Top 14 of 2014

This is one of my favorite posts of the year! (And one of the few I do over and over again…) It's a roundup of my most favorite layouts of the year. You can have a look back at my 2011, 2012 and 2013 posts.

This year I made:

29 cards

1 mini book

109 pocket pages

85 layouts

That's a lot of pocket pages (both handbook and standard size)! But I've learned that those don't make me happy the way layouts do. So next year I've decided to only make pocket pages when moved creatively to do so. I like making layouts. I like the freedom that you have. I know the pocket page thing is meant to be an easier approach but for me, it's always been more difficult. So sianara pocket pages, hello layouts!

It's always interesting to me to look back at a year's worth of work and see similarities. To see how I've grown creatively and what trends I may have picked up throughout the year.

Here are a few things I've noticed:

• White backgrounds. I love 'em! Again, more freedom and man do they make your colors pop. There are 7 white cardstock layouts featured here

• Travel is always a big theme for my pages. Again, 7 (must be the magic number this year!) layouts have something to do with travel.

• Scrapbook Circle's Island Paradise kit was my favorite. 2 of the layouts on this list were made with that gorgeous kit (the first one I received!)
• Speaking of kits, 5 of these are kit layouts. Either Scrapbook Circle, Studio Calico or Ali Edwards.

• I bought so many classes this year! But didn't get through even half of them. I did make a few. 4 of these are class layouts (SC Stitched, Stash Bash, Super Simple Scrapbook Challenges)

• My Silhouette got a lot of play this year. 10 of these layouts feature die cuts from my Silhouette
• Circles are my go to basic shape. 8 of these layouts have some sort of circular design element, either big or small

• 7 of these feature the people that I love. I think I scrapped more about Matt than I have in previous years
• I managed to scrap about me a bit more than I usually do. 3 of these layouts are just something about me.

• Every last one of these has some kind of wet media, wether stamping or mist splatters, watercolor or modeling paste

• Simple Scrapper is my jam. 7 of these layouts are made using either a Simple Scrapper sketch or as part of Stash Bash or just from an idea or inspiration from Spark Mag.

• I just played, without the help of prompts or sketches or challenges. 5 of these layouts are straight from my brain to the page. Can you guess which?

• I'm not consistent with photo size in any way shape or form. From enlarged photos to teeny tiny ones, to square to rectangle. I love 'em all!

I love looking back at these pages. It's been a good year and I think these pages reflect that.

cheers & besos,

Filofax Planner

 I'm so excited to share my planner with y'all!! It includes my hot off the presses Start Fresh Workbook as well as some of the other planner inserts I've purchased from Hello Forever.

I customized this entire thing, right down to the cut files for the page dividers. I loved this mix of patterns! The color scheme I went with was: black, white, gray, nude, blush, gold, kraft, so I picked papers in that theme.

Papers: [Pebbles - Homemade Collection - Florali] [Teresa Collins Designs - Tinsel and Company Collection - Dots] [Teresa Collins Designs - Life Emporium Collection - Striped Wood] [Teresa Collins Designs - Life Emporium Collection - Dots]

The planner itself is the Nude Patent A5 Filofax. I loooooove it! It's just so pretty to look at and hold.

As I mentioned, I used a mix of planner pages. I purchased quite a few from Marcy Penner's Hello Forever shop but didn't end up using as many as I thought I would. The ones I've included here are the: [2015 Calendar-Grey] [Live Add-on Grey] [Work Add-on Grey]. What I ended up using the most was the free [Weekly Planning Guide] go figure!

I also purchased the [Create Add-on Grey] but my brand spanking new Start Fresh Workbook is taking the place of that!

This year, Jennifer came up with a totally re-done and slightly re-imagined workbook that's also a planner. And I have to say I'm in LOVE (picture me with big hearts for eyes) with it!

There are monthly calendars for you to use for your planning. Click this link to see a sample of what they look like.

And the lists feature I love so much is also back. You can see more of one of those in my old planner from last year's Start Fresh.

She revamped the plans portion which is fantastic. I've also included the Hello Forever Blog Ideas and Blog Lists pages in this section to round it out.

So lets talk a little about my pens and things. I have this gorgeous Kate Spade pencil pouch, that 100% inspired this scrapbook page of mine, and which now holds all kinds of goodies.

I went on a bit of a spree at Jet Pens a few weeks ago and bought just about every gray pen that they had plus these little cat bookmark tabs. They were just too cute to pass up! (And they helped me get to my $25 minimum for free shipping. Win win!)

MT's mama gave me the Kate Spade Roller stamp for my birthday. And I picked up that fabulous gold pencil sharpener in Basel earlier this month.

Here's a better look at the pens and how they write. To note, the thinner ones scratched a lot more and didn't glide as easily on the page. (I'm looking at you Zebra Sarasa and Pilot Juice!)

I purchased the following (from top to bottom):
[Pilot FriXion Colors Erasable Marker - Gray] [Zebra Sarasa Push Clip Gel Ink Pen - 0.4 mm - Gray] [Zebra Mildliner Double-Sided Highlighter - Fine / Bold - Mild Gray] [Pilot FriXion Color-Pencil-Like Erasable Gel Ink Pen - 0.7 mm - Gray] [Pilot Juice Gel Ink Pen - 0.38 mm - Gray]

I have to point out that the FriXion's both erase. These things are awesome. I use this Black FriXion as my everyday pen.

This post was so long in coming. But I'm so glad I got it together. I'm so excited to put the planner to use and for Start Fresh to…well, start! It's got a special place in my heart. It was the first Simple Scrapper event that I participated in and why I joined the group in the first place. And now, a year later, I'm a part of the team!

If you're a fan of planning, I'd totally recommend it. If checklists and worksheets give your heart a thrill, this is definitely the class for you! Jennifer is also offering the option for 2 months membership free with the class. It's the perfect introduction if you're interested in learning more about Simple Scrapper and the premium membership.

Maybe I'll see you in class? If you have any questions, please ask! There's a lot of info here and I'm happy to elaborate if you're interested in hearing more about something specific.

cheers & besos,

Please note I am an affiliate of Simple Scrapper/Create More Media. All opinions, words and photos are my own.

Movie Night

I started a new tradition this year. You know, just on a whim as I was heading to Target (WARNING: never a good time to start a new tradition that requires purchasing things. You'll never stop!!)

I used a Simple Scrapper sketch from the No. 11 issue of Spark Magazine, as well as prompt from the No. 13 issue that will be out at the beginning of the month! Thanks to it, this page came together so quickly and simply (ha!).

I even managed to include ephemera on the page. The bottle cap in the middle is from the beer I bought for MT. Shiner has the best Christmas packaging.

I hope you each had a wonderful December. This time of the year is my absolute favorite. I'm sad to see it end but so excited for a new beginning. The New Year might be my second favorite "holiday".  I love the planning and the fresh start, but more on that later.

cheers & besos,

Bags & Tags

Happy Christmas all! 

Just a quick share today. Here are the bags I decorated to hold all of the little pressies I got for my girls. They're loosely based off bags I saw on Amanda Dell's blog. I loved the mini pom poms!!

I made the snowflake out of pipe cleaners using this tutorial. I also stamped the mini bags using an older Ali Edwards' stamp set. The tags I cut myself and finished off with a gold reinforcement. I want like 400 more of them!

If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful holiday! To everyone else, have a fabulous Thursday =)

cheers & besos,

Not a Cat Person

Oh man, I have so many pages to share! I almost couldn't decide which to share next. But this one has been in the drafts folder for awhile so I figured I'd go with it.

My boyfriend doesn't like cats. He's not a fan. But boy does he love "his" cat. We joke about breaking up one day and fighting over her. He has this whole bit about how she knows the escape plan.

So I made this page about Matt not being a cat person, but a Mac person. I pulled a random assortment of photos of the two of them hanging out together. They're so cute I almost want to hurl.

I scrap lifted this page I found in the Studio Calico gallery. I loved the two page design. Even though the one page would have totally sufficed, I liked having the second page to balance and add more decor--and most importantly, more journaling!

I used gold and blues, which I kind of remember being something I saw on a challenge blog (that I clearly didn't enter, seeing as its 3 months later…)

The cat themed digi cuts are from The Cut Shoppe. I made the large title in Silhouette studio.

I hadn't looked back at this page until I decided to blog it just now. It puts a smile on my face to see the reluctant cat owner won over by his cat!

cheers & besos,

Accomplish 2014

I'm on Christmas break, two whole glorious weeks off! I so badly need this. I'm hoping to relax a bit, tackle some of those do list items I keep putting off, and of course, scrapbook!

I made this page on Friday, using a sketch from the upcoming January issue of Spark. It was a two page sketch but I only used one page and then re-worked the second to better fit my photos. I love how it turned out!!

The design theme here was around circles, triangles and squares. They're all over the place on this page; circle and square photos, circle and square paper, triangles in a circle on the embellishment. You just can't beat the basics!

I used a black and white, gray and purple color scheme. That awesome purple print is a Basic Grey Kelly Purkey Second City pattern. I only bought a few sheets from this line, but that one I bought two of! I used both the front and the back. The back is the gray ombre on the right side of the 2nd page.

This page was a list of all the things I managed to accomplish in 2014. I didn't set out to accomplish much. But reflecting back on the year helped me realize that I did accomplish a lot. Like I said in my journaling, I didn't know how much good would be waiting for me here at the end of 2014. But there was a whole lot of good!

I think this may be a new tradition for me. I really do need to take time to reflect back each year, to celebrate my victories and to be grateful for this life that I love. If you decide to make an accomplished page this year, dear reader, I'd love to see it!

cheers & besos,