Cardmaking with Peek-A-Boo You | Pebbles

Hello blogging friends!

I am celebrating World Cardmaking Day today with some adorable cards I created with the new Pebbles Peek-A-Boo You collection. This collection is perfect for baby boys and girls.

Cardmaking is easy when you can cut journal cards from pattern paper as I did here. The card sentiment is already there for you so you don't need stamps either. This first card uses just one pattern paper for the background. I used some metal dies to give this stork journal card a unique shape as well as for the doily I layered underneath. A pretty bow and some washi tape add a few more delicate details.

Cardmaking doesn't need to be hard. For this card I picked two pattern papers that coordinated well together to create this card background and placed a journal card on top. I added a delicate butterfly to accent the card sentiment.

How about three pattern papers... I used two for the background and added a third for the scallop punched border. Some ribbon, butterflies, and sprigs of leaves are perfect for baby girl cards.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!
~Marcia


Supplies:
734198 Peek-A-Boo You - Girl - Follow You Dreams
734203 Peek-A-Boo You - Girl - Special Delivery
734200 Peek-A-Boo You - Girl - Little One
734201 Peek-A-Boo You - Girl - Baby Love Girl
734204 Peek-A-Boo You - Boy - Adventure Calls
734205 Peek-A-Boo You - Boy - Jungle Stripes
734206 Peek-A-Boo You - Boy - Be Wild
734207 Peek-A-Boo You - Boy - Baby Love Boy
734209 Peek-A-Boo You - Boy - Jungle Adventure
736760 Peek-A-Boo You - Girl - Washi Tape
736763 Peek-A-Boo You - Girl - Stamps
Sticky Thumb DotsSticky Thumb Tape Runner

Marcia Helen - Cocoa Vanilla Studios

Hello blogging friends!!

I am back with a vintage layout showcasing the beautiful Cocoa Vanilla Studios Love Always collection. While this collection is perfect for documenting weddings and the babies we love, I wanted to use it for this old photograph of myself at age 2. The soft colors combined with some bold black perfectly sets off this hand colored sepia toned photo.

 

All the beautiful embellishments in the Love Always collection make me swoon! I think the vellum accents are my favorite, but the die cut ephemera and the bits and pieces  are not far behind with pretty resin pieces, ribbon flowers, and matching sequins. And don't get me started on the beautiful butterflies... I love this butterfly flair button! To add to the vintage feel, I cut a couple delicate corner scrolls to frame my photo. I couldn't resist adding some vellum leaves to soften it more. I smudged some gesso on the edges to make set them off a bit more.

 

 

I used the sticker alphas in the collection for my title. I love the ombre effect on the letters. My middle name comes from my godmother ... one of my favorite aunties.

 

The bitty blooms are perfect for adding a little dimension.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!
 ~Marcia

Basic Grey Dear Heart Banner and Xyron

Hello blogging friends!

I am sharing a wedding idea today. When my daughter got married she wanted a vintage suitcase to hold the cards guests brought. I made a banner to hang on the suitcase so people would know the suitcase was for cards. It was perfect for her retro themed wedding.  Well, I've had a request to borrow the suitcase for another wedding ... I decided to make a new banner for the bride so she could keep it. I used the soft and romantic Dear Heart collection from Basic Grey and my Xyron adhesive.

I just tied the ends of the ribbon on the suitcase clips for display. This suitcase was slightly larger than a laptop bag if that gives you an idea for size.

Let me show you how I created the banner.

Supplies:

Basic Grey Dear Heart papers and stickers

Xyron 9" Creative Station with permanent adhesive

Xyron 3" Sticker Maker

Silhouette Cameo

Digital file for the banner

Hole Punch

Step 1.  I found a banner in the Silhouette On-line Store and cut out enough for 5 pennants.

Step 2.  I ran the pink pieces and green scallop pieces though my new Xyron 9" Creative Station.

Step 3.  After adhering the pink pennants on top of the scallop base piece, I punched 2 holes at the top.

Step 4.  Weave a long piece of ribbon through each hole, leaving lots of length on both ends for hanging.

Step 5.  Adhere the green scallop border at the top over the ribbon.

Step 6.   Take a piece of white cardstock slightly wider than a small doily die and run it through a Xyron 3" Sticker Maker. I love taking these with me on crops!

Step 7.  Peel off the plastic sheet on top. Place your doily die on top and run through your die cutting machine.

Step 8.  Peel the doily off it's adhesive sheet and adhere to the banner. I love that if I apply the adhesive first and then die cut, I have no adhesive residue to clean up in the doily holes. Now place a letter sticker in the middle. Embellish with other stickers if you like.

Here is what my suitcase looks like closed. It was originally a blue suitcase. I spray painted it black. The inside was also blue and not very pretty looking. I applied some gold contact paper inside to cover up the blue and added a few stick on gems.

Thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to check out the Xyron Facebook page all week to see what our other designers have been making. 

~Marcia

Anna Griffin Cards - Xyron tutorial

Hello blogging friends!

I have a couple of cards to share today that I created with the Anna Griffin Pretty Paintings Card Making Kit and Xyron adhesive. Not yet available for purchase, this gorgeous kit is going to be featured on HSN on September 8th. The coordinating pieces of this kit make it easy to create beautiful cards. Take a look at what I created ....

Having gold fever of late, I added a gold die cut doily to the first and ornate gold flourishes to the second. I adhered these die cuts to the cards using the new Xyron Creative Station. Let me show you the best way to adhere intricate cuts like these...

Supplies you will need:
Xyron new Creative Station with 9" and 5" permanent adhesive
Xyron Mega Runner
Xyron Adhesive Dots
Anna Griffin Pretty Paintings Card Making Kit
American Crafts Gold Foil Cardstock
Metal dies

Step 1.  I ran a piece of gold foil paper through my Xyron Creative Station with the 5" permanent adhesive loaded inside. I love being able to use the same machine with 5" and 9" adhesive rolls.

Step 2.  Peel off the top plastic sheet and arrange metal dies on foil paper. Place the die cut sandwich into your die cut machine and roll it through.

Step 3.  Do the same with the doily die.

Step 4.  Placing the adhesive on the paper first, means that when you peel off the paper backing, no adhesive residue needs to be weeded out.

Step 5.  Place the die cuts in the center of the cards. I elevated the middle panel using foam.

Step 6.  There is a separate sheet of paper with the sentiment that needs to folded in half and inserted inside the cards.

Step 7.   I used my Xyron Mega Runner to adhere the sentiment paper to the inside of the card.

Step 8.   Add other die cut pieces and ribbon from the card making kit. Xyron adhesive dots are the best way to adhere the ribbons.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Marcia

Sugar & Spice, Lots of Spice - Cocoa Vanilla Studios

Hello blogging friends! I have a soft and sweet layout using the gorgeous Cocoa Vanilla Studios Sugar & Spice collection to share today. This layout was actually something I envisioned making when I first received the collection...I just had so many other things I wanted to create with it though, lol. To add to the softness, I used a white background. The top of the layout has this pretty heart cut file from Kerri Bradford Studios. I filled some of the negative spaces with bits of patterned paper. This is a great way to use up some scraps. Here is my layout....

   

 Here is a detail shot of the cut file with the beautiful pattern papers...

   

Now some girls may be all Sugar & Spice, but I know this particular girl is lots more spice, lol. Can't you just see it in those mischievous eyes. Here is my title. I splattered the background with ink and used those fabulous wood veneer pieces from the collection to embellish.

   

I love the flair in the collection as well. I couldn't resist using some here too.

 

Just one more shot....

 

I hope you enjoyed my layout today. Have a great week!
~Marcia

Homemade - 2015 Resolutions - Imaginisce

Hello blogging friends. I have an Imaginisce layout to share with you, the first for the year as part of the new design team! Our assignment... Create a layout about "New Beginnings". I had a hard time deciding what to scrap with the Imaginisce Family Fun collection. I finally decided on one of my 2015 resolutions.

I am not one to normally make new resolutions for the new year. If you feel something needs to change, why wait for the new year. Do it now! My husband is gluten intolerant (on top of his other food allergies) and I have been preparing gluten free meals for him. But I also have been preparing meals loaded with gluten too for the rest of us. Can you blame me? Have you tasted store bought gluten free bread or crackers? Yuck! It's like eating cardboard. And anything labeled Gluten Free in the store is 2-3 times more expensive. Well, my husband has not been very good at sticking to his diet with all the temptation around. So I am trying to prepare more things that he can eat. I made gluten free chocolate chip cookies the other day and they were good enough my kids did not suspect they were gluten free! I have also been experimenting with bread recipes. I want to be able to make a decent gluten free loaf of bread in my bread machine. I had lots of success with the this bread machine mix I found at Whole Foods. Now to see if I can make one from scratch! The other food resolution I have is to eat green.... I am not talking salads here. Eating green means you are aware of where your food comes from. If your food has to travel half way around the world to get to you what impact does that have on our environment? Eating foods in season and grown locally is much greener for the environment. 

Homemade Bread and with raspberry jelly I made with berries I picked last summer....Umm Ummm! The Family Fun collection has some fabulous die-cuts and stickers for kitchen scrapping.

I used my i-Top to create my own brads and add some dimension to my layout. Super easy to do.

Supplies:

Imaginisce: Pattern Paper, Die Cuts, Stickers (Family Fun collection), 

Imaginisce I-Top, small and medium brad daddies

American Crafts: cardstock

Have you made any 2015 Resolutions? My son just asked me to make more of those gluten free cookies! Wow!!
Have a great week, its almost TGIF!
~Marcia

The Sweetest Tradition - Pebbles Home For Christmas

Hello blogging friends,  Are you baking Christmas cookies, or decorating a Gingerbread House this year? Pebbles has an adorable Christmas collection that is perfect for scrapping those snapshots and more. I have an amazing friend that creates several gingerbread houses from scratch every year (30-40 houses!). Then she and her daughters host gingerbread decorating parties. She supplies all the candy and frosting too. It was such a fun time I had to scrap a layout about it. 

I used the Imaginisce Milk Paint to make this awesome die cut from 17Turtles look like peppermint candies. You just mix a little bit of the pink powdered paint with some water and apply with a paint brush. Save your packaging as they make awesome paint trays! Note...I painted my die cut before I adhered it to my layout and took this picture afterward. Go check out the 17Turtles etsy shop to see more of Juliana's cut files. You won't be disappointed.

I didn't want to cover up too much of my peppermint candy die cut background, so I created an interactive layout using some washi tape. The photo flips open, like a book. This way I could add more pictures underneath. Look at my decorated Gingerbread House, complete with a sleigh, snowman, trees, a little doggie, and Santa climbing down the chimney! 

 

It was so great to get together with my girlfriends. 

 

Supplies:

Pebbles: Pattern Papers, Stickers, Die Cuts (Home For Christmas)

American Crafts: cardstock

Imaginisce: Milk Paint

17Turtles Peppermint Parade cut file

Love My Tapes washi tape

October Afternoon Alphas

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

~Marcia