Puppies and phones - a teenager's two loves

Just a month after we moved 'to the country' to a 14-acre property, a tiny stray puppy showed up with her nose plastered to a giant picture window in our living room.  She was so adorable but since we already had two dogs, two cats, two donkeys, five goats, and 20 chickens there was no way I was going to have us take on any more 4-legged responsibilities! 

We spent the day trying to shoo it away.  When that failed, we put it in a pen we had to at least keep it safe from the not-so-happy dogs and wary donkeys who free range the property.  The idea was that we would put signs up and call the local shelter.  After two days, no one responded to the signs and we were told that our area was notorious for people dumping off strays (and other people simply failing to neuter their dogs and not caring about the result).  My husband being a tree hugger and 'save all the animals' kind of guy pleaded to let us keep her.  My daughter joined in, of course.  By this time, our adult dogs had gotten used to the puppy and even I was falling under it's spell.  Needless to say, it became a part of our family and we've never regretted the decision for a second.

So the dog is now technically my daughter's (though all care is on my plate, of course).  She loves nothing more than to cuddle with her and when she can cuddle AND use her phone at the same time it's heaven!

The design of this page is based on sketch 476 and the Chevron challenges from ScrapbookChallenges.com.  I flipped the sketch and used three photos rather than two.  The color scheme was based on the March '16 Disney challenge at ACherryOnTop.com.

Thanks for looking!

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!

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

S4A Monthly Mayhem Challenge - Outdoors + Sketch Challenge

As one of the design team members at Sketches 4 All, I host a Monthly Mayhem challenge.  This month the challenge combines a sketch from PageMaps with an outdoor photo/theme.  For my project, I am using a photo taken in Betws-y-Coed (pronounced BET-iss-ee-coyd) in Wales.  The area is known for beautiful rivers, mountains, and hiking trails and my husband and I went there often when we lived in England.  On this trip, we were extremely amused to see one of the trails marked for handicap access.  But when you look at the trail, you wonder how one could even walk it, let alone navigate a wheelchair.  So amusing!

All kinds of materials were used including three printed kraft papers from Paper Studio (perfect for the March Scrap Our Stash challenge), two different green cardstocks, gesso, droplets from a brown Dylusions ink, Thickers from Studio Calico, border sticker from Fancy Pants, mustard-colored bookplate, rub-on letters from L'il Davis, "adventure" tag from MME Indie Chic, twine around the stone circle, and a corrugated arrow from CTMH that I painted with acrylic paint.  The use of the pewter square brads as inspired by Lasting Memories #129 where the challenge was to use 2 or 3 of something so I used TWO sets of THREE brads each :-)