Bus Tour Layout

I had lots of fun with this layout. I wanted to participate in the Scrap It Girl challenge from 1/11: use items that start with C, H & A on your layout (in honor of CHA). I chose chipboard, hemp, and arrows. Frosted Designs had a challenge to add vellum, acrylic, or a transparency to your layout, so I added vellum. And finally, for the Split Coast Stampers variety challenge to stack something up, I stacked my chipboard letters. The letters actually have a lot of layers: I started with paint, then I added some texture by pressing a piece of twill ribbon onto the paint while it was still wet, then I lightly sponged Outdoor Denim ink onto the dry letters, and finally I stamped a design using Desert Sand ink. I then stacked the letters over vellum and over themselves so they overlap. Fun!

Recipe:
Live Inspired stamp set
Majestic Blue Level 2 papers
Desert Sand, Outdoor Denim, Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock
Desert Sand & Outdoor Denim ink
Natural hemp
Outdoor Denim brads
Vellum (The Paper Company)
Chipboard letters & shape (unknown source)
Create-a-Shade paint
3-D foam tape
Pattern: Understudy from Imagine

Buenos Aires Layout

My mojo has not been flowing much this year, so I decided to sit down and force myself to scrap today! I'm glad I did, because this layout is the result. I was able to participate in two challenges; for the one from Heart 2 Heart, I used a stamp set I've had for quite a while but had never used before (Live Inspired), and for the Split Coast Stamping Inspiration Challenge, I added buttons to the page. I was also inspired by a couple of cards, one from Helen Onulak (stamping on a paper flower) and one from Cibele Glazer (the explore element).

Recipe:
Live Inspired & A Typeface stamp sets
Passages Level 2 papers
Colonial White, Cocoa, Bamboo & Desert Sand cardstock
Cocoa, Desert Sand & Cranberry ink
White Daisy Just Blooms
Craft buttons
Natural hemp
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge
Pattern: Winning Layout from Cherish

Heart 2 Heart Sketch Challenge 12

Time for another Heart 2 Heart scrapbooking sketch! I recently had a request for more white space on my next sketch. In general, I have a ton of photos to scrap, so I have a hard time "wasting" space on my layouts, but here is my humble attempt to leave some empty space for you! I know, it's not much, but see what you can do with it. Enjoy, and don't forget to show us what you did with the sketch.

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
That's Amore Level 2 papers
Black, Barn Red & Buttercup cardstock
Black ink
Black brads
White Daisy organdy ribbon
Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge
Title cut out on my Wishblade

Zoo Layouts

Here is my last layout of 2011 and my first of 2012. I decided to post them together since they are on the same subject. I pre-designed both layouts using Studio J, and then used the papers I had to recreate the layouts. My hubby thought it was a lot of extra work, but it was worth it to be able to see what the layout would look like before I even cut a piece of paper!

Recipe:
Expedition Level 2 papers
Olive, Autumn Terracotta, Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock
Olive & Autumn Terracotta ink
Olive marker
Title cut out using my Wishblade
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge
Pattern: Sidebar - Original & Sampler - Nine Photo Quilt from Reflections

Recipe:
Field Trip Alphabet stamp set
Lucky Level 2 papers & Chipboard Assortment
Cocoa, Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand & Colonial White cardstock
Outdoor Denim & Versamark ink
Cocoa marker
White embossing powder
Olive brads
Pattern: Stars Above from Imagine

Happy New Year!

Good morning, everyone, and a happy belated new year to you. I've been out of town with my family since Saturday, and have had little to no internet access - life was tough! Hope you all are having a great year so far. I thought I'd start by telling everyone that the new Heart 2 Heart design team members have been selected and are preparing their artwork to show you! If you scroll down to the bottom of my blog, you can see the two teams that will (on alternate weeks) be bringing you fabulous challenges using Close to My Heart products. Click on any of the names to check out their blogs. Mary has asked me to continue to bring you a scrapbooking sketch on the 15th of every month, and I would love to see lots of people playing along. If you have any thoughts on what type of sketches you want (multi-photo, more vs. less white space, shaped pictures, etc.), please let me know. I've also set my scrapbooking goal for the year (150 layouts), and I'm going to try to get off to a good start by completing 20 layouts this month. I want to use up a bunch of old CTMH paper kits before I purchase a lots of new stuff from the new CTMH idea book (released on February 1st). Wish me luck!

All Aboard Layout

My boys love trains, so I always seem to have lots of train pictures to scrap. I tried to be creative this time by paper-piecing the little train. Hope you like!

Recipe:
Cherry-O Level 2 papers
Crystal Blue, Chocolate & Colonial White cardstock
Chocolate ink
Wooden craft buttons
Chocolate embroidery floss
DE Monograms "a", "l", "b", "o" & "d"
Chipboard letters "a" & "r" (Doodlebug Designs)
Nutmeg Brown acrylic paint (Plaid Enterprises)
Scalloped border punch (Fiskars)
Pattern: Understudy from Imagine

Time to Relax Layout

Simple layout that I predesigned in Studio J and then created using supplies on hand.

Recipe:
Classmate Alphabet stamp set
Magic Moments Level 2 papers
Chocolate, Indian Corn Blue & Colonial White cardstock
Magic Moments Scrapbooking Kit My Stickease
Versamark ink
White embossing powder
Heart punch (EK Success)
Pattern: Dramatic Fashion from Cherish

Merry Christmas

From a poem by G.K. Chesterton, I think this sums up the Christmas story!

"And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star."

Benihanas Layout

For this layout, I got to combine an old and a new favorite. The old is my Wishblade, which I used to cut the title. After my computer crashed in October, I never re-installed the software for my Wishblade, and then I had to figure out how to make it work with Windows 7 - ouch! Finally got it up and running, so you can expect to see some more Wishbalde-cut titles from me in the near future. The new is the Art Philosophy cartridge for my Cricut, which I used to cut all the dragonflies. I then stamped the dragonflies using images from the "This Way" stamp set. Love that look. It's Christmas Eve and my hubby took our boys out for the day, so I'm off to create some more layouts. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Recipe:
This Way stamp set
Fanfare & Felicity Level 2 papers
Sky, Chocolate, Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock
Pacifica & Sky ink
Pacifica marker
Colonial White ric-rac
Chocolate craft buttons
Waxy Flax
Pattern: Creative Rhythm from Cherish

Heart 2 Heart Sketch Challenge 11

I finally climbed out from under my mountain of Christmas cards long enough to create this sketch and layout for the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog. It's simple, featuring only three photos, but you could always replace the long photo at the bottom with a series of 3" x 3" photos. It also uses some pennants, something I haven't experimented with much yet. I cut the shortest pennant out using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, and then, since you can't cut longer pennants using the cartridge without also having them wider, I used it as a template to cut the longer pennants. The title and snowflakes were also cut out using the AP cartridge. There are so many fun shapes on that cartridge that you could use to fill in the asterisks from the sketch. Have fun creating, and don't forget to link your artwork to the Heart 2 Heart blog so everyone can see it!

The Sketch:

My Layout:



Recipe:
Wonderland papers
Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock
Twilight, Crystal Blue, Chocolate & Bamboo ink
Twilight marker
Pearl Opaques
Stickles (Ranger)