My Mind's Eye Blog

April Sketch Challenge

Good morning ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the second April challenge.

Today Ronda is with us and she is sharing another awesome sketch and layout.

Hello! This month’s sketch is a fun take on all the pennants & banners that are trending lately.  How fun would it be to make a giant one to anchor our photo? I layered and layered different sizes and lengths of the pennant shape to create a playful background.  Scattered around the page are circles of different sizes and shape for that extra pop of color.  Have fun and remember one photo can always become two or three depending on your needs!

Supplies:Collectable-Unforgettable :’Story’ Label Stickers; 'You Are’ Charm Paper;  ‘Today’  Decorative Pins, Stamps;  ‘Happiness’ Decorative Buttons; ‘Firsts’ Enamel Dots; Boy Crazy: Seeing Stars Paper, Stitched Paper, Decorative Buttons; Misc: gesso, watercolor crayons, black pen, vintage thread, tag, American Crafts/Amy Tangerine Thickers, Maya Road Spray ink, Ranger Black Archival ink

This layout is so dear to my heart.  My youngest, Anthony, went to his junior prom not too long ago.  He went with a bunch of friends together in a group.  As I stood there taking their pictures (Don’t they look beautiful?), I kept thinking how fast time has gone by.  Gone are the days of him crawling into my lap telling me he wants to marry me.  Here are the days when we start visiting campuses to see which college he might be attending.  It makes it harder with him being the last in my house.  All too soon I will be an “empty nester.”

I started with the Boy Crazy patterned paper and lots of gesso.  I wanted to have that patterned paper peeking through but punch up the overall layout with watercolor crayons.   I completely adore how this looks.  I stamped shapes over & over again on the background.  I love the way black grounds a page.

I then layered the patterned paper on the background creating pennants from both Collectable & Boy Crazy papers.  I love the way the shape is repeated over & over again.  The title was a light grey but when I added spray ink over the top the cross hatched resisted the ink creating a cool effect.  The chipboard pennants are a perfect pop of color and texture to the page.

I wanted a little more pop of color so I added a manila tag that I painted with watercolor crayons.  I then stamped those great motifs from the Collectable Unforgettable Today line.  It really added another layer of texture & depth to my page. 

Journaling on gesso can be tricky.  I usually always draw pencil lines on my layout, then journal, and then erase the pencil lines.  On gesso however the pencil lines will not erase.  Knowing this, I just go for it and pen in my lines giving it a cool look and a straight place to journal. 

I love those little touches that add symbolism to my page, like the pins and thread.  The vintage thread is a current favorite item for me to add to my layouts.  The pins added that bit of color to my page.  It made me laugh because I had to pin on the boys boutonnieres for the girls had  no idea how to do it. 

I hope you have fun creating with this month’s sketch.  Hug your babies for all too soon they are grown and you too will be So Close to letting them go. 

Please share your sketch via the InLinkz tool below.

A random winner will be chosen and shared with our next challenge on Wednesday, May 1. You have until the end of the day on Tuesday, April 30th to share your project.

The winner will win the collection of their choice.

I'll be back later today with the March sketch winner and the April Fools challenge winner.

Thanks!

Leah Part Two

Welcome back to the blog, everyone! Yesterday we introduced you to Leah Cameron. Leah is our April guest designer and she rocked the MME this month!

Today we are sharing the rest of her projects. Enjoy...and make sure to stop by her blog to say hi. You are sure to find plenty of inspiration there!

 

 

So Very You layout

Supplies:Collectable-Unforgettable: Happiness Decorative Brads; Happiness Cheerful 12x12 paper;   Today stamps; Story Label Stickers; Story Tale 12x12 Paper; Firsts Fresh 12 x12 paper; Firsts Enamel Dots; You Are Tiny Word Stickers;My Girl: Fancy Free 12x12 paper

Ashley says:This layout is based on the March MME Sketch challenge. Sketches are my favourite way to start a layout, although sometimes by the end I am not so sure you can even see the sketch at all! This one, however, has remained very true to the original design. I love the look that a scattering of the enamel dots give to a layout, I think I have these in every colour available!

A tip I have that I used on this layout is if you feel the layered brads are not quite right on your layout, maybe the size is out or the colours don’t suit exactly – don’t be afraid to alter them slightly to suit. In this layout, the largest of the layered brads seemed too big, and the next size down too small. So I simply removed the largest circle of paper from the layered brad and it was perfect.

I also wanted to include a bit more colour in my brad cluster, so I punched a piece of the hexagon patterned paper from the 6x6 Paper Pad and stuck a brad through the middle to make my own layered brad.

 

The Very Best of Alexa Cameron mini album

Supplies:My Girl: 6x6 Designer Paper Pad; Chipboard Elements; Decorative Tape; Decorative Stamps; Sticker Accessory Sheet; Genuine 12x12 paper;Collectable-Unforgettable:Today Stamps;Collectable-Remarkable:Beautiful Stamps;Decorative Tape: Red and Turquoise

Leah says: The 6x6 Designer Paper Pads are perfect for mini album projects. For this mini album I simply cut some thin chipboard into 6x4 page sizes and adhered patterned paper to each side to make the foundation for my pages. Using this size makes it simple to simply cut 2” off one side of the 6x6 page to fit the 6x4 album.

I printed out some of my favourite photos of my youngest daughter Alexa from 2012 to feature in this album, I have done this in previous years and it is great to be able to go back in years to come and see how much she has changed.

 I used my vast collection of border punches to decorate edges, along with the gorgeous decorative tapes that match in so well with the bright colours in the My Girl collection. The smaller paper pads have the same patterns as the larger 12x12 sheets, but scaled down so they work beautifully for mini albums.

I also made use of the stamp sets from other collections in this project – I love how versatile the stamps are. I have used just the edge of the ruler stamp to border one page, and used the dashed border stamp as a curvy butterfly trail on another.

Leah- Thank you so much for your beautiful and crative work with MME this month. We couldn't be happier with your projects !

Introducing our April Guest Designer!

Hello MME fans! Hope you had a wonderful, restful, and creative weekend!

We are so glad you are joining us this morning, because it's time to introduce you to our April guest designer!

Meet Leah Cameron!  We love Leah and her enthusiasm (and love!) for MME. We are thrilled she agreed to join us this month!

Leah sent us a veritable TREASURE TROVE of projects. There are still plenty to share tomorrow, so make sure to check back then.

Here's a little bit about Leah:

I have been scrapping for about seven years.  I have always been interested in scrapbooking, even before I knew what it was!  I look back now on the photo album I made of my sister’s wedding in 1990, and can see the beginnings of my scrapping obsession.

My friend actually gave me a gift voucher for a beginner’s class in 2006, so that was when I first had a real taste of scrapbooking as I know it today.   I love scrapbooking for so many reasons – it gives me some “me” time, which has been very much appreciated over the past 7 years with two girls only 16 months apart.  I love that I can record the memories that otherwise would be forgotten.  And let’s be honest – I love the products!  

There is nothing better than getting that little ticket in the mail box which tells me there is a pizza box waiting – I think our postie must think we have a pizza addition!It almost goes without saying that one of the most anticipated scrappy parcels to receive is My Mind’s Eye – so I can’t even begin to explain how thrilled I am to have the opportunity to Guest Design for my all time favourite scrapbooking company.

Q:What did you have the most fun working with and why?

A:This is so hard to answer, as I loved it all...but if I have to choose I will go with the 6x6 paper pads – which is not what I would have thought when I first saw the ranges. My scrapbooking style is quite simple, so I sometimes find some of the “busier” patterned papers hard to use but the smaller scale of the 6x6 pads made them perfect for my Project Life and mini album.
PS. I also love the stamps!

Q: What is your favorite MME line of all time? Why?

A:Again, so difficult to narrow it down – but I think I will go with “Miss Caroline” as I adore the wood grain and floral mix. I really need to get me some more of that wood grain paper!

 

A Weekend Escape layout

Supplies: Collectable-Remarkable:Original patterned paper, Delightful patterned paper,Dates patterned paper; decorative buttons;stamps;layered stickers; enamel dots.

Leah says:Sometimes when you have a photo you just love, you don’t need to add much to create a beautiful layout that says all you need it to. Here I have just added some simple border strips that I punched from patterned paper, used the gorgeous stamps from the Beautiful range to stamp a very subtle pattern over the white background paper and added some simple embellishments. My favourite part of this layout is the Happy Days Are Here “sun” that I placed on the horizon. I knew as soon as I saw the Smile Layered Stickers packet that I wanted to use this as a sun, and this photo suited it perfectly. I simply removed the sun from the green background and adhered it directly on my photo.

 

Project Life Spread

Supplies: Collectable-Unforgettable: Today stamps; Story Journal Card; Story Journal Paper 12x12; You Are Title; You Are Tiny Word Stickers; Story Label Stickers; Decorative Tape; 6x6 Paper Pad; chipboard, Story “Story” Journal paper;Collectable-Remarkable: Beautiful Stamps.

Leah says:The Collectable Unforgettable range could not have been more perfect for my Project Life insert for my youngest daughter Alexa’s 7th birthday. I based this spread around the Story Journal Paper with it’s 3x4 sized cards, and then selected matching papers from the 6x6 Paper Pad. Again, this size is ideal for Project Life as you don’t have to cut into a full 12x12 sheet to just use a small piece. I printed out my favourite shots of her birthday week, and made quite a few of them small so I could fit more photos in the double spread. I have done quite a bit of stamping on this, as borders, background as well as feature embellishments.

 

Altered Notebooks

Supplies:My Girl: Felt Stickers; Decorative Brads; Sticker Accessory Sheet; Decorative Tape.
Patterned Papers: My Girl: Flutterby, Ride, Bouquet, Rainbow, Chevron;Decorative Tape: Yellow and Grey

Leah says:I decided to decorate the front covers of two diaries that my girls had been given for Christmas. I tried to choose papers and embellishments that suit their personality – I have one very “girly” girl, and the other, well, not quite so much! When I was half way through they came to investigate what I was up to and wanted to join in, so I let them decorate a notebook on their own. I think I must have done a fairly good job predicting what they would like, as it turns out Kiara chose the same paper I had for her notebook.

 

Her Happy Day layout

Supplies:Collectable-Unforgettable:You Are Pleasant paper, Today Moment paper, Today Remember paper, You Are Chipboard, You Are Tiny Word Stickers, Firsts Decorative Stickers;Decorative Tape: Yellow and grey.

Leah says:I just adore this photo I took of Alexa on her 7th birthday. It shows how happy she was for it finally to be her day. I love how it shows her school uniform, and her new birthday hair clips! I found the grey decorative tape to be perfect for this layout, and I have used two different patterns – one for the vertical stripes which adds great movement to the page, and also a simpler diagonal pattern around the outside of the tag that I cut myself out of patterned paper. The heart sticker was the perfect touch to this homemade embellishment.

 

WOW Leah! Thank you so much for your awesome projects! Don't you all agree she outdid herself?
And tomorrow we still have two layouts and a mini album to share!

Thanks so much for stopping by! See you all tomorrow.

New Collection Winners

Kate&Co-

 214 LisaSpiegel said...Oh my GOSH! I absolutely LOVE Cambridge Court...I can't wait to fussy cut those beautiful flowers out of the paper!!

Reply April 04, 2013 at 11:18 AM

 

Find Your Wings and Fly-

74 Audrey Yeager said...That mustache washi tape is so so cute! I am loving these bright colors and patterns!

Reply April 05, 2013 at 11:14 AM

 

please email me with your address at stephanie(at)mymindseye(dot)com

CONGRATS!!

 

Freaky Friday- April Edition

Today we are going to try something new. I challenged two of our designers to switch styles for today's post. So basically today is our very own Freaky Friday. Style-wise at least. :)

Who will be taking the challenge today? Tina Walker and Suzanne Sergi. When I think of Tina, I think of white space, mixed media influences, and clusters. When I think of Suzanne, I think of embossing folders, classic style, and feminine pages. I thought these two were the perfect pair to switch styles.

Here's what they are sharing today.

First up is Tina channeling Suzanne's style!

 

 

Tina says: When Stephanie asked the design team members to swap design styles with each other, I must admit, I was a little nervous.  These types of challenges are always tough because you are comfortable with your own style, and when you create a project using the style of another designer, it definitely pushes you outside your comfort zone.

So how did I interpret Suzanne’s style?  I started by printing off several of her recent projects from the MME blog.  I arranged them in front of me and certain design elements became noticeable.  Suzanne generally created layouts with one (1) large (4x6 or larger) photo. 

This is a big change for me since I generally use smaller photos (and multi prints of the same).   Her backgrounds use larger pieces of patterned paper, incorporating design elements from the background paper in the page.  Love this! Suzanne also uses large banners, (which I also love), and lots of round embellishments.

I wanted to create a layout that used these key design elements, but still make it my own.

Supplies: Collectable-Remarkable:Beam Paper, Grin Paper,Genuine Paper,6x6 pad,decorative buttons,pins,chipboard shapes,layered Stickers,label stickers,die cut title, journal  card,enamel dots, tiny word stickers;Misc:Clothespin:  Crate Paper,Twine:  American Crafts,Deli Paper: WebRestaurant Supply Adhesive:  Tombow (tape runner), Scrapbook Adhesives (foam tape),Die Cut Machine:  Cameo,Sewing Machine: Brother,Thread:  Coats and Clark,Staples:  Tim Holtz

To make this a marriage between Suzanne's style and my style, I used the design elements I mentioned above, but created an 8.5 x 11 page.

Also, one of my current favorite techniques is to die cut a piece of deli paper and place it over a busy background paper to create a subtle, muted effect.  Love this look!

I am so happy with my finished project.  I think it is the perfect blend between our two styles and love how it turned out.  If you ever have the opportunity or desire to swap styles with another scrapbooker, jump at the challenge.  It is definitely fun.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

And Suzanne's take on Tina's style...

Suzanne says:I will admit, this one was a bit challenging. I feel that I have developed my scrapbooking style, with tweaks here and there. However, to interpret another style can present to be a challenge. It was really fun, though!

Supplies: My Girl:Bouquet paper, Flutterby paper,Fancy Free paper,decorative brads,felt stickers, decorative buttons,enamel dots;Misc:twine,ink,Cameo

One of the things that I noticed about Tina's style was that she likes to utilize white space on her layouts. I tend to love patterned paper, and use it in large amounts onto my pages. Tina keeps it clean with minimal patterns. She has an eclectic and artsy style.  I did the best I could by dabbing in a bit of ink to add color to the background of my page.

Tuba tends to use smaller photos, and not the large photos I am accustomed to.  I went smaller to a 4x6 of these sweet little girls.  Her pages are modern and so I pulled out my Cameo to cut a couple of clean designs. I wanted to add a bit of me onto the page, so you will see the die cuts embossed to give them that extra texture. I love round elements on my pages, so I pulled in the felt flowers from the My Girl collection to add some extra pop.

Tina also inspired me to bring out the decorative tape! I used it as a border along the bottom of the page and to create fun interest at the top!

 

So there you have it...our very first Freaky Friday on the MME blog. Hope you enjoyed it!

Have a fabulous weekend. :)

Felt Stickers

Happy Thursday, MME fans!

Today we want to spotlight one of our favorite embellishments...felt stickers! These stickers are the perfect way to easily add a touch of whimsy to your layout or project.

They are fun, happy, bright, and playful. Who doesn't want more of that in their world?

I challenged Jana and Danni to share their ideas using these darling stickers. Here's what they came up with!

 

Be Happy by Jana Eubank

Supplies:My Girl :Playful paper, Rainbow paper, Pinwheel paper, Sweet Girl paper, Bouquet paper, Genuine paper, Felt Stickers, Layered Stickers, 12 x 12 Stickers, Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots

Other: Yellow cardstock, Tab punch, Scallop border punch, Ink, Adhesive, Foam squares, Trimmer

Jana says:I adore the felt stickers from the My Girl and Boy Crazy collections. I love the multiple layers in bright colors. Some of the layers even have stitching on them, which really adds to their cozy, handmade feel. When I look at them, they remind me of the cute, whimsical designs that are stitched on my young daughter's clothing (something I look to often for inspiration). I knew they would be a perfect accent on this layout about my daughter's birthday.

I added some of the enamel dots to the flowers, ice cream cone, and butterfly wings. I love the contrast of the shiny enamel dot with the fuzzy felt. So fun!

 

 

Robot Door Hanger by Danni Reid

Supplies:Boy Crazy:Plaid Paper, Geared Up, Felt Stickers, Decorative brads, tape, layered sticker, enamel dots,Silhouette Cameo, hole punch

When I first saw these felt stickers, I knew I wanted to create a door hanger for my youngest son's room.  These cute robots, cars and stars just needed to be displayed.  He loves fun things from my scrap booking supplies, from lunch notes, to bookmarks, to door hangers, to folder inserts, he loves them (he's still young enough to enjoy those things, yay).

I cut the door hanger using my Silhouette Cameo and then cut a fun block of arrows and backed it with chevron paper.  I loved layering the hanger with the papers, felt stickers, tapes and brads. 

I used hot glue in a "glob" and pressed it up a little to angle the head so the robot is looking at "you".  I thought it would be fun to add the layered sticker "genuine boy" to his hand, a couple of brads to the felt sticker and a couple of enamel dots to that cute robot tummy.

 

 

Eye Love You by Danni Reid

Supplies:Boy Crazy:Plaid, Point the Way, Stitched and Seeing Stars paper, Felt stickers, decorative brads, enamel dots;Misc:heart punch, white cardstock, machine stitching, Tim Holtz mini attacherIf you do not have a Silhouette Cameo, you can use a door hanger template online.  Here's one of several free printable templates online: Door Hanger Template

Danni says: I decided it would be fun to use this fun one-eyed monster to create a fun card for my youngest, one to slip into his lunchbox.  I thought it would be fun to create a sentiment that played on the "eye" in the monster.

How darling and creative are these ideas??? Have you used our felt stickers in your crafting? If so, we'd love to see! Link in the comments or on our FB page.

Happy crafting!

Project Life with Shelly- April Edition

Hello everyone! This is Shelly back with another installment of Project Life inspiration. Today, I am sharing another average week in my family’s life using the beautiful Collectable Collection, but this time with a more masculine feel.

Supplies:Collectable-Remarkable: ‘Day’ Daily Paper, ‘Smile’ Beam Paper, ‘Handsome’ Adorable Paper, ‘Smile’ Label Stickers, ‘Authentic’ Journal Card; Collectable-Memorable: ‘Hello’ Title; Collectable-Unforgettable: ‘You Are’ Tiny Word Stickers;Misc: Becky Higgins Turquoise Kit, Becky Higgins Divided Page Protectors Design A & D, Basic Grey letter stickers, date stamp, black Versafine ink, pen, Bohemian Typewriter font



My inspiration for this week came from the diagonal striped card from the Remarkable ‘Day’ Daily paper. I just love the primary colors that popped from my pictures and that card just said “use me!” It is the perfect card to complement this week’s pictures.

I wanted that same diagonal stripe to be carried to the other side of the spread. So I trimmed my 4x6 picture of my son playing in his sandbox down to 3x4, which made room for that lovely diagonal paper. Not to mention, it covered my mistake of not getting that picture printed with a white border right up too!  You just have to love it when things just work out, right?

To tie all the patterns together, I trimmed a small piece of the same green pattern from the label journaling card and the label sticker with the same diagonal stripe to create a banner on the title card. I finished off the layout by adding a touch more of the turquoise using the tiny word stickers. I find myself reaching for those stickers more and more. They just add that extra little something to my layouts.  

Thanks for stopping by the blog today! I hope you are inspired to use the Collectable Collection in your albums, and I hope you will share what you create with us.

The Beauty of Brads

Hello everyone.  Ronda here with you today to share with you the beauty of brads. I absolutely adore the brads that come with the My Mind’s Eye releases. You can use them in so many different ways and layers. Let’s take a look at a few examples I created.

Supplies:Collectable-Notable :'Love This’ Adore Paper,  chipboard;  ‘Wonder’ Lovely Paper,  Decorative Brads, Decorative Buttons;  Decorative Tape;  Misc: twine

On this Hello card using the Collectable Notable Collection, I layered some patterned paper on the background.  I trimmed a strip of patterned paper and decorated the edge with a border punch.  I added a strip of washi tape. 

I layered the chipboard flowers on the card and then using a sharp paper piercer poke a hole through the flowers.  I then inserted brads into the center of the chipboard flowers.  I also inserted brads into the chipboard saying as well. 

