A Challenge Project and an Announcement

Hello faithful readers!  I know it's been an age since my last post, but never fear.  I've been working on putting together some new regular weekly features, as well as some upcoming month-long features for your reading enjoyment!

My first new weekly feature will debut on Monday, March 4 and I really hope you will pop back in to see what it's all about.  In addition, I will be bringing back a weekly sketch on Fridays and have another weekly feature in the works.

But in the meantime, here's a layout I did recently for a Winter CHA challenge over at Two Peas.

Shady Lady

I really love Instagram photos!  I took this little snapshot of my niece wearing my way-too-big-for-her sunglasses one day last summer. 

 

This envelope from a recent Studio Calico kit was begging to be used, so I found a red tag to coordinate with the lining of the envelope and included my journaling there.  

 

 

What better way to finish the whole thing off than with two of my favorite embellishments - a badge and a sprinkling of wood veneer.  I don't know what I'll do if either of these go out of trend anytime soon!

 

Supplies:  patterned paper - American Crafts, Lily Bee, October Afternoon, Studio Calico; wood veneer - Freckled Fawn, Studio Calico; flair badge - Evalicious; chipboard sticker -

Studio Calico; date sticker - October Afternoon; letter stickers - American Crafts, October Afternoon; other - envelope, tag, ribbon

Thanks so much for stopping by!

***Announcement***

I'm super excited to FINALLY tell you all that I'm on the Design Team for a brand new sketch challenge blog called Sketches With Color.  Our first challenge and reveal was posted on November 1 and is open until the end of November.  You can find the sketch and color palette for this first challenge on the blog. 

And here's my first project for the blog!

Stop and Smell the Roses

 

Supplies:  patterned paper - GCD Studios, American Crafts, Authentique, Basic Grey, October Afternoon;  cardstock - Bazzill; die cut banner flag - My Little Shoebox; flowers - Recollections; jewels - Doodlebug, Prima; butterfly sticker - Studio Calico; brad - American Crafts (Amy Tangerine); other - ribbon

 

Thanks for looking!

Cricut Fears

Hey guys!  Just over a week til I go back to work.  Terrible!  I've really enjoyed having the time off to spend with my girlfriend and family and to work on all kinds of scrapbooky goodness. 

I have another birthday layout to share today! 

Birthday Wishes

This was such a fun layout!  I did something I've been scared of doing for awhile...I actually used the Cricut I got for Christmas last year! 

I'm not sure how well you can see it in this shot, but the background cardstock is this amazing woodgrain finish cardstock by American Crafts. 

I used some old Scenic Route paper to make the background piece of this flower embellishement.  Here I used the Cricut Plantin SchoolBook cartridge to cut the flowers, hearts, and circles out of a variety of patterned papers.

I'm beginning to think that it's impossible for me to create anything anymore without SOME October Afternoon thrown into the mix somewhere. 

The "spread the love" die cut is from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook line by American Crafts.  I thought it added a nice touch.

Here you can better see that awesome woodgrain cardstock!  I used two different die cuts from Cricut's Graphically Speaking cartridge to create my title.  One was "happy birthday" and the other said "warm wishes".  I just tucked the leftover words away for another project.  I think adding the Doodlebug pearls to the title gave it just a little something extra!

I'm really glad I broke the ol' Cricut out for this layout and since, I've been using my paper scraps to create a barrel (pretty literally, but I'll explain further on another post) full of pre-cut shapes using my cartridges. 

Those of you that are still in the Dark Ages with a Cricut like me (instead of being on the Silhouette bandwagon, which seems to be pretty much everyone!), what are your favorite cartridges?

Supplies:  patterned paper - My Mind's Eye, Jillibean Soup, Scenic Route Paper Co.; crocheted flower - Bella Blvd; die cuts - Amy Tangerine (American Crafts), October Afternoon; flair - October Afternoon; pearls - Doodlebug Designs; sequins - Pebbles; Other -   Cricut cartridges - Graphically Speaking, Plantin SchoolBook

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Tomorrow I'll be back with a brand new feature and my first EVER tutorial! 

Momenta Monday

Well, I hate to toot my own horn, so to speak, but today is my 37th birthday and in honor of that I declare this "The Adventures of Me Official Birthday Week!"   As such, I will posting birthday related projects all week long! 

Starting off with today's Momenta Monday project, featuring all Momenta paper goodness and a few other assorted embellies!

That Cake

So I have a favorite cake that comes from bakery in Fort Worth called The Swiss Pastry (okay, let me fact check that real quick....still checking....)  Correction:  Swiss Pastry Shop.  If you are ever in Fort Worth or a Fort Worthean who has never checked out this landmark, I urge you to make a stop.  They are famous for their Black Forest Cake, which really isn't anything like a traditional Black Forest Cake and I'm totally, TOTALLY okay with that.

And I say all that to say this...a layout honoring my favorite cake was bound to happen, as I really, really, REALLY like cake, particularly of the birthday persuasion.



I'm going through a machine stitching phase again, so lots of sewing on this page.  I used a zig zag stitch around most of the individual paper layers and left the ends of my thread intact for a kind of shabby chic look.

