Go Fish Layout

I have scrapped pictures from the Aquarium of the Pacific at least four times that I recall, so at first I wasn't sure what to call this layout to differentiate it from all those other times, but the title Go Fish popped into my head, so I went with it!

Recipe:
Lollipop Shoppe & Colo Me Silly papers (Basic Grey)
Red speckle & colorful dot papers (from my big bag of scraps, source unknown)
Glacier & Sapphire cardstock
Tangerine textured cardstock (Bazzill Papers)
Tangerine gel pen (Cricut)
Simply White Nuvo Drops
Fish punch (EK Success)
Funky Journaling Genie (Chatterbox)
Cricut Design Space: waves
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #113

Challenges: Neglected Stuff June challenge - I dug into my bag of paper scraps and found three old papers from Basic Grey to make my waves, plus I used the Funky Journaling Genie that I haven't used in 10+ years as a guideline for my writing; Rock-Paper-Scissors #5 - used my scissors to cut out the triangles for the sun;  Colorful Options June 2025 - I ended up using a rainbow of colors, but also had a "by the sea" theme, so I decided to include the inspiration board as well!

Giraffe Grad Card

Tonight I'm heading to a 6th grade graduation for the son of a friend, so I needed a little card for him. There were a bunch of challenges I used for inspiration, so be sure to check those out below. I posted two versions of the card. The first one has a plain white background, and I was going to go with that one, but the Amazon delivery truck pulled up to the house with a package of stencils I had ordered, and one of the stencils reminded me of the giraffe's spots, so I added that to two of the corners. Which version do you like best? On the inside of the card, I stamped the sentiment "You're moving up!" because I thought it worked well with the giraffe and the promotion to middle school!

Recipe:
Elemental stamp set
At the Zoo papers (Doodlebug Designs)
Clover Meadow, Toffee, Sunflower & Chocolate cardstock
Clover Meadow, Toffee, Brown Bag & Chocolate ink
Chocolate baker's twime
Animal Spots stencil (Boqon)
Cuttlebug Wicker Weave embossing folder
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: giraffe
Cricut Artiste cartridge: banner
Pattern: Hand Stamped Sentiments #464

Challenges: Can You Handle The Pressure? - Anything Goes with an embossing folder + twist of zoo/jungle animal; Stencil Fun -  Anything Goes with a stencil; Inkspirational #342

Tic Tac Toe Challenges #271 - I used the middle column with Die cuts + Ribbon or Twine + Embossing folder.

EMS Sketch Challenge #122 + My Favorite Flakes Layout

It's Sunday, which means another Lasting Memories challenge has started, and it's a really fun one. Lisa gave us a list of paper sizes that we need to include on our layout. I decided to pull out photos from our Mammoth vacation in April 2018; I scrapped the rest of my photos from that vacation, but then was waiting for my Stampin' Up order with the adorable Snowy Scenes papers to arrive. Since my papers were brand new, I didn't just want to randomly cut into them, only to decide I wanted to use them differently, so I created a sketch with the four papers Lisa challenged us to use, and I even extended it into a double pager with a repeat of two of the papers. Feel free to play along with the Lasting Memories challenge, either using the sketch as inspiration, or just getting creative on your own. Be sure to leave a link in the comments if you use the sketch! 

Here's the sketch:

And here's my layout:

Recipe:
Snowy Scenes papers (SU)
Candy Apple, Almond, Chocolate & White Daisy cardstock
Glacier & Almond ink
Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
White gel pen (Sakura)
CTMH chipboard
White Pines flair
Cricut Design Space: snowman, title using BFC Night Kiss font
Challenges: Cut It Up #331 - anything goes including a die-cut

One of These Boys Layout

My final layout for National scrapbooking month! I picked a couple photos of my son with four brothers from another family, and I remember thinking when I took the photo that, although there are definite similarities between him and the other boys, no one could mistake him for part of their family. That memory made be decide on the title, and I wrote more about it on the hidden journaling tag behind the top photo.

Recipe:
Friendship Word Puzzle, Special Care, Connections & All the Details stamp sets
Soda Pop papers
Sapphire, Sweet Leaf & White Daisy cardstock
Sapphire, Sweet Leaf, Lagoon & Canary ink
Ocean marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Soda Pop sticker
Bold & Bright ephemera (American Crafts)
Heavenly Blue organdy ribbon
Cool Summer Night enamel dots & heart (Altenew)
3-D foam tape
Rays & Burlap stencils (Stampers Anonymous)
Circle Double Stitched Steel Dies (Art Impressions)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped circle, tag, banners
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap Birthday Bash Sketch #4

Challenges: Cut It Up Challenges #331 Anything Goes with a die-cut; Crafter's Cafe #319 Anything Goes with optional no squares; The Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone

Diving Into Summer Layout

To scrap my second set of photos from my church youth camping trip from 2018, I used premade background pages from CTMH. I don't usually use these types of pages, so I decided to include my own touches by adding the berry pink patterned papers to either end, plus some word stickers and other embellishments.

Recipe:
Starter Cut Above Layout Kit 2
Hip Hip Hooray papers
Olive, Avocado & Sandance cardstock
Olive, Citrus Leaf & Thistle ink
Black marker
Mod Great Lengths Title stickers (CM)
Simple Vintage Essentials foam stickers (Simple Stories)
Reasons to Smile washi tape (American Crafts)
Telling Our Story adhesive brad (Echo Park)
Blue Jean Hearts Puffy shapes (Doodlebug Designs)
Heart punch (EK Success)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: sun
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #111 (for left side)

Challenges: Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #74 Blue and/or yellow hearts - both colors on heart washi tape + 2 blue puffy hearts; Inspiration Station #73 - I was inspired by the outdoor scene, especially the sun on the horizon.

Sun & Sand Layout

My hubby took a ton of photos at the youth camping trip in 2018 where he was a chaperone, so here's a  layout using some of the photos from the first day. I kept it pretty simple because the background papers were already rather complicated.

Recipe:
The Summer Stack papers & chipboard die-cut (DCWV)
Toffee cardstock
Toffee, Twilight & Sorbet ink
Challenges: Creative Inspirations The Great Outdoors - aren't these beach photos gorgeous?; Double Trouble #192 included optional twist of flip-flops.

BFF Layout

I was trying to think of a good title for this layout when I ran across a challenge from Little Red Wagon to create something with a friendship theme. These photos really illustrate the close friendship my two youngest kids had. This past year in therapy, my daughter revealed how lost she has felt the last four years since her little brother passed away. He was always the outgoing, playful one, so it's been hard for her to make friends without him to lead the way. While I pray she is able to overcome and find her footing someday, I will always be thankful for how the two of them weathered life's storms together.

Update: Chosen as a Featured project on Little Red Wagon!

Recipe:
Best Friends Forever & Take Note stamp sets
Happy Trails papers (Simple Stories)
Lagoon, Saffron, Crystal Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Ruby, Goldrush, Saffron, Lagoon, Crystal Blue ink
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Bold & Bright ephemera (AmericanCrafts)
Cool Summer Night enamel dots (Altenew)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tags
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: notebook page
Cricut Artistry cartridge: umbrella, raindrops
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #25 (rotated left)

Challenges: Creative Inspirations The Great Outdoors - I love these pictures of my kids fooling around outside in the aftermath of a rainstorm!

June Highlight Reel Layout

These are my miscellaneous photos from June 2018 that I collected and put on one layout. I decided to just feature two photos; the other four are in Flip-Flaps so you can lift up the plastic sleeve and see the photos underneath.

I had to share one of the photos that will be in a Flip-Flap; this was my son's face when he found out Chewbacca wasn't a real alien, just a person in a costume!

Recipe:
Highlight Reel, Noted Backgrounds & Dream Big stamp sets
Molly papers (Bella Blvd)
Oh Happy Day paper (Simple Stories)
Lagoon, Raspberry, Sunflower, Sapphire & White Daisy cardstock
Lagoon, Sapphire & Sunflower ink
Ocean marker
Navy & Pure Pink markers (Zig)
Turquoise fineliner pen (iBayam)
White gel pen (Sakura)
White acrylic flowers
Beach Party rubber shapes
My Crush Everyday Assortment stickers
Swiss Dot grosgrain ribbon (Offray)
Cricut Artistry cartridge: flowers
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #316 - I adapted it for my photos and to add journaling, and since the pictures needed to be able to lift up, I moved the flowers around.

Challenges: Double Trouble #192 - includes optional twist of flip-flops

Do Your Thing [VBS} Layout

June of 2018 was VBS month for my son, as he attended two other ones in addition to the one at our church. I only had a few photos from the other two, so I decided to just scrap them together. I used Rochelle Spear's May sketch for my design, and I really wish I had cut the patterned paper piece at the top longer, but once it was done, I had to just go with it.

Recipe:
Dream Big, It's Your Day, Connections & Distressed Backgrounds stamp sets
Moon Doggie & Wood Grain papers
Toffee, Cranberry, Vanilla Cream & Colonial White cardstock
Cranberry, Toffee, Saddle, Indian Corn Blue, Garden Green & Bamboo ink
Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
Let's Wander stickers (American Crafts)
Palm Tree stickers Creative Imaginations)
Simple Vintage Essentials foam stickers (Simple Stories)
Blue Adornaments fibers (EK Success)
Scalloped border punch (Fiskars)
Pattern: Rochelle Spears May 2025 sketch (added a vertical photo)

Challenges: Scrap With Stacy Tic-Tac-Toe (Used the middle column with Edge punch + wood grain + flowers)

Cupcake Inspirations #618 Use a Tree (mine were palms trees)

Neglected Stuff May Challenge - the patterned papers and all the stamps I used were super old.

About My Father Layout

I struggled a bit with this layout, since the card I made for my hubby was red but my son's card was orange, but eventually I decided to go with an orangy-red background and brown + kraft accents. Hopefully you think it worked! The journaling was fun to do; I went with a list of things my hubby does for/with our family rather than just telling all the things we did this Father's Day.

Recipe:
Starter Alphabet & A Typeface stamp sets
Pet Shop paper (KI Memories)
Paprika & Espresso cardstock
Espresso & Twilight ink
Twilight marker
Lucky Assortment chipboard
Milepost Shapes
Twilight Brads
Halloween Mix epoxy stars (Bella Blvd)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: frame
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #85

Challenges: Double Trouble #191 - this is my entry for Father's Day, including using kraft items (chipboard, corrugated shapes, photo mat)