Remember me?

Once upon a time, I scrapbooked and blogged every single week.  This was on top of working full time, taking care of my family, and juggling crazy schedules with two active boys.  Something had to give. I stepped away from my blog for over a year, since I was struggling to find time to even be crafty.  I completed a few projects here and there, but I just couldn't find time to blog about everything.  The weekly sketch challenges at ScrapbookSteals.com were just the thing to get me back on track.  I dusted off my scrapbook supplies and actually completed every layout in the most recent "Lilac" series.  The folks at Scrapbook Steals are kind enough to give away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky person who completed all 10 layouts, so that was a good motivator for me.  After all, being able to buy new scrappy stuff always makes me want to get crafty!

Here are my 10 layouts from this series:

catching up

I took advantage of a relaxing camping weekend to catch up on the weekly challenges for Scrapbook Steals.  I love the sketches that guest designer Brenda Smith has provided for the month of July, but I was simply too busy to play along some weeks.  This week I completed the sketch #5 challenge and came up with this layout:

This is Brenda's sketch that inspired it all:

And, since I was in a scrappy mood and had more free time than usual, I went back and completed layouts for weeks 2 and 4 that I had previously missed.  Here are the "better late than never" layouts that bring me back up to date with the series:

blue & gold

After missing last week's challenge (Pansy #2), I was determined not to let this week's challenge get away from me.  I hope to go back and catch up on last week's too, since I really love the sketch.  This is the layout I came up with, based off of Brenda's Pansy #3 sketch for Scrapbook Steals:

The blue background paper is from Echo Park and the diamond patterned paper is by Authentique.  I used some Project Life cards from the Cinnamon edition and die cut the title using Lawn Fawn alpha dies.

As I was blogging, I realized I never posted the layout I made for the Pansy #1 layout, even though I managed to get that one completed in time.  I guess it's better late than never, so here's the layout I made using Brenda's inspiring sketch:

I used papers and embellishments from the Poppy collection by Little Yellow Bicycle for this layout.  For the title and journaling, I experimented with sketch pens and used the Silhouette Cameo.  It was much easier to use a pretty font than trying to keep my own handwriting evenly spaced.

Delightful Daisy

I finished another 10 week series of sketch challenges, thanks to Scrapbook Steals.  I love the extra motivation I get each week, because I know I will get to spend at least a little time in my crafty space just to make sure I keep up with the challenges.  Here are my 10 layouts from this series:

the Firepit

This week is the final sketch of the Daisy series at Scrapbook Steals.  I like the grid like feeling of Melodee's sketch, but I wanted to include more photos.  Here's what I came up with:

I had photos that were waiting to be scrapped for almost 3 years now, so it was a great layout to help get me caught up. I used papers from the Take a Hike collection by Simple Stories.

 And even though I ran out of time to complete sketch #9 last week, I went back and got caught up so that I could finish the entire series.  Here's my version of last week's #9 sketch:

For this layout, I used pieces of patterned paper from Echo Park's camping mini-kit and from their Happy Camper line.

My Family

I almost ran out of time to complete this week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals.  After a full week of work, a kid at football camp, attending a beautiful beach wedding, celebrating Father's Day, and keeping up with yard and housework, I nearly didn't get time to complete this week's sketch challenge.  I decided to grab an old photo from 2 years ago and set out to beat the deadline.  Here's what I came up with:

I used Simple Stories' Homespun collection for this layout, which came together rather quickly thanks to the 4x6 and 2x3 page elements.  This is the sketch by Melodee Cloud that inspired it all:

Wrestling 2009

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals took me back to some photos that are over 4 years old and still waiting to be scrapped.  I used to be a chronological scrapper, but I grew tired of that and started playing along with sketch challenges and using whatever photos best fit the sketch.  Which means one week I scrap photos taken just a few days ago, and another week I pull photos from years and years ago.  These photos were so old that I had to ask my son which grade he was in.  With some careful recollection and examining the different shirts they have each year, we finally figured out it was 2009.  Better late than never!

Fast forward 3.5 years, and the tiny 2nd grader pictured above is now almost a 7th grader who is taller than me!  For this layout, I used mostly plain cardstock, yellow stripe paper from Echo Park, a little washi tape, some Thickers, and a few old stickers from Bo Bunny and Glitz design.  Here's the original sketch by Melodee Cloud that inspired my layout: