This weekend we celebrated the life and goodness of my cousin, David. He went missing September 2011, and his remains were found this fall. David and I were good friends during my late teen years, when AOL was the big thing. We chatted over e-mails and IMs for the better part of a few years. He was a good friend,  hilarious, kind, gentle and a great man.



It's sad that funerals are what tend to bring the majority of our family together, but it really is so wonderful to catch up with everyone, see how our families have grown, and share sweet memories. I've spent the last 2 days with my extended family and I feel so blessed to be a part of such a group. A few immediate observations; We are loud, we like Diet Coke, and we love each other.

I've grateful that families are forever and that we will see him again someday.

I hope you have a wonderful, blessed Sunday and a Happy New Year!

I seem to let blogging go around the holidays, even though I have so much to blog about, I end up being busy doing things instead of writing about them. We've spent the past couple weeks with family, celebrating holidays, birthdays and enjoying some down time. We'll be back to normal life in about a week or so, but in the meantime.....
I have a great treat for those of you who have stuck around.

Thanks to my new DT spot over at Simple Scrapper, I have a great giveaway from Big Picture Classes!!!

One person will win a spot in Tracey Clark's class, "Art of Composition" (standard edition)
Class details below

The Art of Composition
12 weeks of capturing compelling images taught by Tracey Clark

Starts 1/3/2013

Class Description
Are you ready to see a dramatic improvement in your photographs? Tracey Clark, professional
photographer and founder of Shutter Sisters, kicks off our 2013 4Experts series with The Art of
Composition, a 12-week journey into one of the most important fundamentals of photography-
namely, composition.
No matter what kind of photography you enjoy, The Art of Composition will change how you
look at the world around you while teaching you about line, shadow, shape, focus, negative
space, balance, color and more!
This highly sought-after class is back again in two versions:
● Our Standard version, the original class that delighted hundreds of students during its
first run, is open for unlimited enrollment. You'll enjoy all of Tracey's original content
(weekly lessons, video instruction, rich imagery, creative exercises, and challenges), plus
access to a rich and vibrant community of fellow classmates.


I'm super excited about this class. It will be my first official photography class, and I can't wait to get started on it! This giveaway is only open until the 1st of January, so make sure to enter quick!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Well this weekend proved to be anything but seasonal....I spent Friday night in the emergency room with a ruptured ovarian cyst, for those of you keeping count, that's 3 in the past 2 years, but I am on the mend.

It's finals week here, so timing couldn't have been worse for Ryan but he is amazing and has managed to take care of me and Zoe, make sure we are all fed (and in my case, medicated) and getting his final projects done. This weekend he was Superman - he really was.

In crafting news, I'm really excited to announce that I'm part of the new Simple Scrapper Team at simplescrapper.com. You can see the entire team here.

Simple Scrapper is an amazing website, with 2 different types of membership. It includes all kinds of inspiration and sketches, free printables, and so much more! You can join for free here.

I'm looking forward to being a part of this community and team, and I'm sure it will help me streamline my own scrapbooking!

And because it's been awhile since I shared a page on here, this is a page a made for Pretty Little Studio a while back. I love the monochromatic layout with the pop of color from the photo.


Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Finally! It's finished! It only took about 8 months :)

I finally finished the quilt I'd envisioned for Zoe's room, and I made a matching pillow case to go with it. We're working right now to rearrange and organize her room. I'm hoping early next year we can move her out of the crib/toddler bed and into a twin, which will open up her room nicely. I added some vinyl and cloth butterflies I got on clearance this summer.



I adore the way this quilt turned out, but next time I attempt something this difficult, I will use a pattern. All the math was overwhelming, especially because I was measuring on the diagonal and I haven't been in a math class since my junior year of high school (that's about to change in 4 week, yikes!)

I made the pillowcase out of the backing and binding fabrics, so they do actually match.

I do plan on writing up a pattern at some point, but there is a MUCH smaller version of the quilt available HERE

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I seriously LOVED working with this kit, seriously it felt like the layouts just fell into place. It also produced my new favorite layout (although that seems to always be in rotation)

This page I went a little heavy on the mist, but it doesn't look as bright in person, that's just the light reflecting off the Mr. Huey Shine. I love the glassine bags that Lisa puts the tags and fun stuff in, I'm not sure if other people use them on pages or just throw them away, but I love them. They are a great way to hide journaling.


This is my new favorite page. Probably because I'm so proud of myself for actually getting Christmas cards this year. We've been married for 5 years and this is the first time I managed to accomplish this task. I did Halloween cards when Zoe was just a few months old, but that was because I didn't do birth announcements.

 I stuck with rounded edges for the entire layout, playing off the rounded edges on our card. The Crate gold dot vellum is AMAZING. I need at least 10 more sheets. I'm hoarding the other 6x12 sheet I have. Also, it features the new MME enamel dots, for which I should buy stock in. I love these so much. Ok enough gushing about my new favorite page.....


I went with a black and white vintage action series for this picture. I  fussy cut the snowflakes and again used the MME enamel dots. ( I actually had to go buy a second pack) The snowflake paper was perfect for our first snow pictures. (Zoe is getting ready to hit me with a snow ball in this picture. Look how happy she is!)

The PaperHaus Winter 2012 issue is now available! It's 119 pages of pure awesome!

I made this using some BG Fact or Fictions + Studio Calico Nov. Kit, so bright, quite different from the fall and winter pages I've been doing lately.

Fun Announcement!!
If you come here often you should notice the addition of the "Shop" tab up at the top. Right now, I've only got some stamps I've clearing out, but soon there will be some fun stuff in there. Take a look, let me know what you think.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Recently, I had a lull in assignments and got to do a bunch of scrapping just for me, well this one is for my sister. This is my nephew, Noah, who is one of Zoe's favorite playmates.

Whenever Jenni and I are on the phone, we are sure to hear Noah in the background, he has spirit that's for sure. Our phone conversations usually take hours, mostly because we get interrupted every 3 minutes, but it makes for some good laughs. We recently started Skyping and the kids get so excited they can't sit in front of the camera for more than a few seconds, which kind of defeats the purpose.

I used my November Studio Calico kit, along with some KI memories and Basic Grey Fact and Fiction. I really wanted to feature several patterned papers for this page, so I chose a pie chart to help with that task. I use THIS one from Silhouette.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

This year, I bought a December Daily kit, from the amazing Kelly Purkey. I adore her stamps and thought this would be a great fit for my style. The stamps really sold it for me. (and all the other stuff is amazing too)

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had a total of 21 people in attendance, 12 kinds of pie and more food than we could eat. We talked, played games, and I spent the better part of an afternoon with my almost-one-year-old cousin Anna, sleeping in my arms. It was such a fun and busy day, I only got pictures of the table decor.

 Rachel said...

this is cool! we found out today that my mother-in-law's microwave died. we went out and bought her a new one.

November 16, 2012 7:43 PM

 

I'm so thankful for all of you that entered, keep up the good work. This is definitely a giveaway I will be repeating.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Supplies: Studio Calico November Kit, Prima Ladybug chalk ink, American Crafts fine tip slick writer.

I don't know who the quote is by, but it says, " When you are a parent, the days are long but the years are short." Oh how quickly they go by. Next year, Zoe will be going to Kindergarten. Like REAL school.

I was explaining the background of Thanksgiving to her today, and asked her what she was thankful for. Her list made me smile. It wasn't until number 8 or 9 that she mentioned her toys. Her first items were family, friends, Jesus, sunshine, blue skies with fluffy white clouds ( yep her words), flowers that smell good... I kept asking her what else, what else, until she got bored. It was a fun game.

Don't forget my RAK challenge below, open until next Thursday. I've got some Basic Grey Fact or Fiction to throw in there, along with some stuff I'll probably get at the American Crafts warehouse sale next week, I might have to split it up into 2 boxes....

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I love reading stories of RAKs. Seriously, it restores my faith in Humanity, in people. I've also been blessed to be on the receiving end of so many.

Whether it be a card in my mailbox, treating me to chili cheese fries (that I'd been dying to try) taking Zoe for an afternoon so I can get some chores done or just have some quiet time, talking me through a bad day and lots of tears, they all have an impact.

I truly believe, it is small acts, that can have the most impact.

I'm issuing a challenge, along with an incentive.

I challenge you by Thanksgiving, to complete a random act of kindness. (If you have already done one this week, that counts :)

Send a card or letter.
Complete a chore for a family member.
Pay for a stranger's hot chocolate.
Contribute to a food bank.
ETC.

Come back here and leave a comment, for a chance to win a 5.2 lb box (yes, I weighed it) from my stash.

The box contains full to half sheets of paper, lots of embellies, sticker letters ( a few may be missing) rub-ons, even Studio Calico kit exclusives (remember those clouds from Buzz & Bloom, yep there is a full set in there)

Giveaway is open until Thursday, November 22nd. Because of the size of the package, I will only be able to ship to US residents, but I didn't want to leave out international readers, so I will have a drawing for a gift card to somewhere awesome for those participants.

Make sure to leave your e-mail address in the comments so I can find you if you win!

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I finally did some just for fun scrapbooking. Lately, I've been sticking to assignments and/or specific projects, but it was nice to get back to doing pages just for me. I made this using the Studio Calico November kit - which I really had an easy time working with. I wasn't sure about the feathers, but I ended up loving them for this page.

The title of the page, is not referenced to personal beauty, but to the beauty in life. I recently purchased this pendant from THIS SHOP on Etsy and wear it daily, it help me remember to seek the good.

We've been getting snow lately, which...
1. makes me giddy
2. means we are drinking a LOT more hot chocolate
3. it's dark and wet outside making taking pictures of projects difficult.

We spent the afternoon playing in the snow with friends. The snow today is perfect packing snow. We got there when someone was already starting a fort and we just kept on building.


























It's quite a big fort. We didn't get it all the way finished - we decided to go sledding instead. Maybe some more snow will fall and we'll get to finish it.

In scrappy news, if you don't follow me on instagram or twitter (@brwneyes525 ) you missed my post about the December Scrapbook Circle kit. It is amazing! I had it for 5 hours and completed 3 layouts, with 2 more in the planning stages. That might be a record for me!

 Here's a sneak peek -

Things have been so busy I forgot to post about our cookie decorating party. I made a LOT of cookies, using my mom's sugar cookie recipe. I made regular sugar cookies as well as chocolate sugar cookies with a bit of recipe tampering.

 Jamie and I had done cookie decorating before with the kids, and the sprinkles were fought over, so I decided to give everyone their own set of sprinkle, using mini muffin cups. This was great, until the kids dumped the entire cup(s) worth on a cookie. Probably would've worked better with older kids.

 We had 9 different kinds of sprinkles. Most purchase at the Target $1 spot. LOVE that aisle. The rest were purchased at the Prepared Pantry, which is also where I got the neon food coloring. They have an online store HERE if you need to purchase concentrated colors but don't want to buy an entire pack, they sell them individually.

And yes, I took a shortcut. I used store bought frosting. But in my defense, I made like 6 dozen sugar cookies. That's a lot of rolling, cutting and baking.

 As you can see, they all ate as the were decorating. Which was fine by me. The moms snacked on some other food I made and enjoyed some good conversation.

Whew! Finally got caught up on all my editing. I tried out a new program RadLab, which is a Photoshop add-on, and it made the process go so much quicker. I've been debating which program to add to my Photoshop Elements for editing, and now RadLab is in the running against Lightroom. Sigh.

Anyway, It's actually Ms. Hodge's birthday today, so I thought it would be great to showcase a few of my favorites from their session.

Over at Studio Calico this month, there was a Breast Cancer Awareness challenge, using PINK on your layout.

Lucky for me - I happened to have pictures from Race for the Cure and the perfect pink scrappy stuff to complete the challenge! I had a great time with this challenge, I got to dig through a lot of my stash to find some fun pink things.



























I love that our family has this tradition. It's a great excuse for us to get all together and celebrate those in my family who have battled cancer.

Looking forward to this weekend, this week has been rather packed and stressful.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

It's that time again - the November Scrapbook Circle kit is now on sale HERE. This kit was right up my alley. I adore Fall, so the dark woodgrain and bold colors (teal, plum, gold) were just perfect.

My new favorite page. Check the Scrapbook Circle blog on Friday for details about how I made this page.























This next page - I just can't get over how close these 2 are. Zoe and her Great-Grandpa Morgan are like kindred souls, they just connect so well and I love watching them together. I'm so glad Zoe is able to spend time with them, get to know them and befriend them. I think it's one of the most special things I've ever seen.
This was from apple picking this year. Grandpa had a special bucket with her name on it, and a special little ladder just for her. I hope when she grows up, she realizes how lucky she is to have gotten to know him.

































I unknowingly started a tradition with Zoe. Every winter, I buy her a new hat. It started when she was a baby and I bought this adorable knit hat from Gymboree with cupcakes on it. The next year it was fair isle, the year after that it was snowflakes. This year - Polka Dots!


































Thankfully before the big storm I was able to capture Zoe playing in the leaves. She had a good time throwing leaves at me while I was taking her picture.


































And last of all, I made this card for my mom. I needed to mail her something and thought a handmade card would be a nice touch.






















I still have a TON of product left over. I'm hoping to add to my projects over the month of November, especially around Turkey Day :)

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Lately, I've been busier than I prefer to be.
Everything from Dr. appts to scrapbooking assignments to laundry to exercising...
the list seems to go on and on.
But I'm grateful that for the most part - we are all doing well.

Zoe has been enjoying the snow, and her new winter hat. I found her sleeping in it the other night. We spent Thursday sledding, making snow angels, throwing snow balls, playing with friends etc.



We got a jump start on the Halloween celebrations last night. Zoe's school held a carnival, full of fun games and treats.
Zoe got all dressed up and I even put make-up on her to make her "sparkle".
She had tons of fun and they even had a photo booth (pictures to come)

We got rather lucky with the weather. This morning there was 6+ inches of snow on the ground. We spent all day playing in the snow and then coming inside and cuddling, watching movies.

Check back tomorrow for a scrappy post!

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I am SO in love with November's kit. It is PACKED full of brand new stuff! And if you are new to this blog - I have a slight obsession with Fall, so this kit is right up my alley.

So far I've only gotten a chance to make 2 pages and a card, but there is plenty left over for the rest of my projects.

Here's a couple sneaks to tease you.