Ready for summer...

Happy Friday, friends! Are we all ready for the weekend or what?! I've been ready all week...
The sun is shining and we have three whole days of freedom ahead!

Yesterday I had a chance to play for a little bit and decided to work on my first ever SMASH book! I've been collecting bits and pieces of SMASH product...and have two empty books waiting patiently to be SMASHed. Since summer is quickly approaching, I figured I'd get one of my SMASH books ready to record our summer adventures...

I used some of that fabulous SMASH washi tape, chipboard elements from the super cute Crate Paper Story Teller line, some great badges from Studio Calico and a splatter of my beloved Mister Huey.

Added in some stitching, a few random buttons and a couple stamped images from My Minds Eye...

So bring on the sun and the fun...and let the adventures begin!
Wishing you a happy, relaxing and creative weekend ahead!
xoBC

Hello Sunshine

We've had amazing weather here this past week! The sunshine has been glorious...so good for the soul! I'm pretty sure I could get used to waking up to sunshine everyday.

Speaking of sunshine, today I'm sharing another layout I created with the April Hip Kit...

A layout of my sweet niece. Love this baby girl! (Well, she's a teenager now...but I love her even more!)

I love that there are so many contrasting patterned papers in this kit...and they're so fun to mix & match! I also love the greys in this kit. Even in paisley, plaid & polka dots, the grey patterned paper tones down all the other colors and print combos. Grey is such a great neutral and I find that I'm using it more and more in my projects, just as much as I use other standards like white, creme or craft.

The little cluster of embellishments on the right hand side provided some balance to the layout. And the ABB? Those are my sweet niece's initials.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you a creative, sunshine-filled Friday...let the weekend begin!

xoBC

Girls' Weekend Adventures

Hi friends!
A few weeks ago, my sister and our dear friend had a girls weekend. Usually we fit in some scrapbooking during the weekend, but we completely ran out of time! We packed the weekend full of goodness...and took loads of pictures that we can scrap during our next girls' weekend!

Here are some of the highlights of our time together...
U Village shopping including Impress and Glassybaby, our fave salad at Boom, and dessert at Menchies...

Island Chicks Vintage Market in Anacortes, where I found this fantastic yellow fifties-style cart for my little studio! (Twenty-five bucks from JOHNBob Cool Junk! Love those guys!)

Tulip fest in LaConner...

LaConner Brew Pub and then Hutch Studio...

Hours at Christianson's Nursery, a quick stop at the Seattle Premium Outlet Mall, frozen Coke slurpees, Alderwood Mall and happy hour at Anthony's, Netflix movie (well, sort of. they watched the movie. I fell asleep.), lots of Starbucks...

Purple Wine Bar, a matinee of 'The Five Year Engagement' and a visit to PV Distillery/Single Silo Vodka...



...FABULOUS weekend! Loads of fun. Loads of laughs. Love these girls so much...and can't wait to scrap all about our weekend together. Maybe I'll actually start one my SMASH books...

xoBC

Doilies and Lace

Hi friends!
I played along with another of the fabulous Moxie Fab World challenges...

The Doilies and Lace Challenge
The challenge: Create a paper crafted project (card, gift bag, tag, layout, home decor item, mini-book cover, etc.) that incorporates a doily or lace element in an innovative way.

Here are my two takes on this challenge...

{Supplies: American Crafts cardstock, Crate Paper patterned paper, sticker and chipboard element, Maya Road gingham flower, lace flower from Jenni Bowlin kit, Heather Bailey fabric, My Mind's Eye brad, washi tape - unknown source}

{Supplies: My Minds Eye patterned paper, doily sticker, banner rub-ons, brads and die cut, Echo Park patterned paper, October Afternoon lace trim}

You can find all the details on this challenge & how to play along on the Moxie  Fab World blog here.

xoBC

Vintage Vogue Inspired

Hi friends!
Can you believe it?!? Not one, not two...but THREE posts from me today! Wowsa. Guess I'm making up for lost time.

One last card to share with you today.
This week I was totally inspired by Cath's Tuesday Trigger 'Vintage Vogue'...

Lovely, isn't it?

I love the layers of white on white, the pretty metallic polka dots...the tulle & lace. So pretty!

Here's the card I was inspired to create...

Thanks for stopping by for another peek today!

xoBC

Moxie Fab Inspiration: Gingham

Hi friends!
Have you checked out the Moxie Fab World blog lately? It is definitely one of my favorite places to go for daily inspiration. This week, Cath has been celebrating the release of Card Creations Volume 10 and has kicked off a series of fantastic challenges! Here's one of the fun challenges that I've been inspired to play along with so far...

The Gingham Challenge

Oh sweet gingham....reminds me of summertime, The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy's iconic blue & white gingham dress paired with ruby slippers of course!), picnics and my friend Lindi who created an amazing art quilt with vintage gingham aprons! I love gingham. Going through my supplies, I can't believe how many gingham patterned papers I'm finding! And because of that, I couldn't resist making more than one card for this challenge.

Large gingham...

{Supplies: Patterned Paper - Crate Paper & Memory Box, Rub-On: Crate Paper & 7Gypsies, Fabric: Amy Butler, Sentiment: K&Co, vintage button & Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.}

Smaller gingham...

{Supplies: Patterned Paper - October Afternoon, Rub-On - My Mind's Eye, Buttons - October Afternoon, Chipboard Button - My Mindy's  Eye, Sticker - October Afteroon Farmhouse.}

And this one for my mama for Mother's Day...

{Supplies: Cardstock - Bazzill Basics Dotted Swiss, Cosmo Cricket, Chipboard pieces - Cosmo Cricket, Sentiment Sticker - My Mind's Eye, Ribbon - Hug Snug seam binding, miscellaneous bling & pearls.}

I was aiming for an Anthropologie inspired necklace on this dressform...

Won't you play along? You can find all the details & some gingham inspiration over at the Moxie Fab World blog here.

xoBC

Mama & Me

Hi friends!
In honor of Mother's Day weekend and in celebration of my wonderful mama, I pulled out an old photo of her & I to use on this layout...

I created this layout with product from the April Hip Kit.

I absolutely love, love, love the Crate Paper Storyteller Chipboard Accents from the Embellishment Add-On Kit...just look at that cute chipboard camera!! I included a cluster of the lovely chipboard pieces on this layout, along with some of the fabulous buttons and one of those super cute Crate Paper clothes pins to create lots of layers.

This photo was from my first 4th of July! I love how this color combo strayed from the traditional red, white & blue that would typically be used for 4th of July photos. The colors in this Hip Kit are so fresh & fun!

When creating this layout, I was also inspired by Moxie Fab World's Spatter Technique Challenge. As I've said over and over...I love me some Studio Calico Mister Huey's! So I pulled out my Mister Huey in Calico White and Taxi and flicked some of that lovely ink on my layout.

Hope you're inspired to pull out a 'vintage' photo of you and your mama or a photo of any special woman in your life and get it scrapped! And perhaps play along with the Spatter Technique Challenge too!

Happy crafting!

xoBC

Chevron Love

Hi friends!
I must admit, I do love the chevron trend, and this paper does not disappoint...it is one of my favorites from the April Hip Kit! It's the 'Puddles' paper from Lily Bee Design. The chevron print in aqua and white with some bookprint thrown in...absolutely LOVE it!

I layered up some of the pretty red 'Trademark' paper from Crate Paper's Story Teller collection, a diecut from the Lilybee Bag of Bits, a couple of fun Crate Paper Story Teller chipboard pieces and one of the Studio Calico wood veneer frames from the April Hip Kit Embellishment Add-On Kit. Then I added just a tiny splash of Mister Huey 'Calico White'.

I never tire of this aqua, red and white color combo!
Happy crafting!
xoBC

May Sketches

Hi friends! Happy Tuesday...Happy May to you!
Here to share a couple of projects inspired by the May Hip 2B Square card & layout sketch challenges that just kicked off last week.

This month's card sketch is from The Deconstructed Sketch...

I used the yummy April Hip Kit to create this card...

For my card, I created a standard 4.25"x5.5" card and cropped the right side of the sketch off.

This month's layout sketch is from Sketch Support...

Here's the layout I was inspired to create, again using fun product from the April Hip Kit and Embellishment Add-On Kit...

This layout features photos of my friend's twin girls...aren't they the sweetest??

For the banner on this layout, I used pieces from the Lilybee Design 'Bag of Bits'. I ran all the pieces through my sewing machine before I adhered it to the layout so I could hang it like an actual banner using my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher and the darling Crate Paper clothespins. I embellished some of the banner pieces with punched shapes, word stickers and the lovely buttons from the kit.

Loving those Studio Calico wood frames...and the new Mister Huey 'Taxi' from the add-on kit! Such a cheery yellow ink. I used a bit of Mister Huey 'Piglet' and Mister Huey 'Heirloom Blue' inks in addition to the 'Taxi' to coordinate with the fabulous patterned paper in this kit...

Do hope you play along with the May sketch challenges! Everyone who plays along has a chance at winning a free Hip Kit! You can find all the details here and here.

And while you're over at the Hip 2B Square blog getting all the details on how to participate in the sketch challenges, check out the new May Hip Kit that was revealed last week! Here's a sneak peek of it... 

More Echo Park, Crate Paper, October Afternoon, My Mind's Eye, American Crafts and SMASH goodness! Oh my! I spy some amazing SMASH washi tape.

Also, check out the May Add-On Kit...

Um, YES PLEASE! Love me some Studio Calico masks and Mister Huey! Can't wait to play with these May kits. You can find all the deets here.

Happy Crafting!

xoBC