Childhood Memories Challenge at The Studio

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share my layout for the new challenge at The Studio Challenges. The challenge is to create a layout based on a childhood memories. I found this old photo of cute 'lil me. I was about 6 or so and I think I had fallen asleep waiting for Christmas to get here. Here's my layout: 

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you'll stop by The Studio and join in the fun! :)

Daily Routine Challenge at The Studio

I just realized that my layout for The Studio's new challenge didn't get posted somehow. Don't ya just love it when auto post doesn't auto post? Lol

Anyway, the new challenge at The Studio Challenges is to document your daily routine. I chose to focus on one routine moment from my day. I love those everyday moments with my son! Here's my layout:

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Sketch Challenge at The Studio!

Hi everyone! I'm just stopping by to share my take on the sketch challenge at The Studio Challenges. Here's the amazing sketch:

And here's my layout:

 

I really liked this sketch. It was easy to work with and that's always a good thing. :) Hope you'll stop by and join in on the fun! 

Mixed Media Challenge at The Studio!

Hi everyone! I'm here to share a new layout that I did for the mixed media challenge at The Studio Challenges. The challenge was to use mixed media. Since I tend to slop paint all over most every layout I create, this challenge was perfect for me! Here's my layout:

 

I took this photo of our yard the other day and it inspired me to create something for fall. I love the yellow and gold colors together. 

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to play along with this new challenge! 

Big Photo Challenge at a The Studio!

Hi everyone. I'm just stopping by to share my layout for the big photo challenge at The Studio. This challenge scared the daylights out of me! I am accustomed to using much smaller photos, and it was super hard for me to decide how to place everything on my layout. I am happy with the results, but it was definitely a big challenge! Here's my layout:

 

Thanks for stopping by! :) 

Scraplift Challenge at The Studio!

Hi everyone! I am battling a 102 degree fever so this will be short and sweet, unfortunately.

Today marks the beginning of the scrap lift challenge at The Studio Challenges. I looked back over the design team's previous work and chose to lift this layout by Anastasia.


The big triangle jumped out at me. I changed it up a bit to match my geometric-ish style. Here's my layout.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketch Challenge at The Studio

Hi everyone! I'm here to share a layout that I completed for the sketch challenge at The Studio Challenges. The sketch features a large circle, which I love. Here's the sketch:

 

And here's my layout: 

 

You'll have to forgive the crummy photo. It has been so dreary around here lately! I decided to use a very old photo of my son. He was in pre school. I sent him to school one day and his teacher was like "Um, I think he has chicken pox." and I was all like "No, he just has really bad reactions to mosquitos. Those are just bites." Needless to say, new spots kept popping up and I eventually had to admit that I was wrong. The doctor got a kick out of it. I don't think his teacher did, though. So we exposed an entire class of four year olds to chicken pox. No biggie, right? No mother of the year award for me! ;) 

Thanks for stopping by! :) 

 

Pinkfresh Studio and Pretty Little Studio Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be taking part in the Pinkfresh Studio/Pretty Little Studio bloghop today! There are tons of amazing projects to gaze at on this hop and some great prizes are up for grabs. Here’s the hop order for today:

Pinkfresh Studio
Marie-Pierre Capistran
Els Brige
Monique Liedtke
Jenni Calma
Tessa Elzea Buys
Magda Bolinska
Tina Walker
Margaretta Carlson
Sindi Jeffers
Taheerah Atchia
Pretty little Studio

You should have arrived here from Margaretta’s blog. Your next stop will be Taheerah’s blog. Don’t forget to leave comments on each blog for a chance to win some amazing prizes.

I created two projects with my Pinkfresh and Pretty Little Studio goodies. Here’s the first one:

For this layout, I used the Silly Monkey collection from PLS and some cute little chipboard shapes from Pinkfresh. These products mesh really well together and I am thrilled with the way my layout turned out!

Here’s my second project:

For this layout, I used the Silly Monkey collection with a  bit of Marigold mixed in. I scattered some Pinkfresh Studio chipboard shapes around the page. Again, these products meshed so well together. The combination of new and hip meets vintage is really cool.

Thanks for stopping by! If you’re not already, I hope you’ll consider becoming a follower or at least stop by again sometime. Don’t forget, your next stop is Taheerah’s blog. 

P.S..... Coupon alert! :)

Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge at The Studio!

A new challenge starts today at The Studio Challenges. It's a tic-tac-toe challenge. I love those! Here's the board:

 

It took me a while to decide which row to go with, but I finally settled on using four patterned papers, chipboard, and paint splatters. I splatter paint on most everything lately, so that one was easy. :) Here's my layout: 

 I am tickled with the way this page turned out. I am all about geometry in my layouts lately and it's working for me. Just don't ask me to actually, you know... do geometry or anything. ;) 

Hope you stop by The Studio and play along! :)

Crop Time!

Hi everyone! I'm excited to share that an online crop is going on today at the paperclipping forum! I am also excited to report that I created a challenge for the crop!

While listening to past episodes of the Round Table, I noticed that one topic of discussion jumped out at me. Noelle and her guests were discussing whether or not we involve others in our scrapping. It occurred to me that I'm a pretty solitary scrapper. There aren't other scrappers living near me, and no local crops at all. I am usually all alone in my scrap room. Unless, of course, my little boy decides to pay a visit. He's almost twelve now and too cool to hang out with me, so these visits are becoming quite infrequent.

I decided that for my challenge, I would ask you to get others involved in the scrappy process. Do you have a child running around your house that would love to help Momma be crafty? Maybe a friend living nearby could use a new hobby. Could someone you love help you choose photos for a page? Maybe they could even take the photos for you. Perhaps you could even convince your hubby to help you choose a color scheme. (That last one would be stretching it at my house! lol)

My thought was just that maybe we need to get the people we love involved in the hobby we love every now and then. So, my challenge for the crop is to drag someone else in on the fun! I'm not really concerned about how they contribute, so long as they do. Here's my example layout:

I drug my very non-crafty kiddo, kicking and screaming, up to the scrap room and somehow convinced him to help me. After we got started, he had a ball! I dropped some blobs of paint under the clouds on my layout and had him blow the paint with a straw. That process created this cool, dripping effect. It also led to him wanting to blow paint all over everything, lots of laughter, and a new memory of a fun time for both of us. 

Hope you come on over and play along! :) 

Mood Board Challenge at The Studio!

Hi everyone! Today marks the beginning of a new challenge over at The Studio Challenges. Here's the mood board:

 

I just loved the color scheme I saw here. Red, yellow, and turquoise is one of my favorite color combinations, so I was happy to see this board. Here's my layout: 

 

This layout was super fun to create! I attached the straws to my page, dropped paint in them, and let it drip. The mood board made me think of happy summer memories, so I chose to use this photo of my son hanging out in our yard, enjoying the sunshine. 

Be sure to stop by The Studio and share you pages with us! We'd love to see your work! :)

The Twinery and Pretty Little Studio Blog Hop

Welcome everyone and thanks for stopping by! I am so excited to be taking part in this blog hop. I adore PLS products (and I'm a former design team member there). I also love using twine from The Twinery, so this hop is a real treat for me.

You should have arrived here from Stacey Shafer's blog. Here's the lineup in case you're lost:

The Twinery - http://thetwinery.com/blog
Pretty Little Studio - http://prettylittlestudio.com/plsblog/
Aimee Maddern - http://aimeesarmoire.typepad.com/aimees-armoire/
Julie Ranae - http://juliesopenwindow.blogspot.com/
Tami Brundage - http://butterflykissphotography.com/blog/
Amy Crockett - http://www.scrappingmommy.com/
Becky Litz - http://www.scrapcircus.blogspot.com/
Stacey Schafer - http://stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com/
Sindi Jeffers - http://www.sindiscraps.blogspot.com

Be sure to check back in at the Pretty Little Studio blog tomorrow morning for more hopping! 

I received the Marigold collection from PLS and coordinating twine from the Twinery. The colors are simply gorgeous. I created this coptic stitched notebook:

 

I used covers that had fallen off an old children's book that belonged to my son and stitched them together with the twine. Here's what the spine looks like: 

This twine is perfect for coptic stitching. It doesn't fray while going through the paper and it's plenty strong enough to hold up to my tugging and pulling.

I also created this layout:

 

I love the word cut outs that are part of the Marigold collection. The watercolor effect that they have is just gorgeous! I wrapped the twine around my banner piece to create a "net" effect. Here's a detail shot: 

I am so glad you stopped by today! I hope you'll come back soon and consider becoming a follower. I'd love to have you! Don't forget to go back to the PLS blog tomorrow! :)

My First Challenge at The Studio!

Hi everyone! Today is my first official reveal as a member of the design team over at The Studio! I was super duper excited when I saw the first challenge because I knew it would be a breeze for me: buttons! I've spoken in the past about my addiction to patterned paper. Now I guess I will confess that I also have a slight button problem. I just love buttons! I can hardly pass them up when I see them somewhere. Now, on to my layout:

 

I decided to be all sneaky-like and use pink on this layout because I never get to use pink. My son has serious objections when he sees his photo on a layout that involves pink. I'll just have to slide this one in the album and hope he doesn't notice. 

This photo was taken on our trip to DC in June. I got a pretty clear shot of the Lincoln Memorial, but the massive crowd meant there was zero chance of getting a good shot of Caleb standing next to it. I took a picture of him by the wall outside the memorial and stuck it under Abe. Worked like a charm.

I used buttons on this layout as centers for my geometric-ish-half-circle-ish-triangle-thingies. I was tickled with the way it turned out. I adore these papers from Bella Blvd. They have went unused for far too long. 

I'm going to be taking part in a blog hop next week, so be sure you stop by on August 11! There will be some REALLY awesome prizes involved! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Did I Mention...

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by! I'm just hopping in to share a layout I completed for a challenge at the Paper Clipping Forum. If you haven't wandered over there yet, please do! It is a wonderful, friendly place that is just full of inspiration. I had never listened to the Paper Clipping Roundtable, but I'm now officially hooked. I've been binge listening to old episodes while scrapping and I'm loving it.

The challenge given on the board was to do a layout about yourself. There was a sketch involved, and of course I promptly forgot about it and just started scrapping away. I thought about not sharing my finished layout, but since I put so much time into it, I'm going to share it anyway. Here it is:

I am so proud of this page! It's all about the fact that I despise having my picture taken, and, if I'm being truthful, I have to admit that I'd like it even more if my photo wasn't on it. But I love that I got the chance to use some pink for once and I'm really digging those Bella Blvd papers! They've been hanging around unused for too long. 

Thanks for stopping by! :) 

Say Cheese!

I decided to play along with Paper Issues again. The current issue is "Say Cheese". It made me think of my son telling cheesy jokes and acting like a goober in general. I found this old photo of him with a 'stache. And I don't want to think about the fact that he's almost old enough to grow one of his own now... waaaahhh! Here's my layout:

And a close up: 

So I had this weird idea that I wanted to do a bar graph on a page. I've been seeing pie charts everywhere so I officially declared bar graphs fair game. I wanted the bars to have a 3d effect so I just doodled around my paper squares. That doodling led to more doodling and this page was born. Then I thought "Hey! What if the whole stinkin' page was a 3d cube?" And that's when I embarked on a journey that took a half hour and wasted more paper than I care to admit. I had originally cut the background paper and was trying to make it look like a cube by gluing other paper around it. I finally wound up putting it back on a piece of 12 X12 white card stock and drawing in the 3d details. Then I cut the corners to make it look more realistic. And then I discovered that it's super hard to get a good photo with cropped corners. Hence, my deck is showing in the corners. Oh well. I know it's not the typical scrappy look, but I dig it. :)

Thanks for stopping by. :)

Locked Up

Hi there everyone! I just stopped by to share a layout I finished the other day. This one has photos of my little boy "escaping" from the replica of the Mayberry City Jail in Mount Airy, NC. If you've never been to Mount Airy, I'd highly recommend it. If you are an Andy Griffith fan, it's a must.

 

This was a "just for the fun of it" layout. I'm finding I love doing layouts that aren't for challenges or DT assignments lately. Although, I'm hoping to get back to being busy with some DT assignments very soon. ;) 

The chevron/dots papers are from the DIY collection by Simple Stories. I love the bright, vivid colors.  The other yellow paper has been in my stash for quite a while. It might be from We R Memory Keepers? Not sure? 

Thanks for stopping by! :)

 

Creative Blog Tour

I was recently asked by the lovely Angie Vallejo to take part in a creative blog tour. I had never heard of this before, but it's actually a really good idea. I was glad to get to meet more bloggers through the tour. I am a couple of days late with my post, but here it is! First, I was asked to answer a few scrappy questions:

1. What am I working on? We are in the midst of vacation bible school, which is taking up the majority of my time lately. I did manage to  squeeze in a few minutes to work on a new layout. This is it so far: 

Please tell me that everyone has a work mat that is stained with paint and mist? Please? Here's a project I finished last week, just so you have something decent to look at! 

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre? This is a tough one. I don't know that my work does differ, other than the fact that I'm a little all over the place. I tend to get on a messy layout kick for a week or two and suddenly merge back into a cleaner style the next week. It's official, I'm weird. ;) 

3. Why do I write/create what I do? I create because I enjoy it. That's a simple one. :) Really, though, I scrapbook so that I can be sure I remember all the little things that I would otherwise forget.

4. How does your writing/creating process work? It sort of goes like this: I get an idea for a page. I sketch it out. I start putting things on paper. I decide I love it and start gluing stuff down. I stand back to take a look. I decide it's the most horrendous thing I've ever made. I rip it all apart. I decide I should have left it alone. I get annoyed. I glue stuff down again and lament over the wasted products. I look at it again, decide I'm still not crazy about it, and eventually leave it alone out of sheer annoyance. :) 


Now I'll introduce you to two other bloggers who agreed to take part in this tour. First up is Mandi.

Here is her bio: My name is Mandi.  I am in my twenties and live in Michigan. I have had the honor of working on several design teams. I have been crafty ever since I was a little girl. I love to do scrapbook pages, cards, altered projects, sewing, etc. I really started getting into all paper crafts  when I was a tween.   I consider my style shabby and cute with a little artsy thrown in. My go to items are doilies, twine, washi tape and mists. Besides crafting, I love to spend time cooking, reading and being with my family.

Here is Mandi's blog, where she showcases her beautiful work.  http://mjskraze.blogspot.com/

Next up is Megan.

 My name is Megan and I am a bilingual special education teacher! I have been a die hard scrapbooker since 2004. I enjoy mixed media scrapbooking and making things my own. I like to experiment with inks and different mixed media supplies within my scrapbook pages while still focusing on my story. My goal in scrapbooking is to tell my stories and the stories of my family. I want to document who we are and what we like to do. Outside of work and scrapbooking I enjoy photography, cooking, running, biking, hiking and water sports.

Here is Megan's blog. http://creativitybymeg.blogspot.com/ Be sure to stop by and see her beautiful work.

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

Paper Issues: July

Hi everyone! I just stopped by to share this layout that I created for Paper Issues new issue: Getting the Scoop on the Sweet Days of Summer. For this issue, I chose to scrap about our latest vacation. It was quite a trip. We drove from east Tennessee to Niagara Falls, NY and looped back around to Washington DC. Those were just the major spots we visited. There were also side trips to the pro football hall of fame, Lake Erie, and Andy Griffith's home town in North Carolina. So, to sum up, we were in 8 states plus the District of Columbia in a grand total of four days. Whew! I am seriously behind on scrapping all the amazing pictures I took. Here's my layout:

I have been getting a lot of inspiration from Pinterest lately. Specifically, I've been looking at amazing pins related to graphic design. The idea of diagonal lines with squares inside came from an ad someone had pinned. It's been interesting for me to watch my scrapping evolve. I have went from an over the top, throw- more-stuff-on-that-little-baby kind of scrapper to one who is quickly embracing simplicity. Although I'm guessing I'll be back to drowning my pages in stuff next week. Ha! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Just For Fun Layouts

Hi everyone! I just wanted to stop by and share a couple of layouts I created just for the fun of it. It's been a while since I did a layout that wasn't design team work or for a challenge.

I was inspired to play with paint after pinning approximately 1,423 layouts by Wilna F. My expiramentation resulted in the first layout without patterned paper that I've ever created. This is not a good thing, because I am a patterned paper hoarder and I'll never use it all if this becomes a habit!

Here are my layouts:

 

The first one was created by simply watering down some acrylic paint since I didn't have watercolors handy. I splotched it with a little water after doing some willy-nilly brush strokes with each color.

The second layout was a mess, start to finish. It was one of those pages that was started and stopped several times. I had a large geometric circle in mind and I tried to construct it with pp. I intended for it to be bigger, but finally gave up on that idea and decided to use the small geometric-ish-circle-thingy (I totally just made that a word, you're welcome), as a smaller piece and paint around it. I am very happy with the way it turned out, just wish it hadn't given me a headache in the process! :) 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Messy Scrapping

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share a layout I completed after visiting shimelle.com and noticing that she had tons of challenges going on. This one in particular caught my eye, as the challenge was to scrap using mists or inks. I almost always use mist on my pages, but, like one of the ladies on the site noted, I almost never actually use the sprayer. I tend to just open the bottle and "blotch" it on there. Many of my bottles won't even spray anymore because I've opened them so many times. lol. Anyway, here's my layout:

These photos were taken on our recent road trip. We were tickled pink to see Lake Erie for the first time and it sure was nice to have an excuse to get out of the car and breath in some fresh air and sunshine! I am waaaay behind on scrapping all the photos I took!

 Thanks for stopping by! :) 

More Memory Nest Layouts

Hi everyone. I'm just stopping by to share three more layouts for The Memory Nest. I worked with the summer kit, which is jam packed so full of nifty stuff that I'll probably still be making things this time next year! 

 

I loved some of the papers in this kit so much that it almost pained me to cut them up! I seem to have that problem quite often. Hmm... I wonder if that is a sign of a larger issue. Paper addiction, perhaps? ;) Anyway, here are my layouts: 

 

 

 

I also created this cute little coptic stitched journal with the papers from the kit: 

Thanks for stopping by! :) 

SEM Miracles Layout

Hi everyone! I'm just stopping by to share a page I recently created for June's challenge number 1 at Scrapping Everyday Miracles. The verse that was listed (James 1:17) gave me the inspiration for this page:

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I will be back in a few days with some new layouts for The Memory Nest. :) 

 

First Memory Nest Layout for June

Hi everyone! I just stopped by to show off my first June layout for The Memory Nest. I have had a ball playing with the summer themed kit! It is jam packed with all sorts of scrappy goodness.

 

Here's my layout: 

 

I love this photo of my little guy walking up the steps to the St. Louis arch. Well, ok.... who am I kidding? I love almost every photo of my little guy. :) I used some of the papers from the kit to create the triangle/ray thingies (I just made that a term. Boom.). I simply cut rectangles the length I wanted, and then sliced those in half on a diagonal (just cut them corner to corner). 

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to swing by The Memory Nest to get your summer kit! I will have more layouts that I created with this kit later this month.

 

CSI Case File 125

Hi everyone! I'm just stopping by to share my last layout as a special deputy for May. I really enjoyed playing along and wish I would have had time to do more case files. Here's case file 125:

 

This was my favorite file for this month. I love the colors and pretty much everything about it. Here's my layout: 

 

From the evidence list, I chose to use buttons and woodgrain. From the testimony list, I chose to center my journaling around the idea of daydreaming. I love the photo of my little guy running down the pier! That was back in the good ol' days when he was still short and didn't have feet the size of canoes. (insert sniffle here) 

Don't forget to stop by CSI and submit your page! Also stop by The Memory Nest and buy some goodies. Here's a coupon for you! 

 

 

The Memory Nest May Layouts

Hi everyone! I just wanted to drop by and do a quick recap of the layouts I created for The Memory Nest in May.

These two were created using Dapper Dan:

 

 

I had so much fun creating with that collection! If you'd like to get your hands on this collection, or find another one or three, stop by The Memory Nest. Here's a coupon for ya! :) 

Thanks for stopping by!