Sketch N Scrap"s Card Sketch #269 and Small Format Sketch Projects

 Hello, everyone! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you have been doing well. We are finally getting back into the old routine after having a couple of weeks of vacation. We didn't do much - just a couple of day trips and working on projects around the house - but it was so nice to be a bit more relaxed!

I have been neglecting my poor blog and Instagram, too, so I thought I would share a couple of projects that I have made this month so far. I am starting with the card that I made for Sketch N Scrap's July 5th card sketch since it is featured today over on the Sketch N Scrap Facebook page. Here is a look at the sketch:

And here is my card:

For this card, I have used my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash July kit. I mostly used scraps, but they were in my kit! This was a fun sketch to work with and this card came together so quickly - after I picked my papers! Why is it a struggle sometimes to get the papers right?! In my mind, I had the pink paper and the blue reversed, but when I put it together that way I just didn't like it. I thought about embossing the blue paper but in the end, I just left it plain.

For the flower I used a die set from Momenta that I got at Hobby Lobby probably a year or so ago and this is only the second time I have used it. Here is a close-up - because it's just so pretty:

I love the detail in this flower! I also used a border die from a set that I picked up at Dollar Tree earlier this year and it has quickly become one of my favorites! I really need to use my metal dies more often. I always love the results. Maybe I need to add a couple of dies to my stash bash kits each month, like I do my stamps, and challenge myself to use them. I have been using my stamps more...

The second project I am sharing is the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's July Crop Challenge #5 over in the Monthly Challenges Facebook group. Here is the sketch:

This is a smaller format sketch but it can be used for any size you like. I made a layout in my traveler's notebook, although it almost measures 6x8. Here is my layout:

A month or so ago, I was watching an unboxing video for an Echo Park warehouse box and they had the Carta Bella Here, There, and Everywhere collection in it and they went through the papers. I saw the daisy paper and remembered I had bought that collection in an Echo Park warehouse sale earlier this year and I had never even looked at it close enough to realize it had daisy paper in it! I scrapped a couple of the other photos from this little photo shoot with Ada back last month and thought I would scrap the rest in my traveler's notebook - using that Carta Bella paper.

I used a couple of alphas and enamel dots from my July kit and I used a couple of stamps, too! That white title piece was just too plain for my liking. 

If you haven't played along with our smaller format sketch, you should give it a try! You can make any size you want or just use one side of the sketch. We would love to see your take on it! You can find our smaller format sketches in our Monthly Challenges Facebook group. It is always challenge #5.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! Hopefully, I will get back to posting a little more regularly!

Have a great day!

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash July Kit Challenge

Hello, hello! Happy Monday and Happy July 1st! It is time for the Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash July Kit Challenge. Here is how this challenge works -  on the 1st of each month, we will post a challenge prompt and the stash kit we have created using that prompt. During the month we will try to use as much of our stash kit as possible on different projects. 

This will be a just-for-fun challenge so there is no monthly prize - but the real prize is using up our stash! We hope you will join us in our quest to bash our stash! If you play along - link up on either my blog or Lisa's blog (or both if you choose) so that we can see who is joining us each month.

Here is July's recipe:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers. Our focus item for July is alphas.

Here is my kit for July:

I am keeping with the summer theme this month and have pulled papers from the Simple Stories Sunshine and Blue Skies collection (2019), and the Simple Stories Summer Lovin collection. Here is a look at the papers:

I haven't bought any new summer collections this year because I have so many older collections that I am trying to work through. I thought I was missing out on the floatie paper in the Echo Park Summer Vibes collection from this year. I even went to my LSS this past week with every intention of buying it - or the whole collection - and they did not have it. When I came home and went through my summer collections, I saw the floatie paper in the Sunshine and Blue Skies collection and thought it worked just as well, so I saved myself some money and I now have an opportunity to use up some stash!

Here is the "b" sides of the papers:

Quite a few cut-apart papers or papers that can be fussy cut.

Here are the embellishments that I have pulled:

The 12x12 sticker sheets from both collections, ephemera packs from both collections, a sticker book, wood veneer, a sheet of word/phrase stickers, and enamel dots. I don't have any enamel dots from either collection, so I had to pull packs that had a color match, which is why there are so many!

Here are the scraps that I pulled:

I had kept the scraps from both collections together with their collection, so I pulled those and the 6x8 paper pad from the Summer Lovin collection.

