I actually used a bunch of items from my stash for this page, and I feel like I'm starting to get better at incorporating things that are in boxes, not just what is on my desk.

I loved using pink in a fall colors page. I typically wouldn't do that, but the pink from the October Afternoon leaf paper was just too pretty not to include. I've been looking at colors schemes a lot lately, not just for scrapbooking but for home coordinating.

This has been a new favorite palette of mine. I'm thinking of doing Zoe's future bathroom in this color scheme.

Photo Credit

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I really haven't scrapbooked much the last six months.
Not sure why. 
I did a lot of creating and other things, but scrapbooking just kind of fell down the to do list. I use to crank out about a page every day or every other day.

So for the first time in a long time, I'm behind.
I've started pulling out pictures from last fall to work on and the creative flow is starting to come back and it's been really nice. It was also probably because I placed a large order at Paper Issues for some items I've been eyeing for months. 

(If' you've never ordered from Cassie at Paper Issues, I would highly recommend it! She always has coupon codes floating around and her shipping is lightening fast!)

For Zoe's first day of Kindergarten, I was with Ryan in the hospital having his back surgery. My mom was with Zoe for her first day. Before I left, I gave her a 30 second lesson on how to use my SLR camera. I was happy that she was able to be with Zoe and capture these for me.

I took this picture back in November, on Thanksgiving day. It doesn't completely show how tall she is or how grown up she acts. As my sisters and friends continue to have babies, I think how fast the time goes. I'm afraid I'll blink and she'll be in middle school.

Right now she has wiggly teeth and she likes laying in bed listening to music - Really. The baby years are definitely over. But this age is bringing some pretty fun things. She is reading and we are enjoying lots of time at the library because of it. She loves to do crafts and art projects, even photography. I love that I'm getting to share my passions with her.

This page was made with a mish-mash of items from a Studio Calico last call sale and the American Crafts warehouse sale. I'm really trying to use up my stash this year, since we are moving (again) and I don't want to haul everything I've got. I'm discovering some favorite items that had gotten lost in the shuffle, and I'm excited to put them on real pages.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

While looking for new items for our apartment and future home in Texas, I saw a pillow on Pinterest and thought it was so cute, but then I saw the price tag....$198.00! Yikes. As I looked closer, I noticed the fabrics were linen and my quest to make my own {less expensive} version began.

I settled on some linen from Robert Kaufman, I used the colors Natural (background) and Linen (hearts). I ordered 1/2 yard each, and my total was around $8.00. I used an 18" pillow form, I already had, but you can buy pillow forms at most crafts stores for around $5-$10.


Cuts:
Natural Fabric
2 - 18.25" x 18.25" pieces

Linen Fabric
1- 4" x WOF piece
1- 3" x WOF piece
2- 2" x WOF piece


From the Linen strips, hand cut hearts of different sizes. They don't have to be perfect as the edges will get washed.

Sew hearts onto one 18.25" square Natural piece. I looked at the original pillow and then just started stitching. Start in the middle and work your way out, alternating and even overlapping some hearts. Continue to sew hearts until you have about an inch border around the edges that is not covered.


Place both Natural fabric squares RST and sew three edges. Wash and dry cover.

Insert pillow and use a ladder stitch to close the cover and finish the pillow. {great tutorial here}
























Totally worth the savings of about $190! What about you? Are you getting the spring cleaning/redecorating bug yet?

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

This page was so fun to make, adding the pops of color to each frame, and cutting apart the tiny phrases. Rather then add embellishments to the page, which would cover the cut frames, I added them to the photo.

It's that time of year again, when lots of new scrapbooking products are coming out, but instead of looking at buying new items, I'm going to be working on the stash I already have. With moving in a few months, I need to lighten up the amount of stuff we need to move, so be looking for some giveaways, coming soon.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

In 2011 and 2012, I attempted a weekly project life. I managed to get about 12 weeks each year, but that was it. The weekly format for me was just too much. I felt guilty, got behind, and it wasn't really turning into something I wanted to do.

For 2013, I still wanted to capture the smaller every day moments, so I moved to a monthly format. While that worked much better than previous years, I still struggled when I got behind, mostly due to lack of planning and busyness.


Things I really like about the monthly format.

• Monthly reviews. After each month I typed up an overview of where we went, big events, small events, anything I wanted to remember. I've really liked being able to read these months later.
•  Memorabilia. I added an 8.5x11 page protector for each month to hold drawings, cards, e-mails, etc. and it's nice to have a place to hold all those. I'm thinking the giant envelope page protectors would also work well.
•  Less space to fill. With only one spread to fill per month, it's pretty easy to get it filled up quickly.

Things to improve for 2014.

• Get a good camera phone. Currently I don't have a phone with a good camera, which makes taking on-the-go pictures a lot harder. I scored a great deal on a new phone and it should be here soon. Really looking forward to having a camera with me at all times.
• Print pictures often.On the 1st of each month, spend 1 hour printing pictures. That is always the hardest part.
• Take notes. E-mail myself notes throughout the month. I'm pretty good at writing down sweet things that Ryan said, or funny things that Zoe did throughout the month, but I could do better.
• Simple. Sometimes I try too hard in my spreads to add the perfect embellies, etc. I think I'm going to work more on plain and simple this year.

I'm looking forward to adding a few more vacations and trips to 2014.With my OLW being Adventure, I'm planning on doing just that. I'm already making plans to visit the Grand Canyon and several fun places in Texas

I'm also looking forward to designing more cards for this year. You can see all my free downloads here. If there are any phrases or types of cards you'd like to see going forward, let me know, I'm happy to take suggestions.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

This year was our first year at home, just the three of us for Christmas. We had plans, but due to illness and work schedules, those plans of grandeur turned into a quiet celebration instead. Our families celebrate Christmas very differently, and each year as we've attended the alternating styles, we still hadn't really decided what we wanted to do for ourselves, when it was just us. We created a mash-up of the old and the new for this year.