9.28.2014

The Studio || Scraplift Challenge

Hey, everyone!!
 
Today's challenge at The Studio is a really fun one! We want you scraplift a member of our design team.  All the design team ladies picked another designer to scraplift for this challenge.  I chose to scraplift the amazing Tessa Buys.  Her layout for the August Tic-Tac-Toe challenge immediately caught my eye and I knew that I wanted to lift it.  Here's her layout:

Here's my take on it:
I kept most of the elements the same (why mess with a good thing?), but did add in that thick strip of paper across the top.  I wanted to bring in a bit more color to my layout and I just really love that patterned paper and was looking for an excuse to use it.  ;-)
 
I hope you can stop on by The Studio and play along with this month's challenges!
 
Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants; Alphas: Pink Paislee, Simple Stories; Diecuts: Fancy Pants, Heidi Swapp; Enamel Dots: Doodlebug Design; Wooden Stars: Studio Calico; Mist: Heidi Swap; Sewing Template: We R Memory Keepers

9.23.2014

My Last Queen & Company Share!

Hey, everyone!  My last layout for my guest designer work is up on the Queen & Company Facebook page today.  It was made with the Darling Diva collection, which I totally fell in love with.  The colors and patterns in that line were just awesome!  Here's what I made:

A lot of "white space" on this one, but I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out.

And with that, my time with Queen & Company is over.  I had such a blast designing for them and am truly grateful for the awesome experience!

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Cut file: Heidi Swapp; Everything else: Queen & Company

9.22.2014

Scrappy Blog Tour!

Hey, everyone!! Have y'all seen the fun scrappy blog tour that's been happening in Blogland over the last few weeks?  I was lucky enough to have Jody "tag" me last week. Make sure you stop by her blog to be inspired - she's my Co-Captain for the Clique Kits design team and I'm having so much fun getting to know her!

Okay, here it goes...

1.  What am I working on right now?
I've been playing with my October Clique Kit.  I love this kit - it's colorful and fun and I think it will be a big hit!


2.  How long does it take me to create a project?
Hmmm...I'm usually a pretty fast scrapper.  Most pages take me about 30-45 minutes.  But I get distracted easily, too.  So, sometimes when I'm watching TV and scrapping it will take me well over an hour to create a layout or Project Life spread!

3.  What are my favorite things to create with at the moment?
-Enamel Dots
-Wood Veneers
-Paint/Mists/And I've been experimenting with Gelatos
-Sequins
-Doilies
-Tags
-My Tiny Attacher

4.  How does my writing/creative process work?
For my creative process, I usually pick the photo first and find products to coordinate with them nicely.  I also pick embellishments that I am attracted to and move them around A LOT before gluing/stapling everything down.  As far as writing, I do not do a lot of journaling on my layouts.  I think a lot of my pages speak for themselves.  If not, I usually just write a tiny blurb.  I create layouts for relaxation and an emotional release (and I do not like my handwriting very much!).  However, I write a lot more on my Project Life spreads.  I love having a recap of my weeks.  I started PL last year and I've already gone back a few times to see what I was doing at-this-time-last-year.  So cool!

5.  How do I become inspired and stay inspired?
Like most people, Pinterest is a big source of my inspiration.  When I get in a rut, I love to look at layouts by others that I find inspirational to try to get some new ideas or to encourage myself to try new techniques.  I also love to look at sketches and figure out how to modify them to fit my own style.

6.  What is my signature style?
This is always a hard question for me.  My style is usually pretty simple and  colorful.  I love bright colors on white or neutral backgrounds and I leave a lot of empty space.  I almost always use a sprinkling of paint/mist and sequins/wood veneers.  I love to get messy, but I don't think I have quite mastered the messy look.  I'll keep trying, though.  Here are some of my favorite layouts that I've created:

From 2010:

 From 2011:

 From 2012:

From 2013:

From this year:

And now, I get to "tag" some of the scrappers that inspire me most (and they will be answering these same questions on their blogs next Monday):

-Tessa Buys:  I have always loved her work.  I was super excited when I was able to work with her on The Studio.  Her layouts are clean, yet colorful.  I love her graphic pages and she is one of the designers I scraplift most when I'm in a rut.  In fact, my 2012 layout above was done for a sketch challenge at The Studio that was based off of one of her layouts!

-Elizabeth Hellum:  I love to stop by her little corner of the Blogosphere.  Like Tessa, her layouts are also very clean.  She works wonderfully with patterns and she is always sharing inspiring papercrafts.

-Anna White-SharmanAnna is my leader on The Studio design team.  Her style is so much fun - so bright and colorful and she works with patterns so well - I'm jealous of her skills!

Thanks so much for stopping by to get to know me a little better.  And I do hope that you will check out the other ladies mentioned in this post - all us creative types have got to stick together and support each other!  :o)

**For individual layout product lists, click on the hyperlink to take you to the original layout post.**

9.18.2014

Beach Girls || Queen & Co

Hey, everyone!!
 
I have another layout to share for Queen & Company today.  I cut up some of their fun journaling card paper to highlight a photo of my friend and I at the beach:
 
I had a lot of fun with this one - mainly because of the color combo.  Turquoise and orange is one of my favorite combos and I think those two colors combined just make the happiest pages.  I also had a lot of fun with that Heidi Swapp circle mask.  And isn't the wooden fish pretty much the cutest thing ever?!
 
What's your favorite color combo to scrap with?
 
Cardstock: Bazzill; Wooden Alphas: Recollections; Mask: Heidi Swapp; Everything Else: Queen & Co

9.16.2014

Simple Does It...

Hey, everyone!  I am popping in real quickly to share a layout that I made this past weekend.  It seriously only took me about 20 minutes to make...and that was because I was measuring to make sure that things were properly centered (which is usually something I do not do...)
 
 
I have been loving these stars from Studio Calico and really wanted to use them on a layout.  Finally, I decided on a design that would make them the star of the show (not trying to be punny...not really).  This has become one of my go-to layout designs when I'm feeling a little bit stuck.  I sort of love it, though.  It's simple and easy, and I usually end up loving the results.
 
What's your go-to layout design?
 
Cardstock: Bazzill; Stars: Hello Forever; Patterned Paper: Paislee Press; Wood Veneers: Heidi Swapp, Studio Calico; Sequins: Studio Calico; Banner: Heidi Swapp; Blue Paper Borders: Doodlebug Design; Staples: Tim Holtz

9.14.2014

The Studio || Sketch Challenge

Hi, everyone!
 
For today's challenge over at The Studio, we have a lovely sketch created by Valerie.  Her sketch is based off the button layout that our August Guest Designer, Kerry Bruce, created.
 
Here is the sketch: 
 
Fun right?  I rotated the sketch a bit to fit my needs and here is what I created:
That circle threw me a little bit.  I'm still not sure I totally like how I incorporated it, but it will do.  I used one of my favorite color combos on this layout: red and turquoise.  It's a trusty color combo that I think always looks good.
 
Hop on over to The Studio to see what the other ladies created and to play along!
 
Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Teresa Collins; Vellum, Alphas: American Crafts; Transparency: Hambly; Washi Tape; Tim Holtz; Chipboard Stars, Wooden Arrow, Mist: Studio Calico; Enamel Shapes: Doodlebug Design; Diecut Tab, "Smile" Stamp: October Afternoon; Badge: Hello Forever

9.07.2014

Project Life Update and a Clique Kits Challenge

Hey, everyone!  I hope you have had a wonderful weekend.  It's been very rainy and overcast here, but sometimes I like those weekends...there's an excuse to be unproductive!
 
I wanted to share a few Project Life spreads with you and let you know about the current challenge at Clique Kits.  Basically, this month's challenge is to create....anything :-).  Pretty easy, right?  If you have products from this month's sponsor, Pinkfresh Studio, then use them...if not, that's okay, too.  The winner of this month's challenge gets a goody bag full of Pinkfresh Studio awesomeness.
 
My first PL spread uses some of Pinkfresh Studio's awesome wood veneer hearts...and some of Simple Stories' DIY Collection, which can be found in the Clique Kits Simple Stories Store.  I love  that stuff...so bright and colorful!  Psst, if you see anything in the store that you like, use the code KAT10 to get a 10% discount!

My Week 35 spread features some Heidi Swapp and Becky Higgins goodness.  I had NO idea that they had teamed up to create mini kits until I was in Michael's last weekend...awesome surprise!

 
 
And thanks to my rainy weekend, I am right back to where I want to be with my 2014 Project Life!  Have a happy week!
 
Week 34: Page Protector: Becky Higgins: Design A; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Journaling Cards: Hello Forever, Studio Calico, Ali Edwards; Alphas: Simple Stories, Studio Calico; Labels: Simple Stories; Wood Veneer: Pinkfresh Studio, Studio Calico; Enamel Stickers: Doodlebug Design; "Documented" Tab, Flair, Plastic Diecuts: Hello Forever; Staples: Tim Holtz
 
Week 35: Page Protectors: Becky Higgins (Designs A & I); Journaling Cards: Studio Calico, Becky Higgins, Heidi Swapp; Chipboard Shapes: Studio Calico; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Alphas: Amy Tangerine; Stickers: Simple Stories; Mist: Heidi Swapp; Staples: Tim Holtz

9.05.2014

Curtsey Boutique Favor Bags

Hey, everyone!
 
I am popping in to share some favor bags that I made for the Curtsey Boutique.  They were so quick and easy to make!
 

CarrieAnne's felt butterflies are already embellished beautifully so it was easy for me to just attach them to a doily with a sentiment tag and use them to top a brown paper bag...these bags only took minutes to make and I think they ended up looking pretty cute. 
 
Supplies: Bags, Tags, Buterflies, Doilies: The Curtsey Boutique; Sentiment Stamp: October Afternoon

9.02.2014

Queen & Company in Coin Pockets...

I have been eyeing coin pocket pages for a while.  If you've followed along with my blog for a bit you know that I love making pocket pages, but I've never used coin pockets.  I used my guest designer stint at Queen & Company to finally experiment a little bit...
 
I used the Darling Diva line to showcase photos of my niece from the day she was born until she turned 1.  As a side note, I love the monthly photo idea...
Have you made any coin pockets recently?  If so, leave a link...I'd love to see!!
 
Supplies: Sequins: Studio Calico; Staples: Tim Holtz; Cardstock: Bazzill; Wooden Letters: Recollections; Everything Else: Queen & Company

9.01.2014