justem: little bits of this and that

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. :)

1, 2, 3...Jump! {Farewell, Pebbles!}

As of August 1, I am officially done with my gig at Pebbles.  I have proudly designed for them for two years, and it's been wonderful watching them grow and evolve. They have some crazy cool releases right now...those new design team members are in for a treat!  Today I have my very last Pebbles layout to share. It's a little crazy. I guess I felt like going out with a bang. ;)  This uses their newest "Birthday Wishes" line, which is really fun, and colorful!  

 

Have a great Wednesday!

Meeting Oliver {Pebbles}

This is my last month with the Pebbles team.  It's been a fabulous two years designing with them !!  Today I have one of my last layouts for Pebbles.  This features a mix of their lines, but most prominently uses their Birthday Wishes line, though it is a "birthday" layout in another sense! ;) These are some of my favorite photos of the first time my husband held our newest baby (who is almost a year old now - where does the time go?!).  When Oliver was born, he laid on my chest for a couple of hours before I was willing to let him go so he could meet his Daddy up close and personal! ;)  Luckily I was ready with my camera to capture this special moment between father and son!

We have a busy week full of friends and activities!  I have a lot of blog material to cover in the next couple of weeks - some fun scrapbooking news to share, as well as some great kit crafts and summer treats. As always, thanks for stopping by! :)

Baby {Pebbles Special Delivery Layout}

If you told me that I would love a baby themed scrapbooking line, I would probably laugh in your face. ;) As much as I love babies, pastels and cutesy elements are definitely NOT my thing when it comes to scrapbooking. However, the Pebbles Special Delivery line really knocked it out of the park - yes, there are some pastels and a lot of blue, but there is also gray and stars and dots and stripes and elements that are cute, but not "cutesy".  Everything in this layout is from the Special Delivery line...and I really do love it. ;)  

The die cuts are a great new addition to the Pebbles lines - they come with an awesome mix of shapes and titles, like the large stars and the big baby (haha...big baby...okay...not funny) that I used as my title.

And these embellished paper clips are perfect - they add a little dimension without adding TOO much dimension. I admittedly have trouble with really big things like clothespins, but these are just the right size!

Hope everybody has a great day!!  We will be spending it outside!! Hooray for warmer temperatures!

It kind of feels like February today...

It's SO cold here today!! (Well, it's been cold all week!)  I thought in honor of the fact that it feels like February, I'd share some Valentine's Day cards I made for Pebbles a long while ago.  These are simple cards made with my Cameo - I just cut out the letters and adhered the negative portion of top of lots and lots of paper strips!! I used 3D dots to lift the letters up off the page a bit. They were super cute...even if my kids just destroyed them in about a day! ;) These cards use the Pebbles Yours Truly line - which is adorable. Y'all know that I'm not a big fan of "theme-y" lines, but this one is pretty perfect!

Those birds...too cute! ;)

 

And that ampersand paper????!!!!

Hopefully my buddy Spring will find his way back sometime soon... ;) Have a great day!

NSD: Pebbles Blog Hop {aka: Catching up on Project Life!}

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!  I'm super excited to be participating in the Pebbles DT Blog Hop today! 

The Pebbles Design Team has been busy gearing up for National Scrapbook Day. Each of our talented designers have created layouts and memory keeping projects using Pebbles product. Here's a quick sneak peek at all of them... 

We know you will not want to miss visiting each of the sites for details on the full project...

Tiffany Hood 
Kim Jeffress 
Suzanna Lee 
Marjan Pel 
Samantha Taylor 
Holly Gagnon 
Wendy Sue Anderson 
Emily Spahn 
Juliana Michaels 
Nina Yang 
Amanda Coleman 
Wendy Antenucci 
Eva Pizarro 
Renee Zwirek 
Patricia Kumfer 
Laurel Seabrook 
Kim Kesti

Visit each Design Team member's website, and leave a comment. Once you have finished, visit Pebbles, and enter to win $200 in Pebbles products so that you can get creating on your own!

So - on to my project.  I'm guessing most people hopping on by aren't aware of the dismal status of my Proect Life. ;)  This, my friends, is week FOUR - we're still talking January!  But, I'm slowly and surely trucking along. My Project Life pages are very clean and simple. I often pick a color scheme for the week and then just choose a bunch of paper and embellishments that include my chosen colors. Pebbles products are great for Project Life because their papers often feature fun small-scale patterns on the B-sides and their embellishments are often easy to mix and match with!  I couldn't even tell you how many different lines I worked with in this Project Life spread. Okay, yes - I could - there are some oldies, but ggodies in there:  Basics, Yours Truly, Lakeside, Family Ties, Front Porch, Seen & Noted, From Me to You, and Love You More.  For those counting, that is EIGHT different lines.

And so, I present Week Four- the SICKEST week EVER! And, not in like, "Dude! Those skateboarding moves were SICK!!", but rather, "Dude! The toddler just threw up all over the couch SICK." Yeah...it was no fun.  The thickers don't lie - we really did all get the flu.  I didn't have many great photos of this week, because I was too busy being miserable - but I tried to liven up the spread with fun colors and the long "title" of the week, which uses one of my all time favorite Pebbles products - Lakeside Chalkboard Thickers. I think I did a decent job of making it still seem fun, though the giant botttle of medication kind of kills the happy vibe!!  Here's a look at the full spread:

The one non-Pebbles product I used was my favorite Martha Stewart labels. 

Project Life is memory keeping at its finest - the little every day details, which is why I would realy like to keep working on it, even though I'm so behind!  If you ilke to check out my other Projetct Life spreads (you know, all three of them) click here! Have a fun National Scrapbook Day!!  I hope you win the big prize! ;) 

Hello, Spring! {A Pebbles Layout!}

Happy Monday! It's cold and dreary here in Wisconsin - thought it seems like it might be this way pretty much all over the Midwest.  I thought I'd share a fun, springy Pebbles layout to brighten up my day!!  This features the new Pebbles Garden Party line. I have to admit, it is one of my favorite Pebbles lines ever!!  I love the fun colors and the handwritten accents!  These photos were taken last Spring at the Lake Katherine Nature Center near our old home in Illinois.  Hiking is one of our all time favorite family activities!  We've been exploring a little this Spring, looking for hiking spots around our new home, but we are still waiting for that warm weather to stick! ;) 

Hoping your Monday is feeling more springy than ours!! ;)  Have a great day!

Funny Valentines {Pebbles}

Good Morning! Today I have an older Pebbles layout to share! This layout was made back in February (or maybe even January...wow time flies!) using the Yours Truly line.  I'm not always a big fan of "themed" products lines, but this one is SO cute. Pebbles does an amazing job and creating themed layouts that are fun and tasteful.  I love those little birds - they are too cute!! These photos are from last year's Valentine's Day...can't believe how little they look!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

The Third {Gossamer Blue Pinspired Challenge}

Happy Tuesday!!  Last week I had another "Pinspired with Gossamer Blue" post up on the GB Blog!!  This month, I was inspired by a crazy cool vintage ad:

 

(source: Paul Rand)

I pretty much love everything about this ad.  The colors, the polka dots, and the text! I decided to use the fun angle of the text as the inspiration for my layout:

I used Microsoft Publisher to do the journaling.  I'm admittedly kind of a technical dummy, but at least I was able to figure out how to use various text sizes and angles for my journaling!

 

This layout is a mix of all the different February Gossamer Blue kits. I love that there was a lot of blue included so it was possible to make a love-themed boy layout without it being overly girly! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It's above freezing here for the first time in...who knows when?!  We are headed outside to enjoy the sun!  Have a super day!

#workspacewednesday

Good Morning!  Today I decided to play along with Workspace Wednesday.  I just took a picture of my desk today...the entire room looks (if you can believe it) even worse than it did the last time I posted a photo. ;)  

My desk is covered with Pebbles Yours Truly. ;) It looks a little like Valentine's Day threw up all over my scrap space.  I must admit, I'm really looking forward to getting started with my March Gossamer Blue kit that came on Monday - I've had enough pink lately to last me awhile!! Here's a sneak at the project I created with all of this mess! It will be up on the Pebbles Blog tomorrow!

 Are you playing along with Workspace Wednesday today??  Link me up! :)  Have a great day!