Blessed Scrapper

Emma's Paperie: Hello Fall Fun!

2012-02-20T08:09:00.000-06:00

Good morning! Over at Emma's Paperie, we recently spotlighted American Crafts and I created this layout of us at the pumpkin patch this past fall using the "Garden Cafe" and Amy Tangerine collections. The design is very simple and yet, I was able to fit 6 photos on the page.

The little alphabet stickers are by Lily Bee. I just love these stickers for adding a word here and there and in this case, they made a great sub-title.

A little bit of layering here.... the bottom of the tag didn't really go with my color scheme so I simply covered it up with a strip of patterned paper.

For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here. I also share instructions on how I created the layout.

We spent our Saturday at a wonderful marriage conference put on by our church with Dr. Gary Chapman (author of the 5 Love Languages). It was one of the best conferences we have ever been too and came home feeling rejuvenated and ready to try a few tips and tricks to make our marriage better than ever. Awww. ;) I was so happy that my sister and her husband were able to come with us to the conference. We also went mattress shopping (FUN!). Not for us but for two little girls who are more than ready to make the move to big girl beds. Decisions, decisions. I'm hoping we have finally decided the plan!

Have a great day! :)

Card Ideas: A Day of Love!

2012-02-14T08:12:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I love a day to celebrate how very much I love my husband and girls. Here are my two cuties enjoying a sweet treat...

Today I have a couple of very quick and easy card ideas to share with you. The first one was created for Webster's Pages using the brand new "Sunday Picnic" collection. (I am slightly obsessed with using vellum again!)

And the second card I created for the February Color Challenge at Emma's Paperie. I combined some beautiful products by October Afternoon and Kaisercraft. For a complete supply list, visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Enjoy your day of love and I'll see you again soon! :)

Pebbles: Love, Love, Love, Love You, Sis!

2012-02-09T07:47:00.000-06:00

This week on the Pebbles blog, we're celebrating all things lovely in honor of Valentine's Day! Today I have a layout to share with you using the beautiful new "With Love" collection. I have two sisters myself but there's something about witnessing the relationship of twin sisters that makes my heart happy. These two are best friends and are so blessed to have a built-in buddy! They are affectionate with each other. They laugh with each other. They protect each other. They share with each other. And like most siblings, have their moments of fighting with each other as well.

I created the title using a variety of alphabet stickers and punched hearts. The middle heart was covered with vellum and then I used a heart candy dot by Pebbles in the center.

The word bubble was cut out of patterned paper and then I placed a masking tape sticker in the center. I love the little heart paper clip for texture.

So sweet....(the xoxo is a masking tape sticker)!

I love my kiddos! ;) Also, today I wanted to note and congratulate my wonderful in-laws on their 50th anniversary! I am so blessed to be part of their family! They love spending time with their granddaughters and we appreciate their help and support so much. They retired down south right before I met my husband but decided to move back home right before the girls were born. And now they live just 10 minutes away. It's great to have them so close so I can run errands and get somewhat of a break each week. We're so excited for their big anniversary! Congratulations, Pete & Mary! :)

Have a great day!

Webster's Pages: She's Carefree...

2012-02-08T07:52:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness! I'm having one of those weeks that is so jam packed busy that I'm forgetting to do some of the most basic things I do every day. We have been go-go-going constantly this week and it won't let up until the weekend. One of the things we have been busy with is making Valentine's for a party on Friday that I am so looking forward to - the girls' first Valentine's party!

But in the meantime, I have a layout to share with you today for Webster's Pages. The very talented Leslie Ashe is our guest designer this month and this page was inspired by her beautiful layering, use of punches and banners. I'm a huge fan of Leslie's work!

This is my Lily in a photo taken this summer. It's so amazing how different the girl's personalities are...Lily is a little more extroverted and is always saying hello to strangers and just jumps right into a new situation. And Nora is a little more shy, a little more clingy to mom in a new situation. But then they also go back and forth being the leader, the instigator. I used the beautiful "Sunday Picnic" collection on this layout.

I used my brand new Jenni Bowlin banner punch to create the banner and then trimmed down a piece of bloomer trim by Webster's Pages to fit at the top. Just a little adds so much texture! I seem to be stuck on adding a little vellum these days when I work with Webster's Pages products (check out the butterflies with pearls).

The title was created with a variety of Webster's Pages alphabet stickers.

I added a little more vellum between layers of patterned paper and I really love the texture and softness it adds to the layout.

You can check out Leslie's work and see what the rest of the design team did over on Webster's Pages Inspire Me page.

Thanks for looking today! Have a good one! ;)

Webster's Pages: We Love to Twirl

2012-02-02T07:59:00.000-06:00

In our backyard, we have the prettiest flowering crab apple tree in the spring. The blossoms only last a little while so if we want to capture them at all, we have to do it quickly. We brought the girls outside last year for a little photo shoot and I just love how we captured the pure joy on their faces. It was a long winter and we were OUTSIDE! There was a light breeze. It was beautiful out!

These are some of my favorite photos of the girls ever and I was waiting for the perfect papers and embellishments to use when I scrapbooked them. The "Everyday Poetry" collection from Webster's Pages was exactly what I was looking for! I also mixed in some embellishments from "Sunday Picnic" and I love how effortlessly the collections mix! This layout was up on the Webster's Pages blog earlier this week.

I love the soft layers of the flowers and all of Webster's Pages trim is so elegant!

I punched a few little butterflies...

...I am in LOVE, LOVE, LOVE with Webster's cameos! The detail is amazing and the colors are so rich! A little bit of the rose trim goes a long way and adds a pop of color.

Thanks for looking today! I had good intentions of blogging earlier this week and then I took a tumble down the steps while holding one of my girls. Not good! She's fine but mom was in pain for a couple days and is just now feeling better. And today, (like usual) I will be playing catch up! ;)

Have a fabulous day! :)

Emma's Paperie: XOXO card

2012-01-25T07:52:00.000-06:00

Good morning, good morning! Today I have a sweet, little card to share with you that I created for Emma's Paperie along with a little sketch to go with it that is on the side bar on the Emma's blog. I used a lot more of the "Head Over Heels" collection by Lily Bee, a Studio Calico label and wood veneer banner piece, gorgeous trim by Webster's Pages and a couple stick pins by Maya Road. For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

That's all for today! :)

Emma's Paperie: Budding Photographer

2012-01-24T08:17:00.000-06:00

I have another layout to share with you today that I made for Emma's Paperie using the "Head Over Heels" collection. We had a focus on stickers for the month of January so I had fun using banner stickers, label stickers and alphabet stickers to create this layout. The girls received a cute little Fisher Price digital camera for Christmas from their Aunt Jaime and Nora is just in LOVE with it. She's always taking pictures and has a great eye for photography already! For a complete supply list of this layout, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

To go along with the "photography" theme, I made my photos into faux Polaroids (something I've been doing a lot lately). I just like the look and gives me a space to tie twine, write some journaling, embellish or use a label sticker.

In the middle of my photos, I layered a doily I cut from patterned paper, Jenni Bowlin flower, My Mind's Eye brad and several Maya Road stick pins.

I love the little "a dream come true" sticker and had to use it to highlight just how very special this gift was to Nora.

Thanks for looking today! More to come soon! :)

Emma's Paperie: January Color Challenge

2012-01-20T07:54:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday, friends! I'm so glad it's the weekend. This has been quite a week. We have been adjusting back to our normal routine after our potty training marathon last weekend and I'm definitely having to make some changes regarding how I do things around the house. The saddest part of it all??? I think we have given up nap time. :( I'll get over it, I promise. :)

Today I want to share with you my layout for the January Color Challenge over at Emma's Paperie. I fell in love with the "Head Over Heels" collection by Lily Bee when it was released last CHA and used a lot of it for this layout. I have been wanting to do a layout of my sisters and me at all of our weddings since my last sister got married this summer and finally got around to it. The photos span 8 years. I just can't get over how much of a baby my youngest sister, Jaime is at my wedding. For a complete supply list, check out the Emma's Paperie blog.

I wanted there to be a lot of focus on the title so I changed up the "3's" that I used and kept the rest of the text the same with Amy Tangerine thickers by American Crafts.

I also used the tiny alphabet and number stickers by Lily Bee to add the year to each photo and cut out doilies from patterned paper to draw more attention to them.

Thanks for looking! I have plenty more to share with you next week! I'm going to be staying busy this weekend...I have a birthday on Sunday...yippee! :)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Pebbles: With Love Treat Bags

2012-01-19T08:44:00.000-06:00

Hello and Happy Thursday! Today I have a trio of glassine treat bags I created for the Pebbles blog using the "With Love" collection. These sweet little bags could be used to hold treats to send to a loved one. I added plenty of texture by creating with doilies, kraft gift tags, masking tape stickers, ribbon, punched hearts and twine.

Pebbles supplies used:
With Love True Love Patterned Paper (751202)
With Love You & Me Patterned Paper (751212)
With Love Kiss Me Patterned Paper (751211)
With Love Masking Tape Stickers (732086)
With Love Gift Tags (747160)
With Love Ribbon (780014)
With Love Mini Clothespins (744280)

Other supplies used:
Punches (Fiskars, EK Success)
Transparencies (Maya Road)
Twine (Martha Stewart)
Glassine bags
Doily

Sweet and simple, right? :) I'll be back tomorrow with my layout for the January Color Challenge at Emma's Paperie.

We're off to the dentist this morning! Skippy! :)

Emma's Paperie: Hambly Studios & a Sketch

2012-01-18T08:28:00.000-06:00

Good morning! I was so busy posting my December Memories album last month that I didn't get a chance to share a couple more projects for Emma's Paperie. All of the designers created a project using amazing transparencies and rub-ons by Hambly Studios. And this "Very Merry" layout is what I came up with for my project. I created the color scheme based on the colors in the girls' Christmas dresses. And I actually got a little technique happy and made "snow globes" with the transparencies. For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

First, I cut a few circles from transparencies and then placed them on kraft cardstock and cut around the circle with a scalloped scissors. Next, I machine stitched around the edge of the circle, leaving just a small space open so that I could slip either some chunky crystal glitter or fine silver glitter inside. I really like how these turned out.

The little pennant is a silver rub-on by Hambly.

Here is a look at the silver woodgrain "snow globe" with ribbon by We R Memory Keepers tied around it in a bow.

I also have a card to share today that used the December sketch. Most of the products are by Basic Grey, Lily Bee Designs, Maya Road and Prima. For a full supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

That's all for today! I'll be back again tomorrow with more! :)

Splish Splash with Palm Beach!

2012-01-17T07:42:00.000-06:00

Thanks so much for your kind words about the Webster's Pages Clean & Simple Design team! I am really excited to share one of my first projects with you today using the brand new "Palm Beach" collection (consider this a sneak peak, if you will). You can also check out my introduction over at the Webster's Pages blog if you want.

I knew that I wanted to create with photos of all of us at the aquatic center last summer. I pulled out several bright, bold colors in the collection and then paired it with a neutral kraft cardstock sprayed with a little white and turquoise mist. This two-page layout actually started out as a one-page layout (the page on the left) but when I was almost finished with it, I was still staring at all of the photos that ended up on the right page and I knew it had to be a two-page layout. To keep the layout fluid, I simply joined the two pages with a small strip of turquoise patterned paper.

Here's a closer look at page 1...

and a closer look at page 2...

And a few close-ups...I am really excited about working with Webster's trims and cameos. Yum!

And check out that little resin bird and sparkler!

Thanks for checking out my first project for Webster's Pages. I'll be sharing more from the new collections next week.

If you are a regular blog reader, you might have noticed that I gave the blog a little make-over. What do you think? Are you having any trouble reading text or seeing photos? I was really tired of having teeny tiny photos on my blog, especially for all the two-page layouts I have been creating recently. I also really like the new blog header I found at Shabby Blogs.

I have been playing a little bit of catch up around the house today and will be for the next few days. We potty-trained the girls over the weekend using a 3-day method and it WORKED! We only had one minor accident yesterday and it was late in the day and we even were out of the house for a couple hours. I'm feeling really good about how well they did but I know we'll continue to have a few issues as we go about our normal routine. We tried using a public restroom yesterday and the girls were absolutely terrified and traumatized by the automatic flushing toilet. So, I'm sure public restrooms might be a little scary for a while now. :)

Anyway, enough of the potty talk...I'm sure you wanted to hear all about it. ;)

More tomorrow! :)

Webster's Pages Clean & Simple Design Team!

2012-01-16T07:27:00.001-06:00

Wow! I have been holding onto some very exciting news for a little awhile and today is the day I finally get to share with you all! I am one of the newest members of the Webster's Pages Clean & Simple Design Team!!!!! I have already begun working with the new collections and I am in love with the new clean and simple papers!

You can check out the full announcement of the entire design team here! Thank you for letting me share my excitement! :)

Pebbles: Christmas is Love

2012-01-13T08:08:00.001-06:00

It's been double page layout week on the Pebbles blog this week! I love creating double page layouts when I have a lot of photos to tell a particular story. Christmas is the perfect occasion to share a lot of photos, and I used the "Welcome Christmas" collection to showcase photos of one of our Christmas gatherings this year. I created a collage of wallet size photos (10 of them) and then chose one photo that I wanted to highlight and made that the focal point of the layout. (Click the photo to see larger.)

When I create two-page layouts, I enjoy creating a large design element that supports the focal point photo. Here I created a Christmas tree using punched circles from patterned paper and rhinestones. A portion of a border sticker anchors the tree. I also carried the title across the page with the use of a border sticker.

Pebbles supplies used:
Welcome Christmas Merry Christmas (751175)
Welcome Christmas Christmas Gift (751173)
Welcome Christmas Santa's Workshop (751176)
Welcome Christmas Sleigh Ride (751178)
Welcome Christmas Gingerbread House (751180)
Welcome Christmas Candy Cane (751181)
Welcome Christmas Santa's List (751182)
Welcome Christmas Crimson ABC Stickers (732069)
Welcome Christmas 12" Border Stickers (732072)
Welcome Christmas Buttons (747147)
Welcome Christmas Fabric Brads (744267)
Welcome Christmas Ribbon (780012)
With Love Be Mine (751201)
With Love Sweetheart (751204)
With Love Kiss Me (751204)
With Love ABC 2 Stickers (732082)

Other supplies used:
Cardstock (American Crafts)
Stickers (The Girls' Paperie)
Spray Mist (Studio Calico)
Rhinestones (Melissa Frances)
Punches (Martha Stewart, Marvy Uchida)
Have a great weekend everyone! We're embarking on a 3-day potty training extravaganza at our house today. The girls are definitely ready so it will be quite an adventure, I'm sure!

More on Monday! :)

December Memories: Final Post!

2012-01-12T07:51:00.000-06:00

I did it! I finished my December Memories album. Thirty-one fabulous memories from the month of December.

29) Christmas with Great-Grandma Theresa - Grandma and Great Aunt Linda came to my mom and dad's house for Christmas Day dinner. The girls were eager to share their new babies and doll stroller with them as well as enjoy a Cheeto picnic, courtesy of Grandma.

30) Favorite Christmas Movies & Songs - This was a fun year in that the girls were really able to get into movies and songs. I listed several of their favorites of each plus included an actual DVD into the album. Oh yes, they cracked The Berenstain Bears before they even watched it so we had to get a new copy. I was about to throw it away but then I decided to keep it for the album. And, we are STILL singing Frosty the Snowman around here. :)

31) Happy New Year! - We were supposed to have a party with all of their grandparents but Nora and I came down with a stomach bug so we canceled all the fun. But we were all feeling better on New Year's Day so I pulled out the hats that day instead! I also summarized the month on that final page as well.

Cover - I saved designing the cover until the very end...I just like creating better that way when it comes to mini albums. I spritzed the front of the cover with white Studio Calico mist, used a paper doily, an older Basic Grey transparency from a Noel Mignon kit, a Pretty Little Studio tag, Maya Road wooden snowflake, and a My Mind's Eye "Merry Christmas" banner and brad. I also tied off the top with green gingham ribbon and had to add a jingle bell.

The album is still pretty thick even after removing the pages I didn't use.

Cover page - I just had to start the album with our annual photo in the front of the tree. The girls crack me up with their cheesy grins. :)

If you want to revisit the rest of my album, please check out the following posts:
December Memories: 1-4
December Memories: 5-8
December Memories: 9-12
December Memories: 13-16
December Memories: 17-20
December Memories: 21-24
December Memories: 25-28

And my thoughts on the process:

I am so, so, so happy with the overall album. I loved using the Fancy Pants brag book. It feels more like a journal to me than anything. I was able to combine a lot of photos and journaling in the album.
The month of December is just so unpredictable. I ended up sick for the last half of the month. Me being sick = nothing done on the album. And if my kiddos were sick, I also wouldn't have been able to do anything.
The first half of the month, I did enjoy working on the pages at night. I felt that it worked better for me to do a couple pages at a time. I liked the structure I decided on: 31 memories, and not necessarily focused on the days.
I felt like the project helped me take out my camera more and enjoy the month. It also inspired me scrapping several Christmas pages along the way.
Because I didn't get anything done on the album the last half of December, I didn't work on it again until well after Christmas. I had to leave everything out all over my desk and that didn't bode well when I wanted and needed to work on other projects. I'm an all or nothing type of person and I needed to have this album finished before I could work on the next thing.
I think what I might do next year is create a "highlights of Christmas album" after the fact. It ended up being a monster of a project that did stress me out which is not what I wanted to happen.
That all being said, I am happy that I gave it a try this year. I know I will treasure this album forever!

Thanks for sticking with me through this project! If you have any questions about anything, please let me know! More to come soon! :)

December Memories: 25-28

2012-01-10T07:58:00.000-06:00

Good morning! I'm back with more of my December Memories album - just one more post to go after this one!

25) Christmas with Grandpa & Grandma - We enjoyed Christmas with Glen's parents on Christmas Eve morning. We all had breakfast together and then opened gifts. The girls love their new princess sleeping bags and backpacks.

26) Christmas with Great-Grandpa Gene - We always spend Christmas Eve at Grandpa Gene's house. It was such a fun year with the girls and cousin Tatum. Lots of hugs, great food and even a streaker (potty training is starting soon!) :)

27) Family photos - We always take lots of photos at Grandpa's house - the grandkids and great-grandkids, my sisters, my sisters and our kids and my sisters and our husbands. Love taking these each year!

28) Nissen Christmas - We spent Christmas Day at my mom and dad's house. The girls got more use out of their Christmas dresses. They love their new Cabbage Patch dolls and doll strollers, tea set and Fisher Price camera.

I'll wrap up my December Memories album tomorrow with the last three pages, title page and cover as well as my thoughts about creating this album.

See you then! :)

December Memories: 21-24

2012-01-09T17:45:00.000-06:00

I'm usually not one to blog so late in the day but I wanted to share more pages of my December Memories album. I'll be sharing the rest of my album over the next three days because I FINALLY FINISHED IT LAST NIGHT! Whoohoo! As I said, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the process when I post the final pages.

21) The Nativity - We bought a Little People Nativity Set this year. I wanted one so much last year but I couldn't find one anywhere so I was just thrilled when I found one right after Thanksgiving. The girls loved playing with it and understanding more about the birth of Baby Jesus. We tried to keep it separate from the rest of the toys so they could understand that it was a special treat to play with it.

22) Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus! - I couldn't tell you how many times we sang "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus" at our house during the month of December. Towards Christmas, I made the girls special cupcakes so we could light a candle and sing. They loved it, of course. We also talked about how the candle symbolized that Jesus is the light of the world.

23) Waiting for Santa - We made reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter to help the reindeer fly) and left milk and cookies for Santa.

24) Christmas Morning - Our Christmas "morning" celebration occurred on Christmas Eve morning. The girls came down the stairs to see their gift from Santa - a kitchen set. They loved playing with it and wouldn't stop. They also opened their stockings.

More to come tomorrow...

December Memories: 17-20

2012-01-06T07:51:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday! I'm working some more on my December Memories album and I've been reflecting a lot on the process which I will share more about when I share the final pages. I am taking this album through the whole month of December so I will have 31 spreads when completed. Today I have numbers 17-20 to share with you.

17) Visit with Santa - The girls were so excited to see Santa but when the time came, they were scared. Poor babies kept saying "Afraid" and were clinging like monkeys to us so Santa went behind the chair for our photo. Classic!

18) Letter to Santa - Merle Hay Mall has a very nice area set up where kiddos could write a letter to Santa so the girls did some scribbling and came up with their own letter. Pretty cute! :)

19) Christmas Dresses - I love, love, love having the girls all dressed up! One of my favorite traditions is choosing a pretty Christmas dress for them. And they love it too...Nora danced in circles singing "Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella" every single time she put the dress on. LOVE.

20) Read Christmas Books - I wrapped up all of our Christmas books plus a few library ones and we opened one a night to read together as a family. This was a new tradition for us this year but it quickly became one of my favorite parts of the day. It was a perfect day to wind down before the girls went to bed and the girls loved looking through their books during the day as well.

Here is the tag part of this spread. I shared what some of their favorite books were on the "celebrate" tag which will be fun to look back on someday.

So there you have it! I'll have more to share of the album soon! I'm hoping to get a lot more done this weekend.

Have a good one! :)

Favorite Projects of 2011!

2012-01-04T10:50:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year, friends! Before we get too far into January, I wanted to share some of my favorite projects from last year. Here we go...

1) "Our Family" wooden house - I created this house using a lot of Lily Bee Designs products and it was published in the February 2012 issue of Crafts 'n Things magazine.

2) "Happy, Go, Lucky" card set - I created this card set using a fun combination of Pebbles Inc. products.

3) "Princess" play set - I love the age my girls are at as they are becoming fascinated with the world of princesses and princes! I made them pretty princess crowns and wands to play with (supervised, of course) and they have fun making wishes with their wands!

4) "Happy 1st Birthday" mini album - I created this album with highlights of the girls' 1st birthday using a Melissa Frances Bingo album and American Crafts' "Confetti" collection.

5) "Trick or Treat" hat - This little paper mache witch hat was created using the "Glowing" collection by Authentique Paper. I love elegance for Halloween!

6) "Thankful" quilted canvas - This is quite possibly one of my favorite projects I have ever made. I used Farmhouse collection by Crate Paper to make shabby piece with a diamond pattern, hand stitching and machine stitching.

7) "Merry" Santa - I created this little Santa for Pebbles Inc. using their "Welcome Christmas" collection.

8) "Merry" gift box set - Love me some Melissa Frances and I used her Christmas collection to make this set for Emma's Paperie.

9) "Thankful for you" card - Another card for Emma's Paperie using the Farmhouse collection by Crate Paper.

10) "Apple of my Eye" tag mini album - A very hands on tiny album that the girls love looking at from our trip to the apple orchard this fall. Notice my love for Farmhouse by Crate Paper, again?! :)

11) Vintage Little Girls' 2nd Birthday Party - And my favorite set of projects for the year is the collection I made for the girls' 2nd birthday. (Time to start planning for their 3rd birthday!) I used the Emma's Shoppe collection by Crate Paper to put together a banner, party hats, a centerpiece, their invitation, cupcake toppers, and cake topper. I adore creating for their parties!

Thanks for looking! I'll be back soon with more pages of my December Memories album and more!

Favorite Layouts of 2011!

2011-12-29T08:31:00.002-06:00

Hello there! Today I'm going to share with you some of my favorite layouts of 2011. It's been so much fun looking back through everything I've created over the past year and seeing the girls grow before my eyes.

1) We Love(?) Snow - I created this layout as part of "Love" week at American Crafts as their guest designer in February. This layout is also in Scrapbooks Etc. February 2012 issue for a feature on snow-themed projects. This one just tells the story of my girl's personalities when it comes to trying new things. One's a real go-getter and the other is a little more cautious. :)

2) Proud to be Free - I was blessed to work with Pretty Little Studio this past year and this was one of my last layouts on the team. I loved working with the "Antique Store" collection so much. Our family on the 4th of July this year...

3) First Pony Ride - I created this layout using the "Life Documented" collection by Simple Stories when I guest designed for Emma's Paperie this summer. Look for more Simple Stories projects from me this next year - they are one manufacturer that I have just fallen in love with!

4) Jolly Signs of 2 - I am a long time Melissa Frances fan and this layout was created to showcase the signs (double the ornaments and stockings) of the girls' first Christmas. This layout was published in a special issue of Creating Keepsakes - Scrapbooking Holidays & Celebrations.

5) 'Twas the Night Before Christmas - I have also been blessed to work with Pebbles, Inc. Here's a layout of the girls' Christmas jammies from last year. I also shared a tutorial on how to make the Christmas tree here.

6) A Day at the Patch - I love the "Gathering" collection from Authentique Paper so much! The color palette and patterns were one of my absolute favorites from this fall. We created so many special memories by including their grandparents in our visit to the pumpkin patch this year!

7) Deck the Halls - This is a very recent favorite created for Emma's Paperie. I absolutely love designing for Emma's each month and this layout was for a focus on ribbon. My girls were so into decorating the tree this year that I scrapbooked these photos right away.

8) Grandma's are Great - I have designed for Noel Mignon's kit club for almost two years and this layout was one I created with January's "Very Virginia" kit. I love this photo of Nora with her Grandma Mary (there just happened to be vintage sheet music in the kit with Mary's name on it). Both of my girls have such special relationships with all of their grandparents and I love documenting that.

9) Sweet Little Girls - I created this one using the February "Truly Scrumptious" kit from Noel Mignon and it's also featured in an article on doilies in the February 2012 issue of Scrapbooks Etc. Look at those little monkeys on their first Valentine's Day!

10) What Fun to Be A Princess - This one was created using August's "Salt Water Taffy" kit. This summer I made the girls princess crowns and wands and they had so much fun playing with them and making wishes. I love this age...the girls are just enraptured with the idea of princesses. I was also fortunate this year to work with Scrapbook Magazine in the UK and this layout was published in their December issue.

11) Lily's Thinking Face - I love capturing little quirks about the girls and this layout has one of them. Lily makes the cutest face when she's thinking really hard about something and these photos are completely candid of her in action. I used September's "Study Hall" kit and shared a tutorial on how I made the chevron and stitching here.

12) I used the October "Sleepy Hollow" kit for this layout that sums up Halloween from 2010. I kept the design very simple and allowed one major photo to shine of the girls in their Halloween costume.

13) Creating 2 Turkeys - I created quite a few two-page layouts this year and enjoyed the process of including many photos and telling longer stories. For this one I also included the girls' actual hand prints, and it was published in a special issue of Creating Keepsakes - Scrapbooking Holidays & Celebrations.

14) First Haircut - This is another layout using Simple Stories' "Life Documented" collection. I created the design so that each of the girls could take their respective page someday. I also made little vellum envelopes and included a lock of hair from their first haircut.

So there you have it! Some of my very favorites from this past year. If you would like to, you can also check out my post from 2010. I'm also working on putting together my favorite mini albums, projects and cards from last year as well so stay tuned for that post.

And in 2012, I will be continuing to design for Pebbles Inc. and Emma's Paperie. December was my last month on the Noel Mignon design team. I am so thankful to Noel for the opportunity to work with her beautiful kits each month. I'm still very much a fan of her kit club and in fact, have her January "Cabin Fever" kit on the way to me! :)

Have a great day!

Pebbles: Anticipation

2011-12-28T08:22:00.000-06:00

Well, hello there! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas with our girls. Lots of laughter and lots of great memories! Today I have a new project to share with you for Pebbles Inc. that I created for Mix & Match Monday this week. I combined a couple collections - Welcome Christmas and With Love. I love the bright colors of the Christmas collection mixed with the muted kraft of With Love. And as I said earlier on my blog, I just couldn't wait to scrapbook this photo of the girls waiting to ride the train and meet Santa.

A couple of the paper strips on the bottom are the "tear-off" part from the sheets of patterned paper and the rest are just cut.

I also took the toothpicks off the flags to create this little banner.

Pebbles supplies used:

Welcome Christmas Merry Christmas Patterned Paper (751175)
Welcome Christmas Dimension Phrase Stickers (732071)
Welcome Christmas 12" Border Stickers (732072)
Welcome Christmas Jewel Candy Dots (744265)
Welcome Christmas Fabric Brads (744267)
Welcome Christmas Toothpick Flags (747146)
Welcome Christmas Ribbon (780012)
With Love Kiss Me Patterned Paper (751211)
With Love Be Mine Patterned Paper (751201)
With Love Sweetheart (751204)
With Love ABC 2 Stickers (732082)

Other supplies used:
Cardstock (American Crafts)
Twine (Martha Stewart)
Brads (American Crafts)
Punch (Martha Stewart)

I'm still trying to get caught up on my December Memories album and hope to share more pages of it with you this week. Being sick last week really threw me for a loop and I was only able to get the necessities done for Christmas.

Have a great day! (I'm hoping to share some of my favorite layouts and projects of 2011 with you later this week).

Merry Christmas from the Cornell's!

2011-12-24T07:19:00.000-06:00

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Our prayer for you in 2012 would be that you, too, would know of the "Good News" that we have in Christ Jesus, our Savior!

It has been such fun to teach the girls about Baby Jesus' birthday this year and talk about Mary, Joseph and the Wise Men.

Love these two monkeys! :)

Love these two in their pretty Christmas best...

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

December Memories: 13-16

2011-12-22T07:54:00.000-06:00

I'm back with the next four spreads of my December Memories album. I have fallen slightly behind again as I have been fighting off a cold the past week but I'm still plugging away at it trying to record and preserve our memories!

13) Family letter - Every year we put together a short letter to update our family and friends on what we have been up to in the past year. We also try to include a few photos of our family. The pocket page in the Fancy Pants album was the perfect place to add the letter.

14) New Christmas Pajamas - One of our favorite traditions is to buy the girls new pajamas each year. This year we went with super cute "Frosty" pajamas, and the girls love them!

15) Baking is Joyful - We had a baking morning with Grandma Mary and made cut-out cookies that we frosted. The girls had a great time baking with their Grandma. Lily was especially into rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookies. With the girls' food allergies, I was especially excited to find a mix that we could put together so they could have cookies!

16) Anticipation - The photo on the left has to be one of my all-time favorite photos and you will definitely be seeing it on a layout sometime in the near future! You can just tell by both of the girls' body language that they are just dying to ride that train! The "anticipation" of Christmas fun and activities has been so amazing to experience with the girls this year!

So there you have it! If I can get my act together, I'll have more to share soon! :)

Emma's Paperie: Deck the Halls

2011-12-20T08:01:00.000-06:00

Good morning! Just thought I would pop in again today and share my layout for Emma's Paperie this morning. The designers are also focusing on ribbon this month and I worked with "Peppermint Twist" ribbons by We R Memory Keepers. I kept my design super simple for these photos of my family decorating the tree this year. A complete supply list is available here.

I created a large bow with the green striped organza ribbon that I tucked behind some of the other embellishments and then highlighted with a fabric brad.

And then I cut several pieces of ribbon to make a banner that I embellished with a Crate Paper sticker, Maya Road wood snowflake and My Mind's Eye rhinestone.

I'll have more of my December Memories album to share later this week. I didn't get as much accomplished yesterday as I wanted to as I was feeling pretty awful so I let myself have an afternoon and evening to rest but I'm hoping to get back into it today. These things won't get done on their own, you know?! :)

Have a great day! :)

Emma's Paperie: The Best Holiday Helpers

2011-12-19T07:59:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday! Can you believe it's less than a week until Christmas? Wowza...do I ever have a lot to get done this week (as I'm the rest of you do too!). :)

Today I have a new layout to share that I created for the December Color Challenge over at Emma's Paperie. It's a beautiful combination of white, pink and red. I worked with the "Peppermint" collection by Crate Paper on my layout and pulled out the red, pink and white patterned papers and embellishments in this collection. The photos are from a cinnamon ornament making session we had earlier this month. You can check out a complete supply list here.

Here's the color inspiration the designers at Emma's Paperie used for this challenge (this photo is from Country Living).

And a couple of close-ups... I used label stickers by Create Paper for my journaling and part of the title.

I went to town with my EK Success label punch and used foam adhesive on several of the labels for added dimension.

I'll be back to share more of my December Memories album later this week. I need to take some time to sit down and work on it again. I'll be busy wrapping gifts, finishing up my Christmas cards, baking, finishing up a few assignments this week and hoping and praying no one else gets sick (I've seem to come down with a little something the past few days). 'Tis the season, right? :)

Have a great day! :)

December Memories: 9-12

2011-12-16T08:24:00.000-06:00

I have more pages in my December Memories album to share with you today - this time it's numbers 9-12. My approach to this album has not necessarily been a daily approach although several of the memories have fallen on that particular day. I'm keeping it simple, simple, simple and in more of a journal style. The Fancy Pants Brag Book in red has been absolutely perfect for this project! There was no preparation in advance whatsoever. I've just been putting the pages together as I go and have found that working on two pages at a time works best for my schedule.

In the past I have never completed a December Daily because the thought of adding one more project to my schedule during the month completely overwhelmed me. The way I have been approaching it this year has been completely doable and has very much kept me in the Christmas spirit. Oddly enough, I am much less stressed this year than in years past even though we are adding a lot more activities to our December schedule.

9) Snow? - Yes, that is snow with a question mark. If you are my facebook friend, you might have watched a little video of two little girls who created their own snow from the stuffing of my giant couch pillow. Take pictures first, right? Then discipline. :)

10) Special date - This past Saturday Glen went around town with Lily and Nora ran errands with me. It's not something we get to do very often so it was a fun memory to document. A little one-on-one time is wonderful!

11) Around the house - I've added some new decor this year. I have a couple projects I created myself (the Santa and Merry gift boxes) and then I picked up the Santa pitcher and record at an antique store. I also added some new vintage books to my collection as well.

12) Holiday Twinkle - This year we took the girls to Jolly Holiday Lights for the first time. They loved seeing all the Christmas lights and were quick to pick out the "car carts" at Hy-Vee, the gingerbread house and all the great tunnels we got to go through.

And there you have it! I'll be back with more soon!

Have a fabulous weekend! :)

December Memories: 5-8

2011-12-15T08:34:00.000-06:00

I'm back today with more pages of my December Memories album (this time numbers 5-8). I have really been having a good time creating this album as the month goes on and it's inspired some actual scrapbooking as well.

5) Buddy the Elf - We introduced a new tradition with our new Elf-on-the-Shelf this year. The girls named him "Buddy". We might have just watched "Elf" so the name was conveniently fresh in their minds. :) We also picked up the animated movie that goes along with this tradition and it was fabulous in introducing him to our family. (There were even twin girls in the movie). We have been having a blast coming up with crazy things for Buddy to do each day (I don't know who has more fun with him - the girls or mom and dad!) Ha!

6) Decorating the Tree - For this page, I took advantage of the pocket to add a few more photos to this memory. The girls had so much fun decorating this year! Glen could barely get the tree started before the girls were trying to hang ornaments.

Here's the pocket page...

7) Coffee - I have a slight obsession with specialty drinks around the holidays but I do limit myself to one (or maybe two) a week. My favorite places to go are Panera, Caribou Coffee and Starbucks and I love that each place has pretty cups to go with their festive drinks. I used the actual coffee cup sleeves for each place on this entry.

8) Gingerbread House - We put together a gingerbread house this year. I discovered as I was mixing the frosting together that it had egg in it but we decided to put it together anyway. (My girls are both allergic to eggs). We had a minor incident with hives and red eyes but they were otherwise okay. It's a little difficult to stop two-year-olds from tasting the frosting but it was a fun time, nonetheless. :)

Tomorrow I'll share memories 9-12 with you so check back then! :)

Pebbles Tutorial: A Christmas Tree

2011-12-13T07:45:00.000-06:00

One of the traditions we have at my house is to buy the girls new Christmas-themed pajamas. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays to scrapbook, and the "Welcome Christmas" collection from Pebbles makes it easy to create bright, fun, whimsical layouts. I have a simple tutorial to share with you today on how to make a large Christmas tree from patterned paper that serves as the focal point of the design on my layout.

To get started, cut several strips of patterned paper in 1/2", 3/4" and 1" increments.

Cut ribbon notches on either end of the patterned paper and ink edges.

Cut each strip slightly smaller than the rest so that the strips stack and form the Christmas tree.

Once all the strips are cut, adhere to layout using foam adhesive on every other strip.

Punch a large star from patterned paper.

Insert a fabric brad in center of star and adhere with foam adhesive.

And here's the finished layout again! I just tucked my larger photo between a couple of the strips to help ground it to the page.

And a couple close-ups ...

Pebbles supplies used:
Welcome Christmas Trim the Tree Patterned Paper (751171)
Welcome Christmas Christmas Gift Patterned Paper (751173)
Welcome Christmas Merry Christmas Patterned Paper (751175)
Welcome Christmas Santa's Workshop Patterned Paper (751176)
Welcome Christmas Sleigh Ride Patterned Paper (751178)
Welcome Christmas Gingerbread House Patterned Paper (751180)
Welcome Christmas Candy Cane Patterned Paper (751181)
Welcome Christmas Santa's List Patterned Paper (751182)
Welcome Christmas Dimensional Phrases & Icons Stickers (732071)
Welcome Christmas 12" Border Stickers (732072)
Welcome Christmas Crimson ABC Stickers (732069)
Welcome Christmas Layered Embellishments (747145)
Welcome Christmas Fabric Brads (744267)

Other supplies used:
Cardstock (American Crafts)
Alphabet Stickers (Jenni Bowlin)
Twine (Martha Stewart)
Rhinestone (Melissa Frances)
Punch (Fiskars)

More soon! :)

Pebbles: Merry Santa

2011-12-12T06:43:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday! Last week on the Pebbles blog, several members of the design team shared projects for holiday gift giving. Today, I have a whimsical Santa to share with you using the fun and bright "Welcome Christmas" collection.

I put a little twist on the traditional tree shape to create a Santa that anyone could love and add to their holiday home decor! I covered a foam cone (tree shape) with various patterned papers and cardstock and then embellished Santa's hat and face with embellishments from the "Welcome Christmas" collection. It was easy to create Santa's beard, mustache and top of his hat with hot glue and cotton balls.

Here's a little close-up of Santa. I mixed together a little flesh colored paint and then outlined Santa in grey. It took me forever to figure out what I wanted to do for Santa's mouth and nose. At first, I had a wooden button for his nose but it might Santa look strangely like a pig so then I had an epiphany and gave him a cherry red nose with a brad. (Duh, right?) :) The mouth is a little section of a border sticker.

Pebbles supplies used:
Welcome Christmas Christmas Gift Patterned Paper (751173)
Welcome Christmas Sleigh Ride Patterned Paper (751178)
Welcome Christmas 12" Border Stickers (732072)
Welcome Christmas Layered Embellishments (747145)
Welcome Christmas Fabric Brads (744267)
Welcome Christmas Buttons (747147)
Welcome Christmas Toothpick Flags (747146)
Welcome Christmas Ribbon (780012)
With Love ABC 2 Stickers (732082)

Other supplies used:
Trims (American Crafts)
Cardstock (American Crafts)
Rhinestones (Melissa Frances)
Paint
Foam Cone
Cotton Balls

Have a great day! I'll be back with more projects this week! I've been having a lot of fun working on my December memories album! :)

Emma's Paperie Inspiration

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday, friends! We finally got a good inch of snow here and I love it! It was so beautiful coming down last night and it makes me even more excited for Christmas.

Today I have a couple more projects to share with you for Emma's Paperie. The first is for a color inspiration project that I created using the Farmhouse collection by Crate Paper. For a complete supply list, visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

And all of the designers are spotlighting BasicGrey on the blog as well. I chose to work with the Nordic Holiday collection to create a two-page layout of the girls' first Christmas at Great-Grandpa Gene's house. I love scrapbooking Christmas and have a couple more two-page layouts I want to do of their first one. I kept the design simple, simple, simple.

The snowflakes are a combination of stickers and chipboard layered with more chipboard and brads.

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

Well, that's all for today! I was able to go out for dinner with some of my good high school friends last night. It was a lovely evening of laughing and great conversation! I had such a wonderful time. I've been friends with these girls for 25 years and no matter how much time passes since we last saw each other, we just start in right where we left off! I best get moving today - lots of cleaning, creating, baking and more on my agenda this weekend! :)

Have a fabulous weekend! :)

December Memories: 1-4

2011-12-08T07:55:00.000-06:00

I decided last month that I wanted to create a December Daily album but when I actually sat down to work on this project, I knew that wasn't going to work for me. We are several days into December now and have already done so much for Christmas around our house that the idea of a daily album honestly stressed me out. So I decided to take this project and create a "25 Memories of Christmas" album instead! That way I am not restricted to keeping what we do on specific days and make it more about the memories we are creating. I have four memories to share with you today and I'm hoping to be "caught up" on the rest of them by this weekend.

I am using a combination of the brand new "Mistletoe and Holly" kit from Noel Mignon and some older product in my stash from past Noel Mignon kits. Call me silly, but some of the products in the new kit I can't stand to use yet because they might make it into my regular family albums, and I want this album to have more of a journal feel to it. I also picked up the Fancy Pants Brag Book from the shop in red to use as my album.

1) North Pole Breakfast - We started a new tradition in our family this year by bringing in December 1st with a festive breakfast. Buddy the Elf made his first daily appearance and we also started our Advent calendar tree (both of these events will have their own pages so I mainly shared about the breakfast itself.)

2) Cinnamon Ornaments - We made applesauce cinnamon ornaments for our tree and to give as little gifts to family members. The girls had fun rolling out the dough and cutting shapes - a preview to cookie making later this month.

3) Christmas Countdown - I shared a photo of the actual calendar itself and then us opening up the tree the first day and the little treat inside. (By the way, I love the pages in the album with the swirls - they add so much to the album).

4) Grandma's Cream Wafers - I do A LOT of Christmas baking each year. And this year, I got it started by making my Grandma's famous cream wafers. They are so much work but sooooo worth it. I'm happy to be carrying on this family tradition.

So, there you have it! Four Christmas memories preserved in a very simple, journal style. As soon as I'm "caught up", I plan on working on this each night and it shouldn't take me more than a half hour to do so. By the way, I should also share that I have not yet completed the cover for my album. Anytime I create a mini album, I save the cover for the very last. I just seem to create better that way!

More soon! :)

Emma's Paperie: Deck the Halls Projects

2011-12-06T08:04:00.000-06:00

Hello again, friends! Thank you for all your sweet words about the anniversary of the girls' adoption day! It's definitely a milestone that is important to us and I'm sure as the girls get older we'll do something more for them to recognize its significance.

We are full swing in holiday fun around here. I'm hoping to start putting together a December "daily" album of sorts around here starting today. I have been collecting ideas and photos but have not sat down to actually work on it yet. In the meantime, we have been creating a lot of Christmas memories together.

Today I have a couple of projects to share using Melissa Frances' new Christmas collection called "Deck the Halls". I always look forward to her new Christmas line and this year's hit it out of the park. These projects were completed for Emma's Paperie.

For a focus on gifts/gift wrap, I created this stacking set of gift boxes. I ended up hot gluing them together because I wanted to use it more as a display piece for Christmas. The boxes are quite tiny in real life so this little set would be for smaller gifts. I also used Melissa Frances tissue trim, tinsel trim, banners, resin snowflake, tag and "Merry" flashcard.

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

My next project was the card sketch for November but I really wanted to create a layout so I tweaked it a bit to fit my purpose. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is purchasing the girls a pretty dress and this was the selection from last year.

The little Christmas tree cameo is by Webster's Pages, flower by Jenni Bowlin and brad by BasicGrey.

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

Have a great Tuesday! I'll be back later this week with more!

Our Adoption Day!

2011-12-02T08:27:00.001-06:00

Today is a big day in the history of the Cornell family. It's the 2nd anniversary of the day Nora and Lily officially became members of our family! The girls were definitely "official" in our hearts the second we laid eyes on them but in the eyes of the court, it couldn't be official until they had been in our home for more than 6 months. We had three home study visits over the course of that 6 months and then met with our lawyers before we all went to court to visit with a very nice judge that signed us up! :) We were very blessed to have both sets of grandparents with us that day and my two sisters. It was so emotional for everyone - just the culmination of a lot of pain and heartache over the years.

Here we are afterwards at our house on our Adoption Day - Glen is holding Nora and I have Lily - and they are just a day over 7 months old!

Glen and I both are still in awe that we have the honor of being Nora and Lily's parents. This time of year is especially sweet for us as we went through so many painful holidays wishing that we had children to celebrate with. And this year has been amazing so far as it's the first year the girls "get" it. They loved putting up the tree and they talk all the time about Santa and Baby Jesus. I just love it! I frequently find myself welling up with tears each time we have a magical Christmas "moment."

Here are the girls today at just over 2-1/2 (Nora on the left, Lily on the right):

They are the most beautiful evidence that God's plan and God's timing for our family were PERFECT!

I love those two! :)

The Pick of the Patch

2011-12-01T07:27:00.000-06:00

Before we dive right into Christmas and holiday projects, I have one more layout I want to share with you using the Hudson Valley kit from Noel Mignon. I still have plenty of fall photos to scrapbook so this certainly won't be my last project with this kit. Today's photos highlight a trip to a pumpkin "patch" near our house. We always photograph the girls in the same spot each year and I love looking back to see how they've changed.

I created the title by using stickers by Crate Paper (in the kit) and American Crafts (from my stash).

For my journaling, I did something a little different and wrote it on cardstock strips and then machine stitched them to the page.

I layered a Crate Paper sticker, October Afternoon sticker, Jenni Bowlin flower and Crate Paper brad.

And before I go, I must share that the December "Mistletoe & Holly" kit from Noel Mignon is shipping now! Check out this jam-packed kit! I actually have hopes of working on a December Daily album this year using this kit! Perfect for layouts, cards, home decor, mini albums and more! Pick it up for yourself or a gift for your favorite crafter!

More tomorrow! :)

Wonder Advent Calendar Tree

2011-11-30T09:17:00.000-06:00

With December just one day away, today is the perfect day to share an Advent calendar to kick off a month of Christmas and holiday festivities! Like many of you, I come across treasures to alter from time to time. About five years ago, I bought this Advent Christmas tree at Starbucks. (Yes, it has sat unused at my house until now - ha!) The front of it was truthfully not that pretty so I used the beautiful "Wonder" collection by Authentique Paper to make it beautiful!

I simply covered each box front with patterned paper and then added number stickers, Wonder Noteables, Tabloids and Icons, Diction stickers, pearls and rhinestones to decorate.

To decorate the top of the tree, I used a doily die-cut, tissue trim, twine and a "Joy" sentiment from the Noteables die-cuts.

Here's a couple close-ups of the individual boxes.

I also hot-glued tinsel trim around the perimeter of the tree.

Supply List:
Authentique Paper (Wonder Collection Patterned Paper: Expectation, Awe, Yearning, Curiosity, Anticipation; Wonder Noteables, Diction, Tabloids, Icons)
Melissa Frances tissue trim, tinsel trim, pearls, rhinestones
American Crafts chipboard, vinyl number stickers
Martha Stewart twine, doily die-cut

Lots more to come the rest of the week! :)

Give Thanks

2011-11-24T09:19:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope you are enjoying your time with family and friends. We're visiting my parents today and then celebrating with Glen's side of the family at our house on Saturday.

Today I have a two-page layout to share with you about the girls' very first Thanksgiving at just 6 months old. I used the gorgeous Hudson Valley kit from Noel Mignon to create my layout. These photos are only a couple years old but wow, did I ever go down a walk on memory lane as I was looking through them and editing.

I have to share a little about the photo on the right. This was the first time the girls ever laid on Grandma Kathryn's bed. It's a family tradition that all the girls lay on Grandma's bed every time we would visit and talk and just laugh. As I'm sure you can imagine, we all can get to laughing A LOT. There's usually 5-6 of us on the bed at one time. And sadly, Grandma is not here anymore to lay with us but it's a tradition that we still keep alive.

Here I created a block of patterned paper squares and stitched an "X" through several of them and then embellished with items in the kit. (Look at those little girls!)

I carried the squares and stitching to the other page and embellished with an American Crafts leaf embellishment and then a Melissa Frances rub-on I had in my stash.

All of my journaling is housed on an Elle's Studio "gratitude" tag.

Don't forget to stop by Noel Mignon tomorrow as you start all your Christmas shopping and pick up the "Mistletoe & Holly" kit! I'm actually going to attempt a December album with mine!

Thanks so much for looking and have a fabulous holiday! :)

Pebbles, Inc.: Grateful for this Moment

2011-11-23T07:46:00.000-06:00

As I've shared before this is National Adoption Month so I knew that for "I'm Grateful" week over on the Pebbles blog that I needed to share more about the gift that I'm most thankful for - my two beautiful daughters through the gift of adoption! While not a perfect photo, this is the only one we have of Glen and me together on the day we got to meet our twin girls for the very first time.

I love the new kraft gift tags from the "With Love" collection and played off the hearts by masking and misting hearts on my cardstock and then carrying that theme through with a "New Addition" layered heart embellishment and "With Love" Heart Candy Dots.

A complete supply list is available here.

I finally got to go see Breaking Dawn yesterday afternoon and LOVED it. It was definitely the best movie yet. I'm going to see it again tonight with my mom and sisters and might sneak away by myself again sometime next week!

I'll have a Thanksgiving post to share with you tomorrow!

I Love You Sis!

2011-11-17T11:16:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to dig into my beautiful "Hudson Valley" kit from Noel Mignon with these photos of my girls hugging each other this fall. I feel so blessed to be able to witness the two of them develop such a loving relationship toward each other. I have two sisters myself but there's something about seeing twin sisters together that is so unique - I hope they always have the type of relationship where they are best friends!

Here I layered a transparency by Hambly, banner stickers by Crate Paper and a label sticker by Mind's Eye.

I love all the alphabet stickers included in this kit - here I combined almost all of them!

The tag, twine and "Together" sticker are by Crate Paper and the label sticker is My Mind's Eye.

I apologize for being a little absent this past week. At my mom's circle group I go to at church, we are going through a wonderful series on motherhood and something that has been sticking in my mind this past month has been if I am "mothering generously or mothering sparingly" to my kids. Sit on that (if you will) and see if that doesn't make you question how you balance your time throughout the day?! The girls are getting to be an age where they are curious and learning so much and talking all the time. Before I know it, we will be making decisions about going to school or home schooling and I want to soak up every minute of their time and attention and sweet little minds while I can. I have been prayerfully considering how my days are spent over the past while and slowly making changes as I go. Anyway, just wanted to share where my mind has been lately. Being a mom is such a blessing and I want to give my kids the time and attention they deserve!

Have a fabulous rest of the week! :)

October Projects for Emma's Paperie

2011-11-12T07:57:00.000-06:00

Today I want to share with you the rest of my projects for Emma's Paperie for the month of October. First up, is a sketch by Lisa that I created a card for using Webster's Pages products. A complete supply list is available here.

For the month of October, we spotlighted Crate Paper. I worked with the rich, gorgeous colors of their Farmhouse collection and created this layout of all of us on our front steps with our freshly "picked" pumpkins. All of the supplies I used to create this layout are available here along with instructions of how to create it.

I recently picked up this awesome maple leaf punch by EK Success to punch these leaves. (You'll be seeing this on a lot of future projects).

And here's a "thanks" card I created using Crate Paper's Farmhouse collection. A complete supply list is available here.

I'll be back to start sharing November projects soon. Today the girls and I are headed to my parent's house overnight to visit family. I'm looking forward to a little time away. Last night I had a fun girls' night at a coffee shop with a group of other moms. We put together "busy bags" for our toddlers to play with over the winter and swapped bags last night. I ended up putting together a Noah's Ark memory game as my bag to swap. I can't wait to start using them with my girls!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Art with Grandpa

2011-11-10T08:02:00.000-06:00

I just love the versatility in the Noel Mignon September kit, "Study Hall". My girls aren't near school age yet but they are certainly learning new things every day and this layout celebrates a unique chance for them to learn from a talented artist right in their own family - Grandpa Pete! Here Miss Nora draws with Grandpa on her Magna Doodle and I captured their special time together on this layout.

I created a little badge for my title using a chalkboard sticker and star rub-on by Fancy Pants, Amy Tangerine thickers and burlap trim by My Mind's Eye.

Try using the Study Hall kit to capture family relationships where one person learns from another!

I'm sorry for the lack of posts over the last week. My hubby and I had a stomach bug that held on forever (and that we believe can be traced back to take-out we had = food poisoning). It was not fun at all and left us really weak and tired out. Luckily, our girls were sooo good while we were sick. They played quietly together and watched videos and that made being sick so much easier. When you are both down and out, it's hard to function! Needless to say, I've been busy this week catching up on household work and everything else I do on a daily basis.

Don't forgot to pick up your November kit from Noel Mignon "Hudson Valley" - it's shipping now! I can't wait until mine arrives so I can scrapbook a lot of our fall photos!

So, I do have a lot more to share coming soon! :)

Happy National Adoption Month!

2011-11-09T09:14:00.000-06:00

Hello friends! Did you know that November is National Adoption Month? If you are new to my blog, you might not know that my twin daughters came to us through the gift of adoption. Please check out my blog post about National Adoption Month from last year to read more about our adoption journey.

We have an open adoption with our daughters' birth mother and her family which means that we get together 3-4 times a year and send photos and talk on the phone every so often. It has been the perfect arrangement for us thus far although I'm sure it wouldn't necessarily be ideal for some families. We imagine that as our daughters get older this relationship might change and that's okay. We're perfectly content going with the flow as our dynamics change as well.

Another special day in our family is quickly approaching - December 2nd is the day that we celebrate 2 years of the girls being legally adopted! It's almost like another birthday in our house and we hold that date near and dear to our hearts. It won't pass by without being celebrated to the fullest!

In honor of National Adoption Month, I have a layout to share with you that is published in the December issue of Scrapbooks Etc. magazine. Our dear friends supported our adoption by hosting a fundraiser for us a couple months before the girls were born and this layout highlights all the love that went into making it a success! All of the photography is by my dear friend, Carrie Krupke.

As I'm sure you can imagine, any adoption story tugs at my heart strings and just yesterday, I was so thrilled to learn of another baby born through the gift of adoption to a dear friend and her husband. I just love how God brings together families in His perfect way!

More from me soon! :)

Design Element: Stars

2011-11-03T10:51:00.000-05:00

I've barely begun to delve into my Noel Mignon "Study Hall" kit from September so this week I thought I should make a few cards to show the versatility in this kit. I chose a common design element - stars - and made two different cards.

For the "Joy" card, I started punching out stars and embellishing them and putting the whole card together. I knew I wanted the sentiment to go on the blue star but I wasn't sure what it was going to be until the entire card was finished. I decided the colors looked decidedly "Christmas" so the card quickly became just that.

I knew going in that this would be a "Happy Birthday" card and used the tiny My Mind's Eye stickers to put the sentiment on a chalkboard label sticker by Fancy Pants.

I added a little machine stitching for texture to both cards and that was it! Quick and easy!

I've been sooooo busy this week what with Halloween and a fun Harvest Party at our church that I helped organize. And so now I'm feeling very behind on my household work for the week and I seemed to have done something to my low back so that doesn't help matters much. But, I continue to plug away because that's just what you do as a mom. No rest for the weary! :)

Have a great day!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:09:00.000-05:00

Doctor Nora & Doctor Lily wish you a Happy Halloween and have a special today ONLY on free medical exams! :)

More to come this week!

Tricks or Treats This Way

2011-10-27T08:04:00.000-05:00

Today I have a Halloween layout to share using the "Something Wicked" kit from Noel Mignon and a great sketch by Gretchen on the challenge blog. We got the girls some super cute Halloween pajamas this year and I just can't resist a pajama photo shoot especially when they are cooperating so well! The ribbon and bow on the left of the photo is actually a piece of cheesecloth that I cut up and distressed with black ink.

I dug into my Halloween kit from last year too and cut up a mini Jenni Bowlin bingo card. The leaf punch is by Martha Stewart.

More soon! We have so many great activities to get us through the end of October! I can't wait! :)

Footprint Fun

2011-10-26T07:47:00.002-05:00

I have a fun Halloween craft you can do with your kids to share today and a "spooky" way to dress it up when you are finished. Creating animals and other creatures using footprints and handprints make for wonderful keepsakes capturing a moment in time when your children are little.

I had a great time creating these spooky ghosts with my girls. Take a look....

And here we are crafting away...I simply cut black cardstock to 8 x 10 so it could fit in a frame and then painted my girls' feet with white acrylic paint. Just stamp their feet and allow the project to dry. (This is also a great project to duplicate for grandparents and other family members).

When the ghosts were dry, we added googly eyes using glue dots and then I drew around the edge of the cardstock with a white gel pen and added the date. I also labeled each ghost with little alphabet stickers.

I then took a plain wooden frame and painted it black, then added crackle medium and went over it with white paint. I added "Boo" with a couple different Thicker fonts and adhered a border sticker at the top of the frame.

Then I cut a couple pieces of cheesecloth and glued with a hot glue gun. One of the pieces I tied off with a piece of twine and then added a patterned paper "curtain" of sorts. To distress the cheesecloth, I cut it up a little bit and then rubbed black ink on it.

A super fun, quick, easy project...the girls love looking at their ghosts too! Try making a ghost family with your entire family!

Apple of My Eye Tag Mini Album

2011-10-25T07:51:00.000-05:00

I have another project for Emma's Paperie to share with you today. For the month of October, our focus project was tags and I made a little tag mini album using the Farmhouse collection by Crate Paper and a Maya Road mini tag album. My girls just love looking through this little album of our trip to the apple orchard.

I kept the design really simple and journaled our experience on the first page of the album. The rest of the album is photos.

The complete supply list can be seen at Emma's Paperie here. We have a very busy day today - Tiny Tumblers, the library and then we are trick or treating at a local mall. Should be a great time!

Have a great day! :)

Spooktacular Blog Hop!

2011-10-22T07:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the Noel Mignon Spooktacular 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.

Each member of the design team has created a fabulous tag with a letter featured prominently on it; collect a letter from each blog and unscramble them to discover a word.

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.

Be sure to leave comments along the way.... once you've collected all the letters and think you've unscrambled the word, email Virginia at 2blackflipflops at gmail dot com with your entry. We'll draw one random name from the correct entries for a fun My Mind's Eye Halloween prize pack!
Here is my tag that I created using the "Something Wicked" kit:

The November "Hudson Valley" kit goes up for sale bright and early Tuesday morning! 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!

Your next stop on the Spooktacular Blog Hop is our fabulously talented guest designer this month, Miss Kimberly Neddo!

Trick or Treat Decor & Gathering!

2011-10-21T07:18:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! Today I have a couple projects to share with you. The first of which uses the Glowing collection by Authentique Paper and Glue Arts adhesives. I created a spooky piece of home decor using a paper mache hat I picked up at a craft store. I covered the hat in patterned paper and used the Glue Glider Pro Perma Tac to adhere.

To decorate the hat, I chose a tag from the Glowing Headlines and adhered it with U-Cut-It foam by Glue Arts. I also added a spooky spider, black glitter tulle, a spooky flower and a silver glitter floral spray.

Supplies:
Authentique Paper: (Glowing Patterned Paper - Orange Brocade, Black Script); Headline 2 Back
Glue Arts: Glue Glider Pro Perma Tac, U-Cut-It Foam
Pink Paislee glitter trim, Making Memories flower, paper mache hat, floral spray, black glitter tulle, spider

My second project for today uses the (just-hitting-retailers) "Gathering" collection by Authentique Paper. I am just in LOVE with the rich, warm colors that were perfect for these photos of my girls with their grandparents at the pumpkin patch.

I created a grid design and then placed several of the patterned papers in between and embellished with Icons die-cuts.

I cut that gorgeous flower design from one of the patterned papers in the collection.

A couple of punched leaves from various patterned papers gave pops of gorgeous color to the layout.

Supplies:

Authentique Paper: (Gathering Patterned Paper: Grow, Harmony, Reminisce, Flourish, Together, Bloom); Icons; Classic Type; Tabloids; Expressions; Noteables; Headlines; Petite Type Square

Melissa Frances pearls, Maya Road stick pin, American Crafts chipboard alphabet, EK Success punch, Tattered Angels mist

Thanks for looking!

Happy Halloween Memories!

2011-10-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! It's Spooktacular Week at Noel Mignon and the design team is sharing a lot of great projects all week and Halloween ideas on the message board. I LOVE scrapbooking Halloween and something I've done every year now is to create a recap layout with my favorite photos.

First I'll show you my recap layout for 2010 and then what I did the previous year. I used the "Something Wicked" kit for this layout. I printed out 14 photos that are 1.5" squares and then printed a larger photo (about a 3" square) but when I cut it, I left about an inch border on the bottom to make it look like a Polaroid. This larger photo is THE costume photo I sent to family, etc. I decided to place all the photos on black cardstock because I wanted them to just pop off the page. The rub-on in the corner is by Fancy Pants.

I embellished several of the photos with the Authentique Paper word stickers and a Fancy Pants button (with twine) and an American Crafts rosette.

The filter circle is by Fancy Pants, American Crafts dimensional felt sticker and Authentique Paper alphabet and word stickers.

And here is the Halloween recap layout I did for 2009 using Noel's Halloween kit from last year. You can see I repeated the square grid design but changed it up a little bit.

This type of design would work well for any event or holiday you have a lot of photos from and would be fun to look back on as well from year to year!

I'll be back tomorrow with some projects for Authentique Paper!

Have a great day! :)

Celebrate 2 Years of Fun!

2011-10-19T09:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday! Today I have a layout to share using photos of the girls' 2nd birthday this spring and the "Life of the Party" collection by BasicGrey. I used a kraft basics sheet for my background and built a grid design from there. The design came together so easy!

Here's a close-up of the title...I love building titles with a variety of alphabets!

Short and sweet today but I have a lot to share tomorrow and Friday! :)

Thankful Quilted Canvas

2011-10-18T09:29:00.000-05:00

Good morning, friends! I have a home decor project to share with you today that I absolutely LOVE because of the rich, warm colors and homespun feel. I created this project as my first design work for Emma's Paperie using the gorgeous Farmhouse collection by Crate Paper. (For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog).

I have been very inspired by a lot of the quilt patterns I have come across on Pinterest and decided to take one to paper! I cut out a bunch of diamonds from patterned paper and then arranged them into this star pattern. I machine stitched around the outside and inside of the diamonds and then added a rough running stitch by hand using embroidery floss.

I was going back and forth on framing the piece and then decided it needed a little something extra so I put in on an 11 x 14 canvas. But first, I needed to shabby up the canvas so I painted it cream, then used a crackle medium and then painted it a warm, rich brown.

I misted a paper doily with cream mist and then created a bow using burlap trim by My Mind's Eye.

Here's a close-up of the diamonds and stitching...

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day! :)

Pebbles: So Heavy & Spooktacular Week

2011-10-17T08:47:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! I can't believe how busy the next couple weeks of October are going to be! Lots of fall and Halloween fun and memories to make with my girls! And speaking of fall fun, I have a new layout to share of the girls picking apples at the apple orchard. They had a huge, heavy bag of apples and we got a kick out of them trying to pick it up - pretty cute faces! I used the Fresh Goods collection by Pebbles on this layout and created the layout for a product parade focus on the super cute Toothpick Flags that I selected from three different Pebbles collections. For a complete supply list, please visit the Pebbles blog.

I used alphabet stickers by Pebbles and Bella Blvd. for the title.

And here's a look at the Toothpick Flags...I just grouped three of them together with twine and placed them behind a dimensional sticker.

And finally, be sure to join us over at the Noel Mignon message board and blog for Spooktacular Week! The design team is sharing Halloween projects and ideas all week long and we'll even have a blog hop later this week! Please stop by and join us! And Noel, is offering free shipping to U.S. orders over $50 today only!

Have a great Monday! :)

Authentique Color Challenge

2011-10-15T08:18:00.000-05:00

Happy weekend! My layout today is for the October Color Challenge at Authentique Paper. Be sure to stop by and see the beautiful samples from the design team. My little girls love their cousin, Tatum, or "T-mum" as they call him. The last time he was at our house they were showing him all their favorite things - their cars and Baby Einstein DVDs and also sharing lots of hugs and kisses. For my layout I combined patterned paper and embellishments from the Glowing, Splendid and brand new Free Bird 6 x 6 paper collections.

Here's a look at the color combination: (I did add a few pops of orange and then kraft as a neutral).

A little close-up of my title work...the tiny alphabet stickers are Authentique Paper and the larger stickers are ones I had in my stash.

I made a little paper ribbon from patterned paper from Free Bird, added a die-cut date from Splendid, punched a star from Free Bird and then added a brad.

I love the look of simple punched stars!

Well, I better get busy today. I have lots of cleaning and laundry on my agenda as well as hemming two Halloween costumes so we can have a photo shoot! :)

Have a great day! :)

Merry Not Scary

2011-10-13T13:46:00.000-05:00

Hello, friends! Today I have a new layout to share with you using the "Something Wicked" kit from Noel Mignon. At our house, Halloween is "Merry, Not Scary" and this layout celebrates that!

I punched these circles from patterned paper and cut a few of them in half as well as used a My Mind's Eye layered brad.

I cut the spider from the American Crafts "Night fall" patterned paper and stacked a My Mind's Eye layered brad and We R Memory Keepers chipboard tag.

I printed and cut a couple of my photos to look like Polaroids and then tied them off with twine and the girls' initial with Authentique Paper mini stickers.

We've been having a lot of fun making fall and Halloween memories and taking lots of photos at our house lately. I can't wait to scrapbook them all! This is one of my favorite times of year for photo opportunities! And the girls are getting a little better at letting us take photos! :)

I'll be back tomorrow with more! :)

We Did It! and Spooky Cards

2011-10-11T08:02:00.000-05:00

I was able to spend some time late last week with the "Something Wicked" kit from Noel Mignon. I love that while this kit has a lot of Halloween themed paper and embellishments that I can create fall layouts and projects from it as well. We recently went to the apple orchard and went through a little hay maze the perfect size for toddlers.

I created a little banner from the twine in the kit, Lily Bee banner stickers and then paper ribbons I made from patterned paper.

There is also a new challenge up on the Noel Mignon challenge blog to create a project based on the sneak peek photos that Noel posts every month. Here is the sneak peek photo I used from the "Something Wicked" kit:

and here is my take on the photo using the kit. I did add a little twine but everything I used (with the addition of cardstock) came right from the photo. I made a couple little spooky cards.

Noel also has a great giveaway going on right now to win the beautiful kit below. Here's the link to see how you can win! :)

Have a great day! We're getting ready for Tiny Tumblers this morning! :)

Pebbles: A Double Shower

2011-10-10T08:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much for all your prayers and well wishes for my girls. They are doing much better now. Asthma attacks are so scary to experience especially when an inhaler or nebulizer isn't working. I know from experience now to just head straight for the ER. We're going back to their allergist and asthma doctor in the next week and a half and we're going to push for further testing. All we are aware of right now is food allergies and they very obviously have environmental triggers for their asthma. I have also been trying to do my part by keeping things clean and dusted around our house and trying to have a better cleaning schedule to maintain. It means some changes for me but I want to do everything I can to keep my girls healthy. It's so hard to balance everything as a mom and sometimes it's all I can do to keep up with the basics around the house but that evidently has to change. I'll keep you posted on what we find out in regards to their allergies and asthma.

And yay, I'm back to sharing projects this week! I have a two-page layout to share today that uses Pebbles' "New Addition" collection and photos from one of our double baby showers when the girls were born. Because adoption is so up in the air, we had our baby showers a few weeks after the girls arrived. Glen's co-workers gave us a beautiful shower with amazing bassinet cakes and super cute diaper cakes along with other much appreciated gifts. I haven't scrapbooked any of our shower photos and decided it was high time I got on them! We had an "It's a Party!" theme at the Pebbles blog last week so I took advantage of a reason to work on these photos. (Please click on the photo to see larger - it's hard to share two-page layouts on a blog).

I chose a variety of pink patterned paper to create my background and then cut some to have ribbon ends. Pebbles also makes these cute double heart dimensional stickers which was perfect for a layout about twins!

I'll be back with more soon! We're heading to the pumpkin patch this morning and I'll be hoping and praying we don't have any asthma trouble from this trip!

Have a great day!

On Hiatus

2011-10-04T16:56:00.000-05:00

Hi friends,

Just wanted to let you know I won't be blogging this week as I have two little girls at home recovering from a couple trips to the hospital. Miss Lily went to the ER Saturday afternoon and responded well to treatment so she went home with a pneumonia diagnosis (went in initially for an asthma attack). Miss Nora went to the ER very early Sunday morning (about 2:30 a.m.) and spent two days in the pediatric ICU after having a severe asthma attack. We're all back home now but Nurse Mama is administering lots of medicine and TLC these days. The rest of the week we'll be busy with follow up appointments and making decisions on how to prevent these severe attacks from happening. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes!

I'll be back soon!
Jill

Elementary Memories

2011-09-29T09:07:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-28T08:12:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-26T08:17:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-24T07:36:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-22T08:33:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-19T07:34:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-15T09:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

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?

2011-09-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

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! :)

Authentique Paper Tutorial: Halloween Decor

2011-09-11T08:49:00.000-05:00

Good morning! I have a little tutorial to share with you today to create your own Halloween decor - perhaps a spooky sign for your front door? The "Glowing" collection by Authentique Paper is perfect for all your Halloween home decor and now is the perfect time to get creating! Take a look at my "Happy Haunting" sign:

I picked up this black metal sign at my local Michael's a couple weeks ago (and I'm so proud of myself for using something I bought right away - admit it, you do it too!) :) I tied some black glitter tulle in a bow on the top on the wire hanger.

To distress my patterned paper, I simply used some black paint and a foam brush.

Once that was dry, I machine stitched around the edges for a little extra texture.

I used a wet adhesive to adhere the patterned paper to the metal sign and then tied a piece of orange ribbon around the front of the sign in a knot. I also glued a die-cut piece from the "Glowing" Icons sheet to the bottom.

Next, I cut a piece of this mirrored sprig that I found in the Christmas section at my local Hobby Lobby. It was black and silver so it went with this project perfectly.

I hot-glued the sprig (that ended up looking like a really cool tree) to the bottom of the sign.

The ghost was cut from a Halloween pick that I bought at Hobby Lobby and hot glued to the center of my tulle ribbon. The little "Boo" die-cut is from the "Glowing" Noteables sheet.

And here's the finished piece again!

A couple close-ups....

Boo! :)

Supplies:

Authentique Paper: Glowing Patterned Paper (Newsprint, Harlequin Patches); Icons Front; Noteables Front; Headline Front

Michael's metal sign

Black glitter tulle

twine

black paint

assorted Halloween "floral" picks

Jenni Bowlin button

Thanks for checking out my tutorial! All of us at Authentique Paper would love to see your spooky creations! :)

Little Ladies Cross at the Ankles

2011-09-09T07:53:00.000-05:00

I love scrapping about my girls' little quirks....just little things I want to remember about them at their age. When Nora is sitting on the couch or a chair, she almost always crosses her feet at the ankle. It's so funny and something sweet about her that I'm glad we were able to capture. I used the very feminine and lady-like "Mary Ellen" kit by Noel Mignon for this layout to create a hodge podge of little bits and pieces.

For this grid, I punched some starbursts from patterned paper, layered Crate Paper stickers and brads, and added a little punched butterfly with a pearl center.

I'm still in love with Sassafras Lass "foldies" and used a few flowers as an accent. I also layered an October Afternoon label sticker, a My Mind's Eye sentiment sticker and Maya Road star pin.

The alphabet stickers are all from past kits: Sassafras Lass woodgrain from The Bee's Knees, Sassafras turquoise glitter from Very Virginia, American Crafts thickers from Jump & Jive.

Have a great Friday! :)

He Loves Her

2011-09-08T07:41:00.000-05:00

Good morning! I'm very excited to be sharing a layout with you today for Authentique Paper using the gorgeous "Splendid" collection. I created this layout using photos (taken by Portraits by Susannah) of my husband with one of my daughters and kept the focus on their special relationship.

I have a fairly simple scrapping style but I like to add a lot of visual interest to my layouts through small details.

I love clustering embellishments as I did here with some punched butterflies, pearls, patterned paper and a die-cut.

This section was created by layering die-cuts, a punched butterfly, pearls and a resin flower.

Supplies:

Authentique: Splendid patterned paper (Foundations back, Majesty back, Richness back, Delight back, Magnificence back); Splendid Noteables; Splendid Headlines back; Splendid Icons; Splendid Tabloids

Prima resin flower

K & Co., American Crafts chipboard alphabet

Martha Stewart butterfly punches

Melissa Frances pearls

Have a great day!

Happy 1st Birthday Mini Album

2011-09-06T09:01:00.000-05:00

Good Tuesday Morning, to you! Did you have a good long weekend? We went to my parents for the weekend and had a lot of fun visiting my family and eating good food. The entire family went out to a restaurant for the very first time (we tend not to take the girls out to eat very much - it's just easier at this point) and it was really nice to be out with everyone. The girls also had fun playing with their cousins and we even did a photo shoot and I can't wait to scrap those pictures. We came home Sunday evening and then I was able to go out and do a little shopping yesterday. And that was fun for me! :) And today I am very excited for the girls to start Tiny Tumblers at the YMCA. We tried it out later in the spring and the girls loved it so we decided to have them start again this fall. I'm anxious to see how they do this time around.

Today I have a mini album to share that I created using a Melissa Frances bingo album, glassine envelopes and lots of the the "Confetti" collection by American Crafts. I chose my favorite photos from the girls 1st birthday party and put them together in the album.

I cut open the glassine envelopes on each side and then punched holes on one side to put in the album. I reinforced each hole with a punched cardstock star. The envelopes open at the cupcake sticker.

For this envelope, I printed wallet size photos of all the party guests and created an accordion fold to fit inside the envelope.

I had even more party guests to fit inside this envelope.

And there you have it! It is a pretty simple album design and didn't take too long to do. And I love the vintage looking album paired with the bright pops of color from the Confetti collection.

Have a great Tuesday (even if it feels like Monday!) :)

Authentique Paper: September Sketch Challenge

2011-09-03T09:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Saturday! Two times a month, the Authentique Paper blog will be hosting challenges and the first one is up - a sketch challenge. There's a layout and card sketch to choose from and you have until the 14th to participate. Below is my take on the card sketch using the "Journey" collection.

