Working, Working, Working

Hi!  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  My husband left for TDY on Sunday and it's my first time alone with both girls....and...yeah, it's hard!  So I've been very busy not only taking care of them, but also working on my December Daily album.  Which I finished today!  I got the whole foundation done and will finish taking pictures and will post them all tomorrow when I have more time.  For tonight, I'm exhausted.  I'm making a hot mug of tea and zoning out in front of the TV with my Boston terrier, Brody.  Until tomorrow...

The Sampler November Sketch

It's sketch time at The Sampler!  This month's sketch was so awesome, that I had to decided which page to do because I immediately had four different ideas!  Will definitely use this sketch again in the future.  Here's the sketch:

And here's my page:

I used the Amy Tangerine paper from the kit and turned it on it's side, using the clouds as some journaling spots.  Everything on this page (except some of the flowers, brads, and mixtape) is from the November kit.  Please check out the design team's pages for their takes on the sketch and start working on your own!

Rochelle Spears

Diana Gonzolas

Amber Goble

Holly King

Jules Dix

Monique Liedtke

December Daily 2011 - The Cover

I finished my album cover for my December Daily last night.  I decided to paint it.  I was terrified of messing it up, and then where would I be?  But in the end, I decided to do for it.  And I LOVE it!  Here's what I used:

Chipboard album from Studio Calico's December Daily add-on kit (sold out)
Tim Holtz grungeboard letter (d)
Chipboard snowflake
Ribbon
December button from Ormolu
Red acrylic craft paint
Liquitex Matte Medium
Mister Huey's spray mist in Pickle
Glossy Accents

I mixed the acrylic paint with some of the Liquitex Matte Medium.  The medium drys clear so it's not noticeable.  It helps the texture of the paint not be so rough on the chipboard and helps keep it from fading or chipping.  I painted the entire album, inside and out, and also painted the "d" with the same paint mixture.  I really like the tone-on-tone look.  I then adhered the ribbon using the Glossy Accents to be sure it wouldn't come up.  I adhered the "d", the snowflake and the button all with the Glossy Accents as well.  It's very secure!  Here is the finished product:

I love the way it turned out.  I have my Ali Edwards Overlays printed, I ordered some transparency overlays online today, so as soon as those come in I can really start building my album to get ready for December.  Right now, my plan is to have the overlay pages (right), with the opposite page (left) being a patterned paper with a Christmas quote on it.  And I will have the transparency overlays in between with the dates on them.  I'm super excited about this project.  Are you doing a December Daily?  If you're interested, see Ali Edwards' blog posts about her process.  It's amazing!

Sampler Reveal and a Giveaway!

The November kit for The Sampler, "Seasonal Sweets," is up on the blog!  And to "sweeten" the deal, there's a big giveaway with your comments.  Holly has a whole bunch of stuff to hand out and she's in a giving mood, so be sure to check it out and answer the question from the post for a chance to win!  A couple of the designers, yours truly included, have already started posting projects with the Nov kit, so be sure to check those out on the blog as well.  The sketch challenge will go up on Sunday and I'll have a second layout done next Tuesday as well.  SO, go leave your comment for the giveaway and good luck!

The Sampler Reveal

I'll also be back later this week with the cover for my December Daily.  I'm painting it...I'm terrified, but I'm painting it.  Wish me luck!

I'm thinking....

...about a lot of things.  Such as:

1.   Getting my December Daily kit from Studio Calico today and I CAN'T WAIT to dive in.  Still don't know exactly how I'm going to do it, but I'm sure seeing the kit will inspire me.

2.  Setting up a Project Life station.  Lisa Truesdell wrote this great post about her Project Life process and I plan on using some of her tips.

3.  Submitting my Weight Loss Smash book to their blog.  Maybe they'll feature it???

4.  So much scrapping inspiration on Pinterest!

5.  Lots of projects I want to take on.  Hoping I can get them all done and do them all justice.

What's on YOUR To Do list lately?

The Sampler Design Team Call!

You all know I've been a member of The Sampler's design team for the past year...wow...a year already???  It was such a great experience and, hello - free kits every month to play with?  Yes please!  The site is now looking for it's 2012 design team.  Are you one of them?  Here are the details to enter and I strongly encourage you to go for it!  It's a great team to be on and I had a blast with it.  You have until December 5th to get your entries in.  Good Luck!

The Sampler Design Team Call

November: Currently

Reading a good sci-fi book for our next book club meeting and really enjoying it.

Needing to finish my mini books for the Spouse Home Business Expo this coming weekend.

Trying to stay away from the Halloween candy in our house right now.  Unsuccessfully.

Planning so many big projects: December Daily, Project Life 2012, selling ready-made albums on ETSY.

Thinking about Christmas gifts to send to family (all gift cards though - I refuse to pay more in shipping than on actual gifts)

Really needing to upload and share photos from our San Diego trip and Halloween.

Wishing my girls weren't growing up so quickly!

Looking forward to my mother-in-law visiting for Thanksgiving.

Also needing to get my coupon binder organized and my grocery list ready.

Being very busy with an ever-growing To Do list and Want To Do list. 

Project Life

I've finally decided to take the plunge and do a Project Life album.  If you haven't heard of Project Life, here's a little bit that I've picked up from my research.  It was developed by Becky Higgins.  It's a kit that you can purchase that will help make your scrapbooking life a little simpler.  With two children now, I need a little simplicity around here!  The kit comes with a 12x12 album, slotted page protectors, a "core kit" that has journaling cards and embellished cards (called filler cards), month bookmarks and some 12x12 cardstock.  The idea of the album is to use the slotted page protectors (think baseball card type) and all you have to do is add in your pictures and some journaling cards.  Super easy.  Everything is there for you and everything matches already.  No thinking, just doing.  I'm going to do this to document our year for 2012.  I will also add in my own supplies to jazz it up a bit.  It's something different for me and I'm excited about it!  I will still make pages to go in my other albums, but this is something that will help me use all the pictures we take of everyday things and it takes some of the pressure off of having to do an entire page to document one small thing.  Here's some more info on Project Life if you're interested:

I have enlisted a few friends of mine who are excited to do this project with me as well.  We're going to start meeting once a month and work on our albums while our kids play!  I'm super excited to get it and start!  I'll be blogging about it and showing you my progress each month.
*I have an album that's ongoing that's documenting my "100 List."  100 things I want to do before I die.  I'm not loving my album anymore and I'm thinking one of these kits might be perfect for that project as well.  Might have to revamp it!

October Sketch at The Sampler!

Hello all!  It's sketch time again over at The Sampler.  Here's the sketch challenge:

And here's my page:

Can you believe how similar my daughters looked as newborns?  Caylan definitely had a ton more hair than Layla, but they are definitely sisters!  This whole page is done with the October kit, "Mrs. Weasly."  The only things not in the kit are the teal letters, circle frame, brad and stamps.  Everything else is in the kit!  I love the colors of this kit, the oranges, teals and purples.  Perfect for Halloween and just about everything else too.  Don't forget to check out the other design team's pages and pick up your October kit here.  I'd love to see your interpretation of the sketch!  Happy scrapping!

Rochelle Spears

Diana Gonzolas

Amber Goble

Holly King

Jules Dix

Monique Liedtke

FYI:

{LOVE} {LOVE} {LOVE}

That is all.