be happy...

Not too long ago, I received a sweet e-mail from a gal named Kim. Kim is the owner of Express the Moment – a scrapbook kit club- and she asked if I would join her design team for the month of August and use one of her kits. Of course, I agreed and when the kit came in the mail, I was so glad I’d told her yes. I’ve never worked with any of the product that was in this kit, so it was fun to use something different!

The kit I received is called BE HAPPY…who wouldn’t love to work with a kit called be happy?!?

There was a LOT of product included in the kit – so much that I was able to create four layouts and four cards, and I still have lots of product left for future projects. I’m excited to be able to share my pages and cards here on my blog. I won’t go into detail explaining what I did on these pages…if there’s something that isn’t completely obvious, I’ll note it below the project.  And, of course, if you have any specific questions, ask in the comments section or e-mail me!

Here’s a peek at what I made:

just skip it layout

no.1 destination layout

*the border along the left edge is actually something I created by using the die-cut swirl (from the kit) as a mask and dabbing & rubbing my ink pad over the top.

*I added the rub-on flowers to the pre-stamped tag to personalize it a bit

*I ripped the “journey” tag in half for my journaling and inked the edges

newport beach layout

  

*I actually used a white sheet of cardstock for my base so I could conserve a bit more of the gray cardstock – I simply trimmed the gray, glued it to the white cardstock, and then added the patterned paper on the right before stitching down the seam

*The border on the left is an example of one way you can use leftover strips/scraps

*See the swirl next to the clock on the bottom? That’s the one I used for a mask on the destination layout

*There is a vanishing ink pen included in the kit - I used it to draw a line so I could place each rub-on letter in the title straight.  I didn't use it on the journaling...but you could definitely use it for that also!

you make me happy layout

*as you can see, I don’t like to limit myself to a specific page size – the other three are 8 ½” x 11”, but this is a 12” x 12” – I like to mix things up a little

*adding buttons in the center of the circles is a fun way to add dimension to patterned paper

*sometimes I like to wrap ribbon or string around my pages or page layers – I’ve found that by using a small circle punch to make little notches on my paper the string stays in place better.

*I stamped “you make me happy” on the chipboard circle and it wasn’t drying very fast – so I sprinkled a bit of clear embossing powder on it and set it with my heat gun so it wouldn’t smear

*I used my small scissors to trim the circles (one flat edge) so I could place them along the side of the photo without having any of them overlap the photo or outside edge of the patterned paper

you make me happy card

 

*I used a circle punch to make a notch in the top of the patterned paper block – then I simply flipped the punched out piece around and placed it right back in it’s spot – a quick and easy way to add a little bit of interest under the chipboard accent

be happy card

*here’s the other half of the journaling tag I ripped for the destination layout – it’s tucked underneath the light green stamped block (bottom left)

love card

*you don’t have to use rub-ons exactly as they are placed on the sheet…I cut apart the words and placed them in a half-circle instead. I also used a portion of the postal cancellation rub-on image on the butterfly wing

thoughts of you card

  

  {Everything I used on these projects was included in the kit except the stamping ink, one 8 1/2" x 11" white cardstock sheet, the jute, and the white thread.}

Now for the really fun part – Kim has generously offered to send one of my blog readers a complete August BE HAPPY kit!  All you have to do leave a comment telling me something that makes you happy.  And be sure to leave an e-mail address so I have a way to contact you if you win!   I’ll draw a random winner in one week (next Saturday, August 22nd) and Kim will send you a kit of your own.

Would you like another chance to win a kit? Visit Kim’s blog – she’s giving a kit away from her blog too!

And if you aren’t one of the lucky winners – you can still make yourself happy by bopping over to her store and purchasing a BE HAPPY kit for yourself!

Thanks for stopping by – hope you have a HAPPY weekend!