Saturday, September 30, 2017

CCAYR - October Challenge - Monochromatic Browns

Hello, scrappy friends! I hope you are having a good weekend. We are having gorgeous weather here in the middle of the US and I am lovin' it!

It's (almost) October 1st - can you believe that? It always seems like once October hits that it's no time until the holidays are here - time seems to go by even faster! If you are like me and trying to get your Christmas cards done before the holiday season, then check out our October challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round! This month our challenge is - monochromatic browns:


I used an old Echo Park Christmas collection called "This and That Christmas" for this card. I die cut the Santa out of one of the papers and matted it on a scalloped circle and then again on the wood paper. I embossed the main panel with my Swiss dot embossing folder. I can't decide if I should add three enamel dots at the bottom or not...what do you think?

Head on over to CCAYR  to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. We would love to see your take on this challenge, so I hope you play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by! The first of the month is always super busy here on my blog so I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

HIMCR #320 - Freestyle

Hello and happy Saturday! Ah - the weekend! How sweet they are after a long week! Do you have any fun plans this weekend? It's going to be gorgeous here, so I am hoping maybe we can get out and enjoy it just a little bit!

The new challenge is posted at Hiding In My Craft Room and it is always a fun one - "freestyle"! Create any type of project that you want!

Hiding In My Craft Room is offering up a great prize bundle, so be sure to stop by the blog and check it out!


For my card, I have used an old My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad - Quite Contrary Jack and Jill. I have so many of these older 6x6 paper pads that I am trying to get used up so I can buy some new ones. I just cannot justify buying more until I get some of these older ones used.

I love the red and teal color combination on this card, and then when you throw in a touch of blue and yellow...love it! The sentiment is from Winnie and Walter - Wishing You. I always have good intentions of photographing the inside of my card and then I forget. The inside says "all the happiness in the world".

Head on over to HIMCR to see the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team. I can't wait to see what you create!

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


Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Paper Play Sketches #52

Hello! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Sunny Day Crafting reveal, please scroll on down.

Paper Play Sketches has a new sketch up today. Here is the sketch that Janis has created for us:




I was catching up on my blog reading a few days ago and one of the blogs that I visited had made a card using the Fancy Pants "Be Different" collection. I knew that I had that paper pad in my stash and I haven't used a single sheet out of it, so I was inspired to pull it out and put it to use for my card this week. That is why I love visiting other scrappy blogs - you just never know what will inspire you!

Like I said, I used Fancy Pants "Be Different" paper pad for this card. I had the chipboard buttons from this collection, too, and that cute little monster is from it. I stamped my sentiment and attached it to the bottom of the circle.

Here I said in my last post that I struggle when it comes to making masculine cards and now I have made and posted two today! I guess I feel like I do better with cards for boys instead of men!

Head on over to Paper Play Sketches to see how the rest of the design team interpreted this sketch. I would love to see your take on it, so why don't you play along?!

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

Sunny Day Crafting Challenge #54 - Male

Hello, scrappy friends! Happy Wednesday! We've made it to the middle of the week and the weekend will be here before we know it! We're supposed to enjoy a little bit of a cooldown starting today, which is going to be a nice change, but it looks like we warm right back up next week. I'm afraid we're going to miss out on much of a fall this year...

Sunny Day Crafting has a new challenge up today.  This week we are on the letter "M" and our theme is "Male".


I struggle with masculine cards - maybe because I don't have a lot of stamps or images for them - but I did have the Fancy Pants "Swagger" paper pad in my stash and I thought it would be perfect for this challenge. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts stamp set. I knew this sentiment would come in handy eventually!

Head on over to Sunny Day Crafting to see the fun "male" cards from the rest of the design team. I hope you have some time to play along with us this week!

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



Sunday, September 24, 2017

Christmas Card Challenges #22 - Nativity

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.

Christmas Card Challenges has a new challenge posted today. Our only requirement is to make a Christmas/holiday card and we offer an optional challenge -just in case you need some added inspiration. This week's optional challenge is a photo inspiration challenge:



I have used Illustrated Faith's "CHRISTmas" collection for this card. I think this may be one of my favorite Christmas collections. I bought it last year and didn't use much of it because I was using up older Christmas collections at the time. This card is definitely not my usual go-to color combo, but I do love that little cut apart card and I like the way this turned out.

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 what you create!

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

LM #363 - Chevrons

Hello, hello! Good Sunday morning! I hope you are having a good weekend. The first day of fall was Friday, but it is still feeling like summer! We have had record-breaking 90+ degree temps this past week...crazy for this time of year! The forecast says that by Tuesday it will be feeling more like fall with temps in the 70's. I am looking forward to that for awhile!

Today is the last challenge for September at Lasting Memories.  In keeping with our "All About Patterns" theme, today's challenge is all about CHEVRONS! You don't see chevrons in collections nearly as much anymore - which makes me kinda sad - it is one of my favorite patterns!


I used an older collection from My Mind's Eye - Boy Crazy - except for the red chevron and it is from Alphabet Soup. All of the embellishments came from the sticker sheet and the title and journaling box are from the cut apart sheet. 

The boys used to spend hours driving their big trucks around. The whole house was their town. I would just love to know where their imagination took them in their travels!

Head on over to Lasting Memories to see the layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you have time to play along with us - I would love to see what you come up with for the challenge!

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

Saturday, September 23, 2017

HIMCR #319 - Any Holiday

Hello, everyone! Good Saturday morning to you! I hope that your weekend is off to a good start. I have been battling a cold for the last week and I think I am finally feeling better this morning. Now that I am feeling better I hope to get lots of scrappy things done!

Today at Hiding In My Craft Room our challenge is "Any Holiday", and since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I would make another Halloween card. This week's sponsor is Hiding In My Craft Room and the giveaway is a Cricut Cartridge.


For this card, I have used papers from Doodlebugs - Boos and Brews - 6x6 paper pad and the image is "Boo Ghost" from Bugaboo Stamps. This little ghost is one of my favorites - who could really be scared of him with a smile like that?!

Head on over to HIMCR to see which holiday the rest of the design chose. For your chance at the Cricut Cartridge, be sure to link up your "any holiday" projects by Saturday the 30th at 2 a.m. CST.


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

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #106

Hello, again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you're looking for my Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Sketch N Scrap has posted the last card sketch of the month over on the blog today. This great sketch is courtesy of Lisa, and it I love it!



I have used an old Echo Park 6x6 paper pad - Sweet Day - for this card. This paper pad has been in my stash for a long time and has barely been used. I've been trying to work through some of my older 6x6 pads to justify buying some new ones. I love the more muted colors in this collection - so pretty.

The sentiment is from The Project Bin and is called - #BFF. There are so many great sentiments in this set.

Our Back to School Crop is going on now over on our Facebook Events page. Two challenges have already been posted and there will be two more posted this weekend. Come on over and join the fun!

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

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

Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges #191 - Animals


Hello, scrappy friends! Happy Wednesday! I can't believe it is already the middle of the week. 

I have some happy news - I am rejoining the gang at Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges! I am on the "Orange" team and will be posting every other week, starting today!

Our challenge for this week is - Animals! It can be any kind of animal that you choose.


I have used Doodlebug's "Flea Market" collection for my card today. I fussy cut this cute little fox out of one of the papers and everything else is scraps that I have been saving from this collection. I added a few enamel dots, and I had to add a little bow, too.

Head on over to Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges to see the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team. I would love it if you played along with us!

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

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Thinking Of You with Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #230


Hello, again! I am back this afternoon with my take on this week's sketch challenge at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

Here is a look at this week's sketch:



I can tell already that this is going to be one of my favorite sketches! I know I will be using it again.

I have used Simple Stories "Posh" 6x6 paper pad for this card.  I've said it before, but I love the colors in this collection - they are just so pretty! The "thinking of you" sentiment is from Close To My Heart and it just may be my new favorite!

Be sure to stop by Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge tomorrow for the full design team reveal and last week's top 3. I hope you get a chance to play along with us this week - I would love to see your take on the sketch.

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

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday #340

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

I am back today with our newest sketch challenge at Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday, This week's sketch is courtesy of Kaylin and our optional challenge is "Petite Patterns".



For this card, I have used Fancy Pants' - Golden Days - 6x6 paper pad. The colors in this collection are some of my favorites and I thought these patterns were pretty petite! The sentiment is from Hero Arts - one of my go-to stamp sets. I inked the edges of all of the papers with Tim Holtz black soot distress ink.

Be sure to check out the Try Stampin' blog to see the lovely cards from the rest  of the design team. Our challenges always run for two weeks, so there's plenty of time to play along with us! You can enter your card on our blog or over on our Facebook page here.

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

Monday, September 18, 2017

Use Your Stuff #280 - Pets

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

We have a new challenge up at Use Your Stuff today. This week, Majo is challenging us to show off those pets. You can use a stamp, a photo, a sentiment or die cut, just show us those pets!

 

For this card, I have used a pre-colored digi stamp from Bugaboo Stamps. I'm not sure if this stamp is still available, as I couldn't find it in my quick look through the shop, but this little doggy is one of my favorites! I think he would be a great pet to have!

Head on over to Use Your Stuff to see the beautiful projects from the rest of the design team. I hope you get a chance to play along with us this week!

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

Sending You....


Hello, hello scrappy friends! Good Monday morning to you! Are we ready for a brand new week to start? I hope so because it is here - ready or not!

Today is the full card design team reveal at Stick It Down. Here is the sketch that we had to work with, courtesy of Laura Rumble:




When I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use the clouds that were in the sketch. That led me to this Hero Arts sentiment from one of the stamp sets that I had, and I thought a great big sunshine was in order!

I die cut a pinked circle and a little bit smaller circle to make the sunshine. I die cut the clouds using a die from My Favorite Things. Once they were die cut I ran them through my Cuttlebug machine, using my swiss dot embossing folder. I added a few sequins to finish it off. I'm hoping it will bring a little bit of sunshine to someone's day!

Be sure to stop by the Stick It Down blog to see how the rest of the design team interpreted the sketch. I would love to see your take on it, too!

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

Sunday, September 17, 2017

LM #362 - All About Plaids

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

Our challenge this week at Lasting Memories is "All About Plaid". We are to use some plaid paper on our layout. Here is what I came up with:


I used Carta Bella's "Fall Blessings" collection for this layout. I haven't bought any fall collections yet this year and I think I need to - I barely had enough paper to get this layout done! That's a good thing, right? It means I did a good job using up this collection!

I based this layout off of the Challenge #1 sketch from Sketch N Scrap's Back To School Crop that was posted yesterday:


I knew that I wanted to use these photos of Abby, Shawn, and Ada from their trip to the pumpkin patch last year. I went with a wider strip of paper down the side and omitted the bottom embellishment cluster. Other than that I stayed true to the sketch.

Why don't you head on over and check out Sketch N Scrap's Back To School Crop? You can find it on our Facebook Events page here.

Head on over to Lasting Memories to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you play along with our challenges this month!

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

Sketches In Thyme #293

Good Sunday morning! I hope that you are having a good day so far! We woke up to a little bit of rain - which is a good thing since we were going on 20+ days without any. We were long overdue!

Today is my day to be up on the Sketches In Thyme blog with my take on sketch #293, courtesy of Sara:



Okay - so my computer wanted to be a jerk this morning and take forever when I tried to edit my photos...so,  I was running out of time - since we are going to my daughter's house today and I need to get things around. That means we are going with an unedited photo here. I'm not sure why the alphas want to look like a different color pink than the papers, they are all from the same Simple Stories collection and I swear they match in real life!

I had taken these photos of Ada back in the spring when the daisies were first making an appearance. She loved to pick one - or ten! - on our walks. I love the photo of her smelling the daisy!

This is one of those layouts that I had high hopes for, but just couldn't get it to look exactly the way that I wanted. I can't really put my finger on it...maybe it's all of the white space...maybe I should have just gone with a square for the accents...I fiddled with it enough that you would think I would be happy with it...maybe in time it will grow on me!

Be sure to check out the Sketches In Thyme blog every day to see more design team inspiration. There is a fun prize being offered up, so be sure to play along with us!

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

Saturday, September 16, 2017

HIMCR #318 - It's Fall Y'all!

Hello and Happy Saturday! Yay for the weekend - and we have no plans at all for this weekend, so it looks like I will be spending lots of time in my scrap room!

We have a new challenge up at Hiding In My Craft Room. This week's challenge is - "It's Fall, Y'all" and it is being sponsored by Star Stamps, so be sure to stop by and check them out!



I had the pleasure of working with the "Autumn Fall Girl Reading" digi stamp:


Such a beautiful image to work with! I colored it with colored pencils and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I used Echo Park's  - A Perfect Autumn - 6x6 paper pad for the papers on this card.

Be sure to stop by the Hiding In My Craft Room blog to see the beautiful creations from the rest of the design team. I hope to see you playing along with us this week!

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

Friday, September 15, 2017

Sketches In Thyme PL Style Sketch #86

Happy Friday scrappy friends! We have made it back round to the weekend and I am so ready for it! I can't believe that it is already the middle of September! This month is flying by!

The middle of the month means it's time for our second sketch challenge at Sketches In Thyme PL Style! Our mid-month sketch is courtesy of Emma:


I am back working on Ada's first-year album and made a title card for her 8-month photos. Here is my card:



I have so many fun photos of her from her 8-month photo session. It was the perfect day - she was happy and content to just sit outside and look around at everything around her and never once did she get fussy! I've scrapped several of these photos in traditional 12x12 layouts, but of course, I wanted to add them to her first-year album as well! 

We did a good job at always taking her photos on the 30th of each month of her first year, so in her album, each month will begin with her "month" photos - a 6x8 layout and then the pocket pages. Here is a look at the first two pages for her 8-month photos:


Here is a close up of each page:



And a close up of the filler card - one of my favorites!


For these cards, I've used a mix of papers from Shimelle's "Little By Little" collection, Elle's Studio "Live, Laugh, Love" collection and some papers from my stash.

Sadly, these are not all of the pages for these photos, I still have the back side of the 4-up 3x4 page, and two other styles that I need to finish! Those will be shared another day!

Head on over to Sketches In Thyme PL Style to see the beautiful work from the rest of the design team. I would love it if you played along with us!

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

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Sunny Day Crafting Ch #52 - "K" is for Kite

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you're looking for my Paper Play Sketches reveal, please scroll down or go here.


I have some exciting news to share with you - I am joining the Sunny Day Crafting Design Team! It's a great weekly challenge blog and any type of crafty project is accepted as long as it fits the challenge. I am on the "yellow" team and will be posting my projects every other week starting with this week's challenge.

We are working our way through the alphabet and this week's letter is "K" and our challenge is to use a kite on your project.


I have had this kite paper from an old My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad (Lime Twist) forever and didn't think that I would it ever get used. It and the background paper were seriously the last two papers that I had left in that paper pad. I was so happy when I saw this challenge and new that I could once and for all get that paper pad used up, and maybe brighten someone's day, too!

Head on over and check out the Sunny Day Crafting blog. I would love it if you played along with us this week!

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

Paper Play Sketches #51

Hello, hello! Happy Wednesday! It's the middle of the week and we are headed towards the weekend - which is a good thing because this week is feeling long!

We have a new sketch posted today at Paper Play Sketches. Janis has created another great sketch for us to work with:



I have used Fancy Pants' - Golden Days - collection for this card. Now that I look at it I wish I had switched the floral paper and the pink paper...maybe I'll make up another card with it that way. The sentiment is from an Art C stamp and cut set. There's not really a name on this set, but it is one of my favorites!

Head on over to Paper Play Sketches to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. We would love it if you played along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I will be right back with another card to share!

Sketch N Scrap's Back To School Crop


Hello, scrappy friends! I'm popping in here really quickly to let you know that we are getting ready for our September "Back to School" Crop over on the Sketch N Scrap Facebook Events page. It starts this Saturday and there will be 2 challenges posted this weekend and 2 more next weekend. DT Angela is offering up a fun crop prize for one lucky winner, so why don't you come on over and join the fun?!

You can find the crop here - Sketch N Scrap Back To School Crop.

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

Monday, September 11, 2017

Make It Monday #96 at The Memory Nest

Hello and Happy Monday! I don't know about you, but that weekend felt just about non-existent to me! How can they go by so fast?!

It's Make It Monday #96 at The Memory Nest today and Leslie has created a one photo sketch for us to work with. Of course, you could always add more photos if you wanted!




I have used the Simple Stories - Domestic Bliss - collection for this layout. I thought the papers were perfect for this photo of Ada. We were at my aunt's house for a visit and Ada had made herself busy coloring. She just looked too cute, sitting there on the floor, for me not to snap a photo!

I tried adding a few other embellishments, but it just made the layout look off balance and my daughter even said she liked it better like it is here, so that is what I went with!

Be sure to check out The Memory Nest to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. Be sure to link up your layouts - I would love to see what you create!

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

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Christmas Card Challenges #21

Hello, scrappy friends! Happy Sunday to you! My thoughts and prayers go out to those being affected by Hurricane Irma. I hope that if you are in the path of this hurricane that you stay safe.

Christmas Card Challenges has a new challenge posted today. Our rules are pretty simple - create a Christmas/Holiday card. We always offer up an optional challenge just in case you need a little something to get you going. This week we have an inspiration photo for you:



I chose to create a Christmas card featuring a couple of cute little gingerbread cookies!

I embossed the background panel with my Swiss dot embossing folder, and then I added in papers from Doodlebug's Sugarplums collection.  I based my card off of this older sketch from Paper Craft Crew:


I have so many card sketches pinned to my Pinterest board that I really need to put forth the effort to use them whenever I can! I really like the way that this card turned out!

Head on over to Christmas Card Challenges to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. I hope to see you playing along with us this week!

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

Saturday, September 9, 2017

HIMCR #317 - Super Scraps Saturday

Hi, guys! It's Saturday and that means we have a new challenge posted over at Hiding In My Craft Room.

It's the second Saturday of the month, so our challenge is one of my favorites - Super Scraps Saturday. This week Oddball Art is our sponsor, and I had the pleasure of working with their Kawaii Hearts Image No. 26 digi stamp.




I think these little hanging hearts made me think of a baby mobile - which put me in the mood to make another baby card! I've had these scraps from my granddaughter's first-year album that I have been working on and thought they would perfect for this card. I colored the hearts with my Prima watercolor pencils.

I think these hearts are so cute and could work for so many occasions.  I know I will be using them again!

Be sure to stop by the Hiding In My Craft Room blog to see the cards from the rest of the design team. Why don't you get out your scraps and put them to use this week? I would love to see what you create!

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

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Try Stampin' -Or Not - On Tuesday #338

Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! I hope you are having a good week. Not much longer now and it will be the weekend again!

The long Labor Day weekend has really gotten me behind on my days this week! I guess that is good since I'm thinking it's Wednesday and it's really Thursday, but it's not good that I forgot to add my design team card for Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday on the right day!

Here is the sketch, courtesy of Kaylin, and this week's optional theme is "School time":



I discovered when looking for papers, stamps, etc. for a school theme that I don't have a lot of that in my stash anymore, and since this school year is well underway, adding anything to my stash that it school related will have to wait until next year. 

I did, however, make my first "fall" card of the year. The weather around here has been feeling a lot more like fall than the end of summer, so it's only fitting!

I used Echo Park's - A Perfect Autumn - for this card. Such pretty fall papers in this collection! The focal piece is from one of the ephemera packs. Now that I look back at this card, I think it would have looked really cute to wrap a little bit of jute around the top of it....I just might have to try that!

Be sure to check out the Try Stampin' blog to see the beautiful cards from the design team. Our challenges are open for two weeks and you can enter on the blog or on our Facebook page here

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




Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Paper Play Sketches Color Challenge

Hi, guys! Happy Wednesday! I guess one of the good things about a long weekend is it makes for a short week! I can't believe it is Wednesday already!

We have a new color challenge for you today at Paper Play Sketches:



I took a little liberty with this color challenge and went more with the kraft brown - for the lunch sacks in the photo - white, and black. I love kraft and white together and the black just sets it off.

I die cut several snowflakes, using a die set from Paper Smooches, and scattered them across my card. The sentiment is from a Studio G $1 stamp set from several years ago. After I had already photographed this card I went back and outlined the sentiment with my black sharpie, and I like it so much better!

Stop by Paper Play Sketches to see the cards from the rest of the design team. Why don't you give this color combo a try? I would love to see what you do with it. 

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