First Holiday - a Creative Sketch

Today I'm bringing you a Thanksgiving page of when my little dude was only a few weeks old. I know we don't like to say it, but let's all admit they kinda look a little like aliens at this point. Little cute, cuddly alien baby. :) Love that snuggle bug no matter what he looks like!

They have a super fun and beautiful sketch over at My Creative Sketches, and I used it for this layout.

So fun, right?!

I had the circle already cut from a prior page, and I'm loving wood papers, especially for fall layouts lately. I've got my triangle with the gold glitter embellies.

I used just about the last of my Cedar Lane ephemera stash from Pink Paislee (tears) - I love that line!

I think that was as close as he could get to a smile at that time, but he definitely is all smiles these days, 8 months later.

Also happy to report he no longer resembles an alien in any way :)

Supplies:
Wood paper - Crate Paper
Washi & alphas - Studio Calico
Ephemera - Pink Paislee
Orange papers from a cool stash from a yard sale - no name!

I really am grateful for this sweet little guy. He's such a blessing!

Thanks for looking!

BFFs - using a free cut file!

Today I have a sweet little layout of my boys to share. Through an online scrappy friend, I recently found the lovely blog over at SpiegelMom Scraps & it's so inspiring. They're all about sequins and other shine, and we all know a little sparkle on your scrapbook page is right up my alley! So glad I found them!

So they recently put up a FREE cut file & it's oh so cute! It has a seahorse, which I LOVE, and was even recently looking for... I used a cute heart border they offered for this layout.

I got this amazing Dear Lizzy paper pad as a hot deal at Michael's the other day - $5!! Not afraid to use a little pink for my boys, I had to use it. It's got some great papers, but I have to say, it's kind of annoying that within the same paper pack with coordinating papers, there are some with crisp white, and some with dirty/distressed cream. I like either one, but I cannot combine the white and the cream, so that limits my paper combinations!

Anyway, here's a close up. Of course I had to add in some sequins since they're all about that at the SpiegelMom blog. Isn't that cut file the cutest!?

I added a tiny bit of transparency upon which to put my rub-on alphas for the title. I punched a hole and tied a bit of twine for a little added texture. I also had some washi stars that were perfect colors to compliment some of the paper, so i had to add a little cluster at one side of the photo. I really love how this sweet layout of my two sweet little best buds came out. It's about 8 months later and they still hold strong to that love - let's hope it sticks!

Supplies:
Papers - Dear Lizzy
Transparency, stars, sequins, and alphas - Studio Calico
Twine - Target
Peach marker - Sharpie

Thanks for looking!

Little Summer Joy - Lesson 3 pt 2

Today I'm bringing you part 2 of Lesson 3 for Little Summer JOY - Get into YOUR story.

For this lesson, I find that I have much more journaling than photos & embellishments, which goes along with the lesson title nicely. I'm telling stories of my boys.

This layout tells about how my smallest is growing & marks the milestone of him finally saying Mama!

I also told a funny, sweet little story about what my oldest said the other day - without a photo! That hardly ever happens for me. But I didn't have a photo to go with the story, but it had to be told - written down and remembered.

I love how happy this baby is ALL the time! I hope he never changes. I really love this prompt to help capture what our lives are truly like right now.

I also recently had a chance to change my traveler's notebook cover up and make it a little more summery. When I bought it, it came with a separate elastic in a bright orange, so I've applied that as a more summery color.

I added a fun star from Freckled Fawn as a slide. I made a tassel at a Happy Planner class at Michaels Sunday and a friend gave me the other tassel. And I switched out my charm to a little camera.

So I first heard of Midori at the beginning of this year and immediately fell in love. I waited patiently for the husband to buy me one for Valentine's day. But in the meantime, I happened to be shopping at Essex of all places and I found Midori brand elastic bands! I immediately snatched them up since they were way on sale & I've been hoarding them away. But I broke them out so that I can fit 4 notebooks in my TN right now. I have my two LSJ, a personal thoughts book I started when I first received my TN & a listers gotta list that I don't necessarily always gotta do - working on it. Haha.

