Stephanie Howell

December Memories Update

Hey guys!

Hope you are having a beautiful week.

I wanted to quickly share the cover of my December Memories Album for Gossamer Blue.

For those of you who don't know, I'm one of the teachers in the December Memories class and I couldn't be more excited!

If you want to sign up (it's not necessary to have the Gossamer Blue DM kit!) you can do so HERE.

I decided to keep it classy. :) And simple.

Martha Stewart doily from my own stash.

I have to tell you I love the supplies in this kit. And I *might* be having just as much fun organizing everything and looking at it as I am creating with it.

True Story. :)

That's it for today. Short and sweet.

xo

S

P.S. Now that the cat's out of the bag I can announce that I'm working for Gossamer Blue. I'm SO excited for this opportunity!!!

Yes, I am still doing the blog for MME, and no I am not doing layouts for Gossamer Blue. Just working on their blog and other social media stuff. :)

Project Italy and a Simple Stories Giveaway!

Bongiorno Amici!

Today I wanted to do a little Project Life (or Project Italy as I call it) post. Nothing earth-shattering, just how I make it work for me.

Now...if the mere mention of PL causes your eyes to glaze over (I used to be like that before I fell in love with pocket scrapbooking) then today's post isn't for you.

Y'all. I still glaze over sometimes when I see PL stuff. The only interesting PL to me is mine. Because it's about my family and my special memories. So I TOTALLY get if this is not your thing.

Even when I am doing PL (I'm back and forth like a yo yo depending on my mood and the amount of time I have) I don't share it often. I just don't feel like there's anything for me to share, if that makes sense. A PL album is a PL album is a PL album.

But today I want to share the album I've chosen for my Project Italy undertaking. If you stick around to the end there's a giveaway!

I'm also going to share how I make this system work for me as well as some of my favorite products for pocket scrapbooking.

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that my crafting mantra is keep it fun.

If it gets stressful, or competitive...or if I'm beating myself up about it then I STOP it.

That same concept applies to Project Italy.

Here's how my craft room usually looks when I'm catching up. On the subject of "catching up"...usually I don't. I just do it when I feel like doing it. But this year I really want to not miss a month.

Here's how each week's spread starts off. I use Momento and iPhoto to plan what I want to share. I then use small post-its to label each pocket in the spread.
I print all of my photos at home using either my  Canon Selphy or my HP Photosmart. I like to use the Pages program to resize and print all my PL photos on a couple of 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of Photo paper.

Lately I've been back and forth between wanting to do really simple pages and wanting to do more complicated pages. You see, PL is pretty much my only creative outlet right now. I'm not doing many traditional SB pages.

Some weeks I just want to make my pages fancy. So I usually do a few simple/quick/easy weeks and then a more complicated week.

This satisfies all of my creative and memory keeping needs.

Here are a few examples of some easy PL spreads. Washi and cards and a couple stickers. That's about it.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

In one of the pockets on this page, I actually cut up a tourist map from an town we went to and used a geotag to label the exact area we visited.

I buy a cheap postcard every time we visit a new town. I love using postcards in my PL.

Now here is an example of a more "complicated" PL spread. It took a lot longer to make and has a lot more dimension.

It felt really good to take my time and almost treat each pocket as a mini scrapbook page!

Yes. I did an entire card dedicated to this skit. I had to. We quote it a dozen times a day! #thatshowwedo #lololololololololol

Another fun card is the currently watching card. I never know what to do with geotags so I'm glad I found a way to use them!

And I won't even tell you how often Breaking Bad has appeared in my album lately.

As far as the album goes, I'm using a new Simple Stories Sn@p 12x12 leather album.

The Simple Stories albums come in high quality construction, sturdy, faux leather, 6 popular colors (red, teal, black, brown, green, pink),  2 sizes (12x12 & 6x8), unique size (6x8), non-slip, interlocking D-ring binding, stylish contrasting stitch detail, metal corner accents, custom metal spine bookplate in a fun shape. 

Simple Stories asked if they could send me this album to review and I was super excited for the opportunity.

The album is sturdy and great quality. It looks chic on my shelf and I love that.

None of the pockets have ripped and I've put a lot inside. I had a problem recently with other page protectors ripping, but these are awesome quality. 100 percent happy with this album.

Whew. Now that was a MONSTER post.

You still there?

Let me share some of my favorite products for Project Italy.

Gossamer Blue Life Pages Kits (I get these every month)

Studio Calico PL kits (I order these every now and again)

MME pocket cards, decorative tapes, brads, enamel dots, labels, and tiny word stickers

Freckled Fawn tapes, badges and veneers

These small doilies (I buy these in bulk and have used them for years).

If you see something you are curious about, make sure to ask in the comments and I'll let you know!

Now for the good part.

Would you like to win a Sn@p leather album and your choice of page protectors?

Leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a winner next Thursday.

Good Luck! Ciao Bella!

xo

S

Scrapbook Layout | Italia- Life is Beautiful.

First and MOST importantly...thank you so much for your compassion regarding the last post I wrote. Thank you so so very much. I am floored and humbled by the response.

And yes- you did read the title of this blog post correctly. I actually have a scrapbook layout to share today. Say WHAT?

I finally received my Canon Selphy CP900. And I can tell you that I'm 100 percent in LOVE. It's so compact and EASY.

I printed out four photos in a few seconds, and knew I just had to make something.

And that's when I froze. Really. How sad is that? I had great photos, fun MME products from this summer (I hadn't had a chance to play with them yet) and a cute Freckled Fawn embellishment kit I've been itching to use.

I sat there staring at everything for a while and then I thought to hell with it. Why am I overthinking this? It's not rocket science. This isn't for a team or an assignment. It's just for the heck of it. As it should be.

I just made something. And you know what? It felt good. It felt good to get out of my head for a little bit and just play. It felt SO good to make something again. It was interesting how profoundly (and quickly) it changed my mood!

paper- my mind's eye, geotag clip, enamel dot, brad, flower, veneer frame,doilies,arrow clip- freckled fawn, project life card- studio calico, stickers, enamel geotag-mme, gold glitter tape-american crafts,

I pretty much just did a typical Stephanie "cluster/doily" type layout. Funny how quick it came back to me, ha!

I love the little embellishments from Freckled Fawn, they were so fun to work with and worked nicely with my MME stash.

I cut triangles from some of my gold glitter tape and scattered them around on the patterned paper, adding a little bit of sparkle.

I can't wait to print some more photos this weekend and do some more layouts and hopefully even get back in the saddle RE: Project Life.

I guess it turns out I did miss scrapbooking? :)
That makes me happy. And relieved.

xoxo

S

scrappy saturday- cbh

Happy Saturday sweet friends!

I wanted to quickly share a new layout with y'all today.

Supplies: Patterned Papers-My Minds Eye Kate&Co-Cambridge Court;Feathers- JBS;Brads-MME;Gold Thickers-American Crafts;Veneer Heart- Freckled Fawn;Enamel Dots-MME;Washi Tape(exclusive for SC)-Freckled Fawn-similar here;Star Sequins-Michaels;Doilies-Freckled Fawn;Journaling Card:MAMBI;Stickers-October Afternoon (You are My Sunshine),Dear Lizzy (This is My Happy Place,heart border sticker,butterfly), MME (You Light up the Room, The Sweetest Face)

You know I can't resist some good clustering and this layout is no exception. :) Had fun on this one.

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

xoxo

S

You Anchor Me {Layout Share}

I have a new layout on the Paper Party blog and I wanted to share it here, too!

I've seen a lot of talk of anchors lately. Whether people like them or not...whether they ar overplayed or not.

Here's a confession. I don't care if they are overplayed. I don't care if doilies, butterflies,feathers,  or anything else is over played. No one is going to know what the trends were when they look at my albums one day.

Hell, no one might want my albums and they might end up in a box in a musty basement (but with four girls, I'm hoping otherwise).

The point is...no one is going to look at my albums when I'm gone and say "oh, anchors were so overplayed in 2013." or "this page doesn't have anything to do with xxx and it has an xxx on it".

I'm a prep at heart. I love anchors. I love bows. I love stripes. :)

So I use them. B/c they make me happy.

On this page, they actually fit into the theme, too. Which is a plus.

I have long said that Jimmy is my anchor. I'm the social butterfly. I do more "flitting". I fret more.

He is my solid, steady, dependable, strong anchor.

And I thank God for that every day.

Hence this page:

Supplies: patterned paper:Dear Lizzy(stripe,red behind main photo, 4x6 chevron card), Glitz (You Anchor Me paper layer);doily:michaels (silver,i used the back side); anchor washi tape:Glitz ; anchor garland:Glitz;mint green color shine (i misted the back side of the chevron card):Heidi Swapp;all stickers and chipboard accents:Dear Lizzy;anchor tag:Dear Lizzy;mini doilies:Greatest View;enamel dots:MME;journaling tag:Chic Tags;heart chipboard frame:Crate Paper;doily envelope overlapping right side of main photo- Martha Stewart

A few things I did that I wanted to talk about...

I had these die cut cards from Dear Lizzy:

They are really cute but I had a hard time making one work with the colors in my layout.

So I flipped it over and misted it with Mint Green Color Shine. Note...rub it in with your fingers to give it a textured look.

Another thing I did was make the washi more like "streamers". I wanted the ends to have a "flowing" look, similar to waves/water...so I only stuck the tape down in certain spots. Glitz tapes are easy to do this with as they are more papery.

I put a bit of baby powder on the spots I didn't want to stick and I reinforced the parts I did want to stick (with glue dots).

So there you have it. Another layout. Two in a week. What the what?

Oh- and guess what? My Tooth Fairy receipt was on Apartment Therapy. SQUEEE!

Okay. That's it. Y'all have a beautiful day!

xoxo

S

Monday Layout Share

I finished this layout yesterday. And as I was adding the final touches I realized something.

It took me over a week to complete this layout.

True story. That's how I roll these days. That's why I never do any layouts. That's why I'm weeks behind on Project Life.

Good times. But that's life.

I was feeling grumpy yesterday and told J that it was because I needed to make something.

So I made the time and finished this page. Yay me!

I've had a box of gorgeousness from Gossamer Blue sitting on my desk for quite some time and it's been killing me not to put it to use.

I made this using the April Main Kit.

It's chock full of Studio Calico, Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper, and Dear Lizzy.

Oh, I added a few things from my own stash. I'll list them in the product section.

This picture of Sadie makes me laugh. This is the face she makes when she's just....over it.

It's so her. And I am so glad I snapped it.

Supplies: Gossamer Blue April main kit, from stash -->Dear Lizzy lucky charm stickers, Martha Stewart kraft tags, Maggie Holmes pin, various enamel dots by MME, doilies, Heidi Swapp edge distresser(super old and discontinued but i LOVE it)

I hope you have a wonderful Monday. See you all tomorrow with a new spotlight and giveaway!

xo

New MME layouts!

Hey y'all! Happy Friday!

I just wanted to share some layouts I made with the new MME lines and show you how you can win them.

Today's the last day of the giveaway so make sure to follow my links and enter!

These were for an email blast that MME sent out, so they are a little different than my usual layouts (fewer photos,more product driven, no mixing of brands)...but I love these new lines and wanted to share them.

This one is the Cambridge Court color scheme from the new Kate&Co. line.

I am in love with Kate and Co. It is bright, happy,and fresh.

You can win the entire thing by commenting HERE.

This next layout was made using the Up and Away color scheme from Rhonna Farrer's new line Find Your Wings and Fly.

It's romantic and modern all at once. And I'm not typically a romantic product lover, but y'all..this is a gorgeous line.

You can win the entire thing HERE.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! We kick off our Spring Break this afternoon. YAY!
xoxo

S

Greatest View Guest Designer Layouts {And a Giveaway!!}

This month I had the privilege of being asked to guest design for Greatest View.

Greatest View is an adorable Etsy shop owned by an amazingly sweet lady named Gail. The shop sells badges, twine, envelopes, ribbons,and my favorites...petite doiles.

They also have a wonderful blog and FB page, so make sure to check it out!

Here are the two projects I made for Greatest View.

 

I had so much FUN with these products!

Would you like a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the shop?

Leave a comment here for a shot at the shop credit. And if you are in the mood for even more chances to win these awesome badges,

READ THIS POST

AND THIS POST

Each of the above links contain a chance to win all of the products I used on my layouts.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

And thank you so much for giving me this fun opportunity, Gail! It was a joy and a pleasure. :)

xo

 

You Make My Heart Sing

I have another layout up on the Paper Party blog! Thought I'd share it here too.

This entire layout is made with the new Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm  line.

I am OBSESSED with this collection. Seriously. I'm using bits and pieces of it on every single thing I make lately.

For a breakdown of how I made this layout (six five minute chunks!) and a supply list head on over to Lizzy's Paper Party blog.

Happy Thursday! What are you up to today? What are you making/working on lately?

xoxo

S

My 2013 Project Life

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

I hope you are having a wonderful week. I wanted to do a little (brief) post about Project Life today.

Some of you have asked if I will post my PL every week and the answer is no.

First of all, I am not really stressing myself out about when I work on PL. It's just fun for me.

So I don't want to try to post about it regularly.

Also...all project lifes look alike to me! PL is special to each of us because it is ours.

It's not revolutionary or earth-shattering and I love that.

I share some photos and stories in my PL that aren't for any eyes except Howell eyes. HAHA!

Now there are some scrapbookers that share amazing and new ideas for PL.

I'm not one of them. I'm going low pressure, low technique, photos+words.

Like you've seen/read everywhere...Project Life is whatever you want it to be.I want it to be easy and low cost.

But every now and then I would like to share products I've found that I love and show you how I used them.

Today I want to show you the album I'm using and some awesome printable cards I've found.

As far as my album goes, I'm using a Studio Calico Sundrifter Oilcloth Handbook.

For inserts, I'm using a combination of Handbook page protectors in style 1, style 2,and style 3. Heavy on the style 2.

Last year I bought a core kit and did a 12x12 album. It was too much for me.

And now for some of my favorite printables that I've used recently.

As always, Geralyn's cards remain my favorite.

These custom "what harper said" (there is also a "what sadie said" version) cards will always be a staple.

Some other printable cards that I'm loving are these Nemo Nor'Eastern cards from rukristin 's blog.

I love the way they look with the snow photos. Simple,graphic,clean.

I've been using lots of the Pebbles cards in my book. They are simple and happy.

Another great (free) printable is the Oscars card you see to the bottom left of the photo below.

I found this set on Laura Kate's blog. They are fantastic.

I decided to do a card about television shows and movies my family was enjoying.

I found this free printable TV programs card (bottom left) on the scrapbook printables website. Perfect.

The last printables I want to share are AMAZING. I cannot believe they are free.

The "fabulous life" card, Jan 28-Feb 3 card, Life is Good card,and Hello Today card are all from Miss Tiina. I LOVE THESE.

So there you go. A few shares that were too good to keep to myself!

If you have any questions ask in the comment section. As always, I'll answer there.

Have a wonderful day!

xoxo

S