Girls Weekend '11

Hi all!  I've been checking out the free trial at Big Picture Classes lately and the 5 Ways to Use Gesso class caught my eye. I finally got my hands on some gesso earlier this week and made this layout.

I used the gesso to tone down the pattern on this piece of plaid patterned paper. Once it was dry, I built the layout from there.

I stamped and then fussy cut the word "girl's" and then cut the word "weekend" with my Cricut. I added a few pretty embellishments around the title to draw some attention to it.

The gesso was really easy to stamp and journal on.  I added a few more embellishments here. The embossed chipboard butterfly was covered with Picket Fence Distress Stain, then I rubbed a silver gelato over the raised areas, inked the edges and added some Liquid Pearl accents.

Materials:
Patterned Paper- Chatterbox, Fiskars, Die Cuts With a View
Gesso- Liquitex
Stamps- Stampin Up, KI Memories
Wood Veneer- Studio Calico
Chipboard- International Greetings
Letter Stickers- American Crafts
Inks- Tsukineko, Ranger
Gelato- Faber Castell
Tape- My Mind's Eye
Dew Drops- Robin's Nest
Pen- Sharpie, Provo Craft
Die Cutter- Provo Craft
Software- Crafters Edge
Font- Splash

May Calendar Page

Hello!  I just finished up my May calendar layout, with a few days to spare!  I was inspired by this awesome sketch from Stick it Down:

I didn't have any current collections that had the colors I was looking for, so I ended up pulling some OLD random sheets of paper from my stash. One of the papers that I found was from a small kit by Close to My Heart.  I ended up using a lot of embellishments from that kit too.  

I started by cutting and attaching my patterned paper. Then I added the ink splatters. After adding the photos and journaling, I played with embellishments.  The Close to My Heart kit has some pretty white resist chipboard pieces.  I used the circles from the set for this layout.  I colored them to match my papers with ink and then ran my Iced Chai Gelato around the edge and smudged the color a bit to give them a bit more definition and sparkle.

Materials:
Cardstock- Close to My Heart, Bazzill
Patterned Paper- Close to My Heart, Pink Paislee, Chatterbox
Stickers, chipboard, buttons, tag, brad- Close to My Heart
Ink- Tattered Angels, Tsukineko, Ranger, Clearsnap
Gelato- Faber Castell
Stamps- American Crafts, Stampin Up
Pen- Sharpie
Foam letters- Pink Paislee

Birthday Card

Hello! I hope you are having a great weekend so far!  I have a birthday card to share with you today.  I was inspired by this week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch.

While I was looking for inspiration, I came across a challenge blog that I was unfamiliar with .  The Card Concept posts an inspiration photo or color combo as a starting point and then you have to create a card that fits into one of six+ categories.

I think my card fits into the Freestyle Collage category the best.  I was inspired big time by the colors. The circles on the ottoman in the photo made me think of the circle mask I used.  All of the pink on here is Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.  I used the ink blending tool for the background and water and a paintbrush to water color it onto the flower and sentiment piece.

Wee Faith- My Scraps and More Sketchathon

Hello! I am here today to share a layout I just finished.  There is a sketchathon going on now at My Scraps and More for the entire month of April. I used sketch #21 by Lisa Spiegel for my layout: 

I have had these photos sitting around waiting to be scrapped for a while and this sketch worked perfectly with them! I used lots of October Afternoon on this layout. 

The most labor intensive part of my layout was the title. I used my Cricut, Sure Cuts A Lot with two different fonts, and the New Testament cartridge. After I had everything put together, I added some glitter glue to a couple of the letters.

I did a little layering of elements near my title. The cross was cut using the New Testament cartridge. Part of the reason I bought this cartridge was all the different styles of crosses, two of which I used on this layout.

I used some old rub ons on this layout too.  I was a little nervous that they wouldn't rub on well anymore, but they worked fine! I cut my journaling stickers and used the smaller pieces in my clusters. I used a date stamp on this one.

 Materials:
Cardstock- Bazzill, Die Cuts With a View
Patterned paper, stickers, brads- October Afternoon
Flowers- Petaloo
Gems- Michaels, Hero Arts
Stamp- American Crafts
Ink- Clearsnap
Fonts- Baby Blocks, Shrewsbury
Rub ons- Fancy Pants, Autumn Leaves, American Crafts
Die Cutter- Provo Craft
Cartridge- New Testament
Software- Crafters Edge
Pen- Sakura
Thread- Coats and Clark
Glitter Glue- Ranger

Cards!

 I have a few cards to share today that I made over the last week.

The first is a sympathy card.  I used this week's sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch:

I used a set of layered stamps to make the flowers and butterflies. I stamped the sentiment on matching white cardstock and ran a light blue ink pad over the edges to give it a bit of definition.

Next up is a birthday card that was inspired by the card sketch at Stick it Down.

I used leftover banner die cuts from a Fancy Pants Collection kit.  To make the frame stand out from the background, I matted it with black cardstock. A stamped sentiment, some flower stickers and black pearls finished off the card.

My last card was not inspired by a sketch.  It is a First Communion card for my daughter.  I was inspired by the beautiful cross cut from the New Testament Cricut cartridge.  I sprayed the background panel with gold glimmer mist. I spread gold gelato on the cross and metallic icing gelato on the scrolls to add some shimmer.  It is pretty subtle, so you can't see it very well in the photo, unfortunately.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 4-19-15

Hello!  We've had a pretty busy week here with house guests, a funeral and First Communion.  Here are a few photos from the week that fit the prompts for the Scavenger Hunt.

Drink of Choice

We celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday Tuesday morning with donuts for breakfast.  Here is my youngest, enjoying a chocolate frosted one.  His drink of choice was orange juice. Although, you may notice the sippy cup of water on the other side, so I guess maybe he didn't make a choice...

From Above
My sister-in-law and her two boys were here all week so my kids had lots of fun playing with their cousins.  Here they are playing in the yard with a big box and some sticks.

I Found This
This is a photo from my phone, so the quality isn't great, but it tells a story. I put my youngest down for a nap on Monday and he wasn't happy about it.  After making a mess with the humidifier in his room, and then trying to clean it up with his clean clothes, he found a place to nap.

Jewelry
My oldest had her First Communion yesterday. She received a necklace and bracelet as gifts, but I didn't have any shots of her opening them.  She received this rosary from her great-grandmother, while it isn't technically jewelry, it is still beautiful.

Local
As I said above, my oldest received her First Communion yesterday. She received it at our local church that we attend each week.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 4-12-15

 Hello!  Happy Sunday!  The weather is warm here again! Here are my photos for the week.

Monday
I don't take pictures much on Mondays, they are pretty busy.  This photo is from two Mondays ago.  It's about a scrapbook page I posted about here. I was so excited to find the envelope with the hair from Will's first haircut.  I had to put it on the page immediately!  I was busy putting it together when I checked the time and realized that we should have left 10 minutes earlier to pick up my oldest from school! Oops. Luckily we live close to school so we were still within the pick up time.

Peace

Snow. On Friday. I guess it is peaceful...

Letters

I took the girls on the rides at the Mall America Friday night. They loved these bumper cars and went on them twice. The walls were covered in letters.

Yellow
This one is a little more gold than yellow, but close enough.  Another from the rides the other night. This is my younger daughter on carousel.

What I'm Listening To

We had our first fire of the year last night and we made smores.  So before, I was listening to the kids ask to have smores.  Then I was listening to them eat them.

How Dare You?!- My Scraps and More Sketchathon

Hello! I am here to share a layout with one of my favorite photos. Do you have any photos that still make you giggle when you look at them, years later?  The top photo on this layout does that to me.  The expressions on my kids' faces are just too funny! I'm not sure you can read the journaling, so I will explain the situation:  Addy had just blown out the candle on her little brother's cake and he was HORRIFIED. 

My layout was inspired by Sketch #1 of the Sketchathon going on all month long at My Scraps and More. I flipped the sketch vertically so the photos would work chronologically. 

I used a mask and some Heidi Swapp Color Shine to make the stars and then added some splatters with some dark blue Glimmer Mist. I also sprayed my corrugated arrows with Glimmer Mist and then ran some white acrylic paint over them to highlight the ridges. 

Under my photos I ran some washi tape and rub ons. The little frogs I fussy cut from a sheet of Bella Blvd. paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Materials: 
Cardstock- Bazzill
Patterned Paper- October Afternoon, Bella Blvd.
Tape- My Mind's Eye
Ink- Heidi Swapp, Tattered Angels, Tsukineko
Pen- Signo Uniball
Brad- Crate Paper
Chipboard- Basic Grey, Studio Calico
Letters- Creative Memories
Mask- The Crafter's Workshop
Paint- Liquitex
Corrugated accents- Jillibean Soup
Wood veneer- Studio Calico
Stamp- Stampin Up

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 4-5-15

Happy Easter!  I hope you all had a great day!  I almost didn't have photos to share this week, but then we went to the zoo yesterday!  So, most of my shots are from that...

My Morning

This is how you will typically see me spending my mornings...

Ha... right.  I spent my morning yesterday chasing these four around the zoo.

Next To Me
This little guy usually has a big brother or sister next to him, helping him, playing with him, irritating him.. ;) Here he and his big sister are checking out the calf at the zoo.

Pastel
I just love photographing the flamingos. I love their pastel pink color and the texture of their feathers.

 Season
This time of year isn't especially beautiful. The snow has melted (hopefully for good), but not much has started to grow. But things should be turning green soon!

Photographer's Choice

Technically speaking, this photo isn't great, but I love it because I caught my son doing his "happy dance" this morning after he found his Easter basket. (Yes, I realize it looks like night if you look at the windows in the photo. YOU tell my children they shouldn't get up before the sun... ;))

I Found It- First Haircut Revisited

Remember way back in September and this post? I was so sad and frustrated that I couldn't find the envelope that had the clippings from my son's first haircut. Well, this past week, I found it!  I pulled his Valentine's day cards out of a page protector to put them on a page and I found the envelope!  I was so happy!

I had left the top right circle open so that if I found the hair I could put it there.  I cut a piece of clear plastic for the top of my window and gave it some lift by cutting the outline of the circle from white fun foam.  I cut an identical circle from patterned paper to give the circle a frame.  I ended up having to move my embellishments a bit (and I had glued, with actual liquid glue, them down!), but I was able cover the damage. 

And, the final product!

Easter

Hello!  I have a layout to share that I completed today amid praying and reflecting on our Savior's death today. It is a page about Easter, 4 years ago.

I was inspired by the 3/19 Throwback Thursday challenge at My Scraps and More, which was to use flowers and bling. It seems to be harder and harder these days to find collections with much purple in them, and I wanted purple on this layout, so I pulled it in with cardstock and flowers. The collection I used is October Afternoon's Woodland Park. See that green piece with the flowers and trim behind the main photo on the left page? That is a make and take from Scrapfest from 2009!  Yay for finally using it!

I added some washi tape in a few places to bring the green to some of my clusters.

I cut a few embellishments for the page with my Cricut. Here you can see a little Easter basket with some eggs.  I added some shading with some chalk. 

 I am also linking up with Paper Issues and their current issue, "Egg-cellent Add-ventures".

I hope you all had a good Lent and have a wonderful Easter!

Materials:
Cardstock- Archivers, Die Cuts with a View
Flowers- Prima, Michaels
Patterned Paper and stickers- October Afternoon
Brads- Making Memories, K and Company
Ink and Glitter Glue- Ranger
Die Cutter- Provo Craft
Cartridges- Doodlecharms, Holiday Cakes
Gems- Michaels
Paint- Plaid
Tape- Bella Blvd.
Pen- Zig