Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Transform 6x6 papers into a cute Mini Book by Kim Watson

Mini books are fabulous right?

Well, I decided to challenge myself using this week's theme by taking some 6x6 paper pieces & transforming them into a cute mini book. 

'Wanna' see the result?

Sunny Days Mini Book by Kim Watson

Using 'Splash Zone' collection means this little book is perfect to capture our fave summer photos. The colors, icons & hot summery vibe makes this mini book a winner.

Below I will explain how simple it is to make one for yourself.

 

Step #01

• Cut four 6"x6" OR two 12"x6" pieces of white card stock & score them at 3" intervals, then fold into a concertina.

 

Step #02

• Join the pieces into one long 24x6" strip using washi tape. 
• Cut a variety of 6x6" patterned paper to make 'pockets.
• Cut out some 3x4" journal cards from the Daily Details Sheet, trim them to 2.75"x4", to enable them to fit on the pages better.
• Cut some 2.75x5" tags from card stock or patterned paper to slip into your pockets.

Step #03

• Fold the patterned paper pocket pieces in half & stitch them closed, then adhere them to the mini book pages.

 

 

Step #04

• Work on your cover. I stitched a piece of white chevron acetate to white card stock, creating a great base for the other elements.
• Layer chipboard icons, ephemera & ephemera words together to create a fun cover.

 

Step #05

• Now for the inside pages. Add little flaps, attaching them with washi tape.
• Make space for photos & journaling.
• Use word stickers & ephemera to decorate.

 

Step #06

• Little details & sentiment stickers will prompt the photos you need to print out for each page.

 

Are you as excited about the final book as I am? I mean seriously, who would have guessed that a few 6x6" pieces of paper & embellishments could have ended up so cute! I really, really hope you are inspired to try & make one for yourself. There will be a video walk through of the book on my instagram account soon, so check it out. 

If you'd like to buy some of the 'Splash Zone' products for yourself, follow the links below to the Bella online store. 

Love ya all <3 <3 

 

 

Splash Zone (all products), Splash Zone Collection kit 

 

 

Fun in the Sun Summer Scrapbooking Layout

Hi everyone! Heather Leopard is here with a fun in the sun summer scrapbooking layout that is an outcome of a happy accident.

So here's the layout featuring my youngest and one of her besties at the water park. Any guess what my happy accident was? I wanted to use an acrylic sentiment on the page and while I was looking for the perfect word, I noticed the pennants that are part of the Splash Zone collection. I struggle with using the pennants so I decided to face my fear head on and feature them in my design along with my acrylic word. "play" (love is chipboard).  

To create this layout, I measured the pennants and then drew some in my Silhouette design software. I sized them down and created 3 different sizes. I thought about laying them out across the page, making several rows of them but then I decided to put them in a large circle.

To create the perfect circle, I measured the length of the pennant and then cut a circle from the middle of the page so that the pennants would fit horizontally and vertically on the page.  Then, I started placing the felt and paper pennants around the perimeter of the circle.

Once the pennants were in place, I started thinking about what background I may want to use. I tried clouds, waves and plaids. It wasn't until I placed the large yellow plaid behind the circle that it dawned on me that I had created the perfect sun! Commence the happy accident dance!

I stitched the background and pennants to the page using my sewing machine and then I also stitched additional rays between the pennants because it felt like it was still missing something.

I then added the photo with layers of papers and embellishments in the lower left and then decided to extend the story up into the sun, finishing it off with some chipboard splashed at the top. And the finishing touch was the acrylic word, "play" on the layout.

I just love this happy accidental design and hope you do too.  

Splash Zone collection, Plaids & Dotty, Acrylic Word: Explore & Play, So In Love Chipboard, Pennants: Summer, Today; Bella Bows; DooDad Enamel Dots: Milk

GUEST DESIGNER: Maryám Pérez Back Again!

Hello Friends! How are you today? It’s Maryám Pérez here to share two more projects using the amazing Let’s Go On an Adventure Collection!

For my first project, I have created a layout using one of the Bella Blvd cut files. The one I used is called Mountains (ID #291770) and you can find it here. What I did was cut the part of the mountain only and then add some hand stitching around it. Once I have that done, I created a kind of a scene at the top part of my layout. I wanted to recreate the background of the photo I was using so I put some trees, a sun, and some clouds.

