My Mind's Eye Blog

Mix and Match with Karen | July 2014

Hi everyone!

This is Karen and I am back with a Mix and Match page for July.

A few months ago, my kids were playing with chalk in the front yard and asked me to take their picture hugging. They didn't have to ask me twice. I then used the photos as fodder for my next page, of course. The
photos have green, black and red in them so I wanted to see if I could make a page that had only those three colors. I thought using Chalk Studio to document a day of sidewalk chalk would be fun.

Here's what I ended up with:




You can find the whole journaling here.

To tie the two pages in, I kept things to a minimum.  I added a line of tape to the top and the bottom and then a little black text and a heart to the bottom left:


On the right side, I created a visual triangle with the two black stars and the one gray one next to the final photo. I like how stark the black is and how much contrast it adds to the page.


I loved using the Tiny Words/Alphas to weave into my title. They are my absolute favorite:


And here are my sweet little boys:


Just to prove that no MME line can be too old to use, the red fleece behind the photos comes from the Kraft Funday line! My challenge to you this month is to use one of your oldest MME lines on a layout. And if
you do, link me up in the comments, I'd love to see it!

Flashcard decor

Hello! It's Amber. I hope you are enjoying your Saturday. It's a gorgeous spring morning at my house. Last month my husband and I worked on adding mouldings in my hall! It’s so gorgeous. I just smile when I walk down it. We designed and built the mouldings on the left side a little taller so that I could have a collage wall and so the heads of the tall people that live in and visit my house won’t hit their heads on it.

The mouldings with a picture rail was one of my favorite things about my scrap room in our old house:

I wanted to have a mixture of items on the new picture rail, not just pictures. One day I was cleaning out Riley’s room and noticed the 2 + 2 = 4 flashcard and thought about that flashcard was like our family. Two adults + two boys = our family. I knew I wanted to add that to my gallery wall. Now that my wall was complete, I just needed to decorate so I mounted a few 11 x 14 pictures on foam core and needed one last thing to complete it: my flashcard décor!

Using the ultra fresh and fun My Mind’s Eye Chalk Studio 2, I created this:

 

I love the way the vibrant colors stand out against the chalk background. The embellishments (chalk art hand) are to die for and added such a fun POP to my project.

With the photo collage complete, I smile even more as I walk down the hall. And, with all the time you spend in a hall, shouldn’t it be a fun path to walk?

I have created an instruction sheet so you can make your own:  Flashcard Decor

I demonstrated this project this past week on Good Things Utah. I thought you might enjoy watching it:

Remember that you can use any number combination to personalize the project and can adjust the size to fit any space. You can also use any My Mind’s Eye collection that fits with your décor. Have fun creating!

Creative Card Ideas

 Hello everyone! Valerie here today...and I'm sharing some creative card ideas with you.

For the background of this  card (made using the Lost and Found Record It- Heirloom collection) , I used torn strips of a page from an old book and then placed a pretty journal card on top. I used a couple heart stickers from Cupid’s Arrow and a couple more from Lost & Found as embellishments then added a couple rows of glittery enamel dots. So pretty!

What a perfect messy misted background this one has! I sprayed my mask with various shades of pink and then “stamped” it onto my card.

A piece of wide lace trim was adhered with a line of hot glue and then my sentiment (from Cut & Paste Adorbs stamp set) was added on top. Next I sewed on a row of chipboard banners—one from Chalk Studio and the other two from the Cut & Paste collection—then added a brad and button.

I love stamping with chalk ink on kraft paper. It’s what I did here with a sentiment stamp from the Find Your Wings & Fly stamp set and an arrow from the Cut & Paste Flair set. That chevron paper is my favorite.

One of my favorite techniques is to combine strips of decorative tape to create backgrounds. I used the decorative tape from the Lost & Found Record It collection and topped it with bits from the ephemera packs and a couple of word stickers.

That's all for today. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

Getting Creative with Decorative Tapes

Hey there, MME fans! Missy here with you today.

If you’re anything like me, by now you’ve got quite the collection of washi tape. I absolutely love it and can’t believe I scrapped so long without it. It’s so fun and easy to use, and it’s great for adding a little pattern or pop of color here and there.

