CMTH Charlotte layout

During my weekend crop a few weeks ago, I realized that a lot of my scrapbook pages tend to repeat. My albums are all done chronologically and (I feel) are the same from year to year. We're creatures of habit, we do the same things, at the same time, over and over again.

Which is great for teaching my kids traditions and habits but it makes a boring scrapbook. And who wants a boring scrapbook??

So I started to document my everyday life moments. I take pictures constantly - for Facebook & Instagram - my every day life is being recorded but (until now) I didn't  print those pictures.

This layout features a seemingly random assortment of photos but these are adorable, every day moments of the people that fill my days.

CTMH Charlotte scrapbook & Picture My Life layout by Stephanie Huber at LavendersageDesigns.blogspot.com

I used the new Charlotte papers to make these layouts super cute! The stickers and accessories that come with the Workshop Your Way (or can be purchased seperately) are adorable! The colors are a nice neutral with just a pop of color that seem to match all my photos.

See you next week with more photos of my scrapbook pages!

Bowling with Babycakes

February is a big holiday month for us. My neice has her birthday right after Valentine's Day! :)

This was a big year for her because she had her first "friends" party!  And since cousins are the bestest of friends, my littles were invited too. 

For this layout, I used Babycakes (retired) and Gray Wool (retired) cardstock as page bases. This was an easy layout with a B&T cut in half, two zip strips across the tops and 2 border Stickease across the bottom. The journal card was cut with Art Philosophy and inked in Desert Sand. 

CTMH Babycakes scrapbooking page by Stephanie Huber at LavendersageDesigns.blogpost.com

Actually, now that I'm typing this post up, I think I reworked this layout on my Team Crop this past weekend ... Hmm, I'll have to snap a photo of that one and post a before and after photo.

Did you ever rework a layout page after you finished with it? How did it turn out??

February Shenanigans

Continuing my walk through of my 2015 album, this is the layout I made showing our big cousin's weekend with my sister's kids.

I am blessed that my sister and I were able to have our children so close in age. They are the best of friends!! When I go away for my weekend crops, I'm lucky that I can drop my kids off at my sister's house until my hubby comes home on Saturday and since they love it too, I'm guilt free for some Mommy-only time! :)

CTMH scrapbooking layout using Chantilly (retired) paper pack and "Live Laugh Love" stamp set.

I had only small scraps from my Chantilly paper pack (retired) but I love how simple this layout turned out to be. I used negative space in the layout to provide "mats" for the photos on the left and since the base layer was White Daisy, I was able to journal directly on the page. A little stamping from the "Live Laugh Love" stamp set and done! I was hoping to be done with this paper pack but I have a few tiny scraps I can use to make some cards. A good problem to have I guess! :)

I'll continue my walk through next week, there are still lots of pages to share! I'm going to spend the weekend with my Close to My Heart team at a weekend retreat so I'll have even more to share! ;)

Happy crafting!
Stephanie

February Joyful Stars Blog Hop

Welcome to the February edition of the Joyful Stars Blog Hop!

If you've come from Crystal's blog then you're on the right track. If you're starting here, just follow the links at each blog to "hop" along. If you get lost, visit Joyce's blog for a complete list.

 I was at a weekend crop in January (and another one this weekend - yea!!) and I'm currently sharing my work from the weekend. I shared my first layouts in the album on Monday. I'm skipping ahead a little bit to share with you the layout I used from the Charlotte Workshop Your Way.

Last year was a busy year for us. Within a few weeks of finishing a renovation on the new house we bought, we moved in and had two birthday parties and  two Easter celebrations (ignoring the 2 snowstorms that also occurred during that time...).

This page documents my daughter's birthday party. Having just moved in we were crammed around too small furniture and folding tables and chairs but that's the problem with going to a bigger house - you're furniture is now too small! ;) But it was such a blessing to be able to celebrate with our family in ONE room!

CTMH Scrapbook layout using Charlotte paper pack by Stephanie Huber

Using the embellishments that came with the kit made this layout super simple to do! PML cards cut from the workshop make it easy to add journaling and this layout came together in about 10 minutes!

Now you're off to Debi's blog to see her lovely creation!

(I'll be posting the rest of my layouts so check back again before next month.)

:) Stephanie

It's Crop & Share Time Again!

The only redeeming factor of winter, in my humble opinion, is its when I get to go on weekend crops. Specifically two each year. My husband, who is an on-the-road truck driver and thus not home more often then he is home, is forced to be home and play Mr. Mom. Don't misread this, he does a great job as their father but when I'm gone ... I really don't know if I'll ever know the truth of what happens, what they eat, or wear, or play with. I try not to think about it and just lavish all my creative energies into getting as much scrapbooking done as inhumanly possible because let's face it, this is the only dedicated time to scrap I get. Sure I have a wonderful creating space at home. But there are no doors and I have to share it with the kids' play space. Great for sneaking in some "me" time during playdates but not conducive to getting lots done on a regular basis. If they see mommy, they want mommy's attention.

Sigh ....

But when I go away ... well, scrap happens! :)

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you some layouts I've done this past weekend. I still have another weekend coming up so I'll add them in too.

This past weekend is a wonderful time away at a local retreat center. The accommodations are lovely, the food is wonderful (I gained 4+ pounds this weekend!), and I never have to leave the building so I get to stay in super comfy clothes (read: workout clothes all weekend and no judging!!). I actually was all packed up when I realized I had not seen my sneakers in three days and had to go looking for them. Thankfully, the cleaning staff found them under the bed and returned them to the front desk for check out. My goal this weekend was to get from January through August of last year because that was as far as I had sorted my photos. And I actually accomplished it! I am so proud of myself! Even better, I love all the layouts I did! Usually there are a bunch I just throw together just because. Crafting all weekend can be draining and there are just hours where my brain refuses to work. This time however, I rarely had that feeling and was able to power through and get 70 pages done (about 35 two page layouts). Since about half of them need some sort of Cricut cut to finish them completely, I'll only share the completely finished ones now. I'll add the others in later.

First one up ...

CTMH Scrapbook layout using PML page and Frosted (retired) paper pack by Stephanie Huber

The first page of the album I'm using as a title page, but I still need to add the numbers so this is the first full layout and features all the snows from last winter (one snow looks like the next one, right?). I'm learning how to use my DSLR to take the photos I want to use on mys scrapbook pages so I'm liking my pages better. Maybe that's why I didn't have any problems designing, I liked all my photos! Designing with a mix of traditional pages and PML (Picture My Life) pages took some thinking ahead but I'm really happy with the results. I tend to be photo heavy and I want to document *everything*. PML pages and Flip Flaps are my most used accessories!

CTMH Scrapbook layout using PML page and Frosted (retired) paper pack by Stephanie Huber

 This is the next page in the album and I continued using the Frosted papers since the pictures were mostly blue. The Stickease from the paper pack made it easy to decorate. Add in some gems and a Cricut cut as a journaling card and done!

CTMH Scrapbook layout using Frosted (retired) paper pack by Stephanie Huber

This was a quick layout of my daughter. She is so expression-full and I had to document it! I used a scrap piece of Frosted to highlight the sleeping photo and a chipboard border from the Chantilly (retired) Complements pack. I absolutely love how our colors work together so you can mix and match from each paper pack! The letters are from the Fundamental Sticker Packs - these are a new addition to our product line and I was so thrilled with it when it was announced at Convention.

I'll be back Wednesday with a new layout for the Joyful Stars Blog Hop.

:)

Stephanie

Exploring new craft mediums

If you've read my last post, you know I've been busy (neglecting my family), um, excuse me - crafting! :) I wanted to share with you some of the other projects I've made with my new Cricut Explore.

We moved last March after 4 months of renovating. The basement where the kids' playroom and my craft space was usable but the last to get organized. Around Thanksgiving, orders started arriving for custom cards and other gifts so I had to whip my space into shape fast! While it's still not perfect (I need to hire an electrician to add more lights and outlets) but it's usable for every craft I'm currently into.

I love that I can create while the kids play and I can still referee if need be. In fact, these two projects both happened while I had double my normal amount of kids around! :)

I made the pillow cases to fit some of our couch pillows I've gotten tired of looking at and then used HTV (heat transfer vinyl) to quickly embellish. My hubby had no luck hunting this year so the camo pillow was a joke - I wanted to help him visualize what he's supposed to see through his scope ... he took it well, after throwing the pillow at me! :)

Thanks for looking!

January Joyful Stars Blog Hop

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the January Edition of the Joyful Stars Blog Hop! If you've arrived from Lori's blog then you're on the right track. If you're starting here, follow the link at the bottom of the post to hop over to the next post. Keep going till you come back to where you started. If you get lost, see Joyce's blog for a complete list of participants.

For Christmas, I finally wore my husband down and bought myself a new Cricut Explore "from him". :) Since it's arrival in my house, my kids have been neglected, dinners have been "leftovers" and the laundry is stacked in various piles around the house (I've lost track of what's clean or dirty, but whatever!)

I have been crafting up a storm! The ease of cutting and searching my images to find *just the right thing* is just divine! Even though I've had an Expression for what seems like eons, the finesse of the Explore is the creme de la creme of home crafting!

I'm learning to use the software to plan out my scrapbook pages, letting the machine do it's thing and relax in front of the tv catching up on my favorite shows while I assemble my cuts - it's everything I've ever wanted!!!

Of course, as I went searching for something to share with you tonight, I couldn't find just the right piece - I wanted something out of the new Seasonal Expressions to share with you and it seems like the perfect time to share with you the Charlotte Workshop Your Way PML layouts.  Have you seen this new line of papercrafting!?!? It's awesome! This one kit includes instructions for 3 layouts, 6-9 cards (depending on the kit) and a PML layout!! It's the one perfect kit for every crafter! My sister consultants and I traveled to Philadelphia last month for some training from the Home Office on this new item and It. Was. Awesome!! I loved hearing first hand how the kit evolved from the WOTG and why they were adding this new line to better meet the needs of customers (and consultants too).

The Charolotte WYW kit is so adorable! I'm not a girly-girl but I love the mix of neutrals with the pop of Sorbet ... I can easily mix photos of both of my kids on one layout with this paper pack and the doodles are so on trend my heart is fluttering! :)

Anyway, by now you're even wondering if I'm going to show you anything ...  your wait is over! ;)

A predesigned PML layout really too easy to brag about on a blog hop so I spiced it up with a few of my own "designed" PML cards. I used my new Explore (naturally) to easily cut a few images from the new Artistry cartridge and voila!

This part was fun - one of the selling points of our new house was the wild life! My hubby loved that he could hunt from his front porch (not that I let him, for the record, that's my spot!). 

This PML served as the title of the page: it doesn't matter where my family is as long as we're together, we're home. 

 Now you're off to Yvonne's blog to see what she's created to share with you. See you next month!