Celebrating 2010!

I got the latest NoelMignon.com kit in the mail before the weekend and had a chance to play with it last night. The May kit "Playdate" is aptly named with bright, fun colors. I dressed up the girls in rainbow sweaters to ring in 2010 and knew my photo would match this kit perfectly. The patterned papers are a mix of Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras Lass and October Afternoon, stickers are Sassafras Lass and October Afternoon, red alphabet is Jenni Bowlin, red rhinestones are My Mind's Eye and the red glitter sticker is KI Memories. I also used an older Making Memories notebook paper from my stash. (I really loved the October Afternoon sticker that said "just the 2 of us.")

Here's a close-up of my title...

And a close-up of some of the layering and dimension...

I have to put this kit aside for awhile so I can focus on some assignments but you can bet I'll be back with more! We had a fabulous weekend with my family but I was so tired while I was there. There's just something about going home that relaxes me and I was about passed out on the couch each night by 9:00. Glen went fishing with my dad and cousin and had caught a bunch of fish so I know he had a great time too. And the girls were in heaven spending time with their grandparents and aunts.

I have a busy next couple of weeks ahead but I'll be sure to pop in with a layout or two.

Enjoy the rest of your day! :)

GCD Studios Technique:: Flowers, flowers and more flowers!

It's FINALLY my turn to post over at the GCD Studios blog!!!! I think I was the last design team member to post so I've been waiting very patiently to share my very first GCD Studios project with you. I've really enjoyed working with GCD Studios' products!

I enjoy documenting my twin daughters' growth by creating layouts for each month of their first year. I thought the Lydia collection matched perfectly for their 7 month photos. I love the flocked yellow patterned paper in the collection - the texture creates such an elegant look. 

To create my title block, I used one of the plaques from the ChipArt chipboard collection and a tiny flower to create a border along the bottom. I then dry brushed brown paint across the plaque. I machine-stitched along the edge of my chipboard piece. Yes, you can even stitch on chipboard (I would suggest using a separate needle just for this purpose). I cut a strip of the green and cream plaid patterned paper and pleated it before I placed it above my flower border. I cut out a purple flower and green leaves from the patterned paper and adhered it with foam adhesive. Finally, I adhered my title and a rhinestone to the flower. 

I kept the rest of my design fairly simple but wanted to create some interest and texture above the larger photo of my daughters. I made a row of patterned paper flowers and will share this easy tutorial with you.

To begin, freehand cut a circle from patterned paper. 

Then cut a spiral in the circle (the key here is imperfection…don't worry about keeping lines straight). 

(Before beginning the next step, you can distress the edges of your spiral with ink or paint). Start at the center of your spiral and begin swirling your circle into a rolled flower, adhering with glue dots along the way. Add a button, rhinestone, or die-cut to the center of your flower. 

It's easy to create these flowers and they add a lot with minimal supplies and time. Try varying the sizes of these circles as well for added interest. 

(Additional supplies used: American Crafts thickers, Basic Grey alphabet stickers, Melissa Frances rhinestones, Fiskar's punch).

Happy Spring!

Jill

2 months

This is just one of a handful of pictures of my girls where I think they truly look a lot alike. It's funny how that changes day to day. Some days they look very similar and other days they look very different. This layout is part of a monthly album I am putting together for them. I am not quite half way caught up on scrapping their monthly pictures. I love looking back through and seeing how much they have changed. I used a lot of LilyBee Designs patterned paper from the Vintage Poppy collection as well as Jenni Bowlin alphabet, Pink Paislee chipboard, my Martha Stewart punch and Melissa Frances pearls. 

Here's a close-up of my title block....

And a close-up of my journaling....I did a lot of machine stitching for added texture (like usual).

If you are new to my blog....welcome! I have two baby projects up on the Melissa Frances blog and therefore have some new readers.

I have been busy working on projects for GCD Studios that I can't wait to share. I'll be able to share one of my projects this weekend. I'm also really excited to get the May Midnight Rooster kit in my hands. It's full of beautiful patterned paper and a lot of one-of-a-kind items!!!

We're heading out of town this weekend to visit my mom and dad. We're looking forward to relaxing and spending time with family. The next couple weeks we'll be busy getting ready for the girls' 1st birthday party so it will be nice to have a little break before their party.

