Simple Stories: Off they Go

Oh, my heart! Seriously, this mama had quite the time sending her babies off to preschool. The girls are going to preschool three afternoons a week. We made a last minute decision to send them but it has been absolutely wonderful so far! They love it so much and practically skip into school each day. I love seeing them so excited and happy to be there. Their first day was September 4th and it was quite an emotional day (for me - ha!) 

Simple Stories came out with very fun collection this fall called Smarty Pants and I used it here to document their first day. My plan is to create a preschool album for each of them using a lot of this collection and the Sn@p 6x8 albums. But I know that I will want a few layouts here and there in their regular albums as well.

One of my favorite embellishments in Simple Stories collection are these die-cut cards - they are perfect for someone who does not own a machine. I made a pocket from vellum and stitched it up with punched confetti and sequins. I embellished with chipboard, brads and stickers. 

Simple Stories makes it so easy to create with their large photo mats. This one was embellished with only the apple sticker and the "good times this way" sticker.

Look at those two! They are just always friendly and excited and saying hi to everyone. Here's a tip - I punched the confetti from patterned paper and then used the negative as a photo mat. 

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

Webster's Pages: Celebrate Christmas Altered Project

Hello, friends! Today I have an easy altered project to share using the new "It's Christmas" collection by Allison Kreft for Webster's Pages. I bought a cheap cookie sheet for a dollar or two, spray painted it and then adhered a chunky glitter to the top and bottom of the tray. Then I drilled holes in the sides and strung twine through.

 

I punched star burst circles and put them through my sewing machine to create a garland and adhered the ends to the tray. After that was the fun part to decorate! I added tags, transparencies and photos and dressed everything up with stickers, ribbon, new paperclips and mini clothespins. 

The clips were a fun way to decorate! 

I'm loving the new transparency pieces. Here I used the star frame, added a photo, sticker, punched star and chipboard and twine. The photo was clipped on with a reindeer paperclip!

I really enjoyed putting this easy project together! 

We finally got to go out for dinner to celebrate our 10th anniversary last night. Our anniversary was two months ago but due to illness and other commitments we had not yet had the chance to celebrate. We enjoyed a really wonderful dinner and conversation - it was a great date! 

Hope you all have a great day! :)

Emma's Paperie: Yummy Marshmellows

Good morning! Hope you all had a great weekend. We got home late last night after spending the past couple days at my parent's house. Our family celebrated my grandma's 90th birthday with a huge party yesterday and it was a great time! We had family come from far away and lots of neighbors and friends were there. 

I am waaaaay behind in sharing recent projects from Emma's Paperie so today here is a layout that was for a color challenge. I used the Pebbles Lakeside collection to create this layout about us roasting marshmallows for the first time. Unfortunately, my girls can't have s'mores with their allergies (graham crackers are a no-no) but they can still enjoy gooey, warm marshmallows! :)

The alphabet stickers are American Crafts. 

I also used a Pink Paislee frame for the square photo. I don't know what happened when I photographed this layout but in real life, the photos are much clearer. 

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

I have a project for Webster's Pages to share this week, more for Emma's Paperie and I still need to share my layout with the September Gossamer Blue kit. A lot coming up!

Have a great day! :)

American Crafts Blog Hop Winner

It's time to announce the winner of my American Crafts blog hop prize. I so enjoyed reading all of your comments...thank you so much! 

Congratulations to:

Janis said...Love the frames in your LO, some with photos and some with other pretties. Terrific!

How lovely of you to offer that wonderful array of blog candy! I don't think you are requiring us to follow to be eligible (which is beyond sweet of you!) but I am a brand-new follower by Google, nonetheless.
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Please send me an email to cornellgj(at)yahoo(dot)com and I'll get your prize out to you. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

American Crafts: I Love Being Your Aunt

Good morning! This has been American Crafts week on my blog! Today I have my monthly American Crafts assignment to share with you that was on the blog last week. I had a just for fun theme so I enjoyed this one! I enlarged a photo of my nephew Tatum from this summer and placed my alphabet sticker title on top.

Tatum loves horses so this chipboard horse and sticker were a perfect addition!

Isn't he sweet?! :)

While I was working with the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm collection, I also created a quick and easy card. I let the die-cut card be center stage on this one!

Thanks for visiting today! :)

American Crafts: Daddy's Girls

Good morning! Today I have one of my favorite layouts I have made in a while to share with you. This one was also created for my guest post on Shimelle's blog with 5 ideas for creating with circles. I love these circle templates from Jillibean Soup and used the My Girl collection from American Crafts to embellish. I snapped this photo of the girls and Glen outside as they were heading towards the house. Now there's a daddy who loves his daughters! :)

 

I cut some of the patterned paper to fit inside the circle template and then embellished other circles with stickers. 

I dressed up a tag with twine, a wood veneer heart and "xoxo" sticker. 

This was such a fun layout to create and inspired me to try a few new ideas in the future. Have a great day! :)

American Crafts: Watermelon Love

Good morning! Today I have a new American Crafts layout to share that I created for a guest post on Shimelle's blog. My post highlighted 5 ideas for creating with circles. I created this layout with all circle photos and the Mayberry collection from American Crafts. I made a template in Photoshop and then placed each individual photo in the template before printing.

I added a few elements that were rectangular in nature to break up the circles. 

Thanks for visiting today! More tomorrow! :)

Stitch Fix Review #5

Hello again! Today, my Stitch Fix #5 box arrived! I took a few months off from receiving a Stitch Fix box because I was so pleased with my last fix for the summer. I wanted to wait and add a few new pieces to my wardrobe for the fall so I ordered a box to arrive

A few notes - I asked for pretty fall colors - teal, plum, etc., florals, blouses, cardigans, dresses and skirts. I also wanted a dark wash pair of skinny jeans. I had a new stylist this time around - Alexandra. Jen is no longer styling at Stitch Fix so that made me very sad as I feel like she knocked the last box I received out of the park! Stitch Fix also shipped my box FedEx which ended up being a disappointment. My box was in town on Friday but because Stitch Fix chose the FedEx Super Saver option it could not be delivered until today. It wasn't that big of a deal but I have a really busy week this week and would have appreciated the weekend to mull over my options. My items ranged in price this time from $48-$88. 
Here are my reviews for previous fixes: Stitch Fix Review #1, Stitch Fix Review #2, Stitch Fix Review #3, Stitch Fix Review #4

Here is what I received this month:

1) Black Swan Olive Fit & Flare Ponte Dress - The dress is a beautiful burgundy and the fabric is very heavy duty and well made. I like the style but it lacks a little pizazz. It seems a little boring to me. It was also pretty short. I also tried it on with tall boots. It's 100 degrees here today but I usually tend to sweat anyway so this one scared me a bit with the the sleeves and the color - ha! ;)

2) Honey Punch Sanya Cut-Out Sueded Short Sleeve Top - Okay, when I pulled this one initially out of the box, I was not blown over. But then I tried it on! The top itself is a pretty, soft navy suede and it has very feminine eyelet cut-outs. I styled this one with a white tank underneath so you could really see the cut-outs, green skinny jeans, gold flats and a gold necklace. This top is very unlike anything I have and as soon as I put this outfit together, I really liked it! :) I never would have stopped to look at this one in the store - Stitch Fix for the win!

 

3) Mak B Melbourne Rugby Strip Cotton Cardigan - I love this striped cardigan (actually I just bought a plain green cardigan this weekend in this style). It's very me and cardigans are my go-to in the fall and into the winter months. The quality of this one is very nice. I guess I just need to make a decision if I want to keep this one or the one I just bought.

4) Kensie Jeans Kaleigh Ankle Biter Skinny Jean - I was hoping for a dark wash skinny jean but Stitch Fix sent me this olive green pair instead. The quality of these are very nice but I just bought my green pair (that I wore with the navy top) for $16.99 at Marshall's and I think I like the fit better. Paying $88 does not float my boat! 

5) Lasome Jay Houndstooth Printed Skirt - I was also sent this cute houndstooth skirt. I paired it with a ruffly blouse. I like the length - it's a little more conservative. It's somewhat similar to a wool skirt that I have (that skirt is shorter) that I like to wear with boots.

Hmmm... so overall, I know right off the bat I will not be buying all 5 pieces. I am disappointed that nothing in my box was a floral print. Right now, I am leaning toward the navy suede cut-out top. The cardigan is a close second with the skirt in third. What do you think?

Note: This post is not sponsored by Stitch Fix. I used my own money for the styling fee/items. But, I do earn a referral credit if you sign up via my referral link.

American Crafts: One Fall Day

Good morning! I have a lot of projects to share with you all coming up over the next few weeks. Today's layout is with the Ready, Set, Go collection from American Crafts. This layout is featured in the September/October issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine for their decades feature.

Posted with prior permission from the publisher. Copyright Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Here is a close-up of the squares, circles and leaves I added for visual interest. I love that woodgrain paper.

I love using Elle's Studio tags for journaling!

Thanks for stopping by today! Don't forget my American Crafts giveaway is open until Friday. :)

American Crafts Design Team Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to the American Crafts 2013-2014 Design Team Blog Hop! The purpose of this hop is to get to know each of our new team members on a more personal and up-close level! 

Everyone on the team is sharing a layout all about themselves and here is my layout. I used the brand new Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party collection mixed with some older 5th & Frolic collection for my layout all about me! This has been somewhat of a rough year for me so I focused my journaling on how I have changed and what I have learned this year.

Of course, one of my favorite roles in life is that of mom so I had to include a little photo of that. I love the frame patterned paper in the collection. I cut out a bunch of frames and then placed pretty patterned papers inside that I cut to fit. Most of the papers are from the 6x6 paper pad. 

I am so loving the Amy Tangerine stitching templates. This one is not one of the new ones but I couldn't resist stitching a little heart. 

I also love the new square frames in this collection and I layered some patterned paper labels inside so I could add my title and journaling. 

The bird stickers are from 5th & Frolic and the paper clip is a My Girl embellishment. I love that I can mix older collections in with the new. 

And now for my giveaway...

 
I have a fun assortment of some American Crafts products that I will send out to one lucky reader! Please leave me a comment here and I will draw a winner next Friday (the 13th) and post the winner. 

Your next stop on the blog hop is Lilith Eeckels.

Here is the full list of all design team members:

Becki Adams

Meghann Andrew

***Jill Cornell***

Lilith Eeckels

Katie Ehmann

Paige Evans

Davinie Fiero

Madeline Fox

Elizabeth Gardner

Kelly Goree

Angie Gutshall

Ashley Horton

Corrie Jones

Heather Leopard

Gina Lideros

Patricia Roebuck

Erin Stewart

Diana Waite

Allison Waken

Janna Werner

American Crafts

The Honest Company Review

Hello! This is a completely different post than what I usually do but I recently tried out The Honest Company and wanted to share a review of the products I purchased. 

(Note: I am not being compensated for this review; however if you do make a purchase at the Honest Company I will receive a referral credit).

I am really committed to eliminating products from my household that contain strong fragrances and chemicals. I have admit I used to be a huge Bath & Body Works fan and I also loved the products from Victoria's Secret. But I came to realize that I didn't like how the products were drying out my skin. The fragrances were nice too but were strong. Almost too strong. And the list of ingredients? I could not decipher them at all. And when I looked them up, I started reading things about the potential for causing cancer. I do not want items like that in my home!

Most of what the Honest Company sells contains plant-based ingredients so they are non-toxic. I looked up the list for each item I purchased so I could see where they come from and more information. 

I tried out the hand sanitizer. It comes in in a two pack. I like that it contains aloe and vitamin E so it did not dry out my hands. 

Next up, the hand soap. This is really why I wanted to try out the company because I was looking for a great hand soap. This one comes in a large bottle and has a subtle lemongrass scent. It has a gentle suds to it too. 

I also purchased the shampoo/body wash combination. I have not used it as a shampoo yet but I do love it as a body wash. The sweet orange vanilla scent is very subtle and it lathers well. I do not feel like my skin is dry after using it. I have also used it on my kids and their very sensitive skin handled it well.

Next up is the laundry detergent. This was an unexpected surprise love! I usually buy ALL free & Clear but again was looking for something without a lot of chemicals. This suds well and I have been really happy with how well it cleans our clothes.

While I was at it, I also tried out the dryer cloths. I'm not too sure what I think about these yet. My clothes still seem to have static but they have a nice scent to them. I need to try them out more before I make a final verdict. One bonus is that each cloth can be used twice.

I bought the toilet cleaner as well. I HATE the chemical smell with most conventional toilet cleaners and this one has a light scent. The Honest Company's cleaner did a great job - I'm impressed!

Finally, my final purchase was the fruit & veggie wash. I have been buying a lot of organic fruits and vegetables but I still like to use this wash to ensure my food is clean before eating.

The easiest way to purchase the Honest Company's products is through their monthly bundle. You can choose any 5 products for $35 a month plus shipping and up to 3 more products for 25% off. I think any order over $50 qualifies for free shipping too. I purchased these products through the monthly bundle and am going to try them out again this month. I am going to repeat a few things because I really like the hand soap but I also have some new things I want to try. You can cancel this bundle shipment at any time and even spread it out to 6 weeks or 2 months if you go into your account. 

I came across a coupon code too (the code expires on September 19th) that will give you 40% off your first bundle purchase: PLUMB2S40

If you have any questions about anything, please let me know!