Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Designer's Choice Day 1 | Melissa Mann

Good Morning, friends!

It's Melissa here with you today and I was excited about creating this project for this week's Designer's Choice! I really wanted to use the Let's Go On An Adventure collection and I have a ton of pictures from my trip to Colorado from last October that I need to get documented. I printed up six small photos from my trip and used a BIG title for my project!

To start my layout, I backed a piece of white card stock with some pretty floral pattern paper from the Let's Go On An Adventure paper pack. I flicked some watercolor paints on the white card stock and while that was drying, I cut out a big title from the Bella Blvd Silhouette Shop. I cut out the GO, SEE, DO title on green cardstock; I backed the word "SEE" with three different pattern papers from the collection.

The title was centered in the middle of the layout. I stitched down lines with white thread to sort of act as an "anchor" for my photos. I placed a strip of stickers from the Doohickey sticker sheet by the stitched line and then placed my three photos on each strip. Once my photos were adhered, I added some more sentiment stickers on top of the photos and placed some chipboard flowers around them. 

To finish the project off, I typed up my journaling on white card stock and glued that down and placed a few of the small acrylic trees by the photos. I really loved how this layout ended up working out!

Bella Blvd Supplies Used:

1. Go See Do Digital Cut File
2. Let's Go On An Adventure Paper Collection
3. Let's Go On An Adventure Doohickey Stickers
4. Let's Go On An Adventure Ciao Chip
5. Acrylic Tree Mix

Sketch Week - Day 6 | Nathalie DeSousa

Hi there!

Nathalie with you today to continue with this week's sketch inspiration.   A sketch is an easy and fast way to put a layout together, as it works as a blueprint for your imagination.   Let's check the sketch (provided by Brianna) one more time:

I just love the shapes she has used in the sketch, and decided to shrink it for my layout, featuring To the Moon collection:

I wanted to bring the elements of the sketch as the focus of the layout, so I decided to shrink the sketch so that it fits inside a 8.5x11 white cardstock page.  This just makes anything that is inside the large circle of the page the focus of the layout, while giving me space to play with paper.

I started by cutting out a 6" circle from the top of the white cardstock, and hand stitched a small frame around it. I chose a color of embroidery floss that matches the color of my nephew's suit.   Once I was done with the stitching, I backed the space with the Daily Details paper.

I glued the entire page then to the center of the Imagine paper. I left the edge of the white paper clean so that it pops from the background, but considered adding a handstitched edge, too.  Simplicity won this time around, though!

I used two 2x3 photos (I layered pieces of paper from To The Moon collection behind them), and placed them as per the sketch.  Here, I cut a 4" circle from Little Explorer paper, and a 3.5" circle from the Out Of This World paper. I handstitched around each circle with matching embroidery floss.   I follow the sketch, and tucked the circles under the photos, then proceeded to embellish it all

I used the puffy stars, and doohickey stars and hearts from the collection to add the stars around the photos and circles.  I am using Heart Hugs to bring in more texture and tie all the clusters together.  The To the Moon Chipboard stickers had the perfect sentiment for my title.   All that was left was to add a few drops of black ink, and the journaling.

I hope this inspires you to take a chance with the sketch. You are going to be amazed at how easy your layout will come together using the sketch as inspiration!

 

XO

 

BELLA BLVD supplies:

TO THE MOON collection: Patterned paper, puffy stickers, Doohickey stickers, chipboard stickers

Heart Hugs collection: Big Boy

 

Sketch Week- Day 5 | Tegan

Good day everyone, Tegan here! I hope you all are enjoying sketch week! I know I sure am! Seeing different takes on the same sketch is so fun! I love that this sketch involves circles, which is something I sometimes forget about when I create my layouts. Here's the amazing sketch again for reference...

I have been wanting to document photos of my new recue pooch, so I pulled out the darling Cooper collection!  I stuck to the basic sketch design, but I wanted to create a fun design with the main circle. I first cut a large 8" circle into the Bella Besties Freehand Graph & Dot White Patterned Paper. I then made a rainbow striped background with 2-inch strips of Bella Besties Hearts & Ombre Patterned Papers in Orange, Pickle Juice, McIntosh, and Blueberry. I then added Puffy Heart Stickers around the design. I used the Trinkets Puffy Stickers in Orange, Pickle Juice & Guacamole, McIntosh, and Blueberry. I love that all of the Bella Blvd products coordinate so well! 

I wanted to incorporate a little more interest to my rainbow circle, so I added a piece of the dog print cut outs from the Faithful Friends Cut-Outs pack. I then backed some of the paws with the spotted Cooper Puppers Patterned Paper so it would stand out a little bit more. I love how this design turned out! I then embellished the layout with little die cut pieces from the Ephemera pack. 

I used some more Ephemera pieces to create a fast fun title and accents on the page. I then added Bella Blvd Puffy Star Stickers... an oldie but definitely still a goodie! 

I did even include the two smaller circle design elements but they got covered up by the pictures a little. But I love the little bit of pattern that they add underneath the photos. I absolutely love working with sketches.... do you?! I love them for when I get stuck or just want to try something different! What is your favorite thing about this sketch?! 

Thank you for joining us today! I hope you find some time to create a layout from this sketch. I know you will have a blast like I did! And if you have a pooch, the Cooper collection is perfect! 

