Maya Road Design Team

Maya Road and Vintage Street Market Blog Swap Day 2!

Hi Roadies!

We hope your Wednesday has been good so far! Today, we continue to share beautiful projects your Maya Road DTs have created using both Maya Road and Vintage Street Market! Remember to join us in this week of inspirational fun using both products, as we celebrate with chances for you to win a Maya Road prize package at the end of this week. Stay tuned to see how you could be that lucky winner! 

Today we're sharing the works of DTs Jen Chesnick, Jessica Seppa and Melissa Sauls, we hope you enjoy them!

 

Jen Chesnick

 
 
Maya Road Products: Buttermilk Cream Maya Mist, Flower Bottle Cap, Mum Trim, Vintage Trinket Pin, Wood Buttons, Wood Spool, Chipboard Frames Set, Sheer Ticket. Vintage Street Market Products: Family Fun Paper Pack.  

Jessica Seppa

 
Maya Road Products: Mauve Satin Pleat Edging, Vintage Wood Spool, Trinket Pins (Vintage Pearl, Vintage Black Pearl), Vintage Trinkets Lustrous Buttons Jewel, Empty Tin. Vintage Street Market: Dimestore Vogue Paper Pack.

Melissa Sauls

 
Maya Road Products: Avocado Metallic Maya Mist, Maya Resist, Kraft Mini Ticket, Home White Rubons, Deborah Mini Alphabet Chipboard, Vintage Edge Kraft Envelopes, Laundry Day Canvas Pieces, Golden Ruffle Edge Trim, Ruby Red Zipper Trim, Moss Green Crochet Trim, Green Candy Stripes Ribbon, Wood Button, White & Yellow Stars Trinket Pins, Pink & Green Gingham Point Blossoms, Red & Orange Suede Stitched Trinket Blossom, Kraft Journaling Tags Decorative, Brown Satin Pleat Ribbon. Vintage Street Market Products: Family Fun Accessory Kit, Linen Tinted Tape, Numbers Tinted Tape. 

 

We hope you've enjoyed today's creative sharing! Read on below for your chance to win a pack of Maya Road goodies at the end of this week!

1. Leave us a comment here on this post.
2. Become our friend on Facebook and share this post on your Wall.
3. Also remember to drop by Vintage Street Market's Blog for more inspiration - they're giving away prizes too! and leave them some love on the Vintage Street Market Facebook page (tell them Maya Road sent ya). 

 

We will be back on Friday for our Maya Road + Vintage Street Market finale! See you then!

Maya Road and Vintage Street Market Blog Swap Day 1!

Hi Roadies!

Today we're excited to annouce our week of collaborative projects featuring Maya Road and Vintage Street Market! We here at Maya Road are in love with the products from Vintage Street Market - they go so well with Maya Road goodies! We hope you'll join us in this week of inspirational fun using both products, as we celebrate with chances for you to win a Maya Road prize package at the end of this week. Stay tuned to see how you could be that lucky winner! 

So today, we're starting off the showcase with these adorable cards created by DTs Ania Lexander and Lisa Pace!

Maya Road Products: Half Circle Chipboard Banner Pieces, Green Thumb Mini Chipboard, Autumn Mini Chipboard.  

 Vintage Street Market Products: Family Fun Kit Patterned Papers. 
 

We hope you've enjoyed today's creative sharing! Read on below for your chance to win a pack of Maya Road goodies at the end of this week!

1. Leave us a comment here on this post.
2. Become our friend on Facebook and share this post on your Wall.
3. Also remember to drop by Vintage Street Market's Blog for more inspiration - they're giving away prizes too! and leave them some love on the Vintage Street Market Facebook page (tell them Maya Road sent ya). 

 

We will be back Wednesday for more Maya Road + Vintage Street Market creative fun! See you then!

A little something and a Summer Mini Album

Hey everyone!  It's Melissa here again and I have got a couple little projects to share with you... just because I can't stop using my Maya Road whenever I get the chance! 

First off, my little girl celebrated her 4th birthday this past weekend, and I just needed to "dress up" the cupcake stand with a little something from my stash. ;)

Enter the Small Pink Organza Roses Ribbon!  I simply took some clear two-sided tape and went around the entire edge of the rims  of the stand and adhered the rose trim.  I got a lot of compliments on this and it was so quick and easy to do!

As for this summer...this is one of the mini-albums that I created for Summer CHA this past year!

 

I used the 3-ring Scroll Edge Chipboard Album as my base and then went crazy with Maya Road embellishments from there!!  On this front page you can see the Deborah Chipboard Alphabet covered with glitter as part of my title, "Fun at the Beach."  You can also see more mini chipboard sets, How's the Weather and the Tiny Banner Chipboard Bits.  And what's a project without a little trim, right??  I used the Green Candy Stripes Ribbon as an embellishment for the rings and the cute little trim peeking out from under the cover...that's the new Ruffle Edge Trim in Gold. 

 
And here are my inside pages.  These were actually taken this summer when we had a fun little trip to Virginia Beach!  It was the first time for the kids to see the ocean, and boy did they love it!!



Could you spot any of your Maya Road favorite embellishments on the pages? :)  I wish I could use them all!!  And that is it for now.  I have a little Halloween card to share for next month...I love Halloween!!  Thanks for you visit here!!

Melissa Sauls

And finally, a link to all the items I used above:

Alterable Buttons

Bingo Calendar Numbers – Black

Golden Ruffle Blossom

Turquoise Ruffle Blossom

Tiny Banner Chipboard

3 Ring Scroll Edge Album

Small Organza Roses Ribbon – Orange

Mini Scallop Chipboard

Green Thumb Chipboard

How’s the Weather Chipboard

Deborah Alphabet Chipboard

Olivia Alphabet Chipboard

Ornate Tags Chipboard

Road Rage Signs

Candy Stripe Ribbon  - Green

Candy Stripes Blossoms – Pink and Green

Velvet Pleated Blossoms – Lt. Pink and Grey

Gingham Blossoms – Pink/Blue

"I Adore Them" Tribute Mini Album

Howdy, Dina here! I made this mini album as a tribute to the awesome friends that I have made in England. I travel there a couple of times a year to teach for my talented super-star friend Dyan. I have made wonderful friends there...I adore them!

Products Used:

• Mixed Half Circle Chipboard Binder Album
• Maya Mist in Cherry Metallic
• Just My Type Stamp Sheet
• Kraft Tags
• Kraft Clocks
• Mini Transparency Tickets
• Mini Canvas Tag Pieces

 

Join in the chalkboard fun!

Alright, I guess I might be late to the party - I read lots of DIY-projects involving chalkboard paint like, a year ago or more - but only recently actually got to play with it myself. But my oh my - what great fun you can have with just a little chalkboard paint! Truly!

For this project, I used the Pennant Chipboard Album.

Here's the instructions, although it's fairly easy to do so you shouldn't really need instructions =)

1. Find the clean edged chipboard and apply chalkboard paint on it as per its instructions (the paint, that is. I have no idea if all chalkboard paint acts the same :) ). For mine I tested it both with and without gessoing the chipboard. I think I actually prefer to do this without gessoing the chipboard - without it took me two layers of chalkboard paint, with gesso I needed three layers for a proper coverage.

2. Find the scalloped chipboard and either spray or paint it. The front chalkboard was covered in orange acrylic paint, the back chalkboard was covered in Maya Mist (one layer of Bublegum Metallic Mist then topped off with Dragon Fruit Pink Mist). Note: I adhered the chalkboard layer upon the scalloped chipboard, hence didn't need to paint/mist all of the chipboard, only the scalloped part.

3. Find some ribbon (here: Candy Striped Ribbon) or twine to decorate the top of the chalkboard. Optional: I wanted to decorate the twine some by adding small, cute trinkets to it: Wooden Mini Spools and Trinket Beads: Hearts and Butterflies.

