Preschool Days

Good morning friends!! I'm here today to share a layout made using the awesome past kit, Study Hall.  I know, I know, it's not the AWESOME new kit- Social Butterfly :( My Social Butterfly kit came through the door right as I was finishing up this layout, but I cannot wait to start playing with it later tonight.  Have you seen it the full kit yet? It's so amazing- check it out

I have to admit, I'm a total sucker for orange and teal together :)  And trust, those thickers look even cooler in person!

Anyways, enough gushing- I do have a layout to share that was made using an equally cool past Noel Mignon kit.  My first time scrapping my son's preschool photos- the reds and blues in this kit went perfectly with my son's shirt in the photo :) Gotta love it when that happens!

That's it for today! I hope you enjoy the layout and a BIG thanks to Virginia for taking over my layout last week when I couldn't post :D

-Cassie

Get Yer Green On!

Hi friends! Cassie here to share a St. Patty's themed layout made using the oldie but goodie, Study Hall.  One of the things I LOVE about Noel's kits is that they never go bad, I can use them months later and still have a great and fresh layout at the end.  Plus it's fun being able to "shop" the kits in my stash when I want to.

Here's a simple one photo layout I made celebrating my son and I's green attire last St. Patty's Day.  No pinches for us ;)

Have a great Wednesday- and don't forget to get yer green on for St Pattys Day :)

-Cassie

Travel Notes

We've been having lots of fun and inspiration this week over at the Back to School Crop on the message board.  IF you haven't had a chance to come play with us, there's still time over the weekend to qualify for prizes! 

For my "Advanced Art" class earlier this week, I created this layout. Can you spot the technique?

If you want to know more about it, come check out this thread! 

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If you are not a subscriber, here's some big news for you! 

First- you will want to snap this awesome kit up on Tuesday! 

Secondly, there's some good news for those of you on the waiting list for subscriptions coming soon! Look for more info on October 1st! ;) 

Favorite Layouts of 2011

Hello friends! I've had such a wonderful time since I became a member of the design team here but sadly, this will be my last post and inspiration on the layout blog. I'm so thankful to Noel for the opportunity to create with her beautiful kits each month and I certainly won't be a stranger around the message board. I'm a Noel Mignon kit club fan for life! :)

Towards the end of the year I always reflect back on the work I have created and decided that for my last post here I would share some of my favorite layouts I have created with Noel Mignon kits in 2011.

1) January's "Very Virginia" kit -

2) February's "Truly Scrumptious" kit -

3) March's "Delightfully Domestic" kit -

4) April's "Jump & Jive" kit -

5) May's "Mary Ellen" kit -

6) June's "The Bee's Knees" kit -

7) August's "Salt Water Taffy" kit -

8) September's "Study Hall" kit -

9) October's "Sleepy Hollow" kit -

10) November's "Dear Diary" kit -

I'm still working on my December Memories album with the "Mistletoe & Holly" kit so if you would like to see my pages, please keep an eye on my blog. Thanks so much for your friendship and mutual inspiration this past year!

All the best!
Jill

Art with Grandpa

I just love the versatility in the September kit, "Study Hall"! My girls aren't near school age yet but they are certainly learning new things every day and this layout celebrates a unique chance for them to learn from a talented artist right in their own family - Grandpa Pete! Here Miss Nora draws with Grandpa on her Magna Doodle and I captured their special time together on this layout.

I created a little badge for my title using a chalkboard sticker and star rub-on by Fancy Pants, Amy Tangerine thickers and burlap trim by My Mind's Eye. 

Try using the Study Hall kit to capture family relationships where one person learns from another!

See you next week!
Jill

psssstt!!

Hey!

OK if I tell you a secret will you promise not to say anything??
I have a bit of insider info I am willing to share with you.
Here's the scoop...

There is a new challenge going up next week.

And it is a tough-y!

But I am going to give you a head start.
It is going to be a "recipe" challenge.

That means you have certain "ingredients" you have to use to make your layout.
Wanna know the ingredients you are going to need??

I just so happen to know them!
Here they are:

2 sheets of card stock
3 sheets of patterned paper
1 ribbon
1 twine
4 stickers
2 different alphas (thickers or stickers)
A pinch of stitching
A dash of rub ons
a smidgen of fabric

And here is another secret for you.
I've already made a layout with the recipe that might help you out a little!

Here is how I used the ingredients:

2 sheets of card stock: pink & kraft matting the photos
3 sheets of patterned paper: background paper, pink paper that I punched the butterflies out of, stars cut out of a sheet of pattered paper
1 ribbon: scalloped
1 twine: pink/white
4 stickers: the pink circle stickers (i cut the largest circle in half & used it on the top & bottom of the page
2 different alphas: "Grandpa and Grandma with Thickers and "with" with My Mind's Eye tiny stickers
A pinch of stitching: around the pictures
A dash of rub ons: the "&" in the title
a smidgen of fabric: burlap

{Iused the Study Hall kit to make this layout! However, everything pink I pulled from my stash of Pebbles products. The round stickers are Jenni Bowlin and the "&" is Hambly}
*****

Does that help at all??
OK one more secret!
I am pretty sure there is going to be a prize involved with this one!
But you did not hear it from me!

Mums the word!
:)
gretchen

Cards with Study Hall!

I've barely begun to delve into my "Study Hall" kit from September so this week I thought I should make a few cards to show the versatility in this kit. I chose a common design element - stars - and made two different cards.

 

For the "Joy" card, I started punching out stars and embellishing them and putting the whole card together. I knew I wanted the sentiment to go on the blue star but I wasn't sure what it was going to be until the entire card was finished. I decided the colors looked decidedly "Christmas" so the card quickly became just that.

I knew going in that this would be a "Happy Birthday" card and used the tiny My Mind's Eye stickers to put the sentiment on a chalkboard label sticker by Fancy Pants.

I added a little machine stitching for texture to both cards and that was it! Quick and easy!

See you next week!
Jill

BOO!!

Did "eye" scare you??!
:)
Just wanted to wish you a very happy Halloween!

I made both this tag and card with scraps of paper and a sticker from the Study Hall kit and characters from the "Too Cute to Spook" line from Bella Blvd.

Have a great day!!

Be safe!

And don't eat all your candy at once!

:)

gretchen

Sketch challenge!

There is a new challenge up today!

And this is an easy one!

It's a sketch challenge!

Here's the sketch:

I stayed pretty close to the sketch when I made my layout, but I did change a couple of things.

I only used 1 picture instead of 3.

And I really tried to use stars but I couldn't make the stars look right on a "nature-y" layout!

But the sketch was a good jumping off point for me and this layout only ended up taking me about an hour.

{and that is really good for me!}

I used the Study Hall kit for this layout.

{once again, not just for school pages!}

Now come play along with us!
Make something using the sketch and share it with us in the challenge forum.
:)
Happy Monday yall!

Spooky cards!

BOO!!
It's getting awfully spooky in this place!
:)

I've made some oh-so-creepy Halloween cards to share with you this afternoon.
I pulled some of the papers from the Study Hall kit (not just for school stuff...for sure!!) and paired them up with the new Too Cute to Spook line from Bella Blvd.

Prepare to be spooked...

Make sure to check out the "Spooktacular Week 2011" forum on the message board for many more great Halloween project ideas!!

And join us all week!
:)
gretchen

New challenge!

There is a new challenge up today!

And this is a fun, different one than some we have done in the past.

The challenge is to take one of the sneak peeks that Noel has posted for any of her kits and use it to inspire a layout.

Cool, huh!?!

OK so here is the sneak from the Study Hall kit I used...

{and I kind of used this one too}

And this is the layout I made!

{everything here is from the Study Hall kit}

I mean, I pretty much just wanted to use that uber-cool burlap!
:)

So join in and play along with this fun challenge!

Link your layouts up here and/or post them here.

Have a great week!
:)
gretchen

Not just for school stuff...

I will admit that I was not sure what I was going to make with the "Study Hall" kit before I got it.
I mean, I don't have any kids so it is not like I have a bunch of back-to-school pictures that I need to scrapbook.

But other than a few school-themed embellishments, everything in this kit is very versatile!
The school-themed embellishments are super fun, but there are plenty of embellishments that are not specifically themed.

There are some school-themed patterned papers too, but the B-sides of those papers are very neutral!
And perfect for my not-so-schoolish layouts!

I've actually decided that the "Study Hall" kit could just as well be a "boy" kit.
There is a bunch of great masculine stuff in it!

Take this layout for instance...

I've also decided that those new Thickers are my new favorite alpha!

It's a good thing I ordered an extra pack!
{you can get your own here. and here they are in grey too.}

:)
OK enough rambling from me!
Have a great Monday!
gretchen

Elementary Memories

At the end of the summer, I visited my old elementary school for one last hurrah. The building will no longer be used to house elementary students and will probably be eventually torn down. It was a little bittersweet to walk the halls where I spent K-6th grade. I have a lot of memories here. Generations of my family went to school here including my grandma when it was at that time, the high school. Safety issues and a lack of funds to update the building made it no longer usable for students. I'm so happy that I went back to visit before I wouldn't have the chance again. 

I captured my visit using the "Study Hall" kit and kept my design very simple so I could fit 6 photos on my layout. 

I created a fun little banner (yes, still obsessed with banners) using patterned paper, the burlap trim, a Fancy Pants sticker and an Elle's Studio tag. A rub-on, button and brad add a little something extra.

Here I layered a Fancy Pants filter, chalkboard sticker, Jenni Bowlin flower and an October Afternoon pin.

I decided to put my journaling on a tag (and wrote on both sides of it) and then tied it off with twine and placed it behind my main photo. 

See you next week!

Jill