Lasting Memories #244 - Keeping the Faith

Good Sunday morning! I hope y'all are having a wonderful day.

There's a new theme and a new set of challenges starting today over on the Lasting Memories blog. Our theme for June is Amusing Anecdotes/inspirational photos and this week's challenge is - Faith.

supplies used: patterned paper - AC Dear Lizzy - Lucky Charm, Simple Stories - Hello Baby Collection, AC - Best of paper pad, enamel dots - Doodlebug Designs, sketch - Inspired To Scrap.

My layout is of my sweet little granddaughter back when she was born. She was three weeks early and had to spend a week in the NICU because she couldn't keep her body temperature up, they were having trouble with her blood sugar, and she was jaundiced. After she had some round the clock care and she spent some time under the bili lights, she was good to go. But, those were seven long days - not only for me, but especially for her first time parents!

My journaling says: Seven long days in the NICU. Lots of sleepless nights with lots of things to worry about - but keeping the faith and trusting God that everything will be okay.

Check out the Lasting Memories blog and see the beautiful layouts from the other design team members. I hope you have some time to play along with our challenges this month. I look forward to seeing you beautiful creations!

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

2015 Project 50 - Round 2 - #6/50

Just Saying Hello - Sketch N Scrap #49

Good morning! I am so excited that today is the last day of school for the boys - and it's just a half day! Bring on those long, lazy summer days with no schedule to worry about.

I have a card to share with you today using Sketch N Scrap's May 5th sketch by Kelly Holifield:

 

Here is my take on the sketch:

I loved the big circle element with the sentiment below. I have a couple of ideas for some more cards using this sketch...now if I can just find some more time to play!

This last week we have had a members crop over at Inspired To Scrap. I hosted a game on Thursday called Guess How Many. I posted pictures of items in my scrap room and whoever came the closest without going over would win a little prize from me. What I discovered doing this is that I have a ton of flowers, a ton of washi tape, and oh my goodness, I do not even want to admit how many 6x6 paper pads I have! I mean, come on, do I really need 109 6x6 paper pads?! How did I get so many?

Well, I have decided that this summer I am going to challenge myself to use mostly only 6x6 paper pads on my layouts and my cards. Maybe, just maybe I can put a dent in my stash, and whenever I can add some flowers or washi tape - you guessed it, they will be added, too!

So, for my card I have used the Echo Park - Jack and Jill Girl 6x6 paper pad, and a few flowers from my stash! At least it's a start! I think it will be fun to look back at what I've created over the summer and see how well I did with my own personal challenge!

Sketch N Scrap is having their 3rd Birthday Bash all month long and there have been some awesome challenges every single day! I'm hoping to get a few more done before the deadline. Be sure to check them out!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day!

 



2015 Project 50 - Round 2 - #5/50

Use Your Stuff #185 - Flowers

Hello, everyone! There is a fun new challenge up over on the Use Your Stuff blog today. Renee is challenging us to use flowers on our projects. It can either be flowers in your patterned paper or flowers as an embellishment - just as long as you have a flower on there.

Supplies used - paper - Echo Park - Jack and Jill (Girl) 6x6 paper pad, stamps - Hero Arts sentiment stamp, wood button and waxy flax - Close To My Heart, ink - Lawn Fawn - black licorice.

 

I have a lot of flowers in my stash, but rarely use them. I credit that to the fact that my daughter was never a girly girl growing up and thought flowers on a page about her would be too girly! It was fun to go searching through my stash to find some flowers to use on this card.

 

I used this sketch that I had pinned on Pinterest. It is an old sketch from the Paper Craft Crew challenge blog.

 



 

 

Head on over to Use Your Stuff and see what the other design team members have created for you. I hope you will be inspired to play along!

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

 

2015 Project 50 - Round 2 - #4/50

Lasting Memories #243 - While We Wait

Hello everyone! I hope that you are enjoying your long weekend. We are enjoying some lazy days and we are ready to get that last half day of school over with on Tuesday!

There's a new challenge up today over on the Lasting Memories blog. It's the last challenge in this series and it's an Anything Goes with Life Affirmations theme.

I chose to do another gratitude layout. I apologize for my photos being so dark. I tried everything to brighten them up and this was as good as I could get. I've got a close up of the photos and if you click the photos you should be able to see them a little better.

 

Since Ada's Mommy teaches in the same school system as the boys attend, we pick Ada up every morning before school and drop her off every afternoon after school. That means about a 20 minute wait for us in the afternoon.

I have grown to love this time and I am going to treasure it - always! You see, this is when I get to hear all about Matthew's day. I get to hear about the frustrations with a class or with fellow classmates. I get to hear the excitement of an activity coming up or something particularly funny that happened that day. I'm sure if he had a long bus ride home - or even just a car ride home - that some of the excitement/frustration would have worn off and probably be forgotten about. But having 20 minutes in the close quarters of a car, I have learned a lot. I have learned how truly awesome Matthew is  and I can see the young man that he is turning into and it makes my heart happy. I am so grateful to have this time spent with him. Next year he will be driving himself back and forth to school and I just hope we can find some way of continuing this.

Here's the close up of the photos:

He was actually acting goofy for the camera for once, so I had to keep them!

I used Simple Stories Life Documented papers and chipboard stickers on my layout. I thought the days of the week paper was quite fitting since we do this Monday - Friday and that little clock was the perfect accent!

I used the May 15 sketch from ScrapMuch?

 

 

My journaling is a little long and private, so I will stick that down behind the photos.

 

Be sure to stop by Lasting Memories and see the rest of the design teams creations. I look forward to seeing your creations as well.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

 

2015 Project 50 - Round 2 - #3/50

Sketches In Thyme #149 - Total Concentration

Happy Monday, everyone!

Today is my day to share with you my take on the week 3 sketch at Sketches In Thyme. Shawn created another awesome sketch for us to work with this month.

 

 

For my layout I flipped the sketch.

 

I used Fancy Pants Little Sport papers for my layout. I didn't have any of the embellishments from that line, so I just fussy cut some baseballs and pennants from the papers for my accents and a few enamel dots.

 

For the month of May the theme over at Lasting Memories is Life Affirmations. One of the challenges is Determination and once again I had a lot of pictures that I could choose from for this challenge and it was hard to narrow them down! In the end I chose this photo of Matthew playing baseball back in the summer of 2008. I absolutely love that look on his face. He is bound and determined to catch that ball! Oh, I do miss those days of him playing baseball!

 

Be sure to stop by the Sketches In Thyme blog and see all of the beautiful layouts created this month with all of the fantastic sketches.

 

 

 

Remember - to be eligible for this awesome prize from Freckled Fawn you need to play along with at least one challenge this month. The more you play the better chances you have to win! You have until May 31st to get your layouts linked up.

 

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



 

2015 50 Projects - Round 2 - #2/50 

#just play - with Sketch N Scrap

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend. Summer vacation is getting closer for us all the time. Just one more full week  and then a half day on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Bring on the lazy days of summer!

I finally got a chance to play along with one of the challenges over on the Sketch N Scrap blog. They are celebrating their 3rd birthday all month long and that means a new challenge is posted every day of the month! Be sure to check it out here.

I played along with their Throwback Thursday with a Twist challenge. Lisa is challenging us to use the following sketch by Kelly and the twist is to use photos taken outside.

 

 

I've had these photos of the boys on my desk for almost a year now and thought it was time to get them scrapped. All of my family got together over the Memorial Day weekend last year to grill hot dogs and have a picnic. It was late enough in the day that we basically had the park to ourselves. Matthew and Shane found their inner kid and played with Kelsey on the playground. No matter how old they get, I hope they always find some time to just play!

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Be sure to check out the challenges over at Sketch N Scrap!

 

 

2015 Project 50 - Round 2 - #1/50

It was bound to happen...

 

My second round of 50 projects is out the window! I fell off the wagon - and hard!

 

Now some of these things are for prizes that I give out in a group that I do monthly card challenges in, and some are things for some pocket letters that I need to send out (like I needed another addiction!), but for the most part this is for me!

Now in my defense, I don't get to shop at Michael's, JoAnn's, Target, or my awesome "local" scrapbook store - Scrapbook Generation - as they are about an hour away, so when I went I had to take advantage of it. And I didn't even know that Springfield had a Tuesday Morning store until recently, so I had to check that out and see if they had any good deals. I couldn't pass up their paper pads they had that are regularly $14.99 for $6.99, and the 25 packs of paper for $3.99. Yes, they are the same papers, but I picked up the more generic ones that can be used for lots of things.

Hopefully I've got my spending out of my system for a while. I will start over on my second round of 50 Projects. With summer coming it shouldn't be too hard to stick with it!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - as for me, I plan on getting scrappy!

Feeling Sketchy #121 - Hello

Happy Friday everyone! Today is the 15th and that means a new sketch is posted over on the Feeling Sketchy blog today.

Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps.

Here is the new sketch:

And the card that I made using the sketch and a digital stamp from Bugaboo Stamps:

 

 

I actually stayed true to the sketch and made another square card. I don't make square cards very often - I mostly stick to the A2 size - and I've got to say that these square cards have been fun to do something different. 

Be sure to check out the Feeling Sketchy blog and see the rest of the design team's creations and to find out more about our sponsor.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Tis the season for graduations!

Good evening! I have a quick card to share with you tonight and if you couldn't tell by the title of my post - it is a graduation card.

When I saw this week's sketch over at Try Stampin - Or Not - On Tuesday, I knew I wanted to use it to make my card. Here is the sketch:

 

 

and my card:

My youngest son, Shane was to graduate from the 8th grade on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, when we got there he had a major meltdown and we felt it was better for him to not participate in the ceremony. Ah - the adventures of having a child with autism - you just never know what's going to happen! But before we left they did want to give him his diploma, so we met in the hallway outside of his classroom, where it was much calmer and quieter, and he received his diploma. I can't believe my baby will be a freshman next year!

 

 

If you haven't checked out the Try Stampin  - Or Not - On Tuesday's challenge blog, be sure to stop by and check them out. They have fantastic sketches every week.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with another card for you!

Use Your Stuff #183 - Sunshine

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. It's Monday and that means a new challenge is up on the Use Your Stuff blog today.

Our challenge this week comes from Michelle and she would like to see some SUNSHINE in your creations.  What's your interpretation of this theme?

Whenever I think of sunshine the color yellow always comes to mind, so I have made a card featuring the color yellow. I enjoyed using my embossing folder so much last week that I decided to use another one for this week's card.

Be sure to check out the Use Your Stuff blog and see how the rest of the design team interpreted Michelle's challenge.

I hope you find some time this week to get crafty and make a little sunshine!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

Lasting Memories #241 - Beautiful Bride

Good Sunday morning and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there! We have had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend filled with lots of family and memory making.

I am back today with the new challenge from Lasting Memories. The theme for May is Life Affirmations and this week's challenge is - Beautiful - make a layout about someone or something that is beautiful.

I snapped this photo of my beautiful daughter on her wedding day after the ceremony. She had found a few minutes to just relax after all of the excitement. She looks absolutely beautiful and so happy in this photo - and I'm sure just a little bit relieved that it was all over!

I used the April 1st sketch from Stuck?! Sketches. (One of these days I'll actually get around to using the sketch in the month it is posted!)

 

 

I stayed pretty true to the sketch - just adding a little cluster at the top for my journaling tag. I definitely wanted to keep the focus on the photo.

 

Be sure to stop by the Lasting Memories blog and see the rest of the beautiful creations from the design team. I hope you can find some time this week to get scrappy!

 

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

Use Your Stuff #182 - Embossing

Hello Monday! It's back to the old routine today. I hope you all had a good weekend and that you were able to get a little scrapping done on National Scrapbooking Day. I didn't get to do as much as I wanted to, but it was a great day any way.

We have a new challenge up over at Use Your Stuff today. Tammy is challenging us to use embossing on our projects. You can use wet embossing, dry embossing or both!

I pulled out my much neglected, but favorite embossing folder and made a card.

I used this card sketch from Technostamper's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #361.

I love the simplicity of this sketch and since Mother's Day is quickly approaching, I thought I would make this card for my daughter.

 

I used a stamp set from Close To My Heart - C1543 - Perfect Fit - Mom - and cut it out and popped it up on some foam tape.

  

Be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team's work over on the Use Your Stuff blog. There are a lot of pretty projects.

 

I hope you find some time this week to do some embossing and share it with us.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

Swap Fun at Inspired To Scrap

Hello, everyone! I hope you all are having a great weekend. I've got a fun little project to share with you today and it would make a great, quick Mother's Day gift.

My friend, Lu, over at Inspired to Scrap always has the best swaps! For April we were to send our swap partner 5 - 2x6 pieces of paper and 3 embellishments, and then we were to make a frame like this one that she had found on Pinterest:

 

And here is the frame that I made:

 

 

I forgot to take a photo of the papers and embellishments that I received before I made my frame. I did use all of the papers and all of the embellishments from my swap partner. The only things that I added from my stash were the kraft and off white cardstock, the pearl accents and the punched heart.

 

I guess with Mother's Day coming up I was missing my Mom and wanted to make something that would remind me of her. I love the way that  this turned out and I think I may make one of these frames for my daughter with a sweet little picture of Ada, and I'm sure it will be done I pink and teal!

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Feeling Sketchy #120

Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe it is already the first of May! Why is it that time seems to go so much faster when the weather is warmer? I am thrilled that we are finally experiencing some warm, sunny days!

The first sketch for May has been posted over at Feeling Sketchy.

 

 

And my card:

 

 

I stuck pretty close to the sketch and kept my card pretty simple. There are so many ways to really dress up a card, but I was just feeling clean and simple.

 

Tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day. Do you have any fun plans? Be sure to check out the Feeling Sketchy as they have some special challenges planned.  I plan to play along with some challenges - hopefully my boys will be okay with that.

 

Be sure to stop by the Feeling Sketchy blog and check out the design team's creations - lots of beautiful work and inspiration!

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic Friday!