Every Day Always This - True Story

I am so happy to share my final project as guest designer for Elle's Studio this month. My first project was a mini album but today I’m getting back to my true love, traditional scrapbooking.

Supplies: May exclusive kit, Little Moments 6” x 6” paper stack, Little Moments bits and pieces, Little Moments cutouts, Little Moments journaling tags, Days of the Week acrylics, Good Stuff puffy stickers, letter and number stickers- black

This page was inspired by the background paper. The little hearts reminded me of dandelion seeds, so I decided to scrap these photos of my daughter making a wish with her dandelion. I’m a big fan of fun backgrounds so I decided to scatter flowers throughout the page.

I cut flower petals from various patterned papers found in the 6” x 6” paper stack and arranged them around the page.  I adhered them together in the center using a bit of liquid adhesive.  Once dry, I stitched circles in the middle. Some are covered with larger tags and embellishments, while others are small enough to reveal the stitching.

I layered bits of journaling tags, vellum, puffy stickers, bits & pieces and more under and around my photos. I even cut the center out of the “love this” insta-frame journaling tag and popped one of my photos through it. My title is a combo of the “true story” acrylic and alphabet stickers. And last, but not least is a little note to my daughter.

To re-create this, all you need is a few coordinating patterns, scissors or a die cut machine to cut leaves and it will come together in no time!

Thanks again to Elle's Studio for having me this month!

Every Flower Has a Story | Elle's Studio Guest Designer

Hello everyone!  Today's an exciting day for me, scrappy-wise. I am guesting for Elle's Studio this month and today is my debut on the blog. Then I'll be back again later this month with another project.

 I'm a traditional scrapbooker but I thought I'd change it up a bit today and create a fun mini album. The mini is about my daughter always picking flowers wherever she goes but the title also represents that she is my flower and there's a story to tell about her.

This mini album came was really easy to create and can be created relatively quickly depending on how much "personality" you choose to add to each section.  Let's take a look at the creative process...

The mini album happened by accident really.  As I was looking through the cards in the May kit, I laid them out and starting picking and choosing which ones I might want to use on my layout.  I found several that I loved as well as some from the Little Moments collection.  As I looked down at them scattered about, I realized they'd be perfect for an accordion mini.

Once you have all your cards selected, trim 2 sheets of cardstock to 4"x12". Next, extend 1 of the cardstock strips to 4"x18", by adhering and trimming down the 2nd strip to the 1st . This serves as the base to your mini.

Next, decorate each card and/or photo by adding some stitching. The key is to do this before you add it to your base so you're not stitching through the other side.  I guess it's okay to stitch through side 1 but definitely not side 2.  Once you have them all stitched up, adhere them to the base with strong adhesive. Start with side 1, add a card and make your fold after each card. Add the next one and fold, repeat until you've reached the end of that side.  Then add any additional embellishments to the cards or photos.

Repeat the same steps as side 1.  You can see here that I added stitching to one of my photos as well as the cards. IMPORTANT: when you get to the last card, make sure to add ribbon or twine between the front and back layers, making one large enough to wrap around the back.

I hope you enjoyed this mini album and see just how easy it is to create.  Follow me on Instagram for sneaks of the projects I'll be sharing when I hit the Elle's Studio blog again later this month.

So Many Reasons To Be Happy | Scrapbook & Cards Today Guest Designer

Hello, hello, today is an especially HAPPY day.  Not only am I showcasing 3 reasons I am happy on a layout but I just ecstatic to be guesting over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog with a project I made using this month's cut file, designed by Nicole Nowosad, plus the new Paige Evans Fancy Free collection via my Scrapbook Circle May kit.  So lots of reasons to be happy.

Here's the file I used. You can download this file for FREE from the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog.

I chose to cut the file and hand stitch around the words.  I have to admit, it took WAY too long and I was telling myself I was crazy the whole time but I love how it turned out in the end so I'd say it was all worth it.

How to:

• Supersize the cut file so that it leaves approximately 1" on each side of the paper.  
• Add stitching dots or lines around the words and cut the file. Altnertively, you can manually poke the holes.

Here's where the "fun" begins.....

• Hand stitch around the words using your favorite embroidery thread. 
• Layer the stitched paper over a pattern paper, careful not to use a super busy paper.  I chose a design that had a white background but when I placed the stitched paper over it, it was somewhat washed out.
• To fix this, I watercolored over it in a complimentary blue color. 

• Once dry, adhere the paper overlay on top.  You could also add this before stitching but since I used my Silhouette to poke the holes, I adding this after.

I added my precious children as my reasons to be happy, adding them to the page in birth order.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Please head over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog to download the file.  LEAVE ME SOME LOVE WHILE YOU'RE THERE!

Donkey Rides, What?!?! | Santorini, Greece

Bryan and I recently went to Santorini, Greece as part of our anniversary trip. Although we went at the end of the season, it was magical and ranks as one of my favorite places in the world.

One of the most memorable things we did was ride donkeys down the caldera cliff to the dock and back up again. The cable cars were not operating out so we figured we'd be adventurous.  Because it is a very treacherous cliff it meanders back and forth across the mountain.

I thought it would be fun to tell my story not just with the pictures and words but also through the entire design of this page.

I started the entire layout of the page with a funky arrow in mind. I designed it so that it leads you back and forth up to the top, similar to how we rode the donkey up.  You can see the path up the mountain in the photo on the right.  I used a map / city grid type pattern and then hand stitched around the arrow. I added my journaling around the arrow.

I created this page as a Contributing Designer for Shimelle.com and for this week's challenge to use arrows on the page.

My design idea was to use a series of arrow to draw your eyes around the page. The super sized arrow leads to the title and then I included another "Is this for real" arrow to lead to the photos, then another arrow pointing to the top of the cliff.  I rounded it out by including a small film strip of other memorable photos from the ride.

Head on over to Shimelle.com to play along. You can also see how this week's guest designer, Mandi tackled the arrows challenge.