Thursday, June 30, 2016

Hip Kit Club | This Sweet Girl

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I'm stopping in today to share my newest layout using the June 2016 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits from Hip Kit Club! Flowers, fussy cutting and cut files...these are just a few of my favorite things, and I incorporated all of them into my layout. I chose several of the Simple Stories papers from the June 2016 Main Kit for my layout. I wanted the cut file, cut from White cardstock to pop against the Teal background paper. And I loved the pops of color from the fussy cut flowers, that I layered over and under the cut file.


This layout ended up with a lot of fun dimension and texture. I added several of the Jillibean Soup wood veneers for a textural contrast, as well as some of the Simple Stories brads and enamel dots. I love to work in as many embellishments as I can from the Kits, so I also used the Crate Paper rubber charms from the Bloom collection and one of the Chipboard phrases from Heidi Swapp. And I couldn't resist using some of the cute buttons from the Pink Paislee ‪Fancy Free collection. I love how well the colors coordinated with the Simple Stories Sunshine and Happiness collection.


I wanted just a touch of spray mist on the layout, so I sprinkled on Black Color Shine to add a little bit of a graphic look to the layout. If you're looking for fun ways to use the Hip Kit Club monthly cut files, then make sure you stay tuned each Tuesday for a new layout. 


And if you want to see the process for the layout, you can check out my new YouTube video, showing how I altered the cut file in Silhouette Studio.


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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

A Flair for Buttons | Smile, Life Is Beautiful

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from A Flair for Buttons to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I have a thing for words and phrases...whether it's a sticker, patterned paper or a Flair Button!  So, it goes without saying, that I am a BIG fan of the Word Flair set, in the A Flair for Buttons Shop!  I recently picked up the new Life Is Beautiful collection from Fancy Pants, and I knew I wanted to use a couple of the Word Flair buttons to go with it.


I decided to use one of the cut files from The Cut Shoppe, from the product swap with AFFB!  I cut the flower wreath from White cardstock, fairly large, and then placed it on my background paper slightly off center.  Then I started adding my Flair Buttons, embellishments and photo inside the flower wreath cut file!



The Life Is Beautiful collection comes with a set of flair, that is a little bit larger than the buttons in the AFFB Shop.  I thought it would be fun to mix one of the Fancy Pants flair in with the Word Flair for a contrast of size.  And I placed them on the layout in a visual triangle, to help guide the eye around the inside of the cut file.



You can find the Word Flair set in the A Flair for Buttons Shop, along with many other sets that include fun words and phrases!  Make sure you stop by to check them out!!

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Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Crate Paper | Fave 4th Photo

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

The 4th of July is right around the corner, and I have some Red, White and Blue inspiration to share with you today!  Every year, I snap a photo of either the kids or the whole family wearing red, white and blue.  Last year, we managed to get, what I consider, the perfect family photo.  Everyone was looking in the general direction of the camera, wearing close to a smile, and not moving around blurring the photo.  Success!  We even included our sixth, furry member of the family, Baxter and we had him looking at the camera with his best doggy smile.


When it comes to scrapbooking holiday themed photos, I don’t always go with the typical holiday color scheme.  For this layout, I was able to create a red, white and blue look using the Bloom and Shine collections by Maggie Holmes.  I brought in a wood grain patterned paper for the background.  I liked the contrast of the wood look with the red, white and blue.  I also brought in a bit of teal, since some of our clothing was more of a teal blue, rather than dark blue.


A large star die cut was perfect for adding interest to the background of my layout and continuing the Fourth of July theme.  I cut it on my Silhouette Cameo from white cardstock, along with a few blue and red patterned paper stars.  I layered the patterned paper stars over the die cut, and I stitched along the outside edge in order to add texture to the layout.


I didn’t want to completely cover the star die cut, so I mixed in a few embellishments to add dimension and texture.  The fringe heart, chipboard pieces and wood veneer were perfect for the layout.  And, I loved that larger size of the fringe heart and wood veneer helped fill up the layout without over-crowding the page.

  
And, you can’t have a Fourth of July layout without a little bit of sparkle! I used gold Thickers, stickers and the gold fringe on the heart for a pop of sparkle.  The Crate Paper collections all mix so well together, so I loved that I could use products from Bloom and Shine to create the perfect holiday layout for my favorite Fourth of July photo!

Make sure you snap some photos this Fourth of July, and I hope you've found some inspiration for documenting them on your next layout!
 
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Saturday, June 25, 2016

Hip Kit Club | Beach Life

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I can't resist a grid design, and since our Weekly Challenge on the Hip Kit Club Facebook Member Forum this past week, was creating a grid on your layout, it was the perfect excuse to use one on my layout!  I used Silhouette Sketch Pens to draw my grid lines on the background paper, and then stitched over them with Black embroidery floss. I love having the sections of the grid for adding my photos and embellishments.


This layout includes two photos, and then I used the rest of the spaces for my title and embellishments. The Jillibean Soup Beanboard Alphabet worked perfectly for my title, because of the dark contrast against the background paper. I added two of the Crate Paper  rubber charm tags, in the larger sections of the grid. I made sure to measure the sizes of the tags, before I created the grid in Silhouette Studio, so I would be sure they fit. I brought in a few more Simple Stories embellishments, including the Alphabet & Word Stickers, Enamel Dots and Brads.


I also used a good bit of the ‪Hip Kit Club Exclusive pieces from the June Ephemera Pack, that's also available in the Main Kit. And I did work in some of our June cut files for this layout, in a bit more subtle way this week. I used the asterisk design in Kim's subscriber cut file set, because it reminded me of a sun design, which worked well with the beach theme of my layout! I had so much fun putting this layout together, and loved using the grid design.


You can play along with our Weekly Challenges on the Hip Kit Club Member Forum on Facebook!  We just kicked off a new challenge yesterday, and you could win $10 to the Hip Kit Club shop.  You don't have to use Hip Kit Club products to participate. 


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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Pink Paislee | Beachcombers

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Pink Paislee to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

It's Summer Week on the Pink Paislee Blog, and I kicked things off yesterday, with a new layout using the Solstice collection.  I love holding on to my collections even when I have only a little bit left, and finding fun ways to create a layout.  


Most of my full 12x12 papers from the collection had already been used, so I grabbed a 2 inch punch and punched out lots of circles from what I had left.  Then I cut each of the circles in half.  I put the halves together on the one 12x12 sheet I had left, to create my background look.


And since I was also low on embellishments, I made my photo a bit larger than my typical size.  I liked having the larger photo, because it allowed me to add some of my embellishments right over it.  Layering the title and some of the embellishments on the photo, helped them to stand out from the background design.



I finished the layout, by adding a few embellishments from the Solstice Ephemera Pack around the background.  I used my tiny attacher to adhere the acrylic pieces, which is an easy way to attach them to your layout, and also adds more texture to the page.


Take a look back and see what Pink Paislee collections you still have on hand. If you don’t have a lot of the collection left, you can get creative with it and make it work for a new project. And if you have still have some of the Solstice collection in your stash, go ahead and grab it to go along with your upcoming summer photos this year!
 
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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Hip Kit Club | Live Colorfully

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I'm stopping in today, to share my first layout with the June 2016 Hip Kits from Hip Kit ClubI wanted to use our June Sketch for this first layout. The circle design went along perfectly with the cut file I designed for this month. I cut the design from White cardstock included in the June 2016 Cardstock Add-On and backed each one with patterned paper from the June 2016 Main Kit. I used a mix of Pink Paislee, Simple Stories and Pebbles Inc. patterned papers behind the cut files.


Once the cut files were backed and machine stitched, I added them to one of the Hip Kit Club Exclusive papers for my background. There are so many fun embellishments in the June Kits, and I loved using them to finish the layout. The Dear Lizzy Die Cut Watercolor Phrases in the Main Kit, worked perfectly for my title. The rest of my embellishments came from the June 2016 Embellishment Kit and the June 2016 Project Life Kit. I love the different textures created by the Simple Stories enamel dots, Jillibean Soup wood veneers, Heidi Swapp and Fancy Free buttons.


Once I finished all of the embellishing, I covered my photo, and added some splatters of Black spray mist with Color Shine from my stash. I had so much fun on my first layout with the June Kits and the June Sketch!


You can play along with our Weekly Challenge going on through Thursday, using the June Sketch as inspiration. Check it out in the Hip Kit Club Member Forum!


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Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Crate Paper | Big Fish

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I love using the Crate Paper Bloom 6x6 Paper Pad to create paper pieced backgrounds for my layouts.  I wanted to use a cut file from The Cut Shoppe, that allowed me to add several patterned papers behind the shape, and also hand stitch around the edge of the cut file.


The cut file and patterned papers did most of the work for me on this layout.  It took the most time adding the hand stitching, but I love the definition it gives around each of the shapes.


Since I had a lot going on with the background, I didn't need to add a lot of embellishing to the layout.  I used some of the Bloom Ephemera pieces, Chipboard, Accent Stickers and Delights to embellish the layout.  


I love the end result with the bright pops of color backing the cut file!  This is also a great way to use any of your left over pieces of patterned paper, that you just can't bring yourself to throw away!!
 
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Monday, June 13, 2016

Pink Paislee | That's What Little Boys are Made of

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Pink Paislee to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.  

Have you had a chance to check out the new Outfitters collection from Pink Paislee??!!  It's a fun outdoorsy collection, but it's also perfect for creating masculine layouts.  Last week I shared a layout with a Snips & Snails theme on the Blog, using a mix of goodies from the Outfitter's collection.



I wanted to incorporate a lot of color from the collection, so I die cut a large title on one of the more subtle patterns for my background. After the title finished cutting, I backed it with several patterned papers from the collection. And instead of using my Cameo to cut the entire title, I left part of it out so I could go back in and add the rest with Thickers from the Outfitters collection.


Since I had such a large title, I didn’t need to over embellish the layout. I used a few pieces from the ephemera, tags, and badges packs. And some of the cute puffy stickers were a must, layered near my photo. I love the awesome textures the embellishments in this collection have… there is a great leather feel to the badges and a burlap feel to the tags!


Once I had all of the embellishments in place, I felt like the outer edges of the layout needed a little something more… one of my favorite patterned papers from the collection to the rescue! Paper #08 has a fun striped, multi-color pattern. I cut several strips from the paper in different lengths and added them to the left and right side edges of the layout. For extra texture, I machine stitched through each of the paper pieces. And I thought it would be fun to add a little bit of matching watercolor to some of the strips, for a mixed media look.


What other fun ways can you think of for using the Outfitters collection?  There are lots of possibilities, and I definitely can't wait to use it again!
 
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Friday, June 10, 2016

Crate Paper | Ahoy There

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

Are you ready to dive into summer layouts and projects?  The Crate Paper Design Team has been sharing ideas for your summer crafting all this week, and I wanted to stop in today with my layout that was on the Blog earlier this week.  I used the Bloom collection from Maggie Holmes, and started my layout by looking for bright, summery colors.



I love the color Yellow, so I just had to use the Yellow Chevron side of the Garden Party paper for my background. I like having a pattern design in the background that still lets your photos and embellishments stand out. I thought it would be fun to create a large title on the layout, so I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut “Ahoy There”. The open letters of the title, were perfect for incorporating more color and pattern into my layout.



The photo I wanted to use on my layout, had a lot of contrasting colors and didn’t coordinate well with the Bloom collection. Instead of switching to a different photo, I decided to edit my photo and make it black & white. I really like the contrast of the black & white photo with the bright colors on the layout.


When it came to embellishing the layout, I used pieces from the Bloom collection that could be used with any type of layout theme. I always love to use the phrases from the Accent Stickers sheet, and there were several that worked for my layout. The banner piece from the Chipboard sheet, added great dimension, and I liked having it layered over the white space in my photo. The Delights layered embellishment and Teal Tassel, added a nice bit of texture to the layout. And I even managed to squeeze in a few embellishments from the Little You collection!


Take some time to browse through your Crate Paper collections, and see what colors and embellishments would work for your next summer layout!

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Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Hip Kit Club | Love Today

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I'm stopping in today, with a new layout for Hip Kit Club, using the May 2016 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits!  I mixed the May Kit with one of the free May cut files, and created a stitching template on my layout. I chose White cardstock from the May Cardstock Add-On Kit as my background. I wanted a clean background, so the stitching and embellishments would stand out.


You can check out my new process video that goes along with the layout, to see how I stitched the Love cut file.


Once I finished stitching, I placed my photo at the top of the layout, so it wouldn't get lost in all of the embellishing. I like to call this type of layout, an everything but the kitchen sink layout, because I added just a little bit of everything from the May Kits. I used a lot of ‪Hip Kit Club Exclusives and mixed them with Bella Blvd enamel hearts, Jillibean Soup wood veneers, Simple Stories frame, and Echo Park Paper enamel dots.


Even though my photo was small, I highlighted it with a few of the fussy cut triangles from one of the exclusive papers designed by Kim Watson, and several embellishments from the May Embellishment Kit and the May Project Life Kit.

 
 Thanks for stopping in today!
 
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Hip Kit Club | Crazy Hair Don't Care

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I'm here today to share a new layout for Hip Kit Club, using the May 2016 Hip Kit & Add-On KitsI've got a great idea for mixing the patterned papers, included in the May 2016 Main Kit and the May 2016 Paper Add-On Kit. I pulled several colors inspired by the May Mood Board, to use with one of the May cut files.



Since I had a busy background, I added dimension to the photo with one of the Simple Stories chipboard frames from the May 2016 Embellishment Kit. I love this type of cut file, because it gives you lots of space for adding a ton of embellishments!


I mixed in some Jillibean Soup wood veneers, Bella Blvd enamel hearts and some of the Echo Park Paper enamel dots, which coordinate perfectly with the Bella Blvd. enamel hearts! I also had to include some of the May Hip Kit Club Exclusives! The ephemera pack and puffy stickers are a go to, for all of my layouts using the May Kits! I hope you've found a few inspiring ideas from my layout today, and that you will try this fun technique with some of the May cut files! 

You can see how I worked with the cut file in my new process video!


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