Dude - You're Totally Awesome - Scrap Our Stash Sketch Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy Tuesday to you! I hope that your week is off to a good start. We have a small chance of rain today and I am hopeful that we get a little. With all of the heat we have been having things are starting to really dry up.

Today I am sharing my take on the July sketch challenge at Scrap Our Stash. Along with the sketch challenge there is an added challenge to use star patterned paper and star embellishments on your layout. Here's a look at this month's sketch:

And this is what I came up with:

I absolutely love this Bro & Co collection from Simple Stories! I knew when it first came out that I would have to be getting it and I have already used it for a couple of layouts and I have a few more ideas for layouts to come.

To satisfy the added challenge to use stars, I have used a star patterned paper for one of my layers and for a border at the top and bottom of my layout, and I have used a few of the foam stars and stars from the sticker sheet as my embellishments. 

 I plan to add a bit of journaling to the stacked labels in the upper left hand corner. 

This photo is a favorite of mine of Shane. We had been to town to do a little shopping and were on our way home. That hint of a smile on his face lets me know that he had had a fun day out shopping!

When I saw this die cut piece I knew it had to go on a Shane layout!  As long as he has food - tacos and pizza are preferred - wifi (he has to have his Youtube going all - the - time!) - and his bed...well, at least for the few hours that he does sleep - he is one happy camper!

 Be sure to stop by Scrap Our Stash to see the wonderful layouts from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your take on this sketch challenge, too!

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

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #378

Hello again! I thought I would pop back on here and share the card that I created for this week's sketch challenge at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

Here's a look at the sketch:

I thought I would use a piece of diagonal striped paper for this sketch - thinking it would make it super easy - and it would have if the stripes were maybe at a different angle...whatever the case - my stripes aren't exactly centered on the corners of my card! But, the paper was cut and I wasn't about to waste it, so I just went with it and I think it turned out just fine.

I believe that the striped paper is from Simple Stories' - Oh Happy Day - collection, and the unicorn die cut, puffy flowers, and the word sticker are all from their Dream Big collection. 

I added a few pieces of bling to finish off my card. I think my granddaughter will love it!

Be sure to stop by Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge on Wednesday for the full design team reveal and last week's Top 3. I would love to see your take on the sketch, too!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great night!

Happy 4th of July - The ScrapRoom Shots of Life Kit

Hello, hello! Happy Monday to you! I hope that you had a good weekend. It's been super hot around here and we spent the weekend at home enjoying the air conditioning!

Today I am sharing a pocket page spread using the July portion of The ScrapRoom's Shots of Life kit. This kit is filled with so many fun cut apart cards that I can't get them all used up fast enough!

The ScrapRoom July/August Shots of Life Kit

 For my spread, I used the Doodlebug - Land That I Love cut apart cards and the Doodlepops that came in the kit to document our 4th of July holiday last year. Here's a look at the complete spread:

There were so many cute cards on the cut apart sheet and between using the cards that I wanted as filler cards and using the striped backside for the rest, I only have one little scrap of paper left that I added to my FOTM kit in case I need it.  

Here's a closer look at the left side of the spread:

And now a few close-ups:

I started off with my title card - adding one of the 3x4 cut apart cards to a white 4x6 card and adding that cute little Doodlepop to the side. Last year the 4th fell on a Thursday and Abby, Shawn, and Ada had made plans to spend the holiday with Shawn's dad so we decided to celebrate on Saturday when everyone could be here. Scott, Shane, and I just hung out at home most of the day - only going to town to buy fireworks for the weekend and Taco Bell for supper! Scott did make sure to go out early and put our little flags out in the wishing well.

We took our annual 4th of July family photo and Scott was spoiled with an early birthday present from Abby and Shawn. I had 3 photos I wanted to include of him opening his present so I used a flip-flap pocket and then will fill in all of the details of it on the journaling card beside the photos. 

To finish up the left page, I added a photo of Ada and the guys playing Wiffle ball and then Shawn and Scott doing a little target shooting with Scott's birthday present.  I tried to use circles, labels, banners, word stickers, and enamel hearts throughout the spread to tie it all together. 

