Summer Fun at the Park

 Hello! I have more cute stuff to share with you! This page is a continuation of our day trip from my last post. We split our time between watching the ducks and the playground that day. I am a big fan of parks with multiple levels. This park had tunnels and little slides that were perfect for my one year old. 

The Pinkfresh ephemera and puffy stickers were a great compliment to my pictures. How much do you love all the goodies in the glam bag this month! I created a couple simple filler cards with the HS Serendipity paper pad in my stash. I love how the yellows play off my daughter's bright dress and add to the cheery overall feel. I almost left the hearts card blank but with every other square having something extra, I decided to decorate it. I really like how the 'here & now' stamp fills the extra space in the corner. 

What little surprises have you found in your kit this month that have added just the right pop to your projects?

Summer Day Trip

 

 Hello! I just love all the watercolor in the July 'Refresh' kit! I love to use my gelatos and to get cards that just go with my creative style is a treat. I said this last month and it's true again, this kit is full of goodies! This is the first of multiple pages I'll be sharing with you this month. I'm getting a lot out of the 'Refresh' pocket kit and glam bag.

In July of 2011, we took a trip to PA to visit family. While we were there, we took a day trip to Lititz for some family time and to give our hosts a break. Lititz is a cute little town with shops and this great park to explore. There's a man-made creek that crosses the park and it was full of mama and baby duckies. We spent the day playing and watching the ducks swim!

This month I was determined to use my stamps better. I love the stamps we've been getting in the kits this summer but I still wasn't using them. It does take a little more effort to pull out ink and do the stamping thing. So before I started embellishing, I stamped all the shapes I thought would be useful on these pages on a white paper with black ink and cut them out. I put them in a tray with my other embellies. This way they're in front of me and I can just add them to my already colorful cards or use my gelatos to add color. My favorite is the heart stamp! So cute!

What's your favorite part of this month's kit? I can't wait to see what you do with it!

Summer Mixed Media

Hello! Happy Friday! Today I have some mixed media journaling pages to share with you. I love everything that came with the June 'Breathe' Take 10 kits and I've been able to create loads of projects with them! Not only was able to create the 2 project life pages and card I've already shared with you, but I have 2 more pages you'll have to catch here on my blog in the future and these fun mixed media pages! 

I'm playing along with Little Paper Projects summer class about Little Summer Joy.  The pitch: Here at LPP, we focus self-reflection and personal growth through journal + photography projects. Little Summer JOY Project is a practice in the essence of that mission: we want to find our joy, capture our joy, and reflect on our joy this summer. We’ll share our own personal celebrations, fun times with family and friends, and unique and inspiring ways to get yourself in the picture and become a part of your summer story. Find out more at LPP.

I find myself scrambling to fit everything in and forgetting to enjoy my summers, which is actually my favorite season. Really I feel that year around. Days are long with little ones and anything that helps me remember to enjoy the everyday moments is a plus for me. So I took on this project as a way to remember to treasure the little joyful moments this summer!

This week I created my title pages and my first entry about my summer manifesto. I used the Pineapple stamp and coordinating sentiment in colors that complimented my gelato background on the next page. Once I started water-coloring, I found out this paper is not made for that. So once it dried I added more gelato color and just tried to go with it. Sometimes mistakes are fun! :) (Sorry about the odd blue lighting on that one.) I used the Summer 2015 card and blue dot washi tape from the June Pocket kit. 

To create my Summer Manifesto pages, I used the Summer Vibes ephemera and alphas from the glam bag and a couple things from the May kit too that I layered over my gelato 'wind'. I really enjoyed pulling this page together with embellishments, definitions and my thoughts! I hope your finding joy in your summer and if not let me encourage you.. You can do it! Each day always has at least something small to be thankful for. And thankfulness brings joy.

Summer Time Page

Hello! I have another great page to share with you using the Breathe kit! I am just loving this kit! Between the Pocket kit and the Glam bag, I've been able to create almost 4 pages for my album. Now that's an amazing deal for $10! The June kit is full of so many cute cards and fun embellishments. 

This page documents more of the pool time we had with family on our summer vacation in 2011. What can I say, I just loved all these shots and couldn't leave out a single one. So yes, I have about 3 pages of swimming pictures. Sometimes you just get those perfectly cute and awesomely lit photos that you can't live without! :) I used cards and embellishments from the Breathe kit and even a card from a past kit that I hadn't found a home for yet. I really enjoyed the addition of the cut apart labels in the June kit and love the added touch they can lend to a picture or card. And I also added a splash of gelato mist the 'summer time' card to give it some extra dimension. I hope you've enjoyed creating cute projects and pages with your Breathe kit this month!

Did you get any goodies from the 4th of July flash sale?? And don't forget the July kit will be for sale on the 15th. Sneaks are already popping up on the Facebook group. Get your July kit 10% off with the code 'take10'.

Head in the Clouds card

Good Morning! Morning.. right? I don't know about you but fireworks do not make for restful nights at my house. I might need extra coffee this weekend. :) This week our 10th wedding anniversary and my husband had time off work. So while I didn't forget our anniversary, I wasn't exactly prepared. Eek! I needed to whip up a card and fast! So I turned to my Take 10 supplies. 

I used all this from the pocket kit and glam bag (minus the 2 things noted): 

• blue cardstock from my stash (light blue for one of our wedding colors)
• Simple Stories Summer Vibes ephemera
• pineapple vellum that I trimmed
• Citrus Bliss paper (add-on)
• an Evalicious Wood veneer
• Enamel Dots
• Turquoise alphas
• White alphas from my stash

Can you believe it!? All those goodies to make a really cute, well coordinated card! I think my 5 year old is more in love with it than my hubby since it's so bright and cheerful and a little girly. But he loves the personal message and the loving thoughts it came with. :) 

I hope you're enjoying the Breathe kit this month! I've been able to create multiple pages and this card with my kits. Have you come up with any unique projects using your kit this month or are you getting lots of cheerful layouts from it like me? I can't wait to see your creativity. Have a happy and hopefully restful 4th of July! Or just a great weekend if you're not in the States!

Summer Snapshots

 Hello! I have another fun summer layout to share with you on this happy Friday! This month's Breathe kit is so full of goodies. :) Aren't the pineapples and popsicles just adorable!? Those velum cards are going to pop up on my next page that's still in the works.

This page captures a few more of my favorite shots of my daughter splashing with her great uncle on our family vacation in 2011. I used cards, stickers and stamps from the Breathe kit. Plus a couple things from the Citrus Bliss add-on and 2 Dear Lizzy cards from my stash. I love how each page from this trip is turning out so colorful. It's the perfect feel for these memories.

I've added some journaling about these events and also left some space knowing I'll fill in more details as I look back through my notes from 2011. As I mentioned before, I like to journal in order so I don't miss anything. So while I am jumping around to make pages that fit with my Take 10 kits, I'm still journaling in order. I want to record our story and not just caption the pictures.

How do you do your journaling? Do you have a short story about your summer events? Do your pictures speak for themselves? I hope you're enjoying the June kit as much as I am!

Take 10 Tuesday | Journaling

 Hello! It's Tuesday again. :) Are you taking a little time for yourself today? Just 10 minutes of creative time leaves me feeling refreshed! Today I have a tip for you about journaling. 

I started pocket style scrapbooking as a way to make my oldest daughter's baby book. She's 5 1/2 now and I'm currently scrapping 2011. So it's reasonable to ask how in the world can I remember details from 2011?? When my baby girl was 1 there were so many new details and milestones to record. I knew that someday I wanted a scrapbook or baby book for her. I hadn't found Project Life yet and hadn't started the traditional scrapbook I had laying around, so I journaled. A lot. I've always loved journaling. It's a way of release for me! I record memories, prayers, emotions... It just gets it on paper so I can process and deal with life in my head. :) 

This is my journal that was gifted to me by a dear friend sometime before I was pregnant. I have about 2 years of memories in this one. Now that it's full and I'm documenting memories from this time period, I always have it on my craft desk. I have a bookmark or a couple in the places I'm pulling info from for my current pages. I also used to use a little moleskin planner. So I keep my planners close by as well. If I don't have a journal entry for a few days, I'll check my planner to make sure I'm not missing anything. 

Now I journal and plan in a completely different way... I've gone digital! :) I create a new Google doc each year for journaling and my planner is the calendar on my smart phone. At first I was really annoyed that I was using my phone and not actual paper and pen. I planned to get back to paper journaling as soon as I found a new journal I liked. But I had another daughter and life got busier! So I stuck to my new solution and have embraced it. Now as a mom of 3, I find it much easier to journal on my phone. I always have it at my finger tips and I can even use voice texting if needed. And I need the reminders my phone sends me about my calendar events. Seriously, 5 schedules is enough to scramble my brain that's especially forgetful on an infant sleep schedule!

So this is my solution for journaling and keeping those memories fresh for documenting when I have time. There's no getting behind because it's all just ready and waiting! I hope you find some helpful tips in what I've shared. Take some time to record your story today, even if it's a little journaling to add to your photos another day!