Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Watercolor Christmas Cards

Hi everyone! Corri here today sharing a couple of quick Christmas cards using watercolor paints and some cut files.  I love how you can play with the watercolors to change the intensity of the colors and match the paper you're are working with.  

 

For my first card, I cut the Merry cut file (Silhouette) from white cardstock and then painted it with watercolors before backing it with black cardstock.  I created a black background using the offset feature in Silhouette Studio.   I picked some coordinating paper from the  Santa Squad 6 x 6 paper pad and added some epoxy snowflakes to coordinate with the snowflakes on the paper. 

 

For my second card, I created a printable by duplicating this file, removing the sentiment from two of the ornaments and adjusting the sizes to create this pretty ornament trio.  I used the watercolor paints to color the ornaments and added gold to the starts using a gel pen.    This would be a fun way to get your kids involved in card making for Christmas! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  

 

 

 

Team mixed-media with a large cut file by Kim Watson

Hello Bella fans, Kim here with a new project for Get Messy week!

This project was SO much fun to create using the BRAND NEW Santa Squad collection & coordinating cut files. To create this page, I got messy with shimmer powders & paints from Lindy's stamp gang & some cool Bella cut-files. 

Joy by Kim Watson

 

The oversized title cut file from the Bella Blvd silhouette store was my starting point. I cut it from a piece of Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock, pre-treated with gel medium, on the 'coverstock' Cameo setting. Then I just had fun. I played with glimmer paints, sprays & shimmer powders, until I got the desired effect. Honestly I wasn't sure where I was going & "added color" until it "looked good!"

Once dry, I backed it with the sweet plaid design from the Borders sheet. The pink & red color combination complimented the mixed media around the title perfectly. 

I cut a variety of trees in white textured card stock from the Bella Blvd Silhouette Store, covering them in gesso before adding shimmer sprays & paint. I love the evergreen, mixed, artsy result. 

Next came the photos added to a roughened mat of patterned paper, with a sweet little Santa peeking out from underneath! I embellished him with a mixture of the new products released with this Santa Squad collection. The enamel shapes, layered die cuts & stickers are colorful & graphic in style, and although very different from the vibe of my page...add a playful touch as well as gorgeous pops of color. 

A scalloped punch & green star paper create the perfect border for the top of the page to balance out all the green as well as adding necessary tension to the bold title. The little gingerbread man cluster on the edge of the page with a tab & washi tape, work together to form a visual anchor. 

As you can see, even though this collection is very graphic in style, it still coordinates well with mixed media pages! The sweet icons & mixture of textures make them really simple to use. Santa Squad has everything you need to create all your Christmas projects. So be sure to grab everything from your favorite scrapbooking store or head on over to the Bella Blvd online store & buy the collection there soon! 

Thanks again for stopping by, remember to stop by each day this week, for more amazing mixed media inspiration from our talented DT. 

Happy Monday y'all! ~Kim XOXO

Collection used: Santa Squad

A Sweet & Spooky Mini Album!

I was in love with the Bella Blvd Black Cat Cut File from the moment I saw it. I am so happy that it gets to take center stage as the cover of my mini album!

I created the cover by using my electronic diecut machine to cut out at least 4 of the kitty/pumpkin base shapes from extra cardstock. My base shapes were 7 1/2 inches tall. I then adhered all of these layers together to make the cat sturdy enough to stand up on his own. And of course I had to use the adorable Sweet & Spooky collection! I decorated the pumpkin with Chipboard Stickers and Ephemera pieces.

I used another solid black cardstock cutout to make the backside silhouette of the cat for the inside front cover. To make the remaining pages, I used just the pumpkin shape to cut out 10 pumpkins from extra cardstock. I then adhered them together in groups of two to make my base pages a little more sturdy. Then I repeated the process by cutting out pumpkins using patterned papers to adhere on top of the pumpkin base pages.

The Sweet & Spooky collection is perfect for documenting all things candy around Halloween time! Here I used the black enamel dots from the Heart Hugs pack to fill in some of the dots on the candy ephemera piece to make it look a little more spooky.

I love that the Bella Blvd Ephemera packs include the cutest little journaling pieces like the one on this page. And the googly eyeball patterned paper is one of my favorites in this collection!

Sometimes it's fun to create a page with all embellishments! I used the Bella Blvd Spider Web Cut File to create this fun background web. And I love the texture that the Heart Hugs add to the page!

All of the Ephemera pieces are so fun to mix and match with the patterned papers.

I love everything about the Sweet & Spooky collection so I can't decide which mini album page is my favorite! All of the Ephemera pieces and stickers and Heart Hugs are just the cutest!  Which page is your favorite!? 

Thanks for joining me today! I hope I have inspired you to grab some Sweet & Spooky and create your own fun mini album!

Sweet & Spooky: Sweet & Spooky Collection Kit, Chipboard Stickers, Ephemera Shapes, Ephemera Words

Make Your Mark Collection: Break Rules Washi Tape

Heart Hugs: Halloween, Sunshine

Cut Files: Bella Blvd Black Cat, Bella Blvd Spider Web

 

Sweet & Spooky Creative Journaling

Good day Bella Blvd friends! Tegan here with you and I love that Halloween is fast approaching! So I grabbed the super cute Sweet & Spooky collection and documented some of last years photos! I also adore all of the Bella Blvd cut files and I knew I wanted to somehow creatively add my journaling to one of them. I decided to use the web from the Bella Blvd Spider Web cut file to make background elements, so I figured the spider would be a fun place to put my journaling.

I used the spider from the Spider Web Cut File to cut out the spider from black cardstock. I then trimmed off the existing legs and added my own spider legs using strips of black cardstock thick enough to hold my typed journaling. I added some black round enamel dots (from the Heart Hugs pack) to give his eyes dimension. I then embellished my title with Sweet & Spooky Ephemera pieces, black puffy star stickers, a die cut spider web, and more enamel dots.  

I love that the Ephemera pack contains the 'Sweet & Spooky' die cut phrase. It makes for a super easy, yet super cool title for my page. I hand cut a pair of eyes out of the Watching You Patterned Paper and placed them so it looks like they are peering out through the title. And of course, I finished off the layout with more adorable Ephemera pieces, chipboard stickers, and Heart Hugs!

I hope you love my die cut and handcrafted creative journaling spider as much as I do. And I hope I have inspired you to create your own fun journaling die cut! Thanks for joining me today and have a great day! 

Sweet & Spooky Collection: Chipboard Icons Stickers, Sticky Mix Stickers, Ephemera Icons, Words Icons, Web Crawler Patterned Paper, Talk to the Head Patterned Paper, Watching You Patterned Paper, Night Garden Patterned Paper, Smell My Feet Patterned Paper

Heart Hugs: Halloween, Sunshine

Cut File: Bella Blvd Spider Web Cut File

 

Fall Cards with Corri

Hi everyone! Corri here today sharing a couple of Fall themed cards using the Bella Besties Collection and some of the cutting files. 

For my first card, I cut the Leaves from some Fall Colors and printed my sentiment using the print and cut feature in the Silhouette Studio software. I mounted the leaves with some foam tape to add some dimension.  

For my second card, I made a shaped note card using the adorable fox cutting file. I created the card base by first creating an offset, then mirroring and welding the base shape of the fox. Shaped cards always have a big impact and look like you put a lot of work in. 

I left this cute little guy without a sentiment since I think he's so cute all on his own.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Check out all the Bella Blvd cut files for more great icons to use on your cards! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall-ing for Bella Blvd Cut Files

Over the last year, Bella Blvd has started offering cut files and they sure do add some flexibility and options to your projects. Today I am using the most detailed of all those cut files - the Tile Background Cut File from the Home Sweet Home Collection! Christine joining you with a layout packed with details and time featuring this gorgeous cut file!

Cut files like this take a long time to cut. You have to set them at a slow speed and then just be patient. In this case, it took about 35 minutes to cut! Planning for that, I set it to cut and then did other things!

Once it was all cut, I pulled out my Bella Besties and my circle punch and started backing it! I knew I wanted lots of fall colors! A fine tip glue pen made this job a little bit easier!!!

Because the layout already has lots of detail and color I knew I wasn't going to have to do a lot for embellishing! I created my title using a combination of an Acrylic World and Florence Alphabets.  Then I added some Heart Hugs and punched out vellum leaves to my design. I opted for vellum here because it would still let the colors and cut file show thru while adding a little bit of texture!  

Head on over to my YouTube channel to check out the full process video for this layout today!  Thanks for stopping by!

Bella Besties Freehand Graph & Dot, Acrylic Words, Cut Files, Heart Hugs

Falling Leaves | Family Scrapbooking Layout

Hi everyone! Heather Leopard is here with a photo tutorial for a really fun fall layout featuring lots of leaves. Come take a look at what I created...

My idea for this originally started by thinking I'd layer leaves from the top down as if they were falling but as I was playing around with this Bella Blvd "leaves" cut file, I started thinking the concept would pair well with a round photo. That got me thinking of this alternate design. It cut the same leave in 3 different sizes - small, medium and large and in multiple different colors and patterns.

Starting with the largest leaves, I adhered them to the page in a sort of circle.

Next, I added the medium leaves and then the smaller leaves on top, moving in with each "row" I glued down until I had enough to create a border for my photo.

I printed a 3.75" round photo and placed it in the center of the wreath of leaves. As you can see from the photo, I only glued the bottom part of the leaves to the paper so that the ends of the leaves could have some dimension.

I tucked a few pieces of chipboard and ephemera under the photo and also added some embellishments to the top right.  

Lastly, and to create a diagonal type design, I added the title and a few more embellishments to the bottom left of the page. I'm still deciding where to put my journaling but I'm thinking maybe I'll add journaling strips on the bottom right.

Let's Go On An Adventure Border & Wildflowers 12x12 patterned paper, Ciao Chip, Ephemera Words, Ephemera Icons; Squeeze the Day Borders, Zesty, Fruit Salad 12x12 patterned paper, Bella Besties Graph & Dotty Pony, McIntosh, Orange 12x12 patterned paper, Wish Big Borders 12x12 patterned paper, Heart Hugs Earth, Heart Hugs Sunshine, Acrylic Word Family, Wonky Alphas Orange, Bella Blvd cut file "leaves" in Silhouette America store

World Cardmaking Day - Dimensional Flowers Card

Happy World Cardmaking Day Bella Blvd Fans! If there's one thing I love to add to my projects it's dimension. And when I can create dimension in a unique way, well, it just gets me so excited!  Christine joining you with what just may be one of my favorite cards that I have ever made! Check out all the details but also make sure to catch the quick process video at the end of the post for a close-up look! 

Dimensional Flowers Card

When I looked at the Bella Blvd Blue Flower Cut File, it occurred to me that it could beyond initial appearances. I thought with the right layers, I could give it the look of a fall mum. Here's what I came up with!

For my patterned paper I opted to use the 6 X 6 Freehand Graph and Dot pad. This gave me lots of color choices and would allow me to choose more fall-like colors.  

I cut the flower base in three different colors and then I cut the tendril-like petals in three different sizes. By varying the size and adding 3D Foam Adhesive in between I was able to create a fuller dimensional flower! I used a metal die to cut out some leaves and attached those in just a few spots so they would have the same delicate look of the flowers.

Of course, I can barely make a card these days without using my Florence Alphabets. They are simply the perfect size and you can always coordinate with the right color!

Let's take a close-up look at how I created this card and these dimensional flowers in my quick process video!

 

Do you ever think outside the box with your cutfiles? We'd love to see what you are creating with Bella Blvd files on this World Cardmaking Day! Thanks for stopping by!

Bella Besties Freehand Graph & Dot 6 X 6 Paper Pad, Heart Hugs, Florence Alphabet

 

World Cardmaking Day - Fall Cut File Card

Happy World Cardmaking Day Bella Blvd Fans! While some cut files can make creating a card really easy, others are a little more complicated and time-consuming but still totally worth the effort.  Christine joining you with a Fall Cut File Card that I created using the Bella Besties Freehand Graph & Dot 6 X 6 Paper Pad. Be sure to scroll all the way down to check out the quick Process Video to go with this card!

Fall Cut File Card

This specific owl cut file does not come from a fall collection BUT because I used the Freehand Graph & Dot 6 X 6 Paper Pad, I was able to choose my colors and give it a fall feel.

This was one of those fun, lighthearted cards that sometimes you just want to make. As soon as I saw the owl, I knew it would make for a fun and punny card!

This owl is made up of lots of small detailed parts. A sharp blade and a slow speed on your machine will prevent tearing.

My kids are all into puns these days so one of them will definitely love this card. Florence Alphabets made it easy to add my own cheesy pun!

Let's take a look at the Process Video for how this Fall Cut File Card came together:

Whooooo else is creating lighthearted cards today? How about cards with puns? Thanks for stopping by to check out mine!

World Cardmaking Day - Clean and Simple Card

Happy World Cardmaking Day Bella Blvd Fans! Sometimes you just need a card to come together quickly without too many tricky techniques. Christine joining you today with a Clean & Simple Card combining layers of Patterned Papers, Heart Hugs, and a Bella Blvd Cut File.

Clean & Simple Card

Cut files are a great way to make a really simple card but still have it look fabulous! This tree card using the Bella Blvd Tree Cut File is the perfect example

I cut out the tree with the cut file but then I actually just did the circles using a circle punch.  Assembling the layers was quick and easy to do!

Bella's products all coordinate beautifully making the Heart Hugs a perfect embellishment for the Squeeze the Day 6 X 6 Paper Pad and the Bella Besties 6 X 6 Paper Pad.

Florence Alphabets are the perfect size for creating one of a kind sentiments as well as sentiments that coordinate perfectly without having to search through every product you own!  

Thanks for stopping by - hope you are creating some fun cards of your own today!

Squeeze the Day 6 X 6 Paper Pad, Heart Hugs, Bella Besties Freehand Graph & Dot 6 X 6 Paper Pad, Florence Alphabet