Dotty for You Card

I almost forgot to share a fun card I made for a workshop using the Dotty for You papers. I love these papers and ordered an extra set for myself. I know I will always be able to use the polka dotted back of the paper even if I ever get tired of the design on the front. Here's my card, which also matches the inspiration challenge for Through the Craft Room Door. I used the color scheme, plus I pulled from the shapes of the square and rectangular pillows, the bench seat, and the round design on the quilt.

My card:

My inspiration:


Recipe:
Polka Dot Alphabet, Blue Ribbon & You Are stamp sets
Dotty for You papers
Lagoon, Buttercup & Colonial White cardstock
Lagoon & Sunset ink
Sunset button
Creme Brulee baker's twine

Funny Layout

I really wasn't sure I wanted to scrapbook pictures where I looked so dorky, but I finally decided to go for it! One must sacrifice all for the sake of art, right? Dynamic Duos had a monochromatic color challenge that I thought would look great with the photos; since I don't have SU colors, I chose Sky and Pacifica as being the closest match, plus I added Desert Sand and White as my neutrals. I used a Let's Scrap sketch and one of their challenges: to add at least two handmade embellishments (I made pinwheels) to your layout. Finally, Patti over at Splitcoast Stampers issued a challenge to design a layout using the word "funny." I included the word as my title plus I used the definitions as my journaling. I didn't do all the requirements for Patti's challenge, but thanks, Patti, for giving me a great place to start.

Recipe:
Spot On Backgrounds stamp set
Dreamin' and Zippidee Level 2 papers
Sky, Desert Sand, White cardstock
Sky, Desert Sand & Pacifica ink
Sky & Pacifica markers
Bamboo & Sky Bigger Brads
Oatmeal grosgrain ribbon (Offray)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: Title letters and shape
Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 2-1-12

Celebrate Easter Layout

Hmmm. . .  Have you ever created a layout and couldn't quite decide whether you liked it or you wanted to tear the whole thing apart and start over? This is one of those layouts for me. I was kinda stuck for paper since I didn't have anything that perfectly matched that bright pink dress, so the Sweetheart papers were the closest I could come. I wanted to use my Cricut to cut out the egg shapes and have the background paper showing through, but I'm not sure that really worked either. And the yellow. . . There's lots of yellow in my pictures, but I don't know if it looks quite right on the layout. Is the big journaling strip right in the middle too much? Should I have framed the two 4x6 photos on the left page and the 4x6 on the right page in light pink? This is one of those "Let me have it, ladies" layouts. Should I leave it as is and call it done, or are there small fixes I can do to make it much better? Help!

Recipe:
Eastertime, AP Celebrations & Felicity stamp sets
Sweetheart Level 2 papers
Colonial White, Buttercup & Black cardstock
Black, Cotton Candy & Creme Brulee ink
Black marker
Bitty sparkles
White embroidery floss
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: eggs, butterflies
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 30b

Strong Roots Layout

I love these family photos that were taken this spring with my parents and sister. This page is a little tribute to how much their support has meant to me throughout my life.  It's Mini-Virtual Scrapbook Night at Splitcoast Stampers, so I took Lela's challenge to use 4 items from her list plus 1 technique and incorporate them into my layout. The items I chose were: felt, ribbon, a swirl, 4+ patterned papers, and metal embellishments (that's 5, but hopefully it's okay). My technique was distressing. Paper Secrets' May Stash Challenge was to use only scraps and old embellishments on your layout, so I dove into my stash and found the Back Country papers and My Stickease, plus the felt swirl which I had totally forgotten about.

Recipe:
Neighborhood & Alphabet Solos "F" stamp sets
Back Country Level 2 papers & My Stickease
Goldrush, Outdoor Denim, Barn Red & Colonial White cardstock
Outdoor Denim & Barn Red ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Cork Color-Ready Alphabet stickers
Twill ribbon
Heartfelt Wonder swirl die-cut
Outdoor Denim frame & brads
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: stars & title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 31

You Layout

Eniko over at Let's Scrap issued a challenge to scrap in a style unlike your usual. I think I'm a mixture of a couple of different styles, but one thing I definitely am not is a "grungy" scrapper, so I decided to give it a try. I'm not too sure how successful I was, but here's the list of what I tried to incorporate.

• Embellishments are often metal (rusty, worn or otherwise aged) - I added staples and brads that I sanded to make look old.

• Deep, dark-colored, (often autumn palette) distressed papers.

• Photos are often black & white and usually slanted & layered with other elements

• Lots of dark inking & severe distressing - well, it's severe compared to my usual!

• Masculine feel, with a creative slant - yes!

Thanks, Eniko, for a fun challenge that made me try something new. Other challenges I'm entering include:

Heart 2 Heart challenge: distressing

Scrap It With a Song: be inspired by Whitney's Houston's I Will Always Love You

Paper Secrets: use the word "you" in your title or journaling. I did both!

Recipe:

A Typeface, Extreme Caps Alphabet & Typeset stamp sets

Lucky Level 2 papers & chipboard assortment

Craft, Outdoor Denim, Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock

Outdoor Denim, Chocolate, Desert Sand & Bamboo ink

Outdoor Denim marker

Colonial White ric-rac

Cork Color-Ready Alphabet stickers

Milepost Shapes

Natural hemp

Staples
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: journaling box

Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 5/12/10

Wedding Card

It's my birthday today, and how are we celebrating? By going to a wedding! Not what I originally had in mind for the day, but I guess I will never forget their anniversary. There are a couple of blogs that had challenges to make wedding cards or layouts (Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday challenge & Creative Belli Challenge #144), so here's my card for the happy couple. All my supplies used on this card are at least six months old, and some, like the Mocha Opaques, I had forgotten I had, so here's to rooting around in your stash and finding oldies but goodies! One last challenge I'm entering this card in is the Stampin' Royalty Color Challenge. They used SU colors, which I don't have, but I did my best to find the CTMH equivalents.

Here's a close-up of the butterfly. I added a little bit of Diamond Stickles to the edges in honor of this magical occasion, and I left the wings free to give the card more dimension.

Recipe:
Find Your Style & You & Me stamp sets
Life Delights Level 2 papers
Lilac Mist & Colonial white cardstock
White DAisy TExtured cardstock
Chocolate, Sky & Blush ink
Chocolate marker
Chocolate ribbon
Mocha Opaques adhesive gems
Heart brad (unknown source)
Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: butterfly
Pattern: Pieced Together from Wishes

Time of Your Life Layout

Scrap It With a Song had a fun challenge to use any part of the lyrics to Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) as inspiration for our layout. It seemed like a perfect challenge for these photos of Elliot on his second day of skiing. I also used several die-cuts made with my Cricut, plus the title was cut using my Wishblade, so I'm entering the Southern Girls Challenge #45 to use die-cuts or punches on our project.

Recipe:
Perfect Day & Key to My Heart Level 2 papers
Cocoa, Juniper, Tulip & White Daisy cardstock
Cocoa & Juniper ink
Cocoa marker
Tulip & Juniper Bigger Brads
Tulip photo clips
Brown Embroidery floss (Making Memories)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: Snowflakes, scalloped shape
Wishblade: title
Pattern: Sketch Support 2 Page Sketch #19

4th of July Parade Layout

Challenge #13 for (Inter)National Scrapbook Month at Let's Scrap, "Where in the world do you live?", asked us to create a layout celebrating our town, city or country. I started with the July 4th parade pictures I took at our local celebration last year, and combined them with a Let's Scrap sketch, plus the cute Fanfare papers from CTMH. I fussy cut some stars out of the paper and stamped the title, subtitle, and American flag. I added a Flip-Flap that contains an extra photo and my journaling about how we loved our first 4th of July parade in our new hometown.

Recipe:
American Celebration & July Word Puzzle stamp sets
Fanfare Level 2 papers
White Daisy, Cranberry & Sunny Yellow cardstock
Cranberry, Sunny Yellow, Pacifica & Creme Brulee ink
Pacifica marker
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Cricut AP cartridge: star tag
Pattern: Let's Scrap sketch 2-23-11

10 Things Layout

I have to admit, I was not really excited about the Elemental paper pack when it first came out. In fact, I was kinda bummed when I was asked to do a card workshop featuring that pack. But I must confess, I seem to reach for that pack a lot now! The small patterns worked really well for this layout. I used a Let's Scrap sketch, and really packed the pictures in. I had fun with the 10 Things theme, even though my 10 things are really not things, they are people. This layout also qualifies for the Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge to use quilting on your layout, since I certainly pieced together all the squares.

Recipe:
10 Things stamp set
Elemental Level 2 papers & Complements
Colonial White & Creme Brulee cardstock
Creme Brulee, Pacifica, Sorbet, Cranberry, Olive & Lagoon ink
Olive marker
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Just Blooms paper shapes - Spring Blossom & Paradise
 Pacifica, Sorbet & Olive brads
3-D foam tape
Pattern: Let's Scrap sketch 11-9-11

Ski School Layout

I'm plugging away at the INSM challenges from Let's Scrap, so here's another one. We needed to use a Let's Scrap sketch to create a layout that includes a banner and a Bingo card. I posted Adrian's skiing layout a few days ago, and here is Elliot's. I created the Bingo card and made it say "Daddy Style" because Elliot didn't go to formal ski school, but he certainly learned a lot about skiing from his daddy.

Recipe:
Bingo Alphabet stamp set
Jingle Level 2 papers
Tulip, Creme Brulee, Juniper, Olive & White Daisy cardstock
Tulip, Creme Brulee, Juniper, Olive, Bamboo & Black ink
Olive marker
Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
Natural hemp
Liquid Glass
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, banner, scalloped circle, snowflakes
Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 1-26-11