My Little Shoebox

Free product Friday

 Hello MLS fans! Hooray for Friday!! It's been a busy week and we can hardly believe it's Friday! On our Facebook page we asked our fans what their weekend plans were and many of you told us scrapbooking, crops and meet ups to scrap with a friend. We'd love to see what you are creating with MLS so share your work with us on our Facebook page. Today we're sharing some projects from designers Beckie and Zoe and offering up your chance at some free product!

Helping at Imkerhof Cafe by Beckie Dreyer   

 

I loooove all this pink! I never thought to mix up Garden Party and Farmer's Market. It's a great combination and makes for a really fun layout!

Sew Cute by Zoe Nemburt                     

Love that silly mustache!

Designer's Tip: Don't be afraid to add a little splatter of paint to add dimension and interest to your layouts.

We spotted some fun projects on our Facebook page this week. Thanks to everyone who shared their work with us. We thought this layout using papers from our Holly Jolly collections from Barbara McEneaney Mahlmann that was posted on our Facebook wall was fun!

Keep sharing your projects on our wall and you never know when you'll be spotted.

So what's the free product this week you ask? How about a mix of our yummy sprinkle glaze stickers!

Leave a comment telling us your favorite use for these letters and we'll draw a winner!

How about another freebie? Paper Crafts Connection is offering up our Playtime Collection for their Freebie Friday Bonus Blog Hop post. Head over here for your chance!

take the Blog Hop and comment for your chance to win this special issue

Have a great a weekend!

 

Some Sew Cute multiple photo inspiration

Hello MLS fans! It's Friday! Any crafty plans for the weekend? You know you've got tons of pictures waiting to be scrapped in your "little shoeboxes" Why not get them out this weekend along with some MLS in your stash and have fun creating. If you need some layout ideas, Kristine Berc is going to help you out today with a tip for scrapbooking multiple photos.

  For the love of cake

Two page layouts are a great way to add multiple photos from a special event.

You can plan out your own page or use a sketch like Kristine did here.

Designer Tip: If you have several great photos from a special event, consider using them all on a balanced two-page layout.  If designing two-page layouts stumps you, use one of the fabulous PageMaps sketches, like I did!  Add some fun dimension by layering your Sew Cute die cuts with foam tape.

As Kristine mentioned, if you need some sketch inspiration to help get you started, our friend Becky Fleck has an amazing website called Page Maps where new sketch inspiration is added monthly. The July sketches were posted today! Our design team contributed to the layout and card gallery for June!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Sew Cute with Ilene

Hello MLS fans! We're kicking off another week here on the My Little Shoebox blog with some Sew Cute inspiration from designer Ilene Tell. Let's take a look at what she created this month.

A Pink Sweater

Sew Stylish

Remember Ilene's tutorial last month? Well here's her stitched flower she created. If you'd like to create your own click here for another look at Ilene's tutorial.

Ilene also created a few cards with Sew Cute.

This Happy Birthday card is lovely with the addition of the flowers.

We love the dress form on this card!

If you're creating with our Sew Cute collection please share your work with us on our Facebook page here!

Have a great day!

Sew Cute with Becky and some news...

Hello MLS fans! Today we are sharing some designs from designer Becky Williams. Becky is creating with Sew Cute this month and she's created 3 wonderful layouts for you.

Pretty Little Sunshine Girls

Supplies: 

Sew Cute Collection: Nothing But Buttons paper, In Stitches paper, Handmade paper, Journaling diecuts, cardstock stickers.

Glitter Alphabet Stickers: Toffee, Oregano, Carnation

Mini Alphabet Stickers: Seaside

Other: foam adhesive, pen for faux stitching/doodling, Prima pearls, staples. 

Designer Note: One of my favorite parts of the MLS collections is the diecuts. You can either use them the way they are or cut them to suit your needs and style. To create the sun on this page I cut out the cloud shape from one of the diecuts and used another diecut for the sun. I cut pieces of the "In Stitches" paper to make the sun rays and added some foam adhesive and doodling for added visual interest. 

Real Cowgirl Boots

Supplies: 

Sew Cute Collection: 100% Cotton paper, Made with Love paper, journaling diecuts, cardstock stickers. 

Glitter Alphabet Stickers: Toffee, Carnation

Mini Alphabet Stickers: Blackberry

Other: foam adhesive, pen for faux stitching.

Meeting Lily Grace

Supplies: 

Sew Cute Collection: Handmade paper, Nothing But Buttons paper, In Stitches paper, Made with Love paper, 100% Cotton paper, Journaling die-cuts, cardstock stickers.

Mini Alphabet Stickers: Seaside, Blackberry, Blush (bonus sheet word stickers)

Other: twine, buttons, staples, foam adhesive, white spray mist, pompom trim. 

Designer Note: For this layout I used the leftover scraps from the piece of 100% Cotton diecut paper I used on one of my other projects.

Thank you Becky for your beautiful work and detailed product description!

It's June which means that we have a new Guest Designer for the month of June.  Please welcome...

Vicki Boutin

Vicki has loved making pretty things since she was a little girl.  With a background in fine arts and graphic design she was always searching for a creative outlet that was a good fit.  She finally found it in the world of paper crafting after the birth of her first child 10 years ago.  She hasn’t looked back since!

 In 2006 Vicki became a Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame winner and went on to be part of Better Homes and Gardens Scrapbooks Etc’s Creative Team.  Her work is currently published in Scrapbooks, Etc and Vicki writes a quarterly article for Scrapbooks and Cards, Today magazine.  She enjoys working closely with a number of the industry’s top manufacturers including Sassafras, 7 Gypsies, Basic Grey, Little Yellow Bicycle and Pink Paislee.  Vicki is also a Ranger Certified instructor.

Vicki is always on a mission to learn something new and then find a way to share it!  That is where teaching comes in.  She has taught workshops in the United States, Canada and Europe and loves to approach art in a fun, fresh and accessible way.  Her motto is “Try anything once.  You won’t know if it’s your style unless you try it!”  Her workshops offer an opportunity to meet new friends, try new things and most of all have FUN!!!

 Vicki is currently writing her first technique based book called Creative Foundations which will be available in December 2011. You can follow Vicki on her blog: vickiboutin.typepad.com

Please join us every Thursday in June to see Vicki's amazing creations with My Little Shoebox collections!

Tuesday Tutorial with Ilene

Hello MLS fans! It's time to kick off our Tuesday Tutorials with fresh inspiration from our new team members. Join us the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the 2nd and 4th weeks of every month for fresh new tutorials to help you have fun with our collections.

This week we welcome Ilene Tell and her Embellishments Tutorial with our Sew Cute collection.

Today I am going to share a super easy tutorial with you on how to make some
cute and quick handmade embellishments. If you're anything like me, you probably
love all the little embellishments and fun items you get to shop for as a
scrapbooker - it's part of the fun! And I won't lie to you, my first instinct is
to rummage through some of the pre-made stuff I accumulate. But sometimes you
don't have the perfect color, or the right amount, or the appropriate style of
embellishment you're looking for. And sometimes you really need that handmade
look. Nothing gives a project as much personality as handmade elements. For this
projects I used the Sew Cute collection because it was perfect for these types
of hand-stitched, handmade embellishments. And because...well, it's just so darn
cute :)




Supplies:
- adhesive (I like Beacon Adhesives FabriTac, especially for projects involving
cloth)
- Sizzix Big Shot or Big Kick
- Sizzix Circles Die
- Tattered Florals Tim Holtz Sizzix Die (although a different flower die would
work as well)
- ink or chalk
- piercing tool and needle
- sanding block
- cloth (I used red cloth as it matched well with the Sew Cute line)
- large brad
- scissors that work on cloth, such as the Tim Holtz ones pictures here
- raw chipboard
- Crop-A-Dial (or other hole punch)
- Glossy Accents or Crackle Accents
- sheet of felt material
- patterned paper (of course!)



