Biloxi Lighthouse

Although the only watercraft I pilot are kayaks and canoes, I still can't resist the charm of anchors, lighthouses, and other such seaworthy symbols. To my delight, both are included with the Land Ho cut file set, as well as a few jolly good phrases. How perfect is that lighthouse on the page below!

Erected in 1858, this lighthouse has the distinction of being tended by female lightkeepers for more years than any other lighthouse in the U. S. One such keeper assumed the role after her husband died, tending the light for 53 years! Having survived scores of hurricanes, the Biloxi Lighthouse today is a Mississippi landmark and tourist attraction. 

Take a look at the Land Ho cut file set, new to The Cut Shoppe's Etsy store:

Cut from a grey print paper, my lighthouse was inked for dimension: black ink for shadows, white for highlights. A washi tape banner picks up the yellow, red, and navy of my papers:

Layers of patterned paper, an anchor-print string envelope, postcard journal card, anchor pin, and coordinating enamel dots highlight the actual lighthouse photo:

Thanks for stopping by the blog today; we've enjoyed having you!

Hangin' Poolside

As soon as I saw the Girl Stuff and Boys Rule cut file sets, I knew I'd like to create a sort of clothesline for the outfits. I could picture them cut from various pretty patterns and strung up across the paper, but had no idea how I'd incorporate that idea into a scrapbook page...until now. 

On my layout Hangin' Poolside, the T-shirts (Boys Rule) and jeans (Girl Stuff) hang on a length of baker's twine, while the kids in the snapshot hang out poolside for the requisite swim team photo:

The line of aqua-patterned clothing pokes fun at my title and becomes a major design element on the page. Everything else is easily layered, starting with a bold black and white patterned paper. Next, subtle prints of blue and aqua are stacked haphazardly, along with a string-tie envelope. The lightest paper acts as both photo mat and journaling spot.

Pen-stitching adds a bit of detail to the T-shirts and jeans (cut down for shorts):

Check out all of the cool designs (titles, accents, and more) in these two cut file sets:

Which is your favorite, and what will you create? Me, I've got plans for the word "beautiful" from Girl Stuff! ;)

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. Until next time,

Ice Cold Snowballs

With a coat of bright orange paint, it's pretty hard to miss. For about 8 months now, it's been taunting us, windows closed, umbrellas packed away. But when the flags start flying and the menu board makes it debut outside, the snowball stand beckons. And you know that summer is not far away. We enjoyed our first snowballs last week, but I recently scrapped a couple of photos from last summer, which feature one happy camper with his ice cold treat.

I used the Abstract Angles cut file from The Cut Shoppe Etsy store and lots of paper scraps to create my fun and colorful background:

There were two great photos that I wanted to include on the page. In the first one, my son is trying to decide on a flavor.  In the second, he's prepared to enjoy his concoction. The smaller second picture was cropped, mounted to a tag and strategically placed over an empty spot in the larger photo. 

A patterned paper and baker's twine banner mimics the one draping the snowball stand in my photos:

Cardstock letter stickers spell out the title:

I love this cut file and can't wait to try it again: monochromatic with shades of the same color or with a riotous mix of color, with all the openings filled in or with only some of them backed by patterned paper. There are so many options, it's going to be hard to decide...kinda like choosing a snowball flavor! ;)

Happy Together

Having all five of my children in the same place, at the same time is tricky business. When the stars align like that, I grab my camera! That everyone was dressed nicely for Easter is bonus. ;)

I knew immediately that the flowery wreath from The Cut Shoppe's Spring Fling cut file set would be the perfect accompaniment:

Pretty pink florals and green patterned paper backs the cut file, and enamel dots fill in the small flower centers. 

The candy-colored photo of the seven of us begged for a similarly sweet background. I began with a light aqua patterned paper, then distressed it with a smattering of pink gelatos and finished it off with a spattering of white mist. Little else is needed in the way of embellishment, just a few die-cuts from Elle's Studio and a trio of enamel dots. Sweet!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.

Have A Heart

Putting older patterned paper and paper scraps to good use is one of the best aspects of a cut file background. It's also the reason I have a hard time letting go of much of the paper I've accumulated over my many years of scrapbooking! Here's a background that had me pulling out all of the green:

This cut file is called Have A Heart, but I see four-leafed clovers, with each of the clover leaves composed of a heart. I used the 8.5x11 inch version for my page:

After cutting the clover design from kraft cardstock, I went through my stash of paper and chose various prints to back the leaf openings, and unified the leaflets by sticking to a similar shade of green throughout.

At the bottom of the page, I fit my title and a small cluster of embellishments: star pins, enamel dots, brads, chipboard and wood veneer:

Filled with a variety of green patterns, these heart clusters look even more like clovers, and provide the perfect backdrop. The 8.5X11 inch design placed sideways on my 12x12 page allowed for two overlapping photos and a title, leaving plenty enough of the background design visible.