For the title, I used one of the die-cuts that says “Going for a walk” that matched the theme of my page perfectly. In the end, I added my journaling telling the story about that day and also put some puffy stars and enamel dots.

The finished page:

 

For my second project, I created another layout, and this time I used a big panoramic photo and created a cluster of embellishments vertically. I included some stickers hearts, little felt bows, some words sticker, and in the end, added some pink ink splatters.

For the title, I used an acrylic word that says “At the lake” that went totally perfect with this photo! Seriously, this collection was perfect for each and every one of my photos!!

Here is my finished page:

 

I hope these projects have inspired you to create something new. Thank you so much Bella Blvd for having me! I really enjoyed creating with this collection. Make sure you pick up these Bella Blvd pieces so you can document your own adventures - you just plain need it!

Thank you for reading this post and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Maryám

Yummy! | Erica Thompson

Hello and Happy Grilled Cheese Day! Yes that is right it is National Grilled Cheese Day! We love grilled cheese in our home and we have it for dinner at least a couple times a month in the winter! Grilled cheese and a bowl of tomato soup is so good on the cold nights! We like our sandwiches extra cheesy! So to document my love for for this scrumptious sandwich I created a fun layout using some fun Bella Blvd products!

I started with an alpha cut file from The Cut Shoppe and backed it with papers I pulled from my stash of Bella scraps! I love that matching papers is so easy to do with all the Bella products! I cut the word YUMMY out with some white card stock and the colors I used to back the file are some of my favorite!

Pink, yellow, blue, black and white! Yes! Perfect color combo in my eyes! I pulled some embellishments from different collections to match these colors mainly using 12x12 sticker sheets.

I did a little swapping out of colors on the felt banner! I wanted to add the pink heart to the black banner and it was very easy to swap it out! I love how it looks on this layout! I added on of the Little Bits word stickers to it as well!

I added a heart from one of the 12x12 sticker sheets to the right of my photo and tucked under a yellow heart hug for another pop of color! I pulled out some stickers from the Word Salad booklet and added some staples for some texture as well!

Here is a look at my completed layout and you can see my process video HERE on my YouTube channel!

Oreo Black Little Bits, Word Salad Cardstock Stickers, Oh My Starts 12x12 Fundamentals, Star Student 12x12 Treasures&Text, Papers from Oh My Stars, Wish Big, Popsicle's& Pandas, She Loves Color Exclusive, Bella Pennants, Heart Hugs

 

Cute Girl

Good morning everyone!

Sarah here today to share a new layout made using Bella's cute little felt Pennants. I think these are fun to play with and add some texture to your layouts.

I had my pictures picked out and printed in a photo strip, then went through all the pennants I had and pulled all the ones I wanted to use with these picture of my sweet little niece. Once I knew what pennants I was going to use, it made it really easy for me to go through the different collections and pull papers in those colors. Once I had pulled papers from different collections, I cut four different circles out of four different papers and at different sizes so I could layer them.

I adhered my circle layers down and placed them in the middle of my layout, laid my photos on top of them and grabbed my pennants. I placed them on the sides of my photo strip and thought it needed something more. Then I remembered the wooden sticks that came with the pennants and pulled them out. I laid them in different places on my layout behind where my photos would be. I moved them around a few times, but I liked where they were so I checked with my photos and was happy. I glued them down, added a white mat to my photo and then went to added the pennants. Since the wooden sticks added some dimension, I added a little bit of foam adhesive to the parts of the pennants that hung off the sides.

I decided that I wanted more circles on my layout, So I grabbed my circle punches and went to popping out circles of different patterns. You can't see it too much on this layout, but the smallest layer in the layered circles is the one with (what looks like) white diamonds on it, so I punched a few of those out in the white paper I had already used and in the black paper that had the same pattern. I placed the punched circles around the layout until I was happy and liked how it looked. Once I did this, I decided I wanted to pull that black diamond paper in, so I added a strip to the top and bottom of my layout. I ruffled up the edges of my papers, I'm really liking this right now lol. I added a few of the cute word salad stickers here and there, grabbed some sequins from my stash and finished the layout off with a little bit of shine!

Thanks so much for stopping by and seeing what I did today, cant wait to see what y'all do with the adorable Pennants!!

 Pennants: Shapes, Island Escape, Love, Mom Life, Girl

Wish Big Collection: Party Animal, Cakes&Crowns, Birthday Song

Mom Life Collection: Jammies All Day, Exclusive Collection Kit Bonus pattern

Word Salad cardstock sticker booklet

Hooray 13th!

Welcome to Monday friends! Kim Watson here with my first blog post for the week. Today I am going to show you a cool way to use the Bella Blvd felt pennants. Having a teen boy in the house means I need to adjust my scrapping style from cutesy, to something more trendy, knowing Max & his friends will be looking at his albums.

Hooray 13th! by Kim Watson

My starting point was the paper layers; I loved the idea of folded pieces like large flags. They are perfectly party-like & festive...perfect to capture my 13 yr old's birthday. Mixed with layers of other birthday related items, truly made this page a pleasure to put together. 

Multiple layers of machine stitching worked perfectly to attach the paper pieces to the background page, after which I started adding stickers & die cuts. Don't you love how dimensional the details look by not creasing them flat?

The title is the fun part. By using a mixture of puffy stickers & sentiment labels, I was able to create a fun, colorful focal point. By arranging the items to finish on the same line, it made the perfect grouping to support my journaling. 

I was determined to use the acrylic word 'birthday' and in keeping with the trendy design, tried an unconventional position and slipped it next to the photo, under some of the paper layers. Positioning it like this added to the repeated vertical elements.

 

I am thrilled with the results and love that the design allowed me three areas to journal without compromising the white space. Once again the fabulous Bella Blvd products has made my memory keeping fun and easy to do. Be sure to look out for some of the felt pennants at your local scrapbook store.

Watch my process video here:

Thanks for stopping by. 

 Word Salad: Cardstock Sticker Booklet; Wish Big (Boy): Paper, Chipboard, Fundamentals, Sticky Mix; Mom Life: Paper & Sticky Mix; Oh My Stars: Fundamentals; Acrylic words: Birthday; Puffy Stars: Orange & Green, Enamel Dots from Heart Hugs: Black; Felt Pennants: Boy  

Sweet Stuffy Love

Hi everyone. Heather Leopard is here rounding out Love week. Today, I'm putting a twist on the theme and focusing on my daughter's love, or rather obsession, with stuffed animals. Let's take a look...

I always know that any trip to my favorite craft stores will result in a quick photo session of my littlest showing me which stuffies she likes. She says "take a picture so you know what I want for [insert reason why here]." This most definitely needed to be documented.   

I started out by misting my background and then cutting six patterned papers into 2.5" x 2.5" squares. I then trimmed 2 photos and my intention was to make them both 2.5" x 2.5" but one of them just couldn't be trimmed any further and I'm so glad it worked out that way. It's still fits in the space I had allocated but it's not so symmetrical and that's the type of scrapper I am. I also cut one paper down to accommodate the change.

Next, I added the large acrylic words, Sweet Love, and left space there to add Stuffy to be a little more descriptive.  

I was then left with a bit too much white space at the top so I filled it in with a sprinkling of felt banner, heart hugs and puffy stars. The only thing I have left to do is add my journaling to tell the story. I'll either do that in the pink square or under the three hearts at the bottom.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope I've inspired you and you have a great day.

Mom Life collection: 12" x 12" patterned paper and pennants, Oh My Stars 4x6s patterned paper, Acrylic Words - Love & Promise and New & Sweet, Wonky Alpha Puffy Stickers - Ice, Mini Heart Hugs: Sentiments, Thank you, Heart Hugs in Pretty in Pink, Earth and Sushine, Puffy Star Stickers in Ice Mix and Cotton Candy Mix, Cute Clips - Pumpkin Spice

Mischief Managed | Book Lovers

Hello everyone.  Heather Leopard is here and I am soo excited to be joining on the Bella Blvd team again.  Did you know today is National Book Lover's Day?  In honor of that wonderful day, I wanted to create this layout about my daughter's love for all things Harry Potter, including Fantastic Beasts, the Library books and Cursed Child.  Obsess much?

Admittedly, we watched all the movies before we started reading the books but I think that helped fuel her excitement and better understand about what she is now reading in the books.  She also appreciates how much more detail can be found by reading a book as we've experienced a lot of, "well that makes more sense" type of discussions. So back to documenting this passion for reading...let me tell you, the Dad Style collection mixed with a few others listed in the supplies below is perfect for Harry Potter.

