justem: little bits of this and that

Autumn {Gossamer Blue Pinspired}

It's the end of the month...which is evident by my complete disappearance from this blog! ;)  The end of the month is always crazy for me since 3/4 of the assignments I have each month are due within a couple day period. Yes, I should try to space things out more during the month, but it never seems to work out as planned!  I realized there are a couple of layouts I thought I shared here, but never did. The first is my October Pinspired layout for the Gossamer Blue blog.  My inspiration this month was a quote - the entire layout was designed around it:

If I had to pick a single favorite item from October it would be these wood veneer leaves...and my second favorite paper would be the scripty paper from My Mind's Eye!

 Rubons on photos? Love.

For more details on this layout, including my original inspiration piece, check out the original post on the blog! Have a great Wednesday! (Although, I've been thinking ALL day that it is Thursday!!)

Gossamer Blue October Inspiration Blog Hop

Hello, hello, and welcome to our first ever Gossamer Blue Inspiration Blog Hop! Have you noticed that in the world of kit clubs it's always go, go, go and often before you've even received your kit in the mail there are is already buzz about the next kit? It can be frustrating. We at Gossamer Blue want you to know that we feel your pain and are here with some October inspiration for those of you who are currently in knee-deep into your October kit! Today, I have a layout to share that I created using a mix of the main scrapbooking kit and the scrapbooking add-ons:

I am totally in love with the color scheme of the October kits. The mint green + the coral + the b&w...perfection!  This layout includes a little blue, too...since both of my kids were wearing blue in the photos I thought I should try to find a way to work it in!  

I am big fan of the exclusive wood veneer that came with this month's kits. Wood veneer can be pretty hit or miss with me. Sometimes I love it...sometimes I'm just not in the mood. But this month...I was loving it. ;)

I was having a difficult time coming up for a clever title for this layout, and I ended up with the oh-so-original "At the Zoo." Because it was kind of a silly title, I went with the tone-on-tone look so it didn't stand out. ;) I tried using the triangle banners AS banners on my page, and it just wasn't working, so instead I just used them as random decorations amongst my mist!

To hop along with us, here is a list of all our participants this month!  Remember you can always reference the Gossamer Blue blog for a full list of participants! Have an inspiring day, and happy hopping!

Gossamer Blue Blog

Anabelle O'Malley

Beshka Kueser

Brenda Weaver

Cindy Liebel

Danielle Flanders

Diane Payne

Emily Spahn **That's me!**

Erin Taylor **Go here next!**

Eunyoung Lee

Evgenia Petzer

Heather Leopard 

Jill Keller

Joy Taylor

Katie Ehmann

Keisha Campbell

Laura Crosby

Maria Lacuesta

Melanie Blackburn

Michelle Wooderson

Rebecca Luminarias

Sabrina Alery

Tara Anderson

Vanessa Perry

Every Picture... {Gossamer Blue June}

Good morning! I have another Gossamer Blue June layout to share today!  This was made with a mix of kits and includes my #1 favorite piece of paper in all of the June kits - this piece of green dotted paper by Jillibean Soup!  LOVE it!!!  I also used the Jillibean die cut card as my title!  And can we talk for a second about those Chic Tags wood sequins?! So perfect!!

This is a photo of my girl the day of her Kindergarten Orientation. She was really nervous but ended up having a great time! Today is her last day of 4K, and she's officially a Kindergartner!!  How is this even possible?!  The June kit is one of my favorites - though I have July in my hands...and it's even better. ;)  Have a great Thursday!!

Swingset Superstar {Gossamer Blue June}

Happy Thursday!  Today I have my Gossamer Blue June Main Kit Only layout to share with you! I love the fun primary colors in this kit, mixed with the black, white and gold.  I have to be honest - this is one of those layouts that just did NOT come together well. I am going to blame it on my overall lack of sleep the past month (teething baby = no fun).  I started out with an idea in mind, and it didn't look the way I'd envisioned. So, I added a bit here and a bit there and changed this and that until it was finally finished:

Scrabooking mojo is a funny thing. I honestly LOVED every single element in this main kit, so it's funny that it was so difficult for me to put this together. I've had the opposite, too...were there are colors or items that wouldn't have been my first choice, and it just falls together quickly and I love the result.  For the record, I'm totally in the "It's okay to NOT love everything you make" camp.  I don't love this. I just like it. It's definitely not going to make the 2014 favorite layouts list, and even though it looks pretty much nothing like I'd originally planned, it's fine. ;)

**Note - the gallery at Gossamer Blue is undergoing some maintenance right now. Be sure to check back later to see the work of the rest of the fabulous design team.

The Story of the Heart Rocks

My "Pinspired with Gossamer Blue" challenge went up on the Gossamer Blue blog a bit ago, and I'm finally getting around to sharing it here!  The story of the heart rocks was one I've been wanting to document for awhile!  I was inspired by a pin with lots of circles - you can see it in the original post. My favorite part of this layout is the wood veneer sheet that I used as my background.  I wondered if I could run the veneer through my printer - the answer is YES!  However, as you can see, my printer was a little wonky and a bunch of ink and printing got on the bottom.  I actually kind of like how it looks! I was wishing I could find a way to get some messy type on the rest of the layout!! ;)

Mom & Miri {Gossamer Blue March layout}

Happy Thursday!  Two posts in two days?  It's crazy! ;)  I am finally getting around to sharing this layout on my blog, though it's been in the Gossamer Blue gallery all month.  The March kits featured a lot of great "little" embellishments, and I really wanted to try and use up a lot of them. I was inspired by this pin, which was an ad for Two Peas.  I chose these four colors because they were prevalent in the kit. In fact, I was really impressed with how well all the different colors went together considering that there are four or five different manufacturers featured on this page! It's definitely a little wild and different, but I like it!

After I finished, I spent some time trying to decide where to put a title - I didn't want to cover up any of the goodness, so I opted to just skip the title!!  A user at Studio Calico saw my layout and used it as inspiration to create a similar layout of her own. Both were featured on the website Use Your Stash. It's always nice to know that my work inspires others! :)

We Are 5

Hello!  I had a new layout up on the Gossamer Blue blog on Friday for my monthly "Pinspired with Gossamer Blue" challenge!  I knew before I had the baby that I would need to post this right after he was born, so I made the base layers before we went to the hospital. I had a "boy" and a "girl" card from the Fancy Pants ephemera pack ready and waiting, along with a bunch of coordinating embellishments to finish off the layout!  When Oliver turned out to be of the boy variety, it was very easy to just piece the rest of the layout together!!  I noticed that all of the layouts I've made recently have used the exact same color scheme. ;) What can I say?! I love me some aqua and orange!!

For more information about the layout, including the original inspiration piece AND a chance to play along, be sure to check out the original post on the Gossamer Blue blog! :) Have a great day!

Playing with Slime!

Happy Tuesday!  Sunday was the debut of the September Gossamer Blue kit!  This kit is filled with all kinds of fun products including lots of new Carta Bella, My Mind's Eye, Teresa Collins and tons of great Gossamer Blue exclusives!  This is the layout I made with the Main Kit only. :)  It's a little wonky, but when you're making a layout about slime, is there any other way to be? ;)

I didn't have a chance to take any close-ups of this one...but I think most of the time my layouts are pretty self-explanatory! ;)  Hope everyone in the U.S. had a great Labor Day weekend!  Be sure to enter the Pebbles giveaway below!!! 

Pinspired Challenge #2

Good morning!  Friday, my second "Pinspired with Gossamer Blue" challenge went up on the GB blog! This month, two of my layouts were inspired from Pinterest! My first layout is super simple and was inspired by a piece of word art on Pinterest!  

I think the sentiment matches the photos quite well! ;)  This was definitely a "quick and easy" layout.  I wanted the main focus to be the photos and the title...the rest is just a little background noise!

Be sure to check out the post on the GB blog for all the details and a chance to win a $10 gift card to the shop!  Hope you had a great weekend! :)

Yogurt Love

Today I have my last Gossamer Blue February layout to share.  This is another "oops" layout! ;)  I made the entire thing and kept looking at it thinking something just didn't look right...

And when I finished all my layouts and put them in a pile...yup. This one was half an inch too wide. I guess using a ruler is not one of my greatest skills. ;)  At first I thought I'd just leave it, but it just bugged me! So I trimmed off the far left side and voila...a real 8.5x11 layout:

MUCH better!!  I've been working with the March kit and it's SO fun!  Here are a couple sneaks:

The full reveal will be Friday!!  Hope you are having a great day!