Hi everyone!  Lindsay here to bring you a Product Spotlight I hope you’ll LOVE!!!  Today’s feature kit is Yours Truly ~ a beautiful, whimsical, and heart-filled kit perfect for scrapping those special photos of anything and everything you LOVE!  And there is lots to love about this kit ~ the gorgeous, rich colors; the sweet clay heart buttons; the darling ric-racs and ball fringe borders; the fun metal clips; and I myself have a little love affair going on with trees and birdies, so this kit is a personal favorite of mine.  And with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, now is the perfect time to head on over to the Shoppe to pick up Yours Truly and fall head over heels in love for yourself!

For a limited time, Yours Truly will be on SALE for just $5.96 !  Just look at all these goodies!

This kit has SO many fun elements, and the team has put together some simply fabulous inspiration pages to showcase it!  So let’s take a look!  First off is my page.  I thought the pretty pinks, whimsical hearts, and ribbon-wrapped frame would be a great way to show off one of my very favorite photos of my daughter as a tiny newborn!  Plus, everything (and I do mean everything!) I had for that girl was pink and brown, so this page really represents my baby “color scheme” I had going on when she was little!!!

Next up is Amber’s sweet page! I adore that cluster she’s got clipped together at the base of her pictures, the mix of the horizontal & vertical striped papers, and those black scallop border strips, which really helps to make all the pretty colors she’s put together, as well as those darling photos of her daughter pop!  Alongside, we have Casharina’s beautiful layout!  I love the way she created a vintage feel to her page by using black & white photographs along with the personalized vintage Valentine.  And the layering in her title work is pure perfection with those pastel word strips along with the fun heart-filled alpha that comes in Yours Truly!

Aubrey has created such a fun page centering around a brave sherriff and a beautiful damsel who live at her house!  She has wonderfully documented one of the biggest joys of childhood ~ imagination ~ with heartfelt journaling, a pretty layering of stamps, scallops, & that awesome fringe bordering, and a perfect scattering of little hearts!  Lego’s amazing page shows the wonderful versatility of this kit!  By adding a few paint splatters and those great pencils, she has turned the focus onto a love of art, and beautifully scrapped these great pictures of her budding little artist!  I love the pen outlines around just a few of the circles on the colorful polkadot paper, and her stamped title work.  A page that is perfectly fabulous, as usual!!!

Next, Kylie brings us a page full of utter and complete cuteness!  Look at the cheeks on that girl!  Awesome.  Now, not only is the layering of papers and elements amazing and perfect on this page, but she has creatively used the little birdies perched in that fabulous tree to tweet out her title!  Very clever!  This page also showcases that great chalkboard paper, which if you remember from Emily’s Inspiration post here, is quite the popular trend right now!  Emily has shared a great page celebrating 15 years of marriage!  I love the circular design of her page – especially the ring of hearts and buttons “hugging” her & her sweetie!!!  And she has used my very  favorite paper for her background ~ isn’t that heart paper the cutest?!?  Love it!

Our next page is from Kim, who has inspired me with her totally cute title work!!!  She has also done a great job of showcasing the cool stamps that come with this kit!  And I love the sets of three hearts that are tacking her papers together ~ very cute ~ just like those kiddies of hers!!  And finally, we have a very special page by Rosy.  This page is simply beautiful ~ not only for it’s well-chosen and perfectly placed elements, but for the sentiment that tugs at the heart of every person who wants to hold on to the childhood of a little one who is dear to their heart!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this little pre-Valentines Day sweet treat of eye candy! Thanks so much girls, for ALL your inspirational pages!

….and, don’t forget about the Yours Truly Expressions if you are looking to add a lil’ extra sweetness to your pages, cards and projects!  This beautiful word art set is also on SALE (for a limited time) for only $1.85!

And now I guess it’s my turn to “sign off” from the blog!  Thanks so much for letting me share a little of myself with you all!  This has been a fun adventure and I look forward to keeping up with you all in the gallery!!!  Have a fabulous day!  And join Amber tomorrow for a very special inspiration post!

LindsayProduct Spotlight, Uncategorized 4 Comments

Hi everyone!  Lindsay here to bring you one of my very favorite treats EVER!  The Chocolate Chip Cheeseball!  With the holidays FAST approaching, it’s always great to have a quick and easy go-to recipe either to take to gatherings or just have on hand for festive holiday snacking!  This is that recipe for me!  It’s super easy to make and everyone who has ever tried it LOVES it!

So here’s what you need to make this sweet & creamy treat!

:::INGREDIENTS:::

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup mini chocolate chips ~ divided

1/2 cup chopped pecans

To make the cheeseball, first you mix your softened cream cheese and butter with the vanilla.  I did not take a picture of this step, as I have not yet mastered the art of holding both my camera AND the mixer.  So apparently professional food blogging is not in my future.  Oh well!  After you’ve got that mixed up and nice and fluffy-looking, mix in the sugars.  The recipe says to “gradually” mix in the sugars, but when you have a four-year old helper, there’s no such thing.  And really, I don’t think it matters!  To finish it up, stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips.  Next, you need to chill the mixture so you can shape it into a ball later.  I like to help this step along a little by wrapping the cheeseball in plastic wrap and forming it into a ball shape.  I think that makes it WAY easier to make into a lovely-shaped cheeseball later!  When chilling time is over, I just unwrap my pre-formed ball and stick it into my nut and chocolate chip coating mixture.  But whatever cheeseball-making method you prefer is fine!

By the way, the coating mixture is the 3/4 cup of chopped pecans mixed with 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips – just spoon it over the top and use your hands to lightly press the mixture onto the top and sides of the cheeeball!

And that’s all there is to it!  We like to eat this with chocolate Teddy Grahams, but any chocolate graham cracker will do – it would probably be good with regular graham crackers too!  (actually, it’s pretty good to just eat straight off a spoon!)

  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I do!  And as a little gift to you, here’s the printable recipe card!  Click here to download OR just click the image below!

Happy Holidays, everyone!!!  …and make sure you join lego tomorrow for another festive recipe!

LindsayFood Stuff, Free (not desktops), Uncategorized 3 Comments

Happy Monday, everyone!  Lindsay here to announce the next Layout of the Week!

This week’s honor goes to the talented lala777 and her cute & totally boyish page Puddles!

I love the slanted photo frame here, that bright and fun paper from Wonderful, and especially all the little star and word embellishments clustered along that cool cardboard frame!  And those pics are too cute!!!  Oh little boys – they just cannot resist a good mud puddle!  Thanks SO much for sharing this fun page with us, lala777, and be sure to check your email for your $10 gift certificate to the Shoppe!

Thanks for checking in with us today!  Be sure to head over to the gallery and leave some love and congratulations for lala777 and this super-cute page!  And drop back in tomorrow, as Aubrey will be sharing some great tips & tricks with us all!  Take care ~ hope everyone has a fabulous week!

LindsayLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Hello everyone!  Lindsay here, and I am SO excited to bring you this week’s super-cute and adorable Layout of the Week!  I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things to do on Monday morning (after I’ve fed the kiddies their breakfast, of course!) is to grab my cup of coffee, head to the computer, and see which beautiful layout has been chosen for this fun and fabulous honor!  And I now I get to pick from all your gorgeous pages – which is not an easy task, by the way!  This week’s winner is amycoffeypt with her darling layout Ellie!

If you haven’t seen this sweet page in the gallery yet, you must check it out!  It is full of wonderfully chosen papers and elements from the Penelope kit, and they perfectly highlight her precious photos of baby Ellie being welcomed into the world by her smiling family!  I LOVE new babies, and this page just fills you with all the happiness and excitement their arrival brings, doesn’t it?  And how beautiful is that baby!?!?!

So, congratulations, amycoffeypt!  Have fun shoppe-ing with your $10 gift certificate, which has been emailed to you!  (Don’t forget to check your spam folder if you don’t see it!!!)  And thanks so much for sharing such a special moment in your family’s life with us!

Thanks to EVERYONE for posting your beautiful creations in the gallery ~ hope you all have a great week!  Be sure to swing back by tomorrow, when Aubrey will be here with a beautiful Product Spotlight!

LindsayLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 3 Comments

Hi everyone!  This is Lindsay here with my very first Shabby Shoppe blog post ever!  And not only is it my very first Shoppe blog post, it is my first blogging experience too!  And if that wasn’t pressure enough – wait for it – this is also my very first attempt at a hybrid project!  Whoa!  But good news – this little project was so quick and easy, even a first timer like me had no problems with it!  So here’s today’s project – the Gratitude Journal!

Before I had kids I used to love journaling.  Now if I have a spare moment, there are more productive things I can be doing.  But I do miss spending that time writing and processing my thoughts, and I always enjoyed going back and rereading the things I wrote and remembering the things that had happened.  Now, I love Pinterest, and recently, during one of my spare moments I was (productively) perusing the site for some scrapbook inspiration.  I stumbled upon a cute little gratitude journal and I loved the idea behind it – every night before you go to bed, write down one thing you are thankful for or one good thing that happened during that day.  I thought it was awesome – and perfect for people who don’t have much time for journaling!  I decided I could surely make one for myself, and I did!  (Actually, they were so fast and fun, I made three!)

So, here are the quick and easy steps to make a gratitude journal (or three) of your very own!

First, gather your supplies.  I found these cute little journals at Michael’s craft store for a dollar a piece!  You also need some spray adhesive, your fabulous stash of digital scrapbook supplies from the Shabby Shoppe, scissors, and if you want, some cute stickers or other embellishments to add some 3-D flair to your journal!

Second, measure your journals.  Mine were 5×7, and one was 5×5.  In your scrapbboking software, create layouts for the front and the back of your journal.  Since my journal covers were very thin, I didn’t need to cover the edges, so the image size I created was exactly the size of the journal covers.  If you have edges that you need to cover by wrapping paper around, account for those measurements when creating your layouts.  The other thing I did was to make a thin strip for the spine of my journals.  This way I could cover the edges of my new paper covers, and add some extra pattern to my design.  I made my spine strip 1.5 inches wide - but yours obviously will depend on the size of journal you are working on!

Third, print out your designs and carefully cut them out.  Spray a thin layer of spray adhesive to the back cover of your journal first, and position your printed layout over it.  Do the same for the front, and finally, spray the strip of paper for along the journal’s spine and position it along the spine, pressing to seal.

Finally, add any fun 3-D embellishments you want!

There you have it!  With Thanksgiving right around the corner, what a perfect time to get in the habit of practicing an attitude of gratitude!  These would be so fun to put at everyone’s place at the Thanksgiving table as a little gift, or a quick, (cheap!) and easy handmade Christmas present to begin working on for the holiday season!  I hope you give these little journals a try, and if you do, I’d LOVE to see your creations in the Shoppe Gallery!

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my little project today – I’m so grateful that you did!!!  I hope you all have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here on Monday, when Casharina will announce the next LOTW!

LindsayHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 13 Comments