"Farm Girl" layout using Fancy Pants Designs and making some dot embellishments

Hey everyone!   I have been working feverishly on these layouts I'm doing for hire.  This darling little girl graduates this year and her Grandma is wanting a scrapbook for her graduation celebration.I have been working on these a few months now and  I have done MANY!  I've lost track counting. Actually I'm working on layouts for albums for all of their grandkids. 9 Grandkids to be exact.  I'll be busy for a while.  It's fun to see the photos of the kids growing up and changing over the years.
It makes me feel good to be a part of helping preserve these memories for them.
I used the Fancy Pants Designs "Happy Place" Collection for this layout.

I just can't say enough how much I love using Fancy Pants Products.  They make pulling at layout together SO easy.  Same with cards, or anything else you are wanting to create. 
There is always great pieces for titles, and so many fun bits and pieces for adding interest.

I haven't been creating layouts as much as I used to simply because I'm kind of on a card kick. That, and the fact that I have LOTs of layouts of the boys .. and we don't have grand kids yet. IF we ever  had grandkids.. brace yourselves!! lol  It will be photo and layout overload. lol
It's been fun working on these layouts, because since there are so many to do, I have to keep them simple, so I can keep moving. Not sweating it and just kind of rolling with it has been nice. I've actually been pulling up sketches on Pinterest for quick inspiration and it has really helped me to keep trucking along.
Many of the layout are about trying to get quite a few photos on to one pages, and doing two page spreads. That is a bit out of my comfort zone, so the sketches have been a big help.
If you get in a funk, I suggest you give Pinterest sketches a try :)

I am doing "INSIDE' things this weekend as we are having nasty weather.  Crazy weather! I couple of days ago it was in the 70's here .. now blizzard.  Welcome to Nebraska living! lol
This photo is the view looking out from my studio window to the North.  Faintly in the distance you can barely see the county road that runs along the East side of our property.
I can hear the wind whipping out there, and I'm cold even in the house, so I have no intention of going out!

So.. it's inside activities for me.   Aside from working on the layouts , I decided to give a try, something that I have been watching You Tube videos about.   They are taking these beads ( you can get at Hobby Lobby or Micheals), and melting them in the oven on Parchment paper, to create little dot embellishments that look just like the enamel dots you buy on sheets.

There are a number of great video on  You Tube showing you how. Here is just one
DIY Enamel Dots Video

I decided to give it a whirl.
I ended up finding these in two sizes. They are inexpensive, and trust me... you can make A LOT with one container
Below you can see how I have them laid out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. ( I did hear in one of the videos that they used $ store parchment paper and it did not work as well as Reynolds brand). I used Reynold band parchment paper and it worked super.

I did mine in the over at 425 for about 11 minutes. This will vary with size. That was for the larger ones. The smaller ones were about 6 minutes.  Just watch them, and you can tell when they are ready. First they will start to look like little doughnuts and then closer to the end, you will only see a little dimple in the top.  They are still not ready until that little dimple is gone.

                                       **Watching couple of the videos will be really helpful***

Below you can see were you can still see the little indentation where the hole was.  They still need another minute or so.

They cool quickly and come right off the parchment paper.  I just folded the parchment when they were cooled and used it like a funnel to pour them right into the container.

I heard in one of the videos I saw that she used the other type of beads. (Perler Beads) and cut them in half.  That seemed a bit time consuming for me ,but I did find the Pony Beads in a smaller size also. So be sure to look closely in bead isle because they may have a couple of different sizes.  I found both sizes of these at Hobby Lobby.  I only tried the Pony beads. And I have plenty of these now, so I don't think I'll be doing any others. I like how these turned out.  I have these two jars now and I haven't even used half of my container of beads.
Just so you know... I did notice a bit of a smell from them being in the oven, but not a lot.  With being a migraine sufferer I'm very conscious  of smells and what might bother me and trigger a headache.  I will wait for a nicer day when I can open the windows a bit for ventilation before a do more, just to be safe.  Cracking the door open during a blizzard last night probably wasn't the best. lol  But.. I sure didn't want a headache.

Well, this is now the really cool part. I was thinking of away to get adhesive to the backs without having to use a drop of glue when I add them to a card or layout. This is one thing I didn't hear mentioned in any of the videos. I often have trouble adding a wet glue to an embellishment I'm putting on a project. Even tho I try to add just add a little, it seems to "smoosh" out around the edges. I don't like the glue mess on my project.

 DODZ Adhesives Dots Small from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3 L would be a great solution to this.

 But Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L  Adhesive Transfer Sheets came into my mind.  I couldn't wait to give it a try.
It worked GREAT!  I just peeled off the top sheet and added the dots. SO easy!

When I remove them from the sheets the adhesive is on the dots!

My dots are on a sheet and all ready to use!! Seriously it could got have worked any better! YAY!
( I'm easily excitable lol)

If you do make these easy dots, the adhesive sheets are a must.

I hope you found this helpful.


My online J Bloom Party is still doing on until Monday, if anyone is interested.  Here is the link.
  When you click on Shop you will see my party.  It will say "Amy's J Bloom"  ( Amy is my son Wes's girlfriend)


Thank for stopping by!

"Celebrate" Card using Fancy Pants Designs and some J Bloom fun with Amy

Shocking how fast the weekend can go sometimes, isn't it? Wow!   The weather has been gorgeous here for the last few days... defiantly not the norm for February in Nebraska.  No complaints tho! We'll take it!  Spring cant get here soon enough for me.
I've been finding my self loving things with lots of color (yes, more than usual) lol  I know it's because I have Spring fever.  Another sign you have Spring fever....is  if you find yourself  endlessly  standing in the floral isle at Hobby Lobby, glazed over eyes... slightly catatonic. lol   My sister Jan and I were that way a couple of weeks ago when we were at the At Home Store.  We just kept putting different color combos of flower bunches together and oohing and awing. Give me color!
Last night I decided I'd make a card with the new Fancy Pants Designs " Sweet Nothings Collection".
Great colors and patterns in this collection!

If you are a friend on Facebook you may have already gotten a invite from me for a Online J Bloom party I'm hosing for Amy. Most of you who follow my blog already know who Amy is. She's our oldest son Wes's sweetie.
She recently started being a designer for J Bloom.  I have ordered a few things already, and I love them!
I love that they have so many things that can be personalized.   If you are interested in taking a look, here is

the link  Vicki's online J Bloom Party   It will be open until next Monday Feb 27th

I thought I'd share a few of the stackable rings that Jan I have gotten. Of course hers is the one with "Tennessee" on it. It's her sweet grandsons name.  Since then she has ordered one that says "Grandma". She has a new grandbaby on the way so for her other ring she will have that baby girls name.

The "Here's to Life" is mine. It's my favorite line from a Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers song.

I have also ordered these. This one says  "est 1981  weston 1982 jarad 1985"  The year Dan and I got married and the boys Birth dates.
( you can choose your font color and size of course)

And here is the other one I have, which is a saying I love.  "be truthful, gentle, and fearless"

Just for ideas, here is one of Amy's.

Here is one she designed for her mom.

If your interested, you can check out the catalog and I know if you have any questions about personalizing or anything else, Amy would be happy to help you.
There is certainly lots of cool things to choose from.
Catalog



Thanks for letting me share!

I hope everyone has a great week ahead!

Happy Valentines Day! It's a party!!

Happy Valentines Day!  It's a perfect day to have a blog post exploding with PINK and RED, don't you think?lol   Well, I used the new Fancy Pants Designs Collection  "Sweet Nothings" to do the decorating, and it also has hints of yellow, black and white.  Of course perfect for Valentines day but also for any other love themed projects.
We had a get together at my sisters yesterday, so it was a perfect opportunity to set up some of the decor I made with this pretty collection.  My sis collects vintage cake plates and is the queen of pretty things, so it was the perfect stage for my decorations. Thanks sis!

Most of you who follow me on social media know I've been a tiny bit addicted to stitching on felt lately. I had been toying with the idea of incorporating paper, so this was my perfect opportunity. I saw these LOVE letters in the ephemera pack that is part of the collection and know right away how I'd use them.
It was really fun pulling it all together for this little banner.  It worked so well. Now I know I'll be incorporating them together a lot more.

Love these little birds.  (Dies from AccuCut).  I just added them to painted dowels.

