My Mind’s Eye
My Mind’s Eye is always coming out with amazing new paper and embellishment collections for papercrafters to ogle over. Lucky for us, they sent the review team several unique collections to choose from and each of us had the chance to review something different.
For this review I received the patterned papers, and die cut embellishments from the Wild Asparagus Baby Boy, Baby Girl, and Pretty Little Girl collections, and three sheets of patterned paper from the Just Dreamy “Day Dream” collection. All of the Wild Asparagus patterned papers are acid & lignin free, double-sided, and heavy in weight which makes them perfect for distressing. They are approximately 12″x12″, and also include a 1″ bar code at the bottom. Both the Baby Boy and Baby Girl collections came with 2 sheets of patterned paper, a coordinating die cut frame, a wild card that folds into a pocket, a swirl transparency, a die cut journaling card, a square die cut card with text journaling across the bottom, and a wild descriptive die cut card that contains 12 different descriptive words to match the theme of the collection. All of the die cut embellishments coordinate beautifully with each of the papers and are also heavy in weight so they stand up well when distressed or manipulated. The Baby Boy color scheme consists of light blues, light greens, a darker greenish blue, brown, white, and grey. The Baby Boy papers come in Circles/Blue and Stripe/Blue. One sheet has an overlapping circles pattern on it, while the other has a variety of stripes on it. Both the front and back of the papers are made to look distressed and both have a coordinating blue on the other side.
The Baby Girl color scheme consists of a variety of soft light pinks, darker mauve’s, creamy peaches, and have white and light green accents.The Baby Girl papers come in Dots/Light Pink and Floral/Coral. One sheet is covered in small white polka dots, while the other has a pretty criss-cross floral pattern on it. Both the front and back of the papers are made to look distressed and both have a coordinating pink/coral color on the other side. The Pretty Little Girl collection came with two sheets of patterned paper, a die cut frame, a die cut journaling card, a large decorative die cut flower, a “Pretty Little Girl” die cut title block. The colors in this collection consist of a lovely purple with a hint of pink in it, a light lavender, a darker shade of pink, a teal blue, a darker blue/purple, and white. The Dots/Blue paper has medium sized polka dots in varying colors on a distressed light purple background, and has a gorgeous distressed teal blue on the backside. The Lace Magnolias/Lavender paper has several white distressed flowers with paisley like designs on a dark pink/purple background, and a coordinating dark lavender that has been distressed on the backside.
The Just Dreamy “Day Dream” collection was my absolute favorite because the colors were bright, pretty, and fun! Each of the 12″x12″ patterned papers were single sided with a white back. They were not quite as heavy in weight as the Wild Asparagus papers, but they were still what I consider a wonderful weight to work with. The Day Dream papers were filled with bright yet almost vintage looking colors like lime greens, teals, oranges, and varying shades of pinks. The first sheet was called, “Betty Confetti” and had a striking pink background that was filled with a tiny plaid pattern in a darker pink. If you were looking from far away you might not notice the small pattern in the pink, but at close range it adds a wonderful texture and dimension the the patterns! On top of the pink background, are random colored polka dots. The “In Bloom” paper had a lighter pink background, but also had the plaid like texture on it, and was filled with decorative flowers in a variety of sizes and coordinating colors. The last sheet of paper, “Check Her Out”, was a splendid criss-cross pattern containing all of the entire collection color scheme.
I loved the colors and patterns in the Just Dreamy collection, and decided to use them for my first layout. I trimmed the “Day Dream” Check Her Out paper to act as an over sized photo mat, and then cut out several of the flowers from the “Day Dream” In Bloom paper. I used glue dots to raise a few of the flowers up for dimension, and then added rhinestone brads and adhesive rhinestones to the center of all the flowers. To complete the layout, I added some stickers, a mirror, and a chipboard title which I colored with glitter glue. I thought at first I might have trouble using my Alice in wonderland picture with such bright and colorful patterns, however to my surprise they looked wonderful together!
Products used:
Patterned Paper (My Minds Eye – Just Dreamy collection: “Day Dream” In Bloom, & “Day Dream” Check Her Out)
Glitter Glue (Ranger Stickles)
Chipboard (Heidi Swapp)
Sticky Note (Heidi Swapp)
Heart Mirror (Heidi Swapp)
Stickers (Making Memories)
Rhinestones & Brads (Karen Foster, Heidi Swapp, )
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)
For my second layout, I knew the exact picture I wanted to use with the Wild Asparagus Baby Girl papers and embellishments. Since the papers were double sided, it made it easy to incorporate several coordinating patterns on the layout, even though I was only technically using 2 different sheets of paper. I cut up several of the coordinating die cuts to make unique page embellishments. First, I cut the Baby Girl frame and used it like a large photo corner for the side of my picture, and also used a small portion of it to decorate the pocket wild card. Next, I cut up the Baby Girl card and used the bottom half of it as a tab that sticks out of the right hand side of the picture, and the other half I journaled on and placed it in the pocket wild card. Last, I cut out each word from the wild descriptives card and turned them into small journaling strips. To complete the layout, I added some doodling, rhinestones, and a chipboard title that I colored with the clear glitter pen.
Products used:
Cardstock (Prism Prismatics)
Patterned Paper (My Minds Eye – Wild Asparagus: Baby Girl Floral/Coral, & Baby Girl Dots/Light Pink)
Die Cuts (My Minds Eye – Wild Asparagus: Baby Girl Card, Frame, Pocket Wild Card, & Wild Descriptives)
Chipboard (Heidi Swapp)
Rhinestones (Me & My Big Ideas)
Pens (Sakura, and Staedtler)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)
I decided to create a third layout using the wild Asparagus Baby Boy collection. With the exception of rub ons, a black journaling pen, a few stickers, and some dimensional paint, I created the majority of the layout by cutting up the Baby Boy die cuts and the two coordinating papers to use as page embellishments. Even though the collection is themed for a baby boy, I used a picture of my 6 year old and his cousin and it can easily be used for other themes as well.
Products used:
Patterned Paper (My Minds Eye – Wild Asparagus: Baby Boy Stripe/Blue, & Baby Boy Circles/Blue)
Die Cuts (My Minds Eye – Wild Asparagus: Baby Boy Journaling Card, Wild Descriptives, Frame, Pocket Wild Descriptive)
Transparency (My Minds Eye – Wild Asparagus: Baby Boy Swirl Transparency)
Stickers (Making Memories, American Crafts)
Rhinestone Brad (Karen Foster)
Pens (Staedtler)
Chipboard (Heidi Swapp)
Rub Ons (Jenni Bowlin)
Dimensional Paint (Ranger)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)
I haven’t scrapped with My Mind’s Eye papers in a while, but this review reminded me of how much I enjoy working with them. Great quality papers are sometimes hard to find, but I have always admired the thickness and sturdiness of the papers from My Mind’s Eye. I also love having a double-sided sheet with a pattern on one side, and a matching solid color on the other side. When you pair these up with all of the different coordinating embellishments that come with each collection, it just makes it so easy to create fabulous projects in a short amount of time! Most all of the My Mind’s Eye collections created are themed, but almost all of them can really be used for any topic or theme. Since My Mind’s Eye has so many different collections to choose from, I can almost guarantee there is a little something for everyone no matter what your style is.
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