Welcome, August!

This month is all about The Best. The best food. The best fun. The best people. Anything that is best in your life deserves celebration today! Let's see what is the best for our team.

 

Hello Earth | Aliza Deutsch

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill Basics Paper) + patterned paper (Crate Paper) + wood veneer (Lily Bee) + letter stickers (Jillibean Soup) + stickers (MAMBI, October Afternoon, Skipping 5) + metal charm (Maya Road) + tape (October Afternoon) + other (Jillibean Soup) + fonts (Skinny)

A Note from Aliza
This layout, on the one hand, is a simple page about a summer outing. But it means a lot more to me, because we just got a car (for the first time), and I am just so excited by the freedom of going to new places. Particularly, to the great, big, outdoors. It really does fill my soul. I included a little detail about some of the less than perfect parts of this trip - it just seemed dishonest to leave it out. Plus, life is messy. I want that recorded for posterity.

August Fun Fact
Did I mention we now have a car?!

 

 

The Freehouse | Jennifer Larson

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill, Fancy Pants Designs) + patterned paper (Fancy Pants Designs, American Crafts, Bella Blvd) + stars (KI Memories) + gems (Studio Calico) + chipboard (Jillibean Soup, Studio Calico) + labels (Studio Calico) + stickers (Pink Paislee) + Stamp (Studio Calico) + ink (Jenni Bowlin, Tsukineko) + font (Gill Sans)

A Note from Jenny
Right now our favorite restaurant is The Freehouse in the Warehouse district in Minneapolis. They locally source their food, serve breakfast all day, and do interesting twists on old favorite foods. This page commemorates this truly awesome restaurant.

August Fun Fact
My favorite food here are the jack’d up mussels or the pork belly bennies (Eggs Benedict).

 

 

Top of the Morning | Lisa Borbély

8.5 x 11 | materials patterned paper (Crate Paper) + thickers (Amy Tangerine) + wood veneer (Studio Calico) + tag (Fancy Pants)

A Note from Lisa
By using smaller sized photos, I did fit 6 photos on this layout! 
I started this layout about 3 times, before I found that cute patterned paper as my background.

 

 

 

The Best Dads | Sue Althouse

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Echo Park, Fancy Pants, Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon) + flair button (Jenni Bowlin) + brads (unknown) + title (Silhouette) + border punch (Fiskars) + floss (We R Memory Keepers) + pen (Micron)

A Note from Sue
This layout is about the special relationship between a grandfather and his new granddaughter.

August Fun Fact
A new frozen custard store opened in our town and we have not missed a flavor of the week all summer!

 

 

Family Vacation | Francine Clouden

12 x 12 | materials layered template (Crystal Wilkerson) + digital Paper (Karla Dudley) + digital journal Cards (Callaloo Soup) + fonts (Benthem, Century Gothic)

A Note from Francine
Layered templates like this one make it easy to scrap multiple photos but still have a clean look and lots of white space.

 

 

Best Napping Companion | Marnie Flores

12 x 12 | materials element (Design by Dani) + fonts (Century Gothic, Code Pro Light)

A Note from Marnie
I made these waves in photoshop. You might recognize them from the printable early last month.

August Fun Fact
The polar vortex is lovely in July. But what is it going to mean in December?

 

 

Fireworks | Amy Coose

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Echo Park, Webster's Pages) + mist (Heidi Swapp) + stickers (Heidi Swapp) + wood veneer (Freckled Fawn) + pen (American Crafts) + cut files (The Cut Shoppe)

A Note from Amy
This layout showcases the best way to watch fireworks! I love that we were able to watch them on the beach, because it was amazing!

August Fun Fact
How can this be the last month of summer? It has flown by, and although I'm excited for the fall (it's my favorite season), I'm bummed that summer is almost over.

 

 

xo | Diane Payne

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) specialty paper (Chickaniddy Crafts, We R Memory Keepers) + flair (A Flair For Buttons) + labels (Studio Calico) + mist (Heidi Swapp) + sticker gems (Studio Calico)

A Note from Diane
My husband and I celebrated our 25 year anniversary in July so I snapped a selfie of the two of us on our anniversary and used it on this month's layout along with some thoughts about the last 25 years, which has been the absolute BEST!

 

 

Best Hat | Valerie O'Neall

8.5 x 11 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + decorative tape (My Mind's Eye) + alpha stickers (American Crafts) + journal card (My Mind's Eye) + stickers (My Mind's Eye) + enamel dots/shapes (My Mind's Eye) + pen (Sharpie)

A Note from Valerie
I decided it had been too long since I've made a layout with a circle shaped photo. Circle shaped photos are "the best" for breaking out of a scrapbooking rut. I decided on this photo of "the best" hat and picked out some coordinating My Mind's Eye decorative tape. The layout came together really fast once I decided on the tape and had a plan.

August Fun Fact
My husband's birthday was last month, and instead of sitting back and relaxing he chose to spend his day baling hay. He had not baled hay since he was a kid and couldn't wait to get out there in the hot sun and throw heavy bales of hay onto the rack. Really?! I was hoping for a dinner out for my man's birthday with no cooking and dirty dishes to clean.

 

 

Summer | Cristina C. Scrap

12 x 12 | materials paper (Simple Stories, Studio Calico, Cosmo Cricket, Webster's Pages, Fancy Pants) + embellishments (Studio Calico, Pink Paislee, Simple Stories) + stickers (Studio Calico, Amy Tangerine) + ink (Hero Arts) + stamps (Studio Calico, American Crafts date stamp) + pen (American Crafts) + sewing machine + adhesive (Glue Glider Pro, Martha Stewart)

A Note from Cristina
Nothing better than a tasty gelato on a hot summer day!

August Fun Fact
My birthday is coming up this month, so I am looking forward to a week of birthday coupons and meals!

 

 

Best Book So Far | Celeste Smith

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Good Foundations by Robin Young; Mega Solids by Amy Wolff) + kits (Between the Pages by Stolen Moments Designs & Litabell Designs; A Bit Worn, Twinkle Alphas by Valorie Wibbens; Finishing Touches by Karah Fredericks; Make It Messy by Kaye Winiecki; Essential Boarders and Frames, Essential Stitches by Laurie Ann; Down the Lane Ephemera by Sahlin Studio; Stuck Alpha, Everybody Dance Now Alpha by Allison Pennington; Blanc Stitches by Amy Martin; Gesso It by Pink Reptile Designs) + fonts (Underwood Champion)

A Note from Celeste
I was reading a thread in the forum at the Lilypad and the ladies were listing some of their favorite unsung hero kits. So I decided to download a bunch of them and try to incorporate them in a page. This page is the result of challenging myself. A fun way to build a page is just grab a pile of product and see how much of it you can incorporate!

August Fun Fact
My birthday is this month and I might just have a little treat for you around that time, stay tuned!

 

 

Super Kid [in a rainsuit] | Carey Bridges

12 x 12 | materials digital kit (Stay Warm by Happy Box) + digital elements (Bare + Necessities Frames No. 1 [Elements] by Creashens, It’s a Colorful Life Elements by Sugarplum Paperie) + digital brushes (Oh Happy Day the Brushes Set 2 by Mari Koegelenberg) + alpha (Best Summer Ever: To Play Outside by Mommyish) + template (Layered Layouts volume 12 by Deena Rutter) + fonts (1942 Report)

A Note from Carey
The photos in this layout are some of the best examples of the silliness of my boy's personality. He's always coming up with crazy ideas and experiments, like testing out his rainsuit in the shower! I wanted to emphasize the water from the shower by using rain-themed elements and papers.

August Fun Fact
We took our family vacation to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness along the Minnesota-Canada border. I paddled over 35 miles across the lakes in a canoe (no motors allowed). My arms got quite the workout!

 

 

Handsome [Non] Stranger | Marnie Flores

11 x 8.5 | materials element (Crystal Wilkerson) + fonts (Bondoluo, Code Pro Light)

A Note from Marnie
Being that he is only half my genetic code, I can freely call my baby the best looking boy!

August Fun Fact
This summer I got to spend an afternoon with friends I haven't seen in more than 7 years. It was magic.

 

 

Summer Vacation | Jennifer Hignite

12 x 12 | materials Summer Manifesto Templates (Audacious Designs) Summer Brights Papers (Robyn Meierotto) Endless Summer Full Kit (Robyn Meierotto and Gennifer Bursett)

A Note from Jennifer
This layout documents some of the BEST moments from our summer vacation 2013. I love layouts that recap a time period by bringing together multiple moments & memories!

August Fun Fact
August is one of my favorite months of the year. Filling the final month of summer vacation with day trips and fun activities all the while secretly counting down the days until school starts ;)

 

 

Strawberry | Kate Christensen

8.5 x 11 | materials digital kits (Reflection by Sahlin Studio; Where Love Is: Patterns and Krafts by Rachel Young; Splatterific by Karah Fredricks; Memory Collector Elements by One Little Bird; A Little Bit Worn No.2 by Valorie Wibbens + fonts (Traveling Typewriter, Violation)

A Note from Kate
I chose this layout because it was one of the best moments in a very hard year for our family. And looking at the date reminds me that we were only half-way done! But we grabbed happiness where we could and we landed on our feet.

August Fun Fact
I love having the kids home for the summer and I'm one that will be sad when they have to go back to school.

 

 

Miss Charlie | Marnie Flores

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Echo Park, Crystal Wilkerson) + elements (Crystal Wilkerson) + fonts (Jacques & Giles, Montez)

A Note from Marnie
Charlie always has the saddest look on her face. Even though she is a happy happy doggie.

August Fun Fact
25 days and counting. I love my children. And I love the quiet of that day when school begins again. :)

 

The Best | Lisa Borbély