Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons DT post!

Happy Wednesday, friends!! Today is another Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons day!! Thanks to all of you who stopped by on our blog hop this past weekend!! I hope you loved all the projects!! 

I hope you're not getting tired of layouts!! I have another one for you today! Like I mentioned yesterday, I'm on a roll! :) This layout was somewhat inspired by my friend, Sarah's recent layout. I am recently loving natural, less staged photos of my girls. 


For this layout I used digital paper from the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Sunny Skies Collection.

  

HERE is a link to the store so you can head on over and check out all the goodies Lisa has!! 

 I am sooo in love with these colors! I never thought I would say this but, I think I need a break from pink and purple! Just a little break. :) 


Make sure to head on over to the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons blog for more awesome projects from the rest of the DT!!! 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Pink By Design Post

Today is my day to post over at the Pink By Design Blog and speaking of the PBD blog - there are some great new changes coming in November!! I can't wait! Make sure to stop over there and watch for some upcoming news!! 

I can really say I am starting to feel great about my goals to catch up on layouts!! Of course, this comes as I am about to have pics from the arrival of Baby #3, Halloween, Christmas and then a trip to Disney all within 2 months!! It's a good thing I'm starting to feel caught up because I'm about to be in over my head again soon! :) 

I wanted to take a bunch of random baby pics of Brittyn and get them all onto one layout so I went out in search of a layout sketch. Of course, I found the perfect sketch, saved it and then totally forgot where it came from... :( I saved the file under a name 'MY August sketch' thinking it would make me remember where I found it - turns out, I have NO recollection as to what MY stands for... 

Anyways, great sketch!!! 


I turned it into a 2 page LO. 


I have been really wanting to use my Capture Life stamp set from Pink By Design and this layout was the perfect opportunity!  I got the adorable baby animal graphics from The Dollar Graphic Depot, printed and cut them, then popped them up using foam stickers. 


I used some Strawberry Cupcake Trendy Twine to make a cute little banner, along with some more files from the Silhouette store. My little yellow bows are made from 3 Girl Jam ribbon (and my bow maker!!). 


I found my title in the Silhouette store (as well as the 3D stars) and added some detail with a white pen. 


I stamped the polaroid image a couple of times with pink ink and then cut it out. I used a couple cute sentiments that came with the set to add captions under the polaroids.


One of my all time favorite sentiments from Pink By Design is from the Sweet Baby set. 


Love these little polaroids!!! :) 


I hope you loved my layout today!! Have a great day!! 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Halloween Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbon Blog Hop!! 



If you have come here from Ana Maria's blog then you are in the right spot! If you have stumbled upon this hop, please head back to Lisa's blog - Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons - to make sure you don't miss out on anything!!! 

I choose to work with the Halloween cuties from the Monster Mash Graphics set along with Digital Paper from the Chevron & Harlequin paper pack. 



I had a little help with my project today. Since these are little treat boxes for my daughters I thought I would let them choose which little character they would like on their own boxes. I knew they would forget about them by the time Halloween came around and they also had no idea what I was doing with the little characters.... 

I used print and cut with my Cameo along with Lisa's digital papers to make the pillow boxes. 


I added some glossy accents over my character's eyes to give them some detail and popped them up with foam stickers. The sentiments are from Pink By Design, bling is from Michaels, twine is Grape Fizz from Trendy Twine. 

I bought some little gummy spiders to put inside the pillow boxes. I also thought some of you might like to see a little tutorial of how I made these using the Silhouette Studio. I don't do tutorials often, but I am so excited about using print/cut along with digital papers that I wanted to share the awesomeness of it all!! :) 

1. I started out by opening up a new project in my Silhouette Studio then selected the Letter size (since I am using a regular printer which only prints Letter size) in the Page Tools Window
2. Next I opened up the Registration Marks Setting Window and checked the box 'Show Reg Marks'. A grey pattern shows up along one edge of the sheet, as well as in one other corner. You will not be able to cut anything within this grey pattern. (CLICK ON PICS TO SEE THEM LARGER)


3. I opened a pillow box SVG through the library in the Silhouette software (which I had previously purchased this cut from the Silhouette store). I sized the cut to be slightly smaller than the max size my Letter sized sheet would allow (the red border).

