In The Cat Cave

Oops! I thought I had a few days before I had to submit this Lilybee challenge!

Again, I completed this one at the Springdale retreat... Do you get the feeling I was productive? Ha!! Here's the sketch but sadly its likely too late for you to join in the fun! It's definitely a great sketch that can help you get used to negative space.


Have a wonderful day!!!!
Cathy

Here's another sketch that I did at the Scrapbook retreat!! Ironically on the day the challenge was posted Sept 11th, I attended a USA vs. Jamaica World Cup Qualifying soccer game in Ohio.  They handed out US flags at the door and it was a very patriotic event especially given the tragic events of the past.

There's actually not much material used here as I used the pictures, tickets and flag supplied at the game. The Lilybee Christmas Town paper worked perfectly!!


I also used some We R Memory Keepers metal letters with matching gold thread to tie it all together.

Thanks for the inspiration Lilybee!! You can check out the challenge at the link below - you still have until October 5th!

http://lilybee.typepad.com/blog/2012/09/challenge-patriotic-colors.html

Cathy

Hi all!!

I absolutely adore the September sketch on the Authentique blog.  Every day I am falling more and more in love with Authentique!! The paper is so thick and fabulous!! You still have until October 3rd to participate in this challenge so check it out here: http://blog.authentiquepaper.com/2012/09/september-sketch-challenge.html

Hi all!!

Just a quick post to show you my take on the jillibean soup september sketch challenge found here: http://jillibeansoup.typepad.com/my_weblog/soup-sketch/

Jillibean Soup is by far one of my favorite blogs to follow! I love how they use kraft paper and corrugated shapes in many different ways.  The colors are vibrant and fabulous. I don't tend to do a lot of that in my pages and I'd love to incorporate more especially in my scrapbooking.

Hey all,

Continuing with my wedding fun... whipped this up from a new pack of crayons I found in Jane's drawer!!  These are the placecards for the kids at a wedding.  The rolled up piece of paper is a coloring page, of course.  Anything that has a dual purpose is a bonus to me!! Here's how they turned out:

2. Next you are going to take your crayons and put a mini eleastic around it for extra security.  Plus the eleastic gives it some grip for the ribbon going over the top.

Hey again!

See the pin to the right.  Beautiful, hey?  She has two ring bearers who will bring the sign "Here comes the bride" before she walks down the aisle and "they lived happily ever after" when they go back. She also requested "Thank You" and "Mr. & Mrs." signs for photo ops. This is very trendy these days and I am in love with it!!

Firstly, we painted both sides of the plaques with acrylic black paint.  We then painted white acrylic paint over top.  Nothing fancy here as we were just going for the vintage feel.  Miss Baby J even helped out!!
Finally I decided that I would try to use white card stock with the words printed on the signs.  I then would get the distressed look by using Colorbox chaulk dye to create the black and white lines. I also used some Tim Holtz White picket fence stain just to have some faint white streaks as well. I did this and let it dry before I printed the words on the paper.
 And here's the final products (2 of the 4):

Hey all,

Here's another sketch challenge I completd while I was at the Springdale retreat.  Every month there is a FancyPants Sketch Challenge. They are due Weds, Sept 26th evening so there's still time.  Check out the details here: http://missfancypants.typepad.com/little_miss_fancy_pants/2012/09/sketch-time.html

Just fresh back from a scrapbook retreat in Springdale!! It was a fabulous weekend with some great talent and new friends!!! Hopefully I'll be able to attend in the Spring as well.

I am feeling under the weather so this is going to be short - I had it on my list to complete the first layout of the new Mid Week Mojo series at www.scrapbooksteals.com .  Their blog has lots of project inspiration and ideas so I strongly recommend it.  I love to do the challenges because it gives me the flexibility to use any brand product in my stash!!

This 10 week series is titled as 'Coral' and for some reason I couldn't get the photos to download so I don't have the picture of the sketch. I am thinking my Internet is to blame but you never know.  If you'd like to give it a shot, week 1 is located here: http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/wp/2012/09/19/heidi-swapp-sugar-chic-mid-week-mojo/

However, you only have until 12pm MST tonight to get this completed to be eligible in the random draw. You can still be eligible for the final random draw should you complete all ten weeks of the Coral series. Stay tuned to Weds when they will release Week 2 of the Coral series.

Here's the layout I did - I must say, I fell in love with the Little Yellow Bicycle 'Tiny Princess' Collection. I then tied it into the Little Yellow Bicycle 'Baby Safari'.  This layout was on the quick side but it took me awhile to be happy with it.  I topped it off with some Dear Lizzy green thickers and some Stampin Up pearls. I am still thinking about doing some more journalling but I am not sure how I will place that at the moment.


You'll see more of my retreat creations over the next week or so, as a handful of them are inspired to participate in many challenges so stay tuned!!

That's all I have for the moment.  Until tomorrow! Cheers!
Cathy

Hey bloggers,

Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed giving myself the weekly challenge of the scrapbooksteals site.  There's usually enough variety that it gives me some thigns to play with.  Not only that but its great to be able to use any materials and not be restricted to a particular collection.

Here's my links to each of the wekly challenges:

Pearl 1:

Pearl 2:

Pearl 3:

Pearl 4:

Pearl 5

Pearl 6:

Pearl 7:

Pearl 8:

Pearl 9

Pearl 10

I had a blast!! Yeahhhhhhhhhhh! Thanks so much!
Cathy

Ohhh, I really loved this sketch by the scrapbooksteals team. 

