And the Winner is...

Andrea Amu! Congrats, Andrea! Thank you to everyone that stopped by to enter!

Flowers from Daddy

Today I want to share a sweet layout I created using a photo of my daughter with her Valentine's Day flowers from Daddy.

I love this Webster's Pages paper (Composition/Color-Weathered) from the Cocoa Daisy add-on Renderings and decided to use it as my background paper. I saved a few petals and flowers from my daughter's bouquet and filled the glassine envelope with them. I used a Fiskars border punch to add a fun detail to the envelope. I found the adorable canvas stickers at Target (American Crafts-Everyday) and I've been hoarding them for the perfect layout and this was it! Just a few strips of washi tape and a little more embellishment and my layout was complete.

I know this layout will be treasured by my daughter for years to come and that's what scrapbooking is all about!

Free To Fly

I recently participated in Wilna's Art Workshop at Two Peas in a Bucket. One of her challenges was to use paint on a layout, I chose watercolor because I love the soft look it creates. I thought it would be fun to do a layout about my recent PanPastel workshop at Donna Downey's studio. I found 12x12 watercolor paper at Scrappin' In the City in Knoxville and have decided I need this stuff in bulk - LOVE it!

I painted a simple frame as a backdrop for the photos, added a few leaves, branches, and used the gorgeous feather stamps from Cocoa Daisy. This layout is special to me because it represents this fabulous stage of my life, where I'm free to try, learn, and embrace new things. My challenge for you today is to try something new, push yourself out of your comfort zone, and see where it will lead you!

Journaling Card Mini Album

Today I'll be sharing one last project I created as Guest Designer for Citrus Twist. Last year at King's Island, I took several Instagram photos with my phone. I thought it would be fun to make a mini-album using the pics along with Pebbles Journaling Cards.

This was such a fast and easy way to create a mini-album that we'll cherish always. It's also a great way to use up your journaling card stash! Have a great weekend!

Sweet Dreams

Today I'm sharing another layout I created as Feb. Guest Designer for Citrus Twist. The inspiration for this layout was a sketch designed by Kasia at Citrus Twist. Love this sketch – I rotated it to the right to work with my selected photos. I adore the wooden elements and thought they would look fabulous as “dream clouds”. I sprayed them with Mister Huey’s so they would pop off the page and backed them with patterned paper. I love the fun, whimsical feel it creates. For the chevron stamp, I used various colors of Zing Embossing Powder – it’s a great way to highlight the photos and add dimension to the page.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Combining Challenges

Yesterday I was instantly inspired by Kim's Cocoa Daisy challenge. Kim has gorgeous style and uses lots of white on her layouts. They're always fresh and bright and I couldn't wait to give it a try. I love this snapshot of my son's first goal for his middle school team. I decided to play off of the red and white of the uniforms. Cocoa Daisy's Feb. kit has a brand-new, hot-off-the-press Crafters Workshop pie chart stencil designed by Ronda Palazzari. I started with the stencil and Mister Huey's color mist. I wanted the design to pop, so I used a Zig Emboss Writer and used various colors of Zing embossing powders to add some color and dimension. I then cut pieces of the pie from vellum and machine stitched it to the pie chart. A few Kaisercraft red pearls and some wood veneer and my pie chart was complete.

I then decided to use Stephanie's Feb. sketch challenge and create a two-page layout. I'm really happy with this fun, fresh layout and it all began with a challenge. If you're stuck creatively, a challenge is a great place to start! Thanks for stopping by!

You Shine!

Today's post is all about thinking outside the box. For this layout, I was instantly drawn to the soft gray and white color palette which works perfectly with my daughter’s school photo. The gold dot vellum paper (Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic) that came in the Citrus Twist kit is so pretty, but did not work with the photo. My daughter's dress is silver and has a gray background. Initially I thought a silver and gold layout might work, but decided against it. As I was playing around with the paper, I flipped it over and voilà - it was perfect! The backside of the gold dots is a matte silvery/gray tone that is perfect with the photo.

I slid a piece of silver cardstock behind the vellum and stitched around the edge to frame the photo.

I embossed the Thickers with Ranger Holographic Embossing Powder to give a shimmery finish. Just a few sequins scattered about from my stash and the layout was complete.