SEI February Desktop Calendar

Have you started your valentine's day projects yet? We know that lovey holiday isn't for the whole month, so enjoy a delicious and simply happy wallpaper all 29 days!

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As always let us know if you have any questions and thanks for using them!

Gift Wrap Trim

Sometimes the way an ordinary gift is presented, makes it extraordinary! Emily has a beautiful way to trim any gift, using paper punched from the lovely Promise Me collection.

"To make a paper garland trim: Punch starburst circles from patterned paper and then feed them through the presser foot on your sewing machine, making sure to leave a small amount of thread between punched shapes; wrap around gift."

"Don't be afraid to combine textures of lace, trims and patterned paper trim to a simple gift to make it soft and feminine."

Sweater Baby

Amy used some really cool techniques on her layout today. It has tons of texture and dimension. Lucky for us, she is going to explain how to create this look.

"Born the day after Christmas--our little guy is no stranger to sweaters! And this wonderful photo of him in my favorite of all of his sweaters inspired both the title and design of this layout."

"To begin this layout I tore strips of this maroon paper from the Silver Valley Collection to accent my background paper with and create a 'sweater' feel. To get this beautiful white edge on my tear I turn the side of the paper I will be using face up and I tear towards my body in a long continuous motion. Then I used some stitching to add some texture and to secure the torn layers to my background."

"Next I spread a block of white acrylic paint over my background with a palette knife to establish the foundation for my page design, while toning done the pattern a bit and adding a snowy effect to the page that would help my Silver Valley die cut clusters to tie in perfectly."

"I cut the circle stickers from the Silver Valley sticker sheet in half to create the fun border to the left of my photo and bring a more juvenile feel to my layout. Then I added my title--I like to use two different alphas because of the contrast it adds. Finally I added a little jute bow, the metal filigree charm--with the back side facing up--and my tag with the date of my photo for a little extra charm."

Love Scrapbook Layout

For this layout Kim used papers from Holiday Cheer, Homestead and Silver Valley. She said, "I love the yellows and golden hues of Homestead and although I only use bits and pieces of patterned paper in my layouts, this was a great way to show the many colors and patterns in these collections."

"I wanted to utilize the White Elegance alpha stickers in a new way by laying them next to the photo in the same direction as the banners." Why not try switching it up, like Kim, and place your title vertically on your next layout?

Winter 2011

Melissa used the Spooks alphabet stickers for this layout. Somehow they don't look so spooky on this wintery scrapbook page. She also made her own embellishments! We'll let her share all the details...

"I took some pictures of my family earlier in the month of December and this is one of my favorites of my sister and her husband. I changed the photo to black and white and used the papers from 'Silver Valley' to accompany it. The muted silvers and blues went so well with the photo."

"I used a variety of circle punches to scatter across the left hand side - it is super simple to create your own customized embellishments by punching out various size circles and layering them on top of each other! Use dimensional dots to adhere them for a special pop on your layout!"

Club SEI Valentine's Wreath

Do you have any Valentine's decorations up? If you don't have a wreath yet, try this great alternate idea from Club SEI.

Use Promise Me papers and embellishments to create a floral wreath. We used some of the contents of the Club February kit to decorate our wreath. We used the wreath base from the Club SEI November kit.

This wreath is perfect for Valentine's or anytime!

Snow Scrapbook Layout

What's the weather like where you live? Anyone have snow? If you do, don't forget to take your camera out with you before it melts away. Patty captured this great photo of her son playing in the snow. She scrapbooked it using the Silver Valley collection, perfect for all sorts of wintery layouts.

Patty did a wonderful job of layering and combining patterns. If you are struggling with this, check out this post we created a while back on how to combine patterns.

Carefully selected embellishments, like sundries, page elements, and stickers grouped together add the perfect finishing touch.

Love Album

Emily used the Promise Me collection to create this album with dividers. It could be used for journaling or filling with memorabilia. We always enjoy Emily's helpful tips...

"To make a heart border with the sheer heart die cuts. Adhere the hearts upon one another, then trim the remaining pieces from the edge."

"The shimmery paper is the perfect delicate background to layer other patterned papers on."

"Make simple titles for your dividers so that they don't distract from the GORGEOUS prints of this collection."

"Create feminine touches with lace, string and bold haberdasheries like buttons!"

"Create your own flowers by rolling lace trim into a rose!"

"Experiment with the negative cut outs of a punch....add pearls and other patterned paper to make it stand out!"

What a beautiful way to record a love story!

COOL Kids

We are enjoying some long wished-for snow here in Utah. Anyone else? Some of our favorite scrapbook layouts include the cool, monochromatic colors of the winter season. Lori's "cool kids" is no exception. She used the soft blue papers of the Silver Valley collection to create a wintery feel for this layout.

Although the layout is mostly soft blue, notice the little red border around the edge that helps tie in the red text from the photo. Also, the hints of black add a great contrast without overpowering the softer colors.

She used homemade tags cut out of the papers as a base for her photos.

Little details like a hand-cut snowflake and stitching make the layout beautiful and complete.

Happy Monday, Everyone! Hope your week is grand.

One-Sentence Journal

Amy does a great job telling about her project, "I've made this one-sentence journal as a part of my 2012 Happiness Project. I think that the 'One-Sentence Journal' can be just as therapeutic as a regular journal but not quite as time consuming so its a good fit for me :)"

"To make my journal I used corrugated cardboard as the base and covered it with my very favorite piece of foiled paper from the Sunny Day Paper Pack. I left the spine unaltered for a fun upcycled look. The stitching around the edges of the cover helps to secure my papers to the cardboard base while adding a nice finishing touch. I added the word 'journal' to the front using the Chocolate Milk Puff Alphas and then accented the cover with a sprinkle of leaves and flowers to add some dimension. Finally I used the back side a metal charm from the Moonrise Filigree pack to make the 'keyhole' inspired accent to finish off my cover--I loved the way the tarnished gold finish looked with the foiling on the paper."

"I brought some more of the of the fun patterns from this paper collection into my journal by finishing the insides of the cover with a coordinating striped paper and using them to make my monthly dividers."

"My journal pages are made with a customizable template which is available as a free download at Karenika.com. What I love most about these pages is that they have a fun colored block that can be used to clip a photo to in Photoshop--or I've chosen to print them out without a photo and add a little bit of art to this area each day with the leftovers on my scrap table."

"To bind my journal I set eyelets in my spine and punched holes that corresponded into all of my pages and dividers. Then I used just to tie them all together. Again this adds to the upcycled feel of the journal and provides a way to hold everything together as well!"

"I'm so excited for 2012 so that I can use my journal to do a little bit of creating and reflecting each day!"

Art Studio Picks: Pia

Things i love...especially right now:

SOUP
warms the heart and soul....(and is good for many days in many ways)

BEAUTIFUL QUILTS (warms the feet and sole):
RANDOM VINTAGE (inspired our catalog cover which I love so much I want a poster of it! - great job Mandi & Maria)
SEI COVER
and CLEAN GRAPHIC QUILT (even better in my favorite colors)

THINGS I WANT TO MAKE (cause I can't afford to buy them):
MIRROR
TILE

OLIVE GREEN:
in a SOFT COMBO with light coral and gray
or BOLD COMBO with fruit punch and yellow
and in these necklaces from 31 bits. They do good around the globe...love it! (Maybe I could make some myself too?)

MID-CENTURY MODERN/SCANDINAVIAN (maybe because that's what I am)... whether original, re-production, or old made new:
MID CENTURY ORIGINAL
RE-DONE DRESSER
MID CENTURY NEW ROOM

and always, always, always...
CHARLEY HARPER (never get enough, can look at his illustrations for days and days and days...simply brilliant!)
SERENGETTI AND BITTERN BIRDS

Club SEI February Garland

February's Club SEI kit features the lovely Promise Me collection. The layouts in this scrapbooking kit are amazing! Did you know that club members can also go to the Club SEI website for alternate project ideas?

Here's one of the alternate project ideas for February. Use some of the sheer love die-cut accents, sundries, and envelopes that come in the kit to create an envelope garland. Wouldn't it be fun to fill each envelope with a special note & treat for your each of your kids or special someone?

To make the dimensional petals on the last envelope, we folded the hearts in half. If you would like to learn more about Club SEI or sign up go to www.clubsei.com.

Wonder

Kim had fun showing the versatility of the papers in this scrapbook layout. She used Homestead, Holiday Cheer, and Promise Me papers. She also used the Silver Valley alphabet stickers.

Kim recommends typing and printing a little journaling. Then cutting the journaling strips like flags and attaching them so they slightly bow out from the page.

For the "O" Kim layered some of the Promise Me stickers and added a little baker's twine for added dimension.