... just Laura

Kerri Bradford Studio: Covid-19 Themed Pages

 

Hey everyone. We celebrated (inter)National Scrapbook Day all last week over at Kerri Bradford Studio last week. I meant to get on here last week and share my projects, but Typepad wasn't letting me upload any images.

 

 

 

We're focusing on Kerri's Lay It All Out: Travelers Notebook kit this week. The first sentence in the kit's description reads "These templates are designed to help you get your memories down even faster than before" - and that's exactly what they did for me. 

 

 

After die cutting several of the templates from white cardstock using my Silhouette Cameo, I simply laid the templates over white cardstock cut to TN size (I create individual pages that I slip into my Life Crafted album as opposed to using an actual travelers notebook) and drew in my lines with a fine tip black pen. 

 

 

Once those lines are drawn out, you end up with a great start to your page, as you know where the journaling will go and you have empty spaces for photos and any other embellishing and/or title work that you want to add in.

 

 

 

So much of the thinking and decision making is already done for you, which simplifies the process and really lets you focus on getting your stories and memories down.

 

 

 

I am not one to use my own handwriting on my layouts - never have been if I'm being honest. But. I decided to go for it on these pages.

 

 

 

I have been wanting to document this crazy Covid-19 time that we're all in right now, and this was the perfect way to get started on some of those stories. I didn't want to spend a ton of time on these little spreads, and using my own handwriting really simplified my process. 

 

 

 

I worked a few of Kerri's new stamp sets - Denali, Denali XL and Denali Etc XL - into my pages, along with stamps from five other recent sets.

 

 

 

I added in a little patterned paper and a few simple embellishments and in no time at all, I had four spreads completed.

 

 

I can't wait to use the Lay It All Out: Travelers Notebook kit to create more pages documenting this weird time that we're all going through. 

 

Ready For Consumption

Hey all! I had a third travelers notebook sized layout in the works using Kerri Bradford's April stamp release, but due to some printer issues, it took me longer than planned to get it finished. And by "printer issues", I mean that my printer decided to take a full 4 days before it would actually print it. It does this to me quite often, and it's highly annoying. 

Anyways. I had wanted to use Kerri's new Eat stamp set, and randomly picked a recent photo that had a story attached to it. I used one of the templates from Kerri's Travelers Templates: Holiday Style kit to print both my photo and my journaling. 

The template that I used had a small phrase above the journaling, which I turned off before printing, knowing that I wanted to add my own stamped phrase. I love using Kerri's Label kit for my stamped words/phrases on all sorts of projects, and have sheets of them already printed out and ready to go. 

For my patterned papers, I pulled out several older patterned papers from Echo Park. I specifically had the paper with all of the kitchen tools in mind. It took me a while to remember what manufacturer made it, and by the time I found it, I just picked two other papers that were mixed in with it. My photo was pretty neutral, color wise, which gave me more freedom for my color choices.

I love slipping these tiny layout spreads in my Life Crafted album. They're quick and easy, and perfect for little stories. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Loads Of Fun

Hey everyone. I'm popping in to share a quick look at another travelers notebook sized layout that I created for Kerri Bradford Studio. 

I felt like this first page needed a little something added to it. There was a little too much empty white space for my liking. So I pulled out Kerri's Inked stamp set and stamped on a few ink blotches - both in the upper corner on the white cardstock, and down below on the green patterned paper. 

I stacked three different stamps from Kerri's new Blocks of Headlines stamp set, stamping them onto a white tag that was in my stash. 

I wanted to add a touch of blue to the first page, to tie in with the blue towels in my laundry basket, so I used one of Kerri's Borderlines stamps above my green patterned paper. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Love This Moment

 

Hey all! It's been a while since I've created any little travelers notebook sized layouts to add to my Life Crafted album (from Citrus Twist). I'm still new to creating these smaller sized spreads, but I really do love how easy they work for documenting little stories in a quick and easy way. 

 

When I sat down to create my next project for Kerri Bradford Studio, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to create a few of these little spreads. For my first layout, I printed out a photo I took while reading one morning. I printed it as a full page photo, which for TN's, is about 4.2" x 8.25". 

 

 

I picked out this gorgeous floral patterned paper from a Dear Lizzy collection for the right side of the spread, and added my journaling before moving on to the stamping.  

 

 

I picked out several stamps from Kerri's new Iconic stamp set - the books, coffee cup, and glasses - and stamped each one onto a colored metal rimmed tag. I've had these Making Memories tags in my stash forever, and they matched up perfectly with my patterned paper. I also added the "loving this moment" stamp from the new Block of Headlines stamp set and "today" from the All The Time stamp set. 

 

I'll be back tomorrow to share another TN sized spread with you ;)

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Bryce Canyon

 

Hey everyone. I have a new digital layout up at Kerri Bradford Studio using her new Utah's Mighty Five digital stamp set. When Kerri first shared this new stamp set with me, my first thought was that I didn't have a need for it.

 

 

But then I thought about all of the camping my family did when I was a kid, and I knew that I could put this set to use with some old photos. 

 

 

I had my mom dig up some photos specific to Utah's National Parks, as we visited National Parks across the states for years, and she sent me these photos from a stop at Bryce Canyon. These photos were from 1983, so they're not the best quality to begin with - and then she scanned them to send to me. I knew they wouldn't print the best, so I decided to go with a digital layout. In my experience, I find that old photos tend to look a smidge better printed when they're worked into collage templates. 

 

 

I settled on an 8.5x11" two page spread, starting with a template from Kerri's Storyboard #4 kit for the right page. For the left page, I used a template from the Half Pints: Wander kit. While the Half Pint templates are 6x8" in size, I was able to easily crop one into an 8.5x11" size. I added my photos into the two templates, tweaking one of the photo openings on the first page to make it longer as I didn't want to crop too much out of the photo. 

 

 

I used the new Utah's Mighty Five digital stamp set to add my title along the top of the first page, as well as the arches, which I changed the color on to make it match the arches in my photos.

 

 

I used the Block Party digital stamp set to add the year, 1983, to the bottom of the first page, and used the PNG file from the Summer Vibes kit to add "summer" next to the year. Lastly, I used the And So The Adventure Begins kit to add a filler card to the center opening of the collage on the second page. 

 

This Is Our Happy Place

Hey all. I created this two page spread in my 6x8" personal album a few weeks ago, and I honestly have no clue why it's taken me so long to share it. There's kind of a funny story on how it even came about. 

Long story short. The house that we originally wanted and fell in love with last year, when we first decided to downsize, ended up back on the market a few weeks ago. I very randomly came across it just 2 days after it was listed. It's only about a mile from the house we ended up buying, and I think about it quite often. It's the one house that I have some regret over not getting (it was the one we put our first offer on, but we didn't get it), out of the main houses we were considering. And for a very hot minute, I was ready to put this house on the market and go after that first house. Lol. I know. It was crazy thinking on my part. 

I don't always create layouts about things like that, especially in that moment. But it crossed my mind that I should get that crazy story down, and that's how this layout came to be. I included the story about that other house, but I also focused on documenting the things that we truly love about this house. 

I dug through my files to find photos that I've taken around the house over the last year or so. I printed them as 2x2" photos and slipped them into a 6x8" divided page protector. 

I left three empty pockets on each side of the page protector, with plans to add small embellishments. I cut scraps of white cardstock to 2x2" and adhered an embellishment to each - using chipboard pieces and plastic houses, both from the Ali Edwards "Home" Story Kit. 

After picking out a coordinating house and chipboard piece for each side of the page, I was left with two more white 2x2" squares (1 for each side of the page) that needed a little something. I used the "Home" Story Stamp set to quickly add a stamped phrase to those two squares.

I used a digital journaling card from the Recorded Journaling Cards No. 3 kit, from In A Creative Bubble, to hold my journaling. The black filler card next to it is from the Home Story Kit. 

I used this fun "Happy Home" card, from In A Creative Bubble's Indoorsy Journaling Card kit, as my title card. While I print most of my journaling cards on matte presentation paper, I go back and forth between printing filler cards like this on that same paper - or on soft gloss photo paper. It usually just depends what else I'm printing, as I'll just add cards to the same page. 

I see lots of my favorite designers adding vellum into their album projects, and thought it would be fun to try it on this project. I used Kerri Bradford's This Is Our Happy Place kit to print the phrase on a piece of vellum, trimming it to the same size as my page protectors. I ended up using two black and white Project Life filler cards to create tabs, which I adhered to the vellum where the album rings fall. 

I was actually short a few photos, as I was aiming to get 9 photos on each side of the page protector. And I had a few parts of the house that I wanted to be sure to include. So I snapped a few quick photos to add to the ones that I had already printed. 

I created a large journaling card of sorts, sized to 6x8", adding a digital stamp to the top using Ali Edward's What Today Looked Like kit. I typed up my crazy story, editing it quite a bit as I went, because I can get very long-winded in my story telling ;)

I originally printed this page with just the journaling and title, but I felt like it needed something else. I was scrolling Instagram, and I saw someone had added a faint digital image behind their journaling, and it gave me the idea to add a house behind mine. I used a digital house from the Digital Home Story Kit, changing the opacity to make it a little lighter and let the journaling stand out. 

And there it is. I can look back on this crazy story now and laugh about it. And years from now, I'll have proof of how crazy my mind works sometimes - just by looking back at this layout.

Kerri Bradford Studio: Sarah + Dom

Hey everyone! I have a new layout up at Kerri Bradford Studio. Kerri's new Me & You stamp set is perfect for documenting love, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to create a layout about my youngest daughter, Sarah, and her boyfriend of almost 3 years, Dom. 

I started by gathering any photos that I had of the two of them together, and used a storyboard template from the Picture That kit to create a photo collage of 12 of my favorites. 

I created the base of my page by piecing together my printed collage, a few patterned papers (from Dear Lizzy), and part of a die cut circle background that I made using my Silhouette Cameo and Kerri's Background Basics kit.

I added a few die cuts that coordinated with my patterned papers, along with adding my journaling strips along the top right corner of the page. 

I love the new Thick + Thin alphabet stamp set and knew it would be perfect for creating my title. I cut small strips of white cardstock and stamped each letter onto one of these strips using a navy blue ink, after which I dragged the edges of each strip along a pink ink pad so that they would stand out against the white background. I adhered these vertically along the left side of the page, tucking the bottom of each letter strip under the blue scalloped edged border. 

I pulled out a few tags from my supplies, as well as the sheet of black labels that I printed using Kerri's Label kit (I keep these sheets printed, as I love to use them for "housing" my stamped phrases), and stamped several phrases from the Me & You stamp set onto each tag/label.

I adhered them along the left edge of the page, adding a few navy blue enamel hearts for my final embellishing. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Christmas Day Trip

Happy New Year's everyone! I'm back with my first post of the year, sharing a project that I made for Kerri Bradford Studio. I've had these photos laying around for a little over a year now, taken on a little day trip that my family took the day after Christmas, back in 2018. 

While this wasn't technically a Christmas day trip, we took it the day after the holiday, while my sister was still in town - and the Christmas vibe was still found in the places we went. So I kept that Christmas theme going in my title and the patterned papers I picked out. 

I used one of my go-to page designs, arranging my 3x4 and 4x6 photos around the outside edges of the spread, and adding a white die cut background using Kerri's Background Basics kit across the center part of the spread.

I printed out a filler card to add alongside my journaling block, using the And So The Adventure Begins kit.

I'm loving Kerri's new stamps! Letters, numbers, days of the week, months, years - all of those little stamps are so versatile and I just love how you can arrange them together in different block configurations. Such a fun concept and the possibilities are endless!

I used the Printers Block | Letters stamp set for part of my title, stamping the letters onto cardstock and trimming each letter into an individual block. I then paired them up with my die cut "Christmas" word, taken from Kerri's December Twenty Five kit (no longer available). 

I then used the Block of Time stamp set to add the date to a white shipping tag, adding a piece of bakers twine to the top. 

I die cut a few stars from black cardstock (using the Christmas Calendar kit) to add some simple embellishing to the 3x4" pieces of patterned paper, adding a single button to the center of each star. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Merry + Bright

 

Happy December everyone! I hope you caught the 12 Days of Christmas celebration that was going on at Kerri Bradford Studio this month! I wanted to pop in and share the project that I created using a few of her daily freebies (that aren't free anymore, but you can purchase for just 99 cents in her store).

 

I have to admit, I don't do a ton of decorating when Christmas rolls around. I like to keep things fairly simple. I add a few decor pieces to my mantel, where I also hang the stockings up. I hang a wreath on the front door. I display a few simple decor pieces in the entrance, by the front door. And of course, I have a Christmas tree. I even added a second tree last year!

 

 

I guess my decorating style is sort of like my scrapbooking style these days - clean and fairly simple. I have really fallen in love with pocket pages, and not just for doing Project Life. I have several albums, in different sizes, where I create pocket pages on the regular. I love all of the fun new printable cards that Kerri's been designing, and decided to use her new Merrier cards to create a simple 6x12" pocket page spread to document some small glimpses into my holiday decorating. 

 

 

While I haven't actually finished putting my decorations up this year (why does it take me so long, when it's all SO simple?!?!), I pulled up a handful of photos that I had taken last year and printed them as 3x3's and a few 3x4's. I usually print my filler cards on presentation paper, but ended up adding the three Merrier cards in with my photos, so they're printed on photo paper.

 

 

I also printed a few cards, using The Nice List kit, printing those on presentation paper. Once I had played around with my photo/card placement, and settled on where they would all go, I ended up trimming a few of the filler cards to 3x3" squares to fit the smaller pockets on the right side of the spread. 

 

 

I pulled out Kerri's Looks Like Christmas stamp set to add a few stamped elements to my spread.

 

 

I used the larger "Merry + Bright" as my title, stamping it onto a white shipping tag. I used my finger to swipe a little bit of forest green paint around the edges of the tag, before adhering it to my 4x6" title card. I found this older, black corrugated paper in my stash and decided to use it for my 4x6 card, adding the red/white diagonal striped printable card, from The Nice List kit, along the left side. 

 

I love how easy this was to put together. And hopefully, when I get around to finishing my decorating, it will be just as easy to put together ;)

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: 5 Things

Hey everyone! I had a new Travelers Notebook sized layout go up at Kerri Bradford Studio yesterday. I just love that Kerri added the Outnumbered (Two) XL Outline stamps, to go along with the Outnumbered (Two) XL stamps that I am already a huge fan of. I have so many ideas in my creative mind that the large number stamps can be paired up with, that it took me forever to settle on one of those ideas for my next project. So many ideas, so little time, am I right ;)

I finally decided to document 5 things - just 5 simple things that I'm thankful for right now. I settled on a TN sized spread, which I will add into my Life Crafted TN sized album from Citrus Twist. I printed the one fall themed photo that I have (we don't get much of a "fall" season where I live) to use as the left side of my page, knowing that it had some empty space along the top where I could add a few design elements. 

I used Kerri's Labels kit to list my 5 things, pulling up the labels in Photoshop, and adding my short journaling tidbits to them. I also used a few digital stamps, from the new Wild digital stamp set and the new Happiness Captured digital stamp set, sizing them to fit within my labels. Once I printed the labels out, I trimmed them down and added them to both sides of the spread. 

I stamped my solid "5" in navy blue ink, and stamped the outline in black. I love the look of the outline being slightly offset, so it's not perfectly lined up on top of the solid number. I fussy cut my "5" out and adhered it along the top of my second page. I used the Chicago alpha stamps to stamp "things" using an olive green ink, and stamped the "thankful" above it using the Thankful stamp set. I finished the top part of the page by adding a few stamped ink blotches using the Inked stamp set. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Christmas Gift Giving

 

Hey everyone! We've been doing a little early Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrating over at Kerri Bradford Studio this week, and the festivities will continue throughout the month. We're focusing on gift giving, sharing creative ideas using Kerri's new stamps, along with her other fabulous products.

 

 

When I think of handmade gift packaging, I think of tiny little packages - gift boxes, little treat bags, and envelopes. We don't exchange too many gifts in my family, but I do find myself gifting gift cards to quite a few people, and these small packages make gifting gift cards so much more fun. 

 

 

Kerri has so many awesome cut files for boxes, bags, and envelopes. I started by picking out 3 designs to focus on - Envelope: Tabbed, The Paper Bag, and Gift Box [Square] - and used my Silhouette to die cut each design from patterned paper.

 

 

Before I assembled them, I used Kerri's Inked stamp set to add some black ink splatters to my envelope and paper bag. Next, I assembled my little trio of packages. These are all so easy to assemble - just a few folds and a little bit of adhesive. 

 

 

I have several sheets of labels that I've printed using the Label kit, so I pulled out the black labels and added the "to you from me" phrase to several labels using the Looks Like Christmas stamp set.

 

 

I also pulled out some older vellum metal rimmed tags from my stash, and added a stamped sentiment/image to three tags - using the Looks Like Christmas stamp set and the Peace On earth stamp set - picking out sizes that would work on my packages. 

 

 

I added a stamped vellum tag to each package, along with a stamped label. I found some older Christmas themed embellishments - metal tags and a velvety leaf - and used them to add a little something extra to each package. 

 

 

 

Make sure to stop by Kerri's blog, and check out her October stamp release. It's a good one! The design team, along with some talented special guests, are sharing projects this week and into the month - and you don't want to miss all of the gorgeous projects they've created ;)

 

Kerri Bradford Studio + Color Cast: My Story TN Album

 

Hey everyone! I was so excited to hear that the Kerri Bradford Studio design team would be teaming up with the Color Cast design team, and I couldn't wait to play with some of their awesome products. Both teams are sharing projects all week long, and my completed project was up on Kerri's blog yesterday.

 

One of the items that I picked out was the gorgeous wood veneer "My Story" album cover. I tossed around a few ideas for what kind of album I wanted to create, while browsing thru Kerri's Travelers Templates kits.

 

 

I knew I wanted to include a collection of little stories in this album, so I looked for templates that had room for lots of journaling. When I came across a template in the Travelers Templates: Holiday Style kit that had room for a single photo, a good space for journaling, and had the option to add the months along the top, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

 

 

It's been almost a year since we sold our house and moved into a smaller home, along with closing up my home daycare business and starting a new job outside the home. There's been a lot of emotions along the way, as we all adjust to these changes and how they trickle into big and little parts of our lives.

 

 

I wanted to focus on a few of those changes/emotions that I personally have dealt with over the last 12 months. I went thru my photos for each month, picking out a single photo for each month that could tell a story. 

 

 

I started by creating all of my photo/journaling pages, using the Travelers Templates: Holiday Style kit. I added my photos, selected the correlating month, and typed up my journaling before printing all of them out on photo paper. 

 

 

Next, I picked out a few patterned papers to pair up with white cardstock to create the second half of my pages. I die cut several rose clusters from white cardstock, using Kerri's Roses kit, as I thought they would tie in nicely with the wood veneer album cover. I adhered these die cut roses to several of the pages, tucking them under the top of the patterned papers.

 

 

I laid out all of my pages in order, so that I could work on embellishing them all at the same time. I've always been a fan of the acrylic pieces from Color Cast, and had picked out the "view from here" piece and the "this feeling" piece, and luckily, they worked within the theme of this album perfectly.

 

 

I started with those 2 pieces, as they went to specific photos/stories. I love the wood veneer frames, as they're super thin (and I love that they have adhesive on them!), and picked out which pages I wanted those on next.

 

 

The ginormous acrylic stars are awesome, and I added those to several pages, adhering them to white shipping tags. 

 

 

My last step was to add some stamped phrases to several of the pages, using Kerri's stamps - Gather Together, Thankful, One Fine Day, Long Story Short, Oh Yeah (no longer available). 

 

 

I gathered several of her stamp sets, and searched for words/phrases that tied in with my stories, adding them to the centers of the wood veneer frames, as well as stamping them onto the black labels that I printed out using Kerri's Label kit. 

 

 

The last step was to assemble the album. I adhered my photo pages to the backsides of the patterned paper/cardstock pages, making sure they all fell in the right order. I punched holes along the left edge of each page, to line up with the holes on the wood veneer album cover. I used metal rings to hold it all together - they're a little bigger than I need, but the only other ones I had on hand were too small. 

 

 

I love how this album came together, and love that I took the time to document some of the feelings and changes that I've gone thru over the last year. 

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: You Can Count On Me Cards

 

I have a few new cards up at Kerri Bradford Studio this week. I just love the large number cluster in the new A Numbered Account stamp set, and how it can work for so many card sentiments. For these two simple cards, I paired it up with the "you can count on me" from the same stamp set.

 

 

I stamped the number cluster onto white cardstock using black ink, trimmed it into a block, and distressed the edges using an edge scraper. I also stamped the number cluster on a scrap piece of cardstock and trimmed around the edges of the stamped image. I laid it over the top of the stamped image on my card, and used it as a mask when it came time to stamp my ink splatters, using the awesome Inked stamp set.

