Dolphins

I'm going to finish this week off with a layout, to prove that I am making real, albeit stunningly slow, progress on our vacation photos (from LAST YEAR).

I sometimes like to do complementary two page layouts: where the photos/design are discrete, but they share a theme or style.

I actually finished these pages a week or so ago for the online crop that Paper Issues had.  The challenge was to use stitching on a layout.  I sketched in those waves and then used two colors of floss to stitch across.



I also used some strips of paper to tie the pages together and of course the themes are similar.

I hope that you have a great end to the week and have some fun things planned for the weekend!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Crazy but true, I have another layout to share!

These photos are from the girls' Frozen birthday part this summer.  This was the Insta-Snow activity which was a ton of fun, but didn't last that long since the kids (mine especially) quickly decided that actually making it snow was a lot of fun.  The stuff was all over the deck and the kids were 'ice skating' in it, but it proved a bit treacherous for the adults so we had to sweep it away.

I started with The Underground scrapbook kit from Studio Calico, using the a patterned paper from the base and then that blue cardstock.  It fits with the theme and pictures perfectly.  Added a large doily from my stash and then stamped and fussy cut some Lawn Fawn alphas.

The journaling is hidden under the center photo.



This is another layout for the Paper Issues online crop.  I love these types of events because they help get me jumpstarted and back into my scrapbooking.

I'm so excited it's Friday.  Next week is spring break and I'll work part of it and hang out with the girls/family for part of it.  Hope you have a great weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  American Crafts - Black Cardstock
Stamps:  Lawn Fawn - Quinn's ABCs
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Other:  Studio Calico - The Underground Scrapbook Kit; American Crafts - Chap tab; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Xyron - 1 1/2" Sticker Maker; Misc Doily from stash

2014 in Books

Don't be shocked, but I have another layout to share!

I did a similar layout last year, but that was much more labor intensive since I did a little write-up for each of the books I read.  Given the fact that I read more books this year, I was looking for a simpler way to scrapbook the topic.

Anyway, as soon as I saw this sheet of paper from October Afternoon's Public Library collection last year I knew I was going to use it for this year's layout.



I trimmed down the sheet to create the card catalog for my layout.  I fussy cut some of the drawer fronts from the rest of the paper to use on the front of my fold out drawers.  Inside I listed the books that I read based on how I rated them.



I'm happy to report that I read more books this past year than the year before, and I got back into fiction too.

That's all for today, hope it's a good one!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  October Afternoon - Public Library; collection; Fancy Pants - Swagger collection; CTMH - Colonial White Card-stock
Other:  Pebbles - Thickers; American Crafts - Amy Tangerine Translucent Letter Sticker, Black 03 Journaling Pen; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Water Play

March has been such a busy month in terms of crafty commitments, but it's winding down, and I've been itching to get some scrapbooking done.  There's an online crop going on at Paper Issues, so it seemed like a great way to jumpstart my scrapbooking.

This is for the no cardstock challenge, which is pretty rare for me actually.  I almost never create without some cardstock.  I cheated a little as I used some 'patterns' that are more solids, but this is still pretty good for me.

These are some photos from this past summer when the cousins were in town and we took the kids to a little plaza area in front of a local movie theater.

The journaling cards are Simple Stories.  Short and sweet today.  Hope your week is going well!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  BasicGrey - Spice Market, RSVP; Echo Park - Alison Kreft Love Script paper
Other:  Simple Stories - Say Cheese 4x6 SN@P cards, I Heart Summer 4x6 SN@P cards; American Crafts - 03 Black Journaling Pen, Black Chipboard Thickers

Grandparent's Day

Another great Elle's Studio sketch this week.

These photos are from the Grandparent's Day event at my parents' retirement community back in September.  My parents moved down to Virginia last year and are about a half hour away now (as opposed to 7 hours).  It's been wonderful for us all to see them regularly (and take advantage of free babysitting).  I especially appreciate it because when I was growing up, my grandparents were all overseas.  Andrew's parents are also pretty close, and it's so nice for the girls to have close relationships with their grandparents.

This was a fun, and pretty quick, layout to put together.  The base is a new CTMH color called Slate.  It's a great medium toned neutral which I think is going to get a lot of use around here.  Patterned papers are from Basic Grey's Paper Cottage collection, there are several Elle's tags, and those fun flat sequins are from a Polka Dot Whimsy kit.

The journaling is on hidden behind the top photo.  To hold it in place, I used dimensional foam tape - it serves a double purpose, adheres the photo and acts as a stopper.



I'm also going to link this layout up at Paper Issues because it contains gray AND Basic Grey.

Have a great day!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Basic Grey - Paper Cottage 6x6 pad; CTMH - Slate cardstock
Other:  Elle's Studio - Noted Journaling Circle Tags, The Sweet Life Tidbits, Collected Note Tags; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape; Basic Grey - Konnichiwa collection pack alpha stickers; May Arts - Twine; Punky Sprouts - Lil' Lacey Blossoms; Polka Dot Whimsy - Red Sequins; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; 3L - Small Dodz

Triple Take

Who would have thought that I would start to really enjoy these one and two photo layouts? Not me, that's for sure!

But really, this one was just SO much fun to put together.

This is this week's Elle's Studio sketch, and I'm also going to link up at Paper Issues, since I think this kind of qualifies as eclectic, at least eclectic for me.

I wanted my paper patterns to line up with that diagonal from the layout, so instead of cutting the paper on a diagonal and just fitting it onto the page, I cut the papers along the lines of their patterns. Consequently, they don't extend the full width of the page, but I like how it creates kind of a frame around the piece.

It was lots of fun choosing the elements for the layout. That doily stamp is an Elle's Studio exclusive, that I fussy cut. Layered on top of it, is a great embellishment that came in a Polka Dot Whimsy kit. Its from an etsy shop called Citron Faire that is no longer open.



Those flat red sequins also came in the Polka Dot Whimsy kit.



I used the Trinity Alphabet stamp set, and cut out the letters. Those, the doily stamp, and even those red sequins were run through the Xyron machine - makes adhering SO much easier.

I added a little line of Peppermint Stick Trendy Twine at the top, and paired some Cranberry grosgrain with an Elle's studio pennant below.

And what do you think of those chevron stamps? Like them? I've been carving again! I actually have a whole set, that I'll share with you soon.

Thanks for coming by!

Supplies Used

Paper/Cardstock: American Crafts - Garden Cafe; Bella Blvd - Estate Sale; CTMH - White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: CTMH - Trinity Alphabet; Elle's Studio - Doily stamp; Miriam Prantner ;) - Chevron
Ink: CTMH - Cranberry, Chocolate
Other: Elle's Studio - Red Pennant; CTMH - Cranberry Grosgrain; Polka Dot Whimsy - Flat Round Sequins: Citron Faire - Layered flower embellishment; Trendy Twine - Peppermint Stick; Pigma Micron Chocolate Pen; CM - Photo Splits; Tombow Mono Adhesive; 3L - Large Dodz; Xyron - 5" Creative Station

I Want Candy for RCC and Paper Issues

Sweet Stamp Shop, one of my favorites companies is sponsoring a sketch challenge at Ribbon Carousel, RCC44 this week. By sheer happy coincidence, Paper Issues' theme this week is "Welcome to the Candy Shop" so I'm linking this card up there too.

I love this card, because it was so much fun to put together, and it's so true. I do want candy, all the time. It's often the first thing I eat in the morning and the last thing I eat at night. I know where all the candy jars are at the office, and my colleagues have learned that I am easily bribed/appeased with tasty treats. I have a total sweet tooth....which I am sure is not why you are here, so let's get down to business.

There are a bunch of companies selling eye chart stamps (which I love, but haven't gotten a chance to purchase yet), and I wanted to do something similar with this card. I played around in Microsoft Word, trying out different fonts/sizes/spacing until I got the right look.

The glasses are from Sweet Stamp Shop's Spectacle set, which just came in the mail on Saturday and I was psyched to ink it up so soon. I also used their Sweet Tooth stamp set for the candy piece as well as to create the pattern on the circle piece. That was created with the bubble border stamp. I wanted it to be a little more solid, so I stamped inside the larger circles with the closest small round thing I could find....the end of a crayon. Kind of neat, huh?



This is for the Ribbon Carousel challenge and I used two trims. First, some Lemondrop Twinery twine. I pierced holes in the corners of the Lagoon cardstock piece and then threaded the twine through. For straight lines, this is a great way to 'adhere' the twine since you don't actually need to use any adhesive. I often find when I'm working with twine that it gets rather messy....I get adhesive in all sorts of places I don't want it, or the twine gets stretched/twisted too much or too little, so eliminating the need for adhesive is a big deal for me.



I also used some red grosgrain ribbon with white accents that I got at Christmastime from Michael's. I used red thread to tie the ends to kind of mimic the wrapping on a piece of candy.



So there you have it. What do you think? Make you want to have some candy too? I'm in trouble since I just finished my bag of Haribo Peach Gummies.....must get to the store.....

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: CTMH - Cranberry, Lagoon, and White Daisy cardstock; Creative Memories - Red cardstock (candy piece); Bella Blvd - Winter Wonder, Icy
Stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop: Spectacle, Sweet Tooth
Ink: CTMH - Cranberry, Black
Other: The Twinery - Lemondrop Twine, Michael's - Red Grosgrain ribbon; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape, Piercing Tool