Paper Girls Challenge Blog - Use Christmas paper for a non-holiday layout

I seriously love that Charissa offered up this challenge at Paper Girls Challenge Blog - you need to use your Christmas papers for a layout that isn't about Christmas. Finding ways to use my stash unconventionally, especially themed papers, is something I am all about! 

For this layout I combined a design team assignment from my local store, they provided Fancy Pants Merry Little Christmas and simply wanted me to use it. Love when things work out like that! If you've been watching my posts all month, you'll know that I've really gotten some use out of the kit they gave me too.

Since the paper was a new line (and free) I thought I'd dig way into my stash and pulled out those buttons, one of my first purchases from Scrapbooksteals over 4 years ago, and some Thickers that are so old they're falling off their sheets. 

Thanks for stopping by, now take a break from those Christmas projects you've been working on and link up a fun layout!

School mini book and another announcement

I really just can't believe that it's time to discuss back to school stuff already. Where'd the summer go? No idea! What I do know is that this is my last year home with both boys, next year Vance starts kindergarten. Wowzers, can't believe he's nearly there already. 

Anyway, back to that announcement that I promised in the title. Wait for it, you are waiting right? I'm on another design team, this time with my LSS, Soul Sentiments. I'm pretty excited because in addition to bringing creative inspiration with new yummy products I get to teach a class. That class is where it really starts getting good (Andie, you'll never guess what we've decided is my project theme. Did you make a guess? Yes!). Using up that stash in creative and trendy ways. Theme.of.my.creative.process. and I can't wait to share it with others. 

But today I'm sharing something new, this mini book uses Echo Park Paper & Glue which is admittedly a little more primary colored that I would have reached for on my own but was so much fun to make. I let the sticker sheet guide my design structure and used a couple sets of dollar bin chipboard mini albums.

Come back Friday for another project I made with this line, my third and final was the inspiration for my class sample so you'll have to wait to see that one revealed. I don't know when that'll go live. 

Scrap Your Story - Polaroids

I just have to come out and say it, I love the look of polaroids but always forget to use them in my scrappy arsenal. When Christy said we'd be using them for this week's challenge at Scrap Your Story, well I got pretty excited!

For your polaroid, it can come from anywhere you like, be it an actual nostalgic polaroid, one you hand cut, an embellishment, or like mine that I used my die cutting machine to cut and frame my photo.

My page today has some fun stuff going on, including the oldest paper in my stash. Check out that faux crocodile, wowzers! I don't know why I bought it because it's spent the last four years hanging around in my stash, I've nearly thrown it away half a dozen times. I think it was waiting for this moment.

There's also a few reclaimed items - the washer type thing around one of the brads, two bottle caps, and a penny that the boys wanted to run through one of those souvenir penny machines. 

As for other products:

Papers are from BasicGrey PB&J, MME Lost and Found, and Authentique Loyal

Brads are Paper Studios and Teresa Collins On the Edge

Washi is Love My Tapes

Stickers are 3Bugs Blast off!

Ink is Colorbox Black Pigment

Playing Games Embossing folder from Tim Holtz 

Flocking, tags, tab are stash

I'm entering this one in a couple of challenges as well:

Scrapbooksteals MWM Peridot 5 sketch

Scrapbooksteals MCM Life: celebrate an everyday event (playing with siblings)

SWAT Drill #9 Cool Colors

Scrap Our Stash #4 All About Our Guys + use 5 or more brads

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. 

Birth Stats Mini Book Page

I don't know if it's because it's a break from my normal 12x12 routine or what but I am loving working on this baby book for my friend! So stinkin' fun! If you want to see other pages I've made for the book, then head here and/or stay tuned because there's a lot of pages still in the works. I love that I've still been playing along with my favorite challenges while putting it together, and there's so many pages left! Hopefully, I get it done in time. Eeek!

Anyway, this page brought me much excitement. I used the sketch at Scrap our Stash to finish it up, they also had the challenge to dig a little deeper and use 6 buttons.

 I said in my previous post that the base of this project is Teresa Collins On the Edge (which I was about to destash before I adopted this project) with splashes of Authentique Loyal, you'll see both here. There's also some American Crafts Thickers, buttons, EK Success Sticko (hands and feet!), and my newest toy the Tim Holtz Texture Trades embossing folder (admit one ticket), WRMK eyelet, and Studio G glitter glue.

Here's a little close up for you. You'll notice that I inked up both the Thickers and buttons, deliberately not coating evenly. Yummy. And check out the baby hands!

The Scrap Our Stash sketch:

My Rock-a-bye Mini

A little over two weeks ago a coworker's daughter had a surprise baby, at 31 weeks no less! Needless to say the Grandma is in one of those gushy love the baby but still in shock sort of moments in life. The day I found out I started plotting what kind of card I'd make for the baby gift - the baby's mama is totally a rocker/hippie sort of gal so it wasn't going to be something I could pull from previously made and stashed cards. 

For some reason I kept thinking about making a mini for her and just couldn't bring myself to start either project. The next time I saw the new grandma I asked her about making a baby book - and she was sooooo excited at the idea. You see Rocker Mama wasn't digging the pastel duck/bunny/bear books you can find at the baby/toy stores in our area. (Not that I can blame her, I didn't buy them either. Pastels make me want to...bleh.)

I just so happened to have some Teresa Collins On the Edge in my pile of scrappy stuff I was getting ready to sell at my LSS stash sale so I pulled it out, bought some "edgy" embellies (glitter skull and cross bones?!) and set to work planning out my first requested piece. I also decided to incorporate Authentique Loyal into the book to give me another color to work with - bonus being that the baby's room is in the process of being decorated with green, blue, brown and black. Can you say perfect?!!

This first page (the second page in the book since the cover was drying while I was working on this one) was based on the Scrapbooksteals.com MWM Amber 9 sketch. 

I know that they're already taking a lot of cell phone photos of baby so I wanted to keep them square and have a few hidden pics to get as many as possible into the baby book. The blue panel lifts for room for two more pics. 

The next page, for month 1, was inspired by the Paper Secrets April 15 sketch with a twist to use wood embellishments. Again, I modified the sketch to fit my needs/get a couple more pics onto a smaller page! We have four photo spots and two journaling blocks, my thought being that the outside journaling can be "normal" milestones and the inside block is for things about their hospital life the first month. 

Check out my little Studio Calico wood veneer tab! It was the perfect size for these TC stamps that came with the paper kit. 

And the outside of the book, I intended to ink the back but forgot that I hadn't until I'd already taken the photo. Oops, but you get the idea. 

Scrapbooksteals Sketch

Paper Secrets Sketch

You'll be hearing a lot about this book in the coming days, I want it done before their "Baby Get Together Thing" the first weekend in May (shower after baby is born, baby still in hospital so whatever you want to call it). It is also the reason I haven't posted much this week, just planning it to this point has taken a lot of my crafty time and last week I was getting my stash together for the upcoming sale. 

Don't forget that tomorrow is Friday, so that means a new Scrap Your Story Challenge! 

Krafty snow

Remember those snow storms that hit the midwest the end of February? Well, I managed to take some pics in the early morning light to document our back to back snowyness this winter after spring type weather. The journaling is on the snowflake border card tucked between the photos and the snowflake. 

I used MME Kraft Funday as the backgrounds and for the snowflakes so that I can enter the Scrap Your Stash challenge. Included in the Kraft challenge was to use 3 metal pieces, I have 4 if you don't include the brads holding them on! 

The sketch inspiration for this one came from Kerys over at Scrapbooksteals. The Amber 6 MWM will be her last one, but I can't wait to see what she'll be up to around the interwebs.

In addition to Kraft Funday I used:

Studio G glitter glue, Ranger Enamel Accents, MME Washi, Girl's Paperie and Recollections ribbon, Jenni Bowlin alphas, the metal is from Paper Studios, American Crafts Christmas Knock out punch, Ranger Distress Ink Broken China, and Silhouette Cameo.