Guest Designing for Basic Grey

Basic Grey has long been one of my favorite scrapbooking manufactures, so I was completely thrilled when they asked me if I would be a guest designer for them this month!

They sent me big box just packed with all the many different papers and embellishments from one of their latest lines "Grand Bazaar."

(These little beauties were my favorite embellishment.)

I had a wonderful time working with their "Grand Bazaar" line. It was a great fit for some of my favorite photos of Claire.  Here is one of the layouts I completed with it and my favorite newborn photo of her. 

You can see my guest designer feature and all of the projects I created for Basic Grey by hopping over to the Basic Grey Blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Boy

My last several posts featured layout using Doodlebug's Sugar Shoppe line and today I have a couple of layouts to share using Doodlebug's boy birthday line "Hip, Hip, Hooray." I adore this line! It is perfect for little boy birthday photos, and the cute little monster washi tape and stickers are so adorable!

I was so excited that I got my hands on this line just as a mini miracle occurred and I found photos of Blake's first birthday that I thought had been lost. Blake will be 10 this year, and we thought we had lost them just after his first birthday so it's been many years since I'd even seen these photos. They turned up on a CD that was labeled as something else that I thought was unimportant--at least until I checked it out to see if I should trash it or not. Thank goodness I checked!

Anyhow, here are two layouts about his first birthday: (Side note--I can't believe how much he looks like Claire!)

This first layout is simply called Birthday Boy and is about his birthday cake smash.

The journaling reads: For many years Blake, we thought these photos of your first birthday had been lost. Amazingly though, they turned up on a mislabeled CD recently and I was so excited to see them! I loved watching the video of you poking at and daintily picking at your first birthday cake until you realized how good it tasted. Once you knew you dug in with excitement and made a real mess. I’m s glad to have these memories back! September 2005"

And this one titled "Birthday Gifts" about the presents he received that year. For some reason my photo shows this layout kind of crooked, but I promise it's straight in real life!

The journaling on this layout reads: "You received lots of fun presents for your first birthday Blake, but I think one of your favorites was the mop and broom set we picked out for you. You always liked to play with the real versions--imitating me as I cleaned--and you were very excited to have your very own miniature set! --Sept. 2005"

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Cake Smash

My last layout using the Doodlebug Sugar shoppe line was this layout about Claire actually smashing her cake. For accents I made some paper flowers from various papers in the line by punching "petals" with my triangle banner punch (Stampin' Up) and used some old glittered buttons from my stash for centers.

The journaling reads: "It was so fun to watch you Claire, dig into your first birthday cake. You daintily poked at it at first, but before long you were grabbing fistfuls of cake in order to feel the frosting squish between your fingers. You were more interested in playing with it than in eating it, but you did take several bites before the cake tipped over. I think your favorite part was all the attention you received as we all cheered you on! July 2013"

Birthday Balloons

Another layout I did using the super cute Sugar Shoppe collection from Doodlebug. I adore the papers and elements in this collection! Because of the theme of this layout I also cut out a few balloons on my Cameo using SVGs from Miss Kate Cuttables. At first I struggled with how to add the three photos with two horizontal and one being vertical to the design I had in mind. Using the paper strips to make each grouping a square solved that problem!

The journaling reads: "The morning after your birthday Claire you had just about as much fun playing with this big bunch of balloons as you did playing with your new toys! You laughed and smiled as you touched them and climbed over them! It was super cute! 7/13"

Party Time!

I have been waiting for a really cute line to come along to scrapbook Claire's first birthday photos. I knew the Sugar Shoppe line from Doodlebug was the perfect line the moment I saw it! It was a great match not only for the colors in my photo but for all the fun girly birthday embellishment in the line.

This is the first layout I did with the line.

I really enjoyed adding the enamel dots and sequins as well as cutting out my own hand drawn title on my cameo as accents. I used a simple and inexpensive VisTablet PenPad along with the free program inkscape to draw and clean up my handwritting (and save it as a svg), then I imported my svg into silhouette studio and cut it out from some of the pink patterned paper in this line.

The journaling on this layout reads: "Planning your first birthday party was so much fun for me Claire! Thanks to Pinterest I had some very cute ideas on how to do your first birthday cake smash. I had a great time making your giant cupcake, decorating the backdrop, and in picking the perfect outfit for you to wear. It was worth all the effort as you seemed to have a wonderful time with it all and I was able to capture some of my all time favorite photos of you Claire! 7/13"

Thanks for visiting!

My Creative Scrapbook Kits Guest Designer

As I posted earlier this week, I had the wonderful opportunity to guest design for My Creative Scrapbook Kits this month. They have several different types of kits available each month to kit different scrapbooking styles. I was lucky enough to work with their creative kit, which was a perfect match for my style of scrapbooking. I loved looking over their past months kits and seeing that the style of their creative kits is always consistently bright and cute, and also full of great embellishments. It's a rare thing to find a kit that always fits my style, but I'm happy to report that these do!

I'm so glad they asked me to guest design! These are the other three layouts I made with their kit this month:

Sweet Little Wildflower

The journaling reads"  “I was so excited to take you for your first bluebonnet photo shoot Claire! I?ve wanted to do that with a little girl for a long time and I finally had my chance with you! You seemed a little confused at first about what was going on when we plopped you down in the flowers, but you quickly became excited to reach out and grab a hold of them. It was really fun to carry on this Texas tradition with you! March 29th 2013” 

Pulling Up

“You have been on the go for a little while now Claire, but you have recently achieved a new feat. You started to pull up to a stand using anything and everything that is within your reach. This can include furniture, walls, or people's legs! No matter what it is you are determined to be up! March 28th 2013”

Best Day Ever

Journaling reads: “One of my favorite days with you Claire was the day we all went to Lagoon as part of our family reunion! It was your second trip to an amusement part, but your first time being old enough to go on any of the rides. You were positively thrilled to go on the small rides in the kiddie area, and you really enjoyed the carousal. Playing in the water and going down some small slides in the water park was also something you really enjoyed! I?m very happy to see that you seem to have inherited our love of rides and thrills Claire! –July 2013”

Here us a look at the Creative kit:

Be sure and check out their other three types of kits here, as well as the entire design team gallery chalk full of fabulous inspiration here.

Have a great day everyone!

Something Exciting To Share!

This past month I've been hard at work as a guest designer for My Creative Scrapbook! I was excited when they asked as I have a dear scrapbooking friend Alicia Giess, who I know is on their team and does exquisite work with their beautiful kits!

I got to play with their "Creative Kit" this month and I just loved it! I've done design work for kit companies before and I always enjoy it, but I don't always love every single thing in the kits. This time was totally different though! I love the entire kit and as I looked over their past kits I could see that their creative kit is always orientated towards playful, bright, fun, patterned paper and embellishments. Just my style! 

They posted a sneak peek of their kits yesterday and one of my layout was included, so I thought I'd share it with you today as well as a few other peeks at some of the other layouts I did.

Here are the peeks at my other three layouts.

The full reveal of the kits in on April 5th, so I'll have even more to share with you then! Happy Wednesday!

Little Miss Messy Face

I'm working hard to try and catch up with some of the early months of Claire's first year. Now that she is approaching two I think if I don't get moving fast I'll quickly forget just what she was like as a baby!

This layout is about her first taste of solid foods. It uses the very bright and fun "Beautiful Life" collection from Echo Park. There is also lots of fun enamel dots from Queen and Company. The title was cut out on my Silhouette Cameo.

The journaling reads: At six months old Claire, you were finally old enough to try your first baby food. As a family we all watched as you tasted your first bite of peaches. You were highly surprised by this new taste and your brothers found your reaction hilarious. With just a few more spoonfuls you quickly got over your surprise and ended up enjoying this new treat! Jan 4th 2013

She's On The Go!

Hi everyone! I have another layout to share today featuring the American Crafts My Girl collection. This one is all about Claire as she started to crawl. She started out slow, but it took no time at all for her to really take off.

The title was done on my Cricut Mini as were the paper hearts. The twine, Washi tape, and pearls are all by Queen and Company. The journaling reads: "Claire, you started crawling almost 2 months ago with a funny combination of an army crawl and an inch worm push forward. It was adorable, but it didn’t last long. Before we knew it you were zooming around on all fours and going practically anywhere you wanted! Now you are an expert and I think you are very leased with your ability to be mobile without any help from us! 4/30/2013"

Have a great Tuesday!

The Very First Kiss

For those of you who may not know, my youngest son Spencer is autistic and non verbal, yet he is also very loving, kind, and sweet. His autism is not classical in the sense that he is quite affectionate and craves physical touch and attention. Knowing that will help you make a little bit more sense out of the journaling on this page about the relationship he has developed with his little sister.

The papers, stickers, 3D embellishments and letters are all by American Crafts as pasrt of their "My Girl" collection. The buttons and washi tape are by Queen and Company. 

The journaling reads: "When you were first born Claire, Spencer didn’t really know what to think about you. When he came to meet you at the hospital he didn’t really understand what was going on like your older brothers did. Still, he held you for a moment and gave you this kiss on the head. Now, a year later, you two are great friends and playmates! Spencer now loves you very much and loves to kiss you. He is so patient, kind, and loving towards you, even when you are messing up his stuff. When that happens he gently picks you up under your arms and carries you carefully off to where you can’t reach his things—all the while kissing you on top of your head as if to say “I love you Claire, but please stay out of my things.” He also always makes sure that he kisses you goodnight even if you don’t really want him to. You are very lucky to have Spencer as your brother Claire! Photo July 7th 2013, Journaling Fall 2013"

Thank you for stopping by!

Sweet Little Monkey

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today I just have a quick share of a recent favorite layout of mine. Claire used to fit in this adorable monkey outfit. It really fit her personality at the time too!

The papers and stickers here are by Lilly Bee, the buttons by Basic Grey, the Washi tape and enamel dots by Queen and Company. I cut the monkey out on my Cricut using the Stork's Delivery Cartridge.

The journaling reads: Grandma bought you this cute little monkey outfit Claire just as you started to sit up. We loved it from the cute ears to the soft tail because it fit your emerging personality so perfectly! You can certainly be an adorable “little monkey.” January 2013"

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

5 Months

It's hard for me to believe that Claire is actually 15 months old! These photos seem like just yesterday!

Someday I'll have all 12 of her first year photo shoots scrapbooked, but at this rate it might be another year or two! Anyhow, here is Claire at 5 months:

The papers, buttons, and tags are by Basic Grey from their Knee-highs and Bow-ties line, Queen and Company Washi tapes and rhinestones, American Crafts large plastic flowers and letters. The ladybug was cut out on my Cricut using the Tiny Treasures cartridge. 

The journaling reads: "What a growth spurt Claire! You now weigh in at 14 lbs! You moved up to 3-6 month sized clothes, but can still wear some of your 3 month sized clothes. Your face is really starting to fill out and get that “Gerber baby look.” Everywhere I take you people come up to me and want to see you. They love your smiles and always say how beautiful and happy you are! You look super cute in your Christmas dresses at church. You met Santa and didn't holler at him. You are grasping things better and love to be in your play saucer and to have toys to hold. You still hate the car at night, but like it during the day. You seem to like music and you like to have me sing to you. You also like the “Baby Santa” DVD and sometimes I use it to get you to fall asleep. You don’t sleep through the night anymore, but you do sleep pretty well. You usually just get up once around 3-4am for a quick eat and then go straight back to sleep. You still charm everyone with your great big smiles. Your whole body smiles now as you wave your arms and kick your feet when you are excited or extra happy. You recently found your feet and often will grab and hold on to them when I change your diaper. You can roll over, but it is more of an accident than a choice. The drool is on and you are starting to soak your shirts more with drool than spit up. You are also constantly chewing on your hands and anything you can get in your mouth. You have a very strong little neck and are always trying to hold it up off the ground so you can look around. You are more patient than you used to be. You love to be held in a standing position. Dec 2012"

Have a great Friday!

Being Your Mom is Sweet!

Some days I look down at Claire (all dressed in pink and playing at my feet with a doll) and say to Marc "I still can't believe we have a girl!" After a decade of being the only girl in the house it still throws me sometimes to think that there is a mini me running around here. Our blue, green and red world of trains, cars, dinosaurs, and hot wheels is so different now that there are pink and purple dolls, princesses, castles, and fairies in the mix. I wouldn't change it for anything, but I have to admit that it still surprises me sometimes when I'm doing the laundry and I see that flash of pink in with the rest of the boy colors! One area I have not had a hard time adjusting to is having the opportunity to do more with the wonderful "girly" scrapbook products out there. This is one of my recent favorites.

These adorable papers and stickers are by Caroloee's Creations by Adornit. The acrylic flowers, pearls, and red washi tape are by Queen and Company, grey washi tape and baker's twine by Doodlebug, buttons by Basic Grey, and the title was cut out on my Silhouette Portrait. 

The journaling read: "Claire, you have no idea how excited I was to find out that I was going to have a daughter! For many years I was certain that we were only going to have boys in our family, and I was just fine with that. I love your brothers more than I can express, yet, it was a very fun surprise to find that there would indeed be mommy/daughter activities, pink clothes, dolls, dresses, and a tiny “mini me” turning our rather male dominated lifestyle upside down. Thanks for adding this fun new “girly” dimension to our home! I love being your mom Claire, and I’m so happy you joined our family! --Jan 2013

Have a great weekend!

Her First Steps

Claire is at the busy age of running around everywhere and climbing on everything. She's desperately trying to get into anything she can and is quite the little mess maker! Sometimes it's hard to believe there was a time when she couldn't walk at all....

Anyhow, today's layout is from a few months back when Claire was just beginning to take her first steps. She was slow and Frankensteinish in her movements, but they were steps!

The papers and stickers here are by Pebbles, from their Love You More collection. The flowers were cut and embossed with my cuttlebug, the letters are by American Crafts, the enamel dots and Washi Tape are by Queen and Company, rotary stamps by American Crafts and K and Company. The Embossed background is by Core'dinations.

The journaling reads: "You started walking this past week Claire and we were all so excited! These photos are some of your very fist steps. You started out only going a few at a time, but that quickly turned into more! To get you to walk we would put your walker just out of reach so that you would walk to it. After just a week of that you are now choosing to try and walk all by yourself! Jun 9th 2013"

Have a happy Tuesday!

Over She Goes!

When Claire was around 1 month old she rolled over several times. I couldn't believe it the first time as none of the boys ever accomplished that so early. I figured it had something to do with her being still right around 6lbs. There just wasn't much weight to have to move! Not long afterwards she started growing and the rolling over stopped until the time these photos were taken about 5 months later. 

The papers, stickers, large embellishments, and tags on this layout are by American Crafts from their "My Girl" line. The Washi tape, pearls and epoxy dots are by Queen and Company, the title was done on my Silhouette Portrait machine with the KG Strawberry Lemonade font. 

The journaling reads: "Just a month or so after you were born Claire you were able to roll over a couple of times. I was stunned that you could do it so early! I decided it must be because you were so small and tiny so it didn’t take much muscle. Sure enough once you passed 7lbs you couldn’t do it again until recently. It took you quite a bit of effort at first but after a week or so you got very good at it! Now you use rolling over as a means of transporting yourself all over. You have a pretty solid 8 ft radius and nothing within that radius is safe anymore! January 2013"

Thanks for visiting today!

A New Favorite Layout--She's A Cutie Pie

I don't often have favorite layouts, but every now and then I make one that I'm just over the moon about. This is my recent "favorite" layout of Claire; probably because I love the photos so much!

The papers and stickers are from the Pebbles "Love You More" collection, the Washi Tape and enamel dots are by Queen and Company, and the border punch is by EK Success. The title was cut out on my Cricut Mini using the fonts from the Simply Sweet and Tiny Treasures cartridges.

The journaling reads: "Oh Miss Claire, you really are super cute! We all just adore you and we are constantly telling you just how adorable you are. Even your brothers comment daily on it! I think you have us all wrapped around your little finger!"

So Much To See

One of my favorite stages of a new baby in when thy get old enough to look at and study everything around them. Claire seemed extra observant from the very start, but after a couple of months she became even more studious. These photos capture her straining to move her head so she could see her new toys from every angle possible. 

More of the fabulous My Mind's Eye "My Girl" collection here along with more Queen and Company Washi tape, baker's twine, and pearls, American Crafts Letters, and my K and Co. date stamp.

The journaling says: "Claire, you recently have begun to really study the world around you! You love to look at brightly colored objects and at people. You seem to always have a look of extreme fascination as you start to decipher your world! Looking at these toys above your car seat seems to be one of your recent favorite things to do!"

Thanks for visiting today!