A Christmas layout with Claus & Co

Can you tell it's been a busy season around here.  It happens every year; three birthdays, Christmas, church, New Year's Eve and extra dance practices, all add up to a very full few weeks to close out the year.

I scrapped for the first time in 3 weeks the other day, and it felt GREAT!

Simple Stories Claus & Co. collection has so many wonderful patterned papers I didn't want to use any of them up before I had all my photos for the season taken, in order to choose just the right combo of photo and patterned paper.

I took the opportunity with this layout to combine coordinating bits and pieces from past Simple Stories collections to complete my page.  The polka dot frame is from the I Am Collection, and the clips are from the Say Cheese II collection.

Because I usually do not scrap Christmas until after the big day, I tend to ration my Christmas collections.  Here, I've used the smallest pieces of patterned paper to preserve my stash, as well as a couple of tear strips from the bottom of 2 different pieces to add just a tad more colour to my page.

I'm anxious to use up the rest of this fantastic Simple Stories Claus & Co collection.

You can still get your hands on plenty of Christmas themed product right here in the Paper Issues store.  Use my code to save 20% off your entire order of holiday and non-holiday themed goodies.

Thanks for popping in today friends! Pin It

Today

We have a brand new issue up on the Paper Issues blog today.  It's "All About The Face".

I decided to get a little introspective and use a selfie from earlier this summer and document my feelings about where I'm at emotionally at at this stage in my life.  I used the gold metal Tab Clips from the Crate Paper Poolside collection to represent my age.

It's All About The Face: macro photos, portraits, school pictures, team photos, selfies, funny faces, close ups, bad photos, vintage photos, IG photos, etc., use August printables
$20 PI gc
http://paperissues.blogspot.com/2015/08/new-issue-its-all-about-face.html

There is just something about most of the Crate Paper Collections that gets my mojo going.  Layouts are so easy to create when the papers and embellishments work together so nicely and are created using a colour palette that I naturally gravitate toward.

The layered embellishments and wood enamel pieces were perfect for clustering around my photos. 

 I hid some additional journaling that was a little more private on the tiny pink shipping tag.

Here I mixed in some stickers from the Poolside collection with a flair button from A Flair For Buttons.

We would love to have you link up with us on this issue.  It's not just selfies that would work for this issue either.  Hop over to the blog post to see all the other ways you can link up.  There is also a ton of inspiration there to jump start your mojo.  You could win yourself a $20 gift certificate to the Paper Issues store, just for linking up.

And if you're in the market for new goodies, be sure to check out the All New section of the shop.  Be sure to use my code at checkout to save yourself 20% off everything in your cart.

Happy Scrapping, and thank for stopping by today friends!

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I Am Grateful

The much anticipated I AM collection by Simple Stories did not disappoint.  There are so many great elements in the collection that I actually struggled to not use each and every piece on my layout. That is always a great problem in the life of a scrapper.

I used the collection to create a long overdue layout about where I feel I am in life during this chapter of life.

 Can you tell that the chipboard frames are my favourite element of the collection?  I used 3D foam adhesive to layer them over other elements and pop the page.

The scripty veneer pieces in the collection are gorgeous, I just love the font, and they're thick enough to get a good grip when adding glue to the back.  Here I layered it directly over one of the frames, that was also layered over top of a cardstock tag.

Because the journaling is so personal I chose to keep it tucked behind my photo on a shipping tag.  I incorporated the butterflies to symbolize the freedom of getting older and discovering who you were meant to be.

Still looking to get your hands on this collection?  Many of the elements are available in the paper issues store right here.  Use my code and save 20% off everything in your cart.

Happy shopping friends!

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Sometimes It's Winter

This past year has not been an easy one for me.  A lot of changes that all seemed to happen at once, some emotional stresses, some financial stresses, and some physical stresses helped to throw things out of whack for me.  I felt down quite a bit, lost, like I wasn't sure what I was suppose to be doing, and just generally in a funk.  It didn't help that Winter in Manitoba seemed never ending, the cold and the snow just kept coming, and the sun shone very little over those months.  I was determined to scrap about this time, and it has taken me a while to be able to do so.  I wanted to document what that season felt like, as I think it's important that our albums reflect our real life, all the little moments that happen in between the birthdays, and vacations.  I think when we look back at our life it's important to see all the events that helped to shape us and make us who we are.  It took some time to feel healed from that dry, grey season, but I know now that I am finally through that season and moving into a new chapter of life.

I titled this page Sometimes it's Winter.  To me the thought of winter conjures up feelings of cold, and loneliness, as everything around these parts are just that, dead and cold, and colourless.  I took the photo one afternoon after I had gotten home from work, and just sat quietly in the house, alone with the dog on my lap (even Wilson looks like he's being contemplative).

When I saw the Lovely Words 6 set by {a flair for buttons} I just knew they would be perfect for this layout.  To me they are the perfect representation of all the things I wanted to strive for during this grey time.  Joy, Love, and Freedom.  All of the images scream of the love and faith that anchors us, and the hope of something new and wonderful to come.

I intentionally kept my colours pretty washed out looking, to evoke a sense of dullness, and gloom.

I decided to keep my text in the open for this layout.  For starters there was a lot to say so hiding would have been a little tricky, and I think there's something powerful about telling your story and putting it there as a reminder of where we've come from and where we're headed.  It's something to be proud of, it means there has been growth.  It means there's always more to the story.

I hope I've inspired you to get a little more of your story "out there".  We have so much to learn from one another, and this is a wonderful way to be able to love and encourage one another as we  journey together, no matter what season we may find ourselves in.

Have a great weekend friends, thanks for stopping by! Pin It

Sweet Saturday

One of my favourite things about Saturday morning (aside from sleeping in of course), is enjoying my morning coffee with the hubs.  No lunches to be made, no grooming that needs to get done, and no one rushing out the door.  It's a sweet little habit that I thought worth preserving for years down the road when we look back on this life we're building together.

I grabbed Crate Paper's Oh Darling 6x6 pad, the ephemera pack, and some of my favourite {aflairforbuttons} pieces and set to work.

The ephemera pack is jam packed with so many bits and pieces, my favourite way to embellish.  These bingo card style letters were some of my favourites.  I used the word "sweet" to help create my title by popping them off the page.

See that strip of turquoise on the left, and that strip of yellow on the top?  They are both just tear strips from the actual 6x6 sheet.  So fun to have a little extra happy on the top of each sheet.

So many great pieces to layer, and layer.  The flair buttons are from my stash.

You can get your hands on the Oh Darling 6x6 pad and several other coordinating embellishment pieces from the collection right here in the Paper Issues shop.  Use code:SHERRI at checkout to save yourself 20% off your entire order, and all US orders over $60 before discount qualify for FREE SHIPPING.

Happy Monday friends, thanks for stopping by! Pin It

This Is Forty

Do you ever create a layout and then think, that's not exactly what I was going for?  That is what happened to me on my last project.  Here is the layout.

I wanted to document my turning 40 in a small way.  So I grabbed this photo and threw together a little journaling with my favourite {aflairforbuttons} flair that I had been saving just for this project.

I had all the right products, and even the design is pretty good, showcasing my style of scatteredclusters all over the page.  I even tucked the journaling away in a tiny pocket as I usually do.

I used the last little bit of my favourite trim.

And this little cluster does indeed make me happy.  But overall something is just out of whack. What do you do when that happens to you?  Rip the layout apart and start over?  File it away and not share it with the world?  Or just move on?  In this case I think it's the white cardstock that is throwing it off.  I love white backgrounds, and I especially love this wood grain white cardstock. But I think I would have been better off going with a shabby chic/scripty type patterned paper on the bottom.  Oh well, I'm not usually one to rip a layout apart, or hide it.  I think it's good to allow the "real us", in my case the 40 year old "real us" to show through our work.  This is me. These are some of my favourite products on one layout to help give just a peek into who I am at 40, the kind of scrapper I am, and the happy condition of my heart.  This set of flair was just perfect to help me showcase this brief moment in time.

This set is also calling my name. 

I really want to do another layout that's a lot more detailed about this past year of my life.  It hasn't been an easy one, and some of these words and images have been exactly what I have been holding on to to make it through to my current "happy" state.

Have you looked through the {aflairforbuttons} Etsy shop lately? Perhaps there's a Lovely Words set calling your name too.

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Chic Tags Monthy Challenge

Happy Sunday friends,

It's time for a new monthly challenge at Chic Tags.  This month we are challenging you to "Go Green".  I loved this one, as it was so wide open for interpretation.  You could upcycle something for your project, go all out using the actual colour, or in my case simply use the word in your title, among many other interpretations I'm sure.

This photos was taken in Saskatoon last November when we took Théa to a Dance Convention she won a registration for.  The instructors were amazing, and she was pushed pretty hard; loving almost every minute of it (the Lyrical section was a little beyond her ability).  One of the instructors that weekend, just happened to be my Dance crush from So You Think You Can Dance, none other than the super talented passionately serious about the Jazz Funk genre, sweetly funny, and easy on the eyes: Mr Sean Cheesman.  At the end of the competition all the instructors lineup, and have a seat with a Sharpie to sign autographs for the students.  I was seriously jealous that Théa got to have her photo taken with him (and the sweet, and equally as talented Tap Dancer Lisa Latouche), and I didn't.

These mini icons are my favourite pieces of the last CHA collection.  I almost always use 3D foam to raise them off the page a bit.

Love these little Happy Place phrases.  Did you know that the Love Notes collection has some almost identical tags that are currently on clearance for only $1.40 USD per package.  There are in fact, A LOT of awesome tags on clearance.  Some as low as $1 USD.  Hop over here to check them out. (the flair I've used is one of Shelley's fab creations at {aflairforbuttons}.

I will forever treasure this tweet that Mr. Cheesman himself replied to promising that 'next time' I'll get to be the one in the photo with him.  I used two mini icons glued back to back to allow me to retrieve the tweet photo from the pocket behind the main photo.

This challenge presented the perfect opportunity for me to scrap this photo.  Have you got your wheels churning yet?  If you'd like a few more examples of how the DT interpreted the challenge hop over to the Chic Tags blog post.  I would love to see you link up your own version for a chance at Chic Tags grab bag.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend friends! Pin It

A Gold Medal Day & A Challenge

Happy Friday friends!

We made it through another week, and welcome in the weekend.  The last few days of the Olympics.  I always find it bittersweet when they come to an end.  Happy b/c I don't feel like I'm always missing out on something when I can't be home with the tv on.  Yet happy to get back to real life again (you know all the cleaning, and cooking that didn't really happen for the previous 14 days?!).  Yesterday was an amazing day for Canada in Sochi for Canadians.  First Jennifer Jones and her crew won us a Gold Medal in curling.  The will go down in history as the first Canadian team to undefeated all the way to gold.  Second was the Women's Hockey gold medal win.  It was a game that many (myself included) will say they didn't deserve to win, especially if you're just taking into account the first two periods.  They just didn't seem to play with as much fire in their belly as the US Women were, and their shots were being blocked left right and centre, by both the goalie, and the amazing defence players.  But....they tied it up laaaaate in the 3rd, and found a way to win in overtime.  It was unbelievable.  So happy the hubs and I were both home to watch it together.  Here are our proud Women.

This photo still makes my eyes tear up a little.  It was definitely an emotional win for us, and an even more emotional loss for the US women.  As happy as I am for our girls, my heart still aches for the US team who will likely, be replaying this loss for many months to come.  Anyone else a little crazy about the Olympics?

I posted a challenge over at Scraptastic last week, and thought I would share it with you here too. I showed you just a sneak of the layout I created in my Valentine's post.  Here is the entire project.

Created with the January Breath again kit.

The Add-On stamp set had so many great stamps, I tried to incorporate as many as I could.  Including using one stamped on the kraft tag insert.  I just love the way the white looks on the kraft cardstock.

The challenge is to use hearts on a project this month.  You have until March 5th and 11:59pm EST to link up to this challenge, and you are NOT required to use the kit to play along.  The prize is a $20 gift certificate to the store.  You can link your entry up here.  I would love to see some of you play along.

Thanks for stopping by today friends.  Have a wonderful weekend!

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Moments In Between with October Afternoon

Sharing a post I had up on the Paper Issues blog yesterday.

I am fortunate to take over the bi-weekly Product Feature posts for Paper Issues.  It's a challenge to know what kind of products will get people excited as everyone has their "thing".  I decided to jump in with a technique that I used, and chose the manufacturer based on what I wanted to work with and went from there.  Here is the post I shared...

It's that exciting time of year when all the new CHA goodness we've been dying to get our hands on starts showing up in the Paper Issues store.  The brand new Snapshots, Girl Talk and All Boy collections by October Afternoon are already available for purchase.  But what to do with the bits and pieces we still have kicking around from the last release.  For me, that's where my Moments In Between album comes in. Although I often use various Project Life style kits to document my everyday moments, when I have scraps from a collection that I have loved, I find a way to do a spread using that collection alone (no pre-made cards at all).

I've done just that this week with several sheets of October Afternoon's Apple Cider collection, a package of Tin Pins, Pop Drops, coordinating Story Book alphas & label stickers, and the Inspiration roller stamp.  I threw in a few scraps of cardstock, and a handful of embellishments from my stash, including these, then used my Silhouette Cameo and sewing machine for additional visual interest.

Using a simple 3x4 piece of patterned paper with one single solitary embellishment is a great way to fill a pocket when there aren't enough photos, or just to create some "breathing room" on your page. 

Without the help of pre-made cards I used the Story Book alphas, and label stickers to help me create some filler cards with quotes and journaling.  I may or or may not have ordered several colours of these alphas because they're so perfect for this style of scrapping.  You can see our selection in the shop here.  It's hard to pick up but I used my sewing machine to stitch along the chevron lines on that top card for a little more wow factor (you'll just have to trust me that it looks cool in real life).

Now if you don't have an issue clearing out the old to make room for the new, and you're just itching to get your hands on the new October Afternoon goodies here's a little eye candy for you.

I love the soft colours and fun ampersands on this sheet from the Girl Talk collection.

And then there's this awesome coordinating stamp set 

And I'm a sucker for cute flair buttons any day.

All the fabulous October Afternoon products you see here, both old and new can be found in the Paper Issue store.  If you're in the shopping mood don't forget to use code:SHERRI to save yourself 20% off your entire purchase.  

And, did you know that if you're in the US, any order of $60 (after discounts, and before tax) ships for free?  Sweet deal.  

Happy crafting friends!  Pin It

Moments In Between

I have almost completed my 2014 Moments In Between album.  All the photos and embellies are in place, but there is still some journaling to add.  I realized that I am way behind on sharing my pages though.  Here is the week of November 10-16.

Only after putting this post together did I realize that I messed up on the days.  Isabelle's 14th Birthday is captured in these pages, but her birthday is actually on November 20th (whoops).  But, I figure it doesn't really matter in the long run.  The dates and pictures lining up every single week is less relevant to me than the fact that the moments have been captured.  Of course I won't let myself get away with this kind of sloppiness every week, but every now and then it's bound to happen, and I'm not going to freak out over it.  I guess when you keep up to date, you're less likely to have it happen.

At this point of the year, I've begun mixing up collections to document the weeks.  I have a little Becky Higgins, and little Studio Calico, and a little Scraptastic Club all mixed up here.  I really like the colour combo though.

Sorry the blog hasn't been very active.  It's is very much a reflection on how I'm feeling these days.  I think I have the winter blues.  All this cold and snow (it's -40 Celcius with the windchill AGAIN today), and things at home being a little 'off' is just getting to me, and I find it hard to blog.  I've been sharing my dt work on the appropriate blogs, but my own has gone quiet.  I'm sure it won't stay like this, but I hope that for now, you'll please bare with me.

Happy Monday friends whatever is on your schedule for the day. Pin It