Bella Blvd Studio Blog

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. 

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.

 

Saturday Sketches

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

"Making Memories", by Becky Williams.

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

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

“Forever Friends”, by Kimberly Neddo.

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

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

"Favorite Cheeky Monkey", by Sue Mylde.

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

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

"You're Mine", by Wendy Wagner.

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

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

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

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

Saturday Sketches

First up, we have another round of Saturday Sketches. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have our second sketch for March, courtesy of Becky Fleck.

"Baby Ella Bean", by Megan Klauer.

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

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

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

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

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

"Spring", by Julie Johnson.

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

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

"Shovel", by Vivian Masket.

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

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

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

Saturday Sketches

First up, we have another round of Saturday Sketches. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have our first sketch for March, courtesy of Becky Fleck.

"Our Crazy Family", by Laura Vegas.

I love a good sketch, and this one went perfectly with my style. You might have spotted this photo of my family on one of my CHA layouts, but I really wanted a layout to add to my own albums, and this sketch was the perfect opportunity to get that done. I stayed pretty true to the sketch, with the exception of using a larger half circle for my title. I added some texture to the page, by cutting out a bunch of flowers from a Family Dynamix pattered paper. I crumbled each one up, and then flattened them back out, before adhering them to my page using pop dots. 

Supplies: 
Family Dynamix: Tight-Knit, Quadrants, Mother's Day, The Littlest Things; Making The Team: Cute Cuts; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Pickle Juice; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Pink/Red; Button Market: Purple Flora 

"Snow Good", by Lynn Ghahary.

I absolutely LOVE using sketches when I scrapbook. This sketch was pretty straightforward and I kept my layout the same. One picture of my son licking his lips after eating some snow sums up the story perfectly. To dress up the Blizzard patterned paper a bit I stitched some coordinating buttons to various snowflakes. I also replaced the "o" in "snow" with a snowflake sticker and button as well. It helps to add a bit of dimension and detail while tying the layout together.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder - Blizzard, Icy, Ski Slopes, Just Write Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers

"Time Together", by Kim Arnold.

I love how versatile the Baby Boy collection is. Here I used it for a layout about my son and his grandparents. My son is 7 years old in this photo so clearly you don’t need a baby boy to use this lovely collection!

Supplies:
Baby Boy: Baby Blue, Wild About You, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Alpha+Bits; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Yellow

"Precious", by Sue Mylde.

For this sketch, I changed the location of things around a bit because I wanted to use this slim photo of my little girl. I love this sketch since it gives me some room for fun embellishment and journaling all in a perfect square. The scallops were created using punched circles and taped down from the bottom-up to create the scalloped effect. Another favorite part of this layout is the sentiment 'You are my sunshine on a sunny day' which is originally a long strip which I cut up into short phrases to line up on one of the panels. Pretty cute sentiment, reflecting exactly what I feel about my little girly girl :)

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Egg Hunt, A Tisket A Tasket, Mom's Bouquet, Sunny Sunday, Borders, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits, Miniatures; Socialite: Tango 

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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.

Sketches On Saturdays & Inspiration Day

First up, we have another round of Saturday Sketches. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have our second sketch of the month. 

"Winter Wonderful", by Sue Mylde.

A fun sketch and a great way to put in multiple photos in one layout. With this layout, I wanted to add more embellishments and a stronger paint and mist base. I love playing with paints and mists and I wanted to create a more interesting background on the white cardstock base. Winter Wonder is PERFECT for all these fun snowy photos!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Borders, Blizzard, Toasty, Icy, Alpha+Bits, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Simply Simona: Brownie, Saltwater Ciao Chip

"I Love Winter", by Vivian Masket.

I love how easy it was to work with this sketch! I rotated the design 90 degrees to the left, which put the scalloped border at the bottom of the photos. I used two photos instead of three and added my journaling below the scalloped border. I used a patterned paper block for the title and additional patterned paper in place of the journaling. I used one of my favorite quick and easy techniques with the tag stickers: I switched the tiny circles in the tag holes and used them for pops of color instead of brads.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Blizzard, Cute Cuts, Miniatures Stickers, Alpha + Bits stickers

"Cupcake Cutie", by Allyson Meinholz.

