Bella Blvd: Reveal Week Day #1

It's Day #1 of the BELLA BLVD Reveal Week:
BELLA BOWS and ENAMEL DOTS & DOODADS
Introducing Bella Bows, a simply soft way to embellish your cards, layouts and crafts. 
 Created from felt, these darling bows are a great way to add some dimension & style
 to all projects. In our signature Bella Blvd colors, Bella Bows are available in 12 single color packages, including an adhesive dot on each bow for easy application.

Okay, these are seriously the coolest things!  I had the pleasure of creating
a card for the CHA Booth that focuses on the Bella Bows and here is a peek:


A look at ALL of those yummy colors:
 
 


Embellishing just got a whole lot more fun with the newest addition to the
 Bella Blvd catalog: Enamel Dots and DooDads! A colorful assortment of self-sticking
 enamel accents in 9 different colors, matching perfectly to our paper collections.
 Each pack of Bella Blvd Enamel Dots comes with 38 assorted pieces, including 4 sizes.
 And why only have round enamels, when you can have shaped Enamel DooDads
 including photo corners, stars, hearts, and arrows too! Each pack of Bella Blvd Enamel 
DooDads comes with 28 assorted pieces.

And a peek at a card that I made highlighting the Enamels:
 
 
Now here's your chance to win-it-before-you-can-buy-it! 
Bella Blvd is giving away the entire Bella Bows and Enamel Dots & Doodads
 collections to one lucky reader! Just leave us a comment on the Bella Blvd Blog 
 telling what you love about these new embellishments. 
One comment per person. 
Randomly chosen winners for ALL of the reveal giveaways will be announced on
 Sunday, January 11th...good luck!

Wednesday, December 31, 2014 December 31, 2014
3 comments

Winter Smiles & Saying Farewell

Wow, it has been a crazy, busy month, hasn't it!?!
I set aside the day yesterday to take down my Christmas tree 
and decorations.  Of course, in the process you must dust, vacuum
and fluff all of the old stuff that's coming back out onto the shelves again...
I always, always dread packing it all away so I'm glad it's over!
 Now my house looks so clean...and sparse LOL

This will probably be my last post for 2014, so I wanted to send a 
farewell to a few of the teams that I was so privileged to be a part of 
for the past year or two:
DOODLEBUG DESIGN
NEWTON'S NOOK DESIGN
PINK PAISLEE
TOP DOG DESIGNS
I have decided that it was time to cut back on my commitments going into
2015, but I do have a couple of surprise announcements to share once
they're made public...I can't wait to share them with you!

Here is one of my final projects made with Top Dog Dies
With the chilly winter months still ahead of us, warm someone's day with this cozy
 card using the Darling Deer Die Set...it's not just for Christmas projects! 
 I die-cut the deer image from brown cardstock and then a cute brown and white dot paper 
by Carta Bella.  The horns were snipped from the dot paper and then layered on top
 of the cardstock image.  Next, the Vintage A2 Mat Die was used to create a
 snowy background and the deer was added with foam adhesive. 
 The snowy hill (cut from white cardstock) was spritzed with an iridescent spray
 and also added at the bottom with foam adhesive.  A simple sentiment sticker
 from the same Carta Bella collection was attached, along with a small die-cut snowflake.
  The serene scene and color scheme will surely brighten anyone's winter day!
 
I cannot believe that the CHA Winter show is just a week and a few days away...
if you're going, I hope to see you there!  
Let me close by wishing you each a very Happy New Year...
Love and hugs to you all!
 
Monday, December 29, 2014 December 29, 2014
2 comments

Cozy & Shabby Gifting Tags

Happy Holiday Greetings! 
 I have a quartet of Cozy Christmas shabby chic-style gifting tags to share with you today.
  I've pulled together chipboard stickers, cardstock stickers, brads, enamel dots, 
bits 'n pieces, insta squares and SN@P! cards from the collection by
SIMPLE STORIES
 along with a few other basic office supplies from my stash.

To begin I started with basic manila shipping tags, as well as a couple of metal rim key tags (these can be found at office supply stores).  I soaked the key tags in a tea solution overnight to give them an aged look.

Next, I prepared the tags by inking around the edges with a brown distress ink. 

I started each tag with a mat of paper that was cut from a larger SN@P! card or placed two of the smaller Insta Squares together to form a background. 

Add dimension by layering small stickers and die-cuts with foam adhesive.  When adding the brads, I made sure that I attached them to a piece so that the prongs wouldn't show at the back of the tag.


Use dies to create your own mats for the different bits 'n pieces die cuts.  And of course I had to add some pom pom trim and ribbon bows to the tops of each tag!

A bevy of beautiful, handmade tags can be whipped up in no time and they make lasting keepsakes for the recipients (or for yourself!).  Have fun tag making!

Cozy Christmas Products:
5402 Fundamentals 12x12 Sticker
5403 Expressions 12x12 Sticker
5423 4x6 Sn@P! Cards 
5427 Decorative Brads
5428 Chipboard Stickers
5429 Bits & Pieces
5430 Insta-Squares

5431 Enamel Dots

And don't forget to visit www.simplestories.com to see new product
and more projects from the Design Team!

-*-Wishing you a beautiful holiday season-*-
Thursday, December 18, 2014 December 18, 2014
2 comments

Photo Trio Wooden Plaque

 Today I have a Christmas home decor project up at
AUTHENTIQUE PAPER
 using one of the wood surfaces from Sierra Pacific Crafts 
and the "Believe" Collection from Authentique.
www.authentiquepaper.com
 
From the Authentique Blog:

First, the three lower squares of wood were removed from the rings and then the 
surfaces were painted with a black acrylic paint and a sponge brush.
 Square dies came in handy when it came to creating the mats and cutting the
 photos for the blocks.
Trim by Petaloo was added to the edges of the sentiment card, as well as a single 
band of black and white baker's twine, which tied in nicely with the painted wood. 
 Matching ornaments were trimmed out from a separate piece of the "Adorn" 
Paper and attached with foam adhesive.
In keeping with the shape of the wood pieces, the papers and photos were corner 
rounded on the edges.The 6X6 paper pad of papers are ideal when creating small mats.
For the hanger, a length of gingham ribbon was tied through the hangers that were 
all ready in place at the top of the larger wood surface.  Next, two boutique style 
bows were made and glued above the knotted ends of the hanger.

These wood pieces are inexpensive, yet well-made.  If you're looking for a
handmade gift to give this Christmas, consider crafting one of these!

Thanks for visiting me today!
Thursday, December 11, 2014 December 11, 2014
No comments

Fun With Scrapbook & Cards Today!

Hello, Hello!
I'm excited to share that I have a few projects that
can be found in the Winter Issue of 
SCRAPBOOK & CARDS TODAY
as well as their Winter "Crop & Create Delivered" Kit
and the 2015 Planner!

I hope that you had a chance to grab one of these kits because they're now 
Sold Out!  Here is a peak at my favorite card that I made with the kit:

Isn't it a cutie pie?

Great news though, the 2015 Planner and Winter Issue can be ordered/viewed


 If you live in the Texarkana, USA area, you can pick up your FREE 
copy of the magazine :) 

Hope you have a fun week!
Sunday, December 7, 2014 December 07, 2014
1 comment

Newton's Nook December Blog Hop

Welcome to Newton's Nook Designs'
"Deck The Halls With Inky Paws" Blog Hop Day #5!
If you've missed the previous days' projects, visit the blog:

For my project I've used the Simply Sentimental and Winter Tails stamp sets
to create my card:

I stamped sweet Newton onto plain cardstock and then watercolored.

I trimmed around Newton and then used a small oval die to cut out a nice
clean shape around the snow.  

Along with some aqua cardstock, I used patterned paper and a scalloped
sticker from Bella Blvd.  The two sentiments look just perfect together I think!

ENTER to WIN! 

We will be choosing two lucky winners to win a $10 store credit
 for Newton's Nook Designs online shop! 
 To enter, just leave comments on the Design Team Member and Guest blogs
 (see list below)! Two winners will be chosen at random from the 
 collective blogs in the blog hop. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and 
comment for your chance to win.
 You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on
 the better your chances are of winning!
 You have until Sunday, December 7th at 9 pm CST to comment  -- winners will be announced on the NND blog on Monday, December 8th.

Here is a list of the participants:

Enjoy hopping!
Friday, December 5, 2014 December 05, 2014
60 comments

Newton Waits For Santa

 I was up this past Tuesday with a special Christmas card for 
NEWTON'S NOOK DESIGNS

 I created a 3-D window for Newton to peek through by stamping on a 
piece of recycled plastic packaging with Staz-On ink.

Next, I stamped the same image onto the blue snowflake paper and then the 
yellow paper for the moon.  I cut strips of paper for the window panes and adhered
them to the paper before adding the 'window' over it with foam adhesive 
(placed around the perimeter of the plastic in a thin strip).

Finally, Newton was stamped onto brown cardsock, cut out and added to the 
top of the plastic with Zip Dry Glue! 
You could get really creative and add some things inside of the window such
as sequins, beads, etc. but I chose to add dots of glitter to the background
paper...looks really cool!

Shop for Newton's Nook Designs products online at:

Hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving!
Friday, November 28, 2014 November 28, 2014
3 comments

Stained Glass Pumpkin

Happy Saturday, everyone!
It has been a whirlwind around the McDaniel household, so
I'm trying my best to get caught up on all of the projects that I've
had up over the past couple of weeks :)

Today I'm sharing a fun little tutorial that I shared at 
BASIC GREY BLOG

It's easy to change the look of the Vivenne Collection speech bubble
with an embossing folder and alcohol marker...come by 
the BG Blog and see how I put it all together!
Saturday, November 22, 2014 November 22, 2014
2 comments

Paper Play: Bella Rouge Door Hanger

Yesterday I was up on the 
PINK PAISLEE BLOG
 with a little "Paper Play" fun incorporating various dies
 along with the new Bella Rouge Collection.

 If you have a princess in your life, then this collection of papers and embellishments
 will be perfect for creating room decor or a sweet sign/door hanger such as this:
  I started with a 4X6 scallop die, although you could use a rectangle shape 
of the same size. The dies that I've used are from Top Dog Dies with the exception
 of the oval shape. You may also find a pre-cut chipboard shape and just trace
 the design onto the patterned paper.

  I attached the top and bottom scalloped pieces by gluing a die-cut heart over the two.
 I used an oval shaped die to cut out the sentiment from the 4X4 journaling card.

  To make the butterflies: Fold a piece of paper in half; lay a heart die 
(or use a heart punch) along the crease of the paper as shown above. 
Be sure overhang the point of the heart off of the paper so that the entire 
shape doesn't cut through. When the hearts are opened you will have a butterfly shape! 

 
 Layer the centers with chipboard shapes, buttons, etc.  

 Two holes were punched through the top sides of the chipboard and a length of
 ribbon knotted through for the hanger. Next I tied a boutique-style bow and
 added one of the pretty Frayed Flowers to the center.  


Dies make projects such as these quick and easy. 
This would also make a fun project for a girl's party...just pre-cut the pieces
 and have them assemble and embellish with Bella Rouge!
Pink Paislee Product: Bella Rouge Collection

See more ideas on the Pink Paislee Blog!
Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014 November 18, 2014
2 comments

Nature Board Book

Happy Thursday!  I was up this week at
DOODLEBUG DESIGNS
with this "Thankful For Nature" Board Book that I created with 
"Happy Camper" and "Friendly Forrest" Collections.

Both of the collections are filled with the cutest critters, so I wanted to showcase
 them in the form of a board book!  I started with a couple of 4.5"X5.5" dies by
Top Dog Dies and sheets of heavyweight chipboard.  

I used some assorted alphabet stickers for the cover.


I cut the base pages from 12X12 papers and the oval inset was cut from 6X6 papers...
I love the mix of larger prints with the smaller ones!  


I'ved added some of the new glittered enamel dots, but if you're making the 
book for a smaller child, you may want to try hand-tied buttons or brads instead.


The new "Chippers" chipboard alphas are perfect for spelling out smaller words!


Doodle Pops and stickers layered on with foam adhesive add interest, 
as well as dimension!

Again, if you're making a similar board book for a small child, 
you may also consider laminating the pages and forgoing the dimensional 
embellishments.  Choose critters that are indigenous to your area and go on 
a nature hike scavenger hunt in search of them :)

Check out more Friendly Forrest and Happy Camper projects on 
the Doodlebug Blog!
Thursday, November 13, 2014 November 13, 2014
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