Always Look on the Bright Side

Hello and welcome! I have a new layout to share today! This was a group of photos that was very intimidating for me so I've been flipping past them for the past few months, I finally decided to tackle them using the quote from the current Paper Issues quote challenge:

Since these are all bright, outdoot shots, I thought the quote fit. Since there are so many photos, I decided to go with a grid for the design. I used patterned paper to tie the two pages together and cover the gap where my grid didn't quite line up. I had fun embellishing the open spaces in my grid with various embellishments. 

I am also entering this in the Lasting Memories Week 3 challenge: use at least 4 patterned papers.

Ellie's Build A Bear

I have a new layout to share today.  I've been meaning to do this page for some time and all of the pieces finally came together.  I used this month's sketch at Sketches with a Twist.  The twist was to use texture paste on your layout.  I haven't done a lot with my texture paste, so this was a great opportunity to get it out again.  

I mixed in some pink shimmery powder to give the white paste some color.  I used my star mask and spread the paste over some of the openings to make the stars on this layout.  This also fit the criteria for the Jan/Feb Issue Challenge #5 at Club CK which was to make a layout using phone or social media technology.  When we went to Build a Bear that day, we had forgotten to bring the camera.  I was so bummed!  I ended up taking photos with my phone, which didn't turn out great, but they are something.  I used three of the smallest photos and printed them small for my layout.

Materials

Cardstock- Bazzill, American Crafts

Patterned Paper, Rubons, Sticker, and Flair- American Crafts

Button- Pink Paislee

Pens- American Crafts, Zig

Texture Paste- Golden

Mask- Crafter's Workshop

Spray Ink- Tattered Angels

Shimmer Powder- Jacquard Products

Ink- Ranger

Brad- Doodlebug

February Calendar Page and Announcement!

Today I have my February calendar/ Project 12 page to share.  I used sketch #248 from Nuts About Sketches.  This sketch had lots of spots for photos.  We didn't have many special events last February, so I ended up using a lot of "everyday" photos, which turned out okay, and it means that I don't have anything that more I need to scrapbook for this month!

This layout also works for a couple of challenges.  The first is the January/February Issue Challenge #2 at Club CK, which was to use photo strips.  The second is the 1/29/13 Stash Challenge at My Scraps and More.  That challenge was to use at least 5 different manufacturers on a layout.  I used quite a bit of K and Company on this layout, but there are also products from 13 other manufacturers on this page!  (I realized after I took the photo of the layout that these photos were from February 2012, so that has been fixed...)

I played a bit with clustering on this page.  For this cluster I used some die cuts, a sticker, a brad and some felt and tried to vary the depth of the embellishments for interest.

More felt and die cuts in this one.  I also used some rub ons.  If you look closely, you can see some glitter peeking out from underneath the large white felt heart (a post Christmas clearance find at Target last year).  I used some adhesive rub ons and glitter to add some interest behind the heart.

For this cluster I layered some Grungeboard that I painted and inked with the felt arrow.

I also wanted to mention that I have made the Nuts About Sketches Design Team for March-August!  It is no secret that I love Shawn's sketches and I am excited to be sharing my takes on them with a wider audience again!  You can check out the announcement here. 

Materials

Cardstock- Bazzill and American Crafts

Patterned paper and tag- K and Company

Letters- Oriental Trading Company

Pens- Sakura, Creative Memories

Felt- Fancy Pants Designs, other

Liquid Pearls, Ink, and Glitter Glue- Ranger

Grungeboard- Advantus

Brads- Making Memories

Rub ons- K and Company and Crate

Glitter- American Crafts

Stickers- K and Company, Cosmo Cricket

Die Cuts- K and Company, Crate

Punch- Martha Stewart

Die Cutter- Provo Craft

Cartridge- Cricut Classic Font

Paint- Liquitex

Family of 6

Hello!  It has taken a couple of days, but I have completed a layout!  I did this one for this month's challenge at Once Upon A... Sketch.  I have been following this challenge blog for a while, but this is the first time I've played along.  Each month they have a sketch and a journaling prompt.  The focus is on documenting your stories on your scrapbook pages.  This month's prompt was "The start of something new," and below is the sketch.

I decided to make a page for my "Book of Me" about our transition to a family of 6.  My "Book of Me" is 8x8, so I had the challenge of working in this less familiar format.  The papers I used are old Bo Bunny from a pad I got at Scrapfest several years ago.  

Because of the smaller format, I decided to do my journaling on a hidden tag.  It reads: 

Wow! 4 kids! As we begin this new chapter of our family, I am a bit nervous about being a good mom to all of you.  I know one of the most important things I can do is ask God for grace.  I love you all very much!

I bought some DIY Thickers a week or so ago to use with my collection of glitter, and that's what I used for the 6 in my title.  I used some coarse glitter first, and then filled in the gaps with some blue extra fine glitter.  The current weekly challenge at Club CK is to use multiple fonts for your title, which is a technique I enjoy and one I used here.  I had a lot of fun playing with different inks on the flowers and canvas accents.  I used some spray inks on the flowers and used distress inks on the canvas vines.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Materials:

Cardstock- Bazzill

Patterned Paper- Bo Bunny Press

Flowers- Petaloo

Canvas- Prima

Inks- Ranger, Tattered Angels, Studio Calico, Prima

Buttons- Rusty Pickle, Jesse James Co.

