..:: flower behind ::..

Hi! Hope you are having a Happy Easter if that is something that you celebrate! I'm here today with a layout I made using items available in the April Scrapbook Circle Kit and some flair from A Flair For Buttons. I'm submitting this to their challenge this month that is all about metallics!  Here's my take on the challenge!

The story that I'm documenting today is all about my daughter, the song writer. B. has been using my typewriter (and sometimes her iPad) to type up songs that she has written. And they are actually pretty amazing. So for this layout, I wanted to document one of my favorites. I used it as the bulk of the journaling -- as you see below.

For the challenge I used a lot of copper foil fun! Pink fresh Studios Live On collection has these awesome alphas that are copper colored. There are also starts and asterisks on the alpha sheet! I added those throughout my wreath. For a closer look you can check out my process video, if that suits your fancy! 

Here are a couple more close ups:

I did a lot of fussy cutting for this layout!

A layout isn't a layout without a little flair from A Flair For Buttons! For real. 😀

See you soon!

:: the butterfly whisperer ::

I'm up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today with a new layout using the September Kit Here + There and a sketch by Diana Fisher!  I stayed pretty true to the sketch this time. I mean, why mess with a good thing?  I love Diana's sketches; they always inspire me!

Here is my take on her sketch:

I threw in a bunch of my favorite things for this one….stitching, layering, photos of my B, etc.  I also did a bunch of fussy cutting (those butterflies are not a punch, they are from patterned paper by Crate Paper)!



I used one of the scraps leftover from all the fussy cutting for a little extra texture and fun (and another chance to layer a bit)!

It has been so fun working with Scrapbook Circle this month!  You'll see a couple more projects that I created as part of the Guest Design Team pop up over the rest of the month! Check out the sketch on the Scrapbook Circle blog here!  And play along with us, it's such a great sketch!


Since I'm showing you my "mad fussy cutting skills" I couldn't resist linking this one up with Paper Issues current issue!  There a couple more days to play along on this issue before a new one starts on Monday (spoiler alert, I'm on that issue)!

Hope you are enjoying your September!  As for me and mine -- we are off to St. Paul to see The Replacements play for a hometown crowd!   Yessssss……

:: #amazing sidewalk chalk ::

Scrapbook Circle is having a #hashtag challenge! Their June kit {Hello There} has a SBC exclusive stamp that includes #iloveyou and #amazing, I used them both.  :-)

As soon as I saw the amazing colors included in this month's kit, I was excited because I already had these photos to show off!

That's all for now!  Thanks for stopping by!

:: outside ::

I had a bunch of fun with this one! Here's another LO I made last weekend with my May Scrapbook Circle kit.

This story is all about taking our African Grey Parrot, Higgins, outside (in his cage) for the first time. I used a bunch of Amy Tangerine's Plus One collection (patterned papers and some puffy stickers). My favorite part is the patterned paper.  It started with a white on grey pattern. I grabbed my gelatos and a water brush and painted each of the hearts a yellow green.  Then I used other colors to paint several of the chevron patterns. My goal was to pull out some of the bright colors in the photo, and I really wanted to use the bird washi (a gift from my awesome sister-in-law)!  Once I finished painting, I outlined the painted chevrons with a black pen. Simple design for this layout, but I love how it turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!

:: impromptu neighborhood cleanup ::

Hello friends! I'm back with another layout that I made this past weekend with the May (High Five) Scrapbook Circle Kit. I think this is one of the many kits from them that will get completely used up.  I love each and every item in this one!

Our neighbors let their grass grow pretty tall next to the fence.  A day or so after they trimmed it, Bea and two of the neighbors decided they needed to clean up all the dead, dry grass.  They attached a sled to the back of Bea's wagon, grabbed a few brooms and went to work.  Don't worry!  I got the story down! See where it says "May 30, 2014"?  That tab pulls out and viola!  The story is there!  (I know you were worried)!

Thanks for stopping by!  See you again soon!

:: nesting ::

I absolutely love the May (High Five) Scrapbook Circle Kit!  Because May is so unbelievably crazy at work, I didn't really get to dig into it until this past Saturday (which also happened to be the day my June Scrapbook Circle Kit (Hello There) arrived)!  Luckily, I attended an all day scrap on Saturday and  completed several LOs.  Today I'm sharing a fairly simple layout!

I absolutely love this PInk Paislee (First Class) patterned paper!  I left a bunch of "white space" on this one to show it off -- (and I was afraid it would get a bit too busy if I added much more).  All I added was black card stock, a few doodles and journaling with my white signo pen (the best), and some alphas.  The hearts are wood veneer hearts that I "painted" with gelatos and a water brush!  Done, yo!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back with more soon -- really soon!!!

:: pumpkin picker ::

I was going for luscious fall layers to highlight the photos from B.'s pumpkin picking adventure in our front yard. The journaling is hidden in the tabbed pocket on the right.

Have I mentioned how much I love my Scrapbook Circle Kits?  Each month I so look forward to the arrival of that lovely pizza box full of goodies. Sometimes I devour it immediately, sometimes life requires me to wait, but I'm always inspired by the papers, embellishments and the ladies on the blog that provide such inspiration. Most of the items from this LO came from the June kit or the add-on kit that month. Many of the items were from the Basic Grey Hipster collection.

This LO was also inspired by this October sketch by Diana Fisher (also at Scrapbook Circle). You have until October 23rd to play!

I went a little crazy with the stitching on this one!  :-)  But, I liked it so much, I couldn't put the journaling over it!

Thanks for visiting!

:: hello princess rock & roll ::

'Ello Kiddies (sorry, I am still singing Cheap Trick songs from our trip earlier this month)! Back with my second layout from this month's Scrapbook Circle Kit!

For this layout I used this awesome sketch by Diana Fisher for the July Sketch Challenge at Scrapbook Circle. I pretty much always enjoy working with Diana's sketches! Instead of three photos, I used two and placed the journaling where the third photo would go, other than that, I stayed fairly true to the sketch. Since I only used two photos, I scaled down the size of the patterned papers, too. I absolutely love the colors in this kit. Everything you see here (except for the "hello" and "rock & roll" alphas) came from the kit and I still have tons more to work with. I'm telling you, the kits that are put together by the Scrapbook Circle gang, are totally fab. They just keep getting better and better. I love opening the kit when it arrives because usually I will have several ideas right away. What I don't like is getting the kit and having no time to use it! July is the exception - no meetings, and basically off work. Whew! :-)

I love these pics of B. dancing to her daddy's guitar playing. We had to put on the tutu (right over her PJs) and a flashing tiara, all rock and roll princesses need those things, right?

Here are a couple of close ups!

Don't forget: my blogaversary is coming up (it's Sunday)!!! I will be doing a special giveaway on my blog -- check back later this week for the details.

:: b & a ::

I don't know about you but I love kraft and white together. I also love Ali Edwards. I think that she is a genius when it comes to telling stories, documenting life, and making it beautiful; artful; all at the same time. That's why, when I saw this layout on her blog November 2012, I pinned it with the idea that I would use it as inspiration at some point. What I didn't know is how little I would change the basic design. Why mess with perfection, right?

I used the July Scrapbook Circle Kit and Ali Edwards stamps for this layout. In fact, I got the stamps in the mail the same day I took the photos of this tea party. As soon as the stamps arrived, I thought I'd try them out with my new frost white ColorBox pigment ink. When I stamped it, I loved the sentiments and the softness of the white on kraft. It reminded me of the Ali layout I had pinned, so I got to work!

At the same time I had been working with this awesome Studio Calico Mister Huey's Mask that I'd gotten in the Scrapbook Circle July Embellishment add-on kit. I tried the mask with Mister Huey mist, then stamps, then paint, but none of them really gave me what I wanted. So, I tried the absolutely magnificent White Signo Pen (an aside: I was about halfway finished making this background paper when the mail arrive with the Ali Edwards stamps.....). Here's a close up of the mask + pen:

Remember me saying that I like the softness of the white ink on the kraft? Well, the signo pen, while usually perfection, is very.....WHITE. Not soft. So I covered the whole background with vellum. Love! It brought the focus back to the photos (another aside: the photos were taken right after I stamped the stamps for the first time....I added the softness to them in Photoshop, because I knew I would use the photos, with the stamps).

I added a bit of tiny circle stamping (from an Ali Edwards December Daily stamp set that I can't seem to find to link up)! 

And pretty much nothing is complete these days without a bit of stitching! :-)

Thank you to my friend Kirsten for taking my scrapbooking emergency text while I was creating this LO. (I couldn't decide on b&w or color photos)!

I will have another LO to share with you tomorrow, using the same Scrapbook Circle Kit.  Here's a sneak:

Did you know that my blogaversary is coming up (it's Sunday)!!??! I will be doing a special giveaway on my blog -- don't forget to check back later this week for the details.

It's not too late to play with Scrap Your Story and the great sketch this week! Check it out here!

Scrap Your Story :: Hello Cheap Trick

It's FRIDAY!  You know what that means, a great challenge @ the Scrap Your Story Challenge Blog! This week we are working with an awesome sketch!   The sketch (as seen on the right), was a fun one to work with! Two photos, a giant circle,and both a vertical and horizontal line. I stayed fairly true to the sketch, but remember, you can flip, rotate, tweak, whatever you need! I hope to see you play along with us this week!  I grabbed my June Kit from Scrapbook Circle, a few scraps from my scrap box and this is what I came up with :

This past weekend the three of us attended a concert at the zoo in Apple Valley, MN. We had front row seats at this outdoor, all-ages show.  It was Bea's first concert! You will see more photos from this trip at some point; I am currently working on a mini book all about it!

I took the main background paper (Basic Grey :: Bow Ties :: kick the can) and cut a big circle on my Silhouette, then placed another piece of patterned paper (Farmhouse Paper Company :: where ideas take root) behind it. I machine stitched around the circle to define it a bit more, and then added a few stitches in other locations (can never have enough stitches!).  The bright orange arrows are all from the kit as well, they are fuzzy rub-ons (part of the Hipster collection by Basic Grey). I also added some wood veneer shapes that I tinted with orange ink. The "hello" is also from the Hipster Collection, and the "cheap trick" is from Recollections. This was a fun layout to make!

Check out Scrap Your Story and play along this week! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Scrap Your Story :: a picnic for SUPERS

It's FRIDAY! And we are having a great time this week at Scrap Your Story! Embrace the sunburst!

That awesome sunburst paper is from American Crafts, Shoreline collection. I got it in a Scrapbook Circle kit (I think last summer?).   I used my sewing machine to stitch a bunch of circles and lines on the paper to make it even more sunburst-y (it's a word, really).

The banners are stamps from Ali Edwards.  First I misted some plain white card stock with orange and yellow Mister Huey, then I used orange ink and clear embossing powder to heat emboss them.  After cutting them out, I popped them on with some pop dots for a bit of dimension. For the title I added some DIY Thickers (that I misted with orange Mister Huey) to the picnic tag from Elle's Studio.

This was a fun layout.  I will likely add some journaling to the page, but I haven't decided exactly what or where, and I hate to rush these things!  However, I did print and scrap these photos the same day that I took them!  The girls were having such a good time eating a picnic in their super hero costumes.

Hope you link up over at Scrap Your Story! It's the perfect time of year to embrace that sunburst!

PS, I am counting down the days to when my summer begins.  I cannot wait to have more scrappy time one week from now!

Scrap Your Story :: welcome flowers

It's Friday! You know what that means -- a new challenge!  This week at Scrap Your Story Challenges we are playing with stamps!

I use stamps all the time now that I get stamps from Ali Edwards (@Technique Tuesday) in the mail every month. They are perfect and totally match my style. This layout was no exception. All of the stamps I used were from Ali. Nearly all of the papers and other materials were found in the May Scrapbook Circle kit : My Favorite. Are these papers fun?!  It's early in the month and I've already used most of the papers in the kit!  WOW!

Here are a few close ups:

I used the flower stamp from Ali's "Favorite Circles" stamps all over this page! I love that stamp! It's super simple and can be used for pretty much anything!

This welcome stamp was from "Memories of Home" by Ali Edwards.

In this photo you can sort of see the phrases that I stamped all over the vellum (along with that flower stamp again). The phrases are from Ali's "This Story" stamp set.

The journaling is in a vellum envelope that cut out using my Silhouette Cameo (I've been doing that a lot lately), and I used this blog post for my text. :-) So happy to get this fun story documented!

I hope you play with us this week!

Scrap Your Story Challenge :: come & go

It's FRIDAY!  And you know what that means -- another challenge and Scrap Your Story! Our challenge this week is to use at least two sentences of journaling. No problem!

For this layout I used a sketch by the great Audrey Yeager.  I am not posting it because I got the sketch through a class that I am taking at My Scraps and More, and I'm not sure if I can share it (I paid for the class and I'm not sure about the sharing rules)!

My journaling is hidden, and there are way more than two sentences.  :-)  (I've never been accused of being at a loss for words). The story I am telling is about how B. got the bike for Christmas and it was way to big for her.  And now, just a few months later, we had to raise the seat!  She just keeps growing!

 Loving this Heidi Swapp paper! Most of my supplies came from the April Scrapbook Circle Kit.

See that vellum?  It's an envelope full of confetti on the bottom and the tags and journaling on the top.  Much of the confetti (and the sequins) are from a kit that I got when I signed up for the Lots of Layers class at My Scraps and More.

That's all for today.  Short one -- it's been a long week!  It's also been a rather difficult week for us because we are remembering what was going on in our lives a year ago. I am thankful that we have that first year behind us.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you play along at Scrap Your Story this week!

