Georgian Story Layout

It's been almost three months since I scrapbooked, so I am very happy to finally have a layout done! It's another one from my trip to Hampton Court Palace, this time showcasing a few of the photos we took in the Georgian wing of the palace. I used up a few items from my stash, too, so it's a double win!

Recipe:
Vintage Type & Celtic Alphabet stamp sets
Scrapbook Walls Denim brooch patterned papers (Chatterbox)
Sapphire, Saddle, Desert Sand, Champagne & Colonial White cardstock
Sapphire, Saddle, Desert Sand & Champagne ink
Floret paper flowers
Colonial White Bigger Brads
Wexford Beige grosgrain ribbon (Offray)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped border
Cricut Artiste cartridge: crown
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch17Jan

Hampton Court Layout

It was a real treat to go to Hampton Court Palace since I had read so much about it. Seeing the actual red-brick towers brought to life the stories I had read but had trouble picturing until then. For the layout, I chose the sketch I had created in September for Splitcoast Stampers.

The Sketch:

My Layout:

Recipe:
Dreams, Chairs to You & Victory stamp sets
Florentine Level 2 papers
Bamboo, Autumn Terracotta & Cocoa cardstock
Cocoa &; Twilight ink
Cocoa marker
Bronze ShinHan Touch Twin marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Bitty Sparkles
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: monograms, crown
Cricut Art Philosophy: lowercase title letters
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch17Sept

Birthdays Are Better with Buddies Layout

It's sketch time over at Splitcoast Stampers, so here's my new sketch and sample layout for August. I love to pile lots of photos on my layouts, but I recognize that may not be everyone's style, so feel free to just use the basic background and add as many pictures as you need if you use the sketch. And don't forget to let me know you used the sketch so I can check it out!

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
It's Your Day, Perfect Fit Birthday & Holiday Hoopla stamp sets
Jeepers Creepers Level 2 papers
Lagoon, Pear & White Daisy cardstock
Lagoon, Pear, Sunset, Honey & Black ink
Pear & Black brads
Cricut Artiste cartridge: "birthday"

Cricut Artbooking cartridge: "buddies"

Cricut Artistry cartridge: tab
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart friendship challenge (I plan to add captions with the names of my son's friends on them after I post this online)

All Around the Cathedral Layout

I finally got to work on some scrapbooking today after several weeks away, and these postcards from St. Paul's Cathedral were beckoning! I already had an intro page plus a pocket page with some journaling for St. Paul's, so I kept the writing on this one to a minimum. In keeping with my previous page, the title is inspired by the song "Feed the Birds" from Disney's Mary Poppins. The interior of the cathedral was as beautiful as the exterior, and we really enjoyed our tour, but since you couldn't take pictures inside, we had to purchase some postcards from the gift shop. I used my July sketch from Splitcoast Stampers for the design, and adapted it to create a row of arches with silhouettes from the life of Christ in them. I also created a pocket on the left hand page to hold the extra postcards. All the postcards are mounted using photo corners so that you can slide them out and see what's written on the back.

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:

Paper Fundamentals Basic Assortment patterned paper

Cashmere, Lagoon, Sapphire, Glacier & White Daisy cardstock

Lagoon & Glacier ink

Gold brads

Photo corners (Pioneer)

Cricut New Testament cartridge: life of Christ figures

Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, arches

Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch17Jul

Challenges: Heart 2 Heart Oh the Places You'll Go challenge (we went to St. Paul's, of course!); The Studio Challenges No People (although there are statues and die-cuts of people, there are no living people on this layout, quite a change for me)

Exploring the Southwest Layout

For my new Splitcoast Stampers Sketch for April, I actually started with a layout and loved it so much, I decided to create a sketch so I could use the arrangement of the photos again! I know this is a picture-heavy sketch, but you can always delete a few photos if you don't need that many.

FYI: I'm also hosting a month-long scrapbooking challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers, so if you need some inspiration, please head on over and check out the fun!

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Diverse Backgrounds stamp set
Lucky Level 2 papers
Bamboo & Sky cardstock
Desert Sand, Sky, Outdoor Denim & Olive ink
Chocolate marker (Zig)
My Crush Wildwood Assortment "Documented" card & stickers
Enamel and Glitter Duos blue dots
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: heart
Cricut Alphabet: title

Villains in Training Layout

No party would be complete without games, so for my son's Despicable Me birthday party, we planned games around the idea of getting ready to be a super villain! We created an obstacle course for the kids to conquer, plus we had a few other games based on the movie, like the unicorn horn ring toss inspired by Agnes' love of unicorns. Using the left side of the March sketch I had made for Splitcoast Stampers, I created a layout featuring a few pictures from the game time and then added a photo storage page with a few more pictures.

The sketch:

My layout:

As part of my photo storage page, I used a sketch from Sketches in Thyme, Project Life Style to come up with a journaling card. I wanted to include a photo, so I rearranged and resized some of the elements of the sketch, and I added that adorable unicorn die-cut and a quote from Agnes: "He's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!" As you can probably tell, the birthday boy got the honor of wearing the unicorn horn for the ring toss. He wasn't thrilled, but he was a pretty good sport about it!

The sketch:

My journaling card:

And here's my completed photo storage page:

Recipe:
Atomic Caps, Atomic Lower Case & Spot On Backgrounds stamp sets
Animal Cookies Level 2 papers
Honey, Dutch Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Dutch Blue, Tulip, Honey & Sunset ink
Dutch Blue, Black & Gold metallic markers
Cricut ZooBalloo cartridge: unicorn
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: arrows
Heart punch (EK Success)
Challenges: Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog anything goes (I used several Cricut cuts!)

Valentine's Day 2014 Layout

It's the month when we celebrate love, so I created this lovely sketch for Splitcoast Stampers that showcases two pictures embellished with hearts and a hand-holding couple. I had some Valentine's Day photos in mind to use, and I pulled out my Cricut Artbooking cartridge to die-cut the couple. My pictures were taken at a dinner theater, so the gold dotted vellum seemed like a good accent for the bright lights, but it turned out I had no other gold paper. I improvised using gold embossing power around the photos and on the circles, and I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. Hope you like it, too!

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Spot On Backgrounds stamp set
Enchantment Paper Fundamentals - Pomegranate
Free to Be Me Vellum
Black, Pomegranate & White Daisy cardstock
Pomegranate & Versamark ink
Black marker
Gold gel pen (CM)
Gold embossing powder
Licorice Opaques
Organdy ribbon
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: silhouette couple, hearts
Cricut Artistry cartridge: tie
Challenges:Lasting Memories All in the Name of  LOVE challenge (L - Licorice Opaques, O - organdy ribbon, V - vellum, E - Enchantment Paper Fundamentals, embossing); Bitten By the Bug 2 Valentines / Love challenge; Heart 2 Heart Falling in Love challenge

With the Dawn Layout

December has been the month of double page sketches for me, since this is the senocd one I have created and posted for Splitcoast Stampers. Feel free to play along! For my sample layout, I had no idea what title to use  (I've probably used "Christmas Morning" and "Opening Presents" each several times!), but the Music Challenge over at Scrapbook.com came to my rescue. Amanda challenged us to use lyrics from "Silent Night" as inspiration for our layout, and I found the words "with the dawn" in the second verse. Although my layout has nothing to do with Jesus' birth, the phrase seemed to reflect my children's propensity for rising at dawn on Christmas morning. Can anyone relate?

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
In the Background & Spot On Backgrounds stamp sets
Jingle & Key to My Heart Level 2 papers
Tulip, Juniper, Olive & Creme Brulee cardstock
White Daisy textured cardstock
Tulip, Juniper, Olive & Creme Brulee ink
Black marker
Animal Cookies My Stickease
White enamel star
Green Epoxy bubbles
White Daisy embroidery floss
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: stocking, presents, ticket
Cricut Artistry cartridge: title, tree, arrow
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: sun
Challenges: Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge Christmas (this is a new challenge site for me, and I'm excited to participate in more challenges in 2017!)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas Layout

For this Christmas Eve layout, I combined some old paper from 2005 and a brand new sketch I created for Splitcoast Stampers with photos from 2013. If you would like to play along with the sketch, please be sure to leave a link to your post in the comments below so I get to see what you created!

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Tiny Typewriter stamp set
Scrap'n Fun patterned papers (Creating Keepsakes)
Ruby, Saddle, New England Ivy, Cocoa, Goldrush & Colonial White cardstock
Ruby & New England Ivy ink
Black marker
#Life cards
Red Glitter Glitz Gel
Gold star brads (Creative Impressions)
Green grosgrain ribbon (Offray)
Green gingham ribbon (Offray)
Wicker Weave Cuttlebug folder
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: round tag
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: arrow, scalloped border
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch16Dec1
Challenges: Picture This shapes challenge (I used rectangles, a triangle, a circle, stars, and squares); Use Your Stuff layers challenge (I managed to get lots of layers in this layout!)

