Paper Bakery May Sketch Challenge #2

Today, on The Paper Bakery Blog we are revealing the second May Sketch Challenge!!! Another fun sketch created by yours truly!!! I can't wait to see what you create and share with us!!!

So now for a few details about how I used the sketch...

I loved the idea of adding three photos to my layout, but when I was selecting photos to create with, I only had two that I wanted to use so I choose to double one of them and use it more as an accent to the main photo. We are eating ice cream at an adorable little ice cream and chocolate shop that my husband grew up going to. They make some of the best hot fudge sauce so of course we had to have some hot fudge sundaes while we were there!!!

I cut my title letters using my Silhoutte Cameo and a font called Market Deco. I cut them from white cardstock three times and glued the layers together. I then added gold glitter glue to them for a bit of sparkle and shine!  I also used the adorable letter stickers by Studio Calico that are included in the kit. I added a little bit of machine stitching along the bottom of each word.  One thing I loved about this kit is that all of the papers had super cute barcode strips along the bottom. I trimmed them, fussy cut along the scalloped edge and then I adhered them to my layout with a little machine stitching!  Another fun tip is that the green cards along the top of the photos are all cut in half. The other half is being saved to be used on another project!!!

And last but not least, look at that Paper Bakery Flair! Be still my heart! It was the perfect little embellishment to dress up some of the Crate Paper die cuts!!!

This is Sketch #2:

So, are you going to play along with our second Sketch Challenge for May?  I sure hope so!!!

Here are the details you need to know to play along with us using the sketch:

1.) Sketch Challenges will be twice a month. Play along once for a chance to win the monthly prize OR play along twice to double your chances of winning the monthly prize.

2.) Make a layout or project utilizing the sketch. Be creative and have fun!!! Using Paper Bakery kits are not required to play.

3.) Take a picture and link it up on the sidebar of The Paper Bakery blog using the INLINKZ widget by the due date  May 19.

4.) Winners are chosen at random and will be posted on our Facebook page and on The Paper Bakery blog.  Make sure to follow us on both to find out if you are the winner!!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the layout and details I shared with you today! I also can't wait to see what you create and share with us using the sketch!

Hello Free Cut Files

Hello friends! Today is my birthday and to celebrate my special day with you I thought it would be fun to give you a little present!!!  How about a set of FREE cut files?! You can download them and use as you please. Well, as you please, except please don't sell them or use them in a class. I would love for you to link up to me if you use them though. I really would LOVE to see what you create with them!!!

To download them, just click on the image below:

Love Hello Tags

I also thought it might be nice for me to share a layout I made using some of my own cut files. I created this using the May Scrapbook Kit called Glitz Roadshow by The Paper Bakery.

I created some circle cuts to be slightly larger than the cut images and cut them out of white cardstock. I then sprayed and dripped some Dylusions and Heidi Swapp Color Shine to give them some color before adding them to my layout.

I also used the negative piece from my Zig Zag Cut File on my Today E&A layout. When I cut the zig zags for that layout I was thinking ahead and decided to place the cut in these position on the patterned paper so that I could use it for another layout at a later time.

I have chosen not to color the cut file jpeg images so that when you can look at them you will feel more free to choose your own colors and/or patterns. I hope you enjoy them and I can tell you now, that these probably won't be the first or the last of these that I create and share. If I have enough interest, I may do them on a regular basis. So let me know if you are interested in having them!  If you have any feedback or thoughts about them or any requests, just let me know!  Thanks for stopping by and for your download!!!

Watch Me

I just love spending time with my nieces and right now I am missing them quite a bit! I knew that would be one of the tough things about our recent move...being far away from my family is not easy because now I can't just jump in the card and see them in a couple hours. Now it's an all day car ride or a plane ride. I will say that scrapping photos of them helps though. The layout I have for your today is of my niece showing off how well she could navigate the monkey bars!  

She was so proud of how well she could do this so I knew that the title "Watch Me" would be perfect and I found a border just what I was looking for in my stash of SRM Stickers! This layout is also one of the projects I created as part of my recent guest spot with SRM Stickers!

The background die cut image was created using the negative pieces from the layout I created for my Little Yellow Bicycle Fern and Forest Girl Cycling Team post.  I love to save my scraps and find ways to use them on other projects!

I have something I have to admit. I have a new love...these gorgeous Cork Shapes Butterflies that are part of the Little Yellow Bicycle Naturals Collection! They seriously make me happy!!!  They add wonderful texture without a lot of bulk and that is something I adore in embellishment! To create the body of the butterfly I took apart some of their Naturals Tiny Clothespins. I didn't want the bulkiness of using the entire clothespin. I then cut the clothespin down as needed to fit the size of the butterfly and hot glued them to the cork.

One final note to share is that I used one of the SRM label stickers for my journaling!  I mounted the sticker on a piece of white cardstock and trimmed around it with decorative scissors. I then added my journaling with a brown marker.

I hope you have had a wonderful week and I am so happy you stopped by today!!!

My Mind's Eye May Challenge Layout

OK, another miracle has occurred  I have done two blog posts on the same day again! Something must be wrong with me! LOL!!! If you call scrapbooking something wrong then you might be correct, but I am thrilled that I have had the time recently to be able to make so many things!!!

I made this layout for the My Mind's Eye May Challenge! I have always loved May for many reasons...it is the month of my birthday being one of them!!! But it also means that spring is here and I really do love that warmer weather and all that comes with it is arriving! Their May Challenge is "May Day" and I choose to focus on the word "May" and a fantastic quote I came across for some spring photos that I have been wanting to scrap for quite some time.

I cut the quote, using my Silhouette, from the green patterned paper and then I used this negative piece on my layout. Next, I backed the words with several different patterns of pink My Mind's Eye papers before adhering it to my layout.

I really enjoyed playing along with this challenge and thanks for stopping by to take a peak! Do you enjoy doing challenges? What are your favorite places to visit or find challenges? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Little Yellow Bicycle | Quilt Pattern Background, Tutorial and Free Cut File

Little Yellow Bicycle has been showcasing their new Fern and Forest Girl collection on their blog and it continues today with a project I created as one of their Cycling Team Members! I absolutely adore this collection and found that it went perfectly with almost all the photos I have of my two adorable nieces. In fact, it was difficult for me to choose which photo to use for my layout!!!  The photo I choose is of my nieces with youngest one wearing her new fairy wings. I had given them to her as one of her Christmas gifts. She was delighted and proceeded to wear them the rest of the day!

I immediately knew that I wanted to use the little fairy image from the Chipboard Shapes to remember those sweet little wings! The layout was then embellished with some of the coordinating Cardstock Stickers, Journaling Cards and flowers from the Paper Crafting Kit. If you look closely you will also notice that I used some Canvas Tags and Canvas Stickers that are part of the new Naturals collection. 

Now, lets take a look at the background piece I created. I have recently been intrigued with adding more sewing type projects to my layouts and the idea of making a quilt pattern fit the bill. It also allowed me to incorporate several different patterns of paper.

This particular quilt pattern is referred to as a Carpenter's Wheel. I found a pattern online and then tweaked it in Photoshop to play around with the colors that I wanted to use. This is what I finally settled on for my colors. 

To create this pattern you will need to cut the following number of each pattern/color:

4 Gray Squares

16 Gray Triangles

16 Pink Dot Triangles(light pink)

 32 Pink Herringbone Triangles(dark pink)

 16 Pink Floral Triangles(medium pink)

I also created a SVG and Studio compatible cut file that you can download for FREE!!!

Carpenters Wheel Quilt Pattern

I used this cut file and my Silhouette Cameo to cut my squares and triangles, but if you don't have a cutting machine you could use punches or even a paper trimmer to cut them. The squares are 1.5" and the triangles are 1.5".

Once you have all of your shapes cut out you will want to mount them on your blue background paper.  I used a ruler to mark the center of the paper by drawing two intersecting lines.

I then used my pattern to help determine which color and/or shape to adhere. I started in the middle and worked my way outward.

This is the completed patterned adhered to the background paper.

And then, as if that wasn't enough, I decided to use my sewing machine to actually make a "quilt". This took a little bit of time, but I didn't stitch each block individually, If you look closely you will see that I sewed in straight lines and just turned around here and there and until each block was stitched around all sides.

Thanks so much for stopping by! The past two weeks have been some of the most perfect spring days that I can ever remember. All of the trees and flowers are bursting with color! I hope you are having a bit of color and sunshine where you live!