My Mind's Eye Blog

My Mind's Eye Jewelry

It's now officially the Christmas Season.  If you are like me, you are still looking for great Christmas gifts.

I've thought for a while how beautiful our papers would look as jewelry. 

In fact, this summer I learned how to make epoxy jewelry using metal washers and scrapbook paper.  It's a simple, inexpensive and fun way to make jewelry.  And, as you can see, our pre-glittered Laundry Line papers are perfect for jewelry!

One day I ran across a company called Amate Studios.  They sell beautiful pendant trays (I didn't know that was what they are called) that can be made into rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets or cufflinks.  Anything you can imagine - what about hair clips or a key chain?

I had so much fun creating!  By combining My Mind's Eye products with Amate Studios, I came up with so many fun projects it was hard to stop!

Our papers come in so many different styles and colors - the possibilities are endless!

Abbey Road Lucky Me paper, chipboard, brads and ribbon all combined beautifully to create this fun pendant.

I used the new Be*Loved papers to create this earring, bracelet and necklace set.

Ooh La La for Him, my family pictures, Laundry Line ribbon and a square bracelet make a beautiful brag bracelet!

 

My favorite project?  The pièce de résistance?  I've really wanted one of those cute chunky pearl necklaces that have a fun fabric flower and are tied with ribbon.  You know the ones.  I decided I could make my own using Life Stories collection 2 and a circle bracelet!  I hope you like it as much as I do!

It's amazing how easy these beautiful jewelry pieces are!  And, to make it really simple, I've included instructions for the flower necklace.

Download Paper Flower Necklace

I found this great instructional video on You Tube (there is a part 2 also).  If you are nervous, this should help ease your fear.

Enjoy!

Be sure to join us tomorrow as we introduce our December Guest Designer.  You are going to love her!

Giving Thanks is good for your health!

Really! 

But, saying thank you once a year doesn't make us any more healthy than going to the gym once a year would (sorry)!  *wink*

The more you say thank you, the healthier your outlook on life is - the more you look for the good in people or situations.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in the United States.  Those of us who live in the United States enjoyed a wonderful day full of good food and family.  We expressed our thanks for the bounteous blessings we have.

This weekend, think about the many things in your life you have to be thankful for and take the time to scrap it.

Our wonderful Design Team wanted to express their thanks for a few of the blessings in their lives.

Your friends at My Mind's Eye!

Designer: Amber Packer

Featured Collection: Life Stories, collection 2

I have so many things to be grateful for.  I've been given many opportunities in my life.  I think the first blessing I had was being born to the parents I have.  They are supportive, kind, loving (unconditionally) and extremely giving.  They have taught me to be faithful, stand up for myself, serve others and be the best me I can be.  They need to know I am grateful for what they have done and continue to do for me. 

Designer: Anam Stubbington

Featured Collection: Breaking Free

I am thankful for my friends.  They are the best medicine I could have had this year.

Designer: Tiffani Smith

Featured Collection: Be*Loved

I have been thinking about all the blessing I have been given and decided that I want to take the time to document some of them.  One thing that has been on my mind lately is how grateful I am to have the privilege of being a stay-at-home mom and the time I have to spend doing all of the ordinary everyday things with my little sidekick, Finley.  This is our last year being together all the time before she starts school.  I am going to miss her so much!  It's a good thing kindergarten is only a half day here. :)

Designer: Trisha Ladouceur

Featured Collection: Life Stories, collection 2

Even though it is not MY Thanksgiving, I like to still remember my many blessings in life. My husband and children are of course at the top of my list everyday. I am so blessed to have them in my life. They are my EVERYTHING... always. But then I also need to be grateful for the many other gifts I have in my world... my friends, my family, my health and the wonderful opportunities I have as a result of my job. I often say that I am the luckiest gal I know and I mean it each and every time! Without these blessings, life as I know it would not be the same. I think it is important to reflect regularly on the many gifts and never take them for granted.

Designer: Kim Hughes

Featured Collection: Ooh La La

I chose to create a page about my amazing kids.  We have faced quite a few challenges this year and when I stop to think how incredible they both have been through it all, it makes me smile.  I am truly blessed in so many ways, but my kids are my world.

Sheep River Scrapbook Co.

Sheep River Scrapbook Co. started in 2005, and since then MME has been a staple. Mostly because I am obsessed. In our small town we can't always guarantee the all the hottest new products, unless they are from MME! We just love the ease at which the pieces of each line come together. And there's so much potential for some real creativity & learning as new products appear with each line (you never get bored!). We ate up the 4x6 overlays when they made their way into the Bohemia line & have been impressed with all the great additions lately (we love love love the brads in the past couple lines!). My favourite line is Breaking Free. If you gave me that line & deserted me on an island with a stack of photos, I'd be a happy scrapbooker ;)

Sheep River Scrapbook Co. is located at:

102 Elizabeth Street, Okotoks, AB

Store phone is: (403) 938 2391

haleymarieross.blogspot.com

When MME started their blog, we got a little obsessed ... we were impressed with the talent we saw & thought we needed an injection of some of that here in our town. And with that, the Weekend To Unwind was born.

 

With Trisha Ladouceur on board it was easy to sell out our event & people felt secure knowing the classes would be rockin' the latest MME products. We kicked off our weekend long event with a Cocktail Party on Friday night. We throw about 4 parties a year. Each one has it's own twist. We've had a Vegas night, an Angel Card reader, a manicurist & even a temporary tattoo parlor one night!  It's a good chance for people to meet, talk scrapbooking, shop & laugh. There's no actual scrapbooking at the party (besides free Make&Takes), just good snacks (Designer cupcakes from Crave Cupcakes are always a hit!), great drinks, and lots of cute details. Our "theme" was MME. We've never featured just one company but with so much creative juice it was easy.  One of the games we featured was Pick-a-Stick. We used metal daily dose signs on the ends of skewers & stuck them into floral foam in a cute tin bucket. If the end of the stick was pink... you won a great MME prize! If not, well, you had an adorable little treat to stick in a plant or your pencil bucket at home.

Saturday we ran four great classes! Each one featured a different MME line & project. Trisha's projects were gorgeous & the paper flew off the shelves (Colorful Christmas was our biggest hit!). There were lots of prizes, lots of laughter & happy scrapbookers. And that's all we ask :)

 

Blog Challenge #5: November Sketch Winners!

It's a record!

Our jaws just DROPPED when we realized there were 110 entries!

The winner of Challenge #5: November Sketch is:

Annie Tsai

What an eye catching layout, Annie!  Did you notice the cute little snowflake accents that Annie cut from the paper?  We also love how Annie journaled just inside the stitching in the circle.

Our Honorable Mention winner is:

Rowena Barnard

Rowena loves to create cards.  We're glad she knew she could enter a card.  "For the layout I've used the sketch over at the MME blog because even though its more geared towards a scrapbooking layout there's no way I could resist having a shot at the fab prize they've got since I love MME so much!"

Wonderful job, ladies!

We need you both to email: [email protected] with your mailing information and the collections you'd like to receive for your prize.  Annie, let Amber know your three favorite collections and Rowena, let Amber know your favorite collection.

Thanks again to all who participated.  Take a look in our Challenge 5: Ad Inspiration Photo Album to see every fabulous entry!

Getting a jumpstart on those holiday greeting cards....

I was out shopping last weekend and the store had a Holiday Countdown Calendar... do you realize there are now only 35 days left until Christmas! The next several weeks will be full of activities to celebrate and prepare so now is probably a great time to get started on the task of making your Christmas Cards. Fortunately for you, My Mind`s Eye has the fresh and funky Colorful Christmas Collection of papers and embellishments that will surely get those creative juices flowing so you can create your mini masterpieces!

Quite often when creating cards, I like to incorporate a Gift Card Enclosure of some sort. So many of us tend to give gift cards to those near and dear anyways, imagine the smile on the lucky recipients face when they open your card and find a special gift has been included! The above card is what I call a Card within a Card meaning there is a smaller card attached to the front and on the inside is a pockets perfectly sized to hold a gift card.

The Colorful Christmas Glittered Chipboard Elements add just the right amount of shimmer and dimension to your miniature creations. You will also notice there is a pocket on the front of this card, it can also act as as holder for a gift card too (rather than the tag shown here).

Use the Colorful Christmas Epoxy Brads to do double duty. Not only do they add a bit of eye candy to your project but they also function to secure the various embellishments together.

If you want to dress up your cards a little bit and take them one step further, break out your sewing machine to add some additional flair. Or if you are really ambitious, you can do some hand stitching. Most definitely, the person receiving your greeting card will be touched at just how much work you put into something for them and will treasure your card always.

 

 

Another handy dandy trick to keep in mind when you are creating is to cut apart the die cut border strip with the words to provide the means for your expressing the various sentiments.

With so many papers and die cuts in the Colorful Christmas Collection Pack, the design options are endless. You could easily design just one or two cards and create numerous variations by just swapping out the papers for the different patterns!

Another fabulous thing about this collection of papers and embellishments to keep in mind is that it is quite versatile. Not only can you use it for Christmas Cards, but they can be adapted to many different holidays celebrated my many others.

As the holidays approach, I wish you and your family and safe and happy holiday season and may all of your wishes come true in the New Year!

Happy Scrapping!

 

Life Stories galore!

Our Life Stories collection helps you dig deeper with journaling prompts.  You will learn to tell "the story behind the story"!

Life Stories is printed on Kraft paper in soft brown, blues, greens, reds and purples!  With 2 die cut accessory sheets, 24 patterned papers, and 30 mini journaling cards you are sure to find something for your every scrapbooking need.

Our Design Team members have been waiting for a chance to really play with Life Stories. 

As you can see, there are many different looks you can get with Life Stories.  It looks great with color, sepia or black and white photos ... whatever your heart desires.

We hope you enjoy what we've come up with!

Kim Hughes:

  

Tiffani Smith:

Trisha Ladouceur:

 

Anam Stubbington:

Download Mine Instructions

Download We Love You Desk Album Instructions

Amber Packer:

   

We hope you have a great time telling YOUR Life Stories!

Christmas Wreath

Today, on Good Things Utah, I demonstrated this wreath I made using The Merry Days of Christmas collection. 

 

I just love how it turned out!  And, talk about a simple, inexpensive project that makes an impact!

It's amazing what can be done with just a few pieces of paper, some ribbon and floral picks.

Would you like to make your own?  We'll put a link to the segment with a video of my segment when it's up this afternoon.

Update:  The segment video has been loaded in the left column.

But, in the meantime, I've included detailed instructions here.

This is a perfect project for Thanksgiving Day.  After your belly is full, relax on the couch, cut out leaves and enjoy this wreath for many years to come.

Caught our Eye - Rock On!

Kimberly Collis Caught our "Eye" this month with two fun layouts featuring our Abbey Road Stomp Collection!

 

We love how Kimberly used a large picture with a small cluster of Stomp Embellishments in the corner.  Your eye is drawn directly to the photo and the photo is enhanced with the embellishments.  Her journaling is too fun!

More than just an inspiration for this fabulous layout, our Stomp collection has inspired Kimberly to begin planning a trip with her daughter.

"When this paper first came out, Haley and I immediately started to plan a trip to Drumheller.  Yep.  We were going to go to Drum just to take some pictures of dinosaurs and hoodoos so we could scrapbook.  Crazy?  I don't think so.  Needless to say, we still haven't made it to the museum, but I did have these pictures from our trip to the Calgary Zoo a couple of summers ago that are perfect!"

Thank you, Kimberly, for being an inspiration to us.  Leave some love for Kimberly here.  One person will win their favorite collection!

Will it be YOU that catches our "Eye" next month??

Counting down the Days

For Adults, Christmas is a time to catch up with Family and Friends, share love and joy and get ready for a new year. For children, its all excitement and wonder and Advent Calendars just add to that by counting down the days to Christmas.

Our Advent Calender this year is so simple but so effective. It is full of little pockets of Chocolate Coin fun and every 4th day there is a special treasure instead of a chocolate coin (or three)  - we let Fay pick out a new Christmas Tree Ornament.

Now I have done this as a countdown from 24 to 1 but you can use any number system you want. Make it for a child's birthday or even a countdown to a vacation! 

 

Download the Instruction PDF here.

Enjoy!

 

Thanking our heroes

Whether you call the United States, Canada or somewhere else home, there are heroes among you.

Heroes who put their lives on the line to protect your way of life or give a better way of life to someone else.

Heroes who CHOOSE to serve.  Heroes who choose us over their own lives.

Whether you call today Veteran's Day or Remembrance Day the meaning is the same: to honor the heroes who have died throughout every war or conflict and to acknowledge those still fighting.

Take the time today to think about the meaning behind the holiday. 

1. Thank those you know for their sacrifice. 
2. Create a layout documenting the feelings you have about this holiday or honoring the service of someone close to you
3. Create a card to send to someone who is currently serving.  There are many places you can send cards to.  Here are just a few (be sure to read over the requirements before designing):

www.operationwritehome.org

www.opwritehomecanada.blogspot.com

www.soldiersangels.org

www.anysoldier.com

www.trevlac.biz/Chosen_Soldier.htm

www.uk4u.org

Anam: "My layout is of Fay taking her place (& waving at me) in her school colour guard for Remembrance Day services on Monday."

Featured Collection: Be*Loved

Kim designed this beautiful card expressing her gratitude for our safety.  Kim blogged more about Veteran's Day here.

Feature Collections: Life Stories, Ooh La La, The Merry Days of Christmas

Tiffani: "I don't know anyone closely that is currently serving in the military but love the idea of being able to support our troops by donating cards.
I plans to send this one along with a few more."

  

Featured Collection: Life Stories

Trisha: "I couldn't get my Grandma our of my head when thinking about this post.  She was a nurse in WWII and although she did not work front line
shooting, she DID care for those injured and was just as important as the soldiers so I felt it important to pay tribute to her and others like her :)"

 

Featured Collection:  Life Stories

Amber: "I'm grateful everyday for the sacrifice of those who are currently serving and those who have served in the past.  My grandpa served as a Marine in WWII and was wounded twice.  He is now in his late 80's and has just recently started sharing bits and pieces of that time in his life.  I have never heard him talk about battles, it is still too painful to speak of."

(I have already shared this layout, but couldn't not include it today.)

  

Featured Collections: Life Stories, Abbey Road, The Merry Days of Christmas, Laundry Line stamps (card) and Andrea Victoria (layout)

Today, WE thank all the heroes among us.