Baby, You're a STAR

I'm working through the Scrapbook Generation 6x6 paper "class"right now and this is my interpretation of sketch #2 from that packet.  It's a really fun class if you're looking for ideas on how to use up your 6x6 paper pads.  Me?  I'm always terrible when it comes to two-page layouts and need to work from a sketch; I find that I like Scrapbook Generation sketches the best.  I think they're clean, photo-centric, and easy to work with and edit, which I appreciate.  They do require some odd sized photos, so there is often a good deal of photo editing before you can work on a layout, but I find the final project is worth the time invested on the front end.

I used a Studio Calico Print Shop paper pad for this layout, along with some Smash washi tape, and some of the vellum die cuts from the Print Shop line as well.  Some sequins, a few wood veneers and some odds and ends (from Crate Paper & My Mind's Eye) and it all came together. I just love these photos, and I think it's such a fun layout with the bold colors and black and white pictures.

What's on your craft table this week?  My plan is to keep working through this class at a pace of two per week, plus make a few more things with my Paper Camellia kit.  I'll post results soon!

She's a Book Worm

Another layout from this summer that I haven't yet posted.  I cut into an older set of papers by Websters Pages and I just love the happy colors that echo the colors on my girl's shirt.  As you can tell, I was very into (and I still am very into!) great big pictures on my pages.  Story first, then decoration -- and the story is all about the photo in this one.

I'd like to say that this layout makes me long for summer again, but the truth is that it's still in the 90s in this part of the world and I want fall to come like nothing else.  I'm totally looking forward to the Chickaniddy Scrumptious line.  I just love that line -- I can't wait to pick up some pieces!

Bring on Apple Cider Weather!

Love That Tongue

I am so behind posting, you guys, and I am totally sorry.  Life happened -- we bought a house, moved, my baby girl turned into a toddler, started one year old preschool, projects at the new house piled up (and continue to do so -- goodness knows there are always about 100 things to be done at any given time!).  I'm going to get better about posting regularly, though, I swear.  Things are calming down at the new house, as in things are unpacked and everything mostly has a place, so I'll have time to scrap and blog more regularly now.  

This is a page I made over the summer utilizing a lot of orange, and I love how it turned out.  I'm a color girl, so I enjoy the bold on white.  I've been pondering lately simplifying my scrapping style, getting rid of stuff, and memory keeping in a very basic, clean way.  I think this layout is a good move in that direction.  Still fun and enjoyable to make, but less visual clutter while still looking a little funky.  I think all the white space helps.

You'll hear from me again soon, friends!  I won't get so behind again!

beautiful & messy motherhood moments

I'm taking "Inspired Scrapbooking" over at Big Picture Classes this year and this is the first fruit of that endeavor.  I feel like all my pages are very baby-centric right now (well duh, I have a 10 month old, right?) but I want to make effort to explore a little more deeply this year.  And yes, the page is still a little baby-centric, but it's a step in the right direction.  My life pretty much revolves around a tiny human who doesn't say too much (except Duck, Art, Cat, Uht-Oh, and Snack) so there will still be a lot of baby.  

Speaking of classes, this year I'm taking:

1. One Little Word with Ali Edwards
2. Inspired Scrapbooking with Stacy Julian
3. 31 Things with Ali Edwards

and I'm ponding doing "Before Your Story" with Jennifer Wilson.  I think I'm in a sweet spot right now to take classes with Orli having a good, early bedtime and me feeling creative and productive when she's sleeping (and still able to be in bed by 10!) -- and the Ali class ends just before the Jennifer class starts.  And the idea of documenting your life before baby is appealing because it's all baby all the time in this house.

What are you taking this year?  Do you have your OLW picked out?

Three Reasons you are THE BEST

I love this page.  It's all bright colors and funky, graphic patterns and hand writing and drawing -- and it's very, very me.  I was inspired by the No. 1, 2 & 3 tags out of the Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party Bits pack -- I never seem to use my numbers in die cut packs like that and I was determined to use them this time.  So I pulled them out and built this entire page around them.  I chose a photo with bright, saturated colors that could hold its own against the brightness of the papers and went to town.  In the end, I love it.  It's a sweet, personal page that really captures my essence and the sorts of things I like to make the most.

I included lots of little bits like I am want to do -- I love those tiny little details.  Love, Love, Love those Dear Lizzy Polkadot Party Bits -- I used to think that they were a stupid purchase, but there are so many of them and you can really use them on so many things -- a good die cut pack is a must buy for me.  Pop them up on some foam tape and you have instant interest.

Hope you all have a happy Monday!  I'll be getting ready for Thanksgivukkah this week - what fun!

You Are One of a Kind

 Oh, my sweet girl.  All I scrap are baby photos these days, but that's really the center of my world, so I guess my books will reflect that.  I've never done a tiny photo on a giant page before, so I thought I'd give it a go.  And really, I like it.  The (brief) story is about her looking at the sky, and I think the empty space gives that big, sky-like feeling.  Plus, the paper has clouds on it (it's a Studio Calico B-Side) so how perfect is that?

Welcome to a Whimsical Twist Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Whimsical Twist Favorite Blog Hop!  Hopefully you reached me from Lisa’s blog, but if not head back to Whimsical Twist and start the hop from there!

Today I am sharing a sweet and simple layout that uses a few of my favorite items in the Whimsical Twist Shop.

I love this simple layout featuring two of my favorite people in the world -- my sweet daughter, Orli, and my amazing husband.  I snapped this photo at baby gym one morning, and knew that it was a memory I wanted to record.

I started with an amazing ombre and polka dot (!!!) base paper which is a lovely, heavy cardstock sheet from Chic Tags, a brand which is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.  The ampersand paper behind the photo is from Alison Kreft for Webster's Pages' Recorded Line, as is the cute blue arrow paperclip.  What a great color that is!  The journaling is in a cute little library pocket from Basic Grey's Carte Postale line, which has a lot of great pieces that can be used for many things other than travel pages.  The cardstock ampersand and circle are both from Dear Lizzy's Polka Dot Party Bits package.  There are so many great pieces in those packs -- I love them.  Grey strips border the page on the top and bottom; those are also from Polka Dot Party -- I just trimmed down some narrow pieces of paper and down they went.  And don't forget a generous sprinkling of sequins for a little extra pop!

I love a cursive alpha!

All blog hops should have a giveaway and this is no exception! At each stop along the hop, make sure that you leave a comment so you can be entered to win a $20 gift card to the Whimsical Twist shop!  One random commenter who has commented on ALL of the blogs will win!

Your next top will be: Sharm

Here is the complete hop in order, just in case you get lost along the way!

Whimsical Twist - http://whimsicaltwist.com/blog/

Carrie - http://carrieshappyscrappin.blogspot.com/

Ashley - http://marklandandmain.blogspot.com/

Lisa - http://lisascreativeniche.blogspot.com/

Laurie - http://lauriedanielle.com  <<-- YOU ARE HERE

Sharm- http://craftyliciousme.blogspot.com

Sandi-  http://lifeatthebeach51.blogspot.com/

Alexandra- http://avc-creations.blogspot.gr/

Kristin- http://memoriesbythepageful-kristin.blogspot.com/

Charissa- http://www.akihasmommascraps.com

Such Joy

Loving this color scheme.

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a restful, rejuvinating weekend.  Me?  I put up my Hanukkah decorations (OMG WHAT?!?) and got a little scrapping done as well.  This is a page from my October Citrus Twist Kit and I'm really feeling it, to be honest with you.  I just love that blue color.  This month's kit is just beautiful, and it's looking like next month is going to be just as good.  Yummy.

You know,  I wasn't sold on those Heidi Swapp rub-on sequins, but as it turns out I think they're pretty fun.  And, really, who doesn't like to rub stuff on.  Popsicle sticks are totally fun.  I have lots more paper to go, though -- so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of them!  Here's to fun with paper!

September Kit Round Up: What I Made

To keep myself accountable, I'm going to post what I made each month from my last kit.  Citrus Twist releases in the middle of the month, so I'm not behind  -- yet!  :)  I recieved October earlier this week -- here is what I made with September.  I did add a few full sheets from my stash to the kit so I could keep going with my scraps.  Some pages are a little fugly, but not everything I make is blog worthy.  They are seeing the light of day only so I can keep my count honest. 

 

I plan on cutting into October tonight!  

xoxo, laurie

Too Much Happy

Happy Wednesday!  Today I wanted to share a cute little layout using both new releases and some Simple Stories Vintage Bliss, which (I can't even believe it!) is a little bit older now.  The colors of Dear Lizzy's Polka Dot Party go perfectly with Vintage Bliss, so I anticipate I'll be using up my Vintage Bliss scraps with the rest of my Polka Dot Party papers -- they just look too cute together!  

This layout uses one of my favorite layout "recipes".  I love the clean, graphical look of a 4x6 and a 2x3 row with the same below but the sides swapped.  There are so many ways to dress it up and it always looks cute!

Favorite

I love the washed out, dreamy colors of Pink Paislee's Color Wash line.  This paper, which I used as a base for my layout, is so good I could eat it.  This is another page done with the September Citrus Twist Main and Pocket Life kits.  I added a few gold glitter mambi chip accents to compliment the gold on the amazingly intricate and organic lace that was in the kit.  I don't know where that lace came from, but isn't it beautiful?  

I found this lovely photo of Orli lounging in bed that was also a bit washed out (in the best way!  Love those bright whites!) that I thought would look lovely with the paper and went from there.  The photo is matted with a little bit of Carta Bella's Hello Again.  The butterflies are punched from that same 6x6 pad.  The Favorite chipboard title is from Dear Lizzy's Polka Dot Party.  The wood veneer asterisks came with the kit; I colored them pink with spray mist.  

I'm so glad you came by to see what I had to share today.  Please leave me a comment if you like my work; it makes my day to hear from you!

Two Best Friends

I am really getting down to the scraps of this month's kit and I can't wait to get my box full of October Goodies!  This is put together from some of the last of my big scraps -- it's all tiny pieces from here on out.  Still, I'm loving it.  This is a fun color scheme that I'm not sure I would have chosen for myself -- but I ended up really liking it.  

It's funny -- I keep my pages pretty current, working from photos of the past few weeks, usually, so it was quite a shock to see Orli this tiny!  The months are going by so quickly!  

Standing Like a Big Girl

Today another page created mainly from the September Citrus Twist Main and Pocket Life kits.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE the september kit?  I do.  Such dreamy colors! 

I used had this really cute photo of my daughter standing alone for the first time (well, with the support of the ottoman!).  One print was a misprint from having walgreens print my instagram photos (they cropped them -- I should have known that the would!) but it still had those nice dreamy colors that worked so well with the papers in the kit.  So I pulled it out and paired it with a less dreamy but entirely there photo of Orli and it looked really cute.  There is hidden journaling on the pink card that tucks behind the polka dot paper.  Sometimes journaling just doesn't work with your design -- so hide it!  I like all my pages to have a little journaling, so when it doesn't go with the layout, it just gets tucked behind something else with a little string to pull it out.  

I'm loving that October Afternoon washi.  

I just used a tag for the journaling card that I sprayed with a bit of tattered angels mist and tied a piece of My Mind's eye Lime Twist baker's twine.  Some mist splatters and a mambi chip to indicate that I do, in fact, "love this" and it all came together.

Also, I cannot believe it's the middle of October already.  I am soooooo ready for some turkey!

My Sweet Girl

Happy Friday!  I don't have any favorites for today, so I wanted to share another layout with you all today.  I pulled out my cherished Sassafras Foldies for this layout, so you know I meant business.  

(Actually, I'm getting rid of my stash.  I've never kept a lot of papers and embellishments compared to lots of people, but still my goal is to work from what I'm sent each month and not keep much on hand besides the basics.  Thickers, letter stickers, twine, markers, dots, tags, sequins -- those sorts of basics.)

Anyway, I hand made the tassel on the tag with bakers twine - that was a fun and new craft for me.  Super easy, too!  I'm really into tucked in journaling these days, it seems.   Love that hope mambi puffy sticker arrow -- it was the perfect repeat of the black from the Dear Lizzy black chalkboard sticker.  

Man, I adore a toe-eating baby.  That is some cute business!

Have a happy weekend!  I'll be going to the State Fair and enjoying some fancy chickens!

Spoon Love

This layout was made using the September Citrus Twist Kits Main and Pocket Life kits, plus my own alphas and a few mambi chips.  I love how it turned out.  Sometimes it seems that if you want to include a lot of journaling in on a layout it distracts from the flow of the page -- but it becomes part of the page on this little sheet of notebook paper from the Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party cut apart page.  I punched the edge to make it look torn from a notebook.  

Of course, there is some stitching.  It's so easy and a great way to add a little texture.  This is cream thread with a gold bobbin thread -- just a little bit of sparkle shows through.

This heart mambi chip fits on the Amy Tangerine paper almost perfectly!  It was too good not to use.  I love how it keeps the flow of the paper, but adds a little extra pop with the dimension and the glitter.  I also love how the b-side of the bottom strip of paper coordinated with the rest of the line.  I wanted to show it off, so I folded it down for extra texture!  

I Love You So Very Much

This is one of those layouts that came about as I tried to kill the last bits of a kit and was really stretching.  In the end, though, I think I'm actually rather fond of it, although I'll admit I had mixed feelings for the majority of the time I worked on it.  That pink background paper was my jumping off point.  It was the last whole sheet I had left and I needed to use it.  And in theory it's very pretty and fun and funky, but I had the hardest time working with it.  It wants to take center stage but I wanted it to be background but still shine.  The end product isn't anything I'd submit to a publication or anything, but I'm happy to flip through my album and see it.  

The butterfly was cut from the same painted paper I used on my "beach baby" layout earlier this year.  I'm really embracing the pink/orange color scheme it seems!

Playful

More of Crate Paper's The Pier on this layout -- I just love that line and I want to use every scrap up before I find something I love more.  Which you and I both know will happen -- so use it up now I shall!  I'm not one to hoard.  But we are getting down to scraps, so this is a very scrappy sort of layout.

Most of these papers were in July's Citrus Twist Kits Main and Pocket Life kit.  I added a few embellishments from my personal stash (like that starfish brad -- how sweet of a little detail is that?  And don't you just love doily sequins?)  As you can tell from the past few layouts, I've pulled out my little pouch of MME titles and have been putting them to work, too.   Summer is coming to an end, so I'm trying to finish up most of my summery layouts.  There are so many great Fall products coming out and I can't wait to cut into them!

How Did You Turn Out So Wonderful?

Yes, that is the same photo as on the last layout.  It's one of those poorly printed Sam's photos -- but I wanted to use it because even though it printed pretty dark, it's not terrible.  And I can always look at my baby's pretty face!  This layout has fun hidden journaling.  That card with the string pulls out and is a little love note to my girl.