Snow Day Layouts

It's been quite awhile since I spent a day scrapbooking. My life, luckily, is filled with creativity - Bible journaling, fun projects with my daughter (like her recent kitty birthday party I blogged about HERE), and school projects, cards to send out, and other creative projects. 

But I've missed scrapbooking and have fallen almost 2 years behind (I had been keeping it to within a year for a long time). So, I decided to scrapbook Saturday. It was a messy day outside and therefore was perfectly suited to an indoor day at my craft table. 

Here are several layouts I completed from a series of snowfalls we had in February of 2015.

This last was my favorite. I love the pop of color in the title and the paint on that black chevron paper. Do you have a favorite? 

Advent Journal - Wonder Magnified!

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent and our pastor spoke on the theme, "Wonder Magnified." Oh how wonderful it is to know that because of Jesus' coming we can dwell with God without fear. The debt for our sins was paid in full when Jesus died on the cross. Zechariah's words in Luke 1:67-79 examine this wonder as he rejoices, "we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." He describes the coming of our Savior as a sunrise reaching us who sat in darkness. Ponder this good news with me as we enter into this Advent season!

During Advent I have set aside a special notebook for my journaling and devotions. I will be using many devotions to lead my bible (I just couldn't settle on one this year). I am hoping to be consistent, but knowing our moving date is soon (Dec 18th!) I'm not going to be too hard on myself. I also know, however, that staying rooted in the Word during this busy season and an especially busy time for our family will keep me strengthened, less stressed out, and help me be looking for Jesus in all of the craziness.

I found this little notebook at Tuesday Morning for just $5. I just added a few stickers to the front of the journal. I like the size and having a lined page next to a blank page - perfect for a little writing and a little creative journaling.


This morning I read the Advent devotion on My Kingdom Come (here) and journaled this page in response. What a great reminder to use this Advent time to examine and prepare our hearts, heeding the voice calling out to prepare the way!

Morning Motivation...Sunday Reflection

Do you know what got me out of bed this morning at 5am? In the interest of being completely honest, it was the thought of a cup of coffee.  BUT immediately following the thought of coffee, it was the thought of revisiting my notes from Sunday's sermon and journaling in my bible (with a cup of coffee).
Yes - I wanted to get out of my comfy bed because I wanted to delve into the Word.  I wanted time with Jesus. I wanted to reflect on and talk about some of the things my pastor said on Sunday.
Do I say this to brag? Absolutely not! I share this because I'm excited that journaling in my bible does this to me and it's done this to LOTS of others (see the 16,000+ members of the Journaling Bible Community on Facebook, the hundreds of bible journaling pins and testimonies on Pinterest, just to start.)  It can do this for you, too.
Very often I'd go to church on Sundays and though I thought I was listening at the time, later I'd have a hard time remembering what the pastor said in his sermon (sorry Pastors).  It wasn't necessarily the pastors, it was more me.  Distracted, daydreaming, making mental lists or plans for later in the day/week. Now I attempt to listen not just with my ears, but also my heart and a pen. Write down notes, references, main points, questions for later. Underline. Doodle. Sketch. Now I look forward (even at waking at 5am) to looking at those notes, rereading scripture, and responding with creative bible journaling.
I'm excited to get "artsy" in my bible, but I know that just getting artsy is not the heart of this motivation. This morning motivation stirring in my heart has been placed there by the Creator Himself. He made me this way and He's drawing me closer this way. I'm honored that sometimes He uses what I create with my hands to bring others in, too.  That's why I continue to post to my blog and Facebook and Pinterest.
Yeah, I like this morning motivation. Keep it coming, Lord. Keep teaching me, guiding me, using me.

Bible Journaling Through Lent: Hope, Cross, Humility, & Grace (and a Shaker Page!)

Can I share with you how much I am savoring my time with the Word? This Lenten journal project has been wonderfully sweet.  I treasure and wonder over how my heavenly Father uses the very gifts He's given me to draw closer to Him. He's made each of us with such care and knows exactly what will strike a chord within us to grow that desire to be closer to Him.
Today I'm sharing my latest few entries, days 21-24.

Day 21 - "Hope"
Scripture: Psalm 71:5 For you O Lord are my hope.
Scrapbooking Supplies - papers, feathers, arrows, banner from Simple Stories "I AM" collection,
letter stickers and letters cut with Cricut

Day 22: Cross
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18 But the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Technique: Sharpie, water color pencils, white splatter  (inspiration from this Zenspirations pin)

Day 23: Humility
Scripture: John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease
Technique: Scrapbook paper: Bella Blvd (black triangles) Pink Paislee (yellow);
arrows cut with Cricut  (Southwest Cartridge)
in Design Studio; hand lettered, Sharpie marker and water color pencils

Day 24: Grace
Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. 
Technique: hand lettering, Sharpie Marker with shadowing from water color pencils;
hearts cut with Cricut and inserted behind plastic - it's a shaker page! Border is washi tape.

I pray you are blessed and inpired to spend your own sweet time with your Savior!

Leaf Pile Jumping!

Just got into last year's photos of fall and this set of Hannah with her silly hair makes me smile.  Looks like it was pretty warm last year when these photos were taken.  Unfortunately this week it's been rainy and chilly.  No leaf jumping (yet) for this girl!

 I used Bella Blvd's Halloween/Fall collection for this layout.  The leaves and title were all cut with my Cricut.
Happy Fall, Ya'All!

Creative Scrappers Sketch

I think sketches are a great way to jump start your scrapbooking layouts.  While I don't always follow sketches to the exact detail, I love how a good sketch can inspire lots of different layouts by focusing on one or more elements and bringing them to life in a new layout.  Creative Scrappers recently started up their sketch challenges again and I played along for Sketch 252.  Here's the sketch: 

 
I love so many individual elements in this sketch: paper strips, triangle, chevrons, and the photo cluster.  I repeated these elements in my layout.  Here's my take:

For this layout, I layered a trimmed down sheet of white grid paper from Bella Blvd on top of a blue sheet of plain cardstock.  I used several strips and patterned paper pieces from Bella Blvd's "Trick or Treat" Halloween collection to create layers at the bottom of the page.  Obviously, I did not follow the sketch exactly.  I liked the idea of 4 square photos in the middle of the page - so I focused on that element, cropping my photos to 4x4s and arranging them in the center.  You can see that I also used the layered strips idea, but changed the direction and location of them on the page - mostly because my photos are much larger than what the original sketch called for and the strips would have been lost behind the photos, so I created the cluster of elements to the bottom right.  Additional elements that I pulled from the sketch include the use of triangles (loving them lately) and the chevron element (represented by the colorful chevron borders I fussy cut and the small file "Today is Candy Day" element).  I love how this layout focuses on the photos, yet has plenty of room to highlight awesome papers.  Do you enjoy sketches?  Check out Creative Scrappers - you still have time to join in the fun!

Bella Blvd Layouts

Just finished a couple cute layouts with my Bella Blvd stash!  I'm a sucker for the bright colors and fun patterns, especially in the Daily Chevies and Snapshots collections. Love these "action" photos of Hannah from last summer.  She is always moving!

I found this photo strip from a wedding a couple years ago.  The doodle paper and camera strip complements the silly photo booth strip.  Love this one!

Happy Halloween Wreath

I just had to pick up this cute paper by Bella Blvd.  I mean, LOOK at those OWLS!  They make me smile. And so does this little paper wreath I made with Bella Blvd. papers.  Start with a flat cardboard form (I used a cake round) and cut out the middle so you have a flat ring.  I cut 3-4 inch strips of varying widths from all the cute patterned papers and arranged them around the wreath, overlapping and adding until every spot was filled in. Notch the outer ends of each strip. Add a row of black sequins to the middle (mine are from Teresa Collins).  Cut several 3 inch squares from the black star patterned paper and add these to the back of the cardboard form.  Adding them to the back of your form (so the cardboard is between the squares layer and the strips layer) helps give a little dimension to your wreath.  Position them with points out and overlap them to fill in space.

Finish your wreath with a few extra embellishments from the collection, especially the owls!!  Fussy cut some of those adorable owls and add them around your wreath with pop dots.  Cut the "Happy Halloween" strip and add that on a diagonal.  Fasten a ribbon hanger to the back and you've got the cutest wreath in town to hang on your door!

Welcome Home Card

Here's a cute card I just finished for friends moving into a new house.  The patterned papers and hello. sticker are all from Bella Blvd.  How cute (and perfect) are those little houses?  The sweet smiling sun was cut from my Cricut using the Create a Critter 2 cartridge.

Enjoy your day!

Design Team Wednesday at Scrapdoodles - Fun Layouts with Bella Blvd.

Hi Everyone! It's Design Team Wednesday over at Scrapdoodles and I have some super fun layouts to share with you!  Bella Blvd is moving up as one of my favorite lines with their recent releases.  Check out their summer release catalog for more inspiration and then hop on into Scrapdoodles (or your favorite lss where you are) to get your hands on these fun collections!  They are sure to inspire creativity.

Today, I'm sharing 3 layouts I created with the Snapshots line - I love the playful elements in this line, especially the doodling and the cameras.  The little camera icons in the papers are too cute and I couldn't wait to get them home from the store to play with them.  For this first layout I layered lots of elements creating a bit of a playful and colorful design.  It's actually a bit on the busy side for my usual style, but I couldn't stop adding elements - too much fun!  Several pieces were cut from the sheet of border strips.  The doodle card was also from a full 12x12 sheet and I colored in some of the elements using my watercolor pencils. Another fun element on my layout is simply turning over one corner - see it in the upper right - and using that area for another cluster of embellishments.

Below my photo, I cut a row of cameras and then fussy cut a few of them to pop off the page using foam dots.  This is another fun technique to try on your next layout.

I really like the use of black alongside the bright colors - and for my next layout I emphasized the lime green and offset it with some of those black elements. 

 Again, I had fun playing with some of those cute cameras!

By this time I was running out of papers- I had only picked up 4 sheets plus some die cuts and stickers (have to go back for more, oh darn), but had enough to pull this last layout together.  I think the fun papers are perfect for this fun and silly photo of my husband and me.

I hope you've been inspired to check out this line and more from Bella Blvd.  You won't be disappointed and I can't wait to see what you create!