Magical Messes: November 2014

November Layouts with Clique Kits

5:00 AM

I can't believe November is nearly over! I don't know about you, but I am in FULL ON Christmas mode. I started decorating over a week ago, and we put our tree up last weekend. The Christmas carols started playing in our house a few weeks ago as well! I'm ready for December and the Christmas season. Before that happens, however, I want to share the layouts I created with the November Homecoming kit from Clique Kits! You might have already seen them on the Clique Kits blog, in a gallery, or here on my blog, but it's nice to have them all in one spot.

I had so much fun creating with the colors and patterns in this kit! It was a fun, fresh take on a fall color palette. My favorite part of the kit was the Lemon Owl papers! It was really neat to work with an international brand that I don't have access to here in the States. And great news, the Homecoming kit is on super sale! Check out the store for some awesome holiday deals:

I've got my eye on quite a few things in the store! :) Have a great weekend!

Jolly Good Christmas Decor

7:00 AM

I'm super excited to share this fun piece of altered decor I made using the Jolly Good collection by Chickaniddy Crafts! Want to know more about it, like what it is and how I made it? Stop by the Chickaniddy blog today!

Have a fantastic day!

Our Story

5:00 AM

I freaking love the new Maggie Holmes collection! Each one she releases becomes my new favorite. I love the colors in this one, and how well it coordinates with the other collections. Her trademark pops of gold are so pretty! As usual, there are a few really unique embellishments with this collection. My favorite are the vellum ephemera, flower die cuts, and gold glitter thickers. I LOVE GOLD. I LOVE GLITTER. They are so perfect!

I built this layout around the flowers and the "Our Story" thickers. I liked the idea of combining "My Story" and "Our Story" because of what it meant to me. I am my own individual person, but my life is now shared with someone. The fact that I get to live my life with my best friend and share everyday with him, means so much. My life has become our life, my story has become our story. I love it! And PS: Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the flowers? There are vellum, gold, and glitter ones, and they make embellishing so easy. I need a million packages of them as backup!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Bow Ties are Still Cool

5:00 AM

My dear friend sent me some of those adorable bow tie paper from Chic Tags. I thought it was perfect for Teddy since he always is wearing a bow tie or neck tie! I've been saving it for something special.

When the Open Book collection arrived on my door step, I wanted to create with it right away. I love the touches of gold! I was inspired to use bits of that combined with the My Mind's Eye Market Street collection. I can't get enough gold! It's been trendy for awhile, but I hope it sticks around for quite some time.

I love the look of the Open Book vellum pieces! I think I might need at least 15 more packs. You know, just in case. I was happy to mix and match it with a WRMK journaling card (the cut out flower at the bottom). It's nice to use up some stash!

Have you used the Open Book collection yet? Are you mixing and matching it, or using it alone? I'll be back on Monday with a layout I made using just Open Book! Have a wonderful day :)

A Flair for Buttons and The Cut Shoppe Blog Hop!

11:00 PM

I love flair and I love cut files, so I'm pretty stoked to be participating in the blog hop with The Cut Shoppe and A Flair for Buttons!

A Flair for Buttons created some awesome, exclusive flair with Ashley's designs! In addition to the crazy amount of inspiration, there is a giveaway and a coupon code for both shops. I had so much fun creating with the flair and cut files! Look how cute the flair is:

For the first layout, I used the Words to Live By cut file.

I used the "Offset" button in Silhouette Studio to create the backing for the cut file. For the second layout, I used the gorgeous All Tied Up cut file.

I love how versatile the flair is! There is an awesome giveaway going on with this blog hop, as well as some coupon codes!

A Flair for Buttons

Coupon Code: BLOGHOP2014 to take 10% off your order through November 28th.

Giveaway: Custom flair set to 4 random winners who leave comments on Design Team blogs!

The Cut Shoppe

Coupon Code: SAVE25 to take 25% off your order through November 28th

Giveaway: $15.00 to one winner who comments on all the blogs and lets us know you did on The Cut Shoppe blog!

Next on the blog hop is the lovely Mary-Ann Maldonado. Visit the A Flair for Buttons or The Cut Shoppe blogs if you get lost or want the complete list of stops!

Happy hopping!

November Pep Rally

8:00 AM

It's time for this month's Pep Rally with Clique Kits! I loved the November kit so much--every single bit of it is fabulous! My favorite part was the unique color combo and use of international brands (Lemon Owl, Pretty Little Studio) that we can't get as easily here in the States. Speaking of "states", I created a layout about my favorite state, Oregon!

I was inspired by the color combo mixed with black and white in this awesome mood board:

The adorable letter stickers were perfect for listing places that have special meaning to Michael and I! If you're interested in purchasing the November kit or a subscription, use the code ALLIE10 for 10% off your purchase of anything in the shop! Clique Kits is also having a great special right now! Use our subscriber button to sign up now and Clique Kits will automatically email you a code for 50% off the November Kit to ship with the December Kit (your first scheduled delivery) as an add on. Code will be good all month long until November 28th!

Next on the list is Kat! There is a ton of inspiration on this blog hop, so don't forget to check out the other stops! The Clique Kits blog has the full list. Have a great day!

Cute as a Button

5:00 AM

My niece is the cutest baby on the face of the planet. I love her so much!! I love this picture of her and wanted to do something extra special with it. I eyed my unused button stash and tried to think of a way to use them up...and so this layout was born!

I drew a triangle with a pencil on the layout and filled it with buttons. This takes a lot of patience! My intention was for it to look like an arrow pointing to the photo. I used the Maggie Holmes Open Book collection because it coordinated with the button colors I had on hand. I love the way it turned out!

And now my button stash has a huge dent in it!! I have a few more button ideas up my sleeve to use up that extra stash. Don't you just love using up your stash?

Saying Thank You

5:00 AM

A few weeks ago, a sweet regular customer at my Starbucks store surprised me with a gorgeous Hello Kitty purse! I was so touched by the thoughtful gesture (I LOVE Hello Kitty), and my adorable new purse! I wanted to thank her in a special way, so I made a fun thank you card.

(Disclaimer: These are crummy cell phone photos)

To make the altered cup, I used two 8 oz. hot cups from Starbucks. I cut one apart so I could use it to trace a template to cover the original cup.

To alter and decorate my cup, I used the Twirly Girly line from Chickaniddy. It has lots of cute tea/coffee cup motifs throughout the collection, so I thought it would be perfect!

I whipped together a quick gift card holder, and added a hand-written note of thanks to put in the cup. I'm super happy with the way it turned out! I don't normally do altered projects, but I couldn't think of a better way for a crafty barista to say "Thank You"! It was so easy to make that I am sure I will be doing it again. And it was a big hit with the recipient and my coworkers!

PS: Here is my cute purse! :)

Honestly, I Love You with The Cut Shoppe

9:43 PM

I had layout on The Cut Shoppe blog last week, and wanted to share! It was love at first sight with the Pop Caps cut file. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make a fun background using the love themed shapes.

To create this layout, I laid out the order I wanted the shapes in using Silhouette Studio.

Once I had everything situation, I removed every other shape, so that it looked something like this:

I sent the arrangement to my Silhouette, then used the cut out shapes to fill in the holes. I used the negatives for the spaces that were cut out! It was surprisingly easy.

There you have it! Be sure to stop by the shop and check out the other awesome shapes that were released this week!

When Teddy Went to the Beach a Second Time

7:52 PM

We took Teddy to the beach for a second time in September (you can read about the first time here). He was not a fan of the beach at all the first time around, but we had so much fun going as a family that we thought we'd try again.

We headed out after I got off work one Saturday, and didn't arrive at the beach until around 2-3. We had lunch at a restaurant that had a dog-friendly patio. That's my kind of restaurant!

Then we stopped at a store for dogs and got these cut little treats for Ted.

Next, we headed to the beach! The moment we stepped on the sand, Mr. Ted thought it would be a great time to use the restroom. We had forgotten plastic sacks for clean up, so Michael had to go hunt one down (we were parked pretty far away). I waited with Ted while Michael got a back. After waiting for about two minutes, Teddy plopped down in the gravely sand and proceeded to take a snooze. It doesn't look very comfortable!

He cracks me up! After the mess was cleaned up, we made our way to the ocean.

Teddy was pretty darn pooped after awhile, so once again, he got carried back to the car. First he was carried like this (and yes, he leaned to the side in that weird position).