Introducing: Project Life!

Introducing: Project Life 2013

Read all about Becky Higgins and Project Life HERE.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed the recent decline in layouts. In fact, I think I've only made 4-6 layouts in the last few months. There are several contributing factors to my slump -- I don't have as much time to create (prioritizing my time between home and school, preparing for baby), I've been taking less pictures (it's been a slow fall/winter season.. busy busy busy but not always a big event but lots of candids), and perhaps most attributing - I was overwhelmed with all my supplies, pictures, albums and need to "catch up". Insert, Project Life :)

Project life always interested me, it's been around several years. But It always scared me because I thought it would take away the creativity that I really love about scrapbooking. As the trend REALLY caught on - I realized that what I loved MORE about scrapbooking was displaying our photos and telling our life's story... which sort of has gotten lost this past year. I'm really excited to get that back. Deciding to do Project Life in 2013 has rekindled my love of this hobby and going to bring the best of both words -- documenting and creating :)

Although the idea of Project Life is simple, for me it took the last several weeks of organizing and pre-planning to convince myself to go for it. I don't want to crash and burn after 2 weeks. ;) For the most part, I'm going to use what I already have - patterned paper, my cricut, etc. But I couldn't resist mixing in new product:

I will be using one of We R Memory Maker's Designer Albums for my 2013 album. I just love them and believe my Michaels will be carrying them so I can use a coupon ;) Once the blizzard clears, I'll be spending my Christmas $ to get one. I will also be using some of the WRMK page protectors.

Photo Freedom is Echo Park's answer to Project Life. Page protectors, journaling cards, patterned papers, and more. I have always loved Echo Park and this is just another reason why.

Although I'm not using Becky Higgin's Project Life kits.. I did get the 3x4 and 4x6 grid cards from my hubby for Christmas :) This way, I can embellish with my own supplies - while having a unified look throughout my album for handwritten journaling.

I *plan* on having all of 2013 in that one album, so the pages can't be too bulky. Thus, I went back to my first love - stamps. I purchased several new clear sets for Project Life including -- a days of the week, months of the year, and (a few!) more.

Lastly, I've gained LOTS of inspiration from bloggers and Pinterest that has me so excited for this project. I hope you'll join me on this journey this year :) I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your pages if you're doing some form of PL in 2013, too. Leave a link so I can check them out! :)

Happy Early New Year :P

Happy Wednesday! I made a quick and easy New Years card using the sketch at Artful Delight:

I made a 4x4 card using my new Echo Park Winter Wishes 6x6 pad and Paper Smooches Alphadot set:

I'm also sharing this card at Paper Playtime. Now back to addressing Christmas cards ;) Have a good week!

Love Park

When we traveled to Philadelphia for our anniversary the beginning of November - I knew I wanted to get a photo of us in front of the "Love" sign at Love Park. (I just didn't know that the photos would cost me $20 .. lol!) But it was so worth it..

I used the December sketch at Artful Delight, along with Echo Park's "Enjoy the Ride" mini theme. I embellished with faux stitching, Paper Smooches "Alpha Dots", brads, and this fun washi tape (gifted to me by my friend April.. thanks April!)

I'm also sharing this layout at Frosted Designs for their 12 Days of Christmas... the 8th day was to use 8 products:

1. cardstocks

2. patterned papers

3. washi tape

4. brads

5. journaling card

6. border punch

7. stickers

8. white/black gel pen

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great Sunday :)

Baby card :)

My sweet friend and neighbor, Lauren, had her baby on Friday evening - a little girl they named Priya. I made a congratulations card this morning to go along with the cute, pink outfits I got to buy! I used this sketch from The Sampler Kit Club:

I used my My Minds Eye Indie Chic 6x6 pad, New Arrival cricut cartridge for the safety pins, and my Ali Edwards "Newborn" set for the sentiment:

Thanks for stopping by today! It's time for me to turn off the news and turn on football for the afternoon. My heart is so heavy for the families in Connecticut. As a first grade teacher, it hit all too close to home :( Have a   blessed Sunday!

Santa Paws ;)

Tis the season! I'm busy making gifts... and we can't leave out the furry members of our family!

I was so tickled when I saw Paper Smooches' latest release - Woofers and Tweeters. 

Doesn't that puppy look JUST like my Jax? Ack! I had to have him! And I put him to work on the latest Sparks challenge too.

I decided to make a treat topper, stretching out the sketch on the left :)

I love how it turned out!! I used my new-to-me Alphadot stamp set for the custom sentiment "Santa Paws". I can already tell I will be using this one A LOT! Love this font! I embellished with the paw print heart from Woofers and Tweeters.

I *loved* inking and paper piecing this lil guy! I used a grainy kraft cardstock and inked his snout in black to make him look like my Jax. I added a Santa hat sticker ;)

He is popped up on a red scalloped circle to make him the center of attention ;) So typical!! I hope he brought a smile to your face. Enjoy the rest of your week! Click HERE to join the Paper Smooches fun.

So excited~!

Hi everyone! I'm so excited! Scrappy Mom Stamps invited me to be a guest designer next year :)

I *love* Scrappy Mom Stamps - they are photo-polymer, have adorable fonts, and coordinate with so many of my favorite Cricut Cartridges. Here are some of my favorite Scrappy Mom Stamp projects so far..

Using "Owl Occasions"

Using  "Raining Cats and Dogs"

Using "Sunkissed"

Using "Everyday Greetings"

I'm so excited to join their team in July. You can see all the guest designers HERE and all their available stamp sets HERE. Have a great weekend! :)

Tags Galore :)

Happy December!!! Okay that just gave me a panic attack.. lol! I don't know why, a lot of our holiday shopping is done and I have a head start on our cards. I've also really loved making tags this year. 

I participated in a swap and created 7 each of these "traditional" style ones. I really love making rosettes!

.. and I made 7 each of these "vintage" ones. They are not my normal style, but was nice to step out of my box. I used K and Company embellishments, lace, and my Victorian embossing folder.

On Cyber Monday, I placed an order at A Cherry on Top and bought this elegant reindeer stamp from We R Memory Keepers. I had to use him on a tag right away (which were cut with Elegant Edges cricut cart)

Sorry for the terrible picture! Late night crafting at it's best. ;)

Then, of course, there was this special tag I made from my hubby. Couldn't resist sharing him again.. haha!

Stay tuned for more handmade holiday fun ;)

Owl I Want For Christmas :)

I'm so smitten with the "Winter Owl" stamp set from Lawn Fawn! You can see the fall card I used the owl on HERE. Today, I wanted to incorporate the holiday sentiment and make a tag for one of my hubby's gifts.

I cut the scalloped heart and layers from the Sweethearts cricut cartridge at 4.5" as my tag base and I love how it turned out!

ACK! Isn't it so cute. I have red/white wrapping paper that will really make it pop. I did some reverse stamping with owl to make another owl facing the opposite direction. Very easy to do, with a little patience ;) They are each paper pieced with grey/kraft cardstock and red/green patterned papers. You know I couldn't resist adding googly eyes!

Another thing that took a little bit of patience, but SO easy - was masking the sentiment so I could stamp it out horizontally under my little owl sweethearts. The finishing touch was adding the itty bitty heart stamp to the centers of the snowflake background.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! Hope you had a wonderful holiday.. I'm ready to pack away the fall decorations and start singing carols ;)

I'm sharing my tag at the Lawnscaping Challenge



and at Paper Issues - Holiday Happy theme  :)

There is no doubt..

I love how devoted my husband is to making our nursery an awesome room for our future child. I had a special picture of him I wanted to scrapbook, putting the finishing touches on the custom made wainscotting panels. The one photo sketch at Artful Delight this month was perfect:

Here's my layout:

I used woodgrain and blueprint patterned papers that have been in my stash for a while. I added some pops of yellow from the color combo challenge at Scraptastic (when blue skies are grey inspiration).

I've had these bingo cards and Sassafrass embelishments in my stash for a while too. It felt great to use them, finally.  I'm sharing this page at Lasting Memories because I also used my "Loving Words" stamp set by Ali Edwards to embellish my papers/picture.

I used my EK Success "binding edge" punch and mini heart punch to embellish the woodgrain strips on the top and bottom of my layout. I may go back and add handwriting journaling to the blue paper :)

Thanks for stopping by today.. if I don't post again HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :)

If The Shoe Fits ;)

I loved the card sketch at Artful Delight this month:

I paired it with the cool color combo at Paper Smooches:

I dug through my cardstock scraps and used them in strips on my card base. I stamped the high heels from the "Pretty Momma" set with the congratulations sentiment from the "Sentiment Sampler":

Of course I had to add a little mini bling to dress it up :)

I think the black stitching finishes it off. Perfect card for a girlfriend with big news to celebrate :)