1 Cool Cowboy Layout

For this layout of my son as an extremely cute cowboy, I pulled out my most recent sketch and used just the left hand page, substituting patterned paper for the circular photos on the sketch. I'm hosting some challenges over at Splitcoast Stampers this month, so this layout is my sample for the Cut Through the Clutter challenge. I asked everyone to create a layout using items that start with the letters in the word "Clutter." You can see my list below, and hopefully it inspires you to pop on over and play with us!

C - cowboy, chipboard
L - lasso, lettering
U - "U" rub-on
T - tag
T - Thicker
E - embossed metal badge buttons
R - revolver, rub-ons

Recipe:
Bingo Alphabet stamp set
Dakota papers
Black, Barn Red, Whisper & Desert Sand cardstock
Black & Barn Red ink
Milepost Shapes - arrow, tag
Embossed Metal Badge Buttons
Natural hemp
DE chipboard circle
Alphabet Transfers rub-ons (K & Company)
Color Kaleidoscope Thickers (American Crafts)
Liquid Glass
3-D foam tape
Cricut Southwest cartridge: cowboy boot, hat, horse, revolver
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 78 (left side only)

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!

Ben Franklin House 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 Celebrity Homes Tour Challenge.

I didn't have a Hollywood home to scrapbook, but I figured Benjamin Franklin is a pretty huge celebrity in American history, so here are some photos from the home he lived in for 16 years in London. I included a fun fact we learned on the tour (click on the photo to see a close-up view of the journaling), and I have some hidden journaling about the strange looking object in the photos on the right page. It's a replica of the original glass armonica invented by Franklin. (If you're not sure what an armonica is, check out this video). We were able to try it out to see if we could make it work!

Recipe:
Swirl Strokes Caps & Lowercase Alphabet, Take Note & Connections stamp sets
Emporium papers & My Stickease
Barn Red, Buttercup & Colonial White cardstock
Barn Red, Sweet Leaf, Cocoa, Creme Brulee & Crystal Blue ink
Colonial White ric-rac
Sweet Leaf ribbon
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: journal page
Cricut Artistry cartridge: house
Pattern: EMS Sketch 57

Glacier Point Layout

One highlight of our Yosemite visit was a trip to Glacier Point to check out the beautiful views. I scrapbooked a few favorite photos on this layout and then added twelve more photos to a photo storage page. I'm hosting the monthly scrapbook challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers, so I created this layout for my Stash Busters challenge to use 1 piece of ribbon, 2 colors of cardstock, 3 photos, 4  pieces of bling, and 5 patterned papers. Feel free to play along with us!

Recipe:
Skylark Level 2 papers
Colonial White & Kraft cardstock
Lagoon, Sweet Leaf & Desert Sand ink
Snapshot Complements
Hopscotch PML journaling card
Mocha Opaques pearls
Lagoon ribbon
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title

At the Station Layout

I'm hosting the January scrapbooking challenge thread at Splitcoast Stampers, and in line with the theme of "beginnings," I'm asking people to use this photo for inspiration.

The picture made me think of the anticipation of waiting for a trip to start, so I picked up on that idea with my journaling, and to go along with the picture of the track, I used train track paper and created a track to hold my journaling. If you're feeling inspired, come play along with us over at Splitcoast Stampers!

Recipe:
Whippersnapper papers (Rusty Pickle)
Desert Sand, Ruby, Outdoor Denim, Bamboo & White Daisy cardstock
Desert Sand, Ruby, Outdoor Denim, Indian Corn Blue & Whisper ink
White gel pen (Sakura)
Silver metallic marker
Durables Artisan Studs
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch17Jan

Our Little Goalie Layout

I am not a speed scrapper by any means - I've been known to take days over a layout - so when Lela over at Splitcoast Stampers posted a challenge to complete a layout in under an hour and a half, I wasn't sure I could make it! I decided to "go for the gold" and threw together this layout. Even though it's really old school, I really wanted to use the grass paper because I have a bunch of it, so I painted the white section across the middle of the layout so my photos wouldn't disappear against the grass background. While waiting for the paint to dry, I put together all the other elements, so I managed to make it within the time frame. Who knew I could scrap that fast?!

Recipe:
Elemental, Bella & Olive Paper Fundamentals Level 2 papers
Grass paper (from a mystery box donated to me by my neighbor)
Pacifica cardstock
Creme Brulee ink
White gel marker (Sakura)
Elemental Complements chipboard
3-D foam tape
White Delta Ceramcoat Paint
Cricut Simply Sweet cartridge: title, stars, ring
Pattern: Scrapbook Challenges Sizzlin' Summer Sketch #11

Gingerbread House Layout

I'm on a roll with scrapbooking this week, so here's today's yummy layout!

Recipe:
Glamour Uppercase, Glamour Lowercase, Distressed Backgrounds & Washi Wonder stamp sets
White Pines Level 2 papers
Glacier, Desert Sand & Colonial White cardstock
Cranberry, Desert Sand, Glacier & Bamboo ink
Black marker
Red shimmer trim
Blue Enamel & Glitter Duos
Cranberry baker's twine
Cricut Artistry cartridge: banner, house, hearts
Pattern: EMS Sketch 32
Challenges: Rochelle Spears January This or That challenge: ribbon or twine; Splitcoast Stampers Health and Wellness VSBN challenge: scrapbook about a favorite food or activity -
I did both!

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

Happy Father's Day 2013 Layout

I've been MIA on my blog this past week, but scrapbooking actually has been happening! Here's a layout I finished for another Splitcoast Stampers VSBN challenge. In keeping with the Toy Story theme, this challenge was inspired by the Etch-a-Sketch, so I asked everybody to use a sketch as a starting point for their layout. I love designing sketches, but for this layout, I chose one from Stick It Down challenge blog. The cut out corners didn't seem to work for my pictures, so I switched it to photo corners for a bolder look, and of course I didn't use flowers for Father's Day!

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Glamour Uppercase, Playful Caps, Vintage Type, June Word Puzzle & World's Best Dad stamp sets
Kraft, Chocolate, Crystal Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Desert Sand, Chocolate, Crystal Blue & Star Spangled Blue ink
Moonstruck marker
Pewter eyelets
Chocolate baker's twine
Design Shop Father Stickers (MM)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title, tie
Challenges: Scrap Our Stash INKS challenge ( I used Ink, Number 1, Kraft cardstock & Stamping - the "patterned paper" is actually stamped using a variety of alphabet stamps)

Recipe for a Happy Mother's Day Layout

Wednesday is here, and I posted three new challenges on the Splitcoast Stampers Virtual Scrapbook Night forum for any scrapper daring enough to participate! Here's my layout for the Tic-tac-toe challenge. I used the middle column with die-cuts, a sketch, and a stamped item (several, in fact).

Here's the board, just in case you want to play along:

And my layout:

Recipe:
Say It in Style, All the Details, Whooo's Your Valentine & Have a Happy Day stamp sets
Laughing Lola level 2 papers
Laughing Lola Yellow, black, Crystal Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Black, Thistle & Flaxen ink
Black marker
Durables Artisan Studs
White ric-rac (Wrights)
White Daisy embroidery floss
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title box
Cricut Artiste cartridge: hearts
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch15Sep3

Pure Joy Layout

I promised you yesterday I would be sharing layouts all week long based on the challenges I wrote for the Splitcoast Stampers Toy Story VSBN, so here's another one. For the Barbie Dream House challenge, I asked participants to show us how they built their dream layout from the ground up, something I don't usually think much about, so it was fun to figure out what my process was for this layout!

My layout:

The process;
1. I started with a sketch, which strongly influenced the elements I added to the layout.
2. I had originally picked some cardstock that matched my photo colors, but when I decided to use Washi tape instead for the diagonals, I just went with the assortment I had, so my color scheme totally changed.
3. In order to add a pop of brightness to my mellow color scheme, I searched through my paper stash for a bright patterned paper to accent my photo.
4. I found a journaling card to use in place of the notepaper on the sketch, and that led me to the stickers that coordinated with the journaling card - score!
5. The black stripe on the journaling card influenced me to make the banner and journaling black.
6. I couldn't find a star on my Cricut cartridges that had just an outline, so I had to learn how to use the center point function on my Cricut to get the star cut-out. Another score!
7. I wanted a title that reflected the excitement my dogs feel when they tear around the yard full speed, so "Pure Joy" seemed appropriate.
8. My final touch was a bit of journaling, just in case others didn't get the title!

