Top 10 of the Year

Before I welcome in the New Year, I wanted to look back on 2011...it was a great scrappy year for me!  I joined two amazing teams and remained on two that I adore.  I played around with my style a bit...further trying to get in my groove.  It seemed to work on a productivity level...knowing who you are as a scrapper allows you to work freely and quickly!

This year, I had many favorites.  Some speak to me because of the design and others because of the story!

Here we go:

This is a recent one...I love the bold pink and how the hearts worked out.  I am so excited about the Clean & Simple Webster's line...

I love this photo of my son...it is my absolute favorite!  I love the randomness of this design too (ironic since it features Crate Random).

I adored my entries for the Bella team...I was actually between this one and another I did, but it is out for pub...so this one it is!

I just like how free this one is and that side strip...makes me happy!

Again, something about the banner and the clustering...I know, it is a Crate layout!  I really love their stuff!  Crate are you listening...I love you!

A sentimental one...Trish and I go back a long way...I really struggled with this paper line by My Mind's Eye for a few days...then it all just happened and I was so thrilled with this...

 

Same My Mind's Eye line...I meant to do a sunshine ray thingy here...didn't work and this is what I ended up with...love those accidents!

I just love the loops on this...shows off the patterns!  And I love Lilybee!

This one has such a story...it means the world to me!  Webster's Pages....

I think the photo on here makes me swoon...and I love the black, white and red!  This is using Teresa Collins!

I think this is my favorite from the year...it just speaks to me on all levels.  I got that "I love this" feeling as I made it! Those dresses...I LOVE them... Webster's Pages!

It has been a productive year...I can't wait for the next one!  I have a bit of a fresh start with a new look for the blog...now onward to creating!  Here's to many more layouts to come!

Happy New Year!

Wednesday Wonderings: Friends

Why does a thirty minute drive seem so impossible when you are in the midst of a crazed life?  It evens seems too much the five minutes before you have to leave.  Once you get over the time and the effort, you realize how worth it is it.  How fast the time went by and how very little effort it actually took.

Yet, that thirty minute drive sometimes means you only see your friends once every 8 months.  The drive home makes you realize that 8 months is too long, much too long.

After that thirty minute drive today, I had the chance to catch up with old friends.  Two of the best.  The girls who have seen me through all of my adult life and before.  We were awkward teenagers...they were rebellious...I was always the mom.  We experienced homecoming, keg parties in the woods (so maybe I was a little rebellious) and shared clothes.  They may have rigged the junior prom queen voting or at least strongly campaigned on my behalf.  We traveled through single adulthood...all getting married later in life.  We danced in Miami and had wine in Martha's Vineyard.  We went through the triumphs, heartbreak and tribulations of becoming parents...later in life.

It was nice to sit at lunch with them.  To see how they have thrived in life.  I wish we lived closer.  Yet, sometimes a ten minute drive seems as daunting as a thirty minute one when you are immersed in daily life of working, being married and taking care of children. 

I hope to teach Ella about the power of girlfriends.  How to hold tight to the long lasting ones.  Those few that see you in all lights and stay around anyway.

It starts at this age...

Made with the beautiful Feb. kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring Lilybee and Maya Road.

It can continue on.  I will have to teach Ella that friendship is hard when you are an adult. I need to remember that there is Facebook, texts and email. We can track each other's pins. And we can make that thirty minute drive more often that every 8 months.  It is worth it.

Behind the Page: Adding Curves

I have a page to share with you today that features the new Webster's Pages Sunday Picnic collection.  I am in love with this paper line.  Six layouts in and my stock has been replenished.  I may just scrap this forever...

The best part...new embellies.  You will love what you see.  There is a sneak on this page and the full reveal is coming this week.  All week long, Brandin is sharing the entire collection with a chance to win on Friday!

Brandin added six new papers to each traditional collection...6 clean and simple pages full of pretty solids and usuable patterns.  I love how you can be monochromatic with them...layering similiar colors, but different patterns. 

I made this page to show off the collection. 

See all the creams and yellows and how pretty they are with the orange.  Those clouds are on a sheet of the traditional WP papers....handcut them and layer them on a common color and you have simple.  I inked the edges of the clouds with blue ink to help them pop.  Those circles to the right came from a sheet of patterned paper too.  I cute them to resemble scallops.  Then layered them up...I like that effect!  I love all the curved elements on this page!

The yellow frame actually has beautiful "picnic" related words on them.  I love them, but it didn't fit with my theme so I covered it with the blue polka dot and used it as a journaling block.

This was one of those layouts where I did the whole thing without thinking of the title.  I wasn't sure where it would go, but after some fidling, it found a home. 

See the little finishing touches?  One in particular made my heart soar.  I didn't know what the embellies were until after the layout was done.  They arrived last minute and when I opened the package...it was fate! 

I have more to share this week and so does Brandin...be sure to stop over at the WP blog all week long!

Monday: At Home

so my days are a bit off...it is the holiday season!

Speaking of the holidays, I thought I would share my holiday home!  I always reconfigure my living room in the winter to make it cozy.  I shift all the furniture around, making the fireplace the focal point.

This is it in the summer:

Now...the room is split in half...couch faces the fireplace.

I turned the jelly cabinet around to be able to place a chair next to it.

 I turned the chairs to completely face each other, creating a conversation space.  It also works better with the fire, which is lit every single day. 

I love our stockings...$6.00 each from Kohl's on Black Friday.

Those urns from Pier 1 that sit on my mantle are made using greens right from our backyard.  I love to go out with a big box and chop whatever I need!

The Christmas decorations will stay for another week.  Then the house will seem bare for a while as the eyes adjust to normal. 

Hope your holiday home is warm and cozy!

Merry Day

I hope you are having a wonderful day....whatever holiday you are celebrating!  It is a time for family, laughter and gratitude.  We are moving and shaking to all of our different celebrations and feasts.  The kids are being spoiled.  And, I am too...simply because of all I have!

Happy holidays!

Behind the Page: Seeing Smoke

or maybe ice...what do you see then you look at the blue patterned paper below?  I saw the zigzags and immediately went to icicles hanging down on a frozen winter day!  That warrants cutting, right?  Can't have icicles without falling snow so that was next!

I love looking at hidden ideas and themes within scrappy goodies.  Folks in my field might refer to that as figure-ground...there may be figures or images in the background!  Looking with curious eyes makes scrapbooking interesting!

I recently created this layout for a class over at The Nook.  It features the beautiful Dec. kit featuring Crate Paper. 

I love those little houses so much and wanted to integrate them into a layout!  This idea was triggered once I found my firetruck Santa pictures!  I decided to enhance the houses by making some smoke!  The pompoms of the Crate trim easily transform into puffs coming out of the chimney.

To finish it off, I addes some strips and a brad!  Small touches that make it complete!

I am so ready for winter break...I am needing a perspective change and know that one is just around the corner...just like Santa!

Hugs!

Happy Birthday Stephanie

Welcome to the Happy Birthday Blog Hop for Stephanie, beautiful owner of Bella Blvd.  For those that are just joining me, you will want to go to the Bella Blvd blog, so you can start at the beginning of the blog hop. You don't want to miss anything.

I am so thrilled to be an ongoing guest designer for Bella and Stephanie this year!  I have always admired Bella products...as in staring and dreaming at everything while at CHA.  I love how genuinely enthusiastic she is about this industry!

So in her honor, I made this card:

Even though it's Stephanie's birthday, we have some gifts for a few of you lucky readers as well! We know how generous and giving Stephanie is, and we know she would never have a fun blog hop, without a few giveaways up for grabs too. So we got permission from Robin, who works alongside Stephanie in the office, to pick TEN lucky winners, who will each receive a Bella Blvd collection. All you need to do to be entered in the random drawings, is to leave Stephanie your birthday wishes in the comment section. You have lots of opportunities to up your chances, since you can leave a comment on each blog you visit, as you go through the blog hop. There are 26 blogs, plus the Bella Blvd blog, for a total of 27 chances to get your name in the pot. We will randomly choose winners, from 10 randomly choosen blogs, and announce them on Friday!

