Authentique February Challenge

I created this layout for the February challenge at Authentique:

The inspiration sketch looked like this:

Since my Authentique stash is dwindling, I combined a few different collections and utilized my scraps. I used a doilie as a mask and sprayed my paper with glimmer mist.   Authentique supplies used:  Richness, Foundations bifold solid paper, and Blissful headlines.  Thanks for looking!

crazy cousins

Echo Park recently sponsored a contest using their super cute new "A Boy's Life" collection.  Since I had recently purchased this collection from ScrapbookSteals.com and because I had a long weekend, I decided to play along.  This is what I came up with:

 Ever since I created a quilt inspired layout a few weeks back, I'd been thinking of using the same diamond shapes to create my own argyle pattern.  It was a bit intimidating at first, but it turned out to be easier than I thought.  I started by cutting several diamonds with my cricut. In addition to the patterned paper, I also cut some plain ones out of scrap cardstock.  They were useful in creating my pattern.  I lined up the patterned pieces using the plain scrap diamonds as "filler" to help me keep my spacing correct.  Once I had the pp glued down, I removed the plain ones and reset them again, this time using them as guides so that I could draw out my lines for stitching.  Once I had my stitching lines penciled it, I pierced the paper at every corner and started  hand stitching my lines.  I originally started stitching with a dark gray embroidery floss that I found in my stash.  Apparently, I'm not very good at estimating how much floss I'll need, because about half way through my stitching, I ran out of that color of floss.  Back to the drawing board for me.  I cut out all of my aforementioned stitching and grabbed some gray and white twine, which I was sure to have plenty of.  I stitched over the entire pattern and then glued on the mini buttons just for fun.  I loved the way the argyle pattern turned out, and I was even more excited when I learned that I was chosen by Echo Park as one of three winners for this contest.  I had been keeping an eye on the competition all weekend, and there were some super talented ladies who made some beautiful projects, inspiring me even further to create more with this collection.  As a momma of boys, I'm obviously in love with boy themed collections, but I really think these papers are versatile and useful for all kinds of projects.  Now I can't wait to receive my prize from Echo Park.  Since I won the contest, I was lucky enough to win a collection kit of my choice so I went for their new This & That Charming collection, another great group of "boy papers" that I will surely put to good use!

fall guys

This layout was created for this week's mid-week mojo challenge at Scrapbook Steals.  I love fall and looking back on these photos made me so happy and brought back happy memories of a chilly fall day when we had a family photo shoot at the county park. 

My inspiration came from Kristy Lee's amazing sketch at Scrapbook Steals:

Goin' Garnet

I participate in a weekly sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals and have recently completed another series of 10 layouts for their "Garnet" series.  I love the challenge and thanks to Scrapbook Steals, Wednesday has become my favorite day because that's the day they post their new sketch and announce last week's winner.  My favorite thing about the challenge is that they choose a winner via random.org so anyone can win.  I often look at other challenges and think about entering, but then I see other entries and I become intimidated and talk myself out of even trying.  At Scrapbook Steals, it's anyone's game.  And they knock it out of the park when it comes to prizes.  The weekly prizes are great but at the end of every series of 10 they have an incredible prize up for grabs from anyone who completed that whole series.  This time is no exception, as they are giving away a Cinch!  Since this is never something I will be able to purchase for myself, you better believe I'm crossing my fingers and my toes!  In order to win, I have to compile all 10 of my layouts in this post.  I know you've all seen them before, but here's a look at all 10:

boys of fall

I was thrilled to see a wonderful 2 page sketch from Kristy Lee for this week's Scrapbook Steals challenge!
I always take tons of pictures and have a hard time narrowing them down for one page layouts.  This week's sketch was perfect for my son's football photos.  He had an amazing football season and really impressed us with his dedication and passion for the game.  I've never been a football girl myself, but he's turned me into quite the fan!

I made very few changes to the original sketch:

Another week down and another great layout thanks to Scrapbook Steals!  I can't believe the amount of motivation I get from these weekly contests.  I have played along faithfully for over a year now!

DIY Valentines

This year I decided to skip the cheesy little store bought Valentines we've always relied on.  Inspired by Pinterest, I set out to create some simple Valentines for my first grader.  I started by taking a photo of Caleb with his arm outstretched.  In order to avoid getting lots of other stuff in the background, I stood on his bed and took the photo looking down on him.

Then I used free photo editing software to add a red border, lots of hearts, and our personalized greeting.

Once I was happy with the design, I ordered 25 of these prints from Walmart.com and picked them up the next day.   I used a craft knife to make slits at the top and bottom of his outstretched fist and then threaded a sweet treat through his hand to complete the project.  We tried blow pops and pixy stix.

I liked the look of both of them, but ultimately settled on Pixy Stix because they were lighter and cheaper!  I especially loved that I didn't have to spend hours helping my first grader squeeze his classmates' names on those cheap little foldover cards.  And I'm even more excited to get these finished with a week to spare!  Thanks for looking!

how sweet

This week at Scrapbook Steals, my crafty friend Becci Manies was the lucky guest designer.  She came up with a fabulous sketch to inspire us for this week's mid-week mojo.  My layout came out a little different than I planned, but I still managed to work in the candy banner that I love so much.

And here is Becci's original sketch:

Here's to another great week of crafting ahead!  Thanks for stopping by!