Dot & Whimsy

It's Mix & Match day at 

 and I have two cards to share combining the

 three new collections: Hello Sunshine, Pen Pals & Switchboard

For this card, I selected elements from the Switchboard and Pen Pals collections. 

  When making cards, I like to use the 6X6 Paper Pads since the designs are at a smaller scale. 

 The reddish tones in the two collections are different, so I chose to use only pieces from 

Switchboard that boasted the color. From there I picked the subtle pink and navy,

 which can be found in both lines. 

I used two nesting, scrolled dies from Spellbinders to create the layering pieces of patterned paper.
 I wanted to tie back in with the Chain Letter Paper (triangular grid) found on the base of the card,
so I die-cut a small oval on which the chipboard phone was attached to. I trimmed off the ‘hello’
 from the ‘hello friend’ puffy sticker before adhering. The Pen Pals’ Chipboard Alphabet
 letters in tiny banner shapes are a great size for cards!

This next card is a mixture of Pen Pals and Hello Sunshine. As with the first card, I selected

 the different papers that held some of the same colors in both collections. Here, I chose the

 yellow tones from Hello Sunshine and used only blues from the Pen Pals Collection. 

The reds and pinks from both lines match, so I was free to add any of those in from either collection. 

I love the diagonal pink/red striped paper from Pen Pals. The lines juxtapose about every inch, 

so I used that as my guide for cutting the banner strips of paper, which I attached with foam adhesive.

 Again, I focused only on the yellow hue from Hello Sunshine and tried to keep the Pen Pals

 colors focused on the red, pink and navy.

Pink Paislee has also shared a glimpse of their new Summer collection: Solstice

 Gold foam stickers....yummy!

That's all from me today!

Over the next couple of days at 

we will be sharing Easter/Spring themed ideas!

I love it when I can step away from cardmaking and get in

on some everyday crafting with Bella goodies :)

Even if you don't have this particular scrolled die by Spellbinders, any fun shape would do!

 If you don't own a die-cutting machine, search the internet for shapes that you

 can print and trace :) My bunny face consists of two large punched pieces using 

Spellbinders' Labels Fourteen die and side B of the Unlimited Text paper. 

 glued a paper straw to one of the shapes and then sandwiched the two pieces

 together with foam adhesive in between.

My inspiration for the prop came from a pin on Pinterest:

(Munchin Munchies)

 Although my kids are older (20, 16 and 12) they still expect and look

 forward to their Easter treat! These carrot cones were super simple to put together.

 Start with a 6X6 square of the Carrot Starz paper. Cut the paper from one corner to 

the opposite corner, rounding as you go. You may wish to use a template or create your

 own and then trace the design onto the patterned paper. Roll the paper into a cone

 shape and adhere at the seams with a high tack adhesive.

 For the carrot's top, I cut a 3H" X 4W" strip of green cardstock and then

 cut slits into the paper about 3/4 of the way down. Roll the ends of the strips if desired

 and then attach to the inside (back) of the cone. Decorate the front with colorful punch-outs,

 flowers and the child's initials. For display, I inserted a bamboo skewer through

 the cone and then staked them into a bucket filled with floral foam covered in excelsior. 

Fill with Easter grass and candies!

And the bad thing about buying candy well in advance of Easter...yep,

I must go out again before Sunday and buy more!  The Kisses are gonnne...oops! :)

Hello!  Let's have some fun today with the 

 I never seem to have enough masculine, little guy cards on hand,

so I came up with four cute and easy versions to share with you.

Each card also focuses on the Simply Put cards, which make card-making a breeze!

Let's start with this quick, 5 minute card first:

I cut down four different pixie straws to the same width as the 

Simply Put card and glued them in place with Zip Dry.

I embellished the side with one of my favorite monsters found in the 

Pixies pack...I just attached with some brads and then added a few 

Sprinkles for added cuteness.

And who can resist this trio?  I just had to use them on a card!

I trimmed the monsters away from the 4X6 card, corner rounded the edges and 

then layered it to the top of green Sprinkles Vellum.

A row of colorful buttons were stitched with Doodle Twine and attached with

an adhesive dot.  

And we can't forget about the sweet robot dudes throughout the collection!

Here I simply die cut a couple of different patterns from the 6X6 Paper Pad

and layered on one of the stickers.

 I used one of the Simply Put cards as the background paper and highlighted

a few of the dots with round Sprinkles.

With this last card, I just loved both sides of the Simply Put card, so

I cut it in half so that I could have a bit of both patterns!

To tie the two sides together, I added a strip of orange paper, bordered by

Doodle Twine and a border sticker.  One of the Ticket sentiments and 

dinosaur man stickers completes the look. Oh and don't forget the Sprinkles :)

Happy to see you...thanks for coming by!

Handwritten, script and brush strokes

are fun trends right now in papercrafting and home decor.

Whether you create these by hand, using a cutting file

or stencil, it's a way to add a natural looking element!
Our challenge this past Thursday at
BELLA BLVD
was to incorporate some variation of this trend into our projects.
Design Team member, Nicole Nowosad, has been kind enough to
share a FREE brush stroke cutting file...check it out on the blog:
www.bellablvd.typepad.com

"Thanks" Card
 Pick a fun alphabet stencil and create your own card title!
I traced the stencil letters onto cardstock, making sure that all of the letters
 were 'welded' in some fashion. Next, I hand-cut around the letters, leaving just a bit of a
 border so that it would stand out against the black die-cut star.

 Supplies: Trick or Treat: Captions; Lucky Starz: Ice Starz, Treasures & Text;
 Family Forever: Treasures & Text; Snapshots: Paper Pieces
The alphabet stencil is one from DCWV and the 12X12 sheet includes
two different lettering varieties!


"Hello Lovely" Card

 I've always loved Stephanie's handwritten words, so I chose the 'lovely' sentiment
from one of the patterned papers and trimmed it out. Next, I penned on some "hellos"
to tie in with the feel of the larger sentiment.


Supplies: Family Forever: Mom & Dad, Sunday Brunch; Molly: Sketch With Style, 
Trinkets; Lucky Starz: Peep Starz; Crochet Flowers: Dahlia
The Heart Card die and larger scalloped die are from Top Dog Dies; the smaller
scalloped heart die is by Spellbinders.

 Also, Bella Blvd is releasing THREE new mini-collections!
The full reveal of each collection will begin next week, but here is a little
sneak of what's to come:

You will have Summer Squeeze, Scattered Sprinkles and Classic Calendars.
And because I just KNOW I'm going to be so in love with Summer Squeeze
and the touch of black found throughout, I wanted to show this paper
that Stephanie shared yesterday on the blog:

Yummm!  So, towards the end of next week you'll be seeing the full
reveals of each...I can't wait to see them for the first time myself :)
Have a great Saturday!

I'm up today at 

with a layout featuring my dancing daughter :)

 I paired up the "Love to Dance" cutting file with some Doodlebug 

patterned papers, cardstock and stickers.

Don't forget to grab each day's FREEBIE at Miss Kate's!

Here is today's:

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello and welcome to day four of the 

**You should be starting off today's hop with the May Arts Blog**

I love Lawn Fawn sooo much that I decided to do two cards for today

using the Hello Sunshine Stamps and 6X6 Paper Pad

I adore balloons and these heart-shaped ones stole my heart LOL

I stamped it in three different VersaMagic Chalk Inks: 

After hand-cutting each of the hearts, I attached a length of 

the May Arts' Baker's Twine to the back.  

Next, I arranged them to my liking over the grey dot paper

and then adhered in place with a foam dot.  The lengths of twine

were gathered together and wrapped around the bottom of the paper and 

secured at the back with a piece of tape.  

I thought that the 'sunset' paper would look perfect with a row of 

low laying clouds followed by a bed of green, green grass!

I simply stamped the cloud onto the diagonal blue striped paper and 

then cut out.  I stamped the sun in a Brilliance Sunflower Yellow and used

a 1.5" circle punch to separate it from the cardstock.  

I added two widths of the green dot ribbon to the bottom of the sun paper.

Next, I topped those with a band of hot pick ric-rack  that I glued to the back

of a third strand of green dot ribbon. 

That's all from me today!  Here is a complete list of this week's hop...I'm your

last stop for today, so I hope that you've enjoyed :)