All Star Kiddo Layout

I created a layout just for fun! When inspiration strikes I try to run with it and for this page I was inspired by star punches and used my Truly Grateful collection.

Here is a process video so you can see how this layout came together from start-to-finish:

I began by punching three different sized stars from a variety of patterned papers from Truly Grateful. I have a pile of patterned papers that have been cut into, punched from, torn from, etc, so I don't always cut into brand new 12x12 papers. I turn to this pile of scrap paper first when making layouts, especially ones that feature lots of patterned papers like this.

I punched about 100 stars from all the colors. I can't help myself, I love all the colors together! Then I decided to do some mixed media. I used the colorful polka-dot B-side of Paper 17 as the background and applied a layer of gesso to the middle. I pooled a bunch of water in the middle and dropped/splashed/flicked Pastel Dreams & Tropicals watercolors.

Once the watercolors dried, the paper was very warped so I ran it through a Minc machine twice to flatten it. For another layer of texture and interest on the background I used my Star Confetti Stencil and scraped modeling paste through it in all four quadrants of the layout. 

I chose a photo of Fox and then placed the stars tone-on-tone over the background. To help the stars stand out more and create texture I distressed all of the edges of all of the stars with scissors. This process took the longest, about an hour. After distressing a star I adhered it to the page with a glue dot.

For the title I used the Thickers to say "ALL STAR KIDDO" on the left side. I moved a couple of the stars on the bottom to make room for journaling and wrote it with a pencil first before going over it with a blue pen.

To finish I added dots from the Epoxy Stickers and Puffy Stickers also tone-on-tone for little pops of color.

I hope this page inspires you to create a layout with lots and lots of stars using Truly Grateful! Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you have any questions :)

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, Thickers, epoxy dots: TRULY GRATEFUL; Stencil: Star Confetti by Paige Evans; gesso; Watercolors: Pastel Dreams & Tropicals by Prima; modeling paste

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Mini Album by Maija Männistö

Hi everyone, Maija Männistö here to share a mini album created with Truly Grateful and Paige's Mini Album with Card Tags cut file - filled with photos of our recent trip to Valencia, Spain.

The base of the mini album is die cut from Paper 06, with the perfect match of the detailed A side and a little more subtle B side. For the cover I created the title with the Thickers and some fussy cut flowers from the gorgeous floral Paper 02.

The Mini Album with Card Tags cut file comes with four different kinds of tags to put into the pockets. I created three of each to fit as many photos into the mini album as possible. I used the 12x12 Paper Pad to cut these tags so that each of them have a white background where I can write journaling. For each tag I also attached a piece of ribbon for extra texture.

For a few of the tags I wanted to add more texture and dimension so I used modeling paste with Paige’s stencils to add a little something extra on them.


Creating a mini album like this with several individual pieces is super fun! You can focus on one tag at a time and just have fun with it! I used pretty much all of the embellishments that are in the Truly Grateful collection. I also really love fussy cutting elements from the patterned papers. To get more pictures on some of the tags, I actually stapled a few photos together from the top only, so that you can flip them to see more.


For the next three tags I also used the super cute sentiment from the 2x2 Paper Pads and for the tag with all the food pictures I was super happy to have the cute pear from the Journaling Spots. To fit even more pictures on that tag I created the accordion that holds five photos. For the third tag I once again went with fussy cutting, this time with one of the floral papers from the 6x8 Paper Pad and the cute postage stamp from the Ephemera Die Cuts.


For the last pocket I created a shaker tag and filled it with the sequins from the Mixed Embellishments, from which I also added two wood veneer flowers. To make the sequins stay on both sides of the photo I sewed a line across the tag behind the photo.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, have a great day!

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, embellishments, Thickers, die cuts, sequins, stickers: TRULY GRATEFUL; white cardstock; modeling paste; Stencils by Paige Evans; Die cut machine: Silhouette Cameo 3; Cut file:Mini Album with Card Tags by Paige Evans

Location: Finland / Blog: Mai Makings / Instagram: @maimakings / YouTube: Mai Makings / Pinterest: Mai Loves

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I Think You Are Pretty Amazing Layout

I created a new layout for the Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine Blog based on a peachy color palette using my Truly Grateful collection. There are prizes to go along with the challenges so be sure to stop by the SCT blog!

I started by picking and choosing patterned papers from Truly Grateful based on the color palette. I grabbed six border punches from my stash and went to town punching paper strips from all of my chosen patterned papers. This process took about an hour to an hour and a half.

I chose a light cream textured cardstock for my background and layered the punched paper strips down the left side, overlapping some and varying the widths for interest and texture. I kept the papers grouped together by color, starting with white at the top, then working down through pinks, oranges, greens, and mints.

I used my Brother sewing machine to straight stitch across the tops of most of the paper strips, using a matching colored thread. This helps keep the papers in place permanently and also adds another layer of interest and texture. For even more dimension I bent up the paper strips. I splashed watered down white acrylic paint on the right side and let it dry. Then I added my 3x4" photo with a white border over the paint using foam squares and layered a Floral Die Cut on the right edge. I fussy cut a sentiment from one of the 2x2 Paper Pads and added it atop the flower.

Over on the left side I embellished tone-on-tone with Puffy Phrase Stickers, Epoxy Stickers, and sentiments from the Stickers. I added more Floral Die Cuts also tone-on-tone using foam squares for added dimension. To finish I wrote journaling with a pink pen below the photo (written after I took all the photos, oopsies lol, but I did re-take the final photo which you can see in the very first image).

I hope this page inspires you to try creating layouts based off of a color palette! Sometimes it helps to be limited by something and only use what's been selected for you!

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, stickers, die cuts: Truly Grateful; Border punches: Fiskars, Martha Stewart Crafts, EK Success; Sewing machine: Brother; Pen: Zig; white acrylic paint

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Ready for Fall Layout by Lilly Sanchez

Hey guys, it's Lilly Sanchez here, welcome back to the blog. I am so excited to start transitioning over and sharing fall projects with you.

This is not only my favorite time of the year but also when I get the most crafty. I have been quite the busy bee lately and I am so excited to share with you what I have created using Truly Grateful. I constantly love seeing all the amazing layouts you guys create so I always get an itch to make one and play with Paige's cut files. So I put one together to show you guys this girl right here is so ready for fall. I decided to use the Pumpkins Background cut file because it felt like it would go great with what I had in mind. I backed a few of the pumpkins using Paper 14 because the 2x2 squares are perfect for that.

As for my background I used the B-side of Paper 04 and let that peek through the pumpkins I did not back. I then proceeded to give my layout some life adding pre-made embellies I had laying around using the Layered Butterfly cut files. I then used the Thickers to spell out my title over torn papers. To finish off the layout I added Epoxy Stickers and Floral Die Cuts.

I hope you guys enjoyed my project share of the day! This is the beginning of my fall projects and I can’t wait to show you what I created next. See you next time!

SUPPLIES: Patterned papers, die cuts, Thickers, embellishments: TRULY GRATEFUL; Cut files: Pumpkins Background and Layered Butterfly by Paige Evans

Location: New Jersey, USA / Instagram: @craftingwithliller / Facebook: Crafting with Liller
YouTube: Crafting with Liller / Pinterest: Crafting with Liller

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Loved Layout

I've scraplifted myself because this colorful sunburst Paper 08 is like the one in Horizon and I just had to re-create it with Truly Grateful!

To create this layout, carefully trim between each wedge of Paper 08, not cutting all the way to the center but leaving about 2”. Heavily distress the edges of the wedges. Adhere the paper the light B-side of Paper 21 patterned paper and continue distressing the edges until you are happy with the way it looks.

Add a square photo with a white border for contrast to the center of the page. Tuck a floral Ephemera Die Cut under the top edge of the photo. Embellish with Ephemera Die Cuts and Stickers tone-on-tone to create a colorful border around the photo. Add round, heart, and star Epoxy Stickers also placed tone-on-tone around the layout.

Journal with a white pen on the bottom left corner to finish. Done and done! This layout was super quick & easy to make and I love all the colors, of course :) I hope it inspires you to pick up my Truly Grateful collection and create something similar!

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, die cuts, embellishments, stickers: TRULY GRATEFUL

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Vaduz, Liechtenstein Mini Album

I taught a class at Artescrap in Mexico City back in August 2017. On the first evening there was a big opening event with classes and workshops and since I didn't have to be anywhere, I took a class from @xoxosunduri! We made this mini album base. Now, just a little more than two years later, I've added photos from our day in Vaduz, Liechtenstein - we visited five years ago! Wow time flies!

Here is a quick flip through so you can see all of the interactive elements in action:

 The covers are made of 6x6" canvas covered chipboard pieces. On the front we layered all kinds of embellishments from Maggie Holmes and my very first collection with Pink Paislee called Fancy Free. The butterflies are stamped and fussy cut. I added the title "VADUZ" with gold alpha stickers then used my Typecast Typewriter to type "Liechtenstein" on a label sticker. The more layers the better I say! Creates so much interest and detail.

 On this first spread, I copied the text from our Vaduz, Liechtenstein blog post recap, pasted it into a new Illustrator document, changed the font to Remington Noiseless, sized it to point 8, and then printed it out. I trimmed the journaling into strips then glued the strips onto the left page. I added a 2" square photo below the journaling (you can watch how I print small photos in this YouTube tutorial). I had 5x5" photos printed at Costco and sewed a pair back-to-back, punched three holes on the left, and inserted the pictures here. I pulled out my box of Maggie Holmes supplies and added a puffy lemon sticker on the top right corner and a "beautiful" rubber sentiment at the bottom.

 On the back of the 5x5" photos I added a large "love you" sticker. On the right side I added journaling strips to a tag, a photo of the sleek'n'cool license plates, and then the other embellishments were added during the class.

 This tag tucks into the pocket. I added a bird because Jane loves birds. Oh how I miss this baby Jane!

 Third spread has a lot of interactive flaps! Makes turning the pages so fun.

 Here is the 4th spread with more tags, pockets, and a waterfall feature tied together with string. These flaps and pockets are so perfect for adding many photos. And for someone like me who has the hardest time narrowing down hundreds of pictures, this is great. The more photos I can include the better!

 The 5th spread has a fun hinged page which swings open to reveal a photo. And then I made this photo page by trimming down a page protector to 6x6" and drew lines across with a pencil to divide it into a 3x3 grid. I stitched the vertical lines first, tucked the bottom row of three photos into the bottom, stitched the horizontal line above, added the next row of three photos, stitched the next horizontal line above, added the top three photos, and stitched across the top edge. Apparently my sewing machine didn't like sewing through the slippery page protector, but I don't mind the messiness, it adds to the handmade factor.

 Here is the hinged page when open.

 On the 6th spread I glued patterned papers to the back of each of the mini photos before adding them into the custom pocket. The right side has a few photos and tags tucked into the edge pocket.

 7th spread has another pocket with a photo and a journaling tag tucked behind. And then I added another 5x5" photo stitched back-to-back, but this time I turned it into a pocket by stitching around three edges only.

 Here are the contents of the pocket on the left page.

 Inside the 5x5" photo I added a 4x4" photo also turned into a pocket :)

Fronts and backs of the pocket contents.

 The last spread is the back of the 5x5" photo pocket and I layered flower die cuts on the right edge of the final page.

 On the back cover we heat embossed gold glittery butterflies and tied ribbon and string around the binder rings holding the album together.

 I am so happy to have this album complete! Slowly but surely I am getting my pile of unfinished projects FINISHED! It's a good feeling.

Onto the next mini album! Thanks so much for stopping by!

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