My Mind's Eye Blog

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. 

Tag Trio by Ronda

Hello everyone!  Ronda here today to share with you some decorative tags.  With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I thought I would share not only some pretty tags but how to take those tags & turn them into a gift for your special someone. 

This tag trio holds coupons, a gift certificate, and my favorite photo of the two of us. 

To build this tag trio, I used Collectable Unforgettable as my color inspiration.  I layered some gesso on one side of the tags with some stencils to create some texture.  Once they were dry, I painted them with paints and spray ink.

The way this trio works is the two outside pieces fold onto the middle tag.  I wanted the textured tag to always be visible so I flipped the two outside upside down before taping them together. 

Using your favorite My Mind’s Eye decorative tape, adhere the tags together by taping down one side and up the backside.  Snip off the excess from the top of the tags.  Repeat the process down the right side of the two tags. 

Now you can fold the tags to create your trio of tags, decorating the inside & outside of the pieces.

I made this Love Tag trio as a homemade Valentine’s gift for my husband.  Inside there is a gift card and coupons with gifts of my time.  I layered pieces of patterned paper from the 6x6 pad.   I punched a border around the bottom piece and then layered a colorful patterned piece on top.  On top of that, I added a piece of book text and vintage thread.  I punched a heart die cut, added a brad and pin, and inked the edges.  The enamel dots were perfect to add color around the tag

I love to tie my tag trios closed with twine.  To keep it in place, I used a piece of washi tape to secure it to the back.  I stamped the sentiment and added the heart sticker.  My Mamma always said the back should look as pretty as the front. 

To open the tag, you flip the left side open leaving the third tag overlapping.  On the left tag I created a pocket using the 6x6 patterned paper.  I tucked multiple coupons into the pocket.  Date nights, cooking special dinners he loves, , etc.   On the right side, I used a chipboard piece on top of vintage thread and piece of patterned paper to decorate the tag.

Here’s the tag trio opened. 

On the middle tag, I added a piece of patterned paper with words cut from the 6x6 patterned paper.  I adhered it to the tag with a small bit of decorative tape. 

Under the piece I added my favorite picture of the two of us.  On the right side is a gift certificate tucked into a pocket with a layered sticker. 

I like that he can take this tag trio back to his apartment as décor to sit on his desk as a reminder of my love for him.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, have a wonderful Monday!

Supplies:Collectable-Unforgettable: 6x6 pads,decorative tape,'Happiness' decorative brads,'Today' stamps,'Today' pins,'Story' label stickers,'Story' layered stickers,enamel dots,'You are" chipboard;Misc:stencils,gesso,paint,inks,vintage threads,book text,baker’s twine

 

Tags with Ronda

Happy New Years!  I hope you have been enjoying all the new incredible releases. It’s Ronda here to share some design tips for you. 

It’s no secret I love creating tags.  It’s an easy way for me to jumpstart my creativity.  The one question I am always asked is what I do with all the tags I create. 

There are lots of ways to use tags: gifts, mini albums, on the front of a card.  I’m going to give you a peek into my process and then offer you another way to use tags.\

The first thing I always do when creating a tag is decide on a color story.  Here I drew inspiration from The Sweetest Thing Honey.  I loved the grey, yellow, pink, & black color combo.  I used both paints and spray inks on the background of my tag. 

I always love adding black to my tags.  It really grounds the design.  Stamps are a great way to add in those black elements.  If you aren’t sure where to place the image, you can use the packaging image to see where it might look best. 

I love the brads in The Sweetest Thing.The cool thing about them is you can take them apart to mix and match the colors and/or designs to meet your needs.  Here I also added a bit of black ink around the edge to make it pop.

I added a few splatters of black paint along with the beautiful black doily from The Sweetest Thing-Honey 'Love' stickers.  To finish the tag, I used the 'One of a Kind' layered stickers and some bakers twine. 

Repeating design elements in odd numbers is always a good thing.  On this tag it’s the black doily design. This tag is so pretty and would be great on a gift.

But have you ever thought about using your tags on a layout?  It’s a great way to add layers to any page.

I had this photo on my desk for a while waiting on the perfect color story.  Once I completed the tag I noticed how well the photo & tag went together.  I pulled out The Sweetest Thing Honey 'Love' Bouquet patterned paper and started layering elements starting with my tag.

To make the tag stand out a bit more, I added some yellow ink on the background.  I am so happy I left long tails on my bow because they look so cute looped around the page. 

I added a few enamel dots on both the tag & layout along with a few chipboard hexagons.

I wanted a strip of patterned paper to anchor the tag to the page so I decided to use the grey stripes of the Lost & Found 3 Ruby Doily paper.   

The Sweetest Thing Honey journal card, brads and stickers look so good tucked underneath the stripes.  I inked all edges with black ink to make them stand out a bit more.   

I repeated elements from the tag onto my layout like the black splatters, the enamel dots, and the black doily design found in both the brad and chipboard piece. 

To give the brad element a little more texture, I pulled up the edges to make it look more like a flower. 

