Color Challenge

I decided this month to participate in the Crate Paper color challenge!  I was intrigued by the masculine combination and Tara Anderson's layouts drew me in.

Here is the combo...I grabbed this from their blog.

I love navy and was glad to try to find it in my Crate stash!  For as much as I adore Crate, I don't scrap it enough!  I want to!  I want to!

Here is my take:

 I added in a touch of orange to pick up my son's shirt.  I love their faces in these photos...young friendship, so enthusiastic! 

Participating was fun...I will do it again!


(PS...I didn't win, but my layout did catch their eye and it here on the blog!)
Have a colorful day!

ScrapStreet Shares

Wanted to remind everyone about how fabulous the latest issue of Scrapstreet.com Magazine is!  We are a widely viewed ezine with amazing writers and designers.  Each issue has so much to offer and will surely inspire you!  I continue to write my monthly article on enhancing and improving your journaling, and I still love it.  Even after all this time!

I am looking for those who are interested in being guest designers as well as for you to follow the typical submission process!  Current calls can be found here!  I am currently looking for pages that incorporate idioms or beloved family sayings into the journaling!  The deadline expires on January 30th so you still have time to submit.  If you are interested in being a guest designer, please email me at stacey@scrapstreet.com with a link to your gallery/blog!  Once it is your turn, I will send you an assignment and you create! I would love to see your work!

Here is a page I created for my latest article about using your unique voice when writing.  That voice can change depending on the topic...I chose to use my gnarly, Valley girl voice from the late 80s and early 90s.  Remember that...there was even a TV show about the craze.  I suppose Jersey Shore is the modern day version.

Don't laugh at me, but that was my college hair!  HUGE!  Double spiral, piggy-back perm.  It was a whole heck of a lot of hair!  Oh, and my waist was sooo small there.  Sigh...darn aging process!

Be sure to check out the January issue and get ready for the February one!  You will not be disappointed!

What will the fav be???

Every year the kids have a stand-out toy...something they just love.  It trumps everything elese for a short time!  I always try to figure out what it will be...

I worry about Nathan this year because his original list...the one Santa and every family member knows about, does not seem to be what he is communicating lately.  Oh well...

Here was his favorite toy from last year!

I used Teresa Collins here!  Check out the December Newsletter for some serious inspiration!!!  I just love it this month!

I am wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas Eve!  We are heading to my sister in-laws for presents and food!  It is sure to be a blast!

Merry, merry!

Never Too Old...

Never too old to play Chutes and Ladders.

Never to old for great animated kids movies.

Never too old for Lucky Charms cereal.

Never too old to dance.

Hopefully never too old for skinny jeans as I just bought some yesterday.

And never too old to play dress up! I went away with some girlfriends this past September and we had a day of shopping.  Every shop we went into, we tried on funky, dorky and sexy hats!  Lunch at the pub and a wonderful grown up dinner...it was great!  And I have the photos to prove it!

I used the November kit from My Scrapbook Nook to make this layout.   It features the amazing Circa 1934 line!

Never too old to use paper and glue, right??

White Space

No, I am not talking about the space that is currently occupying my tired brain!  LOL!

The white space I am thinking of relates to scrapbooking.  I have found myself loving it more and more.  The design theory behind it is that it allows the eye to rest and take in the other aspects of a graphic design or scrapbook page. 

I used lots of it on this page.  And it is truly white (well, cream to be exact).  I am typically a kraft lover, but the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 has a gorgeous cream undertone that I wanted to pull out.  I started laying this page out by using the chipboard and the Jenni Bowlin calendar card.  The Family and TLC pieces were added next and before I knew it, I had a layout.  It is as if I get possessed when I use Cosmo...it just falls into place and feels right!

Of course, throw a little Pink Paislee in the mix and you have some of my favorite companies!  I love the new Artisan Elements...they are super detailed and intricate!  I simply rubbed some Straw Distress Ink over the top and added touches of Olive Green!  It is that easy!  These little circular details were placed down in an effort to create more movement on the page.

All supplies are from the Novemeber kit at My Scrapbook Nook, which is sold out!

I adore these photos of Steve and Ella.  I captured the moment at the apple orchard.  She tripped and was dramatic (surprised?) so a hug from Daddy was warranted.  No need for white space there.

Happy Friday all!

Where do you find inspiration?

I find myself looking for inspiration everywhere these days.  As I flip through the Pottery Barn catalog, in advertisements and even on my clothes.  I think it comes from a need to continue to be inventive...keep things fresh!

I recently bought this sweater from Old Navy:

I love the cute little flowers...they are so simple in construction!  The minute I saw them, I knew I wanted to recreate them for a project.  Enter the Parisian Anthology collection and my November assignment for the blog.  The collection has a very cool, thick roll of tickets.  I thought...wouldn't those make great petals.  So an idea was born. 

I actually  made the flower on this layout first...I needed to have an idea of the size and scale before I planned the rest.  Once it was constructed, the rest of the layout came together quickly.  I am pleased with the end results mainly because I adore these pictures of my daughter!

To see how I made the flower, head over to the Pink Paislee blog! 

Isn't the Parisian Anthology paper so pretty.  I found it best to just dive in with your ink and see where it takes you!

Talk about inspiring!

Krafty Love

and I don't mean "crafty love"...nope, I am talking about my addiction to Kraft paper.  I can't get enough of it!  The perfect neutral background, yet it never feels stark or cold.  I scrap with it 90% of the time.  It is not that I have anything against black or white...Kraft just sings out to me.

Another new addiction in my scrappy life is my Hipstamatic photos.  Is is bad that I have a fab digital SLR camera, yet I reach for my iPhone a ton? The retro effect seems to give so much feeling to the photos.  The results are unexpected and fabulous!

Combine both things and you have a layout that just fell together in minutes.   Gosh, I love when that happens!  I used the October kit from My Scrapbook Nook...my monthly vice!

I really like how the Hipstamatic photos come in squares...allows for an always popular grid pattern!  To make this layout, I simply laid out my photos, varying the colors.  Then I reached for scraps...I needed to balance the weight of the photos on the left side so I added the large block of red.  (By the way, red polka dots are another reliable go-to).  I like to ground my design so I used matching strips of striped paper...I think it makes it cohesive.  Then I just filled in the spaces of the grid like the bottom where I put the rub-on.  I could be very addicted to Lily Bee's rub-ons!

Add in a large block of journaling to explain the randomness of the photos.  I just put together a variety of images from the summer!  It was nice, but still missing that ONE thing...so I added the banner.

Yep, banners are a staple too!

I can't help it...I love what I love and I love it forever!

The Windy City

Ah, Chicago.  CHA.  Friends.  The Disney World of Scrapbooking!  I am still talking about it.  Scrapping about it to be exact!  This was the first year where we actually made some time to go into the amazing city of Chicago.

I am not a city girl by any means.  It is all overwhelming to me.  But with the comfort of my friends, I had a blast exploring.  The city is quite clean and has so many beautiful sites!  We spent a part of our day at Navy Pier.  It must have been something to watch all of us with our cameras...snapping away. 

We even had a photo shoot where we took headshots.  My non-scrappy friends make fun of me for taking self-portraits, but it is a necessary thing in the scrappy world?  right? (please don't tell me it is just me!).  The layout with those shots are making their way to a layout near you!

Here is the layout I created to help me remember our city adventure!

I used Cosmo Cricket here!  I really adore their chipboard elements...totally inspires layout after layout!

I have only been back to work for 3 weeks and I am already craving a vacation.  I adore what I do and love the kids.  It is just so difficult balancing family, home and work.  Stretches me thin.

But oh well.  Such is life, right.
At least I will always have Chicago...

The Best Intentions

Do you ever have the best intentions and yet feel like they just aren't enough?  A friend of mine and I had a conversation about adult friendships and the constraints they face.  You want to talk to your friends every day like you used to when you were in high school, but can't seem to pull it together.  The demands of work, family, home responsibilities and, in many cases, children just pile up and make social time difficult.  Those of us who are honest will own up to the fact that most of time, you just don't want to talk to anyone after 8:30 at night. 

I live life feeling as though I don't have enough to give and some things have to fall by the side...for me that has been that daily friend.  Don't get me wrong, I am blessed with many friends.  People I work with that I adore, who get me through the day, and know more about me than most.  I have a core group of girls who I see once a month.  We have dinner, laugh, cry, share our lives and it has been amazing to watch us all ebb and flow.  Some of them have been with me through all the major milestones, tragedies and joys of my adulthood! I have some long time friends where the connection is just there and it is as though time stands still in between the phases where we talk and don't talk. 

And then there are online friendships.  The ones that seem the easiest to foster because you do it on your terms, when you can fit in that quick second.  You share your stories and look for support.  Those relationships are real and are solid.  I can just think about my CHA girls...there is a bond that is very strong.  Three years ago, I started traveling to see my Scrapstreet girls.  People who know me find it odd that I would fly out to spend a week with people I hardly know.  But I do know them.  And here is the thing, when you see people in short bursts like that, you are just happy to see them.  No judgements, only exceptance...you can be happy, annoying, grumpy or hyper...they are just happy to see you.  Having that clean slate is very liberating...it allow you to be the best you and if you are not, it's okay.

My time with these girls since CHA isn't what I want it to be, but that is okay, because it is unconditional.  At this point in life, unconditional is the only way to go!  So here's to my friends:

To them and all of my other girls, thanks for having me in your lives.  Daily or not, I couldn't live without you.

Trying to Ignore

I am trying to ignore the fact that there is chaos and disorganization all around me.  The kitchen looks fabulous...MOST of the cabinets are up, granite is in, tile is put up in the range area.  I have running water and will have a stove by tomorrow.  So we will be functional.  Just not clean and beautiful.

Steve and I both crave order so this is hard and is beginning to effect our moods.  So I am trying to just walk by it all and ignore it.  "I don't see it.  I don't see it." is being repeated. 

I am also trying to ignore the fact that school will be here before we know it.  I am so totally not ready to go back.  I will need a vacation from my renovation (that might be a scrappy page title).

I am ignoring things by getting out with the kids, by painting some rooms in the house, by scrapbooking.  I have been so inspired by the My Scrapbook Nook August kit.  (I am ignoring the fact that there is a design team call and the current team will be no more...not so good for us, but a great opportunity for you.  You should check it out!) Something about Sass that makes me want to get grungy, messsy, free!  Although you willl still see my clean lines, because I can't help myself. 

I got a little creative here!  First, I created a heart shape in Microsoft Word.  I printed it out and cut a mask from it.  Laying the mask down, I sprayed with mist.  It was pretty, but needed more.  So I trimmed the edges using the Basic Grey Doilie tape.  I simply cut it to get just the edge and then applied it all around my heart. 

My Ella...she comes up with the cutest things and this is one that I did not want to forget!  Words right from her own mouth.

Time to ignore the fact that there is laundry...and dusting...and closets to clean.

Happy Friday!

Quick Stop

Making a quick stop in today. That seems to be the theme of life these days. I made a quick stop into the grocery store yesterday, only have a few quick minutes to work on a layout, making short stops at my favorite blogs and sites.

I need to be cloned, really. But it is beautiful here...warm, sunny and bright. And everyone is healthy and happy so I have no right to complain.

So here is a happy layout today. I misted for the very first time on here! I like the effect it adds and will need to expand my colors.





All supplies are from the May My Scrapbook Nook kits...this one is such a beauty. You should check the kit club out...there is a special membership deal right now!

I need to run to work, have a quick meeting and then begin my day!

TGIF