Well, I have neglected to post anything in over a week.  That has to change!  Let this be the first of multiple posts this week!  I've got some creativity up my sleeve. Now let's see if I have a chance to get it on the page!

It's reveal day again for About a Boy.  This challenge is a fun summer one. WATER.  I purposely waited to create my LO until after we returned from visiting my Dad.  With a pool in his yard, I was sure to get some great photos. (And if not, I know Dad would have some I could use).  I am proud to say that I actually took these photos and they are pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

After a hot 4th of July with temps of 109, it was decided a night swim was in order. After all, at 10pm, it was still in the 90's.  These two were having so much fun, I decided to use an older Fancy Pants Beach Bum Collection that was more whimsical.  I even used a rub on! The giant wave!  I added the twine to the border to draw the eye downward on the page, to see all the photos.  To reinforce that idea, I placed some photo corners at the bottom of the page as well.  I think it worked!

I hope to see you playing along with the WATER challenge at About a Boy.  You have until the 29th to upload your pages.

Supplies:
Sketch-Inspired Blueprints #100
PP, chipboard, CS stickers, rub-on-Fancy Pants
Twine-Doodlebug
Alphas-American Crafts
Gems-Hobby Lobby

The New* Me

Well, the Bar Mitzvah has come and gone. It was a wonderful day that went by too fast.   I'm home from vacation and I'm even caught up on DT LO's.  So, what now?  I don't think I've been this excited to write a blog post in a long time.  Why you ask? Because it's the first page in a very long time that I did just for me.  Not for a DT requirement, not from a kit club, just for me.  I also can get back to my own personal challenge for this year, trying at least one new challenge blog a month.

For this month, I am playing along at About a Girl.  How fun for me!  My life revolves around my two boys and my husband. Even my dog is a boy.  I rarely get to scrap about girls, or use anything pink, frilly and girly.  I've been trying to do more pages about me, both now and when I was younger. This is the perfect opportunity.

The first challenge at About a Girl this month is to use the word NEW somewhere in the page. I knew exactly what I would do.

I recently got braces. It's something I've been thinking about for years. (but first I had to overcome my fear of the dentist). Anyway, my older son got braces earlier this year, so I thought if we did it together, I wouldn't chicken out.  So, for the next 9-12 months, this is the NEW me.  Brace Face, Metal Mouth, Tinsel Teeth.  Whatever you want to call me, I am still me, and proud of it.

Since I haven't scrapped regularly in over a month, I needed a jump start.  Lately my go to sketch site Inspired Blueprints.  I found this sketch to get me started:

I moved the banner underneath the photo.  I embossed using a stencil and versamark ink at the top and bottom, then stitched through it to make it look like braces.  I even used silver letters in the title.  oh, and of course, bling!

Thanks for taking a look today.  Go ahead and take a look at About a Girl and Inspired Blueprints too!

Supplies:

CS-Bazzill

PP-Fancy Pants

Twine-MME

Bling & Stencil-Hobby Lobby

Ink-Versamark

Alphas-Fancy Pants and Thickers

Washi-Papyrus

And the Sparks Go Flying...

Please go here for today's Sketches With Color challenge

Happy July 1 and good day to you!   So, my second reveal of the day, is courtesy of About a Boy.   The theme for our July 1 challenge is...RED, WHITE and BLUE.  Oh and did I have fun with this one...

Of course I was going to do a July 4th LO!  I loved these papers when I bought them last summer...glad I saved them to use now.  These two have spent every July 4th together that I can remember.  Funny that  they were always hesitant to play with the sparklers, but they always quickly over came their fear. So much so, that they were disappointed when they were all gone.  Oh well, there is always next year...

About a boy wasn't the only place hosting a red, white and blue challenge. Scrap Our Stash is too! Their twist though was to add some pre-made stars.  Done. There are several wood veneers placed on the page!

Hope to see you playing along with us at About a Boy. Can't wait to see what you create with red, white and blue, and where your inspiration takes you.

Supplies-

PP-Authentique

Alphas-Authentique, Thickers

Wood veneer-Studio Calico

ink-Versa

Thread-DMC

Bazzill In Stitch'z

Easy Rider

Please go here for About a Boy and ScrapStuffz July 1 challenge.

Good Morning and Happy July 1!  That means it's double reveal day again!  I'm starting today with my LO for Sketches with Color.  Speaking of which, be on the lookout for some exciting changes coming to Sketches with Color.  Beginning today, challenges will be posted on the 1st, and run all month long.   You also can use the sketch OR the color scheme.  However, if you use both, you get an extra entry for prizes.  Keep checking back to see what else we have in store for you!

Here is this month's color scheme and sketch

Here is my interpretation:

I loved this color scheme and the sketch!  These colors scream summer to me. They are fun and work well together.  As you can see, I moved my title and used that placement for journaling instead.  I eliminated the round elements, using sharp edges instead. I did however, used a rounded border punch. I felt it need something to go with the tires on the bike, and also the bike embellishments.  I used a lot of busy papers, so I kept the rest of the embellishments to a minimum.

I hope you will come by and check out Sketches with Color and our new changes!

Supplies-

PP-Fancy Pants

CS-Bazzill

Twine-Doodlebug

Wood Veneer-Studio Calico

enamel dots and washi-MME

punch-Fiskars

ink-colorbox

alphas-Thickers

Two to Share

Well, school ended, Bar Mitzvah was incredible, family has come and gone.  That means I get to begin to find a summer vacation routine.  I had two things on my list to do. First, create my page for Sketches in Thyme.  Second, submit a page to Scrap Our Stash for the About Our Guys challenge.  Wow, I haven't participated in a challenge in over a month. Sure feels good to be back!

Here is Sketches in Thyme Sketch #115

and here is my LO:

I chose to turn it into a single page LO.  I had the idea to use these photos when I saw this sketch. Actually, this sketch lends itself to a lot of photos that I have. It's a great sketch for sequential photos.  i don't usually use the little 3x4 cards on one side of a PP, but this time I did. They worked great with this sketch.

Supplies: PP-Crate Paper, MME, Alphas-Thickers, thread-DMC, Tape-MME, Recollections, buttons-SEI, wood veneer-Studio Calico

This next LO is what I created for Scrap Our Stash.  About our guys with a twist to use 5 or more brads.  Pretty sure I aced this one...

I'm getting around to our 2008 spring break trip to St. Louis.  We were just hanging out in the hotel room watching bad TV.  Sometimes I think that is half the fun for the kids anyway....

I kept this LO pretty simple.  I thought the brads added a bit of texture and some details. Oh, and there are definitely more than 5!

Supplies-CS-Bazzill, PP-Lily Bee, Buttons-AC, Brads-Making Memories, Alphas-Thickers, Echo Park

Thanks for stopping today.  Be sure and check out this week's sketch at Sketches in Thyme.  There's still some time left to enter your LO at Scrap Our Stash too!

Rockin' the 'Do

If you are looking for Sketch With Color post, please go here.

Hello to you!  I am happy to share my second LO of the day courtesy of About A Boy.  The 6/15 challenge is so much fun!  Ready?  Going in Circles!  Yay!  Circles are so versatile.

Here is my LO

I wanted to try a few things with this page.  I used some older papers and cut the circles out of it and arranged them on the background.  Some of the circles I tried to alter some of them with some glaze.  It didn't work very well, but I tried.  Some I added glitter, some little embellishment clusters.  I just wanted to have some fun.  The photo is a little silly, so I felt the page should be too.  I even chose the font for the title because the letters in the word 'do' were very round!

I hope you will join in the fun at About a Boy for our going in circles challenge!

Supplies-

Sketch-Scrapbook Generation

PP-Bo Bunny, Basic Grey

Wood veneer-Studio Calico

Buttons-AC

Brads-SEI, Making Memories

Stickles

Alphas-Thickers, Autehntique, Echo Park

Diamond Glaze

The Hive

Good Morning!  It's Double Post day again!  These will also be the only posts for the next week or so.  Big family event coning up!!!

Anyway, back to today's LO.  First up is m LO for the 6/15 Sketch With Color.

Here is the color scheme and sketch

And here is my LO

I have to say that both this sketch and color scheme were really tough for me! But I battled through and  once again, I've been taken out of my comfort zone!  I chose the photos first.  I thought they would be good for these colors. When I began, I went through my scraps first.  That helped me decide what colors I wanted to be dominant.  I don't use a lot of purple, so that worked for me to use it as an accent color in the flowers and stitching.  The funniest thing was that I knew I had seen these wood bees at my LSS. At least I thought I had. It took 2 trips to the store and a Facebook post from them to me to find them!  I altered them with some black Stickles before adding them to the page.  ALl in all, I'm pretty happy with this!

Come on by and join us at Sketch With Color!

Supplies:

CS-Bazzill

PP-MME, Bo Bunny

Thread-DMC

Flowers-random

Bling-Queen & Co

Wood veneer-Kaiserkraft

Twine-The Twinery

Mist-Fireworks

Stencil-Crafters Workshop

Stickles

Mickey's Kingdom

Good Morning!  I'm keeping up. Barely but I'm keeping up....Today it's my turn to share the latest inspirations over at Child's Play Challenges.

Could this be any more appropriate for me?  Let's see, Disneyland is my second favorite place in the world. (the beach is first).  Little Man watches this show about 100 times a week. (almost). And my scraproom is decorated in antique Mickey.

Here is what I have to share today.  Not what you were expecting?  Me neither. 

I'm not sure if this photo never got scrapped in our album from this trip in 2007 or if I had duplicate copies.  I didn't even look before I did this page.  Oh well.  I didn't add any journaling knowing I would put it right into the album.

I found some really old Disney papers that I cut apart. Some I used to matte the photo, the rest became the banner.  Short on time, I grabbed a variety of washi tape to create the background.  I decided to use my Mickey shaped punch, which I put with the title. Lastly, I added some splatters and called it a day.

There are so many other things that jump out at me from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse inspiration photo.  I hope to see you playing along at Child's Play Challenges too.

Supplies-

CS-Bazzill

PP-Paper Pizzazz, Fancy Pants

Washi-MME, Queen & Co, Darice

Twine-Doodlebug

Buttons-random

Mist-Studio Calico, Tattered Angels

Alphas-Thickers

New Heights

Good Thursday morning to you all!  It's reveal day again!  Yes, I seem to be getting LO's done, but only DT work.  But that's ok. At least I'm scrapping!

For those that are regular readers, and friends, you all know I have a huge family event coming up.  For those that are new, I have a huge family event coming up, and therefore am short on scrappy time. I'm looking forward to getting back to multiple posts a week.  I miss sharing the things I make, and playing along at my favorite challenge sites!

Anyhoo, I have a fun LO to share today, courtesy of Sketches in Thyme   Here is sketch #113:

and here is my LO:

I'm finally learning to use a sketch as a jumping off point.  Yes, there are times when I will follow a sketch exactly. But I think I've figured out how to use sketches, and adapt them to work for me instead of the other way around.

Here I kept the basics of the sketch, but completely changed details and embellishments.  I used one of our dinner plates to trace the circle.  I sewed around it to give it some definition.  I chose my embellishment to help tell the story of the day we realized our son was taller than me. Talk about a bittersweet moment! Arrows pointing up, measurements and his (almost) age at the time of the photo. I'm really happy the way this turned out.

All the credit goes to Sketches in Thyme for this wonderful sketch.  Hope to see your LO's using sketch #113!

Supplies-

CS-Bazzill

PP and embellishments-Simple Stories

Washi-Theresa Collins

Two Little Fishes

Hello and welcome to the first ever Scrapbook Generation  Sketch Lovers Blog Hop.  These are planned to be held quarterly, so if all goes well, you should be able to hop again in September!

Let's take care of business first.   You should have arrived here from Sherri's blog. If not, or if you go lost along the way, please go back to Scrapbook Generation  and begin from there.

Each blog you visit will be showcasing a LO inspired by an SG sketch.  Their sketches are available for purchase in book or downloads at the SG store.  Not ready to make a purchase?  A sketch is available free each month. Download one and give it a try.

Here is mine:

I treated myself during NSD weekend by purchasing the download version of the Travel Sketches book.  I'm so happy I did.  Most of the sketches in that book use uncropped 4x6 photos.  Can you say made for me?  The sketches in this particular book are extremely versatile.  Travel or not. In my case today, not.  This LO is straight out of that book. I did add my own embellishment clusters, but the rest of the page is pretty much the same as the sketch.  And I love it!  The best part is being able to use them over and over.  Change the photos and the papers and you have an entirely new page.

Thank you for hopping and stopping here on your journey.  From here, please go to Tina's blog.  Remember to leave a comment on each blog to be entered for your chance to win a sketch bundle of your choice from the SG store.  The winner will be chosen on June 10th.  That gives you a week to comment.

(On a side note, I also created this LO for a new challenge blog called Inspired by...  If you are interested, go check it out)

Zoo Campers

If you are looking for Sketches with Color blog post, please go here.

Yes, It is double reveal day for me. It's June 1, so new challenges are up!  About a Boy's new challenge is so fun!  I couldn't decide whatI wanted to do!  A favorite Summer/Holiday activity.

Well that could men anything for us!  We go visit my Mom at the beach, we go visit my Dad and his pool, we have pajama day the first day of Summer Vacation....and them I cam across these photos and decided on...

My son and his buddy started going to Zoo Camp at our Zoo the summer before Kindergarten.  These photos are from the summer before 3rd Grade.  A favorite summer activity?  You bet!  We had to sign them up in March and if you didn't register them registration opened, you didn't get in!

These two would come home and just yap, yap, yap about everything they did and learned.  And then they'd pass out!  It was only one week each summer, but well worth every ounce of effort it took to get them there and back.

I thought this page was a great way to use my BG Bowties paper. Never did I think I's use the 'bug' side of the paper, but what do you know...

So come join in the summer activity fun over at About a Boy.  We'd love to see you there.

Supplies-

CS-Bazzil

PP and embellies-BG

Washi-Pebbles

Alphas-Thickers

Wood veneer-Studio Calico

Twine-Doodlebug

Sketch inspired by Scrapbook Generation

Teacher's Pet

If you are looking for About a Boy June 1 challenge, please go here

It's June 1 and that means it's reveal day for me!  That also means it's double post day, so please stay and read them both!  The first reveal is for Sketches With Color.  I really liked both the sketch and colors for this challenge.

Take a look

I like that having to use both the color scheme and provided sketch is really pushing me to think differently.  This one was really fun.  I've been enjoying one photo pages a lot lately.  This time I even cropped a 4x6 photo into a 4x4.  I've never done that before on a whole 12x12 canvas!

I used a combination of paper scraps and washi tape behind the photo.  All of the elements I chose to use were small so I chose to continue that and use small letters for the title instead of large ones.  At the last minute, I decided to matte the whole page on ble card stock.  It needed that to focus on the blue under the photo.

Hope to see you playing along at Sketches with Color.  If i can do it, I know you can too! 

Supplies-

CS-Bazzill

PP-Basic Grey, Pebbles, EP, Lily Bee, 

Washi-Darice, Bella Blvd

Stickers & alphas-EP, AC

Pointing Fingers

Oh I can't believe I forgot to write this post!  Well, that goes to show how out of control life got last week.  I'm glad that's over.  At least there is a second reveal at Sketches in Thyme using the same sketch, #112.

When I first saw the sketch, I panicked.  I use primarily 4x6 photos.  This is out of my box!  However, I also knew right away what photos I would use.

For those that are new to me and my blog, my son has special needs.  This is a milestone for him, and an incredibly important one.  He has finally figured out pointing with one finger, something he has not been able to do until very recently.  This quite literally, puts the world at his fingertips.  I am so happy I was able to grab a few quick shots before we left for school.  He opened the book and pointed to quite a few animals on the pages.  I tried to capture the action as well as some of him.  I think I did that.

I tried to keep this fairly simple.  The sketch itself has a lot going on.  I only used 2 papers. The rest is washi tape and die cuts. And really, I tried to keep the focus on the photos.  I used the arrows to move the story across the page.

I am hoping you'll stop by Sketches in Thyme and join in the fun.

Supplies-
CS-Bazzill
PP-MME
Washi-Bella Blvd, Echo Park
Die & stamp-hero arts/Sizzix
ink-Stazon
Stickles
Alphas-Thickers

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.

Our Jackson Pollock

One of the best things about all of the challenge blogs, is I'm constantly finding new ideas. Case in point, today's new challenge at About a Boy:   Use your son's artwork on your page.  I probably wouldn't have done this without some prodding, at least not right now.

So here it is.  My younger son made this a few years ago. I know he had a lot of help, but I like that it feels like him.  And I know he likes paint.   For some reason, I decided to take a photo of it instead of keeping the original.  I've only done that a few other times.  

I wanted to keep the focus on the photo.  I decided to use grey as a neutral and kept it simple with small patterns and similar colors from the photo. I did bring in some contrasting colors because it was looking blah. The green and the orange helped bring the focus back to the photo. I also have to say, that thanks to this assignment, I was able to use something I've had in my stash for a very long time...the title.  Lastly, I had to use paint splatters, didn't I????

That's all for now. I hope you will stop by About a Boy and try your hand at scrapping your son's artwork.

Supplies:

CS-Bazzill

PP-Fancy Pants, MME

Die Cut Title-MME

Stickers-Creative Memories, Fancy Pants

Twine-Doodlebug

Mist-Studio Calico

Sketch by Christy Strickler

Shop 'til We Drop

Getting a little scrap time in during our "stay-cation" spring break week. Trying to catch up on some favorite challenge spots, get a little ahead on some DT work, as well as just working on my own stuff.  Today's LO is inspired by Sketch With Color and Club CK Issue Challenge #5, use a photo prop.  Here is the color scheme I was to work with:

And here is my LO.  Spending the day at CKC Portland with some friends was the ideal opportunity to use a photo prop...and to get my hands on some of the new releases I'd been drooling over.  

Lately, I've been pushing myself to play with color.  I tend to repeat my blue, red, yellow brown.  So color challenges are a great place for me to start.  Add a sketch in and what more do I really need?  I used both scraps and new stuff on this page, and no cardstock at all.  The background paper is the reverse side of a print I probably never would have used.  I decided that darkish color was a dark steel bluish/greyish color.  It's really hard to tell.  So the striped paper is more navy, but the stitching is more steel grey in color.  I did omit the oval shape PP and kept the squared off paper instead, but kept to the sketch for the most part. 

Supplies: PP-Crate Paper, Fancy Pants, Doodlebug, DCWV; stickers-Fancy Pants; dots-MME; alphas-October Afternoon, Fancy Pants; thread-DMC; Ink-ColorBox

Life is Sweet

Yippee...Scrap time this weekend! I had a few pages on my agenda and I got two of them finished so far.  But I only have one to share today.  When I don't have consistent time to scrap, I feel like I lose my place.   What I mean is, I forget the ideas I had in my head or what I wanted to work on next.  When this happens, I will browse through some of the many challenge blogs looking for inspiration.

Today's LO was inspired by three different blogs: Scrap Our Stash gave me the idea for the papers, dots and stripes...Umm, yes, I have just a little bit of those in my stash....Next is Frosted Designs for reminding me that yes, scallops are also in my stash....and lastly, Sketches in Thyme for their lovely sketch #107.

I also need to mention that Sketches in Thyme is having a Design Team call.  I am throwing my name in the hat this time around. I've been really enjoying their sketches since I found them In Dec.  They are clear, easy to interpret, and are both single and multi photo.

This photo is my older son being the "big cousin".  The two little guys just wanted to do everything he was doing.  After a walk on the pier, we took them for ice cream.  They all got the same thing...Blue Superman ice cream.  

I could't think of any better paper than what I chose.  Last spring I started buying more collections as opposed to just a few pieces of paper here and there.  My thought was that I'd have an easier time selecting my supplies when I started a page.  Well, yes, that is exactly what happened here.  I used both sides of 2 papers and the chipboard embellishments.  I opted not to add an additional title, just using the "Life is Sweet" on the chipboard.  I hesitated only for a moment about using the stripe scallop piece on top of the stripe paper, but I really like the way it looks. It gave it fun dimension.

Thanks for inspiring me, visiting my blog and taking a look. 

Supplies: PP-MME and Doodlebug, Chipboard and tape-MME, Stickles

New Car

Yes, that's correct. Two posts this week.  That's because I have another new challenge for you. This time it's brought to you courtesy of Child's Play Challenges. Today's post is the Classic Toy Challenge:Matchbox Cars

Oddly enough, these were not high on my boys priority list of things to play with.  My older son had a truck full of them. Literally. It was a toy semi truck with slots for cars on the sides of the trailer.  You want to know what he did most often when he did play with them?  He sorted them by color, parts of the cars that moved, 2 door, 4 door....get the idea?  Rarely did he ever play with them as just, well, cars. Needless to say, I don't have many photos of him playing with cars. Those that I do, I have already scrapped.  So, here is what I did instead:

I took this photo when I picked up my car on Dec 29, 2010.  It was a huge moment for me.  I had done (almost) everything by myself to get this car.  It's a big step up from my previous car, with all the bells and whistles.  I have to say, I earned this one....
I started with a sketch from Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge.  (I know the challenge is over, but I wanted to credit them anyway).  I also drew inspiration from Get It Scrapped/Debbie Hodge.  I grabbed some color and some neutrals an went to town, but still kept it simple.  I've really been liking subtly printed papers as backgrounds for my LO's lately.  I tried something new here as well. I used a 12x12 stencil as the template for the stitching, as well as using it with ink pads to do the circles and the circle bursts behind the photo.  I repeated the PP at the top left, adhering it with some washi tape, then repeated the tape in the title at the lower right After adding a few chipboard pieces and some ink splatters, I was done.

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

Supplies:
PP-SEI, MME, Tape-Recollections, Stencil-Crafters Workshop, Ink-VersaMagic, ColorBox, Thread-DMC, chipboard pieces-MME, Alphas-Thickers, Mists-Studio Calico, Tattered Angels