Bella Blvd's NEW Add Color Collection

Just last week Bella Blvd released 3 new collections. I got to play with the new Just Add Color collection. This collection is perfect for someone like me who would love to be crafty with paints but I always get scared when I stare at a blank piece of paper. This collection lets you add some color with acrylic paints, gelatos, markers, watercolors, or colored pencils...really the list could go on and on, there are so many options. All the patterned papers in this collection are black and white, ready for a splash of color. I chose to add some color to my projects with acrylic craft paints.

Love My Boys Scrapbooking Process Video

I'm trying to get a bigger selection of videos uploaded to my YouTube channel. It's difficult to film videos when there are lots and lots of kiddos running in an out of the house. I don't have a dedicated studio space, yet, so it's taking me a lot longer than I wanted it too but I'm slowly building up my library. I think I'm getting things figured out and that I will be able to bring lots more videos your way. For Lets Talk Tuesday, I added a new process video to my YouTube channel.

Fun and Games Layout with Tutorial

Happy Monday! Do you like Mondays or do you hate Mondays? Personally, I kind of like Mondays. I love getting back into a routine after the chaos of the weekend and it's also nice to send the kids off to school so I can get a few things accomplished.

This Monday is a particularly nice Monday. I spent part of last week at the Snap Conference in Salt Lake City Utah. I LOVE this conference and on this Monday I feel like my batteries have been recharged, I have clear goals in mind, and a specific to-do list to help me accomplish my goals. I'll have more details about this conference in an upcoming blog post. I'm so excited to share with you a few things I learned at the conference.

While I was at the conference I found a new amazing place to shop for crafting supplies and get the best deals!

Heritage Scrapbooking

As you know, I've been doing a few heritage scrapbooking projects. (You can find details HERE and HERE and HERE). Today I wanted to share with you a two page spread I created with a wallet size photo of my great grandma. I may have gotten a little carried away with the Thickers on this layout but I think I got my point across. ;)

I wanted this layout to emphasize vast amount of quilts that my great grandma made. She made hundreds of quilts for dozens of family members and friends.

I added a lot of hand journaling on the right side of the two page spread as well as a few more Thickers to balance out the huge amount of Thickers that I added on the layout on the left side.

I love how this layout turned out and I think that when my family looks at this layout they will remember exactly how much my great grandma quilted.

Even though this photo my not qualify as a heritage photo because it's not that old (it was taken circa 2000). I think it is relevant to heritage scrapbooking because it tells a story that dates back several years.

Have you done any heritage scrapbooking lately? Where do you find inspiration for your heritage scrapbooking?

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(This post contains affiliate links, by purchasing items through these links you will not pay more for any of the items I will just receive a small percentage of the sale. These affiliate links help to keep my blog running and to support my family.)

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Free Spring Idea Book

Echo Park Paper recently released their Spring Idea Book. This book has the most adorable projects in it. Jen Gallacher has some amazing layouts and Holly from Ribbons and Glue has the most adorable baby gift idea. I have a couple of fun projects in this issue too.

This set of cards is the first project I have in the Spring Idea Book. I created these cards with my Silhouette Cameo and the Sunny Days Ahead collection.

One of my favorite things about the Echo Park Idea Books (other than the fact that they are FREE) is the photography. The photos are beautiful!
The second project I have in the Spring Idea book is a small paper mache box. I had so much fun decorating this box with flowers from the Spring Flower Die Set and little bit of  glossy accents. By adding glossy accents the flowers have a little bit of dimension and shine. By adding dimensional adhesive I added some dimension and texture to the gift box.  I also added some stitching with my sewing machine . I added the stitching before I attached the patterned paper pieces on the paper mache box.

Now, hop over to see the rest of the Echo Park Idea Book. Thanks for stopping by today!

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(This post contains affiliate links, by purchasing items through these links you will not pay more for any of the items I will just receive a small percentage of the sale. These affiliate links help to keep my blog running and to support my family.)

The Fringe Hours

I don't typically post on Sundays but this post seemed fitting for a Sunday. The Fringe Hours is a great book to curl up with on a Sunday afternoon. When I'm scrolling through my Instagram feed and I see that someone is recommending a book I quickly take a screen shot. Then when I'm on my computer ordering on Amazon I scroll through the photos on my phone and order the books that I'd like to read. Ali Edwards recommended the book "The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You." It sounded interesting so I ordered it. After it came it sat on my nightstand for a couple of weeks while I finished the book I was currently reading. When I did finally open the book, I couldn't put it down.

When I finished the book and as I was thinking about what I would blog about in my review the thing that came to my mind first was that reading this book was just like sitting down and talking to a good friend about how I needed to find a little more balance in my life. The book is written by Jessica N. Turner. She blogs at TheMomCreative.com. I think that this book resonated with me so much because Jessica is a mom, she's a blogger, AND she's a scrapbooker....ummmm, I am too (on all accounts). I really think I could be best friends with her.

As a mom, it's easy to forget to take care of yourself by taking time to do things that you enjoy. There have been times that I've done really well with taking time for myself but there have been times that I haven't taken care of myself. Since my diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis I've had take better care of myself because if I don't, I end up sick and in bed. In a chapter of the book titled "Identifying how to care for yourself" Jessica talks about many ways that you can care for yourself. For me (since my diagnosis) a major factor in taking care of myself is sleep. I cannot go without sleep. I have to sleep between 8-9 hours a night. Even though it's been a couple of years since my diagnosis, I still struggle with this. I do it, because if I don't, I get sick...fast! It's hard to spend time in bed when I know I could be doing things for my family. It's something that I've had to get used to though. Jessica does talk about the importance of finding rest in a later chapter of the book.

Another chapter that stuck out to me was the chapter about "Shifting Your Perspective." I've had to do this a lot it's so easy to step away from a project because it's something that I'm unable to do anymore. I've decided that shifting my perspective from "I can't do this" to "what can I do?" Even if I'm not feeling up to sitting at my desk and working on a scrapbooking project I can take my laptop to bed with me (or a pen and a notebook) to do some journaling, or I can take my iPad to bed with me and watch a process video on YouTube, or take a class on Craftsy. {This is my favorite class so far. (Scrapbook Design & Storytelling: Beyond the Basics). It's taught by my dear friend Jen Gallacher.} By shifting my perspective, just a little bit, I don't feel nearly as down on myself when I don't feel up to completing an entire task.

I also love the fact that there were so many familiar names quoted in this book. Names that are in an industry that I know and love. I loved hearing comments from: Ali Edwards, Lain Ehmann, and Becky Higgins throughout the book. Those women are all such great examples of finding balance between running very successful businesses and still managing a home and family.

The hardest part of the book for me to read was the last chapter where Jessica talks about a friend of hers (Sara) that also had Ankylosing Spondylitis who passed away. It wasn't easy to read about someone who passed away from the same disease that I have. Sara's perspective is one that is so important, that of choosing joy. Not having joy, or finding joy, but choosing joy. I think that perspective is one that we can all learn from.


You can read a little more about my experience with Ankylosing Spondylitis HERE and HERE.
Enjoy your Sunday and have a wonderful week.

Teacher Appreciation Gift Bag with Tutorial

I thought that for Lets Talk Tuesday this week we'd shake things up creating a small gift with scrapbooking supplies.  As a paper crafter I (probably like many of you) have accumulated quite a stash of paper crafting supplies. I like to put those supplies to good use whether it's on a scrapbooking page, a card, or a gift. This time, I created a cute gift bag for a teacher appreciation gift.


I used the Soak Up the Sun collection (by Carta Bella Paper) to make this a bright happy gift. I started with a kraft gift bags and a few elements from Carta Bella Paper's Soak Up the Sun collection.

I knew I wanted to use the Moped Die Set so I started by cutting the pieces for that with some patterned paper, black cardstock, and gray cardstock and a manual die cut machine (Sizzix Big Shot)

After I cut out all the pieces I was ready to start working on the gift bag.

I added a paper doily on the edge of the bag and trimmed the edge of the doily off the bag.

After I added the doily I cut two circles from patterned paper in the Soak Up The Sun 6x6 Paper Pad using a circle cutter . I embossed the smaller circle with the Cloud Embossing Folder once again using a manual die cutting machine (Sizzix Big Shot).

Then, I added the circles on top of the doily.

After adding the doily and the patterned paper circles to the gift bag I was ready to finish it up with some stickers and a little bit of Soak Up The Sun Decorative Tape, Striped Washi Tape.

 I think I'll fill this cute bag with a few treats and maybe a gift card for a cute teacher appreciation gift. Last year when I helped with a teacher appreciation dinner I created some cute water bottles for the entire staff at my kids school. You can find all the details to that HERE.
Thanks for stopping by today.

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(This post contains affiliate links, by purchasing items through these links you will not pay more for any of the items I will just receive a small percentage of the sale. These affiliate links help to keep my blog running and to support my family.)