Use Your Stuff- Birthday

Hello! I have some new layouts to share! I had the opportunity to get away this past weekend and do some scrapbooking. Paper Issues had a virtual crop going on, so I participated in the awesome challenges there. There are also always lots of other challenges going on around the web. 

For this layout, I was inspired by the Use Your Stuff Birthday challenge and the mood board challenge at Paper Issues. You can find the mood board here.

This was such a pretty color pallette to work with! I pulled out some papers from various kits and collections and went to work layering them under my photos. Once the papers and photos were stuck down, I created my title with my Cricut. For embellishments, I used some die cuts from a Project Life kit and cut some words from a sheet of text patterned paper. I few gems placed around my clusters finished the page.

 Thanks for stopping by! I will be sharing more layouts in the next few days!

Grow Baby

Hi all! I have a new layout to share. Sometimes I have time to sit down and a layout comes together quickly. Other times, a layout comes together in short bursts over a week. This was the second kind. 

I started with this sketch from Rochelle Spears:

I needed to make this a two page layout, so I started with the sketch for the left hand page and made a coordinating design for the second page. I pulled a bunch of coordinating patterned papers and cut strips. Some were shorter, so I cut them and put the gaps behind the photos (a little tip to get the most out of those scraps!). I decided to use my Cricut to cut the title and numbers for how old my son was in each photo. I typed and cut stips for the journaling with the milestones he reached each month. To finish off the page, I used some chipboard pieces, washi tape and stickers.

 I used the top left to bottom right diagonal from the bonus challenge from Scrap with Stacy:

March Calendar Page- Stick It Down Guest Designer

Hello, I have fun news to share! I am the guest designer at Stick It Down this month. I got to work with this fabulous two page layout:

I used the Vicki Boutin Color Study collection for my layout. I found this triangle cut file in my collection and cut it from matching green cardstock. I used some pink inks and did the packaging technique on my background. I thought it went well with the mixed media feel of the patterned papers. I filled some of the triangles with patterned paper to add interest and color to the cut. I cut the title from black cardstock 3 times and layered it up to create some dimension. I used embellishments from several places to finish off this layout. 

 Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!

More Paper Issues Sketch Layouts

Hello all! I have a few more layouts to share using the Paper Issues sketches from January. I love a good sketch and there are so many good ones!

I used the above sketch to make this layout. I moved things around a little- moved the title to the top left, journaling to the center, a couple more photos. I pulled the green background paper from my stash where it has been for MANY years. I trimmed it a bit so the black cardstock made a nice frame around it. I found a 3x3 card to go in the center of my layout and pulled colors from there for the rest of my embellishments. I also used that card for my  journaling. I added lines of stitching between my photos with my sewing machine. My Cricut cut the circle, banner and title. I fussy cut a few words from patterned paper for embellishments, I also used a die cut, epoxy flair, chipboard pieces and puffy stickers to embellish the layout.

Next up is a sketch that I used for the left hand page of a two page layout.

I tied the two pages together by having the top layer of patterned paper spill over to the second page. I had a bunch of 3x4 action shots from the party. I decided to make a collage of the photos, matting each one with a different patterned paper. I put the center photo on foam to give a little dimension. To add interest to the left hand page, I stamped some flowers. I used my Cricut to cut the title from silver cardstock and patterned paper. I finished off the layout with some chipboard pieces, a flower, and Nuvo drops in pink.

I've had this colored core cardstock in my stash for a long time and decided to use it on this layout because it matched my daughter's jacket in the photos. I wanted to make use of the colored core, so I tore the edges of the paper and used my scoring board to created the lines in the background and then sanded the lines to make them stand out. I adhered that cardstock to a plain piece of black cardstock. Rather than splattering ink on my background, I used some splatter stamps and white pigment ink. My Cricut went to work cutting the word "Ariel" and the little shell in the bottom right corner. I used a few stickers and gold iridescent stars to embellish the layout. 

I used this sketch for another Halloween layout, this time for my younger daughter. I ended up using a collection that was not specifically for Halloween. I fussy cut the flowers from a sheet of patterned paper. I used my Cricut to cut some large leaf outlines and my title. I added a few candy corn stickers and a bunch of sequins to embellish my layout.

I used this sketch for another two pager and another Halloween layout. I cut a pumpkin for the circle element and filled some of the open spaces with patterned paper. The second page of my layout was pretty simple since I had lots of costume photos I wanted to include. I used my Cricut again for the word "Party". The word "halloween" was a sticker from a Halloween collection. I used a few other stickers and some sequins to embellish my layout.

 

Birthday Card- Sketch Saturday

Hello! I have a new card to share today! I was inspired by this card sketch from Sketch Saturday:

The little squares in the top left corner made me think of windows, so I worked from there. I decided I wanted to have a little boy in the window holding a balloon. I was able to find a cut in Design Studio of a boy holding a flag, so I used that cut, cut off the flag and cut a balloon to add in its place. With the window theme, I cut the squares from blue vellum. Once the squares and the boy were adhered to the background, I decided one of the other squares needed something, so I cut out a cake. I added a "5" to the balloon because that is how old my nephew is turning (I also made 5 candles for the cake).

 Thanks for stopping by to check out my card!

Cards With Embossing

Hello! I have a couple of new cards to share today! I am entering these in the Use Your Stuff Embossing challenge. 

First up is a sympathy card. I made the background using alcohol inks and glossy cardstock. I used lots of blending solution to soften the colors. Once it was dry, I stamped and heat embossed the candle and sentiment. At that point, I decided the background needed a little more interest, so I splattered some blending solution. I also used some white pearlized ink to color the candle. I finished off the card front with some Liquid Pearl dots around the flowers.

Next is a Baptism card for my niece. I was looking through photos of past cards I've made and saw one where I had used a stencil to make dots on the backgrround and then used an embossing folder to make different sized dots that I sanded to make the core of the paper show through. I decided to try that technique again. I started with a script background stamp that I stamped in blue. I then used a swirl embossing folder. Once that was done, I sanded the swirls to make the pink show. I used my Cricut to cut the cross from rose gold cardstock and vellum. I love the dimension the vellum gives! I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and wrapped the ends of the vellum around my card front.

 Thanks for stopping by to check out my cards!

February Calendar Page- Stick It Down

Hi all! I'm here today with my calendar page for February. I started with the double page sketch on Stick It Down this month:

I split a couple of the photo spots to fit more photo, but otherwise I stuck pretty close to the sketch. The photos on the left were swapped when I was gluing stuff down and I just left them. For the top and bottom strips, I used metallic watercolors and painted a sheet of floral paper from my "Just Add Water" stack. I love how watercoloring on these resist backgrounds is so forgiving! I did handwritten journaling. For my flower swag across the right page, I found a couple of flower cuts in Design Studio and cut them with my Cricut. I added a couple of other flowers there and around my page as embellishments. For the centers of my flowers, I used some gold Liquid Pearls and sequins. A couple of other stickers on my photos finished the layout off.