Fancy Pants Guest Designer: Hopscotch Projects

Good morning! I am so honored to be guest designing for Fancy Pants Designs this month. Today I wanted to share my projects with you using the Hopscotch collection.

My first layout is of Nora and a sweet moment of her with her daddy at church one morning.

 

The banner stickers and die-cuts are great for mixing and matching.



I like to add a little vellum under my photos for a little texture and softness. The calendar cards are great for everyday moments.



I removed the center of the letters and added patterned paper behind.



For my second layout, I decided to create one with a fall theme and pulled out my Cricut and the Straight from the Nest cartridge to help me cut out some leaves. I also used some leaf punches. I kept the colors of this layout to mostly brown, blue, cream and orange to match the girls' outfits as they played in the leaves.



I cut a variety of leaves using the punches and Cricut and then scattered them around the page.



For this title, I misted the "happy" card with Tiger Lily Glimmer Mist and stapled some twine to the top.



The larger leaf is actually punched from wood veneer and then backed with patterned paper.



While I was at it with the Hopscotch collection, I created a card.

I pulled out the pinks and blues and used the leftover punched leaf from the layout with some layered chipboard and buttons.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll share my projects with the "Home for Christmas" collection soon!

I've been pretty sick the past few days and finally headed to the doctor this afternoon for some meds. Here's hoping I'll be feeling like myself soon! :)

Have a great weekend! :)

Simple Stories: Hello Vacation!

This week the Simple Stories design team is sharing ideas and inspiration using the brand new Sn@p collection on the Simple Stories blog. Specifically, we're highlighting the Sn@p binders and how easy it is to create projects! Dear friends that don't scrapbook - pay attention! This is one product line that anyone can use!

This summer, we went on our very first family vacation. We spent several nights around the Twin Cities in Minnesota and had such a fun time. Sn@p made it so easy to create a mini album of our vacation together and it was fun to pull in other travel products I have been wanting to use.

For the cover, I pulled out many products with "hello" on them and then added "Vacation" using the alphabet stickers and labels. I also wanted a calendar to share the date when we went on vacation so I cut that out from one of the Simple Basics patterned papers. I also tied a little wood veneer car to the cover with twine.

I used one of the chipboard inserts as a cover sheet. I had a map stamp from Cocoa Daisy that I heat embossed and then highlighted where we went with a heart sticker and "love this" sentiment. And it was fun to add the "who, what, when, where" details with the tabs that I cut out from Snappy Thoughts 4 x 6 cards.

For the inside cover, I used another Snappy Thoughts 4 x 6 card to share a few more details about our vacation. And for page one, I started using the divided page protectors. 

Here are the next two pages...I'm keeping everything super simple! Some pockets, I just slide in a card or photo with minimal embellishments. I'm really loving the options for journaling!

And a couple more pages...again, mostly the photos, a little patterned paper and a few stickers here and there. 

And here are two more pages I didn't share on the Simple Stories blog... I journaled a lot about those crazy fighting, playing bears. It was literally one of the coolest things I have ever seen. They kept at it forever.

My album is still a work in progress so I hope to share more with you soon. I was just in awe of how quickly it all came together. The hardest part was choosing and editing my photos.

Thanks for stopping by today! I have plenty more to share with you in the next couple days so please stop back! :)

Emma's Paperie: Sweet Candy Corn Girls

Happy Monday (I think????)! Ha! Another weekend gone and I am wishing for another day to get more done. Today I have a layout to share for the October color challenge at Emma's Paperie. I adore every collection that October Afternoon puts out and I was beyond excited to see them release a Halloween collection this time around! Here are my sweet girls in their Halloween shirts this year (a cute little googly-eyed candy corn).

I pieced together the candy corns by layering cardstock and patterned paper circles and then cutting wedges. Love those Jenni Bowlin stars too (I have used almost the whole package I picked up!)

I even stamped! Shocker, I know. The large spooky music background caught my eye and I stamped it here with a grey ink.

The whole Witch Hazel collection is just right up my alley. I love it and have already completed several projects with it that I'll be sharing soon.

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

I am diligently working on a bunch of assignments this week which means a lot of projects to share this week and throughout the month. We're looking forward to trick or treating and lots of Halloween fun. We enjoyed time with my mom this weekend and were able to get a lot of cleaning and organizing done while she was here. Back to the grind this week but thankfully a lot of fun mixed in!

