Southern Girls Challenge - Anything Goes

Hello, everyone! It's time for a new challenge at Southern Girls Challenge. Team Lou is up this week and the challenge is - Anything Goes!

We have two wonderful sponsors for our challenge this week:

Krafters Cart

Lacy Sunshine

I have created a layout for this week's challenge:

I have recently been going through my older paper collections that are mostly used and reorganizing them by color. When I came across these papers instead of filing them away I set them aside to make this layout. I knew I had these photos of Ada in my "to scrap" pile for quite a while and the papers were a perfect match for them.

This little onesie was one of the first outfits that we got when we found out Abby was going to have a baby. We didn't even know if she was going to have a boy or a girl at the time. We picked up a 3-6 month size thinking that since the due date was Dec. 23rd that maybe it would still fit when the weather started to get warmer.

Well, Ada decided to come 3 weeks early and was here at the end of November. She was such a petite tiny little thing weighing only 4lbs. 15 oz. We had no worries about the onesies still fitting her when the weather warmed up. In fact, she was still wearing the onesie at 10 months old which was when these photos were taken! She has been such a joy to our lives and I definitely can't get enough of her! She is something else!

Head on over to Southern Girls Challenge to see the "Anything Goes" projects from the rest of the Team Lou girls. We would love to see you play along with us!

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

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #292

Hello again! I'm popping in with one more project to share with you today.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge posted a new sketch this week and I am sharing the card that I created for it. Here is a look at the sketch:

I have had this cute piece of patterned paper in my supplies for a couple of years or more, and have always thought that it was cute, but I never got around to using it. This year I decided I was going to use it before the holiday season was over and this week's sketch was perfect for it. It's from an American Crafts 6x6 paper pad but I have no idea which one as the cover is off of what's left of the paper pad.

I was going to add the bow like the sketch shows but it just got lost with the busyness of the patterned paper, so I decided to add some metallic gold stars to my sentiment block instead.

I'm so happy to have another Christmas card done and ready to be sent out. My plan is to have my cards for this year all ready to go by Monday, December 3rd.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge will have the full design team reveals up on the blog tomorrow, along with last week's Top 3. Be sure to stop by and check it out.

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

Sweet Treat - Scrap Our Stash Blend A Sketch

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

Today is my day to be featured over at Scrap Our Stash with my take on this month's Blend - A - Sketch Challenge. Here are the two sketches that we are to blend this month and we also have the added challenge to use pennants/banners to our layout.

I think that these two sketches have a lot of similarities so it was pretty easy to blend them together. Here is what I came up with:

From the first sketch, I used the paper strips and photo mat and from the second sketch, I used the photo placement and a tag for my journaling.

I have used an older paper collection from Close To My Heart - Sugar Rush - for my layout. The colors and the paper with the sweet treats were perfect for these photos of Ada. I had quite a bit to say about these photos, so I added my journaling to a tag and stuck it behind the left photo. You can't tell it in the photos too well, but the tag is very light soft pink.

The story behind these photos - Ada came in one day towards the end of summer and told me she would sure like to get a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ice cream from the ice cream truck but her Mommy never had any dollars!

So, I sent her home with $10 - more than enough for a TMNT ice cream and maybe another little something when they went to the store. As luck would have it, the ice cream truck didn't come around that weekend, but Abby and Shawn took Ada to Wendy's so she could get a Frosty. She was such a big girl going up and ordering all on her own and paying for it with her own money - it was only 50 cents so she still had lots of money left over, too! And Ada was still able to get her TMNT ice cream when the ice cream truck came by on Labor Day weekend.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the embellishments. I thought the Elle's Studio stamp that says - Life is made up of special moments like this - was perfect for these photos.

Be sure to stop by Scrap Our Stash for more design team inspiration just about every day of the week! I would love to see your take on the challenge.

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

Tuesday Morning Sketches #481

Hello, everyone! I hope your day is off to a good start. It's Tuesday and that means we have a new sketch for you at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Sketch #481 is courtesy of Melissa and it is sure to be a favorite of mine!

I am still working on Christmas cards and here is another one to add to my stash!

