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!

Countdown to Christmas...

We're back with another Papertrey Ink countdown post featuring the new stamp sets called Countdown to Christmas and Countdown Details! I've always wanted to create a December Daily mini album to record all of the fun happenings leading up to December, and I've finally tackled one (well, I have a good start on it)! These two new stamp sets have numbers and some cute little sayings that you'll see in my book...

It's another post with LOTS of pictures, so grab your coffee!

I looked around in my scrapbook room and first gathered all kinds of my favorite Christmas items... papers, brads, tags, etc., then began working on the cover. I wanted to use Soft Stone cardstock with white snowflakes. I decided to add a few of the Doily Details dies also - they kind of look like snowflakes too! Then added Soft Stone and Sweet Blush details, like the stamped polka dots and words on the snowflakes. I also added a bit of felt and buttons for texture, and a title with the Upper Script Alpha dies.

You'll notice that my pages are not all the same size. To me, I think that adds character and an unexpected touch! Just go to town and create. Don't feel like you have to make your book like someone else's! I spread them out a bit here, so you can see the fun patterns.

Page one is just the back of the cover with a tag. I trimmed the pink and red stamped tags in half and pieced them back together. I used the Countdown to Christmas numbers for each day! This is the page for Day 1.

On page two, I used a scrap of paper that I had stamped on with Background Basics: Super Stripes! The bottom is a Pure Poppy Patterned Paper, and the tag/snowflakes are from the City Sidewalks line by Pink Paislee. I stamped the #two on the tag.

On page three, I used a piece of Soft Stone cardstock stamped with the Snowflake Flurries with Soft Stone ink, a Super Star felt border and the Countdown to Christmas circle and number. Stripe paper is City Sidewalks by Pink Paislee. Chipboard is Season's Greetings by Echo Park.

On page four, I added a little glassine envelope in between the pages. It's decorated with a piece of washi tape, a die cut snowflake with Aqua Mist cardstock and an Echo Park brad. I intended this page spread to be used for photos on the left and a "making a list" page for my girls to write what they want for Christmas on the right. The stamped lines you see on the Soft Stone cardstock are made with the Desktop File: Inspiration stamp set! Great for making your own notebook paper, but you can use regular notebook paper if  you don't have this set.

(Close up of the stamping)


You can tuck whatever you'd like in the little bags and pockets of the book. Maybe the actual letters they write to Santa? The little "making a list" banner was stamped with Countdown Details.

On the back of page four, I stamped another page of list paper (so one of my daughters could write her list on the front and the other daughter could write her list on the back). I used the Mistletoe & Holly dies with the big red button to dress up that side of the page. On the other side, I stitched a piece of crepe paper (from the party store) and added some Echo Park chipboard. The polkadot paper reminded me of the berries from the holly.

On page the page five spread, I wanted to create an interactive page where we can write down our favorites of the season: favorite decorations, ornaments, music....etc. I stamped the Snowflake Flurries onto Soft Stone cardstock and then ran it through my printer to add the words. I added a piece of Pink Paislee's City Sidewalks to the top and stamped "my favorite" with Countdown Details.

The other side of the page...

Page six is all about holiday baking. I used the older Candy Cane Christmas stamps! The little number is stamped onto crepe paper and stapled onto the page with baker's twine.

Inside this page spread, you could insert your favorite holiday recipes on recipe cards! My girls and I love to bake different kinds of cookies for the holidays, and wouldn't it be fun to add photos of them with the recipes they used.

I have one more page to show you. I have 7 page spreads done so far, but of course I would like to do one for each day of December and continue on with the book! Here I used a Papertrey Ink envelope and filled it with Pink Paislee's City Sidewalks tags. I stamped the banners and December saying onto the envelope. I thought we could each write our favorite traditions on the tags.

What I like about having the book on a ring is that you can move pages and things around if you need to when you start adding photos. You can also add photos right to the rings in between the pages if you have a ton of photos to insert!

Joy December Daily Mini Album
STAMPS: Countdown to Christmas, Background Basics: Super Stripes, Snowflake Flurries, Candy Cane Christmas
INK: Pure Poppy, Sweet Blush, True Black, Soft Stone
PAPER: Soft Stone, Aqua Mist and white cardstock, Smokey Shadow Pattern Pack, Pure Poppy Pattern Pack, City Sidewalks paper and tags by Pink Paislee, Portfolio by Pink Paislee
DIES: Mistletoe and Holly dies, Peace Be Still dies, Doily Details dies, Snowflake Medley dies, Script Alpha dies, Super Stars Border die collection,
OTHER: Papertrey Ink felt, twine, envelope and glassine bag, seam binding, baker's twine, Smash tape,   Echo Park brads and chipboard, crepe paper, recipe card, pinking shears, American Crafts chipboard alphbet - Elf.
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So, what do you think? Ready to tackle your own December Daily? Visit the Papertrey Ink team to see the different ways they've counted down to Christmas!

Ashley Cannon Newell 

Betsy Veldman
Cristina Kowalczyk

Dawn McVey

Erin Lincoln

Jessica Witty  

Maile Belles

Melissa Phillips

Nichole Heady

simple stories...

Do you struggle with journaling like I do? Journaling seems to be the hardest for me when it comes to scrapbooking. I get lost in all the pretty papers and embellishments, and after I pull a design together... well, pretty soon I realize I don't have room for journaling. I like photos of everyday moments, but often I can't think of a "story" to go with them. Today's assignment on the Pink Paislee blog was to make journaling a focus on my layout...I hope you'll stop over and see my layout in its entirety! I have a couple of tips for you.