A Sparkly Sports Layout

My newly discovered passion for sequins is certainly no secret.  But I do lots of boy layouts and lots of sports layouts.  I need to figure out how to incorporate those sequins into those layouts.  So first I shopped (no surprise right) - I got sequins in some jewel tones including navy and red (my son's school colors) and some fun patterned sequins (I love the white ones with silver stars). 

Then I played - hereis what I came up with.

I think the gold and red sequins were a perfect touch here.  But I think they worked because I kept the layout design and materials simple. 

Have you used sequins on a layout where they would be unexpected?  Link me up - I'm off on Thursday and Friday and would love the inspiration.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Atlantic and Arrows

 Mothers Day Giveaway here

I love the new Atlantic collection by Studio Calico.  And my favorite part is the soft pinks, yellows and peaches used in some of the patterned papers.  This totally connects with my girly side.  So I was thrilled when the weekly designer challenge at Studio Calico was a color challenge focused on those colors.  And since I am currently loving arrows, I was equally excited to see that the Sunday challenge at Chic tags was to use arrows.  So I thought I would try to combine the challenges.

I dug out an old photo of my daughter at the beach for the layout and went to work.  I pulled patterned papers in the colors I wanted to use to get started - mostly from Atlantic, but the heart paper is from Lily Bee.  I used pink and gold spray ink to soften the background paper and emphasize the colors.  I used the same inks to color arrows from Pink Paislee.  Here's what I came up with.

 I even painted the sunrise thickers with some gold ink to add that glimmer.  Here are some close-ups of the embellishment clusters.

This cluster uses the Atlantic vellum die cuts, sequins and enamel dots from the Theresa Collins Summer Stories line/  The vellum die cuts are the perfect soft touch for this color scheme.

The pink pasilee arrows took the gold and pink colors perfectly.  And by layering the inks, I was able to get different shades with just two ink colors.  I attached my sequins with mini glue dots.

The mix of pink and gold inks on the page with ink spatters, sequins and enamel dots reminds me of sunrise on the beach.  (Wish I was there.)

I'm loving these papers and have a pile of scraps on my cropping station that I keep going to. I think I'm going to have to print more of these old beach pictures.  I love the way they work with these papers.  Working on these layouts is bringing back memories of those lazy beach days when my daughter was young.

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words - Lets Get Sketchy Design Team Call

Mothers Day Giveaway open here 

So whenever I think about creative challenges I want to try, design team participation is always near the top of the list.  But I'm a chicken - i read the posts, think about it and then decide that I'm not good enough.  If one of my kids pulled that trick, I would have plenty to say -- but I keep going down that path.

So today, I saw a design team call at Lets Get Sketchy - and I'm trying to talk myself into really trying.  Want to try with me?

Here's the information they posted on their blog.

 

Lets Get Sketchy is looking to add 2-4 more members to our already fabulous Design Team.  The DT term will run from June 1 through Sept 1.  You will be responsible for at least 2 layouts a month as well as commenting on entries each week.  I am only looking for dedicated members.   If you are interested and would like to be considered for a position then here is what you need to do:

Why apply for our team? 

• To be inspired and to inspire others 
• To be on the ground floor of an up and coming blog 
• You will be a part of an amazing group of women and develop lifelong friendships with women from all over the world. 
• Your work will be featured on Facebook and Pinterest. 

What is expected of our Design Team? 

• You MUST be a follower of our blog
• Complete 2 projects a month (you will be given challenges at least a month in advance). 
• Comment on participants entries (THIS IS A MUST!).  Any team member not adhering to this rule will be promptly removed from the team so please make sure you can do this before applying. 
• Commit to a 3 month term (Beginning of  June to the beginning of September) 
• Keep an active blog that is updated frequently 
• Post our challenge and your project on your blog on reveal day and link back to the LGS blog.

How to apply:

• Leave a comment below indicating you would like to apply 
• Tell me a little bit about yourself to include your style and whether or not you are on any other design teams. (no previous DT experience required) 
• Add our link and DT call to your blog
• Provide links to your blog and any online galleries. 
• Include 3 projects that best represent your style. 
• Create a layout from the sketch below
• Place our DT call on your blog to help get the word out.
• You MUST have a Facebook account as we will have a private DT group on Facebook

Design Team Call Sketch

All interested applicants will be invited to our Facebook Group where you will meet and interact with members of our current Design Team.  This is so we can all get to know each other a little better.  Anyone interested in applying please send your application to letsgetsketchy@gmail.com.  Make sure you put DT call in the subject line.

