Merry and Bright - Sketch N Scrap's December Crop Challenge #3

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

Today I am sharing the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's December Crop Challenge #3. This is our small-format sketch challenge with a twist. The twist is "Anything Goes." Just use the sketch to create your layout. And even though this is a small-format sketch, you can make any layout size you like! Here is a look at the sketch:

For this layout, I have used papers, chipboard stickers, and puffy stickers from Elle's Studio, stickers from Echo Park, and stamps from Feed Your Craft.

Another story for my 2023 December Daily album! This one is getting closer to being done! This one is documenting Ugly Sweater Day at school for Ada and Abby. I love the fun things they do the week leading up to Christmas break.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Instead of a circle, I added a heart, which led me to move the embellishments up a bit. That and the fact that I wanted to show more of the striped band of paper.

I love the merry and bright stamp from Feed Your Craft. I am so sad they are no longer in business. They always had the best Christmas stamps. The ugly sweater stickers from Echo Park were perfect for this layout. 

Head on over to the Sketch N Scrap Monthly Challenges private Facebook group and check out all of the December challenges. I would love to see you playing along with us this month!

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

Ada's Favorite - Sketch N Scrap #323

 Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! I hope you are having a good week so far. 

Today, I am sharing my take on the December 1st sketch at Sketch N Scrap. Lisa has created a super fun two-photo sketch for us to work with. Here's a look at the sketch:

And here is my layout:

I am still chugging away at my 2023 December Daily album, and I am so happy to be getting these stories done!

For this layout, I have used my December kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash. I really wanted to use that ornament paper, and when I saw I hadn't told the story of Ada's favorite ornament of 2023, I knew that's what I would be using it for. 

Since I'm working in a 6x8 album, I moved the embellishment clusters around.  If I had kept them as they appeared on the sketch, they would have looked like they were stacked on top of each other. I could have scaled down the circles, but I needed the bigger size to fit the ornament embellishment and the title.

Ada had a new favorite ornament in 2023! The little white reindeer won her over, and she declared it her favorite. I love looking back at what her favorites have been each year. 

Here are a few close-ups:

I loved this ornament die-cut and added a gold metallic thread bow to finish it off!

I actually stamped my title for this layout! I have so many stamps, and I always love it when I pull one out to use!

After I added the black ink to the title, I felt like I needed to add a little more black around my layout, so I stamped a few more phrases around my layout.

The accompanying pocket page will have my favorite ornaments and the stories for both pages.

If you haven't checked out the new sketch at Sketch N Scrap this month, head on over and check it out. I would love it if you played along!

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

Lisa and Lori's Great Stash Bash December Kit Reveal

 

Hello, hello! Happy December 1st! December!!! How did we get here so quickly?  The new month means it's time for a new Lisa and 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.

Here is the November recipe:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and the focus item for December - 12x12 sticker sheets.

This is always a busy time of year - Thanksgiving, my granddaughter's birthday, and Christmas - so that means I went the quick and easy route and pulled another collection kit to work from this month.

Here is my kit:

This month, I will be using Simple Stories' Mix and A Mingle collection kit. 

Here is a look at the papers:

And since there is a good chance I will use both sides of any given paper, here is a look at the back sides:

A few of the papers I had immediate ideas on what I wanted to do with them. I just hope I can get them to work the way I want!

Here are the embellishments:

I pulled the tag cut-aparts, the journaling cut-aparts, the 12x12 stickers sheet, the sticker book, the embellishment, and the journal boxes packs, chipboard stars from Studio Calico, a sticker sheet, puffy stickers, and die-cuts from an old Pink Fresh Studios collection that matched really well. 

Even though our focus is on 12x12 sticker sheets, I just pulled the one from the collection. If I could get it mostly used up, I would be ecstatic!

In my quick search of scraps, I did find a few that will match:

Why are reds, pinks, and greens so hard to match the right shade?! 

I kept it easy this month. Since we are in full-on December mode, I had to keep it Christmasy!

Be sure to head 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! I hope you have a great day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tis the Season - Sketch N Scrap November 15th Throwback Sketch Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope your weekend is off to a good start! We have a chance at hitting 80 degrees today, which is crazy for this time of year. 

