A Day at the Beach Layout

Happy Independence Day to all you crafty people in the USA! Hope you have a wonderful day with family, celebrating our independence. And now, on to my layout. I went to town with my Cricut on this one, cutting out a bunch of beach and summer themed items to go along with the beach photos I was scrapping. The beach tote ended up being a lot of fun to put together; I popped it up using 3-D foam tape so that I could slide the mini book with my journaling inside it. Took me back to my childhood when I would create miniature books for my Barbies!

Recipe:
August Word Puzzle & Spot On Backgrounds stamp sets
My Happy Place papers & stickers (Doodlebug Designs)
Carolina, Raspberry, Buttercup, Nectarine, Blush, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Raspberry, Honey & Black ink
Orchid fineliner pen (iBayam)
Black marker
White Daisy embroidery floss
Pink button
Triangles washi tape (Recollections)
Cricut You are Here cartridge: all die-cuts
Challenges: My Time to Craft #537 Summer Florals (I used hibiscus and plumeria in honor of the plants blooming outside my window); Inspiration Station #63 (I was inspired to create the little beach scene on the bottom corner of my layout)

Hot Fun in the Summertime Layout

I’m hosting the monthly Variety Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers and asked everyone to be inspired by s’mores in honor of my recent trip to Yosemite. Although there are a variety of ways you could be inspired (color scheme, family fun, sweet memories), I went literal and scrapbooked pictures of my family eating s’mores. Feel free to join us at SCS for this challenge!

Recipe:
Surf's Up, August Word Puzzle & Party Invitation stamp sets
Felicity & Twitterpated papers
Sorbet, Chocolate, Crystal Blue & Colonial White cardstock
Sorbet, Chocolate, Crystal Blue & Desert Sand ink
Colonial White ric-rac
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: chocolate, marshmallows
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: postage stamp frame
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: arrow frame
Pattern: Pagemaps April 2008 double page sketch
Challenges: Bitten By the Bug Frames challenge (I included two, one over a picture and one to frame the title); Scrap with Stacy song inspiration: Hot Fun in the Summertime

Mom's Mini Calendar, Part 2

I just finished my mom's mini calendar, and I'm happy to announce that I cleaned up my scrapbooking desk, too. Woohoo! Now I have a clean surface to use for my next project: wrapping Christmas presents. Here are the pictures of the last 6 months' pages. A couple were inspired by Anne Chek's samples, while I found inspiration for others from cards and layouts in the CTMH catalog. Thanks to CTMH for inspiring me, too. On a sad note, all the Word Puzzle stamp sets (the ones I used for the names of the months in this project) are retiring on December 31st, so if you love them but haven't bought them all, this is your last chance. They will no longer be available after this month. CTMH will have a new collection of monthly stamps, but they will not have as many images as these, so don't miss out on getting the Word Puzzles!













Recipe:
July Word Puzzle, August Word Puzzle, September Word Puzzle, October Word Puzzle, November Word Puzzle, December Word Puzzle, Moments in Time, Spot On Backgrounds, Felicity & Just for the Holidays stamp sets
White Daisy, Moonstruck, Tulip, Desert Sand & Dutch Blue cardstock
Moonstruck, Dutch Blue, Tulip, Clover Meadow, Sunflower, Desert Sand & Versamark ink
Tulip & Sunflower markers
White Gel pen
White embossing powder
Sunflower buttons
Sunflower & White organdy ribbon
Scalloped scissors (CM)

Summer Sliding Layout

I cannot figure out why I waited so long to get the Tinkering paper pack when it is such a perfect match for so many photos! I used it again for this layout of my boys on the Slip 'n Slide, and I am sure it will feature in many layouts to come. Thanks to CTMH consultant Aaron Brown for her idea to thread a tiny strip of cardstock through the button holes instead of ribbon or embroidery floss. I didn't have a matching shade of floss, but it was easy to cut matching cardstock. Threading it through the tiny holes was another matter, but at last it's done. Enjoy!



Recipe:
August Word Puzzle & Field Trip Alphabet stamp sets
Tinkering Level 2 papers
Clover Meadow and Twilight cardstock
Twilight, Sunflower, Sunny Yellow & Clover Meadow ink
Twilight marker
Clear buttons
Liquid Glass

Punchbowl Layouts

I didn't quite meet my goal of scrapping the remaining two layouts for my Hawaii album this weekend. I did finish one layout on Saturday night, and I had laid out the papers for a second one, but then on Sunday I got lazy and just read a good book after church. Ever feel like that? Today I woke up with my creative juices flowing, so I buckled down and finished the last layout. I totally changed the papers I had set out on Friday night, but I like the result much better this way. For the first layout, I created masks for certain portions of my layout, attached them temporarily to my background cardstock, and brayered over the cardstock using Dutch Blue ink. I was able to achieve a much lighter background shade than if I had used plain Dutch Blue cardstock, plus I got the look of patterned papers. I removed the masks and used the Simple Stitches stamp set to create the journaling lines, the borders around two of the pictures, and the large stars. For the second layout, I had made up my own sketch, but I kept moving things around until I got the look I wanted. In case you're wondering why I listed all those Word Puzzle stamps, I used portions of them to spell out the word "price" so it would match the font for "remember." I love how the twill ribbon I used to attach my tag is formed into a V for victory, an unintentional result that really fits the theme of the layout: the cost of freedom. I've always found the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) to be pretty impressive. Seeing all the graves and realizing that the people buried under them gave their lives to preserve our liberty is a sobering thought. I only showed a small portion of them, but the memorial contains mosaics depicting battles (mostly naval) of WWII and the Korean War. Definitely worth seeing if you are visiting Oahu.


Recipe:
Simple Stitches, July Word Puzzle, Charm Upper Alphabet, Charm Lowercase Alphabet & Classmate Alphabet stamp sets
Colonial White cardstock
Dutch Blue, Desert Sand & Outdoor Denim ink
Desert Sand marker
Foam squares
Brayer



Recipe:
Friendship Alphabet Small, Tiny Typewriter Alphabet, January Word Puzzle, July Word Puzzle, August Word Puzzle & September Word Puzzle stamp sets
Free Spirit Level 2 papers
Cocoa, Indian Corn Blue & Colonial White cardstock
Cocoa & Indian Corn Blue ink
Twill & Cocoa grosgrain ribbon
Photo hanger
Pewter brads

Waikiki Layout

I recently got a package of Perfect Day Level 2 papers as part of a CTMH promotional, and I knew the slightly ornate design on the Sorbet paper would go perfectly with the picture of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I debated on using the Juniper that comes with the paper pack, since it is picked up in the details of the hotel awnings, but it made the ocean pictures look funny, so I settled for Crystal Blue with Creme Brulee and Chocolate accent pieces. I stamped the Crystal Blue with descriptive words using Crystal Blue ink, producing a tone-on-tone look that doesn't overwhelm the photos. The rest went together pretty easily, and now I only have 2 layouts left to scrap from our Hawaii vacation. Woohoo! If I can crank out one tonight while I'm watching t.v. with the hubby, and try to fit one in tomorrow after the kids' soccer games, I will have achieved my goal of completing my Hawaii album this week. Now bad, considering I originally though I could polish the whole thing off in July! Wish me luck.



Recipe:
Friendship Word Puzzle, August Word Puzzle, Chocolate Alphabet Large & Daydream stamp sets
Perfect Day Level 2 papers
Crystal Blue, Chocolate, Creme Brulee & White Daisy cardstock
Crystal Blue, Chocolate, Creme Brulee, Sorbet & Bamboo ink
Sorbet & Creme Brulee markers
Blender pen
Chocolate brads
Copper eyelets (Making Memories)

Man for All Seasons Birthday Card

This week has certainly been a card-making week, and there is no end in sight. I've made cards for Mother's Day and for my BSF leader (I'll post that one tomorrow after my Thank You stamp set arrives!), and tomorrow I am doing a 20 card workshop with my friend Lisa for a charity event. I still need to make cards for Teacher Appreciation week, and in the meantime, I put together this card for my husband's birthday. The idea came to me earlier this week as I was sorting the junk on my scrapbook table. Some die-cut snowflakes happened to find themselves next to a scrap of Hawaiian paper, and eureka! an idea was born. I went to work with my Monthly Word puzzle stamp sets, picking images that seemed to represent each of the seasons. Using the On Your Left pattern from Jeannette Lynton's Originals book, I created this card. The inside says "Happy birthday to my man for all seasons." Greg really liked it, and even thought I should make more (not for him, though!), so I guess the hard work I put into it paid off. Happy birthday, Honey. You truly are my man for all seasons.





Recipe:
January, March, April, August & November Word Puzzle Stamp Sets
Happy Birthday, Moments in Time & True Happiness stamp sets
Barn Red, Twilight, Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock
Barn Red, Twilight, Honey, Bamboo & Topiary ink
Barn Red & Bamboo markers
Blending pen
Edge distressor