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We wanted to remind you that the deadline to turn in your submissions for our 2012-2013 Design Team call is approaching quickly. We are really excited about the submissions we've seen come in already, and can't wait to see what is still to come!
All submissions need to be sent in by 11:59pm PST on Wednesday, September 5th.
We have a TON of cards to share with you today. A few of our Card Designers have been busy at work, creating a wide variety of free-for-all cards. Let's check them out!
"I Am Thankful For You" card, by Gretchen McElveen.
I used the 'I am thankful for...' journaling block from the Thankful Cute Cuts sheet to create the background of this card. I added the "You" with the alphabets on the Alpha + Bits Stickers to complete the sentiment. Then I strategically covered up the numbered list on the left side with flowers. It makes for a great friendly card!
Supplies:
Thankful: Burlap, Bountiful, Cute Cuts, Our Spot, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Button Market: Neutrals Mix
"Congrats On Your New Place" card, by Gretchen McElveen.
The Thankful line is not just for Thanksgiving! It is also very homey and family friendly! :) I used it to make this card for some friends who just bought their first home. The flags on this card are not even the new ones designed to go with the Thankful line. They are actually the "Fall" and "Home Sweet Home" flags from the first flags release. And they coordinate so well! Thanks for looking!
Supplies:
Thankful: Burlap, Cute Cuts, Our Spot, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Flags: Home Sweet Home, Fall
"Thanksgiving” card, by Kathy Martin.
Not only are banners trendy and fun to add to projects, they’re a fabulous way to use up a lot of little scraps of paper! It was a lot of fun to create this layered banner and easy because the Alpha+Bits sticker sheets provide a lot of little phrases that work perfectly for this kind of project.
Supplies:
Thankful: Perfect Day, Homey, Burlap, Bountiful, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Checkers, Feminine Mix; Miniatures Stickers: Family; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red
“Give Thanks” card, by Alice Carman.
I am loving the colors in this collection, with its clean and crisp patterns. I feel like home when I look at collection and it makes me happy.
Supplies:
Thankful: Homey, Our Spot, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Button Market: Merlot Flowers; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue
“Happy Happy Birthday” card, by Alice Carman.
There’s so much you can do with this collection. It’s colors are so versatile with the other collections in the Bella Blvd family of products that this card was put together in a jiffy. It’s a really simple design and with the help of the Birthday Boy line, it made the card pop.
Supplies:
Birthday Boy: Borders, Cute Cuts; Flags: Birthday Boy; Button Market: Orange Star
“Happy Birthday” card, by Alice Carman.
I love cute outs because it’s so easy to use. It’s great to layer them on top of another to create something new. Also a great way to add texture and height for an eye catching fun card!
Supplies:
Birthday Girl: Celebrate, Dancing Queen, Party Dress, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Cute Cuts; Thankful: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Chevron
"Thanks so much" card, by Deanna Misner.
This card uses both the Sonoma chipboard letters and the High Five alphas to create a 2-part sentiment. I chose to split it and use different fonts to make the eye travel across the design and to give it more visual interest. And I can never have enough "Thank you" cards. I thought it'd be a little different to use the texting abbreviation for "thanks" instead of trying to squeeze the whole word in to the small space.
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds; High Five Alpha Stickers: Yellow; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Orange; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders; Crochet Flowers: Daisies, Peonies; Flags: Thank You, Floral
"UR So Very Sweet" card, by Deanna Misner.
I had a fun time layering all sorts of chipboard and stickers while making this card. I chose to mix and match fonts, which the High Five alphabets are perfect for. I also layer the chipboard hearts with the chipboard letters to create depth to the card. As an added little touch, I trimmed some Designer Tape and added it to the top corner.
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Juicy Good Time; Sonoma Chipboard Alphas: Oyster; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts; Designer Tape: Pink Stripe
"Congrats, Baby" card, by Deanna Misner.
