Scrap Your Story - song lyrics

Music is everywhere and while I have been known to make up a witty one-line parody on occasion as a title or in a blog post I don't typically use parts of actual songs on my layouts. Actually, the only time before today was for a different Scrap Your Story challenge last term! 

There's so many songs about Rockets/Space Flight that choosing just one for this week's Design Team Reveal at SYS was rough.  I finally settled on the theme from a television series that the hubby adores - Firefly. The song's theme is called "Serenity," and I copied one of the choruses as a border for my page.

"You can't take the sky from me" seemed like an appropriate line for a little boy's rocket/outer space birthday party. Most of the song is sort of space cowboy/survivalist but that line stuck out to me every time I watched the one-season series with David. 

Here's the rest of my page:

I used a sketch provided to this group I'm part of on Facebook - thanks Kristy!

 The papers, chipboard stickers and other embellies are from October Afternoon Rocket Age. The orange journaling is an orange ultrafine tip Sharpie. The song lyrics are written with white and then black American Crafts Galaxy Markers. I cut the polaroid/title with my Silhouette Cameo (and then proceeded to use it as a mat instead of a frame!). There's also touches of Studio G glitter glue throughout. 

Ten Things Tuesday - Tiny Things

Welcome back to another Ten Things Tuesday with Practical Scrappers. Today we wanted to highlight

tiny things. 

Now as tiny things go, bottle caps aren't teeny but sometimes fitting them into a layout can be a bit tricky.  I've had these sitting on my desk for months just screaming to go on a page. 

These caps aren't from the scrapbook aisle - I just used my Imaginesce D-stress to remove the branding and rough them up. I also used my Crop-o-dile to punch holes in the sides so I could run the twine through.

Then I went old school and used a hammer and screwdriver to punch a hole in the top to run some tiny brads through so the bottle caps would look "nailed" onto the page. 

Inspiration for this layout came from a group of my FB friends, Erin asked us to use something from the adage "old, new, borrowed, blue."

Old: Fancy Pants Rough & Tough and Kraft Kuts papers

New: the hospital wrist band is only a couple of months old

Borrowed: I reused all those bottle caps!

Blue: yep, there's a few things on here. ;)

Bravery In Action

Happy Memorial Day! Today Practical Scrappers wanted to have a little patriotic inspiration for you in honor of our veterans.

I had my in-laws send me some photos of FIL in uniform especially for this project. Both sides of our family have rather long histories of military service but I didn't have any photos! That was surprising.

I just love how Authentique's Glory worked with these photos. A couple of foam dots and a little stitching and this page came together in a snap. 

Inspiration for this page came from Scrapbooksteals.com MWM Peridot 1 sketch.

Now go do something with your day off today to honor those who have given so much for our freedoms - I'll probably make a couple extra cards for Operation Write Home.

Let's Get Sketchy Guest Post - May week 4

I can't believe it is already the end of May? Here I am with my final Guest Design for Let's Get Sketchy.

And here's my interpretation: this one's of my hubby. I don't often scrap about David, mostly because all you can see are his legs in most of my photos!

I loved how the Authentique Original softened this photo. He seemed so intense, which is very much just part of him. Super goof or super serious...sounds like one of my boys, wonder where he could have inherited that? Anyway, there's lots of inking and a few eyelets and some glitter glue but I really wanted to keep this one about the layers of paper and David. There's journaling tucked in the little pocket too, a little lovey note so I won't share what it says. ;)

Now, head on over and see what the design team put together for you. I'm sure it's marvelous. 

Scrap Your Story - mixed alphas

Why is it that when someone wants you to use a technique suddenly coming up with it is rough? I use mixed alphas is titles on a regular basis, but when I sat down to work on this week's Scrap Your Story challenge all I could come up with was one word titles? Yeah, I'm a mess. But I made it work after checking out a friend's challenge blog - more on that in a minute. 

So for Scrap Your Story this week we want to see at least two fonts used on your layout - titles, journaling, random words as embellishments, it doesn't matter as long as they're there. 

Remember I said I got outside inspiration? I went to the Scrappy Friends challenge and Rochelle had posted some word art to use on a page somehow. I picked one tiny section of the text but I think it sort of sums up the point of the word art!

For the other Scrappy Friends:

Kerys: recipe using stars, layering and stamping (the doily/flourishy thing on the star)

Brenda: sketch

Kristi B.: use logo from packaging (didn't manage to include that one but thought I'd include it in case you wanted to play!)

And here's a close up of that title. Isn't it fun? I just love how the boys are holding hands - Vance wanted to help Rylan on our walk home from the park. So cute. 

Most of the papers are BasicGrey PB&J, but there's also AC Amy Tangerine, Carta Bella Beautiful Moments, Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride, and EP This & That yellow cardstock. 