I also found the matching solid papers for the Sunshine and Blue Skies paper, and I had two sheets from that collection that I just couldn't leave out, and the cut-aparts, too, so I added those as well:

Our focus item for July is alphas, so I pulled a few of those:

Okay, that might be a bit more than a few! To be honest, I rarely reach for these alpha stickers anymore. I am either using my go-to alphas or my metal dies to cut my own, using my stamps, or using ready-made words - like from those on the sticker sheet or in the ephemera packs. All of these alphas are in a bin on the top shelf of my shelving unit and are just not easy to get to. I am so glad I pulled that bin down and went through it! There were so many little gems in there that I forgot that I even had. I pulled alphas in all the colors that match my kit, and I am going to try and challenge myself to use some of these alphas on my projects this month.

I am keeping the same stamps out this month that I had included in my kit last month since my kit is still summer-themed:

That is it for my kit this month! I have 7 or 8 layout ideas for this month's kit. I'm not sure if I will get them all done this month, but at least I'll have everything ready to go when I have the time to get them all done!

Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog - My Creative Endeavors - to see the beautiful kit that she has put together. I always love to see her kits!

Don't forget - this is a just-for-fun challenge, but if you do play along and put together your own stash bash kit - add it to the linky below and we will be sure to check it out and cheer you on! Here are the rules:

1. Follow the challenge prompt to create a kit to work with throughout the month. You may use other items, but please concentrate on using your kit, and link it below.

2. Create new, not previously posted projects using your stash kit.

3. If you have a blog - please include the challenge graphic and a link to our challenge in your posts. 

4. You may link to social media if you don't have a blog. If you share on Instagram, please make sure to use - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2024

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! Have a great day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Besties - Sketch N Scrap #299

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday to you!  I hope that your week is off to a good start.

Today I am sharing the layout  I made using the June 15th sketch from Sketch N Scrap and my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit for June. Here is a look at the sketch:

And here is my layout:

For this layout, I pulled papers - and a few scraps - from my June kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash. I knew I wanted to use the paper with all of the fun words on it for these photos of Ada and her bestie on their first sleepover. I pulled papers that matched the colors in the text paper and went to work. 

My kit didn't include many flowers, so I raided my die-cut stash and found a few that would work. This layout came together so quickly and I love the end result!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

When I was looking for the flowers, I came across the paperclips and thought they were perfect for this layout and they tucked in nicely in each of the clusters. 

For the title, I cut the letters from each of the patterned papers to mimic the words in the text paper. I then added foam tape for a bit of dimension.

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap for more inspiration. I hope you have a chance to play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you have an awesome day!

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash June Kit Challenge

 

Hello, everyone! Happy June 1st! I hope that your weekend is off to a wonderful start. I can't believe it is already June 1st - my favorite month of the year! The weather the last few days has been beautiful, the pool is ready to go, and I say - bring on summer!

Are you ready for a new Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit challenge? I am, and I may have gone a little overboard this month, but I'll get to that in a bit. As for my May kit, I did pretty well last month using my kit. I still have a couple of projects in progress so I can't definitively say just how well is did just yet, but I am happy with how much I used last month!

Let's get to this month's kit. Here is a little info on this challenge -  on the 1st of each month, we will post a challenge prompt and the stash kit we have created using that prompt. During the month we will try to use as much of our stash kit as possible on different projects. 

This will be a just-for-fun challenge so there is no monthly prize - but the real prize is using up our stash! We hope you will join us in our quest to bash our stash! If you play along - link up on either my blog or Lisa's blog (or both if you choose) so that we can see who is joining us each month.

Here is June's recipe:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers. Our focus item for June is cut apart/Project Life cards.

Here is my kit for June:

As I said above, I went a little overboard this month. My kit is almost double what is required! I just couldn't help myself. Once I started pulling papers, I just couldn't stop! Nor could I narrow it down to just 10, so I am going with 18 papers double, maybe triple, the embellishments!

Here are the papers I have chosen:

This summer-themed kit is full of (mostly) Echo Park, but it also includes Pebbles, Close To My Heart, Pink Fresh Studios, Pink Paislee, Felicity Jane, Photo Play, and Project Life papers. I am spreading the love around this month!

Here is a look at the embellishments:

I have included a 12x12 sticker sheet, a couple of Echo Park Sticker books, Echo Park ephemera, the 6x6 paper pad from Echo Park, a 6x8 paper pad from Simple Stories, a sticker book from Simple Stories, enamel dots, doilies, and some wood veneer. 

Here are the scraps that I have pulled:

A good variety of scraps this month!

Our focus item for June is cut-apart cards/Project Life cards and this is what I pulled:

I pulled in a couple of cut-apart papers from Simple Stories for May and June because I hope to work on my Project Life album a lot this month. I also pulled the cut part papers from the Echo Park My Favorite Summer collection and got them all cut up and ready to go. I also found a strip of tags from a Simple Stories collection that I threw in - just in case I need something for journaling, and then I added in my most recent Elle's Studio and Studio Calico kits. I've been doing pretty well with my Project Life album this year and hope to get even more caught up this month.

Here are a few stamp sets that I have pulled in hopes of using this month:

I think I am going to challenge myself to use at least one stamp from each of these sets this month!

I am super excited to get started with my kit and I hope it's a very productive month!

Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog - My Creative Endeavors - to see the beautiful kit that she has put together. I always love to see her kits!

Don't forget - this is a just-for-fun challenge, but if you do play along and put together your own stash bash kit - add it to the linky below and we will be sure to check it out and cheer you on! Here are the rules:

1. Follow the challenge prompt to create a kit to work with throughout the month. You may use other items, but please concentrate on using your kit, and link it below.

2. Create new, not previously posted projects using your stash kit.

3. If you have a blog - please include the challenge graphic and a link to our challenge in your posts. 

4. You may link to social media if you don't have a blog. If you share on Instagram, please make sure to use - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2024

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you have a fantastic day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #265

Hello, everyone! Happy Sunday to you! We are smack dab in the middle of the long holiday weekend, AND - it's the unofficial start of summer! It's been a full and busy weekend already and I am loving it!

Today I am sharing the card that I created using Sketch N Scrap's May 5th card sketch. Here is a look at the sketch:

And here is my card:

This was such a fun sketch to work with, one that I will use again and again! 

I used my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash May kit for this card. I had included Echo Park's Telling Our Story 6x6 paper pad, so I put it to use, along with a sticker from the sticker book. I changed up the sketch just a little by adding my sentiment underneath the focal point block. "Congratulations" is a pretty long word and there was no way it would fit as the sketch showed. The sentiment is from an older Close To My Heart stamp of the month set - S1901 - Card Captions.

Our daughter was recently named Teacher of the Year for her school district and I thought it was the perfect time to send her a card and let her know how proud of her we are! Here is a picture of her with her plaque:

Be sure to stop by the Sketch N Scrap blog, the Sketch N Scrap Facebook page, and join the Sketch N Scrap Monthly Challenges Facebook group for more inspiration and fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Sketch N Scrap's Birthday Bash Sketch #3

Hello, hello! Happy Saturday to you! We have made it to the weekend - and it's the long holiday weekend, too!  We have a few little projects around the house that we will be working on this weekend - as long as the rain holds off.

Today I am sharing the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's 3rd - and final -  exclusive Birthday Bash sketch. Here is a look at the sketch, created by me:

And here is my layout:

I have had these photos of Shane lying around for 20+ years and I thought it was about time I got this story told! We were at the Christmas parade, it was a beautiful day, there were tons of people out for the parade, and lots of candy was being thrown from the floats. We had given Shane a couple of pieces of candy throughout the parade, so we didn't think anything of it when we went to leave and he had a mouthful of something that he was chewing on. When we looked closer we saw he had a big wad of bubblegum in his mouth and he was enjoying it immensely! He was only three at the time and tended to swallow gum if we gave it to him, so he rarely had it. Where he got the bubblegum is a mystery. We don't know if he found a piece that was thrown into the crowd and unwrapped it himself, or if the unthinkable happened and he found a piece of chewed gum on the ground and took it for himself. We really hope that that was not the case! Regardless, we made him spit the gum out before he could swallow it. He keeps us on our toes - and still does 20+ years later!

I pulled out the little bit of Simple Stories' So Rad collection from 2015 that I had left. The background paper with all of the stars was the only full sheet of paper from that collection I had left. I still have a few of the cut-apart pieces that I will hang onto for future boy layouts, but other than that and a few stickers, this collection is done!

Here are a few close-ups:

I always find it a bit of a challenge to embellish layouts like this one - a general "boys will be boys" type layout. Other than stars, there's not much to go by, so I did a lot of fussy cutting and punching out the circles for this layout. 

This is the only area of the sketch that I strayed from. I knew I had a lot to say, so I moved my journaling down to the bottom left corner and added embellishments - or words in this case - to the area where the journaling was to go. 

I fussy cut the camera from one of the papers and the "Dude" word, too. I really wanted an exclamation point after it because we were definitely saying "DUDE! What are you chewing?!" so I found a white exclamation point in one of my alphabet sticker books. I think it adds a little interest.

The background paper is pretty busy, which is another reason I kept my embellishing to just a few stars and circles. 

Be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog and the Sketch N Scrap Facebook page for more inspiration all month long!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! Have a great day!

Sketch N Scrap 12th Birthday Bash Sketch #1

 Hello, hello! Happy Saturday to you! I hope you are having a good weekend! 

Today I am sharing my layout for Sketch N Scrap's Birthday Bash Sketch #1. Here is the first of three new sketches celebrating Sketch N Scrap's 12th birthday:

And here is my layout:

I used Echo Park's Farmer's Market collection for my layout. A lot of the stickers didn't really go with my garden layout, but there is a paper filled with seed packets that I cut out and used for embellishments.

These photos are of Ada in the spring of 2021. We had gotten her gardening tools for Easter and she was really looking forward to helping us plant the garden. On this day we were finally putting some seeds in the ground - and she loved helping us! She put those tools to good use! She was so careful working up the dirt and making sure the seeds were just right.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I wasn't sure what I was going to title this layout, but then I saw the 'Making Memories' sticker on the sticker sheet and thought it was perfect. That is just what we were doing on this day. I made sure to cut out all of the seed packets that we planted that day

There was so much empty space on the right side of the photos, so I decided to add a few more seed packets down the side of the photos.

Be sure to stop by the Sketch N Scrap blog for more inspiration for this sketch. I hope you have some time to play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! Have a great day!

Stay Cool - Sketch N Scrap #296

 Hello, everyone! Happy Friday to you! Are you ready for the weekend? I sure am. The stormy weather has finally moved out of our area and the weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend. I can't wait!

Today I am sharing the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's May 1st sketch. Here's a look at the sketch:

And my layout:

For this layout, I have used the Simple Stories Boho Sunshine collection. It was a little tricky because I only had the 6x8 paper pad for my papers, but I made it work with some piecing together!

This was a fun sketch to work with and would be perfect if you needed to use up some scraps. It's going into my favorites folder for that purpose!

The photo is of Miss Ada who looked so cute with her hair up in a clip and her sunglasses on, ready for a fun shopping day with her Mom. I just couldn't resist snapping a photo!

Here are a few close-ups:

Ada was over at our house while I was working on this layout and I got her input on the embellishments. I originally had a sun where the butterfly is, but wanted the pink butterfly to go there. I think she made a good choice!

I got the idea for the title from one of the cut-apart papers in the 6x8 paper pad. I would have just cut it out to use, but it was a little too small for the area it was to go in. Thank goodness the sticker book had an alphabet in it! I added a couple of banners - mostly because it gave my title something to "sit" on and not look as if it was floating on my page. They were a perfect fit to connect one side of the layout to the other, and I didn't even plan that out ahead of time!

I finished the bottom cluster with the camera, smiley face, and sunglasses. 

I love how this layout turned out!

For more inspiration be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog, the Sketch N Scrap Facebook page, and the Sketch N Scrap Monthly Challenges Facebook group. Our 12th Birthday Bash is going on all month long and there are a ton of fun challenges being posted in the group. Come on over and play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you have a great day!

Summer Vibes - Sketch N Scrap's May Challenge #1

Hello, hello! Happy Thursday to you! I hope that you are having a good day. 

 If you haven't heard - Sketch N Scrap is turning 12 this month and we are celebrating all month long. Every Tuesday and Thursday of the month, the design team will be providing a challenge for you to try over in our private Facebook group, and today is the first one! I was tasked with the first challenge. My challenge to you is to use the following sketch to create your layout - AND - you must add at least one heart to your layout. Here is the sketch that I chose:

This sketch is from May 2018 and it is one of my favorites! Here is my layout:

For this layout, I have used photos of Miss Ada when they went to Florida a couple of years ago and my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit for May. The colors in my kit were a good match to the colors in Ada's swimsuit. I didn't have any beachy-themed items in my kit, but I didn't worry about that and I just used what I did have in my kit that would work. These pictures will be documented elsewhere and I can use all the beach things then.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I am so glad that our focus item this month for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash was flowers, and I am so glad that I found these paper flowers from Close To My Heart in my stash. I probably would have never thought to use flowers on this layout otherwise. I thought the yellow flowers were giving out a sunshine vibe.

My challenge was to use at least one heart on your layout and I added a few stamped hearts around my layout. The heart stamp is from the Simple Stories Life Captured stamp set. It's always scary to stamp directly on your layout, and I did have a little oopsie, but I just added a couple more flowers to cover it up!

For part of my title, I used the alpha stickers that I had in my kit. I wanted to use different font styles for the two words so I dug in my stash and found the perfect smaller black alphas. It always feels good to show some of those older supplies some love.

Head on over to the Sketch N Scrap Monthly Challenges group on Facebook to check out all of the fun that is going on this month.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! Have a great day!