Bella Blvd Studio Blog

Digital Layout || Mom Life

Good morning everyone! Kat here today to share my digital layout with you. I am definitely not a digital scrapper. In fact, this was my first digital layout EVER. I was sort of dreading making one, but I ended up really loving the process and it came together so, so quickly.

I decided to work with the Mom Life digital collection. I don't have any fancy software, so I actually made my entire layout in Silhouette. What I ended up really loving about digital scrapping was that I could use the embellishments that I really liked over and over again and change their sizes, etc. to fit my needs.

I kept my layout simple and in my normal style. Here's what I came up with:

I hope this week inspires you to step outside of your comfort zone and do something a little different!  

Mom Life Digital Collection

Turning Scraps into Something Fab!

Hi Bella friends, it's Tegan and I am excited to share my Scrap Bust Challenge project with you! I figured a mini album would be perfect for documenting our strawberry picking pictures and allow me to use up my bigger paper scraps. I had so much fun finding creative ways to work with the leftover stickers and tiny paper scraps too! On the cover, I used the small scraps and a border punch to create little scalloped pieces that I adhered and then stitched with embroidery floss.

I first collected paper and embellishment scraps from the Mom Life, Island Escape, Wish Big Girl, and Bug Adventure collections. My goal was to use up the Island Escape Sticker and Chipboard Sticker sheets as well as the orange Puffy Heart stickers. Mixing and matching these collections was so easy because all of the Bella Blvd collections blend so well!

I started by using the scalloped circle shape from the Bella Blvd Birthday Sayings cutfile to cut out my pages from all of my bigger scrap pieces. I then adhered them together to form the album pages. I then cut out circle shapes from more patterned paper scraps and adhered those to the middle of my scalloped circle pages. On my first page, since the square woodgrain sticker had a beach phrase on it, I layered it underneath the chipboard flowers. I then adhered my typed journaling onto some smaller scraps of patterned paper. I love the color the paper adds to the journaling!

Don't be like me at first and be afraid to cut up your extra stickers! Originally, the sticker here said There's Nothing Like a Sunset. I simply cut off the a Sunset part and created my own phrase using McIntosh color Bella Blvd Florence stickers! 

Left on the Chipboard sheet was the word SEA. Obviously, I wasn't documenting water pictures so I used the S, E, A and Bella Blvd Wonky Alpha Puffy alphabet stickers to create a fun and AWESOME (wink, wink!) word design on one of my pages! 

I loved this challenge because it made me step back and think about what fun techniques I could do with my little paper scraps. Here I fussy cut hearts out of the Mom Life Daily Details patterned paper and then hand stitched on them after adhering them to my page. I love this hand made design and the texture! 

Thanks for joining me on my scrapbusting journey today! I challenge you to dig out some of your Bella Blvd scraps and create your own fun project. I am sure you will have as much fun as I did! 

Island Escape Collection: Chipboard Icons, Sticky Mix, Borders Patterned Paper, Good Vibes Patterned Paper, Moonlit Kisses Patterned Paper, Peace and Quiet Patterned Paper, Daily Details Patterned Paper, Tropical Bliss Patterned Paper

Mom Life Collection: Houseplants Patterned Paper, Jammies All Day Patterned Paper, My Tribe Patterned Paper

Wish Big Girl Collection: Borders Patterned Paper, Daily Details Patterned Paper, Let's Celebrate Patterned Paper

Bug Explorer Collection: Nature Study Patterned Paper, Daily Details Patterned Paper

Florence Alphabet Sticker - McIntosh

Wonky Alphabet Puffy Sticker - McIntosh

Puffy Hearts - Orange Mix

Bella Blvd Birthday Sayings cut file

 

 

Fabulous friend by Kim Watson

Do you have 'leftovers' from various collections on your craft table?

Well I always do, so this week's challenge of using 3 or more collections together, came at the perfect time for me. This page is the result.

Fabulous Friends by Kim Watson

The theory behind this type of design is simple. 

1. Have a specific page theme to guide your pattern & embellishment choices.
2. Choose a base to hold the design; I selected a white Chevies Clear Cuts sheet.
3. Decide on a color palette; I chose pink, orange, yellow with aqua highlights.
4. Collect leftover paper strips & stickers that comply with points 1., 2. and 3.
5. Get crafty :D

 

As you can see, the Bella 'philosophy' of having standard color palettes really helps the 'mixing' process. Look how well the patterns from the different collections coordinate together. 

These are the collections I used:

1. Plaids & Dotty
2. Mom Life
3. Oh My Stars
4. She Blooms

 

The strips trimmed from short to long, create a colorful mat for my photo, this makes for an eye catching focal point. Did you notice how I have varied the heights of each piece? The stepped effect allows one to slip embellishments in between the layers in an organic manner, as well as giving the page dimension. Don't you love the way the resulting shadows add super visual interest?

 

Earlier I mentioned using aqua as a highlight color....I did so using one of my fave embellishments, a big Felt Bow with support from appropriate Word Salad sentiment stickers. The blue acts as visual anchors & helps one to visually move around the page. 

So no matter the theme of your project, Bella Blvd has the perfect combination of products to make your crafting process a seamless one. I hope you are inspired to 'bust your stash' using this timeless idea.

Have an awesome day further.

Hugs XOXO

 

Moms Life, Oh My Stars, She Blooms, Plaids & Dotty Collection, Word Salad Booklet, Puffy Stickers, Bella Bows, Acrylic Words, Chevies Clear Cuts

Mix It Up: My Teacher

Hi Bella Blvd family! Wendy here today sharing a page with not one collection, not two collections, but multiple collections all on one page to tell my story as I head back into the teaching world after 16 years at home with my kids homeschooling.

I wanted to tell the story about my heart behind teaching and so I chose the cute Panda Bears from the Panda and Popsicle collection to emphasize the idea of kids hanging all over.  

I have a group of "kids" piled together which I dressed up with a pretty pink cute clip for some fun texture.  I thought the piece from the Mom's Life, today's goal was perfect for the reality of teaching children.

Some pretty flowers from the Island Life collection layered on my doily with a little Panda Bear added some interest and drew the eyes across the page.  Word stickers further told of my heart for teaching. The Make Your Mark collection also is included in this embellishment cluster and further told my story from my heart.

A few more touches to form a visual triangle and puffy stickers to add texture completed the page.

So what collections did I use? Popsicles & Pandas, Sweet Sweet Spring, Make Your Mark, Pop Quiz, Island Escape, Mom’s Life that makes 6 collections! How many collections have you mixed and matched before?  

Thanks so much for joining me today and I hope you've been inspired to mix away!

Popsicles & Pandas:  6x8 paper pad, paper pieces, puffy stickers, Picnic, Borders

Sweet Sweet Spring:  Daily Details; Make Your Mark:  Fundamentals

Pop Quiz:  Ephemera; Island Escape:  Ephemera; Mom’s Life:  Ephemera

Cute Clips:  Festive; Word Salad Sticker Book; IF Basics:  Words

 

Spring Flowers Scrapbooking Layout

I don't know about you but Spring always makes me put on my happy face. Mine usually comes in the form of a smile. My youngest daughter on the other hand displays her happiness slightly differently and I just had to document it.

When I started this layout, I knew I'd have tons of outdoor Spring-like photos to choose from so I created this layout backwards. Crazy concept but it worked. I decided I wanted to create a layout with tons of Spring colored flowers so I looked through my cut file library and found this design by Paige Evans. It's great because it sets the stage for the theme of the page yet leaves plenty of space to keep the attention focused on the photo.

I chose to back the cut file with 3 different green patterned papers for the various leaf types and then used Spring colored patterned papers for the different flowers.

Once I layered the backed cut file on the background paper I noticed it wasn't popping enough off the page.  I did two things to fix this. First, I fussy cut the diamond border from a patterned paper and adhered the strips to the back of the cut out design so it would create a border.  Then I glued the cut file and applied a thick coat of white gesso to the inside it. The diamonds look like arrows pointing in toward the photo and the gesso allows everything (photo, title and sentiments) inside the square to not get lost.

Lastly I added the chipboard flowers in corners across from each other to give the page a bit of dimension. Since I only adhered the inside border of the cut file to the background I think I will also pop some of the flowers and leaves up using foam dots.

I hope this sweet girl's silly face and the fancy flowers in this layout bring a little happiness your way today.

Plaids & Dotty; Wish Big Patterned Papers: Daily Details, Party Animal, Cakes & Crowns, Let's Celebrate, Candle Parade, Borders, Caio Chip Icons, Sticky Mix Cardstock Stickers; Island Escape Patterned Papers: Borders, Daily Details, Peace & Quiet, Bonus Pattern; Mom Life Patterned Papers: Houseplants, Daily Details, My Tribe, Jammies All Day; Oh My Stars Fundamentals; Wonky Alpha Puffy Stickers

 

Easter Bunny | Erica Thompson

Hello everyone! Erica here with you today to share a new layout with you! This week we are creating Easter/Spring layouts to share with you. For this layout I pulled out my Bella Blvd stash of papers and pulled out all the papers that matched the Simply Spring 12x12 sticker sheet.

I knew I wanted to use this beautiful cut file I cut weeks ago from Paige Evans. I cut it out of some white cardstock and backed it with a bunch of spring colored Bella Blvd papers. I love how it turned out and how colorful it is. 

The photo I am documenting is of my friend Sandy and I when she was up for a visit. We had to run to Wal-Mart to get a few things and the Easter Bunny was around giving out candy! Of coarse we had to get a selfie with him! I love this photo so much and it reminds me of the crazy fun Sandy and I have when we are together.

I used so many different collections in this layout but you would never know that! Everything matches perfectly together and that is one of the things I love about Bella Blvd! Once the cut file was backed I added lots of foam tape behind it and adhered it to a piece of white cardstock. I love the dimension this adds to the layout. 

I added a few layers behind my photo and also popped this up on the layout with some foam tape. I kept the embellishments pretty light on this layout since the cutfile is pretty busy and colorful. I added some of the stickers from the 12x12 sticker sheet, some enamel dots around the layout and a white heart hug. 

I love how it turned out! Here is a look at my completed layout. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today

 

Simply Spring 12x12 Stickers, Plaids & Dotty, Wish Big 6x12 Sticky Mix, Oh My Stars 12x12 Fundamentals, Mom Life Pattern Paper My Tribe, Color Chas Pattern Paper Peep Strandz, Popsicles & Pandas Pattern Paper Oh Summer, Heart Hugs

 

Using the New Cut Files || Memories

Good morning everyone! Kat here today to share my newest layout made with the new cut files!

I chose to use just one file - the red flower - and repeat it multiple times. I re-sized it a few times and cut out a bunch of them that I sprinkled all up and down my page. I then added in coordinating Word Salad Stickers on top of them, added in a few pickle juice-colored enamel hearts and my acrylic title. This page came together so fast since my main element was the pretty cuts.

Here is the full project:

Thanks so much for stopping in today!

Patterned Paper: Mom Life: My Tribe, Wish Big Girl: Borders, Party Animal, Cake and Crowns, Plaids and Dotty: Pickle Juice, Oh My Stars: Plum Stars; Enamel Hearts: Pickle Juice; Word Salad Stickers; Acrylic Word: Memories

20 Min Layout || Love

Good morning everyone! Kat here today to share my 20-minute layout with you. I've always been a fairly fast scrapper. I have a simple style, combined with the fact that I don't have a lot of free time right now. :)

For my page today, I just grabbed the scraps that were left on my desk from my last Bella project. The scraps included some pretty papers from the Mom Life collection, so I decided to just hand-cute some letters from the papers to make my background. I added an acrylic word on top, splattered some mist and stickers and called it a day.

Here is the full layout:

Thanks so much for stopping by. Don't forget to share your 20-minute projects with us using the hashtag #bellablvd!

Patterned Papers: Mom Life: Jammies all Day, Houseplants, Love You; Cardstock Stickers; Mom Life; Word Salad Stickers; Acrylic Word: Family; Enamel Hearts: Melon; Puffy Stars: Ice

Spinning Pennant Wheel

Hello, Bella Blvd. friends! Tessa Buys here with an interactive layout featuring Bella's pennants. 

I was inspired by fellow design team member Lydia's layout here. Her pennants placed in circles gave me the idea to create a spinning wheel. As you spin the top wheel, the open space reveals journaling or photos below.

To create your own, cut two 7" circles. Divide evenly into ten slices, cut out one slice, and place pennants and patterned paper on the remaining slices. Divide the other circle into ten slices and write journaling or adhere pennant-shaped photos in each space. Secure the embellished circle to the top of the photo/journaling circle in the center with a brad. You may need to twist the brad around a bit to make sure the top circle spins smoothly. Adhere your wheel to your layout.

Sprays and splatters of watercolor, as well as puffy stars, make up my background. A non-spinning half-circle compliments the wheel, and a combination of Illustrated Faith alpha stickers and a Bella Blvd. acrylic word make up my title.

If you're looking for a fun technique to make your layouts a little more interactive, the Bella pennants and a wheel could be really special!

Puffy Stars in Ice Mix, Orange Mix, Punch Mix; Happy & Smile Acrylic Words; Mom Life My Tribe Patterned Paper; Plaids and Dotty Patterned Paper in Gulf, Orange and Punch; Pennants

Perfect Pennants

Good morning everyone! Kat popping in today to share a recent layout I created with the super fun pennants!

For this layout, I actually turned to one of my go-to layout designs. I love, love, LOVE to make banner layouts. To me, it is so much fun to add in a bunch of cute, little embellishments and pretty patterns of paper. So, of course, this was the perfect design for incorporating pennants into my layout.

I picked a bunch of fun, happy papers from the Mom Life collection and incorporated bright pennants, cute clips and ephemera to complete the look. I loved these photos of my daughter playing with rocks in front of our house. Her smile is so happy and bright, so I felt it was only appropriate to use bright and happy products.

Thanks so much for stopping in today!

Patterned Papers: Freestyle Sophisticates: Freestyle Saltwater; Mom Life: Jammies All Day, Houseplants, My Tribe; Heart Hugs: Rainy Day; Puffy Stars: Pickle Juice Mix; Acrylic Word: Perfect; Cute Clips: Baby Boy; Ephemera Words: Wish Big Girl; Pennants: Mom Life, Girl