Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Sketch Week | Sarah Millerhouse

I love the challenge of using a great sketch! When I first saw this sketch by Niki Rowland, I immediately thought it wasn’t my style. There was just so much white space. Once I decided I could make it my own and use beautiful patterned paper to fill up all that space, I immediately got into it. This layout ended up being one of my most favorite I’ve made, and it started with challenging me to move out of my comfort zone. 

I used the You Are My Sunshine collection for this layout. The stripes on the background the Shine Bright patterned paper that I cut apart, distressed the edges, and put in back down with the stripes in rainbow order. I love the pop of color it gives to the layout. I then added just a little mixed media on the background to subtly connect the top photo and clusters with the cluster at the bottom. I did this using white gesso and Shimmerz sprays that I applied with a brush. When it was almost dry, I added splatters of white acrylic paint behind all the areas where I knew my elements would go. 

I added my sweet photo at the top with several layers of patterned paper behind it to make it more substantial. I then added clusters on either side of the photo, like in the sketch, with the one on the right set just slightly higher.  

I added the cluster at the bottom using phrases that I distressed the edges of and pretty enamel stickers and ephemera. Everything is popped up with adhesive foam. 

I finished the layout by adding the Bella Blvd Sunshine cutfile that I cut in three layers and my strips of journaling just below that, just like in the sketch. 

I love how this layout turned out, and I hope it inspires you in some way! 

Products Used:

You Are My Sunshine: patterned paper, ephemera, enamel dots and stars

 

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 Week | Brianna Lepper

Hey friends!  Brianna Lepper here today sharing a fun layout using the new School Is Cool collection.  I paired it with the Ready Set Learn cut file and love how it turned out.  

To start, I cut the cut file out twice.  The first time, I cut the entire piece out on white textured cardstock.  When I went to cut it again, I only cut the background out and cut it on a piece of the Supply List paper.  I took the letter pieces from the first cut and adhered them down right on top of the background.  It really made the letters pop!

I wanted some stars to peek behind my large cut file, so I did some ink blending using a star stencil from my stash and added some silver Stickles to a few of my stars. I popped up the cut file on foam tape and adhered it down to the center of my page.

For even more color,  I trimmed down a few strips of the Coloring 12x12 paper and adhered it to the top and bottom of my page.  I just love those colorful stripes!  This week we were prompted to use 3+ photos on our projects and I added four.  They are the first and last days of school photos of my kids and I just love seeing how much they change in a school year.  

After arranging my photos to the top and bottom of my cut file, I started embellishing using some of the Ciao Chip Chipboard and Doohickey Cardstock stickers.  

The Wise Owl Bella Bop was the cutest addition!

Next, I added in a few Ephemera pieces, some Puffy Stickers and tangled thread.  

Here's one final look at my layout: 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that I've inspired you in some way!  Do you like to scrap multiple photos?  I usually scrap one to two at most, so this was a fun challenge!  See you next time friends!

 

Bella Blvd Supplies Used:

School Is Cool Collection: 12x12 Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers, Doohickey Cardstock Stickers, Puffy Stickers, Ephemera Icons and Ready For School Puffy Stickers.  

 

 

Hello Summer | Brianna Lepper

Hey friends!  Brianna Lepper here today sharing a fun Summer layout using the You Are My Sunshine collection.  This collection makes me so happy and the color palette is just stunning.  Here's my layout: 

I wanted to use a Cut Out for this page so I chose the Mood Booster one.  Instead of backing it the traditional way, I wanted to paint it using some Shimmerz sprays from my stash.  So I sprayed them on my glass mat and smooshed the entire Cut Out into the colors.  I chose colors that were bright and happy, just like this collection.

After it was completely dry, I adhered it to the B side of the Daily Details paper.  I loved the black polka dots!  To add extra color, I trimmed off two 1-inch strips of the Shine Bright paper, distressed the edges and adhered it to the left and right side of my page.  

Next, I matted my photo using a few papers from the collection and layered some border stickers (both Ciao Chip and Doohickey Cardstock stickers) underneath my photo towards the bottom.  This created a shelf for my title.  I made it using a phrase from the Ciao Chip sticker sheet as well as some Aria Alphas in Guacamole, Orange and Ice.

Here's my photo.. It's so hot right now in Louisiana so we are spending A LOT of time outside in our pool!!

I embellished using some of the Ephemera and added in some Epoxy and Trinkets Puffy stickers.  The bees are so cute!

I am loving the layered and all of the texture and dimension on this page.  It's so bright and happy!

One more shot of this page: 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that I've inspired you in some way today!  Have you tried painting directly onto Cut Outs?  It's another fun way to use them and I hope that you give it a try.  See you next time friends!

Process Video: 

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

You Are My Sunshine Collection: 12x12 Patterned Papers, Epoxy Stickers, Trinkets Puffy Stickers, Ciao Chip Stickers, Doohickey Cardstock Stickers; Bella Besties: Aria Alphas in Guacamole, Ice and Orange; Trinkets Puffy Stickers in White; Cut Out: Mood Booster.  



 

Cut Files + Time To Travel Week Day 2 | Brianna Lepper

Hey friends!  Brianna here today sharing a new layout focusing on some fabulous Bella cut files as well as the Time To Travel collection.  I've traveled quite a bit recently and have some great photos to document.  This one was from my recent trip back home to CA and I found the perfect cut files to use with it.  Here's my layout: 

 

 

The cut files I chose for my layout are the following: All Who Wander, Cloud Outline I, Cloud Outline II and Clouds.  I cut them all out on textured white cardstock.  For the 'All Who Wander' cut file, I did some ombre ink blending using the Wild Honey Distress Oxide ink pad and added some sparkle by brushing on some Nuvo Glimmer Paste.  I popped the whole thing up on foam tape and adhered it down to a piece of the Hearts & Ombre paper in Ice.

 

 

Next, I took some strips of the 12x12 Freeway paper from the collection and adhered them down to both sides.  I distressed the edges before I stuck them down.  I arranged a few of the cloud cut files around my page, making sure to only add glue to certain spots of each one, so that they could somewhat pop up and add some interest to the page.  

 

 

I built some embellishment clusters using some Ciao Chip Chipboard stickers and some Ephemera Icons.  

 

 

I matted my photo using the B side of the same Freeway paper and built some clusters on both sides of my photos.   I used more Ephemera Icons pieces and even added in a few Trinkets Puffy stickers.  

 

 

Here's another cluster and I also made sure to add some tangled thread in coordinating colors.  

 

 

One more shot of this super colorful layout: 

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that I've inspired you in some way!  Do you love working with cut files?  Have you tried ink blending on them before? It's so fun and can really brighten and jazz them up!  See you next time friends!

 

 

 

Mood Board Week, Day 4 | Rachel

'

Hi friends! I've got a gorgeous mood board to show you today. Check it out:

All these stunning colors to spark you're creativity with the Tiny Tots 2.0 collection! I chose the middle square and created a similar yellow background with Distress Oxides on a 12" x 12" piece of white cardstock. While that dried, I took out the Bella Blvd Cut Outs from the Happiness set. The word "SMILE" was a perfect start for this layout. I picked out five colors from the Bella Blvd Hearts & Ombre 12" x 12" patterned paper to back each one of the letters. I used these colors: McIntosh, Orange, Bell Pepper, Pickle Juice, and Blueberry. Once I had backed the Cut Out, I used foam tape to adhere it to the yellow background. 

Next, I grabbed the Tiny Tots 2.0 Ciao Chip to add on to my title. I wanted to create a giant title along with the Cut Out to really make a statement. Underneath the "SMILE", I stamped some stitches and added a striped scallop chipboard piece. I used a few more items from the Tiny Tots 2.0 Ephemera Icons set and my title was complete.

I tucked my photo in right above the Cut Out. I love that this collection had several ice cream cone pieces because they went perfectly with my photo. I added a couple cones along with some stamping and hearts. The Trinkets Puffy Stickers are some of my favorite for embellishing. I pulled hearts from the Blueberry and Orange sets for this layout. I got a few more embellishments from the Tiny Tots 2.0 Epoxy Stickers and the 12" x 12" DooHickey sheet.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. Here's a list of the items I used today:

• Bella Blvd Cut Outs - Happiness Set (SMILE)
• Bella Blvd Hearts & Ombre 12" x 12" Patterned Paper (Hearts) (McIntosh, Orange, Bell Pepper, Pickle Juice, and Blueberry)
• Bella Blvd Ciao Chip from Tiny Tots 2.0
• Bella Blvd Trinkets Puffy Stickers (Blueberry and Orange)
• Bella Blvd Tiny Tots 2.0 Epoxy Stickers - Cuteness
• Bella Blvd Tiny Tots 2.0 Ephemera Icons

 

Time To Travel, Acrylics & Puffies Week- Day 2 | Inessa

Hi friends,

Happy Time to Travel + Acrylics week! I hope you are having a good start to June thus far. I'm continuing to document our Florida Spring Break vacation and wanted to make a layout just about me :). I started with this 4x6 photo with shades of blues and teals and selected papers to coordinate.

I used the B side of the On the Go paper as my mat and cut a piece of white cardstock to 11x11 inches. I added machine stitching in black thread all around to create a boarder. Once I decided on my photo placement, I stenciled the chevron pattern onto the white cardstock in the top right quadrant with two different Distress Oxides- Salvaged Patina and Shabby Shutters. I chose this particular stencil pattern because of the chevron pattern in my photo. I love it when a photo can inspire the entire layout.

Next step was to add strips of patterned paper in similar blue and teal tones. I used scraps from prior projects which is a great way to get those used up. The papers I used are the B side of Let's Get Lost and Freeway. I used the A & B side of Freeway. I also used Bella Besties Hearts & Ombre in Gulf. I placed them over the stenciling, using my photo as a guide and then stitched through the middle in the same black thread.

The photo is popped up on foam strips and the title is built with the Acrylic word 'happy' from the Happy & Smile set. The word 'travel' is from the Ciao Chip Icons. 

The last step was creating embellishment clusters and adding some sparkle. The flowers and camera are from Ciao Chip and Ephemera Icons. The epoxy hearts and sequin from SpiegelMom Scraps add the sparkle. I love how this turned out and I hope I've inspired you to create.

 

See you next time,

Inessa

 

Product Links:

Time to Travel 

SpiegelMom Scraps Sequin mix is called Easter Egg Hunt, use my code to save 15% (INESSA15)

 

 

National Dog Moms Day | Brianna Lepper

Hey friends!  Brianna Lepper here with a layout to celebrate May 14th! What was May 14th you ask!? National Dog Moms Day!! Happy National Dog Moms Day to my fellow dog Mamas!  I was so excited to be able to create a layout for this special day since I have three furry babies of my own.  I documented this photo of me and my dog Pippa using the Cooper collection.  Here's my layout, don't forget to check out my process video at the end of this post: 

I chose to use the Faithful Friend Cut Out and picked the heart/paw print design.  I decided to use this specific one as both a stencil and layering piece on my page.  When I've sprayed Cut Outs or cut files in the past, I've always liked the way the scrap paper looked after I had sprayed it.  So, before I sprayed the Cut Out, I decided to position it in a permanent place so that I could layer the Cut Out right back on it after everything was finished drying.  

To start, I took out my Shimmerz Paints sprays in bright and happy colors and sprayed them on in rainbow order.  Starting with pink, working my way to peach, yellow, green and blue.  

I embellished tone on tone using the Ephemera Words and Icons packs.  

Here's a shot of the green and yellow portions of the page.  

I popped up the entire Cut Out on foam tape so it was fun to tuck and layer things into it.  This collection has the cutest phrase pieces and it was so much fun to embellish.  

To finish off this layout, I added in some Epoxy Hearts and Matte Enamel Dots.  I love how colorful this page turned out!  Not a bad way to celebrate and document being a Dog Mom!

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that I've inspired you in some way today!  I hope you're able to spend the day loving on your furry babies!  

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

Cooper Collection: Cut Outs, Ephemera Icons and Words, Epoxy Hearts and Matte Enamels.  

 

 

Time to Travel- Spring Break Edition! Day 1 | Rachel

Hi friends! Rachel here and I'm so excited to be sharing with you my first layout for the Bella Blvd Design Team. This month we are playing with the newest collection - Time to Travel. I love the bright primary colors in this line and all the thoughtfulness that went into designing a collection for all kinds of travel - flying, road trip, vacation, etc!

I started with a piece of white cardstock which is cut down to 11"x11" inches. Then I took the Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide pad and slid the pad face down on the white cardstock creating a streak of gorgeous light blue ink. I repeated this several times down the page. Sliding distress oxides down the page is so easy and a fun way to play with mixed media. My goal was to create a background that looked like the sky. I sat that aside to dry. Once it was dry, I came back and doodled and stamped around the edge of the white cardstock. The final touch to the stamping was some hearts from the Trinkets Puffy stickers in the color McIntosh. I like to add black pen and stamping to a lot of my layouts to contrast the white of the cardstock. Next, I mounted this to the Road Trip 12"x12" patterned paper from this collection. I always gravitate toward a classic black and white stripe.

My next step was to start working on the clouds. I used the cut outs from the Over the Rainbow collection. The Bella Blvd cut outs are great for those who want to add an element that looks like a cut file, but don't have a cutting machine (Cricut, Silhouette, etc). The cloud cut out comes in the set along with a pattern and directions to easily cut out and back the clouds.

Once I added the clouds to my page, it was time to add my photo and all the embellishments! I used the too cute Sunny Bella Pop, the Icons Ephemera, the Words and Tags Ephemera, along with the Ciao Chip from the Time to Travel Collection. I love how each pack of embellishments has so many options to choose from. This photo was taken in the airport, and I was able to find the perfect pieces - airplane, luggage, boarding ticket, etc.

The final touch was adding the title which is in the Ciao Chip set and document the date with a date stamp. Thank you so much for stopping by today! You can view the list of supplies I used below.

Bella Blvd Products Used:

12"x12" patterned paper - Road Trip

Over The Rainbow Cut Outs

Bella Pops - Sunny

Ciao Chip - Time to Travel

Trinkets Puffy Stickers - McIntosh

Icons Ephemera - Time to Travel

Words and Tags Ephemera - Time to Travel

 

You Are My Sunshine + Cut Outs | Brianna Lepper

Hey friends!  Brianna Lepper here today sharing a new layout for You Are My Sunshine + Cut Outs Week!  The You Are My Sunshine collection is one of my favorites and I LOVE working with Cut Outs.  If you're not familiar with Cut Outs, they are decorative cuts that usually have several different ones included in each package.  So you can actually get to use them on more than one project.  They also have printed instructions along with templates.  So awesome!  Here's my layout: 

For my layout, I chose the "Family" cut from the Family & Friends Cut Outs pack.  It was perfect to document this photo of me and my sisters on my Moms side.  This was taken back in 2008 and I can't believe how young we all look!  I traced each letter on some white cardstock and cut each one out.  I then took some Distress Oxide inks in coordinating colors and did an ombre design by ink blending on each color.  Before I backed the cut out, I splattered white acrylic spray on each letter.  

I set the backed cut out aside and got to work on my background.  I took the Shine Bright 12x12 patterned paper and trimmed each stripe out. I distressed the edges and then adhered all of the pieces to another piece of white cardstock.  The distressed edges really give the background some great texture and pop.  

I popped the cut out up on foam tape and adhered it to the center of my page.  I matted my photo with a couple of the patterned papers from the collection and then added an embellishment cluster to the right side of my photo.  I pulled in some dragonflies from the Ciao Chip chipboard sticker sheet and the Ephemera pack and layered them going up the page.  I also layered in some floral pieces and a couple of the Trinkets Puffy stickers.  

The top of the page needed a little something as well, so I pulled out a Ciao Chip rainbow and heart piece and layered more Trinket Puffy stickers along with them.  I also adhered a few Trinket Puffy butterflies.  

One more shot of this fun layout: 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that I've inspired you in some way today.  Have you had a chance to work with Cut Outs yet?  They're super convenient and perfect to take along with you if you're traveling, scrapping away from home or even if you don't want to fuss with your machine and software.  And who doesn't just LOVE the You Are My Sunshine collection.  It's so bright and beautiful and just makes me so happy!!  Have a great week friends! 

 

Bella Blvd Supplies Used: 

You Are My Sunshine Collection: 12x12 Patterned Paper, Ciao Chip Chipboard Stickers, Ephemera, Trinkets Puffy Stickers and Doohickey Cardstock Stickers; Word Salad Sticker Booklet; Family & Friends Cut Out

 

Designer's Choice Week | Nathalie

Hello Bella Blvd friends!

Nathalie here with my last post as part of the Bella Blvd Design Team.   The past two years as part of the team have been a huge honor, but my choice to step down from the team was a hard one, but a necessary one.   I am forever thankful to Stephanie S. for inviting me, and to my friend Stephanie Buice for being awesome as CT coordinator, and all around amazing!  And what better way to finish than with a project of my choice.

 

 

I love butterflies, and  the ones in the You Are My Sunshine collection were just perfect for this layout about my little cousins. 

 

I started by adding a bit of mixed media to my background, making sure to pick the color of the sash in my cousins' dresses.   I added a faded impression of a flutter of butterflies on the page.   To anchor the design and mixed media to the page, I ripped pieces of the background (right at the edge of the page), and backed the spaces with patterned paper from the You Are My Sunshine collection

 

 

I added a few layers of patterned paper behind the photo, and attached it to the center of the page.  I used pieces of ephemera, chipboard stickers, and enamel shapes to create two large clusters at corner of the photos.  I fussy cut a few butterflies and added them here to help add movement and direction through the page.

 

 

For the title of page I am mixing an acrylic word with Aria puff alphas.  I am using the last of my Bella Pops to bring more butterflies to the page, and tie all the clusters together,

 

 

I love how this turned out, and I hope that it inspires you to document your memories.  Thank you Bella Blvd for having as part of the team for the past two years, and to you all for always being there

 

XO

 

Bella Blvd. Supplies

 YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE COLLECTION:  Patterned Paper, Doohickey Stickers, Ephemera, Enamel shapes, Chipboard Stickers

Bella Pops

 

ARIA PUFFY STICKERS

ACRYLIC WORDS