The Diva and the Dog - MSM # 64

Another one using a sketch from My Scraps & More (and check out their store, too - great prices and great offers when you sign up for their newsletter!  This is based on sketch #64.

• Washi Tape:  Love my Tapes, Prima
• Paper:  Crate Paper; MME Stella & Rose; MME Sky's the Limit; Fancy Pants
• border punch:  EK Success
• Enamel Dots: Teresa Collins
• Word tags:  Elle's Studio
• Alphas:  Thickers Lindsey (a very subtle gold glitter); October Afternoon Daily Flash

Happy Comes in Small Packages - MSM # 63

So you know how much I love My Scraps & More sketches!  Here's another layout using their sketch #63.

Products:

• Paper:  Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm collection; kraft cardstock
• Frames:  October Afternoon Daily Flash; Crate Paper The Pier
• Background stamps:  grid = Verve; dots = Hero Arts
• Ink:  CTMH Outdoor Denim
• Alphas:  Thickers Patchwork; Prima Alphabet Stickers
• Heart punch:  EK Success
• Enamel Dots:  MME Cut & Paste Adorbs
• Washi tape:  MME Pink & Charcoal washi set
• Today chipboard:  Hedi Swapp
• Metal frame around year:  CTMH

My Scraps & More # 60

This layout is based on another sketch at My Scraps & More.  I typically get bored with using a single paper collection over and over again but I can't get enough of this line!  It is so perfect and there are even several papers that are non-Christmas so I know I will get a lot out of it! When I find I have a patterned paper that might be too bold to use on its own, I try to use it as a frame - I did this with two different papers in this layout.  Give it a try - it's a great way of using papers that might otherwise sit neglected in your stash.

Paper:  Simple Stories Handmade Holiday
Star:  Little Yellow Bicycle Naturals
Letters:  Little Yellow Bicycle

My Scraps & More # 59

I love the sketches at My Scraps & More and they have a great year end sale going on, too!  This layout is based on sketch # 59.  For this one, I rotated the sketch

Paper:  Simple Stories Handmade Holiday
Arrows:  Avery Elle Die
Brads:  very old stash

December Challenges

This layout was inspired by a sketch by Brenda Ragsdale for the December Sketches4All challenge and the embellishments were inspired by Kristi B's December challenge asking her followers to add "sparkle" which I did with a lot of gold brads and glitter tape.  Apologies for the photo being a little out of focus.

Paper:  Simple Stories Homemade Holiday
Wood Veneer:  Studio Calico
Sketch:  Brenda Ragsdale

Grand Diva's Sketch Challenge

I love the sketches Brenda Ragsdale comes up with each month for her Grand Diva's Creative Corner blog (not to mention her creations themselves).  Each month she teams up with her "scrappy friends" - Rochelle Spears and Kristi B.  I didn't combine the challenges into a single layout but you will see another layout today for Kristi's challenge

The papers are from Fancy Pants Merry Christmas and Little Sport lines.  I also used some fun new products from recent haul from A Cherry on Top - Jillibean Soup Flashcards, My Minds Eye Cupids Arrow washi tape,  and October Afternoon Daily Flash Frame Up chipboard frames.  And to not neglect my stash, I pulled out some brads from MME Indie Chic, stickers from Dear Lizzy, and stick pins from Little Yellow Bicycle

Oodles of Noodles (My Scraps & More # 52)

When my daughter and I went to LA this summer, we got to the hotel quite late - too late for most restaurants to still be open.  We were staying in Little Tokyo and decided to walk around a bit hoping to at least find a 7-11 or something to get some kind of food.  Tucked behind one of the side streets was a small shopping area that had a ramen noodle shop still open so we realized it was our best bet.

Well proper ramen noodles have no relation to the dried packaged type we lived on during college!  This bowl was HUGE - it could have easily fed a family of 5 and still had leftovers.  It was loaded with mushrooms and green onions (too many green onions!) and was really tasty.  I think I finished less than 1/4 of it!


The layout design was based on a sketch from My Scraps & More (I have a big order from them scheduled to arrive today - sooooo excited).  I did modify the sketch a little by converting the circles to squares (I just wasn;t feeling very "roundy" last night).

