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.)

View from the Top

Another day, another layout! I am on a roll this week. And I honestly have to attribute that to the Big Idea Festival over at Big Picture Classes. This FREE class has been providing me with so much inspiration! This layout was done for the Day challenge presented by Karen Grunberg. Her big idea is to "savor life." And to do that, you need to live in the moment, enjoy the moment. So her challenge was for us to scrap a moment that brought you joy within the last two weeks.

These photos were taken a couple weeks ago from my window seat on the plane as I flew from Portland, OR to Columbus, OH for my cousin's wedding. It was my first trip away alone since my son's birth, and although I missed him and my husband terribly on the short weekend trip, I savored the alone time I got. Enjoying the view on my early morning flight - watching the sunrise with Mt Hood in the foreground was one of these solitary moments I savored on the trip.

(Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Bella Blvd & Jillibean Soup papers; Hambly transparency; American Crafts Thickers; Pink Paislee wood alphas; My Little Shoebox tiny alphas; Creating Keepsakes airplane charm; unknown epoxy sentiment stickers; Heidi Swapp & Close To My Heart stamps; Close To My Heart, Superior, Studio G & StazOn inks; Studio Calico Mister Huey's mist; EK Success Zig Writer pen; Glue Arts, Thermoweb, Helmar & 3M adhesives.)

I also used Sketch #28 over at Let's Get Sketchy. And, I am still trying to finish all the amazing challenges from Memorable Seasons Members Challenge Us crop last month. Laura had challenged us to use stamps on our page - both on the background and to embellish. I pulled out my old school Heidi Swapp sentiment stamps for the background and then my Close To My Heart set with circles, stars and arrows and stamped a bunch of shapes on cardstock, cut them out and adhered them with foam adhesive for my embellishments.

First Smile

I was really scared to scrap this photo. Why? Because this is a big moment! Your baby's first smile? Absolutely a big moment. Now, out of full disclosure, this was not his first, FIRST smile. I wasn't fast enough with the iPhone to capture that. But, this shot was taken the same day, just a few hours later.

 (Supplies: Fancy Pants Designs paper, ribbon & tag; Bazzill & DCWV cardstock; felt flower embellishment handmade by Michelle McCord; Miscellaneous buttons & date stamp; DMC embroidery floss; Sakura pen; StazOn & Close To My Heart ink; EK Success punches; Cuttlebug embosser & templates; Cricut die-cutting machine; Glue Arts, Thermoweb & Helmar adhesives; font downloaded from the Internet.)

I am so happy with the way this layout came out. Again, it was born from several different inspiration points. First, Memorable Seasons and Club CK both issued challenges to use a sunburst/sunbeams on a layout - a very hot trend right now! I love this look and did use the technique on a couple layouts years ago, and am happy to see it's all the rage right now. I think it's a great way to use up scraps too and I had been hoarding these scraps of Fancy Pants On A Whimsy Collection. 

Speaking of hoarding, that leads me to the next inspiration point - Challenge #9 at Big Picture Classes Big Idea Festival. Wendy Smedley challenged us to create a layout showcasing something we have learned from the festival. So this layout encompasses two different things I have learned from other big ideas during the festival. 

1. Use those hoarded supplies. You know, that one thing you wer holding onto for that perfect layout. Well, on this layout, besides using up my hoarded On A Whimsy collection, I used one of five felt embellishments that was handmade by fellow scrapper, Michelle McCord. (Unfortunately, Michelle's #1 job as a Mom has caused her to have to put scrapbooking on the back burner.) I cannot believe how perfectly these two hoarded supplies went together! 
2. Happy Crafting. Create a layout for you and do what you love. Don't just do something on a layout because it's trendy and you think you have to. Do what feels right to you and makes you happy. Period. Yes, sunbursts are trendy, but remember I said I've used the technique before? Every moment creating this layout was a happy one.

Then, there was this awesome sketch from Boys Rule. Great sketch, huh? Well, as I studied it I started seeing it as a sunburst, since I obviously had sunbursts running through my brain. I think my sunburst interpretation if the sketch turned out well. 

Finally, there was the issue of embellishing. I didn't want to do too much because I already had lots of busy patterned paper and that adorable handmade felt flower to use. Well, there's a member challenge over at Two Peas to use your punches and die-cutting machines. Perfect! I used this prompt to die-cut my title using my Cricut and a cute kiddie font. (Sorry! Can't remember the exact name of the font now.) Then I used my old EK Success funky heart and star punches (and my Cuttlebug embosser) to create simple cardstock embellies. But, I still needed a little more. So I turned to the School House Bingo challenge at My Sketch World and chose a line on the bingo card that required I use buttons, a tag and a number in my title. Great! Done!

Whew! Okay, I think I'm done rambling. But, I love this layout so much and wanted to let you all know how I went through the creative process to come to the final result and also give credit to the awesome web sites who provided me with fantastic inspiration points.

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!

Go, Pack, Go!

This layout was born out of a combination of inspiration from Let's Capture These Sketches #148 sketch and Scrapfit's Step Class #8 challenge. LCTS sketch allowed for several photos with one focal photo which is exactly the type of design I was looking for with these photos. Then Scrapfit challenged me to use mists and masks to create a masked, misted background. I really need to get my hands on more Mr. Huey's because the Glimmer Mists just weren't dark enough for the look I was going for. The brown dots along the right show up well, but those dots also are each shadowed with a silver dot. I also masked an acrylic star shape in a couple spots with gold, but they are hard to see too. Oh well, no page is perfect and I am definitely not a master mister! But, practice makes perfect and I definitely plan to spend some birthday cash on some Mr. Huey's! But don't get me wrong - I still love my Glimmer Mists!

(Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Close To My Heart papers, alpha stickers & star/circle sticker; American Crafts Thicker chipboard alphas; Creative Imaginations epoxy sentiments; Studio Calico Wood veneers; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; Heidi Swapp mask; Colorbox chalk ink; StazOn ink; Sakura & Signo pens; Glue Arts, Thermoweb & 3M adhesives)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!