August Blog Hop Winner and a Layout with Mon Ami Gabby and Kiwi Lane

Whew!  That blog post title is certainly a mouthful!!  And without further ado, the random winner of a set of Tiny Celebrate templates is...

 bird said...

I love your layout!! And I am already a follower!!

August 22, 2014 at 5:53 PM

Congratulations bird!!  Please send me an email letting me know that you are my blog hop winner and also your mailing address and I'll get that little package of creative goodness out to you as soon as possible!  (You have 2 weeks from today to claim your prize.  If I've not heard from you, I'll randomly choose another winner.)

Now on to today's post:

It's my turn on the Kiwi Lane blog today, and I came up with a pretty simple one page layout using Mon Ami Gabby embellishments and Kiwi Lane templates.  As with the majority of my layouts, I started with framing my page with my Kiwi Lane templates like this:

I have a slight confession- this is not my real "before" photo.  My real "before" photo was too difficult to see on the floral paper with the cream colored background.  So I staged this one on a green background so you could see how I framed my page.  You're welcome. ;)

And this is what my finished layout looks like:

Supplies:  patterned paper, card stock, journaling card (Echo Park); blue flower, crepe paper, tulle (Mon Ami Gabby); letter stickers (Pebbles, Inc.); jewels (craft supply); pen (Staedtler)

Templates:

Playtime 3, 4

Accents 1

Tiny Nature 1T

Nature 1

Photos

Pretty cute, huh?  Did you know that Mon Ami Gabby sells rolls of crepe paper?  And it's thicker and wider than that stuff you get at the party supply store to decorate for birthdays parties, etc.  To get the ruffled effect on the scalloped border just below the photos, simply stretch the edge of the scallop (after you've traced and cut) and then let it contract.  The light yellow mesh border is actually a tulle that has some foam-like stuff sprayed on it.  I know that's not very descriptive, but I'm having a hard time trying to find the right words... anyway, it's a bit messy to work with (tiny bits of the yellow and white foam were all over my work space), but I loved the look when I layered it in with the crepe paper!  And most of the foamy bits stay in the tulle, so don't worry if it seems like there's a lot coming off. :)

One other thing I did with this layout was sand all the edges, instead of inking all the edges.  The reason for this is that I wanted to keep the layout feeling light and airy (like a spa) while still defining the edges of my layers.  So I used a nail file and sanding block to take off just enough of the top layer of printed paper to get the white core to show.  I did the same thing around my photos, too.

I've seriously loved all of the products that I've been able to use from Mon Ami Gabby this month!  They add so much to my layers and work so well with the templates from Kiwi Lane!  If you haven't had a chance to check them out, I highly suggest either visiting their blog, Facebook page or Pinterest boards, and Instagram, if not all of the above.  They are full of fun and creative ways to use their plethora of embellishments!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Home Decor with Mon Ami Gabby and Kiwi Lane

So I'm stepping out of my box for my post this time.... or maybe I'm stepping off my page... I don't know.  

Either way, I got to work with some splendiferous products from Mon Ami Gabby!  Have you ever heard of them?  Chances are, if you've ever gone to a Scrapbook Expo or Creating Keepsakes Convention, you've seen them! They are the company that has embellishments galore- and tons of super cute stuff!  Every time I've seen them at a show, I've had to hold back to keep from buying everything in sight (which they would have liked, I'm sure, but my bank account would have cried.).  Anyway, I was given a whole plethora of pretties to work with in shades of blue, yellow and white.  So much fun!  I wanted to showcase Mon Ami Gabby's products along with Kiwi Lane's templates and I wanted to step off the page, so here's what I came up with:

Supplies:  paper (Making Memories); burlap (DCWV); stamps (KI Memories, Hero Arts); ink (Ranger, Tsukinedo); paint (craft supply); jewels (Doodlebug); flowers, buttons, ribbon and crystals (Mon Ami Gabby)

Templates used:

Tiny Celebrate 3T, 4T, 6T

Paradise 4

Mini Scallops 2A

It's a little hanging tray with the following quote: 

"Shared joy is double joy and shared sorrow is half sorrow. -Swedish Proverb"

I've had this quote hanging around my scrap space for a while (ok, more like YEARS!!) and had always wanted to use it on something and never had.  This seemed to be the perfect opportunity!


So the tray that I started out with was something my grandma game me a few years ago and had gotten buried on my desk.  I found it recently and had it fresh in my mind when my Mon Ami Gabby stuff arrived, and an idea was born!  Here's what the tray looked like before:

(Sorry for the icky picture.  It was late at night and I couldn't get the lighting right.  One of the hazards of midnight crafting, I suppose.)

I sanded it and put a coat of ivory acrylic paint on it, then scuffed the edges and corners for a shabby look.  Then I hand stamped the quote.  And that's why it's kind of funky.  I know the spacing is uneven and nothing is in a straight line.  It adds to the charm, right?  Or it reveals that I'm still a novice stamper, even though I've been doing it for 12 years....

Anyway, once the paint was dry and the quote was stamped and trimmed, I started to layer... and layer.... and layer!  That is one thing I really like about Mon Ami Gabby and Kiwi Lane- they encourage layering!  Mon Ami Gabby has this super cool burlap ribbon that has wired edges and is printed with a chevron pattern and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.  Only it seemed to be too overwhelming for my small scale project.  So I used my templates on the ribbon to break it up and keep some of the cute ribbon, without an onslaught of pattern.  For the top banner, I folded the ribbon in half and used part of the Tiny Celebrate 6T template to cut small triangles out.  I then used hot glue to attach it to the wire that I cut off the ribbon.  

For the bottom part, I used the Mini Scallops 2A template along one side and kept the wire on the other side so I could do some pleats. 

I loved how the Kiwi Lane Templates added some more depth to the layers of flowers, buttons, ribbon and crystals from Mon Ami Gabby!  I also liked that I combined rough burlap, delicate paper roses and elegant crystal teardrops on this project and it all worked together to make a shabby chic decor piece.  I hope you try some layering on your next home decor project- especially mixing elegant with rustic. You might just love it!

And if you have loved looking at the fabulous products from Mon Ami Gabby, they have a wonderful Pinterest board you can follow HERE  and you can follow them on Facebook HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Scrapping!