The Struggle Is Real

Hello and happy almost Friday! The new Mixed Media Monthly collection is in the store at The Lilypad, and it inspired me to tell a story about my health struggles I don't normally document in my scrapbook pages - that's one of the reasons I LOVE the Mixed Media Monthly products. But the main reason is that the products are absolutely gorgeous... check out that painted background!

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly - June '17 from The Lilypad

Have a great rest of the week!

April Mixed Media Monthly at The Lilypad

Hello and happy Friday! I am so happy spring has made its arrival, although it's amazing to realize nearly a third of the year has gone by already!
I am loving the monthly recap pages I have been putting together, and here is the one I made for April.

Credits:

April Month in Review '17 Template by Scrapping with Liz

April Stuff by Allison Pennington

All the bright colors! :) And here's a look at each page.

I added a new Foxy Fix notebook to my collection last week - I need to blog about it! Here are my previous posts about these traveler's notebooks.

And then I also made a page with the new Mixed Media Monthly (M3) collection. I love how the M3 inspires me to try new techniques. Here I blended 2 papers (the one for the background and the one with blue and white clouds and sketched trees), as well as a photo (on the bottom of the page). So fun!

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly April 2017 from The Lilypad

Have a great weekend! And save the date - May 6 is iNSD (interNational Scrapbooking Day!) and there will be some fun events and sales at The Lilypad!

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!

April Mixed Media Monthly at The Lilypad

I'm so excited for today's Mixed Media Monthly (M3) release at The Lilypad!

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly main kit- Apr. 16 from The Lilypad

Tags {add on} M3 April 2016 and Words & Paint {add on} M3 April 2016 by Little Butterfly Wings

On the first page, I combined the M3 main kit with some of the fabulous add ons. This month's theme is calm / passing the storm, and all the rain elements worked perfectly to document a very rainy but lovely day we had in New York City last week.

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly main kit- Apr. 16 from The Lilypad

Sketchbook 9 and Rainy Wordart by Lynne-Marie

It's hard to pick a favorite in the M3 collection, but it's probably the paper backgrounds - there is so much variety and they are the best way to stat your page! This month, they even included a coloring page. I have never done coloring (or at least the adult coloring trend that is so popular right now), but as soon as I saw this page I knew I wanted to try it. It's such a cool design! So I did, and used it for this 2-page layout:

Credits:
Coloring page from the Mixed Media Monthly main kit- Apr. 16 from The Lilypad (left page)
Lollipop Guild scrapbook kit from Studio Calico (right page)

Here's a closer look to the coloring page:

I printed it on heavy cardstock and then added my coloring - first with markers, and then with watercolors (my favorite). I decided not to fill th whole page because I loved the black&white look too. I love how it turned out! And it was the perfect complement for the right page, which is all made with physical scrapbook products.

I love that busy background and how it's toned down by the colored page on the left.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great end of the week!

Mixed Media Monthly - February

Hello and happy Friday! Today is a very good day- not only is it Friday, but it's time for the new Mixed Media Monthly (M3) release at The Lilypad. I loved the kit so much this month!!
I made three pages just with the kit.

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly February ’16 from The Lilypad

I used this adorable heart background to list all the things I am loving right now.

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly February ’16 from The Lilypad

Those clustered hearts are fantastic!

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly February ’16 from The Lilypad

I love the pink and all the painted bits!
I also made two pages using some of the M3 add ons.

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly February ’16 from The Lilypad

Alpha add on M3 February 2016, Paint add on M3 February 2016 and Elements add on M3 February 2016 by Little Butterfly Wings

I used the M3 main kit in addition to some add ons here.

Credits:

Soul Food and Love Bursts by Lynne-Marie

I hope your end of the week is a good one too!

Celebrate 2015

With less than 2 weeks left in the year, it's a good time to look back and reflect on all the things that have passed this year. I made this year in review page using the new Mixed Media Monthly collection from The Lilypad, and I love how it turned out!

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly - Dec. 2015 from The Lilypad

The template I used is in the collection too. It has 12 slots so you can choose a picture per month; I switched it up a bit and only included photos from some months (numbered) because I also wanted to include some of the pretty patterned papers from the kit.

M3: November

Hi there! I have been pretty quiet here and on Instagram lately..  Just a little overwhelmed with things. A dear friend has suddenly fallen ill in the last month (cancer), and is on his last days. So very sad.. I cannot come to terms with how quick it all happened. In light of this all, I have been reflecting on my life, and I have lots to be thankful for. Especially this time of year it is good to stop and think about all the blessings in my life. {taking a deep breath}

I have still been creating these days (and something extra special coming this way Dec. 1st.. ;) hint hint!), this is truly one of the blessings in my life, to be able to create and express myself through scrapbooking. Today I have some pages to share made with the November Mixed Media Monthly kit from The Lilypad. It's hard to put in words how much I love this monthly collection... it is SO good!

The first page I made is about fall:

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly - November '15 main kit from The Lilypad

Quiet Time Brushes {M3 Nov 15 Add-on}, M3 Nov 15 Quiet Time Word Art {Addon} and Quiet Time Borders {M3 Nov 15 Add-on} by Nancie Rowe Janitz

A lot of the papers/elements/brushes in the kit really speak Christmas to me. I will be putting them to good use in my December Daily album - in particular the designs from the latest addition to the store at The Lilypad: Nancie Rowe Janitz.

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly - November '15 main kit from The Lilypad

Quiet Time Brushes {M3 Nov 15 Add-on} and M3 Nov 15 Quiet Time Word Art {Addon} by Nancie Rowe Janitz

 And TGIF (almost)!! Have a great weekend!

