FarmQuest Country Christmas Challenge Blog - Guest Designer

Hello, hello! Happy Thursday to you! I hope that you are having a good week.

Today I am so excited to share that I am the guest designer over at the FarmQuest Country Christmas Challenge Blog! This is a fairly new challenge blog run by my friend, Becca, and it's all about creating cards, tags, gift card holders, and package toppers for the holidays. The requirements for your project are to be Christmas/Winter Wishes related, and it also needs to have exterior/outside decorations and/or snowy/icy landscapes. You can find out all of the details on their blog.

 

Here is what I came up with:

I had a Farmhouse Christmas 6x6 paper pad from Echo Park that was perfect for this challenge. The barn and the sentiment were both on one of the cut-apart papers and since the barn is all decked out for the holidays, I just had to use it!

I created my card using the December 5th sketch from Sketch N Scrap:

This was a great sketch to work with and it is definitely going in my favorites folder to be used again soon!

Head on over and check out the FarmQuest Country Christmas Challenge Blog. Why don't you play along with us? The challenge runs from December 7th to January 5th.

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

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash December Kit Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy December 1st to you! It is hard to believe that it is already December and that 2023 is almost over. What a year it has been. I did not get nearly as much scrapping done as I had planned, but there is always next year, right?!

It is time for the Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash Challenge for December. This might be a longer post, so let's get to it! 

Here's how this challenge works - On the 1st of each month, we will post a challenge prompt and the stash kit we have created using that prompt. During the month we will try to use as much of our stash kit as possible on different projects.  This year we have added a bashket challenge to our kit challenge. Every month we pick 10 items that we want to get used up this year in a basket. We try to use as many of those items as we can during the month. If we don't use them all then those items stay in the basket and at the beginning of the next month, 10 more items are added. The object of the challenge is to try to keep your basket from overflowing. My bashket has now overflowed into two baskets, but at least they are on the smaller side!

This will be a just-for-fun challenge so there is no monthly prize - but isn't the real prize using up our stash?  We hope you will join us in our quest to bash our stash! If you 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. 

Here is the "recipe" for December:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and our focus item for December, which is envelopes and file folders.  Remember to pick your 10 items for your bashket!

I went a little crazy with my kit this month. But it is December Daily time, and for the first time in a long time, I am so excited to document this holiday season and I really am going to try to actually make a December Daily album this year. Will it get completed this month? Probably not, but I am going to make an effort to do as much as possible this month!

Since I have such big plans, it was only fitting to have a big kit for this month! Let's just say it's a little extra!  I doubled what is normally called for, so you will see 20 patterned papers, more than 3-4 embellishments, and my bashket items are all Christmas-related! Here is a look at my kit:

(I apologize for the not-so-great photos. I, of course, waited until the cloudiest, gloomiest day to take photos!)

This kit is made up of all Simple Stories Holly Days collection and a mix of Crate Papers Busy Sidewalks and Mittens and Mistletoe collections. Let's take a closer look at my kit.

First I will show you the papers from the Crate Paper collections. I chose only the ones that would coordinate with the Holly Days collection, too:

I went with a lot of the light blue-green color since it shows up in the Simple Stories collection.

Here are the embellishments from those collections:

So much goodness right here! I added in a couple of the cut-apart papers and a couple of papers that would be perfect for fussy cutting.

Here are the papers from the Simple Stories Holly Days collection:

Guys, I have been hoarding this collection since it came out in 2021. Not only did I get part of this collection in a kit from The ScrapRoom, but I bought not one, but two of the collection kits because I loved it so much! Why have I been hoarding this for so long?! I have so much of it and it needs to be in albums - not sitting on my shelf.

Although I have my favorite papers shown above, I will likely use the back side of those papers, as well:

I also added the cut-apart papers and the 6x8 paper pad:

Here are the embellishments:

Here are the scraps for my kit:

And I remembered to add a few rolls of washi tape:

I have tons more Christmas washi, but this will stay right on my desk all month long.

Our focus item for December is envelopes/file folders. I don't have many of either of these things in my stash, but I did find a few envelopes that might work, and if all else fails, I will use them as a template to make some that will match my kit better. I also included a few bags here. I figure I can use them as a type of envelope:

Here are my 10 bashket items for December - all Christmas-themed:

1 - washi tape book that my friend Willa sent to me a few years ago.

2 - a pack of die-cuts that I received in a swap several years ago. They aren't Christmas-themed, but they will definitely work.

3 - wood veneer pieces from Pink Fresh

4 - gold jumbo paper clips

5 - die-cuts from Pink Paislee

6 - enamel pieces from Pink Paislee

7 - metal embellishments from Making Memories from the early 2000s

8 - random Christmas stickers from an RAK several years ago

9 - gold glitter heart stickers

10 - washi tape strips and stickers

And, if all of this is just not enough - I do have my DD cart all organized and ready to go!

This is a just-for-fun challenge, but if you do 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, and link it below.

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 - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2023

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #254

 Hello, hello! Happy day before Thanksgiving! I hope you are having a good week and that you are ready for the holiday. I know I am ready for it! It will be a nice quiet holiday with just us and the kids, but I am so ready to spend time with them and just relax.

Today I am sharing a card that I made using Sketch N Scrap's November 20th card sketch. Here is a look at the sketch:

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I decided to make a card for the occasion. I used Simple Stories' - Cozy Days - 6x8 paper pad for this card. I die-cut the cute little squirrels from one of the cut-apart cards into a circle and since it already had a sentiment on it, I went with that instead of adding a sentiment to the card. I added a gold puffy heart to the circle to finish it off. 

Since I used a woodgrain for the background of my card, I felt like the other patterned papers were blending in too much, so I matted all of the patterned papers with an off-white cardstock to help them stand out a little better.

This card came together so quickly and I really like the way it turned out. Since it's too late to send it out for the holiday, I think it will sit in the middle of the table tomorrow, maybe with a little note to each one of my family members telling them all how thankful I am for them!

Be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog or the Sketch N Scrap Facebook page for more inspiration for this month's sketches.

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

FarmQuest General Store Challenge Blog Guest Designer

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

I am so excited to be popping in today to let you know that I am the guest designer for FarmQuest General Store Challenge blog! If you don't know about FarmQuest General Store - it is a monthly challenge blog where all of the challenges are Anything Goes - with a farm/country theme. There is a huge range of possible topics - woods/forest, farm/ranch, mountains, meadows, orchards, produce stands, camping, fishing, boating on a lake or creek, frogs, mushrooms, wildlife, hiking, and much more. And, you can enter any type of paper craft - cards, tags, bookmarks, ATC cards, traveler's notebook layouts, planners, journals, or traditional scrapbook layouts. The challenges start on the 7th of every month and ends on the 5th of the next month, so you have lots of time to play along.

Here is the card that I made for challenge #10:

 

I am always in need of birthday cards and the cut-apart paper from Simple Stories Homegrown 6x8 paper pad worked perfectly for this challenge. Those cute little farm animals wishing the recipient a happy birthday are just too cute! 

Be sure to check out the FarmQuest General Store Challenge Blog - to see the beautiful projects from their design team. Are you up to the challenge? It's always anything goes with a farm/country theme. Why don't you play along, too?

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

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash November Kit Challenge

Hello, hello! Happy November 1st! I cannot believe that this year is almost over! It always seems like once Halloween is over the rest of the year just flies by. 

It's time for a new kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash Challenge! October was so busy for me, but I did get two layouts made with my October kit. I will keep it together for a while longer before I put it back into my stash. Hopefully, I will get a few more projects done this month.

Here's how this challenge works - On the 1st of each month, we will post a challenge prompt and the stash kit we have created using that prompt. During the month we will try to use as much of our stash kit as possible on different projects.  This year we have added a bashket challenge to our kit challenge. Every month we pick 10 items that we want to get used up this year in a basket. We try to use as many of those items as we can during the month. If we don't use them all then those items stay in the basket and at the beginning of the next month, 10 more items are added. The object of the challenge is to try to keep your basket from overflowing.

This will be a just-for-fun challenge so there is no monthly prize - but isn't the real prize using up our stash?  We hope you will join us in our quest to bash our stash! If you 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. 

Here is the "recipe" for November:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and our focus item for November, which is 12x12 sticker sheets. Remember to pick your 10 items for your bashket!

I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to include in my kit this month. I'm kind of ready to start thinking about Christmas scrapping with all the talk of December Daily going strong right now, but I decided to wait on that until next month. 

For November I am going with two mini-kits - the first one being a more everyday sort of kit, and the second being a fall-themed kit. 

Here's a look at the first kit:

Miss Ada recently got a new bike, and even though I pulled a summer collection, I think the colors are going to be perfect for the photos of her with her new bike. Here's a look at the papers:

I love the bright colors in this first mini-kit and I know it will be easy to use whatever is left over after Ada's bike layout is made. 

For the embellishments, I pulled the 12x12 sticker sheet (our focus item this month), some enamel dots, and wood veneer. I also have a few items in my bashket that I can pull to use with this kit.

Here is my second mini-kit for November:

This mini-kit is full of Echo Park's Fall Fever collection. I bought all of this collection last year and I think I've made one layout with it. it is time to get a little more of it used up!

Here's a look at the papers:

This is the side of the papers that I plan on using, but I may use the other side, as well.

Here are the embellishments:

I have included the 12x12 sticker sheet, the sticker book, a few die-cuts, and some wood veneer leaves. 

I also had some scraps from this collection that I included:

Here's hoping I can get a few fall photos scrapped this month!

Here are the ten items I have pulled for my bashket:

1 - woodgrain chipboard Thickers

2 - enamel word stickers

3 - Dear Lizzy Lovely Day washi tape book

4 - puffy stickers

5 - My Minds Eye chipboard stickers

6 - random die-cuts that I am sure are from an old kit that never got put back in my stash

7 - more chipboard stickers that I have no idea where they are from

8 - more enamel word stickers

9 - gold puffy hearts

10 - old Scenic Route label stickers - only 3 or 4 are left on the sheet

Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog to see the beautiful kit that she has created for this month. 

This is a just-for-fun challenge, but if you do 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, and link it below.

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 - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2023

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sketch N Scrap WCMD Sketch #3

 Hello, hello, and Happy Saturday to you! I hope your weekend is off to a fantastic start.

Today I am sharing the card that I created using Sketch N Scrap's WCMD Sketch #3. I think this is my favorite WCMD sketch so far! Here's a look at the fun sketch that Lisa has created for us to use:

I have so many ideas for this sketch, now I just have to find the time to do them all! 

Here is my card:

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

For this card, I have used Crate Papers' Busy Sidewalks collection. This is one of my favorite Crate Paper collections and I have been hoarding it since it came out in 2021. Time to put it to use this year! Once again, the hardest part of making this card was picking out the papers. Once I had that figured out, it all came together so quickly!

I added foam tape to the back of the poinsettia sticker and I added a bit of messy gold metallic thread. I just wanted a subtle effect with the gold thread, so I didn't go too messy with it, but it is just the right amount of zhuzh that I was looking for!

The sentiment is from a Close To My Heart stamp set - CC72113 White Pines Cardmaking. Since the words were stacked on top of each other I moved the sentiment over to the other side of the panel.

Be sure to stop by the Sketch N Scrap blog today to see how DT member Tina took on this sketch, too.

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

Sketch N Scrap WCMD Sketch #1

 Hello, everyone! Happy Tuesday to you! 

Today I am popping in with a quick post to share the card that I created using Sketch N Scrap's WCMD Sketch #1. I decided that this year I am going to use the WCMD sketches for Christmas cards. That way I will have a good start on my Christmas cards for the holiday season. Here's a look at the first sketch:

And here is my card:

I used Simple Stories' Holly Days collection for this card. I did dig out a piece of solid green cardstock for the base and the strip, otherwise, it is all Holly Days. The ornament stickers are from the sticker book and I added a piece of gold thread behind each ornament to make it look like they were hanging. The gingham strip behind the sentiment is a piece of washi tape and the sentiment came from the sticker sheet. 

This card came together so quickly because of this great sketch and I am filing it away with my favorites to use again soon.

Be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog for more inspiration for all of the sketches this month. I hope to see you playing along, too!

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

Sweet But Fierce - Sketch N Scrap #283

 Hello, hello! Happy Sunday to you! I hope you are having a good weekend. 

It is the middle of the month and that means we have a new sketch for you to try at Sketch N Scrap! Here is a look at the sketch that I created:

And here is my layout:

For this layout, I have used my October Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit and photos of Abby and Ada's dog, Winnie. We had just picked her up from her grooming appointment and she looked so cute with the little flowers on the top of her head. Abby thought she looked like a goober, but I think she is super cute! Don't let that sweet little face fool you, she can be fierce! She has taken on the role of being the protector of Abby and Ada and she will let strangers (at least strangers to her) know that she means business!

I used the Fern & Willard papers that I had included in my kit and the embellishments are from Simple Stories Pet Shoppe collection. I even added one of the crocheted flowers that I had put in my bashket to use on this layout! The only thing not from my kit is the alpha stickers and I typed up my phrase stickers on the computer and printed them off. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I always love it when a sketch features a big block of paper! They are my favorite kind of sketches. How about you? Will you give this sketch a try? I would love to see your take on it, too!

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap to see the lovely layouts from the design team.

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

Puppy Wrangler - Sketch N Scrap #282

Hello, hello! Happy Wednesday to you! I hope that you are having a good week! It's a rainy day here in the middle of the US, and, dare I say, it's starting to feel a bit like fall! Along with the rain, the temperatures are getting a little closer to normal - at least for the next few days!

Today I am sharing the layout that I created for Sketch N Scrap's October 1st sketch. I love the sketch that Lisa created to get us started this month, and if I can keep the scrapping going this month, I plan on using this sketch for a traveler's notebook layout, so stay tuned to see how I use it! Here is a look at the sketch:

And my layout:

For this layout, I stuck pretty close to the sketch, only adding an extra photo and extending the title across the top of both photos. I used my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit

 for October and a few items that have been in my bashket for a while.

This layout is about Ada needing a photo of her with Winnie and Finnegan to take to school for a "Five Things About Me" project. We decided to do a little photo shoot and the pups were not too excited about it! After a few minutes, they did settle down and I was able to get a good one of all three of them!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

The best friend ribbon, enamel dots, and phrase stickers are all from this month's kit. The metal pieces and journaling tag all came from my bashket.

The label and phrase sticker came from my bashket, as well. I have really enjoyed having a bashket this year. Not only am I getting supplies used up - albeit slowly - but it is so nice to have a few items out and ready to be looked through instead of going through all of my stash. 9 times out of 10 I find something in my bashket that will be what I was looking for!

For this embellishment cluster, I wanted something with a little bit of size but not as big as my other cluster. I couldn't find anything in the die-cuts and stickers that would work like I wanted it to, so I made my own ribbon with a sticker and some metal dies. It turned out just as I had hoped!

That's it for today! Be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog for more inspiration using this month's sketch. I hope you have a chance to play along with us!

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

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash October Kit Challenge

 

Hello, everyone! Happy October 1st! October. Where in the world did September go? I swear it just started and here we are in October. And it doesn't help that the weather still feels like we are in the middle of August!

Anyway, it is time for the Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash October Kit Challenge! If you don't know what Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash is all about - here is how it works - On the 1st of each month, we will post a challenge prompt and the stash kit we have created using that prompt. During the month we will try to use as much of our stash kit as possible on different projects.  This year we have added a bashket challenge to our kit challenge. Every month we pick 10 items that we want to get used up this year in a basket. We try to use as many of those items as we can during the month. If we don't use them all then those items stay in the basket and at the beginning of the next month, 10 more items are added. The object of the challenge is to try to keep your basket from overflowing - which I am doing terribly because my basket is pretty close to overflowing right now!

This will be a just-for-fun challenge so there is no monthly prize - but isn't the real prize using up our stash?  We hope you will join us in our quest to bash our stash! If you 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. 

Here is the "recipe" for October:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and our focus item for October which is ephemera. Remember to pick your 10 items for your bashket!

Here is my kit for October:

You would think with it being October that I would have gone with a fall-themed kit. I blame it on the weather still feeling like summer - I just wasn't in the mood to scrap fall when I was pulling my kit! 

My kit consists of Simple Stories' Full Bloom and Photo Play's Fern & Willard collections. 

Here is a look at the papers:

The back row is all Fern & Willard, except for the solid pink paper and the green paper, they are from Echo Park. The front row is all Full Bloom, except the for blue cardstock, which is from Close To My Heart. 

I'm planning on making some pages of the doggies this month, so I pulled embellishments from Simple Stories' Pet Shoppe collections. I also added the sticker sheet from Fern & Willard.

Here are the scraps that I pulled for this month:

Our focus item for October is ephemera and this is what I added to my kit:

I was smart and instead of pulling all new ephemera, I pulled the ephemera pieces that I have added to my bashket over the last several months to see if I could get some more of it used up and the pieces to the right I came across while I was looking for bashket items. I have a couple of little candy dishes scattered about my room that are full of ephemera pieces, stickers, and cut apart pieces that were not used and not put away. I pulled out the pieces I thought I might use this month and added them to my kit. 

Here are my 10 bashket items for October:

1 - chipboard alphas from Studio G

2 - crocheted flowers

3 - label stickers

4 - wood pieces from Elles Studio

5 - candy puffy stickers

6 - puffy heart stickers from My Mind's Eye

7 - Rub-ons from Deja Views from 2004. I have no idea if they will even work, but I'll give them a try!

8 - Doodlebug Halloween stickers from an old kit from The ScrapRoom

9 - Puffy stickers from Amy Tangerine (I see that I really need to use puffy stickers more!)

10 - label stickers from Pink Paislee from 2014

A lot of these bashket items could be used with my kit this month - which I really hope to do! Maybe that will keep my bashket from overflowing.

That is it! Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog to see the beautiful kit that she has created for this month. 

This is a just-for-fun challenge, but if you do 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, and link it below.

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 - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2023

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter