Open House Layout

I decided I needed to go back and do a few layouts for my sons' school albums so I don't end up trying to scrapbook 10 years of school photos when my kids graduate from high school. Can anyone relate? Anyway, here's one from my oldest son's first grade open house. I used the Week 143 sketch from Nuts About Sketches, and I incorporated the Fabulous Friday challenge from Frosted Designs: add circles to your layout.

Recipe:
Atomic Caps stamp set
Stardust Level 2 papers & My Stickease
Bamboo cardstock
Moonstruck & Desert Sand ink
Moonstruck marker

Recycled Giraffe Layout

I won the color challenge last week at Color My Heart so I was asked to be a guest designer this week. The challenge is pretty fun and allows for a lot of creativity: chose a current paper pack and add an unexpected color to it! I picked Roxie, which has a color palette of Black, Cocoa, Desert Sand, Smoothie, and Tulip. I love the animal print papers and, since I wanted to scrap some giraffe pictures, I substituted Sunset and a little Topiary for the Smoothie and Tulip.  The giraffe stamp was a bit challenging to do because I wanted it to face the opposite direction. It took multiple tries to get it right, but here's what I did: I inked up the stamp, then very carefully rolled my brayer across the inked stamp (it tended to stick or slip, so I had to go slowly) and rolled the resulting reversed image onto my paper. The image is a little softer than a regular stamped image and has some nice texture to it. I used EMS Sketch Challenge 30 for the layout design but reversed it.

Recipe:
Welcome Baby & Tiny Typewriter Alphabet stamp sets
Roxie Level 2 papers
Sunset, Topiary & Colonial White cardstock
Sunset, Topiary, Cocoa & Black ink
Black marker
Topiary & Cocoa craft buttons
Wooden button
Sunset Baker's Twine
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 30
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title

Fly Layout

This week's challenge over at Color My Heart is to create a rainbow based on CTMH's color palette. We had to include red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. I thought the Elemental pack would work well for this, since it already contains four of those colors, plus I added some Gypsy and Sunset cardstock to complete the rainbow. It was a bit of a risk and I'm still not sure I pulled it off entirely, but at least the layout isn't boring! I used EMS Sketch Challenge 6 with some modifications: I put the sunburst where the title is supposed to go and I made the title horizontal. I also added the "Dream Big" stamp because I hope my kids' dreams help them fly.

Recipe:
Hero Alphabet & Dream Big stamp sets
Elemental Level 2 papers & Complements
Gypsy, Sunset & White Daisy cardstock
Creme Brulee, Sunset & Gypsy ink
Pacifica marker
Sunset tag
Creme Brulee Baker's Twine
Pacifica BIgger Brads
3-D foam tape
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 6

Heroes Layout

Due to my husband's love of airplanes, I have scrapbooked many  pictures of flight museums and airshows, so I was pondering what to do to make this one different. Then I saw the color challenge over at Annabelle Stamps and thought it would be a great combo for these photos. Here's the color combo, and I used Close To My Heart's Grey Wool, Pacifica, and Olive:

I also used a challenge from Scrap It With a Song (be inspired by David Bowies' song "Heroes") to come up with my title, and the sketch is from Let's Scrap. One final challenge helped me move some stuff out of my stash: use eyelets, from Paper Secrets. I certainly needed that one, 'cause the eyelets weren't exactly flying out the door! Even though I probably won't "win" any challenges for this layout, I had so much fun playing along.

Recipe:
A Typeface, You & Me & You Are stamp sets
Elemental & You Rock Level 2 papers
Grey Wool, Pacifica & White Daisy cardstock
Grey Wool, Pacifica & Olive ink
Grey Wool, Pacifica & Olive markers
Pewter Brads (Making Memories)
Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 2-22-12
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title & stars

EMS Sketch Challenge 37 - Snow Smiles

One of the June challenges from Scrap It With a Song was to be inspired by Rascal Flatt's song "My wish." I really like the line that says, "If it's cold outside, show the warmth of your smile," so I decided to change my title for this layout from Snow Wars to Snow Smiles. How could I resist when I have that picture of my younger son grinning from ear to ear? (And yes, he is sitting on a stick. Don't ask.) For the sketch, I started with my product (the big die-cut) and worked backward to the sketch. I'm trying to include dimensions with all my sketches from now on, so if you can't see the dimensions, click on the sketch for an enlarged view. I can imagine several different ways to set up the photos, so please feel free to get creative with the design, and leave me a comment with a link to your finished layout.

