Paper Play Sketches #41

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday! It's the middle of the week already! We are seriously counting down the days until school is out. We only have ten and a half (I think) school days left! These last few days are going to be really busy with end of year activities...Bring on summer vacation!

So, apparently some of you got a little preview of this sketch...I blame it on the above busyness!

We have a new sketch up today at Paper Play Sketches, and it is another favorite of mine!

I have used Pebbles' - "Front Porch" - collection, once again, for this card. The sentiment piece was cut from the 12x12 cut apart sheet. What is this...card number 5...I think, using this collection...

Head on over to Paper Play Sketches  to see the wonderful cards from the rest of the design team. I hope you have some time to play along with our sketch this week. I would love to see your take on it!

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

Christmas Card Challenges #11

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

We have a new challenge up at Christmas Card Challenges today. Our challenge it to create a Christmas or holiday card with the optional challenge of using the color challenge photo below.

I stuck with the blue, grey, and white colors, but my blues are more in the blue-green tones instead of the blue-purple tones. (It's what I had to work with!) There were two red snowflakes on the sentiment panel, so I punched out a couple of snowflakes and circles in the blue and white colors and covered them up!

I used Echo Park's - "I Love Winter" - 6x6 paper pad and ephemera pack on this card. I think it is safe to say that I have used this paper pad all up. I think I have four full sheets left - two that are red with white dots, a white wood piece, and a blue-green piece with snowflakes on it. The scraps I have left are almost too small to use on anything, so I think I'll toss them out, and add the full sheets to my random 6x6 paper box.

Be sure to check out the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team over at Christmas Card Challenges. We would love to see you playing along!

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

Lasting Memories #341 - Color Inspiration Challenge

Hello and Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a good weekend! We had a very dreary and cold day yesterday, but today is supposed to be sunny and in the 60's. That's more like it!

We have our last challenge of the month today over at Lasting Memories today. Our theme for April has been "Spring" and the final challenge of the month is a color inspiration challenge. Use these colors on your layout:

I thought the pinky colors had a purplish tint to them, so I went with purple and green to match my photo, and I really wanted to use the new Elle's Studio - "Live Laugh Love" - collection!

I cut the hearts out using a die from Lawn Fawn, and I outlined each one so they would stand out just a little better. I added the super cute puffy hearts, also from Elle's Studio. I splattered the background with a some green and purple paints. I also added in a couple of phrase stickers from Simple Stories "Carpe Diem" collection. The alphas are from Fancy Pants.

I based my layout off of this sketch from the April Lilli Shop:

I love this photo of Ada right after she woke up from a nap. She always woke up happy, that is when she ever took a nap!

Head on over to Lasting Memories to see the wonderful layouts from the rest of the design team. You have until April 28th to play along with our April challenges!

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #96

Hello everyone! I hope your day is off to a good start!

It is time for our last card sketch challenge of the month at Sketch N Scrap today. Lisa has created a great sketch for us to work witth:

I have used Pebbles' - "Front Porch" collection (once again) for this card. Actually, this was the first card that I had made with this collection, and it turns out to be the last one of the bunch to be shared with you here on my blog this week! I still have this paper pad out on my desk, and I would really like to get it used up, so you will probably be seeing more of it over the next couple of weeks.

Be sure to stop by the Sketch N Scrap blog to see the awesome cards from the rest of the design team. You have until the 30th to play along with us. 

Don't forget, we are getting ready to celebrate our 5th Birthday, and National Scrapbook Day, all in the month of May! It is sure to be a fun month!

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

Hello Friend - Soul Scrapper's April Card Challenge

Hi guys! Here we are at the middle of the week already. It will be the weekend before we know it. We just have three more weeks of school. Three. This school year has gone by so fast, and I am so looking forward to summer vacation and the long, lazy days to come.

I've got a card to share with you today. The card challenge at Soul Scrappers for April is to add the word "friend or friends" to your card.

Are you getting tired of this Front Porch collection by Pebbles yet? This is the third card that I have made using it, and I have at least one more to share with you using this collection tomorrow. What can I say, I love this collection, and since I just rediscovered it, I want to try to get it all used up, so you'll probably be seeing more of it over the next couple of weeks!

Once again, I used a piece from the cut apart sheet for my sentiment. The three gems are a lighter shade of the green on the sentiment, but under the light they look more white. This card came together really quickly, and I'm sure it will bring a smile to the recipient's face!

Head on over to Soul Scrappers and check out all of the fun challenges that we have going on. There's a wide variety - something for everyone!

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

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday #318

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday to you! We are back to the old routine today after a nice long holiday weekend.

There's a new sketch up today at Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday. This fun sketch is courtesy of Vicki, with an optional theme of "A trio of words".

I, of course,  had to turn those strips into banner pieces! I just can't seem to leave a strip alone, I feel like it needs to be a banner!

I have used papers from a 6x6 paper pad from Pebbles called "Front Porch". I uncovered this paper pad earlier this month and have been putting it to use! I had forgotten how much I loved the papers in this collection! I stamped my sentiment onto a tab and added in a few tiny punched flowers. I love the way this card turned out!

Head on over to Try Stampin'  to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. You have two weeks to play along with us, and you can enter either on the blog, or on our Facebook page here.

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

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #208

Hello again! I hope you are having a good day!

I am back with one more post of the day. There's a new sketch up over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge today, and it is a good one!

Since I seem to have nothing in my stash that resembles an oval, I have substituted that shape with this piece I cut out of a cut apart sheet! That's the great thing about sketches, you can make them work for you!

I have used Pebbles' - Front Porch - 6x6 paper pad for this card, and the sentiment piece was cut out of the 12x12 cut apart sheet. That always makes for a quick and easy card! I wasn't sure if I was going to like this card when I first started working it - I don't typically work with so much blue - but once I got it done I really liked it!

We will have the full design team reveal, along with the Top 3, up on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog on Wednesday. Why don't you join us this week? I would love to see your take on the sketch!

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

Use Your Stuff #260 - Eyelets and Brads

Hello everyone! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Stick It Down card reveal, please scroll down or go here.

We have a new challenge up today at Use Your Stuff. Heather R. is challenging us to pull out those eyelets and brads, and use them on a project. Not just one or two here and there, but maybe try to make a shape with them on your project.

I have created a layout and I was able to use 54 brads on here! To tell you the truth, I didn't think I was going to have enough brads to do the circle, but when I got it done I had enough brads left over to make at least 2 more circles like this! Looks like I will be trying to use up more brads on other projects!

I used Doodlebugs - Under The Sea - collection for this layout. Ada's swimsuit was pink with flowers on all over it, and Abby's was purple, so these papers were a perfect match! I didn't have any of the embellishments from this line, so I punched some flowers out of one of the papers and made my own flair. I'm a little disappointed as the epoxy circles that I have are starting to yellow, so I may need to replace these when I get a chance.

I don't have any journaling on this page, but it will have a companion pocket page with more photos from this day and the journaling on it.

I based my layout off of this sketch from Scrap Our Stash last month:

Head on over to Use Your Stuff to see the beautiful projects from the rest of the design team. I hope to see you playing along with us!

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

Stick It Down April Card Team Reveal

Hello everyone! Happy Monday! I hope that you all enjoyed the Easter holiday weekend. We had a great, busy day filled with coloring eggs, finding Easter baskets, a big dinner, and hunting eggs. It got a little exciting while hunting eggs - I wound up stepping on a snake! It was just a brown snake, and no, it was not in our yard, but down in our field, but let me tell you - it gave me a scare! Luckily, I stepped on it's head so it didn't have a chance to get me!

Anyway...today is the full card design team reveal at Stick It Down. Here is a reminder of what the sketch looks like:

This is one of my favorite sketches lately, and I am sure I will find a chance to use it again! I used some 6x6 papers from an older Echo Park paper pad - Everyday Ecclectic - I think. I fussy cut the doily pieces from one of the papers. The blue doily and the blue banner piece and enamel dot really do match - I guess it lost something in the editing process!

Head on over to Stick It Down to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. We have a prize up for grabs, so be sure to play along!

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

Lasting Memories #340 - Easter Sunday - Use Bunnies, Chicks, Or Eggs

Hello everyone! Happy Easter to you! I hope that you are all having a good holiday weekend. I can't wait to hide Easter eggs for Miss Ada today! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can get it done.

We have a new challenge for you this week at Lasting Memories. Our theme for April has been "Spring" and our challenge this week, since it is Easter Sunday, is to use bunnies, chicks, or eggs on your layout.

I'm scrapping some old photos of my kids on Easter morning back in 2008. Gosh, it doesn't seem like it's been that long ago! The boys look so little here! I am so happy that I am making progress on getting some of my older photos scrapped this year!

I was looking through my stash earlier this week for something for another layout, and I came across this little bunny doodlepop from Doodlebug. It had been thrown in a drawer that rarely gets opened, so I thought I'd better rescue him and get him used on this layout! What a perfect challenge to get this little guy used! The rest of the papers are from Echo Park's "Happy Easter" collection from last year.

Head on over to Lasting Memories to see the fun layouts from the rest of the design team. You have until the end of the month to play along with us!

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

Sketches In Thyme #273

Hello again! I am back with my third post of the day. If you are looking for my Christmas Cards All Year Round reveal, please scroll down or go here. For my LTSCB reveal, please go here.

It's time for a new sketch over at Sketches In Thyme today, and I am the featured artist! Here's a look at the sketch, courtesy of Shawn Lahr:

For my layout I have used some photos of Miss Ada from last spring. She is such a tomboy! If you turn your back for even a second, she is finding something to dig around in the dirt with!

For this layout I have used papers from a couple of different Doodlebug collections. I love that all of their collections match so well. It makes it so easy to pair up different papers. I die cut my banner pieces using a die from Spellbinders, and added a puffy heart sticker to each banner piece. I think I may go back and add a die cut flower to the embellishment areas on this....I'm pretty sure I have a small flower die around here somewhere!

We have an awesome prize this month, courtesy of DT Sharon Stevenson Shaw, so be sure to stop by the Sketches In Thyme blog to see the prize!

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

LTSCB #96 - Girlz Rule

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Christmas Cards All Year Round reveal, please scroll down or go here.

I am back to share the card that I have made for the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog's mid month inspiration post. This month our theme is "Girlz Rule". We challenge you to create a feminine project.

For April I got the pleasure of working with a digital stamp from Pickled Potpourri called "Adorable Animals".

The "Adorable Animals" digi stamp set came with six animals, and I chose to use the kitty cat. I have a sweet little niece that I think will love this card.  The papers are a few that I found in my scrap pile that needed to be used up!

Head on over to Pickled Potpourri and check our their awesome selection of digi stamps.

Check out the LTSCB for more inspiration from the design team.

Christmas Cards All Year Round Mid Month Inspiration

Hello everyone! I hope that you are having a good weekend! I can't believe it's the middle of April already!

Since it's the middle of the month, we have some mid month inspiration for you at Christmas Cards All Year Round. Our challenge for April is to use flowers on your holiday project.

I have used Echo Park's "I Love Christmas" 6x6 paper pad for this card, and the label piece is from the ephemera pack. I stamped the sentiment onto the label with a stamp from Fancy Pants' - "Happy Holidays" stamp set.

Head on over to Christmas Cards All Year Round to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. Why don't you play along with us this month, and get a head start on those holiday cards?!

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

Paper Play Sketches #40

Hello and Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a good week so far! We are inching closer and closer to the Easter holiday weekend. I am looking forward to a couple of extra days off, and spending time with my family.

We have a fun new sketch for you today at Paper Play Sketches!

I was picking up around my scrap room, putting things back where they belong, and I came across these scraps. I thought they all worked perfectly together and decided to use them for my card this week instead of adding them to my scrap pile.

I die cut the sentiment from my new Close To My Heart dies. This was my first time using a die from them, and they cut beautifully! I know I will be adding more of them to my stash. The little banner was punched using an EK Success punch, and the stars were punched using my old Fiskars hand punch. Those tiny stars are the perfect size for those tiny banner pieces!

Head on over to Paper Play Sketches to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. I hope you find some time to play along with this sketch - I would love to see what you create with it!

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

Make It Monday #86 At The Memory Nest

Hello everyone! Good Monday morning to you! We enjoyed a warm spring weekend and we are looking forward to more!

Today is Make It Monday at The Memory Nest, and Leslie has created another fun sketch for us to work with!

I loved the spot for some flair, so I wanted to be sure and include a piece on my layout. I knew I had quite a few flair pieces with a summer theme, and since we are finally warming up (and seeing some sunshine!) I wanted to use a summertime photo. In keeping with my goal to get more of my older photos scrapped, I pulled this one of Matthew from 2002.

I used October Afternoon's "Summertime" collection for everything on this layout, with the exception of the sun and the enamel dots. I also did something that I very rarely do - use patterned paper for my background instead of plain white cardstock. It took me a while to get used to it and not feel like it was too busy, but the more I look at it, the more I like it! It's nice to do something a little different once in a while.

Be sure to check out The Memory Nest to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I can't wait to see what you create with this sketch!

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

Christmas Card Challenges #10

Hello everyone! I hope that you are having a good weekend!

We have a new challenge for you today at Christmas Card Challenges. Your challenge is to make a Christmas/holiday card, with the optional challenge of using the photo below for inspiration:

There are so many different ways that I could have went with this challenge! The colors in the inspiration photo are some of my favorite to work with - who can go wrong with kraft and white together - but when going through my Christmas papers, I found this little gingerbread house on a cut apart sheet and decided to use it instead. I tried adding my sentiment to bottom right hand corner, but that made it look way too cluttered, so I opted to stamp it on the inside of the card instead.

Be sure to stop by Christmas Card Challenges to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. I can't wait to see your creations!

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

Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style #65

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

I am up on the Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style blog today with my take on Sketch #65, courtesy of Shawn. Here is a look at the sketch:

I'm finally able to share the second half of my Week 1 layout with you! I shared the first half of it last week in this post here. For my card I switched out the hearts for snowflakes, but otherwise stayed true to the sketch.

 Here is my layout for the second half of the week:

And a look at both sides together for the complete spread:

For the second half of the first week of the year, we had our first snow days of the season. We got a couple of inches of snow and were dealing with super cold temperatures. Not much else happened to finish out the week!

Here's some close ups of each set of cards:

Poor Clem! This isn't even our dog - she is our neighbor's dog, and we have no idea what here name is, so we call her Clementine, or Clem for short - but she stays at our house more than her own. After Scott had left for work, I looked out to see her sitting on this a clear patch on the sidewalk looking at the house all cold and miserable!

 I loved seeing the photos that Abby posted of Ada playing in the snow on Facebook! This was really the first chance she has had to get out and play in the snow, and she loved it!

Be sure to check out the Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style blog to see more inspiration from the design team. We are offering up a prize this month, so come on over and join in the fun! We are also looking for a few guest designers for upcoming months. If you are interested, send me an email at loristroup@yahoo.com for more information!

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #95

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday! It's time for the first card sketch of the month at Sketch N Scrap today. Heather has created a great sketch using my favorite thing - banners!

I pulled out a 6x6 paper pad from Pebbles called "Garden Party" for this card. I guess since I was in a spring type mood when I made this card, this seemed like the perfect collection! I made my favorite lollipop flowers as my accent. I have never been a flower girl, and I don't have a lot in my stash, so this lollipop flower is my go to flower when I need one! I love the way they look

Stop by Sketch N Scrap to see the cards from the rest of the design team. I am offering up the prize for April,  so check it out and play along for your chance to win!

Also, don't forget to mark your calendars! We are celebrating Sketch N Scrap's 5th birthday the whole month of May! You don't want to miss it!

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

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #206

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday reveal, please scroll down or go here.

I am back with another card, this time using this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here is a look at the sketch:

For this card I have used Simple Stories "Posh" 6x6 paper pad, and the sentiment is from The Project Bin called "#BFF". I love this sentiment and think it would make anyone happy to receive it by way of a card!

The full design team reveal will be on Wednesday, along with the Top 3 from last week. We would love it if you played along with us!

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

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday #316

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good day!

We have a new sketch posted today at Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday. This week's sketch is courtesy of Donna, and has the optional challenge of "A burst of color".

I just realized that I was going to take a photo of the sentiment on the inside of the card to show you, and I forgot! I will try to get a photo of it and get it on here soon.

I used a stamp set from Winnie and Walter called "Wishing You". This set has so many great sentiments and the one that I chose for the inside is..."a bright, brilliant birthday! I thought that was fitting for this bright yellow card!

Head on over to Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday to see the wonderful cards from the rest of the design team. You have two weeks to play along, and you can enter on the blog or on our Facebook page here. I would love to see your take on this sketch!

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

I {Heart} This - Soul Scrapper's Sketch Challenge

Hello everyone! I hope that you have had a good day. Mine was definitely a "Monday" and I am ready to move on to Tuesday!

I am popping in here to share a layout that I have made for the April sketch challenge at Soul Scrappers. Libby posted a fantastic sketch for us to work with, and here is my take on it.

I love this photo of my boys! This was from about 15 years ago - no date on the picture, so it's just a guess, but I'm pretty sure it's about that old. Most days for lunch they would want to have a picnic on the living room floor and watch cartoons - probably Blues Clues if I were to guess! I love to see Matthew loving on his baby brother - back when things were so much simpler!

I have a lot to say about this photo from so long ago, and I will hide that journaling on a card behind the photo, or on the back of the layout.

I used all scraps from Echo Park - with the exception of the yellow title block, I believe it is from a Shimelle line. I die cut a few stars and added in some acrylic stars, as well. I wish the acrylic stars were about half the thickness...they are so thick! I stamped some phrases from a few different roller stamps to add to it.

Check out Soul Scrappers and play along with our challenges! They have such a great variety - you are sure to find something you like!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back soon!

Use Your Stuff #258

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

I am so excited to be back on the Use Your Stuff design team, and today is my first reveal with them! I really missed working alongside with this talented group of gals, and I've seen the upcoming challenges for the next couple of months, and I think you are going to love them!

For today's challenge, Gail, is challenging us to use a polaroid on our projects.

For my card I have used Shimelle's - "True Stories" collection. I fussy cut the two polaroid pieces to act as my sentiment, and I added in an enamel heart to the middle of one of them.

Head on over to the Use Your Stuff blog to see the beautiful projects from the rest of the design team. There are just so many fun ways to use polaroids! I hope you have a chance to play along with us this week!

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

My Beautiful View - The Memory Nest Make It Monday #85

Hello, hello! Happy Monday! I hope that you had a good weekend and are ready for another week!

Today is Make It Monday at The Memory Nest, and Leslie has not one, but two, sketches for us to choose from. Your choice of using two photos or three photos.

I've had these photos of Ada on my pile of photos to scrap for a while now, and I thought they would work perfectly with the two photo sketch.

I used papers from Maggie Holmes' "Bloom" collection. I love the scalloped paper, and I just cut around one of the rows of scallops to make my scalloped edge. The embellishments are actually from the "Confetti" (?) sticker sheet, and the gold glitter heart is one that I had laying on my desk just waiting to be used.

I had to get creative with my letters for the word - beautiful. I didn't have an "e "or an "l",  but I made them work by cutting apart a "w" for the "e", and I think the "l" was made by cutting apart an "h". Always give those mostly used alpha sheets another look - you may be able to alter a letter for one that you are out of!

These photos of Ada are some that I took back last summer when we visited the park. It has a really pretty "duck" pond, and with it being in the photos behind Ada...well, I just had a beautiful view!

Head on over to The Memory Nest to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. We would love to see you playing along with us!

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