She's A Little Firecracker - Sketch N Scrap #228

Hello, hello! Happy Saturday! I do hope that your weekend is going well.

Today I am sharing the layout that I created for Sketch N Scrap's July 1st sketch. I loved the big banner pieces on the sketch and I know that it will go into my "favorites" folder to be used again soon! Here is the fun sketch that Stacy created for us:

 And this is what I came up with:

I used the Fancy Pants - Hometown Summer - papers that I had included in my July stash bash kit to create this layout of Ada from last year's 4th of July. She was pretending to be a model and was going through all of her poses. She looked so stinkin' cute in her unicorn sequin shirt!

For my title, I used a metal alpha die set from Scrapbook.com. These letters are so thin but they are so cute! Anytime that I use them I cut at least three of each letter to stack on top of each other for a sort of faux chipboard look - and to give them some substance on the layout. I added in a couple of star clusters and red and navy gems to finish off my layout. 

That finishes out my July projects. I will do better about keeping up in August! No vacations are planned and I hope to get back into somewhat of a normal routine around here!

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #198

Hello and Happy Friday! I hope that you are having a wonderful day! I had to do a grocery run this morning and it seemed to take forever! 

Today I am popping in here really quickly to share the card that I created using the July 20th sketch at Sketch N Scrap. This is the fun sketch that Lisa created for us to use:

I always love sketches that have a piece or two of the paper at an angle - and then when I work on my card I struggle with getting the paper that is supposed to be straight actually straight! Here is what I came up with:

I was able to use a few more scraps from the Simple Stories Homespun 6x6 paper pads that I talked about in yesterday's post on this card. The tag was die cut from one of the cut apart papers. I placed my metal die so that I would get the hearts in the bottom right corner and then added my sentiment to the "empty" space on the tag. 

Be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog to see the sketches and the beautiful projects from the design team. 

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #197

 Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday! It is almost the weekend for us and I am ready for it!

Today I am sharing the card that I created for the July 5th card sketch and Sketch N Scrap. I love this sketch that Stacy created for us to use and I know it will be one of my go-to sketches for a while. Here's a look a the fun sketch:

I just love that wonky scalloped border and the big banner piece. Here is the card that I created:

Here a while back I rearranged the shelves that house my 6x6 paper pads and discovered that I had not one, not two, not three, but four of these Simple Stories Homespun 6x6 paper pads! What can I say - it is one of my all-time favorite Simple Stories collections! Two of the paper pads were mostly used - there are quite a few scraps -  but the other two still had the plastic seal intact...I decided to pull them out and see if I could at least use up some of the scraps.

I really wanted a wonky scalloped border but settled for this double scalloped border that I punched from an older Martha Stewart border punch. I don't know why I don't use it more often. The sentiment and flowers are from Close To My Heart. I finished it off with a few enamel dots.

I am so happy that rediscovered this paper pad. I still have it out on my desk and I think I will see if I can get a few more projects made with it in August. 

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap to see more design team inspiration for this month's sketches. I hope you have a chance to play along with us!

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

Constant Companion - Mixing the Kits with The ScrapRoom

Hello, hello! Happy Wednesday to all of you! I hope you're having a good day. 

Today I am sharing the layout that I created for the "Mixing the Kits" post for The ScrapRoom blog. Here is a look at the kits that I used for my layout - the Shots of Life kit, Patterned Paper Kit, and the Embellishment Kit:

I really liked this month's sketch, so I based my layout on it. Here's a look at the sketch:

And this is what I came up with:

I absolutely love this line from Jen Hadfield! The patterns and the colors in this collection are what I gravitate to so I was thrilled to see it in my kit this month. 

For my layout, I used the "B" side to Jen Hadfield's Reaching Out cut apart sheet and the washi tape from the Shots of Life kit, both of the Jen Hadfield papers in the Patterned Paper Kit, and the floral heart and "love" foam stickers from the Embellishment Kit. 

The first photo of Ada was taken when she was almost 5 months old and the second was just this past May - almost exactly 7 years later. Her "constant companion" is this little stuffed elephant - he rarely leaves her side! The first photo is the day she got him and she just happened to bring it with her for a visit this summer and I snapped a few photos of her playing with him. Being a lover of stuffed animals growing up - it makes me happy that Ada is the same!

Here are a few close-ups:

I fussy cut the flowers from one of the patterned papers to make a little cluster by the title. I used a stamped label and enamel hearts from my stash to finish out the cluster. The alphas were also from my stash. I wanted the washi tape to not fade into the background, so I added it to a piece of white cardstock and then trimmed it out.

Since the floral heart and the love sticker were both on foam I had to trim a little off of the back of the l so they would both be the same height.

Out of all of the Jen Hadfield goodies that were included in the Shots of Life Kit, the Patterned Paper Kit, and the Embellishment Kit, I only have half a sheet of paper and a 2-inch strip of paper, the washi tape, and a few of the foam stickers left. That may be enough for a card or two, I just need to get them made!

Be sure to check out The ScrapRoom blog for more inspiration using the July kits.

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

The ScrapRoom July Shots of Life Kit - Week 20/2021

 Hello, everyone! Happy Tuesday to you! I hope that you are having a good week so far. I am behind on my blog posts this month and thought I'd better get posting before the calendar rolls over to August. You should see a new blog post from me the rest of the week! July has been super busy with vacation, sleepovers with Ada, and trying to keep up with the garden. I would like to say that August will be slower but I know I will have Ada quite a few days out of the month before school starts back up so it might not slow down for me until September! 

Today I am sharing the layout that I created using my Shots of Life Kit from The ScrapRoom. Here's a look at the kit:

I used the cut apart cards from Paige Evans and Pink Fresh and a piece of the "b" side of the Jen Hadfield paper on my layout documenting Week 20/2021. Here's a look at my spread:

Week 20 was the end of the school year for Abby and Ada, planting was starting in the garden, and Scott got a new vehicle. Here's a look at the left side of the layout:

For my title card, I cut a 4x6 piece out of the middle of the Jen Hadfield cut apart paper. I knew I wanted to use the rest of the paper for my "Mixing up the Kits" layout so I made sure to cut from the center. The journal bits from Pink Fresh that came in the kit are printed on one side and a solid color on the other, I used the "happy memories" piece and layered the purple banner piece on top. I fussy cut some flowers from the Pink Fresh paper for an embellishment. I pulled some puffy alphas from my stash and added one of the puffy hearts from the kit to finish it off. 

The top photo here is of Ada on her last day of 1st grade. The "smiles all around" card was perfect to go along with this photo. Ada had a check-up the very next day and Abby snapped a photo of them together, waiting to see the doctor. 

I used a piece of vellum over the top photo since it was a photo of Ada's 1st-grade class. Her teacher was chosen for teacher of the year and the school posted this photo of her with her class on Facebook announcing that she was the teacher of the year. Any time I see a photo of Ada and her class, I snag it!

The bottom photo is a picture of the tv with Monster's Inc. on. Scott and I were flipping through channels and got sucked into watching it. When the kids were little this was a movie we watched almost weekly. It had been ages since we had seen it and it was fun watching it again.  

I took this photo of Scott when he got home with his new van. With there being a used vehicle shortage we were lucky to find something that he was happy with so quickly. He was trying to decide what to name it and since the color of it is something like desert sand pearl, he tossed around Pearl and Sandy but didn't like either one of those. When I threw out Sahara - going with the sand/desert theme - or Jasmine (a nod to Aladdin) he immediately said, Jasmine. And it has stuck! Shawn has Jackie the Journey, Abby has Patty the Prius, and now Scott has Jasmine...looks like I need to name my car so it doesn't feel left out!

Now on to the right side of the spread:

We had to go back to Marshfield to pick up my car from the dealership. Before we picked it up, we headed over to Abby's to show them, Jasmine. It has been so long since Scott, Shane, and I all have been at their house together. I've been there several times, but it has been a couple of years since Scott and Shane visited them (#BecauseAutism). Ada was beyond thrilled! She took Pops on a tour of their whole house and was so happy to show off her playrooms. The visit went well - Shane was actually happy to visit a while - so hopefully this means we will be visiting more often!

We had such a cool and wet spring that we didn't get a chance to get started on planting the garden until May. Our green beans are already up and growing and Scott was working on the cucumbers in the above photo. I cut the "homegrown" piece out of one of the Pink Fresh cut part cards and added some tiny alphas from my stash to finish out the title.

We finally had a rain-free weekend to get the pool up and going for summertime. Gotta document that! It is a happy day in our house when the pool is all ready for the summer. 

For the last photo on this spread, I made a collage of three photos I snapped of Shane when we went for a drive in the new van. He was sitting in the front seat and I was in the seat behind him. I could see his face in the side mirror and he was smiling the whole time. For the journaling card, I added the half-circle puffy stickers that were included in the kit to make a little banner across the top. The journaling says - After Scott's old faithful van quit him last week - he spent this week looking for a new one. He found a couple online that he liked the looks of & headed out early on Friday to do some car shopping. He came home with this little gem - definitely an upgrade from his old faithful! It's nice to have a van with working air conditioning & one that all of the windows roll down again! And Shane is in love with it, too. When we took it for a drive he had a smile on his face the whole time. He loved to change the radio stations on the touch screen - a new little gadget for him to play with!

Everything on this layout is from the July portion of the Shots of Life Kit. I did use some white cardstock, purple and yellow scraps for matting, puffy alphas, small tile alphas, labels, die cuts, and a 6x4 lined journaling card. 

 

Be sure to check out The ScrapRoom blog for more inspiration using the July kits. 

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

Love Love Love This View - Lasting Memories #557

 Hello, hello! Happy Sunday to you! Two blog posts in two days...that hasn't happened in a while! Things have been kind of quiet around my blog lately, thanks to vacation, but I am hoping to post a little more often from here on out. 

Today I am sharing the layout that I created for this week's challenge at Lasting Memories. Our theme for July has been - Layout Titles - and this week our challenge is to use the title - Love This View - on your layout. You can add more words to the title but you cannot use any less than what is provided.

Here is the layout that I created:

I based this layout on this sketch from PageMaps from November 2018:

I finally got around to using part of my February Stash Bash kit - it just took me five months to do it!  This kit has been on the side of my desk since February just waiting to be used. I even had these papers set aside for this particular photo. I don't know why it took me this long to get this photo scrapped, but I'm glad now that it did! This photo was perfect for this title challenge! 

I added a couple of extra "love" words because I really wanted to use that acetate piece for part of my title. All of the embellishments - except the doilies - were included in that kit and I really tried to stick with just what was in the kit. 

This photo is from last summer when Abby and Shawn took Ada camping at the lake. Abby snapped this photo of Ada looking out at the lake when they got to their campsite. It is just so cute!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I have been looking for a "fat" heart punch for a while and I finally found one from Fiskars and I love it! I found it at Joanns and at the time it was on sale and a free shipping weekend so I got it for a great price - you can't beat that! It is called "Heart Confetti" and can be found here. The three sizes are perfect to add just a little something to your layout.

After adding the green word strip I felt like I needed a little more green around my layout and I didn't have anything - so I found a green tree on the sticker sheet that I know I will never use - so I used my punch and punched a few hearts to bring a little more of the green to my layout. 

Be sure to stop by Lasting Memories to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you have a chance to play along with us!

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

Summer Fun - Sketch N Scrap #229

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope that your weekend is off to a good start. It looks like it's going to be a quiet day around our house today and I hope that means I can fit in some scrappy time a little later.

Today I am sharing the layout that I created using the July 15th sketch at Sketch N Scrap, and while I am thinking of it - just a little heads up - I have switched over to the Social Media Design Team so my layouts and cards will now be featured on our Facebook page throughout the month instead of on the Sketch N Scrap blog, and I will still be sharing them here on my blog and on Instagram. Here is a look at the July 15th sketch that Lisa has created for us:

This is what I came up with:

I flipped the sketch to better fit my photo and I moved one of the clusters to the top corner of the photo instead of keeping it down by the title. I really liked the blocks of paper behind the photo and the 6x8 Sunkissed paper pad from Simple Stories was perfect for those layers. 

This photo of Ada jumping into the pool is one of my favorites from this summer. Shane tells her - "1-2-3 cannonball!" and she is happy to jump in for him - over and over.

