My Mind's Eye Blog

Non-Traditional Valentine

Hey there, MME friends!!  Lea here today with a personal and special project to share with you!  It is Valentine's week, and as I thought about what I wanted to create...I realized that this will be the 15th Valentine's Day that my husband and I have been together. 

Supplies: Journal Cards: Record It Charmed, Follow Your Heart, Just Splendid, Here is Happy, All Things Chalk; Decorative Chipboard: Market Street Ashbury Heights & Nob Hill, Jubilee Sherbet; Word & Alpha Stickers: Now & Then Mildred, Izzy, Milo & Dorothy; Enamel Shapes: Now & Then Mildred & Milo, Enamel Dots: Jubilee Wild Berry.

I started by pulling out journal cards, transparency overlays, chipboard shapes & stickers with phrases & images that make me think of my husband. 

I used all of the different collections from 2014, and I had a ton of amazing items scattered all over my desk.  I started out by pulling the journal cards that really said what I wanted, and layered them together in a way that they would have good dimension as I started embellishing them.

Once I pulled my favorites & had them arranged exactly as I wanted them, I went through the cards and stamped love themed sentiments on some of them.  I didn't do this to every card...just ones that I felt could use a little extra statement.

I went through the stack of cards one more time, adding embellishments & alpha/word stickers to finish sentiments on other cards that I didn't include stamping.  This made the booklet feel complete, so I punched a hole through the left corner of all the items & tied them together with ivory twine.

This Valentine card is not very traditional, but I'm super exited to give it to my husband!  It says so many of the things that I don't think to say to him on a daily basis.  It's also a good reminder that you don't have to use Valentine themed product to create a card for that special someone!  Break into your vast stash of My Mind's Eye product & you will find a lot of items that can tell someone just how much you love them!

I hope you enjoyed my project today!

Lea

Valentine's Day Gift Wrap

Hi there, MME friends!  Lea here today to share some ideas for using your My Mind's Eye goodies when you wrap gifts!  I LOVE to give gifts, and I LOVE to make the outside just as pretty as whatever might be on the inside!  And I am always raiding my scrapbooking product whenever I have to put together a gift!

Supplies: Jubilee "Mint Julep" - "Ride" 12x12 paper; Market Street "Nob Hill" - chipboard elements, chipboard buttons, flair pins; Necessities Metallic - alpha & word stickers; Now and Then "Mildred" - "Today" accent stickers; Record It! "Charmed" - enamel dots; other: wrapping paper, glitter cardstock, twine, bow die.


Valentine's day is right around the corner, so I went with a love theme for my gift wrapped projects today!  But, I didn't use the traditional red & pink.  I actually used gold, black & white, pulling goodies from different My Mind's Eye collections to accent the boxes.  These would be great for the man in your life because they aren't super girly, but he might not love all the glitter from the glitter wrap.  :)

I started by wrapping the larger box with glitter wrapping paper.  After that I added added a doily to the side of it, then tied twine around it.  I threaded the gold chipboard button to the middle of the twine bow, then layered a heart sticker & polka dot flair piece underneath it (tucking them under the twine as well).

I added the chipboard piece to the lower corner, added the word love in letter stickers & then accented it with enamel dots.  Are you wondering how I got everything to stick to glittered paper?  HOT GLUE.  It will be your best friend when embellishing gift wrap.  It still makes the package easy to take apart, but everything should stay on perfectly until they open it!

Next up is the smaller box, which I wrapped in some 12x12 MME paper.  After wrapping it, I diecut the bow from gold glittered cardstock, then assembled it & adhered it to the top.  I accented the middle of the bow with a gold chipboard circle.

To finish the small box, I layered a heart sticker & word sticker to the front and then embellished it with some enamel dots.  Easy peasy!

Be sure to make your valentines feel extra special this year by wrapping their gifts up in super pretty products from My Mind's Eye.  They will for sure feel loved by added touch of beautiful packaging!

Thanks for checking out my projects, and I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day!

Lea

From our Family to Yours

Merry Christmas, MME friends!!  Lea here today, hoping that this post finds you enjoying every moment of this beautiful holiday! 

Today my cards are for you, our valued customers & readers, whom we treasure & appreciate so much every single day!  From our home here to your homes all over the world...we send the utmost sincere thanks & happy holiday wishes to you & yours. 

Supplies: Joyous: 12x12 "Tinsel" paper, Gift Label Stickers, Alpha & Word Sticker Sheets, Decorative Brads, Gems; Other: red cardstock, flowers, sentiment stamps, brown ink.


I've used the Joyous collection for my cards today!  I didn't want the season to pass by without using some of the amazing sentiments from the Alpha & Word Sticker Sheets...so I just used all of them.  Between both cards, not one sentiment sticker was wasted & it helped pass along our wishes to you!!

For the first card, the entire background is a block of the sentiment strip stickers adhered to a red card base.  After that, I layered a doily & circle sticker to the front.  After stamping part of the sentiment to an oatmeal cardstock strip, I finished by layering it with a brad & some flowers to the circle sticker.  I then accented with a few jewels as a final touch.

For the second card, I didn't have as many sticker sentiment strips as the first one, so I created a square block with the rest I had left.  I layered that block with a glittered chevron paper block to the front of a red card base.  I folded a doily in half, then added it to the front with another circle sticker.  I stamped the rest of the sentiment to an oatmeal paper strip, then adhered it to the circle sticker with flowers to finish.

Thank you so much for checking out my Christmas cards today, and I hope that you have an enjoyable rest of your holiday!  I will be back in the New Year with some more projects featuring the amazing My Mind's Eye product!  See you then!!

Lea

 

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

 

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

Shaker Cards

Hi there! Lea here today with a couple of really fun cards to share with you!! I used the Just Sayin' collection, & combined it with some goodies from some of the Jubilee collections.

Supplies: Just Sayin'- Belong 12x12 paper, 6x6 paper pad, decorative brads, transparent frames, alpha word sticker sheets, enamel dots; Jubilee "Tangerine" - transparent frames, rub-ons; Jubilee "Sherbet" - chipboard elements; Other - pink cardstock, ivory twine, sequins.

The transparent frames that My Mind's Eye offered with these latest collections are SO cool! They work great as photo overlays, but what do you do with them as a card maker?

Well, I would daresay a lot, but one thing that they are PERFECT for are shaker cards! Shaker cards have taken the card world by storm this year! They are a huge trend, and you normally see them with just transparent openings.

I love the fact that the MME transparency frames have prints & patterns on them. The sequins still show through perfectly, and the print just adds that much more to them!

For the first card I used a chipboard Polaroid frame to create my shaker. I filled it full of gold stars, which complimented the theme of the sentiment! The sentiment came from one of the awesome transparency frames from the Jubilee "Tangerine" collection.That is one of my FAVE sentiments, & I love how perfectly it fit here.

For my second card I punched a circle from patterned paper to create the shaker window, and then covered it with a lightly patterned transparency frame from the Just Sayin' collection. I filled it with gold heart sequins, & then embellished around the frame as shown.

The sentiment was created right above the shaker piece using rub-ons & letter stickers. Shaker cards are really easy to make! All you need to create is a window of some sort, and then cover the window with a transparent sheet. Like I said above, the MME transparent frames are perfect for this!

Then you need to apply strips of foam adhesive all around the window opening so none of the sequins can fall out! Pour your sequins on the card front in the area where the window will be, then adhere that window piece over top of them. Then just shake it up to loosen them from the middle of the window, so that they fall along the edges of it.

Thanks so much for checking out my cards today! I hope you enjoyed how I used the MME transparent frames, and I hope you will try it out as well! Have a great day!

 

lea

Halloween Treat Bags

Hey there, everyone!!  It's Lea again with some cute ways to give treats as gifts!  Halloween is on Friday, and I have created a couple of different fun gift ideas for friends & family!

 

Supplies: "Frightful" collection - 12x12 papers (Dots, Frightful Words, Pumpkin), 6x6 paper pad, chipboard elements, decorative brads, Mixed Bag, & enamel dots.

I used tons of products from the Frightful collection to create my little treat containers!  The little plastic holders are filled with candy corns, & they are super easy to put together.  The boxes are filled with maple frosted pumpkin spice cookies.  They require a little more time, but are definitely worth it!

The candy corn gifts were actually made from some of the plastic containers that MME washi tape comes in!  Normally I put things like that right into the recycling bin, but for some reason I held on to them....and I am so glad I did!  After filling them with candy corn, I added a strip of 6x6 paper & washi tape around the middle of each container.  I hung chipboard ornaments from the top of each one, then tied a bow to the same side & covered the bow in a decorative brad.  To finish I added diecuts & enamel dots to each one.

After baking & frosting the cookies, I assembled three cupcake boxes, & added the cookies into them (each box holds 7-8 cookies).  I wrapped 12x12 paper strips around each box to start.  Then I tied ribbon around each box, & topped the bow with a decorative brad.  Then I added sentiments & accents to the front & top of each box using chipboard and diecut shapes! 

Because the items I used are either not wrapped or homemade, these gifts would be best for family & friends that know you.  But you can always switch out what I used to wrapped candies & baked goods if you want to give them to people you don't know as well. 

Here is the recipe for the cookies if you want to make them!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
  
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease baking pans.

Combineflour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon plus and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop large spoonfuls onto prepared baking pans.

Bakefor 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Maple Icing

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 3 teaspoons maple extract

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Add the sugar & maple extract to the butter; stir until smooth.  Add more sugar if you need a thicker consistency, or add hot water a teaspoon at a time for thinner consistency.  Frost cooled cookies.

I hope you enjoyed my Halloween treat post today! 

Lea

Lea's Take on Chipboard Week

Hey there!  Lea here today to celebrate chipboard week on the My Mind's Eye blog!!  We have so many amazing chipboard options to work with for MME, it was definitely hard to narrow it down to what I wanted to use!  After some pondering, I decided that I really wanted to use the chipboard from the Jubilee "Mint Julep" collection, and focused on the banner & super adorable bicycle!

 

Supplies: Jubilee "Mint Julep" collection: 12x12 papers (Wild, Beautiful, Journey), Chipboard Elements, Mixed Bag, Label Stickers, Enamel Shapes, & Decorative Brads.

There is something so sweet & whimsical about the different bicycles that were used throughout these collections, and I just LOVED them!  So, I used similar designs on both of my cards so that I could use as many of them up as possible!  They combined so perfectly with layers of doilies.

My chipboard focus on the first card was the beautiful doily banner.  The banner in full is about 8 inches long, and definitely wouldn't have fit on my card in whole.  So, I cut it in half.  When it was time to add it to my card, I arranged it on the front until it looked just right...then trimmed off the excess.  The plus side - I still have the other half of the banner that I can use on another card later!

For my second card I used the chipboard bicycle, and added a little dimension to the flower basket by adding a matching chipboard flower to the top of it.  I used the same background design for each card, but love how they still look differently from each other. 

I love the dimension that chipboard adds, so don't be afraid to use it on your cards!  While they might cost a little more to ship, it is a small price to pay for the beauty it adds to your design!

Thanks for checking out my cards this week...I hope that you are enjoying Chipboard Week on the MME Blog so far!!  Be sure to check back all week long for continued inspiration!

Lea

Gift Box + Matching Tag and Card

Hey there, everyone!  Lea here today with some projects using the new Jubilee "Sherbet" collection.  There is a special little lady in my life who is turning 1 this month, and this paper collection actually matched t
he cute outfit that I got for her perfectly!!

 

So for my projects today, I covered & decorated a gift box, then created a matching tag & card that is personalized for her!  I know a one year old isn't really going to care about what it looks like, but her mom will love it!! :)

 

 

I chose a gift box that was square in shape, and it was just a little larger than 12x12.  I lined the top edges with teal washi tape before adhering the 12x12 paper to the top of it.  I then added a paper block to the bottom, and added a strip of glitter washi tape over the seam. 

 

After that I diecut a large bow from patterned paper, assembled it & added it to the top of the gift box.

I then made a matching tag using a journal card, chipboard shapes & alpha/word stickers.  I punched a hole in the top & strung twine through it, then topped it with a decorative brad.  After finishing the tag, I added it to the top of the gift box.

Then I made a matching card to finish the gift set. I layered some 6x6 paper blocks to the front, then accented with a diecut journal card & some embellishments.  I also added a strip of glitter washi tape, and a washi tape bow.

In order to make the washi tape bow, I covered a strip of white cardstock with the silver dotted washi tape.  This way it would be rigid enough to run through my diecut machine.  After diecutting the pieces, I assembled it & gave the bow some shape before adhering it to the card front.

I think it is so fun to use my scrapbooking product to create fun gift wrap, & this one is extra special.  You only have your first birthday once, so why not go all out?  Thanks for checking out my projects today...I hope you've enjoyed them!!

Lea

Supplies: Jubilee “Sherbet” collection: 12x12 paper (Happy, Pretty, Enjoy), 6x6 paper pad, chipboard elements, rub-ons, decorative brads, enamel dots, mixed bag, & journal cards.  Now& Then “Milo” and “Dorothy” collections: alpha/word stickers. Necessities“Teals” and “Black & Greys” collections: washi tape. Other: bow dies, envelope liner die.

Collection Spotlight | Just Sayin'

Hey there, everyone!  Lea here today with a couple of cards to share with you.  I recently received a box of all the amazing new goodies that My Mind's Eye has released.  It is always such a fun day when this lands on your doorstep....I love going through everything & looking at it piece by piece. 

 

I love EVERYTHING that MME has come out with (who am I kidding..I always love everything), but for today I decided to work with the new Just Sayin' line by Rhonna Farrer.  Rhonna never disappoints, and Just Sayin' is an AMAZING collection! 

 

I created two cards full of layers, & dimension & off the edge fun!!  I've always felt like cards don't have to be flat & easy to put into an envelope.  I love to decorate gift packages & bags with cards, so the more layer & dimension, the better!

 

Supplies:Just Sayin: "Belong" 12x12 paper, 6x6 paper pad, Chipboard Elements, Transparent Frames, Mixed Bag, Decorative Brads, & Enamel Dots.

 

In order to not waste that gorgeous & glittery triangle paper....I've used it as the background on both cards.  That combined with the colors & love theme give the cards a nice cohesiveness. 

 

On the first card I've added diecuts & papers & chipboard to the left side of the card, not worrying if they overlapped past the edges.  If you wanted to put this card in an envelope, just use a slightly larger, padded envelope.

 

For the second card I didn't put anything over the edges, but I did pop almost every layer with foam adhesive. 

 

I love all the dimension it gives, and the ability to tuck accents under each layer so they just peek through a bit.  This card could definitely be put into a normal envelope, but it will most likely still require some extra postage. 

 

I hope this post makes you feel inspired to add dimension & layers, and adding accents that go off the edge a little bit!  Thanks for checking out my cards today!

 

Lea