Melanie is our Friday girl today!

Melanie Jarocki is here on this fabulous Friday with a couple of card and a couple of layouts to share.  

Oh Snap Card

The camera cut-up from the Exit Here collection was perfect for this sentiment with belated birthday wishes. In addition to the Exit Here papers and die cuts, I used the red mini letters from Nikki's collection, twine from The Twinery, and an SRM sticker sentiment. 

#1 Fan Layout

My little guy gets toted around to his older siblings sports events all year. So I thought it would be fitting to make a layout documenting that he is their #1 fan. The Noah Collection provided the perfect game-day colors and images for the layout. I love all the die-cuts and cut-outs in Nikki's collections. They make for the perfect page embellishments. I also used my Slice to cut out the #1 and then used a white gel pen to fill it in. I added in some more pen outlines in red, white stitching, and edge-inking to finish off the page.

Celebrate Card

My daughter was attending a friend's birthday party and asked me to make a card for her. Her friend, Cora, loves ballet and bright colors. So, I turned to the Audrey collection for it's colors and feminine patterns. The ballerina image was cut with my Slice machine. I added some yellow tulle and beading with Beacon's 3-in-1 adhesive to make the dancer's tutu. (BTW, I saw Cora and her dad the next day. Cora told me how much she loved the card, and even her dad mentioned that it was really neat. LOL).

Always Layout

I broke from my traditional 12x12 format and made an 8-1/2x11 layout for this photo of my son. I used the Messages collection to match the photo's outdoor, masculine image. But because of the message I wanted to convey, I added in the heart images to form a visual triangle around the page. 

Well that was a lot of goodness to share right there!  Thanks Melanie for taking the "holiday" spot on the blog!  

Be sure to visit Melanie's blog also to see what she has been up to.

Katrina with some Alpha Sticker Fun

Hey everyone, it's Katrina here just sharing some layouts with you!  I have one from Exit Here and a couple from the Noah collection.  Also, I am going to show you how you can mix all those fun alphas from the alpha sticker sheets that are in the collections.

We Call Road Trip

The dogs love taking car rides most of the time (as long as they don't know it's a "v.e.t." trip!) and they also like going to get Andy's Frozen Custard!  So, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of them hanging out the back of my Element in the parking lot waiting for their custard!  Exit Here was the perfect collection for this...since they are calling a road trip for ice cream!  (BTW...we have four dogs now, this was before the puppy.)  This is an 8.5 x 11 layout, which is a size that was perfect for the photo strip I created.

I love to mix the alphas!

Adding little touches  with the Cute as a Button Burlap Buttons and with layering the punch outs and stickers gives your layouts some interesting focal points and details.  

Snips, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Jetson loves to dig and I had captured these pictures one day when he was in full digging mode.  The Noah word strip was where I "started" with the layout idea and it grew from there.  The title was inspired by the cut-up snail that I think is so cute and had to use!  Titles are hard sometimes for me, so I look for something in the paper lines to inspire a "play on words" a lot of the time.

Once again, I love mixing the alphas in the title and the tiny journaling tags are a great place to add some of those fun mini letter stickers to highlight your title.  

I used the negative space of circles, backed them with pattern paper and then embellished the centers to make them stand out.  I used an odd number of circles, which always seems to work better....3, 5, or 7, etc.  I backed two of the circles with the same paper to give some unity to the circles and to also make the center one stand out.  

Spending Time with Dad

I love this picture of Carleen and her dad at the baseball game we went to when he came for a visit.  The Noah papers were perfect for the picture and I played off the stars all over the layout. 

I punched a few various sized stars out of some of the papers of the collection and used them as accents on the layout.  

 Once again, I mixed the alpha stickers.  These blend seamlessly between collections and are perfect for long titles. 

I hope I have encouraged you to try mixing up those alpha stickers you have in the collections and creating some fun and unique looking titles for your pages.  I will have a couple of additional photos of a the projects on my blog.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Sarah is here on Thursday!

Diva Sarah Eclavea is here today with a very cute girl layout using the Noah collection!

When I saw the "Noah" line I knew it was perfect for these pictures of my daughter going to see her first movie in the theater! She was too excited to sit still for photos, but I managed to get this one of her and one of her favorite cartoon character Lightning McQueen. I also used some twine from the Twinery and Beacon 3 in 1 adhesive.

How adorable is that road with the car on it! Be sure to visit Sarah's blog also! 

And I totally forgot we need to pick a winner from Erin's guest posting.  The winner is.....

 Kris Berc said...

I adore Erin and am so thrilled to see her back here again to guest design. Love all of her projects! I'd love a chance to create with Audrey :)

Kris, please email me at cardipaws@sbcglobal.net with your shipping address so that we can get the Audrey collection kit out to you!

It's the 3rd Wednesday, so it's Stacy time!

Stacy Rodriguez is on the blog with some projects today and she is going to tell you about them!  She had some fun creating with Messages, Exit Here and Noah.  

I have a couple of creations to share with you today for my post here on NIkki's blog.  Up first is a fun little card that I created using the Messages line.  I love this line, the colors are totally my favorite!  No creation is complete without the fun little burlap buttons that I placed in the lower right of the card.  I also love the banner die cuts and added a little Cappuccino twine from The Twinery.

 

 

Up next I created a couple of layouts.  It seems like it had been forever since I made a layout...and to knock two layouts out for one post....well I was a happy camper.  Speaking of camper, Nikki's line Exit Here is perfect for even those non-camping photos.  I created this layout of hubby and my daughter who ran their first Race For The Cure this month.  I can't take credit for the design since I used one of the rockin' sketches from Scrapbook Generation.  The pearls came from Want 2 Scrap also.

 

And last but not least is a fun layout of hubby and the grandkids playing outside burning off some energy.  For this layout I also used another sketch from Scrapbook Generations and flipped it for a little something different.  The Noah line was perfect for this playtime layout.

 

Thanks for sharing your projects with us, Stacy!  Be sure to visit Stacy's blog for more fun projects and ideas!  

Tutorial with Melanie Jarocki

Melanie created this fab banner and a tutorial for our readers to recreate it!  So, let's see what is up.....

For this Father's Day banner, I mainly used the Noah collection, but also adding in one sheet from the Exit Here collection. The banner could easily be adapted for a 4th of July celebration in the USA or for a birthday.

Preparation

1. Cut six 4x6 inch rectangles from Exit Here "Hiking Trails". Trim one short edge of each rectangle into a wide upside down "V". (I went about 1 inch up from the bottom, 2 inches in from the side and made a pencil mark. Then I cut from each corner to the mark.) (The rest of the papers are all from the Noah Collection). 

2. Using a die-cut machine or template, cut 3-1/2 inch letters from "Noah's ABC's", along with shadows and heart shapes from "Honk, Honk". (I used my Slice machine, Great Outdoors card for the letters, and Remember This card for the hearts).

3. Trim two 1/2x12 inch strips from "Noah's Overalls". Cut each strip into three 1/2x4 inch strips, so you have six total strips. 

4. Using a border punch with some sort of hole in it (I used Martha Stewart star border punch), punch along the edge of "Noah's Wallpaper". Then trim a 1-1/2 inch strip from the edge of the punched border. Repeat. Cut each 12-inch strip into three strips that measure 1-1/2x4 inches.  

5. Fussy cut 20-25 stars from "Noah's Stars".

  

Assembly

6. Adhere punched border strips to tops of rectangles (opposite "v" ends), leaving 3/4-inch showing (including the punched border). Add 1/2-inch strips from "Noah's Wallpaper" on the pennant below the border, with 1/8-inch of blue background showing. Zigzag stitch between punched border and 1/2-inch strip. 

7. Assemble letters with shadows and trace around letters with red pen. Using a dimensional adhesive (I used GlueArts U-Cut-It), place smaller heart on larger heart. Adhere each of these pieces to a pennant, centering above the "V". 

8. Add a 3-1/2x5 inch photo to the remaining pennant. 9. Randomly add fussy-cut stars to each pennant.  

10. Thread twine (I used Maraschino from The Twinery) through the punched borders and hang to display. Ta-Da! 

What a fun banner!  And it can be adapted many ways, by changing the wording, adding panels, etc!  Thanks for the great project and instructions, Melanie.  Be sure to visit Melanie's blog.

Celebrating Fathers here on the blog

The Divas came up with some fun Father's Day projects to share with you today.  Some cards, some layouts and hopefully some ideas for you last minute crafters.  You know who you are!

Melissa Pablo altered an old record with the Noah collection.  What a great idea!

Julie Tucker-Wolek made a cute Father's Day card for her husband using the Noah collection.

 

Marielle LeBlanc created this sweet, sweet layout about her husband and boys for her Father's Day project!  She used the Noah collection also.  (I am seeing a theme here!)

Stacy Rodriguez has a cute card for the man in your life using Noah (hee hee...I need to count how many times we are using that!)

Laurel Seabrook has a super adorable card that I want to steal from her!!  yes...using Noah...hee hee

So there are some quick ideas for you, in case you are running out of time!  We will have our guest designer on Saturday and then on Sunday there will be a fun banner tutorial from Melanie Jarocki!  So, make sure and take some time to visit, while Dad is snoozing in his recliner!

Melissa is on the blog today!

Melissa Pablo has three layouts that are all about layering and little details.  I just can't pick a favorite...can you?!

All Boys

This layout was inspired by Pagemaps sketch. I love using the Noah line for my boys photos. I love fussy cutting the stars on Noah's Star patterned paper and adhere them using foam mounting double sided tape for layers- easy way of creating your own embellishment.

 

Jylian

Audrey is just perfect for a little girls layout and here in this layout is the photo of my sweet daughter, Jylian. I do a lot of layering on my layouts by adding strips of patterned papers and again, using the easy cut-ups and punch-outs and adhering them with foam mounting double sided tape for dimension.

 

Giggles & Smiles

Another layout using Audrey line and inspired by one of Sketch Support one-page sketch. Lots of strips and embellishments from both cut-outs and punch outs.

Later in the month, Melissa will have an amazing mini album using the Exit Here collection, you aren't going to want to miss that.  Be sure to give Melissa's blog a visit also.  You can find her here.

Thursday + Marielle, Fun Post!

Marielle LeBlanc is here on the blog today to show you some quick Father's Day cards and a fun layout that mixes a couple of the current collections!

Father's Day cards using the Noah Collection

Both of these cards were so quick and easy to make, I simply cut the bottom portion of the cover page of the Noah collection and added a few embellishments!

Animal Kingdom Layout using mixed collections..

I just got back from Disney and I really wanted to document the place where we stayed (Animal Kingdom Lodge) . If you've never been there,i t's spectacular and it has a very earthy /primitive feel , so I chose the warm yellow,greens and browns of the Messages collection and few little bits from the Audrey collection to compliment this photo of the lobby.I loved that I could mix these collections together to get the look I wanted to create. A Page Maps sketch (from the Scrapbooks and Cards Today magazine) was used for this layout. 

So there you have it.  You can make some quick Father's Day cards, then turn around and whip up a layout with a couple of different collections!!  Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to visit Marielle's blog!

Basically Bare and Nikki Sivils Day Two!

We are starting the Day Two blog swap with Basically Bare and the Divas have knocked it out of the blogosphere again.  In case you missed Day One go back and check it out!  Basically Bare not only has unique and fun mini books to alter, but they have bare chipboard, canvas, arcrylic, and cardboard embellishments to make your own to match your layouts with the paper collection you are working with!

We will also be having a giveaway, but you will have to comment here on the blog and also over at Basically Bare's blog.  Their designers have created some FUN FUN FUN stuff and I can't wait for you to see it!  But, let's look at what the Divas created first! 

Julie Tucker-Wolek created a cute little address book out of a Basically Bare mini album!  She is planning on adding some things to it, once she starts putting names and addresses in.  She used the Messages collection and I would say it's a great combo!

(Be sure to check out Julie's blog, because she will have the full address book on there!)

Jennie McGarvey worked her magic on a layout using the Basically Bare Gears in Acrylic form. These are perfect if you want embellishments, but still want to keep the focus on your pictures.  She used the Noah collection for her layout also.

I knew as soon as I saw those gear acrylic shapes that I wanted to use them.  This page turned out to be the perfect page because they add enough to make the page more interesting, but they are definitely not over powering at all.  The focus is on the photos, which is where I like it to be!

Stacy Rodriguez used the Messages collection for this layout below...there is a story behind every layout and this one is no exception!

So I was soooooo excited last year since it was my first trip to CHA....not only was it my first time look at the two super cool divas I got to meet!!!  How much fun is that, and now scrapping it about with Nikki's line was simply perfect!  For this layout I used Messages, I thought the colors were an excellent fit for this layout.  The fabulous design on this one is from Sketch Support. I created the fun little banner under the photos using a scallop circle punch and then cut them in half.  I however wanted a little something different in the banner so I used Blossoms from Basically Bare.  So many fun possibilities with this line!!

Melissa Pablo and Jennie were thinking along the same lines!  Using the Gears and the Noah collection, Melissa created a fun and funky layout about her boy, Justin!

Marielle LeBlanc just got back from Disney, so Exit Here was a perfect collection for her to create a mini album about their trip.  Here is the cover page and I am in love with it.  Marielle will have the entire album on her blog today, so make sure and give her a visit!

Did you get some ideas?  Are you wanting to get your hands on some Basically Bare and Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker goodies?  Well, we can help you with the Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker part!  Leave a comment below and we will draw one winner for a collection kit of your choosing. Basically Bare has a giveaway on their post also! Be sure to comment on yesterday's post, because we have a separate giveaway on that day also!