The Times They Are a-Changin'

Change is in the air. No, not literally, it's still 106 outside. I'm talking about a change within. Taking new roads. Trying something different.

I've always been a purist with my scrapbooking style: clean lines, coordinating themes based on my photos, never mixing, always matching. It must be the heat, because I decided to mix it up a bit. Gasp!

I challenged myself to create a layout using non-traditional colors, distressed embellishments and simple structure. I adore these pictures of my daughter talking with Santa Claus and I wanted them to play the starring role, instead of being overshadowed by the typical Christmas patterns. Looking through all my papers, I went with the muted tones featured in the Happy Travels collection by Glitz Design. Using burgundy and turquoise for a holiday layout instead of red and green, and not a tree or ornament in sight. But wait, there's more - I even hand wrote on a journal tag! Pigs must be flying outside, if they can bear the heat!

Second challenge: use a simple focal embellishment. None of the flowers I had on hand would cut it. So I took another chance and made my own! Using techniques I found online, I created two flowers using the Happy Travels papers. I'm bananas over how they turned out! Who needs to buy flowers when you can make such fabulous ones yourself! I love the texture and how they ended up looking like soft leather.

Step 1: Punch and distress.

Step 2: Assemble, adhere and then pinch yourself for never doing this before.

Step 3: Take a bunch of pictures of the flowers. Why? Because they're just so darn pretty!

Ta da! My finished double-paged 8x8 layout. Forgive me my amateur iPhone pictures. Next time I'll beg Mark to let me use his snazzy Canon.

Here's to new beginnings and trying something different! This was the perfect trial run for the Paris layouts I'll be working on next summer. Au revoir!

Supplies used:

Glitz Design Happy Travels papers, journaling stickers and giant rhinestones

Cricut Storybook and Simply Sweet cartidges for the flowers, letters and flourishes

Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye

Little Yellow Bicycle paper lace doilies

Martha Stewart Deco Flowers punches

{Most of the supplies I used are available at Happy N Scrappin - my favorite online shop. They have great deals and lovely customer service!}

Hello Friend!

I haven't added a new post to my blog in almost a year, but seeing this set of scrapbook papers inspired me to start again. Hello Friend is a gorgeous collection of papers, stickers and embellishments from Glitz Design.

Who can resist such delicious prints? Not me!

The Hello Friend scrapbook layout above, that Glitz Design published on their blog, is simply adorable. I can't wait to take just the right photo during my upcoming trip to Paris and use it in a similar layout of my own.

What draws me most to this collection are the beautiful, candy-like, soft colors: coral, turquoise, cream, raspberry and coffee. The prints on the Bokeh paper blend the colors together in such an inviting way.

Bokeh 12x12 paper

Glitz Design has a few trademark embellishments, such as the Whatnots, that I am smitten with. They layer so beautifully and add a whimsical touch that sets their collections apart.

Whatnots

I'm not a rhinestone kind of gal. In fact, if you say the word rhinestone to me, images of hair-sprayed and spray-tanned Las Vegas showgirls cloud my vision. But Glitz has forever changed my mind about the dazzling embellishment that is a rhinestone. The prints they use for their Giant Rhinestones are scrumptious. If they were candy, I would pop each piece in my mouth and savor its sugary goodness!

Giant Rhinestones

The Paper Garlands are new additions to the Glitz collections, and oh, the possibilities of what to use them for!

Paper Garland

Is this a shameless attempt to market a scrapbook company and revel in my favorite hobby (besides reading)? Yes. I won't deny it. But just as other girls post pictures of their fire-engine red Louboutins, I like to share my love for pretty paper. Is that so wrong?

It's all about the details.

Hello Friend Collection

Dream, Probably Not, Maybe and Definitely

Since when did weekends become the dumping ground for laundry, grocery shopping and vacuuming? I remember a time when weekends were spent with my toes in the sand, loud music in a crowded club or a double feature on the couch with my sister and a large pizza. Let’s not forget that chores aren’t the only thing weekends are good for anymore. Oh no. There is the mind-numbing stream of birthday parties, play dates, kids' movies and endless hours pushing a squealing child on a swing.

Desperate for our summer not to be filled with cookie-cutter weekend plans, my husband, daughter and I made a list of all the fun things we wanted to do together. After a few ideas were thrown out, it was evident we needed to put these things in categories. Honestly, it was only evident to me, but who’s counting?

A list was born. Our Dream, Probably Not, Maybe and Definitely summer plans. My husband's dream was to fly to England to watch a Liverpool match. My dream was a vacation in Hawaii. My little one piped in that her dream was to play with dolphins (at least hers was on the same page as mine). After our random fantasies were exhausted, we talked about going camping and fishing and learning to swim. My daughter couldn’t contain her excitement and bubbled with idea after idea. Even my husband had a few fun plans to chime in. I could tell that this was going to be a great summer! The days flew by way too quick, but I was able to make the memories last with a handful of photos.

Fourth of July fireworks and a baseball game - classic Americana!

Who can resist such sweet sprinkly goodness at the State Fair?

Turns out it's not so easy to put together a puzzle of the USA.
But it was fun trying to at the Children's Museum.

Her first time fishing.
Ice House Reservoir

Swimming with Mommy and Daddy made the Definitely list.
Even better to swim with them while camping!

Even though reading and doing art didn't make our summer list,
not a day went by without a little of both!

This is quality summertime fun!
Dancing at Concert in the Park with a couple of her best girlfriends.

Who knew? She got to play with the dolphins after all.

Eating a delicious funnel cake wasn't on our list,
but my sister convinced me it should've been!

No endless hours of swinging here.
Just a terrific summer day spent at Six Flags
with my sister and our daughters.

Finishing summer with a stroll with Grandpa
along the path at the top of the world.

Now that the summer is ending, school has just begun and the weather is turning cooler (oh wait, scratch that last one), I can look back and say that it was a great summer! A wonderful one full of sweet memories that will last us through the cold and rainy winter that is right around the corner. I'm thinking now would be a good time for us to start our autumn and winter Dream list. If my little one's wish to play with dolphins came true, maybe a beach vacation is in the stars for me!

Through a Child's Eyes

I have waited for this day for several years - the day I could introduce my love for art to my daughter. Oh, there are other things I've shared with her, my love for books and music, but that goes without saying.

I hesitated to bring her to a museum. Would she run around like a crazy girl? Would she beg to go home because she's borrrred? I had been eyeing the advertisement outside of the Crocker for weeks that shows an Impressionist exhibit going on through the summer. Pair that with a special "pay what you wish" day, and I had no reason not to take her along with me.

On our walk to the museum - ironically I had to park in front of my work because that was the closest parking spot - she spotted a sculpture on the front lawn. A sculpture I never gave a second glance to.

This marked the opening of not just a new door for my daughter, but one for me as well. I'm a quiet, Impressionist, watercolor sort of girl. My daughter, on the other hand, seems to dig sculptures. The bolder and more tactile the better. She loved that they looked like slides, games and roller coasters. Hardly a surprise, I suppose - my little daredevil is always looking for fun and adventure in the ordinary.

Equipped with a "treasure map", my little girl was excited about looking at the art to find the clues shown in a book that the docent let us borrow. My fears of a noisy, bratty child in a quiet museum were thrown out the window. I became as excited as she, looking at art through her inquisitive eyes.

We saw two Monet's and I happily showed her the magic of his art -stand up close and all you see are messy, blurry brush strokes. Take a few steps back and a picture comes into focus. She blurted out loud, "That's pretty cool!" Hearing her say that was easily my cherry on top for the day.

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was stumbling upon Tot Land, the most wonderful children's playroom I've ever seen. Art, books, music...as my daughter said, it was "magical". I couldn’t say it any better myself.

Now if I could only get her to share in my love for eating out at new restaurants!