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

Give Away: December Days Class

Have you seen the new Whimsical Twist December Days Kits yet? Three very fun and reasonble project kits to get you moving on your December album project. These kits all retail for $50 and are PACKED with goodies! Check them out HERE. 

We also have an amazing December Days class that is going on now all the way though January! Join the Whimsical Twist design team as we help guide you and support you along your album making journey!  If you're a (s)Hebrew like myself, don't worry about all the red and green: word on the street is that I'll be doing a little Hanukkah magic to share with you as well.

How about a giveaway! I am giving one lucky reader a free spot in our December Days class. Simply leave your name and location in a comment on my blog and be entered to win! Winner announced Friday 11/1!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today on the Whimsical Twist Blog

You can see my layout, and the layouts by the other fantastic women on the Whimsical Twist Design Team, over on the Whimsical Twist Blog today.  It's all about negative space, and I think you'll like it!

Oh Baby

Today I'm sharing another layout made with Glitz's Finnley collection.  I've almost got this collection down to tiny scraps and a few spare stickers, that's how much I've loved using it.  I love how a baby theme isn't blue or pink.  As someone who is scrapping a lot of baby pages lately, it is so so so refreshing.  This is (so far, I have a page or two left before the collection is killed) my favorite page I've made with it.  I love that triangle on white background paper.  

I mounted the "oh baby" die cut on foam to pop it up off the page.  There is also some stitching for a little textural detail.  I set my sew machine's tension a little low to give it a a messier, more home made sort of look.  Imperfection can (and should!) be on purpose sometimes.  

You can get this amazing collection at the Whimsical Twist store.  It is so usable!  

The Smallest Things

I've been playing a lot with Glitz' Finnley (which is available at the Whimsical Twist shop!) collection lately and wanted to share a few of the layouts I've made -- you'll be seeing more over the next week or two.  I'm loving the painterly quality of the papers.  That red background paper is lovely.  I like the Glitz papers a lot because they are a true matte finish -- not any shine on them at all.  I think it makes the colors seem more intense that way.  

I think my favorite part of this layout (besides the photo, of course!) is the hand written "love" on the right side.  It works really well with the hand drawn borders on the paper scrap strips that back the photo.  I like the drawn borders, too.  Before I drew them in the layout just didn't seem to have a focal point -- the borders really draw the attention to that area of the page.  I kept the embellishments really simple with this page to let the photo and the beautiful patterns and textures on the papers really speak for themselves. 

Today on the Whimsical Twist Blog!

There is a new challenge going up on the Whimsical Twist blog today -- and it's all about TEXTURE.  I love me some texture and dimension (don't even ask how many rolls of foam tape I go through!) so I was excited to create an inspiration piece using burlap (so autumnal!) and the new Family Traditions line by Adrienne Looman for Webster's Pages.  The full layout is up on the blog -- so go check it out and be sure to enter your own creation for a chance to win a Whimsical Twist gift certificate.

Today on the Whimsical Twist Blog!

I'm posting over on the Whimsical Twist blog today with a step by step tutorial on how to make a cute little ribbon banner embellishment with your scrap chalkboard paper.  You won't believe how easy it is to make this cute little guy!  Come visit me over there!

Fun in the Sun: Chalkboard Challenge

There is a super fun chalkboard challenge over at Whimsical Twist starting today.  I'm in awe of people who can make the chalkboard look work, and there are lots of great examples by my fellow design team members.  My layout uses mostly Simple Stories Hello Summer, which has a few chalkboard elements.

Pull out your chalkboard papers and embellies and enter the challenge.  You can win $15 to spend in the Whimsical Twist store -- and that can get you quite a little pile of goodies!