Don't forget, the challenges will all be posted this week, but you have until the end of October to complete them, so jump in any time and play along!

Recipe:
Caboodle level 2 paper
Cashmere, Black, Slate & Honey cardstock
Sorbet ink
Juniper and Slate Washi tape
My Crush Besties Assortment stickers and journaling card
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge; banner, stars
Pattern: Stuck Sketches October 1

Love Birds Layout

Good Monday morning! For those of you who are unexcited about heading back to work this morning, here's some happy news: I have the privilege of hosting Splitcoast Stamper's Toy Story Virtual Scrapbook Night (VSBN), a week full of fun scrapbooking challenges based on childhood toys and games! I will be posting three challenges a day today through Thursday on SCS, so don't forget to check back to see a new challenge and the corresponding layout every day. Here's my first layout, inspired by the toy Fashion Plates.

To check out the challenge requirements and play along, click on this link. Not a member of Splitcoast? No problem. It's free and easy to join, and includes a personal gallery where you can post all your creations. Hope to see you there!

Recipe:
You Are My Happy & Notice the Details stamp sets
Sweethearts level 2 papers
Black cardstock
Baby Pink & Black ink
Black pigment ink
Black marker
Vellum
Clear embossing powder
DE chipboard Quotes & Hearts
Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
Baby Pink organdy ribbon
Pearl Opaques
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: lovebirds
Challenges: Clear It Out things with wings + glitter; Rochelle Spears tic-tac-toe board (I chose the row with overlay, date stamp, pearls)

Fun & Sun Layout

Splitcoast Stampers is having another Virtual Scrapbook Night (well, weekend, actually), and I couldn't resist joining in on some challenges. For the Group Pictures challenge, I started with a sketch from Let's Scrap and added a group picture (not a very good one, but it has people in it who I want to remember) plus a bunch of supporting pictures that show what we did that day.

Recipe:
Capture the Date stamp set
Octopus and stripe patterned papers (from my stash, source unknown)
Indian Corn Blue, Bamboo, Sweet Leaf & Desert Sand cardstock
Indian Corn Blue, Desert Sand, Sweet Leaf & Outdoor denim ink
Vellum (The Paper Company)
Star Spangled Blue marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Sweet Leaf craft buttons
White Daisy baker's twine
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: title, waves, frame, umbrella, journaling tag
Cuttlebug embossing folder: Swiss Dot
Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 11-5-14

Challenges: 4 Crafty Chicks Bingo challenge (I chose column "O" - buttons, embossing, dies/punches. twine)

Disney Adventure Layout

Splitcoast Stampers is having a Virtual Scrapbooking Night (kind of like an online crop), and the first challenge was to use "one little word" as inspiration for your layout. I chose the word "Adventure" since the pictures were taken at Adventureland at Disney's Magic Kingdom, plus our time in Florida was a bit of an adventure due to all the rain.

Recipe:
Dreaming & Caboodle Level 2 papers
Pacifica & Colonial White cardstock
Pacifica ink
Pacifica, Chocolate & Goldrush markers
Colonial White Designer Brads
Pacifica brads
Natural Hemp
Liquid Glass
Pattern: Sideline Surprise from Imagine
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: title
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers, photo corners
Challenge: 4 Crafty Chicks Flags / Banners challenge

Chilling at the Beach Layout

I still have many challenges to play over at Splitcoast Stampers Virtual Scrapbook Night, but I posted one that will let me play even more challenges! This one involves going back and doing any of the incomplete challenges from the mini-VSBN that was held in August as a prelude to this weekend. I was really busy at the time of the Mini-VSBN, so I only completed my own challenge, so now I am going to try to go back and do them all! For my first one, I loved Wendy's Washi What??? challenge. She included several links for making faux washi tape, and I picked the one featuring a Xyron, since I own a Xyron! It wasn't quite as easy as the tutorial made it sound, but I liked being able to stamp on the tape and match it to the theme of my layout. I paired it up with the only roll of Washi tape I own, and I really like the result.

Recipe:
A Typeface & Surf's Up stamp sets
Surf's Up Level 2 papers
Kraft & Slate cardstock
Slate, Crystal Blue & Desert Sand ink
DE Monograms "B", "E", "A". "C" & "H"
Foundry Pin Clips
3-D foam tape
White tissue paper
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: banner
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 48

Ink & Die Backgrounds Tutorial - Floral Beauty Layout

Welcome to my second challenge for Virtual Scrapbook Night over at Splitcoast Stampers. The fun is going on all week, so be sure to join us to learn some new techniques or re-discover one you haven't tried in a while.

Tech VSBN 06
1. For this technique, you will need stamping ink, a sponge, cardstock, and the die-cut of your choice.

2. Decide where on your cardstock you want to create a background. You can either create a background using your whole piece of cardstock, or you can pick a smaller section or two that you want to use. Using a pencil, I lightly marked the section of cardstock that I wanted to use to insure that I got good coverage. Once you've decided, place the die-cut on your cardstock, ink up your sponge, and start sponging around the die-cut.

3. When you've inked around the die-cut, move it to another, overlapping spot and ink around it again. Repeat the process until you've completely covered the section of cardstock you wanted. Notice that some areas will be darker and others lighter based on how much they are covered by the die-cut.

 

4. Remove the die-cut, take a moment to admire what you've done, then pull out whatever other stamps or embellishments you want to finish the look. You can even use your very-inky die-cut as an embellishment!

And here's my sample layout with all the pictures and embellishments added. I think you can tell the three rectangles of cardstock on which I used this technique. Hope you come play along with this challenge so I can see your beautiful layouts!

Recipe:
In the Background, Distressed Backgrounds, Universal Backgrounds, Felicity & Baroque Borders stamp sets
Ruby, Sweet Leaf, Desert Sand, Buttercup, Smokey Plum, Gypsy & White Daisy cardstock
Ruby, Sweet Leaf, Desert Sand, Creme Brulee Twilight, Sky & Smokey Plum ink
Black marker
Sweet Leaf Craft button
Window charms (JoAnn's Scrap Essentials)
Liquid Glass
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers, flourish, butterfly
Pattern: Allison Davis August 1 sketch for Simple Stories

Stamping Textures Tutorial - Let's Ride Layout

It's time for Virtual Scrapbook Night over at Splitcoast Stampers, and we're focusing on techniques. You can play along until next Saturday, so let's get started! Here's a fun technique using a stamp and any textured item you choose.

Tech VSBN 05
1. Pick out a clear stamp that has a large, smooth surface area on the back. Place the stamp, design side down, on an acrylic block, and ink up the smooth back of the stamp with the ink of your choice.

2. Press the inked stamp onto a textured surface (one that's easily cleaned or disposable). I chose bubble wrap.

 3. Next stamp the image onto your cardstock.

 4. Repeat the above until the surface of the cardstock is covered.

 5. Use the resulting patterned cardstock on your layout or card.

For my layout and sample above, I chose to use bubblewrap, which resulted in a slightly different image each time I stamped it, since the bubblewrap gives under pressure. For a crisper impression, choose a more solid textured surface. I used one of my son's Lego blocks and a rectangular stamp to create the Lego pieces, and you can almost see the Lego logo on the image. Since Lego are rather slick, I had to hold my hand very steady when pressing against them so the stamp wouldn't skid around!

I'll be posting another technique later today for VSBN, so don't forget to check back here and play along!

Recipe:
Hodgepodge Alphabet, Vintage Type, A Typeface, Urban Alphabet, Flyin' High, Picture Perfect, My Game & Ticket to Ride stamp sets
Cranberry, Sunny Yellow & White Daisy cardstock
Sunkiss Yellow textured cardstock
Cranberry, Sunny Yellow, Moonstruck, Clover Meadow & Chocolate ink
Cranberry craft buttons & conchos
Natural hemp
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title
Cuttlebug: Wicker Weave embossing folder
Pattern: 4x6 Photo Sketch Blog
Challenges: Frosted Designs Creativity With Texture challenge; Heart 2 Heart Alphabet Soup challenge
Technique inspired by Jeanette Lynton's Wishes book

SCS Virtual Scrapbook Night!

It's time for Virtual Scrapbook Night at Splitcoast Stampers, and I'm hosting a challenge. The theme is techniques, so I picked the following easy but fun one for you to try. Feel free to pop on over to SCS and join the challenges! We have four scheduled this weekend, and another whole weekend of challenges is slated for September. Hope to see you at SCS!

Positively Negative Challenge
Do you ever wonder what to do with the paper you have left over after punching or die-cutting an image? With a little advanced planning, you can save that scrap from your trash can and use it on your layout.
• First, punch or die-cut a shape. Be sure to leave a little space around all sides.
• Cut around the negative space (the hole that shape left) in a square, rectangle, or tag shape.
• Back that piece with colored cardstock or patterned paper and use the resulting embellishment (as well as your original die-cut) on your layout.

Some variations on this technique include using 3-D foam tape to pop up the negative piece, using the negative space as a journaling area, placing a photo under the cut-out instead of paper, or creating a border using multiple cut-out spaces backed with another color cardstock or patterned paper.

For my layout, I chose to do the basic technique, and then I also die-cut the rows of stars using my Cricut. Since I used the cut out pieces as well as the negative space, there was no waste, which is always a good thing!

Recipe:
Distressed Backgrounds, Tiny Typewrite & Alphabet Solos F stamp sets
Believe Level 2 papers
Sky, Outdoor Denim, Cashmere & Champagne cardstock
Holiday Red, Outdoor Denim & Cashmere ink
Cranberry Ribbon Rounds
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #119
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: stars, title

Mug & Muffin Layout

I skipped ahead to Challenge 13 from Splitcoast Stampers' Virtual Scrapbook Night. Sharon's mom has a favorite saying, "Oh, shoot a pickle!," so Sharon's challenge was to scrap a page that was either predominately green or was about food. I chose to go the food route, since I had some pictures of a potluck event at church. I started with Sketch 32 from Sketch-N-Scrap (it's actually a single page sketch but I mirrored it for the second page) and added spots for the Southern Girls Spotty Dotty challenge and flowers for the Heart 2 Heart May Flowers challenge.

Recipe:
Dotty for You Level 2 papers
Whisper, Buttercup & Colonial White cardstock
Whisper & Lagoon ink
Grey marker (Zig)
Paradise & Spring Blossom Just Blooms
Colonial White & Sweet Leaf brads
Colonial White ric-rac
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title

SCS Variety Challenge 183 - I Love My Tongue

Anyone up for a challenge? Here's the first Splitcoast Stampers Variety Challenge of the month! We would love to have you play along using the link below.

SBVC183 Give It Some Heart
Valentine’s Day is today, so I couldn’t resist a love-themed challenge! For each letter in the word heart, come up with one product that starts with the same letter and include it on your layout. You can use additional supplies, of course, but you must use at least one product for each letter. I’ve given you a list to get you started, but feel free to come up with other ideas. Think colors, shapes, embellishments, etc. Bonus points for using one of the challenges from this past week’s Virtual Scrapbook Night on your layout as well.

H – hearts, hangers, hidden journaling
E – envelope, eyelets, embroidery floss, embossing
A – arrows, accordion folds
R – red, ribbon
T – tag, tab, title, transparency

My layout uses hearts, embossing, an arrow, ribbon, and a tag, plus I used a VSBN sketch challenge. Let's see what you can do!

Recipe:
Trinity Alphabet stamp set
Caprice Level 2 papers
Bamboo, Chocolate, Crystal Blue, Honey  & Desert Sand cardstock
Chocolate, Crystal Blue, Honey & Desert Sand ink
Chocolate marker
Chocolate grosgrain ribbon
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: hearts, arrow, tag
Pattern: MFT Sketch
Other Challenges I included: Heart 2 Heart's Love Is in the Air
Creative Belli's Valentines or Hearts