Teamwork!!

Don't you just love it when things that you love individually come together to team up for something that totally rocks??  Well three of my favorite blogs out there have put together one kick booty challenge.  ScrapFIT has set the theme 'Friends' and Sketchy Thursdays provided the sketch.  Then my new fav addiction, Paper Issues supplied the prize from their shop!  Below you'll find my take on the challenge.  We have inking, flocking, glitter, stitching, and much more crammed into this little layout of my daughter and my best friend's son.  They only get to see each other once a year or so because we are 1500 miles away but they always seem to pick up right where they left off...best buds!  Thanks for stopping by!

Rock Star

The theme right now at Fantabulous Cricut is musical cricut cuts.  Having recently scored the Hannah Montana cart on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $9, I knew I wanted to play along.  You can make any paper craft, but I decided to go with a layout at my sons request.  He inherited my musical inclination and plays several instruments pretty darn well for an 11yr old.  He's learning guitar and also plays the sax.  So when he saw this grungy paper by Paper Pizazz and DCWV he claimed them for a layout of him.  The title is pieced together from several cuts off the same cart.  I snipped off parts that weren't needed and layered them.  I am getting pretty good at stretching my cricut cuts.  I followed the sketch posted today at Stuck?! and for the two semi-circular elements went with dry embossed textures instead of more patterned paper.  I tried to tie in more of the glitter paper from the work 'rock' by fringing it all up and running it along the bottom of the paper strip.  I like how that turned out!  I'm still struggling with the concept of masking, but keep giving it the good ol' college try.  You can spot some in the top right and just right of the guitar.

Paper Issues! ..and a request

So I happened upon THE most fantabulous blog ever the other day.  The blog title is absolutely hilarious and definitely drew me in to checking out what it was all about.  It's called "We have issues...PAPER ISSUES!"  HAHAHAHA.  How great is that?!?!  Not to mention, frighteningly accurate LOL!  Their featured theme right now is 'learning curve' and they want you to share all of your school related projects.  The thing I totally loved most is that they leave it open to you sharing anything with them that involves paper.  It could be altered items, layouts, cards, gifts, if you used paper on it...it counts!  Click the blinkie to pop over and see all the AMAZING creations that have been featured so far after you check out my fun piece.

I had been asked (more like hounded) since the day school started to make something for my kiddos to put their box tops for education in.  They've been going into the junk drawer and then when the teacher set a date for the month they could bring them in, they dug through that drawar making all kinds of messes to find every last one.  Enter Super Scrappy Mom to the rescue (I really should wear a cape with all the miracles they expect me to preform HA!).  This started out as a box of taco shells...add a little scrappy yummies from my stash and voila!  We have a box to stash away all of our box tops until it's time to take them to school.  

The typeset paper is The Paper Studio.  The green paper is Creative Imaginations (I really didn't crop that well...it has words all about school and the ONE I centered on is vacation?!?!).  The apple is a cardstock sticker from Reminisce and the swirl is cut from the Sizzix-Flourish die.  The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.  The word 'box' is The Paper Studio chipboard letters and the word 'tops' is by Recollections. 

Also, while I have everyone's attention....  My friend Tanya is collecting cards for her little friend Aidan.  He is four years old and battling Leukemia.  Getting mail just brightens his day (isn't that just like a 4 yr old??) so she's having a card drive!!  If you make a card for him and get it to her by the end of this month, your name will be put into a drawing for a goodie.  Though, when you click over and see his sweet little face, you won't need any extra motivation to make a boy-rific card for him!!  For details click HERE and below is my card (all the cuts are Create-a-Critter).

Family

I now think I've completed every challenges for the Paper Variety's blogoversary blowout except day 1.  I just have such a time with stamping.  I'm miserable at it..not for lack of trying!!  Day 2 however, I've got no prob.  Why did it come so easy for me you ask?  Because the challenge of the day was to create a layout that is at least 70% product of your favorite manufacturer.  If there was any doubt that Tim Holtz is my most favoritest of favorite product pushers out there, just visit my Tim Holtz drawer...yes he has his own drawer!!!  I think just about everything on this layout came from my Tim Holtz drawer.  The patterned paper (including the pieces that the diecuts and pleated paper strips are cut from) are the Vintage Shabby Paper Stack.  The ticket and the grungeboard pieces are also Tim Holtz.  I even used Tim Holtz distress ink!!!  So other than the dies used to cut the shapes out...all, you guessed it...TIM HOLTZ!  

The sketch that inspired this return to 12x12 layouts is #251 by Pencil Lines.  The DT amazes me each post over there with how very different from each other, yet so very obviously linked to the sketch they each are!! I also am sharing this with the challenge of the week at Allsorts Challenge Blog which was swirls and flowers. The swirls are cut from the Cindy Loo cricut cart and the flower is a McGill punch.  Lastly the challenge over at Shopping Our Stash is PERFECT for a Tim Holtz-a-palooza layout!  It's Vintage/Distressed/Shabby.  Plus every single thing on this layout is from my stash...yay!

Stretching the Sketch with PageMaps

I think just maybe I've mentioned what a sketch-a-holic I am....just maybe (HA!).  I have a ton of challenge sites I frequent to get new, fabulous sketches to try (look in my sidebar ------> and scroll down a bit for a list of some of my favs).  If I really love a sketch I'll print it out and use it several more times.  To keep my layouts from looking like a carbon copy of the first, I've learned to stretch the sketch by changing up certain elements.  I try to keep things in the same place as in the sketch, but where one place might call for 2 photos, I'll do a photo and a journal box.  Or instead of using 2 squares of patterned paper, I'll do one plus stitching for the other square.  Lots of great ways to stretch your sketch if you just keep the shapes in the same spot and let yourself get creative as to what can fill that shape!!

For the PageMaps sketch below I did change up quite a bit, but hopefully the original sketch is still pretty obviously my inspiration.  Instead of a large vertical photo, I added an additional patterned paper.  I switched the title and the date spots and used a sun as the circle the title sits on.  Instead of having a strip of 3 photos, I used one square photo and repeated the block with 2 additional tree elements.  I used a flower cluster and a flamingo (this pic was taken during our Orlando vacation a few years ago, so I wanted to sneak in a touch of Florida somewhere) in place of the circle cluster and cupcake.  Everyone I talk to that is not a fan of sketches, has the same complaint...."it's just too confining!"  Hopefully this fuels your creative jet just enough to try a sketch if you've been iffy about them in the past.  :)

I also have to ooooze love about this new paper stack.  Michaels has them all on sale for $9.99 this week, and even though my Joanns sells the DCWV for that price nearly weekly, I thought I'd pop in to see if they have any variety I can't find elsewhere.  Enter DCWV-The Playtime stack. You HAVE to go looking for this stack...it is the most amazing find I've come across in a looong time!  And since it was such worthy paper, I decided to use up my best flowers on the layout.  These colors I am running dangerously low on and had been hording them for the right project.  I so love my Prima flowers!!!  In fact they are probably my favorite thing EVER to add to a project.  So this project is particularly fitting for The Paper Variety's blogoversary celebration...day 5!  

Yellow-splosion

As I mentioned a few posts ago, they are having a birthday scrapapalooza over at The Paper Variety that I've been having a blast playing along with.  If you are just hearing about this first here, where HAVE you been LOL?!?!  Day 1 kicked off with a kick-booty blog hop and a challenge to incorporate stamps (digi or ink) into your project.  Day 2 asked us to create a layout with our favorite manufacturer.  I haven't done that one yet, but it's next on my to-do list.  Day 3 was to scrap your fav photos (if I'm not mistaken it's the post JUST below this one), and now we are at Day 4.  Pick your favorite color and create a layout that is monochromatic (meaning only using shades of that color).  Though they did add that we can use neutrals which was a big 'whew!' because I'd just been itching to use this Authentique paper and yellow is my absolute favorite color...ever.  Has been as long as I can remember.  I was once told that I picked it when I was in Kindergarten because I felt sorry for it, because no one else ever picked it!  LOL.  So I included grey/black/white accents to top off the YELLOW-SPLOSION going on here.  I've got a few shades in the flower cluster, but most of it is sunshiney yellow...my fav :)

The sketch I followed (yes, there is always a sketch I follow...I'm addicted LOL) is by Sassy Lil' Sketches.  Click on over and give it a go if you get a chance.  I love that it challenged me to get my flower clusters I love so much out of the corner and move it to the bottom edge.  I decided not to do a huge banner because it's not really a celebration theme, but still tucked a handmade banner into the flower cluster and I love it :)

Beautiful

A lot of people wonder how I can possible cram 3, 4, sometimes even 5+ challenges into one layout.  I never actually understood why some challenge blogs frown upon it to be honest.  In my opinion while one challenge may bring a viewer to my blog, they are going to see the link to you as soon as they arrive!  Cross promotion at it's easiest.  I'm sure it'd be different if I just did a massive list at the end of my post of all the links, but I take the time to explain the challenge and how I incorporated it into my creation.  Scouring for several different types of challenges is something that has helped me give so much more depth to my layouts than I'd ever thought to see before.  I can find a color challenge to help me pull all of my papers together, then a sketch challenge to help me figure out how to place them, then sometimes I'll see a theme challenge that will lead me right to the perfect photos and if I'm lucky I'll even find a misc challenge that gives me the nerve to add extra layers of embellies I'd never thought to take the time to incorporate.  Of course, I refuse to sacrifice my vision, so if I get to working and find that a certain challenge isn't fitting right with where the rest have taken me...it gets the boot!

With this layout of my daughter a few weeks before she started preK, I was able to stop at 4 different challenges along the path to completed.  I started off at The Paper Variety.  They are celebrating their blogoversary (seriously pop over and jump aboard the train to fun-land this weekend!!).  That was what inspired me to go digging for this picture of my daughter.  The challenge was to scrap your favorite photo and while I won't play favorites between my kiddos...this one's strength is definitely in her photogenic smile!

I then searched around for just the perfect sketch to go with the papers I found that matched her little outfit so well.  The line is Basic Grey-Bittersweet.  Enter Stuck On U Sketches!!  I'm a sketch-a-holic and they've got some of the most beautiful ones around!

I knew I wanted to play along with this week's Frosted Designs challenge the second I saw it.  It is to use a stamp (the postage kind), an envelope and a ticket in one layout.  I immediately went to my Tim Holtz drawer (yes he has his own drawer at my house...wonder if I can convince to come for a stay LOL) and nabbed these fabulous tickets he sells and picked the one that says 'ADORE'.  The envelope can be found at the top of the photo matte...it's vellum.  For the stamp, I spent a while stuck.  Staring at my huge collection (read: hoard) of scrappy stuff and wondering how there isn't one stamp shaped embellie to be found.  Then my husband piped up (he's a pretty useful fella sometimes!) didn't that green bug thing come with something like that.  BRILLIANT!!!  When you buy your Cuttlebug (or at least back when I did) it came with a postage stamp die and a set of 4 stamp image embossing folders.  You'll find the one I picked nestled just on top of the envie.

My last stop on the challenge blog express was to Scrapbookers Anonymous.  They posted a chipboard challenge this month and so I went digging back into my Tim Holtz drawer and found this adorable key and keyhole set.  I painted them pink and glittered them up (like there was any doubt we'd be glittering?!?!) and added them to the layout.  Along with glimmer misted chipboard letters to spell 'beautiful'.

Part 2 of the challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous is to create a card from your scraps.  I created this from the basic grey papers I had leftover, but I won't mention any names for who it's for because I know she pops in my blog from time to time.  I'd been wanting to make her a card to say thanks for being awesome and these papers scream A-W-E-S-O-M-E to me!  :)  The birdie is from Create-a-Critter as is the Hello Cloud.  I cut it out and then used the reverse image (the part that's leftover after you take the part you usually want) and stuck it down then inked over it.  Once removed it was supposed to come off more as a thought bubble than a cloud...so there ya go :) 

Exciting news!!

I am so excited to finally get to share my first project created for the brand new design team I am a member of.  Paper Hoarders!  So fun and there are lots of fun challenges and it's open to scrappers, cardmakers, and people who alter anything that can't run away!!  The first challenge running right now is Back to School project with a ruler included.  Here is my layout!  I just LOOOVE how it turned out!

I had a hard time finding letters that worked (and that I had the right letters for) so I used chipboard and painted it and distressed it, and I think they turned out fantastic.  The tree is from Cindy Loo cricut cart, the border punch is the Fiskars Notebook punch and the frame a leather frame that I thought went well with the distressy look of the paper :)

Happy Girl

A few Easter's ago, my parents took my oldest with them to South Florida so my (then) youngest got left behind.  Mommy's fault...she was still too little for momma to let go away for a week.  She was definitely bummed, so we decided to surprise her with a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese.  When we walked in we made sure to steer clear of the games and stuff so she wasn't really sure where we were and was wholly unimpressed.  Then we covered her eyes and led her to the games and she lit up like a firework!  It was a great day.

I incorporated the following challenges into this layout.  My Time to Craft's current challenge is 'In Full Bloom' so I fussy cut a bunch of flowers from coordinating patterned papers and littered the page with them.  The current challenge at Papercraft Star is to use something metal in your project so I dug through my stash of charms and found just the right one to hang from my ribbon :)  ...Thanks for looking.