My Mind's Eye Blog

Mixed Media with Karen | December 2014

This is Karen, back with another Mixed Media with Karen.

As the year comes to a close, I often start thinking about my projects for the following year. One of the projects I'll be doing this year is called You Choose.

This is a Moleskine squared journal where I will be collaging images that remind me of the way I want to feel this year.

It's a book that will be a year-long inspiration for me and a reminder that we each get to choose how we feel in life. How we feel every singe moment in the day.

I am not so great at collage which is why I picked it as my theme for this book. I decided it will give me a lot of opportunity for practice. I also decided I wanted to experiment with making sparse pages. Let's see how it goes.

For this page, the first thing I did was to pick some papers and embellishments that I liked and layer them underneath the photo of me. I then used similar papers on the facing page and added little butterflies on top. I stamped my word of the year "brave" using a stamp I carved myself. I then stamped the four other feelings I want to have next year.



Here's another look so you can see how shiny it is:

Once I had my collage layers, I decided to just go to town with the paint. I added pink and red and gold to the outer edges, I underlined my words with gold paint and red. I painted over the papers to make them seem seamless.

And I ended up with this:



So much for clean and sparse.

Here's a closer look at the left side:



My words are: brave, abundance, open, alive, and serene. Here's to a year full of them.

Finally, one more look so you can see all the shimmering gold:


So here we are, attempt one at mixed media collage. Here's to a wonderful 2015 and getting to choose our feelings!

Holiday Gift Wrapping

'Tis the season of giving.  I had fun creating unique gifts with the festive Sleigh Bells Ring collection.

 

Who doesn't love cookies?  Create a fun and easy cookie holder with a 10" circle of paper.  Simply fold in the left and right sides at about 3 1/2", then fold the top and bottom edges in at 2". Fold in the 4 corners and secure with a stapler. Tie tags around it with twine. Line it with wax paper and fill it with with your favorite cookies.  Make individual treats by filling the adorable striped treat bags.

 

 

I re-purposed an old apple cider tin by spray painting the lid black and covering it with patterned papers, decorative tape, and twine. I added a beautiful paper bow and tag to the lid.  I tied a reindeer tag around it with twine and added some word stickers to it.

 

 

Dress up a clear pail with decorative tapes.  For the lid, cut a circle from the 6x6 paper and place a large circle sticker in the center. Cut a green circle and adhere a snowflake from the mixed bag with foam tape.  Attach the tag to the twine with a decorative brad and tie it onto the handle.  Fill with a Christmas treat.

 

I decorated a shallow tin lid with green and cream striped paper- rounding the corners and sewing around the edges.  I cut strips of the red and cream paper and wrapped them around the side, along with decorative tapes.  I placed a paper bow on top and attached a Christmas tree flair pin.  I matted the "Handmade with Love" sticker and tied it to the bow with red and white twine.

 

These fabulous papers and embellishments make packaging gifts a breeze.  I hope you enjoy creating handmade gifts from your heart this Christmas season.

 

Tamara

December Challenge Winner

Congratulations Julie Tucker-Wolek! You WON!

email stephanie (at) my minds eye (dot) come with your collection and color scheme choice!!

December Sketch Challenge

It's sketch time again! On this month's sketch, we are using strips of patterned paper to anchor a photo in the bottom right corner. I stacked the title up at the top between the journaling and surrounded it with little accident pieces. I added more embellishments near the photo including the big flair. 

Remember...you are interpreting the sketch so feel free to rotate the sketch or change out the one photo for multiple photos.  Envision the pieces and see how you can make the sketch your own with embellishments, paint, patterned paper, and other wonderful My Mind's Eye products. 

Supplies: Now & Then: Izzy - Smile 'Bloom' Paper, Izzy - Smile Flair; Izzy - Happenings Mixed Bag; Izzy - Happenings Enamel Dots; Izzy - Good Times 'Range' Paper; Milo - Friends 'Field' Paper, Izzy - Boys Brads; Izzy - Dream Big Buttons; Other: Stencil: TCW Stencils, Ranger Ink: Archival Ink, Distress Ink; Maya Road Twine; Uniball Vision Ball roller

I started this layout by selecting a fun patterned paper background from the Now & Then line. I let the colors guide my layout and used the same colors to stencil some designs on the background. Next I added some splatters of black paint before adding in the strips of patterned papers. 

Next I pulled out some leftover strips of patterened paper to create my base for my photo. I absolutely love using up scraps on my layouts. I find strips of paper very grounding and my go to design. I ripped one of them and stacked them together. I find it easy to combine bold patterns together in small strips. I added also black ink around the starts to give them a little more pop. 

Here I inked the edges and stitched them to the background. I also added a sub-title next to my picture using a die cut from the mixed bag.  After I glued the photo I added the baker's twine on top. 

I love making my title as part of my design. I started with lines drawn in pencil on the top of the page. I started by placing the title down first and then added the journaling all around the title. It really draws the eye to the top of the page and adds a cool element to the page. 

Okay. Now it's your turn.

A random winner will be chosen and shared on January 2  . You have until the end of the day on January 1  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.

Have fun and good luck!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Sticker Week | Tonya

Hi everyone! This is Tonya with you on this last day of sticker week. I chose to make my sticker projects centered around gift giving. Using the new Joyous collection made this a very simple thing to do!

This collection is so elegant and sparkly. I also adore the vintage look of it!

 

I was able to take this very plain white box and turn it into something that I am proud to place under my tree.

 

Supplies: Joyous- North Pole Paper, Decorative Tape, Stickers, Decorative Pinwheel Bows, Decorative Brads, Tiny Alpha Stickers

 

I simply cut two strips of patterned paper and wrapped then around the box. Then I used the striped decorative tape, which I topped with some thin strips of glitter.

 

The pinwheel bow is one of the smaller ones in the package. I embellished the rest of the package with stickers from the sticker sheet and the tiny alpha package.

 

 I also created a set of four gift card tags. These were all cut from the 6x6 Decorative Paper pads.

 

Supplies: Joyous- Decorative Paper Pad, Gems, Cardstock Tags, Stickers, Tiny Alpha Stickers, Decorative Brads

 

You can easily personalize the tags by using the Tiny Alpha Stickers.

For this one I used the Cardstock Tags and just trimmed the top of it to match the top edge of the card pocket on this tag.

 

I love that little vintage Santa face, it is just the cutest!

 

I have one last project to share with you. This one was done using the Sleigh Bells Ring collection.  It was sitting on my desk and I liked how the first gift box turned out so I thought I would wrap another one using Sleigh Bells Ring.

 

Supplies: Sleigh Bells Ring- Decorative Paper Pad, Decorative Tapes, Enamel Shapes, Stickers, Flair, Bows

 

I think the big paper bow and the decorative tapes totally make this!!!

 

So, go ahead and use your My Mind’s Eye collections for more than just your layouts and cards. These products are so versatile, especially the stickers!

 

Tonya

 

Sticker Week | Lea

Hey there, MME friends!!  Lea here today with a post full of cards for sticker week on the blog!  I've pulled out all of my Sleigh Bells Ring goodies to create these, with an emphasis on the Gift Label stickers, Alpha & Word sticker sheets & the Enamel Shapes.

 

Supply List: Sleigh Bells Ring - 6x6 paper pad, gift label stickers, alpha & word sticker sheets, enamel shapes, bows, decorative tags. mixed bag, decorative brads, decorative frames, flair pins; other - black cardstock, green ribbon.

The holidays are in full swing (I'm sitting here with a cup of candy cane cocoa as I type this), and you might find yourself in need of additional cards!  So while these cards do have a lot of layers to them, they are really simple to put together.  My Mind's Eye makes it easy with all the amazing stickers & accents that they create for each collection.  With everything ready made, all I had to do was grab & start layering them on the card fronts.

The first card with the big (but fabulous!!) bow on it is the only one that can't easily slide into an envelope to be sent.  But it would look beautiful atop a gift package, basket or bag...don't you think?  The other three cards do have some dimension added to them, but will still fit into an envelope with ease (I checked!).

I started by cutting four A2 sized cards, 2 portrait & 2 landscape, from black cardstock.  Then each card got a background paper cut slightly smaller, 2 in red & 2 in green. 

After that I used patterned paper scraps, stickers & embellishments to decorate the front of each card.  I actually cut out the collection name graphic from the gift label stickers for the jingle bell card!  I kept looking at my stickers, and it just fit perfectly!

I hope that you've enjoyed my card set for stickers week on the MME blog!!  Feel free to recreate them for your last minute holiday card needs! 

Lea

 

Sticker Week | Valerie

 

Hello! It’s Valerie here continuing on with sticker week. My Mind’s Eye always releases such a great variety of stickers with each collection. I love incorporating the fun phrases into my layouts. Today I’m sharing a simple, no fuss layout featuring a family photo from our summer trip to Disney World and a phrase that fits in perfectly with the location.

SUPPLIES-Jubilee Mint Julep “Journey” Adventure paper. Market Street Nob Hill label stickers and Market Street Ashbury Heights chipboard elements. Other: Bazzill Basics kraft paper and vintage typewriter.


I went back a couple releases and picked up the Market Street Nob Hill label stickers. The “once upon a time” speech bubbles caught my attention and I thought they’d be perfect for one of our Disney photos. I paired it with a typographic patterned paper from one of the most recent releases—Jubilee Mint Julep. I’ve been using my own handwriting for most of my journaling lately, but decided to dust off my typewriter and use it for some journaling strips on this layout.

And a cute chipboard camera from Market Street Ashbury Heights is the perfect finishing touch. It was fun to sort through vacation photos from hot sunny Florida and think warm thoughts for a bit since it’s definitely far from warm back here at home lately.

Happy Holidays!

Sticker Week | Tamara

 

Supplies:Joyous: Postage patterned paper, Joy patterned paper, Noel patterned paper, Merry patterned paper, Carols patterned paper, Tinsel patterned paper, Flourish patterned paper, sticker sheet, alpha/word stickers, gems; Misc: red thread, brown ink, black pen, foam tape.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is taking a photo on the stairs of all the kids in their snuggly new pajamas - just before we open presents.  I thought the glittered papers and classic Christmas colors of the "Joyous" collection worked perfectly with this photo from last year. This collection has a fabulous 6"x12" sticker sheet with large designs.  I thought it would be fun to use three of them for the focus of my page.

 

I cut a strip of the glittered chevron paper and dove-tailed the bottom to create a banner.  I cut 4 more banners out of various papers and sewed around them with red thread.  I layered them on the background paper with the pretty blue and red border. I matted the 4.5"x6.5" photo with cream and red striped papers.

 

I cut a cream circle out and used it to mat the back of the red "Season's Greetings" sticker.  I put chipboard on the back of the 3 stickers to "pop" them off the page and placed silver gems on two of them.

 

I cut out the red glittered swirl border from the "Noel" paper. I used the festive pack of Joyous alpha/word stickers for my journaling.  I popped a few of them up with foam tape to give dimension and inked the edges. I placed a large silver gem on the "Joy" sticker. I used the light blue "Merry Christmas" sticker as a tab on the photo.

 

I was amazed that the package comes with SIX sheets of stickers - the possibilies are endless!!

I hope you enjoy creating holiday projects with these wonderful sticker sheets.

 

Tamara

Sticker Week | Missy

Hello MME fans and Happy Monday!

Welcome to a very fun week on the blog...Sticker Week!

This week our talented design team will be sharing fun and creative ways for all of you to use your beloved MME stickers.

The fabuloust Missy Whidden is up first. Enjoy!

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Hey, there!  Missy here.  I’m so excited to be kicking off Sticker Week here at MME!  I’ve loved stickers ever since I was a little girl.  I think that’s part of why I love scrapbooking so much…it makes me nostalgic.  I decided to challenge myself to use some of the stickers from the Just Sayin’ collection in a different way.  I love die cuts, so I incorporated several stickers into a die cut I found in the Silhouette store.

 

I know it’s December, but I was in the mood to scrap some summer pictures!  And the colors in the pool water are a great match to the mints and aquas in this collection.  I started this by using lots of different patterned papers to back the die cut.  I pulled out the stickers and used the ones I wanted in several of the cut outs as well.  The “Today,” “Crazy About You,” “Adore,” and all the other sentiments in the die cut are stickers.  My title to the left of the photos and on top of the photos are also stickers.

 

Supplies Used: Just Sayin’—Papers: “Believe,” “Posies,” “Belong,” “Garden Party,” “About You,” 6x6 Paper Pad, Alpah & Word Stickers, Enamel Dots & Shapes, Decorative Brads; Necessities—Metallics “Triangle” Foiled Vellum Paper, Metallic “Dot” Vellum Paper, Alpha & Word Stickers – Black & Grays; Decorative Tape Sets—Pink & Charcoal; Other—cardstock, Brother Sewing Machine, Coats thread, Artist’s Loft Watercolor Pencils & Watercolors, Faber Castell Gelatos, Black Sharpie Pen.

 

At first I didn’t think I’d be able to use that many stickers on one layout, but the die cut idea really helped me.  Here, I used a few stickers from the  Necessities collection as well.  They make great little details on any project.

These alpha stickers are my favorite.  I love the shadow on them.  It makes layering them really easy, and they just look awesome.  I did add some touches of gold around the page, and these sparkly enamel arrows are the perfect touch.

 

Here you can see a little closer some of the stickers in the die cut.  I like that I have lots of fun sentiments on the page that I didn’t have to come up with on my own.  The stickers did the work for me!  I did a little bit of gold stitching here and there, too.

 

 

I hope this inspires you to think outside the box when it comes to stickers.  Try and think of a fun and new way to use them.  Sometimes an idea may spark that will help you use up the stickers you didn’t think you’d ever use.  This die cut idea is a great way to do that!

 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

 

 

I Spy with My Mind's Eye // December 2014 Edition

Good morning blog readers! Today it's time for another installment of I Spy with MME. Every day we scour blogs, online galleries, Facebook, and Twitter to find examples of layouts, cards, and other projects using our products.

Today we have some beautiful projects that we wanted to share with you. Each designer's name is linked to their blog. So make sure to stop by, say hi, and see more of their talents!

 

Designer: Brandi Matos

Brandi says: I am in love with these papers from the 'Vintage Christmas’ paper pad by MME which were perfect for this year's advent calendar! The colors and patterns truly make this a spectacular piece!

Why it caught our eye: We love this advent calendar. The drawers are so creative and Brandi really makes Joyous shine here. The cover of the calendar is elegant and stunning and we love the playful, mismatched look of the drawers.

 

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Designer: Christina Valenzuela

Christina says:This is an album that I made for Mummy Crafts. I loved working with this collection, I have all of the Jubilee color schemes, and they all are beautiful! As I was making this album I realized I've never been in love over a collection like I have with this one!

Why it caught our eye: We love this playful, layered, vibrant mini. Look at all of the sweet embellishments, patterns, and colors poking out! We can tell that Christina really loved this collection, it shines through in her work. To see more of the album, go HERE.

 

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Designer: Tracee Provis

Tracee says:When I got sent the MME Jubilee Sherbet collection as my DT package from an online UK store, I was so in love with the delicate colours that I wanted to create a simple layout that allowed the papers to remain a large focus of my page along with my photo. I used the Pretty quotes paper to add a title to the page and it said exactly what was on my mind when I look at this pic of my youngest daughter and her partner.

Why it caught our eye: This layout is absolutely frame-worthy...forget the album! It's romantic, delicate, and absolutely beautiful. The paint adds an edgy touch that we adore.

 

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Designer: Tracy McLennon

Tracy says: I created this card for my husband's birthday. Every card I make for him, I like to be original, cute and a little funny....just like him. The MME Market Street collection worked perfectly for what I wanted to create!

Why it caught our eye: Who wouldn't love to recieve this sweet card? The adorable deer and pun made us grin. This card is all kinds of "happy"!

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Designer: Lynn's Everyday Ideas

Lynn says:I am beyond thrilled to be asked to share with you all today. I made this layout of our son getting his new balance bike for the November Let's Get Sketchy and Child's Play Challenge blogs.

I have had the Boy Crazy collection from My Minds Eye in my stash since maybe April waiting for just the right layout to cut it up. With the large bicycle sticker...it was just the time. I chose the star paper for the focus piece since the circles mimicked wheels. I just layered everything from there.

A little tip...don't always think of 3x4 or 4x6 project life cards as just for pocket pages. My title of Lets Ride was cut from a 4x6 card. Also, don't think of 6x6 pads as just for cards either. My banner and squares behind the photos are from a 6x6 pad. If cut strategically they are great layering pieces.

Why it caught our eye: We love seeing our older lines used in fresh ways and this layout is a prime example. The chipboard is used perfectly... and such smart title work!

Thanks for stopping by today, MME fans!

Remember, keep sharing your beautiful creations and you might just be featured in next month's edition of I Spy with MME!