Monday Card Madness #49!

So very much NOT a card maker over here, but this was the little push I needed to make a card for a friend who may need a little boost in the near future.  I love Kristy Lee's sketch from www.scrapbooksteals.com for MCM #49.  Here's the sketch...

I am super happy that I actually used ONLY scraps for this card...even the main piece for the card was a scrap from the Cricut.  :)  I had a bit of a mishap with my inking on the blue polka-dotted scrap, but oh well...lol!  I tried to cover it.  ;) None of the paper is really identifiable...the only thing I know for sure is that the pink ribbon is American Crafts, and the tiny bling added to the MS butterfly punch is I-Rock bling. Even the swirly bling was cut off from a larger swirl that I used on a different project.

Thanks for lookin'!  

Best Ever Hiding Place

I have had this collection in my posession for what seems like FOREVER!!!  I'm so excited to finally have found the perfect set of photos to scrap using WRMK Geo-Hectic.  It's a really cute collection, and when I was playing around with the colours of these photos in Picnik, I thought they looked a little retro (I'm sure our retro kitchen cabinets didn't hurt) and I think Geo-Hectic has a bit of a retro vibe to it...so it seemed like a perfect match!

I used Kristy Lee's sketch from www.scrapbooksteals.com (Topaz #5) for this layout...

Here's my layout!

In addition to some of the Geo-Hectic collection, I used some I-Rock bling, Thickers, Sassafras letters, twine (can't get enough) and my Ranger Espresso ink.  OH, and I JUST that day had gotten 7 rolls of washi tape in the mail that I had ordered from Etsy...you see a bit of that too.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about the washi tape in person, but I love it!  Just a little something to add!

Thanks for checking me out! ;)

Canmore 2011

I found this sketch (perfect for Joely's Canmore layout) through one of my crafty groups and I'm so glad I did!  I really love its simplicity, but it was not an easy sketch for me to execute...at all!  LOL!  I actually ended up completely tossing my first version...wasting a bunch of time and a bunch of I-Rock gems...lol!  Oh well, I'm so much happier with the way the second layout turned out!  I bought this Martha Stewart butterfly punch last week from Michael's (for 25% off) and I've been waiting for the perfect, simple layout to use it on!  This was the one!  Glad it only took a week to find!  I love these little butterflies!  Here's the sketch from the Sweet Peach Crop Shop blog (2nd August Sketch)...

Cute, right!?  This was my take on it...

Plain white card stock, no name ribbon, BG buttons, Sass lettering for the title, Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe paper (the strip down the right-hand side, the butterflies and the journaling tag), I-Rock gems and Sew Easy made this layout work for me!  I'm pleased with the results!

A Year At A Glance...

I did a layout similar to this one and I just love to see how much can change in a year when it comes to seeing their photos month-by-month all laid out on one page!!

I used a sketch by Kristy Lee at www.scrapbooksteals.com (Topaz #4) and with a little modification of photo placement, I managed to finish Owen's year at a glance layout!

Here's the sketch...

Here's my take...

I used Crate Paper's Toy Box collection, which I got from my awesome swap buddy in the summer swap box exchange!  Super cute collection...I love the old school retro feel of it.  Added some AC Thickers and a few brads, buttons and ribbon from my own collection and VOILA!  I pretty pleased with how it turned out, even though I feel as though I could have embellished a bit more...however, it was time to step away from this layout...LOL!  

What a cute boy!!!

I'm adding this in...because it's just too funny!  This is the layout I did for Joely's "Growing Like A Weed" frist year page...totally different sketch...very similar results...lol!

This is Kristy Lee's sketch for MWM #2...from July 2010!!!

And this is where I took it!

LOL...look familiar!  

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Truly.  One of my favourite photos ever.  This photo (4x6) completely captures the mischievous side of Owen...and I love it.

Another EXCELLENT sketch from Kristy Lee at www.scrapbooksteals.com.  This is Topaz 2...I can't believe I'm all caught up!  A new Topaz (4) was posted today though...so I'd better get on it.  Here's Topaz 2...

And my layout...

I definitely strayed from the sketch because I just recently discovered picnik.com...it's a photo editing site and I just can't get enough!!!  You will probably see MANY edited photos, collages, etc. in the days to come.

I used plain red card stock for the background and layered and embellished with Sassafras Monstrosity.  I really had fun doing this layout, but I found the loooooooooong title especially satisfying.  I really enjoyed mixing up the Thickers and Remarks to get the look I was going for.  

Thanks for peeking in!

Me Too, Me Too!

There was the most AWESOME guest sketcher this week on www.scrapbooksteals.com, Kristina MacKeen, and all I can say is WOW!  She totally rocked it, had a fantastic collection to work with, and I jumped on it!  Here's the sketch...

And here's where I took it...

I snagged my first-ever Sassafras box sale after some scrappy friends recommended it!  They had been super happy with their last pick up from Sass!  I also realized that I only had one collection from Sassafras (Monstrosity) and I didn't know why, because I really like them!  So, a friend picked it up yesterday from the border store I had it shipped to and I dug in as soon as it was here!!!

I used primarily Cherry Delicious, with my background page from Mix and Match.  The only items used on this layout that don't belong to Sass are the buttons (basic grey and Crate Paper), brads (Imaginisce - To Love and Cherish, and again, basic grey) and pink Thickers for the second half of the title.  Oh, and of course the journaling strips are just Recollections plain white card stock inked with Espresso pigment ink.

Kristina, LOVE this sketch...thank you!

Worm Rescue

There were HUNDREDS of worms on our driveway after a crazy rainstorm in the area.  When we got home from our walk, I told Joely that worms belong in the grass or garden so that they're safe and she made it her mission to return them there!  It was crazy how many worms there were!  CRAZY!  She went through her three stage process with EVERY worm (pick it up, show mom, throw it in the grass)...I bet she did this for over an hour...and that was with me helping her return the worms to the grass!

I didn't follow a sketch for this layout, but I should have waited because today's guest sketcher on www.scrapbooksteals.com (Kristina MacKeen) drew out a perfect one for these photos...time to look for some more photos to scrap!

I used a combination of American Crafts Backyard and Blue Skies collections for this layout.  I just love the bold colours and patterns in all the AC collections.  Definitely one of my favourites! A Fiskars punch helped with with the edging and the Sew Easy stitched my two layering pieces together.  I just picked up a bunch of Thickers from M's on sale last week and it didn't take long for them to make their debut!  I also added a little 'x' stitch over each letter to make it look like I had stitched them on...did it work?  heehee.  I ruched some ribbon at the bottom of my 5x7 to ground it a bit and used to buttons in my stash to dress up the wormy words.

That worm.  Oh, that worm.  I found some worm clip art and felt that this was the most appropriate wormy to add a bit of fun to the page.  It was a bit of a challenge to get him printed out in the right size, but there he is.  I went over the black lines to darken them up and then using a Versamark pen, shaded in the brown segments and added some brown/copper embossing powder.  I'm really pleased with how he turned out.  The perfect slimy embellishment for this wormy layout!