... just Laura

Jillibean Soup: You Make Me Smile

Hey everyone. I somehow missed sharing this layout that was up on the Jillibean Soup blog last month. This was the last of three layouts that I created while in-between homes. Meaning I created this at my brother and sister-in-law's dining room table, and my only "tools" were a paper trimmer and scissors. I feel like my style is very simple when you get right down to it, and I love that having minimal supplies meant that I didn't feel any pressure to NOT go with my simple style. If that makes sense. 

I was also without a photo printer during this time, so I had to order my photos. I wanted to include several photos of the girls, taken last year on Christmas day, so I ended up arranging them on a larger canvas (most likely a 12x12" if I'm remembering right, since I had additional photos as well that I trimmed apart). I ended up with two 3x12" strips, each having three photos. So much easier to have two larger "photos" to adhere, and build the layout around, then six smaller, individual photos. 

For my title, I used one of Jillibean's new foam stickers, as well as some small alpha stickers. I'm sure you all know that I like to keep my embellishments simple, and enamel dots are always a favorite. I didn't have my favorite scalloped border punch on hand, so I freehand cut that scalloped border. It's not perfect, but it's close enough.

I cut apart one of the 3x4" cards from the Bite Size Bits patterned paper, and matted it with a navy blue patterned paper. Most of the papers and elements I used for this layout are from the new You Make Miso Happy collection. 

I know I hadn't been blogging as much the past few months, but I hope to be back on track soon. I have some more Jillibean Soup projects to share, but I won't be able to share them for a bit. Will share when I can :)

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. 

Jillibean Soup: Beautiful Reasons To Be Happy

Soooo. If you happen to miss this little tidbit of info (I shared a bit about it on both Instagram and Facebook), with the sale of our house, I also made the decision to close my daycare as well. Here's what I shared about a month and a half ago: 

17 years ago, after moving here, I opened up my own daycare business in our home. I love and adore kids, and I knew it would also be a way for me to be home with my girls while they were growing up. Each and every child that came into our home was special and so very loved. Not just by me, but by my girls and Joe as well. Sure, some were more special than others (I can’t lie - it happens). But each and every one will hold a special place in my heart forever. Over those 17 years, I was lucky enough to spend my days with 54 precious kiddos. Babies, toddlers, and school aged children. Some were with me a short time, and some were with me for 4-5 years. I am so thankful that I got to play a small part in all of their little lives, and for their parents trusting me with their babies.

With this move, I knew that it was time to make a change. The decision to close up my daycare was so very hard to make, especially since it meant letting go of the 4 special kiddos that made up my last “squad”. But I’ve felt ready for a change for a while, so I knew the timing was right. Don’t ask me what I’ll be doing next, because I don’t know yet. I’ve been job hunting, since I do have to work. Just one more change that’s happening in our family right now. We’re deep in a transition phase and doing the best we can. But I sure do miss my little friends, as it’s been a really quiet week since we all parted ways ❤

Along with those words above, I also shared several collages of photos that I had put together. These collages were made up of 45 of the amazing kids that have meant so much to our family. There were 9 more kiddos, but they were during my film years, so I couldn’t easily track down their photos at the time I was creating the photo collages. 

I knew that I needed to work those 45 photos, of 45 adorable faces, into a layout. So that's just what I did for one of my Jillibean Soup layouts last month. To start, I used a photo template from Kerri Bradford's Travelers Templates, which held 15 photos, and I created three collages. I knew I would make this a two page spread, so I sized them to fit one on the first page, and two of them on the second page. 

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I created my layouts for last month using very limited supplies, as I was in-between homes for a few weeks and I didn't have access to all of my scrap stuff. I lucked out, in that I had this circle background already die cut and mixed in with my Jillibean Soup papers, since it was created with a Jillibean cut file. I had actually die cut it a few years ago, and didn't end up using it. I think if I had had my Silhouette handy, I most likely would have die cut that circle background from white cardstock, for a white-on-white look. But I love how the kraft looks mixed with the patterned papers and the white cardstock. 

I used patterned papers from the new You Make Miso Happy collection for this spread. This 3x4" card, from the Bite Size Bits patterned paper worked perfectly for my title. I matted it on a piece of black patterned paper, to help it stand out a bit more. I love these floral die cuts, from the Pea Pod Parts pack, and have been using them quite a bit on my projects. 

I've also been using lots of these die cut houses. Without really thinking about it, I used it on a layout this weekend that I created for next month's projects. I added some journaling strips along the bottom of the two pages, but I also added a little journaling block in this empty space on the first page, as I had a bit more to say.

I used that old school paper tearing technique again, just like I did on the layout I shared yesterday, as I didn't have any border punches or special tools - but I didn't want a straight edge, so the tearing adds some texture and interest. 

I've created a few layouts over the years, where I've included a photo of every kiddo that I've taken care of. You can see a few HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE. It's fun to see how the number of faces grew over the years. I won't lie - I miss seeing those little faces greet me each morning. It's been a good change, but a weird change too. I'm so thankful that I still keep in touch with the majority of these kiddos and their families, and I can continue to see cute photos of them, hear cute stories, and watch them grow up. 

Jillibean Soup: Together

Hey everyone! I know I sort of fell off the face of the earth for the last month or so. If you don't follow me on Instagram, which is the only real place I share everyday life happenings, we recently sold our house and downsized to a new place. It happened rather quickly, and we were actually in-between homes for several weeks. 

I haven't done too much creating the last 2 months or so, what with packing up an entire house, and storing it all - both in a storage unit, as well as my parent's and my brother's garage. Most of my scrapbooking supplies and such went into storage, but I did keep out my Jillibean Soup products, as I knew I would need to create a few layouts during those weeks in-between homes. 

I created three layouts, sitting at my brother and sister-in-law's dining room table. And I went pretty old school, as the only tools I had were my trimmer, my edge distresser, and my scissors. I didn't keep out my Silhouette machine or my sewing machine - although I did luck out, as I had a few die cut background that I had saved from previous projects, where they didn't get used or portions of them didn't get used. I had a single row of a circle background, and it was all that I needed for this layout, as you can see above. 

Jillibean Soup came out with some foam stickers with their two newest collections, and they ended up being just what I needed to create the titles for a couple of my layouts. I usually use my Silhouette to create parts of my titles, and fill in with alpha stickers when needed. These larger foam sticker words worked great for my titles on their own.

I used lots of patterned papers from the new Garden Harvest collection for this layout. When I was thinking of photos that I could use with it, this family photo from Mother's Day 2017 came to mind. We had gone out to visit Joe's mom, along with his brother and our niece, and I'm so glad we thought to get a photo together before we left. The colors in the photo worked perfectly with this collection. 

To add a little interest to the yellow patterned paper strip - rather than having a straight edge - I tore the paper lengthwise, which is a super simple technique that was popular years ago. Overall, this is a really simple layout. But there was something sort of refreshing about limiting what I had to work with. 

Jillibean Soup: Hello High School

Hey everyone! I have a new layout to share that was up on the Jillibean Soup blog last month. They had tossed out the idea of school layouts, and even though my girls are done with school (not counting college, which Sarah is still in), I had an idea that I thought would fit the request.  

I have created "first day of school" layouts for both of the girls - maybe not for every year, but for a lot of them. But I thought it would be cool to make a layout showing their "first day" photos for their high school years. I mainly thought of the idea after seeing new cut files for the high school years in the Jillibean Soup Silhouette store. 

I divided my page up into four rows, one for each year of high school. This allowed me to print my photos as 2x3" pics, and still gave me plenty of room to add patterned papers, my cut files, etc. I sized each of the year's cut files to fit within the rows, and cut each one from black cardstock. 

I gathered up Alyssa's first day pics and Sarah's first day pics, and printed them side by side, so that they were essentially one photo. This gave me one photo that was 4" wide and 3" tall, for each year. 

I staggered the photo placement in each row, so that the photos weren't all lined up in the same spot on the page. I then cut 2-3 pieces of patterned paper to fill the rest of the row, adding my die cut year to the larger piece of patterned paper. 

