So daring...

Hi everyone! Today, I'm sharing a sketch and layout that I made for Pages With Papertrey this month.

Here is the sketch that I designed:

And here's the layout I made with it:

I used My Mind's Eye patterned paper (background), chipboard & decorative brads, Pink Paislee patterned paper (for title and under photos) & word stamps) and Papertrey Ink pattened paper (soft stone polka dot), stamps (fabulous frames) & dies (fabulous frames).

The wooden "wow" word is Freckled Fawn and the yellow hemp twine is Lawn Fawn.

Here's a close up of my journliang. I also decided to use the diecuts from my title and adhered them along the bottom of the one piece of patterned paper. It's hard to see, but I stamped some words around the "daring":  "wild," "wow" & "stupendous."


If you make a layout using this sketch, please post a link to it either here on my blog in the comments or here on the PTI forum, so I can come and check it out!

Thanks for looking!

Mama Elephant January Stampede

Hi everyone! Today, I'm thrilled to be stampeding with Mama Elephant! (As winner of their Colour Challenge 01, I also won the opportunity to be their guest designer this month!)

A few things you should know about the Stampede....

The January stamps that the designers are showcasing are available in the Mama Elephant store now. Mama Elephant is giving away 3 gift certificates worth $20.00 each - just leave a comment here on my blog (& on the blogs of the other designers) to win. Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede & will be announced on the Mama Elephant blog on Monday, January 21st. AND, there will be a surprise giveaway on Mama Elephant's Facebook Page, so you'll want to stop by there as well! 

I decided to create a layout for the stampede using some stamps from the new Smitten stamp set. This set is well named, because I was totally smitten with it the first time I saw it, knowing it would be perfect for creating cards and layouts for/about my loved ones! The subject of today's layout is my daughter, Sage.

In addition to the Mama Elephant Smitten stamp set, I also used some My Mind's Eye patterned paper, washi tape and decorative brads. I cut my title out of white cardstock and MME patterned paper on my Silhouette Portrait.  The little "I ♥ this" is a Smitten stamp-- love that one!

I used four more stamps from this set on my layout, creating a grid in which to house each stamp:

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you're working your way through today's blog hop from the beginning, you should have arrived from Cheiron Brandon's blog. The next stop on this stampede is JJ Bolton. If you've just jumped into this stampede, don't worry! Just start at the Mama Elephant blog and you won't miss a thing!

Blog hop order:

Mama Elephant

Alice Wertz

Cheiron Brandon

Leigh Penner (you are here)

JJ Bolton

Mariana Grigsby

Lea Lawson

Pearl Lui

Savannah O'Gwynn

Betsy Veldman

Thanks for looking!

One more layout....

... & two more cards for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Repeats & Rainbows.

For my layout and my first card, I used this colour scheme...

I used some My Mind's Eye patterned paper and cut out my title using my Silhouette Portrait. For the Rainbows & Repeats challenge, I used my smallest PTI Notched flower die and coordinating stamp from PTI's Funky Florals. I heat embossed the middle of each flower with white embossing powder.

I added some leaves using my PTI Turning a New Leaf die and Embroidered Blooms stamp set. Here's a close up of this, along with my title and journaling:

And for my card, I used my PTI Chevron Stripes stamp set and my Rosie Posie stamps and dies. The sentiment is from Pretty Peonies.

And for my last card, I used this colour scheme:

I decided to use my Rosie Posie stamp set and dies again, but this time I paired them with my PTI Super Stripes stamp set and the sentiment is from Wreath for all Seasons.

Thanks for looking!

Some more rainbows & repeats

I jsut wanted to share some more cards that Sage & I made for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Repeats & Rainbows. We each chose a colour combo from Nichole's blog... I chose this one:

... and Sage chose this one:

And then we swapped. :)

So here's the card that Sage made with her colour combo and Star Prints stamp set:

I decided to use my Shutterbug Special stamp set for her colour combo and made this card:

The little polaroid diecut pulls out to reveal the birthday greeting:

And, for my colour combo, I used my PTI Pretty Peonies butterfly stamp and a sentiment from PTI's Communique Sentiments. I ended up adding a sixth butterfly to my card, in the form of a diecut:

And, after seeing my card, Sage decided to use the same stamps as I did and made this card:

Thanks so much for looking!

A few more substitutions

I created another coordinating layout and card for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Repeats & Rainbows. However, once again, I made a couple of substitutions.... okay, well, three of them.

I started with this colour combination:

But I swapped out Hibiscus Burst, Simply Chartreuse and Blueberry Sky for Autumn Rose, Melon Berry and Spring Moss.

Here's the layout I made, using some My Mind's Eye patterned paper (this is where I got my colours from):

For my rainbow and repeats, I chose the compass stamp from my PTI Road Trip set.

For my title, I stamped my cardstock with the map stamp in PTI's Road Trip and then cut it out with my Silhouette Portrait. And here's a close-up of my journaling:

And, for my card, using the same colour scheme and technique, I chose to use my PTI Pretty Peonies stamp set. It's hard to see, but I stamped over the flowers with PTI's Text Style I, in a light grey (A Muse Studio Pebble). I stamped my sentiment from Think Big Favourites #7.

I'm also entering this card for the Moxie Fab World Challenge to make your own background paper.

Thanks for looking!

Using leftovers

Yesterday, I was making a layout and used my Silhouette Portrait to cut out a word (look for that layout next week... along with some exciting news! Hee!) I noticed that I was left with a lovely negative image from the word and decided that it was too pretty to toss. So, I used it to make a another card for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Repeats & Rainbows.

Again, I chose my rainbow colour scheme based on the patterned paper I was using and discovered that this colour scheme worked perfectly.... as is this time!

I used My Mind's Eye patterned paper and PTI cardstock (stamper's select white). I stamped my rainbow colours with one of the stamps from my new Funky Floral stamp set.

I diecut the end of my "colour" panel with PTI's tag sale 5 and added a little zigzag stitching to finish is off, along with some MME enamel dots.

Thanks for looking!

A layout & coordinating card

I wanted to share a layout and a card that I made today.

Firstly, I was inspired by a January Quote challenge that was posted at Love is in the Details.

We were challenged to create a project using this photo as inspiration. I wasn't sure what I wanted to quote, personally, but as I was baking cookies this morning for my family, Even If by Kutless came on my playlist and I knew that these were the lyrics that I wanted to include in a layout. I decided to create some subway art on my cameo and this is what I came up with:

I wanted to also create this layout for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink. However, I chose my patterned paper first (I thought this large floral by Kaiser Kraft would be perfect for the subway art title). No  problem, I thought.... I'd just choose a colour scheme to match. Well, this turned out to be easier said than done, because each of Nichole's colour schemes included summer sunrise.... which wouldn't really suit the tone of my layout.

So, I ended up picking this colour scheme...

... but I substituted Canyon Clay for Summer Sunrise and Ocean Tides for Lemon Tart. (I hope this is okay!)

I pulled out my new Embroidered Blooms set by PTI and stamped some lovely leaves, to which I added some stamped buttons using PTI's Button Boutique stamps and dies. Here's a close-up of the buttons at the bottom of the page...

And the little "take note" (from PTI's On the Farm) was stamped on some PTI rustic cream cardstock diecut with a Half & Half die for my journaling. I ran the whole thing through my Big Shot with my PTI Woodgrain IP at an angle so it would all fit-- I really like how it turned out!

And, since I had a couple of trial runs with the stamping, I decided to make a card right away, too. This time, I used the same colour scheme, but I used a Lovely Layers die and stamp for my little flowers, to which I added some PTI buttons with PTI twine.

Thanks for looking!

2 layouts & 2 cards

I wanted to share two layouts and a card that I made this weekend, using this week's MIM: Chalkboard Technique.

I thought this technique would be perfect for scrapbooking my kids' back to school photos. I used Crate Paper patterned paper & American Crafts cardstock (12x12). I also used Papertrey Ink cardstock (ocean tides), stamps (outline alphabet, happy trails), buttons and twine.

Here's a close-up of my journaling:

For this next layout, I decided to use the first stamped chalkboard technique that I'd made while making this layout. I'd had the words stamped but hadn't been happy with the embossing, so I'd set it aside and started over. In retrospect, I decided the embossing was fine and put it to use on this layout, adding some stamps from PTI's modern woodmats.

The sentiments are a mix of PTI's We Go Together and Movers & Shakers sentiments. I also used some Crate Paper patterned paper & chipboard, Bazzill cardstock (12x12), a PTI die (tag sale #5) and American Crafts thickers.

And my journaling, which is totally true!

I decided to try one more card using this technique. I'd gotten the idea to use the little sledder from PTI's In the Meadow (which I got for Christmas!) and make a hill with a white pencil crayon. I also used PTI cardstock (white, true black), button, twine and some Crate Paper patterned paper.

And lastly, I wanted to share a thank you card that my daughter made for her uncle and aunt. She wanted to try the chalkboard technique, after seeing me attempt it so many times this week so I walked her through the process (and helped her with the heat gun). She chose to use numbers because she knows my brother loves math! (Can I just say I love how she puts thoughts like that into her cards? Fabulous!)

She used PTI cardstock (true black) & stamps (in the meadow, outline alphabets & movers and shakers sentiments).

Thanks for looking!

Hello, friends

Just popping in this evening to share a card that I made this afternoon, using this week's MIM: Chalkboard Technique.

I decided to get a little creative with this sheet of Heidi Swapp patterned paper and how I cut it up (I'm always puzzled on how to use the 6x6 sheets with borders, if you don't make a 6x6 project.) I stamped the chalkboard technique on a piece of PTI cardstock (ocean tides) with PTI stamps (Think Big favourites #3, stitches and swirls) and then diecut it with my oval dies. I added some PTI buttons and twine.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend. I can't believe that the kids have to go back to school on Monday-- our holidays have flowing by!

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

1. I wanted to share one last Christmas project today.... the "place cards" that I made for our Christmas dinner on the 26th...

I used my Silhouette Portrait and some adhesive vinyl to cut out names to adhere to Christmas decorations. I placed one on each plate.

I was pleased with how this turned out!


2. Christmas is officially over.... the tree is down! We took it down, along with all of the other decorations yesterday and then cleaned the living room. These two lost interest after a while and started looking through my scrapbooking albums. They were reading the journaling out loud and enjoying themselves immensely. Sigh... this just made me so happy!

3. A few of the layouts reminded me that I haven't taken an individual or group photos of the kids in a while, so I told them we were going to play "photo shoot." ;) I got a few nice ones...

4. For Christmas, I gave Cameron a tin school bus that I thought would be fun to display in our living room. I was thinking that I could get some tall houses to display with it..... and then I remembered this photo that had been on the Moxie Fab World blog recently:

It inspired me to make this, on top of our shelving unit:

I can't decide if it needs anything else or not, but as is, it makes me very happy!

5. I wanted to share another card that I had made several months ago for World Card Making Day...

I used PTI cardstock, stamps (think big favourites) and the dresses were made with a combination of Hanging Out dies and the little Christmas tree in LLH:Holidays. A few fun accents to decorate the dresses..... and voilà!

Thanks for looking!