Hip Hop Thursday!

I love Thursdays! Not only does it mean the weekend is right around the corner (woo hoo!) but I get to start my day with Unity soaking up the gorgeous eye candy we like to call the Hip Hop blog hop. Start your journey with Angela at the Unity blog and hop along with me!

In keeping with the theme of today's new release "Feel the Joy" (you can see it here on the Unity website) I have listed 5 things that bring me JOY. This list really could be a mile long but here are just a few of the joyful things in my life right now:
1. snuggling with my two boys under the covers on a cold winter day
2. reminiscing with my hubby about the days when we first met in high school and realizing how much our love has grown throughout the years
3. hearing my two boys play together and the silly conversations that go on between the two of them
4. reading a good book with a nice hot cup of coffee nearby
5. stamping and scrapbooking (that was a given, eh?)

My layout today features the gorgeous February Kit of the Month. You can see it here on the Unity website.


This kit is filled with all sorts of beautiful images. I combined a few of them with some yummy Basic Grey Ambrosia papers for this "grandparents" layout about my boys and my in-laws.

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I love this frame! LOVE it! The houndstooth is just fabulous and all of the sentiments included in the kit fit inside the frame perfectly!

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I used a very simple yet effective stamping technique called "kissing" to add pattern and texture to the butterflies on my layout. All you need to do is ink up a solid stamp image (such as the butterfly on my layout) and "kiss" it or press it together with another image such as a background or other textured stamp (I used Unity's Distressed Dots) for a wonderful effect on your original solid image. There are many variations on this technique such as using two different colored inks, etc but for my butterflies I just used a solid color of chalk ink for a little bit of texture and interest.

That's all I've got today folks. Now head on over to Miss Patter's blog for some more Hip Hop fun!

It's a FAB-ulous Monday!

Hey everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Just want to give a shout out to both Unity Stamp Company and Moxie Fab World this morning. If you've never heard of Moxie Fab World you need to check it out (click on the banner below).


Cath, the creative editor for Paper Crafts Magazine, writes a FAB-ulous blog about all the hottest trends and greatest products in the paper crafts industry. And guess who is being featured today? None other than my favorite stamp company UNITY! Check it out and see what Cath has to say about Unity. She's also got a little giveaway going on involving lots of gorgeous Unity stamps that you won't want to miss!

Hip Hop Thursday!

I am so excited to be able to kick off Hip Hop this week. As always you need to start at the Unity Blog with Angela to see what she's up to today and then just follow along from there.

My first layout for this week's Hip Hop uses the new release Numbers, Etc (US-1009W). I used this single last week and wanted to use it again to show you just how versatile this stamp is - I LOVE it! I have a bunch more ideas on how I'd like to use this single from birthday layouts to pages about my favorites, etc. It's a great stamp to have in your stash that's for sure!


This is my little guy Brandon when he was just 6 weeks old. I love little baby parts and thought the Numbers, etc stamp would make a great border for this layout about my little guy's "bits and pieces."

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I love to create borders with my stamps - you'll see that a lot on my layouts. I use a stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect placement each time. If you don't have this handy dandy little tool it's definitely worth it to get one.

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Just a detail shot of some of my embellies on the side of my collage. And what a surprise another stick pin - I told you I was obsessed with these little things!

My next layout uses some a few different Unity stamps including Distressed Dots (US-219W), Plaid Journal Box (USK-197-2), and This is the Time (UK-335A).


I created this layout about me and my little guy Brandon. We are SO MUCH ALIKE it's actually kinda crazy. We have the same exact personalities and we are especially stubborn (who me?!?) which makes for a very interesting test of wills at times between the two of us. We have a very special connection and I love him to pieces!


I love this journal box and use it on a lot of my layouts. It's nice and big for either journaling or a title as I've done here. And it's got the same great shape as my new (yahoo!) Fiskars Upper Crest border punch that I used on this layout as well. Love this shape!


Gotta throw in as many flowers, pink, and rhinestones as I can since I'm actually in these photos and I usually only get to scrap boys. LOL

Now head on over to the amazing Jimmi's blog and see what she's got in store for you today!

Hip Hop Thursday with LOVE!

Hey everyone! Welcome to the LOVE edition of Hip Hop Thursday on my blog. Both of my layouts have a fun Valentine or love theme this week in honor of Valentine's Day. Make sure to start your blog hop with Angela at the Unity blog to see what she's got in store for you today - lots of new releases this week at Unity!

My first layout uses a great Valentine's Day image from the January Kit of the Month as well as a "sweet" heart image from the August Kit of the Month. If you're not a KOM member there's no better time to sign up than now. Check out the latest images for the Feburary Kit of the Month and all the details here. Can you say adorable?!?


This is my oldest son Darian on his first Valentine's Day when he was just 6 months old. Will you LOOK at those chubby cheeks?!?


I used the Just My Type alphabet set and my trusty Martha Stewart heart punch to create the title work here. I love this alphabet and have been using it on a ton of my layouts recently.


A punched out stamped image dressed up with a cardstock scallop circle, felt heart, and threaded pink button. A fun DIY embellishment!


Another sweet stamped image I dressed up this time with a cute little heart stick pin. I must admit I'm a bit addicted to stick pins lately - you'll see one on my layout below. I found these cute little heart pins at Joanns with the other sewing notions.


In keeping with the LOVE theme I created this layout using another old photo of my son Darian and I from my very first Mother's Day. Darian was just about 9 months old in this picture. Look at that sweet boy! *sigh*


I was lucky enough to be sent the adorable new release Numbers Etc (US-1009W) to play with this week. I LOVE this stamp! Just think of all the possibilities for this single - birthdays, favorites, friends, etc. And it's a great size for scrapbooking too!


Yummy Basic Grey Bittersweet papers and another stick pin - this little pearl pin is from an old set I got from Making Memories. So sweet!

That's all I've got this week folks. Now hop on over to the talented Jen E. and give her some love!

Unity DT Tuesday!

Hey everyone! Every Tuesday Angela features one of the Unity Design Team members on the Unity blog and today it's my turn to be featured. YAY! If you haven't visited the Unity blog stop by there as well to see a cute little layout I created with one of Unity's newest releases Love Birdies (UK-348A).

For this layout I used another new release from Unity called Time for Travel (UK-354A). I absolutely LOVE this set and couldn't wait to use it.


We vacation in Ocean City every summer and I always end up taking hundreds of photos. In order to get a lot of photos on one page I used a photo template from Scrapbooks, etc. and went to work. I love the look of photo collages and using a template makes it really easy!

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I kept things really simple with this layout and just kept the focus on the photos and these gorgeous stamps. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Seriously funny stuff!

For those of you that know me you know I'm not much of a laugh out loud type of person but this video had me peeing in my pants. Hysterical!

Hip Hop Thursday!

Hey Everyone! Hope you're all having a fabulous Thursday so far. Make sure to start your Hip Hop journey over at the Unity blog with Angela and follow along from there.

I've got two layouts for you today. The first is actually a layout I created for a challenge I hosted for VSBN over on Splitcoast Stampers this past weekend. We had lots of fun chatting and scrapping!


This is my oldest son Darian on his first day of preschool last year. Isn't he a cutie? Can you believe I actually just had to register him for Kindergarten this past week. My baby boy is growing up so fast! *sniff sniff*


I used several images from the absolutely adorable set "School Rock Star" (UK-344A) for this layout. Look at the cute little "chalkboard" letters I created with some white ink and embossing powder. I think every single one of my boys' "back to school" layouts will have images from this set on them - I LOVE it so much!

My next layout is all about winter which I so wish was over by now and, unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Punxsutawney Phil says it'll be another 6 weeks before spring arrives. Now why do we care what a groundhog thinks I ask? I'm just not sure! LOL


I love how bright children's snow gear looks against the stark white snow and I mimiced that here on my layout with lots of bright patterned papers against a white cardstock base. I used lots and lots of different Unity stamps on this layout including Amazing Me (UK-154A), Our Life, Our Stories (UK-343A), the single Joyous Snowfall (USK-102-1), and the great alphabet Just My Type.

Now hop on over to the amazing Miss Jennifer Buck to see what eye candy she's got for you to look at!

A few layouts to share ... finally!

At the end of last summer I started submitting my work for publication with a gentle nudge from a great gal pal of mine. :) I was beyond excited when I started to get emails requesting my pages and have been biding my time waiting for the actual magazines to be in print. Since most mags work about 6 months in advance I had a long wait ahead! LOL

Well the time has come and I can finally share my first few published pages with all of you. It's so surreal to see my stuff in a magazine - who knew?!?

My first ever published layout is in the January issue of Scrapbook Trends on page 107 titled "Right Now" for their My Crazy Life challenge. It's a silly layout I did about my boys' dirty feet in my kitchen sink - an everyday occurence at our house during the summer after a full day of play outside.


The next layout appears in the Scrapbook Trends Babies Idea Book on page 68 titled "Cherish This Time." Now you may be wondering who that pretty little baby girl is in the picture since I only have two boys. Well there was a bit of a mixup ... and since my layout doesn't actually have any names on it anywhere ... and it IS on the girly side ... well let's just say that Brandon makes one adorable baby girl now doesn't he? Anyone who knows me knows I am not afraid to put flowers on boy pages and I did just that on this layout. So they thought Brandon was a girl ... being mistaken for a girl isn't all that bad now is it? (don't answer that Salar! LOL) ;)