Coptic Binding

So for Christmas my husband bought me Paige Evan's Coptic Binding Kit (you can also find her blog here) I had been watching videos for a while and fell in love with these adorable little books. They are super girly when you add charms to them and you can seriously make them out of anything. What intrigued me the most was the fact that I could make one of these out of materials I already had. Although for this one I purchased the kit, in the future I can't wait to see where my creativity takes me.

Paige's kit and instructional video was well worth the $33. Another thing that made me excited was that she only made a few kits. I am one of those people that feels super special have one of only a few of something made. It also came to me from Germany. Happy mail is one thing, but when it comes from another country it's even more exciting. As a child I collected stamps with my grandfather so seeing mail from different areas of the world fascinates me.

I will say it was a lot of work, but I can tell as I went on more and more it got easier. This is a project you do have to take your time with and that was a challenge for me. I am someone that likes to work quickly. In Paige's kit, it is set up to do 10 signatures, but since I was doing a year I did 12 signatures. I just went through my own cardstock and picked colors that matched. My book totals 120 pages.

I loved the charms that she included, but then I decided to add a few of my personal favorites. I am obsessed with clouds and rain showers so I wanted to keep clouds at the top and go from there. The umbrella is probably my favorite charm which is from Freckled Fawn as are the clouds.

It was truly a super fun project to work on and I cannot wait for my friend Molly's kit to arrive so I can see how hers comes out.

Some news to share!!

I am so excited to share with you all that I am on the Let's Get Sketchy design team. My layout is up on their blog along with the sketch I followed. I would love to see what you create. Here are some up close pictures of the layout I made, Happy Creating!!

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