Share Everything Except Bad Ideas

So, I think I hit a challenge max with this one, but I LOVE how it turned out.  And since three of the challenges are "supposed" to be combined, I don't feel so bad about having 5 challenges complete with one layout.  It started with the sketch from ScrapbookSteals - Peridot 4.  When I saw the three photos in the sketch, I quickly decided on these photos of my kids sharing the tricycle.  All three of them get to enjoy playing with it at once - although probably in different positions than most would expect.  Then I thought about Kerys's challenge.  The layers were obvious in the sketch, so it was easy to add the stars and stamps. Since some of the papers I chose already had stars, it was even easier :)  Then it was time to think about the title, and Rochelle's word art challenge along with Scrap Your Story's font challenge worked perfectly together.  The Share Everything was just perfect, and of course with the five words, I would use 5 alphas probably anyways.  Last is Kristi's logo challenge.  I wasn't sure I was going to include it, but when I had the spot on the bottom left that need an embellishment, the Radio Flyer logo was a perfect fix.  

For the details:  Papers are all 6x6 from MME, WP, and CP.  I used stamps twice - for the stars (I think they are Imagenisce, but I am not 100% sure) that I fussy cut and the word cute (MME Collectable).  The alphas are Thickers, Silhouette cut, and MLS tiny alphas.  I finished off the pinwheel with a Oriental Trading button and some Twinery Twine.  I have decided I need a date stamp after this layout, and I will add that to the bottom left.

Mmm...Ice Cream

The Paper Bakery just started doing sketch challenges on their blog, so I decided to play along with their very first one!  The sketch was so fun to play with for sure!  I decided to scrap these pictures of my oldest and her eating her first ice cream cone.  We were on a missions trip, helping with a VBS on the Navajo Nation.  The place we went to dinner had free ice cream cones for the kids, and so didn't miss out (even though she was just over 1.5 yo).  Instead of getting her hands dirty, she put the cone on the table and ate it that way.  I am going to add journalling to the bottom right.  But because it will contain names and personal details, I left it off for now.

I used MLS Green for this layout.  I love the cute patterns, and the wood grain browns worked well with the burnt orange shirt I thought.  The brads are Doodle Bug, and the washi is a mx of MME and Downtown Tape.  The large alphas are AC Thickers, and the tiny ones are MLS.  I added some blue and pink thread to the wood grain strip to add the final bit of layer (and go to with the Scrap Your Story Challenge).

And here is the amazing sketch it is based off of:

{cousins}

This is my take on Amber 8 by Jessica L over at Scrapbook Steals.  The vertical and horizontal strips gave me the idea to pull out my hoarded scraps and make a rainbow weave with them.  (The current SWAT challenge is Dig Deep - using your hoarded items in a trendy way.)  The purple and orange are actually fairly new (Fall 2012 Nicki Silivis box), but that blue, green, and yellow are at least 2 years old (MME Hip Hooray and MLS Green and Simple Life .  The red if from last summer's MLS warehouse box (Sew Cute).  Then I pulled out my hoarded buttons and added some interest to where the papers cross.  Let's not talk about how many buttons I have in my stash!

The right side will get the journalling, but I don't want to post that online.  I might add something to the bottom right depending on how much I write.  I love how fast this layout came together - I put it together in less than 2 hours!

Here is the sketch:

A Card and a Layout

I got two projects done this weekend.  I was going to post the layout yesterday, but it was SO windy here that I couldn't get a picture of it today.  And since I have DT projects to post tomorrow and Tuesday,  I decided to just post them together today since they are for a couple of challenges.

Let's start with the card.  This is for my husband's grandmother's birthday.  I took inspiration from the Paper Girls Challenge for the colors on this one.  And the design is based off of the current Unscripted Sketches sketch.  I Used MME Fun day  paper along with some solid cardstock, a MLS stamp, some WP trim, and a Stampin' Up stamp.  I colored the flower with Stampin Up colored pencils.  I am also entering it into the ScrapbookSteals MCM #16 - Stamp It.

As for the layout, this is based off of the Amber 5b sketch over at ScrapbookSteals by guest sketcher Michelle.  I used Authentique Loyal and Echo Park For the Record 2 for this cute layout of my son meeting one of his great grandma's.  Other than the base piece of kraft, all of the paper is scraps (for the About a Boy Challenge).  The colors worked perfectly for Rochelle's color challenge too (although my greens are a little darker).

4 generations

When I saw this month's first Paper Secrets challenge, I knew I wanted to scrap this pair of photos.  It is of my oldest with one parent, grandma, and one of grandma's parents - making for 4 generations.  With the photos in hand, I new I wanted to use some blue, so I went through my blue paper drawers and stumbled on the MLS paper with the flowers.  It wasn't what I had originally thought of in my head, but it worked perfectly!  Then i pulled out some more blue papers (MME and Lily Bee) along with the orangy pink paper from Crate Paper.  For embellishments, I used a white doily, a Paper Play Studio flair, some MME washi, three Stampin Up brads,  EP and NS stickers, and some twine (Twinery).  The alphas are WP and Thickers.

 And here is the sketch:

Water You Doing? - A LGS Reveal

Well, with a few people leaving the LGS design team, I decided to "jump" over to the Team B side, which means I now do the 2nd and 4th week sketches.  So today is my first Team B reveal!  This week's sketch is by the amazing Bev Code.

I decided to change this into a single photo layout, using 1 vertical photo instead of two horizontal photos.  I pulled out a variety of MLS papers, and went to town on this fun layout of my oldest.

I loved layering little strips from the different collections along with a tiny bit of washi.

I decided I needed a bigger flower than I had in any of the collections, so I cut one out of white cardstock using a KLD template.  Then I stitched it with coordinating colors to give it some dimension and fun.

The title was the hardest part.  With all of the colors on the layout, it was hard to find alphas that popped.  I ended up outlining them with black ink, but they still don't pop that much...

Now it is your turn!

Today Reading Tomorrow Leading - SS Amber 2

Time for another fun sketch over at Scrapbook Steals.  This week's Amber 2 by Kerys was so much fun to work with.  I started by picking the pictures and then digging through my die cut papers to see if I had any circle ones with the "right" colors.  And it turns out I had a piece of MLS Sew Easy worked perfectly.

 Then I dug through my turquoise paper (yes, it has its own drawer...), thinking I would find some more MLS paper that worked perfectly.  Well, I ended up with some MME Lush instead.  Then I went looking for a pink color.  Again, I thought I would end up with MLS, but I ended up with some A Uncommon.  I loved that it had the grey in it soo, as it gave me another color to work with.  I had thought about using ribbon or sewing, but the right colors just weren't there, and the Uncommon was just perfect.  From there I went to the washi at the bottom.  I ended up having the perfect colors - some Studio G (blue) and MME Indie Chic.

 For the embellishments, I just got the Sweet Stamp Shoppe wood grain stamps in the mail as I was workingo n this.  I decided the circles would be a great embellishment.  I found some blue and grey paper to use for thsoe and then paired it with some A Uncommon paper that I just punched to highlight the pattern.   Then I dug through my brad stash for a variety in the right colors.

 Then it was on to the title.  I searched for a quote about reading.  I found "Today a reader, tomorrow a leader."  And then I went to print out reader to stitch it, and some how ended up with reading.  But, Today Reading Tomorrow Leading works almost as well :)  With the shorter title, I added some washi at the top for some balance.

learning - A LGS Reveal

 This week's amazing sketch over at Let's Get Sketchy is by the amazing Bev Code.  I love that it has a mix of hexagons, banners, and arrows!

I recently sorted my papers by color, and decided I had a TON of blue papers.  So, I started this layout looking through my drawer with turquoise paper.  I was immediately drawn to the gingham paper with the pink, blue, and green on it (the back side is a blue and white polka dot).  Then I remembered Rochelle's color challenge for this month, and thought I could really make this work!  I pulled out some of my MLS papers to go with the MME Hip Hooray paper and the dug out a piece of light pink NS paper to use for my hexagons.  For the banner, I just used scraps of the hexagons - each triangle is about 1/6th of a hexagon - and stitched them together with twine.

For the arrows, I decided to try stamping them.  I made an arrow template out of scrap cardstock, and then I used my MME border stamp and the three colors of ink to make the arrows.  I topped them off with a piece of the gingham paper and some twine to bring it all together.   The journalling is about what I have learned from my kids - how they have made me grow in the last 5+ years.   The first ever S.W.A.T challenge made me dig deep and really think about myself.

For the embellishment cluster, I used some Crate Paper pieces mostly as well as a few other random pieces I could find.  The title I cut using my Silhouette and the French script font.

Daddy/Daughter Target Practice

This layout was a challenge for me.  First, I decided to go with an "odd" color scheme for me - grey, black, and orange.  Since we don't celebrate Halloween, it is a color combo I had never done before.  But, the colors went well with the photo, so I tried it.  And since I had recently sorted a lot of my paper by color, it wasn't too hard to find the orange and black papers.

 To make the scallop, I used my Kiwi Lane Design mini scallops (2A and B).  It was pretty easy to cut once I had them drawn.

For the bracket, I used KLD Bracket 3.  I traced it on to some paper from the garbage to get the full shape lined up, and then I used my actual template as a mask for the ink.  I finished it off my stitching around the edge using Twinery Twine (thank Paper Girls for the inspiration).

As for what papers I used, there is some AC baby papers, WP petite papers, NS Dan the Record Man and MLS.  The washi is MME Indie Chic, and the title is a mix NS, Authentique, and cut fromt he Silhouette.

And here is the sketch it is based off of from Brenda's

 blog:

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I did it! Now what?

I had this photo of my daughter printed as a "possible" photo for Tuesday's Use It Tuesday challenge (can you guess the challenge by the photo?), but I decided to use another photo instead.  Then when I saw this week's MWM layout over at ScrapbookSteals, I decided it would work perfectly for that.  The only problem was I had no idea what papers to use!  Should I go primary and play with the red and yellow on the fire truck?  Should I go with purple and white to coordinate with her little outfit?  I just wasn't sure.  Then I watched this video over at Two Peas by Shimelle on picking colors.  And it was eye opening!  I went to bed Wednesday night with two ideas in my mind - either bright pinks and purples or muted tones.  I woke up Thursday, and as soon as I had the chance I pulled out my bright colors.  I quickly found that none of the papers were calling to me.  So, I decided to start with MME Follow Your Heart.  I pulled out all of the "basic" papers from the "girl" line as well as some MME Miss Caroline 6x6 papers I had in the same colors. I picked out the background  paper and the big strips of paper.  Then I had to decide on the mat for the photo.  I still had my new to me Crate Paper Peppermint 6x6 pad on my desk, and I thought the red and pink paper would work perfectly.  Next up was to pick out the purple bits.  The cherish piece is from MME Miss Caroline, and LIVE and purple paper behind it are Webster's Pages, and the banner tag shape is a piece from a Recollections 6x6 stack.  I pulled out my grayish AC Thickers as well as my light pink MLS mini alphas to finish the layout off.

And here is the sketch it is based off of:

I

MIni Mini Album/Card

 Earlier this week, Liz Chidester did a tutorial on MyLittleShoebox's blog about a mini album made from 1 8.5x11 piece of paper (and then decorated).  I knew I wanted to try it out, so I made the album.  Then I thought about what to use it for.  I have a ton of birthday cards to made,and I thought it would made a fun card!  But I knew it would be fairly thick, so I didn't want to mail it.  So I decided to make it for an almost 11 year old in our church that is just an amazing young lady!  She isn't into cute things anymore, and love horses and cowgirl-type things, so I decided to use MME Miss Caroline 6x6 papers for this.  Then I used MLS alphas throughout.  I decided to make it close, so I added two WRMK eyelets and a piece of random ribbon (I think it came from HobbyLobby) to finish it off (plus the standard HL brown pigment stamp around the edges).

Here is the cover with her initials on it:

Page 1: Devoted Daughter with Exodus 20:12 as the verse.

 Page 2: Caring Sister with 1 Thessalonians 5:11 as the verse.  I also used my new KiwiLane scallop templates on this one :)

 Page 3: Servant of God! with Galatians 6:9 as the verse.  Some how I lots the letter a along the way... I guess I will need to find a new one and put it back before I give it to her later this month :)

The back cover

Side view

I am entering this into two challenges.  The first is Scrapbook Steals Monday Craft Madness #7 - Think Mini!  This little album is definitely tiny!  Plus i used only 6x6 paper (which is the "tiny" variety) and a bunch of mini alphas.  The second is The Paper Girls Challenge #23 - Ledger Paper.  The front cover uses ledger paper as well as the tag on page 1.

Almost 2 and ready to dig in! - A LGS Reveal

It is time for another fun Let's Get Sketchy reveal!  This week's sketch is by Jenessa Franco. 

I decided it was about time to scrap these pictures from 2009 of my oldest with her cake for that year.  It was about a week before her birthday - just before Grandma went home (her baby brother was born a few weeks before her birthday).

I pulled out my MME Hip Hooray (Girl) for this one.  I decided to just go crazy with the layers on the right side and use as many of the scraps I had.  I misted the white cardstock with some OA sprinklers to add some interest.  Then I added the die cuts and popped them up for depth. The title is a mix of AC Thickers and MLS mini alphas.  And I finished the page off with some washi tape - MME Indie Chic and Downton Tape.

Now it is time for you to create!  You have until the end of the month to complete 3 layouts and be eligible for this month's drawing!