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Sunday, January 30, 2011

The One with a Few Updates and The Much Anticipated Snow Layout

Hi there. Is this thing on? Is anyone still reading? :) I hope so....sorry for the little hiatus. Things got a little crazy at my day job and I need to step away from the computer for awhile and relax when I got home each night. Sometimes we all just need to unplug a little bit.

I promised I'd share a fun layout I did of some snow pictures I took of the kids last season. And boy have I had a lot of inspiration lately. We've had one of the snowiest winters on record here in Ohio.
I had so many great pictures to work with for this layout that I didn't want to leave any out. So I tried something a little different. I did a traditional double page layout. {Because I am the queen of double layouts...must do more single pagers in 2011...}

And then I created a couple of 6 x 12 layouts to highlight some favorite photos and journaling. I love them! They were so much fun to work on-I can't wait to do it again. Totally got my creative juices flowing and got me thinking about other things I want to do in this size. All in all I have 20 photos and 2 really rich paragraphs of journaling on this layout spread-love this.

I used a bunch of Heidi Swapp Ghost shapes that have been sitting in my stash waiting for the perfect project. I am going to make a big dent in my stash this year-no more waiting for the perfect project to come along!

The other thing I wanted to update you on was some fun scrapbook room decor. I am still working on getting some art and other fun stuff on my walls. We are actually in the midst of redecorating quite few rooms in the house {slowly but surely and as the budget allows it}. It's tough because I'm FAR from an  interior decorator but I know that I like classic, modern decor. Nothing too crazy but nice clean lines. I really struggle with making the right choices for my walls and such.
But I have started small and with my scrapbook room.

My first two pieces are originals. One is from my dear friend, Monika. I love her art. Just love it. She gifted me this "Have Fun" piece and I spray painted a frame that I loved and framed it. The other piece is by, ummm...me. Yup, I made that i Scrap piece. I love that Cosmo Cricket Snorkel line and I just needed to have it hanging up in my scrap space because it inspires me and makes me happy. So I created this piece of art around it. They'll hang side by side next to my desk as soon as my Dad comes over to help me line them up. {I'm hopeless at hanging pictures...hopeless!}

That's my update. Did a lot of scrapping this weekend. I'm doing my own version of  Project Life and I put the framework of that together this weekend and did my weekly goal of 2 layouts...so far so good. Hopefully I'll share both later this week and maybe even a {giveaway}! Stay tuned!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The One with Some Halloween Layouts

Two weeks into the new year and I am keeping up with my goals! I did not 2, not 3 but 4 layouts this past week! Woo hoo! Most of them were Halloween layouts (from 2009-slowly but surely catching up) but I also sneaked in a fun multi-page snow layout that I will share this weekend.
I love, love, love this Bo Bunny Halloween line.

I'm beginning to realize that I am the Queen of Double Layouts. Jeesh. I'm going to need a room just for my albums if I keep up at this rate.

One more, to prove that I can break free from the double layout madness, a-- wait for it-single page layout. Gasp!
Have a great Thursday night!

Friday, January 7, 2011

My Favorite Christmas Layout {So Far...}

As promised...the favorite Christmas layout that I've created {so far}.

I just love how clean and symmetrical it turned out. But more than that. I love, love the pictures. Everyone was smiling and happy. Love that little picture on the bottom of  Jackson and Brody from behind looking at decorations. And that Santa? Hands down the best mall Santa we have EVER met. He was jolly, happy, loved kids, and had a real beard! 
Okay, so maybe the memories of this happy day are what makes this my favorite Christmas layout, but I still think it's pretty darn cute!

When I got home from work yesterday, there was a big orange envelope on my porch! My shutterfly order finally arrived-I'm working on some Halloween layouts this weekends. Getting lots of inspiration from Mary Pat lately.

Hopefully I'll be sharing those next week! :)
Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A Collection of Christmas Layouts

So, I did some scrapbooking over the holidays...and finished up all of the layouts from our 2009 Christmas photos-yay me!
I realized quickly that I really need to put all of my Christmas layouts through the years in one album-I tend to take a lot of pictures in December and end up with at least 5 or 6 layouts each season. So I'll be working on that little organization project this weekend.
I actually finished the very last layout last night (along with another one that I'd been thinking about for some time). I'll share those later this week. Super excited that I've already completed two layouts for this week. 1 week down, 51 more to go!
On to the layouts...
Lots of bling on this one-but I think that super frilly tree needed it. I used my Gypsy to cut out the word "Christmas". {Have I mentioned how much I love my Gypsy? Because I do.} The gold ribbon is from a package of Godiva I got from one of my vendors. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. :)
I used up some of my Basic Grey Fruitcake patterned paper for this one. I did a little paper weaving with the strips-same piece of paper just used the backside to give it some contrast. Paper weaving is kind of addictive-going to be doing it again soon! The letter stickers are American Crafts.
Basic Grey Fruitcake again. Can you tell that I am trying to use up my stash? I also used Kraft cardstock for most of these layouts. Oh how I love Kraft cardstock.
Christmas with my husband's family. I love the little pictures on the bottom half. I take a lot of pictures at family gatherings-so glad I got to use them all in this layout.

Christmas with my family. And more little pictures. I use Photo Sheet to create those on a 4x6 canvas. Super fast and easy. That poinsettia embellishment?

I made it using a couple of different Making Memories paper flowers and a brad. I made about 10 of them and used them on cards, tags and this layout. I am so sad that I am out of them-so stinking cute.

That's it for today. I'll share my favorite 2009 Christmas layout later this week. :)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

I'm Back {With Layouts!}

Sorry to be MIA for so long. With the busyness of the Christmas season and a pretty major health scare for my nephew, I just didn't get online as much as I normally do.
Happy to report that my nephew is going to be just fine and things are starting to settle down.
Thought I'd share that Christmas layout I promised you many moons ago.

Last year, just after the holidays, we took the boys to Jackson County to see Chuck's grandmas. We spent the night in Lexington and did some exploring the next morning. Lexington Mall (attached to Rupp Arena) had some amazing Christmas decorations-I took a ton of photos.
I used the Making Memories Fa La La line to create this layout. I also grabbed some Thickers from my stash for the title and some jelly stickers from MAMBI for embellishment. Hard to see but there's some bling on this page too-bottom left corner and at the top of the journaling spot. I can't for the life of me remember where I got that bling.
And since the holidays are over (but I still have a ton of holiday layouts to share-I did some scrapbooking while on vacation!), I thought I'd share a non-Christmas layout I recently completed.
My 6 year old was playing on a treadmill at a neghbor's house and took a spill. He looked much worse than the injuries really were. This happened back in March/April when my 9 year old got injured and had to go to Urgent Care 3 times in a week.
Never a dull moment with these boys. I think it's really important to capture those not so perfect moments too-so here's a layout about "The Treadmill Incident".

I used the Comso Cricket Boyfriend line for this. I seriously love me some Cosmo Cricket-use their stuff ALL THE TIME! Snagged some more Thickers for the title and Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type stickers for the sub-title. {Told you I loved CC!}

Don't you just love the "give" band-aid?
I {heart} those Tiny Type letter stickers!


So very true!
I've set a goal of 2 layouts a week for 2011. I even blocked time on my calendar each week to keep me honest. Hopefully, I'll be more successful with this goal than I was with my 2010 goal (a picture a day).
Happy New Year!