Enjoy your day! We plan on enjoying it with a play date at the park! :)

Birthday Invitations & Midnight Rooster

I thought I would share what I did for the girls' 1st birthday party invitations today. Their 1st birthday is on May 1st and I am getting really excited to celebrate! After thinking about what theme I wanted to go with, I decided that a cupcake themed party would be pretty fun for a 1st birthday. I had to make 25 of these invitations so I kept the design fairly simple. I used my Cricut and the Wild Card cartridge to cut out the cupcake shaped card. The cupcake pieces were cut from Crate Paper's "Pink Plum" collection...perfect for little girls. I inked the candle on the cupcake with yellow chalk ink, printed the party details and matted them on pink cardstock for the inside of the invitation. Pretty simple and pretty cute! I'm hoping to create some other things for their party using the cupcake theme but this is at least a good start.

I am also really excited about THIS fun news. I have been invited to join the design team for Midnight Rooster, a brand new kit club debuting really soon. I love the challenge of designing for a kit club so I am very much looking forward to this. The website will be up soon but in the mean time be sure to join Midnight Rooster's Facebook page.  

And lastly, I'll leave you with a photo of my two cuties on Easter. I had so much fun dressing them up for church and they looked so girly and sweet. We have so many great photos that I can't wait to scrap!

Have a great day! :)

No. 5 & GCD Studios

Today's layout uses the lovely "Sonoma County" kit at NoelMignon.com. Every year, I create a new layout for our anniversary album. It's so fun to look back at the pictures and see how we celebrated our anniversary. We'll be celebrating 7 years in July so I was behind a couple years and needed to get caught up. The patterned paper in this layout is Crate Paper, Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee and Jillibean Soup. The "No. 5" for my title came from the Jillibean Soup paper. The stickers are Crate Paper, burlap flower is Prima, the cork button from Pink Paislee and the brad is My Mind's Eye. I love the cork buttons by Pink Paislee. I think I need to get some more of them from their other collections. I also used a little snippet of a paper doily. 

Be sure to head over to the GCD Studios blog and sign up for our newsletter and become a google follower. We're giving away the Ava collection - which is gorgeous (love those blues, greens and yellows).

Speaking of GCD Studios, I've been hard at work on my April projects that I will be able to share with you later this month. I'm finding the collections incredibly easy to work with...they mesh with my style so well.

I hope you all had a great Easter with your families. We really enjoyed the girls' first Easter. I LOVED getting them all dressed up in beautiful dresses. We got some great photos that I can't wait to scrap.

More to come later this week! :)

Um, wow!

Check out the lady in the 6th row...yep, that's me! I was invited to create designs for the Crate Paper blog over the next few months. And this is a list of the the new blog contributors...so, so honored to be among these girls....some of which I have admired for years.

Thank you Crate Paper for this opportunity!

Happy Easter, everyone! I'm so thankful that I know and love a Savior who died so that I might LIVE! Thank you, Jesus! He is risen!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new layout. :)

I'm going to be an AUNT!!!!

I am so excited to finally share that I am going to be an AUNT!!!! My youngest sister, Jaime, and her husband, Cole, are expecting their first baby in October! I've kept this secret for about 6 weeks until she could go to her first doctor's appointment yesterday and now I can finally spill the beans. She will be 12 weeks on Monday. To help her record her pregnancy, I created this pregnancy journal for her to keep small photos and journal about her cravings, appointments, etc. I used a Maya Road scalloped chipboard album that I dry brushed with white paint to give it a shabby chic look as well as beautiful Melissa Frances patterned papers, sticker, pearls and chipboard. 

Little Miss Attitude

I adore scrapbooking because it allows me to be a storyteller. As much as I love the photos we take, no one would know the story behind them unless we told it. I'll share my journaling in a minute.

I used Crate Paper's new "Brook" collection on this layout. (It was part of my Crate Paper shopping spree as their "Scrapbook Girl Next Door" in February.) I also used bits and pieces of the April kit "Sonoma County" from Noel.Mignon.com that also features the Brook collection. The little alphabet stickers are Cosmo Cricket and the thickers are American Crafts. I also pulled out a Making Memories notebook sheet from my stash for my journaling...I had a lot to say. 

Handmade flowers are certainly becoming popular these days so I gave it a spin as well. I hand-cut circles from patterned paper and then spiral cut the circles. As I began building my flowers, I used glue dots to adhere the swirls. I placed Crate Paper diecuts in the flower centers. 

And the journaling for this layout:

"Lily, at around 7 1/2 months you started frowning at everyone. At first, we thought maybe you just discovered your eyebrows had muscles. As you started becoming more mobile, we had to tell you "No" when you got into things you shouldn't have. It quickly became evident by your facial expressions that you were not having it. Who knew we would have to deal with such an attitude this early?! Frown and all, you sure are cute!!!"

See what I mean about telling the story?! I love to journal and always try to go a bit deeper to get to the emotion of my photos. Sometimes, I know all that is needed are the hard facts but it's always nice to know a little more. 

