Happy 12!

This sweetheart turned 12 back in October. She is amazing in so many ways and life with her is definitely an adventure.  I don't talk about why here on my blog because of her privacy but I hear you aren't given anything you can't handle and I am so happy and proud to be her mother.

So onto the fun things...she celebrated with a night out and then a sleepover with 4 - 5 friends. It was so great to see them having so much fun.  I captured this shot of her blowing out her sparklers candles.  Seriously, they were real sparklers and they all loved it.



I created this layout as a collaboration with PageMaps and JustNick Studio, so yep, this layout was inspired by a Becky Fleck sketch.  You can see all the sketches on her website.

I chose to use a combo on confetti acetate with a music sheet since we were all singing Happy Birthday! I punched some of the confetti from the scraps and placed them over the music paper to tie everything together.

The sketch actually called for 3 photos - the one in the center and then 2 at the top.  I chose to use two cards in their place. I sued two different cut files from Just Nick.  I used the Birthday Sentiments cut file and the heart from the exclusive files Nicole created for the Clique Kits team up in February.  You can use the Broken Heart cut file to achieve the same effect.



Want to get a free cut file of your choice?  Visit the Just Nick Store and use the code PAGEMAPSFREE to get ANY one design from the store until April 30, 2016!

Sweet Summer Treats | PageMaps Sketch

Hello friends.  I went out of pocket some some downtime and a much needed vacation with my family but I am back and wanted to talk about the Gossamer Blue August kit and a special feature we did with PageMaps.

I created this fun little layout about the delicious shaved ice from Matsumoto's store on Hawaii's North Shore. Several members of the Gossamer Blue team had the opportunity to work with Becky Fleck's PageMaps. Being one of the lucky ones, this was based off of her sketch, which can be HERE, along with 9 other great sketches.

The August Gossamer Blue kits are some of my favorite ones. You can still pick some of them up but they are selling out fast so scurry on over there.

August Main kit

August Life Pages kit

Add-On #3

LP Themed Add-on

LP Main Add-On

Bits + Pieces

My Little Sweetheart {Gossamer Blue + PageMaps}

I love designing with sketches but I don't do it very often anymore so when the opportunity to create with the February PageMaps sketches presented itself, I jumped at the chance.  The Gossamer Blue team teamed up with PageMaps this month and when Becky sent the sketches, I couldn't wait to dig into my kit to create this:

I've had these photos pf my little sweetie for 2 year now and I couldn't decide which photo I wanted to scrap so when Becky email this sketch, I immediately knew these photos would be a perfect fit.

You can find all of the February PageMaps sketches and what the other Gossamer Blue design team created on the PageMaps blog. As you can see, I stayed very true to the original sketch. I only made slight modifications, like swapping sides, using 6 photos instead of 7 and such.

I added lots of dimension to this layout. Some photos are directly adhered to the papers, popped some of them up, along with some of the sentiments, etc. I used a heart overlay and stitched it over a photo, similar to the sketch.

I added a pre-printed title banner 'cause it was just too perfect.  You can also see the envelope I used as one of the 2x2 sections.

Thanks PageMaps and Gossamer Blue for this great sketch opportunity!  See the rest of the sketches and team designs on the PageMaps blog.

Simply Wonderful: PageMaps + Little Yellow Bicycle

I'm super excited to get to work with PageMaps again. I do love to design my own layouts but there's just something about sketches that simply the creative process and that's good to mix in as often as possible!  Little Yellow Bicycle and PageMaps teamed up this month and I was given this 12x12 sketch to design with.  Here's what I created, something Simply Wonderful in my opinion.

I used the Fern & Forest Boy collection that Little Yellow Bicycle sent me. The colors are so bold and striking. To create this layout, I painted Heidi Swapp mists on the paper with my fingers, adding in the Bronzer color between the colors.

I then stitched a circle over the dried mists and added banner strips under the photo as a sort of mat. I added additional elements, such as journaling cards and chipboard to give it added dimension.

Lastly, I used sticker letters for the word "simply" and then wrote the word wonderful using a sketchpad app on my iPad and then traced it in Silhouette Studio. Several of my fellow LYB DT members thought I had written the word with twine and I love that it kind of looks like that but without the fuss.

Thanks for the opportunity, PageMaps and Little Yellow Bicycle! LYB is doing a fun sketch challenge giveaway over on PageMaps so make sure to check it out HERE!

Family Movie Night

Okay, it's not every day that I get a chance to work with Becky Fleck and design a layout for Page Maps but I guess it was my lucky day.  A couple of weeks ago, I was given this sketch, from the March Page Maps.

I couldn't resist pulling out an older line of Imaginisce papers for this one.  I used the Animal Crackers collection, because of the tickets papers and embellishments.  There's also a paper that's filled entirely of connecting circles that would come in handy (after I take my scissors to them) for the line of circles under the photo.  The only problem was, I didn't have any photos.  I looked at this as an opportunity for a Family Movie Night.  It was a win-win because I got the photo I wanted and we spent quality time as a family watching a movie and snacking on popcorn.

Take a look at the rest of Becky's March Page Maps. There are so many great ones as usual and lots of designer inspiration. Thanks for stopping by today!