Saturday, October 4, 2025

Sketch N Scrap's WCMD Sketch #1

 Hello, hello! Happy Saturday to you! It's the first Saturday of October, and that means it's World Card Making Day! We are celebrating all month long at Sketch N Scrap with a new card sketch every Saturday.

Here is the first card sketch of the month:


I love everything about this sketch and have already added it to my favorites to be used again. And again. And again!

Here is my card:


I found a few pieces and some scraps of this Garland collection from Scenic Route (oh, how I miss them!), and I knew it was time to use them! I have enough left over for a few more cards and maybe a layout or two, so you may see this paper popping up on my projects in the near future!

The background of the dotty paper is not quite white, but a very light cream, and that made it a little difficult to match. I got around that by brushing a little bit of Close To My Heart's Bamboo ink all over a piece of white cardstock, and it was the perfect color!

The sentiment stamp is one of my favorites from the Hero Arts Lower Case Greetings stamp set. The tree is from Close To My Heart's Oh, What Fun stamp set. I popped it up on foam tape for some dimension. I finished it off with a few gold gems to take up some of the empty space.

My first Christmas card for the upcoming season is done!

Be sure to stop by the Sketch N Scrap blog 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, too!

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


Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash October Kit Challenge

Hello again! If you are looking for my Counterfeit Kit Challenge post, please scroll down to the next post!


I am back with my second post of the day! October is kicking off with all of the scrappy goodness around here! This time, I am back with the kit I created for 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.

Here is the October recipe:


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

I really expected to go full-on fall for my kit, but I am just not feeling the fall vibes right now. Probably because we are still in the mid-80s and it's looking to stay that way for the next couple of weeks. So, I decided to pull some papers that I found when I was reorganizing my papers a couple of months ago, which I have been hoarding for years! I think it's time these old papers got put to use!

Here is my kit:


All of these papers are from Cosmo Cricket - The Early Bird Collection, The Social Club Collection, and the Garden Variety Collection. I love the beautiful colors in all of these papers!

Here's a closer look at the papers:


That floral paper on the front row is my favorite of all of these papers! I may have to fussy cut some of those flowers out if I can bring myself to do that! It's just so pretty!

Here is a look at the embellishments:


If these collections had embellishments, I must not have bought any of them because the papers are all I have in my stash. I pulled a few ephemera pieces that matched the colors and were things I thought I'd be able to use easily, but I will have to grunge some of the pieces up because some of them are stark white!

I also added in a few wood pieces, enamel dots, brads, and a few flowers.

Here are a few stamp sets I pulled to help out in the embellishing department, if I need them:


I thought a few of the flower stamps would work well.

And, here are the scraps that I pulled:


That is my kit! I just hope I can bring myself to use those pretty papers!

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 wonderful day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Guest Designing at Counterfeit Kit Challenges!

Hello, everyone, and Happy October 1st! I can't believe it is already October. I'm pretty sure summer just started last week!

I am super excited to share that I am guest designing at Counterfeit Kit Challenges this month! A big thank you to Tina and the rest of the design team for having me back as a guest designer. 

The inspiration kit for this month is Not Just For Boys Kit Club's - Journey the World Deluxe Theme Kit. Not Just For Boys offers up beautiful kits every month, so be sure to go over and check them out! Here is a look at the inspiration kit: 






 I was a little nervous when I saw that the inspiration kit was a travel kit. We are homebodies and rarely go on more than a day trip now and then. I thought I might have to go rogue with my kit! But, I decided what better time to scrap a few of the photos from Matthew's first international trip from earlier this year, so I embraced the travel theme and went for it! 

My kit is a bit more colorful than the inspiration kit, but I do have similar patterns in my kit.

Here is a look at my kit:


I was a little surprised at how many travel collections I had in my supplies! For someone who doesn't travel, I have quite a few.

Here are the papers I picked for my kit:


I have papers from Simple Stories, Pink Paislee, and Echo Park. 


I don't have many travel embellishments aside from the sticker sheets from the collections, so I have added in quite a few cut-apart papers to help out with embellishing. I see a lot of fussy cutting this month!

Here are a few of the travel sticker sheets I found in my supplies:


Not everything will be usable, but there are quite a few stickers that can be used.


I also found a couple of roller phrase stamps and other travel-related stamps that will work, and I pulled a few wood pieces, enamel dots, and flair pieces for my kit.

I thought these cut-aparts from an old Simple Stories collection could be cut up for embellishments, or used as is:


For more about this month's inspiration kits, head on over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenges blog.

Here is the list of the hop participants. Be sure to check them all out!

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

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Made With Love

 Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! We are getting closer and closer to the weekend, and I can't wait for it!  The weather is supposed to be beautiful, and we just may see if we can get out and enjoy it!

Today I am sharing a layout I made for the floral-patterned paper challenge at Lasting Memories - LM #768. I really wish I'd had more time to play along with all of their challenges this month since they were all about patterned paper!

Here is my layout for the challenge:


I had this floral-patterned paper in my kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash for this month, and was happy to get it used up. 

The photos are of my sister, Amy, who shares my love of cross-stitching. She always has a stitchy project going, and I am so lucky to be the recipient of some of her beautiful work. I have several pieces she has stitched for me up in my house, and being a stitcher myself, I know how much time goes into each piece. I am so happy we have that hobby to share in.

I will add some journaling onto the tag that is behind the photos on the right side of the layout.

For this layout, I have used the September 1st sketch from Sketch N Scrap:


I had so much fun with this sketch!

Here are a couple of close-ups:


I was so happy to see some embroidery floss on the sticker sheets I had included in my stash bash kit for this month!


These alpha stickers have been lying on the side of my desk for months! They are from Sweetwater, so I am sure they are at least 20 years old. Funny thing is, they had more sticky on the back than most of my newer stickers!


How lucky that I found this little stitchy die-cut in my supplies?! It is perfect for this layout!

Be sure to check out the fun challenges at Lasting Memories! I believe they will have a new theme and a new set of challenges starting Sunday. I know I will be checking them out and playing along when I can.

Be sure to check out the sketch challenges at Sketch N Scrap, too! I would love to see your take on the sketch, too.

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

Monday, September 15, 2025

I'm A Crafty Girl - Sketch N Scrap's Mid-Month Throwback Sketch Challenge

Hello, hello! Happy Monday to you! I can't believe we are halfway through the month of September! After having a couple of weeks of beautiful fall-like weather, we are back to summer with 90s for highs and still no rain. To be fair, it is still summer for another week, so I shouldn't be complaining! I'm sure it won't be long before I'm wishing for hot temps again!

The middle of the month means it's time for the mid-month Throwback Sketch Challenge at Sketch N Scrap. Here is a look at the sketches we have to choose from:

I chose sketch #260 for my layout:


For my layout, I have used a couple of papers from my counterfeit kit and scraps, and embellishments from my Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash kit for this month.

These photos of Ada have been taken throughout this year at different times when she was being crafty. She is a crafty girl, for sure, and that makes me so happy! I love that she has so many things she likes to do and always has more than one project going at the same time - just like me!

The first photo is of her making bracelets, the second photo is of her working in her sketch book, and the last photo is of her sewing that would turn into a keychain. If she doesn't know how to do something, she will look it up online, and if she still can't figure it out, she generally asks me. We can usually get it figured out!

Here are a couple of close-ups:


I love that I put the "hey" die cut in my kit this month. I think it works perfectly to say - "Hey! Crafty girls rock!" - and then have the title of "I'm a crafty girl."

Here's a close-up of the title/journaling:


Be sure to stop by the Sketch N Scrap blog to see more inspiration from the design team

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

Sunday, September 14, 2025

Life Right Now - Sketch N Scrap September Crop Challenge #3

Hello again! I am trying to get back into this blogging thing and make a couple of catch-up posts! I am so out of practice! 

I am back to share the layout I made for Sketch N Scrap's September Crop Challenge #3. This is our small-format challenge sketch, and I took the opportunity to make a layout in my traveler's notebook for a change. I've been doing more in my 6x8 albums, so it was nice to get back to a traveler's notebook.

