sweet!

I was lucky enough to win the last prize giveaway at Scrapbook Steals, making all of my weekly challenges pay off!  This week, I modified the original sketch and made things a bit more linear to work with my photos and came up with this layout:

 

Since I spent the last week baking and packaging sweet Christmas goodies, I decided to stick with the Christmas theme and featured some photos from last year.  Instead of our normal gingerbread house, we went with a gingerbread train and had lots of fun piling on the candy.  The papers I used are mostly from My Mind's Eye, with a few embellishments from Crate Paper and Simple Stories.  Thanks for stopping by!  

Charming

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals inspired me to break out a photo of my youngest.  He loves climbing and playing and doesn't mind humoring mom while I snap pictures.  The papers I used were from the Collectable series by My Mind's Eye.  I love the bold primary colors and patterns that are perfect for my boy pages. 

I decided to use kraft paper for my background, but wanted the green polka dot paper to serve as a border.  Since I hate the thought of wasting paper, I couldn't bear the thought of covering up perfectly good paper by layering, so I created a frame from the green paper.  I used my paper trimmer to cut the center out of the green paper and I stored the center piece away for another project.  I took my green "frame" and layered it right on top of a piece of 12x12 kraft cardstock.  To add some stability and to anchor the frame to the background paper, I used my sewing machine to stitch a small zig zag stitch all around the edges. 

Another "new to me" technique involves the cork photo corners.  I started with a piece of adhesive backed cork paper from my local Michael's.  I used my square punch to cut two one inch squares from the cork material.  Cutting the squares in half left me with four triangle shapes.  I trimmed away the centers of the triangles to make my own adhesive photo corners.  Cork adds amazing texture and the fact that it was already adhesive made it that much better!  Now I need to look for some new punches or die cut shapes to make more fun cork embellishments.  Thanks for stopping by!

Genuine Boy

I had to get right on this week's mid-week mojo sketch challenge, since we were going to be traveling for most of the week.  I was glad to see a one photo, one page sketch, since I can put those together rather quickly.  I completed the layout on Wednesday, but am just now getting around to blogging about it. 

I used papers from My Mind's Eye Collectable Remarkable theme. They coordinated so nicely, with little effort, so this layout came together quickly. 

I finished the layout on Wednesday evening and hit the road on Thursday for a 6 hour road trip to visit my hometown.  We hadn't been there since Easter, and I had a wonderful weekend of family time, which ended rather sadly.  My grandfather, the most amazing man I've ever known, passed away suddenly on Sunday morning.  Luckily, I was able to visit with him over the weekend and I was able to mourn with my family.  My heart still aches to know that he's gone from his earthly home, but I'm glad he didn't have to suffer.  He was 85 years old and for the past couple years had great difficulty getting around.  Even with his physical limitations, my grandfather still insisted on getting out and about on his farm.  He and grandma would travel over their farm on the ATV he referred to as "the buggy".  When we were at my aunt's house on Thursday, Grandpa came by in the buggy to spend a little time with us and see my boys.  I just happened to have my camera handy and couldn't resist snapping a photo.

 I knew I had to be quick, because he isn't one to pose for photos.  He didn't see it coming, so he didn't have time to protest.   After I took his photo, Grandpa playfully announced that he probably broke my camera.  Little did I know, this would be my last photo of him.  I love that he's smiling and happy and that's just how I want to remember him. 

Love beyond measure

I loved the June sketch challenge from My Mind's Eye and decided to play along.  I grabbed a few pictures of my boys and dug into my MME stash to come up with this:

I used pieces from at least 4 different MME collections to come up with this layout.  I love the messy look of paint splatters and random placements of brads and enamel dots.  I hand stitched some arrows to go along with the inspiration sketch by Ronda Palazzari:

Love this Dude

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals was a great chance to feature one of my favorite photos of my youngest.  His free spirit and ornery nature make him a handful, but he brings us so much joy.

I cut my title with my new Silhouette Cameo machine.  I figured out how to "weld" the letters together to make placing my title a breeze.  The papers are Collectable from My Mind's Eye.  My distressed and sewn border was inspired by a recent layout by my scrappy friend Cathryn Hanson.  I adore her style and couldn't wait to try this technique on this layout.  I cut down my blue paper and  stitched around the edge before distressing heavily and attaching to the cream background paper.  That's all the crafty time I got in this weekend.  Now that school is over and summer is here, we're adjusting to a new schedule and are always on the go.  Thanks for stopping by!

Soar

This week's scrapbook page was completed in a hurry.  We finally have some decent weather, so we spent a lot of time working in the yard and getting the house purdied up this weekend.  When the sun is shining and grass is green, it's a little harder to spend a beautiful afternoon in my windowless scrapbook room in the basement.  But, because I never miss a weekly challenge at Scrapbook Steals, I snuck down there for an hour while hubby mowed the lawn.  If I couldn't see blue skies and green grass from my windowless room, I decided I should at least scrap pictures of them.

These kite themed pieces from the Lime Twist collection by My Mind's Eye were perfect to scrap photos of my boys flying kites at the campground.  I originally intended to use only two photos on this layout, but then I decided to use the blue sky picture as the background for my journaling.  I used a white pen to write directly on my picture and love the way it turned out.  Using the kites on my background paper and title piece as inspiration, I pieced together a larger kite to finish off the page.  Sweet and simple this week!  Thanks for looking!

Lucky me!

The weekly challenges at Scrapbook Steals are seriously the highlight of my week.  My typical week involves working 40 hours, doing 4-7 loads of laundry, cooking, cleaning, packing lunches, helping with homework, attending worship and church activities, shuttling kiddos to and from activities and appointments, and spending time with my family.  With all of these responsibilities, I really do look forward to some "me" time.  The weekly challenge is a good excuse to escape to the basement and get away from it all.  This is my creation for the week:

This layout features my "in real life" meeting with the fabulous Kristy Lee.  Kristy is the genius mind behind most of the weekly sketches at Scrapbook Steals, and she only has two more weeks to work for them :(  I'm excited about Kristy's new adventures, but bummed to be losing her from the Steals network.  She is a beautiful person inside and out and I'm so lucky to say I've met her in real life.   For this layout I used lots and lots of MME, from three different collections.  This is the original sketch by Kristy Lee that inspired it all:

the bean

This week's layout for Scrapbook Steals came together very quickly.  I featured a couple pictures from Chicago and loved the memories these pictures brought back!  The boys and I traveled by Amtrak from Elkhart, IN to Milwaukee, WI where hubby was training for work.  We had a three hour layover in Chicago so we ventured out from Union Station and found Millenium Park.  The boys had such a great time playing around the Cloud Gate sculpture (a.k.a. the Bean) and I had a blast taking pictures.

 

 

For this layout, I combined pieces from several different manufactures.  If you look closely, you'll see papers and embellishments from American Crafts, Authentique, and My Mind's Eye!  Here's the sketch by Kerys Sharrock that inspired it all:

 



"you" on the Bright Side

For this week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals, I busted out my Bright Side collection from My Mind's Eye.  The bright fun colors and fun wood grain pattern worked great with my photo of my little guy.  I love the banners and the little elements that work great for boy or girl pages.  I even snuck a little floral print in on this layout and am happy with how it turned out. 

This layout happened to be created while my little guy was sick and we were home from work/school.  After not being able to keep down any food or drink, my poor little guy was feeling terrible.  He layed down to rest in our bed and I snuck to the basement for a little crafty time while he slept.  Ten minutes later and he's calling for me from the top of the stairs.  I told him where I was and I asked what was wrong.  He replied in the most pathetic voice, "You're supposed to be taking care of ME!"  I assured him that I was taking care of him but thought he was asleep.  I asked him what he needed and he said, "You!".  In all of his misery, he didn't want to sleep, didn't want to watch tv, and only wanted his momma.  I love feeling "needed", but an entire day of this was a little much.  Luckily, I convinced him to watch a little Scooby Doo so I could finish up this layout.  And after 24 hours of the yucks, my little guy seems to be back to normal!

Here's the sketch by Kristy Lee that inspired my layout:

Top 10 @ 10

This week at Scrapbook Steals, I was once again pushed out of my comfort zone.  When I saw the original sketch, I couldn't fathom how on earth I would make it work with my photos. I print 4x6 pictures ahead in large batches at Walmart and didn't have time to print out a bunch of small photos just for this layout.   I had to make do with what I had on hand, so I decided to focus on one photo of my 10 year old son.  And instead of 10 smaller photos, I made my own "top ten list" of sorts.  I am freaking out at how fast he's growing up and how quickly he's turning into a young man.  I really do like him at this age, so I decided to document why.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye.  All of the papers are from the Lime Twist collection except for the denim stitched squares which are from the Bright Side collection.  The stitched squares were already the perfect size, so I just added patterned paper inside of them.  My favorite feature was the last thing I added, the "award" at the top corner.  I started with the circle sticker, but thought it needed "something" so I used some scraps of twine to make loops all around and added the little tails to top it all off.  For having no I idea where this layout was going, I must say that I'm pleased with the results. 

Here's the original sketch by Kristy Lee:

4th of July

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals was another amazing source of inspiration.  Because I am so far behind and always have a ton of photos to scrap, I turned the one page layout by Kristy Lee into a two pager to showcase more pics.  Here's what I came up with:

I mixed papers from several different lines, pulling out lots of fun red white and blue patterns.  I cut a big #4 with my Cricut and embossed it with a start texture plate.  I popped up the banner with pop dots and added star confetti over some spray mist.  I'm thrilled to be another page closer to being caught up.  Here's the original sketch that inspired my design:

Hexbug Love

Today at Practical Scrappers, they are featuring layouts using basic shapes.  I decided to embrace the ever trendy hexagon and created a layout about my son's latest obsession- the hex bug. 

Hex bugs are little more than overpriced vibrating toothbrush heads, but he loves creating habitats and paths for them wiggle on.   And if the boys are happy, then momma is happy, so I support their hex bug love!

For this layout, I created a hexagon template and traced and cut a bazillion hexagon shapes.  I inked the edges and arranged them on my page in a loose pattern, popping up random hexagons with pop dots for a little added dimension.  I spent way more time than expected on this layout and I am now wishing for a hex shaped punch.   Thanks for looking!

I made it to round 3!

I was excited to learn that I advanced to round 3 of the layout challenge at Practical Scrappers.  I made this layout which was inspired by one of three quilt patterns and had to include at least four of the following: banners, tags, ribbon, chipboard, eyelets, or buttons.

I had a great time making this layout, which was inspired by this quilt pattern:

I cut out diamond shapes using my Cricut and some of my favorite papers from My Mind's Eye to cover a 4x12 piece of scrap cardstock. I cut the diamonds from 6x6 double sided paper, making it easy to arrange a random pattern from the papers.  Once I was happy with the "randomness" of the pattern, then I adhered everything down and added twine to hide my seams. 
If you haven't already voted for my layout, please check it out HERE and vote for me before the poll closes on Friday.  I'm already working on my layout for round 4 and hoping that I can advance!

My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge

There's something about cold snowy weather that makes me want to cozy up in my craft room and create.  I hurried through housework this weekend so that I could play along with the blog challenge at My Mind's Eye.  I started with their sketch and the theme "new" and decided to push myself outside of my comfort zone.  I normally scrap about my boys, but have recently vowed to turn the camera on myself and do more personal pages this year.  Here's what I came up with:

Since it's the start of a new year and the theme was to create something with "new" in the title, I decided to focus on myself.  I've struggled with my weight my whole life and during 2011 I managed to lose 23 lbs. by adding exercise to my already busy life.  This year I need to lose even more and have set a goal of 50 lbs for this year.  I'm nearly 10 lbs. down so far this year, so I'm off to a good start.  Here's to a great year and a healthier new me!

Journaling Ideas

Today, over at Practical Scrappers, there are some great ideas for journaling.  I usually have no trouble writing stories or journaling on my layouts, but it's nice to change things up from time to time and allow someone else to do the journaling for you.  I created this layout for Practical Scrappers and featured journaling done by my boys:

Since I wanted them to stay on topic, I created a journaling template and allowed the boys to fill in the blanks.  They each enjoyed "writing their story" and especially loved reading what the other wrote about him. It's a great way to involve little ones, see their personality, get their opinions, and capture a handwriting sample!

A scrappy start to 2012

I've been lucky enough to spend the last few months as a fresh face designer for Practical Scrappers.  We were challenged this week with the task of creating a layout to showcase a hot trend from 2011.  Far from a trendy person, I wasn't sure this was a task for me.  I decided to try to incorporate a few different techniques that I used over the course of the past year.  Here's what I came up with for my first layout of the new year:

My sewing machine had been out of commission for several months, and I recently had it repaired, so I started the layout by machine stitching a border.  My favorite thing about machine stitching is how quickly it adds a special touch to a project.  I did this step first (just in case), as I didn't want to risk ruining the whole layout if I didn't like how it came out.  Once I was satisfied with my stitching, I started making pinwheels out of some of my favorite papers.  I used pieces of the Lime Twist collection from My Mind's Eye.  I love the way the patterns and colors all compliment one another.  The pinwheels were super simple and are an easy way to make a quick embellishment.  The final trend I decided to showcase was baker's twine.  I broke out some coordinating colors of twine and started meandering, using micro glue dots every couple of inches to keep the twine in place.  For the swirly twine circles, I cut out a circle of cardstock and covered the circle with adhesive.  Starting in the center, I just started winding the twine around to fill the shape.  Overall, I was thrilled with this layout and was proud to see it featured on today's Practical Scrappers blog.  My term as a designer is about to come to an end, but I love the challenges and am thrilled to have been able to showcase my scrappy creations.