He's Five! {Bella Blvd, Tiny Tots Collection}

My little man recently turned 5. I can't believe he's 5 already. It really does feel like he was a tiny little guy just yesterday. He means the world to his daddy and me. He's so much fun and makes me happy everyday! On his birthday we went to the zoo. I was able to snap a couple of quick photos of him. I decided to use on of Bella Blvd's new collections (Tiny Tots) to document some of his favorite things at the age of 5.

There will be inspiration all week long on the Bella Blvd blog using the 4 new collections. (I'll have a few projects here on my blog too.)
Here's the one I created using Tiny Tots.

 Even though it's a collection designed for toddlers. It worked perfectly for my preschool aged guy. There's the most adorable chipboard set to go with this collection. That's where the title came from.

Primary colors are my favorite to work with. I love bold bright colors and patterns.

And here's the whole project:

This layout came together so easily. I simply used 2 columns of patterned papers and built up from there. I used one column for the photo and the title and the other column for journaling and a bit of embellishing.

I can't wait to show you more projects that I've created with this collection...stay tuned!

I mentioned earlier that I love to create with Primary colors. Is there a color palette that you like to use over and over?

Monochromatic with Bella Blvd

Happy Monday! Welcome! I hope you're off to a great start on your work week. We're hitting the ground running this week. I've got meetings bright and early this morning and we've got 3 baseball games this week (maybe more) and at least 1 practice. I'll be buying another bottle of sunscreen for the kids and spending lots of time in the car driving from one baseball field to another. So far both kids are loving baseball, that makes it so much more fun and easier for the mamma.

I also have lots of fun things coming up here on my blog this week too. I'm so excited about tomorrow's Let's Talk Tuesday post. I can't wait to share it!

Today I've got a project up on the Bella Blvd blog. To be honest, this project may have given me a grey hair or two. My challenge was to create a layout with a monochromatic color scheme. I'm not sure I've ever used a monochromatic color scheme, if I did it was years ago. I like to use lots of color on my layouts. As you can see here, and here, and here, color is what I love! I use lots of different colors, all the time. So limiting myself to one color made me a little bit panicky.

What I did love about this project was digging through my stash of Bella papers to find the perfect colors. I love the colors and patterns in Bella collections. They're always so bright and fun.

I chose a yellow/orange color scheme. I wanted to fussy cut my title like I did on this project.

I cut one inch strips of paper (corner to corner) from each piece of patterned paper. Once I adhered them to a 9 inch square of cardstock on the diagonal I zig-zag stitched where each strip of paper came together.
I added my journaling just above each line of zig-zag stitching.

I do love how it turned out. I think I will try this design with a few more colors next time though.
What do you think? Is there a color scheme that is harder for you to work with? Is it hard for you to stick with one color or is it harder to combine lots of color?

Dream

Who doesn't love photos of their sleeping kiddos. There's something about a sleeping baby. It melts my heart. I have plenty of photos of my little guy, I chose a couple of these photos with a book laying on his chest while he is fast asleep.

 I cut the title for this project with my silhouette from an American Crafts file I bought in the Silhouette store. You can find it HERE

On a side note I had this layout sitting on my desk ready to put into an album...then this happened...

My nephews came to visit. I LOVE them so much!! He's only 1 and he was so excited to see a photo of his cousin he couldn't help but play with the layout. After I picked up the pieces that were scattered all over the house my husband said "I'm proud of you, you didn't even freak out" I just laughed. I'll put the pieces back together and put it in my son's album with a bit more journaling about the tattered papers. It will make me smile!

Elle's Studio January Kit

Hey there, I'm so excited to share my first projects with Elle's Studio. I am thrilled about working with the January Kit! Hurry and get yours, they sell out quickly!!

This kit is FULL of little bits and pieces. I'm so impressed with this kit. I'll be creating many more layouts with the pieces I have left!

Here are a couple more projects I create with Elle's more recent lines.
This one is created with Penelope. The perfect girly line! I love the colors!

And here's a project with the Cameron line, perfect for boys!

I'm so looking forward to bringing many more Elle's studio projects in the coming months! What's your favorite Elle's studio line?

Celebrating 2014 With New Adventures

Happy New Year! I hope you have a fun and safe holiday! We're taking it easy at our house and will just spend the day relaxing and enjoying a family day!

I do have a bit of exciting news to share! I've been keeping a secret, for a very long time! I'm so excited to finally spill the beans today.

Elle's Studio will be my home for the next 6 months! I'm so excited to be designing for them. Their products are amazing.

Here's a project that I submitted for the Design Team call.

On this project I used the Cameron line and went with a simple grid design. It's so fun to create projects for little boys with this line.

Stay Tuned, there will be lots more Elle's Studio to come! I'm thrilled to be a part of this amazing team!

Have a great day!

Fall is Just Around the Corner...

Fall is almost here! My favorite season! I'm so excited for cooler weather and fall colors. With fall just around the corner that also means Halloween is just around the corner. I love Halloween! It's such a fun holiday especially if you have little kids. It's also one of the few holidays I always scrapbook pictures from. Most of the photos I scrapbook are from everyday moments. The project I have to share with you today features Bella Blvds new Trick or Treat collection.

Let me tell you a little bit about this costume. It was a nightmare to make! It took forever to cut it out and glue it together and then when I took it to get laminated the laminator wasn't hot enough so it didn't seal the bottom half of the tractor. Of course I had finished it at the last minute and there was not enough time to redo it so his tractor costume wasn't laminated on the bottom half...*sigh* Oh well, my little man still thought it was the greatest costume in the world! (Don't ya love 3-year-olds.) So, this layout is all about my little tractor man.

So do you love Halloween? Do you scrap Halloween photos? Leave a comment or hit the "contact me" button to the right and let me know :)

Have a wonderful day!

Guest Designing for American Crafts

Hey there! I've got a LOT of projects to share with you today!

I was asked a few weeks ago to be a guest designer on the American Crafts blog (before I knew I was on the Design Team). Of course, my reply of "YES" couldn't get sent fast enough! Patterned paper is the focus for these projects, which, I couldn't have been happier with. I get giddy over patterned paper, the smell of a new pile of patterned paper is so yummy!
I created 3 layouts, 1 card, and 1 mini album with the American Crafts goodies.

Get ready for some photos.....

Here's the first layout. For this layout I just used a whole bunch of strips of patterned paper adhered to two-thirds of the page on the diagonal.

This next layout demonstrates that even though you are using patterned paper as a background you don't have to skimp on embellishments. Just pick a more neutral/tone on tone pattern...then embellish away :)

On this layout I added some hand stitching to the background and lots of hand cut hearts. (side note *I love being a mommy and having my little ones crawl into my bed first thing in the morning. It's the BEST way to start my day)

 The card that I made is SUPER simple and I just used the scraps I had from these projects. I love how it turned out.

For my final project I made a mini album with a fabric base. I wish that you could see this album in real life. It turned out so cute and it was so easy and very inexpensive!

Thanks so much for stopping by and thank you American Crafts for having me as a Guest Designer! Have a fantastic day :)