M3: October

We are already halfway through October.. but today is a good day because the October Mixed Media Monthly collection is released at The Lilypad, plus there's some great fun to be had with the Halloween Bash celebration!

Here's what I made with it:

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly Oct. ’15 from The Lilypad

Tickety Boo templates by Jimbo Jambo Designs

Have a great end of the week!

July M3

It's time for the July M3 (Mixed Media Monthly) collection at The Lilypad! The theme for this month is heroes, and it was just perfect to make a motivational page for me.

I also combined some of the add ons for my page.

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly July ’15 Main Kit from The Lilypad

Super Duper papers - M3 add on and Super Duper elements by Quirky Heart

High Jump font by Amy Martin

And that's it from me for today, have a good end of the week!

May Mixed Media Monthly

Hello and happy Saturday! The May Mixed Media Monthly (M3) is in the shop at The Lilypad, and I love the colors!!

I kept my color scheme to blue and pink, and I love how this page turned out!

September M3

Yay! It's mixed media monthly time! Or M3 for short. :) This is only the second month of this new product offering from The Lilypad, and I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised both times by how much inspiration I get from these products. I am not a messy mixed media artist / art journaler, but I absolutely love all the projects I have made with the M3!

So how does this work? A new kit is released the 3rd Friday of the month. The subscription is only $7.99 per month, which includes the M3 kit, 50% off all add-ons and access to a private M3 subscribers forum with challenges and tutorials (including some tips from me!).

The designers are Just Jaimee, Little Butterfly Wings, Lynne-Marie and Quirky Heart. The M3 kit is a collaboration, and then each designer also has three individual add ons. I used these ones by Lynne-Marie:

Last month I made two hybrid layouts and 2 digi pages. This month, instead, I was inspired to make a hybrid mini album. This all came together very quickly Wednesday evening, in approximately 2 hours, and I am so thrilled with how it turned out!! The design part (done on the computer) took me 1.5 hours (this includes designing several cards for some pages of the mini album, while I also used ready made cards that are in the kit and add ons for other pages. I just love to give my own twist to things.), and another half hour to assemble the album.

I started by designing the card that became the cover, and that's how I got the idea to make a little album. All the pages were printed out on Canon matte photo paper.

I placed a black/white photo on each spread, and then have room to add my journaling on the side.

I also printed out some digital elements to add on top of my pages.

This is probably my favorite spread in the album - the paper on the right is gorgeous!!

The theme of this album is this summer, so I picked a few of my favorite photos of my husband and I taken over the last few months.

The photos were printed on Canon glossy photo paper.

I bound the little book using blue masking tape and some sewing.
I hope you enjoyed this little project!

Introducing M3 (Mixed Media Monthly) at The Lilypad

Yay, it's Friday!! :D And it's a very special Friday at The Lilypad, because not only is the shop filled with awesome new releases and the quarterly store-wide 30% sale is going on and there's a free with purchase kit.. but especially because today is also the kick off of a new exciting monthly subscription called Mixed Media Monthly (M3).

I made 2 digi pages with the August M3 collab and add ons, and 2 hybrid ones. I had so much fun with it!! Are you ready for an overload of color?? :) Let's start with the digital pages.

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly Aug. 2014

Sketchbook 01 by Lynne Marie

The Dirty Dame font by Heather Joyce and Valorie Wibbens

I would say that my digital scrapping style leans towards the minimalist side, but I had so much fun adding brushes and embellishments on my page! These colors are right up my alley!

Credits:

Mixed Media Monthly Aug. 2014

Artsy Bits, Just My Type and Sketchbook 01 by Lynne Marie

The Dirty Dame font by Heather Joyce and Valorie Wibbens

This page was inspired by the gorgeous butterfly in Lynne Marie's Sketchbook 01 add on, and then I layered brushes and stamps on top of the colorful background to tone it down a bit and add interest. I love how it turned out! OK, let's move on to the hybrid pages now. These were done with the August M3 collab.

I used the gorgeous cut filed in the M3 collab to cut out a stencil with my Silhouette machine out of transparency paper. It worked beautifully!! Then I painted over the mask using Tim Holtz distress paint (picked raspberry, fired brick and spiced marmalade, top to bottom) and Heidi Swapp mists (gold and citron). Here's a closer look:

{ENABLER ALERT}  I've only had this gold mist by Heidi Swapp for less than a week, but let me tell you... I am in L-O-V-E! It's the most perfect gold color ever! I bought the Studio Calico gold Mister Huey in the past but it's not nearly quite as good. The Heidi Swapp one has such perfect coverage, it looks like liquid gold! These pictures don't even do it justice, but it is so good.

I added some doodling in black pen on the background to tie in with the digital printed out elements (everything printed on Canon matte paper). And yes, that is indeed the same picture I scrapped in the digi LO above. What can I say? Our outfits were just perfect for this M3! :)

On to the next page. This one came about because after painting and misting the background for the page above, my stencil was covered in paint and looked very pretty, so rather than just rinse it off I pressed it onto white cardstock to create another background.

I keep going back and forth, but I may love this background even more than the previous one..

I misted the wood veneer using Peach and Primrose Heidi Swapp mists.

I placed the wood veneer in the holes of the mask, and added more splatters of gold mist.

Gold stitching of course.

This is a piece of a gorgeous paper in the M3 collab, printed out on Canon matte paper. I had so much fun getting messy with these hybrid pages!

Finally, I also made a page with some non-M3 new releases.

Credits:

A New Chapter by Valorie Wibbens

Today Is Stamps and Tags by Paislee Press

The Dirty Dame font by Heather Joyce and Valorie Wibbens

I love how this page turned out. The design was inspired by the "Change Ahead" element and I went with it!