Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Layouts On Wednesday

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

“Baseball Buddies”, by Megan Klauer.

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

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

“Field Day”, by Brook Stewart.

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

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

“Happiness”, by Loredana Bucaria.

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

Layouts On Wednesdays

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

"Playing Baseball", by Sheri Feypel.

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

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

"Happy Sounds", by Sue Mylde.

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

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

“Determined”, by Julie Johnson.

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

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

"Sweet Sisters", by Allyson Meinholz.

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

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

Product Spotlight: Crochet Flowers

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

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

"Happy" by Becky Williams.

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

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

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

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

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

“Happy Birthday” card, by Kathy Martin.

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

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

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

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

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

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 Two

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

"Sunshine and Happiness" by Becky Williams.

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

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

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

“Dream Big Little Girl”, by Megan Klauer.

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

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

The Twinery Supplies:
Peapod

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

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

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

The Twinery Supplies:
Lemondrop, Shore, Marachino, Blossom

“Get Well Soon”, by Brook Stewart.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Twinery Supplies:
Blossom

“Happy 4^th” card, by Kimberly Neddo.

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

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

The Twinery Supplies:
Maraschino and Denim

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

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

 

Saturday Sketches, On Friday

Stephanie is crazy busy this week, finalizing the new products for Summer CHA, so she's not around for her usual Friday post. So I figured we would post our sketch feature a day early. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have our first sketch for May, courtesy of Becky Fleck. We are thrilled that Becky has agreed to design exclusive sketches, just for Bella!

“Summer Beauties”, by Kimberly Neddo.

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

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

“Ziplining”, by Julie Johnson.

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

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

"Mad About You", by Sue Mydle.

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

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

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

 

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

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

Sunshine & Happiness: Altered Projects & Mini Albums

Happy Monday everyone! Today, we have a post filled with Sunshine & Happiness, which is what we also hope your weekend was filled with! We have a couple of altered projects to share, along with a couple of mini albums. All featuring the Sunshine & Happiness collection!

Altered Jars, by Suzanne Sergi.

I altered this garden container with the Sunshine & Happiness collection. A different packaging idea to tuck in treats to a friend, neighbor, teacher, or a family member. I covered the outside with a variety of the papers, and use one of the border stickers to layer along the bottom. Inside the container I filled two mason jars with bright gum balls. On the top of the lids, embellished each of them with one of the azzini blooms. Across the top, I created a butterfly banner for a fun detail. Finished one of the handles with a tag, and big red bow. This will be sure to brighten anyone's day!

Supplies:
Sunshine &Happiness: Petal Power, Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Flags; Baby Blooms-A-Bella: Azzini

"Summer Time" mini album, by Suzanne Sergi.

The Sunshine & Happiness collection is a bold, and bright collection, that it pairs fabulous with summer photos! I decided to create a small mini of my little girl enjoying the day at a water resort. I love these photos, because it shows how much she loves playing in the water. I created a sun for the cover of the mini, and use various patterned papers to accent the rays of the sun. A few chipboard elements were used for the center, and for the title of the mini. I am loving the new flags that were introduced by Bella at CHA, and use one on the cover as a fun detail. This mini is a mix of different pages in different sizes, and shapes. A fun mini filled with Bella's whimsical patterns, and bold embellishments.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Sunny Side Up, Juicy Good Time, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Sunny Sunday, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Masculine Mix; Flags: Summer; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Red Dot, Pickle Juice Dot; Ciao Chip Versatile Elements: Stars & Hearts, Clouds; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphabets & Numbers: Saltwater, Orange; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue

Altered Mailbox & Notecard Set, by Beth Gerlach.

This was such a quick and easy, yet cute little project. I was given the mailbox and  I made 12 little notes that fit inside a little custom box perfectly. I thought it would make a nice little gift. I used Sunshine and happiness (pretty much every pattern) and the sunshine and happiness chip along with the Alpha+Bits stickers and some of those super cute crochet flowers which I just love! I did add a splash of bling, because that's my signature!

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Petal Power, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Play Date, Miniatures Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Pink Flowers

"Yoga Camp" mini album, by Kimberly Neddo.

For this Mini Album, I chose to cover each side of the chipboard with paper. I used Mod podge and my briar roller to secure it down well. From there, I decorated each page a little differently with the beautiful patterned papers and embellishments from the Sunshine and Happiness line and the High Five Alphabets. I used a lot of pop dots for dimension through out this little book. I’ve been wanting to do something special with Olivia’s Yoga camp pictures, and this was just the perfect way to showcase them and I really love how it turned out.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Petal Power, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Play Date, Miniatures Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Ciao Chip: Trees, Stars & Hearts; Flags: Vacation; Crochet Flowers: Poppy

Layouts On Wednesday

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

"Tattoo Tape", by Kim Arnold.

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

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

“Sherrard Short Sox”, by Megan Klauer.

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

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

“Baby Boy”, by Loredana Buccaria.

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

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

"J'Adore", by Sue Mylde.

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

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

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

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

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

"Miles Of Smiles", by Allyson Meinholz.

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

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

Altered Project Shares

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

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

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

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

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

Baby Girl Diaper Cake, by Jennifer Edwardson.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Baby Girl Mobile, by Jennifer Edwardson.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Sketches

Today, we have another round of Saturday Sketches. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have our second sketch for April, courtesy of Becky Fleck. We are thrilled that Becky has agreed to design exclusive sketches, just for Bella!

"Making Memories", by Becky Williams.

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

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

“Forever Friends”, by Kimberly Neddo.

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

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

"Favorite Cheeky Monkey", by Sue Mylde.

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

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

"You're Mine", by Wendy Wagner.

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

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

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

Layouts On Wednesdays

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

Saturday Sketches

Today, we have another round of Saturday Sketches. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have our first sketch for April, courtesy of Becky Fleck. We are thrilled that Becky has agreed to design exclusive sketches, just for Bella!

"Fair", by Melissa Stinson.

I've been using Becky Fleck's sketches for years now (almost since she started posting them), so I was thrilled when she started developing sketches just for Bella! I was even more thrilled to see that this sketch incorporates several small photos that are almost Instax sized. I don't have an Instax camera, but I printed out my photos to Instax image dimensions (you can find data sheets for various film sizes on Fuji's web site) and then mounted them on white cardstock to make little faux Instax prints. For me it's a great alternative to buying another camera, and it means that I can turn any photo from my DSLR into an Instax-like print.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Sunny Side Up, Play Date, Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Flags; Button Market: Bursts, Pickle Squares; Crochet Flowers: Daisies, Juniper; Simply Simona Saltwater Alphabet

"So Much Fun", by Loredana Bucaria.

Hi everyone! How are you? Today I am happy to share what I have created using this fabulous sketch. Before Easter I received the new stuff from Bella Boulevard and you can imagine my reaction! OMG, all the new products are amazing! At first, I was a little scared about the three collections for pregnancy, baby boy and girl, since I don't have any children. But instead, I have dared myself to use them for another theme! What do you think about this idea? I have thought that this line are perfect to be mixed:) I used them for a page about my last trip to Euro Disney in Paris with my friends! I think that these new collections gave perfectly the happiness that I would to give to the page I wanted to create! So try to use some papers that you don't think to can use, you will have a lot of fun and will discover a different part of you:) I am completely in love with new embellishments! They are awesome! I am crazy for buttons, flags and designer tape, amazing amazing amazing! Buy and try them you will have a huge smile on your face for a lot of time!

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits, It's A Girl, Pretty In Pink; Sophisticates: Pink-Red High Five Alphabets, Clouds Ciao Chip; Baby Boy: Alpha+Bits, Momma's Boy; Sunshine & Happiness: Miniatures, Popsicle Kisses; Stamps: Plastino; Flags: Floral; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron; Button Market: Neutral Mix; Crochet Flower: Juniper

"Your Happy Place", by Sheri Feypel.

I have to say that Sunshine & Happiness is my current favorite Bella Blvd line, subject to change with new releases of course. All of the colors just work for me and my summer photos. I decided to use this 5x7 photo of my husband getting ready to go tubing last summer rather than three small photos. He looks so happy, all smiley with teeth showing. I started with the Baby Boy - Momma's Boy page for my background, the gray chevron pattern really helps the rest of the colors pop! As you can see I added flags and the sunshine chipboard rather than flowers shown in the sketch, and used quite a bit more space for my title, skipping the subtitle. I am really starting to like using sketches, it kind of takes a little pressure off when creating although I do tend to change it up a bit.

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Momma's Boy; Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Juicy Good Time, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Blues, Fruit Punch, Masculine Mix; Flags: Family Tree, Summer; Ciao Chip: Clouds; High Five Alphabets: Yellow

"Pool Time", by Laura Vegas.

I love working with sketches, and I usually tend to stay pretty true to the sketch. I decided to turn the sketch counter clockwise, for this layout. I had a few horizontal photos of my daughters in the pool that I wanted to use, and knew they would work better with the page design turned. I loved the little banner in the sketch, but it wasn't going to work hanging on it's side. So I added a strip of ribbon in place of the banner, and then just moved my banner to the other side of the page. Always keep in mind that by turning the sketch, of flipping it upside down, you'll have even more options for using that same sketch on your layouts.

Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Petal Power, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Family Dynamix: Quadrants, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Making The Team: Chipboard Icons; Christmas Wishes: Borders; Quattrofina Alpha Stickers: Green; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: McIntosh; Ciao Chip Elements: Clouds; Button Market: Red Flowers