Bella Blvd Studio Blog

School Is Cool 3 + Photo Challenge | Ashley Neu

Hello scrappy friends! Ashley here on the Bella Blvd blog to share another school layout using the brand new and awesome School Is Cool collection! The challenge for this week is to use at least 3 photos on a layout. I used 4 photos of my two little girls getting on the school bus. It's a series of photos showing my kindergartener helping my preschooler get on the bus for the first time! It sure was adorable to watch!

 

 

I found the School Bus cut file from Bella Blvd and knew it was the perfect thing to use to document these photos! In Silhouette Studio, I used the 'release compound path' feature to break apart each piece of the cut file. I wanted to just use the basic outline of the bus along with the wheels. After cutting the bus from the Bella Besties Graph + Dot paper in the color Bell Pepper and the wheels from the Daily Details paper, I added some stitching using tone-on-tone embroidery thread. This gives so much more dimension to a very flat looking cut file!

 

 

After adhering my photos in the positions that would be the bus windows, I worked on the background scene. I grabbed the Bella Besties Graph + Dot paper in the color Guacamole and the No. 2 Pencil paper to create a grass and road border. I used a Martha Stewart punch to create the grass. I cut a small strip of the No.2 Pencil paper, using the reverse side with the words 'i love school', and sandwiched that between the 2 grass pieces. I used a piece of the Bella Bestites Hearts + Ombre paper in the color Ice and cut out a large piece to use as the sky. The paper Math Facts was so adorable and I thought they would make some very interesting-looking clouds that would be perfect for a school layout! I hand cut these and adhered them straight onto the background.

 

 

The main title of the layout is the 'Be Brave' sentiment that I created using the Be You, Be Brave Acrylic Words set. I also added the sentiment 'Back to School' using the Florence Alpha stickers in the color black as well as a school word banner from the Ephemera Words set. To embellish, I used two Epoxy Stars on the center of the wheels, a tiny school bus and 'Bus Stop' sign from the Puffy Stickers set and an 'Early Bird' sign from the Ephemera Words set. I added some stitching all the way around the layout using a white gel pen and adhered some journaling strips at the bottom of my layout along with the date! 

 

 

That's all friends! I hope you enjoyed this school bus scene layout. It was a lot of fun to make, adding the tone-on-tone stitching and creating the grass and road border! Thank you for stopping by the blog and have a wonderful day!

Supplies Used: School Is Cool collection- 12x12 Patterned Paper, Ephemera Words, Puffy Stickers, Epoxy Stars; Cut File- School Bus; Florence Alpha Stickers in Black; Bella Besties Graph + Dot papers in Bell Pepper and Guacamole; Bella Besties Hearts + Ombre paper in Ice; Be You, Be Brave Acrylic Words; White Gel Pen; Embroidery Floss

 

Thanksgiving & Cut Outs Week Day 1 | Brianna

Hey friends!  Brianna Lepper here today sharing a new layout during Thanksgiving Week!  I hope you all are having a great day so far,  I know I am!  There is so much to be thankful for and I thought it would be fun to document some photos of our furry babies wearing their Fall bandanas.  They are all so special in our family and they keep me company all day every day!  This week we are focusing on using Cut Outs and I chose to work with the Mood Booster one.  Here's my page: 

I love this Cut Out as is and didn't want to back it so I chose to spruce it up by spraying on some Shimmerz Paints from my stash.  I chose to work with the Cooper collection so I chose colors that matched really well with it.  Once it was finished drying, I adhered it to the ombre side of the Bella Besties Hearts & Ombre patterned paper in Pony.  The brown really made it feel even more Fall themed and I love how the colors look on top of it!

Here's another shot of this super fun Cut Out.  If you're not familiar with Cut Outs, they are pre-cut cut files that include templates and instructions on how to back each one.  Most packages have several included so that you're able to create a few projects with only one pack.  Super convenient if you are in a time crunch or if you're traveling!

Next, I matted my photo using a few papers from the collection and popped it up on foam tape.  I adhered it down and added a green Cute Clip to the top of it.  Look how cute my babies are!

For my title, I used the Gratitude Acrylic Word and added onto it using the Aria Alphas in White.  I centered it under my photo cluster and love how it turned out.  

To embellish, I started with the Pups Bella Pops and adhered the cute dog faces around my title.  

I worked in a few Heart Hugs, Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers, Ephemera and Doohickey Cardstock Stickers as well.  I love tucking and layering!

For a few finishing touches, I adhered a few of the Epoxy Hearts from the collection and splattered some white paint to bring everything together.  

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope that I've inspired you in some way!  Do you enjoy working with Cut Outs?  They're honestly so fun and easy to work with!  I hope all of our friends in the US have the best Thanksgiving Week!  We are so grateful for all of you!

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

Cooper Collection: 12x12 Patterned Paper, Bella Pops, Doohickey Cardstock Stickers, Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers, Ephemera Icons, Epoxy Hearts; Bella Besties: Heart Hugs, Cute Clips, Aria Alphas in White, Hearts & Ombre in Pony.  Cut Outs: Mood Booster

Spell On You | Laura Alberts

Hello friends, I'm back with the new Spell on You collection! One of my favorite ways to use themed collections is to challenge myself to step outside of the theme and see how I can use it in a very different way. With the super versatile b-sides and Border paper, I created a fun column design layout with five photos from my son's birthday party! 

On the left side of the layout, I layered three border strips from the Borders patterned paper to create a column to rest my three 2"x3" photos on. With the addition of two tags from the icon ephemera pack and one I created from a cut apart piece from the Daily Details patterned paper behind my photos, I've created a fun set of clusters for each photo.

To create a fun layered look behind each of these photos, I layered punched stars mixed with stickers from the Doohickey sticker set, icon ephemera, and enamel shapes from the Witchy Epoxy set. 

On the bottom photo, I added a chipboard arrow from the Ciao Chips set as well. It's so much fun to see how many ways I can cluster embellishments in a repeating pattern, while making each cluster unique.

On the right side of the page, I layered a 6 1/2 inch strip of the Hocus Pocus patterned paper for a background. Then, after layering my star Cut-Outs on top of the Broomsticks patterned paper, I tucked it behind my photos. I matted each of my photos with a cut apart piece from the Daily Details patterned paper, then added an acrylic word and Doohickey letter stickers for my title!

Spell On You collection kit

October Cut-Outs

Witchy Epoxy

Spell On You Ciao Chip

Spell On You Doohickey stickers

Spell On You Icon Ephemera

Spell On You Word Ephemera

Happy Acrylic Word

Time to Travel | Emilie Chamel

Hello friends! Emilie here and today we are looking at the Time to travel Collection. Specifically, I will show you how I used this travel themed collection to scrapbook about photos taken in our very own backyard, no air-miles necessary!

My first step was to choose papers which had more of a generic design. I avoided plains, tickets or anything with a very strong "travelling" imagery.

As my pictures are all about having fun in the sun, I chose to create pin-wheels with the papers I had selected. Those remind me of summer days! They also add volume to my layout which I love.

For even more fun, I used the puffy stickers as the center of my pin wheels. It was all attached together using a glue-gun to be extra sturdy.

Once those were created and added to my base, it was very easy to add extra details with florals and a Bella Pop sunshine!

The title was my next focus and although I loved the white acrylic, I knew it wouldn't stand out enough against my background and photographs. I therefore backed it with orange patterned paper to give it extra peps while still conserving what I loved about it.

To finish my layout off, I added a few splatters of black ink as well as some black heart stickers from the Florence alphabet sticker sheets.

You can view the full process video here:

 

Full list of material used:

-Time to travel collection

-Time to travel puffy stickers

-Time to travel chipboard stickers

-Bella Besties Florence alphas black

-Acrylic words "sweet"

-Bella Pops Sunny

 

 

Squeeze The Day: Diagonal Design

Hey friends! Brianna Lepper here today sharing a new layout using one of my favorite collections, Squeeze The Day! This collection is so bright and happy with a lot of great elements to it. I love the color scheme and it's always so fun to create with!

I wanted to highlight the beautiful colors in this collection so I chose a white background as my base. For my patterned papers, I used Sweet Skies, Fruit Salad and Slice of Life. I tore into each one at a diagonal and lined them up so that a little bit of each pattern would peek out from the one on top of it. Before adhering them down to the base, I distressed the edges to give them some interest.  

Here's another look at my layered papers: 

Next, I matted my photo using the B-side (backsides) of the Fruity Hearts patterned paper and attached a blue Cute Clip from the Baby Boy set. For my title, I used the Perfect Acrylic Word and built onto it using some Peep Florence Alphas. My photo is of me and my two sisters from my recent vacation trip back home. We had the best time that day!

When it came time to embellish my layout, I built each cluster on the diagonal I created with the patterned paper layers. I tucked and layered some Ephemera Icons and also layered in a few Bella Pops. I used pieces from both the Juicy and Follow the Rainbow Bella Pops.  

From the Ephemera pack, I added one of the tags and tied some twine from my stash through it. As finishing touches, I added in a few Doohickey Cardstock sticker hearts and a few floral Epoxy stickers.  

Here's one more look at my layout: 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that I've inspired you in some way! Do you enjoy creating with a diagonal design? I love the look of it and it's one of my favorite go-to designs. You should give it a try if you haven't done so already. See you next time friends!

 

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

Squeeze The Day Collection: 12x12 Patterned Papers, Bella Pops, Epoxy Stickers, Doohickey Cardstock Stickers and Ephemera Icons. Bella Besties: Baby Boy Cute Clips; Perfect Acrylic Word and Florence Alphas in Peep.

Happy Independence Day! | Brianna Lepper

Hey friends!  Happy Independence Day to my fellow American friends!  Brianna here today sharing a new layout for Fireworks & Freedom Week.  Here's my layout: 

To start, I took the 12x12 Borders patterned paper and trimmed down almost all of them.  Since I printed my photo a little long and more narrow than I usually do, I wanted to have all of the strips adhered down in a vertical design.  I took a piece of plain white cardstock and trimmed 1" inch off of the top and one of the sides.  I distressed the edges and then adhered it right in the center of the Dot & Graph paper in McIntosh.  

I distressed all of the edges of my strips and adhered them all down towards the left side of the page.  

I matted my photo using the Dot & Graph papers in Ice and Blueberry and adhered it right on top of the strips.  For my title, I used the America Acrylic Word and put it right on top of my photo.  I love how it pops! 

For my embellishment clusters, I used the Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers and both of the Ephemera Icons and Words. 

I wanted to add a small subtitle so I created one using the Florence Alphas in Blueberry.  I added a large Ephemera piece in the shape of the USA and layered a heart flag right on top of it.  

Here's one more shot of this layout to celebrate our Independence!  This photo is of my two boys waiting for their Dad to get off of his plane after being away on a 6 month deployment.  Elijah was wearing his flight suit of course!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that I've inspired you in some way!  Have a safe and Happy 4th friends!

 

 

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

Fireworks & Freedom: 12x12 Patterned Papers; Ephemera Icons and Words; Acrylic Words and Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers.  Bella Besties: Graph & Dot 12x12 Patterned Papers in McIntosh, Ice and Blueberry; Florence Alphas in Blueberry .

 

 

 

Mood Board Week, Day 2 | Emilie Chamel

Hello friends! Emilie here to share with you another take on this month's mood board. I love how sunny and warm it looks and it is perfect to get you insured to use the Tiny Tots 2.0 collection. Let's dive in!

 

It would be hard not to be inspired by such a gorgeous board! The hardest part for me was actually to choose which parts I would use to focus my inspiration. In the end I decided to use three elements. To start with I chose the color scheme of the board: pink, orange, yellow, aqua with a touch of red. Then I was inspired by the ombre picture and decided to use the Ombre besties paper in Ice. My last inspiration was the photograph of ice-cream and I reproduced the look of the balls by using circles on my layout. 

As I decided to use the ice-cream photograph as a start to inspire me the overall look of my layout, I used circle dies to cut out 9 circles in the patterned papers which matched the color scheme of the mood board.

 

I then went on to decorate each circle individually as if they had to "stand-alone" however I made sure before sticking anything down that two circles next to each other wouldn't be too similar or clashing.

 

My photograph is of Sophia playing in our little garden pool so I chose the "Play" acrylic for my title. I used it to decorate one of the circles in itself as I didn't feel it would look right if it was to be placed floating anywhere else on my page.

I went to town on the Bella Pops as I felt this layout was a great way to feature them and make them stand-out. They matched perfectly with the mood-board as well as with my photograph and worked amazingly to decorate some of my circles.

I was also spoiled for choice with the Ephemera Icons. They are super cute and here for example the image of the house with the car were perfect as the photo was taken at home. I also had to add lots of texture and did it by adding plenty of threads underneath my circles just to add a touch of peek-a-boo.

 

Overall this layout is one of the least dimensional I have created and yet I love it! It is so full of details and things to discover, and, it all point to the story that goes with my photograph!

I can't wait to see what you all create by using our mood-board and I hope you will do so while playing with Tiny tots 2.0!

 

Lots of love,

 

Emilie xx

 

Products used:

 

Bella Besties Hearts and Ombre Ice

Tiny Tots 2.0 Collection Pack

Tiny Tots 2.0 Ephemeras icons

Tiny Tots 2.0 chipboards stickers

Tiny Tots 2.0 Puffy stickers - playtime

Tiny Tots 2.0 Bella pops - yummy

Tiny Tots 2.0 Bella pops - cute bugs

Tiny Tots 2.0 Epoxy stickers

Acrylic word - Play

Father’s Day week - day 6 - Emilie Chamel

Hi friends! Emilie here for this special week where we celebrate the men in our lives and particularly our fathers our father figures.

 

The last time my father featured on one of my layout was back in January 2020 and it was still a girly layout as Sophia was, of course, on the photograph too. I can't, for the life of me, remember when was the last time I created a boy/ masculine layout! Give me florals all the way! So this assignment was out of my comfort zone to say the least.

As I am not one to shy away from a challenge though, I decided to face it head on, but taking a step at a time.

My first step was to chose which collection to use. I went with "To the Moon" as the colors were more masculine and I knew I would be able to use some of the elements to talk about my dad. The colors too were perfect as they worked with my photograph and it contained a lot of blue which is my father's favorite color.

I then went on to select the patterned papers I would use. I decided on the B side of the paper Tiny Details as it used a design I have used before so brought back a little bit of creative comfort in an unknown masculine world. I cut along the lines, glued it all back onto a sheet of cardstock and then stitched alongside each line again. I crumpled the stitched edges for added texture which is a technique I love to use.

When it came to the placement of my elements, I would have normally gone for the center of the layout but here somehow I wanted to have something a little bit more messy and rugged. I suppose it helped me bring even more masculinity. I splashed a few drops of diluted white gesso to add drama to my background, mounted my photograph on to a piece of patterned paper of which I distressed the edges and then attached it all at a slight angle on the left hand side.

I chose ephemera icons which would work with a layout about my dad rather than something overly space-themed. I rounded to flags around a paint brush to give them a real-life feel and sprinkled a few stars here and there to work alongside the white splatters.

The "Awesome" acrylic word was perfect for my title however as it is a little bit see-through I knew it would get lost against the strong colors of my background. I therefor mounted it onto white cardstock which helped it pop. The red now repeat the red thread from my stitching as well as the red shirt I am wearing in the photograph.

My last touch was to use the Aria Alphabet puffy stickers to complete my title and really drive it home that this is all about my dad. I love the effect these alphas bring to a layout!

And here we are! I am quite surprised how nicely this layout came together. It was an exercise of letting go of the control I normally use as well as going for something completely different which overall was very refreshing!

Thank you so much for your time here and I hope you it inspired you to create about the men in your lives too!

Lots of love,

Emilie

 

Products used:

To The Moon Collection 12x12 Collection Kit

To The Moon Collection Ephemera Icons

Aria Alphabet puffy stickers Black

Acrylic word awesome

 

Time To Travel + Focus on Acrylics & Puffies - Day 6 | Ashley Neu

Hello all! It's Ashley back with another layout for the Bella Blvd Creative Team. This week has been all about the Time to Travel collection with a focus on acrylics. For my layout, I chose to document a photo of my little girls in their wagon!

 

One of my favorite go-to designs is this geometric heart which is made of triangles. It is super easy to do as you just take 2-inch squares, trim them in half at a diagonal and lay them out in the shape of this heart. I did that with random patterned papers from the collection and used foam adhesive to adhere them to the background paper which is called Baggage Claim.

 

 

For some added texture, I stitched a running stitch with black embroidery floss all the way around my heart, leaving approximately a 1/4-inch gap. To do this, I took a pencil and a ruler, carefully made lines with that 1/4-inch gap and poked holes on top of the pencil lines. I also added the title using the Florence Alphabet Stickers in white to create the word 'let's' and used the 'Explore' acrylic piece from the Explore + Play Acrylic Words set.

 

 

Lastly, I embellished my layout by adding tone-on-tone hearts to the little triangle pieces as well as along the stitching lines. Those hearts are from the Trinkets Puffy Stickers and I used the colors McIntosh, Orange, Bell Pepper, Pickle Juice + Guacamole, Ice + Gulf, Blueberry and Black. I grabbed some word stickers and a scalloped border from the DooHickey Stickers to add onto the heart. I finished off the layout by adding in my journaling strips next to my photo and above my title. To add some more black to the layout, I grabbed a piece of the Bella Besties Hearts and Ombre paper in black and tore some off to add to the top and bottom of my layout.

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by the blog today. Hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Supplies Used: Time to Travel collection- 12x12 Patterned Papers, Trinkets Puffy Stickers, DooHickey Stickers, Explore + Play Acrylic Words; Bella Besties Hearts and Ombre paper; Florence Alphabet Stickers

 

Time To Travel + Acrylics & Puffies Week- Day 5 | Brianna Lepper

Hey friends!  Brianna here today sharing another travel layout using the new Time To Travel collection.  This week the Creative Team is focusing on acrylics and I made sure to make mine a large part of the title.  Here's my layout: 

I was completely inspired by the luggage tags on the 12x12 Baggage Claim patterned paper so I fussy cut a bunch out to arrange around my page. I adhered them from the left side of the page going into the center.  

I wanted a bit of mixed media so I did some ink blending using the Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink.  To add a bit more interest, I took a stencil with a road map design and ink blended on it using another Distress Oxide ink pad in Broken China.  It adds just a bit of color and interest and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  

For my title, I used the "Explore" piece from the Acrylic Words Explore & Play pack and added onto it using the Florence Alphas in Blueberry. I left an open space for it amongst the luggage tags and adhered it down. I love overlapping parts of my title onto my photos, it just really ties everything together.

I matted my photos with vellum and added a Cute Clip in green. I added a few Ephemera Words and Icons around the page by tucking and layering them in. The photos are of my boys walking around the Santa Barbara Harbor so the palm tree ephemera pieces were perfect!

I wanted a little extra color on my page and thought the orange and white polka dot pattern from the B side of the Back Roads paper would be a nice addition. I added a few extra luggage tags that I fussy cut and popped one of the circular Ciao Chip chipboard stickers on top.

For some finishing touches, I added a few sun stickers from the Trinkets Puffy sticker package and added a few bits of tangled thread in coordinating colors.

Here's one more shot of this page:

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope that I've inspired you in some way! It's fun to stretch patterned paper and create little embellishments out of it. I have so many more travel photos to document and I can't wait to use this super fun collection again! See you next time friends.

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

Time To Travel Collection: 12x12 Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers, Ephemera Words, Ephemera Icons, Trinkets Puffy Stickers. Bella Besties: Acrylic Words Explore & Play; Florence Alphas in Blueberry

 

 

 

Time to Travel: Acrylics & Puffies Week- Day 4 | Rachel O'Neal

Hello friends and happy summer! I hope you are enjoying some warm weather and getting into the groove of a new season. I'm back with another take at the Time To Travel collection. We took a trip to the North Georgia mountains for a camping weekend and I knew this collection would be perfect for some of my photos.

I started with a piece of 12" x 12" Bella Besties Graph and Dot paper in black. I used my Cricut machine to cut out nine scalloped frames with the graph side of the paper. These scalloped circles are 3" wide. Then, I used three 12" x 12" patterned papers from the Time To Travel collection - On The Go, Back Roads, and Love This Place. I used my Cricut again to cut out circles to go inside the scalloped frames. These circles are 2 1/2" in diameter. I made them smaller so there would be plenty of room for the cardstock to be seen. I did two circles for each patterned paper. That left me with three frames for my photos. Next, I took my scalloped frames, patterned paper circles, and photos and arranged them in grid fashion on a white piece of 12" x 12" cardstock.

Then I decided to put on my title because I knew I wanted to use the large "explore" acrylic. It fits perfectly and really makes a statement in the middle of the page. I stamped underneath the title.

What really makes the layout pop though is all the fabulous embellishment choices in the Time To Travel collection. I used foam tape to make several of them stand out from the page. I also layered others all around. I finished the layout but using my type writer to journal the story of the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by! Here's a list of all the Bella Blvd goodies I used:

Product Used:

Bella Besties Graph & Dot Paper in Black

Time To Travel 12" x 12" Patterned Paper (On The Go, Back Roads, and Love This Place)

Time To Travel Ephemera Icons

Time To Travel Ephemera Words & Tags

Bella-Pops Jet Set

Acrylic Words Explore

Time To Travel Puffy Stickers