I was so excited to see how great the "Puffy Stickers" stuck to the glass domes!  They looked great! When I took them off, there was no residue on the glass, AND I was able to just stick them back on their original sheet to you them again on another project!

I love that!

Here, I also used the washi tape to decorate the glass dome.

If you look close,  you can see the hearts on this dome. (right side).

It was a fun day. We stitched some hearts and chatted. (and of course did our share of eating!). lol 


I also wanted to share this card trio that I created with this collection

Loving this fun mix of color!

Fancy Pants Designs always does such a great job coming up with new fresh ideas for their collections!
So proud to design for them.

This collection also comes with a super cute stamp set.   It's great for so many things, but I love adding some fun to the envelopes.

I have to squeeze in one more thing before I wrap up this post.  I'm so happy and excited to be back as a member of the Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L design team!   I have always used their adhesives exclusively and was a member of the team for some time, and then an Ambassador for them, but stepped back for a bit as life got crazy busy.  So thrilled to be back designing  for them. They are a great company!   Here's to a new year ahead with new friends to be creative with.  Congratulations to all these ladies!

Now, you have yourself a great Valentines Day!  If you have a sweetie, I hope you get to spend it with them.  If you don't, then spend it with someone you  love!  Who says Val Day has to be just for couples??  I say, .... The world just needs more love, so spend it with anyone you love... your kids, your friends.. whoever!

We will probably have a super exciting night of TV watching. lol  Maybe a frozen pizza. lol We get kind of crazy like that sometimes. lol
Amy and Wes are going out of town for Val Day so we are watching their dog Jep.  We love Jep coming to spend the night, so it will be fun.   

Thanks for coming by!  Valentine Hugs all around!

Vicki

"Happy Day" shadowbox with Fancy Pants Designs Sweet Nothings Collection

Hello! Boy, am going to have to stop letting so much time lapse between posts, because it all piles up and I have too much to share. lol  I have always loved having my camera handy and documenting everyday life, but with the convenience of having a camera in your phone with you all the time, it really makes taking photos of everyday things so easy. I love it.   Now I just have to narrow down which ones I can share in a blog post without overloading you. lol
First of all, a project.  This was done with the Fancy Pants Designs New "Sweet Nothing" Collection.  I adore this happy bunch of papers and embellishments! Great for Valentines Day ,but also great for general use.  I had found this balsa wood tray at the Dollar Store and decided to create a shadowbox with it, using this pretty collection.

If you are like me and don't live in a warm sunny place in the middle of winter. this collection will certainly brighten up the grey dreary days.   That is one thing I've learned after living in Nebraska all my life, is that when I start getting down from all the long, cold days when I look outside and see nothing but grey and brown, I create something with COLOR inside to brighten things up!   And when I'm done with it, I don't put it away until Spring or Summer, I keep it out!  It really does help!

This collection has some darling embellishments too!!

What else have I been working on?  Well, I've now made and sold over 70 of these. What? I know!  I'm so glad people liked them.   Next year I just need to start stitching earlier.

I did also find these larger felt hearts recently, so I tried out cutting some pieces with  AccuCut dies and stitching them on.  If I would have gotten a earlier start on this I would have offered some as kits.  Some people still are interested as they really could be left out all year, not just Valentines Day.  I'm seeing if I can come up with some of the larger hearts and if so I may offer some as kits.  I'll post updates here.

I took a little break from stitching to bake some cookies.  Dan eats very little sweets of any kind but he will eat these, so I make them to send in his lunch. ( trying to put some weight on that guy.  I wish I had that problem :(

They boys were here one day last week, since their momma had to leave work sick.  I picked them up from school and daycare and brought them over until their dad got off work.  I'm always happy to have them here. They are such great kids.   I let them make their own individual pizzas for supper.

I think they liked them lol.

As for big boys.  Our boys invited me to lunch and to the new indoor gun range in the town where Wes is an officer yesterday.  Neither of them are hunters, and I am CERTAINLY NOT!  I'm not much of a "gun" gal at all, but hey if my boys invite me anywhere, I GO!  Happily! 
I LOVE getting to spend time with them.   And ... YES they did  get me to shoot. Seriously.  Weird
 But a great day with them!

I have another post to squeeze in before Val Day, I'll be back in a couple of days.  Until then, be good. lol

Hope things are good for all of you this week!


Vicki