CAS-ual Fridays Challenge 135

Long time no see, friends!!  I have severely neglected my blog the past few months but that will change...today is my first post as a DT member for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog!  We are all ready for our first challenge of 2015 and I am excited to show you all what I have been up to.  Here is the first challenge:

And here is what I cooked up:

You will have to excuse the super crummy picture.  In the last month, we have only had about 10 days with sunlight.  It's been very bizarre...I'm not even in Seattle!  ;)

Anyway, for this card I used the Four Petal Set Fri-Dies and a sentiment from the Beanstalks set.  First, I stamped the sentiment.  Then once I cut the flowers out, I popped black brads through the centers and then used glue dots to adhere them to the card.  Then I placed some black sequins around them using Glossy Accents. 

That is all for today!  I hope you will all come over to play with us this month! 

Until next time...

We R Memory Keepers Bewitched

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  I am so thrilled to be guest designing over at the We R Memory Keepers blog today!  I was lucky to be chosen to work with their new Bewitched collection.  Head over to their blog to see one of the projects I created.  Because they were super generous and sent me a lot of goodies to play with, I thought I would share the rest of the fun stuff I made. 

First up, the layouts:

And here are a few cards I made with the scraps:

Thank you for stopping by today!  Until next time...

Cards to share...

Wow, I have been on a card making ROLL as of late!  I hate to sound incredibly corny, but Paper Smooches stamps really inspire me to make cards.  (And no, I am not being paid to say that.)  Their sentiments just work for everything under the moon and their other stamps can be used for every occasion as well. Here are a couple cards I made today:

I used Circle of Honor to create this card:

This card was made with Smarty Pants:

And this card was made with a Pebbles flower stamp and a sentiment from Lawn Fawn Sophie's Sentiments.

Sorry this post is so short and sweet, but I hear my girls tearing up the house and I should probably reclaim my post as Queen.  :)  Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

A Sketchy Situation...

Many of you who have followed me for a while know that I heavily rely on sketches for inspiration (and you are probably sick of me saying that, too!). :) Let me jump off the path I was going on with this post for a moment to give you some background on myself first...

The reason I named my blog "One Scrappy Novice" was because, in all honesty, I do not have a creative eye. I am really good at faking it and the only way that is possible is by using something like a sketch or another layout/card to create from. I can only think of a dozen or so layouts/cards/projects that I've created on my own, with no help needed. I like to joke that I couldn't craft my way out of a paper bag. Others might get out by turning it into something beautiful, like a landscape picture or fun hat or outfit. To me, all I see is that brown bag. Now granted, I'm learning to appreciate my own work more and I do feel that I am much better at my hobby now than I was even a year ago. Some people are born with the ability to be artistic (my oldest daughter is proving that at 5 years old). Others learn to be artistic. That's definitely me.

So going back to the point of this post...sketches give me a basic jumping off point and get the creative juices flowing. Without them, I am usually totally lost. There are cases where I am totally lost while using them, too. The layout I created for this post is a perfect example.

But first, here is the sketch (found on Pinterest):

And here is the layout I created with it:

Once I saw the sketch, I wanted to use my My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose 6x6 paper pad. I knew all of the soft pinks, greens and blues would go together perfectly. And I knew that a picture I had of my friend's daughter would work with those colors as well. I got it all laid out and only adhered the banner down. The rest I was completely clueless on. I had other flowers that I wanted to use and thought the spacing was off. So I went to a bunch of my crafty friends and asked them for their eyes. I knew they would be able to see this layout better than I could. Their advice totally helped me and I am thrilled with the outcome. I hope my friend likes it as much as I do!

Don't be afraid to admit it if you are a self-professed "novice" like myself. As long as your projects turn out looking good, take all the credit you deserve! (Easier said than done, I know!)

Before I sign off, I want to remind you all of the giveaway I currently have going on! Be sure to check out {this} blog post to see how you can win one Authentique Paper Genuine collection!

Until next time...

Hopping Along With Scrapbook Steals!

Hello, hello! Welcome to my blog! You should have gotten here from Amber's page. If this is the first you're hearing of the hop, be sure to go back to ScrapbookSteals' blog and start from the beginning! Make sure you comment at each blog to help your chances of winning a spectacular prize...a $20 gift certificate which will be rewarded to a person randomly picked from one of the blogs!! You have until Monday, March 12th at 11:59 pm, MST to enter your comments.

Here is the line up just in case you get lost (click on the person's name to go to the blog):

Scrapbook Steals
Kristy MacKeen
Staci Jones
Amber Sheaves
Cristine Redmond <-- You are here!
Venetia Holbrook
Charity Becker
Van Nguyen

Now, on to the important stuff. :) Name one thing - okay, maybe two things - that are in your scrappy stash that you can never have too many of. Buttons and brads, right? No matter how big our stashes get, we always have room for more. That is why I was excited that today's blog hop was going to be featuring Basic Grey's buttons and brads. About 95 % of my button and brad collection is from Basic Grey. Their collections are just the best!

The first project I completed just SCREAMS Scrapbook Steals. Alright, not literally, but I got about 98% of the things on the page from them, so it screams SS to me. :) Here is a layout I created with Echo Park's new This and That Charming collection:

One of my favorite things to do with buttons is decorate them with twine. It dresses them up a bit.

I used a couple of brads to "hold up" the banner by my title and I am so happy with the way that turned out. I never know what to do at the ends of my banners, but now I have a new trick! Just stick a brad on each end and that's it! So cute!

I decided to create another project to show you a different way to use buttons. (I can not take credit for this idea...I got it off Pinterest. LOVE that site for inspiration.)

I made a simple card by adhering the buttons in a rainbow formation. I just added some cute clouds (I distressed the edges to make them look more fluffy), a stamped sentiment and some doodles around the edge and that's it! SUPER simple!

I'm so glad you stopped by my blog today! I love to get new followers, so be sure to follow me to see what other created projects I have up my sleeves!

Next stop on the hop is Venetia Holbrook!

It's Authentique Sketch Challenge time again!

I hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend! March's Sketch Challenge was posted on Authentique's blog this morning. I absolutely LOVE the sketches for the card and layout. I had to take on the layout version.

Here is the sketch:

And here is the layout I created with it:

The Celebrate collection has to be one of my all-time favorite collections. It ranks up there with Authentique's Gathering collection, for sure! (And I'm not just saying that because I'm on the Design Team.) :) I love the aquas, blacks and reds together. We all know I'm a sucker for aqua...

I thought I'd add a bit of whimsey to my layout buy adding a pinwheel. I'll admit, this is the first time I've ever made one, but I love how it came out! I added a sparkly brad to the center and inked the edges in coordinating ink. Love it!

I used a lot of techniques on this layout...distressing paper, punches, dimensional adhesive, just to name a few. I love how each one of them added something to this layout.

I hope you all will head over to Authentique's blog today to check out the other creations the rest of the Design Team made!

Until next time...

A Splendid Wreath

So we all know that I like to refer to myself as a scrappy "novice." I like to say that because I feel fairly new to the scrappy world and have been s.l.o.w.l.y. trying to do things other than just scrapbook pages and cards. The proof? The project I created for today's Authentique post! Check it out!!

Be sure to head over to Authentique's blog to see how I put this little cutie together. :)

Until next time...

A Different Kind of Miracle

Hello, all! Today I am featured over on Authentique's blog. I created a layout using the Miracle collection. I wanted to show how versatile the collection is by using it on a non-baby-themed layout. For this layout, I used a sketch from scrapbooksteals.com, which was created by guest sketcher Becci Manies.

Here is the sketch:


And here is my layout:


I love the whimsical feel that the banner, pennants and rosettes give this layout. I definitely had fun making it for my friend!

Be sure to check out Authentique's blog to see detailed pictures of this layout!

Too Cute To Spook...

Today I am featured over at Authentique's blog, so be sure to head over and check out my post! I created a layout using Authentique's Glowing collection, Glue Arts amazing adhesive products and some cute pictures of my hubby, daughters and nephew from Halloween last year.

I just happened to use a sketch created by the amazingly talented Van Nguyen, who was a guest sketcher over at Scrapbooksteals recently, as a spring board for this layout, so here is the sketch:


And here is the layout I created:


I think this is probably my all time favorite Halloween layout that I've ever done. It's not overly spooky, doesn't have bright colors (like the greens, purples, etc you usually see in Halloween lines) and is fairly simple. But I love it.

As I noted on my Authentique post, The circle was a labor of love. The patterned paper I used originally looked like this:


Because I didn't want this layout to have too many bold colors to distract from the colors in the pictures, I chose to cut out a bunch of the diamonds, using only the cream, black and mildly decorated lighter pieces. It was a bear to put together, but I am so happy with the way it turned out!

This was also the first time I tried bunching up ribbon and using sewing pins as decoration. (See my Authentique post for more detailed photos.)

Hope I was able to inspire in some way!! Until next time...

Stop and smell the Blissful flowers...

I created a fun layout today on Authentique's blog. I'll show you the layout, but you'll have to head over there for more details! :)

Midweek Mojo Time!

...a week late... Oh well!

Here is the sketch that the wonderfully talented Kristy Lee created for Topaz #2:



And here is the layout I created:



I'd been waiting for the perfect sketch to showcase two pictures from a wicked snow storm we had in February and this one fit the bill! I hand stitched a snowflake on the left side of the pictures and I used my Sew Easy to create a border around the page. Took for flippin' ever to sew, but it's always worth it in the end.

That's all for now! Until next time...

Mid Week Mojo Time!

As you may have seen from my recent post, Scrapboooksteals.com has recently completed a YEAR of sketch challenges!! They have started over and have changed it up a bit. Now, instead of being 52 sketches, there will be 10 sketch increments, with a new jewel club for each increment. Last Tuesday's sketch started the Topaz club.

Here is the sketch for Topaz #1:



And here is the layout I created:



I have to say, it was different creating a layout about myself as I'm so used to scrapping my girls. In fact, this is only the second time I've scrapped myself. (The first being MWM #1.) I love the way it turned out and I am committing myself to use this sketch at least two more times to make a layout for each of my girls. :)

That's it for now...until next time!

ScrapbookSteals Crop Challenges

Scrapbooksteals recently had an online crop/chat and with each one they do, they issue challenges to be completed for prizes. Here are the challenges and my entries:

Challenge #1: Mid Week Mojo #48

Here's the sketch:



And here is my layout:



This layout contains one of my new favorite things...kraft paper! I seriously never used it before this week and since I created this layout, I've used it two more times. Can't get enough! I'd been looking for a cute way to scrap these two pictures and this sketch fit the bill. So cute!

Challenge #2: Number Recipe (1 die cut, 3 colors of spray mist, 5 patterned papers, 7 brads and 9 buttons)

Here's what I created:



This seriously has to be one of my favorite layouts ever. Not just because I'm thrilled with how it turned out, but I also LOVE all of the papers used. First and foremost, kraft. :) Then I used some papers from MME Stella and Rose's Hazel line and MME 29th Street Market. They're all right up my aqua, brown and pink color-scheme-of-the-moment alley.

Because they're hard to see, I'll tell you that for the three mists, I used these Glimmer Mist "flavors," Route 66, Granite and Vintage Pink. I didn't want to alter the colors of my papers very much, so I basically used "clear" colors plus some light pink. I'm happy with the effect.

Challenge #3: Summer Fun

For this challenge, a project had to be created using this picture as inspiration:



This is what I created:



I thought the color scheme of the card was very lemon-limey, which seems very summery to me.

Challenge #4: Gender Swap

For this challenge we were to create a layout using opposite gender collections/papers. For instance, if I was scrapping my girls, I'd use more masculine papers. If I was scrapping my nephews, I'd use more feminine papers. Unfortunately I did not have time to complete this challenge, but I plan on doing this in the future!

Challenge #5: Bonus Sketch!

This challenge was to create a layout using the following sketch, which was done by Melissa Dehne...



I combined challenges 2 and 5, so here is the layout again...



I flipped the sketch on it's side in order to use a horizontal picture. It turned out so cute (if I do say so myself). :)

I love being "challenged" so I can't wait for the next crop!