Joy Layout by Nicolle Kramer Using My Mind's Eye All is Bright Collection

Joy Layout

Featuring: My Mind's Eye All is Bright Collection
MY BLOG

Today is my first post of the year here at The Hen's Den and the start of my second year as part of the Design Team. I was so happy that Charlie asked me back for a second term. Not only are these ladies amazingly creative but really cool to be on a team with. Fun, Fun, Fun and supportive too.

 January's Kit is All is Bright by My Mind's Eye. How appropriate coming off of  the Christmas holiday. I don't know about you but I have a ton of photos to scrap. 

This is what I received in my kit for the month.

These paper's inspired me to scrap about a Christmas tradition here at the Kramer's house. We love to bake. My boys have grown up so now it's just me and the girl's continuing on with the traditions. Jolie especially loves putting together the gingerbread house kit I buy every year. It seems like every weekend we are baking something from putting together the gingerbread house, to baking cookies and making chocolate candy molds. What can I say we love our sweets.

A few of the techniques I used in this layout are layering, distressing with scissors and distressing with inks as well. I layered the May Arts ribbons in with the papers behind the photos. I also cut the individual rosettes from the May Arts Trim. How cute is that piece of decorative tape in the corner of the gingerbread house photo?

JOY

Below is a close of up a pretty poinsettia that I die cut using my new Tim Holtz die. I love how the chipboard tags elements ties into the whole design of my layout.

I used the Joy chipboard elements for the title. That individual rosette was perfect to make holly with.

I had so much fun working with this collection.

Supplies: My Mind's Eye

All is Bright- Chipboard Elements

All is Bright- Christmas Collage

All is Bright- Christmas Decorative Buttons

All is Bright- Christmas Decorative Tape

All is Bright- Christmas Joy Paper

All is Bright- Christmas Merry Paper

All is Bright- Christmas Tag Paper

May Arts- Sheer/Woven Rosettes- Burgundy

May Arts- Wired Ribbon- Forest Green

May Arts- Lace Ivory -5/8 in

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds by Carolyn Lontin

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds by Carolyn Lontin

Moments Layout

Designed by Carolyn Lontin

(http://carolynlontin.blogspot.com/)

Featuring: Teresa Collins Vintage Finds

Good Morning & thanks for stopping by the Hens Den Blog today!

My layout features Teresa Collins' Vintage Finds product line - this is such a  fun and versitle line that will work with almost any photos!!

My photos are of my son as he is about to leave with some friends to do something on his own that he has wanted to do for a while now.  I left some scraps of the back side of Vintage Finds Dots paper for my journaling. 

Directions:

Use black card stock for the base of your layout - I do this on about 99% of my layouts, I like the thin line to border my layout, it gives the eye a place to stop and it makes the layout sturdy.

Trim Vintage Finds Black Damask paper to 11.5x11.5, distress and ink the edges then attach to the black card stock.

Using black card stock mat two 3x5 photos then attach to layout.

Cut out three Bingo cards from Vintage Finds Bingo paper, distress and ink the edges then attach to the layout.

Add embellishments from Vintage Finds Die Cuts and Chipboard Elements #2

Use a notebook punch on scraps of Vintage Finds Dot papers, distress and ink the edges then add to layout using Tiny Attacher.  Add date stamp to scraps.

Supplies:

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds - Sticker Sheet #2

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds - Die Cut Sheet 12x12

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds - Chipboard Elements #2

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds - Black Damask Paper

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds - Bingo Paper

Teresa Collins Vintage Finds - Dots Paper

Tim Holtz - Idea-Ology - Tiny Attacher Stapler

Prima Marketing - Ingvild Bolme - Rasp Tool

December 2013 already

December 2013 already

Featuring My Minds Eye - All is Bright Christmas collection

Today is my first post as a design team member for The Hens Den and I couldn't be more excited.  I am going to have a lot of fun working with these talented ladies.

This is my first project for The Hens Den and it is somewhat different from what I typically make; however, I thoroughly enjoyed working on a new and interesting project.  I have always wanted to create individual calendar pages to place on my desk and after seeing the kit I received from Charlie, knew it would be perfect for a December calendar page.  So, I took this opportunity to create just that for December 2013.  

I approached this project by starting with an off-white 8x8 square and inked the edges with Garden Green ink.  After cutting two 5x5 squares, one in red and one in green, I decided to embellish the red square as a gift box - to do this, I cut a 2.5 inch piece of red dotted paper and set it across the red square.  I then took the beautiful May Arts green ribbon and tied it around my box.  To finish it off, I placed a Tim Holtz's Christmas adornment on top.  

I found the mini calendar online and distressed it using the same ink and added three rhinestones under December 25th to give it a little more pizzazz.

After assembling the calendar, I felt something was missing and decided to use a doily that I found in my vintage scrapbooking stash and placed the "Joy" ribbon sticker on top.  I also added two separate designer papers from the 6x6 paper pack in the corners to give it a little more color.  After placing the three green rhinestones from the collection in the upper right corner, felt that my individual calendar page was complete.

I am really excited to finish up the rest of my 2013 calendars and will be sure to post them as I go along.  I'm trying to determine whether to do them on a monthly basis or go ahead and get them all done at one time.  I love this My Mind's Eye collection and can't wait to use it again.

Thanks for stopping by The Hens Den and I am excited to see you again soon.

Supplies:

Bazzill Green, Red and Off-White cardstock

My Minds Eye All is Bright 6x6 paper pad

My Minds Eye All is Bright Christmas Layered Stickers

My Minds Eye All is Bright Christmas Rhinestones

Tim Holtz idea-ology Christmas Adornments

May Arts Green Ribbon

Garden Green ink

Brrr Birthday!- By Moriah Macdonald

Featuring-Teresa Collins Everyday Moments

By Moriah Macdonald

Brrrrr!  It was 7 degrees Fahrenheit when I got up yesterday!!!  Nothing like a frigid morning temp to wake you up and inspire you to spend time gettin' crafty. :)  I'm sad for the cold, but happy for the snow.  Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy shoveling, but gosh it is pretty when it blankets the ground.  I always look at snow as a chance to reset our color palette.  We have all the vibrant Summer colors, the warm colors of the Fall, and rich jewels of the holiday season.  The quiet white of Winter reminds me to slow down & breathe (although not too much or I'll freeze to death!), take in the crispness and refocus.

Along with that refocus is a renewed effort on my part to send birthday cards!  What's that saying- The Shoemaker's kids never have shoes?  That's my poor family and friends.  The rarely get their birthday cards on time. LOL!  Well this is one card that is going to be ready!!!  A gal pal of mine (a fellow Upstate New Yorker living in MA) has a birthday coming up in February and this frosty fella is a fun way to say happy birthday. :)  

The hills were cut freehand using paper from an Everyday Moments 6x6 pad.  The patterns in 6x6 pads are great for smaller projects like this because the designs are scaled down and less overwhelming on a card.  Since this is a clean-ish design, the pattern and some foam tape add the dimension.  The foam taped hills also made it possible to tuck Mr. Snow amongst the hills, which totally adds to the cuteness factor.

Hope wherever you are you are staying warm, and if you are somewhere that doesn't get snow- enjoy this frosty viewing!

Supplies:
Paper- Everyday Moments 6x6 pad (Teresa Collins) 
Adhesive- Score Tape
Stamps- Swanky Snowdudes (Paper Smooches)
Ink- Tuxedo (Memento)
Markers- Buttons-B24, Hat/Scarf-B02, B05, Nose-YR07, Y38 (Copic)
Card Base- Bluebird (Memory Box)

Daddy's Little Girl - by Anita Mulcahey - Design Team Member for The Hens Den

 Teresa Collins Vintage Finds

Daddy's Little Girl

Created by:  Anita Mulcahey

Hello Everyone:
Hope that you all had a wonderful New Year and an awesome holiday season.  I am really enjoying having my daughter home from Georgia Tech for her three week break.  Sadly she goes back on Saturday.  When I saw these lovely Teresa Collins Vintage Finds I just knew that I wanted to scrap some father daughter photos from her graduation cruise this past June.  I made two of the photos black and white and left the gorgeous sunset that was behind them just the way it looked.  We had a gorgeous view with our balcony off the back of the boat.  Colleen truly is Daddy's little girl and they bond over their love of all things nerdy given that he is an engineer and she is studying to be an engineer.  Below are the links for the products that I used from the lovely Hens' Den store.  I do have to just gush over the die cut borders which are to well, die for.  I also loved the die cut flowers which have a hole neatly punched in them so that you can use a brad if you so desire.  Teresa Collins is the best and I am so glad that Charlie sent me all these wonderful goodies.

Layout Materials:
Teresa Collins Vintage Finds Sticker Sheet #2
Teresa Collins Vintage Finds 36 Die Cut Flowers
Teresa Collins Vintage Finds Die Cut Borders
Tim Holtz Coredinations Distress Collection
Black and Cream cardstock
Brads and stickers from personal stash

Hugs,

"Boston" by Krystle Thomas

"Boston"
Designed by: Krystle Thomas
(http://hightimesinthehighdesert.blogspot.com)
Featuring: Fancy Pants Country Boutique

Steps:

1.  I decided to use Fancy Pants Country Boutique Barn Door Patterned Paper as my background.
2.  I double-matted the large photos and single-matted the small square ones.
3.  The pendents were hand cut from Fancy Pants Country Boutique Poppy, Defined, and Charlotte Patterned Paper.
4.  I slid the pendents behind the pictures and added Fancy Pants Country Boutique Cardstock Die Cuts to the top right hand corner of the page, embellishing the pendent with Teresa Collins Vintage Finds Trim.
5.  I used Petaloo Canterbury Collection Cream Magnolia Blossoms, May Arts Black Sheer Rosette Ribbon, and Graphic 45 Staples Chipboard flowers (which I accented with Teresa Collins Vintage Finds Faceted Gems & Pearls) to create embellishment clusters in between the pendents and the pictures.
6.  The final touch to the layout was the title.  I used Fancy Pants Country Boutique Cardstock Stickers for the title and adhered it to one of the pendents.

Supplies:

Fancy Pants Country Boutique Cardstock Die Cuts
Fancy Pants Country Boutique Cardstock Stickers
Fancy Pants Country Boutique Barn Door Patterned Paper
Fancy Pants Country Boutique Poppy Patterned Paper
Fancy Pants Country Boutique Defined Patterned Paper
Fancy Pants Country Boutique Charlotte Patterned Paper
Petaloo Canterbury Collection Cream Magnolia Blossoms
May Arts Black Sheer Rosette Ribbon
Graphic 45 Staples Chipboard Flowers
Teresa Collins Vintage Finds Faceted Gems & Pearls
Teresa Collins Vintage Finds Trim

2013..Bring it on!!

The Hens' Den started 2/14/2010 and we have grown so much since then.  I look back at the growth and changes since we started.  It has been an amazing ride.

2012 was a year of growth, public awareness and realizing that people were actually looking forward to seeing us at the expo's that we attend. I went to my first CHA in 2012 and that was such an experience and an eye opener. We attended 4 expo's this past year, returning to Portland Oregon twice, Puyallup WA and for the first time, the CKC Bellevue WA show.  I was so amazed at how many scrappers travel (or are wiling to travel) several hours to visit one of these shows and how many of them were actually following The Hens' Den.  We are so blessed to have the followers who appreciate what we bring to the expo's.

We brought on a wonderful Design Team at the first of the year (more on them in a bit) and then in June we branched out and added 2 more mid year.  We have so much growth and exposure that we needed to fill in some gaps.  Again, what a blessing to have such a problem...lol

2012 year end does bring about change and tears but growth always has it ups and downs.  We are losing two extremely talented Design Team members.  Krystle Thomas, an attorney, is so busy that she is going to focus on her own personal projects when she has the time so she made a difficult decision to not stay on for 2013. I will miss Krystle's style!!!.   She has such a clean look to her layouts and she stuns us all the time when she completes a project.  She does amazing work.  You can follow her work on her blog, I am sure she would love it.  Krystle will return throughout the year as a Guest Designer for The Hens' Den.

Cheri Piles - WOW.. what can I say that most of you don't already know?   Cheri will also be leaving The Hens' Den to take on her own venture and a new business that she will be focusing on during the coming year. Cheri has helped The Hens' Den so much over the past 2 years and she will be missed a lot.  Cheri has a wonderful endorsement from Teresa Collins and it is well deserved. She is very talented and her work will be missed here at The Hens' Den.  If we are lucky, Cheri will return during 2013 as a Guest Designer.
  

2013

 

 Moving forward, I want to introduce you to the 2013 Design Team and give you a little insight as to who they are, in their own words.

Returning are the following Design Team Members:

Lori McClellan - 

Lori McClellan, heard of me?  I am 

a wife, and mother to 4 great kids. 

a student studying Graphic and Web Design. 

the CEO and Designer at Graphik Xpressions, my own small business.

a published paper crafter and hoarder of all things scrappy. 

lovingly called Mrs.Craftypants by all the young girls I used to work with.

under the age of 40.

going gray.

a chubby girl in recovery who hates exercise, but does it every day anyway. 

the funny friend, with lots of great one-liners.

excited by finding a great deal.

I hate to clean. I would rather be creating something.

In love with all things Disney.

Clever, creative, witty, original, compassionate, outgoing, ambitious and fun.

I can't wait for a great 2012 with The Hens Den

(My comments: Lori is a hoot and always is making funny wise cracks.

 

http://sentimentalxpressions.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Lontin

My name is Carolyn Lontin.  I am married to Rick; we have one son, Seth and two crazy dogs! We live in gorgeous Colorado, in a suburb just south of Denver. I began scrapping in October 2001 to preserve my son's childhood memories and it quickly became an obsession! 

I love capturing my family's "real" moments in both my photos and in my journaling on my layouts. I have found the creative outlet of scrapping to be incredibly relaxing and quite addictive, which is shocking to the previously dominate non-artistic side of me!  

Over the past few years, I have had the honor of having my work published in major publications and being on some fantastic design teams!

By day, I am a Corporate Controller for an international manufacturing company. I also enjoy spending time with family and friends, photography, cheering on my son's baseball & football teams, exploring in the mountains, playing with our dogs, and reading.

(my comments: quiet, sweet and right on top of her assignments)

http://carolynlontin.blogspot.com/
 

Nicolle Grabowski Kramer

 

 Hi my name is Nicolle and I am so happy to be asked back for a 2nd year as part of the design team for The Hen's Den. I am a 38 year old stay at home mom of  four children. I have 2 boys(19,18) and 2 girls(16,10). My husband and I have been married for almost 20 years and have been together for 23.  I also have 3 fur babies a Beagle(Roscoe), Mini dachshund (Otis) and a Yorkshire Terrier (Clyde). They all bring such joy to my life and are the main subjects in my layouts. I have lived in Buffalo NY my whole life. If you are wondering about the snow/cold it is not as bad as the media portrays it to be. I love living here and enjoy all 4 seasons. Scrap-booking was introduced to me 8 years ago by a friend of my husband. I also enjoy many other hobbies but my main passion is for paper crafting at the moment.  If I had to describe my style is would be that  I am an ever evolving scrapper who loves using bright bold colors,textures and lots of embellishments to enhance the story being told on my page in a unique and creative way that keeps the viewer continually discovering new details every time they see one of my pieces.  I enjoy learning new techniques and using new tools and elements to enhance my pages. I have made a few very good hopefully life long friends from this hobby. If you would like to see some of my work you can find it on my blog

(my comments: Nicolle loves challenges and takes them on with my full admiration)

  http://nicollelovesscrapbooking.blogspot.com/ 

Moriah Larson Macdonald

Hi! My name is Moriah.  Although I've lived in NY, SD, and SC, I currently reside outside Boston in MA's apple orchard country with my fabulous (and artistic) husband, our loyal (can't-fetch-to-save-his-life) corgi Cadfael, and a fabulous (give-me-the-catnip-and-nobody-gets-hurt) kitty Amy.  
My day job is as a Reading Specialist and I love getting the chance to help my students develop a love of reading!  When I'm not teaching reading, I teach adults how to craft their own cards in an effort to spread the stamping addiction. :)

(my comments:  What a sweet lady!!!! and her craft is amazing)

http://fuzzyslippersdesigns.blogspot.com/

 

         Anita Mulcahey
 

Anita here from Medway, MA a sweet small town that I love.  I have been paper crafting for over 19 years and love playing with paper.  I love designing for Charlie for The Hens’ Den and look forward to 2013 and all the fun things we have planned for you.  Happy New Year everyone and let’s get ready to party.

(My comments: Anita is not giving herself enough credit here.  She is AMAZING at her craft and I am so lucky to have her)

http://happypapercrafthappenings.blogspot.com/

  NEW TO THE TEAM:

     Stephanie Wagner

Asst Design Team Lead

I am Stephanie Wagner. I have been married to my husband Andrew for 7 years! We live in Southwest Washington, near Portland, Oregon with our adorable 3 year old daughter who makes us laugh everyday.

I am a graphic and web designer by trade. I have been a graphic designer for over 12 years,
another reason why I love scrap-booking and design layouts and of course all the paper.
I have a passion for all crafts, mostly expressed with double scrapbook layouts, card making and an alter project here and there.

What truly made me interested in scrap-booking, besides paper and layout was stamping.
I fell in love with inks and stamps, card making and paper crafting. I enjoy getting my hands all inky.

When I am not getting my hands all inky, I love spending time with my family, being a mom and traveling. My other interests include music, design and refurbishing furniture. I enjoy volunteering with my community and helping out with local marketing and design events. I can always be found at a local crop hanging with friends too.

With all my techniques I have learned over the years, I am excited to be sharing them with you on The Hen's Den design team. You can find me also known as Scrappin Posse. I blog at

(my comments:  Very tech savvy and her art is awesome)

ScrappinPosse.Wordpress.com

    Janet Bagnall

I am a mother of three wonderful children, 2 boys (26 and 13) and one daughter (25).   My wonderful husband, Jim, and I have been happily married for 29 years and he, still to this day, makes my heart go pitter-patter every time I see him. After the birth of our youngest, I started scrap-booking as a side hobby amongst being mommy and wife, but about four years ago, I thought I would try making my own Christmas cards and realized that I had a knack for it and haven’t looked back since.  It has been a blessing and a fabulous hobby that I hope to be able to continue and become even better at. I grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina and am the oldest of 5 children, but now make my home in Gilbert, South Carolina, which is near Columbia.  I look forward to working with these wonderful ladies at The Hens Den.  Hope to see you often.  Have a blessed day.

http://lifefullofsunflowers.blogspot.com/

(my comments:  She will amaze you with her craft, just wait and see)

Owner

Charlie LaBonte

Design Team Lead

I am so blessed to have this Design Team.  They are all very talented crafters.  We have lots of crafty stuff in store for you for 2013. 

What is coming for 2013?????

January  CHA is the10th through the 15th and YES... I will be there!.   I am so excited, more so this time than last year.  I know what to expect, what to see, what to focus on and best of all....HAVE A GRAND TIME!

March - we will be at the CKC expo in Portland Oregon

April - This is so exciting!!... we will be hosting our very first weekend crop. " Fly the Coop Retreat".  We will hold this April 19th and 20th at Dancing Bear Lodge located at the beautiful Mt. Rainier in Washington State.



July - Scrapbook Expo in Puyallup WA  July 19th and 20th

September - Fly the Coop Retreat in the Porland OR area - to be announced.

October - Scrapbook Expo in Portland OR  October 25th and 26th

November - CKC expo in Bellevue WA  November 8th and 9th

There are so many other things planned and I hope you will follow along with us and come visit when we are in your area.  You can find us on FB at  https://www.facebook.com/TheHensDen.  We will post the dates and other happenings there, so please go "like" us so that you can follow along.

I look forward to seeing all of you in 2013!!!