Be sure to check out the blog for all the details on how to enter! Have a great weekend! :)

More Echo Park!

2011-09-02T08:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, friends! Are you looking forward to the long holiday weekend? I can't believe it's September and I also can't believe how full our month is already and it's just getting started. I'm hoping we can all stay healthy - allergy season and the sick season has already begun. Today I have the last of my Echo Park projects to share with you for Emma's Paperie (although you'll likely begin seeing more projects from me for Emma's Paperie in the very near future...that sounds like a hint!) :)

My next layout tugs at my heart strings...any photo of me and my girls does that. These two are my whole world. I love them so much and after years of heartache, I take advantage of any time I can document my life with them. This was a fun layout to create...a little out of my usual comfort zone. I punched some hearts and used them as a mask to do a little tone-on-tone misting on the grey cardstock. I used a gel pen to highlight the hearts and then punched smaller hearts to go inside.

Here's a close-up of the misted hearts....

I'm in love with the resin hearts by Melissa Frances.

Next I have a couple of very simple cards to share with you. I love how the Victoria Gardens collection can give two very different looks - one bright and fun, the other muted and soft.

For this card, I only had the Maya Road rose trim in white so I just misted it silver to go with the colors of the card.

The calendar is just a large sticker and I wrapped twine by My Mind's Eye around it.

For my last project, I was very inspired by the talented Melissa Phillips who is always making cute bird creations. I used a nest by Melissa Frances and a chipboard bird by Maya Road. I filled the nest with lots of little goodies, Melissa Frances tissue trim, a resin star, pink floral pick and then a stick pin by Maya Road. A fun little piece of home decor!

Thanks so much for all your sweet words about my projects! I have been blogging quite a bit this week and will be back tomorrow with my first project for Authentique Paper.

See you then! :)

Noel Mignon Challenge: Summer

2011-09-01T07:28:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Today I have a new layout for the Noel Mignon challenge blog using "The Bee's Knees" kit. I have about a million photos from this summer so I decided to just focus on one activity that we did a lot of - swimming! My girls love the water and Nora surprised the heck out of us a couple weeks ago when she took off "swimming" across the splash pool. She was on her belly moving her arms and legs traveling across the pool...maybe it's time for lessons!? I created a polaroid effect just by simple cropping of my photos and ran a 70s vintage action on them in Photoshop to better match the colors of my patterned papers.

I love mixing and matching alphabet stickers to create fun titles.

This was a fun section to piece together...lots of patterned paper and an Elle's Studio die-cut.

Here I layered together a couple Sassafras stickers and a punched scalloped circle from patterned paper by GCD Studios.

I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of my Echo Park projects for Emma's Paperie.

Have a great day! :)

Echo Park: Victoria Gardens

2011-08-31T08:26:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Today I have my projects to share using Echo Park's "Victoria Gardens" collection, all created for my guest design spot with Emma's Paperie. I love how the chevron trend has taken off and to me it just screams Easter eggs! I created this two-page layout of my girls with their Easter baskets this past spring. I cut the chevron pieces from a variety of patterned papers in the collection.

I cut the eggs (ovals) with my Cricut and masked and misted the grey with a punched heart.

Check out that pouty face (Nora)!

The next layout is all Miss Lily and is actually from Easter too, but you couldn't tell it from the photos. I cut the hexagons using my Cricut again and used one as a journaling block. The sticker on the side is also by Echo Park.

I love mixing and matching alphabet fonts! The resin heart is by Melissa Frances.

Here's a closer look at the hexagons. I misted the background with white mist by Studio Calico and then added a few colors on top of the hexagons.

I'll be back tomorrow with a project for Noel Mignon and then back again Friday with the rest of my guest projects.

Have a good one! :)

Guest Designing at Emma's Paperie!

2011-08-29T08:58:00.000-05:00

I'm honored to be guest designing at Emma's Paperie this month. I've been a customer of Cindy's for a long time so I was excited when she e-mailed me about designing this month. I worked with the "Life Documented" collection by Simple Stories and the "Victoria Gardens" collection by Echo Park. I ended up creating a lot of projects with each collection so I'm going to share them over the next week on my blog. First up is the "Life Documented" collection...

We finally took the girls in for their very first haircut this past April. They really didn't have any hair until after their first birthday and it just needed evened out. We went to the salon where I go and my stylist did a great job. The girls' favorite parts were the balloons and suckers they got when they were done. I had to hold Nora the whole time during her haircut but Lily was a big girl and sat in the chair with the cape and everything. I created a two-page layout with the idea in mind that the girls could actually split this one up someday as there are pictures of the two of them on each page plus each girls' individual photos on their respective pages.

You will be able to see in the next two shots that I created stitched vellum pockets in which I placed a lock of their hair and sealed them up.

For my next layout, I had cute photos of Miss Nora having her first pony ride at the pumpkin patch last fall. I loved the colors in the "Life Documented" collection...they have a great fall vibe. I put together a lot of bits and pieces here on a background sheet by Sassafras Lass.

For this section, I actually cut a portion of the tiny alphabet stickers and adhered them. I stitched through them too just to make sure they wouldn't come off accidentally. I like this effect a lot on a child's page.

So there's my first two projects....I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of my projects using "Life Documented".

Have a great day! :)

The Great Pumpkin Adventure

2011-08-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

While I'm waiting a few minutes for my iPod to charge up so I can clean this morning, I thought I would share this layout that is in the October issue of BHG Scrapbooks Etc. (click to see larger) I used the "Dear Diary" kit from Noel Mignon and lots of Lily Bee Designs products to create this two-pager. I have a slight obsession with creating two-pagers lately as it's a great way to tell a story with lots of photos. The paper pieced pumpkins were fun to create with lots of punched leaves to ground them and the mist adds a lot of texture to the pages.

Have a great Saturday! I'm off to clean! :)

The Best Gift!

2011-08-25T09:42:00.000-05:00

I consider it a true gift that my girls have so much creative influence from both their daddy and grandpa - both are artists. My layout today recognizes that gift using the "Salt Water Taffy" kit from Noel Mignon and a photo from Father's Day this past summer. I kept my design fairly simple and utilized several banners - one I created myself from patterned paper and then stickers by Sassafras Lass and Lily Bee Designs.

Here is the banner I made from patterned paper and then a Sassafras Lass sticker on top. I strung twine by My Mind's Eye between two Maya Road wood buttons.

Make sure you stop by the store at Noel Mignon to pre-order the September kit "Study Hall"!

Have a great day! :)

Princess Crowns & Wands

2011-08-24T08:12:00.000-05:00

Good morning! I can't believe summer is slipping away. We've been cramming in as much fun as we can and I think we're heading to the splash park for one more time before it closes today. This has been the best summer! Aside from a couple bouts of sickness, we have enjoyed the outside so much!

Today, I have a project to share that I created with indoor play in mind. Because of the somewhat fragile nature of what I created, it's definitely something to play with under supervision unless you want your hard work to disappear! :) I used Pebbles Inc.'s "Ever After" collection make these princess crowns and wands. I'm no stranger to creating crowns as I've made them for each birthday so far but these I made a little more "princess-y" with tulle and ribbon cascading off the sides. And this time I used tissue paper fringe by Melissa Frances on both the wands and crowns. (Before, I made my own fringe). This simplified the process so much!

The doilies were die-cut from patterned paper by Pebbles with a die by PaperTrey Ink (one for each side) and then I hot-glued them together around a painted dowel with the tissue paper fringe. I stamped a sentiment by Pebbles on a punched scalloped circle and then accented each side with a dimensional sticker.

To make the crowns, I drew a large circle on one piece of patterned paper, cut it out and then cut it in half. By folding the half-circle into a cone shape, I was able to create a triangle for the crown. Again, I die-cut a doily and accented it with a dimensional sticker. I placed fringe at the top of the crown and hot-glued it around the bottom. I also adhered a flag from the "Happy Go Lucky" collection by Pebbles at the top.

And here are my sweet girls playing with their new treasures! They were so cute waving their wands all over as I taught them how to "make a wish". We'll definitely have more fun with the crowns and wands during the winter months.

I'll be back tomorrow with more! :)

Blessed Scrapper

Emma's Paperie: Hello Fall Fun!

Card Ideas: A Day of Love!

Pebbles: Love, Love, Love, Love You, Sis!

Webster's Pages: She's Carefree...

Webster's Pages: We Love to Twirl

Emma's Paperie: XOXO card

Emma's Paperie: Budding Photographer

Emma's Paperie: January Color Challenge

Pebbles: With Love Treat Bags

Emma's Paperie: Hambly Studios & a Sketch

Splish Splash with Palm Beach!

Webster's Pages Clean & Simple Design Team!

Pebbles: Christmas is Love

December Memories: Final Post!

December Memories: 25-28

December Memories: 21-24

December Memories: 17-20

Favorite Projects of 2011!

Favorite Layouts of 2011!

Pebbles: Anticipation

Merry Christmas from the Cornell's!

December Memories: 13-16

Emma's Paperie: Deck the Halls

Emma's Paperie: The Best Holiday Helpers

December Memories: 9-12

December Memories: 5-8

Pebbles Tutorial: A Christmas Tree

Pebbles: Merry Santa

Emma's Paperie Inspiration

December Memories: 1-4

Emma's Paperie: Deck the Halls Projects

Our Adoption Day!

The Pick of the Patch

Wonder Advent Calendar Tree

Give Thanks

Pebbles, Inc.: Grateful for this Moment

I Love You Sis!

October Projects for Emma's Paperie

Art with Grandpa

Happy National Adoption Month!

Design Element: Stars

Happy Halloween!

Tricks or Treats This Way

Footprint Fun

Apple of My Eye Tag Mini Album

Spooktacular Blog Hop!

Trick or Treat Decor & Gathering!

Happy Halloween Memories!

Celebrate 2 Years of Fun!

Thankful Quilted Canvas

Pebbles: So Heavy & Spooktacular Week

Authentique Color Challenge

Merry Not Scary

We Did It! and Spooky Cards

Pebbles: A Double Shower

On Hiatus

Elementary Memories

Something About Little Girls

Little Spring Bunny

Pebbles: Teach from the Heart Gift Set

The Loot

What I Love

Noel Mignon Tutorial: Chevron Stripes & Stitching

Everywhere You Go, He Goes

The Birthday Tree - Year 2 Version

Pebbles: Pouty McPoutersons

Isn't She Lovely?

Authentique Paper Tutorial: Halloween Decor

Little Ladies Cross at the Ankles

He Loves Her

Happy 1st Birthday Mini Album

Authentique Paper: September Sketch Challenge

More Echo Park!

Noel Mignon Challenge: Summer

Echo Park: Victoria Gardens

More Simple Stories!

Guest Designing at Emma's Paperie!

The Great Pumpkin Adventure

The Best Gift!