Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Circle obsessed

Ever since I got a couple of new larger circle punches for Christmas I have been quite obsessed with circles.
I've not been much of a circle person before this.
But now I am quite circle crazy!
Case in point... I made this one with the new warm & cozy Homespun kit from Noel Mignon!
The theme of this layout was inspired by the Hambly camera transparency. And of course I had to pull out my circle punch!


:)

Hope yall are having a great week!!
And happy LEAP DAY by the way!!


:)
g
retchen

Monday, February 27, 2012

Playing catch up (warning: project overload)

OK I am so behind on posting the projects I made for Bella Blvd using the super new products that debuted at CHA last month.
So I am not going to do much talking and just show off some stuff!!

*****





First up, here is a layout using the new (and my favorite) Sunshine & Happiness line...Here is a page using some of the new Sophisticates stuff (new papers, alpha stickers, crochet flowers)...

And how about some not-so-new-but-just-as-fabulous stuff??!!
Here is a card with the Winter Wonder line...

And one with the Spring Flings and Easter Things line...

Inside of the card...

OK I think that gets me mostly caught up!!
{oh! i still have a mini album to share! maybe tomorrow!}
:)
Don't forget you have through this week to participate in last week's challenges over on the Bella Blvd blog for your chance to win $100 worth of Bella Blvd loot!
Check out the Bella Blvd blog for details!
:)
gretchen

Friday, February 24, 2012

Fun challenges at Bella Blvd!

Hey!
All week there have been fun challenges going on over on the
Bella Blvd blog.

Like today's challenge is to use punched circles on a project.
And here is a card I made...

{using the new Sunshine & Happiness line}*****
And then earlier this week one of the challenges was to use patterned paper as an embellishment.
So I cut a bunch of clouds out of a sheet of patterned paper from the
Sunshine & Happiness line and used them to embellish this card...

*****
OUT
FOR
PUBLICATION
*****

And I also punched some circles out of patterned paper and cut a couple of tiny hearts out of patterned paper from the new Baby Boy line to make this card...



The other challenges are to use Cute Cuts on a project, use a sheet of the Borders on a project, and then use papers from 4 different collections on a project.
Great challenges!
And all of them very do-able!
:)
So I think you should play along!
You could win a big phat (yes i meant to spell that with a "ph") prize pack of $100 worth of Bella Blvd products!
All you have to do is play along with the challenges and link them up over on the
Bella blog.
If you participate in one challenge, your name will be entered in one time.

If you participate in three of the challenges, your name will be entered in three times.

Make sense?

And how about a bonus!!
If you participate in all five challenges, your name will be entered in not five times, but TEN times!
There is a button at the end of each blog post to let you link up your completed projects.

You have until Friday, March 2nd, to get your links added on.

Winner will be announced on Saturday, March 3rd.
So get to scrapping!!!
{check out the Bella Blvd blog for more details and great inspiration for each of the challenges}
:)
TGIF!!
gretchen

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Pebbles scraplift

This week we are scraplifting other design team members over on the Pebbles blog!
Fun!
So I picked out a great layout to lift...


This one is by the uber-talented Melanie Blackburn.
{thanks Mel!!}
I struggle with using two horizontal pictures on a page.
Two vertical ones I can handle and 3 horizontal, no problem!


But two horizontal pictures stump me!


So when I saw how Melanie used the two pictures on her layout I knew I had to scraplift it to finally get these two pictures scrapped.
The pictures are vertical on her layout so I just turned her layout to the right
and viola!
Now the pictures are horizontal!
And then I just scraplifted from there...



{all products are Pebbles}
Thank you Melanie for the inspiration!!
:)
Tomorrow is my Friday and I am stoked!
gretchen

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

2 kits, 2 cards, NO tape runner!

So have you heard about the This or That challenge for February over at Noel Mignon??!
You have to either give up your paper trimmer or your tape runner.
Tough one, huh??!
Well I didn't get a chance to do the challenge in January so I definitely wanted to this month's.
I just didn't realize how tough it was going to be!!
After much deliberation I decided to give up my tape runner.
Even though I don't absolutely love my current paper trimmer, I figured my infatuation with brads staplers would make the no tape runner thing do-able.
So here is what I made and the proof that I did it honestly!
:)
Card #1 using the delightful Charm School kit from Noel Mignon...

The hearts & the "hugs & kisses" sticker are adhered with foam adhesive. The striped paper is attached brads.
The cardstock matting the "hugs & kisses" sticker was stapled to the card first before I added the sticker.
Here's my proof...



And card #2 using the Cabin Fever kit... The brown cardstock and the green/blue paper were stapled to the card very strategically.
Then the "baby, it's cold outside" sentiment was adhered over the staples using foam adhesive.
And here's the proof again...
(sorry for the poor quality of my "proof" pictures. i decided too late to take those pictures and had no sunlight at all!)
*****
You still have time to play along with us if you want.
You have until the end of the month to make something without your tape runner or without your paper trimmer!
AND
you really need to check out the new Noel Mignon site.
It is sooo pretty!!
{check it out here}
Oh! One more cool thing...
Noel is now offering 6-month subscriptions for her incredible kits!!
WHOOP WHOOP!!
You can see all the details and perks {here}.
*****
Happy Tuesday folks!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
haaaaappy birthday dear Kimber
happy birthday to you!!



Or maybe I should say,
Lordy
Lordy
Look who's 40!!
*****
Here's a close up of your birthday card!
You know, since people your age don't always see real well!
:)


I kid! I kid!!
*****
Seriously, though, happy birthday to one of the most talented people I know!
I hope you have an excellent birthday Kimber!
I am glad I get to be a small part of it!
*****
Now hop on along to your next stop at Nicole Nowosad's blog.
And if you are jumping in here in the middle of this blog hop, head to the Jillibean Soup blog to start at the beginning.
Hop along with us just for fun and wish Kimber a happy birthday along the way!
*****
Happy 40th Kimber and
happy Saturday!
:)
gretchen

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Want some stamps??!


Go leave a comment on {this post} over on the Bella Blvd blog for a chance to win some of Bella's new stamps!

And you are welcome!
:)

FYI



The February newsletter from Bella Blvd is up!

Check out this post on the Bella blog for a link to the newsletter.
It is stocked full of fun inspirations so you don't want to miss it!

{plus of course it is freeeee!}

There has been some fun Valentine's inspiration for the past 3 days over on the Bella blog.
I made a couple of cards for it!
I stuck with the usual pinks and reds for on my first Valentine's card.
The new Punch Sophisticates paper and Pink-Red High Five Alphabets from Bella Blvd

were the perfect pinks and reds to use!
And I thought the calendar sticker from the Sunshine & Happiness Just Write Journaling Stickers would make a great background here and compliment the Sophisticates stuff well.



I went a little less traditional with this next card and used a lot of green and brown to compliment the usual pink and red Valentine's colors.
I think it turned out kind of fun!

OK that's all I've got today!
*****
FYI: there is a fun blog hop coming up this weekend.
But that is all I am saying right now.
{insert evil laugh}
*****
Happy Thursday!
gretchen

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

How was your V-Day??

Did you do anything special for Valentine's Day or get anything good??
Do tell!
We celebrate Valentine's Day every day in my house so we did not feel the need to do anything major yesterday.
{chuckle, chuckle}
But I did make some fun treats for my girls at work!
I mean, it was Valentine's day and figure it makes for a better work environment if everyone's chocolate stash is fully stocked!


So I grabbed my Charm School kit from Noel Mignon and made them a little something...

Well I hope your Valentine's Day was great!
Or I hope you at least got some chocolate!
:)
gretchen

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Mix 'n Match Monday

Yeah I know that it is Tuesday, but yesterday was Mix 'n Match Monday over on the Pebbles blog.

And I made a layout for it!!
I mean, who says you have to have sports-themed products to do a sports layout?!!
No sports stuff needed when you can mix 'n match Pebbles products!
These pictures have a lot of red and blue in them so I immediately reached for the Fresh Goods line to get me started.
The With Love line has some great red in it too and it coordinates well with Fresh Goods stuff.
I used the tiny dotted paper from With Love to punch a few stars and used the red alphabets for my title.
I ended up using 2 sheets of paper from the Happy Go Lucky line for the background of this 2-page layout.
The light blue patterned paper made for a good, subtle contrast to the other colors in this layout.
I like how this non-sporty sports layout ended up turning out!

*****
OUT FOR
PUBLICATION
*****
Thanks for looking!!
And happy Valentine's day!
Much love,
gretchen

Happy Valentine's Day

Supplies: Patterned paper, Stickers (Bella Blvd)
*****
happy Valentine's day friends!!
I hope it is a special one!
:)

love,
gretchen

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

3 cards in 30 minutes

Hey!
We are celebrating Valentine's day over at Noel Mignon from now until the big day.
Today is my day to put up a project so I used my Charm School kit to make 3 easy
lovey-dovey cards.
And I've got instructions on how to make all 3 of these cards in 30 minutes up on the Noel Mignon blog.

*****

OUT FOR
PUBLICATION
*****


Hurry up!
Valentine's day is just a few days away!
Get to making those cards!
:)
gretchen

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Crochet flowers!!



Today is all about the new crochet flowers over on the Bella Blvd blog!
I love these!
They are pretty enough to stand alone on a project like this card...




And they mix well with other Bella embellishments like on this layout...

See how they coordinate so well with the Blooms 'a Bella and the colors are versatile enough to match so many of Bella's lines!


Don't you just love them!?!

Check out the Bella Blvd blog for more great projects using these crochet flowers!
:)
Happy Tuesday!
gretchen

Monday, February 6, 2012

back to Inspiration Unlimited Week

There is still tons of inspiration to be found over on the Bella Blvd blog!

Today was all about the new flags Bella debuted at CHA.
They are super fun!
And I've made a few things with them...







See??!!
So cute!
Check out the Bella Blvd blog for many more (and better) projects using the flags!
:)
gretchen

psssst! check this out!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

9 years later...

hey hey!!

I have another layout to share that I made with the Charm School kit from Noel Mignon!
It took a little while for this layout to come together though.
I had a single picture (that I stumbled up while cleaning out our guest bedroom) and a bunch of journaling that I wanted to put on the layout.


But. I. just. could. not. get. going.

So I started looking through some recent layouts to see if anything sparked my interest.
That is when I came across this page I made with the Hudson Valley kit.
{also from Noel Mignon}



Inspiration gained!
I used that layout to jumpstart my creativity, and I ended up with this layout using the Charm School kit... And I love the way it turned out!
yay!!
:)
OK one more day until the weekend right??!
A
nother yay!!
:)
gretchen

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Sunshine & Happiness

Bella Blvd featured the delightful Sunshine & Happiness line over on their blog yesterday.

I love this line!
Might be my favorite line from Bella Blvd to date!!
Here are a few cards I made using a little
Sunshine & Happiness...





Make sure to check out the Bella Blvd blog for lots more inspiration!
There are layouts and cards using the new Baby Girl line over there today!
:)
gretchen