Sketchy Thursday

It's that time once again at Scraptastic.  Susan created a fun sketch for us to work with, and the October Kit made it super easy and quick to create a layout for it.

I used a fun freebie cut file created by Juliana Michaels as my mat.  You can download the file here.

Here is the sketch that Susan created for us this month.

 Isn't that wood veneer card so cute?  It's actually from the This Life Noted Kit, I really wanted to save it to use in my Moments In Between Album, but it just looked so great on this layout, that I had to use it.

 Love these oversize letters from Fancy Pants.  I thought sanding them up a bit would be a nice touch to this layout.

The Never Tear Us Apart stamp set is awesome, I especially love the hearts.  I used gold embossing powder to create this one.

So many great products in this kit, I'm just itching to play with it some more.  You can check it out for yourself here.  Playing along with the sketch could win you a $20 gift certificate to the Scraptastic shop.  You can check out what the rest of the dt created, and link up your own creations here.

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Going Simple with Scraptastic

The I Found A Boy Kit at Scraptastic Club sold out pretty quickly, and I can show you why.  I have a couple of layouts to show you today.

I decided to try something a little different this month and go a little flatter than usual with my Augusts kits.  For this first layout, I really wanted to use a design that incorporated almost all of the patterned papers that came in the kit.  I just love the way they all coordinate so well.  Zero journaling on this one, which is a little different for me, but I thought the title and the photos were really all this layout needed.

For this layout I used mainly the I Found A Boy Add On Kit.  I thought it would be fun to cut up this sheet and stick the squares back in place to add depth to the "flatter than usual" design.

Journaling reads: "It was a little disappointing when our VACATION turned into a STAYCATION.  We made the best of it, by taking the girls to do things we wouldn't normally like Wall Climbing and getting their first pedicure.  August 2013" 

I used the stamp form the Classy girl kit to emboss onto a scrap piece of cardstock in the centre of the photos.  

See, pretty simple, but still gets the story recorded, and in an even faster time frame than I'm use to.  These kits are so jam packed with product that I've made 4 layouts, and two cards.  I even combined a bunch of the bits and pieces with my This Life Noted kit to create 2.5 spreads.  I have so enjoyed working with these brighter, bolder, more masculine colours.  The stamps are great too.  It appeared at first that the kit had a more masculine bent to it, but once I started working with it, it became increasingly clear that the colours were great for many of the photos I had ready to be scrapped.

I'll have the rest of my projects to share with you soon.  In the meantime hop over here to the gallery for inspiration from the rest of the Scraptastic DT and our members.  You can follow along with the blog here.

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Sunshine Fun

A little something I'm sharing with Chic Tags fans.

I've had these freebie cut files that Albert created exclusively for Chic Tags sitting in my Silhouette library for sometime now.  This week I was determined to use them on a summery layout.  My oldest daughter was done school earlier than the younger two this year, as exams start about 2 weeks prior to the last day of school for Elementary school kids here.  One afternoon she decided to give a Pinterest idea.  She surprised her sisters with an afternoon snack of homemade, all natural popsicles.  It's not often that she's so thought ful with them, so of course I needed to document the occasion.  Here is how the cut files look on my page.

In case you haven't seen them yet, these are the freebie files I used.

Grab your free files here

I chose three of the four 3x4 cards to cut directly into the background sheet of my layout.  I then created my design around those two cuts.  

I actually used the sunshine card as part of my title, and backed  with a scrap piece of My Mind's Eye paper.  I used yellow on side A to fill in the rays of the sun and the grey on side B to back the word "sunshine"

These Bunting Alphabet is one of my favourite Chic Tags sets .  Here I used them to create the second part of my title, stitching them down with my sewing machine.

I backed the "love this" card with the same yellow piece of My Mind's Eye paper.

Once I was finished adding all my bits and pieces to my layout I felt it was still missing something.  To add one final touch and ground the layout I went back to my sewing machine and added a small frame to group everything together.   And voila, a fun little summer memory captured and added to the books.

