12x12 | Nothing Can Dim the Light

This quote from Maya Angelou resonates with me in so many ways.

In another life I served the homeless in Florida.  This quote made me think of my kids from the shelter, it made me think of my girly, it made me think of my friends who have true concerns regarding our recent election.

Clique Kits knocked it out of the park with that quote.

It is one I'll always carry with me.

Shine bright.

xoxo

12x12 | Real Life

Another page using Clique Kits featuring Pinkfresh Studios Indigo Hills.  Oh how I love this color palette!

I started by drawing the title with my Silhouette using one of Clique Kits cut files, then hand-stitched with yellow floss.

After using a few patterned papers to mat the photo, I added in some random embellishments including some Clique Kits exclusives.

There wasn't a lot of thought on embellishing for this page, the focus was on the title and the secondary title using the Pinkfresh alphas.

The photo is of the girly after preschool one morning last year, she immediately ditched her pants when we got home.  Typical of this kid, still!

Chillin'
xoxo

12x12 | Fabulous

I love that navy and coral have been a strong color combo this year, they make for the prettiest pages.

Add in some gold and, well it's fabulous :)

I find that gray or black and white patterns make the best background papers for mixed media.  I used Shimmerz inks to smoosh colors on the floral paper, keeping it primarily in the area I planned to place my photo.

Machine stitching some wonky paper strips has been my thing lately.

My layout got a bit warped from the mixed media, it will flatten out in the page protector though.

Stay fabulous!  And Happy Thanksgiving!
xoxo

Gossamer Blue | Beautiful

This is the last of my November kit layouts for Gossamer Blue.  I rarely use dark colors as the background but loved the houndstooth pattern so much I had to use it up!

To lighten things up a bit I painted some Heidi Swapp Color Shine gold on the background paper, giving the photo area a bright and shiny spot.  I used several layers of 6x6 papers from the Bits & Pieces kit to mat the photo, making sure the months were showing on the right of the picture.

I did some machine stitching with white and gold threads to add more texture and light to the layout.  I added in gold and white spray ink splatters as well.

Frolic!
xoxo

Clique Kits | You Shine

I'm still loving the 9x12 size.  It seems to fit my one-photo-per-layout style.

You know, there are no rules for scrapping.  Yes, you can follow basic design principles and rule of 3's, etc.  But if you want to put 5 photos on a page, or 1 photo or none, do it.  Do your thing.

This layout is my version of doing my thing.  I have a teeny tiny pic that I had printed for another project and didn't want to trash it.  So I made it work on this page.  Using a smaller format helps those little photos not get lost.

I used several exclusive cards from Clique Kits to mat the picture, then trimmed down a 4x4 card a bit smaller and used another card to mat that as my title.  No rules ;)

A few Pinkfresh Studios puffy stickers and a wood veneer as embellishments made my page feel more balanced, to my eye.

I fussy cut this Amy Tangerine die cut paper to create some texture and excitement at the bottom of the layout.  I added Pinkfresh washi along the top of the page and then machine stitched the perimeter.

I can't sew a straight line to save my life.  And I love the wonky look my pages have because of it.

Do you, you talented thing, you :)
xoxo

Clique Kits | Happy Day

Sometimes you have an awesome photo but are clueless as to how you will scrap it.

I used Pinkfresh Indigo Hills line mixed with some Clique Kits exclusives to make this page.  My hubs had just received his Ghostbusters board game and he totally geeked out.

Editing the photo to black and white helped with this page.  Then I added in 3x4 Clique Kits cards and some cut aparts.  I stitched with white thread for texture.

I angle cut those little flags and put some Pinkfresh washi below the photo.

I really like those Pinkfresh alphas!

Who ya gonna call?
xoxo

Gossamer Blue | Friends

Sometimes I can't decide which file I want to use when choosing from all the goodies in The Cut Shoppe store; so I just pick them all!

The Friends Forever cut file has all these words and symbols in it, so I used my sketch pen and drew them all on this Shimelle paper from the November Gossamer Blue kits.  I then hand-stitched all the words using floss and twine.

It really didn't take as long to stitch this as you might think.  A while, yes, but not forever ;)

This photo, by my friend Sasha, was taken at our first pumpkin patch visit this season.  Our girls really do have a blast together.

The Shimelle line in the November kits is perfect for a pumpkin patch page!  I used the Main Kit, Bits & Pieces and Main Add-on kits to create this page.

BFF,
xoxo

Pretty Little Studio | Fall Fave

I'm using the adorable Oakley Avenue collection over on the PLS blog today, click HERE to see all the photos and read my how-to.

