Monday, January 18, 2016

She's Sixteen

Have you played along with the Paper Issues Sketchy Saturday sketch yet?

I used the remnants of my Simple Stories I Am collection to document Isabelle's 16th birthday celebration with a few of her friends.

The girls had a blast.  We rented a limo for them to be chauffeured downtown to a fantastic new restaurant called Across The Board where you can have dinner and enjoy one or more of their 1500 board games with your group over the course of a 3 hour table booking.  They came back here later for cake and snacks, hot tubbing, giggles, and chit chat.  I loved that it was more of a grown up birthday party.
This collection comes with so many embellishments that it was easy to layer to my hearts content.

Here is the sketch created by the talented Amy Coose. 

For a chance to a Paper Issues gift certificate get over to the Paper Issues Friends and Fans Facebook page and link up your take on the sketch in the January Album.

Thanks for stopping by today friends! Pin It

Monday, January 4, 2016

Wrapping Up Christmas 2015

I spent some time over the past couple of days with my good friends Netflix, pretty papers, and glue.  It felt great to get our Christmas photos documented, there may not have been many, but they're all scrapped now.  I used a lot of Simple Stories Claus & Co collection, some Shimelle Christmas Magic, and Pink Paislee Yuletide goodies

This guy. He may be the least photogenic person I know, but he's all mine folks.  He can almost never pose for a photo without making a funny face.
Purchasing a tree from Ikea for a cool $20 has been our tradition over the past few years. It's like shooting an arrow blindfolded, and hoping to hit the mark.  This year, we hit it. We only had to sweep up needles a few times throughout the month of December.  Score!

My baby girl spent most of our Christmas Eve family gathering cuddling this fluffball puppy.  You've seen several photos of our little guy Wilson; this is his mama Brevae.

My whole heart is right here, in these three beautiful girls of mine (I guess the little guy Wilson has a bit of it too). 
Christmas afternoon, we snuck a quick moment to head downstairs and capture a quick photo of just the girls.  They are my very best gift ever, ever.

And with that, Christmas 2015 draws to a close.   The house has been de-Christmasized, and returned to it's quazie borning state.  The Christmas wreath has been replaced by the winter wreath, and we have hunkered down for the long haul of cold, and snow and multiple weekend practices in preparation for the Spring Dance Competitions.  Only 4 months until the snow is gone, the days get longer, and the grass becomes visible again. Spring can't come soon enough for this warm weather girl.

Thank you for stopping by today friends, here's to a fabulous 2016! Pin It

Friday, January 1, 2016

My 15 Favourite Projects of 2015

Happy New Year everyone!

It's become a bit of a tradition to document my favourite layouts of the past year.  This year on the Paper Issues Blog the DT have posted their top 15 favourite projects of the year, and links to their personal site so you can have a closer look.  Here are mine at a glance.

Below, I've enlarged them all for a better look, in no particular order my favourites of 2015 are as follows:

I remember feeling "good" in this photo.  Fresh hair, a gorgeous day, and feeling younger than I am.  And this Bella Rouge collection was so wonderful to create with.
Belle and I went for brunch one morning with her friend and her mother.  As I sat across from her waiting for our brunch dates I was so taken with her beauty.  Those lashes, they jump out at you as soon as she looks at you.

This girl, she is such a joy, so easy going, and creative, and funny.  She is our quintessential middle child, with an agenda all her own, marching to the beat of her own drum as they say.
Loved this photo Belle took of her friends practicing one afternoon before Pointe class.  Loved this Paper Camellia kit, ribbon will always have a soft spot in my heart among crafting trends and techniques.

These pretty tags were the very first projects I created for my role on the Pink Paislee DT.
Another beautiful Paper Camellia Kit.  This photo of Eden and Maggy make me happy.  I love scrapping everyday photos.

This one was a lift from one of my fellow Pink Paislee DT members.  Love the huge bow behind the photo, and that ampersand.
Still hard to believe this kid will complete High School in just one more year.

Eden's 13 birthday party, made for some fun photo ops in the backyard, and again during their fun wall climbing session at Vertical Adventures.
A very recent layout I completed using Simple Stories Claus & Co collection.  I really love the black mixed in with the tradition red & green.
This woven background was so fun to create, angling it made it a little more original than the usual.
Pinkfresh Studio has some great papers and designs.  This sheet was one of my favourites, it was easy to make it look whimsical with just a tad bit of stitching and embellishments.

There is just something about this one that makes it one of my most favourites for the year.  It's fun to create at 8.5x11 format every once in awhile.  Not sure I'll ever stop using tags, vellum, and flair buttons.

Cedar Lane by Pink Paislee had so many beautiful elements with which to create.
Now, that I see this layout I realize that I have yet to create a layout celebrating 42.  Perhaps that's because then it would be official, haha.  I certainly do not feel as though I am already well into my forties.
That's it folks, a handful of layouts that jump out at me when I look through the dozens, and dozens projects I created this past year.  Have you created a blog post of your favourites?  If you leave me your blog link in the comments I would love to stop by and leave you some love, it's a privilege to encourage one another in this wonderful hobby we all love so much.

Happy first day of a brand new year friends! Pin It