I wanted to add a title as well, since the die cut years didn't really make up a "title" in my mind. I ended up pulling out some crazy old Jillibean Soup alpha stickers, as I was looking for red stickers. These alphas were from way back when I was on their design team like 8+ years ago. 

It turns out, I missed taking a first day of school photo for both Alyssa and Sarah, their junior year. Funny, since they were totally different years. I only missed 3 years of "first day" pics, during their 13 years of school. And I guess it just sort of worked out that one of those was Junior year for both of them. 

It still seems like just yesterday that they were in high school. Except it wasn't just yesterday, and now I have one that's graduated from college and one that's in her second year of college. Times flies, that's for sure! 

 

I pulled out some puffy stickers, hearts and butterflies, and color coordinated them to the patterned papers. I love how they're subtle, when paired up with the same colored papers. 

Jillibean Soup: Gather Round The Table

Hey everyone! I have a new layout to share that was up on the Jillibean Soup blog a while back. I think you all know by now that I love to work with pocket pages. They're not just for Project Life albums, as they can easily be used for your every day scrapping as well. I had the idea for this layout a few months ago, and I'm so glad I finally took the time to execute my idea. 

We have this old coffee table in our family room. We've had it for well over 18 years, and it's been a well loved table. By our little family for sure. But mostly by 17 years worth of daycare kids. It's always been one of their favorite places to play, and it shows, if you were to see this table in person. It's taken one for the team, that's fur sure. It's completely beat up and covered in dents. I guess you could say it has a "distressed" look ;)

I have taken so many photos of kids playing around this table over the years, and I knew they would make a great layout. I had gone thru my external hard drive a while back and pulled out any photos that I thought would work for this layout idea, and finally took the time to sit down and figure out what I wanted to do with them. 

I love creating photo collages, so that was one option. So was printing out the photos and adhering them to my pages in a collage like fashion. But I was really itching to create a pocket page spread, and I knew all of the photos would work great as little 3x3" photos, since I take so many of my photos on my phone as squares. 

I knew that I had a 12x12" pocket page protector that had all 3x3" pockets, and that I wanted to use that for one side of my two page spread. For the other page, I came across a pocket page protector that had a large 6x12" pocket in the center and two rows of smaller 3x3" pockets - one row at the top and one row at the bottom. 

The larger 6x12" pocket across the center was the perfect spot to house my title, journaling, and a few simple embellishments. For my title, I used one of Jillibean Soup's cut files to die cut "gather" from my favorite woodgrain patterned paper. I pulled out some older red corrugated alphas to complete my title, along with a few green alpha stickers. 

I printed out my journaling and created a tag shape, matting it on a piece of green patterned paper. I added a floral puffy sticker to the bottom of the tag shape, rather than using string or ribbon. 

I decided to print all of my photos in black and white, since they had a lot of different colors going on, as they were all taken over the course of a few years. Some of the older photos had been taken with my much older cell phones, which didn't give me great quality photos. So turning them all to black and white helped make those photos look a little better. 

Working with black and white photos also allowed me to use whichever patterned papers I wanted to use, since I wasn't trying to coordinate my papers to my photos. I came across the "love my tribe" 3x4" card, taken from one of the Bite Size Bits patterned paper, and was able to trim it down into a 3x3" card to slip into a pocket on the first page of the spread. I pulled the colors for the rest of my patterned paper choices from that one card. 

I left four pockets empty on the second page of the spread, as well as one extra pocket on the first page, so that I could add in a few filler cards. I added a fun letter board saying to each pocket, which were all hand cut out of the Goodness Gracious paper from the Farmhouse Stew collection. I matted each one onto a piece of patterned paper, and added a few quick staples to the top of the letter board saying. 

I just love seeing all of these cute photos of the cute kiddos, playing and having fun around my well loved table. Individually, they're fun photos. But when you pull together a wide variety of photos like this, they can tell such an amazing story that just can't be told with a single photo. 

As beat up as this table is, we never gave any thought into replacing it. Seeing as how the kids would just take a beating to any new table we got as well. Lol.

I should also mention the "food basket", as that goes hand in hand with the table. The basket at the end of the table holds all of the play food and dishes. I have always kept that basket at the end of the table. Even going back years and years, that basket has always been there. And I'm pretty sure I have a photo of just about every kiddo I've watched sitting IN the basket. The kids always loved to sit in the basket, and there were times I'd even find two kids in the basket at once. Lol. 

Jillibean Soup: Sunday Groceries

Hey everyone! If you haven't heard the news, Jillibean Soup is celebrating their 10th birthday, and they're having a 10 day long celebration that you should definitely check out. Stop by the Jillibean Soup blog to join in on the festivities, as well as get in on the giveaways ;)

I wanted to share a new layout that was up on their blog earlier this month. I think I've mentioned (although I could be wrong) that often times, I will browse my cut files, looking for titles that inspire a layout idea. I came across a cut file that had "groceries" in it several months ago, and I finally got around to creating the layout that I knew it would be perfect for.  

Sunday is my grocery shopping day. It's part of my weekly routine, and I rarely change it up. Once I'm up and ready, I figure out what we need, try and plan what I'm making for the week, and go thru my grocery store ad and app to make sure I know the sales and deals. It might seem like a weird thing to make a layout about, but it's a part of my everyday life, so I love that I took the time to document it. 

I ended up combing two different cut files, pulling one word from each, to create my over-sized title. I love how "groceries" looks, die cut from the brown woodgrain patterned paper. I sized my title to fit across the top of my photo collage, as I love a great, large title. 

I knew I had a variety of photos to use for this page, so I picked five of them to use to create a photo collage using a template from Kerri Bradford. I printed out my journaling to fit below the photo collage, and added a few strips of patterned paper between the collage and the journaling. 

I needed a little something in the upper left corner, so I added a coordinating kraft banner tag. The cute little puffy coffee cup sticker seemed like a good choice to add to the tag, since part of my regular routine is to also grab a frappacino from Starbucks on my way out the door. 

I had some empty space in the middle of the page as well, where I had a gab between my title and the photo collage. I found a few tab stickers and phrase stickers in coordinating colors and added those to finish off the page. 

Jillibean Soup: Adventure Is Always Worthwhile

Hey everyone! I've got a new layout to share that was up on the Jillibean Soup blog a while back. I've lost all track of time, but I think it was up at the end of August. Since I was asked to focus on summer themed layouts, I had to do some digging for photos to use. My goal was to find photos that I hadn't scrapped yet, and to avoid re-scrapping photos that are already on layouts within my albums. 

I came across these photos from a family trip to my uncle's cabin, way back in 2001 I believe (I had it written down, but failed to add the date to the layout, and now I can't find the info). These were film photos, since this was years before I went digital (was digital even a thing in 2001?). And to make things even trickier, I had already trimmed down some of the photos to random sizes. 

Not having digital images to work with can make things a little limiting, but I knew I could work with what I had to create a great layout. Back in the day when I would use film photos, I would simply start trimming little bits here and there off each photo, working them into a collage as best I could. The photos always ended up being totally different sizes, but they would eventually fit into a grid-like fashion on the page. 

Once I had my photos trimmed down, and arranged across the center of a two page spread, I then knew how much space I would have left to work with. I die cut a circle background from white cardstock for each side of the two page spread, using a cut file from Jillibean's Silhouette store, and adhered those to my white cardstock page bases. 

I kept the patterned paper minimal for this layout, adding thin strips of a floral patterned paper across the top and bottom of each page. I knew I would work some additional patterned paper into my die cut title and some circle accents that I added at the end. 

I also added in this 3x4" card from one of the Bite Size Bits patterned papers that said "the details documented" across the bottom. The orange worked well with my color scheme, and it helped fill in a gap within my photo "collage". I added a small corrugated frame to the card, which I backed with a scrap of white cardstock and added a sticker to the center. 

I knew I wanted to add in some additional patterned papers, and backing some of the circle cut outs in the die cut background seemed like a great spot to add those in. I used the floral patterned paper as my starting point, and picked out a few other papers that tied in with the colors on the floral paper. 

Since I finally got my new sewing machine up and running (which I'm pretty sure only took me about 2 minutes to do), I added my usual machine stitching here and there on the pages as well. On my July layouts, I didn't add any machine stitching and my layouts felt like they were missing an important piece.

For my title, I picked out a cut file from Jillibean's Silhouette store, and die cut it from a green patterned paper. I believe it actually said "Adventure is worthwhile", and I got rid of the "is" part. I can't remember for sure, but I know that I didn't use part of the cut file. 

I used some small letter stickers to complete my title, adding the "is always" to the second half of my title. 

I actually have about 8 more photos that I plan on adding to this spread. Well, not to these two pages, per se. I must have had an idea for these photos years and years ago, since so many of the photos were trimmed down into random sizes, and then some of them were trimmed into circles and ovals. Yes, you read that right. Which means is was forever ago, since the only time I cut my photos into ovals was back when I was only using Creative Memories products. I've done circles here and there, but I definitely got away from ovals.

My plan is to create a 6x12" insert, that will get added into the album, in the middle of these two pages. I already know I can fit those 8 circle and oval shaped photos onto two pieces of 6x12" cardstock. I will most likely keep it super simple, die cutting another circle background from white cardstock and adhering those to white cardstock page bases. And then I'll add the photos to those and call it a day. I meant to get that done before I shared this spread, but life happened and I just didn't get to it. When I do get around to it, I'll have to come back and share ;)

Jillibean Soup: San Diego Zoo

Hey everyone! I've got a new layout to share that was up on the Jillibean Soup blog a while ago. I was asked to create summer themed layouts when I set out to make my projects back in July. I didn't really have any recent photos that needed scrapping, but I did remember that I had these photos of Alyssa that I printed out over a year ago that I had never got around to using. 

The photos were from a trip she took to the San Diego Zoo with her dad and her grandparents, way back in the summer of 2002. It's actually a miracle that I even had digital images to work with for these. While I didn't go digital until around 2006, Alyssa's dad had gone digital several years earlier than that. 

For my title, I wanted to use some of the large, chunky alpha die cuts, along with some smaller alpha stickers. I wasn't able to find two O's in the colors I needed, so I simply traced an O onto a scrap of aqua patterned paper. You can tell which one I hand cut, because I didn't do the cleanest job cutting out the inside of the O. Lol. 

I had picked out several sheets of patterned papers in aquas and reds, but didn't really have any navy blue options that would work. I ended up going with a white background, so that it wasn't so patterned paper heavy. And since I love to add white die cut backgrounds to my white layout bases, I picked out a star background cut file from Jillibean Soup's collection in the Silhouette store. 

I had a pack of these little shaped/colored paper clips that I thought would be fun to use on this page. They just so happen to be the perfect colors, and I ended up adding one to each of my three photos. 

I still have four new Jillibean Soup layouts to share, but I seem to be short on time to actually sit down and type up some blog posts. I'll see if I can get another one up before the end of this week :)

Jillibean Soup: Every Summer Has A Story

Hey everyone! Has it really been almost a month since I've blogged anything? Oh my. I feel like I had a ton to share at the beginning of August, all at once. And it just so happen that all of the layouts I created for Jillibean Soup for August ended up being scheduled at the end of the month. So I'm just now able to share them. And oddly enough, all of the layouts I created for September are scheduled for this week, so I'll be sharing lots of Jillibean Soup layouts over the next week or so ;)

Anyways, I've got a new layout to share that was up on the Jillibean Soup blog last week, so let's get to it.

A while back, my mom gave me a few old albums filled with my childhood photos. I was looking for a photo for a layout idea I had, and came across this photo of myself back when I was eleven years old. It gave me an idea for a totally different layout, and I printed out the other two photos right away.

And then the photos got pushed to the side, and I never got around to making that layout. But since I was asked to make a few summer themed layouts last month, it seemed like a good time to finally get these photos scrapped.

It took me a while to decide on a title. I usually start by looking to see if any of Jillibean's cut files catch my eye. Whether they work as a full title on their own, or if maybe a portion of the title/phrase will work - whether on it's own, or mixed with some die cut alphas or alpha stickers. 

For this layout, I thought the "every summer has a story" phrase would work well. I knew I could work my journaling, and what I wanted to say about these photos, off of that title. I die cut the title from patterned paper and cardstock.

Since the top part of my layout was white cardstock, I wanted to add a little texture and interest. I usually do this by adding a die cut background, cut from white cardstock as well. But I just happen to have a ton of white cardstock circles from one of my other layouts (they were the negative pieces from a circle background that I had cut), so I decided to use a bunch of those along the top of the page. 

I used an embossing folder, and ran them all thru my Cuttlebug. I don't always think to use my embossing folders as often as I should. I love the easy texture they add, with very little effort. 

I thought it would be cool to find photos of the girls, similar to the photo of myself - and taken around the same age that I was in my photo. I was eleven in my photo, and Sarah is eleven in her photo. Alyssa is actually ten in the photo I found of her, but it's close enough. 

I printed the photos as 3x3" pics, and arranged them across the page, adding small pieces of patterned paper below each photo as well. I was looking around for something to embellish those patterned paper pieces, and thought it would be fun to add the two digit year that each photo was taken. I probably should have added an apostrophe after the number, so that you know it's the year. And not just random numbers. Lol. 

Since the photos had different looks to them, and the photo of myself was a much older photo (that I scanned using my printer), I ended up changing the photos to black and white. This also allows you more freedom when it comes to picking out products, as you can use any colors you'd like. 

I actually started by picking out this 3x4" card from one of the Bite Size Bits patterned papers, and then picked out all of my other patterned papers based off the colors in the card. I also added a little puffy "love" sticker to the center of the larger flower on the card. I usually keep my embellishments pretty simple, so that little circle, and a few additional stickers at the top of the page were all I felt the layout needed. 

I'll try and get another layout posted on Thursday or Friday. Hope you're all having a great week!

Jillibean Soup: Sassy Pants

Hey all! I have a new Jillibean Soup layout to share with you today. I created this one way back in June, but it didn't go up on the Jillibean Soup blog until late July, and then I sort of forgot all about it. I guess it's ok that I waited to share this, since I can't share my last set of Jillibean projects until the first week in September. This is why I forget about stuff ;)

I've pulled out these photos of Sarah and I a few times over the last year or so, but always end up sticking them back in the box to scrap later. But when I sat down to figure out what I was going to make for my June layouts for Jillibean, I came across a cut file in their Silhouette store and knew it would pair up nicely with these photos. 

The original title was "fancy pants", but I knew that I would drop the "fancy" part and just work with the "pants" part of that cut file. 

"Sassy" seemed like the perfect word to describe my girl, as we do often call her Sassy Sarah ;) I ended up using some corrugated alphas for the first half of my title, and die cut "pants" from some navy blue cardstock. 

Once I figured out my plan for the page, I ended up having some empty space along the top of the page where I would be adding my title. I'm sure you all know that I'm not always a fan of plain white cardstock. I love to create a simple white-on-white look with a background cut file, and I happen to have a leftover piece of a woodgrain background from THIS layout, so I added that along the top of the page. 

My photos were all 3x4's, so I decided to create four 3" columns across the page. I added a photo to each column, staggering the placement, and then picked out a patterned paper for each column as well. The patterned paper in the column where my journaling is was the first paper I picked out and where I pulled the other colors from for the rest of the page. 

I also found several 2x2" cards, cut from one of the Bite Size Bits patterned papers, and added one to each of three columns that had photos in them. 

I then picked out a few flowers from a Pea Pod Parts package that coordinated with my papers, and added a flower along with each 2x2" card. 

Lastly, I added a tab die cut or sticker to each photo. I often debate over adding additional embellishments to my pages, as I'm not one to force anything onto a page just for the sake of adding product. I don't even think it crossed my mind to add anything else to this layout. I have more layouts these days that are made up of paper, photos, and die cuts, and I'm totally fine with that :)

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! 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Best Part Of The Routine

It's time to celebrate! Kerri Bradford Studio is celebrating it's 8th birthday! That's right, Kerri has been offering her awesome kits, stamps, and classes for eight years now. And we're celebrating all week long over on her blog. There's a big sale, of course. On purchases of $10 or more, you can save 30% on downloads and classes using the coupon CELEBRATE8. You can also save 15% on stamps–discount already applied. There are a few exclusions to the sale, like the July stamps that just came out. Yep, you read that right - there are two new stamp sets that Kerri released this past Monday.

Kerri suggested that we work with a few sketches this month. Those of us on the design team, along with some special guest designers, will be sharing layouts based off of these sketches. I love having a sketch as a starting point when working on layouts, as it helps take some of the thinking out of the equation for me. Sketches give you guidelines for where to put your photos, title, journaling, and even some extras like embellishments and papers - but they also give you the freedom to tweak the sketches to fit your needs as you start to work on your pages. I didn't set out to create as many layouts as I did, but I was so inspired that I just went with it, and ended up creating five 6x8" spreads for my personal album, which I'll be sharing over the next few days.

For this 6x8" spread, I used sketch #1 and I stuck pretty much to the sketch as it was presented. I almost always take a quick photo at the salon when I go to get my hair cut. It's such a cute little salon, and one of the only things that I do to pamper myself. I thought a few of those photos would tie in nicely with a few photos I had taken of my favorite hair products, as well as what I use to color my hair. 

I recently picked up a few new embossing folders from Joann's (they're from their new store brand, Park Lane), so I used one of those on a piece of white cardstock, before adhering along the top of the page. I added a die cut title, using Kerri's Life Additions #2 kit, along the top of the left page. 

I used a full 6x8" photo on the right page of the spread, and created a small photo collage of 6 photos (using a template from the Snapshots #3 kit) to add to the left page of the spread. I used a few patterned papers on this first page from Kerri's Plan It Fundamentals kit, printing them on white cardstock.

I also printed a few labels from that same kit. I added one of the printed labels to the right side of my 6x8" photo, and embellished it with a stamped image (from the Thankful stamp set), and a puffy heart sticker. The second label was added to the first page, to help complete my title. 

I'll be back to share another layout tomorrow. In the meantime, make sure to stop by Kerri's blog to check out all of the other fun stuff and projects that are being shared this week!

Jillibean Soup: Broken

Hey all! I have a new Jillibean Soup layout to share with you today. I was wanting to use the Shades of Color collection for a layout, trying to keep with the "crafty" theme of the collection. 

When I saw the "life is about using the whole box of crayons" card, from the Bite Size Bits patterned paper, it reminded me a story worth documenting. 

 

This here little girlie, Emelyn, is such a funny girl. She's full of spunk and sass, and I just love her. She's not a regular here at my little daycare anymore, as she moved on to part-time preschool - but I'm fortunate to have her baby brother here, so I still get to see her all the time. 

Her mom had shared a cute little story on an Instagram photo a while back, about how Emelyn told her to throw away the white crayon because "it's broken". Meaning white crayons don't work on white paper, right ;) She's such a smart girl! 

A few weeks later, she was here with me for the day, and wanted to color. I was in the other room, and she walked past me, right to the garbage. Where she proceeded to toss not only my white crayons away, but my peach ones as well. Lol. And she told me "Laura, I'm throwing these away because they're broken". Well, alrighty. The funny thing was that a few weeks later, I had a few of the older girls here, and they were coloring. And then I heard "do you have a white crayon?". I had to break it to them that Emelyn had thrown them away. 

To create my title, I started with the word "broken", using the die cut alphas from the Shades of Color collection. I then used a mix of colored alpha stickers to create the rest of my title. 

I wanted to use the patterned paper that has all of the color samples on it (sort of like paint chips), but it took me quite a while to figure out how to incorporate them into my page design. I kept playing around with a full strip of them, trying to use it as a border somewhere on the page. 

I finally cut them up into individual pieces, and used them to embellish a few empty areas on my page. I created this after my sewing machine died, and before I had gotten my new one up and running. Otherwise, I would have added machine stitching to finish off the page. 

Doodlebug Designs: Hello Sunshine

Hey everyone! I'm back to share another layout I created as the recent guest designer for Doodlebug Designs. I love a good girl themed collection, as I have not only two girls of my own, but a ton of adorable little girls that I've had the pleasure of watching over the years as a home daycare provider.

I have a few favorite photos of one girl in particular that I've been wanting to use on a layout, and the Hello collection was perfect for doing just that. I printed my photos as 3x3's and 3x4's, and set out to create a grid of photos and patterned paper along the outside edges of the page.

I wanted to use up 3" of space along the outside edges, so I made sure to keep my two 3x4" photos on either the right of the left sides of the page. I worked the two 3x3" photos along the top and bottom of the page.

This left me with a 6x6" area in the center of the page for my title and journaling. I matted my 6x6" piece of white cardstock with a navy blue patterned paper and then added a scalloped border around the outside edges using my favorite border punch.

I wanted to work "sunshine" into my title, as our nickname for Alora was "Miss Sunshine". I used my Silhouette to die cut the word "sunshine" from a yellow grid patterned paper, and added a die cut "hello" from the Chit Chat package. 

I added some cute die cuts and word/phrase stickers to a few of the patterned paper blocks, using pop dots for a little dimension.  

I created a bunch of cards with the Hello collection as well, and I'll be sharing those later this week!

Doodlebug Designs: Sweet Girls

Hey all! I was thrilled to be asked to guest design for Doodlebug Designs this month.I'll be sharing my projects with you here this week. First up, a new layout! As soon as I saw the Hello collection, I feel in love with it! The colors are so bright and colorful, and they are all colors that I love to work with. I knew right away that this collection would be perfect for documenting a favorite photo of my girls and I, taken back on Mother's Day 2017. 

I was originally going to create a 6x8" pocket page spread, so I had printed my photo as a 6x8". Somewhere along the way, I switched over to a traditional layout. I trimmed a little bit off either side of my photo, to give me a smidge more room for my title. 

There are so many great flower die cuts in the Odds & Ends package, and I thought it would be fun to create a floral border going from the top of the page to the bottom. I started by adhering my photo and a few pieces of patterned paper on the right side of the page, and then started arranging the flower die cuts alongside, tucking them under the edge of the photo and patterned paper.

I combined one of the Chit Chat word die cuts ("sweet") with a word cut using my Silhouette machine for my title.  

I pulled out one of the banner die cut pieces to use, and decided to create a few more banner pieces from patterned paper to add across the top of the page. I traced the die cut banner onto my patterned papers and cut them out by hand. 

In the bottom left corner, I added the yellow "you make me so happy" sticker, and added a few additional die cut flowers. 

I used to print my journaling strips on plain white cardstock, but I found that when I was adhering those journaling strips on white cardstock, it didn't quite match. So I tend to print my journaling on the same textured cardstock that I use for the base of my pages now. 

I'll be back in the next day or two to share another fun Doodlebug layout with you. 

Jillibean Soup: Hello College

Hey everyone! I had a new layout up on the Jillibean Soup blog last week and wanted to share it with you all today. When I sit down to create my layouts each month, I try and look for any photos that are an easy match - whether to the theme of the collections/papers, or to the colors. These photos of Sarah, visiting the college she would later decide to attend, were a match in both ways. 

I pulled a few of my patterned paper from other collections, but most of what's on this layout is from the 2 Cool For School collection. At first glance, this collection is boy themed, but it can most definitely work for girl layouts as well. 

I was originally going to fussy cut a few of the banner flags out of a sheet of patterned paper, until I realized there were a few in the Pea Pod Parts die cut package. I had some small scraps of the brown woodgrain patterned paper, so I used a few thin strips to go along with the banner flags.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love to use die cut backgrounds, and I love to create that white-on-white effect when using them. I have a few of Jillibean's backgrounds cut from white cardstock already, so that I can cut off pieces as needed for layouts and/or cards.

I cut out the "best ever" circle off of one of the 3x4" journaling card on the Bite Size Bits patterned paper and adhered it in the upper corner, trimming off the excess that hung over the edges of the page.

I used one of Jillibean's alphabet cut files, found in the Silhouette store, to die cut the word "college" from both patterned paper and navy blue cardstock. I used some corrugated alphas for the other half of my title, using a smiling emoji in place of the "o" in "hello". 

I used the computer monitor stamp, from the Computer stamp & die set (intended for use with their shaker cards), and stamped it with black ink onto a scrap of aqua dotted patterned paper before die cutting it. I backed it with a scrap of ruled patterned paper and added the "class of 2021" with tiny alpha and number stickers. 

This page design is one that I've used often, and is perfect for those times when you have several 4-5 photos that you want to include. I love to add three 3x4's or 4x4's down the left side of the page, and then add another photo or two across the page. Then I just add strips of patterned paper and journaling above and/or below those photos in the center, adding my title along the top of the page. Easy peasy.

Jillibean Soup: Cheers

Hey everyone! I've got a new layout up on the Jillibean Soup blog today. I didn't intentionally set out to scrap this photo of Joe and I, taken last fall as we headed out to a wedding. But as I was shuffling through the collections, looking for patterned papers that I might want to use, the Flashy Tint paper from the Shades of Color collection grabbed my eye, and I immediately thought about this photo. 

The Flashy Tint patterned paper is on the left side of the page, and the other half of that paper has the same pattern, but in red, orange, and yellow. I knew that if I cut the paper in half, the green, aqua, and gray side would match my photo perfectly.

I then added in some yellow patterned paper to the other half of the layout, using a paper from the 2 Cool For School collection, to tie in with the yellow cardigan I was wearing. 

I wanted to add a larger embellishment/accent in the center of the page, to cover up the spot on the patterned paper where all three colors meet. I found a Jillibean Soup heart cut file in their Silhouette store and die cut it in a variety of sizes. I die cut them from white cardstock first - mainly because I was die cutting my title and all of the stars from white cardstock, so it was easy to just add the hearts on there as well. 

This ended up being an easy way to figure out the placement of the hearts, before I die cut them from patterned paper. Once I had the white cardstock hearts arranged to my liking, I picked out coordinating patterned papers to die cut several of the hearts from, keeping in mind where they were placed on the page. 

The "cheers" die cut is also a Jillibean Soup cut file. It actually says "cheers to the new year", but I only needed the word "cheer". It also came with all of the stars, which were sprinkled above the title, so I used those as well. I added a few adhesive sequins to the centers of the larger stars for some simple embellishing. 

Since I had the white cardstock hearts, as well as the hearts cut from patterned paper, I decided to layer them together. I offset them slightly, to create a shadow effect, and machine stitched down the center of each heart before adhering them in place. 

And a little sad story about the making of this layout. I had machine stitched all of my hearts, and was halfway into adding the zig zag stitching down the sides of the black cardstock in the center of the layout, when my sewing machine stopped working. I'm not super knowledgeable about my machine, but did what I could to try and figure it out. I finally called my mom and asked if she could swing by and look at it (good thing she's only a few blocks away). And she called it. Time of death, Sunday, May 20th, 2018 :(

I'm pretty sure I had that sewing machine for a good 10 years or so, and seeing as how it cost me less than $100 that long ago, it served me well. There's no use trying to get something like that fixed, since you can buy a new one for next to nothing. Well, not exactly. But I did get a new one, super similar to what I had, for under $90 at Target. So I'm back in business with my machine stitching. Which is a good thing, because I think it adds so much to layouts and cards.

Jillibean Soup: Happiness Is Homemade

Hey all! I've got a new layout up over on the Jillibean Soup blog today. I was browsing thru all of the cut files that Jillibean has to offer in their Silhouette store, and came across this "happiness is homemade" title. I immediately thought about pairing it with some food photos that I've snapped over the last few months.

I sized my title to fit across the top of the page, and die cut it from red and green cardstock. I've always been a fan of mixed font titles, especially ones with a great cursive font for one part and a clean, simpler font for the other part. 

I also used a circle background cut file from Jillibean, cut from white cardstock, to layer over the top part of the page which was also white cardstock. I always adhere my background pieces in place, and then add any mist spritzing that I want to do. 

I picked out six food photos that coordinated well, and arranged them in a photo collage using a template from Kerri Bradford Studio's Snapshots #3 kit. I added a small green border to each side of the photo collage, using a scalloped border punch. 

I had decided to use the File Cards to add my journaling to the right side of the page. I picked out three of the cards that coordinated, color wise, and debated on using my own handwriting (I'm so NOT a fan of it most of the time) or trying to computer print my journaling on them. Which I knew would take me forever to figure out and to get lined up right. 

I then decided to just computer print my journaling on white cardstock, and then trim it down to fit on the file cards. This actually worked out well, since the main part of the file cards was a cream shade, and the white works better with my design. 

Once I had my journaling added to each file card, I added a few mini staples to the sides of the cards before adhering them in place. I added some simple wood veneer flowers and adhesive sequins to embellish the right side of the page. 

I've been working on some new layouts and cards for Jillibean Soup, so they'll be coming up over the next few weeks :)

Jillibean Soup: Family Photo

Hey all! I've got my first layout as an official design team member over on the Jillibean Soup blog today. I used the Farmhouse Stew collection to scrap our family photo we took this past Thanksgiving. 

I knew I'd be keeping part of my background white, so I picked out a background cut file to layer over that part of the page. Jillibean Soup has a TON of awesome cut files in the Silhouette store. I thought the woodgrain background cut file would go well with the patterned papers and our photo. 

I cut the entire backgroun from white cardstock, and then trimmed it in half, since I only needed half of it for my layout. I've got the other half saved, as it can be used on another project. 

I also used one of their cut files for part of my title, die cutting "family" from the brown woodgrain patterned paper. I paired it with the Farmhouse Stew die cut alphas to complete my title. 

I picked out several patterned papers to coordinate with my die cut alphas, and cut a 12" wide strip of each paper to arrange along the bottom half of the page. I love this 3x4" "sweet" cut-apart card from one of the sheets of patterned papers, and played around until I found a good way to add it to the page. 

The Pea Pod Parts - die cuts - were out of stock for this collection, so I went looking for some other embellishments that I could add in. I decided to use some of Jillibean's stamps, and loved this simple flower stamp from the Flower: Bloom stamp and die set. I stamped the flowers using brown ink, on white cardstock, and fussy cut each one out. 

I then added a little round puffy sticker to the center of each stamped flower. I love simple embellishments, and these worked out perfectly.

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: That Moment

Hey everyone! Did you know that this coming Saturday, May 5th, is National Scrapbook Day? Yep, it's that time of year again, and over at Kerri Bradford Studio there's lots of goodness going on in the days leading up to the big day. What exactly is going on?

Well, first off, there's a huge sale going on that you won't want to miss. Thru Sunday, you can save 40% on downloadable kits and classes (when you spend $10 or more) using the code NSD18. You can also save 20% on all stamps, including the newest release (discount is already reflected in the prices). You'll also find new projects from each member of Kerri's Creative Team, and each designer is also sharing some favorite tips and tricks.

And today is my turn to share ;)  

I'm sure the image above looks like a crazy mess at first glance. That crazy mess right there is the design I came up with for my layout, and it's pretty much exactly how it turned out. 

One of my favorite ways to plan out my layouts is to play around with ideas using my Silhouette software. Since I usually incorporate cut files into my pages, it's a great way to test out different titles, backgrounds, and other designs and see how they'll work with the photos I plan on using. Did you know that you can pull photos into your Silhouette software? It helps to resize them first, cropping them to the size you plan on printing them and saving them at 72dpi. If you do pull them in at full size, you'll simply need to scale them down until they're the right size. 

You don't necessarily need to pull in every photo you plan on using - I'll often just pull in one single photo, and then copy and paste it a few times (this works great if several of your photos will be the same size), to mimic the photos that I do plan on using. This allows you to play around with photo placement, and it helps give you an idea of the space you have on the page to work in your cut files. I also do this with photo collages. I'll pull in the finished collage, and often times, I will determine the size I want to print it based off how it plays out with the cut files I want to use. 

Instead of guessing what size to cut your title, or any fun shapes you want to use, you can figure out the exact size you need for each cut file, since you know they'll work with the size and placement of your photos. Once I have my page design planned out, I simply delete my photos from the page, sort out the pieces I'll be die cutting, and start the cutting process.  

It's been almost a year since my youngest daughter, Sarah, graduated from high school. While I have lots of photos from that day that I want to get in her album, I have one story from that day that I've been wanting to document. It was "that moment" - the big moment when they call out her name, announce her college of choice, and she walks over to accept her diploma. It just so happened that it was also the moment when my camera froze up, and I quickly realized that my memory card was full. Oh.My.Goodness.

I panicked for about 2 seconds and then got to work digging out another memory card from my purse. I was quick, but not quick enough, since I totally missed capturing her big moment, and I also missed even seeing it happen (since I was dealing with the camera and not watching her). My sister-in-law was sitting next to me, and she yelled out "Sarah!!! STOP!!!". She did, and I was able to capture the photo above - a great photo of her holding her diploma with a big smile on her face. 

Kerri's Click kit was the perfect choice to help document these photos, and this story. The negative strip and the camera fit the theme of my page, so they were obvious choices to work into my page design, and I also picked out my title from the kit as well.

The negative strip comes in several sizes (as far as how many windows each has), and both square and landscape orientation, so I played around with a few sizes as I figured out how many photos I wanted to include. I settled on 3 photos, in addition to my main focal point photo - the two photos I took right before my camera froze and the photo I snapped right after I changed out my memory card. 

Anyone that knows my style, knows that I love white backgrounds for my pages. However, I'm not a fan of plain white cardstock backgrounds, which is why I love to use die cut backgrounds - cut from white cardstock, to create a white-on-white look that's subtle, but adds interest and texture. My favorite backgrounds are circles, so I used a circle background from Kerri's Background Basics kit for this layout.

I knew that I wanted to use a black chalkboard patterned paper for my negative strip (I also used it for part of my title), and remembered that I had a few sheets of it from Echo Park. While I was digging around for that, I came across a few other Echo Park patterned papers that ended up working with my photos. I'm not huge on plaid prints, but this older plaid patterned paper - with the greens, yellows, and a brown that I decided could pass as black ;) - was perfect for the color scheme I had in mind. 

Our high school colors were green, black, and white, so those were obvious color choices. I added in little yellow, since some of the photos had touches of yellow, as some students had yellow cords and sashes. I die cut my camera pieces from yellow and green cardstock, along with some of the black chalkboard patterned paper that I used for my negative strip and title. To add a little extra texture to the camera, I ran the yellow cardstock pieces thru an embossing folder. 

I wanted to print my journaling on the same yellow patterned paper that I used for the camera, but wanted to soften the yellow a bit (and I sort of wish I had softened the yellow in the camera as well, but that didn't cross my mind until I was done). I printed my journaling on a piece of vellum and laid it over the yellow patterned paper, and then machine stitched them together across the top.

When it came time to add a few embellishments, I started poking around in a few baskets and came across some old Making Memories metal flowers. I thought they would be a fun addition, and went looking for another metal piece to add in the bottom right corner of the page. These metal photo turns were perfect. I wanted to add a black brad to each, but apparently I don't own any black brads. Weird. So tiny enamel dots was the next best thing, as I also added black enamel dots to the centers of the flowers. 

If you've never tried planning out your layouts (and cards as well) within your Silhouette software, give it a try the next time you are incorporating cut files into your page design. 

Celebrate Fall Bid Day at Theta

Hey everyone! I wanted to share the second layout that I created for the Jillibean Soup design team call. This layout actually started with the die cut alphas, as I love the chunky shape of them and wanted to play with them. I also loved the color choices within the package.

The pinks, yellows, and oranges reminded me of a few photos that Alyssa had sent me from their fall Bid Day at Theta (her sorority at college), and I knew they would be perfect to use for my layout. 

I printed one of my photos as a 3x4 and two photos as 3x3's, leaving a white border around each when I trimmed them down. I pulled out some patterned papers from different collections in orange, yellow, green, and pink to coordinate with my title letters and the colors within the photos. 

I adhered my photos onto a piece of green patterned paper, and added a fun little tab sticker to the side of each. I picked out a few little word stickers, and added one to each tab sticker as well. 

I used a combination of different alphas - die cut alphas, corrugated alphas, and alpha stickers - and a die cut word, to create my title. The corrugated alphas are an older Jillibean Soup product, and one that I always loved (and still have a lot of in my stash). 

Since I hard worked in some corrugated alphas to my title, I thought I would also add a few corrugated flowers as well. These flowers have holes in the centers, as they're meant to look like buttons. I had a few flower die cuts that I had wanted to use, so I simply added one to the center of each of the corrugated flowers. 

And check out that flamingo. I've seen flamingos a lot on scrapbooking products, and never thought I would have a need to use one. But it just seemed to work with these photos. I actually thought there had been a flamingo somewhere in the photos, but I guess I was thinking of the palm trees. 

Alpha sets that have mixed colors are really fun, but there are occasions where you need a letter in a different color than what's in the package (or maybe you used the one in the color you need already). I ended up cutting two T's out of patterned paper to get the pink and yellow that I wanted, by tracing one of the other T's onto the paper and then cutting them out. 

I've also got a few cards that I created for the design team call that I'll share this week as well. So keep your eye out for those next ;)

Chaos & Cuddles

Happy Friday everyone! I wanted to share one of the layouts that I created for my design team submission for Jillibean Soup. I've used quite a bit of Jillibean's products over the last year. It just so happens that they were projects for things that I wasn't able to share. One of my favorite products are their die cut alphabet packs. I love the larger alphas, and knew that I wanted to use them on one of my layouts. 

I don't do layouts about the daycare kids as often as I used too (personal choice), but every once in a while, I like to add one to my collection. I had a title in mind when I went to pick out my photos - a mix of the good parts of this job, and the chaotic parts of this job. I created a photo collage using a template from Kerri Bradford Studio, and changed all of my photos to black and white.

I knew I wanted to mix a die cut word in with the die cut alphas for my title, so I picked out one of Jillibean's cut files from the Silhouette store. "Chaos & Cuddles" - that's exactly the kind of mix I have here on a daily basis. 

I also used one of their background cut files to create a white-on-white background for my page. You all know that I love a good circle background, right ;) 

The fun messy circles are also Jillibean Soup cut files, and they're a cut file I can see myself using a lot. Once I had my die cut alphas picked out for my title, I then picked out several patterned papers to coordinate with the colors of the alphas. I lined up four pieces of patterned paper along the left edge of the page, and added a die cut messy circle to each of those pieces. 

I added a few super old Jillibean buttons (I still have those from when I designed for them years ago!) to the die cut messy circles, and a die cut heart from their Pea Pod Parts pack. I also added a few small puffy heart stickers here and there. 

I'm so looking forward to designing for Jillibean Soup this year, and have already started working on some new projects for next month. I'll share my second design team submission layout with you next week, along with a few cards :)

Change Is Coming: A Pocket Page Spread

Hey all! I'm back with another spread in my 6x12" personal album. This is another spread that I started ages ago, and just never finished. I have a knack for printing photos for layouts and/or pocket page spreads, and then not quite getting around to doing anything else with it. 

I had the idea for this spread about two months into my weight loss journey, as I wanted to document my plan to have something to look back on. I had a few photos of salads (my main meal the entire time I was actively trying to lose weight), my water cups (I drank water, and TONS of it, about 95% of the time), and one of the first photos I had taken of myself where I had that "this is working" moment. I thought they would all tie in nicely for this story.

