Influenster Review: Hershey Kisses

I received a box of what my child calls "lockey", or chocolate kisses for everyone else, for free in return for my review. 

We are already a big fan of Hershey Kisses at our home- one of us more so than the others. 

I made some cookies for my book club. Hope that makes up for nmy not finishing the book! 

Update: the kisses cookies were a hit! :) 

Stick it Down: Boo!

This layout is based off of a sketch- I rotated it 90 degrees and used smaller photos than the sketch called for: 

To see the sketch and link up with this weeks' challenge check out the Stick it a down blog! 

Week in the Life: Wednesday Recap

Another late sleeping morning for millie and snow shovels out at the grocery store...

Week in the Life: Tuesday Recap

Another busy day! 

Week in the Life: Monday Recap

This year I am keeping up with Week in te Life using the Project life app and Instagram. I'll be posting my daily layout from the previous day for the rest of the week. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Sketchy Saturday: You Made Me

I am making a commitment to document my life more. I used to only scrapbook about myself. Then it was my relationships with Ryan. Then came Millie. My goal is to write down more of my thoughts and feelings in these moments in order to process life and keep record of who I am now. 

This sketch is from the Scraptastic blog. I love the design and didn't change much with my interpretation. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Layout: You @ 2

This layout was fun to make. I had the concept in my head for a while (about 3 weeks) before I had time to put it to paper. This month's sketch helped it come together super quick! 

Wildtree Wednesday: Zesty Mustard Chicken

The Zesty Mustard Sauce is one of the new fall products. I highly recommend it! We used it to marinade boneless chicken breasts over night, cooked them in a pang and served them with a big salad! 

Dinner was simple and healthy. It was perfect. 

Layout: Pick of the Patch

Yesterday we went to a Pumpkin Patch and I told Millie that she could have as many pumpkins as she could carry. Unfortunately she couldn’t really carry any of the pumpkins...so her Daddy helped her out and grabbed a pumpkin for her! She is developing such a fun personality- check out her face on the photo on the right! 

Little bits of mist and splatter mixed with Jillibean Soup die cuts and enamel stars. 

Those Simple Stories jack-o-lanterns are too cute and I love the alpha to bits!

If you enjoyed this layout, please go to You Tube and watch the process video!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Sketchy Sunday: Paper Issues

I saw this sketch posted on Instagram and was inspired to create a page. 

I had the photos printed and paper trimmed but this sketch was the perfect kick start to finish the page. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Layout: Granny & Me (Stick It Down DT)

It is free for all week at the Stick It Down blog which means you choose ANY published sketch and play along. To see which sketch I was inspired by, check out the Stick It Down blog! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Friday Finds (on a Thursday): Degree Motionsnese

Thanks to Influenster, I received this product free in exchange for my review. 

Where was this when I was a teenager and only wore black t-shirts due to my embarrassing over active armpit sweat?!? 

So far I am really impressed with this product- I'll break down my pros and cons below. 

Yesterday, I walked a mile before going into work and and felt fresh and not smelly afterward. Very cool! :) 

Pros: awesome moisture control, actually works to control perspiration with increased activity. 

Cons: invisible solid...covered my shirt with white marks this morning, the scent is not my favorite. 

Final review: I would buy. I think I'll give my free sample to my mother and go buy the Powder scent for myself. 

Layout: They Love to Dig

This challenge was issued by my friend Loni. It was a recipe challenge- and boy was it a challenge! 

Non-white cardstock background

Doily

Photo strip with 4 photos

Wood veneers (up to 14) 

27 punched shapes or die cuts 

5 word title (I failed that one!) 

And journaling on a journaling card

To create the photo strip I used a collage app to create four 2x2 photos and printed the images as one picture using my Selphy and then added them to a piece of paper- Ta Da!

Throwback Thursday: #Bolivia

Our car was in an accident- Ryan was hit by another drive and he is fine, but the car was a total loss. While cleaning out the trunk of the car I found an 8x10 collage print from my trip to Bolivia. Because some of the photos featured my classmates and fellow trip takers, I didn't feel comfortable scrapping the entire print so I cut out certain photos and created a layout with a pocket to store the additional photos. Here is the result: 

Something I always try to do is stretch my supplies by using the extra mist on the stencil to create a second background. I love the way the print turned out and I may like it more than the original! 

Worship Wednesday: Journaling bible

This past week we had to say goodbye to our interim rector at church. He has been with is for over two years, he baptized Millie and has been such an inspiration to myself and our church. His presence in our lives has been restorative and he and his wife will be missed. 

It is time to make room in our hearts for our new rector who will be joining us in October and I cannot wait to see where she will lead us. 

I am thinking about this being a regular series where I post my sermon notes or inspired journaling each Wednesday. 

Blog Tour

I was recently tagged in this creative blog tour. Jamie tagged me and I am excited to tag some of my creative friends in this post. 

1. What am I working on?

I am working on purging my craft room/office in preparation for a complete make over of the room. I have been reading and re-reading the newest IKEA catalog and day dreaming of the perfect storage system and desk set up.  

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I would say that my scrappy work focuses on everyday moments and doubles as a journal for some of my more challenging emotions.   

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

Cutting paper is therapeutic for me. I love to sit down to create and lose myself in the action of creating. I also love to preserve memories and capture the everyday in my albums.   

4. How does your creative process work? 

My creative process is usually sparked by a story that I want to tell or an emotion that I want to explore further. From there I will use kits like those from Scraptastic Kit Club to inspire my work further. Working from and kit keeps me focused on a limited amount of supplies and allows me to spend more time creating and less time digging for the perfect item! 

Layout: First Round (Throwback Thursday!)

When flipping through my photos in order to find a story that needed to be told, I came across these photos that were taken the day Ryan asked me out for our first date. (There are no photos of Ryan- I’m not that creepy!) I love having this story at the beginning of our “Us” album. 

Football season begins soon and I am happy to say that we have season tickets in the same section of the stadium where we met.

Thanks for stopping by!

Layout: Play!

I started this layout months ago when I was taking the Art and Science class at Big Picture Classes. This was based on a sketch and I struggled with the sketch and amount of photos it called for. I printed the photos and cut the patterned paper to size, then filed the layout away to be completed later. 

I am happy with the outcome and I am glad to have finally finished this layout. 

Layout: Sweet Naptime

My scrappy pals and I recently dug into our stashes and sent each other kits to scrap with. This was a fun swap because I love finding inspiration in supplies I might not have picked out for myself. 

I love watching this kid sleep. She finds her way into great positions and looks just sweet as pie. 

Layout: Happy Halloween (Throwback Thursday!)

Yes, it took me until December to complete my Halloween layouts, until April to blog them, and until July to hit publish. Don’t judge!  

 For Halloween, Millie had two costumes. One was an awesome fish costume bought on clearance by my in laws when she was a newborn. It was too cute! And one was this handmade TARDIS sweatshirt a la me. I pulled out the old standby Cat in the Hat onesie. But I didn't have the hat. So I grabbed a top hat and drew on a nose and whiskers and called it good enough. 

We had around 350 trick or treaters. We are planning on doing it up big this Halloween - music, lights, maybe some games...any ideas?!? 

Layout: Friend Zone

I am so excited to share with you all my first process video. I am a little nervous to share this with the world, but I really enjoyed making this layout and this video.

Check out the video and let me know what you think in the comments section! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Layout: Girl’s Night Out

I had such a wonderful time going to see Pilobolus with my mother and mother in law at the beginning of July. I was even selected for audience participation for one of the pieces! I miss going to see live performances and need to get back into the habit of attending performances more regularly.

Thanks for stopping by!

Layout: A Perfect Day

In attempts to use every last scrap from my June Scraptastic Summer Nights kit, I created this layout. I had used most of the patterned paper in the kit so I grabbed the 3x4 cards and some of the other embellishments and created some simple layers. 

How do you stretch your supplies? 

Thanks for stopping by!

Layout: Totally Cute (Throwback Thursday!)

I made this layout in May, right before Millie’s vocabulary really exploded! It is already outdated because she is learning about 2-3 new words EVERY SINGLE DAY! I can hardly keep up. 

Somedays I just want to freeze time, but most days I relish in all of the new developments and love the little being she is becoming! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Layout: Nom!

This was a super quick layout for me and I love documenting part of our everyday. I used some photos of recent meals and journaled a bit about how Wildtree products make dinner so simple for us! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Layout: Not Awesome (x3)

This layout was created after being inspired to comment on the sunburn sentiment on the 3x4 card. This year I had a suspicious mole removed and luckily it came back with clear results, but the impact has been great. I was at one time a sun-seeker, but now I hide from the sun. 

I marked out the card and added some alpha stickers to alter the sentiment and added the word not before AWESOME on the other card. 

I framed my scar with the frame and once again altered the diecut to say No Fun: 

Thanks for stopping by!