Snow Day Challenge

Since I was lucky enough to get a paid day off work due to loads of snow and crazy low temperatures, I decided to spend some time in my scrappy space while my boys were happily playing.  Without a sketch or specific project in mind, I set out to challenge myself.  Die cut papers and pre-printed backgrounds always intimidate me, so I decided to tackle some "challenging" papers.

The first paper, Red Rover by Pink Paislee, has open cut outs as part of the pre-printed page.  It's hard to see in this photo, because the "b side" of the paper beneath shows through.  There were 3 open circles, two open stars, and a row of cut out stars at the top of the page that had nothing behind them.





 

Pages designed like this could be time savers, but they are almost impossible for me to use.  I struggled with finding photos and papers to put behind the "open" spaces and then cut out some circle shaped photos to fill in some of the other circles.  Finally, I added some washi, spray ink, star die cuts, a flag, a button, and some "faux stitching".  I even threw in a few sequins in honor of my sequin lovin' friend Melissa! Here's what I came up with:

 

My second "challenge" paper was the "b side" of this page from Simple Stories' 24/seven collection:

I love the randomness of the background paper, but haven't been able to make it work with any of my earlier layouts because I feel the need to "incorporate" the background prints.  After way too much analysis, I finally came up with this page featuring my oldest son.  The embellishments and papers are all from the 24/seven collection and the title was die cut using my Cameo.

 There was a journaling card with a phrase that I wanted to include, but I couldn't work the card into my layout in a pleasing way, so I cut apart the journaling card and put the words directly on my photo.

I love the way it turned out and I'm so glad I challenged myself to use these papers today.  Hope you're all warm and cozy and finding time to be crafty!  Thanks for stopping by!

scrappin' for the birds

The weekly sketch at Scrapbook Steals inspired this multi-photo layout using pics from last summer.

The "wooden" background paper from Echo Park was perfect for my construction pics.  Other patterned paper from Pebbles,  random embellies from lots of other collections, and a tree branch hand cut from scrap paper made this a quick layout.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a snow day tomorrow so I can get crafty!

Hello, handsome!

This week's sketch at Scrapbook Steals was created by my dear friend Brittany.  I love what she did with her layout and I decided to create a fun layout featuring my handsome boy.

I started with a piece of kraft cardstock, one of my go-to favorite backgrounds that seems to go with most of my layouts.  For the patterned papers and embellishments, I chose some fun papers and stickers from the 24/seven collection by Simple Stories.  I die cut my title from some adhesive cork paper and stamped a few arrows to finish it all off.  Thanks for stopping by!

Elkhart County Fair

This week I turned the Scrapbook Steals sketch challenge into a two page layout featuring some fun photos from this past summer.  Since I had so many photos that I wanted to include, I basically did the same sketch twice and made this a two pager:

I pulled some scraps from one of my favorite summertime collections, Summer Fresh by Simple Stories.  The textures and prints are the perfect compliment to pictures from a day at the county fair! 

Oh boy!

After a fun filled holiday season turned into over a week of illness, our family is finally back to "normal" or as close as we're going to get.  With all of the snow and cold weather, we've been spending lots of time at home.  I spent some time in my crafty space Saturday and finished this week's sketch challenge for Scrapbook Steals!

 

I've been playing along with the weekly challenges at Scrapbook Steals, but forgot to post last week's entry.  Here's what I came up with for week #4:

 

And here's another layout I did yesterday just for fun:

Since today's another snow day, I hope to get some scrappy time in again!  Thank goodness I recently printed off pictures and have a room full of supplies!