Sunday, August 9, 2026

Movie Day Layout for LM #811

Hello, everyone, and happy Sunday. Today is the reveal for the latest challenge over at Lasting Memories, and this time, Jill has challenged us to  create a layout showing our favorite brand or designer. This is always a challenge for me, since I was so loyal to CTMH for many years, but then they went out of business - bummer. I have a few new favorites now, with anything by Vicki Boutin topping the list. Here I used her mixed media paper as my background, then added patterned paper for the frame and the strip across the page. The "with you" puffy sticker is from one of her collections, too. We would love to see who is your favorite designer or brand, so feel free to swing by Lasting Memories to share a layout with us!


Here are a few close-ups - the extra ticket that pulls out of the envelope:
The title:
And the stamped sentiments:

Recipe:
Captured Happiness, Cherish the Day, Live Out Loud, This Way & Ticket to Ride stamp sets
Vicki Boutin Let's Wander Mixed Media & Printed Mixed Media paper (American Crafts)
Ruby, Chocolate, Pebble, Black & White cardstock
Ruby, Moonstruck, Flaxen & Black ink
White gel pen (Sakura)
Paige Evans Very Merry Christmas wood stars (Pinkfresh)
Red Sunset enamel dots (Altenew)
Blue Swiss Dot grosgrain ribbon (Offray)
White Daisy baker's twine
Sweet Rush Collection - Loving This puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Foam tape (Scrapbook.com)
Cricut Southwest cartridge: pistol, rug, boot
Cricut Artiste cartridge: filmstrip, tickets, envelope, movie
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: clouds
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped border
Cricut Design Space: Day using Chloe font
Pattern: Rochelle Spears August 2026 Sketch

Challenges: Little Red Wagon #870 Make an envelope - I created a tiny envelope for the tickets; A Cut Above Anything Goes including a die-cut (I went kind of crazy on the die-cuts but didn't manage the optional twist of fall flowers - maybe next time); Unicorn Challenge Blog #123 Layer it up; Scrap With Stacy Tic Tac Toe ( I chose the top row with foam (behind the clouds + enamel dots + 2 photos).

Friday, August 7, 2026

These Wonderful Walls Layout

My goal last month was to finish scrapping the photos from April 29 of our 2017 trip to London, and I almost made it but got distracted at the last moment and didn't end up getting this one done. Oops! Well, I finished it up today with some photos of the interior of the National Gallery, and I am pretty please with how it came out. Since the photos sat on my desk for a couple weeks, I had a chance to realize that the papers I had originally chosen were too busy, so I dug deep into my stash and found some other papers that I paired up with a new butterfly stamp set. I decided not to add any journaling, but hopefully the title speaks for itself.

And here are a couple of close-ups of the layout:


Recipe:
Let Your Dreams Take Flight stamp set (Recollections)
Vicki Boutin Printed Mixed Media paper (American Crafts)
8.5" x 11" paper and word sticker from my stash (source unknown)
Jingle All the Way - Coal Plaid/Gingham paper (Simple Stories)
Scarlet, Black & White cardstock
White Daisy textured cardstock
Black striped grosgrain ribbon
Black embroidery floss
Black and white glitter brads (Eyelet Outlet)
Black label tape (Dymo)
Heart punch (EK Success)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #107 (left side only)

Challenges: NBUS Challenge #89 My never before used stuff was the recently purchased Recollections butterfly stamp; Neglected Stuff Challenges the red and black patterned paper and the striped ribbon; Paper Rocks Scissors #19 Used scissors to fussy cut the stamped butterflies; Heart’s Quest Challenge Blog #87 Red and black punched hearts; Triple B Anything goes including a bird, a bloom, and/or a butterfly.


Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Picture Perfect Layout

I was going through a file cabinet trying to purge old files when I found an Olan Mills envelope that had proofs from some photos my husband and I had done when we had only been married a few years. There was no date on the envelope, so I looked through my scrapbooks and couldn't find that I had ever scrapped these photos, possibly because I didn't love how they looked at the time. With the passage of years, I look much more kindly on how my hubby and I looked in the photos, so I made a guess based on my hairstyle and my hubby's lack of a beard in order to figure out where these photos fit and decided to go with fall of 1996.

Recipe:
Best Friends Forever stamp set
Botanical Textures & Unknown floral paper from 2005 (SU)
Linen cardstock
Vineyard Berry & Black ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Birdsong Ephemera Bits (49 and Market)
Dream Maker stickers
Fancy Cuts Botanicals paper flowers
Paper piercer (We R Memory Keepers)
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #96 

Challenges: Love Those Pretty Papers Anything goes as long as you use lots of patterned paper; NBUS Challenge #89  my never before used stuff is the black and white floral paper; One More Page Any scrapbook layout; The Outlawz Anything But a Card Anything goes except a card; Paper Rocks Scissors #19 Anything goes using paper and scissors - I used scissors to cut the extra nubs off the die-cuts.

Thursday, July 30, 2026

Transport Museum Layout

I really wanted to finish scrapping all my London photos from April 29, 2017 before the end of the month, and I am almost done. Just one more after this. I think I can, I think I can! These photos were taken at the London Transport Museum, probably not a place your average tourist plans to go, but we enjoyed it.

And I had fun creating the little window scene, so here's a close-up:

Recipe:
Harmonious Patterns & Universal Backgrounds stamp sets
Yesterday & Today and Typeset papers
Kraft, Espresso, Toffee, Chocolate, Topiary, Heavenly Blue, Vineyard Berry, Juniper, Black & Colonial White cardstock
Espresso, Toffee, Topiary, Vineyard Berry & Juniper ink
Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
Nostalgiques Automobiles stickers (Stickopotamus)
Natural twill ribbon
Heart punch (EK Success)
Swiss Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Design Space; window, tree, title
Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure?  Used a dotted embossing folder to create some texture on my die-cut tree; Heart’s Quest Challenge Blog #87 Used hearts in three colors, including red; Little Red Wagon # 869 One Thing - mine is one window scene; Paper Rocks Scissors #18 Used scissors to trim the ribbon ends and to cut off part of the tree and car so they would fit in the window scene.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Globe Theater Layout

Still working on my London album, and I am hoping by the end of the month I will have finished scrapping the photos we took on April 29, 2017. Almost there! Anyway, these photos are from the reconstructed Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which was built based on any available evidence of what the original building looked like, although they did have to make a few changes because of modern safety requirements. They were performing Romeo and Juliet that evening, but since it looked like it was going to be a modern production and we really would have loved to see Shakespearean costumes in this theatre, we decided not to go. But the tour was fun, at least.

The layout actually has lots of shimmer and shine from the gold leaf paper on top to the shimmer trim and the brown sparkles, but it's hard to see in the scan, so hopefully this photo will give you a better idea of that:


And here is a close-up of the embossing, since I am not sure you can even see it in the scan!

Recipe:
Love Life stamp set
Bonnie Belle Wedding paper (MAMBI)
Drama School paper (Scrapbook Customs)
Cashmere, Black & Espresso cardstock
Black ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Yesterday & Today PML card
Reasons to Smile washi tape (American Crafts)
Gold shimmer trim
Brown sparkles
CTMH Sunbeam embossing folder
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, scalloped border, banner
Pattern: scraplift from Scrapbook.com
Challenges: Cut It Up #361 Emboss It - I included multiple die-cuts and embossed the black paper on the right; Can You Handle the Pressure? Use an embossing folder; Retro Rubber Challenges #277 - I used a flourish stamp from 2013 and went with the top line of the board.

Monday, July 27, 2026

Millennium Bridge Layout

Another layout for my London album, this time showing views of the Millennium Bridge over the River Thames. I was looking for some water or waves paper and found a Simple Stories beach themed paper pack that had just what I was looking for, plus it had some cool geotag/road map type paper that worked well for this layout. My pictures featured pretty drab colors with just a few pops of red, so I used the pink and red cardstock to cheer up the layout.

Recipe:
My Life stamp set
Just Beachy papers (Simple Stories)
Cotton Candy, Chocolate, Ruby, Blush, Black, Pewter & White cardstock
Bamboo, Flaxen, Juniper & Tulip ink
Very Merry Christmas wood stars (Pinkfresh)
Chocolate baker's twine
Slate polka dot washi tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: banners
Cricut You Are Here cartridge; bridge
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: arrow, notebook paper edge
Cricut Design Space: title using Amertha font
Challenges: A Cut Above Anything Goes including a die-cut; Love Those Pretty Papers Anything goes with patterned paper; NBUS Challenge #88 My never before used stuff is the patterned paper and the wooden stars; One More Page Scrapbook pages only; Paper Rocks Scissors #18 Used scissors to cut the baker's twine.

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Fun & Sun Layout for LM #809

Today is a perfect day for the layout I just completed, since it's supposed to be sizzling here in Southern California! I plan to cool off in a movie theater this afternoon, but first let me share the latest Lasting Memories challenge with you. Design Team member Lisa has been sharing some mood boards with us, and I found inspiration from the lovely color palette of this week's board. Feel free to play along with this or any of the Lasting Memories challenges this month before the linky closes on Saturday. Here's my layout:

And here's the mood board:

Recipe:
Dotty for You papers
Honey Butter, Smoothie & Nectarine cardstock
Creme Brulee, Smoothie ink
Bug-a-Boo stickers (Frances Meyer)
Summer Afternoon enamel dots (Altenew)
Flower embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: title, sun
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #717 (from Facebook) rotated left

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? Use an embossing folder; Cut It Up #361 Use a die-cut + embossing; Let’s Craft and Create #233 Fun in the Sun.

Monday, July 20, 2026

Art {National Gallery} Layout

On our 2017 London trip, my hubby and I went to the National Gallery multiple times and tried to see as much art as possible, but I definitely didn't want to scrapbook all the photos we took, so here is a sampling of the 17th and 18th century paintings we photographed. The others are going in a pocket page. I also included the map of the National Gallery in a vellum pocket behind the photos, so it can slide out for future viewing. Funny story: I was trying to make sure the photos were all from the right centuries for this layout, and discovered that the map, while faithful to the time we visited, is now totally out of date. I guess the museum has so many pieces of art that they move them around depending on what they want to feature, so if we ever visit again, there is no guarantee we would see the same paintings!

Here are a couple of close-ups, one of the title and one of the map:
Recipe:
Belle Fleur paper (photoplay)
Watercolor paper
Vellum
Cranberry, Canary & Sage ink
Garden Green marker
DE Monograms chipboard
Belle Fleur Elements stickers (Photoplay)
Ink Splat stencil (Amazon)
3-D foam tape (Scrapbook.com)
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #13
Challenges: The Outlawz Anything But a Card; Paper Rocks Scissors #18- used scissors to cut the little bumps off the chipboard letters; Stencil Fun –  included the optional twist of  patterns (stenciled ink blots on the chipboard letters).

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Everyday London Layout

On the trip my hubby and I took to London in 2017, we saw many beautiful buildings that we did not have time to explore further, but I thought I would put a few of them together on a layout. The buildings paper from American Crafts was perfect for this layout! I also used a London newsprint paper that I had purchased, not realizing that it was all about Hyde Park, a place we never visited despite it being pretty close to our hotel. This seemed like a good opportunity for me to use a large piece of it, since there are photos and embellishments covering a lot of it.

Click on the photo to see a close-up of the details!

Recipe:
Vintage Type Alphabet stamp set
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
The Flower Emporium papers (49 and Market)
Practically Perfect - London Examiner paper (carta Bella)
Peach, Black & White cardstock
White Daisy textured cardstock
Peach, Sky, Desert Sand & Whisper ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Simple Vintage Junk Drawer foam stickers (Simple Stories)
Krafty Garden Essentials rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Curiosities in Willow Grove rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Black striped border sticker (MAMBI)
Mocha Opaques
Pink baker's twine (American Crafts)
Charmalong key charm (Bead Landing)
Brayer
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: postage frame, scalloped border
Cricut Design Space: viewfinder reel
Pattern: Dusty Attic Week 25 Sketch

Challenges: NBUS Challenges #88 My never before used stuff is the foam stickers and rub-ons; Love Those Pretty Papers Anything Goes with lots of patterned paper; Let’s Craft and Create #233 Anything Goes.

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Covent Garden Layout

This month, my goal is to scrapbook at least 5 layouts from our 2017 trip to London, so here is one from April 29th, when we visit Covent Garden (among other places). I was really expecting something quite different, as you can tell from my journaling below, so we only spend enough time there to grab some lunch before heading off to another venue. However, I decided to scrapbook the photos as if it still was a flower market, which gave me a chance to use the flower shop and flower cart stickers that I had previously wondered if I would ever use. I also created the title using the Harrington font on my Cricut as a nod to Eliza's line, "In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly happen," from The Rain in Spain. Harrington wasn't mentioned, but it sounds like it should have been!

Recipe:
Watercolor paper (Recollections)
Life Is Beautiful papers (Echo Park)
Sage, Canary & Cinnamon cardstock
Blush & Sage ink
Juniper marker
Everyday Moments pocket card (Scrapbook.com)
Life is Beautiful stickers (Echo Park)
Heavenly blue organdy ribbon
Cricut Design Space: vine, circles, title
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #716 (on Facebook)

Challenges: A Cut Above Anything goes with a die-cut; One More Page Any scrapbook layout; Paper Rocks Scissors #18 Used scissors to cut the ribbon ends; Inkspirational Challenges #371 - I was inspired by the flowers on the vine, the colors, and the lemons (used circles to stand in for the lemons)

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Greystone Mansion Layout

The Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, CA, is a lovely place to visit, although you can only tour the gardens and peek in through the windows, but it has a pretty tragic past include an unsolved murder that was pretty high profile at the time. We took a bunch of photos of the garden and a couple of the interior (as much as we could glimpse of it), so I decided to scrapbook these 7 photos and put the rest in a photo storage page. I wanted to do a cloudy sky background but none of my cloud papers looked right, so I ended up creating my own sky using white cardstock, a brayer, blue ink, and a couple of die-cut clouds that I temporarily adhered using washi tape, then removed once I was done playing - so fun!

Recipe:
Life Is Beautiful papers (Echo Park)
Desert Rose, Sage & White cardstock
Desert Rose, Sage, Carolina & Grey Wool ink
Juniper marker
Emporium stickers
Field Notes ephemera (Idea-ology)
Brayer
Cricut Artiste cartridge: clouds
Cricut Design Space: title using Thick font
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #79

Challenges: Cut It Up #360 Create your own background and include a die-cut (the title was die-cut on Cricut Design Space, plus I used 2die-cut clouds as negative space when I created my sky background; The Outlawz Anything But a Card Anything Goes except a card; Triple B Anything Goes with a bird, a bloom, and/or a butterfly.

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Dog Walk Layout for LM #807

This month at Lasting Memories, Lisa is challenging us to be inspired by the mood boards she created. This week's was difficult for me since I don't have any beachy photos to scrap right now, but I decided to go with the color palette after finding some pictures of my kids walking the dogs. My kids are wearing blue, and the dogs have lots of the tan shades, so I figured I could make it work. Hopefully you agree! The design team would love to have you join us this month over at Lasting Memories. Please check out the challenges and show off your layouts inspired by Lisa's mood boards!

Here's my layout: 
The layout doesn't have a brown border IRL but I added one digitally so it wouldn't blend into my blog background.

And here's the mood board:

Recipe:
Pet Shop papers (KI Memories)
Ice Blue Ribbon Plaid paper (Making Memories)
Toffee, Mocha & Almond cardstock
Almond, Mocha & Carolina ink
Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
DE Monograms - chipboard alphas
Teal stars
My Crush Best Day Ever sticker
Geometric washi tape (Recollections)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: circles, scalloped border
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #80
Challenges: As You Like It Favorite non-Card project (mine is scrapbook layouts) and why (because I love preserving family memories); A Cut Above Anything Goes including a die-cut; Let’s Craft and Create #233 Anything goes with optional twist: Fun in the Sun.

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Swoosh! Crack! Thud! Whack! Layout

When you have been scrapping for a while, it sometimes gets hard to find a creative new title for similar events, so I was very happy when I saw a challenge over at A Cherry on Top to use onomatopoeia in your title. In case you don't know, onomatopoeia is a figure of speech where a word phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the natural sound that it describes. I searched online for suggestions for baseball related examples, and came up with the four I used in my title, so much more satisfying than using "take me out to the ball game" again!

Recipe:
Little Boy paper (CM)
Pear & White cardstock
Pear, Carolina & Canary ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Active Nation Baseball stickers (C.R. Gibson)
Green Fields enamel dots (Altenew)
Jeepers Creepers washi tape
Diamond stencil (from Amazon)
Cricut Design Space: title using Madina Script, Cricut Sans, BFS Foxy & DTC Spring Break fonts
Challenges: Allsorts Challenges #853 Stencils; Neglected Stuff Challenge - my neglected stuff is the CM base page (so old it's from their 11.5" wide days) and the baseball stickers; One More Page - anything goes as long as it’s a scrapbook page; Stencil Fun - includes optional twist of patterns.

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Tasty Layout

There are usually too many photos of life events for me to scrap just one photo, but when I have a single photo, I love creating a really special layout for it. For this photo of me enjoying breakfast at our Air BnB before hitting the road to do some exploring, I chose to use a Rochelle Spears sketch along with a color challenge, plus I threw in a few other challenges just for fun! Here's my layout:

And here's the Color Dare challenge. I used shades of the green, purple, and blue, plus some greys and white for my neutrals. How did I do?

Recipe:
Watercolor paper (Recollections)
Color Kaleidoscope papers (American Crafts)
Blue & green patterned papers (from my stash, source unknown)
Pear, Mink & Gypsy cardstock
White Daisy textured cardstock
Hydrangea, Gypsy, Sweet Leaf, Lagoon & Mink ink
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Bold + Bright puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Faded Memory Lane rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remnant Rubs (Idea-ology)
Spring Blossom Just Blooms
White paper flowers (Recollections)
Hydrangea craft button
Hydrangea embroidery floss
Lace & gingham ribbon (Michaels)
Magic Mesh (Creative Imaginations)
Purple Glitter gems
Grand Gothic Window metal die (Poppy Stamps)
Cricut Artistry cartridge: vine
Pattern: Rochelle Spears July 2026 sketch (rotated right)

Challenges: NBUS Challenge #88 - My never before used stuff was the Gothic Window metal die and the 49 and Market butterfly rub-ons; Paper Rocks Scissors #318 - used scissors to cut the ribbon and lace; Scrap With Stacy July 2026 Tic Tac Toe Board - used the middle column with rhinestone + 4 or more patterned papers + rub-ons)

Saturday, July 4, 2026

4th Grade {Elliot} Class Picture Layout

I completed the companion page for this layout last May, but as I mentioned previously, I don't really enjoy scrapping class photos. They are so big and usually feature annoying color combos that don't match my kids' clothes at all, so it's a challenge to figure out how to scrap them. I solved that puzzle this time by just using almost all the same supplies as I did for my son's 4th grade portrait, so at least the pages will mostly match. I actually had the leftover papers in a bag because I kept thinking I would scrapbook this photo, so why put them away? It took over a year, but it's done and this marks the final page of my son's elementary school album - woohoo!

I realized after I scanned it that it is really hard to see the embossing on the grey cardstock, so here is a close-up of it:

Recipe:
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media Collection (American Crafts)
Fundamentals papers
Eggplant, Sapphire & Whisper cardstock
Eggplant & Sapphire ink
Fineliner pen (iBayam)
School Is Cool ephemera icons (Bella Blvd)
Craft buttons (from my stash, source unkown)
Blue Enamel & Glitter Duos dots
Extraordinary embossing folder (Uniquely Creative)
Challenges: Alphabet Challenge Blog E is for embossing (dry embossed a pattern into the grey cardstock); Can You Handle the Pressure? Use an embossing folder. Optional twist:  purple; Triple B Challenge Anything with a bird, bloom, or butterfly goes (I added the cute little owl to go with the school's mascot).

Monday, June 29, 2026

Happy Soul Layout

The end of the month is nearing, so I am trying to finish up just a couple more layouts to increase my total, although I know I can't surpass May at this point. Anyway, here is another one of our cat Sif when she was a kitten in 2019. She was so adorable!

UPDATE: This layout was featured at Little Red Wagon!

I created journaling to put in the little envelope, so here that is:
And here's a close-up of the heart inchies. Sorry, the gems are hard to see.
Recipe:
True Happiness papers & brads (Lisa Bearnson June 2007 Kit of the Month)
Chloe papers & sticker (Bella Blvd)
Sweet Leaf cardstock
Pear & Sweet Leaf ink
Sagebrush marker (Zig)
Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)
Birdsong Ephemera Bits (49 and Market)
My Crush Wildwood Assortment
Green Fields enamel dots & star (Altenew)
Slice of Life mini puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Metal Charm
Pink Glitter Gems
Green Sparkles
Cricut Artbooking cartrdige: sun, notebook edge
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #192 (an old sketch but still a good one)

Challenges: Cut It Up #359 Critter and must include a die-cut; Little Red Wagon #864 Fur, Feather, and Fin (any animal).

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Baby Mine Layout for LM #805

It's Sunday and time for a new Lasting Memories challenge. This is the last one for June and it ends on Saturday, so if you want to play along with any of the challenges for this month, you need to hurry! I've been hosting the challenges inspired by June, and this week was a word play challenge: use a technique or product for every letter in the word JUNE. June has some super hard letters, but I managed to find something for them all with the help of my A-Z of Scrapbooking tab at the top of my blog. Here's my list:

J - Jolee's Boutique daisy stickers
U - unicorn ribbon
N - notebook edge
E - enamel dots and heart

And here's my layout:

Love these moody photos of my daughter. She probably wasn't going to cry, but the pics make me want to hug and hold her.

Recipe:
Oh So Moody cardstock (Heidi Grace Designs)
Brown Bag, Chocolate, Goldrush & Colonial White cardstock
Goldrush & Sky ink
Raw Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
White Daisy stickers (Jolee's Boutique)
Unicorn ribbon (American Crafts)
Chocolate brad
Coffee Break enamel dots (Altenew)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: notebook edge
Cricut Design Space: title using Thick & Cricut Sans fonts
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #11 (I created this sketch in 2010, and as far I I can tell, I never reused it, so I thought it was time)

Challenges: Let’s Craft and Create #232 Anything goes with optional twist: Penny for your thoughts (I used the song from Dumbo to reflect my thoughts about these photos); One More Page Any scrapbook page; Paper Rocks Scissors #17 - used scissors to cut the unicorn ribbon.