Sunday, September 28

8x8's Swap

Okay girls....if you are in my group for the season themed 8x8s on Scrapbook Bingo and don't want the surprise ruined then head back now. There will be a brand new post up tomorrow, I'm sure and I'll try to keep the spoilers out of that. LOL. If you don't mind it not being a surprise, you just can't help yourself, or you think there is a fairly good chance you'll forget by March then scroll down.


These 8x8s are the winter themed set. There is a 4x6 and (2) 3x4 photo mattes. There are 6 total silver snowflake shaped sequins with silver brads in the center. I used sheer white ribbon throughout the layout including through the buckle on the quote box. I printed the lyrics to the song, "Winter Wonderland" on vellum for that. The white cardstock for the background is actually DieCuts With a View Embossed Stripe cardstock and the bottom half with the torn top edge is Paper Pizazz Snowflakes.

For the spring themed set I used Sky by Creative Imaginations. I cut grass printed paper (Spring Greens by Colorbok) in a wavy fashion and laid it over the bottom portion. The two types of flowers are punched out of two sided pink mulberry paper. White brads for the centers and butterfly eyelets fly through the sky. For the stems I used green ribbed ribbon. For the leaves I folded that same ribbon in two loops with a green brad through the center.

Three total shades of blue went into making the summer themed 8x8. Medium blue for the base 8x8. Dark blue matted the photo mattes and the title. I cut Travel Paper-Sand by Sandylion on a hill incline and then used the light paper and white paper in torn strips to create the surf. Misc beach themed stickers from my stash finish off the look

Saturday, September 27

Are you ready to Scrap Pink????

Scrapbooks etc is teaming up with the Susan G. Kolman for the Cure®. They are holding "Scrap Pink" fundraisers in retail stores across the country. There will be crops held the weekend of September 26-28th and $10 of your entrance fee will go directly to the Susan G. Kolman foundation. What an awesome thing is it when you can scrapbook for a good cause!!!

Click below to learn the details and click on their map to find a location near you!

Thursday, September 25

Thursday's Layouts

Well I am working on my 93rd layout of the month right now, but thought I'd take a break and share some more. I am working on a virtual crop and I am just getting so much work done. I think I've hit more layouts THIS month than I've done in the last 2 years!





Wednesday, September 24

A few more from my Scrap-athon

Here are some from the 12x18 landscape digi album I'm working on. I thought it was 8.5x11 landscape and got them printed and they arrived 12x18. Boy was THAT a shock. LOL. I was able to get an album from Michaels...with my 40% off (WHOO HOO!!) and it's fitting perfectly. Mostly they are for a dvd slideshow I'm creating, but I did want to have them printed after all the work I put in to them. Here are some from the past day and a half.




Tuesday, September 23

Graduation layouts

My cousin graduated from high school this past spring and she had a party. We got lots of great photos including a picture of my dad and all his siblings. I had to handcut these letters so the O's are a little uneven. Further proof that I really need a cuttlebug! LOL




Sunday, September 21

Scrap-athon Day 2

I am working on my most productive weekend in my 8 year scrapping history. First up is the latest Sketches! {by tamara} challenge. You can see the original sketch HERE, and below is my take on it.


I've also gotten Pink Sketches Blog sketch challenge #6 done. Yay me! See the sketch HERE.


I am on a roll. Below is my favorite layout created Saturday. I hope someone can see this and get some ideas :)

Saturday, September 20

Creative Scrappers Challenge

This is one of my favorite layouts I've done. I have had a marathon scrapping night and I am exhausted. I'll leave you with my take on sketch #17 from Creative Scrappers blog. Check them out. They always have awesome sketches to help get your creative juices flowing.

Friday, September 19

Yay!!!!!

My friend Sandy emailed me today to say she saw a Halloween layout that I made featured on Sketches! {by tamara}. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I absolutely LOVE her blog and her sketches are among my very favorite on the web. I submit my take on almost every layout sketch she puts out there, because I want to show support to blog by commenting her and pimping her out on my blog. So please get over there and check her out sometime. Oh my goodness, I am just so excited and have no one to tell!!! LOL

Check it out for yourself HERE!

Thursday, September 18

Another sketch challenge...YAY!!!



One of my favorite sketch blogs is Sketches! {by tamara}. I always end up with some of my favorite layouts following her sketches. The layout is done featuring two family photos almost 10 years old. The day after my wedding, we took the opportunity to take a family photo while everyone was in town. My grandparents, their 6 children with their spouses and 8 of the 9 grandkids. My youngest cousin wasn't born yet and of course we've added even more spouses and great-grandchildren to the mix since then. To give this sketch a whirl yourself, visit HERE.

Wednesday, September 17

Blog Candy Alert



Yay for blog candy!!! I have found two awesome blogs that you should check out. Not only are they great resources for ideas, but they are both offering up some goodies so get over there pronto.

First up is Stampin' & Dancin' with Riley. She has a whole stash of goodies up for grabs and all you have to do is show some support to her blog. It's a great read..check it out HERE!!

Creating with Chrissy has an awesome stamp set up for grabs. Click HERE to check out details and be sure to scroll through her work too. She is very talented.

Monday, September 15

Like Mother, Like Daughter

This was my take on the Page Plans Sketch for this week. You can check out the sketch HERE. You should give it a try. It was a great sketch. Perfect for a single large photo.


Sunday, September 14

Pink Sketches sketch #5


I tried to follow the sketch. I put the pictures in the right place...does that count? I wanted to leave the photos larger so it wasn't really working having multple patterned papers in the background so I scrapped that. I also JUST realized as I pulled the sketch up to link to it that I completely forgot the ribbon at the bottom. I must not be on my game today. LOL. The sketch was great so check it out HERE.

Friday, September 12

His biggest fan!!

I was trying to find a layout idea that was fitting for these pictures of my daughter playing the role of cheerleader and bat-girl. Her brother told her ONE time how cute she was with pig tails so she demanded them every time she was going to one of his games. It was the cutest thing. She would stand by the fence yelling, "Yay Nicky Boy!!!" I searched online until I found a fun floral layout on scrapbook.com's gallery that fit my photo size and journaling just perfect. I went with this color scheme because I was trying to match her outfit and the grass.


Wednesday, September 10

Happy Father's Day in September!

So I'm a little late catching up with scrapping. Especially since this is a Father's Day 2007 layout. I followed the Sketches! {by tamara} sketch #51 that this week's design team spotlight Deanne picked out. I loved how simple this sketch was. You can see the sketch HERE and then here is my take on it:



Monday, September 8

Trick or Treat **a Sketches! challenge**

It's Monday...do you know what that means? Another fabulous sketch challenge on Sketches! {by tamara}. I had such a good time doing this challenge. I had to rotate the sketch to the left one turn to accomidate to tall photos and one landscape photo, but overall...I LOVE IT! You can see the original sketch HERE. Head over there and check it out and add your work to the mix. Join the fun...you know you want to...LOL!

Sunday, September 7

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I have really been enjoying working on the layouts for my kids album. We took them to a Kansas City Royal's baseball game and they had the time of their life. I followed sketch #16, the sketch of the week at Creative Scrappers. You can follow that link to see the sketch and see the interpretations of the very talented design staff over there. Here was my attempt at the layout:

Saturday, September 6

Blog Candy Alert

Hi everyone. I wanted to pass along a great blog I came across and right now she has some awesome blog candy up for grabs. So go check out her blog and while you are there take a guess and play along. She has some cute flowers and brads you could win.

Thursday, September 4

It's back to school time

Wednesday was Kate's first day of school. I started this layout with the story of how discouraged she was when she realized she was one of the only kids who didn't know how to read her name and let it end with what a great day she had anyway, but they today after only 20 minutes of practicing, she is now writing it like a pro with no help at all. Of course I busted out the camera so now I have new pictures...plus a sample of her work to scrap that story with. Luckily, just the 5 minutes I spent seeing my baby off on her first day of school ever provided several funny little tales to tell.

I created this for a challenge on a scrapbooking group I belong to, Scrapbook Bingo. It is great fun over there....I recommend it highly. We had to create our title out of an equation. On mine it's more of a subtitle, but I hope it will still count. If not, well at least I got a layout done right?

I don't think I've ever used so many patterns on one page. The background is a worn, distressed pink paper. The sheet above it is brown with light pink squares. The journaling is on a different distressed pink shade. The title is on a striped sheet and the heart is made from a completely different pattern. This is a digi layout, but I actually have papers in these same pink and chocolate tones and as soon as I heal, I am remaking this one. I'll just scraplift from myself!

Wednesday, September 3

For a little fun

I was reading through emails tonight and had a hysterical video sent my way that I just had to share. I think we almost all have a man like this in our lives. This is my dad through and through!

Tuesday, September 2

A Creative Scrapper's Sketch Challenge

I am a big fan of sketches. Even if my finished product looks nothing like the original, I still find my layouts have more purpose and are just nicer to look at when they start with a sketch. I have several sites and blogs that offer sketches that I love to browse when I'm not busy scrapping or working on swaps. One of my favorite's is Creative Scrapper's. This is my first week actually sharing my interpretation with anyone there. This is not my favorite layout, but I let my daughter 'help' pick the colors. She was so proud of the fact that I was scrapbooking about her learning to write her name that she wanted in on the process. It's fun and bright, just like her, so I suppose it's a good fit.

You can check out the original sketch here as well as see other takes on the sketch by some talented scrappers.

Monday, September 1

Pink Sketches sketch #3

I just completed a layout based on a sketch at Pink Sketches Blog. The original sketch can be found here. I have followed a few blogs that share cute sketches, but I've never shared my interpretation with them before. I have two I'm doing this week. I just loved the sketch and the samples they showed were so adorable! Stay tuned for the other I just finished. Until then, here is my take on Pink Sketches sketch #3: