14 Layout

For his 14th birthday, my son just wanted to go video gaming with four friends, so I only have a couple of photos of the event, but it made a nice change from the 200 photos we took at my other kiddo's birthday party! I'm still taking photos of my layouts because I don't have a new scanner yet, so that's why half of the layout looks a lot darker than the other. I'm sure there's a technique to photographing layouts, but I haven't figured it out yet.

The file folder opens up to display a journaling spot. I haven't written my journaling yet because my son needs to give me more information about his memories of the event, but I would probably have to cover up all the names anyways, so I decided to go ahead and show what it looks like with just the blank card. I also included a embossed piece of cardstock that I sanded so the words show up better; haven't tried that in a while, but I like how it turned out.

Recipe:
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
Glacier & Lagoon cardstock
Glacier ink
Vicki Boutin Old Soul ephemera & stickers (American Crafts)
Birdsong Ephemera Bits (49 and Market)
Washi tape (Recollections)
Happy Birthday embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Design Space: file folder
Pattern: scraplift from Lisa at Scrapbook.com
Challenges: Heart's Quest Celebration of Love #2 BEWAS themes - birthday; Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything goes with an embossing folder - I used a birthday themed one; NBUS Challenge #83 - my never before used schtuff is the washi tape; Crafter’s Café Anything goes with optional twist: one for the boys; Little Red Wagon #844 Picturing Love - I couldn't resist adding this layout to the challenge since my son not only invited his current girlfriend to his birthday celebration, but also the girl he knew was interested in him and whom he subsequently ended up dating!

EMS Sketch Challenge #127 + B-Day Breakfast Layout

I hadn't created a new sketch yet this year, but Sharon over at Splitcoast Stampers asked for one for the virtual crop (VSBN) they are having this month over there, so here's what I came up with. After I finished it, I realized it features 4 vertical photos just like my last sketch, but hopefully the simplicity will  appeal to those who didn't want to add all the banners next to the photos! Feel free to rotate it, flip it, use different sized photos, or just use it as is, but be sure to share your layout in the comments below. And we would love to have you play along with the crop at Splitcoast; it's easy and free to sign up for an account, and there are 7 love-inspired challenges to help you get some scrapping done.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my layout:

Recipe:
Noted Backgrounds, Hodgepodge Alphabet, You & Me, Love Life & Whooo's Your Valentine stamp sets
Field Trip papers (American Crafts)
Pet Shoppe Cat paper (Simple Stories)
Candy Apple, Toffee & White Daisy cardstock
Candy Apple, Capri, Outdoor Denim & Honey ink
Prussian Blue fineliner pen (iBayam)
Monograms 2 Chippies (Mintay Papers)
My Happy Place Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Cool Summer Night enamel dots (Altenew)
Red Dot Essentials washi tape (Echo Park)
Seagull decorative scissors (Fiskars)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: hearts
Challenges: Heart’s Quest Challenge Blog #82 Red and/or gold hearts; Crafter’s Café #326 Anything goes with optional twist: one for the boys; The Outlawz Anything But a Card Anything goes.

One True Love Layout

My hubby and I seldom go out to dinner on Valentine's Day because the restaurants are crowded and the service is usually very slow. Instead, we wait a day or two and then go out to celebrate, as we did in these photos. For some reason, the photo my hubby took of me had lots of issues with focus, but it's the only one I had of me from that evening, so I decided to try to rescue it using AI. It's still not perfect, but much better than the original. Glad AI is useful for something other than kids plagiarizing essays. LOL! I created the leaf paper on the left using stamps and a stencil, something I rarely do, but I like the result here.

Recipe:
Something Splendid & Background Elements stamp sets
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
Dusty Rose Sunflower paper (Keeping Memories Alive)
Mini Powder Curtain paper (Chatterbox)
Burgundy floral paper (SU)
Sangria, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Pomegranate, Blush, Wisteria & Bamboo ink
Versamark ink (Tsukineko, Inc.)
Gold embossing powder
Dot Fade stencil (Stampers Anonymous)
To Go Sentiments rub-on (K & Company)
Heart brads (from my stash, source unknown)
Paper crimper (Fiskars)
Cricut Design Space: Love, heart
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #694 from Facebook

Challenges: Cut it Up #348 My Heart - I used Design Space to cut the word love that has a heart in it; Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #82 Gold Hearts; Krafty Chicks #805 Anything Goes with embossing - I wet embossed the word love in my title using a stamp, Versamark ink, and gold powder; Shopping Our Stash #566 Love Me Do - perfect for my Valentine's layout; Pick 3 Challenge #1 - used tree (stamped leaves and there is also a palm tree at the edge of the bottom photo) + texture (crimped paper) + stencil (dots on leaf paper)

Meow Layout

Since I scrapbooked my dog this weekend, I decided to give my kitty some equal time. He spends a lot of time sleeping on my bed, but sometimes he joins me in my scrapbooking room, where he either looks out the window or falls asleep on my scanner because it's warm! Speaker of which, I am still scanner-less, so I had to take a photo of my layout instead. The colors didn't come out as vibrant as IRL, but until I can figure out which scanner to buy, I guess it's my only option. It's so frustrating to think I've found the perfect scanner, and then I read a review that absolutely trashes it! What's a scrapping gal to do? Eek!

Recipe:

Chloe papers & stickers (Bella Blvd)

Capri & White Daisy cardstock

Capri, Honey & Sunset ink

Ink Blue fineliner pen (iBayam)

Chloe Ciao Chipboard (Bella Blvd)

Scalloped border punch (Fiskars)

Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: hearts

Pattern: Sketches-in Thyme #693 (rotated left)

Challenges: Cut It Up #348 My Heart; A Cut Above Anything Goes with a die-cut; Love Those Pretty Papers Anything Goes; The Outlawz Anything But a Card

Wake-Up Machine Layout

Can you believe we only have a week left of January? Time certainly flew for me! Speaking of time, it's time for the final Lasting Memories challenge of January, and this time design team member Wendy found us a great sketch with four photos. The background was kind of plain, so I added four 6" x 6" squares of patterned paper to go along with the four photos. Love these fun memories of the days when my little guy hated getting up in the morning, so the dog helped me wake him up! Please visit us at Lasting Memories for more inspiration and to check out all our sketches from this month. We would love for you to play along!

Here's the sketch:

Recipe:
Fur Babies 6"x8"paper pad (Simple Stories)
Sapphire, Canary & Black cardstock
Sapphire, Canary & Juniper ink
Turquoise fineliner pen (iBayam)
Fur Baby Decorative Brads (Simple Stories)
My Happy Place & Love This Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Red Glitter Gems
Red gingham ribbon (Offray)
Cricut Design Space: title (using DTC Spring Break font), alarm clock, hearts
Challenges: Cut It Up #348 My Heart - used 2 little die-cut hearts; Let's Craft & Create #227 Something New - I bought the circle decorative brads a while back but never used them until today; The Crafter's Cafe #326 One for the Boys - this is a memory of my sweet boy Oliver.

Kimberly Crest Layout

I have been struggling with lots of pain from an infected tooth that resulted in me needing a root canal, and so I haven't been really with it the last week, but I finally finished the layout that's been on my desk for several days. It's a continuation of the weekend getaway my hubby and I took for our anniversary in 2019. We love historic homes, so it was a treat to visit Kimberly Crest, a California state landmark in Redlands. We weren't permitted to take photos inside the house, but the outside was magnificent, as you can see from the photos we were allowed to take. I pulled out some lovely papers from a MAMBI wedding collection someone had given me, not my usual style but perfect for these photos. Does anyone else have the experience of being the recipient of scrapbooking supplies that someone else doesn't want, but assumes, since you are a scrapbooker, that you will instantly have a use for? LOL! I'm not sure when I will use the rest of this collection, but was glad to have the papers for this layout.

Recipe:
Stitched Journaling Panel stamp (Autumn Leaves)
Bonnie Belle Wedding papers (MAMBI)
White Daisy cardstock
Peacock ink
Light Grey fineliner pen (iBayam)
Fancy Cuts Botanicals
Doilies (from my stash, source unknown)
Vintage washi tape (Emmoolife)
Acrylic hearts
Field Notes ephemera pack (Tim Holtz)
Dress It Up buttons (Jesse James & Co)
Simply White Nuvo Drops
Cricut Design Space: title using Austin Hearts font
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #70

Challenges: Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #81 white hearts; Love Those Pretty Papers; NBUS - my never-before-used-schtuff is the butterflies from a new ephemera pack; Paper Rocks Scissors #12 - used scissors to trim excess off doilies and off flower die-cuts after I punched them out of the backing; Triple B - included blooms and butterflies.

Nuts About You Layout for LM#782

This month, Lasting Memories' design team member Wendy is challenging us to use some sketches she chose, so here is my layout for this week's 3 photo sketch.   It was perfect for these photos of a visit with a friend and her kids, although I chose not to crop all my photos into squares, and I added a large heart in the background. Sketches are so fun because you can adapt them to work with your photos and theme, so feel free to play along with us over at LM with one or more of the sketches we are showcasing this month!

