Scribble Die Wreath Card

I picked up some Pinkfresh Studio products recently since they are having a sale (ends 11/30), including this Fresh Inspiration kit.

I got an idea to use the circle scribble die from the kit as a holiday wreath (albeit a somewhat non-traditional one) on a card, so I cut several circle scribbles out of green patterned paper and layered them on top of each other:

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Paper Source paper bag solid cardstock; American Crafts - Dear Lizzy Christmas - December Delights patterned paper; Doodlebug Designs Sprinkles Vellum Lily White; Various green patterned papers (older from my stash)
Embellishments: Teresa Collins (Hello My Name Is sequins); silver sequins from Jo-Ann
Stamps: Hero Arts Stamp and Cuts Ornament
Tools: EK Success Journal Plate and Bracket Large Punch
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Looking forward to some Black Friday shopping - planning on getting supplies for making holiday cards this year!

Evie 2013 Holiday Photo Layout

As part of the photos we took for our holiday card last year, we got a couple of cute shots of Evie that I wanted to scrapbook by themselves. Since it was from the same set of photos, the look and feel of the layout is a bit similar to the 2013 holiday card layout, with a grid background, embroidery floss stitching, same color scheme, and a couple of Project Life Seafoam journaling cards thrown in. This layout is more in the "clean and simple" category though, since it's mostly just the pictures and the Project Life journaling cards.

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Teresa Collins - Tell Your Story - Tickets patterned paper
Embellishments: Evalicious (arrow paper clip, badge button); Project Life (journaling card from Seafoam core kit); American Crafts (embroidery stencil kit); Eyelet Outlet (enamel dots); My Mind's Eye (chipboard sticker); We R Memory Keepers (washi tape); mt (washi tape)
Other: DMC embroidery floss

2013 Holiday Card Layout

Last year was the first year that I did holiday cards for our little family unit. I did a hybrid card where I had photo cards printed at Costco (you can't beat $14.99 for 50 cards and lined envelopes!) and added in a paper-crafted strip.

I'd been meaning to scrapbook the holiday card, and finally got around to it recently. Just in time to make 2014 holiday cards!

SUPPLIES:

(excluding what's on the original holiday card)

Paper: Cosmo Cricket patterned paper; Hambly Screen Prints silver lace overlay
Embellishments: Evalicious (paper tags, puffy stickers, badge button); Project Life (journaling card from Seafoam core kit); American Crafts (Thickers, embroidery stencil kit); Eyelet Outlet (enamel dots); My Mind's Eye (brad, alphabet stickers); We R Memory Keepers washi tape
Stamps: Papertrey Ink In Bloom Stamp Set; BasicGrey universal calendar stamp set; Unity Stamp Company worn grid stamp
Tools: Papertrey Ink Limitless Layers 1.75in Circle Dies
Ink: Ranger Distress inks; ColorBox Frost White pigment ink
Other: DMC embroidery floss

Playground Layout

I blogged about the story behind this photo a year ago. Some layouts seem to come to me faster (like in a few days, if I'm working on it a bit each night after bedtime), but this layout wasn't one of those. I can't say it's my favorite layout, but the more important thing was to just get it scrapbooked, especially since I'd started and sat on this layout for over a year.

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Studio Calico patterned paper
Embellishments: American Crafts Thickers; Bazzill Basics Paper tissue tape; Pinkfresh Studio wood veneer; Evalicious paper tag; Evalicious circle arrow clip

Family and Maternity Photo Shoot

A few weekends ago, I arranged to have some family/maternity photos taken. I wanted to do maternity photos the first time around with Evie, but waited too long, so then I ended up being too big and it got hot. This time, I thought further ahead and also did a bit of research on local photographers.

The photographer I ended up choosing was LaPrada Photography. At $150 for the basic session, I felt like it was more reasonable compared to some of the other photographers I looked at, and more importantly, we got a disc of about 30 high resolutions images for personal use and printing. There were some other photographers who charged extra for a disc of high resolution images and/or only allowed you to make prints through them, which I was not on board with.

It was still, unfortunately, a bit on the warm side the last weekend in October when we took the pictures, though not terrible. I chose to do the pictures at the DC Ranch Market Street. I thought it was a good location for pictures, but I didn't realize just how popular it was. There were at least a handful of other photo shoots going on at the same time that we were there.

Evie's cooperation was also in question at times, so not all the pictures came out great if she wasn't smiling (naturally) or paying attention. We did get some good shots out of the session though, which is what I wanted. Here are some of the shots that came out well. (There are a few shots I'm saving for our holiday card this year, so not posting those just yet).

White-on-White Giraffe Baby Card

I was inspired to make this white-on-white baby card a month or two ago, knowing that it was likely I'd need some baby cards soon (which I did - I used both for baby showers in the last week).



They were fairly quick to make, and I like the pops of color.

SUPPLIES:

Paper: vellum; self-adhesive gems from the dollar section of Jo-Ann
Embellishments:
Stamps: Avery Elle (Fanfare clear stamp set)
Tools: Darice (woodgrain embossing folder); Cuttlebug (giraffe from zoo animals die set)
Ink: Ranger Distress inks

Persnickety Prints Instagram Prints

Earlier in the year, I started a mini-album meant to document my Instagram posts this year. I assembled the core of the mini-album, and thought to myself, I can just size my Instagram pictures to 3x3 myself in Photoshop and have them printed at Costco for cheap! It took time to resize the photos, assemble them on a collage, and have them printed at Costco, but I ultimately wasn't super happy with how they turned out (more so because of user error/unwillingness to devote the time to make it right), so the progress on that mini-album stalled.

This past weekend, I finally pulled the trigger on having the Instagram prints done through Persnickety Prints, which I'd heard good things about, and was excited to get the prints in the mail earlier in the week:





I chose to do the 3x3 cardstock prints with 1/8" white border. I printed between the 15-99 quantity, so they were 45 cents each. I also stuck with the standard cardstock that it comes with, and USPS shipping was $5.00.

I like the fact that I can order square prints, and the cardstock is a nice weight, but it's a bit glossier of a finish than I think I like, and the photo quality seems to be lower than what I got out of the photos I printed at Costco. I used the Instagram sync feature offered by Persnickety Prints, so it's possible that using that contributed to the printed photo quality.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the order, and will order my Instagram prints for the remainder of the year the same way for consistency. I might try to actually upload pictures when printing for my next project, as well as possibly try a different paper. Poking around the site, there are a few other things that look neat to have printed: 5x5 Mini Book, Insta Posters, and 3x4 Retro Prints.

After Nap Time Layout

I posted this layout to Instagram over the summer when I finished it (it's so quick to do!), but didn't end up blogging about it.

The pictures are from when Evie was closer to two. She's so cute with her Roo!

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Echo Park patterned paper
Embellishments: My Mind's Eye (old journaling tag, brads, chipboard stickers, washi tape); Pinkfresh Studio (wood veneer shapes, washi tape); American Crafts Thickers; Eyelet Outlet enamel dots; Bazzill Basics Paper tissue tape

Evie the Fairy

Evie picked out this fairy costume a month or two ago (at Costco, naturally) and she was finally able to bust it out for Halloween:







We took her trick-or-treating once it got dark. Many people didn't have their porch lights on, since our neighborhood isn't a huge trick-or-treating neighborhood (there aren't that many younger kids and people were probably away), but we did get to a few houses before we headed back home so she could go potty.