Looking Back at 2011

This year was an eventful one. I took the girls to their first ever Barnum and Bailey Circus. They absolutely loved it! Now that they are older, I hope to take them to the Transyberian Orchestra in 2012. I can't wait!

My scrappy year has been awesome this year! I was honored to be chosen to be on the GCD Studios, Creative Memories, and Noel Mignon design teams. I learned so much and met some pretty cool designers. Although my terms for Creative Memories and Noel Mignon have ended, I still will be checking in every so often to see what the inspiration from the new teams.

That brings me to reflect over my scrapping over this past year. Here are my favorites from 2011:

1. Tea Party - GCD Studios

2. Turning Six - Lily Bee

3. Two Teeth - Bella Blvd.

4. A Cold Treat - Crate Paper

5. Four Inches - Sassafras

6. A Little Bit Shy - Noel Mignon kit

7. My Girl - GCD Studios

8. Goodies - Noel Mignon kit

9. Sticky News - Noel Mignon kit

10. Bike Ride - Pink Paislee

And that is it for 2011. Happy New Year's Eve!

See you next year!

When Things Go Awry

I have discovered that toddlers are not always the most willing subjects to have their picture taken. My daughter was no exception to this rule. I was lucky enough to get a picture of her being both upset and happy during Christmas. I used these pictures to document what happened that day on my layout.

Supplies:
The World's Greatest from Funhouse
Clown Alley from Funhouse
Brave Soul from Soul Food

Christmas is a happy time in our lives but don't forget to document the not so happy or perfect times. They make nice little snapshots in time that you can go back and reminisce on.

A New Tradition

Meet Henry. He is new to our household this year. The girls love finding him in the mornings. They are also mindful of making sure they behave because they don't want Henry to tell Santa to put them on the naughty list.

Henry arrived the week before Thanksgiving. Yes I know. He came a bit early but sometimes Santa just can't wait the extra week. So far Henry has been found hanging from things or just chilling somewhere. Come December, I have a feeling he will be found playing some tricks of his own.

Happy Tuesday!

Homemade Advent Calendar

I loved advent calendars when I was a little girl. To be honest, I still love them as an adult. Every year I purchase an chocolate advent calender for my girls but this year I wanted to make one. I found a little box template online and then proceeded to created 24 of these cute little packages of happiness.

They take a little time to make but they are so worth it. Just find a box template you like and then go to town. You can even enlist your little helpers to punch out the circles and adhere them to the boxes. I add a few pieces of candy to each box and then place the boxes in order on my mantel piece.

Supplies:
Under the Big Top from Funhouse
Sweet Spot from Material Girl
Butterfly Harmony from Spring in Bloom

I hope that this will inspire you to create your own version of an advent calendar.

Time to Heat Up the Kitchen!

I love this time of year. I am not a big fan of being outside in the cold but I do love to spend my time in the kitchen baking all sorts of goodies. I have already started baking some of my German Christmas treats that I only make during the November and December months. After that, the recipes go back in my book until next year. First up are some of my favorite recipes that I have from my Oma. I always look forward to making these goodies first! My absolute favorite is the Christstollen. It's the German version of a fruit cake but it is nothing like the American one. It tastes heavenly with a cup of coffee or tea.

Next up are the Elisen Lebkuchen. I also discovered a new recipe last year of these that I will be making in the next week or two.

This year I plan on making a mini album with all my Christmas baking recipes so expect to see lots more tantalizing photos of sweet treats in the near future!


Happy Wednesday!

Spider Girl to the Rescue with GCD Studios

Hello everyone! Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. Not only is it fun to dress up but I also love all the yummy Halloween candy you can buy. Since we are on the topic of Halloween, I am going to show you a quick and easy way to add a spider web to your layout.

First you will need a sheet of cardstock. Lightly draw a spider web on your cardstock with a pencil.

Next spray a little bit of mist before tracing the pencil lines with a black pen. After everything has dried, gently erase any visible pencil marks.

The last thing you will need to do is to cut around the outside of your spider web and adhere it to another piece of cardstock or patterned paper. Viola! A super easy and fun spider web. I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Here is what the finished product looks like.

Supplies:
Soul Food Brave Soul
Sweet Surrender Envelope Cards
Sweet Surrender The Little Lovebirds
Elementary My Dear Paper Pack

Happy Creating!

A Halloween Preview

Halloween is quickly approaching. Around here we have been working on finishing up Halloween decorations and getting the menu put together for the Halloween party. The girls are excited and can't wait for this upcoming Saturday when all their little friends come over for some ghoulish fun!

This weekend I let the girls dress up in their costumes and took a few shots of them. They were such good sports.

This year I have a little Alice in Wonderland and a little mermaid.

I did a bit of scrapping this weekend as well. Here is one I finished. The picture is from last year's Halloween.

Happy Haunting!

Noel Mignon Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Noel Mignon Spooktacular Blog Hop! This will be a two day event, so be sure to join us both Saturday and Sunday to join in on all the fun.

Each member of the design team has created a fabulous tag with a letter featured prominently on it; collect a letter from each blog and unscramble them to discover a word.

The first stop on the hop is the NoelMignon LO/Project blog. So if you are stopping here first, please head back over there and start over to be sure you collect all the letters: http://noelmignonlayouts.blogspot.com/ .

Be sure to leave comments along the way.... once you've collected all the letters and think you've unscrambled the word, email Virginia at 2blackflipflops at gmail dot com with your entry. We'll draw one random name from the correct entries for a fun My Mind's Eye Halloween prize pack!

The Hudson Valley kit goes up for sale bright and early Tuesday morning! Get your order in early, as this one has the lines that have been getting a lot of attention since they debuted at CHA, and it won't last long!

Your next stop is Gretchen!

Happy Hopping!

Come Join the Fun!

Fun stuff happening over at Noel Mignon! Make sure you stop by!

We are starting to get in the Halloween spirit at my house. We decorated the outside and started to decorate the inside of the house. I plan on having a kid's Halloween party this year. All the guests will have to come in costume. I am sure it will be a blast! I can't wait! I have also had some fun working on a few Halloween layouts. Here are a couple of my recent ones.

Happy Haunting!

Free Kit and Flower Girls

How would you like to win this kit from Noel Mignon? It's chalked full of all sorts of goodies! Visit the Noel Mignon Blog for more information on winning this awesome kit!

Recently my girls had the honor of being the flower girls for their aunt's wedding earlier this month. They did a great job and loved being all dressed up for a day. I started working on some layouts and here is my most recent one.

Happy Creating!

Soup Love with GCD Studios

I love fall time. I love how the leaves start changing into beautiful shades of orange and red. I love the cool crisp air. Best of all, I love the smell of homemade soup cooking on the stove. Nothing warms up the belly like a nice bowl of soup.

This month I was inspired to create a layout based on the traditional color scheme of Halloween. I just had to create a page with a picture of my first bowl of pumpkin soup for the year. I used pops of orange, black, cream, and gray. This is such a lovely color scheme and can work great with any type of layout.

Supplies:
Sweet Surrender The Little Lovebirds
Sweet Surrender Tying the Knot
Sweet Surrender Cabochons
Soul Food Transparent Shapes
Elementary My Dear Paper Pack

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Creating!

Simple Comforts with GCD Studios

I love the fall weather. For me it means spending lots of time in the kitchen making tasty sweets. One of our favorite comfort foods are strawberry pancakes. They are so delicious! The little strawberry pieces melt as you cook the pancakes and end up tasting almost exactly like strawberry jam! After you are done cooking them, throw them on a plate, pour on the maple syrup, and dig in!

Paper:
Material Girls It's in the Bag
Material Girls Hugs and Kisses
Material Girls Girly Girl
Material Girls A Girl's Best Friend

Just looking at this layout makes me want to rush into the kitchen and whip up a batch of these scrumptious pancakes! What type of foods are considered comfort foods in your family?

A Little School Mini with GCD Studios

My oldest daughter started first grade this year. I thought it would be cute to create a little mini album about her first year of school. So far I have created the first few pages and plan on adding more as the year progresses. I plan on placing pictures of various school activities as well as keeping some of her homework papers and awards.

First I needed a cover for my album. I wanted something simple. I placed my title on the chipboard cover, adhered them, painted, and then added a splattering of mist.

For my first page, I wanted to record her actual first day of school along with a picture of her from that day.

I wanted to keep my album uniform yet simple. The right hand side is reserved for journaling while the left hand side has plenty of space for pictures.

This album is far from being complete but it's a start to documenting my daughter's first year. This would also make a great gift to someone who has school age children or even little children in daycare.

Supplies:
Chip Art Chipboard Kit 5x7
Chip Art Chipboard Shapes: Medium Alphabet Set
Funhouse The World's Greatest
Soul Food Brave Soul
Funhouse Popcorn Journal Tags
Soul Food Fancy Chipboard Stickers
Soul Food Transparent Shapes