Pinwheels, Twine and Paper Flowers

I love the spring and summer, when everything is in bloom and so sunny and happy.  I thought I'd bring a little sunshine indoors with a vase of pretty paper flowers and colorful pinwheel.

I made this project as part of my design team work with Trendy Twine, where were are featuring Berry Red twine this month.

Pinwheels are super easy to make.  Start with a square of double-sided patterened paper, any size. I used a 5-inch square of the aptly named Sunshine and Happiness from Bella Blvd.  From each corner, cut halfway down and fold the corners over to the middle.

To decorate the pinwheel center, I used a circle of twine.  I started with a punched circle and a knot at one end of twine.  I added adhesive to the circle, put the knot in the center, then slowly and tightly wrapped the twine around knot until I covered the entire circle.

Set aside to dry, then add the circle to the middle of the pinwheel. To finish the pinwheel, add a stick or dowel to the back of the pinwheel.  I used fabric covered floral wire.

To make the paper flowers, I used buttons, patterned paper, chipboard and fabric covered floral wire. I threaded the wire through the button holes, then threaded on chipboard (with punched holes in the center) and paper flowers.

You can find many more ideas of creative ways to use twine on the Trendy Twine blog.  We also have a really fun challenge this month and you can find the details here. 

Linking this today to Tip Junkie.  Thanks for stopping by!

Using Paint On A Scrapbook Page: Easy Summer Layout

I’m back today with another summer page. This is my fourth layout from the July Creative Kit at My Creative Scrapbook, which featured Echo Park Paper’s Hello Summer collection and Bella Blvd embellishments.

I love scrapping summer pics. We are outside more in the summer months and seem to have more picture-taking opportunities. For this layout, I searched through my digital files for some pool photos and I found these photos of Cory as a baby. I had forgotten I had taken these and had never even printed them. For shame! That’s one thing I love about scrapbooking - it makes me actually print those folders of photos on my computer.

Although this Echo Park collection isn’t geared specifically toward water themes, the happy color scheme and sunny patterns worked great with pool photos.

I went for a mostly tone-on-tone look here with the yellow. To give the eye a visual break, I white-washed the edges of the paper. This is really quick and easy to do. Just apply a thin coat of acrylic paint with a foam brush. While I could get the same effect by matting the papers with white cardstock, using paint is more economical. Plus, I didn’t have to grumble with my not-quite-cutting-exactly-straight trimmer.

After the paint was dry, I assembled the layers back together and stitched the edges of the painted paper to prevent any curling.

Here’s a closeup of the embellie cluster at the top.

And here’s a closeup of the title block. I really loved the colorful letters and banners in this collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I always appreciate your visits.

National Donut Day and a Giveaway

I was on Facebook last month and I saw that some of my friends had posted about National Donut Day. What kind of holiday is this? Well, one with free donuts, of course! We couldn’t let this holiday pass us by, so after dinner, we hurried on down to our local Dunkin Donuts and went in for a free treat. I think this may be Cory’s new favorite holiday.

I used the July Creative Kit from My Creative Scrapbook to make this page marking the holiday:

The kit features Echo Park Paper’s Hello Summer collection and I thought this yellow background paper looked a little like donuts (you may have to use your imagination here, lol). I used a simple design and mostly let the photos take center stage. Donuts with sprinkles. Yup, life is good.

Here’s a closeup of the title work.

Love those multi-colored alphas and little banners.

Have you been over to the My Creative Scrapbook blog lately? You might want to go take a peek. We’re giving away TWO July Main kits this coming week that feature Carta Bella’s Beautiful Moments. The kits contain the full Beautiful Moments collection plus lots of extra embellishments.

Here's a pic of the July main kit we're giving away:

It’s super easy to be entered to win the July kit. Winners will be chosen from comments on both the My Creative Scrapbook blog and Facebook page. To enter, follow the My Creative Scrapbook blog, "Like" the My Creative Scrapbook Facebook Page and leave a comment at both places telling what you'd create with the kit.  It's as simple as that! One winner will be drawn from the My Creative Scrapbook blog and one winner from the Facebook page. Winners will be announced on Friday, July 20th.

Good Day Sunshine: Echo Park beach page

I’m back today with another layout from the July Creative Kit at My Creative Scrapbook. The kit was packed with goodies from Echo Park Paper and Bella Blvd.

One of my favorite papers in the kit was this one, Butterfly Sky, from EP’s Hello Summer collection. It just screamed happy summer day to me and I thought it would be the perfect backdrop for a beach page.

I wanted a light and airy feel, so I used white cardstock in the center and moved my photos and embellies around until I thought they looked right. I didn’t use a sketch for this page, so I backed all the stickers with cardstock or baby powder so I could play with them on the page before adhering them. Once I had everything where I thought it belonged, I restored the sticker stickiness with my ATG.

I loved all the birdie stickers on the Echo Park Element sheet and I used three of them on my layout.  At the top, I perched the first birdie on the pennants and I added a crocheted flower from Bella Blvd to the sun sticker on the journaling spot.

At the bottom of the page, I added two more birdies. On the branch, I added button flowers from Bella Blvd.  I took the title from the Beatles song, Good day, Sunshine.  The tune was running through my head the whole time I was making this page!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. If you’re interested in a kit club, pop over to the My Creative Scrapbook website here. There’s always lots of fun things going on.

Right now, we have giveaway for five brand new collection packs from Carta Bella, Echo Park’s sister company. All you have to do is comment to be entered to win. Details here. The deadline to enter is July 16.  Five winners will be chosen by random draw on July 17, which is the first day of the CHA summer show.

Reveal Day at My Creative Scrapbook: Echo Park

Today is the 5th of the month, which means it’s Reveal Day at My Creative Scrapbook. Yay! My fellow designers did beautiful work with the Main Kit and the add-on kits. I worked with the July Creative Kit, which features the sunny happy Hello Summer collection from Echo Park Paper and adorable embellishments from Bella Blvd.

Today, I will show you the first of four layouts I made with the July Creative Kit. This layout features a photo I took of my toddler poolside at the beach last year with his Toy Story figurines. My son went through a stage when Woody and Buzz went everywhere with him, even swimming.

The blue patterned paper here reminded me of pool tiles and made a nice backdrop against the pop of color in the other paper and embellishments.

　

Here’s a close-up of the top of the page.

The words “swim” and “relax” are from the Echo Park sticker sheet. I backed them with cardstock to give a bit of dimension then added toothpick flagpoles to make little pennants.

This is a closeup of the title work:

I love the color and texture that the ribbon added to the page.

Today, I’m sad to say that Woody and Buzz have been cast aside (just like the movie!) and cars and trains are back in favor with my little boy. I’m so glad I captured this sweet moment with his figurines.

Thanks so much for stopping by. You can see all of the design team work with the July kits here in the My Creative Scrapbook DT gallery. It’s swoon-worthy, I tell you! If you’re interested in a kit club or want more information, click here to go to the main page at My Creative Scrapbook.

My Creative Scrapbook also has a giveaway for five new collection packs from Echo Park's sister company, Carta Bella, which was featured in the MCS July Main Kit.  Five random draw winners will be announced on July 17.  To enter the drawing, leave a comment at the My Creative Scrapbook blog here.

Trendy Twine: Project, Challenge & Giveaway

I grew up in a small town and I've always loved the down-home Fourth of July celebrations:  the parades, the cookout, the fireworks, the gatherings.  I tried to evoke that feeling of festivity in this card:

And here's a close-up. 

I'm so excited to be part of the Trendy Twine Design Team reveal for July.  We are featuring Berry Red twine, which is perfect for the Fourth, of course, but the classic red/white combination is a great go-to color for any project.  The Trendy Twine blog, Twine it Up!, is full of patriotic projects today featuring twine. There are so many fun and creative ideas on the blog. Check them out!

Trendy Twine has paired up with My Thoughts Exactly for a fun July 4th giveaway of twine and stamps.  It's super easy to enter.  Just head on over to the Facebook pages for Trendy Twine and My Thoughts Exactly and leave a comment by midnight EST on July 4.  Here's the prize:

Trendy Twine also has a new challenge posted for July with a great giveaway:  an extreme mini pack, which is 10 colors of Trendy Twine + 20 yards of the Berry twine we're featuring this month. You can find all the challenge details here under the Design Team projects. You can also purchase Trendy Twine here at Annie's Paper Boutique.  So many beautiful colors.  It will be hard to choose. Just warning you.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful  July 4th holiday.

Card Supplies:
CS: American Crafts
PP: Authentique Paper, Simple Stories
Stickers: October Afternoon, Simple Stories, Lily Bee
Wood veneer: Studio Calico
Punch: Fiskars
Twine: Trendy Twine
Paint: Plaid
Sewing machine: Bernina

Sneak Peeks: My Creative Scrapbook & DT Call

Oh, what fun I've had the last few weeks with the July Creative Kit at My Creative Scrapbook.  We reveal the kit on July 5 and I'll be back on Friday to show you the kit and the projects I've made.  But today, I can show you a few sneak peeks.

Do you recognize this collection?  It is perfect for summer and I loved all the embellies that came with this beautiful kit.  You can see more sneaks on the My Creative Scrapbook blog here.

We also have a Design Team call here for the Sketch Blog at My Creative Sketches.  The deadline to apply is July 10.