I Am Back - with Pretty Little Studio!

I am back with PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO, and I can't think of a better layout to lead with than this one featuring Lou, one of my beautiful daughters, taken during one of the happiest days of her (and my) life - her wedding.  I created this for PLS using the NEAPOLITAN, BABY JACK, and BIRTHDAY CAKE collections - some of the happiest collections I can think of!

Very quickly, let me apologize for not dazzling you with my brilliant scrapbooking abilities for the last month (insert laugh track here).  I had some serious family issues that took awhile to be resolved, and then I have spent the past few weeks playing catch-up with the rest of life that didn't want to stand still and wait for me while I was trying to get my "shiz-nit" together - pretty rude of life, if you ask me!  But I am back in the saddle, so to speak, and want to catch up - so grab some coffee and stay a little while.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

And - playing catch up, here are several other layouts that I created for Pretty Little Studio recently.  I have truly loved the way each and every one has turned out!

My Always layout (packed full of symbolism):

Two fun cards that I absolutely adore.  A little bit of whimsy always brightens my day:

This layout  - featuring a spring photo I took of The Huntress - and more of those fun Pretty Little Studio paper ribbons that I adore so much!

I had a lot of fun with the layering of this one:

And - finally - these two layouts that I have affectionately dubbed "twinsies" - why?  Because even though I created them weeks apart, they ended up looking almost exactly the same!  Clearly my brain likes something about this design!

Twin 1, or Smaty Pants:

I love this layout and have to share a few close-ups:

And...Twin 2 a/k/a This Girl.  Also notice how I have used the same "this moment" journaling card for my selfie layout.  Yep, I like that particular journaling card a lot.  Quite frankly, I have an obsession with ALL of the Pretty Little Studio journaling tags and cards.  

A couple of close-ups:

Whew!  I feel like I just ran a marathon!  Did you make it to the end with me?  Well, if you did, pat yourself on the back and enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!  And thank you - thank you so much for sticking with me!

Nature Walk Pocket Mini

 

I made this sweet little pocket mini album using my Silhouette Cameo and a Silhouette cutting file by Lori Whitlock found HERE.  My inspiration?  It was the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO Nature Walk Collection.  This collection's mix of papers in my favorite patterns and some of the cutest die-cuts and journaling tags I have ever seen had me chomping at the bit to create something that would really showcase them.  And I think this mini fits that bill perfectly.  It's tiny but it makes a B-I-G statement!

See that sweet little "love" tag? It's part of a sheet of stickers that really got the creative part of my brain jump-started.  In my whole conversion of the walk-in closet into my personal scrappy mecca, I came across a box containing quite a few random extra photos I had saved that tied in perfectly with what I call the Nature Walk "word association" stickers.  With my Silhouette doing all the hard work in the actual making of the mini album, all that was left for me was to get out my scissors and glue and start playing! 

I adhered these stickers that extend down from the mini to a sheet of my patterned paper and cut them out.  And since I did NOT have enough forethought to sew the tag onto my mini before I assembled the pocket, I simply sewed across the top of the sticker and glued it to my album page.  It looks like it is sewn to the page, and that is all that matters!

What does the number 10 stand for, you ask?  That is the number our his, mine, ours family has expanded to (not counting the newest generation that has come along).  Luckily, all but two of our birdies have feathered their own little nests and  are self-sufficient - except occasionally when they hear something is being cooked on the grill or in the oven...

 

Here is the tag that features our crazy family of 10:

 

 

But I'm jumping ahead...

 

I love this picture of Hunter from last year's vacation, and I love it even more against a simple white background with my PLS bunting flags accenting the page.  And, yep, there's another word sticker - sewn to the picture and then stapled for good measure! 

 

The journaling tags in the Nature Walk Collection fit perfectly in the pockets of my mini.  Because I was feeling extra creative, I decided to try my hand at making a few journaling tags and embellishing the pre-made ones, too.

 

And, whoo says the back of the tag can't be cute? LOL - see what I did there? Who-whoo.  Yes, I crack myself up.

 

 

My Pretty Little Studio papers cut so well in my Cameo. And, look, there are some more word tags - and the sweetest little deer diecut ever! 

 

 

And speaking of die cuts, I had to find some excuse to use this one on a page...

 

How does a rabbit fit in with football?  Well, ummm, see....when you play football, you have to run incredibly fast with the ball to score a touchdown.  Annnndddd - wait for it - rabbits also run fast.  There you have it - a connection that's as obvious as the nose on your face. Duh!

 

And now that I have cleared the rabbit/football connection up for you, I am out of here for the day!  If you want to see my mini featured at its "official" home - please check out the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO BLOG!  And leave a comment letting me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you!

 

Until next time, happy scrapping!!!

Something Old, Something New Mini-Album (Practical Scrappers)

Today at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS, we are doing a feature on mini-albums (happy, happy, joy, joy)! For those of you who maybe don't know, mini-albums are one of my very mostest favoritest things to make e.v.e.r. And I will make a mini-album out of just about anything. So, it's no surprise that when I was cleaning out my craft closet, FULLY intending to purge and donate some items that I was never going to use, I held in my grubby lil paws old journaling cards made by Little Yellow Bicycle. I am almost postive I got them back in 2009 when I first started scrapping because - try not to laugh too hard - I had convinced myself that my husband, who enjoyed doing many of the same things that I did - was going to take up scrapbooking with me. In my little fantasy, he was going to love scrapbooking as much as I did and we were going to spend hours and hours scrapbooking together. Well, his name is NOT Tim Holtz. And, needless to say, he didn't and we didn't. And the journaling cards, which looked nice and manly to me, never got used. Until, that is, I was getting ready to put them in the give-away pile. Then, suddenly, the proverbial light bulb went off over my head. Thankfully, the idea I had was better than the one about the hubster wanting to do arts and crafts with me! Suddenly, the journaling cards became the base to a perfect-sized mini-album, and with a little cutting and re-arranging things, I managed to get a few embellishments off it. I paired my old journaling cards with papers from MY MIND'S EYE's Sweetest Thing Collection and lots and lots of random,different embellishments - everything from strips found at the bottom of my papers to pretty paper ephemera by PINK PAISLEE. And with that being said, it's time for me to stop talking. They say a picture says a thousand words, so I am going to let mine speak for themselves.

Check out the little pocket and tag I made! Sweet, huh?

Another little pocket and tag on the left and a smaller journaling "insert" on the right.

Another journaling page. This one is not covered with different papers at all - it's the original card that I just dressed-up a little.

Last page:

That's it for me today, but please check out PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS for more mini-album inspiration!

A New Handmade Mini-Album!

Friday is almost here, and with it (hopefully) free time to get crafty!  A couple of weeks ago, I made this easy, simple little mini that I want to share with you.  It's up on the PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS BLOG today, complete with a VIDEO TUTORIAL that I would love for you to check out.

You know I love capturing everyday moments, and this mini was just the right size for a series of photos, and accompanying journaling, from a recent walk with my youngest.  It's only three pages, but each page holds three tags - so there is lots and lots of room for pictures, decorations, journaling - whatever you want to create!

My mini was simply made from folding and stiching 6x6 papers together to create pockets.  My cover is an old piece of cardboard that I painted, misted and decorated after cutting it down to size.  Here's how it turned out:

These are the tags pulled out of the front pocket and the side pocket. 

The next page...

The next page, where my child added her own journaling...

There's so much space for journaling and pictures with these wonderful tags!

And the last page...

That's it for today...but be sure to stay tuned.  I will be back this weekend with a Lori Whitlock project and more...

Now go forth and be crafty!

Journaling with Practical Scrappers

I am a HUGE fan of journaling - in fact, it was one of the big reasons I began scrapbooking. So when the ladies over at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS said they were going to do a blog post dedicated to journaling, I jumped at the chance to join in!

Since it's January, I thought I would blog about my one big New Year's Resolution - to run. I loved running in the past, and I WILL love running again. Even if it kills me - hahahahahaha!

I started out by using a sketch I found over at SKETCHY THURSDAYS. Then I grabbed some fantastic Theresa Collins papers that my BESTIE and I picked out this past weekend at our favorite LSS. And then, I just...ran with the challenge! Sorry, I couldn't resist!!!

No journaling tags for me this time. I just wrote what I am feeling directly on my background paper...

One more shot showing the layers that I love so much.

That's all for me right now. But if you are looking for more journaling inspiration, be sure to check out all the cool ideas at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS that the other wonderful DT members have come up with!

Gotta run!