a few Halloween projects

 Hey there! I thought I'd share the projects I did for the challenge this week and a post I did over on the Tips & Techniques blog. First the layout. For the challenge this week we had to create a layout using shades of the same color. But only one color. Eeek!! I will admit I was a bit intimidated by this one. But once I started playing around I found that my layout came together pretty easily!

I used the fabulous Sleepy Hollow kit for this layout of my kids in the pumpkin patch this year. Thankfully I had some pictures that had colors other than orange so that in itself added that extra splash of color. I used an oval punch to create the little pumpkins at the bottom.

Leaving a white border around my photos also helped them to stand out against all of the orange on my page. You can check out the challenge here along with the other DT members' creations. Be sure to share your layouts with us!!

I also created these fun little treat bags over at the Tips & Techniques blog. You can check out the instructions here!

Time Capsule Challenge with Sweet Sue!

Today, I've got a new layout to share for the "Time Capsule" challenge over at the Noel Mignon challenge blog. This was a fun one to do as I scoured the Internet for images that would represent "me" at this moment in time. I made a list: reading, cooking, drinking, wearing, smelling, and watching and came up with a recent chick lit book I read, The Pioneer Woman's website for a great recipe I just tried and loved, an image of a Pumpkin Spice Latte (yum!), skinny jeans from Ann Taylor Loft, a Caramel Rum Swirl candle, and The Vampire Diaries (favorite show!). I used the "Sweet Sue" kit for this layout (still can't believe how many projects I'm getting out of this one!). Here's a look....

And a couple close-ups...I created a grid and gave each love a section, including a space for my title and journaling...

The starburst punch is Martha Stewart and was a great way to number each section...

Be sure to stop by the Noel Mignon message board to see sneak peeks of the November kit, "Dear Diary"! This one goes on sale on October 25th!

Until next time,

Jill

Mixing Sleepy Hollow & Sweet Sue

I knew that I wanted to use turquoise/teal & orange to complement these sweet photos of my daughter on her first birthday, and when I went to scrap them, I realized that I had everything I needed at my fingertips in the Sweet Sue (3 left!) & Sleepy Hollow kits.
The orange background, orange scalloped-punched strip of paper, felt trim, glitter alphas, corrugated alphas, die cut journaling spot, buttons, paper tab, "thankful" sticker, and embroidery floss are from the Sleepy Hollow kit.
The teal wood grain paper, the fussy cut flowers & stems, Prima flower, Sassafrass sticker strip, and lined patterned paper are all from the Sweet Sue kit (3 left).

I think they make the perfect combination!

What two Noel Mignon kits do you like to combine together?

Inspiration: Using TV Titles for Layouts!

Fall is here and that means the start of fall TV! You still have some time to participate in our TV title challenge,  where we're using TV show titles as our inspiration for layouts. I chose "Law & Order" for my title and played off it a little and went with "Law & Dis-order" for these photos of the complete and utter chaos my life is with two toddlers. Toys, toys, toys everywhere! (I wouldn't change it for the world, however!) :) I used the gorgeous "Sweet Sue" kit for this layout (just 3 LEFT!!!!). This has been one of my favorite kits to work with as I keep coming up with layouts. 

My background patterned paper is My Mind's Eye, the die-cut paper is Jenni Bowlin, the little heart strip is Sassafras Lass as is the border sticker at the bottom. 

For my title, I used one of the Melissa Frances kraft tags and envelopes and added stickers by My Mind's Eye, Jenni Bowlin and Sassafras Lass. The tab is Basic Grey and the star pin is Maya Road. 

I clustered a journaling tag by Elle's Studio, a star sticker by Sassafras Lass and a Prima flower.

I loved the Jenni Bowlin die-cut paper and placed the Basic Grey doily ribbon above it for a pop of color. The banner stickers are by Sassafras Lass.

Here's a look at more of my journaling...

Come on over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the design team's layouts. Here's a great site for TV title inspiration. I made a list of titles I could use on future layouts. 

Have a great day!

Until next time, 

Jill

Dirty Job - TV challenge

It's challenge time again over at the challenge blog! This time the challenge is to use a TV show as your title. So I went with 'Dirty Jobs', one of my faves :) 

Journaling reads: I've been spit up on, puked on, pooped & peed on. I've changed more diapers than I can remember. I've cleaned up tons of messes. Being a mom is certainly a very dirty job but I'm thankful every day for this great job!

 

I used the Sweet Sue kit for this layout (only a couple left!). I adore the We R Memory Keepers stitched cardstock!! I added part of the Jenni Bowlin shaped paper to ground my photo strip along with tags I cut out of the October Afternoon paper. I also added the Basic Grey red ribbon doilies around the outside to add a little pop of color. I love how just the edge is sticking out!

I also tried to channel my inner Virginia with a masking tape flower :) But when I was making the flower I dropped it on the backside and ended up liking how the masking tape was peeking out from the cut circle. So I turned it around, sticky side down, added another punched circle and that pretty pink flower.

I added the journaling around the edge a long with my title and Voila! To see all the DT member's layouts along with the challenge info, click here!

Step Outside Your Box

Have you checked out today's new challenge yet? You should. It's a good one. It's all about using the name of a tv show for your layout. I mean, think of the possibilities, here! Happy Days? My So-Called Life? Growing Pains? Parenthood? Sons of Anarchy? Okay, well maybe not that one, but you get the picture.

Here's mine.



I decided on One Day at a Time because that has been my new motto for the last month or so. We moved into a fixer-upper that we had been trying to buy for about a year and a half. All of our waiting paid off, but in that year and a half of the house sitting empty, it really started to get sad. So we've been working every day, along with lots of family and friends to get it back into tip-top shape, and we're just now starting to see some real results. A KITCHEN!! No more camp stove and bathroom sink dish washing. We've got refinished white cabinets, Kashmir white granite, white subway tiles, brand spankin' new stainless steel appliances and I am one happy girl! A month without cooking sounds like a nice little break, but lemme tell you, I am ready to get my bake on!! I'm gonna crank out some serious food for the next few days to make up for all this time off!



I used pieces of the Sweet Sue (hurry, only 3 left!) and Office Party (sorry, sold out) kits
and man oh man do they work great together! I cut the Jenni Bowlin die cut paper in half and stitched it together, then used the circle journaling card to carry the look of the circle through for the title spot. It's pretty amazing what foam dots can do to some alpha stickers, huh? Just kinda pops em out there to grab your attention.

So make sure you head on over to the challenge blog and see what the other girls came up with, and be sure to show us what you create, too!

Happy scrappy Monday, everybody!

xoxo
Britt

A Simple Halloween Card

Yes I know Halloween is still a little over a month away but I am just too darn excited about it this year! I am going to attempt to make my girls’ costumes this year. I hope they turn out well otherwise I might be purchasing a costume for them at the last minute! Ok. I digress.

Today I wanted to show you how you can make a Halloween card with your Sweet Sue kit (7 left!!!) First you will need to cut the kraft cardstock into the size of card that you desire. Then choose 3 different papers and cut them as seen in the example. In case you were wondering where the chandelier came from, I cut it with my Silhouette. Just choose any Halloween item and place it over the hen sticker.



Next up, glue the papers onto the card. Set your sticker aside for now.



Hand stitch or machine stitch each piece of paper together. This will hide the seam from where your papers are touching each other. It will also add a bit of texture to your card as well.



Place some pop dots under your sticker to add a little bit of dimension to your card. I used some October Afternoon letter stickers for my sentiment.



Here is my finished card.



Who would of guessed that you could use the Sweet Sue kit to make a Halloween card? I know I didn't think so at first either but the green, kraft, beige, and black combo are perfect colors for Halloween.

Happy crafting everyone!
Diana

Sidetracked Home Executives Card File

I've been having a hard time lately with our new fall schedules... trying to figure out how to balance one kiddo in school, two others in Mom's Day Out, and doctor's appointments, birthday parties, story time at the library, and all the other chaos in between!

Whenever life starts getting extra hectic like this, I start really struggling with time management at home. I end up not starting stuff that *has* to get done because I get discouraged with the thought of being interrupted (one of the many pitfalls of perfectionism- if I can't do it right the first time, why bother at all?!). BUT- no one can function like that, right? And the least, we'll never have clean undies. ;)

This is where I turn to the Sidetracked Home Executives system. Cheesy name, great system. :)

You can click here to read my full description of it on my blog from a few years ago. In a nutshell, you basically create an index card for each item that would be on a daily "to do" list, and a divider card for each day of the week.

I made an updated, simpler version for myself this week with a tin from the Target Dollar Spot and the Sweet Sue kit (plus some ribbon from my stash & some October Afternoon Mini Market stickers ).

I just need a way to keep me focused on the things each day I *must* accomplish, without being overwhelmed with seeing a whole list. Once I'm done with the task for the day, I move it behind the divider card for the next day.

I have other kinds of cards of things that aren't necessarily reminders (like I would ever forget that my kids are going to Mom's Day out!), but events that imply changes in my daily routines.

I also have cards for my design team assignments for each week, so I can work on them ahead of time and don't feel like I'm rushing to get things done the night beforehand. Setting aside time for me each day gives me more encouragement to keep going on the yucko tasks because I know that I will get time later, because I've planned for it! I also have things planned for like story time or craft time with my kids. They won't happen every day, but at least I know that there will be times for it.

If you're curious about a full list of all my cards, just let me know and I can post them in the message board!

Fashions by Olivia

My daughter loves to draw and create and loves to make up all sorts of 'businesses' and fun things. I think she's already figured out how she's going to make her first million! hehe Anyway, she wanted a journal to put all of her 'fashion ideas' into so she could have her own fashion journal. So I came up with this:

I found a plain chipboard journal I had in my stash and set out to decorate it with some fun goodies from the Sweet Sue kit (5 left!). I seriously looove this kit!! See that brown 'shape' sticking out from the Sassafras borders? That's the little strip of My Mind's Eye paper that you cut off. I always save those for when you need to add a little touch of something to project.

I cut the scallop square with my Sizzix and added part of the Prima jewels (just snipped the part off that I wanted to use), added that pretty blue flower, and added the October Afternoon alphas & AC thickers from previous kits.

The pink ribbon from the Seaside Cottage kit (sold out) finished it off. Cause my girl loves pink :) The great thing about this book is that once she's done with this phase of her life, I'll keep it as a little scrapbook of a snapshot of her childhood. And she can look back on this when she's older. So on the inside cover I added just a few leftover Sassafras borders with the 'eight' card & an Elle's Studio journaling card with her age & date.

And now I have to work on Volume 2...because this one is already filled! Here's a peak of the inside:

And her fashion prices are very reasonable, too ;)

Mini Me!

Noel challenged us to do a layout that is true to our style... it came out of a conversation on the message board that you can read more about, here. It's really cool to see how everyone's specific personalities and styles come out, whether or not they realize it!

This is how I described my style:
When I scrap, I tend to stick to the same design, because it is not really my strength and I start to stress about doing a "great design" and then it ends up all wonky looking! You'll see a lot of layouts from me with a photo (or a strip of three photos) centered or off to the side. My favorite part of scrapping is the embellishing and layering, so that is what I devote most of my energy to. I love to start with a fairly neutral background (kraft, whites, pale yellows, and grays are some of my faves) and then layer with paint or mists, patterned paper in rectangles & squares, ephemera, masking tape, and punched shapes. I love to add lots of distressing with inks & painted-on mists, tearing, and shabby chic/feminine touches. You'll always find some of my own handwriting on my layouts, too. I've had my work described as "haphazard" before and you know what? It fits me. :) Layout created with the Sweet Sue kit (7 left!) from NoelMignon!

Sweet Sue: Scrap Your Style!

Today, I have a new layout to share with you for the "I Gotta Be Me" challenge over at the Noel Mignon Challenge Blog. Basically, the challenge is to scrap your style and each design team member shared a little bit about how they scrap. Here's what I shared about my style:

I would consider myself to have a shabby chic style with clean lines. I enjoy incorporating ink, paint, distressing and almost always machine stitching on my layouts and projects. I find that I like a more muted color palette but scrapping with bright, fun colors (especially in the summer) is growing on me. I lean towards more things girly (makes sense with my two girls) - pink, lace, ruffles, doilies, etc. I adore using kraft cardstock as a background (love that Noel includes a sheet in every kit). It's such a great neutral to contrast other colors. I also always add a white edge to my photos in Photoshop to help them pop off my page.

I used the "Sweet Sue" kit for my layout about how terrified my daughter, Nora, is of grass. (Actually, both girls were scared but Lily has been a little more brave lately. :) I swear Nora has abs of steel because as soon as you try to set her on the grass, she draws her legs up perpendicular to her body. 

The die-cut patterned papers are My Mind's Eye, green alphabet is Sassafrass Lass and the other alphabet is My Mind's Eye. 

I used one of the Elle's Studio monthly journaling spots here and just hid the month since it didn't work with my layout. 

I turned around a Basic Grey tab and stuck a few Maya Road pins through it. 

Finally, my favorite part of this layout is the bottom. I layered Basic Grey doily ribbon and Sassafras Lass banner stickers to form grass....aren't those jagged edges scary?! :) 

Until next time,

Jill