Paper Niche February Kit - Full Reveal!!

Hello there! I am super excited to finally share some of the projects I created with the February Kit from the Paper Niche!! This is my first time participating as a member of a Design Team and I was super nervous/excited!! I hope I made them proud because it sure was one fabulous kit!!! I'll post a pic of the full kit ASAP, however, I'm having issues with that at the moment!

I can tell you this, it was jam-packed with all sorts of products from Basic Grey (Curio), House of 3, and Glitz Designs!! SWOON! Not to mention, it was also filled with TONS of fabulous embellishments!! I just went crazy, could not stop. I made a total of 5 layouts, 6 cards, and a mini book - and had TONS of product left over.

Today, I'm just sharing the scrapbook pages I made with the kit. Before I start, I’ll just say that everything on all of these layouts was included in the kit, except for the staples and Mist were from this month's kit (p.s. all mist is from Maya Road). I’m new to getting misty ;) and I must say, I throughly enjoy it!! Ok here we go...

This one is my favorite - “4 Generations”:
The picture was taken in June (2010) at our church when my Grandma was here from NY. In the picture we have my grandma, my mom, me, my niece, Paige (9) and my daughter, Alivia (2).

I saw the circle folding idea online, and had been wanting to play around with it for a long time. The problem was, there was not a tutorial... yeah, it was not as easy as I thought it’d be. I wasted AT LEAST 10 of these beautiful circles giving it a go. Oh well. It’s not perfectly perfect, but I tried & love how the entire page turned out. I thought of adding the brads to the floral ribbon and I love how it came out!!!! Lastly, I added Charcoal mist to the background & think it gave it a little something extra ;).

You’ll notice I haven’t done the journaling yet. I kept trying to do it, and couldn’t stop myself from getting emotional. So much has been going on, my grandpa passed away last Christmas, my mom having her cancer, the struggles that we all go through every day. I just wasn’t ready. When I do journal, I want to say how were all not perfect (I had a reason for making the letters crooked ;) I'm not just a ding-dong), but we all fit into each other’s lives perfectly. How were all strong, even if we don’t always know it. How were built from the same mold, and are all different... but all the same. I just needed some space. I’ll do the journaling when I get it back from Paper Niche, as all of these layouts are currently on display in the store - YIKES - er, I mean YIPPEE!

“reMEMBER”:
This picture was taken the day my mom, Sal, Paige & I became members of our church. I've really been wanting to scrap it for some time now. I love it, not really how I look (sheesh - thank God I got rid of the blonde hair!), but Paigepooh is so little... and my mom too looks so much younger... I mean, Sal & I were a little skinnier, but for the most part look almost the same as now. It’s funny that now I have auburn hair and my mom has blonde ;) tee hee hee. The pic brings back a lot of memories for me. It was a kinda tough time for us. My dad was having a really tough time (with alcoholism, which killed him 3 years ago). My mom and I were desperate and needing something! We got invited to our church by a friend. We would listen to the sermons every Sunday and just cry to ourselves (not even to each other. We were both suffering in different ways as a result of the same problem). That was about 7 and a half years ago. Joining our church is one of the best things we’ve all done together. We're so blessed to have their love and support.

“You make me happy lil miss shy eyes”
Oh, my sweet Alivia... with guacamole on her face to boot! I can not tell you how much I love this sweet lil angel! This Glitz paper was so perfect with the colors in the picture!!!

For the sentiment, I used the letter stickers from the Basic Grey "Curio" set (a whole sheet of them came w/ the kit!). I tapped each of the letters on my pants (real sofisticated, I know), to take some of the stickeyness off of them, and then placed my sentiment on the page where I wanted it, misted over it w/ Charcoal mist and pulled the letters off. Voila!! This is a great way to get a cool effect when you don't have the color letter stickers you need.

“Me @ 31"
This one was really hard for me to do. Not the page, but the picture. I’m not really proud to admit it but, I guess, I have self-confidence issues. I almost NEVER (ever) include myself in pictures. I’m almost nonexistent in our scrapbooks. And I don’t think that’s ok, it just is what it is.

I never like any pics of myself, I'm hyper crytical of myself - always. So my "editing" includes... not including myself in the pictures. I got to thinking that this so unfair to my babies. I mean, they’ll want to see pics of me no matter what I look like... or weigh. They’ll want to know who I am (and what I looked like) when they were 2, 4, 6, 14, etc... when the memories fade and these scrapbooks remain. I don’t want to take that from them. It’s not right. So, one of my goals this year is to include myself in my family’s memories. This page is the beginning of that. I love how it came out. The while page is very "ME". These House of 3 papers/tickets that came in the kit are amazing, and I used my Slice to put out the “@31". The quote is actually from a song off of this CD, Anchor, by Mindy Gledhill. I am absolutely addicted to it!! You should totally check it out, it’s lovely!! Not usually my style of music, but now I can't live without it. Behind this page, I've made a (11x6) pocket that holds a hidden journaling page (which I haven’t completed yet either) where I’ll document what I’m thinking/feeling today, right now, what I want from myself. My goals for me @ 31.

“Keep the Sun in your Heart”
I just love this picture. My boys. I am a lucky, lucky girl!

For this layout, I wanted to challenge myself to use my Cricut. I love that machine, and I do use it for things like invitations, school projects/gifts, etc. Almost nothing else. Just too much to “deal” with. But I want to try to use it more for everyday things. Here, I used it to cut out the sun, and all of the words on the page.

Well those are the scrapbook layouts I created with this month’s Paper Niche Kit! Thanks so much for peeking! Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing the card set I made with the kit. I have to say, I loved my first DT experience. I used every single piece of paper in my kit and just scratched the surface with the embellishments!! Also, check out the Paper Niche blog to check out the other DT members and what they did with this kit - it will knock you socks off. I’m on an amazing team. Can't wait to see what next month brings!! See you back tomorrow with more!