I thought this would be a fun card to give, whether to an expecting mom or someone who just deserved a "Congrats" card. My inspiration came from watching Friends re-runs one late night and hearing Joey saying "It's London, BABY" so I thought why not use "baby" emphasized as a card sentiment as in "Congrats, BABY!" So there you have it, a TV show inspired sentiment! Heee!
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds; Baby Boy: Alpha+Bits; Flags: Summer, Winter
It's Wednesday, and time for another round of free-for-all layouts from our Layout Designers!
“Salted Oreo”, by Vivian Masket.
I had fun with the title element on this layout, placing it so that the last "o" in "Oreo" encircles my daughter's ice cream in the photo. The Black-White High Five Alphabet was perfect here, as it has both colors present in Oreos! Designer Tape in two colors and a Flag draw attention to the title.
Supplies:
Sophisticates: Borders Ciao Chip; Flags: Text Me, Fall; Designer Tape: Red Dot, Yellow Chevron; High Five Alphabets: Black-White
“Love In A Tree Of Three”, by Kimberly Neddo.
I centered this layout around the natural heart shaped hallowed out hole in this Redwood tree that the kids were standing in. I used the fun designer tape to scrunch and shape into a heart shape around the heart in the tree, framing it all together.
Supplies:
Flirty: Omigosh; Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power; Finally Fall: Miniatures; Mr Boy: Alpha+Bits Stickers; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red; Button Market: Feminine Mix; Designer Tape: Red Dot
"Sleeping Beauty", by Brook Stewart.
"B" sides of papers are often times my favorite, usually because they are so versatile. They Birthday Girl line is no different! Even though this collection is very themed, the B sides are perfect for any girly layout! I chose to go with a picture of our new little one sleeping, which even now at 6 weeks, it's what she does best!
Supplies:
Birthday Girl: Party Dress, Sugar Rush, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sienna Chipboard Alpha: Punch; High Five Alpha: Yellow; Button Market: Purple Flowers, Hot Pink Flowers; Designer Tape: Gulf Dot, Yellow Chevron
“Happy 70th Birthday”, Julie Johnson.
This is a photo of my Dad on taken on his 70th birthday. I couldn't have chosen a more fitting collection than Birthday Boy. It's "happy" just like my Dad. I love that this collection is perfect for a "boy" birthday. It's great for both young boys and all those grown up boys that are still young at heart. And that's my dad, young at heart! But maybe you don't have a boy. This layout would also look adorable in the Birthday Girl collection. I love that I can take the same idea and just switch out the paper!
Supplies:
Birthday Boy: Toadilly Cool, Just a Note, Eat Cake, Streamers, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Birthday Boy Flags 2; Simply Simona Chipboard Numbers: McIntosh
“My Prince”, by Sue Mylde.
I love the Estate Sale collection, one of the best vintages of Bella Blvd, in my mind. The colors are rich and distinct and the patterns are very versatile. In this page, I combined the papers from the Estate Sale collection and added some of the latest chipboard trees for contrast and texture.
Supplies:
Estate Sale: Nana's Apron, Linens, Hat Box, Bits A Bella; Sunny Happy Skies: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Ciao Chip Elements: Trees
Today, we have two fabulous summer projects to share with you, from our Altered Project Designer Jennifer Edwardson. She's created two different versions of a "Summer Memories" box, along with a fun little mini album to tuck into each box. Let's check them out!
"Summer Memories" altered box and mini album, by Jennifer Edwardson.
I am always collecting pieces to alter as I see them and tucking each away until the right moment. My 7 yr. old son, Alex, is forever tucking 'special rocks' in my pockets that I forget about until they go into the washing machine!
So I have been wanting to create a little box for him to put some of his treasures and this is what I came up with. I dug some of my favorite pieces from a couple of older collections that I'd been saving for a project and layouts for Alex and got to work.
I covered the edges of the outer piece of the box using patterned paper and then bordered it with designer tape. I added stickers, alphas and flags to complete the cover.
Using some Core'dinations cardstock I created the base to a mini album custom fit to the inside of the slide out piece of the box.
I adhered the pages together using more designer tape!
I then used more fun patterned paper, stickers, flags and a button to create places for Alex to help me add his favorite photos from our month long vacation this summer!