I hope today's post helped you find another use for your tag creations.  Thanks for joining me today!

Supplies: The Sweetest Thing-Honey: ‘Love’ Bouquet patterned paper,stickers,enamel dots, ‘Simply Lovely’ brads,‘Happiness” stamps,‘Perfect’ chipboard elements,journal card.‘One of a Kind’ layered sticker; Lost & Found 3-Ruby: Doily patterned paper,Misc:BasicGreey alphabet stickers, adhesive, ink, paint, spray ink, stencil, twine

Please Welcome Ronda Palazzari to the team!

We are over the moon to (finally) tell you all that Ronda Palazzari is joining the MME team. We've known this news for quite some time and we were bursting at the seams to tell you. And now that we can.... we'd like to say that SHE IS AMAZING!

Ronda is a talented artist who makes beautiful,beautiful things. We just know she will bring so much to MME and we couldn't be happier that she is joining the team.

Ronda is an author, mixed media artist, scrapbook designer, and an instructor living in the burbs of Denver.  Her first book Art of Layers with North Light Publishing/F&W Media was released in March 2012. She has published in several magazines and idea books including Artful Blogging, Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers, Scrapbook Trends, and Somerset Magazines.  She’s best known for combining her mixed-media techniques with scrapbooking, but Ronda is one to follow because you never know if she will be sewing or getting messy with paints; her craft changes day-to-day.  She continues to teach worldwide as well as providing inspiration and telling her dorky stories on her blog HelpMeRonda.

Ronda will be using MME in ways you've never seen before (like in this fantastic layout!) and we love what she does.

 

And...now that we've finally made the big announcement, here is Ronna's first post! So much goodness in one day, can you handle it?

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! I know that Thanksgiving is traditional a US/Canadian holiday but the beauty of this holiday is that everyone can celebrate and express gratitude.  Being thankful for the big things as well as the small things is important every day.  I have learned so much these past few years about being thankful for the small things since my husband is currently living overseas.  Things like holding his hand, dinner time together, or even the bigger stuff he took care of so I didn’t have to.  Being grateful lets people know how much we love & care for them. 

Supplies: The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine:crocheted doilies,buttons,enamel dots,chipboard elements,label stickesr,tiny word stickers,The Sweetest Thing-Bluebell:decorative tape;Misc:Ranger manila tag,gesso,Maya Road spray inks,twine

This Thank You tag is a fairly simple tag that can adorn any gift for family or friends.  Like all my tags, I start with a color story.  I was really inspired by the Sweetest Things Tangerine line, specifically the Hello buttons. I used gesso and spray ink on the background of the tag in teal, aqua, and yellow and then I cut a piece of decorative tape for the top of the tag adding in more yellow. 

Next I layered the crocheted doily with the wooden button.  I really wanted to add in another color for that pop so I used the tangerine chipboard buttons and tiny word sticker.  The final touch is adding a few enamel dots around the tag along with the “you are the best” sticker. 

Supplies:The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine:journal card,buttons,stamps,chipboard elements,layered stickers;The Sweetest Thing-Bluebell: enamel dots;Misc:Ranger manila tag,archival ink,gesso,Maya Road spray inks, twine,Doodlebug letter stickers

This next tag could adorn any Thanksgiving gift or any layout documenting this festive holiday.  Again I used gesso and spray ink on the background of the tag, this time working ink yellow, brown, pink, and red.  The brown stamped image on the background adds a cool decorative touch without overpowering the tag. 

Next I layered the journal card onto the background and then added a layered sticker.  More chipboard stickers around the page (both by the layered sticker and over the word happy)  make it stand out more and add dimension to this tag.  I want to use this tag for a Thanksgiving page so I added the stickers to the bottom of the journal card.  I absolutely adore using enamel dots to add that final touch of color. 

Supplies:The Sweetest Thing-Lavender:"The Best" Impressions patterned paper,chipboard elements,buttons,decorative brads,stamps,stickers;The Sweetest Thing-Bluebell:chipboard elements;Misc:Ranger manila tag,archival ink,gesso,Maya Road spray inks,twine,pop up adhesive

I really love the layers of this thank you tag.  It all started with gesso on a manila tag along with some painted spray ink in yellow, brown, and pink.  Next I layered on some patterned paper to the background of the tag.  These circles from the Impressions patterned paper were perfect.  Next I stamped in black ink the doily images around the page.  Three is always a good number.

Adding similar designs creates harmony on this tag.  I added some chipboard elements to reinforce the circle shapes around the tag.  By layering them, I also added dimension to the tag.  For the flower, I stacked the chipboard element with a wooden button and two more chipboard buttons.  I also added a brad to the center of the doily chipboard piece.  Lastly I used 3-d adhesive behind the sticker to pop it up on the tag. 

I love keeping these kinds of tags in my stash for a nice homemade touch to any gifts or any page.  Thanks for stopping by today.  Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Wow. To say we are in love with Ronda's first assignments would be a massive understatement. We are THRILLED! We hope you'll join us in welcoming Ronda to the team! See you all tomorrow!!