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

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. 

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

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 Four

Welcome to day four 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 in store for us today.

“Girly Clothes”, by Brook Stewart.

I've had so much fun clothes shopping for our first little girl coming this summer! Her closet is already getting well stocked and I wanted to make sure to document it! I went with a lot of pink on this layout to reinforce the "girly" aspect of the subject. I added the beautiful pink twine colors around the outside as a border and secured them with mini staples. I also added a border of the lighter pink twine around my journaling spot to define it. I just stuck it down with some liquid glue.

Bella Blvd Supplies: 
Sunshine & Happiness: Juicy Good Time, Play Date; We're Expecting: Bella Baby Bump, Baby's First Miniatures; Baby Girl: Alpha+Bits Stickers; High Five Alphabet: Pink-Red; Baby Blooms a Bella: Rossini

The Twinery Supplies:
Pink Sorbet, Blossom

"We Love You" by Becky Williams.

For this layout I wanted to do something I'd seen on projects created by others: writing with the twine. It was a lot easier than I thought it might be. You simply draw the word with liquid glue and add the desired color of twine. You could even mix up the colors by cutting smaller segments of twine. 

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Baby Girl: It's A Girl, Ciao Chip Icons; Baby Boy: Miniatures Stickers; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Just Write Journaling Stickers; We're Expecting: Baby's Firsts Miniatures Stickers; Designer Tape: Pink Flowers; Sophisticates: Ciao Chip Borders; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White

The Twinery Supplies:
Maraschino, Pink Sorbet, Denim

“Easter Eggs”, by Kathy Martin.

I wanted the twine to really shine on this page so I created a frame with it. In order to make straight lines with the twine, I used a scoring board and then I traced those lines with a glue pen. I could have easily used the Bella Blvd. Spring Things & Easter Things for this dyed egg page, but the new Sunshine & Happiness line is equally adorable and versatile!

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Flags; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Punch; Button Market: Fruit Punch; Flags: Spring Flings & Easter Things; Ciao Chip: Clouds; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White, Blue

The Twinery Supplies:
Lemondrop, Orchid

“When I See You Smile” card, by Megan Klauer.

For the "rainbow-cloud" I took a piece of white card stock, covered the front side with adhesive & glue dots and began wrapping the twine around it. I then added a layer of dimensional pop dots to the top and added another piece of white card stock with the cloud punched out. This is such a versatile technique! Change the punch and the twine colors and you can get a whole new look! Have fun with it!

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Cute Cuts, Miniature Stickers

The Twinery Supplies:
Lilac, Caribbean, Peapod, Lemondrop, Mandarin, Pink Sorbet

Heart card, by Morgan Bandkowski.

I attend a lot of weddings so I am always trying to come up with different ideas for wedding cards. I used a die cut of a heart and wrapped twine all around it. I love using the Lace side of the Sprinkles & Lace paper because it gives the card a classy feel. 

Bella Blvd Supplies:
Sophisticates: Spinkles & Lace Oyster, Sprinkles & Lace Oreo; Christmas Wishes: Christmas Love

The Twinery Supplies:
Maraschino

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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 our last day of inspiration. And we'll reveal our big giveaways too!

Cards On Thursdays

With Mother's Day coming up in a few days, I asked a few of our Card Designers to create cards that would be perfect for the occasion.

"Happy Mother's Day" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

I really love how the Bella Blvd products work so well together. On this first card I went with a fun pink, brown, and yellow color scheme using products from 4 different lines! Making stuff sure is fun and easy when all the products coordinate so well!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power; Spring Fling and Easter Things: Miniature Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Baby Girl: Chipboard Icons; Winter Wonder: Toasty; Button Market: Wood Mix

"It's Your Day” card, by Gretchen McElveen.

On this next card I used some of the new Ciao Chip (Family Words and Clouds) with papers from the Sunshine & Happiness and Baby Girl lines. I don't know if I have ever used a pink, purple, and red color scheme like this before...but I think I like how it turned out! Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Borders; Baby Girl: Pretty in Pink; Ciao Chip: Clouds, Family Words; Sophisticates: Pink-Red High Five Alphabets

"Best Mom" card, by Laura Vegas.

It might seem a bit odd that I turned to the Tail Waggers & Cat Naps collection when I sat down to make a few Mother's Day cards. A pet collection for Mother's Day cards? Sure, why not! I am very driven by color, when making my paper choices, and I just love the colors and patterns in this collection. The small circles patterned paper has little hearts and paw prints in some of the circles. To cover up the paw prints, I just used a regular hole punch to punch out some of the circles with hearts from a scrap piece of paper, and adhered them over the paw prints using mini pop dots.

Supplies:
Tail Waggers & Cat Naps: Treats, Borders N' Blocks; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Pink; Quattrofina Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe

"Congrats To The Best Mom" card, by Laura Vegas.

I started this card with a few of the pattern papers from the Tail Waggers & Cat Naps collection as well, but mixed in a bit more red and pinks this time. I used a mix of a Ciao Chip "Mom" word, some letter stickers, and a flag, to create my sentiment. I also used a fun cloud border punch along a few strips of patterned papers, and layered them together along the bottom of the card.

Supplies:
Tail Waggers & Cat Naps: Blocks N' Borders, Cute Cuts; Winter Wonder: Blizzard; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace McIntosh; Family Dynamix: Quadrants; Ciao Chip: Family Words; Quattrofina Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red; Flag: Just Married

“Mom, You Make My Days Better” card, by Alice Carman.

Love that this week’s cards are focused on Moms. Now I have 2 cards ready to go for Mother’s Day. Yay! Using some favorite dies, I punched out some flowers and played with some borders. 

Supplies:
High Five Alphabets: Green; Baby Girl: Snuggly Safari, Miniatures; Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Borders

“Mom” card, by Alice Carman.

I think I went die cutting crazy on this card. Just love the different shapes you get and how it alters the look of the paper. Just love this Lovey Dovey line, don’t you?

Supplies:
Lovey Dovey: Alpha+Bits, Love is in the air, Cute Cuts, Borders, Circle of Love; Estate Sale: Hat Box; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe

"Mother's Day" card, by Wendy Wagner.

This card has a lot going on, like most of my scrapbooking! I love pattern, layers, and bling. The flags accent it perfect and are easy to attach to the pop dots under the heart. There is also some inking, glimmer mist and stickles going on. This is for sure a card I would love to get! Enjoy your upcoming Mother's Day :) 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Borders, Juicy Good Time; We're Expecting: Miniatures Stickers; Baby Girl: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Flags: Floral, Spring Flings & Easter Things; Sophisticates: Stars & Hearts Ciao Chip; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue, Green

"Happy Mother's Day" card, by Wendy Wagner.

This card was super simple but very classy. Three simple circles popped and inked, along with a matching crochet flower. I added the cute little Mothers Day banner and a cute border across the top. All on the simple white makes it a clean, easy to see simple card. Much different from the way I usually scrapbook, but sometimes it’s fun to go outside the lines! Enjoy!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Peep, Sprinkles & Lace Banana, Sprinkles & Lace Ice, Ciao Chip Borders; Crochet Flowers: Daisies, Juniper, Dahlia; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Miniatures Stickers

Cards On Thursdays

We have a card filled post for you today. A few birthday cards, a baby card, and lots of bright and happy summer and flowery cards! I also wanted to remind everyone that Saturday is National Scrapbook Day. We will have several posts going up, throughout the day, with shares from all of our design team members. And somewhere in there, we will also be doing a HUGE giveaway! We hope you'll stop by and check it out!

"Celebrate" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

Obviously the Baby Girl line is perfect for all your girly layouts and projects. But you know what else it is great for? Birthday stuff! This line has all kinds of cupcakes in it (paper, stickers, chipboard) that work for birthdays too! And because you can never have enough extra birthday cards on hand, I whipped up a couple using lots of the cupcakes from the Baby Girl collection.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders; Sophisticates: Card Sentiments

"Eat Cake" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Sweet Dreams, Baby Cakes, Chipboard Icons; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders

"Thinking of You" card, by Gretchen McElveen.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I have not ever been much of a purple fan, but I sure am enjoying using the purple in the Sunshine and Happiness line! And I am still pretty obsessed with hand-cutting all the flowers out of the patterned paper! What fun cards they make!