A little tip: When I create a project like this, where the photos will be added later, I always use either reposition-able adhesive or only adhere in a small corner, so that photos can easily be slipped under the embellishments after.
He loves it and I am looking forward to not finding quite so many little rocks in the washing machine :)
Supplies:
Camped Out: Happy Campers, Label Additions; All Inclusive: Ocean View, Bookin' On The Beach, Bella Blurbs; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Chevron, Pony Dot; High Five Alphabets: Green; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Brownie; Flags: Camping
"Summer Fun", altered box and mini album, by Jennifer Edwardson.
We were lucky enough to be able to take our daughter Emma out to show her horses for the whole month of August this summer! We've been having the BEST time, and of course we have taken a ton of photos. I wanted to create a place for her to have a little snapshot of memories of this great trip.
This little folding box was perfect as it already came with a kraft base for a little mini album inside.
I chose one of my favorite collections, Sunshine and Happiness, to make this project bright and fun for her. I traced out the front cover using patterned paper and sanded the edges once the patterned paper was adhered. I added cute cuts, stickers and chipboard shapes to embellish.
Once opened, I added different patterned paper strips to cover all the spaces inside as well, and designer tape around the middle of the box too. I left these places open for her to add larger photos too.
For the album I created a 'mini layout' on each page for her photos, but I left the back of each page blank so she could adhere tickets and mementos from the trip if she'd like.
A little tip: When I create a project like this where the photos will be added later, I always use either reposition-able adhesive or only adhere in a small corner, so that photos can easily be slipped under the embellishments after.
This was so fun to put together and I can't wait to see what pictures she adds once we get home!
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Juicy Good Time, Sunny Side Up, Popsicle Kisses, Cute Cuts, Alphas+Bits, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Miniatures; Ciao Chip Elements: Icons, Stars and Hearts; Designer Tape: Gulf Dot, Pickle Juice Chevron, Piggy Pink Stripe, Orange Stripe; Button Market: Orange Stars
Hey there! It’s Vicki Boutin here and I am so excited to be the August guest designer here at Bella Blvd! My family and I reside in Southern Ontario, Canada. The Boutin’s consist of me, my husband Rich, son Riley (11) and daughter Devyn (9). I started paper crafting when my son was born and love everything about this craft! I have a passion for color, patterned paper and techniques. I terrorize my family with my camera. Photography makes me happy ... but drives them crazy! Ha!
As far as accolades go, I was a Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame winner many moons ago and worked with Scrapbooks, Etc for a number of years, too. These days I write a column called Designer Notebook for Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine and travel lots teaching workshops. This year was a special one with the release of my first book, Creative Foundations. I am happiest when I am buried in creativity.
Bella Blvd … what isn’t there to love?! This is a product line that is just done right. With a great mix of patterns, vibrant colors and the perfect selection of embellishments they make creating fun and easy! I am excited to share a few of the projects I created with you.
"Happiness Is", by Vicki Boutin.
We certainly don’t have a fear of color in this house. Rainbow colors make my heart sing and I like to mix lots of colors together on my pages. The trick is using tone on tone patterns in a variety of colors and then marrying them together with a stripe. I did that here on this layout of Devyn.
I have a passion for circles. I used them here on this page to create subtle interest under the title. They work to ground the chipboard letters and add appeal to the page.
Love the Sophisticates chipboard! I used one of the sun shapes here from the clouds set.
"Riley", by Vicki Boutin.
While color makes me happy, layering pattern makes me giddy! That is yet another thing that Bella Blvd has a knack for. They know how to scale patterns! Their papers always have large, medium and small patterns. On this layout I mixed clouds, polka dots, stripes and more yet it still works. The tone on tone patterns and stripe helps to balance it all out but I love that it is cardstock free.
Here are a few close up images. Again, love the chipboard!!!
"Smile", by Vicki Boutin.
My girl celebrated her 9th birthday this month and we did a little photo shoot with her besties. The photos I took are chock full of color! For this layout I let the photos guide me and I used lots of color but laid it out on a grey dot. The neutrality of the grey allows the color to really pop.
