It's 2011!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new Jump and Jive April kit from Noel Mignon! I pulled out a few colors to work with - teal, black, yellow and pink to scrap these photos of my girls ringing in the New Year! And, I had a little fun and got crazy with some mist in the same colors...I love the "party" atmosphere the mist gives to the layout! 

I punched out some stars with a Fiskars punch to go along with the stars on their shirts and added a couple Cosmo Cricket doilies and My Mind's Eye brads to them that were in the kit.

I love the Crate Paper film strip sticker in the kit and had to add the Prima bling to highlight the year. The Jenni Bowlin flag stickers are in the shop.

Lots going on this week! More soon! :)

Lily Bee LOVE!

One of my favorite companies is Lily Bee Design, and when I heard they were having a design team call, I knew I had to go for it! Today I'm going to share some of my very favorite Lily Bee projects right here on my blog.

My first project is a mini album using the "Lovely" collection that was published in a recent special issue of Scrapbook Trends. I created the album using a combination of a Clear Scraps tabbed album and Maya Road kraft envelopes. All of the photos are from one ordinary day in our lives last May (be sure to click on the photos to see them larger).

My next project is a 2-page layout using the "Christmas Town" collection. I adore the colors in this collection...traditional green and red with pops of teal and black...LOVE! We buy the girls new Christmas pajamas every year and that's the focus of this layout. I went a little outside my normal "go-to" design and incorporated a lot of circles on this layout. I love the poem "'Twas the night before Christmas" and one stanza of the poem is included with the "Christmas Town" rub-ons. I placed the poem on strips of white cardstock and then accented the sections with strips of black patterned paper. (Again, click on the photo to see larger). 

I also used some paper doilies that I got at a craft store and punched patterned paper scalloped circles to fit. 

A little red machine stitching around the edges gives a pop of color against the neutral kraft background and adds texture.

I also used Maya Road white transparency doilies behind the pictures of the girls by themselves and layered Lily Bee chipboard flowers and buttons as accents.

I love the Lily Bee banner stickers but instead used them to draw attention to my largest photo of the girls together (almost makes the the photo look like a Christmas ornament). 

My next project is a card set using several Lily Bee collections (click to see larger).

Here's a look at each card individually...The "Catching Fall" collection was my favorite of Lily Bee's fall/winter release last year. I just love the designs and colors. For this card, I layered paper strips and stickers.

And here's a card with the "Lovely" collection. I layered Lily Bee chipboard flowers with tulle and a paper doily. I pleated the patterned paper to look like ribbon and punched a few butterflies.

For this "Merry" card, I used the "Christmas Town" banner stickers to form a Christmas tree that I placed on a paper doily. A little seam binding bow is in the center of the tree along with a little scrap of vintage music paper for a tree trunk. 

For my next project, I have a one-page layout that uses the just released "Picket Fence" collection. Love this collection so much! The patterns and colors are so soft and pretty. I created another layout for the girls' monthly album...this time using their 18 months photos. I also used an "oatmeal" background sheet from the "Stationary" collection. 

I used a couple new Paper Trey Ink dies that I picked up recently to create the doily and flower accents. 

I love the new alphabet stickers that are included in each of the new collections. I knew one of the first ways I wanted to create with them was to incorporate them in my journaling and that's what I did here. 

I saved my favorite project for last! As I said, my favorite collection was "Catching Fall" and I used it here with a family photo and a wooden house that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I painted the house cream and used a crackle medium to create a shabby look. 

I placed a Maya Road flower at the top of the house with a couple stick pins. I also love the rub-ons that are part of this collection and I repeated the "so blessed" sentiment across the roof of the house. 

For the roof of the house, I glued brown buttons to the top and accented them with Martha Stewart glitter. Maya Road rick rack trim is behind the roof...adding more dimension and interest. 

I misted brand new Maya Road canvas banners with Coffee Shop mist by Tattered Angels and then used Lily Bee stickers on each triangle. I layered Lily Bee chipboard buttons in the center and added a brad. I then strung all the canvas banners on wire and hot glued the banner to the house. 

I kept the rest of my design fairly simple and used patterned paper in each of the sections of the house as well as layering Lily Bee chipboard flowers and buttons as embellishments.

And there you have it! An entire blog post dedicated to my Lily Bee love! :)

Have a great day!

Pretty Little Studio: Hello Spring!

Well, my card today is titled "Hello Spring" but I'm wondering what happened to spring as I sit and watch the snow come down out my window. I don't think we're supposed to get much at all but wow...not expecting this at all! :)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new Hopscotch collection by Pretty Little Studio. The vintage bunnies and patterned papers are so adorable. I had to shabby everything up with a little cream paint. I'll have a layout to share soon too that uses the collection. Have a fabulous weekend! :)

Supply List:

Hopscotch Paper Collection

Hello Spring Notebook Bracket Cards

2" Peter Rabbit Vintage Circles

Noel Mignon: Domestic Goddess Challenge

Today, I'm sharing my layout for the "Domestic Goddess" challenge over on the Noel Mignon challenge blog. Since having twin girls, a "domestic goddess" I am not. :) In their early baby days, I was lucky to grab a shower! I love to cook and bake and do all things crafty so I guess in those ways I am pretty domestic. But when it comes to cleaning, forget about it! I do love when my home is clean but I've had to learn to not be such a perfectionist about it. Life is definitely getting easier as the girls get older and my layout today focuses on how I've been able to start teaching them to help mommy! Their first "chore" has been to help me unload the dishwasher. And they are so sweet about helping me...their little faces just light up when I praise them for a job well done. 

I used a Melissa Frances kraft envelope to "house" my title (the October Afternoon stickers and a My Mind's Eye dimensional sticker). I built the Crate Paper Neighborhood banner off the title. 

Here I layered October Afternoon patterned paper, Crate Paper fence sticker, a My Mind's Eye dimensional sticker and I just had to stick that little KI Memories puffy tree in there. 

And here's a peek at the journaling I put on the tag in the envelope. 

I've been busy this week preparing for the spring Moms of Multiples sale. It was so hard to go through the girls' baby clothes but I'm trying to be strong and let some of them go. I'll be glad when the sale is over though...it's been a lot of work!

More soon! :)

Noel Mignon April Sneak Peek Blog Hop!

Welcome to the April Kit Sneak peek Blog hop! This will be a two day event, so be sure to join us both Saturday and Sunday to join in on all the fun. 

This is more than just a fun way to get a bunch of sneaks all in one weekend, we have also turned it into a fun game! For April, we are revealing the name of the kit through jumbled letters (this is a 3 word name, with 11 total letters). The first stop on the hop is the NoelMignon LO/Project blog. So if you are stopping here first, please head back over there and start over to be sure you collect all the letters. Also, be sure to leave comments along the blog route, as there will be one lucky winner of a $10 discount pulled from all the comments left along the way. We are going to pull the winner from ONE blog, but that blog is a "mystery", so be thorough, and leave comments on every blog so you don't miss out!

The kit goes up for sale bright and early Monday morning! There will be a full reveal and kits will start shipping that very day! Get your order in early, as this one has the lines that have been getting a lot of attention since they debuted at CHA, and it won't last long! 


Here is my peek!

I am the last stop on the blog hop for today so tomorrow morning you should hop to Gretchen's blog to start day 2 of the hop!  

An Icee with Grandpa

Happy Friday! :) Today I have a layout showcasing one of my girls' favorite treats - icees! Grandpa Allan got them started on them last summer and I just had to create a layout about it. The new Chilled Strawberry Soup collection by Jillibean Soup was just perfect for this layout! I love all the little stickers with "sweet" words on them and the polka dot kraft paper is my favorite!

Here's a peek at my title...I used Making Memories and K & Co. alphabet stickers as well as the dark pink color by Jillibean Soup. 

Here I layered Jillibean Soup die-cuts...the circles and the butterfly.

That "Mmm, Yummy!" sticker was too cute not to use with the photos of the girls and their red lips! :) And I also used the little word stickers in a line across the bottom of my layout. 

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Sunday Night Popcorn

Good morning and Happy St. Patrick's Day! :) Today I have a new layout to share using the Noel Mignon "Delightfully Domestic" kit (sold out!) and some very recent photos of my girls enjoying one of our favorite family traditions, Sunday Night Popcorn! Since I was a little girl, my family has had the tradition of eating popcorn on Sunday nights. As I grew up, it became supper on Sunday nights and continues to be supper for my husband and me. (I give my girls a full meal, of course, and then they get popcorn for dessert). I think the tradition came about because popcorn was just something easy to make before the start of the work and school week. I love my popcorn and I'm excited the girls are old enough now that they can partake and enjoy! 

My girls were in pink and purple for these photos so I pulled out pink and grey from the kit. I used a little antique silver Maya Mist (from the Very Virginia kit) on the My Mind's Eye paper I used for the background. 

For the title, I used a My Mind's Eye label sticker, alphabet stickers from Sassafras Lass (in the store) and American Crafts thickers from my stash. I love that grey flower by Maya Road. 

I love the new Jenni Bowlin flag stickers (in the store) and created a little embellishment cluster. The Crate Paper button is also in the kit. 

Here I layered a Cosmo Cricket doily and Crate Paper button with a little Martha Stewart twine bow. 

Have a great day! :)

Midnight Rooster March Kit!

Good morning, friends! Today I have my work to share with the March Midnight Rooster kit. This month's kit is going to be my last kit for Midnight Rooster. I have been with this kit club for almost a year and am thankful for the opportunity from Tobi and Janelle to work with such beautiful kits each month! 

Here's a look at my first layout of little Miss Nora eating her first solids when she was 5 months old. I loved the stripe patterned paper by Echo Park and punched the edge with a new EK Success punch. 

I also worked with the add-on kit this month and the white American Crafts thickers are in that kit. 

I layered a Sassafras flower, Cosmo Cricket chipboard and Prima flower. 

The label stickers are October Afternoon and I used a Cosmo Cricket chipboard flower and My Mind's Eye brad (from a previous kit). The little wooden flower pin is a Midnight Rooster exclusive this month. 

For my next layout, I used these sweet photos of Nora by our friend, Justin Meyer. Nora has been in love with her "Woofie" since the girls got him for Christmas when they were 7 months old. In fact, Woofie, is so loved at our house that we had to find another one! 

The woodgrain alphabet is by October Afternoon and in the main kit this month. 

This might just be my favorite layout this month. This is one of my favorite photos ever of Lily and I've been waiting for just the perfect products to use with it. I used a blue patterned paper by Glitz Designs as the background which makes Lily's blue eyes pop. 

The banner at the top is cut from patterned paper by October Afternoon. I accented it with punched butterflies, rhinestones and twine.  

Finally, here is my card for this month. I used patterned paper and stickers by October Afternoon and Studio Calico, chipboard by Cosmo Cricket, and a rub-on from my stash by Melissa Frances. 

Thanks for looking! Have a great day! :)