It would seem that we cannot get enough of Shellye McDaniel and we hope you feel the same way!  Shellye rode with us on our Head of the Class and Hello Fall teams and now we have invited her back to take a spin with our Saturdays collection.  But let's have Shellye tell you all about it...

"Enjoy" Mini Album
by Shellye McDaniel 


Using the 6x6 Decorative Cardstock Pack, trim each sheet down to size (the top portion only).  I like the staggered look, so I trimmed the first three pages and left the last (larger) two pages as-is.
Next, match the tops of the pages together and decide on the placement for your holes; punch holes.  For each page I used a large circle template and traced onto patterned paper;  trim to size (as shown on pages 2-4).  For the last three pages you will need to extend your circle by creating straight edges; trim as to the desired length (as shown on pages 5-9).

Ink/distress around the perimeter of your circle and then machine stitch to create a border...DO NOT machine stitch directly onto the 6x6 Decorative Cardstock sheet, instead glue into place.  Embellish each page with the beautiful accents from the Saturdays Collection and your own sweet photos :)  Note:  I used a 2" square punch for cropping all (but one) of my pictures down to size.
With Mother's Day coming up, this would make the perfect gift!

Little Yellow Bicyle Saturdays Collection:
-6x6 Decorative Edge Cardstock Pack
-Fabric Favorites
-Paper Flower Kit
-Felt & Burlap Flowers
-Cardstock Stickers: Fresh Verse
-Stick Pins
-Tear Out Ticket & Journaling Book
-Clear Cuts: Shapes
-"Pick-a-Posey" Patterned Paper
-"Lovely Labels" Patterned Paper
-"Reverie Garden" Patterned Paper
-"Rustic Red Linen" Patterned Paper
-"Meet Me In The Meadow" Patterned Paper
-"Well Worn Wood" Patterned Paper
Misc. Product:
Hand-cut burlap heart, wooden buttons, jute twine, kraft border, baker's twine, ribbon and two (1.5") large rings
Supplies Used:
Round 4.5" template, brown distress ink, crop-a-dile (or hole punch), piercing tool and heavy needle, sewing machine, foam dots, quick dry glue, scissors and paper trimmer.

Please email me if you have any questions about this project: shellye819@aol.com

Wow!  What a beautiful mini album idea with Little Yellow Bicycle's Saturdays 6 x 6 Decorative Edge Cardstock.  Please be sure to visit Shellye's blog The Papered Cottage for more peek inside her creative brain!  Thank you Shellye!

Have a wonderful day!

Liz

Our Facebook Page was hopping this weekend.  Below are just a few of the amazing projects shared with us from our Peloton and then we had a great week of voting on our sketch finlalists with our big winner announced.

Satrudays Page by Aphra Bolyer

Paradise Page by Lisa Swift

Paradise Page by Michelle from Scrappy Boutique

Paradise Card by Julie Ranae Murray

Paradise Page by Beth Hallgren

We also would like to announce our big winner for our January/February Sketch Challenge

Baby Saurus Page by Lynn Shokoples

Lynn Shokoples takes our $50 prize pack by votes from our fans, but Meg Goehring-Giroux and Melissa Rehberg each receive a $25 prize pack too.  Please email me your address information at lizq@cthruruler.com and we will get those prizes out to you soon.

Happy Monday!

Liz

We are so excited to share the next project from our Guest Designer Corrie Jones.  She has taken our Saturdays collection and created some wonderful gift tag ideas.  Let's get to know Corrie just a little bit better and then we can fawn over her project.

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LYB: What kind of music gets you in the scrappin’ mood? 

CJ: I have a crop mix that I like to listen to.  It is an eclectic mix of my favorite songs out of our iTunes library.  There is country, R&B, pop, classic rock, and whatever else!  I like to mix it up with great songs I can sing along with.

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LYB: Any unique tips or techniques you use? 

CJ: I really love layering different textures.  I think it is fun and I love a stacked page. 

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 LYB: Do you use any tools that are not specifically designed for scrapbooking?   

CJ: I use my sewing machine on more pages than not.  When my sewing machine broke I really freaked out about what I was going to do for the week and a half it would take to get it fixed!  LOL.

Hi there!  Corrie here again with you to show you more of what I have created using the Saturday's collection.  The more I play with this collection, the more I LOVE it's colors and textures.  It is so easy to work with it seems like the creations just make themselves!  This week I am going to show you some tags I made.



Making tags is such a blast.  They are small, so each is quick to put together and it is a perfect thing to do with all those scraps that we hate to throw away!

I made these with gift wrap in mind.  I easily could turn them into a tag to write "to" and "from" on.  These though I see as decoration for housewarming gifts or hostess gifts or birthday gifts for my friends or my husband's coworkers.  Sort of like this...





In making this set of tags, I used a little bit of everything from the Saturdays collection. 

I used papers : Vintage Bliss, Enjoy the Ride, Picnic Plaid, Pick-a-Posy, Well-Worn Wood, Rustic Red Linen and Meet Me in the Meadow.  As for embellishments I used stick pins, chipboard shapes, clear cut shapes, fabric favorites, favorite pieces cardstock stickers, dimensional stickers and the paper flower kit.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some fun tags and that you are inspired to make some of your own!

Thank you Corrie for some wonderful ideas on how to use our Saturdays collection.  Please visit Corrie's blog You, Me & Crazy for more ideas.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Liz

Ready for another sketch challenge?  We can't rightly wrap up that last challenge without starting a new one.  We mentioned that Little Yellow Bicycle had some exciting things in store for 2012 and one of the things we are committed to is some kind of challenge to keep our fans busy each month.  We know a lot of people like to use sketches, but it would be awesome if you could tell us if there are other challenges you would like to participate in?  Just leave us a quick comment with some ideas and we will start thinking about how to make it happen. 

With many of our collections, we include Tear Out Ticket journaling cards, which is one of the focal elements on this sketch, but we also love to see how our fans use our paper flower kits.  Each of our examples include some of those elements with a few special twists on Little Yellow Bicycle products.

I love how the Saturdays collection can easily be used for either gender, but I keep channeling masculine pages. I just love the pops of red in this collection and how it is grounded in blues and browns, which I think are perfect for stuff that guys like to do.  This is my husband and our son hiking, and then a smaller picture of our campsite. I also happen to be enthralled with velvet embroidery floss, because the texture is so rich and soft.  Please come check out my blog for more detailed photos of this page - My Little Sketch Blook.

But wait...look at how Cycling Team Member Robbie Herring interpreted the sketch with a very feminine page using our Saturdays collection.  She combined both our paper flower kit with our felt flowers for a really beautiful and eye catching page!  Love how Robbie dressed up her banners with a bit of baker's twine.  Please visit her blog Just the Scrap for more details.

Cycling Team Member Kristine Berc really pushed the boundaries of the sketch using our Paradise collection.  Instead of the stitched border, she incorporated a "homemade" die cut paper and then concentrated the paper flowers in one area on her layout.  She also added one of the smaller Tear Out Tickets on her page. Please visit Kristine's blog A Stash of Pretty Paper for more details.

Cycling Team Member Heather Leopard also used our Paradise collection to make her version of the sketch. She incorporated a number of the Tear Out Tickets on her page and then used our paper flowers to make her own prize ribbon.  What a clever idea!  Please visit Heather's blog The Spotted Leopard for more details.

We cannot wait to see what you do with the sketch this month.

Here's the rules:

1.  You may use the sketch any way you please (turn it upside down, on its side, or use it as is).

2.  You must use at least 75% Little Yellow Bicycle product, from ANY of our collections (We like to see the new stuff, but we have so many great collections, that we basically just like to see our stuff).

3.  Your work must be your own! ;)

Here's how to enter:

1. You may enter by posting your layout to LYB's Facebook Page - please post it in the Album titled "February/March Sketch Challenge". 

2. If you're not a Facebook user, you still may enter, by emailing a photo of your entry to lizq@cthruruler.com. Please include your mailing address - so we have it in case you win!

3.  All entries must be received by midnight EST on Saturday, March 24, 2012.

Here's the fun part ... the prizes!

1.  We will select THREE finalists. All of the finalists will win a prize.

2.  We will post the finalists to our Facebook Page and Blog for you to VOTE on your favorites.

3.  You'll have a week to vote (one vote per person).

4.  The grand prize winner will win $50 in LYB product. The runners up will each receive $25 in LYB product!

**Due to shipping costs, prizes may vary depending on where you are in the world.

Cannot wait to see what you all create.  We will be back tomorrow with another project from our Saturdays Guest Designer Corrie Jones - stay tuned!

Liz

We have three finalists from our January/February Sketch Challenge.  Please take a good look at each project and then vote for your favorite.

Baby Saurus Page by Lynn Shokoples

Winter Twig Page by Meg Goehring-Giroux

Saturdays Page by Melissa Rehberg

Now we just need to decide who gets the $50 prize pack and who goes home with the two $25 prize packs.  BUT, that is up to the fans to decide, so go to our FB page and vote by liking the page you think should win the big prize or leave a comment here on our blog naming the person whose page you think is the best version of the sketch.  All of the finalists go home with some goodies, but the person with the most votes gets the BIG prize.

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We will let the voting go through the weekend and then announce the big winner on Monday, February 27th.

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Thank you for your support!

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Liz

We are always so surprised and happy to find projects from our fans a.k.a The Peloton (large pack of riders in a bike race).  We scour the internet each week looking for projects with our newest collections and this week we think you will agree we found some wonderful ideas.  How do you find the projects you might ask...we google our collection names, find them posted on our facebook page or have them emailed to us at lizq@cthruruler.com.

Saturdays Page by Melissa Rehberg emailed to us.

Saturdays Bird Cottage by Debbie found on her blog Paws to Scrap - (please see post for more detailed photos of the cottage)

Paradise Two Page Layout by Beth Hallgren found on our Facebook Page

Paradise Page by Labgirl found at Scrapbook.com

Cafe Crop in Crown Point, Indiana has Saturdays in the house.  If you live nearby, you can pick some up today!

If you would like to see your project on our blog, please mention Little Yellow Bicycle and the collection name on your blog or website, load your page on our Facebook Page or email Liz at lizq@cthruruler.com.

Have a wonderful day!

Liz

We are more than excited to tell you about our newest Guest Designer Corrie Jones.  We have noticed that this Georgia Peach is not only a talented scrapbooker, but a perfect match for our Saturdays Collection. Remember how I told you yesterday that this is a wonderful "adult" collection... well we can't wait to share Corrie's talent with you and especially her take on the collection....so let's get started!  Below are a few questions and answers to get to know Corrie a little bit better.

LYB: What is your ‘go to’ embellishment?   

CJ: Buttons, brads, rub ons.  I like small embellishments.  The more I can layer on, the better!

LYB: What are your favorite types of projects—pages, mini albums, cards, altered projects, etc?   

CJ: My favorite type of projects are pages.  I will occasionally do a mini album. 

LYB: Describe your biggest scrapbooking ‘mishap’?   

CJ: My biggest mishap always seems to be with mist.  I always end up getting it everywhere!  One time I had a mist bottle with a clog.  Trying to clean it out, I took the top off and forced the clog out.  I was not watching where the tube was pointed however, and ended up shooting mist all over my pants and shoes. 

This was a simple page I wanted to make of my husband in a local coffee shop.  It was just a regular moment, nothing really special.  Our girls were with us.  It was freezing outside and we stopped here for a quick pick-me-up before heading back to the car.  This coffee shop is a small independently owned place that is usually filled with "alternative" college kids and ballerinas from the local dance studio.  It reminds me of college more than the normal Starbucks I tend to frequent now.  Anyway, these pictures just made me dream of my hubby and what it would have been like had we known each other back in the early 90's when I was the grungy, coffee house girl that I was. 

The papers from this collection really were perfect for a guy page.  And the worn out look of them worked so well with the memories. 

Needing to tell my story though about why I was scrapbooking these photos from a pretty insignificant moment, I decided some hidden journaling would really work well.  I typed up the story of my "dream" and it is hiding under the middle picture. 

The rest of the page is my tribute to paper stacking.  Layering papers, chipboard shapes, stickers, tags and clear cut shapes, is just my way to love all the supplies.  The different pieces add the texture and dimension I love so much. 

Saturdays Collection Products:

• stick pins
• cardstock stickers - Fresh Verse & Favorite Pieces
• dimensional stickers
• tear-out tickets
• chipboard shapes
• 5 things envelopes
• clear cut shapes
• Meet Me In the Meadow paper
• Easy Breezy paper
• Well-Worn Wood paper

Thank you Corrie for sharing your personal story with us and how you preserved the memory in a hidden journal.  What a wonderful keepsake about the man in your life.  We love it!  Please visit Corrie's blog You, Me & Crazy for more amazing work from her. 

We'll be back next week with more of her work and may even be launching our next round of cyling team members for Saturdays!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Liz

The title is a combination of Wonder & Wishes corrugated letters, My Little Shoebox Mini Alphabet Stickers and Saturdays Chipboard Pieces.  I also added a bit of bakers twine from The Twinery for some added dimension and color.  It's fun to add in the pops of red against the denim, brown and cream.

Like most of the Little Yellow Bicycle Collections, there is a Paper Flower Kit with this one too.  The detailing on the flowers is really pretty and they even look good on a masculine page.  I added a bit of sparkle with the jewel stickers and tucked a piece of chipboard behind the flower for an extra sentiment.

We are very much "in love" with our Swoon Collection.  We hope that you love it as much as we do and can picture all of your wedding, prom, and anniversay photos embellished with our collection.  Please come Swoon over this collection with us and if you would like to ride along with our newest Cycling Team, please send us an application.

Swoon Cycling Team Call

 Come Ride with Us!

Here's what we're looking for:

With each new collection we like to invite a few new designers (about 3-5 per collection) to come design for us.  We ask Cycling Team members to commit to a month of designing after the collection is released. In return, we'll send you some free product and shamelessly promote you along with ourselves on our blog and facebook page.  Read the details below:

1) Make at least one project with what we send you - a layout, some cards, a mini album, an altered item...whatever makes you happy!

2) Send us some pictures of it, and a little write-up or how-to of how you created it.

3) Post it on your blog, facebook page and any online galleries you belong to. We'll put it here on our blog too, of course!

That's it!

Tryouts for this team are starting RIGHT NOW!

If you are interested, please send us three (3) samples of your best work (preferably with LYB products because that is what we like to look at most, however it's not a deal breaker if you send something else) to LYBCyclingTeam@yahoo.com.  Also, if you have previously designed for a Cycling Team, please feel free to apply again!  We'll announce the NEW Swoon Cycling Team on February 28th.  Please include your contact information (address, phone and blog) in your email.

And then we'll ask you to hop on that Little Yellow Bicycle and pedal your heart out!

Hope to hear from you!

Liz

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our friends!  Hope you are enjoying delicious dinners and lots and lots of chocolate...indulge for just one day!  Today, we would love to share some really fantastic projects from Paradise Cycling Team member Guiseppa Gubler.  She has done some amazing work with and we can't wait for you to see it.  Let's have Guiseppa tell you all about it!

Breathe it in....Paradise - I am really digging the look of burlap, so I decided I wanted to try it out on this layout.  First off, I layered pattered paper, cardstock and burlap.  This gave the layout a outdoorsy, Caribbean feel to it.  The burlap kind of reminds me of the bark on the palm trees.  I wanted to bring back the feelings I felt while in the Caribbean when I looked at this layout.  I then continued with the layering. 

I used foam adhesive to  give the pictures lift.  I continued adding foam adhesive under my embellishments and then clustering them. 

The title as well as the confetti garland were lifted up with the foam adhesive. I love fussy cutting, so I cut a little flower, leaf sprig, heart and leaf cluster and added them into the cluster of flower embellishments.  Finally I added journaling strips.  As you can see in the close up pictures, the foam adhesive gives dimension and life to the layout. 

Easy Breezy Page - I love the design of this layout.  It gives the eyes so much to look at.  I love simplicity in a layout and then adding embellishments to make it pop.  I believe I made this layout come to life by using a simple design and then added embellishments.

I first decided on my background paper.  I then cut up the decorative edge die cut paper from the Paradise Collection and used it as a background to highlight my pictures.  I placed this on two separate sides of the layout so that your eyes can gaze around the whole layout.  Once again, I used foam adhesive to lift the decorative edge die cut paper and pictures. 

I added a fun little pleat to the bottom of both of the decorative edge die cut papers and then a flag fabric embellishment on one and a border on the other (keep in mind that all of my embellishments and patterned papers are from the Paradise Collection).   I added the title, flowers and some more fussy cutting and lifted those up using foam adhesive.  Finally, I added the journaling strips.  If you are wondering...I do go through huge amounts of foam adhesive.

Let's Get Lost Card
I have really grown to love cardmaking.  In the past, I have refused to make cards because it was just one more thing I knew I would love doing and there isn't enough time to do all the things I love as it is.  Well, as you can see...I have caved in.  In fact, I have had more cards published than anything else, so I guess I have a knack for them...who knew!  When I make cards, I love creating ones that are a little different. 

So, I decided to make this card a pocket card.  I picked my patterend paper and attached a back and a front together by sewing it.  This is a good way to hold the pocket together, plus it looks good.  I then added some flowers, chipboard, stickers and fabric stickers (all from the Paradise Collection) and arranged them on my card.  Yep...you guessed it, I did use more foam adhesive to give the card a layered and lifted look.  Lastly, I added some twine and made a bow around the flower.


I can't get enough of the Paradise Collection.  I am going to have to order some more or see if my local scrapbooking store gets it in because it is perfect for my a lot of my summery, outdoorsy pictures and it is so easy to use.  The papers and embellishments make my projects just pop with color and dimension.  Thanks Little Yellow Bicycle for letting me use this fabulous collection!

Thank you Guiseppa for some really beautiful projects.  You can visit Guiseppa's blog My Creations from more inspiration from her.

We have a special announcement to make on the blog tomorrow, so be sure to check back with us later in the day.

Take care and Happy Valentine's Day!

Liz

It's another Monday on the blog and we are very happy to share some more projects from our Peloton.  In case you are new to our Monday post, the peloton is the large pack of riders in a bicycle race and we happen to have a lot of fans riding in our Peloton and we love to show case their work on our blog.

Paradise Page by Kelly Foster found on our Facebook Page

Paradise Page by Luz Maria Bruna found on her blog Luzma's Scrap Place

Paradise Card by Izzy Anderson emailed to us

Looking for some Paradise?  We found this photo from the Paper Trail Store in Fayetteville, NC.

Ever wonder how we find the projects???  We google the name of our collections to see what comes up, so if you are mentioning Little Yellow Bicycle on your blog or web page, chances are, we will find you.  We also love to feature projects linked to our Facebook Page or emailed to us - lizq@cthruruler.com.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Liz

We have a little more than a few amazing projects to share from Cycling Team Member Heather Leopard.  She also has a great idea for a made-from-scratch mini album, but let's have Heather tell you all about it!

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Hi, Heather here to say how honored I am to be designing for the Little Yellow Bicycle Paradise Cycling team.  When I saw the Paradise collection online all sorts of ideas came to mind and I was delighted to see how much more gorgeous it is in real life. Today I'm going to share a few layouts and a mini album, which I hope will inspire you. Beware, I've included lots of photos! Sooo, the first thing I noticed when I pulled everything out were the die cuts and I instantly realized how great they would be as a mini album.  I'll get to that in just a sec.  First, let me show you a few layouts I made. For my first layout, I chose to use a photo of my daughter that is several years old. I'm not sure why I never scrapped it before but I'm glad because this is the perfect collection for it.

I love to layer whenever possible.  I decided to triple layer my background but of course, I cut out the insides from the papers that I was covering up so I could use them on another project. I distressed the edges just a bit and then machine stitched around the border. Banners are still in style and the "HAPPY" cardstock stickers did not dissapoint.

My last layout featured more banners, this time I cut them myself, using random widths and lengths and layering them over each other.  I also fussy cut a few of the papers, added some puch-work and then added a top and bottom frame to bring the layout together.

As promised, let's get back to the mini album.  Like I said, I saw the dies in their packaging and it just hit me how perfect they would work as-is for a mini.  Here's what they looked like in the packaging:

    
So the first thing I did was take them out of the packaging and cover the front and back of the actual packaging with pattern paper.  Here's how the front started out:

We have been searching the World Wide Web for projects from you, our fans, with our new Paradise collection and I think you will agree that our Peloton has created some amazing projects!  In fact, our friends at Artful Delight featured our Paradise Collection in their monthly kit and below are a few projects from their design team.

Paradise Card by June Houck found on her blog Simply Elegant Paper Crafts

 
Paradise Page by Marcia Dehn-Nix (LYB Cycling Team Member) found on the Artful Delight Blog

Paradise Page by Debbie found on the Artful Delight Blog

Paradise Page by Abby found on the Artful Delight Blog

If you would like to have a project featured on our blog, please email Liz at lizq@cthruruler.com or post your project to our facebook page.  We are looking forward to seeing all of the amazing projects created by our Peloton with our newest collections.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Liz

We have a wonderful project from Biker Chick Vicki Boutin.  She has such a creative idea for our Satrudays Decorative Edge Cardstock. This collection is shipping to stores now, so be sure to look for it at your nearest scrapbook store.

One of my favorite Little Yellow Bicycle products is the 6 x 6 Decorative Edge Double Sided Cardstock shapes.

I love these pieces!!!  They are great on cards, layouts and especially for quick minibooks.  When I opened my box full of the Saturdays collection, I knew I had to make a minibook for sure!!!  The elements in this line are absolutely beautiful and the color palette is so versatile.  Here is the book I made and filled with family photos…

The chipboard bits and stickers make great additions to the 6 x 6 pages.  Here are the interior pages.

I hope you enjoy this pretty little book and are inspired to make one, too.  I love the Saturdays Collection and can’t wait to hear what you think of it, too!!!

Thank you for joining us today!  Please visit Vicki's blog for more ideas from her.

Have a wonderful day -

Liz