Use Your Stuff - Free Week

Good Monday morning! This week is a free week over at Use Your Stuff. That means it is a no-challenge week for the DT, so we don't have a challenge for you.  However, just for fun, head on over to the Use Your Stuff blog and leave a comment telling us what your Easter plans are and you will be entered to win this crafty prize from Tammy.

The contest will be open until 6pm MST on Saturday April 4 and the winner will be announced on Sunday April 5.

Good luck and thanks so much for playing along with us each week.

Lasting Memories #235 - Mystic Mountains

Good morning! Today is the start of a brand new set of challenges over at Lasting Memories. The theme for April is "Travel" and this week's challenge is "Mystic Mountains". This was a bit of a challenge for me. We don't travel a lot - mostly because Shane likes his home and his electronics too much to leave them for any amount of time. And when Shane ain't happy, ain't nobody happy - so we generally stick pretty close to home!

So, I went in a much different direction for my layout and used a quote - and it's not even travel related! Yeah, I kind of failed at this weeks challenge!

 

For my title I used the quote "Let her sleep for when she wakes, she will move mountains". Ada had had so much fun at her Uncle Shane's birthday party and she crashed hard later that night. She is a little thing - but don't tell her that! She thinks she is as big as anyone else and can do anything she wants!

I had the Heidi Swapp Serendipity collection still out on my desk after making some pocket style swap cards and thought it would be perfect for this photo of Ada sleeping. I also used this older sketch from Let's Capture Our Memories:

Head on over to the Lasting Memories blog and see what the rest of the design team has created.

Thanks for stopping by and see you soon!

 

More exciting news!

I am so excited that I can finally share some more exciting news with you. I have been asked to be a part of the Sketches in Thyme Design Team!

Sketches in Thyme is a sketch challenge blog with fantastic sketches. Starting in April there will be a new sketch posted on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd of each month. To be eligible to win a prize each month you need to become a follower of the Sketches in Thyme blog and enter any of the four challenges for that month.

I am on Team 3 and will be working with the uber-talented Shawn Lahr's sketches. Shawn's sketch and our layouts will be featured the 15th-21st of each month.

I am so thrilled and excited to be a part of this super talented design team.

Be sure to head on over to the  Sketches in Thyme blog and meet the rest of the team.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

Lasting Memories #234 - I Am So Lucky

Good Sunday morning! I am so happy - the boys are on spring break this week! We don't have any plans since Scott still has to work, but it will be nice to not have to go anywhere this week.

The new challenge is up over on the Lasting Memories blog. To finish up our month of "friendship" challenges, this week is Anything Goes with a Friendship theme.

 

I made a layout of me and my sisters. I am so lucky that each one of them lives so close to me and that we are able to see each other and talk to each other any time we want. The relationships that I have with each one of them are so different and unique and I am just so lucky to have them.

I used this sketch from Sketch Savvy:

I used the oh-so-pretty I Am collection from Simple Stories. I just love all the colors in this collection. I made some homemade "flair" to add a little something extra to my layout, and some candy buttons from Basic Grey that I have had in my stash for a while.

I am happy to say that with my last round of pocket style cards that I made for some swaps at Project Life Card Swap on Facebook, that I have passed my 50 Projects (and then some!) goal! I'm hoping with spring break this week that I will have some time to blog about a few of my favorite pocket style cards that I have made for these swaps. For now I am taking a little break from 50 Projects and I will be doing a little shopping to reward myself for meeting my goal. I will be starting round 2 - probably the first of April.

Be sure to head on over to the Lasting Memories blog to see what the rest of the design team has created. You have until the 27th to get your friendship layouts linked up. I look forward to seeing your creations.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great dat!

I am pleased to announce...

that I have been asked to join the Feeling Sketchy Design Team!

 

Feeling Sketchy is a sketch challenge blog with challenges on the 1st and 15th of every month. They only have card sketches, but they encourage you to use their sketches for layouts as well.

My first reveal will be on April 1st and I will be sharing the card I made for my design team application. I am so excited to be working with this great group of ladies and I hope you find time to play along with our challenges as well.

Use Your Stuff #177 - Create Your Own Background

Good morning! It's Monday and back to the old grind today. At least there is a fun new challenge up over on the Use Your Stuff blog!

This week Martha has challenged us to create our own backgrounds. You can use whatever you want, stamps, embossing folders, distress inks, embossing paste, etc. I chose to use stamps for my card.

I have a very sweet niece that will be celebrating her 9th birthday a little later this month, so I thought I would make a card for her. I randomly stamped several different circle stamps in both pink and green to create my background - a technique I used to use a lot. It has been such a long time since I got my stamps out to just play.

I'll be linking this up over at Crash Your Stash. This is project #45/50! I'm almost there!

Head on over to the Use Your Stuff blog and see the gorgeous creations the rest of the design team have made. I hope you find some time to get crafty this week!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

LM #233 - Best Of Friends

Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a great weekend. I can't believe it is already the middle of March! This year is moving right along.

The new challenge is up over at Lasting Memories. The theme for March is "Friendship" and this week's  challenge is "Best Of Friends". I made a layout of my oldest son with our dog, Wilfred.

Wilfred can't wait for Matt to get up in the mornings. He usually goes in to his room, jumps up on his bed and rests until Matt is ready to get out of bed. He always gets excited when he sees Matt put on his shoes because he knows it's time for an adventure, and when Matt spends the night at a friend's house, Wilfred is a little lost dog!

For this layout I used this awesome sketch from Sketches In Thyme:

I also used papers from the My Sunshine Stack from Die Cuts With A View. I bought this paper pad almost 2 years ago because I loved the colors and the patterns in it - so much so that I hadn't even touched it until now. Boy, it feels good to finally put it to use! I also used up some old Doodlebug Designs...I can't even remember what they were called...tokens, maybe? They have been in my stash for a good ten years. I have several sets of these that will hopefully find their way onto layouts and cards this year!

I am linking this up over at Crash Your Stash - this is project #44/50!

Head on over to the Lasting Memories blog and see the beautiful layouts the rest of the design team have created. I hope you find the time to play along with our "Best of Friends" challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Use Your Stuff #176 - Make It Monochromatic

Hello! I hope you're getting a little taste of spring where you are. We've had a couple of sunny, windy, warm days, and I say keep 'em coming!

The new challenge is up over at Use Your Stuff. Shirley has challenged us to  "Make it monochromatic". I thought since St. Patty's Day is just around the corner that a green card was in order. And a St. Patty's Day card just is not complete without some gold!

  

I used some paper that is at least 10 years old. That green stripe piece was one of those papers that I just loved and hoarded - waiting for the perfect project to come along. I thought it was high time to put it to use!

I'm linking this up over at Crash Your Stash. This is project #40 of 50!

Be sure to head on over to the Use Your Stuff blog and see all of the beautiful monochromatic creations from the rest of the design team. Remember - your project can be a layout, a card, an altered project - any sort of paper project.

I look forward to seeing your monochromatic creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

LM #232 - Together Is The Best Place To Be

Good morning! We've made it back around to Sunday and the weather is finally acting like it's springtime!

The new challenge is up over at Lasting Memories. The theme for the month of March is "Friendship" and this week's challenge is - So Happy Together.

I chose to scrap this photo of me and my husband at our 25th wedding anniversary party back in January. 25 years - it doesn't seem like it's been that long, yet it's hard to remember my life before!

I used The Story Of Us collection from Simple Stories. Even though it's more of a wedding collection I thought it fit well for a 25th anniversary layout.

Here's a close up of the cluster in the upper left hand corner:

I feel like I am clustering challenged - heck maybe even embellishment challenged would be a better way of putting it! I've been trying hard to add clusters of embellishments to my layouts now and again and slowly I am feeling a little more confident in doing it.

I'll be linking this up over at Crash Your Stash for my 2015 Project 50. This makes project #37 of 50!

Now head on over to Lasting Memories and see what the rest of the design team has created.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

There is an awesome giveaway...

on my friend, Sindi's, blog. She is giving away a ton of scrappy goodies to one lucky winner. You have until Saturday, March 7th, so hurry on over and check out her awesome blog and leave her a comment for a chance to win!

Use Your Stuff #175 - Twine

Good Monday morning! There's a new challenge up on the Use Your Stuff blog. Michelle has challenged us to use twine on our projects.

Twine is one of those items in my stash that I have a ton of but I always seem to forget to use it!

supplies used - Patterned Paper - Simple Stories - Hugs and Kisses, Alphas - Kindness - Simple Stories, A Simple Act Of - Echo Park, doily punch - Martha Stewart, scalloped border punch - EK Success, Baker's Twine - Darice, Heart die - Lawn Fawn.

For my project I made this layout about my son. I added some twine to the tag and I also wrapped it around my photo and tied it.

I plan on adding some personal journaling behind the photo to explain about the simple act of kindness that a fellow student showed towards Shane and what it meant to me.

Long story short - during the week of Valentine's Day, one of the clubs at school sells carnations for $1 for the students to buy and send to a friend/boyfriend/girlfriend, and then they deliver them on Valentine's Day. This year a fellow student sent one to Shane. That little girl will probably never know just how much that that simple act of kindness meant to this Mom. We are so fortunate that the boys go to a small school and that the kids are so accepting of Shane.

I am linking this up over at Crash Your Stash - project #36/50.

Be sure to stop by the Use Your Stuff blog and see what the rest of the design team has made. You will see some really cool ideas on how to use up that twine! The challenge is open until March 8. I hope you get a chance to join in the challenge. Be sure to link up your project over at Use Your Stuff.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon!

Besties - Lasting Memories #231

Good morning! Today is the first day of a new month and that means a brand new theme and set of challenges at Lasting Memories. The theme for March is friendship and the first challenge is - Partners in Crime. My daughter and granddaughter are my partners in crime. They are always up for anything and they both are great shopping partners!





 

supplies used - Patterned Paper - Heidi Swapp September Skies, Heart die - Memory Box stitched heart die, enamel dots - Doodlebug Designs, Alphas -  Bella Blvd, Sticker - My Mind's Eye, date stamp - Becky Higgins.

 

For this layout I used a sketch from Soul Scrappers for their February sketch challenge.

I am linking this layout up over at Crash Your Stash for my 50 projects. This is #35/50. I'm getting closer!

Now head on over to the Lasting Memories blog and see what the rest of the design team has made. I hope you have some time this month to play along with our challenges.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!