Category Archives: Scrapbooking

2011…a look back

Posted on January 3, 2012 | 15 comments

2011 was an interesting and exciting year in our house. Most things were wonderful…a few experiences I’d just as soon not repeat again. I think every year is like that.

I learned a lot in 2011. Here’s a few…

  • God answers prayer. I spent a lot of time on my knees this year. It’s a good place to be.
  • Middle age isn’t so bad
  • It’s important to buy the right bed and agony if you don’t
  • Sometimes my plans and God’s plans for me don’t line up
  • It’s pretty cool the first time you see your own paper in print
  • That I CAN survive a 22 hour straight drive with four kids
  • How to text…Never thought I’d turn into a texter but having two kids move out, well, it’s an easy way to stay in touch
  • That I adore mini albums
  • I need to slow down and smell the roses
  • I love submitting but I don’t have to do it all
  • Life can change things in a blink
  • I couldn’t ask for a better husband
  • That letting go as children grow up is so hard to do
  • Floods in my craft room are not fun
  • A smile brightens your day
  • Pinterest is totally wonderful and addictive
  • Never say never
  • Good friends are priceless

Last year I shared my top ten favorite projects of the year. I thought I’d do that again for 2011. They are so hard to pick. These are my top ten favorites that I shared on my blog this past year.


While the rest are in no particular order, this first humble recycled cardboard mini album just may be my favorite of the year. I loved being able to get messy and just have fun with it. Lots of ink, lots of paint and tons of random goodies tells the story of me and what I like in 2011.

This banner started off with a Maya Road mini album that I covered with my Picket Fence line paper. It added a touch of spring to my home.

This teensy tiny album made out of playing cards was so crazy fun to create. It means a lot to me as it holds our entire family on it’s eight pages.

Bright colorful and fun with stamping and polka dots.

The crown card sketch was designed for a Paper Crafts sketch design call. I loved making it into a card with all my favorite goodies.

Shabby chic with paint and lots of texture. Not sure you could put it into an envelope but it’s pretty so who cares. šŸ˜‰

I love creating layouts of my daughter. This layout using my Head Over Heels line talks about what she means to me.

I love the color combo on this card I created for my Mother-in-Law’s 70th birthday. It was inspired by odds and ends left on my desk. I knew there was a reason I don’t like to clean it.

Fabric, stitchingĀ  and Maya Road goodies make me smile.

And finally, my favorite scrapbook page because the journaling means so much to me.

So what’s in store for 2012? I’m not too sure! I do have a few things up my sleeve. A new team I’m excited about, a new line to be released this month at CHA and 22 years after the fact…hubby and I are finally going on our “honeymoon”. I’ve set aside creative goals and I’m just going to enjoy creativity.Ā  I’m planning to find a little more balance and take better care of myself. Whatever else happens, I know that God’s plans for me are the best.

Thanks for bearing with me as I reminisce!

Do you take time to look back over the past year? Do you have goals for 2012? I’d love to hear them!

Have a beautiful day!

 

15 Comments

Posted in Card Designs, Lily Bee, Papercraft projects, Scrapbooking

so sweet…

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 3 comments

How quickly time passes has been on my mind a lot these days. It makes me remember that time is precious and my most valuable commodity. It’s making me reevaluate how I spend my time. Making me take a closer look at my direction and goals.

This mindset also has me looking back on sweet and precious moments and going through old albums. I’m feeling quite nostalgic. I’m remembering those beautiful days when my children were small.

All this looking back has inspired me to start scrapbooking those photos from before I discovered paper crafting. This darling photo of my daughter inspired this soft and sweet layout.

Did you notice that I used very little patterned paper on this layout? I think it may be a first for me. Just one little scrap. It’s on the chipboard heart and came from the Lily Bee Design Head Over Heels Tiny Tablet.

To create my layout I used the Lily Bee Design Head Over Heels Index Cards to create a collage to frame the photo.

My background is on plain white cardstock that has been misted and stamped to add some interest to all the white space.

