A Favorite

I'm stuck - so I've been looking back at all the layouts I completed over the last 8-10 days.  This one really stands out as a favorite.

It's about decorating for Christmas and the first time Nicholas put the angel on the Christmas tree.  The layout is a mix of Basic Grey and Creative Memories with a little Bo Bunny thrown in for good measure.  For me it captures the richness of Christmas decorations without being overly fussy or feminine. 

NSD at Little Yellow Bicycle

Little Yellow Bicycle is quickly becoming one of my favorite sources for great papers and embellishments.  And they are planning a fun weekend for National Scrapbook Day.  Check out the calendar of events:




The challenges they've posted sound like lots of fun.  One is to use up your "vinatgage" LYB products that have gotten buried in your stash and the second is to put a project together using the new Hello Spring collection.  The prizes sound great also!

Another Sketch Challenge

I went to another NSD crop yesterday and did 12 more pages.  That makes 32 pages in 8 days!  I think it might be a new record for me.  I usually get stuck to often to be that productive.  But I'm finding all the great sketch challenges to be a real source of inspiration!

This layout was based on the April sketch challenge at The Purple Pumpkin.  Of course, the sketch was for a one page layout, and I generally do 2 pages, so I stretched it to get my finished product.

I need to unpack now (always the worst part of going to a crop), but will share more of my layouts soon.

MME Sketch Challenge

I've been working on stretching creatively lately, and this layout really pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I used mist, I used flowers, and I used buttons - in my son's scrapbook to boot.  I'm not sure if I like this page as it seems a bit feminine for Nicholas's album.  On the other hand, my toughest critic (other than me) is usually Elisabeth, my 12 year old daughter, and she really likes it.

Here's the sketch for the challenge.  My original idea was to turn it 90 degrees and to use two different halves for the large die cut sheet (combining two different patterns).  I also was going to skew the top and bottom so that the shape was out of alignment.

The other challenge for me was using MME supplies.  I'm trying really hard to use up some of my stash before I buy some of the great new supplies, but I wasn't sure what MME stock I had.  So here;s what I came up with.  First the one page version:

Do you recognize the patterned paper - it is from the Laundry Line collection, the Magnolia collection and the Quite Contrary Collection.  The are all MME.  I used mist on the flowers and buttons for the centers.

My scrapbooks generally use two page layouts, and this is no exception.  Here is the two page version of the layout.

Manor House Creations

Manor House Creations is hosting its very first blog hop on Mother's Day weekend.  Check out the info here and put it on your calendar!  The prizes include their flowers which are gorgeous!

http://manorhousecreationsblog.com/2012/04/24/4572/