A Very Special Layout Share: Christmas Tradition

As we are only 2 days away from my favorite day of the year - Christmas Eve - I decided to pull out an older but favorite layout to share today.  This is one of those timeless layouts that has almost no chronology, and says a lot about myself and my faith.

As you can see it's a very simple layout, with little embellishment, and the photo is actually from a Christmas card. But the meaning and the tradition it shares is so deep to me that it is a sentimental favorite. And isn't that the goal we hope to achieve when we create a page anyway? My reason for scrapbooking is to preserve favorite moments in my life, so that years down the road just looking at that page, and reading the journaling, will whoosh me right back as if I were there again.

Because I am an open book, and the journaling is really the focal point of this layout, here it is for you to enjoy if you so desire:

I hope you take some time to stop and smell the poinsettias, and realize which traditions of Christmas - or any other holiday - are most meaningful to you. If they are that important, they are worth some pretty paper and stickers, aren't they?

My husband and I wish you and yours a most blessed and happy Christmas!

Layout Share: Debbie Reynolds

Apologies for the delay in posting, but all good things come to those who wait, right?!

Once again, I am super excited to have gone outside of my normal box to create a page from a VERY recent photo - left to my usual chronological ways, this photo wouldn't have made it out of my computer for at least 5 years, but here I am, trying new things!

The context here is that for Halloween this year, the youth group I volunteer with was encouraged to dress as a favorite movie character.  I LOVE musicals, and "Singin' in the Rain" is one of my favorites, so I launched a thrift search for a great raincoat, and this simple costume was the result.

Let me tell you honestly that creating this layout resulted in some arguments - with myself. I was a little unsure about the color mix that happened as a result of the movie poster on the left side of the page, but I considered it context and didn't let it bother me.

You may ask why I paired this photo with this paper - or perhaps not, but I shall tell you regardless. The color of my raincoat is woven into the paisley print on the right hand side.  I have to admit also that I sometimes think of paisley as really pretty and artistic water droplets.

Allow me also to point out that I used a bit of a design trick in creating a diagonal line with the three flowers, so that your eye naturally moves to the photo.  Even though the right side of the page is perhaps busier than I would like (like I said, arguments with myself), I still wanted the photo dressed up by its surroundings. I also wanted to make sure that the left side movie poster didn't steal the show.

I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that a good portion of the products on this page are indeed Close to My Heart products. The patterned paper, colored card stock, chipboard flowers and bow are all from the Laughing Lola line - I will include links below. While I may be a consultant, it is because their products are beautiful and of superior quality, and I will use their products as well as any other brand as I am inspired to do so.

I also used one of Close To My Heart's sketches for the first time, and settled on this one in the Reflections book - it simplified my process and I was able to easily make it my own.

Thank you for stopping by, and here are the links if you want to get your hands on some Close To My Heart goodies as well!

Laughing Lola Workshop on the Go - http://ticklemescrappy.ctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=7402&CatalogID=1639

Laughing Lola Paper Pack - http://ticklemescrappy.ctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=7394&CatalogID=2002

Laughing Lola Complements - http://ticklemescrappy.ctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=7322&CatalogID=2002

Laughing Lola Assortment - http://ticklemescrappy.ctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=7336&CatalogID=176

Layout Share: The Book is Always Better

So this first layout share on my blog is exciting for several reasons:

1. I'm usually a slow scrapper, but I pulled this one together in about an hour.

2. I finally got a chance to use the beautiful book patterned paper from the Scholastic collection by Close to my Heart.

3. It's the first 12x12 layout I've done in awhile, as I've been mostly working on finishing an 8.5x11 album lately.

4. It's the first non-chronological layout I've done in . . . maybe ever?? I'm trying new things!

5. It's the first layout completed for what will be an "All About Me" type of album!

So here it is!

I confess, I took the photo of those books for the sake of the layout, with every intention of pairing it with this patterned paper. 

The black letters are from two different sets of Thickers - I'm slowly and finally getting addicted!

And the journaling spot is half of a page from one of those spiral bound journaling books from Making Memories.

The rest is just out of my stash - I apologize, as I won't be able to name a manufacturer for everything I use, it's just not how I roll.

From a "stretching my stash" perspective, I purposely only used that portion of the patterned paper, as I want to use it over and over again!

So I hope you enjoyed this first of many layout shares.  This layout is much simpler than I normally scrap, but I still tend to keep it "clean" and intentional. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Why....Start a Blog?

Hello all, I hope you are having a lovely Sunday - or whatever day you are reading this!

As my blog is clearly off to a slow start, and you know very little about me, I decided that occasionally, especially in the early days of this blog, I should answer some of the "Why" questions that you may have.

I know that anytime I stumble upon a blog I haven't seen before, I try to browse it in such a way that I get a feeling for the style and purpose of that blog, so that I can discern if it is going to interest me or answer my questions. So I am hoping this post can help you with that question.

So why did I of all people start a blog?

1. I value relationships and conversations. I'm a relational person, with a gift for encouragement and a habit of striving to make everyone happy. As a result, I like to share thoughts and ideas that I think could help others, could help YOU.

2. I LOVE scrapbooking, and when you love a hobby, you ooze with information, ideas and the desire to discuss them.  Sure, I have some friends that scrapbook, and my hubby is very appreciative and supportive of my memory keeping, but if I constantly talked scrapbooking with them . . . well, my friends have lives besides the time I spend with them, and my hubby has his own hobbies to discuss in return, and all that other day-to-day married stuff conversation has to fit in there too. So I guess the blog is one way to start a conversation about whatever is flying around the scrappy section of my brain without actually talking to myself!

3. I am a huge defender of scrapbooking and memory keeping as a personal and creative art form - as in there are no rules, no right way, no wrong way, and I would step onto a soap box in a park to defend this position if need be. Well, this blog is my soap box in a virtual sense.  Am I here to preach AT you?  No way, that's not FUN, and if you are reading a scrapbooking blog, it's because it is an activity that you include in the FUN of this hobby. As I said, I am an encourager, and I am here to encourage you to do it how you love it. Your Life, Your Art, Your Way. I may have to do a whole post on that.

4. I say STRETCH your stash - rather than just "use it up". I hope to share a practical approach to using and purchasing scrapbooking product, especially when it comes to how we spend my hard earned discretionary dollars. I am very discerning, tend to spend on reusable tools more than consumable supplies, and very rarely (never say never I guess) exclusively use one manufacturer's products in a project. Do I have favorites? Of course!  Do I have a wish list that is 2 pages (try 4 pages) long? Yup! Do I binge on YouTube during the CHA trade shows twice a year? Absolutely! But I also need to make a lot of tough choices about what I buy. And I find ways to mix it in with the rest of my stash, no matter how old or new any of it is.

5. Hello my name is Nicole, and I am a Memory Hoarder. I'll probably do a separate "why" post on why I scrapbook.  The short version is that I have been blessed with a lot of great memories and moments over my first 33 years of life, and I want to freeze those memories on scrapbook pages so that I can relive them over and over. I have 8 years of memories literally stacked up in my space ready to scrap. Like many of you, I work full time, and have volunteer commitments, so my scrappy time is limited and cherished. On top of that I'm a slow scrapper, and I own that - it's just part of my process - so every completed layout is an accomplishment. And sometimes I just want to share that with more people!

So there you go - 5 reasons why I started this blog. I suppose I could also list reasons I didn't before this - like that I am NOT an English major - but that isn't FUN, so why bother?

I hope this gives you a teaser preview of the future content of this blog, and if it sounds good, follow along!

Who Am I?

In order of importance:

#1: Christian, truly sold out to Jesus Christ. No compromise.

#2: Wife of 4 years and counting to James. He is my best friend, true companion, partner in life, and I have never been more "me" than I am since I met him. One last gush - when asked for my greatest accomplishment in job interviews this past year, my answer: My Marriage.

#3: Daughter. I am the happy, blessed, thankful, non-brat only child to two amazing parents. I always have and still do have an amazing relationship with my parents, who continue to be great examples of unconditional love.

#4: Friend/Family/Colleague - the people in our lives and our experiences with them are what we want to never forget, right?

#5: Volunteer Youth Leader. I love getting to know the teens in my church youth group, and many of my favorite memories include them.

#6: Memory Hoarder. Literally.  I am - dare I say it?? - behind, and I'm ok with that.

#7: Scrapbooker: the reason for hoarding those memories.

#8: Close to My Heart Independent Consultant - this is a new venture that I am trying, and I am excited!  But don't worry, this will NOT be a "sales-y" blog. 

#9: Geek! Thanks to my hubby, I now love things like Marvel movies, Harry Potter and Smallville.

#10: A kid at heart! Maybe this shouldn't be the last on the list, but that doesn't make it any less true!