Beach Layout

I am always amazed at how fast life is passing me by.  These photos of Aubrey are from 3 years ago.  We went to Ocean Shores,WA one last time before we moved overseas.  I loved going to that beach even if it wasn’t the kind where you dip  your toes into the water because it is just too cold.  Within minutes Aubrey was wet and muddy and having fun. 

I used the 8/4 Sketchy Thursday sketch to finally get these photos scrapped.  I sorted some of my photos last week and this sketch was just perfect for them.  I also added this layout to the Club CK Summer Camp challenge of the day which was to use colored pencils or paint on a layout.  I colored the circles with watercolor pencils, inked the edges and added a bit of Stickles to mimic the bubbles on the patterned paper.

I just love the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air line.  The colors are perfect and the embellies are adorable.  I cannot get enough of Cosmo Cricket.  I used my Cricut and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge to cut the title. 

This page came together quickly for me and I am always happy to get our stories told. 

Have a great day!

The More You Read…

I have been pretty busy busting out layouts since JG deployed.  It has been two weeks and I am glad I have the distraction.  I have been working on pages late at night after the girls have gone to bed and JG and I have finished up our Skype call or late morning while the girls play and watch some preschool shows on TV.

This layout is from the Sketchy Thursdays sketch for the September Guest Design Team spot.  They mentioned doing a reading themed page and I knew immediately which pictures to use.  Last year Club CK had a back to school challenge to take a photo of your kids with their favorite books or something back to school-ish.  I stacked up their favorite books on the table and I got some great shots.  I didn’t pose the girls…Aubrey is a ham! 

Let’s talk page details!  I am so pleased with the way this layout came together.  Obviously the page sketch was fantastic and I all did was make it my own.  I had picked up the Echo Park Little Girl digi paper pack from Jessica Sprague this week when it was featured on One Buck Wednesday.  The colors are so cheery and I loooooove me some Echo Park.  So I printed a couple pages onto cardstock and then punched out the circles and inked the edges pink.  The flowers are made from pages in a book that I read and didn’t like!  I cut the pages into 1 inch strips and then used a Fiskar’s border punch and made the scalloped edges.  I also inked the edges and then folded them into a circle.  Add a pretty circle center and you have easy flowers.

The quote was a long one and I had to mix colors because I didn’t have enough t’s and e’s to use just one color.  I also had plans to stitch the words but that didn’t work out since I had limited space.  So I layered the “read” and “learn” into a scrap of patterned paper, trimmed away the excess and outlined with a black pen.   

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend.

Proud!

I have really loved all the fantastic sketch sites that are out there these days.  I find so much inspiration and actually complete layouts!  My album is filling quickly and it is nearly time to purchase some more.

The other day I was organizing my photos and came across this photo of myself from my Air Force days.  I am proud of the time I spent on active duty, the job I did and the life long friends I made.  I don’t have many photos of myself in uniform so it is important to me to use the ones I do have.

I used the Sketchy Thursdays 8/4 sketch and got to work.  The papers are My Mind’s Eye’s American Made line.  I love the traditional red, white and blue colors with the prints that they selected for this line. 

I used a star die to make the stars.  First I cut them from scrap paper and then inked up a small sponge and colored in the stars.  I went over it with a black fine point gel pen.  I used a small pair of scissors to cut around parts of the stars and then slide the patterned paper underneath.

I hand stitched the title with some floss and machine stitched around the edges of the patterned paper and the white cardstock.  I added foam squares to the back of some stars to lift them off the page and brads to the top of the banner. 

I am happy with this layout and it surprises me since I don’t like to do pages about me!  However, I scrapbook for my daughters and I did this for them.  I am our family historian and this is part of our history. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Just Like Dad

This week I was inspired by the Sketchy Thursdays sketch and pulled out a favorite photo of mine and got to work. I am so very pleased with the way this one came together and it is the first layout I have been happy with in a few weeks. The last few were just *meh* for me. I think it might have to do with the fabulous colors in Echo Parks Summer Days papers though. I am pretty sure you could not be grumpy while working with these cheery products.

I pulled out a small flower cookie cutter and cut a heart out of scraps before traceing them onto the cardstock. I pierced the paper and then used floss to sew the shapes. I like the look of hand stitching but I don't do it very often because I just don't have the patience to do it and I would rather use my sewing machine.

I just messed with my Blogger settings which I hope will fix the issue of not being able to leave comments. I also reverted back to the old settings versus the newer ones for now. I hope this will let me upload my photos without any more issues. I love blogging but lately it has been a headache.

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate you taking the time to visit me.

Sweet Summer Day Layout

I really liked this weeks sketch from Sketchy Thursdays and I had plenty of time to play along.  I used fun papers and embellishments from Echo Park's Summer Days collection.  The bright colors in the supplies perfectly complimented the photo.  I used the computer to type my journaling, something I haven't done in a while.  I thought about adding some machine stitching along the outer edge but didn't feel like dragging out the machine so I used a pink colored pencil to add a thin border.  To make the sun cardstock sticker pop I put it on white cardstock, trimmed away the access and added some foam squares to the lift it off the page. 

To be honest, sketches and challenges help keep my scrappy mojo going.  I have ton of photos and lots of product in my stash but I over think what I want to do and then end up not getting anything done.  Having a starting point makes things so much easier for me.  I don't stress about the process and I enjoy scrapping again.  While I may not love every single layout I am thankful that I finished a page and can share the story.  Isn't that the reason why most of us scrapbook?  To share the story?  I sometimes lose sight of that but when my girls ask to look at their scrapbooks I love my hobby even more.  Because I know it matters, at least to them.  And that is all that matters to me. 

Sketchy Thursdays 4/28 Sketch

We just returned from vacation and I had a box of scrappy supplies waiting for me.  I was so excited to dig right into them. I loved this weeks Sketchy Thursdays sketch and was excited to pick out some photos to get started.  Club CK is also celebrating National Scrapbooking Day all week and on Monday they had a challenge to scrap three photos taken with your cell phone.  I was inspired to get these cute photos of my girls while we were on a lunch date at Macaroni Grill off my iPod Touch and into my scrapbook.  Two challenges completed with one layout makes me a very happy scrapper!

All the product used on this layout is from Cosmo Cricket's Upcycle line.  I love the colors and the little flower button is adorable.  The only extras that were not from Cosmo Cricket are the staples and the floss I used to thread my buttons. 

Since the iPod Touch doesn't have a great camera I used the Instagram App to add a fun look to the photos.  The app is free and I totally recommend it!  Actually, I am pretty addicted to it.  I take more photos with my iPod since I downloaded the app about a month ago. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sketchy Thursdays Layout

After seeing Sketchy Thursdays mentioned many times on the Club CK forums I thought I would check it out.  I work better when there is a challenge and I do like using sketches so I completed a layout for the Sketchy Thursdays' challenge this week.  This is my first time playing along and I am pretty pleased with the way this one turned out.

I used Bo Bunny papers and pom pom ribbon and some Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Stickers for my title.  I used a Martha Stewart scalloped circle punch to cut the snowflakes from the patterned paper that are on the top.  I also used a Fiskars border punch along the top and bottom of the page.  Finally, I used my sewing machine to add some stitching.  My thread was a verigated purple and white and I like it on this page. 

It sure is nice to get to use older photos too!  These photos were taken in January 2010.  If it wasn't for challenges and sketches I don't think I would get nearly as many layouts finished. 

Thanks for stopping by today!