Sunday, July 31, 2016

Lasting Memories #304 - She Is The Sweetest

Hello everyone! Good Sunday morning, afternoon, or evening to you! I hope that you have had a good weekend and are getting ready for the coming week. We spent the weekend going to the pool, mowing the yard, and dodging rain showers! I cannot remember everything being this green by the end of July! By now the grass is usually turning brown, and it is dry and dusty!

It's {almost} a new month, and that means a new theme, and a new set of challenges are up at Lasting Memories! For August our theme is inspired by the adult coloring book craze and is "Color Me Happy" and this week's theme is "ROYGBIV - Include a rainbow or all the colors of the rainbow on your layout".


For my layout I used both the colors of the rainbow and an actual rainbow! I always struggle sometimes with theme-y type things like rainbows...or maybe it's more that I just forget to pull them out and add them to a page...whatever the case, I'm glad this challenge made me pull one out and get it on a layout!

I used all Bella Blvd products on this layout, with the exception of the purple heart cutout, the alphas, and the solid purple paper. They are from Doodlebug from a long time ago!

Be sure to stop by Lasting Memories to see the layouts from the rest of the design team.  I hope you play along with us this month!

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

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Is Your Summer Sizzlin'?


Hi, guys! I'm just popping in here to let you know that we are getting ready for our 5th Annual Sizzlin' Summer of Sketches over at Scrapbook Challenges!

Each Monday in August we will post our regular Monday sketch. Then Tuesday - Friday we will post a bonus sketch, plus some extra inspiration from the sketch crew. So that means during the month of August we will be bringing you twenty sketches in total!

So gather up your photos, pick out some paper, and get ready for Monday! Let's get this summer sizzlin'!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #170

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday! I hope if it is super hot where you are, that you are finding a way to keep cool! We've had a couple of rainy/overcast days, so we've had a little break from the high humidity, which has been nice!

Today I am sharing the latest sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge with you. This is another great sketch courtesy of Michelle and digitzed by Brandi.



I decided to go with a masculine type birthday card. I left the stamped balloon panel in black and white. I tried coloring the balloons, and I tried die cutting some balloons, but I really liked the plain black and white stamped balloons best. I stuck close to the sketch, only moving the black dots to the bottom right instead of keeping it up by the panel.

We still have a design team call going on. This is a fantastic team to be on - if you are interested or want to find out more, check out this page here. The new term starts August 1st, so don't delay!

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


Monday, July 25, 2016

Love, Love, Love You - Scrapbook Challenges #491

Hello again! I am back with another project to share with you. If you are looking for my reveal for The Memory Nest, please scroll down or go here. If you are looking for my reveal for Use Your Stuff, please scroll down or go here.

Today over at Scrapbook Challenges we have our last sketch with a bonus challenge.


Our bonus challenge is to use polka dots somewhere on your layout.


Remember - you can use just the sketch, just the bonus challenge, or combine them both on a layout.

I have used both on my layout.


I picked up the Pink Paislee Atlas paper pad a while back at Tuesday Morning. Even though it is more of a travel line, and we don't travel a lot, I couldn't pass it up. It has so many generic prints, and the colors are just so pretty. I know I will get a lot of use out of this paper pad.

The grey background paper was one of the papers that I didn't think I would ever be able to use. It says things like - "Get lost together and just explore the beautiful wide, wide wonderful world" and "Let's go places we've never been before" etc. Then I thought how perfect for this photo of Abby and Shawn. They had just been married about a month in this photo, so this paper was perfect to document the start of their journey together.

Be sure to stop by Scrapbook Challenges to see the layouts from the rest of the team. I hope you find some time to play along with us. I really love seeing all of your beautiful work!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be right back with another project to share with you!


Use Your Stuff #231 - Floral Prints

Hi guys! I am back again with another project to share. If you are looking for my reveal from The Memory Nest, please scroll down or go here.

I am hosting the challenge this week over at Use Your Stuff, and my challenge to you is to use floral prints on your project. You can use as little or as much as you want, I just want to see some flowers on there!

Floral prints are some of my favorite patterns to work with - especially on cards - which is what I have created for today.


I am loving this pink, orange, and green color combo here lately. They are just the perfect combo for a summery type card.

I also pulled the pink and green from my stack of papers for my 100 Patterned Paper challenge. I just keep plugging away at that stack!

I used an this older sketch from Your Next Stamp blog. It is long past the deadline to link up over there, but I did want to give them credit!


Be sure to stop by the Use Your Stuff blog to see the beautiful projects from the rest of the team. So much inspiration to be had! I hope you find some time to play along with us this week!

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


Make It Monday #66 At The Memory Nest

Good Monday morning! I hope you had a good weekend. It was HOT around these parts - a great weekend to stay in the air conditioning and keep cool - and scrap!

I have a few projects to share with you today, so let's get started.

It's Make It Monday over at The Memory Nest! This week is Team 2's turn to work with this sketch from Leslie:



This was a fun sketch to work with. I really liked keeping everything together, but I also struggled with wanting to add more in the area above and below! I just am not good with a lot of white space sometimes!

These photos are of Abby from the summer of 2011. This was about a month before she got married, it was the summer before her junior year of college, and she was just enjoying every minute of life! She has always been one to worry and stress about things, so it's just so fun to see her having fun!

All of the papers from this layout were pulled from my stack for my 100 Patterned Paper Challenge.


I ended up not using the two on the right hand side, but all of the others made an appearance. I am slowly working through that stack, and I am just happy that I am remembering to go to it first before I look for newer papers!

Be sure to stop by The Memory Nest to see the layouts from the rest of Team 2.  Remember - we have a fun summer challenge going on through July and August. Great prizes to be had if you just play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Recycle It @ Scrapbook Challenges

Hello again! I am back with another project to share with you today. If you are looking for my Sketch N Scrap reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Today on the Scrapbook Challenges blog we have our July Recycle It Challenge.


Pick one of the mood boards and make a vacation layout. That's it - easy as can be! Just look at those fun colors in the mood boards! Each one just screams summertime!


We very rarely go on big family vacations. Shane does really well for a couple of days at the most, but that is about it, so we take a lot of day trips. This year for my birthday we took the family to Silver Dollar City for the day. 

It's always a gamble on how Shane will react to the crowds and the whole waiting in line for the rides thing, but once we got through the admission gates and he realized where we were, he was great! It was Season Pass Holders Appreciation Days, so as season pass holders we were able to get into the park an hour before everyone else. We were able to go on quite a few rides before it got insanely busy. But even then Shane did not mind waiting in line - in close quarters - for over an hour - for his favorite - The Lost River! We were so proud of him for being patient, and it is quite an accomplishment for him. He even told us on one of the rides "No Way!" when it was his turn to get on - which was a relief for me because it looked scary!

This was Ada's first time to an amusement park, and she was still too short to ride most of the rides, and even the ones she could ride she was a little nervous on. She and I spent most of the time spectating and taking pictures. She was a good sport through it all - even though it was so hot! She never once got cranky!

For my layout I chose the July 2016 mood board, and I dug out these papers from my stack for my 100 Patterned Paper Challenge. I also used a sketch from Scrapbook Generation's newest sketch book - The Whole Picture.


That poor striped sheet has seen better days, but there is a lot of good paper still left on it! I used the entire sheet of red, about a third of the blue. The orange piece was a scrap and it is just about all gone now. There is still over half of the yellow, green, and striped piece left, but I already have ideas for them on another layout! So happy to be working my way through this stack!

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #78

Hello everyone! Happy Hump Day! We have made it to the middle of the week, and are heading fast towards the weekend! Do you have anything fun planned yet? I think we may head to the pool or the lake again this weekend. It's supposed to be in the upper 90's to 100, so if we are going to be outside it better be in the water!

I have the last sketch of the month from Sketch N Scrap to share with you today! It is a great card sketch from Lisa!




I dug out an older Pebbles 6x6 paper pad for this card. I am so proud of myself and working through my 6x6 stash! When I make a card I try to always reach for a 6x6 pad instead of cutting into a 12x12 sheet. I can really tell a difference as most of the pads are falling apart from being used so much and having fewer sheets in them!

Check out the Sketch N Scrap blog to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. You have until the 31st to play along with any - or all - of our July sketches. Every time you link up you have a chance to win this:

July Prize

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday #280

Hello everyone!

We have a new sketch posted today at Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday - courtesy of Kaylin. This week's optional theme is "Splash".




I have created a birthday card this week. You can never have too many birthday cards! I used Echo Park's "We Are Family" 6x6 paper pad. This is one of my favorite paper lines - probably because it's mostly my favorite colors - red, white, and blue! I added in some paint splatters to the plain red background to give it a little interest. For my sentiment I used Close To My Hearts - Joyful Birthday (B1419) stamp, and the little present stamp is from their Party Pennants (C1429).

Check out the Try Stampin' blog to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the team. You have 2 weeks to enter this challenge, and you can enter either on the blog, or on our Facebook page.

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


Monday, July 18, 2016

Scrapbook Challenges #490 With A Bonus Challenge

Hello everyone! Happy Monday to you! I hope that you had a good weekend and are ready to get this week started. We are getting ready for a really hot and dry week around here. We've been pretty lucky with not having terribly hot temps and we've had a lot of rain, so I am not going to complain about the heat. It just gives me a good excuse to stay inside and scrap!

We have a new sketch up over at Scrapbook Challenges today, and in July we are adding in a bonus challenge as well. Use just the sketch, just the bonus challenge, or combine them both on one layout.

Here is the sketch:


And the bonus challenge:


For my layout I used just the sketch:


I had pulled these photos of Ada to scrap a couple of months ago, and I have been waiting for the right sketch to come along. This sketch was perfect!

I used Doodlebug Designs - Under The Sea collection for this layout. The colors in the papers matched the colors in Ada's little bath seat perfectly!

It always makes me happy to get some older photos scrapped!

Check out the Scrapbook Challenges blog to see the layouts from the rest of the design team. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a fantastic day!

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Lasting Memories #302 - Candy Land

Hello again! This is my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Sketches In Thyme reveal, please scroll down, or go here.

I am back with the third challenge of the month at Lasting Memories. Our theme for July has been "Childhood Games" and today's challenge is all about Candy Land! Here is your inspiration photo:



I went with the candy theme, and I did use some of the colors that can found on the Candy Land board. There are lots of fun ways to go with this challenge, and I had a hard time deciding on just what I wanted to do. Then, I came across this candy paper from Echo Park, and my decision was made.

This is a photo of Miss Ada when she was a little thing - only 5 months old. Hard to believe she will be 3 this November! 

I pulled out these 3 papers from my stack  of papers that I have out for my 100 Patterned Paper challenge.


I used the dark pinkish red as my background, and just pieces of the other two. The scraps will go back on my pile to hopefully be used up soon.

Be sure to check out the Lasting Memories blog to see how the design team interpreted this challenge. I hope you have a chance to play along with us!

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

Sketches In Thyme #209

Hello everyone! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you have had a good weekend, and I hope you have been able to do something fun!

Today is my day to be featured at Sketches In Thyme! This time around I am working with a great sketch from Shawn.



I am always looking for a good sketch with one horizontal photo and one vertical photo. They are often hard to find, and this sketch is such a fun one! I know I will be using it again!

These photos are of my son and his friends at a pool party a couple of weeks after graduation. The majority of this group have been friends since kindergarten. With most of them going off to different colleges this fall, there's no telling how many more times they will all be able to get together like this. 

I used Echo Park's Summer Party 6x6 paper pad for this layout. The only paper that did not come from that pad is the strip behind the photo, and it is from Echo Park's Splash collection. I still need to do my journaling, but I'm not sure exactly what I want to say yet. It will go on the striped triangle at the top left corner.

Kim is offering up a fantastic prize this month! Play along with any or all of our challenges for your chance to win this awesome scrapbook kit:


Be sure to stop by the Sketches In Thyme blog every single day for more inspiration. I hope you play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project for you!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Christmas Cards All Year Round



Hello everyone! I am so thrilled to announce that I have been asked to be on the Christmas Cards All Year Round design team! I am on the Christmas Belles team, so my card will always be revealed on the 15th.

Our challenge for July is "Anything Goes" - and it has to be a Christmas Card, of course! Our sponsor for July is Imagine That! Digis By Kris. We were given a couple of images to work with and here is my card:


One thing I love about Kris' digis is that she has colored images that we can use. That really makes for a quick and easy card! I fell in love with this little snow family, and I am sure they will be showing up on a few more of my Christmas cards this year.

The papers I used are ones that I pulled from my stack for my 100 Patterned Papers challenge. They are from a company called Dream Street Papers. They have been in my stash for quite some time, and I am so happy to get them used up. The colors in the papers were a perfect match for this pre colored image.

Be sure to stop by the Christmas Cards All Year Round blog to see the beautiful creations from the rest of the design team. This team has some seriously talented card makers on it! I am sure you will be inspired to get your Christmas cards started and play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be back a little later with another project to share with you!

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #168 - What's Up?

Hello again! I am back with a card to share with you this afternoon. If you are looking for my Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style post, please scroll down or go here.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has a new sketch posted this week. It's a fun sketch created by Michelle and digitized by Brandi.



I stuck close to the sketch - only changing the circle size and adding in a strip of paper at the bottom. As busy as the background is, I felt like I needed something to ground my circle, otherwise it was getting lost.

As a reminder - we have a design team call going on right now. If you think it's something you would be interested in, check out the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog here.

The full design team reveal and top 3 cards from last week will be up on the blog tomorrow. I hope you play along with us this week!

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


Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style Sketch #34

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday to you! I hope that you are having a good start to the week.

Today is my day to be featured over on the Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style blog. This week we are working with Kirsty's sketch:




My card is actually for the second part of week 7 for 2015, and focuses on Valentine's Day. I took the colors from Ada's Valentine's Day outfit for my card.


The boys were out of school on Friday the 13th, but Abby still had to work, so we had Ada with us all day Friday. Saturday we got up and headed to Springfield for some shopping. The boys were all good sports and let me go to a lot of scrappy stores. Matthew had been sick during the week, and he didn't even mind me stopping a lot! Although we did have to stop at Target and pick him up some cold medicine.

For lunch we stopped by Fazzoli's - which is usually a favorite for all of us. Little did we know that Shane was more in the mood for tacos! We had ordered him spaghetti, but he told us "NO!" When we asked what he wanted he said, "12" which means 12 tacos. No he does not eat 12 tacos, but once upon a time we ordered a to go box that had 12 tacos in it, so he thinks they always come in 12! He sat quietly (which is a first for him) while we finished our meal, then we headed to Taco Bell to get him his tacos!

Here is a close up of each card:







Be sure to stop by Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style for inspiration every single day. Kim is offering up a great stamp set that would be perfect for all of your paper crafting projects.


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

Monday, July 11, 2016

Use Your Stuff #229 - Fruits and/or Vegetables

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Memory Nest reveal, please scroll down or go here.

We have a new challenge starting today over at Use Your Stuff. This week Jana is challenging us to use a fruit and/or vegetable on our project.


I have created a thank you card using this fun watermelon stamp from Close To My Heart.

I based my card off of this sketch from Stamp Ink Paper - Challenge #55. I was too late to enter my card into their challenge, but I wanted to give them credit.

I also pulled some papers from my stack that I am trying to work through for my 100 Patterned Paper challenge to myself. These are the 3 papers that I pulled for this card. I still have a good chunk of each left, so they will go into my scrap pile for this stack to see if I can use a little more of them.


Be sure to check out the Use Your Stuff blog to see the beautiful projects from the rest of the team. I hope you find some time to play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project!

Make It Monday #64

Hello, hello! Happy Monday! Our family vacation is now over, and it is time to get back into the old routine. I have a lot of projects to share with you today, so let's get started!

It's Make It Monday over at The Memory Nest, and we have a great new sketch for you this week. During July and August the design team has been split up into two teams and we have a new sketch for you every single week. I am on Team 2, so you'll be seeing my layouts on the second and fourth Monday of the month. I hope to play along with the other sketches, too.

Here is this week's sketch - courtesy of Leslie:



When I saw the stars on this sketch I knew I would be making a Fourth of July layout. I still have lots of pictures from previous years on the fourth that need to be scrapped, so it was a perfect fit.

It is tradition for us to take a family photo on the fourth, and this was the best photo of the whole family from that day. I love that the dog is even peeking out from between Shawn and Abby's legs!

For my layout I used these old papers from the stack I pulled for my 100 patterned paper challenge. They are some of my favorite from Carolee's Creations.


I die cut and punched a lot of different sized stars to fill in the space between the three larger stars. Apparently these old shaped hole punches are coming back in style. It's a good thing that I held on to mine from years ago. I won't have to be running out and buying them!


Stop by The Memory Nest to see the layouts from the rest of the team. I hope that you play along with us. There is a weekly prize and a grand prize, so get those layouts linked up!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be back soon with another project to share with you!

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Lasting Memories 300th Challenge Blog Hop Winner

Hello everyone! First off I want to say thank you to everyone that took the time to leave me a comment! I greatly appreciate each and every comment!

The winner of the Elle's Studio goodies is:




Nikki C


Nikki - please email me your address at loristroup@yahoo.com. I will get your prize out to you later this week.

Thanks again and have a great day!

Lasting Memories #301 - Block Tower Expert

Hello everyone! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you have had a good weekend.

We have a new challenge up over at Lasting Memories today. Our theme for July is "Childhood Games" and this week is all about Snakes and Ladders. I have to admit - I have never played snakes and ladders. Chutes and ladders - yes, but not snakes and ladders.

Here is your inspiration photo:




For my layout, I was inspired by the squares and primary colors.



This is a layout about Shane when he was about 7 years old. He went through a phase of building these big block towers on the corner of the kitchen table - usually right before supper! Sometimes he would tear them down by himself, other times we would have to try and carefully move them. He knew exactly which block went where, and we'd better not mess them up. He always worked so diligently building these towers.

I used Echo Park's Little Man collection. That block paper was the whole reason I bought this collection - and knowing I still had these photos to scrap! I also used another sketch from Scrapbook Generation's The Whole Picture sketch book. I actually based it off of two of the sketches in the book - one just a little more than the other!

Check out the Lasting Memories blog to see what the rest of the design team created using the inspiration photo/game. You have until July 29th to link up for a chance to win a fun prize donated by Sandy, and a chance to be a future guest design team member.

I will post the winner of my blog hop prize a little later today, so stay tuned!

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