Bella Blvd Products Used:

Cooper Collection: Puppers Patterned Paper, Ephemera Pack

Bella Besties Patterned Papers: Freehand Graph & Dot White, Hearts & Ombre Orange, Hearts & Ombre Pickle Juice, Hearts & Ombre McIntosh, Hearts & Ombre Blueberry

Cut-Outs: Faithful Friend

Trinkets Puffy Stickers: Orange, Pickle Juice & Guacamole, McIntosh, Blueberry

 

Sketch Week Day 4 | To the Moon Collection | Niki Rowland

Hi everyone! This is Niki (@nikiclairecreates) and I have a new layout and process video to share using the fabulous To the Moon collection and I’m also playing along with this month’s wonderful sketch by Brianna.

I completely adore the sketch and stuck to it pretty closely. I love circles and I love stars so this was pretty much perfect for me!

My photo is of my little boy dressed as Superman, so I picked out the colors from the collection that were Superman colors: red, blue and yellow. I then cut the large circle from red heart paper using old school methods: a compass, pencil and scissors! I distressed the edges (to cover up my wobbly cutting!) and stitched around the edge with black machine stitching.

I cut more circles and stars from the other papers using metal dies. I positioned the shapes on the layout and turned the stars into 3D stars by scoring and folding them.

I added my photo and a journaling card too and got all of my shapes stuck in place. I also punched more stars from black card and added those to the clusters too.

I used the black Florence Alphabet Stickers to create my title. I stuck them onto some white card first and trimmed around them leaving a narrow white border which makes them stand out well against the busy paper behind it.

 

I finished off by adding a few little ephemera pieces and then I handwrote my journaling around the edge of the large circle. I also added a few splatters of white paint to the clusters. I have prepared a process video for this layout which can be viewed below - enjoy!

Thanks so much for joining me today and happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

 

Products Used

To the Moon Collection: 12x12 Papers, Ephemera, Cardstock Stickers

Florence Alphabet Stickers Black

Other: White card, Metal Dies Circles & Stars, white acrylic paint

Sketch Week- Day 3 | Sarah K

Hello, Bella friends! Happy Wednesday! It's me Sarah (@redoaklines) back on the blog, and today I'm bringing you another awesome 12x12 layout inspired by this month's sketch. Have you seen it yet?! If not, here it is again for reference:

 

 

See! I told you it was a fun one! I love the circular design on this one and the use of two photos. I felt inspired to use the You Are My Sunshine collection for this layout.

Here's what I came up with:

 

I knew right away after seeing the big circle on the sketch that I wanted to use a big, bright sun, so I found the Sun cut file in the Silhouette Design store. To use the same sun that I used in this layout, find it here.

 

Like I mentioned before, I focused on using the You Are My Sunshine papers and embellishments because I knew that the bright, color palette in this collection would be perfect for that sun cut file. The name of the collection is "You Are My Sunshine" after all, hehe.

With a handful of products, this collection really brought out this sketch design. I used various patterned papers to back my photos, scattered some ephemera icons and a few stickers, and ta-da! 

 

However, instead of using the smaller circles shown in the sketch, I opted to use some ephemera icons to embellish my layout.

 

That's all for today! I hope that I've inspired you to use this month's sketch because it's definitely an awesome one to use. If you do end up using this sketch, we'd love to see it! Please feel free to share with us on all of Bella's socials by tagging us - #bellablvd or #bellablvdllc

As always, thanks for letting me share my work with you today. Thanks for following along!

Until next time,

Sarah.

Bella Blvd Supplies Used:

You Are My Sunshine Collection: Patterned Papers, Ephemera Icons, Ciao Chip, Doohickey Sticker Sheet, Bella Pops Fly Away, Epoxy Stickers, Puffy Stickers; Acrylic Words Fabulous; Cute Clips

Sketch Week Day 2 | Sarah Millerhouse

I absolutely love working with a great sketch! I would love to say it makes my process faster, but that wouldn’t necessarily be true…nothing can make me a fast scrapper! I think the reason I love it so much is that the sketch helps get my creativity going and takes the pressure off of deciding where I’m going with the layout. This sketch by Brianna Lepper is just perfect! 

I stuck pretty close the general composition of the sketch and used all the best elements of it. 

For my large circle, I wanted that to stand out because I knew it was where my photos would be. I created this by cutting small strips (1 in. by 3 in.) of the Bella Besties patterned papers in rainbow order, folding them over (without creasing them), and adhering those to the outer edge a 6.5 in. circle. I created a second layer by repeating the process with smaller strips (3/4 in. by 2 in.). I then cut another piece of patterned paper into a 6 in. circle and layered that on top to cover all the edges.

The other circles I created using a couple of patterned papers from You Are My Sunshine and distressing the edges. Behind each of the circles, I used distress oxides to give a subtle glow and a little bit of splattering. Around each circle, I added some hand-stitching, like the stitching in the sketch. For the larger circle I incorporated sequins as I went. For the other two circles, I did a simple straight stitch around the circle and then went back and added a French knot to each hole in a contrasting color. I LOVE the texture that hand-stitching adds to a layout! 

Once all of that was finished, I added my sweet photos that I snapped on some of our daily quarantine walks that we took to keep our sanity in check during the months we had to stay home. I embellished around the photos with lots of heart stickers from the Puffy Stickers and Trinkets sheets in all the colors, a few pieces of ephemera from the You Are My Sunshine collection, and a couple phrases from the Word Salad sticker book. I used the “So Sweet” acrylic word as my title and finished the layout with my journaling! 

I had a blast creating this layout and hope it inspires you in some way!