Here's a look at the right side of the spread - lots of pool time and fireworks!

Here's a close-up of the left part of the page:

The top photo shows the kids running around the inside edge of the pool creating a whirlpool which Ada would get pulled into on her floatie. They even got it moving fast enough that it caught Shane up in it a time or two. Then the other photos are of Ada with a sparkler and hunting lightning bugs - trying to pass the time until it got dark enough for fireworks.

The right-hand side of the page starts with a photo of Shawn catapulting Ada off of the boogie board. The first time took us all by surprise with how well it worked, and of course, Ada wanted to keep doing it over and over and over!

Shane was all too ready to get the fireworks started! He found his seat and sat there until the last firework went off. 

I always like to include a photo of the fireworks that we got. Last year we about waited too long and wasn't able to get the package we normally get, so we had to pick and choose a few. It turned out to be a good assortment!

That's it for today! Be sure to check out The ScrapRoom blog where you can find inspiration using the monthly kits just about every day of the week!

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

Sketch N Scrap #205

Hello, everyone! I hope you are having a good week! 

It's time for the mid-month sketch at Sketch N Scrap today and Heather has created a fun sketch for us to work with:

This is what I came up with:

I took these photos of Ada just last Friday when they came for a visit. She is obsessed with collecting the LOL Tiny Toys - that's mostly my fault because I picked her up one a few weeks ago to see how she would like it - and she loved it - and I have been picking up a few of them every time I go to the store to try to help her finish out the collection. We are over halfway there and luckily we have only had one duplicate!

I used a couple of papers and stickers from Echo Park's Teen Spirit collection and a piece of paper from Close To My Heart (the turquoise paper). I always love it when a collection includes and LOL sticker - they are perfect for layouts of Ada with her LOL toys!

I wanted to include the little paper that comes with the toy and shows all of the toys in the collection. I thought it would be fun to have it to look at later on down the road. I attached it with a heart paper clip so it can easily be removed to look at.

Head on over to the Sketch N Scrap blog to see the beautiful creations from the rest of the design team. 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!

TN Time With Lisa & Lori July Edition

Hello, everyone! TGIF and Happy Friday to you all! After hubby's first week back to work after a 2 week vacation and it being the first full 40 hour that he has had since I can't even remember...well, we are all glad that it is Friday! Other Abby and Ada coming over today for a swim we have no plans for the weekend and I am hoping to get a lot of scrapping done!

I can't believe that it is already time for the July edition of TN Time With Lisa & Lori. It seems like I was just writing up my June post just a few days ago! Time is definitely moving right along for me.

Here's a little refresher on how this challenge works: this is a monthly challenge that starts on the 10th of each month and ends on the 9th of the following month at midnight CST. If you complete my random challenge for the month - link your TN, bullet journal, or planner spread below. If you combine my challenge with Lisa's sketch challenge - link up here and on Lisa's blog  - My Creative Endeavors - and you will have two chances to win a prize. You can find the full list of rules here. 

Here is my challenge for July:

(July 10th - August 9th)

For my challenge, I want to see at least one circular element on your TN, bullet journal, or planner spread. This can be enamel dots, a circle die cut, a punched circle, a doily, anything round!

Here is the fabulous sketch that Lisa has created for this month:

And here is my spread:

I just got this Simple Stories - Bro and Co - collection a week or so ago and I could not wait to use it. 

To satisfy my challenge to use a circular element, I have included two circle die cuts and then punched several circles from one of the patterned papers that had tiny stars all over it. I really love how this layout turned out! I may have to do something different with my title, though. It is made up of foam word Thickers and where I placed it when the TN is closed they lay on top of each other making it pretty thick. I may have to replace them with flat alphas...

This spread is in my 52 Week Favorites TN for 2020. It is Week 9 and the week that Matthew found out that he was a nominee for Missouri State's 2020 Student Employee of the Year. After learning that there are 3100+ student employees and only 55 were nominated, well, that makes it even more awesome!

