Fishing

 I have had these pictures sitting on my desk for almost two weeks waiting to be scrapped.  Since the Paper Secrets deadline is looming, I forced myself to get it done today.  I used a variety of blue papers - MME, MLS, AC, and Recollections - as well as some washi (Studio G and Freckled Fawn).  Then I pulled out a variety of little embellishments - buttons, wood veneers (inked with blue ink), and brads - to make a "mess" on the right side like the sketch.  I wanted to add some journalling, so I thought a pocket would be perfect.  Then I got an even more fun idea - turn the pocket into a fish!  Luckily there was a simple origami tutorial online for making this (although the tutorial is meant for an even bigger fish and snacks).  I think it turned out cute with a brad for the eye.  Here is a close up:

And here is the Paper Secrets Sketch:

Ready to Roll - Amber 10

I used my MME Collectable (Notable) prize from MME on this super fun layout from ScrapbookSteals.  Other than the Collectable goodies, I used some Target washi around the outside, some Bazzil cardstock for the base, AC Thickers for the title, a random brad (most likely Hobby Lobby brand) and our label printer.I loved working on each of the blocks - making them their own item.

Here is the wonderful Amber 10 sketch by Melodee:

And here are the links to my other Amazing Amber layouts:
Amber 1:
Amber 2
Amber 3
Amber 4
Amber 5a
Amber 5b
Amber 6
Amber 7
Amber 8
Amber 9

Sunday Best

Here is my layout I did for the Artful Delight sketch challenge for April (excuse the not so great photo - a storm blew in making any outdoor photos impossible).  I used some homemade modeling paste for the first time on this.  I learned I need more practice!  I tried misting on top of it, but that became a mess because the ink took forever to dry.  So, I added another layer of modeling paste and "dressed it up" with some Doodle Bug hearts.  I used a variety of washis for the stripes, which was fun!  I turns out I have a lot of green and pink.  I then cut the butterflies out of scrap paper using my KLD template.

Here is the sketch:

I am entering this into:
Artful Delight's April Sketch challenge
S.W.A.T. Basic Training - Modeling Paste
Kristi B's April Challenge - Something that Flies (Butterfly)

A Flower Card for Mom - a UIT Reveal

Mother's Day is just around the corner here in the US.  And it is also almost May - which means flowers!  So, over at Use It Tuesday, we are asking you to make something for Mom and/or with flowers.  And remember, you have to use hoarded items in your stash, so make sure you let us know what those are.

I decided to start making cards for my mom and MIL.  I took some 10+ year old pink paint (and newer white paint) and had my kids make finger prints on white cardstock.  I then cut them out and made three flowers (one per kid), topped with buttons from my stash.  I think used this great Cardabilities sketch and some almost 2 year old Bo Bunny Jazmyne paper to make this simple card.  I love the simplicity of it!

Now it is your turn!  Don't forget to mention Use It Tuesday in your post AND state your hoarded items for your chance to be a Pick 2 or winner!

Mmm...Ice Cream

The Paper Bakery just started doing sketch challenges on their blog, so I decided to play along with their very first one!  The sketch was so fun to play with for sure!  I decided to scrap these pictures of my oldest and her eating her first ice cream cone.  We were on a missions trip, helping with a VBS on the Navajo Nation.  The place we went to dinner had free ice cream cones for the kids, and so didn't miss out (even though she was just over 1.5 yo).  Instead of getting her hands dirty, she put the cone on the table and ate it that way.  I am going to add journalling to the bottom right.  But because it will contain names and personal details, I left it off for now.

I used MLS Green for this layout.  I love the cute patterns, and the wood grain browns worked well with the burnt orange shirt I thought.  The brads are Doodle Bug, and the washi is a mx of MME and Downtown Tape.  The large alphas are AC Thickers, and the tiny ones are MLS.  I added some blue and pink thread to the wood grain strip to add the final bit of layer (and go to with the Scrap Your Story Challenge).

