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

Love, love, love

Don't forget that you still have time to join in on the "I love..." challenge!
It runs through Friday!
I realize that I got totally cheesy with my layout,
but I will share it here anyway!
:)

I used the fabulous Mary Ellen kit (still available!) for this layout.
Those squares with the hearts on them are cut from a piece of paper from the Truly Scrumptious kit though.

So play along with us!
Layouts like these are so fun!
And they will be fun to look back on later!
If you make something, link it up on the challenge blog so we can see it.
Happy Monday!
:)

Happy Monday!
Don't forget about the Domestic Goddess challenge!

You have until April 2nd to play along with us.

The challenge is all about scrapping your domestic routine

or lack thereof in my case!

Hence this layout...

I used Delightfully Domestic for that layout!

{sorry, sold out!}

I had barely enough time to dive into Delightfully Domestic kit before the fabulous Jump & Jive kit arrived at my door!

{you are in luck...there are still some of these left}

And it made me want to scrap!

So I did...

Here are a couple close ups of the banner/flag thing I've got going on here.

Have a great week and don't forget about the challenge!!
:)
gretchen

Cards!

Here are a couple cards I did a few weeks ago for the Tool Challenge...I chose a hole puncher (I used the WRMK Big Bite)...

First up I punched holes in the center of each of the circles from the patterned paper and then used red cardstock behind it to sort of give it an accent color... I used the Very Virginia kit...

For the second card I used my hole puncher as my main design and shaped it as a heart and backed it with patterned paper and then added a simple sentiment and the card was finished! I used the Truly Scrumptious kit...

Thanks for stopping by! :)

plowing through the kit

Are you guys having fun playing with the Delightfully Domestic kit?? I know I sure am! I've already created 5 layouts & still have a bunch of goodies left over. I don't know why but it always amazes me at just how many projects you can create with Noel's kits. Considering I've been getting her kits for quite a while now you'd think I'd be used to it! But I'm saving that adorable We R Memory Keepers stitched cardstock with the house on it for when we move in April/May...I'm planning on doing a layout of our new house with that one :)

And speaking of layouts, I'll share a couple more with you guys today. This first one is one of my faves...

I *love* that Noel always includes a shaped paper in her kits :)

Every time I look at that picture it scares me because my daughter looks so much like me...like looking in a mirror!

And those little pocket tags?? Super cute & perfect for jotting down the date or a few notes.

It's also time for a new challenge. This week's 'Domestic Goddess' challenge is about scrapping your routine.

How interesting will it be to look back at this in 5 or 10 yrs and see how different your routine is?? Wouldn't you love to see a layout like this of your grandmother and what her typical routine was?? I know I would.

I used elements of the Truly Scrumptious & Delightfully Domestic kits (sorry, sold out) to complete this layout. I lined up some shipping tags along the bottom, added some patterned paper & journal strips and some haphazard stitching in different spots.

I'm thinking of doing another layout like this after the baby is born. It's hard to remember the day to day activities that go on & a layout like this is perfect for recording all of that!

You can head over here to check out the latest challenge. And don't forget - Jump & Jive just went on sale yesterday. Be sure to grab one before they're gone...the last few kits sold out pretty quick!

Getting some use out of my kits!!

The best thing about a kit {to me} is that I have a bunch of coordinating supplies all together.

I don't have to go fishing through all my supplies to find some stuff to use.

Kits simplify the process so much!

So when I decided to give it a go at the Pencil Lines design team, I just grabbed my Truly Scrumptious kit!
And I this layout made for their call...

Here is the sketch we were to use...

It's quite a fun, versatile sketch!
{didn't make the team this time but Leah did! whoop whoop!!}

*****

Another thing I made recently was a card for the March challenge over on the My Mind's Eye blog.
This challenge was based on a sketch too...

And the theme was "celebrate today".

So I grabbed my Delightfully Domestic kit {since Noel was so nice to fill it with lovely My Mind's Eye for me!} and made this card...

Thank you Noel for speeding up my scrapping process so I can get more done!!

:)
Happy Monday!
gretchen

Don't forget!!

You can still play along with us in the "Two Cards, One Tool" challenge!

Pull out your kits. Sift through the scraps.

Find a fun tool.

And make some cards with us!

*****
I used the Apron Lace border punch from Fiskars along with some of the scraps I saved from my Truly Scrumptious kit.
And I made these...

{the twine & brad are from my stash}

Come play along with us and make some fun cards!
Don't forget to link us up here!
:)
Happy Monday!

To "Menna"...

I just love love love these pictures I have of my youngest daughter and our friends youngest son.. he has the BIGGEST crush on her and brought her a little goodie for Valentines Day... complete with a kiss on the cheek! (all together now... awwwww)....
I am still using up goodies of my Truly Scrumptious kit... man how I love this thing... I still have lots of layouts in my head I wanna use this kit with... now just to find the time to do so! ha!

and a little close up...

My Delightfully Domestic kit  (sold out!!) just came in today... and this is now my new favorite kit... I know I said that about the last one.. but this is my final answer... (for now)..
have a great day!

When I think of her...

Happy Monday!!

Today I want to share a layout I made about my grandmother.
She is just the cutest thing!

Most of the paper, bling, & lace ribbon on this layout is from Truly Scrumptious and then I grabbed the chipboard out of the Very Virginia kit.
I love how well the kits go together and can be mixed!!

The chipboard alphas (Basic Grey) are from my stash.

:)
Have an awesome day!
gretchen

Too Big, Too Fast

How 'bout my baby girl is getting way too big, too fast? I haven't noticed it as much with the others, but I think the fact that she is (at least we think) our last one makes every moment seem a bazillion times more poignant.

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago and realized how big she was looking. She's losing that "baby" look to me. *sigh*

To make this, I used the adorable Schoolhouse paper crafting kit from October Afternoon. Noel's got all the cute goodies to go with it in the store, too! I paired it with embellies from the Truly Scrumptious kit, and I loved the feminine/modern feel it ended up with.

By the way, word on the street is that there are only FIVE of the Delightfully Domestic kits left... so if you want one, go grab it! Noel posted the full kit pic just a bit ago and she's listing up all the kit contents later today. :)

hey look snow!

I was looking through my pictures trying to decide what to scrap when I came across some lone pics of my daughter grabbing the remnants of a very small snowfall we had last Christmas. I immediately thought of the Truly Scrumptious kit with all of the pinks, reds & blues. I know it's not a 'wintery' kit but the colors matched perfectly with my daughter's pinkalicious coat :)

I really like the little pop of yellow with the turquoise polka dot paper. (It killed me to not use the other side that had all the fun banners on it!) I added some stitching around the outside of the layout along with the a few other spots to add interest.

Again, I know this crocheted flower is not 'wintery' but I don't care, the colors fit with my layout and I thought it looked cute!

My take on it

Don't forget about the latest challenge here!

It's the "It Takes Two" challenge.

That means that everything on your layout has to be done in twos.

If you use one of something, you have to use two.

And you can't use more than two of anything.

Now I present to you the layout that took me a full week to complete...

Supplies: Most everything here is from the Truly Scrumptious kit but I did pull the striped paper, silver alphas, and silver stars from my stash
2 pictures
2 pieces of cardstock (red & kraft)

2 patterned papers (that scalloped border came off the striped piece of Sassafras)

2 chipboard stars

2 alphabets (red & silver)

2 brads

2 photo corners

2 pieces of masking tape (overlapping each other on top of the big picture)

2 staples

2 types of journaling (written & typed)

{i didn't plan that but it works!}

This was officially the hardest {scrapbooking} challenge I have ever completed!
But it was a fun one and you should play along with us!

You can see everybody else's layouts here.

Seriously, play along with us!

:)
gretchen

Everyday Love Notes...

Here's a great idea to use up the little tidbits of your oh so yummy Truly Scrumptious Noel Mignon kit.... I cut small strips of white paper and decorated them with scraps from the kit... these would be quick and easy notes to leave your kids or your hubby... just something to brighten their days!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Time Out & It Takes Two Challenge

I've been playing around with some of the extra stuff I still have from my Truly Scrumptious kit while I wait for the Delightfully Domestic kit to come my way!
I made this layout about my silly little girl putting her toys in time out. What a goof!

The newest challenge for NoelMignon is called "It Takes Two," and here's what we are challenged to do:

All you have to do is follow the rule of twos. ;)Anything you put on your LO you have to put two of. So that means if you are using Patterned Papers, then you must use two and only two. (Tip: Definitely pick double sided papers as you get more to work with that way!) Or if you are using Metal in some way (brads, stick pins, plaques, or flair buttons....), then you must use two pieces of metal, and only two. Does that all make sense? :D I hope so!

So this is what I came up with, using the Truly Scrumptious kit.

I fudged a little bit with it, because I'm sneaky like that. ;) But here's my "twos":

-2 pop-dotted, fussy-cut banners

-2 blue rhinestones

-2 highlighted words

-2 "photo mats" ;)

-2 photo corners

-2 die cuts

-2 cute pictures

I thought I would struggle more with this one, because I tend to think in threes with scrapbooking & design, but it came together pretty quickly!

Make sure to go check out the other girls' layouts, and join us in this challenge!