It's time for the mid-month throwback sketch challenge at Sketch N Scrap today. Here is a look at the four sketches that have been chosen for us to work with:

I chose throwback sketch #116 for my layout:

I've been working on my 2023 December Daily to try and get it completed this year, and Sketch #116 was easy to shrink down for this 6x8 layout of me caught up in the craziness of getting a Starbucks Christmas-themed cup. I mean, doesn't everyone have a little photo shoot with the cup they got because they love the design?!

For this layout, I used the Simple Stories Holly Days collection.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

The puffy sticker is from a Crate Paper Christmas collection, but I can't remember which one. I definitely wanted to play up the cup theme, so I die-cut a few to-go cups from the cup that I had saved from Starbucks. I love how they turned out! I knew saving the actual cup was a good idea.

The label was also on the cup, so I fussy cut it out and added a few word phrase stickers to it. I will add my journaling to a 3x4 or 3x8 card, and it will go into the album alongside the layout. 

Be sure to check out the Sketch N Scrap blog for more inspiration using this month's throwback sketches. I hope you play along with us!

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

Sketch N Scrap November Crop Challenge #3

Hello and Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a good weekend. The weather switch has flipped to winter for a couple of days here. The high temp for the next couple of days is supposed to be the upper 30s... I'm not quite ready for that kind of cold! At least it only lasts for a couple of days, and then we are back to the 60s again.

Today I am sharing the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's November Crop Challenge #3. This challenge can be found at Sketch N Scrap's Monthly Challenges private Facebook group, and this is our small-format sketch challenge. Along with the challenge, there is an added twist. This month's twist is a 5,4,3,2,1 challenge. You need to add 5 of one item, 4 of another item, 3 of another, etc. For example, 5 patterned papers, 4 stickers, 3 enamel dots, 2 hearts, and one photo. Keep reading below to find out what I used on my layout.

Here is a look at the sketch:

I am working on my 2023 December Daily, and this sketch was perfect for one of the stories I wanted to tell. 

I know I say this every time, but I loved working with this sketch! I love that I was able to use so many different papers, and I always love it when a big circle is included! 

To satisfy the challenge, I used 5 patterned papers, 4 sticker-backed brads, 3 gift stickers, 2 hearts, and 1 photo.

This story is of the day I took Shane to pick out his wrapping paper. We have been doing this for several years, and it is one of the things he looks forward to most during the holiday season. We were later than usual this particular year, but he had no trouble picking out a couple of rolls! 

I will pair this layout with a pocket page that will hold more photos and the story.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

The "I (heart) the holidays" sticker and "a (heart) full of cheer" sticker were perfect for the title. Shane loves Christmas so much and talks about it all year long!

I used the Simple Stories Make It Merry collection for this layout. I love, love, love this collection, and while it was hard to cut into some of my favorite papers, I am so happy to have them on this layout.

Here is how it looks paired with the pocket page:

Be sure to check out the private Facebook group for all of our November crop challenges. You can find it here - Sketch N Scrap's Monthly Challenges.

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

Fall Is Here - Sketch N Scrap #322

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday to you! 

I am popping in today to share the layout I made using the November 1st sketch at Sketch N Scrap. Here is a look at the sketch:

This is a great 3-photo sketch!

Here is what I came up with:

For this layout, I used my November kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash. The papers I'd included in my fall layout kit were perfect for these photos of Abby and Ada in front of our pretty maple trees. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

For my title piece, I used a 3x4 cut-apart card that I cut down into a square. I was going to embellish the empty space, but nothing looked right, so I left it alone. I think it is perfect the way it is!

I had included these phrase die-cuts from Pretty Little Studio in my kit. The colors matched really well, and they served well for a bit of "journaling" on my layout. 

I had a little trouble with this last embellishment area. I was limited on embellishments from my kit, but I wanted to try to stick with what I had in my kit instead of digging into my other supplies. I finally settled on die-cutting a doily to hold the who and when, and called it good.

I find I always have trouble with embellishing when I use a patterned paper for the background. Everything I try just makes my layout feel busy, so it's another layout with minimal embellishments. That seems to be happening more often for me here lately! 

Be sure to check out Sketch N Scrap to see the sketch and how the design team used it for their layouts.

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

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash November Kit Challenge

 

Happy Saturday and Happy November 1st! Can you believe that it is November?! The holidays will be here before we know it. 

The start of a new month means Lisa and I have a new kit challenge for you! 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 November recipe:

To create your kit, pull 10 papers, 3-4 embellishments, 5-7 scrap papers, and the focus item for November - stamps.

It's that time of year when I have all the feels going on! Fall is in full swing, Halloween just happened, and Christmas is on its way. I couldn't decide which way I wanted to go. I was really leaning toward a Christmas-only kit because I want to finish my December Daily from 2023, but I had a few fall and Halloween photos I wanted to scrap, so I decided to do all three. A layout kit for fall, a layout kit for Halloween, and a mega kit for Christmas!

Here is my fall layout kit:

This is what I had left over from a Flavors of the Month kit from The ScrapRoom. I love this collection and even have the complete 12x12 collection in my supplies, but this month I am concentrating on using up what is left of this kit.

Here are the papers:

And the other side, since there is a chance I will be using both sides:

The scraps:

The embellishments:

I added in a few die-cuts and stickers from an old Pinkfresh collection, a fall sticker book, and some random fall ephemera pieces that I thought I might find something that works.

Here is my Halloween kit:

I have photos of the new Halloween decorations I got this year that I want to make a layout of. I'm just not sure if it will be 12x12 or a small format layout. I may be able to scrap some of Ada's Halloween photos, too.

Now, for my big kit - my Christmas kit:

For this kit, I pulled the Simple Stories Make it Merry collection. It will work beautifully with the Elle's Studio goodies I have been using in my 2023 December Daily.

Funny story - when I went to pull out my current December Daily I have been working on, I truly thought it was from last Christmas! As I was looking through what I had completed, I saw the page of Ada's birthday party, and it was her 10th birthday. I thought I had messed up and put the wrong age on the layout because Ada will be 12 this year, but when I got to looking, it was 2023's December Daily! I haven't even started 2024 yet! That's how fast time is going for me!  

Here is a look at the papers:

I have two of the collection kits, so this is showing the front and back of each paper, along with the sticker sheet. So much goodness right there!

Here are the embellishments:

 

Our focus item for December is stamps, and you should know how much I love my stamps, so I pulled quite a few sets to have out on my desk this month:

I added in a few stamp sets I can use for cards, and the rest will all be used in my December Daily. 

This is a big kit and will stay out through Christmas of this year, at least!

I can't wait to dive into all of these goodies!

Be sure to head 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! I hope you have a great day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sketch N Scrap WCMD Sketch #4

 Happy Saturday! I can't believe that this time next week it will be November 1st! October has flown by for me, and if November follows suit, then the holidays will be here in the blink of an eye!

Today is the last Saturday of October, and that means it's time for our last exclusive WCMD card sketch at Sketch N Scrap. We have been celebrating World Card Making Day all month long with a new card sketch every Saturday this month. Here is the last card sketch of the month:

Such a fun sketch to get us started!

Here is what I came up with:

I found a few scraps from an old Echo Park collection - This and That - Girl - that I had put together to make a project or two to get what was left of the collection used up. This is my first project with those scraps!

The red floral paper is one of my all-time favorite papers, and I had less than half a sheet left. It was hard to use the majority of it on this card, but I love how it turned out, and I still have a scrap big enough to use on a traveler's notebook or small-format layout. 

The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts stamp set that I use a lot! It has so many good sentiments in the set. Some of the stamps are starting to lose some of their cling, so a good cleaning of them may be in order. I hope it works!

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap to see the sketch and more inspiration from the design team. I hope you find some time to play along with us! I would love to see your take on the sketch

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

So This is Finland - Counterfeit Kit Challenge #1

Hello and Happy Sunday! 

It's time for the first challenge at Counterfeit Kit Challenge. For this first challenge, Tina is challenging us to use globes on our layouts. Here is what I came up with:

I was so happy I had included that paper with the globes on it in my kit! I also used a stamped globe as an embellishment. 

About the photo - earlier this year, my son took his first vacation abroad. When I found out he had a connecting flight in Finland, I asked him to please get a photo of Finland for me. When I was in junior high, I had a pen pal from Finland. We kept in touch all through our school years and even after we'd both gotten married and started our families. I always thought it would be so cool to see Finland and where she came from. A couple of years ago, I decided to see if I could find her on Facebook. I knew she had moved to Sweden, but that was about it. I did find her, and it has been so cool to reconnect with her after all of these years!

Not only is this photo special for that reason, but my son barely had enough time to get from one plane to the next. He still stopped long enough to get me a photo of Finland.

For this layout, I used a sketch from the October 2025 PageMaps sketches:

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I love how this layout came together!

Be sure to check out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to see how the design team took on this challenge.

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