My Last Reveal for Let's Scrap

My term has come to end over at Let's Scrap.  You'll see a bunch of new faces starting November 1st!  Isn't that great - it's always fun to see new artwork!!  Here is the sketch for the week:

I chose to do one simple page using the right side of the layout:

Had I done anything more, I think it would have taken away from the awesome-ness and beauty of the photos.  Sometimes simply scrapbooking is just enough.  The paper is TPC Studios and the images are from The Cutting Cafe.

New Sketch at Let's Scrap

Here is the new sketch over at Let's Scrap.  Don't you think it's a fun one?!  Hop on over there and give it a try.  Cheri always creates such nice sketches!

I wanted to enter the challenge at Echo Park.  I love this new company and their fun papers!  They provided the haunted house image, and the challenge was to use the element on a page along with their Happy Halloween paper.  I had the perfect pictures of Shane from Halloween 1991.  That year was known as the Halloween Blizzard dropping 28.4 inches of snow!  We bundled Shane up and put his costume on over the winter clothes and took him to a few houses in the neighborhood.  He's could hardly walk because he was so bundled, but at just 2 years old, he has a blast! The bats were fussy cut from EP paper.  I used my Slice card - Holiday Words - for "trick or treat."

Let's Scrap Reveal!

(I have posted many cards already, so be sure to scroll down and see what else I've been up to!)

Are you ready for another week at Let's Scrap?  Here's the sketch for the week:

I am so excited to tell you about the sponsor this week because it is my dear friend, Karen Pedersen of Close To My Heart.  If you ahve not been there, be sure to click on the link and visit Karen's blog.  She is a fabulous artist and will provide you with tons of inspiration!!  Karen has generously offered a great prize from the new Idea Book.  It is the Workshop on the Go Hooligans kit valued at $29.95!

Here is my take using the left side of the layout:

This is a picture of my mother-in-law when she was a very little girl.  I do love working with old photos!!

Items used: TPC paper; Bo Bunny ribbon and trim (rosettes); Thickers letters; Imaginisce hot rocks

Let's Scrap Reveal Day - It's DeLovely!

Time for a new sketch from Cheri at Let's Scrap.  It's a 2-page layout, but always feel free to do just one of the pages when you participate.  This week the sponsor is Cookbookin' and they have a fabulous prize for you!

I had won a Cosmo Cricket DeLovely kit from Queen Scraps a couple of months ago.  I am always so thankful to win something that I may not purchase on my own.  I am a warm color scrapper, so I was really excited to work with these pinks and greens but I needed the right pictures.  My sister wore pink at her 25th anniversary party, so I knew right away when I saw her what paper I would use to scrapbook the event.  LOL - do you plan your pages as your taking pictures?  What a wonderful (and goofy) hobby this is!

Items used: Cosmo Crisket De Lovely paper, chipboard; vellum; gems

Let's Scrap Reveal Day!

Another great sketch form Cheri at Let's Scrap! 

I actually did a 2-pager this week.  I had the perfect pictures for it, and I know my sister's been waiting for these fabulous pictures of her son and grandson to be scrapped!  I took the picture in a 2-page format, so if you'd like to see it closer just click on the photo.

These pictures are far too wonderful!  I wanted to use all the elements in Cheri's design and yet keep it simple enough so that the photos are center stage.  I like the way this one turned out!

Come back on Friday because I am going to share a challenge for the week for Let's Scrap!

Items used: Bo Bunny Learning Curve and Block Party; Martha Stewart Double Loops Punch Around the Page; Spellbinders Circles and Scalloped Circles; Slice Design Card Just Chillin'

It's Reveal Day at Let's Scrap!

This week at Let's Scrap, we have a card sketch for you.  I simply love this sketch because it is so versatile!

And here is my example for you:

I sure do love Webster's Pages, and I pulled out some of their paper for this challenge.  The Brave Girl stamp set by Melody Ross/Unity is perfect for this paper.  I chalked my brave girl's dress, wings, and hair.  I have found this to be my preferred method of coloring.  It is so subtle and soft-looking.  Once that was done, I applied glossy accents to the hair, wings, dress, and butterflies.  If you'd like to see a closer look, just click on the picture.  The scalloped circle was cut with my circle and scalloped circle nestabilities.  Those lovely gems are from Imaginisce and set with my i-Rock tool.  Have you used that tool yet? I think I would be quite content to just put gems on everything all day long - LOL!  It's so fun and easy!

Why not play along for your chance to win the Starstruck stamp set from Verve Stamps?  Hop on over to Let's Scrap to see a picture of the set and to post your entry!

Let's Scrap Reveal Day!

It's Wednesday and a new sketch over at the Let's Scrap community!!  Here is the sketch that Cheri designed for this week:

I have used the right side of the layout making it more masculine:

I had these pictures from a storm we had this summer where we lost part of our willows.  I wish I could angle on a layout so that I could have done that 4th picture that way.  I fear that the "straight line" scrapper in me would rip the layout apart at a future date.  You all know that about me anyway, though - LOL!!  Check out the main page over at Let's Scrap and see what the other design team members did with this layout.  Gorgeous!!  Play along for the chance to win the weekly goodies!!

Items used:  Bo Bunny Roughin' It, Paradise, and U Bug Me collections; CTMH swirl clip and edge anchors; ribbon from stash (and I wish I could remember where I got it because I love that printing on the twill!)

Let's Scrap also has a monthly challenge using a Julie Bonner sketch.  If you play along, you have a chance to win a huge Jillibean Soup package!!  You will find this sketch on the Let's Scrap main page.

Cards for Friday

I haven't made cards in awhile, so last night when I was watching a movie, I put a couple together.  I haven't look to see if they will fit in any challenges (where does the time go?), so it was purely for the fun of it!

Cute paper, huh?  I bet there are lots of moms out there that wish school supplies were still this inexpensive!!  I used October Afternoon Report Card paper for this card. "AEIOU" is cut from a piece of paper and the card is a matching element.  Everything else is CTMH.

I have been wanting to make a card with this stamp set for a long time.  Both the spools and the sentiment are from Unity.  I fussy cut the spools and wrapped black hemp around them.  The kraft paper is Bazzill, and the printed paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Material girl.  I punched the bottom of the kraft piece with the Fiskars threading water punch.  Oh! I just realized this one could go into the Let's Scrap August challenge using Cosmo Cricket. 

Hope you are looking forward to a great weekend.  It's State Fair time here in Minnesota.  Jerry and I will be going next week - such a fun place to go!!

Let's Scrap Reveal Day!

I want to show you an awesome sketch from Let's Scrap!  It's a brand new week, and it's time to play along!  The sponsor this week is Paper Threads - what a huge online store!!

Can you believe this sketch?  It could potentially hold 26 - 30 photos!  I wish I had seen this sketch when I had done some vacation layouts!!  However, if this sketch frightens you, I wanted to show you another way to use it.

I have used just the left layout and flipped it to suit my needs.  Instead of photos, I have used double matted pieces of the beautiful paper.  I fussy cut those ornaments from a sheet of paper and tucked them behind the photo.  This picture is special to me because it is the last picture I have of my whole family getting together.  It was a poor quality picture in the first place, but when I blew it up, it was even worse.  In this partcular case, I don't even care.  I know if I showed my mother this page, she would love it.

Items used: Fancy Pants paper and tag; Basic Grey Wassail stickers, Wal-Mart ribbon

One more thing - today is our 20th Anniversary!  Who knew that 20 years could go so fast - or be so wonderful!  We have truly loved being married to each other, and if possible, I think we are happier today than we've ever been!!  Tonight we are going out to dinner and taking Shane with us.  What a wonderful anniversary celebration it will be!!

Let's Scrap Reveal Day!

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for a new sketch at Let's Scrap. This week we are working with a card sketch:

Here is what I came with. I used the beautiful Webster's Pages paper:

Other items used: CTMH TLC stamp set and New England Ivy buttons; May Arts ribbon

Would you like to know what you are playing for this week? The prize this week is sponsored by Visual Designs. Visual Designs by Chris is a online store with a very active forum. She and several other designers create for all types of digital cutter machines. You can find a large variety of titles and die cuts in the store. Chris is giving away 2 Memberships her Quarterly membership club (QMC) Each Membership is worth $10. (She is also willing to send out a paper prize to anyone who does not own a digital cutter)
I am anxious to see what you do with this sketch!!