I'm normally not a fan of putting buttons on a layout without at least adding some sort of twine or thread, but I thought these fit and looked pretty cute as is.  I added some strips of washi tape at a couple of points on the layout to help ground the other elements.

I really like how the "Cake" epoxy sticker went so well with the foil corrugated red alphas here.

This journaling card from Cosmo Cricket really complimented the color scheme of the overall layout and gave me the perfect spot to add a few thoughts.

Some baker's twine tied at the bottom of the page finished the whole thing off.

I'm really pretty pleased with how this whole page came together and really enjoyed breaking into my Momenta supplies!

The Momenta D-Lite team now has a board on Pinterest, so please come check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies

Patterned Paper and Cardstock:  Momenta Family Outings Paper Pad   PA-2328

Corrugated Letter Stickers:  Momenta ST-2042

"Cake" puffy sticker:  Momenta  ST-1765

Buttons:  Fancy Pants Designs

  Washi Tape:  Bazzill, Amy Tangerine (American Crafts)

Journaling Card:  Cosmo Cricket

Blue Bling:  Queen & Co.

Other:  twine, thread

Stamps

How's everyone doing?  It's Friday!!!  Which honestly, means nothing to me at the moment as I'm on summer break! 

I've really enjoyed seeing all the upcoming releases from CHA this week.  I'm planning on working on some, if not all of the challenges, over at 2Peas this weekend.  Woot!

Meanwhile....onto today's layout...

So I have tried to include stamps more and more on my layouts. Especially since joining Studio Calico where they put such awesome stamps in the kits every month. On the layout I'm sharing today, I used a couple of those Studio Calico stamps.

Happy

Supplies: patterned paper - American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, Echo Park, Studio Calico; journaling card - Lily Bee Design; tab - Smash (K & CO); stickers - Crate Paper, October Afternoon, American Crafts, Authentique; stamps - Studio Calico; ink - Jenni Bowlin; punch - Fiskars; other - ribbon

Thanks for reading!

Lisa Antics

For my returning readers:  I told you I take TONS of pictures and I tend to scrap them ALL!  So, today, another layout about the hostel Lisa and I stayed at in London!  lol

Lisa Antics: Up to Her Old Tricks

Lisa is so super silly and fun, which is just one of the many things I love about her. So, I thought I would document that using these photos of her hamming it up in our room.

I used more of the Amy Tan Sketchbook line for this layout, since the colors work so well with my photos here.

I used some of these really cool glitter brads from American Crafts to create sort of a confetti effect and threw in a lone "vintage" brad from The Rusty Pickle (I'm pretty sure they are no longer in business) that I had floating around in my stash.

Supplies: patterned paper - Amy Tangerine (American Crafts); washi tape - MT tapes, Bazzill, Amy Tangerine (American Crafts); button, cardstock - American Crafts; twine - Divine Twine; brads - American Crafts, The Rusty Pickle; letter stickers - October Afternoon, American Crafts

Thanks for stopping by today!

How's everyone this fine Tuesday? Still sharing some of my London adventures this week!

Stairwell

It was kinda cool how the hostel we stayed out had the messages of encouragement painted on the walls in the emergency stairwell that led to street level. I had to take some pictures of them! They made me smile.

I'm totally digging Amy Tan's Sketchbook line. The colors really go nicely with all the lime colored accents our hostel used in their decor. And believe me - I took plenty of pictures just of our sleeping quarters!

Supplies: patterned paper, cardstock embellishments, fabric embellishments, letter stickers - Amy Tangerine (American Crafts); button - October Afternoon; twine - Jillibean Soup; spray ink - Studio Calico - Mister Huey's Estate Green; washi tape - Bazzill

Snapshot

Hi all! Still plugging away at my various projects. Namely, my 2008 and 2011 WDW trip albums and my 2011 trip to Ireland and England with my sweet girlfriend. I'm also throwing some family event photos and pictures of my little musher niece into the mix as well.

I think I've mentioned before that I have this OCD type tendency to scrap EVERY picture I take. I've let go of that a smidge, but to me, there's almost always a story behind every photo I take.

Snapshot

Today, I thought I'd share a layout I did of Lisa and me in London last summer. This picture is just a silly little snapshot we took of ourselves when we first checked into our room at the hostel where we stayed. It's a little bit blury, but I think it says a lot about how happy we are when we are together and how we make the most of that time. 

I used Lily Bee Designs' Handmade collection almost exclusively on this layout. I worked with the top half of my page, including some spray ink spatters and confetti at the bottom of the page.

Confetti

Banner and Title

Bottom Border Strip

Supplies: patterned paper - Lily Bee Designs "Handmade" (confetti - Amy Tangerine, Studio Calico, Lily Bee Designs); journaling card - Lily Bee Designs; punch - American Crafts

Thanks so much for reading!  Back tomorrow with another London-related layout!

Yar Matey!

I'm back today with another WDW layout!

A Pirate's Life For Me

This time I went with a kind of piratey theme, since the photographs involved...well...pirates! These are just some silly shots my sister and I took of each other with this pirate dude outside of the World of Disney at Downtown Disney Marketplace. The jailed pirate was located inside the store!

