Keeping Calm & Carrying On

Christmas Morning: An October Afternoon Layout

Ciao Bella! Happy Thursday! One of my crafty goals is to really finish up my 2010 layouts and albums. I have Christmas layouts to complete and a short trip to the Mall of America at the end of 2010 that needs to be scrapbooked and then I'll be headed into 2011. 

Today I have a 2-page layout, primarily using October Afternoon's holiday patterns, stickers and chipboard elements I recently completed.

 

I color-blocked this page because I wanted to use several patterned papers that I liked from the collection. I'm also very into using paper doilies so I cut them up and layering them in the background also.

Christmas traditions changed drastically in 2010 following my brother-in-laws death, and that's why it is so important to me to write it down, type it up and document it forever.

The coordinating page looks a little something like this:

(Ignore the wretched I-just-woke-up Christmas morning look on my face!)

Again, I kept with the doilies.

Here's a look at the two-page spread as it will go into my 2010 Album Vol. 4:

I think the crazy busy red pattern on the right-side is balanced with small blocks of patterns on the left-page. Don't you think?

December 2010: A Winter Wonder Layout

The large Calendar element from the Sophisticates Calendars embellishment paper is one I find myself trimming out and using quite a bit lately. It's that large black & gray one---

For this single page winter layout I used it as the dominating background peice, and edged it with the red polkadot Designer Tapes.

Everything else on the layout features my Winter Wonder products including patterned papers, chipboard, Stick Pin Flags, buttons (white stars) and cardstock stickers. I also included a snowflake decoration (from my local dollar store) and layered a Doodlebug snowflake embellishment to the center.

I'm just about done with my Winter 2010 photos! So excited about that! 

To check out more Winter Wonder scrapbooking inspiration visit the collection gallery at the Bella studio blog by clicking the link.

Happy Easter & Happy Birthday

(Photo Credit)

Today is a family day. A church day. A day of happiness and prayer. Hope you enjoy your Easter Sunday, no matter where you are in this moment!

(Photo Credit)

Today is also a bitter sweet day as we Remember my brother-in-law's birthday. Today Chris would have turned 31 years old. 

On this Easter Sunday I have confidence that he is rejoicing in Heaven, watching all of us and we remember him and celebrate Jesus resurrection.

Oh how we wish you were here, especially today. 

I love you, we all love you and will never forget your fun-loving attitude and how wonderful of a father you are.

Happy 31^st Birthday Chris!

 

 

 

 

 

Stricken, Smitten & Afflicted

(Photo Credit: Turn Back to God)

Listen to My favorite Good Friday Hymn here.

St. Patty's Confessions & Cuties

St. Patty's Confession No. 1: I am not a beer drinker.

Never have been, never will be. It's very bubbly and makes me feel full...which I do not like. So on days like St. 

St. Patty's Confession No. 2: I (almost) hate the color green.

Hate is a very strong word, so I prefer not to use it. But seriously if one could hate a color---for me it's green. You won't find nearly a single piece of green clothing in my closet. None. I know it's weird. It's nothing I've pre-meditated or planned, but rather just happened.

St. Patty's Confession No. 3: I don't have a lick of Irish in me. Sono Italiana. ;)

So on days like St. Patty's Day, what does a girl like me have going on? Family, BBQ & NCAA basketball. I invited the kiddos to sleepover on March 17^th and we picked up baby Lauren for a couple hours too. Who could have guessed she would be all dolled up and super cute in green?!

Being the proud Godmother & Auntie that I am I couldn't resist some fun St. Patty's Day photos.

At 11 months she's got two little chick-let teeth on her bottom gum line and one big-honker breaking through up top.

And Carson just can't seem to get enough of her. He loves on her non-stop, talks to her, snuggles and plays!

Baby Lauren loves it! She laughs at him and lets him feed her her "num-nums".

So cute. For real. Just cheers me  up and makes me happy. 

Happy belated St. Patty's Day everyone! Hope you've recovered by now ;)

Together: A Winter Wonder Layout

Bringing you one more Christmas Tree-cutting layout today. I recently shared a couple coordinating layouts from the same day in 2010. You can see those layouts by clicking here and also here.

The Miniatures stickers in the Bella collections make for fun little "tags" and embellishments.

More playing with Bella's new Designer Tapes. Have you bought yours yet? Now that the new products are hitting stores be sure to stock up! (I know 2Peas has them here).

I love the photographs on this one. Steven looks so "strong" carrying that big-ol' tree. And Carson took the other photo of Angela and I all by himself----with my Canon 50D. What a awesome shot for a then four-year-old, don't you think?

Products used are all Bella Blvd: Winter Wonder Collection, Designer Tapes, chipboard and Sophisticates. The blue twine, from The Twinery.

For more Winter Wonder scrapbooking ideas visit the Winter Wonder Collection Gallery here.

Ciao Ciao for now!

 

 

A Sentimental Layout: Priceless Gift

Once in a while I still make two-page layouts that look great side-by-side! Gotta love that! As I continue to scrapbook Christmas 2010 (which seems like it takes forever because I take so many photos each year), I love playing with so many different Christmas colored & Christmas themed products. There is NEVER a shortage of it in the paper crafting world, that's for sure.

Last year I wrote about how sappy I was at Christmas time when my sister asked me & Steven help her and the kids decorate the tree. It was such a traditional thing that she didn't want to do alone after losing her husband. It was really emotionally exhausting....and I did not see that coming. "Why?", you might be asking. Well, let's take a closer look...

Because, little did I know how sentimental and timeless ornaments really are. I noticed my sister pausing and just losing herself in space as she grabbed this ornament and hug it near the top of the tree. Even though it had seen it's better days (notice, the little girl's leg is broken off), she reminded the kids that daddy had bought her the ornament when they were really young & dating in high school. I can only imagine the memories that flooded her heart & mind in that moment.

This is why last year I flooded friends & family with ornament gifts. I really wasn't trying to be morbid, but honestly, what a cool way to remember someone year after year as life changes and time heals. Ornaments are such great, inexpensive (for the most part) gifts to give to those you love that will stay around forever.

I wanted to document the story and my thoughts as I am sharing them here today onto a layout. 

Once again, I played with my new Designer Tapes (now available at stores)!

I used a ruler to create my journaling lines and then mixed and matched my handwriting with the sticker alphabets from the new High Fives^tm alpha sheets (Bella Blvd).

The coordinating page (right side) holds the rest of the photos I chose for the theme. It was hard to narrow them down because I snapped so many, but I thought these were the most important:

1) My neices having fun hanging their handmade ornaments from school

2) Angela rewarding Carson as the new "man of the house" the job each year of putting the star on top of the tree-just like Daddy used too

3) and all of us together (Stella & Mio pups too) when it was all finished.

I repeated the border strips of Designer Tapes and the paper tearing on this side as well, to help pull the two-page spread together.

After adding some flowers (Prima and Bazzill) and Twine, I called it a day. I'm really happy with how this one turned out and will definitely remember this moment for years to come, if not forever. If nothing else, it's a gentle reminder not to take advantage of the redunancy each year that can become of the holiday season.

Winter Wonder Layout: Family Tree

It's a new week! Are you feeling fresh and creative?!

Because it's still winter around here and snow is still falling on the ground, I thought how appropraite it would be to share with you another Christmas-Tree-Cutting layout today, featuring my Winter Wonder product collection.

I loved this picture of all of us at the Tree Farm so I used mpix.com and printed it at 12" wide. Journaling was important for this layout as it shares our family's experience as we coped together after the loss of my brother in law just before the holidays last year.

Instead of printing the journaling on my computer, I thought I'd give it more of a personal touch with my own handwriting. I added script to make the more important words jump off the journaling sticker element, and also incorporated a couple of Miniatures sticker elements too.

For more Winter Wonder Ideas, visit Bella's collection gallery by clicking here.

Let's have a great week!

Christmas in March

Thought I'd share some more creativity with you today! I'm scrappin' Christmas and playing with my Christmas Wishes products and new embellies!

I started with kraft cardstock as my base and framed it out with my new red polkdot Designer Tapes. I think I've mentioned before that I love these tapes. Having so much fun with them!

This layout is about "our first real tree" that we actually went and cut down at the Tree Farm last year. No, we're not married yet, but it was "our" frist official tree! I even bought a personalize ornamnet last year to remember it! ;) (I know, you're thinking I'm such a nerd!)

My handy dandy little heart punch made for a fun "flutter" effect streaming up the page. 

What are you doing today? Cropping???

Happy New Year: Photo Recap

I've been busy sharing layouts around here that I shared my face that much :) Even though that's probably a blessing for you...I thought I'd say hello via some visual pictures from New Year's Eve.

After a wonderful dinner in the village of Wauwatosa at Firefly with some great friends we headed out to a local bar for the "regular" festivities!

It really is hilarious looking at these pictures knowing I was hoping to get at least one "good one!" I look like a peacock because Steven's "Happy New Year" headband did want to stay on his head.....not to mention how fake and cheesy his smile is. Ha, it just cracks me up!

This is the best one I got after editing out all the neon bar-signage in the background and making it black and white. It's kind-of good, right?

Well, Happy New Year! Whatever your resolutions, affirmations, hopes and dreams are for 2012 my prayer for you is that you have the willpower to stick to them, achieve and surpass each and every one!

Before I let you go...did you see that there's TWO different giveaways going on over at the Bella Blvd Blog? This is your chance to win some free scrapbooking goodies! Stop over and leave a comment telling me what you'd like to see from Bella Blvd in the next product release, 6 months from now in July-you have until Friday before we randomly select winners! I love hearing yoru requests...plus you could win some of this:

Lovey Dovey Collection....See Lovey Dovey Product Ideas Here

and this...

The Socialite Collection....See Socialite Product Ideas Here

Good Luck!

Double Page Layout: What are You Thankful For?

I must admit....I'm super excited to share this next double-page layout with you. It's from Thanksgiving 2010 when I created these business-card size die-cuts with each guests name. The dinner guests had to find their card and then complete the phrase, 

"I am thankful for..."

