Hexagons everywhere!

 

I can't get enough of the hexagons with the new My Mind's Eye paper kit this month!  I used more on this card that I created.  I have been trimming hexagons all month for these projects-- which has been a breeze since it is all just straight cuts.  I love the way they look when layered.  This uses 5 hexagons and the hydrangea at the bottom of the paper and prints in light blue are all part of this amazing paper.  This same effect could easily be achieved with punches of your favorite coordinating paper packs from Close to My Heart!

Follow Your Heart to Fun

This month's Design Team paper and embellishments are from My Minds Eye's Follow Your Heart collection and they are fun!  I love matching embellishments and there are a lot of fun ones with this kit!  This just makes your layouts come together so fast.  I always try to pick up an embellishment or two when I buy a new line of papers.  

I liked the kite paper and embellishments right away and knew I'd be using it for a single page layout.  I layered everything out with my photo and then found myself wanting to use the twine that matches this kit and embellish my embellishments!

 

I decided to put ties on my kites to take the embellishments up a notch.  I used my paper piercer to punch holes in my kites.

 A trick I use with twine or other thin materials that I want to run through small holes on buttons or other is to keep a tealight on my table.  I let the flame get hot for a few minutes and then I twist the end of my twine and then dip it into the pooled wax.  When slightly cool, I twist it to a point to make it easily go through my smaller holes.

 Here is a close up of my kites.  I frayed my ends to make it look more like the ties on a kite.

I layered my embellishments with the great paper design in 3 corners of the page.  I loved the bottom right grouping printed on the paper and cut out my photo corner to make it look like the photo is behind the printed paper embellishment.  Have fun with this paper... it is really amazing!

A Bow Wow

I made this card for my parents for Valentine's Day.  It uses the super cute A Bow Wow stamp set from Close to My Heart.  The paper is a discontinued line but I love it for Valentine's Day.  The base card is made from Kraft paper- my FAVORITE- with the bottom corners rounded!  Close to my Heart's Kraft paper is thick and full of texture.  It's a beautiful brown color that goes so well with so many patterned papers!  My doggie was stamped on the tonal side of my printed paper and then cut out to give him some texture and depth.  I used Copic markers to color his nose, tongue and box. The sentiment is also from the A Bow Wow stamp set. 

Make it Extraordianary!

Have you ever looked at ordinary things and thought how boring- I can fix that!?  Of course you can!  Here's how I mad a simple spiral notebook a lot more exciting...

Grab a binder clip and clip all your pages together to make life easier later, leaving your back and front covers out of the binder clip.  Take pliers and unbend one end of the metal spiral so you can easily spool it out of the holes.  Set it aside.  Then measure your covers (I covered the back too but you wouldn't have to), cut and adhere your paper and decorate the front.  I chose to add some vintage lace and the paper border that coordinates and is available with this month's LYB papers as well as a few coordinating premade embellishments.  I used my Crop-a-dile to punch the holes at the top so my spiral could go back through.  I also added a closure for the bottom of my notebook using a small circle of chipboard (about 1/2 the size of my embellishment that you see (also from the matching LYB premade embellishments).  I punched through the center of both and added a brad.  I attached twine to the back cover and just wound it around my circle closure.  I reassembled my notebook by spooling my spiral back through the top and re-bending the end to secure it.  I tied pieces of my vintage lace and a coordinating color ribbon to the spiral.  I also made a matching RSVP pen.  This is really easy because the top screws off and the matching paper is inserted by rolling it and inserting in the space around the ink.  Of course I finished the pen with matching ribbon and vintage lace! 

 

Now my notepad and pen are nothing ordinary-- they are extraordinary!