LOAD #18 - Cry Baby

It's a very rainy day here in Southern California, perfect for scrapbooking at my little desk near the fireplace while my sons are outside splashing in puddles. I almost told them no, but after all, how many rainy days do we get in Los Angeles every year? Until I pick up my Costco order, I have no current pictures to scrap, so I decided to follow Monica's example and work on my youngest son's baby book. He'll be five in March, and I had only scrapped the first week of his life! Loving these pictures, especially the look on my older son's face as he contemplates his squalling baby brother.



Recipe:
Hodge Podge Alphabet, Priceless Love Word Puzzle & Shining Star stamp sets
Stardust Level 2 papers
Buttercup & White Daisy cardstock
Moonstruck, Buttercup & Vineyard Berry ink
Moonstruck & Vineyard Berry markers
White Daisy Dazzling Diecuts
Moonstruck embroidery floss
Winter craft buttons
3-D foam tape

LOAD #17 - Family

This layout is special to me because it features our eldest son's birthmom, Deb. She has become a treasured part of our family, and we see her and her family on a consistent basis, so I wanted to document that unusual but special relationship. She is pictured here with my husband and myself; she's the one holding the baby, who is one of our son Adrian's cousins. The little girl at the bottom is also his cousin. We're so fortunate to have "adopted" a whole new family when we adopted our precious boy!



Recipe:
State of Mind stamp set
Grace Level 2 papers
Twilight, Cocoa & White Daisy cardstock
Cocoa, Bamboo, Honey & Barn Red ink
Dimensional Elements "F", "A", "M", "I", "L" & "Y"
Cocoa marker
Clear button
Liquid Glass
Mustard embroidery floss (Making Memories)
3-D foam tape

LOAD #16 - Carnival

Today's layout is simple in design, but it allowed me to get 8 uncropped 4"x6" photos on a double page spread. I got the idea from the December 2009 edition of Creating Keepsakes magazine. One fun technique I used today: I didn't have any white brads left (used them all on my Christmas cards!), so I dipped the silver brads in Versamark ink, then White Daisy embossing powder, and then I heat set them. Viola - white brads. You can do this with any color of embossing powder, so I sure wish CTMH carried embossing powder to match all their colors. Maybe next idea book!



Recipe:
Cocktail Alphabet & Alphabet Solos "F" stamp sets
Giggles & Grins Level 2 papers
Giggles & Grins My Stickease
Sunny Yellow & Cranberry cardstock
Versamark ink
Cranberry, Black & Silver brads
Clear sparkles
Rhinestone frames
White Daisy Embossing powder
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)

LOAD #15 - IFL Halloween

Hi everyone. Well, I had planned to do laundry and scrapbook today. My husband wanted me to help him clean out the garage. Guess who won? Anyway, I haven't even started my layout for today, but I wanted to post something so Monica, Linda, and Beth could get their layouts posted if they were ready. Hopefully I will stop aching long enough to complete a layout tonight!

Saturday morning . . .
I finished last night, but didn't have the energy to post, so here is my layout #15. I tried a variation on one of the layouts featured in the Felicity brochure, and added some details to make it more Halloween-y. I also added several more pictures, and even a Flip-Flap. Thank you, CTMH consultant Krista Ritskes, for your version that inspired me, too. I discovered something cool about using Flip-Flaps: if you have a photo that you really want to include on a layout because it tells part of the story, but its colors clash with the rest of the layout, you can hide it under a Flip-Flap. That way it still is part of the layout without being featured. Cool, huh? And yet another great reason to buy Flip-Flaps!



Recipe:
Felicity, Spooky Smiles & Thoughtful Seasons stamp sets
Felicity papers
Bard Red cardstock
White Daisy Textured cardstock
Barn Red, Garden Green & Autumn Terracotta ink
Barn Red & Autumn Terracotta markers
Antiqued Copper brads
3-D foam squares
Flip-Flap

LOAD #14 - New Best Friends

We got these "dolls" for our boys at the Disney store a while back (they were on sale), and the kids were so excited about them. Adrian had dressed up as Buzz and Elliot as Woody for Halloween the year before (2008), so they each identified with their new friend. I especially love how Adrian carefully buckled Buzz into a seatbelt before we started the car. Too cute! Also loving the Route 66 papers I got through the CTMH Holiday Heyday Clearance Sale in December. Gotta have more of those sales, right? And I got a chance to use 2 new stamp sets that are destined to become favorites, Boys at Play and Cocktail Alphabet. I can tell these are going to be so useful in the future as I scrap photos of my two superheroes!



Recipe:
Boys at Play, Cocktail Alphabet & Journaling Jots stamp sets
Route 66 Level 1 papers
Moonstruck, Clover Meadow & White Daisy cardstock
Moonstruck, Clover Meadow, Cranberry & Sunflower ink
Natural twill
Sunflower embroidery floss
3-D foam tape
White jel pen (Sakura)

LOAD #13 - Sing Praise!

I backtracked a few months in order to scrapbook the final layout for last summer's VBS. When I was scrapping my other VBS photos, I realized I didn't have any music stamps, so I ordered Encore, a brand new stamp set found in the Spring 2010 CTMH idea book. I paired it with the January stamp of the month, True Friends, and some more retired B&T paper. There's no journaling on the page because I'm sticking it in one of the pockets on the facing photo storage page (not pictured). I'm not crazy about the layout, but considering the primary color palette I had to work with (Bubblegum and Citrus Leaf!), I did my best. By the way, if you're following this challenge, don't forget to check out Monica, Linda, and Beth's layouts. Links are posted in the comments, and the layouts are really worth seeing. Until tomorrow, keep on scrapping'!



Recipe:
Encore, True Friends, Friendship Alphabet Small & Simple Stitches stamp sets
Summer Celebration B&T Combo papers
Cocoa, Desert Sand & White Daisy cardstock
Cocoa, Desert Sand, Bubblegum & Citrus Leaf ink
Cocoa marker
3-D foam tape
Sponge
Scalloped scissors (Fiskars)

LOAD #12 - Cherish

Sorry I'm getting this posted so late. Tuesdays will be a little crazy for me the rest of the month. Monica, Linda, and Beth, feel free to post your layouts, and I'll get my layout up as soon as I can.

10:54 (Seriously!)
Finally getting a chance to post this layout. Yay! It's pretty simple, but my new Topstitch papers and My Stickease arrived late this afternoon (thanks, MIB, for not losing my package or breaking anything in it), and I wanted to play with them. They are so pretty and girly! I don't have girls, so I have to live vicariously through friends and relations who do. Thanks, Hilary, for having baby Kaydence so I got a chance to scrapook using pink! (I know that's the main reason she did it - heehee).



Recipe:
Topstitch Level 2 papers
Topstitch My Stickease
Chocolate cardstock
Chocolate marker

LOAD #11 - Pastor Appreciation Sunday

This is one busy layout! I picked out 15 photos from the many I took at the recent Pastor Appreciation tailgate party at church, and put them on the layout using the Fab 15 pattern. I didn't have much in the way of embellishments for this layout, so I did some alteration. I ran White Daisy embroidery floss over my Blush ink pad to turn it pink, and I dipped a pewter brad in Versamark ink then pink embossing powder before heat setting it to turn it pink. Now I'm off to make a quick card for my hubby. We're going out tonight to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary!



Recipe:
Alphabet Solos stamps A, C, D, E, I, N, O, P, R, S, T, U & Y
Say It In Style & Thank You stamp sets
White Daisy, Brown Bag, Blush & Star Spangled Blue cardstock
Blush, Star Spangled Blue & Versamark ink
Blush & Brown Bag markers
Pastel Pink embossing powder (JoAnn's)
White Daisy embroidery floss
Vellum (Michaels)
Blush Ribbon Rounds
White Daisy ricrac
Metal rimmed circle tag
Pewter brads

LOAD #10 - Carving Jack

I'm taking baby steps in this whole business of using my Felicity kit, so today's layout uses a 4" x 12" strip of one of the Felicity papers. Woohoo! Not up to using a full page yet, but the day is coming. I love this layout because it uses a couple of cool pictures of my hubby carving the pumpkin. Too often he takes a backseat to my cute kids, so it's nice to see him front and center for a change.



Recipe:
Spooky Smiles, Chocolate Alphabet Large, Rustic Flowers, Felicity, Express Postage, Celebrate the Everyday stamp sets
Felicity kit
Dutch Blue, Desert Sand & Colonial White cardstock
Desert Sand, Autumn Terracotta, Bamboo & Cocoa ink
Desert Sand & Autumn Terracotta markers

LOAD #9 - The Hunt

I hosted a crop at my house today, and afterwards I decided that crops are a waste of time for me as far as getting pages scrapped. I am usually too busy talking or giving others advice about their pages to get my own pages done! I do love the girl time though, so I'm not giving up on them yet. I managed to finish this layout at the crop, at least. I realized I used a lot of discontinued product on it, but let's be real - CTMH's stamps and embellishments don't suddenly get un-cute just because they are retired. No, I can see myself using the stamp sets for years to come. Hopefully I'll use up the embellishments, though, because I do not want to be using them for years! I based my design on a Becky Higgins sketch from November 2009 Creating Keepsakes. Although I am not quite as sad about Becky not having a sketch column in CK as I would have been if I hadn't discovered Jeanette Lynton's pattern books, I will still miss seeing her monthly columns. Hopefully her work will still be featured frequently in the magazine.



Recipe:
Playful Caps & October Word Puzzle stamp sets
Chocolate, White Daisy, Autumn Terracotta & Chocolate cardstock
Autumn Terracotta & Chocolate ink
Topiary & Chocolate markers
Autumn Terracotta Ribbon Rounds
Autumn Terracotta brads
Photo Hangers
3-D Foam tape