A Winner and Some Layouts!

First up, I want to announce the winner for the RAK from my blog for the LGS blog hop.  And the winner is commenter #26:

WendyNovember 10, 2012 4:24 PM
Very pretty wreath! You chose some great papers to work with!

Wendy, please email me at stephaniesumpleby AT gmail DOT com with your address so I can get your prize mailed out to you.  If I don't hear from you by Tuesday, November 27, I will draw another name.

And now on to some layouts!

These are both for challenges by four amazing girls that have teamed together to give monthly challenges: Kerys, Rochelle, Brenda, and Kristi.

This first one is using the sketch by Rochelle for Brenda's challenges.

I pulled out my Crate Paper Christmas papers and got to work scrapping this family picture from 2010.  I mainly did this layout for my challenge over at Scrap-Friendzy (scrapping a family photo).  I have fun layering the die cut pieces for this one! 

 And a close up of the stitching - just plain blue sewing thread.

This second one is for Kerys's color challenge.  My red is a little more pink, but otherwise I stayed true to her colors (and it looks a little darker and redder in person).  The pictures are of my oldest when she was sick in June 2011.  I used the sketch over at Paper Secrets for this (although I didn't get it done in time to link up :( ), and again I had fun with some Crate Paper papers.

 I thought this little bird die cut was so cute!  And it worked perfectly in the frame die cut I had as well.

And here is a close up of the journalling.  An unknown mono-like bug that knocked her down completely for about a week!  And then it took another week for her to gain her strength back.  I hope we never have that bug again!

Artful Delight Giveaway!

Back in July, I won a $40 gift certificate from Artful Delight via Let's Get Sketchy.  I had been holding on to it for almost 2 months, waiting for the perfect time to buy a kit or two.  I was waiting for something "new" to me - a brand I wanted to try or a line I was dying to have.  Then I saw that they had part of the June scrapbook kit available with Simple Stories Summer Fresh in it.  I knew I had to jump!  I had been wanting to try Simple Stories for a few months, and Summer Fresh was the first line of theirs that got me drooling.  Well, they had it for a great deal - $15 with some solid Bazzill cardstock.  But, that left $25.  So, I looked at what else was available.  I decided to go with the September card kit - many of my friends love October Afternoon, and that kit included some Cakewalk.  Plus it had some Echo Park and Fancy Papers papers that I liked, so it was a pretty easy decision.  I threw in a hexagon mask just to put me over the $40.

The scrapbooking and card kits normally each run $35 initially.  Often, if a kit doesn't sell out, it is discounted to $23.50 the next month.  And shipping runs $7.50 to the US and actual cost to all other countries - which makes these kits a great bargain!  Plus, she has some fun little extras periodically in stock - mists, masks, stamps, etc.  Definitely worth checking out what is in stock when you are ordering a kit!  

Well, unfortunately when the box arrived (3 days later - fast shipping!), I accidentally got the August card kit instead.  I thought about not saying anything, but then I noticed that it said September was sold out and August wasn't.  I had a feeling the wrong items were totally by mistake and might cause other problems later.  So, I sent a quick email saying that I got the wrong items on Saturday.  I got a very quick response back that Leanne was sorry and would look into it when she got home later.  A few hours later I got another email - this one saying that I could keep the August kit AND she was sending me the September one I wanted!  What great customer service!

So, I quickly decided I would giveaway the August kit to a lucky follower of my blog.  But, then I thought about what was int he kit, and realized that I could easily make it two giveaways!  I am splitting the kit in half - each half will have 1 of each of the papers and a mix of the embellishments.  Take a peak at what I am including in this giveaway:

"A" side of 13 pieces of 6x6 paper

"B" side of 13 pieces of 6x6 paper

4 8.5x11 pieces of Bazzill cardstock

Hero Arts background stamp, Prima flowers, MME Fun Day bling, Discover chipboard, and KaiserKraft rub-ons 

To make the giveaway easy, I am using Rafflecopter.  Just complete the items below, and you will be entered into the giveaway!

And stay tuned tomorrow to see the layout I created using the Simple Stories Summer Fresh I got (and the new Let's Get Sketchy Challenge!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hop, Hop, Hop Along the ScrapbookSteals April Blog Hop

Welcome to the ScrapbookSteals blog hop!  If you are coming here from Michelle’s blog, you found the right place!  If you are just starting, be sure to check out the official starting blog post here.  One lucky person leaving a comment on one of the 8 blog posts for this hop will receive a $20 gift certificate to ScrapbookSteals!!!!

First let me share a little about the pad I got to work with.  I got the My Mind’s Eye Miss Caroline HowdyDoody 6x6 pad.  Honestly, on a computer, this didn't look like a line I would love.  I am not a huge flower person, and (gasp) the distressed wood is something I haven’t found a love for (yet – there is still time for me).  But I really do love most of the b sides of this line.  The greens, reds, and yellows are fun to work with.  They are the right medium between bright and muted.  And the flowers are definitely growing on me.  I did WAY more fussy cutting of flowers than I ever thought I would.  There are also a bunch of fun “striped” papers in this line that I truly do adore.   So, definitely give this line a chance!  6x6 pads are a great way to try out lines without investing a ton of money too!

When I saw the blog hop list, I got a little worried.  I felt like the weak link in the blog hop for sure!  And I know the other ladies are better scrapbookers than me, so I needed to do something unique – not just a scrapbook page or a couple of cards.  So, my wheels got turning.  First I thought about doing a wall decoration with a quote on it.  But, I didn’t know how I would work the product into that.  Then I thought about teaching my daughter.  My oldest will be starting kindergarten soon, and I know that the calendar concepts are something we need to work on.  So, I got the idea of making a sign of some sort where we could change the months, days of the week, and digits out.  I had an idea of what it would look like, but then I thought about the actual creation of it.  I didn’t want to be cutting wood, so my first idea went out the window.  Then I thought about the Boulder Innovations magnet boards I stole many moons ago.  I still had two left that I hadn’t touched.  I opened up my Silhouette software and got to figuring out a way to make that work.  I decided how big the letters and numbers needed to be so that they fit well on the magnet part of the board.  Then I got to cutting, gluing, and mod-podge-ing  my hands – I mean pieces.  Before too long, I had all of the pieces together.  Then I got to decorating the base.  I decided to go with the distressed look of the papers and just tare strips of paper.  I mod podges those to the base, and covered them with another layer just to get them good an adhered.  After that was all dry, I stuck the metal plate on.  Then it was on to decorating the bottom of the plate.  I decided to fussy cut some of the flowers out to use as a border.  Since cutting enough to cover the full 7 inches of metal seemed daunting, I decided to put some green paper in the middle, with a grass sort of look.  That saved my hands for sure!

 

 

 

And since I had a ton of paper left, I made a couple of cards using the wonderful sketches from Monday Card Madness.  I always get great card ideas from the Monday posts on the ScrapbookSteals blog.

MCM #78

MCM #67

MCM #74

MCM #68

MCM #79

Since I still had a TON of paper left, I thought I needed to create something more.  I saw a corner bookmark on a blog recently, so I decided to use the wonderful world of Google (and YouTube) to figure out how to make them.  Once I got started, I had a hard time stopping!  Here are five that I made using the MME Miss Caroline Howdy Doody papers.

 

 

 

 

 

Even after all of that, I still had a bunch pieces left, so I decided to do a layout.  I used one of Kristy Lee’s awesome sketches (what would I do without the scrapbooking ideas I get from the ScrapbookSteal’s blog?).  

When I got all of that done, I thought I was finished.  But, then I saw the sneak peaks of the other projects for this hop.  So, I decided to put together one last item.  I made a mini album in the shape of tags.  The tags are two inches wide (so pretty small), and the book includes the eight Fruits of the Spirit.  Hopefully when I need to refocus after my kids have frustrated me, this little album will help me.  Each page is designed after another wonderful MCM sketch too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And even with all of these projects, I still have 10 of the 24 sheets left untouched!

Now, before you move on to Kerys’ blog, I have a giveaway of my own to announce!  I have some “extra” goodies that I would love to go to a good home.  Some I bought from ScrapbookSteals and just ended up with too many pieces.  Some I got in swap boxes or as giveaway prizes that I just don’t seem to use.  So, I thought they should go to a good home.  To enter, follow my blog and comment about any of my projects seen in this post.  On random blog follower that comments on this post will win these goodies!

Here is the blog hop order in case you get lost along the way:

ScrapbookSteals: http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/wp.

Misty Buck: http://www.mistylynnwhat.blogspot.com/

Michelle Philippi: http://michellephilippi.com/

Stephanie U: http://sucw.blogspot.com/  <--- You're HERE!

Kerys Sharrock:http://scrappinnhappy.blogspot.com/

Jennifer McDermott: http://wonkywares.blogspot.com/

Emily Lanham: http://createserendipity.blogspot.com/

Brenda Smith: http://theimperfectscrapper.blogspot.com/

Good Luck Preventing Disappointment

Like I posted earlier, I submitted an application to be a Fresh Face Designer for Practical Scrappers.  Today I learned I didn't get picked.  But it is okay.  First, I won two Random.org drawings in the last 24 hours - a blog give-away from Cristine at One Scrappy Novice and the random winner of the PGCB Challenge #4.  Knowing I have two scrapping prizes coming my way definitely softens the blow.  But also I think it is for the best.  This summer is going to be busy.  I didn't know if I should apply or not because of that.  I will be teaching more than I have since my oldest was born, including two sections of a course I haven't taught in five years (luckily it is a course I can teach fairly easily).  I will also be in charge of our church's VBS this summer, so I will be busy planning that as well.  Add in a few family trips (to see extended family), and it could be a very crazy few months.  So, I will wait and apply again in August probably.  The fall should be a lot calmer for sure.  Actually, everything should calm down after mid-August.  The summer term will be over, VBS will be over, and my youngest's birthday will be over.  So, it will be back to life as normal.  Hopefully by then I will have more traffic on my blog, which I know is one thing they like to see.  And my scrapping can only improve, so that is always a positive.

Now off to get some more scrapping done - probably on my friend's mini album.

Meeting Scrappy Friends (and a Giveaway Link)

On Friday I got the pleasure of meeting four other ladies who have a love of scrappping.paper crafts.  Three of them live in the same metro area as I do, and the fourth was traveling through town (which originated our meeting).  It was fun to actually meet these ladies in person.  Some I had known virtually for a year, so it was a huge blessing to meet them in person and actually get to know them a little more.  Our ability to talk was slightly hampered by our children (all but one of us has small children that aren't in school yet), but it was also fun to meet the kids who are often the focus of the scrapping pages.

One of them has a great blog where she posts most of her scrapping/crafting beauties.  She just had her 15,000th hit this past week, so she is giving away some cute papers and embellihsments.  The best part of the giveaway is that the papers are Authentique - a brand I want to try but haven't gotten my hands on yet.  So, I would love to win some of it!

If you want to see lots of detailed posts about scrapping/craftin creations, where you can get lots of inspiration and ideas, check out Lil Buck's Creations!