Currently Loving

I have a layout to share with you from my drafts folder. This layout was completed quite a while ago. 

I created this layout using the leftovers from a Basic Grey Page of the Month kit from years ago. 

Using stamp sets from Ali Edwards' Story Stamp subscription, I created the title and embellishments. Fussy cut some flowers from the patterned paper and used some small brads for their centers. 

I always do a favorites list for my kids every birthday, so I thought I would create a layout of mine. Used my typewriter to create the journaling.

The photos were taken by my kids, but that is in part why I loved them enough to use them.

Glad to get this up to share..... finally. 

Have a baby brag book to share that I completed in one day at a crop! Hope to share a project again soon!

Baby Thank You Cards

So my baby came on her due date, April 13. Afterwards some of my family and friends spoiled me and our new baby girl.  To thank them, I created 10 thank you cards to send out.

No surprise that I have been short on crafty time.  I wanted to make something fairly simple and easily repeatable. 

In my stash I found some old Stampin' Up! stamps, "Little Layers", "Little Layers 2", and "Little Layers Plus". I also went through my chalk inks and found 3 colors I thought would work with the green card bases.

I then heat embossed with silver embossing powder the hearts and pacifier over the top.

Layered some patterned paper from my stash and heat embossed a sentiment stamp "grateful " and called it good.

Hopefully I will make it back in my craft space again soon to share more projects with you. In the meantime I will be enjoying some baby snuggles.

Cherry Pickin'

The layout I am sharing today is one that I created a long time ago and thought that I had blogged. As I was writing up a handful of new blog posts, I noticed that I had a handful of draft posts that I had never completed, so I thought, I would share one of those with you today.

This layout was heavily inspired by Nichol Magourik. I was in love with her process videos and layouts in her 2 Peas in a Bucket/ Studio AE design team days.

I created some photo collages using some of Kerri Bradford templates in Photoshop Elements.

The papers were finds from a Shop Hop I participated in Southern California when I lived there. Each were cherry themed and purchased for this event so I don't really recall where they came from. The cherry brads/gems as well.

Not sure where the ribbon threaded border came from. I am pretty sure I used a border punch but I don't recognize it from my stash.

I created some tabs and journal spots (left over from DIY Christmas from Simple Stories) and layered them together, one holding the business card of the place we went, another for journaling and the last for embellishment. 

The title used some red chipboard Thickers and some epoxy letters from my stash. The arrows at the top of the page were also from the DIY Christmas collection from Simple Stories. 

I stamped a few circle stamps from Ali Edwards (a few from her Story Stamp for the Go theme)  and used them as embellishments as well as creating a sentiment on the top of the journaling spot.

Used more tags and banners from Simple Stories DIY Christmas collection and placed more journaling as well as stamping and embellishing of the others. 

Love this layout. It shows a great use of photos, stamping and love that I ended up using the products I had initially intended to use from long ago!

Thanks for taking a look. 

Maddie's Favorite Things @ 6

This layout I have to share with you is quite the stash buster. After participating in Simple Scrappers The Great Stash Bash, it got me taking inventory of some of the dark corners of my stash and ask myself to use it or lose it.

To create this layout, I had my daughter pick out the papers from my stash. She chose some old SEI papers from a collection called Kitty's place. Some of the A side patterns were cat related, but the B sides were perfect. She also likes looking and playing with my washi tape, so she helped select a handful of those as well.

I have a box in my stash of tags of all shapes and sizes. That is where I found the many tags that I used to layer on this layout.

This butterfly die cut was found in a scrapbook magazine ad years ago. It has been sitting in my stash way too long. I thought the colors worked well with this collection as well as matching the butterfly motif, so I went with it.

The "favorite" puffy sticker is one from Elle's Studio as well as the puffy scallop sticker at the bottom of the square. The tile alpha was also from Elle's Studio.

Used some washi tape to ground the flowers a bit to to corner of the page. Felt like they were floating off without it.

Lots of texture and layers can be found in these tags I used under the photo. The red card stock tag left over from a kit from Just Kitting, a yellow ticket from a friend, and a fabric tag from another kit by PlaysWellWithPaper.com. Used some pink glitter tape and some fussy cut flowers and butterflies to complete the look. 

Used Heidi Swapp's roller date stamp to document the date. Love I can put a heart instead of a number for the day of the date.

For the journaling, I typed it up on my type writer and cut it into strips. Placed some flowers I fussy cut out in some of the open spaces.

In the corner, I used some of the washi tape my daughter had picked out along with a puffy scalloped sticker from Elle's Studio and more fussy cut flowers and butterflies.

This last corner on this page was embellished with similar tags and tickets as the other photo. Added a puffy heart sticker to match the title from Elle's Studio and added her age with an alpha/number sticker.

There you have it. Some papers and tags used up from my stash. 

Thanks for taking a look!

Disneyland Timeline

The layout I have to share today was inspired by Ali Edwards' Hello Story class. I was really inspired to make many layouts from this class so far, and still have a list of stories that I want to tell as well. For this layout, I used the timeline story structure, the first lesson. This will be my third timeline layout and another favorite!

For this layout, the idea was to document all of my trips to Disneyland while I lived in Los Angeles for two and a half years. I had nick named each trip, depending on what our focus was or who we went with. 

For each trip, I selected some images that I thought captured the trip the best and had them printed at 1.5 x 2 inches using a collage that puts 8 images on a 4x6 photo print. 

I then created a variety of sized circles using a 6x6 paper pad from American Crafts #summer collection.

The title was die cut using some of my super old Sizzix alpha die sets as well as some Simple Stories alpha tile stickers that I outlined with pen.

I placed a strip of thin washi down the middle of my layout and placed the trip name and date on coordinated paper as the circle it corresponded to.

I thought about using lines or strings to connect the two, but found it too messy and distracting to the layout.

I punched some Mickey shapes out of the papers as well and tucked them around the layout, embellishing with some enamel stars from my stash.

My journaling was added once I had an idea of where the circles were going. I trimmed the piece from the 12x12 ran it through the printer and hid the seams behind the circles, so you can never tell that I had to cut it.

Now I need to decide if this layout goes in my Disneyland album near the front, as a bit of a contents of sorts or my family album....

Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Home Decor Piece

Sharing, not a layout today, but a home decor piece I made after diving in my Halloween stash for some recent layouts.

I used two main components to create this piece. The chipboard letters came from an old SEI kit I have had in my stash. It is the same kit that I used to create my daughters Halloween layout for her baby album I posted last week.

I attended a Halloween crop back at Remember When... Scrapbooking in SoCal when I lived there and my friend that I attended with made Halloween goodie bag swaps and made an extra for me. In it was trims (the ribbon shown here), a rosette shown at the top, a die cut skeleton with brads hinging the bones together, as well as some buttons, and other goodies.

I decided to feature the skeleton on the letter B. I could curve his body to fit the shape. He looks so awesome!

For the O I used some green fuzzy fibers from my stash. (I knew there was a reason I was hanging on to that! :) and wrapped it around the O. I then fussy cut some pumpkins from an old paper pad I had gotten as a gift. Thought they were fun. 

The last O, I used a "doily" web that I had gotten on clearance from Michaels. I layered some dies from the SEI kit and a puffy sticker from that same collection and this one was done! 

Love how it turned out and can't wait to display it this next Halloween!

Carving Pumpkins

This next layout I am sharing has been in the works for quite a while. It has been in sitting in my pages in progress pile for a few years now, begging to be finished. After completing my daughters first Halloween layout for her baby album, and I had all of my Halloween goodies out, I decided it was time to finish this one up.

Sad thing is the only thing that was missing was the journaling..... One of the reasons I now like to start with the story instead of the other way around.

This layout is quite photo heavy. I created a grid of photos on both sides of the layout to balance it out a bit and to separate the lighting difference in the two sets of photos.

The supplies I used were from Girls Paperie, which is no longer, but made lovely things. The only things that are not from them is the die cut pumpkins from Bella Blvd, I believe.

I rarely place anything over the middle seam of a two page layout, but this design needed to share the space of the title for it to work. 

Used a few enamel dots to help embellish the empty space left by the photos and embellishments. They make a nice subtle touch.

Love the circle crepe paper embellishments from this collection that came pre made!

Used some phrase stickers from the collection's sticker book that also had the alphas used in the title and date label used on this page.

A little close-up of the remaining journaling wraps up this layout.

So happy to get this story written, the layout completed and another page of the to-do list! 

Next project I have to share is not a layout, but also Halloween. Trying to bash that stash of mine! Sharing soon!

Maddie's Baby Album- First Halloween

While I await the birth of my 4th child, I am wrapping up my 2nd childs baby album.... This is the last layout that needed to be created. I still have monthly journaling, and a few pocket pages that need filled as well as a title page, but it is almost there!

This layout was made using my Halloween stash. I have a bit of Stampin' Up! paper as the background and the rest of the paper is from SEI. Use it or lose it people. No use holding on to some of this stuff! 

This layout was definitely a stash buster!

The layout design was scrap lifted from a layout kit designed by Paisley and Polkadots found here.

I created some 4x6 photo collage templates and matted them together.  I used some puffy stickers from SEI as well as some leaves from my stash to create the pumpkin as well as some felt ghosts and bats from Memory Keepers. Found some tags in my stash to layer in there as well.

You can't really tell from these photos but most of the papers have a treatment to them. The bats on the bat paper and some of the stripes have a shiny finish to them.

This half of the layout uses the same supplies with the added use of border punches and a clothing tag I had saved from the bib you see my daughter wearing in the photo. 

Love that this little piece of memorabilia made it onto a page. Only like 3 more boxes of stuff to find a home on a page :)

Printed some journaling flags to give just enough information of why these photos were included on this first Halloween layout.

Thanks for taking a look! I know it's no where near Halloween, but this layout inspired me to complete another Halloween layout that has been in the works for YEARS. I created a post a few years ago about pages in progress pile and I snagged the next layout I have to share with you from there. Will post soon!

you+me together

The layout I have to share with you today was inspired by Ali Edwards' Story Stamp theme of bond. I think for this particular theme I have four stories written. This is the #3 story I have create into a layout. Love this about these Story Kit Themes!

Recently I purchased some stash boxes from some blogs that I follow. Inside there were some 6x6 papers and I challenged myself for this layout I would create a mini kit using some of them. 

For design inspiration, I went to Jen Schow's You Tube channel and found a process video for this layout in her 6x6 Paper Love series.

Not sure who made the paper I used with this layout since it was cut 6x6 already. Most of the stamps were from the Story Stamp set with the exception of the "thanks for being here" circle which is a Technique Tuesday stamp.

I black heat embossed the title and all of the other stamped elements on this page.

Used some Elle's Studio puffy stickers to embellish as well as some tape from Ali Edwards' shop. Used a roller date stamp at the top of the layout.

Had a lot of journaling on this one and didn't want it to fight with the design, so I managed to fit most of it on the left side panel.

Tucked the last bit near the bottom embellishment cluster.

I struggled with saying this layout was done because it feels a bit sparse for me, but I couldn't think of what else to add that wouldn't compete with everything that was already there. 

Happy with this story being told and the stamps getting a work out! 

Hope you will stop by again soon! Will share baby news when it is here!

Fun/ not fun

The layout I have to share with you is another inspired by a Story Stamp from Ali Edwards. The theme of this one is Fun.

The journaling for this was, well, fun! It was a neat way to list some things my daughter currently loves and on the flip side doesn't enjoy. She and her brother got a kick out of the "not fun" column. Recommend everyone to try this one!

I have been creating most of my pages with the stories first, especially with the story themes. I then select and order prints to go along and then put micro kits together of which supplies I intend to use.

Lately I have have been challenging myself to use up specific items in my stash so when I "kit" these layouts, I try to throw in some things I normally wouldn't reach for.

I have been receiving the SCT Sampler kits since they started. They are a super fun collection of the newest stuff out there. It gives me a taste of the latest and greatest without over buying and spending. I need more stuff in my stash like I need another hole in my head, so this seems to be curbing my need to buy, but I still get fun new stuff every month for a low cost.

One of the things I have challenged myself lately is to use these SCT Sampler kits up.  When I saw the Doodlebug papers from one of the kits, I new it they would be perfect for this "fun" layout. Loved the confetti paper the most. 

I found a great layout by Shimelle that used this layout design using 6x6 papers that I scrap lifted. 

I also purchased a class by Shimelle during a sale she had last year called Something from almost nothing and the first challenge was to use up some metal embellishments. I was totally unaware of how much metal I had in my stash. Sure there were the brads I haven't purged, but I found metal letters, metal rimmed tags, metal border strips, metal quotes,  metal frames, book plates, safety pins, paper clips and these metal rimmed epoxy circles seen below. It was fun to get some of these things out of my stash and onto a page. This challenge also got me a bit better acquainted with my stash.

I really enjoyed the bright color palate of this layout. I was able to find washi, brads and more to coordinate.

I tucked the little heart paper clip from the sampler on the second photo (more metal!) and layered a few pieces of washi tape. 

I stamped fun and not fun from Ali's Story Stamp set. Fussy cut the fun out and layered on a metal rimmed tag that has more washi layered over it.

More washi, more brads, more metal rimmed epoxy circle stickers.

Used a grid Project Life card to print my journaling on, used a border punch on one edge and segregated the "so fun" from the "no fun" halves with another piece of washi tape. 

The so fun and no fun circles were stamped using the story stamps as well and punched using a circle punch.

Used the Heidi Swapp date stamp for the date.

Hope this layout inspires you to make a so fun/no fun layout, or dive into your stash to use up some of those metal embellishments you have hiding in your stash. 

Thanks for checking it out!

Memories at the circle

I have been busy scrapbooking these days, even if my blog has been quite neglected of late. It took over two weeks to get enough natural sunlight to take photos of the pages I have completed to share with you. So rainy and cloudy! Better than the weather today.....snow, really?

I am a ticking time bomb as well. I am due to have baby #4 April 12, so I can go at any day now. Hoping sooner than later, because this baby is big and heavy!

Anyway, onto the layout I have to share today....

This story was inspired by Ali Edwards' story stamp subscription for the topic of lens. 

I was inspired by one of the layouts Ali created using the "through the lens I see" stamp to create the journaling.

I decided to create a photo collage template by Kerri Bradford to include many photos of the circle without being overwhelming. I left a couple of openings for embellishments this time.

The papers I used were from My Mind's Eye, Alphabet Soup and Lime Twist collections, from 2010 maybe.

I used a handful of stamps on this layout. Some from the Lens stamp set and a few others I had in my stash from Ali Edwards.

"Through the lens" on the arrow was on a set of circle stamps and I carefully masked the circle out of.

"Love this view" I gold heat embossed using a stamp from the Lens set. 

">> A beautiful view <<" that is stretched above the striped paper, was from another stamp set by Ali.

Here is the journaling. I cut my background white card stock 8.5 inches tall so that it would run through my printer. I measured the margins and indents so that the stamps would fit and everything would fit on my page. I then doctored the paper back together behind all of the patterned paper layers.

I used Ali Edwards' inks to stamp with and love how the colors matched the papers that I was using.

I have been receiving the SCT Magazine's SCT Sampler kit and the memories chipboard was the first piece from these kits that I have used. Loved that it was the same length as the journaling across my page.

Used some Amy Tangerine Thickers as well as some tiny alpha tiles from Basic Grey to finish off my title.

Used an Amy Tangerine tag from my stash which helped tie in the gold embossing from the top (Happy is gold foiled). Used this "around here stamp that is from Technique Tuesday.

Loved that Ali Edwards inspired me to write this story. Loved getting this story on a page! Loved getting some old and new supplies used. And I always love getting use out of my stamps!

Thanks for stopping by. Hoping to share as many of my completed layouts before I pop!