Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Sketch Week | Laura Alberts

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing my take on this fabulous sketch created by Allison Davis for Scrapbook & Cards Today. Loved the resemblance in this background to a chevron, so I leaned into that for my design.

I pulled out the Our Love Song collection for this sweet set of photos of my youngest at a hands-on museum. The colors in these photos were so bright and cheerful, Our Love Song was a perfect match. While the layout took on a bold and bright look overall, I love that the photos still stand out thanks to the clusters around them.

For my large title, I fussy cut the words from the Borders patterned paper and lined it up along the top edge of the chevron. Behind my photos, I tucked two tags from the Word Ephemera pack and a few lovely florals as well.

 

Underneath of my photos is a subtitle that helps connect the two photos to a linear base. I added a scalloped border sticker from the Doohickey sticker sheet to level the bottom of my photo cluster.

Each of my floral clusters began with a few larger florals from the Words Ephemera pack, then are layered with puffy stickers from the Love You More set. I especially liked these little puffy triangles which added a whimsical emphasis to the photo cluster and draws the eye straight to these fun photos!

Our Love Song Collection Kit

Bella Besties Graph & Dot - Blueberry/Bell Pepper

Our Love Song Doohickey Sticker Set

Love You More Puffy Stickers

You're My Jam Epoxy Stickers

Spring Vibes + Cut Outs | Laura Alberts

Hello Friends! I'm back with a bright, sunshine-filled layout using the You Are My Sunshine collection. This layout starts with a Bella Besties background of Bell Pepper Graph and Dot, then I layered the lovely little clouds from the Over the Rainbow Cut Outs.

I backed the clouds with the Feeling Sunny and My Only Sunshine patterned papers, then tucked my photos in behind them. I added a strip from the Borders paper at the bottom and some larger chipboard pieces on first.

To embellish around the clouds, I used a lot of fussy cut icons, enamel shapes, and stickers from the Doohickey sticker sheet. This is such a fun, whimsical collection and I think it captures my daughter's imagination perfectly! 

To finish this one off, I drew a cloud at the bottom to hold my journaling and dotted black Nuvo drops and gold ink splatter around the clusters. I even drew in some tiny hearts for just a little more detail on this page.

You Are My Sunshine Collection Kit

Over the Rainbow Cut Outs

Your Are My Sunshine Ciao Chip

Hello Summer Epoxy Stickers

Our Love Song Circles & Clear Cuts | Laura Alberts

Hello friends! Today, I have a fun layout idea for you! Following our theme of circles and clear cuts for the week, I have a vertical design featuring die cut acetate and punched patterned paper circles filling the background. This design is perfect for multiple photos too!

For each of the three clusters, I added a circle frame of the Love Squad Clear Cuts acetate, then piled on circles punched from the Our Love Song Skip a Beat and Volume Up patterned papers. As well as some beautiful Bella Besties in Blueberry Graph and Dot.

With the addition of a few punched scraps and fussy cut florals from the Crazy for You patterned paper, I layered up these clusters with whimsical elements. The title is from the word ephemera pack and I drew in the lines to give myself space for journaling.

Just for a little extra panache, I added a few puffy stickers from the Love You More set. I finished this project off with Nuvo drops and gold ink spray for splattering. With a hand-drawn border for a little extra detailing, this layout was done!

Our Love Song Collection Kit

Love Squad Clear Cuts

Our Love Song Word Ephemera

Love You More Puffy Stickers

All About Circles & Clear Cuts | Rachel O'Neal

Hi friends! It has been such a joy to create with the Our Love Song collection and I love that I get to share another layout with you this month. I hope you have had a chance to get your hands on this collection. This week we are using the collection with a focus on circles and the Bella Blvd Clear Cuts. Clear Cuts are a Bella Blvd specialty - printed transparency paper. The one in this collection is called Love Squad and has the cutest little pink and red hearts printed on it. Here's what I created: 

 

 

So I started by cutting out a large heart stencil with my Cricut so that I could have a template when stamping the stitched circles inside the heart. Once I had the template, I placed it on top of a piece of white 12" x 12" cardstock and stamped the circles inside the heart. Then I removed the template because I no longer needed it. I used my Cricut again to cut out circles to go inside the stamped circles. These circles are about 1.15" in diameter. I used several patterned papers from the collection including - XOXO, Volume Up, Crazy For You, as well as the Bella Besties Graph & Dot in Cotton Candy. This is also where I used the Clear Cuts. I was able to cut through it with my Cricut; I just needed to run it through the machine a couple times to get it to cut all the way through the transparency paper. Next, I added all the circles to the layout using tape runner.

 

In between all the circles there were some gaps so I added more stamping and some small black sticker hearts and dots from the Florence Alphas sheets. Next, I backed my photo with white cardstock and then added layers of paper behind it. I used the Clear Cuts again - this time I added some black and white grid paper behind it. You can also find that paper in the Our Love Song collection. It's called Soundtrack.

 

I got the title from the Ephemera Words set. I really kept the rest of the layout fairly simple, because of all the patterns and colors I chose for the circles. I added a few hearts around the title and then finished the layout with some journaling around the heart.

Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my work. I hope you feel inspired to create a circle themed layout and even throw some Clear Cuts in there as well. Here's a list of the supplies I used:

• 12" x 12" White Cardstock
• Our Love Song 12" x 12" Patterned Papers - Sound Track, XOXO, Volume Up, Crazy For You
• Bella Besties Hearts & Ombre in Black
• Bella Besties Graph & Dot in Cotton Candy
• Florence Alphas in Black (heart and dot stickers)
• Our Love Song Clear Cuts - Love Song
• Our Love Song Ephemera Words
• Our Love Song Ephemera Icons (hearts)

Thanksgiving & Cut Outs Week Day 3 | Inessa

Hi friends,

Inessa here and I'm sharing a thanksgiving layout using papers from the Spell on You collection, Bella besties and the Heart Attack Cut-Out. I hope you can be inspired to use your holiday themed collections in multiple ways. Since Thanksgiving has an abundance of oranges and warm colors, I picked papers that worked with my theme. 

I backed the cut-out (which is a precut paper die cut) and backed with the following papers: Bella Besties Hearts & Ombre Orange (B side), Bella Besties Graph & Dots Black (used both sides), Bella Besties Graph & Dots Bell Pepper(used both sides), Spell on You Candy Dots (b side), Broomsticks (b side), Daily Details (b side), Happy Halloween (b side), Spell Caster (b side). 

 

I used about 3/4 of the cut out and adhered it to my background paper using foam adhesive for a dimensional look. The background paper is the Bella Besties Hearts & Ombre in Orange. I then adhered my photo using foam adhesive as well. I added a cluster of hearts on the left side and a title using the Aria alpha puffy stickers in black and Florence alpha stickers in Orange. 

As a last step, I made the little turkey using the Turkey Friend cutfile downloaded from the Silhouette store. You can find it here.

I used the same mix of papers, adding in some cardstock, the white Graph & Dots and the Pony Hearts & Ombre to cut the various pieces. 

 

Thanks for reading and see you again soon!

All the best,

Inessa

Thankful + Bella Besties Week | Rachel O'Neal

Happy November Bella friends! This month is often a time of remembrance and gratitude. This week the Bella Blvd Creative Team has created layouts with a focus on thankfulness. We are using any of the Bella Blvd collections + Bella Besties products. Here's the layout I created:

 

Hands down my favorite Bella Besties product is always the Freehand Graph & Dot papers. I started by picking out six papers. Starting from the outside of the circle and working in the colors are: Punch, Peep, Orange, Pickle Juice, Ice, and Blueberry. I used the Circle Pile free cut file to create the circle layers. You can find it here. After cutting out the circles, I added them to a piece of white cardstock. I decided not to use the whole circle so I trimmed off the excess down the left side of the page.

I added my title next because I wanted to make sure it would fit around the edge of the circle before I started adding any embellishments. The black Florence alphas are a must. "My Greatest Blessings Call Me Mom." I couldn't be more thankful for the two boys God has given me, and being their mom is one of my greatest joys.

I backed my  3" x 4" photo with white cardstock and then added two more papers from the Let's Go On An Adventure collection. The striped paper is called Balloon Ride and the floral paper is called Morning Meadow. I added the photos to the Circle Pile with some foam tape. I like to use foam tape to get that layer some dimension and make it easy to tuck pieces of ephemera around it.

Next, I used a stitch stamp to add some black details around the circles. For the embellishing, I used a mix of pieces of Ephemera Icons from the Let's Go An Adventure and the Home Sweet Home collections. Many of the pieces coordinate perfectly. I also placed some Matte Enamels that matched with the Bella Besties papers around the circles. 

 

I finished the layout with a little journaling and a date stamp. I hope our layouts encourage you to document the things you have in your life which cause you to be thankful. Thanks you for stopping by the blog today. Here's a list of all the items I used to create this layout:

• Bella Besties Freehand Graph & Dot paper (Punch, Peep, Orange, Guacamole, Ice and Blueberry)
• Balloon Ride 12" x 12" pattern paper (Let's Go On An Adventure)
• Morning Meadow 12" x 12" pattern paper (Let's Go On An Adventure)
• Ephemera Icons Let's Go On An Adventure
• Ephemera Icons Home Sweet Home
• Florence Alphas (Black)
• Matte Enamels (Fruity Mix)

Spell On You | Rachel O'Neal

 

Hi friends! It's Rachel! I'm finally getting to show you my first layout for Bella Blvd using their Halloween themed collection called Spell On You. I love it so much - the colors, the style, the ephemera, everything! So for my first layout, I wanted to create a page that could show off a lot of the different pieces. I started by cutting out this Circle and Stars Cut File. I've linked it so you can use it too! I cut it out with my Cricut and black cardstock. Before I secured it to the white cardstock background, I backed the stars with Bella Besties Dot paper in the color Bell Pepper. Then I adhered it to a white cardstock background with foam tape. Inside the circles, I used more Bella Blvd Besties paper in Dot. I took my We R Memory Keepers 1 1/2" circle punch to cut out the circles using the colors Orange, Guacamole, Gulf, and Plum. These colors go perfectly with Spell On You. Next, I added photos to five of the circles. 

Before adding the ephemera, I decided to stamp a circle stitch stamp to all the circles. Yes, I did this after I had already added them to my layout with foam tape! Not the ideal way to do it, but thankfully it turned out. Sometimes layouts just evolve as you go, right?! Tell me I'm not the only one who's been there done that?!?! 

Now I started adding all the ephemera. I used pumpkins, candy, ghosts, and spider webs (and more) from both the Ciao Chipboard and the Ephemera Icons packs. I added some really cut phrases from the Ephemera Words pack too.

I finished the layout by printing of some words strips that told the story of our day and go right along with our photos. 

I hope you love this layout! Thanks for stopping by to read all about it. Here's a list of the products I used:

• Black and white cardstock
• Cut File: Circle & Stars
• Bella Blvd Besties Dot Paper (Bell Pepper, Orange, Guacamole, Gulf and Plum)
• Bella Blvd Spell On You Ciao Chip
• Bella Blvd Spell On You Ephemera Icons
• Bella Blvd Spell On You Ephemera Words

School Is Cool - Rachel O'Neal

Hi friends! I'm back with another School Is Cool layout. I mentioned before how much I loved the pennant flags that come in the Ephemera Icons pack. There are ones for each grade Kindergarten - 6th! So I thought it would be fun to go back and reprint "First Day" photos for my Carter and create a layout that had all of them on one page using those pennants. Can't believe how fast the years are flying by! Here's what I came up with:

 

 

I started with a white 12" x 12" cardstock background and used my Distress Oxide pad in Fossilized Amber to create a yellow background. While it was drying, I worked on the Smarty Pants Cut Out set that comes with this collection. It has several great titles, but I chose to go with "the Best Day ever" cut out. I actually removed the word "the" and backed the rest with the Supply List patterned paper. Each Cut Out set comes with a pattern that you can use on your paper of choice to get just the correct size for backing the cutouts. They are so easy to use. Once my background was dry, I added the cutout to the bottom of the layout with foam tape. 

 

 

Next, I took each of my photos and layered them with white cardstock, Bella Blvd Besties paper in McIntosh Graph, and also the 12" x 12" School Supplies patterned paper. Once the papers were secured, I went ahead and added them to the layout with foam tape as well. 

 

 

Now it was time to add the embellishments and those cute pennants. I wanted to be intentional about which embellishments I used for each grade. I wanted them to be grade appropriate. I love how there are a variety of choices in both the Ephemera Icons and the Ephemera Words packs. The math flash cards are a perfect example of that. There is a piece with a basic combination (9+7) and one for older grades as well (23+5). So many to choose from.