4: I decided to attach the chalk pen to the chalkboard. This by securing the twine to a wooden button before hot gluing the chalk pen to the button.Tip: Depending on whether your kid is right or left handed - make sure the twine is on the "right" side for your kid.

There you have it - an easy peasy chalkboard project your kid will love! Mine sure did (aged 6 and 10)! And - it really didn't take that long to assemble - like 90% of the effort was spent waiting for paint&mist to dry.

Hope you enjoyed this mini-inspiration project and is now tempted to try it yourself. Remember - just because it says it's a mini album doesn't mean it have to be used for that, you know! :)

Have a lovely week!

-Ania

Did you know?

Hello Everyone.  I wanted to share a little tip with you about Maya Road's lovely mists. 

Did you know Maya Road sells empty Mister bottles?  These 3 pack of bottles are perfect for diluting your mists.  One of the things i love about Maya Road is there saturated color but sometimes i do want just a hint of color.  These Mister bottles are ideal for this.  Carefully add some Maya Mist into the container and then add a bit of water.

On the left is Maya Road Lemon Mist in the regular sprayer, on the right is diluted lemon mist in the Mister container.  Color me happy! 

On the right is Hydrangea Blue and on the left is diluted Hydrangea Blue.  It works with both the metallic & non metallic mists.  Now you can double your mist collection with these cool empty misters. 

Happy Creating,

Ronda

Photographing Layouts

I am often asked how I photograph my layouts so I thought I would share with you, some of what works for me. Please know that there are many ways to make this work, I am just going to share my way with some tips I've learned over time.

Many people I know lay their layout on the floor and then use a bird's eye view to take a shot of their page. The reason this doesn't work very well is that you have to be directly over the layout or you end up skewing your image.

In my experience, what works better is to tape the layout to a wall and stand directly in front of it. You need to make sure the layout is at eye-level so that you can take the shot straight on.

The kind of light you have also matters. What works best for me is indirect light coming from the side. Ideally, a lot of light. In my house, I have a large window by my staircase and I use that side light to take my photos. Here's a look at my setup:

It's pretty hard to see but right next to the framed image on the right there's a small piece of tape on the wall, I stick my layout on that tape (I happen to use double-sided dimensional tape. There are some kinds of tape that might ruin the paint on your wall so experiment if you're worried about the paint. I think masking tape might not damage the paint but I am not sure.) I stick my layout on it gently and then I stand with my back to the other wall (where the light is shining.) This window is very large so it gives a lot of light which makes my photo clear and crisp.

It's best to not take photos of layouts in direct sunlight because the dimensional elements on your page will cast shadows on the rest of your page. So find a shade which gets a lot of indirect light.

(For those of you with more advanced cameras: I open my shutter all the way when I take photos because mine don't tend to be very dimensional, however, if yours are, beware. A wide-open shutter will create a very shallow depth of field which basically means only parts of your layout will be in focus. So if you have a lot of dimensional elements, make sure to close your aperture as much as the light will allow.)

I generally take several shots straight-on and then a few from different angles. I then open mine in Photoshop (but you can use any editing software for this step) and make sure the photo is bright and sharp.

And that's it. The biggest trick, really, is to make sure you have indirect light and that you place the layout at eye-level so you can take a straight forward shot instead of at any angle. These two steps will improve your layout photos drastically.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments and I will do my best to respond.

 

Tea Pot Frame

Maya Road Supplies:

Organza Tea Garden Trim - Chai, Earl Grey, and Rose

Licorice Metallic Mist

Tea Pot Chipboard Album

Buttons

Ruffle Crochet Trim

To make this framed tea pot you'll first need to spray Maya Mist onto  a wooden picture frame and allow to dry.  Next cut three pieces of Organza Tea Garden trim to fit into frame.  Finally, cover a Tea Pot Chipboard Album piece with pattern paper, attach to frame on top of trim and embelish as desired!

The Sweet Life

Hi Roadies!  I had a few people ask how the mushroom house from the Maya Road /Jillibean swap was done.  So, today I'm going to show you the basics on how I put it together.

• The roof of the mushroom is made out of a 6" paper mache egg, that was cut down to about 4"tall.  (see pic 1.) Then using a trimmed hexagon window from the Windows Chipboard Set, I traced out the placement of the window onto the egg. A sharp knife was used to cut out the opening for the window.  Next I glued a 1/2" strip of cardboard around the edges of the window. Once dry, I painted the widow and attached some sheer plastic to the back. The cardboard sides of the window were then covered with patterned paper, then carefully pushed into place on the roof. Next I covered the roof and the side of the widow with 1'' circles. The chimney seen here, was made out of the arm of a nutcracker, but you could use some rolled up cardstock or thin cardboard for the same effect.
• The base of the mushroom is a plastic cup that was covered with patterned paper and border trim. To make the roof stay at the height I wanted, I glued a large Vintage Spool and another piece of wood to the top of the cup. (pic. 2) A good amount of hot glue was applied to the top of the spool and then the roof was attached.
• For the grassy area around the house, I used 2 layered pages from the  Square Scalloped Frame Coaster.  (seen in pic. 3 and 4) Patterned paper was applied to the surface coaster. Then I folded a 1" strip of matching patterned paper in half, to make a double sided 1/2" strip. The strip was glued around the edge of the coaster, then snipped with scissors to form blades of grass.
• The larger base (seen in pic. 5 ) is made from all the pages of a Flower Chain Book (layered and glued together) and the lid of the Flower Keepsake Box. After the two pieces were covered with patterned paper, I glued them together and added some crochet trims.
• After adhering the grass to the center of the base, I mini picket fence pieces and a wheel barrow, from the Green Thumb CB Set.  I also used Flower Trinket Pins in the flowerbed, as you can see in the close ups below.

In the back of the house, I used some wood dowels and twine to make a clothes line. I drilled holes into the larger base and then pushed the dowels through. To hold the dowels in place  I applied hot glue around the dowels, underneath the lid.  Then mini chipboard clothes from the Laundry Day Set were covered with patterned paper on both sides and then glued onto the clothes line.

The front door and the little window seen in the back of the house, were also made using pieces from the Windows Chipboard Set. For the door, two windows were pieced together and for the back window a larger window was cut down to a smaller size.

Some of the details.

Maya Road Supplies:
Flower Keepsake Box
Flower Chain Book
Windows Mini Set
Laundry Day Mini Set
Green Thumb Mini Set
Square Scallop Frame Coaster
Flower Trinket Pins (pink, yellow and green)
Mist (Buttermilk Cream)
Crochet Trim (Bone white)
Vintage Crochet Trim - Mini Pom Pom
Ruffle Edge Trim (Golden)
Jewel Trinket Pins

Jellibean Soup Supplies:
Watermelon Gazpacho Journaling Sprouts
Watermelon Gazpacho Peapods Die Cuts
Ice Cubes 12X12 Watermelon Gazpacho Paper
Seedless Cucumber 12X12 Watermelon Gazpacho Paper
Yellow Bell Pepper 12X12 Watermelon Gazpacho Paper
Sprig Of Mint 12X12 Watermelon Gazpacho Paper
Watermelon 12X12 Watermelon Gazpacho Paper
3 Dancing Hats 12X12 Spotted Owl Soup Paper

Other Supplies: Mod Podge, 6" paper mache egg, plastic cup, wood dowels, twine, small buttons, spanish moss, thin cardboard, sheer plastic and hot glue.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jennifer :)

 

Are you a Maya Road + Jillibean Soup Winner?

Hi everyone!

We've picked a random winner to receive a special Maya Road package just for participating in our Maya Road + Jillibean Soup blog swap week!

 
Congrats Bev! Please drop us a note here to claim your prize!

If you would like to revisit all the beautiful projects created for our blog swap week with Jillibean Soup, see them here, here and here!

Thanks everyone for loving Maya Road!