Sakuralala Team 365

With all the excitement about my mom's visit and a few health issues on top of that, I have not been updating my blog with some FANTASTIC NEWS. (In fact, the best way to stay on top of what I'm up to is follow me on Instagram).

I joined Team 365 at Sakuralala!!! Sakuralala is an awesome online shop that has everything you need for planners and traveler's notebooks. I love their washi selection, and the 365 stamps are the most adorable thing you've ever seen!

I have become quickly obsessed with traveler's notebooks since giving them a go in March, and I love this form of documentation! I use a monthly traveler's notebook for keeping track of dinners out, doctor's appointments and trips, and a weekly trawler's notebook to document the everyday (I do this on top of Project Life). And it just makes me so happy! Here are a few examples.

Monthly spread for March:

Monthly spread for April:

Weekly spread in April:

The washi tapes are all from the Sakuralala store, and the stamps are mostly from their 365 collection. So fun!

Memory Pockets Monthly: Promise

The new Memory Pockets Monthly collection from The Lilypad is gorgeous - such an inspiring theme (promise) and pretty colors! I used the main kit to scrap a monthly recap page for May.

Credits:
May Insta Review Template by Scrapping by Liz
Memory Pockets Monthly: PROMISE from The Lilypad

And everything is 20% off through the weekend! Here's a closer look at the two pages in the spread.

I certainly had no shortage of photos, with my mom coming to visit. :)

Have a lovely weekend!

The Best Therapy

Hello and happy Wednesday! I am feeling a bit (ok... a lot!) blue after spending 9 wonderful days with my mom who came to visit... I already miss her a lot! But I am left with some beautiful memories and photos of her stay, so the next best thing to having her here was to start scrapping these photos.
I used some products that are 50% off today at The Lilypad. :)

Credits:

Catch a Falling Star: Patterns & Backgrounds, Catch a Falling Star: Embellishments, Catch a Falling Star: Glitterbets by Allison Pennington

Have a great rest of the week!

May Mixed Media Monthly at The Lilypad

Hello hello! I am enjoying a 10-day visit with my mom so I'll keep this short and sweet. :) Today it's release day for the Mixed Media Monthly collection at The Lilypad, and I am 100% in love with these patterns and colors!!

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly May 2016 from The Lilypad

Sketchbook 10 and Painted Papers by Lynne-Marie

Have a great end of the week!

Calligraphy Class at Studio Calico

I love lettering, and over the past few months I've been learning brush calligraphy, but have been wanting to learn traditional calligraphy forever! I am just so incredibly excited that Studio Calico is having a calligraphy class!

I have been asking for a calligraphy class for well over a year, and I cannot wait to get started!! The class comes with a free kit with the essential tools to get started (a pen holder and 2 nibs).

WHAT COMES WITH THIS CLASS

• Six lessons from Maghon Taylor adapted from her popular calligraphy lettering workshops
• Almost an hour of video instruction
• Photos and tips to reinforce what you learned in the videos
• Class kit containing a pen holder and two nibs (while supplies last)
• Printable worksheets from Maghon
• Access to a class message board and gallery, where you can share and learn with your teacher and fellow students
• Weekly challenges to inspire you to use what you've learned
• Live chat with your teacher and fellow students

You can sign up here - I'll see you in class!!

Summer of Sketches

Are you a fan of sketches? I generally do my own thing, but every time I start my page with a sketch I find myself doing something I would not have tried on my own, and I love the challenge. There's a new awesome class at Studio Calico that goes on all summer, and it's called Summer of Sketches.

Looking for some creative inspiration to get you through the summer? Join Jamie Waters and her team of talented contributors for a summer-long session of “round robin” sketch inspiration. From June to August, each week will bring you a new lesson bursting with fresh sketches that provide the ultimate starting point for any story you want to tell. Every Monday, students will have access to a new video and layout from Jamie, two additional layouts from contributors and four all new sketches. By the end of class, you’ll have access to a treasure trove of inspiration, ready for any time you need a little creative boost! Summer of Sketches starts June 6th.

And the class price includes an awesome 4"x6" stamp!
See you in class!

Post NSD Sale

Hello and happy Wednesday! Did you survive National Scrapbooking Day?? It was lots of fun at The Lilypad! And with it being Wednesday, it's time for the weekly 50% sale on select products!
Here's what I made with a few of the products on sale:

Credits:

Topography No. 21 and Eat Cake by Valorie Wibbens

Storyteller 2016 :: May Quick Pocket Frames - Add-on by Just Jaimee  

Have a great rest of the week!

Kill My Studio Calico Kit: January - Arendal

Hello and welcome back for another month of Kill My Studio Calico Kit! I wasn't expecting to have this post up so soon, but I was inspired by National Scrapbooking Day and made 7 pages with Arendal today, so this kit is now killed!

This is the 7th installment of this series, and in total I have made a whopping 93 layouts. Yay me!
This month I got the Studio Calico scrapbook main kit, Arendal ($34.99, but I bought it at the kit sale they had in March for $17.00), as well as the Canal Street embellishment kit ($7 at the kit sale).

Notes: I really love the colors this month - pink and lavender and yellow. I love the puffy stickers and the frames in the main kit, and the puffy stickers in Canal Street.

Kill my Studio Calico kit is a monthly series I started on my blog to hold myself accountable and use up my kits. You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.

Status: killed!
I made 9 layouts (4 12"x12", 5 8.5"x11"), for a total of $27, or $3.38/page. I supplemented the kit with some items from my stash (stamps, paints, cardstock and the odd embellishment).

And here is a look at what I made with the kit.

This was a fun page tom make! I used silkscreens and paint to add texture to the page.

I love how this page turned out!

I piled several die cuts, paper strips and frames on top of the busy background.

This is one of my favorite pages this month! I loved this photo so I kept it big for this page.

I toned down the card stock background a bit using gesso.

The strip of the paper with the numbers is from my least favorite paper from the kit this month, I couldn't bring myself to use more but I love the look of this strip on this page.

I used the mega date stamp on this page (it's getting restocked next month if you're interested!).

The lavender card stock was from my stash. I used the big letters from Canal Street as a mask and added mist on top (white and blue).  It turned out just as I'd hoped! The journal card is from the Documenter kit, and the cork snowflakes are from my stash.
And here is the last page, made the day after NSD.

My last page features a lot of hand stitching. The design was inspired by that awesome card from the Documenter kit that I was hoarding. I wish the black + gold would photograph better! Anyway I am thrilled with how this page turned out! The gold alpha and star embellishments are from my stash. I embossed the large number from Canal Street with grapefruit Zing embossing powder.

And what wraps up this month! I hope you are enjoying this series. All items were purchased by me and if you use the affiliate inks in this post I will happily receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thanks to those who left comments on my Kill My Studio Calico Kit blog series - I will keep going!

You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.

#SCNSD16 - Happy NSD at Studio Calico!

I love a good challenge, and there are fourteen (14!!) of them planned today at Studio Calico!

You can find the line up here [they will be posted at 1-hour intervals throughout the day]. My challenge goes live at 4 PM EST, but here is a preview of the page I made for it. :)

I used the January scrapbook kit (Arendal) and had fun adding paint. :)

I hope you have a fun and scrappy NSD!

Happy iNSD!

Happy interNational Scrapbooking Day!! There is a wealth of new releases at The Lilypad to help you celebrate this day! Here's what I made with them - documenting a trip to Seattle.

Credits:

I've Got A Plan | May 2016 - Scrappy Bits by mommyish

Everyday Overlays by Kate Hadfield

I simply cannot resist the cookies from Starbucks - they are so cute! :)

Credits:

Life is an Adventure collab (part 1) by The Lilypad designers

Everyday Overlays and Vegetable Patch by Kate Hadfield

I had so much fun piling up the veggies to scrap a page about this farmers' market!!

May BYOC at The Lilypad

Hello and happy May! Tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day (NSD) and the celebrations at The Lilypad have already begun! In addition, the May BYOC (Build Your Own Collab) is released today - here's what I made with it.

For the May scraplift challenge - lift of hello sunshine by scrappydonna

Credits:

Insights Papers and Insights Elements by Sabrina Dupre

I love how easy it is to mix and match all the NYOC products!

Credits:

Viva la Vida papers and Viva la Vida elements by Little Butterfly Wings

Alpha Mega Pack by Amy Wolff

Be Fruity Elements and Brushes by Nancie Rowe Janitz 

Sprinkles v43 by Valorie Wibbens

Bring on the Weekend by Pink Reptile Designs

Coral and green is an unexpected match.. but I love it!

Credits:

Be Happy ScrapART Starts by Nancie Rowe Janitz 

Let's Be Mermaids papers and Sprinkles v43 by Valorie Wibbens

Adventure Calls papers by Lynn Grieveson

Bring on the Weekend by Pink Reptile Designs

I simply cannot have enough of these gorgeous patterns!
Happy NSD!

Jolly Holiday Kits at Studio Calico

Hello and happy May! As per my tradition started in January of this year, I made a page using the newly released digital items for the Jolly Holiday kits at Studio Calico.

I also mixed in a few items from my stash, including the BRB and Canal Street embellishment kits, and the Annabelle alpha stamp.

I used the 12x12 digital papers along with several printables from this month's release.

Happy Reveal Day!