Boys Rule!

Hi everyone! If you have a special boy in your life that is celebrating a special occasion or needs some extra love and affection, make any day a party with the bold and bright 'Lil' Dude' paper collection from Simple Stories! This collection is full of everything boy- trucks, dinosaurs, frogs and dogs along with the coolest boy sentiments!

This fun party set includes treat holders, cupcake wraps and a cute drink bottle! All super easy to make and they look even more fab with all of these awesome embellishments! I used a Silhouette cut file to make these adorable popcorn boxes that can hold all kinds of edible goodies or prizes. The papers in this collection have great prints on both sides so they look wonderful inside and out!

For the cupcakes, I simply traced a cupcake wrap that I had on hand onto the patterned paper and then cut them out. I then wrapped them around the cupcake and taped them together in the back before layering on the charming stickers, chipboard and Bits & Pieces. Voilá, the cutest treat ever!

For the milk bottle wrap, I cut strips of the patterned papers with decorative scissors to add details around the edges and then decorated them with more of the marvelous stickers and chipboard, layering some with foam adhesive for dimension. You could easily do this with water and juice bottles too! The treat holder is cut from a die and is also embellished with more bright pieces from the collection! These cool touches will bring a smile to any boys face and make for the raddest party ever!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:
Papertrey Ink Favor It Box #8 (retired)

Get Well Butterfly!

Hi everyone! Phew it's been a busy couple of months! But things have settled down a bit and so I had some time to get inky for the newest Color Throwdown Challenge #531! Love the bright and bold color scheme for this weeks challenge.

I kept my card pretty clean and simple by just adding detail to the side of the card with some circles and dots in the challenge colors. I softened them up a bit by adding in a layer of soft vellum with scalloped edges.

To add in more bold color, I stamped and then die cut a pretty butterfly before coloring it in purple and oranges. I layered this over the vellum and added in bright sequins and a sweet sentiment along with some tiny dot details around two of the corners.

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:

Dream Big Little Girl!

Hi everyone! When I was a little girl, my mom made me the most wonderful busy book! I loved that book and played with it for hours on end! My book was made from fabric and had the most fun activities inside of it. I still have the book and will definitely be passing it down to my grand baby who is due very soon!

Since I am a paper crafter, I wanted to make one of these from paper and the 'Dream Big' paper collection from Simple Stories is a magical collection perfect for a girly busy book! Its full of whimsical unicorns, cats and fairies in bright and pretty colors that will delight girls of all ages.

The covers and spine of the book were cut from chipboard and covered in the beautiful patterned paper. The book is chunky to hold three pages that are extra deep for the activities. The first section of the book has an embellished pocket to hold stickers and a cute drawing/writing pad along with a pencil holder made from the patterned paper. I added in chipboard and combo stickers for extra cuteness!

Memory matching games are super fun and I included one in this book! I simply cut out these adorable 2x2 elements and layered them over more sweet patterned paper before applying sticky velcro to the backs as well as to the page so no pieces will be lost. There is also a magnetic board cut from a vent cover and adhered to the page. I cut strips of magnet and foam and glued those to the backs of the whimsical Bits & Pieces images for hours of endless fun!

Puzzles are a great activity and these are perfect sized for a little girl! I double layered two of the 4x4 journal cards for thickness and then using a puzzle die, cut them into puzzle pieces. One page has pockets with twine closures to hold the puzzles and I gave each pocket a clear acetate front so the inside contents can easily be seen! The other page has a chipboard frame covered in patterned paper to hold the completed puzzle in place! 

No busy book would be complete without coloring so I made a pocket on one page to hold coloring book sheets and on the opposite page I doubled up a strip of the patterned paper and scored it in sections just large enough to hold a set of colored pencils! There is also a small ledge made from chipboard and patterned paper to hold the pencils in place. 

A 4x6 journaling card is layered with a pretty doily and more of the colorful paper along with chipboard stickers on the cover of the book for lots of girly details! To keep everything in place I added in a piece of pink tulle that can be tied in a big, pretty bow! 

To see this book in all of it's wonderful detail, be sure and check out my YouTube channel or click on the video below!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:

Snow Day Fun!

Ok so we're in the cold, seemingly endless, days of Winter. What better way to cheer yourself up than to get into your craft room and make a bright and fun season inspired project!

The 'Freezin' Season' paper collection by Simple Stories will definitely give you chills but in the best way! Adorable characters and wintery images in pretty pastel colors are just the cure for a snow day! This sweet zig zag mini scrapbook is just waiting to be filled with playful pictures and mementos of a winter wonderland!

I made this album using two sheets of 8.5"x11' card stock and then covered each page with the delightful and charming patterned papers of the collection. I also used lots of the paper along with journaling cards to create oodles of pockets, flaps, tags and inserts that have been decorated and embellished with the darling and colorful stickers, chipboard and Bits & Pieces!

All in all, there were nine pages to fill with this entertainingly snowy collection and I had 'snow' much fun adorning each page! Here is a closer look at the front sides of the pages:

And a closer look at the equally adorable back side pages!

Don't let Winter get you down! Grab this collection to show the coldest season just how much fun it can be!! There is a short tutorial on my YouTube channel if you want to make one of these zig zag minis of your own or just click on the video below!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:

Simple Thanks!

Hi everyone! It feels like an eternity since I have stamped a card! But I am back with a card for the Color Throwdown #525 and that makes me so happy!

The color scheme this week was super simple but so striking! I love the combo of black and brown and against a background of white, those colors really pop! I kept my card super simple too with just a few images.

I started by stamping the buffalo check (who doesn't love a good buffalo check?!) at the bottom of the card knowing I would layer some die cuts against it. I wet embossed the white on brown springs and hand cut them before layering them on top. 

To bring in the wood grain of the inspiration picture, I die cut the word 'Thanks' in several layers of solid brown card stock before giving it a last layer of wood patterned paper. The white in the wood grain goes great with the white embossing!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:
Taylored Expressions 'Thanks' die
Cartwright's sequins

Love Letter Mini!

Hi everyone! I know Christmas has just passed and I'm sure you are ready for a break from all of the craziness....but it's never a bad thing to be prepared for the next holiday! I'm here to give you some gorgeous inspiration for the holiday of love- Valentine's Day!

Since Valentine's Day is all about love I was inspired to create a sweet love letter mini scrapbook that can be filled with pictures, letters, mementos and sweet messages to your sweetheart. It's a pretty standard mini album on the outside- chipboard covers and spiral bound- but there are lots of adorable surprises on the inside!

Between the two chipboard covers is an accordion flap that holds eight envelopes and includes a couple of pockets and the beautiful and romantically themed 'Kissing Booth' collection by Simple Stories is the perfect way to show off love and devotion! There are gorgeous patterns with traditional pinks and reds along with other bright colors and the sentiments will definitely put a smile on your face!

I made a variety of envelope sizes and pockets as well as an interactive pull-out made with a strip of the 3x4 journal cards. There are plenty of pages for photos and the envelopes can be filled with mementos or love letters. 

Now you can create your own special love letter mini album for that special person in your life or even as a gift for a special couple! 

You can also visit my YouTube channel for a closer look at this mini and get more inspiration or watch the video below! Happy New Years and Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:

American Crafts ribbon

Very Merry Countdown!

Hi everyone! Now that Thanksgiving is over the Christmas countdown has begun! For little children (and probably most adults) the season is full of magic and excitement and a Christmas Countdown Calendar is a fun and easy way to way to build suspense and anticipation until the big day!

The Simple Stories 'Merry & Bright' paper collection is full of bright traditional reds and greens along with the most adorably festive holiday icons and beautiful floral images! People young and old alike will love flipping the sections of this cheerful and jolly Christmas Countdown Calendar!

The idea for this countdown calendar was inspired by the 'Number Pocket Pieces' that are a part of this collection! They are in coordinating colors and designs and in varying sizes so they add a lot of interesting dimension to the pages! The other designs are the charming 3x4 and 4x6 journaling cards along with patterned papers cut to 1/4 inch larger. 

I wanted to really showcase all of the gorgeous papers, so I used two of each for the numbered pages and then one pattern for all of the journal cards. Decorating and embellishing was so easy with the huge selection of festive stickers and chipboard along with a few pearls, gems and glitter! Once I had all of my sections complete, I attached them to the base with metal rings 1/2 inch from the top so there would be plenty of room to flip.

This calendar was made with a base of chipboard that I cut to 11 3/4 inches by 7 inches. This left plenty of room for all of the journaling cards that I used as the pages of the calendar, plus it worked well with the 12x12 sheets of lovely patterned paper. I attached two triangular 'legs' to the back to hold it up and give it good stability. 

The first section has two journal card pages and then numbers from one to three. You could add more if you want to start your countdown super early! The second section also has two decorative journal card pages and numbers from zero to nine so there are tons of number combinations to be made! I included the decorative pages for when the days are in the single digits. My very talented daughter wrote 'days until' on a strip of the woodgrain paper that is part of the collection as well!

Pull out those beautiful Christmas paper collections and make a countdown calendar of your own! There is still plenty of time to get in on the holiday spirit! Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! For a more in-depth look at this wonderful calendar, visit my YouTube channel and watch the video!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!