Hello Sunshine - Scrap Our Stash - Blend - A - Sketch

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Use Your Stuff reveal, please scroll on down.

Today I am sharing my take on the August Blend - A - Sketch challenge at Scrap Our Stash. Along with blending the sketches, you are to use arrows on your layout. Here is a look at the sketches:

I chose to use the background of the second sketch and the photo block from the first sketch. 

For my layout, I have used the Simple Stories - Sunshine & Happiness - collection. The fun, bright colors in this collection were perfect for these summertime photos of Ada. I added an arrow that I fussy cut from one of the papers under the title and pointed it to the photos. I tried to add a couple more arrows, but they just didn't fit for what I wanted.

Here is a close-up of the embellishment cluster below the photos:

I changed things up a bit and added the date to the top of the layout instead of at the bottom where I normally add it. It looked a little lonely, so I added a die cut flower beside it. I then added a flower to each of the clusters.

I think Ada just looks too cute with her hair pulled up on the top of her head. She was sitting out on the patio, waiting patiently for Pops to come out so they could jump in the pool. It may look like it's the same photo, but there is a slight difference - she has a hint of a smile in one of them! After I took the photos I just couldn't believe what a big girl she is becoming!

Be sure to stop by Scrap Our Stash to see how the other design team members took on this challenge. We would love to see your take on the challenge, too!

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

Use Your Stuff #327 - Lots of Color

Hello, everyone! Good Monday morning to you! That weekend sure went by fast. Of course, they always do!

Use Your Stuff has a new challenge posted today. This week we want to see lots of color on your projects.

When I think of lots of color, I think of the rainbow, so I dug out my Lawn Fawn - Really Rainbow - 6x6 paper pad and went to work. Now, while I was making this card I had in my mind that the challenge was bright colors...but I still think I got lots of color on here, too!

I popped up the striped paper and the cloud on top of the sun on foam tape to give a little dimension. The sentiment is a favorite of mine and is from Hero Arts.  I think this card is sure to brighten up someone's day.

Head on over to Use Your Stuff to see how the rest of the design team used lots of color on their projects. We would love it if you played along with us this week!

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

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #278

Hello, everyone! Good Tuesday morning to you! I hope that your week is off to a good start. We are having some really beautiful weather this week - high temps in the low 80's, a little bit of rain, a little bit of sunshine...it's kind of getting me in the mood for fall! It is so nice to have the windows open and to see the grass greening up again after it being dry for so long.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has this week's sketch challenge posted over on the blog and I love it! There are so many possibilities for this sketch and I can't wait to put it to use again!

I don't have many masculine cards in my stash, so I decided to make a masculine birthday card using this sketch and substituted stars in place of the flowers. I can also see substituting party hats or gifts for more birthday card ideas.

This past weekend I bought some new storage bins for my 6x6 paper pads and while transferring them from the old boxes to the new bins I discovered so many paper pads that have been neglected. It is time to get them out and put them to use!

For this card, I have used an older My Mind's Eye paper pad - Cut & Paste Charm. I actually have two of these paper pads - one I bought when they first came out (2013) and the other I won by commenting on a Facebook post - probably 4 years ago! I think this is the first time that I have used either paper pad! It's always a good idea to go back through your supplies to remind yourself what you have!

I didn't have a sentiment stamp that said exactly what I wanted so I typed up my sentiment on the computer and printed it off. I really like how this card turned out!

Be sure to stop by the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog tomorrow to see the rest of the cards from the design team and the Top 3 for last week's card. I would love to see your take on this week's sketch, so link up over on the blog!

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

Sketches In Thyme PL Style #108

Hello again! I am back with another project to share with you today!

Sketches In Thyme PL Style has a new sketch posted today. Today's sketch is courtesy of Emma:

Here is the card that I made:

I kept my card - and my layout- pretty simple this time around. I had originally planned on stamping my title and decided to go with a white card. If I had remembered these little letter stickers earlier I might have used a different background but there is nothing wrong with plain and simple!

These cards are all a part of my week 7 spread. Both my week 6 and week 7 were pretty thin on photos, but yet there are still too many to just combine the two weeks. This year I have decided, when I have weeks like this, to add an insert along with a single pocket page. We will see how that works.

For these cards, I have used Elle's Studio - XOXO - 6x6 papers.

Maybe one of these days I will finish the rest of the layout and share the whole thing with you! I am hoping that with being back into the old routine that I will be able to have more time to work on my Project Life album!

Head on over to Sketches In Thyme PL Style to see more inspiration from the design team. We would love to see your creations, too!

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

Wild Child -Sketches In Thyme #337

Hello and Happy Friday! Today is move-in day for my oldest son. I can't believe he is a junior in college! I'm a little sad that I don't get to go and help move him in, but it's impossible to do with a four year old and an eighteen year old with severe autism who doesn't do well in crowds! I'm sure his dad will have lots of stories to tell when he gets home.

Today is my day to be featured on the Sketches In Thyme using Sketch #337 - courtesy of Shawn. Here's a look at the sketch:

I thought these photos of Ada jumping in a mud puddle would be perfect for this sketch. I actually have two stories that I would like to tell about these photos, so it is possible they will show up on another layout eventually!

One of the photos I wanted to use was impossible to cut down to a 4x4 size. I cut it down as much as I could, and since the photo above it had quite a bit of dead space in it, I just covered up the bottom portion to get the larger photo on there.

The papers I used came from a couple of different Colorbok paper pads - Mint Julip and Wild and Free - and the colors in these collections matched Ada's dress perfectly. I was able to use all scraps - with the exception of the flower paper that I fussy cut the flowers from - since all I really needed were the two-inch strips down each side.

I changed my journaling to the opposite side of the layout because I had quite a bit to say and it would have covered up too much of the flowers if I kept it where it was on the sketch.

Be sure to stop by Sketches In Thyme - we have design team inspiration every day of the week! We would love it if you played along with any - or all - of our sketches this month!

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

Kitten Smitten - Sketch N Scrap Slice of Summer Crop Bonus Challenge

Hello, everyone! I hope you are having a good day. It was back to school today and it felt a little strange not having any kiddos to get up and ready this morning. I just had to wait for Abby to bring Miss Ada over - such a change this year!

I thought I would share a layout that I made for today's bonus challenge for the Sketch N Scrap Slice of Summer Crop. The challenge is to use any Sketch N Scrap sketch and to use outdoor photos on your layout. I used the August 1st sketch:

Here is what I came up with:

These photos are of Ada playing with some kittens last summer. She loved being able to play with them whenever she came over and they loved all of the attention that they got!

For this layout, I used Doodlebug's - Kitten Smitten - collection. When I bought this collection, back when it first came out, I didn't really buy it for the kitten designs, I was looking more at the "b" sides which were more generic - triangles, plaid, etc. Since I wasn't buying it for the kitten aspect, I didn't bother to get any of the embellishments that went along with it...yeah...boy, am I regretting that now! I did put the paper with the border strips to use since it had some kitty heads that I could fussy cut, and I really like the way this layout turned out.

The yellow on this layout is bright, but not quite as bright as it's showing in the photo. No matter how I tried to edit my photo, the yellow always came out bright.

Head on over to the Slice of Summer Crop and play along with us! We would love to see what you create!

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

Scribbles Designs Challenge #68 - Year of the Dog

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Sketch N Scrap reveal, please scroll on down.

Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog has a new challenge starting today! Challenge #68 is "Year of the Dog". 2018 is the Year of the Dog according to the Chinese calendar, so we want to see your dog or puppy images on your projects.

For my card, I have used #F 153 - Dog (2018) and #F 31 - Dog bone - both of these images are free!

I have just a few scraps of paper left from Doodlebug's "Puppy Love" collection, and I was happy to see that one of the scraps was this newspaper print paper, and as luck would have it, one of the headlines reads "Ruff Day?". I thought that would be perfect for the sentiment on my card!

Head on over to Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog to see the fun puppy dog projects from the rest of the design team. We 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!

Sketch N Scrap #159 - Sweet Treat

Hello, everyone! Good Wednesday morning to you! I can't believe that it is the middle of August already. We are two days into our old routine and things are settling down nicely.

The middle of the month means we have a new sketch posted at Sketch N Scrap today. Heather has created a great sketch that is open to lots of possibilities.

Here is a look at the sketch:

I love the simplicity of this sketch. Of course, I am a clean and simple kind of gal, so this sketch was right up my alley, and this layout came together so easily.

The only thing I did differently was I extended the paper strips to the bottom of the page. I drew inspiration from the Spongebob popsicle for my colors and the order of the paper strips. I stamped a few phrases from a few different roller stamps to add to my layout. I even stepped out of my comfort zone and stitched around the edge of my layout. What can I say - sewing curtains for Abby's classroom got me in the mood to try sewing on my layouts! It's not the greatest job, but I am happy with it.

I used all scraps from my Counterfeit Kit Challenge March kit. I think I used up what little bits of these three papers that I had left! You can see my kit and read more about it here.

The story behind the photos - Ada was so excited that the ice cream truck came through their neighborhood. She wanted to get something from it every single day. After the first few days Abby finally had to tell her that they would only get it for a special treat. This was Ada's lucky day - and what better way to spend a hot summer afternoon than cooling off with a Spongebob popsicle.

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the 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 today! I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

Use Your Stuff #326 - Summer Fun

Hello again! I am back with another layout to share with you today. If you are looking for my Scrap Our Stash reveal, please scroll on down.

