Using patterned paper for journaling

Hello again!

For our designer challenge this week we were supposed to make journaling the star of our project.

There are many ways to add journaling to a project. You can use hidden journaling on a card behind your photos. You can handwrite it, type it, use stickers or phrases on pocket cards.

There is a piece of Pink Paislee Turn the Page patterned paper (Paper 14) in the Study Guide Classic Kit that I used for my journaling. I handcut strips from that page, which added visual interest along with lots of journaling. I also added handwritten journaling to my page as I usually do. The papers, though, said exactly what I would say to my daughter about her recent gymnastics experience.

I added cork stars to each strip of journaling to add some texture to the page and a bit of contrast to the bright colors.

I love the colorful papers in this kit and they were the perfect backdrop of the black and white photo of my daughter. I used the small gold alphas from last month's kit to create my long layout title. 

Here is one more close-up of my page: 

Thanks so much for stopping by today. 

There are many ways to incorporate journaling into your project- just make sure to include some. I forget the little details sometimes, so I love adding info to my pages. 

Share your journaling projects with us on the Noel Mignon Facebook page. 

{Plaid Tidings} Challenge with the "Oh What Fun" Classic Kit

Hi friends!  Meridy here today, and I'm so excited that it's DECEMBER because I have been dying to share some Christmas layouts!!!  This week the Design Team is following the "Plaid Tidings" Challenge, which is to use plaid somewhere on our layout.  There are so many cute plaid prints in the "Oh What Fun" Classic Kit, so how could I choose just one!?  Thankfully, I didn't have to, I used quite a few different plaid designs. 

I used 2 plaid patterned papers, plaid ribbon, and a plaid brad.  There's no denying that this is a "Plaid Tidings" Challenge!

 After getting the paper and picture placed on the layout, I added a piece of cardstock, drew lines, and journaled. Then I started arranging the various embellishments. 

I love titles and I really love Thickers.   I find it fun and challenging to try to make as many titles as possible from each set of Thickers.  So when I planned what I wanted my title to be, I ran into a slight problem.  I had already run out of lowercase "g", so I had to improvise.  I took the number "8" and cut the top off of the bottom, tilted the bottom a bit, and added an apostrophe to the top of my new "g".  And that's it!  I don't even think you can tell that I pieced it together.  

Thanks for visiting today!  Stop by all week to see how the rest of the Design Team celebrates "Plaid Tidings"!

Project Life with the Vintage Charm Daily Diary Kit

Happy Tuesday! Lynn here with a new project life page using this month's "Vintage Charm" Daily Diary Kit. Believe it or not there are still a few of these awesome kits left in the store, so grab one while there's time! 

Our theme this week is "Family Time". The challenge is to create a project showcasing our favorite ways to spend time with our family. The last time my crew was all together was this past March for Easter. Since my Dad has limited mobility dinner was at my parents house to make it easier on him. Our family always has amazing feasts - plenty of DELICIOUS food with enough left over for everyone to take home. The company is great and we have lots of laughs catching up with our lives. Here's my page. I used WeR Memory Keepers "Honey I'm Home" collection included in the kit. 

I love the cards in this collection - it made putting this spread together quite easy! Here's close ups of the cards, starting with the title card. 

I fussy cut a house and added it to my title card. Here's more close ups.

I love puffy stickers - they add dimension without too much bulk on your project.

I had to include a photo of the food - that's one of the highlights of our gatherings.

Here's the last two cards. I love Katelynn in this picture enjoying some coloring.

I typed some journaling on my vintage typewriter.

I hope this project life page has given you some inspiration to use your Vintage Charm Daily Diary Kit. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by. 

High Five Challenge Continues with Summer Lovin' Daily Diary Kit

Hello and Happy Tuesday! Lynn here with another project life page using the gorgeous, summery Summer Lovin' Daily Diary Kit! I'm continuing with this week's High Five challenge. The challenge is to use 5 different manufacturers on our projects OR create a page documenting our 5 favorite things about summer. I chose the 5 manufacturers challenge! Here's my page featuring Elle's Studio papers for the cards. 

I printed my photos using the Collect App and sized them to fit the pocket. I scaled the photos down to allow room to decorate each photo. I also typed on my journaling cards this week. I used Echo Park, A Flair for Buttons, Imaginisce and Simple Stories on this page. Here are some close ups!

I added some enamel dots from my stash for more color. Here's my title card.

I added a few wood veneers included in this month's kit for dimension.

I LOVE using my vintage typewriter to add journaling and it coordinated with the font on the photos and on some of the cards. The green card below also fits the High Five Challenge - my five fav's of the summer! 

Here's my final card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and we'd love for you to join us in this week's challenge. Feel free to upload your projects to our Noel Mignon Members Group on Facebook.

Have a great week and I'll be back next week with another PL page!

I Went Against the Grain with the Happy Days Classic Kit

Hello, Lynn here with my final layout using the "Happy Days" Classic Kit. Our challenge this week is "Against the Grain". We used wood or wood grain on our projects. I used a piece of wood grain paper from Simple Stories. Here's my page.

A few of the chipboard elements are also woodgrain. 

Here's another close up -  I added some chipboard stars and enamel dots around the journaling.

So lets see how use use woodgrain or wood veneer on your projects.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!

Honoring Mother's Day with the "Pure Bliss" Classic Kit

Hello Everyone! Lynn here and I'm soooo glad to be back! Today I'm sharing my first layout using this month's "Pure Bliss" Classic Kit. Our theme this week is to create a project honoring our Mother, Aunt or Grandmother for Mother's Day. I found an awesome picture of my Mom AND Gram together and knew it was perfect for this week's theme! I used a few papers from this month's Classic kit and layered embellishments around the photo. Here's my layout

I love the smiles on my Mom and Gram's faces!! So sweet!! Here's a closeup of the dimensional layers around the photo

I added some adhesive sequins and pink glitter dots around the photo.

I used my vintage typewriter to add my journaling.

We'd love to have you participate with this week's challenge and honor the Mother figure in your life.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the inspiration from the Design Team this week!!! See you next week.

Somebunny Special

Hey Everyone, Lynn here with my second layout using this month's Picture Perfect" Classic Kit. This kit is springy and fresh and you will love it - there are a few Classic kits still available so grab one before they're gone! 

Our challenge this week is "Somebunny Special". The challenge is to create a page about someone special in our life and tell why in our journaling. I chose to feature my Dad. I used Carpe Diem papers from Simple Stories from our kit for my page. Here's my page.

I fussy cut clouds and added the chipboard title to them. 

The journaling about my Dad is on a card tucked behind the layers of patterned papers

Here's my journaling

We would love for you to join us in this week's challenge. It's a great way to highlight someone special in your life! 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a great week! 

Serbin Picnic- Pool Party Classic Kit

I'm sharing my last layout this month with the "Pool Party" Classic Kit and a couple of journaling tips.  

I really loved the bright colors in these papers and they seemed to go perfectly with these 2 pictures of my kids at a Memorial Day Picnic last year.

I really like to experiment with different stitches on my sewing machine, so I gave a try at this one, which is a variation of a zig zag stitch.  I used blue thread to make the stitching really stand out on this cute yellow polka dot ribbon from the kit.

My biggest journaling tip is to jot a few notes about the photos you have taken while they are still fresh in your mind.  I take notes on 3x5 cards and keep them in a index card box until I print the photos (at that point, I keep the photos of an event paper clipped to the corresponding note card).

  The notes may be obvious (who, what, where, when, and why) or they may be more about your feelings, why you took the particular photos, how you were feeling about that moment in time, a quote from someone from that day, song lyrics that "match" the photos, etc.  You think that you will remember all of these things forever---but when scrapbooking photos that were taken more than a year or 2 ago, you will find that you really depend on these notes in order to do the journaling.  If I didn't have my notes to read, I would not be able to remember many of the smaller, more interesting details about the photos I have or the day they were taken. 

For this particular event, I have another layout in my album which includes the basics of the day, so I was able to add a little about my feelings and "summertime" to this layout.  Some layouts have more journaling than others, but sometimes a quick sentence or 2 is all I need.  I don't want to have such extensive journaling on every single layout, that it causes readers to skip over reading it, but I want enough so that I don't feel the need to explain the photos any further.  So I try to keep a balance throughout the albums.

Thank you for visiting the Noel Mignon Blog!!!  There are still a few "Pool Party" Classic Kits left.  Grab one while they are still there!!!  I think these kits are so perfect for summery photos!!! 

Fixing a journaling mistake- Shine Bright Kit! *My Sunshine Girl*

We have had the most nasty last couple of weeks here in Alabama... lots of just cold, rainy, gray grey days. And the next week looks like more rain is coming! I normally love a rainy day but for some reason, this year, it has really affected me. 

I have some adorable sunshiney pictures of my baby girl and combined with the Shine Bright kit (a couple still available!), it has perked me right up. Colors make me happy!

I'm glad I got more of those resin flowers from Noel's shop... I used THREE on this layout!

After I made my layout, I realized- WOOPS! I made a little journaling error.

I fixed it easily by just handwriting some words to highlight and adhering down on top. Easy! 

Did you see this deal on the NoelMignon facebook page? Yeah I thought you might have missed it! 

Hello, Quiet Days

This is one of those layouts that has been "percolating" for a while. The journaling is me, trying to be honest and true, along with a reminder to myself to savor this time. (Scroll down if you are interested in reading the journaling!)

To create the title, I used my handy dandy Silhoeutte machine and then added to it with one of the awesome chalkboard style labels in the Miss Nelson kit. I love the contrast between the black and the pastels! To make the "shadow" effect behind the word "days," I used the distress marker first, and then went over it with a white gel pen. 

I was inspired by a layout my friend (and former DT member) Leslie Ashe created a few weeks ago and wanted to do a BUNCH of hearts. I love how they look layered on top of the scribble and paint splatters on the patterned paper. 

Y'all know I love my sequins, and these added just the right amount of random sparkle to the dots on the paper. :) 

Journaling reads:

"For a very long time, I have counted down the days 'til my oldest would be 8 and my baby would be 4. In my head, that would be the perfect equation of ages. they would all be roughly interested in the same activities, there wouldn't be nap times to contend with - nor diapers and bottles. I  had longed to be a mama for so long and babyhood turned out to not be my forte`. 'When they're older,' I thought, 'THEN I can have a handle on this whole mama thing.' (Ha!) I suddenly realized that the ambiguous "then" is all of a sudden NOW. My loud days are now quiet mornings with one little girl at home. Lord, let me embrace the NOW with a passionate and brave heart. I don't want to miss a minute of it."