Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Monday Morning Challenge: 20 Minute Layouts & 10 Minute Cards

Welcome to Monday Morning Challenge, where we offer up a challenge, and share with you our designers take on that challenge. Today we asked our designers to put a time limit on the creation of their projects. 20 minute layouts and 10 minute cards.

“Gotta Love These Faces”, by Becki Adams.

When I only have a few minutes to get a project finished there are two things that I do, cut the size of my page down (usually to 8 1/2 x 11) and use only premade elements (alphabets, embellishments and stickers). To add an extra bit of interest and texture I finish the project with some machine stitching.

Supplies:
Molly: Paper Pieces, Candid Cards; Family Forever: Mom & Dad; Daily Chevies: Gulf Arrows; High Five Alpha Stickers: Gulf; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Pickle Juice, Punch; Crochet Hearts: Punch; Designer Tape: Piggy Pink Stripe

“Scout Camp”, by Wendy Sue Anderson.

This was a HUGE challenge for me because I am a S-L-O-W scrapbooker! I feel like I've completed a page quickly if it's done in an hour or two ... so twenty minutes felt like an almost impossible feat! I did choose my photos and pulled out a couple of the new collections before I set my timer - I hope that wasn't cheating! I have a couple of tips for creating a FAST page. First, choose a few colors from your photos and pull out all of the patterned papers and embellishments that you might want to use that have those colors - I chose red, blue, and yellow. Next, If you're a "line 'em up" style scrapper, stick with that - if you're a "collage/layer" scrapper, stick with that. When you're racing the clock, stick with what you know! I'm a "line 'em up" girl for sure - so I created a "grid-style" layout with two photos and two blocks of patterned paper. Then I just started placing patterned papers, stickers, and embellishments until my timer was up. True confessions - it took me the full 20 minutes to complete the grid part, and then I added the border stickers and designer tape on the left edge after my timer went off.  In all, it took me about 25 minutes - which, for me, is lightning fast ;)

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Treasures & Text, Scallop Starz, McIntosh Starz, Surf N Turf Starz, Trinkets, Candid Cards; Family Forever: Treasures & Text, Trinkets; High Five Alpha Stickers: Pink-Red, Brown-Cream; Flags: Patriotic; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron

“Bright Hello” card, by Ashley Marcu.

Quick cards are so fun to pull together. To create this simple card I pulled color inspiration from the camera I cut from a candid card. 10 minutes doesn't leave a lot of time for tricky cutting or embellishing so I stuck with straight lines and a fun feather for a pop of texture and color.

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Gulf Starz, Color Crazy Starz, Candid Cards, Treasures & Texts; Molly: Selfie; Family Forever: Happy Home; Feathers: Bell Pepper

“UR Awesome” card, by Ashley Marcu.

Another great way to make a quick card is to limit your supplies. For this card I only used candid cards and cardstock stickers from the Max collection. After layering a variety of different sized cards and adding stickers I ended up with a fun small card that only took me a few minutes. 

Supplies:
Max: Candid Cards, Treasures & Text 

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 Apron, by Christine Ousley.

Aprons are such handy things to have around and why not have a fun and stylish one made in fabulous Bella Blvd fabrics. The basic version of this apron can be sewn up in a couple hours. I added a few extras, like the ruffle on the bottom, but it's really an easy basic sewing project.

Each band of fabric is the same width and then the height of each is based on personal needs. The front of the apron features three pockets for all your scrapbooking, or umm, cooking tools.

When all of the pieces are put together, then you want to make the straps or use some ribbon. Attach them at the sides at the top and then sandwich everything with a piece of fabric that is the same width and height as your front piece.

Sew along the edge of the fabric but leave an opening about 4 inches wide, for turning the apron inside out. Turn the apron inside out, push the corners out and press the seams flat. Sew the opening closed and you have this gorgeous new apron to wear to your next crop, or umm, cooking dinner.

My apron was based on this tutorial by Christen for Craftaholicsanonymous.com. Thanks to my daughter for modeling this fun apron!

Pillowcase Dress, by Tiffany Hood.

These cute pillowcase dresses are a great project for the beginning sewer. If you know the basics, and can make a pillowcase, you can probably make one of these. This one is a little more advanced because I added more layers to the bottom, and I made my own bias tape (the pink around the arms that ties) because making your own allows you to coordinate it.

