Hello everyone, happy FRIDAY!  It’s Beckie here today with a little color to brighten your day :)

Today, in fact, is my daughter’s 8th birthday party.  I can’t BELIEVE she’s 8 already!  She decided on a sleepover party with 8 other friends and a rainbow theme.  We’ve had so much fun making her invitations (she insisted on paper invitations – I had to get out my paper cutter and my glue – gasp!) and planning out activities.  We have painting, kraft bag decorating, and polymer clay bead making all lined up as activities!  Oh – and a new movie, of course!

So – where does a mom on a mission for a rainbow themed party turn?  why Pinterest, of course! :)  Want to see a few of favorite rainbow finds from Pinterest?

Rainbow Potion – a fun kids drink with sprite and Kool-Aid that looks so cool and colorful!

Rainbow Fruit Skewers – beautiful, delicious, and healthy!  And you could always just arrange the fruit on a tray in rainbow fashion and leave out the skewers :)

…and check out THIS CAKE.  Truly, it’s the mother of all rainbow cakes!

And there’s rainbow paint chip garland, rainbow woven gift wrapping, and even a rainbow wooden mat!

Seriously, every time I searched i ended up meandering…from food to decorations to completely random things.  But they were all COLORFUL!  So, I got to thinking…why not spice up my scrapbooking a bit with a few rainbow inspired pages?  And I asked our very own Kylie to play along with me!  I hope these cool colorful layouts inspire you to add a little rainbow color to your pages!

First up is Kylie…and all I can say is WOW!

I could look at this page all day.  SO much detail and attention into the background papers!  …the stitching, the random width of the stripes (using a Rise & Shine easy-as-pie template), the little bits of elements scattered about.  And I love how big and bold she went with the use of the rainbow in her design.  Absolutely gorgeous!

Next is one of my creations.  ‘Round these parts (Texas) it’s SO hot and dry all summer.  So when we get a little rain, the kids all go crazy.  They play in it, lay in it, run in it, basically just BASK in the rain!  I’ve had these pics for a few weeks, wondering what to do with them.  I love the way the rainbow papers in the background brighten up the overall design (especially the gray, overcast pics!).  I also like the little sentiment…because these kids really do make each other happy.  ( I love our neighbors so much I made a page about our little cul-de-sac :) )

And finally – one more rainbow inspired creation by me.  I’ve mentioned in the past how much I loved using ink/paint/pens in my paper scrapping days, and I thought a rainbow was a perfect chance to bust out the virtual paintbrush yet again :)  Oh, and yes, that photo of my daughter is totally blurry.  But I still love it.  She’s laughing, she’s being real, and i just love the moment!

Want to get the look of those brush strokes?  I started with a basic brush and made a few adjustments.  Then I saved it as a new brush pre-set, so I can use it any time!  Here are the settings:

I started with a basic “flat curve” brush in Photoshop, then adjusted some of the bristle qualities.  And most importantly – check “wet edges”.  This gives realistic color variations throughout the stroke :)

That’s it for today!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend…wish me luck with our first big sleepover party tonight! :)

BeckieInspiration, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Happy Tuesday!  Beckie here bringing you a product spotlight featuring…drum roll please…Hopscotch and the Hopscotch School Additions!

The Hopscotch collection remains one of my favorites ever…and that’s saying something given all the amazing goodies in the Shoppe!  I admit that I’m a sucker for color – and I love using the power of emotion that color can evoke.   Hopscotch contains most of my favorite colors – (orange, blue, turquoise) and this collection just makes me HAPPY!  And the papers…oh my, they are beautiful :)

With the School Additions the possibilities are endless!  Sure, you can do school pages.  But the pencils, brads, notebook photo frames are perfect for everyday use, too!  Just wait until you see what my fellow Shabby Artists have come up with <3

Let’s start with Kim’s layouts!

I LOVE the way Kim tucked in all the colorful flowers around the photo strip. And how cool are these pics from 1982?  Kim and her sister!

Kim and I both have boys starting Kindergarten on the 27th of this month!  Her journaling is so perfect for capturing all the emotions we experience as parents, preparing to send our babies off to school for the first time.  And let me just say – Mario must be the designated mascot of 5 year old boys around the country :)  we have tons of Mario themed school supplies ourselves!

Now let’s move on to see what Casharina has for us!  Here we can see just how versatile your scrapbook supplies can be if you master the art of re-coloring!

 Those photos are so sweet – I love the pink and blue combo here – combined with papers from the Darling Paper Pack, you can get a whole new look!  And next up now is Rosy:

Rosy’s layout highlights one of my favorite things about the Hopscotch collection – the colors are so versatile!  blues of the sky – greens of the trees and grass – with bright orange and yellow to provide contrasting pops of color!  I love her design here that gets so many different photos on one page, too.

And now let’s see what Kylie created with Hopscotch and the School Additions:

As usual, Kylie packed tons of detail into her page!  The elements of the two collections combine so perfectly – and what a wonderful design!  I especially love the white-on-white detail of the background paper – that white base color is a perfect backdrop for all that gorgeous color.

Kylie’s second layout is beautiful!  I know I already mentioned how beautiful the papers are – and this layout showcases them perfectly!

Finally  – here’s what I came up with.  I added in the Sandbox Summer Additions and was amazed at how easily they worked together!  I didn’t even have to re-color :)

We just got back yesterday from a long weekend spent enjoying the end of summer with good friends…a few days at the beach celebrating our last days before school starts!  My kids are on the right, and the three in the photo on the left are life-long friends of my kids.  It’s so awesome watching them all grow up together :)

So head on over to the Shabby Shoppe and pick up Hopscotch and Hopscotch School Additions!  Hopscotch is only $5.95…and the School Additions are a steal at just $2.95!  Both are ON SALE for a limited time!

Thanks for stopping by!  Kylie will be here on Thursday with your Project Scrap AUGUST templates! :) 

BeckieProduct Spotlight, Uncategorized 4 Comments

Hello Shabby Shoppe-rs!  It’s Beckie here with you today to bring you this week’s LOTW!  I must say that browsing through the gallery was just what I needed as inspiration to get back into scrapbooking after my little hiatus.  It was awesome catching up on the work of the veteran posters in the gallery, plus I saw several new faces, too!  And, as always, I saw SO many lovely layouts that caught my eye :)

This week’s selection for LOTW really stood out- it’s loaded with interesting details and ideas that I’m just dying to scrap lift!

Hanging out with Grandma by BessySue581

BessySue581 took her inspiration from this LO by  Kim - but she put her very own unique and creative touches on her design!  I absolutely love the clever addition of the photos across the top – simple flower and ribbon clusters create an instant photo banner!  I love layouts that make great use of space, too – and this one is FILLED with gorgeous details.  Every corner of this LO has something pretty <3.

Congratulations BessySue581 on your LOTW selection!  You’ll be receiving a $10 gift card to the Shoppe in your e-mail sometime later this week (PLEASE NOTE that due to technical difficulties that SP and Kylie are having…it might be a few days before they can email it to you – VERY SORRY for the inconvenience, but rest assured that they will send it over just as soon as they can – THANKS)!

Hope your week starts off wonderfully :)

BeckieLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 6 Comments

Hi everyone…Beckie here!  It’s been so very long since I’ve been here last, and I’m so happy to be back!  I had to take a bit of a sabbatical from the blog – I had so much going on.  I’m so excited to say that I finished up a master’s program, one that had me traveling and quite busy over the past year.  It’s such a relief having that behind me!  Luckily I’ve been taking tons of pictures still this summer so far, which means I am WAY behind in my scrapping and need to get caught up, LOL.  Anyhow, I’m SUPER excited to be back!!

So – on to today’s topic!  We’ve talked about ways to use Soft Light a few times in the past:  Kylie showed you all the blending modes HERE, and Rosy showed you how to create tone-on-tone papers HERE.  Well I’m back with yet another way that a Soft Light layer can help you with your scrapbooking – by giving your photos the perfect “kick”!

It’s hard to describe what a soft light layer does – but to me it just make a photo “more”…more vibrant, more contrast, more depth.  You can see from the example above that the photo on the right seems crisper, sharper, more “clear” even.  And the only different between these two images is the soft light layer!

So how do you do it?  I’m pleased to say it is SUPER easy, and is possible with PS and PSE :)

Let’s see a few more examples!!

…and how about this one!  you can see the full effects in the amazing after picture!  I left the Soft Light layer at 100% (full strength) in this one!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Kylie’s sharing a fun & easy hybrid project on Friday…along with a cute little giveaway!

BeckieTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 12 Comments

Happy Friday from the Shabby Shoppe!  It’s Beckie here with you again, and I’m ready to dish about some of my very favorite beauty products!  I’m kind of fickle and I love giving new things a try and I’m eager to share a few little gems here with you today :)

Starting off…we have my favorite cleansing and toning products!  I’m going to confess right now that I need a low maintenance cleansing routine – and the Olay 7-in-1 cleansing cloths perfectly fit the bill!  These cloths easily remove all my make-up and leave my skin cleansed and moisturized.  I follow it up with a few spritzes of the AMAZING botanical kinetics toning mist by Aveda.  It smells delightful and is very light and refreshing.  Together, these two items give me the quick and easy cleansing routine I need for my hectic schedule :)  And at just $8.99 for 30 cleansing cloths and $17 for the toning mist, I can come clean with a clear conscience over the cost :)

With the arrival of warmer weather, I made a  trip to Sephora with a girlfriend and we indulged in some new spring make-up!  I asked the associate to help me find a lightweight liquid foundation that would leave me looking fresh, healthy, and natural.  I also like having built-in SPF in my foundation, as I find myself outside in the harsh summer sun quite a bit with the kiddos.  I’ve been wearing my new makeup for about a month now – and I still love it!  First off, I got the Radiance primer by Laura Mercier.  I apply it to my cheeks, and it gives a subtle shimmer to my makeup finish.  (There’s a non-shimmer version available as well!).  And over the primer I apply LORAC Breakthrough Performance Foundation.  With SPF 15 and anti-aging ingredients, my skin feels fresh and healthy all day long.  Oh, and one really neat tip – the girl applied my foundation with a mineral powder brush.  The short, tight artificial bristles make it super easy to brush on consistent coverage.  You can use any artificial bristle kabuki/mineral powder brush, but I went with the Sephora brush.

The last time I talked make-up here on the blog, I mentioned the Nars Multiple…well, it’s still one of my favorites.  And I learned a new tip!  Not only can you apply the creamy color to your cheeks, you can apply it to your lips and cover it with clear gloss for a new look!

I recently had lunch with another girlfriend whom I hadn’t seen in several months.  I immediately noticed how youthful and healthy her skin looked and I asked her about it – although I was slightly dreading the answer because she has very expensive taste!   She started laughing and said “You’ll never guess…it’s Vaseline!”.  She said she puts it on her face before bedtime 2-3 times per week and had been doing so for several months.  She said it made a huge difference in the health of her skin – and from what I saw, I totally agree!  So out of curiosity, I googled Vasline and found several articles that also hailed the benefits of this quintessential beauty product.  Another great tip for Vaseline?  Mix your leftover lipstick with a little Vaseline to make your own lip gloss!  Best of all… you can pick up your very own tub of Vaseline for less than $2!

That’s all I have to share with you today!  I would LOVE it if you’d share some of your favorite products and beauty tips in the comments section!  If you’d like to take a peek into some of our other Shabby Artists’ Beauty Bags…CLICK HERE!  And I hope you all have a wonderful weekend…Jenelle will be with you on Monday for LOTW!

BeckieBeauty & Fashion, Uncategorized 2 Comments