Life Is an Adventure

I got this "funny" picture of Chris while we were out at dinner a couple weeks ago! It's only funny because he was looking at me while I was trying to take his picture, but it was so dark so I told him to get into the light, so instead of just leaning back, he looked up at the light because he wasn't coordinated enough to not look away also haha! We laughed so hard, and that was our "moment" - every time we go out to dinner, we always end up laughing really hard at least once, so this was it this time! He is so funny and makes life so interesting!

Anyway, this is my 4th layout with the Copper Mountain kit from Studio Calico - actually 4.5 if you count the one I made that also mixed in pieces of wood veneer from my stash. That's a lot considering I ONLY bought the main kit this month and NOTHING else, not even the added colored card stock. I didn't think I'd get to do a whole lot after last month from doing December Daily plus trying to use up the Blue Note kit.

Since I didn't have a whole lot of options, I decided to punch some pinking circles to fill in that space after I had my photos where I wanted them. I knew I definitely wanted to use that piece of background paper but other than that not much of an idea. I called Chris downstairs to help me and showed him a screen of Copper Mountain layouts I had saved as inspiration - he saw this one by Melanie Louette and said he liked the "banner" that said Life is and adventure. I decided to use a piece of white card stock and that phrase on mine too! I used my big alpha roller stamp to stamp the "& a lot more fun" underneath that. This layout ended up being so much better than I thought it was going to be! This will go in a new album I started that is just for Chris!

Seriously

Stop it with the faces! These two girls are so fun and wild and crazy!

I used the background piece of paper from the PrintShop collection by Shanna Noel for Studio Calico and embellished with the new Amy Tangerine Plus One collection for American Crafts! I really love the foam phrases, and I loved that typewriter sticker, so glad I got to use it!!

This wasn't my favorite layout, but after adding the black foam hearts and "xo." sentiment in the lower right, as per suggestion by Natalie's Nanny - it is really growing on me! It definitely needed that little extra boost!

Mia Famiglia

I finished this layout this morning while Natalie napped (extra long) and unexpectedly on my day off! Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

I already had the little windows cut out from the piece of paper from the Printshop collection by Shanna Noel but wasn't really sure what to do from there. I was planning to back each little window with small pieces of paper, but was feeling like that would take too long, so used another sheet of paper from the same collection to back.

I embellished with Amy Tangerine's Plus One collection. Love these pictures of "mia famiglia" hehe :)

Love You

Let me start off by saying, this photo is a much bigger deal than meets the eye... GG, Natalie's grandma (aka someone NOT me), was able to feed her a little cereal last week! Omigoodness, someone else can finally feed this 5 month old little beast!! She finally didn't cry as soon as anyone else in the family looked at her that wasn't me or Chris too. It seems she has turned a corner... hoping this lasts for awhile anyway!

Onto the layout - I was totally inspired by Nicole Samuels' Starting Points blog (here) this week, to use a mosaic! Her blog entry couldn't have come at a better time because I bought some of the Plus One collection by Amy Tangerine for early release at TwoPeasInABucket.com but they still haven't released any 12x12 papers, so I was looking for ideas where I could use the 6x6 papers!

So I decided to start with the heart diecut, and then add punches outward. This was really fun to put together! I made them more dense near the heart and gradually less dense as it fanned out. It looked cool and it saved me from having to punch a gazillion stars, plus with all the color, it helped give some space for your eyes to rest. I love the brush script foam letter thickers! I just added a label and sticker at the top right to balance out the page! Thanks for stopping by!

Oh my darling

This picture was too funny not to make a layout for! Natalie needs to see her Mama's face to calm down haha!

I really liked how this layout by CharissaM on Studio Calico used the digital templates by Shanna Noel, so I lifted the design to make my own chevrons!

This is also my first layout with the new Amy Tangerine Plus One collection!! I was so excited to dig into this latest collection, inspired no doubt, by Amy's baby boy Jack, who is about a month younger than Natalie!

A Little Freedom

Last month we made it to the "nice" mall about 40 minutes away, and decided if worst came to worse, I would just nurse her in the car, but we needed to GET OUT of the house!! Hence, the title - just "a little freedom" haha!

I lifted the layout At First Sight, by Nicole Samuels, where she broke it down and gave a step-by-step tutorial on the Studio Calico blog here! I loved the peeled back piece of paper, which ended up fitting perfectly with my theme and photo of me carrying Natalie in the Baby Beco at the mall!

I used some older Amy Tangerine foam thickers for the title, but used the Copper Mountain kit by Studio Calico for the rest. Chris really loved this layout, he said it was instantly one of his favorites of all time, wow!

That Face

Just a very simple layout of Natalie's face... I just love that face!!

I used the below sketch from Studio Calico as my starting point, but ended up simplifying it even more, since I just wanted to incorporate a (sappy) letter to my daughter. Hopefully she will read this one day and know how much she is loved!

Thank You

Yes, I reused the circle idea on this page... but this page is for my husband, so it will go in a different album than the last layout and only YOU, attentive blog reader, will know that I recycled this idea, ha!

I started with this sketch that was on the Studio Calico blog here! The sketch made this layout come together SO quick and easy - I just started cutting up papers right away!

I just added some embellishments from the Copper Mountain kit above the picture, but really didn't want to do too much up there because the paper was so graphic.

So I kept it pretty simple otherwise, and the focus of my page was writing this sort of thank you letter to Chris, because he really is an amazing husband and helps me SO MUCH, I can't even write it all down! He makes life so much easier and better, and way more interesting and funny!

Thanks for stopping by!

Story Of My Life

OK, I'll be honest, I didn't know how precious this picture really was until I edited it with Photoshop Elements... and after I printed it, I said, I have to make this its own layout! So I did! I made this layout for Challenge #1 over on the Studio Calico blog for an online crop they were/are doing yesterday and today!

Unfortunately I can only take a little credit for the photo and editing (I used a stamp brush that came with the Process class by Catherine Davis, by Studio Calico, to stamp the title). For the design, I followed Lexi Bridges tutorial here and scraplifted her awesome layout!

I just went into my stash of wood veneer and used those, then used some embellishments from the latest Studio Calico kit, Copper Mountain. This might be my absolute favorite layout now!

Home Sweet Home

My friend and her son came over for a quick visit on New Years Eve! She had moved away last year, and is back home visiting for a couple weeks, so it was nice to see them amidst all the plans I'm sure they had! I did a little subtle something to the photo - I stamped the Merry Bright title on the mirror, mostly to cover up my husband Chris, waving his hands in the air to try to get the kids' attention haha!

I kept this layout very simple, since I loved that wood background paper! I loved how the chevron paper was used on this layout by blbooth at Studio Calico!

I used some VERY old letter thickers for the "Sweet" part of the title - we're talking from the Lawn Party kit by Studio Calico for May 2011! That was the first kit I ever bought and sadly, still haven't used much of it because I just loved it so much I couldn't bring myself to cut into the papers and supplies. I may need to remedy that soon!

More Please

I never thought I'd be so excited to give my baby solid food! She loved her sweet potatoes and she knew right away to swallow them and stretch out her neck for more haha! Hungry girl :)

I kept this one pretty simple and used the Blue Note kit from Studio Calico. I printed out my pictures in a square and then cut the die cut from my Silhouette - that die cut came in the Life Scripted class with Kal Barteski, that starts in February.

I decided to use my journaling as a border around the square and then added a tiny bit of stitching at the top, but I guess I wish I had used a different color to show up a little better, oh well!

Be the Love

Here's another hybrid layout I made with a template that's part of the newest Studio Calico class, Life Scripted with Kal Barteski! I can't wait for the class to get started in February!

I had a few pictures of Natalie rolling over onto her stomach and one of her getting tired out - I didn't print them correctly, so they came out a little darker, but how awesome is that Photo Black! It looks like I painted on top!

Chris and I have a million different nicknames for Natalie, so I just filled in a few and repeated them for the background. I added some black stars that came in one of last month's kits from Studio Calico, and kept it simple!

Be You

Here's another hybrid layout of Natalie playing in her jumparoo! I just LOVE these pics I had gotten for December Daily with our DSLR camera. The quality is so good and Chris bought me a new printer and paper that prints AMAZINGLY!! It is an Epson XP-810 and here he got me some "soft gloss" paper, which prints more like the matte prints that you order from online, so it is perfect!

I got the idea for the digital portion of this layout from this layout by Tina Azmus at Studio Calico! I love how she used some printables for the background of her layout!

I used the Blue Note kit from Studio Calico to complete the rest of the layout - just that purple paper and those precut diamonds that I backed with some woodgrain-like paper. Thanks for stopping by!