*Use Your Words* finale - Love

Hello, readers!! I am happy to be here today with another post for Use Your Words but I am also sad to say that it will be the LAST challenge over there. :( Unfortunately, something has come up that means that Use Your Words will be closed down, at least for a while. As this is our last FINALE, be sure to check out all the design team inspiration and maybe leave some love!!

Which brings me to the challenge word… “love!” I decided to do a recap of our summer, now that it is officially over (boo hoo..) with all the leftover pictures I had that didn’t make it onto layouts. Summer is, hands down, my favorite season, and though most people seem relieved that the hot weather is ending, I can’t help but still be in denial that it’s over!! I thought it was appropriate to document all the wonderful summer moments that truly made it a “summer of love.”

Here’s the layout I came up with:

Layouts with multiple photos are usually hard for me, but the chipboard frames I used from The Pier Collection from Crate Paper made it easy to work in a loose grid format, and to highlight my favorite photos. I also added texture behind the photos and frames by painting some white through my favorite mask, and then watercoloring over it (loosely inspired by Wilna’s latest In The Mood to Scrapvideo), which I thought was an awesome effect on top of the chalkboard paper.

Lastly, I embellished with some random things I had on my desk – washi tape, little heart stickers from the Hello Again sticker sheet (LOVE that you get so many of these as the negative cuts of those cute paper people!) as well as some 3d pinwheels that I made all at once a while ago, using a free cut file my Cameo came with.

Well, I guess this concludes the last post for Use Your Words I’m ever going to write! It has been a great experience, and at least it’s great that I was able to end this with a fun and happy layout!!

*Use Your Words* - Family

I'm here today to share a layout I made with the new challenge word up at Use Your Words, which is "Family." I've found that when I have trouble thinking of an idea for a page, or maybe just the title, I just go on Pinterest and type in something like "family quotes." (And I have a board of quotes that  I pin for future layout titles) That's exactly what I did for this, and found an awesome one that I loved so much, I turned it into a design on a set of printable cards (which hopefully I'll be sharing here, soon!) and used it as my title.

This layout came together REALLY fast for me - probably in just about an hour or so. The trick was that I fussy cut those big flowers out of a patterned paper from Elle's Studio, and decided to make that the main embellishments for my page. Since they are so big and bright, it didn't need much else - besides some twine and wood veneer stars, of course, because you can never go wrong with those!!

I am still amazed at how much I love this layout, when it took so much less time than normal! What do you think of it??

Don't forget to play along with our challenge, and link it up over at Use Your Words!!

*Use Your Words* - Sweet

Yesterday was a new reveal over at Use Your Words, where the word was "sweet" - you'll have to excuse my tardiness for this post, as it was my birthday weekend and it must have completely slipped my mind in the excitement and celebrations haha..

Anyway, this word came with such PERFECT timing, as I've just recently become a member of the Sweet Stamp Shop Design Team - what a coincidence, right?? I'm absolutely loving working in that group of awesome people and designers, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to document this!! Here is the layout I made:

My favorite part of making this layout was the watercolor background -  I tried my hand at doing an ombre background, and I have to say, I think it came out pretty good! There are so many papers like this out now, but I thought it would be fun to try making the effect myself! I'll definitely be trying this technique out with other colors in the future. Then I had fun just layering scraps of papers together :)

Be sure to check out the full post at the Use Your Words blog, where you'll see inspiration from all the other DT members. And you STILL have a chance to win the exclusive September printable, designed by me!! Make sure you link up at the UYW blog with a layout using one of the challenge words, and you'll be entered to win :)

Thanks for stopping by today - hope you have a great week!!

*Use Your Words* - Tough

Hi everyone! Man, I can’t believe it’s September already… this summer just flew by! I’m not going to lie, I am really dreading the coming of winter. Winters in Boston sure aren’t fun!  But I still have many happy, summer memories to document, so hopefully that will help me to pretend it’s still hot and sunny outside, haha!

I’m here today to share another layout for Use Your Words. The challenge word this time is “tough,” and man, it was quite hard for me to figure out what to scrap about for this one! Eventually, I ended up picking a hiking trip I took last month. It really wasn’t very tough at all, but since it is definitely something that we wouldn’t normally do, I thought it was good enough, and I managed to work “tough” into my title without too much trouble!

My favorite layouts are usually one photo layouts, because there is so much room to play. Multiple-photo layouts tend to be more difficult for me, so I went looking for a sketch that I could use and though this one by Shimelle would be perfect! For one of the photo spaces, I included a 3x4 card instead, that was from my second set of freebies! I just really wanted to show that even if you’re not a Project Lifer, these cards are perfect for scrapbooking, or really any other paper craft!!

So this is the layout I came up with:

I have to admit, I’ve been saving that background paper… it is just soo lovely. I’m a big fan of having white cardstock, or subtly printed background at the moment, and this one is neutral but also has some interest! I think I’ll have to grab another sheet or two!!

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to stop by the Use Your Words blog to see what the other DT members have come up with! There’s a big range of styles among us, so you’re sure to find something that will inspire you! And don’t forget to link up your project if you play along… there’s a neat, exclusive printable for one lucky winner, made by yours truly! ;)

*Use Your Words* - Believe

Hello there! I hope everyone is having a great week. The weather here has been absolutely wonderful, and I've really been enjoying that!

Today's challenge word over at the Use Your Words blog is "believe." I had trouble thinking of something to do for this layout at first, so I just went on Pinterest and looked up some quotes. I found one that I absolutely loved, and decided to use it as my title: "Believe with all your heart that you will do what you were made to do." It was such a fitting quote for what I've been reflecting on lately - that no matter how bad I want something, or even if I plan out my future, things might not always go the way I want. And that's okay. Because really, things that people think are best for themselves don't always turn out that way. I just have to trust in God and believe that His plan for me will work out in the end. It's something that I have to remind myself constantly.

So with that, I had in mind my title and journaling, but since this is a very reflective/story-based layout, I didn't have a specific photo from an event to use. I just chose one I had of me on hand that I hadn't scrapped yet and used it.

In the end, my layout turned out to be very simple. But I was still happy with it, because it is more meaningful to me than others that might look prettier. That's the thing I love about these challenges - they really push you to think about what to scrap, and I was able to make a layout out of something that is really important to me and my life, but that might have gone undocumented otherwise!

I hope this inspires you to create a layout that is truly meaningful to you! If you play along with the challenge, make sure to link up over at the UYW blog - I'd love to see what you make!!

*Use Your Words* - Moment

Hello everybody! I'm here today with a new challenge word from Use Your Words challenge blog - "moment." When I was brainstorming ideas for titles that could use this words, I came up with lots of typical ones that I've probably used before, such as "Love this moment" or "Enjoy every moment." (Great and versatile options for a title, if you want to play along, by the way!) I finally came up with a title that could be great to document something that I think otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten down on a layout.

So I decided on "Moment of truth," which might seem really dramatic but I felt it fit with my story - I wrote all about being a design major and the critiques we have in class. I never really realized that this was a big deal, because it's so normal in my life, but last year, I took a basic photography class with people who weren't necessarily design majors. They kept stressing out before every critique because for them, "normal" was studying for tests rather than having the whole class look at your work and say what they do or don't like about it. I have to admit, I do still feel nervous and anxious sometimes when I'm pinning my work to the wall, wondering if everyone will hate it. But I thought that was just normal! Well, apparently not, so I'm glad I'm getting this down because it really is a big part of my education and my life.

For this layout, I had a lot of fun creating my background - I just got a new pack of gelatos, after eyeing them during many of Wilna Furstenburg's videos. They come in packs of 4 of coordinating colors, so I mixed some watercolor pencil in there too for more colors. They are sooo fun to work with, and I can't wait to experiment some more with them! Then I just piled on a bunch of papers and embellishments in a carefree way. I'm really loving that I'm becoming less and less concerned with things looking perfect and having straight lines and all that - it lets me feel free and I enjoy myself so much more.

Anyway, I hope you'll join in with our challenge this week! I'd love to see your take on the challenge word. Don't forget to link up over at the Use Your Words blog, and to have fun with it!!

*Use Your Words* - Story

Hey everyone! This is the first reveal of the Use Your Words Challenge blog, and my first post for them! I'm so excited to share what I made for the first challenge words, which was "story."

So as you can see, my take on the challenge word was to incorporate it into a summer layout. Summer is my favorite season because of all the new opportunities we have during the warm weather. This year, we've been grilling a lot, which is a first for me, so I definitely wanted to get it down on a layout!

I stuck to a very happy, bright color scheme to match the summery theme. And if you noticed, I used some machine stitching on the edges... yes, I finally got a sewing machine!!! I was sooo excited when I got the box, and since I didn't even know how to use it, I taught myself in just an hour, lol! Obviously, I only know the basics, but I'm so eager to experiment some more, and I have a feeling you'll be seeing machine stitching on a lot (if not all) of my future projects. :D

If you haven't done so already, be sure to visit the Use Your Words blog to see the layouts the rest of the design team made - they are all awesome ladies, with lots of different styles, so you're sure to be inspired by something! It would be really great if you play along with the challenge, too!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!!