{LOVE and be loved} - A Scrap Your Stash Blog Hop with Practical Scrappers -- And a Giveaway!!

Welcome, welcome to the Practical Scrappers "scrap your stash" blog hop!!  You should have arrived here from Lanette Erickson's site.  How about a $20 GIVEAWAY to keep the fun going?  Check out my project and learn more about it at the end of this post.

Grab some chocolate...today I am sharing a layout based on the theme "Love" and using my stash of Pink Paislee "Secret Crush" collection (Heartbeat and Endless Love papers) and some Glitz Designs "Love You Madly" collection.  My daughter has a February birthday, and because she is my HEART, it's very fitting to use Valentine's themed papers for a layout.

This layout was incredibly fun to pull together.  I started with the Secret Crush papers and knew I wanted to use the side with the heart banners....ADORBS!  I trimmed the bottom off to create space for a heart footer.  I framed it by first inking all edges with CTMH Hollyhock ink and then matting it with CTMH Slate cardstock, leaving more room at the bottom. 

We had two photos from Presley's birthday dinner, and they fit nicely in the gray polka dot Secret Crush frame.  I created the pink polka dot frame from the other piece of Secret Crush I had because I wanted it to stand out from the distressed brown/gray polka dot background that I took from the Love You Madly paper pack (I popped up this photo with some 3D tape).  To create the bottom layer under the photos, I took a rectangle of the pink paper and cut the shallow triangle to create a banner look.  I took the triangle piece and moved it to the right of the photos to create the arrow effect.  I inked the edges with Slate ink, and then once I had the mat down, I machine stitched over it.

I concentrated on the footer next and used the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to create the solid and outline hearts using the same paper pieces used above.  I spread them out so no two patterns were near each other, and then I machine-sewed through them with gray and pink thread.  Aren't our silly faces funny??

I had a leftover Maya Road Vintage Heart clip on my desk, and when I put it on top of the solid heart, I loved how the shapes matched so well!!!

Once I had the base down, I focused on the embellishments.  The banner on the paper was pretty on its own, but I added some Slate polka dot washi tape, a few other hearts, some Basic Grey candy buttons, some leftover Studio Calico sequins, a "love" sticker from Jillibean Soup's Wise Words, the "we are perfect together" sticker from Pebbles, and stamped hearts and arrows.

Going through my stamp stash, I came across the "Love and be loved" stamp from CTMH's C1385 Charmed set (retired).  I cut the "Love" apart from the rest of the phrase (I LOVE being able to do that with acrylic stamps!) and then stamped the "and be loved" in Slate ink, followed by the "love" using Hollyhock ink.  Love this title!

I finished with some lace ribbon and other embellishments as well as journaling on the page with my thoughts on my daughter turning 12. I hope you were inspired by my project!

Giveaway!

  

I'm giving away one $20 e-gift certificate to the My Scraps & More online store!

All you have to do is:

1. Become a member of my blog with Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin AND
2. Leave a comment on this blog post telling me what your favorite thing is about February

Easy, peasy!  You have until Monday, Feb. 17, 2014 at 9am CT to enter for your chance to win. International entries are welcome. I will randomly choose one lucky winner and announce it here on my blog on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. Good luck, and thanks for visiting!

Now head over to the talented Erin Morehouse's blog for your next stop. 

Full Practical Scrappers Blog Hop List

Practical Scrappers

Krissy Clark

Christine Meyer
Kim Ryden
Patty Selah
Charity Hotrum

Lissa Mitchell
Jennifer Haggerty
Alison Day

Bobbi Smith

Michelle Johns
Kerri Yarus

Cathy Harper

Nicole Laha
Lanette Erickson

Majken Pullin  **You are HERE**

Erin Morehouse

Lisa Peeples
Claude Campeau
Wendy Coffman
Lee-Anne Thornton