Marielle + Get Well Soon and My Lil Monster = FUN!

We are loving the projects with the older lines that the Divas have been doing.  Marielle is here today with some fun cards and layouts using the My 'Lil Monster and Get Well Soon collections.

Meeting Mike

My Lil' Monster collection....what a perfect collection for this photo of my boys meeting Mike from Monsters Inc. at Disney !!! I wanted to make the"Moon Monster" paper a little less busy by covering all of the images of the small yellow monsters by covering them with 1" circle of the red and white grid paper with pop dots. I wanted Mike and the hand trimmed green monster to be the focus of my layout. Mike is my very favorite Disney character :)

Love the raised circles on this card!

@Home sick 2-Day with the Chicken Pox

I have to admit that when I received this collection I wondered what I would create with it.....then this little cutie got the chicken pox !!! and voila ....I had an idea for this layout !!! Thanks Gabriel :) LOL!!! Love those cute little germs !

This card would make me (Katrina) better!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to visit Marielle's blog also.

Sarah is taking over the My Lil Monster collection!

Layouts and cards seem to be the theme this week!  And Sarah is here with some of each for you using My Lil Monster.

My Lil Monster is one of my favorite lines so I couldn't resist using the monster theme in both of my layouts! As you can see it works for silly happy monsters and crabby cranky monsters alike! Yep both of these layouts are of my daughter Fran. One one on a good day and one on a not so good day.

On My Crabby Cranky Little Monster I used lots of different alphas from different cardstock alpha sheets and a punchout to make my title. I love mixing alpha fonts on my titles! It was a hot day at the cherry festival and I think my girl had enough pictures for one day!

I used some more alphas on the the You are so Silly layout for my title. I also added some of the alphas to the banner to spell out my daughter's name. Some ribbon from the Ribbon Carousel completed the layout.

I love all things whimsical and these little monsters are cute! I would love getting a card like this in the mail! I used the little 6x6 sheets of paper to make my cards and some of the punchouts. I also threw in some burlap buttons!

I am in love with these cards!  And the ballerina monster is my favorite!  Be sure to visit Sarah's blog also!

Melanie on Friday!

Melanie has a little of everything today for you!  A card, layout and even a tutorial.  Yes, I would say she has been a busy crafting girl. 

Moms Make It All Better Card

I used the "Get Well Minis" sheet from the "Get Well Soon" line to make this card. The smaller patterns are perfect for cards! The cut-ups are on the back of the minis so I only used one sheet of paper. I zigzag stitched around the edges and added some twine from The Twinery to "tie" it all together :)  The punch-outs are fun little additions to help reinforce the message.

Superstar Student LO

It's a win-win for me when memorabilia matches paper! The Superstar Student sticker that my son brought home with his project matched the My Lil' Monster line so well that I decided to use the sticker for the title of my page. The "Meet-A-Monster" sheet was a fun way to frame the photos. I added some punch-outs and cut-ups from the Monster line. Tip: to help the red photo corner stand-out a bit on the lower left side of the page, I tucked an upside-down tab-shaped punchout behind it so the white backs the red.

Lantern Celebrate Banner Tutorial

We have TWO birthdays in the next three days at our house. So I thought it would be fitting to have a celebrate banner. :)  I used the My Lil' Monster line. Here is how I made it:

1. Cut apart the Monster Minis sheet so you have FOUR 6x6 squares.

2. Punch along the bottom side of each square using a border punch.

3. Using a strong adhesive (I used Glue Arts Extreme Tac Adhesive squares), overlap one side to the other and adhere together to form a tube (or lantern).

4. Punch one 1/8" hole on each side of the lantern along the top edge, about 1/4" down from the top.

5. Cut up or punch out three circles from the Monster line and punch two holes at the top of each circle.

6. Add monster punch out and celebrate sentiment to center circle.

7. Thread twine through each item, alternating lanterns and circle. Hang to enjoy!

I photographed the banner on my buffet so you could see it more clearly but then I also took a picture of it hanging from a tree outside since that is where the festivities will be.

Be sure to visit Melanie's blog for more fun projects and inspiration!

The Bee's Knees Project Kit Update!

Featuring the collection

We had a little trouble with the PayPal button when we first put these kits up for sale, but we are good now!  (You have to love technology at times.)  There are still a few kits left, so if you are on the fence you better grab one now!  

You get step by step instructions for ALL the projects shown below, plus you will have enough left over product to create additional layouts, cards and projects out of the kit!

Want this kit?  Well, go to this blog POSTING or the link in the upper left hand corner at the top of the page to grab your kit now!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Tomorrow we have a fun blog hop taking place and you aren't going to want to miss all the neat projects and there are a couple of giveaways also!

A Goody Bag, Layout, and Candy fun from Melanie

Melanie Jarocki has some fun projects today for gift ideas and a layout too!  She used School is Cool, since it is THAT time of year!!

Thanks So Much Goody Bag

I love the journaling cards in the School is Cool line. This bus one was perfect to add an SRM sentiment to thanking our bus driver with a bag of cookies. The bus punch-out was a great finishing touch. I tied the bag off with twine from The Twinery. 

First Day of School Layout

My son's first day of kindergarten. He was SO excited, not only to go to school with his older siblings, but to also get to ride the bus AND take his lunch to school. What a great way to celebrate this special day with School is Cool's fun graphics and primary colors.  For a little pop, I backed the Blue letter stickers with white photo paper to help them stand out from the white background. And you know I love banners--so to mix things up I put punch-out pennants with pennants cut from the pattern paper. Twine from The Twinery and Fabri-Tac glue from Beacon Adhesives  keep the banner in place. 

You're The Best Tube and Card

This ensemble is a fun way to say thank you to a teacher. I added some Reese's Pieces in the tube and topped it off with the award ribbon punch-out. The matching card includes another journaling card from the line, along with SRM sentiments and twine from The Twinery.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope Melanie gave you some fun gift ideas for those that take care of your little ones during the school year.  Be sure to visit Melanie's blog also!

And don't forget Nikki's card kit available for purchase this month!! It is AMAZING!! 

Summer Projects from Katrina and a Sneak!

Katrina here today, with a card and layout using the Summer collection.  One of my goals for my projects was to NOT use that pink paper in the Summer collection as the main part of the projects!  I LOVE that paper and when I looked back at prior projects, well, let's just say it shows up a LOT! You will see bits of it on each project, I will admit.  Or...maybe it is that I am hoarding that particular paper?!  

First up I have a card for you.  I border punched a strip of the yellow paper and then tucked it behind the blue cloud paper.  I used some designer/washi tap at the bottom and then tied some jute from May Arts close to the bottom.  I made the banner shape, added a small touch of the pink paper, some stickers that I popped up with the U-Cut It Foam from Glue Arts and then added a Cute as a Button burlap button to the top of my bow. 

And then the layout. This is a very basic page with no journaling, but I thought the photos told the story pretty well and I really wanted the focus to be on the pictures. Bonus is that I wanted to make a quick page and with the scalloped paper it makes it easy to do.  

I love banners and I decided not to cut this one apart and just have it hang like a canopy over my picture. I knew the banner from the 6x6 mini paper would be my go to banner, because of the size of the photo.  You can also see how I cut the border strip of words up from the 6x6 mini paper and accented my photos with them.

The fun chipboard sun from Basically Bare.  Perfect accent for the Summer collection.  I covered with pattern paper, using my Fabri-tac liquid adhesive (LOVE THIS STUFF!) and then every other ray I then covered with some designer/washi tape.

And finally, a little peek of something that I have been working on with Nikki.  Watch for additional peeks this week on the blog.  The full reveal will be in August and you will be able to get in on the fun!!

And that is it from me today here on the blog.  Thanks for visiting!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for our Guest Diva, Delaina Burns!

Stacy on Wednesday

Stacy here sharing some projects using Nikki's Summer line.  This line is so bright and fun, simply perfect for those summer photos.

My first project is a gift card holder and the inspiration came from my daughter.  She got her first job this summer at the best ice cream place here in the midwest. I thought this was a super cute way to give an ice cream gift card complete with an ice cream cone on the front!  By the way did you know that July 15th was National Ice Cream Day....as yes I had an oreo malt :) Embellishing this little hold is a burlap button, cord brad, and some twine from The Twinery.

Coolin' off is all part of summer fun, and this layout is showing just how much fun it is for the little ones to cool off.  I love those little camera's, super cute and fun to add to any layout.  I used some of the burlap buttons across the top along the banner.  The clouds on the top of the layout came from cutting out the cloud from one of the papers in the line, then I simply traced it onto the layout.

My last project I have to share with you is a little mini album. 

Now the inside of the album is not complete yet.  My daughter is going on vacation with her friend and friends parents to Cobin KY next week.  I'm a little nervous.....ok very nervous that she will be so far away but I know she will have a great time.  I wanted to create a little thank you for the parents so i'm just waiting on the photos they will give me after the trip.  For this album I mixed 3 of Nikki's chipboard albums.  The covers and one insert are from the scallop square album.  I painted the edges of this one with pink paint.  Inside you will find a couple of pages from the crown & house mini albums.  I placed them in the album sideways so i'm excited to see how it turns out.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you are all having a fabulous summer!

I am loving that idea of mixing the chipboard albums!  Be sure to visit Stacy's blog!  

Jodi on Wednesday.

Jodi Wilton is here today with a couple of layouts and a card.  She used the Summer collection also.  I can say the Divas are having fun with it!  Let's hear from Jodi.......

I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer! Nikki's Summer collection is PERFECT for all of your summer photos! I can't  get enough of it! For my first layout I created a layout of my kids having their first summer ice cream! I think this was my youngest daughter's very first full ice cream cone!  I love all the cut up's in this collection, and of course with all the ice creams, it was perfect for these photos! Here is the layout I created with some close ups:

For my second layout, I decided to cut up the die-cut sheet to create a fun border.  I love the doubled up scalloped edge!  I created the flower with with a a heart punch, and used the burlap button as the flower center. I love the little stickers in this collection too! I made a small cluster of embellishments to go with the journalling sticker.  Finally I added a cute Baker's Twine bow!  Here is the layout:

The card I created came together easily because I loved the little sticker with the birdie on it! I cut out one of the two birdies, to make it my focal point of the card! I also used some bakers twine to finish off the card.

Fun projects from Jodi today, don't you think?!  Be sure to visit Jodi's blog also! 

Melissa is having some Summer fun...

Our Divas were sent some of the previous collections to spin their magic with and Melissa Pablo is one of the first ones to post on the blog with some of her projects!

I Love Summer

I love, love the colors of Summer collection and I wanted to do a super simple and fast layout, so with just a few snips here and there, pop dots everywhere and it's done.

Altered $1 Wall Clock- Enjoy Summer

I wanted to create something different again and I truly enjoy going to $1 store and find a good bargain. This was a wall clock and i just simply took out the clock hands and used the Summer collection again to create a multi layered project. I might have to do this again, one for each season.

You Are My Sunshine Card & Happy Birthday Card

A simple card using Summer collection cut-ups with hand stitching and foam adhesive for dimensions.

Thanks Melissa for getting us ready for the Summer season!  Be sure to visit Melissa's blog.

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!