Simply Wonderful - 1st Sketchabilities DT Reveal

Hmmmmm, I set this up to automatically post while I was on business travel (and vacation) on the 15th. Not sure why it didn't but here it is now.

Check out my first reveal for the Sketchabilities Design Team.  I am loving the sketches Karan has us working on.  As soon as I took these photos I couldn't wait to scrap them.  They are of my sweet Reese squeezing her hands into fists, shaking and making such an intense face.  I have no idea what she was doing but she's done it a few times before when she was trying to do something, like pull something apart or take a lid off something.  I think it is simply adorable and I was so glad I had my camera next to me when she started doing it again. 

For the layout, I applied Shimmerz Spritz (color: Chick-a-Dee) and masked a cloud for my journaling.  I then doodled around it to further define the edge of the masking.  I also handstitched the bracket and the butterfly flight pattern, hand folded the purple strip and sewed it and the happy face strip to the layout.  I also hand cut the butterflies, blinged them out and popped them up to make them look like they are flying.  I handstamped the photo corners and misted them along with the then white flowers with the Chick-a-dee Shimmerz.

Christmas in July

My goal is to get Christmas 2009 layouts completed for the girls by July.  I just made this goal up right now (half way through July) as I am typing this so I've got some work to do and I hope I have enough of this paper to have it coordinate (at least a little).  Here's my first stab at this aggressive little goal.  I used the adorable CTMH Jingle paper pack, Chocolate Alpha Small stamp with Chocolate ink, True Friends stamp with Juniper ink, chocolate waxy flax, Tulip ink and blending pen (for the artsy look under the word 'cookies') and their Sparkles.  I also used MM Shimmer Alpha Red and The Paper Studio Groovy Jazz Pink Chipboard alphas.

Rheagan and Reese's pj both said Santa's Favorite so I thought I'd play off that for the title of this particular layout.

This layout was based off this week's Nuts About Sketches sketch:

Coloring Eggs...AND HANDS???

It seems I always put off scrapping the holiday photos for some reason.  I must be the mass of photos I take.  Needless to say I am very far behind on Christmas and Easter photos and have lots of catching up to do going back a couple of years, I'm afraid.  Here's a start at Easter using Week 115 Nuts about Sketches sketch.  I have been dying to scrap this set of pictures ... look at Rheagan's hand!!!

The circles in the sketch got me thinking about going to Archivers last weekend with my friend Audrey and I really liked the way she was incorporating circles on her layout that night. My circles are a combo of the sketch, a scraplift and my own originality.  I also used Shimmer Spritz (Bed of Roses) on my green cardstock to give it some pizazz and then I combined 2 thread colors in my hand stitched circles.  Like how I strategically placed the flower in Rheagan's hair?

Celebrate 6 - WOW 20 Photos

This week's Nuts About Sketches sketch was a 2 pager packed with photos.  Here's the sketch and my layout, which happened accidentally on purpose.

Click to Enlarge

This sketch was perfect for all the pictures I took at Rheagan's 6th birthday party (last October).  I wanted to break up the rows of photos in the sketch plus I had more pictures than spaces for photos so I made them the sizes I wanted using Adobe InDesign.  After I printed them I wished I had made some smaller to frame them and not have them all pushed together (I was afraid you wouldn't tell where one ended and the other began). I was meeting my friend Audrey at a LSS so I didn't have time before I left to re-size and re-print them (bummer). I had already cropped the photos so trimming them smaller wouldn't work. To my surprise, a few of my photos printed the wrong size, which worked out perfectly so I was able to implement my revised plan. Yay!

I journaled about the party and included Rheagan's friend's names as a pull out card under the group photo. I knew I wanted to include some bear fluff and hearts so I asked for some at the party and the BAB staff was happy to oblige.  I like how it turned out and how it wasn't really planned but ended up how I had hoped.

Sketchabilities Design Team News!

I'm excited to announce that I've been selected to be on a 2nd Design Team.  It's called Sketchabilities and they reveal new sketches on the 15th and 30th of the month.  Hop on over to their blog to check them out.  They also have a Message Board where you can chat with others, see the latest sketches, view the gallery, photography tips, cardability sketches and much more.  They received over 90 applications so I am very honored to have been chosen.  I can't wait to get started on the sketches and getting to know everyone on the message board!

You

Here's last week's Nuts About Sketch layout.  I'm posting it almost a week late because I just couldn't get it to look like what I wanted.  Here's the final version.

I Won the NVS Challenge!!!

Thanks everyone who voted for my layout.  I won the challenge with 44% of 136 votes!!!  I can't wait to play with the Vintage Chloe's Closet kit. I'll definitely be posting some layouts soon (once I get the kit in my hands and a bit of free time).

Here's a link to the original blog post so you can see the layout. Thank everyone!

 

Please vote for my layout at NVS!

If you like the layout below, please head over to NVS and vote for "Blond Beauty by Heather" in the upper left hand side of their blog.  Here's the layout and the Vintage Chloe's Closet Kit prize package.  Thanks in advance!

Challenge Details: NVS - Nerdy Victorious Scrapbookers - Envious Inspiration. The challenge was to use this image for inspriation. It inspired me to do a layout on my baby who has blond hair like daddy, while all us other girls are brunettes. The lollipops in the Inspiration image were a perfect fit for the CSD challenge too!

Wah! I'm Officially Mommy to a 1st Grader

Today is my first baby's last day of Kindergarten.  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by.  I remember prepping her for Meet the Teacher and bawling as the bus pulled away on the first day.  In a couple of hours I will be seeing her get off that bus for the summer!  I was the Homeroom Mom for her class so I've been working hard to put together a a class gift.  I was able to raise enough money to get her teacher a $150 gift card and then I made a personal gift from Rheagan, but included other drawings from her classmates.  Rheagan's school has been celebrating "20 Years and Still Rockin'" so I based the project off the Rocker theme. 

The Card

This is a 6x6 card I made using CTMH "You Rock" Stamp Set and a little bling for the crown. The card is actually red, which you can see peeking through the middle. I distressed the edges with ink to give it a rocker feel.

The Clipboard

I used an oversized clipboard from CTMH. I applied ink to the edges in a somewhat erratic fashion because I wanted it to have a distressed look.  I used a notebook paper punch I got at Archivers since it's for a school teacher.  I then hand stamped, doodled and colored the "You Rock" portion.  I then modge podged over it all.  I love how it gave the ink an even more distressed look!  I applied the ribbon and bling to the clipboard while the modge podge was still wet to ensure it wouldn't budge. I really wanted to decorate the handle but I saw how some of her other clipboards in the classroom are and as much as I feel it needs some flair at the top I made the executive decision to keep it as-is so that the clipboard will look better in the long run.

Happy {Early} Birthday Lynette!!

Lynette Davis is giving some goodies away to someone else on HER birthday (how generous).  Check out this Heritage 1981 Kit and then hop on over to her blog and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Kit Contents: 9 papers (including Die-Cut, Overlay and Glitter) from Hambly, Jenni Bowlin, Webster's Pages, Chatterbox, Prima, Basic Grey and Fancy Pants. Plus, a bunch of embellishment goodies including Smooch Spritz, Prima Flowers, Trims on Old-Fashioned Clothespins, Clear Stamps, My Mind's Eye Bling, Basic Grey Rub-ons, Buzz and Bloom Acrylic, American Crafts Chipboard Frames, Tulle, Making Memories Flower Pins, Doodlebug Buttons, and more!!!