May Calendar Page

Hello! I'm back today with my May calendar page. I started with the double page sketch from Stick It Down:

I loved how much space there was on this sketch for photos! May is such a busy month, so I needed the space! I started by printing my photos and laying them out on the page. I trimmed the patterned paper for each end of the layout. I used strips for my journaling. I had a great time embellishing my layout with die cuts, stickers, and foam stickers from the Cut and Paste collection by Vicki Boutin.

 

Disco Medley

Hello! I have a new layout to share! I started with the current sketch from Rochelle Spears (see below). I rotated the sketch to work with my photo. I used all acetate for the triangles in the background. I used my Cricut to cut the title and the disco ball in the background. To embellish the page, I used washi tape, ribbon, ticket stamps and punch, and some paper sequins. 

 

Some of my design decisions were influenced by the the Scrap With Stacy Tic Tac Toe Board:

I used the center row: twine/ribbon, triangle, and ticket.

Fall Sweet Fall- Lasting Memories Guest Designer

Hello! It is my final week as guest designer for Lasting Memories. This week's challenge is: THIS-use never before used pieces of paper or THAT: use all scraps. 

I ended up using all scraps for my layout (except for the base cardstock). Most of the papers I used are from Creative Memories, which is also where I got the sketch that I based this layout on (see below). I stuck pretty close to the sketch, adjusting it a bit to work with the size and shape of my photos. I cut my title useing the Cricut. To embellish the page, I used some stickers, die cut flowers, and fussy cut leaves.

Here's the sketch I based the layout on:

 

Love Bug- Lasting Memories Guest Designer

Lasting Memories is back with another challenge this week: THIS: use stars on your layout OR THAT: use hearts on your layout. As you can see below, I chose hearts!

 I started by cutting a heart background using my Cricut. I spread the heart outlines around my background. Then I sprayed the insides of the hearts with Distress Mica Stain to add some shimmer and a little different color. I then spread those between the other hearts. I found a coordinating piece of patterned paper to mat my photos on. I used my Cricut to cut the title as well. Since the polka dots on the patterned paper were light blue, I used that color for my journaling spot and embellishments. I was excited to use the blue felt trim that I've had forever, I thought it worked perfectly! I finished off the page with paper sequins cut from glitter paper.

Birthday Cards

Hello! I have some cards to share with you today and they are all for birthdays! For my first card, I used the card sketch from Stick It Down:

I was also inspired by the color from this Card Concept inspiration:

I found cardstock to match the first three colors and cut strips of it and placed those on my card front. Then I stamped the little birthday items in the pink and fussy cut them. I added them to the card with foam tape for dimension. I finished off the card with some coordinating sequins.

This next card I made during Justin Adkins's class during SBC Fest last month.

I didn't buy the kit for his class, so I used what I had. I really love how this card turned out!

When we made the background for that card, we made multiple backgrounds. I pulled one of those out this week to make this card for my niece. The inking on the background was done with Distress Oxide inks, so I took a background stamp and sprayed it with water and stamped on the background. You can see the subtle circle pattern on the background that adds some fun and interest. I used my Cricut to cut the sentiment. I used the centers of the stars in the sentiment cut, along with some paper sequins to embellish the card. 

My final card is for my sister-in-law. I used a background mask set. I love this set, it is such a fun pattern! I used three ink colors and Versamark and silver embossing powder for the fourth mask. I cut this sentiment with my Cricut as well. The background was so busy, that I decided to do an offset layer from vellum to make it stand out a bit more. I finished off this card with a thin strip of foil paper.

 

Soccer Layouts

Hello! I have two soccer layouts to share today. We missed the day that the kids had team photos this year, so I just took a photo of the kids and my husband (who helped coach their teams) together and then took individual photos of the kids. 

First up is my oldest daughter. I started with this sketch from Scrap a Sketch: 

I started with some splatters of grey ink. Then I cut some patterned papers into banners in colors that matched the photos. I found the title cut in Cricut Design Space. To embellish the page, I used some paper sequins, washi tape, and an enamel flair.

For my other daughter's page, I pulled out a couple of sheets of patterned paper and made two large blocks behind my photos. I once again found the title on Cricut Design Space, as well as the silhouette. I embellished the page with some fussy cut soccer balls, washi tape, an enamel flair, and green gems. 

Finally, we have my son's page. I used this Page Maps sketch for his:

 I rotated the sketch 90 degreesto make it work with my photos. This was a pretty quick layout to make- patterned papers, photos, sticker letters and die cut word for title and die cuts and homemade enamel dots for embellishment.

Dance Layouts- Lasting Memories Guest Designer

Hello! I'm back with my layout for this week's challenge at Lasting Memories: THIS: Use alphabet stickers for your title OR THAT: Create your own title using die-cuts or stamps.

I chose THAT and used my Cricut to die cut my title. I also used my Cricut to cut the backgroud. I used scraps of gold glitter cardstock to back some of the holes in the background. The leaves are a stamp and matching die. The flowers are a die.

 I just finished another dance layout, so I figured I would include it in this post as well. I used this month's single page sketch from Stick It Down:

The brick wall in the sketch went well with the photos I was going to use, so I kept that. I cut a piece of kraft card stock and ran it through a brick embossing folder. I then took a couple of ink pads and rubbed them over the texture to add depth. I used my Cricut for the background circle cut and the title. To add further texture to the layout, I used some old mulberry paper to mat my photos. I really like all the texture on this layout!

A Week in Illinois- Lasting Memories Guest Designer

Hello! I'm here to share exciting news today! I am guest designing for Lasting Memories for the month of April! This month's challenge theme is "This or That." This week's challenge is THIS: Use a sketch OR THAT: Scraplift one of the Design Team's layouts. I decided to use this sketch from the March PageMaps:

I started with two different colored sheets of cardstock and went to work finding patterned papers that went with my photos. I adjusted the photo spots a bit from the sketch to work with the photos I was working with. I also moved the journaling area because my photo on the bottom right was bigger than the one in the sketch. I used my Cricut to cut the title, large blue train, the tracks and the railroad crossing sign. I also used some stickers, die cuts, and dimensional embellishments from various collections to embellish the page. To bring the dark blue to the right hand page, I used a couple of pieces of blue washi tape in the embellishment clusters.

I hope you play along with this challenge and the rest of the challenges throughout the month!
 

Scrapbooking Retreat- First Communion

Hello! I have another layout to share from my scrapbooking retreat last month. This one had lots of photos, I so had to figure out a design to include them all. I love a grid when I have lots of photo that are the same size and orientation, so that is what I did on the right side of my layout. I clustered the other photos on the left hand page. I brought a block of patterned paper across both pages to tie the pages together. I also punched a cardstock border to run across both pages. The title was cut on the Cricut and adhered with foam tape for a bit of dimension. To embellish the page, I stamped a couple of scrolls, and used stickers, washi tape, and gold paper sequins. 

 

Scrapbooking Retreat- It's Just a Phase

I have another layout to share today from my scrapbook retreat last month. I lifted the design from this layout on the Paper Issues page:

At the retreat, I received a celestial paper pack as a prize. The browns, oranges, and blues went so well with these photos of my son sleeping in random places, I had to use it! I started with a blue patterned paper that faded from dark at the bottom to light at the top. I tore a couple of strips of the brown paper and attached them at the top and the bottom of the layout. I then tore both sides of the star paper that I ran across the center of the page. I put a mat behind my photo collage at an angle. I added an outline to the mat for some interest. The paper pack came with some die cuts, which I used to embellish the page. I loved the "It's just a phase..." phrase die cut and decided to use that as my title since it fit the subject. I added a few gold foil stars to finish off the page.

 

Water Park Layouts

Hello, today I have a couple of water park vacation layouts to share. My first layout was based on this PageMaps sketch:

I found some fun patterned papers and got to work laying them out. I used several Cricut cuts to embellish the page- the word "Splash," the water gun, and the tube and splash. The rest of the embellishments are stickers, puffy stickers, and a chipboard piece.

My second layout started with this sketch from Sketches In Thyme:

I took this single page sketch and stretched it across two pages by keeping the line of banners going. I used my Cricut for this layout as well, for the words "Water Park" and for the giant beach ball. I used a white gel pen and a letter template for "MEA" and hand wrote "at the" to finish off the title. I embellished the page with buttons, a couple of stickers, and some canvas flair.

 

Scrapbooking Retreat- Halloween Layouts

Hello, I'm sharing a couple more layouts from my scrapbooking retreat last month. Today I'm sharing Halloween layouts.

Several months ago I had purchased a couple of Halloween collections by Doodlebug. I was excited to use them on some layouts. My first layout was just about playing with the products. I used a few of the patterned papers and came up with my own design for the page. For the title, I was searching Cricut Design Space for a cute title and this one came up. I didn't end up using the cut file for this phrase, but I used some stickers and a cut file for the word "knight." To embellish the page, I used some washi tape, stickers, puffy stickers and paper sequins. One of the collections I purchased came with some ribbons and trims, so I used one of the trims across the bottom of the large patterned paper block.

My next layout started with this sketch from Paper Issues: 

I started this layout by finding a fun pumpkin cut file. I once again searched Cricut Design Space for a clever title and this time used a cut file from there. To embellish this page, I used stickers, puffy stickers, and a short length of ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layouts.

 

70th Birthday Card

Hello! I have a card to share today that I made for my dad, whose birthday is today! I started with a piece of pale blue cardstock. I used a set of plaid blending masks, blue and yellow ink to make the background. I then cut the sentiment from blue and silver cardstock. I felt like the design needed some balloons behind the sentiment, so I cut those from vellum and colored them with alcohol inks. Once they were dry, I attached them to the card front and added the sentiment with foam tape. To add a bit of interest to the bottom, I added a thin strip of silver cardstock and grey washi tape. 

 I was inspired by the current board at Tic Tac Toe challenge:

I used the center column- ink blending, washi tape, and dimension.

Scrapbooking Retreat- Wedding Layouts

Hello! I went on a scrapbooking retreat last month, but haven't shared many of the layouts because I haven't wanted to spend the time blogging them. I'm currently sick with strep, so sitting with a laptop is more doable and appealing than crafting, so I figured I would work on getting some of these layouts blogged.

Today I'm sharing a couple of layouts I made for my son's book from his aunt and uncle's wedding in 2014. He was one of the ring bearers so it was special for him. First, is a layout about being the ring bearer. I used this skech from PageMaps:

I used papers from Christmas collections since the wedding was two days after Christmas and the colors worked. I cut the title and rings on the right hand page with my Cricut. I used a tag from one of the collections for the journaling. To embellish the page, I used stickers, washi tape, and puffy stickers. I kept this design pretty clean and simple to let the adorable photos shine.

 Next up in the layout of his photo booth photos. I lifted this layout from Paper Issues: 

I made four clusters on my page, three with the photos and one with the title. I again used Christmas collections, this time sticking to mostly black, white and red designs. It was fun to find stickers and bits and pieces to tuck behind the photos. I used my Cricut to cut the title, cutting the camera a couple times and stacking the pieces for dimension. I finished off the page with some red Nuvo drops.

Stick It Down Guest Designer

Hello! I am here today to share that I am the guest designer for Stick It Down this month! I made a project for each of their sketches for the month. 

First up was the card sketch, which I used to make Valentines for two of my sons. I started by stamping the wood background on kraft cardstock. I used a die to cut the brown frame and my Cricut to cut the hearts from various papers. I layered the hearts over the frame and attached them to the card front. For the sentiment, I stamped on a strip of white cardstock and trimmed the end into a banner and tucked it under the hearts. To embellish the card, I used a metallic pink paint pen to drw the hearts on some of the "logs" and made dots with pink Nuvo drops.

Next is the double page layout. I used some really old October Afternoon for this one. This sketch is all about blocks, so it is a great one to use up a collection or use 6x6 papers on. I ussed my Cricut to cut the title and embellishments. For the journaling, I used vellum and hand wrote the captions and recap. I used washi tape across the bottom of my layout and red Nuvo Drops as accents on my embellishments.
 

 Finally, I have the layout using the single page sketch. I started by creating a vertical "block" on the page with ink blending and a mask. I then used patterned paper and stickers from the collection to embellish the page. For the title, I used the combination of a sticker and a Cricut cut. For some added dimension and fun, I sprinkled some enamel dots over the page.

March Calendar Page

Hello! I'm back today with my March calendar layout. I started with the February double page sketch from Stick It Down:

I started with white cardstock. Then I went to work finding patterned paper that I had two sheets of that would go with the photos. I landed on this wood grain paper that had colors that went with the rest of the patterned papers I wanted to use on the layout. I layered everything up on the layout. For my title, I used my Cricut. I inked the edges of the offset to make it stand out a bit more. To embellish the page, I used some white chipboard flowers and a floral sticker that went with the colors of my layout. For the centers of the flowers, I used enamel dots in coordinating colors.

 

Dance Layouts

Hi all! I've been busy making layouts! Today I have a few to share. For my first layout, I used this sketch from Rochelle Spears:

I found some fun patterned papers to go with the colors and theme of the layout and cut them into blocks. These were both scraps, so the dimensions are different than the sketch because I went with what I had. I cut the wheel and title using my Cricut. To add some dimension, I used gold brads on the wheel. For embellishments, I used a tag and die cut, puffy stickers and washi tape. 

I also did the tic tac toe challenge from Scrap with Stacy:

I used the center column- metal, stickers, and 2 photos.

My next two layouts were inspired by products and weren't for any specific challenge. For this layout, I started with the white cardstock that I had pressed a masked that had been misted onto. I then found the patterned papers and layered them over the top. When I was looking for ideas for the title, I saw the hot air balloon cuts and decided to add those to the layout in coordinating colors. I finished off the embellishment clusters with fussy cut rainbows and gold paper sequins.

For my last layout, I started with the patterned paper that I used on the background. I loved the design of it, so I went looking for a set of photos with colors that worked with the paper. I found these two and thought they would be perfect. I adhered them to the background. Then I added rub ons over the top edges of the photos and in the top left corner. I cut the title with my Cricut and holographic cardstock. I fussy cut the journaling spot from patterned paper. To finish things off, I added a sprinkling of gems.