Vintage suitcases...

...are one of my current obsessions. I had found these two at a local rummage sale last spring for the bargain price of $0.25 a piece! They were in perfect condition and the linings were impeccable...minus a little parfum de moth balls.

 One of my sweet friends gave me this little cutie that she found at Goodwill. Love the yellow!

Since I've had these sitting around for a while, I was so excited to stumble across this tutorial from Elsie over at A Beautiful Mess...and knew instantly that I wanted my lovely suitcases to get a makeover just like hers.

For my red suitcase I chose 'Farmdale Curio' - a fun retro dot fabric from The Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection, for the green one I chose a yummy Amy Butler retro peony print from her Soul Blossoms collection and for the wee yellow one, I chose the super cute 'Petunia' fabric from Josephine Kimberling's Just Dandy collection.

TaDa! Aren't they fun?! They make me happy.

It was a super easy project and I absolutely love how they turned out! Trouble is, now I'm addicted! Can't wait to get my hands on more suitcases...

xoBC

Hip Kit Cards

Hip 2B Square's September Kit is full of soooo much Crate Paper and Lilybee Design goodness! There's also a bit of My Mind's Eye and Pebbles product tossed in and a great 'Back to School' add-on with Basic Grey product for all those first day of school pictures! A truly fantastic kit to kick-off the fall season!

Last month, Kimberly hosted her Hip 2B Square Fall Retreat at Hotel Sierra in Redmond. I had the opportunity to join the group on Saturday afternoon to teach a card workshop using the September kit products...and what fun it was! A fabulous group of ladies...a fantastic location...tons of space to spread out and scrap...awesome dinner. I wish I had been there the entire weekend!

These are the cards that we created that afternoon...



Wishing you a happy & creative Saturday, friends!

xoBC

Citrus Tree Studio presents...

...not one, but two fabulous kits for November! I had the pleasure of playing with Kit #2 which features 7Gypsies "Mykonos" 8x8 Paper Pack with a touch of Pink Paislee and Kaisercraft mixed in. In addition to the fun kit, I got to play with the Fall/Winter 2011 Product Spotlight...this fantastic 'Beyond the Page Small Photo Display' from Kaisercraft.

From naked to altered...

I painted the photo display with KAISERcolour acrylic paint in 'Olive', distressed the edges just a teensy bit and then added my papers and embellishments. All papers are from the CTS November Kit #2. The vintage-looking gold foil bird (I think it might be Making Memories??), 'happy' flash card and the red/white gingham fabric (bows on the garland) are all from my stash.

This was so much fun to put together...and there are so many different things you could do with it! I think it would make a fantastic gift! You can see more details about the November kits and Product Spotlight here. Plus check out how the fabulous Melonie altered the photo display last month with the adorable 'Hayrides and Halloween' kit here. It's super cute!

Happy Monday friends!

xoBC

Happy Friday!

Anyone else out there ready for the weekend??I've got a list of fun projects (a mile long) to work on...some new, some that need to be wrapped up! Sooooo ready for this weekend to begin!

Here are the cards that I created with the Hip 2B Square August kit...I sorta went card happy! But there was just so much goodness in this kit that I couldn't resist trying to use it all up! And my card stash thanks me for it.

Wishing you a terrific day & fabulous weekend ahead!

xoBC

Blog Interrupted...

That's so how I've been feeling.
Not that I need to tell you that! It's pretty darn obvious. Post on 9/16. Post on 10/31. Oh my! Time truly does go by too, too fast. So, yes, blog interrupted. It's called 'life'. As life gets crazy busy, something just has to give. Sadly, it was my blog for a bit. But I'm back! (Hey, three days in a row is quite a record here!) So now, it's catch up time!

Today I wanted to share a few layouts that I created with the fantastic Hip 2B Square August Kit. (Yes, I said August. Bear with me as I bring us all up to date!) This kit is full of happy & whimsy! Bright colors. Fun patterns. Fabulous embellishments. A bit of American Crafts Amy Tangerine (love it!), super cute Jillibean Soup and a dash of Echo Park and Maya Road.

On this layout I used a photo of a painting of my niece. Her teacher had created this, based off of a photograph of her as a gift to her parents. How cool is that?! It completely captures her essence. Love it so much.

I even included a bit of 'up-cycling' in this one...do you spy the button card from the Jillibean Soup buttons?

This next layout was based on this sketch from Lisa Day...

I adore the burlap 'ribbon' that was included in this kit! It adds fabulous texture to projects. And the Maya Road Canvas Buttons...more fabulous texture.

And one more layout...a silly one. Wish I still had those red sunglasses...

There's those Maya Road Canvas Buttons again...this time cut, misted, strung & stitched!

Thanks for stopping by today, friends! I have lots more to share...lots of projects have been in the works! And with any luck, I'll stay on track with this blogging thing!
xoBC

NOVEMBER!

How can it be time to flip the calendar over to November?!? October had to be the shortest month ever! Well, I better start snapping some fall photos before the season is over! Here's a little mini album that I created with the cute Bazzill Basics mini album and various American Crafts papers from the from the Citrus Tree Studio 'Hayrides and Halloween' kit. 

I kept this really simple, so I can document my fall favorites & add to it as we experience the season. I included one blank page for a photo and on the facing page I machine stitched a journaling block.

There's lots of room for adding little embellishments as I go. On this next journaling block, I stitched down some of the scalloped mistable trim from Pink Paislee, after I sprayed it with some October Afternoon Sprinklers in 'Comet Tail'.

There are so many fall projects I want to work on...and now my list is expanding with Christmas projects to work on too! Tis the Season already, eh?
Wishing you a happy & creative November!
xoBC

Happy Halloween, Friends!

Wishing you a boo-tiful day, full of LOTS of treats and not so many tricks!

(This layout was created with the super fun 'Hayrides and Halloween' kit from Citrus Tree Studio.)

xoBC