Previews and Picasa

I have been busy, busy in my scrappy life, but I'm not able to post any of my layouts. So....I thought I'd give you a little preview. Here's a sneak peek at my next two 52 Sketches...52 Weeks DT layouts and next week's The Scrappiest DT layout. I won't tell you which is which; you'll have to come back. :-D



Also, I thought I'd share how I make all these photo collages. Picasa 3. It's an amazing program, and you can download it for free. Yes, FREE! It's an editing program that also allows you to make these fab collages. Not hard at all, either. It will also automatically upload your pictures to an online gallery...once you set it up. LOVE it!

Happy Scrappin',

National Scrapbooking Day

Come celebrate with Pages In Time this Saturday, May 2nd!

Karen and the Pages In Time design team invite you to join us for a day of fun challenges, games and chat. There will be RAK's given away for individual challenges, and one main prize will be awarded to an overall winner.

All challenges will be posted Saturday, May 2nd beginning at 7 am EST, but you will have until Monday, May 4 midnight EST to upload your entry.

Hope to see you there!

They Crack Me Up

My boys cracked me up while dying the eggs for Easter. My oldest son was super serious and ever so careful with each egg. Then, there's my crazy toddler. He kept picking up the eggs, putting them under his arm, and declaring, "I da chicken, bawk, bawk!" I thought it was hilarious, but my eight-year-old just thought it was annoying and not at all interested in the "Eggstra Help."

This is the subject of my layout for sketch #10 at The Scrappiest. I love all the layers of patterned paper in this one. I did leave off one layer because I wanted to be able to see the beautiful embroidered paper by Prima. As soon as I saw this paper at Treasured Memories, I thought of using it on my layout of dying eggs.





I loved being able to use more of these Jewelry Box Thickers. That purply-red is not a color that I use often, but my aren't they sweet? Another neat embellishment is the Prima pebble. I have a whole pack of them....with Alice in Wonderland type rabbits on them. So neat!

Another little technique I learned recently is faux stitching. Do you already know this trick? Anyway, in case you don't, you make a row of dots where you want to "stitch" and then you lightly connect them. I think it really looks like stitching. I enjoyed my new technique so much, I went a little crazy with it. Give it a try....it's much easier than taking out the Singer.

Happy Scrappin'

BIG NEWS

Karen over at Pages in Time asked me to be on her very first kit club design team. I am crazy excited. I'll be getting a pack of goodies each month for the next six months. Her May kit sold out in about a week! They are that good.

I'll be working with this talented bunch of ladies.

Pages In Time (PIT) Crew

Ann Arbogust
Deb (Luci) Avery
Amanda (Kitty) Blevine
Rayette Hesla
Nikki Love
Melissa Sackman
Irene Tan
Lesley Walker


Happy Scrappin'

Stampin' Up a Storm

So, for some reason I've just started stamping a lot. Everyone else has probably been doing it since they started scrapping. Not me, I was buying most of my embellishments. However, I'm starting to make my own, and it's much more fun. I just got this wood grain stamp, and it was begging me to use it. Mixer #15 at Mix It Up challenge blog was the perfect chance for me to give it a stamp.

This week's challenge is to create a background without using cardstock or patterned paper. I stamped a piece of cardboard packaging from Scrapbook.com. Then, I covered it all up with patterned paper. LOL

I adore this picture of my son peeking through the wood posts of his jungle gym and this paper seemed to really do it justice. How cute is that darn beaver?

The Bee's Knees

This month's assignment for Treasured Memories was a little different. We were given fewer supplies. In my packet, I had black Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock, Buzz and Bloom chipboard vines, Queen and Co. black felt border, a punched Bazzill black border, and lots of tickets. We were also given a list of ten challenges. I chose to use a triad of colors from the color wheel, use only three pictures, use beading, use Crystal accents in a new way, and use bees. My layout "You Color My World" features papers by Sassafras Lass. So much fun!



I hand cut the sun and clouds from my favorite papers in the Sassafras Line. I chalked the edges and outlined them in black. They are also popped up with foam squares. To use the tickets, I layered them along with the Sassafras edges underneath the photos.

I also hand cut the bumblebee and created his fuzzy head with black seed beads--glued on with none other than Crystal Accents. His wings are made from a scrap of Making Memories polka dot sheer. To make the bumblebee's trail, I strung some more of the beeds on floss, looped it, and attached it with (you guessed it!) Crystal Accents.



I made the flower pots using white coated cardboard packaging. I sanded and chalked it a little. Then I used my Bazzill punched border as a stencil for chalking the polka dots onto the front. I drew around the polka dots and applied Crystal Accents to make it pop. I cut apart the Buzz and Bloom chipboard, chalked and stickled it, and planted them in my pots.



I added Crystal Accents polka dots to my Bazzill chipboard letters so they would tie in with all the other polka dots on the page. To add more black to the page and to fill in a little white space, I hand stitched around the edge of the patterned paper.

Finally, I cut apart the Queen and Co. felt border and attached all the little flying bugs around the page to draw your eye to the photos. Each bug has his own doodled trail.





By the way, does anyone know what the expression "Bee's Knees" means? Or if the expression is longer? I googled it and got conflicting answers. It either means small and insignificant or excellent. Hmmmm......

Hip Hip Hooray...

...it's reveal day.

First up is my first layout for The Scrappiest sketch blog. This layout is based on sketch #9. The April sketch challenge is still going on. You can complete a layout from the sketch of your choice using sketches 5-9. As many as you like. Link or email your layout by the end of the month and you could win a great kit from Rusty Pickle.





Next, I have to show you my latest contest entry. Creative Scrappers Kit Club is having a contest for their June Guest Designer. Such a neat challenge. I had to create a kit from my stash including six sheets of patterned paper, one piece of cardstock, flowers, chipboard, alphas, and buttons. Then I had to create two layouts using my own kit. Finally, I had to photograph it all and upload it to their site. Today's the deadline, so cross your fingers. The prize is AMAZING: free May kit, free June kit (that I would design), and a gift certificate. Some generous folks over at Creative Scrappers. Here's my entry.

The Back Porch's Got Talent

Third time's not a charm. Turns out the fourth time isn't either. I'm talking about the times I've tried out for Back Porch Memories guest design team. Haven't made it yet. There is some talent on that porch I tell ya!

Oh well, the competition pushes me to create a good page, so I am happy to keep trying. This is my latest layout based on the May guest designer contest sketch, created by none other than Becky Fleck. It's a great sketch. Give it a try!





Here are some sneak peeks of my Treasured Memories Design Team Assignment #3. Our meeting is Wednesday, April 22nd, so I'll be able to post the entire page on the 21st. Please check back and take a peek.

True Story

Picture it. I'm on vacation in Brenham, TX with my sweet little family. [Aww, ain't that a cute picture?] After a long day of sightseeing and pleading with my two boys to look at the camera while sitting in the bluebonnets, I'm perched on the hotel bed looking at the Urban Anthology forum on my husband's laptop, which I told him not to bring, when I discovered that the next challenge was due at 9:00 am the next morning. Panic!

I'm in third place in their Design Star Challenge. I want to be on their design team....their kits are fabulous! Not to mention, I am competitive.

So, I grab my purse and run over to the Wal-Mart to buy supplies: paper, scissors, adhesive, ribbon, beads, stickers. That's it. Have you ever scrapped without all your tools and hoards of scrapbook goodies? Not so easy--I was using the edge of the paper pack for my ruler and the cardboard of the ribbon spool to draw circles and round corners. Some old school scrappin there!

Well, I made my card...not my best work, but pretty good for hotel scrapping. I photographed it...not the best lighting. Do you see the white hotel towels under it? The best I could do in the Best Western at 10:30 pm was the bathroom. And you know how great that light is, hun ladies?

WooooHooooo!

I got an email today from Liz over at The Scrappiest sketch blog asking me to be on her design team. Soooo excited! Her sketches (and the prizes) are great. Go take a look and play along!

52 Sketches, Week 15 Reveal

Sketch 15 at 52 Sketches...52Weeks was posted today. Pop over there and check it out...the prize this week is a giant kit from Scrap-A-Latte.



I just love the grid on the right side. Since I only had two photos, I chopped one of them into three small photos. The pictures were taken in the yard of a lady from church. She has a couple of acres of pristinely planted and manicured yard--the walkways are lined with pavers even. We felt tucked away from the world while taking a tour of the grounds. It reminded me of the book of my youth, The Secret Garden. And Ethan looked so sweet sitting on the rustic wooden bench. I just had to scrap it.

Thank you for your patience as I tweeked my blog these past few days. I think (hopefully) that I got what I was looking for....white background, whimsy design, clean lines. I do plan to frequently change my photo banner, though! Check back; I'm sure there'll be something new to look at.

Happy Scrappin',

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Here's my third layout for the Urban Anthology Design Star Contest. The challenge was to go green in at least two eco-conscious ways.

I reduced the amount of new supplies that I used--just the cardstock. Instead of using floss, I drew in the stitches. The mini popsicle sticks I used for the journaling have sentiments on the back side.And one of my favorite techniques--told to me by the fabulous Heather Bares--I used a Sharpie to color a bunch of old Thickers from half-empty packages. Love that!

To reuse, I used products that can be used more than once. I stamped, inked, distressed, doodled, and die cut.

I recycled quite a few products on the layout. I used scraps of pattern paper and pages from an old book for the grid. I rolled pages from that same book for the border behind the photo. I even used the cover of the book for the red circle behind the journaling. The stars are all die cut from a piece of cardboard that came in an online scrapbook order. The apple was die cut from a Starbucks' coffee collar--love the small corrugation!

I'm really happy with this layout, especially since it cost me about $2.50--seventy-nine cents for the cardstock and about $1.50 for the photo. Gotta love scrapbooking on the cheap!

Mr. Fix It

I love these pictures of my toddler mowing the grass and taking a break to tune up the mower. He was super serious....with a paci in his mouth. Oh, he cracks me up!

I was inspired by the brown, green, red, and blue in the photos. They were the same colors as more paper from my Scrapperie kit. I threw in a piece of Imaginesce as well.

That Basic Grey tree has been in my stash since November before last. It never occurred to me when I first got it to back it with paper. With all the trees on layouts now, I was able to figure out how to use it. I'm happy with the results.

Being Brothers

Well, here's some pictures of my two kiddos acting like they normally do. Wrestling. And loving it. The little one climbs all over the big one, who is constantly admonished to be careful and not hurt his little brother. Mostly, they have fun together, especially outside on their jungle gym. So many of my favorite photos were taken on that old wooden playset.

For this layout, I used Scrapperie's April kit, Winging It. I barely put a dent in that kit. It is massive. And all so versatile.

It's the Scrappiest

I found a new sketch blog. Imagine that! Anyhoo, it's called The Scrappiest (how cute, hun?); a whole blog full of some fun sketches. I like the versatility of their sketches as well as how many pictures most sketches allow.

This is my layout based on sketch 7. It called for two photos, but I just loved this one so much that I changed the sketch a little. I had such a good time making these little mushrooms. Loved em so much I thought about calling the page He's Such a Fungi. Or Gnome Sweet Gnome. My husband suggested Schroom, Schroom instead of Vroom, Vroom! Although I was very tempted (especially by that last one), I went with a more traditional title.




Toot, toot! This layout was also in Two Peas' Top Ten! How fun!

My First Sketch

I say my first sketch, but really I draw them all the time. However, I don't normally break out the ruler and draw it to scale. I did this time because it was for the Urban Anthology Design Star contest. The computerized sketches are so much more professional and detailed, but I kind of like the hand-drawn ones. Guess I better because I don't have Photoshop and probably won't get it for a while. [That's a lot of scrapbook paper I'd have to give up!]

Round Two

Here's my second entry for the Urban Anthology Design Star contest. The challenge was to showcase three manufacturers. I love to mix it up, but it was hard to narrow it down to just three.

In any case, my layout features Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, My Little Shoebox, American Crafts, Making Memories, and American Crafts. Appearances were also made by Maya Road, Prima, Bazzill, Imaginesce, and Scrap Works. Hope there's not a penalty for going over three!

The journaling is a list of cute phrases that my toddler says right now: Goodness Gracious, Bwess You, Etan Hold It, I Hungwy Momma, and Non't Want It. Don't you just love the way they mix up consonants?



P.S. It was NUMBER ONE in the Two Peas Top Ten!!! Sooooo excited. Pinch me.

52 Sketches Reveal

This is my first reveal with 52 Sketches...52 Weeks! Isn't Julie's sketch wonderful? I just love the circle and all the linear elements. This week's sponsor is Kenner Road, a vintage kit company who is supplying a ton of goodies. Come join in for your chance to win this!

Any Excuse to Use Pink

I just love these bright pink azaleas in my mom's yard. This is the third layout that I've done with pictures from this day. Hey, any excuse to use some pink, right?

This Heidi Grace paper really makes me happy, especially since I picked it up right here at my Michael's--no scrapbook store for 100 miles! And how tweet is that Maya Road sheer bird? Yum.

I did not use a sketch. I repeat, I did not use a sketch. Instead, I was inspired by several layouts in the April issue of Creating Keepsakes.

Happy Scrappin',