Paper Secrets Sketch (Anniversary Album)

Yesterday I got another page done in my parent's anniversary album.  This time I used the Paper Secrets AUgust 1 sketch.  Again I used the Simple Stories Documented papers with MME for a little punch of color.

Here is the sketch it is based off of:

I don't have a true word embellishment yet since I don't know what pictures are going to be on the page, but I do have the ampersand brad :)

Use It Tuesday - Birthdays!

Well, I am now starting my third term over at Use It Tuesday - one week late!  Due to travels and activities, I didn't get my project done on time for last week's reveal.  But, that is okay, since my projects won't be a part of the blog reveal anyways!  And why is that - well, because they will be on Facebook instead.  I am now the Social Media Coordinator for UIT.  That means I manage our Facebook Page as well as expand our social media presence (plans are in the works for Pinterest and Twitter!  

The change this time was birthdays.  I decided to go with the birth part and made this cute care for a baby boy.  I have a few friends at MOPS that are expecting baby boys in the fall, so I thought I would get started on cards for them.  I used the Paper Secrets sketch and some Creative Memories papers.  I was given these when my son was born - over 3 years ago - and I haven't touched them!  They just aren't my style, but I think they are great for cards.

Now it is your turn to create something related to birthdays.  Make sure you mention UIT in your post as well as your hoarded items!

Father's Day Card

Here is a Father's Day card I created for the Practical Scrappers Tiny Things post.  I used the Paper Secrets sketch although with Bo Bunny Grease Monkey papers.  It isn't a perfect picture (it was windy the day I had to take it, so it kept blowing over), but I think you can see the detail anyways.  My tiny things on this one were the brads I used under dad to give it a little extra interest

Here is the sketch:

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Mother's Day Card - Paper Secrets

I made this card last week for my mom.  I used the same flowers as I did here and the same paper.  I just used the sketch from Paper Secrets instead :)  I loved the simplicity of their first card sketch!

Here is the sketch:

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:

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)

4 generations

When I saw this month's first Paper Secrets challenge, I knew I wanted to scrap this pair of photos.  It is of my oldest with one parent, grandma, and one of grandma's parents - making for 4 generations.  With the photos in hand, I new I wanted to use some blue, so I went through my blue paper drawers and stumbled on the MLS paper with the flowers.  It wasn't what I had originally thought of in my head, but it worked perfectly!  Then i pulled out some more blue papers (MME and Lily Bee) along with the orangy pink paper from Crate Paper.  For embellishments, I used a white doily, a Paper Play Studio flair, some MME washi, three Stampin Up brads,  EP and NS stickers, and some twine (Twinery).  The alphas are WP and Thickers.

 And here is the sketch:

Who will lose and cry UNCLE

So, I decided to try use two sketches for a 2 page layout.  And I think it might have turned out okay :)

The first page I worked on was the right page, using Unscripted Sketches #196.  I often use their sketches for cards, but I wanted to try one as a layout.  And those squares at the bottom I thought would work perfectly for the four smaller photos I had.  With all of the colors in the photos, I decided to use mostly MME FunDay for this layout.  I tried a few other color schemes, but I kept coming back to the primaries with kraft as my favorite.  To make the photos pop, I used some black cardstock for the matting.

When I had the bottom of the page done, I decided the top needed something.  Then I remember this stamp I had that I hadn't touched.  I got the idea from some of the other FunDay papers that have a similar pattern on them.  I stamped them on solid kraft and then colored them some with my Stampin Up water color pencils.

When I went to add something to the left side of the strip, I really liked the big medallion   But, it had something written on it that didn't fit the layout.  So, I covered it up with some more black cardstock and then stuck a star on top.

For the second (left) page, I used the February 1st Paper Secrets sketch.  Since it had a similar strip on it, I thought it would tie in with the right page well.  The "twist" for the sketch this month is chevrons, so I made sure I had enough of those in my layout :)  I decided to add in Kristi B's challenge of dry embossing (on the arrow), mustache (fussy cut from EP Times and Seasons), and pennants (which I already had for the banners).  

And here are both pages today.  I made sure to carry some of the banners across both pages to tie them together.  I think it turned out fairly well!

Here are the sketches:

From PageMaps

Mixing Papers for a Card and Layout

I decided I was going to do this month's Paper Secret's second sketch.  I had been meaning to do one of their sketches for the past few months, but time always slips away!  Well, this weekend I had a chance to tackle it.  And I decided to use a challenge over at 2Peas to help.  The challenge over there was to use stickers on your layout and then use some of the same things for a card.  So, here is what I came up with.

I used Amy Tangerine for most of this - her original line with American Crafts.  The yellowy thickers are part of that kit, and the the grey and brown are the same font/type that I got from Paper Secrets actually.  The stickers are Echo Park and Authentiic, and I added a little blue twine (probably Twinery, but it was a scrap so I am not 100% sure).

For the card, I took inspiration from Unscripted Sketches #194.  It even had the same piggy back as the 2Peas challenge - stickers!  I used four different lines of papers for this one - AC Amy Tangerine, Authentique Genuine, Echo Park Times and Seasons (background paper), and a tiny bit of MME Indie Chic (the banner stripe).  I had used some of the Authentique and MME on the layout, and the scrap of EP was perfect to mat the whole card.

Here are the sketches:

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!

Paper Secrets October 15 Sketch

Well, I had a few sets of pictures I needed to scrap, so I went searching for  sketches that would work.  Since I "know" some of the wonderful ladies on the Paper Secrets DT, I checked out the newest sketch.  I decided it would work well for my daughter's first birthday pictures (which needed to be scrapped for  Scrap-Friendzy birthday challenge).

Well, this is what I came up with using those...

About half way through I realized I didn't love what I was creating.  It is okay, but it wasn't a layout I was going to love.  So, I looked at the design team inspiration some, and realized that I did in fact of Jillibean Soup papers (which is the spotlight this month since they are the sponsor), and those papers would go with pictures I had ready to scrap as well!  So off I went to use the sketch again.

The pictures are from the same daughter's baby shower when she was 6 or 7 weeks old.  It was at our church, and I got a picture of all of the ladies in attendance holding her.

(The five word title is yet another Scrap-Friendzy challenge, celebrating the 5th birthday!) 

Basically everything on this layout is Jillibean Soup.  The only exceptions are the tiny alphas (Glitz Design), solid kraft cardstock (which I then stamped with Jillibean Soup stamps), the red button at the middle of the flower, and the printer paper I printed the journalling on.  So, I am pretty sure at least 75% of the things used would be considered Jillibean.