A Jack of All Trades {Studio J}

This is a fun paper kit that is for Studio J members only. I love its spunk and find so many uses for the numbers and simple black and white crossword paper. Because I was planning my journalling over the pattern paper on the second page, I wanted something a little more neutral but comparable to the look of the crossword, so it would match the photos. I found a fix in the green colored plaid background and texture paper. Now, I didn't want green in all my black white and red photos, so I changed the color of the pattern paper to black and voila! A perfect complement to my black cardstock base and Cranberry accents, and it's still light enough for the journalling to be legible. This feature is one of the things I love about Studio J and why I think it makes it such a versatile tool for anybody with any level of skills. In fact, you can read a quick how-to on the Studio J blog here.

This layout takes about 15 minutes to complete and you can get it plus 4 more layouts like it for free this month when you purchase a Studio J 5 pack during February's Constant Campaign. That's 10 layouts for the price of 5! You don't have to make new ones - you can just add some completed projects to your cart and then apply your 5 Pack code. To get your code, contact me today!

Warm wishes,

My Valentines

It's always a fun time when the cousins come to visit! This year, their parents went on a romantic getaway (how would that be?!) so the kids came to stay with us for the weekend. We celebrated with some heart shaped pizza and had a wild time playing games!

I had fun playing around on this layout, myself! My favorite things to customize are the fonts. By making the word Valentine in its own script, it adds a romantic flair suitable for the holiday and subject matter. Now, put the V in its own text box and make it significantly larger for additional flair. I also changed the font color in the journal box to Colonial White so you can see it over the dark cardstock background. (Use this trick on your photos and Complements My Stickease, too!)

Christmas in March

... sort of. Last year for Christmas we gave my parents some tickets to Les Miserables. The company was going to be on tour here in Salt Lake and of course I wanted to go (it's one of my favorites). Mom wanted to go. It seemed like a good excuse for a Christmas gift! Sadly, I thought I had reserved seats in December - and hadn't. So when the announcement came that the tickets were on a pre-sale - I ignored it. I had my tickets. Well.... no. It was terrible, but by the time I figured it out I had missed the window of opportunity, they were sold out. Ugh. There goes my awesome gift and awesome evening with Mom. 

Luckily, Mom being Mom, she was willing to *settle* for Riverdance, lol. It just so happened they were detouring through and I was able to secure some seats for us. Dad wanted to go, too. Ok, so maybe he felt a little obligated (Brandon bowed out with the excuse he's seen it before - believe it or not, he has. LIVE.-but redeemed himself when he agreed to watch the kids).

My Mom used to work for Ballet West before I was born and always loves going to the theater - no matter what kind. We had so much fun telling tales about all the shenanigans behind the scenes at Capitol Theatre. We laughed about the artistic director's wife, Mrs. Christensen (Mrs. C, as she was known by the company), and how she always had to sit in the Orchestra section right under the spotlight in the center. That way when the lights went up for the curtain, she was perfectly highlighted.

All in all, no matter the venue, we had a great evening - even Dad! (You can see the text of the page by clicking on the image to enlarge it.) Date night with the parents. Who'd have thought?

Warm wishes,

PS- Don't forget you can get 10 layouts for the price of 5 all through February! See more about that here.