Art {National Gallery} Layout

On our 2017 London trip, my hubby and I went to the National Gallery multiple times and tried to see as much art as possible, but I definitely didn't want to scrapbook all the photos we took, so here is a sampling of the 17th and 18th century paintings we photographed. The others are going in a pocket page. I also included the map of the National Gallery in a vellum pocket behind the photos, so it can slide out for future viewing. Funny story: I was trying to make sure the photos were all from the right centuries for this layout, and discovered that the map, while faithful to the time we visited, is now totally out of date. I guess the museum has so many pieces of art that they move them around depending on what they want to feature, so if we ever visit again, there is no guarantee we would see the same paintings!

Here are a couple of close-ups, one of the title and one of the map:

Recipe:

Belle Fleur paper (photoplay)

Watercolor paper

Vellum

Cranberry, Canary & Sage ink

Garden Green marker

DE Monograms chipboard

Belle Fleur Elements stickers (Photoplay)

Ink Splat stencil (Amazon)

3-D foam tape (Scrapbook.com)

Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #13

Challenges: The Outlawz Anything But a Card; Paper Rocks Scissors #18- used scissors to cut the little bumps off the chipboard letters; Stencil Fun –  included the optional twist of  patterns (stenciled ink blots on the chipboard letters).

Everyday London Layout

On the trip my hubby and I took to London in 2017, we saw many beautiful buildings that we did not have time to explore further, but I thought I would put a few of them together on a layout. The buildings paper from American Crafts was perfect for this layout! I also used a London newsprint paper that I had purchased, not realizing that it was all about Hyde Park, a place we never visited despite it being pretty close to our hotel. This seemed like a good opportunity for me to use a large piece of it, since there are photos and embellishments covering a lot of it.

Click on the photo to see a close-up of the details!

Recipe:
Vintage Type Alphabet stamp set
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
The Flower Emporium papers (49 and Market)
Practically Perfect - London Examiner paper (carta Bella)
Peach, Black & White cardstock
White Daisy textured cardstock
Peach, Sky, Desert Sand & Whisper ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Simple Vintage Junk Drawer foam stickers (Simple Stories)
Krafty Garden Essentials rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Curiosities in Willow Grove rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Black striped border sticker (MAMBI)
Mocha Opaques
Pink baker's twine (American Crafts)
Charmalong key charm (Bead Landing)
Brayer
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: postage frame, scalloped border
Cricut Design Space: viewfinder reel
Pattern: Dusty Attic Week 25 Sketch

Challenges: NBUS Challenges #88 My never before used stuff is the foam stickers and rub-ons; Love Those Pretty Papers Anything Goes with lots of patterned paper; Let’s Craft and Create #233 Anything Goes.

Covent Garden Layout

This month, my goal is to scrapbook at least 5 layouts from our 2017 trip to London, so here is one from April 29th, when we visit Covent Garden (among other places). I was really expecting something quite different, as you can tell from my journaling below, so we only spend enough time there to grab some lunch before heading off to another venue. However, I decided to scrapbook the photos as if it still was a flower market, which gave me a chance to use the flower shop and flower cart stickers that I had previously wondered if I would ever use. I also created the title using the Harrington font on my Cricut as a nod to Eliza's line, "In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly happen," from The Rain in Spain. Harrington wasn't mentioned, but it sounds like it should have been!

Recipe:
Watercolor paper (Recollections)
Life Is Beautiful papers (Echo Park)
Sage, Canary & Cinnamon cardstock
Blush & Sage ink
Juniper marker
Everyday Moments pocket card (Scrapbook.com)
Life is Beautiful stickers (Echo Park)
Heavenly blue organdy ribbon
Cricut Design Space: vine, circles, title
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #716 (on Facebook)

Challenges: A Cut Above Anything goes with a die-cut; One More Page Any scrapbook layout; Paper Rocks Scissors #18 Used scissors to cut the ribbon ends; Inkspirational Challenges #371 - I was inspired by the flowers on the vine, the colors, and the lemons (used circles to stand in for the lemons)

Greystone Mansion Layout

The Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, CA, is a lovely place to visit, although you can only tour the gardens and peek in through the windows, but it has a pretty tragic past include an unsolved murder that was pretty high profile at the time. We took a bunch of photos of the garden and a couple of the interior (as much as we could glimpse of it), so I decided to scrapbook these 7 photos and put the rest in a photo storage page. I wanted to do a cloudy sky background but none of my cloud papers looked right, so I ended up creating my own sky using white cardstock, a brayer, blue ink, and a couple of die-cut clouds that I temporarily adhered using washi tape, then removed once I was done playing - so fun!

Recipe:
Life Is Beautiful papers (Echo Park)
Desert Rose, Sage & White cardstock
Desert Rose, Sage, Carolina & Grey Wool ink
Juniper marker
Emporium stickers
Field Notes ephemera (Idea-ology)
Brayer
Cricut Artiste cartridge: clouds
Cricut Design Space: title using Thick font
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #79

Challenges: Cut It Up #360 Create your own background and include a die-cut (the title was die-cut on Cricut Design Space, plus I used 2die-cut clouds as negative space when I created my sky background; The Outlawz Anything But a Card Anything Goes except a card; Triple B Anything Goes with a bird, a bloom, and/or a butterfly.

Dog Walk Layout for LM #807

This month at Lasting Memories, Lisa is challenging us to be inspired by the mood boards she created. This week's was difficult for me since I don't have any beachy photos to scrap right now, but I decided to go with the color palette after finding some pictures of my kids walking the dogs. My kids are wearing blue, and the dogs have lots of the tan shades, so I figured I could make it work. Hopefully you agree! The design team would love to have you join us this month over at Lasting Memories. Please check out the challenges and show off your layouts inspired by Lisa's mood boards!

Here's my layout: 

The layout doesn't have a brown border IRL but I added one digitally so it wouldn't blend into my blog background.

And here's the mood board:

Recipe:

Pet Shop papers (KI Memories)

Ice Blue Ribbon Plaid paper (Making Memories)

Toffee, Mocha & Almond cardstock

Almond, Mocha & Carolina ink

Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)

DE Monograms - chipboard alphas

Teal stars

My Crush Best Day Ever sticker

Geometric washi tape (Recollections)

Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: circles, scalloped border

Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #80

Challenges: As You Like It Favorite non-Card project (mine is scrapbook layouts) and why (because I love preserving family memories); A Cut Above Anything Goes including a die-cut; Let’s Craft and Create #233 Anything goes with optional twist: Fun in the Sun.

Swoosh! Crack! Thud! Whack! Layout

When you have been scrapping for a while, it sometimes gets hard to find a creative new title for similar events, so I was very happy when I saw a challenge over at A Cherry on Top to use onomatopoeia in your title. In case you don't know, onomatopoeia is a figure of speech where a word phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the natural sound that it describes. I searched online for suggestions for baseball related examples, and came up with the four I used in my title, so much more satisfying than using "take me out to the ball game" again!

Recipe:
Little Boy paper (CM)
Pear & White cardstock
Pear, Carolina & Canary ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Active Nation Baseball stickers (C.R. Gibson)
Green Fields enamel dots (Altenew)
Jeepers Creepers washi tape
Diamond stencil (from Amazon)
Cricut Design Space: title using Madina Script, Cricut Sans, BFS Foxy & DTC Spring Break fonts
Challenges: Allsorts Challenges #853 Stencils; Neglected Stuff Challenge - my neglected stuff is the CM base page (so old it's from their 11.5" wide days) and the baseball stickers; One More Page - anything goes as long as it’s a scrapbook page; Stencil Fun - includes optional twist of patterns.

Tasty Layout

There are usually too many photos of life events for me to scrap just one photo, but when I have a single photo, I love creating a really special layout for it. For this photo of me enjoying breakfast at our Air BnB before hitting the road to do some exploring, I chose to use a Rochelle Spears sketch along with a color challenge, plus I threw in a few other challenges just for fun! Here's my layout:

And here's the Color Dare challenge. I used shades of the green, purple, and blue, plus some greys and white for my neutrals. How did I do?

Recipe:
Watercolor paper (Recollections)
Color Kaleidoscope papers (American Crafts)
Blue & green patterned papers (from my stash, source unknown)
Pear, Mink & Gypsy cardstock
White Daisy textured cardstock
Hydrangea, Gypsy, Sweet Leaf, Lagoon & Mink ink
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Bold + Bright puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Faded Memory Lane rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remnant Rubs (Idea-ology)
Spring Blossom Just Blooms
White paper flowers (Recollections)
Hydrangea craft button
Hydrangea embroidery floss
Lace & gingham ribbon (Michaels)
Magic Mesh (Creative Imaginations)
Purple Glitter gems
Grand Gothic Window metal die (Poppy Stamps)
Cricut Artistry cartridge: vine
Pattern: Rochelle Spears July 2026 sketch (rotated right)

Challenges: NBUS Challenge #88 - My never before used stuff was the Gothic Window metal die and the 49 and Market butterfly rub-ons; Paper Rocks Scissors #318 - used scissors to cut the ribbon and lace; Scrap With Stacy July 2026 Tic Tac Toe Board - used the middle column with rhinestone + 4 or more patterned papers + rub-ons)

4th Grade {Elliot} Class Picture Layout

I completed the companion page for this layout last May, but as I mentioned previously, I don't really enjoy scrapping class photos. They are so big and usually feature annoying color combos that don't match my kids' clothes at all, so it's a challenge to figure out how to scrap them. I solved that puzzle this time by just using almost all the same supplies as I did for my son's 4th grade portrait, so at least the pages will mostly match. I actually had the leftover papers in a bag because I kept thinking I would scrapbook this photo, so why put them away? It took over a year, but it's done and this marks the final page of my son's elementary school album - woohoo!

I realized after I scanned it that it is really hard to see the embossing on the grey cardstock, so here is a close-up of it:

Recipe:
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media Collection (American Crafts)
Fundamentals papers
Eggplant, Sapphire & Whisper cardstock
Eggplant & Sapphire ink
Fineliner pen (iBayam)
School Is Cool ephemera icons (Bella Blvd)
Craft buttons (from my stash, source unkown)
Blue Enamel & Glitter Duos dots
Extraordinary embossing folder (Uniquely Creative)
Challenges: Alphabet Challenge Blog E is for embossing (dry embossed a pattern into the grey cardstock); Can You Handle the Pressure? Use an embossing folder. Optional twist:  purple; Triple B Challenge Anything with a bird, bloom, or butterfly goes (I added the cute little owl to go with the school's mascot).

Happy Soul Layout

The end of the month is nearing, so I am trying to finish up just a couple more layouts to increase my total, although I know I can't surpass May at this point. Anyway, here is another one of our cat Sif when she was a kitten in 2019. She was so adorable!

UPDATE: This layout was featured at Little Red Wagon!

I created journaling to put in the little envelope, so here that is:

And here's a close-up of the heart inchies. Sorry, the gems are hard to see.

Recipe:
True Happiness papers & brads (Lisa Bearnson June 2007 Kit of the Month)
Chloe papers & sticker (Bella Blvd)
Sweet Leaf cardstock
Pear & Sweet Leaf ink
Sagebrush marker (Zig)
Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)
Birdsong Ephemera Bits (49 and Market)
My Crush Wildwood Assortment
Green Fields enamel dots & star (Altenew)
Slice of Life mini puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Metal Charm
Pink Glitter Gems
Green Sparkles
Cricut Artbooking cartrdige: sun, notebook edge
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #192 (an old sketch but still a good one)

Challenges: Cut It Up #359 Critter and must include a die-cut; Little Red Wagon #864 Fur, Feather, and Fin (any animal).

Baby Mine Layout for LM #805

It's Sunday and time for a new Lasting Memories challenge. This is the last one for June and it ends on Saturday, so if you want to play along with any of the challenges for this month, you need to hurry! I've been hosting the challenges inspired by June, and this week was a word play challenge: use a technique or product for every letter in the word JUNE. June has some super hard letters, but I managed to find something for them all with the help of my A-Z of Scrapbooking tab at the top of my blog. Here's my list:

J - Jolee's Boutique daisy stickers
U - unicorn ribbon
N - notebook edge
E - enamel dots and heart

And here's my layout:

Love these moody photos of my daughter. She probably wasn't going to cry, but the pics make me want to hug and hold her.

Recipe:
Oh So Moody cardstock (Heidi Grace Designs)
Brown Bag, Chocolate, Goldrush & Colonial White cardstock
Goldrush & Sky ink
Raw Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
White Daisy stickers (Jolee's Boutique)
Unicorn ribbon (American Crafts)
Chocolate brad
Coffee Break enamel dots (Altenew)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: notebook edge
Cricut Design Space: title using Thick & Cricut Sans fonts
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #11 (I created this sketch in 2010, and as far I I can tell, I never reused it, so I thought it was time)

Challenges: Let’s Craft and Create #232 Anything goes with optional twist: Penny for your thoughts (I used the song from Dumbo to reflect my thoughts about these photos); One More Page Any scrapbook page; Paper Rocks Scissors #17 - used scissors to cut the unicorn ribbon.

Let's Go Layout

I am a sucker for a double page sketch, so I was very excited to see a double pager on the Sketches in Thyme Facebook group this month. Although I had 9 photos, far more than the sketch called for, I made it work by using Flip-Flaps to hold 4 additional vertical photos. The vertical photo and the card with the bicycle on it both lift up to reveal more 3 photos. Score! The sketch also inspired me to fire up Cricut Design Space to create the slightly off-center ring, and I think it makes a great focal point for the layout.

Recipe:
Chantilly & Harmonious Patterns stamp sets
Central Park papers
Glacier, Topiary, Pacifica, Ballerina, Poppy & Black cardstock
Topiary, Pacifica, Ballerina, Poopy & Canary ink
Mars Black fineliner pan (iBayam)
Love This & My Happy Place Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Petticoats & Pinstripes enamel dot (Echo Park)
DE Signage Chipboard shapes
Cricut Design Space: rings, triangles
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: Let's Go
Pattern: Sketches In thyme #714 from Facebook

Challenges: A Cut Above Anything Goes with a die-cut: Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #86 Anything goes with hearts; The Outlawz Anything But a Card; Inkspirational Challenges #370 Leftovers - the patterned papers and all of the cardstock except the base pages and the one I cut the largest ring from were scraps - a great way to use up some leftovers)!

I'm Ready for My Close-Up Layout

I love taking pictures of our cats, and they are especially adorable when they are young, so be prepared to see several layouts of our cat Sif when she was a kitten. Just in case you're wondering, we named her Sif because we already had a cat named Thor, and Sif was the wife of Thor in Norse mythology. So now you know! She had a short tail, though we don't know if it was a birth defect or an accident, which is why I mentioned it when pretending to journal from her perspective. The title is lifted from Gloria Swanson's famous line in the movie Sunset Boulevard.

