April Showers

ok- so it is May and I am a  little late!
Here's a card that I made yesterday featuring a cute little PollyCraft digi stamp.

Another Easter Card

I freely admit it- I am having a bit of a love affair with Spellbinders and Heartfelt Creations lately. Ever since I got the Life Style Crafts Genius cutting plate for my Sizzix Big Shot, I am hooked on cutting these.
This card features a Spellbinders egg and the mat behind it. The flowers are from Heartfelt Creations and the coordinating die to the flower stamp is a Spellbinder made for them.
Paper is from Creative Imaginations.

Glitter Easter Cards

I attended a class at the scrapbook expo on using Copic markers over glitter to create these beautiful effects.
Stickers- Elizabeth Crafts
Punches-Martha Stewart
Dies- Spellbinders

Spring Posey Card

I was playing around more today with my Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies.
I whipped up this little shaped card (cut with my Cricut from CTMH Art Philospohpy)
I ran the front of the card through a CuttleBug embossing folder.
Punches are from Martha Stewart and the leaf die is SU!
I love it when all my different products play so well together :-)

Cherry Blossoms

Here is a little card that I made featuring a cherry blossom paper from Recollections. I fashioned the paper blossoms with a Martha Stewart hydrangea punch.
Stamp is from SU!, Spell Binders medallion die.

Heartfelt Creations Contest

I am trying DESPERATELY to win this  new collection!
I am sooooo hooked on their products after attending a class at the Expo.

Here is the link if you would like to try to win one too.

SOS #12

SOS challenege # 12 was to use a game piece on a LO.
I very literally followed their example and used a Simple Stories bingo card (after being a Memory Works consultant I  have Simple Stories coming out of my ears!)
To change it up, I opted for a Christmas LO featuring decorated trees .

Papers and Stickers- Simple Stories
Holly Punch- Martha Stewart
Die cut Title- Cricut CTMH ArtBooking

SOS# 10

I did a few more pages this weekend inspired by the Scrap Our Stash birthday challenges. This one is for SOS#10 -balloons.

I used Simple Stories Cheese papers and stickers to whip up this LO of Main Street DisneyLand.

SOS # 6

Whoops I got wayyy behind on these challenges. I went to the scrap book expo in Anaheim last week. I did a lot of pages but none for the challenges. Then I came home and have been a card-making fool!

This LO incorporates some of my Expo purchases and SOS# 6 which was use to use mist on a LO. Honestly-I am not a huge fan of mist. I have about 5 of them- they tend to clump up and jam the nozzle- then I end up just sprinkling it out by hand!
I used some brown Tattered angels on the background page and gold on the big flower.
I used some of my new Heartfelt Creations for the paper and the flower elements.
I also used a Spellbinders die set for the accent pieces, SU! leaf sizzlet, and Martha Stewart butterfly and fern punch.

Heartfelt Creations

I succombed and finally took a Heartfelt Creations class at the Expo last week. I have always been entranced by their pretty pretty cards and boy did I fall in love with them even more after the class!
 I was lucky enough to win a posy patch stamp set in class. I got the coordinating set of dies and paper pack and have been merrily making flowers ever since.
I see a lot of creative options ahead of me utilizing my Cricut Lacy Labels and Damask dies with these pretty posies.

SOS 5

The fifth challenge @ Scrap our Stash was to incorporate a banner  onto our lay out.

I immediately thought of this Recollections re-branded stack of Dear Lizzy Neopolitan collection. It had the papers, stickers, and a threaded punch out banner to use!

I just added a Petaloo floral and some chipboard letters that I painted silver.

SOS 4

The fourth challenge at Scrap Our Stash was to use a bow on a lay out.

For this one I really foraged in my stash and found a couple of old DCWV stacks that had to be at least 3 years old!

The pix aren't quite as old- just from Easter last year.

PP- DCWV
Prima-flowers, leaves,canvas flourish
punches-Martha Stewart
Title Criut Artbooking
Bow- Dritz

SOS 3

The third challenge from Scrap our Stash was to scrap something with sparkle.

Look at the date on this LO- yes they are pix from 3 YEARS ago!!!
I cannot tell you how good it felt to finally get them scrapped and put away in an album.
The papers and embelluies were all cut from a DCWV Christmas paper stack that I got for cheap cheap cheaps after Christmas at Joanns this year.
The "20" and "10" I cut from the advent page sheet to use as my title of the year.
The red glitter tape I bought last month at Michaels in the after Valentine's Day 80% off bin.

SOS 2

oops I got a little bit behind but never fear I will catch up!
Here is the second challenge from Scrap our Stash- this one was to use a doily on a lay out. I love it- because I love doilies!

I had gotten this great paper set for only $8 at Tuesday Morning . It is by We R Memory Keepers and included the patterned paper, solid card stock, stickers, die cuts and a cropper hopper to keep it all in.

I wasn't too sure about this LO as it doesn't have a title and contemplated putting one vertically down the center but then I felt that would be too crowded so I left it out.

SOS 1

Are you surprised to see me back so soon? Me too - that Lay Out A Day last month was pretty exhausting by the end of it but I found another challenge blog that was just too good to resist.
It is called Scrap Our Stash  (SOS) and that really speaks to me as I have soooo much scrappy stuff that I really need to use up.

They  are posting multiple challenges this month every few days which seems a lot more do-able to me than committing to every day. And even if I miss a challenge or 2 it will be no biggie. Just as long as I get a  shot of inspiration to keep me scrapping along :-)

Todays challenge was to use at least 3 papers on a LO- to layer them on.
I love this idea  as I am a total" paper ho"  so anything to get me to use it up is fine by me.
I got this Crate Paper Snow Day stack at Big Lots for super cheap and thought that bright bright colors would go well with the pix of my kitties and puppy dogs playing with one of their Christmas gifties :-)

I ended up using 5 sheets of the papers .
Die cut Letters - Cricut When I was a Kid Cart.
Bling- Recollections
Corner Punch -SU!

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The last one- HUZZAH!
There should be a big trumpet fanfare sounding!

Todays prompt was to do something outside your usual style.
I immediately thought of these Fancy Pants papers that I bought at the Memory Works closing sale. For 70% off I tend to just grab and stuff in my shopping cart. When they arrived I thought "YEESH"!
What am I going to do with these!
Covering up a majority of the print that I was dubious about with solids was a good start.

Papers and embellies- Fancy Pants

Thanks for following along with me on my LOAD experience.
I will be taking the next little while off- I really need to clean up the scrap cave after all this!

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Only one more to go- wooooo hoooooo!!!!!!!!

Today Lain was nice to us and gave us an easy prompt. She said that our journalling does not always need all 5 W's ( who, what, where, why, when) and how.
She gave us permission to just use 1 of them- so I chose a "what" in Celebrate.

I made this LO last Friday at a crop but figured since it was within the month of February it should still count towards LOAD.

The design I lifted directly off the Cricut When I was a Kid cartridge box.
PP- DCWV Celebration stack
Imaginisce- i rocks

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Todays prompt was a really fun one.
Lain wanted to disspell the notion that the items on your lay out need to coordinate all from the same manufacturor. She encouraged us to mix and match and use as many different suppliers as we could. Being quite the hoarder of scrappy schtuff- this was wonderful for me. I pulled out one of my Cropper Hopper flat paper folders and started pawing away!

Papers- MAMBI, Paper Studio, K and Co., Echo Park
Letters-Prima
Button & burlap ribbon- SU!
Cardstock- American Crafts, DCWV
Imaginisce- i rocks
Cricut- Country Life Cartridge

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Oh MY GOODNESS!
Today Lain gave us a real doozy!
We had to roll a die with various scrapping words on it and make our page in that order.
Boy- was that turning the whole process upside down and shaking it!
I printed up my die and took it to coffee with my friend Nancy. I cast the die to get my directions. The last photo is of the order of words that I got. Then I came home and added what I was going to use in pink.
It actually was really fun once I got over the shock of it all LOL

PP-DCWV Linen Closet
Glitter Tape- Recollections
Cricut- MS Birthday Cake Cricut Cartridge
Template- CTMH Reflections "front and center"

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An easy one today- YAY!!!!
For today we were just supposed to scraplift one of our own previous LO's.
This was very fun to do.

I had 2 super cute pix of my Rag Doll  pussy cat Pentel. I pulled papers from DCWV My Sunshine Stack. Punched a few hearts. The border and title were elements cut from the papers.
The only other elements that I added was just a tad of washi tape, buttons, and ribbon.

Lifted the design from my day 9 LO here

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Lain did it again with another tough prompt. Today we were supposed to scrapbook something that had not happened yet- it could be a hope, a dream, or an aspiration.
I pondered it and came up with a travel bucket list.

Patterned papers- Teresa Collins
Cricut Destinations Cartridge

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Oh my- today was hard- here is the quote from the transcript
"Myth or reality: the photos you use have to match the event or topic you are scrapbooking."

The example Lain show cased was a Christmas pic of some children but the page was really about closeness of family..

I chose to interpret the challenge more as a journalling prompt.
My journalling does not describe the light house as pictured on the page but the fact that it is an example of a new found independence that I discovered when travelling with my husband on his business trips. I get to fly along free with him so I discover these new places with the help of TripAdvisor.com and my GPS. I feel very adventurous getting about in strange cities on my own and seeing all the sights.

PP, Stickers, Tag- K and Co.
Brad- Making Memories

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Todays challenge was to  create a non-traditional size or shaped LO.
I used this scalloped circle by We R Memory Keepers as my page base.
Title and leaves cut with Cricut -when I was a kid cartridge.

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Todays prompt was another tough one for me.
Lain wanted us to use a quote from an unusual source on our page. Well, I rarely journal, so it is even rarer that I use a quote at all. So I figured that any attempt should qualify me. I wrote out some lyrics from Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs" on one of my hearts.

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Lain gave us permission top break a big rule today- she said to use something that wasn't acid free/lignin free on our pages.
 HOOO-EEEE! this was a biggie.
This is one of the 1st mantras/ commandmants drilled into every scrappers head!

It was actually pretty easy to do.I thought of all the paper doilies that have been the paper-crafting rage lately. I buy the Wilton brand in the cake decorating aisle at Michaels so I really really doubt that they are acid free!

 SU!-Papers, button, ribbon,hexie punch
Prima- letter stickers
Cricut Storybook
Martha Stewart-Lace punch

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Just chugging along here...
Todays challenge was to create a scrapbook lay out that was inspired by something that was not specifically designed as a scrapbook inspiration.

I found this neat page in an issue of Martha Stewart Living. I liked the clean lines, the grid design ,and the crisp typography.

I would probably never have scrapped such a spare lay out as this if it weren't for this challenge.

All I used were my photos , 1 piece of 12 x 12 white card stock, American Crafts letter stickers, and a black pen.

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Todays challenge was a fun one.
Lain wanted for us to appreciate that there is no ONE right way to do do a LO.
To demonstrate this, she wanted for us to use yesterdays LO as a basis for todays but to turn it and mix up the elements in a new way.

I used my KiwiLane Templates again, papers and chipboard embellies from My Minds Eye.
Cricut Artiste for the title.

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ACK-I hated todays challenge .... at first.
Lain wanted us to scrap a bad time. Being a glass half full- kinda gal this was REALLY not my style.
But then I thought about the end of last year- our family went through some really rough times with the death of my husbands step-father and then my husband needing surgery and having a tough recovery. Then I ended up in the hospital twice with epic migraines. It was a tough time.

It was our first Thanksgiving without family where I didn't (or some other family member) did not cook. It seemed so impersonal going to a restaurant. But all in all ,it was a nice quiet dinner. I probably would not have journalled the reason behind why there was only the 3 of us at a restaurant for Thanksgiving if it weren't for Lain's prompt.

PP-Authentique, Basic Grey
KiwiLane Stencils
Cricut CTMH Artbooking
Stickers- K & Co.

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Todays challenge was to scrap a photo that you had already scrapped before.
I didn't have any duplicates to scrap but thought of all my pix from the  Palace of the Legion of Honor and felt that they were similar enough to qualify.
I used the same DCWV Bella Armoire papers. I made an embellishment from a few left over Cricut cuts that I had sitting around.

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Happy Valentines day!

 We are now halfway through the LOAD challenge- and I am starting to get tired!
Todays LO is nothing to write home to the folks about but it's done!

We were supposed to use non-scrapbbooking supplies today. I was not particularly creative and opted for office supplies. I added some staples and paper clips to a page from DCWV. Words were cut with my Cricut.

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I liked todays prompt- no sentences for journalling.
 Since I have such a hard time journalling, just doing some bullet points suited me just fine!

The LO design I scraplifted from HSN the other day. They had a sample with some 3 birds products and I really liked the tilted center with the banners under it.

I used Crate Paper papers and chipboard embellishments. I also used a Martha Stewart lace edge punch and SU! note book border and label punches.

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Todays task was to not use any store bought embellishments.
This was quite easy for me as I usually always create my own with my Cricut.
I made the squirrels from Mickey & Friends and the Title from Mickey font.
Patterned papers are by October Afternoon.

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Today - we were tasked with changing up our scrapping process.

I always start with my photos first and then pull colors , papers, and embellies from the photo.
I knew that my Cricut Formal Occasions cart had a neat palm island accent on it that I had been itching to cut and use. So I stared by cutting it BIG at 7 inches.

I chose hot tropical colors based on the die cut- I used Crate Paper and Basic Grey.

Once I saw how big it was completed , I knew that I wouldn't have much room for photos on the page so I decided to use it as a title page for a trip to Hawaii that we took last year.

I used Cricut Alphalicious to cut the letters for the title and punched a few vellum clouds as accents.

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Wow- Lain gave us a great task today- we could only use black and white!
I am totally a color girl- the more colors the better ( another reason why I like sewing so much - accumulating all that pretty brightly colored fabric!)
I had a very old DCWV paper stack called Bella Armoire that I knew would be perfect for this challenge.
My LO's are very loosely based on some sketches by Susan Stringfellow http://sketchsavvy.blogspot.com/

I used Cricut Billionaire to cut the title and one lil Prima blingie thingie and everything else came from the paper pad.

I used my trick of putting a folded  card on the second page so I could get in extra photos.

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Todays task was to have someone else direct your lay out. I asked my husband what should I scrap and he said the dogs. As I was rooting though my pix looking for labrador photos I came across these photos from the Chino Hills Pittie Party last October and decided to get them scrapped.

The papers and embellies I purchased from Queen & Co. at their booth @ the CKC Convention in Las Vegas 2 years ago so it was high time that I used them!
The title I cut with Cricut Graphically Speaking.