Sketchy Thursdays 6.24

>> Wednesday, June 30, 2010



I totally did not have time to scrapbook this morning... but I really wanted to play along with Sketchy Thursdays this weeks so I did anyway. I love that this sketch used so many photos, unfortunately I did not have a set of four photos on hand so I had to improvise and go with three instead.





SUPPLIES
Memory Keepers patterned paper
K&Company Die Cut cardstock
My Mind's Eye Labels
Making Memories metal frame, shimmer alphas, paint
American Crafts thickers
Fancy Pants chipboard shapes
Melissa Francis keyhole
7 Gypsies key
Maya Road journalingMisc. appliques, pin, beads, ribbons, thread, buttons


I hope you are having a wonderful day but I really don't have time to be blogging either...




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A New Addiction...

>> Saturday, June 26, 2010

... like I needed another one.

I am fast becoming a scrapbooking supply junkie and my latest *need* is Sassafras. I used to think I didn't like their stuff because it was too random and busy. Then I got some of their Cherry Delicious and decided to stretch myself to use it. The result was this card, and this page, which was picked as a favorite on Sketchy Thursdays. After that I decided that maybe Sassafras wasn't so scary after all and dug out some of their Fawnd of You and Woodland Whimsy paper that has been languishing in my paper file for a long time.

Last night I made
another layout using the rest of the Fawned of You paper that I got last year on sale for $0.17 a sheet. Yup, $0.17 per double-sided, cardstock weight sheet. And I only bought 5 sheets even though they had two entire collections at that price. Because I thought I would never use it. Ouch! (that was me kicking myself)

Is it normal to be this obsessive about paper?!? or is there something wrong with me? Sometimes I actually feel panicky about not having enough *stuff* even though I already have more than I could ever use even if I keep scrapbooking until I am 80. Of course that didn't stop me from ordering a bunch of Sassafras stuff including felties, clear stamps, brads and chipboard. I will feel much better when that box gets here.




SUPPLIES
Sassafras Lass patterned paper, chipboard accents
Making Memories trims
K&Company chipboard alphas


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Monkeying Around

>> Thursday, June 17, 2010

Apparently I have had monkeys on my mind lately judging by my last two layouts. The first one is a double page layout I did about Isaac and his uncle Benjamin. I virtually never do two page layouts. I tend to dislike working over such a large area, but there was no way I could get all the photos and journaling I wanted to use onto one page (I tried).

SUPPLIES
Bazzill cardstock
Pink Paislee patterned paper
Making Memories ribbon, epoxy buttons
Paper Bliss dimensional stickers
DCWV title sticker
Heidi Swapp chipboard
Basic Grey fibers
Ranger Ink

This second layout uses photos that I took of Ellie with her stuffed monkey and tells the story of how Monkey Alice got her name. I meant to take photos of Ellie and the monkey together at regular intervals to show Ellie's growth but only got around to taking these four rather randomly spaced ones.

SUPPLIES
Fancy Pants patterned paper, journaling page, stickers
American Crafts thickers
Basic Grey rubons
Vintage buttons, fabric

This is the first layout I have done using the Little Sprouts Collection from Fancy Pants and I really, really love this paper pack. It is a baby collection but the colors are not typical pastels, they are more vibrant and cheerful and whimsical. My inclination was to hoard this line rather than use it right away but I resisted that temptation and now that I've broken the package open, I can't wait to use the rest of it.


I tried my hand at making some of those cute paper flowers that are popping up all over the place. They were super fast and easy and they went perfectly with my vintage buttons; which incidentally are one of my most favoritest (I know, not a word, but it should be), most amazing thrift store finds ever. I found a whole jar of the vintage buttons that look just like the *new* ones from Jenni Bowlin Studio. And I only paid like $0.25 for all of them. I might just have to take pictures of them and do a layout ;)

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Sketchy Thursdays 6.17

The breakfast dishes are still on the table and my kids are still in their pajamas, but I got a layout done this morning! I logged onto Sketchy Thursdays while I was still in bed (love my Blackberry) and as soon as I saw the new sketch I was over come with a desire to scrapbook. My rule is that everything else has to be done before I even allow myself to go into my scraproom but I broke it this morning and decided that the dishes could wait, which they have :( No cleaning fairies here, I'm afraid.




SUPPLIES
Pink Paislee patterned paper, die cut paper

Bazzill cardstock
Making Memories ribbon
KI Memories chipboard alphasJenni Bowlin Studio butterfly
Unknown stick pin, rose trim, rhinestone button, beads


Well, I suppose I shouldn't put my responsibilities off any longer... off to wash some dishes and dress some little people. Have a great day,


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Sketchy Thursdays July Guest Design Team Challenge

>> Tuesday, June 15, 2010


It officially feels like summer. The kids and I spent the afternoon picking (and eating) strawberries in the garden. It was wonderful. I also got some really cute shots of Ellie in the strawberry patch making an adorable mess of herself. I've been saving some really sweet strawberry paper from last month's Little Red Scrapbook which will be absolutely perfect for these photos. I can't wait to get them printed.

I also finished my layout for the Sketchy Thursday's July Guest Design Team Challenge last night. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out, though I am not loving the photos I took. I really need to get a better set up for photographing my work. Frustrating.

Have you seen the Dear Lizzy line from American Crafts? I have been coveting it since it came out, especially these and these, but I have been really good and have restrained myself from ordering the whole thing... so far.

Anyway, as soon as I saw the July Guest Design Team Challenge sketch from Sketchy Thursdays I had visions of a layout using the Dear Lizzy line, but since I don't currently have it I had to try to get the "look" using stuff I had on hand. I taught myself ( or rather, Youtube taught me) how to crochet to satisfy my longing for crocheted flowers. Unfortunately I wasn't able to come up with a way to make my own chipboard bicycles so I had to forgo those for now.

SUPPLIES
DCWV patterned paper
Bazzill cardstockMaking Memories trims, paint
Pink Paislee patterned paper
K&Company patterned paper, bling, dimensional stickers
Misc yarn, vintage ribbon, twine, mini clothes pins, chipboard alphas, rubons



Well, I have a fussy baby who really wants to be put to bed I should probably stop ignoring her. Have a good night,


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K Werner Readers' Choice Color Inspirations No. 3

>> Friday, June 11, 2010



A friend introduced me to Kristina Werner's blog about a year ago and I have been a regular reader and admirer of her work ever since. She has a couple of regular features on her blog, such as Make a Card Monday and Finally Friday which are a wonderful source of inspiration when it comes to making cards.

My all time favorite feature though has to be her Color Inspiration challenges. There are some crazy talented designers who submit cards to these challenges; I am always amazed and a little intimidated by the submissions.

Well, after being an admirer for a long time, I decided that today is the day I become a participant. I just found out that my grandmother is going to be having surgery this week so I wanted to make a special card for her. I really liked the colors presented in this week's challenge, so I went for it.

So here it is. My very first ever entry into Kristina Werner's color challenge...



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Sketchy Thursdays 6.10


I think this might be a new personal record; here I am posting my layout for this week's Sketchy Thursdays challenge the day after it was posted! Okay, I realize that might not be the most exciting thing you've read all day but I am usually a major procrastinator so this timely posting is a pretty unusual thing for me.

I'd like to say that all of the credit goes to inspiration but I think that fact that my husband is out of town and I fed my kids cold sausage and avocados for dinner last night might have something to do with it too.

At any rate, here is my take on this week's sketch. I just love working with big photos.

SUPPLIES
Making Memories trims, metal charms,
Bazzill cardstock
My Mind's Eye chipboard accents
Autumn Leaves stamps
Ranger ink


Who knows, I might even be able to make another layout based on this sketch before the challenge is over!

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Sketchy Thursday 6.03

>> Wednesday, June 9, 2010

It's raining out. Pouring actually. And along with the rain comes the obligatory gray skies and low temperatures so it is the perfect day to stay inside and organize. Yes, I said organize.

I realize that it probably makes me strange, but I honestly love to reorganize stuff, especially scrapbooking supplies. There is something so satisfying about having everything neat and tidy. Plus it's almost as good as going shopping because when I take the time to organize my stash I usually stumble upon all kinds of neat stuff that I had forgotten I had.
As I cleaned up today I uncovered my neglected stack of K & Co. designer paper pads. I went through a phase where I pretty much bought anything and everything K & Co. put out so it is a big stack. One of my favorites is the Wild Saffron line. I love all the big swirls and butterflies.

I didn't think I would be able to make a layout for Sketchy Thurdays 6.03 challenge but when I saw the Green Swirls paper in my Wild Saffron pad I immediately had an idea for a page based on the sketch and it came together really quickly.


I usually like to mix
and match and use a variety of manufactures and lines in my projects but literally everything, well okay not the marker, but everything else is from the K & Co. Wild Saffron Line. I tried to sneak a couple other elements in but in the end this turned out to be a true KISS (keep it simple Sarah) page. A bit of a departure for me but I think I kind of like it.



My kids are playing nicely so I am going to see if I can sneak another page in this afternoon. I have a lot of nice stuff to use up so I can justify buying new stuff!


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Baby Card!

>> Friday, June 4, 2010

My turn to finally make a post, its been a while! I originally made this card for ICSketches #68, but because we were gone on a family camping trip, I never got around to posting it! But turns out thats ok! ICSketches challenge this week is to go back through the sketches and use one of the old ones for this weeks challenge, which means I can still use my card this week, hurrah!

SUPPLIES
Basic Grey chipboard letters
Vintage buttons
Stitching
DCWV patterned paper

I don't have any friends who just had babies so not sure why I made a baby card, something to put away for an emergency I guess! The paper was just too cute, I couldn't resist using it for a baby card, one day soon I'm sure I will be glad I had an extra laying around.


Have a wonderful day,



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