My Mind's Eye Blog

A Fond Farewell to Anam

We are so sad to say goodbye to Anam Stubbington. Over the years she has meant so much to MME. From her flawless sketches to her beautiful layouts, Anam has shared her heart and her soul with us...not to mention her endless talent and passion.Her love for My Mind's Eye has been very apparent over the years that she has been with us.

Anam, thank you so much for your devotion to MME. We will miss you greatly, but we know that you will do wonderful things! - xoxo Stephanie

Anam has been part of the design team since before we officially had a design team.  Anam's talent is endless.  I love the way she uses products in unexpected ways.  If you'd like an example, just look at the "Family" layout Anam created featuring our twine. It amazes me how perfectly Anam's free-form style comes together. Anam has such a tender heart and truly cares about others.  I am grateful to call her my friend and will miss working with her- Amber

 

I have loved working with Anam on the MME design team for the last few years. I am always amazed by her creativity, fresh ideas, and thinking out of the box. She creates fabulous sketches for cards and layouts too (she even has created an app for them, perfect for crops). She is also the "Queen of Stamping". Some of my favorite stamping projects of hers: 

Stamping on clay and shrink plastic

Stamped cards

Stamped candles

Lost and Found stamps

We will miss you Anam!

Love, Tamara

 

I will miss Anam tremendously on the MME team. Her creative sketches were always my favorite to turn to when I was in a creative slump.

I love stamping, and learn valuable tips from Anam's stamping blog posts. Her ideas, and creative pages will be missed!

I wish you the best my friend!

Hugs,Suzanne

We wish you the absolute best in the future,Anam. We know you will do beautiful things and find much happiness.

Twine Time!

Today Danni and Anam are sharing some brand new projects using twine. Who doesn't love twine? We love the playful vibe that twine can add to any layout or card. We love to tie it,twist it,cut it,knot it, and loop it.

What is your favorite thing to do with MME twine? If you have a project highlighting twine that you want to share...make sure to link it in the comment section,we'd love to see!

Family layout by Anam

Supplies:Indie Chic-Ginger: Flourish patterned paper,Tulips patterned paper,metal flowers,chipboard,camera die cut,buttons,twine,journal spot;Follow Your Heart-twine

Anam says:I covered a piece of flexible wire in the grey/white twine and then formed it into the word 'family'.

Next I outlined a heart on the paper and stitched it across to make a large statement with a backing image.

 

The Perfect Day card by Danni

Supplies: Indie Chic-Ginger:6x6 pad,layered stickers,twine,designer tapes;Misc-Cuttlebug butterfly die,hole puncher

Danni says:I really wanted to play with the twine as an accent embellishment on this card.  I began the card with a triangle patterned paper design, using the Indie Chic Ginger line, stitched the triangles and then punched three butterflies.  I punched holes in one of the butterflies using my hole punch and then adhered twine to the backside to “peek through” the holes.

I stitched the top butterfly to the other two and adhered the butterfly to the triangles.

 

Hello card by Danni

Supplies: Indie Chic-Ginger: 6x6 pad,designer tapes,twine;Stella and Rose-stamps;Misc-Papertrey Ink stamps

Danni says:I began this card by stitching the gorgeous MME doily stamps onto kraft cardstock.  I then used a hole piercer and pierced holes around the circles.  I threaded my twine through one of my larger needles and stitched the circles, tying off the backs and taping down.

I adhered two strips of the designer tape to the bottom.  I punched the “hello sentiment” and adhered using 3-D mounting tape.  I like that these could be mass-produced and mailed.

Wonderful Things card by Danni

Supplies:Indie Chic-Ginger:6x6 pad,twine,button;Misc-Papertrey Ink sentiment

Danni says:I was really excited when I came across this pp in my 6 x6 Ginger pad.  I loved the large floral pattern and I really wanted to stitch the large flower and created centers for the two smaller ones.  I paper-pierced the large flower, stitched the flower with my twine and adhered a button to the center. 

To create the floral centers, I used a q-tip and applied tacky glue to the centers and rolled the twine.

Hope all of you found some new uses for twine today...Have a beautiful and blessed weekend!

Quick and Easy Father's Day Gift by Anam

Supplies: Indie Chic-Citron: What a Day patterned paper,die cut title,chipboard,banner,label stickers;Indie Chic-Ginger:chipboard;Indie Chic-Saffron:chipboard

Anam says:I wanted something small and pretty for Ian’s desk at work where It would allow the photo to change throughout the year .

Don’t forget that you can remove parts from the layered stickers and the chipboard elements to make new embellishments – i did this with the banner from “Ginger” Travel and replaced the top part with the word “inspire” from a piece on the “Saffron” Birds set.

Have a great day!

 

Queen's Jubilee with Anam

Hello everyone,  It’s Anam here on a very special weekend for us in Britain – and for everyone in the Commonwealth as it is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations!!  It has been 60 years that Queen Elizabeth the second has been the Queen of England and Britain. I am a big fan of the royal family – especially the Queen and Princess Anne. I believe Prince William and Prince Harry will go on and do many wonderful things as the top royals of the future.

To celebrate and acknowledge this special anniversary – given I am not likely to see another royal reach a  similar milestone – I made a few layouts.

I started by making a layout with a photograph of the Queen.This is one of my favourite sets of crown jewels as well. The journaling is about how this is an important anniversary and how much I admire the Queen and what she has done as part of her duties.

I went with a yellow (for Diamond) and Blue (for royalty) colour scheme with bunting!!

Supplies: Indie Chic-Nutmeg:Blooms patterned paper,Southwest patterned paper,Rainbow patterned paper,die cuts,chipboard accents,garland,6x6 paper pad

I then made a layout about how I am proud to be British. Even though I was born in Ireland, I travel under a British passport, have a British husband and have British kids ...and my dad and his family are British. I have lived in the UK for 14 years now so being British is a big part of my heart.


I went with a mix of green (for Irish) and blue (for British) for the colour scheme.

Supplies: Indie Chic-Citron:Hibiscus,Lovely,and Pizzazz patterned papers,pearls, die cuts,buttons,chipboard,trim

And this last layout is to acknowledge the fact that I have a commonwealth family – one child is English and one is Canadian – which we believe is the best of both worlds.  We are grateful to have experienced life in both places and we treasure our children’s heritage.

I went with greys to help the reds stand out (red being both an English and a Canadian colour).

Supplies:Indie Chic-Saffron:Chevron,Ornament,and Posy patterned papers,buttons,stickers;Indie Chic-Ginger: wood title

I hope you enjoy these layouts celebrating a big part of my life and that maybe you learned something new today.

Enjoy!

Banners with Anam

Banners are a trend that is still going strong. From home decor to layouts to cards...banners are appearing all over the place.

Today Anam shares a couple of ways you can incorporate this trend using our products.

Banner Desk Display:

Anam says:I cut a paper strip 12” by 2” and folded it into 2 ¼ “ widths. I adhered the overlap behind the large diecut.

I then covered the two wooden banners with the paper. Next I added the paper strip between the two.

I adhered the paper folded sections together to make it more like a book as that helps it stand on its own.  I added relevant diecuts and chipboard pieces to the cover.

I cut two photos 1.5 x 1.75” and added them to the middle pages as this is what will be visible when it is displayed open on a desk.

I then outlined it with the black pen to make it more masculine.

I left the last page blank as Fay and Lily want to put their own message on it for their daddy and Lily has a tendency to scrawl over everything.

Banner Card (bonus with leftover scraps from die cut sheet):

Thanks so much for sharing Anam!

Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!

Our New Stamps in Action!

Happy Friday to all of you! This is Anam and I'm here to share some inventive ways to use the new MME Indie Chic stamps!

First Disco

Supplies: Indie Chic Ginger stamps;white cardstock, Banded Ink and Paper Clay and Ranger Shrink Plastic,chalks,Stazon ink

Stamping doesn’t have to be restricted to paper. I used my stamps on air-drying paper clay and shrink plastic to make embellishments.  Make sure you follow the instructions on your products otherwise you might set them on fire!

I went with the rainbow glitter colours and used my banded inkpad to make the rainbow effect.

Making Family History

Supplies: Indie Chic -Nutmeg ‘Hanging out’ Stamps, Nutmeg ‘History’ Medallions (reverse) Paper, Nutmeg ‘Memories’ Rose Patch Paper, Nutmeg ‘Boy’ Checker Patch Paper, along with the Nutmeg layered Cardstock stickers, the Lazer Cut Wooden Title and the trim stickers.  I added Ranger Shrink Plastic and used Stazon ink on the Shrink Plastic. I also used a Martha Stewart edge punch.

Stamping doesn’t have to be restricted to paper. I used my stamps on Ranger Shrink Plastic to make embellishments.

You can alternate the final effect of the shrink plastic depending which way up you put the final embellishment.  I also toned down the wooden title with some brown ink to make it match better.

I wrote on the shrink plastic frame i made with the stamp border with a sharpie before i shrunk it in the oven to make my own little journal block.

Remember that the shrink plastic wont shrink perfectly so allow yourself some tolerance on the final outcome (like my wobbly journal spot).

Hope you've enjoyed my projects today. Have a wonderful weekend!

May Challenge #2-Masculine/Feminine Products

Goodness gracious how is it already mid-May? Time flies when you are creating beautiful things, doesn't it? :)

It's time for our second May challenge. Note: look for the winner of the "unique brads" challenge later today!

Our second challenge for this month is all about mixing it up.

Many times we hear that our color schemes are gender specific. Clearly when you see a product called "girl brads" it seems that this product would only be for girls. But we beg to differ!

The challenge is simple: use "masculine" colors or embellishments on a girl page, or use "feminine" colors and accents on a boy page.

Here are a few examples from our designers.

Anam used "boyish" patterns and colors to create this girlie layout of her daughters:

Supplies: Indie Chic Nutmeg-border stickers,chipboard die cuts,6x6 paper pads

Anam says: Add some girlie touches with punches – I used a lacey edge punch for the Photo matt and Jewels also can give a more feminine touch to a layout.

Next is a card from Danni. Danni used floral paper and "girl brads" to make a golf card for her dad.

Supplies-Indie Chic: Peony patterned paper,What a Day patterned paper,Girl decorative brads,decorative buttons;Misc-pacifico and another typewriter fonts,papertrey ink script alpha dies

Danni says:I wanted to create a father’s day card using the fun MME Citron line.  We are giving my fil a golf gift certificate and wanted a card to go with it, this was the perfect challenge to create one for such a special day.

One more layout from Anam! She used darker colors from the Nostalgia collection for this feminine layout.

Supplies: Nostalgia -Classic and Diamond patterned paper,chipboard accents,layered cardstock stickers,die cuts;Misc-doily punch,alphas

Anam says:any layout can be made more feminine with a heart.  The addition of punched edges can also lean a design towards a more girlie style. I used a doily edge punch for the trim which I folded to give it more definition and then added some adhesive jewels. I also took single parts of the chipboard titles and the layered stickers to make more sense of the clustered parts.

 

So there you have it! Do you accept the challenge?

I'll remind you of the rules:

1. You can submit a layout,card,album,altered item,etc.

2. The project must consist of mainly MME. It must "look" like a MME layout. :)

3. The project must be created new for this challenge.

4.Upload the layout to the comments by the end of the day on May 31. I have enabled InLinkz on this challenge so you can see all the entries.

5. A random winner will be chosen and announced with the first June challenge on June 1. The prize is any MME collection- the choice is yours.

Can't wait to see what you create...have FUN!!!

 

 

Pinspiration Friday

We have pinned SO many beautiful layouts and cards to our Pinterest boards. You could say we are obsessed!

It was high time to put these pins to use, so our designers used them as inspiration for today's assignments.

Today Anam,Jana,and Danni are here to share some pinterest inspired layouts and cards. Enjoy!

Designer: Jana Eubank

Pin Chosen: All Smiles by Aphra Bolyer 

Original Layout:

Jana's version:

Supplies: On The Sunny Side-Happy Go Lucky patterned paper,Sweet Chevron patterned paper, Simple Stripe patterned paper, In Bloom patterned paper, Flutter patterned paper, 6x6 paper pad,12x12 chipboard,layered stickers,accessories sheet;Good Day Sunshine (Girl)-Head in the Clouds patterned paper;Miss Caroline(Dolled Up)-stamps;Misc-cardstock,rhinestones,green letter stickers,cricut,cartridges, trimmer,scissors,ink,pen,acrylic block,adhesives

Thoughts from Jana:

The first thing that attracted me to Aphra's page was the layout of the photos with the three photos stacked on top of each other along with one larger photo. I love using wallet size photos on my pages and I am always looking for new compositions where I can incorporate multiple photos.

I kept the same general layout as Aphra's page, but moved my title underneath the photos and added the row of chipboard houses to the lower left corner. I adhered the houses from the Layered Stickers on top of the smaller houses in the chipboard piece to add variety.

 A few chipboard flowers with rhinestones also add a bit of fun. The title block and word "Village" were cut using a die cut machine. I embossed the letters for more texture before adding them to my page.

A couple of the butterflies are from the chipboard and accessories sheets, but the rest have been handcut out of the Flutter paper. I love handcutting elements from patterned paper! I get a lot of bang for my buck that way.

Finally, I added journaling to the left of my photos and used Miss Caroline stamps to add the place and date to the lower right hand corner of my page.

  

Designer: Anam Stubbington

Pins Chosen:For the Record by Lynn Warner and Our Neighbor by Aleksandra Gadji

Original Layouts:

 Anam's version:

Supplies: On the Sunny Side-Parade patterned paper,Sweet Chevron patterned paper,Happy Go Lucky patterned paper,Playdate patterned paper,12x12 chipboard,layered stickers;adhesive jewels,heart punch

Thoughts from Anam:

I went with the very happy feeling of the On the Sunny Side release to play up the emotional feeling I wanted from the photograph – hence the photograph being in black and white.

I went with the punch ‘waste’ strips from Alek’s layout and combined it with the set of 3 tags/shapes from Lynn’s layout  along with the yellow/B&W photo combo.

Instructions:Cut strips slightly wider than your punched shape and proceed to punch out shapes from the strips. Adhere gently to page – I sewed through the middle to add some extra dimension.

I worked it so the hearts on the right hand side lined up. I then added the upright strip – I put sewn zigzag edges on it for an extra touch. I then added the chipboard trim and the 3 tags which I hand cut.

I added the three large hearts and the chipboard. I arranged the bird piece to cover the bird on the chipboard title. I then added a banner from the brad pack and added my Title word on top of it.  

The final touches are the little chipboard flowers and some jewels along with the layered butterfly sticker.

 

Designer: Danni Reid

Pin Chosen: card by Tracie Claiborne

Original Card:

Danni's version:
Supplies:Indie Chic-designer tape,ginger layered stickers,buttons;Misc-twine

Thoughts from Danni:

There are so many creations that inspire me on our Pinterest page, it was really hard to choose just one to share. I finally decided on this card from the incredibly talented, Tracie Claiborne.  I was instantly inspired by the incredible design and kept coming back to it as I was perusing the gorgeous creations.  One of my favorite things about MME papers are the beautiful assortment of patterns in each line.  It makes creating with them so easy and the end result, as you can see by her card, so beautiful!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today guys- hope you have a beautiful and blessed weekend!

Altered Baking Tray by Anam

Hello everyone! Anam here with a special Mother's Day project.

I took an everyday kitchen item and made it into something pretty for my kitchen – you could use it for photographs, memories, recipes or even your never-ending to-do list.

I also made a matching clipboard to write down those one liners you hear that make you smile – like my little one who “doesn’t want to be a sister:  I want be a super hero because they are better than sisters”.

Supplies:

I thought the Nostalgia release would be perfect for the vintage feeling I wanted for the tray. I used the chipboard, brads and the paper pack.

I used a baking Tray (I got mine from the dollar store) and some magnets. I chose to use E600 to adhere them but you can use a hot glue gun.  I added some Ranger Glossy Accents and I found a badge maker kit that I made into a magnet instead. I used Martha Stewart punches for my decorative edges.
Directions.

Cut your paper to fit into the tray – I pressed mine into the corner to make sure I got the correct inner shape. 
Select some papers to make the upright paper strips. I used a punch to make since borders.

Arrange your diecuts to make a cluster than works for you – I adore buttons so I went for the button packaging.

 I then added the layered cardstock stickers and some chipboard elements. I added Glossy accents to areas to give them more texture.

Pick our your pieces to turn into magnets – I used brads and chipboard diecuts. Snip the prongs off the brads to make them into magnets.  Make sure your magnets are strong as more paper reduces the strength between the tray and the magnets.

The diecuts I covered with glossy accents and left to settle. Once it was dry I added a second layer of glossy accents to give it a more epoxy glass look.

The giant magnet was one of those kids badge kits I found and all I did was use a diecut from the paper pack and a circle of paper behind it – you could even put a photo in there if you wanted instead.

I have actually put some big magnets on the back of my tray so that it sticks to the side of my fridge!

The clipboard is exactly the same – find a clipboard and cover it as you fancy. 
So there you have it- how to make a kitchen item into a Mother's Day treasure. Thanks for stopping by today!

 

April Sketch Challenge

Time to reveal the April sketches! The original plan was to just post these as inspiration, but instead let's make it a challenge. Many of you said on Facebook that you'd like to see a challenge bi-weekly...so we might as well start this month!

Thanks to the wonderful Anam for these sketches, as always they are just fabulous!

Here is the April layout sketch:

And a little inspiration from Anam:

Supplies- Follow Your Heart:Be Amazing Geo Star patterned paper, Kraft Unique patterned paper, Honey Blue patterned paper,Soulful patterned paper,adhesive jewels,metal bookmarks,die cut chipboard,photo overlays

And one from Karen:

Supplies-Miss Caroline:layered stickers,like brads,princess layered stickers,Token patterned paper;Follow Your Heart: Be Happy brads and layered stickers;Lush 2:orange trims;Fine and Dandy:tickled pink trims;Stella and Rose:Delightful Blossom die cut paper;Lush:chipboard alphabet stickers

Next up is the April card sketch:

And two examples by Anam:

Supplies-Miss Caroline:Dilly Dally 6x6 Paper Pack and  Dilly Dally Layered Cardstock Stickers; Follow Your Heart:Adhesive Jewels

Supplies-Miss Caroline: Dolled Up 6x6 Paper Pack,Howdy Doody Layered Cardstock Stickers

Now it's your turn! Link us up to a layout or card you've done using our April sketches, and you will enter your name for a chance to win a 12x12 paper collectoin+ 6x6 paper pad of your choice!

Share the link in the comments by the last day of April and a random winner will be announced along with the first May challenge.

The rules:

1. Flip it, change it, do what you'd like. But we need to be able to see that you used the sketch as a starting point.

2. The layout or card must look like it is a MME layout. I'm not going to give you a percentage here (I mean,how does that even work anyway?Ha!). Let's just say to use your judgement. :)

3. Please upload your entry to Flickr, your blog,or any online gallery and leave the link in the comments by April 30

Have fun!!!