Conversations With A 4 Year Old - The Studio Challenges

Hello, everyone! Good Sunday morning to you! I hope you are having a good weekend. Ours has been pretty quiet - which I always like!

It's time for a new challenge at The Studio Challenges. Our challenge for you today is all about the title and journaling. We want you to focus on the story of your page - journal about what happened, or a funny story about the photo, AND - use two types of alphas for your title.

I didn't have an exact photo for this story, it was just a conversation that I had with Ada last spring. But when I took this photo a few weeks later I knew it would be perfect for this story! 

Here's the story - about mid-April last year Ada started asking us - "when is it going to be summer"..."when is summer"..."how much longer until summer"...any variation that you could think of, she was asking. Over and over multiple times a day. Heck, they could be asked multiple times an hour! We would tell her it would be summer when her mom was done teaching, or it would be summer in a few weeks, we even told her June 21st is the first day of summer, but nothing satisfied her! 

You see, she and her Mommy and Daddy had big plans for the summer - lots of fun places to go and fun things to do - and she kept getting told that they would do them "when it is summer". Finally one day she asked me:

Ada: Nana - is Uncle Matt smart?

Me: - Yes, he is. Why?

Ada: Can HE tell me when summer is?

I guess since our answers weren't what she was wanting to hear, that surely since Uncle Matt was smart and in college, he could tell her when it was going to be summer!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I kept embellishments to a minimum because I want the focus to be on the story - a sun die cut, a few puffy hearts, a few enamel dots, and a word phrase sticker.

Be sure to check out The Studio Challenges to see the wonderful layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you have a chance to play along!

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

Sweet Summer Fun - Scrap Our Stash Pick Your Side Sketch Challenge

Hello, everyone! Good Sunday morning to you! I hope you are having a good weekend. It's been so hot around here but there is a promise of a cool down later today or tomorrow. 

It's time for the second half of the Scrap Our Stash design team to reveal their takes on the July - Pick Your Side Sketch Challenge today. Here is a look at the double-page sketch that we had to pick a side from:

Along with picking one side of the sketch to create our layout, we had the added challenge of using wood or wood veneers on your layout. I chose the sketch on the left and here is what I came up with:

I have used Echo Park's "Playground" collection for my layout. The papers were perfect for these photos of Ada playing at the park this summer.

For the added challenge of using wood or wood veneer on our layouts, I pulled out some old wood veneer pieces that I (mostly) got from an old Gossamer Blue grab bag. The love arrow may be from Freckled Fawn, but I could be wrong. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

For my title, I stamped "sweet summer" from Elle's Studio Title Builder Vol. 3 stamp set and then fussy cut the words out. I die cut the word "fun" out of one of the patterned papers using my Close To My Heart alphabet dies.

I'm sure you will be seeing these photos again soon. They are part of Ada's Summer Bucket List and I plan on making her a traveler's notebook of all the fun things she's marked off of her list this summer.

Be sure to check out the Scrap Our Stash blog to see which side of the sketch the rest of the design team picked. I hope you have a chance to play along with us this month!

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #150

Happy Saturday! I hope your weekend is off to a good start! It's looking like it's going to be another hot one around and I plan on spending some time inside, in the air conditioning, scrapping the day away!

I can't believe that it is already time for our last challenge of the month at Sketch N Scrap! Lisa has created such a fun card sketch for us and I know I will be using it again.

I've been trying to make at least one Christmas card a month this year, and usually, in July I try to make a lot more - you know, with all the "Christmas in July" challenges going on, but so far this is the only Christmas card I have made. I still have several days so we will see if I can get a few more made.

I have used papers from American Crafts - Very Merry - paper pad. The stamps are from Close To My Heart (C1746 - Oh What Fun). I decided to use both the "ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas" sentiments together for this card. The reds really do match better in real life! I punched out a few stars and scattered them about my card to finish it off.

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the beautiful cards 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! Have a great day!

So Sweet - Counterfeit Kit Challenge #2

Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! I hope you are having a good week, and if you are like me and in the middle of this heatwave, I hope you are finding some way to keep cool. We are definitely spending lots of time in the pool!

 It seems like it's been forever since I posted on here. I hope to get a chance to do an update post soon to let you know what my plans are.

Counterfeit Kit Challenges has their second challenge of the month posted today. If you remember from my mini kit reveal post here, I shared two page kits that I had put together and promised to share another project with you, and that is what I am sharing with you today.

Here's a look at the second page kit that I had put together based on the Clique Kits junior kit that Tina had chosen for us.

Today's challenge is a sketch challenge and I loved the sketch that Tina has picked for us:

Here is what I created and I am happy to say everything - with the exception of the some of the stamps and the doily- came from my kit. 

I challenged myself to use a patterned paper background instead of pulling a sheet of white cardstock and I matted my photos with the patterned paper instead of pulling more cardstock.

I am so happy that I finally got to use one of these little frames! I have had them for a while and they just never seem to make it on a project. This one was actually in my original mini kit this month, but since I had both kits stored all together, I pulled it out and used it.

I used a mix of stamps from Studio Calico, Elle's Studio, and Citrus Twist Kits for my stamped phrases.

I used the "so sweet" words from the sticker sheet for my title. It kind of bothers me that the yellow of the letters doesn't match my lemon slices, but I'm getting over it!

About the photos - it was a warm April day and Ada thought it would be the perfect day to set outside and drink some lemonade. I didn't have any lemonade but we did the next best thing and made her "nade" - which is orange-flavored drink enhancer. And she was right - it was the perfect day to sit outside with a cool drink!

Now that I think about it, I could have stamped some of the "lemon" slices orange since her "nade" was orange-flavored!

Be sure to check out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to see the projects from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your kit and projects if you play along with us!

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

LM #455 - Your Country's Flag

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

It's time for a new challenge at Lasting Memories today and I finally had a chance to play along! This month our theme is "Patriotism" and this week's challenge is to use your county's flag somewhere on your layout. This can be in the papers, embellishments, or even in the photos.

I have created a TN spread using photos from last year on the 4th of July:

I have used an old collection from Bella Blvd - All American. I have mostly bits and pieces left of this collection which were perfect for this TN spread. To satisfy the challenge to use our country's flag, I fussy cut a couple of flags out of one of the patterned papers. 

The journaling says: Photos on the 4th are a must around here but after so many Ada was over it! She was a good sport and posed for a couple more but she was not going to smile for it. I think it is safe to say that she was done!

I tend to go overboard when we all get together and everyone is willing to take some photos, so I was lucky to get a couple more of her, even though she wasn't too happy about it!

Here is the left page:

And the right:

And a close-up of one of the clusters:

Head on over to Lasting Memories to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope to see you playing along with us, too!

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

Capturing Ada - The Studio Challenges Stars and Stripes

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope that you are having a good weekend. Ours has been busy with a sleepover with Miss Ada. We swam and swam, and swam some more. We even watched Finding Dory while we were in the pool. It was a lot of fun and we are all ready for the next sleepover!

It's time for a new challenge at The Studio Challenges today. This week our challenge is - Stars and Stripes - we want to see some stars and stripes on your layout.

When I think of stars and stripes I always think of Independence Day or our flag. Since I've already made a few Independence Day layouts (all documenting previous years), I decided to go a completely different route and scrap something else! This is what I came up with:

Abby had just sent me this photo - along with a few others - of Ada at the park. There are so many good ones that it was hard to pick which one to scrap first! I chose this one because it just captures Ada right now, at age 5!

I've got quite a bit I want to journal about this layout and, as luck would have it, I ran out of black printer ink. I will add my journaling right underneath the title when I get my ink.

I used Close To My Heart's - I Heart Us - collection, in fact, all of these papers were scraps that I had left over from previous layouts. This is one of my all-time favorite collections from CTMH. I loved it so much that I ordered another pack of it before it retired!

I used two different striped papers - a rainbow stripe and a diagonal stripe, and I added a few puffy stars around my layout.

For the title, I used Elle's Studio's - Title Builder - Vol. 1 -stamp set to stamp "Capturing" directly on my layout. I then die cut Ada's name using dies from Close To My Heart. Since I die cut the letters in the lighter pink paper they got a little lost on the background. I outlined them with a black marker to help them stand out. 

Be sure to stop by The Studio Challenges to see the stars and stripes layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you have some time to play along with us!

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

TN Time With Lisa & Lori - July Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy Hump Day! I can't believe we are already at the midway point of the week! It is definitely feeling like summer this week! I think today is supposed to be the hottest day yet. Looks like Shane and I will be hitting the pool for sure today!

It's time for the July edition of TN Time With Lisa & Lori!

HERE IS HOW OUR CHALLENGE WORKS: This is a monthly challenge that launches on the 10th of each month  You will have until the 9th at midnight CDT to link up your entries. If you complete my challenge link your spread below. If you complete Lisa's sketch challenge link your spread on her blog - My Creative Endeavors. If you combine my challenge with Lisa's challenge link up your spread here on my blog AND on Lisa's blog. You will then have a chance to win my prize as well as Lisa's prize!  That's a chance to win TWO times with ONE layout!!

You can always find the rules to our challenge under the TN Challenge Rules tab at the top of the page.

Now, let's get started - here is my challenge for July:

(July 10th - August 9th)

Since we just celebrated Independence day - let's see at least one star and some stripes on your TN, bullet journal, or planner spread.

And here is Lisa's Sketch:

 And my layout using the sketch, stars, and stripes:

These photos are of Ada from last year on the 4th of July. We were all outside and had the music turned up. Ada decided to show off her dance move on the pool deck - where everyone could see her, of course!

I wanted to add a little bit of journaling and I had an extra photo that I also wanted to add, so I created a flip by using some washi tape:

The journaling says - A Fourth of July party isn't complete until you listen to Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA"! Ada had to show us her dance moves and boy can she dance!

These little flips are so easy to make and a great way to add extra photos or journaling. I think I will go back and add a tab to the side of the photo with maybe "lift here" added to it.

Here are a couple more close-ups:

Now for June's winner! I never did get around to posting a photo of the prize, but here are the Freckled Fawn goods I had promised:

And the winner is...

#2 - Sharon!!

Congrats, Sharon! You are the winner of the Freckled Fawn goodies! Send me an email at loristroup@yahoo.com with your address and I will get these out to you!

Now for July's prize - a selection of black and white goodies - Kelly Purkey alpha stickers, Feed Your Craft - die cuts, and black and white enamel dots from The Paper Studio:

Be sure to link up your spreads using my challenge below for a chance to win!  Head over to Lisa's blog and check out her challenge, as well!

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

All American Family - Scrap Our Stash Saturday Cartoon Sketch Challenge

Hello, everyone! Good Monday morning to you! After being on vacation last week it was a little hard to get back into the old routine this morning. 

Scrap Our Stash is changing things up this month and they will now be posting half of the design team's creations on the 2nd and the other half on the 8th. Here's a look at the July Saturday Cartoon Sketch Challenge graphic:

Along with the sketch and the cartoon inspired challenge, there is an added challenge to use an arrow on your layout. I was inspired by the colors and the Independence Day theme and this is what I came up with:

I have scrapped family photos of Abby, Shawn, and Ada on Ada's first 4th of July. I know I have scrapped photos of just Ada for this day, but I haven't scrapped these yet...at least I don't think I have! They all look so cute showing off their patriotic outfits!

I stayed true to the sketch only adding on the scalloped borders and the banners at the top of the page. I was pretty impressed that I found blue paper with white stars and a red diagonal striped paper in my stash - just like the patterns on the graphic!

Surprisingly, I don't have that much in my stash in way of patriotic embellishments, so I dug out some stamps and wood veneer for this layout. Here are a couple of close-ups:

For the added challenge to add an arrow - well, I added 4 to my layout.

Head on over to Scrap Our Stash to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team and to meet the rest of the new members. I hope you have some time to play along with us this month!

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

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Mini Kit Reveal

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope that you are having a good weekend! My hubby has been on vacation all week and I'm a little sad that his vacation is almost over! It's always nice to do things at a little slower pace.

It's mini kit reveal day at Counterfeit Kit Challenges and I am sharing the mini kit that created with you today!

Our inspiration kit that Tina has chosen for us to use is from Clique Kits and it is their June 2019 kit called - Sweet Tea:

Along with the main kit they have a junior kit:

I took a little different approach this time with my mini kit. Normally I try to match each paper that is in the kit as exact as I can - that's just me and my way of doing things, but this time I was drawn to one particular paper in the junior kit - the popsicle paper. I knew I had just gotten photos of my granddaughter making popsicles and I wanted to get them scrapped, so that is where my kit started! 

I went in search of some popsicle paper in my supplies and I found the Bella Blvd - Popsicles and Pandas collection - which was exactly what I was looking for - and it had some blues, pinks, and yellows in it like the junior kit. Here is my page kit:

I added in a few other things that I had found in my supplies - mirrored acrylic embellishments - similar to the fruit shaped pieces in the junior kit, and I added in some puffy stickers and die cuts to finish out my kit.

Here is the layout of Miss Ada making her popsicles using my kit:

I did have to add a scrap of red paper to my kit. There is a little red in the popsicle paper but that was it and I wanted a bit more since there was red in the photos.

I based my layout on a sketch from Scrapbook Generation's - The Whole Picture Vol. 2. If you like to use sketches and you like to use 4x6 photos - this book (and the Vol. 1) is a must-have! And the great thing is that if you are not a double page layout kind of gal - you can easily use one side or the other for a single page layout.

Here is a better look at each page individually:

I decided I needed a little something behind the hearts and plastic clip because they were getting lost on the popsicle paper so I pulled in a doily for each of my cluster areas and for my title area to help them stand out:

This blue journaling card has been in my bashket, well, pretty much from the get-go a couple of years ago when I put the first one together. I am so happy that I finally got it used! 

I rarely pull alphas and enamel dots for my kits because they are right beside my desk and I use them on almost every layout - so it is just handier for me to grab what I need when I need it!

I pulled more supplies than what I used but it's always nice to have some options when I'm working with my kits.

I was also inspired to put together a second page kit - based off of the cut apart sheet with the lemon on it. That lemon made me think of another story I want to document and here is the page kit for it:

You'll be seeing what I create with this kit a little later this month for one of our challenges!

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

Celebrating July 4th - Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #149

Hello, everyone! Happy Friday to you! To all of my American friends - I hope you had a Happy 4th yesterday and got to celebrate with family and friends. We will be celebrating tonight as it was the only time the family could all get together. 

It is time for the first card sketch of July at Sketch N Scrap and it is a great one! Here's a look at Sketch #149 courtesy of Heather:

Since the 4th of July was yesterday, I thought it fitting to make a card for the occasion:

I had these scraps of paper on my desk from a layout that I had just made (and will be sharing in a few days!) and they were perfect for my card. 

I added a scalloped border to the bottom of the strip and turned my sentiment into a banner piece. The sentiment is from an old Studio G stamp set. I die cut 3 larger stars out of silver glitter paper for my focal point and punched 3 smaller stars out of the same paper to add to my sentiment banner. Here's a little better look to see the glitter on the stars:

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your take on the sketch, too, so be sure to play along this month!

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

One of a Kind - Sketch N Scrap #180

Hello, everyone! Happy July 1st! We are already halfway through 2019 - how can that be?! 

At least a new month means we have a new sketch challenge for you today over at Sketch N Scrap. Here's a look at the fun sketch that Sketch Artist Lisa has created to get us started this month:

I just love all of the layers on this sketch and I know I will be putting this one in my favorites folder to use again. Here is what I came up with:

For my layout, I have used Pink Paislee's - Paige Evans - Fancy Free - paper pad. I fell in love with this collection when it first came out but by the time I was ready to order it - it was all sold out. I happened to score the 12x12 paper pad at Tuesday Morning a few months later - which made me a very happy girl. My only trouble now is actually using it instead of hoarding those pretty papers!

Since I just picked up the paper pad, that meant that I didn't have any embellishments, but one of the paper in the pad had circles with words on them and I was able to punch or die cut a few to go on my layout. I also have the Paige Evans sticker book so I was able to use a few hearts from that, as well. Here are a couple of close-ups:

The tab behind this photo is for some hidden journaling. I have already scrapped several photos from this same day of Ada jumping on the trampoline, but the journaling on this layout is all about my personal feelings for her at this age - and of course, I think she is truly one of a kind!

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see how the rest of the design team interpreted the sketch. I do hope you find some time to play along with us in July. We have great layout and card sketches in store for you this month!

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