My Mind's Eye Blog

Anatomy of a Double Page Layout- October

Hello everyone! This is Shelly with another behind the scenes look at the makings of a double page layout.

This month I am working on one of my summary pages which just happens to be all about SUMMER! Even with fall in the air, I know you guys have lots of summer memories still needing to be documented, right?!?

I found that the Cut & Paste Collection is just what I needed to get me jump started with this summer filled layout.

Supplies: Cut & Paste – Adorbs: “Special” Unique paper, Decorative Tape, 6x6 paper pad, ”Be”  Label Stickers, “Special” Tiny Word Stickers, “Be” Chipboard Stickers, “Loved” Buttons; Cut & Paste – Presh: “Right Now” Trendy Paper; Cut & Paste – Charm: “Carefree” Label Stickers; Cut & Paste – Flair: “Wow” Label Stickers; Other: Silhouette Die Cut Machine, Circle Cutter, string.

Like all my other pages, I start with a sketch. I have no memory anymore, so if it is down on paper… I won’t forget! There is nothing worse than finally getting some free time to get creative and completely forgetting what the plan was for a stack of pictures. It’s happened to me more than once.

Since this was going to be a layout with lots of pictures, I knew I was going to go with one big block of pictures. I know I have said this before, but when it comes to my season summary layouts it is just easier to size most of the pictures the same and group them.

After choosing my favorite pictures and most important memories I want to remember, I decide if I need to go with a block of 4x3 or 2x3 pictures. Summer always has a ton of pictures, so it was 2x3 all the away. Then, I chose a few highlight pictures to be 3x4 and 5x3 ½.

The next step is laying them all out on white cardstock to see what it looks like in real life. I almost always order a few extra shots just in case. You never know what the mood will be calling, right!?

While editing my pictures for print, I left white spaces within the prints that were depicted in the sketch. That way, I can just fill them in like I had sketched out. It is much easier than trimming all the pictures to 2x3 and moving them around my page. It is a huge time saver in my eyes.

When it was time to pick out pretty papers, I immediately was drawn to the fresh bold colors of Cut & Paste Adorbs Collection. It was the perfect match for a summer layout for my little girly girl.

To make those “Adorbs” colors and my pictures really pop, I went with a neutral background for the major portion of my layout. This was going to let me have fun embellishing that left side of my layout too. Since I only had a three-inch strip left open on the right side, I opted for the playful floral pattern.

With my papers cut and my pictures adhered down, it was time for the fun embellishing. Circles are always a failsafe, yet fun addition to any page.

I pulled out the Adorbs 6x6 paper pad and my circle cutter to create a custom background. I added my ever so favorite “Summer” word title cut from my Silhouette.

I also attempted to do a little stitching, but my machine was not cooperating with me at the time. I had to take a deep breath, and tell myself it was okay.

My initial plan for those open spaces within my photo block was to create embellishments. After having the pictures in place and a plan for papers, I decided to place my journaling there instead.

To create a little more excitement within this big ol’ block of photos, I added a few of the Tiny Word and Label Stickers. It seemed a little busy to me at first, but then it grew on me. I like how it broke the photos up.

So what do you think of the photo block option? I love this choice because I can get tons of my pictures on a layout and still have room to have fun with embellishments and pretty papers.  Thank you for stopping by today, and I hope you will share your latest double page layout with all of us!

October Winners!

October Chalk it Up Challenge Winner- Stacey Schafer

Cupid's Arrow collection winner-

126 Megan Smith said...

I will admit it...I am not a Valentines Day collection person. But this collection is truly stunning! I love the aqua and black in it, the clean lines, the fabulous enamel hearts and arrows and the fact that I can use this to scrap about my little boy on Valentines Day. Way to knock it out of the park!

Reply October 03, 2013 at 02:26 AM

 

Lost and Found Record It! Winner-

 

28 Julie A. Shearer said...

Oh my scrappy goodness !!! This is so Great !! I love the papers and washi tape . I think you and SS are two of the best scrapbooking companies out there so I think this is awesome . Thanks for sharing and a chance to win .

Reply October 01, 2013 at 10:00 AM

Congratulations ladies! Please send your address to stephanie (at) mymindseye (dot) com!

Mix and Match with Karen- October Edition

This is Karen, back with another Mix and Match for October. I am still on my 6x12 streak. I've decided that I really like this size and, more significantly, I like how it causes me to think differently since it's so narrow and tall compared to the 12x12 pages I usually make. If, like me, you haven't changed up the sizes you use for your layouts in a long time, I highly recommend giving it a try.

 For this month's Mix and Match, I knew I wanted to use the new Cut and Paste line. I love how colorful the line is and the papers make me so happy. I decided to match it with The Sweetest Thing which might be one of my all-time favorite lines. I love the warm yellows and oranges and reds in both lines.

In the spirit of changing things up, I decided to print a 4x6 photo of our recent trip to visit my husband's family. I usually prefer smaller photos on my pages but this picture has all of his family in it and I wanted each person to be clearly visible, so I decided to print it larger. The neat part was how the 4x6 covers the entire width of the 12x6 paper, cutting it in two sections.

I pulled out the aptly-named Best Paper from The Sweetest Thing line to use as my background. I liked the "one of a kind" words and knew that I wanted it to show on my page, so I lined my photo right above it and
used that as my starting point. I then pulled out Amazed and Point from the Cut and Paste line. I added a strip on top and one on the bottom, and a pink section in the middle. A few embellishments here and there
and this is what I ended up with:

For the top of the page, I used a sticker from the Find Your Wings and Fly line and I cut off the right side to make sure it lined up well. If you look carefully, you can see that I used the cutoff part on the bottom left of my page. Nothing is ever wasted. I also used the Decorative Tapes on top of the seams where the papers meet, I like to do that for a more seamless feeling. To add some texture, I stitched on top of them, too. Even though you can't see the stitching, you can feel it and I like the texture it adds without distracting you too much.
On the bottom part, I repeated the same The Sweetest Thing word stickers, the white stitching, and then added some more stickers from Find Your Wings and Fly.
This one ended up quite simple but I still love it. Sometimes we try to over-complicate things when we make our pages. I find myself spending hours on where one tiny embellishment should end up. In the end, what matters most (to me) is that the memories I care about are preserved, the stories are told, and that I had fun while doing it.  So if I find myself struggling with an embellishment for more than 20 minutes, I take
a pause and see if I can do without it altogether.

Thank you, again, for letting me share my page and I'd love to see any Mix & Match pages you have from this month so I hope you link me up in the comments!

Project Life with Shelly- October Edition

Hey everyone! This is Shelly back this month with another installment of some Project Life inspiration. Today I am featuring another average week in the life using the Cut & Paste - Charm Collection. The colors were just the perfect match with my pictures this time around.
Supplies: Cut & Paste – Charm: “Sweet” Treat Paper, “Sweet” Tiny Word Stickers, “Bliss” Enamel Shapes, “Carefree” Label Stickers, “Smile” 4x6 Journal Card, “Hey You” 4x6 Journal Card, 6x6 Paper Pad; Other: pen, date stamp, black ink, corner rounder, Becky Higgins Design A Page Protectors.

Those new 4x6 journaling cards are quickly becoming a new favorite of mine from the Cut & Paste Collection. They are completely rocking my Project Life world right now. The journaling cards are the first thing I grab for when I have a new week to work on. They really are the perfect starting point for inspiration.
This go around, I pulled out the “Hey You” Journal Card. At first, I was thinking journaling, but as you can see, I switched it up. I love how versatile they can be. I filled in the extra white space with the enamel parenthesis. 
I am still such a fan of those awesome labels that My Mind’s Eye continuously keeps coming out with. This ticket label was great for labeling our movie night at my daughter’s school. Labels are so perfect for quick and easy journaling.
The “Smile” Journal Card immediately grabbed my attention this time around.  Those colors… that chevron just drew me into its web of charm. How could I not let it bring my layout alive with color?
My initial thought was to use it as a title card for my dates, but then I switched gears and let the card stand alone in all its glory with some added enamel parenthesis for some extra pop and to mimic the same look I had on my title card from the other side. If you notice, once I do something to one side, I like to bring the same look over to the other side to really bring the two sides together. I did it with the enamel parenthesis, the beautiful chevron pattern, and those cute tiny word phrases.

Well, that is all I have for y'all today. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

October Sketch Challenge!

Hello everyone.  It's Ronda here today bringing you the October Sketch Challenge.  Today's sketch is about stacking photos to take center stage of your layout.  By layering patterned paper on the center you really ground your photos to make them the focal point. 

Create some interests on that center design by stacking three layers of the same patterned paper in strips.  Journaling in a square around the center design brings it all together.   Remember the one photo can be a larger photo than I have here or even turned into two photos bring the total up to three photos.  

Supplies:  Cut & Paste: Charm  - Sweet: Bits & Pieces Stickers;  Charm -Bliss: Decorative Stickers; Charm-Smile: 'Shine Paper,' Enamel Dots; Charm-Hey You: Buttons; Charm- Carefree: 'Label Stickers; Chalk Studio- 'Lettered' Paper, 'Pictured' Paper, 'Moments' Paper, Tags;  Misc: Golden Fluid acrylic paints, Black Pen, Fiskar's border punch, ranger black ink

On my layout I used photos from my kid's family birthday party.  They are 20 years old & 17 years old and still want to celebrate together.  It warms my heart greatly to seem theme so connected.  I started with a neutral background from the Chalk Studio Collection. 

I layered various "B" sides of the collection to create my center collection.  I love how other MME collections coordinate so well with Chalk Studio.  I love the pops of aqua and mustard with the neutrals. I like the aqua so much I hand stitched around the main patterned paper frame. 

For my title, I decided to layer a Chalk Studio Tag with a Cut & Paste Charm sticker.  This doubles for my Title for the layout.  The colorful chipboard button also helps to draw your eye to the sticker title.

Underneath the center stack I added tiny paint splatters in black & mustard.  I layered the same patterned paper in strips under the left side using a border punch and ink to really show off the layers.  The colorful banner brings all the colors of the layout together.  You could use leftover strips of patterned paper to create your own unique MME banner.  I love accenting with enamel dots or buttons, or even better BOTH.  The black stitches add that final touch to the page. 

So now it's your turn to take this sketch and make it your own. We cannot wait to see how you interpret it!

A random winner will be chosen and shared with our next challenge on November 1st . You have until the end of the day on Thursday, October 31 to share your project.

Please link your sketch via the InLinkz tool at the bottom of this post. Your layout must feature MME products. Only one entry per participant, please. The prize is any MME collection.

 

Juliana Part Two

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone? Did you get a chance to stop by the blog yesterday? If not, make sure to catch up.

We introduced our October guest designer, Juliana Michaels...and she ROCKED it!

Today Juliana is back with some amazingly creative Halloween projects. We are so excited to share them with you!

Remember to leave Juliana some love to let her know how much you appreciate her creativity. :)

Supplies: Happy Haunting:Cards patterned paper, 6x6 paper pad, 12x12 chipboard accessories,12x12 sticker accessories,decorative brads; Misc: Ranger Distress Ink in Black Soot, Assorted Black Frames with 4x6 photo opening, Black Spray Paint.

Juliana says:These Halloween frames are made from an assortment of black frames that hold 4x6 images. I spray painted a couple of them with black paint before I began to decorate them. I cut the various images from the "Cards" Paper and placed them inside the frames. Then I decorated them with various bits and pieces from the Happy Haunting collection.

How great are these frames? We can't get enough of them. If you like those, then you will LOVE this banner that Juliana sent to us.

Supplies:Happy Haunting:Spooky and Morrocan patterned paper, 6x6 paper pad, decorative stamps;Misc: Grey and Black Ink, Black cording, Seam Binding, Black Fringe Ribbon, Corner Rounder and Hold Punch.

 Juliana says:To create this banner, I cut out the letters from both the "Spooky" 12 x 12 patterned paper and from the same paper in the 6x6 Paper Pad. I layered the different pieces together with materials varying in height to help give it more dimension. Some of the things I used were chipboard, cardboard and double sided foam tape.

The tiny bats that I embellished some of the letters with are fussy cut from the "Word Art" Paper in the 6x6 paper pad.

If you look closely you can see that I stamped the images from the Happy Haunting decorative stamps with both grey and black ink on the "Spooky" Paper before I attached the other layers.

We are so glad you stopped by today. And Juliana- thank you again for creating such lovely and unique projects with our products. We are simply thrilled and can't say thank you enough!

Introducing our October 2013 Guest Designer!

Good morning, MME fans! We are so excited that you are here today. It's time for this month's guest designer and we are thrilled with what she has submitted this month.

We are so excited to introduce you to Juliana Michaels. Juliana loves MME and it shows. She has been on our radar for quite some time as she consistently creates and shares with our products.

We knew we had to have her as a guest designer and we are over the moon that she accepted.

Hello! My name is Juliana Michaels. I grew up loving art, crafting and photography thanks to a creative mother who loved to paint, sew and draw. I love color, texture, trying new techniques and playing with new products. The products inspire me to create whatever it is that I make whether it be a card, a scrapbook layout or an altered object/home decor item. My Minds Eye has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. The quality of their products combined with their exceptional designs makes for the perfect match when it comes to paper crafting.  I am thrilled to be the October Guest Designer and I hope you enjoy the projects I have shared with you as much as I enjoyed creating them.  

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

A: I had fun working with all of the collections, but my favorite was Happy Haunting. I am a huge Halloween fanatic and this collection really got me in the crafty mood to decorate my home for our upcoming Halloween party!

 

Q: What is your favorite MME collection of all time?

A:This is a tough question, because I have loved pretty much every line MME has ever created. If I have to pick just one, I would say that it would have to be Collectable. The warm primary colors really spoke to me and were so fun to create with. I was quite sad when I finally used my last sheet of paper.

 

 Be You Always layout 

Supplies:Cut and Paste-Adorbs: True patterned aper,Thrive patterned paper, Cards patterned paper,sticker sheet,5x7 bits & pieces, decorative buttons,chipboard stickers, journal card, decorative tape, tiny word stickers;Misc: Sewing Machine, White Crafting Thread, American Crafts Cardstock, Uniball Signo Ink Pen in White, Digital Cutting File by Juliana Michaels, Silhouette Cameo Digital Cutting Machine

 

Juliana says:This layout started off with the "Be" Journal Card and a photo of my darling niece. They just seemed like a perfect pair and the rest of the layout focuses on me telling her to "always be the best you you can be"!

 

Feelin' Carefree layout

Supplies:Cut & Paste-Charm:Spin patterned paper, 6x6 paper pad,Delight patterned paper, ,decorative tape,5x7 bits & pieces,tiny word stickers,enamel dots, 4x6 journal card,labels. Misc: Sewing Machine.

 

Juliana says:We went on a recent vacation to Mexico and I knew that the Cut & Paste Charm collection would be perfect to scrap some of our photos. I choose this photo of my husband enjoying our day out deep sea fishing and created the large sunburst to help remind us of how hot it was that day. I used a digital cutting file and a piece of paper from the 6x6 paper pad for the sun and then extened the rays, using the decorative tape.

 

Happy layout

Supplies:Cut & Paste-Adorbs:Recollect patterned paper,Unique patterned paper, Call patterned paper, Thrive patterned paper,Cards patterned paper, Live patterned paper, decorative tape, 4x6 journal card,  5x7 bits&pieces,5x7 Sticker Sheet, tiny word stickers, enamel shapes, enamel dots, decorative buttons,labels;Misc: Sewing Machine, Digital Cutting File by Juliana Michaels, Silhouette Cameo Digital Cutting Machine, BoBunny Doilies.

 

Juliana says:The first time my nieces went to the American Girl Place they were in awe. It was so cute when we walked up to the store and they stopped to look in the window at McKenna, their dream doll. The Adorbs line with all the pink and bright colors was a perfect fit to capture this special and happy day.

 

Love layout

Supplies:Cut & Paste-Charm :Twinkle patterned paper, Trend patterned paper, 6x6 paper pad, 5x7 sticker sheet, tiny word stickers, 5x7 bits & pieces, enamel dots, decorative buttons, chipboard stickers, labels;Misc: Sewing Machine, Digital Cutting File by Juliana Michaels, Silhouette Cameo Digital Cutting Machine.

 

Juliana says:This is another photo from our Mexico vacation...our traditional vacation selfie. We always take one of these no matter where we go. I was inspired to create the houndstooth die cut background from the Cut & Paste Charm Bliss "Jovial" paper. I then cut some extra houndstooth shapes from the 6x6 Paper Pad and attached them here and there with double sided foam tape. I then had fun creating a vertical border using a combination of chipboard, buttons and enamel dots.

WHOA! Juliana....we are so in love with everything you created. Thank you so much!

And you all won't even believe it but there is MORE. Make sure to come back tomorrow and see what Juliana has up her sleeve.

Oh- and make sure to stop by Juliana's adorable blog and tell her what you think. I know she is so excited to share these projects with you!

“31” Door Hanging

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to decorate for. I love the juxtaposition of elegance and spookiness that decorating with fake skulls, spiders, and damask creates. I like to decorate with black, white, silver with a dash of khaki and orange. This combination is especially striking against my all white walls. Somehow it subdues the inherent garishness that comes with decorating for Halloween and leaves elegance. Weird, I know.

After having been in on Happy Haunting from the conceptual stage, I am thrilled to have it in my hands and decorate using Happy Haunting. Did you know it’s one of the most popular Halloween lines this year? Janet Hopkins outdid herself!

One of my FAVORITE things about this Happy Haunting is the 8 x 10 Ready to Frame Décor Pieces! Isn’t it to die for (pun intended) – Glittered chalk art! Ready to frame and enjoy in your space!

I created this fabulous door hanging. Seriously, I smile when I drive up and see it.

 

It was a simple, quick and extremely satisfying project.

 

 

 

Instructions:  Download 2013_10_03_GTU_31 Door Hanger

Video Segment:

I hope you like it as much as I do! What is your favorite part about decorating for Halloween?

Have a fantastic-ly spooky day!

Tag! You're It! Week with Valerie

Hello! Valerie here with you today. I've been tagged, so off we go with the final tags for the week. I decided to make tags in various sizes that can be used as embellishments on layouts or maybe in a mini album. I played with the Cut & Paste Collection and picked out coordinating items that would work for a baby girl themed project.
 

Supplies: Cut & Paste Collection— Flair "Snapshots" decorative buttons, Flair "Small" enamel shapes, Flair "Small" enamel shapes, Flair decorative tape, Adorbs "Loved" Devoted paper, Adorbs "Be" Thrive paper, Adorbs "Loved" True paper, Adorbs "Loved" True paper, Adorbs "Hello" Call paper, Adorbs "Hello" decorative brads, Adorbs "Hello" enamel dots, Adorbs "Special" decorative stickers, Adorbs decorative tape,  Charm "Bliss" decorative stickers,  Charm "Sweet" tiny word stickers,   Lime Twist—Happy Go Lucky "Together"  alphabet. Collectable Collection—Unforgettable "You Are" tiny word stickers. Chalk Studio Collection—decorative tags. Find Your Wings & Fly—alpha & word stickers. Other— shipping tags, vellum, punches (EK Success & Martha Stewart), Silhouette SD.

The smaller the tag, the simpler I like to keep it. With the bigger tags, well…they can hold more "stuff". To make the large tags, I simply traced a shipping tag and then cut it out and punched a hole at the top.

MME's tiny word stickers are one of my favorite things and I think tags like this are the perfect home for them. I love how great they look filling those quote bubbles on the Adorbs "Hello" Call paper.
I love playing around with the negative portion of a die cut like in the "sweet little one" tag above. I used my Silhouette SD and the font "Days" to create the base of the tag. Next I added some decorative tape and strips of patterned paper from Cut & Paste. It's hard to tell from the photo, but I did back the cut title with vellum (also did this on the butterfly tag too). Hardly any tag can be considered complete without at least one enamel dot. 

What a great week it's been focusing on tags. I've really enjoyed the variety and inspiration from the other oh so talented ladies. Now it's time for me to reach out and yell, "tag…YOU'RE IT!" 

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag! You're It! Week with Tina

Happy Thursday everyone. This is Tina.

I LOVE tags!  Tags are little canvases that can be used to try new techniques, try new product and can be used to create little works of art!  Tags are always super fun and I could spend hours creating tags of all kinds.

I used several tag sizes in my projects today.  You can find entire ranges of sizes at online stores or at your local office supply store.  My tags range from  8x4 inches to 5x2.5 inches and are even layered on top of each other to create a great look!

My favorite way to use tags is by experimenting with new products or by trying out new techniques.  They are a relatively inexpensive way to fulfill your inner 'artistic expression'. 

I keep all of my experimental tags and when I am looking for a special, one-of-a-kind embellishment, they are ready to use. The 3 tags I am sharing today all started as a blank canvas, but by adding sprays, inks, embossing powder, and paste, I transformed the ordinary into something unique and special.  I finished each tag by layering patterned paper, layered stickers, and chipboard embellishments.
My first tag was created by layering 3 different sized tags on top of each other.  I created the background for each tag in a similar way, by adding embossing paste, distress stains and water to a blank tag. 

What a great way to add texture, dimension, and pattern.

My second tag was created by covering a blank tag with a piece of 6x6 paper and cutting it down to size.  No need to pull out your digital cutting machine, just adhere patterned paper to a tag and cut around the edge!

I added embossing powder to the background of the paper to add more glitz and glamour to the tag.

The background on my third tag was created by embossing trees and a sentiment over the entire background, then spraying with mist. I removed the spray from the embossed areas to reveal the beautiful embossing below.

Next time you feel an urge to experiment with a new product or try out a new technique, try creating a tag. They are the perfect little canvas that can reveal your inner artist!

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Supplies:Vintage Christmas:Chipboard Accessories, 6x6 Paper Pad,Decorative Brads,Layered Stickers,Decorative Tape,Faceted Gems, Decorative Buttons, Stamps,  Stickers Accessories;Collectable-Remarkable:Decorative Pins;Misc:Tags:  XPress Tags Distress Stain: Ranger Gesso:  Liquitex Inka Gold Metallic Rub Stencil:  Crafters Workshop Ribbon: Tim Holtz Embossing Powder: Lindy's Stamp Gang
Adhesive - Scor Tape, Tombow (tape runner), Tombow (wet adhesive), Imaginese (foam tape) Stamp: Market Street Stamps