Flip Layout

I'm sharing a couple of layouts today.  One here and one on A Walk Down Memory Lane's Blog. They both use Simple Stories Photo Flips to add extra photos to the layout without taking up extra space on the layout.

You start by creating the layout just like you normally would.  I'm loving Pink Paislee's Solstice right now, and chose that for my layout.

Then, you put your layout into the page protector and attach the Simple Story Photo Flip on top.  They come in 4 x 6 or 3 x 5.  They have an adhesive strip on the edge that you just need to peel the backing off of and stick down to the protector.

You can add one Photo Flip, or multiple ones to a layout.

You can also use them to add journaling to your layout.

If you 'd like to see a another layout using Photo Flips, click here to check out my other layout on AWDML's Blog.

Holiday Cards & More Vol 9 and a Friend's New Shop

I have a few random things today that I thought I'd put in one place.  First, Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Holiday Cards & More Vol 9 has gone on sale, and I have 2 paper crafted ornaments in there.

This is a special edition, so you'll find it both in digital and print formats.    You can find both of my ornaments on page 112.Here's a little sneak peek at one of them.

The second bit of information I have today is some exciting news about a talented scrappy friend.

Juliana Michaels has opened an Etsy shop, 17 Turtles, where you can find Digital Cut Files that she designed and can be used with andy electronic cutting machines. Digital cut files are available in PNG, SVG and DXF formats. I'm pretty excited for her, and looking forward to shopping her fun and innovative designs. If you have a digital cutting machine, I'd encourage you to go check out (and like) her shop. I have a feeling you're going to love her files, too.

Have a great day!

Scrapping a Big Photo

Some photos just need to be printed out big and scrapped big, but scrapping a big photo is always a bit tough for me.  There's a balance between adding too few embellishments and too many embellishments.

This is another one of those photos I was waiting to scrap until I had just the right paper.  I chose Pebbles Home+Made for this photo.   I love this kid so much.  He is kind and loving and makes me happy every day. 

I love the pops of gold in this collection, and decided to play those up and pair them with a little bit of black, white, and gray.  I couldn't have found better word card for this layout then the grouping below.   They are just so true. 

In the end, I hope I struck the right balance the big photo and adding embellishments.
Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas

I'm sharing a Merry Christmas layout over on the Moxxie blog today.  Click here to head on over there to check out the full layout, but in the meantime, here's a little sneak peek.

Last Day

If you're joining me from the Moxxie new collection blog hop, welcome! I hope you're enjoying a look at all the new collections.  If you've just stumbled along my blog today, you can find a whole list of the designers  at the bottom of my post, so you can check out the whole hop.  Today I'm showing off my very favorite collection of the whole release: Brainiac.  This is an amazing collection for capturing school memories from the first day of school to the last day, and everything in between.  

There is so much to love about Brainiac. Chalkboard, cork board, bright colors, fun patterns, science, math, reading!  I'm already planning my first day of school layouts using Brainiac.

For my layout today, I started with Mathlete (the chalkboard paper) and then started layering on paper and card stock stickers.  There's not much rhyme or reasoning to my layering.  

Foam dimensional adhesive helps give some texture to the layers.

I also couldn't wait to use the new alphabet stickers from Moxxie. Having a few colors makes it really easy to mix and match alphas in the title.  There are also upper and lowercase letters on the same sticker sheet. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the amazing creations.

Here's your inspiration list:

Peggy Stolley aka Moxxie Guest Designer
Amelia Harris
Amy Allred
Daniella Hayes
Jennifer Taylor
 Joan Liddle
 Julie McGowan
 Leslie Mitchell
Renee Robbins
Samantha Taylor
Wendi Robinson
Rebecca Price
Ange Weisbeck
Moxxie Blog

You might be wondering what your prize will be? Well, the winner will get to pick ONE of the awesome new lines for their very own! Yep, if you win you get to pick one of these awesome 7 lines that you will see along our hop.
All you have to do to be entered to WIN is leave a comment on the Moxxie blog.
(International players are more than welcome to play but you will be responsible for shipping should you win.)
Winner will be announced one week from today on the 22nd.

Extra chances to win:- Visit each designers blog and leave a comment. The more you comment, the more chances you have to WIN!
- Go to the Moxxie facebook page and share the post about this hop for another chance to WIN! (if you're not already, you will need to be a follower of our page to do this) Come back to the Moxxie blog and leave another comment letting us know you did this.
- Go ahead and Pin It! If you do, leave a comment on the Moxxie blog with a link letting us know that you Pinned!

Let's Go

I have another layout to share today featuring Echo Park's beautiful collection Capture Life.  Here's a look at my Let's Go layout. 

Once I started scrapping with Capture Life, I just couldn't stop.  This collection was just plain fun and inspiring to scrap with.  Besides the great colors, there are so many elements and stickers that are perfect for scrapping a fun trip (which is what our trip to the Omaha zoo was!). 

We had a blast at the zoo, and I had almost as much fun reliving the memories while scrapping about it.  If you want to see some more Capture Life fun.  Check out the Capture Life layout I have over on the A Walk Down Memory Lane Blog today.  Here's a little sneak peek:

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs & Kisses

Sometimes you fall in love with a paper line.  Sometimes you have an idea for a layout in your brain, and when you get it down on real paper it's everything you hoped it would be.  My Hugs & Kisses layout is one of those times. 

Pebbles currently has a collection called Home + Made that was created by Jennifer Hadfield of Tatertots and Jello.  Trying to describe it just doesn't do it justice, so all I can say is go check it out for yourself.  The colors, the textures, the pops of gold!

I knew immediately what photos I wanted to scrap using this collection.  We were goofing around taking photos while camping one weekend, and my husband captured some ones that I just love of me with my boys.  I'm usually the one capturing moments, so these photos are especially dear to me, and any old paper line just wouldn't do.  I printed the photos out and waited for the right collection to come along...and then Home + Made arrived in the mail and I knew I had the paper I'd been waiting for. 

This is the layout I made of me with my youngest.  The layout of photos of my oldest and me is sitting on my desk about 3/4 finished.  

There's this cool banner die set as part of the collection.  When I saw it I had a little brainstorm that said, "Hey, I bet you could make a cool background for a layout using just that banner die."

 I grabbed my 6 x 6 paper pad and set to work, and you know what? It actually turned out really cool! I have my fair share of ideas in my head that just don't quite turn out on paper, or they turn out just ok, so I'm always pretty excited when they turn out better than I had hoped!

After creating the background from the banner die, the layout came together pretty easily.  I added some accent stickers and some gold sequins.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stingray Beach

Back in July my husband had to work in Omaha (which is about 2 1/2 hrs from where we live).  The boys and I decided to tag along and spend the day at the Omaha Zoo while he worked (we a lot more fun then my husband that day).  The special exhibit at the zoo this summer was Stingray Beach. 

Stingray Beach is a huge pool full of stingrays. We got to touch/pet a ton of stingrays, and we even got to feed them.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our day. 

 For these photos I used paper and stickers from Echo Park's Capture Life.  I've loved this collection since it came out, but I was just waiting for the right photos.  The color and the feel of these photos were perfect for Capture Life. 

I literally walked away from from this day at the zoo with my kiddos telling them that it was one of the best days I'd had in a long time, and telling my husband what awesome kids we have.  Capture Life really captured the joy and fun of that day and made scrapbooking the photos so easy!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Oak Grove

I have one last layout to share using My Mind's Eye's Cut & Paste (at least for now!).  I went on a little Cut & Paste scrapping binge, so today I'm sharing my Oak Grove layout.  

We went camping one weekend, and it was so windy!  We couldn't have a fire, so we got silly and started taking goofy pictures.  I have some wonderful ones from that night.  I thought I'd start with this one of my goofy boys. 

 

All of the paper is MME Cut & Paste.  The greenish washi tape is also My Mind's Eye.  That fun camera washi tape (which I owned for all of about 5 minutes before I found a reason to use it), is made by Queen & Co. 

I wanted a little something more on this layout so I traced all of the letters on the "Love U Forever" tag with a clear Wink Of Stella pen.  I use my Wink of Stella Pens a lot.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but they add some really lovely shimmer to your projects. 

That's it for me today. Thanks for stopping by!

Bow & Arrows

With summer break getting close to the end, I'm starting to get a little nostalgic about our favorite activities this summer.  The day I saw PVC Bow & Arrows in a friend's Facebook news feed and decided we should drop everything and go to the hardware store so we could make them was definitely one of my favorite days! 

These were super fun to make.  My kids were especially impressed when I broke out the power tools!  We couldn't find some of the things listed on the supply list, so it was also a great exercise in problem solving.  For example, we couldn't find the foam we needed for the arrow tips (we live in a small town), so we figured out how to use sponges instead!

If you're looking to make some of these for yourself, I found the directions here at Skip to my Lou.
They're really easy to follow. 

Now, a little about the layout.  I used My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste.  I couldn't resist that cloud paper.  I haven't hand stitched on a layout for a while, so I decided to stitch around the outline of a few of the clouds. It adds a little extra cuteness. The arrow paper also seemed like a perfect choice for a Bow & Arrows layout.   I layered up a little bit of silver washi tape, added some journaling, and called it finished!

I hope you've been having some impromptu fun this summer, too!
Thanks for stopping by.

RAGBRAI Guests

Mid July we had a whole bunch of (75ish) cyclists camped overnight at our house and two of the neighbors' houses. It was the kick off to the big bike ride across Iowa.  I'm not crazy enough to bike across Iowa, but I am crazy enough to host lots of cyclists from the Chicago cycling club called CUBS...and it was a blast!  Here's a little 2 pager I did about our RAGBRAI Guests.

 I rarely forget I have paper (I have a pretty good system where I use my paper pretty soon after getting it if all goes well), but I totally forgot I had this paper!  It's Cut & Paste from My Mind's Eye.  It's a stunning collection, and the bike paper was perfect for what I was scrapping. I'm so glad I stumbled across it the other day!

We made signs and decorated our windows on the front and back of the house with window crayons welcoming the CUBS. We had a whole lot of tents in the back yard and bicycles in the front yard and garage!

 Did I mention the average age of the riders in the CUBS is something like 55?  Crazy, right?

 The boys especially loved checking out all of the cool bikes and accessories on the bikes (things like speakers, special water bottle holders, etc.).

Definitely an experience worth at least one scrapbook page!

Thanks for stopping by!