Pebbles Garden Party Guest Design!!!

Today's the day - it's finally here!  Is it Christmas again already? Not exactly - although that is what it feels like for me!  Today is the reveal day for Garden Party on the PEBBLES BLOG, and guess who the featured guest designer is?  Me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-!!!!!!!!!!!  I've got to tell you, that is the best way to start off a Monday - ever!

Now, I'm not going to do a lot of talking in this post (because I have three projects to show you), except to tell you that the GARDEN PARTY COLLECTION is every bit as fresh and bright and pretty as it sounds!  The Pebbles patterns always mix and match well, making layering (and layering and more layering) easy-breezy, and Garden Party is no exception.  The hardest part of each project for me was choosing which papers I was going to use because they ALL look perfect together!  

Without further ado, here are my Pebbles Garden Party projects:

First is my layout - spring flowers aren't the only things blooming around here!  My 13 year old daughter is suddenly starting to look like a young woman, so this spring collection was just what I needed to create a layout about her.

Yep, I layered my little heart out!  I love adding bits of symbolism to my layouts, and the self-adhesive BUTTERFLY and "tweet" bird were perfect!  And I have to tell you, the glittery foam THICKERS that I used for my title are some of the prettiest I have seen yet.

Here are a few close-ups:

For my second project, I chose to do a Project Life layout.  I have just discovered Project Life and am really loving it now that I have things somewhat figured out.  Pebbles creates wonderful journaling cards, but I wanted to show that you can also cut up your regular papers and use them for Project Life spreads, too!  

Of course, I've got that little layering obsession so lots of things seem to end up attached to the tops of my pockets rather than in them!  Repeat after me - there is no wrong way to scrapbook.  And the journaling POCKETS WITH INSERTS and MINI ENVELOPES  were so unbelievably adorable (and functional) that I couldn't resist!  Just look at how cute these are:

So....what do you do when you have one extra pocket left over with nothing to put in it?  Well, if you are me, you fill that space with several pretty vellum and adhesive FLOWERS.  Why?  Because they are pretty.  And I like pretty things. *smile*

Did I machine stitch over that pocket so that the back side cannot be used?  Um, yes.  Yes I did.

Finally, my third project, which was created with the help of my handy-dandy Silhouette Cameo.  I made a spring purse with packets full of sweet treats to give away to little ones at a recent party.  Seriously, is this not the cutest way to bring little treat bags to a party?!

I created my treat bags by starting with this PEONY PAPER, which I cut up and sewed to my other patterned papers.  The Garden Party PHRASE AND ACCENT STICKERS and MINI-CLOTHESPINS dressed my little bags up beautifully!

Have I mentioned how much I love layering?  I have, haven't I???

Whew!  That's it for me.  I hope you have enjoyed these projects and, if you have, let the ladies over at the Pebbles BLOG know what you think!

PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO - SPRINGTIME NOTECARDS

Happy Day of Loooovvveee (typed in my very best Barry White voice).  This is turning out to be quite a busy day for me since I have not one, not two - but THREE projects all due today.  BUT - I absolutely loooovvvee crafting so I am definitely in my happy zone right now.  If you are joining in for the PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS SCRAP YOUR STASH BLOG HOP, click HERE.  If you want to see the latest coolio sketch, and my take on it, by MY SCRAPS AND MORE, click HERE.  I would absolutely love it, though, if you would stay awhile and look at these adorable cards I made using PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO'S Lemon Sorbet 4x6 journaling cards from the Neapolitan Collection along with these super sweet vintage die cuts.

I used five of these six cards.  They are the perfect size for all you project-lifers and pocket-scrappers, but I wanted to do a little something different with them:

So, I mounted each one on cardstock that was just a little bit larger than the journaling card, folded it in half, and - voila! - insta-notecard!  I finished my notecards off by adding a diecut, which were just the right size; some sweet bunting flags; and ribbons and buttons.  These were quick and easy to make, and they are absolutely darling!  I cannot wait to send them out!!!

Here are close-ups of my notecards:

To see how I made these cards, please check out the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO BLOG.  Have you used any vintage die cuts on your recent projects?  If so, please share with use on our FACEBOOK PAGE!

My Creative Scrapbook - April Guest Designer!

I am one of the Guest Designers this month for MY CREATIVE SCRAPBOOK - a kit club run by the very sweet Pam Rangel and Delaina Burns.  Delaina is also one of the designers, and I have been a fan of her work for years.  In fact, I am pretty certain that I scraplifted one or two of Delaina's layouts (making sure to give her credit, of course) when I was first learning different styles and trying to figure out what mine was.

 

The MCS KIT CLUB has several different options and add-ons that you can purchase.  I was provided with this month's main kit, which was full of Crate Paper goodies that I am absolutely enamored with!  I had so much fun creating these two cards and two layouts, and I still have sufficient leftovers to get at least another layout and couple of cards done - a very generous kit indeed!

 

Here is a close-up of my Trending Now layout - can I just say it again?  I l-o-v-e Crate Paper:

 

And here is the second layout I created, featuring my sweet Lula-Bug.  I {heart} the Chevron background paper so much, I am going to have to get some more.  I NEED it - like maybe 10 sheets of it!!!!

 

Another close-up.  As you can see, I became a little obsessed with all the butterflies included in the kit - don't judge.  A quick little handmade pennant and a doily fussy cut from one of my papers, and I had this cute cluster (and the perfect place for my journaling):

 

I even got brave and made a couple of cards.  They are nowhere on the scale of CATHY HARPER or ALISSA WELLS (my card heroes...heroines???...the ladies who rock the cards, how's that?) - but you really can't go wrong with a kit full of Crate Paper goodies, now can you?

 

This is the first card that I made (yep, more butterflies were used):

 

...and my second creation - a simple everyday card that I quite like.  (I think I need about 5 or 6 extra sheets of that bird paper - it makes me happy just looking at it)  And, look!  I used a bird instead of a butterfly this time!

 

That's it for me.  But, if you want to enjoy some awesome Thursday eye candy (completely calorie free), head over to the MY CREATIVE SCRAPBOOK DESIGNER'S GALLERY.