All good things...

...must come to an end.  I'm so sad to announce that this is my last post as a Noel Mignon designer. I have absolutely loved my time working for Noel and with all the girls on the team, and will most definitely cheer on everyone from the sidelines. However, life is simply getting the best of me right now. We are in the process of building a house, which has proven extremely stressful. I've also semi re-entered the working world by joining the staff of our church part time. So between my "normal" duties as wife and mother, chauffeur, and coach, I've added a bit more to my plate. And sadly, there is simply no more time to create.

So for today's post I thought I'd do a quick look back at some of my favorite projects I've created with Noel's fabulous kits. It's kind of a Throwback Thursday or Flashback Friday type of post just on a Saturday.

I owe a HUGE thank you to Noel for believing in me, for letting me play with these amazing kits, and for being a fabulous"boss". She's terrific to work for! I also want to thank Virginia for coordinating our team, and for being such a super help with all the little details, and a thank you to my teammates who have been so fun to get to know and to work with.  Thank you all! I hope you've had a fantastic Christmas and have a big bright 2015!!

MMMwah!  Love you all!

Passing the love along

Hi friends! I'm going to be really quick today because today is a fun day for me and my biggest girl. She and I will be participating in a day long craft day that is organized by our church. The organization behind it is called Created for a Purpose, and today is the Christmas version of their summer crafting camp.

Since I'm the adult in charge of her group, I got the awesome opportunity to do my crafts last night. And guess what? I brought along my Noel Mignon Cable Knit kit and whipped it out when the director said that we'd be making canvases with scrapbook paper. Perfect timing!

SOOO, here's what I'll be making today with a group of 3rd graders. You've probably seen versions of it on Pinterest.

We chose to keep the background simple--just a single layer of acrylic paint--so that we wouldn't be waiting forever for gesso, paint, etc. to dry.  Then we stacked 1" strips of patterned paper in the shape of a Christmas tree, and added other shapes as presents to the bottom. Last up, we embellished the tree and gifts. Pretty simple, a lot of fun. And best of all I get to help pass along the love of crafting to a group of young girls. It's fantastic! And for the record, they'll also be making burlap Christmas ornaments, and white chocolate peppermint bark. So much fun!

Hope your day is as fun as mine is going to be!!

Blessed: A family photo

Happy Black Friday friends! I hope you're enjoying the day whether you've been out shopping, if you're cuddled up at home or if you're still surrounded by lots of family. I hope you are enjoying the moment.

I thought I'd capture one of our big family moments with this layout using the Maple Creek kit. The photo is of my husband's ginormous family. Me? I come from a very small family. But HE has a huge one, and somehow we all managed to fit into a photo. So of course I had to scrap it. The Maple Creek kit was perfect for that!

I really love the bold colors of Basic Grey's geometric pattern. I pulled the gold color from it and chose to use that color as my background especially since it was also the color of the house. Then I flipped to the backside of the geometric paper and chose to use its pink color too.  Then I accented the page with rub-ons, the blessed tag, the wooden die cuts, and Elle's Studio tag.

On this Black Friday--whether you're in a shopping frenzy or enjoying a lazy day off--I hope you remember to tell your loved ones how cherished they are, and even capture them on a scrapbook page. That is, afterall, what scrapping is all about. Right?

Happy Black Friday!

I treasure you!

Hi friends! I've got a quick card to share with you today that I plan on giving as a part of the hostess gift I plan to give our Thanksgiving hostess. This kit, Maple Creek, is so perfect for this kind of sentiment. I love all the rich colors that work so well with the season.

I chose to layer my sentiment on top of a punched shape, and on top of a tag so that it would stand out on the card. I also chose to punch the bottom edge of the brown Basic Grey patterned paper with a scalloped border punch. I went back and layered the yellow reverse side of that same paper underneath the brown to add more emphasis and texture. I'd forgotten how much I love my punches and it was fun to pull them out again! To finish off the card, I added brads to the right of the tag, and a snippet of the checkered ribbon through the tag. Now I'm all set to hand this off, probably with a Thanksgiving hand towel or a bottle of wine, to Josh's grandmother who will be hosting us this year.

Blessed, a Maple Creek layout

Now that we've entered in to November and a season of thankfulness, it's time to celebrate all the things we are thankful for. I feel like scrapbooking in general does a good job of commemorating everything that we're thankful for, but it's also nice every once-in-a-while to be intentional about being thankful.

Today's layout is a pic of my kids and my sisters kids--all the cousins on our side of the family. And while that may seem like a very normal and benign picture, the truth is that both my sister and I both had struggles either before or during our pregnancies that could have meant that these kids may not have even been born. So while on the outside this looks like just another "I'm thankful for..." layout, it's actually a true joy to see a picture of all our answered prayers, of sweet children that the Lord chose to bless us with. I feel truly blessed, which is why I chose that cork sticker title from the Maple Creek kit.

This is the perfect kit to help you count your blessings. While the Maple Creek kit is sold out, you can make sure you don't miss out on another kit by getting a subscription or even asking for a sub for Christmas! Be sure to check out the subscription special pricing here.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a great Friday and a blessed weekend!

Flashback Friday Halloween edition

Happy Halloween everyone!! I'm super excited that it's finally Halloween. There's nothing like candy and good costume to make for a fun evening. It's also a fun time to look back at Halloweens of the past and see just how much the kids have grown and how their tastes in costume have changed. That's exactly what I did with my layout today. I flashed back to 2008 when I only had 2 sweet little girls (we've added a little boy since this pic) and they got to REALLY trick-or-treat for the first time.

I called my layout "Lovin' This" using the My Mind's Eye rub-ons that came in the kit. The arrow and little triangles are also from that sheet of rub-ons. And staying with the flash back theme, I dug deep into my Pinterest account and found a layout from a favorite designer, Jen Jockish, and used one of her layouts that I'd pinned (waaaay back) as my inspiration. Then I went with the "2" theme, because it's neat to look back and see what our family looked like minus one. Admittedly, I can't remember a lot from those days thanks to major sleep deprivation. To fit the "2" theme, I used the wood print die-cut that came in my kit as well as the "Admission for Two" Fancy Pants ticket stub. Then I added more rub-ons, some chipboard 3D stickers, my journaling, and called it finished.

Thanks so much for joining me today as I flashed back to our Halloween 2008.

Hope you have a fantastic Halloween tonight and make many memories!!

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat?

Trick or Treat? Well, TREAT of course!! And maybe a little trick too.

On Wednesday Virginia gave us all a TREAT by creating a free printable sheet of Halloween pocket page inserts. I took full advantage and immediately printed several copies of those babies. Not only do I plan to use them in my PL book, but I also thought it'd be another "treat" to show how I'd use them on a 12x12 layout, and here's how that turned out.

First, I printed Virginia's printable on cardstock. I coulda, shoulda, wish I woulda, printed them on watercolor paper too (note to self for next time) but the cardstock worked just fine too. After I printed the cards, I pulled out a couple of my favorite watercolor paints. I wet the entire insert with plain water first, then went back and added orange to the top and bottom of the card. I proceeded to play with the paint until it bled into all the places I wanted it to. And last I dried it with my heat gun.  One TRICK I've learned is that after the front is dry, you can wet the backside of the card and blow dry it too and then it won't be quite as warped. To embellish my newly painted card, I backed it with gray paper poked 2 holes in it at the top of both the gray and painted cards, and laced the gray ribbon from the Early Autumn kit through them and tied a bow. Easy peasy. This watercolor technique and embellishment could be use for either a PL album OR a layout. I chose to work it in to my layout.

I'd love to see how you use these printable tags! Be sure to share with us on the Noel Mignon Members Facebook page!

Happy Friday everyone! 

Camp Covenant

Hi there friends! I'm so glad you've stopped by today! It's finally feeling like Fall down here where I live and I couldn't be happier about it.  The cooler weather arrived just in time for the Early Autumn kit. If you're like me, then the weather tends to affect what you want to scrap, and this cool crisp air is the PERfect time to pull out this kit.

This past weekend my family went up to the mountains with our church just to hang out and have a good time. I came away with such sweet memories with my kids and all our friends. It's my hope that this page reflects the great time that we had.

Thanks for hanging with me today! I hope that you too find inspiration in the weather! Happy Fall friends, and happy scrapping!

Full of Possibilities

Hi there friends! Today I've titled my post Full of Possibilities for 2 reasons. First, I used the Early Autumn kit for my project today, and this kit is DEFINITELY full of possibilities. I'm a sucker for a good Fall-ish kit, but this one takes the cake. Really. The oranges, yellows, teals, and grays have stolen my heart. I absolutely adore this kit.

The second reason this blog post is entitled "full of possibilities" is because I used the Fancy Pants sticker with that sentiment as the focus of my notebook and built around that.

 

I love the fall so much that each year I enjoy creating a Fall journal to capture my thoughts, our family memories, and quick snapshots I may take along the way. Using the Early Autumn kit I recovered a generic composition notebook with patterned paper, ruffled a ribbon down the side "seam" where the paper meets the binding, and then added the library pocket and embellishments.

I'm super excited to get start my journal this year. And I love this kit, which is sold out. If you don't want to miss out on fabulous kits like this one, be sure to sign up for a subscription. They're on sell now in the store. Go sign up for yours now!

Thanks so much for letting me share! Happy Friday friends!

Scraplifting: Lynn Kopas!

I got the privilege of scraplifting Lynn Kopas this week. And she's got some amazing inspiration to choose from, but I chose to scraplift this layout by Lynn.


I used my Tea for Two kit to create this layered layout of my 2 girlies with one of their neighbors and best friends. I recently found their secret club notebook while I was cleaning up their room. It was so sweet. I'm looking forward to watching these 3 grow up together.
 

I chose to layer several of the Crate Paper sheets that came in Tea for Two. I used the inspiration of the slide more as an embellishment instead of around my photo because of its size. I also got inspiration from Lynn's use of arrows, which I included at the top left as well as in my title work.

Be sure to upload your layouts to the Noel Mignon Members board and you may see your creations scraplifted too!  Thanks for the inspiration Lynn!

Happy Friday everyone!

Enjoy Today

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing another layout I created with the Tea for Two kit. I absolutely love its versatility. I feel like I get so much out of these kits! So far I've created 2 layouts and 3 cards and there's still so much kit left! Here's my latest creation with Tea for Two.

I was inspired by the triangle trend that is currently popular, so I chose to hand-cut the triangle pattern paper into smaller triangles. Then I cut individual triangles too. To go one step further, I used the gold enamel triangles to finish off the pattern.

To create a foundation for my picture, I chose to layer the half inch strips that I'd been saving from trimmed sheets of pattern paper. On top of the strips is the square doily and my matted picture. Then I added my title.

That's all from me today. I hope you guys have a great Friday and a super weekend! Be sure to upload your creations to the Noel Mignon layout album on Facebook. We designers are looking for inspiration and we may choose one of YOUR designs to scraplift. So be sure to play along with us on the Facebook page! See you there!

Challenge: the crochet tape 3 ways!

Happy Friday everyone! I'm wrapping up Challenge Week with a set of cards all using the Maya Road crocheted tape that came in the Tea for Two kit. What you'll notice about this tape is that while it looks just like crocheted ribbon it IS in fact got sticky tape already attached to the back of it.  And if you've ever tried to attach lace to a layout, you'll know that this is a good thing!

So while I was still trying to figure out how to use this new found tape, I realized that I could use it almost exactly like ribbon, and THAT spurred on the creativity! I started using the tape as I would a ribbon.

 
First I chose to make a lace rosette, where I punched a circle out of cardstock and then began to wrap the tape around the circle starting at the outside and working my way it.  I ended up creating 2 of these for my card, one is larger and has a different look than the smaller one. The size of the circle beneath the tape effects the look of the rosette. Here's how those turned out.

Next I chose to cut my lace tape in half down the middle. Word to the wise--it's so much easier to cut BEFORE you peel the backing off the tape. If you peel the backing off first, then start to cut, the lace starts to shred at the edges and the adhesive makes it hard to cut. Once I'd cut 2 full lengths of lace, I tucked one set underneath the edges of my patterned paper. Then I layered the second set of trim on top of the paper. It created as simple way to add lots of texture to my card.

And for my last card I chose to weave strips of lace together to create a foundation for my embellishments. Again, I was hoping to use it in a different way to add texture and interest to my card.  Tip: just like above, it's easier to weave the lace BEFORE you peel the adhesive backing. Once you've gotten the woven look that you want, then cut the backing off each end of the trim. Don't try to take the backing off the entire thing. The ends will be sticky enough to keep the whole piece in place. Here's how that one turned out.

And here they are all together again.

Thanks for joining me today and learning more about the crocheted lace trim. I really love that it's adhesive backed, because that made it so much easier to work with! I can't wait to see your creations using this trim.  Please show us on our FB Community, we'd love to see! And if you end up using one of these techniques, please tag me in the comments section so I won't miss it!

Have a happy Friday and a great weekend!!

 

My Girl Sunshine

Hello friends and hello Friday! So glad it's Friday is finally here! Today I'm sharing a layout that is the direct result of a conversation online--my tendency to create layouts about my oldest daughter and not as many about my younger daughter. SO I specifically set out to design a layout about my 2nd girly, the one who shies away from the camera, in order to document a little bit of HER too. These pictures totally capture her sweet little personality, the one that doesn't like being the center of attention.

My Girl Sunshine

 Layered flair, trios of brads, deconstructed Elle's Studio tags, stacked chipboard pieces...there's a little bit of everything on this layout. I also borrowed the little label stickers from my Balboa kit (on sale now), but for the most part this layout is entirely the South Shore kit.  (hint: these two kits make a great compliment to each other) And I know it's been said before, but I LOVE that I can get so many layouts created with just one kit. And they're not skimpy, paper-only layouts. Anyway, I'm really loving all the patterns and embellishments in this kit!

{Adventure} with the South Shore kit

Hi there friends! I'm still playing with the South Shore kit as it's been a PERFECT kit for me to scrap our summer. One of my favorite papers in the kit was the canoe paper by Studio Calico. It could NOT have been more perfect for the picture of my Caroline suited up to go canoeing while she was at camp. So to capture that memory I created this layout.

To create this one, I layered papers and clustered embellishments using the canoe paper as my color scheme and inspiration. I usually don't scrap with a lot of green, so even though this looks like a normal layout it was a bit of a stretch for me. But stretching is good. (wink, wink)  I chose my embellishments according to the color scheme too, not really worrying if they matched perfectly or not. I thought I'd let Caroline journal in her own words in the space where the Elle's Studio tag says "Snapshot notes". In all, I'm glad I was able to get this one created. Thanks for letting me share!

High rollers welcome: Cash in your chips!

Goooood morning Crusiers! I hope you've been enjoying your cruise so far this week. As we are speeding full steam ahead into our final port and preparing to disembark from our lovely cruise ship I, as the ship's head casino cashier, regretfully inform you that it is now time to cash in your chips. That's right, in order to reap your maximum reward from your cruising experience, you must create a layout with a circle theme using at least 8 paper circles. Punch them, cut them, Silhouette-them, it doesn't matter how you create them, simply create a layout with a minimum of 8 circles and you'll be a high roller on this cruise!

 

I used the South Shore kit's bounty of colorful paper to cut 16 different circles to use on my layout. My trusty Creative Memories circle templates (which are some of the oldest supplies in my stash) helped me cut out circles and rings from the patterned paper, then I simply mismatched them for a fun whimsical look. After framing my picture, I embellished each circle giving each one a little oomph. My final touch was to tuck the Elle's Studio label behind my picture to give my page a title and that was that. My chips were cashed and I my reward this fun summer layout!

Thank you for choosing to cruise with us this week, and thank you for stopping by the casino to cash in your chips. Please remember that to fully cash in your chips, you'll need to add you a photo of your layout to the Cash in your Chips album on the Noel Mignon Members FB page. Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy the remainder of your cruise.