Jessica's Custom Creations

Simply Red * FREEBIE

2012-01-27T00:35:00.003-05:00

I am so excited to be showing you the newest kit in Wendy Tunison Designs Simplicity Series! This kit is all about the reds! It's called Simply Red and it's perfect for Valentine's Day, Christmas and so many other occasions! It's 30% off this week only at Scraps N Pieces!

Check out what our CT did with this kit...they're so awesome!

I also have this awesome freebie for you:

(The link stopped working after 130 downloads and I don't know why, so I have a new link for you ...)

Don't forget to check out Wendy's blog tomorrow for links to all of the CT freebies...you're not going to want to miss these! They're so amazing!
There are lots of other freebies at CraftCrave, CBH, and SQS.

Have a great day!

Are you in the spirit?

2012-01-25T13:59:00.000-05:00

I must admit, when Wendy Tunison's latest kit, In The Spirit, came out a few weeks after Christmas, I had already put it out of my mind and moved on. I was a bit Christmas'd out. But, after playing with it for a bit, Im thoroughly back in to Christmas. That's a good thing because I'm always SOOOOOOOOO busy at Christmastime that I never get more than a few layouts done. I would like to be able to more thoroughly document the holidays. They are a special time of year ... someday!

So, with Wendy's kit, I documented two more holiday stories:

This is Kevin and I on Christmas morning ... we were looking at the photos we took and though there were several of us looking at the camera, he didn't like any of them because he thought he looked tired ... so I used the one he liked :)

These pictures are from last year. Friends and family hanging out and goofing around after Christmas Eve service. I'm going to add journaling once my software program starts letting me (if any of you know why the text function in PSE suddenly starts crashing the software, please let me know).

And, in case you missed it, I have a wonderful FREEBIE for you. Just click here or on the picture below:

I hope you enjoy it!

*~*~*

In The Spirit * FREEBIE!

2012-01-18T22:12:00.001-05:00

Now that Christmas has passed we all should have some time to scrapbook all of the Christmas pictures! Yeah! Of course, Wendy is a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas and she loves the red, green and sparkle of it all! So she set out to make a kit that encompassed all of that and then some. Let me introduce you to In The Spirit which is available at SNP for 30% off this week!

There are 115 unique ellies, 20 papers and an alphabet in this huge kit but that's not where it ended. I'm telling you she just couldn't stop! So she created 56 more unique ellies and another full alpha for you!

Just wait until you see what our CT did with this kit...it gave me goosebumps!

My Freebie is below

I also wanted to remind you that Wendy is hosting the Template Challenge at SNP this month and she'd love it if you stopped by to grab the template and make a layout with it!

And finally, I have a freebie for you that I hope you'll enjoy.

You can download it by clicking here or on the preview. Enjoy and be sure to check out Wendy's blog tomorrow to pick up all of the freebies our CT made for you (THEY'RE AWESOME!!!).

There are lots of other freebies at CraftCrave, CBH, and SQS

One more thing...Wendy will be sending out a newsletter from now on so be sure to sign up with the link on the right side of her blog so you can be notified of new releases, special sales, coupons and exclusive freebies!

Have a great day!

Blue and Purple

2012-01-14T12:07:00.000-05:00

Today is the release of two kits from A+Designs. They are for the GottaGetIt (GGI) at GottaPixel.com.

Here are the layouts I did with them:

The kit is 'Love is a Many Splendored Thing' and it's mostly purple with some gray and white thrown in. Love purple :) Here are the kids and I all wearing purple :)

This kit is called, Oh Baby Oh, and it's mostly blue. I used a template from Kitty Designs as well to capture the memory of my sister and I. She and I spend the day before her wedding doing the before-wedding errands, etc. Special times :)

I hope you like them!

*~*~*

Will You Be Mine

2012-01-01T11:56:00.004-05:00

Here's a message from Wendy Tunison, who sells at SNP.

OH MY WORD! You will not believe all of the awesome goodness that's happening at SNP this month! SERIOUSLY! I'm so excited about all of this and I can't wait to share it with you!

First of all, there will be a new gift with $10.00 purchase! Simply add $10.00 in SNP products to your cart and you get it for FREE! Whoot! Keystone Scraps has made up this fabulous kit called You Mocha Me Happy...

Secondly, the SNP designers have been busy creating a wonderful CU grab bag for you! The best part? It's a full reveal grab bag! WHOOT!! I love it when I can see what it is I'm buying! This month they've created some unique overlays for you...YEAH!!! I love a good overlay! There are 21 overlays (only 20 shown) in this set for the low price of $7.99. What's even better? If you grab it during the first week, it's only $5.99! On top of that, they made an awesome Valentine's kit as the Store Collab for January so that you can get your Valentine's done early! OH YEAH!

The full bundle is just $10.99.

The Kit is just $7.99

They also made you a whole bunch of awesome Valentines that are just ready for you to print and use! Gotta love that! They'll be on sale for just $5.99 this month!

Our CT got to play with Wendy Tunison Designs' portion of this huge collab and this is what we came up with. I can't wait to see what everyone can come up with using the full collab!

Kristal even has a freebie for you! Yeah!

Have a great day!

Winter Layouts

2012-01-01T11:15:00.003-05:00

Hello everybody! Today is January 1st, 2012 and the start of a brand new year! Personally, I have purposed to do many things better this year, but I'm always striving for improvement. Honestly, I haven't reached clarity about my goals and don't know what kind of projects I want to commit to this year. I hope to be able to decide to so I'm not left going, "That would have been nice ..." I know that I've thought of several in the last few months that I would want to start on January 1st ... and now it's here and I can't remember half of them!

Anyway ... I thought a perfect way to start the new year would be to share my layouts from Wendy Tunison's newest release - a combo of winter kits. This is from the Crystal kit:

This is my daughter the winter before last. I absolutely LOVED this photo and tend to hoard the really good ones for when I feel I will do it justice ... and this kit seemed right. It needed pink and I LOVE snowflakes ... so here it is :) The journaling is the song from 'The Sound of Music', "My Favorite Things," and the title is the line, 'Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes', which is what I think of when I see it. Yes, there are some extra sparkles on this layout, but the flakes that day were large and fluffy and they are mostly what you see in her hair and on her eyelashes. I meant to put a little note in there that SHE is one of my favorite things :)

And in case you missed it in my last blog post, here is a freebie word art:
This layout was using the Jack Frost kit:
However, I took the girl from the Crystal kit (they're kind of split boy/girl) because I wanted to represent both genders.

We had record levels of snow last January and my daughter's birthday is at the end of the month. At her birthday party, the kids decided to go out and play in the snow. They started by shoveling a snow maze, which created huge piles of snow which they then dug tunnels through ... effectively becoming snow forts. They were cold and soaked, but happy. There's something magical about the snow!

I hope you like them!

*~*~*

And remember! A+Designs' 60% off sale ends today, so head on over to Gotta Pixel or ScrabBook Bytes and take advantage!

Release: Jack Frost & Crystal * FREEBIE

2011-12-29T20:30:00.006-05:00

Wendy Tunison Designs has 3 new kits and a bundle available today! Whoot!

I don't know about you but I can never find a planner that fills my needs. I search high and low online and in stores but I can never find the perfect planner that works perfectly for me. About 4 years ago Wendy started making her own at home. She simply creates the pages and prints them out. In the past she's had them spiral bound with laminated covers, used a bind-it-all to bind it with chipboard covers and most recently (and happily) a small 3 ring binder that she can easily add to and take pages out of. She loves it! She's added a few page protectors to hold bills, receipts, letters from school and tax items. It's totally customizable and so completely useable! So she thought she'd offer you the same option. She created this planner with her Simplicity kit so that it was easily versatile enough to add more ellies if you like for a splash of color yet easy on the printer ink!

This is a set of 5.5x8.5" customizable sheets. She's added all of the ellies and spaces for you. All you need to do is customize it for your own needs. If you look below you'll see a few ways she thought of to make this perfect for capturing a year of your life. A few of the ideas are things she'll keep on her computer and then have printed into a book at the end of the year. She thinks it will be a wonderful capture of her family and she can't wait to use this in 2012. She thinks it will be perfect for P365 too!

She has made each of the pages in left and right facing so that you can easily put them in any order you'd like as well.

Here are a couple of examples of how she customized hers. She'll be using this as her planner...

And then she thought it would be fun to capture a year of her family by asking a question each day...
Or taking a photo each day with a different theme...
You can pick up this fully customizable 2012 Planner for 40% off until Monday!She has also created a set of winter kits called Jack Frost & Crystal. You can buy them separately or together as a bundle.

Both kits and the bundle will be 40% off until Monday!Here's a look at what our CT did with these kits...

I even made you an awesome freebie with these kits! Check out Wendy's blog tomorrow for the rest of the great CT Freebies and don't forget all 4 of the kits are 40% off until Monday as is the rest of Wendy Tunison Designs Scraps N' Pieces Store! WHOOT!

*** The link was not working earlier, but is now fixed!***

Simplicity Layouts

2011-12-13T21:01:00.004-05:00

Here are my layouts for Wendy Tunison's latest kit, Simplicity:

This first one uses just the base kit which is black and white (and gray) ... pics of my daughter and I at a friend's wedding where I was a bridesmaid and she was the flower girl. I sort of wish for a little color, but I also like it plain and simple ... documenting this special time we shared :) Using a sketch template from Kitty Designs :)

This is using the base kit (black and white) and the pink add-on ... pictures of my darling daughter and titled, Simply You.
This is using the base kit and the blue add-on as well as an alpha from Danielle Young.
It's my darling daughter again in ballet class. She's up against the mirrors and I copied the photo to make it repeat and look like it's just one long line of Samanthas ... kind of like a hall of mirrors :) I used a template from Anna Aspnes and love the effect for the paper ... (check out my freebies!)
I created two this time because I thought some of you might like the simpler style :) Even though it's not that simple ....
Just click on the image to download the freebie papers ... I hope you enjoy them!!!

*~*~*

Simplicity * FREEBIE

2011-12-07T20:56:00.004-05:00

Wendy Tunison kind of had this fun idea that she wanted to create a black and white kit with 1 pop of color. But then she had issues. Serious issues! LOL! She couldn't decide which color she wanted to pop with it. So she started with one and then she decided that maybe she wanted two. Then the kit was HUGE! So she decided to stick with her original idea of a black & white kit. And she decided to make some add ons in different colors to go with it! This week she only made two colors to go with it but she has big plans to make more colorful add ons in the future so that you'll have some serious variety to play with! Are you ready to see it? It's huge! There are 108 ellies (no repeats and no recolors as always!) and 15 papers in this kit! It's awesome!

She also made a set of tags to go with it so that you could use them to create titles, dates and everything in between! Thanks to Kandi (on our CT), you get 31 numbers too so that you can use it for P365 or P52! Whoot!

Isn't that exciting?! I know I'm excited and after playing with these kits, I'm even more excited about them! I can't wait for her to make more colors to go with them! But for now, here's two of the colorful add ons for this kit.

Do you know what's even better? They are all on sale until Monday for 50% off! Oh yeah! So grab these up while they're on sale and be on the lookout for even more colors coming soon!

Do you want to see what our super amazingly awesome creative team did with these kits this week? You're going to die! Everyone is so talented!

Didn't I tell you that everyone is so talented?!

And today I have not one, but TWO freebies for you!

and in case you wanted something a little simpler:

Have a great day and don't forget to pick these kits up while they're 50% off!

Ps. Wendy is giving all 4 of these kits away to one lucky person. So leave a comment on her blog post for these kits and it could be you! She'll draw on Sunday morning so your comments need to be in by Saturday night.

Merry Layouts

2011-12-06T18:49:00.002-05:00

Here are my layouts using Wendy Tunison's newest kit, Merry. It's a Christmas Holiday kit with a different color twist. I like it very much ... but still couldn't bring myself to use pink on the cards to mail.

These are all pictures of my daughter from last Christmas (2010). I chose them because she was wearing this really cute Christmas shirt that's pink with Christmas trees and a reindeer and totally matched the kit ... but it doesn't even show in my layouts! She's also wearing a Santa hat, but I think you can figure that out :)

Both layouts use templates from Scrapping with Liz. And if you didn't pick it up from my last post, you can grab a FREEBIE desktop calendar with the December 2011 dates here:

I hope you like them!

*~*~*

Merry - FREEBIE calendar

2011-11-30T17:05:00.003-05:00

Wendy Tunison Designs has a fun new kit out this week called Merry.

Best of all, Merry will be 50% off until Monday at SNP! Whoot!

I bet you can't wait to see what our CT did with this kit. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! Don't forget to click through if you want to grab the amazing freebies they've made you as well. If someone's post isn't up yet, have a little patience. We are all on different time zones and it will be there soon if not already.

(both of these lovelies are available on Wendy's blog)

I also have a freebie for you but wanted to give you one last look at the kit and remind you that it's 50% off until Monday!

If you leave Wendy a comment on this post, she might even send you a coupon to get it for free! The more comments, the more winners! Whoot! Winners to be announced on Sunday morning so get your comments in by Saturday night!

And finally...one last freebie from me.

Have a great day!

Christmas Boys - Template Challenge

2011-11-23T14:43:00.003-05:00

Over at the A+Designs blog, Olivia is hosting a template challenge!

I love a template challenge :) I created this layout using A+Designs' Christmas Tide kit:
It's a picture of my husband, his brother, his dad and all the sons ... a boy picture :)

Be sure to head on over to grab the template before November 27th and I can't wait to see what you create!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Two Girls

2011-11-21T12:19:00.002-05:00

My daughter is such a love. A motherly love. She tries to boss around her brothers, but also take care of them. She wants to help out with everything and above all, she's incredibly sensitive and loving. She wants everybody to be happy!

Here she is with the one-year-old daughter of one of my friends:
The journaling reads: Samantha and Paityn. Two beautiful girls with a very special relationship. Samantha is such a loving and motherly girl. She always has beeen. She tries to take care of every one who is smaller than her. Her younger brother has managed to get used to it, but little Baby Paityn hasn't. The older and more active that Paityn becomes, the more Samantha wants to play with her. She will bring her toys and books to play with. She touches her and is very affectionate. She treats a one-year old like a tiny baby and like a girl who much older and more active. She wants her to crawl and walk and talk and is so happy and almost proud when she does. She holds on to her hands and tries to help her. She'll pick her up and carry her. The last part makes me rather nervous. I think it makes me more nervous than Alyson (Paityn's mom). Nothing has happened but I just remember all of the man-handling attempts Samantha had when Andrew was that age (they were both over 2 years younger). Yet, I am still proud of my daughter for her big heart.

I could have written it better (and might go back and edit), but I love these little moments and I really am proud of my darling daughter!

I used A+Designs' kit, Touch of Fall, and a template from Kitty Designs.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Autumn Harvest layouts - Leaf Me Alone and Painting Pumpkins

2011-11-21T12:09:00.002-05:00

In my last post, you saw the full release and creative inspiration from Autumn Harvest.

Here are my layouts:

This is my sister and her fiance playing in the leaves :) Love these pics!

And here are my kids at the library for Paint-A-Pumpkin. They had such a good time and are constantly impressing me with their creativity!

And in case you missed it, check out my FREE frame (click here to download).

I hope you like them!

*~*~*

Autumn Harvest - FREEBIE

2011-11-16T13:22:00.008-05:00

Since Wendy Tunison released the softer side of Autumn last week, she thought she'd give you the bolder side this week! I can't wait to show you Autumn Harvest! It's been so much fun to work with and our creative team just wowed me again with their amazing talent! It will be on sale for 50% off at SNP until Monday only so save yourself a little money (and who doesn't like to do that?) and pick it up now.

Check out what our amazing CT did with this kit...

And then there's me :)

And here's my gift to you:

Don't forget you can grab Autumn Harvest for 50% off until Monday at SNP!

Have a great day!

*~*~*

SNP Thankful Hearts Blogtrain

2011-11-15T22:52:00.004-05:00

Wendy Tunison is part of the SNP blog train for the Thankful Hearts collab from the designers of Scraps-N-Pieces (SNP). You can find her part here at her blog. I wanted to share with you the layout I made using the FREEBIE mini kit:

I am thankful for my family and this is a family pic from my sister's bridal shower. It includes me and my daughter, my sisters, my mom, my aunt, my grandmother and my sister's new Mother-in-Law. That's a lot of girls and there will only be more :) What a growing family tree!

In addition to the Thankful Hearts mini kit from Wendy Tunison, I modified a template from One Little Bird Designs.

I hope you like it and be sure to go grab the whole freebie kit from the blogtrain!

*~*~*

Autumn Kiss layouts

2011-11-13T21:54:00.002-05:00

In my last post, I shared the latest kit from Wendy Tunison, Autumn Kiss, and all of the inspirational layouts from her wonderful Creative Team. I'd like to followup and highlight my own layouts (since this is my blog) and here they are:

This one is the three kids out exploring in the backyard. They really are fearless and I love how they do things together. Even Andrew tags along in only his diaper, but he still wants to do everything they do!

This is my brother and his wife on their wedding day. I haven't scrapped all the pictures from that day (going to be a BIG album) but I'm working on getting the important ones :)

This is for the SNP template challenge. This template will be available at scraps-n-pieces.com during November. The pics are of my oldest at a wedding ... and I didn't have a great title, so I just left it alone for now.
You may remember from the last post, but this is the desktop FREEBIE calendar I created. You can still snag it here.

And I took my desktop and adjusted it to the square size for printing out. It's now on my laptop and home PC. I love it :)

I hope you enjoyed them and found some inspiration!

*~*~*

Autumn Kiss - FREEBIE

2011-11-10T01:08:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness! We have been having so much fun with this kit behind the scenes and today I'm so excited to show you Wendy Tunison's latest kit, Autumn Kisses! I sure hope you'll enjoy it as much as we have! It's also on sale at SNP for 50% off until Monday!

Before I show you what our CT has done, I thought I'd let you know about these two items of news that you might be interested in!

Ok...now let's get to all of the fabulousness that is our Creative Team! Everyone totally rocked this kit and I can't wait to show you! Be sure to stop by their blogs to grab any freebies you see below! There are also a couple of new gals so be sure to check them out! I'm so excited to welcome them to our team!

Isn't all that inspiration wonderful?!

Be sure to grab my freebie before you rush out and get the kit!

Click on the image above or on this link to download this November 2011 desktop calendar

Have a great day and don't forget to go pick up Autumn's Kiss while it's on sale!

Bedtime Story Routine & Lovely

2011-10-20T13:52:00.002-04:00

I created two new layouts with Wendy Tunison's latest kit, Midterm. Here's the first:
This one is about our family routine of bedtime stories. The kids LOVE to read books ... or rather having books read to them!

And this is my lovely daughter :) I converted this layout in to a quickpage and it is available for FREE in my previous post ... be sure to grab it!

I hope you like them!

*~*~*

Midterm * FREEBIE quickpage!

2011-10-19T18:44:00.005-04:00

I'm so excited to show you Wendy Tunison's latest kit called Midterm! It will be on sale for 50% off through Sunday at SNP and NDISB so grab it while it saves you some money!

Take a look at what our CT has created with this kit! Don't forget to grab the freebies we made you by clicking on the preview to visit each blog.

Love how she recolored things to make this kit fit her pics!

Wendy has a winner to announce as well! Someone has to win a free kit, right?!

Wendy will also be sending out some RAK's at SNP today so be sure to check your inbox there! While you're there, be sure to check out the sale she's having in her shop!

Of course I have a freebie for you too!

All you have to do is click on the image above to download the freebie!

Don't forget to check out CraftCrave and CBH for more freebies!

Have a great day!

Ride On & Boys Will Be Boys

2011-10-13T21:02:00.002-04:00

I'm sure you enjoyed looking at everybody's wonderful layouts in my last post and I do hope that you grabbed everybody's freebies as well as my own. If you didn't get the freebie, make sure you check out my last post!!!

I wanted to re-share my own layouts once again since this is my blog and I know that you might not have noticed my layouts in particular.

