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  The Christmas wreath has been replaced by the winter wreath, and we have hunkered down for the long haul of cold, and snow and multiple weekend practices in preparation for the Spring Dance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

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

Silent Night

With the hustle and bustle of this team of year, one of my favourite things is to sit quietly with this guy, no tv, no music, and just the lights of the tree to keep us company.

I am glad he's such a cuddler in moments like this.

I used the cute new Wish Seasons to create this layout.  The ephemera pack, once again is my favourite.  So many great tags to choose from in all different sizes and shapes. And that striped paper, actually looks like it's been splattered with gold paint.  Gorgeous.  You can still get your hands on some of this collection in the Paper Issues store.  Use my code:SHERRI at checkout to save 20% off of everything you place in your cart.

Thanks for stopping by today friends, and a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

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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

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

Celebrate Autumn

I am not usually one for Fall themed anything. Despite the beauty of the season it is the looming never ending Winter season that prevents me from fully enjoying Fall.  I don't even enjoy the every so popular scent/flavour of pumpkin.  Which brings me to the subject of this layout.

You always know it's officially Fall when photos of people enjoying their pumpkin spice lattes start to fill your social media feeds.  No pumpkin spice for this girl, I am a bigger fan of the Salted Caramel Mocha beverage.  I am also a huge fan of the grid design.

I find that when I am not sure what direction I want to take my layout in, a grid design is a sure fire way to get the juices flowing and complete a project quickly.

For this layout, I've used a few pieces from the Simple Stories Pumpkin Spice Collection, proving that Fall isn't all that bad.  I just love how Simple Stories found a way to create brads that look just like tradition brads without all the hardware.  And how cute are these designs?

I used 3D adhesive to pop my photo and a few other elements off the page to give some dimension.

And the stitched arrows above the ampersand were created using this Amy Tangerine embroidery stencil kit, an old time favourite of mine.

Are you can still working on Fall photos?  If so, you can get your hands on some of this collection in the Paper Issues store.  Don't forget to use my code to save 20% off everything in your cart.

Thank you for stopping by 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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Fall Fire

So many people love Fall for the colours and the flavours.  Me, I hate pumpkin, the taste, the smell, all of it, ew.  And all the pumpkin, cinnamon scented Bath & Body works stuff makes me gag when I walk in the the store.

Simple Stories got it just right, however with their Pumpkin Spice Collection.  I have loved the layouts I've been creating with it.

This was our first (and last) fire of the season after getting mom & dad's hand-me-down outdoor wood stove.  Sitting outside on the deck in our re-done backyard was so lovely.  We were all wrapped up in blankets, and I had my cold weather favourite in hand Bailey's on ice, yum!

Flair buttons from {aflairforbuttons}

The ephemera package is stuffed with so many wonderful little bits and pieces.  These little packages of goodness are my new favourite scrappy product, so many uses.

Hop over to the Paper Issues blog to see all the wonderful other projects some of ur DT whipped up to inspire you for this Simple Stories - Pumpkin Spice spotlight.

Thanks for stopping by today friends! Pin It

Story of Three Friends

Have you been playing along with our Paper Issues online crop?

This weekend we shared over 20 challenges to get your mojo going.  On Saturday night I challenged our members to use 3D adhesive.

I like to use pop up adhesive to add dimension to my layouts.  It comes in especially handy when you are working with collections that do not have a a lot of embellishments to them.

Here I've used it to pop up several of the die cuts from the BasicGrey B-Side ephemera package.

And here I've used them under the die cut I created using the new Maggie Holmes Shine flower die.

Layers, layers, and more layers, another opportunity to use 3D adhesives.  This photo my daughter snapped of her friends at the lake is stunning, perfectly timed with the gorgeous sunset.

If you're looking for some serious inspiration to get your mojo going, you should hop over to the Paper Issues Friends & Fans Facebook page and join the party.  You have until November 14 to link up your projects to the crop album.  Winners will be announced on the blog on November 16.

Thanks for stopping by today, and happy scrapping friends! Pin It