My Mind's Eye Blog

Mini Albums with Monika | November 2014 Edition

Who's ready for some daily story documenting this December? Welcome Friends to...

I'm Monika and I'm tickled to share with you my largest "mini" album to date. Well, size wise anyway! Sit back and let me share my approach with this Holiday Memories mini album.

Supplies:Sleigh Bells Ring | Patterned Paper: “Noel” “Christmas Confetti” “Reindeer” “Blitzen", 6x6 Designer Cardstock Paper Pad, Alpha & Word Stickers, Decorative Tape, Gift Label Stickers, Treat Bags, Decorative Tags,Joyous | Patterned Paper: “Red Reindeer” “Carols” “Joy” “Dear Santa”, 12x12 Paper Crafting Kit, 6x6 Designer Cardstock Paper Pad, Mixed Bag, Alpha & Word Stickers, Decorative Tape, Decorative Tags, Gems Miscellaneous | sewing machine, adhesive, jute twine, Bind-It-All, glassine and kraft bags, kraft cardstock, paper doily

THE PROCESS
I've done December mini books in the past:

1. ranging in size from 3" thick, starting on the day after Thanksgiving when we decorated the tree all the way to December 31st
2. just jotting notes into a smallish embellished spiral bound notebook and not even including a story for each day
3. that aren't finished...and it's been years since I began them...but that's okay because I was able to capture stories and photos for at least part of our December and something is better than nothing

If you're thinking, "Who has the time for that?" then how about this...choose a few activities this month that have meaning for you. Take some photos. Jot down the story about why these photos have significance for you and voila, you now have a snapshot in time of some lovely memories.

So this year, I'm giving myself permission to document our December story just on days that I want to. Or have time to. Because as you all know, December is so very busy and full of joy.

 

I'm not sticking to a rigid schedule, but we do have some annual activities that we do as a family and I've included pre-made pages into my mini album to help me document those events.

 

THE PAGES

THE DETAILS

I'm making the glittered advent tags work for me and pre-designing pages for activities that I know are going to happen. 

 

• 14 is for the year 2014
• 8 is glued on a Polaroid Frame chipboard element that has foam dots on the back allowing me slip a small photo behind...we'll be attending our town's Christmas tree lighting on this evening
• 5 is part of a two page design and has been embellished with a Gem and a Decorative Tag...I'll add in our #5onthe5th photos {a monthly project I do} and we're going to document our favorite ornament
• 2 is for the "2" of us - this page is just before my December 24th page and might appear to be out of order, but...my husband proposed to me on Christmas Eve and I'm going to try to get him to write a little note to tuck inside the Treat Bag along with mine

I love little surprises!

 

REPETITION FOR THE WIN

How gorgeous is that Dear Santa paper? 

 

I adore it and actually used it for three pages in my mini album. 

 

Yes, three times! 

I have three kids, aged 9, 11 and 23 so I've inserted those Santa pages for the 9th, 11th and 23rd of December.  

 

The Glittered Advent Tags were added to glassine bags {for the 9 and 11 year-olds} and then I added the 23 tag right on top of the 25 next to Santa for something a little different. 

 

I can't wait to look back on these pages years from now, seeing their handwriting and their thoughts. And the glassine bags are perfect for holding pages from circular ads showing what they've circled to be added to their Wish Lists.

 

 

DESIGN TIP | adding pages to a spiral bound mini album

Drop by my blog where I share a quick + easy tutorial showing how to add photos, ephemera and more pages to an already bound album here.  Because we all know that if you give a girl a mini album, she's going to have tons more stuff to add!

 

Enjoy your holidays, however you celebrate them or choose to document them, and may you have love and joy in your homes.

Collection Spotlight | Jubilee Tangerine

Hi everyone!  Tina here today with a clean and simple layout with pops of color and pattern.

I'm not sure what your scrappy style is or if it evolves over time, but mine does.  I never know how to answer the question about my scrappy style, because I feel that it is always changing and evolving.  Lately, I like to scrap in a more clean & simple way and this layout reflects that.

Supplies: Jubilee-Tangerine:Triangle paper, Mixed Bag, Enamel Dots, Decorative Brads,Label Stickers, Adventure Flair; Misc: Cardstock:  American Crafts Adhesive: Tombow Die Cut Machine:  Silhouette Cameo Sewing Machine: Brother Thread: Coates

Using white cardstock as my base, I added bits of color and pattern with patterned paper and a cluster of paper and brad embellishments, another favorite technique.

The one advantage of clean & simple scrapping is that layouts are completed in no time at all.  This entire layout took less than 30 minutes to complete, including the die cut title.

Does your style change over time?  or do you generally create in the same style?  I'd love to know.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Tina

Product Spotlight | Frameables - Christmas Decor

Many of you will be pulling out your Christmas decorations this weekend, after the Thanksgiving celebrations are over. Might I suggest you add some MME Christmas charm to your decor with their fabulous new 8x10 "Frameables"? They have two Christmas lines: "Joyous" and "Sleighbells Ring" .

 

 

I started decorating my shelves and they were just lacking the finishing touch.  I was about to go buy some Christmas chalk art off of Etsy to print and frame.  Then I remembered that MME just came out with beautiful new Christmas "Frameables". The only hard part was choosing which ones to use - they are all so festive!  I love the glittered elements of the "Joyous" collection and the two sided prints of "Sleighbells Ring".

 

 

I finally narrowed it down to 4 prints.  I plan to switch them out occasionally in the coming month. I spray painted some old frames I had stashed in my basement, cleaned the glass, and inserted the print.  So simple!!!  These would make wonderful and inexpensive Christmas gifts too.

 

I placed "Season's Greetings" in a black frame, to make the red pop.  I paired it with two glittered damask candles that coordinated perfectly with the red glittered holly wreath.

 

 

I also put "Joy to the World" in a black frame.  I love that you have both the traditional black chalk art background and the red to choose from.  I added some ornaments and decorative picks under the easel.

 

I framed "Merry and Bright Christmas" in white, to contrast with the black chalk art background. I placed three green ornaments in a jar and added a Christmas pick and ornaments to coordinate with the holly wreath.

I placed the framed "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" frameable in a picture stand to give it height, then nestled it with a jar of pepperment sticks and glittered candles (in a jar of rock salt).

There is also a beautiful 12x12 "Joy" paper from "Sleigh Bells Ring" that would look  fabulous in a 12x12 frame.

 

 

Have fun decking your halls this Christmas season!

 

Tamara

Cookie Smile | Traditional Scrapbook Layout

Hey there!  Missy here with you today. 

One of my favorite things about MME collections is the variety of colors and patterns within each one.  The Jubilee collection features four different ranges, and I used the Tangerine line for this project.  This line is full of bright and bold blues, oranges and yellows, and they’re all just amazing.  This line has a lot of travel elements in it, and I challenged myself to use it for a cute layout about my daughter and her funny way of eating vanilla wafers.  All of these lines are very versatile and you can make them work for anything.

I just love this woodgrain paper, so I started there.  I kept the lower portion of the layout clean while creating most of my design in the top half.  I chose a few patterned papers that contrasted each other with colors and patterns and adhered them down. 

Next, I added lots of gesso to create some fading and to prepare the papers for modeling paste and gelatos.  I used a stencil and a light coat of modeling paste to create the triangles, and then used various shades of blue gelatos to create the smudgy effect.  This is a great (and easy) way to create some separation between the photo and the busy background patterns.  It sort of blends it out so the photo pops more.  Another key to helping the photo stand out is add pop dots under it to raise it up.

Supplies:  Jubliee Tangerine—“Adventure” Be Daring Paper, “Honor” Traveler Paper, “Awesome” Arrow Paper, “Adventure” Charming Paper, 6x6 Paper Pad, “Story” Journaling Cards, “Awesome” Mixed Bag, “Honor” Decorative Brads, “Story” Rub-ons, “Honor” Label Stickers; Necessities—Alpha & Word Stickers –Teals; Cut & Paste- Flair Decorative Tapes, Charm Decorative Tapes; Collectable Decorative Tapes; Other—Liquitex Gesso, Faber Castell Gelatos, stencil, Black Sharpie Pen, American Crafts Date Stamp & Thickers, StazOn Ink, Stampabilities Ink, sewing machine, thread, Silhouette Cameo, cardstock.

I reached into my MME stash and pulleout a few coordinating decorative tapes (the yellow, orange and stripes).  I love that older lines still match the newer ones!  I added some yellow stitching here to throw in another pop of color.

Here is a great close up of lots of the different MME products I used.  These little white frames in the Journaling Cards pack are SO fun!  I painted this one orange and layered the heart on top of my photo and then stitched through it.  I used a few of the decorative brads, some Mixed Bag die cuts, stickers and rub-ons.  I love using as many elements as I can.

Here you can see the texture created from the stencil and paste.  The gelatos go so smoothly over it all.  One of my favorite parts of the Jubliee lines…these handwritten sentiments!  This chipboard piece is so fun and makes creating your title much easier.

I’m so happy you stopped by today!  Hopefully this gives you some ideas on things you can do with the beautiful MME products and how you can use certain ones for a completely different idea than what they’re intended for.  You would never know this line was geared toward travel.  Have fun, and have a great day!

Missy

Wonderful | Traditional Scrapbook Layout

Hi everyone, Laurel here.  I had a lot of fun shooting these photos of my daughter and granddaughter (who was 7 weeks old at the time).  The weather was perfect and the baby had a full tummy so she was quite content!  I love how the baby’s jacket and my daughter’s headband coordinate and they work so well in a fall photo shoot!

 

Supplies: Jubilee Sherbet:  paper – (Pretty Bubbly; Happy Ombre; Happy Lovely; Enjoy Pizzaz;  Enjoy Sunshine; )  Mixed Bag; Sticky Notes; Chipboard Elements; Necessities: Woods

 

Of course I had to use the Jubilee Sherbet collection as it has the perfect pop of purple.  I also wanted a shabby feel so I used one of the Necessities Woodgrain papers as a background and it worked well.

 

 

This layout went together fairly quickly and easily, the hardest part was choosing the photos!  I had so many great ones it was hard to narrow it down!

 

 Laurel

 

Mixed Media with Karen | November 2014

Hi everyone!

This is Karen, back with another Mixed Media project. This month's project was inspired by Carissa Paige's Life Book lesson about home.

I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey and all of my family is still back there, and I consider it my home. But I moved to the United States when I was 17 and have now been here over 23 years. My husband is American and I have two boys. So I consider the US my home as well. Sometimes, neither feels like home. Sometimes, both feel like home. Most of the time, it's confusing.

So I decided to make a project about how I need to remember that home is not necessarily a place.

I grabbed a bunch of my Mixed Bags from both Jubilee and Just Sayin' and emptied them on my table. I took a photo of me and my sister from when I was a kid and one with my husband and boys now. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do but I told myself not to overthink it and just start picking things that spoke to me and glue them down.

There was no rhyme or reason to my process. I just went on until I thought I had enough. This is where I stopped.


I didn't worry too much about the colors because I already knew I was going to paint all over the page. I still had no plan at this point except that I knew I was going to draw an earth. So I went to Google and wrote "globe" and pulled up image results.


I looked at the one with the yellow in it and drew outline of the shapes as best I could. I didn't over-worry. I wanted the idea to be clear but it didn't have to be geographically accurate. I drew right in the middle of my page with my Stabilo All pencil.


I then painted the oceans blue and while it was drying, I painted the outside of the globe with orange and yellows.


I feel the need to note that I still didn't really have a plan for how this was all going to come together and I wasn't crazy about what I was seeing so far. But I kept going because I knew it always works out in the end. I added in the green and brown to my earth. I put one more layer of yellows on the outside and I knew I was going to eventually journal all over this page so I added some white with a palette knife. Then I wrote out my title. I ended up with this:


Title says: Home is where the people you love are.

Here's the left side:


and the right side:


Had I thought this through some more, I would have put my sister and I on the right page and my boys on the left one since that's where the US is. And I probably would not have drawn the globe right through my son's
face. But, alas, I didn't plan this page, I just went with it.

What I love is that the collage pieces are sticking out here and there and definitely giving a feeling to the page. And also adding a lot of texture:


even subtle ones:


So there we are. It all came together in the end. And it's a great reminder that, when confused, home is where people I love are and my home is all over the world as the people I love are spread throughout the world.

The Story of Us | Traditional Scrapbook Layout

Welcome  My Mind’s Eye fans! This is Tonya here with you today. Thanksgiving is a week away for those of us in the US and I have so many things to be thankful for. One of those things is the bond between my two middle children. These boys are so close and even thought they are three years apart they spend so much time together and get along so well. I pulled out a lot of pieces from the Jubilee-Tangerine collection and went to work creating a layout that complimented this photo of them.

Supplies: Jubilee (Tangerine) - “Awesome” Shield paper, “Awesome” Charming paper, “Story” Journal Cards, “Awesome” Mixed Bag, “Honor” Decorative Bag, “Adventure” Enamel Shapes, “Fantastic” Chipboard Elements Now & Then (Milo) - “Inspired” Enamel Dots Necessities (Black &Grays) - Alpha & Word Sticker Sheets

 

I used the ‘2’ from the mixed bag and cut one of the enamel arrows in two to make it look like it went through the two.

 

The letters for their names came from the alpha & stickers pack which is in the Necessities collection (Black & Grays).

 

Used one of the sticky notes for a little journaling.

 

I always love it when a great collection comes out that works so well for masculine projects, and Jubilee-Tangerine definitely fits that bill!

 

Enjoy!

 

Tonya

 

Thanksgiving Gift Bags

Hey there, everyone!  Lea here today with some decorated gift bags just in time for Thanksgiving.  Whether you want to create little treat bags for your guests, or want to bring a thank you gift to your host....these bags are beautiful & easy to create, and are perfect for tucking a little something nice into them.

 

Supplies: Necessities - Wood 6x6 paper pad, Metallics 12x12 vellum (stripes, confetti, triangle), Metallics decorative tape; Jubilee - "Tangerine" 6x6 paper pad, "Mint Julep" 6x6 paper pad; Other - glassine bags, ribbon, sentiment stamp, brown ink, clothespin, steel dies.

I've combined some metallics & woodgrain from the Necessities collection with papers from Jubilee "Tangerine" & "Mint Julep" to give me that Thanksgiving feel I was going for.  Aqua blue has become a staple Thanksgiving color for me...I think it pairs perfectly with the traditional reds, oranges & yellows of the season!!

To create the tags I diecut some of my favorite steel die tags that I have in my tool stash, but you can also use your Silhouette electronic cutter if you have one.  After stamping the sentiment to the smaller tags, I layered them together, then added the ribbon hanger & bow.  After that I diecut the leaves from the gold printed vellum in the Necessities line (you could also use your electronic cutter for these as well).  I stitched down the middle of each one, then layered them together to the top of each tag.  After that I accented each tag with decorative brads.

To give the clothespins a little extra something, I covered them in gold dotted washi tape.  After clipping the tags to the front of the glassine bags with the clothespins, I felt like they were still a little plain.  So, I cut a couple blocks of woodgrain paper, & tucked them underneath the tags.  That definitely looked better to me, so I put a little bit of adhesive to the paper to make it stay in place!

I kept the tag removable, so the recipient can take it off the little bag, and put it somewhere in their house decoration if they so choose!  I never expect it, but so often when I give a handmade gift or card...I will find it somewhere in the house of the person I gave it to!!  That always makes me smile a bit.

I kept the bags empty in order to photograph easier, but there are so many little gift ideas that you could put into them.  You could bake some nice sized cookies, wrap them in some cellophane & tuck them into the bag.  You could create a flat notecard set with envelopes, or pick up a pretty notepad & matching pen.  You could even slip a nice 4x6 frame into the bag (with a photo in it, of course).  The possibilities are endless...as long as they are fairly flat.

I hope that you enjoyed my Thanksgiving glassine bags today!  And I hope that you think to break out your MME goodies when creating for this holiday season! 

Lea

Anatomy of a Double Page Layout | November 2014

Hey everyone! This is Shelly again with this month’s dose of the makings of a double page layout.

The crisp fall air has arrived here in the Midwest US, which just happens to be my favorite time of the year. YAY! It put me in the mood to get scrappy with some rich cozy colors.

This time, I decided to challenge myself to use Christmas goodies. If you are anything like me, I tend to collect lots and lots of Christmas collections, and there is no way I could ever use them all.

So why not use them for something other than Christmas? I got busy with the Sleigh Bells Ring Collection along with a touch of the Frightful Collection to bring in some orange.

Supplies: Sleigh Bells Ring – “Reindeer” Paper, “Christmas Tartan” Paper, “Noel” Paper, “Blitzen” Paper, 6x6 Designer Paper Pad, Enamel Shapes, Alpha & Word Stickers; Frightful – “Frightening Frames” Paper, ”Spooky” Paper, 6x6 Designer Paper Pad, Enamel Dots; Jubilee Tangerine – “Adventure” Be Daring Paper, “Story” Rub-Ons; Other: Alphabet, Silhouette leave shapes.

 

With this layout being a fall summary, I had lots of pictures that I wanted to include. The easiest and quickest way I can fit all those memories on a layout is to do one big block of pictures on one side of the layout. You could totally do a 12x12 photo collage, but I opt for putting (2) 3x4’s on a 4x6 for ease of printing.  Most of my daily pictures are horizontal 4x3’s, so this block works perfect.

Colors! I pulled out a few of my favorite non-Christmasy themed papers from the Sleigh Bells Ring Collection. The orange papers from the Frightful Collection and a touch of yellow from Jubilee Tangerine Collection were just what I needed to really bring out the fall for my layout.

After pushing around some patterns, I fell in love with the rustic wood pattern on the B-side of the “Reindeer” paper. It is the perfect fun neutral to let the colors in my pictures really pop. To add a little more interest to the block of pictures, I added a white mat to a few of them.  I also decided to push the open 4x3 space to the middle. Once I had my foundation down, I was then left to embellish and have fun.

I used my Silhouette to cut a few different leaves from various patterns. You could also just freehand cut a few leaves too. I almost did a few like the one on the bottom right, but then I remembered I had these leaf shapes in my files. The orange leaf there, it was cut by my hands, so I know you could cut them too!

I added in lots of different textures using enamel dots, rub-ons, corrugated letters, and stitching. I need a whole sheet of those little leaf rub-ons! I have to admit that I actually squealed when I was thumbing through the different rub-on sheets and came across those.

The “lovin’ it” rub-on was a last minute add. That open space between the two vertical pictures just kept screaming “fill me in!” and this rub-on was the perfect touch. As for the date, I used an Alpha & Word sticker sheet from the Sleigh Bells Ring Collection. There is only one sticker of each number, so I used (2) “L’s” which did the trick for the eleven.

To add interest to the big block of pictures, I continued the yellow strip of patterned paper across the top. This also helped bring my two sides together.

I wanted to re-create the same embellished look from the left side of my page onto the little 4x3 open space on the right side, just on a smaller scale. I was able to add in two falling leaves with enamel dots, the corrugated alphabet, rub-on words, and a scalloped border. I have to say that I really packed a punch in that small canvas I was given.

I know not all of you out there reading this are into double page layouts, but this has to be the easiest “sketch” to dip your toes into if you have ever wanted to try your hand at it. You can turn any single page into a doubler just by adding a 12x12 block of pictures.  

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Shelly

 

 

November Challenge Winner

Wendi R!

Please email stephanie(at)mymindseye(dot)com with your Collection/Color Scheme of choice!