What's your Fall fave?
xoxo

Pretty Little Studio | December Joy

I have a new page on the Pretty Little Studio Blog today!  Click on over to read the how-to for this Christmas layout featuring the new Holly Jolly line :)

Be Jolly ;)

xoxo

Maya Road | Geometric Leaf Die

Hello!

I'm sharing a new Fall page with some gorgeous geometric leaves over on the Maya Road blog today! Head over by clicking HERE to see the full post.

I created my background with some lovely Shimmerz sprays and the Geometric Leaf Die from Maya Road!

Lovin' it ;)
xoxo

Gossamer Blue | Happy Moments

I have so many photos from this session of my girly.  My friend Tracy is a very talented photographer and she's been taking Q's pix since she was 3 months old.  Because I'll scrapbook most of these photos I feel like I don't need to always add the date and journaling.

I started with clear gesso and several colors of pink and blue Shimmerz, smooshing all the colors onto the background paper.

I added some tissue paper and a few scraps of papers behind the photo as a mat, then started to embellish.

I used November Main Kit and Life Pages kits from Gossamer Blue, adding in some small elements here and there.

I machine stitched on a few of the die cuts and along the left side of the page.  The black and white polka dots is actually the branding strip; I like to leave the strip and use it as part of my background sometimes.

I did add some Wink of Stella clear glitter on the Thickers title but it didn't show in the photo.

Be happy!
xoxo

The Cut Shoppe | Guest Designer

I was given a wonderful opportunity to create a layout using The Cut Shoppe files by the kind and talented Ashley Horton, and I was sooooooo glad because I have had my eye on this Leaf Pile file!!!

I used the 8.5x11 file and sized it a little bigger to fit on this 9x12 page.  I added in gold machine-stitching and some Simple Stories ephemera.  This photo is from last year and I wanted to find the perfect products for it, the Leaf Pile file is exactly what it needed to tell the story.

Thank you Ashley for letting me guest for The Cut Shoppe!  If you haven't used any of the TCS files I suggest you head on over to Etsy and see all the awesome stuff in Ashley's shop.

xoxo

12x12 | You Me Lovely

Instax photos are so adorable.

This wreath cut file is from Clique Kits September files; I cut it once from white cardstock and again using Dear Lizzy paper, removing all the internal cuts.

Before completely adhering the wreath to the background paper I added in a ton of Jen Hadfield gold rub-ons.  I used almost the entire package on this page and it felt absolutely decadent ;)

The title is from a Thickers pack, it was the inspiration for my page and determined the background paper color.  I wanted it to pop!

I added another little rub-on at the bottom of the page.  It was perfect.

I used a strip of the same patterned paper from the wreath on the left side of the page, tying the layout together.

You lovely thing, you.
xoxo

Gossamer Blue | I Love Right Now

Don't you just love the colors of Fall?

I do.

I took this photo last year when I was sitting on my front porch.  That tree in my neighbor's yard was just too beautiful to ignore.

I started my page with a cut file from Just Nick Studio, hand-stitching around the file and then machine-stitching some of the internal cuts.  I love to mix both kinds of stitching on my pages lately. I used a Dear Lizzy paper from the November Gossamer Blue kits for the file, can you believe that pattern is actually donuts?

I used a few 6x6 papers from the Bits and Pieces kit to mat the photo, tearing a few of them for more texture.  The title is from a Thickers pack.

To embellish I used exclusive wood veneer and a few chipboard stickers.  When I do a lot of background work I tend to be more minimalistic with the embellishments.

No journaling, just the date.  I find that my pages are more about creating than memory keeping right now.  And I'm ok with that.

Lovin' it,
xoxo

Gossamer Blue | The Best

I have been hanging on to this photo by my talented photographer friend Rebekah for so long; I love the light and how it captures small town Kansas just perfectly.

The Go Now Go line by Shimelle seems like the perfect match for this perfect photo.

I printed the photo three times then created a a larger mat for the pictures.  I added tons of ephemera from the die cut pack and a few brads and puffy hearts.  All items are from November Gossamer Blue kits.

The background started out differently (don't they all, ha!) as I planned to have much more mixed media showing behind the photos.  I didn't like the look so I opted to cover more of it.  I trimmed an inch off two sides of the deer head paper and mounted it on the woodgrain paper by Jen Hadfield.

I did a ton of stitching with gold thread around the perimeter of the deer head paper, just to tie in the gold accents in the embellishments.  I wanted to add a bit more of a wonky look as well.

The gesso I used really turned kind of yellow in the photos, but I don't mind that too much.  In person you don't notice it.

Chugga-chugga-choo-choo!
xoxo