LOVE/SIMPLE STORIES

Good morning, friends! I'm sharing a layout I created using Simple Stories' Heart Eyes Collection. This collection isn't just for creating Valentines day layouts. I actually used it for my sister's fall photo shoot of her adorable little family! 

The patterns and color scheme in this collection really made me want to buy it all. And those flowers are so beautiful! I'm not gonna lie, it was hard cutting the orange floral printed paper... I just wanted to keep it...but I am determined to use my stuff this year...no more hoarding for this girl!

I always have a hard time knowing when to stop applying embellishments on my layouts... I just love it all! I'm sure I'm not alone... and many of you probably have the same issue. 

I really like the black and white stripes and polka dot elements in this collection as well. They look great against the other colors.

I added lots of hearts to this spread because there's so much love in the photos!

What is your favorite part of this layout? It's all so beautiful and I especially love the purple smiley face brad! Thank you so much for visiting today!

-Nic

LIVE.LOVE.BARK/SIMPLE STORIES

Hello, friends! It's been a little over a year since we got Moxie and he has been such a delight. We absolutely adore him to pieces...even when he demands our attention 24/7. He's high maintenance, but we love him anyway.

Today, I'm sharing this adorable layout I created using Simple Stories' Pet Shoppe Dog collection. As soon as I spotted this adorable collection at A Cherry On Top, I just knew I had to get it! It's so adorable. I especially love the foam stickers!

I had so many pictures in a box that I have been storing all year... and I felt it was time to use them on a layout to celebrate Moxie's first year with us. To start... I cut the word printed paper to measure 11x11 and mounted it to the ball print paper. I like using this method for my layouts. Borders make the layout pop!

Next, I cropped the photos and placed then down and moved them around until I was satisfied with the placement of the photos. I matted the puppy photo at the top of the page so everyone can see what he looked like as a puppy. :) Isn't he the cutest?!

After I finished mounting the photos down, I added some die cuts and foam stickers all over... LOVE these foam stickers... they are so delightful! I can't get enough of them. I especially did everything I could to get that gray dog on this layout without covering up any of the photos. :)

Moxie loves collecting sticks on our daily walks so I had to get the stick in there... I like how it looks at the top next to the top of the dog house. Super cute.

The "DOG HAIR...DON'T CARE." is my life... LOL... I can't get away from it with this dog. By the time I get to work every morning, I'm covered in it. I just wait until I get to work in the mornings to use the lent roller. lol...the struggle is REAL my friends.

What do you think? If you're not a dog person, Simple Stories has a cat collection, too!! I got that one, too. :)

Thank you so much for visiting today. Hope you have a wonderful day!

-Nic

MAKE THINGS HAPPEN/PINKFRESH STUDIO

Over the past year, I've been scaling back on joining design teams. I realized over the years, it's fun getting free product, but when it's all said and done, I don't enjoy being told what to create and what products specifically I need to use on my projects. It really damages my creativity and mojo. Having said that, I plan on doing my own thing this year. I'm going to stop worrying about what teams I haven't been chosen to be apart of and just remember why I got into this hobby in the first time... TO DOCUMENT MY MEMORIES FOR MYSELF.

I also enjoying participating in challenges to get my mojo flowing. I like browsing though the gallery to see the latest techniques etc. There is so much talent out there! Seriously, if you don't make the team after applying year after year, it's not you. Your work is BEAUTIFUL... It's just hard to pull a handful of thousands of talented crafters. I have noticed recently, many companies are heavy in the videos/lives. And I'm not about that... I spend a lot of time creating the layouts and editing... I don't want to feel like it's another JOB... Because then it just wouldn't be fun. OK, Enough of that... Here's a layout I created for ME and I just LOVE it so much. This is truly me.

I created this for Pinkfresh Studio's January Challenge. I used a color scheme from a previous challenge of theirs and it's so pretty. I wouldn't normally use so much pink on a layout...but it works... and those flowers are so pretty. I simply can't get enough of them.

I think right now... my favorite crafting company is Pinkfresh Studio and I'm not just saying that because I secretly want to be apart of the creative team someday... but their product is so fun and I just want to use it all!

I used a black pen and ruler to doodle around the layout to create a border. 

I added a journaling card in the center of the chipboard frame and layered some floors and tags together  along the edge of the photo.

And more flowers. Isn't this so pretty? I used foam squares to pop up the "make things happen" on the flower to really make it pop.

Are you ready to play with flowers on your next layout? :) Thanks so much for visiting today!

-Nic

NOVEMBER MEMORY KEEPING SPREAD/STOP THE BLUR

Happy Monday friends! I had such a nice, relaxing weekend. I did a lot of crafting just for me... I can't wait to share all of my creations over the next few weeks. Some of the projects were submitted to a few magazine company for possible publications so I'm going to hold off on sharing some of those! In 2022, I was pleasantly surprised that most of my followers on Instagram liked my memory planner pages more than my layouts! My top 9 projects were ALL memory planners. I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to do it this year. I've done it for almost 3 years now, but I decided to keep it going! 

I just finished my November spread. Those of you who follow me knows I never get these done on the actual month... I'm usually two months behind on sharing these spreads, but most importantly, I always get them done even when I don't have much to write about the month. 

I have more journaling on this spread than most...well, most of the time, I include lots of hidden journaling. :) This year, I'm really going to jot down my journaling on a scrap piece of paper so I can journal more on my spreads.

I always feel good when I use up my Stop the Blur stash! I have a lot, which is why I stopped my subscriptions. This year, I plan on spending less on embellishments etc. so I can use up my stash. I have so much stuff... Lots of money that is literally sitting in my craft room. 

Here's a close-up of my journaling for November.

I'm super proud of myself for including all the journaling on this spread! I made sure to place the journaling down first before adding all the embellishments so I didn't want to run out of space. Have you tried Stop the Blur? The one thing I really like about this way of preserving my memories is that I use a lot of photos I wouldn't normally use on a layout... and I'm capturing the "REAL" everyday moments. 

Thank you so much for visiting today. I hope you have a fantastic week!

-Nic

HELLO YOU ARE MAGIC/TANDIART

Happy Weekend, friends! I've been wanting to create all week after work, but I decided to rest This Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover and it was so good! I finished that book last night so I could craft all morning! Priorities... and I managed to walk Moxie too.

Tandiart just released another gorgeous Digital Collection, Just Magic and I JUST LOVE IT! It's sooooo pretty. I love it so much. The butterflies and gorgeous splash of colors really caught my eyes! Tandiart has so many beautiful collections and you can check them out here! I simply print the images onto white cardstock and fussy cut them out... SO EASY.

I used metal dies on my scraps for the Hello Friend titles! 

Isn't this so pretty? I used the Tiled Hearts stencil from The Stamp Market for the background and their Hello Lovely Friend metal dies.

I love the overall design of this layout and how playful it looks. What do you think? 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Thank you for visiting today!

-Nic