paper issues - it's hip to be square - i love us

There is a new issue over at Paper Issues - It's Hip to be Square sponsored by A Flair for Buttons. The design team created some amazing layouts with the product provided by A Flair for Buttons as well as the awesome cut file designed by Kathy.

I played along with the issue by making a square layout, using a square photo and in a grid design (albeit, not a square grid),

I just love using grids on layouts as it is such an easy way to use lots of embellishments and bits of patterned paper.  I used the 12x12 chipboard stickers, 6x12 stickers, and layered tags from Crate Paper's Kiss Kiss line. I also added in a few wood veneer and enamel dots from my stash.

I added two buttons from A Flair for Buttons along the side of my photo. I just adore Shelley's designs. She has an incredibly wide selection and the fonts and icons she uses are adorable.

Not only can you link up a project on the Paper Issues blog for the chance to win a great assortment of flair buttons from A Flair for Buttons, but use code IHAVEISSUES15 in the A Flair for Buttons shop, to get 10% off your entire order until the end of the month. 

And always, use my code petitenoonie in the Paper Issues shop, to get 20% off your entire order. 

You have until March 1st to join the link party to be eligible for win the assortment of flair buttons and you can link up as many projects as you like. 

Happy Scrapping!

my funny valentine

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I'll be honest, Derek and I don't really celebrate this holiday other than giving each other cards. In fact, last year he had to work. Andy and I went out to eat at A&W, our favourite fast food restaurant (and of course had to take a selfie) and then we picked up some donuts and brought them to Derek's work for his coworkers (he's gluten free, so he got peanut m&m's). It was definitely my idea of a perfect Valentine's Day, so I made this layout to commemorate our evening. 

Other than the Thickers and a few enamel dots, everything on the layout is from Crate Paper's Kiss Kiss line. When I first saw the line, I thought 'meh, another valentine's line'. But then I started seeing people's projects online and I had to have it all. I was in love. I ordered everything I could from Paper Issues and am so happy I did. This line is just darling. And that heart paper is definitely one of my new favourites! I still have 1 1/2 more sheets, and I don't think it's going to be enough.

My favourite fabric Thickers that I'm going to be very sad when they're gone. 

That glitter heart garland is just amazing. I really love the 12x12 chipboard sheets Crate puts out with each collection. 

More chipboard pieces as well as stickers from the 6x12 sticket sheet and layered tags.

Hop on over to the Paper Issues blog today as they're showcasing a ton of amazing Valentines' projects .

coffee addict

I was very excited when Marcy Penner announced she was doing a class on grids through Studio Calico. I just adore her style and couldn't wait for the class to start. I also was really excited that another of my other favourite scrapbookers was contributing to the class. 

The first lesson was on basic grids and to keep it simple, I decided to make this layout while keeping in mind the colour scheme for Creative Jumpstart 9. I pulled a bunch of papers from my older Studio Calico kits, a shipping tag and a wood veneer square from Two Peas in a Bucket. 

I then added some wood veneer embellishments and an M and asterisks from the same pack of Thickers I used for the title.

Love this font of Thickers and since they're foam, they stick really well.

Tucked a shipping tag and a doily behind my photo, added a paper clip and some black ink splatter and called it done. 

I'm already really happy with this class and am looking forward to sitting down this week with the lesson 2 material. 

I'm also really happy I've had a chance to participate in the Creative Jumpstarts again. I missed a few, but things have calmed down a bit for me and I just love how much they push me creatively!

donut love

It's a new Pinspire Me Monday at Paper Issues. I just loved this one. The colours and icons are perfect for Valentine's Day, but as soon as I saw that donut, I knew I was going to make a layout about my recent trip to our new local donut shop.

I mostly used the February Swag Bag for this layout. I think this might be my favourite Swag Bag yet. The colours are so me. 

I tried this layout on a plain white background and on patterned paper with clouds and neither seemed right at all. I went back and forth a bunch of times. I finally pulled out my watercolours and just went to town. I've never used watercolours on a layout before, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. 

The donut die cut came in either the December or January Swag Bag. I made it the 'O' for love in the title. Everything on the layout came with the swag bag except the thickers and shipping tag.  

happy

I just love, love, love the February sketch at Paper Issues. I thought it was perfect and didn't want to change a thing. That's the fun thing about sketches, they are open to interpretation. Sometimes I change lots of elements and other times, I interpret them really literally, like with this layout. 

I used paper from Maggie Holmes Open Book and embellishments from that line and Notes & Things. I actually don't even like butterflies, but I thought they went well with a photo of my new garden, and I'm really happy with how they look.

As I've said before, I have trouble working circles into my layouts. I jump at any excuse to use a doily though, and the largest one I have worked perfectly for the scale of the layout. 

I hand wrote my jounraling on a large white shipping tag and used word stickers from the Open Book 6x12 sticker sheet throughout.

Jennifer really knocked it out of the park with this sketch. I cannot wait for next month's!

january project life

I'm sharing with you today my January Project Life pages. I used the Notes & Things Project Life mini kit as well as some papers from the Open Book 6x6 pad and a few emebellishments from both Notes & Things and Open Book. I hope you have a cup of cofee, tea, or your favourite beverage of choice, because this is going to be a long, photo heavy post. 

I absolutely adore all of the gold foil elements in the mini kit. They are hard to photograph, but the 'this life' on the bottom right 4x6 card, 'lovely day' on the square pink card the lines on the calendar card are all gold foil.

I love using a big photo in our Project Life album. Our son's first day of pre-school was the perfect excuse. I get my photos printed at Costco and a 4x6 costs 17 cents, whereas an 8x8 costs $1.99. In order to cut down on cost, I import the photo into Photo Shop Elements and then crop the top at 4x6 and bottom at 4x6. Now the photo has only cost me 32 cents instead of $1.99. I just cut the bottom 4x6 in half and slide each part into a 3x4 slot.

This is my favourite spread from the entire month. I just love how all the gold and pink go together. 

Once again, it's hard to tell, but all the writing on the bottom two 4x6 cards are all gold foil, the 3x4 card with the ampersand says 'you and me' in gold foil, as do the cards in the top 4x6 slots.

And oh my gosh, that 'one thousand good night kisses' circle could not be more perfect for a crazy mom that takes as many sleeping photos of her child as I do. I scattered some wood veener stars around the card for added effect.

The 'love' tab and 'the little things' square both come in the mini kit. I really love the little bits you get in the kit, especially for someone like me who heavily embellishes their Project Life album. 'Tonight I will fall asleep with you in my heart' is from the Notes and Things journal cards and I have been waiting for the perfect picture to use it with.

Well, the cat (or unicorn) is out of the bag now, and I officially have issues. I definitely had to use the card from my first order from Paper Issues as a design team member as Cassie wrote a little welcome note on the back. I also included a screen shot from the weather app on my phone as we were having a crazy cold week. I really like included stuff like that in our album as it really gives you a more complete look at our life.

I'm trying to use more 4x6 journalling cards in my album this year as I really love them, but I tend to always fill the spots with photos instead. I layered a tag from the Notes & Things sticker sheet with a few elements from the Notes & Things mini kit to fill our this card a bit.

On Saturday, I randomly drove to Montreal and back with my parents (6.5 hour one way) to pick up two Cornish Rex cats for them. My parents named them Mavis and Baxter and they are utterly adorable and completely trouble. :) Our whole family is crazy about them already.

All three of the 3x4 cards in this photo have gold foil on them. I cannot stress enough how much gold is in this mini kit.

This is the last spread of the month and has an insert on the right hand side. It's a Design A page protector that I just cut in half, so it's hard to tell it's an insert here.



I used a bunch of papers from the Open Book 6x6 pad on this page. I love using 6x6 pads in my Project Life as the patterns are the perfect proportion.

I was so exited it use that book paper from the Open Book 6x6 pad for a photo about book club. The gold embossed library card from the Notes & Things 6x12 sticker sheet was also perfect.

Since I do my Project Life monthly, I often have the wrong amount of photos to end  my month on the right side of a two page spread. I fix this, I often add an insert in the middle of the last spread. This is a Design A page that I cut in half and I've photographed both sides here.

Phew! That was a very long winded post. Kudos to you if you made it all the way to the end. There are still lots of Project Life stuff in the Paper Issues shop. Use the code petitenoonie at checkout to save 20% off your entire order!!!

k&b

I was so, so excited when I saw the new weekend challenge on the Hip Kit Club Facebook page. My favourite colour combination is pink, mint, navy, and gold. I have been hoarding the navy and mint Dear Lizzy papers for a few years now and always turn to them when I make a layout in this colour scheme.

I also didn't have any pictures that I felt went with this challenge, but then I found this photo of our friends on the wedding day in October. I've actually almost gotten to the point where I'm running out of photos that I want to scrap. After making this layout, I decided that I would mail it to them. Then I thought, why don't I make layouts of all our friends with the wedding photos or baby photos? Maybe not all of them will care about getting a scrapbook layout in the mail, but I know this bride will, and I am very excited for her to open it.

 

I realized it is very hard to do a layout for someone else, as I can't exactly write journaling for them. I had these two stamps though that I thought expressed the perfect sentiments for the beginning of a marriage

Another component of the challenge was to use triangles and stitching. I went very literal with this aspect of the challenge as I just adore the way the garlands look in the inspiration photo. At first I was going to fill my background with rows of them, just like the photo, but in the end, I decided to just scatter a few across the page and stitch each individual triangle down. I then pulled the edges of each triangle up for some added dimension. I really love the white space on the page and am happy with how this one turned out.

all the feelings

I am so over the moon excited to announce that I am the newest addition to the design team at Paper Issues. I have been a big fan of the shop, blog, design team and Facebook community for awhile, so it was such an honour to be asked to be a part of the team. 

I am up on the Paper Issues blog today with a layout I made using the December and January swag bags. I love the swag bags so much, that I started a six month subscription to make sure I always get one. They are little bags of awesome and they always sell out.

I really can't get over all the stuff that Cassie gets into each swag bag. They are filled with patterned paper, journal cards and embellishments. Everything you could need to make layouts, cards, or Project Life spreads.

I made this layout about our son's first day of preschool and how I was feeling 'all the feelings' about it. I decided to do all my journalling on a shipping tag and slip it inside the brown paper bag to keep it a bit private.

Everything on the layout came in the swag bags except for the Thickers and the shipping tag. 

Both the December and January swag bags are sold out, however February will be released tomorrow!! Better yet, sign up for a six month subscription, so you never miss out. Use my discount code petitenoonie to get 20% off in the Paper Issues shop.

Hop on over to the Paper Issues blog as I'm sharing a bit about myself and there is just so much wonderful inspiration over there!