Scrap Your Stash Using Kiwi Lane Designs!

If you're anything like me, you have approximately 245,000 sheets of scrapbooking paper in your stash, give or take a few sheets. Well, it seems like that many. And most of it is old. Really old. My goal lately has been to use up those partial collections that I have left in my stash. But every once in a while, I come across a full collection that I had been hanging onto. Such as the "Laurel" collection from Scenic Route. The collection was released in 2006 and I'm almost positive I bought it as soon as it came out. Which means it's been in my stash for about 10 years. It's about time it saw some action, right? Well, here's the photo-ready layout I made using my Kiwi Lane templates:

 

Along with the older paper, I also used brads from My Mind's Eye collections that were released at least 3 years ago, Doodlebug paper frills that are at least 9 years old, and Bazzill flowers that I've had for at least 8 years. Wow. I'm more of a supply hoarder than I thought!!

It's fun to buy new stuff, and I'd never ask you to give up the joy of shopping for new paper, but remember what you already have and use your Kiwi Lane Designs templates to breathe new life into your old paper!

Templates I used:

Abbie Road 3A,3B

Scallops 1A,1B

Madison Avenue 2A,2B

Tiny Wildflowers 1T,4T

Nature 1

Tiny Nature 1T

Tiny Brackets 4T

Wacky 2

12" Strips

Photos

**Love this layout? You can own it! Head over to my Etsy shop to purchase it- but hurry! It's one of a kind and won't last long!**

Clovers with Kiwi Lane Designs

March is the month of shamrocks and four leaf clovers. As I was thinking about projects I would like to work on this month, I realized that there weren't any shamrock or four leaf clover shapes in any of my Designer Template sets. I took this as a challenge and decided that I would step outside of the box with my Kiwi Lane Templates, and figure out a way to alter some of the other templates to make my own clover shapes.

Let me share with you how I made three, yes THREE, four leaf clovers with my templates. And then read on to see how I turned those four leaf clovers into three leaf clovers.

For the largest clover, you will want to use the heart in the Tiny Sweetheart set (2T). Trace it four times, overlapping the points like this:

Next, erase the lines that you don't want. A lot of us go into autopilot when we are cutting things out, and it would be really easy to accidentally follow the wrong lines, if you don’t erase them before hand!

Finally, cut it out and you have your first four leaf clover!

For the medium clover, you will use the four-petaled flower shape from the

Springtime Accessory set (5), along with the flower in your

Sweetheart Accessory set (3).

Step 1: Trace the Springtime flower.

Steps 2 & 3: Trace the indent of the Sweetheart flower onto the edge of each of the petals of the Springtime flower.

Step 4: Erase the lines that you don't want.

Cut it out and you have your second four leaf clover!

For the smallest clover, I used the flower shape from my Tiny Sweetheart

Accessory set (3T).

Step 1: Trace your flower.

Steps 2 & 3: Divide and cut your flower into heart/petal shapes as shown.**

Step 4: Use four of those heart/petal shapes to form a clover. Tape it

together and trace this new shape.

**As a side note here, you could skip the dividing and cutting steps by tracing four petals of the flower in an "X" shape. But dividing and cutting helps you move the petals around without having to repeatedly erase.

Cut it out and you have your third four leaf clover!

Now that you have three clovers, they will stack together to make

layers. You can also use the arrow shapes from various template sets

to add a stem.

Ready to add a variation? Let's make them into three leaf clovers!

This one's pretty self explanatory - Just cut one petal/leaf into a stem as you see in the pictures.

These three leaf clovers also layer onto each other and make the perfect addition to a card.

I always try to step out of the box when I Play To Create with my Designer Templates! I love challenging myself to use them in new and unique ways. I hope you enjoyed stepping out of the box with me!

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget to share your own out-of-the-box template projects!!

Here are the Templates that I used:

Sweetheart 1,2,3

Tiny Sweetheart 2T,3T

Springtime 5

Mini Aspen Court 2A

Paper collection:

Lucky You by Echo Park

Winter Layout with Kiwi Lane Designs

Hello, Hello!!

Happy January! I'm sure you've made (and possibly broken) your resolutions by now, but did you make one that had to do with getting your scrapbooks done? Well, hopefully I can help inspire you today and get you on your way to meeting your goals! 

First of all, I used some of January's featured templates on my layout, plus a few extras. And the paper line I used was called "Snow Fun" by Pebbles, Inc. and I'm pretty sure it was released circa 2008/2009. Yes, I know. I'm a paper hoarder. Admitting it is the first step... to the craft store to get some more paper. Haha! Anyway... Here's what my layout looked like when I started framing using my Kiwi Lane templates:

I know you can't really see the framing. It's what happens when you are trying to take a photo of framing on a white background after midnight under fluorescent lighting. You get the idea, though. And, of course, the original framing is not exactly what I ended up with. I added a few more templates, plus some punched snowflakes.  Here's what the finished product looks like:

Supplies: card stock, glitter glue, chipboard (American Crafts); patterned paper, die cut, letter stickers (Pebbles, Inc.), brads (Creative Impressions), vellum (Provo Crafts); pen (Staedtler); ink (Ranger); punch (Marvy Uchida); Kiwi Lane Designs templates

If you haven't figured this out yet, I love, LoVe, LOVE using vellum and glitter on winter layouts! They add layers and texture without a lot of bulk, an they mimic the look of ice and snow. So what happens when you combine the two? You get a little bit of warping. Not great, but not horrible either. In fact, it adds another layer of texture to your layout. If you look at the finished layout, you'll notice that the vellum ice crystal shape is outlined with glitter glue and it's warped it so it curls off the page a little bit. It will get pressed down when put in a page protector, so not a big deal. My punched vellum snowflakes didn't fare so well when I added some glitter glue- they warped a LOT!! I put the glitter on them and went to bed. I awoke to this:

Warped and curled and not willing to flatten out at all!! So what do you do when you need to flatten your crafting project quickly? You grab your super small crafting iron, of course! I put the snowflakes between the folds of a kitchen towel and ironed (crossing my fingers because I hadn't actually ever ironed vellum before and I didn't know if it'd work). And it worked!! Here's a before and after:

And just because I know you're going to ask, here's the super cute little crafting iron I used:

It's the size of your palm, plugs into the wall, only does dry heat and doesn't have holes on the face of the iron. It's a great little tool!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my layout- Happy Scrapping!!

Templates used:

Mini Aspen 1B,3A

Winter 1,2

Sweetheart 4

Tags 1

Tiny Holiday 3T

Merry and Bright Paper Kit with Kiwi Lane

Hello again!  I'm so excited to show you a layout I made using Kiwi Lane's newest paper kit "Merry and Bright."  And can I tell you how much fun I had working with this kit?!  I know when you look at the photos for some of the projects made from the kit, the red looks a little orange-ish. But when I had the paper kit in my hands, I was happy to see that the red is a rich, beautiful Christmas red. And the color combination in the kit are perfect for anything Christmas, holiday or winter related!

Here's the layout I made using my Kiwi Lane Merry and Bright paper kit:

Supplies: Merry and Bright paper kit and designer templates (Kiwi Lane Designs); glitter, twine, glitter tape (American Crafts); ink (Ranger); pen (Staedtler); brads, tape (craft supply)

I totally forgot to take a "before" photo with my page framed and ready to go... Sorry! Next time, for sure!

The photos on this layout were take a few years ago when my family and I visited Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the lights. It was a beautiful night and perfect for wandering around enjoying the displays. If you've never been, and you're a fan of holiday lights, you should totally go! It's quite the sight!!

Soooo.....Did you see the cute little details on the Tiny Traditions mitten and light bulb shapes? Here are the mittens:

I made the cuffs look furry using double sided tape and tinsel glitter.  Fun effect, yeah? You can still see just a hint of the pattern on the paper (it's gray polka dots on a white background) under the translucent glitter. Well, you can see it in person. Not so much in photos.

And here is one of the light bulbs:

I used silver washi tape to cover the end and tied some white twine around it to finish it off. I also ended up fussy cutting some of the circles out of the snowflake paper to make my grouping look more complete.

The title area features more light bulbs and looks like this close up:

I know I've mentioned this in previous posts about the Kiwi Lane paper kits, but I'm going to have to do it again. It bears repeating. The printed elements paper is fantastic! I love that it has a few titles, sentiments, journaling spots and some smaller areas of various patterns that you can use to add to your layers. It's basically like they've combined a title pack, journaling pack and 3 extra sheets of paper (you know, those sheets that you only need a little bit of but you have to buy the whole sheet to get?) all in one handy printed piece of awesomeness! I'm telling you- it's GENIUS!!

So that's it. I'd love it if you'd leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post. It's always nice to hear from you!! 

Templates used:

Tiny Traditions 1T,3T

Tiny Holiday 3T

Winter 1

Happy Trails 3A,3B

Sunnybrook Lane 1A,1B,2A,2B

Strips

Photos

New Layout Using Kiwi Lane's "Birds of a Feather" Paper Kit

Hey Kiwi Peeps!  Last month I shared a layout and card using on of the new Kiwi Lane Designs paper collections.  Well, it might be a bit like a rerun, but today I also have a layout and a card using one of the new Kiwi Lane Designs paper collections.  This time, I decided to use the "Birds of a Feather" collection. I love the muted peach, yellow, green and blue paired with a brighter coral along with charcoal and white.  This mix of bold and pastel colors were just asking to be paired with some photos I had from a family field trip to Wheeler Farm in Utah.  Here's the layout I came up with:

I'm kind of loving the muted tones for the pumpkins and leaves.  It really pops against the bolder papers.  And if I haven't mentioned it before, there is a sheet of printed cards and smaller bits of printed patterns in each collection to give you a variety of options when building your page.  For example, I was able to use the peach for a few things, but it was just a small area printed on one sheet of paper.  In fact, I was able to cut the pumpkins, tree trunk, tree top, bracket, flower and tag (behind the title) all out of the same piece of paper (using both front and back).  Plus the butterfly, flower and sentiment/quote on the card.  Talk about getting your money's worth!  And speaking of cards....

This was made using the same "Birds of a Feather" collection, but this time I steered clear of the bolder colors.  Now, instead of having a bold autumn feeling, the paper has a softer spring-like feel.  I also added some sparkle.  Because I just couldn't resist! ;)  I used some glitter glue to edge the butterfly and some iridescent Smooch top coat on the edges of the flower and the leaves.  Kind of hard to see in photos, but here it is-

I love how versatile this paper collection is!  Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!

Templates used:

Layout:

Madison Avenue 2A,2B

Aspen Court 3A,3B

Nature 1,4

Halloween 2

Tags 1

Tiny Accents 1T

Tiny Nature 1T,4T,6T

Tiny Holiday 2T,4T

Tiny Brackets 4T

Card:

Tiny Nature 1T,2T,6T

Midweek Mojo Petunia 7

I was able to get my version of Petunia 7 done this week... and on time!!  Hallelujah! ;)  Haha!  In all reality, I love doing weekly layouts of the sketches at ScrapbookSteals.com.  Even if I don't always get them done on time to enter the weekly drawing.  This is the original sketch (done by the awesomely talented Melissa Denhe):

And here's what I came up with:

 I used Dear Lizzy's Neapolitan collection and a few other coordinating embellishments from American Crafts, along with my ever-present Kiwi Lane Designs templates.  Did you know that Kiwi Lane release 3 new sets of templates this week?? Well, they did!  I used one of the sets for this layout, but you can go HERE to see all three sets... and maybe order your own, if you'd like. :)

Here are a few close up shots of my embellishments:

Thanks for stopping by today, and Happy Scrapping!!  Stop by tomorrow for a great Kiwi Lane project and a Giveaway!!

Templates: 
Elements 2, 5, 6, 7, 8
Cedar Trails 2A & 2B

Christmas Visitor Layout with Kiwi Lane

Welcome Kiwi crafters!  Today, I have a single page layout with just one photo on it.  Yep. One solitary photo.  I tend to gravitate towards scrapbooking groups of photos from a single event, which then leaves me with a pile of single photos.  And that pile sits around while I figure out what to do with those somewhat random photos.  Most of these photos have at least a little bit of a story behind them- but some don't.  This is one of the photos that had a short story, but I still wanted to remember the moment.  So, what happens when you have a single photo and a short story??  You have room on your page to add lots and lots of layers!! This sounds like a job for my Kiwi Lane Design Templates!  Instead of trying to keep my layers somewhat simple because I have multiple photos on a layout (which can mean multiple focal points and craziness, if you're not careful), I'm free to add layers of embellishments to my templates without it feeling overwhelming.  

Here's what my page looked like after I framed it with my templates:

And my layout after I traced, cut, inked and replaced:

Supplies: patterned paper (My Mind's Eye); brads (We R Memory Keepers, All My Memories); glitter tape (American Crafts); sequins (Teresa Collins, Hazel & Ruby, glitter alphabet stickers (Making Memories); glitter glue, ink (Ranger); pen (Staedtler); 1" circle punch (Marvy Uchida)

Templates:

Abbie Road 3A

Mini Abbie Road 3A & 3B

Cedar Trails 1A

Winter 3

Christmas 1, 4

Tiny Holiday 8T

Tiny Bracket 1T

Originally, I had five templates on my layout.  I added and took away templates until I liked the layout and ended up with eleven templates.  That's one of the perks of using the templates- you can see exactly what your page will look like before cutting a single sheet of paper! And you can arrange and rearrange until you're happy with the look without wasting anything!!  

Let's talk about my page a bit.  First of all, the subject is a spider.  Yep.  We had a spider in our Christmas tree that was helping add to our decorations.  It would spin these perfect little webs that would span between the blinds, the ornaments and the pine needles.  (The web is visible in the photo in person, but didn't translate well as a photo of a photo.  Bummer.)  It was so beautiful that I wouldn't let anyone destroy the web or get rid of the spider.  It lived in the tree in our living room until we took it out after the holidays.  This seems like such an odd thing to document (and, it probably is!), but this was something I wanted to remember.  It was out of the ordinary and a bit strange- just like us! ;)

Next- layering.  Don't be afraid to layer!  Use your templates to plan your page so you can see what those layers will look like.  You can add more elements to your template shapes that add more visual layers.  I used hard embellishments on the ornaments (sequins and brads) so they sparkle and shine.  I also added sparkly glitter glue to the trees to imitate snow and bring some sparkle to the other side of the page.  I put the sparkle in one more spot on the layout (the title) for balance.  Another layer was added by simply popping the small ornament and small tree off the page with some foam adhesive.

So there you have it- a Christmas layout about a spider!  I hope you were inspired by something in this layout- not necessarily the subject matter. ;)  

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Scrapping!

Graduation Day! Layout with Bella BLVD and Kiwi Lane

Hello!  It's my turn on the Kiwi Lane blog today with a two page layout I made using Bella Blvd's fabulous "Family Forever" paper collection.

Here's what my layout looked like when I framed my pages:

And here's my finished layout:

You'll notice that I did end up switching around some of my templates and adding in a few more between the time I framed my layout and when I got my finished product.  And that's ok!  It's all part of the process and one of the benefits of using Kiwi Lane's templates!

Ok, lets talk about this paper!  I'm a paper snob.  I'll admit it.  I rarely buy paper sight unseen (and weight untouched) because I like to know exactly what it feels like before I use it.  And if it's too thin or has a funky texture, I won't use it.  Plain and simple.  I hadn't used much from Bella Blvd in the last few years, and I always kind of hold my breath when I try a new-to-me manufacturer.  I was not disappointed in this paper!  It's a great weight- not too thin, not too thick- and is nice and smooth.  Why is texture so important to me?  I tend to do my journaling right on my pages and it's soooo difficult to write on paper that is super lumpy bumpy or has grooves in it.

So on to the paper collection... what can I say? Have you seen it's cuteness?!  I'm in love with the patterns, and I love how well they work together!  This collection has a bunch of colors and patterns going on, but so did my photos.  I thought they might clash, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it worked out!  I love how the colors of the photos are echoed in the "Family Forever" collection.  It's seriously a new favorite!

Templates:

Rings 1, 2, 3, 4

Clara Lane 1A &1B, 3A & 3B

Scallops 2A & 2B

Photos

Mini Photos

12" Strips

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Scrapping!

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!

Kiwi Lane's August Blog Hop!!

Wahoo! It's blog hop time!  You should have hopped over from Charity's blog, but if you happened to wander over from somewhere else, I highly recommend that you scurry on back to the beginning of this Kiwi Lane blog hop!  There's lots of fun to be had, a few prizes along the way and some awesome inspiration you won't want to miss!  If you happen to get lost along the way, here's the entire line-up:

1. Kiwi Lane Designs 

2. Barb 

3. Alicia 

4. Charity 

5. Gail (You are HERE!!)

6. Connie Wallenbrock  (Go HERE next!!)

7. Brittany 

8. Christina

Make sure you comment at every stop along the way- you'll be entered to win a $25 for the Kiwi Lane Shop (Yippee!!).  You have until 11:59 pm MDT Sunday August 24, 2014, to leave your comments.  One random commenter will be picked from one of the blogs on the hop.  The winner will be announced on the Kiwi Lane Blog on Monday, August 25th.  And there might be another little prize given away on this blog, too.  You'll just have to read all the way through to find out... :)

So, I always have a hard time picking a project to make for blog hops.  I feel like I need to show you some fun and new or exciting way to use the templates.  I was struggling to come up with something this time, so I started sorting through photos.  I found some that we took while visiting the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City a few years ago and it got my creativity going.  I decided to use my templates to create a wetlands scene, complete with birds.  You ready?  Here it is:

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill, American Crafts, Provo Craft, DCWV, We R Memory Keepers); patterned paper (My Mind's Eye, Scenic Route, Imaginisce, American Crafts); alphabet stickers (American Crafts); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); ink (Ranger); pen (Staedtler)

I'm so in love with those little birds!  I made them using the paisley and banner shapes in the Tiny Celebrate template set, and the wings were made using a leaf template from the Tiny Nature set.  I added black enamel dots for their eyes and drew some legs.  Cute, no?  I used the circles and ovals from the Tiny Shapes template set and the grass was done with the ice crystal shapes from the Winter and Tiny Holiday sets, along with a Tiny Wildflower template.  I used Martha Stewart fringe scissors to make the grass blades.  Here are some close ups of the birds:

And there you have it!  Don't forget to comment for a chance to win a $25 gift code to the Kiwi Lane Shop!

And as an added bonus, I'd like to giveaway a brand new pack of Tiny Celebrate templates (pictured above) to one lucky commenter on this blog.  Just make sure you tell me what the best part of your summer was (in your comment) to be eligible to win!  You can also follow my blog, if you'd like.  If you do, I'll give you a bonus entry in my giveaway- just tell me you are a new follower in your comment (or tell me that you're already a follower).  You have until 11:59 pm Sunday, August 24, 2014 to get your comment submitted.  I'll announce the winner here on my blog on Tuesday, August 26th.

Thanks for stopping by!  Head on over to Connie's blog to continue hopping!

Templates:
Tiny Celebrate 5T, 7T, 8T
Celebrate 5
Tiny Nature 1T
Tiny Wildflower 5T
Tiny Shapes 3T, 4T, 7T, 8T
Tiny Holiday 3T
Paisley Place 1A & 1B
Sunnybrook Lane 1A & 1B
Winter 1
Photos