Today was awesome {scrapbook circle}

The Portabello Road March kit from Scrapbook Circle is a new favorite of mine. It might be this never-ending winter we are having or the lack of sunshine dragging me down, but I was more excited than usual to see the bright colors in this kit. 

It felt like an 80 degree day hit me when I opened the box. And trust me, I needed it!

I went straight for the Basic Grey Capture papers that are in the kit and started to play around with making the bright bold patterns play together on a page.

For the triangle pattern, I made it in the Silhouette software and cut it from a sheet of cream / off-white card stock. I then backed each space separately with snippets of the pattern papers.

 > YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TRIANGLE PATTERN FOR FREE HERE <

A series of silly selfies with my boy help round out the fun on this layout. We were at Red Robin with friends after seeing The LEGO Movie for the second time and we were feeling silly. Or should I say… "awesome!"

Thanks for hanging out here today. Make sure to grab the free studio file download for your Silhouette. 

And if you are interested in purchasing Portabello Road or one of the amazing add ons, make sure to use code DIANAF20OFF for 20% off your purchase.

First Avenue {scrapbook circle}

The Scrapbook Circle June kit is nearly ready! It's called First Avenue and highlights some of the best in new patterns and colors, including Hipster from Basic Grey.

There is also a canvas ribbon in the kit, which I just loved using for added texture to my layers. I also had the add-on kit, so take a peek at that for more coordinating pieces.

These pictures are from my son's fabulous birthday weekend. We spent the whole weekend celebrating since his actual birthday was on a Wednesday. On this Saturday we did mini golf, batting cages and games at Adventure Landing.

I love this kit for all the manly photo ops I have going on lately. It's a great one — scoop it up soon at Scrapbook Circle!

birthday card good enough to eat!

I sent this adorable card to my neice who turned 1 in May. I just had to share it, I thought it looked good enough to eat!

Supplies: American Crafts Thickers, Maya Road chipboard, Basic Grey paper, machine stitching

lime rickey love

I was so excited to get the Lime Rickey line from Basic Grey. Probably because I will always reach for a sheet of Basic Grey paper before anything else. I'd have to say that Urban Praire is my all-time favorite closely followed by Archaic and Mellow.

I seemed to be hoarding my Lime Rickey paper after I got it. I wanted that perfect moment. And then I found it. In 2008 my son got his first ride in a kiddie park. Something about the carnival atmosphere and his first moment without mom or dad at his side just screamed Lime Rickey.



Do you have those moments? You get the paper and want the first time you use it to be just perfect? Now the ideas are flowin'! I'm sure to be reaching for this line of paper over and over again for a few days. Must be summer's here!

moms love handmade frames!

Today I want to share with you an altered frame I made for a Mother's Day gift idea. It was quick to make and is a great way to showcase any of the small photos of the kids for mom or grandma.


Supplies: Prima & Making Memories flowers. Basic Grey Phoebe collection paper. K&Co. self-adhesive gems for the bubbles in the center of the flowers.

Not too much time to write today, but I wanted to make sure I shared this frame idea. Mother's Day is almost here! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmas out there!

A quick reminder to pebblesjns: E-mail me your address at dianadesigns@rochester.rr.com by end of the day May 9 to claim your NSD giveaway prize.

hush little baby (and a GIVEAWAY for NSD)

Happy day before National Scrapbook Day! I am so excited for tomorrow that I have some prizes to giveaway.

You'll get everything you see in the picture, which include scroll chipboard, ribbon, puffy stickers, a bingo card, an American Crafts album, a quote transparency, Making Memories stuff and more!

All you have to do is leave a comment about which baby card I showed this week was your favorite. Want a second chance to win? Link up to be a Follower in the box to the right.

Thanks for reading this week. The last baby card of the week is below... enjoy!


Hush Little Baby... Below is the gender-neutral card I promised. I used old skool Marcella by K paper for the background. Machine stitched the edges and then distressed with my fave method of distressing: a gold ink cat's eye ink.

The rub on is from the Basic Grey Sugared Olio set. The moon is cut from more Marcella by K paper from the Cricut New Arrival cartridge. More distressing with gold ink defines the features. Lift it up off the paper with double-sided foam tape.

Good luck with the contest! Post your comment by 11:59 p.m. EST, May 3 and I will announce the winner on Monday, May 4. I hope everyone will have a scrappy day tomorrow!

little elephants for baby

How adorable are these little elephants? You can't go wrong when celebrating baby if you use a cute little elephant!

These cards are unique in that they actually use the same piece of paper even though one is for a boy and one is for a girl. This was an exercise in transforming the same supplies for 2 different purposes.

All of the paper used is from Basic Grey Urban Prairie collection. The pink paper in the background is actually the back side of the plaid paper used below in the boy card. Cut the edge with an apron lace punch for the girl, use a plain scallop punch for the boy.

The same elephant stamp was used. Embossed with brown American Crafts Zing over a Versamark stamp for the boy, and stamped in Martha Stewart pink and embossed in glitter for the girl.

The 'wee little one' is a rub on from Basic Grey. Black from one set, and the pink version from Sugared Olio. A little bit of ribbon tops it off. Double-sided foam tape lifts the elephant up off the card.

Using the exact same supplies can reach two different effects. Enjoy the day!

baby girl card

Today's card is to celebrate a new baby girl. I used some random pink paper with white dots for the background, Basic Grey Urban Praire for the main paper and Basic Grey Sugared Olio rub ons. I used machine stitching on this card, one of my favorite techniques.

Instead of ribbon, I used jewelry-maker's twine. It can be found for about $5 for a pack of six different colors, and it has proven to be very versatile. The 'bébé' is a BG rub on that I put on heavy cardstock, cut out and then raised up with double-sided foam tape.

I hope this card inspires you to try something different or to revisit something you had put aside. Have a good one...