 

 

I finished the layout by stamping a little including the dates for each of the photos, and then added a few black hearts from the Florence Alpha sticker sheet. This is such a fun and special layout. I hope you like it. Here's a list of everything I used:

• 12" x 12" White Cardstock
• Distress Oxide Pad: Fossilized Amber
• Cut Outs: Smarty Pants
• 12" x 12" Supply List Pattern Paper
• 12" x 12" School Supplies Pattern Paper
• Bella Blvd Besties Graph & Dot in McIntosh
• School Is Cool Ephemera Icons
• Bella Blvd Florence hearts in black.

 

School is Cool | Rachel O'Neal

Hi friends! It's Rachel today! I'm here to talk about my first layout with Bella Blvd's newest collection - School Is Cool! You know what also is cool? This collection! When it arrived at my doorstep, I couldn't wait to flip through every piece of paper and pack of ephemera. Once we finished school for the day, I sat right down at my desk and started playing! For this layout, I wanted to create a black and white background so that the colors in the embellishments could really pop.

I started by making a background with my Distress Oxide pad in the color - Black Soot. My goal was to create a background similar to an old school black chalkboard. Once I did that, I set it aside to dry and started cutting up patterned paper from the collection into strips. I used different sizes and widths, but most of them around 6 inches in length. I definitely wanted the background to peak out from behind. The papers I cut into strips are: Borders, Supply List, No 2 Pencil, and Math Facts. I also threw in some Bella Besties Graph paper in white! 

 

 

Once my background was dry, I arranged the patterned paper strips on top of it and secured them to the white cardstock with foam tape. Next, I added Carter's first day of school photo. Time to start embellishing!  I have to say right away that one of my favorite pieces has to be the pennant flags with the grade on them. How cute is that?! 

 

 

For my embellishments, I started at the top left corner and worked my way across the page. I used a lot of pieces from the School Is Cool Ciao Chip, the Ephemera Icons, and the cutest puffy sticker pack. The giant title {SCHOOL} is from the Ciao Chip as well. I love how every letter of the word is a different color. I finished the layout with a little stamping and some tiny heart stickers from the Florence Alpha set.

Thank you for stopping by today! I'll be back next week with another layout using many of the same papers just in a different way! 

Products Used:

• White Cardstock
• Distress Oxide is Black Soot
• School is Cool 12" x 12" patterned papers (Borders, Supply List, No 2 Pencil. and Math Facts)
• Bella Besties Graph & Dot in White
• School Is Cool Ciao Chip
• School is Cool Ephemera Icons
• School is Cool Puffy Stickers: Ready For School
• Florence Alphas in Black (stickers hearts)

 

 

 

School Is Cool | Rachel O'Neal

 

Hello friends! I'm back again with my second School Is Cool layout! It has been so fun to play with this collection. The colors, the patterns, and so many embellishments make the possibilities endless. For this layout, I was really drawn to several of the black and white patterned papers in the collection. I decided to showcase my favorites (and throw in some yellow too) by using them in a pie shaped cut fie. You can find the cut file here. The papers I used from the collection include the 12" x 12" Borders, Daily Details, Supply List, Math Facts, and No 2 Pencil. I also choose some of my favorite Bella Besties papers from the Graph & Dot collection - I used three colors: white, black, and bell pepper. I always love how so many of Bella's products coordinate perfectly with each other.

After I used my Cricut to cut out several of the circles, I backed each one with the patterned papers and then used tape runner to adhere them to my 12" x 12" white cardstock base. I also cut out my photo to be a circle so it fit right in.

 

Around my photo, I used my go to Florence alphas in black to create my title. Now I pulled out all the embellishments to add to my layout. I used several pieces from the Ciao Chip, but my favorite pack of all is definitely the Ephemera Icons.

 

 

I finished the layout with some journaling and stamped the date. I love including journaling on my layout - even if it's just a couple sentences to leave behind my thoughts. Thank you for stopping by today. Here's my supply list:

Products Used:

Slice of Life Cut File

School Is Cool 12" x 12" Patterned Papers (Math Facts, Supply List, Daily Details, Borders, No. 2 Pencil)

Bella Besties Graph & Dot (White, Black, and Bell Pepper)

School Is Cool Ciao Chip

School Is Cool Ephemera Icons

Florence Alphas in Black