Here's to a New Year

My goodness is it almost 2016 already?! Where did the time go? Did I just sleep through some really misguided alarm or is this year really over?

For those of you who found 2015 to be a struggle, congratulations you made it through. Go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back, it's time for a clean slate.

Thankfully my 2015 wasn't too shabby. 2015 was the year I graduated high school, got into several colleges, rented out my first apartment, joined a sorority, got a grown up job, and several other accomplishments and failures that I can't remember.

2015 was my year of change, and I have no doubt that 2016 will not disappoint.

Enough about me though. Let's talk about you. Here's what the world found most interesting in 2015:

• More people cared about Adele's new album than the 2016 presidential election, and I have to say that I'm 100% okay with that. Google's 'A Year in Search' 
• If you prefer your data in ranked lists check this one out: Google Trends
• Maybe in 2016 I'll learn how to effectively cook a meal other than scrambled eggs... The Kitchn's 10 Essential Cooking Lessons of 2015
• Joy the Baker launched Drake on Cake, and I have to say it is my newest Instagram obsession.  
• Speaking of Instagram... Caroline Calloway (yeah that girl who writes about her life on Instagram) got a book deal this year. If you haven't hear of her I hereby present you with a new year's gift. Her tales about life at Cambridge are sheer magic. 
• The Good the Bad and the Ugly, some of the greatest photographers documented it all for us to look back on. The Most Astonishing Photos that Won Awards in 2015
• The Oxford English Dictionary gave up on all of us and dubbed an emoji the word of the year...

I hope your 2016 treats you well, and that you've come to peace with where you're leaving your 2015. I'll be back with my resolutions tomorrow. Until then eat, drink, and be merry. Oh, and if you find a cute sparkly dress to wear send me a link because my obsession with sparkly dresses is what fuels my excitement about new years. 

Cheers!

- Ally

Weekend Update: Football What Are You Doing?!

Ladies and gents we survived another week. Take a second to pat yourself on the back, you made it. 

Let's look at the week in photos: 

GRUB. GRUB. GRUB. GRUB. That's really all I have for this. I dressed up like Misty Day from AHS and did a lot of spinning around in my flowy dress. Everyone understood my costume and that was just the icing on top of the cake. 

LSU v. BAMA: The Road Trip of a Lifetime

Some things you check off your bucket list, and some stones are left unturned. I went to an LSU/Alabama game recently (bucket list), but left Tuscaloosa with a fifth consecutive loss to Bama, we'll have to turn over that stone another day. 

It can be blamed on so many different things. My personal favorite is the curse against red teams, although if that had any truth to it we would be in some serious trouble. Regardless of the loss, and the plethora of Bama fans, we had an unforgettable weekend with some pretty rad friends. I don't think you could plan a better reunion than this.

So let's get started, I've got plenty of people to introduce you to: 

Disney Daze: An Epic Adventure

Disney Daze are back baby! And by that I mean on one glorious day a few weeks ago I had time to put together this layout. It's the best way I could document what was the crazy fun car ride we had to Orlando. 

So let's get started.

The "Here We Go" was stamped with Studio Calico's Laina Alphabet Stamp in black ink. The "adventure" stamp is from the Odyssey Fairytales digital stamp set from Studio Calico (it is no longer available). 

The blue PL card is from the Sunshine Project Life Core Kit. The "Adventure is out there" stamp is from Studio Calico (it is no longer available). I love including snapchats in my layouts sometimes because it shows what I was thinking in the moment I took the photo. 

Hope your Monday is treating you well. If not there's always a cup of coffee waiting for you.

Bye for now

- Ally 

Weekend Update: Gamedays and Galas

Y'all Adele put out her first new single in three years today! Go check it out here. I'm not gonna lie, it's been on repeat all morning for me. Happy Friday! As you can see, the Weekend Update is coming to you on the Friday before my next weekend is set to start.... That's just how much I have my life together right now. It's all good though, fall break is right around the corner, and midterms are almost over. So grab your cup of coffee and enjoy your Friday morning before the rest of this weekend gets too crazy.

A look at last weekend:


It was a weekend that we'll never forget. Seriously y'all, my voice is still recovering. LSU BEAT THE GATORS!!!!!! I'm so freakin' stoked to be attending this school when the football team is flipping fantastic! Did I mention that I'm excited? I mean if you couldn't tell here's a picture of just how excited I was, featured on the one and only ESPN. 

Leonard had just scored right in front of me, and I don't think there's anything y'all could've done to get me to calm down #noshame. 

Seaux Stressed

There's this funny thing about college. I'm tired all the time. For no reason at all. It's a medical freakin' miracle I tell you. I've been way more stressed in the past over things that were definitely worth stressing over, but nowadays I'm just tired, and then I'm confused and stressed about being so tired. It's a dreadful cycle. Luckily I found ways to throw the stress out the window (or at least push it deep into the back of my brain, we'll leave that as a problem for future Allison). 

Here's a look at last week in photos.

LSU brought dogs to campus, so naturally my roommate and I ran home to take compatibility quizzes for which pet would work best in our apartment. This little guy thankfully matches up, unfortunately for us we can't have pets in the apartment, but you know these are just minor details... Guess we'll have to stick to petting strangers' dogs for now. 

Weekend Update: Jazzy Sunday

Midterms stressing you out? Yeah me too. Why do you think I'm writing this? If you guessed "to avoid all life responsibilities" you are 100% correct. Welcome to the little corner of paradise that doesn't require you to make a bajillion flashcards or turn out a paper. Welcome, to the land of procrastination.

I was well aware of how stressful midterms could be, so to prepare myself I de-stressed ahead of time. Or at least that's how I justified running downtown to enjoy a jazz concert. Does the reason really matter?

The Ruby Slipper: A Religious Experience

You guys I am just so sorry that I haven't been around lately. What's it been? 2 weeks? I understand if you feel that it's time to move on but I'd love for you to stick around.

So you remember way back when, I said I would share with you every little detail about the best brunch ever? Well I'm finally making good on that promise. Prepare yourself. Grab a cup of coffee, cleanse your pallet, close your eyes and get ready to embark on a religious experience of good ole southern deliciousness. 

Weekend Update: A Bittersweet BIG Weekend

It's been a crazy weekend full of football games, birthday parties, and Big Little Reveals. Another weekend in the books, and it didn't dare to disappoint.

Unfortunately for this college town we got stuck with a day game. Fortunately for this college girl it gave me an excuse to go out for brunch (although really it doesn't take much to motivate me to get brunch let's be real).

Below I have featured the best photography to ever hit the fashion world. Behold, the mirror selfie. Pay close attention and you'll notice my phone being held together by Saran Wrap. Did I mention it's been an eventful week? Don't worry I'll be welcoming a new phone to the family soon and I'm sure I'll dedicate an entire post to its beautifulness.

My fashionableness consisting of the only gold tank I own and a really really old necklace: think middle school era guys. Saran wrap accessories courtesy of my kitchen.

Meet Sean. Sean's my roommate and the kind of dedicated friend that will join you in waiting 3+ hours for a football game so that you can get AMAZING seats, but will also join you in leaving the game early because you might actually pass out from the heat. Oh, and she'll be sure to go on that adventure to the Dairy Queen across town, because the last time y'all both had Dairy Queen you were high school students. It's got to be different in college. Is that freedom I taste?

We got bored while waiting and decided to climb to the top of the stadium, here's a warped view of the breathtaking experience (literally, I was out of breath, someone should have warned me those steps were steep).

Sunday morning was filled with lots and lots and lots of aloe vera. I'm still feeling the pain from this sunburn y'all, it's bad. Stay inside kids. 

Throwback Thursday: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Guys we are almost done with the 2014 album!!!! Before you get too excited I just have to warn you that there's one more 2014 post coming, but after that I. AM. DONE. Surprisingly enough I think this is the fastest I've ever finished an album. That just goes to show you how on top of things I am. 