I love working with sketches - makes it easy to scrapbook and I feel accomplished. I decided to add a larger photo in place of the journaling block and to use the focus as the 5x7 photo in color. This layout is of Alivia Jo's 1st birthday (cupckae themed) - usually I do multiple layouts for birthdays especially the first birthday, so it is nice to slip a few sketches in the mix.

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!

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Next up, we have what is called Tuesday Inspiration day, here on the Bella blog. That's because most of the time, you will find this up on Tuesdays. We have so much planned for you next week, that we had to move this up a few days. Inspiration is all around us, and it's so interesting to see how a group of designers can all start with the same image, and be inspired by it in so many different ways.

{Photo Credit / Photo Card Boutique}

"Eight Today", by Katherine McElvain.

For Delaney's eighth birthday I made dirt cups for each child at the party and decorated them with Bella Blvd product to personalize them. When I saw the inspiration for this assignment I knew it was a great opportunity to match up some Bella Blvd product with this photo. Looking at the photo, right away I thought circles, so I made a circle pattern on half the layout using the grid paper (unexpectedly made it easy to line things up) from Family Dynamics and some older heart paper from Sweet Celebrations. I mimicked the the sorbet cups and strawberries with stitched red circles and little chipboard flowers from Family Dynamics. Maybe I should include some Bella products in more of my photos, it makes it easy to make it all come together:)

Supplies:
Sweet Celebration: Label Additions, Party Hearty; Family Dynamics: Cute Cuts, Quadrants, The Littlest Things, Alpha & Bits, Icons; Sophisticates: Quattrofina Peep & Saffron, Simply Simona Saltwater

"2011", by Lynn Ghahary.

I love the idea of looking back at the past year 'at a glance' so I decided to create a year in review layout for this assignment. I die cut a really large title using my Silhouette using different Bella Blvd papers in colors from the inspiration image. I also added some stickers in the same color scheme - I just love those Miniatures Stickers!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Miniatures Family Stickers; Spring Flings & Easter Things: A Tisket A Tasket; Winter Wonder: Icy, Ski Slopes; Too Cute To Spook: Miniatures Stickers; Family Dynamix: Quadrants

"Popcorn Love", by Nancy Damiano.

I love bold color schemes, so I was excited to work with this beautiful palette. The icy blue and white make it crisp and clean. The golden yellow and red reminded me of these pictures of my son at his first baseball game. I remember how he loved the popcorn almost more than the game!  One of the things that I love about Bella, is the ability to mix and match their patterned papers. I mixed paper and embellishments from 5 different lines to come up with this page. I also created a shadow effect by cutting out a star from the red paper, backing it with pop dots and filling it with stickers. This added a fun element and some texture to the page.

Supplies:
Making the Team: Borders, Miniatures, Alpha+Bits, Ciao Chip; Finally Fall: Bliss; Winter Wonder: Toasty; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Tisket a Tasket, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Christmas Wishes: Just Write Journaling Stickers; Mr Boy: Alpha+Bits; Ciao Chip: Saltwater and Oyster Simply Simona

"Joyful", by Jamie Harper.

I LOVE the inspiration for this month. The color combo is so fresh and full of life. I knew I wanted to match the energy of the colors with an action photo, so I chose this photo from Disneyland. I asked my son to give me a quote to put on the layout, and I added lots of description words. I love how so many lines can be mixed and matched, it makes pulling together products so easy, and it turn makes for fast and easy scrapbooking.

Supplies:
Spring Flings and Easter Things: Mom's Bouquet, Alpha+Bits, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Sophisticates: Miniatures Family Stickers; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Saltwater

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We hope you can find some inspiration by this image as well, or even by one of the projects that our designers have shared today. We would also love it, if you shared your inspired-by projects with us. It's always fun for us to see what you're creating! Feel free to leave a comment here, with a link to your project. Or share it with everyone over on our Facebook Page.

Saturday Sketches on Friday

What's this? Saturday Sketches ... on Friday? I know that I have been confused all week, as to what day is what. My girls are still on Christmas break from school, and my high schooler had to ask me what day it was yesterday. Take into account it's a shorter, holiday week, and add in the fact that we here at Bella are in full blown CHA mode, it came as no surprise that Stephanie didn't realize today was Friday either. She's super busy sorting new product and getting it out to our designers to create with for Winter CHA, and preparing the new catalog. So we figured we would just move up tomorrow's post, to fill up the blog for the day, in her absence.

Sooooooo. With that all explained, it's time for 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 of the month, and the first sketch of the year!

