New Lines Available!

We are so excited to announce that our new lines are now available to order! It was starting to feel like this day would never come. Below is a video in which Paper Clippings interviewed Pia, our Art Director, at CHA. It's great because you're able to see the treatments of the papers and scale of the embellishments. You can get a better idea of the beauty that's awaiting you before you order. If you would rather be surprised, click here to order from our online store.




In case you forgot what the new lines look like, we'll reintroduce you. You can click on their titles to be redirected to the store.

Christmas Mint

Moravia

Winter Song

Hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions, email us at seiblog(at)shopsei(dot)com.

Friday, whoo-hoo!

found via flikr

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. If you are starting to feel like this cute little girl, don't kiss summer goodbye! Make the most of your weekend and enjoy all the beauty around you. See you Monday with a good post!

Beautiful bathroom and a little more!

shower curtain / bathmat / towels / stacking canisters

Sometimes it's nice to look around for inspiration that fits your mood. I am currently not wanting summer to end. It's my favorite season of the year. I never think that it gets too hot. I love the vibrant greens at the beginning of summer but I also find so much beauty in all the yellow hues you see as everything slowly dries up. I think it's the combination of those green and yellow shades, accented with white, that draws me to these bathroom accessories. Maybe if you have a summery bathroom to start off your morning in the long cold winters, you can still venture outside with a smile frozen to your face.

When I was collecting the "in my dreams" bathroom pieces, I thought of this Mimosa layout. It caries those shades of yellows and greens that are so lush. As summer closes in on me, I think it makes me cling more and more to the vibrant colors that Mimosa carries. I hope you enjoy this layout as much as I do!

Fun Projects

Over the last few months, we have had different viewers sending us their projects. It feels like we've been so busy and we haven't been able to find open blog days, until today! We wanted to show off some of the amazing talent that is out there. Thanks again ladies for sending us your creations. We love the diversity that you achieve!

Veronica, layout, Winter Song (Available Sept. 1st)

Trude Julie, layout, Christmas Mint (available September 1st)

Elaine Teo, card, Bridgeport & Citrus Kick

Reyanna Klein, layout, Lovebirds

If you have any projects you'd like to share, email them to seiblog(at)shopsei(dot)com. Have a great weekend and if you love something you see, a compliment can go a long way!

3rd Thursday: Playday!

For the month of September, Club SEI is featuring Playday. It's a mini kit but it's hard to believe with all the great projects that are included. Click here to view what's included in the kit. It's not too late to join and receive this kit. For those of you who are already Club SEI members, here are some ideas for your leftovers.

Here are the instructions:

Notebook Cover
• Standard 5” x 8” Notebook
• Cut a piece of Hide & Seek 10 ¼” x 8 1/8”
• Score 5” in from each side
• Cut a 5” x 4” piece of Jungle Gym, attach it to the inside front of the cover to create a pocket
• Use other scraps of paper to embellish the cover


Post-It Pocket
• Cut a 4" x 9" piece of Tag
• measure 3.5" in from each edge. Score and fold.
• measure 0.25" in from your score line. Score and fold again.
• embellish front as desired (we used an extra button and sticker strip)

Switch Plates

Last week Tara left us inspired to create a lot out of a little. Wasn't it refreshing to see scrapping projects made out of scraps!? Well we were trying to think of some easy ideas to freshen up some rooms around the house and we thought how simple a switch plate could be. It can add a finishing touch to a room (a) or bring sweetness and character to a child's nursery (b). Whatever the room is you'd want to tackle, we have some different techniques that can help.

Instructions:
Plate a:
i. I painted the switch plate. I decided it would be more simple to overlay a rectangle of paper rather than trying to fold the corners to mold to the shape of the switch plate.
ii. I cut a 2.5" x 4.25" rectangle of Fennel paper. I used modge podge to adhere it to the plate.
iii. Lastly, with an Xacto knife I cut out the rectangular hole for the light switch to pop through and hole punched 2 holes for the screws. I finished in under 10 minutes.

Plate b:
i. I simply cut out the pieces I wanted to use from the Playday Rub-ons. Rub-ons adhere to almost any surface. The Playday animals work perfectly for a child's room. Check out some of our other rub-ons for a different room (office, living room, etc).

ii. I finished this switch plate in under 5 minutes once I had decided what animals I wanted to use. Sweet and simple!

Hope this project finds its' way into a few different homes. They're simple ideas like these that can become personalized gifts for under $5.

-Dorthea

Tara Anderson + Mimosa giveaway!

Thanks for all your great input on Tara's guest blogging last week. It sounds like you loved having her as much as we did! She's got fantastic style and a great eye. We were inspired!

I'm sure you're all anxious, so here is our winner, using random.org.

Congratulations to Robin!

We all want to give that panna cotta a try too! Send over your mailing info to seiblog(at)shopsei(dot)com and we'll send along your prize. Thanks again to everyone!

Tara's Giveaway!

I just love the Mimosa collection! The citrusy shades, the chartreuse greens, the pleated ribbon, perfect for summer! I had this photo from a recent trip to a ranch, and since the photo was so simplistic I wanted the colors and design to mimic that simplicity. My color combo: green, white and brown.

This page was super easy to create!! Here's a few tips for 'lifting' this page:
• I hand cut various lengths of paper strips and sewed them onto the cardstock.
• The lime green ribbon was already pleated, so I just took a small piece of ribbon, overlapped the ends together and sewed the center of the circle, to create a pleated flower. (I also ironed the flower on low-heat to flatten a little)


• I used the polka-dot stamp, and stamped randomly over the paper on the bottom of the page with a lime ink block. I wanted the green to fade into the white cardstock.
• Before adding the photo, I sprayed a little black paint on the page.
• Add the photo, then the frame and leaves, and finally the flower last.

Happy scrapping!!

Thank you so much for spending the week with me and I had the most wonderful time being the guest blogger for SEI!! xo~ Tara

The giveaway from Tara includes a yummy assortment of Mimosa summer goodies. Leave a comment telling Tara what your favorite post was and why. The giveaway will be open until Sunday, August 16th at midnight. It includes the following:

• Mimosa Shimmer accents
• Mimosa ribbon
• Mimosa Frames & Tags
• Mimosa Clear Stamps
• Mimosa Assortment Pack

My Favorite Summertime Photos

If you could only describe summer through photographs, what would they be? Watermelon? A pool party? The beach? Here's a few of my favorite photos from this summer, as seen through the view finder of my cute little 1950's camera!










These are all true ttv photos. Through the Viewfinder photography (TtV) is defined as taking a picture of any subject "through the viewfinder" of any camera with another camera. I love the results I get, a digital image with the look of a vintage photo. I use an Anscoflex and sometimes a Duraflex camera. It's definitely become one of my favorite hobbies!!

Hi again!! Want to join me for dessert?!!

Panna Cotta is quite possibly one of my favorite desserts to make because it's so simple and yet elegant all at the same time! It's a very easy and quick recipe, my Grandma would say it needs a pinch of salt, but I've never added it (shhh... don't tell on me!) and I still think it tastes perfect every time!

Panna Cotta
Ingredients:
• 3 T. milk (I use whatever I have in the fridge.)
• 1 (.25 ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
optional* raspberries, blueberries and almonds

Directions:
1.Pour milk into a small bowl, and stir in the gelatin powder. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.
2. In a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, add the milk/gelatin mixture and set over medium heat. Stir until gelatin has completely dissolved. Bring to a full boil, stirring consistently, and cook for about 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six individual ramekin dishes.
4.Cool the ramekins uncovered at room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving.
5. Spoon the berries and almonds on top of the panna cotta and serve.

It's the most wonderful dessert! Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Ideas & Tips for the Perfect Picnic

I adore picnics. Always have, since I was just a little girl playing make believe picnic on the living room floor. So, I thought it might be fun to take a peek into my picnic basket, and talk about a few extra details for creating the perfect picnic. To make my job of CPO (chief picnic officer) a little less stressful, I head to the grocery store the day before to pick up all of the food. Yes, I like to keep it simple!


My favorite picnic food? I follow a guide line of:
• 1 main dish (cold fried chicken or sandwiches)
• 1 salad or side (pasta salad with veggies)
• 2 fruits (watermelon and berries)
• 1 dessert (glazed doughnut holes or fortune cookies)
•2 drinks (iced tea and lemonade are my favorite!!)

* I also add in a Tupperware container full of snack foods like; sliced deli meats, crackers and spreadable cheese for the kids.


Whenever I visit a thrift shop, I always take a trip down the kitchen isle, to look for things that could be useful for dining outside. Vintage tins make lovely dessert containers. Metal trays are not only useful for serving on, but also to keep glasses from tipping over. Don't forget to look for vintage cloth napkins and blankets or quilts!



A picnic just wouldn't be a picnic without a few fun outdoor activities! I'll pick out a plastic bucket and shovel for each child at our picnic, (the dollar store is your best friend for toys like this!) and then I add just a couple more small items to each bucket such as bottles of bubbles, a jump-rope, a small kite and a book or two for story time!

It takes a little planning, but picnics are oh so worth it!!

Magnets, DIY project

This week, my 4 year old, Alaina, has started Kindergarten! It's so hard to believe that I have a child in school already, but I'm so excited for her. I wanted to create some different magnets for the fridge to proudly display all of her artwork and papers that she'll be bringing home. This project is the perfect reason to get out that over-flowing box of scrap paper, and create something useful and cute!


Repurposed Paper Magnets

Materials needed:
• magnets (I used rare-earth magnets)
• 1 inch circle punch
• little paper scraps & cardstock scraps
• glue (I like E6000 glue for my magnets)
• double sided tape
• Starbucks coffee sleeves


Directions:
1. Punch circles from the coffee sleeves

2. Working with the coffee sleeve circle, use a piece of double-sided tape placed in the center of the circle, and start to piece little scraps of paper next to one another, and some that are overlapping eachother.


3. Trim excess paper from around the circle as you go. (after this step I sewed the pieces of paper together for my magnets) Add a coat or 2 of mod-podge to seal the paper and let dry.

4. Using the E6000 glue, glue on a magnet to the smooth part of the coffee sleeve and let dry overnight.

And presto!! Cute perfectly pieced magnets, and completely made from your leftovers!!

On a crafty note

So, to start this week on a fun crafty note, I thought I would share a new project I've been working on this summer. I keep a shoe box full of magazine clippings that I liked or just found interesting. I love opening the box and rummaging through them whenever I need some inspiration or color ideas. A few weeks ago I thought it would be fun to make a little altered book all about vintage items and inspiring design ideas. Really though, I'll make up any excuse just to create a mini book!!




All of the inside pages are made from large index cards, which ended up being perfect, because I could add little notes on them in the white spaces.




I also thought this idea would be a cute idea for organizing wedding/bridal images and ideas, or for recipes and food photos. Maybe some future ideas to play with!!

A little about me...

Hello! I'm Tara, an island girl at heart, now living in the sunny desert of beautiful Arizona! I have a fun and sometimes slightly chaotic household that includes my husband Peter, a crafty 4 year old Alaina, my sweet little baby love Chase, who's 10 months old already, and 2 cute dogs. They're all my very favorite subjects to scrapbook!

I try to scrapbook or to be somewhat crafty everyday, but I also really enjoy spending my time; cooking or baking, collecting books, hunting for buried treasures in thrift-stores, spending time outside with the kids, listening to good music, and having painting time with Alaina. When I have extra time, I create products and other scrapbook goodness for my little online shop called With a Twist. I'm super lucky to be able to work at home doing something I love!

I have a long list of favorites, but here's some of my current loves and inspirations!!: vintage floral pillow cases, bone china, pretty desserts, mason jars filled with green leaves, summer storms, taking TTV (<--through the viewfinder, click for explanation) photos and documenting the everyday little things that make life wonderful! I'm so excited to be SEI's guest blogger this week, and I hope you'll enjoy a peek into my life!

Guest Blogger, Tara Anderson

Next week we are having an amazing blogger, Tara Anderson. Her photos and scrap booking skills are truly uplifting and charming. If you want to get lost in beautiful papers, colors & patterns visit her blog or her Flikr. Personally I'm not too familiar with Flikr, but you don't need to understand it to appreciate Tara's images. Here's a little about her:

Here are some random facts about me:
• I moved to Arizona by way of Hawaii
• I'm a wife and a mommy to 2 cute little kids
• I have a small collection of gorgeous orchids
• I love making pretty scrapbook pages
• there's always music playing in some room of my home
• I have late night peanut butter cravings when I'm suppose to be working
• and my favorite part of the day is when I make dessert!

5 lucky people...

It's been a fun giveaway to get to know you all a little better. It sounds like there are a lot of good things going on out there. Like a few people mentioned, summer's still not over so make what's left of it great. Make sure to check back tomorrow to read about the guest blogger we'll be having next week. She's amazing! We used random.org and it drew these five numbers:

Which makes the winners the following 5 people. Read what they had to say about their summers:





For those of you who won, congratulations! Send us an email to seiblog(at)shopsei(dot)com with the shirt size that you would like sent to you.

Moravia Shirt Giveaway

We're finally able to breathe a little. Everyone's back from CHA and there's a bit of a calm in the art room... What's the saying? The calm before the storm. I'm hoping that there's no storm but we have already started getting ideas together for CHA January. That usually means work, work, work but at least it's work you can't complain about. Well, for those of you who weren't able to make it to CHA, we want to give you a little piece of the experience. We're giving away 5 Moravia t-shirts. These were the shirts that were featured at this year's show.


All that you have to do is leave a comment telling us what's made this summer great (i.e. a trip, family, a project, etc). The giveaway will end tomorrow, Wednesday August 5th at midnight. We'll announce the winners Thursday morning. Hope you have a splendid day!