Spring is in the Air

The air is finally starting to warm up by us, and it feels like full on warm days and nights are just around the corner. To celebrate I did some bright, spring scrapping. Today I have a Spring is in the Air layout.

Everything on this layout comes from the Scrapbooking Store's March kit.March's kit is bright, fresh, and full of everything you'll need to scrap spring layouts or make spring themed cards.

I also highly recommend the upgraded kit. You get a fun set of tags, enamel shapes, paper flowers, and butterfly stickers.

If you don't get the upgraded kit, you'll still have all the same papers to choose from and a great sheet of stickers for embellishing.

I hope it's starting to warm up spring is in the air where you are, too!

I wrote this post while on the Scrapbooking Store's Design Team.

St. Patrick's Day Card

It's March, which means it's almost time for St. Patrick's Day! I come by my Irish genes from my maternal grandparents, so every year I make sure to send them a happy St. Patrick's Day Card.

Doodlebug Lots 'O Luck collection is still one of my favorite St. Patrick's Day themed collections. It's such a fun mix of bright colors and shades of green. 

I kept the design really simple with some layering of patterned papers, a simple sentiment, and some enamel dots for texture.

Time to drop this card in the mail and make some Irish soda bread. How do you celebrate St. Paddy's Day?

12 Years Layout

My son turned 12 back in August, and I took his annual photos in October. I always love creating a snapshot of who they are that year. It's so fun to see how their personalities change and grow over the years. Today I have that 12 years layout to share.

I'm continuing to work through my (very large) stash of paper. This is mostly Bella Blvd's Oh My Stars with a little Bella Blvd Alex mixed in.

There's always so much I want to say on these annual photo layouts. I actually write it down on scratch paper first so I can get everything out as concisely as possible. Since I have so much to get down, I used multiple journaling cards and layered them up to make them part of the design element of the page.

I think 12 has been one of my favorite ages. This kid has grown up so much this year, and it's been so fun to watch!

Love in Action Layout

Today I have a layout about love in action. It's one of those moments that makes you proud of your kid, but one of those events you wish didn't have to happen.

My son's friend has cancer. It's a big thing for a bunch of kids to understand. They shaved their heads when their friend lost his hair, because it was the best way they knew to support him. At the end of their friend's year of chemo, their friend's mom put together a fundraiser for St. Baldrick's Foundation to celebrate chemo being over. Elias immediately knew he wanted to be a part of this head shaving event, and set to fund raising. He met his goal (and even though he got a little stage fright having to go up in front of all those people watching to have his head shaved), and got his head shaved by his friend (with some help from a professional) for the fundraiser.

I was digging through my stash and found this paper from Bella Blvd's Oh My Stars collection. It was just the right fit for this special photo. I paired it with a Silhouette cut file, and kept the embellishments simple to keep the photo and journaling the focus of the layout.

Unfortunately, this story doesn't have a happy ending yet. They recently found a new spot of cancer, and his friend has started a new round of chemo. We will continue to encourage these moments of love in action, and continue to pray.

Valentine Treat Bags

Today I have some simple Valentine Treat Bags using supplies from the Scrapbooking Store's February kit.

For these I used some printed bags I had on hand and supplies found in the upgrade portion of the February kit.

These bags are not only a cute way to give some Valentines treats away, but also a great way to use up extra ephemera you may have from the kit.

Use washi tape from the upgrade to seal your treat bags shut. It will make sure your goodies stay inside, but isn't too hard to get open again. Plus, with so many cute print an color options it adds some extra cuteness to your bag.

Do you have any fun plans for Valentine's Day?

I wrote this post while participating on the Scrapbook Store Design Team.

You at 10 Layout

I have been taking annual photos of my kids for quite a few years now. One of my favorite things to is to scrap one of those photos and write up a bit of a summary about who my kid is at that age. Today I have my youngest son's You at 10 layout from his most recent annual photos.

These are some of my very favorite layouts to create, but the journaling is often the hardest. I love hitting on the highlights of who my kid is. Sometimes it can be tough to sum up their likes, ideas, and best things about them in a few sentences, but the end result is so worth it. These are the best layouts to go back and look at years later.

I'm continuing to work my way through my stash. This layout is created from a pile of Bella Blvd and Illustrated Faith paper. I literally plopped a pile of all my non-holiday Bella Blvd paper on my desk and just started pulling pieces that I liked with the photo. E's gray and red shirt made pulling gray and red paper a no brainer. They simple color combo lets the photo take center stage.

Since the journaling is a big part of this layout, I used my journaling cards as a big part of design of the layout as well. I've got to be honest, this You at 10 layout gets me right in the feels. I'm pretty sure my kids are growing up way too fast!

Snow Layout

We had a very short time between snowfalls this past year. Our first big snowfall of the season happened on October 14! Today I'm sharing a snow layout I created with a photo from that early snow.

My 10 month old puppy was so excited to be out in the snow, that this is quite honestly the only decent photo I got. In all the other photos, Walter is just a blur or already halfway out of frame. He's especially fast when he's excited! 

Everything I used on this layout, except for the journaling card, is from the Scrapbooking Store's January kit. It's a really versatile winter/snow themed kit this month. The other layout I created with this kit was bold and bright, where this one is much more soft and subdued. I love that I can get both vibes from one kit!

We haven't had a lot of snow since this early snowfall, so I'm glad I was able to at least get one photo of my pup's winter shenannigans.

 I wrote this post while participating on the Scrapbooking Store design team.