Let's Scrap Reveal Day!

It's time to bring you a new sketch from Cheri and Let's Scrap!  Did you get to play along last week.  If you did, weren't those banners fun?!  The only way you have a chance to win is to play!  This week's sponsor is Queen Scraps.  They have some of the nicest kits!!  Now on to the sketch.  This one has room for so many photos - I love it!!

I have the left page of the layout to show you:

That bobber in the tree does not belong to my husband, but some other unlucky fisherman!  I don't think it's even necessary to tell you that, but as the wife of a serious fisherman, I feel obligated - LOL!  Other than the pewter brads and little bit of hemp I used, everything on this layout is Adornit.  I am having a blast with those papers!!  These are from the Rumble and Four Wheelin' collections.  The title was cut with my Slice Basics 1 card.

Now head on over to Let's Scrap and play along!

New Sketch at Let's Scrap!

I am so excited to be starting my venture with Let's Scrap this month!  If you nose around this Ning community, you will find wonderfully talented and truly kind women!  I don't even think I've told Cheri (the founder of Let's Scrap) this, but I chose to join in a few months ago because she's a MN girl!  LOL!  When she chose me for the DT, I did the happy dance, and I have loved getting to know everyone!

New sketches come out every Wednesday, and here is the sketch by Cheri for this week:

You have seen my results for this sketch a while back, but I am going to show you again:

The prize this week (yes, there are weekly prizes!) is a $25 gift certificate to Memorable Seasons.  What a great online store!  Give it a go, and see what you can come up with!

Ei Ei O

Old McDonald had a farm...and these little boys visited it!  These are three of my great-nephews, and what adorable pictures!  My nieces post such wonderful pictures on FB that I can hardly wait to scrap them.  I've used Fancy Pants My Family paper for this page, and the sketch is from Cherie over at Sassy Lil Sketches:

Items used:  Fancy Pants My Family; CTMH rub-ons and ribbon; Slice Basics 1 card

The next layout I want to show you is a sketch from Cheri over at Let's Scrap.  Her sketches are amazing!  I am just showing you the left side.

I won a challenge over at Adornit, and they sent me whole big box of supplies - paper, stickers, clips - I was in shock over what I received!  I am so appreciative of all the fun things I get to make from their fun paper!!  (And if you like fabric, they just started making it!)  Anyway, I dug into that paper for this layout:

Items used:  Adornit paper; Slice Big Kids card (bear and phrases); CTMH brads, buttons; waxy flax, and tag ( I cut the banner and arrow free hand).  Yes that is Shane's hand in my mouth 20 years ago.  Sometimes we do the funniest things with our kids!!

Cards, Banners, a Recipe, and Some News!

I should warn you that this is one of my longer posts!  And for the Sketches in Thyme reveal, scroll on down to the next post - it's fun sketch and I've used Bo Bunny Jazmyne.

Okay, I got carried away with banners yesterday.  I bought the new Hero Arts banner stamp, and I just love it!  It's so cute.  I think all you banner-lovers will agree!

My first card is for the weekly challenge at Let's Scrap.  I love the card sketch:

Along with the stamp, I have used: CTMH paper, button, swirl clip, and flowers; Chocolate Zing embossing powder; Think Pink Slice card

My next card is for the July 14th Sassy Lil' Sketches challenge. (Side note: My first design reveal for SLS will be on August 21!) At first when I saw the sketch, I didn't know what to do with it, so it took me some time to come up with a card.  It's a great sketch, and it challenged me (you know I love that!).

However, when I pulled out my Bo Bunny Peacock Lane paper, it all came together for me.  I also used a little May Arts ribbon, a Unity sentiment, and that lovely Hero Arts banner stamp.

Th third card is for two challenges over at Sketches 4 All.  Dannette had a card sketch challenge and Stacy wanted us to use monochromatic blues and bling. 

For this card I used: Hero Arts banner stamp; Unity sentiment and flower stamps; CTMH White Daisy and Dutch Blue Textured CS (one side of the Dutch Blue is a matching light blue - one of the reasons I love CTMH's textured paper!) and Dutch Blue and white embossing powder; May Arts ribbon; Little Yellow Bicycle gems

All right, my last card is for the Heart2Heart challenges.  I just love the challenges that these ladies present, and you know that I still have a big heart for CTMH!  The challenge this week is to incorporate a recipe.  Easy!  People are always asking me for this recipe, so I made a card to have on hand.  For this card I used all CTMH.

Quiche:

Foolproof Crust - 1/2 c. butter; 1 c. flour; 1/4 tsp salt

Mix these ingredients and pat into a 9" pie plate.  Prick generously and bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn heat down to 375 degrees.

Filling - 1 c. shredded swiss; 4 eggs; 1-1/2 c. milk

Variations: green onion; mushrooms;  green pepper; spinach; broccoli; bacon; shrimp; sausage, crab

Spread cheese and one or two variations into the crust.  Lightly beat eggs and milk.  Pour into shell over other ingredients.  bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until set.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

(This is our traditional Christmas brunch.  My husband and son love it!  It is also good cold, so if you make it early, it will still be awesome!)

OK, we made it through the cards, banners, and recipe.  Now I have some news!! I have been chosen to be on the Let's Scrap Design Team!  I am so excited to be working on this fabulous community!  If you haven't been there yet, be sure to stop by.  Everyone is so incredible and the challenges are so much fun!!  You'll start seeing my work there the very first week of August.  Yippee!!

Delight

When I saw this photo of my nephew and his little boy, I couldn't wait to scrap it!  You will have to click on the layout to see their perfect faces looking over Lake Superior.  Truly a delight!  Over at Let's Scrap, challenge #59 is to scrap a photo where the face tells a story.  I think this picture does just that perfectly!

I've used Lily Bee paper and rub-ons for this layout.  Isn't it wonderful paper for the summer months?  Because I used my Fiskars border punch this LO fits into the Frosted Designs challenge.  I used my Slice Fall/Back to School card to cut the sun and clouds.  The letter stickers are CTMH.

I must confess that I truly enjoyed working on this clean and simple page!

Farmer's Market

I have been hoping to find a reason to use the new Petal Pushers paper from Bo Bunny.  You know, I am just now getting to use all of their new papers and more will be coming after CHA!  I just love Bo Bunny, and I can't wait to see what they will be releasing!

Anyway, on to my layout.  We went to the Farmer's Market with Shane not too long ago.  The Minneapolis Farmer's Market is HUGE.  We had such a good time going through all the booths and getting fresh foods.  Shane wanted to buy some plants for the empty planters at his house, and I was all for that!  I love flowers and Shane grew up with flowers around him.  He went right to the "sunshine-colored" annuals.  I started taking pictures of him, and he didn't even realize it.  I love that!

For this 2-page layout, I used a sketch from the very talented Cheri over at Let's Scrap. 

Along with the Petal Pushers paper, I used the matching stickers and flowers.  The other elements I used are:  Bo Bunny Jazmyne gems, May Arts ribbon, Bo Bunny Alissa letter stickers, CTMH gems, buttons, and arrow.

Be sure to give a click on the picture if you'd like to see the layout in more detail!

I am off ot work shortly.  It's a treat this weekend for me to be hosting the Scrap Mania.  I love that time I spend with customers showing them new product (the Imaginisce I-Rock tool is amazing!), helping them pick out papers, and just generally getting to know all these wonderful people better.  I had a blast last night, and I anticipate the same kind of night tonight!  I hope you are all enjoying the weekend!

Outdoor Layouts - Blog Award

Jerry and Chanel went fishing this morning, so I am spending the day in my craft room.  It's kind of humid and gray outside, so I think this is the perfect day to get some paper crafting done!

I've used all Echo Papers today.  I received these as free goodies, and I am really impressed with the versatility of this line.  It could literally be used for anything or anybody.  I LOVE that!  The first LO I want to show is a sketch from Sassy Lil Sketches.  Play along during the month for a chance to win the monthly prize!

I left this sketch pretty true to it's form choosing to use only a few colors and not many embellishments.  The colors really make the pictures stand out!

The next sketch is from Let's Scrap.  Did you know that if you play along on this site, you have a chance every week to win a prize?  Such lovely, complimentary women over at Let's Scrap!

I LOVED this sketch because I could get so many pictures on these two pages.  Again, this is Echo Park.  I lvoe the papers and embellishments for this line!

Here are the pages singly:

And finally, I want to tell you about a Blog Award I received!

My wonderful and dear friend, Kim bestowed this honor on me!  This was so sweet of you, Kim!!  You know I am sending this right back to you.  You inspire me through your artwork, and I love that I have gotten to know you so well just through reading your blog!  (Blog world is a great place!)

This award comes with a set of rules...

1) Thank the person who gave it to you 2) Tell seven things about yourself 3) Pass the award on to five bloggers whom you think are fantastic..

I am passing this award on to Irena, Dawn, Diana, Laurel, Debbie, Susan, Jamie, and Barb.  Okay, so I went over five, but these women really inspire me!

Now to tell seven things about myself:

1. I am a terrible typist.  I am fast enough, but there are usually some letters mixed up, and I just don't find the need to correct them.  (If you've been reading me long enough, you alreadly know this!)
2. I am pretty darn honest.  In my younger years that was much to my detriment, but now I think it's a great quality.  Along the same lines, my biggest pet peeve is lying.  Gracious, the truth may seem hard, but in the end, it's always the easiest.
3. I don't like pants.  If you were to come to my house, 99% of the time I would be in a dress or skirt.
4. I love going to wine tastings.  I don't know that is tasting the wine so much as it is the atmsophere.  Wine tastings always leave me remembering our day in Tuscany.
5. In 6th grade, my teacher told me I was a horrible artist.  I still remember how I felt and I did not even try anything artistic for years.  I scrapped my first pages when Shane was just a very little boy, but I didn't like them.  It wasn't until a few years ago that I understood that I am not a horrible artist.  Perhaps that's why I encourage individuality in all the classes I teach.  Everyone's artwork is a reflection of who they are, and that makes it all good.
6. I listen to all types of music.  I only steer away from music with angry lyrics.
7. I miss all 4 of my sisters almost every day.  I don't live near any of them, but they are a part of me.

Now, I must get back to crafting.  There are so many fun challenges sitting on my desk!  I am going to catch up on readng blogs this evening while watching tv.  I can't wait to see what you've all been up to!!

Home of the Free

I hope you are all having a wonderful 4th of July!  Here's a very moving song that reminds me of how blessed we are in this country:  There She Stands

We had our 4th of July celebration yesterday, and I am glad because it has been cloudy and rainy today.  We had a grand time out in the boat and took it up the Mississippi River.  Oh how fun!  Loads of sun, lots of laugh - especially on the way back down the river when we all got drenched from the waves several times over!!  I used a sketch from Let's Scrap to capture some of the memories.  My layout also fit Sharon's Recipe Challenge and Christy's Technique Challenge over at sketches4all and the Frosted Designs challenge.

I kept with the red, white, and blue theme of the layout and used red, white, and blue papers:

The patterned paper is Reminisce and the cardstock is CTMH.  The ribbon, brads, and waxy flax is also CTMH.  The buttons are from Dress it Up, and I used Slice cards (Basics 1 and Holiday Words) to cut the stars and phrase.

Toddler Fun

I have been working on a layout today, and I still don't know if I am happy with it.  I love the pictures, but I am just not crazy about something in the layout.  If I knew what it was, I would fix it!! ;)  These are pictures from nearly 20 years ago, and I didn't have the luxury of digital prints back then.  I am just so happy to have these pictures and to have put them to another set of legacy pages!  What you have in this post are simple pages - and that's okay, too!

I based my layout on the Let's Scrap sketch for the week.  Such great sketches at this site! I think this is a fabulous place to find inspiration and sketches - amazing work at Let's Scrap!  I also noticed while I was working on it that it will work for the color challenge for Frosted Designs.

I have used Tinkerin' paper from CTMH.  I purchased this paper knowing that I didn't like it so much, but that it would be great for little boy pages. I buy paper that is suitable for my pictures.  I love that paper I don't necessarily like challenges me and helps me grow.  After nearly two decades of paper crafting, that is important!  I've used the Level 1 kit, so all the stickers are included.  I added some Making Memories Giggle Kids dots, CTMH buttons, and I put glossy accents over the word "fun" to make it pop.

I have got some news that I am busting at the seams to tell you, but I can't just yet!  Look for that annoucement on Sunday!!