..:: so fun ::..

Hi Friends!  It's Scraplift Sunday time!  I am up on the Paper Issues Blog today with my take on the our scrap lift this week! We are lifting MandaJane today and you can find her layout here. Here is my layout using the gorgeous Cocoa Vanilla Studio Legendary Collection :

Here is a look at the original :

I stuck pretty close to the original -- one photo, three strips of patterned paper, three clusters, etc. I switched it up a bit by making one of my clusters include journaling instead of ephemera, and my strips are more "wonky" and roughed up.  Here are a few close ups:

I added some wonky machine stitching and tangled thread to my layout as well. Just for a touch of color and added texture. 

This was a fun one to scrap lift! I love Scraplift Sunday! I made a video of my process if that's something that suits your fancy!

You can find this and all of our current challenges in the March Challenges album in our Facebook Group. You have plenty of time to participate. Play along until April 5th for a chance to win a gift card to the Paper Issues Store.  Shop the store using the code OrangeGearle for 20% off your purchase. Thank you for stopping by!  See you again soon! XO o.g.

:: darling boy ::

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of babysitting my grandson, B.  He is so flipping cute!

For this layout I used a bunch of Amy Tangerine 6x6 papers and the stamps that are in the Plus One collection. I also used a few random embellishments from some past Swag Bags at Paper Issues.

See that awesome cut file in the background?  I purchased this at a (newish) etsy store that my friend Ashley Horton has called The Cut Shoppe.  Ashley also has a blog of the same name where she frequently has challenges and sketches to go alone with her cut files! I think I'm going to try to play along with the August sketch & challenge.  Don't worry, I'll share!


Thanks for stopping by!

:: hello baby mini book ::

In this post I shared our wonderful family news -- my oldest daughter will be having a boy on or around October 7. We are excited for this wonderful addition to our family! For the reveal party, I started a mini book as a gift. My daughter has asked me to go ahead and keep it, add to it, and give it back to her when it's finished. She has a busy few months ahead of her, including moving, and so this makes complete sense (and I am excited to do it)! Thought I'd share a few photos:

Both the front and back covers are chip board that I covered with white card stock, and added a bit of washi tape that goes around the edge. Before putting the card stock on, I used Gelatos and Tim Holtz distress daubers to create a fun pattern.

Foot Stamp + StazOn ink + Transparency = fun title page

For the inside pages I found a great 6x6 pad of American Crafts papers at Target. The pad is called "Hip Hip Hooray" and there are two of each pattern.  I love the colors because most of them are gender neutral. When I started this project we didn't know if she was having a boy or a girl. 

Most of the tummy and ultrasound photos I stole off her Facebook page! 

The book is complete up to the present.  :-)  I plan to put some photos of the baby room and any other tummy/ultra sound photos that she takes. Then, I will leave a few pages at the very end for when we get to meet that baby in person! 

Check back here tomorrow for a new Scrap Your Story Challenge! Here's a sneaky sneak!

Happy 4th of July!  Have a safe one!