Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Elle's Studio: Joy

Hi! Something pretty new to Elle's Studio is the offering of a monthly exclusive "Mini-Course" designed to help you use the montly kits. Since the Mini-Courses began, I have been pretty impressed with the lineup of instructors ( and the $4.99 price!) and when I was given the opportunity to create a project based off of the most recent Mini-Course, I jumped at the chance!

Being November, I worked with the November Exclusive Mini-Course taught by Emily Spahn, Jennifer Ingle, and Barbara Picinich:


Exclusive Kit Mini Course - November 2015  

Working with the November Kit and keeping the ideas from the course in mind, this is what I created:

Joy

After reading through the course PDF and taking notes, I went to work on the layout and it pretty much flew together. One of the great things about classes is that it narrows my focus. I didn't choose to create some crazy, new-to-me page design. Instead, I went with a design that was comfortable to me so that I could focus more on the techniques from the class that I wanted to play around with. Here are some closeups:

Joy2

Joy3

I consider myself a "learner." I am a big fan of scrapbooking classes for a number of reasons: First, they offer up new inspiration; Second, they help me work on specific skills; and third, they motiviate me to scrap more. This Mini-Course from Elle's Studio certainly did all three for me!  

To read a little bit more about my thought process and how I applied the course to this layout, you can see my post here on the Elle's Studio Blog.

Wishing you a great day!

Michelle

 

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Gossamer Blue: November Blog Hop

GB Blog Hop Banner

Welcome to my stop on the November Gosssamer Blue Inspirational Blog Hop!

I know that the "kit world" moves pretty fast and when most of you are receiving your kits the design team is receiving the next month's kit which means sneaks of the new kits start happening.

At Gossamer Blue we know that can be pretty overwhelming, so we've come up with a solution-each month on the 15th we are going to inspire you just as you are receiving your kits!

This month the November Kits were amazing and I truly had so much fun creating with them. Today I want to share a brand new layout made with a mix of the November Kits:

Hello Story


This layout, which is a mix of both the Scrapbook Kit and Life Pages Kit, is really a result of my love affair with my square punch! I started by wanting to use up lots of patterned paper and punched enough squares to fill the page. After pushing them around for awhile I felt this configuration worked the best.

Hello Story 2

The "Hello" card from the Life Pages Kit was the perfect place for the title and the mix of the gold foil script with the colorful Thickers made for a fun combination. With all the patterned paper going on, I opted for simple embellishments like the puffy heart and wood veneer flowers.

Hello Story 3


My daughter's album, which this will go into, is a mix of both traditional and pocket pages (all 9x12) and after completing this layout I went right ahead and filled the adjacent pocket pages using the November Kits.

Best Part

This spread was really simple and straight forward due to it being pretty photo heavy. As a result I went light with my embellishing, but made sure to include some stitching to dress it up.

Best Part 2

Embellishing this journaling card was as complicated as it got-I simply stamped a sentiment from the Amy Tangerine Roller Stamp, placed a sticker, and glued down a wood veneer. 

Now as much as I hope I have inspired you to drop everything and get those November Kits out, I want to encourage you to continue working your way through the hop because there is an amazing amount of talent in today's line up and I wouldn't want you to miss a thing! Here are the links:

Amy Challis
Andrea Gray
Diane Payne
Emily Spahn
Eunyoung Lee
France Wisniewski
Jill Keller
Kasia Przybyt
Kellie Winnell
Kelly Xenos
Michelle Wedertz <---You are here!
Olatz Garaiyurrebaso
Sandra Dietrich 
Stephanie Buice

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

Saturday, November 14, 2015

The Cut Shoppe: Cool

Hi guys! Today I want to share my latest layout for The Cut Shoppe that features a photo of my teenage son and his grandpa. I don't know about other moms of teenagers, but I struggle a little bit when it comes to putting together a layout that accurately reflects the point in life that my son is at. Simply put, I cannot do cheesy or overly sentimental. I have to keep it cool! Ha!

Keeping it cool (insert teenage eye roll here) is exactly what I did with this layout by using the Word to the Wise cut file from The Cut Shoppe.

The Word to the Wise cut file includes 5 words that can be used on your scrapbooking and papercrafting projects.

This particular cut file worked perfectly for this simple, masculine layout and actually reflects the one word responses I get from the kiddo on a routine basis! 

  Cool

When adhering the title I only used a little bit of adhesive knowing that I was going to run the letters through the sewing machine later. I also like the little bit of dimension that is added to the page when elements are lifting off of the background. 

Cool 2

To see even more inspiration for using this cut file, make sure and stop by The Cut Shoppe Blog!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Michelle


Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Elle's Studio: November Reveal

Hello everyone! Today is the 10th of November and that means it is time for the reveal of another awesome kit from Elle's Studio! Here's a look at what you will find in the exclusive November Kit:

Elle's November 

For my first project I used a combination of the new kit and Elle's Joyful Collection:

Family

I used the journaling cards and tags from the kit as layering elements behind my photo. Along with patterned paper from Joyful, I mixed in some vellum and washi from my own supplies.

Family2

I was super excited to see two vellum snowflakes included in the kit and had to use one on this page since the photo was taken on a super chilly day.

Family3

My second project that I made for this month's gallery is a layout created using only the Joyful collection and a few pieces from my wonderful box of Christmas supplies! 

Holiday Usie

Besides the beautiful papers in the Joyful Collection, I really loved the new green letter stickers--they are the perfect shade of Christmas green and I know they will make regular appearances throughout my holiday scrapping this year.

Holiday Usie 2

When I went to work on this layout, I knew that I really wanted to feature the tags included in the Bits and Pieces pack from Joyful. Instead of my usual layering, I made three of the tags a main element on my page. I used pop dots on two of them to add some dimension and dressed them up a bit with some basic elements. I even switched my usual dark grey ink for red when stamping my date! 

Holiday Usie 3

The new month also means the reveal of a new and exclusive kit Mini-Course. Here's a little sneak peak at what you will find in the course as well as a look at the contributors for November:

Elle's November

I am super exited myself about this new mini-course. One of my assignments for Elle's Studio this month is to create a project inspired by the course and I am really looking forward to diving in to the class content.

Before I send you on your way, I would like to invite you to hop on over to the new Design Team Gallery at Elle's to see even more inspiration using this month's kit!

Michelle

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Citrus Twist Kits: November Reveal

This past weekend the November Kits at Citrus Twist Kits were revealed and they are beautiful! Here's what the November Main "Happy Lane" Kit looks like:

CTK_Nov-2015_Main_1.jpg

The color scheme in this kit was right up my alley with the neutrals and pops of yellow and blue. The surprise hit with me this month was the pack of ephemera from Basic Grey's Sunkissed collection--loved every piece of it!

I also worked with the Sprinkles, Embellishment, and Patterned Play #1 Kits--I like having options!  Here are two of my projects that I have created this month:

Priorities

Priorities2

Field Trip

Field Trip 2


For more inspiration, make sure and stop by the both the Gallery and the CTK Blog--our design team is a busy one and there is always something new for you to see! 

Have a great day!

Michelle

Friday, October 30, 2015

Gossamer Blue: November Sneaks

Hi all! Wanted to jump in here today and share some sneaks of my projects featuring the upcoming November Kits from Gossamer Blue!

This month I worked with both the Main Scrapbook and Life Pages Kits, along with the Life Pages Main Add-On and Add-On #3. Here's a little look at what I did:


Hello Story 2

Dad 3

Best Part 2

Will be back on Sunday with the full reveal of my projects!

Michelle

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The Cut Shoppe: Halloween Hop

Hi guys and welcome to my stop on The Cut Shoppe Halloween Hop!

Untitled

When signing up to participate in the hop I knew right away that I wanted to make a mini-album! What?! I know, I know this is a total first from me, but I have had the idea/urge brewing in my head for awhile and I thought a Halloween Mini-Album would be fantastic! At least, I hoped it would be ;).

With this opportunity to create something new, I turned to The Cut Shoppe to supplement my Halloween supplies with some fun and spooky cut files. This is the cut file I chose to use: the Wicked Fun Cut File!

The Wicked Fun cut file set includes 5 Halloween themed images, that can be used for your scrapbooking and papercrafting projects.

What caught my eye in this particular set was the spider web because I thought it would make a great element that could be "peaking" out from behind everything and you will find it throughout the mini-album I created documenting our recent trip to Disneyland.

Disney1 

When I was in the planning stage of the mini-album, I spent lots of time looking through my Pinterest board that you can find here. I even took down some quick notes, jotting down ideas as I found elements that I liked or techniques that I might want to include. In the end, I went with a basic tag/journaling card style album and included lots of layers and machine stitching. Here is a look at the inside of the album:

Disney2 

Disney3 

Disney4 

Disney5 

Disney6 

Disney7


Disney8 

Disney9 

Disney10 

Disney11 

Disney12


There you have it, my first mini-album! Turns out I LOVE making mini-albums--I had so much fun! This project turned out to be such a breath of fresh air and I felt so comfortable putting it together. So comfortable that I want to make another! What have I started......

Now what would a Halloween Hop be without a super spooky giveaway??  Fun, but not as fun, right? For my turn on the hop, I am giving away the same cut file that I used for my project: the Wicked Fun Cut File (as seen above.) Yay!  All you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite Halloween Movie and I will pick one random winner after the giveaway closes on November 2. The winners from each stop will be announced on TCS blog on Novemer 6th. Good luck!

Now for the next and final stop on the Halloween Hop, head on back over to The Cut Shoppe!

Michelle