Big Smiles Layout

We weren't sure exactly what this statue at Balboa Park was supposed to represent - possibly a dragon or sea serpent - but the kids enjoyed playing on it! To create the layout, I dug deep into my stash to pull out some really old CTMH papers and sparkles, combined them with equally old Magic Mesh, and finished it off with some newer American Crafts Thickers. How's that for eclectic? LOL!

Recipe:
Daydream papers
Sweet Leaf, Hollyhock & Creme Brulee cardstock
Sweet Leaf, Hollyhock, Blush & Creme Brulee ink
Black & Hollyhock markers
Escape the Ordinary & Color Kaleidoscope Thickers (American Crafts)
Sparkles
Magic Mesh (Creative Imaginations)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: banners
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: frame, stars
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #181

Challenges: The Paper Girls #180 Magical Monday (imaginary creature in the photos plus I used a Thicker with the word magical on it and added some Magic Mesh!); Heart 2 Heart On the Border (I added a border around one of my photos to help it stand out, and decorated it with stars, a hand drawn border line, and a phrase); The Studio Challenges stars and stripes; Bitten by the Bug banners challenge

Where the Wild Things Are Layout

For my other Natural History Museum layout, I tried to create a very earthy feel because my pictures were taken outside and showed lots of foliage, but I went in a completely different direction with this layout because the pictures were taken inside and focus on kids and animals. The dinosaur themed paper from CTMH's Something Fierce collection was a great background for these photos, and I had fun experimenting with the Illustrated Alphabet stamp set for my title. The stamp set includes the base letter in a block style, which can be stamped over with a pattern. I ended up using a combination of the included patterns (for W and D) and a couple of patterned stamps from another set (for I and L), and combined it with handwritten strips to complete the title.

Recipe:
Illustrated Alphabet & Chantilly stamp sets
Something Fierce papers & stickers
Raspberry & White Daisy cardstock
Bluebird, Caroline, Baby Pink, Lagoon, Whisper, Raspberry, Sunny Yellow & Clover Meadow ink
Black marker
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 66
Challenges: The Studio Challenges Title & Journaling (used 2 fonts for the title and included journaling); Heart 2 Heart Into the Wild challenge

Wild and Free Layout

I was invited to be a guest designer for the Lasting Memories challenge blog for the next five weeks, and their first challenge is to include trees on your layout. I chose photos that were taken outside at the Natural History Museum and used a base of tree paper in addition to a few tree branch die-cuts. Lasting Memories challenges are open until August 31st, so feel free to come play along!

Recipe:
White Pines & Fresh Air papers
Chocolate, Canary & White Daisy cardstock
Brown Bag, New England Ivy & Saffron ink
ShinHan Touch Twin marker - Golden Yellow
Color Kaleidoscope & Escape the Ordinary Thickers (American Crafts)
Field Notes Journaling Ephemera (American Crafts)
Woodgrain washi tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped border, ring
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: branches
Challenges: Lasting Memories #457- trees

Happy Moments Layout

For these fun pictures of my kids at the splash pad, I pulled out the old CTMH Dream Pop papers and some American Crafts stickers to create this brightly colored layout!

Recipe:
Dream Pop papers
White Daisy cardstock
Black markers
Color Kaleidoscope puffy stickers & sticker book (American Crafts)
Emoji stickers (American Greetings)
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart Celebrate Good Times

Carnival 2016 Layout

For these carnival photos for my daughter's school album, I mixed a few Disney themed stickers that weren't specifically "mousey" with some older patterned papers from a retired CTMH kit.

Recipe:
Animal Cookies papers
Sky & Tulip cardstock
Tulip & Dutch Blue ink
Black marker
Magical Adventures Elements stickers (Echo Park)
Dot 2 Dot alphabet stickers (from my stash)
Honey Triangles washi tape
Black enamel dots
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #86
Challenges: The Studio Challenges Tic-tac-toe (I chose mini alphas, blue & enamel dots)

Life is an Adventure Layout

We went to the zoo several times in the summer of 2014, but the kids seemed to enjoy it every time. Since I have a ton of animal photos already scrapped from previous visits, I asked my hubby to just snap a few pictures of the kids for me to scrapbook.

Recipe:
Dreamin' Big papers
Juniper cardstock
Juniper, Slate & Saffron ink
Black marker
Celebrating Freedom Noteworthy die-cuts (Bo Bunny)
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Challenges: The Studio Challenges - bows or tassels; Use Your Stuff #366- butterflies

Working at the Car Wash Layout

I pulled together various goodies from my stash to scrapbook these fun photos of my little ones washing the car. The journaling spot includes some practical advice for them, drawn from the Cowboy's Code of Conduct!

Recipe:
Color Kaleidoscope papers (American Crafts)
Skylark papers
Pear & Ruby ink
Ruby cardstock
Black marker
Lagoon glitter tape
Dimensional Elements Mixed Shapes chipboard
Irresistibles Frames chipboard
Vellum
Black enamel dots
Cricut Design Space: Chloe font
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: car, heart
Pattern: Stick It Down July double page sketch

Challenges: Bitten By the Bug anything but a card challenge (fortunately this challenge was not anything but a car - LOL!)

Play Layout

One last layout from Sea World in summer of 2014. My son loved Sesame Street Bay of Play!

Recipe:
Summer Stack papers (DCWV)
Carolina, Cranberry & Saffron cardstock
Saffron & Sapphire ink
White gel pen (Sakura)
Dimensional Elements Monograms - PLAY
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Blue epoxy dots
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artistry cartridge: stars, journaling shape
Pattern: Let's Get Sketchy July sketch

Challenges: Lasting Memories #454 - red, white & blue

Now Playing {at Sea World} Layout

For my second layout from our second trip to Sea World in 2014, I used the Stick It Down single page sketch but rotated it to fit my photos. The one piece I had left of this awesome paper from the Color Kaleidoscope collection worked perfectly for the rays of the sketch, yet gave a completely different look from the rays on my Endless Summer Fun layout I posted a few days ago.

I picked out two horizontal photos to feature and put the other photos in a photo storage page, along with a journaling card:

Recipe:
Color Kaleidoscope papers
Sky cardstock
Black marker
Fish Tales element stickers (Photo Play)
Escape the Ordinary Thickers
Craft Essentials ric-rac
Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
Pattern: Stick It Down July single page sketch

Challenges: Joy of Sets Tic-Tac-Toe #7 (I used the glitter + rainbow + aquatic column)

Down By the Bay Layout

For this set of photos from our family's second visit to Sea World in the summer of 2014, I didn't want to do a ton of layouts, so I decided to cram a lot of photos onto each page. Then came the problem of how to make it look good, which I solved by using a sketch from Sketch-n- Scrap. I used the basic structure of the paper scraps in the sketch but substituted four photos instead of the two in the original sketch, and then I added a second page using one of my own sketches.

Recipe:
Vintage Type stamp set
Fish Tales paper & element stickers (Photo Play)
Canary, Sunset & White Daisy cardstock
Bluebird ink
Star Spangled Blue marker
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: Bay
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #180 & EMS Sketch Challenge #17

Challenges: Use Your Stuff #365 - Music (and now "Down By the Bay" is stuck in my head)!

Party Monsters Layout

I know it's more customary to do Christmas in July, but I thought I would be different and do Halloween in July! This layout came together very quickly with a sketch as my guide and some coordinating papers and embellishments to take the guess work out of my process. Since it's for my daughter's school album, I let her do the journaling, which turned out only slightly less messy than it would have three years ago when she was in second grade - LOL.

Recipe:
Jeepers Creepers paper & Complements stickers & die-cuts
Black & Tangerine cardstock
Black marker
Jeepers Creepers Assortment puffy stickers
Pattern: EMS Sketch 68

My Favorite Superheroes Layout

For these pictures of two of my boys busting out some superhero moves, I was fortunate enough to have a few scraps of the discontinued CTMH Superhero paper pack left. The red of my son's Ironman suit wasn't quite a perfect match (trust Tony Stark to make everything difficult!), but I decided to go with the papers anyway since the comic book style was perfect for this layout.

Recipe:
Superhero papers
White Daisy Textured cardstock
Cranberry, White Daisy & Black cardstock
Cranberry & Black ink
Black marker (Zig)
Escape the Ordinary Thickers (American Crafts)
Black label tape (Dymo)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: journaling block, stars
Challenges: Lasting Memories #453 Red & White

EMS Sketch Challenge 75 - Endless Summer Fun Layout

New month, new sketch! I placed a sunburst design on the left side of this sketch, which can be created in a variety of ways: use a die-cut that you fill in with patterned paper, cut and arrange paper strips, use a pre-printed paper with this design, etc. Have fun with the sketch and please leave a link to your completed layout in the comments section below!

The Sketch:

For my sample layout, I made the sunburst a little taller since I tore the top and bottom papers and didn't want to risk having a gap between the sunburst and the top and bottom strips.:

Recipe:
I Heart Us papers
Canary, Sweet Leaf & Bluebird cardstock
Canary & Lagoon ink
Photo Play Summer Daydreams cardstock stickers
Blue rhinestone stickers (Recollections)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: sunburst, title
Challenges: Bitten By the Bug Summer Fun challenge