I used an older Close To My Heart Stamp for the tree and thought the little loopy lines on the patterned paper were a good fit for the loops on the tree. I stamped my sentiment on a piece of vellum and added it across the top of the tree. I also added a gold star to the top of the tree to finish it off.

We have a great prize for you this week. Link up your projects by Sunday at 8 PM EST for your chance to win this:

Head on over to Tuesday Morning Sketches to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. I hope to see you playing along with us!

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

Use Your Stuff #338 - Week 2 - Double Trouble Collaboration

Hello, hello! Happy Monday, everyone! I hope for those of you in the U.S. that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that everyone else had a great weekend. We sure enjoyed spending time with family, eating good food, and decorating the Christmas tree.

This week at Use Your Stuff we are once again collaborating with Double Trouble Paper Crafting. This challenge runs from November 19th to December 2nd.

Here is a bit about our Double Trouble friends:

Welcome to Double Trouble - We're two retired ladies bringing you a new challenge blog where we hope you find fun and inspiration! We're not affiliated with any companies and welcome all participants. Our challenge will include Thing 1-Trouble Maker the Basic Challenge, Thing 2-Double Dare being a surprise element in which you may or may not decide to participate and Thing 3-Twisted Sister, will appear with an optional twist to the Challenge.

When you enter our challenge this week, be sure to run over to the Double Trouble Challenge blog and see what their co-coordinating challenges are!  The more aspects of the challenge you do, the more entries you will receive to win their prize!

This is our part for the challenge, we have a fun mood board to draw your inspiration from! There are lots here, pine, snowflakes, cocoa, some lovely colors, candy canes, Christmas trees and so much more!

I just love this mood board full of holiday fun! I have created a Christmas card for my project:

Supplies used - Stamps - Close To My Heart (S1809) - Just Treats Sept. Stamp of the Month, ink - Close To My Heart - Topiary, Memento - Tuxedo Black, ShinHan markers - R11 Carmine, BR116 Clay, papers from my stash.

I chose to use all three of the challenges at Double Trouble Paper Crafting - Thing 1's challenge to make a sweet treat for the holidays, Thing 2's challenge to use our mood board, and Thing 3's challenge to add some sprinkles. 

My card features a cup of yummy cocoa for a sweet treat for the holidays, from the mood board I was inspired by the colors and the drinks, and I added a strip of gold glitter paper for my sparkle.

I also used the latest sketch from Mojo Monday - Mojo Sketch #503

Be sure to stop by Use Your Stuff to see the projects from the rest of the design team and be sure to stop by Double Trouble Paper Crafting to check out their challenges. Remember - you can link up your projects at both Use Your Stuff and Double Trouble Paper Crafting!

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

Welcome to Double Trouble - We're two retired ladies bringing you a new challenge blog where we hope you find fun and inspiration! We're not affiliated with any companies and welcome all participants. Our challenge will include Thing 1-Trouble Maker the Basic Challenge, Thing 2-Double Dare being a surprise element in which you may or may not decide to participate and Thing 3-Twisted Sister, will appear with an optional twist to the Challenge.

Tuesday Morning Sketches #480

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is off to a good start. It's a short work week around here, thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, and I am so excited to have a few days with all of us off and spending time together.

We have a new sketch challenge for you today at Tuesday Morning Sketches, and this week's sketch was created by Debbie and it is a fun one!

I am still working on my Christmas cards and when I saw this sketch I knew I would be using this beautiful digital stamp (#0151 Silent Night Wreath) from Scribbles Designs. I just love this image and want to use it any chance I get! 

I colored the wreath with my ShinHan markers, die cut it into a circle, and then added it to a die cut scalloped circle. I then added foam tape to give it a little dimension. One more Christmas card that will be ready to be sent out.

Head on over to Tuesday Morning Sketches to see the beautiful creations from the rest of the design team. We have a fun prize being offered this week to one lucky winner, so be sure to play along with us! This is what you will be playing for:

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

Sketches In Thyme PL Style #114

Hello, hello! Happy Friday to you! We have made it round to the weekend once again and I am looking forward to it!