 I plan to fill my pillow box in with digital paper... If you have ever tried the print and cut feature with the Silhouette, sometimes you might notice the cut doesn't match up EXACTLY to the graphic, leaving a little white edge around your cut. Drives me nuts, so I have a few little tricks to make sure this doesn't happen to my cuts without wasting a bunch of printer ink. I create a little border around my cut which will be filled with a pattern to give the Silhouette a little room to be 'off' in its cutting.  


4. First create an outline of the outside of the pillowbox.... Open up the Trace window, select 'Select Trace Area', and draw a box enclosing the whole pillow box. Uncheck the 'High Pass Filter' box, and slide the Threshold slider all the way to the right so the pillow box is outlined in yellow. Click 'Trace Outer Edge' option.  


5. Select the outline you have just created... To select this outline, you might have to zoom right in. Once you have selected the trace line - and not the actual pillow box itself, which can be tricky sometimes - choose the Offset window. Choose offset then change the Offset Distance. I used 0.200, then clicked Apply. I then deleted the original outline that was created when we traced the pillow box. 


6. Fill the new shape we created from Offsetting the outline of the pillow box. To do this, open a window where your digital paper is located. Make sure your outline shape is selected, then drag and drop the pattern you choose onto the outline shape. 


7. Your outline shape should be filled with the pattern. Next, double check the cut lines in the Cut Style Window. It doesn't really matter if the outline gets cut, but it doesn't really need to get cut... Select the outline then choose No Cut. Make sure the original pillow box is outlined in red (as pictured) so that it WILL cut. 

8. At this point you can print, send the print through your Silhouette to cut your pillow box and then decorate!! :) 

I hope my tutorial was clear enough!! If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me and I will clarify! I would love everyone to be able to have as much fun with digital papers as I have been having - the possibilities are endless! :) 

MORE FUN!! :) Lisa is giving away goodies!!! 

1.  Be a follower of EVERY BLOG in our little hop. There are just 7 of us, so that shouldn't be too hard.  
AND
2.  Leave a comment at EACH blog along the hop. Be sure to let us know you are a follower and leave us your e-mail address.
That's all you have to do. If you would like EXTRA entries, you can also do one or more of the following:
3.  Like the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Facebook Page.  Leave Lisa a separate comment on her blog telling her you did.  Don't forget to leave your e-mail address.
4.  Sign up for the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Newsletter and leave a comment on Lisa's blog telling her you did.  You'll get a weekly e-mail telling you about new files, coupon codes/sales, and freebies. Don't forget to leave her the e-mail address you signed up with. :)


Lisa will randomly choose a winner of the big hop prize on Tuesday, October 23. Only US or Canadian mailing addresses, please.

Your next stop on the hop is my friend Melisa, over at
Enjoy the rest of the hop!!! :) 

I am also going to enter this project into a couple current challenges...

Monday, October 15, 2012

Witch's Hat Halloween Decor

Hope everyone had a great weekend! :) We had a very low key weekend, didn't even feel like a weekend, actually! 

Bria and I did a little crafting! I picked up a plain cardboard witch's hat at Michaels a while ago that I knew Bria would have fun with. We used some Modge Podge and some thin Recollections paper to cover the entire hat. I also mixed in some green Martha Stewart glitter to give the hat some shimmer once it was done drying. 

After the hat was dry I took it to my craft room to add some decorations...


I started by putting together a little witch from the Hocus Pocus cut set by My Scrap Chick. I had a bit of a tricky time trying to get this witch together, but I think she ended up looking fine... I added a lot of stitching (with a white pen) to her, along with some shading and some patterned paper from Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons. And of course I had to add a little crinkle ribbon bow from 3 Girl Jam! This is my addiction right now... if you've noticed there are tiny little crinkle bows on all my projects lately! Oh! And how could I forget... a cute little face from the Princess Faces stamp set by Peachy Keen. 


I used my Banners stamp set by Pink By Design to create my 'BOO' banner. I inked around all the edges with orange Distress Ink and topped the banner off with some Grape Fizz Trendy Twine. I also used a couple pumpkins (also cut from the Hocus Pocus cut set from My Scrap Chick) that I had left over from a recent project. 


I used some green (although it didn't photograph the right color...) sheer ribbon for a large bow and some sparkly orange ribbon (from Michaels) and a button from a thrift store in the center. 

I hope you like my decoration!! :) I'll be linking it up at a few places...

- A Homespun Affair Color Challenge
- Cameo Creations - 3D projects

Thanks so much for stopping by!! :) 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Melisa's Crafty Creations Blog Hop!

Hi Everyone!!! So glad you've stopped by for Melisa's Blog Hop today!! I'm so happy to be a part of her blog's anniversary!! 

If you are here from Barb's blog - Bug Bites - then you are in the right spot! If not, make sure you head back to Melisa's Blog so you don't miss out on any of the projects or giveaways!! 


The theme for this hop - Fall or Halloween - was so easy for me since I have been diving right into those types of projects lately! I've also been working really hard to get some layouts done! I would love to be caught up, but unfortunately, these pics are still from LAST fall... 


I purchased these graphics - Autumn Angels - from The Dollar Depot. I thought they would go perfectly with these pictures of Bria. 


I used a circle punch and some twine from The Twinery to create these super easy banners. I just folded the circles in half and adhered them over the twin. 


I used a freebie file from Designs On Cloud 9 to make my leaves. The paper came from an autumn stack by Recollections from last fall. I am so in love with the colors in this stack. 


Of course I had to dress up these graphics after I printed and cut them. I dusted off my Martha Stewart glitter glue to give my little angels some sparkle. 



If you happen to get lost along the way here is the lineup! Now off to see what Elizabeth from 217 Creations has in store for you!!! :) 



Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons DT Project!

Another Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Wednesday!! :) I don't know about you, but I am definitely getting addicted to Lisa's goodies and always so excited to see what she's going to release next!! This week I choose to do up a scrapbook layout for Bria's (second) First Day of Playschool using the Back 2 School cutting files and Chalkboard digital paper! 




All the patterned paper I used is from Momenta and the plain cardstock is Recollections brand. I embossed my photo mats with a dotted Cuttlebug embossing folder. I printed off little squares using the Chalkboard Digital Paper and added letters on them to spell Bria's name. 




How cute is this little schoolhouse?! I inked all my pieces with fluid chalk ink before I put them all together. Instead of adding the window frames, I drew them in with a white pen and added a pearl for a door handle. Sometimes I avoid working with too many pieces on my die cuts and improvise because I get lazy... 


The file folder was cut from a file from the Silhouette Studio which I am planning on using as a spot to journal on. 


I hope you liked my project today!! Please head on over to the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons BLOG to check out all the other great DT projects!! If you haven't seen all the new Halloween and Fall items Lisa released last week, make sure to check out the store. I have been using all her new products like crazy in some of my recent projects!! If you wish to check them out, I've added some pics below with links you can take a peek at! :) 


I used some of Lisa's new Halloween Digital Paper, as well as this week's Friday Freebie - Click HERE for project post


I used more Halloween Digital Paper for the pumpkins on this layout - Click HERE for project post

Have a great day!! 

Sweet Birthday Wishes - Pink By Design Day

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians!! Hope you are all super STUFFED after the long weekend!! 

Today is my day to post over at the Pink By Design blog


 If you'd like to see more pics and details, please head on over to the Pink By Design blog! :) And don't forget about the Master Crafter Challenge going on, there are a lot of great projects so head on over and check them out!! 

Monday, October 8, 2012

Peachy Keen Release Challenge #2

I'm baaaaack! :) Before I forget, there are a lot of great things happening on my blog coming up that I wanted to remind you all of! 
- Tomorrow is my day to post over at the Pink By Design Blog
- Wednesday is Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons DT day 
- Friday is Melisa's Crafty Creations Blog Hop celebrating her Blogaversary

So make sure to come back often this week! :) 

Ok, here is my Halloween layout #2!! The challenge was to use a PK background stamp, or create your own using PK stamps. 


My previous layout was of Brittyn's Halloween last year and of course I still had to create a page for Bria's pics from last Halloween! I used a combination of SVG's for this page. Snow White was from Lettering Delights and the candy as well as the treat "bag" is this week's freebie over at Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons.



Of course I had to use a Peachy Keen Princess face on Snow White... That's just a given. :) I also added a lot of little details to make Snow White really special. I added some gold and red glitter, embossing on the bottom layer of her dress as well as some details with a white pen. I could cut out and embellish princesses all day long.... It's a good thing we're off to Disney this Christmas, I think the girls and I are in need of a Princess fix! ;) Actually, speaking of Princesses.... When I picked up the girls' Halloween costumes this year and I tried to get them to dress up as maybe a witch or something else like that since they wear Princess dresses a LOT around home but NOPE. They both picked out Cinderella costumes... Who's surprised?!?! My husband definitely wasn't! :) 


I enlarged the candy with the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons freebie and added some Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons digital Halloween paper. I also used my Medium Polka Dot Print Background stamp from Peachy Keen stamps with some orange Distress Ink to make my own little background pieces. I also inked the edges of these pieces with the Black Soot Distress Ink (which I also used around the kraft base of the layout). I created the title 'I want candy' in Silhouette Studio and added faux stitching with my white pen. 

And that is it!! :) Now I am off to get ready for some yummy Thanksgiving food!!! Have a great day everyone!! 

Peachy Keen Release Challenge #1

Hey Everyone!! It feels like I haven't posted for a while when in fact it has only been 4 days!! I guess I'll make up for it since today I have TWO posts! :) I wanted to get some entries into the Release Challenges over at Peachy Keen since it could be my last chance for a while... I'm trying to cram all the projects I can in before Baby #3 arrives! :) (FOUR weeks if anyone is counting!!)

The first challenge was two use 3 buttons, 2 patterned papers, and 1 ribbon.


I used a cutting file from My Scrap Chick for the little kitty and ghost on the broom. I have been using so many graphics for my projects lately (because they're so quick and easy) that I really wanted to sit down and  piece some SVGs together. The frame for the pictures was from the Silhouette store and I sized it to fit my pictures exactly. I added some stitching with my white pen to give the frame a little more detail. 


The pumpkins were also from the Hocus Pocus set from My Scrap Chick. I used the print and cut feature to fill the pieces of the pumpkin with Halloween digital paper from Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbon. I love the subtle  detail it gave. I am sooo addicted to digital papers and am planning on doing up some tutorials in the near future... Fingers crossed I can actually get to it! :) I also used some digital papers for the title. 


For my ribbon I used some 3 Girl Jam crinkle ribbon along with my bow maker to make an adorable little bow for the kitty's hat. I used a Peachy Keen stamp from the In Stitches set for the ghost face and my Blush copic marker for some rosy cheeks. I also added a touch of twine around the broom for more detail. (I could add details allll day long if I had the time!). 

I am also going to link this layout up over at the A Homespun Affair monthly challenge. The colors in the challenge this month were black, orange and purple. So easy to make a project with these colors this time of year! :) 

I hope you like my layout! I'm off to link it up!! I'll have one more layout up today and then I am off to my Aunt's for Thanksgiving dinner!! Just a little reminder that voting is taking place for the Master Crafter Challenge over at Sarah Hamer Designs! I would love it if you would vote for MY ADVENT CALENDAR PROJECT (# 26) but there are a lot of great projects so you should head over and check them all out!! 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Master Crafter Project!!!

Click HERE for the 3 Girl Jam/Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Blog Hop!!

Hey Everyone! Such an exciting, fun post today!! It's finally time to link up the Master Crafter projects! It was such a fun challenge trying to incorporate all of the supplies in the box into a project! It really didn't take much time for me to figure out what I wanted to do...


I've been wanting to make my own advent calendar for a while now and this was the perfect chance!! My girls can't eat dairy so it always made me sad that they couldn't have the normal calendars that my brother and I had as kids. I used the Lori Whitlock Countdown Calendar file from the Silhouette store to create this. 


The Santa train is from Lettering Delights. I used the PBD sentiment stamp on the train, as well as the button (one was lost in transit :() and rhinestones on the train wheels. I used some of the black paper with white stars from the DCWV Rockstar stack. I used some alcohol ink to dye the canvas bag to make it look like Santa's toy sack. Of course I had to use some Martha Stewart glitter glue to add some more sparkle. 


I made three little presents and added some 3 Girl Jam ribbon as well as sparkle tape to them.


I used some shapes from the Silhouette Store to put the numbers on to make them stand out. They are all popped up using foam stickers. All the paper is from the Jolly & Bright Recollections stack from last Christmas. The red squares are cut from plain red cardstock and embossed with a chevron embossing plate. 


I hope you love my project!! I can't wait to check out all the other projects, I'm sure there are going to be some great ones!! If you'd like to check them out as well, head on over to Pink Cricut!!