Baby Girl Millie: 9 months

In these 2 pages, I used the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan core kit and the Baby Edition for Her core kits. This layout records quite the variety of stories in our lives! In this 2 week time frame, we celebrated birthdays, enjoyed the fall weather and said goodbye to loved ones. It was emotional time and the hidden journaling on the rose card took me a while to complete.

1 Peter 1:3-9 says:

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

When I focus on these verses, that whole week is more hopeful and comes into focus. The focus is eternity, not here and now! If I were to focus on only here, I'd drown in my sorrows and worries. Each day has plenty of troubles of it's own, not to mention reliving past ones. But I am so grateful that Jesus' promises believers, there is more. I have an inheritance, a future that is 'incorruptible, undefiled and does not fade away'! 

Recording even the sad stories is important because it reminds me of the hope that Jesus gives and bring all of life into focus! It gives me strength to be thankful for the hard times and gives me even more joy in the good times.

Laura's Celebrate Layout: Part 1

 

I was so excited to get this month's Take 10 kit and realize I had my baby girl's 1st birthday photos printed! This is the first page of about 4 for this event. :) First birthday's only happens once and I already had a hard time editing the photos I wanted to use.
I'll be sharing another page at Studio 29 Designs blog next week and more here as soon as they're done. I might also be sharing glimpses of these birthday pages on my Instagram while I'm working on them. And it might be a month before you see the final pages because baby boy is due in 2 weeks so I'm taking a bit of a scrappy break to cuddle my little one! Use the code 'create10' to get 10% off so you can keep scrapping with this kit while I'm off!

The theme was 'Cute as a Button' and full of pink, so the bright colors of the Celebrate kit are the perfect compliment. I used my gelatos a lot on this page! I love it when that works out. They add such fun color to any card!

On the title card, I added the 'No 1' wood veneers from my stash (a Studio Calico 2014 summer kit) and painted them pink with my gelatos. I also misted the bright white card to add a little more pop. And I used gelatos and a baby wipe to create a background for the celebrate stamp. The pinks and blues blended so well this way! I also used a couple gold chip board elements (Heidi Swapp gold foil value kit) throughout the page for more fun. I like how it adds an element of festive glitter to the whole page! And the gold/white card is also from HS and the stripe one from Strawberry. You'll see more of the those kits in these layouts because they coordinate so perfectly!

This page is a little light on the journaling for me but there are more pages to come. I'm also creating a full page spread for this event. I only do that for special events where I know I want to highlight a memorable picture or express a larger amount of words. I know I want to record what happened this day as well as how I felt. This was a big milestone and I want her to look back at these pictures and know what happened as well as how much I celebrated her milestone in our lives. It's important to have those stories and precious thoughts recorded along with the pictures and details of her 1st birthday.  I hope you find a way to incorporate your heart amidst the celebration you record with this fun kit!

My 2nd Journey Project: Happy Birthday

Hello! I'm so excited how this card turned out! I ended up using most of my February Journey kit on this layout I shared with you last week. So for my second project I used the last card I had and the stamps. I love the stamps this month! The mix of script and print fonts is so eye catching. I used both the kit stamp and the add-on balloon stamp.

First I water-colored some white cardstock with my gelatos to get more sky background to pair with the 'sky is the limit' card. I probably could've used watercolor paper but since I don't have any, white cardstock works just fine. I sometimes lament the lack of good supplies I have but when I use what I do have, I still have great results! Always try to use what you already have, you will probably be just as happy with the end product and your budget will be happier too. :) After my sky background dried, I added the hot air balloon stamp and clouds with black ink and added gelato watercolor to them as well. Then I wanted to add a specific sentiment to the front without disrupting the picture I just created. I was happy to find one last sheet of sparkled vellum in my paper stash. So with a quick cut on my Cameo, I had a fresh Happy Birthday to finish off the front. It created the perfect overlay with the vellum which I attached with a couple green brads. By using the blue-green-red color inspiration that came with the kit, I have a beautifully cohesive card!

I stamped a couple of the sayings on white cardstock so they would pop on the inside. Plus I misted some of the smaller elements to get some more red on the inside. If I had planned a little better I would've attached the brads before I glued down the front but it doesn't bother me too much. There's always something to learn for next time. :) I can't wait to share this card the next time I need to wish someone a Happy Birthday! And I hope you all have been just as inspired by the Journey kit!

PL Progress on a Winter Day

 We've been having plenty of days that look like this...

So that means we're staying inside!! I'm thoroughly enjoying recording Millie's 1st year Project Life style. I'm taking my time and never saying I'm behind even though she's 5 now. :) For me, the whole point of scrap-booking is to have fun not be caught up to the moment. With all the time inside we've been having this week, I was able to date my recent batch of prints and get them in sleeves. 

• I like to print out a bunch at a time when Snapfish is having penny prints. After I have them in order, which you always have to check because you know Snapfish will throw one randomly in the pile and it'll be bad news if you miss it, I get them in the album about how I think I'll want them in the end. 
• I keep them chronological. It's a baby book so this makes the most sense.
• I leave spaces for my stories because I flip through my journal while I'm putting them in so I know about how much room I'll need. 
• And I add a few sticky notes if I have a great idea while I'm working. 

Now all the photos I'll be working on over the next few weeks are in the album, in order and ready for my creative touch! I have about 3 months just waiting for me. Yay!

Love Banner

 Since I got my new Silhouette Cameo I knew I wanted to replace our Christmas Advent banner with something new after Christmas. I took until February but I cut out this cute Valentine/Love banner. I just love how it turned out. I had planned on having my girls help put it together but once I got it all designed and cut, I was feeling like it just needed to get done and I wanted it straight. :) So they helped hang it!

I was inspired by this banner I found on Pinterest: Easy Christmas banner by Lilluna. I love finding ideas on pinterest and I know I'll be pinning a lot more when I'm spending quality time nursing a newborn. It keeps me awake at night! Find me here.

My 'Journey' Layout

 

Hi! Today I'm sharing with you my Journey layout created with the February Take 10 pocket kit. As soon as this kit arrived, I knew it was going to be an adventure! The colors are completely different than I usually use. Not that I don't like the bold primary colors but I have 2 little girls and it's all pink around here. Most of my stash is pink and soft and watercolor-y. :)  I have a feeling baby boy (due this spring) is really going to put a new spin on life for us! But when I saw the theme, I knew I had the perfect trip to document. I had just recently looked at the first trip I took away from my first daughter. With those memories fresh in my mind, I dove into this kit.

 

When my baby girl was about 9 months old, my husband and I took a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina through his work for a fun Film Festival they used to hold annually. The year before I attended for the first time very pregnant. This time I was coming without my baby but still with a serious craving for some southern sweet tea. To die for! I was really looking forward to spending time with my hubby and having some 'me time' but I knew it would be bittersweet.

On the left page, I used a few cards from the kit with a few from my stash in coordinating colors of red and blue. I listed some highlights and created an unofficial title card and left plenty of room for journaling. After I recorded my thoughts, I added a few stamps and a red mist to finish it off.

On the right side, I used almost entirely cards from the Journey kit. I made the red polka dot card with my gelatos and a red marker to mimic the blue one. And after messing with the currently card way too much, I just cut out the part I liked and glued it on a plain white card. Sometimes 'messing up' brings surprisingly good results! :) The bottom card I shared in my sneak got a little face lift because I wanted the background to be sharper.

It's always fun to remember a story like this one! It's these short trips that remind me how much I need to spend quality time with my hubby and how much I love spending my days at home with my children. Thanks for letting me share and enjoy your journey this week!

My 'Journey' Take 10 Kit Sneak Peek

Today I am sharing a few goodies from the Take 10 'Journey' kit for February. We took our first adults only trip when my baby girl was 9 months old. Her album is full of pinks and soft feminine cards so it was a fun challenge to mix is up with the 'Journey' kit! The bold blues, green and reds will make this trip jump out when I look back.

My favorite part of this month's kit is probably the stamp! I love the script and the details! I used my gelatos to stamp this to get a more distressed look to match the rest of the background, which I created by using bubble wrap to stamp circles with more white gelato.  And I used light blue ink to get a hint of the puffy clouds from one of the add on stamps. Plus how cute is the geo tag clip and info card!  This is only one card out of a whole page I'm working on and look at how much I'm already giving away. This kit is full of goodies!