A Work Of Heart - Scrap Our Stash Blend - A - Sketch

Hello and Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a good week!

Today is my day to share my take on the September Build a Sketch challenge at Scrap Our Stash. Here is a look at the sketches we are to blend - and along with blending the sketches we are to use buttons or flair on our layout:

Here is what I came up with:

For my layout, I used the background and photo placement of the sketch on the left and the title and embellishment placement from the sketch on the right. Can you spot my buttons? 

I finally got a chance to work with the Simple Stories - Dream Big - collection! I knew when I first saw this collection that I "needed" it for photos of Ada! Every single piece of this collection fits her so well!

About this layout - I had forgotten to pick up wrapping paper for Scott's birthday and even though I had some paper, I did not have enough to wrap all of  his presents. Abby and Ada were down for the occasion so I asked Ada if she wanted to make Pops' wrapping paper. We grabbed a couple of brown paper bags and she went to work drawing him a work of art - or work of heart - as I have the layout titled. Of course, Pops loved the wrapping paper and he was very careful not to rip it when he opened his presents so he could save it. 

Here is a look at one of the clusters - and there are 3 of my buttons! I added some old Making Memories flower buttons that I have had for a good 12 - 14 years!

I backed the layout with a thin border of black cardstock and added a strip across the middle where the papers meet.  I thought I needed to bring in a bit more black, so I added some black letter stickers to my title and then punched a few black circles to scatter around my clusters. 

Here is a look at the top cluster - and 2 more flower buttons! I wish I could say that I about used those flower buttons up, but I still have several in other colors to use! Maybe one of these days...

I do plan on adding my some journaling - either directly below the photo/title block or on a tag to be added in the upper cluster. 

Head on over to Scrap Our Stash for design team inspiration every day of the week! We would love to see your take on the challenge, too!

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

Use Your Stuff #331 - Spots and Dots

Hello, everyone! Happy Monday to you! I hope that you had a good weekend.  It was a nice lazy weekend for us and the weather was fantastic! I really love the summertime and hot temperatures, but these 70 degree days have been fantastic!

Use Your Stuff has a new challenge posted today. This week our challenge is to use "Spots and Dots" on your projects.

Well, I love my polka dots and I was happy to pull out these polka dot papers that I have been hoarding from Close To My Heart. I remember buying multiple packs of this polka dotted paper when they came out several years ago and I still have a few full sheets left. Polka dots just don't go out of style!

I punched a one inch circle out of each color and lined them up across my card. Then I punched a three quarters inch circle and layered those on top of where the one inch circles meet. I added a bit of foam tape to each of the smaller circles for more dimension. To keep the spots and dots theme going, I stamped my sentiment on a circle and added it to the bottom of my card. I also punched a few circles with a hole punch to add around my sentiment. I inked the edges of all my paper to help each color stand out a bit more.

Head on over to Use Your Stuff to see the spots and dots projects from the rest of the design team. We would love to see your take on the challenge.

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

Sketches In Thyme PL Style #110

Hello, everyone! Happy Friday to you! We have made it back round to the weekend and I am ready for it! I have lots of scrappy plans for this weekend - I just hope it all works out! Sometimes my plans don't jive with the rest of the family!

It's time for a new sketch at Sketches In Thyme PL Style today. Emma has created a fun sketch for us to work with:

Guys, I cannot believe it - I actually used a project life card from core kit for my card! I think this may be the first time! I have hundreds...okay, maybe closer to thousands of core kit cards in my scrap room and I still have trouble using them, but I thought this colorful rainbow stripe card would be perfect for my card about Ada and her obsession with Candy Land.

I didn't think that the rounded edges of the card would bother me that much, but when I needed this card and photo to go into a 6x4 pocket side by side, I couldn't get past it! I trimmed the card down to square off the corners, then matted it onto a white 6x4 card. I love the way it turned out!

Here's a look at one of the other cards that will go along with this one in my spread:

Before I chose the project life card, I played around with the idea of using the Simple Stories - Dream Big - collection for making my cards. The colors were very similar and I think they would have worked well, too, but when I had the chance to actually use a project life card, I knew I'd better take it! I did use the ice cream cone die cut from that collection on this card.

Here's a look at both cards together:

These photos of Ada aren't the best - she cannot stay still long enough to get a good photo - but this is definitely something that I wanted to document about our "right now". I have one more photo to go with these photos and a journaling card to tell the story, so you will see the whole group when I share my completed spread. I have had a hard time getting my photos printed this week...yeah, I think I need to get a Selphy so I can just print at home! I am hoping to have my spread done by the end of the weekend.

About these photos - Abby and Shawn bought Candy Land for Ada towards the end of the summer. She loved it so much that I bought it to have at our house, too. I did not know what I was getting myself into! This girl is obsessed with Candy Land. We play it multiple times a day and Ada is really good at it! I guess you can call her lucky - she always seems to win - and when she doesn't she is a very gracious loser.

These photos were taken on the 4th of September and here we are still playing multiple games - multiple times a day - almost 3 weeks later! I don't know if she will ever get tired of it!

Head on over to Sketches In Thyme PL Style to see what the rest of the design team has created for this sketch. We would love to see what you create!

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

AHSC #282 - Merry Christmas

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday to you! I thought I would pop in here and share my take on this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

Here is the fun sketch that Michelle has created:

I can tell that this sketch is going to be a favorite of mine! Here is what I came up with:

My original plan for this card was to use washi tape for the strips at the top and the bottom - and maybe even behind the circle embellishment. Of course, since I have cleaned and rearranged my scrap room I can no longer find my Christmas washi tape! I have looked and looked and still cannot find it, so we went with scraps instead!

The same goes for my sentiment stamp, as well. I had a small "merry and bright" stamp that I wanted to use and I don't know where I've put it, but then I remembered that I got my Elle's Studio order and it included their new Christmas Seals stamp set, so I went with one of those instead. I have to say - I love every single stamp in this set and I know you will be seeing more of them in the upcoming months.

I added in a few sequins and a wood veneer tree to finish off my card.

Here is a close-up of the sentiment:

Be sure to stop by Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge tomorrow to see how the rest of the design team used this sketch and to see the Top 3 from last week. I would love to see your take on this fun sketch.

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

Any Excuse To Hold On - Sketches In Thyme #341

Hello, everyone! Good Monday morning to you! I hope you had a good weekend. Ours was very full and very fun.

Scribbles Designs #69 - Pick a Pattern

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

It's time for a new challenge at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog today. Challenge #69 is Pick a Pattern - choose from one of the following patterns for your main background - dots, stripes, plaids, chevrons, or diamonds.

For my card, I chose to use a plaid patterned background, and I used the free leaves digital image from the store - #F 50 Leaves (free):

I used papers from Echo Park's - Fall is in the Air - 6x6 paper pad that I included in my kit for this month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge.  I also used a few of the glitter dots that I had in my kit.

I stamped the sentiment on a piece of cardstock and then punched holes in each end to thread some jute through and then wrapped it around the front of the image panel.

So, how about it - are you up to the challenge? We would love to see what pattern you choose to use for your main background. Head on over to Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog to see the projects from the rest of the design team.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Birthday Girl - Sketch N Scrap #161

Hello, hello! Good Saturday morning to you! I can't believe that it is the middle of the month already. We've got a busy day today with a birthday party for our daughter and son-in-law - their birthdays are only 11 days apart. I'm sure it will be a day full of fun memories.

Sketch N Scrap has the second layout sketch of the month posted today. Heather has created this fun sketch - full of something I love - circles!

Abby had taken these photos on Ada's actual birthday. Along with her presents she had her very own jumbo cupcake!

This layout is going to be the left side of a double page spread - at least that is my plan. I have a few photos of Ada playing with her presents but they are filled with reds and blues, so if I can get these papers to work with those photos it will be a double page spread!

I used papers from Pink Paislee - Hello Sunshine - with the exception of the pink diagonal stripe - it is from Simple Stories - Sunshine and Happiness. 

I went a little crazy with the circles but they are a favorite of mine! I also added in a few enamel dots and then I punched some tiny stars to add around the circles, as well. I kept up the circle theme with my title - using Doodlebug's Teensy Type alphas for "birthday". I then used Close To My Hearts - Block letter dies for the rest of my title.

Not a single birthday paper or embellishment on this layout and I love it!

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. We would love to see your take on the sketch, too.

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

Scrap Our Stash September Golden Globe Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you!

Today is my day to be featured over at Scrap Our Stash with my take on the September Golden Globe challenge. Not only are we to be inspired by the movie poster to create a grid layout, but we are to also use a transparency or vellum on our layout.

Here is the inspiration poster:

Grid layouts can take on many forms and I have chosen to do a classic grid background for my layout. I matted my photo on top of a piece of vellum to help it stand out a bit more from the busier background.

I have used a mix of Echo Park, Carta Bella, and Bella Blvd papers for my squares. I cut the squares to three and a half inches and inked the edges of each square. I also used up some stickers and chipboard from Bella Blvd on this layout, as well. It felt good to finally use up those chipboard stickers and get them out of my supplies and on to a layout.

Here is a close-up of the bottom cluster:

I didn't really feel like this layout needed a title - and really, I don't know where I would have put it if I had one! I think it's funny - I used to think layouts always needed a title, but in the last few months of made several that didn't really have a dedicated title.

Head on over to Scrap Our Stash to see more design team inspiration. I hope you have some time to play along - I would love to see what you create!

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

Hello Fall - Counterfeit Kit Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy Wednesday! Here we are midway through the week already. The weekend will be here before we know it.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge has their first challenge of September. Tina is our hostess this month and she is challenging us to use the colors red, gold, and purple on our projects.

If you remember from my kit reveal post on the first, I had to go in search of purple paper for my kit and this challenge is the reason why! Well, I had a hard time finding just the shade that I wanted to use - I have more lavender shades in my supplies than that deep rich purple that I was looking for.

Here is what I came up with and I love the end result!

I think this may be the first layout that I have created about the fall colors with only trees in the photos. I have scrapped plenty of family photos in front of the pretty trees, but just the trees - not so much.

I love the beautiful colors of fall, but the color is pretty hit or miss around here. Usually, it is so dry leading up to the fall season that we don't get good color. Or the trees seem to turn overnight and we get a storm to blow through the next day and all the pretty leaves are gone. Yep, there's almost always a pretty small window to get any good fall photos! Now the last few years we have been lucky to have some lasting color and to get our family photos taken before the leaves are all gone. I'm sure you will be seeing some of those photos on layouts using my kit in the coming weeks!

It was so nice having everything I needed for this layout already in my kit. The only things I added that wasn't in my kit is the gold mist and the purple ink that I used for my splatters. I am thrilled that I was able to use one of the bows and the word stickers that I made for my forgeries on this layout. And I love that I remembered to add the ribbon to the page, as well! I have just enough ribbon to use on one more 12x12 layout - or a couple of cards - and that spool of ribbon will be used up!

Here are a couple of close-ups of my cluster areas:

I thought the autumn lane sticker was a great addition seeing as how these photos are of the trees that line our driveway. I am so happy that I scored those glitter enamel dots at the Dollar Tree! They are perfect for this layout, and my kit!

The autumn lane sticker and the one fall day sticker could show up on future layouts. A couple of years ago an online store was going out of business and had priority mail boxes filled with sticker sheets that they hadn't sold out of. You had to buy sight unseen and you just got what you got, but I got a lot of great sticker sheets in that box for a great price. It's just I got multiples of the sheets - like 4 sheets of the same sticker sheet. A lot were alpha sticker sheets - which is always good - and the others I have slowly been using up over the last couple of years.

Head on over to Counterfeit Kit Challenge to see Tina and our guest designer Janet's take on the challenge. We would love to see your projects using the color challenge!

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

You Are Sew Sweet - Use Your Stuff #329

Hello, everyone! Good Monday morning to you!

It's the start of a new week and that means we have a new challenge for you at Use Your Stuff today. This week Amanda is challenging us to use animals on our projects.

Here is what I came up with:

When I was looking through my supplies, debating on what I should make, I came across what is left of my Doodlebug Designs - Flea Market - 6x6 paper pad. When I saw these cute little mice I knew I would be using them for my project. I mean, I honestly don't know when I would be pushed to use this paper and that cut apart again. The papers paired along with the sentiment is just too cute!

I based my card off of this older sketch (July 6, 2018) from Just Add Ink:

I will be putting this card in the mail later today to someone that I think is super sweet and hope to brighten her day.

Head on over to Use Your Stuff to see how the rest of the design team has used animals in their projects. I would love to see what you create!

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

Good Times at the Ballpark - Lasting Memories #412

Hello, hello! Good Sunday morning to you! I hope you are having a good weekend. We got to enjoy the day with Miss Ada yesterday and now today we are looking forward to football!

Lasting Memories has a new challenge up today. Our theme for September is - Mixed Bag - and this week the challenge is an - Either/Or - challenge.

Listed below are 5 sets of 2 items. You must pick one of the items from each set - not both - and include it on your layout for a total of 5 items.

stripes or polka dots

circles or squares

wood veneer or washi tape

enamel dots or sequins

hearts or stars

For my layout, I have chosen stripes, circles - part of my title and a half circle at the bottom, wood veneer, enamel dots, and stars. 

I guess I kind of cheated by using wood veneer hearts...but I do love my guys and had to include a few hearts, too!

I based my layout on this sketch from PageMaps - May 2018:

I still need to add my journaling and I will add it underneath my title/photo like it is in the sketch when I get it typed up. I will be channeling my inner Janet from RTS Scrapbooking and telling a story that is much deeper than just the fact that we are enjoying a Springfield Cardinals baseball game. It will be sort of a look back at the time this photo was taken (sometime between 2006 and 2008) and seeing how far we have come in the last 10 or so years and what has changed since this time. 

If you scrapbook to get the stories documented, you need to check out Janet at RTS Scrapbooking's YouTube channel. She has really made me rethink my whole scrapbook process and I am so thankful to get back to the reason that I started scrapbooking, which is to tell the stories.

Here are a couple of close-ups of my layout:

I have used all older product from my supplies - the Doodlebug paper and navy cardstock I had put together in a page protector to use for a future layout. The date on the paper is 2004 and it's probably been in that page protector waiting to be used for about as long! The circle alphas are also Doodlebug from 2012. The only "more recent" item on this layout is the Bella Blvd alpha stickers that I picked up this spring.

I would also like to know how in the world I can have these thousands (yes thousands!) of pieces of patterned paper and somehow I can never find a "real red" patterned paper! I have deep red, I have light red, I have pinkish red, but when I try to find a real red, I can never find one! Thank goodness I found this red cardstock - it's not patterned paper, but it gets the job done!

Head on over to Lasting Memories to see which of the items that the rest of the design team picked for their layouts. I would love it if you had a chance to play along with us!

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

Southern Girls Challenge - Tag You're It!

Hello, everyone! I am back to share some exciting news and another project with you this afternoon. I am now a member of the Southern Girls Challenge Design Team - Team Lou! Southern Girls Challenge is a great challenge blog based out of New Zealand. The challenges are posted fortnightly on a Thursday and end on Tuesday of the second week. With the time difference between New Zealand and the US, my projects will be posted on Wednesday afternoon. Since I am on Team Lou, I will be working with the first challenge each month.

The first challenge for September is - Tags! This can be a stand-alone tag or a tag on your project.

I have created a layout and I have used a total of four tags:

For my layout, I have used an older piece of patterned paper from Close To My Heart. I actually bought the bulk pack of this paper way back when I was a consultant with them, so I have quite a few pieces to use before I get them all used up, but you just can't go wrong with blue paper with a subtle star print!

I cut my paper on the diagonal and covered the seam with a variety of die cut stars. I made a couple of tags to be my title holder:

And I also added a couple of tags to the top left corner:

This challenge also goes along with this week's challenge at Lasting Memories - to scrap a summer themed layout and use the word "fun" somewhere on your layout. I have scrapped some 4th of July photos of Ada and included a "summer fun" word phrase sticker.

Be sure to head on over and check out the Southern Girls Challenge and the beautiful projects from the design team. We would love it if you played along with us!

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

Happy Fall - Sketch N Scrap #129

Hello, everyone! Happy Hump Day! Wednesday already...this short week is moving right along for me!

Sketch N Scrap has the first card sketch of September posted today. Heather has created such a fun sketch for us to work with.

I have created another fall card using this sketch:

For my card, I have once again used the Echo Park - Fall is in the Air - 6x6 paper pad that I included in my September Counterfeit Kit Challenge. I am determined to get as many of the 6x6 pads that I included used up this month. Really, the paper pad that I used for this card is the only one that was like new. All the others are mostly all used up!

I love that I included jute in my kit - it gives the perfect little finishing touch.

Be sure to save the date - Sketch N Scrap's Back To School Crop starts this Friday. Come on over to our Facebook Events page and join in the fun. Or even better follow this link to join - 

https://www.facebook.com/events/932514486934065/?active_tab=about

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap 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 my blog today! Have a great day!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #280

Hello again! I am back with a quick post to share with you tonight.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has posted a new sketch this week and I know I say this a lot - but this is going to be a favorite of mine! Here's a look at the sketch:

And here is what I came up with:

You will probably be seeing a few fall cards over the next couple of weeks. I have a few I need to make to get sent out for the fall season.

For my card, I have used the Echo Park 6x6 paper pad - Fall is in the Air - that I included in my Counterfeit Kit Challenge September kit. You can see my kit and read all about in this post here. I even used one of the leaves that I stamped for my forgeries earlier today! It is so great to have all of those supplies altogether when it's time to work on a project. The only thing that wasn't in my kit were the alpha stickers.

I really love this sketch and I know I will be using it again and again. I think it will be a good sketch to use for Christmas cards (I already have a couple of ideas planned for that) and birthday cards, and thinking of you cards, and...well, the list goes on and on!

Stop by Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge tomorrow to see the full design team reveals and last week's Top 3. I hope you have some time to play along with this sketch. I would love to see your take on it!

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

Counterfeit Kit Challenge - Forgery on the Fourth

Hello, everyone! Good Tuesday morning to you! Today is the first day back to the old routine after a long weekend. That's always hard but on the bright side, that means it's a short week!

Today is the fourth and that means it's time for "Forgery on the Fourth" at Counterfeit Kit Challenge. There are so many fun things in the inspiration kit that you can forge and I thought I would make a few to add to my kit. Here's a look at the inspiration kit (you can see close-up photos over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog:

I really liked the look of the wood word stickers but I didn't really have any phrase stamps to fit the "fall" feel of the kit, so I pulled out my trimmer, the word stickers that I added to my kit, and some wood grain paper scraps and went to work.

Here is the finished product:

I also pulled some leaf stamps, label stamps, and a coffee cup stamp, and my bow dies to make my own embellishments to add to my kit.

And this is what I came up with:

I now have some leaves, labels, and coffee cups ready to be fussy cut and added to a project. 

I also am in love with those cute little fall bows! I made those with the scraps from the 6x6 paper pads that I had added to my kit. A great way to get some scraps used up!

Head on over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to see the forgeries from the other design team members. We would love to see what you create this month, so be sure to link up!

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