Elementary Memories

At the end of the summer, I visited my old elementary school for one last hurrah. The building will no longer be used to house elementary students and will probably be eventually torn down. It was a little bittersweet to walk the halls where I spent K-6th grade. I have a lot of memories here. Generations of my family went to school here including my grandma when it was at that time, the high school. Safety issues and a lack of funds to update the building made it no longer usable for students. I'm so happy that I went back to visit before I wouldn't have the chance again. 

I captured my visit using the "Study Hall" kit from Noel Mignon and kept my design very simple so I could fit 6 photos on my layout. 

I created a fun little banner (yes, still obsessed with banners) using patterned paper, the burlap trim, a Fancy Pants sticker and an Elle's Studio tag. A rub-on, button and brad add a little something extra.

Here I layered a Fancy Pants filter, chalkboard sticker, Jenni Bowlin flower and an October Afternoon pin.

I decided to put my journaling on a tag (and wrote on both sides of it) and then tied it off with twine and placed it behind my main photo. 

You know someday I might like to visit my old high school too and take the same type of tour. It's been a while since I've been through those doors. I know it won't look the same now but it would still be fun to visit. 

Have a great day! :)

Something About Little Girls

Good morning! I have a jam packed day today so this will be short and sweet! My layout today has a color combination that I just love and features photos of my girls from this past spring. I used BasicGrey's "Out of Print" collection on this layout. I absolutely love being a girl mama - the dresses, the hair, the dolls and girly toys, and yes, even the drama! And this layout celebrates just what it is I love about girls! 

A little close-up of my title - all BasicGrey alphabet stickers. 

The photos were taken by Portraits by Susannah. I'm off to get ready for my mom's group at church and then a trip to the apple orchard!!!!!! I can't wait! :)

Have a great day! :)

Little Spring Bunny

Happy Monday! We had a very busy but beautiful weekend here! Saturday morning, we went to Living History Farms. It was National Museum Day so we had free tickets to go. Grandpa and Grandma Cornell came along and it was a beautiful morning to explore an 1875 town. We have a lot of great pictures that I can't wait to scrap. I also made my first loaf (for this fall) of pumpkin ribbon bread last night and the house smelled wonderful. I can't wait to cut into it in this morning! 

Today I have a new layout of Miss Lily this past Easter in her beautiful spring dress and sporting bunny ears. I used a variety of Bella Blvd. collections on this layout. 

The text patterned paper was such a fun background with a few ink splatters. 

And this morning, I am off to the Y for step class and to get groceries. Have a great day! :)

Pebbles: Teach from the Heart Gift Set

Happy Weekend! I have a couple things to share with you today. First up, is a project for Pebbles with a complete supply list available on the Pebbles blog. 

For "Back to School" week, I created an easy gift ensemble for a special teacher. I was very inspired by the quote "The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book" and created a little apple themed canvas with the quote that could sit on a teacher's desk. I cut small pieces of patterned papers from the Fresh Goods collection for a chunky border around the apple that was die-cut from patterned paper. I also filled a small glassine bag with chocolate hugs and made a tag "Hugs for a great year" that I clothes-pinned to the top. A cute little card rounds out the ensemble.

I cut the apple out with the Plaintain Schoolbook cartridge using my Cricut. 

Also, the October kit from Noel Mignon, "Something Wicked" is up for sale and shipping now! This kit is packed full of Halloween product! I can't wait to get mine! :)

That's all for today! I'll be back Monday.

Have a great weekend! :)

The Loot

I absolutely adore the Glowing collection by Authentique Paper and it's elegant patterns in spooky colors. And as September is coming to a close, I'm gearing up for fall and Halloween. I was starting to get into the orange and black mindset as I scrapbooked these photos of my Little Red Riding Hoods from Halloween last year. 

I cut the diamonds from the "Harlequin Patches" patterned paper and used them as a banner at the top of the layout.

The "Diction" stickers are fun to pick and choose from when writing your journaling. 

