Sketchy Thursdays 3/18

I have been a slacker the past couple weeks for the Sketchy Thursday sketches, so I am glad to be back on track!  I love these sketches with smaller photos and lots of white space.

For this LO, I used some DCWV paper and sanded the heck out of it.  Then I misted it with a yellow glimmer mist, and sanded some areas again.

I dove into my stash pile again and pulled out some scraps, and also used some embellies that were in my scrap embellie pile, too!

What's been going on...

I think I'm in a scrapping slump.  That is...I have all these things in my head but I can't get them out right, so I procrastinate instead.  I just cleaned my desk three times.  Ho hum....

This Sat. is the "All Star Roundup" at my LSS, and I will have my first attempt at a quick lesson to teach!  All the instructors come in and you do a 20 minute make n' take with a group of 6 people about your class that you are going to teach.  Then after 20 minutes you rotate to the next group.  All in all, you get to 30 people in 2 hours.  I am doing TWO 2 hour sessions, so I will have 60 people that I can try to convince to take my class!  I have been preparing my make n' takes for that, but I'm not quite done yet...it has to be simple and fast, so I think we are going to do lollipop flowers.

OK, so some recent things I have made:

At Ch{all}enge Masters, we had a one hour sketch contest on Saturday night which I hosted.  I bascially had people lift this LO that I created.  I made sure that I actaully completed it in less than 1 hour!  I think it took me 50 minutes.  I love this Studio Calico paper, and that one yellow flower on it, so I wanted to have a lot of it showing on my page.  I also used a piece of the Studio Calilco FabRips which I love, too!!

Also at Ch{all}enge Masters, the last set of challenges for the month were posted yesterday.  Last month, I took a poll to see what people like in a LO sketch.  I was nice and gave them a sketch based on what they asked for.  This month, I tried to do it completely opposite, and give them everything they DIDN'T ask for.  That included the following:

two page LO

MANY photos
symmetrical design
NO circles
White space....ummm...can't do this AND have a two pager, too, so I didn't do much white space!
Journaling strips? (I put a block instead, but you can use strips)
and a vertical title

We went to the most awesome museum in San Antonio on our trip a while back.  This man decorates toilet lids.  He has over 905...they are amazing....there wasn't a scrapbooking one, but there was a quilting one, a crocheting one, and one covered with buttons....OH and true to my March goal...I used scrap pieces of paper for this, too!

We did another "Lift Me Up" at Cocoa Daisy, basically where you get LO to lift, and then yours is passed on to the next person.  We have two teams compete, and this time I think it went through 8 people in about 6 or 7 days!  It was FAST! I am still scrapping Christmas photos, so I used one for this lift me up.

And last but not least, I TOTALLY forgot to post my March 15 challenge LO for Candy Shoppe Designs!!!  The challenge for this half of the month is to create a monochromatic green LO.  Green is my favorite color, and I use it all the time in my LO's.  BUT I had a real hard time with this!!!!  But I do like the way it came out, and again, I used my scraps!!  :)

I am working on a fun, spring-y, summer-y project that I can't wait to share!  It is simple, but I love it and I think Charlotte is going to, too!  :)

Happy Birthday Rebekah! BLOG HOP

I was so honored to be ask to be a part of Rebekah's Birthday Blog Hop!!!! This woman is SOOO organized I can't even begin to tell you! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBEKAH!

The hop began on her blog on Friday night.  There are over 30 people participing in the hop, and there are LOTS of prizes to be won and creativity to be seen!  If you start at her blog, she posts a little bit about each participant every couple hours.  You MUST go through and see all there is to see!  Hopefully, you just came here from Rosemary's blog.

I really wish I could have done more for this blog hop, but here is a LO that I completed. 

I am going to start teaching some scrapping classes soon at my LSS, and the American Crafts Botanique line is one of the lines that I am going to work with.  I really love this line, I think moreso than the Dear Lizzy line.  I wanted to make my LO simple enough to be replicated in a class, but still be true to my techniques.  I love misting and distressing. 

This was the first time I misted with my own "homemade" mist.  I used some Perfect Pearls and water in a MiniMister and sprayed!  I didn't use any ink in it because I wanted to copper glimmer to be subtle.  It is hard to tell in this photo, but these papers also have a copper-y sheen to them and they are just beautiful!

Well, I DO have a RAK to giveaway!  I am putting together a small kit of papers and embellies for one random commentor!  However, i can only ship to the US, but please don't let that stop you from commenting!  The winner of the RAK will recieve 5 papers and some embellies from one of these lines:

BoBunny: Jazmyne, Mamma-razzi, Sophie, or Paradise
American crafts: Dear Lizzy, Botanique, Abode, I Do, Letterbox
Graphic 45: Prpoer Gentleman, Le Romantique, or on the Boardwalk
LYB: Freshprint Clothesline


I will draw a name on Wednesday of this week, and that winner can let me know which papers they want. So be sure to stop back!

You are now off to visit one AWESOME ladies' blog: Tessa Buys.

I got a job! and some LO's.

Lasts Monday I has signed up for a crop at my local LSS (The Lonestar Scrapbook Company) since DH was going to be home.  I wanted to give him a chance to play Mr. Mom for a day!  :)  I brought one of my albums becuase I was going to inquire if they were hiring instructors.  When I arrived, there was a sign on the door that said "Instructors Needed".  Woo Hoo!  So I met the store owner and inquired about the position.  She said she was looking for someone to teach layout classes and asked if I had any work she could look at.  I showed her my album, and she basically asked when I wanted to start!!  I am very excited! 

Obviously I will work with products from the store, but I asked her if there were any lines in particular she wanted me to work with.  She said that she would love for me to work with the American Crafts lines, especially Dear Lizzy and Botanique.  I also picked up some of the I Do collection and Abode. 

Well this is VERY exciting because the store just won a contest from American Crafts and Elizabeth Kartchner is coming to the store to do a few classes!!  You can read about it here on the American Crafts Blog!  Oh yes, I will be getting my picture with her for sure!  :)

So I was working with the Abode line, which, at first really intimidated me.  I wouldn't normally choose these papers because they are VERY bright and I think they require the right subject matter, too.  I think they would make great papers for a mini album, though, about a new home, or perhaps some "new home" cards or something. Well, as Keith and I were making dinner the other night, it hit me how I could use them: I wanted to do a LO about all the Home Made things we make!  So here it is! This is going to be one of the LO's we complete in my first class!

OK, now for some other things!

Sketch Inspiration does a weekly sketch that goes up on Sundays, and last week they had a GREAT prize.  I didn't win, but I really do love this LO I made. Yes, I am still working on Christmas photos!  As I was decorating and hanging these snowflakes, Charlotte was just mesmerized by them.  I love this photo.

I also did this LO for the Sketch at the Pink Paislee Blog.  You had to use all PP products, and last year I had bought a warehouse cleareance box, so I had a lot of things in my stash. Although I have to say I really have used a lot of what I bought, so it was a good purchase.

I splattered some pink paint on the background, and the big circle is actually cut from a transparency. 
Charlotte loves the laundry basket.  She espeically loves socks and things with tags.  Now if I can get her to fold.......

February 2010-Project 12

I am just loving the Project 12 idea. I can't wait until the end of the year when I can look back through my album at all the things we did (and will do!) this year.

Becky's sketches are just great.  However, on both the Jan and Feb so far I have added some more pics because I have a LOT each month and it is so hard for me to choose just a few!

For this LO, I used the Magpie Club February kit that I won a while back at Sketchy Thursdays.  I loved all the little tidbits of goodies in this kit, and I wanted to use them on this page.

American Crafts Cards

The new American Crafts lines are just beautiful!  Of course everyone is talking about the Dear Lizzy line, but I just love Botanique, too.  The coppers in these papers is just beautiful, and it is hard to capture on the camera.  I think I might use these papers for some Mother's Day gifts.

Anyways, I made these cards using sketches by Lynn at Scrapdango.  BUT I also noticed that American Crafts was having a card contest on their blog, so I killed two birds with one stone for this one!!!

All the cards feature Botanique papers, and Bazzil CS.  The ty card sentiment is by Pebbles Inc., and the birthday sentiment is also American Crafts and has AC ribbon, too.

Sketchy Thursdays March 4th sketch

an this week FLEW by!  I am trying to get this one linked up in time!  I made this all with scraps from my scrap bin!  I went through my bin a bit and picked out some of my favorite papers.  I also went through my ribbon stash and my odds n' ends stash, too!  This was part of my goal this month...to use my stash, and so far so good!

This sketch ran away from me.  I wanted to use strips of paper for this, so I turned the sketch and added a journaling block to the side.  I love it when a sketch just takes its own direction!

I made this twisted tulle flower using fabric glue instead of regular adhesive and it came out much better than others I have done b/c it dried so fast!  Also, I crocheted the heart, too!  I haven't crocheted in years, but I saw this tutorial linked from another site and I LOVED it!  It is very easy!

Charlotte loves to lay in the cart and look at the ceiling of the store when we go shopping.  Ahh...I guess shopping makes me relaxed, too...

LO's this week

I feel like I actually had time to scrap this week. And most of the scrapping I did wasn't for deadlines or contest...it was for me...and that felt good!

This first LO I made for the "Lift Me Up" game at Cocoa Daisy. I did this a few weeks ago, but couldn't reveal until now. Basically, you are on a team of people, and the first person gets a LO that they have to lift, and then they pass their LO on to the next person.

This photo is of my Grandmother who I never really knew. She died when I was 3 of breast cancer. The photo is from 1952. Recently, I have been having my mom and dad send me some old photos of their childhood and such, and I have really enjoyed hearing their stories and doing pages of them.

This next LO I did using the March Scrapbook Kit Club kit. The kit has the Jillibean Soup corrugated alphas in it, and I wanted to try a little technique with the scraps! I took some of the scrap pieces and cut them up and pasted them onto a square piece of scrap cardstock. Then I got some paint and spread it on a piece of plastic from a product and used the cardboard as a "stamp" to do my background in yellow. I am really please with the way it came out.

Also, on this LO, the Bazzil "Just the Edge" strips in this kit were a dark green. I painted one of the strips an aqua color and let it dry. Then I sanded it to reveal the dark green dots underneath!


This next LO I did for a challenge at Scrapdango for their monthly DT challenges. I have been meaning to scrap these photos of Boo Boo and Charlotte for a long time. I think I took them in Oct. or Nov. Boo Boo just loves Charlotte, and she loves him. He is so patient with her, and lets her pull his ears and everything.

The challenge was to use Blue and Brown, Bling, Brads, Buttons, and Border, which I did!

I am finding that my style for two pagers is SOOO different than my single page LO's.  For some reason, they are much less complex, yet they seem to take me longer!  I don't feel as creative when I do a two pager.  I really want to play with doing 2 pagers more and try to experiment more and let loose a bit when I do them.

This LO below was for the Throwdown Contest at Memorable Seasons. It was simple: one piece of CS, 2 patterened papers, hand journaling, and some flowers. Oh and a jounraling spot. Why the heck was this so hard for me??? So I tried to make it "look" like there was more papers!!! The strips are actually one sheet of paper from the new Studio Calico release. I tore the end of each "strip" to make it look like it was a separate piece of paper! :)

OK, this LO I used a sketch from Sketch Inspirations. I love these photos. I loved the sketch. I loved teh background paper. I DON'T like this LO. I can't figure out why. Maybe it is perhaps the colors just are right together. But there is something about it that just doesn't sit well with me. Any constructive criticism would be helpful!! Maybe I shouldn't have misted the bottom left corner with red glimmer mist?? IDK... Anyway, I still love the pics!

And lastly, was a LO that I started over a month ago with the ScrapBook Kit Club February kit. I love this photo that I took, and I love the brown red and cream color combo. I made the one flower out of red CS...I just cut out hearts and wet them a bit, crumpled them and layered them. I tied the with a knot through the middle. I should have misted or added some ink for more depth.

I THINK I am off to a crop on Monday at my local LSS, so I am excited about that!!! Still debating on what to bring.  I have been thinking about bringing just scraps and forcing myself to use them.  But I think I am going to bring some old kits, too.  Also, I am NOT going to buy new products.  I do, however, need to buy some more pop dots and liquid adhesive, a new black pen, a new white pen, and, OK, I GUESS a few new things....I need some YELLOW glimmer mist....I have been dying for it, so hopefully they have it!

GCD Studios Giveaway!

You could win $50 worth of the Homespun Collection from GCD studios just by posting this blinkie on your blog!  You have to go leave a comment, too...check it out here...

I've been CROWNED!!!

HOLY COW!  I am so excited!  I have won the "Crowned" contest over at Scrapdango!!!  The contest was four weeks long.  Every week you had to do a LO following the specific criteria and there were also other games, contests, and challenges along the way that you could earn points for.  What makes this so speical for me is that all the entries were VOTED on, which really really flatters me.  The other contestants did some AMAZING work. 

There was actually a tie between myself and Leanne. (I can't find her blog link if she has one, or else I would have posted it here!).  So I get to be a Guest Designer for a month and work with one of their kits!!  WOO HOOO!!!

Here are the four LO's that I did for the contest, most of which I have posted before:

In other news...(I feel like a news anchor...)..  sweet sweet Tara at Magpie Club featured my LO on her blog and also gave me the "Sunshine Award" for blogs that make you happy!

Thank you so much Tara!!!  And now I have to pick three people whose blogs make me happy! You three have to pass it on to another 3!

Vanessa

Lynette

Diana

Thanks for inspiring me ladies!!!

Sketchy Thurs. 2/25

I loved the simiplicity of this sketch. 

This photo was taken last week while we did our little vacation through San Antonio and Fredericksburg, TX.  We went to a few wineries and this was outside one that used to be an old mill.  Keith took this photo, andI didn't realize until after I saw it on the computer what a great setting it was.  The journaling on the page talks about how Charlotte has been quite the traveler already during her 9 1/2 months, having visited 16 states already!

During our day in Fredericksburg, we did some shopping in the town which had tons of cute boutiques and stores.  I found this store that sold quilting fabrics along with lots of other things and they had a bin of fabric scraps.  I LOVED the fabrics in there a bought a pile.  One of them I used on this LO below.  All the flourishes on thig page I cut from the fabric.  Usually I treat fabric with stiffener, but this time I didn't, and I opted to sew it right onto the page.  I did hold it down with a small piece of double sided tape while I sewed.  The original pattern had small circles inbetween the flousihes, so I mimiced that with some brads.  When was the last time you used brads??????  I haven't in a long time, so I am glad that I got to used them!
Oh, and the pin on the page actually fell out of a kit bag and fell close to that placement, so I added it in!