphabet to "bookend" my layout in the center. I like how they border the entire layout, add splashes of color, and draw the eye straight to the photos.

Supplies:
Finally Fall: At the Patch Paper, Border Paper, Ciao Chip Icons, Miniatures Stickers, Alpha+Bits; Winter Wonder: Toasty Paper; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Orange and Saltwater

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We hope you can find some inspiration by these colors as well, or even by one of the projects that our designers have shared today. We would also love it, if you shared your inspired-by projects with us. It's always fun for us to see what you're creating! Feel free to leave a comment here, with a link to your project. Or share it with everyone over on our Facebook Page.

Christmas Altered Projects

We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving last week! How many of you were out shopping on Black Friday? Or Thursday evening, as so many stores were open early this year. Not me! I wanted nothing to do with that madness ;) I did, however, pull out some of our Christmas decorations and I have started sprinkling some holiday cheer around the house.

Since I think most of us are getting into the Christmas spirit, it's the perfect time for some Christmas project ideas. And our fabulous designers have come up with LOTS of projects to share this week. They have all taken the Christmas Wishes and Winter Wonder collections, and used them for inspiration to come up with some fun and unique holiday projects.

Christmas Tree Altered Frame, by Suzanne Sergi.

One of my favorite items to make during the holiday season are home decor projects. I love creating quick and easy projects to add holiday cheer to the home. I love the color palette of Christmas Wishes, and it is perfect for dressing a children's bedroom, or simply for the children's dinner table. I have  quite a few of inexpensive frames around the house, so I decided to dress up this white frame with a layered Christmas tree.

This tree was built with layers from the papers, borders that I cut from the Borders 12x12 paper, and borders from the sticker sheet. So easy to layer, and for extra dimension I adhered the tree with pop dots. For the top I glittered a star cut from paper, and finished the center with a wood star that I covered with the hearts pattern from the quadrants paper. Around the tree, I decided to hang a tag that I embellished with an accent from the chipboard sheet, and finished with a silver bell tied with string. On the bottom of the frame, are a few spools that I covered with strips of paper, and embellished with a little Christmas bling. This frame is full of happy colors, and layers that are sure to put a smile on my children's faces as we await Christmas.

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Quadrants, Borders, Love, Alpha+Bits, Icons Chipboard Stickers, Just Write Stickers, Trees

Christmas Mailbox and Tags, by by Marie-Josée Hamel.

A few weeks ago, I bought this cute tin mailbox at a dollar store. I knew it would be perfect for my next Bella project! My daughter and I will use the mailbox to exchange notes that we will write everyday on a different tag. Every morning, I will put a tag in the mailbox for her, with a message written on the back, and every night, she will reply to me on the same tag. This will go on until Dec. 24. I will then put all the tags together using a ring so that it becomes a mini-album, and will put it back in the mailbox and keep it with the Christmas stuff. This way, every year, we will have a little something to remind us of December 2011!

To adhere the paper to the mailbox, use Terrifically Tacky Tape (or a similar tape). Once it's done, add stickers, chipboard, ribbon and other embellishments.

To decorate the tags, cut pieces of papers, adhere them to the tags and add stickers and chipboard. Do not hesitate to cut the stickers and the borders: small pieces look very good on the tags.

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: North Pole; Star Stripe; Quadrants; Borders; Cute Cuts; Alpha+Bits; Just Write Journaling Stickers; Icons; Blooms-a-Bella: Azzini

Christmas Count-Down Tree, by Kimberly Neddo.

I've been wanting to alter this Count-down tree for some time now, and I loved Bella Blvd's Winter Wonder collection for this project. First, I started by painting the edges with some paint I had on hand that coordinated with the line. Then I used Mod podge to adhere the papers to the wood.

After the papers were dry on all the wood, I began to decorate it with hand cut snowflakes and stickers. I used pop dots to give some dimension to the cut out snowflakes and stickers, this gave a kind of ornamental effect for the over all design that is what I was looking for. Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope this piece inspires you all to have fun with these papers for some fun projects as well.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Toasty, Blizzard, Icy, Borders, Alpha+Bits; Simply Simona Chipboard Numhers: White

Christmas Wish List Clipboards, by Jennifer Edwardson.

I have always been a list maker and a few years ago I decided that pretty clipboards were the perfect place for my lists. I have a shopping list clipboard at home and at my shop we have them for schedules, orders, time sheets and more. I am just finishing up a "Scott could you please…." clipboard too, as EVERY time I ask him to do something he asks me to write it on a list. Now he won't have any excuse 'casue he'll have his very own clipboard!

Last year for Christmas I took a pretty clipboard shopping for the kids gifts and it saved me and kept me soooooo organized. When I saw Bella's Christmas Wishes collection, I knew I had to make them for the kids wish lists too, and of course a new one for me to match :))

Emma and Alex LOVED filling out their cards and it was PERFECT for me, so I knew exactly what they really wanted to see under the tree on Christmas morning.

I added envelopes to mine to keep my shopping list for each of them inside AND … I can also tuck the reciepts in the envelopes "just in case". December is such a crazy busy month and now I can head out and get the shopping done with LOTS of time leftover to wrap!

For a quick tutorial, on how I covered the clipboards with the patterned paper ... cutting out the notches for the clips ... head over to HERE, where I have posted step-by-step instructions on my blog.

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Just a little head's up, on what we have planned for the week on the blog. Don't forget to leave a comment on THIS POST, to be entered in our Big Picture Classes giveaways. We will announce those winners tomorrow. We will have our second "Inspiration Tuesday" feature tomorrow, followed by lots of "Layouts On Wednesdays". And Thursday, we have even more Christmas altered projects to share with you. You won't want to miss any of it!

Big Picture Classes *GIVEAWAYS*

Today, we have two great giveaways, from Big Picture Classes. They have generously offered two free spots (one in each of the following two classes), to two of our lucky blog readers, in these new classes.

Reclaiming My Time workshop, taught by Karen Grunberg.

"You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it."

Class Description

On the surface, this workshop is about time. Specifically, about how you spend your time. But, in reality, it's about so much more than that: reclaiming time to use it as you WANT to live your life.

If you ask me, time is the great equalizer. We each get 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That's 1,440 minutes, every single day. Let's say you sleep a generous 8 hours a day; that still leaves you with 960 precious minutes every day. How you spend those minutes adds up to how you spend your life. Don't you want to spend those 960 minutes doing the things you most love doing?

In this workshop, Karen Grunberg will guide us through figuring out what we really do with our time and aligning our time with what we would like to do with our lives, starting with the year 2012. (Because, remember, how you spend your year adds up to how you spend your life.)

You can read the rest of the class description HERE. Class starts 12/01/2011.

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 Cooking Up Cards self-paced class, taught by Kim Kesti, Allison Landy, Betsy Veldman, and Teri Anderson.  

Class Description

Interested in card making, but don’t know where to begin? What if four experts in the field gave you their very own "recipes for success?" Our card chefs are ready to provide the dash of inspiration you’ve been waiting for, and we’re betting you already have all of the ingredients you need: some paper, a few embellishments and a pinch of glue.

In Cooking Up Cards! you will not only get a great introduction to card making, you’ll also meet expert chefs Allison Landy, Betsy Veldman, Kim Kesti and Teri Anderson. Each chef brings something different to the table, and will share with you their own unique Signature Dish, including step-by-step instructions. Then, watch the magic happen as they "swap recipes" and each creates three new cards. That’s a total of twelve additional cards to fill your plate with inspiration.

You can read the rest of the class description HERE. Class is available for Instant Download!

New to Big Picture Classes? Learn more HERE.

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For a chance at one of these two free class spots, just leave a comment on this post. We will announce our randomly chosen winners on Tuesday!

Saturday Sketches

It's time for another round of Saturday Sketch's. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have the second sketch for the month of November!

"Fall Fun", by Lynn Ghahary.

Fall is such a fun time of year here in New Jersey.  e always make a point to visit some of the local farms and pumpkin patches. This year we went to Sun High Orchard and you boys just could not resist posing for a picture in the wooden farm animal cut outs. What a pair of goofballs!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Alpha & Bits 12x12 Stickers, Just Write 12x12 Stickers, Icons Chipboard Stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Borders, Leaf Pile, At the Patch, Cute Cuts

"Me And Rogue", by Janis Medina.

This is my first time to make a layout after a loooong time and I did it on the floor as my scraproom is an unusable mess!!! Using minimum tools, I based my layout on the sketch and added my layers and textures. I also used different sizes of the same photo for added interest.

Supplies:
Finally Fall Collection:  Autumn Splendor, Apple Holler, Cute Cuts, Bliss, Leaf Pile, Ciao Chip Icons, Alpha+Bits stickers, Just Write Journaling stickers; Simply Simona chipboard alphas: Oreo

"A Wonderful Day", by Vivian Masket.

When I work with a sketch, I find that the final product rarely looks exactly like the original sketch, as I tend to use sketches more as starting places than as blueprints. I started this layout by turning the sketch ninety degrees to the left, which placed the circular elements at the top right and the bottom left. After rotating the sketch, I decided I wanted more circles, so I altered the design to add those in, combining woodgrain patterned papers from three different product lines. I kept the idea of four photos, but put them in one horizontal strip rather than in a grid. After that, it was simply a matter of adding embellishments (a chipboard border and leaves punched from the same paper used for the circles), journaling strips, and a sticker for a title. While my final layout doesn't look exactly like the sketch, I would never have done a layout with large circles like this without the sketch as a starting place!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Quadrants, Autumn Splendor, Miniatures Stickers; Christmas Wishes: Ciao Chip Icons; Mr. Boy: Quadrants; Family Dynamix: Quadrants

"Christmas", by Julie Johnson.

I love circles so I had fun working with this sketch. If your not familiar with working with sketches this would be a great one to try because it was easy to follow and made a very fast page. The best part of a sketch is that you have a foundation to work with but you can add your own touch. I added a few extra borders to the top of the page and instead of using four wallet photos I decided to use two 4 x 6 photos. I added some Icon chipboard embellishments and title, and some miniature stickers and alpha + bits stickers to make the details and finishing touches on the page. 

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Christmas Love, North Pole, Gifts Galore, Star Stripe, Quadrants, Cute Cuts, Icons, Miniatures, and Alpha + Bits. 

"The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree" card, by Kathy Martin.

This sketch was challenging since I needed to create a card using a scrapbook page sketch! And you know what, it was fun! I opted to use the Finally Fall collection for this project because I adore this collection, and because we’ll be knee deep in Christmas and snow projects soon enough!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: At the Patch, Leaf Pile, Borders, Alpha + Bits, Ciao Chip; One Fall Day: Just Leafy

"Thanks A Lot" card, by Deanna Misner.

