Gift wrap for boys!

I think most 5 year old boys would be happy to receive this package on their birthday. This gift is for my son's friend, as long as I can convince Eli to give it away. I wrapped the gift in Kraft paper using my tape runner, because I didn't want any visible Scotch tape on the package. The road style washi tape really got my wheels turning for this idea. Ha, get it! I placed the washi tape in the same fashion as you would a ribbon. I added the car by adhering it's wheels with glue dots. I searched Eli's playroom for one more element and quickly came up with the one way sign. I believe the wrapping makes this gift special for a special little boy.

A new computer.

A new computer seems to create a lot work and frustration. My husband tries to tell me he is not "my IT guy," but I know how he truly feels. Luckily, he was able to recover all our photos, documents, and my Silhouette files. It wasn't until yesterday when I went to do a project, I realized I should've had him recover my fonts also. Thank goodness for Pinterest, my go-to place for fonts. You can find my collection of font pins under My Likes on my Pinterest page. So yesterday I started my collection fonts all over again. This gave me a fresh start and look at things. I skipped over the fonts I truly never used. Let's face it, some just don't cut well especially with vinyl and others you think you like, but end up never using.
We also said good-bye to the trusty old internet explorer and went with a new browser. A browser that blogger seems much more compatible with and will make blogging easier for me. I guess I am "back in service" which is what "the IT guy" would say.

This isn't your Grandma's vellum.

I feel like vellum is making a comeback. It was popular in the early days and quickly became old and tired, and filled with quotes. Now it's being used in a whole different way because of 2 new trends. The first being layering. It's the perfect element to add in a layer without add much at all. Use vellum when you need something to break up colors or patterns. Or use it when an additional layer is required, but you don't want to add another color or pattern. It will also give you a softer look. Which brings us to the second trend of very white pages. While trying to achieve a very calm white page use vellum to soften colors and patterns. It also will give you another texture without adding any color at all.
On this layout I used vellum to mat my photo, make a tab, and add some stars. I felt like the paper was perfect for this photo and didn't want to change it much at all. Nope, it's not my bad layout photography again. This picture was taken on Christmas Eve by my boy who once again stole my phone. After a little help from Instagram I decided it was worthy. The cork calendar is from Freckled Fawn. The enamel dots in the lower right corner are from Teresa Collins. With a few stars and an old rub-on I had on hand, I feel like I added some beautiful elements without taking away from the paper or the photo. I also feel like I achieved that glowing Christmas look I was searching for.

We did it, again

We have moved back home and after a year of transition and caring for 2 homes we are settling back in. What a journey. I took a longer than expected blog break, but hope to pick up where I left off.  Unfortunately, it was just after the big announcement about the completion of Eli's scrapbook. When in fact I planned to fill these pages with layouts from that album. Not so much! Since we were moving back to our own home we had the luxury of doing it slowly. Without realizing it, the camera cord was packed up and sent to our old home. I was left with the camera, the scrapbook to photograph, but no way to transfer them onto the computer. Just a small oversight. What I thought would've been a week break quickly turn into two weeks. But now I am back and can't wait to show you a few pages. Thanks for your patients.

Double layout.

This double page layout was created using a PageMaps University sketch. PageMaps University was a 4 week online class I participated in. Each week they would email you sketches, instructions, product lists, and cutting files. It was a nice resource for inspiration.
The first day of school is quickly becoming my favorite "holiday" to scrap. This double layout was made with Smarty Pants by Simple Stories. I added very few elements outside the collection. The cork stars are from Fancy Pants. I am most proud of the tiny little yellow manila envelop that just happened to be hanging out around my desk. It's perfect for that spot.
The journaling was computer generated. I often use my Silhouette program to create journaling that requires specific dimensions. I create a box with the exact dimensions and stay within that area, making my text fit well and scaled to size. On this layout I used a font called "play date." I wanted a fun, school like font and this seemed to work well. This page took me a considerable amount of time including a lot of pre-planning. I am proud with the result and happy it is completed.