School's Out For The Summer! by Esther

This page showed children having fun in the summer sun. A fun thing is a pinwheel. Here is a cardstock one made for the summer theme. I used the Flair Summer Daze for the yellow swirls & adhered it to solid red Bazzill. Any contrasting combination or a two-sided cardstock will work. Some of the DT used two-sided cardstock from Best Creation. The cardstock is displayed at the Scrapbooks Plus.

The pinwheel is easy to make. Cut a square of the two-sided paper. Cut a hole in the middle with either the Big-bite or a Crop-A-Dile. Cut slits from each of the four corners to within one inch of the center. Punch a hole in each left-handed side of the slit shapes. Now overlap the holes moving around the shape so that they can be secured with the brad in the center that goes through the middle hole. I used a lollipop stick for the handle.

The page was laid out based on the three photos. It began with a solid blue cardstock. I cut the theme "School's Out For Summer!" & the sun shapes from the Flair paper & adhered them to chipboard to bring them forward. My sub theme is "The Sun." Glitter was added to the sun.

The journaling was done on the computer & printed on photo paper to easily read. This paper was a challenge for me because it is so busy. But the colors were good for the summer hot sun theme.

I hope you will enjoy the summer & the sun with family & friends.

"Fun in the Sun" Card

I loved the phrases printed on the Summer Daze Words paper...pretty much a comprehensive list of all the activities associated with summer time.
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To create this "Fun in the Sun" card, I simply trimmed out several strips, matted them on orange card stock, and arranged them to resemble the rays of the sun. I stamped the flip flops on cardstock, added a little bling for fun, and adhered them with red line tape, so that the one on the far right is actually holding the card closed.
The sentiment inside reads "Enjoy your summer - however you choose to spend it!"

Chomp, Chomp! by Esther

The summer theme and bling appealed to me for this month. But also, I was excited to get my hands on the Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper. It was shown in magazines several months ago. I had to have one. When Scrapbooks got them in, I was there. What a great tool to add to your collection.

I "chomped" corners to my heart's content over into the night. It has a quarter inch & a half inch corners. The bits of paper from the corners are caught in the device. These are easily emptied when you are ready. This tool makes it easy to see that your corner is in place before cutting both lightweight and heavier weight corners. I tried it on cardstock , then chipboard. Next was the acrylic pieces. It is great!

The mini album shown is a product of my excessive use of the Chomper. This mini album is a way to show some of the summer photos, I look forward to taking soon.

You can cut the chipboard pieces to sizes desired at the store. Look under the DT Wall for the cutter. The summer & play themed papers are Flair & Best Creation. Glitter cardstock was easily cornered with the chomper. The paper & cardstock can be adhered to the chipboard and after it is dry, both are cornered for a smooth cut.
Get your hands on this tool & chomp, chomp!

A Moment in Time...

It doesn't look like a .25 cent garage sale find, does it? I found the clock about a month ago and knew I would use it to create an altered project, but I was willing to wait for the right paper. And then Esther included the perfect stuff in this month's kit - the BEE-YU-TEE-FUL embossed, double-sided "A Kite Day Words" paper from Best Creations.

It is a pretty simple project. I removed the original picture insert from the clock face and used it as a pattern. I traced the circle onto a piece of vellum, so I could hold it over the patterned paper (and the picture) and pick out exactly which sections would work best. The shiny peacock blue ribbon was great to delineate the different sections.

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As soon as I saw the embossed kites, I wanted to cut one out to travel around the clock on the minute hand. I attached it with a little red line tape - so you know it is going to be "flying high" for a long time! Tip: I bent the end of the minute hand up very slightly to make sure it would clear the embellishments. I checked it every few minutes for the first hour and made the adjustment when I noticed it had gotten stuck.

The circular green frame on the upper left of the clock face came off of the Flair Designs Summer Daze die cut sticker sheet and made it easy to add a simple title. I set it with eyelets using The Big Bite from Cropodile. I tell you, that tool has completely changed my relationship with eyelets. It is so easy to use. Debbie has one in the crop room at Scrapbooks Plus. You should try it out - you will definitely be using more eyelets on your projects, too!

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Several good things about this project: it was really inexpensive - it was quick and easy - I can see myself changing the picture and the paper at a later date (maybe even seasonally)- and I think this would make an awesome gift for someone - because everyone needs to know what time it is!

"Sunshine" Single Page with Circles

I was completely inspired by all the cool circle designs printed on the Flair Summer Daze Words paper. It made for a really easy layout. I trimmed the top and left side of the paper to make it 11.5" x 11.5" and mounted it on some orange card stock. The pictures were cropped into circle shapes and mounted on more of that vibrant orange. I used some pop dots to vary the height of a couple of them and added a circular journaling block. If you look closely you will see 3 small eyelets on the bottom left and upper right of the page, just repeating the theme of orange circles! With all of the great words already printed on the page, any of which would make a perfect title for this page, I didn't feel the need to create an actual title. This is probably the fastest layout I have made in a long time - and I love it!

June Design Team Kit, Esther, Designer of the Month

Who doesn't like summer? It is a time to relax, change your pace and vacation. The Design Team kit this month is filled with a summer theme and glitz. The blues of the glitter cardstock contrast with the oranges in the Flair Summer Daze papers. There are also water pages the will remind you of swimming in a cool pool. The vivid colors and the messages in the Best Creation cardstock are a great compliment with added glitter. Add some jewels and flowers.



The Design Team has successfully risen to the creative challenge of working with the blues and glitter. You must see the display on the wall at the store. There are a lot of great design ideas to get you thinking of your summer themed layouts. Examples are a card with a water window; a clock; a glitter covered gift box; a surfboard, just to name a few ideas. And there are flip flops galore.