More Layouts!

After you peruse these, you'll realize I'm definitely not scrapbooking in any kind of order... I've got a little bit of everything in here. 

A quick layout about feeding the cows at Grams' and Papa's farm. Gracie loves the cattle at the farm. Right now, they have some new calves and Gracie and Jada (with William's help) got to name one of the twins which were the first to arrive this spring. Jada's is Rosie and Gracie's is Nice. Gracie is super excited to go see them.

These are pictures from Gracie's first Halloween. You saw some of these in her Halloween mini album, but I wanted a page to put in her book, too. These were some of my favourites. Since I completely missed Gracie's second Halloween,  due to a nasty flu, I have some making up to do, next year.

Gracie giving her new cousin, William a kiss. 

 Visiting the Science Centre with friends, Jacqueline, Jacob and Felicity. What a fun trip! 

This paper from Cosmo Cricket was perfect for my layout!

And, Gracie's favourite part of West Edmonton Mall, the Sea Lions! This was her first time seeing them and she loved it. She clapped for them and kept looking back at us with this look on her face like, "Can you believe this?"

What she's been up to.....

That's right, her. 

She's growing up so fast, I can't possibly keep up. 

She's even brushing up on her manipulation skills (as if she needs the help). Here she is reading 'Verbal Judo, The gentle art of Persuasion' while I try and make the spare bed.

And, her musical career has really taken off, since Uncle Broc, Auntie Steph and Kale got her a guitar for Christmas. She'll be touring any day now. Watch out Taylor Swift, she's younger, and likes to shake her hips!

She's ready for the big times and the glamour that comes with being a superstar.

When she's not singing or studying, she's been enjoying the snow and the subsequent puddles on our daily walks. She's also getting good at throwing the ball for Bailey, even though Bailey seems to have lost his sense of smell and sight when it comes to finding said ball.

And, even though she's trying to cut out her naps, she's still mom's little cuddler when she wakes up. Yesterday, I went in to get her (I've been trying to wake her up early, so she sleeps better at night) and she was so darn groggy and cute, I had to take a picture. 

Even rockstars and verbal ninjas need to cuddle with Lambie and Beary when they're sleeping.

Fall on the Farm Part Two

Here's a quick look at the rest of the album. 

I love these pictures. Gracie was such a good sport, posing for pictures and playing in the leaves, or with the grass, or the cows, or whatever we threw at her. You can just see her experiencing new things and learning in these photos, I think.

 See? There's still twine and ruffles on most of the pages.....

The October Afternoon line I used for this, worked really well. It was called Farm Fresh, so I guess it was actually made for photos like these, but I was still pleasantly surprised at how it worked out. They were the perfect colours for a fall album and light-hearted enough for a toddler's album. 

That's it! Thanks for stopping in

Mini Album Tutorial

Time for another mini album. If I didn't take so many photos, I wouldn't need to make so many separate mini albums, but I can't help it. With a digital camera, I snap like crazy and tell myself I'll delete later, but I seem to keep most of them, anyway. Kids are so cute, how can you 'can' a picture of your own kiddo?

Plus, I like the change of pace, so mini albums are great for me. 

 This one was made using photos of Miss Gracie back when she was about 8 months old, just before she started walking. I think my mom and I were both taking pictures, so there were plenty to choose from. 

Fall on the Farm

Since I've done so many lately, I'm doing a quick tutorial on making your minis look cohesive. All of the pictures are usually focused on one topic, so it's nice to have the pages look like they 'go' together, as well. Here's a few tips to make sure your albums look polished.

Step one:

 Start with a set of papers and embellishments that go together. They don't have to be from the same line, but they should utilize similar colours and themes. Most of these papers are from one line by October Afternoon, but I added in a few extra papers from American Crafts and Creative Imaginations. The embellishments are from a number of different companies, but are in the same colour family and are simple, light-hearted, and autumnal, like the papers. 

Step two:

Ground every page with a commonality. I used kraft cardstock as a  background on all of my pages. Some have a pattern, and some are plain, but they all have a kraft border. 

Step three:

Either keep one layout as the basis for your design or keep aspects of your design the same. For this mini, I didn't use one sketch to draw from, as I did here, but I did focus on leaving a similar amount of white space on each page. I used 1-3 photos per page, and varied the sizes so that they would each take roughly the same amount of space. I also kept the embellishments simple, so the focus stayed on the photos. 

 Step four:

Repeat elements as much as you can. You don't have to do the exact same thing with every page, but as you look through, you'll notice I use twine on nearly every page. I also use a lot of ruffles, either made with tissue paper, paper or ribbons. Sometimes, the ruffles have been twisted into flowers, but they're there. 

 Step five:

Add personal touches. Don't be afraid to introduce something new to a page, or vary the design. While you want your book to be unified, you want your personality to show, as well. 

 Hopefully these steps will help ensure that when you flip through your next mini album, you have a beautiful keepsake.

I'll share the rest of this mini album tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

Glitz Designs

I love this layout! 

The pictures are of Gracie at the farm, feeding the cows. She loves the cattle at my parent's farm. She's perfected her cattle call, which would make her at least a third generation cattle caller, probably a fifth generation, but I can only speak for the cattle callers I've heard. 

I made it in response to the March 2012 Blog Challenge at Glitz Designs to use book/text paper on a layout. The two background pages are covered in text, but it's a little hard to see, I have a close-up below where you can see more. 

I've been waiting to use these Glitz papers for a project and everything seemed to fit for this one. I like how the yellow, blue and brown really make her red toque pop.

I made the flower centres by twirling twine into a circle and then glueing it down. 

I LOVE the look of burlap on scrapbooking pages. It adds so much dimension, and is perfect for a 'rougher' look.

You can see the text above, on the white/grey background, under the banner.

The banners were made by fastening half circles to twine and then adhering it to the page. I double looped the ends to create the look of ties at either end of the banner.

I used Glitz papers and stickers for this layout and I'm a huge fan of their products, especially the Vintage Blue and Dance in the Sunshine lines, which I used here. Their new CHA Winter lines were awesome and I'm all ready looking forward to their summer releases.

Hope you enjoy. If you like my layout, go the Glitz Designs Blog and let them know!

Christmas Daily Mini Album Part 2

Here's the rest of the book, starting on Day 17:

This is one of my new favourite traditions:leaving cookies for Santa. Gracie was so excited to leave him a treat, and when they were gone in the morning... she just couldn't believe it!

See that face? Top, left? That's her reaction to the plate being empty. 

and opening presents? So exciting!

We went to see the lights at Parliament, and they were great. I love this picture of us.

there were a lot of treats enjoyed over the holidays. 

and lots of beautiful decorations to look at.

We visited lots of family and had some down time.

And, on the 24th, we got to celebrate Christmas Eve and my nephew, William's first birthday!

Christmas day was all about board games, family and food, as usual. 

more family time

and Christmas celebrations followed

A family get-together just wouldn't be the same without a few rock stars.....

then we switched to the other side of the family and started all over!

More cousins, gifts, and treats

and the two of us even got to spend New Year's Eve together. 

This envelope is where I tucked in some thoughts for the following year. 

I love how this book challenged me. It made me take more pictures, plan more fun things to do as a family and really realize we were making memories, not just baking and shopping and running around. Also, I was challenged to find homes for all of those photos, because I couldn't ever just pick one.... It was a step away from my usual 12 x 12 scrapbooking and it was really fun. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Supplies: 

Echo park paper company - paper, stickers, journaling tags, and alphas

Simple Stories- number stickers

Bind it all- coils and machine to bind this book together

Prima-crystals, rub-ons

Shabby Green Door - twine

Bazzill- paper flowers, kraft cardstock, edges

Martha Stewart - punches

My Mind's Eye- twin

EK Success - corner rounder

Maya Road - die cuts, stick pins, ribbon, and buttons

7 Gypsies - tags

Bo Bunny - rub ons, brads

K and Company- rhinestones

Pebbles - felt trees

Deja View - ribbons

Making Memories- alphas

Jillibean Soup - alphas

Sasafrass Lass- alphas

Kaisercraft-pearls

Ranger - Distress Stickles

Offray - ribbon

Cosmo Cricket - alphas

Glitz - sticker

unkown - tissue paper from old patterns, buttons, envelopes, burlap, ribbon