AKA Bean

Here is the final layout I did using my May kit.  Some people created a dozen pages, but that's not the way I roll.  I did have some scraps left, but I'm tired of playing with this stuff now, and want to move on.

I used a slightly crazed looking photo of our dog, Bean.  He's a character, and I did this page about some of the names he's affectionately known by.  I saw an idea somewhere to use strips of paper as a background for a page, and that's what I did here.  I also misted, splattered, and sewed some crazy ziggy lines on my background.  Thanks for looking!

A card and three layouts

I have finally gotten some time to do some projects with my kit.  I made a card and three layouts, so far.  Here they are in the order I made them.  I worked with sketches on all of them, and tried not to over think the placement of every item.

A card for my Father-in-law, who sent me some lovely flowers on Mother's Day.  Sketch courtesy of Page Maps (April, 2012).

This layout was done with photos of my daughter and her boyfriend before the Prom.  I struggled a bit with this one, agonizing over every detail.  The sketch was from Shimelle's class "4 X 6 Photo Love", which I recently have gone back to watch.  This design was from March, 2011, hence the three photos.

 I used photos from Mother's Day for this layout, and the journaling tells a little about trying to get a nice photo of the kids and I with limited results.  The sketch came from "4 X 6 photo love", again.  This was the sketch from last February. 

I loved this sheet of paper, and wanted to do something unique with it.  The photo was from a trip to my home town, San Pedro, and my youngest child looking out over the cliffs.  I wanted to convey that disorienting feeling of looking down from a great height.  The journaling talks about the local geography.  The sketch is courtesy of Boys Rule Scrapbook Kit by Jenny Evans.

Inspired by Shimelle Challenge!

I decided to take part in a challenge going on at Two Peas in a Bucket called "Inspired by Shimelle".  She did an awesome video on NSD, in which she made a kit consisting of:

-10 patterned papers
-5 sheets of cardstock (I only included 3 sheets)
-1 spray ink (Mister Huey/Glimmer Mist, etc.)
-1 stamp set
-1 alpha sticker large (Thickers, etc.)
-1 alpha sticker small (mini alphas)
-1 sheet of bling/embellishments
-1 pre-made/cut die cut accent
-1 set of border strips

Here is what I came up with:

I also used the May Counterfeit Kit as an inspiration for my kit.  This was the April 2012 Studio Calico kit called City of Lights.  I loved the soft colors and browns of this kit, and used that as inspiration for my kit.

I hope to get some pages done with it this weekend!

Up-cycled gift card mini album challenge

Here is another challenge I did for Absolutely Alter It NSD mini crop.

If you're like me, you get a lot of gift cards over the holidays.  Usually, they get used, and then thrown away.  Did you ever wonder what to do with them, instead of throwing them away?  How about making a mini album out of them?

On this little mini, I used papers from  Kaisercraft "Nan's Favorites" collection.  Give it a try, and you might be surprised what you can come up with!

Kate's Distress Tag With Water Challenge

Here is the tag I made for Kate's "Distress tag with water challenge" over at Absolutely Alter It.  I was unsure of how it was going to turn out at first because the color looked like heavy bruising.  After dropping water on the tag, and stamping the images, I think it's lovely.  Thanks, Kate!

NSD Twisted Sketch Challenge #1

  

Here is my first layout, which took me forever!  This is Challenge #1 from The Scrap Room, and is called Twisted Sketch challenge.  It sure tied me in knots!  Ha, ha!  The challenge was to do a layout using the sketch and punch.  I punched the edge of patterned paper.  I struggled with this a bit, and resorted to blatant product vomit.  I'm not crazy about it, so it's on to the next one!

Happy NSD!! I'm getting my scrap on!

Here is my layout for the May sketch challenge at The Scrap Room.  I loved the sketch, but only only had two larger photos that would fit in a column. 

I also used this as an inspiration for another challenge over at Absolutely Alter It to do a layout about motherhood.

The paper and embellies are from My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart "Be Amazing" collection.  I love them!

Birthday card

Anton went to a friend's birthday party last weekend, and I decided to make the boy a card, since I have all this paper and stuff at my disposal.  I used the Echo Park "It's a Boy's Life" collection from last month's Paper Lovelies kit, which is perfect for projects like this. 

National Scrapbooking Day mini crop!

Tomorrow, May 5th, is National Scrapbooking Day!  Please join us for a mini crop at Absolutely Alter It message board.  We will have challenges, games, and maybe even some prizes!