Saturday, May 31, 2014

May Recapitulation.

May Recapitulation.

This month has just flown by. I think May is usually the busiest month around here, but somehow I am always surprised every year how fast it just flies by. With two kids in school, there are a lot of end of the year happenings, and we also through in softball and an injury this month as well. Our youngest managed to break her finger in three places when a softball hit her hand instead of a bat. They are using a pitching machine this year, and apparently a 30 mph softball will break bones. Who knew? Two weeks down now with her finger splinted or in a cast, and 2 1/2 weeks left. This is our first broken bone in the family, so I am considering myself pretty lucky. Isabelle has been a trooper about the whole thing, and was surprisingly, super excited to get a cast. Kids...

Life, scrapbook, repeat has not seen quite as much action this month (due to the aforementioned happenings,) but there is still quite a bunch of goodness for you to catch up on (if you feel so inclined.) A total of eight posts this month, including; 4 layouts, and 7 pocket pages/ Project Life shared. In true me fashion, I will provide you with a bullet point list with links included. Because you know how much I love a good ol' list.  :-)

  • May started out with a layout using Studio Calico's Planetarium collection. This collection will go down as one of my top 5 of all time. I still have a little left and I just love it paired with water pictures.
  • Next up was 2 pocket pages showcasing week 17 of Project Life. I used a see-through pocket full of sequins, camera embellishments, and a stamped sentiment in one of the pockets and really like how it turned out. I also incorporated digital brushes from Ali Edwards and Suzy Plantamura for Studio Calico.
  • My next post showed 2 new layouts using Studio Calico's Bluegrass Farms Scrapbook Kit (along with some elements from my stash and some digital cuts.) I really love the bold primary colors in this collection and the fun yellow polka dot paper from Basic Grey. I had a lot of fun making both of these layouts and gave my Silhouette a workout for sure.
  • Then I went for more muted colors and made another new layout about my kids almost ten years ago. Sigh. I love the combination of light blue, light pink, gold, and the awesome Maggie Holmes gold foil doily vellum. Seriously in love with this color combination. Sigh again.
  • Back to pocket pages again, and I showed you week 18 of Project Life. For this layout, I used 6x6 papers from both Basic Grey Fresh Cut and Studio Calico Lemon Lush. These are definitely my two favorite floral/ spring lines this year. They really work well together and I am super inspired to create more with them in June. Stay tuned for that.... :-)
  • Week 19 of Project Life was next, and it is 2 pocket pages again. I used the color combination of yellow and light aqua from the Studio Calico Camelot Project Life Kit and incorporated some bits and pieces from my stash as well. I really like how some of the red in my pictures really pop on this layout and the inclusion of wood veneer and gold star sequins. I mean, who doesn't love a good piece of veneer, and some gold star sequins? Am I right?
  • Lastly, I did a pocket page insert featuring some 14th Birthday celebration pictures of my son Elliot. I used Crate Paper's Boys Rule for this layout and many of the supplies were from the Paper Camellia's "Boy Oh Boy" Add-On Kit. I really like how I used vellum and see through pockets full of embellishments on this layout.
And now for the giveaway...

I have a stack of goodies sitting on my desk (see below) to mail out to one lucky commenter and follower. I will randomly select a winner from all of the comments. For your comment, please let me know that you are following me and tell me what you think an upcoming trend might be in scrapbooking.  Comments will close at 9pm EST on Monday, June 2nd and I will post the winner on this blog and Instagram Tuesday morning/ June 3rd. You will need to check Instagram or my blog on Tuesday to find out if you are the lucky winner. Good Luck!


Until next time....

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

A Pocket Layout using Crate Paper's Boys Rule Collection

Earlier this month we had kind of a big thing happen in our family. Our oldest turned fourteen and we went out and celebrated a few days before his party. We went to an Entertainment Park and had all kinds of fun with three, yes three, teenage boys. I think Go Carts were my personal favorite, and the boys liked Laser Tag the most!

