Hopscotch & A Tag

I love these One Item Wonder challenges the design team over at Scrapbook Circle is given. My item this month are these fun little chalkboard tags from the Hello, Sunshine kit. 

I used the first tag for my journaling on the hopscotch layout below. I also had fun with the playing cards from the Bella Blvd Family Dynamix papers and used the numbers and shapes to correspond with the hopscotch pattern.

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Hello, Sunshine kit: Bella Blvd. Family Dynamix Mother's Day and Game Night papers; Cosmo Cricket Upcycle Bling Bling; Bo Bunny Ad Lib paper; Crate Paper Neighborhood Sticker Borders and Chipboard Accents; Canvas Corp Chalkboard Tag; white Uniball Signo broad pen.

I used the 2nd tag as a gift tag but I might even add it to a card or just add it to a cute little bottle or jar of goodies for someone special, I haven't decided. I misted the white and blue twine with yellow to give the blue a more green shade to match the blue-green in the caption and also to give the white a pretty yellow tint to match the bird and flower.
Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Hello, Sunshine kit: Canvas Corp Chalkboard Tag; Crate Paper Neighborhood Chipboard Accents, sticker borders and block party paper; Bo Bunny Ad Lib, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphas, white Uniball Signo broad pen.

Families are a BLESSING

I made this layout this past weekend using a Lilybee collection that I have had been holding onto since the fall. I knew I wanted to use it for our family photos that we took in November so I hoarded it. I only had 2 sheets of paper and a sticker sheet from this collection so I challenged myself to stretch it as far as I could. This might just be one of my new favorite layouts!  

Supplies: Lilybee Designs Catching Fall Collection - Cider and Caramel Apple papers, Catching Fall Stickers, Brown Mesh Flower, Imaginisce i-rock (small & medium brad daddies), Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists - Charcoal, Brick, Tattered Leather.

 

A few close-ups:

As I mentioned I didn't have a lot to work with but I think I stretched it pretty far. Would love to get my hands on more complete collections. I'll be petitioning it at my LSS's for sure!

I made a sketch based on my layout in case anyone wants to play with it!

To complete the layout, I did the following steps:

• Misted with 3 different colors of Glimmer Mist - Charcoal, Brick, Tattered Leather. To make the circle rings I sprayed the caps of the mists and then placed them down on the paper. I love the look it gave.
• I cut random sized strips of paper and wove them together, using both sides of the paper. I included a strip of ribbon in there as well to give it a little something, something.
• After the weaving, I placed a sentiments sticker in the mix to replace where I would had originally planned to put my title. I also placed the big, mesh flower on the layout.
• I added some strips to the upper right, along with a journal block and another sentiments sticker. I placed a medium sized brad made with my i-top and a little fussy cut flower.
• I loved the banners that came with the sticker sheet but I knew a banner wanted to stretch the concept of the banner, plus I knew a traditional banner would not be appropriate for this layout so I placed an odd amount (5) in the upper left to complete my triangle.
• I added another brad and fussy cut flower to the layout and then I used glossy accents and crackle accents on all 4 of them. It's interesting how the crackle gloss turned the color of the paper from brick red to auburn. Those two accents were from the black with red flowers paper. I kept them because the color turned out to match so well.
• Lastly, I stitched in various placed over the layout.
• Oh and of course, I journaled :)

I really love how this layout turned out and I hope you do too!

Life is a Garden...Dig it!

I conquered a fear this week...my fear of mini albums. I can't tell you how many mini albums I have started and not finished. Well this time was different.

For 4 days, over on the Imaginisce blog, we are doing an i-rock Intensive blog hop. It's a new hop each day with new chances to win an i-rock Bundle of Goodies each day!  Today we are doing a feature called Bling'n the Mini.  If you came from the Rhonda's blog or straight from the Imaginisce blog, welcome! If you are one of my lovely followers, then jump on over to the Imaginisce blog and check out what a couple of the other ladies did with their mini album projects, which is what is the feature for today.

I used the new Berrylicious line. It's too adorable and has such a great Spring/Summer feel to it! I also used this little flower chipboard album that I got at Michael's for $1 a couple of years ago. I stocked up on them so I'm sure you'll be seeing more minis from me now!

The cover:

If you look closely you might see that I used real dirt on the cover by applying crackle accents to the photo corners and then pressing it down in the dirt in our garden.

I used a ton of the die-cuts from this line. They are perfect for minis!

I love the little fruit people on this paper. I blinged their eyes to make them pop a bit on the page.

To make the bee trail below I used an i-rock stencil kit. I love how it turned out and it was sooooo easy!

I used some of the Imaginisce Fashion and Cupcake flowers. I misted a white one with Glimmer Mist in Brick to match it to the hearts in the paper. I love how the mesh flowers resemble a honeycomb. To make the hexagon, I cut a circle, then I folded it in half and cut the sides, then I folded it the opposite way and cut the sides. This helped keep it all evenly spaced.

I love these little die cuts in the pics above and below! In the pic below, I added some green bling to the black photo mat and gave the peach some blue blingy eyes - love the little sparkle in her eyes!

I fussy cut these citrus fruits, blinged them out and adhered them as a border for my photo mat.

This was fun - I cut a circle and then hand cut the scallops for the photo mat. Thankfully it's not perfect because that's the look I was going for!

Here's the inside back cover. If I keep this album for myself I think I might move the strawberry brad that I made with the i-top and make a brad using a photo.

Supplies: Imaginisce Berrylicious collection: Summer Stripe, Sweet Summer Garden, Cherry Limeade, Berry Patch, Sunshine Seeds, Just Peachy Papers, Die-cuts, Chipboard Stickers; Fashion Flowers, Cupcake Flowers, i-rock and lots of Hot Rocks; i-top medium brads.

So I hope you liked the little tour through my mini. I really had a ton of fun creating it and I see quite a few more of these in my future!!

Wanna win that i-rock Bundle of Goodies? Follow my blog, tell me what you think of my mini (be honest) and since I was your last stop on the hop today, head back over to the Imaginisce blog and let us know what you thought of our projects! A winner will be announced within a few days!

Good Luck!

30 something

Click HERE to go to my post for The Studio Blog Hop.

Or, check out the new challenge that is up at The Studio. It goes perfectly with something that has been on my mind since I turned 39 in January.

The challenge is to Scrap your age! Scrap a few things about yourself and what it's like to be you at that age.

I decided that I wanted to make this layout about my 30's in general because I've got a lot to be grateful for. I went into my 30's ready for a fresh, new start and I ended up with a great hubby, 2 beautiful girls, a great step-son and a new job that holds a lot of possibilities for me and my family. So even though I just told you that I am 39, I chose to use a picture taken in November, hence the reference to being 38. I think I might make this a yearly thing and do a retrospective layout about the previous year.
 
I used the new Scrapbook Circle Vintage Market kit. It is packed with some of the latest new releases. I have lots of good things planned for this kit! The "30" is from some stickers that SRM Stickers sent for a design team I am on. More to come on that soon.  I used Creative Scrappers sketch #145 for this layout.
 

Supplies: Scrapbook Circle "Vintage Market" kit - lilybee designs This & That Collection: Linens, Postcards, Brooch papers; Crate Paper Portrait Collection: Pearls; not in kit - SRM Stickers - We've Got Your Number; Fiskars, EK Success & Martha Stewart punches;  misc. ribbon, thread

Bright Sunshiny Day

I blogged a couple of days ago about joining Bryan on at least one trip to Orlando when he travels to his headquarters. My previous layout was of Rheagan climbing the jungle gym. Here's a few pics of Reese thoroughly enjoying herself on the swing set at Lake Eola Park, near our hotel.

I used this week's sketch from Sketchy Thursdays for this layout.

Supplies: American Crafts Hello Sunshine Collection - Spree, Dandy Papers, Remarks Phrases & Journaling Stick Book; Imaginisce i-rock and Glam Rocks

Don't judge me for adding glam rocks under the clouds. I know it was a bright sunshiny day as evident in the pics  and mini title but I couldn't resist adding the glam for the effect. They were just too perfect. I also love that I was able to layer the butterfly from the sticker book on a blue & white flower sticker also from the sticker book and they lined up perfectly to make antennae.

Make sure to play along with this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch for your chance to win a prize from WeScrap Kits.

Life is a Circus Card

It's hard to believe that we are starting month 3 of 2011 but it's true, which means a new challenge over at Imaginisce. The March Monthly Challenge is a card challenge!!!  We were asked to use:

• Three different patterned papers - I used the banners, diamonds and circus animals pattern paper from the Animal Crackers line.
• Three different embellishments - I used a altered chipboard frame, Life is a Circus Snag 'em Stamp, Roly Rosies flowers and a fussy cut elephant
• Three different colors - Well I used numerous colors for the papers and flowers but I colored the chocolate embossed stamp with 3 specific colors - watermelon, juniper and orange.
• Use the following card sketch

Hop on over to the Imaginisce blog to see some of the amazing cards some of the other design team stars created. You have all month to play along with this challenge for a chance to win a scrumptious prize from Imaginisce!

My Girl

I knew we were in trouble after we bought Reese her first pair of shoes. She absolutely LOVES shoes, like every girl should. She loves them so much that she tries on everyone's shoes that are lying around and she's even been known to take shoes off of someone while they are wearing them. She's also been spotted making a scene because I would only buy 1 of the 3 pairs of shoes she tried on a the store, more than once. This is all before the age of 2. Yes, I'm in trouble.

Anywho, this Sunday's challenge at The Studio is to use frames in your layout. I am using sketch #42 from Sketchabilities. I instantly thought of these pics of Reese playing with her 1st pair of shoes shortly after her 1st birthday.

Supplies: Inspired to Scrap January 2011 Kit - Bella Blvd Lovey Dovey Collection: Circle of Love, Bear Hugs, Love is in the Air Papers, Alpha Bits stickers; Not included in kit - Melody Ross Small Frames Chip Art; Imaginisce d-stress tool; homeade mist using Ranger Mini Misters

I journaled on the back because I had so much to say about this. I love this paper collection from Bella Blvd, specifically the grid paper that I used as my background. The little sentiments sprinkled here and there are so sweet. After framing up the photos I wanted to do something to highlight a couple of those sentiments and the smaller pieces of chipboard frames that came in the pack were PERFECT for this. I covered 2 with coordinating paper and then crackled plain chipboard with Glossy Accents. It's quite obvious that I framed some of the photos but I also framed them all within the sentiments.

The sketch (added 2/28/11):

I hope you will play along with the challenge at The Studio and Sketchabilities. Make sure to check out what the rest of the design team did as well.

Daisy Pinning Ceremony

I've been holding on to these pics of my little Daisy Scout at her pinning ceremony and today's new Sketchy Thursdays sketch was perfect for it. I used a cute little K&Company Girl Scout paper pack and Daisy stickers from Joanns for this.

Make sure to check out what the other design team gals did with the sketch. We'd love to see you play along for a chance to win a fabulous giveaway from Storyboard Kits.

The NEW Imaginisce newsletter debuts today!! Sign uhttp://www.imaginisce.com/Newsletter.aspxp to get the latest product news & inspiration delivered to your Inbox. You can also view the first newsletter by clicking HERE.

ME & My Shadow

Can I just tell you how cute my little baby girl is??? She and I were waiting for her sister and daddy to ride Goofy's Barnstormer ride at Disney World last December and there was this cute little house/play area. She was walking all around and checking things out and I was just snapping pics of her being cute. I honestly can't remember registering in my mind that she was doing what she was doing.  It wasn't until earlier this week when I was looking at some other pics of her at Disney  at this same locale that I realized she was making hand puppets and playing with her shadow.  These pictures became instantly priceless and were perfect for this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch. I used the January kit from Scrapbook Circle, which has the perfect paper combos for what I had planned. Check out how darling she is.

Supplies: Scrapbook Circle January kit - Fancy Pants Love Birds Collection: Strips, Circle of Love, Sending My Love, LB Element; Glitz Love Nest Demask; misc. embellishments. Non-Kit Items: Bazzill Basics Caribbean Breeze; Girls' Paperie on holiday labels; Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Alphas; American Craft Thickers - Sprinkles & Vera Vinyl Letter Stickers

I had a hard time with the title because I wanted it to say Me and My Shadow. Then I wanted it to say Minnie and her shadow but it doesn't quite have the same ring as Me & My Shadow so I combined the two by using a large M and E and squeezing "inni" between the two. Then came the delimna of using "my" or "her". I ultimately went with "my" since the primary focus of the squeezed up "MinniE" reads like "ME" from a distance. I like my decision...what would you have done?

Make sure to check out what the other design team girls did with this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch and play along for your chance to win a yummy package from Pink Ninja Addicts or for your chance to become the Sketchy Thursdays FAVE!

LOVE NOTES

I'm soooo excited to post my first design team challenge layout for The Studio.  I love their Sunday challenges and this one did not dissapoint.  I usually shy away from color challenges but after doing this one I realize I have been missing out.  I combined this with the sketch #40 over at Sketchabilities and I used the Scrapbook Circle February kit, Happy Days. 

Since this is supposed to be a LOVE themed layout I choose to focus on two people that I never scrap about. I ALWAYS focus on the kids so it was nice to dedicate a layout to just me & the hubby. I think the pictures show how happy we are, which worked out perfectly for me to journal a private "LOVE NOTE" on the back.

Supplies: Scrapbook Circle February Happy Days Kit; October Afternoon Party Line, Pink Paislee Sweetness Love Letters, Basic Grey Hopscotch Kissing Tag, Imaginisce i-rock

Want to play along with the color challenge? Head on over to The Studio.

Want to blog hop this weekend? Check my post below for your chance to win a kit from Scrapbook Circle or a chance to win a $10 store credit!!!

Need some inspiration? Sketchabilities' sketches that are sure to get your mojo moving plus, Karan's offering a chance to win a yummy prize over there too. And she's having a design team call.

Reading is a HOOT

January is proving to be a very busy month, between almost daily blog posts, scrappin nights with friends, changing career, a birthday tucked in and a trip to CHA. Wow! To de-stress from it all I have been crafting away 'til the wee hours of the morning, which leads into this week's Sketchy Thursdays GDT reveal.  I feel so lucky to be guest designing for them. ;)

Supplies: Adorn it Pink Owl Dots, Pink Owls All Around, Pink Pop, Paper Studio ribbon, Imaginisce i-top, October Afternoon Mini Market Alphas, Girls' Paperie On Market Journal sticker; Thickers Tiara letter stickers.

This LO is of my oldest daughter many years ago. I journaled on the back of the layout, which reads, "Rheagan, you sure do love to read and you seem to have a passion for it even at 2 1/2 years old. On this particular day, you gathered all your furry friends and "read" them Dr. Seuss' ABC book. Much love, Mommy"

Now, head on over to Sketchy Thursdays to see the sketch I used for this layout. You'll want to play along this week for your chance to win the awesome giveaway.

Make a Wish - Sketchy Thursdays December Guest Designer

OMG, I am soooo excited to be the Guest Designer for Sketchy Thursdays this month!  You are going to love, LoVe, LOVE the  sketches they have coming up! So, let's kick the month off with this amazing sketch and my take on it.  Make sure to check out the rest of the design team creations AND play along this week.  You could win a $20 gift certificate to the Paper Maniac store!!!

Supplies: Imaginisce Birthday Bash - Wish Big Paper, It's a Party Paper, Surprise Paper; Flags Paper Ribbons, It's My Birthday Chipboard Stickers; misc ribbon

I just love this Imaginisce paper I found.  It screamed "fussy cuts" and doodling!  The banner is part of the paper and then I colored it in to match the pattern in the "Happy Birthday" above it.  I cut the ballons out individually and then put them in a bundle of 7.  I think my favorite part are the 2 flowers I made out of the flags paper ribbon.

 

Now head on over to Sketchy Thursdays and give them some LOVE.  Tell them Heather sent ya!

Who Wore Them Best?

The grandparents came to celebrate Rheagan's 7th birthday so we all went out to eat at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  The wait staff came out and placed a huge sombrero and these groovy glasses on her and sang a very off-tune version of Happy Birthday.  After the song, we took turns sporting the green glasses from the 80's and I of course captured the silliness. 

I saw this sketch challenge over on Sketchy Thursdays for the December Guest Designer and I thought I'd give it a try with the intention of NOT submitting it but after working SOO dang hard on this layout, I decided to go ahead and enter the contest.  It's harder than it looks to get those pictures JUST the right size in JUST the right place for the wheel I made with cut-outs in JUST the right places.  I kept the rest of the layout somewhat clean and simple as I thought the wheel was quite a bit in itself. Oh and there was a twist to this sketch...in addition to making a layout using this sketch, you needed to use at least 5 pictures AND give them a little bit of sparkle (glitter, foil, etc). I used 8 photos (4 on top and 4 on bottom) and the sparkle was on the alphas and the swirlydoos on the spinning wheel.  I hope you like this and if chosen as a finalist I will indeed be asking you for votes. ;)  The sketch and my layout:



Supplies: Jillibean Soup Atomic Soup: Cup of Equations patterned paper and die cuts; My Mind's Eye Shabby Dots paper; Thickers Alphas - Niki Riki Glitter letter stickers & Delight foam letter stickers; Tattered Angels Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist; Glossy Accents misc. buttons and ribbon.

Yes, the wheel actually spins, see the pics below.

The handmade flower with clear button

Thanks for looking!

Heather

My Heart Melts for Those Baby Blues

I was checking out My Paper Treehouse again this week and found this challenge to include something your heart desires AND she included a sketch from my girl Shawn at Nuts About Sketches so I had to make a layout.  I chose to focus on Reese's gorgeous blue eyes and how my heart melts every time I see them.  I did a bit of fussy cutting and manipulating of ribbon and lace to make the flowers.  You have to look closely because it's a little hard to see in the photo but I also fussy cut two of the scallop flower circles from the blue paper and applied them to the back of the clear buttons and placed them on 2 of the large red cutouts.  I also used glossy accents on each of the red flowers in the paper on top and then added a couple of teeny tiny red bling to a couple of the red flowers to make them stand out just a bit more.  Oh and I only had a little bit of blue lace and it wouldn't fit around the entire ribbon flower so I cut it in half and pieced it together to make the flower.  There's actually 4 cuts of lace pieced together but you can't tell. I did the same thing with the cream ribbon for the bootom right flower.  How's that for extending and not wasting supplies?

 Supplies: October Afternoon - Thrift Shop One of a Kind, Complete Set & Near Mint; October Afternoon Mini Market Stickers (tiny alphas); CTMH Ink & Bling; Glossy Accents; Misc. ribbon & lace

Adorable You

Check out the first challenge over at Crop Suey, with the new owner and new Design Team. Mia challenged us to use at least 3 out of the following 5 items on our scrappy project/layout/card.

Here's the list of items and comments on how I incorporated 4 out of 5 of them in the layout below:

• White cardstock - it's there under all that mist.
• Buttons - I used square buttons as photo corners on some of the photos.
• Stamp - I used the reverse image of 3 stamps to create the journal areas.  Basically I determined the size of the stamp, journaled and doodled in the area before stamping, flipped the acrylic stamp over  so I could stamp using the back of it, inked it with Versamark, and added clear embossing powder.  I wanted to show the white underneath and use it for journaling but also to resist the misting.
• Ink/mist/paint - I inked the edges of the paper and misted the white cardstock.  I used Tattered Leather and Pink Bubblegum mist. I normally don't mist THIS much but I was going for that stamp embossing/mists resist effect.
• Distressing - not included on my layout unless you consider the inked edges.

Here's the corresponding sketch I created for this layout.  I love using sketches created by others so I thought I'd create a sketch for this layout.  Please let me know if you use it and link me to your layout.  I'd love to see your creations based on this sketch.

Check out what the rest of the Design Team did and be sure to play along with this challenge for a chance to be eligible to win 30 (yes, 30) 3' lengths of ribbon from May Arts, our November Crop Suey sponsor! You can see pics of the ribbon on the Crop Suey blog. You have until midnight EST on November 20th to submit your creation!

Oh and last but not least come back next week for the Hippity Hop Blog Hop.  6 challenge blogs have teamed together for a few days of fun and prizes.  You don't want to miss this!

Straight to the Top Layout & Sketchabilities Goodness

Sketchabilities is celebrating it's 1st Birthday and with that we are having a month long celebration!!!!!  It starts with this fantastic new sketch (and my layout reveal), Sponsors, Guest Designers and lots of prizes! First, check out my layout for the birthday sketch and then read below to see the line up for this month.

Straight to the Top - Rheagan LOVES to climb the rock walls at our gym (we all do).  She mastered a few of them while she was there for summer camp.  I found this adorable "Pennants" paper by The Girl's Paperie, fussy cut a few of them out and then "strung" them up.  I love that it was a 12x12 paper full of various pennants and I know I will get lots of use out of that one sheet of paper.  Next, I fussy cut out and sporadically scattered large and small circles to try to give it a rock wall effect.  I strategically placed the large circles and buttons but for the smaller circles, I basically dropped them on the paper (with a little guidance) and placed them where they landed.

 Supplies: The Girl's Paperie: "Pennants" and "Travel Tickling" (both sides), TPC Studio "Bad to the Bone", BasicGrey Kioshi Azami, Fancy Pants Designs "Brother", Close to My Heart Liquid Glass

New Sketch & Designer Reveals Line-up:

• Sept. 7 (that's today): Birthday Sketch, Design Team reveal and Guest Designer - Patti McCarthy
• Sept 10: Guest Designer - Sarah Buck
• Sept 13: Guest Designer - Luzma Bruna
• Sept 15: Sketchabilities Design Team Blog Hop and Guest Designer - Irene Tan
• Sept 16: Guest Designer - Char Dobson
• Sept 19: Guest Designer - Kristie larsen
• Sept 21: Guest Designer - Amy Kilgore
• Sept 23: Guest Designer - Jenny Chesnick 
• Sept 30: Guest Designer - Amelia Kahlik

Karan also has some great sponsors lined up so make sure to check the Sketchabilities blog on the days posted above to see how to participate.

Last but not least, check my blog on the 15th to participate in the blog hop.  Most of the Sketchabilities DT will be participating AND I will have another fantabulous giveaway.  All I'll ask is that you become a follower of my blog and post the photo and a link to my blog giveaway on your blog by the deadline. Of course I'll need you to post a link to your blog post to verify you qualify for the random drawing. It'll be that easy and the giveaway will be worth the winner's effort. Soooo, see you back here on the 15th when I'll reveal the RAK.  I think you'll love it!

All Ears & Crossing Fingers

Both of my DT reveals fall on the same day this week. 

Reveal #1: Sketchabilities - All Ears. After a long day at Magic Kindom at Disney World, Rheagan was worn out but she was still in great spirits as we headed out of the park. She was proudly showing off her "big ears" but you can tell through her forced smile that she was tired. She's still as cute as can be though.

My 2nd reveal is actually my last reveal for Nuts About Sketches. :( I did not try out for a 2nd term but I really enjoyed working with Shawn and her sketches.

Reveal #2 xx crossing fingers xx
This layout was to much fun. I doodled the border along the edge freestyle. I wanted the outer blue border to look like watercoloring so I watered down some re-inker and then painted it on several times to get some color variance. Then I fussy cut the butterflies in coordinating paper. The journaling is hidden behind the red photo section. The big red flower at the bottom right is actually what pulls the journaling out (see below). What is really hard to see here is ALL.THE.STICKLES. that I applied to this layout. I stickled: the edge of each butterfly, all the dots and lines and circles within the butterflies, the edges of the brackets, the edges of the layout, the big red flower, and the doodled loops on the layout and journaling tag. I am sure I forgot something that got hit by the stickle bug ;)