 

I love to use my misting sprays, but you just never know where those sprays are going to go. Lol. I love that with the Inked stamps, you have full control over where you put your ink splatters. 

 

 

I used Kerri's Label kit to print out the black labels, and stamped my sentiment onto the one that fit the best size-wise. After assembling my patterned papers (all from the Crafty Girl collection from Simple Stories) on the base of the card, I adhered my number cluster block using dimensional adhesive and adhered my sentiment label below. 

 

I think I'll use this same design to create a handful of birthday cards next :)

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: The Countdown Is On

 

Hey everyone! I have a new layout up at Kerri Bradford Studio this week. I know that Travelers Notebooks have been all the rage for quite a while now, but I have yet to figure out how to work them into the way that I document. So when I saw the Life Crafted albums from Citrus Twist, I knew it would be the perfect solution for me. I can create the smaller TN sized pages/spreads as individual pages - and have the freedom to put them in small albums and move them around as needed. 

 

 

For my first ever TN sized spread, I pulled together a few photos that I've taken before heading into work. I thought they would work for the small story that came to mind when I saw the "the countdown is on" stamp in Kerri's new A Numbered Account stamp set. I get myself very fixated on time, especially on days that I work. How much time I have to do this, how much time I have to do that, how much time before I have to leave for work, and how much I want to get done in the time I have before I leave, etc, etc. 

 

 

I arranged several photos in a collage using a template from the Travelers Templates: Wander kit, and typed in my journaling before printing the page out. The template had a little phrase above the journaling, which I took out before printing. In it's place, I stamped the "the countdown is on" onto a piece of cardstock, trimmed it down, and adhered it above my journaling. 

 

 

On the opposite page, I stamped the large number cluster (from the A Numbered Account stamp set) along the top of the page, and also stamped it on a scrap piece of cardstock. I trimmed around the stamped image on the scrap paper, and used it as a mask when it came time to stamp my ink splatters, using the awesome Inked stamp set. I love how easy the smaller sized spreads are to put together, and can't wait to create more of them.

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Everyday Cards

Hey everyone! I had a new set of cards up at Kerri Bradford Studio last week, and wanted to share them here with you all. I'm still working on upping my card stash these days, as I love having cards on hand for any and all occasions. When I first saw Kerri's Label kit, I knew all of those little labels would be awesome for holding my stamped sentiments for cards. 

I'm definitely a simple card maker, and usually aim to keep my cards fairly flat for easy mailing. While my design is basic - a piece of patterned paper on top, a stamped background pattern on the bottom, and a label holding a stamped sentiment in the middle - it's one that is easy to duplicate and mass produce, which is something I love to do when making cards. 

I printed the sheet of the navy labels, and stamped three different sentiments using the Happy Mail #1 and Happy Mail #2 stamp sets in black ink before trimming them apart.

I then picked out a few patterned papers that coordinated with the navy and added them to the tops of my card bases. All three of my patterned papers are from the Turn The Page collection by Paige Evans, for Pink Paislee.

I used Kerri's new Spot On background stamp for the bottom part of my cards, stamping it in coordinating colors onto white textured cardstock, which I then cut down and adhered to my card bases. 

I actually meant to use two of Kerri's other background stamps, but once I got stamping with the dots, I totally forgot and stamped all of them with the same background stamp. Lol.

I think this would be the perfect design to mass produce, and have sentiments for all different occasions. I can picture turning them into sets to give as gifts too. Hmmmm. Might just have to do that ;)

Kerri Bradford Studio: One More Cuddle

 

Hey everyone! I've got a new 6x8" spread up at Kerri Bradford Studio. As soon as I saw Kerri's new Hey Kiddo stamp set, I knew that it would be perfect for so many photos and stories that I still have to document. Late last year, I closed up my home daycare business after 17 years. While my daycare kiddos have moved on and are spending their days with new daycare providers and new friends, I still have some stories that I want to get down from my time with them. 

 

But first up, I decided to get some current feelings down on a page, about how much I miss them. In all honesty, I don't miss the job itself. But I most definitely miss those cute little humans! I used the digital Hey Kiddo stamp set to create a 6x8" spread digitally in Photoshop and then printed it out to add into my album. 

 

 

I used an enlarged 6x8" photo for the left side of the spread, picking out one of my favorite photos that sums up the cuddles that I miss from all of those kiddos. I used the digital "cuddle" stamp for my title, along with the heart stamp, changing them both to white and adding a drop shadow to help them stand out a little more. I also lowered the opacity on the heart to make it a bit more subtle, as to not distract from the title. 

 

 

I created a large "journaling card" for the right side of my spread, starting with Kerri's Journaling Template, which I cropped to a 6x8" size. I added a black and white diagonal stripe border across the top, using the Simple Staples kit. Then I got to work on my journaling, keeping in mind some of the Hey Kiddos digital stamp words/phrases that I wanted to work into my journaling.

 

 

I love how easy it is to tweak digital elements to fit your needs - like how I added an extra "s" to the "cutest human ever" phrase to have it read "cutest humans ever" (because I watched a lot of little humans!). 

 

 

I changed the colors on my digital stamps so that the words would stand out more, pulling the green and burgundy from my photo.

 

 

Once I had everything done to my liking, I printed the left page (my enlarged photo) on photo paper, and the right page (my journaling) on textured cardstock. Once trimmed, I simply slipped them into my 6x8" album. So happy to have documented some current feelings that have been on my mind!

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Happy Birthday Cards

 

Hey! I had some new cards go up at Kerri Bradford Studio a while ago and I'm finally getting around to sharing them here.  

 

 

When I saw the flowers on the new Plant Life stamp set, my first thought was that it would be fun to create my own "patterned paper" using the digital version of the set.

 

 

I used two digital flower stamps to fill a small canvas within Photoshop, varying the sizes and orientation of the flowers so that they didn't all look the exact same.

 

 

My plan was to use this floral "patterned paper" as the background for cards, so I created the canvas in the exact size that I needed for my cards. 

 

 

I decided to keep the flowers black, although it would be fun to add color to them as well. Once I was happy with the design, I printed them out onto white cardstock. I wanted to soften the look a little, so I also layered a dry embossed piece of vellum over the top of the floral "patterned paper". 

 

 

I used Kerri's Happy Mail #2 stamp set to create my "happy birthday" tags, matching the ink colors for each stamped sentiment to the colored cardstock die cut frame that I used on each card.

 

 

Simple metal brads in each corner helped secure the vellum to the card, and a coordinating piece of ribbon helped embellish the sentiment tags. 

 

 

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Wild and Leafy Trees

Hey there! It's been a while since I've shared a layout, hasn't it? I had a new layout go up at Kerri Bradford Studio late last week and am finally getting around to sharing it here with you all today.

While I love physical stamps, I find that I tend to use digital stamps way more often in my projects. At first glance, I wasn't sure how I would use Kerri's new Homegrown and Plant Life stamp sets, as we're not big gardening people and we don't have many flowers in our yard and not a single plant in our house. But what we do have is lots of leaves! 

I was reminded of several photos I had taken shortly after moving into our new house last fall, and I knew I could incorporate some of the new stamps into a layout documenting our wild and leafy tree (and leafy neighborhood!).

I started this project with the intention of doing a 6x12" pocket page spread, so I set out to create 3x4" and 4x6" cards to slip into the pockets along with my photos. I eventually decided to turn it into a layout instead, which was so easy to do using these same cards. 

I created a title card by pairing up "wild", from the Plant Life digital stamp set, with "leafy trees", taken from a phrase in the Hello Summer digital stamp set. I used several printable cards from Kerri's older Hello November kit, so I matched the colors for my digital stamps with the colors on those printable cards using the color sampler tool in Photoshop. I added the diagonal striped border along the bottom of the card, by copying it from one of the 3x4" printable cards, and added a few leaves along the left side of the card using the Gather Together digital stamp set. 

I thought the tree stamp in the Hello Summer digital stamp set would tie in nicely with the theme of my page, so I added it to one of the printable cards (after I removed the phrase that was on the center of that card), sizing it to fit between the middle three striped rows.

I also tweaked the polka dotted printable card, so that I could fit a digital stamped phrase along the top of the card. I used the "how does your garden grow?" digital stamp from the Plant Life set, but took out the word "garden", and replaced it with 'leaf pile". 

I realize that this layout is so, so, so much like the last layout that I created for Kerri (seen HERE). What can I say? If it works, it works. And this style works for me ;)

Kerri Bradford Studio: Annual Family BBQ

 

Hey everyone! There's been a whole lot going on at Kerri Bradford Studio this past week, as we celebrated (inter) National Scrapbook Day! I had a layout go up yesterday, which was the last day of the celebration. Hopefully, you caught the sale she had going on and her new stamp release.

 

When I saw Kerri's new Hello Summer stamp set, I was immediately reminded of the photos from an annual family BBQ we had last summer that I've been meaning to create a layout with. While I love physical stamps, I find that I tend to use digital stamps way more often in my projects. So I started with the digital version of her Hello Summer stamp set, and pulled in bits and pieces from a few other digital stamp sets, a printable kit, and even some PNG files from her cut files to create a two page hybrid layout. 

 

 

I'm a huge fan of pocket pages. I'm also a huge fan of photo collages. Since I didn't want to create this as a pocket page layout (as it will go in my family album, which is all traditional layouts), but I had all of my photos printed as 3x4's and 4x6's, I decided to work them into a "collage" of sorts, using a grid design. I started by arranging all of the photos that I wanted to use, leaving a spot for a title card and two journaling cards. Once that was set up, I knew that I needed to create five 3x4" filler cards to complete the spread.

 

 

For my title card, I used the "BBQ heat up the grill" from the Hello Summer digital stamp set, and added "family" above it (from the Giving Thanks kit). I added the striped piece along the left side of the title card by copying and pasting a piece from one of the printable cards.

 

I also like to match the colors for my digital stamps with the colors on the printable cards, by using the color sampler tool in Photoshop. I just click on the color that I want on a printable image, and then grab the color code to use on whatever digital piece that I want to make that color. If that makes any sense. Lol. 

 

 

While I could have pulled out some patterned papers to help fill those empty spots, I knew that I could find just what I needed in Kerri's vast collection of kits! Her Simply Summer kit is filled with 3x4" printable cards that were the perfect match for my photos and the theme of the page.

 

I picked out five cards, printing two of them as-is, and tweaking the other three to add in some additional elements - adding digital stamps and a few words taken from Kerri's cut file kits (the PNG files are great for using digitally). The card above originally had "loving life" in the center of the circle, but I replaced it with "sunny days" from the Hello Summer digital kit. 

 

 

I created two journaling cards, as I wanted to add one to the first page of the spread and one to the second page of the spread. I added "july" using the About Time digital stamp set.

 

 

The printable card above originally had polka dots covering the entire card. I knew that I wanted to add a little something to it, so I deleted a few rows of dots in Photoshop, and added a few digital stamps. The label is from the Label Maker digital stamp set, and the "sunshine on my mind" is from the Hello Summer digital stamp set.

 

 

Total side note. I will never, never understand why I can print a bunch of 3x4's and 4x6's - and they do NOT fit perfectly on a 12x12 page. I end up with gaps, and often have to trim parts off that hang over the edge of the page. I really feel like they should magically fit together perfectly. Lol.

 

 

I left this printable card as-is, since it was perfect for my page. 

 

 

Another printable card that fit my page perfectly - nothing extra needed on this one.

 

 

This card actually had stripes from top to bottom, but I wanted to add some text to it. So I deleted several rows of stripes in Photoshop, which left me room at the top to play with. Both of these words were done using the PNG files from Kerri's cut files - "pool" is from the Summer Lovin' kit and "splash" is from the Summer Vibes kit. 

 

 

On my second journaling card, I added the "sun and fun" using the Away digital stamp set, and the year was just typed with a fun font. I love creating hybrid layouts like this - where I get to play digitally, printing my journaling cards and filler cards, and adding them right in with my photos on a traditional layout.

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Happy Mail Cards

Hey everyone! I had some new cards go up at Kerri Bradford Studio the other day and am excited to share them with you all today. One of the to-do's that has been on my crafty list for a while now, has been to create more cards. Specifically, I've had this idea to dig thru my stash of older supplies, and make it a point to use up a lot of the embellishments and papers that I never seem to use - but also, can't seem to get rid of. 

When I saw Kerri's new Happy Mail #1 and Happy Mail #2 stamps, I knew they would be perfect for this very project. Between the two Happy Mail sets, there are so many awesome sentiments to make a wide variety of cards for any occasion. And how can you not love the Outnumbered (Two) XL stamp set! My first thought when I saw them was that they would be perfect for making birthday cards, and that's exactly what I used them for first.

Product tidbits: Square chipboard frames from my stash (I think they're Simple Stories, but don't quote me on that). Making Memories metal flowers, which had already been painted and distressed and already had coordinating brads in the centers - and they just happen to match my frames and papers.

I started by picking out a few embellishments that I thought would work well on cards - a variety of chipboard frames in varying sizes, a few colored tags, and some metal rimmed printed tags. I then picked out a sentiment to use along with each embellishment.

Product tidbits: Small square chipboard frames (again, I think they're from Simple Stories, but again, don't quote me on that). 3D flower embellishments from American Crafts, which included the buttons.

And the last step was to pick out two patterned papers to go with each card. I limited my paper choices to my 6x6" paper pads, looking for patterns that would match/coordinate with whatever embellishments I had chosen for each card. 

Product tidbits: Printed metal rimmed tags from American Crafts (I added a simple silver accent to each tag to cover the hole where you would add string). Colored tags (not sure where they're from, but they matched perfectly). 

I created my card bases, using the same basic design for each, adding a little misting and a little machine stitching to each card. I added my stamped sentiments, either directly onto the card itself or onto a scrap piece of paper to add behind the chipboard frames.

Product tidbits: Chipboard frame from Basic Grey. Gold glittered accent dots (not sure where they're from).

For the birthday cards, I fussy cut around the stamped numbers before adhering them to the cards. Once the embellishments were added on, and the sentiments complete, I added any little finishing touches, like the little silver accents, the metal flowers, and the enamel stars. 

Product tidbits - Enamel stars from Bella Blvd.

I can't wait to create even more cards with these fabulous stamp sets! I think I need to make it a goal to use each and every sentiment on at least one card ;)

Updated Look: 2016 / 2017 Shows

Hey all. I recently shared a new digital project with you, documenting my 2017 / 2018 TV shows (post HERE) in a 6x8" album. I had mentioned that I was already planning on adding my 2016 / 2017 collages to this album as well. I had documented my shows from that year in a travelers notebook (post HERE). 

I had already re-printed my 2016 / 2017 collages last year, as I was going to switch them into a new travelers notebook (the one that I originally used was a cheap one I got off Amazon). I realized that I could easily work them onto 6x8" pages, and fit them into the same album along with my 2017 / 2018 pages. I love the idea of keeping these pages all together and adding to it each year. 

All of my collages for this project were created using templates from both the Travelers Templates and Travelers Templates #2 kits from Kerri Bradford Studio.

I started by cutting sheets of white cardstock to build my pages on. I adhered the photo collages along the right side of each page, and then added a piece of patterned paper along the left side. I was able to dig up the same papers that I had used in the original project, which gave me one less thing to spend my time debating on. 

I also used the same 3x4" ruled Project Life cards to add the day of the week, using Kerri Bradford's A Big Day stamp set. I trimmed down each card and adhered them along the side of the page, tucking the bottom edge under the photo collages. 

This was such an easy project to finish up, and I love that these pages are all together in one album. I can't wait to work on my 2018 / 2019 shows!

Christmas Movies: A Pocket Page Spread

Hey everyone. I don't know about you all, but I'm a huge fan of Christmas movies. Specifically, Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. They're a tradition of mine, and I watch them non-stop during the holidays. 

This past holiday season, Hallmark Channel came out with 22 brand new Christmas movies. They even came out with an app to keep track of them, and check them off as you watched them. Since this made it much easier to remember what movies I was watching (since admittedly, they do all sort of run together after a while), I thought it would be fun to document the movies that I watched for the 2018 holiday season. 

This 6x8 spread is specifically about the Hallmark Channel movies. I also watched a ton of new Christmas movies on Lifetime Channel, and I am planning on doing a second spread about those ;)

I turned to Google to search for images for all of the movies that I watched. I printed them all as 2x2" photos, and I also found some fun little quotes to go along with them, since I knew I would have a few empty pockets to fill. 

I have images for 19 of the movies, but I watched 20 out of the 22 new movies. There was one movie that, no matter how much searching I did, I could not find an image for. It actually looked like it was an older movie, that was being promoted as a new movie. I finally just gave up on that one. And there was one movie I totally missed - and one that just didn't look interesting to me, so I skipped it.

I created a 6x8 page, to go alongside the pocket page. I used a few cut files from Kerri Bradford Studio for my title, as well as a circle background for the top of the page.

I added in some incredibly old patterned papers from Making Memories that I had in my "Christmas" box of supplies, and added my typed journaling as well. 

I had saved the Countdown to Christmas movie schedule that the Hallmark Channel had put out, and printed it as a 6x8 photo to include as well. I guess I should go back and actually check off the movies that I watched, shouldn't I? 

It only slightly bothers me that some of these photos aren't a true 2x2" square. I had put 6 2x2" onto a 4x6" to have printed with my photo order, and of course, the pics don't always come back a true 4x6". So on some of these, you can see where the photo behind it is slightly larger. 

This layout should come in handy next year, when all of the Christmas movies start up. I can't tell you how many times I will sit and watch a movie, thinking that I have probably seen it - but I'll watch it anyways, just to be sure. Now I can just pull this out and cross reference what I've seen ;)

Kerri Bradford Studio: Currently Fixing and Building All The Things

Hey everyone! I have a new pocket page spread up at Kerri Bradford Studio this week. This is a 6x12" pocket page spread that will go in my personal album, and I added in a 4x11" insert as well. 

With our recent move a few months ago came lots and lots of projects that needed doing once we were in the new-to-us house. Little projects and big projects. I had lots of help on many of the projects from my very handy family - my mom can fix/build just about anything, my brother is the same, and my dad is a pro at the outdoor/yard stuff. But I'm also proud to say that I took on a ton of the projects myself, as I'm the handy one in our little family. 

I realized I had quite a few photos I had taken while working on these projects, and thought it would be fun to create a pocket page spread about some of the projects that I both tackled AND accomplished. 

I printed my photos as 3x3's and 3x4's and slipped them into the pockets, leaving a few empty so that I could add in my title card and a few filler cards. I decided to go digital with these cards, using a mix of Kerri's designs and a few digital papers that I happen to have in my digital collection. 

To create my title card, I used a graph patterned paper for the background, along with a small strip of woodgrain patterned paper along the bottom. I used the PNG file for "currently", taken from the Grammar School: The Adverbs kit, and added in "all the things" using the Digital Stamps: Home kit to create the main part of my title (I added the "fixing and building" using the text tool and a fun font). 

I cropped the What's Next digital card into a 3x3" square, and used it as is in one pocket. I decided to put it in the bottom right corner of the second page of the spread - kind of like "ok, I'm done with all of these projects, so what's next?" ;)

I wanted a black background to go with the Can't Stop Me, so I copied part of the black distressed background from the "What's Next" card and sized it to fit my 3x4" background before adding the "Can't Stop Me" PNG file (which I changed to white) to complete my filler card. 

I also printed a 1x4" strip of that same black distressed part of the What's Next card to add to the top of my larger 4x8" photo that I printed for the backside of the insert page.

I added some tiny alpha stickers from Making Memories along the top, tucking them under the top edge of the photo.

I printed my journaling to fit the 4x11" insert. I was originally going to make it a 4x12" insert, but I realized I had some 8.5x11 page protectors, and decided to cut down one of those instead of a full 12x12" page protector. I machine stitched down the side of the journaling card, and then trimmed off the excess to make the custom sized page protector. 

On the front side of the insert, I added my journaling page, adding a strip of the woodgrain digital patterned paper that I used on the title card. Try and ignore the extra holes from when I stapled the woodgrain paper in the wrong spot, making my page too short for the page protector. Lol. 

I had one more 3x3" pocket to fill, so I created a background using the woodgrain digital patterned paper, and added the cute sketch house from the Digital Stamps: Gather kit (which I changed to white). 

I love pulling Kerri's designs together, both her cut files (and the PNG's that go with them) and her digital stamps, to fit the needs of whatever project I'm working on. There are times when I'm all about working with physical papers and products, and using my Silhouette to die cut designs - and there are times when I'm all about working digitally, using Photoshop to create what I need. And I love that Kerri's designs offer the flexibility to be used in so many ways!

Movies: A Layout Share

Hey everyone! Last week I had a few days off work in a row, and got into some weird creative zone, where I was finishing up half done projects, while also working on new projects. When I get inspired like that, I tend to just go with it. Because it doesn't come all that easy at times. Or I get busy with work and life stuff, and don't have the same kind of interrupted time where I want to work on projects. 

Anyways. This is one of those half done projects that I worked on. I'm not even sure I could say it was half done. Let's just say it was partially started ;)

A few years ago, when Alyssa was about to start her second year of college, we switched the girls rooms at the old house. During the switching process, Alyssa had cleaned out a ton of stuff that she had collected over the years. She's good about giving me things that she thinks I would want to keep, as a scrapbooker and documenter. 

One of the things she gave me was a bag filled with movie ticket stubs that she had saved up over the years. My very first thought was that I wanted to make a layout with them. 

I started out by sorting the ticket stubs out by dates, making piles for each year that she had tickets for. There were a few duplicates in the mix, so I threw those away. I decided I would adhere them to a 12x12 sheet of white cardstock, layering them over each other here and there. I started on the left side of the page, and adhered a row from top to bottom. Then I started on the second row, then the third row, etc. 

I knew that I wanted to add my title along the right side of the page, and I ended up with plenty of room once all of the ticket stubs were adhered in place. 

I immediately thought of this fun "movies" cut file from Kerri Bradford Studio for my title. It is actually a part of Kerri's The History Project class, and is included in the massive amount of cut files that come with the class. I die cut it from black cardstock and adhered it along the right side of the page. 

The ticket stubs had touches of red and a little blue in them, so I added a strip of red patterned paper and a blue scalloped border sticker. I very randomly pulled out this plastic 12" border piece, which has circles going down the center. It was a part of a super, duper old monthly kit by Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Such an old, old, old product. But I love using older stuff. I've purged my supplies SO many times over the years, and if I'm still holding onto something that is THIS old, it's because I really did love it and can still see myself using it. So I'm glad I came across the bin of these plastic pieces (along with foam pieces!), because I may need to use them more often now ;)

I didn't really have a plan going into this for journaling, but I knew that I needed to include a little something somewhere on the page. I typed this up and printed it out, thinking I was going to adhere it on top of the ticket stubs. But then I decided to just adhere it sideways, on top of the plastic strip. I love when I stop overthinking things and just go with things. It took me no time at all to finish up this layout and that makes me happy!

Kerri Bradford Studio: Entertaining With Snapchat

Hey everyone. I've got a new layout up at Kerri Bradford Studio. So, I'm really not a fan of being in photos. And yet, I apparently seem to have no issues taking Snapchat selfies. Especially when I take them with adorable kiddos! Lol. I used to entertain the daycare kiddos with funny Snapchat filters at least once a day, so I've accumulated a lot of photos over the last few years. I decided to pull out some of my favorites and put together a two page spread. 

I printed 14 photos as 3x3" squares, and arranged them around the outside edges of my two page spread along with some 3x3" squares of patterned paper.

I printed my photos in black and white, since there were so many colors happening in them. I love that this allows me to use any paper colors that I want. 

I die cut a circle background from white cardstock, using Kerri's Background Basics kit, cut it in half lengthwise, and adhered the two pieces across the center of both pages. 

I didn't really have any patterned papers in mind when I started this. Not sure how it happened, but I turned towards my patterned papers, and immediately thought about the You Are Loved collection from Bella Blvd & Illustrated Faith, that my good friend Stephanie Buice designed. I never did take the time to use her gorgeous paper designs, and thought this was the perfect time to dig into them. 

I printed out Kerri's "Living Our Best Life" (from the Living Our Best Life kit) on white cardstock, as I wanted a 3x4" filler-type card to go side by side with my journaling card, which I also sized to 3x4". The metal rimmed tags are super old, both from American Crafts and Making Memories.

I had also printed the "Love This" (from the Click kit) circle on white cardstock, so I wanted to have a few additional circles to embellish the page. I arranged them on the left page of the spread, to fill in the empty space.  

This two page design is one that I use quite often. Arranging photos/papers around the outside edges, whether 3x3" in size or 3x4" in size, and then using the space in the center to add my title, journaling, etc. 

I love using the Weathered Door Alpha [All] kit for titles. It's a great choice for words that you may not be able to find specific cut files for, and I just love the chunky font with the option to die cut the outline of each letter as well. I pulled the "entertaining" from the Happy Stuff kit, and paired it with my die cut "snapchat" to complete my title. 

Well, I guess I also added some tiny alpha stickers for the "with" part of my title - so that completed my title ;)

I also added machine stitching around the outside edges of each 3x3" square of patterned paper. I did this before adhering them to my pages, and then machine stitched down the strips of striped patterned paper once the layout was assembled. 

These photos just make me smile. I realize the kiddos may not look all that thrilled in so many of the photos. But trust me, they loved doing them with me.

Seeing as how I actually started this layout last summer (all I had done was adhere my photos to white cardstock), I'm so glad I came across it and took the time to finish it.

Kerri Bradford Studio: Sleep Vibes

Happy New Year's my friends! I love the start of a new year. A clean slate. A fresh start. I've noticed over the last couple of years that I tend to get super creative at the beginning of the year. I'm not sure why exactly that is, but I find it best to just run with it ;) I've also noticed that January is when I tend to pull out those forgotten projects. The half-done layouts and/or albums that just need a little attention in order to move them to the "finished" pile. 

I started this layout a full five months ago, as it was going to be one of my layouts for Kerri last summer. I must have went in another direction, with another project, for that month, and kept pushing this layout off for another month, and then another month. I decided that January 2019 would be it's month! And yesterday, it was up on the Kerri Bradford Studio blog. 

When Kerri came out with her Summer Vibes kit, I brainstormed some ways to use the "vibes" word, and decided I could pair it up with photos of some of my daycare kiddos napping. I pulled some of my favorite photos of napping kiddos into one of Kerri's photo templates, using her Storyboard: Instagram Style kit, printed it out, and matted it with two different patterned papers. 

For my background, I used Kerri's Heart Background kit, die cutting the full hearts from a blue patterned paper and the heart outline from white cardstock. I misted the die cut heart background piece before I adhered it to my page. 

I picked out a few tags (along with a 2x2" PL card) to add along the top of the page, tucking them behind the photo collage. My patterned papers are a mix of different manufacturers. If I'm remembering right, I have some Dear Lizzy, Shimelle, Photo Play, and another one that has slipped my mind. I had them written down, but that all got lost in the move.

I die cut "vibes" from some solid brown patterned paper, and then die cut "sleep" (from the Oh Baby kit) from some red dotted patterned paper, to complete my title. Fun outline words were one of the first things that made me want a Silhouette all those years ago. I just love the look of those types of cut files. 

You know what's crazy? I had my title die cut, I had my papers picked out and trimmed down, I had my photo collage printed - I even had my journaling printed! Why it took me so long to assemble this page and finish it off is beyond me. Lol. 

To embellish the area to the left of my photo collage, I added some a few stickers and coordinating buttons. So glad to have this one finished and in the albums! 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Merry Christmas

I've got a new project up at Kerri Bradford Studio this week. While I'm fairly settled into my new scrapbook room, in the new house, I wasn't quite ready to scrap with paper and glue just yet. Things are all put away and the room is clean, but that doesn't exactly mean that I know where everything is or that it's organized the right way ;) So when it came time to create something for Kerri this month, I decided to go digital.

I'll be honest. I'm not one that scrapbooks much about Christmas, other than creating a layout or two each year with any photos that we take at family get-togethers. However, as I was prepping our family's Christmas cards to send out to family and friends a few weeks ago, I realized it was a tradition that was worth documenting. I've made it a habit to make sure that we take a few family photos on Thanksgiving day, so that we would have a photo all ready to go for ordering Christmas cards. I usually end up ordering them that very night, if not the next day. I always love getting our cards out as early as I can. 

I decided to create a digital 6x8" two page layout, as we recently moved and I'm still trying to get situated in my scrapbook room and am not quite ready to play with paper and scissors just yet ;) I used two different templates from the Half Pints: Wander kit to create my two page spread. I included our family photo for this year, along with our photos from the last two years. 

I came across the "did this" image from the Deck The Halls digital stamp kit and knew it would be perfect to include, adding a little digital check mark from the Versed: Note It digital stamp kit. I also added the years to each of the photos, using both the Label Maker digital stamp kit and the Side By Side digital stamp kit. 

I added the wreath above my journaling using a digital stamp from the Bundled Up digital stamp kit. On the first page, I created my title using PNG files from the Christmas Calendar kit.

I typed my journaling on the second page, using the text box that Kerri included within the template. I printed both 6x8" pages of my two page spread. Once I add this layout into my 6x8" family album (or my December Daily - which I have started, but time will tell if I stick with it), I will also be adding all three coinciding Christmas cards that go with those three family photos. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Making Time

 

Hey all! I'm sharing another new layout that I created for Kerri Bradford Studio. I love that I was so inspired by these sketches, and that I was able to create five new 6x8" spreads for my personal album. 

While these sketches were designed for traveler's notebook layouts and 8.5x11" pages, they can easily be adapted for other sizes - whether 12x12", 9x12", 6x12", or 6x8" - whatever size you're loving right now! For this 6x8" spread, I used sketch #3 as my starting point.

I only had four photos, so I printed them each as 3x3" photos, and arranged them across the spread as shown in the sketch. I've actually created a sort-of simliar 6x8" spread on the topic of reading (seen HERE), and even used a few of these same photos. But every time I would see the bookshelf die cut (linked below), I would think about doing another layout on the theme. 

I have a few books that I've picked up over the last year or so, with the intention of starting to read again. I've seen a lot of people rave about "Girl Wash Your Face", so I figured it was worth a shot. And "Talking As Fast As I Can" was a no-brainer, since I'm a huge Gilmore Girls fan. I also have another book written by Lauren Graham, but forgot that I had it when I went to print these photos. 

The "Home Organization" book isn't really a book you'd read cover to cover, I guess. But it's filled with soooooo many great tips and ideas, and I'm always wanting to really read my way thru it. And I'm a big "Younger" fan (a show on the TV Land channel), so when I learned there was an actual "Marriage Vacation" book (a big part of the story line revolves around this book on the show), I had to get it. 

I die cut the fun bookshelf from black chalkboard patterned paper, using Kerri's A Good Book kit, and adhered it directly above the photos on the first page. 

I cut the word "time", using the Happy Birthday kit, from a pink patterned paper for my title. I die cut it twice, mainly because the first time I cut it, my machine messed it up. Lol. I cut it twice on the second try, to make sure I ended up with at least one good once. I got two good ones, so I layered them together for a little thickness. 

I added my journaling along the top of the second page of the spread, and added a few simple chipboard elements to finish off the page. Super simple and easy, and just my kind of layout :)

Kerri Bradford Studio: So Yeah

Hey all! I'm sharing another new layout that I created for Kerri Bradford Studio, as part of her birthday celebration last week. These are old photos, from years ago, and they tell an old story, from years ago. But I think it's one worth documenting. Since any photos of me taken back in 2006-2007, I'll most likely be wearing a hat (or a fun hair piece added in with my real hair). There's a close up of my journaling later in this post, which explains why ;)

Kerri asked if we'd like to work from some sketches, and provided us with three to choose from. While these are set up for traveler's notebooks and 8.5x11" layouts, they can easily be adapted to work for any size you desire. 

For this 6x8" spread, I used sketch #3, and with the exception of moving my journaling placement and adding an additional photo, I stuck to the sketch as it was. I printed all of my photos in varying sizes, and arranged them across the two pages, overlapping them as needed.

I've had these photos in a folder on my laptop for well over a year, with the intention of creating a layout with them. I often come across photos, while looking for completely different photos, and get ideas for layouts. So I've learned to plop them into a "for layouts" folder, so I don't forget about them - and I don't have to go digging for them again, as they often come from totally different months/years. 

I die cut a flower background from white cardstock, using Kerri's Background Basics #3 kit, and added that along the top of the two pages to create a white-on-white look. I added my die cut title, using the Summer Vibes and Something To Say #2 kits, to the top of the left page of the spread. 

I adhered my journaling along the top of the right page of the spread. Took me a few tries when it came to printing it, as I need to remember to size my font down a bit on these smaller spreads. A few simple enamel dots were all I added to embellish the page. 

After wearing a hat almost every day for that year or two, I have to say, I've never worn a hat since. Lol. I kept my hats for a while, as I had a hard time finding ones that I really liked on myself. But eventually I got rid of them, and crossed my fingers I wouldn't have those same hair issues again.

Kerri Bradford Studio: Mama Needs Some Chocolate

Hey all! I'm sharing another new layout that I created for Kerri Bradford Studio, as part of her 8 year celebration! As I mentioned yesterday, I ended up super inspired and created five 6x8" spreads for my personal album, and today I'm sharing the second of those five spreads.

Kerri asked if we'd like to work from some sketches, and provided us with three to choose from. While these are set up for traveler's notebooks and 8.5x11" layouts, they can easily be adapted to work for any size you desire. 

For this 6x8" spread, I used sketch #1. I kept with a full 6x8" photo for the right side of the spread, and didn't end up adding anything to the photo. 

Have you tried this stuff? Let's just say that if you haven't, you should. It's soooo good. Or maybe you shouldn't. It's also like crack, and you won't be able to stop eating it. Lol.

Instead of an additional photo for the left side of the spread, as shown in the sketch, I used that spot for my title. I printed out the "mama needs some chocolate" printable, from Kerri's Mama Needs Some kit, and used that for my title. I had an extra piece of a circle background that I had die cut for another project, using the Background Basics kit, and it ended up being just the right size to use on that left page.

I was originally going to print my journaling so that I could cut it into two tag shapes (to go with the tag on the sketch), and add one to the top of the page and one to the bottom of the page. But I ended up with too much to say in my journaling and ended up trimming them into blocks of journaling instead. I added a simple tab die cut and a few enamel hearts to finish off the page.  

I'll be back to share my three other layouts next week. Make sure to stop by Kerri's blog, if you haven't already, to keep up with all of the fun stuff she had going on this past week!