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4/28/15

Maggie Holmes Design Team: Hello + Hugs



Hello!!  I'm over on Maggie's blog sharing a fun twist on patterned paper!  I love taking a piece of paper and making it work for my page!  Hope you will stop by and check it out!  



4/27/15

Studio Calico // Carolina Moon Reveal - Main Kit


Happy reveal day everyone!  The Carolina Moon kits are live for subscribers now and they are just so awesome!  I always have a hard time picking a favorite kit each month, but this month's Project Life kit and Dean add-on kit are probably my fave!  I love the different cards and pieces in the PL kit and the colors in the Dean add-on are fabulous!  So fun and playful!  But, you really can't go wrong with any of the kits!!  



The layout above is my main kit only page.  I reeeeeally tried hard to incorporate lots of different layers and COLORS onto my page!  And those bronze alpha are just perfect!



I used one of the SC vellum packages as an extra on my page so I could slip my journaling in behind my photo.  I'm the biggest fan of hidden journaling!

There are so many extras this month too - stamps, journaling cards, washi.  Be sure to check out the reveal page for all of the latest goodies!






I'll be back later with this week with a few more fun projects from these kits!!  Stay tuned! :)



4/26/15

Studio Calico // Carolina Moon Sneaks


The Carolina Moon reveal is tonight at Studio Calico (the link will be active at 12pm for subscribers and 12am for non-subscribers)!  The kits this month are SO MUCH fun!  I love the mix of colors and embellishments!  Lots of pretty pops of red and bronze and gold and yellow!  

Here's a little peek of the kits this month!  Just LOVE!


And here are a few sneaks of my projects!  Like always, I couldn't stop once I got started!  I'll be back shortly with a full reveal!  Hope to see you a chat tomorrow at 11am and 11pm.  I hear there are some good giveaways going on!  :)


4/23/15

April Project Life Album: Part I


My little collection of albums is just growing and growing! I really love trying out new sizes and being able to add in random bits and pieces into my books.  

This month, I switched from the awesome 6x8 vertical size (be prepared to see that again) to more of a 6x8 horizontal size.  I thought this would be an easy switch seeing that the majority of my photos are landscape, but it was a little tricky.  I figured it out though, and now I have a book slammed full of our April memories. 


I'm over on the Studio Calico blog today sharing a look at my album, as well as another quick walk through video!  I used all of my Lisse Street kits for my album - I love how everything works so well together!  And I love that there are "no rules" when it comes to supplies!  I hope you will check it out and let me know what you think!!  



Four months, four books.  Bam!
I LOVE THEM!

4/20/15

Creative Jumpstarts 14


Happy Monday, friends!
Today, Marcy and I have another fun Creative Jumpstarts to share with you!  We are switching back to pocket scrapping this week and our challenge for you is to incorporate some type of insert into your albums!


I decided to work in my March Project Life album for this challenge.  I had a bunch of extra photos from March that didn't make it into my pages, so I created a vellum envelope to store them.  I used one piece of vellum, folded in half to create my insert.  Before I folded and sewed the edges, I printed a few digital brushes onto the right hand side of my page.  I love the effect the brushes add, and I love being able to see through the vellum pages.


I kept my pocket super easy by just sewing the edges, punching holes and adding in my photos.  I thought about including a few extra embellishments to jazz it up, but similar is definitely easier these days!! 


And that's our challenge for you this week - create an insert in your Project Life albums! And if you don't do pocket scrapping, then try and incorporate some type of "insert" or envelope onto your project!  Have fun and happy creating!

Creative Jumpstarts were created by Marcy Penner and Stephanie Bryan to challenge each other with their paper endeavors. Delivered in the form of bimonthly challenges, they encourage us (and hopefully you too) to stretch supplies, think outside of the box and to remain intentional about the memories we capture.  Challenges are posted on the first and third Mondays of every month.  Projects are shared on our blogs and on Instagram using the hashtag #creativejumpstarts. We'd love it if you'd share along with us at either of those places and be sure to tag us (@helloforeverpaperco and @stephaniebryan) if you do!

4/10/15

Around Here


Just a glimpse of our life right now! Spring is here and everyday is full of bike rides, playgrounds and sand pits! We've also had fun birthdays and rainy beach trips to keep our days full! I love how color starts creeping into our days and our photos as soon as spring! Happy April and happy Spring, friends! 

4/8/15

Designer Spotlight at Scrapbook Expo


I am so honored to be featured on the Designer Spotlight series over at Scrapbook Expo!  I always love doing featured posts because it's makes me stop and reflect on this amazing hobby and all of the amazing friends I have met along the way.  You can read some fun facts about me, and see some of my recent favorite projects over on the Scrapbook Expo blog!  And a great big thank you to the super sweet Paige Evans for featuring me and my work!!  xoxo

4/7/15

Sketchbook with Kelly Purkey

I am so excited to be a contributor in the latest edition of Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook class.  Kelly has taught this class multiple times and I am always floored by her amazing style and genius ideas!  I received my sketches for this class a few days ago and I cannot wait to play around with them (if I can ever find some free time)!!
Here's what Studio Calico has to say about Sketchbook:
Kelly Purkey's awesome Sketchbook class returns to the Calico Classroom with all new original ideas for creative inspiration! In this essential class, you'll fill your sketchbook with 8 original sketches, 50 all new projects including layouts, cards, mini books, and more, and 50 additional sketches based on the projects so you can revisit them again and again. 

WHAT YOU'LL GET :

-58 sketches - 8 original sketches and 50 variations based on the class projects. 
-4 videos and 8 all new projects from Kelly Purkey.
-42 new projects (layouts, cards, pocket pages & mini albums) from our contributors - all using Studio Calico kits!
-Ideas for adapting a sketch to fit ANY project - layout, card or pocket pages!
-PDF lessons posted each Tuesday and Thursday in May.
-Digital printable journal cards & accents from In A Creative Bubble.
-Digital die cut files from In A Creative Bubble.


If you enroll now, you will receive this awesome 4x6 Sketchbook Stamp set FREE!  Alpha stamps are the new rage to me and I cannot wait to incorporate these into my projects!!  

So are you in??  Hope to see you in the classroom!!  It's going to be full of inspiration!


4/6/15

Creative Jumpstarts 13


Hello and happy Monday!!
Marcy and I are back this week to share a new Creative Jumpstarts challenge with you!!  This week we are switching back to a scrapbook recipe challenge!  As I've said before - these are my faves!  I love having a starting point (or a jumpstart!!) when it comes to creating a page.  

Here's the recipe for this challenge:
Striped patterned paper
Washi tape
Chipboard



I usually start by gathering my supplies and then printing out a photo (this photo is actually from our last photography challenge - black & white).  From there, I try to think of a few fun ways to use the recipe products.


For my page, I started with the striped piece of patterned paper as my base layer and then worked up from there.  Since the striped paper is pretty bold, I paired it with a few bold and neutral colors.  I always like to layer my photo on top of a neutral paper for some reason.  It feels more clean and cohesive when I layer bold-neutral-photo.  And I think it makes the photo pop from the page a little more. 


I had originally thought about creating an art journal page for this recipe, but after I created my base layers, I found that I really wanted that white space to balance out the bold black and pops of pink.  I utilized the extra space below my photo for some typed journaling and then finished with a few simple embellishments - washi tape, labels and a chipboard "A".

And that's my take on this recipe challenge!  It's a pretty simple and easy page overall, but I think the colors and the words really make it complete!

Ok!  So now it's YOUR turn to show up your take on this recipe challenge!  Pull out those stripes, washi and chipboard and get to work!  We can't wait to see what you create!

Creative Jumpstarts were created by Marcy Penner and Stephanie Bryan to challenge each other with their paper endeavors. Delivered in the form of bimonthly challenges, they encourage us (and hopefully you too) to stretch supplies, think outside of the box and to remain intentional about the memories we capture.  Challenges are posted on the first and third Mondays of every month.  Projects are shared on our blogs and on Instagram using the hashtag #creativejumpstarts. We'd love it if you'd share along with us at either of those places and be sure to tag us (@helloforeverpaperco and @stephaniebryan) if you do!




4/3/15

Lisse Street Kit Mixing // Studio Calico


When it comes to scrapbooking, using kits makes the process so simple and easy!  If I'm not using a kit, I usually find myself searching all of my craft room for papers, embellishments, etc.  With the kit, though, all of the guesswork is taken out and it gives me a great starting base!!

Each month with my Studio Calico kits, I start with the main kit only and create a few pages.  I typically find that once I get started with one page, the ideas flow easier, so I end up making a few at a time.  Then I grab out my other kits and mix them all together!  Kit mixing is so fun!  I love putting all of my embellishments together and creating little clusters of fun on my pages.


For this first project, I used a lot of paper scraps to create a small vertical background on my page.  I added my photo right in the middle of the paper strips and then added in a few embellishments around the page.


I'm the worst at adding titles, but I managed to get one here! It's not grammatically correct, but more of a play on words - like - you "2" are so "good".  Clear as mud, right?! :)


This second layout is also a mix of kits.  I wanted to use this larger photo of my sweet son sleeping, so I centered right in the middle of my card stock and the built my layers around the photo. 


The papers this month are some of my favorite!  I'm a huge fan of text paper and polka dot papers, so it was a no-brainer that I was going to pair these two together!!  The gold Seven Paper hearts and star sequins were the perfect finishing touches to my page!!

Are you a fan of kits too??

4/2/15

Memory Planner: February & March


My Memory Planner has sort of turned into my "go to" when I have the urge to create.  I love that it really it encourages me to keep my photos current/uploaded/edited.  I tend to take quite a few photos, and I'm sure I would become pretty overwhelmed if I didn't get those off my camera or phone.  


My favorite part of my Memory Planner is adding in photos, cards and extra little pieces.  They add a little bit of character and personality, which I love!  Plus, there is nothing better than flipping back two months and seeing snippets of the previous month.  


Along with daily events and scheduling, I'm also using my planner to keep notes of memories, quotes, activities, etc.  Having a "one stop place" to write ALL of this stuff down is awesome.  I'm a lister by nature, so I usually had a zillion little lists going on at a time.  Now, they all reside here in my cute little binder!


The smaller 2x2 cards from Heidi's Memory Planner collection are perfect for adding into those (usually empty) weekend boxes.  I usually then jot down a few notes about our weekend.  


I'm continuing to end each month with a photo collage.  I typically pull this directly from my Around Here posts, so it takes about two seconds to compile the photos and print.  They aren't perfectly centered or square, but I'm totally ok with that!  I just love having a peek of our month on one page!



Each month in the binder starts with a page for two photos and then a page protector for additional photos.  I've been completing this at the end of the month as sort of a "reflection" activity.  It's nice to sit down and think back on all the amazing things that happened in a month!


Alpha, cards, stickers and stamps are my best friend when it comes to daily events.  If I know I have a big event coming up (like going to the beach), I usually add the alpha title right into that box!  It's like a bold reminder that something awesome is coming.  Any "extra" or empty space I have at the end of the two-page spread, I fill with whatever I have lying around - stamps, gold foil stickers, rub-ons....


I've started incorporating this cute little Memory Planner envelopes into my album to hold special notes or extra photos.  Just like in my mini albums and layouts, I love to have hidden extras sprinkled throughout my books!


And that's a quick look at some of my February and March planner pages.  As you can see, some weeks are full and detailed...and other weeks have lots of photos and cards!!  I'm good with either!  I'm just so glad I have a place to "keep" all of these things - and it's a bonus that I can mix planning with memory keeping!  That's a win-win to me!