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!

  .

My Scraps & More NSD *BLOG HOP*

Hello and welcome to the My Scraps & More National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop! Each of the 6 designers has used one of the items in the images below in a project. 

Hop along to each blog to see how they used the product, then leave a comment for each DT member. One random winner will be chosen from one of the DT's blogs to win each of the items that the design team used! Comments close on Sunday, May 4th at midnight and the winner will be posted on the My Scraps & More blog on Monday, May 5th. Your kit will include:

2 Jillibean Soup Placements
October Afternoon All Boy 6x8 paper pack
Jillibean Soup Wooden Nickles
Fancy Pants Nautical envelopes & pockets
Simple Stories DIY kraft labels
Fancy Pants Artist Edition Chalk Tape

Also, be sure to check out and LIKE our Facebook page for a chance to win ANOTHER prize!

www.facebook.com/myscrapsandmore

Here is the hop order:

Audrey Yeager
Tammi Bennett
Tracy Rhodes
Wendi Robinson
Lisa Moen
Missy Whidden

*********

I am so excited to share how I used the Jillibean Soup Wooden Nickles, which you can find HERE in the My Scraps & More store!  I also used today's sketch from the My Scraps & More Sketch Blog!

We went to the circus a few weeks ago, and it was a first for both my kiddos.  My littlest one would NOT go near the clowns!  This dog (who was a mascot for something...I can't remember) was sitting next to the clowns, and Kyler just LOVED him....but that was a close as we got to the clowns!

And here is today's sketch from the sketch blog:

The circles on the sketch were perfect inspiration for me to use the Wooden Nickles.  I started by picking some papers that went with the colors of my photo and the nickles.  I chose to stick to a black and white background to really make the colors pop.  I layered some of the papers behind my photo and machine stitched with black thread.  I used a plain white tag and added some faux stitching around the edge and added some more detailed journaling behind my photo.

I laid out the nickles and decided that I needed some more circles, so I punch some from grey paper, again, to make the colors stand out.  Then I dug into my stash and used some of the vellum die cuts from Studio Calico Printshop....they had similar colors to what I was looking for.  The big blue heart and the camera are both from these die cuts.

Finally, I added a few more circular elements including tags from Elle's Studio and a brad from Simple Stories, plus some enamel dots from Doodlebug Designs.

Hope you enjoy the blog hop and have a wonderful National Scrapbook Day!

Stay scrappy my friends!

Scrap Your Stash BLOG HOP *Practical Scrappers*

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers Scrap Your Stash Blog Hop!  You should have arrived here from Jennifer Haggerty's Blog! A whole bunch of us have gotten together to tackle our mounds and piles of scrap goodness that has been left to the wayside and is collecting dust as new products continually find their way to the front of our scrap desks!

I, personally, have been trying to scrap my stash more and trying NOT to buy as much (but is is SO hard!).  So I try to incorporate a little something from my stash here and there.

But for today, I did an entire page devoted to using my older stash.  It's not new news that I love working with Crate Paper products, so I used up some papers and embellishments from Acorn Ave, The Pier, and Close Knit.

I started by using a stencil and some gesso on the background.  It was a little too white, so I tried wiping it off, and it left a lighter cover, and I was happy with that!  Then I splattered some mists and water colors here and there.

For my page design, I was inspired by a sketch at Skissedilla, and used strips of paper, distressed them, and then stitched them down with a mix of straight and zig zag stitches. Then I used a few other patterns to mat my photos.

The rest was just clustering of embellishments: stickers, chipboard, brads, labels.....all tucked here and there around my photo.

I spent an HOUR looking for the wagon chipboard piece that I KNEW I had seen somewhere before.  And just FYI, if you ever need a wagon, there is one in the Crate Paper Close Knit die cuts (NOT the one on my page), and this chipboard one from Crate Paper Acorn Ave. (and that collection also has one printed on a card and a wood veneer one, too!).

If you would like to see the ENTIRE blog hop list, please go to the Practical Scrappers Blog!

Now you are headed over to Lee-Anne Thornton's Blog!

Stay scrappy my friends!

What's In Your Basket?

Last Easter, we spent the day at Grandma & Grandpa's and the Easter Bunny hid some eggs and baskets there!  Of course the thing the kids were most interested in in their baskets were the candy filled plastic eggs.  And of course you have to compare to make sure you got the same thing as your sibling.

I used the Dear Lizzy Day Dreamer collection for this page and it is based on a sketch by Melissa Elsner.  You can see on my title letters above that I tried to create an ombre effect by using a stamp pad on the white letters, and stamped darker from right to left.

