Day 4 - Creating a Poinsettia Ornament

Hello Everyone.  Hope you are enjoying these days of inspiration from the Lily Bee Design Team.  It's my day to share with you a simple ornament you can make to adorn any tree.

I am using a 4 inch bottle cap as my base.  Trace around your favorite Jingle patterned paper for the center of the cap.  I am using the 6 x 6 Jingle Tiny Tablet since the patterns are smaller & the right feel for the bottle cap.  I also cut a smaller circle of another Jingle patterned paper to layer on top of this one.  I distressed the bottle cap with alcohol inks to give it that vintage feel.

Now let's build the poinsettia. This is one of my favorite Christmas flowers to make.  I created this flower technique years ago & still love how it looks.  First cut three 1 inch by 3 inch strips of patterned paper. 

Fold the strips in half lengthwise and in half again from top to bottom.  Using your scissors, cut in an arc from the outside to the fold part. This makes the point of the poinsettia.

Unfold the pattern paper and you get a “squashed”  oval.  Now fold this oval in half top down, you will see the backside of the pattern paper.  Fold one side towards the top.  Flip it over and do the other side. 

Fold in half again. Now holding the center, run your finger under the pattern paper to pop it out.

I like to use a plain glue stick and glue the “leaves” together.  Pinch & hold each leave together.

Next punch a 1.5 inch circle from the same patterned paper.  Using a strong glue, adhere all three leaves done to the center of the circle.  You can add a button center to your poinsettia to accent the flower.

Lily Bee Supplies
Jingle 6 x6 Tiny Tablet Papers
specifically:  Eggnog & Garland

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Fall Grateful Card

I am so loving this fall season in Colorado.  I just love the chill that comes into the air.  This time of year also reminds me of all the blessings i have in my life. 

I love the Harvest Market paper with those warm colors and just the right shade of blue, color me happy! I used a diceut machine to punch the leaves.  Using a punched circle as my base, i began layering the leaves around the edge to create the sunflower.  Instead of gluing down ever single piece, i decided to stitch the leaves to the circle.  I took the square sticker and trimmed it in a circle to fit inside the flower.  I hope you will give it a try because it is so much fun to see the sunflower come to life!

Lily Bee Paper
Peach Crisp - Harvest Market
Hayride - Harvest Market
Pumpkin Seeds - Harvest Market
Squash - Harvest Market
Whiteboard - Memorandum

Mixed Media Stickers
Harvest

Other:
Twine
Black Cardstock

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Color Stories

Have you ever associated colors with genders?  Is pink definitely girl?  Is blue always boy?  Hopefully after this post you can see how colors are gender neutral.  It's how you use them that makes them feminine or masculine.  With just a few accessories or shapes you can change the look of your project to suit your story. 

In both my projects i used the same color palette & patterned papers: Happily Lost Villa, This & That Brooch, and This & That Teacup.  Basically Orange, yellow, black, grey, & blue.  Sounds pretty masculine too me.

I did start with a masculine page.  I picked some colors that i thought would go with the feel of his photos.  I wasn't basing the colors on gender but what went with these photos.  In fact if you look at the names of the paper, they seem to say feminine: teapot, brooch.   I sprayed the background with blue mists in a grid pattern.  The grungy grid reminds me of him.  I decide to die-cut some stars out of the yellow & black paper.  With a bit of black pen around the edges, they stood out on the background.  A paper edge punch reminds me of school & notebooks so it was a good fit for this layout.  Keeping it simple also seem the way to go to keep it in that boy feel i was looking to achieve.  So love this layout, it is perfect for him!

For this cute little card i took the same patterned papers & used them in a way that suggest female.  The message on the This & That mixed cardstock sticker is definitely feminine in nature so it adds to the feel.  I sprayed the background with grey mists using a flower lace template.  I used a curved punch along the side of the paper & layered the Domestic Bliss Chipboard Sticker Flowers to the side.  Again a little bit of black pen along the edges to give them definition and the card is complete.

So if you find a color palette that is perfect for you project but think it might be too gender specific, think again.  Think about how you can change perceptions and make the colors work for you story.

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White Space

"White space is often referred to as negative space. It should not be considered merely 'blank' space'...it is an important element of design. The use of negative space is key to aesthetic composition."
This is the Wikipedia description of 'white space' and pretty much explains one of the design elements we often use in our crafting projects. I love working with 'white space' and have created a couple of Layouts showing the use of this key element.
My first Layout 'Special Times' has a lot of negative space towards the bottom half of the Layout whereas my other Layout has the negative space around the photo towards the left, top and bottom of the page. Most embellishments are grouped together in clusters or anchored somewhere on the page. I don't tend to place them just anywhere or by themselves as this will look unbalanced.
I also like to repeat some of my embellishments or design elements, like the circles and butterflies in the second Layout 'Sunshiny Day' or the little punched flowers in the 'Special Times' Layout.
I would love to see some of you posting your Lily Bee projects on our Facebook page using 'white space'!!
Have a great week!

Supplies ('Happy Times'):
Lily Bee: Picket Fence 'Fresh Air' paper
Lily Bee: This & That 'Pretty Fabric' paper
Lily Bee: This & That 'Milk Bottle' paper
Lily Bee: This & That ABC Stickers
Lily Bee: This & That Mixed Cardstock Stickers
Lily Bee: Happily Lost 'Hammock' paper
Stationery: 'Oatmeal' and 'Butter' paper
Hello Sunshine: Rub-ons
Lovely: Chipboard Stickers

Supplies ('Sunshiny Day'):
Lily Bee: Picket Fence 'Fresh Air' paper
Lily Bee: Picket Fence 'Porch Swing' paper
Lily Bee: Picket Fence 'Verandah' paper
Lily Bee: Picket Fence 'Cottage Garden' paper
Lily Bee: Picket Fence Mixed Cardstock Stickers
Lily Bee: Picket Fence Acrylic Stamps
Stationery: 'Butter' paper

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Beachin'

Good Thursday morning everyone! Now that summer is upon us, that means lots of summertime fun with plenty of photo ops. I thoroughly enjoy spending summer days on the beach; who doesn't?! I love looking back at past years trips to the beach & getting inspired to pack our beach bag, cooler & road trip to the coast.

My layout share for today showcases one of my favorite photos I made last year. Spending a wonderful time chillin' on the beach while my two little's had an amazing time catching waves.


To create this layout, I layered two decorative border strips together, creating a slim band in the middle. I embellished the area with bits of chipboard shapes, rub-ons & a single flower. I didn't want to overwhelm the page with too many embellishments, but I also wanted some impact to the design.

I was originally going to use just the one large 5" x 7" photo on the page & add journaling strips, but it didn't seem complete enough to me. So, I printed out extra photos & used my circle cutter to finish my page. Added the tiny ABC stickers & the 12" journaling photo strip at the bottom, topping it off with a decorative border just for fun. I like how the circles through the page balances with splashes of blues tones throughout.

White creating this layout, I got the urge to plan several trips to the beach this summer. I even called up my parents letting them know of our plans for a visit & to beware of all the sand that will be invading their home this summer, once again.

Have a wonderful week, Cheers!

Lily Bee Supplies:
This & That Pretty Fabric
This & That ABC Stickers
Picket Fence Mixed Cardstock Stickers
Picket Fence ABC Stickers
Christmas Town Chipboard Stickers
Three Little Birds Laugh 12x12 Rub-Ons

Other Supplies:
Petaloo Floral Embellishment

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Spring = (Paper) Flowers

I'm a huge fan of flowers. The planting/cutting/vase variety. Not a huge fan of scrapping flowers. Part of it is that I have only boys in my household. And while I regularly use what might be considered "girl-y" patterned papers, I don't use flowers much. I think I used it once before. In the ten-ish years I've been scrapbooking. One time.

That is until two weeks ago. I was in a scrapping frenzy, trying to get stuff done for a last minute project. It had to be technique-driven. Alas, I don't know any techniques! But it had to be done. So I ended up researching paper flowers, because let's face it, I might not use any, but they are everywhere. And I do love the look of a handmade flower. I just didn't really know how to make them. After much googling and youtubing, I ended up using three handmade flower techniques. One of which I'm sharing here. It's ridiculously easy. Easy enough that my five year is making them. Everyday. (It's out of control.) But the results are really nice. Nice enough that non-crafty people get really impressed when you mention that you made those yourself. (I impressed my mom. And she's not easy to impress!)

Pretty easy, right?

To recreate the card, you'll need to make 8 more flowers from the same patterned paper, and one from a contrasting cardstock. Cut a 8"x4" strip of patterned paper, fold it in half. Stick the flowers on the card using glue dots. I printed the phrase in my printer, then stamped the banner (I think it's an old Martha Stewart stamp.) Colored it in with a Letraset Promarker (alcohol-based marker), cut it out, added the little pearls, and used some pop up dots in the back. Easy peasy.

(A few thoughts: if you spray the paper circles lightly with water before you staple them together, they will fold up more easily. Unscrunch them very carefully. You can also use mist, but again, lightly. And you can also ink the edges. That would be super cute.)

Now I'm totally addicted to making paper flowers. I've even created a layout using, gasp, three flowers. Don't judge. That's a big step for me!

Hey, before I go, there is still time to apply to the Lily Bee Design Team! Find out more here.

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