Well, Anna Griffin's Blend Fabrics launch at the International Quilt Show in Houston proved to be every bit as exciting and fun as I had anticipated! It was such a treat and and an honor to be part of the celebration, to have the privilege of being embraced by Anna's amazing team (more like a family!), and the other wonderful designers (instant sisters!) who had their work featured in this exciting release~

Since I've been sewing from the time I was a very young, I've dreamed of designing fabric. From sewing doll clothes and funny little finger puppets as a little girl and my own random (interesting?) accessories and clothing as a teen, to making soft and yummy blankets, jammies, hats, booties and cotton dolls and toys for my babies, I've always enjoyed the creative outlet of sewing. What a sweet (and surreal) experience it was to see the final product of BabySaurus in gorgeous cottons and  super-soft flannels, all in the finest quality... 

... and to see the darling display samples Anna's sewing team whipped up:

It was also very inspiring, compelling and interesting to walk this show, noting all of the differences and similarities between the scrapbooking and quilting industries... What an abundance of talent and energy! Needless to say, I am inspired, in so many ways! I've been planning to get a sewing space set up in my little house for a while, and now it's sure to happen. Can't wait to get my hands on this fabric!

Well, it's back to work for me, feeling creatively rejuvenated~ Working on next year's summer lines today! 

Thanks to Anna and her team for a great opportunity and a wonderful weekend!

'Til next time...  happy creating!

Sharon

Thanks to everyone who followed along on the blog swap this week! 

Our winners are:

From Facebook:  Kelly Guercio

From the Blog:  Lisa R

Check back next week for more fun from the Cycling Teams!

Have a great weekend, and if you're in New England like I am ... batten down the hatches and get ready for some ... snow???

-Peg

Hello everyone and welcome to the fifth and final day of our fabulous blog swap with our friends over at The Twinery! I guess it's true what they say, all good things must come to an end. We are sad to see this week end. But hey ... before it does, I have a couple more projects to share with you from the Biker Chicks, prizes to give away (later today) ... and next week I'll be back with more inspiration from our wonderful Head of the Class, Get Your Game On, and Hello Fall! Cycling Teams!

So I promise ... the fun never ends here on the LYB blog!

Let's get to the projects!

First up is Biker Chick Tania Willis with a layout featuring the Hello Fall! collection and, of course, some baker's twine from The Twinery!

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The colorful bundle of twine in the assortment pack had me at hello!  The colors are so fun and playful and just the right shades of color.  For my “I Love Fall” layout, I wanted to play off the Fresh Verse Cardstock die cut that says “piles of smiles” and literally piled a bunch of snapshots in the middle of the page. 

From there, I started adding pops of color in clusters by layering several types of embellishments from the collection, then kicked it up a notch with the addition of the twine. I love that the twine is a playful twist of light and dark, as the white is twisted with a color.  It keeps the embellishment light and not too dense for the eye. Love that. 

For the next cluster, I layered Fresh Verse die cuts, a journaling tag, flowers from the layered flowers pack and a chipboard button from the Fabric Pieces.  Before adhering the button, I pulled off the foam dimensional tape and strung two layers of twine through the eyelets.

Lastly, I wanted a bold punch of color in the center of the layout to draw the eye to the photos first.  I just added several loops of twine to the felt flower, near the felt leaves to resemble another leaf on the flower. Such an easy addition that helps add more visual weight to the flower embellishment.

I want to give a HUGE thanks to The Twinery for the generous supply of twine that was sent for our team to complete these projects this week!

Tania

Supplies:

Lemondrop Baker’s Twine by The Twinery

Mandarin Baker’s Twine by Twinery Twine

Honeydew Baker’s Twine by Twinery Twine

HF – 104 Walnut Knit Paper

HF – 220 Fabric Favorites

HF – 140 Fresh Verse Cardstock Die-cuts

HF – 135 Favorite Pieces Cardstock Die-cuts

HF – 223 Felt Flowers

HF – 134 Journaling Cards

HF – 305 Paper Flower Kit

HF – 277 Stick Pins

HF – 308 Favorite Things Pocket

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Thanks Tania! Love this layout! And YOU can catch more ideas from Tania by following her blog ... just click this link right here to get there!

Next up - another layout from Liz!

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Naughty or Nice Page

Just a funny page of my daughter hamming it up for the camera.  It reminded me of how she is always thinking about what is going to be on her list for Santa and how hard she tries to "make it happen."  Adding pop dots to the cardstock stickers is a great way to give them dimension and accent the page.  I cannot help but tuck a decorative edged cardstock piece on all of my pages and the patterns on the Wonder & Wishes pices are lovely.

Wonder and Wishes Collection Materials:

WO-104 - Christmas Plaid/Dots on Green

WO-133 - 6" x 6" Decorative Edge double-sided textured cardstock with glitter accents (5 pieces)

WO-279 - Chipboard Shapes - with glitter accents (20 pieces)

WO-165 - Chipboard Stickers - Words - with debossing (16 pieces)

WO-276 - Corrugated Shapes (22 pieces)

WO-135 - Cardstock Stickers - Favorite Pieces - with glitter accents and matte foil (28 pieces) WO-140 - Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse - with debossing (28 pieces)

WO-197 - Jewel Stickers (96 pieces)

WO-219 - Flower Button Dots - layered with buttons

Twinery - Maraschino Twine 15 Yards

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Thanks Liz! Here's the link to Liz's blog too!

Now go on over to The Twinery's blog, to see what they've made for you today! As usual, don't forget to leave comments here, there and everywhere (LYB's Facebook Page, The Twinery's Facebook Page), for more chances to win! I will be choosing two winners of a LOVELY prize pack from our Hello Fall collection, plus a sampler pack from The Twinery!

Thanks for visiting and GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

-Peg

Little Yellow Bicycle is proud to share some news with you...Anna Griffin Inc. has recently announced a new division called "Blend," which will debut this weekend (October 29-31) at the International Quilt Market in Houston, TX. Blend is designed to reach new product categories, while promiting talented artists from around the world. (Here's the link to the announcement on the Anna Griffin Blog.)

Little Yellow Bicycle is excited to announce that designs from our spring BabySaurus collection, designed by Senior Creative Director Sharon Kropp, have been selected for Blend's debut collection! Here's a peek!

We think this is so cool! A true tribute to talent, Blend’s artists represent both well-known designers and some of the world’s best-kept secrets. With unique, fashion forward design aesthetics, each artist brings an all-encompassing approach to the marketplace with a fresh, on-trend design perspective.Its primary focus will be fabrics and stationery.

Sharon will be joining the Blend team this weekend at the International Quilt Market, and has promised to share her experience here on the blog when she returns. 

We'd like to congratulate Sharon and her team for this honor!

Hi everyone! Hard to believe it's already Day 4 of our Blog Swap week with the talented team over at The Twinery.  I don't know about you but I'm hoping for rain this weekend so I can get a little extra crafting in!

It will be sad to see this creativity-packed week come to an end ... but the end of the week also means we'll be announcing our prize winners - so keep those comments coming!

Today I have three projects from Biker Chick Vicki Boutin, featuring the brand new Wonder & Wishes collection - perfect for holiday gift giving - and available NOW at your Local Scrapbook Store!

Here's Vicki!

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I love Baker’s Twine!  It is such a simple, whimsical embellishment and there are so many uses for it.  The Twinery offers an amazing selection of colors and I was excited to mix their twine with the Wonder & Wishes line.  I decided to whip up a few cards.

Delight Card

One of my favorite uses for twine is to “string” up embellishments.  I added a few eyelets to a chipboard tag and attached it to the card with twine.

A great way to keep the twine in place is to punch “notches” using a small hole punch along the edge of the mat.

Material List

WO-101 - Home for Christmas/Red Check

WO-102 - Red Poinsettia/Christmas Text

WO-279 - Chipboard Shapes - with glitter accents (20 pieces)

WO-140 - Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse - with debossing (28 pieces)

The Twinery Baker’s Twine (Peapod)

Eyelets

Kraft cardstock

Joy Tag

I often like to work grids into my designs.  I like the linear structure of a grid.  The lines on the Christmas Plaid paper worked as a great guide when placing the twine.

I punched holes and threaded the twine to give the tag a clean, finished look.  The twine also worked really well as a tag topper!

Material List

WO-104 - Christmas Plaid/Dots on Green

WO-140 - Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse - with debossing (28 pieces)

The Twinery Baker’s Twine (Peapod)

Kraft cardstock

I Believe Card

A glue pen and a little twine are the perfect combination!!!  You can doodle a pattern or write a word and top it off with some twine for the perfect embellishment or title.  I drew the heart with a glue pen and then outlined it with some red and white twine.

This is a quick way to add pizzazz to a card or layout!

Material List

WO-106 - Joy & Peace/Little Red Hot Dot

WO-165 - Chipboard Stickers - Words - with debossing (16 pieces)

WO-222 - Canvas Tape Rolls - 3/4" x 36" per design (3 pieces)

The Twinery Baker’s Twine (Maraschino)

Glue Pen

Kraft Cardstock

Rhinestones

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Thank you Vicki! These are so cute! If you want to see more inspiration from Biker Chick Vicki Boutin ... just follow this link to her blog!

And then hop on over to The Twinery's Blog to see what they have in store for you today!

Leave your comments on the blog and also The Twinery's Facebook Page and Little Yellow Bicycle's Facebook Page to increase your chances of winning the Blog Swag!

Have a crafty day!

-Peg

Hello friends! It's Day 3 of our wonderful Blog Swap Week with The Twinery! We hope you're having fun and enjoying all of our designers' amazing work!

Today our very talented Biker Chick Greta Hammond has made amazing Christmas projects using LYB's new Wonder & Wishes collection!

Here's Greta to tell you about them!

I loved working with The Twinery product! Such a fun little embellishment to add to any project. I chose to use the LYB line Wonder &Wishes for my projects and the twine colors matched perfectly!

First off, I made a little gift giving notebook booklet by folding 3 sheets of 4.5” x 9” paper in half and then punching holes in the spine. I threaded some grey/white twine through the holes and tied a bow on the outside. To embellish, I made a small pom pom with the twine to adorn the top of my chipboard present.

Next, I made a card and used the twine to outline the edge of the chipboard frame. A fun way to add a bit of texture.

I then wrapped a corrugated tree with red/white twine to serve as garland and then finished off my title with a small bow.

Finally, I made a quick gift bag by turning over the top of the bag and punching holes near the center. I threaded 5 strands of twine through, added a small tag and tied a bow.

I decorated the front with paper, a fabric scalloped circle, stickers, chipboard and those lovely felt poinsettias! Easy, peasy!

Supply List:

WO-108 Festive Red

WO-105 Tiny Tonal Poinsettia

WO-140 Fresh Verse

WO-135 Favorite Pieces

WO-1279 Chipboard Shapes

WO-197 Jewel Stickers

WO-220 Fabric Favorites

WO-165 Chipboard Sticker Words

WO-304 Felt Flowers

Other: sack

thanks,

Greta

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Thanks Greta! 

Now head on over to The Twinery's Blog to see their lovely projects for today! And of course, don't forget to leave a comment here on our blog, and also on The Twinery's Blog, plus LYB's Facebook Page and The Twinery's Facebook Page to increase your chances of winning a fabulous Hello Fall! and The Twinery Prize Pack!

See you tomorrow!

-Peg

Hello everyone! So happy you stopped by for Day 2 of our fabulous blog swap week with the talented team over at The Twinery!  I loved yesterday's projects ... they were all so beautiful I don't think I could beging to pick a favorite! 

Today I have three more fun projects from Liz Qualman! Liz is so helpful, she's here with some great ideas for cards to take you through the next few holidays!

But before we get to Liz's projects - just a quick reminder to stop by The Twinery's Blog also, to see what they've created for you today - and also to leave a comment here, there, and also on LYB's Facebook Page and The Twinery's Facebook Page, to increase your chances of winning some great prizes from both companies at the end of the week!

Great. Let's get started! Here's Liz!

Happy Halloween Card:

Twine adds a new and fun spin to spider webs.  I used an epoxy button from the Booville collection and 5 pieces of charcoal twine to create my web.  I anchored the button to the center of the card, punched tiny little holes around the edges of my card to feed the twine through, and then wrapped more twine around the interior of the web.  Next, I added spiders from the Booville Clear Stickers with pop dots and the Happy Halloween sentiment from the Booville Canvas Pieces. Finally I added a few pieces of candy with the Cardstock Stickers.  You can order the entire Booville Collection on our Little Yellow Bargains site - at 70% off its original price!

Materials:

Little Yellow Bicycle Booville Collection

BV-112 - Motley Pumpkins/Orange Dots with Trim

BV-278 - Epoxy Chipboard Buttons (30 pieces)

BV-135 - Favorite Pieces with thermography and debossing BV-190 - Clear Stickers with glitter (31 pieces)

BV-202 - Canvas Stickers (13 pieces)

Twinery - Charcoal Twine 15 Yards

Fall Card:

It's fun to anchor twine with a button and fan it out on your project.  I wanted to highlight the beautiful Hello Fall! Collection chipboard tree, so I added the button to the trunk with three strands of twine and fanned them out on one side by anchoring them to the card with little punched holes.  The I added the sentiment from the Fabric Favorites as well as some leaves from the Cardstock Die Cuts

Hello Fall Collection Materials:

HF-107 - Sweater Weather/Delicious Autumn Text

HF-279 - Chipboard Shapes - with glitter accents (20 pieces) HF-220 - Fabric Favorites (14 pieces)

HF-135 - Cardstock Die Cuts - Favorite Pieces - with embossing and button accents (34 pieces) Twinery - Mandarin Twine 15 Yards

Holiday Wishes Card:

Rolled paper makes a unique looking project.  I used two different patterned papers from the Wonder & Wishes Collection and offset the measurements for each roll by a half an inch starting with 4.5 inches on the bottom and ending with 1 inch on the top.  Then I wrapped twine around each end of the rolls of paper and stuck them in order to the corrugated cardstock paper.  The trunk is a rolled scrap wrapped with Cappucino twine. I added a Flower Button Dot as my tree topper and finally a holiday sentiment from the Fresh Verse Stickers.

Wonder and Wishes Collection Materials:

WO-104 - Christmas Plaid/Dots on Green

WO-107 - Ornaments All Over/Green Geometric WO-140 - Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse - with debossing (28 pieces)

WO-219 - Flower Button Dots - layered with buttons Corrugated Kraft Cardstock Paper Twinery - Maraschino Twine 15 Yards Twinery - Cappuccino

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Thanks Liz! Love that chubby little rolled paper tree! So cute! Be sure to check out Liz's blog for more inspiration, then hop on over to The Twinery's Blog for more fun projects. And don't forget to leave those comments!

I'll be back tomorrow with projects from Biker Chick Greta Hammond! Have a great day!

-Peg

Don't you just love a little bit of baker's twine on your layout or paper project? To me it just says "happy" - maybe it's the long ago association with goodies from the bakery - who knows? But when the opportunity to do a blog swap with The Twinery ... creators of baker's twine in the loveliest colors ... we jumped on it!

In case you're not familiar with a blog swap - here's what we did: we sent their Design Team papers and embellishments from the Hello Fall! collection, and they sent our Design Team a box of baker's twine in every color of the rainbow and then some! Then our teams got to work, and you get to enjoy what they've created!

Each day this week, both The Twinery and LYB will share a project or two from our Design Teams which we hope will inspire you.

PLUS ... as usual ... there's blog swag involved! YOU have a chance to win some gorgeous goodies! Be sure to head over to The Twinery's Blog and Facebook Page every day to see what their fabulous Designers have created. Don't forget to leave a comment - and tell them we sent you. Comment every day on both blogs and Facebook pages for more chances to win. At the end of the week, we'll each pick winners from our Facebook and Blog comments - and the winners will win a sampler pack of Twinery Twine plus some goodies from Little Yellow Bicycle's Hello Fall! collection!

What's not to love? Let's get started!

Our first projects are created by the very very talented Biker Chick Renee Foss!

Piles of Smiles Layout - Using The Twinery Twine and Little Yellow Bicycle's Hello Fall! Collection

To begin I dyed the red/white baker’s twine to make it more harmonious with the fall colors of this layout. I mixed water and the two colors of alcohol ink and soaked my twine in it for about a half an hour. Make sure the mixture is a lot darker than the color you want the twine to end up. After soaking, rinse the twine with clear water and squeeze out excess. Allow to dry before using.

For layout, I color-blocked two different patterned papers on red cardstock. The photo and ‘piles of smiles’ are matted on orange cardstock. All edges were inked with brown stamping ink. I grouped the large brown branch and two leaf chipboard pieces as shown and tied my prepared twine several times around the entire red cardstock piece before adhering this to the background [kraft] paper. I removed the foam backing from one of the Fabric Favorites button pieces and punched two small holes. I added this piece over the chipboard pieces and tied the twine in a bow through the button. HINT: add a small dot of clear drying glue to the knot to keep it secure. I also tie small knots in the ends of the twine to keep them from unraveling. As a finishing touch I added two green leaf pins behind the button. I hand stitched the zigzag down the side of the journaling card before adhering to the layout and finished off with a small bow, and then sprinkled some green jewel stickers around the layout for a little sparkle.

Supplies used:

HF-103  Autumn Medley/Green Splendor paper

HF-105  Little Leaf Pile/Burnt Orange Knit paper

HF-279  Chipboard Shapes w/ Glitter Accents

HF-220  Fabric Favorites

HF-134  Journaling Cards

HF-135  Cardstock Die Cuts—Favorite Pieces

HF-140  Cardstock Die Cuts—Fresh Verse

HF-277  Stick Pins

HF-197 Jewel Stickers

The Twinery Maraschino baker’s twine

Cardstock: kraft, red and orange

Brown ink

Alcohol ink: red and brown

Holiday Cards - Using The Twinery Twine and Little Yellow Bicycle's Wonder & Wishes Collection

Card 1—Stitched Tree

Cut a label die cut using die cut system from white cardstock. If you don’t have one, just cut a rectangle of white cardstock to 4” x 5.25”. Dye Honeydew twine with celery/green alcohol ink as described for layout above. Pre-punch holes for tree in prepared label/cardstock and stitch tree.

Add a small piece of brown cardstock for trunk and a chipboard star at the top of the tree [I colored the star using Versamark ink and red embossing power, heat embossed]. Make card from white cardstock [4.25” x 5.5”] and cut a piece of ‘Joy & Peace’ paper for the front panel. Ink edges with green ink and adhere to card front. Add tree panel to card using foam adhesive. If desired, heat emboss edges of tree panel with red embossing powder [or color with red pen or ink w/ red stamping ink].

Card 2—Peace & Joy Present

Make card base from white cardstock [half of a 8.5” x 11” sheet folded in half]. Add Red Check Paper to card front, ink edges with brown ink. Cut patterned strips from remaining ‘Home for Christmas’ paper [note: the red pattern and green geometric border are next to one another on the paper but to get the other green border along the red patterned strip you need to cut that separately]. Ink edges with brown ink and add to card as shown. Ink edges of corrugated frame [leave inside of frame intact!] and add to card as shown. Cut off bow and small ribbon ‘bumps’ from chipboard present die cut. Wrap dyed Maraschino baker’s twine around twice both ways and secure in back. Tuck a mistletoe clear die cut under twine and secure. Make a bow from a double length of the same twine  and adhere to present as shown. Add present to card with foam adhesive. Add ‘peace & joy’ clear sticker as shown.

Supplies used [cards]

WO-101 Home for Christmas/Red Check paper

WO-106 Joy & Peace/Little Red Hot Dot paper

WO-279 Chipboard Shapes

WO-190 Clear Stickers for Cardmaking

WO-276 Corrugated Shapes

WO-230 Clear Cut Shapes

The Twinery baker’s twine in Maraschino and Honeydew

Chipboard star

Versamark ink

Red embossing powder

White cardstock

Brown stamping ink

Green stamping ink

Small scrap of brown cardstock

Foam adhesive

Alcohol inks: red and celery

Die cutting system and label die

I want to send a HUGE shout out to The Twinery for their generosity – they sent soooo product in a rainbow of colors! Thank you so much, I can’t wait to entwine all my projects!

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Thanks to you Renee! 

