Design Team

Precious...(and rare)

Okay, so I know I'm completely biased, but my little girl Peanut is absolutely precious to me and she inspired me to make this page.  The rare thing is when I actually like a page that I've created...(I tend to be rather critical of myself!)...but I'm surprisingly pleased with the end result!  Maybe it's because I scrap-lifted this idea that a friend emailed me....you gotta love scrap-lifting an awesome idea!!

  The first time I saw this collection of papers from Making Memories (the Delaney Collection), to be honest, it didn't do much for me.  They are really not colors I would ever use together (orange and that purple color?? eewww!!)...I usually prefer my things to coordinate better than that. This layout is a little outside-the-box for me, mixing so many different colors and textures...but I love how it turned out!  It really is fun to try something new and out of your ordinary realm of scrapbooking...you never know what you might end up with, it might be something that you really love that inspires you to try more new things!  I certainly look at this collection in a whole new light now...it's so bright and colorful and it was so fun to put this page together!  I almost didn't want to bring it into the store...I wanted to stick it right in my little beagles scrapbook...(yeah, that's right, my dog has her very own album...several actually!  She's a spoiled little princess! :)

Anyways....besides the Making Memories patterned paper, all I used was a sheet of pink cardstock, a piece of ribbon from the same Delaney collection, Thickers chipboard alpha stickers, and a variety of random flowers, "bling" and rhinestone brads from my stash at home.  This is also a fun way to use up some of those extra embellishments that we all have laying around!  Have fun!  ~Laurie

Ooh La La!!

I just can't help it...this time of year all I can think about is vacation, vacation, vacation.  So, naturally, I have to share with everyone some fabulous travel layouts to give you ideas on how to preserve your own vacation memories.  This awesome layout was created by our designer, Robyn VanDerHeyden, who was fortunate enough to get to travel to Europe and go to one of my dream destinations...the Eiffel Tower in Paris!!  How amazing are those photos!!   You are one lucky girl Robyn!!

She created her layout with patterned paper, stickers, and pearl brads, all from Creative Imaginations.  She also used Bazzill cardstock and added on a flower and some ribbon for embellishment.  It's a beautiful page and those photos are fantastic...Ooh La La!!

Road Trip!

Now that summer FINALLY seems to be here my thoughts naturally turn to things like travel, vacations, tropical destinations, and fun road trips with friends and family.  However with so many fun things to go and do, I don't always have tons of time to be indoors scrapbooking....so my solution to that is super fast and easy pages!  Like this road trip page I made took me about 10 minutes to put together...seriously!  With quick, simple pages like this you can easily find a few minutes here and there to document all your summer excursions.

All I used for this layout were three colors of cardstock (gray for my background, navy blue for the "road" and photo mats, and red for my border), United States patterned paper by Reminisce, white vinyl Thickers for my title, Jolee's "Are we there yet?" sticker, a red tag from the Creative Cafe and one red button.  I also used a white pen to draw on the lines on my "road" and to accent my journaling tag.  I only glued down three sides on my large photo block so the tag is removeable and can be used for the journaling.  Like I said...super-fast and super-easy!  My favorite way to scrapbook :)  So get out there...hit the open road...take lots of pics to capture all your fun summer memories and whip up some quick pages!  Have fun & enjoy this beautiful weather while it lasts!!  ~Laurie

Happy Birthday America!

It's hard to believe, but the 4th is right around the corner...let's hope the summer weather follows!  No matter how you celebrate Independence Day, whether it be parades, barbeques, fireworks, or just good quality time with friends and family...be sure to take lots of great photos so you can create wonderful layouts like this one by our designer, Jen Friedrichsen....

For her layout, Jen used papers from the My Mind's Eye 29th Street Market collection.  These papers are so fun and I love that they aren't the typical "stars and stripes" that sometimes you feel required to use for 4th of July pages.  She also used Basic Grey chipboard letters for her title and chipboard stars from Scenic Route (both of which she painted).  She also added some random buttons, rub-ons, some felt flowers and a little ribbon.  So cute Jen!!

So get your cameras ready...go out and celebrate...and enjoy the 4th everyone!!  ::::smile::::  ~Laurie

Nothin' but cardstock

With all the thousands of embellishments, stickers, rub-ons, etc...nowadays, have you ever wondered what kind of page you could create if all you had was cardstock?  Well, we posed this challenge to our design team member, Joy Madison, and these are the brilliant layouts she came up with...

Besides cardstock and her photos, all she used were punches and her die cut machine.  The only embellishment she snuck in were the two buttons to make her ice cream cone...but how cute is that??   Awesome job Joy...I am so inspired to see what I can come up with, with my massive stash of cardstock! ~Laurie

Once upon a time...

I think we might have a line-up at the die cut machines when everyone sees this super cute crown book that our designer, Nancy Belvin, created.  The book itself was cut out of chipboard with our large crown die, then she also cut some patterned paper and cardstock with the same die (this makes it so easy to cover the pages of the book!)  I don't have all of the pages pictured here, but be sure to come in and read the entire story she wrote...it's so cute and so funny and has some great pictures in it!

To accessorize her crown, Nancy used some glittered papers from DCWV (the "Once upon a time" & "Happily Ever After") along with some chipboard embellishments from the same collection.  The gems on the top of each of her crowns are from Doodlebug and My Mind's Eye Bohemia.  She also added in a few Quickutz dies as well.  This is so cute...be sure to ask to see it the next time you stop in!

Won't you tell me how to get to Sesame Street...

Okay, how FUN are THESE???   I saw these cards in the new issue of Paper Crafting with Kids (awesome idea book - by the way!) and I just HAD to make these!!  Even though it's not really a design team project, per se, I am design team and it is a project....works for me!  I just had to share these cute cards with y'all...

  I had so much fun making these and they were SUPER EASY!!  All it takes is plain cardstock, a circle punch, and the patterns that come in the magazine (although I just free-hand cut most of the pieces). Then for the centers of the eyes, I actually used some big black brads from Making Memories instead of just a circle punch...it just added a little somethin'-somethin'.  And that's it!  Too cute!

And they don't just have to be for kids either.  I found a really cute quote that I'm going to use inside the Oscar the Grouch card;  "Sometimes I wake up grouchy.....sometimes I let him sleep."  (hee-hee)  So have fun with these....see what other muppets you can come up with on your own.  By the way...there are some really great things for kids in this book...might come in handy during the summer months after you've heard your child say "I'm bored" for the fifty-thousandth time....think about it.  :::smile:::  ~Laurie

Hello Sunshine!! (I wish...)

Well...it may not be sunny outside, but it sure is sunshiney in our store with the new "Hello Sunshine" collection from Cosmo Cricket!  Our designer, Heather Emans, made this darling layout about her girls visit to "Old McDonald's" (how cute is that!)

For her layout she used the Cosmo journaling cards, word strips, the Buck Naked chipboard buttons with the coordinating Button fashions (the printed paper that fits perfectly on top of the chipboard...how awesome is that!), a felt flower from our Creative Cafe, a glass brad, button & a little piece of ribbon for one of her cards.  So simple, but soooo cute!!

So come on in and enjoy a little sunshine!!  ~Laurie

What color are you?

Have you ever thought about what colors represent you the most?  What colors are you surrounded by in your everyday life?  What colors are your favorite things?  Or even what colors best describe your personality or emotions?  Well, our designer, Andrea Ancich did....and here's a peek at a few of the colors of her life....

For this mini book she used a SEI 4x6 Preservation album, and a variety of patterned papers from the newest collection from Doodlebug in her favorite colors, along with a variety of fun embellishments from our Creative Cafe, and American Crafts Thickers alphabets.  This is such a fun and creative idea....I've already started looking around my home, my closet, my craft room, etc. to see what colors are most predominant in my life.  I can't wait to make a little color book for myself!  The new Doodlebug collection is going fast...so hurry in to find your favorite colors, and while you're here be sure to take a look at Andrea's entire book....it's soooo cute!!  Have a colorful day!  ~Laurie

Let's pack our bags!!

I don't know about anyone else, but looking out at this rainy, gray day certainly makes me want to pack my bags and head off to somewhere hot, sunny, and tropical....how 'bout you??  Our designer, Amy Correa, made this really cute and simple travel layout featuring EK Success products.

She used EK patterned papers, Jolee's suitcase sticker, chipboard Thickers for the title, and a few buttons from our Creative Cafe. TOO CUTE!!  I love how she just used bits of the patterned paper cut into circles and placed randomly on her layout.  This is such a great idea for a different way to use patterned paper!  I can't wait to "scrap-lift" this idea!  Thanks Amy!!

I'm definitely ready to pack my bags and head out....Let's Go!! ~Laurie