Pool Party Layout

Another layout for my son's elementary school album, this time commemorating the pool party thrown for the 5th graders as a reward for their hard work. This layout kind of evolved as I was creating it. I knew I wanted to play along with Little Red Wagon's challenge to make your own background, and I had considered using a circle stencil, but after trying it out on a corner of my cardstock, I realized it would take forever to do the whole two pages, so I nixed that idea. Then I thought of stamping circles and was hunting for a circle stamp when my eye fell on some foam stamps I had received as a prize back in the Creating Keepsakes days - around 2007. I thought they were cool but had no idea how to use them, so they have been sitting unused in my stash for 19 years! A short YouTube video later (and a bit of practice on a scrap piece of cardstock) and I was ready to go. The background was a bit of a gamble, but I love how it turned out in the end. 

Recipe:
Background Elements stamp set
Lisa Bearnson foam stamps
Heavenly Blue, Canary & Pear cardstock
Capri & Pear ink
Capri, Crystal Blue, Glacier & Dutch Blue re-inkers
Light Greg fineliner pen (iBayam)
Beach Party PML card
Monograms 2 Chippies (Mintay)
Bold + Bright Thickers (American Crafts)
Green Fields enamel dots (Altenew)
Clear Shimmer Brush
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 27 - not one of my favorite sketches but I had fun with it this time!

Challenges: Alphabet Challenge Blog C is for circles; Little Red Wagon #860 Create your own background; NBUS #86 - my never before used stuff is the foam stamps; Color Dare #705 - I used two shades of blue so am not sure if that disqualifies me from the challenge or not, but I was definitely inspired by your color palette!

Friends Forever Layout

I'm still working on scrapping photos for my son's elementary school album and only have a few layouts to go. This one will actually go after his graduation layout that I have yet to scrap, but I just felt like doing it today!

And here's the pocket with the tag pulled out a little ways:

Recipe:
Elemental papers
Field Trip Journaling Pad (American Crafts)
My Crush Bestie Assortment paper
Pacifica & Lagoon cardstock
Creme Brulee, Sorbet & Pacifica ink
Prussian Blue fineliner pen (iBayam)
Elemental Complements (chipboard shapes) & journaling pocket
Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)
Acrylic Shapes
3-D foam tape
Challenges: Let's Craft and Create #231 - Tag! You're It! Used a tag tucked into a pocket for my journaling; The Neglected Stuff Challenge - everything on this layout is neglected stuff except the ledger paper and the ephemera piece with the tab on it.

Remember 5th Grade Layout

I am nearing the completion of my son's elementary school album and needed to scrap this open house layout, but I was so tired of thinking of creative titles for open house. Can anyone relate? Then I noticed his teacher had written him a little notice that said she will always remember him, so that inspired me to cut out the "remember" using my Cricut and an ACOT cutfile. Stamping "5th Grade" and adding some school-themed ephemera were the finishing touches.

Recipe
Stacy's Hand Alphabet stamp set
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media paper (American Crafts)
Fern, Saffron, Outdoor Denim & Black cardstock
Saffron & Capri ink
School Is Cool ephemera (Bella Blvd)
Book Fair Bits & Pieces (Simple Stories)
Confetti embossing folder
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped circle
Cricut Design Space: smiley face, title using ACOT cutfile
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #32

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure Used the Confetti embossing folder on my cardstock; Paper Rocks Scissors #16 Used scissors to fussy cut the hexagon and scalloped circle photos; Pick 3 Challenge #5 Used Embossing (on cardstock) + Blue + Numbers (5th Grade + Date).

Crossing Tower Bridge Layout

I was looking through my photos today and realized I had never scrapped the companion page to my original Tower Bridge layout which I created back in 2025, so it seemed like a good day to get that done. I debated about putting a big title on here but finally settled on the small banner that I created using Cricut Design Space and an alphabet stamp set. Hopefully I made the right choice!

