New from Papertrey Ink! Introducing Monthly Moments...

If you are scrapbooker (or you inspire to give it a try) and love Papertrey Ink's products, I have some fun news for you! Papertrey Ink will be carrying pocket page scrapbooking products...a new line called Monthly Moments, which has inspired me to start scrapbooking in the "pocket page" fashion. Today I get to share with you my VERY first pocket pages!

By sharing my process with this kit, and how I approached it, I hope you'll see how easy it can be! The mini album I'm using is a Snap! 6x8" binder in black, available at Papertrey Ink soon.

When I received the Monthly Moments papers, dies and stamps, I first picked out the papers that caught my eye the MOST: the black polka dot, the gray and white circles and a couple of the heart journaling cards. And the free digital download with purchase of a kit! I placed them in the page protectors, alternating pockets, trying to balance out the colors and visual "weight" of the cards. (For example, if I had a lot of black on one side, I knew I needed some black on the other side to balance it.) I decided the other sections would be filled with photos.

On the left, I placed a 4x6 journaling card and a 4x6 photo of Kati writing out her Valentines the other morning. I journaled on a piece of vellum (a little trick I use when I'm scared of my hand writing and don't want to mess up writing directly on the card itself!) and stapled it onto the card. My approach to this is going to be simple, with a few added embellishments. I don't want it to get too complex. Added some stamping from the Monthly Moments: February stamps and the Monthly Moments: Days of the Week stamps. (The Be Mine circle is from the free printables!)

(She's making the tulle-wrapped treats for her class for Valentine's Day that I posted about HERE!)

On the "Love This" card, I used the new Monthly Moments: Library card stamps and the Monthly Moments: February stamps to document a few details about her grade, teacher and class size.

The new Journaling card die was used to cut out this photo from a 4x6" photo. Love how it rounds the corners for you!

And see the "February"? That is a new die also called Monthly Moments: February die. I tucked it in a little pocket with sequins, die cut arrows from Cupid's Arrow , a piece of flair and a frame cut with Limitless Layers 2.25" Oval dies. (I will be stitching this pocket closed at the top to keep the goodies safely tucked inside.)

February pocket page:

STAMPS: Monthly Moments: February, Monthly Moments: 
Library card, Monthly Moments: Days of the Week

INK: Hawaiian Shores and True Black by PTI, Soft Granite by Hero Arts

PAPER: Monthly Moments: February papers, white/Aqua Mist/Classic 
Kraft cardstock, free digital download, vellum

DIES: Monthly Moments: February die, Monthly  Moments: Journal Card die, Cupid's Arrow, circle punch

OTHER: sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, flair by A Flair For Buttons on Etsy, clothespin by Crate Paper, chipboard by Amy Tan, resin flourishes by Melissa Frances, seam binding by Zipperstop, 
washi tape - unknown, black marker by Sharpie.

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On the second page spread, I alternated journaling cards with photos again, balancing out the reddish-pink ones and the darker ones. I scrapped pics of both of my girls for a "what I love about you" page. I thought it would work well for a February theme!

I used one of the heart papers from the kit, but instead of using it as a paper, I trimmed the hearts out of it for heart "confetti" and tucked them free-flowingly into the large pocket. The stamping ("favorite photo" and "this is the best") is from a new stamp set called Monthly Moments: Slide Frame. A few flair pieces and wooden embellishments were added from my stash. 

I made some pull-out tags for journaling to tuck behind the photos. "What I Love About You" and the journaling lines are stamped with Monthly Moments: February! The "pull here" stamp is from Movers & Shakers Sentiments.

I don't know if you can tell, but the wooden embellishments are added with glue dots OUTSIDE the pockets! I'm living on the edge! :)

Forever Be My Always page spread:
(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Monthly Moments: February, Monthly Moments: Slide Frame, 
Movers & Shakers Sentiments ("pull here" stamp)

INK: True Black, Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush inks

PAPER: Monthly Moments: February, Sweet Blush and Aqua Mist cardstock

DIES: Tag Sale #3, Journal card die

OTHER: wooden flags by Basic Grey, flair by A Flair for Buttons on Etsy, sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, twine by Papertrey Ink, washi tape - unknown, Copic marker R20, Martha Stewart Heart Confetti punch (tiny hearts).

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The heart theme in the Feb. Monthly Moments kit and products (which can be bought together or separately) could be used to scrap anything...what you love about something, a moment that meant a lot to you, recipes/food you love, pets, etc. Even if you don't have children, it is very versatile in that respect! 

These products will be available on Feb. 15th at 10pm EST at PapertreyInk.com. To see more with these products, visit Nichole Heady, Melissa Phillips, Ashley Cannon Newell, and Heather Nichols.

when one door closes...

Beware. Long post! :)

The first thing I want to tell you about is that today marks Day 1 of Pink Paislee's big 12 Days of Christmas countdown event! Swing over each day to see projects, inspiration, PDF's to download, free stuff and giveaways! We are sharing projects made with the new Snow Village line by Pink Paislee all this month, and here is one I made recently with this line...

Pics are from last Christmas, putting up the tree, special ornaments, etc. With a circular design like this, you could add even more photos if you'd like. I love the way you can add a bunch of the patterns as well with this type of repetitive design, yet it's still clean and has a bit of white space to let your eye rest! I used cream cardstock under the patterned papers with a 2" circle punch to help them stand off from the white a bit more and slightly offset them.

I used the Snow Village 12 x 12" papers, the Snow Village clear stamps (stars and snowflakes in the background), the Kre8tive Kit (chipboard title and stickers), and some Luxe chipboard stars.

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Another layout made with the Snow Village line. I used the collage paper in the background and just added a few things over the top... the photos, a title, a couple of ribbons and chipboard stars, and the arrow clear stickers.

I love these canvas stickers from Snow Village (berries.) As you can see, I colored one of the stars and some of the Artisan ribbon with Heidi Swapp's Color Shine in Chartreuse.

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In other news, I have a Snow Village layout on the front cover of Scrapbook Trends' December 2013 Issue!

And last, but not least...

Some of you have been asking what my news is regarding my design teams, and I'm sorry I haven't posted sooner, but I've been up in the air about a few things the past couple of weeks. You may have heard that American Crafts has acquired Pink Paislee. This is happy and sad news for me all at the same time! I've known Rebecca since 2005 and have been designing for her since she owned an online store called Create My Keepsake. When she opened Pink Paislee 6 years ago, she asked me to follow her to her new company. She was the first one who gave me a chance to join a paper manufacturer team, and I've always felt very dedicated to Pink Paislee. It has made me so happy to see its success over the years and to have been such a huge part of that success! Unfortunately, my role as Design Team and Blog Coordinator will be gone as of January, as part of the acquisition. I won't lie...I'm truly sad about this. Sad that my role with Pink Paislee has come to an end after all these years. But I know that all things happen for a reason, and I want to thank Rebecca and Barry for all they've done for me. They are very genuine people, have been so good to work for the past 8 years, and I'm so happy for them as they move to Utah and continue their journey with American Crafts. I can happily say I put my ALL into my time with Pink Paislee and feel proud that they've been so successful. Can't help but feel PP's success was in part because of me. :)

I have also decided not to renew my contract with Studio Calico. Their contract has changed for next year, and after giving it some thought, it just doesn't fit with what I need right now. I do love Studio Calico and the trends they set! They are always one step ahead of the game and always fun things happening there. I will still pop in and chat and ooh and aaah over the fabulous gallery there!

So where does this leave me? To be quite honest, I'm not sure, which is why I've been putting off publishing this post. My plans right now are continue crafting, hopefully stay on with Papertrey Ink and stamp my heart out (if they will keep me), and maybe begin some plans for stamp design concepts. When one door closes, another opens, so I'm looking forward to seeing what doors will open next. I am a little excited to craft JUST FOR FUN again as well!

I'll be back shortly with another Snow Village project. If you're still with me, thanks for reading my long post today...

Prima/Pink Paislee #watercolorfun week...

Hi, everyone! Prima and Pink Paislee have teamed up this week for a fun "Watercolor Inspiration Week". Today is the last day and was my turn to post, but there's also more to see over at the Prima blog as well. They'll be posting their projects today and Monday!

When I opened the box of Prima goodies, I couldn't believe my eyes! Such fun products to work with, and they blended amazingly with our products, especially the Color Wash line. Prima sent lots of things that could be colored too...resin pieces, canvas borders, canvas shapes, chipboard, etc. I thought I was going to make cards at first, but then this layout happened to evolve as I was playing around with everything!

A layout with no photos? YES! Every layout doesn't have to be full of pictures to express what you are feeling. Journaling is important too. Right now I am feeling so grateful for everything in my life, so happy. I wanted to journal about getting older and how my views of life are changing. I just love how it turned out. The journaling reads,

"All of my happiest moments have been with family and those I love-

dear friends I grew up with, getting married, having my girls, 

and watching them grow and experience the world.

Seeing things through their eyes keeps me young, happy, alive...

What I am discovering as I grow older is that happiness is love-

giving and appreciating life and those around me. Seeing joy in those I love. Danielle"

It looks kinda artsy, doesn't it? But to be honest, I really didn't do much to make it look this way. The 12x12" background paper started out like this.

It's from the 12x12" Color Wash paper pad by Pink Paislee. The only mist splashes I added were the dark blue spots, made with Heidi Swapp's new Navy Color Shine. (After I added all of the other elements. To make the splashes, I unscrewed the cap and pulled out the tube, then just flicked the end of the tube with my finger onto the page.)

The canvas butterflies and banner by Prima started out like this...

I used some Heidi Swapp Color Shine on them, and when you spray them, a design magically appears! How cool is that!! This is new Color Shine in Blush. Love it.

I also did the same thing with the Canvas Borders by Prima...

And the resin (I went crazy with the pink!)...

I stitched on Pink Paislee’s Color Wash Watercolor Tags and added some of the Color Wash Chipboard Title Stickers. Love how the chipboard is multicolored, so I didn’t do anything to that. Just stuck it on – it’s self adhesive! I left the tails from the stitching on the tags. The canvas banner is misted with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Navy.

On the top, I added a Prima flower, pearls and a canvas banner of theirs that I stenciled on to fill in that upper corner.

Stop by our Facebook page for a giveaway. Here is Prima's Facebook page for their giveaway, and Prima's blog for lots more inspiration!

cut it out...

All this week on the Pink Paislee blog, we are showing you ways to use Pink Paislee's cut files. I chose to use the Word Jumble1 and used my Cameo to cut it out.

I used the She Art - Vintage Lace Mask by Pink Paislee to create some depth on the edges with dimensional paste.

Some Heidi Swapp Color Shine mist was brushed under the title work and journaling to add color and help it stand out. I mixed a little bit of the Cottage Farms, Secret Crush and She Art lines. Love the dimension created with all of the layers.

Stop over to the Pink Paislee blog to read more about how to create this page!

Scrap your holiday photo...

Good morning! If you are looking for the SC Toolbox blog hop, see below. I thought I'd pop in and share a layout made for CHA with Pink Paislee's Snow Village line. I loved working with this line, the colors are earthy and beautiful together, and the patterns could be used for any occasion, not just holiday. That makes these papers so versatile.

I scrapped our holiday photo from last year, which was kind of an impromptu photo! My parents were visiting and we decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood one morning. My mom snapped some pics of us. (If I would have known, I would have dressed the girls better. Hee) But I ended up using it as my holiday photo anyway. Rarely do we get pics of the 4 of us!

When I first opened the packages of everything, I was inspired by the stamps. They are adorable! I couldn't wait to use the "christmas" stamp. I cut up the 12x12" paper with the journaling cards on it and laid them on my layout, then made a card with the "chalkboard" look with the stamps to go with these! Check out the vellum borders too, they are so cute. Here you can also see a peek of the Ephemera and chipboard.

I pulled out my Cameo and cut the big "joy" out to add some pizazz and drama to the page. Last, some punched circles and snowflakes tie it all together. Oh, see the red under the photo? That is a journaling card also from one of the 12x12" papers. I used it to add color and tucked it under the photo, which will draw your eye down to the photo and frame it out a bit. The black stripe is simply cut from one of my Heidi Swapp alpha packages. I needed a tiny bit more black in the corners of the page.

I think I will come back tomorrow and share a few cards. Thanks for reading! If you'd like to see the Pink Paislee summer catalog and all of the new products, CLICK HERE.

craft-n-connect event at Pink Paislee...

All this month at Pink Paislee, we are hosting a Craft-n-Connect event! We'll be posting a little something about each of our design team members, along with a new project each day that they've created. Along with this event, be sure to visit Pink Paislee's Facebook page for contests and prizes!

Today was my day to post, so I made this little layout of my daughter Kati at Easter.

I used some of the Luxe papers, Luxe arrow rub ons and chipboard stars and some Artisan Album Tab Covers, which I sprayed with Heidi Swapp's Color Shine mists! The Tab Covers are usually used in the 4x8" album, but I used them here on my layout to ground the photo and add color.

You can spray the chipboard stars with Heidi's Color Shine mists also, and the foil on the stars will resist the mist.

I chose this title for my page, because I really love experiencing the holidays through my girls - it's magic the way they see everything, and I wish it could always be like that! We had a beautiful Easter with the Flanders family - all of the cousins and second cousins, many generations of us all together. I wish my girls could stay little forever and always experience that magic!

If you are interested in reading a little more about me today, visit the Pink Paislee blog, and stop by each day this month to learn about all of our fabulous team members!! :)

add color, life and detail...

Embellishing...I love it.

It's the butter on the bread, the syrup on the pancake!

Embellishing gives your work life and color and adds detail and interest! Even in small doses, embellishments give a touch of flair. They finish off a piece of art which could otherwise be flat and uninteresting.

This was one of the layouts I made for my recent eBook called the Embellishing Handbook. Notice the title work, which I cut with my Silhouette Cameo and really loved the negative of the title, so I kept the negative sheet and backed it with a light colored patterned paper. I wanted to add color and life to the title, so I changed the O out with a square piece of paper to mimic a "home" and added stitching to the roof, a flower for dimension and tucked in a red stripe journaling card to draw your eye right to the detail. All of these embellishments together create interest to an otherwise flat, boring title!

I consider embellishments to be many things. Even the banners on this page are embellishing the page by adding color and life. They also add scale. Notice the little "together forever and always" saying, which is a small scale, the chevrons are medium in scale and the florals add a large scale pattern to the page. Embellishments have SO many different JOBS in our artwork. Scale, color and pattern are some of those jobs. Embellishing has a purpose!!

Would you like to learn more? I am giving away another copy of my Embellishing Handbook.

Leave a comment with your favorite way to embellish. I will draw a winner in a couple of days. Don't forget to leave your email addy, so I can contact you! I'm still looking for my You've Got Mail class winner - Lucy Newton. :) Do you know her? If so, please let her know I'm looking for her. :)

Embellish purposely!