Featuring Kelly Purkey │ October Release

Hello everyone, I cannot believe we are days away from Halloween! Its so busy right now but I wanted to share that Kelly's October release went live today and I managed to get two layouts done yesterday.

This first layout is something I have had on my mind for years. I was just waiting for the right moment and the right kit to make it happen. Luckily for me when I saw Kelly's Dream Come True mini kit this month I knew it could finally happen.

Years and years ago I found this old Disneyland ticket book in a parking lot and it brought back so many memories of our early trips to the park when it was all about the E Tickets. I dug thru my old family photos for just the right picture to pair with the tickets and with the stamps and cards from this kit. This image of my and my brother on our very first trip to the park was a clear winner.

I love the 6x4 postcard journaling cards that come in the kit and it was the perfect focal point for the layout. 

I was also super partial to the outline ears stamp, super, super cute. The rest of the layout was made by just layering my favorite cards to help frame the 6x4 postcard. Layering journaling cards is one of my favorite ways to start a layout. Once I have the layers in the look I like the rest always seems to fall into place.

The second layout that I made came together really quickly. I used one of the 6x4 cards from the Dream Come True kit and paired it with stamps from the Made with Love stamp set. Its and 8 1/2 x 11 layout, which is something I don't typically do but because it was going to be just one photo and one journaling card I thought the smaller size was a better choice.

I love how versatile this stamp set is. I wanted to share an image of the full stamp set because I think its so cool. I think it would be so cool to document a favorite family recipe by typing it up and adding the stamps and pairing it with a picture.  I know in my family we have some very specific family favorites that this would be perfect for.

The ink colors I used are all Hero Arts Shadow inks and I used Pumpkin Pie and Cup of Joe.

I think the spatula and whisk stamps are my favorite in this set.

There was also a really cute alpha stamp set in this release called Henry. Its super whimsical and would pair wonderfully with the Dream Comes True set.

I hope you found lots of new favorites in this release, I know that I did.

See you soon,

December Memories featuring Color Cast Designs

Its release day over at Color Cast Designs and I wanted to share a layout I made with some of the latest kits. This release is huge and its full of Christmas items but also still covers Thanksgiving and Halloween. I adore the red and aqua color combos of some of the Christmas items so I made a layout featuring some of my favorite photos from last Christmas.

I knew I wanted my layout to feature a lot of photos but since I've done a few grid style layouts lately I wanted to do something different. I took a look thru my digital templates for inspiration and found one that featured this strip of photos. I cut just the photo strip element from that digital template on my Silhouette Cameo and went from there. I printed my photos out onto one 4x6 piece of photo paper and placed them under the photo strip piece. Then I had fun mixing in the fun elements from the Merry & Bright set, the Wonky Hearts set with a few of the silver stars from the Silver Glitter Accents to add some sparkle. This layout went together really quickly, I think it really helps when elements just work so cohesively together like these sets do.

I adore the newer style of hearts that Jessica made for the Wonky Hearts set. They nest inside each other if you want that look but I love how they look open, especially that tiny little red heart.

Here are some images of the sets so you can see what comes with each set, they are all really full sets. Jessica really packs in the elements which makes them all such great values.

Merry & Bright

Wonky Hearts

Silver Glitter Accents

There are also a few sets that are pink and aqua so if you are looking for some pink there are a few options for you. I just love the Twinkling Lights set and cannot wait to use this for my upcoming December Daily® album.

Twinkling Lights

I also wanted to share the items Jessica made for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I adore the black bats of the Halloween set and the turkey in the Grateful set is super, super cute.

Be Scary

Grateful

One other item I wanted to share with you that are making a December Daily® album, there is a really great set of half circle numbers that are perfect for numbering your album.

Number It

You can see all of the other items in the release right here, there are many more than I have shown so I hope you check them out. Remember to use the code 'barbara' (in lower case without the quotes) for 10% off your order. 

Take care,

Hero Arts + Clearly Kelly Planner Blog Hop

Hello everyone, today I am thrilled to be participating in a Blog Hop for Hero Arts! You should be arriving from Suzanne Dahlber's blog and I welcome you if you are a first time visitor here. I'm very excited to be celebrating along with these amazing ladies the launch of the Clearly Kelly Planner Stamps officially hitting the Hero Arts online store today! Kelly's range of planner stamps is fantastic and I'm looking forward to sharing what I have made with them. Because at their heart they are planner stamps I used them to dress up my October Monthly Calendar and I love how festive it looks.

Below you can see the stamps in action up close. I think my favorite stamp is the Taco from the Food Planner Set, what's not to love about Taco Tuesday! I also really love the School Planner set, it covers all of my needs for my daughter and also for my volunteering jobs. I used both of the list stamps to fill in some space at the bottom of my calendar, the square check boxes are from the To Do List set and in this case I just inked one of the little boxes and stamped them on the lines that were already printed on the calendar. This allowed me to get them spaced just the way I needed them to be. The other check list stamp is from the Work Planner set. I love the circles that can be checked off as each task is completed. The other sets I used to create this calendar are; Planner Icons, Home Planner, Work Planner and the Special Occasion Planner. These are all super versatile sets that I mixed and matched to help make exactly what I needed.

One of my other favorite sets is the Planner Banners, I love this set because I love cutting out the little banner dies to help dress up my planner pages. For these tabs I just laid down strips of washi tape onto a scrap piece of cardstock and then ran the die thru the machine. It cuts thru both layers with no problem and I love that I can make banners to match any theme I might want just by using different washi tapes or cardstock. The little circle clip is a die from the Everyday Clips set and I love that it was the perfect size for the black cat stamp from the Planner Icons set.

You can also see here how I changed up the days of the week on the calendar. I covered the banner of the days of the week on this calendar with a thin piece of washi tape and then stamped the days of the week in the order I prefer using with the stamps from the Planner Clips Stamp & Cuts. This is a really simple fix for your monthly calendars if you are like me and prefer a certain order.

To continue with my Halloween theme I added in some orange and black shipping tags to my front pockets. The printed tag was made by cutting up a note card that I purchased at Target. The paper clips were made by gluing the resin pieces that I found at Hobby Lobby directly to the top of the paperclips. I love how these seasonal clips can be used all month and fit in perfectly with the theme.

There are so many amazing stamp sets in Kelly's Planner line so I know you will have fun shopping for stamps today and the Hero Arts online store offers FREE shipping on US orders of $50 or more! No code needed.

Hero Arts is also hosting a giveaway for a selection of Clearly Kelly planner products. The winner will be randomly chosen from all of the blog hop comments received by 11:59pm PST on Monday, October 12th. So if you want to enter, make sure you leave a comment below sharing what your favorite new Planner Stamp set is and then check the Hero Arts blog for the announcement of the winner on Wednesday, October 14th.

So make sure you keep going on the hop and add comments for the giveaway.  Your next stop is to Amy Tsuruta's blog but here is the complete list in case you are starting out of order.

Kelly Purkey

Lisa Spangler

Nicole Reaves

Krista Wells

Suzanne Dahlberg

Barbara Picinich ← this is me

Amy Tsuruta

Libby Hickson

Thank you to Hero Arts for having me on this hop and I hope you find lots and lots of inspiration today for all of the new Kelly Purkey Clearly Kelly Planner Stamps.

See you soon,