so much fun ~ chic tags

Have so enjoyed telling this little guys story lately. The simple stories I am sure to forget. Playing on the ground endlessly with his cars and tracks. Um...that would be his 18 year old brothers cars and tracks...sigh...see what I mean...I don't want to forget.

 Lots more details are found today over at Chic Tags as this layout is featured there today. Hope you will stop in and say hello.

chic card

Sharing the love and this card today over at Chic Tags. 

Hope you will come join us!

till next time...

chic tags this is the life

Here I am with more Chic Tags and Cloud 9 to love...addicted might be putting it mildly...this new collection Veronica designed is so much fun. And it has fit perfect with many recent stories I have wanted needed to tell. I am sharing some details of this layout of sisters and cousins over at Chic today...so if you want to know about what is what...go HERE...

But right here I want to share the inspiration behind the layout. So what's the inspiration you ask...well these three girls were my inspiration. They are living life fairly cohesively and funly (it's a word) and I just needed to capture it. I mean they even dress complementary when they do not even mean to and they laugh and giggle and talk and play ALL. DAY. LONG.

Now I know...this is not going to last forever...in fact...it might end today...I hope not. But these beautiful moments of relationship need to be captured. Printed. Documented. And made pretty so that I will remember them in future days.

Sometimes we come upon collections and elements that easily come together to help tell a story. Honestly, Cloud9 from Chic has been doing that for me big time. I got lots of girl and girlie stories in my life, and this assortment of pretty paper and embellies make it so easy.

So here is to hoping this inspired you a little to see into the relationships around you. To bring them forward from your camera and 'lay' them out 12x12 style. Here is hoping you are inspired to tell these momentary stories and have them in future days to carry sweet memories. Here is to that inspiration.

supplies used: Cloud9: Lovely Paper. "Bloom" Wood Veneer. "Moments" Wood Veneer. "Sequins" Wood Veneer. Clips. Flair Button. Label Stickers. Mini Icons. Rub-Ons. Squares.
other: white cardstock. Color Shine-Mint. polka dot stencil. glitter letters and flowers.

chic tags good day sunshine

Do you ever play along with the sunday sketch it out over at chic tags?

Jennie McGarvey posted this on Sunday June 8 and there is fun incentive to play along.

This is my take on her sketch. Sketches are such great creativity starters. So simple to just plug in what you love to a format that is already inspired for you. And then the creative exercise that is involved to change it up a tad and make it very much your own. This sketch strayed a bit from the format that Jennie created...and that's just how I like it...

The background papers were created using Color Shine and the new JoAnn Polka Dot and Diagonal Line stencils from Heidi Swapp. They really help to 'pop' the Celebrate paper from Chic Tags Cloud 9 that the photo is matted against.

i love this photo so much...those are my girls, a neice and a neighbor...welcoming summer big time. and of course putting on the selfies...these girls have no problem with that. The title, 'good day sunshine' just kept going through my head as i was playing with this sketch so i pulled out some old school chic tags Good Tidings Gold Foil Letter Stickers as they represented the golden sun that is filling our days right now.

The die cut is a freebie found here...and did i say it was free? Yes indeed...a perfect layer to the glassine bag that holds a tag for layering. This layout was made for my oldest daughter's book. She is at the pull away age...not really sure she wants to hang with the 'littles' too much anymore. But they are wildly crazy about her and love it when she gives them her attention. And I wanted her to know how important she is to these girls when she is around and helping them create fun moments together.

She adds to their sunshine. We all have the opportunity to add sunshine to other peoples lives. I am not always sure my kiddos realize that. So I make a big deal of it when they do.

Lastly I wanted to point out the Cloud 9 rub-ons used here on this embellishment cluster...I rubbed them on cardstock, fancy cut them out, and then used them as pieces a top the other to add dimension to this page. Just another way the rub-ons could be used.

Hoping this sketch inspires you to create. Hope you have someone in your life you can be sunshine too. And hoping above all you realize it.

enjoy!

chic tags captured!

Sharing this layout today over at Chic Tags....

Have a few more photos here to share than are posted over at Chic...I was so lucky to capture this moment in time with this little guy and his Grandpa...

to me these are the quintessential moments of life that have to be saved...

the Let's Go collection from Chic Tags is so fun and full of awesome embellishments that share and help document such stories as these. The Captured wood pattern paper may become a hoarding issue for me..the Dreamy paper is from Cloud 9 collection but was a great yellow contrast to the rest of the layout.

All these words and embellishments truly captured just what i was feeling about these photos. Life truly is a scenic route. Sometimes the trees are high and one is not able to see much of the surroundings. Sometimes it is dark and foggy and one is doing the best they can to navigate what there is of the road. But then there are moments when the road opens wide and the vistas and scenery are majestic and breath taking. And boy do i hope i have my camera ready for those moments in time.  Because they are the memories that help me get to the next moment in time midst all the blur.

Here's to hoping you find many moments in-between the blur and take those photos. Print them. And put those memories in a place to visit often. Enjoy your scenic route always.

little moments with chic tags

Early in the week I shared a layout I had done for Chic Tags and mentioned that it was part of this year's Project Life album. That I was adding a lot more 'traditional scrap' pages to that album.

Well, I will update you on how that is going in another post, but for today, here is Week 11. Just a moment in time in our week. A chance moment out doors one late afternoon. Everyone sort of doing their own thing. Yet we are all together too. It was simply a feeling I wanted to capture, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

It's a true story when I say that I am really enjoying the Cloud9 Collection by Chic Tag. The hues are bright and very summer. The embellishments like the wood veneers are some of my new favorites. I love having plenty of selection to tell my little story with.
I created a flap here to hide some additional photos and a bit of journaling.

I have to give props to Carol Monson for inspiring this layout. She shared this grid format page recently, and being the lover of grids, I had to lift it. So I did.

Love the transparencies Veronica included in this collection. One can just never simply have enough see through elements.

So what about you...are you capturing enough of those little everyday moments? The little things that may mean a big thing later in life...especially if you have littles hanging around your home? Well, I hope you are taking those photos and documenting with words what that moment in time meant to you. As I continue to say, Life is nothing without memories. Hope you are creating some today.

special day with chic tags

My Dad recently asked the question, with reference to him and my Mom, "do we celebrate birthdays anymore?" To which I responded, "Yes, Dad! Because it's better than the alternative." We all got a good chuckle out of that, but it got me thinking....perhaps there should be no question as to celebrating birthdays as adults. We should always be celebrating every occasion as we have opportunity.

 

And that is just what this page is all about. Celebrating ME!!! Well, no. Not exactly. My birthday was a very fun fun day for me. It was a beautiful spring day. My girls were home with me most the day. We headed out that evening for a family dinner together. I got cake! And cupcakes! And wonderful warm wishes all day. It was just one of those days worth celebrating by way of photos+words.

 

Today I talk all about the new Cloud 9 Collection just out from Chic Tags. You can see the post here.   

 

The collection has some great embellishments and this layout practically fell into place.

 

I love a collection that works so well together. Don't know about you, but I need easy and fun and doable. Cloud 9 is all that.


 

Plus, the other new Chic Tag collection called Let's Go has these fabulous mint alpha's that are perfect compliment to the mint found in the patterns of Cloud 9 and it makes me happy to mix and match collections.

 

So yeah...you could say that...happiness found. And a little bit of Color Shine only adds to that happy.

Hope you stop in at ChicTags today and see the rest of my thoughts on this layout. And have yourself a fabulous day.

staycation mini ~ chic tags

Hello there...
hoping you had a most beautiful Easter Sunday celebrating our risen Savior in a beautiful way.

Today I am posting over at Chic Tags...

I am sharing the cover to my staycation mini album I am creating for our Spring Break from March.
Hoping you will join me over there while I share some details and a technique.

on my list ~ chic tags

One of my blogging friends, Monica from the  I Love It All blog, is always making lists. She sells these amazing journals and she is always sharing these amazing lists and I am always inspired by her.

And so I put to work some of her lists inspiration this past month and here's what I did.

For this little Cinched book I used the Chic Tags exclusive March Kit. The March 4 x 6 journal card was a perfect mini album cover. A butterfly was cut from the School House Lessons 12x12 pattern paper and then layered with a piece of vellum. I wanted a real soft, real simple book. After all it was a journal of lists and needed plenty of room to write.

Color Shine Teal is a great match for the blues used for this kit, and so I added that to the front as well the 'true fact' die cut piece.

Created a title page with more of the journal cards. The 'story of my life' piece was trimmed out from a 4 x 6 card, and then layered back over that card with vellum in between. '46'...ah...what's in a number anyway...but I do love those Veneer Numbers still available at Chic Tags. They have a polka dot emboss on them, are veneer, and I have managed to use them on many projects.

Turning the page there are more of my own die cuts, Love and Hearts, plus stamp image from the March kit. And then a prompt. I added 3x4 journal cards here and there, plus used 4 x 6 cards for answering the prompts.

Some of the lists are obvious to me. Meaning, I don't need a list to remember. But the reality that some things are my 'right now' will be unique. I know me, and I will love looking back on this book in years to come when I am in yet a different chapter of my life.

This IS real life, and real life seems to be relentless. I forget the seemingly little things. And there is just too much going on currently for me to want to forget.

So how about you? Need a weekend project? this would be a great project. A great way to use up some of your favorite papers. scraps you need to clean up. or break open that new kit. Whatever it is, I hope you find inspiration in creating your book of list and keep track of your here and now.

here's a free list to get you started.

and here is product info to my digital cut file used:

sizzixshapestore.com

till next time...

chic tags ~ sunday sketch

Yesterday was Sunday Sketch over at Chic Tags and I was lucky enough to participate...

Sasha shared this fabulous sketch with us and many of us played along using all things Chic Tags. Here is what I came up with...

I took my layout to 12x12. This will be part of a double page layout with several other photos from my birthday week last month.

I only went with 9 circles creating this mat on my Sizzix Eclips and cutting it out on American Craft Heavy Card Stock. When I trimmed it down I left a little extra on the right as a margin for the photo.

Do you ever start a page, have an idea to start, but not sure where it is going to go? Well, that was this one. Obviously I had Sasha's sketch as the inspire point...but after that, I sort of struggled for a bit.

I knew I wanted to use the Happy Place Crisp Air pattern paper, but I also knew it was on the bright side for me, and I am always so afraid of yellow...so I decided to layer it under the circle mask I created.

So then I painted the card stock with a wash of Color Shine Teal and gesso. Sort of a go-to technique for me right now. And I really love how the words from the paper peek through the circles in the mat, also allowing the yellow to say hello without taking over the whole layout.

The circles made perfect little homes for simple embellishments that helped support the rest of this story. School House circle Icons fit perfectly inside layered with some Happy Place Phrases that I trimmed and edge painted. The "Highlights From This Week" is from the March Exclusive Kit (which sadly is sold out). Again, it was a little bright, but just a bit of gesso toned it down and gave it that soft spring hue I was hoping for.

The Having a Blast flair is from the March kit. Love This Life belongs to Happy Place Phrases. I folded the edges back to give it a banner look and layered it over my photo. Sigh...I just love that photo of me and that little SuperMan. To continue to add to the soft feel of this page, I clustered yellow flowers and sequins in one of the circles. These were found in my stash and I love what they add to the over all feel of this project.

Well for not knowing where this layout was going, I am pretty happy with it. Eager to tell the rest of the story with my other photos. Happy to have pushed through a project and just play and have fun. Happy for all these memories I am blessed to document and share with you today.

Till next time...