i love...

Can I just say that when I watched the video for this latest challenge at Noel Mignon I had the song in my head, like, all.day.long! hehe Is it bad that I'm old enough to remember that song way back when??? I probably shouldn't admit that... 

Anyhoo, here's my take on this latest challenge about scrapping things we love. I decided to go with the 'no picture' layout again (just like on the domestic goddess challenge layout in this post).

I used the Jump & Jive kit for this layout once again...such a fabulous kit :) Yes, my cardstock is bent. I dropped it. I'm pregnant...and clumsy. Enough said...

Now go scrap about the things you love!

And pray that we made it to Washington yesterday! 

glimpses of you

There's a new stamping challenge over at the Noel Mignon challenge blog. You can head over here & check out the details. Funny enough, without even knowing it almost all of us on the DT chose the Jenni Bowlin stamp from the Jump & Jive kit! Guess we all really liked that one :)

I decided to use some of the pics from the baby's ultrasound for this layout. I used the Pencil Lines sketch #231 along with the Jump & Jive kit (still a few left!)

I stamped the Jenni Bowlin stamp with a glue pad & then sprinkled some of that pretty, pretty turquoise Maya Road glitter that came in the kit.

And that's it folks :)

happy girl - member scraplift

Supplies used:

Jump & Jive kit

Martha stewart scallop dot edge punch

yellow ribbon (craft store)

Silhouette ('happy')

 

My daughter had been asking me for weeks to get some Converse All Stars shoes. Every day she'd come home from school saying 'can we please, please, pleeeease go get them today??' But with all the house stuff I've just been too busy for the 'extras' like that.

So finally a couple weeks ago I took her...you know, after checking the web to make sure these weren't $50 shoes that she wanted. I very rarely buy name brand stuff, I'm mostly a bargain shopper. But I knew the day would come when my kids would start wanting this stuff. And it was nice to be able to give it to her :)

At the store she settled on the black ones with the pink cheetah flaps. So 'her' :) And she could not wait to get to school to show her friends.

So this layout is for the latest Noel Mignon challenge. This time we had to scraplift another member. And here's the member layout by Cassie aka 'gluemeetspaper' that I scraplifted:

As you can see, I used the basic design of her layout but then (as usually happens) it kind of morphed into a totally different one. Love when that happens! I had planned on doing a border at the top but after I cut my title I thought it wouldn't work right. Love those cute hearts she put across the top :) Thanks for the inspiration Cassie!

domestic goddess - Noel Mignon challenge

It's challenge time over at Noel Mignon! This time the challenge is to scrap about your daily routine. Have you ever done this? I've been wanting to do this for a while. 

How different will my routine be in 5 yrs? 10 yrs? Wouldn't you love to see a page about what your grandmother's daily routine was?? I know I sure would.

I picked elements from the Delightfully Domestic & Truly Scrumptious kits to create my layout for the challenge.

I lined up shipping tags along the bottom & then printed out my journaling & cut into strips. 

I also added some haphazard stitching along the bottom & a few other spots. And those KI Memories puffies?? So cute. I actually ordered a 2nd set of those with my kit last month...I couldn't resist :)

I'm thinking I really want to do another one of these layouts after the baby is born. So head over to the Noel Mignon challenge blog & try this one for yourself!!

cards from scraps - Noel Mignon challenge

I love taking leftover scraps & using them to make cards so this week's challenge over at Noel Mignon was right up my alley. 

The easiest way to make some cards from scraps is to simply take random strips & place them on the card along with some embellishments. I also added stitching around the outside.

I cut the transparency with a Papertrey Ink die (using my Sizzix) and backed it with another piece of patterned paper to make it stand out a bit more.


Here's another one from some scraps. I cut the card itself from patterned paper...love doing that with double sided paper.

Simply added some ribbon, used another Papertrey die along with some stamping & rhinestones.


For more info on the challenge, head over here.

after school buds

This is an every day occurrence in our house during the week. Tucker (the pup) is my bud all day long until the kids come home from school. He is so excited to see the kids but most especially for Ben to come home.

He will bug him, jump on him, nibble his fingers and sniff his head until Ben plays with him. He won't stop...it's quite hilarious! And only right after school. This pup definitely loves his buddy Ben :)

Have I mentioned recently how much I love this dog?? Such a sweet addition to our family. I can't wait to see him with the new baby :)

ETA - I just realized that I goofed up the last line of the journaling. I blame pregnancy brain! HA! Thanks Cheryl for catching that :)
 
This layout is based on the 'It Takes Two' challenge over at the Noel Mignon challenge blog. (It may not be up on the blog yet, I know Noel has been having computer issues. Been there that's for sure!)

The challenge is to use 2 (and only 2 ) of each item on your layout...i.e., 2 patterned papers, 2 metal embellishments, 2 flowers, etc. 

Use whatever you want but you can only use 2. I found it to be a bit challenging at first but then when I figured out everything I wanted to use it was pretty easy! It actually forced me to create a pretty simple layout that I'm quite happy with.

So here's what I used:

2 pictures

2 cardstock (yellow for background & white for journaling)

2 patterned papers

2 buttons

2 metal brads

2 alphas

2 stickers

2 threads (white & blue/white in buttons)

2 die cuts

2 inks (black for date & brown for distressing)

Be sure to try this challenge & head over to the challenge blog for more details!

And don't forget, Delightfully Domestic is up for pre-sale right now. Snag one before they're all gone!

"The Gift" Challenge with Noel Mignon

Created using the Bedford Falls kit

(red thickers are from my stash) 

When I first read this challenge I wasn't sure what I would scrap about. I'm sure I have some great gifts that I received as a child that I could've scrapped about. I wish I had some deeply sentimental or emotional gift to scrap about. But the thing that popped into my head was my KitchenAid mixer my husband got for me for our first Christmas together. I had wanted one for years but hadn't asked for one (hello, those things are expensive!!) I don't know how he thought I'd even want one other than he figured out pretty quick how much I love Christmas and love to bake!! 

But on Christmas morning I was thoroughly shocked to see that mixer. I actually thought there was a different gift inside! hehe And 10 yrs later it is still one of the best gifts I've received. And it still works great!

So here's the thing - Noel is giving away not one but TWO Bedford Falls kits for this challenge!! Tis the season, right?! 

Here's the details of the challenge:

We want you to scrap about an all time favorite gift you, or a loved one, received and why it was so dear. You can either scrap an actual wrapped gift, something Santa brought, something you gifted yourself. Or you can go the route of a gift of another sort...meaning a lesson learned, learning a skill (maybe music lessons), or your grandmother passing down her love of sewing. You get the idea. It is your layout and your "gift" to scrap as you like. 

You can head over to this post for more info on the challenge and how to link up your layout & enter for a chance to win one of these great kits!!

Patch Pretties

The challenge this week over at Noel Mignon is to create a layout using shades of only one color. Can I tell you, I was super intimidated by this challenge! One color?! Whew! But you know what?? Once I started playing around it came together really easy. 

I decided to do pics of the pumpkin patch so I pulled out all of the orange papers & embellishments from the Sleepy Hollow kit. And like I said, it all came together pretty easily!

These pumpkins I haven't made in quite a while but after being inspired by a layout from fellow DT member Virginia they were the perfect accent to the bottom of my page :) 

And now that my 5 min break is over I'm headed back out to the garage to finish cleaning. We've been out there all afternoon and we're actually making some progress. I hate doing stuff like this but it'll be nice when it's done! 

The Story of Today

This week's challenge over at Noel Mignon - Time Capsule - is to scrap about life today. So I thought it'd be fun to do a little mini-album about some current prices for things where I live, such as gasoline, milk, movie tickets, etc. Won't that be fun to look at in 20 yrs?? I sure think so!!

So I grabbed a Jenni Bowlin mini book and used the goodies from the Playdate kit to create my album. I kept things very simple. Just a cute little book :) I used a couple Maya Road mists to add some color to the OA card, then added some ribbon, JB & OA stickers and a little jewel for the flower. Then I took the rings off the book and added some twine to hold it together.

Inside I kept things very simple. Each page has a photo to go along with the journaling.

 

 

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I also had the awesome pleasure of being Jillibean Soup's guest designer. I love, love, love their new lines...especially Pasta Fagioli! You can check out my projects over on their blog and I'll be sharing them over here later this week!!

Dirty Job - Noel Mignon challenge

It's challenge time again over at Noel Mignon! This time the challenge it to use a TV show as your title. So I went with 'Dirty Jobs', one of my faves :) 

Journaling reads: I've been spit up on, puked on, pooped & peed on. I've changed more diapers than I can remember. I've cleaned up tons of messes. Being a mom is certainly a very dirty job but I'm thankful every day for this great job!

 

I used the Sweet Sue kit for this layout (only a couple left!). I adore the We R Memory Keepers stitched cardstock!! I added part of the Jenni Bowlin shaped paper to ground my photo strip along with tags I cut out of the October Afternoon paper. I also added the Basic Grey red ribbon doilies around the outside to add a little pop of color. I love how just the edge is sticking out!

I also tried to channel my inner Virginia with a masking tape flower :) But when I was making the flower I dropped it on the backside and ended up liking how the masking tape was peeking out from the cut circle. So I turned it around, sticky side down, added another punched circle and that pretty pink flower.

I added the journaling around the edge a long with my title and Voila! For more info on the challenge, head over here!

grandpa's tractor

You know how there are some designers out there who have a definite style?? Like, when you look through a magazine you can instantly tell who did the layout without looking at the name??


I'm not one of those people.


My style tends to vary based on what photos I'm working with or what papers I'm playing with. However, I do think that I have a certain style in the sense that my layouts have a few similar characteristics. For the most part I like clean lines (with a little bit of jagged papers or angles thrown in for fun). 

(Yes, my kids call my dad's riding lawn mower a 'tractor'. And yes, my dad is wearing a 'Geek Squad' shirt! hehe)

I like to add a little whimsy or unexpected when I can (like the dictionary page on this layout...notice it's on 'grandchild'??)

And I seem to use 3 smaller photos a lot (1 slightly larger than the other) usually with a white border.

Everything from Sweet Sue kit (7 left!!) except alphas are from 

Sonoma County and Sunkissed kits (both sold out)

My 'style' is easily copied, I don't use a ton of techniques in my layouts. Although, every once in a while I come up with something unique! My layouts usually aren't overly busy, that's just not me.


So there you have it! Head over to the Noel Mignon challenge blog, take a look at what the other designers came up with and try this challenge for yourself!!