Chillin' With You - Sketch N Scrap May 15th Throwback Sketch Challenge

Hello, hello! Happy Thursday to you! I hope you are having a good week. It is starting to feel a little more like summertime with temps in the upper 70s and 80s, and I couldn't be happier! 

It's the middle of the month, and that means it is time for Sketch N Scrap's mid-month throwback sketch challenge. Here is a look at the sketches we have to choose from:

I chose throwback sketch #106 for my layout:

Guys! Guess what?! I have used almost every bit of this boy-themed layout kit from my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit for this month, and I made two 12x12 layouts with it! The only thing that is left is scraps and the sticker sheet. I am so happy to get it all used.

This photo is of me and Shane from back in 2016 when he actually liked taking photos! It's so funny because he loves to look at pictures when I have them out - especially pictures with him in them, but for the last few years, when the camera comes out, he hollers "Not yet!" and runs the other direction! Nowadays, I have to get pretty creative to get him in a photo - and he's usually not looking at the camera! #becauseautism

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I smooshed some ink around on the white cardstock and then added some stamped stars around the layout. I found vellum stars in my stash, which were the perfect colors. I sprinkled them around the stamped star clusters. I added some wood veneer pieces and finished it all off with a few phrase stickers. 

Head on over to the Sketch N Scrap blog for more inspiration all month long. I hope you find some time to play along!

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

Cousins - Sketch N Scrap's 13th Bday's Bash Sketch #1

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope your weekend is off to a good start. It's looking like it's going to be a beautiful one here in SW Missouri. I think we will be spending lots of time outside enjoying it!

We are celebrating Sketch N Scrap's 13th birthday with a new sketch every Saturday in May, and since last week was iNSD, that means today is the first of four new birthday bash sketches.

Here is a look at the sketch:

And this is what I came up with:

This is my second layout for Sketch N Scrap this month, and the second layout that is a "then and now" type of layout! I didn't intend for it to be that way; those were just the photos that were speaking to me.

This layout is about the special bond Shane has with his cousin, JT. JT has always looked past Shane's autism to see Shane for who he is. Shane has always gravitated towards JT because of that. He has never been afraid to rough-house and play with Shane. Even though Shane has a hard time communicating, JT seems to understand what he needs. I wish more people could see Shane like JT does. It is definitely a special bond.

The photo on the left was taken in 2008, and the one on the right was taken on Easter this year. It had been a long time since Shane had seen JT, and before we left Shane walked up to JT, ready for a big bear hug and a bit of rough-housing. 

I will add some hidden journaling talking about the special bond these two have behind the photos or one of the paper layers.

I used one of the layout kits that I put together for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash this month. I'm pretty sure I cut into every paper in the kit, used some of the stickers, and the metal star dies that were in my kit. There's not much to put back in my stash, and that makes me so happy!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I printed off the "a special bond" phrase on a piece of vellum on the computer and layered it over the alpha stickers.

Lots of stars on this layout, but JT is definitely a star in our book!

Be sure to check out Sketch N Scrap for inspiration all month long.

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

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash May Kit Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy May 1st to you! My goodness, this year is going by fast! 

It's time for a new Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit challenge! 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

May is going to be super busy, scrappy-wise, with iNSD and Sketch N Scrap's 13th Birthday celebration, so my kit for this month is full of layout kits to help me get lots of scrapping done!

Here is a look at the May recipe:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and for May, our focus item is flowers.

Instead of one big coordinating kit, I have made not one, not two, not three, but four layout kits! And I made sure to shop some of my older stash to get it used this month!

Here is layout kit #1:

This kit consists of Cocoa Vailla's No Limits collection. This is all that I have left of this collection, and I would love to use it up this month! I don't have many coordinating embellishments, so I have pulled some star dies, star stamps, and a sheet of puffy stickers. There are a couple of stickers on there that I think I can use for the layout I have in mind.

Here is layout kit #2:

This kit is made up of a few different collections. The dandelion paper came from a "Best Of" paper pad that I picked up from Dollar General a couple of years ago. I'm not sure what collection it is originally from, but this paper pad had a variety of older American Crafts collections in it. The yellow stripe and navy and light blue paper are from an older Pink Paislee collection, and the tone-on-tone navy is from One Canoe Two's Goldenrod collection. The green is from my scrap pile. No embellishments to go along with these papers, so I pulled out a couple of stamp sets. I know I will need more, but this will get me started!

Here is layout kit #3:

The purple papers in this kit came from another one of those paper pads from Dollar General, and all of the black and white papers came from a Die Cuts With a View paper pad. I pulled some flowers - our focus item this month - a couple of stamp sets and metal dies for the embellishments. I am going to have to get creative this month!

Here is layout kit #4:

This kit has two papers from Fancy Pants' The Bright Side collection, a paper from Jillibean Soup, one from The Paper Studio, and a piece of cardstock. I did add in a couple of scraps I had on my desk from last month. More metal dies and a floral stamp for embellishments.

Here is a photo of all of the stamp sets and metal dies I have pulled to help me out this month. The stamp sets are all from Close To My Heart and have good phrase stamps, icon stamps, and stamps that will go on just about any layout.

I am also keeping these boxes of random goodness out with my kit: 

I am sure I will find some things that will work with the layouts I plan on making this month!

I already have photos and sketches picked out for these kits and am ready to have some scrappy fun this month. If I need more scrappy kits, I will pull in some of my past Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kits that I haven't broken down and put back in my stash.

Be sure to head on over to Lisa's blog - My Creative Endeavors - to see the fabulous 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! I hope you have a wonderful day!

It's A Celebration!

Hello, hello! I wanted to pop on here and let you know that May is going to be a month of celebrations! Not only will we celebrate iNSD on the first Saturday of the month, but we will be celebrating Sketch N Scraps 13th Birthday all month long in May. That means that Sketch N Scrap will be sharing a new sketch every Saturday in May for a total of 5 new scrapbook sketches in addition to their new sketch on the 1st and 5th, and the throwback sketches on the 15th and 20th!

I hope you are able to join in on the fun!

 

Sketch N Scrap's April 15th Throwback Challenge

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

It's (already) the middle of the month and time for Sketch N Scrap's Throwback Sketch Challenge. Here are the throwback sketches we have to choose from:

And I chose the 11th Birthday Bash Sketch #3 for my layout:

I guess with Easter coming up this weekend, I was in the mood to work on Easter photos! These photos are of Ada with her Easter basket in 2022.

I came across this cute bunny paper from Jillibean Soup a couple of weeks ago when I was going through some of my overflow of paper, and I immediately pulled a few coordinating papers for a layout. I just had to pick what pictures I was going to use. It was so nice when I sat down to work on this layout and had my papers ready to go!

Here are a few close-ups:

 I didn't have any embellishments that went with this paper, so I had to get creative! Lots of fussy cutting those cute bunnies and putting my metal dies to use!

I just received the Elle's Studio Office Tabs stamp in the mail, and a few of the phrases were perfect for this layout!

Head on over to the Sketch N Scrap blog to see more inspiration from the design team. 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 April Crop Challenge #3

 Hello, hello! Happy Sunday to you! I hope you are having a good weekend. It has been beautiful weather here, and lots of time has been spent outside. Today is supposed to be another gorgeous day with a high of 80. I am loving this weather!

It's time for Sketch N Scrap's April Crop Challenge #3. This is our smaller format sketch, but you can make it any size you want! Here is a look at the sketch:

I have made a 6x8 layout of Ada for her school album:

I originally planned on making her school album in a traveler's notebook and only include her first and last day of school photos, her actual school photos, and her spring photos, but as the years have gone on I have realized that there are a lot of other things I want to include, so I am changing over to a 6x8 - where I have the option of including pocket pages when needed.

This photo is of this year's spring photo. She just got them back a week or so ago, and I couldn't wait to scrap it! I used the Splendid collection from Paige Evans. I included the flower pack in this month's Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit and just recently discovered that I had the 12x12 paper pad. I purchased it at Tuesday Morning right before they closed their stores, brought it home, added it to my stash, and forgot about it! I bought the ephemera and flower packs at my local scrapbook store right around Christmastime, not even realizing I had the 12x12 paper pad at home! I bought them because they went well with the Vicki Boutin Bright and Bold collection! Serendipity!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

The center of this flower was a color not on my layout, so I stamped the "you're pretty awesome" and punched it out with my circle punch. Problem solved! 

I stamped three cameras for each cluster, adding puffy hearts to two and another stamp to the other. I found a number strip in my supplies and circled the number five since she is in the fifth grade this year. I will add the details, like the teachers' names and friends, before I add it to her album. 

Be sure to check out Sketch N Scrap's Monthly Challenges group on Facebook to see all of this month's crop challenges. I hope you find some time to play along with us.

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

Lisa and Lori's Great Stash Bash April Challenge

 

Hello, everyone! Happy Tuesday and Happy April 1st! Ahh, April! The days are getting warmer, the grass is getting greener, and the leaves and flowers are [finally] starting to make an appearance! Spring is here! 

 It's been a while since I have been around here! I would like to say that is all going to change this month, but I can't be for certain. I will try my best to share more. 

I didn't get as much done with my kit last month, so I will keep it out a little longer to see if I can maybe make another layout or two with it. I had big plans for it, just not the time to see them all through!

Let's get on with this month's Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash Challenge, shall we?  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 April:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and for March, our focus item is enamel dots/bling.

Here is my kit for April:

For April, I have pulled Vicki Boutin's Bold and Bright collection. I have been hanging onto this collection since before Christmas, and those bold, bright colors are just what I am wanting to play with this month. 

Here is a closer look at the papers:

And the "B" sides are just as fun and could possibly be used on a project:

Here are the embellishments:

I pulled the 6x12 sticker sheet and ephemera pack from the same collection, a couple of embellishment packs from Paige Evans's Splendid collection. a few random bits that caught my eye and I thought I might be able to use, a pack of alpha stickers that I am going to try to do my best to use because they are starting to fall off of the sheet, and our focus item enamel dots/bling.

Here are the scraps that I pulled:

The bold, bright colors reminded me of Bella Blvd, so I raided my Bella Blvd scraps for this month's kit. Not everything will match, but I am going to see what I can make work!

Hey, look at that! I actually stuck with the recipe this time! I have so many ideas for this kit and I cannot wait to get started with it!

Be sure to head on over to Lisa's blog - My Creative Endeavors - to see the fabulous 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! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Sketch N Scrap's March 15th Sketch Challenge

Hello, hello! Happy Saturday to you! We have made it to the weekend and I am so ready for it. 

It's time for the mid-month throwback sketch challenge with a twist at Sketch N Scrap. For this challenge, you are to choose one of the following sketches and add a rainbow to your layout. This can be rainbows on your paper, rainbow striped paper, an embellishment, or a rainbow in your photo.

I chose throwback sketch #229 and rainbow striped paper:

For my layout, I added some paint splatters to the background paper and dry brushed the edges with paint. I switched up the placements of the title and embellishments because I had a bit of empty space on my photo - perfect for my title. It was getting a little lost on the patterned paper, so I just switched it up. 

This photo is of Ada from 2022. It was sprinkling outside when we went to the mailbox - which was the perfect excuse for her to get out her umbrella.

Here are a few close-ups:

I chose "Our Rainy Day Sunshine" for my title because she is definitely our little ray of sunshine every day - rain or shine!

Be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog for more inspiration from the design team. We hope you have some time to play with us!

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

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

Happy Saturday and Happy March 1st! Ahhh - March! The month when we (finally) start having more warm days than cold, the grass starts turning green, and everything feels fresh and new. Bring it on! 

I've been a terrible blogger and Instagrammer lately. I do hope to get back on track in March, and if I don't share here on my blog, I will at least share my projects on Instgram. 

Let's get to my kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash. 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 March:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and for March, our focus item is alphas. As per usual, I have not stuck with numbers here, and I have pulled more papers, more embellishments, and more scraps. That's what usually happens when I am actually pulling from my stash instead of using a collection kit. I go overboard! 

Here is a look at my kit:

I tend to pull my kits with the theme of the month at Sketch N Scrap in mind, and the theme for March is Over The Rainbow. That paired with the fact that when I was pulling my kit together we were sitting at about 0 degrees with 6 or 7 inches of snow, well, I was looking for anything bright and cheery! I just couldn't help myself!

Here is a look at the papers:

 Ooh! Just look at all of those fun, bright, happy colors! We have Pinkfresh, Echo Park, Crate Paper, and Pebbles are represented here, and I can't wait to dive in and play.

Here is a look at the embellishments:

When I am pulling a bunch of random embellishments, I always go a bit overboard. I have die cuts, enamel dot, washi tape, chipboard pieces, label stickers, wood veneer, and word stickers. I should have no trouble finding something to work with any project I make this month! But, that might not be enough so here are a few more things that I pulled:

I've talked about these boxes before - they hold the random little items that I haven't used on a project, or pieces from past kits that I have not put away where they belong. I have pulled two more to work from this month. At the end of the month, whatever I don't use,  I will then add to the color boxes I have sitting on my desk.

And, I wanted to add this cut apart paper and stickers since they match some of the papers in my kit (just in case I might need them!):

Since we are playing with all of the colors of the rainbow, I have added quited the selection of scraps and a few 6x6 papers to my kit. I would really like to use up quite a few of these guys!

Just looking at this pretty little pile of papers makes me smile!

Our focus item for March is alphas and I have pulled a few:

All of these alphas live in a basket that sits by my desk at all times. I should not have any problems finding one to match whatever I am working on.

I am ready to tear into this kit and make lots of pretties this month!

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!

Sketch N Scrap February Throwback Challenge

Hello, hello! It feels like it's been a while since I made a post. Let's see if I can remember how!

It's time for the February 15th Throwback Sketch Challenge with a Twist at Sketch N Scrap. Here are the sketches that we get to choose from:

The twist is an acrostic challenge using the word HEART. We are to pick a scrappy item that begins with each letter in the word heart. Like for 'h' it could be hearts or hexagons, 'e' - enamel dots, embossing folders, Echo Park, etc.

Here is my layout:

I chose sketch #200 and flipped it to make it work better with my photo and I used my February kit for Lisa and Lori's Great Stash Bash. I love this Heartstrings collection from Simple Stories. The colors are so fun and it's not over-the-top Valentine's Day themed. This is a smaller collection with only 6 papers in it and I managed to cut into almost every paper for this layout. I think I may need to pick up another collection kit because I am not done playing with these fun papers!

This photo of Ada showed up in one of my Google Photos memories from February 1, 2019. I can't believe this photo is six years old! I can remember this day just like it was yesterday. I love the look on her face - her eyes staring off into the distance, the hint of a smile - I would love to know what she was daydreaming about!

To satisfy the acrostic challenge, I used - H - hearts, E - enamel dots, A - acrylic pieces, R - red, T - tags.

Here is a close-up of all of the fun goodies:

I had a bit of empty space in the photo and decided to add my title directly to my photo. I really need to remember to leave some empty space on photos more often. It's the perfect space to add a title or fun embellishment. 

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap for more inspiration for this challenge. I hope you have some time to play along!

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