Travel Dreams + Giveaway [CLOSED]

My favorite time of year is summer. And with summer comes all kinds of new travel-themed scrapbooking goodies! I was lucky enough to work with the On the Coast collection this month. It’s full of bright, fun colors and is perfect for scrapbooking those fun tropical vacations. But it’s also great for scrapbooking any travel themed page. I made this fun “Travel Dreams” minibook and used the On the Coast collection to scrapbook places all over the world that I’d love to see.

club SEI has a great kit this month that features the On the Coast collection along with a fun acrylic minibook. I love using kits, and I love to come up with unconventional ways to use the contents. The edges of the acrylic minibook look like clouds, so I cut them off, added a little paint around the edges, and used them as cute embellishments on the front of my minibook.



I still have the acrylic minibook (now with straight edges) for another project! My minibook is made of simple 8x8” chipboard sheets, bound together with book rings.







I added a few pieces of glittery chipboard, some foam stickers, and a few jewels from my stash as embellishments on each page:



Thank you so much for stopping by the SEI blog this week... it’s been tons of fun sharing posts with you all!

xo,
Nancy

Wow! Thanks for sharing so many projects with us, Nancy! We love the creative way you used the Club SEI kit! Readers, don't forget to check in with Nancy again on her blog, paperview.

Doesn't this make you want to see what you could create with a kit from Club SEI? We hope so because we are giving you a chance to win a July mini kit! To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us which post was your favorite this week by Sunday, June 20th at midnight MST. We will announce the winner Monday. Be sure to check back to see if you are the winner because if we don't hear from the winner within a week we will pick a new one.

This contest is now closed. Feel free to keep leaving Nancy lovely comments though!

Patterned Paper + Me 4Evr!

I LOVE PATTERNED PAPER!!!!

*Whew* I got it out of my system. That was me shouting! Of all the yummy paper crafting supplies out there, patterned paper is my absolute favorite... I would live in a house built of patterned paper if I could! (okay, I wouldn’t really, but it’s nice to daydream about) Years ago, when I had a tiny scrapbooking budget, I blew all my allowance on patterned paper. I created whole pages with just paper... no chipboard, no jewels, no ribbon, just paper! I decided to challenge myself to see if I still had that thrifty scrapper in me... turns out I still do! I made two layouts with just paper and letter stickers. Go me!

The first layout (made with the new On the Coast collection) came together so easily... I spotted those huge, gorgeous flowers on the Hibiscus paper and knew they were just calling for me to cut them out! I love hand cutting patterns from paper... I find it relaxing. It’s like scrappy yoga! I cut some cute little seashells from the glittery Low Tide paper, glued it all down around my photos, added some tiny circles from my hole punch, and I was done!



I also love to create texture with patterned paper. I’ve become addicted to my sewing machine, which makes it easy to create lots of layered ruffles, like this:



I added some of those gorgeous glittered flowers from the Jocelyn collection and I was finished.

I loooooove all my chipboard, jewels, ribbon and other scrapbooking goodies that I so happily hoard... but sometimes it’s fun to see what you can do with just one supply. Try it!

xo,
Nancy

Inspired by Fashion

One of my favorite things in the whole world is a new magazine! I keep a pile of fashion magazines by my bed, and I love to look through them for inspiration. I always end up feeling inspired by them, but it’s not for putting together cute outfits... it’s for paper crafting! Yes, I get most of my ideas for fun new techniques from fashion magazines. I keep a big notebook stuffed with clippings of all the little fashion-y details that inspire me.


There are lots of ways to draw inspiration from magazine images. One of my favorites is texture. I saw this adorable sequined shoe...


...and it inspired me to create this card:


See how the On The Coast paper circles mimic the overlapping sequins on the shoe? I want to try this on a layout soon, too.

Of course there’s always literal inspiration! I just loved the romantic feel of this shot:


The tulle and feathers are just so pretty! I decided I’d try some on my layout, using the Jocelyn collection:



I’m also inspired by the little details that clothing designers include, like the bow on this cute blouse:


I cut some paper strips from the Jocelyn line, crinkled them to give them a little more flexibility, and formed them into a bow for my card:


These are just a few ways that fashion inspires me (you can check out my fashion inspiration series here). What inspires you?

xo,
Nancy

Scrapbooking Ourselves

Chances are you’ve already considered this question: Why should I scrapbook myself? I’m a huge fan of making pages about me, and here are a few of my reasons:

Reason #1: It’s a Self Portrait

Scrapbooking is all about documenting... and who can document you, better than you? We scrapbook to leave a documentation of our lives, to leave a record of what was important to us. One day our kids or other descendents will go to our albums to catch a glimpse of what our lives were like... wouldn’t you want to include yourself in that? Someday my niece will want to know what I was like in my 20’s, and I’ll be able to show her this layout and say, This was me, then:

(red swirls cut from the fabulous Merrymint paper)

Reason #2: It’s Therapeutic

I’ve learned so much about myself through scrapbooking. When I decided to treat my pages as my journals, I began to explore deep topics, like who I want to be and where I’m headed. So many times I’ve worked through a challenge in my life by creating a layout about it. My pages have become a place to be honest about myself, and that’s helped me become a better person. When I made “Generous,” seeing some of my flaws in a more humorous light helped me to be more patient with myself:

(made with the Moravia collection)

Reason #3: It’s Encouraging

My layouts remind me of where I’ve come from... what a great feeling! I love looking through my albums to remember lessons I’ve learned, choices I’ve made, and dreams I still hope to accomplish. Just reading the journaling on “Happiness” made me remember how much I love my job and how lucky I am to have it!

(made with the Mimosa collection)

Making layouts about myself has been more fulfilling than I ever imagined. I encourage you to give it a try... start with a simple page about what you like, and see how it makes you feel. I’m guessing you’ll feel thrilled to have a part of yourself on paper! Happy scrapping!

xo,
Nancy

P.S. You can check out a tutorial on taking great self portraits for your layouts here.

3-D Flower Garland

Good Morning! I’m so excited to be guest blogging here on the SEI blog! I’m excited about this first project, so let’s get started!

I’ve seen lots of gorgeous flower and heart garlands around the web these days, and I even made a fun Valentine-themed one for myself in February. But my heart just stopped when I saw this gorgeous 3-D flower garland in a store at the mall:


So pretty, right? I knew immediately that I wanted to re-create this fun look with paper. I’m super-pleased with the results, and even better, it was sooo easy!


Here’s how you can make a 3-D flower garland of your own:

Gather your supplies. You’ll need double-sided patterned paper (I used the sweet & pretty Claire collection), a flower punch or die-cut, twine or thread, and glue.

Punch out tons of flowers. This is the fun part!


Adhere three flowers together in a triangle formation, like this:



String your flowers on twine or thread. How easy is that?! I hung mine on our bookcase so the pretty foil paper catches the sunlight.


There are lots of fun variations for these flowers. You could string dozens of them closely on thread as lei for the birthday girl. You could make paper beads to string between each flower. You could use them as place card holders for your next dinner.


The sky’s the limit with these easy flowers... have fun!

xo,
Nancy

Guest Blogger, Nancy Doren

We would like to introduce you to our guest blogger, Nancy Doren. She works for Scrapbooking from the Inside Out, a kit club. Her fun personality and knack for scrapbooking shine on her blog, paperview. Be sure to check it out and come back next week to enjoy all of the great projects she has in store!

Hello, everyone! I’m super excited to be guest blogging next week! I have some fun projects up my sleeve and I can’t wait to share them with you.

Here’s a few of my favorite things:

Photo shoots with my hubby



Shopping with my sister


Pink flowers


Hanging out with family


What are your favorite things?? See you next week!

xo,
Nancy