Love My Tapes and Pretty Little Studio BLOG HOP

 
Hello and welcome to the Pretty Little Studio and Love My Tapes Blog Hop! We thought it would be fun to combine forces and share with you projects highlighting Pretty Little Studio whimsical goodness paired with the versatility and trendiness of Love My Tapes.

During the Blog Hop, you will be visiting blogs from both Pretty Little Studio and Love My Tapes Design Team members. We promise to bring you a hop FULL of inspiration and creativity.

The Hop will start on the Pretty Little Studio blog and end on the Love My Tapes blog, so head on over to the Pretty Little Studio blog if you are just joining in.

Let's start hopping! You should have arrived here from Candice Elliott's blog!

 Pretty Little Studio Blog

Annette Allen
Annette Witherspoon
Ashley Horton
Candice Elliott
Christina Collins YOU ARE HERE!
Heather Adams
Janice Whiting
Jenni Calma
Lisa Spiegel
Lisa Wilkinson
Mary Ann Jenkins
Missy Whidden
Tina Walker

Love My Tapes Blog

Pretty Little Studio products go perfectly with the gorgeous tapes that Love My Tapes has to offer! I just fell in love with this navy blue tape, and knew I wanted to make a tag with it. Remember those pretty little studio embellishments I put together last week? I put one of them to good use, and made this beautiful birthday gift tag! The navy blue tape comliments the teal and reds of the pretty little studio products so well. I just love it and can't wait to dress up a birthday package with it!

GIVEAWAY:

And what’s a Blog Hop without giveaways? Be sure to visit all the blogs, including the Pretty Little Studio and Love My Tapes blogs for a chance to win some PLS and LMT goodies (like a giant box of trendy goodness from Love My Tapes and Pretty Little Studio)!

In addition, I'll be giving away a pack of these adorable Pretty Little Studio Bingo cards and two gorgeous rolls of Love My Tapes washi tapes. To win - just leave a comment on this post by May 2nd.

We will announce the winners of the PLS and LMT giveaways on May 3rd, so be sure to be watching for the announcements.

Your next stop is Heather Adams!
 

UPCOMING - Book Release Blog Hop Party!

Heidi Sonboul's Signature Series book is soon to be released, and we're ready to celebrate! This blog hop is going to be huge. There is going to be a ton of inspiring projects shared, giveaways, and more. You don't want to miss it! Mark your calendars - the party starts on May 6th, and doesn't end until May 10th. I hope you can join in on the fun!

April/May Guest Blogger - Mary Ann Jenkins

Hi there, I'm Mary Ann Jenkins and I love playing with paper and glue! 
I’ve been scrapping since 1987, when I heard a commercial on the radio about learning to preserve family memories. A few patterned papers and decorative scissors later I was hooked, and never imagined scrapbooking would become a passion, or that I would have a room in my home dedicated to the hobby. When I am not in my scrapbook studio making a mess I enjoy: spending time with my family, flea markets, shopping for hours at Target, taking my camera everywhere I go and bracelets. A girl can never have too many bracelets!!

 

 Thank you Christina for letting me share a little about me and my favorite hobby!

 

I love old black & white photos, and especially love old family photos. I am slowly but surely working through a box of over 500 pictures from my husbands side of the family, dating from the early 1900's. Someday, I hope to have them all scrapbooked. For this layout I used the "Lemonade Stand" kit from the Paper Bakery along with a photo of my dad-in-law as a young boy.

 

I wouldn't say that I have a certain style, but I do like mixing and matching patterns and colors, and I like adding a little machine stitching here and there for a bit of texture.

 

I love being able to share my scrapbooking with you! You can find more on my blog http://www.maryannjenkins.com/ stop by and say hello!

 

- Mary Ann

I Love This Lady 12x12 Layout

Hopefully you took a look at the latest spring issue of The Paper Cut, but if you didn't...I wanted to take the time to share my layout that was inside.

Mother's day is upon us - so it was fitting to make a layout about my mother using this beautiful Pure Bliss collection from GCD Studios. I love everything about this layout! It's my new favorite. I chose the floral paper from Pure Bliss as a background because of all the colors. I wanted to be able to pull colors from it.

I knew I wanted to work with the the blues, greens, and pinks in the paper so I pulled a few borderstrips and cut a few strips of paper. I played around with the layering until it was pleasing to the eye, adhered them together, and then did a little bit of stitching. I wanted all of these pretty patterned strips to pop so I added a yellow cardstock as a background. I backed the yellow cardstock with white cardstock to give it that extra pop. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut my title.

I wanted my mother's personality to shine through on this page which is why I used a lot of floral inspired papers. I have always related my mother to potted plants. They were her favorite to work with, and we always had a ton in the house...which is why I cut out an adorable little potted plant with my Silhouette Cameo.

Supplies Used: GCD Studios Pure Bliss collection, GCD Studios Nostalgia collection, American Crafts buttons, Silhouette Cameo

Thanks for reading! Have a great week!

The Paper Cut - Spring Issue 2013

This spring issue of The Paper Cut is out and it is is full of gorgeous, feminine projects that are sure to inspire you. Get a first hand look at the NEW design team's style.
All of the ladies on this design team are truly talented. You can see my layout on page 20!

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

DIY Layered Embellishments

I love the look of layered embellishments. They give so much dimension and interest to your project (whether it be a card, layout, project life, etc.) The premade ones, however, can get a little pricey. So why not make your own with all the supplies in your stash? They're fun to put together and always comes out so beautiful! Don't know where to start? I have a TUTORIAL on how to make these cute little embellisments over at the Pretty Little Studio blog!

SUPPLIES USED: Pretty Little Studio's Sand Castle collection, Pretty Little Studio's Birthday Cake Collection, Silhouette Cameo, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, My Minds Eye Enamel Dots

Cherry Blossom Japanese Street Festival

We had the greatest time last weekend. We decided to visit my best friend who lives in in Northern Virginia (only a short metro ride away from D.C.). The Cherry Blossom festival was going on which was the best part of the entire visit! Being a little on th nerdy side - I was in absolute heaven being surrounded by all the japanese culture.

We were lucky enough to get a pretty good spot at the parade. All of the floats were so lovely!


There were a ton of cosplayers which was probably my favorite part of the entire experience. I loved seeing how much effort went into these beautiful costumes and it was fun spotting the characters I knew by name. ;) They even had a  J Rock Band playing on stage. Their name was Magverry and they were great!

 

And of course it wouldn't be a Japanese festival with out super cute character plushies! There was a ton of other cute things for sale as well. My hubby actually bought me a Kokeshi doll. I just love it!

It was all over to soon!
So hopefully all of you had as lovely as a weekend as I did.
Thanks for reading!

Blooming Everyday with "Nostalgia"

It's finally time to share my very first design team project for GCD Studios! I LOVE everything about GCD Studios. Their products are beautiful and I am having so much fun creating with them. I'd like to share a layout I've made using the Nostalgia collection. I just adore these papers. The colors are so vibrant, happy, and bright. This layout is 'blooming' with fun! Flowers are the perfect accent to any project. I really wanted flowers to be the center piece of my layout.

My daughter is growing everyday, much like a flower. I love the little girl she is blossoming into. That's what this layout is all about!

I cut these gorgeous 3d flowers out with my Silhouette Cameo. The papers in this collection are absolutely perfect for making realistic looking flowers. The patterns work so well! I made a visual triangle around the photo using the flowers.

 

Supplies:
Paper - (Nostalgia) - Olivia, Nostalgic Plaid (Blue and Red), Romantic Garden, Flourish in Blue, Hash Marks, Nostalgic Cutouts, Floral Tile
(Charleston)- Anna
Cardstock - Colorbok - White
Other - Silhouette Cameo - Love Always Wins Stamps by Ali Edwards - Kathy Davis Glitter Epoxy Dots

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to pop on over to the GCD Studios' blog and see all of the lovely projects the design team makes with this beautiful product!

"Oh Snap!" Wall Hanging - PLS

Working with bright colors of the Birthday Cake collection and some funky Zebra print ribbon, I was able to make this fun little wall decor. I cut the camera, the title, and the film strip out with my Silhouette Cameo. I knew before I started this project that I wanted a picture to be on it somewhere. The middle of the camera worked perfectly!

 

 I stitched a few Pretty Little Studio paper strips together and tucked some pennant banners underneath. I think it came out pretty cute and it was fun putting it together!

Supplies: Pretty Little Studio's Birthday Cake collection, Silhouette Cameo

Happy weekend, everyone!

"The Happy Couple" Card

With Summer upon us, I found it fitting to make a wedding card. Just a little something to wish the happy couple a lovely future.

 Supplies Used: GCD Studio's Charleston Collecton, Bella Blvd's Love and Marriage flags, Bella Blvd's Love and Marriage Stickers, GCD Studip's Pure Bliss Cardstock Label Stickers 

Thanks for taking a peek!

 

"The Best Dad" Layout (with Pretty Little Studio)

 

I’ve got a fun little 8.5×11 layout to share with you all today. I decided to use a few of the fun pictures I got from the photoshoot last week. With this layout I decided to make a two column banner going across the page.

  My favorite thing about Pretty Little Studio is that they have the most wonderful selection of journaling cards, tags, embellishment cards, etc. These can be the perfect accent on just about any project. Each tag/journaling card left plenty of space to work with. After I added my title, my photos, and my journaling – I went ahead and started to add as many embellishments as I could get in there! Fun, huh?

Isn’t that little man with the mustache adorable? He is from the wonderful Monsieur collection. Check it out!

I also wanted to take this time to talk about a few exciting things that are going on with Pretty Little Studio. If you followed along with our fun little blog hop a few days ago, then you know that Pretty Little Studio is releasing a new, ADORABLE line called "Nature Walk". Take the time to flip through the virtual catalog above. You're sure to fall in love! Pretty Little Studio will also be selling 12x12 papers soon! You can look into pre-ordering the Birthday Cake collection and the Nature Walk collection by visiting the shop!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Spring Shoot 2013

I'm so glad that the weather is starting to warm up. Warmer weather means that I can finally get some more photography practice in. I still have a lot to learn, but I am getting better each time. Practice makes perfect! I decided to do this little spring shoot of our family (with Charlotte being the main focus, ofcourse). I'm pretty pleased with the way they came out!

Thanks for reading!
 

April Monthly Sketch - Featured At Color Me Scrappy

I'm sorry for the lack of "Sketch Saturday" post. It was fun while it lasted but I just can't keep up with it anymore. I still love creating sketches which is why I've decided to turn it into a montly thing. At the beginning of every month - I will post a brand new sketch for all of you to use!

This particular sketch has been featured at Color Me Scrappy for this month's challenge. They've paired it with a delicious color combo. Be sure to visit their blog and play along for your chance to win some great prizes!

Happy crafting!

Easter 2013

**If you are looking for the PLS Nature Walk Reveal blog hop - CLICK HERE!**  We had such a wonderful Easter holiday! It all started Saturday evening when we started to color the eggs. Charlotte was absolutely amazed by the entire process. Of course the best part of the holiday was Easter morning when Charlotte woke up to see all of the goodies the Easter Bunny had left her.

We went to my parent's house and had a little egg hunt indoors (it was so nasty outside), played with bubbles, did a few easter crafts, and ate a delicious easter dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!
I hope everyone had just as wonderful of an Easter as we did!