Enjoy the rest of your week. I'll be back over the weekend with some BIG news I have been dying to share. My news is not scrapbook-related but I'll use something scrapbook-related to share it....hmmm...a little cryptic, huh?!

A new Upsy Daisy layout...

I have a new layout to share today using Upsy Daisy Designs' new "Blossom" collection. This collection is perfect for spring, girl and baby layouts...so pretty with the pink, green and brown. I used a few older Pink Paislee stickers that coordinated perfectly with this line...love being able to use up my stash! This photo was from the first time my mom and dad were able to meet their new granddaughters. They were so excited to become grandparents for the first time and it was even better that it was times two! :)

I had such a busy weekend! We did fairly well at the Moms of Multiples sale Thursday night. I was able to get a few outfits for the girls and shoes to match their Easter dresses that were brand new and only $1 a pair. I love a good bargain! I really enjoyed a girls' night at Archiver's on Saturday night. I spent a lot of time working on the girls' 1st birthday invitations which are almost done and I was really close to finishing a layout. I needed my sewing machine to finish it so I'll try to finish it up today and post soon. It was just nice to get out and talk and catch up. With someone being sick the past few months, I have just felt so disconnected from my friends that I needed this time to be out. I received an Archiver's gift card as part of my prize winnings and had a lot of fun choosing some things I had my eye on for a while. And, I still have more than half the gift card left so I can buy more!

Well, better get moving for the day! Have a great Monday! :)

Beautiful Gift...

We had a very busy weekend! I got caught up on some house work and added a few new items to my spring and summer wardrobe. I finally had some time to scrap last night after the girls went to bed. This picture is of the first time I got to hold both of my girls. They are so big now that I can't hold them both together unless someone hands me one of them and I am sitting in a chair. I learned a lot of tricks along the way to be able to hold them both! :) I used beautiful Melissa Frances patterned papers, resin flowers, pearls and rub-ons on this layout. Other products are Prima chipboard alphabet, Making Memories sticker, Rusty Pickle buttons and Jenni Bowlin label sticker. 

I stitched and gathered the white ribbon as I went on the layout. I love that it looks imperfect. I let the edges of the ribbon hang off the page. I coated the buttons with Diamond Glaze and then sprinkled them with coarse glitter from Martha Stewart. I thought this quote was perfect for my twins - "A mother's love does not divide between her children...it only multiplies." Isn't that great?!

I have a busy week ahead. We're going to the local Mom's of Multiples consignment sale Thursday night  - we always score at this sale! And then Saturday night, I'm cropping at Archiver's with three of my friends. It's part of my prize I won for the "Share Your Story" contest. I'm really looking forward to the night with the girls. I need to plan out what I want to work on.

It's a beautiful day - enjoy it! :)

Relax!

Well, I sure wish I was here (in Florida) about now! Two years ago in May, we took an amazing trip to St. Petersburg and Disney World. We absolutely adored the beach and resort where we stayed. Glen took these photos of me on the beach during a sunset one night. I've been scrapping the girls so much lately that it was fun to revisit these photos and get more of our trip in my scrapbooks.

I kept this layout fairly simple and used Graphic 45's new "On the Boardwalk" collection. I punched circles out of 3 of the patterned papers and shabbied them up with cream paint. I layered them and used foam adhesive for dimension on the top layer. I love the new Jenni Bowlin cut-out alphabet and used that for my title. I also used a little cream burlap at the top and shabbied the edges of my kraft cardstock. Kraft cardstock has become my "go-to" neutral for many of my layouts. I just love the homespun look it gives.

We have had absolutely beautiful weather the past few days in Iowa. It's been 55 or so and then yesterday was over 60. The girls and I have been out for walks each day. Unfortunately, we're supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow over the weekend. I guess I can put up with one more snow storm because I know the snow won't last.

The girls have both recovered well from their bad virus. I'm still on the mend...not quite myself yet. I hope to be 100% soon because I have a lot to accomplish in the next few weeks. One thing I need to do is give my house a good deep clean. Since I've been sick, I let the housework go a little bit and it desperately needs caught up.

Have a fabulous weekend! :)

Sketch Challenge #114

NoelMignon.com is sponsoring the sketch challenge at Sketch Inspiration this week. Today was the last day to enter the challenge and I managed to create this layout last night. It's the first I've scrapped in weeks and I've been dying to get this photo scrapped! I used the "Dear Santa" kit from December. The girls were just fascinated by these silver Christmas ornaments and we captured this shot in front of our Christmas tree and fireplace. 

Most of the products used on this page are October Afternoon and Collage Press.

Thank you for all your congratulations about GCD Studios!!!! Our new team is so talented...I'm so humbled to be among them. I received a package from GCD Studios yesterday with the new Melody Ross Chip Art tool! I haven't had a chance to play with it yet but it looks AMAZING and should be a fun way to add texture to chipboard! 

It has been a VERY long week at our house. A week ago we had Nora to the ER with a bad respiratory virus and came home with a nebulizer to do breathing treatments. She's finally doing a lot better but in the meantime Lily and I both caught the virus. I also had a bit of a stomach bug on Thursday. The past 6 weeks have just brought illness after illness. It makes me want to dunk our house in bleach...LOL! I'm ready for warmer weather and sunshine! It's supposed to warm up to the 50s on Monday and Tuesday so I'm taking the girls out of this house (even if it's just a stroller ride up and down our driveway!) 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Very exciting news!

I'm thrilled to announce that I have been invited to join the GCD Studios design team as a layout designer!!!! I received a lovely phone call from Heidi Sonbul on Friday and have been on pins and needles until the big announcement today. I adore GCD Studios products especially the new collections by Melody Ross and am very excited to have this opportunity! Here's a couple recent layouts using GCD Studios products:

                                                                                                                

Well, I think that's all for today. Hopefully, I'll have something new to share soon! :)

Greatest Love

I think this layout might possibly be my favorite layout I have EVER made. I love it that much. Seriously. I cried over the thing. I used the lovely "Seaside Cottage" kit from NoelMignon.com 

I took the Jenni Bowlin diecut paper and cut out the center of it and then retraced it on cardstock to get a template that I could build my patterned paper pieces on. I cut random bits of patterned paper (Prima, Webster's Pages, Making Memories, MME), inked the edges and then layered them and trimmed the edges. I machine stitched around the edge and then re-assembled the diecut with my paper pieced background. The little hearts are cut from KI Memories diecut paper and backed with vintage dictionary pages. The pearls are from Melissa Frances. I placed the Hambly doily rub-on (LOVE THESE) on kraft cardstock and cut out. My journaling strips are wrapped with Martha Stewart baker's twine. 

The quote says "Born not of my flesh, but born in my heart. You were longed for and prayed for and loved from the start."

My journaling: Girls, I was a mother in my heart long before I was a mother in my arms. All along while my heart ached so desperately for a baby, God was whispering, "Not yet." It was only so He could bring me the two of you. Every moment with you is a gift and I will never forget that. Isaiah 61: 3 says: "He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair." I am so blessed with a full heart and full arms and wouldn't change a thing.

Well, my weekend went differently than I had planned. We ended up staying put instead of heading to my parent's house. It started snowing Friday and wouldn't quit and I refuse to take my girls out when it's that bad. We're going to try again this coming weekend and maybe even leave on Thursday. My family came to visit us instead on Saturday and Glen's parents came for a visit Sunday.

I better get moving. I have a yummy potato soup cooking in the crock pot but I have dishes and laundry staring me in the face. Time to play house wife! :)

Enjoy your day! :)

Scrapbook Girl Next Door

I received an amazing e-mail from Crate Paper yesterday about my "Merry & Bright" kit projects. If you check out Crate Paper's new blog you'll see that I was selected as a "Scrapbook Girl Next Door" for using Crate Paper products! And it looks like I'll get to go on a little Crate Paper shopping spree.....YIPPPEEE!!! I absolutely ADORE their new lines, especially Paper Doll. I can't wait to scrap the girls with that one.

Today, I wanted to share another layout I made using the "Seaside Cottage" kit from NoelMignon.com. I have now created a layout for each of my girls when I met them for the first time. The pink Prima paper is one of my favorites. I punched circles out of the Webster's Pages and Making Memories patterned paper and vintage dictionary pages and cut them in half to make my scallops. I also punched butterflies out of the dictionary pages and used both the positive and negative images on my page. The vintage labels are by Elle's Studio, lace transparency by Hambly, and pearls by Melissa Frances. I used some older American Crafts stickers and Pink Paislee chipboard for my title.

Here are a couple of new photos of my 9-month-old cuties! It's hard to believe the month of February is almost over and they will be 10 months old. It's getting harder and harder to stage these photos shoots because the girls want to "fly" off the couch. And for some reason, they seem to be grumpier when we put them together so it's hard to capture a smile. Nonetheless, I really appreciate the pictures of them growing beside their bears. It's fun to look back through them and see how much they have changed. 

This weekend the girls and I are headed out of town to visit my parents. We haven't been out there since Christmas and it's always an adventure traveling with the girls. It seems like I always have a loaded down van.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll be back with something new on Monday! :)