The Good Life

Hi everyone, did you know Just Nick Studio offers a cut file freebie every month?  You really should take advantage of free cut files every chance you get, okay???  This month, it's the Tic Tac Toe Background. Here's how I used it on a layout.

I chose to break the background elements apart to use as accents for the page instead of a background. This is easily done by Releasing the Compound Path and/or Ungrouping. Once everything was ungrouped, I scaled the elements to the size I wanted. Then I cut some out of the background paper and some out of complimentary pattern papers to layer on top.

I added some stitching around the squares that I cut out and added as an embellishment as well as around the lines that I cut out of the background paper so it could have definition to it.
In the end, this background file is a great take on the classic grid design!

Get the Tic Tac Toe Background for free until June 30, 2016!

Natural Beauty | Pink Paislee

Summer has started out with a bang.  We sent our kids to their first ever summer sleep away camp, which they LOVED, BTW!  While they were gone we decided to re-decorate their rooms so it's been crazy busy. Our littlest now has a french cottage / cafe and the oldest has a super fun loft bed with curtains and gone are the little girl pink walls.  I'll be posting before and after photos soon.

In the meantime, I'm back with my 5th project as the Pink Paislee guest designer for the Outfitters collection. And I still have 2 more to come.

I’m all about using every last bit of a collection so I chose to use the paper strips from the bottom of the pattern papers. I simply cut each strip into smaller strips and then mixed and matched them at a diagonal across the page.

I stitched each of the individual small strips in either a straight stitch or zig zag.

I framed the photos with layers of instaframes, acetate, paper, leaves and flowers that I watercolored.

Dare to Dream

Hello everyone.  Oh how I am loving the Gossamer Blue June kit and add-ons.  It's jammed packed with fun summery collections.  I was drawn to the feathers in the Fancy Pants goodies included in the kit and so I thought, why not create a fun dreamcater?!?!  Then, Nicole from JustNick challenged a few of us to use 4 or more cut files for our project.  She makes that easy peasy with her amazing designs. This is where Gossamer Blue and Just Nick Studios come together to make one!

Cut Files used: Dreamcatcher 1, Polaroids, Shattered Alpha, Script Font, Sweater Weather

How to: Use the Dreamcatcher 1 file as a guide to create a stitching path. Stitch the Dreamcatcher with embroidery floss.  Add stitched lines for the hanging feathers. Add splatters of color to the inside of the dream catcher as well as below with the feathers. Cut feathers and adhere to the page. Create the title using a combination of the Script Font and Shattered Alpha font. I welded the script font together. After I cur the word "DREAM" from the shattered alpha cut file, I ungrouped and deleted the shattered parts. Then I used the internal offset option to cut the perfect fit for the shattered alpha letters and adhered them to the back. Cut a polaroid frame. Add layers and your photo and done.  I'll be adding journaling under the photo.

Dreams Are Born | Pink Paislee

Hello friends.  I'm sharing my 4th project for my guest gig over on the Pink Paislee blog.  This one was created with one 12x12 pattern paper, 1 sheet of cardstock, ephemera and watercolors.

How to: Start by adding color to white cardstock.  I chose blue watercolor. Set aside to dry.  Write your quote in your die cutting software.  Size the quote to dominate the page,  leaving room for photos.  Cut the quote and place it on the layout.  Add photos, overlapping the photos with the letters is you like.  Stitch the letters in place. 

Camp Party Invitation and Wilderness Cake | Pink Paislee

Hello friends.  I'm blogging projects 2 and 3 of the 7 projects I created for my guest stint over on the Pink Paislee blog.

THE PLAN: These projects were created for a beginning of summer back yard celebration.  My girls are off at camp this week so I created these to help amp up their excited, as if they weren't excited enough.  Anyway, I created an invitation for them to join us in our back yard, where my plan was to hang huge burlap banners and cute little paper rosettes for the fence from the Outfitters collection, have dinner outside and surprise them with a cake and milk, served in milk bottles with cute little straws and banners created from this collection.

Back yard camping party invitation

REALITY: So I created the card, all the banner, rosettes, little flags for the straws, found the cutest plates and napkins, baked a 4 layer cake and created all the a cute little props for the top of the cake. I was all set to celebrate. Then it rained and rained and rained for 3 or 4 days straight and we flooded...again. Thank goodness we didn't have water damage but the opportunity for the cute outdoor party was lost.  In the end, we had the party inside but I didn't have all the wall space I had planned for.  The kids loved it anyway and drank from the milk bottles and ate their cake.

Banner: The one thing that inspired this cake idea was the "camp" banner. It was all one piece connected together but I wanted to string it on little sticks so I cut them up and stitched them like you would garland.  Then I tied them to the sticks.

Teepee / Tent: I wanted to create a fun scene to celebrate summer camp so my next idea was a teepee / tent.  I cut it using a Silhouette cut file and added sticks that I gathered from outside.  Then, I decorated it with feathers I cut from a paper that had oars all over it.  I simply cut the little oars into the shape of feathers and then added slits on the side to give it a feathery effect.

Fire: There's a camp fire sticker in this collection so all I did was adhere it to white cardstock and had a campfire immediately.  If only it was that easy when we went camping.

Trees: I cut these using a 3D Christmas Village cut file I had.

Fox: My husband goes hunting every year and there's a fox that has come by every year since it was a baby.  They named her Georgette and the girls love seeing photos of her every year so it just made sense to include a fox on the cake.

Although the rain may have put a damper (pun intended) on my party decor, we still enjoyed the cake.  Now my girls are off at camp, hopefully having the time of their lives!

Adventure Awaits | Pink Paislee

OMG, I am guesting for Pink Paislee today.  It's a dream come true for me.  I got to play with the new Outfitter collection and I gotta say, I was a little scared at first because 1. we don't do a lot of camping and 2. I didn't get very many papers or embellishments but I'm always up for a challenge.

Over the next week, I'll post details of the 7 projects you can see now on the Pink Paislee blog.  How fun is that to say?!?!? Let's get started....

Adventure Awaits

How to:

1. Duplicate triangles in the Silhouette software and replicate it to fill the page.  This is good so you can make sure you'll fill the page evenly.
2. Using multiple patterns (I used 7), cut the triangles from each pattern.  I cut my paper into 6x6 bits and cut 4 at a time on the CAMEO.
3. Cut a full page of white cardstock triangles.
4. Please them down on the page in random order, adhering with just a bit of glue.
5. Stitch continuous lines across the page along the border of the triangles. Then stitch across the other side.
6. Add tags and frames for the base of the photo.
7. Add photo and additional embellishments.
8. Add the title and strips for journaling.