My Mind's Eye Blog

Time 4 All Hallows Eve by Suzanne

Happy Halloween everyone! Suzanne here with a Halloween page of my favorite little witch, Miss Macie. This page uses the Lost & Found Halloween collection. I love that the graphics are primarily on kraft paper, with a touch of glitter thrown in to celebrate the spooky yet elegant occasion!

One of my favorite papers in the collection is the Hallows Music patterned paper. I used this as the backdrop for my page. I primarily pulled my embellishments from the chipboard elements and the 12x12 accessory sheet. The result is a spooky page that came together fairly quickly! 

Supplies: Lost and Found Halloween:Hallows Skull Doily patterned paper,Hallows Music patterned paper,Hallows Halloween Ads patterned paper, Hallows Pattern patterned paper,decorative brads,12x12 accessory sheet,12x12 chipboard

As I was designing this page,  I wanted to create a few bold embellishments. You can see one at the top of the page, and one underneath the clock embellishment. I also pulled out my flower dies and Cricut to create a few unique embellishments.

A little quirk of mine is that once I find a stamp or diecut that I love, you will see it on many of my pages and scrappy projects.

For instance...I discovered this big die cut clock on one of my Cricut cartridges. I recently used it on a mini album and thought it was perfect to be added onto this page.

For the center of the clock, I misted a white doily and used the witch circle diecut from the 12x12 accessory sheet.

Of course, I added two simple details.

First, I ran the die cut through my printer to add part of my title, and then the final detail was to add texture with one of my treasured embossing folders.

The chipboard owl accent was adhered to the center of the clock hands, and two diecut flowers added the perfect final touch.

Here you can see I turned to two of my favorite dies from Tim Holtz. One is a flower die that is just perfect for Halloween pages.

I layered a few flowers cut from the Hallows Halloween Ads patterned paper. Then I layered a smaller flower cut from vellum, and embellished the center of the cluster with a brad.

The second diecut is the bold label (I added a touch of embossing).

I pulled the rest of my title from the 12x12 chipboard sheet and added the All Hallows Eve label right on top of the label diecut.

Off to the left of the page, you can see another chipboard element, a pumpkin that is simply embellished with twine and a small tag.

Thank you for stopping by the My Mind's Eye Blog!Wishing you and your family a very Happy All Hallow's Eve! 

Stamps+Mini Canvases with Tina

Hi MME fans! Hope you are safe and dry this Tuesday morning. Tina here today with a different way to use your MME stamps on your layouts.

Lately I have been slightly obsessed (okay, I'll admit it - I'm super obsessed) with these mini canvases by Artist Loft.  I have been trying new ways to incorporate them into my projects and the layout I would like to share with you today  demonstrates one of those ways.

Supplies: The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine:Sunny patterned paper,Woodsy patterned paper,Greetings patterned paper,6x6 paper pad,decorative tape,stickers,tiny word stickers,layered stickers,chipboard elements,stamps,decorative brads,die cut journaling card;Misc:Jenni Bowlin alphabet,The Twinery twine,adhesives,Artist Loft mini canvas panels,spray mist,embossing powder,linen canvas paper,embossing ink

I started by applying a coat of gesso to my mini canvas to prep it for the spray mist. Next, I stamped several images to the canvas (with embossing ink), then applied white embossing powder. 

Once this was cool, I sprayed several coats of spray mist till I got the color I wanted.

To finish off my mini canvas, I tied twine and adhered a layered sticker and tiny word sticker to the canvas.

I really love how the mini canvas looks on my layout and the dimension it adds.

Special Note:  I used the Mini Canvas PANELS - these are super thin and do not add as much dimension to your layouts as a 'normal' canvas.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Mini Albums with Monika...Gratitude Journal (and a Giveaway!!!)

Hey everyone! This is Monika and I'm here with the November edition of my series Mini Albums With Monika.

 For the past several years, I have been keeping a Gratitude Journal. Several of my journals have been making the rounds on Pinterest, but if you're unfamiliar with what a Gratitude Journal is, it's very simple. I construct a mini book made from my pretty paper scraps adding in journaling spots and other interesting bits of paper items.

Then, each day, I record a short sentence about something in my day that made me smile or reminded me of the blessings in my life. Granted, there are also days when it is difficult to see goodness because I am frustrated, so I have also recorded those thoughts as well. And if I skip a day or two, that's okay. 

Know this, you will be doubly blessed when you read over your grateful thoughts at a later date. I have looked back over my journal from this year and I recorded thoughts that I had forgotten about until I reread them.

That alone is worth the few moments I take to slow down and think about what made me smile that day.

Supplies:Lost & Found 3-Ruby: Doily patterned paper,chipboard elements,sticker accessory sheet,stamps, decorative tape,6x6 pad;Lost & Found 3-Oliver: Yellow Honey patterned paper, Mixed Floral patterned paper,Collage patterned paper,6x6 pad,stamps,adornments,decorative tape,chipboard elements; Lucky in Love:patterned papers,6x6 pad;4x6 Accessories Pad;All is Bright-6x6 paper pad;Winter Wonderland:6x6 paper pad;Six by Six 2: My Favorite Things, Quilting Bee, Come Away with Me, A Mother's Love, School Daze

Now let the fun begin! I began by going through my paper collection and searching out scraps, then quickly moved on to my larger sheets of paper that had interesting design elements already incorporated into the design or that had a fun pattern on one side and a rather subdued pattern on the other side allowing my journaling to be seen.

You'll also want to grab several handfuls of journaling cards, tags and other items that can be adhered to those pages that have an overall design that complicate journaling directly on your patterned paper. 

Low on journaling cards? Let's make your own!

You could use almost any notebook to record your grateful thoughts, sure, but my reasoning is that with a journal as cute and inspiring as this one, who wouldn't want to sit down and flip through all that gorgeous paper to write?

Make plans to raid your paper stash and begin creating your journal today!

Here are some photos to inspire you to create. :)
And now the part you have all been waiting for...I'm thrilled to share with you that My Mind's Eye is giving away this very Gratitude Journal to one lucky commenter. All you have to do is share a simple thought with us of one thing you're grateful for in your life.

I'll start...How lovely it is to have a husband that prepares breakfast each and every Sunday for our family...his biscuits are WAY better than mine ever hoped to be!

Contest is open internationally...comments remain open until Monday,November 5. One winner will be chosen and posted on Tuesday,November 6.

I'm so grateful that you stopped by to read today. Hope you are staying safe and warm in this crazy weather.

P.S. I've created a PDF for all of you with some Gratitude Journal tips and ideas. Just save and print or drag and drop....enjoy!

Finding Inspiration

Happy Friday everyone! This is Tamara and today I'm here to talk about inspiration.

The days here are getting cooler and nights are getting chilly.  I figured it was time to pull out some warm and sunny photos from our fun summer days.

I was browsing through the fabulous November issue of “Coastal Living” Magazine and was inspired by two pages.  The first was from an article about a designer and her favorite coastal paint colors.  I loved the yellow, aqua blue and orang-red that the designer mentioned.

Of course I had to use the new The Sweetest Thing “Happy” collection that uses all of those wonderful colors.  The decorative tape even has the same chevron pattern as table in the photo!

 Supplies:The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine:Greetings patterned paper,Wishes patterned paper,Beam patterned paper,layered stickers,die cut title,decorative brads,decorative tape;The Sweetest Thing-Lavender:Impression patterned paper,label stickers;The Sweetest Thing-Honey:Best patterned paper, wood button;Lush:alphabet;Misc:red machine thread, brown ink and pen, pop dots, adhesive

My second inspiration came from the “Nautical Notes” page.  I loved how the stationary was arranged in a random order, like pictures on a wall.  I also liked the white around the edges of the envelopes and cards, almost like picture frames.

In my design I left a white border around all of my photos. A great thing about smaller photos – you can fit a lot on a page – I used 14!

We might have not made it the ocean this year, but I had some great pictures of cousins playing at Jackson Lake in the Grand Tetons National Forest.  They have a fun coastal/beachy feel...even though we were in the mountains!

I hope you enjoyed my post today and that YOU will find inspiration today. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Lost and Found Halloween layout

If you have been a follower of my blog for a while, you know that I take Halloween pictures BEFORE Halloween!  The kids are excited to be in their costumes and aren’t (in their nicest voices) asking you to stop taking pictures so they can get to the task at hand and begin Trick or Treating.  It works out great for our family!

