Yearbook – October 2013

Posted on by Melissa Samuels · Leave a comment

Hi Guys!  We made it to one of my favorite months, October!  If you have been following my blog for a while, you already know this about me.  I just love the wacky colors and decorations.  And, let’s face it, how many times a year do you get to dress up as crazy as you want to and not be looked at weird because of it?  The kids just love it, too! :)  Since our neighborhood is so sprawling (for a subdivision) most houses set up a trick-or-treat candy table at the end of their driveways.  That way the kids can hit more houses in less time.  Here is a pic of the girls setting up our table.  Oh, and Lily is a zombie pirate (I have NO idea where she got that idea, but she pulled it off and in very scary style), and Maddie is the Little Mermaid.  I am still a little stunned at how scary my sweet little angel, Lily, looked.  Of course, Maddie is the perfect mermaid.  It also seems like Lily grew 6 inches!

oct-1-2oct-1oct-1-3I used the Graphic 45 Place in Time cutouts for October on this page, and Steampunk Spells because it is one of my favorite Halloween collections.  One of the wonderful things about Graphic 45 is most of their lines are interchangeable-one more reason to love them.  I did some paper distressing, and inked the edges with Black Soot.  I used Stickles and Glossy Accents (for actual dimension instead of a glue-a change for me).  I was very pleased that I was able to add plenty of layers, and even a metal clock charm, without adding too much bulk to my book.  Bulk was my BIG challenge with this mini.

I hope you have enjoyed.  If you missed previous months’ posts the links are below.  Thanks for stopping by!

*To see September’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see August’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see July’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see June’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see May’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see April’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see March’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see February’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see January’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see the full post of the front cover CLICK HERE

Come back tomorrow for another October treat!  November’s page will be on Thursday, and December’s page on Friday.

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Yearbook – September 2013

Posted on by Melissa Samuels · Leave a comment

Hi Everyone!  Today is the September page in my mini book of my girls.  It was the month that summer wrapped up, school started, and it was back to a schedule-bittersweet for all of us.  Maddie started second grade, so school is old hat for her now.  However, it was the start of kindergarten for Lily.  She was so excited, and scared, to be at the same school as her big sister.  I captured a few pictures of the nervous wait for the bus in the morning, and the mad dash to the safety of the car in the afternoon.  They both did great, and it has been a wonderful year so far.

sept-1 sept-1-2 sept-1-4I kept it pretty simple because I love the pics so much I did not want to distract from them.  I Glimmer Misted and inked the pink flowers, but that is about as fancy as I got.

This week I will be finishing up my mini book posts, and next week I hope to have some tutorials for you.  I have also been doing a major rearrange/organization in my studio.  Whenever that giant project is done I will be sure to post some pics.  I am super excited because it is going to be more spacious and functional, but it has been A LOT of work.  The great thing is I have found things I forgot I even had.  Awesome!  So, stay tuned…  If you missed any of the previous months’ post of the mini book, the links are below.

*To see August’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see July’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see June’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see May’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see April’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see March’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see February’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see January’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see the full post of the front cover CLICK HERE

Come back tomorrow for one of my favorite months, October!

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Yearbook – August 2013

Posted on by Melissa Samuels · Leave a comment

Hi Everyone and happy Friday!!!  Today is the month of August in my mini book of my girls.  We took a week long family vacation last summer, and had a blast!  Our last stop on the way back home was the Virginia Safari Park.  It is a drive thru zoo that allows you to enjoy the animals from the car, and feed them.  It was soooo much fun!  I highly recommend it.  It also has a walking portion that includes a bird enclosure where you can feed the birds as well.  At first we were a little unnerved by birds landing on us (I kept thinking of the movie The Birds), but we quickly realized the feeling was mutual.    Looking back through my book, I am amazed at how much the girls grew over the summer.

aug-1 aug-1-2 aug-1-3 aug-1-4I was getting a little bit frustrated with not being able to add a lot of “junk” to my book (flowers, metal, charms, etc) in an effort to keep the bulk down because of my flap closure, so I pulled out my acrylic paint and metallic distress stains to do some circles on the page.  I thought it was also funny and fitting to do it on the page with the picture of the bird.  I have a sick sense of humor.

I hope you have enjoyed the book so far.  If you have missed any of the previous month’s post the links are below.  Have a great weekend!!!!

*To see July’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see June’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see May’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see April’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see March’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see February’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see January’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see the full post of the front cover CLICK HERE

Come back Monday for September!

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Yearbook – July 2013

Posted on by Melissa Samuels · Leave a comment

Today we are up to July in my annual mini book.  We had such a fabulous 4th!  After playing in the pool, the girls made and decorated 4th of July cakes.  They always look for an excuse to make cakes, cupcakes, cookies, anything sweet.  So, that is what we did.

july-1-3If you are wondering what the striped paper is, since this is the world wide web, and there are creepers out there, I fashioned the girls “aprons” out of cardstock.  You can never be too cautious.

july-1-4july-1-2It is so much fun to look back at the wonderful summer we had.  Not only because we had such quality  time together, but now it is January and we have had our second snowfall in two weeks here in Virginia.  Here are pictures of our snow day yesterday-a stark contrast to my sunshine and swimming pool July page.

may-1 may-1-7*To see June’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see May’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see April’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see March’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see February’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see January’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see the full post of the front cover CLICK HERE

Come back tomorrow for August!

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Yearbook – June 2013

Posted on by Melissa Samuels · Leave a comment

Hi Everyone!  We are up to June in my annual mini book of my girls.  It is wonderful to do this post, as it is snowing here in Virginia as I write.  Ahhh, remembering that warm summer day last year is quite appealing right now.  In 2012 Bob and I took our girls camping for the first time, and they had a blast.  It was the second time camping for me, but the first hardly counts because it was on a deserted beach-Bob is no dummy when it comes to getting me to try new things outdoors.  Camping in the creepy dark woods is a little bit different of an experience than listening to the waves crashing on the shore all night and being awakened by the most spectacular sunrise over the ocean.  Ahhh…  Sorry, got a little side tracked in my happy place.  Since I have a limit to how many times per summer I am willing to take the girls creepy dark woods camping, we all agreed the best compromise was to do backyard camping.  Let me just say, that is the way to go.  That is, if you cannot find a deserted beach.  It was a blast for everyone!  Bob set up the tent, we all played ball toss, built a campfire, and had a fabulous night under the stars.  Best of all, the bathroom and hot shower were not far away.

june1 june2 june3On this page I tried out  Prima’s Everyday Vintage Love Letter paper kit.  I LOVE it!  It is awesome, and extremely easy to work with because of the neutral color palette-shades of taupe.  It also came with stickers.  I love the little arrow ones that are blank so you can add a little word.  There is another paper pack in that line called Flora.  It is okay, but darker colors and a little bit too much red-maybe for Valentine’s Day.  We will see because I have them both, of course.  I used more washi tape, sorry, I am hooked!  I am telling my self by using it on several pages I am adding continuity to my book…yeah, yeah that is it.   The flower (from I believe Tea Thyme-not certain) I peeled the chipboard off and only used the image to help keep the bulk down in my book.  It has to close.  If you do not know what I am talking about, take a look at previous posts.

I hope you have enjoyed peeking at our camping trip, and my mini book page of June.

*To see May’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see April’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see March’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see February’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see January’s full post CLICK HERE

*To see the full post of the front cover CLICK HERE

Come back tomorrow for July!

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