Let's Talk Tuesday: Embossing Folders Scrapinar

A few months ago I set a goal to be a teacher in the scrapbooking industry. I've been working (mostly behind the scenes) on this goal. Today I'm one step closer to that goal. Tonight I will be teaching a scrapinar with Lain Ehmann from Layoutaday.com on embossing folders. I've been working on this project for a very long time.

I took an entire Saturday and devoted it filming for this project. My hubby helped me set everything up, he helped me film, and he did most of the video editing. I love that guy! He's always supportive of my shenanigans. I know he never thought that he'd be editing videos and helping with scrapbooking projects. He does it like a pro though. Did I mention that I love that guy?!?! 

I thought that I'd give you a little peek at what went on behind the scenes. My entire living room was converted to, well, a giant mess with one spot that was clean and well lit for filming.

Here's a sneak peek of a project I'll be showing you tonight at the scrapinar:

 You must preregister for this event. There's still time! Go here and follow the easy steps to get registered. Make sure to say "hello" tonight. I'm so nervous!!! I'd love to see some friendly blogging faces in the crowd tonight. 
See you tonight!

The First Day of School & Bella Blvd

Hello, it's Monday and for us that means the first day of school (for my little girlie, the boy starts tomorrow). I was caught off guard when I got a lump in my throat when I kissed her on the cheek as she ran into her class. She's been so excited for this day and so have I. I didn't think I would have even a moment of sadness. The truth is, I'm going to miss having her around all day. She's such a sweet, happy, easygoing, little girlie. She's also a great helper! I've found myself looking at the clock wondering what she's doing and waiting for the time when I get to go get her. I can't wait to hear about her day, it's her first day in a new school and I know she'll have great stories to tell me at the end of her school day! Tomorrow her big brother will be joining her at school. I will finally have 2 kiddos in the same school! That, my friends, is cause for celebration!

 

On to scrapbooking news...I have a layout on the Bella Blvd blog today. I'm not sure how it happened but I totally missed this assignment. I didn't write it on my schedule, nothing. I just completely over looked it. I was mortified when I got the email asking where my project was...yikes! So, needless to say I finished this project within a few hours. It's a good thing I love Bella's products and they're so easy to work with. Have I mentioned before that I LOVE Bella Blvd? I especially love their Halloween lines, probably because I love Halloween ;)

 In my world this is one of the very few acceptable uses for the color purple on a scrapbook page. I don't love purple but it somehow works for Halloween.

 The new chipboard is adorable!! I love chipboard!

Have a great Monday! Come back tomorrow for #letstalktuesday.

 

Pebbles ~ Back to School Cards

Good morning! I'm up on the Pebbles blog today with some back to school cards. Here are some that I created with the same products:

Here's a quick look at the rest of the projects featured here for Back to School week.
Monday: Spelling Bee
Tuesday: Back to School Photo Shoot Ideas
Wednesday: Favorite Back to School Products
Thursday: Preschool Layout (Process Video Included)

Now hop on over to the Pebbles blog and check out a tutorial on creating back to school cards using crayons.

Preschool Tutorial Video

Yesterday I mentioned that I have 2 favorite collections that I've used for my back to school projects this year; Public Library from October Afternoon and Tiny Tots from Bella Blvd. Today I have a process video to share with you using the Tiny Tots collection. Here's the project I created:

Watch how I created this project...complete with the paper straw flagpole.

Have a great Thursday! 

My Favorite Back to School Scrapbooking Products

Over the weekend we moved my scrapbooking/office space from the corner of our living room to the corner of the master bedroom. I'm not sure I love the change...yet...but it needed to happen and we needed more space in the living room. So normally I would be creating and blogging from my living room with a whole bunch of kiddos playing around my desk. Now, after the big move, I'll be doing most of my blogging and creating behind the closed door of my bedroom. Hopefully this will be a good change for our family. This is only a temporary situation until our basement is finished. After the basement is finished I will have my own studio with huge windows and enough space for me to create and blog without interfering with our other living spaces. I often dream of having my own room. I've got plenty of ideas on my *someday I'll have my own studio* Pinterest board. It's going to be hard to narrow down all my plans for my creative space, that's a hard task that I'm willing to take on!

Since my space has been moved I've been working on lots of back to school projects. I thought I'd share my favorite collections with a "back to school" theme. There are two collections that I've been reaching for and have been using over and over.  

My favorite collections for this years back to school projects are Public Library (October Afternoon) & Tiny Tots (Bella Blvd). I love the Public Library collection for my older kiddos and the Tiny Tots is perfect for preschool/early elementary aged kids. I've created many projects with the Public Library collection. Most recently I created a set of cards for my kiddos teachers. I'll attach them to a small gift for them to give to their teachers on the first day of school. 

I also created a layout with the Public Library collection. It's one of my favorite layouts. I love how the title came together with the chipboard.

This collection goes really well with cork accents. I added some cork chipboard letters to the title and a few cork stars to the embellishment cluster.

The story behind this project is so sweet. My sister in law had come to visit one evening. My little man had just put his pajamas on and crawled onto her lap to read a Little Critter story (his favorite books). I was sitting next to them on the couch and snapped a quick photo (unbeknownst to them). It's not the best photo because it was taken at night and with my phone. When photos don't turn out very well I often change them to black and white. That simple change can make a world of difference to a "not so good" photo. Don't let a "so so" photo keep you from documenting a memory or a story that you want to tell. I thought it was so sweet to watch them reading together. I know my little man will love to look back on this when he gets a little older. He loves his aunt Kayla!!

Tomorrow I'll have a video featuring the Tiny Tot's collection from Bella Blvd. Until then you can check out THIS project I created for the launch of the Tiny Tots line.

See you tomorrow!

Back to School Photo Ideas

Let's Talk about going Back to School!!

Today is day one of  four giving you tons of ideas for getting the kids ready to go Back to School. Tuesday-Friday of this week it's all about "Back to School" Today we're talking about Back to School photos
It's that time of year again, summertime is coming to an end so it's time for the kids to get Back to School. I LOVE this time of year. I'm a sucker for school supplies. I love all the pens, paper, crayons, markers, binders, paper clips...you get the idea. Back to School photos are my favorite photos. period. I look forward to taking photos of my kiddos (and nieces and nephews) dressed in their back to school best and usually with a huge grin on their faces...at least at the beginning of the photo shoot they have a grin on their face.

Here are a few photos from previous years that are my favorites. (get ready for LOTS of photos) Did I mention Back to School Photos are my favorites?

 This year we combined our Back to School photo shoot with our family photos (gotta love the self timer feature on the camera). I did manage to get a few good shots even though I had some very unhappy kids that afternoon.

 This is my personal favorite out of all the photos I took this year:

My sister sent me THIS pin and said that it was a must have for my daughter. She knows that my little girlie always has her nose in a book.
I love it because it captures her so perfectly. I'm still laughing about it because the book I brought for her to use as a prop (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), she fell in love with. She's read it twice since we used it as a prop for this photo. 

Before your kiddos go Back to School (or even if they've already started). Grab the camera, a few props, tell the kiddos to get their favorite Back to School outfit on and take a few photos. If you'd like a few more ideas you can check out my Back to School photo shoot Pinterest board for a few more ideas.

Happy Tuesday!

Fancy Pants: Admit One (Paper Issues)

Happy Monday, there's another issue new issue at Paper Issues. This one is titled Admit One... use a ticket stub or event memorabilia, favorite movie, circus, carnivals, concerts, fairs, winning a ribbon/prize/award/diploma, use the number one, "That's the Ticket" as a title, use Fancy Pants products. Fancy Pants is sponsoring this issue and will be giving one lucky winner their Everyday Circus collections.

I got to work with this collection and had so much fun with it. I think I fell in love with it when I saw the title "Everyday Circus" because I feel like that is what my everyday is like....a circus. ;) The project I created is all about my little girl and my niece at the school spelling bee.

 Make sure you get your projects linked to the current issue so that you have a chance to win this collection!


Make sure you stop back here tomorrow. We're kicking off a back to school series tomorrow for "Let's Talk Tuesday" Tomorrow it's all about Back to School Photo Shoots. I think you'll love it!

Have a great Monday!

Baseball Fanatics

It's no secret that we're a baseball/softball family. We start with little league in March (yes, March). Most of our little league season is played in the wind, rain, and even snow. I wouldn't do it if my little man didn't love it. He loves playing baseball and takes it very seriously. I've sat through many games and practices watching him play. This past season was a little bit different. He seemed to finally come out of his shell and really start playing serious baseball. He practiced, he practiced, and he practiced. He worked so hard and he finally achieved his goal of being pitcher. He pitched several games and played first base when he wasn't pitching. I had many "proud mommy" moments this season. I love that he set a goal and worked and worked until he achieved it.
Here are some photos of my little guy in action:

Now that school is almost to begin we've been doing some school shopping. Most of the boys shopping was done online. The boys definitely don't want to go shopping with their mom. We found some baseball jerseys from our local baseball team on the Fanatics website. He was super excited about that! He loves going to watch our local baseball team play. What the little guy was really wants is a baseball cap. Because baseball caps aren't allowed at school, he added that to his Christmas list.


Even though it's Summertime I've had a little bit of time for scrapbooking a few of their baseball/softball photos.

(You can find more details about this project HERE) 

Not only are we a baseball family but we've been to our share of softball games too. My little lady loves softball and she especially loved this season when her dad helped coach her team. She was so excited to go to all of her games and looked adorable walking across the field right next to her daddy. This little girl (unlike her brothers) is thrilled to go school shopping with her momma. She'd rather not do any online shopping.

I've had a little bit of time to get a project done for her album too. I used Bella Blvd's Molly line to create this layout:

 I'm proud to be a baseball mom, although, I am glad that baseball season is over for another year. We're already looking forward to the 2015 season!

How about you? Does your family have a sport that you'd be classified as Fanatics in? Have you documented those moments in your scrapbooks or Project Life albums?