Wendy's kit was inspired by her brother who rides bulls in rodeos. That is awesome and sounds fascinating. I have never been to a rodeo and that particular inspiration could not literally translate for me. I also felt a pang of regret since I used my only horse photos just last week! But as I thought about it and just started searching through my photos, these ones of the kids riding their bikes last year jumped out of me. Who needs a literal translation. Inspiration struck! I also struggle with multiple photos ... especially multiple photos that tell a real story. For instance, I don't do a lot of birthday or even pages because how are you supposed to narrow hundreds of photos down and still tell the story? I don't know ... but this grid worked for me here :)

For the next one, I have a lot of photos of my youngest with this particular ball he would carry around him constantly for months! So, I decided to tell that story with this layout:

I have been thinking about how I've been complaining lately that all the kits are too girly and have flowers ... I LOVE flowers and use them frequently, but I'm glad I finally had an opportunity to tell some of those more masculine stories :)

I hope you like them!

*~*~*

8 Second Ride * FREEBIE

2011-10-13T11:29:00.004-04:00

I'm so excited to share Wendy Tunison's newest kits with you! She's got two fabulous Rodeo kits releasing today! Here's a look at them...

And she even bundled them up at an even better price for you if you want both kits!

What's even better is they are all on sale through Sunday night at SNP and NDISB. There are Grand Opening Sales and Naturally Guilt Free Thursday sales going on at both stores so check both for the best price on any given day although I'll give you a little hint and tell you that the best price is going to be Thursday at SNP when all digi kits are 40% off! After that, the price will vary through Sunday with the sales and then on Monday, the prices will go back to regular prices! Kinda confusing, right? Well, just use my little hint above for the best deal! LOL!

Here's what our amazing creative team did with these kits and if one of us made you a freebie, just click on the preview to head over to that blog to pick it up and be sure to tell them thank you! They work so hard to bring you a goodie each week!

Don't forget about Quarters for Love. It's an easy way to get some great savings on Wendy's kits and those of others too!

Here's my freebie for you! Enjoy!

Just click on the image or on this link.

If you're looking for more freebies, check out CraftCrave, Creative Busy Hands, and Suzee Q's Stuff.

Have a great day!

beYOUtiful * Discover by Danielle Young

2011-10-12T20:48:00.001-04:00

Danielle Young has a new kit out: Discover I love the colors in this kit! I decided to use it for this adorable photo of my daughter at the beach. I love how the colors match her swim suit.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Just Wanna Have Fun

2011-10-12T15:12:00.002-04:00

My kids make me smile. Sure, I say that all the time, but I really do mean it. They bring me such joy and I just love all the many twists and turns to their personalities. Here is Samantha giving me one of her many smiles:

It's the smile that says, 'Here I am, Mom. You want to take my picture and I will happily indulge you because I'm so cute ..." That's one of the reason I take so many pictures and then can't delete any of them! Sure, I don't need hundreds, but every picture captures a subtlety of expression and yet another aspect of them ... I want to remember it all!!!

I used A+Designs, Just Wanna Have Fun, and Kitty Designs, School Days Sketch.

I hope you like it!!!

*~*~*

She Wore Blue Jeans

2011-10-06T10:07:00.002-04:00

Let me introduce you to Wendy Tunison's newest kit, She Wore Blue Jeans...

Isn't it lovely?! Best of all, this kit is on sale for the first 3 days for just $3.99 at both SNP & NDISB! After that it will go back up to $5.99. There are 85 unique ellies and 16 unique papers in this kit. There are no recolored pieces and no repeated pieces. You're getting 101 totally unique pieces to create with!

Do you want to see what our CT has done with this kit? It's amazing! If you'd like to pick up our freebies (and who wouldn't?!), simply click on the preview to be taken to each blog.

I also wanted to introduce you to two new CT Members!

We are so excited to have them on our team! You're going to love their layouts too!

Before I give you my freebie, I wanted to remind you to check out the Quarters for Love postings at SNP as well as the Grand Opening Events going on all month long! Here's some info about that...

We are so excited to have our grand opening this month. The designers have been working hard to get their stores filled and to bring you some fun and exciting challenges and sales. Here is what to watch for this month!

Super Saturday Sales - items marked down to $1, $2, or $3 for one day only each and every Saturday (this will continue beyond October)

Challenges - All new challenges start this month. Earn points towards coupons to spend in the store

Blog Train - This will start around mid month with choices for color palettes and themes, everyone is invited to participate

FREEBIES - Progressive Challenge/Scavenger Hunt - Starting on October 9th, find pieces hidden in the store and then head to the daily progressive challenge steps to find out what to do with them to create a layout. Everyone who participates and posts their layout by the deadline gets a participation prize

SALES SALES SALES - Each week different items will be on sale for an entire week. Best sale days are at the beginning of the week with percentages decreasing throughout the week. Make sure you check every MONDAY!

Speed Scraps - Starting this week in the forum and chat room - we will have two per week with a participation prize every time

COUPONS - Quarters for Love challenge - Leave love in the gallery and earn COUPONS from designers. Check the forum thread for details.

PRIZES -Chat with designers - periodically throughout the month, we will have some get to know you chats with designers and forum members. Stop by and you might win a prize!

FUN - We hope you will join in, tell your friends, and stay around. We have lots of stuff planned to make our community better and better including Designer Collab Kits, Full Reveal CU Grab Bags, a Designer Mentor Program, FREE online classes, a Loyal Customer Program, DISCOUNTED printing from Persnickety, Recruit a Friend Program, Project 52 beginning in January, and SO MUCH MORE!

Have you gone over and registered in the forum at SNP yet? It's going to be an awesome community to be involved in and you'll want to get there as soon as possible! We're having so such fun!

Oh and don't forget to pick up your Loyal Customer Card and start using it!

I bet you've also been waiting to find out if you were one of the lucky winners of She Wore Blue Jeans....well, wait no longer....the winnners are...

Now for my stuff!!!

That's me!

And my freebie:

You can download it by clicking on the preview or here.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

If you're looking for more check out CraftCrave, Suzee Q's Stuff, and Creative Busy Hands.

Have a great day!

Drew Boy

2011-10-02T17:20:00.003-04:00

I get some great photos of my kids ... they're so cute! This is my youngest son ... who has the most gorgeous eyes and the softest hair ... he's a ham and quite an individual. I love him to bits!

I took these photos of him a few months ago that just turned out so beautifully ... in focus and clear, good lighting and a cheerful subject. I fell in love with them (and him) instantly! However, I was waiting and keeping them reserved until I could make a fabulous layout for them ... I wanted something with orange, but not too orange, and then along came Danielle Young's Pumpkin Muffin kit and I knew it was perfect!

I love how the purple background really makes the photos pop and the combo of orange and purple is really cheerful! But the focus is still on the photos and I love it!
I also used Kitty Designs template, Frametastic Double 2.

Pumpkin Muffin is on sale now! So head on over and get it :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

FREEBIE!!! Shine on You Layered Paper

2011-09-30T13:56:00.002-04:00

I am so happy to be able to share this freebie using A+Designs' Shine on You:

(Click on the preview to download)

I hope you like it!!!

*~*~*

Sunshine and Raindrops

2011-09-29T15:55:00.005-04:00

I'm so excited to show you Wendy Tunison's latest release. It's called Sunshine & Raindrops and it's full of whimsy and fun!

It all started with a little frog and how badly Wendy wanted to use him in a kit! Yeah, she's a sucker for a cute face :)

You can pick it up for the first week only for just $3.00 at SNP or NDISB.

Before I show you what our CT did with this kit, I want to remind you about a few things....

Do you remember when you were a child and your elders could bribe you to do anything for a quarter or a nickle or even a penny? Well, consider Wendy your elder. LOL! She's going to be giving away quarters from now until the end of October! Are you all lined up, hand extended just waiting for me to tell you what you need to do to get them? Yeah! I'm so excited! Here's how you can earn some quarters from Wendy...

1. For every 3 comments you leave in her designer gallery on layouts, you'll receive a quarter. Now, of course there are some stipulations. These need to be genuine comments...not just, "nice layout." or "love this" kind of comments. Take a minute and really tell the artist what you think of their work. There are some fabulously talented ladies working with Wendy's kits and they deserve genuine love on the!
ir layouts.

2. For every layout you post in her designer gallery using one of her kits from now until the end of October, you'll earn a quarter. That's easy, right?

3. We're looking for a few more ladies to join Wendy's Creative Team so if you're interested, please send Wendy a PM (at SNP) with a little about you, a link to your most up to date gallery, your blog address, and your other CT commitments. If you're brave enough to apply, you'll be rewarded handsomely with two quarters! Our requirements are that you create 2 layouts per kit as well as a freebie to give away on your blog and to blog about all new releases & sales. We are also looking for a couple of enablers and gallery girls who will not be required to make freebies but will instead be answering ISO posts, enabling and/or leaving love in Wendy's designer galleries.

Now, what does all of this quarter business add up to? Well, if you keep track of what you've done and post a reply to this thread at SNP documenting it all (link up those comments, add your layout(s) to your post) by the end of October, Wendy will send you a coupon code by the 5th of November for however many quarters you've earned. Now there has to be some limits right? Grandpa wouldn't have given us twenty dollars in quarters back then. So, you can earn up to $6.00 in quarters. Of course, if you'd like to add more comments and layouts, we're not going to stop you. In fact, Wendy is going to reward one person even more by doubling their coupon! The winner will be the person who has earned the most quarters! So start typing those comments and loading those layouts and by all means, don't forget to apply for our CT!

Here's a look at the beautiful pages our CT made this week. If they've made you a freebie, simply click on the preview to be taken to their blog to download.

She has this great cluster frame for you on her blog.

Kandi has another fantastic QP for you on her blog!

Sharon has turned her layout into a QP for you as well!

Sheri has another QP for you on her blog!

Okay, now how about one more free QP from Wendy?

Wendy decided to give two free kits away this week and the winners are....drumroll please....

Check your inboxes ladies! You'll be receiving a coupon to pick up Sunshine & Raindrops for free!

Don't worry if you didn't win. If you left Wendy a comment, she'll be sending you a coupon for 25% off the already low introductory price of $3.00 so you can pick it up for just $2.25! Whoot!

You can always find more freebies at CraftCrave and Creative Busy Hands.

*~*~*

And then there's me ... which is of course why you're here, right?

I love this! Samantha playing with the Slip'N'Slide :)

This one gave me trouble at first, but I'm liking it more and more, now :) and turned it into a QP for you:

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

*~*~*

Danielle Young * Pumpkin Muffin

2011-09-23T00:15:00.004-04:00

Danielle Young has a wonderful new kit releasing today! Here is Pumpkin Muffin:

It's on sale for 20% off right now, so go and gobble it up here at Oscraps!

Here is a layout that I did using this scrumptous kit:

The whole kit inspired me right down to the title! My hubbie was so funny. I showed him the layout and he took a while with the li'l. He said, 'Can you abbreviate that?' I said, 'Sure!' and he said, 'Are you sure it's in the right spot?' Well, maybe I should have left it out all together, but I still like it :)

I hope you do as well :)

*~*~*

Our Family Our Home - Wendy Tunison Designs with FREEBIES!

2011-09-19T15:47:00.004-04:00

I'm so excited to be able to share Wendy Tunison's newest kit with you! It's called Our Family Our Home. You can pick it up at SNP or NDISB and if you pick it up by Friday, you'll get it at a discounted price of $3.50! After that, it will be available for $4.99. Check it out!

Isn't that cute?! Take a look at what our CT did with this kit...YUM!

(AND Be sure to grab all the FREEBIES!!! I have TWO for you at the end of this post)

You can pick up this beautiful cluster frame on her blog (click the preview)

Kandice made you this super cute border freebie! Grab it on her blog.

Sharon whipped up this great little cluster frame for you to pick up on her blog too!

Sheri has a couple of fabulous freebies for you too!

Wendy also has a free cluster frame for you today! Enjoy!

Don't forget to pick up Our Family Our Home by Friday to get it for just $3.50!

If you're looking for more freebies, don't forget to check out Craft Crave and Creative Busy Hands.

That's me :)

I made two layouts. This first one is a picture I took of the kids at the park this Spring. Love them :)

The second one is the family on our front doorstep.

I made you not one but TWO freebies with this kit! Click on either preview to download:

I hope you like them!!!

*~*~*

Go Packers!

2011-09-18T19:09:00.002-04:00

Football season has started again and that means quite a bit of stats talk between father and son and a lot of football on TV. I like football a bit myself, but definitely not as much as other people in my family ... including my parents:

Dad is a huge Packers fan and has been for over 50 years. This is a picture of them watching the Super Bowl earlier this year where the Packers WON!!!

Danielle Young just released a new kit, Touchdown, and that's what I used for this layout. I also used a page fold from Kitty Designs.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Wendy Tunison Designs * FREEBIE

2011-09-15T00:15:00.005-04:00

I love digital scrapbooking ... and I love having my layouts. I just wish I had more time to do it! One thing that really helps ME out is to be on Creative Teams. I love the designers that I work for and their kits help me make wonderful layouts that I love!

So, when Wendy asked me to work with her fabulous designs, I couldn't say no!!! I must say that I've really enjoyed working with her kits. They're HUGE! You could make so many layouts and not get bored!

I am so excited to show you this huge three kit release from Wendy Tunison! It's called A Little Me Time and there are 3 huge kits as well as a gigantic 263 piece bundle! And the best part is that they are all on sale for this first week so grab 'em now for an even better deal! Take a look! (simply click on a preview to check them out in the store)

Isn't it great? I love the little women and I'm still trying to figure out how to use the one that looks the most like me ...

Check out what our CT did with this kit...

She even made you this great Quick Page so click on the preview to head over to her blog to grab it!

Kandice has this awesome Quick Page on her blog for you to pick up!

Be sure to stop at her blog and grab this beautiful quick page!

Run, don't walk, over to her blog and grab this fantastic cluster.

If you head over to her blog, you can pick up this adorable journal tag.

And if you stop over at her blog, she's got a sweet cluster for you to download.

Wendy even had a little time to make a layout with this kit.

And then there's me, Jessica!

And my layouts (i LOVE purple!):

And I have this lovely stacked paper ready for you to download! (Just click on the preview)

Wendy also made a freebie for you but first I want to tell you about what will be available for dirt cheap during Naturally Guilt Free Thursday this week. You can grab Whispering Pines (or parts of it) for a great special price Thursday only!

$5.99 now $2.50

$2.00 now $1.00

$3.99 now $1.50

$3.00 now $1.50

Ok....since you made it this far, Wendy's got a great freebie cluster frame for you! Just click on the preview to head over to her blog and pick it up.

Don't forget to check out my fellow CT members' blogs and grab their goodies too.

Have a great day!

*~*~*

Tree Climber

2011-09-14T13:48:00.003-04:00

In my last post, I shared Mel (A+Designs) newest kits. Here's my layout using 'It's In The Air':
It's a picture of my son in the tree that's in our front yard. As soon as we moved in to this house, the kids found this lovely area that was perfect for climbing and playing. In the two years since then, I'm impressed with how well they play in this area. They climb so well, they don't get hurt and they are so well-behaved out there. They can play out there for hours and that makes mommy very happy :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

A+ Designs

2011-09-14T01:25:00.006-04:00

As you may, or may not know, I am on the A+Designs CT. And Mel (designer/owner) is looking for some girls to add to her BLOG team!

(Bonus: You get her kits for free!)
SEND EMAILs TO: aplusdesignsess@gmail.com

And some other business ...

GGI on Sale through Tuesday 12am Midnight at Gotta Pixel!

Check out what the AWESOME CT did with this kit!

And check out GAB at Scrapbook-bytes!

FREEbie DOWNLOAD

Check out Mel's blog for Challenges and FREEbies!

A+ Designs CHALLENGE:

Gotta Pixel Crockpot Challenge at GP

Greeting Card Challenge at SBB

Be sure to sure to check this fun challenge out;)

Don't forget to check out the A+ Designs blog.

Cousins* Smile, Laugh and Be Happy

2011-09-10T23:27:00.002-04:00

My three kids love their cousins ...

This is an older layout that I've never shared with you. I still love it, though. It's so much fun to look at older pictures and even older layouts :)

I used several 52 Inspirations kits from 2010 from Sue Cummings ...

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

In Loving Memory ... Grandpa

2011-09-10T01:29:00.002-04:00

My Grandpa died in late June of this year. It wasn't unexpected, but it was sad for all of us. I loved him very much and I do miss him.

When Danielle Young came out with this new kit, Remembrance, I just knew that the timing was right to do a layout about him. Before this it was too fresh and new and I didn't want to wait too long for the feelings to be dull and distant.

My Grandpa was a sweet, loving man and I will always love him. I'd like to encourage you to remember to tell those you love that you care about them. You're not too busy. Spend some time with them and build memories!

I hope you like it :)

*~*~*

Hurricane

2011-09-10T01:12:00.003-04:00

It was downgraded to a tropical storm before it hit us here in New England, but Irene hit us hard and did more damage than Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Over 700,000 people in Connecticut alone were without power afterwards and some just got it back over a week later!

This picture is from just down the road the morning after the storm. We spent the most lovely day with no electricity playing games, coloring pictures and cleaning the house while watching the rain and listening to the wind. We lit candles and the kids were so well-behaved ... I was so blessed. Living without power that week was inconvenient, but we are blessed and I'm praying for the people who are still without electricity and have to clean up major damage.

I hope that wherever you are in the world that you are doing well. God is good.

*~*~*

Today I Feel Loved

2011-08-24T11:50:00.002-04:00

Some days you just need a little extra attention ... and Andrew (my youngest) recently had one of those days. He wanted to be held (which is not uncommon at all) a lot. So I held him. We watched Kevin's softball game together and afterward he got a big hug and kiss from a very sweaty Daddy.

I know these days of cuddles and hugs will soon be over, so I'm enjoying it even though my back sometimes complains.

I used a quickpage from Sue Cummings (Simply Quick #33) and just added a little journaling details.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Slide

2011-08-22T12:47:00.002-04:00

My kids thought of this awesome (to them) game to play at the park. Throw small pebbles and stones down the slide and then race down after them. They giggled every single time and for so long ... I didn't have the heart to discourage the activity.
Here I used A+ Design's kit, Sweet American Pie. I have this idea in my mind that I'll be able to go back and use the same kit to scrap pics of the other kids at the park that day ... but this is the story I wanted to tell for now and I love how it came out!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

The Pathway to Love

2011-08-15T12:54:00.001-04:00

I saw this awesome template in this month's Digi Files and wanted to use it right away. What really drew me was the arrow and the heart they used. It looked like fun and like it told the story of a romance. I had already figured out my title ... now to find a picture! I searched through lots and found a ton of pictures I could have used and stories I could have told. I settled on this one of my brother and his wife back when they were engaged:

I used Sue Cumming's new kit, Black & White, and an alpha from A+ Designs.

Because I had taken so many photos that day of the two of them, I decided to create a coordinating collage of the rest of the photo shoot. Now I have all the photos of them on two pages ... (I really need to create more collages and just get my photos off my computer!)

Here's the result:

It's a little more styled and patterned that I originally thought and I stuck with the black and white theme. I like it ...

I hope you do!

*~*~*

Silly

2011-08-09T11:08:00.002-04:00

It was my son's 7th birthday recently. I made this layout to celebrate him. We do a lot of silly face photoshoots because that is what he gives me :) I don't always scrap them, but this time, I just had to!

I think the orange from his shirt is the main color element and the blue is the main accent. The bright colors from A+Design's Bahama Mama kit give it a fun feeling :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Black & White - Classic & Beautiful

2011-08-02T16:51:00.003-04:00

Do you like Black and White? I do! In fact, I used to try and change all my photos to black and white to hide poor camera quality or mismatched outfits. Then, I started to embrace color and recently I've been very color oriented. I'm so glad that Sue Cummings came out with her new Black and White kit to remind me of my old love and try it again.

This photo of my sisters was beautiful. We were all wearing our gorgeous bridesmaids dresses and the one who wasn't didn't clash. I was actually hesitant to use it with this kit because I love the color of the dress so much. However, I'm very happy with the result. Now the focus is on us and not on our dresses or the colorful fall foliage behind us.
I also love the word art included in the kit. It is all black and white themed, but this one fit both the layout and the subject matter - classic & beautiful! Love it :) I hid my journaling in the lower right hand corner beneath the fold (template from Kitty Designs) in the text wordart as well as a little butterfly ...

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Summertime Memories

2011-08-01T17:25:00.003-04:00

We had a conversation in the car (the kids and I) that I just had to record!

Here is the layout I created:

The journaling reads, "Justin & Samantha - July 2010 - J: When I get my own car, I want green headlights. S: I want a purple car with pink headlights. J: I want my headlights to be smart so that when they see an animal in the road, they'll be like, 'Hey! Squirrel!' I want to be a green lantern police man. To be a GLPM it means that you like green, you wear green, you have green and you drive green. S: I want the same thing but in pink. Justin, do you want a green steering wheel? J: Yes, but it will be in the middle."

It was just too cute! I know you can't capture the tone of voice and inflection with written words, but I hope to remember it anyway ...

I use Danielle Young's new kit, Citrus Summer, and a template from Kitty Designs.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Big Comfy Chair

2011-07-22T12:32:00.003-04:00

We had a delightful time at the Speed Scrap a few days ago. Mel did it in the chat room as well, so it was nice to have a little company (and gardening advice) while I worked.

I love Speed Scraps because you actually get a layout done. Sometimes life gets in the way and you can't make it at the right time, or you just plain forget! But ... I'm so happy I was able to do this one!

Because it was a one photo layout, I chose this one of my kids the day we got our new leather recliner. It was a one-photo sort of story :) They love this chair. My husband and I love it, too, but the kids want to rock and jump and lean back ... they're kids!

I used A+Designs kit, Sweet American Pie, which will be released August 13th ... jumped the gun :) and an alpha from Katherine Aagard (who I believe is retired).

I liked the layout alright and then the final step came - put on a title using an alpha - well, I got all the letters in there and was planning to do something smaller with journaling surrounding it to fill in the big space at the top ... and then just liked the way it looked all HUGE like this. It kind of adds to the idea of Big and Comfy :)

I hope you like it!!!

*~*~*

Speed Scrap!

2011-07-19T12:35:00.003-04:00

As part of Mel's birthday bash (A+ Designs), she's hosting a Speed Scrap at ScrabBookBytes.com. It's today at 1pm ... come join us!!!

Also, be sure to check out her blog, for tons of FREEBIES everyday this week!

Together ... Luv U

2011-07-11T10:53:00.002-04:00

I love speed scraps. I really do. If you have the time to do them :) This was for one of the eight speed scraps put on by JessicaSprague.com in the month of June. I managed to make it to one of them ... the timing just didn't work out ... but I have one layout done!

I really love this layout. I loved these photos. I love the kit colors and the flowers ... I love it :)
I used Danielle Young and Katherine Brine's collab kit, Passionflower and Danielle Young's Tiny Seaglass Alphas.

I hope you like it, too!

*~*~*

Letters to Daddy

2011-07-05T08:29:00.003-04:00

I'm back! I know it's been about a month, but there have been a lot of things going on lately including computer problems and a death in the family. God has given me grace for this time, but some things (like scrapbooking and this blog) get put on lower priority. However, I've found a bit of time to spare and here I am :)

This layout is of my daughter drawing a picture for Daddy while he was away last year.

I realized that my scrapbook pages are rather unbalanced when it comes to subject matter. There are more of my daughter then anything else. And then there are many more posed shot ones. I think I should work on doing some more boy ones (even though my favorite kits are so girly) and tell more stories ...

I used A+ Designs Country Shab kit and one of the corresponding templates.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T09:10:00.003-04:00

Today is the day that we celebrate our Independence here in the United States of America. I am so happy to live in this country and to have freedom.

To celebrate, I did a layout using pictures from July 4th, 2010. Our church enters a float every year in the local parade and here we are (not everybody, just my family). I'm actually heading off to the parade again today!

I used Danielle Young's Let It Ring papers and alpha as well as papers and elements from Danielle Young's Funky Fourth kit. Template from Nattio Designs in the February Daily Digi.

I hope you like it! Go celebrate!!!

*~*~*

Mother's Day 2011

2011-06-05T15:07:00.002-04:00

I made a layout before Mother's Day with my 2010 pics and right afterwards I was still in a pretty 'mommy' mood, so I've made another with my 2011 pics!
The last one had a theme of inspiration and this one has more of a friendship theme. My mom and me :)

I used Princess Rock by A+Designs and Sketch #83 by Little Shop of Sketches.

On a sad note, this is my last layout for the Design Team of LSS. I didn't re-apply for the new design team because I don't think I have the time anymore and didn't want to let them down.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

You Make Me Smile

2011-06-02T01:06:00.003-04:00

I love this layout. I love these photos! I'm smiling just at the thought of sharing it with you :)

Here is my latest layout: I know I'm skipping several ones that I should show you ... and hope to soon ... but here is my most recent. Just because I love it so :)

My husband and son during Kevin's two week leave last year. I'm so impressed. He's really so good with the kids and develops little things for them and has quite the repetoire ... this being one of them :)

I used a freebie template from Jessica Sprague and Danielle Young's collab kit, Through the Years with Designs by Anita. The title is Danielle Young's Bundle Up Alpha in green.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Oh, and stay tuned ... I'm doing a major late-Spring cleaning and will be having a giveaway sometime during the next few weeks! Maybe more than one :)

*~*~*

Stationary Gift Set

2011-05-08T11:06:00.010-04:00

Happy Mother's Day! I hope that mother's everywhere feel loved and special - you are! God bless you!!!

I wanted to share with you another one of the gifts I made for Mother's Day. (Just to give credit where credit is due, I got this idea from Heidi Swapp) This one is for my husband's Nana, who loves to correspond by mail.

It's a stationary set - all handmade and personalized!

I used the same Bo Bunny papers from one of my Mother's Day albums - Gabrielle. I had them printed at Staples and then attached them to an altered manilla folder (8" x 10 1/2").

I kept the pre-cut tab shapes that came with the manilla folder and added this little banner (all tabs/labels were printed on an extra manilla folder and inked with Tim Holtz walnut distress ink).

This is the stationary that I printed out. It's made using the digital papers and some digital stamps. There are a few date tags, some writing line and the words ... with love. They were sized 5 1/4" x 8" so that you can print two sheets on one sheet of cardstock. You could even make them double sided if you wanted to, but I didn't.

There are also some transparent butterfly accents. (same butterfly design printed on transparency paper and cut out - love it!)

Some personalized post cards - once again designed with the Bo Bunny papers, some digital stamps and some extra words and elements. I inked the edges and printed the classic postcard design on the back.A special spot for some stamps ... I added a Prima flower and some lace ...

All of the pockets were made by cutting up an extra manilla foler and (generally 4 3/4" wide, plus and 1/8" score mark on each side and a 1" tab for the back ... 7" total. The height varied depending on the contents. I printed on some of them and inked all the edges with special embellishments and a bit of ribbon.

This is the butterfly on the cover. I printed the same butterfly on cardstock and transparency and then layered them ... awesome detail and I love it!!!

I think it's a great little set. I would love to receive any one of these items in the mail and I hope she loves it.

I hope you like it, too and find it just as inspiring as I did!

*~*~*

Mother's Day gift albums

2011-05-06T12:08:00.017-04:00

It's almost Mother's Day! I love Mother's Day ... here in Northeast Connecticut, the flowers have started blooming, the world is becoming green again and the warm weather makes you want to actually spend time outdoors. It's the perfect setting for a holiday that celebrates motherhood - a time of life and beauty.

I love my mom - I really do. She is my best friend (besides hubbie dearest) and she is such an inspiration to me. I wanted to do something special to honor her, so I leaped at the chance to take part in Mouse, Paper, Scissors - Mom. I had taken a few classes at JessicaSprague.com - including the original Mouse, Paper, Scissors with Heidi Swapp and loved learning new hybrid techniques. This one was great because we would make a special gift for Mother's Day. Just the incentive to get something done and hopefully on time!

I was so inspired that I've finished three projects so far and am working on a fourth ... maybe a fifth ... Grandmas! I'll show you two in this post - hybrid albums!

I really like the way my original project turned out. I didn't finish it because I know it's for my mom and she'll be the most forgiving if it's late :) I'm still looking forward to adding pictures and embellishments.

Here it is:

The project used papers from Bo Bunny's Gabrielle line. I think they were beautiful and already had a distressed and stamped look about them. I did add a bit of my own, though.

The ruffle on the front is made from old book paper. I then painted over it with Chandelier Glam from Tattered Angels. That seals it, but also gives it some glitter and sparkle. I love the kind of flexible quality it adds.
Here is the first page. The whole album is shaped. Every other page is cut short, though for some unique embellishment.

Sandwiched between the shorter pages is another book page ruffle.
This page has tabs that I printed different words on. I also printed and cut out this butterfly embellishment.
I tried to add some interest to the back of the tabs ... but didn't quite get where I was trying to go. I chose to work with it even though I don't love it ...

This page has a pocket ...
That holds a mini file folder:

This is a spinner ... I printed out the words on the computer and hand-wrote a message around the edge. The large, fabric brad is from K&Co.

The back ...

And that's it for that one. I've got a plan for the inside, but haven't been able to execute it, yet. I hope to before Sunday!

I absolutely loved the idea and look of the album, so I decided to make another for my mother-in-law. Just to mix it up a bit, I chose to re-design the look. I used Danielle Young's new collab kit with Brine Designs, Passionflower.

Aren't the colors wonderful? I love them!

I'll walk you through some of the process I went through to use my digital kit in a hybrid way.

The first step is to probably design your album. I already knew the general shape and had a few ideas of which elements I wanted to have. I drew out a little map on a piece of paper of what I wanted to highlight ... a picture of my mother-in-law, a picture of her kids, the grandkids, etc ... then I designed a few of the pages, picked out the papers and printed the designs on cardstock. I actually had my printing done at Staples, but you could do it at home like I did for some of the embellishments. Here are my printouts.

The pages I trimmed, scored and folded as so:
and I glued together the bigger pieces and trimmed them to the shape.

I then started cutting out and assembling my embellishments.
Here are the tabs with a bit of the Chandelier Glam ...
My circle punch:
And my distress ink and tool ...
And this is one of my favorite elements - coordinating tissue paper! I printed it myself!!! You tape the tissue paper (I just did the top) to a piece of stiffer paper and run it through your printer! I used some papers from the Passionflower kit, but my printer decided to run out of blue ink right before hand, so you'll notice that the tissue paper is nowhere near the same color as the paper it's supposed to be (look at the folder in the top right and you'll definitely see the difference). However, it was a happy accident because that color of magenta was already an accent color in the kit and went beautifully!

Here is my workstation somewhere in the process. Notice the caffeinated beverage ...

I think it was just at the beginning of assembly ...

Here's the cover. I absolutely love it and don't want to give it away anymore!

You can see the custom tissue paper and a banner that I printed out along with a Prima flower, Making Memories pearl brad and two Prima butterflies.

Here's the spine:
You can see how I wrapped the paper around and scored it to make a spine.

The inside pages:

The first page has a picture of my mother-in-law and her husband. It's printed directly on the paper and using a digital frame along with some digital stamps behind it.
The banner is something I printed on a different sheet of paper, but out and attached to add dimension, though. I used pop dots on the left side and then glued the last two penants down so they go perfectly with the fold of the book.

It's not in these pictures (I was rushing to snap shots before the sun went down), but I went in afterward and wrote some words that describe her and some quotes that she likes and some of her favorite hobbies, etc. All the tags will be blank in the photos, but I filled them up.

This is a library pocket that I made by printing the paper with a double-sided design and filled with pockets and trimmed with tissue paper. The butterfly is from the last project, but matched nicely.

Notice the tabs ... I learned from the last book and thought to print a pattern on the other side before cutting them out. However, I neglected to think about the fact that the side they would be showing with was the exact same pattern. In a way it's cool, but it was completely un-intentional. I tried to break it up with some tissue paper.

This is the second page. Once again, the words, photo and frame were added to the digital paper and printed out all at once. A dimensional banner, flower, pearl brad and more tissue finish it off.

This third page is about the grandchildren. I listed her five kids and their children (her grandchildren) in the little circles. I created those circles by adding the frame to the digital paper and then masking a different paper into circles underneath the frame.
The library pocket features a patterned paper that I personally created using a plain orange/yellow paper from the Passionflower kit and then adding the digital flower stamp element on top of it before printing out.

This page has a pocket where I put three file folders. These folders are to hold photos or notes from the grandchildren. I really didn't have good photos of any besides my kids ... so I'll let her add her own!

This is the last page. My plan for this page is to let the kids or grandkids write personal notes or autograph it. It can be personal or not ... but it gives her the opportunity to enhance and add to the book. I added the stripe of different paper and the banner is digital this time instead of cut out and added on top.

But the butterfly is 3-D. I love these Prima butterflies!See the shadow on the banner? If you weren't holding it in your hands, you might not even know it was part of the paper!
A view from above :)
And my favorite view ... I would love this book!!! I'm hoping they do!

Come back soon to see the other projects I've been making for Mother's Day!

I hope you like these!

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