Yay! Happy Birthday to Me!

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Hey everyone! Wow, its been a hot minute since I have shared a blog post! Life has been really busy, I started a new job this past year as the Learning Support Teacher at a high school (a job I love and its perfectly suited to my skill sets), I still work at lululemon because I love my work friends and the product and YES—I am still stamping! Keeping up with my monthly groups, classes and events!

I miss sharing on here and I am going to try to be more committed to sharing on this platform because I do like to share projects that I am passionate about, especially scrapbooking. I make a lot of pages a month and I find they do not get the same kind of love over on Instagram (I hope you are following me there @stampwithbrenda).

This is me and some of my favorite people celebrating my birthday this year!

I wanted to share this fun page I made for a page class I teach as I am so happy with how it turned out. You know when you have a ‘vision’ and it comes to life? That is how I felt about this page!

I started with a base of Whisper White (as you know we can only order White Willow from this point on) and I cut myself a stencil using a Window Sheet and the Around it All dies. Using Blending Brushes and ink pads in Pretty in Pink, Coastal Cabana, Peach Pie and Lemon Lime Twist, I created a fun pattern along the side making sure to overlap the ‘bubbles’ so they felt connected.

The benefit of a window sheet is you can see through it, which makes placement a breeze—plus you can wipe it off to use over and over again! And don’t throw out the pieces or shapes that cut out—save them to use on another project as a fun element!

I used another die from the set in a slightly smaller size to stamp my sentiment ‘Make a Wish’ from the Birthday Celebrations stamp set. I absolutely LOVE this bundle and it will stay in my ‘keep me’ pile, especially because of the number dies included in the bundle.

I used the banner shape from the Mixed Labels die set to add behind my sentiment with some banners from the Lily Pond Lane DSP and some Linen Thread. The little tiny heart is from the Humble Home Builder Punch that was out during holiday season.

Adding some tone on tone embellishments also makes this a fun little area on my scrapbook page.

I stamped out ‘hooray’ from the Birthday Celebrations stamp set in Lemon Lime Twist to add overtop of that bubble—just like how I used the embellishments. As you can see on the page, anything added over top of the bubble coordinates with the bubble color—like the Peach Pie heart from the Hearts of Elegance Dies (a MUST HAVE—seriously #addtocart).

The remaining sentiments on this page are from the Wildflower Celebrations stamp set, which can be found in the Scrapbooking Brochure. I fussy cut them out and added them with a Pretty in Pink 49 to celebrate this birthday. Last one in my 40’s!

If you are inspired by this page, please help me keep loving what I do by shopping with me! I would be sincerely grateful—and if you are interested in joining my Making Memories Membership Program to learn how to scrapbook—get in touch!

Farewell for now friends! I would love to hear from you, so please leave me a comment!

Twelve Days of Christmas --with Brenda and Melanie!

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Hi friends! Welcome to the third annual blog hop between myself and friend Melanie, from Mels Inky Fingers! For the next twelve days you can toggle between our blogs for some fun holiday inspiration! I will be sharing a mix of scrapbooking and card inspiration with you over the next twelve days on a rotating schedule with Melanie. I am so happy you are here and please feel free to leave me comments!

Of course I want to kick off our 12 Days with a fun scrapbooking project! I love to scrapbook and I am getting a jump on some holiday page designs. After Christmas I will be able to simply pop some photos on my pages and it will feel so rewarding!

Many of the scrapbook pages I am going to share over our 12 Days, use the A Little Bit Festive Specialty Paper found in the Holiday Catalogue. This is such a fun and economical way to scrapbook as you can create so many different layouts with the pieces found in this collection.

I started with a base of Garden Green (probably my favorite holiday green if I had to pick) and used a pieces of Real Red as a photo mat for a 5 x 7 picture.

This paper collection has a bunch of shapes that you can pop out and a sheet of six 4 x6 cards. I chose the card with the ornaments and actually fussy cut these out for the top right corner of my page. I stamped the little snowflake image around and under the ornaments using the Happiest Day stamp set. The phrase ‘Good Tidings’ is from the Sophisticated Sled stamp set.

A little Real Red & White bakers twine and some Gold Ribbon through the Good Tidings tag and some Peppermint embellishments finished off this little section of my page.

For the bottom section of my page, I stamped the same image again in the background and popped up the three ornaments from the collection. I added a bit of the Blueberry Bushel gingham pattern from the DSP underneath the top and bottom of my photo mat.

The sentiment is from the Reindeer Fun stamp set that I punched out with the Modern Oval Punch. A added a little more Red & White twine behind it and some more Peppermint Embellishments.

I hope this page inspires you to do some holiday memory keeping. Now its time to head over to Melanie’s blog to see what project she is kicking our 12 Days of Christmas off with! Click the image below to visit Mel’s Inky Fingers!

Please consider shopping my online store if this page has inspired you. Your support helps me continue to love what I do!

Color Fusers--Black & White!

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Welcome to the Color Fusers Blog Hop for July! This month the team is crafting with Black, White and a color of our choice. I picked Pretty in Pink as my color!

I decided to use one of my 12 x 12 Basic Black card stock sheets that I have been hoarding. I am hoping these will be available again in the fall for Halloween crafting—fingers crossed!


I layered the new awesome Wood Textured Specialty paper over top that I blended with some Pretty in Pink ink. This paper is a hidden gem in the Annual Catalogue and is definitely going to replace Basic White in some of my scrapbook designs!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Reese and my 3 nieces at Greenwater Lake—an annual trip we do each summer. There is nothing like a day by the water side enjoying some time with family.

I love how the blending of ink accentuates the wood grain tone in the paper! Its such a subtle wow!

I used the Mini Alphabet Dies to spell ‘cousin’s’ in Pretty in Pink cardstock. This is such a great die because you can easily cut the whole alphabet at one time or use little scraps of paper the isolate the letters you want.

I couldn’t resist adding in something completely NEW so I used the Golden Greenery Dies to cut out these sprig shapes in Basic Black card stock. I love how these do not look ‘holiday’ at all! Another great reason to #addtocart!

Along with the new, I added in florals from the Textured Floral stamp set. One that I have used many many times in my crafting. If you are new to this hobby, I would definitely recommend adding this to your collection.

The flowers are stamped with Basic White Craft Ink on Basic Black card stock and sprinkled with embossing powder. Remember to heat from the bottom to get a better looking finished embossed image.

I also stamped the smallest flower from the stamp set in Memento Ink and Pretty in Pink ink.

The leaves are from the large Leaf Collection background stamp. I trimmed them into separate images and added them around the page. I cut a strip of 6x6 DSP and tore the edge to tuck underneath the photo which is on a Pretty in Pink photo mat. To me this DSP from the In Color collection feels just like the Leaf Collection stamp.

The sentiment is from the Textured Floral stamp set. I added a few pink embellishments from the Adhesive Backed Dots for Days collection.

I really love how this page turned out. It is a design that you can easily replicate with using different stamp sets and dies. We have so many to chose from!

Next up on the Hop is Melissa Kerman—I know she has created something awesome and I can’t wait to see what color she picked to add to Black and White!

If you want to go in reverse, or if the hop has a broken link, you can always go back to see what the amazing Sue Vine has created too.

Regardless, I hop you visit everyone on the hop to see what color they chose to add to the Black and White theme!

Thank you for visiting my blog today! Please leave me any feedback and if you are inspired, consider shopping my store so I can continue to do what I love!

Be Inspired--Triadic Color Theory!

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Hi friends! Welcome to the Be Inspired Blog Hop! I love creating with this fun crew of people and I hope you will visit all of our blogs and leave us some comments!

This month the crew is creating projects featuring Triadic Color Theory! You can find this in the Annual Catalogue—its such a cool resource, especially if you are looking to mix things up in terms of color. I know I have my favorite go to colors, so it is nice to step outside the box occasionally!

I decided to use the combination that is on the bottom of the right page— Fresh Freesia, Wild Wheat and Pretty Peacock. I can confidently say I have never crafter before with this combination, however I am IN LOVE with how my project turned out! I hope you will give this combination a try yourself after seeing how awesome it looks!

I started with a base of Fresh Freesia. I had this design in mind and I knew that in my personal stash, I have alot of 12x12 DSP to match in Fresh Freesia. This particular print is from some Sale a bration DSP. I used a 9 inch paper plate to trace the circle and just cut it with scissors! Such a fun way to use DSP, I think I might CASE myself!

My photo mat is in Pretty Peacock to showcase this picture of myself with my mom a few summers ago.

I am a fan of coordination and it is a happy accident that my sunglasses just happened to match!

On this page, the showstopper is this new bundle that will be available to order in the Online Store in July. I am obsessed. It is a MUST HAVE. It is an amazing new hybrid bundle called Changing Leaves. And while it appears ‘fall’, it definitely does not have that vibe on this scrapbooking page!

The largest of the leaves in the stamp set is stamped with Wild Wheat ink on coordinating card stock. The midsized leaf is stamped in Fresh Freesia on coordinating card stock. I added some directly to the 12 x 12 and some as elements.

 

The sentiment “You are a shining light” is from the You are Beautiful stamp set in our annual catalogue. I added a scalloped circle behind, die cut in Pretty Peacock card stock using the Round We Go dies.

I used a length of Wild Wheat ribbon that I cut in half to bring life to the sentiment. I also added a die cut from the Flowers of Beauty Dies and a spring from the Bough Punch.

The sentiment ‘Love You’ is from another new set, Everyday Greetings, that you will be able to order in July under the Online Exclusive section. I added a bit of white thread and a cute little heart from the Bee Builder Punch.

The little die cut flowers are from an unknown die set—haha! I didn’t put it back and its been too long to remember where it goes! I am sure I am not the only person who has some ‘homeless’ dies.

I really love this scrapbooking page and I am so glad that I was encouraged to use this fun amazing new color combo! It is definitely one that I will try again, maybe on a card design!

Next up on the hop is a fellow Canadian, my friend Carolynn! She lives a couple of hours away from me and I am pretty sure she cheers for a different hockey team! haha! Go Oilers!

Click the link below to visit her blog and see her crafty project!

If you are inspired and are looking to place an order, please consider shopping my store! Your support allows me to keep doing what I love!


Father's Day Projects!

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Hi friends! I wanted to share a really adorable Father’s Day project that I designed for a recent kids class! We had so much fun putting everything together and I know the lucky dad’s will be truly touched by this gift!

Of course you need to make things a ‘gift set’ right? We have our fun project, a coordinating card and tag for our gift bag! I do love matchy matchy stuff and its always so easy with Stampin’ Up!

 

I started with an inexpensive canvas that I got at our local ‘dollar’ store.

I did a bit of ink blending with Boho Blue and a Blending Brush on the canvas around the top left and bottom right of where my photo was going to be placed.

I used a cute 4x6 picture of my youngest son and his dad on a Night of Navy base. I love the combination of Boho Blue, Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy and Pebbled Path! It worked so well on this project!

I added a little strip of Misty Moonlight DSP along the left side of the picture and used a Pebbled Path piece to create the rosette. I am loving the Round We Go bundle! The rosettes are pretty easy to assemble and make this project come to life!

The sentiment ‘So Glad You are My Dad’ is from the Gone Fishing stamp set and ‘You’re Awesome’ is from the retired Circle Saying Stamp set. I also used the Encircled in Nature Dies as well to layer ‘So Glad’ in Boho Blue.

I think this project turned out so adorable and you could modify it for any occasion like a birthday or celebration (think Grad or even a wedding shower!).

And of course we have a coordinating card and I used our new Brayer for the first time on the bottom section! I inked it up in Night of Navy and brushed it over Basic White card stock, leaving a section at the top to run through an embossing folder. I used a strip of Night of Navy card stock to hide where it was uneven and to create separation between the two section.

I used our Water Painter to flick water over the inked section so the water droplets would ‘remove’ some of the ink. It basically happens on contact and is pretty cool technique.

The Trusty Tools stamp set was perfect for the front and inside of the card. ‘Dad’ is stamped in Pebbled Path ink on another shape from the Encircled in Nature Dies and ‘Happy Father’s Day’ is on Boho Blue in Night of Navy ink.

 

I decorated the inside of the card as well with a little strip of DSP and ‘You’re the most Awesome’ from Trusty Tools. The frame around the sentiment is from the Labeled with Love Bundle.

I think this is such a fun gift to give Dad and I loved how all the kids had their own creative spin on how to assemble the project! As you can see from the smiles below I think they really did enjoy putting things together!

Please feel free to shop my store or DM to place an order if you are inspired by this project! All of your support allows me to continue to ‘love what I do’!