Valentine Decor

Hi friends! It's been a crazy hectic week for me (out of town guests, finals week, plus the stomach flu) so I haven't gotten many crafty things done. I've got a pile of cut fabric waiting to be sewn together, a relatively untouched Studio Calico kit calling my name, and homework for a new class I'm really interested in, so I've got a busy week ahead of me.
What I DO have is a project that went up on the Pebbles blog for "Inspired By" week. I found this on Pinterest:

Source

and knew I had to have it! I made myself a paper version as a place to store Valentine's and love notes. Right now it is hanging up on the wall by my front door, but I like that I can also hang it on a door handle. It would be a cute alternative to the typical shoebox that kids usually make in school.

I also got a chance to do an SC challenge to scraplift the person above us. I got Stacey (slsattler) and I chose to lift this layout of hers: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/gallery/projects/challenges/1779452-pumpkin-patch/.

I haven't done a two pager in a long time, this was just the push I needed! (Please excuse the photo glare).  I kept it pretty simple- with so much going on I didn't want to get too crazy and then not get it finished. Love that it came out like a placemat!
Hopefully I'll get some more done this week and will have another post soon, thanks for stopping by!

And don't forget- if you're planning on pre-ordering any of the new CHA lines, visit Stop & Scrap! You can use coupon: INTERVENTION for 12% their already low prices! Sweet deal, right?

Be Mine Always

We don't really celebrate Valentine's day around here. It's my husband's birthday so we focus on that instead, rightfully so. I still love Valentine's day decorations and papers though, so when Pebbles introduced their With Love line I was so excited! Really, how can you NOT love this paper:

I really could have at least 10 sheets of this.
This page using the With Love line went up on the Pebbles blog yesterday:

It was based on a sketch by Becky Fleck. Sidenote: that woman amazes me with her ability to constantly dream up new layout ideas.
Anyway, I love this line and if it were appropriate, I'd make lovey dovey pages every time. =)
And speaking of Pebbles, have you seen the new lines they revealed for CHA Winter? Ahh!
Here are some of my favorites:

This line, Let Freedom Ring, is so perfect for me, I've got an air force husband at home and haven't really scrapped any of his photos in uniform. Can't wait!
And this is from the Hip Hip Hooray! line:

Do you see those little pinwheels?! How cute!
And last but not least, actually it is what I'm most excited about:

Corrugated Alphas in three colors. OMG. I need many packs of each. And be forewarned- they WILL be on every page I make until they run out.

Have you been pre-ordering any of the new lines that have been released? If you are, I've got a coupon for Stop & Scrap that will give you a 12% on your pre-orders! Just use coupon code: INTERVENTION at checkout! Easy peasy!

Silhouette Tutorial

Hi everyone!
Yesterday I promised I'd be back with a Project Life update but I'm having some issues getting decent photos. Maybe I'll show it next week along with Week 2.
I did, however, figure out how to put together a video tutorial! Yay! I have a few ideas in mind for helping out new Silhouette users with building custom shapes. There are a lot of really great images in the Silhouette store so my goal is to help you save your money for the really good shapes by building your own basics.
Today's video is about how to create your own borders. A few days ago, I posted a page that used a large scallop border:

I made that really quickly with just a few circles in Silhouette. Here's my super quick video tutorial (it's best viewed full screen):

I hope that makes you see your basic shapes in a new way and that you'll experiment with borders yourself. Why buy these basics when you can make them yourself? =)
Let me know if you found this video helpful, had trouble viewing, or if you have any ideas for things you want to learn how to do!

I Do

I have a confession to make. I've been married for 3 1/2 years and this is the first page I've done with our wedding photos.

I know, I know. I didn't really come across any papers that I thought "fit" our wedding so they got put on the back burner. These papers I finally chose don't follow our color scheme (it was Tiffany blue and brown) but they work well for these photos without the colors in them.
I really love how it came out- probably one of my favorite pages in a long time. The photos on the side crack me up- we were having such a hard time keeping straight faces for pictures so we decided to "box" to get rid of our giggles. It really didn't help. =)  Love that they capture our personalities though, we're always play fighting or being goofy.
And I managed to follow my resolution here too- I used something old from my stash (the K&Co. photo frame). I'm also finding that I really like 8.5"x11" pages, I feel like I don't have to worry about "filling" the space as much. I'm not a big gal for layering or for a lot of embellishment- this makes it more manageable for me!
I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with my first week of Project Life and I've got a Silhouette tutorial in the works for sometime next week. See you then!

Out with the old...

...so I have room for the new! I'm making it a point this week to use up my Memoir and Autumn Press lines from Studio Calico, so I can justify buying any new lines that I fall in love with after CHA. I'm guilty of hoarding a lot of papers I love and for some reason, when they're in collection packs they tend to stay that way. Actually, I might have forgotten I had them until I went looking for something else last weekend...
Anyway, I pulled together the "baby" colors out of each of those lines and came up with this page:

These pictures are too funny but heartbreaking at the same time. Those clippers really scared the heck out of poor Luke! It was a really stressful outing and we dread having to take him to get his hair cut because it's still the same. (You should see his hair right now, it's crazy long.)
I used the brads on the title after seeing this cute tutorial on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog:
http://scrapbookandcardstodaymag.typepad.com/scrapbook_cards_today_blo/2012/01/have-a-brad-or-two-in-your-stash-have-a-look.html. Love this idea and will definitely be using it again!
I'm also trying to stick with a New Year's resolution I made for myself this year and that is to use up as much of the "old" items in my stash as possible. The buttons on this page part of that- they are Cosmo Cricket from the Joyride line. That's pretty old, right? I'll be sneaking old things onto each and every page this year *fingers crossed I keep up with it* in an effort to declutter.
Did you make any crafty resolutions? Are you keeping up with them?

Pocket Pillow

Yesterday I decided to start on one of my New Year's resolutions- to use up my fabric stash as much as possible. I found this pattern from Nova at a Cuppa and a Catch Up and I knew it would be perfect for small scraps.

The pattern was really easy to follow and it came together in just a day. I didn't baste the dresden section as it stated so my petals are a bit loose so I'll make sure to do that part next time. I did some hand quilting like her example and had a lot of fun with it. Next time I'll embroider a name on the pocket section or maybe add a button just for kicks. Super cute! Maybe I'll work up a stash of these for gifts!

Project Life

I've been slowly working on my PL title page and finally finished it today! It's really getting me in the mood to start organizing the things I will use, but I think I like randomly pulling things from my stash on a whim so we'll see how it goes.

I did a lot of Photoshopping with Pink Paislee's newest digital line and used my Silhouette for a few pieces as well. That little bathroom guy cracks me up- I just cut his legs off a little bit and then stamped the rounded part back on... hahaha
Anyway, that's all for today- just wanted to quickly share! Be back later in the week!