When I saw this sketch I instantly thought of the circles as Mickey Mouse ears. I don't know, call me crazy, but it could be that I still had Disney on the brain since we just went in October. And since my parents went with us and helped us so much while we were there, I thought I'd use this sketch to make them a card.  I used my die-cut machine to make the Mickey cut-outs and used a hodge podge of Bella products to create my card the way I envisioned it.

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Sprinkles and Lace  MacIntosh, Miniatures stickers; Socialite: Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits; Making the Team: Chipboard Icons

We hope you will take some creative time for yourself, and try out our sketch! Whether it's a card, or a layout, we would love to see what you come up with. You can link them here in the comment section, or share them on our Facebook page!

Happy Thanksgiving From Bella Blvd

All of us here, at Bella Blvd, are so thankful for each and every one of you. This business has grown so much in only 3 years and it's all thanks to your excitement! We can't wait to show you what's next and look forward to celebrating everything with you in the future! We wish you a happy and heathly Thanksgiving Holiday!

"Thanks Family" card, by Alice Carman.

I just adore this owl from the Finally Fall collection!  It’s simply owl-dorable … giggle. I cut out two strips using a border from Finally Fall and the back side of Apple Holler. Next, I Stitched this onto my card and added a few embellishments from Finally Fall’s Alpha+Bits. Last, I finished with Sophisticates Ciao Chip for my sentiment. 

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Alpha+Bits, Cute Cuts, Borders, Icons, Apple Holler; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas Orange

"Give Thanks" card, by Alice Carman.

Bella Blvd’s Finally Fall color’s in this collection is so beautiful. It’s the perfect color balance for a Thanksgiving card. I just love the reds, oranges, greens and browns. Using a leaf die I punched out a few leafs using Bliss, Apple Holler and Leaf Pile as my leaf patterns. Next I added a few strips from the Border sheet and embellished with Alpha+Bits stickers from Finally Fall. Simple and sweet is all you need.

Supplies:
Finally Fall, Borders, Alpha+Bits, Bliss, Apple Holler, Leaf Pile

"Give Thanks" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

Finally Fall is the perfect collection for all things family, Thanksgiving, and course autumn and fall! This collection made these two "thankful" cards come together beautifully and easily!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Cute Cuts, Borders, Alpha Bits + Stickers

"Thanks Givings" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Leaf Pile, Cute Cuts, Borders, Alpha Bits + Stickers, Chipboard Icons

"Happy Thanksgiving" card, by Gail Hoecker.

The background for this card started out as a 12 x 12 scrapbook page. Yeah, didn't quite work out the way I wanted it. Soooo, I made lemonade out of lemons. I couldn't just throw it out so I saved it for a future project. I used a portion of the discarded scrapbook page for my card background. Yep, NOW I liked it!  The "Happy" and "Thanksgiving" stickers from the Finally Fall Miniatures worked great as banners on the toothpick, which I distressed with a little "Chestnut Roan" Chalk Ink (my fav!). Happy Thanksgiving!

Supplies:
Finally Fall; paper: At The Patch, Borders; stickers: Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniatures.

Layouts On Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone! Are you all ready for Thanksgiving, tomorrow? Is all the food bought, and turkeys defrosted? I'm in charge of making a ham this year, which oddly enough, I have never done before. I'm usually the mashed potato master ;) Hopefully, you have all downloaded and printed out Stephanie's FREE digital printables, and assembled your mini albums, so that they are all ready for your family and friends to fill out. It will make such a memorable keepsake!

We are back to our Layouts On Wednesday's today, so let's get started.

"Be Nice", by Katherine McElvain.

At this time of year my photos are of fall days, orange pumpkins, and yellow leaves. So this is the time of year I search out fall themed and colored scrapbook supplies to compliment my photos. For this layout about my two girls giving each other "the look"  at the pumpkin farm, I knew I could count on Bella's Finally Fall collection. But surprise, surprise. In the world of Bella Blvd, spring and fall become one. On this layout I used pattern papers from both Finally Fall and Spring Things and Easter Things to complete my project.

If you know my style you know I have a hard time doing a layout with out a cloud on it. In this case I  couldn't choose between the spring and fall Bella cloud papers so I decided to used them both. I also needed a pop of color in the background and used the bright and cheery Sunny Sunday paper. So now, the spring papers from my Bella stash, combined with the Finally Fall stickers and papers, have helped me complete a colorful fall layout. A good reminder to never limit your supplies to their theme, especially when they are from Bella Blvd.

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Alpha&bits, Miniatures, Icons, You're a Hoot, Bliss; Spring Fling and Easter Things: A Tisket a Tasket, Sunny Sunday; Sophisticates: Miniatures Family stickers; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Oyster; Family Dynamics: Icons

"Month 6", by Becky Williams.

I have been trying to create a new layout for each month of my baby girl's first year and for this page came up with the idea to use one of the calendars from the Sophisticates collection. This paper was perfect and now I wish I'd done each preceding month in this same style! I filled a few of the squares with bits of patterned paper to add some fun color to the page, a few stickers here and there, some journaling and it was done.

Supply List: 
Making the Team: Quadrants; Sophisticates: Calendars; Christmas Wishes: Christmas Love, Candlelight, North Pole, Alpha + Bits; Too Cute to Spook: Just Write Journaling Stickers; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Alpha + Bits, Borders, Cute Cuts, Mom's Bouquet; Hello Beautiful: Blurbs; Lovey Dovey: Alpha + Bits; Ciao Chip: Simply Simona Saltwater 

"White Christmas", by Melissa Stinson.

