travel mini ...

Over on the Heidi Swapp blog the latest Make Pretty Stuff ebook was recently released. ( link in my sidebar).  It is full of beautiful projects that Heidi, the team and I created using the new Joann collections. I shared this pre made travel journal that can be prepared in advance and then taken on your next holiday.
I started off with the the Mini Tag album and used the Ephemera pieces, Numbers and Words Stamps to complete my journal.

I used some seam binding to hold  it all together.

I added a plastic pocket to the front  inside cover to hold tickets.

Adding some  Velcro dots for easy closure.

I added one of the large Die Cut tags to add an extra page in the album.

Throughout the journal you can see I added lots of stamping to add an edgy feel.

Here I cut a window in one of the pages and added some clear plastic inside the window to hold photos.

I trimmed a piece of pattern paper and pushed it through the centre of the tag album to form a flap.

Extra tags for journaling.

Here you can see I added a glitter 3x4 card for some interest.

The back side of the extra flap.

A spot to hold all those plastic keys you seem collect.

I used the day stamps to keep track of  spending.

At the end I added in another clear plastic  sleeve for extra storage .

Be sure to check out the other beautiful projects in the Make Pretty Stuff  ebook, you will not be disappointed.

The Dam builders

This month over at Scraptastic I got to play with the Sail kit and Add-On. Today I am sharing 2 of the 4 layouts I made with the kits.
 They were perfect for a recent beach adventures with my boys. I also took a spin on the nautical theme and turned it into lego page!

From my stash I bundled some teal thread and layered it under that wood veneer crab to make him pop!

The kit had these gorgeous photo overlays which were the perfect finishing touch to my layout!

My second layout- Lego Love tells the story from a few years ago of a family outing to the museum that was holding a lego building exposition.

I snuck in the stamps from the other Scraptastic kit the Best Day Of My life which complemented my photos perfectly!

When I look at these photos I can see my boys have grown so much...but their love for lego is still going strong!

Seven

This fun layout was up on the Pebbles blog recently using their new Birthday Wishes collection.

I layered the happy birthday rubons under the photos for a fun look.

Those mutli coloured Thickers might be a new favourite!

I used a bunch of Heidi Swapp Color Shine to add the colourful splatters to complete my layout!.

mint and linen....

There is a  beautiful new mood board challenge over at Jot Magazine, this might be my favourite one yet!

 I used the delish papers and embellishments from the Heidi Swapp Hello Today collection to complete my layout.  I have some hidden journaling on the kraft tag behind the photo.

 

 The mint and natural colours were so easy to work with.

 

 I hope you get a chance to play along!

American Crafts Guest Designer

I was so very honoured several weeks ago when I received  an email from Paige Evans asking me if I would like to be a   Guest Designer for American Crafts. I was very very excited and couldn't wait for my box of goodies to arrive. This week American Crafts have been showcasing banners so my 5 projects ( 3 layouts, a card and an otp project ) had to include banners.
My first layout utilized the pretty patterns in that Dear Lizzy Daydreamer paper as a base for my layout. I then created a blocked effect with pattern papers and rubons to complete my layout.

My new favourite photo of my husband and I taken on Mothers Day, at the beach.

For the banner I simply trimmed some scrap paper into small triangles and stitched them down with my sewing machine.

I wanted my second layout to be vibrant and fun, I have had these photos of my first time  meeting Amy Tangerine when she came to Australia 2 years ago just waiting to be scrapped, and when I received the Plus One collection I knew straight away what I was going to create.

The  diecuts placed randomly  create a fun background and I made a tone on tone banner for a bit of extra texture to my page.

For my third  layout I grabbed some American Crafts white cardstock and my water colours to create my background mat. Once dry I machine stitched to frame the water colour block.  I layered it over that striped pattern paper to repeat the striped effect.

Another banner stitched using my machine.

My favourite photo of my son and his best friend.

I wanted a bright bold card so I could use those fun acrylic Die Cut shapes from the #Summer collection. I layered several pieces of paper from the Plus One collection and added some machine stitching. To complete I tied some twine around the top of the banner and stapled the acrylic pieces in place.

Finally, I made a little holiday/vacation bag that can be filled with crayons and pencils for the kids or a book, sunglasses and lotion for me and popped into the car ready to go. I opened the calico bag and slipped the bag into the bottom of my sewing machine and stitched the banners on. To complete I added in that painted peg for a bit of extra fun!

What an honour and privilege it has been this week to be GD at American Crafts, I am very thankful !