Spring Photo Journal

Kate made this spring photo journal with the Couture collection. She used spring photos and poetry throughout to highlight some of her favorite things about the season.

Strive

When Audrey sent us this layout we were surprised because it's not her usual style. It is so great that she was able to stretch herself and still come out with a nice layout. This is really hard for most of us to do, but we can learn so much when we try something new.

Audrey explains the journey, "When I got the White Elegance papers, I KNEW they would be perfect for misting or distress inking, and that the silvery images on the paper would resist the ink. They turned out just beautiful!! I have to admit that this purply-blue background paper was supposed to be just an 'experiment' piece to see how the paper would mist, but I loved the way it turned out, so I used it on my page. I also used another piece of the White Elegance for my base and inked the edges with a light brown ink. It, too, resisted very well. Papers and die cuts are from Moonrise, and more tickets from En Route. The flowers and butterflies are Monsterville yellow cardstock, and the flower centers are brads from Claire."

Dreams

Kate created this beautiful layout using elements from the Couture & White Elegance collections. She also added lace paper.

Kate is a brave and artistic paper-crafter. We can get so many ideas from her layout... use lace paper as a frame, cut a flower out of paper, attach an monogram sticker to a tag, make confetti, cut out circles to place behind a butterfly, put your title right on your photo...

Take a little time to really study a layout you admire and learn from it!

Happy Go Lucky

The title of this layout, "Happy Go Lucky" fits this photo and the Corinne collection so well. It is quite a diverse collection. Although there are flowers and rainbows, it still works great for boys!

Julie is great at utilizing her embellishments. For the clouds and strip of pinwheels, she simply cut the borders the length she needed them. She also layered journaling tags and frames under her photo.

Sometimes we may feel like we have to use the entire embellishment as intended. It's ok to cut, overlap, and make them work for you, even if it's not the "right" way to use them.

I Love Those Overalls

Audrey decided to mix it up on this layout. How did she make it work? Audrey says, "I focused on color combinations and went searching through the different collections for the colors I wanted."

"I used Kris Kringle for the background, strips from Monsterville and Corinne, sentiments and pther papers from Corinne, brads from Claire, and I even found some of these tickets from the older 'En Route' collection! I just love the way this page came out." (Count 'em up... that's 5 different collections!)

We hope Audrey's tip on mixing collections inspires you to shake things up on your next project!

HAPPY Birthday

Lisa used our new Corinne collection for this HAPPY birthday card. There are so many great shapes on this card from decorative edge on the top striped paper down to the scallop at the bottom. The scallop on the "happy birthday" tag reminds us of a cloud.

Lisa is great at clean and simple, but it's never boring. There are always nice well-placed finishing touches, like the heart and string on the kite.

Cheery Sort of Day

Lisa's goal for this group of cards was to make them "light and cheery with a young feel". What a great description! It was smart of her to keep the recipients in mind when designing the cards. These were sent to some young ladies at her church. They were created from the With All My Heart collection.

Lisa designed a great card and switched it up with different flowers, instead of coming up with a new design for each girl. What a timesaver!

March Sketch Challenge + Winner

Thanks everyone who participated in last month's challenge. There were a lot of great layouts shared on the link party! Before we announce the winner we wanted to share this month's sketch challenge, created by Julie Bonner.

If you decide to participate in the challenge, be sure to use at least one SEI product and link your layout up to our link party at the end of the month. Everyone participating in the link party will be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card for shopsei.com!

This is the layout Julie based the sketch off of, using the Corinne collection. Notice that she mimicked the horizon line in the photo with the white space on top. The circles at the top resemble clouds. We love how well thought-out Julie's layouts are.

The winner of the February Challenge giveaway, as selected by random.org is... CAUGHT IN THE LINT TRAP. Congratulations! Please send us your full name and e-mail address to seiblog{at}shopsei{dot}com.

When You Smile

Audrey's layout is about playing outside with her daughter. We love all the fabulous layouts our design team has made with children and Corinne! Kids and Corinne go together like peanut butter and jelly. This layout is a perfect example of why that combo is oh so sweet.

Don't forget... you could win a $25 gift card to shopsei.com. To enter, create a layout using Julie's sketch and at least one SEI product. Then link up to our party, going on right now! You only have one more day.

Spring Card Set

This set of cards Lori created are so happy and cheerful. They would brighten anyone's day.

The layering and grouping on this card creates an imaginative scene. The embossing on the solid pink paper is all it takes to send birthday wishes.

This great color-combo was achieved by combining the die-cut accents from the With All My Heart collection and subtle Corinne papers. You may be surprised to find unique color palettes when you combine collections.

Pinwheels are so fun and springy. But, who would have thought to attach one to a card? Lori, that's who!