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

Hip Kit Club Smile

 Hey, it's Sunday evening and I'm blogging?  Who am I?  haha!  When you've knocked out some layouts in the past week like I have, you want to share'em!  This one was made for the Weekly Challenge on the Hip Kit Club Facebook page.

The sketch challenge included shapes going across the page from the bottom left to top right, with the title and a banner below the photo.  It's such a great sketch, why change it too much?

Lots of beautiful Shimmerz sprays for my background, and I incorporated items from the May and June scrapbook kits.  I love how Hip Kit Club does smooth transitions from month to month so your leftovers are still relevant the next month.

I used two different HKC cut files from months past.  I put foam adhesive behind the title so it would really pop off the page.

Still loving those navy sequins from Jillibean Soup!

Special thanks to my fellow MOMS Club members for such a fab playdate to celebrate Mother's Day, and my sweet friend Rebekah set up the cutest little scene and took our pix!

Sending loving thoughts and healing vibes to those affected by the tragedy in Orlando; I lived in Orlando for three years and truly love that city.  More love my friends, more love.  xoxo

Hip Kit Club Love You

Do you ever make a page and then look at it once it's all completed, and think, "why did I do that?" That's what happened with this layout... Overall it's totally fine!  But when I look at the details I wish I had showed some restraint.

My biggest problem seems to be gesso; when I start laying it on the page I end up using entirely too much and have way too big of a gesso area.

I should have held back and used the gesso only on the top 1/3 of the page, or not at all.  I was worried the Dazzlerz wouldn't show up enough on the navy background.  Hello?  Bright pink Dazzlerz will always show up against navy.  So to scale back the white gesso I added some Shimmerz paints which did not show up like I wanted.  Ugh.  Live and learn, right?

What I do love is the partially heat embossed veneer items.  I used Versamark and Ranger Super Fine Gold embossing powder to get that look, adding tangled thread for additional gold and texture on the page.  I also adore the exclusive Hip Kit Club stencil!  I flicked some Navy Color Shine and Gold Color Shine to finish the page.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Thoughts on Friday

My girl, on her 3rd birthday

The last few weeks of weather in Kansas have been bananas.  We had snow, cold, and then Spring-like temps.  To add another layer of fun to it all, my little fam has been hit by the head cold junk.  We are all struggling with coughs and sinus troubles and just a ton of ick.

To get past it I'm looking at photos that have nothing to do with what I'm writing about.

Tiny Dancer

Messy Bun (Messy House)

Who's your friend who loves to play?  Bing Bong Bing Bong

Ok, to focus on things, let's make a list!

1. My plans for 6x12 Life Pages is kind of a bust.  I can't seem to get the pages to work out with the photos.  I'm tempted to give up on 6x12 for this year and switch to 6x8 because Simple Stories binders make me very happy.
2. My dream for my Life Pages album is to rock out some awesome spreads a la Mish Wooderson or Nicole Harper.  I can't seem to get in the groove yet.  Should I throw in the Life Pages towel or persevere?
3. While on the Life Pages rant, I haven't been taking very many photos.  Which makes Life Pages pretty much impossible to complete. :-/
4. I can't decide on a color theme for my daughter's birthday.  Or if I want to have a big party.  Q is only concerned about taking treats to school for snack.
5. Speaking of Q, she wasn't too crazy about soccer last fall, nor dance last summer.  Do I try them again and see if a year has made a difference?
6. Why is being a mom so hard?
7. Any idea what I should make for supper?
8. Coming up with a meal plan both overwhelms me and often eludes me.  I am not a creative cook.
9. Mixed media layouts have really rejuvenated me creatively.  I think the layers of paints, inks and whatever else ends up on the page feeds my soul in a way I've been missing.
10. I felt like I need 10 items on my list, so this is #10.  Ha!  Ok, back to scrapbooking:  the new releases coming out are very pretty, I'm especially excited about Pink Paislee, Maggie Holmes and Pinkfresh lines.

Organize Me

Currently I have this awesome Martha Stewart craft table in white and it has been perfect, until it wasn't.  My craft room is small with two high windows on one wall, and two wall-mounted lights. Given the shape of the room, the lighting situation and the storage pieces I use, the current desk isn't giving me the work room my craft area is capable of.  I need to maximize all available space.  I highly recommend the Martha Stewart desk and it worked great in my old (bigger) craft room, but in this small room it just isn't able to give me the work area I need.

I have some updates coming to my craft room in (hopefully) the next few months; my friends are building me a custom L-shaped desk similar to this one I found on Pinterest:

My desk will be standing height with shelves underneath.  I plan to do wall shelves similar to the picture as well.

I've already started stocking up on ways to organize my crafty stuff.  I have a fabulous local store that offers up cool baskets and storage, and I received a great gift card to purchase some stuff for my craft room this Christmas, but I have found some really awesome pieces on Amazon as well.  I've added links to the bottom of my post to make it easier for you to check out what I'm checking out ;)  I have a few vintage pieces I found at the Kansas Barn Sale last Fall and a few of those listed below are very similar to my retro storage stuff.

I inherited an armoire from my daughter's room when we moved to our current home a few years back and it holds lots of small items like embossing powders, spray inks and embellishments in their packages.  To organize these smaller items I use a series of small containers, baskets and storage containers to keep it all corralled.  The Sistema containers hold embossing powders, sequins, small wood veneer and all other tiny embellishments.  I bought a bunch of sample spoons to scoop the embossing powder out of the container to apply to projects.  This method has saved me a lot of embossing powder MESS, haha!

I plan to continue on with the Organize Me posts in 2016 when I get further along in my craft room updates.  I hope sharing what I find helps you organize your items!  When my room is completed I'll share a tour here on my blog.

The following are affiliate links.

sale!

Awesome deal over at Gossamer Blue this weekend only!

And because this cracked me up:

We don't have a dog.

Happy shopping my friends!  Have a great weekend :)

Checking In

Hi Everyone!  I am so pleased to say that I will be doing a giveaway very, very soon!  Watch for the announcement here on the blog and on Instagram.... it could come at any time ;)

This picture makes me happy.

I've got a big crafty day planned on Saturday.  A friend is hosting a small group of us at her place outside of town.  It's going to be AWESOME.  I plan to start on my December Memories album.  I'm using the Gossamer Blue kit HERE, it's delicious in every way.

This picture also makes me happy.

Speaking of December, look for some GB December kit sneaks on my Instagram account.  Wowie, these kits are packed full!  I should have some photos in the next day or two.

This pictures makes me very happy.

Be safe and happy my friends!

Right Now

So I'm sitting here on this rainy day in Kansas and thinking about all the fun projects I'll be doing in the future.  What I should be doing is working on fun projects due right now, but instead I choose to dream of things I want to do and plan to do and basically ignore my current to-do.

I cleaned the bathroom this morning so I deserve a little bit of daydreaming, right?

I currently do Project 12 Life Pages and use Gossamer Blue kits for completing my pages.  I love the cards we get each month in the kits because there are standard 3x4 and 4x6 sizes but in the last few months Lori started including 2x2 and 4x4 cards which basically made me do a happy dance.  I've mentioned before that I want to change my 2016 format and finally committed to using 6x12 after finding the blush and gold Teresa Collins albums on sale at Joann.  I purchased two, because what if I run out of room???  And I'm glad I did because now I can't find them online.  I plan to do some page protector hacks using my Fuse tool, simply cutting/fusing down the side to make any 12x12 pocket page into a 9x12.  I seem to have an over-abundance of LP page protectors so now I'll use them up.  Hooray!

I'm planning a week-long free class here on the Creating Us blog.  I haven't ironed out the details yet but I know the project I want to do and I'm feeling much more confident with my videos, so now I want to do some giving back to all you fab party people who read the blog and have a free class!  I've really enjoyed working on the Delight in the Details class at GB and want to build off the momentum I've got going with vids, so look for that sometime after the first of the year.

One of my all-time favorite projects is coming up soon.... December Memories.  I love mini pocket page albums and this year Gossamer Blue went all out with another amazing kit.  I've noticed a few of my DT members are already diving in to the project but I want to wait until I see what the talented Beshka and her contributors share in the free class you get when you purchase the kit.  All that info can be found HERE.

I will be doing some updates to my work space in the next few months as well.  My dear friends Clayton and Winif are building me a custom desk.  Here's my inspiration, found on THIS blog:

My desk will be a bit bigger with thicker legs and shelves beneath.  I absolutely cannot wait!

Ok, now to mark a few things off my to-do before preschool pick up!

Have a great day, my friends :)

AWDML Believe

Hello and Happy Tuesday!  This is my first Christmas project of the season and I have to say that I rather enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit! Using the Dear Santa Line from Photo Play Paper did make getting into the holidays really easy.  Now there is something you need to know about me... I am a recovered grinch.  That's right, Christmas used to make me grumpy.  But having a kiddo sure changes that and fast!  I'll share more on my reformed ways and appreciation for Christmas in the future, but in the meantime, read the how-to and see the project list for this Christmas layout HERE.

AWDML We Go Together

Hi Friends!  Happy Tuesday and Happy A Walk Down Memory Lane Day!  As you know, Tuesday is my blog day for AWDML and I have a feminine page with sparkle and shine + a photo tutorial. Click HERE to check it out.

This is such a special page to me as Grandma is no longer with us.  I'm so sad the girly won't get to have that special relationship with her and I have only a handful of photos of the two of them together. This is a perfect example of why I am a memory keeper.

Go hug your granny and tell her you love her :)

Five on Friday

I've never done a Five on Friday post before, but have read several from other bloggers I admire.  I have a few thoughts going through my head this morning and want to share!

1.  Fall is in the air.  We've had a bit of cooling off in Kansas this week and it's making me so anxious for Fall and my favorite time of year.  The temps next week are back to typical August, but this week has been delicious.  A few things Fall brings that I love include leggings, cardi's and crisp mornings.
Gap Stripe Cardi
AEO High Rise Leggings

2.  Creativity.  I am blessed with friends who can generate ideas quicker than quick.  I have so many ideas right now and my own creativity is taking a turn down a new path.  Cannot wait to share some fun stuff in the works with my sweet friend Rebekah, plus a few more things I want to do on my own. AND I've got a few big things happening for my design teams.  I'm on the cusp and get butterflies just thinking about what could happen.

3.  Threenagers.  Ugh.  I'm in the midst of madness with the girly.  Mood swings, independence and sharing not-so-nice opinions.  Help.  THIS article nails it.

4.  Inspiration.  I have a new scrap crush and her name is Irit.  Read her blog HERE.  Amazing mixed media which lines up exactly with the direction I hope to go next.

5.  Mani's.  I love shellac mani's and my girl Danielle hooks me up every time.  I love nail art but don't feel it looks so great on me so I stick with my fave darker shades or classic colors.  I'm sporting  HOT ROD RED right now.

AWDML: You, My Brown Eyed Girl

Tuesday AGAIN!  I've got a video (and a major blooper) on the A Walk Down Memory Lane blog HERE.  

I just love my girly's big dark eyes.  I remember waking up one time when she was still tiny, I had to use the bathroom and when I crept back into our bedroom there were these big, brown, baby eyes looking right at me.  She didn't make a peep, just looked right at me and started kicking with excitement.  I miss those days.  But I'm content with right now, soaking up every single minute.

Be happy, friends!

Project 12: 7

I completed by July Project 12 layout using Life Pages kits from Gossamer Blue.   Here's the 12x12 two page spread.

Individual photos of each 12x12 pocket page:

July also has one insert, this is a photo of the front and back of the approx. 7x12 insert.

I prefer to use pocket pages from We R Memory Keepers as I find them to be the best quality and most consistent pocket size.  The insert this month is from Project Life brand and while I like the tons of options for page set up and insert size, I find that the pockets themselves are a bit inconsistent in size and tend to tear a bit (which is why there is washi tape on one edge in the photo above).  Just sharing some personal preferences :)

I just checked the Gossamer Blue store and saw that there a few July Life Pages kits still available for purchase!  Click HERE to do a bit of shopping, grab a kit or three and get busy creating!

Gossamer Blue: Every Picture

The July Gossamer Blue kits are FULL of bright, cheerful summer colors, but I really wanted a soft look for this page so I grabbed the vellum pieces from the  kit and papers from the kit.  This is a super simple layout featuring the Life Pages card, the sentiment spoke to me and I thought it fit this photo of the girly wearing her big girl undies last summer.  For some reason this kiddo says no to pants in the summertime!  I say wear your undies with pride girl, one day you won't have the luxury of undies only on the front porch.

The stamp set from the Life Pages kit is absolutely fabulous.  I've used it repeatedly for pocket letters and am still finding other ways to use it.  I think Mish Wooderson really knocked it out of the park for the July kits.  I would love it if you would read her blog, she's a fellow Kansas girl who just does it right.  I adore her.

Gossamer Blue: Conga Line

Even though I know my sister Michell is going to kill me (and by kill me I mean yell at me and squeeze my knee really hard), I had to scrap these photos of the impromptu conga line through a store in the mall.  The girly asked her Aunt Honey to do a conga line and off they went!

I used the Gossamer Blue June Main Kit (which is still available HERE) to get a bright, sunny feeling

for this page.  The exclusive wood veneer tags were one of my favorites from the June kits.  I added some Versamark and embossing powder around the edges.  I also used a few items from the June Life Pages Themed Add-on (also {shockingly} still available HERE).  

I'm sure you already saw my big news from THIS post about staying with Gossamer Blue for another term (virtual high-fives all around!).  I've been checking out the new DT Members and you guys, this team is BANANAS!  So many talented women who create from the heart, have awesome blog skills and are just all-around cool chicks.  I can't believe I get to be on a team with them... somebody pinch me already.

I am really debating switching to a smaller format with my Life Pages.  I'm torn because I started out 12x12 in January and I don't want to be a lame-o and switch after 5 months (I do mine monthly so I haven't started on June yet), but the smaller format is calling me.  What would you do?  I'm afraid that now that I've started thinking about doing a smaller size book I'll become hateful at 12x12.  And I have a ton of 12x12 page protectors.  I would appreciate any input!

Happy Weekend!

The last few days...

The girly and I took an adventure to my hometown for Old Settler's Reunion.  This celebration occurs every five years and most people who grew up/lived there at one point return to reconnect.  I spent time with one of my classmates and was able to visit with another very briefly, plus see a handful of others from my childhood.  Now I get to share Old Settler's Reunion with my girly!

Our last day before heading home to get some much-needed rest included birthday cake for me!

41 years old.  For some reason this number is harder to take than 40!  It shouldn't matter at this point, the number doesn't signify anything.  Maybe the birthday in combination with Old Settler's made me reflect a bit more than other birthdays, as I've been spending more time on memories lately.  Lots of changes in my life since the last Old Settler's Reunion, mainly the addition of Miss Q in our lives!  

Here's a quick re-cap of the last 5 years:

• Miss Q
• Quitting work to stay home with my girly
• Design Team Member!  Special thanks to Lori at Gossamer Blue and Lisa at A Walk Down Memory Lane for having faith in my work
• New (to us), bigger house that I love.  I've also realized I don't really like houses built after the 1960's
• So many new girlfriends.  Making friends as an adult is about a million times harder than when you're a kid (and by kid, I mean college age and younger).  There are several girlies that have really impacted my life in a positive way--you know who you are
• KIDS.  I love and adore my friends' kiddo's
• FAMILY.  Hoping to stay connected to extended family!  I recently found a few of my favorite cousins from my childhood on Facebook and that is the best. feeling. ever.

There's so much more.  I think I'm going to spend some more time immersed in these memories and thoughts, maybe do a now and then post sometime soon.  It feels like something inside needs rediscovered and I'm awfully close to finding it.

Stay happy my friends!

XOXO

Jill

In the Springtime

I missed the first day of Spring by a day or so.  But that's not stopping me from feeling inspired by all the possibilities of Spring:  flowers, sunshine, fresh color, outside play.  This is my second favorite season, a close runner-up to Fall.  I think Spring is sheer perfection; I feel hopeful and energized after the darkness that Winter can bring.  I like a slow warm-up to Summer and Spring gives me just what I need.  But Fall...she makes me feel like falling in love, which is why she will always be my favorite.

But today it's all about the delicate perfection of Spring.

My precious Miss Q, Queen of the Dirt Diggers

Daffodil in our front yard

Peanut Butter M&M's, in a favorite green Ball jar

Do you have a favorite season?  

I'm feeling very inspired by color lately; the Gossamer Blue April kits are absolutely so lovely, you can check out the Lookbook HERE.  Isn't this the perfect color scheme for Spring?