The Best Tool Ever!

**There's still time to get in on my giveaway!  Scroll down or click here.  :)

Well I've been sick this week so I haven't really gotten much accomplished.  But I did want to pop in and share a couple cards with you.  They both use the fantastic Sweet Childhood collection from The ScrapCake.

One of the first tools I ever bought when I got into scrapbooking was my circle punch.  And it is still well used today.  I do believe it is one of my favorite tools.  And I punched a bunch of circles for this first card.

I love the look and added texture of the white on white, but had to throw in a row of patterned paper circles too.  And instead of adding stitching through the circles like I naturally want to do, I made it a bit more funky adding little sections of stitching that don't really correlate with the circles.  I like it, sometimes it's fun to go against our first intuition or design idea (especially when you've done it lots).

And here is my second card:

On this card, I took a piece of white cardstock that I had punched circles out of (for the first card) and added it in the layering.  The focal point of the card is off to the right, making it a bit funky, but it's just unexpected.  ;)

Well thanks for popping in!!!
Have a fantastic day!

Remember

Hi all!  Today is a day to remember.  If you live in the US, than this day probably comes with very vivid memories.  I know it does for me.  There is honor in remembering.  The past shapes who we are, both as individuals and as nations.

We remember in our scrapbooking too, that's what scrapbooking is all about.  Maybe not so much in scrapbooking the history of a nation (although you certainly CAN do that!), but we scrapbook our own history, the people and events which have shaped us into who we are.  And I have a layout to share with you!  :)  It uses the fun Sweet Childhood collection from The ScrapCake.

I love the look of vintage children's books that this collection has.  Isn't it fun!  The photos are of my dad as a baby and my Great Grandparents.

Here are the close up's:

I love the look of the stitched lines under the journaling.  I hadn't done it in awhile and thought I needed to.  :)  Actually, I had been redoing some of my labels so I was going through all of my old blog posts and there was lots of things I noticed on a project and thought "Oh, I need to do that again!"  It was inspiring.  So maybe I will get more done soon.  :)

Thanks for stopping in!
Have a wonderful day!!

The Hexagons Trend

in my opinion, is totally played out.  Don't get me wrong...I still love them, but I'm also tired of them.  So when I was supposed to use hexagons and masking for a blog post for The ScrapCake I knew I had to change it up a little.  :)  So using my Cameo, I made hexagons that were taller and different than the normal stop sign hexagons we've been seeing everywhere.   

Here's my layout:

I used the FABULOUS Sweet Childhood collection from The ScrapCake.  

Here's how my masking technique played in to my layout....

I created the mask with my Cameo (the negative portion of the cardstock with my hexagons).  Then I added several mediums including ink, chalk, and paint, so it looked like this before I lifted my mask off:

Then I covered a bunch of my hexagons up with hexagons of patterned paper, as well as kraft cardstock.  Using the hexagons of the same color as the background create a much more subtle look but still add a lot of texture and character.  

Here's my close up's of the layout:

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  

So weigh in--hexagons...still hot or getting old?  

Cards!

It seems I've been making more cards than layouts lately.  I have a few to share with you today.

First up....

It is loosely based on this sketch (turned and tweeked) from the Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge this week:

It's actually a flashback sketch as it was their first ever sketch challenge.  Kinda cool.  You can play along here.

The stamp I used is from the Breathtaking Butterflies stamp set from Skipping Stones.  And the papers I used are all from the Sweet Childhood collection from The ScrapCake.

And then I have two more cards to share with you using the Sweet Childhood collection:

That "Happy Birthday" on the last card comes from the Grunge stamp set from Skipping Stones.

I've been having a lot of fun playing with this Sweet Childhood collection.  I've got a layout to share soon using it.  :)

Well thanks so much for stopping in today!
YOU rock!  :)

Have a fantastic day!

This Hobby Is Meant To Be Fun!

Every now and then, you just gotta have fun...play...try a new technique.  That's what I did with the layout I am sharing today.

I tore my scrap papers and glued them on my page in four columns.  Then I added a bit of white paint over them.  This kinda dulled it, and when I went to add elements to make page later, it just made them pop even more.  :)

I did this layout for The ScrapCake's blog.  Flo and I both created layouts based on this sketch, created by myself:

To check out Flo's AWESOME layout, go here.

And here are close up's of my own layout:

I used the beautiful My Private Happiness collection from The ScrapCake for most of my layout, but there are bits and pieces from Summer At The Seaside thrown in there too.

Sooo...we'd love to see what you do with this sketch!  Leave a link here so I can check it out OR use papers from The ScrapCake and leave a link on this post here.  :)

Thanks so much for stopping in!!!!
Have a wonderful day!

5000 Miles and Old Pictures

I've clocked over 5000 miles of travel in a little over a month, with three separate trips.  Frankly, I'm exhausted.  I got home from California and I just crashed.  Of course, the nature of the trip itself (funeral, plus family stuff) takes a lot out of a person too.  I haven't really done much of anything since I got back...just catching up on rest and cleaning.  Oh and bought a new vehicle (well new to me).  That was nice.

But I do have some work to share with you.

While I was in California, our family was given a bunch of pictures.  Many of them were old photos of my dad as a kid, and even some older ones.  But there was also a pile of pictures they took when we were kids.  I saw several pics of me and my brother, and I really liked these photos and was inspired to use them pretty much right away.  :)

I pulled out an older collection from The ScrapCake for this layout, the collection is called Summer At The Seaside.  I used a bunch of my scraps too...love it when I can do that.

The photos were scanned and printed...I'm going to give the pile of original photos back to my dad.  I did do a little editing, but I'm not really terrific at that.

I loved the fun touch the umbrella tops turned flower-like embellishments added to the page.

Here are some close up's of my layout:

I'm really looking forward to digging more into all the photos we received.  But another thing I hope to remember are all the fun stories I heard...about my dad...about my grandmother....you know, the good stuff.  :)

Thanks so much for stopping in today!!!
Have a wonderful day!!

TCR + TSC :)

Hello friends!  The ScrapCake is sponsoring The Color Room this month, and the TSC designers are playing along too.  :)  Here's the latest color palette:

And here's my layout I created for it:

I actually used bits of several different collections from the ScrapCake, including The Bright Side of Life, Spring Awakening, One Moment in Time and My Private Happiness.  

I also used the chipboard people from Magistical Memories, the awesome well from Prima, and the chipboard saying from Fancy Pants Designs.

I winged a tree of stitching, and added a couple charms to the tree.  The one blessed charm was one someone else made when we had a charm exchange forever ago when I was designing for Rusty Pickle (miss those girls!).

And here are the close up's:

Those pink flowers in between the chipboard people are from Creative Charms.

Thanks for stopping in today!!  

Have a fantastic day!  

Lots of Flowers

Hi everyone!  I'm stopping in today to share yet another layout with you.  :)  It uses the fabulous PB&J collection from BasicGrey.  I actually made it for a post about using flowers for the BasicGrey blog, they never used it but that's ok because I am totally going to share it with you guys. :)  I do really like how it turned out.

Here's the layout:

It must be garden week on my blog, well not really but I started with a layout that felt like a garden, and I am ending with this layout which also feels like a fun garden to me.  :)

Here are the close up's:

And totally unrelated, in case you missed it, I just want to share with you that The ScrapCake has shared their new releases on their blog.  I am totally digging them!  Check them out here.  (You can also win them, so do check it out!)  Here are some sneaks of the new collections:

Have a fantastic day!!!!  

Just Enjoying Summer

Hi all!  We've had a busy summer so far, with lots of swimming, birthday celebrations, and fun!  Basically, we've just done a lot of playing.  :)  And we are getting ready to go on another road trip soon too.  It's been nice.  

I do want to share a layout I made with you.

I've had beautiful gardens on the mind lately and I think it may have influenced this next layout:

I used the wonderful My Private Happiness collection from The ScrapCake.

Here are some close up's:

I used a foam stamp and paint for that tree...it's my most used foam stamp and has certainly got a lot of use (from Prima).  I added some simple gems to the tree instead of flowers or anything else.

Oh and I didn't get my card done for the Skipping Stones Design challenge 134, but you can check it out and play along here!  :)

Well I hope you are having a fantastic summer!!!!  Thanks for stopping in!

I {Heart} Paper!

So not long ago I saw this fabulous birdcage in the Silhouette store.  You can see the whole thing on this blog here.  She has a few different styles.  I loved them and couldn't wait to try it out!  I used my Cameo to cut out all the parts.

I must admit, I got a little frustrated with my Cameo though, as I was having a hard time cutting it all out, it wouldn't fully cut.  I am hoping I just need a new blade.

But anyways...so I cut the birdcage parts out of cardstock, and assembled them as best I could.  I think it looks great, although I am not completely sure I followed the instructions (I just kinda winged it!).

And I added a bunch of glitter to my birdcage.  Ok...so really I just added a bunch of glitter all over my workspace.  :)  Gotta love the stuff.

And then I made some of my own flowers, by cutting flowers and then curling over the pedals, layering them, and adding a bunch of glitter in the middle.  I used the One Moment in Time collection from The ScrapCake for these.

So...here's how it turned out:

See how much detail is in that birdcage...I love it!

The hope and love die cuts are also from The ScrapCake.  And here are close up's of my flowers:

The back is pretty much identical, except I used the word "Love" instead of "Hope":

What do you think?  I made this project for Flower Power Week over on The ScrapCake's blog (it was last week on the blog).  You should check it out, there are several more handmade flowers and gorgeous creations.

Isn't it amazing what you can create with paper!

I {heart} paper.  :)

Thanks for stopping in today!
Have a FANTASTIC day!