The Liebster Award

I logged into my email just to check up on things when I read a surprising email. A sweet woman named Heidi has  nominated me for a Liebster award. (Make sure to stop by her blog and say a big hello! Happenings By Heidi). Needless to say, I'm sooooo happy right now. I'm literally grinning from ear to ear (and it's starting to hurt a little). I can't believe that someone would consider my little blog one of their favs and I am so humbled and happy!

Liebster is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea of the Liebster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers. So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to five other bloggers. Please stop by and visit them.

The Rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers.

5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!

Now here's my 5 picks! 

A Dog's Life

Creative Authority

Oh Shih-tzu!

Veridiana Fromm

Jazme Scrapping

Bedtime Hug - Webster's Pages & Hot off the Press

Chloe has been a part of our family for about three months now but I haven't scrapped a single page of her yet. I've left some of her pictures on my desk hoping to get a little inspiration, but I've been constantly stuck. (I guess all the wedding stuff has become my prime focus.) So, I was looking around the internet and came across two separate sources of inspiration: 1.) Color Combos Galore #215  2.) Lynn Ghahary - Country Boys. I loved the soft colors and feminine texture of the CCG challenge and the soft hearts on Lynn's page. So here's my attempt to merge the two!

Hot Off the Press - Color Me Flowers, Webster's Pages - Lullaby Lane - The Arrival, Ranger - Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Spun Sugar,  Ranger - Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Vintage Photo, American Crafts - Thickers - Maple - Black, Fiskars Border Punch - Flowers

The background paper was so much fun to work with because it was an ink resist paper. I started out rubbing it with Spun Sugar but it seemed too pink. So I opened up the ink drawer and looked for a neutral. I finally decided on Vintage Photo to tone it down with. I'm pleasantly surprised with the exact hue I finished with. My only words of wisdom with these kinds of paper is to start out with your lightest ink first. It's easy to add color to darken, but it's a lot harder to lighten once you've made a mistake. Try testing a small corner or an area that you plan on covering up.

I've really been into the texture that border punches give. So I decided to stack a couple of them on top of each other. I liked the look that I got, but they just seemed to blend in together too well. So, on every other edge I rubbed some more Vintage Photo ink. I really gives it a little more depth. Some machine stitching also made an appearance on this layout. It's just such an easy way to make a layout look more finished. I stitched a border around my entire layout as well as around my photo. The stitching also appeared on those sweet little hearts. Speaking of those hearts....

here's those adorable little hearts from Lynn's page. I just loved the sweet feel it brought to the page as well as the texture that it brought from the right to the left. I always try to balance out my page. I had a heavy texture on the right, so I needed texture on the left. I did the same with the title. My little puppies are black and white so it's always hard to work black in somehow. I know that it would probably make more sense to use the brown letters, but they just seemed to fade into the background. By using the black letters, I brought the black from the photo over to the left side of the layout.

I had fun on this layout. It was the first time I've ever used an ink resist paper but I've concurred my fear. I actually want to do more with these diverse products. Hope you'll join me for the next time!

Butterflies - Webster's Pages & Echo Park

I've had so much fun planning and scrapping wedding stuff, so of course I had to scrap that beautiful ring! I've always loved the look of Webster's pages, but I've never had anything that I could use them on. Now, I broke them all out! The color on "Lullaby Lane - The Arrival" is just the perfect shade of blue. It's especially perfect because that's the exact color for my entire wedding! I knew I had to use it.

Webster's Pages - Lullaby Lane - The Arrival, Echo Park Paper - Victoria Gardens - Rose Garden, 3D foam dots,  Inkssentials - Craft tags #5, Ranger - Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Iced Spruce, twine, pearl string from Hobby Lobby, Ranger - Acrylic Dabber - Snowcap, Fiskar's Border Punch - flowers,

The journaling reads "I still can't believe that we are actually engaged! I've waited for this for a long time and now that it's here, I've got butterflies!" I absolutely loved all of the texture that the pages had. I tried to keep the overall layout simple, but luscious. I used a fiskar edge punch around the edges to give texture without fluff. The tag was lightened a little bit by rubbing on an acrylic dabber in Snowcap. Then I used my sewing machine to go around the edges.

I had a duplicate of the background so I used as much of the backside as possible. It had such pretty flower groupings and textured cream paper. I used an exacto knife to cut them out and some 3D dots to really draw attention to them.

I had a lot of fun with this page and it's one of my favorites. It was so much fun trying a different style and look. I think it really paid off for this special page. I hope you all enjoyed this and I look forward to hearing from you!

Asking Permission - Echo Park & Webster's

Last month seemed to fly by in a second. I barely had enough time to get all my Christmas shopping done. Between doing some wedding DIY, family dinners, and working, I managed to get this layout done; but I had to wait until it was sunny enough outside to take pictures. I always set my layouts next to a window and use the natural sunlight to get my pictures. (I wish I had enough money to get a light setup for my photos.)

Echo Park Paper - Victoria Gardens - Rose Garden, Webster's Pages - Country Estate - Serenity, Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Antique Linen, Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Forest Moss,  Prima Marketing - Textured Alphabet Stickers - White

This layout is about my fiancé asking my father for permission and is one of the very few layouts I have that doesn't include photos. I almost always have a photo, but this time I wasn't present for the conversation and therefore couldn't bring my camera. However, I think it just adds to the topic. The papers I used were so intricate and I knew they would quickly overwhelm my page. So, I decided to cut them up in strips instead and post them on white cardstock.

To help the give more definition to the strips of paper, I broke out the sewing machine and did a couple of cute stitches in a brown color. I loved the look of it so much that I also decided to stitch a border (or two) as well. The brown stitching also allowed me to bring in some Kraft paper as a solid. Solid papers are a necessity when working with bold patterns. Your eye needs a calm place to rest. Otherwise, it will start looking really busy.

I bought these alphabet stickers a couple of years ago and I love them. They're white fabric so I'm able to color them with whatever inks I want to match my layout. I was able to spritz them with some water and rub them with Tim Holtz's Forest Moss distress ink. The color was just perfect. But I had a happy accident when I was gluing them down. Apparently my letter 'S' was not yet fully dry and when I dropped it on my page it left a small green smear. So I had to do some damage control. I pulled some more kraft paper out and cut out a flourish with my Sizzix. It wasn't what I had originally planned, but I actually like it better that way.

Hopefully I'll have enough time to have another layout up soon. I'm just having so much fun right now and I want to savor it as much as possible. I want to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful comments I've received since my last post. You guys are just so wonderful. If you haven't started following my blog yet, now's a great time! Just click the little button to the right that says "Join this Site". I promise that you won't receive any spam mail from it. Thanks!

The Ring

Wow! The time is flying by. I definitely wanted to stop in and post a pic or two of my gorgeous ring. Caleb did a wonderful job getting this ring and I'm in awe of it. So, without further ado, my ring!

 Since I've gotten engaged, every waking moment has been dedicated to either work or antique shopping. Caleb and I have decided to go with a shabby chic vintage wedding. So, I'm running around to all the antique stores around to find porcelain china and milk glass vases. I've found a lot of cute things.

Alrighty! That's just a little sneak peek at some of the goodies that I've found. I'm just a bubbly ball of joy right now. I think I might have to take a little break from scrapping for a bit until I can calm down. I'm just so distracted lately and I can't focus on anything else for too long!

Blessings - Bo Bunny 'Forever Fall'

Hello everyone! It's been quite the crazy month. First off, big news. I'm ENGAGED! My wonderful boyfriend of 3 years, Caleb, proposed this weekend. Both of our families are thrilled. Caleb actually went the old fashioned way and asked for my father's permission (which he was more than happy to give). I've been looking at this beautiful ring ever since and thanking God for this wonderful event in my life.

On to this month's mini album! When Bo Bunny released images of 'Forever Fall' at CHA, I fell completely head over heels. I love the bold, rich colors of it. The deep reds, golden oranges, and vibrant aqua just seemed to pop out at me. As soon as I could, I bought one of everything. I knew I wanted something that could be set out for Thanksgiving, so it needed to be able to be completed before Thanksgiving actually arrived. So I opened up my old photo folder and grabbed a couple of pictures that spoke the most to me. I did a page on friends, love, puppies, family, and creativity. What resulted was such a rich colored mini album that looked great on the table.

Sizzix - Tim Holtz Alterations - Chip Block, Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Autumn Gatherings, Sizzix - Tim Holtz  Alterations - Elegant Flourishes, Sizzix - Tim Holtz Alterations - Tattered Leaves, Sizzix - Tim Holtz Alterations - Frame,Hanging w/Scallops, Bo Bunny - Forever Fall - Dimensional Stickers, Bo Bunny - Forever Fall - Noteworthy Die-cuts Journaling & Shapes, Bo Bunny - Forever Fall - Cardstock Stickers, Bo Bunny - Forever Fall - 12 x12 Collection Pack, Tim Holtz - Fall 2011 Seasonal Distress Ink Set Limited Edition

I used all Bo Bunny papers and embellishments for this mini album. The small leaves and letters were all cut out using the Vintaj Sizzix and assorted die cuts. I used the Cinch to bind my mini album and some ribbons from Michaels. I also used Tim Holtz's seasonal distress ink in Broken Twig to go around all the edges of the mini album. I loved adding the burlap fabric and twine that my FMIL had in her stash. I hope everyone enjoyed this mini album and I hope you all get a chance to get your hands on these gorgeous papers!

The Pumpkin Thief - American Crafts

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is enjoying their November now. I'm back with the second part of my pumpkin carving. While Morgan and I were carving pumpkins, Jada thought she could sneak away with our scraps. Unfortunately for her, Donna was snapping away at her with the camera. Some really cute pictures surfaced with the evidence (and a lot of tongue showing).

I used the American Crafts Nightfall collection again. I love the use of blue tone in these pages. It's so fun and unexpected. I inked all the edges with Tim Holtz's Broken Twig ink. I think that's one of his best browns. It's got a red undertone so it comes across so warm. I stitched a zig zag stitch around the edges with brown thread. Sewing on your layouts gives it such a beautiful dimension. I'm really glad that I worked up the courage to try it.

I chose one of the pictures as a focal photo because it showed the carved pumpkin as well as Jada sneaking off with some pumpkin in her mouth. I wanted to draw attention to the little bandit, but I didn't want to cover any of the picture, so Chipboard was out. I looked at the outside stitching and thought it would be cute to stitch around her. I brought the star shape out from the background paper and used different shades of brown thread. It's one of my favorite parts of this page now.

The letters where so cool! I loved the thin weight of the letters and how tall they were. They did not want to cooperate, however. Every time I use letter stickers I always turn them sticky side up and arrange them how I want them to go. When I'm pleased with the look, I'll flip them over and secure them down. These, however, did not want to go sticky side up. They wanted to tangle on each other or stick to me. So, for the first time ever, I had no choice but to just stick them down with no rearranging. The journaling was written with an ink pen. I like the juxtaposition of the tall letters with the small cursive journaling.

I hope everyone had enjoyed this layout today. I'm really proud of this one and I can honestly say it's one of my favorites now. I love the Nightfall collection. I've saved enough of it to make a Thanksgiving layout later on. I hope you all enjoy your Monday and make sure to come back and see me. :)