The winner of the PageMapsU Giveaway

Hello!  I'm stopping in real quick tonight to reveal the winner of the PageMapsU Giveaway.  Random Number Generator selected lucky number.....

That's you - ROXANNE RAWLS!!!  Congratulations!  Please email me at jaclynrench@yahoo.com so we can get you set up for your free PageMapsU class!

And thanks to all who stopped by and commented for a chance to win.  I hope to see you here again!

Project Life Inspired: A Bella Blvd Layout

****Note: if you missed my post from yesterday, please be sure to click over and leave a comment for a chance to win a spot in PageMapsU first online session.  That post can be found here and the giveaway will only remain open until the 29th so don't wait!

There is no denying that "Project Life" has taken the scrapbooking world by storm.  If you haven't heard of it you might be hiding under a rock, am I right?!  However, whether or not you do an actual Project Life album or not, there are plenty of ways to be inspired by and incorporate the concept into your regular scrapbooking.

 

This month as part of one of my Bella assignments I was asked to create a page that was "Inspired By Project Life". I took no hesitation in reaching for Bella's Daily Details patterned paper sheets to complete my that assignment.

 

I cut out some of my favorite 3x4 cards from the Trick or Treat Daily Details paper, and mixed in a few other patterns from the same collection, to fill in as needed.  By trimming the additional patterned papers and my photos to match the 3x4 card size from the Daily Details sheet, I was easily able to pull together a simple grid design for my page.

Bella Supplies used: Trick or Treat: Pick A Punkin', No Brainer, Daily Details, Captions, Tabs, Paper Pieces; Daily Chevies and Everyday Bits: Pickle Juice, Black & White Arrows; Designer Tape: Chevron Combo; Button Market: Text, Neutral Mix. Other: American Crafts cardstock and sequins, machine stitching, crochet thread.

This October 'card' might be my very favorite piece from the Daily Details sheet.  Something about the gray woodgrain and centered sentiment that I just love.  I couldn't resist adding a couple of matching sequins, as those tend to be showing up in nearly every project I make these days!

 

I also put a dent in my paper pieces stash, while working on this page.  I love all of the little diecuts that are already trimmed and coordinated!  I simply accented them with a little stitching and/or foam adhesive.  Cute and easy!

 

The ending result isn't short on photos, patterns or even embellishments.  In fact, by modeling my traditional scrapbook page after the format of a project life spread I was able to streamline the design and still include plenty of memories, pictures and lots of bright, fun Bella goodies! 

Stop on over to the Bella blog to see how the other designers were inspired to incorporate Project Life alongside oodles of Bella Blvd goodies!

 

Thanks for stopping by today, blog friends!  I'll be back soon with some of my final Bella pages to share with you!

 

PageMapsU GIVEAWAY!!!!

 ****This giveaway is closed.  Thanks so much to all who commented!

 

Have you checked out the freebie mini class at PageMaps yet? This little nugget is just a small taste of the sketch classes being offered at PageMaps U and I am proud to be one of the teachers in this first four-week session! Here's a little peek at some of what's included in that class:

 

 

I can assure you that the full reveal of all of the pages and projects will be equally as inspiring.  I mean, just check out the list of teachers and you know you are in for a real treat!  That list includes some of my personal favorite and most inspiring scrapbookers in the industry!

 

Registration begins October 1st for Class 1 but before it starts, you have a chance to win a free spot being given away here on my blog! Just post a comment about why you use PageMaps sketches and we'll give away the spot on September 30th. Super easy! And even if you don't win this freebie spot, this is a class you won't want to miss!

The Bella Buzz

As promised, I'm back today to share the link to the September edition of The Bella Buzz newsletter. 

If you haven't had a chance to check it out don't wait another minute.  You can find it right here.  This issue features designer Lisa Dickinson, one of my favorite scrappers.  She's sharing some fun facts about herself and two beautiful and inspiring pages.

I, along with Jen Chapin, participated in the newsletter challenge.  This month's 'Challenge on the Blvd' was to use a mix of the new Daily Chevies and Play Date collections, alongside three colors of crochet hearts.  Combining lots of bright, fun Bella goodies - that's a challenge I'm willing to take any day!  Here is my take...

Bella supplies used: Daily Chevies & Everyday Bits: Chevy Bell Pepper, Chevy Gulf, Everyday Bookplates, Pickle Juice Arrows, Gulf Arrows; Play Date: Daily Details, Alpha+Bits, Captions; Snapshots: Captions; Crochet Hearts: Pickle Juice, Gulf, Bell Pepper; Designer Tape: 12mm Combo, Chevron Combo, Gray Dot, Gray Chevron; Button Market: Masculine Mix.; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Brown-Cream; Other: Studio Calico sequins, American Crafts cardstock and date stamp, crochet thread, machine stitiching, Veteran Typewriter font (journaling), Pacifico font (title).

It was a seamless exercise to mix and match items from Daily Chevies alongside the fun and playful patterns in the Play Date collection.  I simply pulled my color palette from my photo and went to work identifying pieces in the two collections to coordinate with that.  And with crochet hearts available in so many gorgeous colors, adding three to my page felt like no challenge at all!

Thanks for stopping by!

A peek at some upcoming projects

Happy Sunday!  Hope you are enjoying a warm and pleasant day, like we are here in Ohio.  I'm about to step out to take my youngest son to his second flag football game of the season.  But before I do, I wanted to pop in and share some peeks at a couple of things I have been working on behind the scenes.  It's always hard to keep from sharing fun scrappy news, but now I can give you a little taste of two exciting projects I've had a little hand in recently.  

If you're a fan of sketches (like I am!) then you're certain to know the name Becky Fleck and Pagemaps - those three names are practically synonymous! A recent visit to the Pagemaps site might have clued you in that something big is happening over there.  Becky and Pagemaps have revealed a new online educational program titled PagemapsU.

Registration for the first class begins on October 1st, but starting today you can preview a sample of the class for FREE on the Pagemaps website here. How exciting is that?  I am very honored to be one of the designers asked to create projects for this fun, new educational program.  I hope you'll hop over and check out the first free session.  It features step by step directions for creating a darling card by Becky and a super cute layout from Kelly Goree.  Not only that, but you can download some free exclusive cut files for you diecut machine!

I also wanted to share a peek of something fun that will be available from Bella Blvd, tomorrow!

It's the September issue of the Bella Buzz newsletter, and I just *might* have a little something included in it!  I'll be back tomorrow to share a link to the full newsletter and a look at the page I created for it.

Until then have a great Sunday and thanks for stopping by today, friends!

Back to Preschool

It's hard to believe that this little buddy of mine will be heading off to four day preschool on Monday! 

 

That's a big jump from the two day class he attended last year.  But, he is my laid back, go-with-the-flow kinda kid, so I know the transition won't phase him too much.  And the fact that he's been watching his big brother head off to school each morning for weeks now, has him definitely excited to do the same!  Mommy, on the other hand, will just be forced to deal with it and keep busy with the other mischievous little sweetie running around here.  I'm sure she won't make that too hard!

 

With Justin's new school year on the horizon, I thought I'd better get to sharing the page I put together documenting his first day of school from the 2012-2013 school year.  I put this page together back in the springtime, after I snagged some of Doodlebug's colorful and office-themed line 'Take Note'.

 

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Supplies used: Doodlebug Designs - patterned paper, Doodlepop sticker, buttons (star shaped), cardstock (yellow); Crate Paper - brad (blue fabric); KI Memories - stamps (smiley, 'through the lens', numbers), chipboard star; Stampin' Up - stamps ('first day of school', alphabet), ink (yellow); American Crafts - cardstock (kraft background), date stamp; Pebbles - ribbon; My Mind's Eye - enamel dots; Queen & Co - washi tape; Simple Stories - label stickers; Heidi Swapp - journaling spot; Veteran Typewriter font; Memories - black ink;  Other: binder clip, crochet thread.

What's a page about school without some actual school-type supplies?!  I've had this little blue binder clip in my stash for years and knew it would be the perfect accent for this page.  Speaking of 'older supplies', do you recognize anything else in this picture that may have been sitting in my stash for a bit of time?  I, in fact, spy two things - the chipboard star is from an old KI Memories school collection, and the little 'today' paper is a journaling pad from a Heidi Swapp collection I picked up many moons ago!  Anybody remember either of those?  Sometimes it's fun to mix the new with the old!

I have been adding these Simple Stories SNAP labels to just about everything that crosses my scrap desk lately.  They are just the perfect size and colors to fit in just about anywhere.  And as you can see here, I'm having fun stamping on them, as well!

 

My very favorite piece of patterned paper from the Doodlebug Take Note collection was definitely the 'Ditto Dots' double sided paper, as seen here:

 

I immediately feel in love with those sweet little clipboards and knew that they would make a great spot for journaling and possibly even help to add an interactive element to my page.

 

I was right!  I simply selected and trimmed out one of the clipboards to use as my base, then trimmed around only the clasp and paper of a second clipboard to layer over top of the first.  Once attached, just at the top, it allows the 'paper' on the clipboard to flip up, just as it would on a real clipboard, and reveal additional journaling.  Kind of fun, huh?!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  If I can get through Monday with another of my littles off to school, I'll be back with some more crafty things to share!  Wish me luck (and not too many tears!).