Sweet Spot

For Shimelle's 20 Project, I completed another challenge, this time to use manual dies. What is funny, is that I think there were previous layouts that I had used more die cuts from my manual dies than this one, but I didn't want add any more for the sake of the challenge.

This layout was also inspired from journaling that I completed for another class, Stacy Julian's Inspired Scrapbooking from Big Picture for the topic of seasons.

So here is the layout I created for Shimelle's challenge #8.

For this layout I used Dear Lizzy paper, stickers, tags and Thickers. Not sure which collections, since I tend to mix them up. The vellum envelope is from Cosmo Cricket and the glitter heart stickers were leftovers from an Ali Edwards December Daily kit.

The photos, I had printed at Persnickety Prints as instagram prints, but trimmed the white border down a bit.

The manual dies I used were the pinked circles from Tim Holtz/Sizzix. I used the three sizes to create a triangle on the page. 

Used this sketch for layout inspiration.

I gravitated toward polka dot patterns of different sizes since it was about a "sweet spot."

I used a Balzer Designs stencil to create the arrows at the top and bottom of the page using gold Stickles.

I had a lot of journaling for this page, I briefly wrote a bit from it on the tag, and placed the rest of it in the vellum envelope. 

Another challenge complete, another story told. It's a great day! Thanks for looking!

Dear Time

Here is a layout I completed that were inspired by two classes.

The journaling was done for this layout back in 2013, which was for Ali Edwards' Hello Story class for lesson 4, about time.

Shimelle's 20 Project class challenge for #6 was to "let Pinterest help not hinder."

I use Pinterest all the time for inspiration for my layouts. I "collect" my own pins from the blogs that I frequent and then go back to my boards when I need a little of inspiration. For this layout I used this pin as a starting point.

Since the topic was time, I found some clocks in my The Girls Paperie die cut pack. I had a few scraps from this collection remaining, but I also had purchased some patterned paper from Bazzil that was a pretty awesome match to supplement. 

The chevron paper was from Bazzil. I cut the pieces apart leaving a white gap for more contrast. 

I also found some metal clocks that I had in my stash from ki memories, maybe. Used some enamel dots to embellish each of my clusters.

My journaling I printed from my computer, putting emphasis on the word time throughout, and signed my name as it was written as a letter.

Added Thickers for and a card from a piece of patterned paper for the title. 

Really loved how this layout came out and glad this challenge enabled me to complete another layout!

Thanks for looking! Hoping to share another challenge with your soon!

Love

So I skipped Shimelle's third challenge when I realized I had completed it the day before. It was to use a pristine set of stamps. 

I tend to try to stamp on all of my layouts, and since I was a bit behind on the challenges, I moved on. Today's layout is for Shimelle's fourth challenge of her 20 Project. "Use colour wheel to add variety." 

I don't tend to scrap with only certain colors. I am all over the board. I usually keep within collections, and I pull out the ones that go with the mood/emotion I want to convey. 

For this challenge, I loosely used the same color combination Shimelle chose for her layout. Orangy red, blue and yellow. I found this collection from Basic Grey that had those colors and went with it. My son helped me select it.

I am always amazed how much product I received in the Page of the Month kits from Basic Grey. I had quite a bit of leftovers to pick from to create this page. Stickers, die cut/doily paper, buttons and paper.

The sticker sheet had the love title stickers calling my name, so I went with the simple title.

Unfortunately, my photos are in such disarray, I didn't realize these photos, which aren't very good, since pre digital cameras, that I had scrapped this story already. Almost word for word! Many years ago. I plan to remove the photos and journaling and see if it can be used for another story. 

It did make me get out my old albums to check and makes me want to reassess my old photos and albums and make better decisions about which photos to scrap. It also made me realize I had photos from high school, in the mix and placed them in the correct album.

A little disheartened by a repeat layout, and I would keep it if it said something different, but it doesn't. It was fun to make, though. 

On to the next challenge!

Soon to be a Big Brother

For Shimelle's 20 Project, challenge #3 was: "Do more with ink."

She shared a technique using Distress inks that I had never tried before, so it inspired me to try it. I stamped some Ali Edwards stamps and heat embossed in white. Then using a water brush, I painted the Distress ink color on. Loved the customizable embellishments with things I already have in my stash. Also loved that I was able to finally use this stamp set that had never been used before!

 I used this sketch as inspiration for the page design.

Papers are from SEI, back when I used to subscribe to their kits.

For this first area, I used all of the colors from the striped pattern and added my journaling. I also used another of Ali's Story Stamps for the "Right Now" at the top and in the pinked circle. The circle was die cut using a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die.

Used some dies in the kit as well as some puffy stickers from an old December Daily kit from Ali Edwards.

I had found an old journal entry from this time about Aaron and I with the baby on the way and rewrote it to include in a pocket behind the photo. Added a Tim Holtz tiny paper clip to show that it could come out. Used another Story Stamp from Ali to create the header of the journaling card.

