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

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

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

On-Going Guest Designers: Sarah Klemish & Kryssi Ng

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. Today, we are welcoming back Sarah Klemish and Kryssi Ng, for another round of projects.

In the scrapbook world I am known as “Sarahak”, in the real world I am Sarah Klemish (wife, mother, daughter, sister). I still remember the first Creative Memories class I took 10 years ago – cardstock and pictures cut in funky shapes! I still treasure those layouts but since then my style has changed. I am typically what is known as a “simple” scrapper. Straight lines, white space and sewing, that sums it up. I am currently designing for Creative Memories (talk about coming full circle)! I have been published in Scrapbook Trends and was on the Better Homes and Gardens Scrapbook Etc. team for a year. I still do work for Scrapbooks Etc. and get published with them regularly. Love the hobby, love the people and love being asked to participate on fun projects! 

"Sweet Smile", by Sarah Klemish.

I love these pictures of my sister in laws niece, Gracie! Because she had this cute strawberry outfit on I decided to play off that for the layout! I started out with a neutral background, and I cut three different size pieces of paper for the banner. On the middle banner I pop dotted the strawberry chipboard shape, and I added the heart border with the orange scallop under the pictures. The title was done using a combination of Simply Simona Alphabet, and the “sweet” sticker from the Spring Fling & Easter Things Miniatures sticker sheet. 

Supplies:
Spring Fling & Easter Things: Egg Hunt, Miniatures Stickers; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Popsicle Kisses, Chipboard Icons; Simply Simona Alphabets and Numbers: Oyster

"Summertime Sisters", by Sarah Klemish.

I love these pictures of my good friend’s two little girls taken at the beach! The Sunshine & Happiness line was perfect for these summer pictures! I started out with a neutral background and added some black paint splatters. I added the two 2x3 pictures and then designed around that! The stripe strip across the top was cut from the Borders paper. Above the pictures I pop dotted the clouds and sun, and then added a pop dotted purple scallop border sticker below the pictures. I tucked the “Summer Time” flag behind the chipboard title. Lastly I tucked a couple banner cut tabs from the Borders paper behind the picture! 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Alpha+Bits Sticker; Ciao Chip Elements: Clouds, Family Words; Flags: Summer

"Baby Baby", by Sarah Klemish.

The alternative school I work at has many students with babies and my favorite mom is Cali. This picture is of her and her baby, Josslyn! Love them! And love that they like me to take their picture! I used a variety of collections on this layout! I started out with a neutral background and added some black paint splatters. I then added a strip of the Baby Boy “Mama’s Boy” paper. After adding the picture I added a doily behind it and a small piece of the Red Dot Designer Tape. I then cut the “Baby Baby” title from the Baby Boy Borders paper and sewed it down, partially over the picture. I then tucked two flags behind the title, one from the Summer set and one from the Sunshine and Happiness set. I added 3 cut out hearts (two are pop dotted) from the Sunshine and Happiness “Happy Clouds” paper. Lastly I added journaling strips above the picture.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Mama’s Boy; Baby Girl: Baby Cakes; Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds; Designer Tape: Red Dot; Flags: Summer, Sunshine & Happiness

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I live in NYC with my husband and two little girls. I started doodling and drawing at a young age and pursued an education in fine arts. That lifelong passion eventually led me into the world of paper crafting and graphic designing. Most of my waking hours are dedicated to tending to my family but on the small window of free time on some days -- you can find me in my room making cards (and sometimes scrapbooking a layout) or tinkering around with Photoshop/Illustrator. Anything but cleaning!

“Let Me Count The Ways” card, by Kryssi Ng.

I knew I wanted to create a simple middle aligned layout. I had this Instax picture of my bestie sitting around that was waiting for the perfect papers to be scrapped. I used the uber trendy chevron washi tape to create my alignment and then went about adding dimensions and textures in specific spots until I was happy with the minimalist yet textural design.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Popsicle Kisses; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red

“Spread Your Wings and Fly” card, by Kryssi Ng.

I am drawn to the gorgeous clouds, it inspired me to created a tone on tone wall art. I used a white gel pen to outline the butterfly die cuts and to add texture. I love that there is random little pops of colors peeking out of the butterflies.

Supplies: 
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red

“Happy” card, by Kryssi Ng.

I love the happy colors in the Sunshine Happiness collection so much that I think it should be highlighted in a CAS card! I kept it super minimal with a simple layer. Used some Lifestyle dies to create the banner and finished off with the round stickers. It's so simple yet the colors pack quite a punch!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red

Bella Blvd & The Twinery Team-Up: Day Five

Welcome to our last day of our week long Team-Up with The Twinery! We have a group of our Bella designers that have mixed The Twinery's gorgeous baker's twine into our projects. And The Twinery's designers have been busy mixing Bella's products into their projects. Let's see what our designers have whipped up for us today.

"Baby Face", by Deanna Misner.

This is quite possibly my most favorite photo of my son who was a week old at the time. I love that the photo was off center so that I had room to fit the title on top of the actual picture. I also decided to play a little with the twine and create my own argyle pattern. To me, nothing says "boy" better than some argyle pattern, so I criss-crossed gray twine to create the patterns on top of the diamond-shaped papers.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy, On The Go, Wild About You, Borders, Miniature Stickers, Ciao Chipboard; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue; Button Market: Stars

The Twinery Supplies:
Stone

"May" calendar page layout, by Allyson Meinholz.

I am currently working on my pregnancy album for Alayna. Every month, I create a calendar page to document my biweekly doctor’s appointments and multiple ultrasounds. I made a pocket behind the calendar to store the ultrasound photos. I used the twine to create my “May” title, and to create the grass along the bottom of the page.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Play Date, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Crochet Flowers: Juniper; Button Market: Feminine Mix, Tie Dye, Aqua Flowers, Fruit Punch

The Twinery Supplies:
Peapod, Lilac, Lemondrop

"Owen", by Morgan Bandkowski.

I decided to make a layout using pictures of my friend's little boy, Owen. I wanted to make it fun so I decided to make the layout look like a big Tic-Tac-Toe board. The twine was a perfect way to make the lines and also the X's. I even used the twine to stitch on the buttons and the Ciao Chip letters. 

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Mr. Boy: Cute Cuts, Dinomite, Connect The dots; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: McIntosh; Designer Tape: Red Dot, Jail Bird; Flags: Home Sweet Home; Button Market: Bursts, Stars, Red Flowers

The Twinery Supplies:
Denim, Stone, Peapod, Maraschino

"It's All About The Frosting", by Sheri Feypel.

My son, Logan is the inspiration for this layout. He likes to "rearrange" his cupcakes to get the perfect frosting to cake ratio. I used the Bella Blvd Baby Girl line to document his cupcake eating style. I chose to keep it clean for this layout, adding dimension with foam pop dots and stitching around the scallop circle.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Girl: Pretty In Pink, Daddy's Girl, Snuggly Safari, Baby Cakes, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; High Five Alphabets: Pink/Red  

The Twinery Supplies:
Capuccino

“It’s A Girl” card, by Kathy Martin.

For this Twinery project I wanted to use most of the twine colors and create something I haven’t seen yet. Using the same technique I did for my “Easter Egg” layout, I used a scoring board to create horizontal and vertical lines as a guide for the twine. Then I created a weaving pattern following those lines.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Girl: Chipboard Icons, Miniatures Stickers; Button Market: Feminine Mix; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiments

The Twinery Supplies:
Shore, Blossom, Honeydew, Mandarin, Stone

"Congrats" card, by Sheri Feypel.

I used Bella's Baby Boy line to create this card. I punched a star in the blue and white striped border and layered it on top of a shipping tag wrapped in twine. I removed the string from the tag and added more twine!

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Boy: Wild About You, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers

The Twinery Supplies:
Capuccino, Buttercream, Shore

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Don't forget to head on over to The Twinery blog, and check out what their Design Team has created using their gorgeous baker's twine, and our fun Bella products! Also, there is still time to get in on their giveaway. They are giving away 3 Original Sampler Packs ($15 retail value each) and have asked readers to leave a comment on each of The Twinery's participating designer's blogs EACH DAY. You will have until Sunday to leave comments and they will announce the winners on Monday.

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"Grand Prize" is the Embellishment Bundle includes so many different Bella embellishments including the High Five alphabet stickers in a variety of colors, chipboard alphabets and numbers too, new Crochet Flowers and flags, chipboard embellishments from Too Cute to Spook, Mr Boy and Sophisticates elements, Stick Pin flags, Buttons and Button Mixes, several new Designer Tapes, and clear stamps too! This embellishment Bundle is valued over $50 and could be yours for FREE!

Runner up is the Paper and Sticker Giveaway including patterned papers, embellishment papers and cardstock stickers (12x12") from the following collections: Finally Fall seasonal collection, Estate Sale feminine vintage collection, Making the Team sports and athletics collection and We're Expecting pregnancy papers and stickers. This variety pack is valued over $30.

To be entered in our random drawings for these two giveaways, just leave us a comment on THIS post. We will be announcing the winners on Monday afternoon.

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We want to say a special thank you to The Twinery, including the all the participating designers and the plethora of product that was sent our way from The Twinery's studios. It's such a pleasure to work together in this industry to create excitement about all of our products. We hope you enjoyed this week full of inspiration, variety and giveaways!

Bella Blvd & The Twinery Team-Up: Day Three

Welcome to day three of our week long Team-Up with The Twinery! We have a group of our Bella designers that have mixed The Twinery's gorgeous baker's twine into our projects. And The Twinery's designers have been busy mixing Bella's products into their projects. Let's see what our designers have whipped up for us today.

“Hangin’ Out In A Tree”, by Kimberly Neddo.

I really love working with different shapes. For this layout, I arranged different patterned paper shapes in a large circle and wrapped several different colors of twine over the top for a fun effect to draw interest to the photograph, with the movement of the shapes and overlapping, encircled twines.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Petal Power, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Ice, Blue High Five Alphabets; Hello Beautiful: Cute Cuts; Baby Boy: Momma's Boy; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Orange; Button Market: Pink Flowers, Aqua Flowers, Fruit Punch; Flags: Summer

The Twinery Supplies:
Caribbean, Pink Sorbet, Lemonade

“Getting To Know Grandpa”, by Brook Stewart.

I love these photos of my youngest little guy with my dad! I wanted to do something fairly simple so that they would be the main focus of the layout. I traced a 9" heart onto the background once I got the other paper strips stuck down where I wanted thyem. I then added a thin line of glue and attached the twine straight on the layout.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Boy: Baby Blue, Wild About You, Borders, Alpha+Bits; High Five Alphabets: Yellow, Blue

The Twinery Supplies:
Cappuccino

"Amazing", by Laura Vegas.

My first thought, when I got my package of The Twinery's baker's twine, was that I wanted to re-create a layout I did a few years ago, where I had wrapped string around blocks of patterned paper. I choose three colors of twine, and then set about finding tone-on-tone patterned papers to go with each color. By keeping the pattern paper and the twine the same color, it adds a nice subtle touch of interest to the page. I distressed the edges of my papers, which helps "hold" the twine in place, when I wrap it around each piece. I then adhered the twine wrapped pieces to the page using pop dots, for even more dimension. It's such a simple technique to do, but adds a fun touch to the page. 

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Family Dynamix: Tight-Knit, Borders N' Blocks; Lovey Dovey: Love Is In The Air, Sweetheart, Circle Of Love; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Oreo; Designer Tape: Jail Bird

The Twinery Supplies:
Blossom, Honeydew, Stone

"Green Gators", by Deanna Misner.

Making the Team was the PERFECT collection to feature my daughter's softball team pictures. And since our team is the Gators I, of course, borrowed the cute little alligator embellishments from the Baby Boy collection. Honestly, as soon as I heard our team name I started making this layout in my head. LOL. I knew I'd use those alligators. One thing that I absolutely love about using the twine is that it softens the page while making it a little more girly too. After all that chipboard, it needed some softness.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Making The Team: Fan Club, Quadrants, Cute Cuts; Sunshine & Happiness: Alpha+Bits Stickers, Flags; Baby Boy: Ciao Chipboard, Flags; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Dot; Button Market: Pickle Squares; High Five Alpha Stickers: Green

The Twinery Supplies:
Honeydew

"You Are My Sunshine" card, by Sheri Feypel.

I started out by piercing the shape of a sun, then adding the stitching. I wanted the sunshine to be the focal point of the card and chose a small sentiment to go along with it.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Family Dynamix: Quadrants; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Miniatures; Sunshine & Happiness: Alpha+Bits Stickers

The Twinery Supplies: 
Lemondrop

"Sending You Sunshine" card, by Allyson Meinholz.

I used Sunshine & Happiness along with some Sophisticates chipboard and some buttons to create this card. I punched out a scallop circle and used the twine to go around & around, to make the raise of the sun. I added a chipboard accent, sticker, and a button for more dimension. Once I finished the card, I decided to add stitching to the outside edge, all around the card.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness:

The Twinery Supplies:
Lemondrop

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Now, head on over to The Twinery blog, and check out what their Design Team has created using their gorgeous baker's twine, and our fun Bella products! Also, be sure to check out THEIR giveaway. All the details, on how to be entered in their giveaway, are on their blog. NOTE: This is for The Twinery's giveaway on their blog. NOT our giveaway, which will happen on Friday ;)

Check back in with us tomorrow, for even more inspiration. And stay tuned for Bella's giveaways, happening on Friday ;)

Bella Blvd & The Twinery Team-Up: Day Two

Welcome to day two of our week long Team-Up with The Twinery! We have a group of our Bella designers that have mixed The Twinery's gorgeous baker's twine into our projects. And The Twinery's designers have been busy mixing Bella's products into their projects. Let's see what our designers have whipped up for us today.

"Sunshine and Happiness" by Becky Williams.

When I coming up with ideas for my Twinery projects I knew that I wanted to create something that showcased many of the twine colors. I then got the idea to make a rainbow using the crocheted flowers as the clouds and this layout idea was born! I love the different colors of twine available from The Twinery and have had so much fun with these projects!

Bella Blvd Supplies: 
Baby Boy: Cute Cuts, Miniatures, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Ciao Chip Icons; Baby Girl: Pretty In Pink; Crochet Flowers: Daisies; Designer Tape: Jailbird, Pink Stripe, Pickle Juice Dot; Sophisticates: Ciao Chip Clouds; High Five Alpha Stickers: Yellow, Blue

The Twinery Supplies:
Maraschino, Mandarin, Lemondrop, Pea Pod, Denim, Caribbean, Lilac, Pink Sorbet

“Dream Big Little Girl”, by Megan Klauer.

The Peapod colored twine quickly became my favorite color so I decided to use that as the base of my color scheme. With a touch of pink & yellow it was perfect with this picture of Ella from her second birthday shoot. I looped the twine through the button and continued it off the page on both sides. I then sewed over it to help keep it in place. I'm not sure I'm in love with the look of that, but it's something different and it's always fun to try something new. Using a dimensional dot I popped up the cupcake sticker and again tied it with the Peapod twine. 

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Finally Fall: Quadrants, Bliss, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Baby Girl: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe; Sophisticates Ciao Chip: Clouds; Sophisticates High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red, Yellow; Button Market: Pink Flora {backside}, Wood Mix, Fruit Punch, Aqua Flowers, Stars

The Twinery Supplies:
Peapod

“First Strawberry Of The Season”, by Kathy Martin.

The Twinery and Bella Blvd are the perfect colorful combination! I really enjoyed creating ways to accent my page with The Twinery’s product! Some of my accents are common uses and then some are unique! This page is like an “I spy” page. Can you find all seven places and six colors that I incorporated twine into my project?

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Sunny Side Up, Play Date, Juicy Good Time, Happy Clouds, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers; Chipboard Icons, Flags; Button Market: Pickle Squares; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe; Ciao Chip: Clouds, Borders; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red 

The Twinery Supplies:
Lemondrop, Shore, Marachino, Blossom

“Get Well Soon”, by Brook Stewart.

When I was looking through my Bella stash, I came upon the rainbow die cut from the Spring collection and knew exactly what I wanted to do for this card project! The beautiful colors in the rainbow coordinate perfectly with the bright assortment of twine colors from the Twinery! I just cut some small pieces and glued them down along the coordinating colors of the rainbow of the die cut. I used a paper piercer and needle to secure the ends of the thread behind the rainbow at the ends for a finished look.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Boy: Cute Cuts, Heaven Sent; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Cute Cuts; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron

The Twinery Supplies:
Maraschino, Blossom, Pink Sorbet, Lemondrop, Honeydew, Caribbean

"Maybe A Cupcake Will Help" card, by Suzanne Sergi.

Even though the Baby Girl collection is meant to be paired with baby photos, you will find patterns that will be perfect for cards. The cupcake paper found on the Baby Cakes paper, was the inspiration for this card. I pulled out a variety of pinks to create a card that will make anyone smile. I loved using the twine as accents to embellishments. I used the pink twine to wrap around the cupcake itself, and also as the final tip of frosting at the top.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Girl: Snuggly Safari, Cute Cuts, Pretty In Pink, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Button Market: Pink Flowers; Flags: Floral

The Twinery Supplies:
Blossom

“Happy 4^th” card, by Kimberly Neddo.

One of the things I love doing with twine, is wrapping it into a circle on Glubbers (large glue dots). It's so easy to create the perfect circle! I wanted to do a 2-color circle for this fun twine embellishment I made. I used my Big Shot tool to punch a hole in the center, where I threaded the twine through and tied a bow. I am loving the new Designer Tapes that Bella Blvd recently released. It works super great for pleating, as you can tell by the little pleating I added to the border across the center. The flag embellishments were the perfect touch to complete this card and I really loved making this card.

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy; Simply Simona Chipboard Numbers: McIntosh; High Five Alpha Sticker: Pink-Red; Sunshine & Happiness: Miniatures Stickers; Flags: Patriotic

The Twinery Supplies:
Maraschino and Denim

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Now, head on over to The Twinery blog, and check out what their Design Team has created using their gorgeous baker's twine, and our fun Bella products! Also, be sure to check out their giveaway. They are giving away 3 Original Sampler Packs ($15 retail value each) and have asked readers to leave a comment on each of The Twinery's participating designer's blogs EACH DAY. You will have until Sunday to leave comments and they will announce the winners on Monday. NOTE: This is for The Twinery's giveaway, on their blog. This is NOT a giveaway on the Bella blog. Our's will be on Friday ;)

Check back in with us tomorrow, for even more inspiration. And stay tuned for Bella's giveaways, happening on Friday ;)

 

Saturday Sketches, On Friday

Stephanie is crazy busy this week, finalizing the new products for Summer CHA, so she's not around for her usual Friday post. So I figured we would post our sketch feature a day early. 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 first sketch for May, courtesy of Becky Fleck. We are thrilled that Becky has agreed to design exclusive sketches, just for Bella!

“Summer Beauties”, by Kimberly Neddo.

Sometimes when I'm working with a sketch, I turn the print out of the sketch around to change it up a little bit. Changing direction, can be just what I need to be inspired and get to creating. For this layout, I turned it to the side, and used the title as the circlular part of the sketch. I love how this turned out, and how it inspired me to create.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Sunny Side Up, Alpha+Bits, Miniatures; Ciao Chip: Family Words, Clouds, Springs Flings & Easter Things Icons; Crochet Flowers: Dahlia; Flags: Spring Flings & Easter Things

“Ziplining”, by Julie Johnson.

I just love this color combination. Perfect for sunny, outdoor photos. By the look of these photos you would think it's summertime, but no, it's a beautiful sunny January day on Catalina Island just off the coast of California. If you are familiar with my design style than you know I like to ink or distress the edges of my paper. But sometimes I also like the look of the colorful crisp edges but I always think I still need something to bring all the paper pieces together. I know it's a little "old school" but I still love to doodle. I use a very fine pen, .01, so I can get the finest lines possible and I am very random with my line work. I think the trick to doodling is not to have all your lines look alike. So mine are very random; some short, some long, over lapping, and even small dots in between. Once in awhile I even like to add in a heart or flower. It adds tons of detail to your layout but doesn't over power it. Try it...it's fun!!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers; Flags: Summer; Ciao Chip: Stars & Hearts, Borders; High Five Alphabets: Yellow; Crochet Flowers: Juniper

"Mad About You", by Sue Mydle.

Playing with this sketch was utterly fun. Rather than the two photos, I put four photos on the page, but offset them a little to give a bit more interest. The fun pieces from the Baby Boy collection simply lend themselves to whimsy, fun and cute!

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy, Wild About You, On the Go, Heaven Sent, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Flags: Girl; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Brownie, Saltwater; Designer Tape: Blue Gingham; Button: Stars

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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.

 

Layouts On Wednesdays

It's another round of Free-For-All layouts today, and we have a very fun mix of layouts from our designers!

"Geeky Happiness", by Melissa Stinson.

I've been having a little too much fun with my Silhouette lately! It's a great way to quickly try out new techniques that might take much longer if pieced by hand. For instance, the sunburst pattern that I cut from the Sophisticates Sprinkles and Lace paper is a Silhouette cut file that I changed the dimensions on a bit to make it fit my layout- so much faster than measuring, cutting, and piecing by hand. Versatile tools like this are a great way to get even more from your Bella Blvd papers!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Sprinkles and Lace Surf n Turf, High Five Alphabets Blue; Winter Wonder: Icy; Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Chipboard Icons; Button Market: Masculine Mix, Stars; Decorative Tape: Teal Stripe

"Run Rabbit Run", by Kim Arnold.

I love the flexibility of the Sunshine & Happiness collection. There is a large amount of pink in this range, but it is also very easy to create a layout without any pink at all – as I have done with Run Rabbit Run. The super cute little chipboard bunny is from the new Spring Flings and Easter Things chipboard.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Sunny Side Up, Happy Clouds, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniature Stickers; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Chipboard Icons; Button Market: Masculine Mix; Sophisticates: Green High Five Alphabets

"Bones”, by Vivian Masket.

The fish skeleton flag from the Cat flag set was the perfect embellishment for this unusual set of photos I've been hanging onto for a while. I repeated the design of the flag embellishment by die-cutting a fish skeleton from the gray chevron B side of the Momma's Boy paper and used both the positive and negative shapes on my layout. The two basic patterned papers I used here added pops of color without taking the focus off of my photos. The white High Five Alphas worked well for adding the finishing touch of a title layered over my smaller photos.  

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy; Flags: Cat; Christmas Wishes: Candlelight; Sophisticates: High Five Alphabets (Black-White)

"Good friends", by Gretchen McElveen.
{A Winter CHA Project}

Believe it or not, this rather "busy" layout is just 2 sheets of patterned paper, the Alpha + Bits sticker sheet, and a few of the white High Five alphabets mixed in! You sure can do a lot with the Borders patterned paper, a sheet with lots of flowers to cut out (Petal Power), and a bunch of fun stickers!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sophisticates: Black-White High Five Alphabets

May Guest Designer: Jennifer Gallacher

We are excited to introduce you to our May Guest Designer, Jennifer Gallacher! Jennifer has created some fabulous, bright, and happy projects to share with us today. And along with those projects, she has also added a few fun challenges, for those of you that would like to play along!

Hi everyone! It's Jennifer Gallacher here. I currently work with Echo Park Paper as their Marketing Coordinator/Managing Editor. In addition I serve as a Garden Girl for www.twopeasinabucket.com. You may have seen my work as an Assistant and Contributing Editor for a few of Northridge Publishing titles including Cricut Magazine, Scrapbook Trends Magazine, and the Create Idea Book Series. In my 15 year career as a designer, teacher, and editor in the industry I've had the opportunity to work for such companies as Making Memories, Little Yellow Bicycle, Li'l Davis Designs, and Karen Foster Design. I have taught and demonstrated at CHA tradeshows and local scrapbook stores and had many projects published in the leading papercrating magazines. I enjoy both traditional, hybrid, and even digital paper crafting. When I'm not designing, I enjoy reading and watching English Period Piece movies. My husband doesn't quite understand how I can watch a Jane Austen movie five times in a row, but I think it's wonderful!

I am super excited to be joining Bella Blvd as a Guest Designer this month. Bella Blvd has such playful, bright color schemes and patterns; and since I am always drawn to color, I was thrilled to be designing with several of their collections this month.

"Summer", by Jennifer Gallacher.

For my first creation, I designed a layout using the "Sunshine & Happiness" collection. We're finally starting to get warmer weather, and that makes me long for picnics at the park, trips to the pool, and just anything sunshine related. This layout is a tribute to my niece who is definitely full of sunshine and happiness. We love it when she comes to visit, and she loves to be outside in our yard.

I am a big fan of the banner trend so I cut several pieces from the "b side" of the "Sunshine & Happiness" collection. I cut each banner to a random length and width and then either cut the banner on a diagonal or notched the ends. I overlapped them with stickers and then machine stitched some of them in place. To complete the banner, I created a little scene with stickers and cut out shapes from the paper. I also printed my journaling on yellow cardstock and mounted it on the yellow chevron word bubble. Layering like this draws the eye to the larger elements on the page and balances your photos.

Challenge: Cut your favorite Bella Blvd. papers into banner shapes, overlapping them as you place them on your page. Lay them horizontally or vertically depending on your layout design. Be sure to cut them varying widths and lengths to keep them interesting.

"Friends" gift jar, by Jennifer Gallacher.

For my second creation, I wanted a little gift that I could deliver to a friend. I think I have a crush on this chevron pear shape. I covered an empty jar with patterned paper, a ribbon, and the cut out pear shape. I also layered on a sentiment "friends" sticker and a button tied with twine on the jar front. I then filled the jar with green and white bubble gum. I keep empty jars and containers on hand just for occasions such as these. I can't wait to deliver this little gift to my neighbor as I know she'll love it!

Challenge: Cover a container or empty jar with elements from any of the beautiful Bella Blvd. collections. Then select a treat that matches the colors and patterns found within the paper and embellishments. Then deliver it to a friend or neighbor. You can also create a coordinating card with leftover supplies.

"Spring" frame, by Jennifer Gallacher.

For my final project, I wanted a home decor art piece showcasing the spring season. In addition to keeping jars and containers around, I stock up on cute frames so I can alter them at will. For this frame, I filled the inside with cloud patterned paper, the rainbow shape die cut, and the chipboard sunshine sticker. I cut an additional rainbow shape from a second sheet of paper and layered the clouds on top of the first shape. I like using adhesive foam squares to create shadows and depth on my project between layers.

To create the banner, I hand cut triangle shapes from some "Sunshine & Happiness" patterned paper (don't be afraid to mix and match collections as Bella Blvd.'s collection work very well together). Then I layered the chipboard "SPRING" letters on each banner and strung them from string attached to my frame. I love how this makes me excited for all our beautiful spring weather.

Challenge: Fill a frame with a seasonal themed scene using the shapes you can cut out from the patterned paper. Mix in buttons, tape, stamps, and chipboard stickers for even more texture and interest. Place elements within the frame (removing the glass), and outside the frame to make it more exciting!

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I really enjoyed working with the Bella Blvd collections. I already have even more projects in mind and can't wait to start creating. Thanks for joining me today in creating some spring and summer projects.

Layouts On Wednesdays

Are you ready for some more free-for-all layouts, by our Layout Designers? Let's see what they have for us today!

“Funny Days”, by Loredana Bucaria.

Today I want to share with you some little ideas in order to use the new embellishments! I have used the designer tapes, which are amazing, to create some little frames behind the pictures. You can use some dimension adhesive to give even more emphasis to the photos! Play with them mixing the way you insert them in your page! Play with lovely and tiny strips of papers, they are gorgeous on a white background! At the end add some little details!

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Miniatures, It's A Boy, Baby Blue, Momma's Boy; Baby Girl: Alpha+Bits, Miniatures; We're Expecting: Bella Baby Bump; Sunshine & Happiness: Miniatures; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red; Crochet Flowers: Daisies; Button market: Wood Mix, Neutrals Mix; Designer tape: Pickle Juice Dot, Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe, Pink Stripe; Flags: Baby Girl

“6 Flags”, by Nancy Damiano.

I love the bright happy colors of the Sunshine Happiness line! It such a versatile line and I think it looks great with these pictures of my son at a local theme park. I cut some different patterns of yellow patterned paper for my sun "rays" and added a pocket of denim to add texture and a fun spin to the page. A few of my favorite photos and some chipboard complete this springtime layout.

Supplies:
Sunshine Happiness: Happy Clouds, Sunny Side Up, Miniatures; Making the Team: Wall of Fame; Winter Wonder: Icy; Family Dynamix: Quadrants; Flags: Summer; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Dot; Ciao Chip Versatile Elements: Clouds; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: White Numbers, Pickle Juice

“My Neighbor”, by Katherine McElvain. 

One of my favorite products of the Bella release this season is all the new chipboard icons. I wanted to highlight a few of those cuties on this layout. I stitched a couple of circles and plopped the chipboard in those spots with some other fun Bella pieces. The rest of the circles were filled with coordinating Bella prints. It was fun to search though my new and old patterns to come up with a combination of yellow orange and turquoise to create a summery background.          

Supplies:
Sunshine and Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Sunny Side Up, Happy Clouds, Alpha & Bits Stickers; Baby Boy: Baby Blue; Baby Girl: Daddy’s Girl; Sunny Happy Skies: Creamsicle Clouds; Finally Fall: At the Beach; Ciao Chip: Clouds, Trees; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Brownie; High Five Alphabets: Yellow, Blue; Button Market: Wood Mix

Layouts On Wednesday

It's the middle of the week. Wednesday. Which means it's time for another round of Free-For-All layout shares! We have a good mix of boy and girl layouts today. Something for everyone! 

"Tattoo Tape", by Kim Arnold.

I love taking a different spin on paper ranges and using them for topics that you might not immediately think of. Making the team is a range aimed at sports, but to me a large number of the papers and embellishments are just perfect for any “boy orientated” layout. I love the graphic prints and ended up adding just a touch of the Mr Boy range to finish off this layout about the tattoo tape that my physio applied to Benson when treating his arm.

Supplies:
Making the Team: Quadrants, Wall of Fame, Volleyball, Chipboard Icons, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Mr Boy: Borders n’Blocks, Chipboard Icons, Chit Chat Chipboard; Ciao Chip Simply Simona Alphabets Oyster

“Sherrard Short Sox”, by Megan Klauer.

Create a statement with a photo; print it BIG! My photo is 8x12. It has a good amount of white space which keeps the focus on the subject & leaves plenty of space to add embellishments and interest to your design. Add a bold title & well balanced clusters and it's a page design you can use over & over again!

Supplies:
Making the Team: Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Miniatures Stickers; Sophisticates: Plum; Button Market: Text

“Baby Boy”, by Loredana Buccaria.

Hi everyone! Who says that a baby line can be used only for baby boys? I have dared myself to use it for a page about my baby boy, my man and I had a lot of fun! I love these colors and this kind of embellishments, they are really amazing! The chevron paper is amazing, I love it so much! I would to insert everything on a side and add many embellishments, I would a clear and simple page to give more attention to the photo! I love this photo of my hubby, I love him so much and this collection has helped me to create a so lovely page, don't you find? Ok now is your turn!!!! Try to use a collection that you'd never use and create a page! I am curious to see what you will create!

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Borders, Ciao Chip Icons, Miniatures, Wild About You, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Momma's Boy; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Black-White; Flags: School; Buttons Market: Wood Mix

"J'Adore", by Sue Mylde.

I knew immediately what I wanted to do with these Sunshine & Happiness paper when I got them in my DT package! I love these cut outs and fussy-cutting them out for the page was a lot of fun. I pasted the washi tape frame and then did a little spray misting in different colors - blue for the sky, green for the grass and yellow for effect, layered behind the photo. I love layers and to create the layering effect for the 'grass and flowers' on this page, I cut out two layers for the grass, pasting them one behind the other. I then fussy-cut out the flowers from the 'Borders' patterned paper and layered these on. The crochet flowers give an even more fancy layered effect to the grass! Those clouds and the sun were made for cutting too! Added the buttons for a more eclectic feel and a few sentiments seals the deal. I loved every element of this Sunshine & Happiness collection. Could create with these for days!! Thanks Stephanie! So very pretty!!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Borders, Petal Power, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers; High Five Alphabets: Yellow; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe; Buttons: Feminine Mix

"Supah Star Diva", by Kimberly Neddo.
{A Winter CHA Project}

Yes, I have a poser! Lol. I love this line of paper for these photographs. The border chipboards are great to cut up and use around the page also. The new Pink and Purple colors are so pretty and complimenting to mix and match together and with other other Bella Blvd lines.

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Plum, Sprinkles & Lace Punch; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Miniatures Stickers; Making The Team: Miniatures Stickers; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Saltwater; Buttons: Stars; Flags: Text Me

"Miles Of Smiles", by Allyson Meinholz.

I really enjoyed making this layout once I had a photo and an idea. I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed when I have a "Free for All", just because I have so much Bella product and I want to use it all. When looking thru my photos, I realized it has been a year since we drove down to Disney with our 3 little girlies. And it is one album I have not started yet. So, no better time than the present to do a bit of Disney using Bella Blvd. I used my Cricut to cut out the back overlay and built my page off of there. My favorite part was making the tabs of Designer Tape pop. First I ran the tape onto white cardstock so I was able to cut pieces, and then I popped it off the page using pop dots. I also loved using buttons to make the little Mickey Mouse ears!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace McIntosh, Tall Tags, Borders, Ciao Chip Oreo; Midterm: Text Me; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red, Black-White; Designer Tapes: Red Dot, Jail Bird, Yellow Chevron; Button Market: Text, Wood Mix, Neutrals Mix, Masculine Mix; Crochet Flowers: Daisies; Baby Blooms-A-Bella: Saffron

Altered Project Shares

Today, we have some new altered projects to share with you, along with a cute little mini album. It just so happen, that everyone was drawn to the new Baby Boy and Baby Girl collections, when they went to work on this week's projects. We hope you enjoy these great baby themed projects, any of which would be great for baby shower gifts!

Altered Baby Frame, by Marie-Josée Hamel.
Photographer: Annie B Studio

When I saw this four-picture frame, I knew it would be perfect for the new Bella Blvd baby collections. I decided to put only one picture in the frame and decorate the rest. First, I adhered paper strips around two of the smaller frames and decorated them with corner stickers (Alpha+Bits stickers). I then cut a piece of paper the same size as the center of my frame and added a chipboard accent. 

I also wanted to add tridimensional elements, such as chipboard, twine and crochet flowers. However, since there was not enough space to put them under the glass, I put all the embellishments right on the frame and onto the glass. I then cut three 4 x 6 pieces of paper and decorated them using sitckers. Tip: Use tape to adhered the pieces of paper and/or pictures to the glass to ensure they don't move.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Baby Blue, Wild About You, On the Go, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Flags; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe; Crochet Flowers: Juniper

Baby Girl Diaper Cake, by Jennifer Edwardson.

I'd heard of these cakes but had never seen one before, so it was fun to create this 'sight unseen' if you will. It had been many years since I'd purchased a bag of newborn diapers, but I was excited to get started!

First, I cut (2) different sized circles from heavyweight cardstock and covered each with 'snuggly safari' and lightly sanded the edges. These became the based to build the cake onto.

Then I wrapped each diaper with fishing line and tied them tight so not to slip. Once I had them set onto the bases I tied the entire section again with fishing line.

I then chose a couple of border strips, cut them out, sanded the edges and adhered them together at ONE end. Once dry, I wrapped them around the diaper layers to cover the fishing line. Because I chose to make larger 'cake pieces', these did not meet in the center which gave me the perfect spot to add embellishment.

I precison cut some adorable shapres from the 'cute cuts' and adhered them to the front of both layers. I used a journal card to give this cake a title to welcome baby alayna and added a chip flower and some sweet flags too!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Snuggly Safari, Borders, Cute Cuts, Miniatures Stickers, Flags

Baby Girl Mobile, by Jennifer Edwardson.

As soon as I got to sit down and play with the Baby Girl Collection I was immediately drawn to the fantastic shapes in both the Cute Cuts and the Chpboard Icons. I knew exactly what I wanted to try and create with these great pieces.

I chose a few strips from the borders sheet and sanded the edges, then adhered them together, slightly overlapping each. Once these were secure, I wrapped this whole piece around to form a circle and adhered again. I then punched (3) small holes in this piece and tied thin fishing line through each hole to create the 'hanger'.

I punched (4) holes in the bottom of this circle and added strings of different lengths using the fishing line. I punched several circles from 'pretty in pink' as well as precision cut from the 'cute cuts' paper. I punched small holes in each of these pieces and threaded then on to the fhishing line. The circles had an additional circle added to the back to keep them from shifting.

I tied 'pink flowers' buttons on the bottom to give each line weight and added a few 'miniatures' stickers to come of the circles as well! This is going to look so sweet in 'baby alayna's' room in just a few short weeks!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Petty In Pink, Borders, Cute Cuts, Chipboard Icons, Miniatures Stickers

"Our Baby Girl" mini album, by Becky Williams.
{A Winter CHA Project}

For this mini I decided to make it a birth through first year so I included a picture from each month of her life so far. I started with cardstock cut to 12 x 6 and scored at the 4 inch mark giving me a tri-fold piece that I put together with two other such strips. I added the patterned paper backgrounds and then used some of the Designer Tapes on the edges, then added some pictures and stickers. 

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It's a Girl, Borders, Daddy's Girl, Pretty in Pink, Cute Cuts, Snuggly Safari, Sweet Dreams, Ciao Chip; We're Expecting: Miniatures Stickers, Ciao Chip; Designer Tape: Blue Gingham, Pickle Juice Dot, Yellow Chevron, Pink Stripe, Red Dot; Crochet Flowers: Daisies, Dahlia; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Green, Blue, Yellow, Black-White, Pink-Red

Saturday Sketches

Today, we have another round of 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 April, courtesy of Becky Fleck. We are thrilled that Becky has agreed to design exclusive sketches, just for Bella!

"Making Memories", by Becky Williams.

This was such a fun sketch to work with! Oftentimes I feel the urge to fill my pages with lots of things and don't always allow enough empty space for the eye to rest so this was a good challenge for me. I mixed the Sunshine & Happiness floral paper with bits of the Baby Boy collection and it worked surprisingly well. I love that the baby collections have papers versatile enough to use for everyday pages. 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Miniatures; Baby Boy: It's a Boy, Heaven Sent, Cute Cuts, Wild About You, Baby Blue, On the Go, Alpha+Bits; Designer Tapes: Red Dot, Jailbird; Flags: Floral, Summer; Button Market: Blues, Neutral Mix

“Forever Friends”, by Kimberly Neddo.

I really loved the simplicity of this sketch. It made this layout just fall together with ease! I took this photograph while I was visiting some long time friends in Arizona. It was so great seeing them, and picking right up where we left off. Good friends like this in our lives, needs to be recorded and remembered.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Sunny Side up, Miniatures; Baby Boy: Mamma's Boy, Alpha+Bits, Miniatures; Flirty: omigosh; Flags: Girl; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron; Ciao Chip: Clouds; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black/White

"Favorite Cheeky Monkey", by Sue Mylde.

Working with a smaller picture, and a bigger title, I moved the title in the sketch to take up the space on the right side of my page. The cute mini flags were created out of the 'Heaven Sent' and 'On the Go' paper. I love using my white gel pen for the dark background to help pop the journaling. I thought the little quote from the Mr. Boy Chipboard set went really well with my little monkey's page because this sure seems to be what he's thinking when he's up to no good these days.

Supplies:
We're Expecting: Coming Soon; Baby Boy: Heaven Sent, On the Go, Cute Cuts, Miniature Stickers; Mr. Boy: Chit Chat Chipboard; High Five Alphabets: Green; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Pickle Juice

"You're Mine", by Wendy Wagner.

Another amazing line by Stephanie, and one of my favorites! A photo of my darling little daughter at the young age of 5. These colors seem to compliment her personality perfectly! And a lot of the times I look at her I am amazed that she is mine :) I rounded the corners as the sketch shows, and followed it almost exactly. It's what I usually do with sketches, which is why I love them so much! It cuts my time in half when I'm working on a layout! 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Cute Cuts, Popsicle Kisses, Flags; Crochet Flowers: Juniper

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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.