Here's a look at the sketch:


Even though this is a small-format sketch, you can adapt it to any size you like. 

Here's a look at my layout:


I don't do these 'currently' type layouts of myself nearly enough! I would like to try to do one a few times each year - maybe at the change of every season would be a good time to do this!

I used my September kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash for this layout. 

Here is a look at the full layout:


And a couple of close-ups:


I love putting my stamps to use! I have so many in my supplies, and it feels good to use three different ones on this layout!


I used the right side for my "currently" list - which I forgot to get a close-up of! I thought he striped paper would work perfectly for the list-style journaling. I stamped an ing word on each stripe and filled it in. I think it will be fun to look back on and see what I was into at the time.

I am also joining in the polka dot challenge at Lasting Memories - LM #766. I haven't played along with any challenges in a long time, and joining in a patterned paper challenge seemed like the perfect time to join in!

Head on over to the Sketch N Scrap Monthly Challenges private Facebook group to see all of the September Crop Challenges and to see the beautiful work in the albums.

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

Playing along with Counterfeit Kit Challenges!

 Hello, everyone! Happy Sunday to you! I'm popping in today to share the kit I created for Counterfeit Kit Challenges this month. I really liked the "kit" they were counterfeiting this month, and decided to play along with them.

Here is the kit they have chosen for us to counterfeit:


I actually have this collection in my stash, but when I bought it, I bought it for the cut-apart cards, which are perfect for my project life layouts. I did like the other side of all the papers, so I thought this was the perfect time to go through my stash, find similar papers, and create a kit.

Here is what I came up with:


Here are  the papers:


I went a little brighter with some of the colors. I substituted different patterns for a couple of the papers, but overall, it's a pretty close match, and more importantly, I am happy with my choices and excited to use up some older papers!

I leaned heavily into the project life theme and pulled lots of embellishments that would work well in my project life albums:


I also pulled a few sticker books and my trusty box of odds and ends to add to my kit:


This kit will work well with my September kit for Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash, so you may see some combining of my kits this month!

Check out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog for more inspiration for this month's kit.

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

Monday, September 1, 2025

Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash September Kit Challenge


Happy Monday and Happy September 1st! My goodness! It's been a while since I made one of these posts. I almost forgot how to do it! After a little break from the stash bash, Lisa and I are back with a new 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 a look at the September recipe:


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

As I said before, I had almost forgotten how to pull a kit together! I was a bit rusty! I've been reorganizing my paper, so everything I have is fresh in my mind, and that made it hard for me to know what I wanted to do. So many choices! So many great papers and collections that I had forgotten I even had. I was a bit overwhelmed. When I reorganized, I came across a couple of free layout kits from Scrapbook Generation from back in the day. These have been in my stash for years, so I thought maybe I would start with those. 

Also, while organizing, I started a box of papers that were stragglers - those couple of papers that were left from a collection, or those few papers that were left from a kit from The ScrapRoom, etc. I came across a few that got me excited, and it finally clicked! My kit came together quickly, and I am so excited to start using it.

Here is my kit:


Here is a look at the papers in my kit:


The papers that got this kit started were the blue dot, black floral, and pinkish-red paper in the front row. They were from an old ScrapRoom kit, and the rest of the papers are from my stragglers box.

Here are my embellishments for the month:


12x12 sticker sheets with a variety of themes.


Alphabet sticker sheets.


And a few random embellishments and dies that I would like to use this month.

Here are the scraps I pulled:


And I went ahead and added the remnants from his kit:


The colors work well with my kit, and I would really like to get them used!

The one area I didn't do well in is the focus item -  tags. I had my kit pulled before I remembered I needed to add tags. I was not about to redo it, so I decided I would pull out my neglected tag dies and make my own tags this month:


And I did not forget about my original idea. I went ahead and included the two-page kits from Scrapbook Generation - a summer-themed page kit and a birthday page kit:


All these kits really need are the photos.

That's it! Along with a couple of traditional 12x12 layouts, I would like to make a couple of layouts in my traveler's notebooks and my 6x8 albums. Here's to a productive month!

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!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter