Paper Issues: Tell Me Dies, Tell Me Sweet Little Dies

Happy Monday! Today I have a card to share with you that I created for Paper Issues. Our newest Issue, "Tell Me Dies, Tell Me Sweet Little Dies is sponsored by the fabulous people over at Jillibean Soup. If you guessed our theme correctly, we are focusing on dies this issue. Think pre-packaged die cuts, manual die cuts, and Silhouette cuts ( to name a few.)  I was sent some goodies from Jillibean Soup's fabulous Sightseeing Stew product line as well as these awesome mini placemats . Head on over to the  Paper Issues blog and be sure to link your current (or past projects) for a chance to win an awesome Jillibean Soup prize pack.

This card was made to give to my son Elliot. I am just so darn proud of this kid. He started high school this past week, and I know he will appreciate knowing that I am thinking about him.

I really enjoyed working with the mini placemats and fun patterned paper on this card. To create

 this project, I first cut patterned paper to size and adhered to my card base. I used pop dots for 

added dimension for the mini placemat. Next, I added a star die cut and placed a star sticker 

on top using pop dots (my favorite.) Some green twine tied loosely around the mini 

placemat finished off this card and added some fun texture.

Thank you for stopping by today and don't forget to check out the current issue over at Paper Issues and check out the projects made by our very talented Design Team Members.

I will be back tomorrow with a Project Life post, and until then...

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

I Am Now the Parent of a Teenager

Today my sweet boy Elliot turned 13. At 1:22 am to be exact PST. He was brought into the world after over 22 hours of labor and 3.5 hours of pushing. 21 inches long and 8 pounds 4 ounces of the cutest baby boy ever. I am now the parent of a teenager. 13 years. 13 years. 13. Years. Gulp. Big Breath. 13. I just cannot believe it is already here, I cannot believe he is almost done with seventh grade, is now just barely beginning to get pimples, and is just eating, constantly eating. I think another growth spurt is coming on. 13. 13 Years Old. Sigh.

I wish I had all of my layouts photographed (that is something I just started doing in August of 2012, even though I started scrapbooking 17 years ago. My first few months of photographing layouts are not very good, I was learning and using only a camera phone. I am in the process of re-shooting about 60 layouts that I have already photographed now that i have a descent camera and photoshop, as well as slowly photographing many other layouts that have never been photographed. At this rate, it might take me a year to get it all done, but it will be someday. Probably more like 2-3 years with the amount of albums I have. It is nice to have a digital copy of all of it, just in case anyways. ;-)

Today I thought I would share some of my favorite layouts of my son at various ages, ( at least of the one's photographed) so let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we? I am also writing a letter to Elliot that I am sharing with you.

 The Early Years:

 Preschool:

Grade School:

Middle School:

My Dear Sweet Elliot,

I Love You. Thank you for being my son. You are the greatest kid in the world. To me you are perfect just as you are. Because of you, I have become a better person, an advocate for others, and I greatly admire your ability to live life without concerning yourself with what other's think . You are so smart, quirky, hysterically quick-witted,  and you are a momma's boy (in the very best sense.) You have an empathetic and kind heart and truly want to always believe the best in people. You always strive to do the right thing and have no problem admitting your wrong and saying you're sorry. You are a great friend and brother. Everyone that meets you becomes a better person just by knowing you. You are amazing. You inspire me each and everyday. You are fabulously different in the most amazing ways. You make me laugh harder, smile bigger, and learn not to take things so seriously sometimes. You have also reminded me the importance of deep breaths and slowing down before you react. Your love of books and knowledge astound me, you have a such a great memory for all kinds of details that most people forget. You have some of the best one-liners in the history of the world. I love how involved you get in the things that interest you. I love that you research things you want to know more about. You never stop asking questions. You always want to know more, understand more, be more. You are nothing short of my everything. I am so incredibly, monumentally, indescribably proud of you. There is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God for you.

Elliot, you rock!

Mom

Thanks for stopping by today. I will be back tomorrow with a Project Life share, plus lots of other goodies all week long.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

My first Noel Mignon kit: 4 layouts and Counting

I am in love with Noel Mignon scrapbook kits. Yes, absolutely in love. I received my first kit less than 2 weeks ago and I am loving every single bit of it. The May kit, Country Lane, is absolutely gorgeous. It has both hipster and romantic elements and includes 20 different patterned papers from companies, such as; Elle's Studio, Crate Paper, Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm, and Pink Paislee. It also includes a very wide variety of fun embellishments, 2 complete alphabets, and a gorgeous Elle's studio stamp set. By a ton of embellishments, I mean enough for every single piece of paper, (and that is a lot for someone that is very embellishment-happy like myself.)

As of this moment, I have completed 4 layouts and I am loving the kit even more with every layout I create. All of the layouts feel different and I constructed 2 boy and 2 girl layouts with this kit, plus I have probably 70% of it still left! I did not have to use very much from my stash and what I did use was largely leftover bits and pieces. Of course, I also used journaling pens, adhesive, scissors, and a paper trimmer.

Now onto the layouts:

Layout #1: "All This"

*For this layout I used the Serendipity Stamp Set by Elle's Studio

 Layout #2: "The Best of Buddies"

*This layout is largely Basic Grey Hipster

Layout #3: "Pure Joy With You Always"

*This layout uses these items by Elle's Studio: Chevron 
Serendipity paper and stamp set*

Layout #4:  "3 Friends"

*the only items not included in kit are Studio Calico wood veneer stars, 

1 My Mind's Eye brad, mist, and a small piece of Studio Calico vellum patterned paper.

I am very, VERY impressed with this kit. It is currently sold out, but later this month Noel will have another great kit for sale. The kits are pricer than a normal kit from other kit clubs in the $35-$40 range, but you also get 2 1/2 times the paper and probably 3 times the embellishments at least. I believe it is completely worth the price and I am so glad to be starting a 6 month subscription soon.

***I was in no way paid or given product to endorse this company. This post is just my honest opinion about a great scrapbook kit company that is out there that you may not have heard about yet***

What have you been creating lately? Anyone else trying to finish up all kinds of challenges for NSD last Saturday. I am almost done with most of the challenges at 2 Peas and I still have a few Studio Calico challenges left, and I still hope to complete the Paper Bakery Sketch. What can I say, I like the challenge.  Also, I have some exciting news, I found out a couple of days ago that I won the May kit from Scapbook Circle on their instagram contest. I was just chosen at random, along with the person I tagged. I can't wait to dive into that kit next week, and of course, blog about it later on.

I will be back on Saturday with a Project Life share and next week I will be blogging about Scrapbook Layouts, Project Life, Cards made with Lily Bee products, Scrapbook Organization Thursday, a review of Scrapbook Circle's May kit, and I hope another Project Life layout. Whew! That is a lot of happy in one long-winded sentence. 

Until next time, Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Happy Birthday Card

I created a card two days ago for Elliot's 13th Birthday (next May, yes you read correctly, his birthday is not until May 2013, LOL.) I had an idea, so I just went with it and I will save it up until it is needed. I love making cards, it is so relaxing, and fun to create something in a smaller canvas size. Often times I create standard A2 cards or 5. 5 x 4. 25 inches. Sometimes I make horizontal cards, sometimes vertical, you never know, but on this particular day, I was feeling horizontally I guess, so this is what I chose.

The card background is standard white cardstock, something I picked up at Michael's craft store I believe. I then layered the card up with all kinds of fun paper, stickers, staples, and 3 dimensional adhesives. some of the supplies chosen were a nod of sorts to his likes-the math washi (his favorite subject, ) the cut out viewmaster disc (he loves those, ) the "Man of the House" sticker because I always tell him he is the man of the house when dad is gone. 

Making cards for me is an act of love. My family and friends love getting them, and I have so much fun creating and designing them for each and every person.

If you have any questions about how I created this, please do not hesitate to ask.

Products Used:

• Jillibean Soup Macho Nacho 3 Parts Muscle Paper
• Jillibean Soup Soup Staples II Coordinating Paper in Yellow Salt and Turquoise Salt
• Jillibean Soup Alphabeans in Organic Orange, Yarn Yellow, and Tart Teal.
• Jillibean Soup Macho Nacho Soup Cardstock Stickers
• Jillibean Soup Memorable Hexies 4 x 8 Stickers
• Jillibean Soup labels-Journaling II Soup Labels
• Happy Day Index Tab ? Studio Calico class perhaps
• Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
• Jenni Bowlin Studio Fluid Chalk Edger in Dark Bark
• Echo Park View Master Note to Self 12 x 12 Paper (cut out viewmaster disc)
• Ink-Versafine in Onyx Black ( I seriously love this stuff, such a great, crisp image every time)
• "Bring on the Cake" stamp from Hero Arts 4 x 6 inch clear stamp set, Essential Messages
• Washi tape-Freckeled Fawn, Red Starburst Washi Tape, Math Class Washi Tape 
• American Crafts white glitter ribbon
• American Crafts This to That Foam Dots
• American Craft This to That Permanent Dispenser Dots
• Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares

Happy Monday!

Toni

Layout Share: "Giddy Up Papa"

Going though some older photos the last couple of weeks, I came across this gorgeous photograph of my father with three of the little kidlets. This photo was taken in 2002, and captures a regular activity Papa shared with the grandkids and nieces. It is important to me when scrapbooking that the focus is always on the photograph and the story behind it.  This photograph really is my dad in a nutshell, willing to do just about anything to make the kids laugh and smile. We are very lucky to have him. The three kidlets in the photo, are my nephew Kodi (he is now 16,) my cousin Mary (she is now 14,) and my son Elliot who is now 12 (sigh.)

I wanted the picture to be black and white to draw attention to the fact that this photograph was taken 10 years ago. I knew I wanted the embellishments to be very colorful on top of a neutral backdrop to really help draw attention to the photography subject. I also wanted a variety of colors, but it was important they all coordinate well together. The majority of the colorful papers and embellishments are all from Jillibean Soup. I love their bright colors and wide variety of patterns, basics, and super fun embellishments and label stickers. 

Products used:

• Studio Calico White Woodgrain Cardstock, layered with an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of vellum, layered horizontally (woodgrain was first misted with Studio Calico Mister Huey in Real Red, Warm Calico, Leaf Green, and Sherbet.)
• Patterned Papers (Solids) Jillibean Soup Soup Staples II Coordinating Paper in Orange Salt, Yellow Salt, and Turquoise Salt. 
• Patterned Papers (Other) Jillibean Soup Macho Nacho line, 3 Parts Muscle
• Embellishments (Jillibean Soup) Macho Nacho cardstock stickers, Memorable Hexies 4 x 8 stickers, Journaling II Soup Labels, and Bite Size Bits 12 x 12 Grandma's Lima Bean Soup Paper.
• Embellishments (Others) American Crafts Amy Tangerine Goodness Letters, Studio Calico wood veneer stars and cameras, Tim Holtz tiny staples, film strip washi, and American Crafts aqua glitter ribbon.

Happy Saturday!

Toni