Lately I’ve been wondering about the future of scrapbooking. Stores are closing all over the place, magazines are shutting down and companies are going out of business. Although I must have enough scrapbooking products to last for at least a hundred years, I still love to shop and want this industry to grow and thrive. That’s why I am especially excited to see new scrapbooking companies like Lily Bee Design just starting out; it gives me hope – and more fun stuff to play with!

I first saw Lily Bee Design products at Two Peas in a Bucket and immediately knew I had to have it, all of it. Both debut collections — French Couture and Three Little Birds. Every single piece.

Three Little Birds

This is the first product by Lily Bee Design that I ever laid eyes on, so you can understand why it was love at first sight. This is the 12″12″ sheet of Birdie Frame Die Cuts that coordinate with the 6 12″x12″ double-sided patterned papers in the Three Little Birds Collection. This collection also includes 2 12″x12″ sheets of rub-ons; they are so darn cute you won’t be able to resist!

The Frame Die Cuts are just perfect for photos and journaling; they can also stand on their own as decorative elements and would make great pages for a mini-book. Since I am such a huge fan of shaped paper I absolutely love how Lily Bee included all my favorites on one sheet: the artisan label shape, scalloped squares and a scalloped circle.

I also really enjoy the color scheme utilized in Three Little Birds: pink, blue, brown, green, red and cream — along with the designs: birds (of course), stripes, dots and trees. This whole line has an adorable, whimsical feel to it and could be used for anything from baby and child pages to projects about nature, vacations and all sorts of different relationships. You just have to check out the Lily Bee Design blog to see what their talented design team has created with this collection.

French Couture

Lily Bee’s French Couture line is equally as loveable, but in a different way. The colors here are deeper and richer: orange, blue, green, brown, red and cream, and the designs are more elegant and, well, comparable to haute couture (high fashion)! However, I found this collection to be just as versatile — if not more so — than Three Little Birds.

I thought the colors and the designs would be perfect for pictures I have of my husband and me at the Travers Stakes at the Saratoga Racetrack last summer. I’m not crazy about the pictures (I wish I had one of the two of us together, or one of all the crowds) but I think the paper and diecuts really helped dial it up a notch!

click image to see full size

The French Couture collection also includes 6 12″x12″ double sided patterned papers and 1 12″x12″ sheet of Frame Die Cuts. However, instead of rub-ons like in Three Little Birds, this line includes a 12″x12″ sheet of Fashion Essentials Die Cuts (brackets, borders, photo corners, etc.) I made good use of them on my layout, and I know you will too.

Bottom Line

From the minute I saw the debut collections from Lily Bee Design, I knew that my scrapbooking stash would never be the same.  This company knows exactly what scrapbookers like us are looking for (and drooling over) and they’ve created it! If you are lucky enough to still have a scrapbook store in your area, make sure to ask them to carry Lily Bee Design if they don’t already. And get your hands on this stuff now, before it’s all gone!

Products by Lily Bee Design are available at Two Peas in a Bucket. The 12″x12″ papers are $.80, the 12″x12″ diecut sheets are $1.99, and the 12″x12″ rub-ons are $5.99.

For more information about Lily Bee Design and plenty of fun and inspiration, be sure to check out their blog and website.

Don’t forget to read our other Scrapbooking Reviews – and to bookmark Qwowi so you can keep coming back for more! Leave a comment if you can; we’d love to hear from you.