Category: spring

artfire, bella stitchery, blog candy, chicks, deals, easter, free cross-stitch patterns, free patterns, handmade ideas, home decor, pinterest, sales, spring, vintage easter

FREE Easter Joy Cross-Stitch Pattern

Genevieve Speegle

Easter is all about joy, so I thought I would spread a little of my own with this free, one-of-a-kind cross-stitch pattern:

Click here to download the pattern from Scribd.

This darling project will be about 14×21.5 inches when complete (based on a standard 14 ct. aida cloth, although you can use any size you like).  Chart comes complete with the list of DMC floss needed.

Please send me photos when you’re done with this piece – I would love to see this adorable chickie finished!

xoxo
Genevieve
Bella Stitchery

american crafts, artfire, ducks, farm, flowers, greeting, handmade, handmade cards, houndstooth, october afternoon, polka dots, ribbon, spring, spring cards, springtime, thickers, vintage

Springtime

Genevieve Speegle

A breath of fresh air throughout the city and children coming outside to play after school each day – must be Spring!

I wanted to celebrate the season with some fun, happy cards.  Springtime means color, new life and joy.  I made this cute ducky card for my sister using some adorable paper from October Afternoon.

I love this paper!  The houndstooth pattern is the backside of the duck print.  I used some Thickers to spell out “Spring”and then topped it off with some Vintage ribbon and flowers.
Then I thought, why stop there?  Any cheerful pattern will make a fun Spring greeting!
I used the same card layout design to make this polka dot piece.  I really enjoy working with monotones, so I used the teal blue for the top of the card, along with the lettering.
This one is available at my Bella Stitchery ArtFire shop and is fully embellished inside as well.
Hope you enjoy the season and take time to enjoy the delights of handmade!
xoxo
Genevieve
bunnies, easter layouts, embellishments, inspiration, layout ideas, page kits, pop up cards, puff velvet, scrapbox studios, spring

Inspired

Genevieve Speegle

I don’t know about any of you, but I spend lots of time online getting ideas for layouts and cards.  I love finding inspiration and there are so many amazing creations out there!
I got the idea for this Easter layout from one of my favorite page kit websites, Scrapbox Studios.
I had purchased this happy Easter paper a few weeks back, but wasn’t sure how to build my layout around it.  I know that Scrapbox Studios always offers such detail-rich layouts so I went there to get some ideas. 
Here is the layout that inspired me:
I used the first page of this layout as my inspiration and tweaked it slightly to make it my own.  I had a lot of fun with this page and even cut the bunny heads out of a second sheet to make them pop-up embellishments (I tried to photograph the dimension). 
I also used some white Puffy Velvet fabric markers on the bunny tails.  (If you haven’t used this product, you should definitely pick some up ~ it’s so much fun to use on so many crafts!  You just wait for it to dry and then use a heat gun on it to make it puff.)
anniversary, colorful, elegant cards, love bug, paper piecing, retro children's birthday cards, scrapbooking, simple cards, sleek, spring, style, wedding cards

Spring Clean and Simple

Genevieve Speegle
What I loved about fashion in high school carries over to what I enjoy about crafting, now that I’m 30:
You can be whatever you feel like today.
I used to love dressing in Vintage, modern, costume & even goth (sorry).  The same interests (mostly) apply to my craft style.  I love Vintage and part of my heart will always be with the 1950s kitschy retro, but sometimes I like to play with modern, sleek designs as well.
Spring makes me feel refreshed (at least until the allergies attack and I hide under my bed for a week).  This week’s collection of handmade cards are all about simple, yet colorful design.
You can stop by and see all of this week’s new pieces (and my new store banner!) at my Etsy shop.
death valley, ephemera, family vacation, flowers, hiking, mountains, nature, paper crafts, rangers, sand dunes, scrapbooking, spring, spring break, travel layouts, vacation, writing

Death Valley ROCKS! – So To Speak

Genevieve Speegle
Jackson with his cousin on the mountain top.
Spent all of yesterday (and I mean ALL) hiking in Death Valley with the family. The weather couldn’t have been better ~ flowers in bloom and rocks….well….still rocks.

The sand dunes are always my favorite part (plus, they are the gift that keeps on giving ~ when you bathe everyone, you are left with a beach for a bathroom! I see an inexpensive design episode on HGTV in my future!)

My little one and his cousins even became Junior Rangers! It was so cute! They looked for local plants and animals, picked up trash, learned about survival (well, at least a little bit. I’d still rely on a GPS and bottle of water over the advice of my 3-year-old).

Here is the layout I made from when we went in December (not much has changed), along with some pictures from this weekend.

Here is my dear hubby ~ always finding a time and place to write.
2010, art, cards, easter, eggs, free scrapbook supplies, green, lent, mixed media, photography, purple, spring, sunny days. seasons, vintage images

Lent

Genevieve Speegle

The beginning of Lent is a reminder that Easter is not too far away!  I’m still trying to get used to writing 2010 (so many scratched out checks…)

Here we are ~ weather getting warmer, birds chirping, bees chasing me when I take product photos outside.  Awwwwwwwwwww, Springtime must be around the corner!

I love walking through the local craft stores and seeing all the happy decor! The background props in these photos is from a cute Vintage looking egg wreath. I think it really adds a little extra coziness to the cards. 🙂
bazzill, blog giveaway, butterflies, buttons, card making, contest, flowers, free scrapbook supplies, my mind's eye, prima, retro, scrapbook lots, spring, vintage images, websters pages

Spring Scrapbook Giveaway!

Genevieve Speegle

Welcome to my first blog giveaway!


This Spring inspired scrapbook lot has everything from card stock to flowers! Ribbon to butterflies!

In order to enter, simply add a link to my blog on any of your own websites (your blog, My Space, Facebook, etc) and then post a comment here as well.

You’ll receive goodies from LOTS of fabulous, as well as some Vintage Easter sticker collages by yours truly.  Here are just some of the name brands included in the lot:

My Mind’s Eye

Prima

Webster’s Pages

Queen and Company

Basic Grey

Cosmo Cricket

Making Memories

Bazzill


The lucky winner will be chosen by a random number generator on Friday, March 5th.  Thanks so much, and good luck!!