For those who are not sure how to cut a 3x4 card directly into the background paper of your layout.  I've put together a very simple, and short video for you to follow.  You'll see it's rather simple to do.  You can check it out here.

I hope you've been inspired to go and create something beautiful today. Pin It

5th Monday Change Up

Another month with 5 Mondays....that means a change up for all of us at LGS.  This week we were to choose a colour pallet, and a sketch from anywhere that appealed to us.

This is the colour combo I went with.

For the sketch, I chose another one of Kristine's fabulous sketches from her latest book Creating With Sketches Vol 2.

And this is my layout

This was from our quick trip to Mexico in February.  I'd go back in a heart beat.  Journaling reads  "Just you and me away for OnX related work?  Best 4 day getaway ever.  The resort was A-mazing, and the evening events were so well done.  The only downer was the EPIC sunburn you got the last day.  Two hours in the water will do that to a person.  Feb 2013"

Hop on over to the blog to see how the rest of the team was inspired this week.  Hope you link up your own creation.  We always come by to leave love for those who do :) Pin It

Happy Monday

Welcome to a brand new week friends.

Not sure what the weather is like in your corner of the world, but I am so ready for the snow to be gone and the lazy days of Summer to be upon us once again.

Reading on the deck, with the sun beaming down on me, and a drink in hand is one of my absolute favourite things to do in the summer. 

I have this layout up on the Chic Tags blog today.  I would love if you'd pop over to have a peek.

Here's another one I had up recently on the Cre8tive Cre8tions blog recently, thought I'd share it with you all too.

Let loose with the stamping, masking, and paint.  Love the end result.  You are definitely going to be seeing more of this on my pages.

Lastly I, I have this layout up on the Cre8tive Cre8tions blog today.  

If you're up for a little bit of a hop I'd love to see you over there too.  The designers are amazing, so much talent over there working with Andrea's fabulous flair, papers, and stamps.

It's a busy week around here, one that will end in an 11 year old's birthday party and a road trip to Calgary.  Lots to do in the meantime to prepare for both.  Hope your week is off to a great start.  

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About A Boy

I have this layout up at Chic Tags today.

I may not see him too often but my nephew Jayden manages to find his way onto my scrap pages every so often.  This kid is the most perfect bundle of sweet, funny, generous, kind, and loving all rolled up into one super handsome little man.

When I saw the new About A Boy collection by Echo Park, I just knew the papers would be a perfect match up for Chic Tags products and my little man here.

This page came together super quick.  The design made it easy to incorporate several chic tags perfectly.

Had fun using several different colours of Zing to colour up my Studio Calico wood veneers.  I cut the title using scraps, and my Silhouette Cameo.  The cloud is an old Fiskars punch on corrugated paper.

That number 3, is actually from the Christmas Set.  I just could it out to make it look like a die cut.

How about you do you use your holiday or seasonal tags on layouts during the rest of the year?  Talk about getting your money's worth, Veronica's designs and colour choices make it so easy to do.  Speaking of which, have you popped by the store lately.  Not only is the Road Trip collection now stocked and available to purchase, but it also has a fresh, fun new look to it.  Spring Cleaning all around here at Chic Tags.  Hop over here to see the entire new collection.

Tags used:
Autumn Days Triangles
25 Days Number Sets
Fall Note Circles
A Camping We Will Go Bunting Alphabet
Hello Months Pin It

Chic Tags Sunday Challenge

Seems like the week has flown by.  I won't lie, I kind of hope it continue so Spring will arrive faster.  The sun rising earlier and the temperature rising ever so slightly has me in good spirits.

I have a quick layout to share with you today.  Once again it is Sunday Challenge over at Chic Tags.  This week the challenge is to use a specific colour combination.

Here is my layout.

My sweet friends and their beautiful girl kindly allowed me to use one of their family photos this week. I just adore the expression on Ella's face.  The new collection by Prima totally fit the challenge so I grabbed this sheet with the honeycomb pattern all over it.

I added some grapefruit coloured Zing and embossed the chevron pattern over top.   

The tag is covered with Martha Stewart modeling paste using a Crafter's Worskshop mask.  I think I may addicted to this stuff, can't wait to try more of it.  The title was made using my Silhouette Cameo.  I am so loving that machine, totally worth the price I paid.

Altogether I have four different Chic Tags products on here and a few other embellishments.

Hope you'll jump in and participate this week.  Veronica always has a great prize up for grabs.  You can see the colour combo and link up your own project here.

That's it for me.  I hope you are having a fabulous Sunday with the ones you love.  Thanks so much for popping in today!

Reminder, you still have until 11:59 CST to enter my Birthday Blog Hop giveaway here.  Good luck to all who enter. Pin It

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Happy Monday friends,

Today is a day off for my kiddos, have I mentioned before how much I love to sleep in?  One of my favourite things to do on earth.  It was a lovely weekend here, a little work, a little dance, a sleepover, a scrappy date, church, and of course the Superbowl.  Good times.

This morning, I have the February challenge at Scrapping Everyday Miracles to share with you.  It's all about where you feel most at home this month.  That could mean different things to different people depending on your circumstance.  For me it truly is wherever I know my hubby and kids will be.  That's home.  If they all chose to live in the Arctic circle, I would have to find a way to make it work, because it just wouldn't be home anywhere else if they weren't with me.  Of course there are times where I love them all being away so I can have some peace and quiet, but what makes that peace and quiet so sweet is the knowledge that soon enough everyone will be back bringing with them all the noises big and small that make them who they are, and in turn make me who I am.

Here is the layout I created for the challenge.  The twist is to add journaling on a tag.

All sorts of bits and pieces to this one, mostly My Mind's Eye, and Chic Tags product

A little hard to see, but I spread some gesso and blue paint across behind everything.

I wanted the photo to take centre stage, so I literally centred it, then placed "love" themed embellies all around.

Journaling on the hidden tag is a quote I saw somewhere on-line (Pinterest perhaps) 

"We may not have it all together, but together we have it all"

Hope you feel inspired to create a "home" themed project of your own.  If you join us you'll be in the running for a prize from this month's sponsor as well as possibly earn a spot as a future guest designer for us.  You can get all the info, and see where the rest of the team feels most at home right here.

Have a great week everyone! Pin It

Guesting at Use It Tuesday

I won a guest spot with the girls at Use It Tuesday a few weeks ago.  You can see the layout that won the spot here.  Today is the day I'm up on their blog.  I love what their mission - to encourage scrappers to use up their hoarded, or simply forgotten about supplies.

The challenge they have for you today is to use a stamp that has never been inked.  I'd be willing to bet you have one, or two, or 5 kicking around too, just like me. 

This Jillibean Soup Travel set came in a Scrapbook Nook kit two summers ago.

I loved that globe, but somehow just never got around to using it.  I had only used 3 of these 9 stamps in fact. 

This challenge combined with our recent trip to Las Vegas provided the perfect opportunity to ink it up.  I decided to emboss it so I could set it on top of a few layers.

I used the October kit from Scraptastic to complete the layout, along with a sheet of Studio Calico paper that I've also been hanging on to for months, and months also.

The painted background was done using a Pink Paislee mask

Hidden journaling exposed

more horded product: Sass letter, MME brad, and SC arrows

I am so happy with the way this layout turned out.  I always enjoy adding several bits and pieces to my layout, but often forget that stamps can get the job done too.  Please hop over to the UIT blog to see what the rest of the team pulled out of their hoarded stash for this week's challenge.  Perhaps we've inspired you to pull out some of those stamps and get 'em dirty.  If so please link us up.  You have a week and a half to link up.

A huge thank you to Siobhan and team for having me today!

♥ S. Pin It