So here is my challenge to you: It’s time to think about mixing patterned papers and color! Try using a striped pattern paper as your color palette stepping off point. Next, pull out some tone on tone papers and mix pattern scale and size. Finally don’t be afraid to use a neutral pattern and color as the base of your design. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!!
Man, this was fun! Thanks to Stephanie and Laura for letting me come and play on the Bella blog this month! Now go and make something that makes you HAPPY!!!
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 August, courtesy of Becky Fleck.
"Sweet Baby Cakes", by Kim Arnold.
This was a delightful sketch to use with these photos of my sister in law and baby niece, and the gorgeous Baby Girl collection. I love how all the different patterned papers work together and I think the pink stands out even more by adding a dash of blue with the checked paper from the Baby Boy range. I used one of the border stickers from the Baby Girl collection to substitute for the stitching at the top and bottom of the photo block. The zig zag design printed on it works perfectly.
Supplies: Baby Girl: Daddy’s Girl, Snuggly Safari, Cute Cuts, It’s a Girl, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Baby Boy: Cute Cuts; Sunshine & Happiness: Borders; Sophisticates: Chip Essentials Pink; Blooms a Bella: Bianca; Baby Blooms a Bella: Champagne
“This Moment”, by Loredana Buccaria.
I adore the sketches, you can't imagine how! They are amazing to create a page very quickly. I have made this page as a gift for one of my friends that has got married last July. I think that these colors are perfect for the photos and for the event! With only some little details as stickers, letters, buttons or journaling stickers you can create amazing pages in few time! Bella Blvd products are so easy to use and so beautiful to see in your pages! They are perfect for any occasion! Try this fabulous sketch, you will create an amazing page, it has inspired me so much!
Supplies:
Lovey Dovey: Bear Hugs, Cute Cuts, Alpha+ Bits Stickers, Blurbs Journaling Stickers, Love is in the Air; Estate Sale: Coin Purse, Nana's Apron; Button Market: Checkers, Wood Mix
"Today 3”, by Vivian Masket.
I loved the simple blocked design at the center of the sketch and used that as a jumping-off point for my layout. I turned the sketch upside down and replaced the blocks of patterned paper with banner shapes that extend beyond the white inner canvas. I created flowers by pleating Designer Tape and finished each flower with a center created by rolling up a small piece of Designer Tape in a contrasting color. A cluster of buttons stands in for one of the flower embellishments in the sketch.
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Petal Power, Happy Clouds, Borders, Miniatures Stickers; Button Market: Masculine Mix, Feminine Mix; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe, Yellow Chevron, Pickle Juice Dot; High Five Alphabets: Black-White
“Davis Girlies”, by Wendy Wagner.
I followed this sketch almost exactly. I ended up with 3 photos instead of 2. I wanted to use my nieces school photo's from last year. What a cute way to showcase the 'boring' school photo. I distressed the edges of my papers, and of course I inked just about everything like usual. And I had to jazz some of it up with a little bling & stickles. I love scrapbooking with sketches since it seems to simplify things for me.
Supplies:
Thankful: Perfect Day, Burlap, Bountiful, Our Spot, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Crochet Flowers: Poppy, 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.
While there are still a few more official weeks left of summer, it does feel like summer is winding down. A lot of our kids are already back in school and hitting the books. The start of school has always felt like the end of summer to me. I thought we would focus on some bright and color projects, using the Sunshine & Happiness collection. And an altered project that is very "Summer" themed, but using the older Plastino collection.
"Thanks, You're Sweet" card, by Deanna Misner.
Popsicles are such a treat in the summer and what's better than a sweet treat?! Playing on those words, I created this popsicle card.I also liked the way the orange and purple colors played off of each other with just a touch of a pink scalloped border. To top it all off, I layered more tape and a quick "thanks".
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red; Sophisticates: Card Sentiments Miniature Sticker
"You Are My Sunshine" card, by Deanna Misner.
This card just kind of created itself. I love layering the Ciao Chipboard and this one came about while I was playing with layers. I thought a fun little added touch would be to use some tape as rays from the sun too.
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up; Ciao Chip Elements: Clouds; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron
“You Melt My Heart” card, by Alice Carman.
Here’s a clean and simple card that’s quick and easy. Stamp your card on your favorite Bella Blvd papers and pop them up for a 3D effect. Finish it off with a bow and ta da, done! Super easy.
Supplies:
Sweet Celebration: Party Hearty; Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up; Lovey Dovey: Borders N’ Blocks; Unity/Bella Blvd Stamps: Melt My Heart Popsicle
“Carnival”, by Sue Mylde.
What fun we are having this summer! Are you enjoying and documenting your summer days too? We spent some fun hours at the carnival games at Heritage Park here in Calgary. Our girls loved the ferris wheel and the swings. I love the way these border stickers 'underline' the photo. To give the page a brighter look, I've also decided to use a bright blue ink for journaling. Happy Summer!!
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Sunny Side Up, Play Date, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniatures Stickers, Just Write Stickers; High-Five Alphabets: Pink-Red
“Fos & Olivia”, by Kimberly Neddo.
I am really loving orange and blue combinations lately, they can be used so versatile, that you can just about do anything with them. I always LOVE to enlarge my photographs, and work with sizing them differently to draw the viewers eye to it. In my opinion, everything you create on a page, should draw your attention to the photograph, and it should tell a story by what you see, then how everything around it compliments it to emphasize the story behind it. Sometimes they don't need a lot of journaling either, which is what you see here. I love working with the Designer Tape, and pleats really easily for a fun border like the one I made along the bottom border of the photograph.
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Happy Clouds, Sunny Side Up, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Journaling Stickers; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron; Button Market: Blues; Flags: Girl
“Summer Begins”, by Loredana Buccaria.
Hi Everyone! Summer finally begins here and I can see such a colorful world around me! I love the sea and the sun and the lazy days, and the beach. I love this picture, it is from my first time at the beach this year and it perfectly expresses what I love of the summer! The Sunshine & happiness collection is amazing for the summer and vacation pages so colorful and it makes me feel so happy! I love to play with many different kinds of products and this is one of the reason why i really love Bella Blvd! Full of different tiny things to put in your pages for a very cool look!
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Juicy Good Time, Happy Clouds, Cute cuts, Borders, Miniatures stickers, Flags, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Checkers, Fruit Punch; High Five Alphabets: Pink-Red, Yellow; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron
"Summer Tunes" altered CD holder, by Jennifer Edwardson.
For my “free for all” project this month I decided to go “old school” and make a CD full of all the summer music that we're listening to over and over in the truck right now. I have an iPhone but I am still a big fan of having CD's too. Remember when you used to make mixed tapes? Boy, thing have changed.
I dug out a heavy weight CD case and my stash of Plastino (one of my faves). I started out by covering the case with a large plaid pattern paper, cutting it big enough to wrap the edges completely to the inside. I then cut up Bits a Bella and added a couple of summer phrases along the cover, sanding the edges of course. I adhered a crochet flower and created a couple of flags using stickers from Label Additions and pins too.
I chose a blue on blue pattern for the inside cover and the CD pocket and added large polka dots for the inside pocket, along with a strip of stripes inside the spine and behind the list of music that is on the disc. I finished it off with wrapping some twine around the spine and tying it in a bow in the front.
I traced the disc onto a piece of Sophisticates, making sure to sand off the edges before adhering it to the front. I added a 'fun in the sun' sticker, a summertime phrase, the date and a little ladybug precision cut from the Bits a Bella to embellish the disc.
I am sure one day we won't have the CD player to play this music on, but at least the kids will know what we listened to this summer when they're too old to remember :)
Supplies:
Plastino: Bermudas, Forget Me Nots, Bits a Bella, Label Additions; Sophisticates: Petite Pieces, Sprinkles & Lace Ice; Crochet Flowers: Juniper
We're back to share two more simple tutorials from some of our design team members. I love when I see some of our designers re-creating a fun technique or design on several projects, yet each time it still looks fresh and new. So I asked a few designers to put together tutorials, to show us just how easy it is to get similiar looks for our own projects!
"Just Popping In" card, by Gretchen McElveen.
Hi! Gretchen here! Today I want to walk you through an easy way to make a cute “peek-a-boo” birthday card! In addition to the basics (adhesive, scissors, paper trimmer, etc.), all you will need is your favorite Bella Blvd birthday products (specifically the Birthday Boy Cute Cuts, Borders, and other patterned papers of your choice), a sheet of kraft cardstock to be the base of your card, a scrap of cardstock that matches the birthday papers, a scalloped circle punch, and a circle punch slightly smaller than the scalloped circle punch.
Step 1: Make the base of your card. I started with a card measuring 7” tall x 4” wide made out of kraft cardstock. This will fit just right inside a legal envelope! Then I layered 3 different patterned papers onto the front of the card.
Step 2: Using a circle punch (mine is 1 ½”), punch a circle in the middle from the right side of the card. Just punch as far as your circle punch will reach! My punch is not centered perfectly and I don’t care! This is a fun, playful card so if it is off-center it will only be more fun!
Step 3: Now use that same circle punch to punch a piece of cardstock to match your card (I used orange).
Step 4: Then using a scalloped circle punch slightly bigger than the circle punch (mine is 1 7/8), punch around the circle that you just punched.
You will create a fun little shape that looks like this.
Step 5: Now adhere the scalloped circle around the circle that you punched in the card.
Step 6: Now move onto the inside of the card for a bit! Cut the cute hippo out of the sheet of Cute Cuts from the Birthday Boy line. Cut out one of the presents while you are at it and a small hat and a “happy birthday to you” from the Borders sheet. Now adhere the hippo inside the card so that it can peek out of the circle on the front of the card.
Step 7: Then adhere the present with foam adhesive to the left of the hippo. Give the hippo a hat by adhering above his head with foam adhesive! Cut up the “happy birthday to you” from the Borders sheet and adhere it to the inside of the card also.
Now go back and finish the outside of the card. Add some tape around 3 sides and type out a sentiment to add above and below the punched circle. Add stickers as desired to embellish. Then you are done!
Supplies:
Birthday Boy: Borders, Cute Cuts, Just a Note, Toadilly Cool, Streamers, Alpha + Bits Stickers
Designer Tapes: Orange Stripe
"Happy Birthday To You" card, by Gretchen McElveen.
Here is another card I made using the same "peekaboo" technique. This is a more girly card and I used square punches instead circles. But I couldn't resist using that cute hippo again! thanks for looking!
Supplies:
Birthday Girl: Borders, Dancing Queen, Cute Cuts, Sugar Rush, Celebrate, Alpha+Bits Stickers
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"Big Girl Birthday Wish", by Katherine McElvain.
For my daughter’s birthday layout I wanted to create some streamers as the main embellishment. I love the look I have been seeing on many design blogs of circles and little pieces floating on a line of string.
Step 1: To create the circles for this page I layered the Bella Blvd designer tape on a piece of vellum.
Step 2: Then I punched out the circles in two different sizes. Super easy, but super fun.
To decorate the layout I draped my bakers twine across the page where I thought it would look best. I decorated the twine by alternating my striped circles with coordinating buttons, spacing them out to look randomly placed. Added a title with those great new Sienna Alphas, a little splatter here and there, and call it complete!
Supplies:
Birthday Girl: Icons, Alpha+Bits Stickers; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Punch; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders; Designer Tape: Teal Stripe, Pink Stripe, Pickle Juice Dot, Pickle Juice Chevron, Yellow Chevron, Gulf Dot, Pink Chevron; Button Market: Purple Flowers, Fruit Punch, Pink Flowers, Aqua Flowers, Hot Pink Flowers
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"Celebrate" card, by Kathy Martin.
I love the Bella Blvd. Designer Tapes! With their bright colors and fun patterns, I like to use them to make die cut embellishments. It’s really easy too.
Just add strips of your favorite Designer Tape to clear vellum and then run through your die cutter as you would any other paper. This technique also works with digital cutters and punches. You can create pinwheels, rosettes and titles for scrapbook pages too.
Supplies:
Thankful: Turkey Tracks; Birthday Girl: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Designer Tape: Piggy Pink Stripe, Pickle Juice Chevron, Yellow Chevron; Flags: Girl; Button Market: Stars
"True Love" card, by Kathy Martin.
Supplies:
Designer Tape: Piggy Pink Stripe, Pickle Juice Chevron, Orange Stripe, Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe; Flags: Love; Button Market: Pink Flowers
Welcome back for our second day of sharing some simple tutorials from some of our design team members. I love when I see some of our designers re-creating a fun technique or design on several projects, yet each time it still looks fresh and new. So I asked a few designers to put together tutorials, to show us just how easy it is to get similiar looks for our own projects!
"Summer Memories", by Laura Vegas.
I have made a few layouts and cards using partial sunbursts, but this was the first layout that I had made using a full page sunburst. I love the look of the sunburst background, and thought I would create the look of a second "layout" on top of the fun background, with my photo and journaling all together on a 9x9 piece of cardstock. Creating a sunburst background takes a little bit of time, but the resulting look is well worth it! Here's a little tutorial on how to create this look.
Step 1: For a full page sunburst background, you will want to start with a spare sheet of 12x12 cardstock. You will want to trace a circle in the area that you want the sunburst to "burst" out from. I traced my circle in the lower right section of the page.
Step 2: Using a ruler, or a straight edge, you will then draw lines from the circle all the way out to the edge of the paper. These do not have to be evenly spaced and there is really no wrong or right way to do this step. I usually start with the corner lines, and then work my way in.
I only trace my lines to the edge of my circle, since I don't cut my pieces to fit all the way together when they meet in that center point. I used to cut them all the way, but I always seemed to have ends overlapping and bulking up. I know that I will place something over that center point, so I'm ok with there being an empty space in that area.
Step 3: Once your lines all drawn out the way you want them, you will want to number the pieces so that you know the order they go in. Start in one corner, and number them going in a clockwise order. This is much easier then trying to fit them together later. Once they're numbered, you will want to cut all of the pieces apart.
You can see that I have cut off the ends, where the pieces meet in that center point. I will be placing something over this area of my layout, so know one needs to know my "bursts" didn't go all the way in.
Step 4: Start selecting your patterned paper and/or cardstock that you will use for each piece.
Step 5: For each "burst", you will want to flip over the patterned paper/cardstock that you chose, and lightly adhere the numbered template piece, number side down. By adhering the template piece to the BACK of your chosen paper, you don't have to worry about any leftover adhesive showing. But you have to remember to also flip the template piece over, and adhered it number side down, so that once you cut your piece and turn it over, your "burst" will be going in the right direction.
Step 6: As you trim each "burst", place it in the appropiate spot on your page. I use a sheet of cardstock to built the sunburst on, and adhere all of the pieces directly to it.
To adhere your "bursts", start with the corner pieces, and adhere them first. Then work your way in with the rest of the pieces. Don't worry if a piece or two have to overlap slightly. It's hard to get them cut so that they match up perfectly.
Step 7: If desired, you can machine stitch along the outside edges of each "burst", or even draw stitches with a pen. Or you can leave them just the way they are. Either way works!
Step 8: Make sure and SAVE your template pieces that you cut out from cardstock, so that you can use them over and over on additional layouts ;)
Supplies:
Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Happy Clouds, Borders, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Teal Stripe; Button Market: Fruit Punch, Aqua Flowers, Pickle Squares, Neutrals Mix
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“Destination Happiness”, by Loredana Buccaria.