We are accepting applications through May 24^th.  New design team members will be notified by May 25^th.  This is an open call, what that means is, I have the right to close this call at any time if I feel all the positions have been filled.    The first reveal will be June 1st. I know this is a short turn around however; the first challenge will be easy. I promise you!

No previous DT experience needed.

I'm going to work on my fear of failure and push myself to try.  Consider this a blatant request for encouragement. 

Have a great Monday! 

Happy Mother's Day, A Layout Using One of Those Wallets, and a Giveaway

Today is Mother's Day which made me think about becoming a mother.  So when I saw Shimelle's small photo challenge, I thought about those photo packages of baby pictures including a thousand wallets.  So I pulled one out and did this fun layout using last week's Studio Calico card sketch.

I started with a piece of Heidi Swapp color resist paper and used the new Navy and Seafoam Mister Huey's to create an ombre effect for the base.  Then I layered bits of pieces in the bottom to provide a foundation for the small photo.  Adding the Maggie Holmes fabric polaroid frame really helped draw your eye to the photo.

 

But my favorite part is the gold mesh streamer.  I glued sequins on top to add a little something extra and really loved the effect.  

Giveaway

I have a small giveaway to celebrate the day - just be a follower and leave me a comment explaining why Mother's Day is special to you.  I'll leave the comments open til midnight on May 19.  The winner will get the stamp from the Neverland Main Kit.

 

Chalkboard Paper and Transparent Elements

I love looking at and playing with the new supplies and trends.  Two things that have caught my eye lately are chalkboard paper and transparent elements.  They are both so fun. 

Chalkboard paper can be bought by the sheet -but comes in lots of other fun forms too.  I found shipping tags at the Container Store and great labels in the Martha Stewart line at Staples.  Add some white ink (stamp or pen) and you have a really eye-catching element.  And manufacturers are using chalkboard effects in patterned paper too.

The transparency elements are lots of fun too.  They can be layered over pictures or other elements in your project to add so much depth and interest with little effect.  Basic Grey, Heidi Swapp and Little Yellow Bicycle have had some of my favorites.  Glitz has some great transparent element packs too.

Since both these trends are so fun, I wanted to combine them in one layout.  I started with a sheet of Glitz patterned paper from the Uncharted Water collection that used the chalkboard effect.  I added a 5x7 black and white picture with lots of blank space.  Then I played with the transparent elements, layering them over the blank space in the photo.  I finished the layout off with some spatters from the opaque white Mister Huey's. 

Other embellishments were from Fancy Pants, Cosmo Cricket and Studio Calico.  And the end result was a fun layout capturing one of my daughter's favorite sayings today.

Mixed Media

Its no secret - I love online challenges.  And one of the biggest reasons is that they push me to try new techniques, new color combinations, new products or new designs.  This year some of the NSD  challenges pushed me way out of my box into trying a mixed media layout.

I'd been admiring mixed media layouts for a while - and even had acquired supplies (gesso, watercolors, brushes). But I never really worked up the nerve to use them.  So I bit the bullet and tried a mixed media layout.  I combined gesso, watercolors and those really cool water brushes for a layout using an old picture of Stephen and Elisabeth building sand castles at Walnut Beach.  Here's what I came up with.

I had previously cut a Jillibean placement into pieces to use as a mask.  I got two of those pieces out and put them in the corners of a piece of white cardstock.  Then I applied a thick coat of gesso to the circles to create texture and dimension.  Before the gesso was dry, I used peerless watercolor papers to color the circles.  I let the project dry most of the way, peeled up the placemat and was left with a bright circle pattern - maybe brighter than I wanted.

So I dug out some vellum scraps to cover the circles and began to layer pieces of pattern paper - some under the vellum and some on top of the vellum.  I added a clear Heidi Swaopp tab to the top of the picture, some studio calico vellum polaroid frames and lots of bits and pieces (mostly wood and paper).  I colored the wood pieces and the Pink Paislee stars with Heidi Swapp color shine, mixing colors as I went.  The soft feel of the Heidi Swapp shadow letters were t he perfect finishing touch.

When I was done, I was glad I'd tried - I probably won't get this messy very often, but it was fun and I ended up with a unique layout.  Its high praise when your teen age daughter says, "it looks better than I thought it would."

So try something new and let me know how it worked out.  Have a great Thursday!

A Simple Page About A Big Decision

My son is 18 this year and will graduate from high school at the beginning of June.  Needless to say, I am very proud of his accomplishments and the man he has become.  He is bright, focused and caring.  But this is a tough time in his life - he is faced with decisions about what comes next that will impact the path he takes for the rest of his life. 

One of the things that has impressed me the most about Nicholas in the last few months is his refusal to be pushed into a decision.  Instead he has been thoughtful about his choices and making the one that best fits the path he wants to take.  So I wanted to capture the care he is using to make those decisions in a layout. 

I love that the simple grid design focus on him - and I love this photo which captures him in a moment of thought.  I can't wait to see what comes next for him!

Note: Nicholas accepted a position in the Capstone Scholars program at the University of South Carolina - go Gamecocks!

My Happy Place and The Pier - and A Winner

Last Friday I realized that I had less than a month to finish my son's senior album.  I was immediately overwhelmed and had no desire to work on that album (in spite of the stack of soccer pictures I had just picked up.)  My first instinct was to turn around and walk out of my scrap room - I'm really good at avoidance.

Then I opened a box of goodies from My Scraps and More.  There were a few sheets of paper and a few embellies from Crate Paper's new line, The Pier.  It was love at first sight.  So I made a deal with myself - I could do one layout for fun with my new goodies - then I had to do a soccer layout or 2 or 7.

I used the Crate Paper line to make this layout about Walnut Beach, my preferred summer hang-out when growing up.  (I still try to take my daughter there every summer for a few days.)

The picture makes me happy and the layout makes me happy.  Most of the papers and embellishments are from the Crate Paper Line (the yellow paper is from my scrap pile and the picture is mounted on cardstock),  The title card is from Dear Lizzy and those enamel dots are from MME.

And before I forget, I have a winner from my NSD drawing.  My daughter picked number 3.

Anonymous said:

How kind, thanks for the chance to win and Happy National Scrapbook Day, can't wait to see what you create! Rhonda

Rhonda, please send me your mailing info so I can get your prize out to you.

Hope your Tuesday is happy.

Shades of Blue

I have this picture of the harbor in Ashtabula, the town where I grew up, that I seem to use in layouts over and over.  Its not that I don't have othr pictures printed.  I just am drawn to this photo.  I've used it in color and in black and white.  I think it just goes to show that the things we love are inspiring when we get ready to create.

This time I started with a black and white 4x6 print.  I knew I wanted to play with layering and use a soft color palette.  The first thing I did was choose the Amy Tangerine base paper and soften the pattern at the edges with gesso (boy, have I come a long way).  Then I hit my scrap pile for pieces of paper in blue, gray or white and played with the layers-  I added some project life cards, an SC Sundrifter journal card, some shipping tags, a small envelope and a transparency from Basic Grey.

After I attached the major pieces I added a title using naked chipboard thickers, a piece of Dear Lizzy flair, some arrows, some vellum hearts and sequins.  It still needed something at the bottom to balance the layout so I added a Cosmo Cricket fabric sticker, more vellum hearts and some sequins.

I have more projects from this weekend's festivities to share later this week.  Hope you have a great monday!

The Best Day of the Year

I have some Glitz washi to share and an assortment of sequins (I have to admit that my sequin collection has grown to an embarrassing size, but I'm willing to share. 

I told a friend that National Scrapbook Day was the best day of the year - better even than Christmas.  She doesn't scrap so she thought I was nuts.  But you know what I mean.

There are so many fun challenges, great deals on the newest supplies and lots of chances to win prizes that add to your stash.  It really is the best day of the year!

And this year I want to get in the spirit in a big way.  Of course, I will be doing challenges as fast as I can - I've got lots of pictures and paper to play with.  But I want to be one of the people giving a prize for NSD for a change.  I've won so many great things over the past several months - and its time to give back. 

So I am going to give a couple of my favorite things to play with to one lucky follower who leaves a comment. 

I have some Glitz washi to share and an assortment of sequins.  Washi and sequins seem to show up on most of my layouts these days, so I thought they made a perfect prize in honor of NSD.  So if you want to enter, just make sure you are a follower and leave a comment before midnight on Sunday May 5th.  I'll pick a winner on Monday.

Happy National Scrapbook Day - I hope you celebrate in style!

Chic Tags Color Challenge - and A Non-Traditional Halloween Layout

Chic Tags posts a challenge every Sunday.  I don't always have a chance to complete them, but I always check in for some inspiration.  This week's challenge is a color challenge - full of springy colors.  So I did a Halloween layout - I think it is so much fun to use unexpected colors on seasonal layouts.

 My layout is a two pager, but each page can stand on its own from a design perspective.  I accomplished this by using a common paper for the center block that runs across each page and using a uniform paper and ribbon border across the bottom of the design.  Here's the first page:

And here's the second page:

I also used common embellishments across the pages to tie them together - rubons, wood veneer, and sequins.  I especially like the way the rubons worked when I applied them across multiple papers.

 

 Do you have tricks for creating two page layouts?  I'd love some tips.  Hope you had a marvelous Monday!

This Is Me

There are almost no pictures of me in the albums I do.  In fact, there are almost no pictures of me at all.  If you look at our albums it looks like I don't exist.  That's the reason this month's Studio Calico class originally attracted me.  It was going to force me to document my existence.

But I have to say, its turned into much more than that.  I haven't gotten many pages done, but thinking about what to include and how to organize the album has turned into a journey where I am learning about me. And I'm experimenting with things that I might not try in my albums ordinarily, taking the opportunity to play with feminine colors and products, and generally stepping out of my creative box.  This might be the best class ever!

So I thought I'd share the start of my album.

I chose a SNAP album for my project, but am using it with a landscape orientation.  I'm really liking this format.  I decorated the cover with Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Prima wood veneer, October afternoon washi, divine twine, and Amy Tangerine.  Those Amy Tangerine alphas are my all time favorite.

The first page I did was the title page - I originally started with the gray and white Heidi Swapp paper just because I like the bold gray and white stripes.  After I cut the page to size, I had a scrap left.  I sprayed it with some mint color shine and silver Mr. Hueys just to see what would happen.  I loved the end result and ended up using pop dots to apply it to my page for an interesting dimensional effect.  I added some of my favorite embellishments - shipping tags, flair (from Fancy Pants) and sequins plus some Glitz giant rhinestones. One of my biggest challenges is letting go of control, so I pushed out of that box and used random squiggles of glossy accents to attach sequins - they landed where they landed.

I'll share more from my album later - its slow going but lots of fun.  I'd love to know what fun projects you are working on.  Have a great Tuesday!

Organizing My Stash

As my husband likes to say, it seems like I'm always trying to come up with a better way to reorganize my stash.  This weekend the spring cleaning bug hit and I was at it again.  I'm really happy with the end result, so I thought I'd share what I ended up with along with some pictures of my scrap space (with lots of pictures).  (This post is kind of long but I tried to use headings in case you were looking for a particular section of it.

My Desk
Last fall my husband built me a great custom desk made so that I can work comfortably while standing (since I seem to do most of my scrapping that way).  It has cubbies down both sides of the front and shelves along both sides.  Technically, it can be used by two people (like a partner's desk) but I really use the whole space by myself.  The fun stool came from World Market

.

The top of my desk is my primary workspace.  I use a magazine holder on its side to hold file folders with inspiration pieces and memorabilia related to current projects.  And I have two spinning racks to hold small embellishments and adhesives that I use frequently.

The Spinning Racks
Just before Easter I asked my husband about making a run to Harbor Freight to get a Harbor Freight spinner.  We didn't have a chance to go before the holiday, but on Easter morning I found six round divided trays in my Easter basket.  I call the poor man's Harbor Freight Spinner.  They are each divided into six compartments and are stackable.  I divided mine into two sets of three and love them. He got them at Home Depot where each tray was only $2.50. Roll of washi  that are current favorites sit on the top post of the spinner And the best part is that I can easily add additional tiers if my stash grows (not that anyone can see that happening :))

 Thickers
I have a real weakness for alphas and my collection of thickers might be out of hand.  They were taking up tons of space, I couldn't keep track of what I had and they were everywhere.  Because they are so bulky, my alpha storage was totally inadequate.  Organizing my thickers was a priority this weekend and I ended up with this basket where they are sorted by color.  A few other favorites are along the side and mini alphas sit in front.  The basket fits perfectly on one of my shelves so the thicker problem is solved - they are organized and accessible - and there is room for a few more.

Cardstock
I'd been keeping my cardstock mixed with patterned paper (sorted by color).  But as my paper collection has grown, this has become less functional.  When working on a layout and looking for coordinating cardstock, it was cumbersome to dig through those piles.  And it was difficult to know what colors I had.  This was a problem because I like to stock up when cardstock is on sale and I want to be able to identify what colors I need quickly.  A smaller version of the thicker basket now holds cardstock, sorted by color.  I can find what I need quickly and get a quick idea of colors I need when cardstock goes on sale.  This basket sits nicely on the same shelf as the Thicker basket.

Embellishment Tray
I made a brief attempt at Project Life and had acquired this melamine tray to hold my supplies for that project.  But I'm a project life failure, so the tray was just taking up space.  I filled it with baskets holding some of my favorite embellishments - tags, envelopes and bags, sequins, PL cards, and enamel dots.  The tray serves two functions. First, it is deeper than my shelves so it extends my shelf space.  And when I'm working on a layout I can pull the tray out on my desk and have my "go to" supplies easily available.  It makes cleaning up after a project easy too.

Sequins
My newest addiction is sequins - they are inexpensive, so much fun and add so much interest to projects.  But I like to keep them sorted by color.  I bought these clear plastic tubes on etsy to hold my sequins.  (The tubes are intended to hold seed beads but they work perfectly.  The tubes fit neatly into a basket (see above).  I can see the colors, check out different combinations and not worry about my colors getting mixed.  (I do use one of the compartments on my spinner to hold a mix of my sequins too because sometimes a random selection works better - and they are so pretty.

Wood Veneer
Wood veneer is my other addiction - I can't resist.  But I like to take it out of the package and store in a way that is easy to use and sort.  I found these divided plastic boxes at the container store.  You can get them in a variety of sizes and with different compartment sizes. (I have four now and need to add one more.) They work perfectly to store wood veneer.

The Rest of My Space
I'm not showing you here, but I have a cropping station along the wall behind my desk.  My most commonly used tools sit along the top and it holds my patterned paper, other tools and less frequently used supplies.

Now if only I could get motivated to organize the rest of my house.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear your storage tips for supplies. Have a great Monday.

A Soccer Layout and a Song Title- With a Little Flair

I do tons of soccer layouts.  Sometimes it feels like that is all I do.  So I was especially pleased when a friend told me that they were impressed because my soccer layouts all look unique.  That might be the best scrappy compliment I've ever received.  But it made me think about how I could make my soccer layouts more unique.

So when I had a chance to play this week, I put together this layout with a photograph I had sitting on my desk.

 

Here are some things I did that made this different from other soccer layouts I've done.

• I used a bold pattern as my base.  I often start with a subtle pattern, but almost never use a bold pattern as my foundaytion.  The stripes from Fancy Pants  provided a really fun starting point.
• I limited myself to my scrap pile for the remaining sheets.  That led to an interesting mix of papers.  I even had a scrap of corrugated paper in the pile - who knew that would make a comeback?
• I played with blue and orange ink to add dimension and accent layers.
• I mixed base embellishments from my stash and used nothing that had a soccer or sports theme.  I used a vellum tape strip from Basic Grey and other embellishments from Studio Calico.
• I added a piece of flair from my stash - it added dimension and was a great accent.
• I avoided a sports themed title and used a song title instead.
• And I succumbed to my latest obsession and added sequins.  

I'd love to hear the ways you keep layouts fresh.  Thanks for checking in.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Hook

Last weekend I posted my version of the Studio Calico March add-on named "Wendy."  Well, I had so much fun putting that kit together, that I couldn't resist trying again.  So this morning I pulled together my version of the "Hook" add-on.

It was just as much fun as putting together the last kit, and again, I liked my version just as much as the add-on that sold out in seconds at Studio Calico.

Here's the list of items included in the Studio Calico kit.

Embellishments:
Boy Crazy Enamel Dots (My Mind's Eye)
Bingo Chips Thickers (American Crafts)
Hey Boy Element Sticker (Basic Grey)
Hello Frame in Wood Veneer (Studio Calico)
Hey You Matchbook Alpha - Blue (Basic Grey)
Color Me Happy Woodgrain Washi Tape (Glitz)
Be Waiting 4x3 Stamp Set (Studio Calico + Hero Arts)
Patterned Paper:
Depression (Kesi Art)
Boy Crazy "Point The Way" Paper (My Mind's Eye)
Adventure (Echo Park)
Nollag (Kesi Art)
Marine Mini Dot (Crate)
Apricot Mini Dot (Pebbles)

Here's the kit I came up with --

And here's a list of the items I included:

Embellishments:
He Said/She Said Enamel Dots (Teresa Collins)(the Boy Crazy and Oliver Lost and Found sets worked well too)
Kraft Choose Happiness Tape (Glitz)
Wood Veneer Dots (from a trip to the woodworking store with my husband)
Wood Veneer Shipping Tag (The Container Store)
Turquoise Pennants (Elles Studio)
Flaky Woodgrain Thickers
Cream and Denim Mini Market Alpha (October Afternoon)
Stickers (Basic Grey/Knee Highs & Bow Ties)
Decorative Buttons (My Minds Eye/Collectable/Notable)
Flair (Paper Play Studio)
Patterned Paper: 
Heavenly Houndstooth Paper (MME/So Sophie/Pretty Girl - b side)
Tidewater (Studio Calico/Sundrifter)
Flynn (Studio Calico/Darling Dear)
Adventure (Echo Park/All About A Boy)
Star (Fancy Pants/Trendsetter)
Kick the Can (Basic Grey/Bow Ties)

I'd love to know what you think of my version.  Hope you're enjoying your Wednesday.

Easter

I am tired of dreary winter days and the news is predicting a snowstorm tomorrow and Wednesday.  So I decided to scrap something springy to lighten the mood.  I used sketch 3 at the My Scraps and More Sketch-a-thon as my starting point.  But it was a card sketch and I have to admit that the end product doesn't look a lot like the sketch.  But you can judge for yourself.  Here's the sketch.

And here's the layout I came up with.

You had to use punched images in your layout.  I have an old creative memories punch I used for the small butterflies.  I punched them from the October Afternoon pie chart patterned paper on the bottom of the layout, positioning the punch to get different colors on the wings.  The base paper is from Creative Memories and the orange paper is from KI Memories.  The embellishments are from Basic Grey, My Minds Eye, and Amy Tangerine.  The chipboard butterflies were in my stash.

The snow is supposed to start here during the day tomorrow so I'm hoping for a snow day on Wednesday.  Stay warm and have a great week

Sketch-A-Thon

The My Scraps and More sketch-a-thon started Friday and runs for the entire month of March.  A sketch is being posted each day and you earn points through the month for a chance a the grand prize - items from the OA Cakewalk collection.  Here's the first sketch. 

This sketch is great and was perfect for an adaptation to a two page layout.  (Since I only have three months to finish Nicholas's high school albums, I am looking for inspiration for the two page layouts for those projects.)  The MSM challenge also asked that you use two different alphas on your project.

My layout is about joining a new soccer team after the high school season ended.  And I did use the sketch as a starting point for a two page layout.   Heres what I came up with:

My design is really simple and uses papers from Creative Memories and Fancy Pants.  The large stars are from Etsy and had been in my stash for almost a year.  The soccer balls are from Jolie and were in the value spot at Archivers.  I used two different sets of Thickers for my title and used pop dots to vary the height of the letter tiles.  The red stars are Jenni Bowlin and the white stars came from a Studio Calico kit.

I'm hoping to have more scrap time today.  Enjoy your Sunday!

The "Wendy" kit - My Way

The Studio Calico Wendy kit

 On Wednesday Studio Calico released their March kit, which were named after the Peter Pan movie,  for sale.  They sold out in .  record time both during the subscriber presale and the midnight reveal.  I'm one of those disappointed souls who didn't get the add-ons they wanted.  But let's face it - I have plenty of supplies.  So I've shopped my stash, added a couple of new things and made my own version of the add-ons.  Today I am sharing my version of "Wendy."  This is the official list of the contents of the kit Studio Calico offered.

Wendy contents

Embellishments:
Wish Thickers - Blue (American Crafts)
Hey You Mini Envelopes (Basic Grey)
Amy Tan Whittles Sentiments Cloths Pins (American Crafts)
Collectables "Perfect" Tiny Word Stickers (My Mind's Eye)
Amy Tan Remarks Discovery Stickers (American Crafts)
Vellum Grey Speech Bubbles (Twine + Ink )
Today I 2x2 Stamp Set (Studio Calico + Hero Arts)

Patterned Paper:
Anti-cyclone (Kesi Art)
Atmosphere (Kesi Art)
Ring Around The Rosies (Basic Grey)
My Girl "Pinwheel" Paper (My Mind's Eye)
Trust (American Crafts)
Understand (American Crafts)

And here is my version of the kit:

Wendy - My Way - Contents

Embellishments:

Treasure Thickers (American Crafts/Dear Lizzy)

Serendipity and Shine On Mini Envelopes (Basic Grey)

True Love Stitched Brads (Basic Grey)

Simplify Detail Stitched Vellum Embellishments (American Crafts/Amy Tangerine)

Amy Tan Remarks Discovery Stickers (American Crafts)

Heart shaped speech bubble wood chips (Freckled Fawn)

Watering Can Label Stickers (October Afternoon)
Patterned Paper:
Noteworthy (American Crafts/Dear Lizzy/Lucky Charm collection)
Pop (Studio Calico/Heyday/ B side)
Thoughtful (American Crafts/Amy Tangerine/Yes Please collection)
Understand (American Crafts/Amy Tangerine/Yes Please collection)
Penny's Pinafore (Sassafrass/Sweetly Smitten collection)
Trust (American Crafts/Amy Tangerine/Yes Please collection) 

I replaced the clothespins with brad and the speech bubbles with the wood chips - both switches that substtituted products that are better suited to my style than the products in the original kit.  And it cost a fraction of the add-on at Studio Calico.  And since I'm not much of a stamper, I won't miss the stamps; I added label stickers instead.  But if they were important to me, I would add the digital images from the SC shop.  And I had fun putting it together and rediscovered some things in my stash that I had forgotten about.  Now I can't wait to do my versions of the Hook and Lost Boys add-ons. 

I'm hoping to have time to play in my scrap room this weekend.  Hope you get to do something fun too.  Enjoy your Saturday.

Sequin Crazy

OK - I'll admit it.  I've gone from being someone who never used anything sparkly to being obsessed with sequins.  They show up on lots of my layouts - I just can't help myself.  They are so much fun to play with.  And this week Chic Tags is enabling my obsessions with bling.  Their Sunday challenge was to use bling on your layout. 

I broke out someStudio Calico from last month's kits and new lines.  Then I added sequins - lots of sequins.  My layout is inspired by one of the challenges in the SC Bright Ideas class - put together a double grid layout.  I placed two "informal grids" in opposite corners of the page (and used some grid patterned papers and project life cards).  I used the sequins to tie the two grids together. 

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I also used a non-traditional title treatment.  Instead of a phrase, I placed words (cousins, fun, grapple) around the layout to create movement and connect the two grids.  And I couldn't resist adding enamel dots. 

Do you have an embellishment you are currently obsessed with - one that shows up on all your layouts?  Hope you had a great Tuesday. 

Sketch a Thon

Sketches are one of my favorites sources of inspiration.  Even when the completed layout looks nothing like the sketch, it provides a great starting point.  So I'm really excited about the My Scraps and More sketch a thon in March.  They are providing a sketch each day with games and giveaways to keep me (and you) motivated.  Registration for the event is open now.  After you register go the the refer a friend challenge and let them know that juliee referred you.  Can't wait to see the first sketch - hope you play too!