Let's Get Sketchy #8

I so love the This and That collection from Echo Park!  These colors are so great together.  And it helps that I have tons of pictures of this adorable little guy.

Here is my page for sketch #8 for Let's Get Sketchy:

And here is the original sketch:

Now I have to clean up my desk....see ya later!!!

MME and some geese

We love going to the nature center and watching all of the wildlife.  Any day, at any time, we know we will be entertained by geese, ducks and swans.  So you could imagine how many great images I have from all of our trips.  :)

Here are a few of the pictures using a sketch from My Mind's Eye.

And here is the original sketch:

Thanks for stopping by!!

Mother's Day 2011

We were just talking about plans for Mother's Day and I remembered this beautiful picture of all my babies.  What a great page to work on today!

Here is the sketch from Sketches in Thyme that I used.  This is #75.  I love working with the larger pictures now.  :)

Have a great day!

Getting ready for Disney!!!

I can be VERY OCD when it comes to planning for Disney....just a little bit.  Of course, if you ask anyone I know, they think I am crazy, insane and just plain nuts.

I love to enjoy every single minute of our trips and that takes lots of planning.  I have notebooks, journals, and spreadsheets.  I told you...crazy.

The best part is that these notes are so private and my family never sees them.  If they did, they would lock me away somewhere and never let me out.  They don't like to plan anything!  But I have a strategy.

I have put together some fun scavenger hunt books.  Lots of the notes are just facts about the parks that not too many people know.  There are so many tiny details that are added to every bit of Disney.  These books are filled with those little facts and details and my kids enjoy discovering them.

 In between some of those pages, are hidden ideas that turn everything into a scavenger hunt.  I add little notes about a character, a pin, a certain photo op....things they not only have to look for, but I love that they are so excited, that they take lots of fun photos...for me.   :)

These books are put together with a few pieces of chipboard, covered in card stock and some Disney stickers.  The tags are from Home Depot...from a HUGE package of garage sale tags.  I think I paid $5 for 500 tags...not that I need that many!!   Maybe...
The books are held together with giant jump rings.  This way, the tags can be removed or more tags can be added very easily.

Then there is the always fun, Character Hunt.  I love the photos, my oldest loves the autograph hunt, and my youngest loves the interaction with all the characters.  Again, they have no idea that they are really "working" for me....lol.  I keep this book handy so we know what characters we have found and who we have to look out for.  This book stays in the room and we check characters off every night before bed.

One thing that they love is the number of characters they see and autographs they have collected.  These autograph books are made from some chipboard covers and lots of tags.  I put a lot of tags into the books and send them on their way.  As the tags get filled, we can easily pop them out and add a bunch of blank tags.  Once we get home, the tags are put away until I start working on the layouts.  I use white tags so they can be easily embellished, colored, inked, stamped, even cut into different shapes.  This way they are easy to customize to the pages and the actual character colors and themes.

And finally...the most exciting part is the countdown calendar.  This was made from a wooden frame from Michael's.  I simply added some fun Disney papers and stickers.  The cover for the opening is a piece of thin plastic from a package of stickers.  I have a sheet of Thickers number stickers handy and they can be switched out every day very easily.  The plastic can be wiped clean when necessary, and the numbers can be reused many times.

All of these projects are recycled from our trip a few years ago.  That's probably my favorite part.  The kids remember them and the fun they had.

However, for this trip we are also added a few days at Universal Studios.  So now, I have to put together a few autograph books for a new park!  I also have a short scavenger hunt list to put together.

I am so excited to be able to work some fun vacation projects!  Off to find some supplies!

Have a "magical" day!!!

Saturday sketches

Happy Saturday!!  I'm actually kinda glad that the weather is pretty yucky today.  That just means I get to play all day!  :)

Here are this morning's pages...

I did this one for the Jillibean Soup sketch challenge.  I used some Dutch Mustard Soup papers.  A little bit of fussy cutting on the hearts, a little piece of twine and a pop dot helps embellish this page a bit.

Here is the original sketch:

And then I finally managed to work on a sketch from Sketches in Thyme.  Here is sketch #74:

and here is my take on it...

All of these papers came from some leftovers from a VERY old kit.  I think I managed to finish off all the bits and pieces I had left.  The silver satin ribbon is from the stash and the large flowers are from Michael's.  The smaller flowers were made with a new punch.  :)

Off to do some retail therapy!  Have a great Saturday!!

Can u hear me? I'm Whispering....

I spent the day catching up on some challenges at Scrap Whispers.  :)

Here is a sketch challenge...

A color challenge...

A lift challenge...

And a large photo sketch...

...and now the laundry has won the battle.  I must step away from the desk and get some housework done....but just a little bit.   :)

Happy Sunday!

Good Morning all!  I hope everyone is finding the time to play and scrap this weekend.  I have been so inspired this weekend, and managed to get quite a few pages done.

Here are my latest...

This one is for the template challenge at Die Cuts With a View.  I used a sheet from the Once Upon a Time stack and the rest is from Rustic.  I made the accordion flowers and lost the battle with the hot glue gun...again.

And then I played with the color challenge at Color Me Scrappy.  The patterned paper is from Heidi Grace.  It was too pretty to get rid of and I was finally able to use it!  It was the only sheet from the collection that I had.  I love these fun flowers and buttons.   :)  And the pics of my friends kept a smile on my face the whole time.  :)

Here is the original color palette to use:

I will be back to post more from the challenges going on at My Scraps and More.   Have a great day!!

My Scraps and More DT Reveal

Good Morning!  I hope everyone is doing well!  I'm still fighting off these allergies.  On a good note, I've been able to work on lots of fun pages.  :)

Here are a few pages I made for the DT Reveal at My Scraps and More.  Tammi was VERY generous and sent us lots of fun papers to work with.   This collection is from Bo Bunny called On The Go.  The cars and trucks are so fun!  It's the perfect collection for a little guy that just loves his cars  and trucks.  :)

And for a little extra fun, I made a mini album!
We take a trip out to the Touch A Truck Party every year at the Park District.  My buddy jumps up into all the trucks and happily poses.  I think his favorite picture ever was of him in the front seat of a police car...with his sister in the backseat..lol.  This is a great way for him to take all those fun pictures to Grandma's house.

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to see what the other ladies on the My Scraps and More DT put together!  

Let's Get Sketchy!!

I have to admit, these daytime allergy meds aren't really making me feel better, but I'm glad to have lots of energy today.  The past 3 days have been nothing but sleep.  I haven't slept 10 hours consecutively in over 10 years!  It felt good, but I really miss having those extra hours.

I have a desktop filled with fun sketches that I have been wanting to play with...today was the day!!

Here is my layout for Let's Get Sketchy #6:

I have quite the stash of My Mind's Eye goodies!

And here is sketch #7 using a new kit from Karen Foster:

I added a bit of mesh behind the title.  :)

And again, i pulled out my favorite Bo Bunny kit - Zoology.  This sketch came from Artful Delight for the April sketch challenge.

For this page, I added little bit of burlap fibers.  I love that this Tiger was so playful that day!

Okay,...time to take a break and find some lunch.   :)

PLG # 28 - Earth Day

Good Morning!  

Isn't it a great time of year to get up early and go outside and watch the sun rise?   That's one of my most favorite things to do in the Spring and Summer.  I cannot wait until vacation when I can take pics of the sunrise over the water.  

Speaking of, I just happened to have a few to play with.  And I was pleasantly reminded of that when I was working on this week's challenge from Paper Lovin' Gals #28 - Earth Day.

Isn't this a GORGEOUS picture??

 Until I realized that I still had pictures from our last vacation, my first thought seeing these colors was Halloween....or the Monarch Butterfly Festival....so many possibilities!  But alas, I couldn't resist these pretty pictures:

What inspires you from this picture?  The theme, the colors, the heart, the trees??  I would love to see what you come up with!  Stop by and see what the Paper Lovin' Gals Design Team created!  The interpretations are wonderful!!  

Have a great Thursday!

Twisted Sketches #147 - Animal

The twist for Sketch #147 at Twisted Sketches was "animal"....any way, any how.

And since I am IN LOVE with this fun collection Zoology from Bo Bunny, I was more than happy to play!

Here is my page:

I just "had" to add some fun buttons again. I used the scrap strips of papers to make little accordion flowers. Also, I did lots of fussy cutting on the background paper. :)

Here is the original sketch to play along with:
Stop by and see what the rest of the Design Team created.....Twisted Sketches.

Have a great Wednesday!!!

Good Sunday Morning!

Have I ever mentioned how scrapping is my therapy? I'm sure many of you feel the same way. Sometimes I just start looking at papers and I'm able to put something together in an instant, other times it could take me forever. Yesterday morning, was one of those times when I just needed to keep my head down and work.

I played with a sketch from The Paper Bakery. And did some fussy cutting on some My Mind's Eye papers.

Then I used some papers from October Afternoon that I bought from My Scraps and More. I love all these papers and the fun elements! Don't forget they are having a Birthday Blog Hop too! This was inspired by a sketch from Boys Rule. :)

And playing along with the challenges at My Scraps and More, I used the color palette challenge, and a sketch from Sketches: Creatively Yours AND the Tic Tac Toe challenge from GrandDiva! These are all papers from Echo Park. So glad to finally get a chance to play with them.

So now I have 100's of wedding photos to sort thru and decide what to print. And I might just work on a few more pages today too!

Have a great Sunday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'MY SCRAPS AND MORE'!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY SCRAPS AND MORE ON THEIR FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Welcome to the party!!!!

It's My Scraps and More 1st birthday and we are so happy to have you joining us for our Birthday Party Blog Hop. If you have just started here, you will want to go back to the beginning and start at the My Scraps and More Blog. The hop runs til midnight EST Tuesday April 17.

Here is the order of the hop:

My Scraps and More blog -http://myscrapsandmore.blogspot.com/
Lisa-http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.com/
Tammy Bhttp://corinthians517.blogspot.com/
Aubree -http://aubreesscraps.blogspot.com
Ginni -http://ginniscrappyworld.blogspot.com
Missy -http://littlenuggetcreations.blogspot.com
Kristin -http://somescrapsugar.blogspot.com
Wendy -http://disneydarling07.blogspot.com
Tracy -http://ascrapatatime.blogspot.com/

Now lets party scrappy style. Normally the guests brings presents to the party but we want to share the fun by doing things a bit backwards and providing gifts for you. For a chance at the big gift we have provided a sketch for you to work with. You will also need to check out all the design team blogs and leave them some love as each of them has a party favor for you to collect. Use the sketch and 3 of the party favors on a LO for a chance to win the birthday gift. Share your creation with us by linking your LO up to the blog hop post at the My Scraps and More blog. Our talented design team member Lisa has created this wonderful sketch for you to work with.

Here is the big gift you could win. The new Authentique Celebrate collection.

Now make sure as you visit each of the design team blogs you read carefully because there may be some more birthday presents to win along the way.

Here is my layout using Lisa's sketch. My birthday party favor is candles. I rolled up some strips of papers and added some bright Stickles for the flames.

We hope you will join us in celebrating My Scraps and More's first birthday! Just remember...
You must follow and comment on all the blogs in this hop AND follow the My Scraps & More blog in order to be eligible to win!

Just a few pages....

I finally found a few minutes to post what I have been working on! WOOHOO!!

What a crazy week and the weekend is going to be even CRAZIER!!!

So here are my latest pages....enjoy!!

First up is a recipe challenge from My Scraps and More. The recipe was to use APRIL as your ingredients:

A - apples

P - polka dots

R - round corners

I - include journaling

L- lined paper

I started out by using a sketch from Creative Scrappers and then dug out my collection of papers from Crate Papers. On the hidden library card is information on her classroom, teacher's name and classroom information. :)

Next was a fun challenge from Bo Bunny. We had to use a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays. I was able to use some older Kitchen Spice bits and pieces to bring this page alive. :)

Then I played with a sketch from Authentique. I love these papers!! I fussy cut some shapes and scored them a bit. The butterflies were also fussy cut and placed on pop dots.

And lastly, I finished a page for My Scraps and More sketch challenge for 4-6 using My Mind's Eye goodies. 3 different trims and a few decorative brads really added lots of dimension to this page.

I have a family wedding to go to tomorrow and I can't wait to take tons more pictures!

Have a great Friday!!!

Happy Saturday!!

It feels so good to finally have a whole day to do lots of scrapping. It doesn't happen nearly enough anymore! We have an Easter Egg Hunt later on and that's about it. Fun day for me!

Here is one of my latest favorite pages for a C'est Magnifique sketch. I inked up a couple doilies and layered them a bit. The trims and the crocheted flowers are my latest purchases from Michaels. The swirly bling is from Prima. I haven't been paying much attention to that kind of stuff because of the prices, but this piece was so beautiful!

Next I combined a fun sketch challenge from Paper Secrets with a color palette from Color Me

Scrappy. The kit "Note to Self " from Echo Park was the perfect match for the colors! I even broke out the score board and made a few accordion flowers. It helps to have a fun Family photo to work with also. :)
And sticking with my Echo Park stash, I used a mini theme kit called "Boys" to play along with the sketch from Boys Rule. Can you tell I've been having fun with a few ink pads lately? I get stuck on these techniques and they show up on quite a few pages. :)
Off to see what else I can create today! Lots of Easter pictures from last year need to be scrapped!

Have a great day!!!