Supplies:
Bella Blvd Summer Breeze Fabrics for Riley Blake Fabrics; Bella Blvd's Crochet Hearts; 1" wide elastic for the neckline (about 1/2 yard- cut into two halves); Bias tape or homemade bias tape from fabric 

Birthday Wishes Wall Hanging, by Kathy Frye.

While I was designing this project, I tried to include all the makings for a great Birthday celebration, presents, balloons and cupcakes with candles. This adorable fabric is the Bella Blvd "Summer Breeze" collection it is perfect, love it! I combined applique with piecing and lots of free motion quilting to create this wall hanging. I added lots of ribbons for extra detail. My granddaughters thought it was pretty cool, especially the cupcakes!

Supplies: 
Bella Blvd "Summer Breeze" cotton fabric, quilt batting, ribbons, thread, fusibile web for applique

Pinterest Inspired

It's always been fun to browse thru Pinterest, looking at the endless ideas and inspirational images that are out there. Our designers always enjoy taking whatever image we provide them, and using it in whatever way inspires them the most as they work on their projects. It's amazing to see how many different ideas and designs can be inspired by just one image.

{Image Credit: I Heart Naptime & Tambouille}

“Just Keep Swimming”, by Katie Rose.

I was inspired by the tape on the paper clips that look like ribbon so I used lots of Bella designer tape for that same effect. I then lined up coordinating crochet hearts under the tape. I was also inspired by the triangular crop of the patterned paper in the top photo and used that in my overall design. For some finishing touches I added lots of fun stickers, stitching some and using pop dots on others.

Supplies:
Family Forever: Mom and Dad, Treasures & Text, Trinkets; Lucky Starz: Treasures &Text; Max: Trinkets; Sienna Chipboard Alpha: Pickle Juice; Crochet Hearts: Scallop, Orange, McIntosh, Bell Pepper, Pickle Juice, Saltwater, Punch, Cotton Candy; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron, Orange Stripe, Red Chevron, Piggy Pink Stripe, Hot Pink Dot, Navy Dot, Blue Gingham, Pickle Juice Stripe

"Awesome Trouble", by Leanne Allinson.

The first thing that drew my eye with the Pinterest photo were the colors. The green and gray, teamed with the note paper inspired me to use the Max collection patterned paper, "Sketchbook". I also knew I wanted to focus in on the fun paperclip element. The circle shapes were taken from the top paperclip image in the Pinterest photo, while the banner used with the paperclip on my layout, was inspired by the second photo. I've teamed up the Max collection with a photo of my eldest son and his two best friends and together, all three are definitely "Awesome Trouble".

Supplies:
Max: Treasures & Text, Text Me, That's My Boy, Rock Star, Sketchbook, Trinkets, Paper Pieces; Lucky Starz: Oreo Starz; Family Forever: Sunday Brunch; Sand & Surf: Paradise; Daily Chevies: Arrows Pickle Juice

“Leaf Without You” card, by Shellye McDaniel.

I have been wanting to create a card with this stamp and the inspiration photo harkened me to try stamping the leaves onto some of the Designer Tape! I placed the strips onto white cardstock and then stamped the image sporadically several times over the tapes. Next, I hand-cut the leaves and added a small foam adhesive square to the back of each. After stamping the entire image again onto a white cardstock, I placed the matching leaves over the design. For extra detail, I embellished a plain paper clip with a Button Market button and a high tack adhesive dot!

Supplies:
Max: That's My Boy; Family Forever: Candid Cards; Button Market: Masculine Mix; Design Tape: Pickle Juice Chevron, Pickle Juice Dot; Unity Stamp: Leaf Without You

“What A Guy” card, by Shellye McDaniel.

While looking through the Max Collection, I was drawn to the various star stickers found on the Treasures & Text sheet. I added them to a paper clip with a high tack adhesive dot and then clipped them to the side of the paper swatch. I let the Border paper do most of the work and only accented further with some hand-stitching at the top and a crochet heart.

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Carrot Starz; Max: Borders, Treasures & Text; Crochet Hearts: Saltwater; Button Market: Masculine Mix

What's New Wednesday

Welcome to "What's New Wednesday"! Every Wednesday, our designers will be sharing projects using the latest and greatest products from Bella Blvd. Especially our newest collections, which our designers are having so much fun creating with!

“Dream Big and Yell Louder”, by Wendy Antenucci.

