Thursday Trending: Bold Colors

I really think clothes and scrapbooking go together for me sometimes.  I am loving brights...royal blue, purple and well as jewel tones.  Bold colors, a statement necklace.  I love to see how colors are being combined these days.

I am attracted to the same types of colors on scrapbooking pages.  Even traditional colors need a bold pop of something. Like an outfit built of neutrals paired with leopard shoes.

I need the pop lately.  It was easy to find it on this page...

 

Yellow gives me that pop...especially that big Meet Me in the Sunshine border.  It totally brought me to summer days in Chicago, hanging with great friends. 

 

 

I love this little globe and all the cut stickers from the newest Amy Tan collection.

 

My story...goes with the whole theme!

 

Life is too short to not be bold!!

 

Tuesday Topic: Share Your Stuff

I easily forget to capture the small,  everyday moments surrounding me.  Yet, I work hard to surround myself with little treasures...expressions of who I am and what I like. 

I like to putter.  I push a home decor item to one side, walk away, check it out, and push it back another centimeter.  Over and over.

I move vignettes and decorations frequently.  I love to create little stories around my home.  Nothing like coming down the stairs on a Sunday morning...rocking the pjs ready to get that coffee and looking around....loving the home we have created.

So I scrapped my stuff...grabbed random photos I have taken on Instagram and put them on a layout.

 

I used the new Amy Tan line here...love the color story of this collection!  I grouped some embellies vertically and horizontally.  I love the touches of green.  This layout shares some of my favorite vintage finds!

 

I decided to journal in two places.  I wrote down all the places I love to shop for home decor.

 

The story of why I love home decor.  Much like scrapbooking, it is an extension of you.  Your stuff deserves to be scrapped...I plan to do this more often!

Monday's Musing: The Family is Growing

When I stop and think about my family, I am awestruck.

I have six siblings....5 sisters and a brother.  Three on my mom's side and 3 from my biological father.  For most of my life, I knew only three.  Three beautiful women I grew up with.  Sisters who wrote all over my dolls, who cuddled with me, sisters who loved donuts and board games.  Sisters who would do anything for me, anything...

This past year, I knew three more.  Wonderful people with open hearts...they have been so warm and welcoming.  We have shared memories too...laughs about purple dresses, giggles when watching reality TV, commonalities discovered that are inborn.

I am the oldest of everyone...

I am an auntie several times over...4 nieces and 4 nephews.  I witnessed three of their births.  Had to say a too-soon goodbye to one superman who was needed in heaven.  I have seen them grow from babies to young women.  It blows my mind.  

This year, I met another niece...spunky Riley who reminds me of Ella.  There is a nephew I can't wait to meet in person one day...he is a Broncos fan already?  And now, there is a new niece...my brother Chris and his wife Cynthia welcomed beautiful Logan into the world this past weekend.

It was quite a treat to get a call from them...to hear the joy in their voices first hand.  It made my heart beam with happiness. 

I am lucky to be surrounded by so much happiness and so many blessings. 

I am thrilled that my children have so many aunts, uncles and cousins.

 

Here are Ella and Riley...enjoying a sunny August day.  Together.

 

I look forward to watching my neices and nephews grow...

 

Awestruck...

At Home: Hiatus was Needed

Sometimes we just need a hiatus.

A time to regroup and refuel.  Time to just enjoy family without other influences.

I have been on one a bit. 

I was enjoying my home and family.

Having a great Thanksgiving:

 

The first deep fried bird of the day.

Outdoor breakfast at 7:00 a.m.

Uncle Jimmy and Steve doing there thing...

Cousins enjoying family time.

My Thanksgiving table.  Candlesticks from Ikea.  It was so pretty this year.

 

Simple decorations...rectangular bowls from Ikea filled with dried split peas and white pumpkins.  Favorite dishes.

 

The view from my window.  It was a great way to kick off the day.  I am so thankful for friends and family.

Tuesday Trend: Be Uneven

There are times when uneven is bad...
think hair cuts

or art hanging on the walls.  An uneven hem line is never a good thing.  My husband had uneven length legs and that only caused hip problems.

but in scrapbooking, uneven seems to be the thing.  It seems to be about random, mismatched, free and funky.

Uneven is hard for me.  But, I am always open for change.  I decided to add some uneven to my latest layout.

 

Now, not everything is uneven.  I can't live without straight lines!  The triangles may be placed randomly, but those linear edges make it okay.  The uneven on this layout comes in the form of rip lines along the bottom of my photo.  The way my pictures tilt.  Even the way the elements stick out at uneven lengths alond the side of the photo.  I get that it adds movement and interest.

 

I used the Persnickety collection from Lily Bee for this layout.  Love this collection!  I admit that the layout looked almost too structured without this torn edge.  It filled in the space nicely and broke up the title.

I do like how the You sticker juts out a bit.  Uneven can work for me.  As long as it doesn't involve pant legs or curtains....

Small Moments

Every year I try to take out my camera and capture the small moments behind all the major events. Most of the time, I have difficulty deciding what to shoot and what to skip.  It hinders me and sometimes I just avoid my camera.

Other times, I get those moments.  I capture the smile that really counts or the look that means so much.  I don't think it is hard...it is just about having the camera and the motivation to use it.

I caught Ella last year...the moment she realized the fire truck Santa was coming.  I love the point and then the look.

I used the Royal Christmas collection by Webster's Pages to make this layout.

 

I struggled when making this....started over like five times.  The paper is great and the photos are cute.  I just couldn't make it all pop.  The secret was adding the soft patterned paper under the photos as well as the bold green.  I used hand cut artisan shapes to add texture, but not color.  The stars sorta look like a bottle of happiness fell over.  I didn't intend for that, but I will take it.

I am glad this came together.  The moment when a five year old spots Santa is magical.  I'm thrilled I caught it.

Where did the week go?

really...

it is all flying by...

crazy fast!

I have been fighting a cold so I went to bed early all last week...hence, few projects completed.

I do have a few things I haven't shared here so hopefully I will post more this week!

Here is a layout I made using the new Best Friends collection from Webster's Pages.  This one is special because it features some important people to me.  I am lucky to have made so many online friends.  It is possible to find "love" over the internet!  Melissa and Dora, these girls are fabulous!

 

I have a Webster's green obsession...love all the green backgrounds.  It just works with so many pictures and so many other colors.

 

Banner love paired with journaling!  I added the Friends transparency to give some bold pop and to fill that space.

 

I cut a Story Marker and used the main gems on the page.  Love how it frames the photo and look at the dimension.

Here is to hoping I can find some healthy vibes and get the scrappy mojo back!

Every Day

One thing keeps me going each day...those peeps around me who I love.  Be it friends, family, children, or husband.

When I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I try to go back to that place.  Where I remember what truly counts.

That, and new practice of sharing daily Dalai Lama messages really helps.

Hence, this layout...a reminder of what matters most.

 

I used the Now and Then collection by Teresa Collins...you must check this one out.  Look at the chipboard and the colors...the banners and the diecuts.

 

 

This page is simple, yet I hope it expresses how much I treasure my everyday.

 

 

Gearing Up

Gearing up for the holiday season...Thanksgiving is on the way.  I happen to adore this holiday!  When I close my eyes and think about it, I picture smiles, good food, family recipes that have been cooked a million times.  I smell deep fried turkeys and Grandma's stuffing.

It is a special time.  For so many years Steve and his friends have gathered in this backyard.  We took a temporary break from this Newington house and hosted over in Wethersfield for a couple of years.

But we are back now, right where we belong.  Seeped in tradition...this day represents so much.

 

I decided to scrap the instagram photos I took from last year.  These are symbolic of the day...Steven in the lead role, turkey in hand, a bird ready to come out and a group of good friends.  Doesn't get much simplier than that!

 

The story recorded. A big, long title...one of my favorite things on any page!

 

I used Lily Bee's Autumn Spice on this layout.  Love this collection for fall.

 

 

Monday Musings: Love Autumn

Autumn brings home to life...makes you want to cherish Sunday morning time in front of the fire place.  We all found ourselves there today.  As Nathan would say, our whole family is there because kitty and the dog were present too.  There we were, all cuddled up on two arm chairs.

There is nothing better.  That chill in the air, wanting to make soup, big sweaters.  Leaves, pumpkins.  Halloween, which oddly enough, I hated as a child.  I know love as a mom. 

Then there is Thanksgiving.  No better holiday in my opinion.  The best food, the best feeling.

I think Autumn is a time to hunker down.  Figure out what will be important during the winter months.  Find yourself and have quiet time.

It has moments like this too:

 

The pumpkin patch...full of my favorite things.  Full of my happy kids running up and down the row.  I love finding the just right ones.  Letting the kids pick whatever they want. 

I used Vintage Finds from Teresa Collins on this one.  I believe this layout was used in Archiver's to promote this line...cool beans.  I went with circles to go with the pumpkins.

 

A little burlap, one of my other fall favorites.

 

I have been thinking about all the devastation on the East Coast.  Those families who can't enjoy fall right now, those who don't have homes left.  It breaks my heart.  I wish there was more that could be done.

 

Makes me realize the true gift of those autumn Sunday mornings...

 

Behind the Page: One of those Photos

You know those photos....the one you didn't really expect.  You just happened to be snapping away wondering what you will capture.  Imagine using your phone to take such photos.

When you are processing, you realize you caught a moment.  Those are my favorite photos. 

 

This is a moment between father and daughter.  A look that conveys so much.   Her face is priceless.  That is her prince.  The man who all men need to measure up against.

 

 

I decided to help the photo pop by keeping the colors neutral, expect for these awesome hexagons.  This is the new Teresa Collins collection Now and Then...let me tell you...amazing!  It is my favorite collection to date.  You need to get  your hands on this one!  Notice the stitcers, the brads with tags, the chipboard.  I stamped the word Love on the tag.  It is all so pretty!

See that green...it is from a stamp that I adore!  Then I simply just framed my title with embellishments and journaling. I love to layer Teresa's elements.  One of my favorite new embellishments is those enamel dots!  See them right after the title!

Great photo, yummy goodies...a sweet combination!