Scrapbook Steals - the last HOORAH!

I can't believe that the term for my Summer Design Team at ScrapbookSteals.com is actually over! Where has that 3 months gone??? So sad to be finishing :-(

These final projects are are using  'Love my Tapes Washi tape'! To be honest - this is something I have never used before! I love to see everyone's projects using it but never felt comfortable to put it on my own projects. After trawling round Pinterest for ideas - I had a blast! I specifically asked for 'Halloween' colors to do a Halloween theme on my projects - I had green, purple and black washi tapes.

The first project I made was a wreath.

 I used a chipboard circle for the base, and then colored clothes pegs in the different colored tapes. I pegged them onto the circle and used The Cutting Cafe's spiderweb shaped card set to cut out the spider, web and letters. I added the tape to the letters and the body of the spider, along with some bakers twine. I used the washi tape, doubled over, to hang the wreath up - doubled over the washi tape is actually quite strong.

The second project I made was a card.

 I used The Cutting Cafe's Halloween Time printable stamp set, printed the witches legs and shoes onto the card and then fussy cut the legs out. I then used the green and purple washi tape to create striped socks! The boots were then printed out again on another piece of card and I fussy cut the boot strap and backed it with more washi tape. I think this card looks pretty cute!

The third project I made was a 12x12 shadow box frame. 

I bought this simple wooden frame from Michael's, painted it black and then went to town! I created the inside layout using Regina Su Mangum's Pearl #7 sketch from the Mid Week Mojo Series over on ScrapbookSteals.com blog. These are photos from last Halloween (my husband will love me for using his photo! NOT!) The papers are from My Mind's Eye 'Blackbird' collection - the colors work perfectly with this washi tape! I added the brad and washi tape to the bottom right hand corner and fussy cut the title from the papers. The banner is made from the washi tape (I stuck the tape onto white card first to give it a bit of strength and to allow the white to show through) and added a couple of spiders for interest. The characters at the bottom of the frame were fussy cut from the same collection.

 And my final project was treat jars (lots more of these to make before Halloween!)

I used an old jar from some paper flowers, added the washi around the centre and on the lid, and then used a Martha Stewart 'haunted fence' punch. The embellishments are recollections stickers, I added some twine and sweets and voila!

I had much more fun than I though I would with the washi tape - and I will definitely be using it again! Go check out the Scrapbook Steals website - they have this steal on to day and lots more in the archive! They really are the best place to go for http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/ at a great price! Daily Steals are 9am and 9pm MDT.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Summer Design Team and am sorry to see it end. I hope I have encouraged you to hit that 'steal'  button along the way! Thank you so much ScrapbookSteals, Kristy Lee and Brittany Perry for a SUPER FUN experience! 

Happy Scrapping :-)

Sleeping cutie!

Thanks to my scrappy friends, I have found another AWESOME site! MOB (mothers of boys) is a brand new site dedicated to those little (and big) boys in your life. It is primarily a kit club, with a great kit each month, but they also host challenges too!

Their first challenge is a sketch challenge:

 And here is my take on it (i rotated the sketch quarter of a turn anticlockwise to accomodate my photo!):

The only rule is that it must be a layout of a male. This is a picture of my baby boy 12 years ago! I don't know where the time has gone! He was 3 months old in this photo - and it has got to be one of my favorites! I was just so in love with the blue check dungarees and mini denim 'basketball' boots!!!

I used the Bella Blvd 'Baby boy' collection (with the brown chevron paper coming from the 'baby girl' collection). I fussy cut the moneys from some of the 12x12 sheets and the banners are from the border strip paper.

Bright Eyed Babe

This week's sketch over on the awesome ScrapbookSteals.com is Coral #1 (yay! A new series - hopefully I will keep up with it this time! LOL!)

I loved this sketch - I've never used more than one banner on a layout before! Here is my take on the sketch:

I just love this photo of my daughter at 3 months old - can't believe I haven't scrapped it yet! I used My Mind's Eye 'Miss Caroline - Dolled Up' collection (along with a few other pieces of cardstock and pp). I cut out the large die cut on my cricut and handcut the pennants and banners. The butterfly and flower are from the collection - although I think I swapped them about a bit (I tried SO many variations I really can't remember!!)

I am also entering this layout into The Paper Girls Challenge #16 - create a layout of a baby.

I then decided to tackle the challenge on the My Mind's Eye blog, which was to make a matching card and layout. This week's Monday Card Madness sketch (#103) over on ScrapbookSteals.com blog matched this layout perfectly:

 And here is my card:

I just love this color combination! Again, I used the same theme and the same papers, handcut my pennants and used a couple of the brads from the collection.

Surf!

I just loved this month's sketch by Fancy Pants:

 I paired it with this month's 'Color Suite' combo over on Scrapbook & Cards today:

And used Fancy Pants 'Wavesearcher' collection:

This is a very old photo from when me and hubby were actually 'young, free and single'!!! I can just about remember those days! I used to live in Penzance, Cornwall (in the UK) and my hubby used to work away all week and then travel down to home every weekend - it was just like having a holiday every weekend! That has got to be one of our favorite places to live - so laid back they were almost horizontal! Fun times :-D

Let's Get Sketchy - challenge #30

Another week and another challenge over on Let's Get Sketchy!

Here is the sketch:

 And here is my take on it:

More photos from my brother's wedding in Italy last year! I used My Mind's Eye 'Miss Caroline' and 'fine and dandy' collections :-)

For more DT inspiration and to join in the challenge head on over to the Let's Get Sketchy blog!

Hope to see you over there!

Happy scrapping :-)

Scrapbook Steals & Authentique 'Glory' collection

I can't believe this will be my last post as Scrapbook Steals Summer Design Team - the 3 months has just flown by! I'm not ready for it all to end! Anyway - the awesome Brittany Perry and Kristy Lee from Scrapbook Steals gave me another paper collection to play with - Authentique 'Glory' collection - with the instructions 'non-patriotic'! This was quite easy for me as we have only lived in the USA for 2 years and I don't have lots of 'patriotic' photos to scrap!

It just so happened that my daughter has begun gymnastics - of course you know girls - they just HAVE to have the best leotard! The one she chose matched perfectly with this collection! I used Authentique's current sketch challenge for the layout, and added the stickers and quotes from the 12x12 detail sheet. As you can see, the quotes and stickers don't just have to be for the 4th of July celebration - they can be adapted perfectly for any situation.

The next thing I decided to make was an altered birdhouse! I love these things - they have become a bit of an obsession for me! Once I looked through the 'Glory' collection, I decided that the reds and creams gave me a feeling of Christmas! So I went with the Christmas theme! Again I used the papers and border stickers from the collection - the 'holiday cheer' I thought was perfect and comes from the individual word stickers found in the collection. A touch of holly and snow and voila!

And last but not least - this is DEFINITELY my favorite altered project to date! I decided to alter a drawer set! You know the plain wooden ones you get from Michaels? I painted it, then crackle painted it and finally went over it with some distress ink - then to start decorating it with the Authentique papers! There are SO many different patterned papers in this collection it was hard to choose! I kept it quite simple, inking the edges of each paper and then finishing it off with the 'be creative' title on the top. This is going to be sitting on my desk for inspiration! I even used a couple of the stickers from the collection on the ends of the cotton reels - cute!

I am also entering this drawer set into the September Challenge 'Anything Goes' challenge over on Unique Crafters Challenge Blog.

Thank you SO much Scrapbook Steals, Brittany Perry and Kristy Lee for allowing me to be on the Summer Design Team! I've had such a blast and will miss it greatly! I hope I've managed to inspire a few people along the way - and of course - hit that STEAL button!

Scrapbook Steals have the best scrapbooking supplies in their online shop, with daily steals at 9am and 9pm MDT, and lots of inspiration, ideas and challenges on their blog.

Go check them out!

Sweet!

I used this week's Monday Card Madness sketch over on the Scrapbook Steals blog:

and paired it up with a color challenge over on The Play Date Cafe:

(Flamingo, honey & coffee)

I made a birthday card for my daughter who will be 9 tomorrow (for my son to give her!)

 The image and sentiment is a freebie from the awesome TAWS (The Alley Way stamps) blog.

The Cutting Cafe - Fall

This week over on The Cutting Cafe it's all about Autumn or Fall. All the related items can be found in the shop here.

Here is my card:

Cutting Cafe files used:

Welcome Fall printable stamp set (for trees and word)

Other supplies used:

cardstock

baker's twine

Recollections acorn embellishment

Hope you like it! I'll be back next week with another great set!

Don't forget to check out The Cutting Cafe blog for more inspirational projects and prizes!

Happy Scrapping :-)

Let's Get Sketchy - challenge #29

Another week and another sketch! Here is this week's sketch:

For more great DT inspiration and to join in the challenge, head on over to the Let's Get Sketchy blog.

Hope to see you over there! 

Happy scrapping :-)

MY Mid Week Mojo sketch over on ScrapbookSteals.com

So, part of our duties at Summer Design Team over on ScrapbookSteals.com was to create a sketch for the Mid Week Mojo Series. As you all know - I NEVER make pages without sketches!!!! I can never decide where to put anything! So this week was a REAL challenge for me! I decided I would combine some of my favorites and I came up with this layout:

 I spent HOURS trying make the sketch on Photoshop Elements and Adobe Photoshop, and just before I threw my computer out of the window, Kristy Lee from ScrapbookSteals stepped in and offered to do it for me! Thank you so much Kristy! I think I need to ask for 'Photoshop for dummies' and 'Adobe Photoshop for dummies' for Christmas! Kristy had done the sketch and sent it back to me within the hour! Here is the sketch:

I LOVE how it turned out! It would be great to see you joining in the challenge - Kristy even did her own take on my sketch:

I love how using the same sketch can produce such different results. Hope to see you over there!

http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/wp/2012/09/12/we-r-memory-keepers-down-the-boardwalk-mid-week-mojo/

Happy scrapping :-)

Hit the slopes!

This month's sketch challenge over on Artful Delights:

And here is my take on it:

I used Bella Blvd's 'Winter Wonder' collection.I just loved the colors and patterns in this collection and it worked so well for this sketch! :-)

Frightfully Adorable!

Another challenge over on the My Scraps and More 'Back to school crop' is health - use items from the letters spelling BODY.

Here is my layout:

I used Bella Blvd's 'Too cute to spook' collection.

B- Bella Blvd, Border punch (halloween fence)

O - orange, one photo

D - diecuts

Y - yarn (stitching)

Paper Secrets Sketch Challenge #2

We are half way through September and it's time for another sketch challenge on the Paper Secrets blog. Here is the sketch:

 And here is my take on it:

As you know - the brand of the month at the Paper Secrets store and blog is AUTHENTIQUE! Check out the store - all Authentique product will be 30% or MORE off all month long! (excluding Peaceful collection).

For my layout I used a combination of collections, including 'Lively', 'Gathering' (the quote) and 'Uncommon'. 

I am also entering this layout into the My scraps and more 'Back to school' crop - foreign language class. It was to use a foreign language for your title.

Sketch N Scrap #17 sponsored by Paper Secrets

Here is the second of this month's sketches over on the Sketch N Scrap blog:

 And here is my take on it:

I used Bella Blvd's 'Sophisticates' and 'Baby girl' collections, along with Bella Blvd's stamps. I just LOVE this photo! AND none of it was staged! Adorable!

Check out the Sketch N Scrap blog for more DT inspiration - all Paper Secrets DT are featured along with others.

As Paper Secrets are the sponsors this month, here is the prize from Kristi:

(MME Dilly Dally papers and embellishments)

I hope to see you over there joining in the fun! Don't forget - you have until the end of the month to complete challenges #16 & 17.

Happy scrapping :-)

A dream come true!

My parents came over to visit for the summer and we had SUCH a good time! My mum's favourite animal has been a giraffe for as long as I can remember - so we thought it would be great to arrange an animal encounter for her with the giraffes at our local zoo!  She had a blast! It was, as the title suggests, a dream come true for her!

I used Lily Bee's 'Buttercup' collection.

I am entering this layout into:

The Paper Girl's challenge #15 - use a 5x7 photo or larger

My scraps and more 'Back to school crop' recess challenge - to use a photo from an outside activity.

Frosted Designs fabulous friday challenge - use one or more journalling cards

You're a hoot!

I just love the stamps over at Paper Smooches - they are all so much fun! I decided to take part in their sketch challenge over on the Paper Smooches Sparks blog.

Here is the sketch:

 And here is my card:

I just love this owl image and sentiment (and it's a freebie!!!) - I wanted to keep the card nice and simple. I colored the images with my prismacolor pencils and printed the sentiment directly onto the card :-)

Scrapbook Steals - Monday Card Madness #101

Today's Monday Card Madness over on the Scrapbook Steals blog was just what I needed this morning! My daughter has been invited to a birthday party at the weekend and I needed a quick card!

Here is this week's sketch (#101):

 And here is my card:

I used a variety of Jillibean Soup papers along with some 'Chilled Strawberry soup' stickers.

Bella Blvd - saturday sketch

I'm so loving the new Bella Blvd collections! I used their Saturday Sketch from this weekend to make this layout using 'Birthday Girl', 'Baby girl' and 'Sophisticates'. All the papers coordinate so well with each other!

Here is the sketch:

 And here is my layout:

I rotated the sketch quarter of a turn anti-clockwise. The stickers and border strip are from the birthday girl collection, the pink scalloped circle is from the sophisticates collection and the rest is from the baby girl collection. I fussy cut the cupcakes from the border strip in the baby girl collection - they just match perfectly with the birthday theme.

These photos are from my daughter's 8th birthday last year! She desperately wanted to decorate ckes with her friends, and they all enjoyed becoming 'Duff' for the day (Ace of cakes - Charm city cakes - she was obsessed with that program!). They decorated their own aprons, wore the chefs hats and basically just MADE A MESS with fondant and icing! She wants another 'messy' party this year - I have told her - NEVER AGAIN!!

I am also entering this layout into the My Scraps and More 'Back to school crop' LUNCH challenge - to scrap food, people eating, making food etc.

Let's Get Sketchy - challenge #28

Here is this week's sketch:

And here is my take on it:

I used a variety of different Jillibean Soup papers and title alphas.

Hope to see you over on the Let's Get Sketchy blog, joining in our challenge this week!

Happy scrapping :-)

The Cutting Cafe - Halloween

This week over on The Cutting Cafe it's all about HALLOWEEN!!! They really have got some awesome cutting files and printable files - you should check out the shop here.

Here is my card for this week:

Cutting Cafe files used:

Halloween trio...printable stamp set (witches hats and sentiment)

Happy Halloween background printable stamp

Other materials used:

Prismacolor pencils

Doodlebug halloween twine

Variety of patterned papers (these have been in my stash for a while now and I'm not really sure what make they are! Recollections???)

Recollections sticker (witches sock and shoes)

Hope you like it! I'll be back next week with another great set!

Don't forget to check out The Cutting Cafe blog for more inspirational projects and prizes!

I am also entering this into the sketch contest over on page maps:

Happy scrapping :-)

Scrapbook and Cards Today - summer photo contest

Woohoo! My husbands photo was featured on the SCT blog today - I submitted it for the summer photo contest!

It was the photo at the back of this layout - with my son and his clarinet! SO excited I just HAD to let you know :-) We are in Cedar City at the moment - off to see one of our favorite musicals 'Les Miserables' tonight. I will post just the photo once I have time (probably next week!!! Lol!)

Tune in tomorrow for this weeks Cutting Cafe post (it's all about Halloween!) and then come back on Monday for the latest Let's Get Sketchy challenge and my DT inspiration :-)

Have a great weekend! Happy scrapping :-)

Almost forgot!

OK...so I've been SO busy recently that I almost forgot to make my hubby a birthday card!!! LOL! His birthday is today - good thing he gets up early in the morning before anyone else gets up! He won't even realise I forgot! (he never looks at my blog so I'm safe here too!)

Scrapbook Steals is celebrating it's 100th Monday Card Madness sketch this week - so we were able to choose a sketch to use. I decided to use sketch #79 as it fit perfectly with the challenge over on TAWS:

 And I paired this up with the current challenge over on The Alley Way Stamps blog:

I chose to use the chevron patter and the color combo, along with their freebie digs from April (found here).

Sorry - this was a bit of a quickie card for me - but he will still like it anyway! LOL!