1. Use the Sizzix to cut a circle out of your piece of cloth. This should be the
second to smallest circle, just enough to cover the brad and tuck underneath it.
You can see here that you want to find a large brad, but it can be an outdated
one that isn't very cute since it will be covered completely. This is a great
way to use up ugly old brads :)



2. Place your circle of cloth on a craft sheet or other protected surface. Then
place the brad, face down, on top of it. Add a generous amount of the glue on
the inside edge of the brad and then fold the cloth into it. If you're using
Fabri-Tac, it will stick nicely and attach within seconds. There you have it - a
really quick and easy cloth brad!



3. Here you see a raw piece of chipboard and a scrap of pp I cut out of the pp
from the Sew Cute line that has an image of the button on it. This image is
perfect for making a chipboard button, or you can just use any pp. Glue the pp
to the chipboard, and cut a chipboard button out using the smallest circle on
the Sizzix circles die.

4. Sand the edges of the button and then ink them. Use the Crop-A-Dial or other
tool to make holes in the the middle.



5. Cover the button completely with Glossy Accents and allow to dry. Make sure
you cover it evenly without missing spots, but avoid getting any in the holes.



6. Use the Tattered Florals Sizzix die to cut two of the same flower shape out
of whatever pp you choose. Make sure you cut it with the largest flower that has
the biggest petals. A different Sizzix flower die would work for this too, as
long as the petals are nice and thick.


7. Use the same die to cut the same flower out of the felt material. Use your
scissors to trim away the edge of the flower all around.


8. Sandwich the felt flower between the pp flowers and glue all together. Again,
a cloth glue like Fabri-Tac works well for this.



9. Use your piercing tool to make holes at small even intervals all around the
flower edge. The stitch around using your floss. I used red floss, as it matched
well with the red cloth brad and the pretty reds in the Sew Cute line.



So there you have - a really easy and fast handmade chipboard button, cloth
brad, and stitched pp flower that has a nice thickness and dimension. Make sure
you keep an eye on the blog in June - my LO (appropriately called "Sew Stylish")
that featured all three of these embellishments will appear on the blog sometime
that month. Thanks for reading, hope you give some of this a try!

 Ilene Tell

Layout inspiration from Melinda

Hello MLS fans! Today we are bringing you a fabulous layout from Melinda Spinks with our Sew Cute collection!

We love how Melinda created a fabulous 3D effect by using a border punch and layering several strips of the sew crafty paper over the 12x12 sheet of the same paper. This is an easy technique to execute and the result is beautiful. 

Here's a closer look at some of the detail of the border punch and flowers. Those pearls offer a soft look.

These handmade roses add a lovely touch as well as the small punched flowers.

We love how Melinda shows you that if you don't happen to have coordinating embellishments on hand you can create your own from our Sew Cute coordinating papers.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Scrapbooking layouts with Sew Cute

Hello MLS fans! Our Sew Cute collection really is soooo cute! People tell us that they love the color scheme of this collection and all the elements we have for them to create with from our stamps, patterned paper, cardstock stickers and more. When you have a nice variety of elements to create with, scrapbooking your memories can be quick and easy.

Today we have some beautiful layouts to share with you created by our team members Pamela and Nicole.

From Pamela

Pamela used our Sew Cute stamps on her layout above.

From Nicole

 

 

These layouts are just darling ladies! Thank you for sharing your work with us.

We hope you have a fantastic weekend! Please join us Monday for a special farewell Blog Hop with our 2010-11 Design Team. Our girls will each be showcasing their favorite projects or March assignments on their personal blogs for you to see. We have enjoyed each and every single one of them being a part of the MLS team and their amazing talent!

It's Sew Cute today

Today design team members Tracy and Cindy are sharing their creations with our Sew Cute collection. I must admit it is a favorite collection of mine and many of the design team girls as well. You can create so many different themes with it and the colors...oh my!

From Tracy

Beach Baby

 

Anna

 

Here's some beautiful layouts from Cindy

All Dressed Up

Sew Happy

And some cute cards too!

With Love

That's a wrap for today's inspiration! We challenge you to make it a crafty day and create something handmade!