Just Give Me Stamps...

Life is Amazing

Hi friends!  I've a couple of Bella Blvd cards to share with you today!  :-)

With summer in full swing, I find myself turning to some of Bella's brighter colors and patterns.  Add a little black to make all the colors really pop and you have a great summer card!  Well, honestly that is a card that I would love year round!  Ha!

 

For my first card, I chose a large butterfly die and some papers and stickers from the She Blooms and Color Chaos collections to create this layered, bold card.  I die cut the butterfly from the Take Root Pink paper (from the She Blooms collection) to create a negative die cut look.  I layered on some Black Chevron Designer Tape and stickers for extra texture and pops of color.

I really wanted the butterfly to stand out but not take away focus from all of the gorgeous papers so I used vellum for the die cut.  I popped it up and bent the wings to give the appearance of flight.  For embellishment, I added some Oreo Black Enamel Dots and an Enamel Heart (from the She Blooms Mix).

Supplies
IF She Blooms: Take Root Pink, BW Floral Stripe, Mason Jars;  Color Chaos: Treasures & Text;  Designer Tape: Black Chevron;  Enamel Dots: Oreo Black;  IF Enamel Hearts: She Blooms Mix

 

Working with a smaller card surface can sometimes be challenging.  You have to choose which embellishments you want to use as using too many would be just, well...too much.  I decided to embrace some more white space with this card.  I think the end result actually helps the little strips of colorful paper stand out more, don't you?  :-)

I chose papers from the Lucky Starz, Color Chaos, & Daily Chevies collections.  I created the little paper flower by cutting out a freeform circle (that's code for a messy looking circle LOL!) and then cutting it further to look like a spiral.  Starting from the center, I scrunched it together to create the flower shape and then added glue at the bottom.

 

Supplies
Daily Chevies: Chevy Bell Pepper, Chevy Pickle Juice;  Lucky Starz: Pickle Juice Starz, Color Crazy Starz;  Color Chaos: Gulf Strandz, IF Enamel Hearts: She Blooms Mix;  Enamel Dots: Bell Pepper

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,
Laurie

 

 

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Moments Inked: Summer Reading Incentive Plan

 

 Hi there!  Today I'm sharing the solution I came up with to help combat the scholastic summer regression as well as some incentive for my boys to read more!  And the best part is that it is all tucked inside my Moment's Inked planner!

 

During the school year my boys are almost always reading during their free time.  But as soon as the first day of summer vacation hits, the dust gathers on those once loved books.  It seems that they would rather do almost anything else, actually.  I knew that I wanted to encourage them to read more but I also did not want to have to be the "reading police" all summer.  So I came up with an easy incentive plan, that will hopefully have them reading a lot more!

 

I started by creating a book list sheet.  I know I've said it before, but my favorite and must have accessories for my planner are the refill pages!  Here, I used the Lined Refill Binder Pages.  I let each of my boys choose three books that they wanted to read and I chose the fourth.  I listed them on the page, along with the author.  This way it will be easier to order the books or find them at the library.

 

For the incentive part, I created a separate sheet for each of my boys, tucked in right after their reading list sheet.  I hand wrote the week dates in (I used the Graph Refill Binder Pages), creating a ten week list.  They will earn a star (I am using the little star included in the Moments Inked: Planner Banners set) for every 30 minutes that they read.  Each star is worth one point, and they will be able to redeem their points for extra privileges, treats, and even some monetary gifts. 

 

For the name at the top of their reading list, I used the Block Alphabet Upper and Block Alphabet Lower die sets.  I decorated the bottom of the pages by stamping one of the trees from the Through the Trees stamp set.  The Books to Read sentiment is from the Take a Note stamp set.

 

For the rewards sheets, I used the Wet Paint Alphabet die set for the title. 

 

Even though my main focus was on my two middle boys (going into 7th and 5th grades), I thought that having a list of books for my preschooler son would be helpful.  He's just now getting to the point that he enjoys sitting for longer books and I can't wait to cultivate his budding interest!

 

While I had all of my supplies out, I thought that I would make them bookmarks!  I used the Basic Bookmark 2 die to create the bookmark base.  I then stamped one of the leafy images from the Turning a New Leaf stamp set, creating a tone-on-tone background.

