Pretty Little Studio - technique challenge

"colorful circles"

the wheels start turning with a picture like this. behind scrapbooking, one of my favorite things is home decor and home DIY. so i saw this and it was hard not to paint a room or make a light fixture instead of work on a scrapbooking project!

                       

i saw this light and then i recalled this fabulous stencil. i am PRETTY sure it is a studio calico stencil.
but instead of misting around, i used it as a stamp. easy to do. just mist the stencil in a box or on scrap paper, and then press it onto your paper. it "stamps" the image onto the paper.

did it again in the upper left hand corner, and i worked my paper, picture and embellishment around it. i have been in love apparently with my journaling pens and doodling lately. to help the stamped stencil work stand out, i just highlighted several areas with a black pen. it also helped the banner punch out to be outlined in black to stand out.

added embellishment bonus-i used the tag from an item i purchased at the American Girl store as an embellishment. throw away nothing! :)

so go get a stencil and STAMP with it! stretch those supplies further!

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pretty little studios - nature walk reveal blog hop!

hey!
thanks for stopping by!!

"hop" along this day after easter, and you could win a $20 gift certificate from the pretty little studio online store! 

for a chance to win:

1. "follow" the pretty little studio blog

2. "like" pretty little studio on Facebook

3. leave a comment 

easy peasy!

if you happened to my blog first, be sure to go back to the beginning to the
pretty little studio blog to start form the beginning!

here is the full order:

pretty little studio blog

aimee

candice

christiana

heather

krissy

lisa w.
lisa s.

mary ann

ME! (you are here) 

after "me" head to the pretty little studio facebook page!

the "hop" is in honor of the reveal for "nature walk" THE cutest fall line i have ever seen!! 

melissa knocked it out of the part with this one!! 

pre-orders are starting now! so get your order in! 

so while your here, i will share a little inspiration using a few things from another fabulous pretty little studio line, "birthday cake"! the 8x8 printed papers are amongst my favorites! 

i JUST went to chicago this last thursday, and immediately upon my return, i decided it needed to scrap using the sticker on the bag of my dogs cupcake! i often times save these kinds of items, but sometimes they get lost in the "someday" pile. not this one! i had my poor dog pose for a few pictures before i let her enjoy her treat, and i scrapped them the very next morning! 

the mist was just a simple way to add interest to this simple layout! 

here is a picture of my new fancy misting set-up. ha! 

if you haven't had a chance to use the "color shine" mists by Heidi Swapp, your missing out on the fabulous sheen of these colors! 

my pretty little studio base combined well with some other heidi swapp items i purchased recently! 

thanks for stopping by! 

now remember, head on over to the pretty little studio facebook page to finish your journey for a chance to WIN! 

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SALE!! (pretty little studio)

MAYBE there is a sale twice a year like this.
so get over to the Pretty Little Studio website march 27-28th and order up some vintage looking wonderfulness!

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sketch time! (pretty little studio)

i love sketches. i would love to be back on a sketch challenge dt again i like them so much! they are such a fantastic way to get out of a creative slump!

this is my first sketch layout for pretty little studios... 

i saw the "word" sections and i immediately thought of the fantastic lil vintage "flashcards" from the birthday cake line, and the fact that we just had a couple of birthdays around here... 

i worked with a white base because i wanted to work with some of my new heidi swapp color shine colors in the back ground... which, i feel make it necessary to outline the rectangles in some gray ink... 

simple and fun. 

the polka dots in primary colors are actually the garland circles with perforations in the centers. i used them to highlight the lil cake die cuts. 

little imperfections, lot of color, plenty of happy. 

happy birthday gavin! can't believe your a teenager next time!! 

wanna join along? be sure to post/link your layout to the blog post at pretty little studio! you have until april 1st!!

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out of the box... Pretty Little Studio...

my turn at pretty little studio to create something "out of the box".

i LOVE inspiration challenges. though i will admit it... i didn't connect the current challenges inspiration with my project. i just got LUCKY that there are circles present in both!!
but i will say i just love the inspiration that was chosen, so i am sharing it regardless!

this picture is stunning... color. anything that includes this much color, i'm in!

when thinking "out of the box" i STARTED with an idea to use one of those cups that has an insert that you could put in your own paper or pictures into... and had i gotten my inspiration right, it would have been a FANTASTIC idea to add "sprinkles" to that mug insert... but a) it truly bugged me that the plastic wasn't clear on the mug, and b) my design wasn't in one spot on the mug, but wrapped around a bit, so it was IMPOSSIBLE to get a good picture... no matter the props I used or angle I took the picture... so i scrapped it and moved on.

(here it is (unedited)... just to prove what a disaster it was! ha!)

so i moved on to a lil embroidery hoop project! though i am professed layout girl, i do occasionally enjoy creating a decor item. i have a box of things just waiting to be altered... and in there i had a bag of 3 hoops, this being the smallest, that i got for $2 at the vintage store. 

to see the tips i have for using paper in a hoop, and the specific products used, check out the pretty little studio blog. 

i am craving spring... and since i like something i can leave up, it's spring... though it hints easter. (that bunny is killin' me he's so dang cute!) 

want to see one of the BEST pinterest boards EVER for embroidery hoop art inspiration?? 

http://pinterest.com/tashabrownfield/embroidery-hoop-art/

but one of my favorites has to be on the walls of meg duerksen "whatever craft weekend" house. 

click this picture and it takes you to the blog entry when i was granted the blessing to attend craft weekend! 

here is her christmas display.

i am going to HAVE to do a hoop wall display at some point... not like i don't have the cute fabric for it...

i saw this great idea too... i kinda have a thing for vintage sheets. i can still remember the pink and orange floral i had myself as a kid. so this type of display speaks to me. 

follow the link on pinterest to the tutorial on this display and putting fabric in hoops.

have any "hoop" inspiration?? 

be sure to stop by the "pretty little studio" blog daily for new inspiration!! 

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pretty little studio...

on the blog today is a layout i did for pretty little studio using the Monsieur Collection.

i got out one of my MANY stamps i have hoarded from my Cocoa Daisy stamp subscription, some spray ink (mr. huey) and a date stamp i recently picked up on clearance at target (american crafts)

I created the background by using this stamp and repeating and interlocking the image. i was not going for perfection. (that would be futile!) I then added the "i {heart} you" stamp image from the date stamp.
to protect from over inking that may be on the numbers, just put a piece of masking tape on the date itself, ink, and remove to stamp. all stray ink is hopefully on your masking tape. and you can use the same piece of tape a few times. i like the sentiments on a date stamp as much if not more than the date portion itself.

i used lots of lil bits of pieces of the lines paper to make up this layout, and added simple splatters by taking the sprayer out of the bottle of ink, and splattering what was on the tube onto the paper... messy messy. YES!

i also used a couple stickers from my new stash of heidi swapp i picked up at michael's this week. i FINALLY found her color shine mists at the michael's in coralville. AND got "buy one get one 1/2 off to boot"!

thanks for stopping by!! be sure to check out all the fantastic lines at Pretty Little Studio. whether doing "project life" or layouts, there is something for you!

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intro to Pretty Little Studio Design Team, crocheting, and snow...

...my first layout! Gosh it feels good to be creating again!

not only did I do a layout, i learned to crochet this last weekend! my friend Lynne taught us! i am addicted!

but back to the Pretty Little Studio intro!

i can not tell you how excited i am. Melissa the owner and creator is over the top talented and has a FANTASTIC eye and does it ALL from her house!! WOW! and it is quality stuff! nothing i was sent in my DT box wasn't just SUPER cute and usable!!

so not only am i being introduced, but there is a giveaway! i had to pick a favorite product. uh... OK. (NOOOOO!!!!) so i picked any of the banners. yeah. they are go narrowing it down. so any of the banners from the BIRTHDAY CAKE line then. i couldn't pick which one! so head over for my intro and get yourself entered to win!!

here is my layout.

i JUST had these pictures out because Gavin had to have a baby picture sent to school. i dug out his first birthday pictures... cuz the Birthday Cake line of product could NOT sit any longer since it's journey here! i love to combine different banners... so though banners have been around awhile, i still like to add them on occasion. this one is a mix of different "Birthday Cake" banners and tabs.

the "misting" stencil? i cut the heart by hand, and then i misted red around it. and didn't like it. then i decided to STAMP the red onto my project. then i used the stencil again to mist a different color around it!

the banners in this collection are plenty! i didn't even use all the banner packs! 

 ...and you know me. the story in any layout matters...

Melissa is so very generous, she is offering a giveaway for EACH designer announced. (after we were given the impossible task of picking our "favorite" product!) 

so go on over to my intro and give a shout out and enter yourself to win! 

or-about that crocheting.

we had a girls weekend this last weekend. the goal is USUALLY to laugh, eat and shop. maybe in that order... 

Lynne there... with her head thrown back. (we HAD to be her most cheerful students, and maybe her first!) 

let me start by saying it was a lot of fun! we had a couple rough starts in the learning process. but we stayed the course!

 your kidding right? i am making something?

 this is about where i left off first night...

 this was after a couple nights of chipping away...

 this is my cat appreciating (or not) my work. follow the yarn. it's under there, my scarf.
i have already started "pinning" a ton of stuff. and there is a local store about 3 minutes drive from my house, called "knit & knot". can't wait to check it out! i already bought yarn to make cora a scarf before we left our girls weekend.


yesterdays snow storm was SO very pretty i went out to get some shots of the trees... and ended up taking a ton of my silly dog. i would kick the snow toward her and she would "attack" the pieces as they came lofting at her...

 run and JUMP! or leap. like tigger!!

 seriously! silly dog!

 this is what i was SUPPOSE to be taking pictures of... and i did. a LOT. it was so beautiful!

and i couldn't come inside until i made a snow dude! It was so wet and perfect, the snow. didn't roll well, but patting on the chunks worked well.

 tried out taking some pics of the birds on the feeders from my cozy chair too...

and my favorite of the day is this one i captured out the window of Gabe and Cora having nerf adventures in the back yard!

thanks for stopping by! now go to the PLS blog! go!!

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