Paper Camilla *Buddies* & A Giveaway

I have my last layout January Kit from Paper Camellia to share with you today.

This little guy managed to make it onto 2 of the 4 layouts I created with this kit.  Not sure if that means I'm loving hem more these days or I'm simply running this on photos to scrap.  He's so darn cute though, that scrapping his photos are pretty easy.

The January kit with all it's sticker sheets, especially the gold puffy words was such a pleasure to work with.  In order to not distract from the perfect colour combination of the papers and embellishments, I decided to print my photos in black & white.

That wood veneer frame was so cute, but I found the little sentiment just didn't work with where I wanted to place the frame on my layout; easy fix: flip it over.  Notice that gold polka dot paper?  It's a piece of the Webster's Pages Beautiful Chic vellum that was included in the Main Kit.  I loved that it was split up into 8 different designs on one 12x12 sheet of vellum.  It would be perfect for cards.

I added a mini supply tag from my stash, to record the journaling, and used a little strip of double sided tape to embellish it.

Interested in seeing what the January kit included?  Check out what you missed here.  And if you don't want to miss out on one more gorgeous kit (and we know they're gonna be awesome given all the goodness we've been seeing revealed at CHA2015).  Hop over here to get yourself signed up for a monthly subscription.

Today, as a little extra bonus, in celebration of my first official month as a Paper Camilla girl, I have a giveaway happening on Instagram and here on my blog for some of the embellishments included in the January kit up for grabs to one lucky person.

All you have to do is leave a comment here to be entered.  Be sure to leave me your contact info so I can be in touch if you win.
I will post the winner right on my blog on February 2nd, so be sure to pop back to see if you're the lucky one.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond to me, otherwise a new winner will be drawn.
Due to steep international shipping this giveaway is open to North America residents only please.  Thank you for understanding, and good luck to all who enter!

Thanks for stopping by today friends. Pin It

Doing Disney

We've been enjoying some time together, just us in Orlando.  As the kids get older and life becomes even more filled with school assignments, Dance competitions, and work, we have discovered how vitally important it is to create play time for "just us".

About a year ago we asked the girls what type of vacation they would prefer.  Hot, skiing, or Disney.

Disney won!  Although we don't actually plan to visit any of the actual Disney parks this trip.  We are a roller coaster loving family, and this year we are proud to say that applies to all of us.  Two years ago Théa (in the pink stripes), just couldn't bring herself to do any of the bigger ones, but this year she bit the bullet all on her own and started with the one I think is the best, more scary ride at Universal.  The Rip Rocket Roller coaster.

image source

One of the first stops we made in Universal was at the Horror Make Up show to see my Instagram friend Summer do her thing.  

She shared with us some of the secrets behind how horror make up came to be in Hollywood.  

It was truly hilarious, and Théa's favourite part of day number one.

It is so great being able to meet online friends in real life.

How awesome is that Shaggy?

New to us this year is the Harry Potter expansion to the Universal side, which includes a train ride between the two parks.  Very entertaining indeed.

We decided last minute to add Sea World to our trip.  So glad we did, it was a beautiful day, we saw some amazing killer whales, and rode 2 thrilling roller coasters, among other things.

The photo doesn't do the vibrant pink of these flamingos justice, they were just gorgeous.

There were a couple of these guys that looked just like Crush from Nemo.

The Manta: a fantastic surprise of a ride.  There was no wait, so the girls and I did this about 5 times throughout the day.  You hang facing the ground.

image source

The Kraken was no slouch either, super fast, lots of loops, and even more exciting in the front row.  We did this one over, and over too.

image source

Antarctica is the only part of the park we skipped by choice, although we all really wanted to see the penguins, none of us thought the 40 minute wait was worth it.  Next time we'll head there first.

Learned at the show that it's actually pronounced Sh-eh-moo, and not Sh-ah-moo as I had always thought.

Truly incredible what these amazing orcas can be trained to do.  Belle and I really wanted to go swim with them.

This guy was such a show off.

Day 3, we headed back to Universal and Islands of adventure for more coaster rides, and photo ops.

The cool crew I call mine, down a back alley at Universal.

We stopped for lunch in Aladdin's corner of the park.

So much colour and fun in the Simpson's area of the park.

They loved seeing Mary's car.

 The girls and I did the Cat In the Hat ride.  You're never too old for Seuss right?

Ended off Day 3 with the longest wait so far of the trip, the dads and the little girls waited 45 minutes for the Minion ride, they said it was worth it.

We feel blessed to have been able to get this time away.  We know things are just going to ramp up once we get back with Dance practices, and that life will be full as it always is this time of year.  In the thick of the craziness we'll be able to look back and remember this fun time away from the rush, the snow, school, and work.  We're still a few days away from our return though.  Today it's raining, so we'll rest around the condo, and then head out to Downtown Disney tonight.  Another first for this family.

Thanks for checking in on us friends!

Pin It

Playing with Serendipity & Free Cut File

It seems like forever since I've played with Dear Lizzy, but the Serendipity collection was beckoning to me with it's pastels and soft happy tones.

The colours work so well for these engagement photos of my niece and her now, husband. I can see them working well for birthdays, and other celebrations also, with all the goodies included in the ephemera package.

I used the 6x6 pad for both of my layouts.

I then pulled out my Silhouette Cameo to do most of my work for me.

  This cut was created by Jen Chapin, I used my sewing machine to attach it to my layout and create a little dimension to the cut itself.

This next layout is a simple design using mainly layered two sized circles.

I created a tag trio to use with these layouts, and thought some of you might appreciate having them in your stash also

You can get this file for FREE in the Paper Issues Shop under free files.  If you fancy a little shopping while you're there you should use my code at checkout, it will save you 20% off everything in your cart.

Hope you've been inspired to create something beautiful.

Pin It

Paper Camilla - Little Moment

Have you ever had a photograph that you were excited to scrap, but somehow it ends up getting buried in the stack and forgotten about?  That is exactly what happened with this one of my youngest deep in creative thought with her rainbow loom.

I snuck up on her creating in her room last December right after she received the kit as a Christmas gift.  It was only recently as I was cleaning up my photos on my laptop that I rediscovered this sweet photo. I'm so glad I did as all the colours in it were a perfect match for the January kits.

Stickers work so well as dimensional embellishments simply by adding a little 3D adhesive behind them. The sprinkle donut stickers originally had me scratching my head wondering how I would ever use them on a layout.  Tucking them behind a photo makes them looks almost like an entirely new sticker, easy to use on any themed layout, not just those featuring sweet treats.

That cute little Amy Tangerine veneer frame is was hard not just tuck away and hoard for a couple of months, I'll be honest.  And how adorable is that Dear Lizzy leatherette bow? I really like that it comes pre-backed with 3D adhesive.

Using mostly the January Add On kit, and adding in little touches of the January Main kit allowed me to really go to town on the embellishments, the only thing I added from my stash is the gold sequins.

If you'd like a little more inspo using the January kits you can hop over to the DT Kit gallery here to see what everyone has been creating with it.

Hope you've been inspired to create something beautiful today. Pin It

December Moments 2014

Have you managed to complete your December Daily?  There are many people who take it on each year, and my hat's off to them.  I'll never forget the first year I tried to hop on the bandwagon and document every day of our December.  Needless to say it was a massive failure, with not enough photos, that resulted in an unfinished album.  Since then I've tried a couple of other ways to document the Christmas Season around our home, and what I've found is that daily is just not for me.  I find that choosing to simply document the month as a whole works well for our family. There are so many days, where there simply isn't a photo, that choosing to document only what I find 'document worthy' relieves some of the pressure of having that perfectly well ordered album, with numbers from 1-25.

This gorgeous Pink Paislee album, and the coordinating Merry & Bright Collection was what I chose to work with this year.  

I was drawn to the fact that the album had these really fun transparency dividers, and canvas pages, giving it a mixed media feel.

I kept my title page very simple, using one of the kraft tags (sold out) from the collection, and a few coordinating pieces from my stash.  I stitched the alphas down to ensure they would stay in place for many years to come.  If you've ever received an order from the Paper Issues store, you'll recognize that red satin ribbon in a heart beat.

For me, Christmas begins when Starbucks pulls out their holiday cups.  I, in turn pull out the few that I have gathered over the years to use at home.

I made sure to have my oldest get some photos when she joined for friend at the annual Santa Claus parade downtown.  Again, I scrapped right onto the clear page, and paired it with a pocket page.  The 4x4 size is perfect for the photos I print at home with my Canon Selphy.  The journaling is done on this sheet of coordinating patterned paper from the Merry & Bright Collection.

It all begins with one single solitary ornament.

These silver word strip phrases, go so nicely with my trusty old label maker, great for a fun journaling element.

These countdown cards from the collection, are perfect for filling pockets to use up space, and also for adding some journaling.

So many cute patterns, of course I had to create a page to showcase as many as possible.

Don't you just love that itty bitty satin bow from the collection.  I'd like a few of those in all the colours of the rainbow.  It may seem a little silly to have my birthday photo included in my December Daily, but since this is not a daily, but rather a December Moments album, documenting our month including concerts, birthdays and all, it's all good.  This album is all about not having to follow any set rules, but creating pages my family is going to enjoy looking back on.  

Just love the canvas pages.  Flair button from A Flair For Buttons 

The tags really do get addictive for documenting the event.  Flair button from A Flair For Buttons

Our friends Will & Pao came over for games and snacks on the 23rd, and we did it all over again on the 24th with my husbands sister and her kids, including one birthday boy, and a soon to be married couple.

The snowflake is a cut file by 17 Turtles and the joyful frame is an old one from Studio Calico

The "magic" & "merry&bright" cut file is another oldie from Studio Calico. 

I still cracks me up that her arms are waving so fast you can't even make them out in the photo.  It was so fun to keep this secret for several months before she was able to open her "big' gift on Christmas morning.

That quote is a screenshot I captured off of Andrea Howey's IG feed, that girl has some serious talent. 

I thought it was a pretty clever play on words to use the last of the black glitter words on this journal card.

The best part of doing a December Moments album as opposed to simply a Christmas album is that you get to end on New Years Eve, a wonderful way to bid farewell to the old and hello to the new.  Incorporating a little gold from the Dear Lizzy Serendipity collection seemed like the perfect touch for the celebration.

And there you have it, another year in the books.  This is the first time I feel incredibly proud of each and every page of my December Memories album, and it all started with the gorgeous Pink Paislee products.  It's amazing how much creativity can be birthed by gorgeous product to get the senses overflowing.

If you're still working on your December album, and looking for a few more goodies to complete the job, hop over to the Paper Issues shop to get your hands on what's left of our Christmas goodies.  Use code: SHERRI at check out and save 20% off everything you placed in your cart.

Happy shopping friends,and all the best with wrapping up your Christmas memories. Thanks so much for stopping by today! Pin It