For some reason, I decided to give myself a goal this month and do 15 LO's. I figured with 2 weeks of winter break, I'd have plenty of time to play. Boy was I wrong...Oh well, so far I have 6 finished and one more week to go.  At least I am making progress.  I'm also getting to participate in some challenges, which makes me happy too. Today I am sharing a page I created for the crossover challenge with Scrap Our Stash and Sketch n' Scrap.  It's a sketch and also a stash challenge, to use at least 2 border punches and at least one additional punch as well.

Here is the sketch...

...and here is my page

These are very special photos to me. This was such a great day. Full of laughter and smiles for everyone. My son has always wanted to be like everyone else. It was incredible to see his reaction when he saw someone else using a walker like his. Great Grandma was just happy to see us. But I think walking around with him was something indescribable for her though.

Believe it or not, I'm still working my way through the Citrus Twist Kits I received for 3 months.  I liked these 'light' and cheerful papers. They share the feelings in the photos.  I cropped my 4x6 photos down to 4x5 and stretched out the entire sketch to accommodate the size of the photos.  I used 3 different border punches on the strips under the photos, and a corner rounder punch on the photo matte.  The holes for the twine are a border punch. I LOVE that one!  I actually don't have a lot of shape punches.  I thought them to be limiting, and not worth the investment. Ok, border punches are another story though. I have about 8 of those and use them frequently.  I created small embellishment clusters and typed my journaling, which I rawly do. I had more I wanted to say, but limited space.  I popped up 3 of the embellishments to give some dimension, then added a few little bits and some mist splatter to finish it off. I'm very happy with the result.  

I made it in the knick of time to enter these challenges. Now lets see if I can finish off the other 9 in my own challenge!  Thanks for taking a look today. Check back again in another day or so.  I'll have a new post up soon!

Supplies:

PP-American Crafts, Webster's Pages

Twine-AC

Brads-Making Memories, Crate paper

die cut stickers-AC, Crate paper, October Afternoon

clip, washi-Citrus Twist

enamel dots-MME

Alphas-OA, Simple Stories

ink-Prima

Mist-Studio Calico

Tickets for 3

Well, we've made it this far into the month, there are only a few days left until the big day. Are you ready? Or just ready for it to be over? My December was super busy, as I'm sure everyone else's has been as well.  I did find some time to scrapbook. Not a lot of time, but just enough to get some pages finished for some challenges.

Speaking of challenges, here is my second reveal for ScrapStuff'z Inspired by.

The inspiration photo:

 Tickets for 3

First of all, I used sketch #109 from Inspired Blueprints.  I needed a little starting point to get my page going.  I liked this sketch because it had a lot of square elements, like the photo.  When I looked closely at our inspiration photo, I saw that everything in it is related to Christmas, in some way.  I also liked that the photos were overlapping and were matted.  That is how I got to my page. The photos are of us at The Nutcracker Ballet, which is also related to Christmas. I then matted the photos. The washi tape down the center gives them the appearance of being over lapped.

I also chose some design and embellishments from 123 Get Scrappy.  In this months grid, I have a lot of options. So you can look at this page and see the color green (paper), scalloped edges (misted background and tag over photo) and staples (attaching small red heart vellum).  The other way to look at it is numbers (in title), baker's twine (attached to journal tag) and Scalloped edges.  It all worked together to help me create a page I really like, that shares a short family story.

I'm glad you stopped by to see my creative view of our  ScrapStuff'z Inspired by photo. Please, come show us how you were inspired as well.

Supplies:

CS-Bazzill

PP-Chic Tags, Websters Pages

Washi-MME

Stencil-Fancy Pants

Mist-Studio Calico

Ephemera-Heidi Swapp and American Crafts

Alphas-Glitz Designs

Twine-Americn Crafts

ink-Colorbox

brad-Freckled Fawn

staples-Staples

If you build it...

HI there. I'm back with another Child's Play Challenges reveal.  Today, our inspiration comes from o long time favorite toy:

I think this is the best toy invented. A bucket of bricks + a child = imagination at work. Enough said!

We were fortunate enough to live near a LEGO store and would visit it when we could. We decided to go in December when it was decorated for Christmas. When we walked in to the mall, we were greeted by an amazing life size LEGO Santa in his sleigh. Later on,  these guys had a field day playing with the newly acquired treasures!

I used textured LEGO papers and embellishments in a simple design that could handle the amount of photos.  The black background had more impact than white. The photos are too busy to try anything else.  I think this was the beginning of my realization that I like to add humor into my pages.  

I hope you will come and join us this week over at Child's Play Challenges.

Supplies:

CS-Bazzill

PP-Creative Imaginations, Imaginesce

Tape-WRMK

Stickers-Creative Imaginations

Alphas-Thickers

Hugs & Kisses

Oh, I got the bug yesterday!  Between an early Hanukkah, timed with Thanksgiving and then straight into Christmas....I haven't scrapped just for me in quite a while.  Yesterday, after I completed an assignment, I decided to continue to play. And it felt really good!

Last moth was so busy, I didn't get to participate in any of my favorite challenges. Well, today I am BACK!   Scrap Our Stash is one of met favorite places to play. The first challenge this month is to use a phrase from a subway art poster to do a page about family, and then use...photo corners!  And wince I'm out of my scrappy groove, I needed a design push. Let's Get Sketchy Week 2 sketch is what I used to get me started.

While looking for a different old photo, I came across these of me with my grandparents when I was about 2 years old. I've been having a lot of fun scrapping pages of my childhood. It's good to get the photos and stories down.  But it's even more fun to play with different colors and supplies than I usually do when I about my boys.

Photos of family? Check. Great sketch adapted to my photos? Check. Perfect title? Check.  Fun papers and pretty embellishments? Yes please! 

I've not been one to over embellish my pages. I like the supplies to complement my photos and not overwhelm them. However, I've recently come to really like using the "little bits" on my pages. Fortunately for me, there were lots of little bits and other fantastic embellishments in the Citrus Twist Kits I received this fall. As for the photo corners, they are not actually something I normally have on hand. I received these as part of a class kit from CKC.

Using a collection kit made all of this come together rather quickly. Having a variety of pretty little bits made the details come together nicely as well. The only thing I did not do, was add journaling. I think I will write something on the back of the page. I'm not sure what perspective I want to take.

Thanks for looking at things form my creative view.  If you get a chance this month, head over to two of my favorite challenges, Scrap Our Stash  and Let's Get Sketchy  and join in.

Supplies:

PP-Fancy Pants

Ribbon, sequins-Citrus Twist

Wood veneer-Studio Calico, Citrus Twist

washi tape-WRMK, Bella Blvd

paperclip, stars -Freckled Fawn

photo corners-Queen & Co

mist-Studio Calico

All About the Beard

Hey there. I have a fun page to share today. It's a reveal for both ScrapStuff'z Inspired by and also Child's Play Challenges.  Kinda crazy, but my page is a bit of both.  

We have a really fun photo to get you going at ScrapStuff'z Inspired by .  And the inspiration for  Child's Play Challenges is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

How fun is that photo? Crazy lights everywhere. And what did I do with it? I went traditional! I don't often do Christmas pages at all. So, when I see Christmas lights, I think of Christmas and all the red, green and trimmings that go along with it. 

While I was thinking about Christmas, I thought about how my parents always let my sister and I watch the Christmas TV shows.  Rudolph was my favorite.  I actually identified with Rudolph. As someone who didn't celebrate Christmas, I always felt different too!   I came across this photo, and voila, a Christmas page inspired by both challenges! 

This is the first and only time my son ever sat on Santa's lap, so it's also the only photo.  It was at a huge holiday party at his school after an exceptionally special fall event.  We weren't sure what he would do. Would he get off, yell, cry? What we didn't expect, was that the would laugh, giggle, then pull the beard all the way off Santa's face!  We had to go help rescue Santa. Then our son tried to do it again! Needless to say, he enjoyed meeting Santa and we have a great story to go along with the photo

I only used scraps for this page in traditional red and green, but I accented with black and gold. I chose to use a black matte, so the colors in the photo would stand out. Red under the photo seemed to work best with the red in  the photo as well.  I did use 2 shades of green, darker at the edges of the page, lighter under the photo, for contrast.  The banner is a direct nod to the lights strut around the truck.  I loved the black chalkboard tape. It is such a stark contrast, it keeps the eye at the photo. I also dipped the edges in gold glitter.  A few added sequin sparkles and sprinkles of gold and green mist and that was pretty much it. 

Thanks for taking a look at my creative view today. Please join us over at ScrapStuff'z Inspired by and Child's Play Challenges.  Show us how you're inspired by our photos.

Supplies:

CS-Bazzill

PP-MME, Simple Stories, Fancy Pants, GCD Studios

Twine-Doodlebug

Tape-Fancy Pants, Darice, 

Tag-MME

Wood veneer-Studio Calico

Mist-Heidi Swapp, Studio Calico

Glitter-Martha Stewart

ink-Colorbox

Sequins-Citrus Twist Kits

Alpha-Lily Bee

White pen-uniball

My Favorite Things

If you are looking for the Scrapbook Generation Blog Hop, Please go here

Hi there. Welcome to the My Favorite Things blog hop brought to you by the creative team over at  Child's Play Challenges.  You should have landed here from Steffanie's Blog. If not, It's a good idea to head back over to Child's Play Challenges and begin from there.

Today we are sharing some of our favorite toys and such from our childhood, or a favorite gift given to a special child in our lives.

One of my favorite childhood memories is playing records on the record player in the bedroom I shared with my sister. At the times we got along, we had a whole lot of fun. One particular record comes to mind though.

Have you ever seen this? We played this record over and over and over and over...you get the idea. We giggled and laughed, we made up dances and movements, even special voices. A particular favorite song, especially of my sister's, was On Top of Spaghetti. I recently repurchased this album so I could share it with my children. Unfortunately, they didn't think it was as funny as I did....but oh the memories for me as I listened. I even remembered some of the words.

Hmm, so how was I inspired by this album you ask? I had a touch time coming up with something! I was looking for photos of someone in my family being tickled. Nope, couldn't find any. Could I use the animals? Perhaps. Not exciting me. All of a sudden, it hit me and I went to town.

I have a group of friends that I get to gather with for an annual scrap weekend.  We can get quite..ummm...silly at times. In these photos, all but one of us was wearing a pink shirt. We kinda planned that in advance and the joke was hilarious when it was finally realized.  The title and photos came to me at the same time.

Everything I used is from the Citrus Twist Kits I received this fall. I have to say, it was a really well thought out few months. All the papers and embellishments work together over the 3 months I purchased the kit.

The pink is pretty obvious, especially in these tones, but I think the brightness of the pink really speaks to the story in the page.  I added the feather because, well, feathers can tickle people. The rest if fairly neutral. 

I have a small prize to giveaway. All you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment, including that information.  I will draw a winner Sunday Dec 8.  

Remember to follow along the guidelines from the Child's Play Challenges post to be eligible to win the prize on the blog.  If you need a reminder, here they are:

1. Visit each blog along the hop and leave a comment so we know you were there

2. Come back here when you are done and tell us that you completed the hop

3. Create a LO based on a favorite play thing (include a photo of it if you can or tell us what it is) and link up to our special "blog hop" linky

4. Very important!...become a follower of Child's Play Challenges
5. If you are on Facebook, like our page  https://www.facebook.com/childsplaychallenge

You have until December 24th to complete the hop and enter your LO for a chance to win!  We will announce a winner before the new year.

Thank you for stopping here along the way. Your last stop is Karen's Blog.

Supplies:

PP-Fancy Pants, Webster's Pages, American Crafts, Chic tags

Die cuts, Stickers, Alphas-American Crafts

Washi-Queen & Co

Mist-Studio Calico

Sequins, Feather, doilies-Citrus Twist Kits

Scrapbook Generation Blog Hop

Please go here for Boy Meets Girl Dec 1 reveal

Hi there and welcome to the SG Blog Hop for September.  You should have arrived here from Stephanie's blog.  If this is your first stop, you might like to go back and begin at the Scrapbook Generation blog and then continue to hop through each link. 

This is my third time participating in this blog hop. Each time I am absolutely amazed at how versatile these sketches are and how each sketch can look so different, from person to person.

Today I used a sketch from the 2 Page Sketches Volume 5. 

I had these photos from my son's birthday. I liked that this particular sketch allowed me to separate the two parts of the event, the cake and the balloons, while keeping the page cohesive.  I chose primary colors to play off the colors in the photos. I used numbers in the paper and journal tag to play off the age. I played around with embellishments, but still kept it simple. Several word stickers, repetition of shape and colors.  The stamped arrows create movement around the page.  I really wanted to see the photos.

Thank you for taking a look today.  If you aren't a follow of my blog, please follow me along my creative view. I post regularly about the adventures of my family. 

You can find the SG sketches in their books and as downloads in the SG store. A free sketch is offered every month in case you are interested in trying one out.

Next on the hop is Tasha. Please leave a comment on each blog and one lucky commenter will receive a free sketch bundle of their choice from the store. The winner will be draw on December 9th, so you have one week to leave a comment.

Supplies:
CS- bazzill
PP-October Afternoon, Basic Grey, AC
Wood veneer-Recollections, Studio Calico
Stamps-Basic Grey
ink-Colorbox
alphas-AC, Cosmo Cricket, EchoPark
Brad, tag, enamel dots & phrase stickers-MME

#Climb

Please go here for the Scrapbook Generation Blog Hop

Good morning to you. It is Dec 1 can you believe it?  It has been quite a year in our family, full of events & adventures, struggles & triumphs, and lots of growth for all of us.  I can only imagine what next year will bring!

Seeing as it is a new month, that also means it's time for a new challenge for Team Boy at Boy Meets Girl.  Today, we have a sketch for you.

This was a totally fun sketch to work with, although I have to admit, it is out of my comfort zone. I like tilting my photos and elements, but I don't often use small photos. I had to figure out a way to put all of this together.

I did have these photos printed in 3x4. I guess I was waiting for the right opportunity to start experimenting with them.  Well, here it is.  My son was having the best time running up and down this hill. It was so fun watching him be a kid!  

I decided to turn the sketch so the tilt went downward, matching the photos. Then I chose an energetic paper for the background to help show the motion. Instead of the chevrons facing right and left, I went with one that goes up and down. I also reinforced the up and down using arrows, as embellishments as well as washi tape. 

Overall, I had fun creating from this sketch. It was a great way for me to try something new. I hope you will join us at Boy Meets Girl and give this sketch a try. 

Supplies-

CS-Bazzill

PP-Fancy Pants, AC

Washi-MME

Cork arrows-Fancy Pants

Wood Veneer-Sudio Calico

Sequins-Citrus Twist Kits

chipboard button-Queen & Co

Sticker & Alphas-AC

Die cut-Silhouette