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3/30/13

someone is 4....


today is a very special day.
my little girl turns 4 today. sigh.
she's something else, for sure.
she loves the colors pink and purple, marshmallows, ballet, the iPad and wants to be a rockstar when she grows up.

we love you so much sweet girl.  you make everyday full of laughter.  happy day, darling.

3/28/13

on my desk....



lots and lots and lots of goodies on my desk.
lots and lots of ideas in my head.
lots and lots and lots and lots of paper.
you get the idea.

but...
for now i have a preschool birthday party today, a birthday party for a sweet almost four year old on saturday and easter on sunday.  

lots to do.
hope you are having an awesome day!



3/27/13

recently....


recently...

i have been playing with paper alot.
and i love it.

i'm not sure why i never actually created scrapbook layouts before this year.  it is so therapeutic for me. sometimes, though, i get overloaded with ideas and my brain seems to be on over-drive.  

recently....

i have been in love with all the kits from studio calico.  this month's may be my favorite. ever.  
it took me a while to actually cut the paper up and use it.  sometimes i tend to hoard my favorites... but with favorite papers, comes favorite layouts.

here are some of my recent favorites using this month's neverland, wendy and lost boys kits from studio calico....


i created this layout for the weekly challenge at sc.  the challenge was to scrap a layout using a song lyric.  this lyric "hold you so close" is from maroon 5 "daylight" and the picture of my daughter and i snuggling was perfect for the lyric.  i added lots of layers of the maggie holmes "remember this" paper (using both sides) and some of the other lovely papers from the neverland kit.


again...more of the amazing maggie holmes paper.  i couldn't resist cutting up one of the sentences of the paper to add underneath my photo.  sigh.


this layout was for the sunday sketch on the sc blog and i chose lisa truesdell's layout as my inspiration. i love the beautiful colors of the kesi art papers in the wendy kit and they went perfect with my photos.



this layout was chosen as the layout of the week this past weekend.  yay!!
i created this layout with the lost boys kit.  i tend to really like grids and rows, and i love this one.  the wood veneer card (something else i have been hoarding) kinda started the process for this layout.  i was too scared to actually do anything to it and possibly ruin it, so i let it stand by itself.  and the card to the left with the date is actually a flip card that includes all my journaling.  i tend to hid my journaling if i can't quite figure out where i want it to be without standing out....

reveal is tomorrow afternoon (for subscribers) at studio calico.  can't wait to see what's in store for this next month.  it's always like christmas to me.  

happy wednesday everyone!

3/26/13

project life: week 12

i can't believe we are almost to april.  

this year has definitely flown by.

which makes me even more grateful for project life.  i love that our everyday is simply captured.  

and this week was super simple to put together.  not too many words this week, and a few little tidbits here and there....


i used the back of a few cards from the previous week, which made putting the left side together super easy.  i added the "today" circle from the neverland printables at studio calico to the outside of the page protector to give the spread a little more dimension.  and since i used a tag on last week's spread, i just added a small picture to the back of the tag/vellum pocket instead of filling the pocket with a full photo.


here's a closer look at each side...







i've been getting lots of emails and questions about where i get my journaling cards, etc... so i thought i would add my supplies at the end of each post....

if you have any questions, just leave me a message or email me!!

happy tuesday everyone!








3/24/13

color combos galore: raspberry delight

there's a new challenge up at color combos galore this week and i love the colors!  
they just make you think about warmer weather and spring.  two things that i am so ready for right now.

you can see the color palette below.  so pretty.



and here's my layout for this week's challenge....


i chose to use the softer colors as my primary colors with pops of the turquoise and raspberry throughout my layout.  i think my "pear" choice was a little off, but oh well...

i was inspired by the butterflies in photo #4....and i cut out a few with my silhouette.  i added some soft colors of confetti around my photo and some of the butterflies.  then i layered the pretty color palette under that adorable photo of my daughter.  i added a little tag with a ribbon attached under the photo.  i'm trying to get better at journaling and hidden journaling seems to be easiest right now.  

hop on over to color combos galore and see all the other awesome inspiration.  be sure to play along too!  it's fun to raid your stash and throw together a fun layout.



3/21/13

playing with mists...


i love playing around with mists.  you can use them in so many ways.

i created this page with lots of splatters and drawings.  and it may be my favorite page ever.

the sundrifter collection from studio calico was perfect to add little bits and pieces to the page.

and those feathers..... i'm in love with feathers right now.  i'm probably pretty late to the party on that one, but oh well.  :)




i'm not always the best at journaling directly on my page.  if i ever do have any visible journaling, it's usually done with my typewriter.  i'm trying to be a little better by including my handwriting on pages, so here, i tucked a little handwritten card behind all the layers.  so....it's a start, at least.

happy thursday everyone!  go make something beautiful!

3/19/13

project life: week 11


happy tuesday everyone!

my week 11 of project life is featured over at elle's studio today!

so super excited to be a special guest!

be sure to hop on over, check out how i used all the awesome elle's studio products and leave a comment on their blog for a chance to win some of my favorite ES goodies!



3/18/13

project life: adding your child's artwork




today i thought i would share how i incorporate my children's art, drawings and writings into my project life album.

adding these elements is truly one of my favorite things about project life.  i would love to be able to see  what i drew or wrote when i was 2 or 4.


add it directly...
makes sense, right?
i basically just add what ever i find lying around directly into my project life album.  for this one above, it didn't quite fill up the whole page, so i added some little tags and backed it with a 4x6 card.  perfect!


photograph a group of artwork...
my daughter is super obsessed with mermaids.  one day she painted a whole slew of mermaids and wanted to hang them above her bed.  so i took a picture, left some "white space" for a title and added it right to the album.  so simple, but so dramatic!  plus, it captures every one of those paintings that are way too large for our album.


photograph a single drawing or painting....
i really like to do this.  this was actually drawn on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper.  i just snapped a picture of it with my camera and printed it roughly 3x4 to fit into the pocket.


photograph art in action...
i love to take pictures looking down.  i love what it captures.  yes, i love getting my daughter's beautiful face on camera, but what i love even more is her hands.  and how she always has nail polish that is chipping off.  and how she has a little callus where she still sucks her thumb.  yes, i see her painting and the words "i love you", but what i really see are the memories of this moment.


add writings....
i love how my daughter writes her name.  and i love that she loves to write her name.  for the pocket above, i used a large heart punch to punch out her name.  i thought it added a nice "peek-a-boo" touch to that page.


add drawing and writings...
more of the same basically.  sometimes i add little embellishments here and there on the drawings, but i like for the actual drawing/writing to be the main focus.  here i added the little heart and a tabbed card from elle's studio.  perfect for adding a little bit but not too much.

more photographs looking down...
same as above, but i wanted to show how i got both my son's and daughter's paintings in this picture.  i love how different they are and i love how it shows their ages and personalities.  i love action shots like this.



(i just wanted to note that my son spends a lot of time drawing, coloring and painting.  he's a little bit messier than my daughter ever was, so i usually have both hands ready to stop him from painting the walls rather than taking his picture.  i'm sure i will add more of his artwork, drawings, writings as he gets older.)



3/15/13

colors combo galore: in the navy

happy friday everyone!  

there's a new challenge up at colors combo galore and i'm in love with the colors this week!

i had so much fun putting my layout together.

there's just something about balloons, a princess dress, a banner and enamel dots that make for some fun.

here is the inspiration board.  aren't the colors awesome?



and here is my layout for the week.

i used lots of dear lizzy's lucky charm collection for this one.  it was the perfect match for me.  and the photo of my two sitting on the hill holding the balloons couldn't be better!!





i took my inspiration from picture #1: focus on trends (banners)...and I also some inspiration from that first picture for the polka dot paper and the enamel dots on the page.

the vintage look of the birdcage in picture #4 was perfect inspiration for the distressed dear lizzy card.

thanks so much for stopping by!  pop on over to color combos galore and check out the other inspiration this week!  so fun!

3/14/13

outdoors...

we've been living outdoors these last few days.  

daylight savings time in the spring always makes me so tired, but oh so happy.

so ready for spring!!


3/13/13

dreaming of spring...


i'm dreaming of spring today.

pretty flowers
warmer weather
open windows
sunshine
late sunsets
butterflies



3/12/13

project life: week 10



week 10 and this project still rocks.

nothing really out of the ordinary this week. 

playgrounds.
painting.
snuggle time.
sickness.
our life.

we've been having some gorgeous "spring-like" weather so we have spent a lot of time outdoors lately. loving the sunshine right now so much.  

here's a look at the whole week...


i love the little cards from dearest someday (bottom left card).  i love her style and i love how easily they fit right into my week.


and here's a better look at the right and left sides.




the top right card is a picture of some journaling i did for a layout over the weekend.  i love what it says so much that i just had to include it.

and i love those little tabbed cards from elle's studio!  so fun and so versatile. i cut this one down so it would fit behind the studio calico march project life card.



happy tuesday everyone!  hope you all have a great day!  thanks so much for stopping by!

linking up with the mom creative.

3/11/13

this is our story...


nicole samuels posted a challenge on her blog this week to create a layout about how your journey with memory keeping began.  I'm desperately missing the daily Bright Ideas challenges at Studio Calico and I loved the idea of documenting "your story".

For me, my memory keeping journey began in 2011 with project life.  i love project life (as you probably know if you follow my blog).  it's perfect for recording the little bits and pieces of life.  but i've also fallen in love with making layouts and documenting more memories.  i do it because i love paper and stuff.  and because it keeps me sane.  it's my little "quiet place" where i get to be creative and dream.  

but i also love having those little conversations of my children written down in one place.  and ticket stubs from plays (even if they are awful).

so this was layout for nicole's challenge.  i created a "project life" style layout, of course.  i'm loving it so much.  i love how it documents "our story".








3/8/13

color combos galore: sweet indulgence



happy friday everyone!

so excited to post the next challenge for color combos galore.  



i have to admit that i was a little stumped when i saw the color choices for this week's challenge.  if you follow along with me, you probably know that my style is a little muted and that i love some white.  the  rusty orange had me miffed.

after starring at the challenge for a few days, i went through my stash and pulled out some corresponding papers.

i also decided that i wanted to focus on inspiration #2: frames.  i cut a few Polaroid frames with my silhouette and then found some pictures to use for the layout.  i ended up ditching one of the two pictures because it felt a little overwhelming to me (remember...i'm a simple girl).  the other frame i added some journaling.

here's my take on the challenge...


I took my inspiration from photo #2: product (frames); with a little inspiration from photo #3 for the gold circles and script text on the tags.


i hope you'll pop on over to color combos galore and check out the challenge and other DT inspiration for this week!  it's a fun one!

have a happy weekend everyone!

3/7/13

little black dress kit club design team - march reveal


it's reveal day over at little black dress kit club today.

i had so much fun playing with the kit this month! especially since it was my very first design team kit!
lots of beautiful dear lizzy, glitz design and studio calico.  i loved both sides of the 12x12 papers, but the beautiful blues, grays and creamy browns caught my eye right off the bat!!  i loved mixing them all together to create some soft, but beautiful combinations.

the a chance for luck kit has oodles of wooden veneers, ribbons and buttons.  i loved finding new ways to use the veneers and buttons!

here are my layouts for this month:







i also managed to create a little mini book from a family beach trip last year.  the glitz design color me happy paper is so awesome!  I knew it would be perfect for a mini book cover!  i'll be sharing more of the mini a little later!





be sure to head on over to the blog to check out reveal and the awesome inspiration from the other design team members






3/6/13

love this...




this paper from elle's studio just might be my favorite. ever.

i love how pretty and clean the stripes are.  and how delicate it looks against a white piece of paper.

i decided to use a black & white photo and some pops of pink, yellow and blue to make those stripes stand out a little bit more.





and i adore this photo of my two.

they rarely stop, but when they do....it's oh.so.sweet.

xoxo

3/5/13

project life: week 9


hello week 9.

this was a really simple week for us....

nothing new, really.  just photos and words.

i actually went a little light on the journaling this week.

but it works for me. 

and it tells our story.


here is the whole week.

loving the little pockets from studio calico.  and that awesome striped paper from elle's studio (maybe my favorite ever).  and these cut files from ali edwards.


and here are close ups of the left and right side...








yesterday on the blog i shared my favorite iPhone apps and how i use them for project life.  you can check it out here....

linking up at the mom creative today.

thanks so much for stopping by!

xoxo