"My Three", by Kimberly Neddo.

One thing I love about sketches, is how they inspire me to think outside the box, but with a plan already in place. For this sketch, instead of using 4 photographs of the same size and grouping them together, I used an enlarged photograph with a smaller one to compliment it. Sometimes I want to do a layout showcasing my children right where they are in life. Not necessarily a story, but still fun. It doesn't require a lot of journaling of a certain occasion, just something real and to the point. I drew the viewers eye around this layout, using the rule of thirds with the color blue. Have fun with this sketch, and thanks for stopping by! :)

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Short Stories, Tall Tags, Sprinkles & Lace Oreo, Sprinkles & Lace Banana, Petite Pieces; Baby Blooms-A-Bella: Azzini; Simply Simona: Oyster

"Snow", by Becky Williams.

I stayed pretty true to the sketch this time, only I flipped it 90 degrees. This is a great sketch to use for lots of pictures; I opted to use two small pictures and one larger one to fill the space. One of my favorite Bella products is the stickers. I really like to add the little phrase stickers to my photos and elsewhere on my page and also used a couple of the border stickers. 

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Borders, Alpha+Bits, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniatures; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Alpha+Bits; Lovey Dovey: Bear Hugs; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Ciao Chip Brownie

"Beach Babes", by Julie Johnson.

I love this sketch. It was so easy to follow, yet it allowed me to add in plenty of extra details...but that's what a sketch is for, right? I love having a starting point where I don't have think, especially when my days are filled with other busy stuff and my brain is to cluttered to think. Sometimes I will stress over how to layout my photos so sketches allow me to "just do it" and I give myself permission to let it go and quickly add my photos to a layout. I find the fun part about scrapbooking is in the details of page. I love the little extras; flowers, buttons, twine, and for this page I love the Bits a Bella sheet with all the cute tiny cut out designs and word phrases. I cut them out, backed them with thin chipboard and then cut them out to add a bit of dimension to them. I hand punched out a flower and added a button with some twine. Using the phrases I was able to create my journaling for the page.

Supplies:
All Inclusive: Bookin' on the Beach, Bits a Bella, Billboards, Skippin Stones, Ocean View, Alpha+Bits

"Everday Is An Adventure", by Beth Gerlach.

Since I don't have sons of my own, I use my daycare "sons" for all my boy inspiration. Mr. Boy is my all-time favorite boy collection. I have seperate folders for each of my Bella Collections, and always keep my Mr. Boy folder well stocked.

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!

Saturday Sketches

It's time for 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 the month of December. Nothing like getting it in on the last day of the year ;)

"New Years Eve Twenty Ten", by Megan Klauer.

I love how the Making the Team collections works perfectly for my bowling themed layout! I also mixed in a few of my favorites from the Sophisticates collection. The Calendars sheet may be my all time favorite. I have used it so many times for layouts, cards, & in my Smash book. Rather than using the exact sized photos that were shown in the sketch, I chose to use the ever so popular "instagram" photos. However, mine are created in photoshop as I am way too lame for something as cool as an iphone or ipod!

Supplies:
Making the Team: Wall of Fame, Alpha+Bits stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Sophisticates: Short Stories, Tall Tags, Calendars, Miniatures Stickers, & Simply Simona Letters

"Weather Forecast", by Katherine McElvain.

This is the time of year when we are all busy, and if I am going to scrapbook I gotta ta gett'r done quick!! This was the perfect, simple sketch to crank out a layout in no time at all. I really wanted to scrapbook this picture of my son, but I didn't have 4 photos to use to match the sketch, so I shrank the original sketch idea down to be an insert in the center of my layout. I substituted the two photos on the right with a the red journaling sticker and made the title the main attraction. I also didn't want to make a big mess so I didn't even get out the paper trimmer. I simply reached for a few Bella Blvd sticker sheets and some alphas, added a couople extra embellishments, some doodles and called it finished!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Miniatures, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Miniatures; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Brownie; Quattrofina Alpha Stickers: Milk & Oreo

"2011 Holiday", by Jamie Harper.

I love working with sketches, since it makes scrapbooking so fast and easy! I chose to follow it pretty close to the actual sketch. It allows your brain to take a creative rest but still get your scrapbooking done at the same time. I love these color combinations in the Winter Wonderland collection. It went perfect with my photos.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Icy, Alpha+Bits stickers

"Christmas", by Nancy Damiano.

The minute I saw these cute little penguins in the Christmas Wishes line, I knew I had to do this page. The penguin sweater outfit was one of my favorites when my son was a baby. It even made it on to our Christmas cards that year. Couple the penguin cuteness with this great sketch and voila - one quick, colorful Christmas layout!

Supplies: 
Christmas Wishes: Borders Paper, Quadrants Paper, North Pole Paper, Alpha+Bits, Journaling Stickers and Icons Ciao Chip

"Snow Day" card, by Kathy Martin.

I love this page sketch and found it to be perfect for a square greeting card! Since we’re just beginning winter, I thought it would be fun to use the Bella Blvd. Winter Wonder collection and create something with these adorable snowmen!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Snow Day, Blizzard, Icy, Borders, Toasty, Alpha+Bits stickers

"Celebrate Together" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

What a great sketch to work with and once again I am loving the Cute Cuts! I mean, how cute are these little penguins (pun intended!)! Cut them out of the patterned paper, attach them using foam adhesive, and you have a simple embellishment that adds some nice dimension to your project!

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers

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!

**************************************************************

I also want to announce our randomly choosen winner from Stephanie's giveaway from last week.

Congrats Lisa! Email me at lauravegas.bellablvd@yahoo.com, with "STEPHANIE'S BLOG CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY WINNER" in the subject line, and we'll get your goodies on their way to you!

Everyone here at Bella would like to wish you a very Happy New Year's!!!
We will see you next year, right back here on the blog ;)

Saturday Sketches

It's time for 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 the month of December. 

"They Play What In Alabama?", by Melissa Stinson.

Yes, even in football-crazy Alabama, we know what hockey is! The university I graduated from doesn't have a football team, but we do have a hockey team and we love going to the games. An assortment of black, blue, and red patterns from Bella Blvd's Making the Team collection was the perfect backdrop for my most recent set of game photos.

I used my Wishblade (with Silhouette's software) to cut the circular background from the blue paper to add just a touch of pattern to the area behind the title.

Supplies:
Making the Team: Cute Cuts, Borders, Quadrants, Alpha + Bits, Journaling Stickers, Ciao Chip Icons; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Oreo Ciao Chip Alphabet

"Easter Hat", by Kim Arnold.

I know that it is nearly Christmas but how could I resist using the new Spring Flings & Easter Things range to scrapbook these super cute photos of my son making his Easter Hat for the school’s Easter Hat Parade?  Plus I had a lot of photos from our creative adventure into millinery, and this sketch is just perfect with lots of photos catered for.

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Egg Hunt, A Tisket A Tasket, Sunny Sunday, Cute Cuts, Alpha & Bits, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Sophisticates Ciao Chip: Simply Simona Pickle Juice

"Photo's Of Me", by Loredana Bucaria.

Hello everyone! This is a very special day, is my name dauìy here in Italy! So a page about me! Pictures made by iPhone .. finally I am not behind the camera! Lol. This sketch is perfect for the idea I had! I used it in the vertical way! Soo cool. I love sketches for this reason, they inspire me in many different ways! They give me a lot of new ideas. As I usually do, I love to mix up a lot of different collections and kinds of products, and creating tiny and lovely details :)

Supplies:
Spring Things & Easter Things: Egg Hunt; Lovey Dovey: Sweetheart, Borders n' Blocks, Alpha+Bits; Estate Sale: Linens, Alpha+Bits stickers; Baby Blooms-A-Bella: Champagne; Sophisticates: Essentials Oyster & Oreo, Simply Simona Oyster; Making The Team: Ciao Chip; Hello Beautiful: Alpha+Bits stickers

"I Love You" card, by Alice Carman.

Today’s sketch challenge is based on a layout sketch which I turned into a card. I pulled the 2x3 rectangles and the title from the sketch and used it to create my card design. My paper selection is by Bella Blvd called, Lovey Dovey. I know it’s the holiday season, but Valentine’s Day is not that far away …tee hee! 

Supplies:
Lovey Dovey: Borders N’ Blocks, Cute Cuts, Bear Hugs, Love is in the Air; Baby Blooms a Bella: Rossini

"Merry Christmas 2011" card, by Deanna Misner.

I was really drawn to the title portion of the sketch and the way the tags were positioned, half-hidden and staggered, so I used that as the inspiration for my card. I cut out 2 mini flashcards from the "Petite Pieces" paper, then added the chipboard "merry"on top to complete my sentiment. And to give my card a little added oomph, I used strips of miniature heart pattern (found on the "Quadrants" sheet) to make a bow like a Christmas present.

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Quadrants, Borders, Chipboard Icons, Alpha+Bits sticker; Sophisticates: Petite Pieces

"Merry & Bright" card, by Sheri Feypel.

This challenge was tough for me. Turning a layout sketch into a card, never did that one before. I started and started again a few times before I came up with this card. I love how the glittery snowflake stands out on the bright, cheery papers. I layers a few circles on top of the snowflake for just a little more dimension and topped it all off with a button. 

I know that we all like to believe that everyone hangs on to our handmade cards forever, at least I do. I know that that is not always true, so I didn't adhere the snowflake to the card with a ton of adhesive. This way, the recipient can pop it off the card and use it as an ornament. Kind of like a card and gift all in one. This would be a super cute and easy gift idea for teachers and co-workers.

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: North Pole, Candlelight, Quadrants, Cute Cuts

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!

Saturday Sketches

It's time for another round of Saturday Sketch's. 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 the second sketch for the month of November!

"Fall Fun", by Lynn Ghahary.

Fall is such a fun time of year here in New Jersey.  e always make a point to visit some of the local farms and pumpkin patches. This year we went to Sun High Orchard and you boys just could not resist posing for a picture in the wooden farm animal cut outs. What a pair of goofballs!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Alpha & Bits 12x12 Stickers, Just Write 12x12 Stickers, Icons Chipboard Stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Borders, Leaf Pile, At the Patch, Cute Cuts

"Me And Rogue", by Janis Medina.

This is my first time to make a layout after a loooong time and I did it on the floor as my scraproom is an unusable mess!!! Using minimum tools, I based my layout on the sketch and added my layers and textures. I also used different sizes of the same photo for added interest.

Supplies:
Finally Fall Collection:  Autumn Splendor, Apple Holler, Cute Cuts, Bliss, Leaf Pile, Ciao Chip Icons, Alpha+Bits stickers, Just Write Journaling stickers; Simply Simona chipboard alphas: Oreo

"A Wonderful Day", by Vivian Masket.

When I work with a sketch, I find that the final product rarely looks exactly like the original sketch, as I tend to use sketches more as starting places than as blueprints. I started this layout by turning the sketch ninety degrees to the left, which placed the circular elements at the top right and the bottom left. After rotating the sketch, I decided I wanted more circles, so I altered the design to add those in, combining woodgrain patterned papers from three different product lines. I kept the idea of four photos, but put them in one horizontal strip rather than in a grid. After that, it was simply a matter of adding embellishments (a chipboard border and leaves punched from the same paper used for the circles), journaling strips, and a sticker for a title. While my final layout doesn't look exactly like the sketch, I would never have done a layout with large circles like this without the sketch as a starting place!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Quadrants, Autumn Splendor, Miniatures Stickers; Christmas Wishes: Ciao Chip Icons; Mr. Boy: Quadrants; Family Dynamix: Quadrants

"Christmas", by Julie Johnson.

I love circles so I had fun working with this sketch. If your not familiar with working with sketches this would be a great one to try because it was easy to follow and made a very fast page. The best part of a sketch is that you have a foundation to work with but you can add your own touch. I added a few extra borders to the top of the page and instead of using four wallet photos I decided to use two 4 x 6 photos. I added some Icon chipboard embellishments and title, and some miniature stickers and alpha + bits stickers to make the details and finishing touches on the page. 

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Christmas Love, North Pole, Gifts Galore, Star Stripe, Quadrants, Cute Cuts, Icons, Miniatures, and Alpha + Bits. 

"The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree" card, by Kathy Martin.

This sketch was challenging since I needed to create a card using a scrapbook page sketch! And you know what, it was fun! I opted to use the Finally Fall collection for this project because I adore this collection, and because we’ll be knee deep in Christmas and snow projects soon enough!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: At the Patch, Leaf Pile, Borders, Alpha + Bits, Ciao Chip; One Fall Day: Just Leafy

"Thanks A Lot" card, by Deanna Misner.

When I saw this sketch I instantly thought of the circles as Mickey Mouse ears. I don't know, call me crazy, but it could be that I still had Disney on the brain since we just went in October. And since my parents went with us and helped us so much while we were there, I thought I'd use this sketch to make them a card.  I used my die-cut machine to make the Mickey cut-outs and used a hodge podge of Bella products to create my card the way I envisioned it.

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Sprinkles and Lace  MacIntosh, Miniatures stickers; Socialite: Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits; Making the Team: Chipboard Icons

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!

Saturday Sketches

It's time for another round of Saturday Sketch's. 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 the first sketch for the month of November!

"Gingerbread Fun", by Becky Williams.

This Christmas collection is so much fun and I really like the pop of blue! For my take on the sketch I decided to use four smaller pictures instead of the two larger ones. I used some of the fun stickers and chipboard that go with this collection, too, cutting the "Holiday Favorites" to use as a subtitle for the page and added some red glitter for some extra sparkle on Rudolph's nose. 

Supplies:
Christmas Wishes: Gifts Galore, Candlelight, North Pole, Ciao Chip Icons, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits; Finally Fall: Alpha+Bits; Sophisticates: Simply Simona Saltwater, Essentials Asparagus and Pickle Juice; Miniatures: Family

"Winter Snow Pals", by Kimberly Neddo.

I love to add dimension to my layouts with pop dots and layering embellishments. I used a couple of stickers for the embellishment on the top left corner of this layout. I also punched a circle with red cardstock to add color pop to it as well. Working with the rule of thirds, I used the red accents to draw the viewers eye around the layout with ease. I love working with sketches, it make everything go together smoothly with out a lot of design planning of my own.

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Patterned Paper-Borders and Blizzard; Miniatures; Alpha and Bits

"Pics At The Patch: The Outtakes", by Brook Stewart.

Getting a good picture of both my boys together these days can be pretty tricky. Half the time, it doesn't happen at all. But that's okay by me. The non-perfect pictures totally show off their personalities and are my favorites by far, most of the time! My little Miles was having way too much fun at the pumpkin patch to sit still for pictures. He would run off the other way, sit backwards when he would finally sit, or show off his pumpkin stem to big brother. By the time I finally got him to sit, my oldest was tired and annoyed from sitting. So that was the picture I got. All those outtakes tell the story and I love that! Bella's Finally Fall line was the perfect compliment to my pictures and for helping me tell this story!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Borders, Quadrants, Bliss, At the Patch, Cute Cuts, Just Write Sticker Sheet, Miniatures, Icons Chipboard Stickers; Sophisticates: Salt Water & Pacific alpha stickers

"Play", by Sue Mylde.

This layout just shows how 'boyish' layouts, can be fun too! The faux ribbon edges are cut out of the strips from various patterned papers from the 'Making The Team' and 'Mr. Boy' Lines - my absolute favorites so far, for creating layouts for Lucas. I love the Saturday Sketch this week, but I also wanted to take up a bigger challenge of transforming the layout on a 2-pager. I like how this turned out because I was able to incorporate even more photos on the page than on a 1-pager! Fab! The sentiment stickers were cut out of the big piece and placed in different places - rule of three's. I used some subtle misting here on the page and love how it turned out on the page! 

Supplies:
Making The Team: Football, Cute Cuts, Borders, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Mr. Boy: Cute Cuts, Connect The Dots, Borders

"U Animal Lover" card, by Alice Carman.

Using the layout sketch, I pulled the squares, photo corners and title from the layout sketch to create my card design. I didn’t use everything I saw from the layout sketch, but used what would work on a smaller scale. The squares act as a back drop, the photo corners gave the squares more defined shape and the title was used as my sentiment. Totally fun!

Supplies:
Tail Waggers & Cat Naps: Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits, Borders and Blocks, Quadrants, Pampered Pet; All Inclusive: Bookin on the Beach

"Together Is The Place To Be" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

We are not going to see my side of the family on Thanksgiving this year. I pulled out some Finally Fall and took advantage of this cool sketch to make a card to send home saying that we are sorry we can't be there. I think I am going to use the journaling spot on the inside of the card to write, "But we sure are looking forward to Christmas!"

Supplies:
Finally Fall: At the Patch, Bliss, Borders, Cute Cuts, Leaf Pile, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers

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!

Saturday Sketch's

Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. And today, we have our first sketch for the month of October!

This month's first sketch, is a card sketch. I challenged some of our fantastic card designers to create a card, based off this sketch. I loved the sketch so much, that I decided to play along too. And we even got a talented layout designer to join in!

"Happy Winter" card, by Kathy Martin.

Projects from me almost always include two things...stitching and texture. A project doesn't seem complete without some stitching and I always do mine by hand because I can do detailed stitching that way and because I don't get along with the sewing machine! To create texture, I love to layer accents and attach embellishments with pop dots. I go through tons of pop dots!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Miniatures Stickers, Alpha & Bits, Blizzard, Toasty, Icy, Just Write Journaling Stickers

"Happy Winter" card, by Alice Carmen.

I can’t wait until the weather changes, can you?  It’s been so hot and with the holidays fast approaching it doesn’t feel like holiday weather.  Today’s card sketch inspired me to create my own holiday weather and of course it helps to create a little winter with Bella's NEW Winter Wonder collection. 

If you’re like me and like to use lots of color and patterns, then today’s sketch is perfect for that.  Here’s a hint for you to keep in mind.  First, pick similar color palates and add a contrasting color to  make your card pop.  My blues were similar and the red and pink were the contrasting colors.  The green tree tied everything together and ta da, it’s a card!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Toasty, Borders, Ski Slopes, Miniatures

"Just Hopping By To Say Hi" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

This is such a fun, versatile sketch! I stayed close to the sketch in the design of my card but I did make my card wider than the original sketch. In place of the flower, I cut the super cute frog out of the Cute Cuts sheet in the new Spring Flings & Easter Things line. In fact, everything on this card is from that new line with a tiny bit of pink paper from the new Winter Wonder line! I am glad this sketch gave me an excuse to play with the new lines!

Supplies:
Winter Wonder: Blizzard; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Sunny Sunday, Mom's Bouquet, Cute Cuts, Alphas + Bits; Sophisticates Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Peep

"You Are My Sunshine" card, by Deanna Misner.

I chose to rotate the sketch and to go sort of with a "April showers bring May flowers" kind of theme. I chose the raindrop pattern for the background then quilled the flowers using bright happy colors. Finally I added the sticker sentiment. I LOVE that each collection comes with little labels like this because it makes picking out a card sentiment quick and easy! :)

Supplies:
Spring Flings and Easter Things: Borders, Cute Cuts, Egg Hunt, Mom's Bouquet, Sunny Day, Alpha + Bits stickers

"You Are My Sunshine" card, by Laura Vegas.

I love working with sketches, and usually stay really close to the actual sketch design. I knew I would like this sketch just as it was, mainly because I was the one to sketch it ;) But also, because this is the kind of card that I love to create. A few blocks of pattern paper, a fun embellishment, and a sentiment. I used the new Spring Flings & Easter Things collection, with a touch of purple paper from the older Socialite collection.

I adhered my flower sticker to a piece of cardstock, and trimmed around it. Then I added some machine stitching around the center of the flower, and adhered it to the card with pop dots. I found this fun chunky button, and added silver metal flower mini brads to the button holes, before adhered it to the center of the flower sticker. This adds LOTS of dimension to the card.

Supplies:
Spring Flings & Easter Things: Sunny Sunday, A Tisket A Tasket, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alphas+Bits Stickers; Socialite: Countdown

And we challenged one of our designers, to use the card sketch, to create a layout. While the card is more comparable to an 8.5x11 layout, it can also be translated into a 12x12 layout just as easily.

 

"You & Me", by Kim Arnold.

I love using sketches, but have never used a card sketch as the basis for a layout. I loved putting my own twist on it and I was surprised how easy it was and how quickly it all came together. I would encourage you to have a go at using a card sketch for a layout – I certainly will be doing this again!

Supplies:
Finally Fall: Ciao Chip Icons, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Quadrants, At the Patch, Apple Holler, Cute Cuts; Hello Beautiful: Alpha+Bits; Sophisticates Ciao Chip Essentials: Apricot & Banana; Baby Blooms-A-Bella: Rossini

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!

Saturday Sketches #2

Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. We loved seeing some of you create your own layouts, based on last week's sketch. Stephanie and a few of her Local Artistas were at Scrapfest last weekend, and hosted a Crop Around Town. They decided to host a challenge that evening, and asked everyone to create layouts or cards based off last week's sketch. You can check out some photos of some of the works in progress HERE. This week, I have a few of our Local Artistas joining us, for our second sketch.

