Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Island Escape Mini Album

 

The Island Escape collection has become one of my absolute favorite Bella Blvd collections ever!  It is so vivid and beautiful, and I'm so excited to use it for every summer project I have.  I wanted to create a unique mini album to document our 2016 California vacation, and this collection was the perfect companion.  I hope you guys enjoy!

 
  


  

 

 

I'm so glad you stopped by today to see some of my family's vacation memories! I can't wait to see what all of you create with the Island Escape collection! xo Lydia

Island Escape Collection, Wonky Puffy Alphas, Illustrated Faith Enamel Hearts, Illustrated Faith Homespun Alpha Stickers, Illustrated Faith Precision Pen, Illustrated Faith Acrylic Paint, Bella Blvd Enamel Dots, Seeds of Faith 12x12 Fundamental Sheet, Illustrated Faith Tiny Alpha Sticker Booklet

Smile Heart wall decor

Good morning everyone!!

Sarah here this morning to share a little wall decor I made thinking of my mom. And on the plus side, I got to dig into the new Mom Life collection! I was so excited to get this collection and I have to say I love all the new collections, they are even more beautiful in person!

I had recently been unpacking and organizing another box of my scrappy stash and found a canvas heart frame. It was actually supposed to be used as a little bulletin board, but I thought it would be great for a little home decor.

I knew I wanted to break into Mom Life, so I chose a picture and dove into the collection. In the ephemera pack there were already beautiful floral die cuts, but I wanted more. So I pulled out the My Tribe paper and started to fussy cut some of the flowers out. Its so hard to chose just a few to use, I had to remind my self that all of them didnt have to be used on this one project, even though I really wanted to play with them all!! 

I decided that I wanted my photo backed with some more of the pretty papers, with the canvas background I thought it needed some more color to separate my photo from the background. So I pulled out some more of the My Tribe paper, Daily details and started to cut and add layers. Once I was happy with the layers and the way they looked I popped it up on foam adhesive and added it to the middle of the heart.

At this point I wanted to start tucking the ephemera pieces and the fussy cut flowers in the layers and behind my photo. I popped some of them up on foam adhesive, bent a few of them up, but just like a lot of my layouts I worked on a diagonal, I started from the bottom right, worked some of the pieces around the right side of the photo cluster and then moved to the upper left corner.

After I tucked the pretty flowers here and there on the diagonal, I went back in to my Bella goodies and pulled some more pieces that work perfectly with this collection. I love the little pom poms  and the epoxy stickers, so since they matched I started to add those in too. The little Pom poms added some more texture to my project and then the hexies mini epoxy stickers added some shine popping out around the heart. I did add a few cute clips.  Those little bows are so cute and girly and I  love to use them, so I pulled them off there clips and added them. I wanted something that would act like a title and I had a bunch of the acrylic words and Smile just stood out to me. We were all so happy in this picture, smiling and enjoying our selves, so Smile was perfect. I added that to the right of the photo and that finished off my wall decor. I had no clue where I was going with this when I started but I am so happy with the way it turned out!

Mom Life Collection: Daily Details, My Tribe, Ephemera pack, Acrylic words; Baby Girl-Cute Clips, Illustrated Faith Pom Pom clips;Bananas for you, Apple of my eye, Basics-Hexies epoxy stickers-Bananas for you, Oh my Heavens



 

Baseball Popcorn Box

 

Hi, crafters! Jana Eubank here. I absolutely adore the new sports collections by Bella Blvd! Today I show you how to put together a darling Baseball themed popcorn box using the Baseball collection. Check it out below!

Wouldn't this be the perfect treat to give your little slugger after a special game?! Or maybe you would like to make several of them to hand out the entire team? Tuck a few baseball cards in along with a t-shirt or a gift card and you have a great gift to tell your child's coach "Thank you!" for their time and dedication to your child's team!

Punch a hole in a Ephemera die cut, add some twine, and you have a quick and easy gift tag.

I adhered a couple of the felt Pennants to wooden skewers and tucked them in with the popcorn. They add such a festive touch to this project, don't you think?!

Add several die cuts to the front of the box for decoration. Using a button, the puffy stars stickers (Bella Pepper mix), a bit of twine, and different thicknesses of foam squares adds different levels of interest.

Bella Blvd. Baseball Collection: Hit It Paper, Borders & Details Paper, Ephemera, Pennants; Puffy Stars Stickers: Bell Pepper Mix

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Want to check out all the products in the Baseball Mini Collection, along with all the other Sports Mini Collections? Check out our video below and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel! 

 

Social Media | Weekly Round-Up!

Happy Thursday, friends! We are bringing you projects today created by our Social Media team featuring the new summer-inspired Popsicles and Pandas collection. These talented ladies have been sharing these on their social media accounts this week and we are bringing them all together here today.

Up first are a couple darling cards created by Laurie. We love how she used a watercolor background for her first card! And what about the super cute "Snailed It!" card?! Wouldn't that be darling for an end-of-year teacher's card? We think so!

Popsicles & Pandas: 6 x 8 Paper Pad, Paper Pieces, Puffy Stickers, Fundamentals;  Enamel Dots: Cotton Candy

Popsicles & Pandas: Daily Details, 6 x 8 Paper Pad, Designer Clips, Confetti Designer Washi Tape;  Enamel DooDads: Guacamole, McIntosh, Ice

Find Laurie's inspiration and projects throughout her Social Media here:
Instagram  | Facebook | Pinterest

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Next up is this super cute page created by Stephanie Buice. We love how she used the polka dot paper as inspiration then created the colorful title work to pull the layout together followed by just a hint of polka dot wash at the top of her photo to pull the whole page together! Super sweet!

Popsicles & Pandas: Picnic, Confetti Washi, (Sweets Washi also pictured), Fundamentals; Tiny Text: Fruit Punch, Pumpkin Spice, Bold & Beautiful, Pretty Boy, Black; Enamel Dots: Oreo Black; Wonky Alphas: Punch, McIntosh, Orange, Bell Pepper, Ice, Pickle Juice; Puffy Cross Stickers: Black Eyed pea.

Find Stephanie's inspiration and projects throughout her Social Media here:
Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Finally, in celebration of Mother's Day this upcoming weekend, Leanne created these cute-as- can-be tiara crowns to celebrate and make Mom feel extra special on her beautiful Spring day! How cute are those? We can just imagine Mom and daughters wearing these at a Mother's Day brunch, can't you?!

Popsicles & Pandas: Paper: Picnic, Daily Details, Oh Summer!, Popsicle Party, Paper Pieces; IF Enamel Hearts: Hey Sugar Sugar; Enamel Dots: Punch. Other - metal dies: flower and leaf.

Find Leanne's inspiration and projects throughout her Social Media here:
Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Love what our designers created this week? Make sure to follow all of our Social Media team to see the latest projects from these talented designers! And follow along with us on the Bella Blvd Instagram feed to find even more inspiration!

Acrylic Words | Shabby Chic Heart

Ever walk around a craft store, see a blank canvas of sorts, and immediately you know what you want that to look like? That's exactly what happened when I came upon this pallet wood heart recently. 

Jamie here, and pallet wood is all the rage right now. The trend of this 'repurposed' material is found in all manner of DIY projects everywhere. With the challenge of putting the new Bella Arcrylic Words to use in a home decor fashion, I went to work altering this wood piece with paint and Illustrated Faith's Seeds of Faith Pattern Paper.

First I added a coat of acrylic paint. Since I was going to use the Seeds of Faith collection that has a white base to the papers, I wanted the heart to start that way too, although I knew I was going to be distressing it later.

This pallet heart had great lines to give the appearance of wood slats. Those lines were used as a guide to add a couple of trimmed pieces of pattern paper. Mod Podge was the medium I used to adhere the paper to the wood. Since the pattern paper has a beautiful weight to it, it took a little bit to make sure it stayed adhered to the surface. If you try this, just be patient as you make sure the paper stays on the wood.

I wanted to keep some of the wood exposed, so I just used 3 complimentary strips of paper.

After all the paper was in place, I made sure to let it dry very well. Over night is my suggestion.

After it was good and dry I used sand paper to remove the paper from the edges. I got a little rough with this, hence the shabby. I wanted to give this sweet heart a rustic feel. So I did not mind if some of the paper came off completely.

Carefully, the Acrylic Words, Embrace Today, were added to the surface of the paper.

I was pretty happy with how this was turning out. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

The Seeds of Faith Paper Pack includes these sweet butterflies. Using dimensional tape I adhered them to the heart. This helped add interest, more dimension, as well as simply add to the design of this whole piece.

Putting Bella Blvd and Illustrated Faith patterns and elements to work is a beautiful way to highlight these collections around one's home. I love the message of this piece. I love the shabby of the paper and heart and paint. I love these patterns that help make my space beautiful.

Supplies:
Illustrated Faith Seeds of Faith: Birds of a Feather, Wings of Faith, Isaiah 40:8; Paper Pieces.                                                                                                                                       Acrylic Words: Embrace Today

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Want to learn more about our Acrylic Words? Check out our YouTube video below and subscribe to our channel!

DIY Valentine's Day Gift Bags with Laurie Schmidlin

 

Hi there!  Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays, second only to Christmas!  Giving gifts, especially handmade, to those that I care about is something near and dear to my heart!

I created a set of three gift bags using the Illustrated Faith: You Are Loved collection.  These bags are actually a kind of hybrid, more of a cross between a box and a bag, and they couldn't be easier to make!

For this first one, I used the Heart A Flutter paper. I trimmed the paper to 7 1/2" x 12".  Placing the paper horizontally, I scored at 2", 5 1/2", 7 1/2", and 11".  I then turned the paper 90 degrees and scored at 2".  I assembled it as I would any box.

 

I decorated the front with two IF: You Are Loved Gift Tags layered together, a Paper Piece, sticker, and a coordinating Designer Clip.

 

Before adhering all of the embellishments, I wrapped a border around the top of the bag.  That clip though...definitely my favorite part of the bag!  :-)

 

For the second bag, I started with a piece of The Heavens paper.  This one I trimmed to 6 1/2" x 12" and then scored at the same places as the first bag.

 

I again layered on a couple of Gift Tags, along with a Paper Piece and a cut out floral spray from the Clear Cuts Pad. 

 

My final bag started with a piece of Hearts & Kisses paper, trimmed to 6" x 12".  Again, I scored at the same places as I did on the first bag.

 

After wrapping a border around the top of the bag, I tucked in a Gift Tag underneath it.  I added a Paper Piece and an arrow sticker.

 

For the final touch, I adhered one of the coordinating Tabbies onto the top of the bag. 

These bags are so easy to customize!  You could add ribbon handles to the sides, or even pinch the top closed and tie it shut with some ribbon or string.  I think the best parts of using Bella Blvd's paper is that it is thick and sturdy (which is why I called it a cross between a bag and a box) and the inside is decorated with a coordinating print!

I hope you give these bags a try!

Supply List
Illustrated Faith: You Are Loved: Hearts & Kisses, The Heavens, Heart A Flutter, Borders, Designer Clips, Tabbies, Paper Pieces, Gift Tags, Clear Cuts Pad, Fundamentals;  Enamel Hearts: Hey Sugar Sugar

Pom Pom Clip Ornament and Gift Packaging

Hi friends, Laurie here again to share fun Christmas packaging and ornament ideas! 

Besides making cards, creating cute little gift packages is one of my very favorite things!  I started with a simple kraft colored flat gift bag.  I pulled out some scraps of patterned paper from the Holly Jolly Christmas collection.  After adhering them to the center of the bag, I added a piece of Holly Jolly Washi Sticker to tie in some more blue.  I added three different Paper Pieces, Enamel DooDads (stars), and a die cut sentiment. 

I am so glad we were challenged to use these Pom Pom Clips this week!  I used one to keep my little bag closed and am so happy with the results!  Cutest bag closure clip ever!  :-)

Supplies
Holly Jolly Christmas: Merry! Merry!, 6x8 Paper Pad, Fundamentals, Washi Stickers, Paper Pieces;  Enamel DooDads: Milk White;  Enamel Dots: Cotton Candy;  IF Pom Pom Clips: Oh My Heavens Mix

My next project features the Pom Pom Clips used in a different way.  I thought the pom pom would look great on top of an ornament!

To create the ornament, I started by die cutting six (3 each of two different patterns) ornament shapes.  You could use any shape if you don't have an ornament die.  For that matter, you could use a large punch or a cutting machine.  The only important part is that you have six identical shaped pieces and that they are large enough to fold in half.  You can see on the red ornament above that I have scored it in half for easier folding.  To finish the ornament, you just glue the sides together.

Before gluing the last ornament side together, I strung some twine through it and created a hanger loop on top.  I also die cut a couple of Holly leaves from the Merry! Merry! sheet (from the Holly Jolly Collection).  I also added a bow and a small Paper Piece and secured them with some very strong adhesive.

A little note about the Pom Pom clips.  Here, you can see that I removed the pom pom from the clip backing.  Don't throw the clip away!  It's the perfect platform for adding a larger embellishment or Paper Piece for a custom clip!

I secured my pom pom on my ornament by using a large needle on the twine and threading it through the center of the pom pom.

Supplies
Holly Jolly Christmas: Sweater Weather, Merry! Merry!, Paper Pieces;  IF Pom Pom Clips: Apple of My Eye Mix

Thanks so much for joining me here today!

 

Bella Blvd & Illustrated Faith: Quick Christmas Cards and Gifts

Hi again!  As a cardmaker, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday to create for!  I just love whipping up some handmade goodness for friends and relatives, especially for Christmas!  Because of the hustle and bustle of this time of year, I am always on the lookout for ways to create those cards and gifts in a short amount of time.  Today, I will share with you how I am using the new IF CHRISTmas collection to do just that!

Here are just a couple of the gifties that I am creating this year.  Using some patterned paper from the CHRISTmas I have created some quick but oh so cute treat holders!

For this little treat holder, I used a die to cut out a piece of the Greatest Gift paper.  (There are a lot of free templates out there for this kind of holder if you don't have a similar die.)  The IF CHRISTmas Gift Tags are absolutely perfect for these little gifts!  I also added a coordinating IF CHRISTmas Paper Piece. 

For this gift, I covered a white quart sized container with some more patterned paper and added another Gift Tag.

For the top, I added a coordinating piece of patterned paper and some more Paper Pieces.

Supplies
IF CHRISTmas: The Greatest Gift, Bonus Collection Paper, God's Love, Gift Tags, Paper Pieces, Fundamentals

One of my very favorite things included in the IF CHRISTmas collection is the 3 x 4 pieces (on the back side of the Borders paper)!  They make for some incredibly quick cards!  With the fun graphics and colors, all is needed is to add to a card!  In fact, all five of these cards were created in under twenty minutes!  These would lend themselves to mass production very well!  For each card, I chose a coordinating piece of patterned paper for the background and then added some minimal embellishments.

 

Thanks so much for joining me here today! 

Supplies
IF CHRISTmas: God's Love, Borders, Bonus Collection Paper, Ornaments of Love, Star of Bethlehem, The Greatest Gift, Away in a Manger, Fundamentals;  Enamel DooDads: Punch;  IF Enamel Hearts: Black Eyed Pea, Apple of My Eye

 

Bella Blvd & Illustrated Faith: Little Book of Encouragement with Laurie

 

Little Book of Encouragement by Laurie Schmidlin

Hi there!  I'm SO excited to share my project with you today!  I have a good friend that is going through a very tough time right now.  I wanted a way to share not only that I am thinking and praying for her but to share what I am praying for her.  I wanted something tangible to give and hopefully encourage her!  So, I created a Little Book of Encouragement for her using some of my favorite Illustrated Faith supplies!

I started by covering some plain, 4" chipboard coasters with papers from the IF Bright & Brave collection.

 

I wanted to include some of my favorite verses, ones that always encourage me.  I printed those off and mounted them on a coordinating patterned paper from the Bright & Brave collection.  I then tucked them in a miniature envelope bag.

 

I decorated the pages with relevant Paper Pieces and various stickers.  Most of the items came from the Bright & Brave collection.  I just love how almost all of the Bella Blvd and Illustrated Faith collections will coordinate, giving lots of options when I create!

I topped each of the scripture cards with a tab and some ribbon.

 

I also added in some Enamel Hearts for embellishment.

I wanted the scripture cards to be removable, making them perfect to use as a bookmark or stick on the fridge!

 

Along with the uplifting Bible verses, the happy colors and patterns of the Bright & Brave papers are sure to bring a smile!

 

I just love having products that make creating these meaningful keepsakes so easy!  And the fact that they are SO cute is a total bonus!  :-)

 

These might be my favorite pages.  The bold stripes and gorgeous, bright colors just make me so happy!  And that phone!  Love!!
I wanted a way to tie in the verse that I included on this page with the decorations so I used the IF Hey Sugar Sugar Typed and Mint to Be alphabet stickers.

 

 

 Since my book turned out to be rather thick with all of the embellishments and layers, I bound it using some metal rings.  These are just simple rings that can be found at any office supply store.  One thing that I found helpful was using a heavy duty hole puncher to punch my holes.  Each coaster ended up being pretty thick with the chipboard itself and two layers of patterned paper.

 

Thanks so much for joining me here today!
Hugs, Laurie

 

Supplies:
IF Bright & Brave: Thank You Jesus, Jesus is My Jam, Borders, Artsy, Bible Journaling, Epistles, Count the Ways, Fundamentals, Exclusive Kit Bonus Pattern, Geared Up For Jesus, Paper Pieces, 3 x 4's, Cardstock Stickers, Clear Cuts Pad, Designer Clips
IF Washi Tape: By Grace
IF Enamel Hearts: Oh My Heavens Mix, She Blooms Mix, Hey Sugar Sugar
IF Cardstock Stickers: Say It - Colorful, Say It - Black & White, Word Art, Wrdfetti Black, Wordfetti White, Typed Hey Sugar Sugar, Mint to Be, Go & Tell, His Promise

 

Save

National Do Something Nice Day with Laurie

"Hello" by Laurie Schmidlin

A whole day to celebrate showing kindness to others?  Sign me up!  Actually, I have decided to sign my whole family up for this one!  :-)  While brainstorming ideas on what I could do for others, my thoughts fell on a neighbor of ours that has been having a rough time of it lately.  As a card maker, my first thought is to make a card (of course!). 

I put this card together a little differently than I normally do things.  I knew that I wanted to use one of the new Oh My Stars Gift Tags, so after choosing the tag I built my card around it.  I did soften the tag a little by rubbing some white acrylic paint across the middle (I used the IF Shanna's Favorites Paints).  The background paper is one of my favorite prints from the new Oh My Stars collection, the backside of Guacamole Stars.  To ground the tag, I added a small strip of black stars from the 6 x 8 Paper Pad.  For the focal image, I tucked a few die cuts and a Oh My Stars Paper Piece in behind my die cut sentiment. 

Supply List
Oh My Stars: Guacamole Stars, 6 x 8 Paper Pad, Gift Tags, Paper Pieces

"Just Because Gift" by Laurie Schmidlin

My next project is a little treat box I created.  I thought it would be fun to surprise a friend that I haven't seen very much of lately.  I purchased three long Lindt chocolate sticks and put together a quick box to hold them.  I wrapped the box with a piece of "Curfew" paper from the Addison collection.  To decorate the front, I die cut a piece of "Bell Pepper Stars" from the Oh My Stars collection. 

After tying the chocolate bars with some ribbon, I added an Oh My Stars Gift Tag.  I decorated the tag with a couple of Oh My Stars Paper Pieces and an IF Enamel Heart.  Because I wanted a bit more color, I tucked one of the Colorful Designer Clips behind my focal image.

I really wanted to emphasize that this gift was just because I wanted to, so I used some Bella Alpha stickers to create my "Just Because" sentiment.  For a bit more dimension, I popped the u up using some dimensional foam.  Along the bottom, I created a star sticker border using the small star circles from the Oh My Stars Fundamentals sheet.

What about you, do you have plans to celebrate National Do Something Nice Day? 

Supplies
Oh My Stars: Bell Pepper Stars, Designer Clips - Colorful, Gift Tags, 6 x 8 Paper Pad, Paper Pieces, Fundamentals;  Tiny Text: Cold & Beautiful Tiny Text;  Addison: Curfew:  IF Enamel Hearts: Black Eyed Pea

 

Save

Save