Today on Good Things Utah, I shared how to create this layout.  This was the last layout I created for CHA-Summer.  I used the delicious Lost & Found Halloween collection.  The beautiful collection I used to create my Halloween mantel.  I was tired and not sure how to keep the design mojo going.  Thanks to the beautiful designs, it wasn’t hard and this is one of my all-time favorite layouts.  I just love the way it came together.

Wouldn’t it be fun to display THIS year’s Halloween costumes in your home on this beautiful layout?  Take you pictures early and/or make the layout early.  You will ease the stress and increase the enjoyment of the upcoming holiday!

Halloween Layout Instructions:   Download Amber_LF Halloween

For our friends who are unable to watch the segment live, I will up load the video here when it is available.

 

 

 

 

 

www.amberpacker.com

Fall Cards with Danni

Hello!  Danni here with you today to share a couple of ideas to create some "fall-themed" cards with supplies you have on hand. 

I really love the colors and patterns found in the new Six by SIx 2 pad "Come Away with Me".  Originally designed as a travel theme, I found papers that work beautifully for a rich, deep fall themed card or two and know you will too. 

I absolutely love the blues, reds and yellows in this pad, they are so deep in color and have the perfect autumn warmth and feel to them.
On my first card, Hello Fall, I wanted to create some see through windows to hold my leaves, like when you look out your windows and see the leaves "falling" all around you.  I used a cellophane bag for mine, but you could use any clear transparency or envelope.

See how the cellophane covered circles make you feel like you are looking through windows?  So much fun to see the leaves "fall" through the window.

On my second card, Fall Hello, I wanted to stitch a tree and adhere lots of colorful, rich leaves to it as though they were in the process of falling from the tree.

The "hello" sentiment from the Hello Stamps from The Sweetest Thing fit perfectly around the circles or up the tree trunk.  With the ease of the acrylic stamps, you can "curve" your sentiment to fit almost any location you create for them.

Supplies for both cards:  Six by Six 2:Come Away with Me pad;The Sweetest Thing:Hello Stamp set;Misc:Martha Stewart Maple leaf punch, machine stitching, cellophane clear envelopes, Papertrey Ink Heart die (butterfly)

As you can see, there are lots of rich patterns and colors to choose from in this ONE pad from the Six by Six 2 release.  If you create some fall cards with one of your pads, we'd love to see them!

happy creating♥

Shelly Takes the October Challenge!

Have you entered our October stamping challenge? We sure hope so! It's an easy way to have lots of fun and you could win an entire collection of your choice!

If you missed the challenge, you can find it here.

Shelly made a page for the stamp challenge this month and here is what she came up with!

Happy Halloween by Shelly Jaquet

Supply List:Lost and Found Halloween:Hallows Halloween Ads patterned paper,Hallows Dot patterned paper,decorative brads,stamps,diecut sheet,chipboard;Winter Wonderland:Christmas Trees patterned paper;Six by Six Two:Mother's Love paper pad;The Sweetest Thing-Bluebell:stamps;Indie Chic-twine;Misc:Prima chalk ink,VersaFine,Marvy Uchida tag punch;corner rounder,adhesive,computer

Shelly says: When I decided to do the October challenge, it was really a "challenge" for me! I am not much of a stamper,so I really tried to push myself to try a few different things.

I used a mask of the Marvy Uchida giga tag punch to create a stamped tag using the stamps from The Sweetest Thing Bluebell.Then I created a border with the "creepy.crawly.spooky.scary" stamp from Lost and Found Halloween.Last but not least...I simply tamped the bird and spider web as accents to my page.

Next, I created a background with the stamps from All is Bright.

I also used the chevron arrow stamp as a banner.

I had so much fun with this challenge, even though it took me out of my comfort zone. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

 

Pinspiration Friday

Happy Friday! We are so glad you stopped by today, it's Pinspiration Friday! Every day, we scour the Internet for inspiring MME projects. We find your work on your blogs, through our FB page,and in online galleries. We pin the ones that inspire us most!

Then once a month we challenge our designers to use one of your creations as inspiration for a layout or card.

This month Tina and Danni are joining us. Here's what they came up with. Enjoy and have a lovely, creative weekend!

 

Inspiration Piece: Anabelle O'Malley

Tina's version:

Supplies: All is Bright:Christmas Tag patterned paper, Joy patterned paper,Happy Day patterned paper,twine,layered stickers,decorative buttons,chipboard elements;Six by Six Two:A Mother's Love paper pad;Misc:Pink Paislee wood alphabet,adhesive,sewing machine and thread,ink,K&Co stamp

Tina says:For my Pinspiration lift this month, I am lifting the AMAZING and SUPER TALENTED Anabelle O'Malley, and this incredible layout, found on MME's Inspiring Pages and Cards.

I love the linear (across the page) design of this layout, and how she used circles to create little areas of color and visual POP.

I wanted to use the same linear design, but 'change it up a bit', SO, I swapped circles for squares.  I stitched the squares down, layering several patterned papers within each other.

I also expanded the washi tape area on the bottom of Anabelle's layout, adding several chipboard elements and punched medallion shapes.
So I would like to see how observant y'all are.  Can you pick out the new Christmas collection 'All Is Bright' in my layout?   By hiding any Christmas/Holiday reference and by mixing it with the Six by Six paper, it blends perfectly and you can really stretch your Holiday paper collection into non-Holiday projects.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great one!

Inspiration Piece: Jeni Allen

Danni's take:Every month, I sign up for these fun posts because I get to scroll through the newest "pins" on our MME Inspiring Cards and Pages page and I always leave incredibly inspired to create!  This month, there were amazing layouts and cards and it was once again, so, so hard to choose.  I could've closed my eyes and pointed to a "pin" and created several cards inspired by so many of the elements in the pages or cards, maybe next month, I'll give that a try....wink.

Today, I selected this amazing card from Jeni Allen.  Jeni's blog My Stampin' Spot is always filled with all kinds of inspiration and fun, new ideas for stamping and designing gorgeous cards.  In full disclosure, I am on the CupCards to Go design team with Jeni, but that is NOT why I chose her card.  I fell in love with this card when we worked with the CupCards to Go August kit and then I saw Stephanie, too, had "pinned" it on the MME boards, so I thought it an ideal time to share why this card inspires me so.  Every time I see this card I fall in love all over again.  I love the circle elements, all the patterns in the card, the "white" bouncing the patterns, the "little" details, it's just incredible and I think it will definitely inspire you too.

I decided to create three cards this month because I had so many ideas with this design and wanted to play with a more literal sketch idea and a "details" inspired idea.  For my first two cards, I stayed pretty true to the sketch and literal interpretation.  I chose to use my MME Six by Six 2 "Gnome Sweet Gnome" paper pad and die-cut embellies to create my cards today.

The first card I created was inspired by the beautiful patterns on white in Jeni's card.

As you can see, you don't have to use the patterned papers for the circles, you can use white circles and dry emboss them for added detail.  I also cut the die-cuts from the
6 x 6 Gnome Sweet Gnome pad to add additional details to my card and sentiments.


On my next card, I chose to add lots of fun patterned papers, including a patterned paper circle spray, because there are so many fun patterns in the Gnome Sweet Gnome 6 x 6 pad.  I really love the variety of patterned papers and while I only used one pattern on my circles, I used several different patterns on my card in general.

I stamped the sentiment right onto the bracket die-cut that comes in the pad and added lots of fun details using the various die-cuts.  I love the green gingham patterned paper so much for this particular design because bouncing little die-cut elements off of the background paper was so much fun.  Isn't the "little bird" just the cutest in the die-cut sheet?  Love, love him!  I added stamped sentiments on these cards, everything else comes from the Gnome Sweet Gnome 6 x 6 pad.


On the last card, I really wanted a more relaxed interpretation, one I could use for cards with a slightly larger focal embellishment and yet still have the circles and fun design as Jeni's gorgeous card.  On this card, I really wanted to play with the sweet Gnome (who just makes me so darn happy) so I decided to make him a "circle focal" along with lots of other of the fun die-cuts from the pad.

As you can see, the Gnome and tree trunk were my focal die-cuts but there were lots of other "circle elements" (flowers, circles and butterfly) found in the pad to incorporate into this very fun design of Jeni's gorgeous card.  This was a more liberal approach to the overall design, but still being inspired by the design, made this card not only relatively quick to create, it could be duplicated relatively easily for cards with larger embellishment focals and not uniform circle embellishments.

