Layout of the Week - Punky Posh Mini Album with Punky Sprouts & Chatterbox Part 1

Ta Da!  I shared a sneak peek of this album with you last week and here is the finished product!  As you can tell, I'm very excited about this mini album!  I love all of the albums from Punky Sprouts, who makes these very cool albums.  The albums all include pages made from chipboard, ivory canvas and acrylic.  The comb binding on this album, Punky Posh, holds the pages together very loosely.  The binding is loose so you can pull the pages out, decorate them and replace them on the binding.  The flexible style of these albums is my favorite quality.  It allows you to push your creative boundaries as far as you want on each project.

I took this album home and my first thought was that I should add some of my own pages into the mix.  After reading about so many creative uses for burlap all over the blogosphere, I just had to use it in this album.  And with my love of sepia tone photos, I knew that a brown canvas page would look great too.

To decorate my album, I chose papers, ribbons and embellishments from the Together, Fabulous and artsy.licious collections by Chatterbox.

If you're looking for more fun ideas using the Punky Sprouts albums, check out their blog!

As for me, I'll share some more detailed photos of this album in Part 2 of this post next week.  I'll be writing it this weekend as I pack for my trip to Mexico.  I'm lucky enough to be celebrating my upcoming 40th birthday with two close friends I met in the dorms my freshman year at UofO.  We'll be laying in the sun & having a few margaritas this time next week.  After I'm back, I promise to make more rounds of all the cool, creative blogs out there!

If you're in need of a party tomorrow night, don't forget to stop by Ann's Virtual Girls Night Out.  You'll meet lot's of other fun bloggers and get tons of comments for your blog.

If you're looking to find other creative bloggers, stop by Today's Creative for Tuesday's Get Your Craft On Blog Hop.

Layout of the Week - December Daily Album Part 1

This week I want to share my latest project with you.  I was looking through the blogs in November and came upon this great idea in two blogs that I read often by Ali Edwards and Katie the Scrapbook Lady.  The idea was to create an album with photos & journaling on a page for each day in December.  Both ladies suggested getting all your supplies together, some new, some old, collected from all your other left over past December projects.  Next create a page for each day in December, so that when each day comes, you can jot down a thought or two and take a photo.  Then when you print out your photos, you just have to stick them on their page and viola!, you've got a finished album to remember one of the most memorable months of the year!

Well, OK, that is an awesome idea.  And I had every intention of following it to a T....I gathered my old supplies and of course found some new ones at the store.  I checked out all sorts of holiday layout ideas.  I cut little number tags on the Cricut.  And then December came along.....

You'll notice that I haven't had a chance to attach some cute ribbon and put the number tags on each page...but they are coming soon! I also plan to add a few fun embellishments to some of my pages. I'll take photos of all the pages again, once the project is finished & share them with you!  (Oh...and I do know that Christmas is spelled incorrectly on Page 1 of my album!  So strange to have a manufacturer spell a word that important incorrectly, we are supposed to receive a new shipment of this paper at the store soon!)

I did shoot a photo each day, well, most days!  Some days I shot an extra photo, something that was important to me in December, a centerpiece, some special ornaments, so that when I forgot...as I knew I would...to shoot a photo on a given day, I'd still have one to put on that day's page.

I began my album in November, but I was only able to get 5 pages done before the rush of December began!  Then I was caught up in all the decorating, special festivities, party planning, wrapping & Christmas pageant practices.  Once the excitement died down, between Christmas & New Year's, I was able to complete a few more pages and have the photos printed out.

So I thought I'd share what I've been able to create so far.  I hope these photos can inspire you to create some projects to honor your memories of this holiday season!

Happy New Year!

OK, this is for all you VGNO Girls!

I did the macarena with a surfer in your bathroom because that's how I roll!

:)

I think mine's pretty great!

Now, for those of you who I've totally confused, consider yourselves invited to the coolest blog party on the web!  Ann's Virtual Girls Night Out!  If' you've got a blog, head on over & put yourself on the blog hop list.  If not, just click on the names on the list to join in!

You'll meet tons of new bloggers & some great new friends by participating every Friday!

Ann's always got a cool video for us, along with a stiff drink (you know you need one!) and a great party game, I like this week's the best!

Ann's one of my Portland "homey"'s, so head on over  & tell her Julie sent you! :)

(OK, totally screwed up spelling & grammar on that one I'm sure...)

Happy VGNO!

Where has the time gone???

I found myself wondering today...what happened to that little baby who couldn't sit up much less cruise all around the living room ripping everything off my coffee table and throwing it to the floor. Where is that beautiful, spotless cranium?

In less than a week, my house has been destroyed by a small monster with bruises all over his head!

OK, he still is the cutest little boy on Earth! I just need to find a way to slow that Earth down a bit, it's spinning out of control and my baby is disappearing...only to be replaced by a BOY!

Things are changing everyday around here! I just don't know what I'll do when he decides to "explore" the Christmas tree we're getting tomorrow.

But for now, I'm happy he's sleeping! I did finally post my Acrylic Album class on my scrapbook store blog, http://www.whimzeesgirlsonline.blogspot.com , so check it out when you get a chance.

Coming Soon on the WhimzeesGirlsOnline Blog

This is my latest project! I'm really excited about how it turned out! I've posted this photo on my other blog, http://www.whimzeesgirlsonline.blogspot.com . This weekend on my Thanksgiving trip to Medford, I'm going to write a step by step class to help everyone dive into their first acrylic album. So check that blog next week for all the details!

And have a great Thanksgiving!