Scrapbook Steals Design Team

Today is my first feature as a member of the fall design team at Scrapbook Steals! My fellow design team members, Liz Qualman and Amy Coose, have set the bar high and I'm thrilled that it's finally my turn to create!  This cute little guy is a peek at one of my projects. 

You'll have to check out the Scrapbook Steals blog to see the completed projects I made using today's steal, the Chromatix markers by American Crafts and stop by the Scrapbook Steals site to buy some for yourself! 

If you're stopping by my blog for the first time, I'm glad you found me.  Feel free to become a follower so you can be eligible for a random drawing I'm doing at the end of the month.  I'll be sending a prize package to one lucky follower!

Catching up!

I've been super busy trying to get my design team projects completed, and I hope you'll tune back in on Friday when I am featured on the Scrapbook Steals blog!
I have completed each of the weekly sketch challengesfor Scrapbook Steals, but haven't blogged about them like I usually do.  Things at our house have been crazy lately, from celebrating the 8 year old's birthday, to our 12 year anniversary, to hubby starting a new job.  My craftiness goes on, but blogging sometimes takes a backseat.  Not to worry, this post should catch you all up.  This week's layout was created in a hurry, just short of the deadline, and while doting over my poor boy who had surgery earlier today.  While he slept off the medicine, I snuck away to the basement to relieve some stress of my own.  Here's what I came up with for the Coral #5 sketch:

 

This layout was inspired by this sketch by Kristy Lee:

 

And because I'm a slacker, here is Coral #3 that was completed two weeks ago and never posted:

This birthday layout was inspired by this great sketch by Lori Allen:

And my Coral #4 layout completed last week:

Based on this fun sketch by Kristy Lee:



 

Hopefully, things will slow down a bit and I'll get back in the swing of things.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 



Scrapbook Steals Fall Design Team

Somebody pinch me!  I'm thrilled to announce that I've been selected to be part of the fall design team at Scrapbook Steals.  I've been a long time fan of Scrapbook Steals and in addition to scoring great discounts on scrapbook products, I've faithfully played along with their weekly sketch challenges and made some incredible friends along the way.   Along with two other amazing designers, Liz Qualman and Amy Coose, I'll be featuring products for Scrapbook Steals on a monthly basis.  I can't wait to start my term!  Look for us on the Scrapbook Steals blog on Fridays! 

If' you're stopping by my blog for the first time, I'd love to have you stay a while.  To celebrate my new adventure, I'll be doing a blog giveaway later this month after my first design team feature.  One lucky follower will be chosen via random.org and will get some scrappy love from me.  Just click on the "Join this site" button at the top of the column to the right. 

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to watch for some great inspiration and great deals coming your way!

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:

I'm a guest designer for We R Memory Keepers!

With the back to school routine in full swing, I was thrilled to have the chance to be a guest designer for We R Memory Keepers, using their fun new Hall Pass collection.  I was lucky enough to be a teaching assistant at CHA Chicago and got a sneak peak at this collection during the "Tool School" class.  The colors are so fun and fresh and are perfect for my boy pages!  I dug thru a stack of dusty photos and found these back to school pics from three years ago that were still waiting to be scrapped (yikes....I'm a little behind).  This collection was the perfect match for my photos!  The embossed tags and stickers have great texture and the papers are slightly distressed, adding lots of character!

 

In addition to my layout, I decided to get a jump start on the holidays and I created this altered clipboard that will be the perfect gift for my son's teacher. I simply cut out some of my favorite patterned papers and adhered them to a wooden clipboard with a thin layer of matte mod podge.  I added a die cut sticker across the seam, personalized it with some die cut letters, and sealed the whole project with another layer of mod podge.   It was super fun and super cute.  I think Mrs. Miller will love it!

 



Thanks to We R Memory Keepers for giving me the opportunity to be a guest designer and for letting me show off this wonderful collection!  Check out the rest of their great products and find out where to purchase them HERE!

If you're visiting my blog for the first time, I'd love for you to stick around and become a "follower" by clicking on the link in the sidebar.  I'm planning a blog giveaway next month to show my appreciation for my faithful followers.  Thanks for stopping by!

Perfectly Pearl!

I've completed another 10 layouts for the gemstone series at Scrapbook Steals.  This group was the "pearl" group, and I'm happy to say that I completed all 10 of them on time!  Now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping to be selected by random.org as the winner of a fabulous prize pack.  In order to enter the drawing, I have to compile all 10 layouts in this blog post.  If you're a faithful follower, you've already seen these layouts, but just consider this a bonus showing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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: