Me and my randomness

So, I guess you could say that I am spending my day getting caught up on my blog! I thought while I was at it I would post the other two layouts that I have done for my 30 in 30 Challenge this month. Now maybe from here on out I can post them in the order that I make them!
This first one is layout of my sweet, sweet nieces, Allie and Baylie and it is my third layout for 30 in 30.

It was made following two different challenges. Rach's recipe from Colorful Creations was to use ric rac, stitching, a minimum of 2 photos, journaling, metal (staples), and to fussy cut one element (flowers). I have not used my sewing machine in ages, so it was fun to get it out and sew a little! The fussy cut flowers...they were a pain to cut out, but I really like how this turned out!
I also used it for the pre September challenge #1 over at Scrap-Friendzy. They had posted a layout that we were to use to inspire our layout. I used the overall design of their layout and the color pink.



This second layout was made using a sketch from one of the Back to School Crop challenges over at My Scraps and More a couple of weeks ago and is my #7 layout for my 30 in 30. Again I used some old photos of the boys that I've been wanting to scrap, but just never got around to doing. I love seeing those sweet "little" boy faces. They are both so big now!

Now I am all caught up  and I hope I can keep up from here on out!

I was featured!

I got an email from Let's Scrap on Monday telling me that this layout that I made using their 9-12-12 sketch was one of the featured layouts! (Click on the photo for a larger view.) I was so excited! This was the first time that I have participated in any of their challenges, and then this was a featured layout! How cool! I was also able to enter it into the pre Sept. Challenge #3 over at Scrap-Friendzy. That challenge was to use at least 2 different border punches on your layout and I used a total of 3. And lastly, it was also made for Deborah's summer vacation challenge over at Inspired to Scrap. We were to make a layout about what we did over the summer. I thought the last hoorah of summer for us would work for this one!

This is my #5 and 6 layouts for the 30 in 30 challenge. I love that a double page spread counts as 2! This layout is about our Labor Day fun at Bennett Springs. We decided to take the kids down to Bennett to walk the trails and maybe let them get in the water. Shane loved it! With the drought this year, the river was pretty shallow. I think at the deepest point where we were at it never came much above their knees. Shane would not hardly let go of Abby's hand (it was a little slippery!) and there were a couple of times when I thought they were both going to go down! I absolutely love the big picture of the 3 of them holding hands. It means so much to me to see Abby and Matthew taking care of their brother. (More on that in another layout!) 

This time we walked a different trail than the one we normally walk. It was really pretty and in places got really narrow. Shane never watches where he's going. He's either looking straight ahead or all around him. Scott just happened to turn around and grab his hand - right when Shane stepped off the side of the trail and about went into the river! I thought for sure the fishermen were going to have to "fish" him out of the water, but Scott was able to pull him back up and out of the hole. I'm pretty sure we heard a couple of the fishermen give a chuckle! 

It was a really fun day and a perfect way to spend the last summer holiday!

Sept. Sketch Challenge at SNC

Here is my layout for the sketch challenge over at Scrappin' - N - Chattin' this month. I really like this sketch and I'm sure I'll use it again! This is also layout #8 for my 30 in 30 challenge this month. Yeah, I know, this is only #8 and it's already the 19th?! So, I'm slow, and I've been working on Marilyn's album, but I'm only trying to use layouts of my family for this challenge. And I do have a couple of double page spreads planned out and ready to go - just need to sit down and do them. So, I have no doubt that I will get my 30 in 30 by the end of the month! Enough rambling!

I am  so happy that I finally got around to making this layout! The photos are of Matthew from 2004. 2004! Has it really been that long ago? I can't believe how fast time goes by. I can't believe that Matthew was 6 in these photos and now he is almost 15!

The journaling on here reads:
In the middle of game night, Matthew, out of the blue, asked Abby if he could use some of her fertilizer. What he really was asking for was her hand sanitizer!  Too funny!

My Sweet Boy

Here is this weeks sketch from Sketch Inspiration.

I was really excited to see the big banner pieces behind the photo - they are just so fun - and a great way to use up some scraps, too. I flipped the sketch to make it work with this photo.

Supplies - Kraft Cardstock - CTMH, patterned paper - Echo Park - This and That Charming collection, buttons - Making Memories, alphas - Jenni Bowlin  brown chalkboard

I was going through some old photo albums this weekend and found this old photo of Shane when he was about a year and a half old. I just love that sweet little face! I cannot believe that he is 12 now, taller than me and turning into a fine young man.

Kelsey's New Bike

One of the challenges over at Colorful Creations this month is to use white and purple only on your layout. I am not a purple lover at all, and generally stay away from even buying purple paper, but when I saw these photos of Kelsey, I knew they would be perfect for this challenge. I've had these papers in my stash for a long time...we're talking over 5 years - so it felt good to finally get to use them.

Nerds

I am participating in the 30 in 30 challenge this month and I am finally starting to get some layouts done! This is layout #1 this month.

This first layout is of Scott, Abby and Matthew when they went to see the Avengers back in May. They were all excited to see this movie (Abby's a Thor fan) and decided to all wear Marvel t-shirts to it. They even did their best superhero pose for me when I took their picture.

I used a pattern from the new CTMH - Make It From Your Heart book and all supplies are from CTMH:

Superhero Paper Pack

Cranberry Ink

E1021 - Trinity Alphabet

Back to school crop...

this weekend at My Scraps and More. Tons of challenges and inspiration all weekend long. I am ready to get my scrap on!

Final card for SNC's Christmas Card Challenge

Today was the final day of Scrappin'-N-Chattin's Christmas card challenge. I cannot believe that I stuck with it all month long and now I have 30 Christmas cards all ready to be sent out the first of December. Today's prompt was to "lift" any of the cards in the Christmas card challenge folder - even your own. I had a really hard time deciding on which one I wanted to lift, there are some pretty great cards in there. In the end I chose this one by Sue:

I really liked the strips and I had a "Joy" rub-on that I knew would be perfect for this. Then when I tried to use the rub-on, I guess I had let it set too long in my stash and it wouldn't "rub-on" to the paper. So I decided to stamp the word "Joy" on it instead.

I am pretty pleased with how this one turned out. I used some Authentique scraps from another card I had made this month and I used the retired Homestead alphabet for the letters. Another pretty quick and easy card to make!

SNC's Day 29 Christmas Card Challenge

I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day for the Christmas Card Challenge over at Scrappin'-N-Chattin'. To be quite honest I am getting a little sick of making Christmas cards, but I know I will be very happy to have them once the holiday season hits and I'm not in a panic trying to get them done! Today's prompt was anything goes. I made a very quick card using some older paper from CTMH's Evensong collection. Another plain and simple card, but I really like the way this turned out!

Day 28 SNC Christmas Card Challenge

supplies -  Cardstock - white daisy and crystal blue - CTMH,, Ink - crystal blue - CTMH, Embossing Folder - snowflakes - Provo Craft, white ribbon

Here is my card for day 28 of the Christmas card challenge over at Scrappin'-N-Chattin'. The prompt for this one was to use snowmen or snowflakes and wet or dry embossing. I decided to dig out my Cuttlebug and my snowflake embossing folder and put it to use. I embossed 2 pieces of white cardstock, then trimmed one of them down just so it would be a little smaller than the card base. I inked just the edges with some crystal blue ink. I trimmed down the other embossed piece and then sponged the ink over the entire front to sort of help the embossing stand out. I matted it on another piece of cardstock and added it to the card base,  trying to match up the design in the embossing. Added a piece of satin ribbon and called it done!