Keeping Calm & Carrying On

Family Thanksgiving: A Bella Blvd Layout

 

Since we just wrapped up Thanksgiving I thought I'd share this layout with you before we get too much farther into December. You know that feeling when you create a page that you really love how it turned out? That's how I feel about this one. I just love the colors, the layers and the photos too. The design creates horizontal strips across the page, making it easy on the eye.

 

I blocked out the center row, leaving space for 2 photos (cropped) and the title block.

 

The Crochet Hearts still make me happy every time I use them. They are one of the most simple, yet pretty embellishments from Bella Blvd.

Approaching Thirty & Santa's Helper Mini Album

 

 

 I cannot believe it's December already. Our house is still sporting pilgrims, pumpkins and all things Thanksgiving as I'm trying to recover from one CRAZY Thanksgiving weekend. I cooked 3 birds in 4 days and hosted two large gatherings. How was yours? Mine was definitely worth it, but typically I have a solid week in between to get into Christmas mode...but this year the calendar is so tight!

This week is birthday week for my Mr. Mister you know! We are both turning the big (dare I say it) three-oh this month. Craziness! So I thought I'd share this layout from 2011, remembering the good ol' days (lol) of 27!

 

My Kiss Me collection (valentines themed-Bella Blvd) is one of my favorites, naturally because it's full of pink, pink and more pink!

 

Makes me happy to see "boyfriend" on this layout. I'm so thankful I am done calling him that, and he's been promoted to hubby, hubster, Mr. Mister. Much more grown-up, don't you think!?

 

I'm excited to be starting my December Daily as well. My journaling and photographing has begun and I intend to share with you on a weekly basis my progress. While we talking about mini albums and christmas, have you seen what the amazingly talented Julie Johnson has designed over at her kit club, Paisleys And Polkadots? 

Julie used my Christmas Countdown collection for the kit! I'm sure she was inspired by all the Elf on the Shelf craze when she created this mini album. Check out the darling elf shoes with jingle bells, poinsettias, twine, ribbons and more! Isn't it beautiful? The kits are for sale now on her website, and considering at Bella Blvd several items from the Christmas Countdown collection are sold out, I'd venture to say supplies are limited! Be sure to get yours today!

Merry merry :) Hope you have a great day!

FREE Thanksgiving Printables

 I have an *AWESOME* something special for you today :) I can't tell you how many times, SO MANY TIMES, I've been asked, "are you going to make another Thanksgiving album printable like the one back in 2011?" (see 2011 Thanksgiving Album Printables here) It honestly surprised me how many people actually downloaded the designs and created the album for their Thanksgiving gathering. The power of the internet sure is amazing, and I was so grateful to hear that everyone loved them! So...do you want to make this album?! I must confess this is my album from last year (2012-hence the cover). My process is such that each year I turn the previous year's personal project into a public tutorial for you :) 

Well, well, well.....today I have a Thanksgiving gift for you! NEW printables PLUS bonus table place-cards too :) So, why a digital album you ask...because it takes less time (for you!) and this way you can have the ENTIRE album prepped and ready for Thanksgiving Day!

Here is my finished album. I'm giving you the digital printables inside pages for FREE today so you can make your Thanksgiving 2013 Album this weekend! You're going to love it! The finished album is 6x6" in size.

I'm going to walk you through the tutorial. If you'd like you can skip to the bottom and begin downloading the FREE PRINTABLES so that you can get started. 

You'll need: Pen & paper for your list/planning, a printer, cardstock or photo paper to print digital printables, a scissors or paper trimmer, some chipboard for the base of your pages, adhesive, hole punch to bind the album, and some key rings to bind the albums.

First, you'll need to make a sketch of your book, for planning purposes. The sketch will show your album in it's finished order (assign one page to each guest/family member), and include the front and back covers. Here's mine. 

Ready? Here we go...

Everyone at my Thanksgiving Day celebration will have one page (one side) in the mini book. Start by making a list of all the people that will participate int he mini album. In my case it's 21+ front cover + back cover = 23 pages. Then divide this number by 2 because you'll be adhering printables back-to-back onto chipboard. 23/2=11.5 I'm going to round up and prepare 12 pages for my album. By creating a quick sketch (like mine above) you will establish a plan/an order for the mini album. This will help you later when adhering your printables and assembling your mini album.  

Now, you'll need to click & download *also save if you'd like, the free printables (scroll down) at the end of today's post. THere are 5 total pdfs sized for 8.5x11" paper (this does not include the bonus place-cards download). You'll  need to select some cardstock or photo printing paper and print out the pages you want. You can mix and match them, or you can make all the pages identical. Whatever you like best :) Most likely you'll print duplicates/multiples, depending on how many people will be participating in your mini album.

 Using a trimmer (or scissors), trim all your printables along the thin gray line. The final book size will be exactly 6x6".

You'll notice here on my pages in the lower corner I've customized them for my family, with each person's name (ie. "Nicky" on the bottom). Your version of the printables has an empty office tab along the bottom of the page for you to customize it in your own way.  

Once you have all your printable pages trimmed stack them up nice & pretty :) Are you excited?

Next you'll need to purchase or locate several sheets of thin chipboard-this will make the album sturdy. These will be the base of your mini album. Trim chipboard to 6x6" pieces, cutting enough according to your album sketch that you made in the very beginning. (ie. I needed 12 pieces of chipboard). 

Now you have all your printables and all your chipboard pages trimmed. It's time to assemble your pages. Using chipboard as the base, and referring to your album sketch, adhere in order: BE SURE TO LEAVE FRONT COVER AS BLANK CHIPBOARD for you to DESIGN later! Flip over and adhere next page. Continue through all participants (be sure to follow your sketch), finished again leaving the BACK COVER BLANK for you to design.

 Now all your pages are mounted. Put all pages in order. Now you're ready to bind the album using a hole punch or CropADile. Punch holes in exact spot on all pages, and add two 1" key rings to secure. Now it's time for you to get crafty! This year's album printable does not include front or back cover designs, because let's be honest :) we're all a little creative, right?! So, scrapbook and design your own! Here's mine...

I used burlap paper and adhered it to my front and back chipboard covers. Then embellished with my Bella Blvd Feathers, Chipboard alphabets, stickers #s for the year, a wooden button and a flag (all Bella Blvd) You can purchase some of my Thankful collection online here. Keep it simple, remember plenty of people will be handling and touching it. Here are the insides of my front and back covers.

 I used patterned papers from my Thankful collection-they will coordinate perfectly. Depending on the amount of printables you are using, you can adhere the first of last page to the inside front cover. My Aunt Chaya was on the back inside cover of this album.

I would suggest to prep everything before Thanksgiving, then take the book completely apart on Thanksgiving and place the chipboard pages in a cute basket with some nice fine point pens and remind everyone to fill out their page. REMEMBER to take photos this thanksgiving because this year's album has a space on each persons page for a photograph-and be sure to pay attention to photo orientation!!

Then, after the party's over I'll re-assemble the book and add my photos and it will be done!! Each year I display the past year's worth of mini albums/projects like this. It's fun as kids grow up, and our lives change that we can reflect on each year's blessings.  

I really hope you'll tackle this project this week. The tutorial includes a lot of detail and might seem overwhelming but it's actually really easy! I've done all the work for you already :)

And here they are! Just click the links below each image, to begin downloading.

 

PRINTABLE One: Album Page

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PRINTABLE Two: Album Page

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  PRINTABLE Three: Album Page

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PRINTABLE Four: Album Page

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PRINTABLE Five: Album Page

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PRINTABLE Six: BONUS PLACECARDS

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Consider this your Thanksgiving challenge, and a gift from gratitude from me to you :) Hope you have a wonderful and beautiful Thanksgiving, and that this project makes it much more memorable. Be sure to share the links and printables with your friends!

Coming Soon: A Fun Thanksgiving Day Project

I can't believe how many email and special requests I've gotten for a new Thanksgiving Printables for 2013. I designed an album in 2011 and released printables and a tutorial for free (see 2011 album idea and printables here) . So, one more time....FOR FREE....I'll be sharing links to create a darling 6x6" mini album this November that your family can participate and write-in, capturing 2013's favorite memories and more. And this year's album includes spots for photographs...so you'll have to snag a photo of everyone at your gathering :)

The free printables will be right here very soon :) Stay tuned for this fun free gift from me to you :)

And if you're not a scrapbooker, don't worry! These printables are so easy you can assemble the album and participate too, I promise! Plus I made some bonus table placecard printables too!

Christmas in August: Bella Blvd Projects

Look at that cute little face! Our niece Lauren is growing up so quickly, I just had to capture her facial expressions and excitement from last December when Steven and I gave her a stocking from St. Nick! She's full of facial expressions and is just the happiest little girl!

The layout features papers and stickers from my brand new Christmas Countdown collection (You can see the Collection Reveal here). Added some Crochet Hearts & journaling to top it off.

I definitely feel like this layout is all about the photo so I wanted to keep it as the focal point. The full supply list, along with some additional details and photographs are being featured over at Bella Blvd today on the Studio Blog.

This card I created for CHA as well. Love me some of those new Paper Pieces die-cuts!

Looking for more Christmas Countdown ideas? Click here to see the current Christmas Countdown Idea Gallery. Hope you have a great Friday. I have the day off from work today to get going on some errands necessary to officially change my last name to Smokovich, and then I'm headed to my mom and dad's lake house with my sister and bestie for a nice relaxing weekend of peace and quiet, movies, games and relaxing fun :) Happy Friday!

Remember This: A Bella Blvd Trick or Treat Layout

My new Trick or Treat collection is now shipping to stores all around the world! It's perfect for capturing and documenting little kids Halloween events. The bright colors and pop of teal make the designer in me happy :)

Seriously...she's the cutest lady bug ever, right?! Check out this layout of mine being shared over at Bella Blvd today. The photo is from my niece and God Daughter, Lauren's, very first Halloween.

I'm so excited about the new Paper Pieces die-cuts with the new collections. They have fun cut-out pieces like this circle "2DAY" one. Check out more photos and details about this layout today over at Bella Blvd. For more ideas using the new Trick or Treat collection, visit the Trick or Treat Idea Gallery here.

Joy*Merry*Love: A Bella Blvd Layout

Just like old times I was able to design for the CHA booth display this time around :) There was a couple shows in a row there that I wasn't able to squeeze in enough time to create any samples. 

Today at the Bella Blvd Studio Blog one of my layouts is up featuring my brand new Christmas Countdown line. I was going for the "simple is better" idea here, featuring my favorite photo of my niece Lauren from last Christmas when she opened her St. Nick stocking from Uncle Steve and I! That little face just said it all...and I happened to put her right in front of the Christmas tree all lit up making a great backdrop!

The green arrow stickers are from the new Daily Chevies & Everyday Bits line, that mix and match really well with most of my other collections. My journaling is printed and spliced up because I was trying to still make the photograph the biggest element on the layout, even thought it's only a wallet size 2.5x3.5".

There's more detail shots, a full supply list and more info about this layout over at the Bella Blog today!

Want more Christmas Countdown ideas? Click here for the Christmas Countdown Gallery! These new collections are just beginning to hit your favorite local and online stores today...keep an eye out for it while it's hot! hot! hot!

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!

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?

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 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???

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!