A Happy Place 12x12 layout

SumMore Fun has a stamp rental club. They have Soooo many variety of stamps. You choose your favorites, they send you a kit to use for as long as you need it. Then you send it back to them free of charge, and your next kit comes! So easy! 

We were able to sample the rental club and the Happy Camper called to us for our first pick.

Why? Because we have a little guy whose ultimate happy place is beside a campfire...preferably marshmallows in hand. He builds campfires out of sticks, pencils, Legos, spoons, basically anything that he can assemble to look like a campfire, becomes a campfire. (fire excluded of course!)

We did a 12x12 two page layout.

We used watercolor pencils and luvvved the look we got when paired with the stencils! 

Glampers are so much fun!

Around the campfire is where this boy spends good times with his family. 

They are some of his happiest memories! (including drawing with the ashes!)

When the layout was done, the stamps were gently and thoroughly cleaned and placed onto the original backing and into postage-paid packaging. They still had ink stains but SumMore Fun assured us that this only means they are all the more loved!

European Scrapbooking

Back in Australia a style of scrapbooking was created known as AZZA...more commonly known today as generic: European Scrapbooking. The layout focuses on an overall balance and harmony in the page. They use a lot of geometric shapes and patterns with the photo as the focus first. It's beautiful- google it, you won't be disappointed!

We wanted to design a page inspired by European Scrapbooking with a more rustic feel, and accented by our stamps from SumMore Fun's stamp collection: Happy Camper. You use them for as long as you need, so we took full advantage!

We went along with our fire theme (see above) and used the logo from Kai the Lego Fire Ninja (which we find ironic because the name Kai means uh, ocean, not fire), and cause, well, this little boy loves: fire, fire, fire! So once more we are memory keeping a little boys fascination. With wood as our background, the red logo and curling modeling paste smoke all come together on this two page 12x12 layout to create one harmonious design. The photos build the design.

We are loving these little fires from SumMore Fun! The stamps make it so easy to use watercolor pencils for a rich, colorful effect that looks hand-drawn.

Give European Scrapbooking layouts a try. It's a challenge you will enjoy!

Resolutions

I keep all my New Years’ resolutions.  How many people do you know who can say that?!?  I know - I’m totally amazing!  Just wait until you hear my secret.

 

 

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.  I know - crazy! Right?!? Who doesn’t make New Years’ Resolutions?!? I’ve always been a little on the edge that way.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I have a better system for setting and accomplishing goals. Here are three things I do, along with a story to show you how it works.

1. Start now.  Why should the calendar dictate my accomplishments in life?  If I can start on January 1, why can’t I start on December 15? Or January 23? Or July 7? If you’re waiting for the right time to start, it will never come and you’ll never start.  Start now.
2. Take baby steps. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you accomplish a goal? One step at a time. Make a plan. Start with the easy steps. Celebrate when you achieve and use that energy to springboard you to the next step. Keep plugging along until you have created a habit. It does get easier, I promise!
3. Slow and steady wins the prize. I’m one who naturally wants to go like crazy until I crash and burn out. And then I’m not ready to go again for several days. I accomplish more when I do a little at at time and not try to get it done all at once.

Here’s how it looks in real life. Eighteen months ago, my three-year-old started asking for her baby book. All the other kids have their baby books, but I was getting further and further behind in my memory keeping, and her book wasn’t done.

I needed to find a way to catch up. But I knew I couldn’t have a monster marathon and catch up three years at once. The thought of that almost put me right over the edge! So instead of trying to do it all at once, I set a goal to work on it just ten minutes a day. Ten minutes a day. I knew could handle that.

 

I started right then and I’ve worked at least ten minutes most days since then. Sometimes the ten minutes comes early in the morning, before anyone else is up. Usually it comes late at night, when I’m tired and just want to go to sleep. But it’s only ten minutes, right? I can do that little bit every day.

 

And I’m catching up! It feels like I’m moving at a snail’s pace, but in reality, I’m getting ready to finish my third yearbook since I started this 18 months ago! Way to go me! The ultimate payoff is watching my little girl read her own baby book and feel my love for her. That’s pretty sweet.

 

 

What have you been putting off because it seems too daunting? What are you waiting for just the right time to accomplish? What can you do every day to get you where you want to be?

 The Finished Product!

 

#LetsCreateToday

Here at Let's Create Expo, we get you!

 

We get that you have an undeniable need to create, because we have that same undeniable need.

 

We get that when you have a creation in process, the house will not be cleaned, the laundry will not be washed, and the children may or may not be fed, because we do that too.

 

We get the huge rush that comes when you look at your finished project. We understand the blood, sweat, and tears that went into it. We know!

 

And so, because we get you, we want to celebrate with you. We want to share in that rush of pure joy that comes when you see your finished project.

 

Join the Creative Community on Facebook and Instagram by using #LetsCreateToday.

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