My Mind's Eye Blog

Spring Fun...

With Easter being around the corner, many of us will share some yummy chocolate treats with friends and family. Typically it is a handful of chocolate eggs or a large chocolate bunny for a child who will gobble them up as fast as they find them.  Join Trisha and Anam in taking the non-traditional Easter Basket route to celebrate SPRING!

 

With a sophisticated treat bag like this one, it is more likely to be appreciated by an adult who adores paper crafts as much as a fine chocolate morsel.

In fact, you may decide to KEEP the bag just to store your secret stash of delectable delights as it is just too pretty to give away! Better yet, create one as your gift bag and another for yourself! Make the recipient an extremely happy person and put a smile on your face as well!

Load up on the brown and pink elements from the My Mind's Eye LUSH Collections to create a project similar to this. This project includes the ribbons, epoxy brads and papers. By layering multiple patterns and keeping the colour scheme simple, the end result is fantastic! Using a fine tipped pair of scissors, an exacto knife and cutting mat and taking the the time to cut out the beautiful flocked flowers on the floral paper, the end result is almost as yummy as the sweet treat being given as the gift!

Now Anam has taken Spring Fun to an entirely new level!
She has created these fun Pillow Boxes disguised as Seed Packets to be shared with those near and dear that don't need or want the calories that Sweet Treats pack!

In Anam's words:

"Spring is finally here and now is the time to start the cycle of life that is seeds and plants to give us beautiful summer blooms. I love to give the gift of seeds to friends as it is sharing hope and faith in the future. These are very simple little envelopes that carry a gift that doesn’t cost much but the result can be so beautiful!"

 

Using the My Mind;s Eye Quite Contrary Collection of papers, die cuts and stickers combined with fabulous LUSH Collection embellishments, the results are superb!

Anam created a template to download so that you too can follow the attached instructions to create your own Seed Packets to share with friends:)

Download MME2010_Growlove_template

Download MME2010_Growlove

Happy Scrapping!

Trisha and Anam

Partying with my "Peeps"

In my family, we pride ourselves on our non-traditional traditions.  Singing happy birthday as horribly as possible at the top of our lungs, Burrito day - which is nothing more than singing a song about burritos every time we eat those bean and cheese delicacies and also one of my favorites, the annual springtime celebration of blowing up peeps in the microwave.  Tonight is the big night and we are going to be partying in style thanks to Quite Contrary!  By using a combination of paper, die cuts and stickers I was able to take something fun to something over the top awesome.  I can't wait for the festivities to begin. :)  

Featured collection:  Quite Contrary - Jack & Jill

Pop Bottle Sleeves are made by attaching a three inch wide strip of paper to the body of the bottle. Finished with letter stickers and various sticker accessories.

Pennants are made with various widths of paper strips attached to bamboo skewers.

Jar decorations are all from one sticker sheet and are easily removed to change for the next event.

Red crock completed with a matching die cut title.

 

Nothing says “spring” like…

these beautiful layouts by our own Anam Stubbington.  Anam designed these for our booth at CHA winter, but they are so perfect for this time of year, we wanted to feature them.

 

We love how Anam combined our Blue Lush papers with Pink Lush flocked chipboard and ribbon.

 

The subtle difference of the big heart out line in the perfect way to break up the background without taking away from the Pink Lush flocked paper.

 

All the circles and slight tilt of the photo in this layout help add to the feeling of movement.

 

What a beautiful way to document her Fay’s accomplishment.  The row of bling brads is striking and helps (along with the title) frame the photos.

 

The hand-drawn swirls, with flowers, bling and title, add to the “dancing” feel of this layout.

 

Blue and yellow combine perfectly for a perfect spring (Easter) feel.

We are lucky to have Anam as part of our team.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Ella Publishing winners

UR@ Cr8ive book winners:

Comment #2:

I am lucky, blessed....whatever you want to call it to be married to an amazing man for 25 years in 3 short weeks! :)

Posted by: ruth tacoma | March 17, 2010 at 12:19 PM

 

Comment #44:

I am lucky because I was born into a family that allowed me to try new things and always supported me. Gave me confidence.
Karen G

Posted by: Karen G | March 17, 2010 at 05:07 PM

 

Stretch Your Sketches winners:

Comment #110:

I think that I'm lucky to be a member of such a loving, supportive, and encouraging family. Well, actually I'm more than lucky...Blessed!

Posted by: nitasha | March 18, 2010 at 11:11 PM

 

Comment #136:

I am Lucky because I am a MOM, a WIFE, and a daughter!

Posted by: Connie Rojas-Padilla | March 22, 2010 at 07:22 PM

Chic Black Lush Album

When I first saw the new Black "Lush" collection, I knew exactly what project I had to use it for!  The 8x8 flocked album was perfect to document my daughter's birthday bedroom makeover. We decorated her room with a chic Paris/Fashion theme.   I had so much fun mixing the fresh pinks from the "Quite Contrary" line with the rich and elegant flocked "Lush" line. 

 

I used the back of the chipboard album for my cover so I would have space for journaling.  I borrowed Amber's cool technique and made ribbon flowers by pleating and gathering the ribbon with thread, stitching it together in back, and inserting a brad in the center.  It is so simple to do, yet makes such amazing and elegant dimensional flowers. 

 

 

 

I also glittered the black chipboard letters to make them pop.  Don't be afraid to mix and match them with the flocked letters (see the So Stylish title).

Making a mini album enables you to go into greater detail about and event, person, or object - that you often don't get in a single layout.  I really enjoyed highlighting all of the unique details about her room and documenting the process. We spent hours taping the walls and painted subtle white stripes in different sheens (satin and high gloss).  Shopping and finding accents for the room has been such a fun experience and rather addicting.  This album will be the newest feature in her room - she is so excited!

I have to say that I LOVE all of the "Lush" embellishments: the rhinestone strips, epoxy brads, chipboard letters, and delicious ribbon.  They are so versatile and I find myself using them on all of my projects.  Thank you MME for making such a fabulous basics line!

 

Blog Challenge #9: Blast from the past Winners!

It has been so much fun to see (and read) your “Blast from the past” entries.  Some of you used past My Mind’s Eye products, others used photos from long ago and documented special people or places.  While other entries focused on the more recent past.  Every entry was fabulous!  You can see them all in our Blog Challenge 9 photo album by following this link (be sure to look at page 2).

We are pleased to announce the winner of Challenge #9: Blast from the Past is:

Yukiko Matsubara

Featured Collections: Bella Bella and Bohemia

Yuki’s layout has such a soft, romantic feel to it.  Notice how she took our sketch and framed it using a die cut bracket paper traced and cut from a brown piece of Bella Bella paper.

Our Honorable Mention winner is: 

Ginger Williams

 

We “love” how Ginger used our Love Me Do collection for a “backyard fun” photo.  

We also wanted to give out a special award to Jan Hennings who created this super fun shadow box featuring our Blue Lush collection:

Jan will receive our Robots collection.

Congratulations, ladies!

Spring is in the air...

... and what better way to celebrate the season that with a fun card made with love using the Quite Contrary Collection by My Mind's Eye!

Both of the above cards were created with the Jack and Jill line from the Quite Contrary Collection and were enhanced with chipboard letter, ribbon and epoxy brads from the LUSH collection.

 

By adding some Glossy Accents to the self adhesive chipboard letters, you can give them additional dimension and gorgeous shine. I also applied Glossy Accents to the word "happy" that I cut out from another die cut so it would worth with this particular card.

Layer various Die Cut Stickers with the beautiful coordinating papers and you have a card worthy of the day it was created for.

This next card is just to share with someone close to you...

 

It is actually what I call a "card within a card" and by that I mean is is a smaller card attached to the front of the main card.

 

The small card actually flips open to reveal a small pocket designed to be a gift card enclosure.

 

   
 What a great way to present a token of your affection! So many of us turn to gift cards to surprise those near and dear and I would bet that you can think up a tonne of alternatives to cleverly house your gift cards too! Any variation of My Mind's Eye products will start you off in the right direction and with your creativity the sky is the limit! Try your hand at one today!

Happy Scrapping!

 

Trisha's Blog  

Lucky to team up with Ella Publishing

We are very LUCKY (Irish luck?) to team up with Ella Publishing for a blog swap.  What is that you ask? Well since it is new let me explain. Two companies share products with each other, and then swap projects to share with their readers. Oh, and they do a giveaway too. Check out the projects inspired from Ella eBooks that are made with the My Mind's Eye products. Check out both blogs for chances to win, and to see more projects.

Ella Publishing Team

  Angie Lucas

This layout uses the Quite Contrary line from My Mind's Eye, and I copied a sketch from the Ella Stretch your Sketches eBook written by Donna Jannuzzi.

I didn't have a circle cutter large enough to really fit the sketch, so I traced a dinner plate on the back of the patterned paper and trimmed it out. This was probably one of the quickest layouts I've ever created, because I had plenty of coordinating products to choose from in the Quite Contrary line, and I didn't have to mess with my design. Here's how it came together: I chose my topic, narrowed down my photos from a recent girls' weekend, and then I searched for a sketch from the Stretch Your Sketches eBook that fit the five photos I chose. Since I had four landscape photos and one portrait photo, it was easy to adapt the 3-photo sketch to make it work. (The reason it was so easy? Tami Morrison's layout in the eBook took this exact approach with one vertical photo four horizontal photos.)

