so there i was ... : July 2013

CHA Summer 2013 | Chalk Board

Good Morning crafters. If there was any one trend or theme from the summer show it was chalk board. I have been seeing this trend in home decor for months so it's not surprising it has crossed over to scrapbooking. I would say probably 80% of the chalk board elements I saw at the show were featured in Christmas lines.

This first line is from Lawn Fawn and is called Peace Love and Joy. I love it's simplicity and use of light blue.

This line is from Heidi Swapp and is called Believe. I am a huge sucker for 3x4 journaling cards even though I don't do Project Life. This line also has a chalk board paper made from Heidi's handwriting called Peppermint Stix that I adore (sorry forgot to photograph).

This final Christmas line is from Studio Calico and I loved how they achieved such a wonderful washed chalkboard effect to these papers. Okay and let's get real I love the little stick trees.

My Minds Eye showed off tons of chalk board items from their latest Halloween release to their new line called Chalk Studio and a little something in between. Chalk Studio almost 100% embodies the idea of chalk board from the papers, to the stickers to the washi tape (shown below).

My final look at chalk board takes us to Fancy Pants. These chalk board tapes and labels are totally customizable for your needs. They used Marvy bistro pen to write on the samples (photo below).

This is just the tip of the chalk board iceberg. I cannot leave you today without telling you that Prima had chalk board flowers and Jillibean Soup has a new stampables line featuring 2 chalk board items: banners and mini chalk boards.

Thanks for stopping by today, be good, be safe and happy crafting.

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CHA Summer 2013 | Die Cuts

Good morning crafters I took last week off while I was away at CHA. I normally work the show for Jillibean Soup but we didn't exhibit in Vegas so I decided to take this opportunity to do something I haven't done in a million years (dramatic over exaggeration), walk the show floor. Today I wanted to show off a few of my favorites in the category of die cuts.

Die cuts happen to be a favorite of mine. They are versatile, I love to dress them up with foam squares and extra embellishments. I am love the variety that are offered from manufacturers.

What I have noticed with die cuts is each every manufacturer calls them something different but let's face it they are all die cuts. This first pack is from Elle's Studio. Elle calls hers "Bits and Pieces" these were from her newest collection called Penelope. I love the mix of easy to use pieces in this set ... tags, circles, tabs and word bubbles are a no brain-er when scrapbooking.

The die cuts below are from Pink Paislee and they are called "ephemera". These are from a super cool line (it's one of my favorites) called Hey Kid. Pink Paislee packs a serious punch with this pack that contains over 90 pieces made from both cardstock and vellum.

The next die cuts are from Bella Blvd and are called "paper pieces". I love the mix of components that make up this die cut pack. I think it's the polaroid frame I am totally addicted to these darn things.

These next die cuts are from Simple Stories and are appropriately called "snap cuts". What I love about these is their versatility. Because they are cardstock they can easily be mixed with just about any patterned paper. Also because I am such a linear graphic designer I love the lines of these cards ... can you say grid layout.

Chic Tags calls these little cuties "photo toppers". I have to admit I am so smitten with the arrow nature of these die cuts. I can't wait to get a hold of some of these little guys. (Sorry for the bad photo)

No matter what you call them these die cuts are all on my to buy list along with more from several other manufacturers. Make sure you join me for further CHA updates throughout the week.

Happy Crafting

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Memorabilia Mini Album | Jillibean Soup

Good Morning Crafters I am super excited to share my Memorabilia Mini Album with you today. Through June I took a break from my standard Jillibean Soup work and put together tutorials instead. This project is my tutorial from June and the last one I put together. I have since gone back to my regular monthly layouts.

Okay I am warning you there are tons of photos for this project so be prepared to be overloaded.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Jillibean Soup Patterned Paper/Alphas/Stickers/Die Cuts/Corrugated Shapes/Clear Stamps, Twine, Black VersaFine Ink, Paper Straws, Corner Rounder from We R Memory Keepers, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, and font Veteran Typewriter)

I have tons of photos to share of this project. First I am going to show you the mini ablum deconstructed (before I added the binding).

When I do mini albums I have to have a formula it makes the process so much easier for me. The formula I followed for this mini album was cover the fronts of the pockets with Polaroids. Then I created an inside pocket with another Polaroid. Once I created a base then I topped the pages off with die cuts, sticker and stamps.

Here are a few more close up photos of the mini album once it was put together.

To see the full tutorial on how to make your very own Memorabilia Mini Album make sure you check out the Jillibean Soup website.

Happy Crafting!

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July Colour Suite

Welcome to the July Colour Suite a colour challenge I put together for my friends at Scrapbook & Cards Today. This month's colours took on what I consider a rather traditional typical July feel.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper Crate Paper/Studio Calico, Washi Tape My Minds Eye, Label Jenni Bowlin, Wood Veneer Studio Calico, Fiskars Border Punch, Decorative Brads Crate Paper, Resin Flower Jillibean Soup, Chipboard Embellishment My Minds Eye, Twine, Silhouette Cutting System & Image, TIm Holtz Tiny Attacher, and fonts Veteran Typewriter/journaling and Old Sans Black/Title)

This month I invited my friend and fellow Scrapbook & Cards Today designer Christa Paustenbaugh to take the colour suite challenge with me. Make sure you check out her take on the challenge at her blog. I am sure you will love what she did just as much as I do.

Thanks for joining me today for the July Colour Suite. To read more about this challenge or to check out my past challenges don't forget to make your way over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today website and Blog.

Thanks for joining me today happy crafting!

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Gift Card Bouquet | Jillibean Soup

Good Morning Crafters! For the past few months I changed up my what I was doing for my friends at Jillibean Soup. Rather than my regular monthly projects I put together a tutorial with lots of fun step out photos. Today I am sharing my second project which is a paper gift card bouquet. I originally made this project for my daughter's cheer coach. Once it was complete each family contributed the gift card of their choice.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper Jillibean Soup, Twine, Silhouette Cutting System/Images)

The additional supplies used to create this project were all purchased at Micheal's. To check out the full tutorial on how to make your own gift card bouquet check out the Jillibean Soup blog.

On a side note I have a fun card up today on the Lily Bee Blog.

Have a wonderful day!

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Introductions | Scrapbook & Cards Today

Happy Monday! Last week my friends at Scrapbook & Cards Today decided to spend some time introducing it's designers. Yup you guessed it today is my day.

I thought it would fun to share this layout. It's one of those that used some of my favorite scraps.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper American Crafts/Simmple Stories/My Minds Eye/Studio Calico/Jenni Bowlin, Studio Calico Flair, Alphas Jillibean Soup, Stamp Technique Tuesday, Enamel Dots My Minds Eye, Decorative button Crate Paper, Twine, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher and font Veteran Typewriter)

I adore my Jillibean Soup alphas they are my favorite for long titles. I have a great tip about how I line up my titles by using left over scrapbook packaging. Make sure you jump on over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog to see my tip in full and learn a little more about me.

Thanks for stopping by today. I have tons of inspiration running through my head so you will find me holed up in my craft room today. Happy Crafting!

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Happy Camper Blog Hop | Jillibean Soup

Welcome to Jillibean Soup's Happy Camper Blog Hop. I hope you had a fabulous holiday and are now ready to start scrapping away with a little blog hop inspiration. If you haven't seen Jillibean Soup's mid release Happy Camper Stew you might want to take some time to check out the line here.

We are a family of campers so I was thrilled when Jill announced this line. I have tons of photos and many stories to tell. Today's layout is titled, Life Skills: how to put up a tent without killing your sister. I like a little humor in my work and it pairs nicely with the open mouth pictures I get of my son.

(Supplies Used from Jillibean Soup: Patterned Paper: Happy Camper Stew 1 Part Camping Gear, 3 Parts Critters, 4 Parts Great Outdoors & Scores of Smores, Pea Pod Parts: Happy Camper Stew, Label Stickers: Happy Camper Stew, Shape Stickers: Happy Camper Stew, and Alphabeans: Blended Black

Other: Bazzill Basics, My Minds Eye Enamel Dots, Stick Pins, Black Sharpie, Stampin Up Punch, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, We R Memory Keepers Corner Rounder, Silhouette Cutting System, Twine, and font Veteran Typewriter downloaded from the internet)

If you are following along with the blog hop or want to join in today's fun here is a recount of the Jillibean Soup players for today ...

Summer Fullerton YOU ARE HERE!

Next UP Valerie Mangan

Jillibean Soup blog

Thanks for joining me today for the Jillibean Soup Happy Camper Stew Blog Hop. You are almost done with the hop. Next up on the tour is Valerie Mangan's Blog Paper and Cookies. Make sure you leave a comment at the Jillibean Blog to enter to win some Jillibean Soup goodies from the Big Bean.

Happy Crafting!

Summer Fullerton ß you are here

Valerie Mangan

Jillibean Soup blog

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July Spellbinders | PageMaps

Happy Tuesday. How is you summer fairing? The pacific northwest is experiencing a heat wave and I am thankful we are one of the few who have air conditioning. When we build our home 10 years ago it was one of those items I wasn't living without again. So I am hiding out working on projects trying to stay cool.

It's time for this month's installment of PageMaps. I chose this sketch because I am a bit grid obsessed these days and while I have done many grid style projects recently I don't think I have done any with a smaller 2x2 grid.

(Supplies Used: Cardstock Bazzill, Patterned Paper Bella Blvd, Alpha Stickers Bella Blvd, Washi Tape Bella Blvd, Spellbinders Dies, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Corrugated Shape Jillibean Soup, Chipboard Shape Bella Blvd, Twine, and font Veteran Typewriter)

I am trying to work thought some of my older photos. These ones are from the bottom of the barrel. These photos are from 2005. This is one of the many pit falls of not scrapbooking in order.