I'm not a technique driven scrapper (I prefer to focus on photos, color, and pattern), but I do enjoy getting my punches out from time to time! For this layout I chose a selection of snowflake punches (I have an obsession with them and have collected a bunch!) and used both the positive and negative of the image.

I backed the negative images with pieces of patterned paper from the new Winter Wonder collection to add little pops of color to the tone-on-tone white background.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Borders, Ski Slopes, Blizzard, Alpha + Bits

"I Got Chills", by Laura Vegas.

I fell in love with the colors and patterns in the Winter Wonder collection. While so many of the papers are versitile enough to use on everyday layouts, the stickers were definately a bit more themed towards winter. We're a born-and-raised California family, and we have pretty much ZERO experience with winter. I came across these photos of my youngest daughter, Sarah, from years ago, and knew they were the closest thing to "winter" I would find. She was cold one day, and decided to pile on layers and layers of clothes, to warm herself up. The funniest part of these photos, is that they were taken in August, so it was most likely over 100 degrees outside. She's such a goof! 

The Winter Wonder collection worked perfectly with these photos, and I love that I got to create a "winter" layout for once. On the "Baby, it's cold outside" sticker, I covered up the "outside" with alphabet stickers to have it read "inside". I sprayed just a small amount of blue spray ink on the snowflake pattern paper, and then added glitter brads to the centers of some of the larger snowflakes.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Blizzard, Toasty, Ski Slopes, Borders, Alpha+Bits stickers, Miniatures Stickers

"Abby Rose", by Allyson Meinholz.

Here is a layout of my neice/god child, Abby Rose. She was recently a flower girl, and she looked so beautiful. I saw this photo and it was such an inspiration to me. 

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If you have a few minutes, in between your Thanksgiving celebrations, stop by the blog. We have lots of great Thanksgiving cards to share with you! 

Focus On Photography

Once a month, we will be posting a new feature, called Focus On Photography. We have asked Design Team member Jamie Harper, who has her own photography business, to share some tips and advice with us. This month, we know that so many of you are thinking about family photos, in preparation for Christmas cards and gifts for family. Which brings us to our first topic, holiday photo sessions.

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Hey everyone! It's Jamie Harper here, and today, I am going to give you some tips for your HOLIDAY PHOTO SESSIONS.

Tip #1

Look at advertisements for inspiration. Companies hire art directors and stylists to create an outfit that is exactly, precisely, perfect. So, copy them. Look at ads that are similar to your shoot. Kids in a shoot? Look at Gap ads, and children’s clothing brands. 

Here is a great example. See how there is a great mix of colors and textures? This photo is a Gap ad, found on the internet. Try searching different companies.

Tip #2

Don’t match. The best photos are those that stay in the same color family and coordinate. Maybe a warm pallete, or different hues of grey.  Keep in mind that pictures are flat to begin with, and only 2-dimensional. So by mixing up colors and textures you’re adding depth. But by having everyone wearing a green sweater, you’re really lying flat on film. Don't get me wrong. Sweaters are a great texture. But have 2 people in different sweaters and maybe one in a jacket, with a sweater-scarf. Mix and match textures.

Here is a great mix of texture and color in this photo. Notice how each person has something different on? There are two sisters that match, but with everyone else mixed in, it works.

Tip #3

Whatever anyone is wearing, be as comfortable in the outfit as possible! If you feel hot in it, you’re going to look hot in it! If your child really hates the sleeves on that shirt, but you force him to wear it, every picture of him will have him yanking on the sleeves and frowning, and then eventually crying. The best pictures are when everyone is having fun, so be comfortable.

Do you see in this photo, how the blacks blend together and it is hard to tell the two apart? That is why mixing and matching colors and textures is so important in choosing your clothing options.

This is an example to go with the flow and just have fun. If the baby won't sit still and wants to crawl, find a way to make that happen.

One last example. This one has great texture, but it has a bit too much black. However, it does showcase a great relaxed photo. Have your family all laugh together. It always makes for a great photo.

I hope that these tips have given you some ideas and inspiration for your own family photos!

On-Going Guest Designers: Diane Payne & Charity Hassel

Back in September, when we were choosing our new Design Team, we had a group of talented designers that we just couldn't pass up. So we added a special team of On-going Guest Designers, that will joining us here on the blog throughout the year, along with the rest of our Design Team. Each month, we will feature two of these designers, which means they'll each be joining us three times over the next year. I'm excited to introduce you to our first two fabulous designers, Diane Payne and Charity Hassel.

Hello everyone! I’m Diane Payne, and I reside in the big state of Texas with my wonderful husband of 22 years and our two teenage children. Although I love recording the details of our life, I enjoy the creative process of scrapbooking as much as the memory keeping. I like to experiment with different techniques and incorporate photos into our home décor. I scrapbook with a variety of photo styles, including current, vintage, and Hipstamatic prints. My favorite tool for journaling is my vintage 1930's Underwood typewriter which is also used as decor in the entry way of my home.

{To learn more about Diane, and see her work, check out her blog HERE}

"Apple Crisp", by Diane Payne.

When I saw the adorable apples in the Finally Fall line I knew they would be perfect for documenting one of my favorite childhood desserts that was passed down from a long time family friend.

I wrote the recipe out on the recipe card from the Cute Cuts sheet and tucked it behind the photo.

I secured the recipe card and photo together with a paper clip glued to the back of the chipboard apple from the Ciao Chip Icons.

