Emma's Paperie Inspiration

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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!