Have a great day!
 

Webster's Pages: A Friend Loves...

Happy Friday! Today I have a layout to share with you using the brand new "Best Friends" collection from Webster's Pages. My layout is on the blog today with other designers incorporating a quote about friendship. I went straight to the Bible for a verse from Proverbs - "A friend loves at all times..." for my title.

The girls have always been best buddies but it has been so wonderful to see them latch onto other friends (mostly those from church). The girls are just both so outgoing and affectionate so making friends seems to come very easily to them. We have some pretty fun play dates with our small group friends and this particular outing was to the park. I managed to get several of them to stop for a quick photo. They really have a blast together! 

I used a Jenni Bowlin doily punch and then punched the images out with a circle punch and added some Webster's Pages gems.

I just love mixing and matching Webster's Pages alphabet stickers to make my titles.

I tucked a scrap of the new blue lace trim behind the photo and the doily transparencies are by Maya Road. 

In my journaling, I talk about what this verse has meant to me. We have had so many friends help us through really difficult times in the past and they walked with us on our adoption journey. We have also been able to show love to our friends through struggles they have had. We hope that the girls will always see us displaying Christ-like love to our friends and they, in turn, can show the same.

Thanks for stopping by today! I can't believe it's already the weekend. One of the girls had an ear infection this week and I have been battling this perpetual cold/allergy junk for the past 6 weeks. I never seem to get really sick but hover on the verge of it and then the next day I'll feel fine. And then a couple days later, I'm feeling icky again. It hasn't helped much that the weather has been gloomy. As long as everyone is feeling up to it, we are heading to a Halloween party at the YMCA tonight and my mom is coming to stay. And then we get to work some more on organizing/cleaning our basement. Yay! :)

Have a great weekend! :)

American Crafts: Happy Halloween Memories

Hello there! I had a couple projects featuring the new "Pumpkin Patch" collection from American Crafts up on their blog yesterday so I thought I would share them here today along with some detail shots. Also, if you visit the American Crafts blog by Friday you can enter to win the entire collection!

Every year I make a Halloween "highlights" layout summarizing some of our favorite activities around Halloween. I had yet to make the one for last year so I thought this new collection would be perfect. I like to make the focal point photo the girls in their Halloween costumes and then print square photos of the rest of our activities.

I printed the photos into 1.5" squares and then made a grid design. A few of the photos were adhered with foam adhesive.

Love those glitter thickers!

And while I was at it, I made a card. The spider webs are a Martha Stewart punch and I went with a tone-on-tone effect with the black cardstock background. There are a lot of great stickers in this collection and I couldn't resist that sweet black cat.

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

Emma's Paperie: Fall Fashion

Good Monday morning! Today I have another layout to share for Emma's Paperie using the gorgeous, warm "Clippings" collection from Basic Grey. Basic Grey products have always been some of my favorites but I am absolutely snatching up every.single.collection they have put out within the last year.

If you are a somewhat regular reader of my blog, you'll have picked up my love of dressing up the girls and yes, they are quite often in matching outfits. And as long as they let me dress them the same, I'll do it! ;) There's just something so cute about seeing them together in the same clothes. And, along with the clothes comes the shoes! I love fall for its cozy boots! We had some fun playing in the leaves recently and snapped this one of their cute, little fleecy boots!

I built this layout around the circle paper and cut and layered some circles, stickers and buttons.

That chipboard title alphabet is my favorite! I also scrunched up the punched leaf and stitched some veins in the center.

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

I think the girls will get a kick out of looking at this layout in 20 years. I wonder what fashion trends will be at that time?! :)

We enjoyed such a beautiful weekend together as a family - picking out little pumpkins, Night Eyes at the zoo, the Scarecrow Festival at the library, making caramel apples and taking a million photos of it all. But holy moly (as much fun as we had), I am super behind on my house. Today's going to be a catch up day and hopefully I can make some progress!

Have a great day! :)

Emma's Paperie: I See Myself

Happy Friday! Today I have a layout to share with you featuring Carta Bella's "Beautiful Moments" collection for Emma's Paperie. I love the pretty shades of pink in this collection - it's just so girly and sweet! This layout and the journaling are all about how humbling this journey of motherhood can be and specifically focuses on one of my sweet girls. I am definitely humbled when it's driven home that I have little eyes watching my every move and hearing my every word when it's ALL reflected back at me.

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

Thanks for stopping by today and enjoy your weekend! :)

Webster's Pages: Meant to Be Shared

Good morning! Today I am so excited to share with you a layout that features the brand new mid-season release from Webster's Pages called "Best Friends." There are so many things I love about this collection - the colors, the transparencies, the cameos, the stickers...it's all just so beautiful! My layout is on the Webster's Pages blog as well today and I'm also over there answering some questions about friendship.

One of the things I most enjoy about having twins is watching their relationship as friends develop. Having a built-in buddy instantly teaches them about one of the hardest moments as a toddler = sharing! They are pretty used to having to share and it's so sweet when we witness them sharing on their own. We went out for ice cream recently and the girls shared a hot fudge sundae. I, myself, actually prefer to share ice cream with someone so I don't gobble it down myself! ;)

The patterns under my instagram photo are actually Polaroids (I can't wait to work with the Polaroid patterned paper some more!) but I filled them in with other patterned papers.

Isn't that floral cameo so pretty? And the possibilities with the transparency overlays are just endless - I used just two words and there are so many to choose from.

Thanks for stopping by today! We actually made it to the pumpkin patch yesterday! It was absolutely beautiful weather and the girls (and their grandparents) enjoyed it so much. I can't wait to look at all the photos we took.

Have a great day! It's supposed to be quite a bit colder and rainy today so I'm not sure what all we will be up to as the day progresses.

Emma's Paperie: Happiness is Baby H

Good morning! Today I have a new layout to share for Emma's Paperie. The design team recently created projects featuring washi tape. I used "The Sweetest Thing" collection from My Mind's Eye to create this layout about my new cutie nephew, Hayden. I cut out a large "H" from cardstock and then covered it with three different kinds of washi tape and then cut around them.

Here's a close-up of my washi tape covered "H"....

I am really loving these different colored enamel dots!

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

Thanks for stopping by today! We had a great weekend visiting family. I have so much I need to do this week so short and sweet today!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Simple Stories: Thinking About College...

Happy Friday! Today I have a couple of projects to share using the absolutely fabulous, bright and fun Sn@p collection from Simple Stories. The girls are almost 3 -1/2 and over the past year they have been saying some hilarious things. I try to write everything down as they say it or it at least makes a Facebook status if it's appropriate. ;) One day I was working on something in my kitchen and it was a little too quiet for comfort upstairs. I went to check on the girls and they were each "resting" in their beds and one of them pipes up..."We're just thinking about college..." And, cue my surprised look! I about fell over laughing. It might just be me but I think I would like to attempt preschool before we even consider the heartache of sending them to college! ;)



Sn@p is certainly perfect for those doing Project Life but since that is not something I am doing, I wanted to use the collection to capture a perfectly ordinary moment in our lives but one that I will not soon forget. The photos were not taken in the moment but just ones I had snapped of them getting ready to head to grandma's house for an overnight stay by themselves. They look so grown-up to me with their too-big-for-their-little-bodies backpacks that I chose to highlight them with this particular funny saying.  The 3 x 4 cards have perfect prompts for beginning titles...




I always love to mix and match my alphabet stickers for titles and I love the variety in the Sn@p collection.




And I also love the new phrase stickers found sprinkled throughout the collection...




As always I like to create a quick and easy card when I have my supplies out.

Thanks for stopping by today! We're heading to my parent's house to help my nephew celebrate his 2nd birthday! And we still haven't made it to the pumpkin patch...we're hoping for next week sometime!

Enjoy your weekend!

Emma's Paperie: Hello World

Good morning! I have another project to share with you for Emma's Paperie today this time using the Everyday Eclectic collection from Echo Park. The layout is for the month's sketch challenge (the sketch each month is usually for cards but I like to change things up and make a layout). The photo is from the balloon festival this past summer and I actually used a "sunshine" action (in Photoshop) on it from The Pioneer Woman. It's an action I don't typically use but I wanted a different effect on the photo and this was the one that fit best. I love how Nora is standing with her daddy just spreading her arms out wide. She was so thoughtful looking up at the balloons at the festival - just in awe.

And I had to use a wood veneer balloon (!) and I'm also loving the enamel dots from My Mind's Eye. 

The banner is also wood veneer.  

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

Thanks for stopping by today! :)