Love how this layout turned out and that I was able to use a new technique, use an used stamp set, and get the story told while making it lovely! Proud of this one.

Thanks for looking. Hoping to share more layouts from Shimelle's challenges soon!

**After creating and posting this layout, challenge #7 was to scrap a portrait and landscape photo happily. I combed through my stash of printed photos and couldn't find another pair that fit the criteria. I figured this meets that challenge as well, just didn't know it yet :) **

Cinderella Castle/ Dream Come True

I am currently taking Shimelle's 20 Project Class. The premise of the class is that she put in 20 challenges to herself in a jar and she randomly pulls one that she will complete for the day. For day 2, the challenge was "change up the title technique".

I don't have any particular style of titles. I haven't been scrapbooking a ton, but in my December Daily, I did a lot of sticker letters. The other I have been doing lately has been Cut apart cards with titles on it. 

For this challenge, I chose to dust off my Cricut and cut a pre-made title, meaning a phrase all ready to go as apposed to cutting letters to spell something. I also used an Amy Tangerine stitching template to complete the title.

For this layout I found a really old small collection pack from Daisy D's. In it there were papers, (all super thin) tags and frames punch out die cuts. Since the paper was super thin, I backed it with a white piece of card stock that I had a bit of a frame show. 

Used this layout for inspiration.

So the title uses the Disney Cricut cartridge, Happily Ever After. It has been so long since I have used the machine to make any pages, it took a bit to remember what I needed to do to get it to cut what I wanted. 

I then added some 3D stickers from K&Co. I believe that I had originally had with my wedding stash, but happy to have them all used up! A bit of gold washi on the bottom of the tag, and it was ready to go.

Layered some paper, frames, a doily, and added a few stitches to tie the title in the rest of the page and called this page done.

While having my Cricut out, I found the "Dreams Come True" Disney cartridge and thought the phrase would be perfect for the other photo I had printed of the castle. I opted to create a companion page for the first layout with matching pieces.

Mimicking a lot of the other pages elements, the second page came together rather quickly.

Love how this page allowed me enough room to add the journaling. 

I used one of Shimelle's sketches for inspiration.

Really enjoying Shimelle's class, seeing that I have already made 3 pages! Hoping it inspires me to continue to create more pages a more regular pace. 

More pages from her challenges coming soon!

Madeline's Baby Album - 1 month

So instead of sharing some layouts that I brought to completion I thought I would share some pages I created for a new class I am taking- Shimelle's 20 Project. This class has been a great motivator to get back in the habit of scrapbooking!

She has created 20 challenges for herself, put them in a jar and randomly selects one and sets off to create a layout. She has also limited herself to 10 minutes to select the products to use and 20 minutes to create the layout. 

For the first challenge, it was to evaluate the current family album. 

Since I am not current with much of anything at the moment, I looked at my older daughter's baby album incomplete and decided to make some progress on it.

I then created this layout. 

 

I did fairly well in completing this challenge in the time frame. I had the products "kitted" already which sped that up. The products are mainly from the Becky Higgins/CK baby kit. The other papers are from Pebbles. The layered/stitched stickers were from either Amy Tangerine or Dear Lizzy. The puffy stickers were from Amy Tangerine.

Got out my Martha Stewart fringe scissors, which was inspired from a layout I found on Pinterest. Also used this sketch from Scrapbook and Cards Today.

I took this photo with my phone, so it isn't the best. I didn't take any close ups either, which would show the stamp detail that I added to the blue striped paper using Ali Edwards' newest baby stamp set.

Loving Shimelle's class! Loving that I am back to making pages again!
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December Daily 2015 - the end

There were a few Christmases that didn't happen within the 25 days of Christmas I wanted to include in my album this year. Christmas with my in-laws and Christmas with my dad. Sometimes these happen to fall in the album naturally, but this year, the schedules were a bit crazy, (Maddie having school until the 23 didn't help) so it was what it was.

Had the 26 wood veneer left over from Ali Edwards December Daily kit from 2014. Used the 25 on the day before, so had it pulled out for this layout.

Used an Ali Edwards stamp on the bottom of the page. Love when I find ways to include Ali's stamps that I seem to be collecting!

I was pleasantly surprised how far the stuff that I purchased from Simple Stories DIY Christmas collection went. I never felt like I didn't have enough pieces, especially like the journaling cards. There were never enough in Ali's kits to house my journaling for the album. I even had enough alpha stickers and things to spell out what I needed. AMAZING!

This is the last page and the last day in my album. Jan 3, 2016.

I made what I had left work, layering a number stamp shape with another die cut of the number. Used up some leftover die cuts and stickers and happy how it came out!

So there you have it, my December Daily album for 2015. I am not surprised that it took me 6 months to complete. With a new baby, I had to work on it when I could. The biggest obstacle was getting my photo order organized, uploaded and purchased.  Then it was play time, as napping and school schedules allowed. 

I am so happy to do this project. It is one of my favorites! Love to have these snippets of our holiday season!

Can't wait to see the Christmas collections, kits, and stamps that come out for 2016. Not sure what to do with all of the leftovers from this kit, whether to gift or save to see if it will coordinate with what I get new. Kind of sick of it though and may want to start fresh. We shall see. Already purchase the Tim Holtz pewter numbers when I saw them at JoAnns. 

Thank you for checking my album out. Hope you will visit again soon! Have some traditional layouts to share with you! Trying to get the stack of pages in progress to completion! Stay tuned!

December Daily 2015 - Day 23, 24 and 25

Today I am going to share Day 23, 24, and 25 of my 2015 December Daily album.

By this point in my album, I had begun to realize when sketching out my pages that my photos were heavily of my older two children. Even though, I did not print my photos but twice in the process of creating my album, once in late December and again well after the holidays, I had been sketching and planning the pages out and which photos and page protectors I would be using every day.

So most of the days were focused on the big kid's things, so with nothing really going on during Day 23, I decided to do a photo shoot of my daughter to celebrate her first Christmas. Kinda a big deal!

Got some use out of Ali Edwards' Story Stamps (from the Firsts set) yet again for this layout. 

Because of the metal rimmed tags that I used on the previous day, I found a few from my stash on the same sheet that I could adhere back to back on the opposite side of the shaker pocket. Sealed it with washi tape from my stash. (Too lazy to get out the Fuse tool again.)

Kept the first day for Day 24 pretty simple. 

For next layout includes one for Day 24 and the other the beginning of the 25. 

The Simple Stories Christmas wood veneers (wan't part of DIY Chrismas, but their other line for that year) had a deer head. I don't know about you but I never know what to do with deer heads.  In this photo, the kids were putting out their reindeer food, so I figured that it was the best place to get the silly thing used. Still torn if I like it there, but it is what it is.

Went through my stash of pieces in my Simple Stories DIY Christmas stash as well as any other previous December Daily kit pieces and found anything that said Dec 25 or Christmas day.

The 3x4 card that is layered on the 4x6 card that says Dec 25, was cut down from a larger size. It was meant to go with the banner kit that came in my SS DIY stuff. 

Day 25 got another layout. 

Love adding a before and after shot of the tree. It gives a snapshot of what the kids got for Christmas, what paper I used, and more little details that I couldn't capture otherwise.

For this layout, I actually fixed the group shot using PSE, using their guided edits. I was able to have the baby smiling and looking up in the best photo of the rest of the kids. Love that!

The 25 wood veneer is a left over from last year's December Daily kit from Ali Edwards.

There you have it. Last days of December captured. I am not done sharing yet though. I created a few more pages to include Christmas with my inlaws and my dad. Will share the last pages with you tomorrow. Come back soon to check it out!

December Daily 2015 - Day 23, 24 and 25

Today I am going to share Day 23, 24, and 25 of my 2015 December Daily album.

By this point in my album, I had begun to realize when sketching out my pages that my photos were heavily of my older two children. Even though, I did not print my photos but twice in the process of creating my album, once in late December and again well after the holidays, I had been sketching and planning the pages out and which photos and page protectors I would be using every day.

So most of the days were focused on the big kid's things, so with nothing really going on during Day 23, I decided to do a photo shoot of my daughter to celebrate her first Christmas. Kinda a big deal!

Got some use out of Ali Edwards' Story Stamps (from the Firsts set) yet again for this layout. 

Because of the metal rimmed tags that I used on the previous day, I found a few from my stash on the same sheet that I could adhere back to back on the opposite side of the shaker pocket. Sealed it with washi tape from my stash. (Too lazy to get out the Fuse tool again.)

Kept the first day for Day 24 pretty simple. 

For next layout includes one for Day 24 and the other the beginning of the 25. 

The Simple Stories Christmas wood veneers (wan't part of DIY Chrismas, but their other line for that year) had a deer head. I don't know about you but I never know what to do with deer heads.  In this photo, the kids were putting out their reindeer food, so I figured that it was the best place to get the silly thing used. Still torn if I like it there, but it is what it is.

Went through my stash of pieces in my Simple Stories DIY Christmas stash as well as any other previous December Daily kit pieces and found anything that said Dec 25 or Christmas day.

The 3x4 card that is layered on the 4x6 card that says Dec 25, was cut down from a larger size. It was meant to go with the banner kit that came in my SS DIY stuff. 

Day 25 got another layout. 

Love adding a before and after shot of the tree. It gives a snapshot of what the kids got for Christmas, what paper I used, and more little details that I couldn't capture otherwise.

For this layout, I actually fixed the group shot using PSE, using their guided edits. I was able to have the baby smiling and looking up in the best photo of the rest of the kids. Love that!

The 25 wood veneer is a left over from last year's December Daily kit from Ali Edwards.

There you have it. Last days of December captured. I am not done sharing yet though. I created a few more pages to include Christmas with my inlays and my dad. Will share the last pages with you tomorrow. Come back soon to check it out!