Such a Dude

Boy layouts. Boy layouts are fun, but sometimes a bit challenging, as I love the flowers and pink and have lots of them in my stash.

That’s why, when an amazing boy line comes along, I purchase a TON of it and use it for years. Like this Crate Paper collection called Boys Rule. I bought All.The.Things and I still love it.

The frame around the photo was the starting point, believe it or not… it’s from Project Life and I recently purchased them. I am trying to use everything I buy at least once before I forget about it, so these were on my desk.

That photo didn’t hurt either… :D The chipboard is from Sassafras Lass, and there is a bit of mixed media and stamping too.

Thanks for taking a peek! If you’d like to see more, you can find me on YouTube here. See you around!

Two Awesome!

Cool Kid from Crate Paper is a classic, in my opinion! Just like every boy line CP puts out… and I think it’s about time for another, don’t you?? ;)

This layout uses a Jillibean Soup background paper, and the rest is straight up Cool Kid! Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. I hope you are inspired.

Gerber Baby

When my 3rd baby was little, one of our favorite stores held a contest for a new model for their line of baby products. I ALMOST entered him. I wish I had, because you never know. This photo I took on the day I was discussing with my husband his chances of winning… hence the title. :)

This layout uses some really OLD Sassafras chipboard numbers, some Pink Paislee Wild Child, and a background paper from Webster’s Pages. I love a good page that mixes lines together! I also love me some fun color combos!

Hope you enjoy!

Mom said NO!

This is indeed what happens (sometimes, anyway!) when mom says no. The pouts were too cute not to capture, especially the little one mimicking the older!

I made this page using some really old papers from goodwill and some Project Life cards. I have a TON of PL cards and I need to used more of them, so I challenged myself to use mostly PL cards on this page. Even the small flowers are cut from the cards.

Thanks for taking a peek!

A Chilly Easter

It was a cold and snowy night…

Just kidding.  Ha. 

But it was Easter, and it was freezing.  Life winter coats and see-your-breath freezing.

So this presented me with a dilemma.  Bright red coat dominating Easter photos.  What’s a scrapper to do??

Create an Easter page with Christmas flowers, of course.

Since the photos were fighting back with any traditional Easter themed products, I dug deep in my stash and found some Christmas papers (The Paper Studio) that had colors that worked with my photos but weren’t too holiday looking.  Proving, of course, that there is an answer to every scrapbook challenge. 

I decided on the white background, then used gesso and a stripe stencil to add some texture and a graphic element to the page.

While the result isn’t overly Easter-y, it does work for the photos and I’m happy with the final result.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Bless This Mess (Cute)

Oh that face!  There;s something about that expression on his face that just has me…  all wrapped up.  I couldn’t NOT go girly with this page.  It just didn’t fit that sweet face to pair it with all rough and tumble papers.

So, Maggie Holmes for the win!  I did, however, keep to more masculine colors, and anchoring the page with that buffalo check really helps.

I derived partial inspiration from Shimelle’s Layer On Layer class.  There’s a video where she shows taking a sticker book and just layering things up, one on top of the other.  I did this with the Maggie Holmes sticker book- almost everything here that isn’t paper of enamel accents is from that book.

I actually started this layout with a full circle of enamel accent dots, and then most of them got covered up.  That’s just how it seems to go sometimes!  Because of that, though, I ended up adding a few more as embellishment at the end.

Thanks for taking a peek!

24 Yards

(This post may contain affiliate links.  I only link things I use, and the links cost you nothing extra.  I just get a small commission.  TIA!)

You know how sometimes you start something, convinced it’s a really good thing… then 3245 hours later, you’re wondering why on earth you ever decided to do that thing? 

Me either.  Ahem. 

Except, there was this once when I ordered 24 yards of amazing fabric to make drapes for 3 very large windows.  Thankfully, I finished them, and when we moved a year later, they worked in the new house too.

I scraplifted myself for this layout.  The original, From 4 to 5, is from all the way back to 2010, and featured Cosmo Cricket.  Sadly, Cosmo is no more, but the style of this layout is still perfect.

The new version tells the story of those 24 yards of fabric.  Ironically, I used supplies from BasicGrey, another company that is no more.  I mourn. 

The collection is called Clippings, and I used the chipboard, the 4x6 journaling stack, and the 12x12 sticker sheet to create this layout.  Oh, and that red polka dot?  Totally a My Mind’s Eye Christmas paper!  You never know what might come in handy!

Mist spatters are Heidi Swap Color Shine, the numbers are BasicGrey’s Milk & Honey Collection, and the Thickers are Rockabye Foam in blue (my fave font ever!).

