In late June, we travelled out west for our son’s wedding. My daughter and her family planned a few side trips while we were there, and Drumheller was their first destination. Drumheller, Alberta, is located northeast of Calgary. It is known as the dinosaur capital of the world, and it was a huge hit with our grandchildren!
I chose the Roarsome title from Peartree Cutfiles to showcase a picture from their trip. I loved the addition of the dinosaur on top and wanted to make it a bit whimsical as I designed the layout. The patterned papers in the title come from an older Carta Bella Paper Co collection aptly entitled Dinosaurs.
While I backed the words in the title, I chose to lift the pieces of the dinosaur by securing a piece of black fun foam underneath each piece to create dimension and the illusion of flight. I added green googly eyes to the dinosaur to enhance the whimsical feel of the layout. Once the title was complete, both the picture and title adhered to the fun background paper 12″ Life in Color Bricks. This background page also belongs to an older BoBunny collection called Life in Color.
The final elements of the layout came together quite quickly. The “vacay” puffy phrase and accent stickers came from a Vicki Boutin collection of Thickers called Loving This. The date and location of the picture were documented with Doodlebug Design Inc.’s teensy-type stickers.
And there you have it, a simple and whimsical page that focuses the attention on the picture and title. Thanks for stopping by today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!
This layout is very special to me. I designed it as a birthday gift for one of my life-long friends, Gail, who was celebrating a milestone birthday. We’ve been through decades together, and she’s been there for me through thick and thin. While there may be a few years difference in ages, we’ve had fun together as if we were classmates growing up together. It turned out that we both married the man of our dreams the same year. Coincidently, our husbands share the same first name. The picture in this layout comes from our mutually celebrated 25th wedding anniversary trip to Italy. A dream come true for all four of us!
I used the Hey Bestie cut file from Cut to You as the centrepiece for this design. The cut file was cut from white cardstock and then pierced with a paper piercer to allow a stitched border.
The letters were stitched with pale peach embroidery floss and the heart with pale blue. Cocoa Vanilla Studio’s, These Days, coordinating patterned paper, was used to backfill the letters in the title.
I created a shaker pocket for the heart and added some sequin mix from Cocoa Vanilla’sDaydream collection. These sequins coordinated with this collection beautifully. At this stage, the title was set aside. The background paper for this design came from a Vicki Boutin collection of Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper pads. The gold, pink, and peach background was a stunning backdrop for this completed title. In preparation for securing the title to the page, it was backed with Foam Sticky Strips from Taylored Expressions. The photo was placed on a coordinating patterned paper used in backing the title. Once I was happy with the positioning of each, they were both secured to the page.
The page was completed by adding various coordinating embellishments from the These Days collection. The flower cluster, seen at the top left of the photo, was created using various elements from the Floral Ephemera pack. The yellow butterfly was used from the Die Cut Ephemera pack and the small colour-coordinated hearts came from the Puffy Stickers collection. The final embellishments added were the gold heart and the YOU ARE SO LOVED phrase to the bottom right of the title.
When the layout was complete, it was placed in a white shadow box before it was gifted to Gail. She loved her gift and the beautiful reminder of our special friendship. I hope you have at least one friend this special. Here’s to girlfriends everywhere!
Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!
I recently had the pleasure of going away for an extended weekend of scrapping time with several of my dear crafting friends. There’s nothing quite like time spent with those that share and encourage your crafting passion! It’s been far too long since we’ve had this opportunity, and I hope this is the beginning of many opportunities to come.
This layout was one of several I created during my time away. I chose beautiful coordinating papers from Vicki Boutin’sFernwood collection to showcase this lovely photo. The colours were a perfect complement for the photograph, and I liked how the zigzag pattern mimics the mountain range in the photo’s background.
I used the Life is One Big Adventure cut file from Peartree Cutfiles for this layout. I chose three coordinating papers from the Fernwood collection to complete the title. I wanted a little texture in the title, so I backed the letters for the word BIG with double-sided adhesive foam and secured them on top of the cut file.
At this stage, I was still looking to add more texture to this layout. I sprinkled black paint across the page and title to create this texture. This effect strengthened the black elements in the layout and helped to enhance more of an overall masculine feel.
Once the paint dried, I added several chipboard elements to complement and complete the page. These chipboard elements belong to the Thickers, Beautiful Day collection, designed specifically for the Fernwood collection. The date was added in the bottom right-hand corner using Doodlebug Designs – my type stickers.
And that’s a wrap on this quick and easy page! Thanks for stopping in today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!
Meet Stella. She belongs to my future Daughter-in-Law, Tanis. Stella is one of the biggest cuddlers I’ve met to date. Stella lives to be in your lap, bed, or, as you can see, your book! On our last trip out west to visit, Stella spent a great deal of time in my lap. And I loved every second of it. But don’t get the wrong impression, Stella gives as much as she gets! Who wouldn’t want to spend their day giving and getting love?!
When I saw this picture of Stella begging for some more “me time”, I knew it needed to be scrapbooked. Lucky for me Paige Evans, who also gives so much to her crafting community, provided a free Sketch and Stitch cut file in her Facebook GroupPaige Evans – Happy Scrappy Place. The specific cut file is named Time Spent With Cats, and the link should take you to Dropbox to download it. I knew I would stitch the cut file in black embroidery floss to match Stella. I needed a background paper that complimented the black stitching and was sturdy enough to withstand the extensive stitching process. Vicki Boutin‘s Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper met all the criteria. The beautiful pink background was a lovely complement to the black, and it also provided a fun mixed media look without having to do all the work. This particular background came from Vicki’s Color Study collection.
I chose to resize the cut file a bit smaller than the original design. The stitching took quite some time to complete, but I find the process very relaxing and the results very rewarding. It was fun to watch the shape of the cat come to life as the stitching progressed.
To keep in line with the black and pink design, I sought out embellishments in these colours to complete the layout. The ephemera banner directly below Stella’s picture comes from a black and white paper collection from Echo Park called Capture Life. The three adorable black kittens found on the page come from a die-cut set from Impression Obsession called Cat Set (KIE083-K). Stella’s name was incorporated using Thickers Puffy Letter Stickers called Starlight. I’ve had this set of Thickers for some time. The combination of pink, white, and black letters fit perfectly in this layout. The final touch was including the pink Baby Hearts by Doodlebug Designs.
This page brings a smile to my face every time I look at it. I hope it brings a smile to yours as well! Thanks for joining me today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!
I love the downtime between Christmas and New Years Day. For me, it’s a time to relax and work on some Christmas layouts. Today’s scrapbook layout focuses on my son Sean, and his fiance, Tanis. With Sean’s career choice, it seems they spend more time apart than together. So when opportunities to slip away to spend precious time together arise, they seize the day. Just before Christmas, they spend a wonderful weekend in Canmore, Alberta. These two love every second they spend in the mountains, regardless of the time of year. You can see it in their faces in this beautiful photo.
I picked the gorgeous Patterned Christmas Trees cut file from Peartree Cutfiles as the central focus for this layout. I chose this cut file because it represented the beautiful treed background in the photo and the holiday season. I also turned to Peartree Cutfiles for the title Anywhere With You. It seemed so fitting as Sean and Tanis are getting married next year.
All cut files on this layout were backed with gorgeous patterned papers from the Joyful collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. Once the cut files were complete, I adhered them to the background paper. I chose a coordinating Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper from Vicki Boutin’s Color Study collection. I love how the green background mimics a forest background.
Once the picture and cut files were in place, the rest of the layout came together quickly. The cute woodland animals, gifts and branches (around the title) all came from the Joyful Die-Cut Ephemera pack. Gold-Glitter Puffy Stars, also from the Joyful collection, were used to embellish the top of each patterned tree. They are gorgeous fabric embellishments that add a lovely texture, dimension, and feel to the overall layout.
The final touch was placing the ALL I want for Christmas banner directly below the picture. This phrase is so representative of these two beauties. All they do want is time together!
Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I hope you’ve had some time to enjoy your hobby this holiday season. I wish all of you a very Happy New Year! May 2022 be the year we start to get ahead of this pandemic!
Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!
With summer just around the corner, it’s time to share a highlight from summer 2020. We’ve just come out of a very long lockdown and I can’t wait to make some fun memories this summer with my family and friends! This photo is one of my favourites from last summer as it captures 3 generations. We get so busy having fun together that we often forget to pause for a minute to take some pictures. This picture includes me, my daughter and granddaughter on a beautiful summer day at the cottage – our favourite place to be in the warm weather! I’m so thrilled that Marcy Milly SVG designed thegirls! cut file. It was exactly what I was looking for! This title lends itself to so many possibilities – sisters, reunions, weddings, sororities, girls night out, and many more – so many options!
I decided to use the Vicki Boutin Color Study paper, ephemera, and stickers for this layout. The bright bold colours remind me of beautiful summer days. I cut the title in Fushia cardstock and then offset the title 2 separate times to layer it in coordinating (orange and teal) cardstock. This also helps draw more attention to the title cut file. Once my picture was printed and matted I added fun foam to the back of the cut file to pop it up further and to create some dimension on the layout.
The rest of the layout came together quite quickly. Several embellishments came from the Vicki Boutin Color Study Journal Ephemera and Icon Ephemera packages. I also utilized a sticker (This is the Stuff That Matters) and the gold foil dots came from the 6 x 12 Sticker sheets that belong to the same collection. The date was added using teal glitter foam letter stickers from Thickers called Sunny.
As we start to see daylight in this pandemic, I hope the summer of 2021 is one of love and laughter for you. I can’t wait to hug so many important people in my life!! And don’t forget to grab pictures of your reunions and events that bring us back together. This is going to be a summer to celebrate!
Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!
Thank goodness Spring has finally arrived in all its glory! Our gardens are beginning to grow and we can look forward to beautiful summer days ahead. These two beauties make me smile every day. They are my perpetual garden that just keeps blessing me day after day. The Bouquet of Roses cut file from Marcy and Milly SVG was a perfect fit for this recent photo. It is a 3 layer cut file and I found it very easy to assemble.
The pink blossoms in the photo and the peach in my granddaughter’s shirt were the inspiration for the colours in this layout. I chose the soft peach/pink combination background from the Vicki Boutin Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper pad entitled Enjoy Today. I love these papers, they have beautiful colour combinations and a lovely texture. They are also perfect for scrapbookers like me who remain a bit intimidated by the whole mixed media process! I matched the colours of the roses in the cut file to this pretty background paper.
To create some texture and dimension on this layout I cut the base leaf section of this cut file twice. The bottom level is sage coloured (formally the Green/Black paper) and came from the Carta Bella Flower Garden coordinating cardstock package. The top leaf level was cut from the backside of the 3×4 Journaling Cards paper found in the same collection. I liked the small flecks of white in this patterned paper. These papers were layered one over the other. To create the dimension, small foam squares were added between the leaf layers in the areas that fell outside of the centre roses.
As I create a layout I usually get all the elements ready first before committing to adhering them in place. This allows me to move things around and decide on the final positioning and determining if anything else should be added. I always find that the final layout is not exacting what I envisioned at the beginning. This process is something I love about creating, it allows me to continually grow and develop skills. When I laid out the cut file and photo on this beautiful background paper, I felt the edges of the layout were missing something. There was just too much white space on the borders for my liking. I settled on a stitched border to fill this void. I’ve stitched for many years and find it very relaxing and rewarding. It also provides another level of texture to the completed layout. To create this border I altered the Stitched Diamonds cut file from COAPA Cut Files. I removed all the cut lines from the centre of the file to leave the scalloped border. This scalloped border was stitched using DMC floss that coordinated with the background paper and roses. I used colours 605, 760, 893 and 895. I changed the colour for each singular scallop, so it did take a bit of time to complete the border. I feel this border helped pull the whole page together.
With the border completed the photo and cut file were added to the page. It was at this stage that I added the foam adhesive squares to the leaves. The final touches included adding the title and date using Thickers Happy Life foam letter stickers. These pale rose coloured stickers blended in beautifully.
I’m so glad you stopped by today and I hope I’ve inspired you to create with this gorgeous cut file! Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!
Do you remember the game Twister? Did you ever think of playing it with shaving cream….on a water trampoline? Well, these crazy cousins thought it would be a lot of fun, and they were right! These beauties, and several more, got together on a perfect summer day in Muskoka to celebrate family and friendship. The pictures speak for themselves, a great time was had by all!
My second Design Team layout for Marcy Milly SVG is designed around the Great Idea cut file. When I first saw this cut file, so many ideas and possibilities went through my head. I love the light bulbs in this title and knew instantly that I could turn them into shaker boxes. As I pondered different ideas I was drawn back to this fun day in July 2018 when these cousins got together for some fun. Of all the games they played that day, the Shaving Cream Twister, on top of a floating trampoline, was the best!
My process to create this layout began in Silhouette Studio where I imported the Great Idea cut file and the photos I planned on using. By resizing these elements in the software program first, I can create a page map to complete the layout before anything is cut or printed. Once I settled on the design of the page, the selected pictures were printed and put aside while I focused on the cut file.
I chose colours for the title that matched the coloured circles on the Twister mat – red, blue, yellow and green. The offset tool in Silhouette was used to cut and back these letters. To create the light bulb shaker boxes, the knife tool in Silhouette Studio was used to separate the light bulb from each of the words. I also used this tool to cut away the filament to ensure the inside shaker had more room for sequins and movement. Once completed, this allowed me to cut 5 more copies of each light bulb from black cardstock without having to cut the full title out multiple times. These multiple layers of bulbs created the pockets required to turn the bulbs into shaker elements. I then traced the bulb section onto clear transparency film and cut two copies for each bulb. The transparency sections were glued to the bottom and top levels. The bottom parts of the bulbs were backed with shiny silver cardstock on the top light bulbs only. Next, all layers of the bulbs – except the tops – were glued together to create the pockets to hold the gold sequin mix. Once the gold sequin mix was in place, the top and final layer was glued in place. Here are some closeups of the completed light bulbs.
The background paper for this layout is called Box of Crayons from Shimelle. The bold repetitive circles were a perfect fit for the game Twister. To play up the whimsy of this layout, I expanded on the title using small white Thickers to complete the “It seemed like a GREAT IDEA at the time!” phrase. A large circular die was used from Lawn Fawn’s Large Stitched Circle Stackables to create a space for hand journaling. All of the cardstock embellishments came from the Hello Friend – Silver Holographic Chipboard Stickers that coordinate with the Vicki Boutin StoryTeller collection. The small colourful directional arrows complemented the spinner board within the Twister game. The hello Summer sticker came from a collection with the same name by Lori Whitlock and was added to the top right of the large photo. The sticker helps draw your eyes towards the action in the picture.
Are you tempted to pull out that old Twister game now?! Thanks for stopping by to share the fun today, and be sure to stop by MarcyMillySVG to pick up this fun cut file. I’d love to see what you do with it! Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!
DDDesignz 