Let's Blow This Popsicle Stand - Sketch N Scrap #184

Hello, again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Counterfeit Kit Challenge reveal and blog hop, please scroll on down.

Sketch N Scrap has a great new sketch to start off September. Lisa has created a fun one photo sketch, but you could always change it up and add another photo. Here's a look at the sketch:

And here is my layout:

I got the idea for this layout from a Youtube video that I saw recently.  The talented Becky Bitting posted a process video a while back for a layout about her granddaughter in her car seat and had titled it "Let's blow this popsicle stand" and I immediately thought of this photo of Ada and I knew I would be using the same title.

Ada used to love to play in her car seat. If I left it on the floor she was constantly crawling into it and just setting and playing. Some mornings she just wasn't ready to get out of it, either. I just love that she has her little toy keys in her hand and it really looks like she is ready to go!

I've used my September Counterfeit Kit that I posted earlier today. These papers were part of my "girly" kit and I thought they would go well with this photo. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I just love this little rubber popsicle piece! It was a paper clip that I had received in one of my swag bags from Paper Issues back last year - I think. I used my craft knife to cut it off of the paper clip and to use it for an embellishment. Chances are if I had left it as a paper clip I would never have used it.  

On my layout I have added three little banner pieces in the lower right hand corner. They were not called for on the sketch but I had a mishap with my date stamp. I thought I could fix it but I wound up making it worse. If I'd just left it alone I would have been all right! I needed some way to cover up my boo-boo,  so a few banner pieces did the trick!

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your take on this sketch, too!

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

Counterfeit Kit Challenge September Kit Reveal and Blog Hop

Hello, hello! Happy Sunday and Happy September 1st! How in the world can it already be September? I mean summer just started, right?! Summer has been so fun this year and I know we still have some summer left, but I am really looking forward to fall. Cooler days - even cooler nights...yep, I think I am actually ready for fall!

The first of the month means that there is a lot going on here on the blog today, so let's get started.

It's time for the September inspiration kit reveal and blog hop at Counterfeit Kit Challenge today! Lisa has taken a different approach with this month's inspiration and had the fabulous Khristina Sorge from The Secret Not Secret Kit Club curate a kit especially for us!

Here is a look at the fantastic inspiration kit:

Here are the kit contents!

--Vicki Boutin Molding Paste

--Kaisercraft Dots & Dashes Stencil

--Three cut file viewfinder discs

--Up, Up, & Away Airplane Cut File (Confessions of a Paper Addict) 

--Three white tags

--Three kraft tags

--Five mini metal stars

--Scrappin Happy Studio Epoxy Flair

--Boys Will Be Boys Exclusive Stamp Set (Ink Road Stamps for SNSKC)

--Cocoa Vanilla Studios Boys Rule ephemera pack

--Jillibean Soup Rainbox Roux Foam Stickers

--Thickers--Twilight (black foam block letters)

--Jillibean Soup Epoxy Stickers

--two sheets of graph paper

12x12 Paper

--Cocoa Vanilla Studios--Boys Rule--Boy Stuff

--Cocoa Vanilla Studios--Boys Rule--Messed Up

--Cocoa Vanilla Studios--Totally Rad--Line Up

--Heidi Swapp Wolf Pack--Zodiac

--Heidi Swapp Wolf Pack--Mountainside

--Heidi Swapp Wolf Pack--Woodsy

--Vicki Boutin Color Kaleidoscope--Beyond Words

--Vicki Boutin Color Kaleidoscope--Say Cheese

--Vicki Boutin Color Kaleidoscope--Side Note

--Vicki Boutin Color Kaleidoscope--Kaleidoscope 

You can also see most of the items here.

I gotta say - this kit could have been made for me personally! I love the colors in this kit and I love that it has a masculine feel to it. I have so many photos of my boys that I still need to scrap and this kit was just what I needed to get motivated to not only pull a mostly masculine kit together but to also go through and pull a bunch of photos that I want to get scrapped!

Even though I could have made an all-masculine kit, I know that I will "need" to scrap some girly photos, too, so I definitely took a cue from the Vicki Boutin papers to pull in some pinks, yellows, orange, turquoise...well, all the colors! What I ended up with are 2 kits - one mega kit geared towards the boys and one good-sized kit geared towards the girls! 

Here is a glimpse at my kit (Yeah, this is just a sampling! You'll have to look at all the pictures to see it all!):

I took a little different approach with my kit this time around. I checked out all of the items in the inspiration kit, I wrote down the colors/patterns/embellishment types, and the mood and feel of the inspiration kit like I always do, and then I really didn't look at the inspiration photos again! I almost always try to match my kits as close to possible to the inspiration kit, but this time I didn't dwell on that, and I love the end result! I mean, I literally had to stop myself multiple times while pulling papers because I wanted to go make a layout right then and there. Which is great, but I needed those papers for the photos of my kit! 

Here are my "guy" papers:

When I saw the Cocoa Vanilla "Boys Rule" papers I immediately thought of Simple Stories "So Rad" collection. I loved this collection and I only have one full sheet of patterned paper and one cut apart sheet left - along with a few scraps. That is where my kit started. I used that navy sheet with the multi-colored stars as my inspiration piece. I pulled in more oranges, yellows, blues, greens, and I even added in a bit of red. 

I also pulled out several pieces from different Echo Park collections that I have. I couldn't stop there - even though I could have! I also pulled in a few papers from Bella Blvd, some of Pink Fresh's "Boys Fort", and a few papers from Crate Papers older collection - Boys Rule. I added in quite a bit of grey, black and white, and woodgrain papers, as well. I think it's safe to say that I can scrap anything from baby photos to toddler photos to teenage photos and beyond with what I have here!

And, as if that wasn't enough paper, I found a few more after I thought I was done!

Here are the scraps from Simple Stories - So Rad - collection that I want to try and use up:

And, because 48 full sheets of paper might not be enough to get me through, I pulled in some more scraps to use! These range from 3x12 inches all the way up to 11x12 inches...yeah, I need to use some scraps before I cut into a new piece of paper for a one-inch strip!

Oh, and then here are a few more scraps that I forgot to add in with the others:

I added a couple of sheets to do some fussy cutting with:

And then came the rest of my embellishments:

We have star stickers, chipboard stickers, puffy stickers, cardstock stickers...lots of stickers in this kit. (Which means lots of choices for me, which is what I like!) I added in chipboard frames, wood veneer, fabric pennants, and some tab die cuts, too. Everything I could possibly need right here!

Here are my alphas:

I pulled the Simple Stories alphas just as a representation and reminder to myself that I have them to be used instead of forgetting that they are there, in front of my face, on my desk!

I also pulled a few sticker and alpha sticker sheets that coordinated with some of the collections in my kit.

And since I still might not have enough paper, I pulled in a couple of 6x8 paper pads from Bella Blvd, a 6x6 paper pad from Crate Paper's "Cool Kid" collection, and a 6x6 paper pad from Simple Stories' "Daily Grind" collection. I also added in the Vicki Boutin sticker book (which will also work for my girlie kit) and a sticker book from My Mind's Eye:

Now, on to my girlie kit! It's not as big, so not as much to tell here!

I had the Vicki Boutin - All The Good Things- paper pad and pulled a few pieces of paper from it for inspiration for my girlie kit. This collection had a lot of the same colors as the Kaleidoscope collection and the papers I pulled are the first six papers in the back row - and then I just expanded from there! 

I really wanted to include a lot of the pinks and turquoise, and yellow that was represented in the Kaleidoscope collection (especially the cut apart sheet) so I raided my Bella Blvd drawer and pulled some papers that I thought would work. 

I have a lot of Bella Blvd scraps in the same drawer, so I pulled out all that would go with the papers I pulled to try to get them used up this month:

I don't have nearly as many embellishments for my girlie kit - just a few stickers, cork pieces, enamel dots/shapes, and few die cuts and 3x4 sheets. I do have the Vicki Boutin sticker book that will work, too:

Here are the sticker and alpha sticker sheets that I included with my girlie kit:

I also pulled a ton of stamps and a few dies to work with this month:

Since the inspiration kit had a stencil and molding paste in it, I pulled a couple of stencils and molding paste (I forgot to add it to the photo, but I do have it!) for my kit. I'm not a big fan of mixed media, so we will see if those get used this month!

The inspiration kit didn't have any washi tape in it, but I pulled a few rolls to see if I can put it to use:

There you have it - my two kits for September - and beyond, I am sure! I am so excited to start using up my kit this month!

If you have stuck with me this far - thank you! I know it's been a long post today! Don't forget to hop along to the other design team member's blogs to see the kits that they have put together. Here's the list:

Counterfeit Kit Challenge - http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/

Khristina Sorge -https://www.redefinedkreative.com/blog

Cindy - http://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com/

Leslie - http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Lisa - http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Lori - https://loriannie670.blogspot.com/

Tina - http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com 

Laura - https://www.instagram.com/mrsp_scrapsandtea/

 I hope you are inspired to play along with us and pull your own kit together!

We always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us.

You can use our Monthly Link-up page, post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcseptember2019).

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I will be right back with my first project using my kit!

Sometimes Sassy - Always Sweet - Lasting Memories #462 - Fruit

Hello, everyone! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my reveal for The Studio Challenges, please scroll on down.

It's time for the last challenge of the month at Lasting Memories and I  had a chance to play along! I'm hoping that now that summer is winding down that I will be able to get more scrapping done.

For August the theme at Lasting Memories has been "Plants" and our last challenge of the month is "Fruits". We want to see some fruit on your layout. This can be in the papers, embellishments, or in the photos.

Here is my layout:

I have had this fruity piece of paper from Bella Blvd in my stash for quite some time. To be honest, I really didn't know if I would ever use it. I'm so happy that I have an excuse to get it used! I love how colorful it is and it was perfect for this photo of Ada looking sassy after her haircut.

I fussy cut a few pieces of the fruit and wound up only using one of those. The strawberry and watermelon slice blended in with the background too much. Here are a couple of close-ups:

I stamped a label and added the date - both in pink. I finished it all off with a few puffy hearts scattered around the spread.

Ada had been wanting to get her hair cut all summer long. Abby told her she would take her before school started. Finally, that day arrived and Ada was so excited to get it cut. Abby said the whole time the girl was cutting her hair that Ada would say, "It's looking good already"! How cute is that!

I just love the sassiness that she is showing in this photo. When Scott saw the title he said I had it backward - that she is always sassy and sometimes sweet!

Be sure to head on over to Lasting Memories to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your fruity layouts, too!

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

Wildflower Bouquet - The Studio Challenges - Monochromatic

Hello, everyone! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you are having a fantastic weekend! We are getting a little taste of fall around here this weekend. Yesterday I don't think it even hit 70 degrees. A nice little preview but I'm not ready for summer to be done just yet!

It's time for a new challenge at The Studio Challenges today. This week we want to see a monochromatic layout. Use shades and tones of one color on your layout.

I don't do a lot of monochromatic layouts but I had a lot of fun with this one!

I was going through some older photos last week and I came across these photos of Abby and Shawn just a couple of months before their wedding. I knew I wanted to do a pink layout and thought these photos would work well with that. 

I pulled out all of the pink papers that I had included in my August Counterfeit Kit (you can read all about it here) and these were the papers that made the cut! I then went through my die-cut boxes and sticker books and pulled all of the pink pieces I thought would work. The only thing that wasn't in my kit was the thin washi tape but it was laying on my desk from another project. Having all of this already together made this layout come together so quickly!

I am so happy that I got one of these heart paper clips used! I love how it looks with the puffy heart in the middle of it. Here are a couple of close-ups:

I didn't want just a plain box for my journaling so I put washi tape around all of the edges to dress it up a bit. I added a couple of pink flowers to the corner. I love how it turned out!

About the photos - as I said before, this was just a couple of months before Abby and Shawn's wedding. We all went for a walk in the field behind the house. Shawn started falling behind so we stopped to let him catch up. When he finally caught up with us he had a little bouquet of wildflowers that he had picked for Abby. Being the usual ham for the camera, he had a goofy look on his face, but I thought this was pretty adorable and sweet!

Head on over to The Studio Challenges to see the monochromatic layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you have some time to join us for this challenge!

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

You're Never Too Old For Toys - Scrap Our Stash

Hello, everyone! Happy Hump Day! I can't believe it is the middle of the week already. The weekend will be here before we know it!

It's time for the second half of the Scrap Our Stash design team to reveal their takes on the July - Pick Your Side Sketch Challenge today. Here is a look at the double-page sketch that we had to pick a side from:

Along with the sketch we have an added challenge to use 5+ patterned papers and twine on your layout. Here is what I came up with:

I used the left side of the sketch for my layout. It was perfect for the photos that I wanted to use.

I've used my August Counterfeit Kit that I put together for the first of the month. You can see my kit and read all about it here. All of the papers are from my kit with the exception of the red paper. I didn't have much red in my kit that didn't have pink it so I dug into my scrap box and found this red paper.

You can see my 5 different patterned papers in the photo below - a blue stripe, blue dot, arrow paper, red paper, and the fifth paper is found in the banner - a blue star paper. I punched 5 pinked edge circles from the different papers and folded them in half to create my banner

I punched a few tiny stars to scatter around the page. 

About the layout - these photos are from Scott's birthday last year. Matthew had come up with a great idea for a birthday present - a Deadpool figure - something that Scott always looked at but would never purchase on his own. Matthew knew it would look perfect in his Dad's 'Nerd Nook' (his gaming room). Scott was so surprised and thrilled with the gift. He even posted a photo of Deadpool standing beside his birthday cake with a caption of - "You're never too old for toys!" - which was the perfect title for this layout.

I love how this layout turned out and it just may be one of my favorites this year!

Head on over to Scrap Our Stash to see how the rest of the design team took on this challenge. I hope you have a chance to play along with us this month!

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

Good Luck - Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #152

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday to you! I can't believe that it is already time for our last sketch of the month at Sketch N Scrap today! August is just flying by!

Our last sketch of the month is courtesy of Sketch Artist Lisa and it is one that I know I will be using again and again!

There are so many possibilities with this sketch - using as is, turning the long strip into a banner piece, changing up the shapes...lots of ways to have fun with it!

Here is what I came up with:

My scrap box has gotten a bit of hand and was overflowing, so I decided to go through it and see what I could use on my card. I had two 6x6 papers from Echo Park's - We Are Family - collection - the flower paper and the striped paper - in the box...I think they might have been the last two papers from that paper pad so I pulled them for my card. I found a piece of navy and a piece of red in the box, too, so this card came together pretty quickly.

I used Close To My Heart's - B1484 Jennifer's Hand - alphabet stamp set for my sentiment. I don't use this alphabet set nearly enough - I love it!

The little crepe paper flower was in a set that I received either as a RAK or in a prize, and I don't know why the pack was in my scrap box, but it was perfect for this card. It really matches the little light blue flowers in the patterned paper better than what the picture shows.

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your take on the sketch, too.

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

Counterfeit Kit Challenge - Challenge #2 - What Is Summer To You

Hello, everyone! I hope your weekend is going good. We had a fun visit yesterday with Abby and Ada and got to hear all about Ada's first two days of kindergarten. She's having lots of fun and is ready for more. When we asked what her favorite part was, she, of course, said - recess!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge has their second challenge of the month posted today and this time Cindy is challenging us to scrap about what summer is to us. 

Here's a reminder of my kit for August:

Summer, for us, means spending lots of time in the pool or keeping cool in the water in some form. I have made a layout for my granddaughter's Summer Bucket List traveler's notebook. She is playing in the water at the splash pad - one of the items on her bucket list:

Everything on my spread came from my August kit with the exception of the small pink alphas.

I actually used a few die cuts from my die-cut boxes and some of the stickers from the Shimelle sticker book and the Heidi Swapp 'Color Fresh' sticker book. I could not believe that I was lucky enough to find a sticker in the Heidi Swapp book that said - checked off the bucket list...how cool is that?!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I added a mix of stickers, stamps, and die-cuts on the full photo page. I wanted to add a little more color to that side of the page and I love how this turned out.

As I said before, I am finally getting started on Ada's summer bucket list traveler's notebook. I figured since Ada had started school and they had marked everything but camping off of their list, that I was safe to get started on it! I am so excited to get this started - and completed - and for them to have a fun reminder of the summer before she started school.

Be sure to check out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to see what summer means to Master Forger Laura and Master Forger Lisa. We would love to see your kits and creations, too!

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

She's So Cute - Sketch N Scrap #183

Hello, hello! Happy Thursday to you! Today is Miss Ada's first day of kindergarten and this Nana does not know what to do with herself! After 23 years of having someone either in school or having Ada come over while her mom was busy teaching, well, let's just say I don't know what to do with myself! This photo was taken at open house on Tuesday evening. I'm sure I will get the official "first-day photo" later today! She was sure excited about going and I hope she has a lot of fun!

It is also time for a new sketch at Sketch N Scrap! Heather has created a fun 2-photo sketch for the mid-month sketch:

And since my mind is on Ada - I scrapped a couple of photos from when she was 6 months old:

I changed things up a bit from the sketch. The main photo I wanted to use was vertical instead of horizontal and I didn't want to cut my smaller photo down any smaller than a 4x4 - so I made it work! I omitted the circles on the right side of the sketch because I wanted to add a subtitle and some journaling. I could have probably gone ahead and added the circles, or rings, but I was afraid it would make it too busy.

It's a little hard to see in the photo, but the title reads 'She's so cute - strangers give her money'. Yep, this really did happen! I know I've always been a little biased about how cute Ada was - and still is - just look at that face, but she was always getting compliments when we were out and about.  On this particular day, Abby and Shawn were out shopping when a little old lady stopped them and told them that Ada was so cute. She then proceeded to reach into her purse and pull out a $20 bill and gave it to them and told them it was for Ada because "she is just so cute"!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I've used my August Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit for this layout. Everything, except the white and grey papers, is from my kit. I couldn't see cutting into a 12x12 sheet for just those pieces, so I looked into my scrap box and found a white print and a grey print that worked perfectly.

Be sure to stop by Sketch N Scrap to see the fabulous layouts from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your take on the sketch, too!

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

Stuck on You - LM #459 - Cactus

Hello again! I thought I would pop in and share my take on this week's challenge at Lasting Memories. 

Our theme for August is "Plants" and this week is all about the cactus. We want to see a cactus or two on your layouts. This can be on the papers, in the photos, or an embellishment.

Here is what I came up with:

I used Photo Play's - Stuck On You - collection. When I bought this collection I really wasn't sure how I would use the cactus elements, but this challenge pushed me to some of it with this cute photo of Abby and Ada. 

I took this photo of my girls a week or two ago when they came down for a visit. They had on matching outfits and looked so cute! Ada was quick to point out that they weren't an exact match - her shirt has words on it and the stripes on her shorts were a different direction than Abby's, but I say it's close enough!

I originally was going to add a title to my layout - either 'twins' or 'mini-me', but after I added the stickers to the layout there were already a lot of words, so I decided to just let the sticker that says 'Stuck on You' serve as my title. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

The chipboard cactus came from an Echo Park set that I found in my stash. It was just the right size for what I needed.

I cut the journaling card from one of the cut apart sheets and added a couple of stickers to the top.

The 'everything is better together' banner is from the cut apart sheet, too. I fussy cut a few of the little cacti from one of the patterned paper, but this is the only one that made it onto the layout.

Stop by Lasting Memories to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you find some time to play along with us!

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