Creating With Sketches V4 - GIVEAWAY!!

Hi friends! As many of you know I love sketches to use for my scrapbook pages ... no surprise there, right?! I'm excited to say that Kristine Davidson of Creative Scrappers has just completed Volume #4 of Creating With Sketches and guess who she asked to contribute a design with one of the sketches in this amazing new book?! Yes! One of them was me!

The eBook is available today and I am so excited to be able to give one away on my blog (compliments of Kristine)!

Just leave me a comment in the next few days and I'll do a random draw on Wednesday December 7th!

Here's a sneak peek of my page, you'll find the complete layout on page 22 of the book!

Good luck to you all! These sketch books are such a great resource to have on hand. They make scrapping so much more fun!

Hugs,

Monique

Christmas Giving - Doodlebug 2017 Calendar

Hello friends! I'm so happy to start off the "Christmas Gift Giving" week at Doodlebug's blog. For my "Gift" I chose to create this happy & colorful Doodlebug desk calendar for 2017! Because what can be more fun than sitting behind your desk at your office (while you'd much rather be at home crafting!) and look up from your work and see this colorful piece standing on top of your desk?!

The calendar consists of six double-sided cards which all fit into one sheer cd case and when the cd case is folded open it doubles as a standard for the calendar! Super simple! 

Here's a photo of the first six months and where January stands in the open cd case.

And here's a photo of the other months, only December is hidden behind November:

And this is the closed cd case with all the months inside. I used the Flea Market collection and the Teensy Type alphabet stickers.

Let me tell you quickly what I did: I cut 6 pieces of white cardstock (12x14 cm). Then I cut the months of the year from one of the 6"x 6" Petite Prints paper pad using my Silhouette Cameo and these two cut files from Lori Whitlock: #36959 and #36960 and I printed this free printable calendar and chose the one with 6 months on one page. 

I adhered the colored months on the white cardstock pieces and then the printed calendars on top. I took care not to adhere the month cards too low on the cardstock, because that part of the card would have to fit in the narrow cd sleeve, together with five other cards!  

Next I gathered my leftover stickers from random collections (can even be much older collections):

And now the fun could begin: embellishing the twelve months! Again, I took care to not over-embellish as I wanted the six cards to fit into the cd sleeve! 

Here's a photo of the front of the cards: January - June 2017

And a photo of the back of the cards: July - December 2017

I only needed a few stickers to make the cards fun! 

This was so much fun to make and also so very easy and inexpensive (which is rather nice in such an expensive month as December!) that I think I'll make another one, but then for myself to take into the office (this one is for my sis). 

Here are all twelve months up close.

  

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today and letting me share my Doodlebug "Christmas Gift Giving" project with you. If you have any questions just let me know and I'll get back to you! 

Wishing you a crafty day!
xoxo

Monique

Doodlebug Flea Market Lanterns

Hello friends! Just popping in to share my latest Doodlebug project with you (you can find it on Doodlebug's blog here).

I created these 3 lanterns using a lantern cut file from the Silhouette shop and Doodlebug's Flea Market collection. I cut the lanterns from my Petite Prints papers in three different colors and decorated them with die-cuts, (mini) doodle-pops, stickers and also one of Doodlebug's new cut files: the little fox. 

I love Doodlebug's new cut files and just needed to make this little fox with the fox cut file (you can find a Studio file in the Silhouette store here and the SVG file in Lori Whitlock's store here): 

Isn't he adorable?! I just love that the new cut files give me the opportunity to decide how large I want this fox! What I would also like to try is to create one in totally different colors, like maybe a blue or a green fox ... just for fun. 

And here are the lanterns one by one. I adhered some vellum behind the windows in two of the lanterns and left the other lantern "open". I love the brighter light of the (fake) candle in the open lantern, but I also love the soft glow caused by the vellum. 

The Doodle-Pops, like this night owl, are just perfect for projects like these as they offer just that bit of extra dimension.

Here is the little black country crow a mini Doodle-Pop, the mouse is a sticker from the sheet of Icons Stickers and the other elements are die-cuts from the Odds & Ends package: 

I really love how these turned out! 

Here's just one more photo:

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today and taking a peek at my project. Wishing you a wonderful day! 

Monique

Happy Fall Y'All - Pretty Little Studio

Hey everyone!! Today I've got a Pinterest inspired layout up on Pretty Little Studio's blog using the awesome Oakley Avenue collection! When I saw the Pinterest photo I was meant to use I was really excited as it’s perfect for the Oakley Avenue collection which I really wanted to use for today’s post.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out 6 feathers and arranged them on my white background similar to the way the arrows in the photo are placed. I added some machine stitching and chose a Fall photo I took of the pumpkins we made last month and got started. Here’s the result:

And here's the Pinterest photo I used: 

source: Pinterest

The feathers were cut from the Cozy Blanket paper and Patina (one of the papers from the 8×8 paper pack) and I really like how they turned out!

I also used one of the stamps belonging to this collection! I’m quite proud of that! I’m a huge fan of stamps and have quite a stash, but when it comes to actually using them I always find a excuse why I shouldn’t use them … but not now!

And of course I added one of the many awesome flair buttons of this collection, this one is from the “Fall” package.

And because the feathers in the Pinterest photo are actually arrows, I decided to add some arrow die-cuts in between the feathers:

Pretty Little Studio products used:

• Oakley Avenue collection: Patterned Paper: Oakley Avenue 8×8 paper pack, Cozy Blanket; Die-Cuts: Fall Away Arrows, Orchard Words, Fall Faves; Flair: Fall; Vellum Tape: Fall In Love; Stamps: Cedar; Journaling Cards: Apple Cider 3×4; Frames: Weathered.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! Wishing you happy crafting!
xoxo
Monique

Joining the Like For Ever Design Team!

Good morning everyone! Just wanted to pop in quickly to share my wonderful news! I've been asked to join the Design Team of the Like For Ever kit club for the next 6 months!! I'm so happy as they have really amazing kits! Can't wait to play with those! Here's the complete team and if you want to learn more about them, in the next week we will all be introduced on the Like For Ever blog!

 

 

And you know what I find so amazing about this kit club? The kit is a ‘no commitment no cancellation fee' kit.  This means that they do not ask you to subscribe for a minimum number of months and they do not charge you to cancel your kit subscription! For more information about this kit club, click HERE.

Thank you so much for letting me share this fantastic news with you!

Have a fab day!
xoxo
Monique

Captured - Pretty Little Studio

While working on my Pretty Little Studio projects this afternoon made me realise that I still have one layout which I wanted to share on my blog! For this page I used the wonderful Let’s Go Travel collection and an old photo of me. I also used a brand new punch: the mini alphabet punch from We R Memory Keepers. Here’s what I created:

When I started my page I first divided my page in two: the top part for the photo and the bottom part for a large title. I started with the top of my layout for which I chose leftover scraps of paper, vellum and part of a clear sheet. Next came two 3×4 cards, a piece of vellum tape, a flair button, a ticket and two tags. For the bottom half of my page I created a large title using the mini alphabet punch board from We R Memory Keepers (so awesome!) and stitched the letters to the cardstock background. With a bit of hand journaling between the top and bottom half of my layout my page was more or less finished. Here are some close-ups of my page:

I love using the PLS clear sheets and the ones in this collection form no exception. They match every paper imaginable and are perfect if you want more layers, which I happen to love!

Did I ever mention that I adore the vellum strips? I use them on almost all of my pages.

PLS Products Used:

• Let’s Go Travel Collection: paper: Athens, Orlando, Denver, Sydney; Clear: Go West; Vellum: Global Yellow; Journaling Cards: Pittsburgh, Bingo Bahamas; Shipping Tags: Cheyenne; Flair: Fresno; Tickets: Define.Travel; Cut-Outs: mini words Columbia; Feathers: Florida; Stickers: Vellum Tape Let’s Go.

Thank you so much for stopping by our blog to take a peek at my project!

Have a great day!

xxx

Monique

Mid November Sketch Reveal at Stuck?! Sketches!

Hi everyone! Yesterday it was time for the mid November sketch challenge at Stuck?! Sketches!! Here's what I made, using the Let's Go collection from Bella Blvd and a photo of my kids at this waterfront monument in New Orleans.

and this is the sketch Laura designed for us:

Isn't it fun?! 

And here are a few close-ups. I really love this travel collection from Bella Blvd! 

And if you feel like joining us and give this sketch a try then here're the prizes that are up for grabs: 

Creative Embellishments are offering a $25.00 gift certificate to their online shop.

and 

D-Lish Scraps is offering a free"Just add paper" kit! 

All you have to do is create a layout using the sketch above and link it up over in the sidebar at Stuck?! Sketches' blog by November 29th! All prizes will be drawn randomly using Random.org to pick a number.

If you're looking for a bit more inspiration for this sketch, then hop over to Stuck?! Sketches' blog and have a look at all the layouts of the other team members. You won't be disappointed! 

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and I can't wait to see what y'all create! 

xoxo

Monique

Doodlebug Fun In The Sun Cut Files

Hello friends! The layout below was created with the brand new Fun In The Sun cut files from Doodlebug! The photo is of my hubby and eldest son spending some father/son time on Hawaii last year. The Fun In The Sun collection is just perfect for the photos they took.

I used the globe cut file and the cut files of cactus #2 and cactus #3. I just adore that globe! As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to use a very large one for my page, so that's where I started. I used my Silhouette Cameo and the box of Doodlebug Rainbow Assortment Cardstock to cut out all the pieces of the globe:

and put it together, which was so super easy. Isn't it awesome?!

Assembling the two cacti was very easy as well, although I did use a little trick when it came to cactus #3. As this cactus has six light green vertical strips which have to be adhered evenly spaced to the dark green "body", I decided to leave the strips inside the piece of cardstock, add glue to the back as is and then press it to main (dark green) body:

Next I removed the piece of cardstock the strips were cut from and voilà they are perfectly spaced adhered to the body:

Next came the pot and the flower and the cactus was done:

And here are a few close-ups of my page:

As Hawaii isn't visible on the globe I created a little cluster in the vicinity of it and glued it to the globe, using a bit of foam adhesive for the glasses. For good measure I added the word Hawaii using Doodlebug's Simply Sweet alpha stickers:

With all the fun papers, die-cuts and stickers from the Fun In The Sun collection this layout came together in no time at all! Some machine stitching for the finishing touch and I was done!

Doodlebug's cut files are available in the Silhouette Design Store and in Lori Whitlock's store.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today!

Happy crafting!
xoxo
Monique