Beach-y

We didn't really hit the beach this summer, but Hannah sure enjoys any opportunity to get wet. The July challenge at Practical Scrappers is to use something you take to or find at the beach. I thought it would be fun to put a piece of beach towel on a layout and my dear husband conveniently ripped one, so I cut out this cute frog image from the towel to use. The letters and frame are cut from Cindy Loo. I think the layout is fun and summery and very beach-y!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th! We spent the day with family and friends and way too much food - but it was so worth it. Today I was really looking forward to working with some beautiful patriotic patterned papers I picked up from Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg. It's too hot to be outside today, so I've been spending H.'s naptime working on a couple of layouts.

In my first layout, I used more of the We R Memory Keepers "Old Glory" line. Don't you love the firecracker cut (from Stand and Salute)? I used it to replace the "i" in the title. The font is Storybook. The pearls are from Queen & Co. I paired them with a button from Fancy Pants to make the fireworks up in the right hand corner. Speaking of Fancy Pants, they recently came out with the "Family" line of papers that are so wonderful for summer and 4th of July pages. I used them for my next layout, featuring me and my H. eating our 4th of July corn on the cob. Any Cricut cuts on this page are from Graphically Speaking. The cute die cut is from We R Memory Keepers. If you want to see these layouts in person, stop by Scrapdoodles soon and pick up some of these awesome paper lines for your summer projects!

The layout design for this page is based on a sketch featured this week on Stuck on U Sketches. Another great challenge blog, Frosted Designs, is challenging everyone to use red, white, and blue, and stars and stripes on their layouts this week. Thanks to those blogs for the great inspiration!

Patriotic Banners

I went to my LSS Scrapdoodles yesterday and picked up some of the yummy patriotic papers by We R Memory Keepers - the line is called "Old Glory." I think they are a bit nostalgiac looking. I thought they would be perfect for some of the 4th of July cuts off the A Child's Year cartridge. I used that cartridge and the Stand and Salute cartridge for all the cuts on these two banners. It's hard to tell, but I also misted each with Tattered Angels gold glimmer mist. I mounted recycled cardboard to the backs to give it a little more stability and connected everything with floral wire. A fun, patriotic project for the summer.

Father's Day Recycle

I had fun creating this project out of some recycled material. I used a juice bar box as the base and part of a Cricut cartridge plastic packaging to cover the window. The patterned paper is a great hunting print from Reminisce, if I remember correctly. The cuts are from my Camp Out cartridge, except for "Dad" which was cut with Beyond Birthdays. I inked the edges. The last step was to fill the box with treats. Hope he likes it!

Sewing Project

I took a break from paper crafting to work on a couple of sewing projects. Here's a 3 foot tall kitty I made for my daughter. I also made one in pink for my goddaughter. I think they turned out pretty cute! As long as I had the sewing maching out, I also sewed a pillow out of a set of Hannah's shirts a friend had embroidered and I didn't want to throw away, and sewed new curtains for Hannah's room. I do miss my paper, though, so bye-bye sewing maching - I'll bring you out another day!

Another Song Challenge

This week's song at Scrap it With a Song is Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors". I picked up on the line "and that's why I love you" for the title for a layout featuring my loves. This was a quick one - I really like pairing a bright color with blacks/greys lately. The letters are cut with the Designer's Calendar font.

Busy Busy

I've been crafting up a storm - but not keeping up with it all on my blog. Sorry about that, for I love to share. First, I finished a 22 page album for friends. Then I sat at my sewing machine with an actual pattern (it's been awhile!) to create a 3 foot fleece kitty for my adorable god-daughter. Of course, I had to fit in some card making for birthdays, anniversaries, and Mother's Day. And then a few layouts for myself and Scrapdoodles. I was lucky enough to come in just after they put the new CratePaper "Paper Dolls" collection out. It's so cute and very girly! The chipboard accents are awesome.

I also picked up a few pieces from Fancy Pants Designs new "My Family" line. The colors are great for any type of layout. They are also featuring a mix of acetate accents with fun glitter features. I loved the line "all because two people fell in love..." on the border sheet and thought of my parents. I've got 5 great siblings all because Jim and Sandy fell in love.

FaithKeeping

It's time for another FaithKeeping event at Redeemer Lutheran Church. This project could be a wonderfully sweet Mother's Day project or an any day gift for yourself or someone you love. It's all about celebrating the blessings of relationships - especially our family. You'll need to bring a photo - 4x6 or 5x7 or even a few smaller photos. I made mine black and white, but you don't have to. The canvas we're using measures 8x10. I hope you can join us for a fun, creative time together on Saturday, May 8th - 9am until noon.

Scrap a Song Challenge

A new challenge site just started up and it's called Scrap It With a Song. A song is posted each Monday to inspire your creativity. This week Elton John's, "Your Song" is the choice. I took the title and a couple of pics of my Hannah and me playing on a piano. I used my Hannah Montana cart for the patterned circle and the flowers and treble clef. The letters for the title are from Designer's Calendar. Visit Scrap It With a Song for more great ideas!

Blog Hop Challenges Completed

Here are a couple of cards I made for the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop Challenge. Visit 365 Cards to see all their "white space" challenges for the week. I completed 2 of the sketches.

The first is for #47 and the second is based on #45. I love the cat from the Paisley cartridge and added beads to her collar and crown.

Challenges, Challenges, Challenges

Practical Scrappers is having a Blog Hop involving lots of challenges. I answered their call for Glitter & Bling on the post below, and also have completed a few more. The first layout "Easter Flower" is based on a Practical Scrappers sketch. The paper scraps behind the photo reminded me right away of the LCMS cross. I incorporated the poem inspiration from the Scrap That Poetry challenge. It also meets the Cuddle Bug Spot "bling" challenge and the Pile It On "no stamped image" challenge.

When I went over to Sketchy Thursdays for the blog hop, I was inspired right away by their sketch. I really like banners, lately, so it was another excuse to create one on a layout.

The final destination on the blog hop is 365 cards. So, guess what I'm doing next? Yep! It's off to make some cards for their weekly challenge.

Glitter & Bling

Practical Scrappers is having a "Glitter & Bling" challenge over on their blog, so I went all out. The glitter paper is from the Songbird DCWV stack (see post below for more on this stack). I also just got my Once Upon a Princess Cricut cartridge and was excited to play with it. I thought the Sugar & Spice title was perfect for my messy little cutie eating her St. Pat's day cupcake. I cut the shamrocks from Designer's Calendar - the green glitter used for those was actually from a sheet I had in my stash (originally meant for rub-ons - but worked even better here!). I also found some "stuff" in my odds & ends box to add bling - gems and shiny plastic flowers/shamrocks. This layout was a lot of fun to put together.

New Baby Book

Friends of ours are expecting their second baby and I made them a baby book to record all those miraculous first-year milestones. I was excited to find the album at ACMoore on deep clearance, so I brought it home and promptly took it apart to recover it. I used spray adhesive to adhere the new papers and sanded the edges for a better fit. Almost all the papers are from the new Songbird stack from DCWV - very cute. It's feminine, but not too girly. I think it turned out very cute and hope they enjoy it a lot. On the inside pages, the only real Cricut cut I used was for the names of the months (Designer's Calendar cartridge).

I had lots of little pieces left over after the album was completed, so I made some cute cards and gave them to our church card ministry to use. What a great stack of paper!

Fun with Cosmo Cricket

Cosmo Cricket has introduced several fun new lines. The colors are bright and the themes and patterns are just plain FUN! I picked up some double sided papers and the chipboard sheet (self-adhesive!) last week at Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg and have had a blast playing with combining the patterns and oh-so-cute chipboard pieces. Here are 3 layouts I completed.
For the scalloped edge, I used my small circle punch to punch out starbursts from the "Sunday Picnic" paper and adhered them behind the border sheet.

Don't you love the e-i-e-i-0 border?

I had to use the chipboard chickies on a layout and figured our Easter egg hunt was an appropriate topic. I just cut skinny strips of paper and wove them in one corner to carry out the basket theme.

Check out the Cosmo Cricket blog for more great ideas with this line!

Templates from Crafter's Workshop

Thanks Scrapdoodles for giving me the opportunity to play around with some new 12x12 templates from The Crafter's Workshop . Here are some of the layouts I designed using the "Flower Shower" template. I used my stamping ink for each, but in different ways. I think the "Oh So Pretty" layout is my favorite - I used a makeup sponge with the inks. I put the template on white cardstock when I wiped it off using a baby wipe to see what kind of water-color type effect I could get, and that resulted in the background for the "Friends" layout. The winter layout was made with my white opaque ink and a dauber. The templates are fun to experiment with - see lots more ideas on The Crafter's Workshop website.

Spring Has Sprung!

I picked up some beautiful new papers at my LSS, Scrapdoodles, this past week with these photos of Hannah enjoying a beautiful spring day in mind. Scrapdoodles also happens to have a blog challenge going - to use a banner on a layout. I think banners are so fun! I've actually used them on 3 layouts since I saw the challenge last week, but this one is by far my favorite. I can't show the others yet because they are for a "super secret" project I'm working on - let's just say that project is 44 pages and counting! The papers I used here are from BasicGrey - the line is called "green at heart." I love the purple/green combination. The new Cricut cart "Tie the Knot" has this layered, scallop banner. Too Cute~

Scrapdoodles Layouts

I am excited to be a new Design Team member at Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg! I went in to the store on Friday to pick out some of their new papers to play with. I chose the Dear Lizzy "Spring" line and some fun SEI "Happy" papers. I was also able to pick up a keychain chipboard album from Maya Road. I used the chipboard separately on a couple of the pages below. It was lots of fun to play with these new lines. Be sure to stop by Scrapdoodles if you live locally and see all the new products coming in.

Birthday Coffee

It's my birthday today and my fabulous hubby surprised me with a new single cup brewer. It's wonderful and it provided me with a great photo and layout idea that was perfect for Scrapdoodles first ever blog challenge. The challenge called for using some sort of household icons. I used paper from DCWV's Nana's Kitchen pack as a background and for some of the embellishments. I spelled out coffee with Don Juan letters and used Ashlyn's Alphabet for the coffee pot. Now I'm off to brew another cup - yummy!

Another Challenge at Practical Scrappers

I just had to double up this week at Practical Scrappers. The Challenge this week was to use a die cut. I already had made this cute turkey and squirrel back at Thanksgiving. I used the Stretch Your Imagination cart to make these cute cuts. Hannah wore the turkey headband during dinner. I saved it so I could use it to scrap a page for Thanksgiving. When I saw the Friday sketch, I decided the layout would be perfect for a quick Thanksgiving page. Gobble Gobble!

Practical Scrappers Sketch Challenge

Visit Practical Scrappers to see some great inspiration! The Friday Sketch inspired this layout of our Happy Hannah.