#Staycation2014

ABOUT THE PHOTO(S):
We cancelled our planned trip to Florida last minute in June and ended up on a Staycation instead! It ended up being a good break for our family, even though Natalie was teething the first half of it!

LAYOUT DESIGN:
I basically copied this layout by Paige Evans, because... well look at how awesome it is!!

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED:
First I cut the world map using my Silhouette Cameo with this world map shape I purchased in the Silhouette online store! I used the paper and wood veneer numbers from this month's Penny Arcade kit from Studio Calico, but then used a combination of the Printables by In A Creative Bubble by Geralyn Sy and the free printables by Hello Forever by Marcy Penner that went with the Brighton Pier collection this month to layer around the photos! I just love how the photos are us staying home and the page shows a map of the world and that "Jetsetter" embellishment :)

Love

ABOUT THE PHOTO:
Natalie and her little buddy from church who is 3 weeks older than her just really seem to get along great whenever we have a play date! They are so cute together!

LAYOUT DESIGN:
For this layout I used an older sketch template from January 2012 from the SimpleScrapper.com (the premium membership gives you access to all the past archives)!

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED:
I dug right into the newest collection from Studio Calico, Brighton Pier! I just love those papers! I also mixed in a few items from the Penny Arcade SC kit this month. I kept it simple, so I will probably add the date and some journaling to the back before it goes into Natalie's 2nd completed album!

Baptism & Picnic

ABOUT THE PHOTO(S):
Got some random pics from our church's baptism & picnic last month, but of course a couple of Natalie in there!

LAYOUT DESIGN:
I used a sketch template from this month from the Simple Scrapper membership and loved how unique this layout turned out with the long skinny photos (I think they are about 1.75"x5").

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED: I used papers from this month's Studio Calico kit, Penny Arcade but got stuck when I went to do the title. I had taken out about 5 different sets of alphas to potentially use, none that looked quite right, until my delivery came today of SC's latest collection, Brighton Pier! I used the silver alphas and the silver star rub-ons to finish the page!

CCW Babies

ABOUT THE PHOTO(S):
This is what 4 babies on a hot day looks like when they are each ready for a nap and not feeling like smiling for a picture haha!

LAYOUT DESIGN:
Originally I had something else in mind completely, but when I started picking out papers to use, I came across this happy cloud paper from the most recent Studio Calico kit, Penny Arcade and I just thought it looked so funny in contrast to the picture of 4 miserable babies, none of whom are smiling haha! So I couldn't resist using it!

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED:
I didn't want to cover too much of that paper, so I cut out the cloud using this cut file by Geralyn Sy, on my Silhouette Cameo. I went around the edge of it with a black pen to stand out, and backed it with pink paper and actually I cut out a piece of the cardboard backing from the 4x6 pad of paper I bought with this month's kit! I sewed the lines with a light silver colored thread and added the metallic stars from an older kit.

Funny Girl

ABOUT THE PHOTOS:
Just some quick snapshots I took of me and Natalie playing (the same day as the last layout at 9 months old)... she was being funny sticking her tongue out whenever I did and just being her silly self (when she's not hungry or ready for a nap of course)!

LAYOUT DESIGN:
I used a sketch template from this month from the Simple Scrapper. If you are a premium member of SimpleScrapper.com, you get 5 new sketch templates each month plus access to download all the archived ones! I am definitely getting my money's worth from the membership - I save lots of time trying to plan out my layouts and can get right to work and lately I've been able to start and finish a layout in under 2 hours!

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED:
I dug a little more into the latest Studio Calico kit, Penny Arcade, except for the background piece of paper was a lighter blue from a previous kit. I used the 4x6 add-on pad of paper to get the pieces for layering so I didn't have to cut into my 12x12 sheets yet. This definitely helped me go for this layout without hesitation. Sometimes if a layout I want to do needs lots of smaller pieces of paper, I will wait towards "the end" of the kit, but this let me not worry about that! This isn't my favorite layout, but I really like the way it looks next to my previous layout in my album.

9 Months

ABOUT THE PHOTOS:
This was Natalie at 9 months old, almost 2 months ago! I should've mentioned in the journaling that she is wearing her buddy's shirt because the night before she screamed all the way to church and puked all over herself and I stupidly didn't pack an extra set of clothes for her in the diaper bag. Luckily her friend let her borrow that shirt and the next day I took some pics before she got her much-needed bath.

LAYOUT DESIGN:
Anyway, I basically did almost a straight up scraplift/copy of this layout by Gillian Nelson! I loved her layout, especially how simple it was, but so uniquely her, that I decided to try to make it uniquely mine haha!

MY PROCESS:/PRODUCTS USED:
I used this cut file by Paige Evans for Studio Calico and basically just cut the 6x8 background file into a square - about 6x6, then cut it out of white card stock. I used the latest SC kit, Penny Arcade that arrived at my doorstep on July 3rd! Perfect for some holiday weekend scrapping!

Congrats Wedding card

ABOUT THIS CARD: I made this card for my cousin who lives in Indiana and got married in Florida!! We ended up missing out on the wedding because of our needy 10 month old baby, but it looked like they had a blast!

PRODUCTS/PROCESS: First and foremost, I bought this digital stamp brush USA map from Studio Calico and stamped at 2500px, printed it, and cut it out! I added some gold hearts to the two states and adhered to a piece of card stock from last year's Double Scoop kit. I kept it simple and just added the Kal Barteski letter thickers from the Amy Tangerine Plus One collection by American Crafts!

I love how this card turned out, and love that I got to use that digital brush stamp file right away!