Smile Card

I needed to make a card for a graduate this week, so here's what I whipped up thanks to the help of several challenges! On the inside, I stamped "You are positively amazing" to represent the challenges this grad had to overcome to earn a Bachelor's Degree.

Recipe:

A Game stamp set

Field Trip Journaling Pad & Slice of Life papers (American Crafts)

Stargazer & May/June 2022 Mix-In papers

Black & White Daisy cardstock

Canary, Capri, Pacifica & Black ink

Emoji stickers (American Greetings)

Foam emoji (from my stash, source unknown)

Maize grosgrain ribbon (Offray)

3-D foam tape

Cricut You Are Here cartridge: graduation hat

Cricut Artbooking cartridge: smile

Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch #241

Challenges: Little Red Wagon #705 Play the Game (I chose tic-tac-toe); Festive Friday #134 (I used yellow, black, smile sentiment, emoji & circle)

Just Us Girls #680 Mood Board (inspired by the various shades of blue)

Tic Tac Toe Challenges #209 (used the diagonal of  any shape + free + blue)

Having a Wild Time Layout for Lasting Memories #650

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. Here's hoping you have a wonderful day and maybe even get in some scrapping time! If you do, feel free to play along with this week's challenge at Lasting Memories, another tic-tac-toe board. I chose the top row with washi tape + 3 buttons + chipboard, but there are a lot of other options that would be fun to use. You have until May 27th to join us with this or any other of the tic-tac-toe boards. Hope to see you over there. Now here's my layout:  

And here's the board:

Recipe:
At the Zoo papers (Doodlebug Designs)
Jungle Safari paper (Echo Park)
Sunflower, Chocolate, Almond, Toffee, Sunset & White Daisy cardstock
Sunflower, Pear, Chocolate & Black ink
Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
Baby Pink marker
DE Tags chipboard
Fern bakers twine
Say Cheese Adventure at the Park washi tape (Simple Stories)
Junebug Puffies - butterflies
Autumn Terracotta buttons
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: giraffe
Cricut Artistry cartridge: hedgehog
Cricut Noah's ABC Animals cartridge: lion
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #92

Challenges: Scrap With Stacy May 2023 Tic-Tac-Toe board (I used the diagonal with butterfly + tag + black & white title)

Mother's Day Card 2023

I'm super late creating my card for my mom this year, but hopefully it will get there in time! I started with a blank card base and used this technique to create a floral background. I'm not much of a mixed media gal, so this is probably as close as you will see me get. Once I created the background, I added some die cuts and patterned paper, but they weren't working for me, so I went back to the drawing board and found a card sketch from Stick It Down that I thought I could adapt for the word MOM. Part of me thinks I should have added a penned square around the letters to tie it all together, but I was too chicken, so I left it as is. I know my mom will love it no matter what, so that's what's important. 

Recipe:
Background Elements & Intrinsic Backgrounds (2010) stamp sets
Gypsy, Lagoon, Sunset, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Gypsy & Lagoon ink
Black marker
Mocha Opaques pearls
Black button
Lagoon baker's twine
Heart stencil (Scrapbook.com)
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: MOM
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: butterfly, daisies, hearts
Small flower punches (EK Success)
Pattern: Stick It Down May 2023 card sketch

A bunch of challenge blogs had a flower theme this month, so FYI: I was also inspired by the new purple and white daisies we planted last Saturday. They look fuchsia in the photo, but they're really more purple.

Challenges: Allsorts #727 April Showers bring May Flowers; Crafter's Cafe #296 Easter and/or Flowers (I went with flowers); Crafting Happiness #142 Flowers; Little Red Wagon #704 Spring Flower; Retro Rubber Challenge Blog #206 Tic-Tac-Toe  (use the middle column down with stencil + flowers + ribbon/twine)

For the Birds Layout for Lasting Memories #649

I started this layout last Friday as part of my design team entry for this week's Lasting Memories challenge, but life happened and I just got back to it this afternoon. Since our dog Huxley hated it, I had just one photo of him in his crate, so that became the focal point of my layout. To play along with the Lasting Memories tic-tac-toe challenge, I used a bird + 2 or more layers + one photo. I could just imagine Huxley thinking, "This crate business is for the birds," which is what inspired my title!

Here's the Tic-Tac-Toe board!

Recipe:
Dotty for You, Dream Pop & Craft On papers
Raspberry, Juniper, Sunflower, Peacock & White Daisy cardstock
Raspberry, Sunflower, Juniper & Peacock ink
Fineliner pen (iBayam)
Yellow ribbon (American Crafts)
My Happy Place & Falling for You Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Color Kaleidoscope cardstock stickers (American Crafts)
Heart stencil (Scrapbook.com)
Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge: tag, banner, arrow
Cricut Design Space: title using Thick Alphabet
Pattern: Scrap Our Stash May 2023 sketch

Challenges: Critter Crazy Challenges #74 Anything Goes with an animal as the focus; Color My Heart #547 Rainbow Inspiration (used almost all the colors!)

Making a Home for Christmas Layout

I was going through some old photos and happened across these ones of my kids decorating gingerbread houses. They were too cute not to scrap, so I pulled out a scrapbook sketch and my bag of Christmas themed papers and started sorting through the scraps until I liked the arrangement of them. I knew I had a cute house die-cut on one of my Cricut cartridges, and the title was on the same page in the booklet, so I decided to edit it from "I'll be home for Christmas" to "Making a Home for Christmas" to highlight my two little builders! The kids had fun decorating their house, and I probably had just as much fun decorating mine with glitter gel.

And here's a close up of the house with all the glitter!

Recipe:
Miscellaneous papers from my stash
New England Ivy, Tulip, Kraft & White Daisy cardstock
New England Ivy & Tulip ink
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Jingle All the Way chipboard stockers & puffy stickers (Simple Stories)
Jingle All the Way Journal Bits ephemera (Simple Stories)
Stuck on You Puffies (hearts)
Ruby & Silver baker's twine
White brad
Red & Bronze Glitz glitter gel
Silver & Star Dust Stickles (Ranger)
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: title (edited in Design Space), house
Cricut Alphabet: "Making a"
Cricut Artistry cartridge: arrow (edited in Design Space)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: banners
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #102

Challenges: Cut It Up Challenge #277 Ribbons and Bows (I added a bow to the snow globe) + die-cut; Let's Craft & Create #195 Anything Goes with optional ribbon, lace, and/or twine (I chose twine)

EMS Sketch Challenge #110 - The (not so) Secret Life of Pets Layout

Happy May! I was invited to be a guest designer for the Park Hopping - My Happy Place blog this month, so I decided to combine their fun challenge with a new sketch. First up, here's the sketch. I created it with space for three photos, or you could combine the two smaller photos as I did and use a 5" x 7" picture.

And here's my theme park inspired photo. I've only created theme park layouts for Park Hopping's challenge so far, but I couldn't resist using these pictures of the dogs to reflect the trouble they can get into behind my back!

And finally, here's my layout:

Recipe:
Playful Caps, Playful Lowercase & Cassidy Alphabet stamp sets
My Happy Place papers (Doodlebug Designs)
Black & White Daisy cardstock
Juniper, Pixie & Black ink
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
My Happy Place stickers (Doodlebug Designs)
Blush rick rack
Falling for You Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Challenges: Double Trouble #137  Mother Goose (Thing 1 = inspired by the lines from Old Mother Hubbard "But when she came back, the dog sat in a chair" + Thing 2 = played along with Heart's Quest Challenge #29 + Thing 3 = used heart stickers and heart enamel shapes)

Say Cheese for Lasting Memories #648

Over at Lasting Memories, we're starting May's challenges a day early, so here's the first one for May, a Tic-Tac-Toe board. This is right up my alley due to the flexibility it gives me to get creative with at least one of the many options of row, column, or diagonal. I picked the left column with Lace + Sequins + Circle. Using a sketch from Sketch-n-Scrap, I created a layout featuring a few of the tops I purchased for our London trip back in 2017. I seldom post selfies, but these ones I had taken and sent to my hubby for his opinion were a fun reminder of getting ready for that trip, so I'm glad I saved them. If you have a special memory you're scrapping, please join us over at Lasting Memories and play along with this challenge! Here's my layout:

And here's the board:

Recipe:
My Happy Place papers (Doodlebug Designs)
Color Kaleidoscope & Slice of Life papers (American Crafts)
Sangria cardstock
Juniper, Citrus Leaf & Black ink
Fineliner pen (iBayam)
DE Quotes chipboard
Lacey Trim - White (49 & Market)
Holographic flower sequins (Tree House Studio)
Color Kaleidoscope cardstock stickers (American Crafts)
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #271

Challenges: Time Out Challenges #237 (not sure how fashionable I am, but this layout is about the little fashion shoot I had in a dressing room, so I went for it!)

#1 Diner Layout

 For these pictures taken at my family's favorite diner, I started with a sketch and tweaked it to work with the photos. I added the rectangle of blue cardstock because the photos seemed to blend into the Kraft background yet were overpowered by just the blue. I'm not sure I love the look, but I decided to go with it.

Recipe:
Fresh Paint papers
Capri & Kraft cardstock
Capri, Candy Apple, Clover Meadow & Black ink
Black marker
License Plate (Karen Foster Designs)
Let's Wander stickers (American Crafts)
Red gingham ribbon (Offray)
Heart sequins (Tree House Studio)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag, banners
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Pattern: Rochelle Spears April 2023 sketch

Challenges: Festive Friday #133 (die-cutting, numbers, black & white, gingham, food sentiment)

Joy {December 2016} Layout

It's time for our final seasonal sketch over at Lasting Memories, and this time we were challenged to scrap winter memories. I had been saving some December photos just for this sketch (I scrapped the other ones for this event back in January), so here's the sketch:

And here's my layout:

Recipe:
Background Elements stamp set
Jingle papers
Olive cardstock
Tulip, Juniper & New England Ivy ink
Jingle All the Way ephemera (Simple Stories)
Great Lengths sticker (CM)
Green ribbon (Michaels)
Wooden Hearts
Christmas Noel wooden tag (Michaels)

Sea Lions Live Layout

This must be the week to use leftovers, because this layout contains a bunch of die-cut chevrons left over from a layout I created in 2014. Although they weren't the perfect color match for my photos, they were close enough to use with the Fish Tales patterned papers and these fun photos of the sea lion show at Sea World.

Recipe:
Down By the Sea, Keepsake Alphabet, Authentic, Moments in Time, Make It Count & Starter Alphabet stamp sets
Fish Tales papers (Photo Play)
Glacier, Crystal Blue, Star Spangled Blue, Cranberry, Honey Butter, Goldrush, Topiary, Whisper, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Crystal Blue, Star Spangled Blue, Cranberry, Honey, Goldrush, Topiary & Black ink
Black marker
Liquid Glass
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: chevrons
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title shape
Cricut Artiste cartridge: LIVE, clock hands
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #105

Challenges: Park Hopping My Happy Place April Anything Goes inspired by a theme park (Sea World); Critter Crazy Challenges #73 Anything Goes with a featured animal (mine are the amazing sea lions)