The challenge at Use Your Stuff this week is all about summer fun. Make a project that says "summer fun" to you!

I chose to make a layout of Ada playing in the sprinkler this summer - that sounds like summer fun to me!

Abby sent me these photos of Ada having fun in the sprinkler earlier this summer. She is definitely a water girl and searches it out whenever she can.

For this layout, I have used an older summer collection from Doodlebug called Sunkissed. The striped strip down the side is a border sticker, and I did some stash busting of my supply of brads on this layout, too. I think I used a total of 16 on this layout. It felt good to get some of my older supplies used up!

Head on over to Use Your Stuff to see the summer fun projects from the rest of the design team. We would love it if you played along with us this week!

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

Scrap Our Stash - Cousins Make The Best Friends

Hello, hello! Happy Monday to you! I'm a little sad because it's back to the old routine today, but it's going to be nice to get back on a schedule again.

Today is my day to be featured over on the Scrap Our Stash blog with my layout for the August edition of the Golden Globe Challenge.

Here is a look at the movie board that you are to take inspiration from and you must use the word "friend" somewhere on your layout and you must use a journal card on your layout.

I have created a layout of Ada with two of her cousins - cousins really are your first best friends! These three don't get to see each other but a couple of times a year but it doesn't take them long to be fast friends again.

For this layout, I remembered that I had put this Echo Park - This and That (Girl) collection in a kit quite a while ago. Like probably a year or two ago. Yeah, it was still sitting in the box - untouched. I am happy that I remembered that I had it because it was perfect for these photos, and I used three of the pieces of patterned paper on this layout.

One of the papers that were left in this collection was the cut apart journal cards. I found this one and thought it was perfect for my title holder.

For my title, I wanted mixed fonts, so I printed the words "cousins" and "friends" off of my computer and fussy cut around them. The rest of the words were made using the letter stickers from the sticker sheet.

I would love to see what you create for this challenge. Be sure to link up with us at Scrap Our Stash.

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

Merry Christmas - Sketch N Scrap's Slice of Summer Crop Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday! I hope you are having a good weekend. We finally got a little rain yesterday - the first in I don't know when - and it was so nice! The yard is still more brown than green, but I am still hoping it will get a little more green to it.

I thought I would pop in here really quickly and share a couple of cards that I made for the Sketch N Scrap - Slice of Summer Crop - Challenge #2.

I am really trying to get the majority of my Christmas cards made early so that I can get them out earlier this year, so I made two just alike.

These cards came together really quickly and I love the way they turned out. I used one 6x6 patterned paper and still had enough left over that I could make one more card just like these if I want to.

I embossed the card front panel with my swiss dot embossing folder, used a scalloped edge border punch on a strip of patterned paper, stamped the tree images (using a really old Close To My Heart stamp set - A1039 Tis the Season) and cut them out, and stamped my sentiment directly onto the white strip. I finished it off by adding some wood veneer stars to the tops of the trees, and on the card on the left, I splattered some Heidi Swapp Gold color shine.

Head on over to the Sketch N Scrap Slice Of Summer Crop and join in on the fun! We would love to see what you create!

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

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #276

Hello and Happy Tuesday! I am just getting home from spending the day helping my daughter get her classroom all ready for the new year and I thought I would pop in here really quickly and share the card I made for this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here's a look at the sketch:

Once again I have substituted the oval shape for a rectangle. To be honest, I did check my oval dies to see if I could cut this project life card into an oval, but I didn't have the right size for it, so at least I tried to make it an oval!

Since the project life card had a quote on it, I substituted the sentiment with two fussy cut flowers.

I had come across this old paper collection from Echo Park (This & That - girl) and I am so close to using it up, so I made my card with some of the scraps that were left. This is one of my favorite older collections and the red floral paper...well, I had a hard time using it because I love it so much, but it's so much better sharing it with someone else by way of this card.

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

Counterfeit Kit Challenge August Mini Kit Reveal

Hello, everyone! Happy Monday to you! Are you ready for a new week? I'm a little sad as this is my last week of summer vacation. Next week I will have Ada back with me during the day and the following week Matthew will be back at college. I will be so happy to have Ada back regularly, but it will be an adjustment to get back into the routine of getting up a little earlier and running on a schedule again.

Today is Counterfeit Kit Challenge August mini kit reveals day. Here is a look at the inspiration kit that Cindy picked for August - the Cocoa Daisy July 2018 kit:

I loved the colors in this pretty kit and that is what I based my mini kit on. Here is a look at my kit:

I picked seven papers for my mini kit - mostly because I couldn't decide on which yellow, orange, and green that I liked better, and options are a good thing to have anyway! I also added a piece of woodgrain - which can also be found in the inspiration kit. 

From left to right the papers are - green zigzag - Pink Paislee Atlas collection, yellow print - Studio Calico Sundrifter, orange square - Studio Calico Here and There, brown woodgrain - Pebbles, Yellow gingham - My Mind's Eye paper pad, orange circle -We R Memory Keepers Out and About, and green solid - Fancy Pants About A Boy. How fun that you can mix six different manufacturers and get a great kit!

I went easy on the embellishments. I know I will probably be making my own for any layouts that I make anyway. I pulled three different alphabets - a wood hexagon alphabet, a small black alphabet, and an alphabet sheet from another We R Memory Keepers collection that had the orange, yellow, and green colors in it. I also had a tag sheet from that collection that I added - just in case I need it! After that, I added a sheet of foam Thicker words, a few die cuts, enamel dots, wood veneer, a couple of stamp sets, and a hexagon punch and dies.

Here is my first layout that I created using my mini kit:

This is one of my favorite photos of Ada from this summer. She loves to help me make cookies and when they are sugar cookies - with frosting and sprinkles - well, they are the best! She does a good job helping to mix them up and when it comes to for the sprinkles, she is a pro.

In the inspiration kit, there are some chipboard hexagon embellishments. I thought I would make my own faux chipboard hexagons.

I die cut a hexagon out of the color pattern paper that I wanted, then die cut three or four more out of some scrap cardstock and glued all of the layers together. The great thing about making your own faux chipboard is you can make them as thick as you like.

Here is a close-up of a few of the faux chipboard hexagons on my layout:

I finished off my layout by adding a few punched hearts and stamped word phrases to some of the hexagons.

If you create a kit - big or small - based off of the August inspiration kit we would love to see it! You can link up on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog or in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Community on Facebook.

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

Sketch N Scrap's Slice Of Summer Crop

Hello again! I wanted to be sure and let you know that Sketch N Scrap's Slice of Summer Crop is just around the corner! Please join us August 10 - 31st for sketch inspired challenges, prizes, and lots of fun and inspiration.

Come on over and join in the fun! You can find us here - https://www.facebook.com/events/1611961488933074/

We would love to have you join us!

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #127

Hello, everyone! Good Sunday morning to you!

It's time for the first card sketch of the month at Sketch N Scrap today. Heather has created a great sketch to get us started this month. Here's a look at the sketch:

We have a few birthdays coming up in the next several weeks so I decided to work on building up my stash.

I've used Simple Stories - Let's Party - paper for this card, and all of the papers were scraps! I love getting those scraps used up! The sentiment is a stamp from Jillibean Soup. I also punched several stars to add to my card.

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the sketch and the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. We would love to see your take on the sketch!

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

Sketches In Thyme PL Style #107

Hello, hello! Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have had a good week. It had cooled down nicely early in the week, but it's starting to feel like summer again now. Which I am quite happy about. I'm not quite ready for summer to be over just yet.

Sketches In Thyme PL Style has a new sketch posted today. Shawn has created this fun card for us to work with:

Here is the card that I created using the sketch:

And here is the card with the accompanying photo:

I am really enjoying getting back to working on my Project Life album. It seems like all I can get accomplished is just a few photos/cards done at a time right now, but at least I am making some progress!

This card and photo will be in my Week 7 spread for this year, and hopefully, I will be sharing the completed spread with you soon.

Abby sent me this photo of Ada at her cousin's birthday party. She couldn't wait to go back to Chuck E Cheese's and when Chuck E Cheese came into the room she wasn't a bit shy - she just went right up to him and gave him a hug!

For these two cards I have used goodies from Elle's Studio. The grey paper is from the - XOXO - 6x6 paper pack. I used the Title Builder Alphabet stamp set for my title and the green puffy heart stickers are also from Elle's Studio.

I didn't do much embellishing to the photo because it is already cropped in pretty close and I did not want to cover anything up. I really hadn't planned to leave the green heart where it is on the photo, but once it was down it was not coming up!

Head on over to Sketches In Thyme PL Style to see the cards from the rest of the design team. We hope you have some time to play along with us!

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

Scribbles Designs Ch #67 - Fun in the Sun - Midway Inspiration

Hello, everyone! Happy August 1st! I can't believe that I only have one more full week of summer vacation before Miss Ada is coming back during the week. Summer has gone by so fast, but then again, it always does!

Today is the midway post for challenge #67 - Fun in the Sun - at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog. Even though we haven't done it in several years, one of our favorite things to do in the summer is go camping - that is definitely some "fun in the sun" for us! Maybe if we had a cute little camper like the one on my card we would go more often!

For my card, I used #953 - Emily's Trailer:

I just love this little image and it makes me want to run out and buy one of my own!

I colored the image with ShinHan markers in some fun - summery colors. I think this card would put anyone in the mood to go on an adventure!

Head on over to Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog to see the - Fun in the Sun - cards from the rest of the design team. We can't wait to see what you create!

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