The One with Elle's Studio April Projects

Here are my projects for April for Elle's Studio!


BEACH LIFE.

Journaling says: The lifestyle of the people who live on the beach is so much different than the lifestyle in our shady (as in shaded by trees, not shady like bad things happen) neck of the woods in South Pasadena. We may all live in the same state, but just 30 miles makes all the difference in the world. I saw a "For Rent" sign on one of the beachfront homes - and technically it wasn't even right on the beach - but they were asking $5000 a month for rent! Must be nice to afford that kind of lifestyle! "Some day" right? :) I do love the beach, I love the sand and the ocean. But you know what I've decided? I like trees and rain even more. I'm a Washington girl at heart and I hope to live there again some day!

Tips: I watched The Time Traveler's Wife while making these layouts, FYI :) I covered a kraft cardstock background with a colorful collage of journaling spots and date labels then took away a couple to make room for photos. I wrote the journaling then created matching colored flowers on most of the rest of the journaling spots. To make the flowers I tore concentric circles from cardstock, layered them together, crumpled the edges, and topped the center with a matching colored button. Easy as pie.

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts, Kraft; Journaling spots, date labels: Elle's Studio; Buttons, letter stickers, pen: American Crafts



I LOVE PETS.

You'd think I'd get sick of making layouts about pets and animals but just the opposite is true! Journaling says: Name a pet - any kind of pet - I've probably had one or wanted one at some point in my life. I have loved animals since before I can even remember. My very first "real" pet was a guinea pig named Tanmerry (pronounced tan-marie). I can't tell you how happy it made me to have a little rodent to look after and take care of and love. I would carry her around in my shirt and play with her in the backyard. Since then my pet collection and obsession has only grown and gotten worse. Currently we have a dog named Joey, a cat named Rachel, a bunny named Chandler, a finch named Alice, a conure named Jadis, and a chinchilla named Li'l Chinchilla. They're a handful of work, but I love them all!

Tips: I fanned out a bunch of pet-themed vintage flashcards, put a silly photo of me with all my pets on top, then stitched a few circles around and around the picture using brown thread. I stamped an Elle's Studio paw-print in black ink across the page, then added some colorful buttons to the flash cards.

Supplies: Cardstock, buttons, letter stickers: American Crafts; Flashcards, paw print stamp: Elle's Studio; Pens: American Crafts (black), Sharpie (white); Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Ink: StazOn



PAPER FLOWERS

The nice thing about Elle's Studio products is a lot of them come in a square format so I can make one of my favorite paper projects super easily! I did a tutorial of this paper flower on the Simply Handmade blog back in December so click on that link if you want to learn to make some - they're super easy and super cute!

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics for Elle's Studio; Patterned paper, calendar tags: Elle's Studio; Other: Hot glue gun

Visit the Elle's Studio Inspiration Gallery to see all the other talented designer's amazing work and here's a link to the Elle's Studio blog where lots of other fun stuff is always going down!