Hey there! I have been taking full advantage of my Scrappy Fridays this month. It's what I call my "day off". I catch up on TV from the weekend, and scrap until the kiddos get home from school. It's really quite helpful in clearing my head at the end of the week. 

A friend of mine recently joined the team at The ScrapRoom. I like to support my friends and of course, small scrappy businesses. I don't subscribe to the kit club, but I can help get the word out.  This is something I did yesterday using their sketch for the Guest Designer Sketch Challenge. 

Although the sketch called for two photos, I wound up using only one. I had two, but they didn't work well together, throwing the whole thing off. Fortunately, this sketch allows some flexibility. I flipped it on it's side, centering the single photo and it turned out well. I used a square matte instead of the circle, also simplifying my embellishments. Lastly, I flagged the ends of the paper strips to give it some more interest. 

My son and I both love to read. Two days after moving across the country, we found the library,  signed up for library cards, as well as summer reading programs. I could barely find the market, but I could find the library. That's a priority if there ever was one. 

Thanks for stopping by my creative view today. If you are new to my blog, please consider flowing me. I have lots to share, and share often, I do.

Supplies: CS-American Crafts, PP, stickers, chipboard, alpha-Bella Blvd, wood pieces-Lawn Fawn, Studio Calico, enamel dots-MME, flair-October Afternoon, mist-Studio Calico, stitch template-Bazzil, thread-DMC

More from Momo's Birthday

Hey there! I got to play! Well, actually, I have to thank Get It Scrapped for giving me a push to start working on the project that I'd set aside for several years. Combine that with a few challenges and I'm finding myself almost finished! Here are two more completed pages using sketches and challenges from Scrap Our Stash and ScrapMuch?

Fort up is the Sketch + 3 from Scrap Our Stash . 

I knew I could use the sketch in my album. I used 2 larger photos, instead of the smaller ones and moved some embellishments around. Not every page in the album has a title, such as this one. I used American Crafts-White Cardstock, Blue, and Red. Considering I'm using the same product throughout the album, this was pretty easy to do ;-). 

Next is the sketch from ScrapMuch?  One look and I knew it would also work in the album. 

I did two things right away; flip it on its side and use larger photos. I printed all the photos for this book in 4x6 and I was not re-printing any of them!  This sketch adjustment worked great for me. I kept it simple and it came together quickly. 

Thanks for stopping by my creative view today. I'm almost done sharing baseball photos. Well, maybe...Come back again soon. I've been busy and have much to share.

"Slugger" Supplies: CS-American Crafts,  Bazzill, PP, stickers, Doodlebug Design, Tag-Queen & Co, Flair-UmmWow Studio, twine-Recollections, enamel dots-MME, mist-Tattered Angels, thread DMC, Silhouette

"Star" Supplies: PP-Echo Park, Stickers-PaperHouse, Echo Park, Wood pieces-Lawn Fawn, Studio Calico, doily & Washi-Doodlebug Design, Punch-EK Success, mist-Tattered Angels

Dude, Who Cut the Cheese?

Good morning!  We all have our process, our reasons for choosing the products that we do when we work on a layout, whether you realize it or not.  Some of this process can come easily, other parts can be a real struggle. Today's new article on the Get It Scrapped blog shares masteries in that process.

Page titles come easily to me, and often, they are humorous, sometimes they are puns. I use the humor in the titles to draw the viewer into my page. I also use the humor to help me choose product that leverages that humor even more across the page.  The title here is something a 10 year old boy would say. The embellishments also use words that mimic that idea.

While visiting Pike Place Market for the first time, we stopped at Beecher's Cheese, and watched cheese being made. He had never seen this before. We all were mesmerized. This was our first stop after our long cross country drive. We picked up the keys to our new house, went to the first Starbucks, wandered a bit more, then headed home for the first time.

Thanks for stopping by my creative view today. I've been busy and have many pages to share so come back again soon.

Supplies: Cardstock-American Crafts, Patterned paper, stickers, brads-Basic Grey, Stamps-Snarky Stamps by Heather Joyce, Hero Arts, ink-Colorbox, arrows-Studio Calico, Fancy Pants, alphas-Doodlebug Design, American Crafts, October Afternoon, pen and adhesive-EK Success

8 Days a Week

Good morning! I can't believe half the month is over already. Well, that means Stuck?! Sketches new challenge is up.  Check out this sketch!

When Hanukkah began in December I decided I was going to take a photo each night of the candle lit menorahs. I had an idea in my head of creating a page with the photos in some sort of filmstrip style.  I saw this sketch and knew it was just what I'd had in mind.  I essentially doubled the width of both the photos and papers, using the embellishments as they are in the sketch. 

If you join our challenge, you have an opportunity to win prizes from these wonderful sponsors.

As always, I'm so glad you stopped  by my creative view today. I've lots to share, so come back again soon.

Supplies: PP, stickers & chipboard.-Crate paper  doilies & sequins-Doodlebug Design, alphas-MME & American Crafts, &-Freckled Fawn, mist-Heidi Swapp

First Pitch

Good morning!  As long as I've been scrapping, I have found working on a specific project difficult to do from start to finish. I'll do a few pages, then either get bored or side tracked by something else and the whole things gets set aside.   Today's article on the Get It Scrapped blog shares some ideas on how to rejuvenate these stale projects.

For my Grandfather's 90th birthday, he wanted to throw out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium. We made that happen for him. That was in 2009, and I still haven't finished making the album from the party.

My grandfather passed shortly after the party. At first, I was too sad to work on these photos, so I set them all aside. I would do a page here and there that didn't have photos of my Grandfather in them, but there was no joy in creating them. I had bought some Baseball themed product for his album, but it was so long ago, I no longer like it or want to use it

Enough time has passed that I'm no longer sad looking at these photos. My Grandmother is ailing, and I'm feeling like I want to finish so I have one last, permanent, good memory of my grandparents together. It also helps that a new Baseball line has just been released that has really inspired me to work on this project.

Supplies: Cardstock-American Crafts, patterned papers, washi tape, -Doodlebug Design, stickers-Echo park, Doodlebug Design, Alpha, pen and stitch template-American Crafts, brad-unknown, thread-DMC, adhesive-EK Success

He Pigged Out

Hey there! A couple of my online scrappy friends are new members of the Imaginisce Design Team. I thought I'd support them (and have a little creative fun myself) by playing along with the monthly sketch challenge on the Imaginisce blog. I work with Laura at Stuck?! Sketches and she creates really amazing sketches. They are so easy to use and are adaptable to so many scrappy styles. Really, how could I not play along. 

My son eats what he eats and that's all. It is extremely difficult to get him to try anything new.   I made something new, but called it something he's familiar with and he ate it! Not only did he eat it, he loved it! I couldn't give it to him fast enough. I call that a win and something to celebrate. 

So yeah, let's just count these Heartland Farm papers I bought during the summer. I'm a sucker for primary colors, and small pattern b-sides. Well, I set them aside, saving them for just the right project. Well, this is that project. Food. On the papers and the die cuts! And the pig! The pigs gave me the title for the page! I used mostly the small patterned papers which allowed me to embellish using the larger food die cuts.  I laughed the whole time I was working on the page. i love using double meaning and humor on my pages. 

I loved the sketch and found it easy to use. I flipped it, added a few extra layers of paper, and moved some embellishments around. 

Thanks for taking a look at my creative view today. Come back again soon, I've got lots to share.

Supplies: CS-American Crafts, PP & Die Cuts-Imaginisce, enamel dots-MME, Studio Calico, Alphas-Jillibean Soup, American Crafts

Momo's 90th

Hey there. I'm working on finishing a project I should have started and finished a long time ago. Today I have for you the title page to the album. It's not the first page I've done, and far from the last.I love baseball and am having so much fun using all the baseball themed stuff I've been hoarding away for this project. 

This page was inspired by Scrap Our Stash Cat in the Hat and Paper Issues Take 5 challenges.  My colors for the album are red. white and blue, so the red and white of the Hat were easy for me to incorporate. I even used a striped tag. I added some white paint to the edge of the LA paper as a border, then splattered a little silver across the card stock.  I also liked how on the book cover treble and white were split, and designed my page with the same idea. 

Paper Issues new Take 5 challenges asked to use 5 of the listed items in your project. I used blue, card stock, alpha stickers, die cuts, paint/mist, a circle, and twine.

Thanks for following me along my creative view. Stop by again soon, I've got lots to share.

Supplies: PP-Doodlebug Design, Bella Blvd, Jo-Ann Fabrics, CS-American Crafts, Tag-Queen & Co, doily & enamel shape-Doodlebug Design, twine-American Crafts, enamel dots-MME, stickers-Echo Park, EK Success, alphas-Bella Blvd, mist-Studio Calico, Heidi Swapp

Fav 15 of 2015

Hi there and Happy New Year! This last year was an amazing year creatively for me. The first half of the year was spent fast and furiously creating for several design teams, including Paper Issues . These were truly invaluable experiences I will never forget. The second half of the year was spent creating for fewer design teams, and a little less often. I much prefer the fast and furious.

Speaking of Paper Issues, I'm part of their Blog Hop today featuring my favorite 15 projects I created in 2015.  Here you go, and they are in no particular order. Most of these were previously blogged. Click on the titles to go to the original post for more information.

Grateful

Walkabout

We Are....

Queen of Reality

All Right, All Right, All Right

In Full Bloom

Make A Wish

Splash & Play

Notes to Self

Dream

We Love the Cubs

Candy Store

Everything is Going to be Okay

You Can Go Your Own Way

Thank you so much for taking the time to look through my creative view of 2015. I plan on creating 2016 a particularly crafty year, I hope you'll join my on my journey.

Grins by the Sea

Good morning and Happy New Year. I think a perfect way to begin the year is with a new challenge and layout to share. Here is the first sketch challenge of the month and year for Stuck?! Sketches

Here is the page I created using the sketch as inspiration.  I recently printed a bunch of 4x6 photos and I am determined to use them without reprinting them in other sizes.  By using the larger photos, the embellishment clusters became smaller, but the integrity of the sketch remains the same. Once again, you can see the versatility in our sketches. 

While on a family picnic, I wanted to get a photo of my son with the ocean as background. Someone got a bit goofy and threw me the cheesy grins as well. I kept them all to remind me of his silliness and carefree nature. 

Please join our challenges for a chance to win some wonderful prizes from our generous sponsors.  See the Stuck?! Sketches blog for details and rules of play.

Thanks for starting of the year with me and my creative view. I plan on sharing many memories, both newly acquired and fondly remembered. I hope you will follow along as I get them all down on paper.

Supplies: CS-American Crafts, PP, chipboard, flair, stickers and die cuts-October Afternoon. Enamel dots-MME, alphas-October Afternoon, MME, mist-Studio Calico

Grateful

Hi there. Do you ever have a moment and know that you will turn it into a memory to savor? If you are a memory keeper/scrapbooker like I am, then maybe you know what I am talking about. If not, well, I'm about to share with you why I do what I do, and why I keep doing it. In fact, this is the topic of today's article on the Get It Scrapped blog.

My son has special needs.  For the first time in his life, he and I took an unassisted walk together.   It was a spontaneous moment, and one that I am so happy to have captured. (thank you trusty cell phone). There was no wheelchair or walker, just he and I holding hands walking.   It's something other people do everyday, but it was a momentous occasion for us. 

I continue to scrapbook because I like to see the progress my son has made throughout his life. From year to year I can see not only how he has developed, but  also how his interests have changed, or in many cases, stayed the same. I am not an epic storyteller, but a few sentences with photos remind me of where he was, how far he has come, and sometimes my feelings get written in there too. 

Having a child with special needs means extra care and time for him. That also means I need extra time and care for myself. Scrapbooking allows me that time to replenish and rejuvenate myself. It's a huge stress reducer for me.

I took a simple approach to this page. I had seen a LO created by one of my favorite designers. I lifted and adapted it to suit my needs. There is hardly anything on it, but what is there, has meaning and purpose.  The paper and embellishments lend themselves to warm feelings. The photo and words stand out, which is the intention. 

As always, thanks for taking a look at my creative view today.  Come back again soon, I've got lots to share.

Supplies: Patterned paper, die cuts, stickers-Pink Paislee, pen and adhesive-EK Success, design inspired by Lisa Dickinson for Elle's Studio

If You Build It

Good morning. This is round two today. A new sketch is up on the Stuck?! Sketches blog and it'a  great one!

If you play along you have a chance to win some prizes offered by these generous sponsors.

1 piece of chipboard of winners choice

$25 gift certificate

 I'm all about layering right now. It's something I'm trying to master so this sketch really appealed to me. I flipped the sketch because my photo is facing left. I used several papers to create my layers. I omitted the circular elements in favor of some generic embellishments.  No flowers for this page, but the gears played nicely into the building theme. 

School projects can be boring and mundane. It's been neat to see how they've changed since I was in school. I had never heard of the "Toothpick Tower" project. Apparently, it needed to be but to hold 100lbs, which it did. I want tell you how many sticks of hot glue or toothpicks he went through, but it was fun to watch him build it.

Thanks for stopping by my creative view today. Stop by again soon, I've always got more to share.

Supplies: PP, Stickers-Simple Stories, Alphas-Authentique, Freckled Fawn, enamel dots-MME, mat-heidi Swapp

My Happy Place

Hi there! I have a page to share for today's Picture This reveal. The challenge elements are:

1 PHOTO + GREEN + FLOWER CLUSTER + BUTTERFLY

I went for a very pink and feminine page, and I had a lot of fun creating it. This photo has been sitting in my pile for a while. These elements seemed to be the right ones to put this page together.  I used several patterned papers to matte the photo. Then I cut the flowers and a few of the leaves on the Silhouette. Using them to frame the photo diagonally, draws focus to them as well as the photo. I liked being able to plant the butterfly right into the flower cluster.

Tulips. I love them. Being able to see them growing and blooming in their natural environment is breathtaking. Cliche? Maybe. But true.  I sat down in the middle of a field and admired their beauty. Beside the beach, I can't imagine anywhere else I can call my happy place. 

Thanks for stopping by my creative view today. I always have more to share, so come back again soon. Sadly, this will be the last reveal for Picture This  The blog will close at the end of the month. 

Supplies: PP-Imaginesce, Fancy Pants, CS-Bazzill, Die cuts-Silhouette, Freckled Fawn, Fancy Pants, Twine-Doodlebug Design, enamel dots-Freckled Fawn, ink-Prima, Stamp-Paper Salon, mist-Heidi Swapp

It's a Brown Bear...

Well hello! It's been a while since I've had time to play. I mean play just for me, just for fun. I guess it's that time of year. Anyway, I took some inspiration from a couple of my favorite places, Scrap Our Stash and Paper Issues Sketchy Saturday.

I adapted the sketch to two larger photos instead of the smaller 3. I left the rest pretty much the same. All of the elements chosen make up the DIE CUTS requirements. Die cuts, ink, enable dots, chevron, UmWow Studio (arrows), Triangles, Stars, Simple Stories

My son goes through phases, only we call it the toy of the moment. We never know what it's going to be or how long it's going to last. Let's just day the Brown Bear phase lasted so long, I could recite the book by heart.  It still makes frequent appearances.

I'm so glad you stopped by my creative view today. Come back again soon, I have a lot going on this week.

Supplies: CS-Pulp Paper, PP, die cuts, stickers, stars-Fancy Pants, alphas-Simple Stories, Bella Blvd, Fancy Pants, enamel dots-Basic Grey, Freckled Fawn, wood chips-Umm Wow Studios, mist-Tattered Angels

Walkabout

Well, a fine Tuesday morning to you. I know we all wish we could scrap faster. Today's Get It Scrapped article, gives some tips on speeding up scrapbooking with Product Shortcuts. 

I find using product from the same collection really helps speed up my scrapbooking process. All of the colors, patterns and embellishments have been designed to work together. With that part of the decision making process done for me, I just select the pieces that best support my story and my page comes together quickly. For this page I used a summer collection. The colors and motif were exactly what I was looking for to help tell my story.

My story is this: After a reluctant start to a walk by the beach, my son took off on his own. I followed him as he explored. 

Thanks for stopping by my creative view today. I hope you've enjoyed my product shortcut. Head over to Get It Scrapped blog to learn more product shortcuts from other team members.

Supplies: Patterned Paper, die cuts, chipboard, enamel dots and sticky brads-Simple Stories, Alpha-October Afternoon, pen and Adhesive-EK Success, page design inspired by Scrapbook Coach 14: Product play, layout 1.

Picture This Blog Hop

Welcome to the Lets Get Sketchy/Picture This “My One Word” Blog Hop. You should have come from Jesse‘s blog. If you have landed here by accident and want to play along then you can head back to the Let's Get Sketchy site to start at the beginning and to start collecting your challenge words. All of the directions are there, which will help you make sense of how this works. These words should be bold on each Design Team member’s blog.

The word I chose for my project is "SILLY" I have these photos of my children with my sister, their favorite Aunt. She loves to bring them fun gifts. These hats were a huge hit and had us all in fits of giggles for days.  I chose a simple design with bright animal print paper. The page is happy and light, perfect for the photos.

I'm the last stop on the Blog Hop today, so from here, head back to the Let's Get Sketchy bIog 

and follow the directions there.  Don’t forget, each team member has a word hidden someone on their page that forms a great quote so make sure you grab all the words for your chance at an extra prize! 

My word(s) is ART IS.

Remember to play along in our hop challenge to win the wonderful prize from our sponsor, Creative Embellishments! If you get lost along the way, head on back over to Let’s Get Sketchy for the line up! 

Here is the first half of the lineup in case you get lost!

Day 1 Line up:

Let’s Get Sketchy-http://letsgetsketchy.blogspot.com/

Buffy-http://cherishedmementos.blogspot.com/

Marci-http://ascrapfrommarci.blogspot.com/

Lynn G.-http://memoriesonthepage.blogspot.com.au/

Melissa-http://yesterday2day4ever.blogspot.co.nz/

Nidhi-http://sayitwithcraft.blogspot.sg/

Brenda-http://brendalcaldow.blogspot.com.au/

Carolyn-http://ramblingsofawinnipegmommy.blogspot.ca/

Sue-http://patriciasue.blogspot.co.nz./

Laetitia-http://triniti59760.blogspot.fr/

Elisa-http://2crazycrafters.blogspot.com.au/

Sarah-http://scrappinmylittleroyals.blogspot.com/

Cassie-http://allsmilesandsunshine.blogspot.com/

Jesse-http://princesseaby.canalblog.com/

Devra-http://mycreativeview.blogspot.com (YOU ARE HERE)

You fill find the 2nd half of the list tomorrow by starting once again at Let’s Get Sketchy !

Supplies: CS-Paper Accent, P, stickers-Belle Blvd, enamel dots-MME, alpha-Thickers

Love, Love, Love

Good morning. Poof! It's December! Wow! Where did the year go? No, I'm not going to get reflective right now. I'm here to share today's reveal at Stuck?! Sketches. Here is the first sketch of the month. 

Here is what I did with it. I stayed pretty true to the sketch this time. I like the clean lines, and this design worked well with the photos and papers I chose. I  did use larger photos, so I adjusted the paper sizes a little to fit them better.

My son is so funny. Whenever we go visit family he always chooses someone randomly who becomes his "person of choice" for the day. He gets as close to them as he can, and yes that can include sitting on laps. Well, one day it was his Aunt, another day his Grammy. He certainly knows how to get attention! 

I hope to see you playing along with us this month at Stuck?! Sketches. We have some wonderful sponsors offering great prizes. 

A $20 GC 

A $25 GC

Thanks for stopping by my creative view today. I've always got lots to share,m so come back again soon.

Supplies: CS- Bazzill, PP, washi enamel dots & stickers-Doodlebug Design, wood piece & acrylic-Freckled Fawn, mist-Studio Calico, Heidi Swapp

My First Tree

Hey there! Welcome to December and out first challenge for the month at Picture This.   Here are the challenge details:

3 PHOTOS +FRAME + CHRISTMAS COLORS + CHRISTMAS TREE

Ok then. This was hard for me. Mostly because I didn't grow up celebrating Christmas. So, Christmas Tree photos are not in abundance in my photo library. I actually had permission for this assignment to use any tree, but while I was digging through photos, I found these gems.  This was our first Christmas together, my first time picking out a tree, and first time decorating it. I really did laugh when told I had to water the tree. What? I said? It's already dead!

Since the photos were the hard part, the rest was easy after that. I grabbed a few red and green paper scraps and the ONE Christmas themed sticker sheet I had. (It's a good thing I saved it from that warehouse box I got last year). So I went all out on the Christmasy colors and theme for this page. It was fun because it's not my norm. I really like that the kraft paper gives it an even more traditional feel. The cork frames play into that as well.

Thanks for taking a look at my creative view today. I've go more to share, so stop by again soon.

Supplies: CS-Bazzill, PP & Stickers-Basic Grey, Wood pieces-Studio Calico, mist- Heidi Swapp, frames-Freckled Fawn, Alphas-Basic Grey, October Afternoon