Pen- Tsukineko

Stickers- Simple Stories, American Crafts

Glitter- American Crafts

Punch- Marvy

Font- Alako Bold

Software- Sure Cuts A Lot, PSE 9

Photoshop Action- The CoffeeShop Blog (Splendor B&W)

Glitter Glue- Ranger

Twine- Robin's Nest

Como Zoo

I completed another layout!  It has been so fun to play with 12x12 pages again!  For this layout, I used the Fancy Pants Hopscotch collection.  I bought this about a month and a half ago when Scrapbooks Too was going out of business (they are reopening on Saturday though, yay!), but with all of my Christmas projects, it just sat on the shelf.  This collection has great colors, for this layout I focused on the blues and greens with a pop of orange.

This layout also worked for a couple of challenges.  The first was Jan./Feb. '13 Issue Challenge #1 on the Club CK board.  The challenge was to use polka dots.  This collection has several polka dot patterns, but I decided to use the green one for the title block on this page.  

The second challenge was the 1/3/13 Scrap(play) challenge at My Scraps and More, which was to use die cuts.  I used several die cuts on this page.  The small flowers by the journaling and on the title block are die cuts, as is the "remember" flag in the bottom left.  I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot to cut the green leaves in the bottom left.

I did quite a bit of distressing on this page which was a lot of fun.  I took my edge distresser around most of the papers and inked everything with brown ink.

Materials:

Cardstock- Bazzill

Patterned Paper- Fancy Pants Designs

Die Cuts- Fancy Pants, K and Co.

Rubber Charm- October Afternoon

Journal Card- October Afternoon

Gems- Recollections

Stickers- Basic Grey, Simple Stories, Fancy Pants

Stamps- EK Success, other

Die Cutter- Provo Craft

Software- Sure Cuts A Lot

Font- Floralia

Ink- Prima, Tsukineko

Pen- Tsukineko

Photo Collage- Scrapbooks Etc.

Embossing Powder- JoAnn Crafts

April Layout Tag

I participated in a round of layout tag at Club CK. This time I was first in line and got to work from this fabulous sketch:

As you can see, I rotated the sketch to accommodate my horizontal photos.  I used transparency for the circles so they are pretty subtle.  To add some texture and layers to the flower elements, I stamped some flowers and then added paper flowers on top .  The title was cut using the "Makin' the Grade" cartridge.  The transformation of the sketch was pretty cool, you can check it out here.

Supplies
Cardstock- Bazzill
Patterned Paper- Bo Bunny Press, Robin's Nest, Provo Craft
Transparency- Anna Griffin
Dew Drops- Robin's Nest
Flowers- Prima, Kaiser Craft
Die Cutter- Cricut
Cartridge- Makin the Grade
Stamps- Stampin Up
Ink- Clearsnap, Ranger
Brad- Basic Grey
Journal Spot- Jillibean Soup
Pen- Tsukeniko, Sakura
Pencils- Koh-I-Noor
Punch- Ronic- Martha Stewart
Circle Cutter- Creative Memories
Sticker- Little Yellow Bicycle 

Nuts About Sketches #212

A new sketch was revealed this morning at Nuts About Sketches. I used it to scrap some pictures of Rick from his birthday a year and a half ago. I also made it into a pocket page to hold his cards. I stuck pretty close to the sketch. I used lots of "masculine" patterns and distressed and inked the edges of all the layers to add some texture.

I covered a chipboard tag with patterned paper, splattered some spray ink on it and then layered some die cut stars over it.

I also did this layout with the first May issue challenge at Club CK in mind: create a project using staples. I stapled the ribbon and made an "x" with staples on the red star in the top left corner.

Finally, Shawn posted some bonus sketches at Nuts About Sketches last week, and they are awesome! You can check them out here.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper- My Mind's Eye, Bo Bunny, October Afternoon
Stickers- Bo Bunny
Chipboard- Oriental Trading Company
Button, star- Bo Bunny
Ribbon- Robin's Nest, Making Memories
Ink- Clearsnap
Pen- Sharpie, Marvy
Spray Ink- Creative Imaginations
Die Cutter- Cricut
Cartridges- Makin the Grade, Cricut Classic Font
Punch- Marvy

Cardabilities- Miss U

Happy Good Friday everyone! I hope you all had a blessed and prayerful day. For today's card I used the current Cardabilities sketch and this week's Card Challenge at Club CK which was to use something clear on a card. For my clear item I punched the scalloped circle from a transparency. The background paper and the red and white are actually packaging from some Prima flowers I bought a couple of years ago. I thought the pattern on them was cool, so I kept them and today I finally had the inspiration to use them! I added a couple extra flowers from what the sketch suggests to cover up a couple of holes in the packaging.