What's New Wednesday? Well how about shaking up your normal? I used the fun Max collection to document my 6 month old son, Rocky. My son seems to believe that yelling is how you talk (maybe it is that he is growing up with 5 other siblings and it is a little loud in our home) and so I wanted to pull in the tape cassettes, music card, dream big piece, monster, and bold color for this layout. My normal would be pictures in focus, but my son never stops moving so today I just wanted to capture him the way he is and I'm fine with it! My normal is to use a white background, but the background I chose is so boyish, no frills attached, just like my boy. My normal is a few well-placed embellishments, but today I decided to load up my layout and layer away - each piece just fit my little guy and his larger than life personality and so I went with it! How about you? What is going to be new on your layouts today?  

Supplies:
Max: That's My Boy, Text Me, Borders, Sketchbook, Paper Pieces, Candid Cards, Treasures & Text; Lucky Starz: Treasures & Text; High Five Alpha Stickers: Color Wheel, Black-White

“Everyday Girl”, by Kay Rogers.

I love Molly! The mix of girly colors with the modern element of navy makes me happy. It's the perfect mix for my pre-teen girl. I used tape to outline the page itself, one of my favorite framing techniques.

Supplies:
Molly: Paper Pieces, Candid Cards, Sketch With Style, Treasures & Text, Trinkets; Feathers: Frosting; Designer Tape: Navy Dot, Piggy Pink Stripe

“Smiles Are Contagious” card, by Morgan Bandkowski.

I recently have become obsessed with the project life style of scrapbooking. So I have a ton of 3x4 cards. I wanted to show an easy way to use some of those extra cards you might have lying around. The words on this card are so fun and cheerful! I feel like I could you this card for any occasion. I added two designer tapes to the bottom of the candid card. I ripped the designer tape and layered them together. Since I have been a part of Bella Blvd since the beginning I still have some old items and decided to add a Baby Blooms A Bella alongside a newer item (crochet hearts) I love how the two textures look next to each other. 

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Bell Pepper Starz, Punch Starz, Carrot Starz, Gulf Starz, Pickle Juice Starz, Scallop Starz, Candid Cards; Crochet Hearts: Gulf; Baby Blooms a Bella: Rossini; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Dot, Pink Stripe

“Happy Birthday” card, by Morgan Bandkowski.  

I was inspired to make this card by another local designer, Sheri. She had these cute little white envelopes that would be perfect for a gift card or money. I tend to use a lot of pink so I thought I would try to go out of my comfort zone and use some purple instead. I like the combination of the purple and green together. I use a lot of the designer tapes on my cards. On this card I ripped all of the pieces to give it more of rough edge then using scissors all the time. 

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Pickle Juice Starz; Sophisticates: Sprinkles & Lace Plum; Designer Tape: Polka Dot Combo, Pickle Juice Stripe, Chevron Combo; Unity Stamp: Cake Wishes 

On-Going Guest Designers: Brook Stewart & Jennifer Edwardson

Today we want to welcome back our two On-Going Guest Designers to the blog, specially chosen during our design team selection process last September. They will both be sharing projects with us a few times throughout the year, and we're excited to have her here to share with us today.

“She Loves 2 Draw”, by Brook Stewart.

My girl is growing up so fast and the Molly Collection is perfect to document those post baby milestones. I love the versatility of the B sides and the perfect patterns of the A sides that Bella is so well known for! And the new font on the Treasures & Text sticker sheet has to be my new favorite!

Supplies:
Molly: Unlimited Text, Sketch With Style, Borders, Treasures & Text, Trinkets, Paper Pieces, Candid Cards; Daily Chevies: Everyday Bookplates

“Gavel Games Practice”, by Brook Stewart.

I'm a sucker for all things "star" shaped, so the Lucky Starz Collection is right up my alley! I love the fact that the color combinations with this line are so limitless and the color mix in the High Five alphas are so much fun!

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Pickle Juice Starz, Bell Pepper Starz, Oreo Starz, Carrot Starz, Treasures & Text, Trinkets, Color Wheel High Five, Candid Cards; Max: Paper Pieces

“Just Like Dad”, by Jennifer Edwardson.

Like most little boys, Alex LOVES to do anything that his Daddy does including helping me. The colors in the Lucky Starz collection work so well with these cute pics of Alex changing out the license plate from the truck to the camper - too cute. I love that while the stars are tone on tone, the pattern still pops off the page and the back sides are fabulous too - seriously LOVE them. One of the many things I enjoy about the Bella product is that several of the shapes are carried through in each collection. For this layout I was able to take star stickers from the Treasures & Text Cardstock Sticker sheets from (3) different collections and use them on the same layout. This really makes embellishing easy and fun!

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Surf N Turf Starz, Bell Pepper Starz, Color Wheel High Five, Treasures & Text; Family Forever: Treasures & Text; Max: Trinkets, Treasures & Text; Molly: Treasures & Text; Freestyle Sophisticates: Freestyle Scallop; Simply Simona Chipboard Alphas: Orange

“You’re My Favorite Dude”, by Jennifer Edwardson.

Alex is going to be 9 this June and I can’t seem to figure out where the time has gone. That and I keeping realizing just how many pics I still have to get into this kids album. These were taken of Alex when he was 2 years old. His curls – seriously. He’d still have them but he kept getting called a cute little girl so they were cut when he turned 3. I still miss them. BUT. His goofy, silly and fun personality has stayed right where it belongs and he still makes me laugh every day! The words and phrases throughout this collection seem to have been made for my boy. Yes, what a guy is right. LOVE all the little bits. This layout came together easily and is ready to put in his book – finally. 

Supplies: 
Max: Text Me, That’s My Boy, Shark Attack, Borders Max, Treasures & Text, Trinkets, Paper Pieces, Candid Cards; Molly: Treasures & Text; Button Market: Outdoor 

“Birthday Adventures”, by Jennifer Edwardson.

When I got the Max collection I was so excited as it was perfect for my boy photos of Alex. Especially birthday party pics. The colors seem to coordinate with all of them, no matter what the event. I find myself reaching for patterned papers as the base to my layouts more often than not and Stephanie has been creating some fantastic subtle, tone on tone patterns that work perfectly for this. I layered a couple of the 4 x 6” Candid Cards to create a base for my photo and then mixed in chip shapes, stickers and die cut shapes to embellish.

Supplies: 
Max: Text Me, Rock Star, Treasures & Text, Paper Pieces, Candid Cards; Sienna Chipboard Alphabets: Ice; Family Forever: Treasures & Text; Button Market: Outdoor  

“You Are My Favorite Girl”, by Jennifer Edwardson.

The Molly collection just screams Emma to me. This girl is the best and I am forever calling her my favorite girl. These photos were taken in the spring a few years back and she looks sooooo young. She just turned 13 and has had braces for the past year. Her face has changed shape so much so these pics seem like so long ago. I am finding the ‘Molly’ collection so easy to work with as there truly is a paper and embellishment for all my girly pictures. Yes – I even find it easy to work with Em’s horsey pics too. I am LOVING the Die-Cut packs and can’t get enough of the new ‘Treasures & Text’ Cardstock Stickers just to add that little extra something to every project!

Supplies:
Molly: Peace, Borders, Candid Cards, Paper Pieces, Treasures & Text, Trinkets; Crochet Hearts: Punch, Gulf, Bell Pepper; Sienna Chipboard Alphabets: Frosting

“Love You So Much” card, by Jennifer Edwardson.

One of my favorite new items that Stephanie added to these new collections are the Die Cut Shape packs – LOVE these! There is something for any project that you are creating including great sentiments for cards.

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Bell Pepper Starz, Carrot Starz, Treasures & Text, Trinkets, Candid Cards; Button Market: Neutral Mix

“Friends Forever” card, by Jennifer Edwardson.

These 2 cards were quick and easy but super cute and ready for a birthday, thank you or just because. A few pieces of patterned paper, some cardstock stickers, die cut shapes and a button or two and they're ready to give to someone special.

Supplies:
Molly: Borders, Paper Pieces, Treasures & Text; Crochet Hearts: Bell Pepper; Button Market: Outdoors

Monday Morning Challenge: Incorporating All Four New Collections Into Projects

Welcome to Monday Morning Challenge, where we offer up a challenge, and share with you our designers take on that challenge. Today we asked our designers to incorporate all FOUR new collections into their layouts and cards. 

“Love You to Pieces”, by Stephanie Buice.

Using these four new collections was a pretty easy challenge since they all go together quite well. I really like all the colors in each line so I just pulled from here and there. I decided I loved the words on the surf n' turf patterned paper so there I went cutting away. I decided to layer the words in a column and then place my pictures at the bottom. These pictures are kind of silly and I'm not looking my finest but it's the moment that they capture that I love the most. In these pictures Brady was copying the faces I was making with him in the camera, so although they are not my finest looking they are funny and lighthearted which I feel suited all of Bella's new collections.

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Surf n' Turf Starz, Punch Starz, Pickle Juice Starz; Molly: Trinkets, Borders; Daily Chevies: Chevy Oreo; Family Forever: Treasures & Text; Snapshots: Paper Pieces; Max: Trinkets, Treasures & Text, Borders; Spring Flings & Easter Things: Miniatures; Flags: Baby Boy; Designer Tapes: Chevron Combo

“Hey Handsome”, by Jodi Wilton.

For this layout, I was inspired by my son's photos. Lately, he never seems to take a serious photo, and everything is a joke to him! I loved finding patterned paper from all four collections to make the layout work, and then added some stickers and die cuts from the Max and lucky STARZ collections. Stephanie does a great job of making easy to mix and match everything together! To give the layout a fun and quirky twist I added some designer tape at various angles to go along with his silly personality.

Supplies:
Max: Rock Star, Paper Pieces, Candid Cards, Trinkets, Treasures & Text; Molly: Unlimited Text, Treasures & Text; Lucky Starz: McIntosh Starz, Treasures & Text; Family Forever: Mom & Dad; Designer Tape: Gray Dot, Chevron Combo Pack

“Smiles” card, by Kathy Martin.

One of my favorite things about Bella Blvd collections is that I can easily mix and match them, making this challenge a breeze! Stephanie always designs with complimenting colors and icons so that if a holiday line goes out of season, using up every bit of paper and accents for other occasions is a breeze!

Supplies:
Molly: Paper Pieces, Treasures & Text; Max: Shark Attack, Treasures & Text; Family Forever: Treasures & Text; Lucky Starz: Candid Cards

“Rock Star” card, by Kathy Martin.

Max, Molly, Family Forever and Lucky Starz. An element from each of these new Bella Blvd collections went into this card design! Can you spot which paper or accent are from which? I created the card and I had a hard time remembering when it came time to write up my supply list. The collections are seamless! 

Supplies:
Max: Candid Cards, Trinkets; Molly: Treasures & Text; Family Forever: Treasures & Text; Lucky Starz: Scallop Starz, Candid Cards, Trinkets; Button Market: Orange Stars

Show & Tell Saturday: Scraproom Tour

I think everyone enjoys getting to peek into other designers scraprooms, right? It's fun to see how others store and organize the same types of products and tools that so many of us have. And while many of us have totally different ways of setting up our spaces, or have totally different types of spaces that we're working with, you never know when you'll see a new way of storing or organizing products that you can incorporate into your own space.

Scraproom Tour, by Kelly Holbrook.

My scrap space is also our entry way. The front door is to the right of the computer, which you can kind of see part of in the lower right hand corner. What you can't see is hooks filled with coats, and a cubby filled with shoes :) It was the best place for my craft stuff, as the room was kind of empty before I claimed it...now it's a little crowded for my liking, but it works.

The cabinet that holds the majority of my scrapbooking tools is actually an office/ computer cabinet. It was my parents' while growing up...and when they wanted to get rid of it, I had the perfect purpose for it. Although, I have to purge often for lack of space, it beats hauling everything out to the kitchen table when I want to work, which was my previous arrangement.

It opens up with a fold out table, a large filing drawer, a tray that's suppose to be for a keyboard, and mail cubbies...which I've re-purposed to fit my craft storage needs. This is what it looks like the majority of the time...I almost never close it up.

I've been stamping since 1998, and have probably given away at least twice as many stamp sets that you see here. I don't have room to hoard, so if there is something that I find myself never using...it finds a better home. The baskets hold:

Top Left: extra adhesives, ones that I don't use on a regular basis, like sticker makers, Modge Podge, glue sticks and hot glue gun refills. Top Middle: spools of ribbon, baker's twine, washi tape. Top Right: extra embellishments like die cuts, brads, and gems that go with certain paper collections.

Bottom Left: punches, Bottom Middle: more punches, and decorative scissors. Bottom Right: Ink refills, glitter, and paints.

Here's the little roll out tray that's suppose to hold a keyboard...it holds my paper trimmer. These baskets hold: Top Left: ink pads; Top Right: miscellaneous chipboard and flowers; Bottom Left: embossing folders and dies; Bottom Right: miscellaneous tools such as paper crimper, Crop-a-dile, stamp scrubber, paint tray, etc.

Here, I'll start at the bottom with the cubbies from left to right: The first one hold long tools like rulers, a hammer, and a 12x12 trimmer; next is rub ons; the third is letter stickers ( I keep 12x12 sheets with my 12x12 paper), and the last one is envelopes, notecards and tags. The little set of drawers hold every thing I reach for the most: the bottom is pens and markers; the middle is things like my paper piercer, pencils, erasers, stapler, double stick tape, foam tape, needles, etc; the top is staples, paperclips popsicle sticks, mini clothespins, etc. 

The black basket in the back holds all of my clear stamps, the little Rubbermaid container in front of it holds gems and tools that I need to keep together and handy for DT work. The next shelf up holds flat tools like a big circle cutter, Coluzzle system, stencils, and cutting mats.The top shelf from left to right holds: More tools that I need to keep together/handy for DT work; a basket of my printed photos, and embroidery floss containers that actually hold brads/eyelets, beads, and ribbon left overs.

Under the table there is a big filing drawer. The shelf on top of it holds recent papercrafting magazines, and a basket of cards.

The big filing drawer holds all of my 8.5x11 cardstock sorted by color.

This cabinet was made by my husband's best friend as a wedding present. It used to hold books, but we aren't big readers...so up those went to the attic, and now it holds my 12x12 paper.

I keep all of my 12x 12 paper together by collection...it's just easier for me that way. If any of the collections come with bulky embellishments...they go in the embellishment basket from photo #4. The big basket has all of my Bella collections and embellishments because they're special :) But, I'm quickly out-growing it.

I also store all of my Bella paper by collection, and have all of the like embellishments stored together in bags. Then, if I have in mind what I want to use, I can just grab a collection or two, and the embellishments that I want to use with it.

This shelf has all of my albums...don't be fooled, only about half of those are completed. I try to have an album for each year of my kids' life, except for the girls (twins). I started out doing theirs together, because they were always in pictures together. So, that's just the way I've kept doing it. I'm actually kind of glad, because I don't know where I would put 12 more albums if I had started each their own books.  Albums are expensive, and since I do so many...I actually use 2 1/2 inch office binders, which explains my preferred 8.5x11 style. They're only a few bucks, and I can customize the outside myself.

Thanks for touring my favorite spot with me! I hope I've been able to share some ideas for those with limited storage.

Fridays With Stephanie & A Giveaway

TGIF, right? This week has been a blast around the Bella Blvd studio as we wrap up a new springtime-mid release. I’m just about done and ready to send it off to our printers! I cannot wait to reveal these new miniature collections to you....they’re so stinkin’ cute! I promise to share more information about them soon, but in the meantime today I thought I’d share with you some studio photos!

The employees and myself have been anxiously awaiting Spring. It really should be here any day now, but old man Winter doesn’t seem to want to pack up and leave quite yet. Nonetheless, recently I had a need to “clean-house!” We donated boxes of scraps, old products, and more to a local school for the teachers, and really whipped this place into shape.

Here’s a peak at our little fabric corner where we have a sampling of the bright and beautiful bolts of fabric that perfectly coordinate our paper lines. And those binders in the lower right corner of the photo include all of our 12x12” papers and stickers currently available for customers, kind of like a look-book.

We also like to keep past CHA projects around just to brighten our days and keep things pretty. Some of my favorite prints and patterns and products are hung in frames and bottled in little jars too! Yummy, right?

Well, I thought since we are officially (according to the calendar) into the SECOND DAY of SPRING, that I could give away this set of pretties:

Leave a comment below what you’d like to see next from Bella Blvd. A new embellishment? A new paper collection? A themed product? Leave as many comments as you’d like to enter and win, be sure to tell you’re friends. I’d love to hear from you!

Hope you enjoy your Friday and have a wonderful weekend. I’m off to continue finalizing art files for our newest mini release coming soon!

Trends: Triangles

Welcome to Trending Thursday, where we pick something we are seeing trending within the scrapbooking industry and ask our designers to focus on that trend as they create their projects to share with you. This week we are focusing on triangles.

“Slides & Smiles”, by Jen Chesnick.

Triangles seem to be a super hot trend currently in scrapbooking. I find myself having a hard time using them and tend to fall back to my favorite shape, stars. So to not be overwhelmed by triangles I decided to go big and use two together as my background. It's a bonus that they show up in small print on the backside of Color Crazy Starz pattern paper. 

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Color Crazy Starz, Candid Cards, Treasures & Text, Trinkets; Ciao Chip Elements: Stars & Hearts 

“Selfie”, by Nicole Nowosad.

I love using different shapes on my projects and couldn’t wait to test out triangles to create a fun and unique background for my page. I cut several triangles out of the new Bella Blvd CHA collections and then layered them with some smaller open triangles cut from simple cardstock. I love the fun and trendy look and will definitely use triangles again!

Supplies:
Max: Treasures & Text; Trick or Treat: Alpha+Bits; Snapshots: Alpha+Bits; Lucky Starz: Treasures & Text, Carrot Starz, Oreo Starz, Pickle Juice Starz, Peep Starz, Gulf Starz, Candid Cards; Family Forever: Borders, Family Game Night, Mom & Dad, Sunday Brunch, Family Photo; Molly: Refuse to Sink, Sketch with Style, Unlimited Text, Borders, Paper Pieces; Freestyle Sophisticates: Freestyle Scallop; Baby Blooms a Bella: Azzini; Designer Tape: Gulf Dot, Gray Dot

“Captured” card, by Diana Fisher.

When I first thought of the triangle trend, I thought about triangles on the card, but someone pointed out to me that the card itself could be a triangle. Brilliant! The layered scallop-cut border helps give this narrow card a more robust feel.

Supplies:
Family Forever: Borders; Lucky Starz: Pickle Juice Starz, Bell Pepper Starz, Scallop Starz, Candid Cards

“Love You” card, by Diana Fisher.

I love the look of quilting, and triangles work perfectly for this style of layering. Faux-stitching with a white pen adds the feel of a real quilt to the background on this card.

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: High Five Color Crazy, Candid Cards; Molly: Refuse to Sink

What's New Wednesday

Welcome to "What's New Wednesday"! Every Wednesday, our designers will be sharing projects using the latest and greatest products from Bella Blvd. Especially our newest collections, which our designers are having so much fun creating with!

“Pretty Girl”, by Becki Adams.

I created this fun project with the Molly collection and lots of high five alpha stickers for my journaling. I love mixing and matching fonts. I used tons of different fonts on this project.

Supplies:
Molly: Unlimited Text, Paper Pieces, Candid Cards, Treasures & Text, Trinkets, Sketch with Style, Borders; Sienna Chipboard Alphabet: Pickle Juice; High Five Alpha Stickers: Green, Blue, Gulf, Piggy-Punch 

“So Glamorous” card, by Ashley Marcu.

I had so much playing with the new collections Lucky Starz and Molly. With all of the encouraging and fun sentiments I thought it would be fun to make a card to uplift a friend. I added a few text stickers to a journaling card and found a fun arrow sentiment that complimented my theme and was also a great pop of color. I added patterned paper and sticker stars to add to the glam and fun!

Supplies:
Molly: Candid Cards, Treasures & Text; Lucky Starz: Gulf Starz, Punch Starz, Color Wheel High Five, Trinkets; Designer Tape: Yellow Chevron

“BFF” card, by Ashley Marcu.

When I saw the trendy #friends journaling card I knew I wanted to add a little fun and make it a best friend’s card. I used alpha stickers to complete my sentiment and then layered bright colorful paper behind with a fun sticker tab and a few designer tapes.

Supplies:
Molly: Candid Cards, Treasures & Text, Selfie, Borders; Lucky Starz: Color Wheel High Five, Treasures & Texts; Designer Tape: Ice Stripe, Chevron Combo Pack

“You're Amazing” card, by Sheri Feypel.

I always find it a little more difficult to create boy cards than girl cards, but have been really forcing myself lately to do it! I started this card off with the Yellow Strips from Family Forever and layered some patterns from Max. I cut out the tag and added a few more speech bubbles so my sentiment had a home.

Supplies:
Family Forever: Mom & Dad; Lucky Starz: Saltwater Starz, Scallop Starz; Max: Rock Star, Text Me

“Sweet Heart” card, by Sheri Feypel.

I created this fun girly card with a mix of the newest lines from Bella Blvd. My layering began with a tag punched from the Molly line and I layered with the Paper Pieces die cut shapes.

Supplies:
Lucky Starz: Pickle Juice Starz; Family Forever: Mom & Dad; Molly: Unlimited Text, Paper Pieces