Ready Set Go.

So I may or may not have continued to make pages for Paper Issues Challenges again! Okay, who am I kidding? I'm addicted! And you all are coming to know that! This one was for their Pawsitively Pets challenge that is all about the animals in your life!

This is fairly easy because - well, I kind of attack my poor sweet boy with my camera in his face quite frequently.

I actually was excited to use scraps up that I had that matched perfectly with pieces of Cool Kid by Crate Paper. Although I was dying to use some of the cute kitty stuff from the Cute Girl line - I just couldn't- I'm weird. My cat is 100% boy and I can't put that in the back of my head. So boy stuff barfed on my page instead.  

I used some mixed media such as watercolor to create the "mess" in the background. Made the page look a little dirty like all boys are! Added some thread behind bits of the embellishment clusters. I loved how this page came together! Also- I had to include the boy sticker- "a noise with dirt on it."- my cat meows all the time. Works perfectly!  

Love how this page came together! I hope I inspired you also to get a little dirty and scrap your cute pets!  Also join the Paper Issues Facebook Group as always for great challenges!! 

xo. Renee

Happy Birthday.

Oh you all know that a few weeks ago was my 30th birthday! While a lot of my plans failed,  I definitely had a wonderful day with my family! I am so blessed with a family that loves me immensely.

I love this page that I threw together so much! Maggie Holmes knocks it out of the park every time with her new lines. Yes, some say they look relatively the same- but really, if it works- why change it?! I always end up using every piece of the collection! I used pieces from her new line Gather which worked really well with the MAMBI birthday stickers I had that I wanted to use as well!

Also a great thing about the American Craft company ( who owns Crate Paper / Maggie Holmes ) is their awesome customer service! When I received my Gather 6x12 sticker sheet, I saw that they weren't cut directly through so I could peel them up with ease. Instead, they were ripping from the paper as well as leaving the sticky behind. I contacted them about the problem and they have sent me a replacement!  Fantastic! I would have hated to buy another one, although- as much as I love this collection- I would have ;)  Also noted, I still used the stickers from the defective sheet- thank goodness for good ol'  Tombow mono glue! - Seriously, couldn't wait til I received the functional stickers! 

My favorite picture from the day. I spent all day with my parents as Iowa was mostly under water- we decided to go to our neighbor up north - Minnesota for a day of shopping and food! I was decked in my 30th  birthday gear- stash and crown. Apparently the manager at Buffalo Wild Wings thought I needed an added crown. Or maybe I was acting already goofy- that Party Buffalo crown would be better? 

Hope you enjoyed this page! 

xo. Renee

30th Birthday!

Finally my birthday has came! I finally joined the Dirty Thirty club!  Okay, let's face it- I've always been dirty but I'm now thirty!  I literally couldn't wait to scrap about it - that I did this page the next morning all excited! 

I had so many different plans for the day but of course, making plans is never good- they all seemed to fail. I thought maybe I'd be spending the day shopping in a near by town and drinking with friends. Seems September is a busy month because no one was available when my birthday actually fell on a weekend! ( Except my bestie because she's literally the best person in the world.)  

Also, who knew it could flood in September? Isn't that a spring gig when all the snow melts? But Iowa has been flooding on and off all September- literally kids have been having no school days - so unheard of at this time of the year! So with that happening, major roads have been closed and flooding all over towns that are major in the state of Iowa.  We decided to bail Iowa and head north to Minnesota to spend the day shopping. 

I spent most of the day using my free stuff coupons. Got to love that perk of a birthday! Free coffees, free drinks, free food.. give me! My sister lives on the east coast but never fails to deliver silliness for my birthday!  She sent me a  30's stash and 30's ears to wear as well as a mug. She told me I had to wear it all day- so I did. Live it up, you're only 30 once! Dad sent pictures to her all day to prove I was wearing it- didn't happen if you don't see it right?  At B-Dubs, they provided me also with a "party buffalo" crown. I slid that bad boy right on top of my 30's ears and rocked it.

I ended the night with drinks with my best friend. A great way to start my 30's with deep conversation. She just had a baby and I can't believe she still made the time to sit with me for a while. It was her first time really away from him, so hopefully her night was well spent! Because I'm so thankful for her time with me!  I think I spent my day just out right- with people who mean the world to me and made me feel loved all day. 

xo. Renee 

Supplies included items from A Beautiful Mess Messy Box, Studio Calico Documenter Kits, Joilee Stickers and Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Confetti Stickers. 

Gracie Selfies.

Again, I'm back with another layout I made for the Paper Issues Friends and Fan's Facebook Group. Seriously, went balls to the walls with the challenges this last month! I'm so excited about all the work I was able to get done!  Now that it's October- they're starting to list their challenges for this month- I can't wait to get started on those!!

For this challenge you had to scraplift one of the design teams' pages they had shown, I thought it was perfect for a selfie I took with Gracie.  Than it dawned on me- being they showed 3 photos in the page- I should also use selfies from throughout the years!  It also was a perfect excuse to use the Cute Girl line by Crate Paper! 

It's so cute to see the photos of Gracie from the time I knew her, although I wish I was able to find something from when she was even younger. I've been watching her and her siblings off and on since she was nearly 9 months old! And she's always loved to sit on my lap - and I've apparently always loved to take selfies! Even though she's 8 years old- gosh that's crazy- she still wanted to sit on my lap this last time I watched her and we watched all the things going on at the park. I am glad I was able to capture these memories of us on this page!  She's such a sweetie and I love our little bond we have together!! 

I hope you check out the Paper Issues' shop as well as Facebook group! There's so much inspiration and her service is outstanding!! 

xo. Renee