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.

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  The Christmas wreath has been replaced by the winter wreath, and we have hunkered down for the long haul of cold, and snow and multiple weekend practices in preparation for the Spring Dance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

Believe In Magic

For us, it's not Magic Kingdom that is the Happiest Place on Earth, but Universal Studios!

I love that this place has my girls living unleashed, and with abandon.  Free to have fun, without reservation, or concern of what other people may think about their love for pure kid-like fun.

These pix of Belle make me so happy.  I love that even at 16 she is not embarrassed to have her photo taken with the Grinch.  She was thrilled, in fact to pose for a photo.

Look at the sheer joy on her face in the photo above.  She was tickled pink for the moment she had, just her and the Grinch.

The hidden journaling records my feelings about this brief moment in time.

I just love this Say Cheese II Collection by Simple Stories.  It is perfection for documenting all things Disney.

I sincerely hope there is at least one more trip to this magical place in this family's future!

Thanks for popping by today friends!

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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

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.

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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

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.

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A little Thank You

Popping in to share a little last minute thank you card I created for someone special recently.

The Simple Stories I Am Collection is still one of my favourites.  The theme the colours, the classic Vintage feel of all Simple Stories lines.  A simple frame, ephemera, a couple of enamel dots and some alphabet stickers, and voila an easy peasy card to express my thanks.

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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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Our Summer Thing

The March Kit from Paper Camellia was full of the fabulous new I AM collection by Simple Stories.

I just love the colours and the textures of the chipboard elements. The journaling in the layout pretty much says it all.  I love musicals, and we are lucky enough here to have a fantastic amphitheatre that draws world wide talent to the city every summer to perform 2 different musicals over July and August.  I am thrilled that my girls (and even the hubs for the most part) love the singing and dancing as much as I do.  We try hard to make it to at least one show of the summer.  It's a little on the pricy side but so worth the money for a musical filled family night in Winnipeg.

I don't know about you, but I am still a sucker for banners, and this chipboard banner is no exception.  To prevent the adhesive from wanting to lift I added just a little machine stitching to the white portions of the pennants.

It was way to perfect a match to not add this gold doily from my stash to the chipboard cluster at the top of the page. And I kind of wish I had a lifetime supply of those perfect gold sparkly Heidi Swapp alphabets.  That way I could hoard some and use the rest.  I know you know what I'm talking about.

The March Add On Kits may be sold out, but there are still a few March Main Kits available in the store, you can get your hands on one right here.

This layout was based on the March Sketch.

Did you know that you can play along for a chance at a $10 gift certificate to the Paper Camellia store?  Link up your take on this sketch in this blog post.

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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The Many Faces of Belle

The Paper Camellia March Kit is full of the beautiful I Am collection by Simple stories, complemented by some of the brand new Jen Hadfield accests.  For my first layout of the month, I chose to shine the spotlight on this funny kid.

I loved all her whacky faces while capturing her beauty the last time she let me take photos of her.

I layered a few of the chipboard pieces here to create some dimension and balance out the layout somewhat.

Once again I created a design that didn't allow for me to journal anywhere.  Hence the journaling down the side.  It actually worked out nicely, as I was going to put a thin piece  of cardstock there anyhow.  The ink worked nicely as a substitution.

And there you have it.  The March kits, and my girl, with her multitude of faces.  If you have yet to get your hands on one of the March kits, both the main and the Add on are still available right here in the Paper Camellia store.

Thank you for stopping by today friends! Pin It

Summertime Awesome

The Paper Issues crew are fortunate to have Simple Stories sponsoring our current issue: It's Raining Cats & Dogs.  We were even more lucky when they decided to throw in some Summer themed goodies for us to play with.  I dug out one of my favourite un-scrapped photos from last summer and set to work.

I chose to go with a grid design to best showcase the collection.  The "awesome" is a veneer that I had left over from an older Basicgrey collection, that I embossed in a coordinating colour.

I grabbed my sewing machine to add a little more dimension to the cards.  I doesn't happen often, but when Belle still lets go and really had fun with her friends, I have to do all possible to try and capture it on "film".

I used pop dots to make the cute embellishments stand out from the page.  Isn't that sun cute?  

Hop over to the  Paper Issues blog to see more projects showcasing the fabulous Simple Stories product.  Linking up with this issue will earn you a chance at a Simple Stories prize package, there will be 3 up for grabs: 1 for a dog themed layout, 1 for a cat themed layout, and 1 for projects that fall within the "other" category.  While you're there you may want to pop into the store and grab some of these great products for yourself.  Remember to use code: SHERRI at checkout to save 20% off your order, and all US orders over $60 before discount ship for FREE.

Thanks for stopping by friends.  Happy crafting!

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The In Between

....that's where I feel I am.  Not quite where I am suppose to be, but not still where I once was.  Ever feel like that?

My life is moving along fine, maybe it's that the kids are getting older and I can see a glimpse of what it will be like around here once they are all off living their own lives in college or university, or living abroad.  I think I'm trying to find myself still.  In my professional life (or lack thereof to be more accurate), in my home life, as a wife, and a mom, as a scrapper, and friend.  I just feel I have so much more to give, but don't know quite what it is.

So I wait.  I wait on the One who has promised to give me a hope and a future.  I wait on the One who says I am fearfully, and wonderfully made (Ps 139:14).  I wait for His still small voice in me to rise up out of the noise and distraction, and self doubt to lead me in the way I ought to go (1Kings 19:12). And in the meantime I do what I have been called to do at this point in time.  I will fulfill my duties here in the home, on my design teams, in my church, in my Dance class, in the school as I supervise over the lunch hour.  I will do it all to the best of my ability....as I wait for what's next.

It's been awhile since I've pulled back the veil of "me", not because I was hiding anything but simply because there really wasn't much to reveal.  These days there's just an unsettled feeling that I'm dealing with, and I want to be honest and forthright with you as I share not only my scrappy adventures, but also a bit of the person behind the pretty paper and stickers.  I never want to be one dimensional in this space.  I never want to make it seem as though my life is all roses and lollipops. Life just doesn't work like that for anyone.  I want us to be able to identify with one another.  So this is it folks real life, uncensored.  

I do have some pretty paper and stickers to share with you today.  It's not all gloom and doom.  These photos were from a week that was a little less "in between" and a whole lot more grateful for the 'here and now'.  The last week of summer was a fun filled one around here.

 We were hosted by my friend and her girls at their cottage for what I believe were the two most beautiful days of the summer.  Lots of sunshine, boat rides, knee boarding, trampoline jumping, and all around soaking up summer happened during this last week.

I finished of the 100 Days of Summer paper pack by Simple Stories with these two pages.  Such a great collection.

Thanks for sticking with me through this one friends.  Hope all is well in your world, and that you are living with a sense of gratitude for the day.

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Missing Summer

It's a grey, cold, rainy, windy, and all around less than spectacular weather day here in Winnipeg.  A perfect day to share some fun summer Moments In Between album pages, I say.

 I've had this collection by Simple Stories for 3 summers, and barely cut into it.  It was so pretty, I just wanted to keep it in pristine condition.  I did share a layout I created with it back in the middle of summer.  After that, I decided that I was put all those pretty papers and stickers to good use and create some MIB pages with them.  I just love the fun feel they have to them.

Left Side

I created the "enjoy" and "love" frames with my silhouette.

 Right Side

The Selena Gomez concert was definitely a highlight for us, but more for Emblem 3, than for her.

And check this out....

You can get your digital (or a paper copy, while supplies last) for only $6 right now.  These books are loaded with great sketches, and fabulous takes on them by designers from all over the world.  To get yours just hop over here.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone! Pin It