Supplies:Collectable-Memorable : ‘Journey’ decorative brads; My Girl: Decorative Brads, 6x6 Paper Pad, Layered Stickers, misc: gesso, tag, watercolor crayon

On this tag, I used some gesso & watercolor crayons on the background.  Next I drew a black frame around the edge of the tag.  I added the Collectable Memorable Decorative Brad to the top left and then added the My Girl decorative brad and layered flower sticker. 

The Hello sticker tag was perfect sentiment so I added it near the brads and flower sticker.  I then added some doodles and a brad to the center to the flower sticker. 

On the bottom of the tag I grouped together lots of brads to add a cool layered accent.  I love the way the brads are all jumbled together. 

Supplies:Collectable-memorable :'Perfect’ chipboard,  ‘Journey’  Decorative Brads Tape; 6x6 memorable  pad  Misc: gesso, watercolor crayons, black pen, old text paper

Lastly I am sharing with you a little 6x6 art piece I created all based around the “Enjoy the Journey” brad.  I started the background on watercolor paper with gesso, old text print, and watercolor crayons.  I added a punched heart to the upper left corner and colored it with watercolor crayons as well. 

I trimmed paper from the 6x6 memorable pad to create the “to go” cup.  I added some gesso and then decorate it with a black pen.  Lastly I added the brads and chipboard numbers to completely the piece.  I love having that pop of pink in the title brad in the upper left corner along with those tiny pops of colors in the brads at bottom right. 

Thanks for visiting the blog today.  I hope you found ways to add brads into all your projects for that perfect little touch. 

Spring Inspiration with Suzanne

Good Monday morning, everyone! This is Suzanne and I'm here today to share a little inspiration with you. I love browsing through Pinterest when I am in need of a bit of inspiration when I am papercrafting.

Recently I came across this simple idea of a mason jar decorated for Easter. You can find the original source for this project HERE.

I love using party trim on my projects, and I immediately loved the creative use of it on the top of this jar.

I decided to alter this tray from 7Gypsies to add a bit of spring decor to our home. I used the Collectable Unforgettable collection for most of this project.

The mason jar was cut using a stamp from Rubber Cafe, and paper pieced from a few different patterns using the 6x6 designer paper pad.

I stitched a layer of vellum at the bottom to create a pocket.I filled the inside with small punched flowers. At the top of the jar, I also used a bit of party trim to add another border above the brown twine.

 

In the smaller windows I punched three yellow polka dot flowers, and layered each one with a tiny word sticker.The final detail was more party trim and a bit of ribbon to add just a little something to the altered shadowbox.

Have a wonderful day!

New Collection Reveal- Find Your Wings and Fly

Welcome back to the second day of our big reveal! 

Today we have something you are going to be SUPER excited about. Would you like a hint? Okay...I'll give you one.  Just two little words. 

Rhonna Farrer. 

YES!!! How awesome is it that Rhonna has designed another line for MME? We couldn't be more excited.

Introducing Find Your Wings and Fly.

This line is whimsical, playful, colorful and downright joyful. It includes two color schemes, each fabulous, and includes some brand new embellishments!

Each color scheme contains vintage ephemera reimagined and combined with trendy motifs and patterns.

Up first is Sky's the Limit. Sky's the Limit has soft and lovely shades of pink, blue, yellow, and gray. Look for hot air balloons, dots, and vintage circus motifs.

NOTE: The colors in the digital images aren't quite correct. The aqua looks more like mint green. Please look at the product photographs below the digital images to see the true colors.

 

This color scheme includes twelve double-sided 12x12 papers:

and all the usual MME embellishments you know and love, PLUS new tiny alphabet+word sticker sheets! There are EIGHT per package in assorted colors. See the product photographs below these digital images for more details.

And again, here are some actual product photos. I feel that these represent the true colors MUCH better.

Yes..I know that the enamel dot packaging says "acrylic stamps". That's the fun of working with samples. :)

The second color scheme in Find Your Wings and Fly is called Up and Away.

Where Sky's the Limit is a bit muted and soft,delicate and sweet... Up and Away is bright and bold, whimsical and wild.

Up and Away includes twelve 12x12 papers:

And all of these fun embellishments:

And some real-life true to color images:

So there you have it. Up and Away and Sky's the Limit from the new Find Your Wings and Fly collection.

What do you think? How much do these rock?

One lucky reader will win the color scheme of their choice. Leave a comment here by next Friday (April 12) to be entered.

Good luck!!