Hi everyone! This is one of the most fun pages I have ever created with the amazing products of Bella Blvd! I love to mix many of the different collections and kinds of products. Finally I have created a background with a sunburst. I couldn't wait to do it. I have drawn it on a white sheet of paper and signed each part with a number in the way to know the sequence of the different pieces of paper. After I have chosen many different patterned papers and cut the pieces from each of them. Simply glue them on the white card stock. I have added the date and the name of the place in the picture and added many journaling spots as well. I played with tiny details as always I do and tada! What do you think? Enjoy!
Supplies:
All Inclusive: Bookin' On The Beach; Sunshine & Happiness: Popsicle Kisses, Cute Cuts, Happy Clouds, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Baby Girl: Daddy's Girl, Cute Cuts; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom's Bouquet; Flags: Baby Boy; Crochet Flowers: Dahlia; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red
For the next few days, we are going to be sharing some simple tutorials from some of our design team members. I love when I see some of our designers re-creating a fun technique or design on several projects, yet each time it still looks fresh and new. So I asked a few designers to put together tutorials, to show us just how easy it is to get similiar looks for our own projects!
"Cookie Monster Voice", by Melissa Stinson.
Using a combination of border stamps and heat embossing has become one of my favorite ways to dress up my chipboard letters. Especially on this layout, where the title is such a huge part of the journaling and page design, I wanted the letters to have a little extra special something to help them stand out. And, not only did I embellish my chipboard alphas, but I also took extra photos to share my process with you!
Step 1: Punch out the letters for your title from their backing sheets. My letters popped out with the wax paper backig still attached, so I didn't have to worry about them sticking to the sheet of paper I placed underneath them to catch the extra embossing powder. Line up the letters as they'll be placed in the title so that the embossing will be in a continuous line across your title.
Step 2: Ink up a stamp (I like to use a border stamp since they're longer and can stamp more letters at one time) with Versamark or any sticky watermark type ink.
Step 3: Stamp on your letters, keeping them lined up as you go. If your title is longer than your stamp, just ink it up again and line up another impression next to it, just as if you were stamping on a long strip of paper.
Step 4: Sprinkle embossing powder (I find that it's best to use a contrasting color to give it the most "pop") over your letters, then tap off the excess and lay your letters out on a craft sheet (alternately you can hold each letter with a pair of tweezers as you heat it).
Step 5: Use a heat tool to set the embossing powder on your letters, wait for them to cool, and then arrange on your page as desired!
Supplies:
Baby Girl: Daddy's Girl, Snuggly Safari, Pretty in Pink, Baby Cakes, Cute Cuts, Miniatures, Ciao Chip Icons; Baby Boy: Ciao Chip Icons; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphabet: Brownie; Button Market: Fruit Punch, Feminine Mix
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"Lollipop Kid" by Becky Williams.
Hi! Becky Williams here with a quick tutorial for today. One of the biggest trends in scrapbooking right now is chevron stripes. You can find them everywhere and many people have created them in different ways. Today I will show you a very quick and easy way to make these cute zigzags like I've done on a few of my Bella Blvd assignments.
Step 1: Gather some of your favorite Bella Blvd patterned papers and the pictures you would like to include on your page.
Step 2: Cut patterned paper to 1/4 inch x 12 inch strips and cut those strips into 4-inch long segments. You can vary the appearance of your chevron stripes by changing up the length and width of your strips. Experiment with different things to find a style that you like best.
Step 3: Take two of the 4-inch strips of paper and join them squarely at the corner and adhere at the corner. Take another strip and add to the end going the opposite direction to make the peaks and valleys of the stripes. Once you've finished one stripe, adhere it to the base of your layout.
Step 4: Add more stripes to your page by creating more strips as you did with the first one, lining the paper pieces up with your first stripe. You can keep each stripe one color or mix and match pieces as I did.
Step 5: Once you've finished all of the stripes, add your pictures and embellish as desired.
Supplies:
Family Dynamix: Quadrants; Birthday Boy: Eat Cake, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Birthday Girl: Borders, Celebrate, Miles of Smiles, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Thankful: Perfect Day, Borders; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Chevron; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Orange; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars and Hearts; High Five Alphabets: Black-White; Button Market: Hot Pink Flowers, Gulf Squares, Orange Stars
