Fight Like a Girl

It's lift time again at Scrapbook Circle and I got to scraplift what Yoshimi did with her sketch that I also did previously so it was a new twist to one of my recent posts.  I LOVED Yoshimi's take on it so I went pretty literally on it and it came together relatively quickly.

The pics are of my daughter and one of her BFF at Field Day. They are on these huge tubes trying to bump each other out of a circle drawn in dirt.  They had a ton of fun with this. 

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Garden Party kit: Girls' Paperie "Hey Day" paper; House of 3 SIOREE "trellies" paper; My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Gertie "You & Me" Numbers paper, My Mind's Eye Lovely Sticker Labels, My Mind's Eye Fancy Sticker Tags; Pink Paislee Hometown Summer "Summer Fun" paper; Jillibean Soup "Corn Kernels" paper; Maya Road green resin bloosoms; Basic Grey Woolies "Hello Luscious" felt stickers; Glitz teeny alphas ivory blocks. From previous Scrabook Circle kits: "jubilee" sticker market and "on holiday" travel text

Can you tell I used this background paper for another project? Yep, I loved the flip side of this paper and used it for a previous layout.  Before I started on that other layout, I did a little strategic planning.  I knew I wanted to use the grid side at some point (which is now today) so I cut out the center of the paper. I put an older scrap paper on the back of this to adhere the photos to in the center and none one will ever know, well except all of you.

Yoshimi's inspiring layout

Read Me Layout and SILVER Lining Card

I think I say this every week but I just LOVE this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch AND the new Scrapbook Circle kit is WAY to fun to play with. This Thursday is even better than a normal Thursday because I was lucky enough to play with 2 Sketchy Thursdays sketches this week so check them out...

I had a great time creating this layout of little Miss Reese and her Big Daddy (my dad). These pictures were snapped while my mom was working on my Mother's Day gift to her, which was painting pottery with the girl's handprints. While she was painting the base colors on the pottery, Miss Reese asked her Big Daddy to "Read Me" and these are the photos I snapped. Aren't they the sweetest? She just adores him!

Supplies from the Scrapbook Circle Garden Party June kit: the girls' paperie "jubilee" Hey Day & Carousel,  Pink Paislee Hometown Summer "Summer Fun", Pink Paislee House of 3 Soiree "Music", jillibean soup corn kernels, Studio Calico Wood Veneer Butterflies, My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose "Lovely" Sticker Labels; Not in kit: Imaginisce i-rock and glam rocks; Bazzil cardstock, CTMH Twilight ink, misc. stamps.

I mentioned how fun this kit is...I love the wood veneer butterflies. I contemplated keeping them the wood color that they are naturally but they weren't popping on the colors on the paper so I stamped them and added a little decor. I also fussy cut the flowers and butterflies out of the Ho3 paper and popped them on the page. Oh and those "READ" letters were cut from the Pink Paislee Summer Fun paper and I cut them into banners to give them a little bit more kick. I hope you like this layout as much as I loved playing with the kit. 

Make sure to play along this week with this layout sketch below for your chance to win a June kit from The Sampler.

Don't go anywhere just yet...

The Sketchy Thursdays layout sketch that they did for Scrapbook Circle recently was so successful that we're doing another one.  This time, it's a card sketch. Here's my card, which is already en route to someone VERY special who deserves a little pepping up.

Supplies from the Scrapbook Circle Garden Party June kit: the girls' paperie "jubilee" Hey Day & Carousel, Pink Paislee House of 3 Soiree "Music", jillibean soup corn kernels, jillibean soup gruyere cheese; Not in kit: silver speckled felt, Imaginisce "Clouds" Snag 'em stamps (Happy Camper collection); CTMH Twilight ink; Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four Small; misc. ribbon.

I lined the sentiment with silver metallic ink and then I doodled on the paper cloud with the same silver metallic market. Can you see the specks of silver in the felt? I love the silver lining touch it gives to the clouds.

Here is the great sketch I based my card on. We hope you’ll join us and play along in this challenge over at Scrapbook Circle! Create a card based on the sketch, then post a photo of your creation on your blog, a gallery, or on our Facebook page.  Leave a link to your card in the comments on the Scrapbook Circle Challenge #9 Card Sketch blog post by Wednesday evening, June 15th for a chance to win a Crate Paper "Neighborhood" collection kit.

 

Sweet Little First Grader

It's hard to believe 1st grade is over in a little over a week. If this is any indication of how the rest of her years will fly by then I'm going to go sit in a corner and cry. It's just flying by WAY too fast.

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Anniversary Kit: Studio Calico Elementary Library, Lily Bee Happily Lost Stroll, October Afternoon 5 & Dime Jaw Breakers, Lily Bee Happily Lost Hammock, Daily Junque Tabs; Girls’ Paperie Jubilee Sticker Market; Daily Junque Ephemera

These photos are from the Spring 2011 school pics but they are not the yearbook pics. They are the "Lifetouch" photos that every school seems to do so I feel compelled to buy them and scrap them every year. The lift I was given to do this month for Scrapbook Circle was PERFECT for these photos. I loved the design so I kept the lift pretty true to the original. Here's the original lift. Thanks for the inspiration, Sara!

Enjoy the Ride & A Flower Window Box

It's a pony ride for Little Miss!  This week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch was fun to play with.  I got out this paint dabber that I hadn't used yet so I just went to town making circles to resemble going round and round and round on the pony ride. 

Supplies: The Girls' Paperie Jubilee, Crate Paper Portraits Bridesmaids; Jillibean Soup Burlap Chipboard Alphabeans; Glitz Teeny Alphas Cream; Jenni Bowlin Paint Dabber Chili Powder

Pleay along with us this week for your chance to win a Miss Art's Papercrafting School 60-day Extra Credit Subscription, a $30 value!!

Today I am featured ont he Imaginisce blog again but this time I teamed up with fellow designer Aphra to show you some Click it with Cricut projects.  The theme is April Showers Bring May Flowers. My project is below but make sure to visit the Imaginisce blog to see how I made it and to see the adorable card Aphra made.  Oh we are giving away eight 3-month Cricut Circle memberships. Details for winning are below. Man, I wish I could win one!

Supplies: Garden Party collection: Darling Dahlias, Blossoms of Blue, Brambleberry Blossoms, Wild Flowers, Rows of Posies; Pink Cardstock; Roly Rosies - Warm flowers and Petal Roller to roll the flowers AND the grass; i-top, small brad daddy; i-bond, i-rock and glam rocks; small box with foam insert; scissors to cut the grass; dowel to glue flowers to so they stand upright and don't flop over.

Okay, in order to win a 3 Month Cricut Circle Trial Membership there's just a few things you need to do but it's worth it because the prize is a REALLY great one!


1. Become a follower here at my blog and leave me a comment.
2. Head over to Aphra's blog HERE and tell her how much you loved her project, don't forget to become a follower.
3. Lastly, visit the Imaginisce blog HERE and leave a comment telling us what collection you think we will be releasing next week... hint, it might require you to pitch a tent.

Thanks for visiting today!

Prima Ballerina

I love the fact that I am starting to be on track with scrapping this year's moments/events.  Don't get me wrong, I've still got a lot to do but I can finally feel okay to go back and scrap some previous years that have been neglected.  That is just what I did for today's layout. The items in this month's Scrapbook Circle, Grandma's Attic kit were just too perfect for it - the colors, music sheet journaling card, ballet ticket, florals, etc. I just love this kit!  I've already completed at least 4 layouts and the kit still feels so full.

Anywho, my One Item Wonder challenge was to do something different with the Girls' Paperie alphas.  I chose to ink them and then tediously poke little holes in them and then thread each of them together.  I tried to relate my technique back to ballet and I just really felt like threading the alphas together was sort of like the meticulous work that often goes in to those gorgeous little ballet outfits and tutus. I chose the "x" stitching to resemble the look of her plie in the picture. Another thing to note about the chipboard alphas is that I had already used all my "a" letters so I used a capital "V" and turned it upside down and made it into an "A" with my black pen.

Supplies from Scrapboo Circle Grandma's Attic kit: Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe Collection - Quilts paper, cardstock stickers, Girls' Paperie "karlee" chipboard alphas and "jubilee" sticker market alphas and words, misc. tag, Hambly Screen Prints Rub-ons "Banners & Pennants". Not in kit: Shimmerz Mist Bed of Roses, Tattered Angels Spring Rain Mist; My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Gertie "Girly" doily stamp; CTMH white embossing powder.

I used sketch 154 from Creative Scrappers, which happens to be designed by Nicole, also on the Scrapbook Circle design team.  It was just too perfect and I used it almost literally.

I'm slightly ashamed that it took me a couple of months to use the doily stamps that I couldn't wait to get my hands on and made a special trip to my LSS just to get it but they are sooo awesome!  I used white embossing powder to create the doilys and I inked over them wiping away the resisted ink.

Oh, want to hear something funny?  Well I wasn't laughing at first but now I am.  I was showing the layout to my hubby, like I always do.  He's so good about looking at them and pointing out something nice.  Well when I told him how I chiseled the tiny holes into the cardstock and how long it took because I wanted such tiny holes he said, "oh I could have drilled them for you in a matter of seconds with my drill press."  Gee, thanks honey.  I'll remember that though.

Some Day...

Amanda over at The Studio asked us to create a page that focuses on PLAY. This could be in the form of photos of your kids playing or you could 'play' with a new technique or colour combo on your page. Use your imagination!

Supplies from May Scrapbook Circle kit: Emma's Shoppe Collection - Dolls, Books, Inventory and Accent Cuts papers, 6x6 ribbon, phrase stickers; Girls' Paperie Karlee chipboard alphabets monochromatic. Not in kit: Emma's Shoppe die-cuts, Adornit multi red tiny alphas, Tattered Angels Mists in Brick Red and Pearl.

I chose to focus on several things "play" related.  The most obvious is my daughter playing dress-up by sporting her big sisters shirt or maybe she was playing football or perhaps she was playing kitchen because of the apron. I'm just not sure but I do know that she was sooo cute and she was having a ball!  I also chose to play with mists to alter some of the alphas that came with the May kit from Scrapbook Circle.

I needed to do something to make the cream/black alphas show up against the cream background of the bracket.  I sprayed them all at once with the brick red mist. I let them sit a few seconds and then turned them over onto a paper towel to soak up the saturated mist.  I only let them soak on the towel a mili-second because I didn't want it to soak up too much of the mist.  I like how they turned out.

Check out how the other design team members at The Studio chose to PLAY with their layouts and PLAY along with us for your chance to win the April prize that's up for grabs!

The Adventures of a Little Puppy

Do you know what day it is? It's Sketchy Thursdays day!  Before I reveal this week's layout, I have to say how sad I was that my gig on the Sketchy Thursdays team was ending at the end of this month but I am so happy, no I am ECSTATIC that they asked me back!!! I hate to say goodbye to the ladies departing the team but I am also so excited to work with the new team! 

Okay, so here is my layout this week. I used my Scrapbook Circle March "Vintage Market" kit, which I LOVE!!! It's packed with so much scrapilicious goodness!

This layout is based on the character from a book that my daughter chose for "Character Day" at school. She loves the lady & the tramp story but especially loves SCAMP. We searched for a puppy costume but nothing resembled SCAMP so the creative side of me altered an outfit. I found this great grey knit set at Target, attached fur to the neck, sleeves and ankles, got her a cute, short necklace with a dangle charm for a collar and a dog bone. Lastly, I did ponytails but kept the ponies wrapped tight to resemble ears. I think it turned out pretty cute and she was quite proud.

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Vintage Market Kit: Crate Paper Potrait Collection - Traditions and June papers, Designer Border Stickers; Lilybee This & That Linen and Postcard papers, Echo Park For the Record Alpha Stickers; Studio Calico Die-cut Stickers; Bazzill Black Button; Non-kit items: Girls' Paperie On Holiday Travel Text stickers; Tattered Angels Charcoal Chalkboard Mist; Martha Stewart green twine

And the sketch:

Make sure to play along this week for your chance to win a $25 gift card to AddictedToScrapbooking.com.

ME & My Shadow

Can I just tell you how cute my little baby girl is??? She and I were waiting for her sister and daddy to ride Goofy's Barnstormer ride at Disney World last December and there was this cute little house/play area. She was walking all around and checking things out and I was just snapping pics of her being cute. I honestly can't remember registering in my mind that she was doing what she was doing.  It wasn't until earlier this week when I was looking at some other pics of her at Disney  at this same locale that I realized she was making hand puppets and playing with her shadow.  These pictures became instantly priceless and were perfect for this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch. I used the January kit from Scrapbook Circle, which has the perfect paper combos for what I had planned. Check out how darling she is.

Supplies: Scrapbook Circle January kit - Fancy Pants Love Birds Collection: Strips, Circle of Love, Sending My Love, LB Element; Glitz Love Nest Demask; misc. embellishments. Non-Kit Items: Bazzill Basics Caribbean Breeze; Girls' Paperie on holiday labels; Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Alphas; American Craft Thickers - Sprinkles & Vera Vinyl Letter Stickers

I had a hard time with the title because I wanted it to say Me and My Shadow. Then I wanted it to say Minnie and her shadow but it doesn't quite have the same ring as Me & My Shadow so I combined the two by using a large M and E and squeezing "inni" between the two. Then came the delimna of using "my" or "her". I ultimately went with "my" since the primary focus of the squeezed up "MinniE" reads like "ME" from a distance. I like my decision...what would you have done?

Make sure to check out what the other design team girls did with this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch and play along for your chance to win a yummy package from Pink Ninja Addicts or for your chance to become the Sketchy Thursdays FAVE!

Reading is a HOOT

January is proving to be a very busy month, between almost daily blog posts, scrappin nights with friends, changing career, a birthday tucked in and a trip to CHA. Wow! To de-stress from it all I have been crafting away 'til the wee hours of the morning, which leads into this week's Sketchy Thursdays GDT reveal.  I feel so lucky to be guest designing for them. ;)

Supplies: Adorn it Pink Owl Dots, Pink Owls All Around, Pink Pop, Paper Studio ribbon, Imaginisce i-top, October Afternoon Mini Market Alphas, Girls' Paperie On Market Journal sticker; Thickers Tiara letter stickers.

This LO is of my oldest daughter many years ago. I journaled on the back of the layout, which reads, "Rheagan, you sure do love to read and you seem to have a passion for it even at 2 1/2 years old. On this particular day, you gathered all your furry friends and "read" them Dr. Seuss' ABC book. Much love, Mommy"

Now, head on over to Sketchy Thursdays to see the sketch I used for this layout. You'll want to play along this week for your chance to win the awesome giveaway.

Expectation of Life

This is a picture story about the 9 month wait (or maybe I should say weight gain) for our little expectation of life. This is one of the first LO's I've created in quite a while that wasn't for a design team reveal. I did create it for a e-pub call but I had free will with it. The only thing that it needed to incorporate was "real world print".

I got a page from the dictionary in a recent Scrapbook Circle kit and it couldn't have been more appropriate for me.  It's like they hand-picked it for me. Granted, I'm talking about the pregnant me from 2008 but regardless, I hadn't scrapped the photos yet and now I know why. 

Supplies: October Afternoon Thrift Shop and Schoolhouse Collection Paper; 7 Gypsies Numbers Rub-ons; Pink Paislee Artisan Elements Borders; Tattered Angels Charcoal Mist "Peacock"; Girl's Paperie Tinsel & Twig vintage button; CTMH Cranberry Ink; misc. bling and thread.

I really goofed up on this page.  I meant to do more of a tic tac toe grid and while I was just stitching away, I realized I sewed a top border that I wasn't supposed to stitch. My option was to rip it out and have holes in my paper or keep on going and add a bottom border. I actually like how it turned out.

If you look at the close-ups below you can see that the defined words on one of the circles are expectant, expectant mother, and expectation of life and the words on the other circle are expand and expanded. I also whipped out my new i-top tool to add a little punch to some of the patterned circles. Then I fussy cut 3 of the same red flowers from the patterned paper and cut them in various sizes according to the pattern and then rolled them to make a dimensional flower.

I used a Pink Paislee border that absorbs the mist, which I then inked in red to add a bit more texture. What I love the most is all the symbolism in the layout - the measuring tape for the expanding belly, No. 2 for baby #2, pic of a girl since I was expecting a girl, 9 months of pregnancy and lastly the due date (but not the actual birth date) on the full body photo (see above).

Oh and now you know the story behind me and my tiara in my avatar. Thanks for looking.

I Believe in the Magic

12/21/10 UPDATE: I am so excited and honored that this LO was featured on the Crate Paper blog. It's posted about 3/4 of the way down here ---> Crate Paper Happy Holidays Blog Event

The gig is up. :( Here I am with the last official layout reveal for my December Guest Design Team stint at Sketchy Thursdays. I have had a ton of fun and I am happy to say that they asked me to serve a 2nd spot as the January guest designer!!!  I said abso-freakin-lutely and I am so excited!!! I told them I could just stay on indefinitely, just kidding of course (or am I?). So here's the last reveal for Sketchy Thursdays for 2010.  With that said though, make sure to "Like" them on Facebook because they might just have something in store for you later this month. ;)

I LOVE the Scrapbook Circle December kit soooo much!  LOVE it!  These lightbulbs were quite a fussy cutting feat and then I decorated them with Glossy Accents (lines, dots, stars, etc). I also had fun playing with different stitch types on my decorative squares.  I didn't include a title or journaling (gasp) but I did use the word-stickers to tell the story. Some of the letters in the word-sticker are colored in so I hand wrote the date at the bottom to look similar to them.

Supplies using my Scrapbook Circle December kit: My Mind's Eye - I Believe "Dots"; Lilybee Designs - Christmas Town "City Sidewalks"; Crate Paper - Snow Day "Candy", "Sparkle" and "Melt"; Crate Paper Snow Day Rubons; Girls' Paperie tinsel & twig sticker market (for the words); American Crafts Holiday House Glitter Merrymint; Handmade flower; misc. lace

Make sure to stop by Sketchy Thursdays to play along to win their FABULOUS prize this week - a $25 voucher to Scrap N Craft with T! I can't wait to see what you create.