I pulled this 4x6" card from an Ali Edwards Story kit - the Change kit. I was actually looking thru my digital story kits, and was super close to printing this out before realizing I could just pull the physical card out of the kit to use. 

I used a few cards from the Love Your Body digital kit from Sahlin Studio on this spread, one of which is the "#GOALS" card above. 

I created this journaling card myself. I wanted the top color to coordinate with the "you got this" filler card on the second page of the spread. I simply copied part of the solid part of that filler card, and then used it along the top of my 4x6" card here. I added the "The Story" text and then my journaling.

The filler card above is also from the Love Your Body digital kit. The black and white pattern filled the entire card, but I wanted to have a little bit of room along the bottom to add some journaling. So I just tweaked it in Photoshop to add the white along the bottom, and then added my text. 

The filler card above was from Ali Edward's Drive Story kit. I love having the digital kits for her Story kits, since I can print the cards as needed, even if I've already used the physical card on another project. 

Feels so good to have finished three spreads in my 6x12" personal album in the last week. Now if I can finish the other two that are started in there, I can get to creating some newer ones to add in as well. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Color Factory

Hey everyone! I took an unintentional break from blogging, but I'm back today to share a new layout that's up at Kerri Bradford Studio today. Earlier this year, my oldest daughter, Alyssa, and her boyfriend went to check out the Color Factory exhibit in San Francisco. She had shared a few photos from the day with me when I requested photos for my Project Life album, and when I commented about how all of the colorful photos had me thinking about a layout idea - she told me that she had a ton more photos in addition to the ones she had sent me. 

Before I knew it, I had about 60 photos from their day at the exhibit to work with! I had them all printed right along with my January photo order, so I had 3x4's of each photo starting out. But the 3x4's just weren't working the way I wanted, since I knew that I wanted to use as many photos as I could on my two page spread. 

So I ended up printing all of the photos that I wanted to use as 2x3's, since there were so many great ones that I wanted to include. I started by sorting out the photos by color, and decided to arrange them in a grid-like fashion across my two page spread in rainbow order. I won't lie. This part - the arranging of the photos - took me forever. 

There were a few colors, like red (2 photos) and orange (just 1 photo), that didn't have many photos - and a few colors, like yellow and aqua, that had a lot of photos to choose from. I ended up leaving a few spots open as I arranged the photos, so that I could work in a few pieces of colored cardstock, to keep the rainbow pattern going.

I used Kerri's Life Additions: Background kit to die cut small 2x3" pieces of cardstock to add to these empty spaces. I had a 6x8" paper pad from Bella Blvd's Oh My Stars collection that came to mind. The 6x8 pads came out right as I left Bella, so I've actually never used them before. What I do like about them is that they have coordinating solids on the backside of each patterned paper. 

This collection made it super easy for me to get all my rainbow colors in one place. Since there was SO much going on in the photos, I went with the solid sides of the paper, rather than the tiny star pattern that was on the other side. I didn't even think about adding any other embellishments to the second page of this spread, as it had so much going on with just the photos. 

While the second page of my two page spread was completely filled with photos and colored cardstock, the first page of the spread had a little more empty space to fill. 

I die cut a circle background piece from white cardstock to cover the entire page using the Background Basics kit, going with a white-on-white look, which I always love. Actually, if I'm being honest, I didn't even have to die cut that background piece. I use this circle background SO much that I always have pieces on hand. I must have used a small piece of a background at some point, because the two pieces that I had saved were the perfect size to go above and below my photos. 

For my title, I used Kerri's Weathered Door Alpha kit to die cut the word "factory" from my colored cardstock (I guess it's not technically cardstock, since it's the backside of patterned paper). Since "factory" has 7 letters, it was the perfect way to add all 7 colors that are represented in the photos - red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, and purple. I cut the outline for each letter from black cardstock. 

I decided to pull out some older brads (an embellishment that I love, but don't seem to use that often anymore), and added a few coordinating brads to each letter in my title. I can tell it's been a while since I've used brads, since I didn't space my pierced holes far enough apart on the first few letters. Lol. I think I managed to cover up my accident fairly well, but if you look closely, you can see a few of the original holes. 

I wanted to also include the word "color" in my title, since it's all about the Color Factory. Ever since I had to have my hard drive replaced (something I wasn't prepared for and I found out while it was out for repairs), my Silhouette software just hasn't worked the same. It's a long story, but one thing that doesn't seem to work well anymore is the search feature. It took me forever, but I finally found the perfect "color" option in Kerri's All About Fall kit. I simply cut off the "s" at the end of "colors" after die cutting it from black cardstock. 

After adding a few more photos to the first page, I added a few strips of black cardstock and a strip of a rainbow diagonal striped patterned paper above and below my photos and journaling. 

I'm pretty sure this is the most colorful layout I've made in a long time! Granted, it's one of the few layouts I've made in a long time, as well. Lol. And for those of you that have said you missed my layouts, I actually have a few more that I'll be sharing soon ;)

Kerri Bradford Studio: Hello New Clothes

I've got my first project of the new year up at Kerri Bradford Studio today! I recently shared about my weight loss over the last year. This also meant that I lost a substantial amount of my wardrobe. That's not necessarily a bad thing (unless you ask my wallet), as I got the chance to basically build an entire new wardrobe for myself.

I realized that I had taken quite a few photos of clothes I've bought, or while out shopping, and thought it would be fun to put together a little page to tell this story. I decided to create a 6x8" pocket spread, with one page being a full 6x8" layout and one page being a 6x8" pocket page.

Whenever I'm wanting to die cut a word for my titles that Kerri doesn't happen to have, I turn to her Weathered Door Alpha kit. Which is exactly what I used to die cut the word "clothes" for part of my title. I used the word "hello" from Kerri's Bloom kit, die cut from patterned paper, for the first half of my title. 

My patterned papers are from Dear Lizzy and Amy Tangerine collections. I've had the ruffled paper for years - the ones with 3-4 colors of layered ruffles on one full sheet. I thought it seemed like a fun fit for a layout about clothes.

I printed all of my photos as little 2x2's, and slipped them into the pocket page. I actually had enough photos to fill all twelve pockets, but ended up taking a few out so that I could work in some patterned paper.

There's an older patterned paper from Dear Lizzy that has rows of little polaroid pictures. If you cut out the pattern/picture from the polaroid frame, it's just slightly smaller than 2x2, so they worked perfectly in these pockets. I just matted each one on a piece of white cardstock. The "a whole lotta happy" came from Kerri's One Fine Day stamp set. 

I also ended up adding in a 3x8" insert, which held my journaling and some clothing tags I've been saving from my favorite brands.

I used the "this is just fantastic" design from Kerri's About Town kit digitally to create my 3x8" journaling card, backing it with some black chalkboard digital patterned paper. 

I used a 3x8" digital journaling card from an Ali Edwards Stories Of Life kit. There's a spot to insert a photo, or a digital element like I did, and then type up your journaling. 

I've been holding onto some clothing tags for quite a while, with the idea of working them into a project at some point. I ended up deciding to only use three of my tags, as they're the main brands that I seem to buy/wear. I have a few other brands that I wear a lot (like Old Navy), but they don't have cute tags at all. Lol.

Once I adhered the tags to the 3x8 piece of cardstock, I had some room at the top. I stamped the "grateful for" box using Kerri's Gather Together stamp set. I should have tested it before stamping it directly on my paper, and I'm sure the textured cardstock didn't help, as my stamping didn't turn out all that great. Lol.

It's a pretty simple layout spread, but that seems to be my style now. I would normally add some machine stitching, but it didn't even cross my mind for some reason while working on this. And I didn't even consider adding any little embellishments. There's something to be said for keeping things simple sometimes :)

Craft The Story: Ali Edwards - Details

Hey everyone! I've got another layout to share, and it seems fitting that I'm sharing it this week. Seeing as how the story behind the photos started almost a full year ago. The week after Thanksgiving 2016 to be exact. That is when I started a journey to become a healthier version of myself. 

I've never been one to talk about my weight, or even to acknowledge that I had gained weight over the last 6-7 years. It's been in the back of my head for years that I needed to do something about it, but I never got motivated enough to even try. Until a year ago, when one of my closest friends started her own weight loss journey. And in hearing a bit about the program she was doing, I knew that it would be the perfect fit for me. 

I never took actual before photos. But I had taken photos with the girls on Mother's Day this year, and I noticed that in the photo of Sarah and I, we were posed exactly the same as we were in the photo we took on Thanksgiving last year. So I made her take another photo with me in October, after I reached my goal weight. 

I started on this program the week after Thanksgiving, and started working towards my first goal. Which I met back in April. I then took a two month break, doing my best on my own to make healthy choices and maintain my weight. But I also knew deep down that I still had some more weight that I wanted to lose. You see, I ended up having to replace pretty much my entire wardrobe. I had some clothes saved from years ago, when I was smaller. But I'm also smaller now than I've been in forever and ever. So my choices were limited as I lost more weight. So since I was replacing almost everything, I knew that I wanted to get down to where I really, really wanted to be - so that I could make the most of my purchases with that end goal/size in mind. 

So I went back on the program towards the end of June, and met my final goal at the beginning of October. And while start to finish, it took me 10 months to reach my final goal, with the intentional breaks that I took along the way (including the two month break), I actually only spend 6 of those 10 months actively trying to lose weight. I ended with a 55 pound weight lose, and I'm very proud of it. 

So, on to the actual layout. I was looking thru the Details Story Kit from Ali Edwards, and realized it would be a great way to document my story. There's a lot more that I could share/document about this weigh lose journey, but I wanted to at least get some facts down. Some quick details. 

I have the actual Story Kit, and was planning on creating a traditional layout. But I've also gotten used to doing a lot of my planning either in Photoshop or in my Silhouette software (that's usually if I'm planning on die cutting something). Since I also have the digital version of the Story Kit, I was playing around in Photoshop, mapping out my plan. Kind of the same thing as sketching out the plan for the page. 

And at some point, I decided to just make this a fully digital layout. I love playing with paper, but sometimes, I just want to veg out on the couch and do nothing. And part of my version of doing "nothing" is playing around on the computer. So sometimes, digital just appeals to the couch potato in me ;)

I knew that I wanted to use the "details" 4x6" card, with a 4x6" photo underneath, and another 4x6" card from the kit below the photo. 

Since I had three photos that I collaged together onto one 4x6" photo, I knew that this 4x6" card from the kit would work perfectly paired up with it. The 01, 02, and 03 divided sections allowed me to document some details to go along with each of the photos. 

I recently read a comment from someone that had lost a lot of weight, and they said it should be socially acceptable to wear the size label that comes on new clothes out in public. Wear it proudly. And I guess that's why I wanted to document my starting weight/sizes, and where I'm at now. I'm not one to pat myself on the back often, but I am so freaking proud of myself for accomplishing this goal and getting to where I am. I may not be proud of where I started, but I'm proud of where I ended up. 

In every Story Kit, there is a marketing card that includes a photographic image with a quote on one side, and some info about the theme of the kit on the other side. The card in this kit had a floral image along with a quote, and I thought the colors in the flowers went well with my photos. 

So I selected the top part of the card, and used it to create a border along the top and bottom of the page. Since the card was six inches wide, I just pasted it twice along the top and twice along the bottom. I added in a scalloped border along the top and bottom as well, and picked out a digital patterned paper for the base of my page. 

The nice thing about using digital elements is that you can size them however you'd like. The physical chipboard circle pieces are a good size, but I was able to use them larger digitally. The same goes for the "why", "what", and "when" cards. I sized them to fit onto the page to my liking, and once I was happy with them, I then typed up my journaling on each card. 

I know that, if you're like me, when you hear about someone losing a lot of weight, and doing it successfully, you kind of want to know how they did it. Like I said, I wish I could say that I did it all on my own, but I didn't. I did use a food program, and that program was something that I choose to invest in. I believe in this program 100%, and I know it works. If you work it and commit to it. And I was fully committed, 110%, when I was on the plan. I never cheated. Not even once. Which is why it worked. 

If any of you are sincerely interested in more info about the program that I used, feel free to email me and I can share a bit more about it with you. 

 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Home

Hey everyone! I've got a new layout up over at Kerri Bradford Studio today, and wanted to pop in and share it here as well. So, I'm sure you've all noticed that I've gone back and forth a lot this past year - between making traditional layouts, working in my 9x12" Project Life album, creating 6x12" and 6x8" pocket page spreads, and I even gave the traveler's notebooks a try.

Along the way, I'm finding that I gravitate towards certain formats and certain sizes more than others. After 24+ years of scrapbooking, and focusing mainly on creating 12x12" layouts all those years, the pocket page albums and smaller sized formats really speak to me lately. That's not to say I'm giving up on traditional layouts at all (I know many of you come looking for those). But I have to go with what inspires me, when it inspires me, because that's when I'm creating things that truly mean something to me.

So when I set out to create this layout, I decided to create a 6x8" two page spread. I created a layout recently with a similar design - 6x8" photo on one side, and 6x8" journaling page on the other side - and I really love the way it looked. This design works really well when you have that one special photo, and a lot to say about it!

The photo I used for this layout was taken almost a year ago, as we took it on Thanksgiving day 2016. And I'm planning on having us take another one on Thanksgiving day next week, as a lot has changed since then. And it means I'll get Christmas cards ordered and sent off in a timely matter as well ;)

I wanted to create my title directly on the photo, before printing. Did you know that when you purchase Kerri's kits, you not only get the cut files to use with your Silhouette or other cutting machines, but you also get the PNG files that can be used digitally? I used the PNG file for the word "home" from Kerri's Giving Thanks kit and centered it along the bottom of my photo. I also used two digital stamps for the subtitle, both taken from the Oh Yeah digital stamp kit, to add a subtitle under the word "home". 

There were many things I could have wrote about for this photo. Part of the reason I used the word "home" for my title, was because I knew that I wanted to use the fun house stamp from one of Kerri's newest stamp sets. And I knew I could work my journaling around the theme of home and family. 

I'm sure this goes without saying, but hopefully you all know that all of these digital stamp kits have REAL stamp sets that you can purchase as well. I was actually waiting for the new stamp set to arrive before I started my project, but then decided to switch it up and use the digital stamps. And of course, as my life goes, the stamps arrived in the mail last night, right after I finished this project. Lol.

For my journaling page, I added a few digital patterned paper strips, from A Traveler's Pack: Splendid kit, along the bottom of the page. It's cut off a bit in the photo above, but I added the grey dotted paper, and the black days of the week strip. The scalloped border was from an old digital kit in my stash, which I did in the same green as the heart. 

How cute is that house?! It's from Kerri's new Gather Together digital stamp kit, and I think it's just adorable. I sized it to fit in the lower right corner of the page, and changed it to a navy blue to tie in with the jeans that Joe and I were wearing in the photo. 

The heart and the "this photo" are digital stamps taken from Kerri's One Fine Day digital stamp kit. I kept the "this photo" black, but changed the heart to green, to tie in with all of the green in the photo. I sized them to fit in the upper left corner of the page. I added two grey enamel dots to the heart after I had printed my page out (they look green here, but they're grey). 

 

Once I had my journaling all typed up, I also added one last digital stamp to complete the last sentence. It was a total last minute thought, and I'm glad I did it. I used the "happy place" from the Gather Together digital stamp kit, in green to match the heart and the scalloped border.  

I'm certainly not turning into a digital-only scrapper or anything. Just in case anyone was worried about that ;) I know I've done quite a few projects lately that incorporate a lot of digital elements. But I have to say, I really enjoy it. Sometimes, I just have no desire (or no energy) to go into my scrapbook room, dig through product, and try and create something. But I can totally sit on the couch, while watching my shows, and play around in Photoshop!