Sticky alphas come from American Crafts Thickers, BasicGrey PB&J, MME Lime Twist, and Jenni Bowlin. 

The word banners are Glitz Designs, then there are WRMK eyelets, MME washi, Ranger Distress Faded Jeans, MME twine with a WRMK Sew Easy sewing head, and 7Gypsies brads. 

I also used black thread for machine stitching. 

The arrow and heart are from the Kiwi Lane Sweetheart mini design templates, the flower, bracket, star, and tags are templates too. 

Some "me" me-time

Given, it's totally my own fault, but I haven't been doing any just for fun scrapping. I was just plain feeling down most of last week and spent what little time I did scrap trying to get ahead on my design team work. 

Monday I changed that! I scrapped just for me and managed to tie it into my two favorite challenges - The Paper Girls Challenge Blog and Scrapbooksteals MWM - Peridot 3 sketch.

The Paper Girls challenge was based on a color scheme - coral, navy, cream with yellows and greens. 

The green and floral papers are from Graphic 45's Fashionista.

The cream cardstock is American Crafts Classics.

Eyelets are WRMK.

Twine is from MME All is Bright and WRMK.

Black sewing machine thread.

The background was one big messy experiment on a piece of loose paper I'd been given at a local crop. I used one of my Studio Calico banner masks and finger applied modeling paste over the mask. Once dry I rubbed my Ranger Distress Faded Denim pad right over the top of it. The banners are most visible near the bottom though you can get some good hints of the original paper's print along the sides.

Ten Things Tuesday - Titles

Good morning! I'm so excited to bring you this post today - my first with the Practical Scrappers Design Team. The official announcements should be made soon, but Christine invited us to start playing along early so here I am! 

It's Ten Things Tuesday and this week we are talking about titles - long, short, mixed fonts whatever. I do love a good title and mixing fonts happens on a regular basis around here! So today I really wanted to add another element to that by framing the word "love."

A little close up of the title, the iRock heat set metal stones are probably my favorite part of this layout. Or is it that Bo Bunny faux leather ribbon? Hmm, yummy.

Originally, I couldn't figure out a way to use the alphas I already owned to make a heart in the word "love" so I decided that the iRock could at least help me emphasize the title. And I love it how it turned out!

The inspiration for this layout came from the Paper Secrets May 15 sketch. 

Let's Get Sketchy Guest Post - May week 3

Good morning! I hope you had a pleasant weekend. I'm bringing you another Guest Designer interpretation from Let's Get Sketchy.

Here's the sketch:

And my interpretation:

So let's just start with the title, "what's wrong with this picture?" The photos were taken days after Spring began but check out all that snow! And then on top of that the snow had started melting, leaving behind huge puddles in our driveway. The puddles were to much for Vance, he *had* to jump in them. I ended up jumping in the very cold water too. How could I not after getting my feet soaking wet to take the photos of him?! 

Vance's red shirt and the snow sort of drew me to these Christmas scraps that didn't actually say anything holiday on them. I can't even tell you where most of these papers came from, but I thought the colors lent themselves to the juxtaposition of snow and the fact that it was actually spring.

Scrap Your Story - stamping

We all have them, stamps. I don't even use my stamps often and somehow they keep multiplying in my stash! Probably because when I do use them I really just how much fun they can be. 

So this week for Scrap Your Story you're going to have to give it a whirl. Stamp somehow on your layout - the title, a background, your journaling, an embellie. Just let us know how you used the technique! 

I actually stamped several times to make my background. On the top half of the page are the circles, those were created by inking up the lid of an embellishment container and then stamping on the paper. The other stamp is the Misplaced Chevron from Unity. I adore this stamp! It's pretty awesome as a background on a layout, in the past I've just used it for cards with some heat embossing(yummy!).

And just because I also loved my pennants, here's a close up of the other side of the paper. 

I used: Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride, an assortment of MME and AC scraps for the pennants and photo mats. Stickles, Color Box Ocean, Bo Bunny ribbon and flowers, a MME Miss Caroline wood veneer and MME Lime Twist pennant letter stickers.

Use It Tuesday - Guest Design Post

I'm so excited to bring you this week's Use It Tuesday. Those of you who've been around for a while know that I really like to dig into my stash and use the old stuff and scraps almost as often as I *have* to play with my new paper! That means that the old stuff pile is shrinking and soon it might all be new, one can dream right? 

Well, this week you have to USE it. No seriously, you gotta for this one at Use It Tuesday Challenge #55:  Can’t Touch This (use a beloved favorite).

 Pull out that most treasured, hoarded paper in your stash. For me, it was a piece of paper that I bought in the first couple of months of scrapbooking - a piece of MME floral paper (don't ask the line, I don't know). I just love the colors and how the flowers are so like doilies, you almost wouldn't believe that I bought it on clearance because it seems pretty on trend!

I used my Silhouette Cameo and a Lori Witlock file I bought during the recent shape sale to make a little card box, with 5 cards, to give to my mom for Mother's Day. Soooo cute. 

Not only was the floral paper old, but the cards are made from old papers. The green comes from my mom's stash and she thinks it's old Stampin' Up - it's been around for at least two years, probably three. The pink came from DCWV's Animal Crackers stack - I bought that to make party invites for V's first birthday. And if that's not enough, the pink embossing powder for the sentiment came in a pack of colors that I *really* wanted and it has sat unopened for at least a year. 

All together, a cute little gift that my mom will certainly put to good use. She always needs thank you cards in her stash.

Let's Get Sketchy Guest Post - May week 2

I'm back again for another Let's Get Sketchy Guest Post. This one took me a minute to figure out, but I love how it turned out. 

The sketch this week:

And my interpretation:

I used MME Ooh La La for this one, plus some paper tearing and stitching and it not only used up most of what was left of the kit but it turned out pretty cute. There's also some clear glitter glue and Ranger Enamel Accents. The title was done using a variety of Girl's Paperie, Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon and American Crafts Thickers.

Now, since most of you won't be able to read the journaling I'll tell you why I took these selfies of my Monkey. When he wakes from naps (my scrappy time) while I'm finishing projects he climbs up the back of the chair and digs his toes into my pants, holding onto my back. He clings so tight that I can actually carry him around the house that way. Definitely the cutest sort of "monkey on your back."

Scrap Your Story - sketch

Sketch week is probably my favorite week at Scrap Your Story! Actually, I really like them all, but if I had to pick one it'd be sketch. Anywho, Christy drew up this fab sketch:

 

And here's what I did with it:

The base of the card is AC cardstock. The larger banners are made from WRMK washi sheets/paper. There's two colors of thread with the machine stitching, lots of Ranger Distress Stickles, and papers, blackboard and die cuts from Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride, plus buttons from stash, a piece of Bo Bunny "leather" ribbon, alphas from AC Thickers, and brads from Girl's Paperie. Red and yellow thread for machine stitching.

Now don't forget to go link up those pages, can't wait to see what you do with the sketch!

I'm linking this up to S.W.A.T. Basic Training #7 - Tic-Tac-Toe challenge. I chose the vertical row on the left - 3 buttons, stitching, and 3 different manufacturers. One of my buttons is one of those tinted clear ones but you can see the floss holding it in place as the third but the others are obvious from my products list.  

Sew not easy

Pillowcase dresses. You see them all the time in Pinterest with labels like so easy. So I decided to make one for myself. Not so easy.

In the end I decided that part of my problem was the fabric - to bulky to drape well over my bulky. imagine a mumu. but I did manage to cut it down to a shirt and it looks much cuter. For the $3 I spent on the fabric even if I just wear it once we can count it successful in my adventures in sewing on something other than paper!

Sunday, after attending the baby shower where I delivered my Rockin' Baby Book, a coworker and I went pattern shopping and she talked me through how to pick the fabric and such so here's hoping that project two comes out a tad better! Stay tuned. ;)

Post NSD excitement

Did everyone have a fab National Scrapbooking Day? Mine was pretty awesome. I went and cropped in the studio space at my LSS - Friday night and all day Saturday. Awesome! But since hubby graciously let me leave the kids with him for so long I decided that instead of doing the celebratory challenges that I should get a head start on some upcoming Design Team and Guest Design posts. No sneakies, sorry. 

But I did make these two little numbers just for fun.

This card features some Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride and BasicGrey PB&J. The sentiment is stamped on Kraft.

I used Kiwi Lane Design Templates to make the tag and the scalloped ribbon. I'd traced the scallop and then folded at the small point and tucked foam dots into the "pleats."

Then, this tag I'd made during a make-and-take sponsored by an in-state company, Genuinely Jane Studios. They have wood mini albums. So cool. I love that there wasn't any bending or warping as we applied techniques to our tags. The mixed media things that Susan brought using the albums were gorgeous. If I'd brought more money to the crop I'd have brought some home with me, but at least the LSS is adding them to their inventory. ;)

I know the paper I used for the tag were from Pink Paislee, but I don't remember the line. I also splattered on a green and a blue mist. There's a MME Miss Caroline Rub-on, some Studio G glitter glue, and two kinds of washi (they provided those so I don't know where they came from).

And a close up.

Come Fly with Me

Over at Cute Card Thursday, the theme was "Come Fly with Me." I'd just gotten this cute Lawn Fawn stamp and was excited to play with it. I didn't even intend to "color" it but the marker I was using was dying so I even got to try my hand at shading a bit to help it out. LOVE the way it turned out!

Other products used include Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride paper, MME washi, and AC cream cardstock.

Let's Get Sketchy Guest Post - May week 1

I was pretty excited when Let's Get Sketchy asked me to be their Guest Designer for the month of May.   I've been playing along with their weekly sketches (most weeks) since discovering them last fall. It's been so much fun having that extra level of inspiration in my crafty week. 

Here's the sketch for the week: 

And here's my interpretation:

This one got a lot of scrap attention! Love when I can pull that one off - everything is scraps (and solid at that! I never use solids). The bottom half of the page was created by clear heat embossing a large stamp and then resist inking over it.  The large "2" was cut on my Silhouette Cameo and covered with some MME washi. The other fonts are Jenni Bowlin and Girl's Paperie. The banners were also cut on the Silhouette. 

I hope you have as much fun working with this week's sketch as I did. 

Scrap Your Story - favorites

We all have them. Favorites. And at Scrap Your Story this week we want to hear a little about YOUR favorites.

In case you've forgotten, our challenge schedule is:

Week 1: Use it (you will be given an item you must incporporate).

Week 2: Theme (your layout and/or photos needs to show this theme).

Week 3: Sketch (flip it, rotate it, tweak it...as long as we can see the basics there).

Week 4: Technique (we will describe/show a technique you must include somewhere).

And you'll have until Thursday, 11:59 p.m. CDT to get it linked up!

I know that I just emphasized the "your" in "your favorites" but I couldn't help doing another page about my older kiddo and his favorites. I'd compiled some of the questions from those "ask your kids this list of favorites every year on their birthday" from Pinterest and I *really* wanted to scrap them!

There's two tags in the pocket, one lists just favorite toys and the one with the twine has the complete list.

For those who like product listings I'm not gonna be much help here! This page is a page of scraps, but here's what I know:

American Crafts Chap

Amy Tangerine

3Bugs Blast Off!

Echo Park For the Record

Fancy Pants Rough and Tough

BasicGrey Origins

Kiwi Lane Templates Adventure and Tags

WRMK eyelet

MME All is Bright twine

Color Box Yellow Citrus chalk ink, Black pigment ink

Teresa Collins On the Edge griffin stamp

machine stitching, black thread

Stickles Turquoise

Studio G red glitter glue

Flower cards for mom's day

This one's just gonna be short and sweet - naptime is almost over and I don't want to miss the deadline for the Use It Tuesday - Flowers for Mom challenge.

I actually made two of this card. One for my mom and one for David's. Yep, duplicated. It's a good thing they live in different parts of the country.

It's raining outside so I decided instead of doing my normal photo set up to just shoot with my phone really fast. Uh, sorry it's so yellow. Again with that deadline!

These papers all came from my scrap bin - I've had the flowers/dots (Echo Park For the Record) for over a year.

this is me

Another layout about myself? Whaaattt? I know, right?! Crazy, there's been a lot more of my ol' mug on the blog in the past two weeks. 

So this one has a couple of background inspirations - the primary one is that a friend challenged some mutual crafty friends to do a page about ourselves, using our favorite color, an embellishment that represents us, and the journaling has to celebrate ourselves. 

I started by leafing through my papers for something red. Red has been my favorite color since junior high, and before that it was orange, specifically neon/dayglow orange. Nothing red seemed "me," maybe that's because most of it is kid/boy or Christmas themed! Seriously bummed. And then I was wandering in my house and realized that the predominant colors match these papers - clearly I like them a lot since it keeps appearing through my off the page projects (which also match the bedding in our room). So I'm going to call these colors "my favorite together." HA!

The embellishment that represents me is the doily. Everything paper is square or circle, this one's just a little bit not "normal." Wait for it, that ties into the journaling...

The journaling is tucked into the card and really was an exercise for me. What to write about myself, especially since this photo isn't really an event photo that I can springboard from. I wrote about how when I wrote one word lists to describe myself as a pre-layout planning exercise there's all this contrast and contradiction, but those things are still all me and in fact the "nerd can chase toddlers while wearing stilettos and isn't restricted to pocket protectors."

I'm linking this up with the Paper Secrets May 1 Sketch w/twist to use a "polaroid." Mine was cut using my Cameo. 

I'm also linking it up to the Scrap Our Stash Patterned Paper Party - the goal being to use at least 3 patterned papers from 3 or more different collections AND a rub-on. Easy peasy! My layout meets the challenge as follows: Authentique Uncommon, Freebird, and Renew and American Crafts Classics. My rub-on is from MME Miss Caroline and is the lacy border under the blue dots and on the yellow solid layer.