It's been a while...

What a crazy end of the year it has been!! I have been away for some time as I was working full time. I had to leave to attend to my oldest daughter and some issues she is having. I miss work terribly, but now I can get back to my favorite thing to do... create!! I am hoping for big things this New Year. I will have some new things to share in the weeks to come and I hope to be back here creating and memory making for my little girls. Happy New Year!!!

Exciting News!!!

It has been killing me to not be able to share with the world my most recent news. As some of you know I am terrible at keeping secrets lol. I love inspiring people, it is just something I truly enjoy. So when I decided to start applying for design teams over the summer, it was a series of downs, downs and more downs. I wasn't truly prepared for rejection. I had no idea it would feel much like when I did not make the cheer team in junior high, but like all things, if you strive for it you will make it!! I am super excited to announce that I am part of a brand new team over at Sketches in Thyme... their project life sketch design team!!!! 

For those of you that have been wanting to follow sketches or that are new to project life, as sketches are announced you will be able to see my designs based off those sketches. I hope that they will inspire you to create beautiful things. You will be able to see my first card launch in November <3

xx Tiffani xx

A wonderful gift

I received such an amazing gift from an angel the other day. First let me explain the reason for lack of posts lately. I have started working full time. I am just starting to adjust to work life as I have not physically worked outside of my home in over 5 years. It has been a challenge , but we are making it work. A few days ago I had posted one of my hand lettering images on the journal bible group.

I was so excited to share the picture as I have been wanting a journal bible for quite some time. While waiting for the chance to purchase one, a woman messaged me. She wanted to send me a bible. I was shocked and in awe. It was by far one of the greateadt gifts a girl could ask for.

Upon opening my bible I felt lost. Where would I even begin to start? It felt foreign to me, but I knew it was time. Its been time for quite a while now. Like a rebellious little child I was mad at God, mad at what he put me through. Mad at what he put my children through, but in the end he would make me see that it was necessary, that it would make me stronger and open my eyes to a world where I was needed. A world of homeless children and families, men that fought for our country and the elderly that were left in their last days without family. He opened my eyes and helped me to be a voice, a voice for all those less fortunate. And even though , in my weakest times when I could have taken the "easy" way out and gone down a dark path of emptiness and false happiness, he still held me tight and somewhere deep inside the light was shining once again.

I did it!

First let me say it has been one hectic week. Over the weekend all three kiddsos were sick with croup. Today my oldest has started a fever, so  my scrapping has been on hold. Last night I finally decided to take the plunge and finally create my first process video. I am still sick to my stomach with nerves, but as I have learned, if we never take the plunge, we will just keep putting it off. Be brave <3

So for this layout I was inspired by lesson 3 of the Scrapbook Basics class taught by Nancy Damiano. I also did this layout for a challenge hop over the weekend. Layers are not something I am that good at so I do not work with them often. That class truly helped.

On Monday, I got the chance to work with another passion of mine, photography. So I took daddy and the 2 younger girls out back while the oldest was in school. I just love how these pictures came out. 

This was also my first time using multiple alphas in a title. Isn't this picture just adorable! She is pinching his cheeks, something they do to each other all day. 

I love banners, so I cut some triangles from some scrap paper and then used some embroidering thread for the string. I love how this came out, it just adds that little extra touch. 

For months, I held onto this cut out. I have tried to use it on multiple layouts, but I think that this fit the best here. 

I hope you enjoyed this layout and I hope that I inspire someone out there to not give up. Don't hide behind the computer scared to put yourself out there. You create beautiful work, share it with the world anyway you can. 

xx Tiffani <3

Brave!

Lately, all I can think about is scrapping!! Yesterday while at a Dr appointment it came to me to basket weave my scraps. As soon as I got home I sat down and starting cutting. I did not actually get to work on anything until after my husband went to work at 11pm. We had such a wonderful family day yesterday. I feel so blessed to have 3 beautiful little girls and a husband that lives me whole heartily.

So this would be my 5th layout this week using my Sept Hip Kit...,, I am on a serious role here lol. I also decided to use 9 patterns for the Birds of a Feather bonus challenge. Did I mention I also won a gift certificate from playing bingo with them. It was lots of fun and I cannot wait to play around with some of their products.

When we first arrived in NH, I wanted to show my husband and girls where mommy grew up. I took them to the neighborhood I grew up in. This was the playground (although not the same equipment) that I stayed at until the street lights came on. The playground was pretty much in my backyard. The girls had so much fun. 

You will notice on a lot of my layouts, I do things in sequences of 3. When writing in my journal I always end with 3 hearts. Those 3 hearts signify my girls, Harmony, Melody and Symphony. I had so much fun adding all the embellishments. It has become more of a challenge as I work towards using up all of my kit. 

Playing on the playground and climbing the bigger kid slide, showed a lot of bravery for my oldest. She has always been very cautious of things. I was so proud of her. 

I love that I can bring my children to all the places I went to as a child. There is such a great sense of fulfillment knowing that they will grow up like I did, surrounded by lots of history and recreating my childhood memories. 

xx <3 Tiffani

31!!!

I would have to say that, even in the most difficult times in my life, last year was one of my best birthdays. My biggest wish came true, the one thing I wished for every year, we were in my home state, New Hampshire. Although not under the best of circumstances, I was finally home. Able to raise my children in one of the best education systems in our country and back near friends and family. Living in Florida was a very unhappy 15 years. I felt trapped. Turning 31 was a year of fresh starts and freedom.

This is my 4th layout this week using my September Hip Kit. Seriously a fantastic investment!! 

I decided that I would give my hands a rest from all the recent hand cutting I was doing, and play with some mixed media. 

I got the inspiration behind this from Rachael Funnell over at The Scrapbook Store. I first added a layer of gel medium over my entire page to prep it. Then, I used my Ranger's texture paste with my Tim Holtz stencil for the pattern around the edges. After that I sprayed my page with my Dylusions spray inks and then sprayed some water with my mini mister. This created the dripping effect. This was my first time doing this and I can see where this can easily be so much fun.

I have quite a few stamps and I never use them. So this time I decided to play around. I am into arrows right now big time. I also could not wait to use this balloon from the Amy Tangerine cut outs. I am addicted to balloons lol. The saying was very symbolic to what we were going through last year, and what a journey it was.

Turning 31 was a big ordeal to me, I learned so much that year. We live, learn and grow from all experiences in life. We must take the good from the bad and have faith that God has a plan for all of us. I have never been so tested like I was that year. There were 2 roads I could have went down and instead of taking the easy way, I took that rocky, bumpy, twisty, turny road. I am so happy that I did because it made me the person I am today. 

xx <3 Tiffani

Dream

Good Morning!! This year my oldest started Kindergarten, and let me tell you, I am so not used to these early mornings. I have always been a night owl. So last night I decided to work on a sleepy layout for the Like For Ever challenge :) This is our youngest, Symphony and daddy. I love capturing pictures when daddy snuggles with the girls.

The challenge was to take the word TALENT and use something from each letter. For my layout I used Twine, Arrows, Layers, Embroidering Thread, and Thickers. Since I have been on a hand cutting kick, I decided to do a star and include a geometric pattern. I had to step away a few times to rest my eyes, but I love how it turned out. 

Purple and teal are two of my favorite colors. I love how they look next to one another.

Most of what you see here came from the Sept Hip Kit. I fell in love with these little house cut outs from Amy Tangerine. What better way to use them than in a night time scene :) I am also so in love with these cut out from Crate Paper. You can find all these in the Hip Kit here. Enjoy!!