Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Cards On Thursdays

Are you ready to see some more creative cards from our Card Designers? We have a great variety of cards to share with you today!

"Love You" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

For the 2 cards that I made today, I wanted to try to add a little something to the inside of the card too rather than just embellishing the outside. How much more fun is a card to open when there is something pretty inside too! On this first card, I added a flower border to the inside of the card. The border coordinates with the patterned paper on the outside of the card and I added a little bling to a few of the flowers. Then I added a simple sentiment. Done!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Cute Cuts, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers

"You Are Wonderful" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

On this next card I jazzed up the inside by adding the same pink heart border from the front of the card to the inside of the card along with a simple sentiment. I thought the pink hearts looked great against the gray background. By the way, I am loving purple lately! Can you tell?! 

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Oyster, Card Sentiments; Baby Girl: Borders, Miniature Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Baby Boy: Momma's Boy; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders; We're Expecting: Miniature Stickers

"Making Memories" card, by Deanna Misner.

I thought this card would be perfect for as a part of a hostess gift or a play date thank you card. Really, the sentiment is so versatile that you could use it in a variety of ways depending on what you write on the inside of the card. And I'm still head-over-heels in love with this line! "Sunshine & Happiness" is my absolute favorite Bella Blvd line, it just makes me so happy!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Juicy Good Time, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniature Stickers; Ciao Chip Elements: Clouds; Designer Tape: Red Dot; Button Market: Masculine Mix

"Thank you" card, by Deanna Misner.

I can never really have enough thank you cards, and ladybugs are one of my favorite motifs. So I thought I'd combine the two to make a "hey lady...thank you" type card. In the end I dropped the "hey lady" part from my sentiment and layered the flags instead. One thing I really like to do on my cards is to cluster a variety of product. This card is definitely an example of that. From the 3D foam adhesive base to the chipboard, wooden button, and flags...this card has a little bit of everything I think.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Playdate, Borders, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Ciao Chipboard; Button Market: Purple Flora; Flags: Thank You, Girl

“Congrats” grey card, by Gail Hoecker.

If I had to describe my style it would probably be clean and simple. Now, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. These first two cards probably took me hours to come up with the ideas. I go through a lot of paper and stickers before I come up with something I actually want to turn in for my project. I just know I'm happiest when my cards are clean and simple! For my first “Congrats” card, I used one of the new Just Married flags and attached it to a large monogram "B". Add a little ribbon and few letter stickers and call it a day!

Supplies:  
We're Expecting: Coming Soon; Baby Boy: Momma's Boy; High Five Alpha Stickers: Yellow; Flags: Just Married

“Congrats” yellow card, by Gail Hoecker.

For the yellow "Congrats" card I broke out the circle punches. I love those punches, and afer punching some circles of pattern paper, I used some brown chalk ink around the edges. I added a couple stickers, popped one up and there you are, done!

{inside of card}

Supplies:
We're Expecting: Coming Soon, Miniatures Stickers; Baby Boy: Baby Blue, Wild About You, Alpha+Bits; Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses

“Welcome Baby Boy” card, by Gail Hoecker.

Have you ever had a paper in your collection that is always calling your name? I do, it's Popsicle Kisses from the Sunshine & Happiness collection that I made the tag from. I just love the simple pattern that goes with everything and gives your project that perfect pop of color! I cut the monkey from the Baby Boy Cute Cuts and popped it up on that "perfect" pop of color tag!  This was really a fun card to make.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: It's a Boy, Momma's Boy, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits; Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Popsicle Kisses; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue

Layouts On Wednesday

We have another round of free-for-all layouts from our Layout Designers. Let's see what they created for us this week!

“Baseball Buddies”, by Megan Klauer.

In order to create some depth on my layout I first punched 3 large stars from the black card stock. Using a marker, I then traced the stars onto the base paper {Wall of Fame} so I knew right where to add the designer tape stripes. Add the black card stock back over top & you have a unique look for your stars. A simple technique that can be used with multiple punches and a variety of tapes or paper stripes!

Supplies:
Making the Team:  Wall of Fame, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Dot, Red Dot, Teal Stripe

“Field Day”, by Brook Stewart.

The grid side from the Family Dynamics Quadrants paper is one of my go-to background papers these days! I thought it fit perfectly with the Making the Team line and the photos of my guy on his school Field Day. For this layout, I decided how I wanted my photos arranged first and that paper strips and strips of the Designer Tape would work best layered behind them and it came together pretty quickly!

Supplies: 
Making the Team: Fan Club, Soccer, Wall of Fame, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Family Dynamics: Quadrants; Sophisticates Ciao Chip Alphas: McIntosh; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders; Designer Tape: Red Dot, Jail Bird, Yellow Chevron

“Happiness”, by Loredana Bucaria.

Summer is arriving here, even if in the last week we had a lot of rainy days! I need to use colorful embellishments and papers to feel good! For this page I have created 4 little rectangle cards where I have inserted tape and photos and embellishments. I have used the crochet flowers like some dots in a list. I love these so little and cute flowers! I have created 4 sections in four different colors as well and I think that this combination is really cute! Very simple page that catches your eyes on the photos! Have a wonderful day making art!

Supplies:
Spring Flings and Easter Things: Miniatures, Mom's Bouquet, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Sunshine & Happiness: Icons, Miniatures; Baby Girl: Miniatures, It’s A Girl; Baby boy: Baby Blue, Heaven Sent; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Dot, Yellow Chevron, Pink Stripe, Pink Flowers, Blue Gingham; Flags: Birthday; Button Market: Masculine Mix; Crochet Flowers: Daisies, Dahlia, Juniper

"At The Lake", by Melissa Stinson.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I had one thing (and only one thing!) in mind when I made this layout - layering on lots of fun, bright colors! The Sunshine & Happiness line is just filled with them, and they were the perfect way to document this sweet moment between my niece and her parents while we were hanging out at the lake one day near the end of the summer. I love how well the line pairs up with the Designer Tapes, too, and I used the Pink Stripe pattern to add even more color to the page.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Happy Clouds, Popsicle Kisses, Sunny Side Up, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers; Designer Tape: Pink Stripe; Sophisticates Ciao Chip: Clouds

Fridays With Stephanie *GIVEAWAY WINNER*

It's time to announce a winner from our Fridays With Stephanie post from last week.

Congrats Erin! Email me your mailing address, to lauravegas.bellablvd@yahoo.com, with "FRIDAYS WITH STEPHANIE SCRAPS WINNER" in the subject line. A box of fun scraps and goodies will be on it's way to you shortly!

Altered Project Shares

It's been a while since we shared some altered projects, hasn't it? Well, today we have a few fun ideas to share with you. We have an altered idea binder, an altered pencil/art carrier and clipboard, and a pair of altered wooden boxes.

Altered Idea Binder, by Jennifer Edwardson.

I've always been one of those girls that would see something in a magazine and have to rip it out and tuck it away for later. Once I got married and had children, the types of things I tear out have changed to house plans and decorating ideas, etc. I've had this fun 'russel & hazel' binder for a few months now and I decided it was the perfect way to collect all my magazine pages, cut outs and layout/project ideas too!

The binding was perfectly me already; black & white, so I just needed to embellish the plain kraft cover and make a little color magic happen inside.

I used two different Bella papers on the front but left a space in between to make a word border.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Quattrofina and High Five alphas, and the smallest letters were perfect to add some of my favorite words to the cover. I added 12" border stickers horizontally and one running top to bottom along the left edge to pull it all together.

Once I had the base in place, I wrapped some twine close to the spine and added a crochet flower and a couple of flags to finish it off.

I had a few different idea sections that I wanted to use this binder for so using a few more patterned papers, I created page dividers and added Chip Essentials for the tabs.

For times when I'm on the go and just want to add bits that I've taken from magazines for later, I added envelopes to the face of the page dividers so I can keep them safe until I have time to add them to a page permanently. Of course I had to pretty these up as well so I used Designer Tape, cardstock stickers, Ciao Chip and alphas too.

Supplies:
Mr. Boy: Heros, Hyper Stripe; Family Dynamix: Quadrants, Ciao Chip; Sunshine & Happiness: Alphas+Bits, Ciao Chip; Baby Boy: Baby Blue, Alphas+Bits; Too Cute to Spook: Itsy Bitsy Spider; Making The Team: Quadrants; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Oyster; Flags: Girl, Summer; Crochet Flowers: Juniper; Ciao Chip Essentials: Asparagus & Pickle Juice, Ice & Chlorine, Oyster & Oreo; Quattrofina: Spinach & Pickle Juice, Salt Water & Pacific, Milk & Oreo; High Five Alphabets: Green, Blue, Black & White; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe, Pickle Juice Dot, Jail Bird

Altered Coloring Station, by Marie-Josée Hamel.

Summer is coming and given that I have six weeks off, I will surely work on a few scrapbooking projects. However, since the best thing about summer is the nice, warm and sunny weather, I don’t want to stay inside. So I had this idea of creating a small portable coloring station that I can bring outside, on the pool deck, while I watch my daughter. 

It is very easy to carry and holds all the supplies I need to color a few stamped images using Prismacolor pencils and taltin. All I have to do is clip the pre-stamped image on my tiny clipboard and I am ready to start coloring.

I started by painting the pen holder and the tiny clipboard with acrylic paint, and then adhered paper to all surfaces to add a bit of color. I finished both with a coat of Mod Podge. When I was done, I also added a few embellishments. I am now ready to go outside to do some coloring.

Supplies:
Spring Fling and Easter Things: A Tisket A Tasket, Cute Cuts, Sunny Sunday, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons

"Baby" altered wooden box, by Laura Vegas.

One of my favorite items to alter are wooden and paper mache boxes. They are so easy to cover with whatever pattern papers you like to fit your needs, and they're even more fun to fill up with memorabilia. I altered two wooden boxes, using the Baby Boy collection. These boxes would be perfect for storing little keepsakes from baby's first year. This first box is about 8 inches square, and was purchased at a craft and fabric store.

I started off by taking off the hinges from the box, and then I painted the box with white acrylic paint. I never sand my boxes, but that's a personal preference. Then I measure out the top of the lid, and the sides of the box, and cut my patterned papers to size. I used Mod Podge, and decoupage them to the box. I added another layer of Mod Podge on top of the papers as well, to give the box a nice shiny finish.

When it came to embellishing the box, I kept it pretty simple. I didn't want anything to bulky on the top of the box, since at some point, I'm sure this would end up tucked away somewhere. I cut a few banner shaped pieces from patterned paper, and added them to the top of the box. I wanted to keep a bit of dimension, so I did not decoupage those pieces, and instead just used lots of glue dots.

For once, I got smart and I made sure the hinges were on the sides of the box. This way, the box can sit on a shelf nicely. I used lots of chipboard pieces from the Chipboard Icons to embellish the top of the box. Love how one package of embellishments added so much to the project.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Wild About You, Heaven Sent, On The Go, Borders, Chipboard Icons, Alpha+Bits Stickers

"Baby Love" altered wooden box, by Laura Vegas.

For my second wooden box, I choose a smaller version of the first box. This box is about 5 inches square, and I thought the inset area on the top of the box added a nice touch.

I covered this box the same way I did on the first box. Painting the box with white paint, measuring and cutting my patterned papers to fit, and decoupaging them onto the box using Mod Podge. The "Baby Love" sticker from the Just Write Journaling sticker sheet was the perfect size for the inside area on the top of the box. I adhered the sticker to cardstock first, and cut around it, and then adhered it using pop dots for just a touch of dimension.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy, Heaven Sent, Just Write Journaling Stickers

Bella Blvd Fabric Style

Bella Blvd partnered up with Riley Blake Designs a while back, to bring some of Bella's most popular collections into the fabric world. We are excited to announce that the first collection, Sunny Happy Skies, is available for purchase, in both cottons and flannels. We have a few fabric experts and seamstress's working with the new fabrics, and designing fun projects that we will be sharing with you here!

Riley Blake Designs markets our fabrics under Stephanie Hunt as the designer. When purchasing or searching the Riley Blake website, it's actually easier & more efficient to find the Bella Blvd fabrics under "Stephanie Hunt" as the artist.

Sunny Happy Skies Pillows, by Beth Gerlach.

I made two throw pillows using the pink and blue Sunny Happy Skies fabrics. I purchased two throw pillows from a local thrift store for $1.50 each, cut the fabric off, and used the pillow form for the filling and the fabric as a pattern.  

I cut two squares of Sunny Happy Skies floral fabric, using the pillow form as a quide on the sizing, to create the main part of the pillow. 

I ripped the blue Lace fabric in 2 inch strips to get the frayed look, and then I ruffled the strips. 

I then sewed the strips diagonally on the blue square of Sunny Happy Skies floral fabric. 

I used the same idea for the pink pillow. I cut two squares of pink Sunny Happy Skies floral fabric, and I ripped strips of the pink Lace fabric. I then sewed the strips onto the Sunny Happy Skies fabric, but vertically this time.

I then sewed the two squares, for each pillow, together (putting right sides together), leaving about an 8" opening on one side. I then flipped the squares rightside out and stuffed the pillow form inside, and stitched the opening shut.

Sunny Happy Skies Fabric Lampshade, by Beth Gerlach.

I also created a ruffled lamp shade, using the same idea as the pillows. I purchased this basic white lampshade at Marshall's. Again, I ripped the yellow Sunny Happy Skies fabric in 2" strips and ruffled it. I then hot glued the ruffle onto the shade right down the center of the ruffles. It was super easy and barely took any time to make.

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{image credit: Sheridan Media}

We hope you are all having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and having a chance to spend it with family and friends. Today is all about commemorating the military men and woman who died to protect our nation's freedom. We celebrate their courage, their fortitude, their willingness to serve. And we salute the courage of those they have left behind — family, friends, and fellow soldiers. For the courage to persevere despite their sorrow, we stand together as a grateful nation and give thanks.

Saturday Sketches

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 our second sketch for May, courtesy of Becky Fleck. We are thrilled that Becky has agreed to design exclusive sketches, just for Bella!

"Happiness", by Kim Arnold.

This sketch was a really different design for me and I loved it! The Sunshine & Happiness range made it so easy for me to pull this layout together. I particularly loved how you were able to incorporate so many of the different paper designs into this layout with the hexagons; plus the Designer tape made a perfect frame.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Sunny Side Up, Happy Clouds, Petal Power, Play Date, Juicy Good Time, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Chipboard Icons; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe; Ciao Chip Versatile Elements: Clouds, Trees; Flags: Summer

“Little Piggies”, by Nancy Damiano.

I loved this sketch so much, I followed it almost exactly. I think it's the perfect mix of interesting design while keeping the photo center stage. I chose most of the bright patterns from the Sunshine & Happiness collection to make this page about my niece and her cute little piggies. I love how all of the patterns look together in a hexagon shape. I'm not a big flower person, but I love the way these crochet flowers give a handmade feel to the layout. A mix of chipboard and sticker alpha completes the title and this sweet sketch.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Happy Clouds; Baby Girl: Pretty in Pink, Snuggly Safari, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Crochet Flower: Poppy, Juniper; High Five Alphabet: Pink-Red; Ciao Chip Sophisticates: Peep

“Popsicle”, by Vivian Masket.

This was a fun sketch to work with! I started by rotating it ninety degrees to the left and then added hexagons (die cut from patterned paper) in roughly the pattern shown in the sketch. I knew that I wanted to end up with a clean, graphic look, so I used fewer patterns than in the sketch and stuck to tone-on-tone patterned papers. I hand cut popsicles from the Sunshine & Happiness Borders paper and used those where the flowers are on the sketch, adhering them with pop dots for added dimension. I tilted the title and journaling elements as that seemed to work better with my interpretation of the sketch. I die-cut a title from black cardstock and printed my journaling on a color of cardstock that coordinated with the patterned paper, adding an extra pop of color to the journaling strips with little bits of Designer Tape. 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Play Date, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Borders, Alpha + Bits Stickers; Designer Tape: Pink Stripe

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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

Hello scrappy friends and happy Friday! Have you already begun your extended holiday weekend? Our local weather is supposed to be beautiful, so I’m excited to spend some time in the sun with family & friends! We’ve done some “not-so-spring-cleaning” (meaning that it’s already summer for most people), rearranging and straightening of things at the studio. It’s pretty amazing how cluttered things get and how much “stuff” is accumulated over time.

Doesn’t my desk look pretty clean? I’m so excited … because it’s usually full of piles and piles and post-its galore.

Lucky for you our cleaning adventure has left us with a couple drawers full of scraps!

These two drawers have old product and new product, snippets of papers, stickers that have been partially used and lots of opened-up randomness like chipboard & flags.

Instead of throwing it away I’d like to select 2 lucky winners to receive these goodies. I’m giving away one here today with Bella Blvd readers, and one over at my blog Designing my Life, to my readers as well! (Be sure to visit both!)

I will split the drawers into two prize packages and ship them out. Here’s how to win:

Leave a comment below telling us how you’re spending Memorial Day Weekend.

Be sure to visit my blog for a second chance to win. The Bella winner will be announced here, and the second winner will be announced on my blog, both on Tuesday.

And, on a side note I thought I’d share a recent Bella Blvd layout I created with my Making The Team Products. Here’s a sneak peek, but you’ll have to visit my blog to see the rest! I mixed some Mr. Boy with plenty of Making the Team. Happy with how it turned out.

Happy Friday!

Bella Blvd & Unity Stamp Co. Inspiration Day

We are back with another Bella Blvd & Unity Stamps Inspiration Day! I asked a few of our Card Designers to use whatever stamps they were feeling inspired by, and to come up with some clever ways to use them. Let's see what they came up with!

“Let’s Stick Together” card, by Alice Carman.

For this card I used the tree stamp and cut off the trunk of the tree. It’s not only a tree stamp, but also ice cream scoops…yay! I wonder what else I could use it for? Who’s up for the challenge?

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Spooky Night; High Five Alphabets: Black-White; Sunshine & Happiness: Miniatures; Unity Stamps: Tree Love

“A Little Birdie Told Me” card, by Alice Carman.

I like things in 3’s and today’s card is just that. For my background I used the quote stamp and then I stamped the birdie 3 times and pop dotted them across the card. I also used Bella Blvd’s Halloween line called, “Too Cute To Spook” as my pattern paper. I know it’s not Halloween, but it totally works!

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Itsy Bitsy Spider; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron; Unity Stamps: A Little Birdie Told Me, Tell Me More

“It’s a Girl” card, by Kathy Martin.

It was a lot of fun getting all inked up for today’s card projects using some adorable new Bella. Blvd. and Unity stamps! For these projects, I thought it would be fun to experiment with combining the stamped images with Copic coloring and hand stitching. Since I wanted my stamped images in a soft gray color and didn’t have a gray stamp pad, I just used black and double stamped them. To do this, ink up your stamp and press it down once on a scratch piece to remove most of the ink and then stamp it a second time on your card. You can do this with any color to get a lighter hue.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Cute Cuts; Unity Stamps: It’s a Girl Stamp

“Welcome” card, by Kathy Martin.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Snuggly Safari, Pretty in Pink; We’re Expecting: Bella Baby Bump, Chipboard Icons; Baby Boy: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Pink Flowers; Unity Stamp: So Happy For You

"Shine Down On Me" card, by Gail Hoecker.

One Stamp Three Ways. When I pulled the Country Tree Itty Bitty stamp out to use this month, I thought of several ways to use it. The first, probably the easiest, was to color the leaves with colored pencils in a rather monochromatic color scheme.  

