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3/31/14

Crate Paper: Birthday Mini Album in a Box


I've always been a fan of anything "mini".  I love mini books, mini journals and 
especially mini layouts!  It's fun to change things up every once in a while and work 
with a smaller palette.  It gives you a new perspective of your supplies and 
keeps things fun and interesting.

little box.  You can see my step by step process too!  Hope you will check it out!  


Happy Monday!!

3/30/14

5


This little lady has been counting down to her birthday for months.  She's been dying to be five and that day is officially here!  Happy happy birthday to my sweet and spunky little lady.  Momma loves you more than words could ever describe!!



3/29/14

Project Life: March 2014 (Part 1)


Happy Saturday!!
I have one of my March Project Life spreads up at Two Peas in a Bucket today!  This is actually Part 1 of my 12 on the 12th photos.  I decided to add each photo into my album as a 4x6, so I ended up with two Design A pages and one insert.  I love the way it turned out.  Adding smaller pages and inserts is my favorite part about my album this year!!






3/27/14

Two Peas: Capture Video and a Bonus Video


Hello! Hello!
I have two new videos up at Two Peas in a Bucket today.  One is a process video and the other walks you through some quick photo editing techniques using Picmonkey.com and Photoshop.  


Here is a look at the page I created for this week's video.  I'll also walk you through several ways to use this wood veneer heart paper from Dear Lizzy.  Isn't that wood paper divine???



I hope you will check out the videos.  I sure do love making them (for some crazy reason!!). 
Happy Thursday everyone!

You at Three Mini Album



Time for another mini book!!
write.click.scrapbook has been overflowing with minis all month long and this week, JBS Mercantile and write.click.scrap are teaming to bring your more inspiration!

I got a beautiful March Papercrafting kit in the mail a few weeks ago and had so much fun putting together a little mini album all about my son.  You can see the images here and if you want to know more details, visit the write.click.scrapbook blog today.

3/25/14

Glitz Design: Remember


I have a new layout up on the Glitz Design blog today.  The challenge this week was to use the colors light pink, light blue, gold and white.  Needless to say, I didn't have any problem using those colors!!  

I started by choosing a few papers from the "All Dolled Up" and "Carpe" Diem collection.  Then I layered them onto my white card stock overlapping them slightly.  I added a few strips of the gold dot vellum paper (yes I am hoarding every single bit of that!!) for more color!



3/24/14

Crate Paper: Precious girl



I'm sharing a sweet as sugar layout on the Crate Paper blog today!  There's also a giveaway going on that you aren't going to want to miss!  Hop on over to the Crate blog and leave a comment for a chance to win an Oh Darling goodie bag!



3/22/14

Two Peas: Project Life & a Photo Collage Tutorial





I used Picmonkey to create my collages before printing.  Picmonkey makes creating uniform-sized photos a snap.  For this spread, I printed three 4x6 photos....each one was a collage of six photos.  
I love using Picmonkey to create photo collages.  If you give me more than six photos, it's pretty likely that I will give you back a collage.  Picmonkey is free to use and is so super duper easy.  As you can see in my Project Life spread, I used 2x2 inch photos in a coin page protector. I love the look of the square photos and creating a collage with Picmonkey couldn't be easier.

Here's a quick little tutorial....


Start by going to Picmonkey and choosing the "collage" option from the main screen.  This will open up a collage canvas.  Picmonkey offers a variety of different collages, but I usually like to create my own.  

Click "open photos" and select the photos you would like to use from your computer.


To print a 4x6 photo, you will need to change the pixel size/ratio at the bottom of the screen.  The default setting is to keep the dimensions proportional.  Click the lock button next to the pixel dimensions to unlock the photo proportions and then enter your pixel sizes.  For a 4x6 photo, the pixels will be 1800x1200 (for a landscape photo). 


**Note: at this point, I usually click the "x" in the upper right hand corner of two of the photo boxes.  This leaves me with one large photo on my canvas and makes it easier to get six 2x2 photos on a canvas.  As it is pictured above (one large photo on the left and two smaller photos on the right....you will be adding photos into that design.  Starting with one large photo gives you complete control over the placement of your photos.**


Drag and drop your photos onto the canvas.  As you drag each photo over the canvas, you will see a grey line alongside your photos.  Drop your photos next to one another to have three along the top and three along the bottom.


I like to remove the white spacing between my photos when printing 2x2 inch photographs.  I typically like a white border around my photos, but I feel like these photos are so small that a white border would make them too difficult to discern.  

To remove the white spacing, click on the "paint palette" tool on the lefthand tool bar.  Adjust the "spacing" toggle to 0.  Your photos are now borderless and ready to be saved and printed.

Click on the "save" button at the top of the screen and save to your computer.  Send to your local photo printer or home printer.  Just make sure that you are printing these photos "borderless" to keep the true 2x2 inch size.  Trim and add to your page protectors!

There you have it!  A quick and easy way to create collages of smaller sized photos.
Thanks so much for stopping by!  Let me know if you have any questions!!

xoxo

3/21/14

My take on art journaling...


I'm taking the 52 weeks of Art Journaling class with Rachel Denbow over at A Beautiful Mess.  I've always been drawn to art journals and the like, but I have never created my own.  It's taking me a little while to find my comfort zone and get out of the "scrapping" mode.  I think most of my pages still reflect my typical style....white space, light colors, small patterns.  But creating these pages is very different than creating a layout or mini album (to me, at least).  I try not to overthink it.  I try to go with whatever idea I have when I start out the page.  I even include handwritten journaling (gasp...that's big for me!).

The lessons and prompts with the class are great inspiration and I just love looking at the artistic approach many of them take.  Sometimes I'm inspired by the lesson, sometimes the prompt, and sometimes an idea pops in my head while I'm out and about.  Or right before I go to bed.  (Most of my ideas seem to settle in right before I fall asleep.  Anyone else do this?)

Today, I wanted to share the first few pages of my art journal.  And remember...this is my take on "art".  I want to include more paint and make a bigger mess in this album, but finding my comfort zone is taking time.  For now, you will see lots of white space and pops of color...  Big surprise, huh?









Do you have an art journal or some type of book that is just all yours?  A place to experiment and create without boundaries?  




3/20/14

Playing with Rub-ons, Watercolors & Gesso

Sometimes it's fun to play around and get messy.  I was inspired by the amazing Garden Girl Wilna one afternoon and created this fun page using rub-ons, watercolors and gesso.  I love the effect of the watercolors around the rub-ons and the gesso helps to tone everything down and creates a pretty background for my photo.


I used the rub-ons from the Studio Calico Lemonlush collection and added in a few of the wood veneer elements and gold foil leaves for more interest around my page.  I also watercolored a few white butterflies I cut with my silhouette for movement and dimension on the page.


The rub-ons kind of act like a resist and pop out around the watercolors.  The gesso provides a little softening and coverage over the rub-ons.  I love the effect!


Are you a fan of rub-ons?  Give this technique a try!  It's super fun!




3/18/14

tutorial: create your own glittered background



The theme of the week at Glitz Design is glitter!  I love glitter.  I love the sparkle and the shine and just how pretty it is on paper.  It's definitely messy, but the end result is just so pretty I can't resist it!

I got super messy for my project at Glitz this week.  Well....not too messy, but messier than normal.  I thought I would share this fun little tutorial incase anyone else loves glitter as much as I do!


1. Grab your supplies.
You'll need a piece of white card stock, mod podge, gold glitter, washi tape (not shown) and a paint brush.


2. Start by taping a piece of extra large washi tape from corner to corner on your card stock.
I wanted my background to have a bold design element, so I chose to add glitter to one half of my paper.  You could easily tape off different sections, or even use your silhouette to cut out a pattern for your background.  I applied my washi tape from one edge to another, leaving a triangle on the bottom right hand corner of my page.

3. Apply a layer of mod podge.
I use matte mod podge because it dries super clear and not glossy.  Be sure to rinse out your brush as soon as you are done!  Mod podge dries super hard and rather quickly.


4. Add your glitter.
I poured glitter all over the lower half of my page and then held up my paper to shake the excess all around.  Then I dumped the excess onto another piece of paper and filled in any empty spaces making sure the bottom was covered.

5. Seal your glitter.
Once your first layer of mod podge is dry (about 15 minutes), add another layer of mod podge over top to seal in your glitter.  This will keep the glitter from flaking off and getting all over EVERYTHING.  This is a must (to me) if I am using glitter.  The layer of mod podge will completely seal in that glitter!

Slowly peel off your washi tape when the mod podge is dry for a clean crisp line.


Here are a few detail shots of that fun glittered background!




Are you a fan of glitter?  
If you give this a try, feel free to link up your projects in the comments or either tag me on Instagram!  I'd love to see your work!!

Happy Monday!
xoxo