 

 

"He's My Brother", by Sheri Feypel.

I created this layout with the Tail Waggers and Cat Naps line based on the sketch provided. This was the perfect line for me to document how much my son Logan loves his furry brother Riley. They've grown up together and have a cute bond.

 

 

 

"The Best Gift Of All", by Allyson Meinholz.

I used this sketch, along with the Christmas Wishes collection, to create a layout about one of the best gifts of all. Great Friendship. Since the photos were taken at Christmas, this collection was the natural choice to scrap them. I decided to do a mirror image of the sketch, and just flip everything to the opposite side of the page.

 

 

 

"Sweet & Sassy", by Wendy Wagner.

I used the sketch exactly as it was shown. Usually when I look at a sketch I can pick photos out easily to work with it. In this layout I trimmed 5x7 photos to adapt to the 4x6 openings. They are not true 4x6's, but are close enough! I personally love sketches because it takes away half the work of preparing a layout! Thanks for the challenge :)

 

 

Remember, we'd love to see your takes on our sketch, if you try it out. You can link it here in the comment section, or share it on Bella's Facebook page.

 

Saturday Sketches #1

Welcome to Saturday Sketch's. I know, I know. It's Sunday, and we're a day late. It's been a busy weekend, with Stephanie and her girls out at Scrapfest, at the Mall of America. And I've spent the last 4 days teaching at CKC in San Marcos, TX. I still wanted to keep the "Saturday Sketches", since that's what this new feature will be called. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. This week, I have a few of our Local Artistas joining us.

 

Here is our first Sketch for September.

 

"Colors", by Katherine McVain.

Have you ever had one of those old layouts that you want to redo? I have a bunch, but I usually don't touch them until pieces start falling off and go missing. Well, when I saw this sketch I knew the exact layout that I could use as a redo for this assignment.

 

I created the original about 6 years ago, never really loved it, and now the letters were falling off and missing (although you can not even see them, yikes, black on black, what was I thinking?)

 

To redo the layout I needed to reuse the color photos of my daughter since the original photo is pre digital and lost somewhere in the stash of misplaced photos. So I ever so gently tore them the layout, and searched thru my Bella Blvd scraps, confident that among that colorful pallet of patterned paper, there would be matches for all four color photos. I was right, finding 4 different swatches from 4 different paper lines.

 

Then to embellish my monochromatic layout strips within the layout, I used the Family Dynamics flowers and those (can't live without) Sophisticates letter sheets. A little doodling here and there, and now, thanks to my Bella Blvd products, I have a much more colorful, cheerier layout about my daughters misunderstanding of colors. 

 

Supplies:
Sunny Happy Skies: Pandaland; Family Dynamics: Mother's Day, Quadrants, Cute Cuts, and Borders & Blocks; Fall Days: Country Fields; Making the team: Borders; Sophisticates Quattrofina: Milk & Oreo, Spinach & Pickle Juice, Salt Water & Pacific, and Peep & Saffron; Sophisticates Simply Simona Ciao Chip: Saltwater, Orange, Peep, and Pickle Juice

 

"Does The Apple Fall Far From The Tree?", by Beth Gerlach.

This sketch was super easy to use. I had several smal photos on hand, and I knew right away they would work for this challenge. I flipped the sketch 90 degrees, and worked from there. I used the Finally Fall collection, since the colors matched so well and the pics were taken outdoors.

 

 

Supplies: 
Finally Fall: Autumn Splendoe, Apple Holler, Quadrandts, Cute Cuts, Borders, Stickers, Alfa+Bits stickers; Sophticates Alphabet Stickers: Peeps and Saffron, Carla Brown: Simply Simona Chipboard Alphabets: Orange. 

 

"Trick Or Treat" card, by Gail Hoecker.

Instead of photos, like those shown on the sketch, I used 1 1/2" squares of patterned paper. I love using the Quadrants, which are scaled down versions of the full size patterned paper. 

 

I used all four of the quadrants and then added a couple versatile stripes. Referring to the sketch, there are two strips going across the top and the bottom of the photos. For this part, I cut strips from Full Mood. I, of course, inked all the edges because I'm not sure I can do a project without inking edges :)  Added a few embellishments ... easy peasy! 

We'd love to see your takes on our sketch, if you try it out. Watch for our second one, coming up next Saturday!