Fall Mini Album

When I received the October Cocoa Daisy kit, I had to create something right away. I thought I would be fun to make a fall mini album and just add snapshots throughout the season. I stated with a Simple Stories Snap album, stamps (Cocoa Daisy and Studio Calico), inks, and embossing powder.

I like for my title page to set the tone and feel of the album so I wanted to include all the gorgeous colors from the kit (and fall, of course!). I still had some items in my stash from last year's fall kit and it blends perfectly with the brand new product.

For the October divider page, I used a leaf stencil and several shades of Mister Huey's to capture all the gorgeous fall colors. I then used a Zig embossing pen to highlight the veins of the leaves and various shades of embossing powder. I LOVE how this page turned out.

Now all I have to do is kick back and enjoy my favorite season! There are lots of fun, fall activities coming up and I can't wait to experience and capture those moments. It's gorgeous, but cold, here this morning. When it warms up a bit, I plan to get out and enjoy the sound of crunchy leaves. Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

Amazing Places

I've been wanting to do a travel album for quite some time. I knew it was going to take some work to gather all the photos from our many years together. To keep it simple, I just picked a few highlight photos from five vacations. (Actually six trips, because I added a couple of photos from my husband's visit to The Great Wall.) I started with a Basic Grey Capture album and the world stamp from Cocoa Daisy as my jumping point. I titled it, "Amazing Places" because that's how I feel about each of these locations. I mixed brand new products with some really old stuff from my stash and I truly love how this project came together. If you'd like to see the details, click on the photos to enlarge.

What a trip down memory lane! I still need to add my journaling, but the hard part is done. After completing this, I feel humbled and grateful for this amazing journey called "life" - I just want to appreciate each and every moment. I've also been bitten by the travel bug! lol

Simple Stories = Simply Gorgeous!

Yes, I did just say that my album is gorgeous but what can I say... sweet photos of my children and fabulous papers from Simple Stories Mix & Match Collection as a base for my book and I'm in LOVE!

I used Kim Watson's great idea for using up little flags... use them to make banners- pure genius! I simply folded the flags over the twine and tied knots between each one. How cute is that?!

I love these stamps from Cocoa Daisy and knew I wanted to use them for these photos. First, I stamped with VersaMark, used Zing Embossing Powder (Color: Powder) and then heat set. Seriously, I can't stop looking at it - so pretty!

One of the best things about this Simple Stories collection, is that the pages are already gorgeous with any embellishment. With just a few touches, you can have Simply Gorgeous pages! ************************** Supplies: Simple Stories: Mix & Match Album, Studio Calico: Stamps, wood veneer birds, star stickers, Memoir Linen Paper, Cocoa Daisy: Stamps, Authentique: Diction word stickers, October Afternoon: Little Flyer, stickers Prima: Pearls Cavallini & Co.: Washi Tape Flora & Fauna Bella Blvd: washi tape Pink Paislee: Mistables, Basic Grey Picadilly letter stickers Thickers: Regards, Zing Embossing Powder (color:Powder)

Everything But The Kitchen Sink...

Is what's going into my newest mini album. :) So far, I've got Simple Stories, Studio Calico, Cocoa Daisy , Zing Embossing Powder, Authentique, Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Prima, Cavallini & Co., Bazzill, and My Mind's Eye! I just want to share a couple of pages with you. (Click on image to enlarge.)

I'm on a creative roll and making a huge mess! Here's the proof...

I hope to have it completed within a couple of days. I'd love for you to come back and see the finished project!

Too big for trick or treating {almost}

This was the Halloween that I've been dreading since my dear Son was born. He announced that he was not going to dress up and go trick-or-treating. I'll admit, for one split second I thought to myself, "Yay, one less costume to deal with." But then, my heart got heavy and I realized we were coming to the end of an era and I wasn't prepared for it. I would ask him daily if he had changed his mind and he stood firm in his decision. Finally, on the 30th, I asked him one more time and informed him that I would not have time to run around on Halloween to pick up a costume for him. Without hesitation, he responded, "Yes, I want to go and I want to be a skeleton!" Would you believe we ran into our local drug store and the perfect costume was there, waiting for him to claim it (on sale, too!)

I decided that I needed to make a mini album of all the costumes the kids have worn over the years. Although this may have been the last year for him to participate (I hope it's not!), I now have an adorable mini album that I'll cherish always.

I used the adorable My Mind's Eye Mischievous line for this project. I think it's one of my all-time favorite Halloween collections. It's going to be a busy, scrappy week for me... I'm trying to get all my fall layouts completed and I'm also attending two crops this weekend!

Thanks for stopping by... enjoy these beautiful fall days while they last!

10 Things

Today I'm starting a new monthly feature on my blog. This concept was introduced to me by Shimelle Laines's blogging class. There will be many other bloggers participating and I'm looking forward to a good blog hop!

It's 10 things on the 10th of the month. The things can be anything... pics, lists, random thoughts, etc. For my first "10 things" post, I'm going to share an ongoing mini album I'm creating. It's simple snapshots I take every July 4th of my children. I keep this 8x8 album on my coffee table. It's so amazing (and bittersweet) to see how the kids change each year. It's one of my favorite albums.

Wow, can you believe how quickly time flies?! 10 wonderful years of memories. Now let's go out and make some more!

Happy Summer!

More HHI mini album

The top shot is a layout I did for a challenge @ For the Luv of Art. The rest are a few more detailed shots of the mini! TFL!