I did an obcene amount of layering on this page, but I'm pretty happy with the result!








Supplies: patterned paper - Crate Paper, Bella Boulevard, Jenni Bowlin, Lily Bee Design, My Mind's Eye, Cosmo Cricket; letter stickers - American Crafts, October Afternoon, Pebbles; brads - American Crafts, My Mind's Eye; washi tape - Bazzill, Amy Tangerine (American Crafts), hambly; kraft labels - Martha Stewart; sticky note labels - K & Co-Smash; chipboard - My Mind's Eye; tags - Jenni Bowlin, Ormolu; other - paper clip

As always, thanks for reading and for your kind comments!

SKETCH ADVENTURE SATURDAY Volume 6

Hey kids! It's been a crazy hectic week, so just haven't gotten around to posting until today!

This week's sketch..another collaboration between me and Lisa.



And for your viewing pleasure:

Ellie & Kitty

My niece has developed a recent attachment to Hello Kitty. These pictures were taken last fall after she and her mom happened upon this Jack-O-Lantern Kitty at a store. She loved it up to bits! That's my beautiful mom (her Grammy) giving her a cuddle in the picture.

I started out misting my background with Mister Huey's Pumpkin Spice and Heirloom Blue. I edged all the paper pieces, including the background with the new Hero Arts Shadow Dye Ink in Butter Bar. I'm thrilled to say I recently won a prize pack from Two Peas in a Bucket during their Winter CHA activities and this was one of my prizes. I've used it to death! I love it's subtle richness (is that an oxymoron???) In any event, it's made me curious to try out some of their other inks.

I'm typically not a "match my photos to the paper" kind of scrapper, but I did go with this a bit, simply because Ellie and my mom happened to be wearing such nice matching shades of teal. :)









Supplies: patterned paper - Crate Paper, My Mind's Eye, Studio Calico, Pebbles; stickers - Jenni Bowlin, Fancy Pants Designs, Dear Lizzy (American Crafts); flowers - American Crafts, October Afternoon; ink - Hero Arts; spray mist - Studio Calico; tin pin - October Afternoon; felt flower - Jillibean Soup; text flags - My Mind's Eye, October Afternoon

I have several things planned for this week and next week's Sketch Adventure Saturday will be a day late on Sunday, April 1. And that's no April Fool's Joke either, folks!

Thanks for reading and commenting! The positive feedback I have received thus far makes my day each and everyday! Happy Weekend!

SKETCH ADVENTURE SATURDAY Volume 5!

Hey kiddies! I'm back this gorgeous St. Patrick's Day Saturday with another Sketch Adventure Saturday!

My sketch today (as always digitized for us by the lovely Lisa Carroll) incorporates four mini photos and plenty of room for embellishments.



Here's Lisa's take on the sketch featuring the fabulously fiesty Pippa and Sasha (or Pasha for short):

Puppy Love



My take:

Sweet Little Explorer

I had fun layer all these papers and elements. These are a few of the pictures I took of my niece sitting like a big girl at a table in my grandparents' backyard. She was discovering dried leaves and other flora and fauna.






Supplies: patterned paper - Crate Paper, Echo Park; journaling card - October Afternoon; flowers - Amy Tangerine; stickers - October Afternoon, Crate Paper, Echo Park; washi - Bazzill; butterfly punch - Fiskars; letter stickers - American Crafts; chipboard - Dear Lizzy (American Crafts); ink - Jenni Bowlin Bubble Gum

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Hey all, just a couple of layouts I did over the weekend...

Better Together

This one was another Studio Calico Sunday Sketch layout. I basically used took the layering and the title placement and went from there. I was super happy with how it turned out. :)








Supplies: patterned paper - Crate Paper, Pebbles, Authentique, My Mind's Eye, Sassafras, Dear Lizzy (American Crafts); letter stickers - October Afternoon, American Crafts; flowers - October Afternoon, American Crafts; chipboard - Dear Lizzy (American Crafts; butterfly - Jenni Bowlin; cardstock flag - Elle's Studio; brad - Crate Paper; washi tape - Amy Tangerine (American Crafts); epoxy stickers - Dear Lizzy (American Crafts); spray mist - Mister Huey's (Studio Calico); flair - Marcy Penner; border sticker - Crate Paper

You and Me

Another layout about me and Lis. We took this picture of ourselves at Walt Disney World in the Animal Kingdom almost exactly a year ago today. Oh my goodness, a whole year away from WDW is too much for me to handle! hehe

The patterned paper here makes me happy as it is 1. All from the SC March kit and it's all from Crate Paper's new Storytellers line. LOVE this stuff!






Supplies: patterned paper - ; letter stamps & Chevron stamp - Studio Calico; tag - Jenni Bowlin; ledger paper - Stupid Flamingo; twinkle goosebump - Queen & Co.; stickers - Dear Lizzy (American Crafts); washi tape - Bazzill, Sweet Bella; chipboard tab & punch - Jenni Bowlin, Fiskars; border punch - American Crafts; spray mist - Mister Huey's (Studio Calico)

Thanks for reading!