Something Coming Down

There is something coming down on April 1st.  Go check it out now!

The once inspiration and challenge blog is turning store.  One Story Down is filled with gorgeous products for all your digi (and hybrid) scrapping needs.  Some are many new faces but a few familiar ones to make it feel like home.  I can't wait to see you all there.  I have a bunch of new layouts that I've been working on and hosting a game in the forum.

catching up

So why do I feel like I am always playing a game of catch up here?  I thought I better post before I get too far behind.

So first off, I played with a NEW (to me) designer, Anna Aspnes.  Her designs are best suited for artsy layouts which is not my typical style.  However I do love experimenting and playing with new products.  I really have to thank my dear friend, ViVre, for inspiring me to give it a try.  Her photos and layouts are always so gorgeous!  Plus I think it is really cool that she lives in the Netherlands and is 11 hours ahead of me.

This is what I came up with.  I actually really loved how it turned out.  Anna has some really nice photo masks that make blended photos easy to do.  Also many of her papers have a blended look to them so that takes the work out of doing it myself.  On March 10th, I got a Gallery Standout on this first layout.  I was so excited because this was my first time doing a real artsy layout.

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Here are 2 more project life pages that I completed this week.

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This month I am also playing along with DHD's March Madness.  So far I have completed 2 rounds.  Both both of the layouts, I used their free (if you did their blog hop game), Spring Menagerie collab kit.

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As you can see, I have a range of styles to show you today.  I think that is what makes this hobby so much fun.  I promise to be back soon and be a better blogger.

Where have I been?

Sorry, my poor neglected blog and readers.  Since I am not doing NEW52 this year, I really don't have a set date or real reason to blog.  However, I'll try to be better because my sister who lives in Oregon misses our family updates.  Here are a bunch of up layouts that I've done the last few weeks.

To start with, how about some Project Life pages using goodies mostly from Lauren Reid.  As you can see, I kept my pages rather simple, or I will never get caught up.

Gosh, I have several Valentine's Day layouts to share (so behind, so behind . . . )

Here are more goodies from Lauren Reid.

Gennifer over at Design House Digital, released tons of goodies that I got to play with.  These Instragram photo journalers were my favorite.  If you look carefully, they have a letterpress embossing on the headers.

Thanks for looking and hope to be back more regularly for updates and new products.

love + grace

I want to take this post to share a special charity collab kit with you, Love + Grace.  A team of caring designers got together to create this special kit celebrating Grace and Erica Webster.  In December, Grace lost her battle with Hypothalamic Hamartoma.  All proceeds for this kit will be donated to HopeForHH.org

Here is the cutest kit ever.  When you buy the kit for $10 you will get a set of 20 quick pages for free.  The previews don't show it, but the kit also comes with a bunch of templates, including a page protector that has a little heart in the middle.  I'm going to save that for a valentine's day page in my project life album.

Here is a page that I did using the kit

NEW52-well over due

Since the summer of 2011, I've been wanting to try standup paddle boarding.  I got a groupon for Tate and I to take a lesson.  Well 2011 past and I still had this one last thing for NEW52 that was still not done.  Fast forward to January 28, 2012 (+ expiration date for the group on) and I finally hopped on board.  Here are some photos from our instructor from Hawaiian Surf Adventures as proof of my accomplishment.  It was a lot of fun.  I think I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't for the wind.  It kept pushing me into the reef and I had a hard time paddling back out of it.

Here are some layouts to share.

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Thanks for stopping by.  I enjoyed sharing my adventures with all of you.

2012

Welcome 2012!

Do you make resolutions?  Keep a one little word for the year?  Most times, I do neither.  It is too big of a commitment for me.  However, this year, I choose "balance."  I figured it is a pretty harmless goal, not a hard number or specific.  I just want to keep check and balance all the important things in my life.  Here is a layout to remind me of my goal.

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So 2011 was all about NEW52, trying to do something NEW each week.  Result:  loved it!  It gave me a reason to look forward to the next week and to document my adventures on my blog.  I'm glad that you all came along on this journey with me.  As for 2012, I decided to do project 366.  Yup, this is a leap year and I'm going to take a photo a day.  Wish me luck.  I don't think I will post daily photos here on my blog, too much work.  I will try to do a monthly recap.

Are you doing Project Life?  I've been so on the fence about this one.  On one hand, I really want to do it.  Hence, you can see my digi version of a page.  However, I don't know if I will keep up with it.  I still have my summer album and december daily left to do.  I finally printed out my december photos, got a cover done, now I just have to work on the inner guts.  I hope to share that with you soon.

I spent the last few days working on some Christmas layouts.  Can you tell that I loved the photos that I took of Bostyn at our girls day out with Santa? and that I love wood grain papers.

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Christmas 2011

Sorry,  I forgot to add this to my last post.

Our Christmas card by the very talented Lisa Uesugi of Utopia Photography.  Lisa only shoots in black and white film.  How she does it so effortlessly with gorgeous photos each time is beyond me.

The one gift that Bostyn really wanted from Santa this year was a princess castle.  As soon as she saw it in the Toys R Us catalog she asked to cut it out and tape to our wall so Santa knew exactly what she wanted.

I hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas holiday and got everything you wanted from Santa.