AWDML Sketch Inspiration

Hello and Happy Tuesday!  I'm up on the blog at A Walk Down Memory Lane with this layout documenting Miss Q's "First Date" with her bestie!  Click HERE to read the post.

Bella Blvd

I've been going though some photos I printed but haven't scrapped yet and found this silly pic of Miss Q.  I thought some fun, bright and colorful papers would be the perfect backdrop so I pulled out my Bella Blvd stash and got busy.

There's just something about a grid pattern that speaks to me every now and again.  Typically I'm all layers and lots of patterned papers, but I thought the stickers in the Lucky Starz collection should be the main embellishments this time around.  I punched 1.5 inch circles, adhered with foam adhesive and then embellished each circle with stickers.

I also whipped up another Bella Blvd layout with photos of our favorite CoCo RoCo baby girl!

I cut strips of paper from Scattered Sprinkles in 1" and 1.5" strips, then trimmed to varying lengths, turning up the edges and corners as I adhered them down. I was going for a "the-baby-got-ahold-of-the-papers-look,"  haha!  I LOVE the black letter stickers but wanted a more child-like feel, so I doodled on the letters with my white gel Signo pen.  I added enamel dots from Studio Calico and a few X's were hand stitched using a Amy Tangerine template and floss.

Stickers from the collection were used to embellish and create some depth.  I absolutely love colorful layouts and Bella Blvd is a perfect fit every time!

I have lots more stuff to make this weekend, hoping a sick Miss Q feels better soon so I can get my creative fix!  Happy Saturday :)

It's late...

...and I just finished Miss Q's birthday party invites. Here's a quick peek!

This is my first real try at using Copic markers. And Copics are no joke. When people say practice, they mean PRACTICE!  

The background papers are Dear Lizzy, the stamp is Lawn Fawn and the banner pieces are Me and My Big Ideas. Card bases and envelopes from Hobby Lobby. 

Well done Mama. Well done. 

AWDML: I Hope You Dance

Happy Tuesday!  I'm up on the blog at  A Walk Down Memory Lane with this ruffled layout about my girly.  Click HERE to read the how-to for making paper ruffles!

100 Facebook Likes GIVEAWAY!

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has liked the Creating Us Facebook page!  I know not all of you are scrappers, and the idea that you liked my page anyways is a huge compliment.  So from the bottom of my scrappin' heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

And now on to the fun stuff!  The winner of my Facebook giveaway is...

ALLISON OCHOA

For the fun of it I decided to draw two more names...

ROXANNE HUMENIK

SARAH SCHWARZ

Ladies, I will send you messages on Facebook regarding your win :)

Special thanks to Rebekah at Life of B for being my random.org go-to.  You're the awesome-est.

WHEEEEEE! Gossamer Blue layout

Happy Sunday friends, I wanted to do a quick layout share I made with Gossamer Blue's February kits.

Miss Q and her bestie had a playdate at the park last month and I thought these slipper-slide photos were both funny and adorable.  The Simple Stories paper inspired me to hand stitch along the edges of each sunburst as well as the title in the center.  I added a few enamel dots and stickers to complete the layout.

Favorite Spook

Hello!  I was going through some older photos last week and rediscovered this favorite of Miss Q on her very first Halloween.  I've had the Bella Blvd Trick or Treat collection kit for quite a while and thought the fun icons fit perfectly for a baby Halloween layout.

The heart die cut was a my starting point, then I chose the background paper.  Those pumpkins are just so sweet!  The photo frame die cut peeks from behind the photo and is layered over the colorful chevron patterned paper. 

I just kept adding cute stickers and die cuts, using foam adhesive on some pieces for added dimension.  I used a black pen to outline the heart and Quinn's name, I think it added some depth to the die cut and stickers.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but I used Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush Pen on the letter stickers.

Happy Crafting!

One Layout, One Sheet of Paper

Believe it or not, I made an entire 12x12 layout using only one sheet of paper!  Read all about it on the A Walk Down Memory Lane Blog HERE.

Happy Tuesday my friends!

Valentines

I love to make Valentines.... there's something about the sweet little notes of love that make me swoon.  I typically make them for the grandparents and my friends, as well as the hubs.  This year I was completely inspired by Gossamer Blue kits, take a look:

I used the Dear Lizzy Serendipity 6x6 paper pad from Gossamer Blue January Bits & Pieces kit for both the envelopes and the mini cards.  Kraft card stock is from PaperTrey Ink.  The stamp set is Lawn Fawn #awesome and Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Raspberry Jam.

I thought the stamp set was perfect for my friendly Valentines.  In texting my girlfriends, we usually hashtag random words or feelings when venting about the kids, or giving each other awesome mom compliments.  The stamps just fit for a playful note to my girlfriends.

I found the adorable treat bags on Amazon HERE.  The pink twine is from The Twinery, I used a 1.5 inch circle punch and Dear Lizzy Thickers from Gossamer Blue February Life Pages Themed Add-on (sold out).  I finished the bags with Glitz washi tape and American Crafts clothes pins.

I put a handful of Dove chocolate hearts in each bag along with the Valentine.  My girlfriends were surprised and happy to receive them, so I believe this was a #win.

Project 12:1

A few years back, Gossamer Blue added Life Pages to their kit line-up, gorgeous 3x4 and 4x6 cards designed by Traci Reed that coordinate with the monthly kits.  I immediately jumped on board adding the Life Pages kit to my monthly subscription, and I made my first attempt at doing a year-long project to document our lives on a regular basis.  Back then it was more of a monthly project, titled Project 12, and it worked great for me.

For 2014 I decided to do a weekly approach, as Gossamer Blue had added some amazing Life Pages design team members (Michelle W., read her blog HERE!), and I was SO INSPIRED!  I jumped in with enthusiasm, ready to create this fabulous album for my girly!  And then I stopped.  It wasn't fun anymore, I was having trouble filling all those pockets, some weeks I didn't even take a single photo. Bleh.

Fast forward to January 2015:  the desire to get back on track with Life Pages hit me when I opened the beautiful January Kits from Gossamer Blue.  And that's when I realized:  hey, why did I stop doing the monthly project?

Here's the Why and the Why It Works for Me behind Project 12:

• I'm using photos that don't always make it on a scrapbook page
• Telling more of the daily life story
• Miss Q gets a monthly play-by-play of her childhood
• It doesn't detract from my first love:  12x12 scrapbook layouts
• It keeps our memories fresh
• A two-page spread takes hardly any time to put together

My approach is rather simple, as I already receive the Life Pages kits each month.  I always added at least one LP kit to my monthly purchase as a subscriber, and as a DT member I can choose to add those kits on as well.  I like that each month is a new color story, so every two page spread in my Project 12 album will have it's own colors and/or theme.  For my Project 12 cover page I used the January kits which included some 2015 cards.

I like to add embellishments on top of the page protector, so I'll be photographing my pages in the protectors.  I get a few glares sometimes :)

My One Little Word this year is Go, so I had to make reference to it on the cover page!  Read more about One Little Word HERE and HERE.

Here's my January pages, up first is the left side:

And now the right:

My pages will mostly be a 50/50 mix of the LP cards and photos. I'm using a Project Life album and page protectors by Becky Higgins as I already had a box of them from my failed attempt at the weekly approach.  I considered switching to We R Memory Keepers albums and page protectors, but decided that if I use what I already have it allows me to buy more stuff for the pages, haha!  I like adding Thickers, flair, stickers, etc., on top of the page protectors, as some of the dimensional embellies don't fit in the pockets.  Some Thickers do fit in the pocket, like the Dear Lizzy letters I used in this spread.

I found my Shimelle (by American Crafts) date stamp from an older Gossamer Blue kit in my stash, and I like that's it just the date, so that will be my go-to for dating cards and photos.  StazOn ink stamps great on photos and stickers, so I'll be using that as well.

I'll share my monthly layout around the first week of each month.

Thanks for reading this whole post, I know it was a long one but I just have so much to say about memory keeping in the monthly format!

AWDML Layout

Hi there, it's Tuesday which means I'm on the A Walk Down Memory Lane blog sharing another layout created with their fabulous store products.  This time I used my tools and patterned paper to create some simple embellishments to match the story of the photo.  Click HERE to read my post!

Shake down, 1979....

....cool kids never have the time....

Name that song and I'll send you a little prize from Creating Us!

I have been a long-time fan of October Afternoon.  I love their labels, their images on patterned papers are absolutely adorable (who remembers the sweet secretaries in the 9 to 5 line?), and one of their new lines, Saturday Morning, instantly brought me back to my awesome childhood in the late 70's and early 80's.  When cartoons were only on Saturday mornings, we had just 13 TV channels, and going out to eat was a BIG deal.  Oh, and no one wore seat belts.  Ever.

I love my Mama, but one of my worst (ok, funny NOW) memories is of the awful angel food cakes.  Some people love angel food, but not me!  For years Mom would ask what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday and I just wanted a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  What did I get?  ANGEL FOOD.  Ugh.  But if that's the worst I have to complain about, I'd say I had a darn good growing-up.  And another thing--birthday candles do not want to stand up in angel food cakes, so they would tip sideways and drip wax.....WAAAAAHHHHHH!

The Gossamer Blue February kits have a ton of October Afternoon products, all of it coordinating perfectly with the rest of the kits, including Pebbles and Basic Grey.  I have to say, Lori just has an eye for mixing products so beautifully!

This little gal from October Afternoon was the starting point for my layout, I had to use her on a page about my 5th Birthday!

Ok, who's mother had Corning Ware that looks similar to that floral on the flare badge?  And raise your hand if the basement in your childhood home had wood paneling (like mine currently does!)!

I just really like the February Gossamer Blue kits :)

So, leave a comment with the song title and artist, the first correct answer wins a little something from me!

Cool Kid Layout on Gossamer Blue

Happy Sunday!  I'm up on the Gossamer Blue blog sharing this layout of my sweet girly!  Click HERE to read the full post.

I'm spending my day making lots and lots and LOTS of stuff with the Gossamer Blue February kits, on sale to the public today at noon central!  Get'em while you can, this month's kits are a mix of amazing bright colors, retro embellishments and adorable-ness :)  Click HERE to get your kit!