I love Crate Paper's Boys Rule line and truth be told I have been kind of hoarding it, and waiting for just the right pictures. I pulled it out earlier this week and told myself that I was not allowed to hoard it any longer. I made a 9 x 12 inch pocket page insert for our Project Life album by trimming down one of my page protectors. I plan on adding some more photos of Elliot later this month on the opposite side. He is getting ready to go to his first semi-formal dance, the Eighth Grade Dance to be specific. Only a few more weeks and he will officially be a high school student. Sigh.


This layout is full of my favorite things: Journaling cards, wood veneer, small embellishments, stickers, pretty patterned paper, and some great photos. My favorite combination.  I added in a see through pocket and hand-stitched it closed, since my sewing machine has been put to rest. It finally stopped working. :-(  I also used a piece of vellum for a sorta see-through element with the blue star vellum from the Crate Paper collection. I bought three pieces of this, because even though I only use vellum in smaller amounts, I would be so sad if I ever ran out. I am a huge star fan (if you could not tell already.)

Let's talk paper collections today. Anyone else hoarding a paper collection? Are you planning on using it soon? Or are you someone that can just use it up right away? I am getting much better at that, but still find about 10% off my stash I have a really hard time using. Anyone else loving Boys Rule or any other collections? What about stars? I mean seriously, can you ever get tired of stars???

I have linked this layout over at Paper Issues for their current "Mix Tape" challenge. You can find that HERE.

I will be back later this week with a layout to share. I hope to see you back here then. Until next time....

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Project Life 2014: Week 19

Happy Wednesday! Today I have another week of Project Life to share with you. I am still loving this project, and am surprisingly still in my first album. That never happens. NEVER. HAPPENS. By the end of April my album is usually overflowing, but I think I can go through May in this book, and perhaps even longer. Only time will tell.

This week we celebrated our son's 14th birthday and lots of everyday life type of shots as well. I used primarily the Studio Calico Camelot Project Life Kit, but also some wood veneer, enamel dots, stamps, and gold star sequins from my stash.







I will be back with another pocket page/ Project Life style layout to share soon, until then...

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Project Life 2014: Week 18

Happy Tuesday! Today I have week eighteen of Project Life to share with you. Today is also my son Elliot's 14th Birthday! I am not sure exactly how that happened, but nevertheless it did. He is now almost 5'10" and 125 pounds and just incredibly tall and adorable. I still am in shock that he is fourteen and going to high school next year. Yes. High. School. Yikes!

Can you believe it is May already? This month flies by every year, and is super busy with end of the school year commitments, softball, and it seems like everything else. Is May a busy month for you as well? It is times like this that I am so thankful for Project Life because when life gets hectic I can still document my families everyday lives in about 90 minutes a week. *This could go much quicker if you wanted to keep it super simple, but this is a very doable project.*

For this week's Project Life spread, I used a combination of labels, sequins, enamel dots and wood veneer from my stash, a fun tag from a package, and my very favorite gold puffy heart stickers by Studio Calico. They are so awesome and I am down to my last 1 1/2 packs. So sad. ;-(




Let's talk Project Life today. How is your album coming along? Anyone else using up bits and pieces from their stash this week? What about puffy stickers, do you love them? Anyone else crushing over gold accents lately?

Until next time,

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Layout Share: Happy Memory

It's Wednesday already, and this month is just flying by. I cannot believe that in a little under a month the kids will be out of school and summer will officially be here. It is already very hot here (it hit 92 degrees yesterday) so I think everyone here in North Carolina already has the summer mentality. I know our kids sure do anyways, and are wanting to stay up later and later every evening. Regardless of the time of year, or the temperature, I did manage to get some more scrapping in since the last time I blogged.

I have another layout to share with you today. This time I used the May Studio Calico Camelot Kit and Guinevere Scrapbook Add-On. I was really drawn to the awesome Basic Grey blue and pink floral paper, and based my entire layout on this color scheme (with accents of gold of course. ;-) This layout was based on Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook Class over at Studio Calico as well.




Thanks for stopping by again today. I appreciate you being here. Let's talk color schemes today. I would love to hear your thoughts? Anyone trying out a new scheme that they really like? I am really loving the soft pink and blue in today's layout. I wouldn't normally choose two "baby colors" for a baby layout necessarily, but that floral paper just had me at hello. What can I say, I love pretty paper. Anyone else still obsessed with gold as much as I am? What about floral prints and spring colors? Swoon right?

Until next time,

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Monday, May 12, 2014

2 Layouts using Studio Calico's Bluegrass Farms Scrapbook Kit.

Happy Monday! I hope y'all had a great weekend and Happy belated Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. I had a great weekend with my family and that even included breakfast in bed yesterday and a movie marathon.

I have two layouts to share with you today using the April Bluegrass Farms Scrapbook Kit by Studio Calico. This is going down as one of my favorite main kits ever. I love all of the bright primary colors, and I have found this kit super versatile for all kinds of topics.

Be Wild:


I think this Maya Road Ampersand paper clip, just might go down as my favorite embellishment 
of the year, it was in an older Studio Calico Project Life kit, and I finally stopped hoarding it.

A23:



I enjoyed stamping and using all kinds of gold touches on this layout. I am especially loving the 
new American Crafts colored staples, they fit perfectly in my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

If you are curious, I made another layout using this Scrapbook Kit, you can find that post HERE.

Let's talk scrapbooking products today. What are some of your favorites from 2014? What about old favorites? Anything you are loving that surprised you? Are you loving some things so much and using them on just about everything? For me that would be anything gold, any kind of clip (paper clips, flag clips, etc...,) and stars. I still love stars, I think I always will. 

I will be back soon with another week of Project Life to share. I sure hope to see you back then.

Until next time,

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Project Life 2014: Week 17

Happy Tuesday. It's time for another Project Life Tuesday here at life, scrapbook, repeat. Can you believe it is already May? I am having a hard time believing it, but then I look at my full Project Life album from the first four months of 2014 and I am again reminded of just how much we have to be thankful for. Life is good, life goes by quickly, and I am so appreciative that I am documenting our everyday lives.

Today I have week 17 to share with you, the last full week of April.



I had fun making a see through pocket on this page. I added wood veneer stars, gold and aqua 
confetti, some gold cameras that I glued back to back and also a typed sentiment
 "smile for the camera."

How are you doing in Project Life? Are you still loving the process as much as I am? How many of you have already filled up one album this year? I know I have, I seem to use three albums per year, but I am mixing things up next month. I am planning on switching things up to a 9x12 album, and am hoping that will work well for me.

If you are looking for more Project Life inspiration be sure to check out The Mom Creative. Jessica has a great linkup the first Tuesday of every month. I have linked some of my Project Life pages from the past month over there, and really enjoy seeing what other PLers are doing with their albums.

Until next time,

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Monday, May 5, 2014

Layout Share: Dive In

Happy Monday! I hope all of you had a great weekend and a fabulous National Scrapbooking Day this past Saturday. I managed to scrapbook and I also hosted a challenge over at Studio Calico. Did you work on anything craft related this weekend? Any other geeks like me enjoy May the Fourth as well? Anyone else watch Star Wars this weekend or go see the new Amazing Spiderman movie? The movie is fantastic, I would highly recommend it. I digress....back to the layout

I adore this photo of Isabelle, so glad that I finally got around to scrapbooking it. This layout is very simple to replicate. Just enlarge a favorite photo...this one is actually 6x9" and will be a layout insert  in one of my 2012 Project Life albums. Next you gather a few favorite small embellishments and letter stickers. I fussy cut the patterned paper on the bottom, it's from the Studio Calico Atlantic collection from their spring mid-release last year. I still love that collection. The gold stars and brad are also from Atlantic.  I kept the journaling very minimal on this layout, but I am okay with that. I have many other pictures in that album that talk about Isabelle's love of the pool, diving, and many other pool-related stories.




Thank you for stopping by today at life, scrapbook, repeat. I will be back tomorrow with week 17 of Project Life to share, my final layout for my first album of 2014. I hope to see you back then.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni