Keeping Calm & Carrying On

Coming Friday!

It's an adorable issue full of new Bella Blvd products, that are NOW SHIPPING! It's going to a beautiful Valentine's Day full of inspiration. Check back Friday for the link to download the latest free issue of The Bella Buzz newsletter, full of never-seen-before projects!

So Many Projects

I've been working on so many projects at once lately that it's been quite hard to keep up. I haven't shared too many scrapbooking pages, but trust me I've been whipping them up like crazy! I'm working on two gift albums both that need to be finished come spring time that I can't wait to reveal and show you. But for now they need to stay top secret.

At home we have projects going on too. Steven and I finally tackled our bedroom "Christmas gift" project. We spent the entire weekend painting, fixing & assembling furniture, rearranging and more. It's looking great...I'll be sure to share photos once my pieces are all hung up on the wall...I'm just waiting for one more.And, because I hate blogging without a photo, here's a look at the brand new Bella Blvd collections displayed quite beautifully at the local Grand Re-Opening of The Scrapbook Store & More. Doesn't it look great! All the CHA orders will begin shipping next week. I'm so excited to get it out into the world...another four babies are ready to fly!

Hope you're having a great week.

13: A Bella Blvd Molly Layout

 

 

A new day means a new layout! There's some great inspiration this week over at the Bella Blvd Studio blog with my newest collections that will begin shipping later next month. 

The subject of this page is my niece, Anabelle, documenting her 13^th birthday. Full of flair and sas and she's alla bout middle-school, texting and friends (including boys :) One could say the Molly collection was a bit inspired by her attitude towards life these days.

Today this layout featuring the new Molly collection is up on the blog. Stop by Bella's blog for more detail shots, layout description and a tip too!

Sneak Peek: Monday Nights Layout

 

I'm sharing a layout today over at the Bella Blvd Studio Blog that I made for the CHA Trade Show display earlier this month. 

The Max collection was inspired by this little man, my nephew Carson, and so I could hardly wait to dive into the new products when the samples came. I love the new sticker alphabet, don't you?

Visit the Bella Blog for the full page reveal and additional details. Here's a close-up of my journaling documenting Carson's rise to little league baseball. He was great!

Family Christmas Photo

Hard to believe that Christmas has one-month-past. I'm proud to say that I have completed my December Daily. I just had a really hard time photographing and posting it all during the month of December with preparing for the CHA show. Here's the best family photograph we go this year, our first married Christmas and Mr. & Mrs.

Would you still be interested in seeing posts of my December Daily Album 2013? Or are you over it? Let me know...

 

 

Friday Favorites: Far Away Friends

 

(best selfie ever, right?!)

Today's Friday Favorites is

Far-Away Friends.

"Little" Sara and I lived close and worked together when we first became friends. Then, college separated us and life took us on our way to different states, with different men and different adventures. Today's Friday Favorite means a lot to me, that after so many years, more than 12 we've remained friends!

 

While Sara was home for Christmas we were able to sneak in an afternoon together! I haven't seen her since the babies (twiners) have been born, because understandably her and Josh's travel has been very limited :)

 

Look at those little girlies---how cute are they?! :)

 

Allyson and Sara just kept saying, "you have to hold both of them at the same time to know what it's really like!" 

I can't even imagine Sara and Josh's real-life, 24 hours a day, but a glimpse of it in December looked pretty fantastic, at least from the outside. I'm sure there are rough moments and I know exhaustion too, but look how sweet they are :)

 

Now residing in California, I was lucky enough to see Sara while I was traveling for business at CHA. She drove into Anaheim, scooped me up and we had dinner together, just the two of us! It's so wonderful to have friends in different places, it makes it that much more special when we see each other.

Happy Friday readers. I hope you have a great weekend, full of friendships and laughs. If you have a friend that lives far away, take some time out of your day to give him or her a call, if just for a few minutes :)

 

Warrior 5k: Mixing and Matching w/Bella Blvd

Gosh this layout is really dating how far behind I am in my scrapbooking, but it's okay for me...I love looking back and seeing how far I've come. This Warrior 5k was one of the very first ones I ran. My little sister was training for a half marathon and I thought she was nuts! Now look at the two of us :) The layout combines patterns from different collections including Finally Fall, Engaged at Last and Sophisticates. I had quite a few photos I wanted to use so I printed them wallet-size to get them all unto this layout.

 

The then-boyfriend, took some pretty good photographs with my camera. I was a proud lady :)   Glad I've been able to document my running story as it's truly become a way of life and part of my weekly routine now. Have you documented your weight-loss progress through scrapbooking? a journal or a voice diary?

Visiting the Getty Museum

After CHA closed I was fortunate enough to extend my trip one extra night. A close friend of mine had planned a trip to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

 Fist off, it was a beautiful 80-degree day!!! The museum is fairly new, built in the late 90s all made of stone. It sits on top of a mountain, almost like an acropolis, just huge and awesome!

The views of Los Angeles were breathtaking and since there wasn't a cloud in the sky you could see for miles and miles!This was my best attempt at a selfie, a reflection of us in one of the huge window panes :)

We took a tour of this exhibit including somme stained glass windows from the ancient Canterbury in the UK. Very biblical, inspiring and colorful too! I loved it.

The architecture of the Getty is beautiful. I loved it. We visited other galleries as well including some beautiful and well-known oil paintings by the one and only Vincent Van Gogh. Walking through the galleries and enjoying some time out in the Getty Gardens really took me back to college, when I studied abroad in Italy.

 

The Gardent were beautiful. I could only imagine how much more lush they are in summer when the trees are full and the flowers are in bloom.

I feel so blessed to be able to spend time with Nilmarie. We live so far apart and yet, still find time to see each other time and time again. It's pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

I think my CHA "hangover" has just about subsided. It was another successful CHA release and show in Anaheim, California last week.

 

It's hard to explain but the trip always seems really quick, yet really long all at the same time. I love seeing all the customers, enjoying conversations about the industry, how business is and new ideas, and also making new contacts and business. The days fly by because we are busy and there is so much to do, however all in all we are gone for about a week and the days are long too.Today over at Bella Blvd's Studio Blog, I'm sharing additional photos and a recap of CHA. Stop by for more information and inspiration. 

I designed four new collections for CHA Winter that will begin shipping the week of February 17th to customers all around the world. So be sure to as for Family Forever (above), Max, Molly and Lucky Starz (below).

 

 

Check out these cute frames with the Paper Pieces (die-cut shapes) mixed and matched, displayed in front of some of Bella Blvd's fabric prints. Cute, huh?!

 

 

 

While I have met Design Team member Nicole Nowosad before, I never really had the opportunity to chat and really get to know her. She came to dinner with us one night....we had a great time!

 

And one of my customers, Scrapbook Gallery, has recently been purchased by a new owner (on the right) and is currently remodeling the store and will be re-opening soon as the Scrapbook Gallery and More PR. So proud of Anette and her new adventure. We need more new stores and excitement like this in the industry!

Thank you for following me on Facebook throughout the show and for all the wonderful comments over at Bella Blvd about my newest collections. I can't wait to begin designing some new workshops with these products! 

 

Are you Inspired?

These Design Team girls never cease to amaze me. Don't forget, all week long the Bella Blvd Studio Blog is full of brand new collection ideas just for you! Don't miss out!

Winners: Fabric & Tam Tam

I just realized that I never announced winners from these awesome giveaways right here on the blog. Thanks for your patience as my life has been a bit nuts...I've been battling the flu bug, preparing for the CHA Mega show, traveling and more!

The Tam Tam Design Winner (see giveaway post here) is:

 

And the Riley Blake Summer Breeze Fabric Winner (see fabric giveaway here) is:

 

Congrats ladies and thank you for participating. If you are the winner, please email me using the subject line: DESIGNING MY LIFE WINNER-(fabric) or (TamTam) specifying your prize. I'll be sure to get those mailed out to you right away!

Happy Wednesday!

Let Inspiration Week Begin

Today is our Inspiration Week kick-off over at the Bella Blvd Studio Blog.  I'm very blessed to have such a talented Design Team that loves all things Bella Blvd. A few designers have had the opportunity to play with my brand new collections, to create layouts and projects for the CHA Winter Megashow booth display. 

Starting today, and all week long, the Bella Blvd Studio Blog will be full of brand new collections, brand new inspiration, color and excitement featuring Max, Molly, Family Forever, and Lucky Starz.

These new collections will all begin shipping the first week of February!

ULTiMATE GiVEAWAY, First Day of CHA & Candid Cards

Good morning :) How are you?! My team and I have safely arrived in Anaheim and have been hard at work getting the booth display ready for all it's customers. It's definitely been nice to see bits and pieces of sunshine these past couple of days. I'm definitely not missing the deep freeze back at home. 

Today I'd like to introduce you to a new product from Bella Blvd at CHA Winter, Candid Cards.

The DT is real excited about these die-cut cards, in a variety of shapes that are perfect companions for Project Life, pocket pages and for your day-to-day scrapbooking layouts and cards. Each Candid Cards package includes more than 20 pieces and all of them are double-sided with pretty patterns on the backs! Here's a peek at the contents of the Lucky Starz collection Candid Cards.

Visit the Studio Blog today for more details on these Candid Cards, and for a chance to win our ULTIMATE GIVEAWAY!!!

Have you been following me on facebook for CHA updates? I have four new collections! Bella Blvd will begin shipping these newest products to your favorite online and local scrapbooking stores in just a couple of weeks, beginning Feb. 3rd.

Happy First day of CHA!

Lucky Starz: Don't Miss the Backsides!

If you're a Bella Blvd fan, then I'm confident that you're familiar with my Sophisticates series of products. Sophisticates started as a basics collection, perfect for everyday use, that includes monochromatic patterns in a variety of colors. The c has evolved over the years from polkadots, lace patterns and more recently giant chevrons. I'm so excited to show you collection Lucky Starz, my brand new basics collection for CHA Winter 2014.

The best part of Lucky Starz you ask, THE BACKSIDES of the PAPERS! Check 'em  out:

The backsides include all the most commonly used colors in Bella Blvd's designs. You can mix and match them together or across my entire product catalog collection.

 

(Love this one especially, it's gray script full of commonly used hashtags!)

These are just a few of my favorites from Lucky Starz. The bright colors make me so happy, it screams Bella Blvd doesn't it? The collection includes cardstock stickers and die cuts too! Visit Bella Blvd's Blog today for the full reveal, and a chance to win-it-before-you-can-buy-it too!

 

 

Everyone belongs to a family, big or small, furry or not, we all have family. And if your anything like me, your family is the star of your scrapbooking projects and pages, right?!

 

Family Forever is a new collection inspired by my very own home decor, love for family and everyday rules to live by. The colors in this collection are versatile for family photos and everyday snapshots...I can't wait to play with it a bit more!

 

Take a look at this print. Again, it's one of my hand doodled ones. I love this one so much that I took the original and framed it for my house. It hangs just above the laundry shoot, so that everyone can see it, right at eye level, as we do daily chores like laundry and clean up.

 

And I just love how navy blue and gray look together in this pattern, Mom & Dad. (naming papers is one of my favorite things too!)

This go-around I've designed a brand new 12x12" sticker die including this charming uppercase alphabet. The new sticker name is Treasures & Text. They make me happy and have a little bit of everything from borders, office tabs, photo corners, word bits, arrows and more!

 

Today I'm giving away the complete Family Forever collection to a lucky Bella Blvd fan. For your chance to win stop by the Bella Blvd Studio Blog and leave a comment. It's that easy!

 

And stay tuned for the fourth and final collection reveal tomorrow! You're going to love it's colorful theme, I promise.