One Fine Day in La Verne Layout

I had lived in Southern California almost my entire life when these photos were taken, and I had never seen an icon for snow in the weather app, so this was an exciting moment! I forgot to write about it in my journaling, but one weird thing about this weather was that when I went outside and looked left, the skies were bright blue with fluffy clouds, while looking to the right I only saw grey, dark skies. Hard to believe the two vertical photos below were taken within seconds of each other. 

The sparkles and Stickles are hard to see in my scan, so I took some photos with my photo to try to show them off more. Not sure if that's any better, but I tried!

Here's my journaling card that will go in the facing pocket page with five more photos.

Recipe:
Documenting the Day stamp set (SU)
Lights Aglow papers (SU)
Ponderosa Pine & White Daisy cardstock
Ponderosa Pine & Juniper ink
Sap Green fineliner pen (iBayam)
Snowflake Sticker (Recollections)
Sparkles
Star Dust Stickles (Ranger)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: snowflakes
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #109 (rotated to the right)

Challenges: Cut It Up #335 Monochromatic plus a die-cut; Color My Heart Color Dare #662 - my extra color is green.

Golden Shrine Layout

After enjoying a relaxing week's vacation, I am back to the old routine, including finishing up a scrapbook layout that I started a couple of weeks ago but set aside because I couldn't figure out how to finish it. I had the papers selected and the pictures adhered, but hadn't managed to progress beyond that when my mojo deserted me! I pulled it out this morning and checked out some challenges, and that gave me the impetus to finish it. The photos were taken at the King Tut exhibit in L.A. several years ago and feature his golden shrine, decorated with images of everyday life for the pharaoh and his queen.

Recipe:
Land of Pharaohs paper (Stamperia)
Desert Sand, Carolina, Garnet & Colonial White cardstock
Desert Sand & Carolina ink
Ancient Egypt Ephemera book (Ruth Harding - purchased on Amazon)
Gold Shimmer Trim
Teal enamel dots
Star Punch (EK Success)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: sunburst border
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, postage stamp frames
Challenges: A Cut Above Anything Goes including a die-cut; Let's Craft and Create #221 Anything Goes with optional twist to use a hand punch and/or die-cut (I did both!); Paper Rocks Scissors #6 - used the scissors to cut the ends of the gold shimmer trim banners.

SVK Layout for Lasting Memories #760

Today's Lasting Memories challenge gave me a chance to get nostalgic about a much loved but now defunct scrapbooking company: Close to My Heart. Jill was asking us to create a layout using a favorite brand or designer, and CTMH has long been a favorite for me. I was so sad when they went out of business a couple of years ago, but fortunately, I have enough of their products to last me for the next ten years! What about you?  If you have a favorite designer or brand or company, feel free to hop on over to Lasting Memories and share a layout using lots of their products.

Recipe (unless noted, all products are from CTMH):
Connections, Washi Wonder, Chantilly, Take Note & Picture Perfect stamp sets
Splendor papers
Canary, Candy Apple & White Daisy cardstock
Goldrush, Canary, Candy Apple, Topiary & Black ink
Black marker
Ruby Red fineliner pen (iBayam)
DE Monograms chipboard S, V, K
Red enamel hearts
Dot Fade layering stencil (Stampers Anonymous)
Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: notepaper
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch17Mar

Challenges: Heart's Quest #75 Anything Goes with red or blue heart); Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything goes with an embossing folder - I used one to add dots to the red circles; Colorful Options July - I used the four suggested colors, although my green is a little darker like in the photo.

Making the Cut Layout

Our insurance company insists that we keep a tree that is very close to our house trimmed back, so every six months my hubby has to climb a ladder to trim off all the branches that are overhanging the roof. I didn't manage to get a photo of him, but I did get ones of the kids stuffing the cuttings into the green waste bin.

Recipe:
Caprice & July/August 2021 Mix-In papers
Mocha, Toffee, Sage & Pewter cardstock
Toffee, Chocolate, Sage & Sky ink
Burnt Sienna Fineliner pen (iBayam)
Chocolate brads
Indian Corn Blue embroidery floss
Junebug Puffies - bird
Blue Jean Hearts puffy shapes (Doodlebug Designs)
Measuring Tape ribbon (Joanns)
Wooden arrow
It's a Guy Thing sticker
Wisdom Stickers - Leather (All My Memories)
Woodgrain stencil
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tree
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: grass
Cricut Artiste cartridge: gears
Cricut Simply Sweet cartridge: title (welded to a line in Design Space)
Cricut Design Space: chain saw
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #38 I created this sketch in 2012 and only used it again once (in 2017), so it needed some love. Glad it worked so well for my photos!

Challenges: A Cut Above Anything Goes with a die cut; Cut It Up #332 Masculine with a die cut (my photos aren't very masculine but I think the rest of the layout is, so hopefully that counts);  Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #74 Anything Goes with blue hearts; Paper Rocks Scissors #5 Anything Goes using paper and scissors (used them to trim the ribbon and embroidery floss); Scrap With Stacy June Tic Tac Toe board used the bottom row with Sticker (hard-working and kids) + Arrow (wooden) + Puffy sticker (bird and hearts)

Technic Time Layout

My son has always loved Legos, so one summer my hubby the engineer decided to step it up and introduce him to some Lego (Technic) robots. Here are the two they built together.

Recipe:
Stacy's Hand Alphabet stamp set
Building Blocks papers (Scrapbook Customs)
Color Kaleidoscope Mixed Media paper (American Crafts)
Colorful Kit paper (KI Memories)
Cranberry, Nectarine, Bluebird, Sundance & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Nectarine, Bluebird, Honey & Versamark ink
Clover Meadow marker
White embossing powder
My Happy Place & Puppy Love Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: ring border
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #61

Challenges: Neglected Stuff - my stuff is the brick paper; Park Hopping My Happy Place - anything Lego makes me think of Legoland, and the R2D2 robot reminds me of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland.

This & That Layout

Continuing my habit of combining the miscellaneous photos from every month on a single spread, here are my August 2018 photos. I was excited to discover one of my sketches is being used as the challenge sketch this week over at A Cherry on Top, so of course I had to dive in and create my own version of this sketch to add to the five other times I used it! Love that about sketches; they are so versatile that you can use them over and over and your layout looks unique every time.

Recipe:
Cherish the Day Stamp set
Sweetheart & Something Fierce papers
Sage, Evergreen & Bluebird cardstock
Sage, Ballerina, Cotton Candy & Bluebird ink
Star Spangled Blue marker
As You Grow PML journaling card
Simple Vintage Butterfly Bits (Simple Stories)
Puppy Love Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Random Spots stencil
Cuttlebug Spots & Dots embossing folder
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: heart
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #68

Challenges: Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #74 Blue hearts; Can You Handle the Pressure - used circle embossing folder on my green circles; Color My Heart Color Dare #655 - in retrospect, my light green may be a little too light, and my dark green may be a little too dark, but I tried!

Angels Game Layout

My son was staying over at friend's house and they went to an Angels game. The other mom texted me a few photos of the boys so I could scrapbooking them. I was able to use some older supplies like the grass paper but hopefully gave it a current look. The chipboard was white to start out with, and I stamped and inked it to add some interest.

Recipe:
Spot On Backgrounds stamp set
The Summer Stack papers (DCWV)
Striped & Triangles paper (from my stash, source unknown)
Candy Apple, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Candy Apple, Espresso & Black ink
Dimensional Elements Monograms chipboard
Star Attraction Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug)
Cricut Design Space: baseballs
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: star frame
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #120

Challenges: Cut It Up #331 Anything Goes with a die-cut; The Outlawz Festive Friday Challenge - One for the Boys; Time Out Challenges #290 - used Repeat (baseballs, triangles on patterned paper) + Bold (colors) + Place (baseball stadium)

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.

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.

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!

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)

Award Layout

My third layout for National Scrapbooking Day! We were so proud of my son Elliot for winning the perseverance award in third grade. He has ADHD, so school was hard for him, which made this a great achievement!

Recipe
Blue Ribbon stamp set
School Days paper (MME)
Good Times paper
Sweet Leaf, Brown Bag, Journey & White Daisy cardstock
Sweet Leaf, Brown Bag & Chocolate ink
Fineliner pen (iBayam)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: hexagons
Cricut Artistry cartridge: arrow circle
Cricut Simply Sweet cartridge: title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #101

Challenges: Little Red Wagon #805 Use stash items - everything on here is from my stash; The Male Room #197 Masculine + Geometric

Thor & Huxley Layout

These two pictures of my pets were taken in the same month but not the same day, but I scrapped them together because I loved the way both pets seemed to be looking straight at me! I couldn't decide on a place to put my journaling (two things I copied from my Facebook posts about these two photos), so I popped up the photo mat to create a pocket for each bit of journaling.

Here are the journaling cards:

Recipe:
Magnolia papers (MME)
Fur Baby 6x8 paper pad (Simple Stories)
Star Spangled Blue, Nectarine, Sundance, Paprika, Pear & White Daisy cardstock
Star Spangled Blue & Nectarine ink
Star Spangled Blue & Black marker
Embossing pen
Clear embossing powder
Sweet Leaf grosgrain ribbon
Green washi tape (from my stash, source unknown)
Timberline Assortment wooden shape
Charmalong key charm (Bead Landing)
Gold eyelets (Making Memories)
Chloe sticker & Ciao Chip chipboard (Bella Blvd)
Fur Baby - Dog chipboard (Simple Stories)
3-D foam tape
Scalloped border punch (Fiskars)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: sun, &
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: butterflies
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #314 (includes the recipe found below - my thing found in the sky is the sun, and my spring thing is butterflies))

Challenges: Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone; Neglected Stuff March challenge (I used a super old paper pack called Magnolia, not sure of the date but probably been in my stash for 15+ years) 

Together {Easter Sunday 2018} Layout for LM #743

Hi everyone. I've been scrapping up a storm this week, and it's Sunday again, so here is my latest layout along with my design team reveal for Lasting Memories. In keeping with our Going in Circles theme, the challenge was to use circular ephemera or stamped images to embellish your layout. I chose to use some Easter photos from 2018 (love seeing my family all dressed up) and used stamped circles and embossed cardstock circles. If you would like to check out this or any of the other circle themed challenges for this month, click on the link above before the challenges end on March 29.

Recipe:
Connections stamp set
Watercolor paper (Recollections)
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media paper pad (American Crafts)
Flamingo, Toffee, Pear & White Daisy cardstock
Flamingo, Toffee, Creme Brulee, Gypsy & Lilac Mist ink
Heartstrings Sentiment Bits ephemera (Simple Stories)
Telling Our Story chipboard (Echo Park)
Wicker Weave embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Design Space: bunnies
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: frame, grass
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #67 (rotated left)

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything Goes (I used the Wicker Weave embossing folder from Cuttlebug on my circles - love the added texture); Cut It Up #326 Colors of Spring; Inspiration Station #71 - I was inspired to add two bunnies to my layout!

EMS Sketch Challenge #120 + Kid Approved Layout

We're heading into the weekend, so I thought it would be fun to give everyone a new sketch to play around with over the next couple of days! It features three uncropped, vertical 4" x6" photos with an optional  frame around the middle one. Part of the inspiration for the design was a pad of 6" x 8" papers; you can cut some of the sheets in half and have them peeking out from the top and bottom of the row of photos. You could also do this with any 6" x 6" papers you have sitting around. As always, feel free to adapt the sketch for your needs, and please leave a link in the comments below to your posted layout when you finish it. I really love seeing what people do with my sketches!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my layout:

There is space on the sketch for journaling, but I was also doing a pocket page to hold additional photos, so here are a couple of journaling cards I created to go in that page:

Recipe:
Field Trip Journaling Pad & 12x12 papers (American Crafts)
Black & White Daisy cardstock
Flaxen ink
Black marker
Dreamin' Big Complements cardstock stickers
Genius Puffy Stickers (American Crafts)
Let's Wander sticker (American Crafts)
Field Trip ephemera (American Crafts)
Diggin' for Dinos Scrapbook kit stickers (Creative Expressions)
Green Fields enamel dots (Altenew)
Grid washi tape (Recollections)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: frame

Challenges: Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone

Hello Trouble Layout for Lasting Memories #738

Hello to all you scrappers out there. It's time for another Lasting Memories design team reveal, and Sandy asked us to use 6" x 6" papers on a 12" x 12" layout. I am working on filling in a few blank pages in my 2006 album, so I chose some photos of my son Elliot as a baby. He has ADHD, and while it's not so bad now that he's almost 20 and has learned better, when he was little he was into everything!  I don't have a lot of 6" x 6" papers, but I pulled out a pad that I had received as a prize and decided the papers would work well on this page. I had fun challenging myself to do something I don't often try; hopefully you decide to use up some smaller papers and join us over at Lasting Memories before the challenge ends on March 1!

Recipe:
Save the Date, Hodgepodge Alphabet & Picture Perfect stamp sets
Pumpkin papers (from my stash, source unknown)
Outdoor Denim, Glacier & White Daisy cardstock
Outdoor Denim, Glacier, Ruby & Cashmere ink
Rainbow Acrylic Shapes
Boys Gone Wild epoxy stickers (Reminisce)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: Hello label, arrows

Cute As Can Be Layout for Lasting Memories #737

Sandy over at Lasting Memories is asking us to get back to basics this month with our layouts, and this week's challenge is to use a Happy Horizontal design as the base of your layout. What is a Happy Horizontal, you ask? Basically, you use two pieces of patterned paper that extend all the way across your layout (they can each be 6" tall or a little shorter if desired) and cover the join with a narrow strip of paper. I went back through my sketches and couldn't find a single design that uses this concept, so I guess my brain doesn't work this way! It's always fun to stretch yourself with a challenge, as this one did for me. Whether this is easy or hard for you, please join us over at Lasting Memories this month to show off your Happy Horizontal layout.

I found some blank  pages in my 2006 scrapbook, so I went back and scrapped photos of my 19 year old as a baby - so fun!

Recipe:
Boutique Borders stamp set
Soda Pop papers & sticker
Sapphire, Glacier & White Daisy cardstock
Sapphire & Glacier ink
Prussian Blue fineliner pen (iBayam)
Patty Cake Boy Words stickers (Daisy Hill)
Baby Boy stickers (CM)
Great Lengths stickers (CM)
Summer Afternoon enamel dots (Altenew)
Flower punch (EK Success)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: frames
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title shape
Challenges: Cut It Up challenge #323 This Makes Me Smile (or laugh out loud!); The Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day Layout for Lasting Memories #734

Greetings everyone, and thanks for visiting my blog today. Hope you are having a nice January so far and are enjoying scrap-able moments! I am hosting the  challenges for the month over at Lasting Memories, and this week we are focusing on scrapping multiple photos while making one our obvious focus photo. Hopefully you can tell which one is my focus photo! We would love to have you play along at Lasting Memories this month, so click on the link above to join this and our other challenges.

Recipe:
Let's Wander patterned papers & Mixed Media papers (American Crafts)
Capri, Black, Ponderosa Pine, Canary & White Daisy cardstock
Capri ink
Black marker
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Color Kaleidoscope Thickers (American Crafts)
Illustrated Faith Go! ephemera (Bella Blvd)
Field Notes ephemera (American Crafts)
Let's Wander stickers (American Crafts)
Tag Types adhesive tags (Sticko)
Amy Tangerine puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Smoothie baker's twine
Lagoon washi tape
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: vines
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: banner, sun
Cricut Artiste cartridge: cloud
Challenges: Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #69 Anything Goes with multiple colored hearts;  Colorful Options rainbow colors; The Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone