Just a quick one tonight. I am determined to play along with ONE challenge in this crazy month called August! I started this LO on Aug 1 and I finally finished it today!

These fun papers are courtesy of Ben Franklin Crafts & Frames. The idea for the page is thanks to Scrap Our Stash: Use a selfie and a pre made frame.

Well, we called this photo a "groupie" because what is plural of a "selfie?" This is my family in Old Sacramento this past July. It was really a treat to all be together. With no one around to ask, we all scrunched in while my sister stretched her arm as far as she could to get us all in the shot.  The pre-made frame is the small wood veneer under the title. 

The sunburst became the primary embellishment, so I added some monochromatic bits in a few places to give it a little focus and shine.  The clouds and sun are indicative of the summers day.

Thanks for looking at my creative view today. I've got a few days left in this crazy month. I wonder if I'll get any more scrap time...stay tuned

Supplies: CS, PP & die cut-American Crafts, wood chips-Jenni Bowlin, Freckled Fawn, Recollections, bling-Queen & Co, Prima, Sequins-Hero Arts, epoxy stickers-Doodlebug Designs, Resin-Freckled Fawn, Ink-Colorbox, Mist-Heidi Swapp, Stickles 

Now and Then

Oh, if ever there was a happy Monday, today is it. Today begins the last week of summer vacation. I have enjoyed every minute, but it is time for everyone to get back into a routine. Speaking of routine, Mondays mean new challenges at Let's Get Sketchy.  Here is this week's sketch and my LO created from it.

This is one of my favorite LO's I've done this summer. I was in a good scrappy groove and it came together quickly.  Ok, the subject made me laugh the whole time I was working on it. Maybe that had something to do with it too.  This summer, my son had been obsessed with slinkies. As I was looking through older photos, I came across this other one from seven years back. My how things change but really stay the same. I guess he liked them then too. Something else that made me laugh was the look on his face in both photos is almost the same.

As far as the sketch, I brought the whole thing onto a smaller block, rather than use the whole canvas. this enabled me to add more embellishments, and play around with the background. I mimicked the slinky idea with the die cut curly cue. One of my favorite things on the page.  The arrows really serve a purpose here as well. They move the eye back and forth, but also can show the time difference.

I really hope you will check out the rest of the teams LO's on the Let's Get Sketchy blog and enter our challenge. Thank you for stopping by my creative view today. You can also find this LO in Issue 4 of the Let's Get Sketchy Magazine.

Interested in being published in the magazine?  All information can be found on the Let's Get Sketchy Magazine blog.

Supplies: PP-Crate Paper, Washi-MME, ink-colorboc, mist-Studio Calico, clips & brad-Freckled Fawn, Alphas-Crate Paper, American Crafts, Embellishments-Crate paper, die cut-Silhoutte

Masterchef Jr

Oh Hello. I have been looking forward to sharing this layout for a few weeks now.  This month at Scrap Stuffz' Inspired by, we changed it up a little bit. We were asked to be inspired by this sketch, as well as to use a title from ScrapStuffz' by Stacia.  

I wanted to tell this fun story of my son and my Dad making home made pasta. My son and I watch both Top Chef and Masterchef on TV together. Because of this, he has taken an interest in food and cooking.  The title came to me immediately and I was excited that ScrapStuffz' by Stacia was able to  create it for me.  

As for the sketch, I had many photos I wanted to use, so  turned it into a 2 page layout.  I kept the general design of the sketch, changing a lot of the background elements to make it my own. Doing this enabled n=me to keep the focus on the photos and the title.  

I had a lot of fun with our inspiration this month. I hope you will join our challenge at Scrap Stuffz' Inspired by.

Supplies-CS-American Crafts, Washi-Darice, Freckled Fawn, wood pieces-Freckled Fawn, American Crafts, Basic Grey, Cork-Freckled Fawn, Fancy Pants, Enamel& Epoxy-Freckled Fawn Doodlebug, mist-Tattered Angels, Studio Calico

On This Day

Good morning. It's a double post day for me. If you are looking for today's Child's Play Challenges post, please go here.  

I have a new LO in the article up on the Get It Scrapped blog. It's about pre-scrapbook storytelling. In other words, how and where do you share your story, before you actually get it down into an actual scrapbook layout. 

I shared this photo and story about my son walking with our dog on Instagram right when it happened. I did this because it was an incredibly important moment that we knew would happen eventually, but we didn't know when. The journaling is straight out of the moment, with no preparation. I was so excited at what was happening, I typed the words as they came to me. I can always add more as hidden journaling, or write on the back of the page.

I chose products to highlight the photo. They are softer colors so the photo stands out. They also signify a tender moment.  The embellishments show motivation and celebration, as well as the relationship between my son and our dog: playmates. The title is large, drawing attention to it directly  and it's meaning.

Thanks for taking a look at my creative view today. There are many more examples on the Get It Scrapped blog. Head over there for more wonderful ideas.

Supplies-CS-Bazzill, PP-Crate Paper, Washi-MME, Wood pieces-Freckled Fawn, Crate paper, Citrus Twist Kits, Epoxy hearts-Freckled Fawn, Cardstock Stickers-Cosmo Cricket, Fancy Pants, ink-Colorbox

Bumpy Ride

Hey there. It's a double post day for me. If you are looking for a post about today's Get It Scrapped article, please go here. 

Now on to the newest challenge over at Child's Play Challenges. It's time for a classic TV challenge. 

This show still makes me laugh. It was clever then and is now too. I always loved the beginning when Fred is pedaling his car with his feet. I always wondered how he never had sore feet! 

Well, as I was considering ideas, I came across these photos of us on the Autopia car ride at Disneyland. Perfect.

It was my younger son's first time and he was unsure how to react. My older son drove for the first time and loved it. I had some papers and embellishments with cars on them. This would probably be the only reason I'd use cars on a page. Neither of my boys were car and truck guys. I love the result of the boldly striped papers. It reminds me of the racing checkerboard, without being too literal. 

Thanks for checking in today at my creative view. Come back again. I have more to share this week. Now head on over to Child's Play Challenges for more inspiration and to add your LO to the challenge.

Supplies: CS-Paper Accents, PP and embellishments- Crate Paper, rub-ons-Freckled Fawn, Stickles, Alpha-American Crafts, Mist-Studio Calico, Tattered Angels.

LGS Aug #1-Happy

Hey there and happy Monday. Monday means it's time for a new sketch challenge at Let's Get Sketchy. But first, some fun opportunities await!

Have you heard the news?  Issue 4 is LIVE!  You can read it here!  We know you will enjoy it, and hope you consider submitting for the next issue!

We have a few new ideas for the next issue, the first of which will start with a new challenge, using this mood board!

We would love for you to link up your interpretation of this mood board.   For information on how to play, click HERE!

There is a great single photo sketch in play this week.  Look at how versatile it can be.

This is what I did with it. 

I flipped it in order to use a vertical photo. As this is part of the almost (never) ending Bar Mitzvah album, I kept the page on the more simple side. I misted the background so it wouldn't be too plain. I used a die cut from a friend of mine, Brenshevia. The rest is just some simple saying embellishments to further push the idea of Happy parents. Easy, simple and fun.

Thanks for taking a look today at my creative view. Be sure to head over to Let's Get Sketchy for mor interpretations of the sketch.

Supplies: CS-Bazzill, PP-Basic Grey, embellishments-Basic Grey, Freckled Fawn, Studio Calico, Hazel & Ruby, Making Memories, Stencil-TCW, Mist-Tattered Angels, Alpha-Americna Crafts.

One of the Boys-

Good morning. I am sharing a LO today that is up on the Child's Play Challenges blog for the new Weebles challenge.

These photos are cousins playing with a huge BatCave. They were sharing the piece and playing together. It reminded me of the houses and other themes that were available for Weebles.  I used dark colored papers, like the BatCave. Arrows move back and forth like the boys playing together. and some happy sayings on stickers and called it a day.

Thanks for taking a look today. Head on over to  Child's Play Challenges to find more inspiration and join our challenge. 

Supplies: PP-BoBunny, Simple Stories, stickers-Simple Stories, Alphas-Simple stories, American Crafts

The Best Babysitter

Hi there. I've been enjoying my summer with my children, but am still taking some time for me to scrap.  I am sharing a LO that is up on the Get It Scrapped blog.  Today, we are talking about Sketches and Templates. 

I use sketches all the time.  When I sit down to scrapbook, my roadblock is page design.  I often just don't know where to begin.  Sketches give me a starting place, removing the stress of designing the page. I usually have my photos already chosen. When I'm ready to begin a page, I will look for a sketch that works with them. The fun part for me is choosing my supplies. Once I have chosen a sketch,  the page comes together quickly. 

The page is about our much loved babysitter who was going off to college.  I used full 4x6 photos and needed a simple design. Here is used a sketch from the Get It Scrapped Rule Play eBook. It has a nice horizontal strip to ground the photos. The embellishments are a small way to enhance the theme of the page without overwhelming it. To make it my own, I extended the size of the matte, and used the title as the third embellishment area.

Thanks for coming to look at my creative view today. For more information about this great article please use this link to Get It Scrapped

Supplies: PP, chipboard, stickers and brads-Simple Stories, Alphas-American Crafts, Simple Stories, enamel dots-MME, mist-Studio Calico, ink-Colorbox, adhesive-EK Success

Checkmate

Good Morning and happy August 1. Wow. August 1. That kind of makes me sad. It means half of summer is over. But this blog post is all about a fun summer visit with friends.

I've had these photos printed for a while. I thought this would be a fun way to highlight them. But as my some told me, chess is only black and whet, not red. Well, It's a good thing they were playing checkers as well as chess! The background was so busy that I let it and the photos tell the story, keeping embellishments to a minimum. The blue paper did it's job, grounding the photos, as well as picking up the blue shorts so you can see the boys in the photos. 

 Thanks for taking a look at my creative view today!

Supplies: CS-Bazzill, cut files by A Cutt Above the Rest, brads-Freckled Fawn, Theresa Collins, enamel dots-MME, Doodlebug Designs, chipboard-Simple Stories, mist-Tattered Angels,Alphas-Jillibean Soup