Everything on this layout was included in my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash July kit.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

For this little cluster, I used a few of the "washi" type stickers in the sticker book for my base, added in that cute little sunshine and a word phrase die-cut, and finished it off with the flat back decorative brads and a puffy heart. 

I added the unicorn floatie die-cut behind the title - mostly because the title seemed to get lost on the white background - and if helped to "beef up" that cluster, too.  

For this last cluster, I used one of the little journaling spot stickers from the sticker book for my cluster base. It had a little lobster on the top of it - which I did not need - so I covered it up with a couple of heart stickers. I added another piece of one of the washi stickers, more flat back decorative brads, and another puffy sticker. 

Be sure to stop by the Sketch N Scrap blog and the Sketch N Scrap Facebook page for more inspiration.

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

TN Time With Lisa & Lori - July Challenge

 Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope you have had a good week. Scott was on vacation this past week and we got a few projects around the house done. We also puppy sat our "grandpuppy" while Abby's family went on a little getaway. It was fun to have a puppy in the house again but I am so glad it was only for a few days! You forget how much work a puppy truly is!

It is time for the July TN Time With Lisa & Lori challenge. Here is how it works - this is a just-for-fun 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 complete just Lisa's sketch challenge, link up over on her blog - My Creative Endeavors. If you combine both challenges - be sure to link up on both Lisa's blog and here on my blog. Now, on to the challenge.

Here is my July challenge:

For July my challenge is to use the color red and/or blue - your choice - on your layout and add a star - or stars - to your layout. The star(s) can be an embellishment, in the paper, etc. 

Here is the fabulous sketch that Lisa has created for us:

This is my layout:

Since we just celebrated the 4th of July, I had to scrap a photo of Ada with her sparkler. She had a special sparkler that was in the shape of a heart - and that thing put off a lot of "sparkles!" Ada wasn't too sure about it and eventually handed it off to her mom, but that look on her face, while she was holding it, was priceless!

I used Simple Stories' - Stars, Stripes, & Sparklers for this layout. I had included this mini-collection in my "Collective" to work with this summer. 

Here are a few close-ups:

I loved this little word phrase and thought it could not be any more perfect for this photo! 

I am so happy that I was able to ger one of these little flags on my spread. It's from a tiny pack of flags from Jolee's Boutique. The date on the package says 2002...I'm not sure if they have been in my stash that long, but I'm guessing it's close. I think I have three left before they are all gone. Maybe if I can get another 4th of July layout made, I can get them - and this mini collection - used up this month. 

I hope that you have some time to play along with us this month! Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog to see her beautiful spread, too.

Even though this is a just-for-fun challenge we do have a few rules:

1.Create a TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK, PLANNER, OR BULLET JOURNAL spread based on the CHALLENGE THEME and/or our sketch. 
2.Create a new, not previously posted project.
3.You are welcome to combine with other challenges.
4.If you have a blog please include the challenge graphic & a link to our challenge in your post.
5.You can link to social media if you don't have a blog. If you show your project on Instagram, please make sure to use #TNtimewithLisaandLori 
6.You can submit multiple projects but they must be posted to InLinkz or social media separately.
7. Most importantly have FUN!

I would love to see your take on our challenge and to leave you some love so be sure to link up below if you play along!

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

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Celebrate the USA - Lasting Memories #555

Hello, hello! Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends! All of the kids are coming over today for some food and fun and then tonight we will be shooting off some fireworks. 

Today I am sharing the layout that I created for today's challenge at Lasting Memories. We have a new theme for July - Layout Titles! We will be providing you with a word/phrase that you must use as the title of your layout. You can add more words but you cannot take any away. This week's challenge is to use the word "Celebrate" - or some form of that word (like celebration) -as your title. Here is what I came up with:

Since it is the 4th of July, I went with a patriotic layout using a photo of my son-in-law from a few years ago. When the camera comes out you can guarantee that he will be hamming it up. This time, after we had taken family photos, he grabbed up all of the little flags and stuck them in his pockets, down the back of his shirt, and then he even held onto one in each hand. You can't get more patriotic than that!

I used the red, white, and blue mini kit that I created for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash for July. I still have a few papers left and I have at least one more layout planned with that mini kit. I based my layout on the July 1st sketch from Sketches In Thyme:

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I die cut the word "celebrate" from cardstock three times to bulk it up a bit and then finished off my title with some tiny letter stickers from Freckled Fawn. They were the perfect blue. I fussy cut a few of the rockets from one of the papers for embellishment, and I punched out a few of the fireworks with a circle punch. I finished it off by scattering some tiny punched starts around my layout. I also distressed the edges of my layout with white paint and added some splatters around, as well.  

I had a hard time figuring out where I wanted my journaling to go. I finally ended up adding it to the right side of the layout to take up some of the empty space in the photo.

Be sure to stop by the Lasting Memories 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! Have a great day!

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash - July Kit

Hello, hello! Happy July 1st! Can you believe that it is July and that we are already halfway through the year?! We are heading into the heart of summer and I foresee lots of days filled with scrapping - inside - where it is nice and cool.

A new month means that it's time for a new kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash! If you don't know what the Great Stash Bash is - it is a challenge that my good friend Lisa and I do every month. We pull items from our stash based on a "recipe" (which you will see below) in an effort to get our scrappy stash used up! 

Before I get to this month's kit, I will let you know that I did pretty decent with my kit last month. I made two layouts - which doesn't sound like a big deal - but I managed to use all but one of the papers in my "boy" themed kit, and two of the papers from the "girl" kit, and I still have a layout planned out for the rest of the "girlie" kit. I just need to make the time to get it done and then see if I can tackle some of the scraps. 

Now to my July kit. Here is this month's recipe:

Our "recipe" is to pull 10 patterned papers, 5-7 scraps, 3-4 embellishments, and for July our focus item is enamel dots - which I have quite a few of!

Since I did well with making two mini kits for June, I decided to stick to that and I made two mini kits for July - and I already have layouts planned for them! With the 4th of July being this weekend, I went with a red, white, and blue kit and a general summer kit:

 First, let's start with my red, white, and blue mini kit - the Fancy Pants - Hometown Summer - collection:

This collection is new to my stash and I could not wait to use it! Here's a look at the papers:

I included five patterned papers in this mini kit and one cardstock that I will use for matting. 

Here's a look at the embellishments:

I have die-cuts, wood buttons, and a few enamel dots. Some of the die-cuts are from an old Doodlebug collection but I think I can make them work. I didn't pull any scraps for this collection, but I did include a few 6x8 papers and a 6x6 paper pad to use. I may try making a few embellishments if I need to.

Here is mini kit #2:

This kit all consists of Echo Park's - Summer Dreams - collection - one of my all-time favorite summer collections. Here is a look at the papers:

I am planning to use these papers (mostly) for Ada's 2019 Summer Bucket List that I still need to finish! I really hope that I get it finished this summer!

Here are the embellishments:

I have a sticker sheet - well, two of the same sticker sheet, actually (here's to using them up!) - a cut apart sheet, and the 6x6 paper pad. I know I have the die-cut pack for this collection somewhere in my stash, so if I can uncover it I will throw it in my kit, as well.

Here are the scraps that I pulled for this collection:

I had a hard time settling on my "summer" kit. I really wanted to add Simple Stories' Sunkissed collection...I have a plan for a project that I really want to get started on. I know - I really should get one project done before I start on another - but what's the fun in that?! So, I included a bonus kit - and it is the Sunkissed collection!

Here are the papers:

The only full 12x12 sheets that I have included are the cut apart papers.

Here are the embellishments:

I have the 12x12 sticker sheet, the sticker book, puffy stickers, the 6x8 paper pad, and of course, enamel dots.

I did add in a few scraps in case I need them:

I can't wait to get started on this project - now if I can just hang on to that excitement throughout the month!

Our focus item this month is enamel dots and like I said, I have collected quite a few:

I will be so happy to get some of these onto layouts and cards this month!

Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog to see the beautiful kit that she has pulled together for this month. This is a just-for-fun challenge, but if you play along and put together your own stash bash kit - add it to the linky below and we will be sure to check it out and cheer you on! 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 - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2021

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

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Click here to enter