Remember me?

Once upon a time, I scrapbooked and blogged every single week.  This was on top of working full time, taking care of my family, and juggling crazy schedules with two active boys.  Something had to give. I stepped away from my blog for over a year, since I was struggling to find time to even be crafty.  I completed a few projects here and there, but I just couldn't find time to blog about everything.  The weekly sketch challenges at ScrapbookSteals.com were just the thing to get me back on track.  I dusted off my scrapbook supplies and actually completed every layout in the most recent "Lilac" series.  The folks at Scrapbook Steals are kind enough to give away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky person who completed all 10 layouts, so that was a good motivator for me.  After all, being able to buy new scrappy stuff always makes me want to get crafty!

Here are my 10 layouts from this series:

catching up

I took advantage of a relaxing camping weekend to catch up on the weekly challenges for Scrapbook Steals.  I love the sketches that guest designer Brenda Smith has provided for the month of July, but I was simply too busy to play along some weeks.  This week I completed the sketch #5 challenge and came up with this layout:

This is Brenda's sketch that inspired it all:

And, since I was in a scrappy mood and had more free time than usual, I went back and completed layouts for weeks 2 and 4 that I had previously missed.  Here are the "better late than never" layouts that bring me back up to date with the series:

blue & gold

After missing last week's challenge (Pansy #2), I was determined not to let this week's challenge get away from me.  I hope to go back and catch up on last week's too, since I really love the sketch.  This is the layout I came up with, based off of Brenda's Pansy #3 sketch for Scrapbook Steals:

The blue background paper is from Echo Park and the diamond patterned paper is by Authentique.  I used some Project Life cards from the Cinnamon edition and die cut the title using Lawn Fawn alpha dies.

As I was blogging, I realized I never posted the layout I made for the Pansy #1 layout, even though I managed to get that one completed in time.  I guess it's better late than never, so here's the layout I made using Brenda's inspiring sketch:

I used papers and embellishments from the Poppy collection by Little Yellow Bicycle for this layout.  For the title and journaling, I experimented with sketch pens and used the Silhouette Cameo.  It was much easier to use a pretty font than trying to keep my own handwriting evenly spaced.

Delightful Daisy

I finished another 10 week series of sketch challenges, thanks to Scrapbook Steals.  I love the extra motivation I get each week, because I know I will get to spend at least a little time in my crafty space just to make sure I keep up with the challenges.  Here are my 10 layouts from this series:

the Firepit

This week is the final sketch of the Daisy series at Scrapbook Steals.  I like the grid like feeling of Melodee's sketch, but I wanted to include more photos.  Here's what I came up with:

I had photos that were waiting to be scrapped for almost 3 years now, so it was a great layout to help get me caught up. I used papers from the Take a Hike collection by Simple Stories.

 And even though I ran out of time to complete sketch #9 last week, I went back and got caught up so that I could finish the entire series.  Here's my version of last week's #9 sketch:

For this layout, I used pieces of patterned paper from Echo Park's camping mini-kit and from their Happy Camper line.

My Family

I almost ran out of time to complete this week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals.  After a full week of work, a kid at football camp, attending a beautiful beach wedding, celebrating Father's Day, and keeping up with yard and housework, I nearly didn't get time to complete this week's sketch challenge.  I decided to grab an old photo from 2 years ago and set out to beat the deadline.  Here's what I came up with:

I used Simple Stories' Homespun collection for this layout, which came together rather quickly thanks to the 4x6 and 2x3 page elements.  This is the sketch by Melodee Cloud that inspired it all:

Wrestling 2009

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals took me back to some photos that are over 4 years old and still waiting to be scrapped.  I used to be a chronological scrapper, but I grew tired of that and started playing along with sketch challenges and using whatever photos best fit the sketch.  Which means one week I scrap photos taken just a few days ago, and another week I pull photos from years and years ago.  These photos were so old that I had to ask my son which grade he was in.  With some careful recollection and examining the different shirts they have each year, we finally figured out it was 2009.  Better late than never!

Fast forward 3.5 years, and the tiny 2nd grader pictured above is now almost a 7th grader who is taller than me!  For this layout, I used mostly plain cardstock, yellow stripe paper from Echo Park, a little washi tape, some Thickers, and a few old stickers from Bo Bunny and Glitz design.  Here's the original sketch by Melodee Cloud that inspired my layout:

hey dude

This week, my crafty friend Brenda Smith was a guest sketcher for Scrapbook Steals.  She knocked it out of the park with her sketch and amazing talent! Seriously, Brenda is one of the best and is always inspiring me with her breathtaking creations.  I try to play along with the weekly Scrapbook Steals challenges and have only missed a few, but I'm keeping up with this series so far and couldn't wait to give it a try!  Here's what I came up with:

Brenda's original sketch called for circles or other shapes in a grid pattern, but I had this great "circle" paper from Pink Paislee that was a perfect shortcut!  I cut part of the patterned paper off and flipped it around to the B side, which featured the fun border and grid paper where I completed my journaling.  The strip of black chevron patterned paper is by Gossamer Blue. I die cut my title using negative space inside the arrow shape and added a few flags and a sticker from Echo Park to finish it all off!  Here's the original sketch by Brenda Smith:

Worster Lake

This Memorial Day weekend, we visited Worster Lake, one of our favorite places.  I decided to dig up some photos from 3 years ago and did a page featuring my darling sons enjoying the lake.

I used papers from Crate Paper, Basic Grey, and Authentique combined with stickers and embellishments from Echo Park, Simple Stories, and Elle's Studio.  This is the sketch from Scrapbook Steals weekly sketch challenge that inspired it all:

Home Sweet Home

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals was a great reason to bust out a new collection from Simple Stories.  I used the Homespun papers and embellishments to create this layout as part of the Daisy series:

The original sketch that inspired my version is by Melodee Cloud for Scrapbook Steals:

little artist

This week's sketch challenge was more of a challenge because I had to complete it while at the campground, celebrating Mother's Day weekend with my family.  I packed a few supplies and had to work out of a bag instead of my crafty room, proving to be quite the challenge.  Here's what I came up with for the Daisy #3 sketch for Scrapbook Steals:

so happy together

After a six week crafty hiatus, I'm happy to say I'm back.  I was juggling family time, working full time,  enjoying Spring Break in Florida, hosting a youth group function for our church, and was just overwhelmed with life itself.  I wasn't feeling the least bit creative, and I was stressed about nearly everything, so I took a break and regrouped. 

Now that they've started a new series of scrapbook sketches at Scrapbook Steals, I knew it was time to get back on board and find my crafty mojo.  I must say that being away from my scrappy place for so long made it hard to get back on track.  I had to clean off my desk and organize some supplies just to remember what I actually have in my collection.  This is what I came up with, using the sketch from Scrapbook Steals as inspiration:

The supplies I used are mostly from Elle's Studios and Gossamer Blue, with a little Simple Stories thrown in for good measure.   I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked on this layout, because I kept finding myself reorganizing supplies and moving things around to make room for my newest addition to my scrappy space...

My wonderful hubby salvaged these old lockers and secured them to the wall in my scrappy space this weekend.  I still need to get them cleaned up and scrape off years of old tape residue, but I've already started stashing away goodies in my newest acquisition!  Right now, I'm more excited about organizing than scrapping, but this will definitely be a work in progress.  I still have a lot of vacation photos to print out and I'm hoping to try my hand at pocket style scrapping to get a vacation album started.  Camping season is right around the corner, so my crafty time will be even more limited, but I'm hoping to stay on track and create something each week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Just one more picture?

This week, my super talented scrappy friend Chloe Salerno, provided the sketch and inspiration layout for Scrapbook Steals.  Chloe used three photos and three blocks of patterned paper.  But, since I had 6 photos I wanted to include, I skipped the patterned paper and just made a grid of photos.

After marking out my grid with pencil, I machine stitched over the grid, to "frame" my photos somewhat.  I added a large title, just like Chloe did, and added stickers and stamps and various "photo" themed embellishments.  It's fun to do a silly page like this every once in a while.  It goes to show that all of our photos don't have to be perfect to make it into our albums.  In fact, the crazy photos are my favorite ones of all the photos I took on this particular camping trip.

Caleb{age8}

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals came together quickly.  I pulled out some photos of my little dude and let him fill in the blanks on my journaling tag.  It's a fun way to capture his personality and preserve his handwriting at this stage in his life. 

These papers are all by Simple Stories, from the Take a Hike collection.  It is my favorite collection to use with photos of our outdoor adventures! 

The boys of summer

After a week long crafty hiatus, I'm glad to say I'm back on the scrappin' wagon.  I really look forward to the weekly challenge at Scrapbook Steals, but just ran out of time last week and didn't play along for the first time in over two years :(  But this week, I was determined to get 'er done, and I just barely squeaked this layout out.  Here's what I came up with for the Rose #2 sketch:

Since we're still in the midst of a never ending winter and buried in snow, I dug out some pictures from last summer that make me long for the warmer days ahead.  This layout features papers from Echo Park's That's My Boy collection, along with a few stickers and embellishments from some of the older EP lines.  It was quick and simple and didn't have as many "layers" as I like, but it's finished in time!

Impressively Iolite

I've come to the end of another 10 week sketch series at Scrapbook Steals.  I love playing along with their mid-week mojo challenges and have gained many friends, good deals, and much inspiration!  They are generously giving away a gift card to Scrapbook Steals, which I could definitely put to good use!  Here are my 10 layouts from the "Iolite" series: