Merry Christmas with Christmas Cards All Year Round

Hello everyone! Happy Monday to you! I can't believe we have made it to the middle of the month! This month has been so busy with getting ready to go back to school last week and getting Matthew ready for college next week. I would like to think time will slow down once we get settled into a routine, but we shall see.

The middle of the month also means it's time for the Mid Month Inspiration from the Christmas Belles at Christmas Cards All Year Round!

Our challenge for August is to use bright summery colors on our Christmas project.

When I think of Christmas I don't really think of bright summery colors, but that's the great thing about these challenges - they help you to think outside of the box and do something you might not have done otherwise. I'm pretty much a traditional red and green for Christmas kind of girl, but I do like to add in light blue, and maybe even some pink now and them.

I love the little Santa and reindeer on this paper - they both just make me happy - and since they were on the blue background, I decided to use blue and green for my card.

The papers for this card came from my 100 Patterned Paper Challenge stack! I am determined to get this stack used up!

Go check out the Christmas Cards All Year Round blog to see the projects from the rest of the team. I hope you play along with us!

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

Lasting Memories #306

Good Sunday morning! I hope that you are enjoying the weekend. We had a gorgeous day yesterday - cool enough to have the windows open for a while - and this next week looks gorgeous, too. Highs in the upper 70's and low 80's...unheard of around here in the middle of August!

The latest challenge is up at Lasting Memories and with keeping with the adult coloring trend this week's challenge is "Add an image that you color or color your background paper".

I'll admit it - I haven't joined in the craze of adult coloring. I like to color - with my granddaughter - and I always find it relaxing, but I have not purchased myself a coloring book. So, I took to the internet and found a free coloring page to download at Color Pages For Mom. They had a ton to choose from. The page I chose was Paisley 44 and I only colored a portion to put behind the upper left corner and lower right corner of my photo.

I've done something on this layout that I haven't done before, and that is I didn't add a title to it. This is a photo from Ada's 8 month photo shoot. I have a ton of photos from that day and I have already made a layout or two using them. I'm just not sure yet of what I would title this, or if it even needs a title once it's with the other layouts. So, for now it will not have a title. 

All of the patterned papers for this layout came from my 100 Patterned Paper Challenge stack. I'm slowly using it up, but it still looks like I haven't even touched it!

Check out the Lasting Memories blog to see the layouts from the rest of the team. Pull out those coloring books, or print off a page to color, and join us this week!

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

Celebrate - Stick It Down Card Sketch

This is my third post of the day. If you are looking for my PDE Linky Party reveal, please scroll down or go here. If you are looking for my Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Hello again! Today is reveal day for the rest of card team at Stick It Down. Here is a reminder of the August card sketch:

I found this package of Crate Paper Acorn Ave. vellum garland in my stash. I'm pretty sure I got them either in a RAK or a secret Santa exchange a few years ago. They are the only thing from that collection that I have! I had forgotten that I even had them, but when I happened to come across them I knew I would be using them on this card. The colors in the flags are very similar to the colors in Basic Grey's Capture collection, so I dug out a sheet from that collection for my card base.

I stamped the sentiment and the tiny stars from an older CTMH stamp set (C1478). It doesn't have a name on it, but I am sure it came from an old Workshop on the Go kit.

Stop by the Stick It Down blog to see the cards from the rest of the card team. I do hope you play along with this fun sketch.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style Sketch #38

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my PDE Linky Party reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Today is my day to be featured over on the Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style blog. This week we are working with this sketch from Kirsty.

For my card I turned the sketch on it's side.

I am back to working on Ada's first year album. It's been quite a while since I've done anything with it and I thought I'd better get back to it. Otherwise, she will be starting school and I still won't have it done! 

Here is the completed layout - just a note, I have a ton of photos from outside for her 6 month photo shoot that I still plan to include with these, so expect to see more soon!

Since it's been so long (Ada is almost 3!) since these photos were taken, I will have to find my notes for what she was doing and talk to her Mom so I can get it all right!

The papers for this layout are from my 100 Patterned Paper challenge stack. The yellow is probably some of my oldest paper, like 12 - 14 years old - old, and the blue is from a bulk pack that I picked up at Tuesday Morning last summer...or maybe it was this spring...I can't remember, but it's not nearly as old!

I'm hoping to continue working on Ada's first year album, as well as my 2015 album. Yeah, not even thinking about 2016 yet and we're already 8 months in! I'm okay with that - I have my planner and all my notes, and I enjoy working on them as I have time and because that is what I want to be working on - not because I feel like I have to do it and be caught up!

Stop by the Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style blog any day of the week for some inspiration. There are lots of different takes on the sketches. Be sure to link up with us if you play along. Kim is offering up this fun Halloween stamp set to one lucky winner. You have until August 31 to play along.

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

PDE Linky Party Challenge #133

Hello everyone! Happy Friday to you! We have almost made it to the weekend once again! We started back to school yesterday, so Friday and the weekend is that one thing that we all, once again, look forward to!

We have a brand new challenge up at PDE Linky Party today! This week's challenge is

"Back to School!"

Create any type of project with a back to school theme. I chose to make a card for my daughter who started back teaching Special Education to K-4th graders yesterday. I thought she might need a little encouragement right here at the start of school.

I used Bella Blvd's Star Student collection for this card. I just love the saying that was on the cut apart sheet - "A good education can change anyone, a good teacher can change everything." This is very true about any teacher, but from personal experience, I know a good special education teacher can make a world of difference.

Be sure to stop by the PDE Linky Party blog to see the projects from the rest of the design team. I do hope that you will play along with us this week!

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

Scrapbook Challenges #493

Hello again! I am back with my third post of the day! If you're looking for my reveal for The Memory Nest, please scroll down or go here. If you are looking for my reveal for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, please scroll down or go here.

We have a great new sketch up over on the Scrapbook Challenges blog.

For my layout I used 3x4 photos, and since my title was so "heavy" in the bottom right corner, I moved the tags to the top left corner to try and balance it out a bit.

I took part of my title from Ada's shirt. It says "Think Happy" and since she is always a happy girl, I thought "Think Happy, Be Happy" was the perfect title.

Journaling says - You never know where you'll find Ada! She loves to climb up onto the beanbag chair that sits on the love seat in our bedroom - and just chill. She is such a happy girl and a true joy to be around!

Head on over to the Scrapbook Challenges blog to see the wonderful layouts from the rest of the design team. We will be back tomorrow with Sizzlin' Summer of Sketches #5, so stay tuned!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #172 - Joy & Peace

Hello again! This is my second post of the day. If you are looking for my reveal for The Memory Nest, please scroll down or go here.

I am back with the latest sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge (#172). I think this sketch would make a cute pocket style scrapbooking card, too. Just add a photo where the image is supposed to go...I may have to give it a go! Here's a look at the sketch:

For my card, I used up some scraps from my all time favorite Christmas 6x6 paper pad - Echo Park's This & That Christmas - from a few years ago. I have seriously saved every little bit of this collection and I have hardly nothing left of it. Even the image is cut from one of the patterned papers, and the strips behind the image? Let's just say that they may all be pieced together behind the image!

I do hope you find some time to play along with us this week. Be sure to stop by the blog to see the sketch and read the rules. Last week's top 3 and the design team reveal will be on Wednesday. I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I have one more project to share with you today, so stay tuned!

Make It Monday #68 @ The Memory Nest

Hello, hello! Happy Monday! Let's get this week started with a fun new sketch from The Memory Nest!

For the months of July and August, The Memory Nest is posting a new sketch every Monday. This is the second sketch for August. This has been one of my favorite sketches yet!

So, this layout gave me fits trying to photograph it and edit it. If I got the pictures to actually looking like they needed to look - the paper was really washed out and looked like there was no color. To get the papers to look the right color, the photos were incredibly dark, so this was the best I could get!

The title is - "You make my heart smile" and is a 3x4 filler card from the Fine & Dandy Project Life kit, and I just cut it down a bit for the space that I had. The papers are also from the Fine & Dandy paper pad. In person this layout turned out really cute, I just couldn't get it to photograph well.

The journaling at the top of the layout says - "This little girl is so sweet! Every day this spring we would have to take a walk just so she could pick me a daisy!" 

Seriously, every day that it was pretty enough to go for a walk, she headed right for the daisies so she could pick me one. It's a good thing they were plentiful this year!

Be sure to stop by The Memory Nest and see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. There will be a weekly winner drawn with next week's sketch, so get those layouts in, but never fear, you have until the end of August to these done for a chance at the grand prize!

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be back soon with another layout to share! 

Lasting Memories #305 - Hello Beautiful

Hello, hello! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you are having a good weekend. We had a really nice day yesterday - cool enough we could open the windows and enjoy some fresh air in the house. I'm not sure if we'll get that lucky today, but it was nice while it lasted!

Today is our second challenge in our "Adult Coloring Trend" over at Lasting Memories, and this week's challenge is - "Use black and white and one other color".

This type of color challenge is one of my favorites - I love using black and white with just a pop of color.

For my layout I used this week's Midweek Mojo sketch - Marigold #2 - from Scrapbook Steals. Here's a look at the sketch:

When I saw this sketch, I knew I wanted to keep the black and white strips at the top and bottom, so I went in search of a similar paper in my stash. I found a piece from Bella Blvd's Color Chaos that was perfect. In fact, all of the black and white papers - and most of the pink ones - on this layout are from Bella Blvd.

I added in some pink splatters to the background, a couple of pieces of washi tape, some die cut hearts, and finished it off with some enamel dots.

Stop by Lasting Memories to see the layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you play along with this fun challenge! I would love to see what other color you add to your black and white layout!

And if you need a fun sketch to work with, be sure to stop by the Scrapbook Steals blog and check this one out!

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

Scrapbook Challenges Sizzlin Summer '16

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope you are enjoying your weekend so far!

The first week of Scrapbook Challenges' Sizzlin' Summer of Sketches '16 is underway. Sadly, we have been so busy with getting ready to go back to school, and getting my oldest son ready for college, that I haven't had a chance to play along with this week's sketches. I will have a few layouts for next week's sketches all ready to go!

I thought that I would post a recap of all of the sketches, just in case you missed any, and maybe I will be able to get a few of these done as well!

Monday's Sketch #492

SS #1

SS #2

SS #3

SS #4

I hope you find some time to play along with us! We'll be back Monday with another new sketch for you!