Becky Novacek and the Dime Store Kit

Today Becky Novacek brings us just about the sweetest baby boy layout I've ever seen.

She writes, "The Dime Store kit has some of my all time favorite papers and embellishments! I couldn't wait to use it! I think it works well with this newborn photo of Eli. For the banner, I simply cut the flags freehand, using the pattern papers and one of the journaling cards. I kept things simple and was able to put this layout together in an hour, which is fast for me!"

Thanks for the Dime Store inspiration Becky!

Retro Dime Store from Jenni Bowlin

Here are a couple Jenni Bowlin layouts from when "Tangerine Dream" first debuted. I don't know about you, but I never tire of looking at Jenni creations. Jenni writes, "Believe it or not, my layout title came from a billboard advertising liquor (but I thought it was perfect for a page)! I cut out a floral section from the pattern paper and used that below the photo. To age my stickers a tiny bit, I sanded them slightly after they were adhered. As a last detail I added the gold monogram crowns to each head (my husband appreciated this oh-so-much)!"

"When I made this trail of butterflies I originally had settled on stitching their flight pattern. At the last minute I decided to come up with something a little different and unexpected- hence the glitter trail! First outline your trail lightly with a pencil. Erase small sections at a time, beginning at the bottom. Dot the path with the end of a small paintbrush handle that has been dipped in Paper Glaze or clear drying liquid glue. Sprinkle on glitter and shake off excess. Continue with these steps until you have completed the flight pattern!"

In addition to the Dime Store Kit contents, these also include the Chalkboard Alpha Stickers in Brown and Gold Crown Number Rub-ons. Thanks for the inspiration Jenni!

JBS Mercantile May Exclusives

Here is a little tiny glimpse at what the design team is gushing over and calling the "best kit ever!" Lots of grey and a lovely yellow that is really not shown at all in this picture. Then brief hints of several other colors making appearances. The little seed packet front is vintage and there's another recycled journal. My first thought upon seeing this kit is how very perfect it is for mini-album making which is serendipitous after last week. I can't wait to see what the design team does with it! and YOU! :)

Guest Star Marcy Penner!

We briefly interrupt Dime Store Week to bring you Guest Star Marcy Penner! YAY!

Marcy says, "I really love this new collection! The stamps alone are stunning! For my layout I wanted to utilize the banners, but I wanted them to have movement. So I traced the large chipboard banners on the new papers and even used the polka dot pattern of the packaging for one and then simply trimmed them out. With them made out of paper I could curl them a little. For the banner stickers I stuck them on cardstock first, cut them out and then folded them."

Beautiful! Thanks for the inspiration Marcy!

Toilet Paper Roll Misting

Doris here again with a little more background information on another layout I made for the April JBS Mercantile Gallery. This may be a little TMI, but I get weird ideas sometimes. Like last month I started hoarding empty toilet paper rolls. I couldn't seem to help myself. The Cottonelle rolls were made of such nice sturdy cardstock that I just felt in my soul I could do something interesting with them. It wasn't long until inspiration struck and this page is the result. I used the rolls to make a misted circle background and I'm kinda in love with the look.

It was super easy. I simply held the roll where I wanted a circle to be then misted down the tube. I used the same tube for all my circles, so it got a little damp and started bleeding onto the next circle towards the end. I like the messy look, but if you want a cleaner design I would suggest using different tubes for each color.

I used Spice Tin and Lemon Drops Re-inkers in a Mini Mister. The green is a combination of those two colors. I then misted over everything with a little more Spice Tin.

This was super duper fun! You should try it! I know I'm going to be doing it again soon! :)

Daniel Flanders and the Dime Store Kit

Today we have the brilliant stylings of Danielle Flanders working with our new Dime Store Kit. She is so good with the details! My favorite is the flowers and pearl peeking out of that half circle at the top. Which detail is your favorite? This is what Danielle says . . .

"I've been wanting to scrap this large photo of my daughter from last fall, but instead of writing about "fall" per se, I decided to journal about her age and how I wish she could stay little forever. Five years of nurturing her have just flown by. I cut the 12 x 12" die cut paper into 4 pieces and layered 2 of the pieces on the right hand side. The number 5 is cut out of one of the journaling cards. I added a pop of red with some felt and twine from my stash."

"I cut a number five out of the journaling card in the kit with a Papertrey Ink die and added the journaling card to a kraft card base to really make the 5 stand out! I used a chipboard button from the kit, added a journaling sticker, a punched star from the orange star paper and a blue rub on star from the alphas in the kit. I cut a word out from the text paper to add to the sentiment of the birthday card.

Having birthday cards on hand are great for all the parties my girls are invited to, so I think I'm going to make more of these. The journaling cards are the perfect size for this application."

"Love how the red twine adds just one more color to this beautiful kit."

And we love this card so much! Thanks for the inspiration Dime Store Danielle!

A Layout in Progress . . .

Hello! It's Doris here with a few "in progress" shots and my thoughts as I was creating "Good Day Sunshine" for the April Gallery.

I started out with a recent photo of my baby niece that I love and a couple ideas that have been lurking around in my head since last month. I love the halo of sunshine behind my niece's wild head of curls in this shot and wanted to spotlight it. I have seen so many Polaroid images lately and really wanted to use that idea. I originally thought to put the photo on the white cardstock to make an oversized Polaroid look then use the JBS Mercantile exclusive yellow patterned paper as the background. Ideas evolve though and I ended up making my Polaroid on the yellow paper and mounting it on the white cardstock. I think the yellow next to the picture really makes it shine. The other idea I've been holding onto was using the label sticker on the Crate Paper packaging. I can't help it, I'm a product packaging junkie! I then layered a couple border stickers, some gesso, and machine stitching over my "Polaroid." Next I wanted to figure out what to do with all that white cardstock. White cardstock tends to make me nervous . . .

I decided to get artsy with my background. First I used the blending tool to add some Lemon Drops and Chewing Gum ink. I'm not very good with the blending tool yet, so I had some awkward spots. I finger painted over those with gesso and then misted here and there with Studio Calico Piglet. I had decided to add a couple more label shapes with the mask from the Good Day Sunshine Add-on. I hadn't really intended to add green to the layout, but the thread in my sewing machine was green and I was too lazy to change it, so there you go. . . . adding green. I used Seed Packet and Stick Candy Dabbers on the mask then blended the designs with a little more gesso. I was singing the title song in my head while creating the layout. How can you not think "Good Day Sunshine" when looking at that sweet face? One of the label stickers made a nice title block. I then added the pink flowers and green button (seed packet again) to balance my colors. I'm also a visual triangle junkie. On to the details . . .

I love the details. I put the butterflies on white cardstock, trimmed them out, folded up the wings, and cross-stitched them to the page. Beautiful! and totally worth the extra effort.

I also added a yellow border strip to the bottom and some snippets of yellow to the label masks to balance the top heavy design. Good Day Sunshine indeed! What do you think? Do you like these in process posts? Are they helpful? Would you like to see more of them? Let us know!