"Congrats" card, by Gail Hoecker.

The second card was a little more work. I stamped my image on the card base and then several more times on an assortment of Bella Blvd patterned papers. I then cut out the leaves and adhered them onto the stamped image on the card base, popping some up.

"Hello Beautiful" card, by Gail Hoecker.

The third card was done by stamping the image on the card base. I then used a technique I learned years ago from fellow Artista Beth Gerlach. I stamped the tree image on plain cardstock, cut out the leaves and trunk of the tree and then the fun part ... I ran them through my little Xyron right-side down so that they are sticky on the right-side up. Dip the pieces in your glitter, tap off excess and adhere to your stamped image on your card base. I do not, repeat, do not, like a glittery mess and this method keeps the glitter mess to a minimum. I almost got rid of all my glitters and I'm really glad I didn't! Yes, these cards look fairly simple, but they do take some time to assemble so you want to make sure that whoever you send them to are "card worthy!"

Supplies: 
(Card 1) Spring Flings & Easter Things: Ciao Chip; Sunshine & Happiness: Alphas+Bits; Unity Stamp: Country Tree
(Card 2) Christmas Wishes: North Pole, Candlelight; Finally Fall: Leaf Pile, Alpha+Bits; One Fall Day: Cute Cuts, Chance of Rain; Sophisticates: Sprinles & Lace Plum; Unity Stamp: Country Tree
(Card 3) Spring Flings & Easter Things: Alphas+Bits; Unity Stamp: Country Tree

Layouts On Wednesdays

We have a fun mix of free-for-all layouts to share with you today, from our Layout Designers!

"Playing Baseball", by Sheri Feypel.

I love the Making The Team line by Bella Blvd! The colors and patterns are some of my favorites! Normally I am a one photo per layout kind of scrapper, but I am trying to branch out a bit. I decided on two photos, started with white card stock and built my layout from there. I lay everything out, and make any needed adjustments before I glue anything down. Once I have my "base" down, I start adding embellishments, tape, stickers, chipboard, flags, etc. I like to call that "junking it up." Sometimes I get a little carried away, but honestly I tried to control myself on this layout!  I blame to scrapbooking companies that make all of the cute embellishments that I cannot resist!

Supplies:
Making The Team: Fan Club, Soccer, Wall Of Fame, Cute Cuts, Borders, Quadrants, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Family Dynamix: Quadrants; Designer Tape: Red Dot; Flags: Sports

"Happy Sounds", by Sue Mylde.

Sometimes it's good to put in a lot of journaling. This page is all about the happy sounds that my little boy makes. He loves animals and trucks and trains too, of course, which little boy wouldn't. And he loves sounding them all out - everything from “choo choo”, to howling like a wolf. It's an adorable trait and phase that I'll be sad to see the back of. So naturally, putting it in a layout is my way of preserving this sweet memory of my boy at 19 months.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses; It's A Boy: Baby Blue, Miniatures, Borders, Chipboard Icons, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; High Five Alphabets: Blue, Black-White; Ciao Chip Versatile Elements: Borders

“Determined”, by Julie Johnson.

Believe it or not, I am many years behind in my scrapbooking. With having my own business I just don't find the time to scrap. I have always scrapped in chronological order because when I first started scrapping 20 years ago that is the way it was done. When I became so far behind I pretty much wanted to give up. What was the point, I had way too many photos, and it was hopeless to think I would ever catch up. Then, I scrapped with a friend one day who didn't scrap in chronological order. She picked her favorite photos, scrapped them, and then placed them into an album. It was that easy. She said, "who cares if the photos are not in order." As I looked through her books I enjoyed each page individually and it didn't bother me at all to see the photos not in order. Wow! It completely freed me to scrap what I wanted and I don't worry about it anymore. When I was looking through some of my old school photos of my son, I enjoyed thinking back to his younger years...he is now 19...and remembering the times we shared, how young he was, and how much he has changed. I actually enjoy scrapping the REALLY old photos. It brings back memories I didn't know I had.