And here is the amazing sketch it is based off of:

Quilted Hexagon Card (Featured on Practical Scrappers)

Practical Scrappers is featuring hexagons, and my card was chosen to be used as a bonus!  I made this card out of scraps of paper cut to 1 inch squares.  Then I folded the sides in to make elongated hexagons.  To hold the down, I simply hand stitched through the middle.  I finished it off with a cut little sentiment on a cloud, inspired by the current Pinspired challenge (#7).  Here is the image that inspired the cloud and kraft paper:

And here is where I got the idea for the hexagons:

mates

I decided I should actually SCRAP our wedding pictures.  Just after we got married, but put them in an album with the basic journalling, but there wasn't anything other than pictures and journalling.  So, I am now going to go through them and scrap the scanned copies.  I decided to start with the ones of the "boys" and the "girls" since those are first ones actually taken.  And the current Paper Secrets sketch was perfect for the men.  Since our wedding colors were navy and pink (with white), I decided to use those for the layouts.  I used some Authentique Genuine, Echo Park Times and Seasons with a tiny bit of MME Follow Your Heart and Indie Chic (washi).  The ribbon is twill WRMK Sew Ribbon, which I thought worked perfectly with the grey Thickers (since I couldn't find any navy alphas in the right size unfortunately).  Since this one was the guys, I decided to only use pink the washi tape, keeping the layout fairly manly I think. 

And here is the sketch (via PageMaps)

A Hello Card

This card was first inspired by a "card" challenge blog - Cute Card Thursday.  Challenge #264 is "Butterfly Kisses."  When I saw this theme, the country music song popped into my head.  So, I knew I was going to use lots of butterflies and some white flowers.  I settled upon using my Jillibean Soup butterfly stamps and a sketch from Operation Write Home.

Here is the sketch:

{cousins}

This is my take on Amber 8 by Jessica L over at Scrapbook Steals.  The vertical and horizontal strips gave me the idea to pull out my hoarded scraps and make a rainbow weave with them.  (The current SWAT challenge is Dig Deep - using your hoarded items in a trendy way.)  The purple and orange are actually fairly new (Fall 2012 Nicki Silivis box), but that blue, green, and yellow are at least 2 years old (MME Hip Hooray and MLS Green and Simple Life .  The red if from last summer's MLS warehouse box (Sew Cute).  Then I pulled out my hoarded buttons and added some interest to where the papers cross.  Let's not talk about how many buttons I have in my stash!

The right side will get the journalling, but I don't want to post that online.  I might add something to the bottom right depending on how much I write.  I love how fast this layout came together - I put it together in less than 2 hours!

Here is the sketch:

Who Are You? (SS MWM Amber 7)

Here is a layout I did last week for ScrapbookSteals.  With the blog hop last weekend and then DT posts the last two days, I didn't get to blog it until today.

The photo is of my son and a friend the weekend they met.  This photo has such fun expressions on both boys' faces, that I thought it was perfect to scrap.  I used ME Alphabet Soup for this one, as I wanted some really "boy" papers, and the animals worked wellw ith the stuffed ones in the picture (and on their jammies).

I am entering this in the About a Boy challenge - Chevrons.

A Sticky Situation UIT Reveal!

The new challenge over at Use It Tuesday is to use something sticky - stickers, rubons, (wet) embossing, fancy adhesives, etc.  Well, I created two things.  The first is a card for a friend.  She has been going through a lot, so I wanted to make a fun card for her.  I used an almost 2 year old glubber to make the silver glitter circle.  Then I put an at least 1 year old sticker in the middle from Imaginese.  The design of the card is based off of this month's sketch over at Artful Delight.

 The second project is a fun little picture frame.  I bought a box of picture frames about a year and a half ago from Oriental Trading, mostly for y kids to decorate as gifts.  I pulled one out and covered it in Freckled Fawn washi.  Then I made a rosette using another hoarded glubber and some almost 3 yo ribbon and button from Doodle Bug.  The banner is made out of more Freckled Fawn washi and some Twinery Twine, and the alphas I think are over 3 years old - probably closer to 5!    I love how easy this was to make and yet so cute!  I am also entering this frame into ScrapbookSteals MCM #19 - Altered Item.

Now it is your turn!  Create something using some hoarded sticky items, and link up with us at UIT!  We can't wait to see what you make.

Can I Get Some Help - A LGS Reveal

I had fun doing this layout using MME Follow Your Heart plus little pieces of Stella and Rose and Lime Twist.  The photo is of my daughter trapped under two of her uncles. It was such a fun moment to capture on camera, so it was definitely worth a layout of its' own!

Here is the sketch it is based off of:

I am also entering this into two friends' challenges - Rochelle's colors and Kerys's recipe.

Kiwi Lane Blog Hop!

I was honored to be asked to be a part of the April Kiwi Lane blog hop! If you arrived here from Staci's blog then you are in the right spot. If you happened across my blog another way and want to hop along, start back at the Kiwi Lane blog. One lucky commenter will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Kiwi Lane Shop, so make sure you stop and leave a comment on all ten blogs!

I had seen Kiwi Lane designer templates for a while, and I started to really look at them when many of the scrapping "friends" joined their team. I bought my first templates in January, and quickly I fell in love! Then I won a $25 gift card from the January blog hop (just like you can!!!), and I fell even more in love. Although I have a die cut machine, some times it is nice to just use scissors to cut things outs! And I put that to work with the layout I made for this blog hop.

I received the Tiny Shapes set, which includes two triangles, two circles, two ovals, and two hexagons. Although I love the hexagons, I decided to use the other shapes for this layout simply because there is an abundance of hexagon ideas out there. I started out with the small triangle (Shapes 1T), and cut out more than enough to make my strip (using Authentique Loyal 6x6 papers). I love that the corners are rounded, which gives tiling them a nice effect. Once I had those all planned out, I started working on the border for the strip. I thought about using my scallop 8in set, but I decided to just use the templates I was given. So, I traced a scallop using the larger oval (Shapes 8T) and smaller circle (Shapes 3T). Then I wanted to make something to go under the photo. I decided to use both triangles and create a flower/hexagon shape that I then stitched using both blue and green thread. To finish off the layout, I used the large oval one more time to mat part of the title. It helped make the word "magic" pop off the mage a little more.

Remember that one comment from all of the blogs in the hop will be chosen at random. And the author will receive a $25 gift certificate to KLD. Your next stop on the blog is Stephanie D. And here is the whole blog hop line-up just in case you hop "off" the path:

1. Kiwi Lane

2. Katrina

3. Charity

4. Jen

5. Marisa

6. Staci

7. Stephanie U

8. Stephanie D

9. Roselyn

10. Charissa

Puggle Parade - SS Amber 6

This is my take on the ScrapbookSteals Amber 6 MWM layout.  The pictures are missing since they contain so many kids in them.  I didn't want to post all of those kids' pictures on the web without their parents' permission.  The photos are of my son's AWANA Puggles class going on a musical parade one night.  When I add the photos, I am thinking about stitching or doodling some music notes along the left and right sides, mostly in the light yellow area.

Now that little Puggle guy - so easy yet so hard to make!  I decided to do a print and cut using a stock online photo and my Silhouette.  Designing and printing was super easy.  The hard part was the cut!  I only have an SD (not a Cameo), and the auto registration marks DO NOT work on the SD.  So, after trying a bazillion times, I emailed them and they helped me figure it out.  So, now I have a few extra copies of Puggle not cut out... But he is cute none the less, and I can hand cut them for other things probably (especially since I will have a Puggle next year too).

As for what I used on this layout - it is a mix for sure!  The light blue is AC Baby.  The light yellow is NS.  The dark blue and the arrow are out of MLS papers, and the other orangy yellow is MME.  The alphas are AC Thickers and HL Alphas.  And then there is Freckled Fawn, Target, and Walmart washi.  It was fun to mix so many things together for this one!

And here is the (last) mwm sketch by Kerys: