Simple Stories and Top Dog Dies Blog Hop

Hi all! Just a quick note to let you know I'm on the Top Dog Dies blog today showing two scrapbook pages (including my son eating spaghetti for the first time) made with Top Dog Dies and Simple Stories products. It was so great to play with these amazing supplies! If you get a minute, check them out : )

 I should be in the middle of moving my craft room if you're reading this on Friday. I really need to come up with a new organizational system when I unpack. First things first, my priority will be to make sure nothing gets misplaced. Horrors!

Have a great weekeend!

- Kelly

Feature on Paper Crafter's Library: Burlap Goodness

Hi all! Just a quick note to let you know I'm over at the Paper Crafter's Library today, with an article on die cutting burlap. Here's a sneak:



 If you have a minute I'd love to see you stop by!

Thanks!

Kelly

 

 

PS. Tomorrow's the big day ... the movers are coming to get all of our heavy stuff! We'll have to really stay on track because we have a family wedding later that evening. The painter is doing his thing at our new house, the handyman is fixing items from the old house inspection, we have a structural engineer checking a room in the new house, our lawyer is trying to track down a Mortgage Release document from when we refinanced 13 years ago, and then there's all the normal things like diving lessons, orchestra camp, golf lessons, baseball, baseball, baseball. I will be so happy when things settle down just a little ... there's always a worry that I'm forgetting something!

Fusion: Bunches of Blooms

Welcome to another fun Fusion Challenge! Still working on the recipe scrapbook, I used the photo as inspiration for the main design element on this page. I am madly in love with these flower stamps and cutaways (Winnie & Walter: The Big, the Bold and Extras) and knew they would be perfect to go along with the photo design. I smooshed some distress ink on some cardstock, embossed the white flower outlines, and then die cut them all.

   

Even the blue butterfly makes an appearance.

The rectangular space is overlapped with the flowers for a full, lush feeling.

It's with mixed feelings that I announce this is my last post as a Fusion Design Team member. I've been with the challenge since the very beginning, and truly love the concept of using the photo, the sketch or both for inspiration. Lesley Croghan is a wonderful challenge coordinator, and I will miss working with her very much. Of course, the design team is talented in so many different ways, and it's always a joy to see what they come up with each time. Best of luck to all the ladies!

Here are some fabulous cards by our design team!

Amy Tsuruta

 Betty J.

Jeanne Jachna

Julia Aston 

Katie Brooks

Lynn Mangan

Kimberly Wiener

Lyndal Higgins

Michelle Williams

Michelle Lupton

Stephanie Severin

Winners: Will be chosen by all of our teammates, each choosing one favorite. The winners will be announced at 4 am (PST) in two weeks!

Thanks for looking!
-Kelly

Wedding Shower Scrapbook with CASual Fridays

Hi Folks! Ready or not, our cousin Abby's wedding shower was this Sunday. I'm not gonna lie ... it was a little crazy, including pulling an all-nighter Saturday to get the recipe scrapbook finished. But she loved it, and that made it all worthwhile. 



Isn't she adorable?!

I've got two pages to share from the book that are featured on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog today.

This one uses a lot of the love-themed musical stamps and dies, including Love Notes, Double Note Fri-Dies, Heart Note Fri-Dies, and Treble Clef Fri-Dies. At first I had the notes all up and down the right margin, but that looked a little overwhelming. So I just put the treble clef on the bottom left, and the notes across the middle angling up, so there's a diagonal line across the page. 


    
   
 
I like having the large, die-cut notes on top of the small, stamped notes. The stamped notes also make a great border, since they're a line after all.
 

 

The floral decoration on the middle of this page uses the Linked Fri-Dies for the leaves. This serves to extend the element across the length of the photo. The layers of the flower are made up of random silk and paper flowers I had laying around, plus the fuchsia die cut from Funky Round Tag Fri-Dies. Again, no time for journaling, so I fussy cut an embossed Mwah and layered it on the photo.

Vintage seam binding tape is run through the links in the Stalk Up Fri-Die. It's left loose for a more playful feel.

I'll have some more recipe scrapbook pages appearing on the blog shortly, along with an eventual wrap-up showing the whole project. Hey, I warned you earlier! Thanks for looking : )

-Kelly

Wedding Day Card

Finally, a card! Here's one that will be going to the cousin with the Recipe Scrapbook at her wedding. The heart is Top Dog Dies Doily Heart Die, and it is amazing how all the tiny pieces come out when you use the metal adapter plate. I would be lost without it! It pays for itself after the first use if you've ever been frustrated picking pieces out of a large shape like this.

The bride and groom are from the Wedding Die Set. Love the tiny bowtie on the groom. I dressed the bride up a little with some flowers on her dress, and a silver bow. Again, we have the new Pennant Banner Die that I seem to be using on everything lately!

Thanks so much for looking!

-Kelly

Fusion: What I Love About Challenges!

Welcome to another fun Fusion Challenge! I've got another Recipe Scrapbook page for my cousin's bridal shower to share. I actually had finished the page, saw the Fusion Challenge photo, and knew what I needed to change on the page. Originally the blue wedding subway art had nothing on it, and it did bother me because it looked kinda plain.

Seeing the shape in the middle of the blue shutter gave me the idea to put a shape on top of the subway art. I like how it breaks up all the words. The tiny bit of gold under the heart, and the gold fabric banner is taken from the gold on the bottom of the photo. This is what I absolutely love about challenges ... they push you to come up with things you really wouldn't have on your own!

To repeat the white from the heart shape, I outlined the subway art shapes with a white gel pen. Small detail, but it adds a little more interest.

Banner die is Top Dog Dies Banner Pennant Die, heart die is Top Dog Dies Diaper Card Finishers Set, kisses sentiment is Winnie & Walter You've Got Love Mail, and subway art is Fresh Squeezed Stamps Subway Series: Occasions.

Here are some fabulous cards by our design team!

Amy Tsuruta

 Betty J.

Jeanne Jachna

Julia Aston 

Katie Brooks

Lynn Mangan

Kimberly Wiener

Lyndal Higgins

Michelle Williams

Michelle Lupton

Stephanie Severin

Winners: Will be chosen by all of our teammates, each choosing one favorite. The winners will be announced at 4 am (PST) in two weeks!

Thanks for looking!
-Kelly

Love the Banner Dies!

Plugging away with more scrapbook pages for the Family Recipe Scrapbook for my cousin's bridal shower, here's one that uses the new Pennant Banner Die from Top Dog Dies. Again, with my lack of time to put this all together, having a die that you can run through your machine a couple times and call a page halfway done is pretty darn useful.

The title of the page is stamped on the Gift Tag Die Set, with flowers from Winnie & Walter Big Bold and Extras.

For the banners, I did a layer in white, and then a layer in pink colored in with my Copics. It would also look great with a few differently colored pink papers but in all honesty, my speed scrapbooking mode prevented me from finding and cutting the different papers. So much easier just to color them in : ) I threw in a blue fiber for some texture. The sequins are Pretty Pink Posh Winnie & Walter Birthday Mix (limited edition, no longer available).

Thanks for looking!
-Kelly