I've started a new album about the places I have traveled to weather it be for a weekend or a few weeks. This layout is when we took a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach with friends. The thing I like about doing this album is that I get to create something new with old memories, not just documenting the everyday things.

I used the Daydreamer and Polkadot Party mini kits for this layout. I was originally going to go with a grayish theme but it just didn't seem to work so I tried lots of color and I love it! 

Big News!

I'm so happy to announce that my Etsy shop is now open! I have 5 prints available right now and more coming soon. I hope you all love these prints as much as I do. Here is a quick look at some of the prints. You can see all my other prints here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AllThingsPrints?ref=hdr_shop_menu

You Are My Sunshine

Clara is one of my favorite things to scrapbook and this page is no exception. I used a Studio Calico paper pack I got from Tuesday Morning which I have completely fallen in love with. I love all the light colors and gorgeous patterns which all go so well together. For the plain blue parts on the page, I just simply watered down some paint and used that as a background. 

London 2009

I recently started a new Project Life album which contains all my trips to Scotland and England. Scotland will always be home to me and I wanted a place to have all my memories. This layout is when I visited London with my Uncle and mom. We went on the London Eye which had a gorgeous view and surprisingly wasn't too scary! 

The Secret to Project Life

Within 2 days this week, I got 5 layouts done and I believe I found the secret to Project Life. I always tried to make my layout how I thought other people would like them or in the style I wanted to be. I always loved the layouts with a lot of white and bright colors but any time I tried to achieve that, I never truly loved the layouts. This week I just went with what felt right and I loved every layout even though the style is completely different from what I first tried to achieve. 

Hospital Life

It has almost been 3 months since I had my back surgery and I must say, getting that surgery was the best decision I ever made. I used to have constant back pain as well as nerve pain and headaches but since the surgery, I hardly get any of those symptoms. 

I created this spread a while ago but just got around to photographing it today. I changed this spread so many times just trying to figure out what looked right and I finally went with yellow. I haven't really used yellow in other spreads but it works really well with this one. 

Natural Light

Before getting into scrapbooking, I never appreciated natural light, but last month, while changing the sheets on my bed, Clara jumped up and the lighting was perfect. Thankfully I had my camera handy so I started taking a few pictures and they turned out very well. 

I haven't quite learned how to use manual mode yet but for these pictures, I just turned the flash off and let the camera work it's magic. My room has mostly light colors so even in the pictures where there are posters on the wall, it isn't too busy and doesn't take your eye away from Clara. 

Anyone with a black lab knows that using a flash makes your dog look a little strange, but natural light works very well for black labs. I got very lucky with my pup! She is great at looking at the camera and staying still and my main "trick" is to hold a treat or toy up to the camera or tell her to "watch me". 

Work Space

Right now, my main work space is my bed. I don't mind it too much since there is a lot of space and I can fit everything I need on my bed. I just don't have a ton of storage and it's pretty annoying when you get up and everything moves around.

I have applied to something called Cherished Creations. It is like Make-A-Wish except it's for kids and young adults with chronic illnesses instead of life threading illnesses. Not too long ago, I wasn't really sure what I would have wanted but then I started to do Project Life and I knew that having a proper craft space would be amazing. If I don't get accepted that's ok. It will just take a bit longer for me to have that craft space.

Different Styles

As I continue to make more layouts, I have noticed that I have a few different styles. For some pages, I got with lighter or more colorful paper and for others, I'll use warmer colors, it really depends on the photo I am using. 

My Traditional Pages

I have a new love for traditional scrapbooking ever since seeing all the gorgeous pages on instagram and pinterest. It is so much fun and you get to be so creative. So as I promised, here are some of my pages.

 I apologize for the the bad lighting in some of the pictures. I'm unable to take proper pictures since I'm still recovering from back surgery. 

Sugar & Cloth Giveaway

As you know, there are always a ton of giveaways going on on instagram. Most of the time all you have to do is repost a photo with a hashtag. I can't even count how many I've entered but I finally won one! And of course, since it's from Sugar & Cloth, it's the best one ever! :) 

When I got the comment on the picture, asking me to email her, I couldn't believe it. Today, the package arrived, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. 

Scrapbooking Inspiration

After being inspired by Pinterest and some of my friends, I decided to try some traditional scrapbooking. I've got to say, I'm hooked! Although it takes much longer than Project Life, You get to be so much more creative. I love using all of the different layers of paper and embellishments and half the time, the page turns out completely different from how you planned it, but it's still gorgeous! 

I'm also still able to use some Project Life cards while doing it. I just cut off the rounded corners and layer them with all the other paper, it looks great! I've been using 8.5x11paper for these pages just because 12x12 is too big for me when it comes to traditional scrapbooking. 

I'll be showing you all some of my pages later in the week but for now, here is a few of my favorite pages I have found on Pinterest so far. :) Enjoy. 

Magda Mizera

Studio Calico - Poet Society

I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised with this months kit. It has a lot of nice cards and I love all of the embellishments. I think my favorite part is the wood veneers. I'm pretty obsessed with wood veneers so it's no surprise that I loved them. I took some pictures to show you what was in the kit. Enjoy.

Free Paper

We all love free stuff right? And I'm sure that includes paper. While on Pinterest, I cam across this blog where you can download gorgeous paper. These are great for traditional scrapbooking as well as Project Life. Here are some that I have already downloaded.

I am completely in love with this french script page. It is so elegant and can work for so many different themes of scrapbooking. You can click the picture to see all the different color options. 

Clara - Mini Photoshoot

One of my favorite things to do is taking pictures of Clara. She is such a great model! I always try to take as many pictures as I can so I can always remember when she was a puppy. She may not look like a puppy in these pictures but she was only 6 months when these were taken. 

We got her when she was 2 months and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Clara is going to be my service dog and she is doing so well. I couldn't be more proud. 

Why I Started Project Life

I've been wanting to start Project Life for about a year but just never got around to it. I love doing anything creative, especially scrapbooking. Everything this year has kind of slowed down for the most part. All my friends were busy, I wasn't in school, no job, there just wasn't much to do. I started to look at inspiration on Pinterest and that made me want to start even more.

I started with the basics. I got the pocket pages, Midnight core kit and the Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party mini kit. I was over the moon! It was kind of surreal to actually be starting something I've been wanting to do for so long. Not long after purchasing those items, I subscribed to Studio Calico. 

I've always loved being able to look back at old pictures and relive old memories. With Project Life, you are making those memories even more beautiful. With my awful memory, it helps me remember all the good times I had growing up and inspires me to make even more good memories. 

Another reason I got into PL was for the people. Everyone in the PL community is so sweet, helpful, and inspiring. I just love it.

My Health

My health has never been that great but in 2009, it all got a lot worse. Out of the blue, I started getting extreme hip pain. I've always been use to pain but this was different, it hurt to do anything. We went to my doctor and he did a bunch of blood work, one of which was Lyme disease. At that time, they said that it was impossible to get Lyme in North Carolina, but my doctor being the doctor he was, he tested me for it anyways. And that is what it was. 

I was treated with antibiotics and it went away but by the time 2010 came around, I was still getting the hip pain. At this time I was a competitive swimmer, and a very good one. He ordered X-Rays for my hips and the technicians said they were normal so he did some more blood work which reviled that I had a autoimmune disease. 

For those who don't know, an autoimmune disease is when your own immune system attacks your body like it's a virus.