I used an egg cut file from the Silhouette store to create my eggs from white paper and vellum.  Since the flower paper was so busy, I decided to keep the eggs white.

Finally, to ground the photo more, I stitched a large circle in the background.  And for embellies, I fussy cut out some of the flowers and leaves from that floral print paper...yes, it took a while!


Hope you had a wonderful Easter!!!

Stay scrappy my friends!

Top Dog Dies and Scrapbook Circle *BLOG HOP*

Welcome to the Top Dog Dies & Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop! Today we’re showing off projects featuring exclusive dies from Top Dog Dies and the new Bucket List kit from Scrapbook Circle.

At Scrapbook Circle ( http://shop.scrapbookcircle.com/) we are passionate about preserving our family memories. We love sharing daily inspiration and connecting with others who also love to create. We have been creating monthly scrapbook kits for over seven years. Each of our kits includes a custom printable and we have now expanded our shop to included coordinating digital files. We create exclusive items for each monthly kit. We strive to provide you with fresh products every month that inspire you to create.

Scrapbook Circle Special Promotion:  Use code scrapbook20 to receive 20% off your order today though May 31, 2014.

Top Dog Dies (http://www.topdogdies.com/) is a new online store that offers their own brand of wafer-thin and steel-rule dies, along with dies from brands you already know and trust, including Little B, My Favorite Things, Lawn Fawn, Taylored Expressions, Savvy Stamps and Cheery Lynn Designs. Top Dog Dies is also the leading U.S. retailer for Tattered Lace (http://www.topdogdies.com/brands/tattered-lace-dies.html)  a new line of intricate dies designed by British designer Stephanie Weightman.

Top Dog Dies is also offering a special promotion during the hop. Spend $100 on anything in the store and get 15% off when you use code SCHOP15, or spend $60 and get 10% off when you use code SCHOP10.


Scrapbook Circle is giving away two $50 Prize Packs of exclusive wafer-thin dies:

Top Dog Dies is giving away a Bucket List Kit 

Winners will be chosen from comments left on on the Design Team Members blogs or the Top Dog Die and Scrapbook Circle blog - be sure to leave some love by Sunday, April 27th when the hop ends.

I got to work with the Mason Jar die, and was excited because Mason Jars seem to be a hot trend right now!  In my entryway, I have a set of frames that I like to decorate for the season or holidays.  I thought a Spring themed jar would look pretty in one of the frames that is backed with burlap.

I began by cutting the jar shape from a piece of vellum and the "newsprint" paper from Fancy Pants in the Scrapbook Circle "Bucket List" kit. I put some gold heart between the two layers and then cut a slit in the top  vellum layer to add my flower stems into.  Then I glued around the edges.

My stems I cut with my Silhouette Cameo and used some paper from the Bucket List kit (except for the green paper from my stash).

The die come with the mason jar shape, a lid die, and 2 labels.  I just used the jar and one of the labels because my jar was "open" to hold the flowers. For the label, I used another paper from the Bucket List kit and cut the delicate 'flowers" title on my cameo from dark brown paper.  I did some faux stitching around the edges.  And that's it!

Its time for you to continue hopping to the next person, Diana Waite!

In case you get lost along the way below is an entire hop list: 

Top Dog Dies 

Scrapbook Circle 

Amy Wanford 

Amy Tsuruta 

Giovana Smith 

Katie Brooks 

Stacey Schafer 

Nicole Picadura 

Renee Robbins 

Karen Letchworth 

Wendy Sue Anderson

Sara Zenger

Heather Leopard

Diana Fisher

Adrienne Alvis

Audrey Yeager <--- You are here!

Diana Waite

Tessa Buys

Leslie Ashe

Thank you and stay scrappy my friends!

Clownin'!

We went to the circus a few weeks ago and I haven't been in YEARS!  The kids had a blast!  I was excited for them to see clowns for the first time.  When we walked in, there were lots of groups of clowns you could get your photo taken with.  Kyler was SO scared, he would NOT go near them.  And it took a lot of coaxing for me to get Charlotte to sit down to take a photo!

I used todays sketch from the My Scraps & More sketch blog, and it also happens to be the daily sketch for our Sketchathon on the message board.

I had a really hard time with this page at first because of all the colors in the photo.  So I decided to do mostly black and white with bits of color here and there.

I started by using some gelattos and water on the background, and then splattering with grey and black ink.

I used some of the thin washi tape from the Amy Tan Plus One collection for the border under the photo, and then embellished with some stickers and brads.

Hope you can play along with the sketch this week!

Stay scrappy my friends!