I'm on Fire!

I got two more projects done yesterday! The first is a card for my sister and brother-in-law's anniversary next week. I made this for the Stash Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to make a card or layout in a size smaller than we normally do. I normally make 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch cards. This card is 3 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches. All of the paper was scraps!!



The second project is a layout with pictures from my nephew's birthday. I did this one for the Sketch Challenge at Challenge Masters. Audrey gave us a great sketch to work with. It is so fun sometimes to work with fewer photos and I had a lot of fun with this one. But, I realized that I don't have much for little boy paper, all of the paper I used on this layout is really old. It was satisfying to use some of that stuff that has been sitting around for a while though!

Some Quick Projects

I've gotten a few more projects done in the last couple of days for challenges. Two of them are cards for a couple of birthdays next week. I have an anniversary card I should get done too so that it is done and ready to go in case I go into labor.

The first project is another pocket page for my birthday cards from last year. I did this one for the Blade Masters Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to use die cuts as a border. I cut the party hats using the "border" feature on my Cricut and then cut the two individual cupcakes to cap the end of my border. Both images are from the Doodlecharms cartridge. While I was working on this one both of my daughters wanted to play with my supplies so I pulled out the "Paper Doll Dress Up" cartridge and we made a doll for each of them. I don't have pictures right now, but I will snap some and post them in the next couple of days. It was fun letting them choose how they wanted their dolls to look and it was interesting letting my 3-year-old choose paper to cut the layers from.



The next project was a birthday card I made for my father-in-law whose birthday is next week. I also made this one for the Cards Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to make a masculine card and do some heat embossing on it. The "Happy Birthday" and leaves were heat embossed with silver powder.



Finally, I made a birthday card for my Grandma whose birthday is next week as well. This one was for the Stamping Challenge. The challenge was to stamp on patterned paper. I ended up choosing a subtle patterned paper (the red) the stamp my flower on. I like how the patterned paper adds a little texture to the image.

Color and Hybrid

I finished a couple more layouts for challenges at Challenge Masters. I had a some struggles with both layouts, but am happy with the finished product.

The first layout was for the Color Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to make a layout or card using rust, blue, cream and sage green. I thought the colors worked great with these photos of my husband and his family golfing. The biggest struggle with this layout was getting information to journal about. I was not at this event, so I had no details or memories of it. I asked my husband if he remembered the scores or even how everyone did, but he did not. I was able to accept this as it was over a year ago. Then I asked him the name of the course they went golfing at. He couldn't even remember that! I ended up e-mailing his parents to find out the name. This was also a reminder as to why what I do is so important!



The next challenge was the Hybrid Challenge. This month's challenge was to print out some digital papers and/or embellishments and use them on a project. I have had Photoshop Elements for a few years now, but I am still getting used to it and there are always new things for me to figure out. This was extremely clear as I tried to print out my elements for this layout. I could make them look the way I wanted on the screen, but when I went to print them out, the computer would crop things. I was very frustrated and required help and calming from my husband on more than one occasion as I worked on this layout. All of the patterned paper and elements on this page were printed and cut out. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I wish our printer would print up to 12" so that my strips would have reached the edges of my paper, but I can live with that.

June Book of Me

This month's Book of Me Challenge at Challenge Masters was to create a page about a place that has special memories for me. I created this layout about the campground/resort my family used to go to every summer when I was a kid. We always had so much fun there. There was so much to do! I struggled a little with the design of this page because I don't have much for ourdoorsy, camping products so I had to make my own. The font I used is called CK Summer Camp and I am happy with how it turned out. The trees and clouds are handcut.



Next are a couple of pocket pages I made to display some cards. I have been making this kind of page for a while now because I like to keep the cards we receive and I feel like this is a good way to display them so we can look back on them. These pages go together pretty fast too. The first is Halloween cards that we have received over the last several years. The second holds the anniversary cards my husband and I received last year.





Finally is a page I needed to get done. It is a layout with the ultrasound images of baby #3. I like to complete these pages before my babies are born so I can make them gender neutral without being at all influenced by the actual gender of the baby. This pregnancy is winding down, so I thought I should do the layout. I used a Jana Eubank sketch for inspiration.

A Layout and a Couple Cards

I have completed a couple more projects done in the last couple of days. The first is a layout I did for The Daily Grind Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to use photos that were taken outside but not at any special event. I used some photos I had taken last fall of my daughter playing at the park. I used Crate Paper Sweet Branch collection for the paper and embellishments.



Next is a Father's Day card I made for Impromptu Challenge #4 at Challenge Masters. The challenge was simply to make a Father's Day card. Super easy since I need to make 4! I actually made 2 like this because I had two pieces of the argyle paper leftover from my "The Office Party" layout. I also used my Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cartridge that I bought on clearance at Michael's.



The last is a card I added a little to to make it my own. I originally made this card at Scrapfest a couple of years ago. I thought it would be perfect for my niece's 14th birthday next week. I added the number 14 and accented the paper with some Stickles.

A Couple of Cards

With June comes lots of birthdays and anniversaries in our family so, along with layouts, you will be seeing lots of cards. Here are the two cards for this week.

The first is a birthday card for my sister whose birthday is Wednesday. For this card I wanted to play some more with my alcohol inks on clear material. I cut out a piece of transparency and used the inks on the label part. Hint: Alcohol inks smudge the ink on Hambly brand transparencies. I learned the hard way to used them on the opposite side of the printing! Anyway, I feel like I still have A LOT to learn about using these inks and am strongly considering taking a class.



The second card I made for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's anniversary on Thursday. I used a couple of challenges as inspiration. The Technique Challenge this month at Challenge Masters is to make a fabric or ribbon flower. I ended up making two as the first one I made was way too big, but I LOVE the way the lace one turned out! I also used the currents sketch from Get Sketchy.

June Calendar Challenge!

I just posted my June Calendar Challenge over at the new Challenge Masters! This month's challenge is called "Rule of 3." This challenge is going to make you think a little. My challenge is that for every item you put on your layout, you must have 3! For example, in my layout, there are 3 photos, 3 circles made from 3 patterned papers, 3 ribbons, 3 gromlets, 3 epoxy words, and 3 chipboard letters.



Have a great Sunday everyone!

Bo Bunny Sketch

I made this layout yesterday using the current Sketch Challenge on the Bo Bunny blog. The challenge was to use the sketch below with Bo Bunny products. Bo Bunny has some of the cutest stuff around, so this was a lot of fun to do. I used stuff from a couple of their newer lines. The die cut paper is from Jazmyne and the other papers are from their Sophie line. I hand cut the flowers on the bottom of the right page and between the photos on that page. When I bought that sheet of paper I knew that the pattern was perfect for hand cutting.




Stay tuned, tomorrow I will be revealing my Calendar Challenge and layout for May!

New Month and New Projects

Happy June! As I expect to have a baby by the end of this month, you will (hopefully) be seeing lots of new layouts and cards in the next few weeks. Today I have a card and two layouts that I created in the last week to share.

I made this card for my in-laws on their 34th wedding anniversary which was on Saturday. I used a sketch from Sketch Saturday which is celebrating their second birthday this week! It is a good thing I decided to distress the vellum before I started trying to adhere it. I went through 4 different adhesives before I was satisfied with the results. The spray that I usually use is clogged or gummed up so it wouldn't spray, then I tried my vellum adhesive roller, but on darker paper it showed up too much, then I used my ATG, but that showed too much too. Finally I just ran it through my Xyron machine. It isn't perfect, but I can live with it.


I spent most of last week working on this layout. It wasn't because I had any trouble with it, I just had a lot of other stuff to do so I started it and then didn't get around to finishing it until the end of the week. I did this one for the Stamping Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to stamp on a layout. I have quite a few stamps so I usually try to use them on my layouts regularly, but this was a good reminder and excuse to get those stamps out and use them! I stamped the "smile" accent, the "girlfriends" accent and the word "learning" in the title.



Finally I did this layout for the Hybrid Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to use the template below to create a layout. This template and a few others can be downloaded for free here. I struggled figuring out how to get the layers to work in Photoshop Elements, but Elizabeth (the Hybrid group leader) kindly directed me to this tutorial which helped immensely! I printed out the photo collage after I had inserted all of the elements and then added the paper and embellishments. Once I got the PSE stuff figured out, this came together quite quickly!


Finally, speaking of Challenge Masters, we have a new home. You can find the new message board here. The first June challenges (including my Calendar challenge will be posted this Sunday. Hope you join us!