Every month, I look at what the design team has created with the kits and I have a bit of a surreal reaction ... I have a difficult time believing that this incredibly talented group of women is actually working with my kits.  There is absolutely no way to pick a favorite and I never know where to start.  This layout from Julia Stainton is so adorable.

Julia worked with the "Lazy Days" kit this month and added the Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers.

There are just so many details to take in, such as the subtle stamping of white on kraft in the upper corner.  A great way to fill in an empty space without taking focus away from the photos.  

 And I always love a little Dymo tape ...

Visit the Gallery to see more of these wonderful creations!

Pretty Cards

From Mandy ...Sarah ... and Julia ...

All made with either the Resort Town kit, the Country Air kit or a combination of both.

New Challenge ... Die Cuts Done Different

Happy Monday All! I do believe the air feels a little bit warmer today. Not warmish ... just warmer. But I'll take it. As our March kit is going to stretch through April (the next kit will be released on May 1st), I've decided to extend the monthly contest until the end of April. Also, I only managed to post one lonely challenge this whole month. Today's challenge is brought to you by Julia. She wants you to use your die cut paper in an interesting way ... no just plunking it in the centre of your page. Her example below shows how she split her die cut and repositioned it ... leaving an abundance of white space between the two pieces (a perfect spot for some journaling). Her photo and embellishments are clustered to the far right side and immediately draw the eye. I can't stop looking!Rather than using the buttons on their own, Julia has left them on their packaging card for dramatic effect. It's wonderful when the packaging is too pretty to throw away :) A light misting of ink to coordinate the flower ...

Also, note that Julia has sanded all of her edges. I always do the edges of my photos, but usually reach for my distressing tool to rough up my patterned papers and die cuts. I love how the sanded edges give a softer touch.

As always, upload your finished projects to the Up The Street Flickr Gallery and be sure to tag your images with "MarchContest" for your chance at wining a $30.00 credit to the store. Visit the website for more information.

Country Air projects from Julia

Julia was just in on Tuesday to pick up her Country Air kit, so imagine my surprise when I opened my e-mail this morning to find a few of her projects already waiting for me ...
A bit of machine stitching and a hand-stamped banner ...
A sweet little card ...

Notice how Julia has coloured the centre pearls of her flower. I'm not sure what she's used, but I'm going to guess a Copic marker ...

I've managed to squeeze in a few pages the last few days myself, but I'll save those to share tomorrow :)

"Brrrrr"

A.K.A. ... "How I'm Feeling Today". Good grief. Warmish one day ... frigid the next. No comments from the Peanut Gallery please. I'm talking about the weather.
On to Julia's beautiful layout ...
I'm just smitten with the We R Memory Keepers' Merry January line. WRMK seems to be able to pick colour palettes that no one else is really doing at the moment so they really catch your eye when looking through current product.
And although there are oodles and smoodles of embellishments in the January Kit, I love how adding a few items from your stash can finish off an otherwise gorgeous layout. A beautiful little Maya Road doily transparency from the November kit and a few Maya Road chipboard snowflakes contribute to the icy feeling of this layout.

The Maya Road chandelier trinket bead resembles a perfect little icicle.

Looking back over this layout, the gorgeous finishing details seem to be predominently Maya Road. They're revealing all of the new CHA goodies on their blog this week. I already see some things that will HAVE to go into an upcoming kit or two ;)

I'd love to hear what you absolutely, positively must have from the new releases.

KI Memories Calendar Paper

Is it spring yet? I've had about enough of the snow already. Brrr.
On to happier things ... like scrapbook paper :)
One of the specialty papers that came in the Ice Cold kit this month is the Sew Cute KI Memories paper. The thin black outline on the white section of the paper is stitched (hence the "Sew" in "Sew Cute").
Julia highlighted the grid pattern on the background by using small scraps of paper in random spots and tied in the calendar "theme" with her journaling ...

Mandy went another route by turning it on it's side and just treating it as a photo matte on a pieced background ...

Look for another sheet of this fun paper in the upcoming February kit, as well as a few other styles in the store.

Closing out November with Julia Stainton

Here we are at the end of November. The December kits are ready to roll (for tomorrow), but I wanted to share Julia's projects from November. If you've been in the store, you will have seen them displayed in person. This is the one that gets all the attention. It must be those adorable kids :)

And the denim flower ... old jeans + Tattered Florals die = super cool handmade embellishment.

And of course, lots of stitching ...

Julia always makes good use of the kit packaging. Part of the smaller paper bag appears behind her photos ...

And that fabulous Tattered Florals die again with the remainder of the paper bag ...

Julia always does such lovely work and now her cards are available for purchase in the Up The Street store. Stop by for a peek :)

4 You

Just a quick card from Julia for you today. Using supplies from the September main kit and add-on.
And a quick note about the October kits ... I'm just waiting on a few more things that are due to arrive tomorrow. Look for the new reveal on Monday the 4th :)

Little Tickets

Morning all! I trust everyone had a good first week back to school. I always think that I'll have so much time to get things accomplished when the kids are gone for the day, but I seem to be further behind than I was a week ago. Go figure.
I'm still not in the store just yet. Hopefully sometime this week. I'll keep you posted ;)
Until then, have a look at the wee My Minds Eye tickets that come with the September kit. I always love little tickets on layouts. Jenni Bowlin has been making them for a few years now and I've even resorted to using leftover beer tickets from Stag & Doe's if I like the looks of them. These one's are a little different because they're connected together along their long side instead of end to end.
Julia left 3 of them together to used behind her photo ...

Mandy used one, mounted all by its lonesome, as a real focal point on her layout ...

* Mandy's layout has been removed for publication *

And on her card, Mandy layers a few as a title block ...

I love this little card. It's so small and thick and yummy. One of my favorite bits is the wee flower grouping. She used only the centres from the Prima flowers to create tiny rose buds. So pretty. Sigh.

Just finished ordering for the November kit. My favorite of all my kits so far.

And I'm trying to get December organized. I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around Christmas this far ahead. There are so many beautiful lines out there this year. What to choose ... what to choose ...

Great minds think alike ...

Julia and Mandy must have thought the same thing when they saw the Basic Grey Oliver Greyson paper that came in the September kit because we all used it in a similar way.
We basically just left it alone and grouped our photos and embellishments together to leave a good portion of "white space".
I also used the Basic Grey Micro Monos that came with the August kit for my layout ...
The black background is perfect for journaling with a white pen ...

Julia also used bits from the September add-on for her layout ...

The Oliver Bloomers and Fancy Pants sticker work perfectly ...

Mandy cut one of the MME die cuts to frame her photo grouping (which also uses another die cut as a matte) and punched butterflies from the scraps of the black patterned paper (to use the reverse side for a cost-effective embellishment).

A great example of using very few supplies to create a stunning layout ...Layers and layers and layers :)

@ the lake

This is another example of a layout using that gorgeous Basic Grey Doily paper included in the September kit. In this case, Julia flips it over to take advantage of the pure white of the back.
It creates the perfect backdrop for photos from a beautifully serene day at Lake Huron.

Bo Bunny Double Double Dot paper is one of my favorite products to use in place of cardstock. I think it would actually be considered a patterned paper because it has a dot pattern on one side, a more distressed version of the same dominant colour on the back and has a white core. It just gives you so many more options than a standard sheet of cardstock would.

Julia uses the backside of the paper and sands the surface to fit her beach theme perfectly.

I hope everyone enjoys their last holiday weekend of the summer. Things will be busy here for sure :)