Can't Get It Out Of My Mind

     I have had this layout floating around in my head for a while. The title, the butterflies, the color scheme, etc. have all been in there waiting to be created : ) I was really pleased when I realized that I could use this weeks Mid-Week Mojo to make it happen. Based on a sketch by Kristy Lee (however loosely, lol) I was excited to give it a try.

The background paper is the woodgrain from Crate Paper's Emma's Shoppe.  I love it and really wish that I had more. All of the other papers are from random collections: Lily Bee, October Afternoon & Crate Paper just to name a few. I am really pleased with how my butterflies turned out. I used a white base, colored paper and a vellum top. I then used my Crop-a-dile Big Bite to place the grommets. The twine is from The Twinery. I love twine : ) 

I also had fun doing little groups of embellies to "finish off" the page. I like trying to find things that pertain directly to what the page is about. In this case, the 9 & 10 is her age around the photo, the little mom & daughter and the little girl, all just seemed like ideal little extras to use on the layout. 

It doesn't happen often, but this one turned out exactly how I was hoping it would! I have it hanging up on my Everyday Display Board so I can enjoy it for a little longer. I think that the bright and cheery colors are calling to me since the outside, though warmer than average, has been fairly dreary! 

One last thing for this post is what I made for dinner tonight. Yum! I found a recipe for Turkey & Veggie Mini Meatloaves that were pretty healthy for you and included a sizable amount of veggies in them. I gave them a try and all three kids ate them as well as my hubby! Anytime everyone eats everything, I call it a success. Here is a photo from the Hungry Girl site. I wish I would have taken a photo of mine because in all honesty, I think they looked even yummier. (Click on the photo and you will be linked to the recipe.) They look tiny but they were really the size of a larger muffin. Next time, I'd add some seasoning though...Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, etc. 

Thank you for stopping by today! If you have any healthy dinner recipes (or breakfast recipes to fuel my latest breakfast kick) that you'd like to share, please link me up in the comments! I love reading what you have to say. Until next time.
Scrap Happy~Melissa

January Counterfeit Kit Layout

Just a quick post to show my first layout using my kit! It is inspired by a sketch from scrapbooksteals.com! It was fun to use those cow papers. Just a quick post today! More later...

Counterfeit Kit Challenge

     I've been hearing about this great blog called The Counterfeit Kit Challenge from a few of my scrappy friends. When my friend Van was chosen to be the guest designer this month, I decided that it was time for me to play along. Who wouldn't want to make the most of their stash by utilizing it better? I know I need to start using some of the wonderful goodness that I have at my fingertips!
     The basic idea of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge is using only the supplies that you already own, create a kit, similar to the popular scrapbook "Kit of the Month" clubs that are out there. So, not only are you saving yourself money by shopping your own supplies but everything is all ready to go already.
     Since this was my first time participating, it took me about two hours to get it all put together. My inspiration kit was this kit from Cocoadaisy.com named "Sunshine & Snowflakes".  

I really  liked the yellow in the kit. However, I don't often scrapbook with black so I thought that I'd change the black to blue for my kit. 

     The biggest challenge I found was narrowing down what I wanted to use. To be honest, I did a pretty lousy job of that! I have a lot of supplies and I kept thinking of different ways that they could fit with my kit. Keeping that in mind, here is my own Counterfeit Kit...

 That is it in all of it's glory, lol! I know it is a lot but I am really hopeful that it will inspire me to create often and a lot this month. I will do my best to break down each component to let you know what I've included in my kit.

Cardstock- Left Column/Bottom to Top: Martha Stewart Card Stock, Echo Park Little Boy, Echo Park Wintertime, Reminisce Cardstock, Bazzill Cardstock.  Right Column/Bottom to Top: Core'dinations Foundations Cardstock, Bazzill Swiss Dot Cardstock, DCWV Cardstock

 Alphabets/Letters- Left to Right: October Afternoon The Thrift Shop, Fancy Pants It's Your Day, Pebbles Fresh Goods (top), October Afternoon Playtime (bottom), ThickersX3. 

 Printed Papers- Top Row/Left to Right: Pebbles Fresh Goods, Fancy Pants It's Your Day, We R Memory Keepers 72 & Sunny, Pebbles Fresh Goods, Basic Grey Oliver, Making Memories, Fancy Pants Papa, Making MemoriesX2, Chatterbox Beach Blossoms.
Bottom Row/Left to Right: October Afternoon 5 & Dime, KaiserCraft Seaside, Piggy Tales Yankee Doodle Dandy, We R Memory Keepers Merry January, Basic Grey Oliver Doilies, October Afternoon Hometown, October Afternoon Seaside.

Printed Papers- Left to Right: October Afternoon Seaside, October Afternoon Schoolhouse, Studio Calico Countryside, We R Memory Keepers 72 & Sunny, Crate Paper BrookX2, October Afternoon Ducks in a Row, Chatterbox Tumbleweed, Chatterbox Bunkhouse.

Embellishment- Really quite a hodge podge of things. We will list them "Where's Waldo?" style...Pebbles Chips, Twinery Twine, Assorted buttons, Sassafras Paper Whimsies, October Afternoon Flashcards, KI Memories Puffies, Rusty Pickle tags & frames, Little Yellow Bicycle stick pins, Pebbles Fabric Brads, Ribbon Trends measuring tape ribbon, Melody Ross Chipboard stickers, October Afternoon Rub-ons, White Mount Frames,  October Afternoon Wild Cards: Fly a Kite, Sassafras Chipboard Numbers, Basic Grey Woolies stickers, Chatterbox stickers, KaiserCraft Rub-ons, buttons from my stash.

     WOW! That is a lot of stuff. I am really looking forward to trying my hand at a few pages using my very own kit! I am excited to be playing along for the first time and have to say a big THANK YOU to Van for giving me the itch to try! 

     Let me know what you think and if you plan to play along this month! I'd love to see what you create! 

A "Gathering" of Cards

     I am completely in love with Authentique scrapbook paper. Not only are the patterns and colors incredible, the quality of the paper is divine. I seriously love using the paper because it is truly a sensory experience with the texture, the colors, the scent...okay, I will stop now, but I am serious!
     I had a few cards to make recently and I used Authentique's Gathering for all of them. I made a total of five but I only took photos of three.  I wish I would have thought to take some of the others before they got tucked into their envelopes! The best part was, that even with making five cards, along with a mini-album, I still have a ton of papers left along with embellishments! This may be one of my favorite collections ever. These are three of the cards that I made.  They all followed the same basic layout.

 First is a card that I made for a friend who found out she is expecting recently. I love the little words that come with Authentique collections. It was fun to put together a phrase that I thought suited the card!

Next is a card that I made for my aunt who just announced her retirement at the end of the year. She retired after 33 years of service! I thought that this phrase was perfect for retirement. 

Lastly, I made this card for my dear friend! I love it when I can find a phrase to say exactly how I feel so this was a perfect summary of what I wanted to say. 

     Thank you for stopping by today. I have a few more holiday projects that I made that I will be posting soon too so be sure to stop by again! 

Scrap Happy~Melissa