The Studio Challenges - Looking Back

Hello, everyone! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas! Poor Ada was sick on Christmas eve but she woke up bright and early on Christmas morning feeling much better and ready to see what Santa had brought for her.

It's time for a new challenge at The Studio Challenges today and since we are at the end of 2020 we thought we want you to look back and review the year. What did you learn? Or what would you prefer to forget?

2020 has been quite a year, and thankfully, it has not been too terribly bad for us considering everything that has gone on. Don't get me wrong - living through a pandemic is something I hope I never have to live through again, but all in all, it has been a pretty decent year for us.

Here is my layout:

So, when I started this layout, my first thought was to do my journaling on the white paper circle. I did not realize I would have so much to say! I had to create a pocket on the back of my layout to stick my journaling down into.

Here is a close-up of my embellishment cluster - and what I based all of my journaling on for this layout. Yes, the flair piece is purple and there isn't another purple thing on this layout, but I don't care, it needed to be used!

I based my layout on Sketch #214 from Sketch N Scrap:

I tend to not want to dwell on the bad and focus more on the good of things, so I picked one of my favorite photos from this year for my layout. As I said above, the stamped piece and the flair piece are the focus of my journaling. I feel like we have been in training for the past 10 or 15 years, not for a pandemic, of course, but for the staying at home part. 

We are homebodies at heart and living with Shane where you have to plan, and prepare, and try to anticipate anything that might come up while you are out, and plan some more...well, being a homebody is not that bad. I mean let's be real here -when we go shopping with Shane we have a very limited amount of time that we can be out because when Shane is done shopping, everyone is done shopping! It doesn't matter if you are only half done with grocery shopping, when he is done you better hurry or things can get to be a hot mess in a second! So we learned long ago to get in, get what we need, and get out as fast as we can! Not a bad thing to know how to do this year! I can't even remember what a leisurely shopping trip - to just go and look - is! Staying home and only going out for the essentials is nothing new to us.

I can't believe that I am saying this, but it has also done wonders for Shane. When the shutdowns started it was only the three of us - Scott, Shane, and myself - for so long. We kept Shane mostly at home those first few weeks - only going for a drive, or to go pick up some food to get him out of the house - because with him being nonverbal the thought of him getting sick is not something I like to even think about. 

Visits from Abby, Shawn, and Ada, and Matthew coming home for a day or two were very few and far between early on. When they finally started coming back over for a visit now and then, he was genuinely happy to see them and interacted more with them than ever before. 

He now happily puts on a mask to go shopping and enjoys our weekly trips to the store and to his favorite flea market to look for movies.

I picked my favorite photo of the three of us - on our way to pick something up to eat.  Scott and I were being goofy and Shane was giving a look like - sheesh, my parents are such nerds!  So 2020 for most has been a pretty crappy year, but for us, we've actually had a few positives come from it. 

Be sure to stop by The Studio Challenges to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you can find some time to play along with us. 

Week 50/2019 - The ScrapRoom December Shots of Life Kit

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

Today I am up on The ScrapRoom blog sharing the layout that I created using the December portion of the Shots of Life Kit. Here's a look at the November/December Shots of Life Kit - and it is still available:

The December portion consisted of all Christmas cut apart cards - which helped me get Week 50 of 2019 documented in my Project Life album. Here's a look at my spread:

This week was filled with lots of holiday happenings. Let's take a closer look at each page:

Here is a close-up of my title card:

I used one of the cut apart cards from the Fancy Pants Wishmas paper. It had such a cute scene on it already, all I needed to do was put the week, date, and a little cluster on it. The only thing on this card that wasn't in my kit is the enamel heart sticker.

I love how the cards from the Fancy Pants and Pink Fresh Studios sheets worked so well together. These photos are of Ada's Christmas artwork that she made at school and a pretty sunrise. 

This week I took Shane to get a haircut and we did a little shopping afterward. Shane also wanted me to play Mario Party - and then he left the room! I did catch him watching me from the kitchen though. I did end up winning the game!:)

Here is the right-hand side of the spread:

I had an extra photo that I wanted to share so I added a pocket flip to that pocket. You can see it opened up in the photo below:

This side of the layout is all about a shopping trip, homemade ornaments from Ada and Abby, and some scrappy goodies I received in a Secret Santa swap. Here are a few close-ups of the right side of my spread:

The first photo is of Abby and Ada on our shopping trip. We were waiting for our food and they just looked super cute in their Christmas sweaters. The other photo is of the ornaments that they made and is also where the flip pocket is.

On our way home we stopped off at Walmart to get something to make for supper and Ada had to take a turn on the little merry-go-round. My how things have changed since this time last year! Now all of the little rides are roped off and you can't even get to them - not that we would let her ride them anyway - but still!

When we go shopping we always have to take a selfie of ourselves in the car. The "holiday tradition" die-cut was perfect for this photo. I also used a ticket sticker from the Simple Stories sticker sheet, a stamped circle label, and I added an enamel dot and heart to finish off the cluster.

The Fa La La card is from the Fancy Pants sheet and the Christmas lights journaling card is from Pink Fresh, but they look like they could have come from the same sheet. 

It feels good to have another layout done in my 2019 album!

Be sure to stop by The ScrapRoom blog for more inspiration using the December kits. You can find all of their kits here.

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

Merry & Bright - Scrap Our Stash December Sketch Challenge

Hello, everyone! Good Monday morning to you! I can't believe that Christmas is just a few days away. I've still got a lot of wrapping to do and some baking, but for the most part, I am ready.

Today I am sharing my layout for the December sketch challenge at Scrap Our Stash. Along with the sketch we are to use holiday patterned paper and a sparkly or glittery embellishment. Here is a look at the sketch:

For my layout, I have used the Fancy Pants Wishmas collection that I received in the December Flavors of the Month kit, Shots of Life kit, and embellishment add-on kit from The ScrapRoom.

 For my glittery/sparkly embellishment I used gold glitter washi tape around the edge of my paper.

These photos are of Abby, Shawn, and Ada looking quite festive in their Christmas sweaters last year.

Here are a few close-ups:

Since there was quite a bit of blue in the photos, I pulled in a few blue embellishments to the clusters.

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!

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #184

 Hello, hello! Happy Sunday to you! We are officially on Christmas break around here and I am looking forward to spending some time with my little family and enjoying lazy days with no set schedule!

It's time for the last sketch challenge at Sketch N Scrap today and Lisa has created a great card sketch for us to play with:

I wanted to make one more Christmas card and this sketch was perfect for just that:

I used Echo Park's Dear Santa and Gingerbread Christmas 6x6 paper pads for this card. The sentiment is from Close To My Heart's Jingle Joy Scrapbooking Stamp and thin cuts set (Z3896). I love this Christmas set but have not had a chance to use it much this year. I know it will be one of my go-to sets this next year whenever I make a Christmas card. 

The Santa is fussy cut from one of the papers and I added foam tape to the back for a little dimension. I also embossed the background panel with my houndstooth embossing folder. 

Another quick card all ready to go!

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see how the rest of the design team took on this sketch. I hope you find some time during this busy holiday season to play along with us!

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

Sketch N Scrap #215 - Looking Good Girl!

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

It's the middle of the month and that means there is a new sketch posted today at Sketch N Scrap. This is a great 3-photo sketch, courtesy of Lisa:

This is what I came up with:

I think these photos of Ada putting on her make-up are just too cute! I think she had gotten some play make-up in her stocking last Christmas and was putting it to use. I love how she has her sunglasses raised up in the second photo. I left the journaling block blank until I can talk to Abby and get all of the details right. 

I used Echo Park's Fashionista collection for this layout. I bought it specifically for these photos. I'm not sure what I will do with some of the stickers but I'm sure I will find a use for them one day.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I fussy cut a few flowers from one of the patterned papers to add to my layout. The make-up stickers were perfect to finish off the clusters.

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see how the rest of the design team took on this sketch. I hope you find some time to play along with us, too!

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

Full Of That Christmas Cheer - The Studio Challenges Sketch Challenge

Hello, hello! Good Sunday morning to you! I hope you are having a good weekend. Ours has been very busy with Ada spending the night on Friday and then her birthday party yesterday. I'm hoping today can actually be a day of rest for us! 

It's time for a new challenge at The Studio Challenges and this week it is a sketch challenge with the added challenge to add some sparkle to your layout. Anna has created a great Christmasy sketch for us to work with. Of course, you could always substitute the tree shape for another shape if you would like.  Here is the sketch:

I stayed true to the sketch, only adding a couple of banners to the top left and my journaling on the bottom right. I used red glitter alphabet stickers, gems, and some gold color shine by Heidi Swapp:

These photos are of Shane on Christmas eve of last year wearing his holiday shirt. It is his favorite color - green - so it was pretty easy to get him to wear it! He was definitely full of Christmas cheer! 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I have had these Doodlebug gems in my stash for so long! I didn't get the whole package used up but I did make a good dent in it!

The Santa and reindeer stickers are from Doodlebug's Christmas collection last year.

I am so glad to have these cute photos scrapped!

Be sure to stop by The Studio Challenges to see how the rest of the design team took on this sketch. 

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

TN Time With Lisa & Lori December Edition

 Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! This week - and this month - is moving right along. 

It's time for the December edition of TN Time With Lisa & Lori and here is how it 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 December:

It's an easy one this month - create a traveler's notebook, bullet journal, or planner spread about anything you want! That's right, my challenge is "Anything Goes"!

Here is the sketch that Lisa has created for December:

And here is my traveler's notebook layout:

This layout is going in my November 2020 Favorites TN. The photos are of Ada on her birthday a couple of weeks ago. Abby and Shawn got a little cake for her and gave her presents when they got home from school. We are still going to have her a family birthday party - although it will be just us instead of everyone - the aunts and cousins and great grandparents. 

We were going to have her party last weekend but then she gave us a scare and got sick. Sore throat, scary high fever...her teacher told Abby that she had 4 others out with strep throat and we were expecting that to be the case. When Abby took her to the doctor the quick strep test came back negative so they tested her for Covid. Not only did the poor thing have to get her throat swabbed, but her nose, too! She was not a fan of it but took it all like a trooper. After a stressful 24 hour wait, her Covid test came back negative and so did her 24-hour strep test. She seems to get a really bad sore throat, run a bit of fever, although it has never been as high as it was this time, and even a yucky belly every year about this time, so I guess it was just that. Her fever only lasted for 2 days - her sore throat a little longer, but all is back to normal now. Thank goodness!

I didn't add any journaling, as I said, this is just going in my "favorites" TN. All the details will be documented in other places. And her family party is scheduled for this weekend. It will start with a sleepover with us on Friday night and we will party when Abby and Shawn come to pick her up Saturday.

We have only had two participants for our prize drawing and with the holidays and everything being so busy, we are going to extend the giveaway until January. Then if we have 3 participants we will do a prize draw then, so you have another month to get those layouts made! Here's a reminder of the prize I am giving:

We hope you have a chance to play along!

Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog to see her beautiful layout, too!

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #398

Hello again! 

I am back with one more project to share with you today - my card for this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here is a look at the sketch:

I am still making a few more Christmas cards and this is what I came up with:

 I love the simplicity of this sketch and it makes for a very quick and cute card!

I embossed the main panel with my swiss dot embossing folder and then double matted it with a red and white polka dot and a solid red. I die cut the banner pieces and the bow with metal dies from Close To My Heart. The sentiment is also from an old Close To My Heart stamp set (D1494 Christmas Cheer).

This card came together so quickly - choosing which sentiment stamp I was going to use is what took the longest - and quick and easy is always great for this busy time of year. 

Last week's Top 3 and the full design team reveal will be posted over on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog tomorrow so be sure to check it out!

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

Staying Safe - Scrap Our Stash - What's My Challenge

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

Today I am sharing my layout for the December "What's My Challenge" challenge at Scrap Our Stash. Our challenge for this month is to create a layout of someone wearing a mask and to use one of the sayings in the graphic below as your title:

I created a layout of my son wearing his mask while we were out shopping and for my title, I used the "staying safe" saying:

For this layout, I have used papers from my December Great Stash Bash kit. I guess I should say that I used one full sheet - the white with black dots background paper - and all of the other papers were in the scraps that I put in my kit. I'm doing good with using my scraps, I would just be a little happier if I were using more of the full papers, too! It's early in the month so hopefully, I will make more progress with bashing my stash. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I was happy I remembered to pull out one of my border punches for this layout. I always love the look, I just don't remember to pull them out and use them. 

I found this pin at Target in their dollar spot. They come 6 on a card, or maybe it was 4 on a card, all with different sayings about the virus. I just took the pin part off the back and added a bit of foam tape.

I really liked a lot of the sayings on the graphic, so I typed up a few that went with my photo and added them as word phrases to my clusters. 

Head on over to Scrap Our Stash to see the layouts from the rest of the design team and I hope you have a chance to play along with us!

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

Snow Happy - The Paper Girls Challenge #213 - Snowflakes

Hello, hello! Good Monday morning to you! I hope you had a good weekend and are ready for a new week.

It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Girls Challenge blog today and this week Brittany is challenging us to use snowflakes on our projects. This is what I came up with:

I am still working on completing my 52 Favorites of 2019 traveler's notebook. I had hoped to have it done before the end of 2020 but that is looking unlikely. And 2020's 52 Favorites...well, I will be busy playing catch up, which is nothing new. Looks like I know what will be on my 2021 goals list!

Anyway, this photo is of Ada last year on her very first full snow day from school. It was one of the only snows that we got and we didn't get a lot, but between the little bit of snow and the bitterly cold temps (it was 8 degrees on this particular morning and I don't think it made it out of the teens all day), it was enough for the school to call off classes. Ada braved the cold and headed outside to play a while and Abby snapped a few great photos of her in the process.

I used Carta Bella's Snow Much Fun collection on this spread. It is filled with navy, turquoise, and grey, with a hint of pink thrown in. None of the papers that I have left have any pink on them, so I dug into my December Great Stash Bash kit to pull some pinks. I've been doing good this month to go to my kit before I look for paper anywhere else, the only problem is, I have been using the scraps and not the full papers. That's not a bad thing - it's great that I am getting my scraps used, but at this rate, my stash bash kit will last a lot longer than I expected!

I punched out several snowflakes in a few different sizes for my layout.  They are the perfect embellishment!

Be sure to stop by The Paper Girls Challenge blog to see the beautiful projects from the rest of the design team. I hope you have a chance to play along. I would love to see your snowflake creations, too!

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

The Great Stash Bash December Kit

 Hello, everyone! Happy Tuesday and Happy December 1st! I can't believe that it is already December and that 2021 is just around the corner. The new month means it is time for a new stash bash kit!

The Great Stash Bash 2020 is a challenge that my friend Lisa and I have been doing this year. We have made it our mission to try to use up as much stash as we can this year.

Here's how it works: 

 On the 1st of each month, we will post a challenge prompt and the stash kit we have created following that prompt. During the month we will try to use as much of our stash kit as possible on different projects. Then, on the last day of the month, we will do a recap post showing what stash we were able to bash! This will be a just-for-fun challenge so no monthly prize - but isn't the real prize using up our stash? You never know - if we still have a few unused stash items after a few months, then those items may just go into a giveaway. We hope you will join us in our quest to bash some stash in 2020. If you accept the challenge to play along - link up on either my blog or Lisa's blog (or both if you choose) so that we can see who is joining us each month! 

Since we are in December, let's have a little recap. I have not done nearly as much stash busting with my kits as I had thought - or had hoped - that I would! I seemed to do better with the "new" pieces in my kits than I did with the "old" - with the exception of my August kit. I actually managed to use the new papers and quite a few of my old papers - so much so that I was ready to stop working with it by the end of the month. 

January - May...well, I managed to make at least a couple of projects with each of these kits and at the end of the month I put everything back into my stash. From June until November - with the exception of August - I totally dropped the ball on using my kits, and the funny thing is those kits have some of my favorite papers in them! 

 Lisa and I decided to use December as a month to revisit those kits and see if we couldn't put them to use. We tend to pick out a total of 10 papers - 7 old and 3 new, 3 old embellishments, 1 new embellishment, and 5-7 scraps to work with, as well as one focus item. I have to say that I threw all of that out the window this month as I want to make a point to use as much of my past kits as possible. My December kit is a mega stash bash kit! 

Here's the graphic - not that it mattered for me!

Our focus stash item for December is chipboard! I don't have a ton of chipboard and what I have, well, I am not sure I will be able to incorporate into my layouts. I have some winter-themed chipboard, fall-themed chipboard, some summer-themed chipboard, and some old naked - or raw - chipboard. I may have luck with the summer-themed and naked chipboard, but anything else might be a challenge!

I did not snap a photo of my complete kit - it was so big - so I broke it all down into papers, then embellishments, then scraps, and finally some chipboard. Here are my papers:

I was a little surprised at how much the different kits coordinated together. I guess one take away from this challenge is I can tell the colors/patterns that I tend to gravitate to and use - mostly primary colors with basic prints!

Here is a break down of the papers:

These papers are what is left from my June kit. This is the kit that Lisa sent to me and I still love it! I did get a couple of projects made with the original kit, I have 5 full sheets left and then the black diagonal stripe and multi-color stripe are just partial pieces. I have ideas for projects - I just need to get them done!

Here is what is left of my July kit:

I used most of the new papers and all that is left is my "old" paper portion. This is one of my most favorite collections from Close To My Heart - Some Kinda Wonderful. I think that is my problem with not using this kit - I know once these papers are gone that they are gone for good - but it would be so much nicer to have them on a layout than collecting dust in a drawer, so I will use them up! The backside of a couple of the papers have pink on them and I am sure I will be using both sides of some of these papers.

Next are the papers from my September kit:

Once again, I used the new papers that I included in my September kit but the old papers were left. Another set of papers that I will be able to use both sides if I so choose.

Here is what is left of my October kit:

I don't even think that I used more than one paper from this kit, and the bad thing is, I have plans for layouts for most of it! I just ran out of time. Trying to finish a commissioned album these last couple of months has cut into me getting to scrap as much of my stuff as I would like. So, it's not that I don't like this kit, I just haven't had time to use it.

I am also keeping my November kit together since it is all Christmas 6x6 paper pads and I still have a need for a few cards and I hope to use some in my December Daily:

I pulled all of my embellishments together from these kits and here is a look at what I will be working with:

I have a few cut apart sheets:

The alphas:

The sticker sheets:

My scraps - which is quite a lot! There is an 8.5x11 page protector with scraps in it that I did not take out and scatter about:

The chipboard that I have pulled for this month (I had more than I thought!):

After pulling this chipboard, I have told myself that whatever naked - or raw - chipboard that doesn't get used this month, I think it is time for it to go. The pre-printed chipboard is just so much easier to use and I really can't remember the last time I even used raw chipboard in any way or form, so it is time for it to go! I will use what I can and get rid of the rest.

That is a pretty big stash kit to be working from! I do hope that by having all of these items mixed together that I will be able to mix and match and get the majority of this kit used up! As I said before, I have ideas for layouts or projects for a lot of these papers, I just need to make the time to get them done.

Now for the rules - Since this is a just for fun challenge the rules are not set in stone BUT we have them to help you focus on what really matters using your stash & to help spread the word of our fun challenge so others may join in!! You know you have at least one friend who needs to use her stash!! 

 Here are the rules: 

1. Follow the challenge prompt to create a kit to work with throughout the month. You may use other items, but please concentrate on using your kit. 

 2. Create new, not previously posted projects using your stash kit. 

3. If you have a blog - please include the challenge graphic and a link to our challenge in your posts. 

 4. You may link to social media if you don't have a blog. If you share on Instagram, please make sure to use - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2020 

Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog to see the kit that she has put together for this month. I don't think she is planning on going as big as I did, but we will see!

 I hope you are inspired to pull out some of your stash and play along with us. If you do play along with us - be sure to link up below. We would love to see your kits and your projects.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter