Soar- Stuck?! Sketches

Hello! I have another layout to share today! This time I was inspired by the January 15 sketch at Stuck?! Sketches: 

I used photos from our church's vacation bible school from 2012. My oldest was going into kindergarten that year, so it was her second year. I stuck pretty close to the sketch. I found bits and pieces of patterned papers (mostly Simple Stories DIY). I inked them with orange to pull it all together. For the title, I used my Cricut to cut the letters. I was going to cut the smaller layer using blue cardstock, but I didn't have anything that matched quite right so I ended up using a gel pen and drawing the letters onto the black. I love how it turned out kind of sketchy and imperfect! I added some chipboard pieces, brads and a few dots of Liquid Pearls to finish off the page.

Penguin Birthday Card

Hi all! I have a new card to share today. It was my nephew's first birthday yesterday and we are celebrating later today. I started with this sketch from Stick It Down:

I was also inspired by the current challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2 which is to make a project using a penguin cut. I started by stamping the snowflakes with Versamark ink and heat embossing them with white. Then I took some fun foam and cut the hill and attached it to my card. I used the Zooballoo cartridge for my penguins and attached them with foam adhesive. I finished of the card front with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment.

Chill Out- Sketches in Thyme #309

Hello again! I was able whip up another page last night! This one went together really fast! I started with this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I rarely make one photo layouts. I had this photo collage already printed, so I used that in the place of the single photo. I started by misting and splattering pink and teal Color Shine mist on my background. Once that was dry, I matted my collage and added that. Then I went to town adding die cuts from a couple of collections. To bring some dark blue to all of the clusters, I found some rub ons to add to the clusters on the left side of the layout. The title was a sentiment that was in the puffy phrase stickers. I finished things of with some enamel dots and some stickers.

Little Dancer

It snowed about a foot here yesterday so we have been stuck at home, which has meant lots of scrappy time! Today I made this layout. I was inspired by the "Scrap Soup" challenge at Paper Issues:

I made a two page layout with pictures from my daughter's first year in dance. I had to look around a little to find some purples and pinks to go with my photos, but I am really happy with what I found and how it turned out! I started by layering strips of patterned paper across the bottom of my layout. I decided to cut a circle sticker in half to highlight my title area. The area felt a little sparse, so I ended up using my Stamping Gear and some Distress Oxide inks to stamp between the stickers to create some interest and texture behind my title. To label my photos, I stamped the labels and fussy cut them. I finished off my layout with some stickers and gems. To add some texture and dimension, I put Glossy Accents on the yellow circle stickers, some Wink of Stella shimmer on a few of the stickers and some Liquid Pearl accents on the cardstock stickers.

Too Smart

Hello again! I have another layout to share! This time I was inspired by the January 15 challenge at Scrap Our Stash:

I started by making a block of photos like the sketch on the left. I knew I was going to add patterned paper like the sketch on the right. I wanted to add some interest and texture to the background, so I started by spreading some gesso on my cardstock. Once that was dry, I sprayed and smooshed some blue spray inks onto my paper. I then layered on my photos. I did a square journaling card to match the square layered on in the right sketch. Then I went to work finding blue embellishments to finish off the layout. I found three blue rhinestone brads to spread around the page. I also used some "Dew Drops" to look like water droplets. 

February Calendar Page

Hi all! We've had a quiet weekend which has meant I have had time to get some scrapping done! First up is my February calendar layout. I was inspired by the current double sketch at Stick It Down:

I was obviously inspired by the messy dribbles across the top of the sketch, so I started with those. Typically, I do lots of pinks for my February page, but decided to do a rainbow this time around. I pulled a few colors of spray inks and used a brush and some water to make them run down my page. Once that was dry, I started layering paper and photos over it. I pulled mostly from Simple Stories DIY, but did pull from a few other places for embellishments. I decided to continue the rainbow theme with the journaling and pulled matching cardstock and cut strips and hand wrote on them. I will be using the right side on my calendar.

Summer Fun- Stick It Down

Hi all! I have a new layout to share today! I was inspired by the single page sketch this month at Stick It Down:

The patterned paper that I used for my background had the green and yellow spot in the bottom right corner already on it. I decided to make a couple more on the page using Distress Stains. I then took a pink gelato and scribbled a bit and went over it with a baby wipe to smear the color.  I then layered my photos over that once it was all dry. I ended up just embellishing the page with die cuts and stickers from the Pebbles Fun in the Sun collection. For the title, I used an already made enamel word and found some bigger chipboard letters and painted them to match my layout. To add a little dimension, I used a wood veneer and a couple of plastic embellishments from Elle's Studio.

Materials:
Patterned Paper, die cuts, stickers, enamel dots- American Crafts
Wood Veneer and Plastic shapes- Elle's Studio
Chipboard- Multicraft Imports
Ink- Ranger
Gelato- Faber Castell
Pen- Marvy
Glitter pen- Zig
Paint- DecoArt

Playing With Inks- Cards

Good morning! I have a couple of new cards to share today. I didn't do these for any particular challenge, I just played around with some inking techniques.

First up is a card that I used Yupo paper and alcohol inks on. I used an inking tool with felt and swirled my color to create the background. I then stamped and heat embossed the flowers. I have to say that heat embossing on Yupo paper is a challenge because it is a plastic paper, so it will melt and warp with heat. I had to move quickly and then I placed it under something heavy to flatten it as it cooled. I finished off the card with a sentiment stamped and heat embossed on cardstock and a border punched strip and ribbon.

I started both of the cards below by blending Distress Oxide inks on white cardstock. Then I took a background stamp and misted it with water. I pressed the panels onto the stamp and with water did the rest! I used my Cricut to cut out the boy and finished off the card with a stamped sentiment.

In The Beginning

Hello all! I have a new layout to share, and it comes with an announcement! First up, here is the sketch that I was inspired by:

Here's what I came up with:

These are ultrasound images from October. We will be welcoming Baby #5 in May! This is part of the reason my blog was extra quiet and the weekly photography challenge fell by the wayside this fall. I was SO TIRED! Fall is also the busy season for family photography, so I was focusing on getting photos taken and edited and everything else didn't happen. 

Anyway, about the layout. I used Bella Blvd. papers. I decided I wanted some interest on my cardstock background, so I brushed some gesso on and then smooshed some red ink and splattered some green ink over that. I used embellishments from lots of sources to finish it off.

Materials:
Cardstock- My Mind's Eye
Patterned paper, enamel dots- Bella Blvd.
Stickers- Bella Blvd., Basic Grey, Elle's Studio, Fiskars
Gesso- Liquitex
Buttons, Inks- October Afternoon
Paper Clip- American Crafts
Pen- Sharpie
Brad- Making Memories
Die Cutter- Provo Craft
Software- Craft Edge
Font- Alako Bold

January Calendar Page

Hello all! I have my January calendar page to share today.  I was inspired by the December double page sketch at Stick It Down:

To be honest, I struggled quite a bit with all the white space on this sketch, so I made the photos bigger and added snowflakes to my background. I made my background with a mask and spray ink, concentrating the color on the outer edge and keeping it light as it went towards the center of the layout. I then layered on patterned papers and photos. To fill in the center, I used my Cricut and cut a bunch of snowflakes in a couple of colors. I also used my Cricut to cut my title. To highlight my title more, I dipped a paintbrush in the spray ink and mixed it with a bit of water and then brushed it below my title with the page upright so the ink would run. I like that it looks like icicles. I finished off the page with some sequins and brads.

I am also entering this in the Scrap Our Stash Challenge:

Materials:

Cardstock- American Crafts

Patterned Paper, Journaling card- Moxxie

Stamp- Lil' Davis Designs, Stampin Up

Ink- Heidi Swapp, Ranger

Pen- Sharpie

Die Cutter- Provo Craft

Cartridge- Holiday Cakes

Software- Craft Edge

Fonts- CK Ali's Writing, Betty Noir

Brads- Basic Grey

Button- Michael's

Rub On- American Crafts

Quick Birthday Card

Hi all! I have a quick birthday card that I made last week to share today. I used some leftover scraps of an old Fancy Pants line and layered them on the card. I stamped the two smaller banners on patterned paper and fussy cut them and added them to the card. Super quick and easy!