Michael won a Staples gift card from work, and I was pretty excited to find some scrapbooking supplies on their website! I had my eye on the Simple Stories So Fancy collection for awhile, mostly because it reminds me of my cousin, Melana! It arrived just in time for the Simple Stories design team call, so I made a few layouts with it to include. Here is one of them!

To create this layout, I used a heart cut file from iheartstudio. I've had them for ages, but haven't used them very often. I watercolored the hearts in coordinating colors, then backed them with patterned paper. I kept the layering simple, and kept the focus on the die cuts. It was a pretty fast and simple page! 

That's all I have for today, thank you for stopping by! :)

My beautiful Mama turned 50 in November, and I have a few fun photos from her special day. I had been using the Maggie Holmes Confetti line for more everyday layouts, and had a lot of the celebration themed bits and pieces left. I thought this photo would be a great way to use some of those!

To create this layout, I painted some of the patterned paper with gesso, and then layered gelatos and watercolor paints on top. It dried a bit buckled, but was still very workable. I still have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to mixed media, but I truly enjoy experimenting! Thanks to a friend and Tuesday Morning, I ended up with multiple packs of the Confetti ephemera and had flowers galore! I used them to frame my photo. They are so pretty! I added a few layers and some embellishing (mostly using the chipboard), and a clear acetate title. I used a mix of SIX Crate Paper collections:  Craft Market, Love Notes, Maggie Holmes Confetti, Maggie Holmes Styleboard, the original Maggie Holmes, and Maggie Holmes Flea Market.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I very rarely make layouts about myself, but I love this photo taken during our anniversary shoot. Heck, I love a few of the photos of me taken then, and you might see more of these types of layouts in the future. I used the "dream" themed elements from the Maggie Holmes Shine collection, and fussy cut one of the patterned papers.

I love love LOVE this collection and used as many bits and pieces as I could! Several colors of mist completed the page. 

PS: Have Courage & Be Kind is my favorite quote from the new Cinderella movie :)

That's it for today, happy Monday!

 I have a fun layout to share on The Cut Shoppe blog with using the Half Hearted cut file. This cut file is definitely a new favorite of mine, and I've loved seeing the other design team members use it! 

While it's perfect for Valentine's Day, the way I used it in this layout was more for everyday.

This layout looks more complicated than it is. I cut the cut file out on a patterned paper, and backed the negative with a bunch of different patterns from a 6x6 pad. I made sure to try and distance similar patterns and colors. After that, I added my layering and embellishing. The layout was looking really busy, so I toned it down by adding definition to the hearts with a black pen. Easy peasy!

I definitely want to use this cut file again for a Valentine themed layout! Thanks for joining me today!

I'll be sharing projects starting in February! :)

I LOVE getting a box of scrappy stuff. Seriously, it's one of my favorite things! I always get super excited to use my new stuff. But the weirdest thing happens, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I always dig into my old stash before I dip into the new! Even when I try to use the new stuff first, I always gravitate towards older supplies. I got Crate Paper's Hello Love for Christmas, and instead I used last year's Kiss Kiss! Hey, whatever it takes to use up the stash!

I used gelatos and washi tape as the background, and built my layout up from there! I added lots of embellishments from the Kiss Kiss collection, with a splash of Maggie Holmes. I love the gold and pink! 

My layouts are looking pretty busy lately, but I'm okay with that. It's kind of cool to see my style changing and evolving!! 

Have a great day!

Teddy turned 8 in December, and of course I had to take lots of cute pictures. We got him a little birthday hat, and it went perfectly with the Fancy Pants Happy Place paper I had. I love the plus signs! I played around with stamps, ink, gelatos, and paint!

There was no rhyme or reason to this layout, I just had fun playing around with the background! I am really loving the plus sign trend lately. I found the red plus sign paper in my scrap bin from Gossamer Blue! Score! I need to use my scraps more often, but I digress. Thanks for stopping by!

Yup! It's fantastic! If that's not enough for y'all, there are some awesome add-ons (Stamps! Vellum Hearts! Acrylic Words!) and digital files (Printables! Cut Files! A 12x12 Cut File!) for your shopping pleasure!

BUT WAIT! Before you rush over to Elle's Studio to get 'em while they're hot, check out what I made! :)

To create this layout, I used the folding hearts from the January cut files. I manipulated it in my Silhouette Studio in order to add a row and make it go across my 12"x12" page. After cutting it out with my Cameo, I backed each heart using papers from Thankful, Joyful, and cards from the January kit. I stitched a color coordinating "X" on each folded heart. This layout also uses the acrylic "Adore You"!

For my next layout I got a little crazy with stamping!  

My layout was based around the "We Go Together Like" card from the January Kit. I trimmed it down, and decided to go with a grid layout. In order to keep it from being too stuffy, I added in lots of little touches such as tags, stamping, a repeating title, and mist. 

And in case you need a little more info about the kits, here's the scoop. Our kits are limited and once they sale out we will not be restocking! Look for a new kit each month on the 10th at 8:00 am PST, and as a special bonus to celebrate launch day, kits will be on sale for $9.99 for today only, regular price after that will be $11.99. These kits can ship first class: shipping for USA residents will start around $2.00 and go up from there, depending on the weight of what is in your cart. For overseas, it will run about $6+ depending on your location.

That wraps up my January Kit projects! Don't forget to stop by the Design Team Gallery to see loads of new inspiration from this incredibly talented design team, and have an awesome day :)

I've got a new layout on The Cut Shoppe blog! One thing I love about cut files is that they can be used in so many ways. I never get tired of them! Geometric Graffiti is an oldie but a goodie. I've used it several times before, and each layout manages to look completely different. 

Today I backed it with patterned papers, but left some of the triangles blank. I liked the way it looked, AND it was less work! Win win!

Today I challenge you to use an old cut file in a new way :)

 Be sure to stop by The Cut Shoppe for more cut files and inspiration!

It's an absolute honor to be among this talented group of women! The 2016 team is:

This month we got to work with the super fun January kit! We all have two layouts going live on January 10th at 8:00 am PST. The January kit is gorgeous and packed full of goodness! Kits are available on the 10th for a special launch day price of $9.99,  and at midnight they return to their regular price of $11.99. Here's a sneak peek of my upcoming layouts. 

Be sure to stop by the other blogs to see what they're making with Elle's Studio! Thanks for being a part of this super exciting announcement; I look forward to sharing lots of fun projects with you all!