Instant scrapbook baby boy - Hester

Who doesn't love baby's first Christmas? This 2-page layout brings across the whimsy and joy of the holiday season. DCWV has created beautiful double-sided card stock. It was really hard to decide which side to use and which to sacrifice. DCWV was used for the base pages and mats in this layout.

 A few Jolee's dimensional stickers were added to being across the Christmas theme. The DCWV cardstock was already fully adorned.

Ribbon tape creates a bridge betweent the mat and the base cardstock. My favorite embellishment is the bow and real jingle bell added to the tree top. When the page is shaken the bells ring.

La-Vie

instant scrapbook baby boy - hester

First Thanksgiving. The title says it all! While I suspect there are many layouts about Christmas in scrapbooks, I think there's not as many about Thanksgiving, an important holiday as well. I had to ad bling to this little boy's scrapbook (whether he approves or not!) because it just added that necessary amount of pizazz. I love my stampin around from Stampin' Up. It's a handle that holds jumbo round stamps so that I can roll out my design while the ink is constantly added. I tried my best to get it straight this time... I used orange ink from a third-party company. The cornucopia was cut from Cricut Cartridge Paper Doll dress up (I think...) The base and accent pages are Bazzill, the mat is DCWV adhesive mat stack Neutral.

My 6-year-old daughter Zora is really into art and into crafting. She assisted with this layout by hand coloring all of the fruit in the cornucopia. She used a variety of markers including Copics. It was her idea to add the glittery pumpkin as well. I think she will definitely be working for me soon... she wants to desgin some cards to sneak onto my vendor table to see if anyone would buy it. I just might give her that chance!

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge #43: Feeling Gifty Challenge!

I'm headed out of town this weekend to celebrate a good friend as she enters motherhood. I created many things for her as gifts but this wreath was a first! This is a double-duty craft as it also is an entry for the Cricut circle weekly challenge feeling gifty. The project has to be made to give away and had to include 2 cricut cuts at least. I just finished making this and am rushing to get it posted.

First I started with 0-3 month onesies and a t-shirt. I stamped each with stamps from my stash and hyhbrid ink from Clear and Simple Stamps. The  Clear and Simple Stamps as well. I added the bling with my glitz 'n go tool by Kandi.

Cricut Imagine print/cuts - Nursery Tails "It's a girl", Flowers - Lori's Garden. All layers are raised with foam tape and sprayed with tsukineko sheer shimmer spritz.

I started with a dollar store trip for the wooden wreath 18" and wire ribbon, 3 packs of garland foliage. After wrapping the garland and tying it on the frame, I added the flowers with hot glue. Using curling ribbon for gifts I tied on the shirts which are bound with hair rubber bands. I love the results! Hope you and the mom-to be does too!

La-Vie

Instant scrapbook baby boy - hester

A baby's first halloween can be so fun! The tiny costume options are endless!And who doesn't love a baby in costume? This scrapbook page is a quick and easy one for Halloween. The paper from my stash is already brilliantly fashioned for the holiday. I simply added a mat in black cardstock punched on the top with Martha Stewart "cracks" punch and on the bottom with her "Drippy Goo" punch. The green spider mats break up all the black (since it is for a baby).

Bo Bunny rub ons - the witch, skeleton, pumpkin, bug help complete the look. The title Trick or Treat, happy halloween and flourishes are dimensional stickers from my stash as well. Amazingly, I did not use my Cricut for this one, but I love it even more!

La-Vie

Instant Scrapbook Baby Boy- Hester

This is one of my favorite 2 page layouts in the entire album. Using Cricut Cartridge Inspired Heart, I was able to create this christening page. The title and all the embellishments were cut from the same cart. I used stamps from Stampin' Up and Stamp LaJolla.

The cardstock is bazzill in beige, brown and light blue. The title was cut at 1 " and the embellishments were cut at 4 inches. Christenings are such a blessed ocassion. This layout will help capture the feeling of this important moment in a child's life and of its parents and godparents.

The second page to the layout features a bling cross. My 6-year old daughter placed most of the crystals by hand on to the cross. She'll be taking over the family business in no time!

La-Vie

Instant scrapbook baby boy - Hester

This is one of the simplest layouts in the scrapbook as well as one of my favorites. The famous picture of the baby sleeping will adorn this page. I started with a blue bazzill cardstock and randomly stamped a star image. I stamped the star twice before re-inking which created lighter and draker stars. I filled in the lighter stars with crystal stickles. I love definition stickers. The definition of Angel is shown on the bottom right and the word Angel is magnified with a clear circle embellishment.

The main embellishemnt is the sweet dreams title print and cut from the Cricut Imagine Nursery Tails cartridge. I printed the layers and assembled with foam tape. To add a little pizazz, I added stickles in firefly, crystal and honey brown. Add stickles to Imagine cuts carefully as the ink can run. The blue dot embellishements are Clear and Simple Stamps.

La-Vie

Instant Scrapbook Baby Boy - Hester

What is better than a baby all bundled up ready for his first car ride home. The slow procession seems to take forever! I remember when I brought my first child home in a snow storm after she lived on the NICU for 5 weeks. We needed receiving blankets, rolled wash cloths just so she wouldn't fall out of the car seat she was so small at 4 lbs. It was the most nerve wracking drive and first night of my life. I kept thinking...is she breathing? will the 2 hour feedings ever end?

This monocromatic layout has a lot of room for writing about the first experiences this family has as their son comes home for the first time and is embellished with large gromlets, rub ons and dimensional stickers from my stash.

Delight....

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary - recipe challenge

This Cricut Circle challege called for a project that includes 2 cricut cuts, 3 buttons, and a title.
I decided to create a scrapbook page for an upcoming instant scrapbook I will create. I love, love, LOVE how it came out and how quickly it all came together.

I used Cricut Imagine cart Nursery Tails. One of the bonus items on the cart is this lovely outdoor scene. I print and cut it fit to page so it turned out just smaller than 12x12. I mounted the page on a scallop 12x12 page from HSN's 3 birds All Dressed Up layered layouts.

The title is cut from Nursery Tails as well and raised with foam tape and true blue stickles. (I love stickles glitter glue!!) I added a glittered heart button detail to adorn the sun.

I love all the critters on this cart! I printed and cut most of them and placed them in the scene. They are popped-up as well. I added 3 more buttons to the trees and added pen detail to the grass and tree.

A view of the animals popped up with foam tape. Wish me luck!

La-Vie

Instant Scrapbook Baby Boy - Hester

I decided to create my own mosaic layout with my Nana's kids mat stack from Die Cuts with  A View (DCWV). I used a clipping from extra baby announcements from my own son. The booties were too cute to dispose of and no one was having a baby at that time. Recycling at its best!

This simple layout will display small pictures of the baby's first visitors - family, friends, etc. at the hospital. The page is adorned with vellum stickers from my stash. Simple, yet functional. Once the pictures are applied, it will look fabulous!

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary - Imagine Print & Layer challenge

This challenge called for 2 Cricut cuts, printed paper using the Cricut Imagine and a layered element that was printed and cut from the Cricut Imagine. I chose to use the Nursery Tails cart to create a girl baby card. I started by chosing a stock image in the machine and filling it with a paper pattern from the cart. I like this pointy shape on cards and scrapbook pages. To accent it, I drew fauz stitching with my zig millenium pen and added peach colored pearls. The layered accent from Nursery tails is the scallop oval, white oval, bunny in the pea pod and words that say sweet pea. I decided not to use the text and to handwrite with my zig writer marker.  To accent the layered cuts, I assembled it with foam tape left over from the round dots (waste not, want not...) and I used my favorite color stickles - Firefly. The shimmer and shine is just magnificent.

this side view shows that each layer is raised up with foam tape. Wish me luck! I really want to win a Cricut Cake machine so I can be the fabulous baker I am meant to be!

La-Vie

Instant scrapbook Baby Boy - Hester

Love unparalleled will showcase the first picture of mom and dad holding the baby and bonding. The picture mats are embellished with Martha Stewart punch around the page - heart chain, rub ons and stickers from my stash. I love those tye dye hand and foot prints. The mats are extra large to allow room for brief journaling about the families first experiences together at the hospital.

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary Sketch challenge

This is the sketch we had to follow to enter the Cricut Circle Blogiversary sketch challenge. The project had to include 2 cricut cuts as well. Here's my entry...

I don't usually use a sketch when I work... but I thought it would be fun to turn this sketch on its side. The card is cut from bazzill cardstock using the Damask Decor Cricut cart. The flower behind the happy halloween dimensional sticker is cut from preserves (it's what's left over from cutting the cantelope...surprise!) I fussy cut (always wanted to say that on my blog...lol) the pumpkins from Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker halloween mat stack 6x6. The stickers are from recollections. The striped halloween paper has green spider paper on the back. It's from my stash. The black paper is punched with Martha Stewart punch around the page - cracks. The circles were cut from Cricut cart Wild Card (left overs from the circle card) and the patterened paper is Die Cuts With a View.

Wish me luck!

Shout out to Tammy Skinner http://www.tammyskinner.com/ who shared a way to add my branding to my photos! Thank you so much Tammy! I have been wanting to do this for a while but didn't know how until you shared... using picnik.com http://www.picnik.com/ I was able to add the name of my company and blog address to my photo in a cool font. It's free and has lots of good photo editing tools.


La-Vie

Instant Scrapbook Baby Boy - Hester

This page is one of my favorites! This page "A Star is Born" started out as a Color Me blank page with silver accents. I then used glimmer mists (in 4 different colors) for the first time to color the entire page. There was minimal buckling and I am very pleased. The baby's first picture will be placed here. He has a big name and I wanted to represent that in his debut in his scrapbook. Dimensional stickers, rickrack ribbon, rub ons all help to complete the look.

Color Me pages can be colored with almost anything...chalk, ink, paint, etc. I bought it at the CKC Valley Forge show from Boxer. Check it out at http://www.shopatron.com/products/category/Color+Me+Papers/382.0.1.1.89409.90058.0.0.0

La-Vie

Instant scrapbook baby boy - Hester

My newest tool is called Mosaic Moments http://www.tamipotter.com/ and this is my first layout using this system. It's a way to create evenly spaced mosaic layouts in a flash! There are many different ways to create a mosaic with several pictures. I highly suggest checking it out. They sell kits if you don't want to do the measuring, cutting and punching as well.

This page will show pictures from the baby shower. The square in the middle will be the largest picture showcasing the mom and dad-to-be. The areas around the boarders will house smaller pictures of guests gifts etc. the pictures are the focal points of this page so the design here is minimal. I used silver outline stickers, silver font stickers and cardstock in beige, blue and brown in addition to the Mosaic Moments grid paper as my base. Another new passion is distressed inks from Ranger. I added antique linen around the edges of the beige squares to make them stand out. The squares were cut with a 1" punch and a 2 1/8" punch (i think). It's the marvy mega punch from micheal's.

La-Vie

La-Vie's Successful Vendor Show!

Yesterday I participated in a vendor show where I sold greeting cards and spoke to potential clients for custom work. It was a great experience. I was happy that people came by to look and comment on my greeting cards, signed up for a consultation on a myriad of other services I provide and made purchases.

Some of my most intricate designs were on display for individual sale, while others were bundled and packaged for sale. Thank you to my friends and associates who supported me yesterday with encouragement and purchases.

I created over 200 cards for birthday, friendship, encouragement, religious messages, bereavement, just because, thank you, etc. There were so many choices, folks had a hard time chosing just a couple of packs!

My good friend Vicki suggested I use paper mache boxes to bring interest to my table. She was so right! Everyone loved the mailbox and  treasure chest on the table. Thanks Vicki...you're the best!

Well, I am exhausted, but happy...until next time I vend...

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary - Cuttlebug

The challenges are coming fast and furious! I'm entering one centered on using the cuttlebug. I used the fleur de lis folder to create the monochromatic card layout using coordinations whitewashed cardstock, black ribbon and pearls. The challange called for 2 Cricut cuts as well. I used the Sophie cart for both cuts - the card and the embellishment inside the card. Wish me luck!

Thank you for your comments and well wishes followers!! I have received them and am tickled pink! Keep 'em comin'!

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary Challenge

The challenge was to create a monochromatic project. This card is created with purple (whitewashed) coordinations cardstock. I used my cuttlebug for this one with the floral fantasy folder.

What I love about the Sophie Cricut cart is that there are a lot of extra pieces left over from the cuts that you can use to embellish the inside of the card. The stamp is from My Pink Stamper.

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary Entry

I love this card! I created it from the Cricut Circle Exclusive cart Sophie (my new favorite). The card and layer were cut from whitewashed coordinations cardstock which gives it a vintage look. Wish me luck in this contest!!

La-Vie

Instant Scrapbook Baby Boy - Hester

This was a new idea I incorporated into my instant scrapbooks... a page about home. As we move from here to there, where a child is born doesn't always end up being where s/he grows up. So this page highlights the place of this prince's birth - Chi-town!! Pronounced Shy-town.

I used the Cricut Cart 50 states to get the shape of Illinois and used a pop-dotted star sticker to represent the capital (hopefully in the right place...eyeballed it...). I used Bazzill cardstock, echo park stickers, a Martha stewart punch scallop and dot punch, baker's twine, etc. to make this look come together.

While a picture of home could be placed to the right hand side of the page, journaling can be placed to the left just above the "home" sticker. I was truly inspired to make this page a staple in all my future instant scrapbooks.

La-Vie

World Card Making Day Contest Entries

This is a quickie.... In honor of world card making day I have created 2 special cards from my fav cart of the moment damask decor!

 the first is a simple A2 size note card for writing a special note to someone you love...

the second is the cupcake card. It's a square card and I made it large to fit in a square vellum envelope for added drama... the inside is stamped with a "stamps for life" stamp that says calories don't count on your birthday so eat lots of cake!

La-Vie

Instant scrapbook baby boy - Hester

This page highlights the couple's special conception story and showcases pictures of the mom as she grows throughout the pregnancy at 3, 6 and 9 months. The layout is meant to be simple, clean and purposeful in its intention. I set out to use up some of the many embellishments I have acquired (rather than the Cricut). Baby boy or not...I had to add some bling....  (smile)

supplies are bazzill premium cardstock, DCWV adhesive mat stack, bling alphabet, border embellishements from 6 min scrapbooker. Short & sweet...

La-Vie

Instant scrapbook baby boy - Hester

It's been a while, but I'm back! I've been feverishly working on cards to sell at craft shows this fall. It's been a blast. A good friend of mine had her first baby recently. As part of her gift I created an instant scrapbook. I am very happy with how it came out and my friend and her husband were overjoyed. They said it was the best, most personal gift they received. The album is from a vendor fair and was perfect because the nursery colors are tiffany blue and brown.

I've decided to keep the explanations simple this time, but if you have a question about anything you see, please send me a message or comment on the post.

The first page of the instant scrapbook is set up to record info about how the couple met, fell in love and ultimately married. My favorite parts of this layout are the stickles and the Stampin Up! stampin' around jumbo handle and love stamp that I heat embossed using versamark and blue embossing powder. For stampin' Up! products visit my rep's page (because she is AWESOME!) Samantha Eshleman http://samanthae.stampinup.net

I also used Bazill cardstock for the base and blue portions, the houndstooth and frame were from 6-min scrapbooker family set. Adding the couple's name above and below the journaling block adds one of the many personal touches throughout the scrapbook.

CLDU instant scrapbooks are custom made to order based on your specifications and your specific life events. Contact me today for a free consultation and to place an order.

La-Vie

Try adding "A Little Class with Your Trash" Smalls Scrapbooking Stuff

                                                      I've got mine!!! You've GOT to get yours!

I recently purchased a scrap ma bob to take on crops with me. I often forget to bring a plastic grocery bag to put on it and when I bring it, I am fumbling trying to tie it on etc. While at the CKC scrap n playin Lancaster I met some lovely ladies (shout out sisters!!) whose mom sells the bags to fit all the carriers like this...whether you have the original scrap box, chatterbox, creative memories, scrap-ma-bob, tag-a-long, side-kick. This bag is waterproof on the inside and comes in a variety or styles, colors and trims. it goes on like a dream and there was no fumbling involved. And it's cute to boot!

For $20 you'll have a permanent place for your trash...."a little class with your trash" as Mrs. Smalls would say! Contact her for more info at lindacsmalls@yahoo.com 202.510.4001. But tell her I sent you!!

La-Vie