  Katie Scott

I LOVE how sticky-strong the flocked chipboard letters are - I am usually unhappy with chipboard letters because they don't stick very well - but these are like superglue - seriously strong stick!  Thumbs up! My layout is inspired from the latest eBook, U2R Cr8ive by Stacy Julian. She shares so much information about living creatively and she is such an inspiration, I always want to scrapbook my life after I read anything written by her.

 

I used the My Mind's Eye Blog Sketch for inspiration and copied it almost exactly except it was pink and this is green.

Journaling reads:  Mac & Charlie tore down the 10+ year old herb garden (Mac particularly enjoyed the destruction process) and rebuilt it for me; and at my son's last doctor's appointment I was shocked that he only has one foot to go to be as tall as me!

* Remember to Wear Green;
* My Grandma Grace Flavin was Irish!;
* I grew up on Kermit & the Muppets;
* We are growing vegetables;
* My dad was a farmer & composter & an environmentalist;
* I kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland in 1992;
* Its what we call cash;
*Your eyes, like mine, are greenish brown.

Journaling reads:  St. Patrick's Day is almost here - so just in case you are wondering - Yes! We are Irish and here's why we celebrate!

Supplies:  My Mind's Eye: Lush; QuicKutz Flower die cut; word stickers and journaling blog by Colorbok; journaling pen in brown: sharpie.

 

My Mind's Eye Team

Anam Stubbington

 

I used the Ella Book “Quick & Creative Quizzes” – especially the final quiz in the back - was what I used for my inspiration. The quizzes are a good starting point to make you think about what you want to say. I ended up doing my own questions, only because I fall into an odd bracket for my teenage years and I grew up in Ireland so it was a very different scene to the USA.

Tiffani Smith

 

I downloaded the 20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers.  My layout is based on prompt #3 -  tell others how important they are to you.  After reading the book, i flipped through a pile of photographs on my desk and this one caught my eye.  Kensie is an amazing help to me, no one could ask for a better daughter.  I have been meaning to make a layout for her for a while now but haven't gotten around to it.  This was just the push that i needed.  I really enjoyed this book.  I have several layout ideas that i want to get working on from these prompts.  I love how clear and simple the messages are - very inspiring without being overwhelming.

 

Tamara Jensen

I downloaded the "Text Tricks for Scrapbookers" ebook from Ella Publishing.  It was full of creative ways to use titles and text in your layouts.  I was inspired by {Text Tip #3} Mix and Match: combine color and fonts.  I used two different styles and colors of MME alphabets: the yummy flocked blue and the green chipboard (I made it shine with a touch glossy accents).

Want to win a copy of UR@ Cr8ive OR Stretch Your Sketches?  We have two copies of each to give away.  All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this blog post telling us one thing that makes you LUCKY between now and Tuesday, March 23.  We’ll announce the WINNER on Wednesday, March 24.

For a chance at winning our Quite Contrary collection, visit the Ella Publishing Blog and tell them your top three daily (online) reads.

Feeling Lucky!

I have a confession to make......I'm just a wee tad obsessed with making pleated circles.

Remember the teacher valentines from last month?  I couldn't resist using that technique again to make a bigger circle as the base for this fun door decoration. 

 
 
I used papers from the Lush - Green collection.  What better choice for St. Patrick's Day?

To make these larger circles I used (4) 6 x 12 strips of paper scored at 1" intervals.  Next, I drew a wavy banner shape, cut it out, tucked back the edges and added the tails into the tucks for a seamless ribbon look. (My banner is 3" wide and 18" long before folding.) For the center I covered a chipboard shamrock with the flocked polka dot paper and sanded the edges.  

After adding the letters I wanted to give it a little extra oomph, so tucked cupcake liners behind the shamrock, inked the edges and sprayed the whole project with a light misting of Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold.

 

Caught our Eye – Drool Machine

Brenda Cazes, aka Skrapaddict, “Caught Our Eye” this month with this CUTE layout using our Lil’ Robots collection:

Designer: Brenda Cazes, featured collection: Lil’ Robots

 

Brenda says: “My son Jordan is the biggest drooler I've ever seen! He drools his way through about 5 outfits a day! Needless to say I do a lot of laundry!”
Journaling:  You are such a little drooler Jordan! You drool non-stop all day, everyday! The only time you aren't drooling is if you're sleeping or your drool cork (soother) is in your mouth!

 

Beautiful job, Brenda!  Will it be YOU who catches our “Eye” next month!?