Sunny Shine

Supplies : Papers - Adobe by American Crafts; Cardstock by AC; Dear Lizzy Rubons by American Crafts; Journaling Lines stamp set and Summer Sunrise Ink by Papertrey Ink; Circle Nestabilities; Just Chilling Slice card by Making Memories; Apron Lace border punch by Fiskars; Sewing Machine and white thread

The supply challenge on Practical Scrappers this week is Rubons! I have been loving the new rubons by American Crafts, they are so fun and cute. These ones are from the Dear Lizzy line. I was looking for ideas in my inspiration folder on my hard drive and came across a layout I think that Kelly Purkey made. I used the basic design and even added butterflies to my layout like she did. My favorite part is the tone on tone border punched piece sewn to the base, so subtle yet so pretty! It's hard to capture those kinds of details on the camera, it shows up so much better in real life ;) I used the 'shine' rubon to finish my title and then added another sunshine journal blip to the bottom right to continue the theme. I love the way this came out, with more bold color blocks and just a tad of that darling flower print. Enjoy the page and thanks for stopping by!

Such Dolls!

Supplies : Paper, Remarks Stickers, Spring House Chipboard Shapes, and Rubons from Dear Lizzy by American Crafts; Cardstock and MiniMarks Rubons by American Crafts; Journaling Lines stamp set and Melon Berry Ink by Papertrey Ink; Apron Lace Fiskars Punch

Today's Sketch Friday Sketch for Practical Scrappers is provided by Lucy and what a wonderful sketch it was to try out some of the Dear Lizzy goodies I picked up. My favorite is those chipboard dresses. Aren't they so sweet! They remind me of all those darling baby dresses the girls had. I love these papers too, the only thing I don't like is that I'm having such a hard time matching the red. I found some scraps in my stash that matched, I'm pretty sure it's AC cardstock so I think Pebbles must have just been out of that particular red when I bought the papers since I didn't find any that worked then and this one coordinated perfectly. I'll be taking a piece when I go next time to see if it's back ;) Enjoy and have a fab Friday!

I'm here for you

Supplies : Paper by My Minds Eye and Making Memories; Vintage Picnic Sentiments and Ink by Papertrey Ink; Flower by Prima; Button by My Minds Eye; Twine by Papertrey Ink; Colored Pencils; N0 Copic Marker;

How are you at using your old supplies? The challenge at Practical Scrappers this week is to use supplies that are over a year old. The stamps are newer, the image is a digital from The Stamping Boutique and the sentiment is from Papertrey's Vintage Picnic Sentiments set. The image was colored with pencils. I have to admit it was fun to color in an image, it's been quite a long time since I've done it so I hope she turned out alright.

Speaking of old supplies I confess this was a very difficult challenge for me since I'm a chronic organizer and a purge freak. Seriously, I go through my stash at least every couple months and 'reorganize' my space which usually ends up with me purging anything that I feel I won't use. I do have to mention that I don't have a huge scraproom or a ton of supplies (click here for my scrap space and yes it's changed a bit since then. I think I have less stuff now, lol.) Simply put if I have too many supplies I feel more stumped when I create. Reorganizing helps me to remember all the fun goodies I have and purges help me reassess what I buy. It's an ongoing journey for me and I'm sure it'll always be that way but for the most part I like how I rotate through my stuff. Just a little bit about my stashing habits or lack thereof while we're on the subject of using old supplies ;) Thanks for reading my ramble and have a happy Tuesday!

Ice Cream Pretty Please!

Supplies : Papers by October Afternoon; Title cut from Cosmo Cricket Paper; Cardstock; Sassafrass bird feltie; Dear Lizzy Button Flair; October Afternoon journal card (good stuff); Journaling Lines stamp set and Hibiscus Burst Ink by Papertrey Ink; Corner Rounder by EK Success

Here's my layout for the Friday Sketch at Practical Scrappers. I only saw it last night as I've finally gotten back in the habit of getting online. With all my future posts I'm sure you guys didn't notice ;) For the last 3 weeks I've been on the computer all of 2 times. Well Friday was the third. It was really nice to not have to worry about turning it on, though I did miss a whole lot of great inspiration on my fav blogs. I've no hope of catching up on reading them, but I think it was well worth a break from our tech crazy world. For Shanna, yes I've been to MADE. Love her stuff! I've been going crazy with other crafty sites like Hand Made Mommy, Susan Weinroth, Made by Joel (a crafty dad!!), Made by Rae, Make It and Love It, MMM Crafts, Noodlehead, and Craftiness is not Optional if you want to check them out ;) That's not including all the quilting sites I've been going gaga over. If only I were that talented, ha! I'll stick to paper crafts for now. And thanks for the sweet comments. It was so fun to read through them! I peeked at the sketch again after lunch today and thought to get my crafting groove back on. Here's what I came up with. All the pattern papers are scraps which makes me so happy to use them! Plus they are of some of my fav papers, I adore that cherry print from October Afternoon. Enjoy the layout and if you want to play along visit the Practical Scrappers blog for the sketch. Have a fabulous weekend!

Eskimo Kisses

Supplies : Paper Eskimo Kisses by Basic Grey; Kraft Cardstock; Velvet ribbon by My Minds Eye; Chipboard by Basic Grey; Rhinestones by Kaiser; Stickles; Thickers letter stickers by American Crafts; Kisses sticker from Valentines set by Pebbles Inc.; White Embroidery Floss

I couldn't help but to use that title on a page, especially since Audrey is such a kissy girl. Doesn't it fit perfectly! The Practical Scrappers Challenge this week is using Chipboard. I decided to make it ultra easy on myself and use the Eskimo Kisses line of papers and chipboard ;) And even easier by using a January Page Maps layout. In fact the only difficult thing on this layout would be the stitching and that was more time consuming than difficult because I hand stitched it. I did add a little fun bling to liven up my chipboard pieces, some hot pink rhinestones and stickles make them shine up. This is one of my favorite pictures of Audrey and when I picked up the papers I knew I would have to use these little eskimos with some of the pictures I took of her in her hot pink sherpa coat. By the way, you know how sad Audrey was when we had to give this one away. Well, she had gotten a new one for Christmas ;) It's not hot pink, just the traditional tan but with lots of cute embroidery and she loves it! She wears it just as much as the other one and the great thing is that it matched her cute little sherpa boots too. I hope you enjoy the layout as much as I do and have a super Tuesday!

Let Me

Supplies : Papers Adobe by American Crafts; Yellow Border from Monstrosity by Sassafras; Remarks Letter Stickers, Adobe Stickers, Dear Lizzy Rubons, and Button Flair by American Crafts; Journaling Lines stamp set and Pure Poppy Ink by Papertrey Ink; Yellow Candy Dots by Pebbles Inc., Just Chillin' Slice card and Slice by Making Memories; White Gel Pen;

Have you noticed all the projects I've been posting using my White Gel Pen. That's because it's the supply challenge at Practical Scrappers this week! I love white gel pens but before working on my project for the challenge I hadn't really been giving mine much love so that was fun motivator for me to use it more often again, especially on layouts. Here I used my pen to outline the cardstock title for some extra detail and along the bottom half of the layout for a thin frame. Make faux stitching with your white pen or just doodle some fun details, even journal on darker papers for a change like I did with Sunday's layout. This page also used another February Page Maps layout. As for the pictures, they are of Cait trying to help me sweep the walkway. She's at that age where she wants to help clean and tells me often that these are her 'chores'. Of course she'll do anything except clean her room, the one chore I want her to do, lol. I think every parent has this battle though. Most of my friends say that it's near impossible to get any of their kids to clean their rooms, yet other chores aren't nearly as bad. I can hope that will change, but I'm thinking I should just be happy that she wants to do other things to help without whining and complaining yet. Enjoy the layout and have a terrific Tuesday!

Sweet Blissful Sunshine

Supplies : Paper from Oh La La by My Minds Eye; Dear Lizzy Rubons for title; Letterhouse Chipboard shapes, Elements Fabric Brads, and Remarks Blue Skies stickers by American Crafts; Yellow Candy Dots by Pebbles Inc.; Scallop/Diamond border punch by EK Success; Melon Berry Ink and Journaling Lines stamp set by Papertrey Ink;

It's sketch Friday at Practical Scrappers! I didn't get a chance to make my sample earlier this week but I did get to quickly make a layout using the sketch after we had dinner tonight ;) The moment I got the sketch in my inbox I knew I would be using this paper, it was practically made for the sketch! And I love how the rubons layered so well, making a perfect custom title for my page. Before this year I had always had a hard time using rubons. Maybe it was the previous styles or maybe I've just learned how to use them better ;) Either way I'm having a blast using them on pages of late. Our girls enjoy summer so very much, all the swimming and going to the waterparks. It's a lot of fun for all of us especially since summers here are REALLY hot!! With the spring weather coming up I've been in the mood for more bright and sunny pages and this page is definitely sunny! I hope you enjoy ;) Take a peek at the Practical Scrappers blog for the sketch if you want to play along and have a fab Friday!!

You're a Great Catch!

Supplies : Tiny Treats Valentines stamp set, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tide, and True Black Ink by Papertrey Ink; Cardstock by CTMH; Copic Markers; Versamark Marker; Clear Embossing Powder; Glazed Brad by Basic Grey; White Gel Pen;

Wondering how to use your inks? That's the challenge at Practical Scrappers this week! The first thing that comes to mind when I think of my inks is stamping images with them, the next is distressing. But what about something a little different? Here I created a gradient for water on my card and used an embossing resist to make the fish stand out. First I stamped and colored my images. Next I took my Versamark marker and outlined a fun splash design then colored it all in, right over the fish. This gives something for your embossing powder to stick to. I sprinkled on a good bit of clear embossing powder and shook off the excess before heat setting it. You can tell your embossing is done when it gets shiny. I had missed a couple spots so I went back in with my Versamark pen and colored the spots in, sprinkled more powder and set. The heat will blend it all together ;) Next is the fun part with your ink. I was using a light blue cardstock so I picked the matching ink color and then another darker shade (if you're using white cardstock you may want to try using 3 shades of ink). I filled up my brayer with the lighter ink first and leaving about half an inch of bare cardstock at the top I brayered my ink over the panel until it was well blended. Then I filled about half of the brayer with the darker ink and started about half way down the card to brayer that color on to create the gradient. I finished off the panel by wiping off the embossed section with a baby wipe. Because embossing can warp the paper I let the panel sit under a heavy book for a while to give it back it's shape. Then I attached the panel to a card base and added the sentiment. To make the resist method faster you could simply stamp a solid stamp in versamark instead of drawing it out like I did. The gradient brayer effect also looks beautiful with stamped silhouttes as well as resists. Flowers in a sunset, bare trees in winter, you could use pretty much any solid stamp to get a silhoutte look! Head on over to the Practical Scrappers Blog for more fun examples on how to use your ink ;) Thanks for popping by and have a terrific Tuesday!

Learn & Grow

Supplies : Papers by Collage Press, Scenic Route, October Afternoon, and Cosmo Cricket; Remarks Stickers (Letters and Trees) and Flair button by American Crafts; Glitter Bird sticker by Colorbok

It's Sketch Friday at Practical Scrappers! Heidi created the sketch this week and I do have to say I was stumped for a while on what I would do. I decided to trade out the big oval photo for a trio photo row that fit much better with my style and I staggered the size of my photos to make it closer to an oval shape rather than a straight rectangular row. Aside from the base all the rest of the papers are old scraps and I was so happy to use some of them! It seemed like forever to find a combo that inspired me since I started with the photos, but after a bit of trial and error I went with this tree theme and just love it! All those darling tree stickers are from American Crafts and have you seen their new stuff lately? I am in love with the Adobe, Spring, and Heat Wave lines. Well, I'm loving them all but those are going to be the first ones I get to play with ;) Pebbles just started carrying a whole bunch of new American Crafts and My Minds Eye goodies, and my my they are all such yummy eye candy! Anyway, the sketch is below if you want to play. Head on over to Practical Scrappers if you make a layout and post it to the Mr. Linky there. Thanks for popping by and have a fantastic Friday!

Collecting

Supplies : Paper - Sassafras (Monstrocity) and October Afternoon (Farm Fresh); Cardstock by Bazzil and CTMH; Forest Friends, Take Note, Journaling Lines, and Borders and Corners Circles stamp sets and inks by Papertrey Ink; Remarks letter stickers by American Crafts

Playing around with your stamps is the challenge over at Practical Scrappers this week! It's so easy to get stuck in a rut with my stamps. I tend to use them just for making cards or adding journaling prompts on my layouts. So to get out of my box I stamped on pattern paper ;) It definitely gives my stamped elements a lot more personality and opened up many new ideas to use my solid and text stamps on! Stamping my own journaling lines, which is something I do quite often, also adds more customization to my layout. I stamped the dotted lines in Ripe Avocado instead of black to keep the journaling block from looking too heavy on the page. To keep my focus on making cute stamped elements on my page I used the #42 sketch from Inspired Blueprints so I didn't have to think up a design, subbing an extra photo for the big title section. Cait is always collecting stuff outside whether it's pinecones or rocks, sticks or flowers. They all end up in her 'garden' which is usually a meticulously designed set up on the porch where she can proudly display it to us, lol. It drives me batty that she does this but at the same time I can't help but love that she loves nature so much and wants to show off her findings. If you make a project with stamps head on over to the Practical Scrappers blog and link it up ;) Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific Tuesday!

Rise and Shine

Supplies : Paper by Sassafras (Monstrosity); Stickers and Journaling/Title prompts by Cosmo Cricket (Early Bird) and October Afternoon (Farm Fresh); Blossoms by Sassafras (Sunny Day)

It's Sketch Friday at Practical Scrappers! This week Ann Katrin provided the sketch for us. I just picked up these papers and blossoms from Roberts and wanted to use them on a fun cheerful layout. Cait is such an early bird. The funny thing is she'll even stay up way past bedtime usually playing in her room in the dark while Audrey is asleep or trying to sneak out to see what we're doing instead of going to sleep herself, lol, yet she is the first one up in the morning. She is literally our own little rooster, we don't even set our alarm because she's up and waking us so early in the morning! Luckily for me Paul is great at getting up with her so I get a few extra snoozes in the morning before having to start our crazy days ;) The layout was easy and went together in a jiffy. No real layers, just some photo matting and a bunch of cute embellies. Of course I had to add a spot for some fun journaling about her early bird habit. Below is the sketch if you want play, then head on over to Practical Scrappers to link your project to the Mr. Linky. Enjoy and have a fab Friday!

Fall 4 U - Flowers Challenge

Supplies : Paper by Bo Bunny; Woolies Indian Summer by Basic Grey; Silk flowers and glazed brads by Bo Bunny; In a Stitch flowers by Sassafras; Bird Glazed brad Indian Summer by Basic Grey; Fall/Back to School Slice Card by Making Memories; Scallop Scissors; Rustic Cream cardstock by Papertrey ink; Cardstock by American Crafts

Using flowers is the Challenge this week at Practical Scrappers. I love flowers, so this was a really fun one for me! Here I did a mix of cardstock, silk, and felt flowers for a fun texture rich page. It's so funny what you forget your kids had until you see a photo of it. This was one of Audrey's favorite shirts and I had completely forgotten it since she last year winter was the last time she fit into it. I remember her Aunt Beth sent it to her for her birthday and since Audrey's favorite color is pink she immediately fell in love with it. She also loved all the fun things on that pretty embroidery and I have to admit I did too, like the butterfly and bird, the flowers, that design was just full of hidden treasures. The picture doesn't do the cute blouse justice as there is shimmery gold in there as well, such a perfect pretty fall shirt for my girly girl plus it was soft and comfy ;) And since she's an autumn baby, it was doubly perfect! So use some flowers in a project this week and then head on over to Practical Scrappers and link it up! Thanks for visiting and have a terrific Tuesday!

Dyson

Supplies : Paper by American Crafts and October Afternoon; Cardstock from American Crafts, Bazzil, and Papertrey Ink; EK Success heart punches; American Crafts Brads; Journal Lines stamp set and Pure Poppy Ink by Papertrey Ink; Fall/Back to School Slice Card by Making Memories;

Using your brads is the supply challenge over at Practical Scrappers this week! I also used a Friday Sketch from PS last month to create this layout. This bright AC paper was so fun and funky I knew I wanted to make a kind of quirky layout with it and the daily random photos of my vacuum were just the ticket with that bright yellow ;) I used some hot pink brads on my hot pink punched out hearts to give them some fun texture without making them too busy and taking away from the paper which is what I really wanted to pop, aside from the photos that is! Try creating patterns with your brads on punches like a heart within heart or polka dots on circles. Use are variety of different sizes and patterned brads for a focus embellishment or keep it simpler like I did here with monochromatic colors on cardstock for a more subtle look. Starting on the 20th of January I decided I'd start taking at least one photo a day. I take a bazillion ton of photos of the girls so the goal is to take random shots of other things that are in our daily lives. Also I'm trying to make it a goal to get at least one photo of myself each month as well and hopefully more of Paul and I together ;) The vacuum was actually the very first random item I shot. I knew I wanted to make a page about it later just for fun and then after that the ideas just started rolling of things I could take pictures of and journal about, lol. So I've been trying to keep up by making a list of items I want to take pictures of. I also write a couple sentences to a paragraph about the item in the photo to help me learn to journal better and I'm starting to do it with the girls photos too when I upload them to my computer. That way even though it may take me months (or longer!) to scrap a page, I'll have the memory already written so that I won't forget. And it really helps with the random photo to remember why I took the picture in the first place, lol. Enjoy the layout and have a fun Tuesday!

Tutti Fruiti

Supplies : Blue Skies and Letterbox papers by American Crafts; Blue Skies Remarks and Flair button and Letterbox Chipboard shapes by American Crafts; Thickers and Remarks Letter Stickers by American Crafts; Nook and Pantry Woolies by Basic Grey; Orange Cardstock by American Crafts; White Cardstock from LSS; Corner Rounder by EK Success

It's Sketch Friday at Practical Scrappers! Ann-Katrin created the sketch for this week. This was a fun simple sketch that allowed for some great embellishment showcasing! I broke out some of the new American Crafts Letterbox goodies and mixed it with some Blue Skies stuff for a quick and easy layout. These are the cute photos of Cait in this top. The other ones she is sporting some grumpy girl attitude, lol. I remember it took a while to get her to warm up to the camera that day, she was just not in the mood but I wanted to get pictures of her because she looked so darn cute! Okay, who am I kiddin' she always looks cute but I don't always get pictures of some of the outfits I love on her, so I really wanted a picture of this cute citrus top before I forgot about it ;) Below is the sketch. Visit Practical Scrappers to link your creation if you play along! Thanks for popping by and have a Fabulous Friday!!

Solitary Girl

Supplies : Paper - Marrakech by Basic Grey, Brown Swirl by Pebbles Inc.; Kraft Cardstock; Brads Abbey Road by My Minds Eye; Just Chillin' Card for Slice by Making Memories; Sewing machine and white thread

Using your Die Cutting machine is the challenge this week at Practical Scrappers. I have to say this was a very sad little photo shoot. I had taken the girls to a spot by the college last March to get some pretty sister pictures. This area has a lovely water feature and these large red rocks placed for bences. But for some reason Audrey just didn't want to be near Caitlyn and Caitlyn was content to run off and do her own thing so instead of getting sweet sister pics I got some solitary grumpy girl ones. So here's the best photo out of them all, Audrey's pouty self on the rock, lol. I took inspiration from a layout on Susan's blog (second one down). Hers is so cute and happy ;) Anyway, the design of her layout fit perfectly with how I wanted to do the title, which was the only thing I knew what I wanted to do with. I cut the solitary in lowercase and then girl in upper case subbing the 'I' for a girl cutout all done with the Just Chillin' card on my Slice. I pop dotted the girl image up to make it stand out of the title more and then added a stitched frame around the title and picture. Even if the pictures didn't come out great, I think this layout did ;) Gotta love Audrey's solemn faces, lol. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Tuesday!

Beloved You & Me - Sketch Friday

Supplies : Paper Beloved by My Minds Eye; Cardstock by CTMH; Aqua Mist buttons and White twine by Papertrey Ink; You & Me and Heart stickers by Pebbles Inc.; Basics 1 Slice card by Making Memories

It's Sketch Friday over at Practical Scrappers! Lucy created the sketch this week and it sported a cute Valentines theme with hearts so I thought why change a great thing and went along and did hearts on my layout as well ;) I broke out the Beloved papers and printed these two cute jammie pics of the girls from last year. Though they weren't taken at Valentines I loved the huggy little poses they were doing here. They share everything, even clothes sometimes, and I know that can't be easy for them. In fact sometimes they just plain don't get a long because one or the other is sick and tired of ALWAYS having her sister around, lol. But for the most part they are sweethearts and I love how by bedtime no matter what scruples happened during the day, they are back to best friends again. Below is the sketch. Remember to link it to the Mr. Linky at Practical Scrappers if you play along ;) Enjoy the layout and have a fab Friday!

I Scream!

Supplies : Paper by October Afternoon (various collections); Thickers Letter Stickers and Christmas Cupcake Flair button by American Crafts; Rhinestones by Kaiser; White mini ricrac; Circle Nestibilities; Sweet Blush cardstock, Journal Jots stamp set, and Raspberry Fizz ink by Papertrey Ink; Basics 1 Slice Card;

This week the supply challenge on Practical Scrappers is pattern paper! I guess that's not really a challenge for me though since I'm always using my patterns, lol. I did do a little cutting out with my patterns which is something I haven't done a whole lot of. The cherries by the top journaling were cut out from paper and pop dotted on the layout and the star element was cut using my Slice and also pop dotted to the layout. I used sketch #29 from Inspired Blueprints for the layout. It's a little older, but it's also a sketch that I never got around to playing with. The star balloon Audrey's holding in the picture was inspiration to use this sketch ;) Thanks for popping on by and have a great Tuesday!

Summer Love

Supplies : Paper by Scenic Route (rainbow and green dot), October Afternoon (clouds) and Cosmo Cricket (Girl Friday for letters and orange floral); Giddy Remarks stickers by American Crafts; Cardstock; Handwritten fonts Slice card

Every Friday Practical Scrappers does a layout sketch and we just started getting them early to make samples for the site now! I was so excited to see this sketch in my inbox and had the perfect photo of Cait to go with it. Since I had all those valentine cards to show you all I waited until today to post it. The best part about this layout for me is that it uses some new goodies I just got. The background paper I had just picked up that Monday as well as those cute American Crafts Giddy stickers. Everything else is scraps ;) Yay for using them up a little more right! I love this photo of Caitlyn and this was one of my favorite summer tanks of hers. She might fit into it this year, I had bought a 6/6x but she has been growing like a weed and eating like a teenage boy. She is ALWAYS hungry, lol. Enjoy the layout and have a happy Monday!

Mermaid

Supplies : Paper - Sassafrass, October Afternoon, My Minds Eye, and Scenic Route; Bazzil and CTMH Cardstock; Thickers letters by American Crafts; Cuttlebug with swirl and bubbles embossing folders; scrap embellies ;)

Embossing! That's the challenge over at Practical Scrappers this week. It was fun to use my bug with something other than my nesties and I remembered a layout I saw in a scrap magazine forever ago so pulling the inspiration from memory I created this page featuring Caitlyn's Ariel doll. When Cait saw me making this page she kept asking over and over if we could go to the store and get her a new Ariel since this one has been gone for a couple years. Ms. Purple, Scissors, in the Bedroom ;) I started pulling scraps from my blue pile to compose the page and then added the stripe in there for some fun color. Then I embossed the two blue cardstock pieces in the swirl and bubbles folders for a water theme. A fun easy layout! The panels are all 3.5" x 5.5" in case you're wondering and the strip across is about 11"x1". I simply rounded the corners for a smoother feeling to the layout and added the premade embellie and some scrap strips to journal and finish it off. Enjoy and have a terrific Tuesday!

Pretty Prima Tin

Supplies : Marrakech paper by Basic Grey; Buttons by My Minds Eye; Flowers by Prima; Ribbon in Ocean Tides and Jute by Papertrey Ink; Repurposed Calypso Prima Tin

The Practical Scrappers challenge this week is to use up buttons! I have so many buttons and I love using them on EVERYTHING! It seems like I'm always sticking a button on something here or there, but for the challenge this week I really wanted to make something that uses more buttons than my usual. This darling Calypso Prima tin that I had hanging about was just waiting to be altered! I picked out the buttons first and decorated the top then found some paper to match. Thinking back I probably should have picked the paper first, but everything worked out ;) Doesn't it make such a pretty little jewelry tin! Or for a crafter I think it would be darling holding prestamped images, flowers, or a kit! I stuck my current watch in there for the picture, I love how the turquoise looks against that paper. I'm so addicted to these watch bands and am always excited to see the news ones at our Pebbles store. Anyway, enjoy and have a great Tuesday!