What a week!

I have had a crazy week but more on that in a minute. I have a new layout to share for the white space challenge at the Noel Mignon Challenge Blog using the Sun-Kissed kit. We recently had some family photos taken by Justin Meyer (who does FABULOUS work) and he captured these of Glen with Lily. I kept my layout design fairly simple...for some reason, "white space" makes me think simple so I kept my embellishments and everything to a minimum. 

Here's a close-up of my layered flower....

And a close-up of the smaller photo and title....

This past week has been a very humbling experience for me. Last Sunday morning, I was getting ready to hop in the shower and barely bent over and started having shooting pain down my low back and legs. I was immediately immobile and tried to tough it out with Advil, ice and heat but by 11 p.m. that night, I could barely walk and was shaking so badly from the pain. I had called my mom earlier in the day to say that I might need some help taking care of my girls because I couldn't lift them so luckily she and my sister were both here so my husband could take me to the ER. I was given a great "cocktail" of pain medication and sent home with a diagnosis of sciatica. 

I spent the better part of last week resting and taking care of myself. I couldn't sit without significant pain so I spent a lot of time in bed. I went to the chiropractor every day and that helped me so much. And by yesterday, I finally started feeling like myself again and am no longer hobbling around my house like an 80-year-old woman! My week helped us make some decisions regarding my ability to exercise and I found a fabulous deal on a membership at a new gym. I have had pretty chronic issues with my back but if I take the time to work out and keep my back and neck strong, I don't have pain like I did last week creep up on me. We decided better to fork out the gym membership fees and make exercise a priority than have to spend lots of $$$ on doctor bills. We were fortunate my mom and sister are teachers so they could stay through Thursday to help me out since school is out for the summer. 

Anyway, to make a long story short I am playing major catch up this week on housework and scrapbooking projects and assignments so I might not have too much to share until later in the week. Have a fabulous Monday! 

She is Lily Kathryn ~Up the Street June Kit~

Today, I've got my final Up the Street June kit project to share with you. Thank you so much, Tara, for letting me guest design for you. I LOVED working with your kit - it was the perfect mix of patterned papers and embellishments and I loved having so many alphabet sets to choose from!

I recently created a layout about Nora's name and this time it was Lily's turn. The patterned papers are Webster's Pages, Prima and Basic Grey. 

For part of the title, I used the wood veneer again and put my alphabet stickers right over it and machine stitched across the letters. I put foam adhesive under the veneer and then placed stick pins into the foam. 

The larger alphabet is Pink Paislee. I needed another "L" so I got creative piecing the letters together. The sequin and organza trim is Prima that I cut off the bottom of the stitched paper that was in the add-on kit. 

Here's another look at my title....

I have a busy weekend ahead full of family, celebrating my wonderful husband on Father's Day as well as my own dad and father-in-law and hopefully some creating!

Have a great weekend! :)

St. Pete Beach ~ Up the Street June Kit~

I have another layout to share today using Up the Street's June kit. This kit was perfect for beach photos! Almost all of the patterned paper is The Girls' Paperie "On Holiday" collection minus the brown and cream I used on the sun by Webster's Pages. These are photos from our trip to Florida two years ago and my, do I miss the beach!!!!

The add-on kit that is now sold out how the coolest birch wood veneer in it by Creative Imaginations. It's thin enough that I actually used my Circut to cut out the sun and then sprayed it with yellow Shimmerz. I cut and punched various sizes of circles and layered them with a Basic Grey brad. 

I also punched circles with my Martha Stewart starburst punch, cut them in half and then used them along the photos on the bottom of my layout.

Here's a look at my journaling, part of the title and a little paper collage at the top of the layout. 

That's all for today. We did sneak in a dinner date last night that was fantastic (left-overs for lunch today, yum!) 

Have a good one! :)

Up the Street June kit: Part 2

Here are a couple more projects using Up the Street's June kit. This layout is primarily the "On Holiday" collection by The Girls' Paperie. I had to document a momentous occasion at our house - when the girls got their big girl car seats. (And what a difference they make!) 

I loved the Webster's Pages alphabet that was included in the kit as it gave 4 different options to work with. (I think I need to pick up more of these alphabet stickers). I punched a couple circles using my Martha Stewart starburst punch and used foam adhesive to pop them off two other circles I punched.

I cut the banner from the patterned paper and then used foam adhesive underneath. I adhered the Maya Road trim over the top. 

For this card, I used Jillibean Soup cardstock as the base, the "B" side of Prima patterned paper, a Prima flower and center from the add-on kit and part of the ZVA crystal flourish. The Melissa Frances rub-on was from my stash.

Here's another look at my card...

Have a great day! Still super busy but I think we might sneak in a date tonight! :)

Nora & Lily's Castle

I'm really excited about sharing this project with you today because it was something I've had in the works for a few months now. I haven't done too much decorating in the girls' room yet and wanted to come up with something cute they could have as decor for the next several years. I found a wooden castle at Hobby Lobby but didn't like how it was painted and decorated. At 50% off, I decided to buy it and alter it how I wanted it. I fell in the love with the Paper Girl line by The Girls' Paperie when it came out at Winter CHA so I decided to use it on my castle.

I loved the chipboard alphabet as part of Paper Girl so I used that on the top turret with a few Melissa Frances pearls. 

I used German glass glitter on all the castle flags and the heart and sealed it with Diamond Glaze so no shards of glass would escape. Every line on the castle was outlines with silver Stickles. 

I used one of the rose die-cuts on the heart.

The frames are die-cuts and I accented them with Melissa Frances pearls and adhered with foam adhesive for extra dimension.

When I was finished with this project, I showed it to my girls and they were so excited. Lily pointed right at her picture and giggled....so sweet! I think I spent about 3-4 hours on this project one evening so it really didn't take too long to come together. 

And finally, I wanted to remind you I have a kit for sale featured at The Scrappy Gourmet this month. "Our Everyday Life" mini album and layout kit has full supplies, instructions and photos for creating this mini album about your everyday life and a bonus layout. It's a concept that ANYONE can do! 

Have a great day! :)

Up the Street June kit

This month I had the honor of guest designing with Up the Street's June kit. I adored the contrast of soft and bold colors of this kit and had fun creating projects that highlighted both. The main kit itself is just gorgeous and I worked with the add-on as well because it had several products that I wanted to try. (The add-on is now sold out.) 

For this first layout, I got caught up on our anniversary album. I used Core'dinations cardstock and The Girls' Paperie patterned paper. I cut a section of lace from the Hambly transparency and brought out the gold further by painting the center of the Pink Paislee frame. The chipboard "6" is also Pink Paislee and the alphabet stickers are by Webster's Pages. I also used Prima flowers and leaves. 

Here's a closer look at my title. I love all the texture in that Pink Paislee frame. This was a rather simple layout for me but I love how it looks so detailed by the different patterns. 

Here's a card I created to send some encouragement to a friend. I used the Core'dinations cardstock again and cut the banner from patterned paper by The Girls' Paperie. I turned the banner into a sun and used mini alphabet stickers by Jenni Bowlin for the sentiment. The little red sequins are Prima flower centers. 

I have quite a few other projects to share with you this week using this kit so check back for more! We had a great weekend with a spontaneous trip back home for a family reunion. It was great to see family we only see about once a year or so. I have another full week of creating ahead of me which I am looking forward to!

Have a great day! :)

GCD Studios Theme:: Bright & Beachy

For the month of June, the design team was given this image as inspiration:

The pretty blues in this collage gave me inspiration to work with some beach photos from a trip to Florida a couple years ago. I came up with this layout:

I used kraft Bazzill Swiss Dot cardstock for my base and it helped the GCD Studios Homespun Chic collection by Melody Ross just pop off the page. The colors matched the blue sky and our cabana perfectly. 

Here's a close-up of part of the title using one of the chipboard phrases in the collection and a border strip.

I cut one of the transparencies apart and used some of it here with a brad and chipboard phrase. The patterned paper borders on the top and bottom of the layout are cut from the 8 x 8 paper pad.

Here's the rest of the title using one of the cards, transparency, brad and the crocheted flower is from the Artsy Urban collection.

Additional supplies used: (Maya Road pink ruffle trim, Bazzill Swiss Dot cardstock, Making Memories notebook paper, alphabet stickers)

Doesn't this make you want to go to Florida?! I know I could use another trip! :)

Jill

Winner & Melissa Frances

First off, here's the winner for the Midnight Rooster giveaway... (And by the way, Midnight Rooster will be giving away these mini kits about every month so check back next month too!)

Hey, Jill! If you haven't already, one-year-old is the perfect time to cast a hand mold of each of the girls' hands. We did it on our girls' one-year birthday, and I just love looking back at those tiny hands. You would have fun in swimming lessons, too, and it's never too early to start...it would be mommy and me lessons at this age. My girls loved to swing in those baby bucket swings at the park. You could combine a great summer photo session with play dates and picnics. The portraits we have to this day on our family room wall are of the girls at one-year. Practice your photography on those little models! And, most importantly, READ to them absolutely every day. Put books in their hands frequently. Read at home, at the park, in the yard in the sunshine. They will love it and it will instill a love of reading in them forever. Enjoy your summer!
Tracey

I loved everyone's ideas for this summer, but what especially caught my eye about Tracey's post was the idea of doing a hand mold. I would love to do this and what a special treasure to always have! Tracey, could you please message me your address and your kit will be mailed out around the 14th. 

I am so, so honored and thrilled to be guest designing for Melissa Frances this month!!!!!!! Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows how much I adore her products and use them on a lot of my work. I was generously given her new product to work with and love the soft, sweet colors of the Vintage Posey line and the additions to Attic Treasures. Here's one of my first projects...I wrote a letter to my daughters reflecting on my first year as a mother and placed it in the Maya Road kraft envelope. 

For the title, I used one of the "Mom" rub-ons, resin frame and pearls (LOVE these) and placed it on a Vintage Posey die-cut frame. The butterfly rub-on is on vellum and I used foam adhesive to pop it off the page. The suede brad and pearl are also Melissa Frances. 

I used a chipboard glitter flower, button and two pearls on the envelope closure along with the "Mommy" rub-on. 

Here's a look at my letter that I printed on Melissa Frances patterned paper and added a couple detail rub-ons on the top. 

I'll have much more to share later this month using Melissa Frances products! :)

We've had a mix of sunny and rainy weather this week. I'm having so much fun with my girls going on wagon rides, eating slushes and last night we went to the farmer's market for awhile. Lily was so cute...every time she saw a dog, she would giggle and point. Love these precious moments with my girls making lots of summer memories! :)

Have a great weekend! :)

God Knew...Just Like Mommy

I've shared on my blog before how much I love that my daughters look like me. When I discovered the "Just Like Mommy" sticker by Crate Paper, I knew that would have to go on a layout soon. My sister took these photos of Lily and me at Easter and you can definitely see that our eye and hair colors match. 

I loved the "family history" kraft paper by My Mind's Eye so I used that as a background. All the patterned paper, stickers and the chipboard flower are by Crate Paper (Paper Doll collection). The chipboard alphabet is by Making Memories.

Here's a close-up of my title that I stitched over...

I matted the "Just Like Mommy" sticker with brown patterned paper.

And my journaling...I pleated the teal patterned paper and machine stitched over it. 

Don't forget to comment on my post below for a Midnight Rooster giveaway! 

Have a great day! Depending on the weather, we might be heading to the Farmer's Market tonight! :)

Midnight Rooster June Kit & Giveaway

The June Midnight Rooster main kit and add-on are now available and that means I can share my work with you. I worked with the add-on kit again this month. 

My little cuties got a red wagon for their 1st birthday and love going for wagon rides. The bright red was the inspiration for this layout. I cut the heart banner from the Dear Lizzy patterned paper, the polka dot paper is by My Mind's Eye and the green and blue die-cut paper is by Crate Paper and from the May kit. 

The red alphabet is by Sassafras Lass and included in the add-on kit. I cut the cherries from patterned paper by Sassafrass Lass. 

I knotted the yellow lace along the bottom of my patterned paper. 

The photos on my next layout are so, so special to me as they are from the day that we legally became a forever family. Glen and I had to testify in court why we should be Nora & Lily's parents and it was such an emotional day. They were 7 months old when they became officially ours. 

The brown Jenni Bowlin butterfly is from my stash and I used both of the alphas in the main and add-on kits. I outlined them with a brown journaling pen to help them pop off the page.

A little paper pleating adds extra texture...

The white silk flower is a Midnight Rooster exclusive. I punched a scalloped circle from brown cardstock and placed the flower on top. The little butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

This layout has a lot of embellishments from the add-on kit. I sanded the Core'dinations cardstock to bring out the pinkish-red color. Patterned papers are by October Afternoon and Dear Lizzy. The trim is in the add-on kit.

The title block is a Midnight Rooster exclusive in the main kit. I used the alphabet from the add-on and the "bliss" is part of the Dear Lizzy chipboard in the add-on.

This little collage has a mini doily in the add-on, Dear Lizzy chipboard in the add-on and a stick pin from the main kit.

I cut the banner from Dear Lizzy patterned paper.

And finally, I have a card to share with you using the kit. The main kit has a great label stamp in it so I did something a little different with it and made a tree. The "blessed" rub-on is from my stash and the rhinestones were in the May kit. 

And now that you have stayed with me this long....I have an exclusive Midnight Rooster mini kit to give away to you as do the rest of the design team members. All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question:

What are some fun things I could do this summer with my girls (keep in mind they are just 1)?

You have until tomorrow at noon (CST) to comment and I'll choose my favorite answer to win this mini kit:

Paper: 

October Afternoon - Fly A Kite, Ice Cream

October Afternoon - Fly A Kite, Strawberry Jam

American Crafts - Letterbox, Sincerely

Pink Paislee - Queen Bee, Bees Wax

Embellishments:

Vintage bingo card

12" vintage blue crochet lace trim

6x11 yellow gingham fabric

Journaling label stamp - Purple Onion Designs

Have a great day! :)