I hope I have given you some ideas and maybe tricks too, to create more cards out of one inspiration piece and yet have a variety of different-looking cards when you are finished.
Happy Creating♥

Scrapbooking Halloween and Fall with Jana

Hi, everyone! Jana Eubank here.

Fall is my favorite time of year! There are so many opportunities to pull out the camera and record family memories! Whether it's playing in the fall leaves, taking fall drives, wearing crazy Halloween costumes, cooking cozy foods in the kitchen, or gathering together in gratitude with family and friends, I bet you have a lot of pictures to scrap this time of year as well.

 

I have a couple of seasonal layouts to share with you today. One is a soft and subtle autumn page and the other is a bold and bright Halloween page.

 

 

When scrapping fall photos, we typically reach for papers with the same colors of the autumn leaves falling from the trees . . . reds, golds, oranges, yellow, and brown. For these photos I decided to take a different approach. First, I began with the color of the leaves in my photos ... yellow! I pulled out The Sweetest Thing Bluebell collection. This collection caught my eye with its color palette of soft gold, neutral gray, cream, and blue.

Supplies:The Sweetest Thing-Bluebell:Bouquet patterned paper, Meadow patterned paper, Journal patterned paper,label stickers,layered stickers,chipboard elements,die cut title,buttons,decorative brads,stickers;The Sweetest Thing-Lavender:Impression patterned paper;Misc:brown distressing ink,paper piercer,needle,embroidery floss,computer and printer,adhesive/trimmer

I began by layering several of the neutral papers together in vertical strips. Next, I matted my photos with a soft woodgrain paper (from the Lavender collection). I matted my focal point photo with a soft golden floral.

The doilies and buttons in this collection have a homespun feeling about them ... perfect for the cozy fall season. I used a layered doily accent from the decorative brads and a layered doily sticker from the layered stickers.

I finished off the cozy feeling of this page by stitching on a few chipboard buttons and adding handstitching to the title block.

This next page is almost a complete opposite from the autumn page. The colors and patterns of the fall page almost blend together, while the bold colors and patterns of this Halloween page, are spunky and attention-grabbing.

 

 

The two papers that first caught my eye in the Lost & Found Halloween collection were the black and cream stripes of the Hallows Skull Doily Paper, and the orange glittery flowers of the Hallows Patterned Paper. I combined these two together and then added a pop of color with the green polka dotted paper from the Winter Wonderland collection. I love adding an unexpected pop of color to my pages. It really livens things up!

 

Supplies:Lost and Found Halloween:Skull Doily patterned paper,Newsprint patterned paper,Hallows patterned paper,glittered accessories sheet,chipboard accessories,decorative brads,6x6 paper pad,stamps;Winter Wonderland:Christmas Trees patterned paper;Misc:cardstock,distressing ink,paper piercer,black ink,computer and printer,adhesive,trimmer

I loved this combination but thought I might want to add another "restful" layer to give the eye a break, so I added a layer of Hallows Newsprint Paper behind my photo. Next, I wanted to add something to the upper right corner of the page. I used the spider web stamp from the clear stamp set. How great is this stamp?! I can see myself adorning the corners of every Halloween project I create this year with this cute stamp!

To keep the skull chipboard element from feeling TOO creepy on this page of my sweet kids, I added a punched circle of 6 x 6 polka dot pattern paper behind it. Polka dots always make everything a little more happy and friendly,wouldn't you agree?

Fall is my favorite time of year.It is full of warmth, coziness and family memories that deserve to be in your scrapbooks and My Mind's Eye has the perfect supplies to help you get those memories into your books. Happy scrapping!

 

MME+Kiwi Lane

Our friends at Kiwi Lane have sent us some beautiful creations to share. If you aren't familiar with Kiwi Lane, here is a little bit about them.

Here at Kiwi Lane we believe that our photos are the most important part of a scrapbook layout and that all photos deserve a beautiful frame. We also believe that there is a designer within us all, and that all we need sometimes is a creative nudge to begin truly unlocking our designing potential.

It has been our goal, at Kiwi Lane, to develop new techniques and products that will help us really showcase our memories, and will add layers of inspiration to the creative experience of scrapbookers everywhere. Make sure you take a moment and get to know us and our designers!

Kiwi Lane regularly features our products on their samples! For buckets of inspiration, head on over to their blog and their Facebook page.

Thanks so much for the beautiful inspiration, Kiwi Lane!