Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Layouts On Wednesday: Halloween

Happy Halloween! I know that for kids today is all about dressing up in cute costumes, going out trick-or-treating with friends, and collection lots and lots of candy. Actually, that might be what today is about for some adults as well! Today we're sharing a few Halloween layouts from our Layout Designers. And look closely, as they use products from several different collections, and not just our Too Cute To Spook collection. Just goes to show you can take any themed collection and make it work for lots of different occasions!

“Star Song”, by Jennifer Chapin.

Funny story - as I was photographing this layout my daughter came up and said, "Mom! Why did you put hearts and flowers on this Halloween page? Hearts and flowers don't go with Halloween!" Too funny! Even though it's a bit unconventional I decided to add a few hearts, flowers, and even a little pink to this layout to match with my daughter's costume. I think the bright colors all work together, and I also had fun embellishing with stars to reinforce the title -- Star Song the My Litle Pony.

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Cob Webs, Full Moon, Jacks-A-Glow, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Birthday Girl: Sugar Rush; Hello Beautiful: Blue Without You; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Orange, Prune; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts, Trees; Designer Tape: Gulf Dot, Pickle Juice Chevron, Piggy Pink Stripe; Button Market: Stars, Orange Stars, Outdoors, Hot Pink Flowers

"Got Candy", by Gina Lideros.

I wanted to create a 'Halloween themed' layout but didn't have Halloween products on hand. So, I decided to pull papers from different collections that fit a Halloween color theme - purple, orange, and green. The orange chevron, and green grid patterns that I pulled from the Birthday Boy collection complimented the purple plum paper that I pulled from the Sprinkles & Lace collection. To add a playful feel to the layout, I cut out circles with my Silhouette Cameo, and then added an assortment of embellishments.

Supplies:
Birthday Boy: Eat Cake, About A Boy, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Plum, Petite Pieces; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Pony; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Yellow; Flags: Thankful Flags 2; Button Market: Stars, Orange Stars, Outdoors; Designer Tape: Orange Stripe Tape, Jail Bird Tape

"I'm Jacob Hear me Roar", by Jenny Evans.

This layout is of my youngest, Jacob, at one year old. The photo is of him right before we left to go trick-or-treating, and he was very excited! I wanted to showcase the excitement he had with a very classic, bold and colorful Halloween layout. I was able to accomplish that using mostly the 'Too Cute To Spook' collection, as well as some other coordinating Bella products.

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Spooky Night, Cute Cuts, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers; Sunny Happy Skies: Magic In The Sky; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Pickle Juice; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White; Designer Tape: Jail Bird, Gulf Dot

 

The Bella Buzz October 2012 Newletter

If you've signed up for it already, the Bella Buzz October issue of our newsletter should have arrived in your inbox today. If you have not signed up yet, you can do so HERE, so you can be sure to get on our subscriber list. You can also find previous issues HERE, to browse and download.

You can view and download our Bella Buzz October 2012 Newsletter HERE.

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We have one small correction to make, as we didn't quite catch it before the newsletter was sent out. The challenged listed in our "Challenge On The Blvd" feature should read:  
Create a layout featuring the Thankful collection, using four photos and a variety of buttons.

Layouts On Tuesday

We're working in an extra day of free-for-all layouts this week. This has been a busy month, getting our new Design Team set up and ready to do, and sending them out lots and lots of product. Now that we are all getting into a groove, we'll be back on track for November with more of our regular features, such as inspiration days, product spotlight days, and more.

"4 Ever And Always", by Diane Payne.

I love all the different colors and designs of the large circles on the True Love sheet of paper from the Kiss Me collection. I was able to punch all my hearts in an assortment of colors and prints from that one sheet, then placed them randomly on my layout for a whimsical look.

Supplies:
Kiss Me: Bouquet Kisses, Love Notes, True Love, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Punch; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Blueberry; High Five Alpha Stickers: Piggy Punch; Button Market: Red Flowers, Pink Flowers

"Cowboy", by Leanne Allinson.

My youngest loves to dress up and ever since his third birthday in July, he has become obsessed with "cowboys" and being "the sheriff". To reinforce this theme, I have chosen the Making The Team: Wall Of Fame patterned paper with the little stars on it, to matte my photo. I love how the color complements the vintage look of the Instagram photo. I have also added the star sticker directly to a round Ciao Chip for a touch of dimension. To complete my layout, I have punched out star shapes from the Designer Tape, which has been adhered to plain white cardstock to make the task easier.

Supplies:
Thankful: Perfect Day, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Making The Team: Wall Of Fame, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sophisticates: Short Stories; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts; Mr Boy: Alpha+Bits Stickers; Designer Tape: Pony Dot  

“Slow Down”, by Becki Adams.

This layout is the result of me digging in my box of Bella Blvd goodies and just creating. I actually created this layout picking out the title and photo last, which is backwards of how I typically start my creative process. I love the results. The bright colors made the perfect foundation for a page about my 3-year-old son. This photo was taken within just a few days of his birthday. I had one of those mommy moments and the thought "SLOW DOWN" came to my mind. He's growing so quickly.

Supplies:
Hello Beautiful: Just Because; Sophisticates: Chlorine; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts, Essentials Asparagus & Pickle Juice, Clouds; High Five Alpha Stickers: Green; Designer Tapes: Red Dot; Button Market: Outdoors; Birthday Girl: Party Dress

"Happy Birthday", by Yohko Takiguchi.

I used October Saturday Sketch for this layout because that sketch was fun. My son turned 11 in September. We ate a chocolate celebration cake. Birthday Boy collection couldn’t be more perfect for these birthday party photos.

Supplies:
Birthday Boy: Borders, Just A Note, All For You, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Baby Boy: Miniatures; Spring Flings and Easter Things: Miniatures; Button Market: Wood Mix, Orange Stars; Flags: Birthday Boy 2; Crochet Flowers: Juniper

“An American Thanksgiving”, by Malika Kelly.

My husband and I both grew up in Canada where Thanksgiving is in October and is more of a celebration of the harvest than of the new friendship between the pilgrims and the Natives. It totally cracked me up when both kids came home from school with these little costumes that they had made and proceeded to act out a whole skit! The Thankful collection was perfect for displaying this photo. I used a series of arrow cuts from my cameo to highlight my photo and then repeated it with more arrows pointing to my title. I love to stitch on my layouts and so I added some stitched details to the awesome turkey to help him stand out.

Supplies:
Thankful: Homey, Our Spot, Burlap, Bountiful, Borders, Cute Cuts, Chipboard Icons, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Man of the House: Cuff Links; Kiss Me: Flutter; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue; Designer Tape: Pony Dot, Pickle Juice Chevron; Button Market: Checkers; Flags: Thankful Flags 2

“37”, by Jaclyn Rench.

I love that Bella's Birthday Boy collection works for all of the boys in my life - both big and little, young and old! It muddies the line between generations with it's strong masculine color palette and fun, celebratory icons. In fact, it gave me the perfect excuse to pull out a couple of photos from my hubby's most recent birthday which is oftentimes an event that goes undocumented in my scrapbooks. I love how well this collection compliments my pictures!

Supplies:
Birthday Boy: About A Boy, Eat Cake, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons; All Inclusive: Bookin' On The Beach; Designer Tapes: Gulf Dot; Button Market: Stars, Orange Stars, Outdoors; Flags: Birthday Boy 1

Altered Projects

Happy Monday! Today, we have some projects to share with you from our Altered Project Designers. We have an adorable Thankful project, a fun Too Cute To Spook project, and a couple of pretty Kiss Me projects! 

Fall Altered Wooden Owl, by Jennifer Edwardson.

I found this cute little wooden owl in a clearance bin shortly after Thanksgiving and as cute as I thought he was, I knew I could make him cuter :)

I took the bottom banner off and got out my tracing paper. I traced every piece on him (yes this one took some time) and then chose my patterns. Once I had all the pieces cut and the edges sanded, I started putting him back together with some of my faves from the Thankful collection.

I loved the chip icons and alpha stickers for my title and thought the chip house fit in perfectly.

I added some wooden buttons for his eyes and folded some designer tape to create some funky eyebrows too. I am so happy that I brought hime home and really made him mine.

Supplies:
Thankful: Turkey Tracks, Homey, Burlap, Our Spot, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Designer Tape: Pony Dot; Wood Buttons: Checkers

Halloween Altered Tray, by Jennifer Edwardson.

My kids absolutely LOVE Halloween. It is only 2nd to Christmas in our house. Okay, maybe their birthday's too. Nonetheless, they LOVE Halloween. It is always a big production and the costumes choosingis HUGE, especially for Alexander.

He was adamant that he got to be something scary this year (2010). I had a hard time with it as he was only 5 but Dracula was my compromise and he LOVED it. Emma wanted to be a rider – thanks goodness we had most of her costume so I got a toddler pony costume, did a little cutting and stitching and she was good to go.

Documenting this particular Halloween in a special way was important to me as it was the only year that Emma & Alex would be in the same school together. This tray was the perfect way to capture these memories for me as I can have it out in my office all year and then add it to our Halloween décor each October too.

The stickers and cute cuts worked beautifully to embellish (I love the bats in the corner) and I even got some designer tape in there as the spiders web.

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Quadrants, Cute Cuts, Jacks-A-Glow, Spooky Night, Cob Webs, The Boo Crew, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Flags: Summer; Designer Tape: Jail Bird

“Love Never Fails” altered canvas, by Wendy Antenucci.

I've had this song in my head for awhile now from Bethel Church; one night while the words were running through my mind a connection was made with what was being said and the beautiful Kiss Me Collection that had just arrived at my house and so my canvas was born. I placed all of my words on the canvas and actually stared at my project for a few days trying to figure out what was needed. My first addition was my button heart which combined all the colors of the canvas, I then added the various Cute Cuts and some f the Just Write stickers that I cut out and I finished my canvas with the Punch Chevron Designer tape on the edges.

Supplies:
Kiss Me: Flutter, True Love, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Blueberry; High Five Alpha Stickers: Brown-Cream, Blue, Gulf; Button Market: Hot Pink flowers, Neutral Mix, Gulf Squares, Outdoors, Pink Flowers, Stars, Fruit Punch, Blues; Designer Tapes: Punch Chevron

“Sugar and Spice” altered frame, by Wendy Antenucci.

I just met my new little niece and she is so sweet and tiny so this frame is for her room because she is all sugar and spice! I used my Cricut Word Collage to cut the saying from white cardstock. I then placed some paper and designer tape behind the openings. I used the punch chevron designer tape to frame the saying and added some cute cuts, chipboard pieces and stickers to finish decorating my frame.

Supplies:
Birthday Girl: Celebrate, Chipboard Icons, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Baby Girl: Chipboard Icons; Miniature Stickers: Card Sentiments; Designer Tapes: Punch Chevron, Piggy Pink Stripe

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 October, courtesy of Becky Fleck.

“Baby Mae”, by Megan Klauer.

My main goal with this layout was to show how the "fall themed" Thankful line can be combined with the colors of the Sophisticates calendars to get a whole new look. I wanted to combine the "almost fall, yet still summery" look of late September. This is where Bella Blvd does things so beautifully. No matter what collection or theme, they all work together wonderfully!

Supplies:
Sophisticates: Calendars, Short Stories, Tall Tags; Thankful: Turkey Tracks, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts, Borders; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Pony, Punch

"First Day of School" by Becky Williams.

One of my favorite things about the Bella Blvd collections is that even the themed collections have papers that can be used for everyday kinds of layouts. Here I have mixed the Thankful collection with Birthday Boy and Girl and they work perfectly with the colors in the pictures of my girls on their first day of school this year. The sticker sheets are great in that way, too, and I added a mix of the stickers from the birthday collections right onto the main photo on my layout. 

Supplies: 
Thankful: Bountiful; Birthday Boy: Toadilly Cool, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Birthday Girl: Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders; Designer Tapes: Piggy Pink Stripe, Pickle Juice Chevron, Punch Chevron

"Fun October Memories”, by Sheri Reguly.

This sketch is so versatile, and it was the perfect solution for my trio of fall photos. I omitted the top journaling column, and replaced it with an embellished sticker accent that was adhered with adhesive foam to add some dimension. The Thankful collection, combined with strips of Designer Tapes, and a few simple embellishments brought my design together quick and easily.

Supplies:
Thankful: Turkey Tracks, Homey, Perfect Day, Just Write Journal Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Birthday Boy: Borders; Finally Fall: Miniature Stickers; Designer Tape: Pony Dots, Pickle Juice; Button Market: Outdoors

“Smile”, by Kim Jeffress.

My youngest son was such a happy smiley baby, so I wanted to create a layout to celebrate this trait in him. I decided to use the Birthday Boy collection. I thought the bright pops of color in the papers and embellishments suited my photos perfectly. I am always a stickler for adding journaling to my layouts, as I think it is very important to journal my thoughts and feelings to help keep the memory alive. You may ask where my journaling is? I have created some hidden journaling behind one of the photos. I have used small magnets on the back of the photo and back of my layout which holds the photo in place. When I want to read it I simply lift the photo completely off my layout!

Supplies:
Birthday Boy: About A Boy, Just A Note, Streamers, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Baby Boy: Baby Blue, Chipboard Icons; Designer Tape: Orange Stripe; Flags: Birthday Boy 1

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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. 

Fridays With Stephanie: A Color Challenge & A Chance To Win

Today I’m hosting a Challenge for you, my readers & fans! Part of my job is to create color combinations for new & future collections. So, I’ve created this very simple & sweet color palette for you to explore as well!

In a nutshell I am challenging you to participate by creating a Bella Blvd project (of any sort: card, layout, etc.) using the color palette above. Then post it to Bella Blvd Facebook Page sometime before next Friday. If your project catches my eye as of my faves you could win free Bella Blvd products. How fun is that?! Plus it gives you an excuse to get your scrap on this week, right?!

This is the layout I created the color palette for. The Sophisticates collection gives you plenty of creative freedom to mix and match using the monochromatic patterns and the assortment of embellishments from Designer Tapes to buttons, Flags and more!

Dig into your Bella Blvd stash today and begin creating. This color palette is easy peasy, simple and can be very elegant (like my layout above) or very casual, documenting everyday photos with the neutral colors.

Visit my blog for more detail photos and explanation of my layout and embellishment choices surrounding the color palette challenge.

I also invited the DT to play along. Just a couple of days ago I provided the team with the color image for inspiration. In less than 48 hours this is what they’ve created!

"I Love My Blanket", by Diane Payne.

"So Much Fun" card, by Kim Jeffress.

"This Sweet Face", by Jenny Evans.

"We Love You A Ton" frame, by Jaclyn Rench.

"The Pink Legwarmers", by Leanne Allinson.

"Hi Little Buddy", by Jen Chapin.

Aren’t you inspired now!?!

You have one week to post your completed Bella Blvd Color Challenge projects to our Facebook Page. If you don’t have a FB page, just leave a link to your project in the comments here below and we’ll post them for you! Good luck & Happy Scrappin!

Cards On Thursdays

It's Thursday, which means we are all about cards, cards, and more cards, here on the blog! Our designers have been having lots of fun with the new Kiss Me collection, due to start shipping on November 1st. So we have quite a few Kiss Me cards, and lots of Halloween cards as well.

“So Many Smiles” card, by Shellye McDaniel.

With this card I started out with several vertical elements: sticker strips, designer tape and flowers. I followed the floral pattern (on the notebook Alpha+Bits sticker) with crochet flowers and leaves created with a heart punch. Wanting to add a horizontal focal point, I went with the sweet sticker sentiment that I attached with foam tape. 

Supplies:
Birthday Girl: Party Dress; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Ice; Kiss Me: Flutter, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts; Crochet Flowers: Juniper; Designer Tape: Piggy Pink Stripe

"I Love U" card, by Shellye McDaniel.

Before embellishing, I embossed the kraft card with a swiss dot pattern. I love how it ties in with the polka dot leaves, letters and designer tape! To create the hearts, I folded a small piece of paper in half and cut into shape. When machine-stitching I find that having a thickness helps to keep the stitches straight (instead of kicking in at an angle) so I layer the cut hearts onto a thin chipboard and trim to size; the chipboard also gives them an added dimension without using foam squares.

Supplies:
Kiss Me: True Love, Flutter, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Birthday Girl: Party Dress; High Five Alpha Stickers: Brown-Cream; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Blueberry; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts; Button Market: Hot Pink Flowers; Designer Tape: Pony Dot

“I Love You” card, by Laurie Schmidlin.

I love that so many of the images in the new Kiss Me collection can be used year round and not just for Valentine's Day (although, they are super cute Valentine's images too)! I combined several papers with some cutouts and a border (I shortened the I love you border so it worked as a sentiment for my card) as well as a little bit of Designer Tape and a pretty Pink Flower button. For a little something extra, I added some glitter around the edge of the cloud.

Supplies:
Kiss Me: Borders & Cutouts, Bouquet Kisses, Love Notes; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Dot; Button Market: Pink Flowers

“Crazy In Love” card, by Laurie Schmidlin.

Pretty pinks, hearts, & trendy patterns are just a few of the things that I love most about the new Kiss Me collection! I chose to use a couple of Cute Cuts, combined with the gorgeous chevron paper. I made a paper rosette using some coordinating paper and then added some stickers and a pink flower button.

Supplies: 
Kiss Me:  Alpha+Bits Stickers, Mustache Love, Borders & Cutouts; Button Market: Pink Flowers

“Boo” card, by Carina Lindholm.
 
When I first saw this cute little chipboard ghost I just knew I wanted to use him on a card! I adhered the ghost and the house label chipboards at the bottom of the card. Then I cut out some spider webs and placed my title inside the web.

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Cob Webs, Cute Cuts, Quadrants, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons

“I Love Halloween” card, by Carina Lindholm.
 
I just love this Too cute to spook collection, with its vivid colors and fun patterns. For this card I cut out a bunch of clouds from the spooky nights patterned paper and the girl from the cute cuts patterned paper. I like to adhere my cut outs using pop dots … I think that makes the card more "alive".

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Spooky Night, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers

"Halloween" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

Happy Halloween! I still love Bella's Too Cute to Spook line! And the new orange stripe designer tape is a perfect compliment to it. I used black cardstock as the base for this card. Because it is hard to write on black cardstock, I added white paper inside the card (so I can actually write something to whoever I send this card to!) and then decorated it a bit to make it fun! Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Too Cute to Spook: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jacks a Glow, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Miniature Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Designer Tapes: Orange Stripe

"Boo" card, by Gretchen McElveen.

How cute is this ghost from the Too Cute to Spook Chipboard Icons?! I pulled out my big circle punches to create a small background for the ghost on the front of the card. I also used the circle punches to help decorate the inside of the card. I hope your Halloween is fun and spooky!

Supplies:
Too Cute to Spook: Jacks a Glow, Cute Cuts, Borders, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Designer Tapes: Orange Stripe

“House Party” card, by Wendy Wagner.

With Halloween coming up I thought it would be fun to create a little 'house party' card.  I inked a lot of pieces and added Stickles to the card and some on the Designer Tapes! I used pop dots to add some depth to some items, and a little bling! Boo! 

Supplies:
Too cute to spook: Spooky Night, Miniatures Stickers, Chipboard Icons, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Plum; Designer Tapes: Jail Bird, Gulf Dot, Pickle Juice

“Join Us” card, by Wendy Wagner.

I have always loved the idea for having a desert party after thanksgiving. So that is what inspired me to pull this card together. It is a 6x6 postcard type card. As always, I have inked a lot of the edges and added stickles to some of the accent pieces. I also added in some twine for a fun touch! I really loved the way this one turned out! 

Supplies:
Thankful: Homey, Bountiful, Borders, Cute Cuts, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Thankful Flags; Quattrofina Alphabet Stickers: Mustard & Apricot

Layouts On Wednesday

We have lots of layouts to share this week. You saw a handful on Monday, today we have even more to share, followed by another round coming up on Saturday. Today is a free-for-all day for our Layout Designers, so let's check out what they've been working on!

“Story Teller”, by Leanne Allinson.

My nine year old son has such an enthusiastic way of relaying how his day was, while at school. He has always been one to express himself in a funny, narrative style. I can only imagine what his English assignments are like in school, but his teacher has quite affection for his lively ways! And even though I can’t possibly document every story he shares, I can create a page about his “story teller” instincts! I love that the beautiful Bella Blvd patterned papers are so versatile. Here I have used a majority of Birthday Boy patterned paper, but have mixed them up with coordinating colors from other collections.

Supplies:
Birthday Boy: About A Boy, Eat Cake, Borders, Alphas+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; My Boy: Borders N’ Blocks; Thankful: Turkey Tracks; Birthday Girl: Party Dress; Ciao Chip Elements: Clouds; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Yellow

“Six”, by Kim Jeffress.

My eldest recently turned six and I wanted to record some of his milestones and interests at this time. I took the opportunity to use the Birthday Boy collection, without it actually being a birthday page. I have more photos waiting from his birthday party for an actual  birthday page and again the Birthday Boy collection will be perfect. I love the bright pops of orange and yellow in this collection makes for a happy layout!

Supplies:
Birthday Boy: Toadilly Cool, About A Boy, Streamers, Alphas+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Sienna Chipboard Alpha: Blueberry; Designer Tapes: Orange Stripe; Button Market: Outdoors; Flags: Birthday Boy1

“Love”, by Sheri Reguly.

My favorite layouts to design tend to be those that involve no rules, and give me the creative freedom to simply play and enjoy the process. I had so much fun mixing and matching a variety of different collections together when designing this light-hearted page. I even opted to convert my photo to black & white so that there would be absolutely no restrictions when it came to my color scheme.

Supplies:
Baby Girl: Daddy’s Girl; Sophisticates: Short Stories, Petite Pieces; Birthday Girl: Celebrate, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Birthday Boy: Eat Cake, Just A Note, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Winter Wonder: Blizzard; Finally Fall: Miniatures Stickers; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Blue; Designer Tape: Piggy Pink Stripe; Button Market: Hot Pink Flowers

"At The Patch", by Gina Lideros.

I just adore the colors and patterns in the Thankful collection. They are perfect for documenting Fall days and trips to the pumpkin patch. I started my layout by tracing a wave pattern on cardstock then I used it as a template to cut out my pattern papers and piece together my background. I used my sewing machine to stitch each section down. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the tree and stitched it with embroidery floss. I added in chipboard icons from the Ciao Chip Thankful collection and hand cut the leaves and pumpkin from the cute cuts paper. To add dimension, I folded some of the leaves in half and added some embroidery stitching before gluing them down. I finished off my layout by adding a blessings flag from the Thankful flags 2 collection and some High five alphas.

Supplies:
Thankful: Our Spot, Turkey Tracks, Burlap, Perfect Day, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Green; Flags: Thankful 2; Button Market: Outdoors, Fruit Punch

“Thankful For Your Smile, by Sheri Feypel.

Every Fall we venture out to one of our local parks to take in all of the beautiful colors, and snap a billion pictures. Really, this year we took less than 180 :) I created this layout using Thankful to show document how thankful I am that my son still smiles for the pictures and it's genuine smile (most of the time).

Supplies:
Thankful: Perfect Day, Turkey Tracks, Homey, Burlap, Our Spot, Cute Cuts; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron; Button Market: Orange Star

The ScrapRoom Monthly Kit Club: Giveaway WINNER

It's time to announce our randomly chosen winner for our giveaway sponsored by The ScrapRoom, a monthly kit club. They are giving one of our lucky readers a free October Flavors of the Month Kit.

Congrats Debbie! Email me at [email protected] with "THE SCRAPROOM GIVEAWAY WINNER" in the subject line, and we will send your info over to The ScrapRoom so they can get your kit sent out to you!

Bella Blvd Fabric Style

Riley Blake Designs markets our fabrics under Stephanie Hunt as the designer. When purchasing or searching the Riley Blake website it's actually easier & more efficient to find the Bella Blvd fabrics under "Stephanie Hunt" as the artist.

Fabric Crayon Apron, by Tiffany Hood.

I wanted to create something for my daughter using the cute bright pinks of the "Sunny Happy Skies" fabric collection. She loves to join me in my craft room and color and draw while I scrapbook, so I made her a crayon apron that she can wear that will hold her art supplies. She's only 3, but she's an artist in the making :) I made up the pattern as I went, but you could also find a child sized apron pattern and add some divided pockets to the bottom and a ruffle and get the same effect, or you can make a pattern using a paper bag and draw it freehand like I did. When the apron was finished I topped it off with Bella Blvd's darling crochet flowers. I think they work perfectly with fabric!

Supplies:
Sunny Happy Skies 100% cotton fabric: C2730-Pink-Sunny-Main; Sunny Happy Skies 100% cotton fabric: C2732-Pink-Sunny-Floral; Crochet Flowers: Poppy, Juniper, Daisies

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Aqua Clutch, by Kathy Frye.

These fun bags started out the same, but ended up looking totally different! I used fabrics from "Sunny Happy Skies" and "Puppy Park" to make the bags, they co-ordinate so well. Bella Blvd has so many cute buttons, I just grabbed an assortment of sizes and colors and sewed them along a curvy bias strip. On the other clutch, I used fun bloom buttons as the decoration. I wanted the flower to to look a  little fuller, so I used 2 blooms and took the sticky foam off of the backs, removed one button and layered the flower shapes together to make 1 darling flower! Then I sewed it on through the button holes, added some leaves (with fusible web on the backs). I didn't use a specific pattern, but techniques from different bags - there are many great patterns out there, and the sizes can be changed so easily to fit your needs.

Full instructions and a detailed suppy list for the Aqua Clutch can be downloaded HERE.

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Pink Make-up Bag, by Kathy Frye.

This little make-up bag made from the "Sunny Happy Skies" fabric by Bella Blvd would be fun as a gift for anyone! I used the different prints as the "embellishments" using contrasting colors, making a flange, some prairie points and then quilted a few  little flowers on it. It was fun and pretty quick to make. I kind of made it up as I sewed it, using techniques very traditionally used in quilting. 

Full instructions and a detailed suppy list for the Pink Make-up Bag can be downloaded HERE.