Buddies Layout

Michelle from Sketch-n-Scrap's design team posted a challenge to use more than three groups of three on a layout. This sounded like fun, so I got to work and was pleased to be able to incorporate the following sets of threes:
• 3 patterned papers
• 3 colors of cardstock
• 3 colors of ink
• 3 brads
• 3 punched hearts on each page
• 3 stickers
• 3 die-cut arrows
• 3 lines of journaling

Recipe:
Heartstrings Level 2 papers and stickers
Chalk It Up Level 2 papers
Cranberry, Lagoon & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Lagoon & Bamboo ink
Ocean marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
C'est La Vie Buddies die-cut (MME)
Cranberry brads
Heart punch (EK Success)
Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge: arrows
Pattern: Stick It Down May double page sketch
Challenges: Stuck on U Sketches die-cut arrows; Splitcoast Stampers Stash Busters (brads, per-printed die cut, punched item)

Smile Lexi Layout

Leah Burgett from Sketch-n-Scrap challenged everyone to use 3 Project Life cards on a layout, and she also provided a sketch to follow. I don't have any Project Life cards, so I used CTMH's Picture My Life cards, and I was really pleased with how quickly this layout came together. I may be using more of these on future layouts! This is my second layout in a row that has pink on it. For a girl who never seems to scrap pink, I'm on a roll this week!

Recipe:
Hopscotch Level 2 papers and stickers
Buttercup, Flaxen, Sunset, Smoothie, Pixie & Glacier cardstock
Flaxen, Blush & Glacier ink
Smoothie marker
Hopscotch Picture My Life cards
Hopscotch Assortment flair
Flamingo & Aqua Dots
Cricut cartridge Art Philosophy: flowers, title
Cricut cartridge Wall Decor & More: butterfly
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap 46
Challenges: Leah Burgett & Sketch-n-Scrap 3 Project Life cards + sketch; Clear It Out girls and die-cuts or punches; Use Your Stuff flowers; Splitcoast Stampers colors of spring

Rose Parade Layout

It's taken me several days to finish this layout. I'm not sure why, but it may be because pink frightens me! Yes, sad but true, I am so used to scrapping for boys that I feel out of my depth when faced with pink. However, I persevered and, thanks to a few challenges from out in Blogland, I managed to come up with a layout I liked. Hope you like it, too.

Pardon the picture quality; the thickness of the embellishments made it hard to get a good scan.

Recipe:
Flowers, Gingham & Stripe papers (DCWV Stack 4)
Lollydoodle Zip Strip
Green Daisies vellum (American Crafts)
Topiary, Pear, Cotton Candy, Blush & Chocolate cardstock
Cotton Candy, Pear, Cocoa & Buttercup ink
Big Pinks, White Daisy, Spring Blossom & Paradise Just Blooms paper flowers
Greenhouse paper flowers (American Crafts)
Chantilly assortment button
Pear craft buttons
Lollydoodle Assortment flair
Pear, Topiary, Cocoa, Sunkiss Yellow & White Daisy brads
Cricut Wall Decor and More cartridge: butterfly, title
Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 5-15-15
Challenges:Rochelle Spears May Tic-tac-toe (I chose the row with butterfly, flowers, and something pink); Creating with Paper and More color challenge (I managed to use all five colors!); Sketch-n-Scrap & Stamping with Lydia use the same color with three different patterns (mine are the stripe pink behind the white circle, the floral pink circle, and the gingham pink)

Teachers Give a Hoot Card

It's Teacher Appreciation week again, so I made a couple of cards using the darling Teacher Appreciation stamp set I bought a few months ago. My children's school mascot is an owl, so the owl image seemed especially appropriate!

Recipe:
Teacher Appreciation stamp set
Goldrush, Olive, Cashmere & Colonial White cardstock
Chocolate, Goldrush & Olive ink
Goldrush marker
Chocolate ribbon
Cuttlebug embossing folder: CTMH Chevrons
Challenges: Use Your Stuff chevrons challenge

It's Your Birthday Layout

A sketch from Brenda Ragsdale inspired me to go hunting through my box of scraps for some papers to layer onto today's layout. It was perfect to use up some older scraps, and I can't believe I actually figured out the manufacturer on all of them. I'm also celebrating because this is my last layout from 2012, which mean I need to get started on scrapping 2013. Hooray for only being 2 years behind in chronicling my family's journey - LOL!

Recipe:
Typed Note, Take Note, Tiny Typewriter Alphabet & Distressed Backgrounds stamp sets
Yellow Spot & Red distressed papers (Basic Grey)
Green dotted paper (Diane J. Hook)
Numbers paper (KI Memories)
Black & Whisper cardstock
Black, Ruby & Ponderosa Pine ink
Cranberry satin ribbon
Ruby courderoy badge buttons
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: "It's your" title, banner, stars, tags
Cricut Artiste cartridge: "birthday" title
Pattern: GrandDiva's May sketch challenge
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart's Extra! Extra! Read All About It challenge (the patterned paper is not CTMH, but everything else is!); Picture This May 15 challenge - 2 photos, dots, layers, stars

Brothers Layout

These photos were taken on Christmas Eve as we attended my husband's work party and then drove home, but the color were not traditional Christmas, so I decided to go a totally different direction with them. I mixed some CTMH papers with a Echo Park Brothers kit, which pretty much reflects the theme of the page: two unrelated children being chosen to be part of the same family and becoming so bonded, they are as close as any naturally born family. Here's to brothers!

Recipe:
Spot On Backgrounds stamp set
Superhero Level 2 papers
Brothers papers & stickers (Echo Park Paper Co.)
Cashmere cardstock
Black ink
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Let's Go Embellishments (Chic Tags)
Sunset, Sky & Sunkiss Yellow craft buttons
Orange and Sunkiss Yellow embroidery floss
Pattern: Sketch Saavy 142
Challenges: Sketch-n-Scrap 3 button + color combo challenge

Family Christmas 2012 Layout

Splitcoast Stampers is continuing their monthly celebration of scrapbooking this weekend with three more challenge. Come out and play! Here's my sketch challenge. Although I stayed pretty close to the original sketch in my sample layout, the sketch is actually really versatile, so feel free to change the size of the photos, the star shape, or anything else that doesn't work for you.

The sketch:

My Layout:

Recipe:

Snowhaven Level 2 papers
Black, Glacier, Whisper & Cranberry  cardstock
Black, Glacier, Whisper & Cranberry ink
Silver metallic marker
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Licorice Opaques pearls
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: circles, banners
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: border
Pattern: SCS Sketch15May3

My Favorite Mummy Layout

With Mother's Day just past, I've seen several challenges that call for a celebration of mom or mum. Since I already had a card for my mom, I didn't think I'd be able to enter the challenges, but when I found these pictures of my son hamming it up in the mummy case at Legoland, I saw the perfect opportunity for a fun page. Here is my very tongue-in-cheek entry for the Heart to Heart Mum's the Word and Frosted Designs All About Mom challenges!

Recipe:
Big Hug, Hodgepodge Alphabet, Whooo's Your Valentine, Alphabet Solos "C" & "F" stamp sets
White Daisy textured cardstock
Cranberry, Lagoon, Pear & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Lagoon, Pear & Slate ink
Steel Grey marker (Zig)
Later Sk8r Picture My Life cards
DE Signage chipboard arrows
Cranberry & Slate craft buttons
Cranberry, Lagoon & Grey Wool baker's twine
Lagoon, Ruby & Slate washi tape
Cardinal Red paint (Delta Creative)
Dark Gray paint (Plaid Enterprises)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: "My", "Mummy", sun, circle
Cricut Artiste cartridge: "Favorite"
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #147 (rotated)
Challenges: 1-2-3 Get Scrappy May tic-tac-toe board (I did 2 paints, the word beautiful, and die-cuts again - I really like this row!); Golden Goddess 3 of the same embellishment ( i used 3 buttons threaded with 3 pieces of baker's twine, plus 3 pieces of washi tape)

@ Legoland {Again} Layout

I'm always reading that layouts don't have to be all matchy-matchy anymore in terms of the color scheme, so I'm trying to branch out a little in that direction. Case in point, for this layout, I used a different yellow than the one in the picture, and the Mint color isn't anywhere in my photos. Okay, those are only small variations, but baby steps are good, right? Maybe one day I'll not even worry about the colors in my photos when I'm selecting papers and embellishments - imagine that!

Recipe:
Chocolate Alphabet Small stamp set
Key to My Heart & Free to Be Me Level 2 papers
Tulip, Creme Brulee & Pear cardstock
Mint & Gold embossed cardstock
Tulip, Juniper, Glacier & Creme Brulee ink
Hodge Podge Color Ready Alphabet stickers
Alphababies Chunky Red alphabet stickers (Making Memories)
Irresistibles Frames chipboard
Creme Brulee baker's twine
Enamel hearts
Aqua Dots
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: sun, rounded square frame
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #80
Challenges: Use Your Stuff Sunshine challenge

Stocking Stalkers Layout

I'm almost done with Christmas 2012, so here's a layout from Christmas morning when we opened our stockings. Sketch-n-Scrap is celebrating its third birthday this month, so there are challenges all month long. I decided to play along with the three photo challenge for this layout and am hoping to participate in some of the other challenges as the month rolls on!

Recipe:
Bingo Alphabet stamp set
Grace, Felicity & Huntington Level 2 papers
Barn Red, Twilight, Cocoa, Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock
Barn Red, Twilight & Cocoa ink
Cocoa marker
Twilight brads and Bigger Brads
Brown embroidery floss ( Making Memories)
Epoxy sticker (KI Memories)
3-D foam tape
Cuttlebug embossing folder: Wicker Weave
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: stocking tags, title shape
Pattern: Parlor Trick from Jeanette Lynton's Magic
Challenges: Mandy Reedyk 3 photo challenge

December 24 Layout

I got some scrapping done on Mother's Day, so here is a layout I finished up late last night. I started with the NSD sketch from Sketch 'n Scrap, but I turned it upside down. Then I pulled out a stamp set I got last year but never used. Since it's a countdown to Christmas set, most people used it for Advent Calendars, but I thought it would be fun to create my own patterned paper by stamping the whole set in different colors. Unfortunately, it made the paper a little busy to add my title to, so I shifted the title over to the side of the layout. The end result wasn't exactly how I envisioned it, but overall I'm happy with how it turned out.

Recipe:
Magical Day & Happy Holidays stamp sets
Kraft, Sky & White Daisy cardstock
Desert Sand, Cranberry, New England Ivy & Sky ink
Black marker
Enamel stars
Moss & Red ric-rac (Craft Essentials)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge: title, tags
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap NSD 2015 sketch

Beautiful World Layout

I was invited to be a guest designer for 1-2-3 Get Scrappy this month, and it was a great opportunity for me to think outside the box! I grabbed some paints (not something I normally use in scrapbooking) and painted a background for my layout. Although it took a while for the paint to dry, I love the finished product and am so glad I tried something different. Check out the challenge board below, and hopefully you'll get inspired to try something out of the box on your layout, too!

I chose the column with two paints, the word beautiful, and a die-cut piece.

Recipe:
World Traveler stamp set
Heartstrings & Snowhaven Level 2 papers
Cranberry, Black, Pear & White Daisy cardstock
White Daisy textured cardstock
Cranberry, Pear, Black & Glacier ink
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Enamel hearts
Shamrock Green acrylic paint (Michaels)
Ocean Reef Blue acrylic paint (Delta Ceramcoat)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, hearts
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: arrows
Pattern: Stuck Sketches May 1 sketch
Challenges: Lasting Memories Beautiful challenge

Dave & Lolo Layout

I pulled out some old papers and embellishment and paired them with one of my old sketches to scrapbook these photos from a friend's reception. The title was created using Cricut Craft Room. I love how I can weld words together so easily using this program!

Recipe:
Roxie Level 2 papers
Black & Tulip cardstock
Black, Tulip & Desert Sand ink
Black marker
That's Amore Journaling Spots
Floret paper flowers
Black tulle
Black grosgrain ribbon
Black craft buttons
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 20
Challenges: Clear It Out Anything Goes challenge

Our Family Tree Layout

Splitcoast Stampers is having a celebration in honor of National Scrapbook Day, and I am contributing a sketch challenge as part of the party! Please join us for some great inspiration. New challenges will be posted every Saturday in May, and you have all month to complete your layouts.

The Sketch

My Layout

Recipe:

Friendship Alphabet Small  stamp set
Brenda Walton Peppermint Twist Large Holiday Trees (K & Company)
Ruby, Topiary, Sweet Leaf & Colonial White cardstock
Ruby, Topiary & Sweet Leaf ink
Topiary embroidery floss
Colonial White ric-rac
Colonial White metal tag
Organdy ribbon
Stuck on You Puffies (arrow)
Ruby Glitter button
Ruby washi tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: family title, trees
Cuttlebug embossing folder: Winter Trees
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch15May1
Challenges: Scrap It Girl stitching challenge;
Scrap Our Stash Emboss challenge

E = embossing
M = metal tag
B = button
O = organdy ribbon
S = stamping
S = stitching