Now hop on over to The Twinery's Blog to see what their Designers have cooked up for today! And don't forget to check back tomorrow - I'll have another post featuring Biker Chick Liz Qualman!

Oh and ... in case you forgot ... leave a comment!!

- Peg

Hold on to your bicycle helmets people...we've got more layouts coming!

Today's team members are Ashley Stephens and Nancy Doren, joining us with layouts and more from LYB's Head of the Class and Game On collections!

But before I get to their fantastic work - I want to give you a heads up on what's planned for next week! We're having a blog swap with The Twinery! We sent their DT some goodies from our new Hello Fall! collection, and they sent us tons of twine and we set the teams off to play. So while our Cycling Teams are taking a well-deserved rest...we'll be bringing you inspiration from the Biker Chicks and The Twinery's DT every day next week (and oh, of course PRIZES TOO!!). So be SURE to check back next week. The swap starts tomorrow!

But now to our Cycling Team members. 

I love what Ashley Stephens has done with the Head of the Class collection. Here she is to tell you about it!

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Last Day Page:
For this quick and easy page, I started with a 10"x10" background piece using Teal Test matted with white cardstock. Then I cut 10" wide strips from Dot to Dot, Chalkboard Scribble, Geometry, and Study Hall, which I punched with a notebook paper edge. I adhered them to the bottom of the background piece and then glued it all to a piece of kraft cardstock.
Then I added the details! In the upper-right corner, I added the canvas banner and trimmed the sides to fit my paper. I adhered my 4x6 photo directly on top of the banner and then placed my smaller photo on top of that at a slight angle. On top of the larger photo I added the 'terrific' die-cut shape and used 3D glue-dots to give it some dimension. Then, I stuck my star stick pins directly into the glue-dots- a mess-free method that I use all the time!

I added a chipboard pencil on top of my title. I love that these have two small punched holes at the end, perfect for tying a little bit of thread to make a bow, like I've done here. I printed my journaling and cut them into strips to make sure it filled my space out nicely. Last, I die-cut a pinked circle from the red Study Hall paper and added the apple transparency on top. I stuck that onto the yellow ruler chipboard shape and then added two pop-up stickers. And you're done!

Supplies:
Head of the Class Teal Test
Head of the Class Chalkboard Scribble
Head of the Class Green Dot to Dot
Head of the Class Geometry
Head of the Class Red Study Hall
Head of the Class Chipboard Shapes
Head of the Class Clear Cuts
Head of the Class Letter Stickers
Head of the Class Dimensional Pop-Up Stickers
Head of the Class Canvas Stickers- Borders
Head of the Class Stick Pins

Other:
Kraft cardstock
Red Alphas

Lunch Box Notes:
These little guys are 3"x4" pieces of cardstock embellished on one side and blank on the other. They're the perfect size to put in your child's lunchbox with a quick note - either a reminder to turn in library books, a little encouragement for a big test, or just a simple "I love you." What kid doesn't secretly love getting surprise notes from their mom?

Supplies:
Head of the Class Book Worm
Head of the Class Geometry
Head of the Class Ruler
Head of the Class Blue Dot to Dot
Head of the Class Clear Cuts
Head of the Class Chipboard Shapes
Head of the Class Stickers- Favorite Pieces
Head of the Class Stickers- Fresh Verse
Head of the Class Journaling Cards
Head of the Class Dimensional Pop-Up Stickers
Head of the Class Stick Pins

Other:
white cardstock

Mini Card:

With some of the leftover pieces from my scrapbook page I decided to make a quick card. I started with a cardstock base measuring about 4.25" wide by 4.5" tall. Then, I cut the same size from Penmanship (blue) and a slightly smaller piece from Back to School. I adhered them together and then to my card base and trimmed the bottom corners. Then, I took the progress report transparency and added my "a+" alphas on top, slightly off-center. I added the transparency stars with small, clear glue-dots making. Last, I added the chipboard apple on top of the transparency with another three-dimensional glue-dot (so I could push my stickpins into the glue). I turned the whole piece upside down and added more glue dots- this time only behind the chipboard piece so all of my adhesive would be hidden. Then I turned it back over and adhered it to the front of the card.

Supplies:
Head of the Class Penmanship
Head of the Class Back to School
Head of the Class Clear Cuts
Head of the Class Chipboard Shapes
Head of the Class Stick Pins

Other:
Red alphas

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Thanks Ashley! I used to make lunch box notes for my kids and they loved them! Now that they're in Middle School and High School, it's no longer "cool" but I still stick one in now and then ;)!

Be sure to see more from Ashley by following her blog!

Next up - Nancy Doren with a layout using the Get Your Game On collection!

My favorite Little Yellow Bicycle products are die cuts! There are so many cool designs and sizes, and they can be used so many ways. I like to build them up in layers behind my photos, use them as photo mats, and cut them into custom shapes.

I'm also not afraid to cut apart the dimensional stickers--the "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" sticker was too long for my page, so I slid the extra pennants off of their string and used just one word for my title. I love how it turned out!

Thanks Nancy! I love it too. I think your stitching work is amazing too! And you can find more from Nancy by following her blog!

Thanks again to Ashley and Nancy for providing today's inspiration! And we'll see YOU tomorrow at the blog swap!

-Peg

I just love all of these fantastic projects from our super creative Cycling Teams.

Today I have two beautiful Head of the Class layouts from CT member Kat Blue. 

Here's Kat to tell you all about them!

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I absolutely adored the Head of the Class collection; it was full of bright primary colors but then. A twist of the steel gray, distressed greens and whites in there were perfect for me!  I have both a girl and a boy at different points in their educaton; one in elementary school and one in high school so, rather than scrapping kindergarten pictures of both, I was able to use current pictures but in two totally different ways!

Rather than do the single picture, I created the boy's layout so I  could utilize multiple photos but rather than crop them all to a smaller size, I simply created a double pocket style layout.  

One pocket for the pictures and the other for journaling on the super cool 10 Things Pocket....Even though I only used 5, I asked my son for his answers and he could only name 5 so we'll add the other 5 things he loves later!

For my daughter's layout, I wanted an edgy "teen" style layout.  A family member had taken this photo a few months ago and it had been sitting in my bag just waiting for the right paper collection and yup, Head of the Class fit the bill perfectly!  Notice how the Red Numbers paper has a cool factor already built in; it screamed "teen" TO ME and to make it pop against the blue of the photos, I popped it against black cardstock and then added a simple title with the fun Head of the class fabric stars tucked in for a bit of star power.  

Another sticker element in the center of the photo blended in perfectly without looking like a sticker-so perfect that it looks like it was part of the printed process right??!! I l also layered many of the clear cut pieces together with the chipboard pieces in cluster groups.  What I loved the most was that the glitter was already on the clear cut pieces ( 100% gratification for the instant drying of it all) AND you could write with any writing utensil  (my choice is my favorite black Sharpie) on the canvas elements with an instant drying time and no smearing.  I was able to sneak mini notations on the small canvas school elements for some quick visual information and then I also added my own additional private journaling  on the back for each layout for each child to read privately.

Thank you again Little Yellow Bicycle!  I felt honored to be able to work with your products!!!

- Kate Blue

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Nope. Thank YOU Kat Blue!  Be sure to visit Kat's blog for more inspiring projects!

And I'll be back tomorrow with more from the Cycling Teams!!

Hi it's Peg again! A looooooong time ago (Sept. 22 to be precise), I posted some Sweet Summertime projects for the last hurrah of summer. I told you about my last hurrah, and asked you to tell me about yours.

I had the prizes all lined up on my dining room table (yes, they are still there...) and just needed to pick a winner. 

And, well, I forgot. As you may recall, my "last hurrah" was to run a half marathon. My first. My goal was to finish, and I did. It was a lot of work to train for it and I was proud to finish. Maybe I got too caught up in my training to remember to pick a winner? Yeah, that's it! But if you're thinking of runnning a race, let me just give you a little advice. Have someone bring a camera, because the pictures they take of you running your first half marathon are not too flattering. You may need someone to take a lot in order to get a single decent one! (In fact, my advice is to finish, go home, shower, put on a little makeup, comb your hair, and stage it.) I don't think I'll be doing any scrapbook pages of my experience. 

Anyway...so sorry for the delay! I loved reading about your "last hurrahs". Thanks so much for sharing them with us. I picked two random winners and they are:

Marcia Scantlin and Carolyn King! 

Congratulations ladies! Please email your mailing info to: peg_berry@comcast.net and I'll get those prizes out to you (I promise it won't take another month)!

Thanks to everyone who participated and, if you live in cooler climates, try to keep those warm memories as the temperature goes down and the price of heating oil goes up!

- Peg

Hello all! It's Peg back again with two more inspiring projects from our Get Your Game On and Head of the Class Cycling Teams! And how about Jamie's projects yesterday? Pretty cool, huh?  If you missed it, be sure to go take a look! Everyone's talking about the Jamie's Crayon Collage. Amazing...

Today we're sharing Samantha Taylor's Get Your Game On Canvas Colorables and a layout from Rhonda Van Ginkel. Let's get right to it.

Samantha Taylor's Canvas Colorables

Hello! I so excited to share my project with you today. One of my favorite things about LYB is how amazing the embellishments are that go with a line. When I got Get Your Game On, I knew I wanted to find a way to used the fun Canvas Colorables and play with all the embellishments at the same time. I decided to make a trio of framed art for my son's bedroom wall.

If you're not someone who works a lot with canvas or altered art, have no fear: Game On Canvas Colorables are really easy to work with. I experimented a lot to find out what would work (and more importantly what wouldn't) and here's what I learned. Anything permanent (paint, paint pens, alcohol inks, mists, alcohol base markers (think Copics), even Sharpie Markers) seem to work really well. Anything not so permanent (water based inks and markers) tend not to work, as they don't dry completely or smear when touched.  The plus side to using Copics is that they cover very well, give nice bright colors, and allow the original print work on the canvas to show through.

If you're looking to do the same thing with a more antiqued look, I would suggest trying to sponge or brush on alcohol inks. Paints, paint pens, and Sharpies work well, but don't allow the underlying artwork to show through. If you're not sure if an ink will work, flip the canvas over and test it out on the back side first. 

I used Copic Markers to color the canvases, and then sponged on a very light shade of alcohol ink to add a bit of age to the canvases.

I especially concentrated the alcohol ink on the edges of the canvas and the figures of the players. If you're not terribly artistic when it comes to things like coloring and shading (and I'm one of those people who's not), this is still a really easy thing to do. There is a pre-printed shading on the canvases already. I just followed where the players were already shaded and enhanced it a bit.

After I colored my canvases, I layered them on an 8" x 10" piece of matching Game On paper. Then, I added embellishments (stickers, chipboard, and banners) to the paper and canvas. You can attach embellishments to the canvas really easily with a nice sticky adhesive like Glue Dots®. The artwork then went into an 8" x 10" shadowbox style frame.

I added more embellishments to the frame and glass.

I like adding embellishments to the outside and inside of a frame as a way to add extra depth and interest to the project.

Then all you need to do is find a wall to hang them on. My son is thrilled to have these for his room!

Supplies:

Frame - 3 - 8 x 10 shadowbox style frames

Canvases - Get Your Game On (Football, Baseball, Basketball)

Paper - Get Your Game On (Football Collage, Baseball Collage, Basketball Collage)

Accessories - Get Your Game On (Stickers Favorite Pieces (Basketball, Baseball, Football), Chipboard Shapes, Mini Banners (football)), Copic Markers, Alcohol Ink

Tools - Sponge Daubers

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Wow...love these Samantha! What young sports fan wouldn't want them for his room? I think they'd also look great in a rec room, or as a gift for a special coach. Thanks so much. You can follow Samantha's blog by clicking this link!

And now for Rhonda's "Spare Me" Layout!

I love how one designer can look at a collection and create something beautiful ... and then another designer can look at the same elements and see something completely different. I think that's one of the coolest things about this hobby!

So tell me ... how many of you look at the Head of the Class collection and think "sports"? I know I didn't, but check out Rhonda's layout!

Wow. Love it! Here's Rhonda!

I absolutely loved the Head of the Class collection!  The bright fun colors of the papers and classic design made this such a joy to work with!!!  Thank you so very much to Little Yellow Bicycle for the honor of designing for you.

The moment I saw the fun diamond shaped pattern paper with the number "10" in the headpin position, I knew I was going to turn this collection into a bowling page!  I always enjoy looking beyond the intent of a collection and try to use it in a different or unusual way.

For my project I had a series of three photos, but I didn't really want to crop them too much to compromise their composition.  The solution:  Create a built in flip book built on the page.  It was very simple, I just stitched the left side down.  I attached the bottom photo leaving a pocket to tuck in my Good Job journaling spot.

Keeping my banner theme for the page, I added a few horizontal banners into the main photo mat.  I created a few custom star buttons using the papers and my Epiphany Star 25 tool.  For my bowling ball and pin, I used my Cricut Expression and the Nifty Fifties cartridge.  A little glossy accents on the bowling ball was the finishing touch.

Thanks for coming along with me for a little cycling tour of my Spare Me! page today! 

~ Rhonda

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Thanks for joining us today! You can see more of Rhonda's work by clicking on this link to her blog!

I'll be back later this evening with the winners of my Sweet Summertime giveaway (finally, right?)...and we'll be inspiring you all weekend long with more Game On and Head of the Class projects. And all next week...blog swap with the Twinery! Woot!

-Peg

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I have posted - phew life passes so quickly sometimes. But we have so much creativity floating around over here I am positively overwhelmed!

And...well...you will be too when you see these absolutely amazingly creative projects!

I'm so pleased to present the work of our latest Cycling Team Member, Jamie Cripps. If you are not one of her MANY blog followers, you should be! She is a talented crafty woman!

First up ... a fun and totally cool twist on classroom art:

I am still trying to figure out how she cut those crayons so they would fit perfectly into the "M". Just wow. Here is another angle:

Next from Jamie, a simple, neat and handy teacher gift:

Are there any teachers who couldn't use a few extra pencils? Here's a peek at the top:

And finally, a layout:

A little detail:

Fabric stars layered over a Clear Cut shape makes for a fun title!

But my absolute favorite is how Jamie punched her daughter's name out of the Practice your ABC's paper and layered them for extra depth. What a great idea! 

Thanks so much to Cycling Team member Jamie Cripps for the inspiration!

And I'll be back tomorrow with more projects from the Cycling Team!

Oh, and by they way ... I still haven't announced the winners from our Sweet Summertime giveaway. I'll be doing that tomorrow too!

;)  Peg

Hello,

We're excited to share our first post from from our first ever Cycling Team Member Shellye McDaniel.  Get ready to pedal because Shellye is going to wow you with this Head of the Class Corkboard mini album. I believe you will mark this as a favorite Friday Find. 

The covers are made out of cork.  How cool is this? 

Cork?  Yes. The cork really makes the primary colors pop. Don't you think?

I love the primary ribbon that Shellye uses throughout the album...again, it's all in the detail.

Every page is like this...

A true work of art...

Each page holds special detail. The stitching finishes each page in such a smart way.

Many, many fun embellishments to work with. Chipboard paper clips, dimensional stickers, fabric favorites...  I really want to hold this album in my hands!

A close up for you.

With just the right amount of grunge for good measure.

Even the back cover is a masterpiece.

Here are the detailed instructions on how to create your very own Corkboard mini album.

Supplies:
Little Yellow Bicycle’s Head of the Class Clear Cuts Shapes, Stick Pins, Journaling Cards, Chipboard Shapes, Dimensional Pop-Up Stickers, Fabric Favorites, Canvas Stickers Mini Banners, Alphabet Stickers, Fresh Verse Stickers, Favorite Phrases Stickers and Patterned Papers

Other Supplies:  Ribbons, Baker’s twine, buttons, three loose-leaf rings and two 6x6 corkboard squares

Using a craft knife, trim both corkboard squares to 5”wide; reserve one of the 1” strips.  Dress the reserved piece of corkboard with Fabric Favorites “Ruler” sticker; cut to size.  Punch holes into all three corkboard pieces at 1”, 3” and 5” increments, leave at least a ¼” margin from the edge.  Adhere the ruler piece to the edge of the top corkboard sheet with a fast drying tacky glue (I use Aleene’s Quick Dry).

Incorporating your favorite cutting tool, cut six 4 ¾” W x 7 ½”H tags from selected Head of the Class Patterned Papers.  Embellish as desired before gluing the front/back pages together.  Be sure to line the pages up with the bottom of the corkboard pages before punching holes.  Add eyelets to page holes to ensure stability. 

Finally, insert the three loose-leaf rings through the holes and thread carefully through pages. It may be necessary to enlarge the holes of the corkboard to allow the rings to move freely.  Add ribbons to the rings if desired.

Please check out Shelley's Blog and let her know how much you appreciate her craftsmanship!  Welcome again Shellye to our first LYB Cycling team.  And thank you for sharing your talent with all of us.

Happy Friday!

Lori

Hi Everyone

Lowri McNabb here with my last guest post for Little Yellow Bicycle using the Head of the Class Collection. I have had a wonderful time working with LYB and I hope you have enjoyed my projects!

I have two new projects to share today.

Back to School Album

Here I have taken a simple generic chipboard album and covered each side of the pages with patterned paper from the collection. I glue the album page to the paper and then using a very sharp craft knife I cut around the edge. I have used a solvent glue as I find it does not warp the paper and clean up of any that spills around the edges is so easy. I then used a piece of very fine grit sandpaper to smooth the edge and add some definition.

I have then decorated each page using a variety of embellishments. I was so spoilt for choice here as there is such a wide selection to choose from!

With such a collection of embellishments these pages can come together really quickly. I have kept all the pages really simple to let the products shine through.

This cover has lots of dimension with embellishments layered on top of one another and I have to say that the Red Numbers print (HC-102) was probably my favourite in the collection!

Gift Box (with tutorial)

This box has been made using 2 whole sheets of 12x12 paper. I first saw this technique used last year to make paper drawers for an origami box and the box can be made to any size. I generally cut the paper for the base of the box to ½” smaller all round than the lid (for example - an 8”x8” lid has an 7.5”x7.5” base) You can see a tutorial I created last year below.

The flower on top was made using one of the wonderful Canvas Stickers (HC-201).

I simply removed the backing to the adhesive strip, made the strip non-sticky using some anti-static stamping powder, hand-sewed a running stitch along the straight edge and carefully gathered the flower together to form a circle. I then just added a couple of embellishments to the centre and Voila!- a perfect topper for a teacher’s gift! I have had this red twill tape for ages –it is from Moda Fabrics and I have never had a chance to use it before. I love to look at sewing shops for little pieces like this to brighten up my scrapbook projects.  

I would like to thank Lori and Little Yellow Bicycle once again for inviting me to guest design this month. I really look forward to seeing what the future Cycling Team Designers come up with!

Please post a comment with any questions.

Lowri

I just want to add a big THANK YOU to Lowri McNabb for sharing her talent and inspiration. Each and every project brought a huge smile to my face...  I soooo love inspired work.   Most of all, I want to thank Lowri for sharing a part of herself with us these past four weeks. Bless you, my friend.

Lori

Hello everyone and, may I say...Hello Fall! Fall is definitely here in the northeast, and I'm happy to report that the beautiful Hello Fall! collection from LYB is making its way to a LSS near you.

This warm and colorful collection features a "Family Tree" kit that you can make into either a two-page layout or two single-page layouts. It's quick and easy and perfect for family reunions, Thanksgiving pages, or just documenting your family history.

So here's Biker Chick Liz Qualman with the latest LYB Training Reel! She has taken this kit and given it her own special twist! 

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Sometimes it is fun to follow instructions that have already been created for you and add your own embellishments, style and photos.  That is how I feel about the Little Yellow Bicycle Hello Fall Family Tree Page Kit.  It is such a great design and idea, that I only needed to add a few more embellishment ideas from the Hello Fall! collection and my own photos.  This is a must have item!

Thanks so much Liz for another inspiring project!

Here are a few close ups from Liz's project:

Those felt flowers are so cool!

And the instructions:

Download FamilyTreeKitInstruction_LizQualman

Hope you have fun making this layout! For more great ideas from Liz, be sure to check out her blog by clicking here!

Watch the blog this week for more inspiration from our Guest Designers, plus I'm picking a winner from my Sweet Summertime giveaway! 

Peg