April Showers with Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday #266

Hello again! I am back with my third project of the day! If you are looking for my Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style reveal, please go here. If you are looking for my Stick It Down reveal, please go here.

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday has a new sketch posted today, and our optional twist for this sketch is "April Showers".

This is actually the third card that I made using this sketch and the optional theme. The first two that I made I felt they were a little too busy, so I made this one and kept it pretty clean and simple. I really like the way that it turned out, and the more that I look at the other two, I like them just as much! Here are the other two cards:

I made all three of these cards using Echo Park's Sunny Days Ahead 6x6 paper pad. I had purchased a few of these pads when they first came out for another project, and I just really love the colors and patterns!

Check out the Try Stampin' blog to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the team. I hope that you are inspired to play along with us!

Just a few reminders - stamping is optional, the theme is optional, you can enter on the blog, or on the Try Stampin' Facebook page, and you have 2 weeks to enter our challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day!

Thank You With Stick It Down

Hello everyone! I am back again with another project to share with you! If you are looking for my Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Today is reveal day for the card team over at Stick It Down. Here is a reminder of the sketch that was posted on the first:

I really wanted to use washi tape for the strips on this, but I just couldn't get any of the colors I have to work well together! I finally just decided to go with two different papers cut on the diagonal and I like that much better. I decided to go with this label shape instead of an oval, and I actually inked up a stamp for it that I have had for years and maybe used once before!

The papers are from an older My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad called "Quite Contrary - Jack and Jill" that I've had for awhile. I'm trying to work my way through some of these older paper pads that are about used up. I have way too many and it feels good to use up some stash - especially since I recently bought nine more 6x6 paper pads at Tuesday Morning! I just can't pass them up when they are $2.99!

Be sure to stop by Stick It Down  to see the cards from the rest of the team. I hope you play along with our challenges this month!

I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

Sketches In Thyme PL Style Sketch #22

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday to you! I hope that your week is off to a great start! The countdown to the end of the school year has already started in my house - just 23 more days of school and we are free for the summer! I can't wait!

Today I am featured over at Sketches In Thyme PL Style with my take on sketch #22, and I am happy to share it with you here, as well. Here is the sketch, courtesy of Crystal:

 This sketch made me think of a journal card, so that is what I made - nothing fancy, but it gets the job done! If I can find where I put the enamel dots that I used on this spread, I will add them by the chevrons.

If this spread looks a little familiar it's because it is the right hand side to the  layout from last month. Here is a look at both pages together.

Be sure to check out the Sketches In Thyme PL Style blog for daily inspiration, and if you play along with any of our sketches this month, you have the chance to win this fun stamp set that would be perfect to use on some PL style cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

Make It Monday #58 @ The Memory Nest

Hello everyone! Here we are at Monday again already! The long, busy days of spring are here and that makes time go so fast.

We have a new sketch posted at The Memory Nest today, and this sketch is courtesy of Katie.

I kind of struggled with this sketch at first. I'm not one to leave a lot of white space on a layout, but I kept looking at the sketch and the white space looked more and more like a large photo area, so that is what I went with. That's one of the many reasons why I love sketches - you can interpret them however you want and make them your own.

I enlarged this photo of Ada to an 8x10 and then cut it down a little more to give myself a little more room to work with. Sometimes I forget the impact a large photo can have. I just love the pinks and greens in this late summer photo, and it really makes me ready for our rose bush to start blooming.

Last summer Ada would walk up to the flowers, stick her nose down close to them, and say, "Mmm!". She always made time to stop and smell the roses - which made me slow down and smell them, too. I'll be anxious to see her reaction to them again this year.

Be sure to stop by The Memory Nest to see the projects from the rest of the team. I hope you play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back soon with another project!

Thinking Of You - AHSC #154

Hello everyone! I hope that your week is off to a good start so far!

The latest sketch has been posted over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Michelle has created another fun sketch for us to work with.

I used a 6x6 paper pad from American Crafts called "Spring" for this card. One of the papers in it is a cut apart sheet that has several differnet sentiments/sayings on it. I cut out one of the "Hello" sentiments and turned it into a tag. Since it was a smaller size tag, I created another tag from another one of the papers from the paper pad.

I'm not sold on the "thinking of you" sentiment. I feel like it needs something on the bottom half of the card, but I feel like it may be a little on the bold/big side. For now it is placed with temporary adhesive, so if I decide to go with something different I can.

Be sure to stop by the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog to see the sketch and read the rules on how to enter. I hope that you are inspired to play along with us this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Storyteller with Scrapbook Challenges

Hello again everyone! I hope that your Monday is going great! I am back with my third post of the day!

Scrapbook Challenges has a fun new sketch challenge for you today!  It showcases 2 - 4x4 photos, and I really am loving to work with this size!

Here's the sketch:

I'm actually scrapping recent photos of Miss Ada! These are from about 3 weeks ago and we were getting ready to go pick the boys up from school. I had asked Ada what she and Pops were going to do when he got home from work that day, and boy did she have a list to tell! She told me how they would ride the tractor, take a ride in the wagon, and go to the creek! I just love her facial expressions in these photos. You can really tell she is thinking about all the fun things they were going to do!

This layout came together so quickly for me! I used My Mind's Eye - Hello Gorgeous line, and it was just so easy! The greens and the pinks matched her shirt perfectly!

Be sure to stop by the Scrapbook Challenges blog to see the beautiful creations from the rest of the team! We have another fun month of challenges ahead for you, so be sure to check back in!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon!

Make It Monday #57 @ The Memory Nest

Hello everyone! I am back with my next project to share with you!

We have a brand new sketch posted over at The Memory Nest today and it's another favorite of mine!

This photo is about my youngest son, Shane, and his love of water. I don't know what it is with kids with autism and the love of water, but so many of them are just drawn to it. Shane has always loved to throw rocks in the water. He loved going over to his Grandpa's farm and spending hours at the creek, just throwing rocks. When his Grandma and Grandpa sold their farm he had to get creative with his rock throwing. He would throw rocks in mud puddles, buckets of water, anything that had enough water to make a splash was rock throwing water! He's never outgrown this, and still likes to toss a rock in whatever water he can find.

Imagine how happy he was when we discovered that our little dry creek was actually holding water in parts of it this spring! He has spent many hours down there all ready - it was one of his favorite past times over spring break - and I am sure as long as it keeps raining enough to keep water in there, we will spend a lot more time down there over the summer! I'm guessing he'll probably even be getting in the water when it gets warmer!

I used a couple of different Simple Stories collections - So Rad and 24/7, and a piece of Jillibean Soup paper for this layout.

Be sure to stop by The Memory Nest to see the layouts from the rest of the team. I can't wait to see your take on the sketch!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I will be back soon with another project!

Use Your Stuff #217 - Tissue Paper

Hello everyone! Happy Monday! Today is going to be a busy day around here, so lets get started!

We have a new challenge posted for the week over at Use Your Stuff today. New DT member, Khristina, has challenged us to use tissue paper in our projects this week!

I had no idea how challenging this was going to be for me! I struggled with this big time! I originally thought - hey, tissue paper isn't too much different than crepe paper, maybe I'll make some embellishments! - did not work out at all! Tissue paper is much thinner than crepe paper! So, I went with my next plan and cut out some tissue paper circles to add to my card. Is it one of my favorite cards? No. Will I be using tissue paper again anytime soon in my crafty projects? Probably not! But, then again maybe I won't be happy until I make something with it that I like! I don't think it helped any that I kept adding sequins to it, either! Now it's a bit bling-y, but that's okay. You don't have to love every single creation!

Here is my card:

Maybe one of my little nieces will think it's great!

Be sure to stop by the Use Your Stuff blog to see some awesome creations using tissue paper. I look forward to seeing what you come up with for this challenge!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project for you!

Lasting Memories #287

Hello everyone! Happy Sunday! I hope that you are having a good weekend. We are supposed to have sunny skies and temps in the low 70's today - you can't get much better than that!

It's the start of a new month and that means we have a brand new theme and set of challenges for you over at Lasting Memories! For the month of April our theme is - Musical Montage - and your need to base your layout on the era chosen for each week! For this first challenge it is The Disco Era!

What does the disco era mean to you? You can take inspiration from this photo, from a song, the fashion, anything to do with the disco era.

 I was born in the 70's, so I myself really didn't have a preference to any music, but with three older sisters, you better believe it was all about The Bee Gee's and Andy Gibb in our house! I immediately thought of their gold lamé outfits, and of course the disco ball reminds me of sequins, so I went with these photos of Ada from her birthday (in her gold lamé pants!) , and used some gold glitter tape and sequins to finish it off.

Since the photos I used were pretty busy, I decided to go with a more clean and simple layout. I tried adding in other colors, but nothing looked right, so I just stuck with the black, white, and gold color scheme.

Check out the Lasting Memories blog to see how the rest of the design team members were inspired by the disco era. I look forward to seeing your beautiful creations!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Sketch N Scrap #102

Hello everyone! Happy Friday and Happy April 1st! Today is April Fools Day -  are you planning on pulling any pranks today?

The first of the month also means that a new sketch has been posted over at Sketch N Scrap. This sketch has been created for us by Heather.

This layout is about Miss Ada and when she realized she was tall enough to reach the dog treats. Before she would take me in and tell me - "Treat?" - and point to the bag. On this particular day I had been in the other room and when I came back in to the kitchen she had the bag down - and opened - and Wilfred right there, ready and waiting! He must be a very good boy, because Ada is always wanting to give him a treat!

I feel like this layout needs a little something more, but everything that I tried just seemed to get lost in the busy patterned paper. I think that's why I tend to use neutral backgrounds more than patterned paper backgrounds! I guess it will stay this way until I figure something out. Any suggestions?!

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the layouts from the rest of the team. I hope you have some time to play along with us this month!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fantastic Friday!