Little Yellow Bicycle's Head of the Class

So a little while back I was a runner up for a guest design spot at Little Yellow Bicycle. While I didn't get the spot, they generously sent me lots of LYB goodies to play around with anyways. The very talented Lowri McNabb was awarded the guest spot, and if you haven't already you should head over to LYB's blog to check out her amazing projects. She has quite the knack for altered art. I've been having a blast digging into my fabulous box full of Head of the Class and Get Your Game On. Since Head of the Class is shipping now, I figured I'd start by sharing a few layouts from that line.


My son's pre-school class held 2 very special events at the end of last school year. One of those days was Doughnuts for Dads. Every child has a Dad (or Grandpa, or special male role-model) come to school to hear a song put on by the kids, do an art project, and eat some doughnuts.

I love adding interest to my layouts by adding different textures. LYB makes that really easy by offering chipboard accents, canvas pieces, and Clear Cut shapes (these have a bit of glitter in them, too!). Each of those stars is a different material.

Those of you who visit my blog regularly know that my goal is always to draw attention to the photo(s). I thought these LYB stick pins were a great way to draw the eye immediately to the photo. If you're wondering how I have them adhered to the layout, I have 2 words for you: Glue Dots®.

The counterpart to Doughnuts for Dads is Muffins for Moms. While my son was super excited to have me there, I think he was just a bit more excited about Doughnuts for Dads (they just have a special bond). I really appreciated that the teachers took the time to take a photo of that special day and send it home for me!

I had to give you a close up shot of these Clear Cut Shapes. The glitter in them is so cool!

The Circle Dimensional Pop-Up stickers gave me the idea to notch circles out of photo...I think it turned out pretty well (but I might be a little biased).

Thanks for stopping by today! You might be seeing a lot of LYB over the next few weeks, as I have lots of ideas bouncing around in my head and LOTS of fabulous papers and embellishments to work with. If you haven't entered my I'm Sorry giveaway yet, there's still time. Click here to check it out.

Supplies:
Doughnuts for Dads -
Paper: LYB Head of the Class (Penmanship, Chalkboard Scribbles, Red Numbers, Dot to Dot)
Accessories: LYB Head of the Class (Sticker Alphabet, Stick Pins, Journaling Cards, Clear Cuts Shapes, Fabric Favorites, Fresh Verse, Chipboard Shapes)

Muffins for Moms-
Paper: LYB Head of the Class (Back to School, Principal Gray, Bus Stop, Practice Your ABC's)
Accessories: LYB Head of the Class (Journaling Cards, Dimensional Pop-Up Stickers), Prima Alphabet StickersTools: Tonic Edge Distresser, Fiskar's Circle Punches

I'm Sorry Giveaway

I'm not sure what my problem is lately, I just have not been consistent about posting to my blog here. So, as an apology, how about a giveaway?
American Crafts is one of the featured manufacturers at A Walk Down Memory Lane this month. Leave a comment here by Saturday, September 24, and you'll be entered to win an AC Blue Skies Page Kit (pictured above). The kit includes 8 - 12 x 12 papers, Thickers, a sheet of Remarks Stickers, 3 Flair bages, 3 ribbons (4 ft of each), 2 - 12 x 12 card stock sheets, 6 - 4.5 x 6.5 photo mounts.


Also, I couldn't leave you today without a fun project. It's a great gift for a crafty friend. SRM's Tubes are my new favorite thing to create gifts out of. They come in regular, mini (what I used here) and wand. So fun! The stamps used to create the tag are from Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers set. I created the image on the tag with 3 colors of American Craft Zing Embossing Powder (which also happens to be 25% off this month at AWDML since it's made by American Crafts). You can watch a video I created about embossing with multiple colors of embossing powder over on AWDML's blog by clicking here.

A big thanks for stopping by!

An All Around Good Day

Today started out okay, but then got really great when my UPS man brought a box from Northridge Publishing which included this:

I'm a little giddy because now I officially own a copy of the first magazine I've ever been published in! On top of that, it's a really great Idea Book (if you want your own copy you can find it for sale here). It's already inspiring me to create some more minis.

If you just happen to be visiting my blog looking for all of the pages in the mini-album found in the idea book, here the are:


This album was born out of my need to fit waaaay too many photos into an album that's supposed to be "mini". I decided to find creative ways to add lots of extra photos. The album itself is built out of envelopes, so there are pockets throughout the album.


If you pull on the last train car on the left hand page, it comes out to reveal a hidden photo concealed in the envelope pocket. The photo on the right hinges on a brad to reveal another photo underneath.

There are 3 more photos hidden in the pocket on the left hand side. Just grab the button tabs and pull out.

Instead of hiding a photo in the pocket on this one, I hid the journaling, attached to some ribbon to make it easy to pull out. The photos on the right side are stacked on top of each other and use a brad for movement.

No pull outs on this one.

Or this one...just lots of fun chunky embellishments.


I used the Fiskars Upper Crest border punch to create tabs to pull photos out of the pocket on the left side of this page.


I fit an entire 5 page mini- mini album inside the pocket on this album. They're simple 4" x 4" photos, backed with patterned paper, and held together by a jumbo eyelet and twine.


I even made full use of the back cover of the album...don't be afraid to let your bits and pieces stick out past the edge of the page. It gives your book character!

Supplies
Paper: Echo Park Little Boy (rock star, journaling cards, sailboat, rad plaid, road map, in the clouds, buttons, cool stripe, vroom)
Accessories: Echo Park Little Boy Element Stickers, Echo Park Little Boy Alpha Stickers, Twine, Basic Grey Brads, Fancy Pants It’s Your Day Buttons, Doodlebug Boutique Buttons, Ribbon By the Yard, Pebbles Inc Candy Dots (yellow, navy blue),
Tools: Fiskars Upper Crest Punch, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Extra Bits: Envelopes

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunshine

I'm slowly making my way through my favorite photos from this summer. About a week ago Liz Qualman posted a layout on Little Yellow Bicycle's blog with an accompanying sketch. I am always inspired by Liz's sketches, so I broke out some of LYB's Elizabeth Park (I know, this layout is not nearly as bright an flowery as you remember Elizabeth Park to be, but I promise it's all from Elizabeth Park) and created with the sketch and some summer photos.

There's a lot of texture going on in this layout. I doesn't photograph so easily, but comes across nicely in person. The grey and white border is canvas, the yellow strip is tissue, "My Sweet Life" is embossed...you get the idea.
Sometimes I have a hard time journaling on layouts like these. I want to tell the story behind the photo, but at the same time I look at those faces and just think, "I am so blessed." I really like LYB's Fresh Verse sticker packs for times like that. I can strategically place them all over my layout as embellishments, but they also speak to my feelings too.

Thanks for stopping by!

SPARKS Challenge Take 2

No you're not seeing double, this is my second attempt at Paper Smooches August SPARKS challenge. I knew right away when I saw the inspiration that I wanted to try my hand at making my own faux wood panel background.

Little did I know that would be the easy part. After I got the panel made, I wasn't exactly sure how to turn it into a card. I played around a bit and this is what I came up with:



I created the "wood" background by covering 1" strips of paper in masking tape that had been crinkled a bit. Then, I stacked the strips next to each other and sponged on 2 different colors of Tim Holtz Distress Ink (both inks were different shades of brown). I panted on Tim Holtz Glossy Accents over the top of the ink to blend and seal it. The next step is to let it dry for a long time (preferably over night). Finally, if you want to stamp on the wood you'll need to use a very permanent ink. I used brown Staz-on to stamp "you are totally sweet".

Supplies
Paper: Crate Paper Farmhouse (Sunday Dinner)
Stamps: Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers, Paper Smooches Fruitastic
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Brown Staz-on
Accessories: May Arts lace, Crate Paper Farmhouse Buttons, Copic Markers, Glossy Accents

Thanks for stopping by!

More Paper Smooches

Paper Smooches has a SPARKS challenge every month. You can find all the info on how to play along by clicking here.


I've had 2 ideas in my head after seeing the inspiration:


I finally got one of those ideas down on paper, and will hopefully (cross fingers here) have the other one done tomorrow.


Basically, I was inspired by the colors for this one. It's such a pretty blend, that I'm not sure I'd come up with on my own. I was also inspired by the feel. The shabby wood background mixed with the elegant flowers and rhinestones. I tried to mimic the feel by adding pretty pleated trim and an elegant border punch combined with a less elegant kraft background and plaid patterned "Hello".

Supplies:
Paper: Fancy Pants' It's the Little Things (Honeysuckel)
Stamps: Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers
Markers: Copic
Trim: Crate Paper Neighborhood
Tools: Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Framed Dots

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Elementary

Wow! I realized, again, how behind I am on sharing a few creations, so today I have 3 layouts to share. They all use Elementary by Simple Stories.

This one is a pretty straightforward last day of school layout. What I really liked about the Simple Stories papers was the sheet of grade journaling cards. As you can see, all I had to do was cut out the preschool card and fill in some information.

The colors in Elementary also just happened to be perfect for scrapping my son with his brand new Spiderman bike. He was so excited to get this bike, but still wanted to wait all day until Dad came home from work to ride it for the first time. I just happened to have some chipboard pieces from Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend that went really well with this page.

One more bike page done with Elementary. I love when photos like this just happen. Since I had my camera out with me this day, I was able to capture this special moment between brothers. These 2 make quite the pair, and I love that these photos seem to show that unspoken bond.

Thanks for stopping by!