 

I personalized each bookmark by adding their initial (I used the Bookprint Alphabet Upper die set) at the top and one of the sentiments from the Book Club stamp set.

 

When my daughter (who happens to LOVE reading) saw the boys' bookmarks, she asked me to make her one as well.  :-)

 

To keep things neat and tidy in my planner, I created a custom divider.  I started by cutting out the page, using the Moments Inked: Binder Page die set.  I decorated the front using the Harlequin Cover Plate, Banner Builder stamp set, and Banner Builder die set.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to share your Moments Inked photos with us by tagging your photos with #momentsinked!  If you are wanting inspiration, just search out #momentsinked.

 

 

Thanks so much for joining me here today!

Laurie

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My Hero

Hi friends!  I'm playing along with February's Sketch For You to Try!  You can find all the details on the sketch challenge (along with the fabulous prize you can win) over at the Reverse Confetti Blog!

Here's this month's sketch...

 

 

With July being only days away, I definitely have Red, White, & Blue on my mind!  I inked up the newly released Because of the Brave set to create this grungy, patriotic card.  After embossing the background (I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder), I inked the whole thing up using some Distress ink.  For the small circles, I used the new Detailed Circles Confetti Cuts die set.  I die cut the larger circle using the Circles 'n Scallops Confetti Cuts die set.  And those fun stars are die cut from the new Seeing Stars Confetti Cuts die set.

 

 

SFYTT NOTES TO KNOW:

There will be a new sketch posted on the Reverse Confetti blog on the 1st of each month.

The sketch link list will be open from the 1st until noon CST on the 14th. The sketch will be posted in the sidebar and you will be able to click on it to get to that month’s SFYTT post with the link list during this time.

Reverse Confetti stamps are required to win.  This is a way we get to thank our customers for using our stamps.  Anyone is welcome to play, though!

You may enter as many times as you wish.

There will be a winner each month and that person will receive a $20 gift certificate to the Reverse Confetti store and claim the title of ‘Fetti Fave. The winner of SFYTT will be posted on the Reverse Confetti blog on the 15th of each month.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,
Laurie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did You Notice?

Hi friends!  Have you noticed anything different around here?  It's been a long time since I've had a blog makeover, so this was definitely past due.  For those of you reading this via subscriptions (feedly, bloglovin, or Feedblitz), make sure to click on through to see my fresh, new design!

Since I have Typepad as my blog platform, it was not easy to find a designer.  It seems Blogger and WordPress are the go-to choices for designers.  When I stumbled across Ashley from DreamUp Studios I'm pretty sure I heard some angels sing!  :-)  She not only worked with Typepad (she does Blogger and WordPress as well) but her style was exactly that I was looking for!  If you are in the market for some graphic design work, I highly recommend her!  She was able to take my vague ideas and turn them in to a design that is fresh, clean, with some gorgeous pops of color! 

I just wanted to share my excitement over my new look with you all!

~Laurie

P.S.  More crafty stuff coming soon...

 

 

Paper Smooches June DT Blog Hop

PS DT Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the NEW Paper Smooches JULY 2016 release with you!  ONE new stamp sets and FIVE new dies will be available to purchase at 8:00pm PT on June 30th.  You will find our new products HERE once they go live.  

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! 

The prize - a $25. gift code to choose what you like at the PS online store.

Here are the details:

• FOUR winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs and the PS Blog to win the $25. prize.
• Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed below or the PS blog for your chance to win!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify but it increases your chances) 
• Deadline: You have until midnight PT on Sunday, June 26th to leave a comment. 
• Please check the Paper Smooches blog on Monday, June 27th to see if you are one of the FOUR lucky winners.  

Alice Wertz

Kalyn Kepner

Laurie Schmidlin

Michele Boyer

Pamela Ho

Savannah O' Gwynn

Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

• Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
• Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop
• Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to three extra chances to win on each blog)

 

I used the brand new Lighthouse Die to create my card.  I chose some bright, primary colors as accents against crisp white.  The sun rays that I tucked beneath lighthouse was created from the new Fireworks Die.  And that fun sentiment is from the new Summer Sampler stamp set!  Kim has so many fun new products for July!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,
Laurie

 

 

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