Scrap Tech

Ssshhh! I'm sharing my secrets to scrapbook success. And they all have to do with the latest and greatest technology. 

I really feel like my pages have been elevated thanks to these three gadgets and gizmos.

 [Silhouette Cameo] [Canon Pixma ix6520 Inkjet Printer] [Radlab]

The Cameo has been put to work on just about every layout I've made lately. From titles to custom embellishments, I'm absolutely loving the ease of creating completely unique cuts for my pages!

What else has revolutionized my scrapbooking? Being able to print from home! Including large format =) I love the ease of printing at exactly the size I want. I don't plan pages very far in advance if it all. So having the flexibility to print on the fly is sooo helpful, not to mention less wasteful. Just about all of the photos I've scrapbooked this year were printed at home.

Speaking of photo printing, I'm in love with my RadLab!! Every photo I have is getting put through the gizmo, even if its just to lighten a bit. Can't wait to show you the romantically warm and faded photos I used for one of my Little Black Dress April Kit pages.

What about you? Are you using technology to enhance your scrapbooking? What are you using? Comment and let me know!

cheers & besos,

Cadie Love

Ok so maybe it was more than a day, but today I'm sharing a page using the original sheet of Glitz Design patterned paper, that inspired my earlier Urijah layout.

It's a puppy page! 

This is Cadie, she's Urijah's dog but she lives at Gma and Gpa's house. And let me tell you, they ADORE their little girl!

She's a real cutie, I'll give her that. She's very silly and a little crazy but oh so loveable =)

I really wanted the paper to be the main focal point, so I just added a few black and white photo strips to the top and bottom of it, punched some hearts and added my journaling. Viola!

cheers & besos,

Know U, Love U

It's been awhile since we've baby sat Urijah. We've been so busy! And I'm still studying for the PMP Exam. But his Mama called to say they were moving to a new place and that it would be a huge help for us to have him, so I couldn't resist!

He's become such a big boy these days. We had a blast playing and hanging out at the apartment. Uncle Matt entertains him by wrapping him up in a blanket like a burrito. Or swinging him around by his ankles. I help him twirl and he thinks it's hilarious. 

Uncle Matt pretended he was a monster and Urijah would come running down the hall and throw himself into my arms, laughing and giggling. It fills my heart with joy, to see him having fun.

For this layout, I was so inspired by this design by Glitz. But the colors weren't working for these photos of Urijah. 

I loved the orange, teal and blue in his shirt and wanted to use them as the color scheme for this page. 

My Silhouette did the heavy lifting on this page. I die cut the letters (font is Langdon) in various patterned papers from one of the new Hello Boy Basic Gray paper pads I scored at Joann's. But the oranges were a bit too bright. So I cut out the letters in vellum and stapled them directly over top. It adds some depth as well as tone down the colors.

But once I was done with the page I couldn't get the design out of my head. So I created a new layout for a different scrapbook using the original design. I'm sharing it tomorrow so be sure to check back tomorrow!

cheers & besos,

LBD March Wrap-up

The kit is in the bag so to speak. Well literally, the remaining bits and baubles are packaged up in a Hefty Jumbo ziplock.

For my first month as a Little Black Dress design team member, I think I did good by this kit. I managed to make 3-12x12 layouts, 6 Cards, 3-8 1/2x11 layouts, and 1 mini book!

I can't promise it will be like this every month. But I can promise a few staples projects/posts that you can expect from me!

I've really been thinking about the concept of the Little Black Dress and how it applies to my scrapbooking. The handy wikipedia article I just linked describes the LBD as "long-lasting, versatile, affordable...considered essential to a complete wardrobe...can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion."

I think all of these concepts can be applied to your approach to design. And so I'd like to take each month to focus on my own LBDs. These can be techniques, tools, design principles, etc. etc. But basically, they're wonderful concepts that can be repeated time and again. No matter the kit! No matter the color scheme! No matter the layout/project size!

Here are just a few of the LBDs I definitely plan to challenges myself to every month:

The black cardstock challenge! Every month my goal is to create a kit layout with a sheet of black cardstock. I don't often turn to this rich hue in my scrapbooking and it's a shame. The color adds great elegance to design and most definitely to my scrapbook. Perhaps this is entirely too literal but I'm pinning away great black color schemes anyway! Check out my inspiration board here.

The black and white photo challenge! Because no matter the kit, no matter the colors, a black a white photo will go with just about everything!! It's one of my often turned to LBDs. If I can't get the colors to work, converting the photo to b&w instantly solves this problem.

Less of an LBD and more of a personal challenge to myself, I'd really like to attempt a card making tutorial using each kit. I'm always looking for ways to stretch my supplies. Using die cuts, punches and scraps is the perfect way for me to make not just one card but several, using the kit.

As you can probably tell, I'm a tad excited to be part of this design team ;) And I'm SO excited to share all these crazy ideas with you! And I promise, it won't be Little Black Dress kits 24/7. There's so much in my stash just begging to be played with. But, I have to add, my scrapbook LBDs aren't going anywhere. They're here to stay! 

Can anyone guess one or two of my LBD approaches? (Besides the ones I've listed here) There just might be a teeny tiny prize for someone who can correctly name one of my LBDs.

But what about you?! What are you LBDs? Those handy tools, techniques, color schemes that you find yourself turning to over and over again. I'd love to hear about them so please comment and share!

cheers & besos,

P.S. I recognized the boo-boo I made when putting together the image of all of my March kit projects. The kit is actually called A Chance for Luck! Whoopsy =/

LBD: GIRLS Mini

I mini booked! It's been so long since I've hand made a mini start to finish. This was a little labor of love.  I worked on it in little bits over about two weeks.

I used my Little Black Dress kit, my Silhouette Cameo, Primrose Color Shine, 1 sheet of white cardstock and a sheet of pink to create this mini! I even designed all of the cuts and made my own mini printables for each of the pages.

My inspiration came from the show GIRLS. It's an HBO show that I really liked Season 1. Season 2? Meh, not so much. Essentially it's about 4 recent grads living in Brooklyn. There's a lot of Sex & the City references but there's really not much there beyond the fact that 4 female friends interact. I'm not sure that I'd recommend it to ya. The content is a bit riske. But maybe you like that, I don't know.

But anyhow, they have a really great show opener. It's literally just the world GIRLS in a great deco font on a plain background. So simple and classic! I found a few articles about it, you can read more here.

I wanted to create a mini about my own GIRLS. This one features my top 5 ladies. After Mama who is clearly numero uno, they really aren't in any particular order. They're all my besties though!

The mini book is a match book. I was directly inspired by Kristina Nicolai-White's video on Two Peas. I'll warn you, this post is very photo heavy. But aren't all mini book posts? I want you to see the details! So I'll stop typing now and let you feast your eyes on my latest and last Little Black Dress kit creation.

cheers & besos,

LBD: Wonder

This went up on the Little Black Dress Blog a few days ago but wanted to share it here!

This is the first photo I've ever scrapped from my Prague/Budapest trip. It was a most amazing trip. I think my favorite from that year of traveling. So inevitably that intimidates me, of course! 

Why?! I have no idea. I think it's because I want the pages to be as awesome as the trip was. And when you put that crazy amount of pressure on yourself, it cripples you! Or me at least. I know, I know. I'm weird.

But at least this first page is done! Thanks to Jon (I think) who snapped photos of me too. It's nice to be in a few photos. I'm so often just behind the camera!

This is 100% a LBDKit creation. I added nothing else but two staples and a bit of twine. Loved the monochromatic look of the kit and how all the gray and browns mirrored those in my photo.

Oh traveling {sigh} I miss you. I need to plan some trips stat!!

I think this is the last LBD scrapbook page I have to show you. But I have a mini book and a post about my kit leftovers coming and then I think I can officially call the March kit done =)

cheers & besos,

LBD: Color Layouts

Happy Friday yall! I hope you're having a lovely nearly Spring filled week. It's been bright and sunny here in Houston all week, and only just a tad bit on the cold side in the mornings. 

So I've been busy studying my life away (and procrastinating my time away too) as I study to sit for the Project Management Professional exam. It's scheduled for April 1 so keep your fingers crossed for me that I'll pass!

Any who, I wanted to share a few colorful layouts with you today. It was fun adding color to the fairly monochromatic LBD A Chance for Luck kit. 

I did this using two approaches:

1) By adding colorful cardstock in repetitive ways

2) By going to town with my mists!

I love the jolts of color this will add to my scrapbooks! They liven things up a bit, don't you think?

I'm having a blast creating with this Little Black Dress kit! I still have another layout and a mini book to share. Be back with those once I get a bit more studying in =)

cheers & besos,

LBD: Pie Chart Cards

Well hey there! Thanks for stopping by! I'm still crafting away with my March 2013 Little Black Dress Kit and today I wanted to share a quick card making tutorial with yall, sound good? =)

I love making cards. I didn't use to for some reason. I think because I didn't think I was very good at it. But slowly & surely they have become one of my favorite type of craft projects.

Every time I get a kit, I imagine ways to use the supplies to make not just one but multiples of the same card design. Why not make a few if you're going through the trouble of making one, right?!

To do this, I tend to stay away from adding pre-made embellishments. And instead, try to find creative ways to make my own, typically by using patterned papers, mists, punches, die cuts. You know, things that will stretch just a teeny bit further.

Here's one of the cards I made: 

I managed to make 4 out of a block of 6x12 in cardstock!

Here are the supplies I used:

LBD Kit Materials:

Tulle

Patterned paper scraps leftover for my projects

"Hello" die cuts cut from vellum

Non-LBD Materials:

6x12in block of white cardstock

Silver mist

Mint mist

Silver Tape

Tools:

Tiny attacher

Corner rounder

Silhouette Cameo

Step 1: Cut a 12x6in sheet of white cardstock into 4-3x6in rectangles. Fold in half.

Step 2: Mist cards with mint colored mist, drop silver splatters.

Step 3: Cut tulle squares. Adhere to card base.

Step 4: Round opposing corners of card base.

Step 5: Cut 5-2 1/2in circles

Step 6: Create a template using one of the circles, cut out pieces. (I labeled and numbered mine so I would know which was which!)

Step 7: Trace pieces onto patterned paper. Cut out.

Step 8: Using your fingernail, rough up the edges of each piece and adhere to circle.

Step 9: Die cut sentiment from vellum. Staple to pie chart.

Step 10: Adhere pie chart to card base.

And there you go! 4 min cards. These are very cute and tiny and I'm loving the color scheme. I can't wait to stick them in envelopes and send them off to some friends =)

I'm hoping to keep this up with each month's kit, a blog series if you will. Who doesn't like those?! Check back in April for the next one =)

cheers & besos,

LBD March Cards

And finally, the cards I made using the Little Black Dress kit club kit!

I'm still gushing about the neutrals yall! Here are two cards I made with the kit, featuring a neutral color scheme. 

I think because they're neutral, they're good for boys or girls. This first one just happens to be for my Papa. His 51st birthday is this Friday and since I'm down here in San Antonio for work, I got to hand deliver it myself. Good thing too, because sending it through the mail would probably have ruined it!

This last one was made with a mess of scraps I had hanging around my desk. There's just enough pop and dimension to make this card unique.

Thanks so much for bearing with me through 3 blog posts today. Yall are the greatest!!

And seriously, check out the Little Black Dress kit club if you haven't already. I still have plenty a fun in store for the rest of this kit. Just not enough time to execute it all before reveal day. So stayed tuned and check back.

Thanks yall!

cheers & besos,

LBD March Layouts

Hey there! I'm so excited to share my first pages for the Little Black Dress Kit club, using the A Chance for Luck kit. I've just shared all the bits and pieces you get from this kit and now I want to show you my layouts!

I loved the monochromatic look of the papers so I used a bunch on this page about me. I shared 5 things about life right now in March 2013.

1. I am a new member to the Little Black Dress Kit club! (I should probably have added design team member in there. But as I was doing this at 1am I wasn't actually thinking straight!)
2. Wishing I could sleep more. This year has already been a whirlwind. Off to San Antonio for work this week. (Ha! See item one)
3. So loving anything metallic right now & am wearing my latest favorite dress in this pic.
4. Losing weight! Down 10 lbs since the new year & hoping to lose much more.
5. Planning my holidays for the year. I want to make it to Australia but will definitely by visiting the Pacific Northwest with MT this summer.

I used my Silhouette to cut out these tear drop shapes. They're fairly similar to the silver pattern on my dress. But these I backed with all the great grays & neutrals. I dappled some gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine (which btw I absolutely adore. I bought all the colors!!) And added title on top of a piece of wood veneer.

This is for my monthly black cardstock challenge. I don't use this rich hue enough in my scrapbooking. So I'm hoping to share a monthly page using this overlooked neutral.

The next page features one of my favorite families. My friends Susie & Gus welcomed baby Lauren last August and they are the absolute cutest. I love this photo of the three of them. I snapped it at Kim & Eric's wedding last month.

I had fun with the background paper and did some painting with pink mist. Then I outlined the hearts and added in a few of my own. There's so much love in this little family love had to be the theme.

I used that kraft butterfly I was talking about, instead of hoarding it like I wanted to. And I used some wood veneer, a Silhouette cut and a little kraft envelope to anchor the photo and create a title.

This last page is just fun. I loved the Studio Calico patterned paper, with it's neutral gray color and its diagonal stripes. They were just begging to be filled in with pops of color and a bit of texture.

I used some patterned paper strips and a few of the great trims. I like all the color on here since we're all wearing different colored clothes in the photos. I added just a bit more dimension with the gorgeous gold buttons and the red brads that came in the kit.

Next, I'm sharing the two cards I made. Check back in just a few for them =)

cheers & besos,

LBD Kit: A Chance for Luck

Hi yall! I'm showing off my first ever Little Black Dress kit club kit!!

Introducing, the A Chance for Luck kit. Tada!!

The kit had a gorgeous array of black/white/cream/gray patterned papers, along with some great pops of color. You get 12 sheets with each kit and since patterned paper is by far my favorite supply, I'm loving it!

Here are the A and B sides of all the patterned paper.

These kits also have an awesome smattering of cute, interesting and unique embellishments. Just look at this great trim and the oh so unique button pack. I'm loving those gold buttons and the kraft butterfly. Aren't those kraft envelopes so tiny and perfect?! One ended up being the central piece of one of the cards I made. 

I love the uniqueness of this kit and how you can't just drive to your LSS to get all of the parts. It'd take a trip to an antique store, a trip to a sewing store and a trip to an office supply store to get all of the little bits and pieces assembled here.

I'm so excited to share what I made with these goodies, next!

cheers & besos,

Wedding Snaps

Happy Monday friends! 

Today I wanted to share another Bright Ideas page I made. Adore gray with any color these days. So I've completely fallen in love with that awesome Ki Memories Flashback sheet and this lovely XO print by Crate Paper. I combined both for this page of wedding snaps.

I used a Bright Ideas sketch and hand stitched around my title, which is a Silhouette cut I created.

Then I used bits of lace and those awesome Heidi Swapp chipboard hearts to embellish. Plus that great Martha Stewart flower. I thought the color was great for this page.

But my page was so full,  and I had so much journaling to do. I didn't know where to put it all. Until, I decided to add a handbook page to my album.  Using the leftover embellishments from the page, and the vellum photo from the card I made them, I decorated a few pockets and managed to journal about this great day.

I love the vellum photo and how you get to see it on both sides of this page protector.

It was such a great wedding. I had an absolute blast and I think the bride & groom enjoyed themselves too!

cheers & besos,