True Scrap 6 Individual Classes on SALE

As I've previously mentioned I set a goal to become an instructor for a True Scrap event. I came very close to achieving that goal when I did a Make & Take for * True Scrap 6 in October. All the classes went on sale today. I wasn't able to make it to the entire event but I have watched all of the replays of the classes since then and they are fantastic! Every class was amazing but I do have a few personal favorites.

Kelli Crowe's class: (Saw This, Made That: Bringing Ideas to Life), in this class I was amazed at what Kelli used for inspiration and turned into a scrapbook layout. I'm always a huge Kelli Crowe fan. Her classes are always inspiring and make me want to create. When I take a class and it ends with my fingers inching to create, I know it was worth the time and money I spent on it. This is definitely how I felt after Kelli's class.

Another favorite of mine is Jen Gallacher's class. I love Jen to pieces. I've been lucky enough to meet Jen a few times and spend time chatting with her. She never ceases to amaze me. Her class was incredible! In this class Jen teaches not only how to create your own mood board but how to find inspiration and create projects from your mood board. The thought to create an actual physical mood board in my scrapbooking space never crossed my mind. I've thought about creating a mood board virtually or on Pinterest but the thought of actually creating one in my scrapbooking space was a new concept for me. I love love love her mood board and the projects she created with it. 

Noelle Hyman blew my mind with her organizational skills as far as what photos/memorabilia she puts into her scrapbooks and what photos/memorabilia she puts into her Project Life albums. I wish I could be as organized as she is and put as much thought into the organization of my memory keeping as she does to hers. She's amazing! 

Because I don't do Project Life (in the traditional, day to day method). I loved Nichol Magouirk's class on using Project Life cards on 12x12 layouts. She has some amazing ideas. Nicole always does such a great job putting her classes together. She can layer embellishments and patterned papers like nobody's business. She even die cuts a journaling card with an electronic die cutting machine, really. You'll love this class!   

Last but not least, I think you'll love the Make & Take classes too. For the make and take with Alice Boll you'll learn the coolest technique to make an adorable interactive layout. Until True Scrap 6 I'd never met Alice. She's so sweet and is an amazing designer! In my make and take you'll learn (step by step) how to create a mini album. The album I create in this video is a Halloween album but the tips and tricks I share can be applied to any mini album. (FYI the collection I used for this mini album is the * Bella Blvd Halloween Magic collection. If you don't have this collection, get it now. It is a must have!) Here's a sneak peek of the album:

Lain has a sale on these classes until the end of November (only 4 more days). You can get these classes for only $9.99 each or the entire event (all 9 classes for $74). I think the make and take classes are an especially good deal because you're getting 2 classes for the price of one. Hop on over to * layoutaday.com for all the details. Have fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy the all the classes. Come back and let me know which one is your favorite.

(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. Affiliate links are shown with an *)

Family Photos Mini Album

Recently, Elle's Studio sent me these adorable wood veneer mini album covers.

I combined these wood veneer covers with the October Kit, and a few bits and pieces from the Sycamore Lane collection to create a mini album showcasing our recent family photos.

 I loved the detail on the wood veneer cover that I didn't want to do much embellishing on it. I wanted the wood to stand out.

There isn't a ton of journaling in this album it's mostly a fun decoration to sit on the entry way table in our living room.

I love photos of the girls together and the boys together.

On this page I added a transparency with a a little bit of flair. 

This two page spread just simply shows the kids ages at the time the photos were taken.

And last but not least...a page for mom & dad :)

Just in case you missed it HERE's a link to the post about how to take your own family photos.

Do you have your family photos taken for the year?

Guest Designing for Top Dog Dies

Have you heard of Top Dog Dies? Honestly, until a couple of months ago, neither had I. After browsing their website I was so excited to start working with their products.
Top Dog Dies is a new online store that offers their own brand of wafer-thin and steel-rule dies, along with dies from brands you already know and trust, including Little B, Lawn Fawn, Taylored Expressions, Savvy Stamps and Cheery Lynn Designs. Top Dog Dies is also the leading U.S. retailer for Tattered Lace, a new line of intricate dies designed by British designer Stephanie Weightman.
I was given the Butterfly Finishers Die Set to work with. There are so many cute wafer-thin dies and a huge steel-rule die that you can use for a mini album. I used the large die to create this mini journal for my little girl to keep track of all the books she's reading this summer. (You can find a full tutorial on this project on the Top Dog Die blog.)

I also created a layout using all the butterfly shaped dies in this set. By cutting several butterflies from white cardstock and then adhering them to white cardstock I created a fun textured background.

I used lots of fun elements from American Crafts and Imaginisce on this project as well.

Don't you love the background? It makes the layout so much more interesting than if I had just used one plain piece of cardstock.

Top Dog Dies is also doing a fun giveaway for you, as a reader of my blog. The winner will receive $50 worth of exclusive dies from Top Dog Dies (your choice!) You can enter that giveaway HERE  The Deadline to enter will be Monday, June 30 at midnight Central Standard Time. Hurry, you're almost out of time!

Thanks for stopping by today!  

Let's Talk Tuesday: Combining Fonts to Create Eye Catching Titles

{If you're looking for the Hip Kit/Elle's Studio blog hop and giveaway, you can find it HERE)
Combining fonts to create bold, eye catching titles is one of my favorite techniques. I use it all.the.time. I have a secret recipe for perfect font combinations:

1. Use a script font (one that looks kind of like cursive handwriting) combined with a block font.
2. One font must be thicker and bolder than the other one. I usually use the script font as the thinner font and the block font as the bolder one.

Let me show you what I mean. This Turkey Dinner layout is a perfect example.

The "turkey" part of the title is created with a chipboard alphabet from Bella Blvd and the "dinner" portion of the title is cut from dark brown cardstock using my Silhouette Machine.

Here's an example of a premade die 0cut title that uses the same guidelines that I adhere to. Gotta Love This

This diecut is from Kerri Bradford Studios. Notice that the "gotta" portion of the title is in script and the "love this" portion of the title is a block font.

The last example I have for you today is the title of a mini album I created for American Crafts (there's a tutorial with this album too, you can find that HERE)

Do you have a secret (or not so secret) plan for combining fonts? I'd love to hear your method. 

Summer Bucket List Mini Album

Good Morning and Happy Thursday! After a very busy Wednesday I'm happy to be spending the day at home with my littles, cleaning, cooking, creating, and sneaking in a few minutes for a few snuggles and reading some stories. 
We're planning a nice quiet Summer; we'll be spending lots of time at home. Home with my little family is my favorite place to be.
Over Memorial Day weekend I created this mini album to document some of the things that the kiddos put on their Summer Bucket Lists. 

I let them each choose 10 things that cost little or no money and then when we have a lazy day at home we'll check a few of the items off of their lists and take some photos. 

I let them look at this list from thecraftingchicks.com


By the end of the summer they'll have an album completed with summer activities. 

I left lots of room for journaling because I want the kids to do the journaling. Now that most of them are old enough to write or even draw. I love hearing their side of the story.

I can't wait to read all the stories that will be in this little book. We don't do anything elaborate or fancy for Summer Vacation but we have a lot of fun and spend lots of time as a family.
What's your favorite family Summer activity?

Mother's Day Gift idea with a Tutorial

It's almost Mother's Day. I've been working on a little surprise for my mom. I often give mini albums as gifts, especially to grandparents. Grandmas and Grandpas always love pictures of their grandkids! This Mother's Day I wanted to shake things up and try framing a mini album so my mom can display it at home or in her office. It's very simple to frame a mini album. Today, I'll show you how :)

I made my own album out of cardstock. I needed to make sure that it fit in the frame. The frame I wanted to use holds a 4x6 photo so I cut my cardstock a little bit smaller and made sure to leave room at the top for the rings that hold the album together. I have 3 kids and I wanted each of them to have two pages  in the album (one for a photo and one for journaling).

Most of the supplies I used for this album came from Dear Lizzy's Polka Dot Party Collection.

 

Each page was simple. On the top page I included a photo and on the bottom I created a page with a journaling pocket and card. Each of my kids wrote a message to their Grammy and placed it in the pocket.

When the album was complete I punched holes in the top. I held the pages together with some paper clamps while I punched the holes.

After I had the holes punched I covered the back part of the frame. The portion behind the glass where the photo would go with patterned paper. (I left the glass out of the frame entirely.)

I attached the album to the frame with double sided tape

That's all there is to it! My kids are so excited to give this to their Grammy because they helped to make it.

And here's the finished project:

What do you think? I think my mom will love it. The entire project took me about an hour. Not long at all.
Thanks for stopping by today!