I kept it simple this time with a bit of baker's twine, what is becoming a norm for me!!  My Internet is being funny so my plan is to get this posted asap!! Here's the layout:


And here's my take:

Such a funny picture!! LOL!

Have a good one!
Cathy

Hi there,

Back from ohio and getting ready for a retreat on Friday, as well as a wedding. I did manage to get a couple things done!!

Oh, I dug through my photos for this one... my First Mother's day!! They are not the best photos but it meant something to me! 

This is to complete the Pearl Series over at ScrapbookSteals!! Hooray! Here's the layout and link to do your own take! http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/wp/2012/09/12/we-r-memory-keepers-down-the-boardwalk-mid-week-mojo/


Here's what I came up with!

Hi all,

I decided to make my finale the September "It's a Sketchy Challenge" over at the Canadian Scrapbooker magazine!!  I have never submitted anything so I am going to submit this time!! And maybe if I get my ducks in a row, I'll submit a couple more layouts for their Spring Call, due October 15th. This is my layout that I came up with!

Here's the sketch for the challenge (click to find out more details):

It's funny how the stars align because I had just printed this photo and as such it was top of mind.  I recently bought some Harmonie paper and embellishments.  They worked out perfectly!! This page celebrates my great grandmother (Baby J's great great grandmother) 's 100th birthday... yeah, an amazing day.  Not only that but I am lucky enough to have another great grandmother whom turned 97 three days later!!  Needless to say it became a big family affair where by I saw family I hadn't seen in years... decades, even.

This picture was top of mind because of my grandfather's passing and how looking at all the old pictures we were never sure who was who as they were never labelled.  (Run on sentence, maybe?)Although I still don't put a lot of names in my scrapbooking, I decided it was appropriate to do so in this formal family picture.

I wanted to give this picture a soft but vintage, old feel.  As such I stuck with the pearls and light distressing.  Check out that pearl ribbon/lace... I got that from the dollar store awhile back for 29 cents!! I grabbed up about 4 rolls, I believe!! What a score!! The trick is how to stick it onto your page.  And I have to tell you that I think the best way is to get out your needle and thread. I come up the back through the paper, around the lace between the pearls but going back down through the same hole.  This is what I mean:

Well, with just two days left in my challenge and a family trip looming, my inspiration and TIME is dwindling... I had spent a little bit of time on the Lilybee blog checking out one of their design team members gallery... this particular girl, Ania-Maria seems to spend a lot of time doodling on her pages.  And seems to just go just wild with paint and vellum paper, etc.  I was intrigued as her pages are beautiful but just so far in the opposite direction as my "style".

My thought was this: "Isn't it crazy how everyone has their own style and how we are just so different?" It never ceases to amaze me.

I didn't quite go in her direction but for me, I simply went "bat-s&*% crazy". I had taken pictures of some of 'Baby J's' shoes and had planned to do a grid-type layout with them.  It started out that way until I decided I wanted to make "laces" up the side.  By this point, I was ready to quit because it took some eye-squinting to get the eyelets in place (using the crop-a-dile) and the ribbon threaded through. 

I took a bit of a break to find passports and get some things done.

When I came back to the scraproom, I grabbed some BG paper and ripped it.  I then grabbed some mesh that was in a gift bag someone had given me... I started stapling that.  Then I kept going from there.  The ribbon looked too white to me to look like laces... So I got out my Tim Holtz distress ink and once agin went bonkers.  I finally got to the title and wasn't sure how I would adher it.... so I hrabbed the stapler and literally just went for it... As a final touch, as a kudos to Ania-Maria, I did a bit of doddling around the corner... (perhaps its fitting since Baby J recently marked up her new silver Bobs with a black sharpie while in the care of my mother)

Here's how it turned out... (Picture to be replaced in the morning)

A closer look:

It's funny how you have a plan but then it goes bonkers.  I must say I had fun and its clear... based on how messy my desk is at least.

Cheers,
Cathy

Hey everyone and happy long weekend!

THREE MORE DAYS in my 30 day challenge!!

This is the first time I've participated in the 'Monday Card Madness' at scrapbooksteals.com and it looks like I was a couple days too late!! But I had a great time fooling around with it.  In fact, I started out thinking I would use the sketch to participate in Jillibean Soup's birthday card challenge.  But at the end of the day, I morphed the sketch so much I didn't think it qualified!! Here's the sketch and click for more info on the Monday Card Madness challenges:



Here's what my jillibean soup card looked like and you can participate in the challenge ALL SEPTEMBER  - click on the jillibean soup icon for details.

Hey!

How could I not participate in this challenge when I had the gorgeous 'Curiosity' collection at hand!! I love the paper so much in this collection that I didn't even want to use it!! Alas, I found the perfect pics to match the color scheme and this is what I came up with!


You have until September 12th to participate in this challenge so I encourage you to do so!! Here's the link with all the juicy details (click on this image):

Being part of quite a talented pool of scrapbookers/card makers within facebook always jumps starts my creativity.  It helps me want to continue to improve and helps find the inspiration that often goes missing. This challenge is part of that group and is as follows developed by Miss Coralee Kilfoy!