A Brother is... (Crate Paper layout)

My three boys are super close and are the most amazing brothers to one another.  When I saw this typography print on Etsy, I knew I had to create a layout using it because it is the exact definition of brother that I hope my boys will always be for one another.  So, when Crate Paper issued the Boys' Rule challenge earlier this month, it was just the inspiration I needed to get this brother photo scrapbooked.

 

For this layout I used products from Crate Paper's The Pier, Fourteen, Snow Day, and (an old one) Seasons collections.  Hexagons have been all the rage for awhile but I decided to cut them up a bit to create more of an arrow shape.  Then I popped every other one up on foam squares to add dimension.  The BROTHER letters are actually transparent but I backed them with patterned paper so that they would stand out more from the background paper.  Then I punched little holes in the upper corners of each letter and strung them on the turquoise string.

 

The brads are from My Mind's Eye Collectable collection.

I already have this quote and photo up in my house in a larger scale but I love that now I have captured it in this layout so that my boys' will have it to look at 40 years from now.

Have a wonderful day!

Make a Wish - Fun Fringe Frame

When I first saw BoBunny's Surprise collection, I knew I had to have it.  It is such a fun birthday collection and was absolutely perfect for scrapbooking my youngest son turning one. 

I absolutely LOVE this paper because it is already decorated so well...I just needed a big photo and a few accents to really make this page shine.  I embellished the paper with some sequins and die cuts (BoBunny Surprise Noteworthy) which I popped up on foam squares for added dimension.

However, my favorite part of this page is the frame I made for the photo. 

I simply took three pieces of red tissue paper, folded them together multiple times, and cut a rectangle slightly larger than my photo (make sure to cut your rectangle so there are no folded sides being used as an edge).  Then cut little slits all around the edges...be careful around the corners.  Finally, separate and fluff up the layers a bit and adhere the photo into the frame.

Let me know if you give this a try...I'd love to see your project too!

My Favorite Photo Layout - Chic Tags Sketch Challenge

 



I got a chance to do a little crafting this week and was inspired by the Chic Tags February Sketch It Out Challenge to create this layout.

 

I so rarely get out from behind the camera, so any photo of me with my boys is definitely one to scrapbook!  I love this great patterned paper from Crate Paper's Love Notes collection...I am now wishing I bought more than just the one sheet!  :)  I took the photo of this layout before I added my journaling.  I often like the clean look of layouts a little better without all the words, however, the words are SO important in remembering the story behind the photo.  Here is what I said:

"I am so glad that I stepped out from behind the camera to get this picture.  It captures the joy you bring me each and every day.  You are my last little man and I so cherish our time together...just the two of us.  We have lots of snuggles and laughs and I can never get enough of your sweet smile."

Here are a few close ups:

Love the triangle tags from Chic Tags!  And those gold hearts are from Studio Calico.

My Baby Love

I have a ton of Valentine products but don't tend to make a lot of Valentines.  However, Valentine products are perfect for all kinds of LOVE projects.  Here is a layout I created recently...

I am not a big mixed media gal but I decided to stretch out of my comfort zone a little and break out the paint.  I splattered it on my background paper and really love the texture it added.  Then I played around a bit with the heart garland (going for a bit of a messy/less structured look) and created a frame for my photos.  I finished off the layout with some handmade banners, a little flair, tags, and a few extra touches.

I love the touches of aqua in the American Crafts XOXO collection.  And I found a few embellishments that coordinated perfectly from Chic Tags, AC Dear Lizzy, and My Mind's Eye.

So, don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone sometimes...you might just discover a new love!  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!  My boys are lucky enough to have both Monday and Tuesday off so we will be having some nice family time.  And later this month we are planning to all go try skiing for the first time...should be quite the adventure! :)

Scrapbooking Your Christmas Card

Hello friends!
  I just got our Christmas cards in the mail and thought I would share a layout I created using our card from last year.  I decided to glam it up with a whole lot of sequins but keep it simple with just a few words about what Christmas means to me.

 

I get my cards from Tiny Prints and have been super happy with their quality. 

 

Do you scrapbook your Christmas cards?  I was watching a bit of Creative Live today and Becky Higgins was demonstrating Project Life and specifically talking about how to use the divided pocket pages to showcase all the holiday cards you receive.  Even if you have to cut up the cards at least you are not just throwing them away after Christmas and I think it is a nice reminder of the people in your life that year as well as a good way to document the changes in their lives (if you keep their cards each year).

On another note...

 Who is gearing up for black Friday deals?  I am big on saving money but not big on the craziness that has become Black Friday, especially now that stores are opening on Thanksgiving...that is just plain wrong!   However, did you hear that Walmart will be offering some pre-black Friday deals starting tomorrow?  They are matching some of the best deals from their competitors a week early.  I am hoping that Amazon will match their deals so I can just grab a few things I want online for the same great price! :)

 And if you are looking to save a little extra money this holiday season and you do some online shopping, I highly recommend Ebates.  You can check out my post here for more details or head on over to Ebates to see how you can earn an extra 2-20% cash back on your online purchases at over 1000 stores.  Plus, if you sign up now you will also get a $10 gift card!

Summer Bucket List

So, this weekend Big Picture Classes had a great Creative Crop for National Scrapbook Day.  There were 10 challenges and I found time to play along with a few.  Challenge #3 by Tami Morrison was to create a Summer Bucket List layout.  I LOVE this idea and was so inspired that (instead of just making up my own list) I decided to have conversations with everyone in my family to see what was on their 'wish list' for this summer.   Then I used journal cards to document everyone's Top 5 and created this page...

This was so much fun!  And I am really glad to have this documented as I think it captures a lot about us as a family, my kids' personalities/ages, and what our summer 2013 will likely look like.  I put each person's  first initial on the journal cards to remember which list is whose in the future and  I put boxes by each item so we can check them off when we do those activities.  Hopefully we will check them all off by the end of summer!  :)  Then I plan to create another 12x12 layout with some photos that highlight items from our lists.  I am soooooo going to use this idea again!  Thanks Tami!

I hope you will consider giving this a try too!  It would also be a fun idea to do on New Year's Day...hmmm...I might just have to see what my family's bucket list will be for 2014!  :)  I'd love to see your bucket list if you give this a try so link it up in the comments below and I'll come take a peek!

LOVE Our Family - Echo Park NSD challenge

Well, I managed to get one layout completed for National Scrapbook Day.  I don't know about you, but I am not a fast scrapbooker so trying to complete one (let alone multiple) layout in a day is a challenge itself.  :)  My scrapbooking usually looks like this...Day 1: pick some photos I want to scrapbook and find papers that compliment them  Day2: Play with the layout of photos/papers and think about the story I want to tell  Day 3: Put the layout together and add embellishments/details 

I can be a bit of a perfectionist so I like to revisit my layout over several days.  So, needless to say this is probably not my most impressive layout ever but I am proud that I completed it in an hour and sometimes I just need to remember that it is the telling of the story/capturing the memories that is most important!

I created this layout for Echo Park's NSD Challenge #2 - Layout of Love and also for Big Picture Classes' Creative Crop Challenge #5 - a sketch by Lisa Day.

 

The journaling leaves a little to be desired but I wrote...love this man, these boys, this life...

And at the heart of it all, that is what I feel when I look at this photo...blessed.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy National Scrapbook Day!

 

 

Lucky no. 5

This past year, my middle child turned 5 and it was quite the event.  Not because we had some huge party but just because, to him, it seemed to mean a lot.  Months beforehand he would talk about turning five, how close he was to turning five, etc.  He told us he wanted us to hide and surprise him when he came downstairs on his birthday.  A lot of thought and conversations were had about him turning 5. 

Then his birthday came and he was so proud to be 5...making sure to tell everyone (repeatedly).  We did surprise him after dinner by telling him to clean up his room and then come downstairs.  We turned off the lights and yelled surprise when he came down.  He loved it!  I'm not sure why 5 is such a special year for him...maybe because he was born on the 5th, or because 5 seems to be more a 'big kid' age.  Whatever the case, it is special to him and it is special to watch his excitement and pride about being 5 so I definitely wanted to make sure to document it.

When I saw Bo Bunny's current challenge to use the word LUCKY on a layout, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to scrapbook my boy and his lucky no. 5!

I don't know if I was feeling St. Patrick's Day or just coordinating with the color of my son's sweatshirt, but I do love all the green and how it really pops off the white.  I used products from Bo Bunny's Double Dot, Peacock Lane, and new Surprise collections for this layout.  (The card stock is Bazzill, alphabet stickers are American Crafts, and I added Doodlebug glitter on the die cut present.)

I went really clean and graphic with this layout.  At first I was going to do a 1 page 12x12 layout but I really wanted to include the professional photo of my son and it just didn't go with the evening birthday photos.  So I decided to switch to a double page 8.5 x 11 layout so that I could highlight/separate the professional photo and I think it worked well. I even love the look of the title page by itself...but it just doesn't tell enough of the story alone.

I am also entering this layout into Chic Tags Sunday Challenge because it inspired me to use stars!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Similar and Different - My Mind's Eye February Sketch Challenge

Hello friends!  Are any of you waiting for new CHA crafting goodies?!  I just got a box of some new MME Collectable today...love it! :)  Knowing that my box was on it's way I thought I better start using up some of my MME stash.  So, I created this layout based on this month's sketch challenge over on the MME blog.

When each of my boys were 6 months old I had this same picture taken of each of them.  I think they totally look like brothers and have a lot of similar features but these pictures very clearly show their differences too.  And since each child has traits that are unique to them, I also documented how they are similar and different in other ways too.  While I am not totally in love with the final look of this layout, I absolutely love the story it tells...and isn't that the whole reason for scrapbooking?! :) 

This layout uses products from Follow Your Heart, Alphabet Soup, Lush, Stella & Rose, Quite Contrary, Lime Twist, Miss Caroline, Boy Crazy, and I just had to add some brads and those fun tiny word stickers from the Collectable Remarkable collection that I opened up today! :)

Do you find yourself not adding journaling on your layouts because it might not look 'pretty' or may overwhelm the layout?  Any favorite tricks you use to combat this?  Once I took a class that recommended at least writing the story on the back of the layout in order to preserve the details of the story.  I thought that was a great idea and try to do that when I don't have much journaling on the front.

Enjoy your evening!

Reclaiming My Inner Stamper! - Unity {be inspired} Challenge

Yes...I did it...I took my poor, neglected stamps out of their boxes and used them...thanks to Unity's new challenge!  Now, don't get me wrong...I do LOVE my Unity stamps but with 3 kiddos and little time to craft I think I have felt that it just takes too much time to get out the stamps/ink and clean it all up afterward.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my layout actually came together faster than when I just use my papers/embellishments.  I think my stamps and the great sketch provided by Joslyn Nielson allowed me to think a little more clean and simple.  

I love how the red and turquoise pop off the white cardstock.  And I felt I didn't really need a title since I already have one in the picture.  :)

All of the stamps I used are from Unity (although I'm not sure which sets a few came from or if they are even still available...like the Did You Know and the journal line stamps).  But the worn grid is definitely a timeless classic and the little heart is actually from the Eco Chic set.

Here is the sketch from Joslyn and the color inspiration too.  You can use both or one for your project.

  

I was so inspired, I decided to make a card too!  I'm not sure if you can enter more than one project in the challenge but if so, here it is...

 

 I really liked that heart picture in the color inspiration so I decided to play around with negative space and a newsprint feel (like the fab stamped love paper in the MME Love Me collection). First I cut out a heart shape from a piece of paper...no die cut...just drew a heart and cut it out. (Since you are stamping it, it doesn't have to be perfect so no worries if you don't have a die cutting machine!) Then I taped the paper with the open heart over my card base and started stamping the word love (from Mix of Cuteness set) across it in rows.  After I finished and lifted up the paper, I had this nice heart shape filled with love!  :)  Then I glammed it up with some AC turquoise glitter paper and some red rhinestones.

Thanks again to Unity and Joslyn for this awesome challenge that got my stamping mojo working again!  You still have plenty of time to play along...go HERE for the details and to see all the other great entries.

Maybe I need to reconsider how I store my stamps...maybe they should be in easily accessible, open containers on my desk so I can play with them more. What do you think?

My Baby Giraffe - My Mind's Eye Challenge

Well, after having my 3rd little guy almost a year ago, I am finally starting to find more time to scrapbook and of course I had to play along with the challenge this month over at MME (since I have so many of their collections! :)  Here is the wonderful sketch by Ronda:

 And here is my interpretation:

I have been wanting to scrapbook this photo since I took it back in October...I mean, really, isn't he adorable?!  :)  I used multiple collections to create this page:  Follow Your Heart (background paper), Alphabet Soup (playing cards), Quite Contrary (photo frame), Miss Caroline (sunshine), Lime Twist (letter stickers) and even a little 12 days of Christmas and Stella & Rose in the confetti.  I love how easy it is to combine collections from My Mind's Eye!

The journaling reads:  "Your first Halloween and you were so adorable in this giraffe costume.  And that smile...so sweet!"

The ribbon and buttons are American Crafts and 'the story' journal tag is from Elle's Studio.

 

To see all the other great entries or to enter your own project you can check out the challenge on the MME blog HERE.

 

 

Have a great day!

New Beginnings - Unique Crafters Challenge #11

Happy New Year!!!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are gearing up for a great year ahead!  This month's theme over at the Unique Crafters Challenge blog is New Beginnings.  In 2012, we welcomed our 3rd little boy into this world so I thought this challenge was the perfect opportunity to document that very special day...a day full of all sorts of new beginnings for him and us as a family.  Love you little man! :)

For this layout I used 3 different My Mind's Eye collections...I love that they coordinate so well!  I plan to document some special thoughts/moments on the journal card still but otherwise I am really happy with how this turned out.

So, what new beginnings will you celebrate this year?  Create a project and link it up on the Unique Crafters Challenge blog for your chance to win a great prize!  You have until the end of January and can link up to 3 projects...so use it as inspiration and get crafting! :)

Unique Crafters Challenge #7 - Anything Goes

Hello all!  If you haven't yet joined us for the Unique Crafters Challenge, then this is definitely the month to participate!  See below for details:

Big Chance Giveaway Contest

I am so excited to announce the Big Chance Giveaway Contest for September at the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog. You will have over 20 chances to win great prize packages when you enter this month.

The theme for this challenge is: “Anything Goes”

This month is going to be a little bit different. Instead of commenting on the posts our designers will be focused on discovering great new blogs to be highlighted in our Friday Spotlight Posts. Also check back on September 15 for information about the Designers blog hop where you will have another chance to win prizes. Remember, with an “Anything Goes” theme, you can post up to three links for any paper or digital craft project you have designed during the last three months.

We will be giving away awards for the following categories:

Best Home Decor Project

Best Party Favor

Best Alcohol Marker Colored Image

Best Altered Art Project

Best Digital Craft Project

Overall Favorite Scrapbook Page

Best use of Photos on a Scrapbook Page

Best Theme on a Scrapbook Page

Best Color Combination on a Scrapbook Page

Best Simple and Clean Scrapbook Layout

Most Elaborate Layout

Overall Favorite Card

Best Birthday Card

Best Baby Card

Best Color Combination on a Card

Best Simple and Clean Card

Funniest Card

Most Elegant Card

Most Elaborate Card

One Big Grand Prize

 

 

How awesome is that!  So, start posting your favorite projects that fit these categories and hopefully you're inspired to create a new project or two to enter too! :)  Here is my Anything Goes project:

I love the combination of this My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline collection with the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan banners and thickers.  I wanted this layout to capture the joy we felt when we saw our baby for the first time...definitely a moment to treasure and celebrate!  We are loving life with our three precious boys...I feel so blessed.

I'll be looking forward to seeing all your wonderful projects for the Unique Crafters Challenge!  You can link them up HERE  through the end of September for your chance to win a great prize!

Legoland Layout

Happy Saturday!  We are having some gorgeous weather here in the Northwest...can't wait to head outside!  Last summer we enjoyed a lovely vacation to San Diego, CA and had a ton of fun at Legoland.  If you have kids and haven't been...I highly recommend it.  Plus while you're down there you can enjoy Sea World, The Wild Animal Park, & San Diego Zoo too!  Here's a fairly simple layout I created to document our trip to Legoland.

I used bright Lego colors, BoBunny double dot paper, and of course LEGOS!  I also used Papertrey Ink's ticket die to create the bottom border and then separated the tickets and turned them vertically to create the title and accent the pictures a little.  I really love how this turned out...unfortunately it didn't get picked up for the magazine call I submitted it to.  :(

Such great memories!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

This is what Love looks like...

Hello friends!  I hope your Easter weekend is off to a lovely start!  We headed to the zoo yesterday (4 hours walking around ended up being a bit much for my 8 month pregnant self...but we had lots of fun) and have been having beautiful weather.  I am looking forward to a quiet day at home today and some nice family time tomorrow.

I just wanted to pop in and share a layout I created recently...

Happy Easter!

Unique Crafters Challenge #2 - Paper Flowers

Happy April to you all!  Since it's the start of a new month, Unique Crafters has a great new challenge beginning.  This month the theme is paper flowers.  My favorite way to use paper flowers is to cut them out of patterned paper...that way they totally coordinate with the collection I am working with (plus I don't have to go searching through lots of flowers to find the right ones).  I thought this collection by My Mind's Eye was perfect for documenting my special Mother's Day last year.

Now I hope you are as excited as I am to participate in this challenge...I can't wait to see what you all come up with!  And you have the whole month to submit your creations.  Click the logo below to head on over to the challenge blog site to see the rest of the Design Team's creations and to link up your own for the challenge.  You'll have a chance to win a great prize from our sponsor, Scrapbook Unique!

                                                  http://uniquecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com/