Supplies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also find this layout today on the Lily Bee Design Blog.

Take time to smell the roses!

3 Comments

Posted in Lily Bee, Maya Road, Photos, Scrapbooking

Holding Onto the Memories…

Posted on November 16, 2011 | 7 comments

Memories are so important. Our experiences make us who we are and affect every part of our lives. I cherish memories. I’m a sentimental gal. And that’s why I scrapbook. I don’t want to forget the special momentsĀ  in my life.

When I look back at what I scrapbook, my most cherished memories aren’t the events but the people that make them special. Without loved ones in my life, it would be a very barren and lonely place.

Today’s layout is about my sweet mother. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss her. I carry her memory and all that she taught me close in my heart.

Today’s layout combines so many of my favorite things for a Lily Bee Design/Maya Road blog hop. I think it’s a perfect product pairing, don’t you? Stop by Lily Bee for the sketch challenge this layout was based on and some fabulous inspiration.Ā  The Maya Road designers are also hopping along with us so be sure to check out their wonderful projects here.

The Maya Road flower is misted for a hit of color.

The Lily Bee ABC stickers have EIGHT different colors of type on each sheet. Perfect for highlighting a word in your sentiment. The little Maya Road chipboard heart is stamped with the gingham heart from the Head Over Heels stamp set.

I was so super excited to find that the Lily Bee banner stickers are perfectly proportionate to fit on the Maya Road chipboard. Fun!

7 Comments

Posted in Lily Bee, Maya Road, Scrapbooking, sketches

falling…

Posted on October 22, 2011 | 7 comments

Playing in the leaves is one of those special childhood things. Last year we did a lovely family photo in the leaves and then my two littlest ones had the best time playing in them. Of course, getting them to stay still was almost impossible. This resulted in more than a few blurry photos but all in all, I love the movement in them so why not scrapbook them anyway? I love the photo on the right. Yes there is camera blur but there is so much joie de vivre, it’s actually one of my faves.

Right now the leaves are just starting to fall. I’m excited that my daughter is home for a fall break for the next week. It will be the perfect time to do that family photo shoot again. Of course it needs to stop raining first. PLEASE let it stop raining.

There’s a lot of stamping and inking going on in this layout so I’ve kept the design of it very much in a square grid style. All the photos and embellishments are anchored in the main square of the design.

I always love adding in all my embellishments with Glue DotsĀ®. They work perfectly for so many different things. Plastic buttons, paper flowers, wood and they are also perfect for keeping that little tiny canvas banner in place.

My craft room is in the basement. After the summer, it’s been a little damp down there and I keep the dehumidifier running all the time to keep things dry. Sometimes though, my chipboard alphabet stickers get a little less than sticky. I HATE it when they fall off the layout. Soooo not cool! A great trick it to adhere them with Glue DotsĀ® and then you don’t have to worry about this happening.

Here’s a little detail of the stamped banner. I probably sound like a broken record here but yes, once again I’ve stamped my canvas with the Ranger Archival Inks.

Supplies: Harvest Market Patterned Papers by Lily Bee Design, Buttons by Basic Grey, Chipboard Letters by American Crafts, Twine, Sewing machine, Copper Mist Spray by Maya Road, Leaves by Prima Marketing, Large Rose LilyĀ  Flower by Prima Marketing, Green Leaf Trinket Pins by Maya Road, Leaf Print Stamps by Hero Arts, Tissue Tape by Tim Holtz, Wood Bingo Motif by Maya Road, Mini Pennant Canvas Banner Pieces by Maya Road, Mini Triangle Canvas Banner Pieces by Maya Road, Ultra Thin Glue DotsĀ®, Craft Glue DotsĀ®, Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink by Ranger, Vermillion Archival Ink by Ranger, Sienna Archival Ink by Ranger

So…what has you falling in love with Autumn?

Enjoy the leaves!

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team.

7 Comments

Posted in Glue Dots, Lily Bee, Maya Road, Scrapbooking

so special

Posted on October 17, 2011 | 9 comments

It’s October 17th and I’m bouncing. It’s a special day for me. Felt like it would never get here. My new Head Over Heels line ships today so it’s time to start looking for it in stores this week. I hope you’ll find it worth the wait.

Head Over Heels is a love-themed line so it’s perfect for Valentine’s, weddings, anniversaries but I’ve also designed it will all the colors and prints I love so I hope you’ll love it for lots of other things as well.

Today’s layout is of my daughter dressed up for prom so you can see it totally works for other occasions as well.

I’ve used a lot of the papers together in this project. One of my favorite elements of this line is the flowers from the Swoon paper and I’ve fussy cut it out here to work as an embellishment. Feel free to click on the above picture for better detail.

You can also find some of the stickers from this line on the page as well as some stamped elements from my new Head Over Heels stamp set.

Today on the Lily Bee Design blog, we’re featuring projects using the Head Over Heels line.Ā  Please join us for some fabulous inspiration from the LBD DT. The projects are so beautiful, I have to tell you, they brought tears to my eyes. I’m so grateful and inspired to be part of such a fabulous team and company.

Wishing you a beautiful day!

9 Comments

Posted in Lily Bee, Scrapbooking

a golden moment

Posted on October 6, 2011 | 9 comments

Those golden moments.

Sometimes they pop up when you least expect them. Sometimes you just have to squeeze them in.

It’s a crazy busy life, isn’t it? I often get bogged down and it takes the joy right out of things. I need to remember to try and slow down and enjoy the moments, even if they are only small ones found here and there. I hope my ramblings remind you to do the same.

Here’s the story behind this layout…Last summer was especially busy and last August the summer was winding down. We’d only been able to get a couple days off and I decided to take the kids away for a couple days and hubby would commute. That day the packing and list of things to do had been particularly trying. I was exhausted by the time we hit the lake at 7 pm.

But it was a gorgeous night. Hubby wanted to take the boat out but it was the last thing I wanted to do. Didn’t he know I needed to unpack, make up beds, the boys needed to get to sleep, etc. etc. etc. Of course you know by the photos that I gave in.

I was so glad. It was one of those golden moments. A beautiful hour with my family enjoying God’s creative masterpiece written on the sky as the sun went down.

It’s a lesson I won’t soon forget.

Today’s layout uses one of the beautiful September Up the Street Scrapbooking Kits, Bliss. The papers are just perfect for my theme don’t you think? A few design details to note… the background is made up of strips of patterned paper sewn together. I like using piece of cardstock or an old piece of out-dated patterned paper to sew them to as a way to save money. The little glittered dots of paper are punched from the a scrap of the bottom paper and help draw your eye through the design.

Quick Tip: Use the packaging! The Lost and Found journaling die cut is actually the backing of the adhesive pearl flourish you see here. Waste not, want not and all that. šŸ™‚

Oh, and do you know what? The very next day my eight year old broke his arm on a playground. It made it especially important that we had taken the time the night before to enjoy the lake.

Carpe Diem!

9 Comments

Posted in Scrapbooking, Up the Street

sweet smile

Posted on September 28, 2011 | 11 comments

It’s always a treat to see your children smile. It makes you want to smile too. Last week I took a few photos of my daughter smiling. It was a beautiful big smile. She’d just gotten her braces off and we loved the results. A new beautiful white smile is definitely worthy of a scrapbook page, don’t you think?

Using a scrapbooking kit makes it easy. I was so excited with September’s stunning kits from Up the Street Scrapbooking. This layout uses the Bliss kit and it’s very aptly named. Gorgeous glittered papers. Sigh. Love it!

Now this layout uses just one main sheet of patterned paper but I managed to create a pocket in it for my photos by using one of the printed design elements. I carefully cut along the top and part of the side of the bracket box using a craft knife. To add a distressed feel, I brushed on some Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint. The sweet little Maya Road canvas tag is stamped to embellish it.

Keep smiling!

 

11 Comments

Posted in Scrapbooking, Up the Street