Party at my Crib

For challenge #3 in Shimelle's Design Decisions Class, it was another sketch.

I really liked the sketch for this one, with the grid embellishments to the right of the photo.

This is another stash buster layout. This uses an old collection from SEI. I used to subscribe to their monthly kits, and I could never use them all up before the next arrived. They even went to every other month, which I think they still do, but I still couldn't keep up, which led me to stop subscribing. 

I don't think I will allow myself another kit club until I either purge all of the old kits that I have or use them up. So here's to using some up!

I always have a ton to say on my layouts, for better or worse, but that makes it a challenge when following a sketch, where it is going to go. I opted to use two of the squares on the grid to house them and then set off to embellish the rest. 

I knew I had a cute stamp from Stampin' Up! that would go well with the photos, but I wasn't sure that the style would work, but I went with it anyway and tucked one by the title and the other on another at the top of the layout.

The circle alphabet stickers came with the collection of SEI papers, but the alpha tiles are from Simple Stories.

I inked the edges of all of my papers with black Distress Ink to provide some contrast, and because Shimelle does. :)

Thanks for checking out my layout!

Dancin' Shoes

After having so much success in creating layouts with Shimelle's The 20 Project class, when she came out with another shortly after, Design Decisions, I signed up.

Glad to be finally sharing some layouts in response to the challenges in this class! Here is a layout that I made in response to Challenge #2 in Shimelle's Design Decisions class. The challenge was to create a layout using a sketch. 

This page is for my wedding album. It has been quite neglected. Saw this photo already printed and thought it would be great to get this story told. 

One of the things I love about Shimelle's classes is that I feel happy to bash my stash for the challenges. 

The doilies were from my stash and I spray misted them to match the papers and to add some contrast from the background. .

Fussy cut some florals from a 6x6 paper pad from Fancy Pants, I believe.

Love the white foam Thickers for the title, and dug out some Stampin' Up! rub-ons for the triple lined circles and border. 

Used a border punch to create the grey edge on the opposite side.

Used an Ali Edwards stamp sentiment at the end of my journaling and called this one done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kickin' It

I am so excited to share a layout with you today! The first since December Daily!

Now I have to admit, this layout was finished back in November, but wanted to post this with the other projects I completed for Shimelle's Design Decisions class I started taking then. I actually posted a photo on Instagram as part of my 30 Days of Thankful.

After taking Shimelle's The 20 Project, and having such success from creating regularly from its' challenges, I decided to sign up for her next one--Design Decisions.

Back to the layout....

So the first challenge Shimelle shared in this class was a sketch challenge. I stuck pretty true to the sketch that she shared. 

Now when I created this layout, I had unearthed more photos from an event that I had scrapbooked for the 20 Project Class, a washi tape challenge.  That page is linked here. I decided to go with products that coordinated with it to create this one.

What is odd, is there is another challenge in this class to create a page associated with another, but not make into a 2 page spread--Challenge #10. This challenge also has a color combination challenge with it, but creating kits based on color, really isn't my thing. I would much rather stick to collections that are color coordinated already.

So that this layout coordinated with the other, I decided to make sure the washi tape carried over from the original. In the sketch, this block was patterned paper, but I essentially made my own. 

The papers and embellishments are from an old collection from Bella Blvd. I also used puffy sticker dots, the same as the previous page.

I hand wrote part of the title, pairing it with the alpha stickers that came with the collection.

Love using up the rest of this collection sitting in my stash, as well as the sketch, making it all pull together.

So there you have it. Challenge #1 and #10 completed for Shimelle's Design Decision Class. Will b sharing more from this class soon! 

Thanks for visiting!

Fun in the Sun

I have still been trying to work through a pile of layouts that have been in progress.

Here is a layout that I found in that pile that was in pieces and needed journaling. 

Now this layout comes from a kit my mom created at Just Kitting. This layout design is retired now, but if you like paper piecing or looking for a specific character, she is your woman!

When I saw this kit of hers with the matching Elmo to my photos from Sea World San Diego, I snatched it up. 

I like to pull out my stamps for these kits to add a bit more. This time I used a set from Ali Edwards/Technique Tuesday with geo tags.  Also used some number stamps from my stash to create the date.

I will have to admit, I sometimes struggle with where to put the journaling on her page kits. Usually she will have a journaling spot, but with all of my photos and the character pieces, journaling ends up being the last priority. 

This time, I opted to print my journaling on one of the layers (fit nicely in my printer) and using an Ali Edwards stamp as a subtitle right above it. Love how this turned out!

Another layout out of the in-progress pile into another pile.... to put in an album pile.....

Can you relate? :)

Thanks for visiting!

December Daily 2016- Title page and finishing up

Here is my title page for my 2016 December Daily album.

I usually wait until the end of the of the project to finish this one, since I like to use a favorite family photo from the season. 

The paper is my favorite from the SEI Alpine Frost collection. I layered a branding strip with the numbers 1- 25, a subtle but awesome addition, with some solid papers from SEI and Simple Stories.

I had a few brads left over from the Simple Stories DIY Christmas that I used here as well as a few sequins found throughout my album for 2016.

I included little strips that state the ages of my kids, a nice quick reference when looking back.

For the embellishment cluster at the top of the page, I used some Tim Holtz metal numbers to put that it was  '16, but I had used the 1 last year on that December Daily album cover. I had the 1/2 and broke it apart to use just the one. 

I used some more of the Simple Stories brads and sequins as well.

I layered a scalloped circle that I punched with a circle I punched and stamped with an Ali Edwards stamp. Tucked another stamped circle behind it. 

Thoughts on this years album:

1. I loved doing all 6x8 layouts this year! I figured that if this is my one big project a year that I complete, I should enjoy the process and take my time. The divided pages just weren't going to work with the products I had to work with this year, so I didn't want to stress about it and force it like I had in previous years.

2. I haven't purchased an album to put these pages in yet. There weren't any 6x8 albums that I were going to have what I needed, but lo and behold, Ali Edwards came out with a black Storybook album that should work. Simple Stories albums just don't hold enough pages. Not sure if I am going that route or wait to purchase a December Daily album from her later this year.

3. I loved bashing my stash. It felt great to use up product I have had in my stash for a long time. It also felt good not to spend a lot of money on new stuff that I wasn't that excited about using.

4. I find it humorous that I chose a lot of snowflake themed products this year, and that was the year that we really didn't get any snow....

5. Loved using the snowflake sequins this year. They were the perfect embellishment to sprinkle throughout the album to tie the pages together. Tim Holtz's metal number tags were another great purchase.

6. Still love using Ali Edwards' stamps. I got lots of use out of them this year, especially the new ones I bought this year. Definitely worth the money to me.

Thanks again for checking out my album!

Can't wait to share some of the layouts that I have recently completed! I have a whole list of projects in the que.

December Daily 2017- Day 26

Here is the last day I have to share with you from my 2016 December Daily album.

With so much family to see during the holidays, it is almost impossible to have Christmas with everyone before the 25. I like to include these Christmas celebrations in my December Daily album, even though they happen after the 25. 

I was extremely happy with how this layout turned out! Usually by the end of this project, I get into a "get her done" mode and things end up simple and a bit disappointing. I also was getting to the end of my kit stash of papers and things which makes it challenging as well to make a great page. 

The background paper is from an old collection from Stampin' Up! Matted my collage photo (done in PSE) with paper from SEI Alpine Frost.

At the top of the page, I layered what few tags and die cuts that would work for this page and strung them together with some black and white twine that I used throughout the album. Got a bit creative with it and love it. Sprinkle the sequins and a stamped sentiment from Ali Edwards to finish this cluster off.

At the bottom, I did a similar thing. This time I also used the Tim Holtz metal number tag in the mix. Tucked my journaling in there in strips and the page was done!

Thanks for checking out my December Daily project. I have one more post to share from this project. The title page completed and my thoughts on what worked and didn't work this year. Hope you stop by again!

December Daily 2016 -Day 25 part 2

Here are the last pages for Day 25 in my 2016 December Daily album.

There are always a ton of photos that I take during Christmas day. I thought putting them in a grid, would be a great way to showcase more of them and tell a bit more of the story. 

I began to run out of full sheets of patterned paper in the kit I created, so I opted to use SEI color card stock for the background in these pages.

I cut a square of patterned paper from Stampin' Up! and layered some fussy cut snowflakes from SEI, the Tim Holtz metal number tag and sequins to build my first square of my grid.

For the second, I white heat embossed an image from an older Ali Edwards stamp  on some more Stampin' Up! paper and layered a few sequins.

The last embellished square used SU paper again as well as a heart punched from SS paper and a banner made from Ali Edwards stamps and dies when she was with Technique Tuesday. 

For the journaling panel at the bottom I used some grey card stock and white heat embossed another of Ali Edwards' stamps. 

For the last page for Day 25, I used papers from SU and fussy cut the snowflake from a SEI tag. 

The photo corners I created cutting squares from the SEI tag paper in half.

Layered stickers from Simple Stories as well as the chipboard ampersand. Sprinkled on a few more sequins.

I am almost done sharing this December Daily album. Come back for one more day and a wrap up! Thanks for visiting!

December Daily 2016- Day 25 Part 1

Coming down to the end of my 2016 December Daily project.

Here is the first two pages for my Day 25.

This year, like my last few December Daily albums, I include a before and after shot of the Christmas tree.

Since this day is what the album culminates to, I had this photo printed 6x8 from Persnickety. All my photos are printed by them, but I love that this is a size option from them.

Kept it simple. Layered a fussy cut snowflake from the SEI Alpine Frost collection and layered it with a sticker from an old Simple Stories sticker sheet. Found tiny red gems in my stash and went for it.

For the second page, the after photo was placed on some SEI patterned paper with the snowflake paper bordering at the bottom. 

The banner sticker was from an old Simple Stories collection sticker sheet. 

Typed up my journaling in a block and added a Simple Stories wood veneer stocking and heat embossed label from Ali Edwards/ Technique Tuesday. Layered some red gems and snowflake sequins, keeping it pretty simple.

December Daily 2017- Day 24

Here is my layout for Day 24 in my 2016 December Daily album.

The paper is from an old Stampin' Up collection but the embellishments are from Simple Stories DIY Christmas and SEI Alpine Frost.

I created a photo collage in PSE. It was the perfect size for the sticker frame from SEI after matting it on some more paper from Stampin' Up!

Used a bit of silver washi from my stash for a place to anchor my embellishments.

The title was made using Simple Stories alpha tile stickers.

The stickers were also from Simple Stories. Layered in a snowflake sequins and a bit of journaling.

Getting to the last little bits from the DIY die cut pack and found the arrow. Layered it with a stickers (sentiment and arrow) from the same collection, as well as more sequins.

Created another photo collage for this page in PSE. 

Layered a sticker from SEI with the Tim Holts metal number tag, as well as some snowflakes fussy cut from that SEI collection as well. The green die cut was from Simple Stories.

Printed my journaling on another Simple Stories die cut and layered with more SEI snowflakes. 

That finishes up Day 24.  Christmas Day is coming soon. After that I created a page for Day 26 and I will have a last post to wrap up the album. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you visit again soon!

December Daily 2016- Day 23

Here is the first page of my Day 23 in my December Daily 2016 album.

First up is our family Christmas card. I went with a 5x7 photo card from Walgreens this year, in part because I waited so long to get it done.

Paper is from an old Stampin' Up! collection I had in my stash.

Because the card took up so much of the page, I used another pull out tag for the journaling. Usually I don't have much to say about the Christmas card, but with an error on my part this year, it warranted a story. 

The black tag was from a tag set at the Target Dollar Hot Spot in 2015. Used some gold washi and a wood veneer arrow. Used a bit of twine that I have been using throughout the album on the tag.

Here are the remaining pages for Day 23.

All of the paper is from SEI Alpine Frost. The green is a bit thin but iridescent. 

Background paper is my favorite from the SEI Alpine Frost collection.

Had a banner tag left from Simple Stories  and placed my journaling strips on it layered with another circle tag from that same collection.

On the top left of the photo I layered an old Simple Stories sticker with a stamped banner from Ali Edwards. Layered in the Tim Holtz metal number tag and snowflake sequins.

For the third and last page for Day 23, I used some photo corner stickers from my stash around the matching paper from the previous page. The base paper was a specialty paper that had some shimmer, maybe that is why the glare is so bad in the photo.

The 23 was cut from a Simple Stories DIY Christmas paper. The banner was an old stamp set from Ali Edwards and used a coordinating Technique Tuesday die with it to cut it out.

Layered some snowflake sequins and called it done.

Not many pages left in this 2016 December Daily album. Hope you come back to check out the last few days!

December Daily 2016- Day 22

Here is the first layout for Day 22 of my 2016 December Daily.

Kept this layout pretty simple. Made a photo collage using PSE. Used papers from SEI Alpine Frost. 

Used another Tim Holtz metal number tag in the center of the photos with some twine after backing it with some card stock.

In the top left, I used a tab punch with a sentiment stamped from an Ali Edwards December Daily stamp set.

Used some silver washi from my stash, as well as some really old leather like Thickers. "Christmas" in the title is a sticker from Simple Stories DIY Christmas as well as the black banner die cut. Layered more snowflake sequins throughout this and the following layouts.

Stamped from an old Ali Edwards December Daily stamp in the corner.

Right next to this layout is another for Day 22.

I kept this one pretty simple as well. This uses papers from the SEI collection, as well as Simple Stories DIY Christmas, the 6x6 paper pad and the tags. The red mat is paper from Stampin' Up!

Used a glitter border sticker from SEI and stamped "today=awesome" from an Ali Edwards stamp set.

When you turn the page in the album, the third and final layout for Day 22 finishes this day up.

The papers used on tho layout are from Stampin' Up! The strips and snowflakes are from SEI Alpine Frost. 

From that same Ali Edwards stamp set, I created the "here's the story" embellishment. Had it start the journaling out that wraps around the photo.

Layered in a doily from my stash, as well as the twenty-two from Simple Stories.

Thanks for stopping by to check out the last few days of my 2016 December Daily!