the moments in between

top 10 layouts of 2010

this was way, way, WAY harder than i thought it would be.  i guess that's a good thing, right?  i'd rather have too many pages that i love than not enough. 

(1-2-3) this is probably my #1 favorite LO of the entire year. it was picked up by CK and is in the january issue - they've done a little how to write up here. this one was done w/ the baker's dozen kit.

(he waits) this one is new, i know. aaaaaaaaaaahhhh, metropolitan.

(perfectly imperfect) lots of elementary and mister huey, along with bits of mme alphabet soup and bg wander. i've used this combo over and over and love it. it just fits my life.

 

(2-ish) HA. this one still makes me laugh.  love those sass monsters. love the starburst stamp. love anthology. and that pic???  awesomeness. i debated long and hard whether this or 3 should make this list, but in the end, this one won.

 

(treasure) i did this one for the ella 8 is enough book. there's that starburst again. and sweet tooth-less ben.  who is still toothless, in a slightly different configuration. ;) i've used multiple sheets of that OA map paper now - love it.

(golden) another recent one, from my napa valley gallery. it brings back those warm autumn days - i love the golden light in the photos. love the jett alpha - it's a good one to have in your stash.

(last game) this one was done for the JBS blog - i love that photo of my boys together.  i also love jenni's playdate line and the chalkboard alphas.

 

(good clean fun) more elementary. more mister huey. more bits of mme alphabet soup and bg wander.

(ice cream for dinner) aaaaah, summertime. some documentary love. 

(adventure) i know, i just posted this monday.  i can't help loving it. every time i look at it i can feel the magic of that day, and that makes me happy. that sc trees paper from who's who makes me pretty darn happy, too.

i apologize for the amount of times the word "love" showed up in this post. ;) i love paper.  i love photos.  and i love putting them together. 2010 was a good year for memories, and a good year from scrapping. i also seem to love vanilla backgrounds. ;)

bring on 2011!

 

 

kid crafts + cards

early last week, i posted a list of projects i wanted to do with the boys to keep busy while we waited for christmas.  and while we didn't get all of them done, we did take on a few. most of these are winter-y enough that you could sneak them in this week if you've got kids who need something to do.

the most popular?  the melting snowman cookies. now, ours don't look as good as theirs, and to be honest, i didn't even follow their directions (those, ahem, *might*  be related). we used break and bake cookies rather than make our own. and we simply cut the marshmallows in half instead of melting them down. and we skipped the scarves because there really wasn't enough room between their faces and their mini m & m buttons. they were still the hit of the dessert table at christmas.

we also made tags for our christmas presents. it may be too late for christmas tags, but you could use this idea for thank you notes. i gave alex and ben my button drawer and made one snowman tag as an example, and they took it from there.  i love what they came up with.

and last but not least, snowman ornaments.  i saw the original version on under the sycamore (ps : don't click that unless you have a couple hours to kill. it's a seriously inspiring site!), but tweaked them a little bit.  i wanted to be able to make them for my mom and grandma, and *didn't* want to make 9 (3 ornaments x 3 kids) of them. each boy contributed a finger print, and then we painted in the snow on the bottom. they picked the color and shape of their hat and decided what else they wanted to do to dress their snowman up.

i also wanted to share an article i wrote for the fiskars website - first quarter cards. i love the idea of sitting down and creating a group of cards that will carry you through the next few months, & this would be another project that would be fun to share with your kids.

i started this project by putting together a kit of items (i've gotten a little kit addicted, wonder why??). this made the process a lot less overwhelming than if i was pulling out a new set of supplies for every card. there's some studio calico pp (atmosphere & window seat), some dear lizzy glittered pp & fabric paper, and american crafts mixtape. i tried to pull items that had a mix of textures and colors. i used the tools here on every card, but added others as i needed them. 

this one's my favorite. =) love that mixtape - it punches so easily. this will be my last article for fiskars - after 3.5 years of punching, i've stepped down from the design team. i'm going to miss everyone there, but it was time for me to take a different direction. i'm looking forward to some new opportunities in 2011. ;)

oh! a quick heads up.  i posted about the current 2peas discount earlier this week, but they're also doing a year end clearance.  some rubs from your very favorite manufacturer are 50% off.  love those buttons.

also? i'm swooning over this post at jbs.  love the idea of using malted milk ink to change a background. totally grabbing a blending tool of my very own so i can try this!

on the homefront, we survived a sleepover night. i'm getting antsy about getting the christmas decorations down, but it looks like it will have to wait for the weekend. my lazy days have caught up to me - i've got to get some scrapping done!

happy thursday!

wordless wednesday : worst.present.ever.

(well, since last year when we pulled the same gag)

 

who's who!

who's who is live! =)  i worked w/ betty crocker, buster brown and dear abby this month. totally loving the softer colors - they remind me of a quiet winter's day, snuggled up inside. that being said, i didn't scrap ANY winter layouts with this kit - lol.  love how versatile these kits are. =)

(who's who + betty crocker + teeny bits from buster brown & dear abby + mister huey's lunch tray + tiny attacher + foam adhesive)

this was my favorite page this month - i've been holding onto this photo, waiting for the perfect home for it. as soon as i saw this SC paper (which was crazy popular - i can't believe how quickly the more sc pp sold out!  you can still get extra sheets in the more pp add-on, though) i knew it was destined to be the background for this photo. since i was working with a fairly subdued color palette, i wanted to bring a lot of texture to the page.  

to create the border in the middle of the page, i started by using my adhesive and running a line across where i was going to add the trim.  i started with the punky sprouts canvas spiral from the main - i used the largest one for this - and just pulled it as straight as i could get it to go. immediately below that i added another line of adhesive & the my mind's eye crepe paper trim. to finish, i misted the lovely creme trim with mister huey's lunch tray, and then attached it over the pink edge on the crepe paper trim.

when i attached the rosebud trim, i made sure the extra mesh was tucked under along the top but left it out on the bottom, and then stitched just below the flowers. i added some flowers and butterflies tucked here and there to finish the page.

(who's who + bits from buster brown, dear abby and betty crocker + pumice stone ink +  tiny attacher + ek success dotted circle punch + martha 1in scalloped circle punch + ek photo label punch + parisian anthology chip pieces)

this page was inspired by the book stamp in the main...  and then i didn't even use it.  isn't it funny how that works?? this oa map paper totally reminds me of the maps on the inside of the cover of the winnie the pooh books - and the graphic on sam's library card has a similar feel.  they were meant to go together. =) i used the journaling stamp from betty crocker as a background on this page - love the size.

as i mentioned in my sneaks, the labels threaded on the string was inspired by an image from an anthropologie email - i love when something so simple sparks a page design. i also used a brad to anchor my photo to the same piece of string.

there are lots of little bits scattered around the page, but i want to talk about this little circle. i was reading marcy penner's blog one day and she had posted a photo that had a bunch of little doilies in it.  i immediately asked her if it was a punch - i loved them so much.  she said that it was TWO punches - a combination of an ek success dotted circle punch and a martha stewart 1in scalloped circle punch (found this one at michael's).  i immediately went out and bought both - i love the look.

(buster brown + vintage doily punch + mister huey's lunch tray + mister huey's calico white + tiny attacher)

this one makes me giggle. i love that yellow oa paper, such a perfect shade.  this one's pretty straight forward - misty background, bits and pieces around the outside. i stitched over the rose trim to de-frilly it and make it fit the page.

(who's who + bits from buster brown, dear abby and betty crocker + malted milk & stick candy ink + mister huey's lunchtray + tiny attacher + star punch)

when i saw the books stamp, i knew i wanted to use it stacked into rows like a bookshelf. it was perfect for this page - i stamped in a lighter color so that i could journal over the top. i tucked the journaling strip into the ki pocket - which reminds me of library pockets from waaaaaaaaaay back in the olden days before everything was computerized. ;)

i originally stamped the circle stamp in malted milk and it was too light - so i stamped it over and over again, turning the stamp each time, to create a blurred circle, and then re stamped the sentiment in green.

i made the canvas borders using the punky sprouts spirals.  i ran adhesive along the edge of my paper, and then attached one end of the canvas.

i then worked my way along the paper, looping the canvas and then sticking it into the adhesive. i finished it off by stitching it flat.

(who's who + betty crocker + buster brown)

and last but not least, a simple card.  i made this for becky - i thought the colors and vintage feel were 100% her. 

if you have any other ?s about how i made these, please feel free to ask!

oh, and before i go, i wanted to share this sale at 2peas. happy shopping!! i've got my eye on the cherish punch set (it sold out at sc before i could grab one!) & some of the new hero arts stamps (love this banner set!)

happy tuesday! we've got a busy day of picking up the christmas mess ahead of us, and then tonight, we're losing ben to a sleepover and gaining a friend of alex's for the night.  i don't anticipate much sleep on either end. ;)

 

merry merry + who's who

first off - the winner of my giveaway is Andrea S! Please email at lisa(dot)truesdell(at)gmail(dot)com. =)

i loved hearing all of the favorite holiday moments. i think mine is watching the boys play with new toys while surrounded with mounds of wrapping paper. it's such a lovely calm time after all of the craziness leading up to that moment!

christmas has come and gone, in a flurry of wrapping paper, legos, laughter, hugs from excited little boys and time spent with family. after two days of non stop action, we did nothing yesterday.  it was all about pjs, new toys and leftovers. and it was wonderful.today is about easing back into reality - it's time to start finding homes for these new toys. it's time to get photos off the camera and jot down some notes about the last few days. it's time to line up some activities to keep these kiddos entertained this week.

 

 it's also time for who's who! the shop update and subscriber presale is at noon EST, and the kits will be available for all to purchase at midnight EST.  i've got a few more sneaks to share. =)

this page takes some inspiration from the anthro email i posted here. and i have to admit that i'm surprised by how in love i am with this map paper from OA's camping line.  it's so sweet.

(who's who + bits from buster brown, dear abby and betty crocker + pumice stone ink +  tiny attacher + ek success dotted circle punch + martha 1in scalloped circle punch + parisian anthology chip pieces)

when i post my pages, i'll share how i made this border with one of the items in the main kit. =)

(who's who + bits from buster brown, dear abby and betty crocker + malted milk & stick candy ink + mister huey's lunchtray + tiny attacher)

and another peek at my favorite page this month.  that gorgeous aqua paper is the bottom strip from one of the SC exclusives - i wish it was a full sheet!

(who's who + betty crocker + teeny bits from buster brown & dear abby + mister huey's lunch tray + tiny attacher + foam adhesive)

just a little reminder of what all will be coming to the SC store : 

Add-ons:

• Betty Crocker $31.25
• Buster Brown $31.00
• Mary Jane $26.25
• Dear Abby $26.00

Shop Items:

parisian anthology elements ($6.00)

maya road ornate tags chipboard ($4.00)

ckc class kits ($15.00)

punches - cherry blossom trim punch ($17.99), blossom eyelet edge punch  ($17.99), cherish punch set ($24.99, bangle chain trim punch ($17.99)

stamps - artist phrase stamp set ($5.50), jett alpha  ($7.50), grid stamp ($9.00), drug store label ($4.50), pennant banner border ($5.50)

i picked up the parisian anthology chipboard this month - and i've got my eye on the cherish border punch set.  the stamps are all from november's kits - you can see how i used them here. if i had to pick one to recommend, it would be the jett alphabet set - it's a great font, and the perfect size for longer titles or subtitles. and in addition to the new punches, the fiskars clouds are back in stock - grab them while you can!!  i love mine. =) i also hear that all of the mister huey colors have been restocked - so if you missed some of those last time, grab them!

here's a page that i made w/ the ckc class kit - the class is designed to teach 2 pages with misting / stamping techniques, and there are a.LOT. of leftovers.  AND an exclusive stamp set - a star outline + square scalloped border.

and some giveaway action : 

stop by here to find out how you can share your wishlist for a chance to win!

and here's a chance to win american crafts' new classics line!

AND you could win a spot in ali's yesterday and today class.

hope to see you in the sc chat room today! =) i'm off to get a few things done before the fun starts. 

 

 

who's who sneaks + a giveaway

***the giveaway is now closed - THANK YOU to all who participated!!! =)***

it's almost time for who's who! i've got to get back to holiday prep so i'm not going to say a whole lot about these - but i will have all the ins and outs and how tos when i post them after the reveal!! i MAY pop in w/ another sneak before reveal - it depends how much i get done tonight. there's a bit more talk about which add-ons i got here. =)

oh, and a quick reminder - since the SC crew will be out of office for the holidays, you can start shopping NOW! you'll be charged shipping with your order, but you WON'T be charged shipping again for subsequent orders or when your kit ships. =) the shop won't be updated until 12.27 at noon EST, but this is a great time to grab some mist, ink or stamps. 

(who's who + betty crocker + teeny bits from buster brown & dear abby + mister huey's lunch tray + tiny attacher + foam adhesive)

(who's who + bits from buster brown, dear abby and betty crocker + malted milk & stick candy ink + mister huey's lunchtray + tiny attacher)

(buster brown + vintage doily punch + mister huey's lunch tray + mister huey's calico white + tiny attacher)

and - a giveaway!!!  leave a comment telling me your favorite part of the holidays and i'll draw a winner on the 27th. i've gathered up some odds and ends from my giveaway box - there are 2 SC stamps (the notes stamp from holiday lights & an oldie but goodie), a martha modern garland punch, a package of mm noel envelopes and some mm epoxies from a couple of christmas lines ago. if you didn't do a december daily, these goodies could work together to make a great post christmas mini of your holiday events. =)

happy holidays! =) 

wordless wednesday : happy holidays

from me and mine to you and yours - may the coming days be filled with love, warmth and magic.

(just a note : i'll be back tomorrow with my studio calico sneaks and a little giveaway - but other than that, i'm off to enjoy the holidays w/ my family. see you next week!)

on surprises

a week ago, sam came out of preschool clutching an envelope. "for mom and dad," it said.

"when we get home," he said, "i hafta put this under the tree. it's a SURPRISE!"

we got his coat and headed to the parking lot.  i strapped him into his seat, got in the car, and began to pull out of the lot.

"there's a surprise in here, mama. it has brown arms and is gingerbread-y."

"mm-hmm," i said.

"guess that it's a gingerbread man, mama!!!!"

i sighed. and said, "is it a gingerbread man, sammy?"

"it IS a gingerbread man! and it has yellow buttons and a smile and it has MAGNETS ON THE BACK!"

by now, we're pulling into our driveway.  and he has it out of the envelope and is waving it around.

i unbuckle him from his carseat.  he hops out and dashes for the door.

"i'm gonna go put this on the fridge, ok?"

and that, my friends, is why sam doesn't know what's in ANY of the packages under the tree.

december daily(ish)

i spent some time working on my album this weekend...  and it's becoming apparent that i'm going to need bigger binder rings. =) there's still a whole lot of december left to record - and, um, to be honest, i've only made it up to the 11th. 

i've been totally winging it as to whether a day gets one or two pages & what size they'll be - this spread was entirely determined by what came before and after. the 3x6 page was already in place, and was a great size to hold my journaling - and i knew i'd be using a 4x6 photo for the next day, so i built the right side page to back that.

day 8 : little dots - metropolitan + fiskars circle punch, pp - sc & sass exclusives from metropolitan + bg jovial snowmen / snowflakes + oa map, stamps - sc time flies, ink - jbs seedpacket, punch - ek success dotted circle, number sticker - bg wander, tape - ac city park mixtape, staples - tiny attacher, photo - instax mini

and to be honest, there is where winging it caught up to me.  i wanted to use the photo of sam as a 4x6, and i wanted to us the photo of the candy canes on the tree as well.  but i'd already planned to use the winter program as my page for the 10th, with photos inside. i decided to bring in a hambly overlay and to add my journaling directly to the photo. problem solved.

day 9 : overlay - hambly, label - mm noel envelopes, letter stickers - cosmo & mm from metropolitan, staples - tiny attacher, pen - uniball signo, photos - 4x6 photo + 2x3in photo

and here's even more choices made on previous choices - the wee bit of woodgrain you can see through the graph overlay is ANOTHER overlay - one that i had used and decided didn't fit. i couldn't get the mm label off it, so i cut it out and stick the whole thing here.  i liked how it looked peeking through, so i left it. i've printed photos and placed that page inside the program, and labeled where they performed.i'm just showing the outside, though, since there are other kids in all of the photos.

day 10 : pp : little dots - metropolitan + fiskars circle punch, sass exclusive from metropolitan + mm, tape - dear lizzy christmas mixtape, stickers - mm from metropolitan, ticket - pink paislee, punches - ms pinking + ms vintage doily

and since rolling with it is apparently my theme of the day - these photos were going to be used to talk about putting up the tree. i was going to put a photo of the tree on the front of the envelope and write some journaling about decorating the tree and our ornaments and tuck it inside. a different story wanted to be told - one of brothers planning what to get each other and keeping secrets and teasing each other. that will go into the envelope, once christmas is passed and the secrets are out. ;)  the following pages are simple - i wanted the photos to be the focus.  oh - for the "3" on the envelope, i actually used the number that i cut to do the stencil technique on my 3 layout. i found it on my desk while i was working and thought it would be perfect.

 

3 & love : envelope - mm, little dots - metropolitan + fiskars circle punch, pp - crate, sass exclusive from metropolitan, mist - mister huey's schoolhouse + mister huey's lunchtray + maya road iridescent pearl, pen - uniball signo, chipboard - maya road, tape - ac city park mixtape, photos - 4x6 photo, 2 instax mini

this was the only spread that ended up where i thought it would. ;) i used the same main elements on each of these pages so they'd feel like they went together - even though they aren't the same size. i stitched around the date on the ticket rather than date the page anywhere else.

day 11 : little dots - metropolitan + fiskars circle punch, pp - mm + bg + oa + mme, letter stickers - JBS, tape - ac city park mixtape, stamp - notes from holiday lights, ink - jbs seed packet, chipboard - ki, punch - ek real estate sign, photos - 2x2in iphone / instagram

and now it's all going back into a pile for a few days - i need to finish up with the january sc kit! i'll have sneaks later this week. =) 

 

teacher's gifts : 2010

as i mentioned yesterday, i was forced to mix up my teachers' gifts this year.  in the past couple years, i've made quilted list takers for the boys teachers (2008 - 2009). i love making them - the go together quickly and are the sort of thing that will actually get USED.  and no, i still haven't made one for myself - maybe this will be the year? this year, both of the bigs have teacher's we've had before, so it was time for something new.

while i was thinking about replacement projects, i remembered a little loyalty / gift card / credit card wallet that kelly had been making a year or so ago.  i emailed her for the link - & as fate would have it, she'd been looking at the pattern that morning and had it handy.

aren't they cute??  they went together super quickly - i'd say it was under 2 hours, and that was with my favorite little distraction running around. ;) i tucked a gift card into each one.

i used paper bags + tape for the wrap job. quickly growing addicted to doing this. ;)  the red is martha (i can't find my exact one online, it came from michael's. this set is similar), the banner is dear lizzy (from her christmas line). i added a shipping tag stamped with a cat's life press sentiment in jbs seed packet and punched a vintage doily from the metropolitan sc exclusive paper.

here's what's in the stack. the top package holds the quilted wallets. then there's a card. and on the bottom there's a gingerbread cookie - made and decorated just for the teacher.  i put those into a ziploc bag, and then cut both ends off of a paper bag. i used a martha all over the page pinking circle punch to put a window in the bag, and then slipped the cookie inside.  i stitched up both ends of the bag w/ a zig zag stitch.

i kinda wanted to keep these cute little packages, but i was good.  they went off to school this morning. =) it sounds like alex & ben both have a fun day ahead of them - the last day before break is always the best.

my friend denise has a couple of free gift tag downloads on her blog today - both in .pdf for the handcutters & .svg for the cricut/SCAL gang. aren't they cute? i still need a tag idea - all of my wrapped presents currently have sticky ntoes on them. these might be the winner. =)

sam and i are living up the last day before the bigs are home - we got cinnamelts when we made the mcd's diet coke run and are currently watching a very monkey christmas for the gazillionith time. i'm hoping to do some december daily pages at naptime - i'll post those sometime this weekend. =) 

happy friday!