Anyway let's get started:

I love everything about Christmas. The food, the music, the way everyone just seems excited all the time. I think this layout tied all of my favorites together in the perfect way. Take a look:

The top left picture is of me and my cousin who is so freakin' precious he just makes my heart explodes. I'm not a kid person, but you wouldn't know it when I'm around him. The top right card is from the Walden Project Life Kit. I wrote "holly daze" as a fun play on words, because puns, like Christmas, bring me great joy. The bottom left card is also from the Walden Project Life Kit. Finally the bottom right photo is a selfie that took probably 20 shots to capture. It's important to get just right lewk ya know?

The top left photo is from a hole-in-the-wall beignet shop in my hometown. Over the years we've developed a tradition of going out for beignets before driving up and down the levees to look at all the bonfires. You can read more about the tradition of bonfires on the levee in Louisiana here. The blue "Yes Please" tag is from the Walden Project Life kit as well. The top right photo is of me and my sister in front of a plantation on the levee. The bottom photo is another artistic selfie of all us girls enjoying our traditions. I stamped "traditions" with the Clearly Kelly Outline Alphabet stamps.

I hope your Thursday is treating you well, and that, if you're lucky enough you'll have beignets in your life come this Christmas.

Happy holly daze (see what I did there),

Ally

The Great Escape

Sometimes you just want to run away from all your problems and never look back. You know, quit your job, cut off all your hair, break up with your boyfriend, and hell while you're at it just get the heck out of town. While that was my mindset for most of last week the rational side of me said "Allison, it's not time for a mid-life crisis, don't upstage your future self." So I placated my rebellious side with a rational weekend getaway to New Orleans, a city filled with good food, lazy days, and no worries.

Disney Daze

Four words: best senior trip ever.

It all happened last minute. We (my mom, grandmother, sister, and I) got a condo, I bought my tickets, and a month later we were on our way to Disney. Yes I realize a month isn't super last minute, but in Disney time that's like planning a trip the day before!

I have to say if you're planning on going to Disney GO WITHOUT KIDS, even if they're not your kids, go without them. It makes the experience so much better, trust me. I had so much time to just roam around and do what I wanted without worrying about someone else.

My favorite part this go round was probably taking in all the details of Disney. I purchased what I maturely dub a 'fancy camera' before the trip and got a lot of use out of it during my week at the park. There are so many beautiful things that people dash by on their way to the rides, so it was nice to have the down time to walk around and take it all in.

So here's a look at the beginning of the most magical album ever. Stay tuned for what will hopefully be a weekly dose of magic on this blog as we make our way through the best senior trip ever.

The brown paper is from old scraps, I decided to make this album 9x12 because it's the best size for everything I wanted to put in it (I used the fuse tool for my page protectors but you'll hear more about that later). The diamond chipboard pieces are from the Park Ave Scrapbook Kit that I got in one of Studio Calico's Last Call sales. The blue and yellow stars are from the Park Ave Project Life Kit . The gold alphas are from American Crafts.

We're almost to Friday, keep it up!

xo

Ally

A Whole New World

I'm baaaaackk.

Oh, and I'm sorry. I didn't post cool pictures, because, well, I'm kinda bad at this whole blogging thing, but you know it's a learning process. So let's try this again, Round 2.

So what's been going on with you? Buy any cute shoes lately? Finally get your life organized after weeks of putting it off? Or maybe you decided that it was best to procrastinate it all and just take in the daily details.

Either way here's what's been going on with me [all of the above included]:

We Need A Break

So before you pull out the tissues know that "it's not you, it's me".

With school starting up and being in the middle of a move I need to step back from the blogging for a few weeks. But here comes the good news, I won't be gone too long (pinky swear), and there's nothing stopping me from updating you with pretty pictures during my 'break'.

But I figured I should let you know that no it's not forever, and no you do not need to file a missing persons report.

See you soon!

xo

Ally

Oh by the way here's pretty picture #1 (aka the place I'm moving all of my stuff to)

It's Time to Give Thanks (Or It Was At Least)

As we reach the end of the 2014 album we reach the end of this "project throwback" series as one of my many inspirations Juli Maniago likes to call it. But dry your tears because there's still a lot more to come from this blog. I did a lot this summer, and a lot in 2015 so far, and get this: I'm going to scrapbook as it happens. 

You heard it here ladies and gents I'm putting project throwback aside and living in the now (well as much now as I can, you know a girl's gotta study). As I enter college you'll get to follow along through layouts, and when I don't have time for that you'll get to follow along through pretty pictures, or sad iPhone pictures (we'll see how the day is going). So brace yourselves, there's going to be more than scrapbooking up on this corner of the web, but there will still be lots of layouts to fill your hearts with.

So let's get started:

I want to preface with the fact that I love this layout, and I'm not even sure why. I think it's the colors involved, and how the embellishments are tiny but meaningful. Or maybe it's that my dog is in half the photos and he's just the best. 

St. Jude Give Thanks Walk 2014

One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving holiday is the St. Jude Give Thanks Walk, and although the walk will be in September this year, it's still a great event that I look forward to every year.

I started attending the Give Thanks Walk in 2013 to support my neighbor and friend Breanna Bercegeay. It was great to walk with our community to help support Bree in her fight with leukemia. Although Bree passed away in October 2014, we still got a team together to show support only a month after her passing. 

This walk was definitely more emotional than the last but it was an unbelieveably heartwarming event to be a part of.

So this year I challenge each of you to go out and find an event center to walk at. They're all over the country and it's really easy to be a part of. If you want to get even more involved you can raise money for your team, or you can just show up the day of (although I do think there's a registration fee). If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Anyway here's a look at the layout: 

A Look At November

As this blog grows it is becoming increasingly hard to hide my love for food. I even dedicated an entire menu tab to it. Go ahead check it out it's at the top of this page. Anyway, because I love food so much I feel no shame in photographing my food, or, as the kids call it these days: foodporn. I love looking at the color in food photographs and the different textures that each food as to offer. While my photographs weren't that great a year ago they have gotten better in present day, but you'll see that in posts to come. For now let's travel back to November, not quite as catchy as Taylor Swift's Back to December, but it'll do.

Here's a look:

The top left photo is from a late night trip with my family to TCBY, mom really wanted froyo so naturally we all had to go. The photo on the top right is of a breakfast for dinner meal I made for myself. Can you say adulting? Who knew I would be so prepared for college.

Cinnamon Rolls and Other July Fun

Sometimes it is so nice to just take in what your own city has to offer. Go out and explore where you live you never know what you're going to find! In this case I found a great coffee shop tucked away in downtown Baton Rouge that serves the MOST AMAZING CINNAMON ROLLS. Yes I used caps lock, it shows excitement. 

So, like any foodie would do I snapped a picture to document the wondrous pastry and then devoured it with help from my mom.

If you're ever in BR check out Strands Cafe and experience one of these bad boys for yourself.  

I love using mostly photos in my layouts, especially when I don't have a lot of photos for one month. The wooden veneer that says "Yes 100% yes" (which describes my exact feelings towards this cinnamon roll) is from the Studio Calico Park Ave. kit, and the heart stamp is from the Walden Project Life kit. I used my tiny attacher to secure the wood veneer to the page.

Hope you're having a great Sunday full of cinnamon rolls.

xo

Ally

Goodbyes Are Always the Hardest

We thought about staying up all night, but alas we were tired. That didn't stop us of course from dancing the night away in a ballroom in our dormitory. Kick lines were involved, we're not really sure why.

Here's a look at our goodbyes:

A blurry photo full of action, I was going to layer it with vellum, but I thought that would blur it even more. I stamped "A Night to Remember" with the Kelly Purkey Outline Alphabet. As you can tell in the photo the stamping got better the more letters I did.

Our Last Day

After time-sensitive deadlines and treks across the state we finally finished our newspaper. What else was there to do but celebrate with a day at the pool and a night "out on the town".

