Elle's Studio August Gallery Plus A New Option!

Happy Saturday everyone! This Sat is particular fun and exciting because it is the reveal and launch of Elle's Studio August KitS! Yes, you read that right! KITS! Elle's Studio now offers another exciting kit, a layout kit to help you get even more memories documented!

And here is the August PL Kit! Both are on sale now over at Elle's Studio. Remember, the PL Kit is $9.99 only until midnight today, and then the price goes up to $11.99! 

Here is the AUGUST KIT that is on sale now!

And here are my August Design Team Gallery designs for this month:

First up is a layout  about my DH, our eighteen years of marriage, and our anniversary trip we took to Vegas a few weeks ago. My journaling (on the vellum "special notes" kind of is a reminder to us that we need to take time for each other and do things just with each other more than we have. Never having family super close to us physically, we have not had that many date nights or weekends alone since the boys came along. That's 15 years people! We both had a wonderful time together in Vegas, and we decided two things: 1. We need to do this more often (not necessarily a big trip-but alone time together) and 2. We still kinda like each other. Like. A lot. :)

This is my most detailed layout of my gallery. I actually used gelatos  to paint an ombre effect on the die cut and then applied glazing medium over the top to add a big of sheen and dimension. (*IRL= more dramatic effect). I also machine stitched around the love. (Also, a much more obvious and fun effect IRL). I used the Cameron stamps with Frosted White Cat's Eye ink along with some Prima Chalk Old Road to stamp onto the layout. Mist used was SC Mr. Huey's Clay. The moon stamp is from Studio Calico (Old kit-Paper Moon, I believe). A few Freckled Fawn Stars and MME enamel dots, some more machine stitching and done.

PHOTO CREDIT: The lovely and talented Jen Haggerty. Thanks so much Jen!

Another layout using the adorable Cameron pp below. This layout highlights a road trip stop we made to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola on a family trip we took to Florida last summer. *Perfect travel destination for this momma to boys! ;)

I cut up the patterned paper to resemble pieces of a crumbling brick wall and stitched around the sentiments for added texture to the page and to highlight them a bit. Mr Huey's Dewey and Prima Chalk Ink Teal Damask coordinated nicely with the patterned paper.

*Note: Cloud stamps are from American Crafts Amy Tangerine.

 And here's a birthday card I created | "Time 2 Celebrate":

I used my cameo to cut the title, then back it with pp and sewed down a few tidbits. Stamped the clock image ad added some enamel dots and called it complete!

This layout takes me back to my cleaner and simpler days with a simple grid design using several tags. A bit of stitching and stamping and wood veneers finished it up nicely. 

My journaling documents a few facts about my YS at the age he was in this picture. *sigh

Not to leave out the last member of my family of four, here is a layout of my OS and his best friend on his 15th birthday. The inspiration for this layout was the packaging of the new skate wheels he bought for his board and the "Best BrOTHER" (Best Other Brother). I stitched around the word "other" in brother and the journaling  beneath the title tag better explains the title meaning. ;)

Below is my PL spread using a fair amount of the August kit as well as some tidbits from July's. I actually have three locations where I have implemented hidden journaling on my spread.

(*Click on any image to view larger).

 Noted below are the locations along with close ups of two of them.

 And there you have it! My August DT gallery! I hope it has left you a little bit inspired. Please be sure to head on over to the Elle's Studio Design Team Gallery and leave some love on the other design team members' creations! And if you are still with me, there is more!!! Check out the deal below:

Ok, now, I am really done! Have a super scrappy Saturday! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Making Cards with Project Life Journalers

Hi All!

Happy last full week of summer (for us at least)! Trying to savor these last few days. SIGH. I am up over on the Come ON Get Crafty blog with a post about stretching your Project Life stash out to more than just Project Life albums!

I often like trying to find different ways (or simply practical ways, rather) to stretch my stash and create with scrappy items I have on hand. And this is true of my Project Life stash as well. Here are the results of today's Project Life stash s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g below: 

For both cards, I used the 4x6 Project Life cards as the foundations to my designs.

I used my Silhouette to cut the title out of the journaling card and then stitched around the pink perimeter with gray thread. I placed some ombre Freckled Fawn washi tape behind the cut out sentiment and some textured cardstock at the bottom. Normally, I would add an epoxy brad or two (like where the "O" is) but since I knew this card was being mailed, I decided to keep the card as flat as possible. That's where the die cut sentiment backed with washi comes in--it adds dimension and depth without the bulk. :)

And with this card I simply stitched around the perimeter again as well as the "thank you" sentiment and then used my vintage typewriter to complete the sentiment on the washi tape images on the bottom right of the Project Life card.

COGC SHOP ITEMS USED: Project Life Kits 

There you have it! Two quick and easy cards completed and ready for mailing in no time! If you have other fun ideas of how to stretch your Project Life cards, please share them at Come On Get Crafty and upload your ideas to the Come On Get Crafty Flickr Gallery! 

Happy Thursday! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Project Life | Travel Edition Vega$ and CHA Summer 2013

Hi All! Back to share with you a Travel Edition of Project Life. Last week Mick and I vacationed in Vegas celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary and attending the CHA (CreateNConnect) summer show. (I attended that solo! -LOL) ;)

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to scrap on the road this time due to luggage restrictions and time, I simply collected ephemera all week including, tickets, napkins, coasters, and other small items to add to my layouts.

Here is my intro page which I added as I could no longer fit any more pages into my album!! So this year is broken into two albums and our summer trip and CHA seemed to be a good place to break the year up into two.

I cut out the bracket frame (below "Hello There") with my Xacto knife and added some color behind it. The Becky Higgins PL kit cards from the shop came in very handy in simplifying the process and helping me get this week documented relatively quickly.

Here is the left side:

I pieced together a bunch of sentiment stickers from Fancy Pants to add to the "love this place" PL card and layered a few other PL cards together to create the Monday card. 

Here is a portion of the insert I added to my spread. It houses a bunch of journaling from the PL Days of the Week cards that are in the shop along with some pictures and ephemera (hotel coasters). 

I will simply stitch through the page protector a bit to keep the coasters from falling out. (Thanks Ali Edwards for your continuous inspiration!) 

Here I have added a portion of a napkin from Serendipity 3 ( the restaurant known for it's frozen hot chocolate). I plan to add some more journaling to the "this is life" journaling card as well.

  

**SHOP ITEMS USED: Project Life Jade Kit Project Life Midnight Kit Project Life Blush Kit Project Life Kraft Kit Fancy Pants Cork Stickers Freckled Fawn Heart Wood Chips Fancy Pants WAWD Sticker Sheet Fancy Pants WAWD Reminder Patterned Paper 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to ask questions in the comment section if you have any! Have a great day!

Friday Faves | Fun and Fancy Pants Free + CHAS 2013 Highlights

Hi All! Back with a few Come On Get Crafty shop favorites of mine that I have been creating with this week; The Fancy Pants "What A Wonderful Day" Collection. 

I love the whimsical and yet graphic feel to this line and the bright pops of yellow and red complemented by some soft pastels. And the dimensional cork shaped stickers?! So fun to create with to add some pop to the design.

**SHOP ITEMS: Cork Arrows, Cork shapes, Tape Stickers, This Way Patterned Paper, Superb Patterned Paper , Fancy Pants What A Wonderful Day Ephemera Pack

Here are a few cards I made with some these items:





This one was inspired by a relatively recent Studio Calico sketch:

SHOP ITEMS: Freckled Fawn Wood Hearts, Lily Bee Sweet Shoppe Chit Chat Stickers, Lily Bee Sweet Shoppe 6x6 Paper Pad

The sentiment reads (inside) "...my heart will follow." Could be used for a Valentine's card or for a loved one headed off to college or some other new adventure! 

Speaking of following one's heart-- I am excited to share that I will be attending CHA-S (now Craft & Connect next week) and will  be posting  on the Come On Get Crafty blog for "Product Showcase" from Vegas!

Be sure to leave a comment below letting me know what manufacturers you want to see goodies from. I will be as active as possible on Instagram "SuzMannecke" and Twitter to give y'all the latest scoop/photos from the CHA floor. There may even be a giveaway or two involved, so be sure to stop back in next week  for more details and the Product Showcase highlight on Wednesday (7.24)!


Until then! Happy Friday y'all!
xo
Suz

Elle's Studio July DT Gallery & Product Showcase @ComeOnGetCrafty

And you can see it all here!

This morning was the release of July's Elle's Studio Limited Edition Kit too! It is packed with all kinds of awesome tags and tidbits, many of which you will see in the pages of my Project Life along with a few cards and layouts. I loved the versatility of this kit and the bright bold colors mixed with a few pastels. It is the perfect summer combination!

Here is a link to the kit: http://www.shopellesstudio.com/Elle-s-Studio-July-2013-Kit.html Every month on the 10th, Elle's Studio launch's a new kit for a special price of $9.99 on launch day (at 12:01am on the 11th it goes up to $11.99). Don't miss it - it's exclusive to Elle's Studio and they have a limited stock on hand, once they sell out they will not be restocking!

Be sure to check out all of the inspiration in the Design Team Gallery too. There are so many different styles of scrapping and I love to see the diversity in the new DT's creations. :) :)

Here are my Elle's Studio Design Team Gallery creations:

I used the star stamps from the Cameron Collection and embossed them in white.

I broke into my gelatos here to draw/paint the colors in the Cameron Collection as well as my son's board shorts for a little repetition in design.

And a little more stamping and stitching with a few more Elle's Studio Stamps available in the shop. (Complete product listing is given in my DT Gallery at the site here: http: July Elle's Studio Design Team Gallery

 I was so excited when Come On Get Crafty added the awesome Elle's Studio Saltwater line to the store and couldn't wait to create with it in the pages of my Project Life. Here is a bit of what I created with it and my Product Showcase blog post from over at Come On Get Crafty for today:

Last week my family and I had a Staycation of sorts(camping, theme park, cabin and lake time) and this line was the perfect "go to" to complete my week of Project Life "Staycation Edition."

LEFT SIDE:

 

RIGHT SIDE:

Below is an insert I added to my PL spread as this week definitely was photo heavy. **The left half of this photo is the front of the insert and the right is the back side.

I journaled a fair amount behind a few of the photos and tucked behind the pics. Don't be afraid to cut up your Saltwater cards and use them in different ways. For example, I cut off the top of one journaling card and added it to the bottom of one photo so that it could be the journaling blurb for the photo beneath it. (*the "someone loves fish").

Here is another week where I used a fair amount of the Saltwater Collection:

This is another insert I did and the top left photo is an example where I cut up the journaling card and moved the tab/sentiment portion of it to another place to suit my design. 

** SHOP ITEMS: Saltwater Cutouts , Saltwater Large and Medium Journaling Tags , Saltwater Tabs , Saltwater Lil Snippets Labels

How are you doing on your Project Life? Keeping current? Yes? No? If not, no worries. Just start where you are! you can always start working backwards when you start seeing progress. And even if you don't, getting some of your life documented is better than being paralyzed by creative perfectionism. Isn't it? 

Whatever you get done, as Ali Edwards has so often said, "It is ok." I wholeheartedly agree.

Have a great day! 

Come On Get Crafty | Stars & Stripes {Sequins} Forever

Hi all! Happy Wednesday! I am posting from a bit of a remote site today (the nearest wifi is about 20 minutes away-LOL) as the fam and I are on a bit of a Staycation at our lake cabin. This week, in honor of the 4th of July I thought I'd showcase "Stars & Stripes {Sequins} Forever" on the Come On Get Crafty blog, with the Studio Calico Glittered Stars and Atlantic Sequins from the shop.

Here is my post:

First up is a clean and simple layout:

I love how versatile this embellishments are and find myself using them quite often. 

A little bit of cutting, scoring and sewing to finish it off.

And a few cards using the sequins. I love that the package includes both masculine and feminine colors as well as woodgrain ones. *swoon.

I think I channeled my inner Joey Tribbiani (Friends) with this above card. You can hear Joey speaking this, yes? ;)

ETA: I realized that a few sequins didn't stay adhered to my card after uploading these pics. Oh well, you get the idea. :)

PRODUCT SHOWCASE SHOP ITEMS USED: Atlantic Sequins

Atlantic Glittered Stars

OTHER SHOP ITEMS USED: Crate Paper Pier Paper Pad, Mayberry Cupcake Shaped Wooden Veneers, Mayberry Paper Pad, Sweet Shoppe Embellishment Bundle

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a safe and happy 4th if you celebrate the day!

A Big Announcement Was Made...

...yesterday and I (crazy as it is) am only now getting to some wi-fi to be able to share the exciting news with all of you:

I was invited by the genuinely lovely and talented Elle Price, to be one of the newest Design Team members for the next 6 months over here:

You can read more about the other newest Design Team members who I am thrilled to create and work with here: http://ellesstudio.blogspot.com

Please stop on over and congratulate the other crazy talented ladies I am honored to work alongside! The next 6 months are sure to be quite the artistic adventure and I am sure the time will just fly by!

Thanks for stopping by and for sharing in a bit of my joy today. Have a beautiful and safe Fourth of July week!

xo

Suz