Supplies:
Sunshine and Happiness: Borders, Cute Cuts, Chipboard Icons; Sophisticates: Card Sentiments

“Sunny Days” card, by Alice Carman.

I love this honeycomb shape so I thought I have a little fun and make this simple yet colorful card. I punch out using several Bella Blvd papers and added a few fun Bella Blvd embellishments.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Sunny Side Up, Petal Flower; Baby Girl: Sweet Dreams: High Five Alphabets: Yellow; We’re Expecting: Baby’s Firsts Miniatures Stickers; Button Market: Stars: Ciao Chip: Clouds

“Baby” card, by Alice Carman.

Loving the Designer Tapes from Bella Blvd! I used a few strips of tape and then cut out a shape from it to create this look. I love how it turned out and it’s super easy to make or mix up with all of Bella Blvd’s Designer Tapes.

Supplies:
Designer Tape: Teal Stripe; Baby Boy: Cute Cuts, Chipboard Icons; We’re Expecting: Baby Boy Bump; High Five Alphabets: Green

"The Best Thing" card, by Kimberly Neddo.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I created a fun chevron patter with the papers for the border here, by using my punch and fitting them together. Love how this turned out too. It’s such a great way to show off the pretty papers in this line too.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Happy Clouds, Play Date, Popsicle Kisses, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Ciao Chip

"Summer Time", by Laura Vegas.
{A Winter CHA Project}

With so many fun patterned papers in the Sunshine & Happiness collection, I just had to use a little bit of each one on this card. Creating sunbursts is a great way to use up your scraps of paper too, since a little bit goes a long way.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Baby Boy: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Flags: Summer

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

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

Layouts On Wednesdays

What a Wednesday we have planned for you! Two posts in one day, so make sure and give each one a looksie! We're starting out the day with another round of free-for-all layouts, by our Design Team. I love seeing the wide variety of layouts that our designers come up with, and we hope you find inspiration in them as well. Our second post will be the reveal of The Bella Buzz April Newsletter. You won't want to miss that!  

"Happiness", by Brook Stewart.

The weather is finally starting to warm up around here, so I used it as an excuse to get some fun pictures out in the sunshine of my guys playing on the swing set. I rarely get that good picture of both of them together, so when I unloaded my camera and found this one, I was super excited! It will be going in a frame, for sure! With the sunshine outside, I was really amped up to use the new Sunshine & Happiness collection! It just makes me happy looking at all the bright, fun colors!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Flags: Summer; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Pickle Juice Dot

"Po Boy Factory", by Melissa Stinson.

Bella's Baby Girl and Baby Boy collections are adorable lines for scrapping the little munchkins in your life, but what if you're like me and don't have any children of your own? Good news- these collections are still totally usable for non-themed layouts, especially if you use the B-sides of the papers, where you'll find fun patterns without a theme. For this layout, I mixed several B-sides from the Baby Boy and Baby Girl collections along with one of the new Sophisticates Sprinkles and Lace papers to create a Mardi Gras inspired color palette. The photos are from one of our favorite local restaurants that serve New Orleans-style fare and is always decked out in shades of purple, green, and yellow.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Borders; Baby Boy: On The Go, Heaven Sent; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Plum, Yellow High Five Alphabets; Button Market: Pickle Squares, Bursts

"Monkey See, Monkey Do", by Nancy Damiano.

I've been hanging on to these pictures of my son and niece for a few years, always searching for the 'right' line of paper + embellishments. Who knew I'd find it in  the Baby Girl line by Bella. I love that cute little monkey and it reminded me so much of my niece making faces. I layered 5 different papers for a bright and colorful look. I think the photos really pop on the light purple background. Sometimes you really have to take a second look at baby themed lines and notice the details - they just might be perfect for some of your non-baby photos!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Snuggly Safari, Pretty in Pink, Sweet Dreams, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red; Flags: Girl, Floral; Crochet Flowers: Dahlia; Ciao Chip Simply Simona: Pink

"Summer Adventure Fun", by Laura Vegas.
{A Winter CHA Project}

During our hot summer months, my girls tend to spend most of their free time in the swimming pool. These are two of my favorite photos of them, taken after a day of swimming. The Sunshine & Happiness collection was perfect to scrap these photos. I created my title on top of one of the journaling blocks, using the alpha stickers from the Alpha+Bits sticker sheet, and some designer tape. I also added some Diamond Glaze to the letter stickers and also to the chipboard sun, to give a shiny, glossy touch to them. 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Ciao Chip Elements: Clouds; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Dot, Yellow Chevron; Button Market: Tie Dye, Aqua Flowers

"Baby Girl", by Deanna Misner.
{A Winter CHA Project}

This photo is of my daughter having a little tummy time on the floor.  It's still one of my favorites, and the new Baby Girl papers were ideal to use with it. I used tags made of different pattern papers to ground the photo, which is a fun way to add a lot of pattern and color without overwhelming the picture. I added a few girly details including the polka dot flag, some flowers and the pearly stick pins and called it a day.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Sweet Dreams, Daddy's Girl, Snuggly Safari, Borders, Alpha+Bits; Baby Blooms a Bella: Rossini; Flags: Bugs

Product Spotlight: Wood Buttons

Today, we're kicking off a 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.  

First up, we are putting the spotlight on our Wood Buttons. Our packages come in great neutral wood designs, and also in fun, colorful wood designs. They're perfect for adding a fun touch to any project. We asked some of our Design Team members to work the Wood Buttons onto their projects, in creative ways. Let's see what they came up with!

"Tic Tac Toe The Logic", by Nancy Damiano.

I love using buttons to add texture and dimension to a scrapbook page. Sometimes they add just the right pop of color to a layout and other times - they're a prop. I've used buttons in place of the letter "o" in many layouts, so why not use them as "o's" on a game piece! They added a fun and personalized touch to the Tic Tac Toe embellishment. Plus, the bold, aqua washi tape in a grid was fun to make.

Supplies:
Sunshine Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Alpha+Bits; Baby Boy: Baby Blue; Finally Fall: Apple Holler; Making The Team: Wall Of Fame; High Five Alphabets: Green, Black-White; Button Market: Text; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe

"Zoo Birthday", by Katherine McElveen.

Seeing the cupcakes, animals, and fun patterns in the Bella Baby Girl line, I knew I wanted to use it for a layout about my daughter’s birthday trip to the zoo. I used buttons and Chipboard Icons to create the “zoo” title, and cut out a triangle form the dress on the Cute Cuts paper to create a party hat for the little pink chipboard giraffe.

A single page was not enough for the photos that I wanted to include in the layout so I added a divided page protector for the second page. I love how the Bella journaling tags on the Cute Cuts paper fit perfectly into the dividers. When using the divided page protectors I like to tuck some embellishments, like the journaling tags, inside the pockets, but also adhere some stickers and paper directly to the outside of the page protector. I wanted to carry the buttons and chipboard animals to the this second page, so I created an embellishment of the monkey holing button balloons, attaching them to the outside of the protector.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It’s a Girl, Daddy’s Girl, Baby Cakes, Boarders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits, Chipboard Icons; Baby Boy: It’s a Boy, Wild About You, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits; Button Market: Aqua Flowers, Zebra, Checkers, Fruit Punch, Neutrals Mix; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Peep, High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red, Blue, Miniatures Card Sentiments

"Our Bottle Calf", by Brook Stewart.

I used a wide range of Bella papers for this layout. I wanted it to be colorful and bright, just like the pictures! I cut several papers into tags and topped them with one of my favorite new Bella embellishments … the wood buttons! They are the perfect accent to any layout or project!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom's Bouquet, Borders; Making the Team: Quadrants, Borders; Mr. Boy: Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Ciao Chip Alpha Stickers: McIntosh; High Five Alphabets: Yellow, Blue; Button Market: Checkers, Wood Mix, Masculine Mix, Neutrals Mix