So I have been sitting on all these little cards wanted to make a layout and I've finally completed it! 2010 was the first year I hosted Thanksgiving all on my own and I wanted to start a tradition for the guests to participate in...and this was it!

2010's Thanksgiving was just days, literally, after my brother-in-law died in a car accident so I thought it would be beautiful for everyone to document what they were thankful for amidst a sad holiday. Not to my surprise at all almost everyone mentioned Chris or the important of family.

The layout came together quite quickly as I wanted to put the cards and everyone's handwriting on full display. I just added a bit of Bakers Twine and bows here and there to separate the cards a bit.

Because I ran out of room.....there were a lot of guests....I added mine and Steve's cards to the coordinating page:

I loved this picture of the kids helping me prepare the turkey on Thanksgiving morning. But I didn't realize Madelyn's eyes were closed until I had it enlarged and printed....oh well ;)

And here's the layout side-by-side as it will be put into my 2010 Album:

As plenty of you know I offered a new style of documenting Thanksgiving Gratitude by offering several free digital downloads for 2011's Thanksgiving. You can check them out here......I'm already brainstorming ideas for 2012!

Halloween Layout: 2010

Ciao Ciao! I thought I'd give you a break from Thanksgiving layout ideas and share this quick Halloween one with you today!

Check out Steven's sprayed-white hair as him and his friends dressed up at The A-Team for Halloween in 2010. They're missing the main link, Mr. T but he sure did complete the group!

To add a unique detail I strung some embroidery floss across the chipboard title, and created photo corners and accents with it also.

These Details by American Crafts made for the finishing touches. A pretty simple layout if you ask me ;)

Single Page Layout: Thankful

This is another layout from Thanksgiving but is a great daily reminder for things/people I was (and still am) very thankful for in 2010 at Thanksgiving time.

Aside from various America Crafts Thickers, MME and Studio Calico alphabets, everything on the layout is from my Finally Fall collection.

A made a "list" of the main things I was thankful for in 2010 and then printed my thoughts onto cardstock.

Because I wanted to call attention to the main things on my list I chose various alphabets and added them to the layout.

It's hard to narrow it down at Thanksgiving time because truly we all have so much to be thankful for, but I think it's important to document the things and the people that made your year even better! 

Layouts from Thanksgiving 2010

I know it's a new year, but I still have some layouts from 2011 I have to share....I just finished scrapbooking Thanksgiving from 2010. Yes I know I'm a bit behind. The pictures might be a bit "old" but the products are not! 

For the past couple of years my 2 nieces and 1 nephew sleepover the night before we celebrate Thanksgiving in order to help "prepare" for the big day. They like to help me cook, clean, set the tables and everything else that goes into preparing the family Thanksgiving spread.

This layout is pretty simple. It incorporates mostly the "Cute Cuts" paper sheet from my One Fall Day collection. By cutting out the large elements I created a small scene around the photos.

I bought those really cute leaves a long time ago and was excited to use some embellishments from my existing "stash!"

Here's the coordinating page...again photo heavy....Here I've mixed together Finally Fall (2011's Fall Collection) with One Fall Day (2010's Fall Collection).

Add some texture to your layout by simply coordinating button colors on a polka dot print....

This was another die-cut in my existing "stash!" I just love when I use up product I have ;)

I must say I love what the photos document. In addition to the teamwork and excitement of preparing the turkey, my parents recently moved out of this house and it's been updated a ton. For example, that blue patterned wallpaper no longer exists. So I just love the small details that capture the element of time within this layout! 

I have plenty more Thanksgiving layouts to share in the next couple of days! Hope they'll inspire you, as I know we are all working on different holidays and themes all year long ;)

New Years Reflections

I wanted to choose just one photo for today. I think this one pretty much sums it up. That's me, on Christmas Day........while at a family get-together.........I manage to sneak in some time to work.

This Year Technology has Transformed My World.

In an instant I can go from leisure family fun to serious work matters. In just a matter of seconds I can be confirming ship dates with Vietnam and China and then go back to my glass of wine and gift opening.

This world we live in is pretty amazing, but at the same time it's been truly very hard for me to find a balance between work and "play." I like to think I try my hardest and make every effort possible to step away and remember the work will be there when I return, but it is a daily battle for me that I hope to improve on in 2012. For me, written reminders help: a post-it note on my computer, a message on the visor in my car and the same on on my fridge at home. I know if I can find a way to constantly remind myself that I will continue to make an effort. 

I'm not huge on New Year's Resolutions because I believe as people we constantly change and evolve. But, this time of year is a great time to recognize your weaknesses and try to forgive yourself and others, and start fresh. Forgiveness stems from love. And love is the greatest gift we can give in 2012. Love holds with it just about every.single.great gesture, prayer and root of happiness. 

Give some Love in 2012. It's the best gift you can give!

Thank you for being a fan of mine and loyal reader, and for making this another fabulously successful year for me and Bella Blvd! Happy New Year!