I had two photos that I wanted to include - the photo of Matthew and then the screenshot of the email that the university had sent to him. I know I want to do a little more journaling than just the basic journaling that I added to the spread, so I am trying a flip pocket in my TN and I have added a journaling card to fit in what I want to say.

Here is a close-up:

Remember - Lisa and I have decided that we are going to be giving away a prize after 3 months so all July entries will be added to the June entries and a winner will be drawn at the end of our August challenge, so keep creating and adding your spreads to the linky below.

Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog to see her beautiful spread. 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 great day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Ada The Brave - Scrap Our Stash - What's My Challenge

Hello, hello! Happy Hump Day! We have made it to the middle of the week and it has seemed like a long week already with it being the first one back after hubby had a two week vacation!

Today I am sharing my layout for Scrap Our Stash's - What's My Challenge - for July. This month the challenge is to pick a word from the graphic below and use it on your layout. You must also add a stash item that starts with each letter of the word you picked. Here's a look at the graphic:

There are so many great words to choose from and I chose the word...brave.

I actually did a double page spread for my layout! When I first started scrapping double page layouts were all I made and now that it seems I don't take as many photos, well, I can usually get all of the photos I want to use on a single layout. I did have all of these photos (and many more!) of the first time that Ada got up the courage to jump into the pool from the pool deck. She was only 3 1/2 years old and Pops was right there in the water, ready for her if she needed help, and she jumped right in like a boss! We started calling her Ada the Brave and that was what she was called the rest of the summer of 2017. Even now when she does something that takes a little extra courage she is called Ada the Brave. 

For the extra challenge to use a stash item for every letter of the word I chose, I used - B - the color blue, R - roller date and phrase stamp and there is a bit of red in the words on one of the patterned papers, A - arrow and acrylic heart, V - vellum, E - enamel hearts.

Here is a better look at the left side of the layout:

Since there was a lot of empty water space in the photos I added my title directly to them.

And the right side:

I loved this "Brave looks like this" stamp set from Ali Edwards and knew that I would be using it as an embellishment for my layout. 

Be sure to check out Scrap Our Stash to see the fun layouts from the rest of the design team. 

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

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #376

Hello again! I am back to share my take on this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

Here is a look at this week's sketch:

I had every intention of using this sketch to create a Christmas card, but guys, I am so stinkin' tired of the 6x6 Christmas paper pads that I have that I just was not happy with anything I was coming up with! I've been using on the same paper pads for 4 or 5 years now. I think it is time to go through them all, pull out the papers I want, and pass along the ones I don't! So, I will set aside this sketch to use when I can find some Christmas papers that I am happy with!.

Here is the card that I came up with:

I pulled out my July mini-kit that I put together for Counterfeit Kit Challenges and went to work! I die cut my sentiment piece out of one of the papers in my kit and mounted it on black cardstock. I thought my circle sentiment was a little plain all on its own, so I stamped and die cut a few flowers to place around it. I love how this card turned out!

Be sure to check out the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog tomorrow for the full design team reveal and last week's Top 3. I hope you can find some time to play along with us this week. 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!

Challenge YOUrself #79 - Sketch Challenge

Hello, hello! Good Tuesday morning to you! I hope that you all are doing well.

Challenge YOUrself has the July challenge posted today and it's a fun one! For July we have a sketch challenge and, of course, you need to include a photo of "you" on your layout. 

Here's a better look at the sketch from Page Drafts. You can find out more about them on their blog here:

Isn't that a fun sketch to work with?! I know I had a lot of fun creating with it! Here is what I came up with:

I just celebrated my 50th birthday last month and even though I didn't get a lot of photos that day, I did want to scrap this one right away.

I used Pink Paislee's "And Many More" collection for this layout. I had just received my July DT kit from The ScrapRoom and this collection was included. I used pieces from the Flavors of the Month Kit, the Patterned Paper Add-on Kit, the Embellishment Kit, and the Shots of Life Kit on my layout. 

The pinks in this collection are a perfect match for the shirt I was wearing on my birthday and I couldn't wait to get started on it.

I stayed true to the sketch only adding a strip of washi tape and leaving off the banner that was on the sketch. Here are a couple of close-ups:

I loved these word stickers from the sticker sheet. They just describe how I feel right now!

Be sure to stop by Challenge YOUrself to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope to see you playing along with us this month!

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

The Paper Girls Challenge #203 - Stars and Stripes

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

It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Girls Challenge Blog today. I am your hostess for this challenge and since we just celebrated Independence Day I thought it would be fun to include some stars and stripes on your projects. They do not have to be patriotic, in fact, the card I created is not - just used some stars and stripes on your creations.

Here is a look at my card:

I have used Crate Papers' Cool Kid 6x6 paper pad for this card. I have used stars - both on my paper and cut out for embellishments - and a red and white striped paper. I typed up my sentiment on the computer and I also typed up "Happy Birthday" to add below it but somewhere along the way it got lost - so "You totally rock" it is! I'm sure when I clean up my mess of a desk that I will find the missing sentiment!

I based my card on this older sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

I loved this sketch when I first saw it and I am just now getting around to using it. I think it will be one that I use again and again!

Head on over to The Paper Girls Challenge Blog to see how the rest of the design team took on this challenge. 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 great day!

Counterfeit Kit Challenges July Mini Kit

Hello and Happy Monday! I hope you all had a good weekend and are ready for the new week. Hubby's been on vacation for the last two weeks and now it is time to get back into the old routine.

It's time for the mini-kit reveal at Counterfeit Kit Challenge today. Master Forger Clair has picked the Garden Party kit from Sahin Designs as our inspiration kit.

How fun to have a kit that is full of black and white goodies! I could have easily made a huge kit with all of the black and white papers and grey papers that I have in my stash. I tried to keep my kit to a minimum and compared to most of mine, it is! Here's a look at my mini kit:

I pulled 6 patterned papers, 3 cut apart sheets, black and white die cuts, grey die cuts, a black alpha, a white alpha, some black and white Project Life cards, and some washi tape for a bit of color. Here's a closer look at my papers:

I have a solid black paper from Fancy Pants' Office Suite, two papers from Jen Hadfield's Along the Way collection, a super old (2002) black with white triangles from Cock-A-Doodle Designs, a grey paper from Echo Park, and a white and black paper from Felicity Jane.

Here are the cut apart sheets from Jen Hadfield's Along the Way collection. I thought they would be perfect to use to make some quick cards this month:

I know I will need a little bit of color, so I pulled a blue, red, and pink paper from the same Jen Hadfield collection. I also had 3 more black and white papers and a grey paper that didn't make the first cut, so I added them to my add-on! And I just realized that the black and white diagonal striped paper that I used on my cards below is actually from this add-on kit!

Here is a closer look at my Project Life cards, die cuts, and washi tape:

I am really limited on my time this month but I do hope that I can get a few of the Project Life cards used.

Here are the alphas, a grey scrap that I have a plan for, a set of metal alphabet dies,  and a few stamp sets that I pulled in case I need a few extra embellishments:

Here are the first two cards that I have made using my mini kit:

Using those cut apart sheets really made these cards come together quickly.

Here's a better look at each card:

I based this card on this sketch Sketch N Scrap (June 5th sketch):

I wanted to add something other than a plain white string to my tag but I couldn't find my black and white twine so I grabbed some black embroidery floss to use.

I added a few black gems that I hadn't included in my kit to both of my cards. These gems are on my desk all the time and were perfect to add a finishing touch to my cards. 

I have big plans for my mini kit - a few more cards, a traveler's notebook spread, a traditional 12x12 layout, and a Project Life spread - I just need to find the time to put my kit to use. The great thing is that my mini kit is all ready to go when I do find the time to work on my projects!

Head on over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to see Clair's fun mini and what she did with it. If you're like me and don't have a lot of time this month why don't you put a mini kit together so it is all ready to go when you are!

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