The Foundations are perfect for layout backgrounds and I added an extra splash of orange color with some splatters of mist. 

I created a grid of several photos and highlighted them with Noteables die-cuts. 

Supplies:

Authentique Paper: Glowing Patterned Paper (Cream Gingham, Music Notes, Orange Brocade, Harlequin Patches, Orange Grunge Dot); Glowing Diction; Glowing Classic Type; Glowing Petite Type Squares; Glowing Headline Front; Glowing Noteables; Glowing Icons

Jenni Bowlin bingo card

Prima flower

Making Memories chipboard alphabet

My Mind's Eye brads

ribbon

Thanks for looking!

What I Love

Good morning! I thought I would do something a little different this morning and share some things I'm loving these days. The changing of the season from summer to fall makes my loves change as well. 

Yoga

I have been working out for quite a while and over the summer I decided I wanted to try yoga. I am about the least flexible person EVER. (You know the Presidential Fitness Challenge in elementary school? Yeah, I always HATED that because I could never get very far on the flexibility challenge. My sisters are the same way. We are just not a flexible family, I guess.) But, I felt like I needed to try to do something to increase my flexibility and increase the strength of my back and body. I gave it a try and I LOVE it! As in, I'm now going once a week and don't want to miss it, I love it that much. Some of the poses are very difficult (especially the ones that work the hamstrings) but sometimes I surprise myself with my flexibility. I have also found that yoga has been extremely good for relaxation and keeping a somewhat sane mindset! :) I have been going to mid-afternoon yoga but the one time I went to evening yoga, I slept like a baby! 

Yoga Pants

With my newfound love of yoga, I thought I would also share my favorite yoga pants from American Eagle. I get the foldover artist yoga pants and they are so amazingly soft and comfortable. I would wear them all day, every day if I could (and I sometimes do). :)

New Boots

I have been saving up and I splurged just a teensy bit and bought myself a new pair of boots from DSW. I have never shopped there before but I'm pretty sure I'll be back.  

Cinnamon Dolce Latte

While everyone else and their dog are drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks, I'm indulging in my new favorite, Cinnamon Dolce Lattes. I love all things pumpkin EXCEPT for the PS lattes. I have no idea why but I just can't drink them. Cinnamon Dolce Lattes are the perfect fall alternative! 

A Day Out with Thomas

If you are local and have little ones, take them to see Thomas the Train at the Boone Railroad this weekend. We took the girls along with grandpa and grandma last Sunday and it was so much fun. Tickets are a little expensive but if you have Thomas fanatics like we do, it is worth it! It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime type experiences that you'll always remember. 

So there you have it! A little variety for you today...maybe something I'll try to do once or twice a month from now on.

Have a great Wednesday! :)

Noel Mignon Tutorial: Chevron Stripes & Stitching

One new trend that I'm seeing everywhere is chevron stripes. Today I have a really simple tutorial on the Noel Mignon Tips & Techniques blog on how to create this look on your own projects and layouts. The "Study Hall" kit was perfect for utilizing this type of technique and my subject is far from "back to school" but all about being a "scholar." :) Little Miss Lily loves to make her "thinking" face all the time and says "Hmmm...." while bringing her finger to her lips. Another little quirk captured! :) Here's a peek at what I created with this technique. 

The first thing I did was select a variety of patterned papers and then traced and cut out diamond shapes from them. (You could also use a die-cut machine for this as well.) 

After inking all my diamonds, I laid them out so I could see what it would all look like before doing any adhering and stitching. 

Finally, I threaded up a needle with embroidery floss and did a very rough, running stitch of white and red floss on the top and bottom of the chevron stripe. The key here is imperfection! I also machine stitched along the patterned paper on the inside of the stripe, which you can see more of in first photo. 

And, here's my finished layout! 

A close-up of the title (pretty sure I'm in love with those Fancy Pants chalkboard stickers)...

My journaling on an Elle's Studio pennant. 

And that's it! Give this one a try...it was really simple! :)

Have a great day! :)

Everywhere You Go, He Goes

Hello friends! I can't believe it's another Monday and we're already on the downside of September. I also can't believe how quickly it became fall weather...we've been having the type of weather we see in October - cool, rainy and wet. I'm hoping for some more warm, sunny days!  

Today's layout is all about Nora and her beloved stuffed puppy, Woofie. I posted on Facebook last week that I was thankful I could sew because we had a mini crisis in our house - Woofie had a huge hole in his tummy! I performed emergency "surgery" and he was back to new in no time. Woofie goes almost everywhere with Nora. Luckily, I am able to coax her into leaving him at home if we have to run errands but if we go out of town he's definitely along for the ride. 

I used BasicGrey's "Life of the Party" collection for this layout. I am in LOVE with that woodgrain paper...seriously in LOVE...I had to buy a few sheets of it. I also used a few older BasicGrey alphabet stickers with some new chipboard alphabets. 

A simple technique I have been enjoying is punching a shape out of patterned paper and then using the negative part of the punch and embellishing the center. 

I spent my weekend snuggling two little girls on Friday and Saturday but luckily it seemed to be a short-lived cold and they were back to themselves yesterday. I don't know if I have shared before but both girls have asthma so when they get sick, they are very sick. A cold is not just a cold at our house. We've been trying some more natural ways to manage their asthma so this was a good test to see how they have been working. I'm so happy they were feeling better because we went to "A Day Out with Thomas" (along with Grandpa & Grandma) yesterday afternoon and it was so fun! The girls are huge Thomas the Train fans and loved seeing him and taking a ride as well as other fun activities. 

Anyway, I have much to do today so I better get moving! Have a great day! :)

The Birthday Tree - Year 2 Version

Good morning! When my girls turned one, their grandparents bought them a maple tree that we had planted in our front yard. The plan is to take a special photo every year on the girls' birthday with grandpa and grandma in front of that tree (and you can bet I'm going to document every one!). For this layout I used the gorgeous "Very Virginia" kit from Noel Mignon for the color inspiration board we had for the next challenge. 

Here's the color scheme we worked with for the challenge:

And a few more close-ups of my layout...

I layered a Hambly transparency, Pink Paislee tickets (with a BasicGrey rub-on on top), a Basic Grey button and brad and some Pink Paislee trim (from my stash). 

I'll be back tomorrow! Brrr....it's just 40 degrees here today! :)

Pebbles: Pouty McPoutersons

Yesterday was my first blog post over at Pebbles, Inc. so today I'm able to share with you my first layout using the "Fresh Goods" collection. It is "Meet the Team" week and I'm up with the talented Elizabeth Carney. This collection caught my eye immediately when it came out for CHA. I couldn't resist using this photo of the girls in both color and black and white. Glen and I are often the recipients of these "pouty" faces - A LOT, in fact. :)

I created a mis-matched banner of a variety of patterned paper pieces cut and punched into shapes and a Pebbles dimensional butterfly.

Have a great Wednesday! I'll be back tomorrow with my layout for the next Noel Mignon challenge! :)

Isn't She Lovely?

One of my favorite collections by Pebbles is the bright and fun "Happy Go Lucky" collection. I recently created this layout using photos of Nora we took this past spring showcasing many of her facial expressions - we have an expressive daughter! :) I looked to Pinterest for inspiration for this layout. I'll show you the photo I used in just a moment. 

The patterned paper strips here are what I tore off the bottom of the sheet. It was an easy way to create interest with lots of patterns. 

And here's my heart banner...I used a sticker by Pebbles at the top and cut banners by hand for a white tone-on-tone effect. Then I used my Fiskars heart punch and layered a few of the hearts with Pebbles buttons from the collection. 

Here was my inspiration photo...I loved the look of the banner and just translated that to my layout. I love Pinterest! :)

Source: From madebythemamamonster.blogspot.com

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my first layout for the Pebbles blog....we have been getting to know the new team the past few weeks and it's been a lot of fun!

Have a great day! :)