Merry 1st Christmas... in May!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Thank you to all those who have served our country!

I am here today to share a layout I completed.  A Christmas layout!  I know, it is May and it is finally nice outside, but I was finally inspired to scrap these photos, and there is no fighting inspiration!  Especially when it is inspiration to scrap a two-pager!

I decided to lay out my photos in the shape of a Christmas tree.  Then I decided to create a tree with paper.  I cut a piece of green patterned paper in half along the diagonal to make the tree.  I made "balls" to hang from the tree with red patterned paper.  I used gold washi tape for the "garland" and I folded it to make the tops of the balls.  For the title, I  used some pre-printed pieces from the "Everyone Loves Christmas" collection by Echo Park. After I had finished adding embellishments, I decided the top needed something more, especially on the right.  I ended up creating lines of platinum Stickles to add some sparkle and interest.  

I was inspired by the 5/20 Tuesday Trigger challenge at My Scraps and More.  The challenge was to have at least 3 of a shape that gets progressively bigger.  I used the circles. 

Materials:

Cardstock- Die Cuts With a View

Patterned Paper- Rcollections, Echo Park

Stickers- Echo Park

Tape- My Mind's Eye

Glitter Glue- Ranger

Journal Spot- Recollections

Brad- Bo Bunny

Wood Veneer- KaiserCraft

Canvas- Prima

Ink- Tattered Angels

Pen- Sharpie

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 5-25-14

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope you are having a great weekend!  The weather has been fabulous her (finally!).  I am back with my photos for the scavenger hunt this week.

Favorite Place

This one is from our cruise.  This is my favorite photo from the whole trip.  It was taken on the beach in Barbados.  Barbados was my favorite stop on our cruise.  We didn't spend a ton of time on the actual island, but in the waters around it.  The water there was so clear and so blue!  

Pink
My husband bought me flowers for Mother's Day a couple of weeks ago and they still looked good through most of this week.

Where I Stand

My younger daughter had her end of the year program earlier this week at our church.  I was sitting when I took this photo, but this was my view from "where I sat" looking down the pew at my family.

Something New

The zoo near us has a giant bug exhibit going on this summer.  Since we are members, we got to go to a preview event Thursday night and check it out.  They were pretty cool.  There are giant, larger than life, robotic bugs, as well as some big real bugs from around the world on exhibit.

 Technology
As I said, the big bugs are robotic, and this one had controls that the kids could maneuver.  You can't see the control board, but that is what my kids are standing in front of.

My Scraps and More Sketch #82- Cosmic Mini Golf

Happy Friday!  It is the start of a long weekend, woot!  I have a layout to share today, based on this week's sketch at My Scraps and More.  

Besides the sketch, I was inspired by the 5/5 Mix It Up Monday challenge on the boards there. The challenge was to use color photos but only neutrals for your papers and embellishments.  The photos are from a black light mini golf course at our local mall.  I was really struggling to figure out what kind of colors to use to scrap these.  The neutrals worked perfectly!  The large polka dot paper I made with a mask and some mist.  

I felt like since there was no color, I needed to add some pizzazz somehow, so I kind of went crazy with the glitter.  I used DIY Thickers for the title.  I started by lightly sprinkling some larger, silver iridescent glitter and then went over them with fine silver glitter.  For the chipboard stars, I inked them with grey ink and then smeared iridescent glitter glue over them.

Make sure you head over to the blog and check out what the rest of the team did!

Materials- 

Cardstock- Stampin Up, American Crafts

Patterned Paper- Die Cuts With a View

Journal spot- Making Memories

Chipboard- Advantus, Heidi Swapp

Ink- Ranger, Clearsnap

Pen- Zig

Stickers- American Crafts, Bella Blvd. 

Glitter- American Crafts

Glitter Glue- American Crafts, Ranger

Rub Ons- Studio Calico

Stamp- Stampin Up

Ribbon- unknown

Dew Drops- Robin's Nest

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 5-18-14

Hello!  It is finally nice here!  We got a chance to enjoy it this morning too, as you will see...

Animals

I found my youngest sleeping like this yesterday in his crib.  What a silly kid!

In the Shade

This is a tunnel slide at the park we were at this morning.  It's shady in the tunnel...

 From Behind
The reason we were at a park this morning is that the older three kids and I participated in a fun run: a 1K (ish) for the kids and a 5K (ish) for me.  I say "ish" because, according to my GPS sport tracker app, my run was about 2.75 miles...  Oh well, it was fun!  This is my second oldest crossing the finish line for the kids' run.

 On the Ground
My youngest has REALLY been into cars lately.  I got some photos of the cars (and him) earlier this week.

Bugs or Blossoms

So this one is a bit of a stretch, but there are flowers painted on my daughter's arm in this photo.  There was a face painter at the race this morning and my oldest decided she wanted flowers painted on her arm.

CAS(E) this Sketch #76: Happy Birthday

I have another card to share today, this time I was inspired by this week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch:

I used some glossy cardstock for the background and the "wish" definition stamp from the Stampin' Up "Define Your Life" stamp set.  I stamp the definition with Resist ink.  I dried it with my heat tool and then rubbed Weathered Wood Distress ink over the card.  I spritzed a bit of water where I would be creating the embellishment cluster for some extra interest.  The black splatters were stamped, as was the sentiment.  The polka dot paper is a scrap from a layout I will be sharing next week.  I finished off the card with a piece of tape, some ribbon, and dark grey pearls.

Unscripted Sketches #256: Happy Birthday

Hello!  I am back with a card I created yesterday for a relative whose first birthday we are celebrating tomorrow.  I was inspired by this week's sketch at Unscripted Sketches:

I used my Cricut to cut the confetti for the trail across the card.  I edged everything in brown ink to make it stand out.  Finally, I added some Platinum Stickles on selected pieces for some sparkle.

My Scraps and More Sketch #81- Wild Story Time

It's not my week to do the sketch at My Scraps and More, but I liked this sketch so much, I decided to make a layout anyway:

I loved the rows, but I didn't have square photos so I rotated the sketch to work with my vertical photos. I just bought the Collecting Moments collection by Fancy Pants and so I was excited to cut into it and make a page.  I ended up going with fairly neutral colors for this layout.  For the title, I took the navy block letter stickers and used a zig zag decorative scissors to add some detail and fit the theme. I used a couple of Cricut Cartridges to cut my animals. I also broke open a package of Studio Calico wood veneers to embellish the page.

Here is a close up of the journaling and surrounding cluster.  I drew the zig zag onto the veneer to make it stand out a bit more.  The center column background is Fancy Pants' super fun corrugated paper in gray.  I love the depth and texture it gave this layout!

Make sure you head over to the My Scraps and More blog to check out what the rest of the team did!

Materials-

Cardstock- Die Cuts With a View

Patterned Paper- Fancy Pants

Chipboard- Fancy Pants

Stickers- Fancy Pants, October Afternoon

Pen- Zig, Marvy, Sakura

Cartridges- Zooballoo, Live Simply

Wood Veneers- Studio Calico

Thread- Coats and Clark

Decorative Scissors- Fiskars

Sketch- Tammi Bennett

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 5-11-14

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  I am back today with my photos for the week.  These were all taken this week (in fact a few were taken today... nothing like procrastination).  

Details

Our house has a crab apple tree in the backyard.  We moved in after it had bloomed last year.  I am anxiously awaiting the flowers this year.  Here is a close up of one of the branches, I can see some buds!

Precious

Nothing more precious than a toddler sticking your lip balm in his nose, right?! ;)  My mother-in-law let my youngest play with her lip balm.  After he had applied some to his lips, he decided his nose needed some too.  He later moved on to applying it to his cheeks.

Hungry
My daughters were playing restaurant in the yard this morning.  My younger daughter was the cook.  Here she is preparing a fabulous culinary creation.

Water
Our three older kids have been taking swimming lessons for the last couple of months.  This week I brought the camera to catch them in action.  Here my oldest is practicing the front crawl.  The really impressive thing is her face is in the water.  A year ago, the instructors were having trouble getting her to do that!

Wide Angle
Here's our youngest playing with the wood pile under the deck.  He is a very busy, curious little boy.  He is also a pretty big stinker.  He knows when he is doing something he's not supposed to and will give us the cutest looks to try to get out of trouble... Sometimes it works...

Mother's Day is coming!

Hey! Did you know Sunday is Mother's Day?!  Well, I've finally finished the cards for my mom, mother-in-law and 2 grandmas.  Today I am sharing the first pair I made.  I was inspired by this week's sketch at Unscripted Sketches:

I bought a definition stamp set last week at a garage sale, so I wanted to use that for my cards.  I chose the "gratitude" and "always" stamps.  I stamped it on pink and purple cardstock using coordinating ink.  I then lined up a mask and used the ink blending tool to make the scrolls.  I then stacked the two pieces and cut them at the same time so the angle would be the same so I could just line the pieces up.

I finished it off with a couple of pieces of patterned paper and a piece of embroidery floss.

My Scraps and More Sketch #80- Happy Gnome

It's Friday again, which means another reveal at the My Scraps and More Sketch blog!  Here is today's sketch:

I added another photo to the design, which meant I had to slide the strips and embellishments over and condense them a bit.  I used the fun Bella Blvd. Trick or Treat line for my papers and embellishments.  I added some pops of pink to go with the pinks in the photos. Head over to the My Scraps and More blog and check out what the rest of the team did!

Materials:

Cardstock- American Crafts

Patterned Paper- Bella Blvd.

Tape- Bella Blvd.

Stickers- Bella Blvd., American Crafts

Glitter- American Crafts

Buttons- Oriental Trading Company

Pen- Zig

Punch- Marvy

May Calendar page

Hello!  I am here today to share my May calendar page.  I finished it a few days ago, but it has just taken me a while to get it posted here.  I started with this PageMaps sketch:

I added a few more photos than the sketch suggests. I was also inspired by the 5/1 Throwback Thursday challenge at My Scraps and More.  The challenge was to make our own background paper and to use a collection that was 2+ years old.  The majority of the papers I used here are from the October Afternoon Modern Homemaker line.

For my background, I used a Studio Calico mask and some spray inks to create some texture and pattern.

I used my Cricut to cut the scalloped circle accents.  I used a flower cut from the Cindy Loo cartridge. I bought the triangle pennant stamps at a garage sale last week.  I just stamped them and fussy cut them and then accented the designs with some Stickles.  

Materials:
Cardstock- Bazzill
Patterned Paper- October Afternoon, Fancy Pants
Stamps- Hero Arts
Ink- Clearsnap, EK Success, Creative Imaginations
Mask- Studio Calico
Brad- imaginisce, K and Company
Trim- Recollections
Flowers- Recollections, Darice
Punch- EK Success
Stickers- October Afternoon
Chipboard- Pink Paislee
Cartridge- Cindy Loo
Pen- Zig, Marvy
Glitter glue- Ranger
Thread- DMC

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 5-3-14

Happy Sunday all!  I am back with my photos for the week.  I didn't get my camera out much this week, so most of these are from the same day.  Here's hoping this week's weather is a little nicer and I will be inspired to get my camera out more.

On My Feet
This photo is from our cruise in March.  I am standing on the black sand beach in Dominica.  I have Navy with Gold Fleck Jamberry nail wraps on my toes.  A friend introduced me to these a few months ago and they are so fun!  There are so many great patterns and they last a long time!  I had these on my toes for 6 weeks (this was nearing the end of those 6 weeks and they still look pretty good!

Shapes
On Friday, I took the three younger kids to a local gymnastics gym for open gym.  Here is my youngest by some of the foam mats and balls, a few different shapes here.

Little Things

One of the little things I noticed when I went through my photos from Friday was that my 3-year-old likes to throw his hands up and tuck his legs up whenever he jumps.  I think it makes him look like a little ninja (or "inja" as he likes to say).

Good

It was rainy and chilly all week, so getting out and burning off some energy was so good for everyone!  My youngest loved riding on this little car down the ramp.  He also spent the day practicing going up and down steps (also good in a mostly padded environment), playing with the balls, and just walking, running and climbing until it was time to go!  Addy had a blast jumping into the foam pit (above).  And Will ran around the whole time!

Egg

It also got warmer out Friday afternoon, so we went outside to play.  When I started this design on the driveway, I intended for it to be a circle, but it ended up being more egg-shaped.  Addy and I worked together to fill in the pattern. :)

Scrapping Everyday Miracles May Challenge

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!  Can you believe it is May already?! I wish the weather here would catch up, but the cool weather gives me an excuse to stay inside and scrap!

Thursday was May 1st, and a new set of challenges was revealed at Scrapping Everyday Miracles. 

 Challenge  #1: The Theme Challenge

May's theme:  Renew - New - Rebirth

Scripture Inspiration: 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Challenge #2:  The Layout Sketch

What would we do without all of the sketch inspiration at Pagemaps?  Here's another one of their great sketches to get you started!

Challenge #3:  The Card Sketch
Thanks again to the sketch inspiration from Pagemaps!

 

I worked with the card sketch again this month and made a birthday card for my nephew whose birthday is next week.  I had the idea of using tire tracks for one of the strips, so I took the wheels off of one of my sons' Duplo cars.  I rolled it over dark brown ink and then rolled in on my card.  I then used some washi tape and patterned paper to complete the strips.  To continue with the vehicle theme, I decided to make a truck for the inside.  I wanted to add some splatters to the front for interest and decided to go with "mud."  I used some brown acrylic paint.  I dropped a bit on the card.  I was hoping it would be thinner than is was, so once it was on the card, I had to improvise.  I took a pencil eraser and dipped it in the paint and made prints all over the front of the card.

I cut out the truck for the inside using the "Boys Will Be Boys Cricut cartridge.  I stamped the sentiment on the side of the truck.  I made the dirt by rubbing an ink pad across the paper.  I then dipped my finger in the wet paint on the front of the card and made some more "mud."

Head over to Scrapping Everyday Miracles and check out what the rest of the team made this month!