Recipe:
Friendship Alphabet Small stamp set
London 6" x6" paper pad (Carta Bella)
Color Kaleidoscope paper (American Crafts)
Sky, Sapphire, Candy Apple, Slate & White cardstock
Sky, Slate & Black ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
White gel pen (Sakura)
Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remant Rubs (Ideaology)
Star Attraction Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug)
Cool Summer Nights & Red Sunset enamel dots (Altenew)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped rectangle, scalloped border
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: notebook paper, banner
Pattern: scraplift from Scrapbook.com
Challenges: NBUS Challenge #86 My never before used stuff is the London papers, the red enamel  sots, and the Tim Holtz Tiny Text rub-ons; Try It On Tuesdays Going Round in Circles.

Sibs Layout

Love these random photos of my youngest kids! I don't really remember what we were doing when these were taken (possibly we had just eaten lunch at one of the local restaurants) so I didn't include any journaling, but I guess that is less important than the big smiles my kids are sporting.

And here's a close-up of the stenciled background and the embossing on the flowers:

Recipe:
Trinity stamp set
Love Grows Here papers (Bella Blvd)
Nectarine, Cotton Candy, Canary & White cardstock
Nectarine, Cotton Candy, Canary, Juniper & Sapphire ink
White Acrylic flowers
Craft buttons
White Daisy embroidery floss
Great Lengths stickers (CM)
Love This Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug)
Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Supernova stencil (Visible Image)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #328

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? Embossing folder with optional twist of embellishments: flowers); Cut It Up #356 Flowers + must include a die-cut; Hearts Quest Challenge Blog #85 Anything goes with a heart; Stencil Fun - used a stencil on my background cardstock; Unicorn Challenge Blog #120 Something New - used a new paper pack.

EMS Sketch Challenge #129 and Grateful Layout for Lasting Memories #800

Have I ever mentioned how grateful I am all the scrapbookers who enjoy and use my sketches? I love creating them, and this month, I even managed to create two, so here is my latest one. What's cool about this sketch is you could actually use either side as a single page layout! As always, I would love to know if you were able to use the sketch, so share in the comments below if you do.

Speaking of grateful, I am also very thankful for the fun challenges and awesome design team over at Lasting Memories. The blog wouldn't run without their dedication, so here's another shout-out to those great gals! We are actually in need of another design team member, so if you love scrapbooking and are interested in applying, please email me at chereven26@gmail.com. And now, here is today's challenge reveal, another great tic tac toe board from Maureen. I decided to use the diagonal with One word title + Buttons + Rub-on to scrapbook this layout showing my kids on a hike with a friend. It was a blessing to look back on the photos of my kids with this sweet girl and reflect on how precious their times together were. We would love to have you check out all this month's tic tac toe boards and join with us in scrapping those memories, but the May challenges end on the 30th, so don't delay!

Here is Maureen's board:

And here's my layout

I didn't add the little girl's name yet for privacy reasons, but plan to add that and the date (May 5, 2019) to the back of the layout.

Recipe:

Autumn to Remember scrapbooking kit (SU)

Saddle & Nectarine cardstock (CTMH)

Olive, Saddle, Nectarine, Almond, Cocoa & Whisper ink (CTMH)

Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)

The Flower Emporium journaling card (49 and Market)

Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)

Dark brown ribbon (Michaels)

Embroidery floss (CTMH)

Journey buttons (Fun Stampers)

Krafty Garden Essentials rub-on transfers (49 and Market)

Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag

Challenges: Let's Craft and Create #231 Tags - included one from the kit and a die cut one to which I added words; Little Red Wagon #859 Friend of Mine - so grateful for the precious friendship between my kids and their buddy; One More Page - anything layouts; Paper Rocks Scissors #16 - used scissors to trim the ribbon and embroidery floss; Scrap With Stacy Tic Tac Toe board - used the diagonal with Green + Word sticker + Flowers (the buttons) and the bottom row with Journaling + Tag + Flowers.

The Treasures of Yesterday Layout

This is the companion page to the Heritage House Museum page that I scrapped earlier this month, but since there will be two pocket pages between them, I decided it wasn't important for them to match. Instead, I grabbed a paper pack of which I only have scraps left plus some very old stickers and used a sketch from Sketch-n-Scrap to pull this layout together.

Recipe:
Yesterday and Today papers & PML cards
Toffee, Autumn Terracotta & Colonial White cardstock
Vintage Dresses stickers (Colorbok)
Bon Bon Heart Puffy Shapes (Doodlebug Designs)
Coffee Break enamel dots (Altenew)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap 14th Birthday Bash Sketch #2

Challenges: Cut It Up #356 Flowers + must include a die-cut (these flowers were in my box of leftovers from other projects, and I love the pop of color the larger flowers provide to my neutral LO); Heart’s Quest Challenge Blog #85 Anything with a heart goes.

Advice Layout for my Graduate

My daughter is graduating high school this week, and I was lying in bed last night thinking how woefully unprepared she is to face the world as it is right now, so I got up and started writing out a few words of advice for her. At first, I thought I would just put them in her graduation card, but those things get thrown away after a while, and I wanted something that would last, so I pulled out a shadowbox that I had purchased in 2023 but never used, and got to work creating an advice layout for her. It came together relatively quickly, so here is the finished layout not in the box:

And here are some details, starting with the fun sparkly B (for Brianna) and the butterfly that I found in my embellishment box when I was looking for some pocket cards to journal on:

Next is the layout in the shadowwbox:

And the final photo shows how the butterfly is only fastened down in the middle, allowing his wings to brush the side of the box and overlap the B:

Recipe:
Watercolor paper (Recollections)
Sky Blue marker (Zig)
Bohemia pocket cards (MME)
Patchwork Journaling Card (Pretty Little Studio)
Everyday Moments pocket card (Scrapbook.com)
Hopscotch PML card
Home for the Holidays - Spring Butterfly die cut
Janice paper flowers (Little Birdie)
Challenges: Heart's Quest Celebration of Love Challenges #29 - I used the optional theme of graduation since these are my words of wisdom to my graduating senior; NBUS #86 - my never before used schtuff is the little pink flowers I just purchased; The Outlawz Anything But a Card; Inspiration Station #85 - I was planning to do this challenge by scrapping some graduation photos from my son in 5th grade, and I may still do that, but I really wanted to share this project because it's for my grad!

50s Day {Elliot} Layout

I wanted to get my son's elementary album finished back in March, but got distracted doing other things, so here at last is another layout for him. This was such a fun event for the kids, and I love the photos with the classic car! I didn't stay for the mixer, but apparently the kids had a blast there as well.

Recipe:

Fresh Paint papers

Candy Apple, Pebble, Flamingo,, Black & White cardstock

Capri ink

Black marker

Chunky Alphababies stickers (Making Memories)

Holiday Gathering stickers (CM)

Birdsong Bits ephemera (49 and Market)

Ruby Chevron ribbon

Cricut Design Space: classic car, poodle dress

Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #45

Challenges: Time Out Challenges #313 Playing Music -  perfect for the jukebox and musical notes in my photos; Colorful Options Black and white with pops of color (I think I did this but feel free to count it as a rainbow of colors if I have too many pops!)

Incredible Memories {Mother's Day 2019} Layout

One of the benefits of being so far behind on my scrapping is that I get to revisit photos that were taken when my kids were little, like this Mother's Day celebration in 2019. These feel extra precious because of what the next two Mother's Days would hold: the Covid pandemic of 2020 and the death of my youngest son the week before Mother's Day in 2021. As I was looking on Facebook for what I posted in 2019, I found the story about my middle son, who was going through a very difficult phase at the time, getting out of his sickbed to cut a rose from the garden for me, thus the Star wars themed quote I included. (I know the actual words Luke Skywalker said were slightly different, but I decided to use what I wrote on Facebook). No matter how difficult parenting gets, I have learned to treasure the sweet moments like these.

Recipe:
Background Elements stamp set
Belle Fleur papers (Photoplay)
Flamingo, Garden Green, Black & White cardstock
Flamingo, Garden Green & Black ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Belle Fleur stickers (Photoplay)
Krafty Garden Essentials rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Glitter Black enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: photo mat
Cricut Art {philosophy cartridge: scalloped borders
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #30

Challenges: Cut It Up #356 Flowers + must include a die-cut; Little Red Wagon #858 May Flowers; Love Those Pretty Papers Anything goes with lots of patterned paper; The Neglected Stuff Challenge - my neglected stuff is the floral paper pack that I have only used four times since I got it in 2020) Triple B  Anything goes including a bird, a bloom, and/or a butterfly (I used all three).