Welcome Back

Welcome to the weekend!

If you're anything like me you are feeling just a little more tired than you have been for the past two months.  The start of the new school year always seems to arrive too quickly, and feels like a whirlwind of activity, with countless forms to be filled out and returned, and a the usual school newsletters, and other pertinent information to be reviewed.

For the past few years I have been making cards to send along with the girls on the first day of school.  My hope is that a simple card will help their new teacher to feel valued and appreciated as he/she takes on a new set of students for the next 10 months of the year.

This year I created super simple "Welcome Back" cards using Lily Bee Design Double Dutch collection, and my hexagon punches. 

Rather than my usual habit of creating one-of-a-kind cards, this year, I decided to stick to the same design on all 4 cards changing it up just a bit between the two colours.  
Simple, yet cheerful.

Supplies used:

Lily Bee papers

Creative Impressions ribbon

October Afternoon buttons

 Some of the items are from my stash, like the white trim, and office supply tags, but the rest can be found in the shop.  

Speaking of the shop.  Have you noticed the Echo Park collections in there? 

So Happy Together, 

Chillingsworth,  

For The Record 2 - Documented & Tailored, as well as 

Very Merry Christmas 

have all been added and are ready for purchase.  Hope you get a chance to head over there and grab some for yourself.

Enjoy your Saturday, and happy creating!

Mixing papers

Sometimes it is tough to know when and how to mix patterns of paper.

Here are a few quick guidelines that works well for me!

1) Try to stick to  a small/medium/large approach. Use 1 pattern in each scale size. For example - use a smaller floral, with a medium stripe and a large polka dot... or vice versa

2) Mixing colours to add contrast in the pattern - don't use 3 red stripes - use 1 stripe, 1 dot, 1 check in different colours ... you get the idea

3) Let the products work for you! Use what is made for it! Check out what the manufacturer sells - it is likely that they have already mixed the patterns in the pack - that makes it so easy to mix and match and make it work for you.

4) If you want to use a ton of different patterns - stick to a neutral background

On this page - I used all these guidelines to mix my papers and I happen to love the result:

using step #2 - mixed different patterns with different colours

 using step #3 - use what the product has! These die cuts are already to be used - just mix them up

 mixing similar patterns - but using different colors:

 And here is the final result - all in all - I think I used 14 patterns on this page ( if I counted correctly )

Supplies used:

Lily Bee Design - Handmade papers

Lily Bee Design - Bag of bits

Lily Bee Design mini alphas

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I hope you picked up a few ideas and find it a bit easier when making your pages. We would love for you to share your pages in our gallery or forum :)

As always, check out what is new on the LCOM shopping page HERE

Handmade Pinwheel

Sherri here today.  Can you believe we're in our last week of June.  My girls finally finish school on Friday, and we're all ready for the change in pace.  Sleeping in, going to the lake, and hanging out on the deck will take first priority.

For my final post of the month I have a bit of a tutorial for you. 

I love embellishments.  When you look through my albums you will notice that most of my layouts boast several coordinating bits and pieces on them.  There are some manufacturers, I enjoy working with who do not include any embellishments in their lines.  Lily Bee Design is one such manufacturer.  I adore their patterned papers, and most recently their journal cards, and 'bag of bits'.  Those are all still one dimensional peices of paper, however, and I find myself wanting to still add a little something or other to my page once I've finished.  Enter the pinwheel.  I recently discovered how to make my own, and have enjoyed adding them in place of chipboard and/or buttons on a layout.  To me, they are the perfect accent to a mostly flat page.  Here's my most recent layout using a handmade pinwheels.

Rest your mouse over the layout to read the journaling

To make your own, just follow these simple steps.  You may be surprised at how quickly these can be made.

Begin with a square, any size will do, this one is 4" x 4"
(the one on my layout above is a 2" square)

Score your square diagonally down the center from end to end.

Repeat the scoring down the other side of the square, this will help you identify the center.  Pierce a whole through the center.

Make a pencil mark on each scored line, about 1/3 of the way from the center hole.

Your square should now look like this:

Cut along each scored section right up to the pencil mark.

