Life Is Good . . . When You're Playing Soccer Layout

My hubby snapped these pictures of our daughter practicing her skills as she waited her turn to take soccer pictures. I pulled out a soccer themed stamp set and did some stamping and fussy cutting to create a soccer player whose uniform matched Brianna's, and I was fortunate enough to find a stamp in my stash that was perfect for the title.

Recipe:
Play Hard - Soccer & It's Your Day stamp sets
Slice of Life papers (American Crafts)
Sky, Sapphire, Topiary & White Daisy cardstock
Sky, Taffy, Honey, Sapphire & Black ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Whimsy ribbon
Clear sparkles
Heart punch (EK Success)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: grass
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 80

Challenges: Lasting Memories #556 Life Is Good title (can't believe I owned a stamp that had this saying on it already - score!); Tic Tac Toe Challenges #124 (diagonal with sparkle + patterned paper + punch)

#Summer Fun Layout

I didn't get many photos of this visit to friends, and they weren't the greatest quality, but I enjoyed scrapbooking this happy memory anyway. I would love to share the video that goes with these photos because it's so darn cute, but I can't due to copyright issues. Trust me, it is adorable! Using the slice and weld functions in Cricut Design Studio, I was able to create the title and modify the camera so that it opens up to reveal a hidden journaling space inside.

And here's the journaling:

Recipe:
Wicker Lane papers (Photo Play)
Honey, Black, Whisper & White Daisy cardstock
Honey, Juniper & Raspberry ink
Ocean marker
Hopscotch bling assortment
Mod Great Lengths sticker (CM)
Fiber (from my stash, source unknown)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artbooking: title
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: camera
Cricut Art Philosophy: stars
Pattern: Scrap Our Stash July Sketch + stars

Challenges: Lasting Memories #558 Summer Fun title

The Tempest Layout

Every summer, Shakespeare By the Sea performs two Shakespeare plays in various parks in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and my hubby and I always try to go to at least one performance with our friends Owen and Maria. We were so sad it was cancelled last year, but it's back on so we are hoping to catch one of the plays next month! In 2015, we saw the Tempest, and even though the pictures we took afterwards didn't come out very well because it was nighttime, I still wanted to scrapbook that memory.

Recipe:
Fresh Air & Spring 2020 Mix-In papers
Sage, Paprika, Sapphire, Peach & White Daisy cardstock
Sage ink
Moonstruck marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Floret paper flowers
Yellow buttons (from my stash, source unknown)
Sapphire baker's twine
Cricut Artistry cartridge: tab
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: title, masks
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #476

Challenges: Use Your Stuff S#427 summer fun; Color My Heart Color Dare #453 (used top row with Sapphire + Glacier + Sage and bottom row with Peach + Paprika + Sundance - I didn't have the exact colors for the buttons and flowers, but I came as close as I could).

Remember {Palos Verdes Estates} Layout

I love these pictures of my sister and me at the spot where my hubby proposed. Since moving away from my childhood home, I have seldom been back to the area, so this was a fun trip down memory lane! 

Recipe:
Zoe & Dotty for Me papers
Kraft, Glacier & White Daisy cardstock
Glacier, Smoothie & Sweet Leaf ink
Black marker
Lagoon herringbone & Slate polka dot washi tape
Let's Go embellishments (Chic Tags)
Heart to Heart Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Color Kaleidoscope puffy Thickers (American Crafts)
Let's Wander Tags & Journaling Pieces (American Crafts)
Teen Spirit Girl Frames & Tags ephemera (Echo Park)
Hot Hues Flower stickers (Gartner Studios)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: scalloped frame

Cricut Artistry cartridge: scalloped border
Pattern: Scrap Our Stash July 2021 scraplift (used a puffy sticker for the title)

Bowling Is My Kind of Game Layout

Just some fun photos of my kids bowling with their Aunt Vickie. For the title, I played along with a challenge on Scrapbook.com to use a country song's title or lyrics on your layout. I Googled "country songs about bowling" and ended up with a country version of  Raffi's "The Bowling Song." It fit my layout, so I ended up using the lyric, "Bowling is my kind of game" as my title, but now I have the song stuck in my head - eek! 

Recipe:
Magical Alphabet stamp set
These Are My People & Party Time papers
Nectarine & White Daisy cardstock
Nectarine, Canary, Sapphire & Green Apple ink
Moonstruck marker
Color Kaleidoscope puffy stickers
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: bowling pins & ball
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: banners
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #228

Challenges: Heart 2 Heart It's a Banner Day; Bitten By the Bug Recycle challenge (I have a whole bag of 12" x 1.5" white cardstock strips left over from my card workshop days, so I used one to back the bowling pins die-cut strip, and another to stamp the title, cut the larger pins and one tag, and for journaling strips. It's not a huge recycle but it's the best I could do!); Tic Tac Toe challenge #105 (used the right column with orange, free, and alphabet stamps)

Love This Getty Villa View Layout

I have been planning to scrap these photos of the memorable Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades for a while, and I finally finished the layout today. I didn't use any patterned paper on this layout, but I did add a subtle design by using an old SU stamp that I randomly stamped on the Sage and Almond cardstock pieces. My title was inspired by the Lasting Memories challenge to use the words "Love This View" as your title. Since I enjoyed every view in all the photos I scrapped, I inserted "Getty Villa" into the title to make it clear I loved it all!

We took a lot of pictures, so I will be inserting a vertical photo storage page in the album to hold 12 more photos. Here are a few of my faves:

Recipe:

Story FYI stamp set
Wide Journal Block stamp (Scrappy Cat)
Itty Bitty Backgrounds stamp set (SU)
Paprika, Sage, Juniper, Charcoal, Grey Wool, Black, Kraft & Almond cardstock
Autumn Terracotta, Sage, Desert Sand, Slate, Grey Wool & Black ink
Black marker
Kraft Color-Ready Borders
Autumn Terracotta & Grey Wool baker's twine
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tags, dragonfly, branch, frame
Cricut You are Here cartridge: arch, cup
Cricut Design Space: title using Brushstroke MT font
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 40

Challenges: Lasting Memories #557 use "Love This View" in my title; The Studio Challenges multi-photo layout; Challenge YOUrself #91 use shapes (I used several tags plus a large circle, and I loved finally scrapping the photo of me in a Medusa hat!)

Celebrate Our Baby Girl Layout

I have been on a scrapping hiatus for the last four weeks, in part because I was getting our family ready for a two week vacation, but it feels good to be back in the saddle! There's a funny story behind the creation of this layout, starting with Friday when we returned from vacation. As I was unwinding from our flight, I noticed our dog and cat sniffing around my recliner. That usually means the cat has dragged in some critter and let it go so she can play with it, only to have it escape somewhere. Wishing to remove said critter from my house, I moved the recliner and a rat jumped out and scurried across the floor towards my scrapbooking room/office! Knowing how much damage a rat could do there, I called my husband, son, and both pets into service to flush out the rat and get rid of him. After several tries, the rat ran right in front of me and I somehow had the presence of mind to step on him (fortunately I was wearing shoes), rendering him immobile until my hubby managed to grab him and dispose of him. Afterwards, my husband commented on the rather messy state of my scrapbook room, and I had to admit the piles of paper everywhere were rather unattractive. Saturday morning, I got up and went to my scrapbook room, resolved to dispose of at least one big pile of paper. As I was working my way through the pile, I came across some photos my sister-in-law had sent us eleven years ago upon the occasion of her daughter's birth. Since two challenge blogs had a baby theme going this week, I decided it was long past due to scrap these photos, so, thanks to the rat, here they are!

Recipe:

Wild Asparagus papers (MME)
Pomegranate, Cocoa & White Daisy cardstock
Pixie & Cocoa ink
White gel pen (Sakura)
Love Letters rub-ons
Baby Toys stickers (Mrs. Grossmans)
Pink grograin ribbon (Michael's)
Pink baker's twine (American Crafts)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: title
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: circle tag
Pattern: Rochelle Spears July 2021 Sketch

Challenges: Double Trouble #87 Mood Board, Oh Baby! (Thing 1 - mood board + Thing 2 = played along with Bitten by the Bug's Baby themed mood board challenge + Thing 3 = used die-cuts)

Lasting Memories #555 Use the word "Celebrate" in my title; 2 Crafty Critter Crazies #52 Anything Goes with a Critter (my story certainly featured a critter, but I also added a bear sticker to my layout); Scrap With Stacy tic-tac -toe board (used the bottom row with bows, rub-on and 2+ photos)

Sherlocked Layout

I've been struggling with scrapbooking lately, but am trying to force myself to get some layouts done this month in hopes of rediscovering the joy I usually find in this hobby. A few crafty challenges (see below) helped push me along, and I finally finished a layout. Woohoo! BTW, the layout's title is based on the BBC's Sherlock, Season 2 episode 1, referring to Irene Adler's cell phone password.

Recipe:
Illuminate, Puns of Praise & Typed Note stamp sets
Fall 2019 Mix In, For Always & Blue SKies papers
Sage, Carolina, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Sage, Carolina, Sapphire, Honey & Black ink
Black marker
Gold Metallic marker
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Gold brad
DE Quotes chipboard
My Crush Best Day Ever assortment
Cricut Noah's ABC Animals cartridge: title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 3

Challenges: Lasting Memories #550 Multi-photo layout; Scrap With Stacy June 2021 (used the diagonal with chipboard, quote, and circles)

Color My Heart #447 (used the row with Carolina, Sage & Sapphire plus added Craft, Toffee, Black, White & Gold)

Kindergarten ABC Album Final Layout

Since May was National Scrapbook Month, I started out with the intention of scrapping 20 layouts, but life intervened. During the first week of the month, my 11 year old son, whom my family adopted four years ago, went in for surgery to widen his constricted aorta. Despite seeming to come through the surgery with flying colors, some complications developed and my son went home to be with the Lord the day following his surgery. We miss him desperately, and I wasn't sure I would be able to scrapbook about him any time soon, but I made the decision to finally finish the ABC album I had started for him in kindergarten. It was intended to be a gift for his teacher, but I worked so hard on it that I just couldn't part with it, so I saved it for my son. I still hadn't completed the final layout, but my husband really wants to include the album as part of the display table at our son's memorial service, so I pulled out my supplies and forced myself to scrapbook. The process has been therapeutic, and I am so grateful to have this memento of my baby.

Recipe:
Moondoggie papers
Cashmere, Indian Corn Blue, Garden Green, Cranberry, Saffron & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Indian Corn Blue & Garden Green ink
Black marker
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title, arrows
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: Hibiscus
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch16Jan1

Challenges:
• Bitten by the Bug May Flowers
• Double Trouble #85 (Thing 1 - Anything goes + Thing 2 - played along with a previous partner + Thing 3 - Yoyo dare using the Time Warp trick since I pulled out an unfinished project from the past)
• The Crafter's Cafe #267 Anything Goes
• Studio Challenges SCRAP items (S - sketch + C - Cranberry cardstock + R - ribbon + A - arrows + P - patterned paper);
• Tic Tac Toe Challenge #116 (Used the middle row with blue + Circle + floral image)

Let's Go Layout

My kids used to love riding their scooters at the local skate park! Instead of journaling on the layout, I included a line from Let It Go in order to play along with the April Music Challenge over at Scrapbook.com.

Recipe:
Slice of Life papers (American Crafts)
Molly papers (Bella Blvd)
Kraft, Lagoon, Raspberry, Saffron, Pear & White Daisy cardstock
Lagoon, Sapphire, Raspberry, Saffron & Black ink
Black & Lagoon markers
Sapphire baker's twine
Lagoon washi tape
Seas the Day enamel dots
Kraft Color-Ready Borders
Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: title
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: stars, heart
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #464

Challenges: Bitten By the Bug May the Fourth Be With You (I used lots of stars on my layout); Crafting Happiness #94 Bright Colors; Tic Tac Toe Challenges #111 (I used the bottom row with embossing, layers, and scallops)