I’m excited to share a project I created for my scrap room. It’s a canvas, and I used many MME washi tapes to create some fun patterns.I also used some MME stamps, stickers, chipboard, brads and enamel dots as well.

I started out by using gesso on my canvas. I pulled out a few templates and some colored spray inks and then used some modeling paste to add some texture. I wanted to create a bright and inspiring piece to hang near my scrap desk, and I had the idea of a color explosion. So I pulled out many rolls of washi tape in multiple colors and started layering it down all over the canvas.

I wanted it to look messy, so there were no right or wrong creative moves in this project.

Supplies: Decorative Tape Sets: Coral & Aqua, Pink & Charcoal, Blue & Yellow, Pink & Yellow; Tapes from: Collectable, Cut & Paste “Adorbs,” “Flair,” “Presh,” Sweetest Thing; Stamps from: Cut & Paste “Flair,” “Adorbs,” & Collectable; Chalk Studio: Chipboard Elements, Stickers; Lost & Found “Antique”: Alpha & Word Stickers, Chipboard Elements, Enamel Dots, 6x6 paper pad; Cupid’s Arrow No. 14 Enamel Shapes; My Girl Decorative Brads; Cut & Paste “Adorbs” Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots; Other: Artist’s Loft canvas, Dylusions Spray Ink by Ranger, Crafter’s Workshop templates, Liquitex gesso, Golden modeling paste, Martha Stewart acrylic paint, watercolors, book paper, pop dots, Silhouette Cameo, cardstock.

 

This adorable camera sticker is from the Chalk Studio collection. I painted it blue and added some thread behind it. I love how the black pieces from Chalk Studio really stand out against all the bright colors.

You can see several pieces of the tape here, too. I like to tear off a long strip of tape and then tear it in half to give it an uneven look.

Here are lots more tape strips. I also used some old book paper to give the look of text through all the color and texture. I love how this Happy Day chipboard piece pops!

The birds are also from Chalk Studio. I chose to leave them white so they’d stand out. You can see some of the stamping here, too.

I just LOVE the glasses tape! I wear glasses half the time, so I wanted to include them on my project. The days of the week tape is another big favorite of mine from the Collectable line.

I hope this inspires you to get creative with your washi tapes. They are so versatile and can be used on more than just layouts and cards. They’re so much fun to play with! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Missy

Mix and Match with Karen | January Edition

Hi everyone! Happy 2014!!! I hope your holiday season was lovely and that you're welcoming this new year with peace and joy.

I am back with a new Mix and Match but before I show you my layout, I wanted to tell you a little bit about how I came to make this page.

In the middle of last year, I started making 6x12 pages just so try something new. I wasn't sure if I would love it or loathe it, but I wanted to be willing to stretch.

As it turned out, I loved it. I loved it so much that I continued to make only 6x12s for the rest of the year.

After a few months, I had this idea of making two side by side 6x12 pages where one side would just be long journaling. I sat on this idea for months. I even mentioned it during one of the Paperclipping Roundtable episodes but even saying it out loud wasn't enough to get me to do it. I just kept thinking about it.

So when I sat down to make my first layout for 2014, I decided it was time. I wanted to try it out and see how it would look.  I look a long blog post I wrote a while ago about how I would like to treat people and the kind of person I want to be. After I wrote it all out, I bought myself a ring with the words kind, present, listen. So I took photos of my ring and coupled it with my journaling.

And here's what I ended up with:


Even though it's made to go together, these are two separate 6x12 layout pages. I plan to store them in a 12x12 page protector and the fact that they will move in there doesn't bother me. If it bothers you, you can
tape them together or to a 12x12 piece of paper.

The nice thing about using a 6x12 page of journaling is that you can put it through a normal printer and do not need an oversized one. If you want to read the whole journaling, you can read it here.

I mixed the beautiful new shimmering Lost and Found lines with the bold blacks of the Chalk Studio line and some enamel dots from Cupid's Arrow.If you haven't seen the Lost and Found  Record It! lines in person, I
cannot tell you how beautiful all the glittered papers are:

I created my layout such that the right side is a full layout that could stand on its own, so I gave it a title and all the finishing touches of a complete 6x12 layout.

To make sure the two pages did work together, I made it so the photos spilled over a bit, I added the decorative tape border around the 12x12 area, and I added a glittered piece with a black chipboard piece
and enamel dot on opposing ends of each page to frame it even more. A full round of stitching and my page was done.

I am so glad that after months of pondering it, I finally sat down and made this page. I love the asymmetry of the words on one side and the embellishments on the other. I love that I got to tell a long story and didn't feel any pressure to write less. I would like to take the time and space to tell some longer stories and I love that this format allows me to do that without worrying about how I can make the design and journaling work together. It feels like I am not compromising on anything.

So here we are: my first Mix and Match page for 2014.

If you're like me and have been sitting on an idea for a while, I hope you can take this month to give it a try. Even if you don't like what you end up with, it's always worthwhile to experiment.

See you next month!

Mix and Match with Karen | December Edition

Hi everyone!

This is Karen and I am back with another Mix and Match! This month, I decided to match the papers from Find Your Wings and Fly - Up and Away (Harlequin) with the embellishments from Chalk  Studio. I love the way the colorful paper interacts with the kraft and black and white of Chalk Studio. Here's what I ended up with:


Doesn't the color of the paper jump out that much more with the strong black lines of Chalk Studio? For my title this time, I used up one of the chipboard embellishments from Find Your Wings and Fly, but it was a
little too big for my taste, so I cut it up.


See the "find the joy" in the title? It was a banner, but I decided I liked it better this way. Remember that just because someone designed it a particular way doesn't mean you have to use it that way. You can also
put embellishments on top of others to create your own, like the one I did here:


I put the "only you" sticker on the black tab to make it a bit more colorful.

The other thing I tried on this layout was to write right on my photos. These photos had a lot of white space and the paper had none, so I decided it would be fun to try to write on the photos instead and I like the way it turned out. I think it goes with the theme of the story, photos, and overall layout. If you haven't tried writing directly on your photos, I hope you add it to your list of things to experiment with soon.

That's it from me this month, I look forward to seeing you in 2014!

Mini Albums with Stephanie | November 2013 Edition

Hi!  Stephanie back with you today to share this month's mini album.

Since it's the season for Thanksgiving, and to go along with this month's challenge at My Mind's Eye, I decided to create a "gratitude" mini book to record all of the things my family is thankful for.  There really is so much to be thankful for!!

Supplies needed:
Chalk Studio collection
White cardstock
Paper trimmer
Bone folder
Adhesive
Hole punch
Ribbon/twine
Date stamp & ink


1. Start by gathering your supplies.  I am using the Chalk Studio collection for my album.


2. Build your album cover by trimming down a piece of patterned paper to 6.5x12 inches and a piece of white card stock to 7x12 inches.  That extra half of inch on the white card stock will create a frame around your patterned paper and will also add to the sturdiness of your book.


3. Trim regular printer paper to 6.5x11 inches.  I used about 13 pieces of printer paper and 2 pieces of patterned paper for my base pages.  I wanted to make sure I had one piece of paper for each day during the month of November, but you can add as many or as few pages as you would like.  I typically would use card stock for my base pages, but since I was including so many I felt like printer paper would not be as bulky.

4. Score your trimmed patterned paper and printer paper down the middle and fold.



5. Using your crop-a-dile or hole punch, punch a half circle from the fold of your cover papers.  I recommend placing a scrap piece of paper over your folded cover before you punch your hole.  Be sure to line up the edge of your scrap paper with one end of your cover (or you could trim your scrap paper to the length of your cover).

The punched mark on your scrap paper will now act as a guide for the next hole you punch.  This will guarantee that your holes are evenly spaced.


6. Flip your scrap paper over, lining up the edge with the edge of your folded cover.  Punch your second hole.


7. Repeat the above steps for the base pages of your book.


8. Grab your ribbon or twine and thread each end of your ribbon/twine through the holes on the inside of your book.


9. Pull the ribbon/twine all the way through the holes and tie in a bow on the outer edge of your cover.


10. Decorate the cover of your album.  I chose to keep my cover very simple and used the "The Story of Us" layered sticker from the Cut & Paste collection.


11. Using a date stamp, add a stamp for each day of the month.

And now your book is al lready to be filled with memories!

Here is a look at some of the completed pages of my album.  This book is still going strong at our house and it will surely be a family tradition.  

The whole family has been involved and hearing what my children are thankful for just warms my heart.  I'm pretty sure I am going to have to make my daughter her own book next year.  She begged me everyday to fill in our book.

Thanks so much for joining me today!!  I hope this tutorial has inspired you to make a thankful journal for your family.  Please let me know if you have any questions!!

Sketch Week!

Hello everyone!  We have a fantastic week planned for you, all revolved around our November Sketch!  We hope you will walk away looking at sketches in a whole new way!

On our past sketches we've noticed some great questions. Questions about how to involve more photos, questions about how to tweak the sketches...and that's what this week is all about.

Let us show you how to make a sketch your own. Not sure what to do because our sketch only has one photo and you are a multiphoto scrapper? Then this series is for you. Do you freeze and use the sketch exactly because you can't figure out how to make the sketch more "you"? Then this series is for you!

Today we will take the straighforward/ literal approach to the sketch.

November's sketch is full of pictures and little bits that all come together through a cohesive grid like design.  Swap out the smaller focal photo for a 4x6 with lots of smaller photos surrounding it.  Take the sketch and make it your own.

Supplies:  Cut & Paste: Charm - Sweet: 'Treat' paper;  Charm -Bliss: 'Delight' Paper; Charm-Smile: 'Shine Paper,' Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots; Charm-Hey You: 'Trend' Paper; Charm- Carefree: 'Relaxed' Paper, Chipboard Stickers; Flair - Small 'Charms' Paper; Flair- Snapshots: Stamps, Decorative Buttons; Flair-Wow: Label Stickers;  Chalk Studio- 'Happy Day' Paper,' Decorative Tape: Pink & Charcoal; Misc: Maya Road Mists, NeocolorII crayons, Ranger Ink Archival Ink

I used the sketch to capture an unexpected trip to Munich, Germany.  This sketch allowed me to use lots of photos I took on our journey.  On my layout, I used a lovely polka dot patterned paper from Chalk Studio as my background.  I covered it with a light gesso wash and let it dry.  I then added bits of color on the background using, paints, spray inks, and some watercolor crayons.  I then stamped some images around the page.

After adding my photos to the page, I pulled out my scraps and trimmed them down to rectangle strips & squares.  On some of the spots I used the decorative pennants, enamel dots, or even washi tape instead of scraps of paper.  I love those unexpected elements.

you can also stack strips of patterned paper to create a layered look.  I journaled around the page starting at the top working my way down to the bottom right corner.  The black elements around the page tie it all together. 

 

I asked Missy to join me today to show you how to use this sketch in a straightforward way. This is a great example if you are looking for an easy layout idea. Just follow the sketch to a T!

Supplies: Cut & Paste Flair:  “Small” Point Paper, 6x6 paper pad, Label Stickers, “Small” Enamel Shapes, “Snapshots” Decorative Buttons, “Sweet” Enamel Dots, “Small” Decorative Brads.  Cupid’s Arrow: No.14 “Chevron” Paper, “Cupid’s Arrow” Paper, “Alpha Love” Paper, 6x6 paper pad, Chipboard Hearts, Sticker Accessory Sheet, Decorative Tapes.  Find Your Wings & Fly Up & Away:decorative stamps, Alpha & Word Stickers.  Pop dots, Stampabilities ink, cord, black pen

Missy says: I took a very literal approach and didn’t stray much at all from the sketch.  I love all the squares and rectangles in this one…it gives you lots of opportunities to use lots of patterned papers or embellishments all around small photos.  I began with the “Small” Point paper from the Cut & Paste Flair collection because it coordinated well with my photos.  Then I picked out several papers and embellishments from the new Cupid’s Arrow collection. 

For some of the rectangular shapes, I decided to use one of the frame papers from the Cut & Paste “Flair” 6x6 paper pad.  They’re perfect and just the right size, and I also wanted to add some black into my page, so these fit the bill.  I also added a few of the cute quotation mark enamel shapes.  Those can add a little pizzazz to any project!

I hope this sketch inspires you to break out those patterned papers and cut them up!  Sometimes it’s fun to use small pieces for a layout and create a mosaic type look rather than always use big pieces and create layers.  I’m a HUGE fan of layering, and this sketch took me out of my comfort zone and made me try a technique I’m not used to.  I really love how it turned out.  And remember, you can always just use the sketch as a starting point and go from there.  Sometimes it’s fun to use the sketch “as is,” while another sketch you may only use a piece of it for inspiration.

Missy

 

Thanks Missy!

Now it's up to you guys to decide how you'd like to use this sketch. We will be sharing variations on it all week long but we are also challenging YOU to join in our November sketch challenge.

A random winner will be chosen and shared with our next challenge on December 2nd . You have until the end of the day on Sunday, December 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.

 

Veteran's Day

Hey everyone and Happy Monday. This is Stephanie and today I'm here to share a Veteran's Day layout with you.

I have a veteran husband and a veteran brother and they mean the world to me. I never tire of saying thank you...even though it doesn't seem like nearly enough.

Supplies: Cupid's Arrow: Confetti Hearts patterned paper(B side),decorative tape,enamel heart ;Lost and Found Record It-Antique:stickers,enamel dots;Cut and Paste-Adorbs:brads,chipboard stickers;Cut and Paste-Flair:tiny word stickers,Specs patterned paper (B side), bits&pieces;Cut and Paste-Presh:Die Cut Card;Chalk Studio:chipboard elements

This isn't a traditional military layout...or a traditionally masculine layout, come to think of it! I just went with it. I think you can make a military page without making it green, brown, black, or navy.

I even used a chipboard flower and enamel heart on this page. Since it's more about my gratitude for my husband than it is about the Army...I thought it was a-okay.

I cut the bottom part off of this chipboard piece from Chalk Studio. The bottom party says "To Fly". I discarded that part and used "It takes Courage". I think the sentiment fits oh so well.

The U.S. Army tag is actually another chalkboard piece from Chalk Studio. It says "us" on it. I added enamel dots for periods and cut up some tiny word stickers to build the word "Army".

I hope today I've shown you how it's possible to make military  layouts without using military themed products.

Have a wonderful Monday...and thank a veteran if you have a chance!

Chalk Art Decor with Amber

It’s no secret that I love chalk art! Imagine my delight when My Mind’s Eye started designing an all chalk art line. What’s the only thing that could make this better? A collaboration between My Mind’s Eye and Rhonna Farrer – swoon!

This awesome collection makes it easy to design beautiful gifts, party décor and much more!

See how much the stickers add to jars and treat bags. You can write on them using chalk (I sharpened my chalk), white pen or white pencil.

There is a 12 x 12 piece of paper that can easily be cut to fit in an 8 x 10 frame (as shown).

The chipboard embellishment, frames, twine, brads and banner kit combined to make the darling eclectic banner.

There is a darling banner kit that comes complete with every you need to make this darling banner. (“celebrate” pieces turn over and can be written on with chalk for a customized banner) I made this banner for my husband’s 40th birthday celebration, so I used the chalk side of the pink pieces. You can do the same if you want it to be girly.

I also made these darling medallions to hang over the bar. They were easy and really added a festive punch. The double sided papers make it so you never get the same look.

12” medallions: 5 – 6 x 12”  pieces scored at 1”

10” medallions: 4 – 5” x 12” pieces scored at 3/4”

8” medallions: 3 – 4” x 12” pieces scored at 3/4”

6” medallions: 3 – 3” x 12” pieces scored at 3/4”

4” medallions: 2 – 2” x 12” pieces scored at 1/2”

I’ve loved designing layout and cards with this collection as well. Here is a layout that is not shown in the picture above. It uses almost every product in this collection.

I’m demonstrated these projects on Good Things Utah last Thursday. I hope you enjoy the segment!

Happy Creating!