Scrap Our Stash Saturday Cartoon Inspired Sketch Challenge

Hello, hello! Good Sunday morning to you! I hope that you have had a good weekend! It's been a pretty quiet weekend around here - which is always nice this close to the holidays - and I'd better enjoy it because we the next couple of weekends are going to be busy with Christmas festivities!

Today I am sharing my layout for Scrap Our Stash's December Saturday Cartoon Inspired Sketch Challenge. Along with the sketch, we are to be inspired by the cartoon graphic and include the color Gold and a bow on our layout. Here's a look at the December graphic:

I was inspired to create a Christmas layout, of course!

I have used Doodlebug's 'Christmas Magic' on this layout. The colorful background piece that I have matted my layout on is the Christmas Magic paper and looks like a countdown or advent calendar paper. I loved the colorful blocks and how it brought in all of the colors of the collection. 

For the added challenge of using the color gold - I have added 3 gold puffy hearts around my layout, and I added 2 bows - one for each tag that will eventually hold my journaling. 

These photos are of Miss Ada last year when she opened up her Barbie house - the one thing that she most wanted last year! The hard part for her was having to wait until they got back home to put it together!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Head on over to Scrap Our Stash to see the wonderful layouts from the rest of the design team. I would love to see your take on the challenge, too!

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

Season's Greeting with Counterfeit Kit Challenges

Hello, everyone! We're taking the month off from making kits at Counterfeit Kit Challenges and instead we are bringing you 'Season's Greetings'  from the design team. 

Every day this month a different design team member will be sharing a Christmas card with you and today is my first of four posts this month, so head on over and check it out! Here's a little glimpse of what you will be seeing over there!

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #159

Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! I hope you are having a good week. It's time for  the first card sketch of December at Sketch N Scrap today.

Here's a look at the sketch that Heather has created for us:

Since we are in the middle of the holiday season, I had to create a Christmas card!

I had pulled out a few die cuts from an older Pebbles collection - I'm not sure which one since these were all in my December Daily supplies - but these die cuts were perfect for card sentiments! I used some scraps from Pink Paislee's 'Yuletide' collection. I love the kraft, reds, and greens in this collection.

I decided to leave off the element that was peeking out from behind the banner on the sketch. Everything I tried was either too big or it just didn't look right with the die cut piece I used, so I just decided to add some gold splatters instead.

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see the beautiful cards from the rest of the design team. I hope you're able to take some time in this busy holiday season to play along with us!

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

Hello Happy - The Studio Challenges Sketch Challenge

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my Sketch N Scrap reveal, please scroll on down. 

The Studio Challenges has a new challenge posted today and it is my favorite - a sketch challenge. Here's a look at the fun sketch that Anna has created for us:

This sketch was actually loosely based on one of my layouts that can be seen here. This is what I came up with this time around:

I changed up a few things this time around - I used smaller square photos, a heart in place of the circle where the title rests, moved my journaling, and used one larger half circle at the bottom of the layout. 

I've had these photos of Ada on my to-scrap pile since I took them back in April. They are two of my favorite photos and I thought it was time to get them on a layout.

The larger half circle at the bottom is where I started with this layout. It was originally a 3x4 card that I cut into a half circle. I took a cue from the colors in the card for the rest of the papers on my layout. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I stamped the 'hello' from a My Mind's Eye stamp set (Yes, Please) to complete my title. I love it when I can incorporate my stamps on my layouts. I finished it off with some puffy hearts scattered about.

Now, head on over to The Studio Challenges to see how the rest of the design team took on the sketch. 

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

Christmas Masterpieces - Sketch N Scrap #190

Hello, everyone! Happy Sunday and Happy December 1st! I hope all of you in the US have had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I know ours has been busy with not only the Thanksgiving holiday but with celebrating Ada's 6th birthday! I can't believe that she is already 6!

Sketch N Scrap has a brand new sketch for us today. Lisa has created a fun multi-photo sketch to start off the month:

I love this sketch and I know I will be using it again soon. This is what I came up with:

So, I love this sketch but I am not crazy about my layout - that reindeer paper is so busy for me! Even though I am not crazy about it, I still love the fact that I got these photos scrapped.

Last year about this time I was making a Christmas card with a reindeer on it and Ada was very interested in it. She decided that she wanted to draw her own reindeer and got her markers and crayons out and went to work. She drew the cutest reindeer - but she didn't stop there - she wound up drawing two cute reindeer. When Abby saw the cutest that Ada had drawn, she wanted a way to display them, so she bought a frame and turned Ada's reindeer into a picture, complete with a torn paper tree that she made. ( I love my crafty girls!) A few days later Ada decided her reindeer needed a Santa to take of them and she drew a super cute Santa. I love his woolly mustache!

Since the background was so busy I kept my embellishing to a minimum. Here are a couple of close-ups:

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

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

Just Plain Wonderful - Scrap Our Stash Pick Your Side Challenge

Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! 

Today I am sharing my take on this month's Scrap Our Stash Pick Your Side Sketch Challenge. For this challenge, you are to pick either the left side of the sketch or the right side of the sketch to base your layout on. Along with the sketch challenge you are to use a scalloped edge embellishment on your layout - this can be a scalloped circle, border, tag, journaling card, etc.  Here's a look at this month's sketch:

For my layout, I have chosen the right side of the sketch, added a scalloped edge to my photo mats, and added a few scalloped circle embellishments.

I've had these photos of Ada out on my desk for a while and I am happy to get them scrapped! I wanted to keep with the coral/pink tones of her outfit and found this pink and white paper from Echo Park and the heart paper from Simple Stories and thought they worked well with each other. 

I changed up a couple of things from the sketch - I widened the piece of patterned and moved it in from the edge of the sketch and I left off the half-circle piece, tags, and banner pieces. I tried adding the half-circle but I just didn't like it and with having the scalloped edge on my photo mat, there really wasn't a place for the banner pieces. And the tags...I completely forgot I was going to add them until after I had already glued down my title. I do plan on adding a few lines of journaling under the right photo - even if it's just the date and Ada's age, etc. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I really love making these multi-layered embellishments! If you don't mind a lot of bulk, adding in some foam tape between each layer is really cute, too, but I just left this one flat - I just added foam tape to the bottom layer to attach it to my layout.

Be sure to stop by Scrap Our Stash to see how the rest of the design team took on this challenge. I hope you find some time to play along with us this month!

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

I've Been Keeping A Secret...

It's true - I have been keeping a secret from you but today is the day that I can share it with all of you! I am thrilled, excited, and honored to announce that I am joining the Challenge YOUrself Design Team!

I love the concept of this challenge blog where, along with the challenge, it is required that "you" are in at least one of the photos on your layout. So you will be seeing more of me on my layouts in the new year!

The new term will start in January and the first challenge will be posted on January 7th so stay tuned and I hope you'll play along with us! 

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

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #158

Hello, everyone! Happy Wednesday! I can't believe that it is already time for our last sketch of the month at Sketch N Scrap! I swear it seemed like it was just the first of the month not that long ago.

Here is the fun sketch that Sketch Artist Lisa has created for us to play with:

I am seriously challenged when it comes to cutting straight pieces like is shown on the sketch. I don't know if it's my trimmer or just user error, but they are never straight! I have better luck with getting a straight edge with a ruler and cutting knife! I took the easy way out for my card and just used a bold striped patterned paper!

I've been working with Fancy Pants' Wish Season 6x6 paper pad this month and when I came across this bold striped paper, I knew I would be using it for this card!

I stamped the tree from the Fir Real stamp set from Ink Road Stamps. The sentiment is from a Momenta stamp set that I picked up at Michaels a couple of years ago. It's not even right how easy this card was to make and it's one of my favorites so far this year!

Head on over to Sketch N Scrap to see how the rest of the design team took on this sketch. I would love to see what you create with it, too!

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

Mixing Up The Kits With The ScrapRoom

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday to you! Hubby had the day off yesterday and I am trying to get back into the routine of things today. 

Today I am up on The ScrapRoom blog for the 'Mixing up the Kits' segment this month. The ScrapRoom offers a lot of great add-on kits each month that coordinate with their main kits. 

Here is a look at the patterned paper add-on kit, the embellishment kit, and the shots of life kit:

Patterned Paper Add-on Kit

Embellishment Add-on Kit

Nov/Dec Shots of Life Kit

For today's layout, I have used bits and pieces from the patterned paper add-on kit, the embellishment add-on kit, and the Shots of Life Kit.  

I loved the mix of papers that came in the patterned paper add-on kit. I could have easily used a piece of every single paper on my layout but I stuck with the Simple Stories and Fancy Pants papers - and I used a border strip from Carta Bella as my title. I used the Simple Stories Bits and Pieces, Fancy Pants Cork pieces, and the Carta Bella Chipboard stickers in each of my embellishment clusters. I added a sprinkling of enamel dots from my Shots of Life kit to finish it off.

This photo is from 2009...I think. It was one of the only times that all of the grandkids and great-grandkids (at least those that were born at the time!) were all together and we made sure to get a picture of them with my Mom and Dad - or Granny and LB as most of the grands called them.

Here are a few close-ups:

I love all of the die cuts from Simple Stories that I received in the embellishment add-on kit. Those pretty little flowers paired with the cork pieces and chipboard stickers made for some pretty embellishment clusters.

I love how this layout turned out - but then it's easy to make a great layout when you're working with great products!

Head on over to The ScrapRoom blog any day of the week to see what the rest of the design team is creating with this month's kits. 

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

Week 41/2019 With The ScrapRoom Nov/Dec. Shots of Life Kit

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

I am so excited to be sharing my first project using the Nov/Dec Shots of Life Kit from The ScrapRoom. Here is a look at what comes in the kit:

The November portion of the kit includes cut apart cards from Carta Bella, Fancy Pants, One Canoe Two, and Simple Stories - which can all be seen in the back row of the above photo. It also included a Carta Bella sticker sheet, Fancy Pants puffy stickers, a half pack of One Canoe Two ephemera, and a half pack of Simple Stories enamel dots. 

Here is my layout documenting Week 41 of 2019:

I thought all of the cut apart cards from the different lines in the Shots of Life kit worked so well together. The colors were very similar in all of the cards and that made it easy to use a variety from each sheet for my double-page spread. If the design on the card didn't work with my theme I flipped it over and used the "B" side or I covered up the parts of the card I didn't need with photos, stickers, or die-cuts. I scattered the fun Fancy Pants puffy stickers throughout the two pages to help bring it all together.

Everything on this layout came from the Shots of Life kit with the exception of some white cardstock and some stamps from my stash. 

Here is a better look at the left side of my spread:

Week 41 was a pretty busy week around here for us. It was the week of Matthew's fall break and he came home for a couple of days, so a lot of this week features him! Ada also lost her second tooth at school, Shanes DS - which we thought was done for - started working again and that made him a happy camper, Ada got lots of quality time in with her Uncle Matthew, we visited the barbershop twice for the boys, our rose bush gave us probably our prettiest rose of the season - right before we had our first frost. 

Here's a look at the right side:

Not anything too exciting but the little things are always such fun to look back on and remember what was going on in our life at this time.

Head on over to The ScrapRoom blog for more of their monthly kit inspiration every day of the week!

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