You Make My Heart Melt Layout

For those who are scrapping this weekend, here's a fun sketch for you! I decided to challenge myself to create some white space on this sketch, and then not try to fill it up when I scrapbooked a layout using the sketch. Hopefully you think I've succeeded, despite the background snowflake paper.The sketch is posted on Splitcoast Stampers, so feel free to play along there, or you can post a link to your finished layout on this post so I can check out what you've created.

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Jennifer's Hand stamp set
Wonderland Level 2 papers
Snowflake paper (My Minds Eye Wild Asparagus)
Chocolate, Twilight & Whisper ink
Twilight & Black markers
Shin Han markers - Marigold & Mahogany
Black epoxy bubbles
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: snowman
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, hearts, teardrops
Challenges: Use Your Stuff #236 - make your own embellishment (I used my Cricut to cut out the snowman in several layers, then I added epoxy bubbles for his buttons)

How Many Firemen??? Layout

October 2013 must have been the month for freak accidents, because on top of my younger son cracking his two front teeth, my older son got his finger stuck in a hole in our fish tank lid and had to be extricated by the fire department! As I was trying to think of a title for this layout beside "Stuck Finger," the old rhyme about "Cinderella, dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss a fellow . . ." with its tag line of "how many doctors did it take?" flashed through my mind. Since the fire department ended up sending out five firemen, this seemed like a good fit for my layout!

Recipe:
Lucky Level 2 papers & chipboard accents
Desert Sand, Sunset & Outdoor Denim cardstock
Desert Sand, Sunset & Outdoor Denim ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Milepost shapes
Outdoor Denim brads
Sunset stripe grosgrain ribbon
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch16Jun3
Challenges: Picture This Boys Rule challenge - tell a story about a guy in your life. Not only is this layout about my little guy, but about five great guys who came to his rescue!

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)

Kingdom Rock VBS Layout

For this month's single page sketch on Splitcoast Stampers, I decided to use a sketch that I had created several years ago but never posted, so I'm hoping it stood the test of time! I pulled some older papers and came up with the idea of the shields as complements for the layout's theme. The sketch didn't really have a place for journaling, so I added some strip journaling across the vertical photo.

The Sketch:

My Layout:

Recipe:
Noted Backgrounds & Victory stamp sets
Animal Cookies Creative Basics papers
Tulip, Sunflower, Chocolate & White Daisy cardstock
Tulip, Sunflower, Chocolate, Desert Sand & Dutch Blue ink
Dutch Blue marker
Tulip brads
Scalloped border punch (Fiskars)
Cricut Simply Sweet cartridge: title tabs, cross ("t")
Cricut Noah's ABC Animals cartridge: lion
Cricut Wall Decor and More cartridge: crown
Cricut Artistry cartridge: shields
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch16Aug1

Kid Fun Layout for National Scrapbook Day

Happy National Scrapbooking Day, everyone! Hope you all have time to sit down and preserve some memories today. I was able to sneak off to my scraproom in between other activities and create a layout based on my latest sketch for Splitcoast Stampers. I also played along with the NSD challenge from Scrap Our Stash, and it led me to try something new - stenciling. Easy and lots of fun, and I love the look it added to the layout.

The sketch:

My Layout:

Recipe:
Hopscotch Level 2 papers & My Complements stickers
Flaxen & White Daisy cardstock
Flaxen, Ponderosa Pine, Glacier, Sunset & Smoothie ink
Ponderosa Pine marker
Trinkets Wooden Shapes arrows
Natural hemp
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Cricut Simple Stories cartridge: title
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: hexagon stencil
Challenges: Scrap Our Stash recipe challenge (I used Stickers, Tag, Arrows, Stencil, and natural Hemp

Chargers Practice Layout

Any Chargers fans out there? My hubby comes from a family of die-hard Chargers fans, so he jumped at the chance to attend a practice down in San Diego. I'm not a big sports fan, but I did enjoy putting this page together. I used lots of Cricut cuts and a basic background to create the layout, and I even managed to get a little stamping in there. Go Chargers!

Recipe:
A Typeface & Journaling Jots stamp sets
Twitterpated Level 2 papers
Sky, Dutch Blue, Honey, Chocolate & White Daisy cardstock
Sky, Dutch Blue, Honey & Chocolate ink
Dutch Blue & Honey markers
White baby rick rack (Wrights)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: pennant
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: overlays, stars, football
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch16Apr3
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart's NSD challenge = create a scrapbook layout - easy!

Circus Layout

Today I posted a new sketch over at Splitcoast Stampers, and I actually made a layout to go with it! That hasn't happen much lately, so it was a good feeling. Although I took some liberties with adding extra circles and enlarging my title, I'm sure you can see the bones of the sketch in my layout.  I had taken these photos to a scrapbook retreat last month but ended up not liking the papers I'd chosen for them, so I brought them home to work on. These papers turned out much better than my original choice, and I was able to play with my spray pen and Cuttlebug, which I hadn't brought to at the retreat, so it all worked out fine.

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:

Sarita & Brushed Level 2 papers

Gypsy, Cotton Candy & Lagoon cardstock

Gypsy, Cotton Candy & Lagoon ink

Gypsy re-inker & spray pen

Gypsy marker

DE Monograms chipboard

Enamel & Glitter Duos dots

Purple Glitter Gems

Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: circles & rings

Cuttlebug folder: D'vine Swirl

Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch16Apr1

Challenges: Creating with Paper and More April mood board (the springy colors of purple, pink, and blue worked well with my layout); Use Your Stuff pop dot challenge (I popped up several letters in my title)

Boom! Layout

Here's one of the layouts I got done at my scrapbook retreat this weekend. I used the March sketch I created for Splitcoast Stampers:

The Heart to Heart challenge blog issued a challenge to be inspired by the number three, so my layout has three photos and three types of shapes: pennants, stars, and circles. Hope that's enough threes!

Recipe:
Boom! stamp set
Fanfare Level 2 papers
Cranberry, White Daisy cardstock
Black marker
Pacifica ink
Cranberry baker's twine
Gold star brads (Creative Impressions)
Art Philosophy cartridge: pennants

Football Roadtrip Layout

I posted a sketch over at Splitcoast Stampers yesterday, so I thought it would be a good idea to actually use it to create a layout - LOL! I changed it up a little by making my circles a little smaller and adding some extra embellishments, but I followed the basic pattern. I wasn't sure adding the Honey yellow strip to the layout would work or whether it would be too bright, but I pulled out my (extremely neglected) crimper to add some dimension and then added some inking to the edge of the strip, so I think it turned out okay.

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Timberline, Adventure USA & Jennifer's Hand Alphabet stamp sets
You Rock Level 2 papers
Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand, Cranberry, Honey & White Daisy cardstock
Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand, Cranberry, Honey, Black & Bamboo ink
Black marker
White enamel stars
Crimper (Fiskars)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: arrows, teardrop

Rancho Simi Layout + November Single Sketch

Even though I posted the single page sketch on Splitcoast Stampers three weeks ago, I hadn't gotten around to creating a layout to go with it, so today I sat down and powered one out. Since all the photos are matted, this seemed like a good layout for a patterned paper background, so I pulled a full sheet from the Pathfinder packet and went to work. I was playing along with a Scrapbook.com stamping challenge to stamp a bird on your layout, and I can't believe I actually had a chicken stamp! I've been doing this way too long, right?

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Bingo Alphabet, Catch You Later & Today's Date stamp sets
Pathfinder Level 2 papers
Glacier, Chocolate, Barn Red, Champagne & Colonial White cardstock
Glacier, Chocolate, Barn Red & Olive ink
Olive marker
Chocolate baker's twine
Chocolate embroidery floss
Chocolate brads
Scalloped border punch (Fiskars)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag, hearts
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch15Nov1
Challenges: Lasting Memories Bingo / Thankful challenge - I used the diagonal row with brads, multiple photos, tag, and 2 alphas. I didn't actually use the word thankful on my layout, but I was truly thankful to sit down and rest for a while, so hopefully that counts!

Awana Layout

For Virtual Scrapbook Night over at Splitcoast Stampers, I issued a challenge based on the old game of Twister. In honor of the level of physical fitness you had to exert in order to play the game, I asked everyone to see how many times they could touch their toes. If they ended up on an odd number, they had to use bright primary colors on their layout; an even number meant they had to use repeating circles. I won't tell you what my count was, but I decided to use both elements on my layout anyway.

Recipe:
Animal Cookies Level 2 papers
Clover Meadow, Tulip, Dutch Blue, Sunflower & White Daisy cardstock
Clover Meadow, Tulip, Dutch Blue & Sunflower ink
Irresistibles Lots of Dots stickers
Embroidery floss (DMC)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: circles, arrows
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch15Oct
Challenges: Splitcoast Stampers Twister challenge; Use Your Stuff die cuts and punches (used electronic die-cutting machine plus star punch); Heart 2 Heart Cricut Capers