How is it possible that it's been OVER a year since I have written on my blog?  It's also been almost a year since I have sat down and scrapbooked(!!).   I really don't know where to begin other or how to jump back into things or where blogging might fit back into my routine.... but I would love to revisit my blog home and share stories again here.  And what better time to blog than at the beginning of our favorite season- SUMMER!

One of the many NEW things over the last year is our frequent visits to Florida, as we now have a little place in Largo, Florida (near Clearwater Beach area.)  If you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen many of my Florida photos over the last year.  And HEY- bonus is that Disney is only 1 hour and 15 minutes away!

So to celebrate the start of summer I wanted to share a layout i made awhile ago, but haven't shared yet (feels so good to scrap again):

We can't wait to get back into this ocean very soon!!!!!

I created this using Elle's Studio's Summer line from 2016- Sunny Days. 

Thanks for swinging by after all these months!!!!  Happy Summer!

Elle's Studio Products Used:  Sunny Days-Bits and Pieces, Sunny Days 6x6 Paper Pack, Elle's Studio June 2016 Exclusive Kit

Celebrate December at Elle's Studio

Have you been checking out the Elle's Studio blog this month for our Celebrate December event?  I've been super inspired this month with all the various projects that have been featured.  Today my layout went up on the Elle's Studio blog.

I used Elle's Be Merry Number Cutouts to create a "month in review" type layout.  I had my photos printed as wallet sized or smaller (Mpix has a great "mini" size) and cropped them to fit into various number spots on the cut out.

This is a great alternative to a December Daily album if you are looking for something that doesn't require as much time as a mini album.

Thank you for swinging by today!  I hope you have a lovely weekend-- i know we are scurrying around prepping for the big day! 

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Summer Lovin' Mini Album Workshop

I am so please and excited to announce Elle's Studio's first workshop-- the Summer Lovin' Mini Album Workshop!  I have been working super hard on this FUN mini album and I am thrilled to finally share the workshop with you.

Summer is finally upon us:  Relaxed schedules. Time to play. Time to explore. Time to enjoy a slower pace.  Summer is such a wonderful time of the year, and one that is meant to be documented.

Inspired by our first and very popular Savoring Summer Project Kit, Elle and I are thrilled to develop a workshop where we show you how to put together your own Summer Mini Album.

For the Summer Lovin' mini album I used Elle's new Summer Line, Summer Lovin' with our two most recent Project Kits, Here & Now and Everyday Moments (pssst these kits are now on sale for 25% off while supplies last!!).  But, the best part of this workshop is you can use the items in your own stash.

With the purchase of the Summer Lovin' Mini Album workshop, you will receive:

• step by step instructions on how to put together pages for an album and how to embellish each page.   
• three updates throughout the summer showing the progression of my own album with any additional thoughts or techniques used.

• thirteen exclusive Elle's Studio digital tags for your Summer Lovin' mini album.

Aren't these exclusive tags GREAT????  Are you ready to join me in documenting your summer months?  I hope so!  The workshop will be so much fun and it's very affordable at the low cost of $9.99.  Click here for more details.

Today is also a huge day at Elle's Studio where in addition to the workshop, Elle launched the new summer
line- Summer Lovin'!!!  I used the Summer Loving tags in the base of my album-- they are just gorgeous.

And new stamps too...

Thanks for swinging by today and happy shopping!!!

Here & Now and Everyday Moments

I am super excited to share with you two brand new limited Elle's Studio kits-- Here & Now, and Everyday Moments.

This is something Elle and I have been working for awhile now, and I have to say, I am just in love with these two kits.  I know i say that with every kit, but these kits are just so vibrant and fun--the color combo in these two kits are some of my very favorites right now.  I had a blast choosing the papers and embellishments that went into each of these kits, and I hope you enjoy them too :)

Elle created INCREDIBLE tags for both of these kits.  And of course, they are exclusive to the kit and won't be sold anywhere else.  Additionally, in the Here & Now kit, there are exclusive badges made by the fabulous Evalicious!!!!

I love the everyday "theme" of these kits, they are perfect for layouts, Project Life, and even Week in the Life.  It's very versatile with papers and embellishments from various manufacturers such as My Minds Eye, Studio Calico, Lawn Fawn, October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin, Crate Paper, Echo Park, Hambly, and American Crafts.

AND-- Today only, you can purchase both kits at 10% off.  Super awesome deal.... but don't wait, because the offer is good for today only.  AND these kits are limited quantity and will sell out fast!!  You can purchase the kits here.

Thanks for swinging by today and sharing in my excitement for these kits.   i LOVE designing these kits with Elle and I truly hope you enjoy them as well!! :)

A Love Story

Did you see our newest Project Kit from Elle's Studio, A Love Story?


We are so excited to introduce to you today our new kit: A Love Story! This kit is perfect for your layouts and the ones and memories you love, along with your everyday layouts. It includes beautiful papers and alphabets from popular scrapbooking manufacturers, along with exclusive and limited edition tags and stamps from us! These tags are exclusive to this kit and will not be printed or sold again! Also, we have some exclusive flowers made by Tara Anderson of Citron Faire! The flowers are handmade from 14 different fabrics and are beautiful!


Here are two layouts I made with this kit:















I hope you can see how much fun Elle and I had putting this kit together.  The colors and textures here are just gorgeous.  I have a hard time deciding if the tags, stamp, flowers, or papers are my favorite part.  All of it together just makes for a gorgeous kit.

You can find A Love Story here in the shop (along with extra pattern paper and card stock and other goodies as well).

December Daily (Dec 2 - Dec 5)

I think i discovered the secret (for me at least) for keeping up with my December Daily.

1) Make the pages smaller (my album is 5 X 6.5) 2) do one page per day, and 3) always carry my instax/iPhone with me.

Somehow that combo is helping me to keep up and not feel over-stressed. It's just a glimpse of the day, which once completed, will tell a full story of preparing our hearts for Christmas.

Project Life Week 13

Today I want to share Week 12 of Project Life! I shared this over at Elle's Studio on Tuesday (along with a giveaway!!)-- so make sure to swing by and leave a comment to be entered for a Project Life prize pack!

I think this is my favorite Project Life spread to date. It was a FULL week (week of Thanksgiving), with lots of photos and lots of different themes (everyday stuff, birthdays, thanksgiving, christmas tree hunting, etc). It was a little overwhelming at first to figure out what to include (and not include) for this particular week.

One thing I am really trying to be more intentional about is adding the everyday photos. It's easy for me to make an outline of all the "big events" and focus on those in Project Life, but i am trying to create a balance between the to--- (which for me means keeping my camera out and handy for everyday activities :)

Before our family Thanksgiving, I cut out 18+ journaling spots consisting of Elle's Studio Handmade Layers collection, Sassafras Pattern Paper, and Lily Bee Journaling Cards. I cut them to fit the insert you see above by We R Memory Keepers (3.5 x 2.625 items-- the size of an instax). I made the quick title, "So Thankful" with an Elle's Studio circle tag, Lily Bee ABC stickers, and mix-matched wood alphas (i think one is by harmonie one is by Making Memories-- they don't match because it was all i had!)

At Thanksgiving, I asked each member of my family to share something they were thankful for this year (funny or serious) and write it on the journaling card with their name. We had a "smaller" crowd this year, so it was a little easier to accomplish this. I just love how this turned out-- it's so precious to me to have the thoughts and handwriting of family member sharing their hearts.

I think this is something you could easily recreated as we are in the Holiday season-- Christmas get togethers, New Years Eve, birthdays/parties, etc. Are great times to have these cards out and available for notes to include in Project Life.

Additionally, I included Thanksgiving hand-print art that both of my kids did at school (love seeing their little hands!). The last page focused on thanksgiving day and the weekend after. This part was so hard for me because there were many photos I wanted to include! For thanksgiving I decided to focus on the story of our "pitch-in's" at Holiday get-togethers. And also tell the story of this photo:

I just adore this photo of my grandma. My sister and cousin were traveling in South Africa over Thanksgiving, so we planned to Facetime with them while we were all together. My grandma always laughs at us with our iPhone addictions- but has never really experienced how cool it is (and definitely never has facetimed!). The photo above was taken when she saw Annie and Rachel on the phone and started talking to them--- total surprise!!

I also love this photo where you can see everyone talking and you can also see their little faces on the phone. Just a different way of all of us being together on Thanksgiving-- technology is so cool. I didn't include this in Project Life, really only because i didn't have enough space. When this happens, I realize i probably need to create a layout!

A few "found" objects I included this week were: movie/football ticket stubs, twine that held our christmas tree to our car, kids art work, and a coaster from my mom's birthday dinner.

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read all of my Project Life posts here.

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