Thankful

I'm a week ahead of Thanksgiving but hey, 'tis the season!

I used my "Union Square" kit from Noel Mignon and the November sketch by the fabulous Julie Bonner to make this "Thankful" layout. 

Here are a few close up shots of the page.  

I did a bit of fussy cutting to get the leaves to embellish around the pictures.

And it seems that I just couldn't quit so I cut out a few hearts too!

Happy day folks!
Have a good one!
:)

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but

Christmas music is playing the radio.

There are a couple houses in our neighborhood that have their lights up already. 

People are freaking out about their Christmas shopping.

And the November/December issue of Creating Keepsakes is out!
{and yes, it is the last print issue ever but i am still not ready to address that}

So I thought I would get in the spirit and share a Christmas layout from this issue. 

This layout is in an article about "keeping it real" during the holidays. 

When we do Christmas with my husband's side of the family, ~2/3 of the gifts given are more like inside jokes than they are real presents. 

It makes opening presents quite entertaining because you never know what to expect.

Last Christmas my brother-in-law was the brunt of a lot of these gifts.

So I had to do a page about it!

Supplies: Patterned paper (Die Cuts with a View), Die cuts (Chic Tags), Chipboard (Bella Blvd), Foam alphas (American Crafts), Brads (We are Memory Keepers), Stickers (Fancy Pants), Bling (The Eyelet Outlet)

*****

Here are a couple close up pics of the page. 

I cut the very top of the layout off accidentally when I scanned it. 

So here is what the top of the page actually looks like:

Well merry {early} Christmas to ya!
And happy Monday!

:)

gretchen

A night of comedy

So I went and saw Pauly Shore at the comedy club here in town earlier this summer. 

{can you believe that guy is still around?!}

The thing is, though, I didn't really go to see Pauly Shore.

Nope, I was there to see the guy who opened up for him.
His name is John Crist and he is one of my brother's best friends from college.

And y'all, he is seriously funny! 

After the show I went and took an obligatory pic with Pauly just so I could really get a pic with John!

*****
Then I used my Union Square kit from Noel Mignon to scrap it!

{oops...looks like a strip of my journaling slipped a bit & i didn't catch it before i scanned the page}*****
Here are a couple close up shots of the layout. 

Happy day folks!

:)

You & Me

Hi there!

I've got another layout to share with you using my "Union Square" kit from Noel Mignon.
I really tried hard to embrace the white space on this page. 

It's tough for me though!

Literally I had to just walk away to keep from adding more stuff!

:)

I used the American Crafts "&" stamp with the gold ink from the kit.
This gold ink is awesome!
This pic doesn't do it justice but it is really radiant and shimmery.
Just what you want in gold ink!

I did  a bit of fussy cutting on this page.
I cut out the flowers & hearts from different patterned papers in the kit. 

I had forgotten how much I love rub-ons! 

And these rub-ons from Jenni Bowlin are to die for!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Well this is exciting! {+ a GIVEAWAY!!}

I have a post up at Shimelle.com today!!

It's all about ways to use 6x6 paper pads in your scrapbooking!

Go check it out {here}.

And of course there is something in it for you if you do!

Check out my post over there, leave a comment there, & then come back here and tell me that you did.
I will randomly choose 1 comment-leaver to win a fun assortment of 6x6 paper pads from KI Memories!

Good deal, right??!

OK so go check out Shimelle.com today!

And happy Friday!!

:)

gretchen

Puppy love

So I know I haven't really talked about the fact that Creating Keepsakes will cease to have print issues after the November/December issue. 

**sigh**

I am still in denial.

So let's not discuss it yet and talk about happier times instead!

:)

*****
How about that fabulous cover on the September/October issue??!
:)

I thought I would share one of the layouts I have in this issue.

This layout was in the digital version of the issue and was in a feature about creating unique titles. 

Supplies: Patterned paper (Fancy Pants), Cardstock (Creative Memories), Chipboard & Tape (Bella Blvd), Journaling/die cut tags (Chic Tags), Foam "Thickers" (American Crafts), Borders (Fancy Pants, SEI). 

*****

I cut the "love" out of a piece of denim. 

I have to admit that this was not the easiest title I've ever made.

But I do love the look of it!

If you want to try something like this, I recommend choosing your title wisely.

"Love" was a relatively easy word to cut out.

But there are some letters that are probably tricky to cut and I would not have wanted to cut many more letters!

Here are a couple more detail shots of the page. 

And that's that!
*****
OK come back tomorrow because I have a cool post to share and it will involve a GIVEAWAY!!

:)

gretchen

True love

It's my first layout with the new & gorgeous "Union Square" kit from Noel Mignon!

It's a great "fall-ish" kit with a bit of glam mixed it!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

*****
So here is my first layout!

My parents vacationed in Maine a couple of weeks ago and they sent me this picture one day.

I got this pic via text while I was buried in my 8 hour work day.

I am very jealous of their life right now!

But they have earned it and I am glad they still enjoy each other after 40-something years of marriage!

Here are a couple close up shots of some of the details on the page. 

FYI:

Monthly subscriptions for Noel's kits are available now if you want to get in on the goodness!!

Go {here} to see all the details and sign up to get yours!!

*****
Thanks for stopping by today!

The Babysitters Club

Hey there and good morning!

We have a fun little theme going on over on the Noel Mignon blog this week. 

We are making things this week based on children's books.

You could do a lot of different things with this theme. 

It could mean using a quote from a book as part of your journaling or using the title of a book for the title of the layout.

It could mean using a book illustration on your layout.

You could scrap a picture of someone reading. 

It could mean scrapping your kids' favorite books.
In my case, I scrapped about some of my favorite books growing up! 

I used the the Noel Mignon "Our Summer" kit to make this page. 

Anybody else read the The Babysitters Club series??!

I loved these books!
I remember there being like at least 40 books in the series. 

And this girl read them all!

They were so fun to read and quite educational if I do say so myself!
:)

Here are a few detail shots of the page...

Check out the Noel Mignon blog for some other fun takes on this theme!
*****

Have an awesome day y'all!

A little KI Memories love

I haven't shared any KI Memories stuff lately.

Shame on me!

So here is a layout I made using some of the "Simply Lovely" mini celebrations paper. 

This one is all about our rad team socks that we debuted at a race this summer. 

Don't be jealous!
:)

I love all the bright colors in this line!

I used lots of strips of the patterned papers to add pops of color to the page. 

Hey it's a great way to use up extra scraps that are just lying around!

Alright, friends, that's all I've got.

Have a good one!
:)

gretchen

My first layout with "Our Summer"

Good morning!
I've got a layout to share that I made with the newest kit from Noel Mignon. 
As soon as my "Our Summer" kit showed up at my door I could not wait to dig in!

I had to be out of town last weekend for a continuing education course and I totally took the kit with me so I could scrap in the hotel room at the end of the day. 

Nothing like unwinding after a long day of learning by scrapping with some fun, new supplies!!

Want to see what I made??! 

:)

This one is kind of a "life update" layout. 
These pictures of my brothers & their girls were taken back at Thanksgiving and I had yet to scrap them. 

I like to do these "life update" layouts every now and then. 

I make these layouts with journaling about what is going on right now. 

It's not a layout about an event or an accomplishment or a holiday or anything like that. 

Nope, it's just a layout about the here and now. 

It's all about what the subject is doing right now: where they are working, what their hobbies are, how they are spending their time, where they are living, etc. 

 I usually don't even worry about making the pictures match the date of the journaling. 

These layouts are all about the journaling so I just find a picture or 2 of the subjects and make 'em work! 

This is a great way to scrap random extra pictures you have!

Then I just make sure to put 2 dates on the layout: 1) the date of when the pics were taken and 2) when the journaling was done. I think layouts like this will be fun to look back on in like 10 years or so and remember what was going on back then! 

And now I am just rambling.

:)

*****
Reminder: 

Summer Camp starts over at Noel Mignon today!

Check out the Noel Mignon Facebook page and come get in on the fun!

Have an awesome day!

:)
gretchen

So pretty

Good morning!

Every month over at Noel Mignon, design team member Julie Bonner makes a new sketch to share with us. 

Her sketches are super cool! 

And who doesn't love a good sketch!??!

Here is her sketch for this month...

I pulled out my Beach Blvd kit from Noel Mignon and used that sketch to make this layout...

A very sweet patient of mine sent me flowers after he was done with his therapy. 

The flowers were really pretty and they came at a time when I was pretty frustrated with some stuff at work. 

So I thought I would scrap them!

*****

I normally kind of stink at layering papers, but this sketch made me do it!

:)

I put my journaling & title in a little bit different places than Julie did on her sketch. 

And I stamped! 

Please take note of that!

What want credit for it!

{in case you don't know, I hardly ever stamp; it's not that i don't like it...it just seems like a lot of work!:) }

I created a "pocket" behind one of the layers of patterned paper so that I could save the card that came with the flowers. 

I made a simple "pull" tab to put on the card. 

Then I was able to tuck the card behind picture & papers for safe keeping!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have a great day!

Happy Wednesday

Good morning and happy Wednesday!

I've got another layout to share with you using the Beach Blvd kit from Noel Mignon. 

The other 2 layouts I have done with this kit have been pretty girly. 

So I decided to change it up a bit and make something a bit more masculine. 

AND I don't know if my brother would appreciate me putting flowers & hearts all over a layout with his picture on it!

:)

I made this layout about the 1/2 marathon we ran back in February. 

Here are a few close up shots of the page...

To keep it manly, I've got lots of yellow and blue going on here.

And I pulled out the ole stapler!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
And have a very happy 4th of July tomorrow!

:)