My Mind's Eye Blog

Anatomy of a Double Page Layout | October 2014

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

With Halloween just around the corner, and the new Frightful Collection in hand, I was inspired to get busy on some Halloween pages. After taking a look at my trusty notebook, with a list of layouts that I still would like to complete in my children’s albums, I stumbled on Halloween 2011. Yep. I am taking it back a few years here folks. I can’t be the only one still working through some past memories to document, right?!?

Supplies: Frightful – “Frightening Frames” Pattern Paper, “Pumpkin” Pattern Paper, “Dots” Pattern Paper, “Frightful Words” Pattern Paper, 6x6 Designer Paper Pad, Mixed Bag, Enamel Dots, Sticker Sheet, Chipboard Elements, Decorative Brads; Collectable Collection Remarkable – “Smile” Grin Pattern Paper, “Handsome” Adorable Pattern Paper;  My Mind’s Eye Decorative Tapes – Red & Black; Other: Twine, Alphabet Stickers, Stapler

After pulling together my favorite pictures, I realized that I didn’t just have to cover trick-or-treating, but our entire Halloween festivities including our fun at the pumpkin patch and pumpkin carving.

I had just the right amount of photos where I could easily section the two big events off having one per side; pumpkin fun on one side, and then trick-or-treating on the other. I wanted the sides to be able to play on their own but complement each other too. I opted for a hap-hazard random cluster of photos on each page.

Of course I had planned to use the Frightful Collection, but after seeing my photos, I wanted to add in another pop of color, GREEN! I knew exactly where I was going to get that pop of green. I went right for my absolute favorite collection, the Collectable Collection. These two sheets just happen to be my all time favorites from that collection too. I have a thing for anything green. It’s always been my favorite color.

I kept the papers for the left side of my page more neutral… less spooky, I guess you could say. Since the pictures were from our pumpkin patch visit, I thought it would give that side a happier fall feel for those pictures.

The right side with the trick-or-treat pictures I went with the scary pumpkin faces and spooky words. Maybe I over thought my choices, but I had fun doing it. I just thought that these seemed spookier which was perfect for the spookiest night of the year!

When it was time to have fun embellishing, I wanted to just go a little crazy with all sorts of fun embellishments placed around my pictures. I added a strip of black & white stripe paper on the top to unify my two pages.

I tossed in a few scalloped borders here and there. Then, I added in brads, enamel dots, stickers, decorative tapes, chipboard elements, and bits & pieces from the mixed bag.

When it came time to choose a title, I almost cut out the word “Halloween” to place in the dotted green pattern paper. BUT I stopped when I was shuffling through the mixed bag assortment. There were just too many fun things in that bag to pass up. I went with a more playful and not so direct title. Obviously just looking at this page, you can see that it was all about Halloween. So instead, I played with all of the random bits & pieces that have words on them; particularly my favorite “Tricks & Treats” and create a collage to fill in my space that I saved for a title.

After playing with Halloween pictures, it is making me even more anxious for Halloween to come. It just happens to be my favorite holiday! I just love the entire fall season as a whole; great weather, beautiful colors, outdoor fun, and all those extra spooky ghostly shows on television.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful week and a spooky Halloween next week!

 

2013 Year End Review | A Scrapbook Layout

Hello! Valerie here with you today. It's New Year's Eve! Can you believe it?! Another year in the books. I truly feel like this year just flew by. I know we all say that every year, but seriously….where did 2013 go?

I have a layout for you today. I took a single 12 x 12 layout and summed up our entire year with fourteen of my favorite photos and a simple list of some positive highlights and even a couple negatives from our year.

Supplies:Cut and Paste-Adorbs: "Be" Like paper, "Story" enamel shapes, "Hello" decorative brads, "Loved" decorative buttons "Story" enamel shapes, Hello" decorative brads,"Loved" decorative buttons; Cut and Paste- Charm:"Carefree" label stickers,"Sweet" tiny word stickers; Cut and Paste-Flair: "Small" enamel shapes, "Small" decorative brads;Cut and Paste-Presh: "Good Times" decorative buttons; Find Your Wings and Fly :alpha and word stickers; Collectable-Memorable: "I'm With" enamel dots; Misc: Silhouette Cameo and blue cardstock

I started with the Adorbs "Be" Like patterned paper from the Cut & Paste collection. I think this might be one of my most favorite patterns in the whole collection. I used a brayer to spread a thin layer of gesso in the area where I would be placing my photos to subdue the bright colors a bit. The zig zag pattern creates the perfect lines for running a list down the side of the page—another reason this paper was chosen.

My photos are arranged in no particular order, and my list is like that too. Not every item in my list has a photo that matches up with it. The title was cut with my Silhouette Cameo using the font Howser.

I embellished the layout with a variety of enamel dots, enamel shapes, decorative brads, and decorative buttons from the Cut & Paste collection. Those big enamel shapes are so much fun.


Happy New Year everyone!

Mixed Media with Karen | November 2013 Edition

This is Karen and I am back with another Mixed Media with Karen. 

This month, and next, I decided to play around with some stamps and create a few simple cards that you could send to your friends. At the beginning of 2013, I bought watercolor postcards  that I've been using to create art and send to friends. I grabbed one of my cards and the Cut & Paste Flair stamp set and stamped down the frame:


and then I used the curly stamp from the Collectible - Remarkable (Beautiful) set to add curls all around the frame.


I then used my watercolor markers to add color to all the sections created by the curly stamp.


Once I was done, it looked like this:


I then used a few of the stamp sets (Collectible - beautiful & hello, Follow Your Heart - Be Happy) to create a little title in the frame:

Once I colored the frame, I was done. I then decided to have fun experimenting with different frames. Here's one that's loose and uneven:


I decided I wanted it stronger, darker and starker so I just added a lot of black paint to the edges and ended up with this:



Which makes the watercolors that much more striking.

That's it for this month, see  you in December!!

Hanna Part Two

 

In case you missed it yesterday, Hanna Long is our September guest designer! We are so happy to have her joining the team for the month.

Today Hanna is back and sharing two more projects and we just know they will inspire you to pull out your MME and create!

 

Be You layout

Supplies:Cut and Paste-Adorbs:decorative stickers, True Paper,Thrive paper,Cut and Paste-Flair: stamps;Misc: American Crafts Thickers Daiquiri, Every Day, Studio Calico Thataway Chipboard Thickers Buckaroo, Studio Calico SunRise Pink Thickers Atlantic, October Afternoon Pink and Black Mini Market Stickers

Hanna says:I knew when I saw the Adorbs stickers that I wanted to make a LO for my daughter to remind her to be true to who she is.  These are some of my favorite photos of her ever and I'm so happy I was able to get them scrapped.

 

Project Life Spread

Supplies:Collectable-Remarkable:tiny word stickers;Cut and Paste- Adorbs:decorative stamps,tiny word stickers,Cut and Paste-Flair:decorative stamps,decorative buttons,Splendor paper;Cut and Paste-Charm: Delight patterned paper, Sweet Treat Paper;Follow Your Heart-Be Amazing:Be The Best Paper;Misc:Studio Calico Alpha Stamp, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Mustard Seed, Jenni Bowlin Inks: Cough Syrup, Soap Powder, Spiced Tin, Speckled Egg and Chicken Feed.

Hanna says:I think this was one of my favorite weeks from this summer and I couldn't wait to use the You Are Here 3*4 from the Cut and Paste Sweet Treat paper. I also loved using some of my water colors to paint in the frame stamps. 

 

Hanna- thanks a million for sharing your creativity with us this month. We so enjoyed showcasing you on the blog!

Shelly Takes on Double Page Layout Week!

Hello everyone; welcome back for another dose of double page inspiration this week! I can’t say how excited I was when Tina tossed the idea of having an entire week dedicated to double page inspiration here on the My Mind’s Eye blog. I can never get enough inspiration for “Doublers.”

Supplies: Collectable – Remarkable: “Handsome” Charming Paper, “Day” Dates Paper, “Day” Daily Paper, “Authentic Die-Cut Chipboard Stickers, “Handsome” Enamel Dots, “Smile” Label Stickers; Collectable – Notable: “Wonder” Dream Paper, “Cute” Petite Paper; Find Your Wings and Fly “Sky’s the Limit” 6x6 Designer Paper pad; Decorative Tape; Indie Chic Twine; Other: Date stamp, ink, alphabet stickers, eyelet, photo corners, notebook border punch.

Today, my layout features the bold colors of my beloved Collectable Collection. Don’t get me wrong, I love the new collections that are arriving in stores, but there is just something about Collectable that will always hold a special spot in my heart. I knew I needed to do one more layout featuring it.


You guys will recognize these pictures. I used them in my latest Anatomy of a Double Page Layout using 4x6 photos. Like I have said before, I like to keep separate albums for each of my children. I hope I am not the only crazy one out there that chooses to do this! This time, I switched up my sizes and went with 3.5x5 and 3x4 photos.

I kicked off my design by grouping the photos by category. I had pictures from the Fourth of July, the beach, and the playground.  To set each group off from one another, I went with a color block background to give each event its own platform to stand on.

The burst shapes from the Remarkable Chipboard Stickers were just too perfect to pass up as fireworks. I added some stitched swirls to draw the eye across the page and also tie the different color blocks together. enamel dots added that little extra something giving the fireworks added dimension, shape, and texture. 

For the title, I went super easy. The various journal card pattern papers are by far my favorite flat accessory to any of my pages. I dressed this one up with an eyelet and twine to create a tag. Using tiny alphabet stickers, I was able to pull off a custom title, “The Best Holiday Week Ever.”

So, there it is your second dose of Double Inspiration. I hope you have and will continue to be inspired by the My Mind’s Eye Team as we bring you this awesome week of inspiration. Thank you for stopping by today, and we will see you back here tomorrow!

Simply Stamped Cards with Shelly

Hello everyone! This is Shelly here today to share some simple stamped cards. I love to keep a few stacks of simple cards on hand for a “just in case” moment. Maybe you just want to send a simple note off to a friend you can grab one and go, or maybe you just wanted to give a simple thank you gift to a friend or even a teacher.

I like to wrap a short stack of 6-8 cards with envelopes and stamps for a simple thoughtful gift.  With the school year kicking into gear, wouldn’t it be a nice “hello, nice to meet you” kind of gift for your child’s teacher?

Supplies: Collectable Collection – Remarkable “Beautiful” Decorative Stamps, Unforgettable “Firsts” Enamel Dots, Notable “Cute” Enamel Dots, Memorable Decorative Tapes; The Sweetest Thing – Honey “Happiness” Stamps; other: Twine and Ink.

When it comes to doing card sets, I like to keep things simple and easy to reproduce, keeping cutting and pasting to a minimum because those always seem like a tedious time consuming task to me. Stamps are always an easy go-to when reproducing in larger quantities. You never have to worry about running out of anything!

I like to start it off by cutting a stack of 8.5x11 sheets of cardstock in half, creating a prototype, and then I start stamping. This is just my preference, but I like to do my stamping before I fold my cards. This way, the paper lays flat, and I don’t have to worry about that slight little bounce when I go to stamp. I know, I am a little crazy… am I the only one that does that or is that a normal thing?

I stamped all pinks on each card, then went through and did all yellow, and then all orange. This kept things real easy, not needing to switch out stamps each time I did a card. I went with the “One of a kind” sentiment from the Sweetest Thing Collection. I thought it was a nice versatile saying. You could easily use this card as a simple note card to say hello to a friend, birthday card, or even a thank you card.

I think the card is cute and ready to go after the stamping, but sometimes it is nice to dress them up a little more. You could add a little extra something by adding some decorative tape. The rolls seem to be never ending, and it is self adhesive which is perfect for mass producing. If flat isn’t in your blood, you could also add a little extra pop of dimension with a few enamel dots.

I like to keep a couple of cards in my card file box, so I can grab one when I need one. I also tied a few of them together along with envelopes with some twine as a set for when I need a nice random “Thank You” gift for a friend, family member, or a teacher.

So there you have it, my easy go-to process when mass producing lots of simple cards in the quickest way possible. Do any of you do the same? Do you like to keep cards and card sets on hand for that “just in case” moment that might pop up?

Thank you for stopping by today, and have a wonderful day!

Project Life with Shelly - August Edition

Hello everyone! This is Shelly back this month with another installment of Project Life inspiration. Today, I am featuring an average week in the life using beautiful Collectable Collection.

Supplies: Collectable-Notable: ‘Love This’ Adore paper, ‘Love This’ Tiny Word Stickers’, ‘Love This’ Journal Card, ‘Memo’ Documented paper, ‘Memo’ Label Stickers, ‘Memo’ Reminder paper, Memorable ‘Hello’ Title. Other:  Becky Higgins Design A page protectors, Basic Grey micro mono stickers, Bohemian Typewriter Font, Corner Rounder, Date Stamp, ink.

My inspiration for this week came from ‘Love This’ Adore pattern paper with its fun Polaroid collage. I thought it would make a perfect date and subtitle card.

I cut the bottom right corner of the pattern paper into a 4x6 keeping the one Polaroid whole and centered. I had to trim a small strip of the bottom first to keep the look that I was going for. I just used one of my pictures to guide me with my cut.

As always when I do one thing to one side, the other side also gets a similar look. I did the same thing to the top left hand corner of the same pattern paper to create a subtitle card. This was the first full week of summer vacation and that needed to be highlighted, of course!

To bring in a little more of the floral look, I matted the plant card that came from the bush my husband gifted me for our anniversary. At first, I was going to have the picture of him planting it as a 4x6, but then I thought it would be really handy to have the card documented too. I tend to forget what the names of some of our plants are around our house, so this will serve as a handy reminder.

As a nice side note, when I opened up my album to see that this was the week I was documenting, I was happy to realize that it was a perfect match for the August Challenge to document your summer. It was very fitting that I was documenting our family’s first week of summer vacation in which we kicked off our summer’s weekly traditions. This summer we had lots of reading, loads of swimming, ate way too much ice cream, and enjoyed our weekly trips to the theater for the Summer Movie Express. So, if you haven’t had a chance to jump into this month’s challenge, I encourage you to do so!

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

Color Inspiration

 

 

Welcome to the August edition of Color Inspiration! Each month I select an image, email it to a couple of MME designers, and ask them to show us a project inspired by the image.

This month Tamara and Danni are joining us. Enjoy- and please feel free to join in! Link your interpretations in the comment section below!

original source

 

Sparkle by Tamara

Supplies: Collectable - Remarkable: Dates patterned paper, Adorable patterned paper, Daily patterned paper, brad, title; Collectable - Notable: journal card; Collectable - Unforgettable: decorative tape; Find Your Wings and Fly: sticker and alpha/letter stickers; Lost and Found 3 - Oliver: decorative tape (yellow and blue); All is Bright; decorative tape (red); Lush: red chipboard alpha; Misc: white cardstock, black ink, pen, and thread, glitter glue, red, blue, and gold ink spray.

Tamara says:The fresh, bright colors of this color inspiration reminded me of a summer party.  I had just taken some pictures of my kids and their cousins playing with sparklers at our family 24th of July Celebration (also called Pioneer Day in Utah, commemorating the founding of our state on July 24, 1847). It is almost as big as the 4th of July around here, complete with BBQ's and parades, and fireworks.  I resized my photos into two "filmstrips" so I could easily fit 8 photos on my layout.

I wanted to capture the bursts of light emanating from the sparklers on my page.  I used red, blue, and yellow spray inks to echo the look of sparklers and a celebration.  I also hand cut the starburst shapes and the "24" out of the Collectable - Remarkable collection.  I used glitter glue to accent the letters, starbursts, title, and "24".

I used decorative tapes along the side of my page.  I used two strips of the yellow to create a wider chevron pattern. I layered the starbursts around my page to echo the sparklers.

 

Hello Card by Danni

Supplies:  Find Your Wings and Fly Sky's The Limit: Tiled, Flowers For You, Up and Away and Layered Ephemera patterned papers, Find Your Wings and Fly Up and Away chipboard and enamel dots;Misc:Cameo Silhouette sentiment, Bazzill cardstock and Tim Holtz mini staples

Danni says:Good morning, Danni here with you today to share a card for this month's GORGEOUS color inspiration.  I love every last bit of this color inspiration piece and know that you too.  I chose to use the Find Your Wings and Fly line of gorgeous papers and embellies for this card, and I love how soft and beautiful the patterns are together.

I love to layer, however the patterns in this line are so beautiful I wanted them to showcase along with a fun chipboard and some enamel dots.  I can not wait to see what everyone will create with this gorgeous color inspiration.

Fourth of July Cards with Danni

Good morning, Danni here with you to share a couple of cards to celebrate the Fourth of July.  I created three different cards using similar supplies from the MME Kate & Co. Oxford line and Collectable line with some washi tape, punches and my Cameo.  I used the Red and Black Decorative tapes to create my red and white stripes for the cards and love how fun this tape is.

  On my first card, Stars, i created a banner strip using the red stripe designer tape on some heavy vellum.  The banner strip paired with the Collectable "Remarkable" was easy to layer with the fun buttons, brads and enamel dots in the Kate & Co. Oxford line and bring the mid-western feel to the holiday.

Supplies: Collectable-Remarkable:Authentic patterned paper;Kate & Co-Oxford Lane:Triples patterned paper,Designer brads, Enamel Dots;Red & Black decorative tape;Misc:  Cameo cuts (heart, stars and sentiment), Tim Holtz Mini attacher, machine stitching, Bazzill cardstock, vellum

On my second card, Star & Stripes, I created an Uncle Sam hat using the red stripe designer tape on vellum paired with the Kate & Co. Oxford Lane Triples paper.  I cut the sentiment using my Cameo and added the fun ampersand brad to finish the "star and stripe" sentiment. 

  Supplies: Collectable-Remarkable:Authentic;Kate & Co.-Oxford Lane:Triples patterned paper;decorative brads, Enamel Dots;Red & Black decorative tapes;Misc: Cameo cuts (sentiment), EK Success punch, Tim Holtz Mini attacher, machine stitching, Bazzill cardstock, vellum

On my last card, Happy, I die-cut a little envelope and layered it onto a poloroid frame cut with my Cameo.  I adhered vellum to the back side so you could still see the fun dots behind it and then adhered lots of various hearts and a star coming out of the envelope.

Supplies: Collectable-Remarkable:Authentic, Kate & Co.-Oxford Lane:Triples and Floral Burst patterned papers;Misc: Cameo cuts (sentiment and poloroid frame), EK Success punch, Martha Stewart heart punch, Tim Holtz Mini attacher, machine stitching, Bazzill cardstock, vellum

Thank you for visiting us today.  We hope you enjoy your fourth of July celebration with your friends and family!

A Beautiful Card Set by Tonya

Today we are quickly sharing some sweet and happy cards from Tonya Dirk.

TGIF!

Tonya says:The card trio all used only the Collectable-Memorable 6x6 pad! I love making little sets of cards and the 6x6 pads are perfect for that! Little packets of perfectly coordinated and perfectly sized papers…which can turn in to the perfect little gift for somebody special!

Tonya says:This sweet card uses My Girl-Flutterby Paper and the Felt Stickers.The larger felt stickers make such a great focal point on cards. To me they are much like the bow on a pretty package!