New Beginnings Layout for Lasting Memories #780

This month over at Lasting Memories, Design Team Member Wendy is encouraging us to use some sketches she picked out, and I was so happy to have the perfect photo for this first sketch! Well, I did have to rotate the sketch, so almost perfect - LOL. I used some old stuff from my stash in addition to a couple of newer items to celebrate the start of a new year. Wendy has three more great sketches in store for us to use this month, so please click on the link above to join in the fun and share your layout with us before January 31st. Here's my layout:

And here's the sketch:

Recipe:
Make It Count stamp set
Slice of Life paper (American Crafts)
Modern Christmas paper (SU)
Dutch Blue, Raspberry, Toffee, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Dutch Blue ink
Black marker
Confetti stickers (Mrs. Grossmans)
Dot stickers (CM)
Reasons to Smile ephemera (American Crafts)
Raspberry baker's twine
Washi tape (Recollections)
Flower trim (Daiso)
Ebony Black Nuvo Drops
Frayed Burlap Distress Spritz (Ranger)
Word Search embossing folder
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Cricut Artiste cartridge: clock hands
Cricut Design Space: arrows
Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? - Anything goes with an embossing folder and optional twist of winter blues (added some pops of blue); Challenge YOUrself #144 - anything goes with a picture of yourself; Cut It Up #346 Anything goes with a die-cut - I kinda went wild with the die-cuts on this one!; Inkspirational #358 Shine/Shiny AND Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Sparkle and Shine - I dug out some gold and silver confetti stickers from my stash, plus added a glitter heart and star; NBUS #82- my never-before used schtuff is the flower trim.

Water Lane Layout

I really wanted to use some patterned papers I bought to scrap my London trip from 2017 (I've only been working on it six years - LOL!), so I skipped ahead to the Tower of London. These photos were taken just inside the Tower's entrance, at historic Water Lane, so named because it used to be right on the banks of the Thames until Edward I filled in part of the river and created the Outer Ward. We took some great photos at the Tower, but the one of my hubby with the Yeoman Guard (a Beefeater) is one of my favorites!

When I put it in the album, this layout will also include a Flip-Flap with two additional photos (St. Thomas' Tower and the Traitor's Gate) that will cover the journaling, so here they are:

Recipe:
Limited Edition, Make It Count, Distressed Backgrounds & Stipple Plaid stamp sets
Once Upon a Time paper (P13)
Candy Apple, Sapphire, Mist, Almond & White Daisy cardstock
Candy Apple, Sapphire, Mist, Almond & Slate ink
Grey Fineliner pen (iBayam)
Wood heart & arrow
Bamboo Bigger Brad
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: banners, tag
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #95

Challenges: Heart's Quest Challenge Blog # 32 Travel + Love/hearts; Double Trouble #141 Something, Anything, Everything (Thing 1 = anything goes + Thing2 = played along with previous partner Cupcake Inspirations #572)

There's grey in there, too, but hopefully that's okay!

In God's Perfect Time Layout for Lasting Memories #656 - Summer Words - CAMPERS

For our last June challenge over at Lasting Memories, we used products or techniques for each letter in the word CAMPERS. This and all the other June challenges are only open until Saturday, July 1, so hurry on over for some inspiration, then please share your layout so we get to enjoy it, too! Here's my list of supplies for the CAMPERS challenge:

C - Clock
A - alphabet stamps
M - metal heart charm
P - plaid patterned paper
E - eyelets & Envelope
R - ripped paper
S - stickers

My journaling about God's perfect timing in the adoption of my children's bio-sib is on the tag inside the yellow envelope, but I chose not to share it here since it involves another family.

Update: this layout was picked by Festive Fridays as one of their faves!

Recipe:
Make It Count, Starter Alphabet & Live Out Loud stamp sets
Ethan Plaid paper (MM)
Hip Hip Hooray paper
Fern, Bluebird & Saffron ink
Hip Hip Hooray sticker
O Happy Day cardstock sticker (Simple Stories)
Fern baker's twine
Eyelets (MM)
Love charm (MM)
Decor Journaling Spot
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #95 (right page only, flipped horizontally)

Challenges: Festive Friday #137 - (used blue, green & heart embellishment)

Scrap With Stacy June Tic Tac Toe board (used the middle column with metal + stickers + circle

Sea Lions Live Layout

This must be the week to use leftovers, because this layout contains a bunch of die-cut chevrons left over from a layout I created in 2014. Although they weren't the perfect color match for my photos, they were close enough to use with the Fish Tales patterned papers and these fun photos of the sea lion show at Sea World.

Recipe:
Down By the Sea, Keepsake Alphabet, Authentic, Moments in Time, Make It Count & Starter Alphabet stamp sets
Fish Tales papers (Photo Play)
Glacier, Crystal Blue, Star Spangled Blue, Cranberry, Honey Butter, Goldrush, Topiary, Whisper, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Crystal Blue, Star Spangled Blue, Cranberry, Honey, Goldrush, Topiary & Black ink
Black marker
Liquid Glass
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: chevrons
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title shape
Cricut Artiste cartridge: LIVE, clock hands
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #105

Challenges: Park Hopping My Happy Place April Anything Goes inspired by a theme park (Sea World); Critter Crazy Challenges #73 Anything Goes with a featured animal (mine are the amazing sea lions)

A Study In Greatness Layout

I'm hosting the Hooray for Hollywood Virtual Scrapbook Night over at Splitcoast Stampers this weekend, so I wanted to share a few of the challenges over the next week and invite everyone to play along. The challenges will all be posted this weekend, but you have until the end of October to complete them. Here's my layout for the Scandal Sheet Challenge.

The layout title was inspired by the title of Geoffrey Best's biography of Winston Churchill. My little known fact about Winston Churchill (at least I didn't know it!) is that he was born at Blenheim Palace into the aristocracy in the direct line of the Dukes of Marlborough, and his mother was an American.

The picture of Churchill's uniform and top hat flips up to reveal a hidden journaling card:

Recipe:
Victory & Make It Count stamp sets
Newsprint stamp set (SU)
Victory papers
Kraft, Fern, Outdoor Denim, Cashmere, Chocolate, Sapphire & Colonial White cardstock
Chocolate, Desert Sand, Fern, Slate & Black ink
Versamark ink
Gold embossing powder
Olive & Outdoor Denim craft buttons
Colonial White embroidery floss
Sapphire baker's twine
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: star circle
Pattern: Rochelle Spears October 2018 sketch (rotated, plus I added a grid design for the right hand page).
Challenges: The Studio Challenges numbers challenge - I added a clock to my layout, so that's 12 numbers!

Clock Court Layout

I'm always on the lookout for multi-photo layout sketches, so I was delighted to see the January 1 sketch from Sketch-n-Scrap! Since my pictures were larger than the ones featured on the sketch, I had to make a few adjustments to the sketch, but I'm pleased with how it came out.

Recipe:
Make It Count stamp set
Ivy Lane Level 2 papers
Bamboo, Ivy Lane Green, Cocoa, Barn Red, Colonial White & White Daisy cardstock
Bamboo, Flaxen, Fern, Smokey Plum, Coca & Black ink
Antiqued Copper brads
Gold alphabet stickers (Recollections)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: postage stamp frame, flourishes, title block, scalloped border
Cricut Artiste cartridge: clock
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: owl, crown

Retreat Time Layout

For this month's sketch for Splitcoast Stampers, I experimented with some diagonal lines, a little departure from my usual style. On the sketch, I think it looks daring, but after creating a layout based on the sketch, I kinda think it just looks lopsided. Hopefully someone else will come up with something fabulous that will make me like it more! For my layout, I really didn't want to try to match the bright reds found in two of the photos, so I went with more muted tones. Still working on silencing that inner voice that says it all has to match perfectly!

The sketch:

Click here to play along with the sketch!

My layout:

Recipe:
Make It Count & You & Me stamp sets
Typeset Level 2 papers
Black, Vineyard Berry & Juniper ink
Vineyard Berry, Juniper & Colonial White cardstock
Black marker
My Crush Wildwood Assortment (Juniper notepaper)
Pewter brad & bitty brads
Creme Brulee ribbon
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, title box, arrows, flourish
Cricut Artiste cartridge: clock
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart Hip to Be Square challenge (all my photos plus the Juniper notepaper are square)

Ouch Layout

Taking a break from Christmas layouts to do a quasi-Christmas layout. My younger son Elliot received a skateboard for Christmas in 2011, and hadn't been on it for five minutes when he fell and skinned his knee. In retrospect, the skateboard has been a poor investment, because Elliot also broke the bottoms off his two (permanent) front teeth while riding his skateboard this year. Sigh . . . So, something to contemplate as we usher in the new year: if you had a do-over for 2013, what would it be? And what would you like to do better in 2014? Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe (i.e. skateboard-free) New Year!

Update: I was a winner at Paper Secrets for this layout!

Recipe:
Later Sk8r, Express Postage & Make It Count stamp sets
Later Sk8r Level 2 paper & My Stickease
Slate, Whisper, Lagoon, Outdoor Denim & White Daisy cardstock
Slate, Whisper, Lagoon, Outdoor Denim & Pear ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Later Sk8r Assortment
Green & Blue epoxy bubbles
Swiss Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: gears, title
Pattern: Paper Secrets December 15 Sketch (twist = include clock or calendar)

SCS Variety Challenge 191 - 21 Laps

Time for another stimulating variety challenge for Splitcoast Stampers, so come join in the fun and play along using the link below!

SBVC191 - Ombre
One of the hot new trends in scrapbooking is called ombre. The dictionary defines ombre as "having colors or tones that shade into each other — used especially of fabrics in which the color is graduated from light to dark." This week's challenge is to create a layout that uses the ombre technique. You can do it using strips of paper, stamps,markers, even digital effects.  Have fun and let us see what you can do!

For my layout, I used strips of progressively darker yellow patterned paper to create the background piece on the right hand page. I also did a little bit of ombre with the blue strips on each page.

Recipe:
Authentic, Kudos, Love Life, Make It Count & My Game stamp sets
Chantilly, Dotty for You, Grace, Clementine, Key to My Heart, Animal Cookies, Magic Moments & Free Spirit Level 2 papers
Goldrush, Sky, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim & White Daisy cardstock
Buttercup, Creme Brulee, Sunflower, Honey, Goldrush, Sky, Indian Corn Blue & Outdoor Denim ink
Outdoor Denim craft buttons
Creme Brulee baker's twine
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, stars
Pattern: EMS Sketch 44
Challenges: 2 Broke Girls "A Pinch of This and That" stash challenge

EMS Sketch Challenge 34 - The Looong Flight Home

Anyone up for a sketch challenge? I haven't done one for a few weeks, so here's one I came up with this morning! It's pretty simple, but I threw a couple variations into my layout. First, I rounded the corners of the large paper and the right hand photo so I wouldn't have as many straight angles. I also replaced the stars with clocks to reflect my theme. Since my journaling was way too long for the space I had designated, I cut an opening in the paper that holds the photo collage, and I inserted a journaling strip behind it. You pull up on the tab in order to reveal a little bit of the journaling at a time. Fun idea I got from Jeanette Lynton's latest pattern book, Magic. Except for a vacation that I will scrap separately, this is the last of my photos from 2007. Yay!

The Sketch:

My Layout:
 

Recipe:
Trinity Alphabet, Flyin' High, Make It Count & Notice the Details stamp sets
Animal Cookies Creative Basics papers
White Daisy & Sunflower cardstock
Chocolate & Dutch Blue ink
Tulip brads
3-D foam tape

LOAD #8 - Fun Times

Our first week of LOAD is over, and what a fun challenge it's been so far! If you are planning to participate, this is the last day you can post your first layout. This is my favorite layout so far this month. I love the color combo, and I probably should remember to use it more, plus all the circles add such a fun feel to the layout. The design was inspired by a stickersnfun.com sketch that I tweaked quite a bit to fit my photos.



Recipe:
Make It count, Gear Up & Ticket to Ride stamp sets
Tinkering Level 2 papers
Goldrush, Bamboo & Autumn Terracotta cardstock
Goldrush, Twilight & Autumn Terracotta ink
DE “F”, “U”, “N”
Autumn Terracotta embroidery floss

Father's Day Card

The Heart 2 Heart challenge for this week was to make a Father's Day card using scraps, and since I needed to make a card for my dad anyway, I decided to give this a try. It really wasn't hard, once I decided which scraps to use! Coming up with an idea to top last year's card for my dad, now that was hard. I don't know that I succeeded (last year's perfectly embodied my dad), but I do like the result. I used the Overview pattern from Jeanette Lynton's Originals Card Confidence book, and I random stamped my background using the My Game and Just Be You stamp sets. My dad is really not into sports, but I was able to pick specific stamps from the set to emphasize life lessons that he has taught me. This would also be a fun idea for a graduation card.



The inside:


Recipe:
Make It Count, Noted Backgrounds, My Game, Just Be You, Thank You & Tiny Typewriter stamp sets
Rustic Trails Level 2 papers
Colonial White & Dutch Blue cardstock
Bamboo, Desert Sand, Autumn Terracotta, Olive, Dutch Blue & Cocoa ink
Antiqued Copper brads
Liquid Glass