Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!!

I'm just getting over some kind of 24 hour bug. It really stole most of my weekend. Luckily, I had a half day of work today, so I was able to sneak in a quick Halloween layout.

My inspiration came from:
a fun sketch from Scrap Whispers

an inspirational photo from Paper Lovin' Gals

and a challenge from The Paper Variety, which was to create something cute or spooky.







Now I'm running out the door to go Trick or Treating! Have a great and safe holiday!!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

What a beautiful day!!!



Well, it really wasn't planned that way, but yesterday was my day to tackle the mountain of laundry that I have been putting off. So of course, in between loads, I had to do "something". So why not get some pages done! :)

Here is my page for Stuck on U Sketches. I had lots of random textured papers and these fun chipboard stickers from Imaginisce.



Let's Capture our Memories offered this fun sketch that was great for my little cowboy. I used some corrugated bits to make the flowers. They were then inked and embellished with some jute, a punched circle and some fun silver cowboy buttons. I love the bandana ribbon too! That was a gift from a friend. :)
Sketches in Thyme challenged us with a multi photo sketch. I cut down some 4 x 6 photos to fit the sketch. These beautiful flowers are only some of the pictures I took at the gardens at Cantigny Park. And of course, the gorgeous Echo Park Victoria Garden papers were a great help!
Sassy Lil' Sketches challenged us with a multi patterned paper sketch. This one was a tough one. I guess that's why it was put off for so long. I used lots of random textured papers from the stash. I didn't like that it was so plain and boring. That's when I decided to bend the corners and tack them down with some snaps. Now I was happy! My color inspiration came from Frosted Designs color combo challenge. :)
And finally, here is my submission for the monthly sketch challenge at Imaginisce. I didn't realize how much of their product I had until I went searching for the perfect papers. Then the hard part was deciding which line to use. After cutting a few circles (the wrong size), I finally got just the right ones. I cut out a few of the strawberries and put them on pop dots. I also used my hexagon punch to add a little bit to the design. It matched the honeycomb patterns on the papers, that I will be using in the near future. :)
Have a great Sunday! We are off to enjoy this gorgeous day! :)

Bling it on!!!


It's time for another fun challenge at Lasting Memories! This week is one I'm sure not many can resist. It's all about the BLING! And who doesn't love bling!?

I had these great pictures of my daughter at her 21st birthday party, where she was wearing her blinged out birthday tiara. So that was a great starting point...and the fact that she loves anything pink...which is a far cry from her "goth" stage where all she would wear was black. :(

I found these great papers in my stash from DCWV. They are mega old, but so much fun, I couldn't part with them. Once I saw all the pink and glitter, I was sold. Then I figured, why not work with this month's sketch challenge from DCWV....it was a no-brainer! :)



I added some extra swirl bling and a few rhinestones here and there. It's hard to tell, but even the letters have glitter on them...lol. I was covered with glitter last night, and most likely will be for quite a while, considering it's all over my desk and workspace.

Be sure to stop by and see what the other girls on the Lasting Memories DT created! I"m not the only one that will be sparkling all week! :)

Friday, October 21, 2011

Big Enough??

Soo many challenges....soo little time!

Looks like this weekend is going to be the last of the good ones. We are off to a few local haunted houses and search for our Big Pumpkin.
I wanted to start off the weekend with a finished page. :)

For starters, I went with a fun recipe challenge from The Paper Variety: 1 pumpkin ( my picture), 2 words and 3 buttons (who can stop at 3??)

My color inspiration was from Paper Lovin' Gals. Great Fall color combination! I wish I had this year's pictures already printed. I know I have tons that would have worked with this combo.

I worked with Sketch #242 from Sketch Inspiration. And I'm also entering this in the Open Sketch challenge at Sketches in Thyme. :)




Off to get some sleep....busy day with lots of walking tomorrow.... :)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Paper Loving Gals #1 !!!

Oh My ...how the time does fly!! I totally ran out of time to post this!
Here is my take on the photo inspiration challenge from Paper Loving Gals.
This is a new challenge blog and here is challenge #1!!! YAY!!

I'm still having lighting issues with taking good pictures. Maybe I can sneak in a get a better one this weekend...hopefully the rain will hold off long enough.

I used a sketch from Sketchabilities this time. :)

I dusted off the Coluzzle system to cut out all my flowers. Then I used needle nose pliers to crimp each petal and then added tons of Stickles. This certainly brightened up an otherwise boring day at work. :)



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It's ME!!

What is that?? Is that a picture of ME??!!! How did that happen???!!

This month at Crop Suey, the challenge is all about YOU! Or ME! Or something like that...lol
After I searched for quite a long time, I found these fun pictures from one of many Girl's Nights Out. :)

It reminded me that it's time to do that again! Maybe I'll end up in more pictures....hmmm....


Saturday, October 15, 2011

LOL!! (Lots Of Layouts!)


Wow! I had a FUN, BUSY week! I was able to spend a lot of time thinking and planning out some pages, and then was totally inspired to get to work!

This month sure brought a lot of wonderful sketches! As I'm sure you can see, I am addicted to sketches and love the challenges that they bring. And since I love going out and taking TONS of pictures everywhere, there is definitely never a shortage of things to work with. :)

The weather is changing quickly, and I am losing daylight even quicker. Taking good pictures is becoming my biggest challenge. So now I have to save my posts until the weekend. :(

I hope you have the patience to sit through a post filled with lots of sketches and my interpretations....

I love Echo Park! And the Be Mine collection worked wonderfully with my daughter's school Spring picture.
This sketch is the October challenge from My Sketch World.


Group 1 sketch from Show Us Your Stuff. I inked up the whole background with 3 different inks. All of the other bits and pieces are from the Fall stash.

This one was probably the most difficult sketch. I just couldn't figure what to do with all those little circles. But then I remembered....I have BUTTONS!!!
This sketch can be found at Stuck?! Sketches.

A fun pumpkin page using the sketch from Scrap Whispers.

Let's Capture These Sketches has some gorgeous sketches! Here is the first one I finished. I can't wait to work on the next one! I used some velvet trim for the challenge at Frosted Designs this week. The flowers are all from Michael's. And I found the metal circle frames and the key in the "junk" drawer.

...and finally! Sketch Inspiration #241! I was able to play with a doily! I love inking and spraying doilies! And I added a few Stickles too. The flowers are all miscellaneous that I layered and stickled. The most trouble I had with this page were the rubons for the giant brads. I had such a hard time with these!

Well, that 's all I have for today! lol!
We are off to yet another pumpkin farm today! I can't wait to get all of these pictures printed!
Have a great weekend!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

My day off....

I so love taking random days off! I actually took today off to sneak off to yet another pumpkin farm. Shhh....
I just love this time of the year. I just wish it were easier to find pumpkin patch goodies for scrapping. I have tons of Fall and Halloween, but just the pumpkin patch is really hard to find. :(
Any hints or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Here is my first page of the day. I have to take the pictures ASAP because the light is disappearing quickly. I'm not liking these shorter days....and the worst is yet to come.

This is sketch #102 from Let's Capture These Sketches. I pulled out some fun purple mulberry paper for this one. This picture is kinda old. I had a hard time figuring out how to scrap those bright orange and purple flowers! My favorite part is the title. It's a title die cut from Imaginisce Happy Harvest...I just added some purple ink to the edges and it was perfect!

And here is my take on sketch #101 from Let's Capture These Sketches. I love these bits and pieces from K&Company. These colors are so pretty! And they kept me from using a lot of white with the communion picture. The photo mat is a square doily that was inked in 3 different colors.

And finally....here is my submission for the October sketch challenge from Artful Delight. I had to dig out another sheet of "wood" paper and a few stickers, but the rest is more scraps from their September kit.

Now I have to go nurse the finger that got smashed in between my chair and the desk. It's really hard to type when I cannot use my right pinky. :(

More pumpkins...

Here are a few pages I finished over the last few days. I had to wait until I had good sunlight to take pictures. I'm not happy that the times are changing. When I leave in the morning, it's dark and when I get home, it's even darker. :(

Not looking forward to Winter...especially with what they are predicting for us. I guess I should just make sure I have plenty of adhesive. They are saying we might have another blizzard and get snowed in again. Oh well, at least I know I will get plenty more snow pictures....lol

Here is my take on Sassy Lil' Sketches Send off #5.





And a fun sketch from Sketches in Thyme. This is challenge #57. I love pumpkin pictures!

And Sassy Lil' Sketches Send off #3. I'm going to miss this site! :(


Sketches in Thyme Design Team call

Well, here is my shot at a spot on the new Design Team at Sketches in Thyme. :)
They always have the best sketches!

To be considered for the team, we have to create a layout based on the following sketch.
I used lots of raffia and burlap. I made my own rosettes and added some raffia along with buttons...of course.

As I was making the rosettes, I kept repeating to my hubby that I REALLY want the Martha Stewart scoring board! This would make things soooo much easier! I sure hope he remembers...of course, I left lots of post-its all around his desk...just a subtle hint. :)

Wish me luck! :)


Monday, October 10, 2011

Manic Monday...


I don't like Mondays!! It just means that the weekend is over and I'm finding it harder and harder to fit in time to scrap. :(

I squeezed in some time last night, but without proper daylight to take pictures, it's getting more and more difficult to get good lighting.

Here is my page for Frosted Designs Sketch Along Tuesdays. It's pretty simple and I used up a lot of Stickles on the quote and the doily. :)
I chose the gold to represent the pot 'o gold at the end of the rainbow. :)





And this fun page is for the sketch challenge from My Scraps and More. They are having a fun Scrap It and Win It challenge and the sketches are so much fun!

Happy Monday! Enjoy the week!! :)

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Great Pumpkin!!

Just when I thought I was out the door, I decided to finish this one up from last night. I won't mention that the kids are running late, so I had more time to play.. :)


I have lots of pumpkin patch pictures from last year and I am well on my way to take even more. They are so much fun and the kids have a blast every time!







I am using this layout for the challenge from Sassy Lil' Sketches...........with the color challenge from Scrap Whispers......
....and also the circle challenge from ScrapFit. :)

Who knew pumpkins would come in so handy??