:: hello ::

It's new issue Monday over on the Paper Issues blog!  This issue is sponsored by Scrapbook Circle, so I spent some time with their March Kit!  Details below about how you can participate and win a kit for yourself!

The theme is "Prints Charming's Beautiful Papers", and aren't these papers fabulously beautiful?! I just love the bokeh background patterned paper by Webster's Pages!! I used this free cut file from Paper Issues to make the star confetti.  This photo is of my daughter and I making a sand castle (actually it turned out to be a shamrock sand castle)!

I've been a little addicted to vellum lately -- and so I used a bit down the center to tone down the pattern just a little…and of course, machine stitching nearly always makes it onto the page!

See that bow? It opens up to reveal another photo, and the journaling (typed on vellum). 

Would you like to play along for a chance to win this awesome kit (I only scratched the surface, there are several more layouts I will make with this kit, trust me)!?  Here are the details (and check the link to see what the other DT members made):

Prints Charming's Beautiful Papers: charms, prints of all kinds, subway art, Disney trips, castles, stamping, animal and paw prints, pets, animals, princes and princesses, dress up, use your favorite patterned papers, especially the ones you've been hoarding. Go ahead, cut into them and showcase them so you can enjoy them and document a memory, use Scrapbook Circle kits

Can't wait to see what you make! See you soon!

:: look mom, i'm rich ::

Have you documented Easter, yet?  I'm getting to it.  Today I'm sharing a layout inspired by a quote heard from my daughter on Easter at my parent's house.

I just love those alphas from Amy Tangerine's new line.  I grabbed some patterned papers from her new Rise & Shine collection, too, and came up with this layout!

I love the colors in this collection! I thought they went perfectly with this photo and story! My mom always puts a little money in the Easter Eggs for the kids. After they find all their hidden eggs, they go through the loot on the living room floor.  She told us how rich she is.  In the journaling for this LO, I agreed with her. 

And since she can always find joy, I just had to add this flair from {aflairforbuttons} -- and another in the upper left corner of the layout.  The colors and sentiments match this layout perfectly.  You can grab some from Shelly's shop, here.

I'm linking this up to the Eggs-cellent Add-ventures link party at Paper Issues!  One more day to enter old or new projects and be eligible for a $20 Gift Certificate from our sponsor, 17turtles!

See you soon!

wally the wabbit

Good morning, meet Wally.  Wally the Wabbit. Today he is eight weeks old, and he has been ours for a week.  We love him.

B. and I drove about an hour north to pick him up.  We purchased him from a young high school FFA/4H-er that raises, breeds, and shows rabbits. There were five kits to choose from. I think we made a great choice!  B. petted him all the way home.

And as soon as we got home, they were literally nose to nose. We did have a difficult time choosing a name, though.

I wanted to name him Groucho, Groucho Marx.  I mean, right?  You see it, right????!!! From the beginning, B. was having NONE of that!  I think she was having a difficult time getting past the whole "Grouch" part of Groucho. B. wanted to name him "Stripy" because he (sort of) has a stripe on his back, but I quickly vetoed that one.

B. decided to make a list of acceptable (to her) names:

Wally was one of her early ideas, and it made the list.  Then we had to vote. Well, first we all had to close our eyes (because that's what you do when you vote), then we voted. Two votes for Wally and one vote for Stripy. 

So Wally it is.

Hoppy Happy Friday!

:: park love ::

I'm up on the Paper Issues blog today!!!  Woot woot! I never get tired of saying that!  I'm lucky to be a PI girl! Paper Issues is my online happy place. 

  

There have been a zillion new things coming in to the Paper Issues store, and I buy all the things, so I grabbed the Color Chaos collection from Bella and got to work!  These photos are of my daughter's first park visit of the year! I love the bright & happy colors in this collection and I extra love how they worked with the photos!

To get in a little more fun, I made 5 of the 6 squares on the layout flip up to reveal either journaling, another photo, or just some fun papers and embellishments. I did this by using a cut file that I made in the Silhouette software.  Because I love you, that file is available to you for free here.  Here are a few photos of the flaps closed, and then opened:

 

(don't you love that shaker!!!! vellum + sewing + embellishment + sequins + fun)

 If you are interested in the Color Chaos collection (or just about anything else) I bet Paper Issues has it!  And rumor has it that there are a few more Swag Bags left!  Grab what you need (including the free cut file) and use the code orangegearle at checkout for  20% off your entire purchase!

:: week nine ::

Today the Paper Issues DT are highlighting the I AM collection by Simple Stories.  I am loving this collection and I'm glad I was able to be a part of this product spotlight! I chose to use parts of this collection for my Week 9 project life spread.  It was exactly what I needed to complete this project.

How do you handle documenting difficult stories in your Project Life?  

Week nine was a really difficult week for us, both personally and professionally. 

My One True Love and I work in the same school district, and have worked at various buildings over the years. During this week we lost two long time district employees to murder suicide (they were married).  MOTL and I knew them both fairly well, and it was devastating for everyone involved.  They also left behind this sweet dog; a therapy dog that went to school to be with students every day. Primos is a survivor, so I made him this card.

And here is the left side of this week's two page spread.

This entire side of the layout is dedicated to the story of Sherry, Mitch and Primos. The way I chose to document this story was through hidden journaling. 

The two cards above started out as just plain white card stock (4x6).  I typed my journaling on the inside and then embellished the outside.  That circle stamp is from Ali Edward's Story Stamps.  I used washi from my stash, and the other elements are from the I Am Collection.

 When you pull out the card, you can open it up to see the journaling inside. One of the cards tells the basic story of Mitch and Sherry as we knew them.  The other one is all about Primos and what I did with Primos that day.

In some cases I used I AM patterned paper and just cut it down to size.  Other times I used the cards that come on 12x12 sheet with the collection.  For one of the cards on this side of the layout, I used some of the patterned paper, but cut it so that most of the sentiments worked. Then I took some of the stickers in the collection and put more appropriate sayings right over the less meaningful ones to make this card work.  I like how this collection is really about strength, journeys, beauty and goodness.  These are all great words to help tell Sherry's story, as well as how we have responded to the tragic even in our small community.

I decided to dedicate the whole other side to happy stories, and stories that tell about how thankful I am to have my family, and how life does go on, a new normal arrives at some point.  We still dream, our children grow, and we smile again.  Here is the right side of the two page spread.

This week our nephew turned ten and we had a birthday gathering at My One True Love's parent's house. Our nephew got a dog for his birthday!  What could be better than that?

The above card is one of my favorites because I love the paper clip!!!  :-)  That paper clip actually came from a Swag Bag at Paper Issues!

Here is a look at how the two page spread came together.

The I AM collection was perfection for this week's stories.  If you'd like to pick up this collection, a Swag Bag or just about anything else you need -- check out the Paper Issues store and use the code orangegearle for 20% off your entire purchase!