We have a new sketch today at Sketches In Thyme PL Style. Emma has provided a fun sketch to play with:

Here is my journaling card:

November is proving to be snowier than usual for us! It has snowed three times already this month and it's just now the middle of the month. That is definitely not normal for us! The first snow was nothing to speak of - just a dusting at best and it was gone by morning - but the snow we got on Monday was a little better. We ended up with about 2 inches and it was the perfect snow to build a snowman with. As luck would have it, Scott was off work and he and Ada headed out to build a snowman. She had so much fun and Pops did, too!

Since this week is not over yet, I don't have a full layout to share, but here are a few photos of them hard at work that will be included:

And, like I said, we have had three snows so far this month. We woke up to another couple of inches yesterday! It was enough to call off school but was mostly gone by late afternoon. Kind of crazy weather for us!

Be sure to stop by Sketches In Thyme PL Style for more inspiration.

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

SNS #165 - You Make My Heart Sing

Hello, everyone! Can you believe that we are already halfway through November? The next three weeks are going to be super busy for me -Thanksgiving with my family this weekend, Thanksgiving with hubby's family next week, then Ada's birthday party the next weekend. Like they always say - time flies when you're having fun! I just hope I can fit Christmas shopping in there at some point!

Sketch N Scrap has posted their second layout sketch of the month today. Heather has created a fun sketch for us to work with:

For my layout, I flipped the sketch and used only one photo. I used a sticker in place of the second photo and it also serves as my title. I always feel like something is missing when I use a sticker or something for my title instead of creating one out of alpha stickers, stamps, etc., but this sticker just kind of says it all. Ada's Great Grandma was - and still is - smitten with her. When Ada was a baby, Betty would jump through hoops trying to get Ada's attention and Ada just didn't care much - in fact, she would start crying almost every single time that Betty held her. Now Great Grandpa Duane was a different story - she was always full of smiles for him!

I just love the smile on Betty's face while she is holding Ada on Thanksgiving day, 2014, and Ada is smiling, too!

I sure would not have thought that I would have used a spring collection for this layout, but those flowers matched the flowers on Ada's shirt perfectly. I fussy cut the flowers out of the patterned paper to add in place of the banner piece and in place of the title piece. I splattered some gold Heidi Shine to the paper and added in a few enamel dots to finish it off. I may add a little journaling - either by way of hidden journaling or just writing it on the back of the layout. I just need to decide which way I want to go.

Don't forget - our Bountiful Blessing Crop is going on now. Head on over and check it out - https://www.facebook.com/events/2156691027716776/?active_tab=discussion

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the wonderful layouts from the rest of the design team. I 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!

Merry Christmas - AHSC #290

Hello, everyone! I am back with one more project to share with you today.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has a fun new card sketch posted for this week and since I am still in Christmas card making mode, I have another Christmas card for you today. Here is a look at the sketch:

I have been hoarding this red plaid paper for years - it came out in 2003 - always waiting for the perfect project to come along. Since I have been reorganizing some of my old paper by color, I came across this pretty paper and decided this is the year that I am going to use it! (And it doesn't hurt that I found more than one piece of it!)

I used a couple of different - older - stamp sets from Close To My Heart to create the banner piece. The banner is from B1578 - Joyful Tidings, and the tree is from a super old set  - A1039 - Tis the Season. I decided that this year I was going to ink up some of my neglected Christmas stamps for my cards and I am so glad that I have. Not only are they getting some use, but I am finding such cute - fun stamps to use.

I added a wood veneer star to the top of the tree and a few red gems around the tree. I popped the banner piece up with some foam tape. The sentiment is an old favorite $1 bin Studio G stamp.

I plan on gathering up all of the Christmas cards that I have made and get them sent out by the first of December. Here's hoping that I stick to that plan!

Stop by the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge tomorrow to see the full design team reveals and last week's Top 3. I would love to see what you create with this sketch!

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

You Are A Superstar - Scrap Our Stash

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

Today I am sharing my take on the November Golden Globe Challenge from Scrap Our Stash. Here is a look at the movie board:

Our challenge is to create a layout using star patterned paper AND/OR 3 or more star embellishments. Along with that, we are to use the quote, "Don't settle for the little dream, go on to the big one."

Here is what I came up with:

These photos of Abby are from 2017. She was voted in not only as Teacher of the Year for the elementary school but she was also voted in as District Teacher of the Year, as well. Pretty darn impressive after only 4 years of teaching. These awards couldn't have come at a better time for her. She had had a really tough year with several challenging kiddos in her classroom and I think she was beginning to question if teaching special education was the right choice. In fact, a few days before she was told she was "teacher of the year" she came out with a big scratch across the side of her face from one of her students. Being voted in as "Teacher of the Year" showed her that her co-workers and the administration were taking notice and she was doing a good job. It was just what she needed to reenergize her.

Now, being the proud Mama that I am, I am going to have a lot of journaling for this layout, so I created a place for hidden journaling by my photo on a folded cardstock mat. That way the photo can flip up to show the journaling underneath.

I used several gold star brads scattered around may layout to satisfy that part of the challenge, and the quote was another reason I went with this story. From the time Abby started getting a report card in elementary school, she decided she was going to make all A's. We never put that pressure on her - she put it on herself. When she went all the way through elementary school with straight A's, she said she was going to continue it through jr. high and high school - and she did it - graduating top of her class, being valedictorian, and receiving multiple scholarships. And she didn't stop there, either! She went on to graduate from Missouri State - Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA. Quite an achievement and I am so proud of her for living her dream!

Here are a few close-ups of the quote, title, and clusters:

I am so glad to have had this challenge to give me the push to get these photos scrapped! I would love to see your take on the challenge, too!

Be sure to stop by Scrap Our Stash for more design team inspiration.

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

Tuesday Morning Sketches #479

Hello, everyone! Good Tuesday morning to you! We got to enjoy a little bit of snow yesterday. Enough to build a snowman in and then to enjoy from inside the warm house! It doesn't snow this early around here very often - kinda makes me wonder if it's going to be a snowy winter or if it's just getting it all out of the way now...

Tuesday Morning Sketches has a fun sketch posted today:

The big diamond shape on this sketch is not one that I would have thought to use, but it reminded me that I had a diamond die that I haven't used in ages, so I thought I'd see what I could make with it.

I pulled out an old Santa stamp (my favorite one) from Close To My Heart that fit pretty well inside the diamond shape and went to work. I colored the cute little Santa with my ShinHan markers and matted him on a piece of Christmas paper. I added a little sparkle to the white trim on his hat, coat, and gloves with some Wink of Stella. I embossed the background panel with my swiss dot embossing folder and I outlined it for a little more interest.

Another Christmas card all ready to be sent out in a few weeks.

Head on over to Tuesday Morning Sketches to see 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 today! I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

Use Your Stuff #337 - Stars

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Counterfeit Kit Challenge reveal, please scroll down.

We have a new challenge up at Use Your Stuff. This week we are challenging you to use stars on your projects.

I have created a card using star patterned paper and die cut and punched stars:

I used papers from my November Counterfeit Kit which you can read about here. I added foam tape to the back of the large star to pop it up and I stamped the sentiment directly onto the card.

A pretty quick and easy card all ready to be sent out.

Head on over to Use Your Stuff to see how the rest of the design team used stars on their projects. I hope you find some time to play along with us this week!

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

A Counterfeit Kit Challenge Twofer - Sort Of!

Hello, everyone! Good Monday morning to you! I hope that you had a good weekend and are ready for the new week. We are expecting some snow today...that's not unheard of around here this time of year, but it's very rare! We shall see what we end up with!

Counterfeit Kit Challenges has their first challenge of the month today. November is my (Lisa's) birthday month and there's always a sprinkle of shimmer, confetti, sequins or glitter to be seen. Make sure to make your projects shine by adding some extra sparkle to them.

So, I have a twofer for you today...I made my layout for this challenge, making sure to add lots of sparkle and bling, only to realize I had forgotten one very important detail - to USE MY KIT! Yep, I made my first layout -  from my scrap box - not my November kit! Doh! So it was back to the drawing board - with my November kit.

This is my second layout using papers, die cuts, and stickers from my November kit:

The one thing that I didn't include in my kit was something sparkly...oops!...but I did have this silver glitter paper on my desk from another project so it got added to my kit - just a bit after the fact!

I used the glitter paper to die cut some hearts and I also used it as one of the paper strips behind the photos.

I had originally planned on having the "Be Happy Be Bright Be You" die cut serve as my title and use the space under the photos for my journaling, but I found the "hello there" stickers in the Maggie Holmes sticker book that I had in my kit and went ahead and added them for my title.

I based this layout off of this sketch from October from Let's Get Sketchy

I thought since I had already made a layout for this challenge - just didn't use my kit for it! - that I would share it, too.

To be honest - these papers could have (and should have) been added to my kit this month. They are the right colors and the white with grey dot paper is actually from my October kit...

I used the silver glitter paper to die cut hearts from and to add a strip to the purple paper. I also added some purple gems for more bling. And I got another unicorn sticker used on this layout! Ada's shirt has a "hulacorn" on it and I thought it was the perfect time to get another one of these stickers used.

I based this layout off of this sketch from Cheryl at Even More Scrapping. It's an older sketch that I have had saved on my Pinterest boards for quite a while, so I am glad that I got to use it!

So I may have been concentrating so much on getting that extra sparkle on my page that I forgot to use my kit, but at least now I have TWO layouts made - and in record time for me, I might add!

Stop by Counterfeit Kit Challenge to see the sparkly layouts that the other design team members have created. We would love to see you playing along with us!

Tuesday Morning Sketches #478

Hello, everyone! Happy Tuesday to you! I hope your week is off to a good start!

I have some exciting news to share with you today. I am joining the Tuesday Morning Sketches Design Team and today is my first reveal! A little about Tuesday Morning Sketches - they are a weekly sketch challenge blog and their challenges are posted on Tuesday mornings, of course! You have until the following Sunday at 8 p.m. EST to link up your creations and you can enter up to 3 times per challenge.

Now, on to the fun stuff - here is this week's sketch:

For my card, I have used Fancy Pants' - Merry & Bright - 6x6 paper pad for the plaid type paper. I have had the green paper since the early 2000's - does anyone remember Chatterbox?? I am so glad to put it to use!

Those cute little trees and the sentiment are from Ink Road Stamps - Fir Real - set. I just love the variety of trees in this set and that middle tree was begging to have a star on top, so I added a wood star to it.

I stuck pretty closely to the sketch - just leaving off the banner piece - but those cute little trees took up a bit more real estate on my card than I anticipated!

Another Christmas card ready to be sent out this holiday season!

Be sure to check out Tuesday Morning Sketches and I would love to see you playing along with us!

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

Thank You - Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #133

Hello, hello! Happy Monday to you! It's the start of a brand new week - are you ready for it?!

It is also time for our first card sketch at Sketch N Scrap. Heather is getting us started this month with this fun sketch:

You know I am going to love this sketch because it has a banner, of course! Here is what I came up with:

I was going through my card stash last week and realized that I don't have many - or more like any! - thank you cards at the ready, so I decided to use this sketch to make a thank you card and I love the way that it turned out!

I used Echo Park's - Just Be You - 6x6 paper pad - these colors are some of my favorites to work with. I used a stamp set from Close To My Heart - (S1802) Sunny Thoughts - for my sentiment and I stamped it on a scalloped circle die from Spellbinders. I popped the sentiment piece up with some foam tape. I also wrapped some string around the banner piece and tied a bow.

It might be hard for me to give this card away...but knowing it will brighten someone's day makes it well worth it!

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap to see the fabulous cards from the rest of the design team.

We are also having our monthly crop starting this Thursday, November 8th, on our Facebook events page. We would love to see you over there joining in the fun. Click here to join the fun.

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

Scribbles Designs Challenge #70 - Winter Is Coming - Midway Inspiration

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

Today is the midway point for Challenge #70 - Winter Is Coming - at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog. We want to see some form of snow/winter on your creations.

I have used #F 144 Snowman 1  once again for my card. This little guy is too cute to not use over and over!

I have been going through some old papers that I have had for ages - that have been pushed to the corner and forgotten about, because well, there's always new paper to play with. But when I came across this blue paper with the wintertime words on it I knew it would be perfect with this little snowman. And it feels so good to put some of that older paper to use!

I printed the snowman on a piece of white patterned paper. I thought the plaid print would jazz up this little cutie and I really like the result. Sequins were scattered about to look like snow.

Head on over to Scribbles Designs to see the wintery themed projects from the rest of the design team. We hope to see you playing along with us!

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