Guest Designer at Life Paper Scrapbook

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I was lucky enough to be given the chance to be a guest designer at Life Paper Scrapbook for the new sketch challenge.  The sketch was really fun and different.  I pulled out my June kits from Studio Calico and got to work.

I decided to cut the arrow shapes from the bold chevron paper from Crate Paper and use a black background to make them pop.  They looked great but were huge.  To compensate for the size of the arrows, I decided to use only one photo with some layering in the bottom corner of the layout  I kept the title at the top of the layout. And when I was finished, my layout didn't look much like the sketch.  But it was a fun Christmas layout - and without any Christmas themed product.  What do you think?

I knew I wanted the title block to be really fun and balance the photo block at the bottom of the page.  So after I attached the letters, I grabbed a handful of the "candi" from the card add-on kit and dropped it on the page.  Then I stuck it down where it fell.  I love the random confetti feel.

I had a great time playing with the sketch and really appreciate the opportunity.  Enjoy your Friday.

Still Working on "This Is Me" with Roundabout

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I know the "This is Me" class was in May.  But I didn't get much done that month and I'm trying to do at least a couple pages every month.  I did two pages using Roundabout (and some Planetarium scraps) for my "Needs Work" section.  These are some of the hardest pages for me - they are focusing on things I know I need to work on.


The first one is "Marriage Is A Journey."  My husband and I have been married almost 23 years.  And we are at a transition point.  We started as friends, fell in love, and got married.  Now the second of our three children is moving out and we have more time to be a couple again.  But like many couples, our kids activities took up most of our time over the last 15 to 20 years.  So we have to learn to be a couple again.  (We'll get there, but definitely something I'm working on.)

My favorite part of this layout (from a creative point of view) is the layered project life card and Heidi Swapp transparent tab.  Remember that I am using a Snap album but with a landscape orientation.  The PL card/tab stick out the side of the page protector and album.  And I love that the words work together to say "you + me together."

The second layout I did is about my stash building habits.  When I am stressed, I like to shop.  It used to be for clothes and shoes, but in the last year it has been for scrap supplies.  Let's just say my scrap room is very well stocked after the last year (and after a giant purge.)  And I really want/need to learn to destress by using my stash, not adding to it.

Someday I'll finish this project (probably just in time to start an album about the new, hopefully improved me.)  In the meantime, I'll keep plugging along, making a few pages here and there.

Thanks for taking the time to visit.  Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Recipe Challenge and Roundabout

Studio Calico Kit Subscription

Use this  link to sign up for a new Studio Calico kit subscription and we will both get 1000 rewards points - that's good for $10 off an add-on!

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Last week the weekly challenge at Studio Calico was a recipe challenge.  Here are the "ingredients."

vellum

yellow

frame

stars

at least two tags

Now it just so happens that vellum, frames and stars are some of my favorite things right now.  So I was all over this challenge.  I started with a piece of colored cardstock from the Roundabout kits and came up with this.

The bright cardstock base really makes the other elements of the layout pop.  And I used my Texture Boutique to create a piece of vellum with a custom look

 I used Mustard Colorshine to make a white tag yellow.  The ink didn't want to adhere to the tag, so I used a tissue to wipe the ink across the tag, creating a fun look.  And those frames from Crate Paper are still some of my favorite embellishments.

That geotag from Freckled Fawn is great and I love the chipboard and glittered stars from Studio Calico. 

Thanks for stopping by - Have a great Tuesday!

Sunday Sketch, Roundabout and Favorite Embellishments (and BlogLovin)

Studio Calico Kit Subscription

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Sunday Sketch

Its July and I still have tons of product left from my June kits.  So this weekend, I really tried to use that product.  And since last week's Sunday Sketch was a grid pattern layout, it was a great opportunity to mix lots of bits and pieces.

Here's my finished layout.  I stuck pretty closely to the sketch for this one.

The papers are all from the Roundabout kits, but I'm just not a good kit scrapbooker.  I couldn't help myself, so I dug into my stash for some of my favorite embellishments.

 If you stop here often, you know that I've long been addicted to washi tape.  Those glittery stars that Studio Calico put out with Atlantic are seriously addictive.  And I love the little puffy stickers made by Skipping5.

Chalkboard finish products and cork are some of my favorite trends right now.  I love the cork circles printed in white and this tag is from the Martha Stewart office supply line sold at Staples.

This layout uses other favorites too - the stitched vellum embellishments Amy Tangerine does are long standing favorites and I love the word stickers Jillibean Soup put out this year.  Buttons are a staple and a great way to add shape and texture.  And arrows are one of my all time favorites.

Thanks for checking out my layout.  Have a great Monday.

Unstuck With Roundabout

I had free time on Sunday and was determined to scrap.  But I had no motivation or inspiration for anything creative.  I purged my paper stash for most of the day and even seeing all that pretty paper left me cold.  But I was determined - a free day is rare.

So I pulled out my Roundabout kits (they are all mixed up in an oversized ziplock bag) and looked at them.  Still nothing.  Then I pulled out my pile of photos to scrap.  And my stash swap pictures made me smile - finally a start.

Then I looked at my challenge/inspiration notebook.  There was a layering challenge in the Oklahoma benefit crop, a sketch at the My Scraps and More sketch blog, and a My Scraps and More Got Talent mini challenge - use 3 stamps.  Could I put them all together?  That seemed to be enough inspiration to get me going.

I used the sketch as a starting point for my basic layout design.  (Of course, my layouts never look like the sketches, but they still get me started.)

And each photo block had five layers, meeting the terms of the Oklahoma benefit crop layering challenge.

And I used two word stamps and two arrow stamps on my layout.  (I never use my stamps, so this was a major accomplishment.

And I liked the finished product - maybe not one of my all time favorites, but still, I liked it.  I'd love to know how you get unstuck - please leave a comment and let me know. 

Hope your Monday is simply marvelous!

Roundabout - And a Little Bragging (I just can't help it.)

Roundabout 

I had some time to play today (and will have some more tomorrow) so I dug into the June Studio Calico kit - Roundabout for a simple layout based on the MSM sketch blog challenge from last Friday.  I loved the paper layers at the bottom of the sketch.  And they provided the perfect chance to mix circles and triangles for some fun layers.

Here is my layout - really easy to put together and I adore the cloud paper in the kit - its a Studio Calico exclusive this month.  The black transparencies are kit exclusives too.  And I've been wanting to play with the Crate Paper DIY transparencies.

A Little Bragging

On Sunday Life Paper Scrapbook announced the top three layouts for their May sketch challenge.  It was my son's graduation day so I didn't get a chance to check it out til today.  But was I ever excited to see one of my layouts in the top three.  I shared the two page version of this layout in this post about documenting a soccer season.  But I'm not sure I ever shared the one page version based on the sketch.

This is the first time my work was selected for this kind of monthly challenge so I am thrilled. 

Thanks for sharing my happy news.  I am working on another layout from Roundabout so I am off to finish it up.  Hopefully I can share it tomorrow.  

Hope you have a fantastic Friday!