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  The Christmas wreath has been replaced by the winter wreath, and we have hunkered down for the long haul of cold, and snow and multiple weekend practices in preparation for the Spring Dance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

Halloween Throwback

I've been meaning to share these layouts for a couple of weeks.

These photos are from last year's Halloween, as is the Bella Blvd Halloween Magic collection.  I stored them for a full year without putting them to use.  Better late than never as they say right?

Théa wanted to go as a Biker, but I thought her outfit looked more like a Rocker than a biker (plus of course I hope to not see her on the back of a motorcycle anytime soon, lol)

I saw this amazing stitching technique done by the amazing Paige Evans, and just have to give it a shot.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to draw the star with white ink onto the patterned paper and then covered it with folded strips of the coordinating patterned papers.

This next layout was created for the "Orange" challenge at our last Paper Issues on-line crop.  

My nephew's costume was the perfect springboard for it.

The rest was easy to pull together drawing on all of the orange stickers and papers in the collection.

As much as I love layered, and stitched goodness, sometimes plain and simple fills me with just as much joy.

Thanks for popping in today friends! Pin It

Happy Birthday to this guy!

Happy, happy Birthday to this guy!

He is my best friend in the whole world.  The one who can get under my skin like no one else, but in the same minute, also the man who fills my heart with so much love and gratitude.  Not to mention my favourite person to see live sports games with.

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane for the win on this layout, so many great ephemera pieces to embellish with.

My silhouette came in handy for these layered/stitched leaves too.

This guy of mine, he makes my life better, brighter, and I am so grateful to be celebrating him today!

Happy Birthday my guy! Pin It

Autumn Together

Today over on the Paper Issues Blog we are revealing part 2 of the Let Me Espresso My Gratitude.

I focused on my girls for this one.  I just love the Simple Stories Pumpkin Spice collection, and jumped at the chance to use it with these gorgeous photos we stopped to take at this old abandoned barn off the highway on the way to Mom and Dad's.

These girls are my whole life.  They keep me busy with their bigger than life personalities, and social calendars but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The ephemera package in the collection were great for embellishing this layout using several pieces of 3D adhesive.   

I used my sewing maching to add a little texture and dimension to this layout.  Just love the way it looks.

I would love to see some of you link up your projects focusing on things you are thankful for, or coffee (favourite flavors, stains, stamps, cups, etc), you may even choose to use our free November printables.  Link ups may be new, but do NOT have to be, and every link up will earn you a chance at a $20 gift certificate to the Paper Issues store.

And don't forget if you're in the mood for a little shopping to use code:SHERRI, you'll save 20% off everything in your cart.

Thank you for popping in today friends Happy Monday! Pin It

Paper Issues Fall Crop Challenge

Have you been playing along with our Paper Issues Crop this week?

There were over 20 challenges shared last weekend, with numerous prizes up for grabs, and a grand prize of a $100 gift card to the Paper Issues store for the grand prize winner.

I used BasicGrey's B-Side collection to play along with Michelle's challenge to use at least 10 triangles on a page (you could also use squares or circles), to document my favourite nephew's last piano recital.  He was fantastic, and even posed for pix, bonus.

I just love the look of stitching on paper.

The ephemera package in the collection has so many wonderful and unique pieces to it, that putting this layout together, once the triangles were stitched took no time at all. And the resin buttons just adds that extra little touch.

You have until midnight EST tonight to link up your layouts to our PI Fall Crop Album in the Paper Issues Friends & Fans Facebook page.  

Happy Scrapping friends!

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My Greatest Adventure

I shared this layout on the Pink Paislee blog earlier this week.

If you're paying attention you'll notice a nod to my American friends this Independance Day using mostly Red, White, and Blue in their honour.

Isn't that foil board paper by Bazzill Basics just awesome?  It cut like a buttah through my Silhouette Cameo too.  You can find the file I used by searching for ID #51187 in the Silhouette shop.

Went a little old school adding some red Zing to the chipboard "adventure" piece.

It's been awhile since I've used these supplies.  It's like riding a bicycle though, it all came back to me.

Layered chipboard and acetate pieces make for awesome clusters on a page.

You can see more fantastic creations using the latest and greatest Pink Paislee products on the blog here.

Thanks for stopping by today friends. And a Happy 4th of July to all of you celebrating today! Pin It

Wonderful Us

This guy is my favourite guy in the whole world and pages with him in them always come together quickly.  I really do think it's a gift we give our kids when we document the relationship we have with their father.  Years from now they will be realize that we were more than just parents to them, but friends also, people who actually enjoyed spending time together doing things other than cooking, cleaning, and driving them where they need to be.

Every once in a while I get the urge to create on a smaller canvas, and pull together bunches of my favourite elements and layer away.

I chose to document my journaling on a tag that I've tucked behind my photo cluster.

These clear Amy Tangerine stickers are so versatile, I love how they look so much like real doodling.  When it comes to dressing up a page, I'm all about clustering embellishments in various sizes.  Who's to say only a few will do you?   In my scrappy world, it's the more the merrier.

Thanks for stopping by today friends! Pin It

This Is Why I Scrap

Happy National Scrapbook Weekend friends!

The Pink Paislee team wants to wish you a fun and creative weekend!  Whether you are at home or at a crop this weekend, we would like to share some inspiration with you along with what this holiday means to us!  Start at Pink Paislee's blog and let's get this party started!

If you've already hopped through the team and find yourself back here let me share my layout with you.

As long as I've been enjoying this hobby, I don't think I've ever really done a page about why I scrapbook.  This hop offered a great opportunity to finally do so.  I debated about whether or not to use a photo, and decided that we have so few family photos (the fact that I used this one on two projects in the same month is evidence) this was a nice opportunity to include one among my scrapbooks.  I also know myself well enough to know that I would probably tend to blabber on and on with more space available on the page.

I've summarized my story on the back of a portion of one of the 6x6 sheets in the Atlas Collection paper pad.

Journaling reads:
"The hobby called scrapbooking has greatly helped me to record the story of our family.  I am so sorry that my own mother never did anything like that for me & Delyle.  There was so much we didn't know about her when she died.  Did she like her file?  Did she like being a parent?  What did she think her life would look like at 40?  So many questions ... I am determined to leave a record for my kids.  I want them to know more about me.  I want them to know more about them, as babies, about their lives as competitive dancers, and all the little things that make them the people they are.  Somewhere to keep the stuff, the awards, the photos, and all the rest of it.  These books will serve as a reminder of how we lived and the things we did and loved.  I hope their kids, and even their kids will enjoy them.  May our stories live on for years to come."

There is more I could write, but my hope is that as my kids look through our albums they will be able to put the narrative of our story together as they see snapshots of our life together over the years.

Thank you for stopping by on our hop.  I hope you've been encouraged to document your reason for memory keeping sometime soon.

Don't forget to enter our National Scrapbook Weekend Facebook Giveaway.

The entire Citrus Bliss collection will be making it's way to the mailbox for one random lucky winner.

Next up Anna, has some inspiration waiting for you.  Thanks so much for joining us today, enjoy the rest of the hop, and Happy National Scrapbook Day friends! Pin It

Our Clan *Fancy Pants Designs*

We've teamed up with The Cut Shoppe this month at Fancy Pants Designs.

I fell in love with this geometric cut file, and knew it would be a great one to use with the fun patterns of the Flutter Collection.  The colours were a perfect match for this recent photo we managed to get with the whole family.

The scrabble tile alphas make a great title.  I used just a little Tim Holtz distress ink to make them pop off of the cream colour background better.  I also used one of the fantastic pre-cut scalloped pieces to separate the photo from the title.

Piecing together the background may look complicated, but it's rather easy when you simply offset the cut pattern, then adhere the matching pieces to the back of the matching size spot.

Using cut files to create your background, help to give your usual style a whole new look. Ashley has a store full of files to help bring your designs to a whole new level.  I am so glad we had a chance to partner up with The Cut Shoppe, it is fun to see the combination of great cut files, with delightful patterned papers.

You should hop over to the blog to see how other members of the DT used The Cut Shoppe files, and get yourself entered to win a $20 gift certificate to The Cutte Shoppe Etsy store.

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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Date Night Mini Album

It has been a while since I created a mini, and this one was so fun, it made me wonder why I don't make them more often.  I used several elements from the American Crafts DIY2 collection.

I really wanted to create a project that would incorporate all the "paper" elements in the collection into one.
The hubs and I love to watch our Winnipeg Jets play, and are fortunate enough to have tickets to see them play live several times throughout the season.  With the kids heavy Dance schedules taking up so much of our time, we really value these few date nights throughout the winter to do something just the two of us.

At a recent game.  I had snapped a few photos and thought they would make a cute little mini album.  I often think of a mini as having to be to commemorate some special occasion or event, when really it's simply a collection of photos possessing the same theme.

In my mini I've used the 12x12 burlap, the dictionary paper, the black dot burlap, the kraft tags with gold glitter, the gold foil dots on black cardstock, and a few other co-ordinating American Crafts products.  You can get your hands on the DIY2 collection in the Paper Issues shop.  Use my code and save yourself 20% off everything in your shopping cart.

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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The Perfect Day

Hello friends, in case you missed it I wanted to share with you my latest post for Pink Paislee.  The soon to be shipped Citrus Bliss collection was a fun match for a photo I managed to get of just the hubs and I at Seaworld (photo credit to the teenager in our home).

When our family enjoyed it's most recent vacation to Orlando, I was determined to get a photo of the hubs and myself.  If you are anything like me you have thousands of photos of your kids, your pets, landscapes, random everyday images, and only a handful of you with your significant other.  I noticed this fact recently and am determined to change it.

I believe that when we're old and grey, looking back over our life together will be even more enjoyable if we are able to look back and laugh at photos of ourselves together, taking in how much will have changed or remembering what may have been going on in life during that chapter in our lives.
 

The photo really doesn't do them justice, but the flamingos at Seaworld in Orlando were such a vivid orange/pink I just had to get a photo in front of them, thankfully the hubs obliged my request.

When I saw this gorgeous flamingo transparency in the Citrus Bliss collection, I just knew I'd have to scrap 'flamingos-on-flamingos'.  You'll notice that I layered the transparency onto the pixelated look ombré patterned paper, giving it a little more depth, and support knowing that I would be layering and stitching onto the transparency.
 
I believe that journaling is an important part in my memory keeping.  That said, I don't always manage to create a design that allows for it to be exposed.  The solution: shipping tags in all sizes.  If you don't own shipping tags, no problem, as even just a scrap of cardstock will serve the purpose.  Here I have used a tiny glassine bag to hold my tag, but you can achieve the same effect by strategically placing your adhesive behind your photo, creating a pocket to hold your journaling.

 

I love that the chipboard flamingo from the sticker pack is the exact same size as the one printed on the Insta Kit card from the same collection, perfect for layering.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the Insta Kits from both the Citrus Bliss and Atlas collection are going to be BIG this summer. So easy to put together a mini album with these little cards and frames.

 

Ever finish a layout and feel like it's missing just a little something?  The multitude of pieces in the ephemera packs help to solve that problem in a pinch.  Choose a few coordinating pieces, add a little 3D adhesive to the bottom piece, and layer the second piece directly atop.  Create a cluster by adding some enamel dots, mist drops, or paint, and a veneer piece or two in the corner of your layout and voilà, layout complete.

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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The Beard

My husband has never been able to grow a full beard.  Ever.  This year, much to his surprise he was actually able to start a pretty decent one, there were still some bald spots but it was filling in nicely enough for him to want to give it a real effort.

Me, I am not a beard girl.  I don't love the scratchy-ness of it.  And the fact that it's not even a real beard, makes it somewhat pathetic, in my opinion.  Needless to say he couldn't go more than 4 weeks, it just kind of stopped growing, much to my delight.

This scruffy looking face is now my clean shaven hubs once again.  It's a win-win situation really.

I love the look of these We R Memory Keepers cork embellishments on the Hall Pass wood grain paper by Webster's Pages.

Hop over here to the Paper Issues store and have a look at all the coordinating elements, of the Websters Pages Hall Pass, and Beautiful Chic collections.  The We R Memory keepers goodies can be found right here, many of the pieces work so nicely with one another.  

There are a TON of new goodies in the Paper Issues store, including Simple Stories I Am and Say Cheese II, Heidi Swapp Memory planners goodies, and Lawn Fawn dies.  

Feel like a little retail therapy?  Use my code at checkout and save 20% off your entire purchase.

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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My Birthday Boy

Have you worked with a Paper Issues Swag Bag yet?  I like to call them fantastic little bags of gorgeousness.  Several 3x4 patterned paper pieces, stickers, buttons, sequins, and coordinating little embellishments of all types are packed into these bags making is super duper easy to pull together a layout in well under 60 minutes.

I made this layout, which documents this wonderful guy on his last big birthday.  We celebrated true to his low key style.  Dinner and a movie for all 5 of us. 

(just the resin hearts and the alphabets were from my stash)

I used the hidden tag to hold my journaling.  Isn't that Maya Road deer the cutest.  Had to MAKE myself use that little guy up, really just wanted to keep it on my desk and stare at it for days, and days. 

The Swag Bags, really are chalk full of so many fun little embellies and cards to create whatever type of project your heart desires.  My Paper Issues buddy Melissa wrote up a great post showcasing just a few ways other DT members have used these bags.  Hop over here to the Paper Issues blog to have a look.  Interested in starting up a subscription to receive your how bag of gorgeousness every month?  You can get your name on the list right here in the Paper Issues store.  And as with all your purchases in the Paper Issues store, use code:SHERRI at checkout to save yourself 20% off your entire purchase.

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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Everyday Valentine

I am up on the Paper Camellia blog today with this layout featuring two of the sweetest seniors I know.

I snapped this quick pic of my in-laws on the little train that travels the Wildlife Sanctuary in Busch Gardens.  A quick and easy layout using the February Main Kit.  I just loved the combination of Crate Paper, and We R Memory Keepers papers in the kit.

I grabbed this freebie Silhouette Cameo cut file by Nicole Nowosad and set to work combining several of the fun elements in the kit.  Easy Peasy.  I just love working with kits, takes all the thinking out of combining all the different elements you want on a page.  Ria has such a great eye, and always offers the latest and greatest in scrappy product.  Her kits are excellent value for the price.  Hope over to the blog to see detail shots and read a little more about how this layout came together.  If you are ready to get your hands on this quality goodness month after month, hop over here to get your name on the subscription list.

Thanks for stopping by today friends.  Be sure to pop back tomorrow, I have a super exciting bit of news to share. Pin It

The Month of Love

It's reveal time at Paper Camellia.  February is of course, the month of love. Filled with products from Crate Paper and WeR Memory Keepers, this month is sure to offer many options when documenting the many loves in our lives.

It was obvious that the number 1 person in my life be the one first documented.

I love being married to this man.  We are far from perfect together, and still have the odd mis-communication here and there, but there is no one I'd rather journey this life with than him.  He keeps me sane, he makes me laugh, he is a wonderful dad to our girls, and he's such a great example of the man we hope our girls end up with someday.

I just love ephemera and sticker packs, they are perfect for popping off the page, or layering into your mix of patterned papers.  And how gorgeous are those gold foam stickers?

 That sweet little tag came in my kit already dressed up with those teeny tiny hearts, all I did was use the ribbon from the kit, add a glue dot, and voila, super cute embelly.

See how much depth you can get just by adding a little bit of 3D adhesive?  I kind feel I may need 1 or 2 more packages of those alphas, they are the perfect size and font for my style.

The Main Kits are already sold out (only took 1 day), but the Add On Kits are still available for purchase right here on the Paper Camellia blog.  If you're interested you should hurry as these will soon be gone also.

I promised you a winner to the giveaway I posted a couple of weeks ago.  And I have one for you.  I asked the hubs to pick a number between 1 and 25.  Lucky #3 is the winner of all the embellishments goodies from the January Main and Add On kits.  The colours go perfectly with this months kits also, making it a double win.

Congratulation to Charlotte Brochu!  Please contact me with your snail mail, so I can get your goodies out to you asap.  Thank you to all those who entered.

Thanks for stopping by today friends! Pin It