Sounds awesome, doesn't it...happy birthday wishes for everyone!

Keep on hopping along and head to my good friend's Deanna Misner blog!

At Home: Winter Front Porch

So I should probably think about sharing my holiday home set up...but just haven't been able to snap photos!  Next week...even though it will be Christmas Day!

Today, I am sharing my front porch decorations.  I love to change my porch for the seasons.  This winter I was originally looking for an old wooden sleigh to place along the wall, complete with a pair of ice skates.  Didn't have one

so I turned to plan B.  I remembered that I had an antique wagon in my shed.  It was a gift from my dad years ago and I just never put it to good use!  Steve dug it out and it makes such a nice statement...

I simply filled it with a bundle of firewood and lots of greens.  I cut all my own greens from my yard...we have an evergreen, holly bushes and boxwood plants!  I placed the wreath along the mailbox holder to give a bit more detail!

I love all those Pinterest images that showcase lights and ornaments nanging along the porch so I went for it!  I found my snowflakes at Target...white, glittery...and they come 4 in a package for $1.00.  Not bad!

I simply hung them with fishing wire and used sticky tabs on my roof!

It makes me happy to drive up and see it!  I am thinking it can stay for most of the winter, right???

Hoping your Sunday at home is relaxing and full of happiness!

Thursday Trending: White Space

I have always been linear, clean with a twist.

but lately, I have been in love with white space.  We are talking about using clusters of items, small portions of paper or even just strips.  I love it! 

I want enough detail and interest, yet love the white space.  Sometimes, there is a shift in how you create.  I noticed that I started to be drawn to specific artist's work or a certain style.  I think it is important to pay attention to that and figure out what draws you there. It gives you an idea of what you like and what feels right to you!

This layout has that white space I am speaking of...yet there is a hint of fussy cutting!  The best of both worlds...

This layout uses the new Sunday Picnic line from Webster's Pages!  The whole collection will be revealed soon and I can't wait!!!  This is the first collection to feature the Clean & Simple papers...6 beauties perfect for making white space layouts! 

Love this blue, don't you??

Don't forget to submit for the Webster's Pages Clean & Simple Design Team Call.  They are so wonderful to design for...hands-on, generous, encouraging...the team is just amazing!  All the details are on the WP blog here!

I see lots of white space in my future!  How about you?

Tuesday Thoughts: The Unexpected

Ahh...the unexpected.  We have had an "unexpected happen"...money stuff.  A big ticket item is needed and it is not something we were thinking about.  Boy, does something like this cause stress.  The holidays are here, the renovation occurred and everyday costs are up.  This unexpected makes my head spin.

I guess it is one of those things you deal with.  You pull up your big girl pants and move on.  I have a great husband who is smart and careful.  It will be okay. 

The holidays are meant to be a time of celebration and reflection, but they leave me stretched and tired.  So I am looking for ways to stand still for a moment and get my head on straight.  I hit my Insanity workout like a maniac tonight.  I will say that exercise brings me to a different place...I am calmer and more settled after.  It is worth every sweaty and hard second.  And I will try to go to bed early for a few nights.  I made myself stop tonight and just look at my kids as they ate dessert at the table.  They were laughing and happy.  I absorbed that energy.

Other than that, I am thinking about a stiff drink and maybe hiding under my covers. 

I know that won't work so I think I will stare at this happy face and let it all disappear!

How I love this picture of my son!  It made our Christmas card, which I just ordered at the last minute.  Yep, I told you...overwhelmed.  You can sense his inner spirit!  I used Crate Paper's Random here...most of those colors are pinks and yellows, girl colors.  But there are some great boy hues as well!  That denim...swoon!

I went with a circle theme here...the banners and circles and scallops reminded me of a happy circus!

Sounds like my life right now...unexpected stuff and all!

At Home: Celebrations

at home this weekend, we were on the go...constantly.

We went on the Polar Express, had a playdate, saw the fire truck Santa and hosted a brunch.  We are a tired bunch.

I took some photos of my front porch and how it is styled for the holiday...but the honest truth is that I didn't even have time to edit them. 

So I will share a layout and try again next week!  or maybe even on a different day this week...because this is real life and things happen!

Tonight, a layout...one I made a while back but didn't share...it features My Mind's Eye and came from the October My Scrapbook Nook kit!  The boards are up and running again over there so come for a visit!

This layout is about my husband and his good friend, Jay...funny story.  They had a boy, named him Tate.  We had a son, named him Nathan (Nate).  We had a girl, named her Ella.  They had a girl, named her Stella.  and we both have dogs named Cooper.  Makes me giggle every time!

How I love this color combo!  That blue with the yellow...love it!

Happy Sunday!  I hope your weekend was full of fun and family!

Thursday Trending: Side Stripe

not to be mistaken with Side Swipper...and, yes, now I am singing the theme song from Dora!

I am a bit tired...crazy speed scrapping, parent teacher conferences and lots of Christmas festivities!  But it is all good!  I have been letting go and just trying new things...cutting without over-analyzing.  Maybe being in a frenzy has helped that.

One trend that I am loving and using is the extreme side stripe!  That thin piece of patterned paper along the left or right side of the layout!  I feel like a side stripe serves an important prupose...it stops the eye from leaving the page and it gives balance.  You can see the side stripe on my Everytime layout on the post below.

It is also here! 

I used the December kit from My Scrapbook Nook for this layout!  The boards are back up and we are so happy to be together again.  I used those words purposely to match the theme of the layout!  To balance out the photos and the big ole snow globe, I tucked some snowflakes and little strips underneath.  I think it grounds all those random elements.

Something about the side stripe that gives a vertical perspective to things. 

I am liking it lately.  What is trending in your world?

Oh, this is a big deal...

What a great week!  I can feel the excitement in the air...and it is not from Santa...although I feel like I have been given a great gift!

Webster's Pages has announced the new Clean & Simple line, which will be added to each traditional collection!  With the announcement comes a new early release, Sunday Picnic!  And now...

A design team call for Webster's!  I am so thrilled that I will be a part of the family...and it is a family!  So all graphic, white space, editorial, clean, simple scrappers...be sure to apply!

You get to work with products that help you create this:

Those solids...I want to marry them! (Ella says that every time she really, really likes something!) 

What we’re looking for:Scrapbookers, papercrafters and card makers who 1. LOVE Webster’s Pages 2. Will help promote Webster’s Pages through their work, as well as through social media including a personal blog, InspireMe, Facebook & Twitter. 3. Love to share their ideas to help inspire others to create beautiful and simple projects.

International designers are welcome to apply.

Specific requirements and compensation details are provided upon invitation to the team. However we would like to mention that regular creation of projects and online participation are requirements for this team, and compensation is provided through a generous amount of product as well as monetary compensation for hard copy published items and trade show/advertising assignments. The term will be until the end of 2012.

Please note that Webster’s Pages Design Team members will be limited to being on no more than 3 paper manufacturing teams total.

To apply send an email to wpdt@websterspages.com with the following information:
•Provide a one or two paragraph biographical statement telling us a little bit about you and your scrapbook experience including any publication history, design team experience, teaching experience (in stores and/or online), etc.
•Explain in one paragraph why you would be a great addition to the Webster’s Pages design team.
•Include a link to any online galleries you participate on (please include your user name and make sure that online galleries do not have a login requirement) and your blog (if you have one).
•Attach a scan or photograph of 3 layouts or projects that you feel best represent your style. Images must be no larger than 600x600 px. Using Webster’s Pages is always welcome but not required.
•Please include your name, address, phone number and email address. Confirmation emails will NOT be sent. Notifications will be made by email or telephone in January.
•Applications must be received by December 31st.

At Webster’s Pages, we value our Design Team. They are an extension of our family, and we have a very harmonious group. We continue to grow and expand and we’d love to share our excitement with you. If you have any questions on applying, please send an email to wpdt@websterspages.com with subject QUESTION.

Apply...it is a great team...there is support, beautiful products, generosity...I can't say enough about this family of wonderful, beautiful people including Brandin, Courtney, Anabelle and all the DT girls!