August's Sincerely for Kiwi Lane (#26, #27 & #28)

If you have been sitting on the edge of your seat and checking for this post every 15 minutes for the last couple of hours, my sincere apologies!  I went to publish this post right after Kiwi Lane posted this month's Sincerely on their blog and *SuRpRiSe!!*  NO internet... at all!!  And for some reason my phone doesn't let me log into certain sites and this is one of them (the other one is Etsy- two of the top three sites I use on a daily basis.  Of course!) so I couldn't do it from there.... I was getting close to asking my neighbors (who I don't really know) if I could use theirs- desperate times!

This month's Sincerely assignment was notecards.  To me, notecards are those cards that aren't for any specific reason, just a little note to someone to help brighten their day.  It's those little notes that you love to get in the mail or stuck in your front door... and it doesn't hurt if there is a sweet treat with it ;)  So I came up with three cards for this week.  And they are easy!!  How do I know?  I started them on Tuesday afternoon and had pictures done and submitted later that night.  And I went to Back to School Night within that time frame, too.  Yep, still a procrastinator... I'll let you know if that ever changes, but don't hold your breath :)

Just a Quick Note:

Supplies: card stock (craft supply); patterned paper (My Mind's Eye); ink (Ranger); stamp (Studio G)

Kiwi Lane Templates: Tiny Wildflower, Tiny Nature, Adorn

This card is pretty self explanatory- I just used the templates, traced, cut, inked and adhered.  Then I added a stamp using distress ink (the same one I used on the edges) to give it a slightly worn look to match the paper.  This card is completely flat and could easily be mailed without extra postage.

Just a little FYI- I used My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline paper for all the cards in this post.  It was the paper kit that Kiwi Lane had a few months ago, so if you were able to snag one and have leftovers, I highly suggest you make some of these!

Just for You:

Supplies: same as previous card, plus a button (Provo Craft) and twine (LillyBelle's Paperie Etsy shop)

Kiwi Lane Templates: Adorn, Tiny Accents, Tiny Brackets, Tiny Tags, Tiny Strips

This was a very rough interpretation of this week's Monday Card Madness (#97) at Scrapbooksteals.com.  I always appreciate the inspiration I get from their sketches!  Again, pretty self explanatory.  Trace, cut, ink, adhere, stamp and then add a button with twine.  I did curl the petals of the flower for some dimension.  If you wanted it flat, just trade the button for a piece of paper and don't curl the petals.

Butterflies:

Supplies: same as first plus baker's twine (Divine Twine) and jewels (K&Company, Doodlebug)

 Kiwi Lane Templates: Tiny Nature, Mini Photos, Mini Scallops, Mini Strips.

This is not a standard A2 card like the previous two.  This is a 5x7, which may not really qualify as a notecard, but it can be for just a note (a really LONG note!), so I think it counts!  Again, just trace, cut, ink, adhere.  But before you adhere the butterflies, fold/curl their wings to add some more dimension, if you'd like.  Then add jewels for some sparkle!  Here's a little closer look at the butterflies:

Well, that's all I have for you today.  I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!

#25

Are you ready for more 4th of July??  Well, if you aren't, I suggest you stop reading... now.  These are all from the same year, mind you.  But, I think I'm making a dent in my photos- I can actually move the photos in my box! (They have been pretty smashed in there- so much so that when I would go to take out one, it would pull up a few more.)  I'm not even going to worry about the other photos that are in other places for now, just the box.  Then I can do the rest... good plan?  I thought so ;)

This layout was based on a Scrapbooksteals.com sketch- Pearl 4a:

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill, craft supply); patterned paper (Echo Park); buttons (Basic Grey, Doodlebug, craft supply); twine (Lillybelle's Paperie on Etsy); flags (Pebbles, Inc.); alphabet stickers (American Crafts, Authentique); ink (Colorbox, Ranger); pen (Staedtler); thread (craft supply)

Kiwi Lane Designs templates: Scallops 1 A&B, strips, photos

 You may have noticed that the original sketch is for a single page. And I intended to narrow down my pics and use just three, but I couldn't seem to get them narrowed down to less than 5, so I stretched out the layout and made it a two pager- and I really like how it turned out!  I used my sewing machine to stitch around the border on the plaid paper and to stitch across the star paper, making more of a defined edge by the scalloped border.  I used my trusty Scor-pal to make the little paper rosettes.

I've probably said this before, but I'm going to say it again- if you haven't tried using a sketch to jump start a layout, you should definitely give it a try next time your creative juices are running low!  If it doesn't fit what you are working with, adjust it!  You can take just a few elements out of the sketch and use them on your layout, or do an exact replica... the possibilities are endless!  And you can use KLD templates for elements on nearly any sketch- I do it all the time and it makes it so much faster!  You should try it, then come back here and let me know what you think!

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!

#23 & #24

So you know how I had a bunch of layouts posted that were all Christmas themed?  It was because I never had Christmas paper on hand.  Well, I'm finding the same to be true of 4th of July- I had years of 4th of July celebration photos that weren't scrapbooked because I didn't ever have the right paper (I know that some of you reading this are in disbelief that *I* would not have a certain type of paper on hand!)  Well, I happened to see a 50% off sale for 4th of July themes paper and embellishments at one of the online stores I frequent (one of the MANY stores I check on at least a weekly basis), and FREE shipping- now who could resist that?  Certainly not me!  So I grabbed some Authentique, Pebbles and Echo Park paper, put it in my virtual cart and waited for my goodies to arrive.  After having them sitting on my (messy) desk for over a month, I finally got the chance to play last night- Yay!  And I took photos today- bigger yay!- to share with you!

#23
This was based on a Midweek Mojo Sketch at Scrapbooksteals.com- Pearl 5b

Supplies: patterned paper, stickers (Echo Park); journaling cards (Pebbles, Inc.); felt ribbon (Creative Imaginations); border punches (Martha Stewart Crafts); ink (Ranger); pen (Zig)

Kiwi Lane templates: Large Brackets 2 (and after I made them, I realized that I should have used the tag templates for my tags- it would have saved me some time trying to do a perfect cut freehand)

#24
This layout was based on the August monthly sketch at Authentique-

Supplies: patterned paper, stickers, (Authentique); card stock (Core'dinations, craft supply); jewels and stars (Jo-Ann); thread (craft supply); pen (Zig)

 Kiwi Lane templates: Cascade Trails 3 A&B, Adventure 1 & 2, Accents 3T

I LOVE how this layout turned out- and really, photos don't do it justice!  I distressed the edges of the stars and the wavy borders and I used my sewing machine to sew around the page and along the borders.  I also stitched the red star.  I added a few stickers from the collection, some jewel stars and did my journaling on the background paper.  What do you think?  I will admit, it kept veering off course along the way and didn't end up exactly like the original sketch, but I still like it!   Here's a more detailed shot of the stitching:

I guess that's all for today.  I have a pile of 4th of July photos and paper on my desk right now that I hope to be able to work with today... if only laundry did itself {sigh}

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!

Playing Catch... Up (and #22)

Have you ever gotten sick right in the middle of something else that is keeping you extremely busy?  And then that sickness makes it so you can barely function and you fall behind?  And it takes you WEEKS to catch up on what you fell behind with??  Well, that's exactly what happened to me... LAST MONTH!!  I went out of town for my little brother's wedding and started getting what I assumed was a little cold.  Well, that "little cold" ended up giving me a fever that was pushing 104 for 4 days, and then a bronchial infection that I thought was going to escalate to pneumonia... lovely.  I was in bed for about 5 days- and if you know me at all, you know that it takes a lot for me to be down that long!!  Well, the good news is that it didn't progress to pneumonia, but it did take me a few weeks before I felt like I could breathe normally again.  And in the middle of this I was supposed to be making things for special orders in my Etsy shop, making things from Kiwi Lane's new paper kits for their birthday celebration, making my brother's wedding present (an 8x8 album), keeping new layouts in the shop, potty training my son and all the cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking and taxi driving that goes along with being a stay at home mom!!  Obviously some of these things fell through the cracks- sadly, it was all the mommy stuff.  And all the work stuff was done with a tired brain, so not my best work ever-  Shhh, don't tell ;)  So have I caught up yet?  NOPE!!  But, Etsy was down this morning when I was trying to do new listings, so I decided to get on the computer and ramble... ha!

Anyway, that's how my summer has been- how's yours?

One of the things I did while I was trying to get better was a banner- my first banner!- for Kiwi Lane out of one of their new paper kits.  My assignment was to make something for their birthday celebration last weekend out of one or both of their new paper kits.  The letter that came with my kits said BIRTHDAY about half a dozen times.  They wanted BIRTHDAY themed layouts, cards and the like. So I looked at the paper kits and thought I wanted to try something other than cards- since I am always making cards and I felt like doing something new.  I started with the idea of a "Celebrate" banner made out of one kit and ended up with a "Family" banner made out of the other kit... yep, not birthday themed at all!  I don't even know how my brain went on the track it did!  But, it wasn't until I was done and sent pictures to Kiwi Lane before I realized that I didn't do what I was supposed to!  All I can say is D'OH!!

So here is my project that was not birthday themed, but probably should have been:

We don't have any walls with great lighting to get a fabulous photo of it, but I think you can get the idea.  The paper kit is from the Kiwi Lane website and is My Mind's Eye Indie Chic.  The base for the banner is a chipboard album that I pulled apart and I used a Crop-A-Dile to punch another hole.  I used KLD templates for all the flowers and the borders.  I think I need to add more stuff to the banner- like actual ribbon instead of twine, some stickles and maybe some more pearls and jewels... I don't know.  It may just end up staying in my kitchen until I decide exactly what I need to add... or until we move.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Scrapping!