For this and other background cut files, check out The Cut Shoppe's Etsy store. As always, thanks for stopping by the blog today.

Boys Rule

Happy Monday Cut Shoppe fans! It's Madeline here with a summertime layout featuring a cut file from the ever popular Boys Rule collection. I chose to enlarge the phrase itself, "Boys Rule", filling the "O" with my photo, and the other letters with bright and colorful patterned papers from American Crafts' #Summer collection.

There are so many versatile designs and phrases to choose from in the Boys Rule cut file set:

Here's a closeup of the large "O", framing a photo of my son and his cousin. Uncle Chris was supposed to be helping to hold up the board, but couldn't resist photo-bombing the two kids. ;)

Most of the supplies (patterned papers, stickers, flair, transparency pieces, and wood veneer) are from the #Summer collection by American Crafts. 

I love how this cut file does double duty, as both the title of my page and a major part of its design!

Thanks for stopping by The Cut Shoppe Blog today!

Love Is All You Need

I'm not the best at taking selfies, so I don't know what possessed me to try to take one with BOTH myself and my husband in the shot. I was even trying to capture the restaurant's sign above and behind us! Yeah, that didn't happen, but we do have a nice neon green glow to our hair. ;)

Here's the layout I put together with my less-than-perfect picture, American Crafts/Amy Tangerine papers, Maggie Holmes ephemera, and a wonderful title from The Cut Shoppe:

The phrase from the Love Struck cut file was perfect:

Cut from white cardstock with the open letters backed in black, this Love Struck phrase gives off the same vibe as the black and white flowers and frames. Pen-stitching on the word "love" continues to reinforce the hand-drawn look:

I LOVE the fussy-cut flowers. I had them sprout from the title, and reach up to fill the otherwise empty frame:

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I'll be back later in the month with another fun cut file on a bright and colorful beach page. If I can't BE at the beach, I may as well reminisce and scrap about it, right?! See you soon!

Dive In & Swim

When a group of swim team friends gathered together for a picture at their end-of-the-summer-season party, it made for quite a colorful snapshot. I brought all those colors back when I created the layout below.

To contrast with the vivid papers and embellishments of my page, I cut a title and star flourish from black cardstock, using the Make A Splash and Let's Make Music cut files from The Cut Shoppe:

To tone down the stark black of the cardstock cuts, I spritzed them both with white mist. They still made quite a statement!

I love the contrast of black and white with the saturated teal, yellow and red of the patterned paper, enamel dots, tags, and acrylics. It's a wonderfully bold look, a look that works well for my colorful photo!

T-Town

The cut file I used for the page below seems to be a design team favorite, as it's been featured several times in the last month. What's really cool is the uniqueness of each layout. The hearts have been used with sketch pens, stitching, watercolor and more. Today's hearts are rainbow-hued! Here it is, the Half Hearted 12X12 cut file from The Cut Shoppe Etsy store:

For the past four years we've made numerous trips to Tuscaloosa while my middle son was enrolled at the University of Alabama. One of our favorite eateries had a wall full of painted guitars, including a striking one emblazoned with the words "Sweet Home Alabama". It inspired the colorful layout below: 

Several colorful embellishments were added to the hearts in two separate clusters, one at the upper right:

 And one at the bottom left:

I loved leafing through my patterned paper stash for colorful scraps with which to back the heart halves. Equally fun was sifting through my embellishments for coordinating bits and pieces. It was a bit of work to gather and put this page together, but totally worth the time and effort!

Thanks for visiting The Cut Shoppe blog today. Until next time,

To

Social Media?

Happy Monday Cut Shoppe friends! I'm here with a favorite background from The Cut Shoppe Etsy store, the Very Squarey cut file which includes both 12x12 and 8.5x11 sizes:

The title of this page is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and pokes fun at the five cousins in the photo below. It's Christmas day and there they are, sitting side by side, totally engrossed in what is on the devices in front of them. Maybe they are communicating by text?! ;)

I thought that the Very Squarey cut file would be perfect for my background, with the squares representing the many screens (laptops, smart phones, ipads, etc.) that sometimes seem to take the place of face-to-face conversations. Adding snippets of text was an afterthought, but totally appropos.

Although I could have gone my favorite route, all out colorful, when backing the cuts, I thought monochromatic would be a better option. A somewhat busy black and white photo certainly didn't need the competition!

Many of the same papers were repeated in the center for my all-in-one photo/title/journaling mat, which corrals the aforementioned elements, preventing them from getting lost on my page.

The question remains. When having a family gathering, should we put a basket by the door with a sign that says "Deposit all phones HERE!"? What do you think? ;)