Paper Play Sketches Ch #14

Hello, hello! Happy Hump Day! I can't believe we are already to the middle of the week. Usually the week before a long weekend just seems to drag on by! I am so happy that is not the case this time around!

I am so excited to let you all know that Paper Play Sketches is back up and running after summer break and I am also excited to be a part of the team! I love the sketches that Janis creates and I do hope you will play along with us! The sketches are posted every other Wednesday, so mark it down on your calendar!

Here is this week's sketch:

I used Simple Stories Cozy Christmas for this card. I actually think the dark red piece is from Echo Park, but it didn't have the branding strip, so I'm not certain. For the focal point of my card, I die cut a 3x4 cut apart card into a 3 inch circle. 

I hope you stop by the Paper Play Sketches blog and say "hi", and I hope you find some time to play along with this sketch. I would love to see what you create with it.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope that your Wednesday is wonderful!

Hello card

Hello again! I am popping in with a quick card to share with you.

I found a challenge on Dani Cloutier - Close To My Heart Independent Consultant's Facebook page and thought I would give it a try. You really should check out her page. She posts challenges at the beginning of the month and she also posts weekly card and layout sketches.

Here is the card sketch that she posted for the week of August 21:

I used all Fancy Pants Park Bench collection for this card.

I am also linking this up over at Sunny Day Crafting - Ch #12 - where it's always anything goes!

If you get a chance stop by Dani's Facebook page and check out her challenges!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday #286

Hello everyone! I hope that you had a good weekend and that your week is starting off on a good note.

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday has a new sketch for you today! Our optional theme this week is "Holiday Blessings".

I think this is such a fun sketch! It would work so well for any special occasion or holiday, and I know I will be using it again!

I really wanted to use the banner on my card, but there was just no way without covering up too much of the tree, so I just added a piece of twine to the top left corner. I really intended to round the bottom corners of the panel like the sketch showed, but I forgot. I think it looks just fine being square! The image is from a Simple Stories 3x4 pocket card. I had extras of this card, and I thought that it would make a cute Christmas card. 

I hope you have some time to play along with this sketch! You have 2 weeks to get your card linked up - either on the blog here or on our Facebook page here. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great day!

This Is The Life - Lasting Memories #308

Hello, hello! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you are having a good weekend. I know that for me this weekend seemed to just fly by!

We have our fifth and final challenge for the month up over at Lasting Memories today. Our theme for August has been "The Adult Coloring Trend", and this week our challenge is a photo color inspiration challenge. Use the photo below for color inspiration on your layout.

I love the pretty colors in that inspiration photo! The pinks, the oranges, and the greens...just so pretty. I was having trouble finding any photos that I thought went with this color scheme, so I decided to pick my papers first, then see what photos I could find to match the papers. I pulled papers from a variety of manufacturers - Dear Lizzy, Crate Paper, Amy Tangerine, and Chickaniddy Crafts.

This is not my normal process. I almost always start with my photos and then pick my papers. It was really fun to change things up this time around. I probably would have never pulled these papers if I had picked my photos first, but I kinda really like the way this layout turned out!

I searched my Pinterest boards for a two photo sketch and decided to go with this older sketch from PageMaps. I flipped the sketch to work with my photos a little better, and I moved the title to under the photos. I will add a little bit of journaling, maybe around the banner piece, or hidden behind the photos on a tag. I had taken a lot of photos from this day, so not sure which story I want these photos to tell just yet. I just know that this was a beautiful summer day spent with my family, and life can't get much better than that!

Be sure to stop by the Lasting Memories blog to see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. You have until September 2nd to play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! Have a beautiful day!

PDE Linky Party Challenge #135

Hello everyone! Happy Friday!

We have a new challenge up over on the PDE Linky Party blog today! This week's challenge is:

Ch #135 - Bold, Bright Colors

When I saw the theme for this week I immediately thought of the Simple Stories DIY Boutique. I knew I had just a few pieces of the 6x6 paper pad left, so I went in search of it in my stash. I just love those bright colors! They are sure to brighten anyone's day!

I based my card on this month's card sketch from Paper Issues:

Be sure to stop by the PDE Linky Party blog  to see the projects from the rest of the team! I hope to see you playing along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Scrapbook Challenges SS '16 Sketch #13

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday to you! How is your week going so far? We have been having gorgeous weather lately, so no complaints here!

Today over on the Scrapbook Challenges blog we have sketch #13 from our Sizzlin' Summer of Sketches.

I had so much trouble deciding how I was going to use this sketch! Use it as is with the four smaller photos, use one photo in place of the four...there are just so many possibilities with this sketch. I know I will be using it again!

In the end I decided to stick with the four smaller photos, but I used 4x3 photos in place of the 3x2's. Because the photos I used were a little bigger, I had to adapt the sketch just a bit to make it work. I really wanted to use the tags on this layout, but there just wasn't enough room to make them look right.

The blue paper on this layout is some of the oldest paper in my stash. I know I have had it since probably 2004! It also came out of my 100 Patterned Paper challenge stash, so that's one more sheet that has been used! I also used my Fiskars teeny tiny star hand punch to punch those little stars. I just love those little stars, but they are kind of a pain to work with!

These photos are of the kids from the 4th of July 2013. Shane was in a mood to take lots of pictures - thanks to the flags - so they all just had fun being silly and posing with the flags.

I am a little sad that this is our last week of Sizzlin' Summer of Sketches! Mostly sad because I didn't get as many done as I had wanted to. Hopefully I'll get a couple more made before the end of the week. Regardless, they will all be filed away for later use.

Check out the Scrapbook Challenges blog to see what the other design team members did with this sketch. You have until the end of the month to play along.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #174

Hello, hello! I am back with a quick post this evening. We have a brand new sketch posted over on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog today. This is another great sketch with lots of possibilities. I can definitely see myself turning it and using it for a project life style card.

I always seem to be in need of birthday cards, so I dug out my balloon dies and went to work! I used my favorite birthday paper once again! I just think it makes for a fun birthday card!

I am also linking this card up at Sunny Day Crafting. Their challenges are always anything goes with an optional theme. This past week's theme was carnival or balloons. They'll have a brand new challenge up tomorrow, so I'd better hurry and get this linked up today!

Be sure to stop by the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog to see the sketch and read up on the rules. The design team reveal and the top 3 will be posted on Wednesday. We do hope that you find some time to play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a good night!

Make It Monday #70 @ The Memory Nest

Hello, hello! Here we are back around to Monday again! I hope that you all had a good weekend. It was a hard weekend for us as we moved our oldest son to college. This is going to take some getting used to!

We have a new sketch up over at The Memory Nest, and this fun sketch is courtesy of Katie Lamb.

As I mentioned above, we moved Matthew to MSU this past weekend, so I guess I was feeling a little...lonesome...maybe a little sad...whatever the case, it made me not miss him quite so much working on a layout about him. Even though we still have Shane at home with us, it still feels like we are experiencing an empty nest. We know that Shane will more than likely be with us always, so Matthew is like the last of the kids that will leave the nest!

I used an older Echo Park collection - Note To Self - for this layout. I have been hanging onto it for a long time, and since I went and bought more paper when we took Matthew to college (hey, it made me feel a tiny bit better!) I figured I better use up some older stuff! This one will have hidden journaling on it - probably on the back since I have so much to say - I just don't think a tag behind the photo will cut it this time!

Be sure to stop by The Memory Nest to see the layouts from the rest of the design team. This is the last sketch in our weekly summer sketch series. There's still time to play along with all of the sketches from July and August, so get those layouts linked up for a chance at the grand prize!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope that you have a fantastic start to the week!

Sketch N Scrap Card Sketch #80

Happy Saturday! I hope your weekend is off to a good start! We are still having some really nice weather, so I'm hoping to get out and enjoy some of it this weekend.

We have a new card sketch up at Sketch N Scrap today! This fabulous sketch is courtesy of Heather.

I just love everything about this sketch, and I know I will be using it again and again! When I first saw it I wanted to do a Christmas card, but when I was looking for papers I came across this Crate Paper Bundled Up paper pad and decided to go for a winter time card instead. The colors in this collection are just so pretty and just a little different than the normal blues for winter. To finish off my card I added in a few die cut and punched snowflakes with a little pink bling.

Check out the Sketch N Scrap blog to see the fun cards from the rest of the team. You have until the end of the month to link up to any or all of our sketches. I hope to see you playing along!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

PDE Linky Party Ch #134 - Tags

Hello everyone! Happy Friday to you! We have a new challenge for you over on the PDE Linky Party blog today.  This week's challenge is:

Ch# 134 - Tags

 I love homemade tags, but I rarely make them. At least not "fancy" tags! I cut tags for my layouts all the time, but they are usually tucked behind a layer and a lot of it is not even seen, so it was fun to make a pretty tag!

I made this tag to attach to some goodies for my daughter on her first day of school. I also took a picture of her when I picked up Ada, because hey, you normally don't get a chance to take a photo of your (almost) 26 year old daughter on her first day of school! With being a special education teacher her first few days are filled with not a lot of students, but a lot of scheduling and trying to figure out when those students are going to be in her classroom. I thought she might need a little pick me up to help get her through!

Stop by the PDE Linky Party blog to see the beautiful tags from the rest of the design team. I hope you play along with this fun challenge! I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fantastic Friday!

Such A Cutie - Sketches In Thyme #214

Hello everyone! Happy hump day to you! This week just seems to be flying right on by and before you know it we will be back to the weekend.

Today is my day to be featured over at Sketches In  Thyme. This week we are working with the talented Sara Mishler's sketch.

I used a couple of pieces of paper from Shimelle's Star Shine collection along with her "Shimelle" 6x6 paper pad. I just love it when collections from the same designer match so well together! All of my embellishments, with the exception of the enamel dots, came from the Star Shine collection as well. The turquoise background piece is from my 100 Patterned Paper challenge stack. It looks like it's a little brighter than the other colors, but it really does match very well.

Check out the Sketches In Thyme blog any day of the week for new inspiration. We have 3 sketches posted so far for August, and a couple more to follow. I hope you have time to play along with us. Every layout you enter gets you a chance to win this beautiful paper pack:

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful day!

My Guys - Scrapbook Challenges SS '16 #09

Hello again! I am back with another post! If you are looking for my Try Stampin' - Or Not -On Tuesday reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Sizzlin' Summer sketch #09 is up today on the Scrapbook Challenges blog, and I finally had a little time to play along! This month has been crazy busy with going back to school for Shane last week, and this week we are getting ready to move Matthew in to his dorm. I'll be glad for things to slow down and get settled back into a routine!

Anyway, here's a look at today's sketch:

I really should have turned my photo to black and white - I struggled finding paper to match the red and maroon! I did find this piece from Shimelle's Star Shine line and thought that it actually worked really well. 

I kept this layout very simple - I didn't want to go overboard with the hearts, but really wasn't feeling anything else. There really isn't a big story behind this photo - it was just one of those times that I got a good photo of Matthew and Scott together. Like I said in my journaling - the only thing that would have made this photo better is if Shane was in it!

Check out the Scrapbook Challenges blog to see the layouts from the rest of the design team. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday #284

Hello everyone! I hope that your week is off to a good start! If you're looking for something fun to do, why don't you check out this week's sketch at Try Stampin' - Or Not - On Tuesday and play along with us!

The optional challenge for this week is - paper tearing.

I did tear the edge of my paper strip, and I had planned to do more, but then I decided that since I was in need of an anniversary card I would go with hearts instead of boxes.

Head on over to the Try Stampin' blog to see the fun cards from the rest of the design team. You have 2 weeks to play along with this sketch, and you can link up on the blog or on our Facebook page.

I do hope you play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Ada Do It! - Scrapbook Challenges #494

Hello again! This is my second post of the day. If you're looking for my Christmas Cards All Year Round reveal, please scroll down or go here.

We have a brand new sketch up over at Scrapbook Challenges today. This sketch  has the space for a large photo, but it would be great for a photo collage, or it could easily be adapted to fit smaller photos as well.

I chose to use 4 - 4x5 photos on my layout. These photos are from just a few weeks ago when we went to the pool. Ada loves the water and spent all of her time "jumping" off the side, and then when Pops or her Mommy would try to hold on to her she would try to pull their hands away and say, "Ada do it!". She's not as big as she thinks she is! 

The greenish blue background paper and the yellow paper are both from my 100 Patterned Paper Challenge stack. Surely if I keep using a sheet or two on every project this pile will disappear! Then I'll have to try to do another one!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Be sure to check out the Scrapbook Challenges blog to see the layouts from the rest of the team.

Have a great day!

Merry Christmas with Christmas Cards All Year Round

Hello everyone! Happy Monday to you! I can't believe we have made it to the middle of the month! This month has been so busy with getting ready to go back to school last week and getting Matthew ready for college next week. I would like to think time will slow down once we get settled into a routine, but we shall see.

The middle of the month also means it's time for the Mid Month Inspiration from the Christmas Belles at Christmas Cards All Year Round!

Our challenge for August is to use bright summery colors on our Christmas project.

When I think of Christmas I don't really think of bright summery colors, but that's the great thing about these challenges - they help you to think outside of the box and do something you might not have done otherwise. I'm pretty much a traditional red and green for Christmas kind of girl, but I do like to add in light blue, and maybe even some pink now and them.

I love the little Santa and reindeer on this paper - they both just make me happy - and since they were on the blue background, I decided to use blue and green for my card.

The papers for this card came from my 100 Patterned Paper Challenge stack! I am determined to get this stack used up!

Go check out the Christmas Cards All Year Round blog to see the projects from the rest of the team. I hope you play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Lasting Memories #306

Good Sunday morning! I hope that you are enjoying the weekend. We had a gorgeous day yesterday - cool enough to have the windows open for a while - and this next week looks gorgeous, too. Highs in the upper 70's and low 80's...unheard of around here in the middle of August!

The latest challenge is up at Lasting Memories and with keeping with the adult coloring trend this week's challenge is "Add an image that you color or color your background paper".

I'll admit it - I haven't joined in the craze of adult coloring. I like to color - with my granddaughter - and I always find it relaxing, but I have not purchased myself a coloring book. So, I took to the internet and found a free coloring page to download at Color Pages For Mom. They had a ton to choose from. The page I chose was Paisley 44 and I only colored a portion to put behind the upper left corner and lower right corner of my photo.

I've done something on this layout that I haven't done before, and that is I didn't add a title to it. This is a photo from Ada's 8 month photo shoot. I have a ton of photos from that day and I have already made a layout or two using them. I'm just not sure yet of what I would title this, or if it even needs a title once it's with the other layouts. So, for now it will not have a title. 

All of the patterned papers for this layout came from my 100 Patterned Paper Challenge stack. I'm slowly using it up, but it still looks like I haven't even touched it!

Check out the Lasting Memories blog to see the layouts from the rest of the team. Pull out those coloring books, or print off a page to color, and join us this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great day!

Celebrate - Stick It Down Card Sketch

This is my third post of the day. If you are looking for my PDE Linky Party reveal, please scroll down or go here. If you are looking for my Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Hello again! Today is reveal day for the rest of card team at Stick It Down. Here is a reminder of the August card sketch:

I found this package of Crate Paper Acorn Ave. vellum garland in my stash. I'm pretty sure I got them either in a RAK or a secret Santa exchange a few years ago. They are the only thing from that collection that I have! I had forgotten that I even had them, but when I happened to come across them I knew I would be using them on this card. The colors in the flags are very similar to the colors in Basic Grey's Capture collection, so I dug out a sheet from that collection for my card base.

I stamped the sentiment and the tiny stars from an older CTMH stamp set (C1478). It doesn't have a name on it, but I am sure it came from an old Workshop on the Go kit.

Stop by the Stick It Down blog to see the cards from the rest of the card team. I do hope you play along with this fun sketch.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style Sketch #38

Hello again! I am back with my second post of the day. If you are looking for my PDE Linky Party reveal, please scroll down or go here.

Today is my day to be featured over on the Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style blog. This week we are working with this sketch from Kirsty.

For my card I turned the sketch on it's side.

I am back to working on Ada's first year album. It's been quite a while since I've done anything with it and I thought I'd better get back to it. Otherwise, she will be starting school and I still won't have it done! 

Here is the completed layout - just a note, I have a ton of photos from outside for her 6 month photo shoot that I still plan to include with these, so expect to see more soon!

Since it's been so long (Ada is almost 3!) since these photos were taken, I will have to find my notes for what she was doing and talk to her Mom so I can get it all right!

The papers for this layout are from my 100 Patterned Paper challenge stack. The yellow is probably some of my oldest paper, like 12 - 14 years old - old, and the blue is from a bulk pack that I picked up at Tuesday Morning last summer...or maybe it was this spring...I can't remember, but it's not nearly as old!

I'm hoping to continue working on Ada's first year album, as well as my 2015 album. Yeah, not even thinking about 2016 yet and we're already 8 months in! I'm okay with that - I have my planner and all my notes, and I enjoy working on them as I have time and because that is what I want to be working on - not because I feel like I have to do it and be caught up!

Stop by the Sketches In Thyme Project Life Style blog any day of the week for some inspiration. There are lots of different takes on the sketches. Be sure to link up with us if you play along. Kim is offering up this fun Halloween stamp set to one lucky winner. You have until August 31 to play along.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

PDE Linky Party Challenge #133

Hello everyone! Happy Friday to you! We have almost made it to the weekend once again! We started back to school yesterday, so Friday and the weekend is that one thing that we all, once again, look forward to!

We have a brand new challenge up at PDE Linky Party today! This week's challenge is

"Back to School!"

Create any type of project with a back to school theme. I chose to make a card for my daughter who started back teaching Special Education to K-4th graders yesterday. I thought she might need a little encouragement right here at the start of school.

I used Bella Blvd's Star Student collection for this card. I just love the saying that was on the cut apart sheet - "A good education can change anyone, a good teacher can change everything." This is very true about any teacher, but from personal experience, I know a good special education teacher can make a world of difference.

Be sure to stop by the PDE Linky Party blog to see the projects from the rest of the design team. I do hope that you will play along with us this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with another project to share with you!

Scrapbook Challenges #493

Hello again! I am back with my third post of the day! If you're looking for my reveal for The Memory Nest, please scroll down or go here. If you are looking for my reveal for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, please scroll down or go here.

We have a great new sketch up over on the Scrapbook Challenges blog.

For my layout I used 3x4 photos, and since my title was so "heavy" in the bottom right corner, I moved the tags to the top left corner to try and balance it out a bit.

I took part of my title from Ada's shirt. It says "Think Happy" and since she is always a happy girl, I thought "Think Happy, Be Happy" was the perfect title.

Journaling says - You never know where you'll find Ada! She loves to climb up onto the beanbag chair that sits on the love seat in our bedroom - and just chill. She is such a happy girl and a true joy to be around!

Head on over to the Scrapbook Challenges blog to see the wonderful layouts from the rest of the design team. We will be back tomorrow with Sizzlin' Summer of Sketches #5, so stay tuned!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #172 - Joy & Peace

Hello again! This is my second post of the day. If you are looking for my reveal for The Memory Nest, please scroll down or go here.

I am back with the latest sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge (#172). I think this sketch would make a cute pocket style scrapbooking card, too. Just add a photo where the image is supposed to go...I may have to give it a go! Here's a look at the sketch:

For my card, I used up some scraps from my all time favorite Christmas 6x6 paper pad - Echo Park's This & That Christmas - from a few years ago. I have seriously saved every little bit of this collection and I have hardly nothing left of it. Even the image is cut from one of the patterned papers, and the strips behind the image? Let's just say that they may all be pieced together behind the image!

I do hope you find some time to play along with us this week. Be sure to stop by the blog to see the sketch and read the rules. Last week's top 3 and the design team reveal will be on Wednesday. I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I have one more project to share with you today, so stay tuned!

Make It Monday #68 @ The Memory Nest

Hello, hello! Happy Monday! Let's get this week started with a fun new sketch from The Memory Nest!

For the months of July and August, The Memory Nest is posting a new sketch every Monday. This is the second sketch for August. This has been one of my favorite sketches yet!

So, this layout gave me fits trying to photograph it and edit it. If I got the pictures to actually looking like they needed to look - the paper was really washed out and looked like there was no color. To get the papers to look the right color, the photos were incredibly dark, so this was the best I could get!

The title is - "You make my heart smile" and is a 3x4 filler card from the Fine & Dandy Project Life kit, and I just cut it down a bit for the space that I had. The papers are also from the Fine & Dandy paper pad. In person this layout turned out really cute, I just couldn't get it to photograph well.

The journaling at the top of the layout says - "This little girl is so sweet! Every day this spring we would have to take a walk just so she could pick me a daisy!" 

Seriously, every day that it was pretty enough to go for a walk, she headed right for the daisies so she could pick me one. It's a good thing they were plentiful this year!

Be sure to stop by The Memory Nest and see the beautiful layouts from the rest of the design team. There will be a weekly winner drawn with next week's sketch, so get those layouts in, but never fear, you have until the end of August to these done for a chance at the grand prize!

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be back soon with another layout to share! 

Lasting Memories #305 - Hello Beautiful

Hello, hello! Happy Sunday to you! I hope that you are having a good weekend. We had a really nice day yesterday - cool enough we could open the windows and enjoy some fresh air in the house. I'm not sure if we'll get that lucky today, but it was nice while it lasted!

Today is our second challenge in our "Adult Coloring Trend" over at Lasting Memories, and this week's challenge is - "Use black and white and one other color".

This type of color challenge is one of my favorites - I love using black and white with just a pop of color.

For my layout I used this week's Midweek Mojo sketch - Marigold #2 - from Scrapbook Steals. Here's a look at the sketch:

When I saw this sketch, I knew I wanted to keep the black and white strips at the top and bottom, so I went in search of a similar paper in my stash. I found a piece from Bella Blvd's Color Chaos that was perfect. In fact, all of the black and white papers - and most of the pink ones - on this layout are from Bella Blvd.

I added in some pink splatters to the background, a couple of pieces of washi tape, some die cut hearts, and finished it off with some enamel dots.

Stop by Lasting Memories to see the layouts from the rest of the design team. I hope you play along with this fun challenge! I would love to see what other color you add to your black and white layout!

And if you need a fun sketch to work with, be sure to stop by the Scrapbook Steals blog and check this one out!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a blessed day!

Scrapbook Challenges Sizzlin Summer '16

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday to you! I hope you are enjoying your weekend so far!

The first week of Scrapbook Challenges' Sizzlin' Summer of Sketches '16 is underway. Sadly, we have been so busy with getting ready to go back to school, and getting my oldest son ready for college, that I haven't had a chance to play along with this week's sketches. I will have a few layouts for next week's sketches all ready to go!

I thought that I would post a recap of all of the sketches, just in case you missed any, and maybe I will be able to get a few of these done as well!

Monday's Sketch #492

SS #1

SS #2

SS #3

SS #4

I hope you find some time to play along with us! We'll be back Monday with another new sketch for you!