Bright and Busy!

I love color and pattern and lots of everything on my layouts. It's happy and fun just like my youngest who recently had his 7th birthday. I knew a bright and busy look was want I wanted for a birthday page to record this event but how to go about it and still keep it under control  had me perplexed.

Enter the simple circle punch. Circle punches are simple timeless tools that never go out of style and every papercrafter should own a few. By punching all my papers with the same punch, the repetition provides unity in the design and even better, there was no measuring and cutting involved.

I've used the beautiful Double Dutch line for this layout. I love how the gingham adds such a summery look and it's perfect for boys as well as girls.

The Double Dutch Index Journaling Cards are great for journaling but they are also perfect for matting photos with.

Mini pinwheels make a sweet childhood accent on a page. I've created mine out of 2.5" squares of Double Dutch patterned paper.

Lily Bee Supplies:

Patterned Paper: Double Dutch (Marmalade, Hopscotch, Key Lime Pie, Croquet, Marigold, Celery) 

and Buttercup (Flowerpot)

Journaling Cards: Double Dutch
Stickers: Victoria Park ABC 

Bag of Bits:Double Dutch

Happy creating!

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Get Happy!

The first few weeks of our summer vacation have been spent doing a variety of fun activities - a trip to the beach, backyard barbeques, crafty projects with the kids and movie nights. Throw in a few lazy mornings watching cartoons, s'mores around the campfire, and sunset viewing from the front porch and it's easy to see that so far, summer has been a pretty darn happy season.

It was that notion that led me to create the page I'm sharing today. It serves as a little reminder that these events shouldn't just be saved for summer vacation - every day is a great occasion to seek out happiness!

Layout by Lisa Dickinson for Lily Bee Design

The Handmade patterned papers add the bulk of the color on this page. The hexagon die-cut is backed with pieces from the Handmade paper, Patchwork. By placing them behind the white die-cut borders, they add a lot of punch without overwhelming the design. This is also a great use for some of those paper scraps!

The title is simple and bold, and clearly communicates the message of my page. It was also die-cut from white cardstock with the word "Happy" cut from the Handmade Sky Blue paper.

Lily Bee Supplies:

Handmade patterned papers - Patchwork, Sky Blue, Pattern Block

 I hope you're inspired to go do something that makes you happy today - and then scrap it, of course!

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Me and You Layout

Hi everyone, Kim here to share a new layout with you! I love using little journal cards and bits and pieces of paper to create my layouts. These little cards from the Victoria park and Handmade collections are just right for layering and creating a collage. They have some really great little designs on them as well. 

For this layout I chose to combine some of the cards with Green elements on them since green is a close runner up to being my favorite color! They are also a nice way to add a bit of a graphic element to your layout. 

Another element I wanted to add to my layout was a hand painted banner. I first cut my watercolor paper into different sized strips and then painted each one a different ombre shade of green to greenish blue and pink. I snipped the ends to create little banners and then sewed them together using ordinary sewing thread. 

I love the layered and messy effect of the sewn banner. To add a little more interest I backed a few of the banners with different pieces of patterned paper. 

This is a very simple way to create a layout with just a few elements. Thanks for stopping by today for a little inspiration! Have a great week everyone!

Kim 

Supplies used

Victoria park index journal cards

Buttercup index journal cards

Handmade index journal cards

Victoria park mixed cardstock stickers

Victoria park ABC cardstock stickers

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Eat Well

As a woman with a family and a home, I don't very often get to eat at what I'd call a 'fine dining' establishment. Of course, it's not because I don't want to, but one can only afford so many $25+ plates in a given year before the bankers come calling.  At least that is the reality for our family.


Given that, when I do get the opportunity, I want it to be memorable.  That involves things like planning the right place and the right time and the right occasions. I can do that is to take extra care with my appearance and preparations.  But all of that will still allow the memory to fade.


Photos, however, will help keep it alive.  A well photographed location or plate of food can evoke so many things in people.  Why do you think they spend so much on marketing photos for all the major restaurant chains?  Because it evokes a certain 'something' when you see a mouth-wateringly juicy burger topped with the freshest, greenest lettuce and the ripest, reddest tomatoes and veritably dripping with secret sauce!!!


With all of that in mind, I decided to take out the big guns when my husband and I recently visited a local restaurant for our 20th anniversary.  I brought my big ole Canon DSLR to dinner with me and took time to shoot the food as soon as it arrived at our table.


I admit, I was a little embarrassed to do it, but the waitress even came by on one of my shooting occasions and gave me a thumbs up for being brave enough. 'Yeah!' I thought, 'I'm not so weird after all am I?!'  Well, maybe I am, but I did get some great shots and we'll not soon forget this occasion of Eating Well!

The rich, warm colors of my photos led me to the Buttercup Collection. That yellow damask pattern seemed the perfect compliment to our fine dining adventures and helped bring out the warm tones in my photos.

I also played with the round frame stamp from the Handmade collection to add a little extra color and texture.

I dug out my turquoise and grey washi tapes which blend so beautifully with the colors of Buttercup and created a bit of extra texture behind the bank of photos on the right side of the page.  The mini cardstock alphas make perfect photo captions.

And I couldn't resist creating another brad from the cardstock stickers and my Epiphany Crafts tool.


Give dining out photography a try and let us know how you like it!  I'd love to see what you come up with!


Lily Bee Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Buttercup (Queen Bee, Rain
ABC Cardstock Stickers: Buttercup
Mixed Cardstock Stickers: Buttercup
Journal Cards:Buttercup,  Double Dutch
Bag of Bits: Buttercup
Stamps: Handmade

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Focus On: Mixing & Match

Hi everyone! We hope you had a great weekend!

The thing everyone loves about working with a single paper line is that everything matches. There's no guesswork about patterns, colors, styles. But one of the great things about Lily Bee lines is that they all go together. Our lines play along nicely. So we asked three of our designers to create layouts using different lines. We think you'll like what you see.

By Melissa Stinson

Lily Bee Supplies:

Patterned papers: Double Dutch Lemonade, Handmade Running Stitch, Buttercup Queen Bee

Mixed Cardstock Stickers: Handmade Mixed, Victoria Park ABC

By Michi Nobeno

Lily Bee Supplies:
patterned paper: Handmade Running Stitch , Double Dutch Hopscotch, Oatmeal Stationery

Handmade Index Journal Cards

Cardstock stickers: Handmade Mixed + ABC Cardstock Stickers, Double Dutch ABC Cardstock Stickers

Handmade Bag of Bits

 

By Maísa Mandonça

Lily Bee Supplies:

Patterned papers: Handmade Thimble

Cardstock Stickers: Victoria Park Mixed+ABC Cardstock Stickers

6x6 Tiny Tablet: Victoria Park, Double Dutch

Victoria Park Index Journal Cards

Bag Of Bits: Victoria Park, Double Dutch, Handmade 

 

Also, don't forget that you have until 9PM PT (tonight!) to enter our Sketch Challenge. More info here.

Thanks for stopping by today. We hope to see you again tomorrow!

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Happy tuesday!

Hello everyone, this is Kim here today to share a light and airy layout featuring a little of double dutch and the handmade collections. All of the collections have a little something for everyone. Personally I love polka dots. Just something about them reminds me of a party with big balloons and confetti!

On this layout I was struck by the great polka dot paper in the double dutch line and used it as the main focus of my page. I like to play with the white space on a page so I used several blocks in different areas and stapled them down using my tiny attacher.

I love dressing up my pages with florals of all kinds and can never seem to complete a layout without them. Using my leaf punch I punched several leaves out of one of my papers and formed them around several of my patterned blocks.

To complete the page I made a little watercolor banner from one of the collection stamps and adhered it directly below my photo. Just a few dabs onto each part of the banner to create a sort of ombre effect was all I needed.

(Supplies Used: Lily Bee Double Dutch "lemonade" Patterned Paper, handmade "linen" paper, Buttercup "Queen bee" paper, Double Dutch Stamp set, and Martha Stewart leaf Punch)

Thanks for stopping by today for a little inspiration!

Take Care!

Kim

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Focus On: Travel!

Happy Monday, friends! Can't believe we are halfway through April already! Here in the Northern Hemisphere, most of us have had our Spring Breaks. Even if you don't have kids, it's fun to think back when we had that week off. Lots of people use that week to take a family trip, visit friends, go to a warmer place (or colder, if you are a ski person.) So we asked our designers to create travel focused layouts to share with you today. (click on layouts for a bigger view)

Layout by Ursula Schneider

Layout by Summer Fullerton

This is making me want to go on a trip right now! Luckily summer vacation will be here soon enough. I hope!

Also, please remember that you have a little more time to enter our Sketch Challenge! Have a great day!

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Hexagon Love + Old Stash + Victoria Park = Awesomeness!

Hi, everyone! Melissa here with my very first post on the Lily Bee blog. I'm so excited to be here!

When I first saw all of the new lines released at CHA, I felt an instant attraction to the hexagons in Victoria Park's "Wortley Village" print. The vibrant colors and the nested shapes are such a fun twist on a trend that I love already, and I wanted to make sure that I included a big chunk of that paper on my layout- so I splashed it right across the top!

One of my favorite things about Lily Bee's collections are how they are tightly centered around a central color palette, but are also largely non-themed, opting instead for gorgeous patterns that can be used for pages of any subject- even just a photo of my niece petting one of my cats!

I also love that Lily Bee designs are classic enough to use alongside some of my older supplies. I pulled out a  set of three year old gold foil embellishments and a ten year old (no, I'm not kidding!) sheet of printed vellum from my stash to use on this layout. Papers like these that can breathe new life into older supplies are a valuable scrapbooking commodity and are always a welcome addition to my stash!

Next time you get ready to scrap a layout with the new Lily Bee collections, challenge yourself to pull out an older supply or two to use along with them- you might just find yourself using up something that you've had forever!

Lily Bee Supplies:


Patterned Paper: Victoria Park- Wortley Village, Hyde Park, Princess Avenue, Richmond Row, Raspberry 

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Focus On: Chevrons and Zig Zags

Happy Monday! Surely you've noticed that chevrons and zig zags are huge right now. We are guilty of having used it quite a bit ourselves. We just can't help ourselves! So why not ask a few of our designers to create some layouts using this fun pattern?

 Layout by Cindy Liebel 

Layout by Anna-Maria Wolniak 

Layout by Melissa Mann 

It's such a classic pattern, and now, it's trendy again! Although Charlie Brown would tell you it's never been out of fashion...

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Focus On: Handmade

Happy April! Love seeing all the spring-y photos popping up in my Instagram feed. So today, we decided to feature our Handmade line. Handmade is filled with delicious soft, happy colors! You can take a closer look at the entire line here.

April is also the month that our new design team members start sharing their work here on the blog! We are all so excited to see what these ladies create with the Lily Bee products. So here we go!

Layout by Sasha Farina

Layout by Kim Stewart

Project Life by Lisa Day

It's so much fun to see three designers use the same products, and come up with such different projects. Love them all! And it's extra fun to see Lisa using them in her Project Life. Our Index Journaling Cards and the smaller patterns in the 6x6 Tiny Tablets are perfect for those little pockets.

Thank you so much for coming by today. We hope to see you again tomorrow! Have a great day.

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