Bella Blvd Studio Blog

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

 

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 .

 

 

 

Fireworks & Freedom | Rachel

Happy July friends! July is such a great month. Of course, here in America we are thinking all things red, white, and blue as we begin to celebrate our countries' birthday! Just last week we picked up our Old Navy t-shirts for the 4th and so I took some pics of my boys. Bella Blvd's Fireworks & Freedom collection is perfect for celebrating all things patriotic! 

I started with a piece of white cardstock as my base. I took out the Bella Besties Graph and Dot paper in the color McIntosh and cut a  4" X 12" inch strip. I adhered it to the left side of the cardstock. I added more layers on top of it by using the Borders 12" x 12" patterned paper from the collection. I cut two of the borders and added them on top of the red graph paper. I finished off that side of the paper with a thin piece of black cardstock and some lines using my favorite black pen.

 

I added three photos on top of my layered papers. Love these faces! Next, I used the Bella Blvd Florence Alphas to create my title. These stickers are a must have! I used three colors - Black, Blueberry and McIntosh. I then used some of my favorite stitch stamps in between each section of the title. I also stamped stars of various sizes around the white cardstock.

 

I really love all the embellishments in this Fireworks and Freedom collection, but my favorite has to be the acrylic shapes (patriotic stars). I also used the Ciao Chip, the Ephemera Icons, and the Ephemera Words to add different clusters of embellishments around the page. 

And there ya have it - a quick and easy layout that says I love my country and my boys! Thanks for stopping by today. Check out the list of products I used.

Products Used:

• White & black cardstock
• Bella Besties Graph & Dot: McIntosh
• Fireworks & Freedom Borders 12" x 12" Patterned Paper
• Fireworks & Freedom Ciao Chip
• Bella Blvd Florence Alphas (Black, Blueberry, and McIntosh)
• Bella Blvd Acrylic Shapes: Patriotic Stars
• Fireworks & Freedom Ephemera Icons
• Fireworks & Freedom Ephemera Words

Cut Files & Time to Travel Week, Day 4 | Inessa

Hi friends,

Inessa on the blog today sharing a layout using Bella's cut files, paired with Time To Travel. I'm continuing to document my family Florida vacay and enjoying remembering the fun moments we had. I mean let's be real, I've forgotten what we did last week already!

I got all of the files from the silhouette design store (linked at the bottom) and cut using my cricut machine. The title was cut from white textured cardstock and I had originally intended to back it with patterned papers. The flowers and monstera leaves were cut from various patterned papers from Bella besties and Time to Travel.

To build the base, I matted the Freeway paper (blue airplane side) on white textured cardstock. Then I matted it again on the Road Trip paper (black and white stripe side). Once matted, I stitched a boarder around the entire page in a rose gold thread using my sewing machine. 

The papers I used to cut the flowers out of are listed here: Let's Get Lost, Daily Details, Back Roads, Bella Besties in Punch and Guacamole. I then hand rolles the edges and popped the centers and layers on foam dots. The flowers cutfile is so easy to use, all the pieces are color coded for you!

 

As I built my page, I decided to leave the title as is as it looks great against the navy. I adhered my photo to the heart, trimmed and then adhered the entire piece to the background. I added the flowers around the page, mixing between flat and popped up pieces. Stickers and ephemera from the collection finished off each cluster.

The top left of the page looked too plain so I added a tag cluster, using pieces from the ephemera pack, a word sticker from the Doohickey sheet and a puffy flower. I also added some thread and sequin from SpiegelMom Scraps (Scrappin Happy Mix).

 

 

Hope I've inspired you to give these cut files a try! Follow me for more on my Instagram page @paperandbling and look out for a reel on the process. 

Thanks,

Inessa

 

Link to Cutfiles Design IDs: 408548, 406498, 327625

Links to products:

Time To Travel

Spiegelmom Scraps use my code INESSA15 to save 15% off your order

 

 

 

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

Tiny Tots 2.0 + Cut Outs Week, Day 2 | Inessa Persekian

Hi friends, Inessa here to share my layout for Tiny Tots 2.0 and Cut Outs Week!

I pulled a photo of my daughter from the archive and went to town with all of the pink shades, florals, hearts and baby animals. 

I started with a base using the Play Date paper and used the graphic paper side. For the cut-out, I backed it with several papers including: Sidekick (floral side), 123s, Borders (backside), Love You A Ton, Grey Scallop from Plaids and Dotty, Bella Besties Graph & Dots in Cotton Candy. I used my foam tape to pop up the title diagonally on the page.

I then fussy cut the zebra and piggie from the Border strips paper and popped them up so they look like they are coming out of the letter 'e' and behind the 's'. I added a banner just below it from the Ephemera Icons pack.

I matted my photo on white textured cardstock as well as the Bella Besties Graph & Dots in the darker shade of pink, called Peeps. 

To build out the floral clusters, I pulled most of the pink flowers, yellows and blue from the Ephemera Icons pack, Doohickey sticker sheet, Ciao Chip and Puffy Stickers. I also used the notepad, frame, rainbow and rectangle title from the ephemera pack. From my stash, I used some precut pink shimmer flowers as a base for the floral clusters. 

The layout was finished off with hearts and dots epoxy stickers and some spools of pink thread. 

I love playing with layers and textures and adore this layout. Hope I've inspired you to create! See you back on the blog soon!

Inessa

 

Tiny Tots 2.0 Supplies Used:

Ciao Chip, Cut- Outs, Doohickey, Bella-Pops Cute Bugs, Epoxy, Ephemera Icons, Puffy Stickers, Papers: Love You A Ton, Borders, 123s, Play Date, Sidekick

Tiny Tots 2.0 Collection + Bella Besties Week, Day 6| Brianna Lepper

Hey y'all!  Brianna Lepper here today sharing a new layout using the super adorable Tiny Tots 2.0 collection.  I'm currently obsessed with triangles and thought it would be fun to create large ones as main elements on my page.  

To start, I traced and cut out triangles using the Plaids and Dotty paper in Bell Pepper as well as the Graph & Dot paper in Ice.  I ran each one through my sewing machine using the opposite color of thread for my stitching.  So for the Bell Pepper papers, I used blue thread and for the Ice papers, I used yellow thread.  I popped them all up on foam tape and adhered them to a piece of white cardstock that I trimmed down to 11x11.  I adhered that piece to the top of the Be Brave 12x12 patterned paper and ran that through my sewing machine.  

I used the four triangles as placements for my title, photo and embellishments.  I made my title using the Aria Alphas in White and the Wonky Alphas in Bell Pepper.  My photo is of my oldest son Noah, while he was taking a bath in his old blow up rubber ducky bathtub.  It was the cutest thing and this photo was perfect to use with this collection.  He was almost two in this photo and I can't believe how quickly time flies by!  He's going to be sixteen in August!

I matted my photo using a few other patterned papers and adhered it down to the triangle on the far right.  I added the cute rubber ducky Trinket Puffy sticker as well as some Ephemera icons that look like bubbles. 

A yellow Cute Clip was the perfect addition to my photo and added that nice pop of color.

I had so much fun embellishing using more Ephemera Icons and Words and Ciao Chip Chipboard stickers.

Here's one last photo of my page: 

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope that I've inspired you in some way!  Have you incorporated triangles into your pages?  They're fun to create with and make great spots for your embellishments and photos.  See you in my next post friends!

Brianna

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

Tiny Tots 2.0: 12x12 Patterned Paper, Ephemera Icons and Words, Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers and Trinkets Puffy Stickers.  Bella Besties: Plaid & Dotty 12x12 Paper in Bell Pepper; Graph & Dot in Ice; Aria Alphas in White; Wonky Alphas in Bell Pepper; Word Salad Sticker Book and Cute Clips.  

 

 

Time to Travel + Bella Besties Day 6| Rachel

Hi friends! I'm back with another layout using the Time to Travel collection from Bella Blvd. This time the assignment was to use Bella Besties paper along with the collection. I instantly grabbed for the Graph & Dot pack of 12" x 12" patterned paper. Who doesn't love a pack of paper in all the fabulous Bella colors? I know I do! I set out to use the graph side of the paper in four colors - Bell Pepper, Guacamole, Ice, and McIntosh. These colors coordinate perfectly with Time to Travel. I used my Cricut machine and cut out a 2.5 inch hexagon with a smaller hexagon inside it. I also cut out my two pictures from the same larger hexagon so they would be the same size as the Bella Besties hexagons.

I then arranged the hexagons (including the photos) along the white cardstock. I let some of them lay off the edge of the paper. Once I got a pattern I liked, I adhered them to the cardstock with tape runner and trimmed off the excess hexagons that were hanging over the edge of the cardstock. Next, I took my favorite mini ruler and black pen and drew lines in the blank edges between each hexagon. I love to add doodling to almost all my layouts to tie in the black and contrast the bright colors.

Now it was time to start digging through the packs of ephemera and chipboard. I knew I wanted to align the ephemera to match up with the colors of each hexagon. There are plenty to choose from! These photos are from a road trip my husband and I took through San Antonio, Austin, and Waco, Texas in December. Time to Travel is perfect for road tripping. Besides the Time to Travel Ephemera and Ciao Chip, I also added some matching Trinkets Puffy hearts in McIntosh, Bell Pepper, and Guacamole.

I finished the layout with probably my most beloved Bella accessory - the Florence Alpha! I used them in black for my title. If you don't have these yet you definitely need them in your life - in all the colors, of course. Thank you so much for stopping by today to check out my layout. I hope you love it! Here's a list of all the items I used! 

Items Used:

Bella Besties Graph & Dot pack (Bell Pepper, Guacamole, Ice, and McIntosh)

Time to Travel Ciao Chip

Time to Travel Ephemera Words & Tags 

Time to Travel Ephemera Icons

Trinkets Puffy Stickers (McIntosh, Bell Pepper, and Guacamole)

Florence Alphas (Black)