I designed this layout with one thing in mind, Harry's iconic lightning bolt. I started with one supersized bolt but changed course and decided to scatter several around the right two-thirds of the page, adding in puffy stars and blue and white enamel dots, since my daughter is a self-proclaimed Ravenclaw.

When I designed the page, I made sure to reserve enough space for a larger title and a 3" x 3" photo. There a really great 4" x 4" woodsy paper in the Dad Style collection that I knew I wanted to incorporate in the layers behind the photo as well as the geometrical pattern.  Then I added a couple of blue Ravenclaw accents (frame, flag, heart hug).

Last but not least is the Mischief Managed title. I think it's so appropriate since it's such an well known quote, she's keeping her furry friends out of trouble and I know she's getting a great foundation and fueling her love for learning. I also found that adorable chipboard owl in the Mind Your Manners collection so I had to add it. There may not be any pink on the rest of the page but it ties in great with the colors of the stuffed animals she's reading to.

I plan to add my journaling in the bottom right under the lightning bolts...

I hope you've enjoyed this project today and I can't wait to share more with you in the coming months.

 

Bella Blvd Dad Style 12x12 Patterned Papers, Bella Blvd Mind Your Manners chipboard, Bella Blvd Pop Quiz pennants, Heart Hugs

The Best Friend is a Friend That Bible Journals

 

I've been thinking of this idea for using my Bella Pennants for some time, and I finally got it down on a layout!  I wanted to trace out the shape of each pennant and create a playful pinwheel full of them!  I love when an idea translates so well on paper, and I couldn't think of a more perfect set of photos than this bunch of my Bible journaling gals and I to accompany it!

 

After backing my white cardstock with this pretty magenta cross paper from the Illustrated Faith Basics Pad, I stitched around the edge.  I then arranged my pennants about the page and chose which ones I would stitch.  I initially thought I might stitch all of them, but I liked the more playful look of only stitching a handful.  I left two spaces on a couple pinwheels to include my photos; I love the way they just nestle in!

 

All that was left was to stick one of those gorgeous giant Bella bows right in the middle of a pinwheel, since it didn't have a photo!  I just love those bows, and because they are felt, they go perfectly with the pennants I used!

 

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by to see the layout I created inspired by the Bella Pennants! I'm so blessed to have amazing friends cultivated from this creative community! xo Lydia

Bella Bows, 12x12 Papers (Mom Life, Island Escape, Pop Quiz, IF Basics), Bella Blvd Pennants, Mom Life Ephemera, Enamel Dots, IF Watercolors, IF You Are Loved Stamp Set 

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy days of Summer

Hello everyone!! Summer is here and I have been having so much fun with my kiddos! We've been outside so much! And you'll see a bit of that fun in this layout.

This week my focus was on the Wonky Alpha stickers, so I decided to make a large title using different colors of them and I love how it turned out! This layout needed a big title and these alphas were perfect for it!!

I started my layout with a white cardstock background, my picture had one of my younger daughters sitting in a doughnut floaty and smiling so big in the water. So I went threw my beautiful stash of Bella goodies and grabbed out one of the newer collections, Island Escape and then an older collection, Addison. I went through and pulled papers and embellishments that complemented eachother and started on my layout. 

I cut a few large rectangles out of pretty patterned papers and placed them to the left side of my layout and placed my photo of my goofy girl the the right of those over lapping some. I added a few paper layers behind my picture on the right and then moved on to adding my title. I grabbed two different colors of the Wonky Alphas and placed my title on the larger rectangle papers.

Once I had the title done, I knew I could start embellishing where I wanted. So I did! lol I grabbed some of the embellishments from the Addison collection, the cute doughnuts and a heart, I thought they looked great since she was sitting on a big ol' doughnut lol. I added some paper strips to the bottom of the layout and one to the top and then started tucking pretty flowers in here and there, paper ones and chipboard. I finished my title off with the word summer from the Chipboard sheet from the Island Escape collection and I was done with this goofy little layout.

Island Escape Collection; Moonlit Kiss paper, Peace&Quiet paper, Pennants, Ephemera pack, Ciao Chips

Addison Collection; Daily Details paper, Borders paper

Wonky Puffy Alpha stickers; Ice, Punch