Top 10 of 2016! and a Giveaway!!

Hello blogging friends!

Today some scrappy friends and I are participating in a blog hop to share our favorite projects from the past year. Here is the list of participants in case you want to start at the beginning. Many are also doing giveaways including me! In addition to this blog hop, there is an instagram hop, and a YouTube hop. So pick your social media app of choice and be inspired.

Blog Hop 2016 List

Mendi Yoshikawa
Audrey Yeager
Christine Meyer 

Juliana Michaels  

Wendy Antenucci 

Suzanna Lee 

Karen Hunter

Monique Liedtke
Kat Benjamin

Jennifer Haggerty
Jen Matott
Missy Whidden

Marcia Dehn Nix 
Heather Leopard

Rebecca Keppel 
Traci Penrod

Melissa Elsner
Monika Wright
Laura Whitaker 

Chantalle McDaniel 

I had a blast designing for Clique Kits, Cocoa Vanilla Studios, Simple Stories, and JustNick Studios this past year. My love for these scrapbook manufactures, kit club, and digital cut file shop are reflected in my favorite layouts this year. New this year, you will see some hand stitching on some layouts and I think every one of these favorites used a cut file! My Silhouette sure got a work out this year!

It was so hard to narrow my favorites down to 10 .... but here goes...

1.   Inspired by Bernie Sanders commercials, I created this first layout with scraps from my May Clique Kit featuring Basic Grey's Urban Luxe and Fancy Pants Designs Atwell collections. That gorgeous Bits and Pieces Heart Background digital cut file is from JustNick Studios.

2.  I created this gorgeous layout as a housewarming gift for a friend using the Cocoa Vanilla Studios Love Always collection. The digital cut files on this layout are also from Cocoa Vanilla Studios. I did some hand stitching around the heart on this one.

3.  This next layout was created using the October sketch from Creative Scrappers when Cocoa Vanilla Studios was their sponsor. This is the Hello Sunshine collection which coordinated perfectly with my beach photo from our Kauai vacation last winter. I used the Summer Words digital cut file from JustNick Studios for my title.

4.  My little grand nephew is the sweetest, cutest kid ever! I love these photos of him playing with a bubble gun this past summer. A mixture of various Cocoa Vanilla Studios collections were used on this one; Life is Beautiful, Totally Rad, and Made of Awesome as well as the fabulous Retro 50's digital cut file from JustNick Studios. I wanted a lot of circle elements on this layout to go with the bubbles theme. It just screams FUN!

5.  The Reset Girl collection from Simple Stories was one of my favorite collections this year. It was created for the planner obsessed, but I found it worked well for documenting my oldest daughter's struggles this year with it's reset your life theme. Two years ago, I scrapped a layout with a selfie she took on the way to her wedding; "Last Selfie Before I Take Myself Off the Market!". I thought it was appropriate to do another layout with a "Back On the Market" selfie she posted as she is going through a divorce. To say the past year has been horrible for her would be an understatement. It is heart wrenching as a Mom to watch your little girl hurting. But slowly she is starting to bloom again :). 2017 is going to be an awesome year for her! I used the Leaf Circle Doily from JustNick Studios to help frame my photo.

6.  Next up is a Simple Stories layout created with the Hero Simple Set and the Bits and Pieces Star Background digital cut file from JustNick Studios. It's rare for me to have a good photo of my husband to scrap. He hates having his picture taken. Here he was attending a police officer's funeral as part of the MSP Airport PD honor guard. 

7.  My nephew is featured again in this next layout. This one was created with the awesome Cocoa Vanilla Studios Totally Rad collection and the August 2015 free cut file from Scrapbook and Cards Today designed by Nicole Nowosad.

8.  I got messy with my Faber Castell gelatos for this next layout I created with the Simple Stories Hello Fall collection. I used a variety of JustNick Studios cut files here; Autumn Ring, Leaves, and Leaf It To Me. I wanted the gorgeous Fall colors in this photo of my niece to extend onto my background. There is a process video to go along with this layout here.

9.  Fall is my favorite season, so it's not surprising that I have another Simple Stories Hello Fall layout in my top 10.  The cute little fox is adorable, but it's that Leaf Cluster digital cut file from JustNick Studios that steals the show. I also used the Fall Y'All cut file for my title.

10.  I am ending with my most recent layout created using the Simple Stories Winter Wonderland collection and the Nordic Background cut file from JustNick Studios. This paper collection and digital cut file go together like Winter and a Sweater! You can catch the process video for this one here.

Since Cocoa Vanilla Studios is hard to come by here in the States, I thought I would send my lucky winner the Love Always collection. To be eligible, follow me and leave a comment letting me know which of my layouts was your favorite. I will ship international. Winner will be announced on January 7th. Good luck!

My scrappy goal for 2017 is to do more YouTube process videos. I would love to have you subscribe to my channel so you don't miss out. Here is a link to my YouTube version of my Top 10 of 2016. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope 2017 brings you everything you hope for.

Next up is the awesome Heather Leopard.

~Marcia