Quilting Beyond Cards

We had fun creating some cards this past Friday using the Stitching Thin Cuts. The possibilities of shapes, papers and colors can be creative and experimental. Why not go beyond just a greeting card? Think bigger like a scrapbook layout!

Here is a single page layout I created using one of the chevron shapes in a variety of new and retired papers. It was fun to experiment with the different patterns, colors and overall design of the page. This is a page for my son who will be graduating soon from the U.S. Marine Corps Boot Camp. This is the last picture we took together and just the beginning of a very big, life altering experience for both of us!!

I would also like to mention that the title for my page actually came from the Craft With Heart subscription layout for the month of January. I had a hard time seeing any recent photo's of mine fitting with the theme as it is, so I altered it for my own personal purpose.

I hope you can see how the faux quilting can be used for not only cards, but can expand to your bigger scrapbooking layouts. When these Thin Cuts become available again, I recommend you add them to your cart a.s.a.p.!

Mix-in Everything

Today I am sharing a layout that features the Seasonal Mix-in Papers. These papers are designed to seamlessly blend with all of our other paper collections featured in the Holiday Expressions Idea Book.

Two of these patterned papers are from the Mix-in collection and the other papers are from almost every other collection. Hard to believe, but there are papers from the Boutique collection, the Fall papers (Grateful Heart), Halloween papers (Hello Pumpkin), and Christmas papers (Oh What Fun). Isn't that amazing!

I used complements from the Boutique collection, some older complements for the "love you" title and a variety of sequins.

Around the circle of patterned papers I also used a brand new Stitched Borders stamp. (page 92)

I have been mixing our patterned papers for years, but having an entire packet of paper to blend with all the collections is really proving to be a lot of fun! You can get this paper packet for $6.50. It includes 6 sheets of double-sided designs. You can also get a pack of coordinating cardstocks that will work well with all of these patterned papers. Find all of them on pages 74 & 75.

Pictured above is the Seasons Mix-ins paper collection. If you haven't seen all the new paper collections I recommend that you log onto my website and view the Holiday Expressions Idea Book. Better yet, if you place an order online you can add an Idea Book to you order for free!

Diamonds are a Scrapbooks Best Friend!

Creating a background to your scrapbook pages can be as easy as a repeating shape! Close To My Heart featured a gorgeous single page layout on their Instagram at the beginning of August. {You should follow them, there is always new inspiration!} It was simply a diamond shape that was repeated across the entire background of the base page. They repeated a few papers from various paper collections in our current Idea Book. Feeling inspired I gave it a try with some new papers that you will see in the new Idea Book launching on September 1st.

I distressed all the edges before lining them in the center of my layout. I them worked towards the outside being sure to mix the colors and patterns in an appealing manner.

I finished my layout with a photo mat, some chipboard title and hearts, shimmer thread and finally some sparkly bling gems. This paper collection is called Boutique and is such a subtle, beautiful blend of greys, blues, pink and yellow. You are going to see many projects using this collection come September! Stay tuned!

Happy at Home

With the launch of the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book this summer I was excited to order new products and play with them all! One of the first projects I wanted to create was a single page layout that immediately caught my eye on page 29. In the midst of these fantastic new items arriving and waiting to be opened up, my husband and I were diving into a big flooring makeover in our home. While waiting for mortar to set for a day, I took that opportunity to play with some of the new Rustic Home papers and the "happy" thin cuts. I figured that once our home renovation was complete this would be a great page to record the memories of our labor intensive, yet rewarding work. Here is what I came up with.

You can see that the inspiration from the Idea Book was simply a jumping off point, not an exact copy. I flipped the page to create horizontal photo wells instead of vertical. I kept most of the embellishments and the paper of course. I changed up the ribbon a bit and kept a more neutral palette rather than using the new Sea Glass as it would not blend with the colors of the photographs to come.

I am entering this page in the "Copy That" challenge on Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dream Pop Golf!

Happy National Scrapbooking month everyone! May is the month to focus on getting some scrapbooking done. This month's Dream Pop collection will definitely give you inspiration to get your precious photo's in your scrapbook.

You can get more details about the promotion by clicking on the Current Specials tab at the top.


I would also like to give you inspiration this month here on my blog. To kick it off I have a single page layout from my daughter's golf tournament. It really shows the blue and gray options that are in this packet. I am also entering my layout in Heart 2 Heart's "Tuck it in" challenge this week. Not only have I incorporated some photo's on my banner, but I have a little envelope with some journaling "tucked" inside.

The entire base of this page is simply one of the sheets of printed cardstock included in the Dream Pop collection. All I did was string some twine and hang some pictures and fun accents. The little envelope pocket was cut on the Cricut Artiste cartridge at 2 1/2 inches. I just covered it with some of the cardstock in the kit and added some fun images from the Cricut Kudo's stamp set.

I hope you will take advantage of  this fabulous Dream Pop kit this month. Look for more ideas and inspiration here on my blog all month long!