Cutest Unicorn Cake Ever - Sketch N Scrap Mid-Month Challenge

Happy Friday! I hope your day is off to a good start! It's supposed to be super cold this weekend, which is the perfect reason to stay in and scrap and stitch!

Today I am sharing the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's mid-month sketch challenge with a twist. Here is a look at the throwback sketches we choose from:

I chose to use the first sketch on the graphic - Sketch #48 from January 1, 2014:

The twist for this sketch challenge is to use papers over a year old, and I had the perfect papers in my January kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash. All the papers I have used are from 2018 and 2019, and I'm pretty sure some of the scraps are older than that. I am happy to say that I only have four full sheets of paper left in my kit, and it's only the 17th! 

I love revisiting sketches I have already used and (maybe) changing things up a bit, like I did with this sketch. I omitted one of the photos and added an oversized cluster in its place. I also changed where the other clusters were placed because of this.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I added flowers to the bottom of the heart to mimic the flowers on the cake. I also added a "6" to the heart for Ada's age at the time. I used all of the little colored circle die-cuts and stickers I had left. To be honest, there aren't a lot of stickers left on the sticker sheet that I will use. At the end of the month, I will decide if there are any I know I will use and get rid of the rest. 

The "unicorn" piece in the title was part of a die-cut. I think it said "Ride a unicorn," and I didn't want the whole saying, so I cut off what I wanted and threw away the rest. Gotta make those supplies work the way you want them!

I dug out some Close To My Heart clear gems to add a little sparkle around the clusters.

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap to see which throwback sketch the design team picked for this challenge. I hope you find some time to play along with us!

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

Sketch N Scrap's Card Sketch #281

Happy Tuesday! I am back with a quick post for you today! It's a chilly 18 degrees out this morning and the high is only 25 for today, but the sun is shining and I am hoping it will melt some of the ice off the trees. That sun shining on all of the ice makes everything sparkle like a diamond, which is a great segue into the heart of my post!

Sketch N Scrap is changing things up this year and we have a theme for the month along with a twist to all of our sketch challenges. Our theme for January is "Out with the old, in with the new," and our twist for our first card sketch challenge is - Shiny and New - create a card using the sketch and add something "shiny" to make it look sparkly and new, such as sequins, glitter paper, bling, etc. 

Here is the sketch:

Here is my card:

This is a great sketch and I had fun working with it! For the twist to add something shiny, I added glitter tape and some (very neglected) bling to my card. Both the glitter tape and bling are a little lighter in person, and they really do match the pink in the paper! The sentiment is from Elle's Studio.

I have not done a great job of sending out cards in the past couple of years. I make them with the intention of sending them out, but they usually get placed in a pile and forgotten about. I am going to try really hard to change that this year. After spending a day with my sister I saw how even the smallest thing - a kind word or compliment, even just saying hello to someone you're passing by, OR sending a card to someone you care about just to say hello and let the know how much they mean to you - can affect someone and almost always bring a smile to their face. 

My sister has inspired me to do better! I am not rude when I am out and about, but I am guilty of being in my own little world when I am out shopping. That is mostly due to the fact that I have Shane, who has autism and is on the severe side of the spectrum, with me and I know any time that we are out we have a limited amount of time before he is done, so I am always focused on getting in and out. But, it doesn't take but a second to compliment someone. The same goes for sending out a card - it doesn't take very long to write, "Hi, I am thinking about you!" 

I'm just a little bit excited to get started on this! I bet you can't guess who this card is going to!

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap and join in the challenge!

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

Sketch N Scrap #312 - Adorbs

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope your weekend is off to a good start. We are in the middle of a winter storm warning here and I plan on crafting all weekend long! Doing a little scrapping and a little stitching and keeping my fingers crossed we keep our electricity on!

Today I am sharing the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's January 1st sketch. If you haven't heard, we are changing things up at Sketch N Scrap this year. We are adding "twists" to all of our sketch challenges! 

For our first challenge of the new year Lisa has created a fun 3-photo sketch for us to use with the twist of - Mix it up - use a mix of old and new by using one or more papers that are over 3 years old on your layout with an embellishment that is new (a year old or less) OR use and embellishment over 3 years old and at least one or more papers that are new (a year old or less).

Here is a look at the sketch:

This sketch is going in my favorites folder ASAP! It is definitely one I will use over and over.

Here is my layout:

I have used my January kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash for this layout. For the twist, all of my papers are over 3 years old, and for my new embellishment - my title, the pink camera sticker, and the phrase stickers are all new to my stash.

 One of my goals for this year is to get some of my older photos scrapped, and I knew if I wanted to use the unicorn stickers I have in my kit I would need to scrap some older photos of Ada. She is kind of over the unicorns these days! 

I am so happy to get these photos scrapped and some of my older stash used!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

(I did not realize this photo was so blurry! I will try to remember to take another to replace it!)

Be sure to check out Sketch N Scrap for more inspiration using this sketch.

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

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash January 2025 Kit Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy New Year to each and every one of you! I can't believe it is 2025. The years just keep going by faster and faster!

So, it's been a while since I have posted anything. Life just got so busy at the end of November and I just needed a break. We had Thanksgiving, and Ada's birthday, and then Scott has been on vacation since the middle of December, our heat went out and it took almost two months to get a new system installed (thank goodness we got it installed the week before Christmas), and there was just so much going on that I only made one layout in December. But, even though I have not scrapped much in the last month, I have been cleaning and working on the never-ending job of reorganizing my scrap room, and I am excited to get back to scrapping here in the new year.

Let's get to it! This is the 6th year of Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash challenge and it is one of my favorite challenges ever! If you don't know what this challenge is all about, here's 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 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 January:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and for January, our focus item is cut-apart cards/Project Life style cards.

Here is my kit for January:

While cleaning my scrap room, I came across the remnants of one of my kits from over a year ago. I was going to break it down and put it back in my stash, but I only had 2 full sheets of paper left in the kit. I decided instead to add a few more pieces of paper and make it my kit for January. 

Here are the papers:

These papers are from Crate Paper's Wonder collection, Simple Stories - Oh Happy Day collection, Simple Stories - What's Cooking collection, Simple Stories - Dream Big collection, Dear Lizzy's - Lovely Day collection, Simple Stories - Color Vibe pink textured cardstock, and a few pieces of solid papers from Oh Happy Day.

Here are the embellishments:

Stickers from the Dream Big collection, a few random bits I found while picking up, the Simple Stories True Colors 6x8 paper pad, sticker book, foam stickers, and journaling bits pack.

Here are the scraps:

I had a lot of these scraps with the original kit I had made, and I pulled a few more that I came across while looking for more papers.

I have some pretty basic papers in my kit and I am hoping to use some of these scraps and get them used up!

Our focus item for January is cut-apart cards/Project Life style cards. I have a few cut-apart papers in my scraps, but I have pulled my latest kits from Elle's Studio and Ali Edwards for my focus this month:

I am hoping to get my title page done for this year's Project Life album this month and maybe another layout or two done, as well. 

I am so excited to get this new year of challenges started!

Head on over to Lisa's blog - My Creative Endeavors - to see the beautiful kit she has put together.

Remember - 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 - #lisaandlorisgreatstashbash2025

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

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