Magical Christmas Card

Sketchy Thursdays is teaming up with a new challenge site called Jingle Belles. I LOVE their concept - to make a new christmas card each & every week so that you can "take back December...one holiday card at a time!" What better way to not stress about cards at the most hectic time of the year and the bonus is that you can use up your scraps from last year's Christmas lines.

Sketchy Thursdays has brought back their Second Chance Challenges for this. One winner will be chosen on Sketchy Thursdays for a sponsored prize and one winner chosen on Jingle Belles for their sponsored prize so you have two chances to win but you must use the Sketchy Thursdays sketch and a CHRISTMAS theme in order to qualify for the prizes.

I used my scraps from the Echo Park line that I ran all over town looking for at Christmas time. I distressed the edges and stitched on the 2 paper strips before I glued them down so that the card recipient wouldn't see the stitching on the inside of the card. I fussy cut the holly and then used the Glossy Accents crackle to give it a veiny leafy look. I stamped "Magical" in green and then sprinkled Walnut Ink embossing crystals immediately over the ink and heat embossed it to give it some luster. I didn't use versamark because I only wanted an itsy bitsy bit of embossing powder to stick and to see the green through it. Lastly, I used silver pearl embossing powder to create edges around the card.

Make sure to visit Sketchy Thursdays and Jingle Belles to see what our design teams did with this sketch!

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.

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Daddy's Baby Girl

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I have been dying to play with these Sassafrass papers that I have had but there was always something else I needed to get to first.  I have several "older", meaning so 2010, papers that I LOVE and haven't used yet and I am promising myself that I will use them this year, old and all. I'm just calling it fashionable late.

Anyhoo, I snapped these photos of little Reese and her daddy. She loves to sit and rock with him and they are usually watching football or some Discovery channel program together. She's usually all snuggled up in his lap but this time she was wide awake and wiggly. It was just too cute because every time he'd change positions with his legs she would mimic him.

For this layout I used Sketch #41 from Sketchabilities.

OMG, this was a fussy cutter's paradise. Why can't I just leave well enough alone?  So many intricate little cuts around the stitching and lace and everything else.  I added as much dimension as I could with the chipboard and pop dots but the layout needed something more to complete it. I finally realized that it needed edging. I could have done what I love to do and doodled around it but I was staring at some embossing powders and I remembered a layout my friend, Audrey, recently posted on her blog and I had to try it. Instead of stamping with versa-mark, I pulled out my liquid glue and made random patterns. Then I sprinkled the olive green and walnut stain embossing powder over it and heat embossed it.  It completed the layout perfectly!

Make sure to head over to Sketchabilities and check out what the other Design Team gals did with this sketch. You might also find that there's a prize up for grabs!!!

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!

Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop Winner

The winner of the $10 Scrapbook Circle store credit for my stop on the blog hop is ...

Wait, before I tell you, keep in mind that if you didn't win here on my blog, you might still have a chance on another DT member's blog.

Now, for the winner...

Oh before I forget, make sure to check the Scrapbook Circle blog to see if you are the lucky winner of your very own Happy Days kit.  A complete list of winners will be posted there.

Okay, now for the winner...

Jodi

Jodi said...Great color combo on your LO! Can't wait to see what else you've done with this kit.

Congrats, Jodi!!! Make sure to check in at Scrapbok Circle to see how to claim your $10 store credit.



Daddy's Little Girl

I created this sweet little layout in my hotel room while on business travel for my new job this past week. It's a little more simple than usual but that's okay every now and again.

Imaginisce offered up an optional challenge for us design team girls to create a LOVE themed layout. I pulled out the few items I had brought with me on the trip and chose to focus on the father/daughter kind of LOVE. How cute are these two?

I used the Imaginisce Garden Party line.  Make sure to check out what some of the other DT girls did and find out how you could win your very own fabulous collection from one of our popular Imaginisce lines!

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.

My Girl & Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop

I am soo excited to be a part of the February Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop! I'm guessing you just arrived from LG's blog so WELCOME!  If you are just learning about the hop here on my blog please start from the beginning by visiting the Scrapbook Circle blog.

As you hop from blog to blog you'll get a chance to "meet" each new design team member and see some of the projects we are doing with the February kit Happy Days. To make the hop even more exciting you will have a chance to win some fun prizes along the way! All you have to do is visit the Scrapbook Circle blog and leave a comment over there for a chance to win a February kit AND then hop around to each design team members blogs for a chance to win a $10 Scrapbook Circle store credit on each blog.

Here's a sneak of the February kit and one of the many projects I have created with it. I used this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch for this layout.

 

Now, on to the hop...

Jennie Blaser START HERE

Nicole Nowosad

Rebecca Keppel

Lady Grace Belarmino

Heather Leopard YOU ARE HERE! Follow my blog and leave me a comment to be entered into my $10 Scrapbook Circle store credit giveaway!

Diane Payne

Elizabeth Carney

Tessa Buys 

Diana Fisher 

Diana Waite 

Lisa Andrews

I hope you enjoy the hop! This kit is filled with so much yummy scrappiness! Check out the Ideas Gallery for other work from the DT after doing the hop.

You have until 9 PM CST on Feb. 7 to leave your comments. Winners will be announced on the Scrapbook Circle blog on Feb. 8th. Good luck!!

A Walk to Remember

Wow, 2 posts in one day. If you missed my news this morning check out my 1st post from earlier today.

I am SOOO happy to announce that I was selected to be on the Scrapbook Circle Design Team for the next 6 months. I loved their kits so much that when my girlfriend, Audrey, told me about the DT call I sent my application right in. I got my first kit, Happy Days, about a week ago and OMG it is AMAZING.  We have got some great things lined up for the month of February and I don't want to give too much away but be on the lookout for some HOPPIN' good opportunities to get your hands on your very own kit.  Until then, I'm gonna kick off the 1st project of February with something we like to call One Item Wonder.

Do you ever get something and WONDER what you will do with that ONE ITEM?  I am here to show you today what you can do with the transparency that came in February's Happy Days kit.  I also created this layout for the February Crop Suey Challenge, which is to use 9 different types of items on a project.

The dreaded transparency (actually, I am really fond of these but I felt it needed dramatic effect). The one I was given to work with is the yellow framed one on the bottom left with red metallic graph lines inside.

And now my layout:

Supplies: Pink Paislee Sweetness Pretty Lace Paper, Glitz Hoopla Polka Paper, October Afternoon Modern Homemaker Cheery Pie Paper, transparency, Basic Grey paper labels, Staz-On, Cosmo Cricket Alphas, Ribbon

 So, check out how I did it and then head over to today's blog post at Scrapbook Circle to see what Diana W did with her transparency (and to leave some LOVE):

1. I took my x-acto knife and cut out the inside of the transparency to make a frame and adhered it to the photo to draw attention to the cute little kiddos.
2. I stamped a swirly image using black staz-on to the leftover transparency.
3. I cut out 4 scalloped circles.  The transparency is SUPER thick and my punch would not penetrate it so I hand cut them. It doesn't have to be perfect because of what you will do next.
4. I took my heat embosser to them and melted away.  They ended up curling up A LOT so while they were still warm I just kind of scrunched them in my hands. Disclaimer: use gloves to avoid heat injury.
5. I re-heated them if I didn't like the way they looked when cooled and it worked like a charm. Some of the transparency turned white, I guess where I applied the most heat and I really liked the effect.
6. Once I was happy with them I applied them to my layout - 1 as an accent on the middle right and the other 3 are stacked on top of each other on the bottom left. 

Here's a close-up of the stacked "flower":

How cool is that?  And did you pay attention to what my 9 items were? I used Pattern Paper, a Photo Corner, Journaling, faux Lace Borders, a Transparency, a Label, StazOn Ink, Ribbon, a Button, Flowers, Alphas. Okay, so maybe I used more than 9 :) Make sure to head over to Crop Suey starting on February 5th to learn more about the challenge and how you can enter for a chance to win the prize from our fabulous sponsor.

And what are you waiting for? Lisa still has a few of the February Happy Days kits left so get yours hands on one while you can. :)

Sketchy Thursdays News

Okay, I am so flippin' excited to share some WONDERFUL news.  You know how I was voted to be the December guest designer for Sketchy Thursdays and then they asked if I'd be interested in guest designing in January too?  Well I have absolutely LOVED my guest gig there and I guess they loved me too because they asked me to join their design team!!!! I didn't have to think too hard about decision. With that said, I don't like that one of their designers had to step down; her layouts were beautiful! I am happy to step in and play with Sketchy Thursdays for the next couple of months. Thanks Diana and Heidi for this opportunity. I can't wait to work with the amazing Sketchy Thursdays design team, including Julie who was just promoted to Social Director for Sketchy Thursdays :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):). Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wrapped up an amazing trip to my first ever CHA in sunny L.A. and I am about to head out to my first day at my new job at a small business (< 20 employees). The title on my business cards now reads "Vice President of Marketing" as well as "Account Director for HP". HP is the computer company I just left (>300,000 employees). Talk about a culture change. My new company is based out of L.A. so I'll be officing out of my home in the Houston suburbs. This is a tremendous opportunity for me and my family. So, wish me luck today!

Stay tuned because in a few minutes I will be posting my first LO as a desinger for Scrapbook Circle.