Gossamer Blue: Hooray for 3

Good morning! Today I wanted to share one last layout with the December Gossamer Blue kit and it's the two-page layout I created this month! Birthdays are probably one of my family’s most photographed events – we can easily take hundreds of photos to mark the occasion. Going through so many photos can be daunting but two-page layouts can be the perfect way to showcase a lot of those photos. The colors in this month’s kit matched perfectly to the tea party themed birthday the girls had nearly two years ago for their 3rd birthday. I have documented a lot of their birthday photos already but I had not yet created a layout of them opening their gifts.

I am just in love with Basic Grey’s RSVP collection – the die-cuts and transparency pack is a favorite. There are so many options to embellish with them – here I used the “Hooray” die-cut as part of my title. These can be found in Add-on Kit #2 this month.

I cut the “3″ out using my Cameo with the Carta Bella patterned paper. I adhered the Allison Kreft transparency (from the Main Add-on Kit) behind the cut-out.

On the second page, I used a couple of the exclusive Life Pages 4×6 and 3×4 cards behind my photos. I love how well these coordinate every month!

Finally, the wood veneer card was used as a photo mat. A key to using the large cards is to adhere with a very strong adhesive so it won’t bend.

  

I am very much looking forward to 2014 - how about you?! 2013 wasn't exactly the greatest of years in my life for a variety of reasons and I always look forward to a fresh start. 

Happy New Year! :)

Webster's Pages: Christmas Joy

Merry Christmas! Today I have a layout to share with you featuring the "A Christmas Story" collection from Webster's Pages. This year we bought the girls beautiful, simple and elegant ivory and gold Christmas dresses so I wanted this layout to feature the gold and ivory. I also added some touches of silver accents to it as well.

I cut the ornaments out using cut files and my Cameo and then then accented them with gold twine and pearls. To add some subtle texture, I also cut snowflakes from vellum and added them here and there. 

And I just love that sparkly tree with the star paperclip on top! The frame and sticker are both in the collection. 

 

 Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your families to celebrate the true reason for Christmas - the birth of our Savior! 

Gossamer Blue: Magical Night

Happy Friday! I can't believe Christmas is just days away. Are you ready?! I pretty much am - just need to do some cleaning and wrapping and I'm ready to go. I took a very low key approach this year and I definitely enjoyed the month more and didn't find it very stressful. It's an approach I am taking in other areas of my life (more on that later). 

Today I have a Christmas layout to share that I created with the themed add-on kits from Gossamer Blue. We have a tradition we started a couple of years ago where we make reindeer food (oatmeal with glitter to help the reindeer fly) and then spread it on our front lawn for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. The girls talk about doing this for days afterwards. This was our fun last year.

The "Joy" ornament was cut using the cut files from the December Memories kit from Gossamer Blue. I used some tags from Chic Tags and the reindeer is a Glitz Design die-cut. 

I'm looking forward to creating more reindeer food this year! 

Have a great day! I'll be back tomorrow with my two-page layout this month.

Gossamer Blue: Party Time

Good morning! I absolutely LOVE coming up with fun ideas for my girls' birthday parties and last year's theme was a circus party in a color scheme of turquoise and red. I love creating most of the decor and all of the food by myself. It's a labor of love, that's for sure! (I'm already dreaming up ideas for their 5th birthday in May!) I still need to do a birthday party post highlighting all the details from their 4th birthday.

I pulled out the turquoise and red in this month's Gossamer Blue kits and created my layout from there. I made this layout all about the details from the party.

Basic Grey's RSVP collection has a lot of great embellishments including the "party" transparency and the garland that I deconstructed to get the colors I wanted.

Thanks for stopping by today! The girls have one last day of preschool before Christmas along with their party and program tonight so it's going to be a busy day.

Gossamer Blue: Fall Fashionistas

Good morning! I've been meaning to pop in here all week but my girls have both been really sick. They have asthma so when they get sick, it's usually complicated. And now I think they passed their bug onto to me so I'm hoping to get to the doctor later today. 'Tis the season, I suppose. :( 

Today I wanted to share the layout I created with the December Gossamer Blue main kit only. I love the colors in the kit this month - so many great options to pair with photos. We took these photos of the girls this fall right in our front yard.

I punched some leaves from various patterned papers and used the Basic Grey RSVP garland and frame as accents. The stickers are from the Recorded collection from Webster's Pages.
 

I also really love that exclusive chevron striped patterned patterned paper that I used on the left-hand side of my layout. The Basic Grey frames are the perfect place to put cute photos!

 

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with another Gossamer Blue layout. 

Emma's Paperie: Silent Night Cards

Happy Friday! Finally, to wrap up the week I have a couple of cards (created for Emma's Paperie) to share that feature the Silent Night collection by October Afternoon. The first card was created for a sketch challenge.

I love the vintage feel to this collection! 

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here. 

I also created this card to hold a gift card in the little bag from Webster's Pages.

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'm all caught up now posting projects for Emma's Paperie. I'll try to be back with my December projects in the next couple weeks. Next week, I plan to share what I created with the December Gossamer Blue kits.

Have a great weekend!

Emma's Paperie: Celebrate Summer

Good morning! Today's layout has me longing for warmer temperatures and sunshine! (I have a feeling winter is going to feel ever so long this year!) I created this one for a color challenge at Emma's Paperie. I love the gold, pink and teal color combination!

I used a lot of the Flea Market collection by Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper as well as some Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party from American Crafts. 

A little layering and stacking frames and labels here...

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Have a great day!

Emma's Paperie: Halloween Projects

Good morning! Today I have two layouts to share for Emma's Paperie that focus on Halloween and two different manufacturers. The first layout features Carta Bella's latest Halloween collection. I loved the black script paper with the silhouette of the spooky tree and owl so I used that paper as my background. We took some Halloween shirt photos out in our backyard this fall.

I kept the embellishments very simple - just a few stickers and brads. 

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here. 

And here is a layout that features Anna Griffin's Halloween collection. I don't normally work with any Anna Griffin products so this was a fun layout to do - the quality of her papers is top notch. I especially love the silver glitter spider web that I layered over the cream script paper.

Those pumpkin die-cuts are just adorable!

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Have a great day! :)

Emma's Paperie: Grandma & Her Girls, Trick or Treat

Good morning! I did some more creating for Emma's Paperie with the Persimmon collection from Basic Grey. Grandma Mary came with us to the pumpkin patch this year and we captured a few photos of just her and the girls having fun together.

I really love all of Basic Grey's embellishment options from the stickers to chipboard to leaves = perfect options to choose from!

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here. 

I also created a trick or treat card for that month's card sketch challenge. Using journaling cards as part of the card design gives an easy resting place for die-cuts and stickers to embellish.

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

American Crafts: Christmas Bingo Canvas

Good morning! Hope you all had a good weekend! I spent most of the weekend resting and trying to avoid getting sick(er) than the slight cold I already have - let's hope it worked! :) Today I have a project to share that I created for the American Crafts blog this month. I love the "Christmas Bingo" sheet of 12x12 paper in the Peppermint Express collection and created this 11x14 canvas with it as the focus.

I also adhered a strip of ribbon around the edge of the canvas to finish it off. 

It was fun to embellish this one with squares of patterned paper, stickers and die-cuts. 

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be back tomorrow with some projects for Emma's Paperie.

Simple Stories: Gingerbread Joy

Today I have a festive layout to share with Simple Stories' December Documented collection. The girls created a gingerbread house with my mom and me last year and I had not yet documented our time together. I found a fun circle cut in the Silhouette online store and cut it out with a sheet of green patterned paper from the Simple Basics collection. Then I went to town embellishing!

I decorated the circle cut with a combination of patterned paper circles, stickers, brads and sequins. I also added a few splashes of green mist for extra color.

The 6x6 paper pads are not just for card-making! Here I used the bingo sheet to add patterned paper behind my main photo.



And while this is my last blog post for Simple Stories, I will definitely still be creating with their products (although not in an official capacity). I have loved being part of their family for the past two years and watching their exciting growth in the industry. It's been on my heart the past few months that I need to cut back on designing and have a better balance of how I spend my time. The end of the year seemed to be the best place to start.

Have a great day! :)

Emma's Paperie: Happy Fall Baking

Good morning! Today I have a couple of fall projects to share for Emma's Paperie using the Persimmon collection from Basic Grey. I almost always love any collection that Basic Grey puts out and their fall collection was not an exception! My girls are both gluten-free because of wheat allergies and this summer and fall, I had to go gluten-free as well. I did some experimenting and found a great gluten-free flour blend and made some pumpkin donut holes that were really good! The tricky part I have when baking is that my girls are also allergic to eggs so that makes it a little more difficult!

I really love the combination of transparent, wood veneer and die-cut leaves.

And entire wood veneer cards?! YES!

This collection is so pretty with gold accents.

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here. 

Finally, here is a card I also created using a sketch at Emma's Paperie. What I love most about the Persimmon collection is that it is perfect for both fall and Halloween. I don't think I have ever seen a collection that can do both!

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

American Crafts: Thankful Memories

Good morning and Happy December! Today I have a couple of projects to share with you that were on the American Crafts blog recently to celebrate Thanksgiving. I used the Autumn Crisp collection to create them - love the pretty colors in this one!

The touch of gold is such a pretty accent! These photos are from our Thanksgiving on my dad's side last year.

 
I used my Cameo to cut out the Amy Tangerine tree from woodgrain patterned paper and then positioned some leaf stickers to look like falling leaves.

 I also created a quick and easy card while I had all of my supplies out. I love the addition of the transparent frames to the American Crafts collection of embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by today! I can't believe it's the last month of the year. I'm hoping it goes by fast. Usually, I am all excited for Christmas but I seem to be in a strange mood this year. I think it will help having two girls who are beyond excited for it! 

Have a great day! :)