Throwback Thursday: A Card Share!

I know, I know. I said I'd be updating the scrappy blog and FaceBook page more regularly. Well, the truth is I haven't done a ton of scrapping. I have been slowly but surely chipping away at my 2015 December Daily and am happy to report I'm over halfway done. It's just hard finding the time so when I get ten minutes here and five minutes there to sit at my scrap desk and get a little something done, I consider it a win. I won't be sharing last year's December Daily until this upcoming November as I feel it will be more relevant to everyone then. But, once I get my December Daily done, I'm picking up my YEARS worth of Project Life to catch up on again!

In the meantime though, I've also been back to making a few cards here and there. March is a crazy busy birthday month for us so I've found myself making several birthday cards. Here is one that I really liked that I made for my Nana. It's a total "throwback Thursday" card because I used old Basic Grey June Bug papers, a super old original Heidi Swapp chipboard heart, an old sentiment sticker I've had for years and an old Studio Calico card sketch. I love digging into my stash and creating something super fun from items I've had on hand forever. And the best part? My Nana absolutely loved receiving this handmade card, along with a few photos of the boys, for her birthday. A win all around!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Papers: Basic Grey

Sentiment sticker: Unknown

Flower: Petaloo

Chipboard: Heidi Swapp

Wood Veneers: Studio Calico

Sketch: Studio Calico

Another Sketch-a-thon Challenge!

Time to share my final sketch challenge for the Memorable Seasons Sketch-a-thon! Like Susan, I also still appreciate the extensive sketch archives available from Scrapbooks Etc despite the fact that the magazine is no longer published. You have most likely seen a theme this month from me...that almost all my projects are two-pagers. And that's because during the holidays, I take so many photos that I need to place them primarily on two-page spreads or I'd be scrapping Christmas forever! No joke! So with that, I present you with another two page sketch (which, again, I feel could be turned into a single page sketch easily)...

And here is my example using my Basic Grey 25th and Pine Design Team kit. I actually had more photos than the sketch allowed for, so I split some of the photo blocks into smaller photos and also replaced the title block with a photo and moved the title over above the journaling...

The rules:

* Create a new layout for this challenge.

* Load your creation in the gallery and link back to this forum thread by DECEMBER 30th (not the 31st please)!

Another Sketch-a-thon Challenge!

The sketch-a-thon is in full swing over at Memorable Seasons, so be sure to come check it out! I love Creative Scrappers, so of course I had to pick a sketch from them to use! I went waaaaay back in their archives and found this gem. There is so much versatility with this one. All those squares could be photos (like my example), patterned paper, embellies, you name it!

And here is my example using my Basic Grey 25th and Pine kit! I pulled a sheet of Basic Grey Solids white distressed paper from my stash to use as my base. The only part of it you can see is along the edge. Then I chose to move my title up by the journaling so I could "hang" the fussy-cut ornament from the top of the page while still using it as part of my title. I also didn't want my title to rest on top of the busy ornament-patterned paper. I dressed up the ornament paper with some of the wood veneers and also added red Smooch Glitz to all the red ornaments for some sparkle. 

I also wanted to point out that I hid some additional ornament closeup photos behind three of the ones featured on my page. That's why they have a blue mat around them and a gold photo turn. 

The rules:
* Create a new layout for this challenge.
* Load your creation in the gallery and link back to this thread by DECEMBER 30th (not the 31st please)!

Sketch-a-thon at Memorable Seasons!

We've got the month-long Sketch-a-thon happening over at Memorable Seasons right now and I hope you'll come join us! Today, I am giving you a two-page sketch from PageMaps. Now, I know some of you are "anti-double-pagers" but what I really love about this sketch is you could choose to do a single page easily using either side of this sketch. 

And here's my example using my Basic Grey 25th and Pine DT Kit. I used it for a Project 12 catchup page. After this one, I only have December 2011 and February 2012 to do and I am done with Project 12!! 

The rules:

* Create a new layout for this challenge. 

* Load your creation in the gallery and link back to this forum thread by DECEMBER 30th (not the 31st please)!

Basic Grey 25th & Pine at Memorable Seasons!

Basic Grey does it again! They have created yet another collection that I consider timeless. 25th and Pine is the perfect Christmas collection for scrapping any holiday photos; it would work well with heritage photos as well as the photos you take over the holidays this year. It has an "old school" feel mixed with modern elements like chevron patterns and wood veneers. Love it all! And you can get some of this fabulous, festive collection right here in the Memorable Seasons store!

Here is the awesome kit I received...

And the backsides...

And my "must-have" extras...

And here is what I have created so far. In honor of our Sketch-a-thon this month, I used sketches from Inspired To Scrap for all three of the below projects. If you've never seen Stacey's sketches, I encourage you to check them out! I think you can tell from the two layouts that I really liked the chevron pattern on a couple of the backsides and I prefer to have ornament embellies "hanging" rather than "floating!" 

I'll be back with a reveal each Wednesday this month along with a Sketch-A-Thon challenge for you! Be to check out the Memorable Seasons forum because the Sketch-a-Thon is going on all month long!

Member Challenge Us with Basic Grey Carte Postale!

We've had a fun month playing over at Memorable Seasons. The entire month of August, the member issued some fun challenges for all of us, including the Design Team, to play along with! I am so sad this event is over...time to look forward to next August! Anyways, I had a blast working on the challenges and wanted to share a few of my challenge layouts completed using the rest of my Basic Grey Carte Postale Design Team kit. You can pick up this awesome collection here in the Memorable Seasons Store! And now for my layouts...

This one is my take on Bev's challenge which was to use the sketch she provide to scrap a heritage photo, a photo of something vintage or in a vintage style...

And this one was for Carol's challenge where she asked us to journal in a square and also include the page title and one other design element in the square...

And this was my answer to Louise's trends challenge, where she asked us to incorporate lots of the recent trends (chevrons, washi tape, arrows, etc) in our layout...

And another fabulous challenge from Berta to do something creative with your photos. On this one, I gave my photos a 3D effect (sorry it's hard to tell)....

Emily used the name of the crop - Members Challenge Us - as inspiration for an alphabet challenge. We had to have something on our page beginning with the letters M, C and U. It didn't matter if it was a supply, technique, manufacturer, topic, etc. My M is the map, my C is the cork and my U is the hexagons I tucked "underneath" my die-cut background (I know, a stretch)...

Chris issued us a shape challenge asking us to create a layout (or two cards) using at least two circles. I went the card route for this one...

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Tomorrow is the first which means I'll be revealing what collection I got to work with in my Memorable Seasons September Kit!

Basic Grey Carte Postale is at Memorable Seasons!

It's no secret that I am a HUGE Basic Grey fan and I am shocked that it took me eight months of Memorable Seasons Design Team kits before I ended up designing with one of their collections. But, this one was well worth the wait. Yes, it is a travel collection but it is truly versatile and can be used for so much more. The B sides of the papers are not themed at all and can be used for anything. I actually bought some duplicate papers because I love the B side patterns and colors so much!

You can pick up this awesome collection here in the Memorable Seasons Store!

Here are the front sides of the papers...

And the back sides...

And then the cardstock and embellishments...

And of course I had to pick up some extras...

So here is my first layout I created with this collection. Before my kit arrived, and I was sitting there looking through the store choosing my extras, the map on this sheet of "Michigan Ave" paper caught my eye. I thought, "geez, that looks really familiar." Yep. You guessed it...it's an old-school map of Portland!! So I decided to use this paper to document the three locations that we've lived in Portland. Two of the three locations are as accurately placed. Our current house on Kerby Ave is a little further north by about 20 blocks, off the map, so I just fudged it a bit. I need to suggest to Basic Grey they rename the paper from "Michigan Ave" to something more appropriate like "Burnside St." ;)

Hey, one more thing...the Members Challenge Us Crop is going on right now. We'd love it if you'd come join us for a full month of fun challenges issued by the Memorable Seasons members themselves!

As local as it gets.

I created this layout for the most recent Basic Grey sketch challenge. Susan Stringfellow created one amazing sketch and I loved working with it. I was also inspired by Wendy's challenge over at Memorable Seasons to create a layout with a quilt pattern. Well, awhile back Davinie Fiero had posted a tutorial for making a cathedral quilt pattern on a layout and I have been wanting to try it for awhile. Wendy's challenge combined with my June Bug papers seemed the perfect excuse to give the technique a try. The choice of topic was inspired by this month's OLW challenge over at Club CK to scrap about something that has made you the happiest and/or healthiest. So I decided to scrap about our first garden that we planted this past summer. Finally, the little signs were inspired by Ann's challenge over at My Sketch World to use an item found in the kitchen on your layout. So I included some popsicle sticks!

(Supplies: Basic Grey papers, rub-ons, alpha die-cuts and alpha/numeric stickers; Bazzill cardstock; October Afternoon flashcard; popsicle sticks from around the house; StazOn ink; Sakura pen; Glue Arts, Thermoweb, Tombow, Helmar and 3M adhesives.)

'Neath the cover of October skies...

...And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one a more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love...

I love Van Morrison. This was the bridal party dance at our wedding. Seeing as we were married in October (my favorite month of the year), I had to incorporate this song somewhere that day. Anyways, I am off on a tangent because, other than stealing a lyric from this song for my title, this layout has nothing to do with our wedding. This photo was taken four Octobers later!

The first October we were out here, we decided to spend a beautiful October Saturday with our friends Ashley & Justin taking a scenic drive around Mt. Hood. I have almost scrapped all the photos from that day, but this one was still lingering, begging for special attention. Our last stop on our scenic drive was up at Timberline lodge on Mt. Hood. As we were leaving the lodge, this was the view that greeted us - silhouetted trees against the clear sky, layers of the Cascade Mountains and Mt. Jefferson in the distance. It was absolutely breathtaking. 

So this photo was finally scrapped, almost four years after being taken, thanks to several inspiration points. First was Stephanie Baxter's challenge at Big Picture Classes Big Idea Festival to use a large photo on a layout. Second, was the awesome September 1st sketch from Stuck?! Sketches which I rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise to accommodate my vertical photo. The color scheme is thanks to Lisa Truesdell's challenge over at Two Peas to scrap a Fall layout with nontraditional colors. Lucky for me, all the pinks and deep purples in Basic Grey's Indian Summer collection made this task fairly easy.

(Supplies: Basic Grey papers, alpha stickers, felt accents, chipboard accent and cardstock stickers; Bazzill cardstock & paper leaves; Sakura Micron pen; Glue Arts and Thermoweb adhesives.)

Spook-tacular!

Here's a quick card I created to get you all in the mood for Halloween! I used this sketch by Susan Stringfellow for Basic Grey and also used some Basic Grey Eerie. Why did I decide to pull out some Halloween supplies and make a Halloween card for this Basic Grey sketch challenge? Well, because Kandis Smith, Garden Girl at Two Peas, asked us to for this week's Finally Friday card challenge.

(Supplies: Basic Grey papers, chipboard & stickers; Bazzill cardstock; miscellaneous ribbon; Zig Photo signature & Sakura Micron pens; Glue Arts, Thermoweb & 3M adhesives.)

Playmat Fun!

So this layout was born from several inspiration points. First, I wanted to use up some Basic Grey Lime Rickey scraps I had lying around. And then there was this awesome sketch from Boys Rule I wanted to use. Then my wheels started spinning with a challenge on the Club CK to try a new endeavor. I decided to try hexagons for the first time. Yep. The FIRST time. And that was also spurred on by Sherri's hexagon challenge at Inspired to Scrap. Finally, Wendy Sue Anderson at TwoPeas challenged you to journal in list form. So, from all those creative starting points came this layout...

 (Supplies: DCWV & Bazzill cardstock; Basic Grey papers; American Crafts Thickers; Imagination Project journaling spot; unknown insect brads; Darice sequins; DMC embroidery floss; Zig Photo Signature & Sakura pens; StazOn & Close To My Heart ink; EK Success border punch; Glue Arts & Thermoweb adhesives.)

...and I love it. It is so bright, fun and happy. Just like Liam is when he's playing on his playmat. Thanks for looking!

A Basic Grey sketch using vintage Boxer!

I love Basic Grey sketch challenges and this one was no exception! Here's the awesome sketch...

...And here is my take on it. I adapted this Valerie Salmon sketch for three ultrasound photos by using the upper right patterned paper rectangle for an additional photo and moving the subtitle to below the journaling strips. I used some vintage Boxer and a touch of Wisteria for my papers. I also used a Scarlett's Letter (my favorite BG collection of all time) tag, old Basic Grey chipboard alphas and flowers, a rub-on sentiment, a Basics journaling spot, Hang 10 & Scarlett's Letter alpha stickers and I know at least a couple of the buttons are Basic Grey. I am so happy with the way this turned out!

Using up some scraps on a pretty card!

I have really been trying to use up the oodles and oodles of scraps I have. And I have found that cards are a great way to do this. The following card is no exception. I also decided to use this sketch by Susan Stringfellow for Basic Grey to complete this card. And, I also used four (I think!) old Basic Grey collections...there is definitely some Urban Couture, Sultry and Wisteria. I think the pink is Lily Kate. A Basic Grey Wholy Cow rub-on sentiment completes this card. Now, who can I send this to???

Scrapping Liam's Birth Announcement...

This was one of those layouts I was so nervous about scrapping because it was so important to me to do justice with this one. I mean, it's my first and currently only child's birth announcement. But, I must say I am very happy with how it turned out. I used this sketch from Boys Rule and it was perfect for this page. (If you are interested in attempting the sketch yourself for a chance at a RAK from Boys Rule, you have until August 14th to complete your layout!)

I decided to stick with a Winter/Christmas theme since that was the theme of his announcements. I used all scraps on this page - old Christmas lines from Basic Grey, Bo Bunny and Dream Street Papers. The die-cuts are from Pink Paislee's Snow Day collection (and one of the items in my warehouse sale box), the heart brads are Doodlebug, the pearls are K&Co, the twine is Trendy Twine (thanks Karen!) and the kraft cardstock is of course Bazzill. Thanks for looking!

Basic Grey Card Sketch Challenge

So, I was still one Mother's Day card short for this year. But, with this challenge completed, I am all set for next weekend. Basic Grey challenged you to use the following card sketch...

And here is what I came up with using the Wisteria collection, some Basic Grey bling and a Basic Grey rub-on sentiment. I also used my own handwriting on this card which I hardly ever do. It doesn't look exactly like the sketch, but sketch are supposed to provide inspiration and this one sure did!

Basic Grey - Use Patterned Paper As Your Background Challenge

I had so much fun working on this challenge for Basic Grey. The challenge was to create a layout using patterned paper for your background. I had wanted to scrap these two photos of my aunt Beth & I on each other's wedding days forever. But, I was having a hard time finding papers that would work with both wedding colors. Platinum grey and cranberry red bridesmaid dresses? Hmmm...then I found a few large pieces of Basic Grey Boxer in my scrap bin and discovered it was the PERFECT paper for these photos. So, all the paper is Basic Grey Boxer and Bazzill cardstock. Additional Basic Grey supplies included my Whisper Swirl stamps and few cardstock stickers from the Porcelain collection, an Origins stitched brad, chipboard alphas and rub-ons. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Basic Grey - Tiffany Tillman Scallops Challenge

I love scallops! So when I saw this challenge from Tiffany Tillman on the Basic Grey blog, I knew I had to partake. I also knew that I had some significant scraps of the Phoebe collection laying around - and Phoebe features lots of scallops in its patterns. So armed with my Phoebe scraps, a large scalloped die-cut cardstock circle of Bazzill cardstock and my fun EK Success Bumpy Road border punch, I created this layout. I also used a bunch of other Basic Grey goodies including my Birdie Trio stamp set, glazed brads, velvet trim, a bloomer and both the alphas and tags from Phoebe as well!

Basic Grey - Susan Weinroth "Scraplift This" Challenge

So, it's no secret I LOVE Basic Grey. And it's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Susan Weinroth's. So, when I saw she was this month's guest designer at Basic Grey, I was super excited. Susan made an amazing layout for a "Scraplift This" challenge. You can view the challenge and Susan's layout here. So, I used this layout as the inspiration for the following two-page spread. First off, I dug deep into my Basic Grey stash consisting of 17 different collections right now and pulled out some old Blitzen (which is still my favorite Christmas line of all time). I also included some Basic Grey alphas, glazed brads and buttons. Instead of repeating hearts in various patterns, I used stars. Since I don't have a sewing machine, I hand-stitched on each star to add an element of texture. I dotted most of the stars with a button as Susan did to her hearts. I included a patterned paper border at the bottom as Susan did and added a journaling block and title. And here is my result!

Check out the fun July Crop Addict Kit!

The Crop Addict July Rockets Red Glare monthly scrapbook kit features papers collections from My Mind's Eye and Basic Grey. Six coordinating sheets of Bazzill Cardstock are included. We've also added Making Memories Velvet alphabet stickers, a mini alphabet set, chipboard stars, acrylic stars, die cuts, rhinestone bling, chipboard frames, ribbon, Heidi Swapp slide clips, brads, and so much more!

July 2011 Crop Addict Kit

All of this can be yours for only $50. View the full list of supplies and order yours here! An awesome coordinating kit option is also available here for only $14.

July 2011 Crop Addict Kit Option

Here are the projects I created with this month's kit...five layouts (including 2 double-page spreads), a card and I still have plenty of supplies left over for more!

Visit the Crop Addict gallery to see the rest of the Design Team's pages and projects.

The gorgeous February Crop Addict kit is here!

Okay everyone...get ready for some serious eye candy! The February 2011 Crop Addict kit is full of amazing scrappy goodness. This kit contains over $40 worth of supplies, including double-sided papers from Bella Blvd's Estate Sale collection and Dream Street Papers' Rue collection, a few bonus paper sheets from the Basic Grey Sugared collection, six coordinating sheets of Bazzill cardstock, Paper Loft alpha/number stickers, a Die Cuts With A View rub-on alphabet, a 8-pack of blank scalloped edge cards with envelopes, Making Memories flocking kit, Kaiser Kraft felt, Scenic Route chipboard hearts, a Prima crystal swirl and a Madrigal blossom, two Bazzill modern buttons, Heidi Swapp acrylic shapes, Maya Road calendar sheers, a set of date coasters, and a small dark red ink pad. All of this can be yours for only $32. So be sure and pick yours up here today while supplies last!

As always, there is also a beautiful kit option with even more coordinating scrappy fun. This month's kit option includes Bella Blvd Alpha+Bits and Bella Blvd Blurbs from the Estate Sale collection, Creative Imaginations Epoxy Stickers, a K & Co Metal Art Saying & a Metal Art Gold Quote Plate and coordinating coaster squares. Pick up this kit option for only $14.

This kit and kit option have such a variety of supplies that they can be used for almost any sort of project. I used the kit to create two wedding layouts (one of which took me back to 1976), a blast from the past layout about my BFF, two year in review layouts (one being a yearly recap and the other a baby's first year), a baby shower layout and a set of greeting cards. Check out these projects below and also be sure to check out what the rest of the Crop Addict Design Team did with the kit here!