Supply List
Finally Fall: At the Patch, Bliss, Leaf Pile, Apple Holler, Cute Cuts, Borders, Quadrants, Alpha & Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Ciao Chip Icons

"Little Stinkers", by Diane Payne.

This photo of my kids from 2001 captures their personality at that time perfectly. To highlight the photo I enlarged it 8x12 and added cut out hearts, clouds and word stickers accents right on top of the photo. I love how the brighter colors of the Finally Fall line complement my special photo.

Supply List
Finally Fall: Bliss, Leaf Pile, You're a Hoot, Apple Holler, Cute Cuts, Borders, Quadrants, Alpha & Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Ciao Chip Icons; Mr. Boy: Alpha & Bits Stickers; Simply Simona Alphas: Saltwater

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Hi everyone! My name is Charity Hassel. I am 36 years old, married to Brian for 8 years. I am the stay at home mommy of Alexander (7) and Audrey (5). I am also an RN, and work one shift a week at a local hospital. I love paper crafting and creating. It's been so fun to work on design teams, teach at my local scrapbook store and sharing this hobby with friends. I love old musicals, chocolate covered popcorn and spending time with family.

{To learn more about Charity, and see her work, check out her blog HERE}

"XOXO" card, by Charity Hassel.

I loved using the white and brown border sticker and heart sticker to embellish my mittens on this card. The xoxo tag was perfect for the title. I added faux stitching on the mittens with a brown journaling pen.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Blizzard, Ski Slopes, Borders, Alpha+Bits stickers, Miniatures stickers.

"JOY" card, by Charity Hassel.

Wind twine thru the miniature tags to create a title. Use a small hole punch to create holes in the centers of a few of the circles in the tree.

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Borders, Cute Cuts, Miniature stickers

"Let it Snow" card, by Charity Hassel.

I used a free snowglobe template that I found online, to create a fun, shaped card.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Blizzard, Toasty, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits stickers   

"Winter Coffee" gift card holder, by Charity Hassel.

Create your own personalized cover for a gift card. I made one with coffee on it so I can place it on one side of a gift card.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Borders, Toasty, Alpha+Bits stickers, Miniatures stickers

"Spring" card, by Charity Hassel.

Go with the chevron pattern trend and cut out those fun pink and white chevrons from the paper for your project.

Supplies:
Spring Flings and Easter Things: A Tisket A Tasket, Egg Hunt, Mom's Bouquet, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits stickers

"Merry" card, by Charity Hassel.

Change the center of a sticker by covering it with a patterned paper circle and chipboard greeting.

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: North Pole, Candlelight, Just Write Journaling stickers, Alpha+Bits stickers, Chipboard Icons

Mini Albums: Finally Fall & Winter Wonder

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Have you all downloaded and printed out your FREE Digial Printables for the Thanksgiving Mini Album that Stephanie designed? I just printed out mine yesterday, and I'm so excited to have an album that I can actually finish for once, without spending a TON of time on it ;)

Speaking of mini albums, we have two albums to share with you today. The first is a gatefold mini album, featuring the Finally Fall collection, that Design Team member Jennifer Edwardson created for Summer CHA. The second is a handmade album, featuring the Winter Wonder collection, by Design Team member Suzanne Sergi.

Finally Fall Gatefold Album, by Jennifer Edwardson.

This gatefold album was one of my favorite gift albums to create. I’ve made several of these in the past, using Christmas themed paper, but I had the most fun making this one with a friends fall ‘leafy’ photos of her daughter. The patterns of the Finally Fall collection go with EVERYTHING and since there are lots of pages to this mini album, the line worked perfectly. I love all the little bits that coordinate and found that the project flowed easily because the paper was so fantastic. One of my favorite lines yet – thanks Stephanie!

ETA: Some of you have requested more info on how Jennifer created this album. She has written a full tutorial, with photos, showing you how to make an album of your own. Check it out on Jennifer's blog today!

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"Winter Love" mini album, by Suzanne Sergi.

Living in Southern California, our winters are very mild. We are very lucky to see the sun all year around! However, on occasion I miss having snowy days! Two years ago, I took my children to Big Bear for a fun day of playing in snow. This was their very first time to even see it in person. However, my kids kept calling it fake snow, and did not feel it was the real fluffy snow!  However, I seize the moment and took as many photos as I possibly could on this day! I was so excited to see the new release of Winter Wonder! It was the perfect collection to document my snow photos.

On the cover, I kept the design very simple, and use white cardstock for my background. I also embossed a white strip of cardstock using a snowflake embossing folder. I love the look of the embossed white, against the plain cardstock. I used a bold red ribbon, with a felt snowflake to tie my theme together. On the cover, I chose to create a shaker box to house my title of my mini book. I used white tinsel to fill the shaker box, and a Just Write Cardstock Sticker for my title.

Snowflakes were my theme for the book, and I used them throughout. I love the look of vellum on my projects, so I created a vellum pocket that I embellished with a large snowflake. Inside, I will tuck more photos from this day.

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Tomorrow, we will be introducing you to two of our special on-going Guest Designers, chosen from our Design Team call. Make sure and stop by, to get to know Diane and Charity.

Saturday Sketches

It's time for another round of Saturday Sketch's. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have the first sketch for the month of November!

"Gingerbread Fun", by Becky Williams.

This Christmas collection is so much fun and I really like the pop of blue! For my take on the sketch I decided to use four smaller pictures instead of the two larger ones. I used some of the fun stickers and chipboard that go with this collection, too, cutting the "Holiday Favorites" to use as a subtitle for the page and added some red glitter for some extra sparkle on Rudolph's nose. 

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Gifts Galore, Candlelight, North Pole, Ciao Chip Icons, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits; Finally Fall: Alpha+Bits; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Saltwater, Essentials Asparagus and Pickle Juice; Miniatures: Family

"Winter Snow Pals", by Kimberly Neddo.

I love to add dimension to my layouts with pop dots and layering embellishments. I used a couple of stickers for the embellishment on the top left corner of this layout. I also punched a circle with red cardstock to add color pop to it as well. Working with the rule of thirds, I used the red accents to draw the viewers eye around the layout with ease. I love working with sketches, it make everything go together smoothly with out a lot of design planning of my own.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Patterned Paper-Borders and Blizzard; Miniatures; Alpha and Bits

"Pics At The Patch: The Outtakes", by Brook Stewart.

Getting a good picture of both my boys together these days can be pretty tricky. Half the time, it doesn't happen at all. But that's okay by me. The non-perfect pictures totally show off their personalities and are my favorites by far, most of the time! My little Miles was having way too much fun at the pumpkin patch to sit still for pictures. He would run off the other way, sit backwards when he would finally sit, or show off his pumpkin stem to big brother. By the time I finally got him to sit, my oldest was tired and annoyed from sitting. So that was the picture I got. All those outtakes tell the story and I love that! Bella's Finally Fall line was the perfect compliment to my pictures and for helping me tell this story!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Borders, Quadrants, Bliss, At the Patch, Cute Cuts, Just Write Sticker Sheet, Miniatures, Icons Chipboard Stickers; Sophisticates: Salt Water & Pacific alpha stickers

"Play", by Sue Mylde.

This layout just shows how 'boyish' layouts, can be fun too! The faux ribbon edges are cut out of the strips from various patterned papers from the 'Making The Team' and 'Mr. Boy' Lines - my absolute favorites so far, for creating layouts for Lucas. I love the Saturday Sketch this week, but I also wanted to take up a bigger challenge of transforming the layout on a 2-pager. I like how this turned out because I was able to incorporate even more photos on the page than on a 1-pager! Fab! The sentiment stickers were cut out of the big piece and placed in different places - rule of three's. I used some subtle misting here on the page and love how it turned out on the page! 

Supplies:
Making The Team: Football, Cute Cuts, Borders, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Mr. Boy: Cute Cuts, Connect The Dots, Borders

"U Animal Lover" card, by Alice Carman.

Using the layout sketch, I pulled the squares, photo corners and title from the layout sketch to create my card design. I didn’t use everything I saw from the layout sketch, but used what would work on a smaller scale. The squares act as a back drop, the photo corners gave the squares more defined shape and the title was used as my sentiment. Totally fun!

Supplies:
Tail Waggers & Cat Naps: Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits, Borders and Blocks, Quadrants, Pampered Pet; All Inclusive: Bookin on the Beach

"Together Is The Place To Be" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

We are not going to see my side of the family on Thanksgiving this year. I pulled out some Finally Fall and took advantage of this cool sketch to make a card to send home saying that we are sorry we can't be there. I think I am going to use the journaling spot on the inside of the card to write, "But we sure are looking forward to Christmas!"

Supplies:
Finally Fall: At the Patch, Bliss, Borders, Cute Cuts, Leaf Pile, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers

We hope you will take some creative time for yourself, and try out our sketch! Whether it's a card, or a layout, we would love to see what you come up with. You can link them here in the comment section, or share them on our Facebook page!

Fridays With Stephanie - FREE Digital Printables

Ciao ciao Bella fans! Boy, do I have something fun & inspiring for you today ... and guess what? I’ve done all the prep work for you! So, next week I host Thanksgiving, and each year I do some “crafty” something for everyone to participate in. Last weekend I thought to myself, "self, if you don’t get going on an idea it’s never going to happen-you’ll run out of time!". So I brainstormed up a digital mini album! Why digital? Because it takes less time (for you at least!) and this way I can have the ENTIRE album done and ready as soon as Thanksgiving is over.

Here it is! All set to go for Turkey Day next week! I’m giving you the digital printables for FREE today so you can make and prep your own Thanksgiving 2011 (5x7”) Mini Album! You’re going to love it!

I’m going to walk you through the tutorial. If you’d like, you can skip to the bottom and begin downloading the FREE PRINTABLES so that you can get started.

Material List:

Pen & paper for your list/planning, Computer & printer, Cardstock or photo paper to print digital printables, 12x12 thin chipboard, sheets cut to 5x7s, paper trimmer, adhesive, brown distressing ink, ribbons, cropadile, two 1” binding rings (mine are Kaiser Kraft mustard yellow)

First you’ll need to make a sketch of your book, for planning purposes. The sketch will show your album and it’s order (assign one page per person), including the front and back covers. Here’s mine. *Notice everyone along the left of the binding will have “Left-Page Printables” and everyone on the right side of the binding will have “Right-Page Printables”. It is very important that you understand this!!!!

Ready? Here we go…

Everyone at my gathering will have a page in the mini book. Start by making a list of all the people that will participate in the mini album. In my case it’s 21 people/guests + the front cover + the back cover = 23 total pages. Then divide this number by 2 because you’ll be adhering pages back to back on chipboard. 23 / 2 = 11.5. I’m going to round up and prepare 12 pages. By creating a quick sketch you will establish a plan/an order for the book. This will help later when adhering your printables and assembling your mini album.

Now, you’ll need to click and download (also save if you’d like) the free printables (scroll down) at the end of today’s post. There are a total of 5 pdfs sized for 8.5x11 paper. You’ll need to select some cardstock or photo printing paper and print out the pages you need. There are printables for the front & back cover, there are 4 styles of “left-page” options and 4 styles of “right page” options. Depending on how many people are participating in your mini album you may have to print some duplicates.

Using a trimmer trim all your printable pages. The final book size is exactly 5” x 7”.

You’ll notice here on my pages that I’ve customized them with each person’s name. (ie. “Angela” on the bottom of the blue page above). Your version of the printables have open areas along the bottoms of each page for you to customize in your own way. I would suggest sticker alphabets.

Once you have all your printable pages trimmed stack them up nice and pretty ;) Are you excited yet?!

Next you’ll need to purchase or locate several sheets of thin chipboard. These will be the base of your mini album to help make things nice and sturdy. Trim chipboard to 5x7” pieces, cutting enough according to your Album Sketch that you made in step no. 1 (ie. I needed 12 pieces of chipboard.)

Now you have all your printables and chipboard pages. It’s time to assemble your pages. Using chipboard as the base, and referring to your ALBUM SKETCH, adhere in order starting with the front cover. Flip over and adhere the next “left-side” page. Continue through all the participants, finishing with the back cover. Be sure to follow your sketch!

Now all your pages are mounted and look like this ;) I used brown cats-eye chalk ink to distress the edges of my pages.

Again, using your Album Sketch put all pages in order.

As shown in image above if your “left-side” pages & “right-pages” are put in order correctly, the brown leaf pattern will always be in the center of your album, as your binding.

Now you’re ready to bind the album using a Cropadile.

Create two binding holes and punch through all chipboard pages.

Assemble chipboard pages in order and add two 1” key rings to secure.

Cut several strips of coordinating ribbons to embellish ring binding, then knot ribbons around rings.

Using Finally Fall chipboard Icon embellishments create a Hybrid album cover.

If you wish, embellish the binding also by creating “dangles” with some jute and the chipboard pieces.

Here’s a closer look for you:

Now, remember I mentioned your printables have a blank space at the bottom instead of a person’s name? I suggest using sticker letters (Quattrofina shown in photo above) to add each participants name to each chipboard page. That way your guests can search for their specific page on Thanksgiving and know they need to fill out the mini questionnaire.

My plan is to take the book completely apart on Thanksgiving and place the chipboard pages in a cute basket with some nice fine point brown pens and remind everyone to fill out their page.

Then, after the party’s over I’ll assemble the book and it will literally be FINISHED! That day! Done. And next year I’ll display the album again for everyone to look back on the one year ago. Another idea….if I have time I’d love to put an instax or a digital camera on the table next to a cute Thanksgiving fabric backdrop and have each person take a portrait so that I can include the photos in-between each person’s coordinating chipboard page.

I really hope you’ll tackle this project this week. The tutorial includes a lot of detail and might seem overwhelming but it’s actually really easy! I’ve done all the work for you with the printables!

And here they are! Just click the links below each images, to begin downloading.

Printable One: Covers Front and Back.

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Printable Two: Various “Left-Side” Pages A.

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Printable Three: Various “Left-Side” Pages – more options.

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Printable Four: Various “Right-Side” Pages.

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Printable Five: Various “Right-Side” Pages-more options.

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Consider this your Thanksgiving/Bella Blvd Challenge! Be sure to email us photos of you with your album to sales@bellablvd.net and you might just win something pretty ;) I can’t wait to see your minis!

Ciao Ciao for now….and happy scrappin’!

Cards on Thursday

Before we get to our Cards on Thursday sharing, I wanted to give you a quick head's up about what we have planned for the next few days. Stephanie will be dropping by tomorrow, with her Fridays with Stephanie post. It's always fun to see what she's going to share each week. On Saturday, we will have the first of our two monthly sketches going up, and we have some fantastic projects that our Designers came up with, based on the sketch. On Sunday, we have two mini album shares, from two of our Altered Project Designers. And to kick off next week, we have two of our special On-Going Guest Artistas joining the blog for the first time on Monday. We're packing as much inspiration into the blog as we can for you all ;)

"Family" card, by Kathy Martin.

Today is another project day where I get to choose the Bella Blvd collection that I want to use for my cards! I love free-for-all days because there are so many cool lines to choose from! For my ‘Family’ card I thought I’d take a break from holiday crafting, and use the Sunny Happy Skies collection. These houses caught my eye … they’re so detailed, colorful and fun! Makes me want to move into that little neighborhood! I’d move into the little red house with roof-top patio and shades lined with hearts!

Supplies:
Sunny Happy Skies Collection: Cute Cuts, Borders N’ Blocks, Creamsicle Clouds, Blurbs, Alpha+Bits; Ciao Chip: Essentials Peep & McIntosh

"You're Awesome" card, by Kathy Martin. 

After Halloween, I thought it was time to stash away the Too Cute to Spook collection, but I didn’t want to! I’ve been having a good time playing with this line and decided to challenge myself to use it in a different way. So, I came up with this thank you card. Usually when I sit down to make a thank you card, I start by choosing colors and accents like bright colors, butterflies and flowers. This time, going at it from a challenge to use a particular product, I ended up with a look I would have never thought of. I don’t think I would have used black for a thank you card, but I love the results!

Supplies:
Too Cute to Spook Collection: Jacks-A-Glow, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Quadrants, Just Write; Hello Beautiful Collection: Alpha+Bits; Ciao Chip Essentials: Oyster & Oreo; Miniatures: Card Sentiments

"You Melt My Heart" card, by Deanna Misner.

I really love that one of the cute cuts with this line is a steaming hot cup of cocoa (or coffee). I thought that it went really well with the miniature sticker "You melt my heart". And since so many people do coffee dates now, either with a friend or their significant other, it just seemed like the perfect combination of paper, details, and sentiment. I couldn't NOT make a sweet little card for our next coffee date.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Blizzard, Toasty, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits, Borders, Miniature stickers

"Winter Forecast" card, by Deanna Misner.

For this card, I wanted to try a little bit of color blocking but instead of using patterned paper, I used the cute stickers and cut outs that come with each collection. I used my "go-to" color combination of blues with a touch of red and brown, to combined the snowflake and Just Write stickers with mittens and "forecast" cut-outs. I love that Winter Wonder is so versatile, and it allowed me to create a card that I could use any time during the winter.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Borders, Alphas+Bits, Just Write stickers, Miniature stickers; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Borders

"For A Super Great Friend" card, by Stephanie Hunt.

Since we have officially seen snow flurries for the first time here in Wisconsin, I thought "Hey. Why not at least try to get into the cold-wintery spirit & create a winter card!" The Super Stud star pattern resembles white snowflakes and a blue wintery sky so I combined it with the Winter Wonder collection for my card. 

Supplies:
Super Stud: Planetarium; Winter Wonder: Borders; Sophisticates Miniatures Stickers: Card Sentiments

"Thinking Of You" card, by Morgan Bandkowski.

I really get so much use of the Cute Cuts paper. I was able to cut out the tree and pumpkin along with the leaf on the inside of the car. Ink & pop dots are the items I use on almost any project. It is a great way to add a little dimension to any project. The tree, pumpkin & sentiment are all popped up. 

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Leaf Pile, Cute Cuts

More Finally Fall Projects

It always amazes me how quickly the days go by. It feels like just yesterday, we were talking about Halloween and handing out candy to all the neighbor kids. And here we are, with only a week until Thanksgiving. While we definately need to be thinking about and planning what food is going to appear on our Thanksgiving table, it's also fun to make some fun handmade decor items to make our tables even prettier! Here are a few more Finally Fall projects from our design team.

Finally Fall Altered Wooden Crates, by Jennifer Edwardson.

I found these great little wooden crates at a discount store and fell in love with the shape and design of them, but not so much with the color and pictures on the ends. 

I knew that I could completely change them up using Finally Fall. The colors of this line are so my style. Fall has always been my favorite season. It makes me excited to bring out beautiful sweaters, jackets and of course boots (I LOVE boots almost as much as I love pretty paper).

The brown wood grain print ‘at the patch’ was perfect for the base of the crates and used the chipboard pieces from the Ciao Chip and Cute Cuts to embellish. I had been waiting for the right time to use my Tim Holtz Big Shot die and cut leaves with ‘apple holler’, ‘bliss’, ‘leaf pile’ and ‘borders’. It worked perfectly for this project!

Once I had all the pieces adhered I added natural colored crinkle paper, fun little glitter pumpkins, a couple of mini gourds and a few more die cut leaves too. The perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dinner table.

Thanksgiving Placecards, by Jennifer Edwardson.

I had to share these cute little place cards with you, along with a cute story. In Canada, our Thanksgiving is in the start of October, so I made some placecards using Finally Fall for our family dinner. I posted them on my blog and Stephanie commented “Jenn, I love those placecards. So cute! Wish you could make them for my Thanksgiving table next month ;)”

So, I made these placecards for her. Now, they don’t have names on them yet. But I figured she’s crafty enough to add the names when they arrive in her mailbox! She doesn’t know they’re coming to her ... well, I guess now she does ;)

Altered Fall Rooster, by Marie-Josee Hamel.

In a former life, I used to be into decorative painting. I still have lots of supplies left, including wood pieces, so I decided to make good use of one of those for my Finally Fall project. I dug this rooster from my closet and altered it using only paper, ink and Glimmer Mist. As you can see, it is possible to give a rustic look to any Bella product using ink and a bit of Glimmer Mist.

Before you start, gather the supplies you'll need later. Here are the supplies I used for this project: wood piece, acrylic paint, MATTE Mod Podge (it needs to be matte), paint brush, glue (I used Tombow), Glimmer Mist, ink, and other embellishments for your project, such as ribbon, buttons, twine, paper covered wire, etc.

The first thing you have to do is stain your wood piece, because it is impossible to cover each and every bit of it with paper. I mixed 5 parts water and 1 part acrylic paint (I chose Delta Ceramcoat's Barn Red for this project) and proceeded to stain the whole thing.

Once it is done and dry, start altering your wood piece. Just place your paper on top of the wood piece and trace around the edges. Cut, ink the edges and glue to the wood piece using Mod Podge. Put a thick coat. Once the paper is glued to the wood, put Mod Podge on top of it to protect it.

You can also put other layers on top to add dimension. Then, spray a tiny bit of Glimmer Mist everywhere. Note that I didn't shake my Glimmer Mist, because I didn't want the project to be shiny. I just sprayed a bit of it very gently. You can achieve the same resultats with acrylic paint thinned with water, put in a Mini-mister.

Once this is done, add embellishments. Your wood piece is now ready to be displayed!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Bliss, Leaf Pile, Apple Holler, Just Write journaling stickers; Baby Blooms-A-Bella: Saffron