Keeping Calm & Carrying On

Hollywood, California Feature: Graumans Theatre

I've been scrappin' some fun trips lately including the extra days spent in LA last year post-CHA. The next few days are going to be Hollywood Layout features! Hope you enjoy!

I forgot to stitch-up these buttons which I must do (personal pet-peeve), but am lovin' the scattered, random brads/buttons/bling look lately.

The floral and petals element was cut from an October Afternoon patterned paper.

Graumans Chinese Theatre was pretty cool. This was the first time I've ever done any sight-seeing in California and enjoyed reading up on the history behind the hand and footprints in the cement. I found some of my favorite actors and celebrities and took a bunch of photos!

Love Calculator: A Lovey Dovey Layout

Thanks for joining me for another wedding-themed post. Our wedding is officially less than a year away! Should I start to feel the crunch? I hope not yet. No stress yet. ;) I recently created a scrapbook layout remember mine and Steven's five-year-dating anniversary.

I thought I'd share it with you today. I used my Lovey Dovey collection along with plenty of Sophisticates chipboard numbers.

If you read this journaling, the chipboard numbers will make much more sense to you!

Little did I know that exactly one year from this day (our five year anniversary) that Steven would  propose!

2.6 million minutes together. wow. Have you every calculated your love in months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds? It's kinda crazy.

1,825 days together.

This is one of my favorite pages as of recent. The photo of us isn't all that great, but I love what it means for how far we've made it, how long we've lasted and that it's just the beginning!

Memorial Day

Today's blog post is my own little twist on Memorial Day. Because it is a day of Memory, I thought it fitting to share this layout with you honoring my brother-in-law. The story of this day was beautiful and something that I wanted to remember forever

--when our local high school called our family for a special chapel service dedicated to Chris where they also wanted to pass along Chris's high school football jersey to Carson.

There's a combination of several different manufacturer's products here. Mixing and matching is one of my favorite things to do and this color scheme seemed perfect: not to loud, but also not too soft. The layout is supposed to uplifting like the day was, while also somber too.

The day of the chapel service there was SO MUCH LOVE. It was one of those times in my life where I just felt overwhelmed and taken aback with the love and compassion that other people felt for our family. A simple heart punch, a couple of them actually helped remind me of that feeling.

Here's a look at the entire page.

Wishing you a happy Memorial Day today, no matter who you are remembering and honoring. There are so many people that have fought out there for our freedom, our life and integrity. We are an incredibly blessed nation, that's for sure. And I'm proud to live here.

Side Note: Don't forget to leave a comment on Friday's post to enter to win a box of Bella scraps from the studio! The giveaway is still open and you have until tonight at midnight to comment. Winners will be announced at Bella and here tomorrow!

Athlete: Bella Blvd's Making the Team

Ciao Bella! Did you make your way over here from Bella Blvd? Lookin' to win some random Bella Blvd scraps from our not-so-spring-office-cleaning?

Here's How to Enter to Win My Scraps Giveaway:

Leave a comment below telling me the one scrapbooking product/tool that you cannot live without! I'll announce the winner right here on Tuesday. Good luck!

School's almost out for summer which means I will be catching many-a-basketball tournament, gymnastics meets and little league games; Rootin' on my nieces and nephews any opportunity I can get. The layout for today documents my last season coaching my niece Anabelle before she enrolled into middle school. 

I mixed together my Mr. Boy and also my Making the Team product collections.

I fed the graph patterned paper (from the Family Dynamix collection) through my printer for my journaling and then trimmed it into a pennant banner. 

I had to journal about how at this moment in Anabelle's life she is so similar to how I was at that age. I see so much of me in her sometimes that it's scary. And because of Bella's recent team-up with the Twinery have some left over twine o play with! 

The school team is The Star of Bethlehem Stars...so KI's star puffies were a perfect match for the layout, along with Bella Blvd's new Star buttons and referee looking Designer Tape! Here's the finished page that will go into my 2010 album.

Wishing you a wonderful Holiday weekend!

I {heart} "us"

It's a phrase that I say over and over again, "I love us." I thought for today's installment of Wedding Wednesday I'd reflect on some of those things that make us "us". There are things that we do, over and over again or places that we love that make them "us", or "our thing." Know what I mean? 

1. Fujiyama: Hibachi (and of course I must share this layout with it!) We discovered "hibachi" in Texas and ate out in Frisco at least once a week. While it cost us a pretty penny, it was "our thing," our date night each week and we looked forward to the delicious steak, crunchy edamome and sweet ginger dressing.

This layout is from my 27^th birthday, when Steven took me out for hibachi dinner at Fujiyama.

Papers by Doodlebug. Embellishments by Bella Blvd.

Love ripping and then curling my paper around the needle of my paper piercer. Make for great layering and texture(s) too.

It's quite crazy to believe that this time next year we will be just days away from the big wedding day and saying "i do." I honestly feel like it can't come fast enough, I'm so anxious and excited.

Throughout the six years that Steven and I have been dating we've seen hundreds of movies, eaten hundreds (yes I'm pretty sure hundreds) of steaks, DVR'd so many reality TV shows including Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser and so many more. 

Something else that makes "us" us is praying hand-in-hand almost every night simultaneously. I love this tradition as we both silently thank God for all our blessings and pray for the people we love or the will He has for us. 

We both have truly become puppy-dog-lovers and enjoy traveling together and watching sports.

These are just some of the things that we love to do together, and find ourselves doing over and over again....and never tiring of them.

Do you have traditions/rituals with your hubby or bf or fiance? Please share?! Maybe one or two of them will inspire a new date night for the two of us!

Scrap Lifted: Bella Blvd Project Sheets

One thing that is wonderful and fabulous about owning Bella Blvd is that I can now have aDesign Team & Special Projects Coordinator. Her name is Laura Vegas. She's wonderful. Have you met her? If not, I highly recommend that you visit her blog--she's super talented has lots to share!

Back to the point: Laura Vegas has been with Bella Blvd almost one year already! It's amazing how quickly the time goes by when things are manage, organized & efficient. Anywho...one of Laura's assignments every month is to create a layout (around a challenge and product collection that I provide for her). The layout becomes a brand-new-never-featured-before marketing piece for both retailers and consumers known as our 

Monthly Project Sheet. 

The Monthly Project Sheets provide step-by-step directions and supply list alongside a large color photograph of the project for customers to duplicate, teach or do with as they please. Recently I was super inspired by the March Project Sheet that Laura created featuring the Sophisticates products, the new Crochet Flowers and Designer Tapes too:

To download the pdf of this specific project sheet click here.

You can see all the project sheets and download them by clicking here to scroll through.

Well, I loved the paper flowers inspired by the sticker flowers so much that I did a page myself! Because I'm on a Christmas kick you shouldn't be surprised...

I mixed and matching Christmas Wishes patterns with Winter Wonder and Sophisticates papers.

I must say I prefer how Laura's turned out better. I should have known that the "rule of odds" would prevail. I should have used 4 flowers instead of 5...but I got a little lazy and didn't want to cut out so many. None the less, another page is complete and I'm almost finished with 2010.

Have you heard of these Project Sheets? They're perfect if you like to scrap lift or need some inspiration to boost your creativity! Be sure to check them out!

Single Page Layout: Birthday Brunch

I started this 12x12" layout while croppin' in Puerto Rico at The Scrapbook Gallery. I was inspired by a layout that one of my Design Team girls created with the new Baby Girl and Button market products. This layout was my inspiration; created by Becky Williams.  

I love how Becky created a heart with the wooden and plastic buttons....so I made one too!

I wanted to focus on the wooden buttons, and so I used several packages of the Green Burst buttons. I threw in a couple wooden Snowflake buttons because the layout is of my birthday which is in the middle of winter (December).

The layout documents what we did on my twenty-seventh birthday: after church we all went out for brunch and pie at our local Baker's Square. And even though I'm not in this photo, all my favorite guys are (dad, Carson, my Uncle and Steven). 

The patterned papers are were selected from my stash from October Afternoon (stripe), Kraft numbers (Jillibean Soup) and Vintage text (Echo Park). All the other embellishments including chipboard, flags and letters are Bella Blvd's.

I just love this photo and how handsame they all are ;)

I sure did "junk it up" as I like to say---meaning I put a whole bunch of product on there! I do love all the colors and dimension though. What are you doing this last Sunday in April,...scrapbooking???

Fox Six TV: A Bella Blvd Layout

Remember when Bella Blvd was featured on The Real Milwaukee news show last year? It was so much fun to show off handmade Christmas gift ideas live on the morning show. 

I've been holding onto these photos since then and am glad to have finally created a 12x12" layout documenting the fun local experience. I mixed several patterns together both from Bella Blvd and also Echo Park and My Mind's Eye.

I added monochramatic pink alpha stickers (Bella's High Five Alphabets) to the pink cardstock background. I want the title to be subtle, with more attention to the photographs.

I love adding texture to my layouts by tearing, then inking the edges and rolling up the torn edges to the page. 

I had fun digging into my Bella "stash", as some of the products here are more than 2 years old, like the patterned paper from the Estate Sale collection. Happy Monday!

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.

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!

 

 

Christmas Layouts: Bella Blvd

Well, it's "Christmas In March" around here today as I continue plugging away at 2010-year end scrapbooking layouts. What do you do with your annual Christmas Card? What do you do with some of your favorite Christmas cards?

In 2010 I saved my sisters Christmas card and mine as well. They were both 5x7 photographs that I just love.  I didn't want to distract from the photos at all, do I kept my patterns and embellishments minimal. By using 1 and 2-color patterns the page stayed simple and not busy.

Of course I wanted to incorporate some Christmas colors so I added only two .75" strips and red bows. (tis the season). Here's how the layout turned out. Gosh that's nearly 2 years ago already. Time goes by so quickly!

The layout is a combination of all things Bella from the Winter Wonder, Christmas Wishes and Sophisticates product collections.

At the same crop, I completed this next page, documenting mine & Steven's St. Nick tradition.

Each year St. Nick comes on Steven's birthday (Dec. 5^th-Lucky him I know right?!) We each prepare stockings for each other and also little treats for Baby Mio and exchange that night. It's fun to see what he puts inside---some of my favorite things usually like Reese's peanut butter cups and "pink" things. So sweet.

Baby Mio is always very curious too---Christmas is 1 out of the 2 days of the year we dress up the little pups. In 2010 he had the cutest little Santa outfit ;) The entire layout features my Christmas Wishes collection for Bella Blvd.

Love layering those Cute Cuts elements, and playing with the miniature sized patterns on the Quadrants papers. Here's the final product:

For more Christmas Wishes layouts and ideas, visit the Christmas Wishes Collection idea Gallery over at the Bella Studio blog!

So, what are you scrappin' these days? I have a few more Christmas-themed layouts to do and then I'm onto 2011--woot woot! Slowly but surely I'm playin' catch-up!

A kind of funny thing happened last week with my Basic Grey single page layout post (click here to view): I received a comment saying, 

"Nice post (but show us the whole page, too!) :) Great to have support and love in so many different families."  POSTED BY: Annamarie

So funny! I didn't realize until then that I didn't even share the completed layout. What a dork I am! Sorry about that! So she she is, the full 12x12" layout! Thanks for being patient with me.

Now, unto another scrap-happy layout, this one documenting Steven's 27^th birthday...

I'm lovin' buttons lately (most likely because Bella Blvd has manufactured our own now) and I "appreciate the process" that goes into choosing button styles, colors, textures, packaging and so much more! On this layout I put together a random modge-podge of different buttons from Jillibean Soup, Dear Lizzy and Doodlebug.

I typed up "Happy Birthday" sentiments and repeated it in rows across the sheet. After printing it onto white cardstock I cut it into strips as the "backdrop" for my page title, 27.

 I traced the 2 & 7 with a pencil onto the patterned paper (the numbers which were originally naked chipboard). Then I trimmed the patterned red gingham and adhered to to the front of the chip numbers.  

It's hard to believe that this is the only photo I have of us, let alone him on his 27^th birthday. So sad, right?  The patterned papers are from October Afternoon (plaid) and American Crafts/Pebbles (craft/white and red gingham on the letters).

With that, I hope you have a great week! I'm off in Puerto Rico teaching at the Scrapbook Gallery....I've prepped some posts so you have some fun stuff to read this week!

Star Support: A Basic Grey Layout

I have so much product in my Basic Grey stash, that I must admit I haven't pulled out very much in the recent months. I love the soft color palette of these papers. On this layout I've coordinated patterns, textures and products from Basic Grey, Bazzill, Crate Paper and of course (my personal fave), Bella Blvd ;)

What is your definition of family? How many "families" do you have? Over the past several years I feel blessed to have new members to my family and also to have established more "families". I'm talking about Bella Blvd, friends, church and so much more.

It felt great to use up some "older" products on this layout including that "FAITH" quote sticker that was probably purchased in 2002. I adhered it to the solid pink pattern and cut it into strips, tucked it under the circle punched florals and buttons to create the handmade embellishment. I'm just loving the natural color of The Button Market's wooden buttons by Bella. 

Star of Bethlehem is my home church, hence the page title "STAR SUPPORT".

This layout reminds me of how wonderful it is to have a Christ-centered family. It's the tough times that my "church family" is there to remind me of the important things in life and the greater reason for our existence.

Have you documented your "not biological family" recently? If so, who are they...?? I'd love to hear more about them!

A Bella Blvd Sophisticates Layout + A Giveaway!

My basics collection, Sophisticates by Stephanie, is so much fun because it's full of colors and it matches nearly everything is falls next to!

There's new elements to the Sophisticates collection which just began shipping from Bella Blvd this week, including these adorable versatile chipboard elements!

I always seem to be looking for clouds, family words and borders too! So after brainstorming with a LSS owner, I thought these would make for great everyday embellishments for scrapbooking!

The wooden and plastic buttons from the Button Market and the Stick Pin Flags feature the signature bright and cheerful color palette that is Bella Blvd. So it's super easy, one might say "effortless" to mix and match with your current stash of scrapbooking goodies!

This is one of my favorite recent layouts!

For more Sophisticates ideas, visit Bella's collection gallery by clicking here. Just because color makes me so happy....and the week is nearly over....

I'd like to giveaway one complete set of the 

Just leave a comment below for a chance to win.

I'll announce a winner in Monday morning's post. Good luck!

Bella Blvd Layouts: New Products Shipping!

Have you seen these 2 layouts I created shared last week over at the Bella Blvd Blog?

The new Bella Blvd products arrived in the warehouse early and are beginning to ship to retailers, online stores and distributors all around the world this week! This layout features everything in the new Sunshine & Happiness collection.

The Cute Cuts paper makes it easy to create small "scenes" on a projects like the cloud and sun sky "theme" here. The title worked perfectly in the empty/negative space within the enlarged photo (developed at mpix.com).

Plenty of snips and cuts later I had created several pennants, mostly from the Borders paper.

This Layout was featuring just the other day too! I created it for CHA. My nephew nearly 4 years ago when he was still a little chubster!

For more Sunshine & Happiness Ideas visit Bella's collection Gallery by Clicking Here.

The Designer Tapes and Button Market are all shipping now!

For more Baby Boy Ideas visit Bella's collection Gallery by Clicking Here.