Your square should now look like this:

Using your paper piercer

pierce a tiny whole to the top right of each cut

Using a brad begin gathering the points to the center

of the pinwheel by poking the brad through each hole.

Once the brad is through every other point your pinwheel 

should look like this. 

Now push the brad through the center of the pinwheel, 

and split the back to hold it in place

Et voila one super cute pinwheel.

The first time I made these I couldn't stop and ended up making myself a little bouquet of them to keep in my scrap space.

I hope you feel inspired to create. If you end up giving these a shot, be sure to link us up so we can come and see.

Princess Party!

This month, I am using some of the lovely Lily Bee products found in the store!

I really wanted to keep this page simple ! I used one of the Lily Bee index journalling cards tucked in behind one of the photos and lots of those little lovelies in the Lily Bee bag of bits.

 I used both the Buttercup and Handmade lines on this page - I love that you can intermix their lines so easily!

Those bits are amazing for adding just a touch here and there - I added some twine and made a banner using my Tim Holtz tiny attacher too :) It is one of my go-to tools these days!!

As always, there are lots of sales going on in the store - and have you seen the new drool worthy Evalicious!!! Heaven!

Check out the newest SMASH stuff HERE - it is perfect for pages and SMASH albums too :)

Happy Scrapping!

Going (Double) Dutch

My youngest daughter loves to be in front of the camera, even more so if she's with me.  One night before bed we caught a quick photo together.  I realized when I printed it out that it was a perfect match for several of the B sides of Lily Bee Design Double Dutch line.  I really wanted to focus on the photo, so I kept the design fairly centered and simple with splashes of color on the contour.  I also tried something else that has been trending in the scrappy world.  I left the threads uncut on my stitching in a few places.  They were a little tricky to keep from looking too wild.  I ended up using a few dabs of Glossy Accents to keep them tacked down to the page.

I also tried a little stamping behind the photo with bubble wrap and paint.  The colour is very faint, but if you look hard you can make it out.  I just love those journal cards in the collection, they are so handy to use as embellishments, or actual journaling spots to record your story.

 

I covered the cardstock stickers with Glossy Accents.  I love the way it made the star curl up a bit adding dimension to the page.  Rather than use alphabets to create a title, like usual, I made use of one of the sentiment stickers from the collection.  A little dimensional foam adhesive helped it to pop up off the page a little showcasing it as my title.  Add a doily, and a little piece of Maya Road trim, and my layout is complete.  

You can still snag the Double Dutch collection for yourself in the store.  While you're there be sure to check out the brand new Kaiser Craft, and fabulous Evalicious that has just arrived, along with the new Bo Bunny, and Simple Stories collections. There is so much eye candy in there right now.  Tanya does a great job of providing such great quality product for all of us!

Product Used:

Index Cards

Croquet

Hopscotch

Lemonade

Stickers

Bag of Bits

3D Foam Squares

Trim

Glossy Accents

Doily

Mist

Stamp

I'm off to celebrate this girl of mine, it's her 9th birthday today.  How fitting to have her as my subject today.

Hi everyone! I am very excited to be back again for another term at Let's Capture Our Memories as a designer and co-ordinator!

This month, I will be working with some Lily Bee Designs product - all found in the Let's Capture Our Memories store! I have been dying to dig into these supplies and share with you!

First up is a page I did using one of my favorite things - little bits and pieces - I know this is not a new or unknown thing - but you really can do a lot with some little bits of paper to give them texture and depth!

I started off with this paper from the store from the Handmade line:

It was screaming for me to chop it up - not only is there tons of different patterns, but multiple colours too!

I love that! Here is what I came up with when pairing this paper with one of the Lily Bee basics papers (polka dot one side, grid the other):

 I tried to add some texture by stitching the squares and adding a few buttons to them.  I also used some of the papers from the Bag of Bits and layering some foam squares under them:

 I added a few little flags that I made by stitching some folded paper together onto a sewing pin and clipping the ends to a pennant flag:

There is lots of Lily Bee Designs available in the store - check it all out HERE

Supplies used:

Lily Bee Design - Handmade collection

Lily Bee Design Index cards

October Afternoon buttons

Cosmo Cricket Tiny Text stickers

American Crafts thickers

That's My Girl! and more

Hey there everybody! Deanna here with my last guest post for May. It's been such a fun month designing for you all. And again I want to thank Tanya and Nicole for having me. Today I have 2 more layouts to share with ya. This first one is using one of my new favorite manufacturers, Simple Stories. I fell in LOVE with their "Fabulous" collection, it's so perfect for pictures of my girls!  Here's another layout I created with it.

 "That's My Girl"

 

 

 

To draw attention to my photo, I chose embellish this layout with a burlap banner from Canvas Corp. It's dominance draws the eye in to the photo. I also like how rustic it is, which makes it perfect to pair with the distressed papers. To finish it off, I used some old Crate Paper brads, Thickers and a couple of tags from Elle's Studio.

The other collection I worked with this month was Lily Bee's "Double Dutch". I was able to squeeze out one more layout using my leftovers and here's what I came up with.

"A Simple Moment like this"

I used portions of the Lily Bee sketch #9 as a jumping off point for this one. I used the Lily Bee stickers for a place to journal, and as another saying on the page. I also used the pennant stickers to make a banner. Some of them weren't the exact color I envisioned, so I covered 2 of them with blue gingham washi tape. I also repeated the banner motif at the top of the page using only washi tape. Burlap and canvas flowers finish off the design.

Thank you again for allowing me to share my creations with you! I've had a wonderful time guest designing for you all!

Can't Touch This

Lily Bee Design use to be one of those manufactures that I would enjoy looking at, but could never get to work in my favor.  Well, not anymore.  Over the past two years something has changed about them, and I just love their designs, and their expanded lines of product.  I can't tell you how happy I was when I opened my pizza box a  few weeks ago to see the brand spanking new Double Dutch Collection staring back at me.  It is so pretty, even more so in real life.  (Not to mention the super cute way Tanya packages everything up with pretty pink tissue, it's like getting a birthday gift in the mail).  The line is bright but not too bright, with a touch of distressing to it.  Both sides are so great, I actually had a tough time deciding which one to use. 

I have three girls, all of whom dance competitively.  This photo is of my middle daughter Théa (pronounced T-eh-ah), and her friend after their last Hip Hop performance rehearsal before the big day (she's the one on the right).  Théa is  such a happy, smiley kid, that she actually has to work hard at keeping that 'serious, full of angst, hip-hop' face during the dance.  She's got it nailed here.

Click on the photo to enlarge

As you can tell I did some stitching on this layout (under the title, and on the banner).  It's one of my go-to techniques.  So often a layout just doesn't feel complete to me without a little stitching on it.

Here, I stitched the banner stickers directly to the photo.  I know many who struggle to sew or even write over top of their photos, not this girl.  The way I see it, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to achieve the looks she's after.  The only tricky part about stitching through stickers is that your needle will get a little sticky too.  A quick wipe with some Un-du, or any of those sticky removal products is all your needle will need to be good as new again.  If you don't have any of those, a baby wipe will also do the trick, it just requires a few more swipes than the others.

Here is a peek into my creative process. 

I began this layout wanting to weave the paper strips.  I cut a bunch of coordinating strips, and went to town.  In the end the design I ended up liking best, wanting the place the title on a curve, meant that I ended up covering most of the weave.  Oh well, no harm done, there's still a little poking out from behind the photo, and most importantly, I like the end result.  A girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do to achieve the look she's after right?!

You may not be able to tell, but there is actually a lot of layering going on here.  I really wanted the banner to have a 3-D look to it, which meant that I had to use some 3-D foam squares underneath the bulk of the photo/journal card cluster to achieve the right look.  

Here is a side view of the cluster.

See lots of depth and layering to get just the right look

There you have it.  A look at the more colorful side of the Lily Bee Design - Double Dutch Collection, as well as a peek into my creative process.  Hope you feel inspired to go and create something beautiful today.  If I've convinced you to give stitching on your photos a try for the first time, be sure to link us up, we'd love to come have a peek, and leave you some love.  But, before you go please take a sec to pop by the store you can see all the items I used on my layout here, and snag some for yourself while you're at it.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Hungry for some chili ? ;)

Game Day Chili that is... Jillibean Soup style :)

LCOM has a lot of the new CHA lines from Jillibean - and one of my personal faves is the Game Day Chili line. I couldn't help but pick some stuff up and create this page !

I love the fact that this is a kraft based line - but it is so clean on a simple piece of white Bazzill too!

I used some of the Pea Pods (diecuts), cardstock sticker sheet and the Bit Sized bites (journalling cards). I layered all these elements on the page - some popped with foam squares for some... well, POP!

 This piece of paper was my inspiration for the rest of the page.

 I chopped it all up - almost - and used bits of it on the layout, including the banner/pennant shapes and stitched them together, adding some stickers too.

Don't you love those Lilybee mini alphas - the orange colour is perfect with this line too :) I used the ones from the Happily Lost collection - but you could certainly pick up a bunch of other colours HERE

April is almost over - a new month around the corner - where did the time go!!! Make sure you check out our Facebook page for all the sales and store updates!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! In honour of this day of love, I created a layout about two of my special Valentines using the gorgeous Head Over Heels collection by Lily Bee!

I love the colors of this line - so versatile and they can be used for masculine or feminine layouts. Here I used a picture of both of my children so mixing up the colour scheme was easy. I just love the colour pops of fuschia - such a great addition to this line!

In this close-up, I used the sticker sheet. The "love" sticker was actually a larger square and I trimmed it down to somewhat of a tag to work with my design:

Here's another example of the lovely stickers available on the sheet. Here I added some bling and ink and used pop dots:

If you haven't already, RUN to the store and grab one of the new Jenni Bowlin squeeze punches! Here I used the blue ribbon punch. I'm in love with it! Not only can you use it like I did below, but you could use just the little strips as banners.....or the circle alone as an embellishment. In this close-up, you can also see the tiny Lily Bee alpha stickers. There are eight different colours on every sheet of these stickers. Such an awesome deal:


And what would a layout be without Cosmo Cricket's tiny text stickers?! I use them a lot but they are often the perfect finishing touch! (And so inexpensive)

And here's my layout about two of the most important people in my life:
Happy Heart Day everyone! I hope you are enjoying the day with your loved ones.

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Supplies Used:
Lily Bee Designs Head Over Heels collection pack (includes all papers, sticker sheet and 12 x 12 alpha sticker sheet)
American Crafts tape
Prima ink
Cosmo Cricket tiny text stickers
Pebbles bling
Jenni Bowlin blue ribbon punch

Amy Tangerine heart clip

Little Lady with Lily Bee Designs!

Happy February! I am so pleased with the collection I got to work with from the LCOM store this month. From the moment I laid eyes on the amazing color scheme in Lily Bee Designs' Head over Heels collection, I knew I just had to work with it.

Here are some details of my layout. First up - I used a Maya Road kraft doily, outlining the little holes with my black pen. Then I added some pop dots on a sticker from the Head over Heels sticker sheet:


The sticker sheet has a lot of great words and images on it. For this close-up, I actually cut the words out of the sticker to use it and not the whole square it comes on:


This collection has a beautiful doily pattern in one of the sheets. I couldn't help but cut some out to use as embellishments on my page. So easy and inexpesive! I used a brad in the centre, along with some ink and voila!


There is also a fabulous 12 x 12 alpha sticker sheet! There are 8 different colors that match the line perfectly and are the perfect size for journalling or adding little words to your pictures like I did here:


Here's another spot where I cut out some of the doilies to use:


And here is my layout!


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Supplies Used:
Lily Bee Designs Head Over Heels collection pack (includes all papers, sticker sheet and 12 x 12 alpha sticker sheet)
Maya Road kraft doilies
American Crafts Thickers - pink
MME brads
American Crafts slick writer - black
Martha Stewart border punch
Maya Road bingo wood embellishments
ink