design each moment

green and pink turtle by Elizabeth Moon

Now that my baby girl is six months old, I figure I'd better get started on her baby book!

I was inspired by this greeting card we received at Gwyneth's baby shower and thought it would make a nice starting point for a pink and green 12x12 layout.
 
I used Mosaic Moments 12x12 Tropical Green Grid Paper, Light Pretty Pink cardstock by World Win Papers, a flower stamp from the Create A Cupcake collection, 3 photos, the turtle greeting card...and my sewing machine.

With the tension set at 4, and the stitch length at 2, I selected this stitch pattern:  

(Please disregard my two-year-old's "artwork"!)

You can use the standard needle and thread and a very basic sewing machine (like mine) to embellish your page.  Nothing fancy required.

After testing the design on a scrap of paper, I began in a less conspicuous corner and sewed a border around the matted photo.

For the border, I simply moved the stitch length to 1, tested it on scrap paper, and then went all the way around the page.  It is best to save this step for last.

Machine sewing is such a quick and easy way to add texture and interest to a simple layout. 

I really like how the greeting card tied in, using the cute phrases and saving the handwritten note from our friends.  Gwyneth will love this page someday!

Welcome Elizabeth Moon

..

I hope you will join me in welcoming a fresh face to our Creative Contributors on the Mosaic Moments - Design Each Moment Blog.

Through her varied interests, which include sewing, cooking, photography, painting, interior design, party-planning, fashion, card-making, and scrapbooking, Elizabeth seems to have captured the essence of that old saying, "Variety is the spice of life." I am delighted that she will be sharing a little of her spice with us.

Learn more about Elizabeth.

Gone Fishin'

One evening in early spring our good friends invited us to a pond near their home to go fishing.  We brought along a little "Lightning McQueen" fishing pole we bought at Walmart, thinking it would just be fun for our girls to hold it.  Needless to say, we were a bit surprised when it actually worked!  

My favorite part of the adventure was watching Kate with the worms.  She's a little more brave than her mother, that's for sure.  She did get the heebie jeebies when dad started tickling her, so I wanted to capture that in the mosaic.  The evening we were there was beautiful, the light was wonderful and I just enjoyed watching the kids on this serene evening having fun with their dad.  I wanted to keep the "mood" intact with the colors, so I stayed pretty neutral and I think it worked out well.  This was a fun one to put together, just to remember that evening.

As far as the actual layout and learning experience on this one...I definitely feel like I'm starting to grasp the flexibility with the layout.  For example, the picture of the hand in the upper right corner didn't necessarily need to extend as far down as it did, but I chose to do that so I wouldn't have to crop into the picture beneath it for those tiles.  I'm realizing that each layout, even if using the same page pattern, can actually turn out very different depending on how the pictures are arranged.  Love these "aha" moments!

Dreams and Wishes Card

I haven't ever been a prolific card maker. There was a time (before kids) when I would spend hours drawing and painting cards for special friends. I enjoyed it, but, life got too busy and Hallmark was very convenient. Recently, I've realized in the time it takes me to go shopping for that perfect card, I can make a handmade card at home.

I like buying papers and stickers; however, for the most part, they don't end up on my scrapbook pages. Once I include all the photos I want on my pages, there isn't a lot of room for other stuff.  I love that making my own cards allows me to use all the scraps that are left over and all the cute stuff I bought and never used.

I made this card using 1/3 of a sheet of Mosaic Moments RTC Brick 4x4 Grid Paper. I added squares of Basic Grey patterned paper and I used some stickers I've had hanging around for many moons from 7 Gypsies.

I scored the card to create three sections and folded them accordion style. I punched the little patterned paper squares with a 1 inch punch, and I used our latest FREE Download (printed on white cardstock) and a little ink to make the sentiment in the center.

Road Trip Games! by Janine Blackwelder

Summer vacation is in full swing and what better way than to keep the kids busy on the way to your favorite summer destination than with a board game!

I created this TypeStacks board game using an 8x8 Mosaic Moments Black Grid Paper. You can create various phrases by stacking different tiles above or below to the left or right each other. Give each person a stack of phrases and see who can keep the phrase going. Bring extra stamps and tiles to continue making more phrases. 

I used a corner rounder to make the grid fit in the cake pan. I purchased a 9x9 square cake pan and just happened to have on hand a magnetic sticker sheet. I cut various sizes to fit the Mosaic Moments Paper Tiles then with black ink stamped various TypeStacks onto the tiles then adhered them to the magnetic sticker sheet.  

Then I got to thinking, what other games could you play on the grid and Checkers and Tic Tac Toe came to mind. There are four grids to play on. 

 I used alphabet punches to punch X's and O's from the left over magnet sheet a few Paper Tiles. You can use the O's for checker pieces.

 Then I stamped numbers from the Clearly Numbers set to make a mini version of Sudoku but with only six numbers. Here's a link how to play the mini version.

What's so great about this board game is that it's magnetic and you don't have to worry about loosing the pieces and cake pans are only $1 at the Dollar Store.

I hope you have a great summer and have fun with the kids making this portable game board.