Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Xyron Imaginisce Blog Swap


This week Xyron and Imaginisce have teamed up for a fun blog swap.   I had a great time working with the Imaginisce Childhood Memories collection.  The bright colors and whimsical designs were really fun...
I particularly liked the Imaginisce bicycle stamp in this collection and thought it would make a great card center.  I also really loved the red striped paper and made sure I used some red Ranger Archival Ink to match.  I stamped the image of the bike on to plain white cardstock, then I used my circle cutter to cut around it.  I debated on whether I should color the bike, but in the end I like the simple image in red ink.  Finally, I backed the image with a Little Yellow Bicycle Naturals burlap circle and added some Maya Road Twine.
For the bicycle flag, I used a Little Yellow Bicycle stick pin and some jewel stickers so it looks like the Memories sentiment is part of the bike flag. I was able to run the whole burlap circle through my Xyron 2.5 Create-a-Sticker machine to give it a sticky back which made it a lot easier to adhere to the card.
These little clouds are really cute stickers.  I just added some handcut banners for a little added interest.

This home décor project was really easy to make.  I had an old 7 Gypsies Small Printer's Tray lying around, so I thought it would be fun to use the 4 x 6 journal cards in the Imaginsce Childhood Memories collection and some of the Sticker Stackers to make this project.   I used my Xyron Mega Runner to adhere the patterned paper to the tray.
For something a little out of the ordinary, I stuck some of Tim Holtz Idea-ology Memo Pins in the top of the tray and ran a little miniature clothesline.  Then I cut out some of the Polaroid sentiments and hung them up with the Little Yellow Bicycle Naturals mini clothespins.  I like how both the Polaroids and the pins have sentiments on them.
I stripped down some of the sticker stackers so I could add the little images to the Printer's Tray.  They were the perfect size without the rest of their backing and then I could customize the patterned papers.


Be sure to visit the other Xyron Team Member blogs and the Imaginisce blog for more inspiring projects.


Both Xyron and Imaginisce are giving away prizes this week so be sure to visit their blogs for details and how to enter.

Happy Crafting!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Get Ready for Spring

HelloHappy1_LizQualman
Now that March is here, it's time to make plans for a festive spring.  Easter will be here before you know it and that anticipated egg hunt is on the horizon.  The Sn@p Life collection from Simple Stories is such a great palette for everyday events AND special occasions like Easter.  I love how the bright colors enhanced this fun photo of my daughter collecting Easter eggs.
HelloHappy1c_LizQualman
I used the Sn@p 6x6 paper pad to cut all of these little banners and then added the days of the week stickers with some foam tape to make them pop.  It's such a fun design element and compliments the single 5 x 7 photo.
HelloHappy1a_LizQualman
I LOVE this sentiment!  Perfect for the expression on my daughter's face and really ties all of the little banners together with the title Hello Happy.  I also added some of Little Yellow Bicycle's Hello Spring! collection chipboard and clear cuts on this page.  They were a perfect match and you can still order the collection HERE.
HelloHappy1b_LizQualman
Added some twine, clear cut shapes and chipboard to finish off the look.


SB&B_Spring_2013_coverAND...check out the new Spring Issue of Scrapbooking and Beyond Magazine for more fun spring layouts...

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Friday, March 8, 2013

Day-to-Day Memory Keeping with LYB

As you can guess, my son loves to play with our Wii (now don't worry we make him play outside plenty too).  Some might say he is even a bit obsessed with it.  We're pretty sure he could bowl on our Wii before he could talk - now at 4 1/2 he does both quite well.  So on Monday, I asked him if I could take a few photos to document his passion for Wii and he said yes... 

I thought it would be fun to take some of Becky Higgins photos sleeves and combine them with Little Yellow Bicycle's Naturals embellishments and Clear Stamps.  I'm a novice stamper, but the Ranger Inks sure made this project look easy...  AND you can order the sheet protectors from Amazon.com Prime.  Woohoo two-day shipping for free!
This is basically a mini 4x6 layout with the LYB Vacation Clear Stamps as the focus.  I grabbed my Makin' the Grade 6 x 6 paper pad, a fun notebook punch and some of the cork and canvas Naturals embellishments.
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The font on these stamps is exclusive to Little Yellow Bicycle.  Isn't it cool?
This title was fun to make.  I combined LYB cork alphabet letters with the Friends Clear Stamps. Then, I stamped the word moments onto the letters for a fun effect.  The cork readily soaks up the ink and does not require much pressure for a beautiful clean stamp.
The LYB Journal Cards and Tear Out Ticket Books are great layers for the 3 x 4 pockets.  I journaled on this one, added a cork tag from the Naturals that looks a bit like a clipboard and then backed it with some of the MTG patterned paper. I also ran the journal tag through my Xyron 2.5 Create-a Sticker for permanent bonding.
I thought this group of photos really embodied the sentiment "Attitude is everything" from LYB's My Happiness Clear Stamps.  Not to mention my son's pension for style. 
On most of the stamping, I used the Ranger Archival Ink, because it is so clear and true, but on this Naturals canvas tag, I used Tim's Distress Ink in Faded Jeans for a little rougher texture and color that would go well with the whole concept of the poject.  I also had to add one of the little Ranger Idea-ology fasteners shaped like a hanger.
That blue alphabet is part of LYB Naturals canvas alphabets and it comes in both upper and lowercase letters.  It's so striking with the red Archival Ink.  Again, cork is such a great surface for stamping like on the little star.
These Naturals burlap hearts are so stinkin' cute!  I used some of the Tim Holtz stains to die the largest one and then stamped the sentiments on the other two with black Archival Ink and added a couple of the Idea-ology Memo Pins.  I used my Xyron 2.5" Create-a-Sticker to get the hearts to adhere in this cluster.  They were so easy to fun through it.

Head over to Little Yellow Bicycle's blog and Facebook for contest details!


Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Simple Stories Urban Traveler and Sketch


The new Simple Stories Urban Traveler collection is such a great combination of bright red and blue grounded in creamy yellows and green.  It reminded me of these photos of my daughter going off to camp for the first time last summer.  Can't believe we actually gave her up for 10 days.  I know she had non-stop fun, but it was the longest week and a half of my life.
Thought I might include a fun sketch to make your own page and push yourself to use more photos on your page.  These are all wallet-sized and fit perfectly across the 12 x 12 layout.

Urban Traveler comes with blue cardstock sticker letters, which probably would have worked great too, but because I used the dark blue patterned paper, I opted for some contrast and grabbed alphas from the Summer Fresh collection.  Love how you can easily mix and match alphabets among the Simple Stories collections.

Love how some of the stickers are already stacked in clusters.  All I needed to do was to find the right spot, add some foam tape and stick it to the page.

The cardstock stickers in this collection are so much fun.  Just add a little foam tape and they pop right off the page or photo.
I made these very simple notecards so that my daughter can use them to write home next summer when she goes back to camp.  The graph paper makes a great neutral background so that the stickers pop off the card.  I cut the tails from one of the patterned papers.


Thank you for stopping by -



Monday, March 4, 2013

Fern and Forest Boy Shipping Soon from LYB

OMGnome!  Did you know Little Yellow Bicycle's Fern and Forest Boy collection is shipping this week?  And I have to say that this is one of my all time favorite kids' collections.  The color palette is perfection and I really appreciate the softer hues on traditional boy colors.  My sister and I joke that this is my son Henry's "Robert Redford" look with the shearling coat and the natural background.
These letters for the title "Boy" are really made from chipboard.  I was using prototypes for this page to get it ready for CHA, so they will have a much softer and dimensional feel in the actual product.
I added a hidden journal tag with some banners to pull it out.  Wanted to keep a really clean feel to the page and not cover up the beautiful background paper.  I used my Xyron 1.5" Create-a-Sticker to make the little banners stick together permanently.
Who doesn't love stars and banners.  Such a fun collection filled with possibilities.  

Be on the lookout for Fern and Forest Boy.  The LYB design team will be featuring projects on the LYB blog soon, but in the meantime...

Head over to the Little Yellow Bicycle blog today for ideas on LYB's Naturals, Stamps and Tim Holtz Ranger Ink.  It's two weeks loaded with really clever and simple ideas to include Naturals in your everyday lives.  PLUS there are prize opportunities each day.

Thank you for stopping by -

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Little Yellow Bicycle Naturals Contest

Did you know that Little Yellow Bicycle is running a contest with the gorgeous new Naturals collection?  There are so many prize opportunities and a lot of categories besides just paper crafting...

When: Monday, February 18th - Sunday, March 17th
Where: Little Yellow Bicycle Blog and Facebook
What: 4 Categories, 8 Prize Packs, 1 Grand Prize and prizes for sharing the fun
How: Upload contest entries to our Facebook page or email them to liz@mylyb.com

Below is a description of the categories from LYB...

Paper Crafting  - show us how you can incorporate our naturals into a variety of gorgeous paper crafting projects like cards, layouts, minibooks, etc.  Projects must be 90% Little Yellow Bicycle, but we are happy to see any of our paper collections combined with our Naturals collection.  Please visit your local scrapbook store the LYB our online store for products.

Wearables - show us how you can incorporate our Naturals into everyday fashion.  The key to this category is being clever and a great photo to show off your fashion sense.  Write up a little advertisement about the accessory to make us want to wear it too...  Example - shoes from the Gap - $20, burlap flowers from Little Yellow Bicycle - $3.99, effect on husband/boyfriend - PRICELESS

Home Décor - Show us how easily you can incorproate our Naturals collection into your home.  These wine glass charms were made with our burlap heart shapes, jute and wonderful words rubons.  The key to this category is beautifying your home with some Natural accents.

Sewing - show us how you can use our Naturals collection in a sewing project.  Maybe use some of our burlap and canvas shapes for appliqué and add some of our adorable buttons... The key to this category is sense of style and craftmanship.  We'd like to take sewing lessons from you!

Upload contest entries to Little Yellow Bicycle's Facebook page and/or email them to liz@mylyb.com.  You may enter each category up to three (3) times.

Contest Prizes - Two (2) prize packs will be awarded for each category and include our latest paper collection along with some of our Naturals collection.  1 Grand Prize for a $100 shopping spree in our online store will be awarded to a lucky winner. 

More Prizes - We will also send out prizes each week of the contest to fans who share our contest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  AND as we make a push towards 10,000 fans, we'll have prize packs for our newest "likes" too.  Help us get the word out and tell us what you did and you will automatically be entered into our weekly drawings.

Find the Naturals collection at your nearest Michaels, your local scrapbook store or at the LYB online store.

It's going to be awesome and the Naturals are so fun!  I had a blast making each of these projects and my shoes have never looked better...