Recipe:
Tiny Typewriter stamp set
Newsprint Alphabet stamp set (SU)
Scrapbook Walls Scarlet Posie & Mini Powder Curtain papers (Chatterbox)
Brown Squares paper (Rusty Pickle)
You Rock papers
Blush, Olive, Black & White cardstock
Blush, Barn Red, Pear, Olive & Black ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Vicki Boutin Old Soul elphemera (American Crafts)
Reasons to Smile mini puffy stickers (American Crafts)
New England Ivy burlap ribbon
Olive brads
Flower embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: notebook edge
Cricut Artiste cartridge: filmstrip
Cricut Art philosophy cartridge: tag
Pattern: Rochelle Spears June Sketch (I left off the banner in the corner as it didn't look quite right on my layout)

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? Used a flower embossing folder; The Crafter's Cafe - Anything goes with optional theme: blooms; Inspire Create Challenge #218 Animals; NBUS #87 - my never before used stuff is the foam butterfly stickers that I bought back in April and was saving for just the right project; Paper Rocks Scissors #17 - used my scissors to trim the ribbon; Unicorn Challenge Blog #121 Flowers; Scrap With Stacy Tic-Tac-Toe - used the left column with Ribbon + Stamping + Puffy stickers (the tiny stars near the top butterfly)

Suzie's Birthday Layout for LM #804

Hello, and happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. I scrapbooked a lot on Saturday because I knew Sunday would be spent with my hubby, so here is one of the layouts I completed. It's also reveal day over at Lasting Memories, so for the current challenge, I created a birthday layout for my friend Suzie's birthday party. I couldn't remember all the details, so the journaling card is blank, but I texted her and hope to fill in some information once she responds. If you need to scrap either a birthday celebration or an event that could feature balloons, gifts, or confetti, please come on over and check out the challenge!

Recipe:
Reasons to Smile papers
Pixie & Sundance cardstock
Pixie, Raspberry, Creme Brulee, Crystal Blue & Lagoon ink
Party Time stickers
I Love Christmas Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Pink baker's twine (American Crafts)
Cricut Design Space: title using CTMH Artiste and Austin Hearts fonts
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap Throwback Sketch 179

Challenges: Heart’s Quest Challenge Blog #86 Anything with a heart goes; Heart’s Quest Celebration of Love Challenge #30 I used the birthday theme.

Create Layout

In addition to the Book of Beasts exhibits and touring the gardens, our visit to the Getty Center back in 2019 included perusing some of the art galleries. We were too tired from walking to see them all, but here I scrapbooked a few paintings we discovered and enjoyed.

Recipe:
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
Flower Emporium Starter paper 10 (49 and Market)
Capri, Kraft, Barn Red & White cardstock
Capri, Desert Sand & Ballerina ink
Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
School Is Cool ephemera icons (Bella Blvd)
Magnolia Sundance Imagine rub-ons (MME)
Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remnant Rubs (Idea-ology)
Blue Adornaments fibers (EK Success)
Lumberjack Plaid distress spritz (Ranger)
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: create
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: postage stamp frames, curvy square
Challenges: The Outlawz Anything But a Card Anything goes except a card; Paper Rocks Scissors #17 Used scissors to trim tags and fibers; A Cut Above Anything Goes including a die-cut; Love Those Pretty Papers Anything goes with lots of pretty paper.

Book of Beasts Layout

The Book of Beasts exhibit at the Getty Center was fascinating, showing us the view that medieval people had of animals like lions or hippos, animals most of the people had never even seen. 

Recipe:
Four Seasons papers
Flower Emporium Starter papers 8 & 10 (49 and Market)
Almond, Toffee, Cocoa, Fern & Colonial White cardstock
Chocolate, Desert Sand & Pine ink
Burnt Sienna fineliner pen (iBayam)
Vellum animal ephemera (from my stash, source unknown)
Gold eyelets (MM)
Vegetation Adornaments fibers (EK Success)
Krafty Garden Essentials rub-on transfers (49 and Market)
Woodgrain washi tape
Leopard print stencil (Amazon)
Cricut Design Space: title using A Child's Life font
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: hearts
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #100

Challenges: Neglected Stuff Challenge - the striped paper, the vellum animals, and the fibers are all neglected stuff; One More Page - anything scrapbooking goes; Stencil Fun - used a leopard print stencil.

1 of a Kind Place Layout

For our birthdays in 2019, my hubby and I took a mini vacation, starting with a trip to the Getty Center. The gardens there are beautiful and unique, so we took a ton of photos, but I decided to scrapbook these ones and put the other ones in a pocket page that will go between the two pages.

Recipe:
Blossoms & Bees papers (Echo Park)
January-March 2023 Mix-In paper
Kraft, Candy Apple, Indian Corn Blue & White cardstock
Candy Apple, Canary, Indian Corn Blue & Outdoor Denim ink
Dreamin' Big Complements acrylic piece
Oh Happy Day Thickers and cardstock stickers (Simple Stories)
Tim Holtz Field Notes ephemera (Idea-ology)
Heart brads (from my stash, source unknown)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: 1 of a Kind title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #101

Challenges: Little Red Wagon #862 O is for Outdoors; Triple B Anything goes including a bird, a bloom, and/or a butterfly; Crafter’s Café Anything goes with optional twist: blooms; Unicorn Challenge Blog #121  Flowers.

You Had Me at Meow Layout

When Close to My Heart was closing down, they had a ton of retired products to get rid of, and one of the things I bought at a steep discount was the Best Friends Furever kit. Even though it was designed to be a 6" x 8" album, I figured I could adapt it for my usual 12" x 12" style. I kind of forgot about it until I needed to scrapbook these photos of our new kitten (well, new in 2019), but I pulled it out, combined some elements from different layouts, and ended up with this. Adding some puffy hearts and a text rub-on made it pretty different from the original layout, but I like the final product!

Recipe:

Best Friends Furever Cut Above kit

Flamingo cardstock

Pixie & Sunny Yellow ink

Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)

Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remnant Rubs (Idea-ology)

Bubblegum Heart & Beetle Black Heart assortment (Doodlebug Designs)

Challenges: Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #86 - this is for the black hearts option; Let's Craft and Create #232 Penny for your Thoughts (use a sentiment) - mine is the title "You Had Me at Meow;" NBUS #87 - my never before used stuff is the Best Friends Furever kit.

Laugh Layout for LM #803

Today is another Lasting Memories reveal day, and the challenge this week was to include three long and three short strips of paper on your layout. I was originally planning on using skinny strips of paper, but I saw the current sketch over at Sketch-n-Scrap and decided to go with some wider strips for my long pieces: one each on the top and bottom of the layout, and one under the photos. Really, this challenge could be used so many ways, so hopefully you will come join us to play along before the end of June.

The black cardstock with the photos on it is popped up using foam take so I could add a journaling pocket underneath. The journaling is all about how my adopted son, despite being in foster care, was able to overcome and learned to smile again. I decided not to post the actual journaling since it's kind of sensitive, but here is the other side of the card.

Recipe:
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
Color Kaleidoscope papers (American Crafts)
Black cardstock
Blush, Saffron, Lagoon & Black ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
Everyday Moments pocket card (Scrapbook.com)
Birdsong Bits ephemera (49 and Market)
Color Kaleidoscope Phrases and Icons puffy sticker (American Crafts)
Sweet Rush Collection - Loving This puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Mod Titles Great Lengths sticker (CM)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: filmstrip
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #329 rotated right

Challenges: Crafty Calendar  All About the Men/Boys - this layout is about my son, a very special boy; Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #86 Anything with a heart goes; Love Those Pretty Papers  Anything goes as long as you use lots of patterned paper.

Elliot's First Grade Class Layout

I am counting down the layouts until my son's elementary album is finished, and all I have left are two class photos. As I mentioned earlier this week, I really don't enjoy scrapping these, so I had skipped 1st  grade, but this morning I did a deep dive and found my son's school portrait layout that I scrapped back in 2014, then I just made a layout that would complement that page. Having the recipe listed made it super quick to pull out my supplies, but I had to use a different background paper since I only had a few scraps left of the papers I had used previously. I actually like it better with the alternative paper, so I also posted the double page layout so you can see both pages together. Here's the single:

And here are both pages together. What do you think? Does it work? I love that the background of my son's photo matches some of the tones of the new background paper, but the burgundy of the class photo is challenging! Let me know if you have any suggestions to help the flow.

Recipe:
You & Me papers
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
Creme Brulee cardstock
Olive and Chocolate ink
Woodgrain washi tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: hexagons
Challenges: A Cut Above Anything Goes with a die-cut; The Neglected Stuff Challenge - my items are the paper I used to cut the hexagons out of and the photo itself.

General Cornwallis Layout

Back in February, I scrapped the other layout for "Walk Through the American Revolution," a program put on by my son's elementary school, in which my son played the British General Cornwallis, but I never scrapped the photos I took of him at home. I really wanted to use all five photos, but there was a lot of empty space around the figure of my son, so I eventually decided to crop each one to about 2.25" wide so I could line them up across the page. I don't do this very often, but I like how it turned out here, especially with the frame around the center photo. Another layout done for my son's elementary school album, and with only two layouts left to go, I might even complete it by the end of the month!

Recipe:
Route 66 paper & stickers
Moonstruck, Cranberry, Sky & Canary cardstock
Moonstruck, Cranberry & Sky ink
Light Greg fineliner pen (iBayam)
Bold + Bright puffy thickers & ephemera (American Crafts)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: stars, scalloped border
Challenges: Cut It Up #358 For the Boys + must include a die-cut (mine isn't a card, but it's for a boy's album, so hopefully that counts); One More Page  Any scrapbook page goes; The Outlawz Anything But a Card Anything goes with optional theme: Let’s Play!

Elliot's 5th Grade Class Photo Layout for LM #802

I have to confess, scrapping my kids' class photos isn't my favorite task, so I skipped it for my son's last two years of elementary school, but now I am trying to finish his school album, so I forced myself to do it! It ended up being a more enjoyable project than I expected and was a great way to do my design team inspiration for this week's Lasting Memories June-themed challenge: June is the sixth month - use six of one of the following shapes: heart, square, hexagon, or circle. I chose to use circles in a variety of sizes and different papers. The Lasting Memories challenges for June are open until July 4th, so come check them out, be inspired, and play along!

The kids' names have been covered over for privacy reasons.

Recipe:
Colorful Kit papers (KI Memories)
Miscellaneous scraps from my stash
Sunflower, Candy Apply, Clover & Sky cardstock.
Candy Apple & Sunflower ink
Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)
Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remant Rubs (Idea-ology)
Starry Night stencil (Simple Stories)
Dot Fade layering stencil (Stampers Anonymous)
Challenges: Alphabet Challenge Blog C is for Circles; Neglected Stuff Challenges  - my neglected stuff is the KI Memories alphabet paper; Paper Rocks Scissors #17 - used scissors to cut the wavy cardstock.

Congrats Grad {Elliot} Layout

I am so close to finishing my son's elementary school album, and it only took me a year longer than I had been hoping (it was my goal for May 2025)! Here's his graduation layout, complete with journaling about his unique streak that I hope helps him succeed in the future. As I was working on this layout, I noticed a scratch piece of cardstock that I had used last month to test my foam stamps for Elliot's Pool Party layout. It looked pretty cool as the background for the school building ephemera, so I threw it on here. I still have a tiny scrap that I may need to use on a card, but it was nice to use up some of it.

Recipe:
Book Fair papers (Simple Stories)
Kraft, Candy Apple< Heavenly Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Candy Apple, Ocean & Juniper ink
Capri, Crystal Blue, Glacier & Dutch Blue re-inkers
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Book Fair ephemera (Simple Stories)
School Is Cool ephemera (Bella Blvd)
Ruler ribbon (Offray)
Outdoor Denim brads
Stars Halloween Mix (Bella Blvd)
Top Dog & Star Attraction Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch15Nov3 - I changed up the right hand page to fit with my photos.

Challenges: Colorful Options - used Option #3 Rainbow; Double Trouble #216 Graduation theme -includes Thing 3's twist to use kraft paper; NBUS Challenge #87 - my never before used stuff is the Book Fair papers.