The first scrapbook layout...

(Click any photo for a more detailed view).

Our family room was finally finished about a month ago (after 15 months of being under construction!) and my husband did such a fabulous job of it that I actually want to hang out there now. Pre-remodeling it had this ugly dark brown indoor/outdoor carpet and a hideous wall color (I did a bad job choosing the paint color years back) and it was dark, gloomy, and...well...the room gave me a creepy feeling.

When we remodeled, I told Brian that I wanted a room that "felt cozy" - those were my only directives! And he did it! We kept all the old furniture but the new carpet and paint color and removal of a chair rail and some other finer details have made this a room I WANT to be in!

Even better, Brian said I could move my craft table out here!!!! What does this mean? I craft more! I get to hang with Brian at night AND stamp and scrap at the same time. Before, I was sitting down at my desk maybe once a week because I didn't want to "leave" Brian upstairs (yes, I chose my husband over stamps and ink LOL...I feel so noble LOL). Now I have the best of both worlds!

And I have been stamping of some sort every night (well, I got into a super good book recently and just had to finish that so I did take 2 nights off). My creative mojo is slowly coming back to me...ahh...

I've been waiting to scrapbook this picture of Caitlin for over 2 years. I took it when we were in Vermont for my brother's wedding. I don't scrap events too much...I prefer having something to say with my photos....and so I tend to let my photos sit until I'm verbally inspired. I was determined to use my Scallop punch on a layout and some new paper I'd gotten and so I began flipping through my photos. When I came to this one, "Live out loud" popped into my head.

I just love the doodling trend right now and a white gel pen works wonderfully for that. It allows me to have more creative freedom, too, since I can journal on dark-colored cardstock. This Uniball pen is my favorite because it writes very smoothly with no skipping. When I pick it up, my hand just flows over the page and it's so easy to doodle!

The Well-Worn Alphabet set is another favorite of mine. I got this set during last winter's Sell-A-Bration (a great demo perk: we earn free sets during SAB, any of them from the current catalog!). It's GREAT for masculine cards (and we all know how hard those kinds of cards are to make!). The rough, distressed edges appeal to me, too. Styles like that make it much easier to stamp, since there are no worries about things looking "perfect" - the image itself is not supposed to look perfect! If you've been looking for a great masculine touch to your projects, you can't go wrong with the Well-Worn Alphabet.

I'll have some more scrapbook pages in the next few days so be sure to stop by!

Supplies: textured cardstock (Stampin' UP); Scallop Circle Punch; Lavendar Lace, More Mustard, Pink Passion cardstock (Stampin' UP); patterned paper (Die Cuts With A View); Doodle This set; Well-Worn Alphabet set; Real Red Classic Ink (SU); Whisper White Craft Ink (SU); Uniball White Gel Pen (SU)

Now go create!

-Nicole