Papers are quite old and include several Sassafrass papers that I never thought I would use (got them as a door prize at a crop), EP Hello Summer, and EP Paradise Beach.  I added some big brads from Bazzill, some chipboard word stickers from Micheal's, and a few homemade photo corners and punched hearts

Waterfall - 2 Broke Girls # 24

This is another photo taken at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.  It is such an amazingly beautiful place!  Sketch # 24 from 2 Broke Girls was the perfect design for it.

(and yes - there is a typo in the title that I have since fixed but couldn't get a new photo in time).

Two Broke Girls # 22

My mom took this photo of my daughter at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.  I decided to print it black and white to create a softer layout.  The sketch is from 2 Broke Girls - they have some of my all time favorite sketches!!!!

Lets Get Sketchy Oct Wk 2

Here's another one based on the great sketches at Let's Get Sketchy - this time it's October Week 3 rotated.

The photos are of the Space Shuttle Pathfinder on display at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  It is a very cool place!

Let's Get Sketchy Oct Wk 3

So I have been a bit busy on my scrapping this week and one of my favorite places for sketch inspiration is Let's Get Sketchy.  This one is the October Week 3 sketch. 
The photos I used are of my daughter with wet hair getting clothes out of the car during our recent road trip.  She was FURIOUS when she saw that I had followed her with the camera.  With total disdain, her comment was "Really, Mom?"  (She was even more angry when she saw that I had scrapped the photos.  Oh well - that's life and it's getting scrapped! 


 

My Scraps & More #51

Another great sketch from the great team at My Scraps & More!  As always, great products, great values, and great sketches

This photo was taken on our summer road trip - this stop was one of several on the Ocoee River i Tenessee.  An absolutely beautiful drive, even in the rain and fog we had for four days!

 

Old Moments

This is a very old photo of my husband and his father.  We don't know the exact date but figure its about 1979 or so

There were three main inspirations for this - all from the scrappy friends:

• Sketch - this came from the wonderful Brenda Ragsdale of Grand Diva's Creative Corner.  
• Colors - this is from the Scrappy Friend Rochelle Spears.  Those were not easy colors for me as I have very little orange in my collection but in digging deep, I came across an old striped paper from Kasiercraft that was a perfect launching pad.
• Stash - the final piece of the three Scrappy Friend's challenges was a stash challenge by Kristi B - stamping, frame, and a ready made border.  For this, I used a stamp from Little Yellow Bicycle as the de facto title.  The frame is in two forms - a wood small frame in the upper left and a small Maya Road chipboard frame that I covered with orange paper.  The ready made borders are a thin brown border sticker from Jillibean Soup and a gold bubble-like border sticker from Pebbles.  A big thanks to Kristi for this as these have been in my stash for ages!

Nik Wallenda (My Scraps & More #50)

Do you remember Nik Wallenda's amazing walk across the Grand Canyon this summer?  I admit to being terrified watching!!  My parents got to watch him practice and train in the weeks leading up to it.  The Wallenda family live in Sarasota where my parents live and much of the training was in very open areas including on the waterfront where Nik employed several air boats to create the wind he would encounter at the Grand Canyon.  Everyone got a chance to talk to him during his training - it was all up close and so personal.  I would have wanted to talk to him AFTER the cnayon walk, though!

The sketch was inspired by My Scraps & More and the use of many different squares of paper came from ACOT shape challenge.  All papers and stickers are from Echo Park Happy Summer collections; alphas are resist chipboard letters from Close to My Heart inked with ink from Studio G.

Sock Monkey 'Jamas (My Scraps & More # 49)

My daughter found these flannel sock monkey pyjamas at Target a few weeks ago and fell in love, despite it still being near 90 degrees here.  I loved seeing the shear glee in the typically moody 13-yr old.  She wa so happy she even let me take a few snaps of her.  I'm not worthy!

The sketch from My Scraps & More was perfect for this!  I love them - their sketches are great and their shop is even better with awesome deals and product.

Supplies:

• Paper:  PaperLoft, Paper Studio, Fancy Pants, and My Minds Eye, Crate Paper
• Labels:  My Minds Eye, Elle's Studio, Recollections
• Sock monkey brads (of course); SMASH clip

9 Lives Spent Resting

I created this for the 2 Broke Girls sketch # 23 challenge.  I absolutely adore their sketches!

I don't typically use pastels colors, florals, and never purple but I dug into my stash determined to use older papers.  And I found a way to get along with the purple paper by covering it with a light wash of Gesso - I need to use it more to tone down some of my bolder papers that I now look at and say "what was I thinking".

Apologies for the glare on the photo

Lets Get Sketchy - October Week 1

I created this using a sketch from Let's Get Sketchy.  I used several old papers from FabScraps, MME, Close to My Heart, Simple Stories, Farmhouse, and more.  I embossed some cardstock for the back-most layer and added some wood veneer pieces.  Stamps at bottom are from Little Yellow Bicycle

Long and Winding Road

This summer we took several trips including two different road trips between Dallas and North Carolina (more than 2,000 miles per trip).  Knowing we were going to pass through several states, I decided to take photos of license plates from each state to create a type of title page for the album.  The layout was somewhat inspired by an IKEA ad and the title was inspired by a challenge at Southern Girls to be inspired by a song.

 Supplies:

• Paper:  Simple Stories Awesome; Glitz; Paper Studio; Fancy Pants Etcetera
• Twine:  WeRMemoryKeepers
• Wood Veneer stars, chevrons, and geo tags:  Studio Calico
• Flair button:  Basic Grey Carte Postale
• Burlap ribbon
• Thickers
• Mini alphas:  Lily Bee Designs; October Afternoon

My Scraps & More Sketch # 45

Here is another of the weekly sketches from My Scraps & More.  I was determined to use up old stash so I dug out a 6x6 paper pad and did minor damage to it along with digging out very old flip flop 3-D stickers.  I also used a stencil that I haven't used before along with Gesso to soften the very bright green of one of the papers

Supplies:

• Paper:  Echo Park Paradise Beach
• Frames:  Maya Road Chipboard frames
• Banners:  Maya Road chipboard banners colored with multiple mists that I blended:
• October Afternoon Rotary Phone and Wheat Field
• Mr Huey's Double Yellow
• Tattered Angels Chalkboard Ruby Slipper
• Heidi Swapp Color Shine Primrose
• Washi tape:  Target; Queen & Co.
• Alphas:  Lily Bee Design Buttercup and Christmas Cheer
• Mask:  The Crafters Workshop Harlequin
• Arrow:  Jilibean Soup Wise Words
• Sun Die Cut:  from MTC gallery cut on Silhouette Cameo

My Scraps & More Sketch # 47

Here's another for My Scraps & More weekly sketch challenge  This layout was also inspired by a challenge at Soul Scrappers to use inspiraiton from one of several photos from Argentina.  That was easy one since one of them immediately made me think of a photo I took of a home and wall on Venice Beach that was super bright and colorful.

So with sketch in hand and great photo, I began and quite quickly hit a wall.  The colors in the photo were so bright that no combinaiton of papers seemed to work - not even basic white/balck.  UNTIL I saw this paper from Glitz's new Wild & Free line and it worked perfectly (I think) AND I got the whole collection for only $9 during a Hobby Lobby sale.  Yes, I know I have been going a little pink/teal crazy lately but, hey - when it works, go with it :-)
 

Supplies:

• Paper:  Glitz Wild & Free; Colorbok Hopscotch; vellum
• Tags:  Pebbles Cards & Pockets; DCWV Itsy Bitsy tag stack (LOVE THESE!); Echo Park Memos; Recollections journal card pad; Chic Tags
• Other stickers and die cuts:  Basic Greay Capture stickers; Elle's Studio Sweet Life cutouts; Elle's Studio Lil' Snippets labels; October Afternoon Travel Girl Tidbits
• Enamel Dots:  MME Sweetest Thing; MME Find Your Wings
• Brads:  Studio Calico Snippets
• Clip:  Lawn Fawn
• Stamps:  Studio Calico; Glitz Wild & Free roller stamp
• Alphas:  Lily Bee Designs Buttercup
• Lily Bee Designs letter stickers – Buttercup; Thickers Iguana; Thickers Hooray; Thickers Emma
• Twine:  Pink Paislee