And here's the sketch:

Recipe:
Hello Friend & Universal Backgrounds stamp sets
Twitterpated papers
Sorbet, Chocolate & White Daisy cardstock
Sorbet, Chocolate, Brown Bag, Sweet Leaf & Crystal Blue ink
Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
All Aflutter & Love This Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Slice of Life puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: heart
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: branch, leaves
Challenges: Cut It Up Challenges #347 Favorite die(s) - the heart is one of my favorites, used so many time that I have lost count; A Cut Above Anything Goes with a die-cut (used heart, title, ranch, leaves); Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #81 Anything with a heart; Neglected Stuff - the patterned papers and the big heart that I cut out in 2018 and never used;  Inspiration Station #81 - inspired by the squirrel and nut in the photo

Feminine Birthday Cards

As I was going through my craft room today trying to tidy up and organize, I came across a box of bits and pieces left over from when I used to do card workshops. I haven't done a card workshop in years, and I think I made fewer than ten cards in 2025, which means my box of extra cards is pretty depleted, so making up a few new cards using these scraps seemed like a good idea. For the first batch, I used Sketch-n-Scrap's January card sketch and made two birthday cards for gals. I used the sketch pretty much as is except I didn't round the corners and I added a larger sentiment, but on the second version, I rotated it a half turn. I also added some shimmer to the Happy on the first card and the big flower on the second card. I tried to photograph it so that the sparkle showed (see the third photo), but I'm not sure how successful I was, so you will have to take my word for it that it is pretty!

Recipe:
Joyful Birthday stamp set
Wedding Kit (KI Memories)
Pastel Vellum (Paper Pizzazz)
Sweet Leaf, Indian Corn Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Sweet Leaf, Spring Iris & Pixie ink
Fancy Cut Botanicals
Clear shimmer brush
Cricut Artiste cartridge: happy
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flower
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap Card Sketch #293

Challenges: Love Those Pretty Papers; Unicorn Challenge Blog #116 Birthday; Double D Challenges Birthday; Retro Rubber Challenges #263 Anything Goes with an older stamp - the Happy Birthday stamp is from 2013

Memories of SBCM Layout

For our anniversary in 2019, my hubby and I spent the weekend in Redlands, checking out a museum and some historic homes, plus we stayed at the amazing Madonna Inn. We took lots of photos, but I tried to pare it down to the best to scrapbook, so here are a few from our time at the San Bernardino County Museum.

Recipe:
Passages papers
Brown Bag, Garden Green, Barn Red & Vanilla Cream cardstock
Brown Bag, Cocoa & Barn Red ink
Sienna & Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
Brown alphabet stickers (CM)
Jackson pocket cards
Birdsong Ephemera Bits (49 & Market)
Vicki Boutin Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)
Yellow ribbon (American Crafts)
Timberline Assortment wooden shapes
Wooden Arrows
Bon Bon Heart Assortment puffy shapes (Doodlebug Designs)
Earthy Matte dots (SU)
Frayed Burlap Distress Spritz (Ranger)
Tree punch (McGill Craftivity)
Staple
Sunbeam embossing folder
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: arrow
Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything Goes with an embossing folder; Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #81 Anything Hearts goes; Paper Rocks Scissors #12 - used scissors to trim the ribbon; Neglected Stuff Challenge - my neglected items are the patterned papers. the title stickers, and the punch I used to make the little trees.

So Very Happy Layout

For these photos of the kids (and my hubby) playing games at my son's birthday party, I dug deep into my stash for all the supplies. I was actually surprised at how well the rub-ons adhered since they are from 2007! Hopefully the layout doesn't look too dated, but even if it does, it was great to use up some older product. Always need to make room for the new stuff, right?

Recipe:
So Very stamp set (SU)
Good Times papers & stickers
Sweet Leaf, Chocolate & Colonial White cardstock
Sweet Leaf, Chocolate & Twilight ink
Riley chipboard buttons & rub-ons (Love Elsie for KI Memories)
Sweet Leaf, Chocolate & Colonial White embroidery floss
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #109

Challenges: Neglected Stuff Challenge - everything on the layout has been sitting in my stash for years;  Unicorn Challenge Blog #116 AND Double D Challenges Birthday theme; Heart's Quest Celebrations of Love - BEWAS themes - I chose birthday.