Open House Layout

This layout has been sitting on my desk for a week now, unfinished, because I just couldn't seem to find a way to pull it all together. I knew I wanted to participate in the Child's Play Mickey Mouse Clubhouse challenge, so I created the title, but after that I was stuck! Yesterday, I discovered a new sketch blog (well, new to me, at least) and I thought the sketch would work really well with my photos, so this morning I was able to finish it up. BTW, I love my son's poem. He did great on the first stanza, but then he kinda lost track of the whole rhyming thing, so his result cracks me up.

Recipe:
Spot On Backgrounds, Today's Date & Capture the Date  stamp sets
Sunset, Honey, Cocoa, Topiary, Dutch Blue, White Daisy & Cashmere cardstock
Sunset, Cocoa, Dutch Blue & Creme Brulee ink
Black bitty brad
Twill ribbon
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped border
Artiste cartridge: stars
Challenges: Little Red Wagon - cardstock only (no patterned paper); Frosted Design's Fabulous Friday challenge - polka dots; 2 Broke Girls Max & Caroline challenge - use numbers; Pamela's World of Scrap - sketch 237 (using the right hand side of the 2 page sketch)

Mr. Luna Layout

There's a new Close to My Heart challenge blog called Rose Blossom Garden Challenges, and the idea is to use your CTMH Cricut cartridges to create artwork.The latest challenge is to use any of the images from the Birthday Boy key from Artiste (p. 68 in the booklet). I was working on pictures from my son's school album, and since this key features lots of space images, I knew it was a perfect fit for Adrian's second grade teacher, Mr. Luna! (Luna means moon in Spanish, just in case you didn't know). And since CTMH is coming to Australia and New Zealand very soon, I figured it would also be fun to incorporate the current Southern Girl's challenge to use punches or die-cuts. The journaling reads: Adrian's second grade teacher was out of this world!

Recipe:
Cashmere, Cocoa, Sunset, Dutch Blue & Honey cardstock
Cocoa, Sunset, Dutch Blue & Honey ink
Cocoa & Honey markers
Irresitibles Lots of Dots alphabet stickers
Striped Chocolate ribbon
3-D foam tape
Pattern: 2 Broke Girls NSD Sketch 1
Cricut Artiste cartridge: planet, stars, rocketships

Sew Thoughtful Card

I'm plugging away at getting the cards for my upcoming card workshop designed before I leave for a camping vacation during which no paper crafting is allowed! Here's another one, this time using the  Puns of Praise stamp set. I picked the following sketch from Annabelle Stamps for the design, but of course I had to change it up a little!

 

Recipe:
Puns of Praise, Boutique Borders & Love Life stamp sets
Dream Pop Level 2 papers
White Daisy cardstock
Slate & Cotton Candy ink
Black Pigment ink
Clear embossing powder
Cotton Candy & Silver Metallics markers
Grey Wool baker's Twine
Pewter brad
Challenges: Annabelle Stamps Choose Your Favorite Sketch

Mojo Monday 296 Card - A Little Birdie

I'm on a roll with the Mojo Monday sketch for this week, so I thought I'd share a card I created for my upcoming Dream Pop workshop, using the same sketch as yesterday's card. It's amazing how a different set of papers and embellishments can make it look like a totally different card, yet the bones of it are the same!

Recipe:
Life is Tweet stamp set
Dream Pop kit
White Daisy cardstock
Cotton Candy, Lagoon, Slate & Honey ink
Slate craft button
White Daisy baker's twine
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers
Challenges: Color My Heart Dream Pop color dare

Mojo Monday 296 Card - Gee, Thanks

 

We have the greatest crossing guard overseeing the crosswalk by my son's school. Mr. Jack is so friendly and thoughtful, and he truly cares about the safety of the kids, so this card is a big thank you to him! I knew the Cricut Artiste cartridge had a few road sign cuts that I could use, and when I saw the circles on the Mojo Monday sketch for the week, inspiration struck. Hope you like the end result!

Recipe:
School Rocks stamp set
For Always & Cherry-O Level 2 papers
White Daisy, Black, Honey & Tulip cardstock
Black & Tulip ink
Tulip & Topiary brads
Yellow & star brads (from my stash)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artiste cartridge: stop sign, pedestrian crossing sign, stoplight
Challenges:Southern Girls Tic-Tac-Toe (ink, stars, chevrons); Scrap It Girl die-cuts

EMS Sketch Challenge 45 - Playtime at the Aquarium

In the past, I've been rather erratic at posting my sketches, but here's my new schedule. I will be posting a new sketch and a link to post your interpretation of the sketch on the 1st of each month. You will have the whole month to complete a sketch, post it, and link it to this post. On the 5th of the month, I will post the "winner" of the previous month's sketch, and that layout will be featured on my blog. Sound fun? Let's get started with this month's sketch!

My layout:

Recipe:
Trinity Alphabet, Down By the Sea & Surf's Up WOTG stamp sets
Flirty Level 2 papers
Slate, Sky, Cranberry, Gypsy & White Daisy cardstock
Lagoon, Sky, Cranberry, Gypsy, Cocoa & Goldrush ink
Cocoa marker
Cranberry, Cocoa & Crystal Blue craft buttons
3-D foam tape

Please link your completed layout here by 6/30/13 at 11:59 pm PST!

Tide Pool Layout

National Scrapbook Day Challenge #20 at Let's Scrap was to use at least 5 different scraps of paper on your layout. I think I need to do this challenge about 300 times to clear out all the scraps in my stash, but I did use up a few pieces of scraps on this layout!

Recipe:
You Rock Level 2 papers
Outdoor Denim, Olive, Petal & Goldrush ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Color-Ready Cork Alphabet
Indian Corn Blue, Hydrangea & Goldrush embroidery floss
Pattern: Let's Scrap 11-28-12
Challenges: Little Red Wagon Put a Cork In It challenge

Mr. Smiler's Big Day Layout

I'm trying to sneak in another challenge from Let's Scrap before the deadline (May 31st!), so here it is. We were asked to use the provided sketch and create a birthday layout that didn't look birthday-ish! I had to think about this one for a while, but I finally came up with these great photos from my son's first birthday. Since he was such a cheerful baby, we nicknamed him Mr. Smiler, so the choice of a happy face birthday party was really a no-brainer. A friend gave me the happy face foamies seven years ago and they've been waiting for me to get around to scrapping this event!

Recipe:
Hodgepodge Alphabet stamp set
Dotty for You Level 2 papers
Whisper, Lagoon & Black cardstock
Lagoon Creme Brulee & Black ink
Happy Face foamies (from my stash)
Lagoon & Creme Brulee baker's twine
Black Bitty Brads
Pattern: Let's Scrap 5-11-13

SCS Variety Challenge 189 - Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

It's been a while since our last Variety Challenge for Splitcoast Stampers, so here's another fun one to try. To play along, simply click the link below!

SBVC189 - Going Gray
Gray is the new “go-to” neutral, so create a layout using gray as your primary neutral.

Here's my layout. This was a fun challenge for me, since I would have usually gravitated towards using a tan color as my neutral. However, since there is a lot of gray and blue-gray in my photos, I like the result.

Recipe:
Vintage Type stamp set
Cherry-O Level 2 papers
Slate, Indian Corn Blue, Goldrush, Outdoor Denim & White Daisy cardstock
Slate, Indian Corn Blue & Goldrush ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Slate Washi tape
Indian Corn Blue & Goldrush embroidery floss
Pattern: Let's Scrap 11-28-12
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart Nip & Tuck stitching challenge,  Stampin' Royalty photo inspiration (the banners, stripes, and circles for the title)

EMS Sketch Challenge 44 - Memorial Day Bonus

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! Our family raised our flag this morning and said the pledge of allegiance, and now we're looking forward to a barbecue with friends this evening. As a special little Memorial Day bonus, I whipped up a fun sketch challenge for you all.There's room for 10 photos on this layout, or you could switch the smaller photos on the left page out for a couple of 6"x 4" ones and still be able to scrap 8 pictures. I added some stars and stripes in honor of today, but you can use any embellishment that suits your theme. Have fun and don't forgot to share your finished work so I can ooh and aah over it!

Check out a sample layout using this sketch here!