tuesday . . .

So excited it's finally October!!  The past month has been super busy, getting the kiddos in the new routine of school and starting up Cub Scouts and Sunday School.  The brewery (my husband's new business) is in full swing at our house for the time being while construction will soon begin at the actual site.  Lots of test batches being created and tweaking final recipes for our initial offerings.  If you haven't yet, check out our Facebook page & website.  Exciting stuff on the horizon!!

As for me - well I'm a big ragged these days just running in a million directions trying to get everyone where they need to be & get things done.  I haven't been scrapping as much as I'd like, but did have a chance to play with the new Fancy Pants Designs lines this weekend.  They are AWESOME - great color schemes & the embellishments - just adorable!!  The first layout I created features the Happy-Go-Lucky line:

I decided to cut some fun leaves from my Silhouette & create a border along the top of the page.  Amidst the leaves I popped in an adorable flair from the collection.



Instead of using one of the patterned photo frames for a photo, I decided to place my journaling inside it.  A sticker and a few gorgeous buttons added a fun touch to the frame :)



My second page features more of the Happy-Go-Lucky line :)  In this page I showcased the struggles of getting a pic of my two guys.  Ryan is the perfect poser but Nicholas loves to say cheese and give the squinty half-smile :)  Such a ham!!



The new wooden phrases are AWESOME!!!  I added a chipboard button over top of the "o" and layered it all on top of one of the large tags.



The ephemera pack from this line if full of fun elements.  I loved these adorable leaves and fun photo corner!!!



Thanks so much for stopping by!!!  Have a fab Tuesday :)

monday

Ah, the start of a new school year!!!  Busy & hectic times but happy to be back in a "schedule".  We have a first grader in this house . . .



Doesn't he look so old here??  I had to snap another - this looks more like my little guy here - full of that cheesy grin :)



And I have one more headed to school this fall - preschool that is - Nicholas had his meet & greet this week.  He was able to meet his new teacher & classmates this past Wednesday.  He just LOVED the classroom & all the fun stuff in there!!!  He seemed really excited - although a bit serious in this pic right before we headed there . . .



So I will have three mornings a week to myself - what??  It's been almost three years since I had any regular kid-free time - I can't really remember what that's like.  I suppose I will be headed to my old hangout - Barnes & Noble - coffee and laptop time!!!  I have an online class I am starting in a week so it will be great to have that time to work on stuff :)

And, this is MY TIME of the year - I love fall and winter.  I'm so excited it's September finally :)  If I could just get rid of this hot, humid weather we are currently having.  I need some cool air, falling leaves, and fireplaces crackling away :)   (It is very possible we decorated for fall & Halloween today - crazy I know - we couldn't help it - September is here!!!)

I had a chance to dive into some Fancy Pants Designs goodies this weekend!!  My first layout features their Memories Captured collection.  I just love the color scheme of this line & the fun vintage embellishments.  I snapped this pic earlier in the summer when we had gathered with cousins.  This is of the boys making our red, white & blue strawberry treats - check them out HERE.



I kept the photo small, and layered lots of fun embellishments around it.



Here is a close up of my journaling.  I simply typed it out on vellum and then adhered it to the page by machine stitching along the bottom.



My second layout features the Down by the Shore collection.  Such a fun, bright color palette!!



I used one of their title pieces for my own title.  Tucked behind the title and photo is a Silhouette cut file meant for a 3 x 4 card.  I simply enlarged it and then machine stitched down the paper to the vellum.  I then added a number of the adorable fish rub-ons and a few sequins.



I kept the journaling simple and just stitched down the side to attach it to the page.  You may also notice the cluster of buttons in the middle of the pics.  I stitched down each button with twine :)



Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!!!  Have a great week & thanks for stopping by :)

sunday

As I was getting ready to create a layout for my Friday post at Noel Mignon - I realized how disorganized all my photos are :(  I use iphoto and have them in albums created automatically when they were imported.  However, I think I need to go in and label with dates and events.  Any suggestions on photo organizing??? Any programs that work really well for this??  I was super frustrated because in moving some files from an external drive to my hard drive - I lost all the dates & thousands of photos got lumped into one huge album.  I wanted to scrap some pics of Ryan at the boardwalk in Ocean City from a few years back, but for the life of me I had a time remembering exactly when they were from.  Hence the need to really get my pics organized!!  I don't want to go through this every time I scrap my old pics :(  Anyways - enough about my disorganization :)  Here is the layout I created from the pics I mentioned & the new Noel Mignon "Our Summer" kit.  Full of fun, bright colors - this kit was perfect for my pics and so much fun to work with!!!



When I first laid everything out, I did not have the teal arrow diecut paper behind my photo - but I realized I needed some "pop" behind the photos.  I used an arrow background I found in the Silhouette store HERE.  I also decided to stitch around the photos.  There was a lot of white in the photos, so the machine stitching ended up being a great way to help them stand out :)



For the title I combined those awesome cork looking Thickers from the kit, along with the "love" cut file from the Silhouette store.  HERE is a link to the file.  I journaled directly on one of the Jillibean Soup banner stickers.  Around the journaling I added some cute tags & stickers from the kit :)



Hope you have a great Sunday!! Enjoy the last day of the weekend :)

thursday

Two days in a row?  What?  Maybe I will become a regular blogger again :) Every once in awhile, I get a pretty good phone shot I can blow up. Oftentimes I keep my phone pics smaller, to keep the resolution nice - but this one worked out pretty good at 6 x 10 :)  I wanted to journal on this one too, but I just couldn't decide where . . . I will have to add it in later, or maybe on the back.  This was Nicholas' first roller coaster without parents in tow.  Just him & Ryan & his cousins.  He's a little thrill-seeker already & couldn't get enough!!



I used the Fancy Pants Designs Memories Captured collection for this.  LOTS of fun embellishments from their ephemera pack & stickers here!  I am really liking their new alphas - of course I dressed up my "o's" :)  A few of their chipboard button stars & a couple brads popped in the holes.



I liked how some the embellishments had a chalkboard effect to them like this circle tag.  I clustered a few additional chipboard buttons and a cute little arrow sticker.  Oh & I couldn't help myself - I stitched around my photo :)



Hope you have a great Thursday - who knows, I may be back tomorrow too :)

wednesday

Did you know "photobombing" doesn't just happen when someone sneaks in behind your photo?  Sometimes the "bomber" just jumps right on top of your shot :) That's my Nicholas - nothing sneaky for him - just a full out jump right in!!! I used the fun, bright colors of the Fancy Pants Designs What A Wonderful Day collection to help capture this moment :)



For my journaling block I layered up a bunch of goodies from the ephemera pack, as well as some chipboard pieces - love those adorable arrows!!



I kept my title simple, mixing a small sticker with some of the new alphas. Love the block-type font on these.  In the middle of the "o" I added a chipboard button heart and a few older Fancy Pants Designs brads into the button holes :)



Have a great Wednesday!!

sunday

Is it bad that I am happy for summer to begin winding down?  We have been so busy with vacations & family events - I'm tired :)  We have one more big trip to visit my grandmother in New York which I'm excited about - we always have such a good time & it is super nostalgic for me to go back there.  In addition we are planning on heading even further north to North Pole, NY to visit Santa's Workshop!!  I LOVE anything Christmas so I'm super pumped for this. Not to mention I went there as a child so I'm excited to share the experience with my two guys :)

As busy as I have been, I have still managed to get some scrapping in, if only for my assignments :)  I have LOTS of Noel Mignon layouts to share - I'm a bit backed up on sharing these :)

From the Melrose kit . . .



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From the Country Lane kit . . .

YES - SOME PROJECT LIFE IS HAPPENING!!


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From the Beach Blvd kit . . .



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And finally from the Hello Sunshine kit . . .



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YES - I MADE A MINI!!!


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Okay - if that isn't scrappy overload I don't know what is :)  I am all caught up now with sharing my Noel Mignon work!! I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these kits and have so much fun creating with them each month :)  Thanks for stopping by!!

saturday

She told me that once she forgot herself and her heart opened up like a door with a loose latch and everything fell out and she tried for days to put it all back in the proper order, but she finally gave up and left if there in a pile and loved everything equally. - Brian Andreas

Found these words the other day & am just loving them :)  It's been too long since I've last blogged, but the "once-a-month" posting seems pretty typical of me these days :)  It's not that I don't want to blog or don't have stuff to share - just such little time . . . I have been busy, raising little men, supporting my husband in his new business venture, helping my parent's with organizing some construction needed in their home, and trying, very hard, to get healthy again.  In the past 7 weeks have lost just shy of 20 lbs and am finally running again.  I don't love running, but I love how exercising makes me feel so it's worth it :)  I am learning to appreciate healthy food - fruits, vegetables, fish, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still craving my "-ito" family (that's Fritos, Doritos, and Cheetos)!! Just not giving in :) 

If you follow me on Facebook you may have noticed a recent share of my latest Fancy Pants Designs post.  It's all about my creative space :)  Here's a sneaky peek:


 
To check out more of my room head over to the post HERE.

I also have my two latest Fancy Pants Designs pages to share.  First up is a layout featuring the What A Wonderful Day Collection.  I had so much fun with the border around the page - lots of texture. Oh and all those arrows!!!  I had a ball fussy cutting from one of their fabulous patterned papers :)



My other page features the Memories Captured Collection.  The hues were perfect for this pic of my grandmother & Ryan.  I did a similar border treatment to the top and bottom of the page.  I just LOVED the die-cut polaroid frame!! Do you see those little stars?  They were actually punched from the new Fancy Pants Designs chalk tape!! So easy to adhere to my layout with their sticker backing :)



Have a fabulous Saturday - hope to be back sooner than 30 days - ha!!!

friday

Has it really been a whole month since I've posted??  So much has been going on - lots of layouts to share over the next few posts & some exciting personal news to share!!  We (meaning my husband & his good friend, along with his wife) are opening a brewery!! My husband has left his job of the past 13 years and is venturing out, along with the rest of us to open a craft beer brewery.  Of course at this point, with my kiddos in tow, my role is limited but in the future, as Nicholas enters preschool I am excited to help out in any way I can :)  We have just brought on a head brewer with lots of experience & we are excited to see what recipes we can come up with together.  If you'd like, feel free to like our facebook page HERE & follow our journey!! SO many new adventures on the horizon in the coming months :)  I'll keep you all posted, but in the meantime I have two new layouts to share :)  The first is a layout using the Fancy Pants Designs Down By The Shore collection.  I love the bright, bold color scheme in this line.  Perfect for summer!!!



I grabbed this circle background file from the Silhouette store HERE.  I have the older Silhouette, so I can't cut a full 12 x 12 page.  Instead I cut two smaller sections of circles, and overlapped them underneath the photo - you can barely tell :)  Within the circles I added smaller punched circles, stickers, and punched wave borders.



For my title, I used a combination of Fancy Pants Designs stickers and a Silhouette file (you can find it HERE).



My second layout features the Fancy Pants Designs Trendsetter collection.  I love this photo of Ryan & Nicholas.  There two love each other so much :)



Lots of clustering of stickers, buttons, and tags . . .



Even more clustering of Fancy Pants Designs goodies . . .



Thanks so much for stopping by!!! Hoping to be back soon - lots more layouts to share :)

tuesday

It's been awhile . . .

we've been busy . . .

playing with cousins . . .



strolling downtown Annapolis . . .



taking a school trip to the zoo . . .



visiting Great Grammy 8 hours away. . .



taking walks . . .



playing at the park . . .



talking more walks (with Grammy). . .



being pouty . . .



celebrating a new career for daddy . . .



taking even more walks (enough says Nicholas!!) . . .



escaping for some date nights . . .



oh, and scrapping, of course!!!

I have 2 new layouts I created for Fancy Pants Designs to share :)

The first features their Park Bench Collection.  Love the teals, yellows, and grays in this line . . .



The "2" in the title work is actually from the ephmerea pack in the Trendsetter Collection - love that I can easily mix & match pieces from their collections!! I cut the "little adventurers" using my Silhouette & then did a little stitching after attaching.



Lots of layers on this layout & I even stitched around the photo!!



I think I'm addicted to these little flags of their's - so fun!!



My second layout features the Fancy Pants Designs Swagger Collection.  Perfect for the men & boys in your life, the oranges, grays, and blues went perfectly with this pic I recently snapped of Ryan . . .



For the background I decided to using machine stitching to create a chevron-type design.  You can also see a close-up of the fabulous die-cut quote banner - love this!!  Perfect for my little man these days who is struggling so hard at finding his way.  Lots of discussions recently about being your own person :)  Oh & the buttons, one of my favorite embellishments!!



I decided to die-cut this title as well, just a simple "be you".  I added a little star sticker and brad to the center of the "o" and then did some machine stitching through the words.



Lots of layers on this layout as well - I'm totally into that these days :) How cute is that little paperclip??  And another good quote on the round sticker :)



More to share in the next few days . . . thanks for stopping by!!