The Sketch:

My Layout:

Recipe:
Ticket to Ride stamp set
Powder Blue Dot paper (BoBunny)
White Daisy cardstock
Lilac Mist ink
Frosted Bracket Snow die-cut (Fancy Pants)
Winter Whites 3-D stickers (TPC Studio)
Silver & Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
White Daisy embroidery floss
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: large snowflakes

My Sweet Baker Layout

I'm trying to go back and complete some of the scrapbooking variety challenges at Splitcoast Stampers, so here is a layout that, per the challenge, uses strips of paper. If you're interested in participating in this challenge, you can find the details here: SBVC146.  I also used a sketch from Let's Scrap that already had strips, so it was a two-fer! The bowl and oven mitt were designed by me. The title was supposed to represent the brownie squares with melted caramel for the letters, but I only had Chocolate re-inker to mix with the Create-a-Shade paint, so they came out a little dark. Guess I need to get some Desert Sand re-inker. Finally, the recipe card (which I realize has a grammar error but I'm not going to rewrite the whole thing) was crumpled a bit, edge distressed, and sponged with Desert Sand ink to make it look as battered as my actual recipes!

Recipe:
Recipe Box stamp set
Animal Cookies Level 2 papers
Dutch Blue, Desert Sand, Tulip, Chocolate, Colonial White & White Daisy cardstock
Vellum
Chocolate & Desert Sand ink
Chocolate re-inker
Dutch Blue marker
White Gel Pen (Marvy)
Pearl Create-a-Shade Paint
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flourish, hearts
Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 4-27-11

World's Best Dad card

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. I'm sure there are tons who follow my scrapbooking blog - LOL! Here's the card I designed for my two boys to give to Daddy this year. Don't you just love that Superhero paper? I used Superhero because it fit so well with the colors from the Color My Heart Color Dare #4: use Cranberry, Sunkiss Yellow, and Sky, with optional Moonstruck. I also used this challenge sketch from 4 Crafty Chicks:

 And here's my card:

Recipe:
World's Best Dad stamp set
Superhero Level 2 papers
Colonial White cardstock
Sunkiss Yellow textured cardstock
Moonstruck, Sky & Cranberry ink
Cranberry brads
3-d foam tape

The Best Day Layout

Paper Secrets has a challenge this month to create a layout using lyrics from a Taylor Swift song. I thought it sounded like fun, but I know next to nothing about Taylor Swift, so I Googled her and found a song called The Best Day. It's actually a tribute to her mom, but I loved the line in it about her father, so I decided to use it for this layout from last Father's Day. Heart 2 Heart challenges also asked to see Father's Day cards and layouts this week, so I'm entering that challenge, too!

Recipe:
Charm Alphabet Upper, Charm Lowercase & AP Tags stamp sets
Grace Level 2 papers
Sky, Cocoa, Twilight & Colonial White cardstock
Barn Red, Cocoa, Twilight, Honey & Olive ink
Barn Red marker
White gel pen (Marvy)
Honey BIgger Brads
Twilight brads
Natural Twill
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flower border
Pattern: Let's Scrap Sketch 3-28-12

Heart 2 Heart Sketch Challenge 17 - Mother's Day Breakfast

Another Heart 2 Heart Sketch coming your way! I saw a comment from someone last week who likes using sketches but gets frustrated when the sketch doesn't include the dimensions, so I though I'd try something new and add the dimensions and placement of the papers. Hopefully the font is large enough for you to see the letters. Happy scrapping, and don't forget to add your link to the Heart 2 Heart blog so we can check out your creation.

The Sketch:

My Layout:

Recipe:
Say It in Style & Friendship Alphabet Small stamp sets
Dotty for You Level 2 papers
Desert Sand, Smoothie & Creme Brulee cardstock
Lagoon, Smoothie & Creme Brulee ink
Grey Wool marker
Just Blooms Paper Shapes - Flutter & Paradise
Colonial White Bigger brads
Clear craft button
Baker's Twine - Paradise
3-D foam tape

Life of the Party Layout

For Virtual Scrapbook Night at Splitcoast Stampers, one of the challenges was to scraplift a layout created by the person who signed up in front of you. My muse was Sewflake, and I chose this layout for inspiration. I reversed the design, but otherwise tried to copy her layout using a much brighter color scheme for these pictures of my hubby's birthday party at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The challenge is still going on until June 22nd, so feel free to check it out here if you want to join.

Recipe:
Posterboard Alphabet & Holiday Hoopla stamp set
Superhero Level 2 papers
Sky, Honey & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry, Moonstruck, Honey, Sky & Black ink
Cranberry & Clear craft buttons
Cranberry & Moonstruck embroidery floss
Decor Journaling Spots
Cranberry metal tags & brads
3-D foam tape
Red ric-rac (Craft Essentials)
Wishblade: title using MV Boli font