justem: little bits of this and that

Bloom {Gossamer Blue Pinspired}

 

Hi! I was up last week on the Gossamer Blue blog with my monthly Pinspired challenge!  I used a fun piece of typographic art as my inspiration.  All the letters piled up along the bottom spell "We Love Bloom Bake Shop," which is our favorite local bakery!  

I included little bits of wood veneer all over the layout - the flowers the exclusive "favorite" circle!

I outlined the letters of the title, while leaving the extra letters plain. I hoped this would help draw the eye to the title!

This was a really fun layout to make. I love all the letters and colors!  To see the original piece of inspiration, check out my post on the GB blog. Have a great day!

We love the Capitol {Gossamer Blue Pinspired}

Another layout today.  This one is brand new, though.  I keep thinking that I will find the time to blog "for real," aka: something other than a layout. The truth of the matter is that it takes me about 10 minutes or less to post a layout, and often that's all the time I have. I have been thinking a ton about this blog and my One Little Word (I swear I am going to post about it...just reread everything I wrote to know why I haven't yet!), and I am really hoping to blog more this year, but it's just not happened yet. Anywho, this layout is featured today on the Gossamer Blue blog as part of my monthly Pinspired challenge.  I went a little outside the box this month and created a layout based on a dress, yes, a dress. ;)  Here is my final product - for a look at my inspiration, check out the post over at GB.  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!! 

XO, I love you so! {Gossamer Blue January}

January first = a brand new month of Gossamer Blue goodness! Today I am sharing my Main Kit Only layout. I had a title picked out and planned on using the little X and O shapes before I even chose a photo! I decided to really go all out with my XO theme and used my Cameo to cut out a bunch of random XOs all over my page and layered my cardstock over another piece of white cardstock for a white on white effect.  

 

My friend Mel Blackburn rocks the triangle corners...I totally stole this from her. ;)

 Have a great Saturday! I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of Winter Break! I have really enjoyed having my family all together...we don't get to do it often enough. :)

Dream {Gossamer Blue}

Happy December 1!  I can hardly believe it's already December. This year has truly flown by, and I'm so thankful for all the opportunities that have come my way the past few months!  Stay tuned in the next week for a couple of fun giveaways!

Today, a brand new Gossamer Blue kit went live, and I have one of my layouts to share.  I really love this month's kits and add-ons...it's a really soft and pretty kit...which is not always my thing, but it just all works so well together!!  This layout is especially "froofy" - and it features my boys! ;)  

In happy news, Mac is headed back to me!!  My awesome friend's husband (my awesome friend and her awesome husband!) has fixed it and saved my data!!!  Woohoo! I cannot even begin to thank them enough!  And, if you learned nothing from me the last year...go back up your computers! ;)

Thirty Five

Yesterday I turned 35. I had intended on sharing this layout that I made with the Gossamer Blue September kits!  As you probably noticed...that didn't happen. ;) So...we'll try today (well, tonight!), when I am 35 and 1 day old! This was a fun and fast layout to make. You all know I'm a sucker for anything with a rainbow!  All the bright papers in the September kits + add-ons were just screaming to be used on a rainbow layout!

 

I used the black and white photo of top of the black and white photo to mirror the way I used the color-on-color embellishments in the rest of the layout.  I also love the little bits of kraft and cork to mix things up a bit!

I had a wonderful birthday with my family yesterday.  I'm totally at that point where fun and flashy is not nearly as appealing as sweet and simple.  I have no problem with my age - because even though I keep reminding myself that I'm getting a bit old...I don't feel it!  I feel just as young as happy as I was 15 years ago...better, even.  So, 35 - bring it on. It's going to be a good year. :)

Be You. {Gossamer Blue + Color Inspiration}

Hi there! Pardon my brief absence! We've been busy celebrating the first days of school and adjusting (not well) to our new schedule!!  Today I have a Gossamer Blue layout to share with you. Originally, I had planned on this being my Pinspired with Gossamer Blue layout for September, but I ended up changing my mind and making a different layout for that blog post.  This particular layout was inspired by the following collection of photos:

(source: The Sweet Occasion)

If you were to have told me a year ago that I would be in love with Pink and Gold, I would have probably laughed in your face. I've never been a big pink fan, and I've always preferred silver to gold. However, gold is suddenly back in fashion, and I'm kind of digging it! ;)  Here is my super simple layout that was inspired by the collage above:

That pink polka dot paper is my favorite paper in the entire kit + add-ons. I LOVE this paper. I kind of want to wallpaper something in this paper. ;)  

I also used the mini letters from Shimelle as "confetti" amongst my mist drops. Different...but kinda fun. ;)

 This layout took me probably a half hour to make, and I love it much more than the layouts that I worked on for hours. ;)  I love how that always seems to be the case!!  Hope you are having a great week!!

#selfie {Gossamer Blue September}

Happy September first!  I can't believe we are already in September! The last eight months have truly flown by!  This is a big week in our house.  We have a brand new Kindergartner, a brand new Preschooler, and a little boy celebrating his First Birthday!!!  Today I have my Gossamer Blue Main Kit only layout to share with you!  Truth be told, this is the second version of this layout. I had an entire layout completely made, but I hated it...so the night before our assignments were due, I ripped it apart and started fresh. I like this version a whole lot more than the original!!  

September is the first month with all the new Gossamer Blue design team members. I can honestly say I am blown away by the talent there. In fact, I feel pretty inferior!! ;)  I'm truly humbled to be a part of it all!  Be sure to go check out the gallery!  I hope everyone who celebrates Labor Day is enjoying day #3 of the weekend!!!  Have a great week!

Dance {Citrus Twist August Guest}

Hi there! Today I have my final layout as the Citrus Twist guest designer for August.  This was my favorite of the four projects I made.  It was definitely one of those layouts in which the final product looked absolutely nothing like what I had originally envisioned!!  I ended up using a ton of pieces from the Crate Paper ephemera kit, along with a lot of little pink, gold, and orange bits from the kit.  I know I recently used this same photo (though in black and white), but I couldn't  pass up using this perfectly pink photo on this layout!!  For a little bit more insight to my process, check out the post on the Citrus Twist blog!

My Guys {Citrus Twist Guest Designer}

Happy Thursday!!  Only two more weeks of summer after this week!  Insanity!  Today I have another Citrus Twist layout to share with you.  I am a huge fan of the white on white look, so I tried it on this layout with the long uneven strips. I also was talking with the fabulous Melanie Blackburn about how she gets her perfect mist splotches. She shared that she "flicks" the end of the sprayer. I'm usually a "dropper" so I gave her new technique a try. They still aren't perfect, but it's different than my normal look, so that's cool. ;)  This is a pretty simple layout...not much explanation needed!  

Have a great day!! 

Five

Good Morning!  Today I have another Gossamer Blue layout to share. This was made with a mix of kits and was the first project that I used my new typewriter on!  The color is a little wonky in this photo - it's very white in person!!

I am not always the best embellishment user - I find it hard to use tons on a page, but I love how even though I used them sparingly, the layout doesn't look too empty!! And can we talk about the fact that rub-ons have made a come-back??!!!  

And a secret - the reason some of the words are cut out is only because I realized when I was finished that I had used the same word twice!  To fix it, I typed out a new word and covered up the repeat and then did the same with a few other words to make it look like it was on purpose! ;)

Have a great Thursday!!