Supplies:
Making the Team: Borders, Wall of Fame, Volleyball, Quadrants, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; High Five Alphabets: Black-White; Flags: Sports; Button Market: Stars

"Sweet Sisters", by Allyson Meinholz.

For this layout I used mainly the Flirty and Sophisticates Collections along with a mix of embellishments. I love how everything came together so easily.  I just love how Bella all works together from new lines to old lines! I am all about matchy-matchy. These photos are from New Years day of 2006. I am a bit behind in my scrapbooks! Hard to believe how time flies, as these photos were taken when we had just two daughters. And we are now expecting our fourth little girl.

Supplies:
Flirty: Heart Throb, OMIGosh, Party Girl, Label Addition Stickers, Bits-a-Bella; Sophisticates: Short Stories, Petite Pieces, Plum Sprinkles & Lace; High Five Alphas: Blue; Ciao Chip Elements: Family Words, Stars & Hearts, Borders; Baby Blooms-A-Bella; Crochet Flowers; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe; Button Market: Pink Flowers

Product Spotlight: Crochet Flowers

Today, we are back with our new feature day, called "Product Spotlight". With the new embellishments that we introduced at Winter CHA, such as the buttons, flags, tapes, and flowers, we want to make sure to share plenty of inspiration and ideas with you for using these new products.

Today, we are focusing on our new Crochet Flowers! Aren't they adorable? They are the perfect size to embellish layouts and cards, at just about 1" in size. They come in four different colors sets, with pinks, reds, yellows, and blues. Our Crochet Flowers are the perfect little touch to add to your projects, adding texture and a little handmade goodness.

"Happy" by Becky Williams.

For this page I kept the design fairly simple by using strips of paper and just a few embellishments. One of my very favorite Bella products are the little Miniatures and Alpha+Bits stickers that always seem to find their way onto my projects. The little crocheted flowers added just the right pop of color and texture to my page.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy, Borders, Alpha+Bits; We're Expecting: Bella Baby Bump; Baby Girl: Pretty in Pink, Miniatures; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Alpha+Bits; Sophisticates: Ciao Chip Sunshine & Happiness icons, Stars & Hearts, Borders, Simply Simona Prune; Crochet Flowers: Dahlia, Juniper, Daisies

“My Favorite Time Of The Year”, by Melissa Stinson.

I had so much fun making this layout using the new Crochet Flowers that Bella introduced at the CHA Winter show. I cut a polka dot background in a sheet of white cardstock, then layered it over a piece of Punch Sprinkles and Lace paper to add a few pops of color. On top of that, I placed Crochet Flowers in several of the background holes to create a scattered effect. While I love all the fun items on this page, after it was finished I still felt like I wanted to see more of those lovely photos, so I pulled out a 4x6 divided page protector and added several more large prints to create a two-page layout. To tie the two pages together, I adhered a small button and another Crochet Flower right on top of the page protector.

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Sprinkles and Lace Punch, High Five Alphabets Red, High Five Alphabets Black; Button Market: Wood Mix; Crochet Flowers: Poppy, Dahlia

“Happy Birthday” card, by Kathy Martin.

I have to have texture! Or I may as well go digital! Not that there’s anything wrong with digital, it’s just that I’m a hands-on type of girl who loves layers, texture and these new Bella Blvd. Crochet Flowers! Now that’s texture! And color! And they include buttons, another favorite of mine!

Supplies:
Flags: Birthday; Designer Tape: Pink Stripe; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red, Yellow; Crochet Flowers: Poppy, Daisies, Juniper & Dahlia

"Congrats, Congrats, Congrats" card, by Deanna Misner.

This card is all about repetition. I repeated both the circles and the flowers to create a look of consistency and balance. I covered the edge with Designer Tape and folded the excess over the side just like how I'd wrap a present, and to bring a little more yellow in, I added the scalloped "I love you" border. It's an easy card that would be versatile with collection or theme.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Borders, Baby Blue, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Designer Tape: Blue Gingham; Flag: Just Married; Crochet Flowers: Daisies, Juniper