Scrap Your Story :: love spring

It's FRIDAY and you know what that means -- a new challenge goes live at Scrap Your Story Challenges!  This week we are working with one of Christy's sketches!  Here's my layout:

The journaling is about how my wonderful family stopped and let me take this photo, even though the weather was bad, we were hungry, and on our way out to eat.  But I just had to get a photo of the grass...it is turning green.  I am thankful for that -- because I am ready for spring.  Aren't you?  Here are a few close ups:

If you follow me on instagram or Facebook, you may have seen that I was letting scrapbooking stress me out this week!  Ever had one of those days/weeks where you waste a LOT of paper because none of your ideas work?  I had that this week!  Ugh.  Good news...I pushed through and I really like how my layout turned out! I got several happy packages in the mail this week, and that helped.  :-) 

The patterned papers and tags are from April's Scrapbook Circle kit, "Happy Place" and I added a couple of things from my stash. Also, I used some awesome washi that I got from a Paper Issues embellishment kit (some of the happy mail that arrived on my doorstep this week)! There is a complete list of supplies used at the bottom of this post.

Here's the sketch (I basically flipped it horizontally):

Come play with us!!!  It's so much fun to see what others create based on the same sketch!

I will also be posting this a Paper Issues.  Their "Current Issue" is all about using instagram photos (which I love)!

Supplies:

Echo Park :: Flower Garden 12x12 Sweet Girl

American Crafts :: Dear Lizzy 12x12 Lucky Charm Paper :: Lucky Coin

American Crafts :: Dear Lizzy 12x12 Lucky Charm Paper :: This and That

American Crafts :: Amy Tangerine Yes, Please :: Capture Embroidery Kit
American Crafts :; Amy Tangerine Yes, Please :: Create Cardstock Shapes

Studio Calico :: Chevron Snippets Wood Veneer
A Flair For Buttons :: Lovely Words Flair

Heidi Swapp :: Clear Pop :: Clear Mint Alpha (love these)!
Tape Works Green Chevron Washi Tape (got this in the Paper Issues "Thrift Shop" embellishment kit)
Elle’s Studio Serindipity Lil Snippets Labels 
Scrapbook Circle exclusive tags

Scrap Your Story :: let's go fly a kite

It's Friday, which means another reveal day at Scrap Your Story Challenge Blog!  It has been so exciting to see what everyone has be linking up!  Hope you link up this week!

This week the challenge is to use some cork on your layout!  I used cork letters for "fly a KITE", and I also punch a circle out of cork (it's behind the "B" ormolu flair).

I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit this week and did some hand stitching on my layout. I've done (and am addicted to) machine sewing -- but I've never used a pattern, poked holes, used a needle, the whole shebang! In a Scrapbook Circle Add on kit I got this awesome stitching kit from Amy Tangerine's Yes, Please line.  So, I used 'em! Then I dry brush painted a little bit of spray ink to add a little more color and show off that stitching a bit (it was a little lost with all that lovely chevron).

Lovin' me some flair from A Flair for Buttons!  I also added a spot for hidden journaling.  I used some washi tape to add some color -- the actual journaling spot is kraft. Then I used an Ali Edwards stamp "Tell the Story", which comes from the March Studio AE stamp set "This Story" available at Technique Tuesday.

Some layers, more AE stamping, and Amy Tangerine stitching.  :-) 

Did you know that Scrap Your Story has a facebook page??  Check it out here.

I'm also linking this layout up at Paper Issues :: Up In The Clouds! 

Scrap Your Story Challenge #4 :: iCousins

It's Friday which means a new challenge is up at Scrap Your Story Challenge Blog! It has been so fun to participate in these challenges over the last month. If you haven't checked out the challenges yet, you should give it a looksy. As a reminder the challenges go like this...

Week 1: Use it
Week 2: Theme
Week 3: Sketch
Week 4: Technique

This week's challenge is to do some embossing somewhere on your layout...dry...heat...doesn't matter, whatever works for you, just give this technique a try!

Here's my reveal:

And here's the sketch I used:

I flipped it a bit.  This sketch is the March Sketch over at Scrap Happy, a community of scrappers that are....well, happy :-).  And welcoming.  And fun. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I recently joined the Scrap Happy community. I will likely mention them again, since so far so good with the happiness! LOL

The close-ups :

I incorporated the challenge (embossing) in two ways. First of all I heat embossed the three vellum circles. I used a mask and VersaMark embossing ink, and then white Zing! embossing powder (and my heat gun).  (By the way...I totally stole this idea from an Ashley Horton sneak that I saw on Instagram! I'll link to her layout when it goes live later this month)!

The second way was on the journaling spot. I used both white Zing! and some clear embossing powder around the edges, and then the clear only for my journaling lines. I like this look and I'll probably do it again!

Almost everything else I used came from the Scrapbook Circle February Kit! I really enjoyed working with the Glitz Color Me Happy line included in this kit. It's so bright, colorful and...well....happy. I also ordered the two add-on kits, one of which included the awesome blue card stock used in this layout! The awesome circle cut behind the main photo is from the Silhouette store (background lace circle by Karla Dudley). The letters are fabric Thickers, that I misted with peach Heidi Swapp Color Shine. And the flair, oh the flair....you guessed it A Flair for Buttons!