the moments in between

it was merry

i mean, how can it not be merry with a breakfast like this? pinterest inspired this very fun tradition three years ago - we've used it for new year's, snow days, and this year, for christmas eve. 

 

this has definitely been a year where i've struggled to get into the swing of the holidays. having the boys home last week (ALL of them - matthew was off work) definitely helped. monday was spent knee deep in christmas prep. tuesday was spent celebrating at my mom's house, then doing all of our christmas eve traditions (reading all of our christmas books together, tracking santa before bed, cookies and carrorts for santa and his reindeer). and then it was wednesday - christmas was here.

christmas morning was VERY merry, thanks to uncle dan and aunt jill. the boys had been asking for a wii u - and we'd pretty much told them no. after all, they DID get a trip to florida and a new computer this fall. 

but sometimes, thanks to christmas magic (and an awesome bro and SiL), big surprises can happen. they had asked us before sending it, and we'd been anticipating this freak out ever since. i had the camera ready, and matthew was ready to catch it on video (warning - cover your ears!)

 they liked our presents okay, too. ;) alex got a wacom table, ben got skylanders swap force and sam got disney infinity, along with some books and other odds and ends.

once all the freaking out was done, we spent the rest of the day with family. good company, good food, good memories. very merry. =) i am so thankful for every crazy & sweet moment.

 

Studio Calico | Last Call

Each month, just before the shipping window closes for subscribers, Studio Calico has a "Last Call" sale. Exactly what's for sale each month varies - it's basically a way for SC to clear the warehouse shelves of odds and ends (making way for NEW goodies!). Because of that, the quantities are usually limited and the prices are crazy low - so it's worth trying to scoop something up.

This month's last call is happening right now - and it's one of the most popular SC items. Yep, STAMPS. Go quickly - these will not last long. I hope you can score what you want!

(I've recently decided to give up any fancy storage methods and go with the oh so glamourous solution of dumping them in a drawer. It's actualy working quite well for me - they are close by and easy to grab, and i'm a rummager by nature and love to dig through and see what might work. And when I'm done, I can just toss them back in the drawer!)

copper mountain | project life® spreads

I am an embellishment junkie. I'm happiest when i have a wide variety in front of me, ready to finish off any project. Studio Calico's Copper Mountain Project Life® kit had more than enough bits and bobs to keep a girl like me happy. the card designs and stamps weren't too bad, either. ;)

week 45 : Nov 2nd-8th | Copper Mountain PL kit + Hello Forever printables + Hello cut files

This was the first week that *really* felt like autumn. We had a warm early fall and it seemed like the leaves would never change - but they finally did. I adore our neighborhood in the autumn, and got a little photo happy recording the gorgeous colors. The rich yellows and reds in this kit matched my photos perfectly.

 

I've been trying to be better about adding my memorabilia to my album immediately. I have a bad habit of leaving it NEAR my album, and then not remembering what week it went with. When I opened my album, this tag from a pair of jeans for Alex was already there. As an added bonus, it matches the rest of the kit perfectly.

The rainbow starburst card is my favorite. I took the pink 4x6in diecut card from the kit and cut it in half. I flipped it over, and watercolored a rainbow on the back. I finished it with stitching and embellishments that matched. 

week 21 : May 18-24 | Copper Mountain PL & SB kits + Union Meadows + Storm King + Enchanted Forest + Fremont Glades + High Point + Valentine Card Set + washi & a journal card from my stash

 

Switching gears back to spring.Baseball and fluffy clouds and the last day of school. Basically anything on my desk was fair game when I made this page - I love not limiting myself to just the PL kits. I also used two cards from the Valentine card set on this spread - can you spot them? (Hint - it's the "status update" card above and the aqua heart card below. Both were easily altered to fit other themes!)

 

The bonus to being *mumblemuble* weeks behind is that I have a wide range to choose from. As soon as I saw that awesome "today" card, I knew I wanted to pair it with this photo from the last day of school. I might be obsessed with that design - I'm lobbying to see it turn up again in another form. Anyone else with me? 

Speaking of those *mumblemumble* weeks behind...  I really have to come up with a plan. I've thought about switching to a Handbook for 2014, but I'm worried it would be too small. I'm also pondering doing 2 weeks in one spread. That may be the way I go - it would give me more flexibility to change to a full spread for busy weeks. I DO know that I'd love to use these calendar cards in next year's book - as eclectic as my PL style is, I love the idea of having a consistent element throughout the year.

I need to keep reminding myself that what I decide now doesn't have to carry the whole year! 

copper mountain | the layouts

I was already fairly free with my love + adoration of Copper Mountain in my sneaks post - but to sum it up : woodgrain, puffy rainbow hearts, bright colors, graphic prints. TOP FIVE, BABY. I fell in love with the kit when I first saw it back in August when I was at Studio Calico HQ, but you can't *really* love a kit until you cut into it. Scrapping with Copper Mountain just confirmed it as a favorite. 

 

six | Copper Mountain SB kit

Sigh. He's been six since july, and I still want to say he's five. Why does six sound SO.MUCH.OLDER. than five? Since I can't stop time (dang it anyways), I might as well celebrate the start of another year with the amazing ball of energy we call Sam. =)

This page was done in less than 30 minutes - which is my favorite kind of page. ;) I love when the kits contain a big bold element like this wood veneer die cut. I knew I wanted to use it on the side of the page, and once I'd printed my photos I realized it was a *smidge* too wide for the space. It cut easily - I ran it through my fiskars rotary trimmer with no problem! I love how it looks anchored to the side, so that was a happy accident. I filled in some of the circles with embellishments, stamping and paper, and kept the rest of the page simple and clean.

hello holidays | Copper Mountain SB kit

The holiday farmer's market is an annual tradition for us, but I believe this is the first time I've recorded it outside of a december daily album. It's a mental kick off to the holidays for me, and that feeling was helped this year by a beautiful dusting of snow on the day we visited the market.

The "hello" die cut was a natural addition, and Mister Huey's Gold was the perfect way to add a little glitz to this woodsy kit. The design of the page is a bit of a departure for me, but I love how the photo at the top is balanced by the large titlework.

say cheese | Copper Mountain SB kit + Slingshot 

Oh, that face. Sam was SO PROUD when he came out of school missing a tooth!! His very first one! He had two stickers, a treasure chest to hold his tooth, and the biggest grin ever. For once, he was more than happy to pose for a photo.

I loved the open font on the "insta capture" stamp in the Slingshot addon - it's perfect for adding a bit of color with watercolors. I stamped it repeatedly on the background to create a photo mat, and then layered patterned paper, labels and my photo on top. The screen printed "say cheese" tag matches his cheesey smile and provides the title for my page.

2nd place | Copper Mountain SB kit + Fremont Glades + Slingshot + High Point

I blogged about Alex's science fair win earlier this month, and it was high on the "to be scrapped" list. Events like this tend to feature not the best photos taken in bad lighting, so I converted my main photo to b&w and supplemented it with a shot of his ribbon and another of him working on the project. 

The "go you" badge and the school themed patterns on some of the papers in the High Point add-on inspired me to scrap it with this kit. i cut out my favorite elements and arranged them in a loose grid along with my photos and embellishments. The alphas in Fremont Glades and High Point were a similar font, so I could mix them for my title while still maintaining a "block" of letters.

I love that the kits let me scrap such a wide variety of topics - what's on your "to scrap" list with the Copper Mountain kits? 

(NOTE : kit links will work now if you're a Studio Calico subscriber, and at midnight EST tonight if you aren't)

 

copper mountain reveal

Hello, Copper Mountain. with the wonderful chaos of Christmas, I'm behind on getting my layouts blogged - but wanted to share that the kits are now available for subscribers! The kit links in this post will work now if you sub, and at midnight if you don't. 

You can see my projects here - and I will be back soon with more information on each one. =)

I'm working on this PL spread this morning. Lots of Union Meadows + the Enchanted Forest stamp set. Can we talk about the washi in Union Meadows? Love.

What add-ons did you grab? If I had to pick just two, it would be Slingshot and Union Meadows. Both are bright and graphic - perfect for scrapping three active boys. I am also looking forward to using these calendar cards in my 2014 album, Happy reveal day shopping!

joyful happy magical merry everything

from me and mine to you and yours, wishing you a wonderful and magical holiday season.

(card - minted.com, stamp - made from a sketch of our house by my friend denise levy)

 

copper mountain sneaks

I'm really more of a "sipping hot chocolate in the lodge" than a "zipping down the slopes" kind of girl - but either way, Copper Mountain is a winner. It's got bold colors, cool patterns and woodgrain accents. and puffy hearts and asterisks! Yep, Copper Mountain has joined the ranks of Bibliography (2009), Paper Moon (2011) and Roller Rink (2012) at the top of my favorites list. i am so excited to show you more, but for the time being, these sneaks will have to do. Come back on the 27th for the full reveal!

Let's start with the Copper Mountain scrapbook kit. AND THAT VENEER PIECE. Happy, happy sigh.  The "vintage" SC woodgrain alpha reimaged as vellum stickers isn't too bad either.

This one uses the scrapbook kit as well - with an accent from the printables and some gold mist mixed in.

I had fun crazy stamping to make a photo mat - this one is mostly the Slingshot add-on, with a bit from the scrapbook main.

And the Copper Mountain Project Life kit... this thing is PACKED. Like, I didn't even manage to break in to all of the embellishments packed.

 I did mix in a few of the printables and a Silhouette cut to finish things off.

I used a few of my favorite essentials on these pages. I can't get enough of the SC grid paper - both for pages and PL (I cut it into journal cards). And the gold mist is just gorgeous with the tones in this kit! 

InLinkz.com

happy christmas eve-eve! i am slowly getting to the bottom of my to do list - can't believe it's almost here!

let's do this (again)

Back in 2011, I jumped into Project Life, and it's been a part of what I do ever since. The reasons that I started - to record our everyday in a way that my family can relate to and participate in - are the same reasons that keep me going. There have been times I've considered stopping (usually when I *really* don't want to print photos), but I just can't. All it takes is watching one of the boys flip through an album, and I sit down and print those dang photos. ;) Here are a few favorite weeks :

 

So I'm in for another year. There will be weeks with too many photos, weeks with not enough photos, and weeks that never get recorded. I'll get behind. But I'll love doing it (aside from the printing), and I'll love watching them look through the books.

I'll be kicking off a new PL year as one of the contributors to Studio Calico's Day by Day class. As a part of the class, I'll be sharing a week in my album from start to finish - basically letting you peek over my shoulder as I work on a spread. We did this in last year's class as well, and I picked up a lot of really awesome tips from my fellow contributors. I'll also be sharing a tutorial with design ideas for making your weeks feel more cohesive.

When you register for the class, you'll get an awesome set of stamps (while supplies last - but right now they last ;)), cut files, and printables. You can find out more about the class (there's a video from me showing off the stamps!) and register here. 

Are you in for PL 2014? Is it your first year, or are you a vetran? 

color dipped wreath

No matter how busy the holidays get, I make sure to set aside time to personalize a wreath for our front door. It's a project that can be completed quickly, but that makes me smile every time I come home. In the past, I've mainly stuck to adding garlands - I've done buttons, punched book paper stars and felt circles.

I bought  a wreath at Trader Joe's yesterday, but was uncertain exactly what I'd do to it. Inspiration struck this morning - I wanted to create a color dipped look. 

I opted to paint the wreath with aqua spray paint, and just used newspaper to mask off half of the wreath. The spray paint worked well on the wreath, but it took about 5 coats to get good coverage on the pinecones.

 

To finish the wreath off, I strung buttons and wood veneer stars from Studio Calico's Printshop collection on floral wire. Sequins would also make fun accents - they'd add a bit of shimmer! 

Christmas may be less than a week away (eek!), but there's still time to add a little cheer to your door. IIn fact, I think I'll just call this a winter wreath and leave it up well in to January. ;)

25 moments

i feel, a bit, like i'm standing still on a busy sidewalk while everyone rushes past me.

our tree isn't up.

presents aren't wrapped. or, in many cases, bought.

my cards are here - but need to be addressed.

my december daily™­ album? well, what you see above is as far as i've made it. ;)

we've been to the holiday farmer's market.

we've watched the grinch, the muppet's christmas carol and olive the other reindeer.

a tiny silver tree appeared in the littlest's room, and we've been decorating it with scrap supplies.

we went to a cookie decorating party.

we bought new sleds.

and we made a list - and a countdown. we're making merry. just slowly. =) recording it will be the same way. my december daily™ album this year will be 25 moments. and will likely not see much progress until january.

here's to experiencing the holidays at your own pace.