Christmas Town Give-Away!

Happy December!

So I've been listening to Christmas music for at least a month now! I'm so into the Christmas Spirit this year and hoping to get some holiday crafting in. We bought a new tree so now I have two and am attempting to decorate a "girly" tree just for me in my office. Seeing how I am spending much time designing for CHA, I thought it would be super inspiring.

My boys are still little but I've started a tradition with them the last two years. I take them to Hallmark and let them pick out an ornament. I love their ornaments and it's fun to see what my boys choose. We've got Thomas and Toy Story so far and am anxious to see what they will go for this year. We also do Christmas Pajamas which I know many of you do as well.

I would love to hear about some of your Christmas Traditions. Leave us a comment by this Friday December 3rd and we'll pick a winner to win our Christmas Town Collection.

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Keep It Coming

Although Thanksgiving is over,

why shouldn't thanksgiving continue?

Keep counting those blessings.

Keep expressing gratitude.

Keep creating layouts

that document those for whom you are thankful

because they have shaped the person that you are.

Keep saying, "Thank you."

This is my "thank you" for one of my favorite people, Laverne.

Until I switched schools this year, she taught next door to me for seven years,

and within those seven years, she was so much more than a co-worker.

She really was my teacher,

profoundly changing my view of teaching

by showing me how teaching can be a true vocation, a calling.

Although I don't see her as often I would like these days,

this layout is my way of saying "Thank you"

to one of the most incredible people I know.

This page is also a "thank you" to Lily Bee,

for helping us all to tell our stories,

for pushing us to put ourselves out there on each page,

and for giving us colors and patterns that add vibrance to our creative lives.

Who knew that a page about teaching

would also be a learning process for me?

As I mixed and matched papers and accents

from the Christmas Town, Domestic Bliss, and Catching Fall lines,

these are a few of the lessons I learned:

(1) When the idea of planning an entire page celebrating a person seems daunting, break it down into manageable parts and pieces. Break up a layout into squares or rectangles, and use those as "homes" for embellishments. Add paint, rub-ons, and stickers. Collectively, these small "spaces" create a unified "big picture." I took the same approach with the journaling, using small sections based on lessons that I have learned from Laverne.

(2) Lily Bee papers really take to paint and mist well. Have fun with that! Knowing that Laverne's favorite color is red, I wanted to use a lot of red-based papers and patterns. Lily Bee's current lines contain lots of reds, but I also added my own "reds" by using paint and mist to "funk up" a few pieces.

(3) Don't feel as if you have to use a product "as is", straight out of the packaging. With some help from Helmar (including the always-versatile Zapdots), I "repurposed" a few of the Lily Bee chipboard stickers to create bases for other accents, like the "Service with a Smile" sticker and the rose accent above.

(4) Although I knew this already, this page affirmed it for me: above all else, ENJOY the process! You'll thank yourself for it later.

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Scrapbook Circle & Cocoa Daisy Kit Winners!

Time is flying right by! Between designing our New Lines for Winter CHA and Thanksgiving I've forgotten to post our Kit Winners from a few weeks ago. So without any further delay here is our first winner for the
Scrapbook Circle Kit:
Congrats to BRENDA!
Brenda, November 10, 2010 2:42 PM

WOWZA - what great inspiration from a beautiful collection!



Cocoa Daisy Winner:
Yara, November 15, 2010 12:50 PM

Beautiful kit! I would love love to win! Like very much the combinations of colors and supplies!

Girls, please email me at kristenATlilybeedesign.com. I'll get your info right over to the kit clubs so they can get your goodies in the mail.

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Take a Moment.

Two days after Thanksgiving,

your turkey hangover lingers,

but you're already planning ahead

to the Christmas feast.

One day after Black Friday,

your ankles have swollen to cankles,

but you will venture once again into the breach.

Twenty-seven days before Christmas,

your "wish" list has become a "to do" list,

and you wonder how Santa kept it up this long.

Thirty-four days before 2011,

you are still way behind on your pages for 2010.

And 2007.

And 1997.

You may not be able to stop the clock,

but you can just stop.

Take a moment.

Although this layout

doesn't fall under my holiday "to do" list

it does, for me, reflect time well spent.

I used bits and pieces from the new Lily Bee lines,

including a few Christmas Town papers.

I love that many of the papers in that line

work with non-holiday layouts.

As you count the days until Christmas,

don't worry about losing count at times.

One of the most wonderful benefits

of being crafty and creative

is that it allows us time to pause.

What we do isn't about productivity and pace,

but rather, about creating a space for ourselves,

in which we take moments

and live within them once again,

making them last a little longer.

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Thankful & A Reminder-Catching Fall Challenge

Happy Wednesday! I'm sure many of you are planning for your Thanksgiving festivities. I just wanted to take a minute and thank all of our Lily Bee Fans for the support you've given us over the last year and a half. We wouldn't be here without you all. I'm thankful I am able to use my talent and see what ladies create using it. It's such a delight and I am very blessed.

Thank you to my amazing Design Team Girls. They truly are the best and they do such amazing projects with our products. Besides their amazing talent each of them are so down to earth and I am blessed to call them my friends.

I also wanted to remind everyone about the Catching Fall Challenge. You simply need to use the line and upload to our Ning Site. The winner will receive a $25.00 Visa Gift Card-just in time for the holidays. So be sure to get your entries in by Midnight MST, Tuesday, November 30th.

I wish everyone a very Happy Turkey Day spent with your family and friends!

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Christmas Card Crafting

It's that time of year when the Christmas season is right around the corner. I love creating handmade Christmas cards to give out each holiday. It's a great way to use up scrapbooking odds and ends, gets me in the holiday spirit and involves my love of creating. It's a win/win situation.

The Lily Bee Design Christmas Town line is perfect for creating holiday cards and well as scrapbooking. I love how well it all works together making designing cards, oh so easy. I love the rub-on transfer sheet for adding in my sentiments. They are the perfect size for cards or for scrapbook accents and you can rub them onto cardstock, patterned paper, doilies, even glass or plastic.



If you're in a rush or have a lot of cards to make, go with the clean and simple route. Stickers are super for this.



How about a fun and fresh color combo of green and aqua? Covering chipboard shapes with patterned paper makes great accents.



A Lily Bee die-cut folded in half can make a unique card shape.



Have fun getting your Christmas Card Craft on!

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Three Things for your Monday!

I have been busily crafting away, getting ready for the holidays! How 'bout you?

I have three things to share with you today, using a mixture of Lily Bee lines. The first is a little pocket calendar. I love to pick these up at the Dollar Tree or the Dollar Spot at Target, and then recover them with cute patterned papers. Here I used the Christmas Town line and made a shabby little flower for the front out of layered, punched, scalloped circles & a chipboard button. These make excellent little gifts for those people you need just a little somethin' for.

Next up is a layout I have using a mixture of Domestic Bliss & Catching Fall. The oranges in these lines go great together.

I added a few little touches of kraft embellishments from Maya Road. I love those envelopes. They were geniuses when they made those! And finally, I have a small artistic piece that I made as a piece of home decor for a friend.

I started with a piece of 8 1/2 x 11" kraft cardstock, and covered it with text paper.


I tore a little here and there, and covered it with a Jenni Bowlin paint dauber (malted milk). Then I layered a piece of Catching Fall paper, with the edges roughly brushed with some Coffee Bean Glimmer Mist.


The final result, with layers of text (painted with Glimmer Mist) and whimsical flowers made of papers & chipboard buttons from Lily Bee.
I hope this starts your Monday off with some fun inspiration! Have a great week!

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Inspired...

I can't remember ever being so inspired by a brand before. Not just one product line, but all of them! I was looking through my stash of Lily Bee products and became totally inspired to create a project focused on all of the bonding we do over food. I don't think I ever really thought about how many pictures I have that are focused around food. Everyday moments and celebrations. A ton of pictures that really capture the moments of our lives!

I've been holding on to this photo carousel for a very long time not sure what to do with it. I decided this project was perfect for this because I could add do it as often as I want and display it proudly in our dinning room. I altered it with some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint to fit my home decor better.



I went through all of my pictures that went with the theme of bonding over food and printed them out to 3x4 and then cut a bunch of Lily Bee papers to 4x6 and just started putting it all together. I didn't add a lot of details to the pages. I wanted this to be a quick project that I could update all the time with a simple picture and a memory. This project makes me happy and everyone is having so much fun watching it come together and reminiscing over the memories we've made.

These are some of my favorite pages so far...

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Christmas is near

Okay, i know thanksgiving is right around the corner, but i couldn't help myself!  I'm one of those that my husband has to keep under control around this time of year because I sneak Christmas music, let the kids watch Christmas movies while he is at work, and it is all i can do to not get the decorations out!  But i figured, there are some of you out there like me so i wouldn't get in trouble for doing a Christmas layout when Thanksgiving is only 5 days away :)!  I used Christmas town for this layout, the colors went so well with my Christmas morning pictures, i LOVE the pop of blue!

I used the circle die cut to hold my journaling, it seems i can't do a layout without using these awesome diecuts and the flag stickers.

The tree's were cut with Spellbinders new Holiday tree die, i had extra's from a project i did and thought they would be a great touch to finish up the layout, covering part of the rubon, which is okay, the rubons can be used as part of your background instead of pop out to be read completely, they are so versatile.  I also used Helmar Zapdots to make the red tree pop.

So thanks for stopping by, and hope you enjoyed a little sneaky of Christmas before Thanksgiving.  Have a great weekend!!

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Friday Faves

Oh my! This is one incredible week for Friday Faves. I have some serious eye-candy in store for you, so sit back and enjoy!

Michiko Kato created "Go For a Walk" and it seriously blows me away. The detail work is just incredible. I see things I missed every time I look. It's really, really stunning!

"I Hope You Live the Life You Want" by Nadia Cannizzo is refreshing to see. The blue drew me in as I love the play off the paper. I love the hint of color in the photo. I dare say, it's not often I see princess dress up photos backed by a stunning blue backdrop. It really looks amazing!

Janine Rachau's Happy Birthday card really makes me smile. What a fabulous way to use our Catching Fall collection. The "piles of smiles" sticker is perfect for a Birthday card!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Christmas Ornaments

It's almost that time...Christmas is around the corner & it's time for me to start decorating. Yes, I know it's a little early, but I can't help it. I'm ready to take down my fall decor & get ready for all the handmade Christmas decorations around the house.

I made these super easy & super fast ornaments, using three different size scallop punches. I LOVE them & love how Lily Bee's Christmas Town looks hanging from my kitchen window. So, so pretty!

I punched out seven circles for each ornament and folded them in half.

Double knotted the ends of twine to hold glass beads.

Then I adhered each scallop circle together using my tape runner and added the beaded twine while piecing ornament together.

I used masking tape to hang my pretties above my kitchen sink. It's hidden & no one will ever know. Well, anyone who enjoys this blow will know ;)

Super simple! Now I am thinking of making more & having them strung across the entire window area for fun!

Happy creating & I hope you are enjoying making handmade pretties this holiday season!

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November Guest Designer-Kim Watson

Happy Wednesday! I am so excited for our November Guest Designer-Kim Watson. I just LOVE what she has created this month using Lily Bee. You can find her work gracing the pages of Creating Keepsakes Magazine as a Creating Keepsakes Dream Team Member. Let's meet Kim....

Hi all, I am so excited to be guest designing here at Lily Bee today. Having always been a HUGE fan of Lily Bee product, I love the modern nostalgic influences in the paper designs & embellishments. Honestly, I had a hard time choosing which collection was my favorite, so put together a project using each of them.



SHE COOKS using Domestic Bliss






LOVE ABROAD using Catching Fall





HO HO HO using Christmas town

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