I plan on subscribing to Cocoa Daisy and doing their Daisydori planner in January too. I loved changing up my Traveler's Notebook & I already have big plans to decorate it for our Disney Christmas trip too! Haha.

It's not too late to start your own little summer joy project! And don't forget to share your work with the hashtag!

Thanks for looking!

wild & free - a SBC sketch

Today I have inspiration from the month's last sketch over at Scrapbook Challenges.

I had so much creating this layout from an old picture for a project I'm working on. With a house full of dudes, I don't often get to create with pink!

I have a hidden journaling tag here behind the photo

Supplies:
all Paper - Crate Paper
Washi title strip - Studio Calico
Staples - We R Memory Keepers

Go play along with our last sketch of the month at Scrapbook Challenges!
Thanks for looking!

Stick it Down GDT!

Back a few months ago I won a challenge over at Stick it Down. The prize was a guest design spot on their design team & I worked with the double page sketch. So fun!

I used the sketch to create a layout of my sweet boy's Buzz Lightyear, third birthday party, and the joy of opening gifts.

I loved the sweet looks on his friends faces as they watched (and helped) him open his gifts. I just loved the banner idea on the sketch - it was so perfect for birthday photos!

I don't bust out the brads too much anymore, but this was a fun way to use them!

I knew I had to incorporate Buzz on the page somewhere, so a background for journaling it was. I'm loving vellum lately.

And this purple glitter shine pocket pages card was just too perfect to bring the page together. I used it pretty much like a title, since there isn't one elsewhere on the page. You can't really tell in the photo, but it's PURPLE GLITTER!

SUPPLIES:
Green background paper - Pink Paislee Citrus Bloom
Purple Cardstock - Bazzil
Green and Purple glitter cardstock (banner) - The Paper Studio
Star Card - Me and My Big Ideas
Paper and transparent ephemera - Heidi Swapp
Banner twine - Michaels

Thanks for looking & Hope you're playing along at Stick it Down!

Christmas in July Round 2!

Good afternoon! I'm bringing a later than normal blog post today, but I just had to share another page from my December 2015 album, which is coming along quite nicely.

I used a super fun sketch from Let's Get Sketchy and adapted it again for my 6x8 album. I used ribbons instead of paper for the far right columns - that sewing machine is getting some use lately!

I love everything Christmas, and using glitter is right down my alley! Magical. These glittery touches and the star work well with the Current Issue over at Paper Issues this month - Gleam Catcher.

I really love how this little page turned out! Isn't that Santa just adorbs?! LOVE it!

Supplies:
Red cardstock - Echo Park
Christmas background paper - Fancy Pants Designs
Chipboard stickers - Me and My big Ideas
Brads - Bo Bunny
Christmas banner paper - Reminisce
Polka dot paper - Pink Paislee
Glitter paper - The Paper Studio

Thanks for looking!

Little Summer JOY week 3 - Share Your Story pt 1

Hello everyone!

I hope you are continuing to enjoy the Little Summer JOY course! New content was uploaded in the online classroom this week for the paid portion of the class, and it was amazing!

I'm loving Marie's lesson about Getting into Your Story! It's about noticing and documenting the little things that make up your day, which is something I think about a lot with two small children who are growing so so quickly. I don't want to forget all the little things that make up our everyday lives together!

My first layout for this prompt in my TN is the sweetest little photo of my 3 1/2 year old. He has recently shown interest in scrapbooking & I'm eating it up! He came into my office the other day and said, "Mommy, I want to work on my scrapbook." So I jumped to it! I pulled out old papers and stickers I would never use again and instructed him to go get his own art kit, and I set him up a little station in the floor. He's now created two 8.5x11 pages. They don't match and they're haphazard and he used a whole sheet of sparkly turtle stickers on one page because he thought they were beautiful. It's the perfect representation of his little 3 year old self, and I hope he will always show an interest in documenting life!

I wrote about how I attempt to tell his story, but I can only tell my version, and I really encourage him to tell his own version. I know at some point in life it may not be cool for dudes to scrapbook, but I hope he will continue doing something that will encase himself and what he is thinking, doing, seeing at each time in his life.

I wanted to keep the layout simple with muted colors, so as to not distract from the sweet sweet photo! I have an old dictionary I found at a thrift store that I use to tear pages when I need a studious background. :)

Supplies:
Paper - Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss stack
Gray Alphas - Amy Tangerine
White grid alphas - Thickers
white alphas - Studio Calico

Thanks for looking & I cannot wait to see everyone's projects on Instagram! Remember to share them with the hashtag #LittleSummerJOY!

Fright Nigth - a DCWV challenge

Today I'm bringing you a Halloween layout using the DCWV sketch for July.

I absolutely LOVED creating this page! I think Halloween is in my top 5 type of page to create ... (oooh that sounds like a fun blog post!)

Here is the original sketch:

Here are some close ups:

That little pirate is just the cutest!

Supplies used:
Background paper and other b&w paper - DCWV Modern Metallic Stack
Orange glitter paper - DCWV Coral Couture stack
amazingly delicious halloween sequins - Studio Calico
Flair - Scrapbook Circle
Twine - Target dollar spot
Punch - studio calico

Thanks for looking!

Christmas in July

Happy Friday!

Today I'm bringing you a bit of Christmas in July! I've been working on my December 2015 album. I'm making this separately from my yearly album, mostly because I always tend to run out of space in my 2 volume yearly family album every year! I'm trying my hand at a 6x8. I was hesitant at first because I had attempted one prior and did not love the outcome, but this time around I'm super loving it!

I have a double page spread with a traditional layout and a pocket page.

The right hand traditional layout was created using a sketch from Let's Get Sketchy.

Their sketches are made square for a 12x12, but it was easily adapted for this 6x8.

Here's the double page spread

I really loved the paper I had used for the traditional layout, and I was happy I had enough to make a pocket card as well. Well, almost enough. I had to add a strip of washi to make the last bit of 6 inches, but I actually love how it brought the two pages together, since I had used the washi on the full page under the photo.

Can't get enough of those newborn baby smiles! But they soon tuckered him out. I didn't really have any journaling to put on this page, so I just added patterned background paper and some washi bits to make the photos cohesive. The sequin heart is so wonderful, I felt like it was enough embellishment without needing journaling!

Also, we really don't get tons of pictures of just the two of us around the holidays, so I was glad to get this for a page together.

I'm really getting through this December scrapbook. I hope to feature the pages collectively soon, possibly with a video flip through! :)

Supplies:
Patterned paper - American Crafts (I think)
Doily - Recollections by Michaels
Glitter paper - The Paper Studio
Green polka dots - Basic Grey
Warm and Cozy Washi - A Beautiful Mess
Star Washi - Freckled Fawn
Together - Jasmine Jones for Studio Calico
Gold Sequin Heart - Maggie Holmes

Thanks for looking!

Bedtime Brigade - a Stick It Down sketch

Today I have created a layout with the fun, single page sketch from Stick It Down. I had trouble with the sketch at first because I didn't have any photos to fit, but then I realized if I rotated the sketch, it worked perfectly for these three photos I had printed!

This is the original sketch:

I used Crate Paper's Wonder collection, which is perfect for two sweet little baby boys. I took some liberties with the sketch's squares, and just created a row of die cut Wonder shapes. I love how it turned out.

Their grandmother got the boys a pair of coordinating pjs, and they were just too cute together!

For the layering stripes under the photos, I used the patterned paper edges that are the strips you cut off to use the 12x12 paper.

Supplies:
Paper - Wonder by Crate Paper
Die cuts - Wonder by Crate Paper, and also some cut from the Paper stack
Small gray alphas - Elle's Studio
Large gray alphas - Amy Tangerine

Thanks for looking!

Thank You card - Stick it down sketch

Just a quick little check-in today to bring you a fun card created with a sketch from Stick it Down.

I created this card for my son's preschool teacher on her last day of work at his school.

Supplies -

Paper - Crate Paper Wonder and Confetti
Flower - Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper

It was a fun card sketch!

Thanks for looking!

Smile - a More than Words Challenge

Today I have another layout from my son's 3rd Buzz Lightyear birtheday party.

I used a great sketch from More than Words, which was to be combined with the word Smile.

This was perfect because you know that birthday gift that you always wanted, and the smile that comes along with it? That's this smile. I can't even. Here is Heath unwrapping his Buzz Lightyear from Mommy and Daddy.

I loved this fun little challenge and using papers a little out of the typical color range for a Buzz page.

Supplies:
green Cardstock and black and white patterned paper - DCWV
green patterned paper - Studio Calico
alphas - American Crafts
purple thread - Michaels
stamp - Hampton Art

Thanks for looking!

Lots of projects!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Today is a super big, great day! My contribution to the Little Paper Projects Little Summer JOY class goes live today! I'm so so happy to have had this opportunity & I truly wish that you each enjoy my prompt & create magic with it! I cannot wait to see your work & read your stories for my theme - Hometown Tourist!

Additionally, we have a super fun sketch with a prompt over at Scrapbook Challenges. The prompt is to use a hashtag on your layout, which I super loved since I do that quite often.

Do you ever get the urge to add all kinds of whatever you have laying around to your layout? I love texture and adding elements other than paper to my layouts (although they may not be acid-free, sorry scrapbook diehards). I had a plain black plastic bag laying around I had envisioned for a Halloween layout, but this layout needed a little something, so boom, there it is.

I knew I had to combine my red and yellow alphas, so I had to add in the colors somewhere else in the layout for cohesion. I did yellow and red layering papers and yellow staples.

I adore both of these tags. The title is #geocaching. This is a super fun new hobby we have, and I love how it gets us outside and to places we would never otherwise visit. I truly believe it will help us see the world & more of it!

I hope you go play along with both of these super fun projects.

Thanks for looking!

On an adventure - a Sketch-N-Scrap layout

Happy weekend!

Today I'm bringing you a layout I created with the June sketch at Sketch~N~Scrap.

I used the Pink Paislee Atlas collection - always a favorite of mine. I stamped on a little bit of vellum & really love how it turned out.

These little bits were in the amazing prize pack I won from Stick it Down's blog hop a while back.

We love to be outdoors & on adventures. Wish we had opportunities to kayak more! OHL is Old Hickory Lake here in our town.

Supplies:
All paper - Pink Paislee Atlas
Green here dot - Bo Bunny
Alphas - Amy Tangerine

Thanks for looking!

Little Summer JOY - Lesson 1, Part III

I'm loving these celebrations of little things. Although, I'm not sure this celebration qualifies as a little thing... This layout is about how we bought a boat this summer!

We live in a city with a lake, it actually is call "The City by the Lake." So we decided we'd gone long enough without a watercraft in the City by the Lake.

I really admire all the gorgeous layouts I'm seeing online. I particularly love the clean and simple layouts I see some creating. I just cannot seem to get myself to do it!

I see a traveler's notebook as a journal of sorts, and a journal is worthy of my handwritten documentation, no matter how messy. That, combined with the content I want to fit into this tiny vessel and the bright summer color palette I've chosen, means clean and simple is not in the cards for this summer project! So I've accepted it, moving on!

I'm not entirely sure where this adorable paper ephemera is from because I received it in a lovely prize pack from the Stick it Down blog. But, I sure am loving it in my Little Summer JOY book! It works perfectly.

I like to leave some of the little pieces in my book stick off the sides, for a nice, full, chunky look at the end of the book.

Thanks for looking, and it's never too late to start creating along at Little Paper Projects with the Little Summer JOY project.