Scrapping Your Stash Monthly Blog Hop: 5 & Happy!

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers "Scrapping Our Stash" monthly blog hop!   On the last Friday of each month, a group of us share a project with older stash that we haven't used in a while.  Hop along the blog list below to see a ton of great projects making the "old", NEW again!

My daughter just turned 5 a few weeks ago and we threw a tea party for her and her friends!  The girls each got a hat that they decorated with feathers and flowers and they each got a tea cup and saucer to take home, too (thank you Salvation Army!).

For her invites, I found a tea cup card cut file (see more details below) and used some old Basic Grey "Sweet Threads" paper for pattern (these are at least 2-3 years old!).  As I was going through the papers, I realized how much I loved them, so I decided to bring them back for this page as well.

I was inspired by a quick little tutorial I saw at ScrapMuch? by Laura.  You simply cut a scalloped punched piece at the highest points instead of the valleys.  Anyways, I cut all these pieces out from lots of different patterns and created a "wreath" like pattern on the background.  Before I glued the papers down, I stitched concentric circles around the page, put the papers down, and stitched a circle around them, as well.  Then I outlined some of the punched shapes with a thin black pen to make them stand out a bit more.

There are a few mist splatters on the background and some chipboard pieces also from the Sweet Thread collection. You can also faintly see some polka dots that I lightly stamped with a black ink.

I wanted to make this page really look frilly, so I used some pearls (along with the frilly punch to create the wreath pieces), pink, and flowers.  What's more girly than that? :)

The #5 was cut with my Cameo and the "Happy" was a sticker from the collection, too!

Continue on the hop below to see MORE inspiring projects!

Practical Scrappers http://practicalscrappers.blogspot.com

Audrey http://audreysreflection.blogspot.com/  <-----YOU ARE HERE!

Wendy C www.stampingrules.com 

Erin http://girlpaperscissors.blogspot.com

Majken  http://chocoscrapaholic.blogspot.com/

Christine http://scrappingwithchristine.blogspot.com

Ruth  http://paperandmusings.wordpress.com/

Lee-Anne http://lee-annelovethejourney.blogspot.com

Bobbi http://vintagemusedesigns.blogspot.com/

Kerri http://kerrikr8tions.blogspot.com

Alison  http://alisondaydesigns.com/

Lisa http://www.snappinandscrappin.blogspot.com/

Cheryl http://patchesandscraps.blogspot.com

Laura http://scrapaddict4life.blogspot.com/

Deborah http://scrappinthelittlethings.blogspot.com/

Suzanna  http://lifestrivialities.typepad.com/

Stay scrappy my friends!

-Audrey

Almost 5!

If you have followed my blog for a long time, you may remember that every year around Charlotte's Birthday I do an "Almost _" layout, lifting the design of the page every year.  So here is this year's installment of an "Almost _" layout: Almost 5!

I was inspired by a color combo at Color Me Scrappy.  The green of my daughters shirt was perfect for this combo.  I don't usually use such a bold color for background, but I loved this ombre paper from Glitz "Finnley" and the shade of green was a great match!

I was browsing through some cut files in the Silhouette store and loved this one (cut out of white cardstock). I backed some of the open spaces with patterned paper (Crate Paper Styleboard) and gold vellum (MME Necessities).  Then I stitched around the circle with pink thread.

I fussy cut a LOT of flowers from some MME "Now & Then Mildred" paper, and used some other die cut and vellum flowers (Crate Paper MH Styleboard).

A few other stickers and vellum bits here and there on the page.

Just for fun, here are the other 4 layouts from the past years!

Thanks for stopping by!  Stay Scrappy My Friends!

Bright Beginnings!

Charlotte had her preschool graduation a few weeks ago.  Where does the time go?  She LOVED her school and her teachers.  Part of the logo for their school is a sunburst, so when I saw the 6/8 sketch a Studio Calico, I was inspired to create a sunburst on my page.

And then I also saw the colors of the recent mood board at Scrap Around the World.  I thought the yellow and black would be perfect for this page!  The diagonal lines in the straws inspired me to use the yellow lined paper from the Crate Paper Boys Rule collection for my "sunburst".

I started by cutting random "rays" for the sunburst and then stitching them down on the page.  The I dug out a lot of black accents, including wood veneer stars that I inked black, and some die cuts and chipboard from Crate Paper Styleboard and more Boys rule.

Of course I had to add some black splatters and for a little bit of subtle color, I added a few light mint colored vellum stars from Boys Rule.

I am SOO happy I am coming out of my scrappy rut!  More to come this week!

Stay scrappy my friends!

Color challenges.....

I've been in a bit of a scrappy rut lately, but I'm beginning to pull myself out thanks to a few color challenges I've been scoping out.

I always checking out kreative koncepts for their color and sketch challenges.  When I saw the colors this month, I started pulling out some papers from the new Studio Calico South of Market and Crate Paper Open Road collections.

Charlotte love love LOVES her Boppy. She calls him her "favorite friend". The other day she told me  she loves him more than me, but just a teeny, tiny bit!

I actually had to measure the triangles to cut them so they'd fit right (I usually just eyeball my cuts and cut with scissors).  Then I splattered some ink on the background.  I added a piece of vellum behind the photo and some journaling cards from Open Road.  Some chipboard bits and a few fussy cut flowers and that's it!

Finally getting out of a rut and it feels great!

Stay scrappy my friends!

Scrapbook Circle Projects-May

Has it really been THAT long since I blogged?  Why look....yes it has!

May was a super crazy month.  I went to a crop May 3rd, and that day I got super sick (a day after my daughter got it). I had a fever for 4 days, and for the next 10 days, someone in my house was sick.  It was tough.

Then it was Charlotte's 5th birthday on the 16th.  And we had TWO parties...one for friends and one for family (more to come on that!).

THEN, I had a super big show as a vendor for My Scraps & More at a small trade show event.  It was a LOT of planning and set up, but VERY awesome exposure for the store....I was even interviewed for a news segment!

So I am going to try and play catch up a bit this month.  And let me start by sharing my layouts with the May kit, "High Five", from Scrapbook Circle.   The May kit is still available in the store HERE.

So here are my pages and a bit about them:

I am so tired of listening to kids CD's in the car, so I have been playing the radio a lot.  The kids LOVE Hey Brother by Avicii because they say "Hey brother" and "hey sister" to each other.

I used a quote from the song as a subtitle and wrote my journaling around the edge.  Behind my photos, I used a sheet of paper from Heidi Swapp (Rainbow Rounds) and cut them to make frames.

I scattered some transparencies, sequins, and brads around the page, along with a few paint splatters.

Next I did this page for a challenge prompt on the SBC page: use hearts in your design.

I started by simply cutting out hearts free hand from different patterned papers and them arranging them on the page. Then I stitched over each one with a horizontal stitch.

 Charlotte's favorite color is orange, so I had to incorporate that a bit behind the photo.  I balanced out the placement of the color with other dies cuts and the title.

This next page is based on a sketch from the My Scraps & More Sketch blog, using a grid design.

On the squares where there were no photos, I layered some paper and embellishments.  There were so many extras in this kit like stickers, transparencies, die cuts, metal clips, stamps, and more!  I use them all!  :)

When I saw the sticker that said "Joy", I knew exactly what my title was going to be!

Here I did some stitching over the chevron stamp, and then added some small brads from my stash for the jouraling sticker.

Lastly, I played around with my Silhouette for this one, and I love how it came out.  Not the best photo of me, but it was the only one I had on my actual birthday, so I decided to use it!

I started by printing the numbers through the Silhouette software and set it so that only the 3 and 8 would cut out while the rest of the numbers were just printed.  Then I backed the 3 and 8 with paper.

 I added only a few simple embellishments for some color and to help draw your eyes across the page because I thought the numbers were a big focus for the page and didn't want to add too much else.

I'll be back with more....hopefully a lot more, for June!

Stay scrappy my friends!

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