"Hi" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

I love that Bella Blvd has buttons now! And these wooden ones are some of my favorites! One of my favorite ways to use buttons is as the center of a flower. A button makes for a simple and fun way to jazz up a flower!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Plum, Black-White High Five Alphabets; Winter Wonder: Toasty; Sunshine & Happiness: Cute Cuts, Petal Power; Button Market: Checkers: We're Expecting: Baby's Firsts Miniature Stickers

"You Are My Sunshine On A Rainy Day" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

Buttons are such fun embellishments! I used them here along with flowers cut out of a sheet of patterned paper (Sunshine & Happiness Petal Power) and miniature stickers to create a fun border across this card. Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Punch (Hot Pink); Spring Fling and Easter Things: Cute Cuts, Miniature Stickers; Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Miniature Stickers; Button Market: Checkers, Wood Mix

"Happily Ever After" card, by Deanna Misner.

Wedding season is just around the corner and I, for one, am in a need of several wedding and shower cards. I thought the neutral buttons in the Button Market would make a nice card that has lots of pattern, but also is simple and sophisticated.

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Oreo; Button Market: Checkers, Plaid, Zebra, Wood Mix, Masculine Mix

"Have a Wonderful Day" card, by Deanna Misner.

For this quick card punches made all the difference! I used both a circle and scalloped circle punch to created a "general use" card for use any time. I used a rainbow of colors, a couple of different collections (don't you just love how most of the collections can be used interchangeably?), and the neutral buttons were the perfect compliment to give it depth and texture. Now I have a card that I can grab on the go or use when I'm in a pinch.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Pretty in Pink; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Sunny Sunday, Borders, Miniature stickers; Button Market: Checkers, Wood Mix; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red

Layouts On Wednesdays: Easter Layouts

We are still thinking Easter here on the Bella blog! And today, it's all about Easter layouts. We've got some fabulous layouts featuring the Spring Flings & Easter Things collection, but we even have an Easter layout using the new Baby Girl collection. Hope you enjoy them!

"Easter Lips", by Kimberly Neddo.

I so love the bright cheery colors in Bella Blvd lines and embellishments! I tried out making fun flowers with the new Washi tapes and I LOVE how they turned out too. This is a fun layout expressing my youngest daughter's fun personality. Thank you for looking!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Borders, Pretty in Pink, Alpha+Bits; Sophisticates: Black/White High Five, Ciao Chip Borders; Spring Flings & Things: Ciao Chip Icons; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe, Pickle Juice Dot, Yellow Chevron; Button Market: Tie Die, Feminine Mix

"Egg Snatcher", by Diane Payne.
{A Winter CHA Project}

One of my favorite embellishments in each collection is the sticker sheet. They include coordinating captions, journaling spots and words that are perfect for framing photos and creating titles and captions that coordinate perfectly with your photos. They were just what I needed on this layout to draw the eye into my precious photos!

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom's Bouquet, Egg Hunt, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits, Miniatures; Button Market: Pink Flowers; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe

"Ella's First Easter", by Megan Klauer.
{A Winter CHA Project}

This was one of my favorite photos of Ella at her first Easter Egg hunt. Love her tiny little hand reaching for the eggs. I remember how excited she was when she opened them and discovered they were full of Cheerios. The Spring Fling & Easter Things provides such a great assortment of embellishments. Perfect for a "cluster" effect as I've done here. Tip: Fold over a piece of the Designer Tape onto itself, trim the end, and it creates a fun & easy "banner" piece. {Shown with the Yellow Chevron - next to the journaling card.}

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom's Bouquet, Egg Hunt, Borders, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits, Miniatures, Flags; High Five Alphabets: Blue; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Brownie, Saltwater; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron

“Easter”, Julie Johnson.

I'm loving this Easter collection! Just can't get enough of it and the paper is so versatile. Actually, I ran out of my favorite yellow, Sunny Sunday. But I had no worries because Bella's papers work so wonderfully together the yellow gingham from the Socialite collection worked perfectly.  I enjoy wrinkling up my paper because it adds plenty of texture to my layouts. For this layout I cut a scallop border and gathered it up to make a ruffle. I have a little technique I like to use. I like to wet my paper just a bit with a fine mist spray bottle. Wet both sides of the paper, but don't get it too wet or your paper will rip. The paper starts to feel like leather and it becomes very flexible and easy to work with. I gathered up the border with my fingers and then shaped it to look just right. I then set it aside to dry while I am working on the rest of my layout; it usually doesn't take too long. I think one of the best things about Bella products is the embellishments.  There are so many matching embellishments you can have an awesome looking page that doesn't take tons of time because you just have to add some Ciao chip, Alpha + Bits, miniatures, one of Bella's new flags and a button and "WaLa" you have a really cute layout, right? 

Supplies:
Socialite: Cute Cuts; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Ciao Chip, Borders, A Tisket a Tasket, Egg Hunt, Mom's Bouquet, Flags; Button Market: Masculine Mix; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Peep

Baby Girl Layouts & Cards

We hope you're all having a great weekend! We're back today, to share some more of our CHA projects, featuring the Baby Girl collection.

"Adorable", by Wendy Wagner.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I created this layout about my sweet little princess at 6 months old. It was so fun and easy to do with the wonderful new Baby Girl collection! I did lots of distressing and stitching to this layout along with inking and painting. All of Stephanie's products are so fun to use that the second I see them a million ideas come to my head...so it was so fun to be able to use as many of the pattern papers that I did punching out the scalloped circles along the bottom. As far as the new Flags from Bella Blvd, they can seriously be used anywhere! I love them! 

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Daddy's Girl, Snuggly Safari, Baby Cakes, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Flags; Button Market: Pink Flowers; Crochet Flowers: Dahlia; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red

"Baby Love" card, by Stephanie Hunt.
{A Winter CHA Project}

Pink pink pink! It's my favorite color. So why not create a monochromatic card with the Baby Girl cuteness and a bit of twine!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It's A Girl, Snuggly Safari, Just Write Journaling Stickers 

Baby card, by Stephanie Hunt.
{A Winter CHA Project}

Quick and easy, that's how I love my cards! The Cute Cuts offer great elements for cards. Here I "wrapped them up in a small bundle" just like we do with fresh babies. This same design could be quickly duplicated for a Baby Boy card with the new baby boy products! Give it a try today!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Snuggly Safari, Cute Cuts; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Plum

"Congrats" card, by Wendy Wagner.
{A Winter CHA Project}

"It's A Girl" card, by Sheri Feypel.
{A Winter CHA Project}

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We'll see you back here on Monday, where we will introduce you to our amazing April Guest Designer!

Baby Girl Altered Projects & A Mini Album

We ended up with an abundance of CHA projects, featuring the Baby Girl collection, that we havn't had time to share on the blog yet. So, today and tomorrow, will be all about baby girls!

"Baby Girl" altered blocks, by Beth Gerlach.

My original thought was to make regular baby blocks using the new Baby Girl line, but I wanted to think of something clever to display them. I covered each side of the blocks (purchased at The Scrapbook Store) with different patterned papers and pictures, then drilled a hole in each one. I embellished each block with dfferent Bella product and pictures. I then threaded each block onto ribbon, seperating each by knots. Since I wanted to be able to spin the blocks, I made the holes about 1/4". I then knotted the end until the knot was larger than the bottom hole so it would stay secure since the blocks were quite heavy. I cut strips of ribbons and tied them in-between block to add a little frill.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It's A Girl, Pretty In Pink, Snuggly Safari, Sweet Dreams, Cute Cuts, Alpha's+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Flags; Crochet Flowers

Baby Girl Gift Pail, by Therese Hennessy.
{A Winter CHA Project}

Need a unique way to present a baby gift or any gift using Bella Blvd products? This is a fun and creative idea using a clear pail and adorable paper and ribbons. Punch out scallop circles for the top and a big flower to tie around the pail. What you put inside will show through – and they can use the pail after for cute little items to store. Your imagination can go far with this project … birthday, teacher gifts, Christmas, you get the idea!                    

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It’s A Girl, Daddy’s Girl, Sweet Dreams; We’re Expecting: Coming Soon

"It's A Girl" banner, by Sheri Feypel.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I love the Baby Girl collection and hardly ever get to play with pink being the Mom of boys. I went a little crazy with all of the elements of the Baby Girl line, adding stickers and flags as well as lots of pattern. I made the banner flags look sort of like pockets and folded the tops of each over the ribbon holding the banner together.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It's A Girl, Pretty In Pink, Snuggly Safari, Sweet Dreams, Cute Cuts, Alpha's+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Flags; Button Market: Pickle Squares

"Baby Lauren" mini album, by Stephanie Hunt.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I just love creating mini books. This album is a basic chipboard, tabbed album from Maya Road with key-ring binding. I distressed the edges of just about everything throughout the entire mini that documents the day that my niece, baby Lauren, was born. A couple of the details (like her statistics) still need to be filled in, but other than that it's completed. I wanted the mini to be simple and sophisticated, really displaying photographs against the soft hues of the Baby Girl collection. I love, as time passes, how previous this mini album will become. It's always bittersweet to look back on how teeny tiny babies were when they just arrived. ;)

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It's A Girl, Pretty In Pink, Daddy's Girl, Snuggly Safari, Baby Cakes, Sweet Dreams, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits, Just Write Journaling, Miniatures Stickers; Sophisticates: Pink-Red High Five Alphabets, Saltwater chipboard alphabets; Designer Tapes: Pink Stripe, Pink Flowers; Crochet Flowers: Poppy

Saturday Sketches

First up, 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 March, courtesy of Becky Fleck.

"Baby Ella Bean", by Megan Klauer.

I always love starting with a good sketch. It's like that first step of the creative process is done for you. The next step for me is making it my own. Adding some embellishments, tweaking it, or even rotating it; that's the fun part! I have had this cute little photo of Ella for a while now & just haven't found the right papers for it. Then I tried it with the Spring Flings & Easter Things collection ... perfect!

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Egg Hunt, Mom's Bouquet, Sunny Sunday, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits; Button Market: Wood Buttons, Pink Flora; Sophisticates: Chip Essentails; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Blue; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Pink; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron

"It's A Girl", by Brook Stewart.

After 7.5 years worth of little boys, we recently found out that we're having a baby girl this summer. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time! This sketch worked perfectly with my new ultrasound pictures. I used the sketch mostly as is, but instead of just photos, I cut papers to fit the photo areas since my pictures were a little smaller. I added my journaling where the embellishment cluster is since I had quite a bit to say and it wouldn't fit on the tag with my title.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: It's A Girl, Snuggly Safari, Miniatures;  We're Expecting: Bella Baby Bump; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom's Bouquet; High Five Alphas: Red & Pink; Ciao Chip Borders; Ciao Chip Alphas: Simply Simona Peep; Ciao Chip Sophisiticates: Trees

"Spring", by Julie Johnson.

This sketch was so easy and fun to work with. It's a great sketch if you are wanting to use up some left over scraps or not wanting to use a lot of paper. All you need is a few strips for this one, but to look at it, you would never think so. I loved how the "Just Write Journaling Sticker" fit perfectly between my photos to create my title and journaling block. As for the details on the page, the bottom flower border is cut from one of the journal squares from the Cute Cuts sheet. I added some stickers from the Alpha + Bits sticker and Miniature sticker sheets, and hand punched a few butterflies. I'm loving the new Bella Flags but since I haven't got my hands on any yet (it's tough waiting, isn't it), I decided to make my own. I cut a rectangle from pattern paper, folded it in half and glued it to a toothpick and then cut the ends at an angle to look like a flag.

Supplies:
Spring Flings and Easter Things: Borders, A Tisket A Tasket, Sunny Sunday, Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits, Miniatures, Cute Cuts

"Shovel", by Vivian Masket.

I loved the simplicity of this sketch! I followed the sketch almost exactly, omitting the stitching and adding some extra embellishments at the top of the journaling block. The gorgeous colors in the Winter Wonder papers provided the inspiration for my title and snowflake elements, which were die cut from coordinating solid colored cardstock. The Winter Wonder Miniatures Stickers added the perfect finishing touches!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Blizzard, Icy, Miniatures Stickers; Family Dynamix: Quadrants

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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.