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

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

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 ;)

 

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

Cards On Thursdays

"Spring” card, by Alice Carman.

Hooray…it’s Spring!  I just adore the colors we get during Spring and today’s card clearly says that!  It’s a beautiful so get inspired and use some Bella Blvd product to make your next awesome card.

Supplies:
Baby Boy, Miniatures, On The Go; Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Sunny Side Up, Alpha+Bits; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Icons Ciao Chip; Designer Tape: Pink Flowers; Button Market: Feminine Mix, Masculine Mix, Fruit Punch

“Sweet Girl” card, by Alice Carman.

I love to layer on my cards so making this window card really shows off all the Bella Blvd product I used.  Can you name all the products I used?  Well if you can’t, my supply list will have everything I used. 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Cute Cuts, Juicy Good Time; Baby Boy: Heaven Sent; Designer Tape: Pink Flowers, Pink Stripe; Baby Girl: Miniatures; High Five Alphabets: Green, Pink-Red

"Sending You Sunshine & Happiness" card, by Deanna Misner.

I had fun with this card, maybe a bit too much. But as soon as those tapes arrived at my door, I wanted to play with them. So on this card I decided to "ruffle" them. If you can call it that. I used the same technique with the tape as I would paper to accordion fold, or ruffle, them. Then I layered chipboard clouds, a flower that I turned into a sun, and added my sentiment. Did you know that the collection label on the top of the Alpha+Bits sheet is a sticker too? It is. And I used it as a part of what I wanted to say.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Ciao Chipboard; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Ciao Chipboard; Ciao Chipboard: Clouds; Designer Tape: Red Dot, Pink Flowers, Yellow Chevron, Pickle Juice, Blue Gingham

"UR A Delight" card, by Deanna Misner.

I've been really inspired by Pinterest lately (who hasn't?!) and I've really loved looking at the home decor embroidery hoops hanging on walls. One in particular had a series of circles that inspired me to make this card. I used different patterns and shapes to make the card look like Sunshine & Happiness confetti had been dropped on it. A simple non-distracting sentiment was added to keep the overall design as the focus.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Sunny Side Up, Play Date, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Borders, Miniature Stickers; Quattrofina Alpha Stickers: Mustard and Apricot

"Birthday Wishes" card, by Kathy Martin.
{A Winter CHA Project}

Now that Bella Blvd has new Designer tapes, I get to play with different ways to incorporate them into my craft projects. I used a border punch to create scalloped edges with this ‘Pickle Juice’ style Designer Tape by attaching just half of it to my card stock before punching. A long time favorite accent of mine is buttons and I love these new red flowers!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Petite Pieces, Short Stories; Miniatures Card Sentiments; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Alpha+Bits; Button Market: Red Flowers; Designer Tape: Juice Dot

"Thank You" card, by Kathy Martin.
{A Winter CHA Project}

This card includes lots of brand new Bella Blvd goodies! Can you spot them all? To start with, the sentiment is created with High Five Alphabet stickers. They’re the perfect size for greeting cards! I also used one of the new Designer tape styles, Pickle Juice and gave it a scalloped edge. How about that adorable little flag? That’s another fun new Bella Blvd accent and I love them!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Petite Pieces, Short Stories, Black and White High Five Alphas; Designer Tape: Juice Dot; Flags: Thank You’s; Blooms-a-Bella; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Alpha+Bits

"Family Man" card, by Morgan Bandkowski.

My summers are always busy, so I thought I would get a jump on creating some cards. I decided to make my father's day card combining the Man of the House & the Estate Sale collections.

Supplies:
Estate Sale: Linens, Nana's Apron; Man Of The House: Cuff Links, Distinguished, Alpha+Bits

"Birthday Wishes" card, by Morgan Bandkowski.

Today is my mom's birthday, so I thought why not make a birthday card for my mom as my project this month. I've been making birthday cards for my mom since I was a little girl. She loves receiving a hand-made card. Try making a card for the next birthday in your life. :)

Supplies: 
Plastino: Forget-Me-Nots; Hello Beautiful: Cute Cuts; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiment Stickers; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe

Bella Blvd & Unity Stamps Inspiration Day

We are back with another Bella Blvd & Unity Stamps Inspiration Day! We asked some of our Card Designers to focus on the Sunshine & Happiness collection, along with our co-branded stamps that coordinate with the collection. 

"It's Summer Time" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

I have to admit, I am not much of a stamper! These Sunshine & Happiness stamps are so cute, though, and I had a great time using them! I stamped the image with black ink onto plain white cardstock, punched it out with a large circle punch, and then used markers to add some color to the image.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Sunny Side Up, Popsicles Kisses, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sophisticates: Yellow High Five Alphabets; Unity Stamps: Orange You Glad

"I'm Thinking About You" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

I used the other stamp in this set as the sentiment for this card. I stamped the image with black ink onto plain white cardstock, cut it out, and then added it to the bottom right corner of the card. I kept the background of this card pretty neutral so that the flowers and striped border across the card would really pop. Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Happy Clouds; Baby Boy: Momma's Boy, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Winter Wonder: Icy; Estate Sale: Linens; Button Market: Neutrals Mix; Ciao Chip: Family Words; Unity Stamps: Orange You Glad

“We Make A Great Pear” card, by Kathy Martin.

For this card I wanted to use this adorable Unity/Bella Blvd. pear stamp on the new Bella Blvd. Designer Tapes, but I wasn’t sure if the ink would smear. I decided to use StayzOn ink just in case and I love the shine it creates! I also did a bit of paper piecing using this bright and happy yellow polka dot paper for one of the pears. To accent the card further I created a hand zigzag stitch border and placed a pickle square button next to the phrase. That button name is too fun! I like the square shape and shade of green too! I only had one roll of washi tape before Bella Blvd. came out with their Designer Tapes and I think I’m in love!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Great Pear Stamp; Designer Tapes: Teal Stripe, Pink Stripe, Blue Gingham, Yellow Chevron, Pickle Juice Dot; Button Market: Pickle Squares

“We Make a Great Pear” card, by Kathy Martin.

It’s such a pleasure to create projects with the new Bella Blvd. Sunshine & Happiness collection! The colors are so bright and cheerful and the new Designer Tapes and Button Market accents coordinate perfectly! I’ve always been a huge fan of buttons and I absolutely adore these great button shapes and colors! They look like citrus candy! For the pear stamp I chose this bright pink to coordinate with the line. For one of the pears, I paper pieced it with this green patterned paper, the ideal color for a pear!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Petal Power, Happy Clouds, Great Pear Stamp; Button Market: Fruit Punch, Pickles Squares, Pink Flowers; Designer Tapes: Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe, Pink Stripe, Pickle Juice Dot

“Orange You Glad” card, by Alice Carman.

This collection was sooo cute to work with. It put me in a happy place all day especially using the Bella Blvd/Unity stamps. I know you card making peeps just adore the fact that you can play with happy paper and stamp on it! What else could you ask for? Sunshine & Happiness is really happiness on a 12x12 paper…LOL!

Supplies:
Sunshine Happiness: Happy Clouds, Popsicle Kisses, Sunny Side Up; Stamp: Orange You Glad

“Love” card, by Alice Carman.

Buttons, stamps, paper…oh my! Don’t you just love the new embellishments that match Bella Blvd’s paper collections? I thought I'd turn the single stamp into background paper to use alongside Bella Blvd’s papers. What do you think? 

Supplies: Baby Boy: Heaven Scent; Sunshine Happiness: Borders; Stamp: We Make A Great Pearl; Button Market: Purple Flora

“Sending You Sunshine" card, by Deanna Misner.

For this card I chose to use a traditionally "baby" stamp to send something other than a little bundle of joy. Well, I guess it's still a bundle of joy, just not in the same sense. I used this Unity stamp from the "We're Expecting" line to send a friend some sunshine to brighten their day.  This card is a mini, measuring only 3.5"x3.5", so that the stamp would be the most prominent image.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Alpha+Bits, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniature Stickers; Unity Stamp: Birdie Told Me

"Hang in there" card, Deanna Misner.

This was a fun card to create because I stamped the image with several different colors onto different patterns so that the dresses would each be different. I also hand-cut the pink flowers from the Borders paper to give each one a little more detail. To create the border around the card I combine two of my favorite things right now: Bella's Designer Tape and my scalloped border punch. For the custom look, I simply applied the tape to white cardstock then ran it through my punch. I'm sure I'll be doing that again!

Supplies:
Sunshine and Happiness: Borders, Popscicle Kisses, Alpha+Bits; Sophisticates: Quattro Alpha Stickers Avocado; Unity Stamp: It's a Girl; Designer Tape: Pink Flowers

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And now for our giveaway time!

Giveaway - Orange You Glad stamp

All you need to do to be entered in our random giveaway, is leave a comment on this post. We will announce a winner on Saturday morning.

Product Spotlight: High Five Alphabet Stickers

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 the new High Five Alphabet Stickers. These 12x12 sheets, full of letters and numbers, are available in 5 different color sets. The great thing about the High Five Alphas, is that you're not just getting one size and font to work with. You're getting FIVE different sets of alphas, in different fonts, sizes, and colors. It's so easy to find just the perfect alpha stickers for whatever project you're working on.

“The Act of Balance”, by Megan Klauer.

I've had an idea for a page like this for a while now & it was so much fun to finally complete it. I started by creating the pie charts using the Sunshine & Happiness collection and then added in the various titles for the sections. I wanted the look to remind you of a doodled up notebook. I wanted it random, with lots of journaling. The High Five Alphabets gave me a ton of options to play with when it came to mixing up my titles. I love that you get so many options on one sheet of stickers!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Juicy Good Time, Petal Power, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds; Sophisticates: Punch, Calendars; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White, Blue, Pink-Red, Yellow; Chio Chip Versatile Elements: Stars & Hearts; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe

"How You Fill Our Hearts With Joy", by Kimberly Neddo.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I love to take a photograph and enlarge it in a lot of my designs. For this layout, I stayed with the softer tones in the paper line to compliment the photographs. The Embellishments were the perfect touch to complete this layout to draw your eye around the page for interest.

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Blue High Five Alpha Stickers; Baby Boy: Momma’s Boy, Baby Blue, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits, Miniatures, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Flags; Buttons: Stars

“Lost In A Good Book”, by Vivian Masket.

The bright colors of the High Five Alphabet Stickers stand out against a black and white photo. I had fun mixing colors and fonts from all five of the High Five Alphabets in colors that coordinated with my patterned paper background. Black cardstock borders around both the patterned paper background and the photo/title/journaling block make the key page elements and bright colors pop.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds; Sophisticates: Stars & Hearts Ciao Chip; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Black-White

“Sisters”, by Julie Johnson.

I love my sisters dearly and I love that we are all so close. Living life with 3 sisters and a brother there is never a dull moment and we love to give each other a hard time. When I saw this phrase it reminded me of us and I knew I wanted to create a layout using this phrase as my title. Bella's newest High Five stickers worked perfectly, don't you think? I love how I can mix and match the colors and sizes, not to mention there are tons of letters on each sticker sheet so I had no problem spelling out the phrase.

I will let you in on a trick I used to get all my lettering even and straight. Using a left over sticker sheet I use the shiny side to line up one row of words at a time placing the letters half on the sticker sheet and half off. Once I have my row of words I can place them onto the layout and place them just where I want. Because the stickers are half off the sheet I can stick them to my layout and then pull my sheet from the bottom of the words. Makes for perfect placement every time. I wanted to keep my focus on the lettering so I added some strips of paper behind my photo, and then added a few Ciao Chip embellishments. 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Popsicle Kisses, Juicy Good Time, Borders, Ciao Chip; Flags: Girl; Sophisticates:  High Five Alphabets Pink-Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Ciao Chip Borders, Stars and Hearts, Family Words 

“Thank You” card, by Kathy Martin.

Alphabets are a must have for card sentiments and these new Bella Blvd. High Five Alphabets are ideal with the mix of fonts, sizes and colors they include! I’ve found that I really like to mix and match different fonts on a single card as I did here. Now let’s talk about this cloud paper…it gets my vote for the cutest and most colorful cloud paper in the scrapbook industry! I love it! I have a lot of ideas for it! I thought this smiley face Ciao Chip sun was perfect set in the center of these clouds!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Petal Power; Ciao Chip: Clouds; Button Market: Fruit Punch; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiments

“Thank You” card, by Kathy Martin.

I’ve really enjoyed working with these brand new Bella Blvd. High Five Alphabets since their debut at CHA! They are the perfect size for card crafting! Even the largest font works for cards as I have shown on this card. Ooh la la…look at these pretty new Ciao chip accents! I love the definition you can create by clustering a few together! It’s hard to pick a favorite from all the new styles, but I think mine might be the Stars & Hearts. Or is it the Clouds? Tomorrow the Sunshine & Happiness set might be my favorite! They’re all so cute!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Sunnyside Up, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Ciao Chip: Stars & Hearts; Button Market: Feminine Mix; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White

"You Are Sun Shine” card, by Alice Carman.

I love text on paper so using today’s challenge I made my own text with Bella Blvd’s High Five Alphabets as my background paper. To create this look, cut out a circle. Next, line up rows of random letters across the circle. Then cut away letters that hang off the circle. This is a great way to use up the left over letter stickers we don’t use.

Supplies:
Sunshine Happiness: Happy Clouds, Cute Cuts; Baby Boy: Heaven Scent, Borders; Ciao Chip: Clouds; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Black-White

“Hi” card, by Alice Carman.

Here’s another fun way to use your High Five Alphabets. Line up words of the same meaning and change up the colors like you see here. Add a few strips and ribbon and you have something cute and fun.

Supplies:
Sunshine Happiness: Borders; Baby Boy: Cute Cuts; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Black-White, Green, Yellow

Ongoing Guest Designers: Carina Lindholm & Wendy Bretz

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 Carina Lindholm and Wendy Bretz for their second round of projects.

Hello everyone! I’m Carina Lindholm. I live in a small town in the middle of Sweden with my husband Per and our three children Marcus (8), Filip (6) & Alva (5). I’m a stay at home mom, but I sometimes work extra in a scrapbook store. I consider myself both a scrapbooker and a card maker and my style is playful and I like to use lots of color on my projects. When I’m not paper crafting I love to sew, read and spend time with my family.

“Äggmålning”, by Carina Lindholm.

I used the Spring Fling & Easter Things collection to make my projects today. And oh, how I love this collection! All the patterns and the colors makes me a very happy girl. The photos on this layout are from easter last year. My children and my little nephew is painting eggs. And I love all the cut outs that comes with every Bella blvd collection. On this layout I used three eggs and the cute little easter chick cut outs. To get the scallop borders around the eggs I simply just matted the eggs on white cardstock and cut around them using decorative scissors.

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Sunny Sunday, Borders, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Baby Blooms-A-Bella

“Happy Mother’s Day”, by Carina Lindholm.

We celebrate mother’s day in May here in Sweden. And I know that my mother loves bright and cheerful colors, so I thought it would be perfect to make her a card by using this collection. I cut out this cute flower cut out and adhered it to the card using foam tape, so it really pops out from the card.

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom’s Bouquet, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiments

“For A Super Great Friend”, by Carina Lindholm.

For this card I die cut a few label shapes from different patterned papers and adhered them together to make an embellishment. And I let one of Bellas Blvd´s super cute pink fabric flowers to be the focal point on this card.

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom’s Bouquet, Borders, A Tisket A Tasket; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiments; Baby Blooms-A-Bella

“Thank you”, by Carina Lindholm.

I used a label die to make the shapes in the pink chevron paper. I also punched out a bunch of butterflies, in different sizes and color and adhered them in the negative spaces on the card base.

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Sunny Sunday, A Tisket A Tasket, Borders, Egg Hunt

Hi! My name is Wendy Bretz and I'm so excited to be this month guest designer here at Bella Blvd. I live in a small town in western New York and have one daughter who is my everything. I'm a simple, graphic scrapper and love to create paper and digital layouts. I've been published in Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook Etc., Simple Scrapbooks and Scrapbook Trends magazines. I love creating memories that my daughter can look back at in the future.

"Nothing Better", by Wendy Bretz.

As soon as I saw the back of the Baby Boy, Momma's Boy Patterned Paper I knew exactly what I was going to create! I love making 2 page layouts where I have entire photo on the right and my design work on the left. These Designer Tapes are probably one of my new favorite embellishments too. You can do so much with them … use them as accents, tape photos on a layout, or even layer them and create a piece of patterned paper. On this layout I used it as a accent on my layout.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy, Baby Boy: Alpha + Bits, Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Sophisticates: Pink-Red High Five Alphabets

"Guess What", by Wendy Bretz.

High Five Alphabets … what can't I say about them??? These sheets of stickers are the coolest and most versatile letter stickers out there in my opinion. They come is so many different colors and I love every single one of them. When I started this layout I wanted to create something simple so I decided to just use the "?" and for the brackets at the bottom I cut the number "0" in half. To finish I added my photo digitally after I scanned it.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Sophisticates: Pink-Red High Five Alphabets

Cards On Thursdays

Today, we have a fun mix of cards for you. We're starting out with some fun Sunshine & Happiness cards, and finishing with a few adorable Baby Boy cards.

“Making Memories” card, by Alice Carman.

I’ve been playing with my Bella Blvd Designer Tapes and I just got to say … I love them! The colors and design on these tapes are so versatile along with everything else Bella Blvd makes. You can stamp on these, glitter them and wrap a gift with them. Super duper fun and totally cute for a quick and simple card!

Supplies:
Sunshine Happiness: Alpha+Bits, Miniatures; Baby Boy: On The Go; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe, Pink Flowers, Pickle Juice Dot

“I’m Thinking About You” card, by Alice Carman.

Here’s another idea you can use for a quick card using Bella Blvd’s Designer Tapes. You can line the tapes up against one another to create a rainbow pattern and decorate it using Bella Blvd’s matching stickers. Again it’s quick and easy and very easy to use on all your crafting needs.

Supplies:
Sunshine Happiness: Cute Cuts, Miniatures; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe, Pink Flowers, Pickle Juice Dot; Button Market: Text

"Sending You Sunshine" card, by Gail Hoecker.

I decided to use the Sunshine & Happiness collection for today's cards. For this card, I used Stickles to outline the sun and its rays. Although, today I used yellow, I always keep a bottle or two of the platinum color on hand because it seems it will go with anything! 

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Happy Clouds, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers

"Smile" card, by Gail Hoecker.

I was going to hang some of the miniature tag stickers from the button on the "smile" card, but you will notice I didn't end up doing that. In going through the miniature stickers from all the Bella collections, I was thrilled with how many of them, even Christmas, would match! We've all said it before ... love how you can mix and match all the Bella Blvd collections!  Also for the "smile" card, I colored 1/8" ribbon with an alcohol marker. I always keep white ribbon on hand, assorted widths, just for this purpose.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Feminine Mix

"Counting Our Blessings" card, by Deanna Misner.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I love the title of that Cute Cut, "Counting Our Blessings", so I decided to use it as the sentiment for my card. Once they have a baby, I think every couple feels completely blessed. I also LOVE that chipboard alligator so I wanted him to have a special feature. To finish the card I tied it off with some twine just to soften it up a little.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: It's a Boy, Borders, Cute Cuts, Chipboard Icons, Alpha+Bits Stickers

"Baby Boy" card, Laura Vegas.
{A Winter CHA Project}

I love the greys in the Baby Boy collection. They pair up so nicely with the other colors, and add a nice neutral touch. For my card, I started with the "BABY" strip from the Borders pattern paper, and built the rest of my papers around that piece. I cut off a piece of the long journaling sticker, and used it to hold my chipboard "boy" letters. I embellished the card with a few threaded buttons, paired with a few pieces of designer tape folded over the top of the card.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Heaven Sent, Borders, Momma's Boy, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Button Market: Neutrals Mix, Fruit Punch; Designer Tape: Blue Gingham, Pickle Juice Dot

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