Dot & Whimsy

Oh it's a HAPPY Friday, isn't it?

I'm so excited to share my first post with Simple Stories today!

I created three different projects for this week's post...

two layouts of two different kids and lastly, a card.

Each one using three different collections from Simple Stories.

First up, first kid.  It goes without saying that I have lots more photos  of my daughter than
I do of my two boys combined.   Probably because she's always happy to share a grin
and get in front of the camera.
The boys either run, turn their head, or give me the "you-are-so-annoying-me-right-now"
look.This is especially true of the 18 year-old (can I get a "I hear ya sister?).
But in usual fashion, I digress.
I love this picture of my daughter and our beloved Bear
 (our school mascot, hence the name).
  This was taken in late February when the daffodils were in their fullest bloom. 
I've incorporated the winsome FAB{U}LOUS Collection into this layout entitled
 "There Blooms a Flower"

**This layout was FEATURED at 2Peas TODAY...whoop**


I am a paper frugal, especially when it comes to papers that I almost can't bring myself to use!
  I wanted to save as much of the Sassy patterned paper as possible, so I cut
 four 1/2" strips to use for the border.  To do so, I just took a plain sheet of
cardstock and layered my patterned papers on top and then machine stitched into place.
After determining my photo placement, I sponged on a bit of acrylic paint using a
 mini tile template as my guide.  This helped to re- enforce my photo as the focal point.

I simply had to use the adorable overlay...it added just the right amount of pop to
 the B&W picture.  And of course, not too many sticker letters get by me without
 being machine stitched into place ;)  A couple of punched butterflies, a few buttons
 and stickers complete my page.

  Next up, middle boy.  The middle boy comes closer to letting me snap his
picture than the oldest.  He actually begged me to take these at our last
Varsity football game of 2011...the smiles before the heartache!  AWESO{ME} 
 of course is an awesome palette for those boys' pages and projects.

I stamped on the 'splatter' to give a little grunge and to help define the visual triangle.
  I used a 1" circle punch and several hand-sewn buttons to boast a verticle element that
 was much needed after I completed the basic design.  Lots of hand-cutting...the stars,
journal strips and the 'keeping it real' banner, which I just HAD to have!

Finally, card.  To think, just two years ago I was only making the occasional birthday card.
  Now I LOVE cardmaking!  I wanted classic, vintage romance for this particular card,
so I utilized the DOCUMENTED Collection.

Check out today's Simple Stories blog post to see a list of my project ingredients :)

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Thanks so much for dropping by!  

Just a head's up...I'll be changing up my blog in the next week or so and to
 CELEBRATE the fresh coat of paint, I'll be having a Give-A-Way!
 A few handmade items and assorted packs of fun, scrappy stuff.

I'll keep you in the loop :)
Have a fabulous weekend, friends!
Shellye

Happy Wednesday to you!

If you are here for the 

just click the photo below and it will take you to that post :)

This has been an amazing hop so far...I hope you're enjoying it!

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CANVAS {Adorable You} ALBUM
Whew, I finally got to sit down and finish this sweet 'lil album yesterday.
Pretty much every single thing came from The Paper Bakery March Kits!


See ALL photos right here.  I have this sweetie listed in my Dot & Whimsy shop!

 It's my time again at Vintage Street! My two projects were actually up 

yesterday, but with the business of the Blog Hop I thought I would wait until today to share :)

With Mother and Father's Days just around the corner I wanted to get a head start

and have a couple of projects completed.

For Mom: I created a mixed media canvas collage using some of the 

vintage inspired pieces from Dimestore Vogue.  If you love vintage sewing

motifs and classy ladies dressed in 1950's fashion, then you'll love this collection!

I have more photos and instructions up at VSM Blog.

For Dad: My daddy loves getting handmade cards, so I created this with him in 

mind :)  Most everything on the card came from Vintage Street!.  The Family Fun Paper Kit

is loaded with fun vintage and retro prints.  VSM also carries the coolest Tinted Tape...

the Numbers Tinted Tape is my absolute FAV...so many possibilities!

I'll be back with Vintage Street on May 17th and one of my projects

will have a lot to do with these:

Hmmm, I'm thinkin' a mini album..... :)  Yes, I think I will!

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Tomorrow: I Heart Ippity (Unity) Card 

Friday: Simple Stories...I will share two layouts and a card on my very first blog post with SS

Can't wait to show you!

Until then, have a super day!
Shellye

Hello and welcome to my contribution to the 

What an exciting week this will be!

"I Dream in Twine" Packages (retail $32)

to 3 lucky winners

Makin' Waves collection pack (retail $37)

to 3 lucky winners

Shellye

Welcome to your

Monday Blog Hop and Give-A-Way 

with EAD Designs!

I'll be kicking things off this week, but be sure that you check out the

EAD Blog to see what's up for grabs this week prize wise :)

We were all pretty excited when my parents decided to treat us to a cruise 

this next year!  Although hubby and I have been, the kids haven't so this will be 

especially exciting and fun for them.  To keep in time with the anticipation as it builds, I created

this countdown to cruisin' display.  I used a metal mailbox (found in the $1 bin at Target)

and simply covered it in patterned paper from Echo Park.  I left one end of the tin

open so that the chalk can easily be retrieved (most likely by my daughter, who will have the

most fun keeping up with the countdown).  

 After applying the Chalk-It Tag I stitched on letter stickers to spell out 

"Cruisin' In...days"

I think Sydnee will have such a good time counting down the days!

Now it's time to head on over to Miss Amy's Blog
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 Join us at Imaginisce as we share a WEEK LONG Blog Hop with The Twinery!
Fabulous prize packs to be given away, so be sure to leave comments along the way :)
My Imaginsice/Twinery project will be up here tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hops!

Shellye

Good Morning!

I thought I'd get my bloggin' done early today so I can 

get started on 

"My Favorite Things" Canvas Mini Album from 

 If you love unique project kits, be sure to visit Sarah and The Paper Bakery!

I created this card for my Totally Terrific Thursday project at 

I Heart Ippity, as well as Danni's weekly CARDS Sketch Challenge at The Nook :)

The stamp set is

 Bloom & Simplify 

and is one of the April Releases

I LOVE this stamp set for it's very grungy, scruffy look...plus the sentiment 

of the background stamp is truly beautiful and well-stated.

I bring this up only because I've struggled with creating the perfect 'splatter' paint

effect.  The effect that I've always wanted to achieve are big blobs along with 

tiny flecks :)  Add a little water to your acrylic paint and mix.  Test on a scratch

piece of paper before applying to your actual project...you don't want your

mixture too thin.  I use an old toothbrush, but you could also use a stiff 

paint brush or pipette. It also helps to stand back a little more when you're 

wanting to create the smaller splatters.

My Dot & Whimsy shop at Etsy is a sponsor at 

this month!

The Design Team there has whipped up some really amazing stuff!

I sent different color schemes of the

and you must, must go and take a look at how they've 

incorporated the fringe onto their scrapbook pages, home decor, baskets and more!

You'll be inspired ♥

The April Color Challenge is up at EAD Designs

I altered a jar lid using the Tinytwinies Cupcake Stickerz

Join in on the fun and share your project by Linking Up!

The lucky winner will be our Guest Designer in May

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That's all for today, friends!

  I'm excited about the My Scrapbook Nook Design Team

REVEAL today...two spots to fill this time around and I can't wait to see who 

will be joining us :)  Best of luck to you if you applied!

See you soon

Shellye

I have a TOOT to share that 

made me grin from *ear-to-ear* this morning!

My NOOK card was featured there today...along with Danni and Jessy from The Nook!

This is a new board established by Crate Paper in which

their Design Team gals go on the hunt for projects made

with CP products!

"And as an extra special reward, each month, we pick a favorite from the board to win a Crate Paper goody box!! The winning project is posted here, at our blog, as part of our monthly Pinterest line-up, scheduled the first of the month...

Now, how fun is that!?!

So get those projects out there...blog 'em, scrapbook.com 'em, 2peas 'em...you get the picture :)

Back tomorrow with Totally Terrific Thursday...ooo, I'm lovin' this card that I made today and can't wait to share it!

Thanks for stopping by...you make my day ♥ 

Shellye

My latest assignment for Imaginisce:

For this challenge, I photographed the trio of Easter chicks

that I had sitting in my kitchen window.

I love these chicks!

The colors and simplicity of the design.

 I decided to dress all of my chicks with bunny ears so I used three of the die-cut bunnies from the

Hippity Hop collection to mimic this.

Next, just punch a 2" circle from a piece of cardstock.

 Punch a small heart from an orange patterned paper for

 the beak and apply to the circle with a foam dot.

For the eyes, I used black glittered brads from some older Imaginisce stock, 

but you could use pom poms, i-rock gems, etc.

For the hats, I used the same 2" punch, but only punched about 1/3" of the way into the desired paper. Embellish with ribbon, glitter, flowers or whatever your heart desires!

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Thanks for stopping by!
Shellye

Welcome to the EAD 

Monday Blog Hop & Give-A-Way

You should be here from Rose's Blog

Sometimes I feel like Uncle Billy from It's A Wonderful Life.  

You know Uncle Billy always sported the string tied onto several fingers so-as-not-to

forget something important.  I may wear a coat to work, but not need it in the morning and then leave it at work!  Or my half-eaten lunch that gets left at work for four days.  In the past I have

stapled a sticky note to my keys simply saying "don't forget"...I know immediately with 

the reminder that I have a box to carry home or need to stop somewhere before I leave.

With that concept in mind, I came up with this super-cute 

reminder fob!  I can tuck it into the safety of a large pocket in my bag and then pull it out 

and attach it to my keys when I need to remember that all-important-thing!

I used a Maya Road sheer journal card and rubonz from EAD.

You could also create personalized backpack tags, luggage tags, etc.

Quick and fun!

I'm the caboose this week...hope you've enjoyed this week's blog hop :)

Shellye

We set out early this morning to take Tyler on a college tour 

and didn't get home until 4:00.

After doing a couple of things around the house, I finally got a chance to pull up 

the 'ole internet and this is what I see:

Yep, that's my Happy Trails Mini Album!

I  just started uploading my projects to 2 Peas a couple of weeks ago, so

I'm pretty darned excited that this mini made it into the 3 Most Liked and Most Bookmarked!

I will be changing up my blog over the next week and will be moving all of my 'stuff' over to the

2 Peas Galleries ---->RIGHT HERE<----

And no, it doesn't take much to excite me LOL

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It's I Heart Ippity time!

I made up a few quick gifting tags using the 

How You Doin' Stamp Set

I paired the stamps up with the NEW Simple Stories {Fabulous} Papers!

I'll be giving this set of tags AWAY on my blog in just a few days, so stay tuned :)

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Off to dance...or off to read my Kindle while Syd dances!

Thanks for stopping in

Shellye

We fared better than our neighbors in the Dallas area, but

MAN, the weather last night gave me more than one grey hair @@

Not. Fun.  

Then around 10:30, there was an enormous clap of thunder and burst of lightening close by...really close by. 

I unplugged all of the electronics and went to bed!

Little did we know that what we had heard struck a house just down the road from us.

Our friends heard about a house fire on the scanner, jumped from the bed, put on their clothes 

and headed our way.  From the description, it sounded like our place.  I wondered why someone was 

sitting at the end of our drive with their lights on bright around 11:00 LOL

But by the afternoon today, it was all blue skies and sunshine once again.

Oh what a difference a day makes :)

I'd like to personally thank the Good Lord...I know he got tired of hearing from me last night hehe

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As I mentioned yesterday...it's

at 

And today featured a buffet of wonderful Easter cards!

Here's a peek at mine

 For the border, I used a fun combination of paper covered brad daddies and assorted buttons.

Instead of using watercolors on the stamped image, I went for the colored pencils.

I'm going to give it to my mom on Easter...I think she'll love it :)

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Tomorrow...it's I Heart Ippity time!

See you then

Shellye

Hello!

I have a couple of things to share today.

It's time for the new Monthly Challenge at Imaginisce!

 For my take on this challenge, I used a combination of 
Imaginisce's Makin' Waves and Hippity Hop Collection patterned papers,
the 34mm Brad Daddy Punch, I Rock Tool and Gems
 to create a Spring Door Hanger...you know how much I love 'em *wink*
 I also used chevron ribbon from May Arts, of which the ends I cut using the I-Magicut from Imaginisce.
 The sweet house and clouds are svg files that I downloaded for FREE from svgcuts.com :)
 The base of the hanger?  a legal letter envelope from Bazzill!  I just inserted a sheet of chipboard into the envelope and machine stitch around the perimeter to increase the stability!

 Come on over to Imaginisce Blog and link up with us this month!

This week is Easter Inspiration Week as well at Imaginisce.
The Design Team has created some really cute projects to share and inspire you with :)
My card (shown bottom left corner) will be up tomorrow!

And since I'm showing you a little sneak...have you seen the new Summer line
from Simple Stories?  It will make you so happy you'll swoon, so hold on...

Gingham, calico, denim and dots...who could ask for more?
But of course, Simple Stories gives you more with their sweet 'n shabby artwork of
coordinating cardstock stickers, journaling cards, 6x6 pads and clear overlays!
You.Will.Love.This!
See the entire line right here at Simple Stories!
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Off to work on a couple of projects.
I'll be back tomorrow with my Easter card :)
Have a blessed day!
Shellye

Hello, Monday...glad to see you after such a busy weekend!

Let's get this Monday started with the 

EAD Blog Hop & Give-A-Way

You should be here from Rose's Happy Place...but don't forget to start off at 

the EAD Blog :)

I usually have an aversion to clowns, but who can resist these

adorable Circus Time characters?

 I also used the Birthday Sentiments Stickerz.  

I wanted to use a 3-dimensinonal circus tent, so I downloaded a free one 

from SVGCuts.com!

Thanks for stopping to visit this week...now it's time for Amy's wonderful blog.

Happy crafting!
Shellye