Hello Sunshine

Yes, that's right, three posts today.

Please go here if you are looking for the 5/15 About a Boy challenge.
Please go here if you are looking for the 5/15 Sketches with Color challenge.

This next page was designed with a few things in mind.  First, it's Craft Challenge reveal time at Child's Play Challenges.  This time, an item I can seriously relate to....BUTTONS!  Buttons, buttons everywhere.  Not really, but there are quite a few on my page.  Buttons are probably the most versatile of all scrappy embellishments.  Use them as is, with thread, alter them, create shapes, banners, and they don't even have to be all the same....But that's just my opinion.

I'm weird.  Sometimes I get an idea in my head and I just have to find a way to do it. On this page, it was the buttons as sun rays.  I know the sun is large, but it made me so happy while I was creating it.   I decided to also use some washi, but it was so transparent, I needed to add something, so I sewed down the middle of each washi ray.  Regardless, the rays point to the title,  photo and journaling.  So I think it all works. I began this page by looking through some sketches. This page is inspired by Inspired Blueprints #91.

I am also hosting this weeks Issue Challenge at Club CK: Use only patterned paper to create your LO.  This is something I've been doing a lot lately.  With so little time to scrap this spring, when I do have some time, it's much easier and faster to grab a few papers from a collection. I already know they go together, so the pages come together rather quickly.  If I had to search thru all my random papers right now, I'd probably be getting nothing done at all.  However, when I get some time back, anything goes....

Well, I hope to see you playing with buttons at Child's Play Challenges and with patterned paper at Club Ck this week!

Supplies-

PP-LYB, Doodlebug

journal spot-Fancy Pants

washi-MME

thread-DMC

alphas-Thickers and Simple Stories

buttons-random

twine-Doodlebug

brads-Making Memories

glitter-Martha Stewart Crafts

I Love my Family

Please go here for 5/15 About a Boy post.

Please go here for 5/15 Child's Play Challenges post.

Welcome to my Wednesday writing frenzy.  I have 3 reveals today!  I'm really excited about them all too!  I am thoroughly enjoying Sketches With Color.  I'm going to keep saying it, but using a sketch and a color scheme is stretching my creative mojo. I really encourage you to try it out. These are becoming some of my favorite pages I've made recently.

This month we are using the Pantone color palette, and choosing three colors for our LOs.

Using this sketch

I used linen, monaco blue and sunflower, with a touch of nectarine for some contrast.

This page is quite a departure for me.  I used flowers! And there is a bug on the paper too!  And there is not red, or green on the page!  These papers and embellishments were given to me as part of a monthly class I take at my LSS.  I enjoy being able to use things I don't ordinarily use.  This was no exception.  

I looked at these items and immediately knew how I wanted to use them. I thought they were perfect for this reveal.  The colors are pretty together and set the mood with the photo.  I've had this photo sitting around my desk for a awhile.  My aunt passed away shortly after it was taken. It turned out to be a beautiful way to remember her. 

Hopefully I'll see you over at Sketches With Color. Find your colors to set the mood for your LO's too.

Supplies-

PP-Kaiserkraft, Melissa Frances

die cuts-Kaiserkfraft

washi-Glitz

Mist-Studio Calico

Hello

Good Wednesday to you! Today is a packed scrappy day for me. I have 3 reveals for you, which actually means 3 different posts! Be sure to check them all. I'm pretty happy with my creations.

Child's Play Challenges & Club CK May/June Issue Challenge #3 post can be found here
Sketches with Color post can be found here

I think I'll go alphabetically, so that means I'll begin with my page for the newest About a Boy challenge: create a page using only White and one other color.

I had already chosen this photo. It's another great one that my sister took. It's quirky, like the expression on his face as well as the mood he was in. Because his shirt is navy, I could pretty much choose any color to complement the photo. I have been pushing myself to go beyond my obvious. So I decided not to use red, green or blue and went with ORANGE!

I found this fabulous sketch over at Pagemaps, and the rest was easy peasy. Ok, I had to decide how much orange was too much and scale back on the embellishments. I tried to let the papers and the photos speak for themselves, without overwhelming them with extra orange bits!

I hope you will create and share something at About a Boy , using the idea of white and one color to highlight something about your boy.

Supplies:
CS-Bazzill
PP-Simple Stories
Mist-Tattered Angels
Brads-Basic Grey, Making Memories
Buttons and clear gems-random
Twine-Doodlebug
Wood Veneer-Recollections
Washi-Target

Pretty Little Things

Good Morning!  I am so excited to be able to share with you my first reveal as one of the talented group of Mavens at Sketches in Thyme

Here is the sketch:

And here is my LO:

The photos are of the tulips in my garden, This is the first time in my life, I've had a flower garden.  But if you know me, I have neither the interest nor the time for gardening.  I don't do dirt and bugs.  I just like to enjoy the flowers. So tulips are kind of perfect for me. Fairly low maintenance, except for chasing the bunnies away.

I kept the sketch the same, but added a few extra embellishments. This is a bit of a departure for me in a couple of ways.  First, I use mostly 4x6 photos.  I challenged myself NOT to go ahead and do that here, and instead printed these out in 3x4. (I am finding it so much easier to do now that I have my little photo printer).  Second, I chose to do a very "girly" page, using flowers as the subject, but also in the paper selection. And pink. Lots of pink. This is something I don't do often, as most of my pages are about my two boys.  It was fun to play with "pretty little things".

I hope you will join us this week over at  Sketches in Thyme.

Supplies:

PP-Crate Paper and embellishments

Alphas-Thickers, Sassafrass, OA

stencil-Crafters Workshop

Mist-Heidi Swapp

More Fantastic News!

For a long time, I had admired the Sketches in Thyme blog, but hadn't played along.  Well, a few months ago, I finally began to play and I haven't looked back since. I love their sketches!  Recently, there was a Design Team call so I decided to apply.

I am so thrilled to announce that I was asked to join the team as a Sketchy Maven!

This is the LO that I entered. It was a really fun sketch and pushed me to tilt instead of my usual straight lines.  More information about this LO can be found here

I am excited to be a part of this talented team. I truly hope you will join in the fun at Sketches in Thyme, and use some of these great sketches to inspire you as they have me!

GO CUBS! (part 2 of...)

Please go here for Sketches With Color post

Yes, I am a Cubs fan.  So yes, there will be many GO CUBS pages, so there will be part, 3, 4, etc....  What makes that fun is that is a part of who we are. I get to document my son and his different stages of interest in Baseball. Sadly, it didn't last very long.  But  I have fun pictures that go with the memories.

This was the big "sign writing" stage that my son was in. He was in 2nd grade. He knew how to write fairly well. He was so into his markers.  He was always writing, drawing, coloring.  I love that he decided to make a sign to take to the game.  Why am I telling you this you ask?

It's May 1 and that means a new challenge is up at About a Boy. Today's challenge: Boys will be Boys. My older son isn't really the 'rough and tumble' type of boy. He's always been the creative type. I love that these photos capture who he is as well as him doing a typical boy thing.  Now my younger son, well, that's a Boys will be Boys story for another day....

For Father's Day, we gave Dad tickets to the game, as well as a personalized brick that would be placed on the new walkway in front of Wrigley Field.  We had received a letter with our copy of the brick, telling us how to find the one at Wrigley.  I think I was as excited as they were about going to the game!

I realized as I was working on this page that I am running out of baseball themed papers! I started with a Creating Keepsakes sketch, grabbed what baseball stuff I could find, and just put the page together.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Regardless of the type of boy you have, I'm sure you have photos of them doing what makes them who they are.  Grab them and come play along at About a Boy!

Supplies:
PP-SEI, Fancy pants
CS-Bazzill
Die Cuts & Stickers-Fancy Pants
Cubs logo-EK Success
Alphas-Thickers by AC
brads-making memories

My Tech Junkie

Please go here for About a Boy post

Hey there!  Today is my first reveal for Sketches With Color!  I'm really excited about this challenge blog. I can interpret a sketch, no problem. I can use a color scheme, no problem. Combine them, now that's a creative challenge I'm ready to tackle!

Here is the May 1 sketch and color inspiration. This time around, choose 3 of the colors for the LO.

Here is my LO.  I used Poppy Red, Sunflower and Grayed Jade.  Because I got to choose the colors,  I purposely decided not to use red, blue and yellow. They are my go to colors, that I use often.  I actually decided on the colors, after I chose the papers.  Again, not something I would ordinarily do.  I flipped the sketch to a more horizontal design, it worked better with the photos I chose to use.  The premise of the design pretty much remained the same.  

I'm on this kick of using PP only and it's been kind of fun.  Not only am I using PP only, it seems to be the same manufacturer, many times even the same collection.  I think I'm finding when I don't have a lot of creative free time, the garanimals approach is perfect.  It save me time from looking through my stash to find this paper here and that paper there.  These papers and embellishments are all Kaiserkraft.  The theme of the papers were great for the photos and the colors were right off my color chart.

I hope you will follow me in my new creative endeavor at Sketches With Color, and even play along with us there as well.

Guess Who?

It's me again!  Just kidding.  I love playing that game. Speaking of games...The Classic Game Challenge is up at Child's Play Challenges.  Did you guess what it is?  It's Guess Who?

Here is the LO I created inspired by the game

I thought Halloween photos were the perfect way to go, especially because of the ghost!  This was the worst Ghost costume ever. He hated it. But I do have to remind every so often, that he didn't like the two small eye holes and wanted a bigger face hole...

Anyway, you get it...costumes=Guess Who?...I started with a Scrapbook Generation sketch for this one. I keep all my Halloween stuff tougher so it was easy to find supplies quickly.  A few cuts and pastes, some stickers and mist and I was finished.  I know not everyone likes theme papers, but I find they make it easier and faster to get pages done!

I hope to see you playing along at Child's Play Challenges

Supplies-

CS-Bazzill

PP-SEI, American Crafts, Echo Park

Die cuts-SEI

Chipboard elements-American Crafts

Stickers-Echo Park

A Small Announcement

Good Morning!  I just have a little exciting news to share today.  I am so very pleased to tell you that I have been invited to join the Sketches with Color  Design Team.  

This will be a fun challenge for me.   My go to colors whenever I start a page are red, blue and yellow, so this will push my color boundaries tremendously. It will be interesting for me to see if having a sketch as a starting place will make it easier or not.  We shall see.  

I hope you will join me and the rest of the talented team and play along at Sketches with Color.  Challenges are posted on the 1st and 15th of the month and you have the entire month to enter your LOs.