Here's a look:

I love the chaos of the photos. Like how someone's thumb is in the way, or the fact that the bottom photo was taken on a flip phone but still captures the amount of happiness and friendship in all its pixelated goodness. The "I love right now" wood veneer perfectly captures my feelings about that moment (I attached it with my tiny attacher), and the "Low quality photo high quality friends" is one of my favorite captions to help make bad photos infinitely better (I inherited the bronze tag so I don't know where it's from). 

We decided to have a mini photo shoot before we left for dinner, but my favorite photo would have to be the rockstar selfie I took with my friend Jerrell on the way to dinner.

All chipboard stickers are from Me and My Big Ideas. 

Enjoy today, you got through Monday already so that's an accomplishment. Bravo!

xo 

Ally

Exploring Professionalism

I have to say the University of Alabama trusted us a lot with our skills in journalism. After running around the state getting information for good stories we took a trip to Birmingham Magazine and AL.com to get advice from more professionals. 

It was great to see how a typical magazine office ebs and flows. I was intrigued by how no one had their own desk, but instead there were lots of different spaces where you could set up for the day, but still take off at a moment's notice to cover the next story. It was a true display of how quickly the world of journalism is changing. 

The top left card is from the Studio Calico Park Ave. Kit. I love how the pink hexagon pulls out the pink light coming through the window in the bottom photo. The letter stamps are from Walmart.

This layout is actually on the back side of the layout above. The yellow card is the back of the pink one above. I love being able to use one card for multiple layouts (makes me feel like I'm saving money or something). The date stamp is from Studio Calico. 

How's your Sunday going? Have you had a cup of coffee? You should probably fix that if the answer is no. Either way please kick back and relax, take in the day to recharge.

xo

Ally

Party Like a Journalist

One of the best parts of the Multicultural Journalism Workshop was that we had the opportunity to work at the level of fully paid journalists. We were each given what I formally refer to as a "fancy camera" and a city to research. My group's city: Scottsboro, AL. We researched and researched and researched until we found two beautiful spots in rural Alabama including Gorham's Bluff and Pikeville Store-N-Deli. 

But more about that later, let's take a look at the layouts (I apologize for the photo quality in advance I just found these laying around this morning and realized I never photographed them, lets just pretend that the blue tint is some kind of ethereal artistic choice, it'll be our little secret):

Gorham's Bluff was a beautiful bed and breakfast community tucked away in Alabama. It was absolutely breathtaking and these photos don't even do it justice. So if you're ever in backwoods Alabama look them up and kick back and relax.

The top photo is of me and the ladies in my group. We were the only group of all girls, and we had a lot of fun. The bottom photo is the view from the backyard of Gorham's Bluff. 

Everything in this layout is from Me and My Big Ideas. Here's the link to both the alphas and stickers. I don't know which set the card is from though. The date stamp is made by Studio Calico, but I inherited it from my mom's collection so I don't know where she got it.

Our second stop on our trip was at Pikeville Store N Deli, a little hole in the wall burger joint at a literal fork in the road in Scottsboro. It was the BEST burger I have ever had in my life! And it was so CHEAP! I'm just saying that if I'm ever in a 2 hour vicinity of Scottsboro you can guarantee I will be making the trip to the store again. 

The top photo is of the marvelous burger I devoured, and the bottom photo is of a staircase from Gorham's Bluff.

The "Good Stuff" stamp is from Amy Tangerine and the "Headline" card is from Me and My Big Ideas, although I'm not sure which kit.

Here's to hoping you're having a great Friday Eve!

xo

Ally

MJW: A Week of Journalistic Fun

For the next week I'll be posting a look at my Multicultural Journalism Workshop layouts. If you want more info about the workshop you can check out my opening post here.

The blue checkered 4x6 card is from the Studio Calico Walden Project Life Kit, and the gold alpha is from American Crafts.

I used PicFrame to print the two 3x4 photos on one page. The "hi. hello" washi tape is from Joann and the diamond washi tape pieces & label on the bottom photo are from the Walden kit. I used the Phonto app to write "Dorm Shenanigans" on my photo, but my Canon selphy cut off the top half of the letters. 

Hope your Tuesday is sweller than your Monday.

Here's to a great week!

xo

Ally

The Long Weekend: an experience of a lifetime

Coming out of my junior year of high school I was scouring the internet for good journalism programs for the summer. I needed to do something, I couldn't just sit at home all summer. I needed to write.

I got into NYU's Pre-College program, but after laughing off the $13,000 admission price I moved on to another option. The University of Alabama's Multicultural Journalism Workshop, also known as the best week of journalism in. my. life.

The Multicultural Journalism Workshop accepts 15 students from across the nation for a full scholarship to attend a week long program in Tuscaloosa, AL. I'll have more details about each day in future posts, but let me just preface with the fact that this program blew my expectations out of the water.

The program started off with 'The Long Weekend', a journalism seminar for students entering grades 6-12. It's jam-packed with journalism workshops and classroom lectures with a final project at the end to showcased what you've learned.

Here's a look:

I absolutely love this title page. It's bright, colorful, and detailed. I used identical cards from the Midnight Core Kit on the top and identical cards from the Sunshine Core Kit on the bottom. The alphas are from American Crafts. I used an old Studio Calico date stamp to document the beginning and end of the weekend, and then I scripted 'the university of alabama' at the bottom of the layout. 

The above photo is from the first day of brainstorming and lectures. The 'Today' washi is from the Walden Project Life Kit from Studio Calico. The bottom photo is my lovely Team Yellow group that helped me fall back in love with journalism. The sticky note-tab is from the Park Ave. Project Life Kit and the twine is from the Walden kit. I tried to make a bow, now it just looks like some abstract object, it's cool, I've accepted it.

Hope your day is full of trafficless rides and warm cups of coffee.

xo

Ally

Dreams Do Come True in New Orleans

Why not start off your Sunday with a Disney reference, it can only help the day get better am I right or am I right?

Let me just start this post off by saying that my parents are experts. Experts at hiding a gem of a city from their children for upwards of 16 years. 16 years I say! For people who live outside of New Orleans but still in Louisiana, 'NOLA' is the city you stay away from unless you want hot smelly walks down the street, at least that's what I was told.

I find that in the south there are four magical weeks in the year when the weather is just perfect. Two in the fall and two in the spring. You never know when they're going to hit, but the second they start, prepare to pack all of your outdoor activities into them.

Luckily for us, our visit to New Orleans fell right into the spring session of weather magic.

We didn't even break a sweat, hell I think there was a light breeze. That ladies and gentlemen is how you should tour New Orleans. Well that and with a beignet in hand at all times, don't worry Cafe Du Monde will keep you stocked.

Here's a peek into our trip:

While the layout doesn't capture the sprawling landscape of the city (I wasn't a big photographer last year), it does capture the details of what I loved about our visit).

The top left card is from the Sunshine Edition Core Kit. I used old pink alphas to spell out 'nola'. The top right photo is my sister and our cousin, he's adorable and you can bet your money that if he visits a picture of him will make it into my album (i.e. my easter layout).

The bottom left photo is but of course a Starbucks picture. Yes they spelled it wrong, no I'm not bitter the drink made my hurt feelings melt away. The bottom right card is also from the sunshine kit and the silver heart is from Me & My Big Ideas.

Finally, I saved the macaron box from Sucre (you must go there if you visit it is SO GOOD, it is also the only macaron I've ever had so I'm probably biased) and did a little journaling on it. I then hole punched it to go into my album.

Hope you're enjoying a lazy care-free Sunday. Have a cup of coffee for me.

xo

Ally 

Dutch Princess Meets Taylor Swift

I'm not a fashion blogger. Repeat after me: Ally is not a fashion blogger.

If anything I'm a grandma that somehow ended up in a college girl's body. Please don't go sharing this blog with your friends telling them I'm a fashion blogger. Because trust me, they'll get all excited, start looking at my posts and realize that all I do is write hilarious anecdotes complete with scrapbook layouts. And while you and I might think that's the coolest thing ever, they won't. They'll probably cry, and then I'd have to hand them a tissue, which I guarantee you will be single-ply because I'm a college student and can't afford to splurge.

So before we go any further remember one thing: Ally is not a fashion blogger. [If I was a fashion blogger I would've had enough sense to pick a better pose. Like really self? You went with the awkward "I'm going to hide one leg behind the other aaaannnndd yeah arms will look good by my side" look? Really?]

So here it goes. Basically I actually had time to get ready this morning so I decided to put some effort into my appearance.

Sunglasses: Papaya

Top: Old Navy (but it's like really old because I got it at Plato's Closet [aka the best store to find clothes])

Skirt: H&M

Shoes: Payless (because I'm classy like that)

Topped it all off with a dutch braid and some red lips because that's just how I roll.

So ladies and gents, share this with your friends but remember: Ally's not a fashion blogger.

xo

Ally

It's Crawfish Time... I Mean Easter

Growing up in the south Easter time meant two things family and food. That food being crawfish. And that family being everyone you could fit on the back porch.

Here's a peek into what I was doing Easter of last year, project life style:

The above picture is from Easter morning. Yes we still have the Easter baskets from when we were babies, no we don't plan on changing them any time soon, same thing goes for our Christmas stockings.

The bottom picture is of the family at the annual crawfish bowl complete with a 'Today' sentiment from Me & My Big Ideas.

This is one of my favorite layouts from this year. The top left picture is me and my sister licking icing off of beaters (let's be honest isn't that the whole point of baking). I love how her shirt coordinates with the blue in the other two pictures, and how my shorts coordinate with the crawfish picture.

The wood veneer is from the Studio Calico Park Ave. Kit, I secured it with glue dots and later added staples from my new tiny attacher (not pictured). On the bottom left picture I stamped "Seriously Cute" from an old Fiskars stamp set I got at JoAnn's with Staz On Ink. 

I cut down the picture of the crawfish to eliminate any negative space, and so I could mat it with this cute card from the Midnight Core Kit. And to top it all off I wrote 'laissez les bon temps rouler!' or 'let the good times roll'.

Although it's not Easter in real time, it is hot outside. What are your favorite ways to beat the heat? Leave your suggestions in the comments below.

xo

Ally

I Just Spent Hard Earned Money on Coloring Books and I Don't Regret a Thing

Yeah, you read that right. Coloring books. Like the things that used to keep you entertained for hours as a kid. or maybe just a few minutes if you were more of the rambunctious type. Nowadays artists are making it big in the world of coloring book designing.

The fad of Adult Coloring Books has taken off and I am totally on board. You don't have to tell me that scientists say it reduces stress levels to get me to grab a crayon and get to coloring.

Here are the coloring books I just ordered, and thankfully through the grace of Amazon Prime they'll be here in two days. Just in time for a road trip! Don't worry there will be plenty a post about where I'm going later.

Animal Designs 

Balance

Until then, pick a coloring book, grab a pencil, and color your worries away.

xo

Ally

Throwing it Back to Easter

Have I mentioned that I'll never be caught up on Project Life? It's inevitable, I should just accept it, but it's hard to see all these other bloggers that scrap weekly and seem to have their life in order.

I love how Juli Maniago is doing her own Project Throwback over on her YouTube channel. (P.S. you should totally check it out). Maybe one day I'll just put all my old stuff on the back burner and start with the new. Maybe that will be my 2016 resolution, or maybe, just maybe, I'll miraculously catch up on everything. You'll just have to stay tuned and see ;)

Anyway here's a sneak peek into April in my 2014 Project Life album.

The "hello" card is from Studio Calico's Park Ave kit, the grey card is from Becky Higgins Sunshine Edition Core Kit. The wooden stickers I used are from Walmart many many years ago.

Prom, Prom, Prom, Prom

Every month my high school let off for a long weekend so that kids had the opportunity to go home. Lucky for me we got off the weekend of my old high school's prom, so I was able to visit with all of my old friends and dance the night away.

Here's a look at the layout:

The chevron glitter card is from Me and My Big Ideas. I stapled the ticket they gave us for the prom (they never took mine at admission for some reason) on top of the card with a regular stapler (again pre tiny attacher).

I decided to make the bottom two photos black and white to match the purply silver theme. I find that putting low-quality photos in black and white makes them look better anyway.

Finally the "Favorite" sticker is also from Me and My Big Ideas.

Hope you're having a relaxing Friday eve,

xo

Ally

Spring Break!!!

While most people head for the beach for Spring Break, I'm more of the kick back and relax at home kind of gal.

This layout perfectly depicts what my spring break was like. I did a lot of studying for the Chemistry AP exam, while listening to Aziz Ansari of course (how else am I supposed to stay sane?), and a lot of laying around in a hammock that my parents got for their wedding. Might I add they've been married for 19 years now, yet they just opened the hammock...

Anyway I used the Studio Calico Handbook Page Protectors, a 4x3 card from the Walden Project Life Kit, and twine and alphas from the same kit.

I stapled the twine down with some regular staples (this was before I got my tiny attacher, which I must say is a life saver). And, well, the handwriting is all mine, probably took about 10-15 minutes to get it done, I just copied off of some font on the internet (you can find them all over Pinterest).

What are your favorite ways to spend a break? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Have a great day!

xo

Ally

Road Trip!

About twice a year my family piles into a mini-van to road trip to Dallas, TX. It started around 5 years ago, and it isn't stopping anytime soon.

Who would've thought that a trip to see family members (with young kids might I add) would be a relaxing vacation that you look forward to every year.

Here's a look at my layouts:

The 'i LOVE" card is from the Becky Higgins Sunshine Edition Core Kit I used the app Phonto to do the lettering on the bottom photo. Side note: that book, Creativity, Inc., is probably one of the best books I've ever read, definitely the best biography. It talks all about Pixar and their values and what to do to build a phenomenal company. It's fantastic!

The "Family Time" sticker is from the Me & My Big Ideas Pocket Pages clear stickers packet. The date stamp is just a simple Studio Calico roller date stamp I inherited at some point. I wrote a sentiment at the top in cursive but decided to blur it for this post. 

Fun fact these pictures were taken on two separate trips. The top one is from the Fourth of July, I just didn't notice it until I had already finished the layout, but it'll be our little secret ;)

Have a great Sunday!

xo 

Ally

Inside Out

I rarely go to the movies. Nowadays there's just no point. With Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu plus and so many other ways to stream movies it doesn't hurt to wait a few months for them to be available.

However when it came to Disney Pixar's Inside Out I was like a kid waiting for Christmas. I COULD NOT WAIT for the release date. It was one of the most innovative concepts I had ever heard of. Pixar did it again.

News outlets are saying that it's the number one grossing original film of all time, and it's not hard to argue with that.

You can read more about the concept of the film all over the internet, but I want to talk more about the backstage magic.

But Loving Him Was Red...

I have a slight love for T-Swift, and there's red in these photos, so you know the title was going to happen eventually.

I didn't take a lot of photos in February. I separate my albums by photos at school and photos at home so I have a lot less photos for the home album.

The card is from a Me and My Big Ideas pack. I have no clue which one. A friend of mine bought a bunch of supplies during Black Friday last year and gifted them to me, so all organization went out the window.

The writing "Feb." was my attempt at fake calligraphy. It was nerve wracking at first (I only have so many neutral striped cards), so I practiced on an index card a few times, but then I got the hang of it. I find that I have to be the opposite of a perfectionist to appreciate things like my own fake calligraphy.

What simple details do you use in Project Life? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

It's A New Year- Wait What?

I finally got around to putting a blog together to document my documenting. Funny how that all works out isn't it?

Anyway, although I am perpetually behind in my scrapbooking, I've managed to catch up a lot quicker than expected. One of these days I will just start scrapbooking the most recent stuff first, but it's so hard to just give up on the projects I'm currently working on.

So... I'll start by sharing the beginning of 2014, a new year.