December 04, 2023

Color Fusers--December!

December 04, 2023/ Brenda Nelson

Hello friends! Welcome to the Color Fusers Blog Hop! I am really excited to let you know we have some new friends joining our monthly hop which means you will have even MORE fantastic projects to inspired you with a new color combination each month!

This month we are created with Pool Party, Orchid Oasis and Fresh Freesia. Now I will be the first to admit, I have not been using Orchid Oasis as much as I should ESPECIALLY after realizing how freaking awesome this color combo is!

As you may know, I love to scrapbook and this color combo was too fun to not try as a page layout—especially a holiday page layout! Who says this color scheme can’t be for Christmas?

I started with a base of Orchid Oasis and added a 4 x 12 strip of some retired Fresh Freesia DSP. I am really leaning into using this I have that are retired with stuff that is NEW so that I can encourage my own customers to use their stash AND pair it up with things they may have just purchased.

I also decided to use the Stars at Night Bundle for this page as I have had it for a while and it hadn’t really touched any ink! I love the big star burst in the background of the page!

My photo mats are in Pool Party and are also horizontal, which honestly, is not typical for me! But they work perfectly this direction so that I can have ‘Oh What Fun’ as the focal point for my page. The sentiment was really inspired by this fun color combo!

I cut the letters out with the Alphabet A La Mode dies and the Foam Adhesive Sheets. While the letters were still nestled in the Foam sheets, I used a Blending Brush with Pool Party ink over the bottom portion of the letters. I really love this look and its so easy to create two toned or even ombre colored letters for your projects.

I die cut a variety of the other star shapes with the dies in Orchid Oasis and Fresh Freesia. Some of the dies also emboss and then a couple of the solid shapes I ran through the 3D Basics Embossing Folder to give them a bit of texture.

I also used a couple sentiments from the stamp set, but I cut them up to make them feel different and I am really pleased with how they help tell the story of this page.

The Ombre Matte Decorative Dots are also perfect because they are offered in this collection of In Colors and a little tab of the Herringbone Ribbon (both from the Annual Catalogue) are awesome additions to the overall design of the page.

I really hope this page sparks some joy in you—it does for me! And I can’t wait to see what the rest of the crew has designed for you!

Up next is Sue Vine and I know you will be amazing by what she is sharing with us this month. Click on the image below to go directly to her blog!

You can always go backwards and you will be visiting my friend Melanie Hockin—Melanie and I just finished a 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop between the two of us which was lots of fun as well!

And of course, if you are needing any supplies, click any image to shop my store below!

November 29, 2023

Be Inspired Blog Hop-Holiday Time!

November 29, 2023/ Brenda Nelson

Hi friends! Welcome to the Be Inspired Blog Hop! We have added some new members to our monthly Blog Hop and I am so excited! So make sure you go and visit all of the wonderful projects being shared and leave us some happy comments!

The theme for our Hop this month is HOLIDAY TIME and of course that meant that I had to share something Christmas related in the form of a scrapbook page. As much as I love to make cards, I really do love to scrapbook as my first passion.

When thinking of Christmas I was thinking of gift tags so I decided to make an oversized gift tag as a photo mat, and I am so happy with how it turned out!

I cut my standard 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 photo mat in Pebbled Path—this color choice was a direct result of the Joy of Christmas DSP—I LOVE this paper! I love the unconventional use of grey and brown tones in with classic Christmas colors.

I cut the tag portion of my photo mat after gluing the Pebbled Path layer to some Basic White. I added a scallop border to the bottom with Real Red and some Black & Very Vanilla Gingham ribbon to the top portion.

I used the Classic Christmas Dies to add in ‘ Season’s Greetings’, stamped in Pecan Pie ink. I used the large image from the Joy of Noel stamp set, to add some background stamping in Smoky Slate at is the base of my scrapbook layout.

I cut a variety of 2x2 squares of the Joy of Christmas DSP to add in a diamond format to the base of my page. This is such a good way to highlight and incorporate DSP into your page designs.

It also gave my another opportunity to add a sentiment and I decided to focus on ‘Christmas’ also stamped in Pecan Pie ink for continuity. Some greenery in behind in Shaded Spruce and Old Olive helps tie in the color scheme found in the DSP.

I used a little more gingham ribbon behind both sentiments as well so that everything feels connected on the page.

I love how this page is a mix of modern with the grey tones and traditional with the red and greens. Its one of my favorite scrapbook pages I have made lately and I can’t wait to add a holiday photo to it!

I am so excited to see what the rest of the Be Inspired Blog Hop team has created with our theme of ‘Holiday Time’!

You can get to Janneke’s project by clicking the link below!

If my project has inspired you, please consider shopping my online store! You can do so by clicking any image below!

November 14, 2023

12 Days of Christmas--Day 11!

November 14, 2023/ Brenda Nelson

Hello friends! We are down to just the last 2 days of 12 Days of Christmas! It has really flown by and I hope you are feeling festive and inspired by our projects!

For Day 10, I decided to share another scrapbooking page with you! I want all my crafty friends, whether you make cards, projects or scrapbook to find something to inspire you during this 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop that Melanie and I are putting on for you!

This fun and colorful layout is perfect for a couple of holiday photos—I can’t wait to add some! I am going to feel so ahead post Christmas when I can just print and add some pictures!

I started with a base of Coastal Cabana and added a layer of Basic White over top with a couple strips of paper from Merry Bold & Bright. I love this color combination of Pool Party, Starry Sky, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist and Shaded Spruce!

I did a little blending with Pool Party ink in the top left and bottom right corners of my Starry Sky photo mats. I then stamped some little stars from the Merry & Bright stamp set over top of the blended area. It creates such a nice background.

The Christmas bulbs are stamped in Pool Party and Shaded Spruce with the toppers cut from the Holographic Specialty Paper. This paper is absolutely perfect for these bulbs!

The sentiment is from the Merry & Bright stamp set and I added a little bit of the Parakeet Party Twine in behind the sentiment. A couple of the Ombre Matte Decorative Dots were the perfect little touch to this area.

I love how this stamp set has two different bulb designs and also includes a die for the filament inside and a string! So clever. These bulbs are stamped in Shaded Spruce and Starry Sky and you might notice the tops are a bit different—I love that the die set includes two options as well!

I stamped out HAPPY MERRY AND BRIGHT in Coastal Cabana, Shaded Spruce and Granny Apple Green and then trimmed them down. I added a couple more Ombre Dots to this area as well.

I love this page and I hope it has given you some ideas on how to use the Merry & Bright bundle beyond cards! Now head on over to Melanie to see what she has to share with us today!

If this page has inspired you and you are in the need of supplies, please consider shopping my online store! Every purchase helps me continue to do what I love!

November 10, 2023

12 Days of Christmas--Day 10!

November 10, 2023/ Brenda Nelson

Day 10 already! This means the month of November is really zipping past! I hope you have been enjoying everything so far!

Today I am going to switch things up a bit and share a holiday layout or scrapbook page with you. I am happy to have this page completed so all I need to do is add a holiday photo to it!

I started with a base of Mossy Meadow and added a panel of Basic White that I trimmed to 11 1/2 x 11 1/2. In Crumb Cake ink that I stamped off, I added the large image from the Joy of Noel stamp set to the background, framing the photo mat. I also gave a spray of Crumb Cake ink with my Stampin’ Blend marker.

I added a really generous 6 x 11 1/2 piece of DSP from a recent Online Exclusive and smaller strip of the argyle pattern in 1/2 x 11 1/2 to create a division between the DSP and the Basic White.

The 5x7 photo mat is Crumb Cake with a small strip of Mossy Meadow card stock on the left.

I stamped in Memento ink several of the large holiday sprigs from Joy of Noel and used my favorite coloring technique—lazy watercoloring with Old Olive, Mossy Meadow and Cherry Cobbler inks. I die cut them using the coordinating dies and then added them as accents throughout my page.

I also die cut a few leaf/sprig shapes from the Classic Christmas Dies and added those in as well.

My favorite part of the layout is the NOEL—I started by die cutting two Deckled Circles in Mossy Meadow. On the smaller top layer I stamped the sweater like image from Joy of Noel along the top and bottom of the circle.

I die cut the NOEL and then using my Versamark, I covered just the bottom half of each letter and then covered them in Gold Embossing Powder. I love how it elevated these letters! The touch of gold is perfect for this page.

I also used my Old Olive Stampin’ Blend to color some of the Black & Very Vanilla Ribbon (after trimming it in half so it wasn’t as wide).

I added a little ‘Merry’ to this side of the page using the Christmas Classics stamp set and Cherry Cobbler ink. A bit of Gold Elegant Trim and some gold pearls from the Blooming Pearls was perfect for this little area.

I hope the page inspires you to do some holiday scrapbooking for yourself. And if you can get a few pages done before the holidays begin, it will be so easy to add a photo after the season!

I am excited to see what Melanie is sharing today, so make sure to click on this image to go and visit her blog! Thank you for stopping by and if you are in need of supplies, please consider shopping my online store so I can continue to do what I love!

September 27, 2023

Be Inspired Blog Hop--Fun with Embossing Folders!

September 27, 2023/ Brenda Nelson

Hello my crafty friends! Welcome to the Be Inspired Blog Hop! This month (can you believe its the end of September already?) we are focusing on Embossing Folders. We have so many fantastic ones to choose from so I thought, why not use as many as possible!

I used a total of 8 different embossing Folders to create this page! I am so happy with how it turned out. I love how the fall colors jump off the crisp Basic White background as well.

The Folders I used were:

2 folders from the Online Exclusive Basics 3D Embossing Folders
Cane Weave
Exposed 3D Brick
Painted Texture
Timeworn Type
Twisted Rope
Distressed Tile

I cut each Basic White square or panel to 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 so that they can fit on your 12 x 12 and look like a bit of a grid. They give such an amazing texture!

You can find the words ‘to’ and ‘you’ in the Sending Cheer stamp set.

I used the large 2 3/8 punch to create a circle that was turned into an easy tag with the Black & Very Vanilla Large Check Ribbon and some black bakers twine.

I stamped the background with the star cluster from the Tricks & Treats stamp set and used the ghost and ‘boo’ from the coordinating dies.

The Pick of the Patch stamp set has been a craft room favorite these past couple of weeks so there was no doubt I was going to use it to add some fun pumpkins! I turned one into a jack o lantern and added some little leaves that were stamped in Pebbled Path.

On this little vignette I added ‘Happy Halloween’ and another little pumpkin patch!

The photos are on a double photo mat—Basic Black and Smoky Slate to really help them pop about the white textured background. A few of the In Color Enamel Dots added to my layout!

Thank you to the Edmonton corn maze for the great photo opps!

I am really excited to see what the rest of the team has created focusing on Embossing Folders. There really are so many different techniques and ways to use these. They are definitely a craft room staple item in my opinion! I hope this page gives you some inspiration on how you could even incorporate mini squares on a card front using a variety of folders.

Next up on the hop is Janneke and I always love her projects and design style! Click on the link below to visit her blog! And as always, please feel free to leave any comments. I love to get your feedback!