Happy Birthday!

(This post may contain affiliate links.  I only link things I use, and the links cost you nothing extra.  I just get a small commission.  TIA!)

Anyone else buy something because you love it… then realize that you have nothing else in your stash that coordinated with it?  Yeah.  Me neither.  HA.

Except, of course for these journaling cards from Studio Calico.

It’s possible, you know… in theory… that I’ve had these for about 5 years and never used them.  So I decided it was way.past.time.  So I picked another oldie (remember Double Dot from BoBunny??) as a background and layered on the cards for the majority of my patterns.

I also use some October Afternoon punch-out tabs from October Afternoon, and some woodgrain alphas from Studio Calico.

My biggest challenge with this page was the complete lack of coordinating embellishments.  So, I ended up cutting out some bits from the cards themselves, like the bottlecap style images and layering them up.  Sometimes you just gotta work with what you’ve got! 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Heeyy!! I’m Back.

(This post may contain affiliate links.  I only link things I use, and the links cost you nothing extra.  I just get a small commission.  TIA!)

I have missed this blog!!  There’s a reason I’ve been gone, but it’s boring (moved across country, no space, things packed, new business, etc.).  Instead of boring you with the why, let’s just get to the fun stuff.  I’m creating again!

This is a layout I made recently to try to document the special bond between my girls.  They are 11 years apart, and they love each other to pieces.  In fact, I think the little would be quite fine without me as long as her sister was there for her.

The papers in this layout are from Jen Hadfield’s collection called Everyday. (for sale now at Scrapbook.com).  I adore the bright colors and fresh patterns in this collection!  I fussy cut a bunch of lemons and layered them along the horizon line.  I don’t think I’ve use lemons before so this was kinda fun!



On the white cardstock, I covered it with gesso, then some Distress Oxides in Fossilized Amber and Bundled Sage.  I smudged the inks on with my distress tool… but it didn’t quite turn out the way I was hoping… so yeah.  I need to work on that some more. 



The other bits on the page came from here and there… mostly really old stuff!  I love getting some of the oldies out and used up.

Thanks for taking a peek!  See you soon.

Around the World, and Back to IKEA

When we lived in Eastern Europe, we went to IKEA a LOT.  We would have meetings with teammates in the cafe, hang out there for some air conditioning, stop for a quick meal, and we even walked laps around the store in an effort to get baby #3 to make his appearance. It was a familiar place for us while living in an unfamiliar country.

So when we returned to the US, we were all eager to make the 100-mile trek to IKEA to help furnish our new home stateside.  We made it there only a few weeks after our return, and did indeed find some great deals for the new place.

I used a lot of paper here from the BasicGrey Carte Postale line.  Remember that one? Me neither.  Apparently, it completely slipped under my radar until it showed up at Tuesday Morning.  I picked it up because it was full of colors that I didn’t have much of in my stash.  Mixed with a bit of October Afternoon’s Saturday Morning line, it was perfect.  I really like how this one turned out. 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Brother-In-Training

Surprise!  After 7 years, we found out we were expecting a new little one in 2014.  This was unplanned and unexpected, but quickly became an exciting event we all looked forward to.  Perhaps no one was more excited then my 7 year old, who was happy to be the youngest no longer.

As the youngest, he had very little previous experience with babies, and so one day it came up in conversation that a baby’s head must be supported at all times.  We practiced with a baby doll, and so this photo came about. 

I used some ancient Webster’s pages paper on this layout.  I think I was saving those gorgeous flowers for a special layout.  Some subtle misting in the background,lots of layering, a few Thickers, and three black journaling spots fussy cut from some Echo Park Paper complete the page.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Mommy and Me

I don’t take enough photos of myself.  What mom does, right?  I’m usually the one behind the camera, and let’s face it- the kids are cuter then I am!  When I do remember to take the shot though, I always try to get it in their albums.  Because making and preserving memories is what we scrapbookers do!

This layout was taken at a church event, but it’s not really about that.  To me, this photo shows me, as a baby-wearing mama who was hanging with her baby because that’s what I do.  It’s kind of my favorite.

One the topic of favorites, this layout uses a collection from Kaisercraft that I adore.  I did a little misting on the background, but the focus of the page is on those fussy-cut filmstrips, directing the eye to the photo.  I added some flowers and embellishment, but kept it simple.  After all, it’s all about that photo.

Can’t beat that fantastic color palette.  I think it does a good job not making the page overly feminine, even with flowers.  Someday, this baby that is my son will appreciate that. 

Go, take a photo of yourself today!

Say Cheese!

Confession time.  I actually created this page well over a year ago.  Because I took a rather long blogging break, this one never actually got photographed and published.  But I still love it!  Those photos are the bomb.  I mean, seriously. 

This was a big day for our family.  We were in Chicago for a few days on a mini vacation before boarding a plane to head to Bulgaria, where we then lived for the next 2-1/2 years.  I had read somewhere that is was a good idea to take a break between all the goodbyes and the actual move, to give everyone a chance to settle down and breathe.  It was great advice.

Anyway, these photos are from the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier.  There was a photo booth there, and though I am rarely one to spring for these types of things, I knew it was a momentous time in our lives and I decided to go for it.  I carried these photos around for quite a while before getting them in the scrapbook. 

These big numbers are one of my favorite products ever.  They’re from Pink Paislee, and I got my first set in a kit.  I loved them so much I bought a second set (which is something I rarely do).  But I’ve used them a lot and they’re still going strong! 

Most of these papers are from one of the older Dear Lizzy collections from American Crafts.  I think it was called 5th Avenue?  I don’t have any more to check! 

Have a craft week, friends!

Read!

I am fairly sure, after talking to many other moms, that I am not the only one who has kids that struggle to enjoy reading.  My second child picked up reading skills fairly easily, but the love of reading has been elusive.  So, when he picked up a Lego book voluntarily to “read” with his little brother (then just 8 months old) I was all for it.  It was so cute, watching the older school the younger in every Lego figurine in the Ninjago series.  I was amazed how long the little guy sat with his big brother for the narration.

Even though this isn’t the greatest photo, I absolutely had to scrapbook it because of the story behind it.  I was also motivated to pull out a line I have been saving for a special photo- in this case, October Afternoon’s Public Library.  It was perfect!  Not too feminine, and book-related accents.

A little white paint on the background is my favorite way to tone down a bold background to make sure that perfect photo stays the focus.  After I added in some fun circles and a reading cat (who doesn’t love a cat that reads?), I added some orange Thickers.  These Thickers were faded by the sun, because I left them on my desk way too long… however, it just added to the feel of this layout!  Sometimes serendipity happens.

Thanks for coming by and taking a peek!  Have you used a favorite line or product recently?  Link me up in the comments!

Lego Festival

There are a few things in life that are very easy choices.  Having coffee every morning, for example.  Also, when the local mall puts on a free Lego Festival, you go!  Especially if you have Lego lovers in your home.  And I do!  As a mom of 4, I’ve been a member of the Lego injury-in-the-dark club for at least 8 years.  Ha!

Seriously, though, this festival was pretty cool.  Amazing life-sized Lego creations that took thousands of legos to build (and must have weighed a ton)!  We took a couple of trips there during the month-long event, and I use a few of my favorite photos on this layout.

I started with the idea of bold colors to accommodate the colors of my photos, and chose the background paper from Echo Park and the flowers from some ancient Jenni Bowlin that has been in my scrap drawer forever.  Some leftover arrows from a recent Silhouette cut brought everything together.  I like that it’s an unexpected combo.

I used some white acrylic paint on the background to highlight and soften, and a few droplets of mist just for fun. 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Celebrate Family

You know how sometimes, being together is all that matters?  While we have been living overseas, we have had visitors from the US once.  My parents came to see us, shortly after baby Ezra was born last year.  While they were here, I was recovering, the weather was lousy, and we didn’t do much.  But they came, and that meant the world.  We loved every minute.  Also, I didn’t take enough photos. 

This layout uses a collection of random bits from KaiserCraft, My Mind’s Eye, and Glitz Design.

I still have to add the journaling.  That’s my weak spot, on every page!  I did leave a spot for it, though so it will be there.  Someday.  Soon-ish.  Ahem. 

See you on the crafty side,

~Alyssa~

The Gang’s All Here

Today’s layout is the first family photo we’ve taken in 2 years (bad, I know!).  I’m not thrilled with it, as several of us were sick and no one was in the mood for a photo shoot, and it shows.  But there was a deadline for a family project, so a photo shoot we did.  I decided that the photo was a must-scrap simply because it exists (and includes the baby).

For this page, I chose the “September Skies” collection from Heidi Swapp.  I adore the colors in this collection, so much that I am basing the colors for our new home décor on them when we return to the USA next month.  The gold spatters are from Heidi Swapp mist.

I’ve been saving these gold Thickers for a while… I kinda love them too.

I created the background with a white Signo pen, and a Crafter’s Workshop stencil.  So easy to do, so much impact.  It’s also a high-impact layer with no bulk, which suits my style perfectly, and something I add to my pages whenever I can.

I hope you get some crafty time today!

~Alyssa~