Everest Layout

It would be really cool if I could say this layout was about the time I scaled Mount Everest, but it's actually about our church's vacation Bible school that featured an Everest theme! I did feel, however, as if I were slogging up Everest as I scrapped these photos, because I just couldn't figure out what to do with them. Still not sure I'm entirely satisfied with the completed layout, but at least it's now past me and I can move on to other stuff.

Recipe:
Wonderland & Snowhaven Level 2 papers
Black, Twilight & White Daisy cardstock
Black, Crystal Blue $ Twilight ink
Black marker
Durables Triangle Studs - Silver
Snowflakes were cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy, Artiste & ARtbooking cartridges, and the Martha Stewart & EK Success punches
Cricut Artistry cartridge: Mountain, title
Challenges: Creating With Paper and More January mood board (I was inspired by the Let It Snow sign and the falling snow by the child's face, plus my colors are pretty close to the color palette shown)

Farewell Layout

Ever liked a single page sketch but had way too many photos for just one page? Here's an example of how I stretched this single-page sketch across two pages by reverse mirroring the original sketch. The left page of the layout stuck pretty close to the sketch, but I made some key changes to the right hand page. Since I wanted to use a busy paper for the center strip, I moved my journaling over to the right side of the layout, replacing one photo, and I didn't use the frame on the right hand page since I wanted the photo on the left page to stand out. I also moved the embellishment cluster on the right page to a different position. This is just one way of many to get more mileage out of a sketch!

Recipe:
Hopscotch Level 2 papers & stickers
Flaxen, Glacier & Sunset cardstock
Flaxen, Glacier, Sunset & Smoothie ink
Natural twill ribbon
My Crush Besties Assortment
Sunset corduroy brad
Blue Enamel & Glitter Duos
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge: starbursts
Pattern: EMS Sketch 8a

Valentine Banquet Layout

I'm jumping around a bit chronologically in my scrapping, so here's a layout with pictures from last Valentine's Day. I chose to use the retired CTMH Flirty paper pack, and it was a challenge because I didn't have any inks to match it, so I pulled in black as my extra color. I challenged myself to use some stickers (the xoxo and the quote), and I think they add a nice touch to the layout.

Recipe:
Elemental, Whooo's Your Valentine & A Typeface stamp sets
Flirty Level 2 papers
Flirty Raspberry, Flirty Yellow & Black cardstock
Black & Hollyhock ink
Black marker
Colonial White grosgrain ribbon
Black brads
Great Lengths stickers (CM)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag, hearts
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: Valentine title
EK Success flower punch
Pattern: EMS Sketch 26
Challenges: Splitcoast Stampers Inspiration & Motivation challenge (I used a quote about love that was on a clear sticker)

One Life at a Time Layout

I was planning to use a sketch challenge to scrapbook these pictures from the December food drive at church, but when I sat down and started working with the pictures, it just wasn't feeling right. Instead, I went old school Becky Higgins and created an open grid with different sized photos.I was inspired by four challenges as I created this layout:
• The Saving & Spending challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers inspired me to turn to my box of leftover Cricut die-cuts. I only cut one new shape for this layout!
• The tags challenge from Use Your Stuff inspired me to use tags as accent pieces.
• Scrapbook.com's Cricut challenge inspired me to pull hearts out of my Cricut die-cut stash.
• The "One" challenge from Heart to Heart had me stumped initially, until I reflected on the personal nature of our interactions with the people who come to the food drive. There may be a big crowd, but we touch them one by one! I tried to convey this in my journaling.

If you live near Upland, CA and need food, please call Sierra Vista
Community Church and ask about our food pantry!

Recipe:
Snowhaven Level 2 papers
Cranberry, Desert Sand, Juniper, Glacier, Black, Bamboo  & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Desert Sand, Juniper & Glacier ink
White gel pen (Uniball Signo)
Cranberry & Black stripe grosgrain ribbon
Cranberry & Black baker's twine
All shapes were cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy, Artiste & Artbooking cartridges

Gingerbread House Layout

I'm on a roll with scrapbooking this week, so here's today's yummy layout!

Recipe:
Glamour Uppercase, Glamour Lowercase, Distressed Backgrounds & Washi Wonder stamp sets
White Pines Level 2 papers
Glacier, Desert Sand & Colonial White cardstock
Cranberry, Desert Sand, Glacier & Bamboo ink
Black marker
Red shimmer trim
Blue Enamel & Glitter Duos
Cranberry baker's twine
Cricut Artistry cartridge: banner, house, hearts
Pattern: EMS Sketch 32
Challenges: Rochelle Spears January This or That challenge: ribbon or twine; Splitcoast Stampers Health and Wellness VSBN challenge: scrapbook about a favorite food or activity -
I did both!

Football Roadtrip Layout

I posted a sketch over at Splitcoast Stampers yesterday, so I thought it would be a good idea to actually use it to create a layout - LOL! I changed it up a little by making my circles a little smaller and adding some extra embellishments, but I followed the basic pattern. I wasn't sure adding the Honey yellow strip to the layout would work or whether it would be too bright, but I pulled out my (extremely neglected) crimper to add some dimension and then added some inking to the edge of the strip, so I think it turned out okay.

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Timberline, Adventure USA & Jennifer's Hand Alphabet stamp sets
You Rock Level 2 papers
Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand, Cranberry, Honey & White Daisy cardstock
Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand, Cranberry, Honey, Black & Bamboo ink
Black marker
White enamel stars
Crimper (Fiskars)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: arrows, teardrop

Spring Luncheon Layout

Happy New Year everyone! Hope that 2016 is a wonderful year full of precious memories and enough time to scrapbook them. I'm starting out with a bang by posting a layout I finished up this morning. As I sat shivering in my scraproom completing it, the soft colors and springtime theme warmed me up a little mentally, even if not physically! I usually struggle a bit working with pastels, but for some reason, this layout came together pretty easily. The banner across the bottom of the layout is actually a photograph of the banner I designed for the event.

Just an FYI: I posted a sketch today on Splitcoast Stampers, so if you need some inspiration for your latest group of pictures, check it out here.
Recipe:
My Sunshine, Hooray Bouquet & Vintage Type stamp sets
Brushed Level 2 papers
Pixie, Crystal Blue, Pear, Canary, Desert Sand & White Daisy cardstock
Blush, Crystal Blue, Pear, Petal, Juniper & Creme Brulee ink
Crystal Blue craft buttons
Bubblegum embroidery floss
Mocha Opaques
Aqua Dots
Mini flower punch (EK Success)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers, branch
Cricut Artiste cartridge: Spring title, bird
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #95

Come to Me Layout

Although I've frequently played along with the Scrappy Friends challenges separately, this was the first time I did all the challenges for one layout. I started with this sketch challenge from Brenda Ragsdale, but I used one large photo instead of two small ones.

Then I used Kelly's color challenge and managed to use all five colors!

Finally, I incorporated Rochelle's tic-tac-toe challenge by adding a tag, thread, and handmade flowers to my layout!

This really forced me to think in order to get all the required elements on my layout, but I'm glad I did it since it was lots of fun! I also played along with a couple of other challenge blogs, so check out the links below to see what else I added.

Recipe:
Finding the Words stamp set
Basics Paper Fundamentals cardstock
Black, Juniper & Kraft cardstock
Juniper, Cocoa, Desert Sand, Bamboo & Versamark ink
Cocoa & Juniper markers
White gel pen (Unibal)
White embossing powder
Jackson PML journaling card
Cork Color Ready Alphabet stickers
Milepost Shapes tag
Embossed metal badge buttons
Aqua Dots
Mocha Opaques pearl
Black label tape (Dymo)
Tan embroidery floss (Making Memories)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: pennant, flowers
Pattern: GrandDiva's Creative Corner December sketch
Challenges: Picture This December 15 challenge (1 picture + green + flower cluster + butterfly); Scrap Our Stash DIECUTS challenge (I used D - die cuts, I - ink, E - embroidery floss + embossed metal badge buttons, C - cork alphabet stickers, U - Unibal pen, T - tag, S - stamping)

Homemade Christmas Gifts!

Every year, my hubby pulls out the baking stuff and whips up several batches of banana bread to give to our neighbors and miscellaneous friends. My contribution to the gift is to make and attach gift tags to each loaf. This year, I chose to combine the Year Round Cheer and Frame It Up stamp sets with a die-cut from the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to create my tags. I love using clear stamps because I can do fun things like stamp the image in one color ink and the sentiment in another color without having to mask or clean the stamp between usages!

Recipe: 

Year Round Cheer & Frame It Up stamp sets
White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Ponderosa Pine & Chocolate ink
Red Glitz glitter gel
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Challenges: Heart to Heart Gifts from the Heart challenge

The Three Pastors Layout

For week 2 of the December Lasting Memories challenges, we celebrated National Ding-a-ling Day (December 12) by scrapbooking about funny people or comedic things. Well, it doesn't get much funnier than the Three Stooges, so I created a layout memorializing the day our church threw a Three Stooges party for our three pastors as a thank you for another year of hard work and love!

Recipe:
Jackson Level 2 papers
Glacier, Cocoa & Colonial White cardstock
Barn Red & Twilight markers
Glacier, Barn Red & Cocoa ink
Jackson Picture My Life cards
Colonial White, Barn Red & Cocoa brads
Milepost Shapes (arrow, star, bracket)
Adornaments Fibers (EK Success)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped border
Cricut Artistry cartridge: title
Pattern: Savvy Scallops from StudioJ.com
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart Rewind challenge (I chose to re-visit the Give Thanks challenge, since this layout was all about thanking some special people)