'Tis the Election Season.

So, I will be the first to admit I don't like politics. I hate the divisiveness of them and I hate that if you aren't far left or far right in this country, you kind of get looked over. But, I appreciate living in a democracy and I appreciate living in a country where you are free to express your opinion. There. I've said my peace. Anyways, I have had the photos for this layout saved on my computer now for almost four years. I collected them from various Internet sources with the plan to scrap about the historical significance of the 2008 election of President Obama.

So, with the 2012 presidential election fast approaching and President Obama running for a second term, a ton of Pink Paislee Declaration that I got from their warehouse sale sitting in my scraproom, motivation from this challenge over at Scrapfit, and lifting this layout from my friend Kathy at Memorable Seasons, I created the following layout...

(Supplies: Pink Paislee papers, alpha stickers & border sticker; Pebbles pleated embellishment; Bella Blvd flag & washi tape; Divine Twine twine; Studio Calico wood veneer stars; Queen & Co felt stars; Bazzill cardstock; unknown tag & brads; Sakura pen; StazOn ink; EK Success border punch; Glue Arts & Thermoweb adhesives.)

No matter what your political viewpoint is, I hope you like my layout!

A Page Maps card sketch just in time for a newly important holiday for me!

I received an email from my wonderful husband Andrew on Tuesday that simply said "Grandparents Day is 9/9." Yikes! That's this Sunday and as newly minted grandparents, I wanted to make sure we recognized my parents and in-laws. Now, I know they wouldn't want a gift or anything (I can hardly give them anything for Father's or Mother's Day) but I knew I had to send each couple a handmade card. 

Then, Becky posted this contest on the Page Maps blog for a chance to win the inaugural (and sold out) Studio Calico card kit. Um, yes please? So, I used her fabulous sketch to create this Grandparents Day card to send to my in-laws...

 Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Dream Street papers; Jillibean Soup tiny alphas; Studio Calico wood veneers; DCWV rub-on border; StazOn ink; Cuttlebug embossing system; Glue Arts, 3M & Thermoweb adhesives.

And I followed the sketch pretty much to the letter, adjusting a bit for a longer sentiment and smaller embellishments...

Liam's NICU Room Layout

So I have been "pinning" many of the layout & card sketches from Let's Capture These Sketches. I just never seem to get them completed before the weekly deadline but this time, I did! So here is my take on Sketch #147...

Supplies: DCWV cardstock; Bo Bunny papers & stickers; Making Memories rub-on alphas; Jillibean Soup tiny alphas; Studio Calico wood veneers; Bazzill mini brads; Sakura & Zig pens; Tsukineko walnut ink; StazOn ink; Colorbox chalk ink; Creative Memories circle cutting system; Glue Arts, 3M & Thermoweb adhesives.

And here is the original sketch from Natalie...

The first thing you'll notice is that I rotated the sketch 90 degrees counterclockwise. I followed the basic placement of photos and title but revised the photo grid to accommodate only five photos instead of six and also to allow for a focal photo. I added some circles and rings behind the photos to help ground them but I did take a cue from the splatter in the sketch and decided to mist my background with a few spritzes of walnut ink. I also added a little bit of paper and embellishing in the negative space.

I guess I should also explain the title. The full title, tiny alphas and all, reads "Our Super Expensive Studio Apartment for 6 Weeks". See, at some point when Liam was in the hospital, we were discussing how wonderful the brand-new NICU was with their private rooms complete with a special living area for family - a pullout couch/bed, desk, chair and flat screen TV. We said it was like our own little studio apartment, but then realized that would be a very expensive apartment!

Page Maps sketch using Fancy Pants Childish Things.

So, PageMaps had a recent contest that asked you to use the following sketch for an opportunity to win the Fancy Pants Little Sport collection. I sadly did not get my page done by the contest deadline (one of the joys of having an infant) but I still wanted to use this sketch because I had the perfect photos and papers in mind for it.

Coincidentally, I used Fancy Pants Childish Things for this page. I modified the sketch a bit to accommodate three horizontal photos and my super long title/journaling. I am soooo happy with the way this page turned out. Also, the button heart was inspired by a challenge posed over at Memorable Seasons. Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: Fancy Pants papers & rub-on hearts; Webster's Pages, My Little Shoebox, Fancy Pants & American Crafts alpha stickers; Fancy Pants, Basic Grey & misc buttons; Bazzill cardstock; The Paper Co vellum; Fancy Pants journaling spot sticker; DMC embroidery floss; EK Success circle punch; Sakura pen; StazOn ink; miscellaneous papers for confetti; Glue Arts, Thermoweb & Helmar adhesives.

My August Creative Scrappers Sketches

I love Creative Scrappers as much as the next scrapper and their sketches are one of my go-to jumping off points for inspiration. I am so sad I didn't get to all five August sketches before the deadline, but I did manage to complete two and love both resulting layouts. (The other three sketches are "pinned" so I can reference them later!)

So, here's sketch #219...

 

...And here is my take on it. I adapted the sketch to fit three photos. I also used up a ton of scraps and old stickers on this layout. And, I also used a new product - Washi tape! This is the first (gasp!) time I've used Washi Tape.

Supplies: Bazzill and EK Success cardstock; Little Yellow Bicycle, Basic Grey and Crate Paper  papers; Basic Grey/K and Co epoxy alpha stickers; American Crafts Thicker brackets; Me And My Big Ideas large epoxy circle stickers; Crate Paper epoxy dots; My Minds Eye washi tape; EK Success clear epoxy circles, unknown cardstock sentiment sticker and caption sticker; DMC floss; Creative Memories circle cutters and punches; StazOn ink; Sharpie marker; date stamp; Glue Arts, 3L and Thermoweb adhesives.

Then we have sketch #221...

...And here is my take on it. I used an old, old kit from Treasured Scrapbooking (now closed) for this one. I love this photo of me and my son, Liam, so I really love how this sketch centers the photo smack in the middle of the layout. I edited my photo by upping the contrast and changing it to sepia using PSE. Instead of one large rectangle background, I used strips of paper. I decided to create the circle with hand-stitched embroidery floss.

 

Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; My Mind's Eye, Prima and October Afternoon  papers; American Crafts alpha Thickers; May Arts trim, Love Elsie chipboard journaling spot; Kaiser Craft pearls; DMC floss; Zig Photo Signature pen; Glue Arts, Helmar and Thermoweb adhesives.