Announcing...

We've chosen 3 lucky peeps from Wednesday's Mr. Boy Unity giveaways. Congratulations to the following:

Mr. Boy Stamp Set Winner:

Up, Up & Away Itty Bitty Stamp Winner:

Dinomite Itty Bitty Stamp Winner:

Ladies, please email us using the subject line: UNITY BLOG WINNER (which prize you won)

TGIF right? We'll be working the weekend away on designing projects for our first-ever appearance at Archiver's Scrapfest Event later this year!

We'll see you monday when we will be launching MOM'S Week in honor of Mother's Day we'll be giving you week-long inspiration including gift ideas, cards, layouts and more...even some giveaways too! ;) See you then!

Have you ever used stamps to create your own background, patterned paper? Well, if you don't think your a graphic designer, think again? This is a great way to explore the design process! Grab one or more of your favorite stamps and have at it! Gail used the Mr. Boy Collection set and some Tim Holtz distressing ink to create her own background for a card!

Bella Blvd's coordinating individuals and stamp sets are available online at Unity's store, but today we are giving away THREE prizes to THREE lucky stampers!

First up, The Mr. Boy Stamp Set that Gail used on the card above retails for $19! You can win it today....here's a peek at the contents:

Prize No. 2 is the Up Up & Away Itty Bitty stamp, retailing at $6.50:

And Prize No. 3, Dinomite Itty Bitty stamp, also retailing at $6.50:

If you just can't wait to win them, stop by Unity today to make a purchase for your own stash!

Didn't Gail's card just turn out darling?

How to Win: Leave a comment below, it's that easy!

Winners will be announced on Friday's blog post! Good luck!

Update: Unity has decided to promote these 3 stamps too! For a limited time they are ON SALE over at Unity Stamp Co's Store......Get yours today!

It's Monday around the studio today and we've got some fun projects in the works. We're designing new collections, planning for a new Artista and Design Team call and more!! I wish so badly I could show you a little something....but you know how that goes...it's all top-secret! :) Today we've got some doggy inspiration for you from the Artistas! 

Have you picked up our newest pet collection, Tail Waggers & Cat Naps? Some of our favorite online scrapbooking stores have all of it (check out the left side-bar for quick links)! 

Springtime means it's time to get outside and take those dogs for a walk or pups to the puppy park!

"Oh So Cute"

By: Katherine McElvain

"Furry Friend"

By: Gretchen McElveen

 Last week we rearranged the entire office/studio and are still trying to hang things, clean things and get re-organized. It feels so great to clean-house once in a while. On that note, we had a fun little Facebook giveaway over the weekend to those of you willing to take some of the scraps off our hands. Julie Learned was announced as our winner this morning! Congrats Julie....please email us with your address so we can ship you the goodies! We'll show you some before and after pictures soon, hopefully sometime this week!

Just one layout to share with you today with some bright and cheerful Easter colors!

"Giggle"

By: Wendy Lee

All Bella Blvd products featured from the newest Sophisticates Collection, including Blooms A Bella flowers and Quattrofina Alphabet stickers!

Wishing you a weekend filled with peace and happiness, and hopefully a little bit of sunshine! (We are still anxiously awaiting Spring here in Wisconsin!)

Sometimes the hardest part about finishing off a layout is thinking of the perfect title, right? Well, today we have a challenge for you: How about thinking of a title FIRST, and then locating or taking the perfect photos for that page? Every mom can relate to her little kiddos always trying to get away with something!

Because Mother's Day is coming up soon, we thought we'd challenge you with the following page title,

"If Only Mom would let us...."

By: Katherine McElvainKatherine is getting the inspiration started here.....begin by jotting down a list that would work for a layout or mini album and go to work! 

Bella Blvd products from the Family Dynamix collection.

My name is Kim & I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with my wonderful husband and energetic kids! I am never without a good photo opportunity and that is what fuels my scrapbooking obsession! I am blessed to have a family of friends in this industry that support me and make me smile everyday. I would love you to stop by my blog, www.theholmescrew.blogspot.com, and see what I'm up to! Remember-make sure you create something everyday -- after all, -- art is the only way to run away without leaving your house!

There is nothing better to get my mojo flowing than a good sketch! Sketches are so full of possibilities and I love the versatility that they hold-you can work from them exactly or use them as a guideline to jump-start your own creativity! One of my favorite sketch artists is Lucy Chesna, found of My Sketch World Challenge blog & forums. I love to start with one of Lucy's sketches and turn it into a one-of-a-kind  piece of art. Today I'm going to show you many different creations which were inspired by the sketch above!

You can use 2 photos like the sketch calls for, like I did here in the All Boy Layout (Created with Bella Blvd's Mr. Boy product collection). Or, you can adjust the number of photos to work better for you. In the next example here I used the adorable Tail Waggers & Cat Naps collection, and only one photograph.

In this next layout, using the Sophisticates by Stephanie collection I used 3 photos....

And I even interpreted the sketch in this next layout to have 6 photographs!

You can see from my examples that they follow the "general" layout of the sketch. I love to pull out my favorite elements and design the rest of the layout around them. In this sketch, my favorite element was the circle in the background of the layout. You can see that I stay focued on that througout my layout deisngs. 

Another way to stretch a sketch is to use it for something other than its intended use. If it's a card sketch, try designing a layout; if it's a layout sketch, try designing a card or an altered item. Remember, the sketch is just a general guideline meant to inspire you! Here are a couple cards I created using the same sketch:

Finally, I have one final thing to share with you I created using the layout sketch for inspiration---a gift bag for my son's birthday presents!

That's right! We carried Jennifer Edwarson's Guest Blog Feature through today because she sent in so much content for us to work with....btw we just love when those designers do that! The more inspiration the merrier! If you missed Jennifer's last 2 posts be sure to check out Thursday & Friday's posts for more of her fun style!

Jennifer like to do this fun sanding technique often! (Check out the bottom of this post for sample ideas!)

1. You'll need an iron, your favorite Bella Blvd papers and a sanding block!

2. Pre-heat your iron a low setting without steam (because the steam can make your paper wet).

3. Gently shape Bella patterned paper into a "ball".

4. Unfold, smooth out and iron paper flat.'

5. Using sanding block, sand all over paper to show your creases.

6. Adhere to your layout or card to show a fun, distressed look.

It's day 2 of my Guest Blogging here at Bella Blvd, and I've got a couple fun layouts that I created using the Sophisticates by Stephanie collection.

"fly..."

Featuring the Lace patterned side of monochromatic papers.

"Lean on Me"

Featuring the Sprinkles side of the monochromatic papers, and the tiny coin alphabets (do you see them running along the top-edge of the layout?). 

The Quattrofina Cardstock alphabet stickers have so many choices...including FOUR different alphabets per sheet for only $3.59!

I'll be back tomorrow, for a special Saturday post featuring a full tutorial on a fun sanding technique. Here's a peek,

Hey there.  My name is jennifer Edwardson and I live in Parksville, a beautiful seaside community located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.  I am a wife to the most amazing husband, Mom to Emma and Alexander and the proud owner of the Island’s favourite scrapbooking store (Scrapbookin' Adventures)!!!  I have always been very creative and began scrapbooking shortly after Emma was born 10 years ago, and have never looked back.  Being surrounded by color makes me so happy and I am never without 3D foam and a sanding block !!  I have designed and taught hundreds of workshop since opening my shop 5 years ago and absolutely love what I do.  My work has been featured on blogs and idea galleries and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share my Bella Blvd projects with you here......I hope this inspires you to sit down with your own Bella Blvd stash and create something wonderful.....have fun !!!

"Love, Love, Love"

Featuring the Family Dynamix collection. (Mixed with Sophisticates)

"Star Wars"

Featuring the Mr. Boy Collection.

"Everyday"

Featuring the Family Dynamix Collection.

The New Sophisticates By Stephanie collection offers just about everything you need for your everyday "go-to" stash including this super cute Tall Tags sheet, inspired by bookmarks. Here's the "embellishment paper" (as we've named it at Bella Blvd) front view:

and the B-side (backside) has a multi-color pattern, making it versatile with any and all of the Sprinkles & Lace patterns:Bella Artista, Gretchen McElveen used nearly half the sheet of the Tall Tags to create this 12x12 layout. 

Check out the darling handmade flower embellishment too. If you're starting to think about Mother's day layouts or gift ideas, a framed layout always is very meaningful. 

On a side note, be sure to check out Practical Scrappers blogthis week because we donated some new products for giveaways, and they have a ton of inspiration starting today! One of the layouts posted of there, created by .., featured the Tall Tags too!

And more note...be sure to stop by tomorrow because we have a Guest Blogger taking over with some great inspiration for the next couple days including techniques too! You're going to love her work, I promise!

Wednesday, April 6^th  Giveaway: Mr. Boy Collection

WINNER is Chris, "Seriously...how awesome is that Stegosaurus with the ribbon plates?! LOVE the creativity these girls have. LOVE IT."

Friday, April 8^th Giveaway: Family Dynamix Collection via our Facebook Fan Page! WINNER is Carly Shaver Gannon, "Still here and liking! Such a fun, inspiring week! Loved it all"

Chris & Carly, please email us using the subject line: MAY ARTS WINNER/MR. BOY or FAMILY DYNAMIX. (State which collection you have won!)

Thank you to all our friends on Facebook, and loyal Blog readers! Our team-up week with May Arts was one of our most successful to date! We're happy everyone found so much inspiration between our two blogs and giveaways!

(for those of you waiting for the winners to be announced from last week's May Arts Team-Up Giveaways....stay tuned...we will be posting 2 winners later this evening!)

Like I always say, receiving emails from fans, Artistas and scrapbookers sharing their layouts, cards and projects is so much fun.....actually, it helps inspire me each day and reminds me why I love designing products for this industry so much! Today, I've got some super awesome work to show you!

"All of Us"

By: Ebony Van Der Starre

All products used from our new Family Dynamix Collection! Sticker alphas (Quattrofina) from the Sophisticates by Stephanie Collection.

"Hope"

By: Ebony Van Der Starre

Check out that darling pennant banner, with all different shapes and even a circle sticker too hanging! Products used from the Family Dynamix & Sophisticates by Stephanie Collections.

"Love" Card

By: Alice Carman

Alice has never been featured on our blog before. I met her at CHA Winter in LA and asked her to play with some of our goodies! I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of her darling work in the future! I love how to combined 2 different Bella collections here: Sunny Happy Skies & Family Dynamix.

"Hello Friend" Card

By: Alice Carman

All products from our new Family Dynamix collection. Wouldn't this make a darling Mother's Day card?

"It's All Good" Card

By: Alice Carman

"Be Happy" Sunny Happy Skies Decorative Frame

By: Kim Watson

We always love seeing what the Creating Keepsakes Dream Team girls are up to! Kim's bright style made for a sweet and cheerful handmade frame!

All products used from the Sunny  Happy Skies collection.

"Blue Skies" Greeting Card

By: Robin Redd

Last but not least is this beautiful, layered card. Robin used our red rubber stamps from Unity Stamp Company. (The Sunny Happy Skies stamp set) to create this whimsical card!

If you've created some cute, take some photos and send them to us! You never know, you're work might just show up right here next time!

It's day no. 5, our fifth and final day playing with May Arts ribbons and Bella Blvd goodies!

Before we share our last projects for the week, we'd like to say THANK YOU to the May Arts team! We had so much fun joining forces and playing with all your products. We've loved your projects all week long, and hope all our fans did too! So, to celebrate such a great week of collaboration, today we're giving away the entire Family Dynamix collection + a bunch of May Arts Ribbons!!!!(See details below on how to enter to win!)

"Alivia Jo"

By: Allyson Meinholz

Here you can see how the Family Dynamix collection, which is actually strongly dominated by primary colors (lots of Blues, reds and yellows), can also be portrayed very softly by pulling out the pinks and greens throughout the products!

The layout is very feminine, combining ribbons and bows throughout the layout with our new Baby Blooms A Bella flowers too!

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"Remember this Moment"

By: Morgan Bandkowski

Last but not least, we challenged Morgan to create a layout featuring the Just Write Journaling Stickers. The matte-finish stickers are great for documenting your story, noting the date, time or place, and so much more. There's speech bubbles, tabs, notebook paper and more....

These stickers are available in each of our new collection themes too, and have been a big hit! Morgan used several of the stickers to share the lyrics of a song by Rascal Flatts that described her feelings from the photos!

Remember, don't be afraid to use your own handwriting! 

Now, don't forget that you can win this entire collection + some beautiful May Arts ribbons by simply "liking us on Facebook" and leaving a comment on our wall! Winners from both giveaways this week (Wednesday and Today) will be announced early next week!

Have a wonderful weekend....and thanks again to May Arts---we made a great team this week!

"My Family" Paper Bag Mini Album

By: Morgan Bandkowski

Using white paper bags, Morgan created this darling 6x6" mini album featuring our Family Dynamix products and May Arts ribbons.

Flower Card

By: Katherine McElvain

Using the large leaf cut-out from the Cute Cuts paper

and the large, "Love you more" flower sticker from the Just Write Journaling Sticker sheet,

Katherine handmade this darling flower embellishment on the front of the card.

The black and white ribbon is wrapped to give the center dimension, and she topped it off with a chipboard icon embellishment.

Our Family Dynamix collection is for sale at your favorite scrappy stores now just in time for summer picnics, parties and everyday photos! We have plenty more inspiration for you tomorrow featuring Family Dynamix and guess what....

we'll be giving it away tomorrow too! So be sure to stop by again tomorrow for our last and final day of our May Arts Team-Up!

Finally-don't forget to visit May Arts today for more ideas!

Check out the side-bar! We've updated the galleries of our newest collections and will continue to load images as new projects are designed! You can print them for your convenience, scraplift and get right to work!!! 

Just click on the galleries to the right!!

One might ask how you to incorporate ribbon on boy-themed pages....well, today we've got some answers for you! ;)

"DUDE"

By: Katherine McElvain

Here Katherine has used ribbon in a non-traditional way. It works perfectly with the crazy photos and playful nature of the layout. The ribbon is streamed, turned an draped.

A closer look....

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"Happy Birthday" Pocket Card

By: Gail Hoecker

Omigosh, how darling is this, right?! Gail never disappoints! Using the large dinasour from the Mr. Boy Cute Cuts paper,Gail cut slight along his hump and created the ribbon detailing with May Arts!!

The card is actually a pocket, with a cute little insert to leave your birthday wishes inside!

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And if you aren't inspired yet, what about another layout, this time using diagonal lines and slants!

"...Catching Bugs"

By: Beth Gerlach

So many wonderful elements here as well including photo blocking, type/sticker/title treatment, ribbon wrapping and a dimensional border created from circle punches!

Today you have a free chance to win the entire Mr. Boy Collection! Just leave a comment below, winner will be announced in Monday Morning's post1

It's Day No. 2: 

"Best Friend" Greeting Card

By: Gail HoeckerGail used so many different techniques and products just on this one card! (That's why we love her!) The ribbon in the center from May Arts is twisted and wrapped. The flower was created from our Doiley Stamp Set in conjunction with Unity Stamp Company-(They're on sale too check 'em out)! She also combined the Sophisticates Lace pattern with the Sophisticates Essentials Ciao Chipboard! Way to go Gail, you rock!

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"Just Us"

By: Wendy Lee

We asked when you use the Sohisticates Calendars paper. Both the front and backside of this inexpensive paper offers so many sizes and colors of calendars! Great for journaling pieces, mattes, layers, altered projects and more!

Love the colorful calendars here, don't you?

....and all the beautiful ribbon ruffles!!!

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"Just In Case you ever Wonder..."

By: Allyson Meinholz

Finally, we asked Allyson to create a layout using our Sophisticates collection, featuring the Blooms A Bella^tm & Baby Blooms A Bella^tm flowers, and also of course, May Arts Ribbon! For me, this layout just took the cake! The techniques here are endless! Start with an amazing photograph, pick a subtle and Sophisticated background paper,

snip some ribbon to create the look of grass and look at this beautiful page! Allyson took about the Blooms layers and made her own color combination by layering them back together and fastening them with the pearl brad!

She did the same here by mixing and matching the brown, cream and white layers and finished it with a button center!

Check out how Allyson added color to her layout by using May Arts ribbons to create her own flowers! By simply stitching embroidery floss along the ribbons edge, and pulling taught, the scrunched flower is just about finished!

The handmade flowers are adorable, loopy and colorful! We *love* the techniques and textures here and hope you do too!

Don't forget to stop by May Arts Blog today for more inspiration and great ideas! And guess what?! Tomorrow we'll be back with more... PLUS  A GIVEAWAY TOO!!!!

We have another great week of design team, team-ups. This time May Arts & Bella Blvd have exchanged products and goodies and let the designers go to work! May Arts Ribbons are beautiful, and so many of the colors and textures mix and match with our newest product collections! This week our DT will be showing up Bella & May Arts, hosting a couple giveaways and getting you excited about everything in between! Be sure to visit May Arts Blog all week too for more inspiration and giveaways! It's going to be a blast!

Today we're playing with the Tail Waggers & Cat Naps products!

"Loyal Puppy" Mini Album

By: Beth Gerlach

Look at the darling spine wrapped with ribbons!!

The "L-O-Y-A-L" pennant banner is streamed along the front cover with a thin green ribbon too! This is a great little tip for joining these popular pennant pieces we are seeing such a trend of!

Beth designed this mini album from scratch. Can you believe it? She used the pieces on this Cute Cuts patterend paper to sketch her own pages on chipboard sheets. Then she trimmed them out and covered them in patterned papers....we love this!!!!

Throughout the mini book, Beth used the backside of the Cute Cuts shapes for her journaling.

Notice the flower's center here. By simply twisting and wrapping May Art's red polka-dotted ribbon, you've got yourself a darling flower center!

Bella Materials Used:

Patterned Paper, Stickers, Ciao Chip^tm: From the Tail Waggers & Cat Naps Collection

Patterned Paper, Stickers: From the Mr. Boy Collection

Baby Blooms A Bella^tmflowers: From the Sophisticates by Stephanie Collection

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"WEB"

By: Wendy Lee

The Tail Waggers collection is great for Cats too! 

May Arts sells some fabulous velvet ribbon with lace trim. Wendy scrunched it here, and also layered our patterned paper with the yellow solid ribbons and ran it threw her sewing machine!

Mixing paper and ribbon in the sewing machine isn't as hard as it looks! Plus it created a cute tiny pennant too! Take a close look!

Be sure to stop by May Arts blog today for more inspiration! Tomorrow we'll be back, featuring our Sophisticates collection! See you then!

"Us Three"

By: Laura Vegas

Our Family Dynamix collection is now shipping, just in time for the spring flower and color palette! The Family Dyanmix collection offers great versatility for summer, Game Night, family get-togethers, Mother's Day, a day at the park and so much more!

Creating Keepsakes Dream Team member, Laura Vegas, used several patterns, the Just Write journaling stickers, chipboard and more to create this color-blocked layout.

Here's a great weekend full of family and fun. Spring is finally turning the corner here at Bella, we are so excited to see the tulips sprouting up and the sun shining!! 

One more thing-be sure to stop by Monday for the luanch of an exciting Design Team-Up week with May Arts ribbon company! The Bella Artistas have created some wonderful mini album, layouts and cards to inspire you! Plus there will be givewaways too!