Fountain of Fun

First off sorry about the crummy pictures. We've been socked in by rain for the last week so trying to find good lighting in my house is imposible. 

I'll admit that I am not loving this layout right now.  This collection from Crate Paper is so pretty and the border strip paper was perfect.  I fussy cut a couple of the borders out and then layered them on left.  I pop dotted the top one for some demension.  I think the reason I don't like it, is it has to do with the title block ... to me it just looks out of place.  How would you change it?

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Crate Paper - Restoration Collection; Cardstock: Bazzils; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts Thickers and Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type; Embellishments: Crate Paper - Restoration Border Strip paper, Chipboard Pieces from my Stash, and Flower Soft.

The Journey Awakens the Soul

You never know where you will find the neatest embellishments!  Before we left for Cuba, I bought my husband a new pair of swim trunks and they came with a brand tag made out of cork.  I thought it was so cool and measuring at just over three inches I was sure I could find a use for it.  And sure enough, I did on this layout!  I flipped the tag over so that the brand was on the back and then stamped one of  Tim Holtz's stamps on it.  Pretty cool eh?!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny - Paradise Collection; Embellishments: Bo Bunny - Paradise Collection Chipboard, Brad, and Sticker Sets, Drywall Tape, Brads, Glossy Accents, Tim Hotlz - Soulful Collection, Tattered Angels - Beach Journalling Cards ; Inks: Archival Ink - Black, and Distress Ink - Scattered Straw and Barn Door .

Toast The Newlyweds

I love these photos! It shows what fun loving people my brother and his wife are. They are always up for a good time and are always willing to laugh ... even if it is at themselves!

This is another layout I created using items from my stash. If I keep this up I might have to replenish ... oh who am I kidding ... I could probably survive a year without shopping (except for adhesive) but why would I want to do that! It is nice though to use up some of this older stuff though. I ran into a small issue after I had the whole layout done and went to add the final piece, my journalling.  Because my background paper was so busy the letters I had originally chosen just got lost.  So I changed them to a larger size and dark color which helped out quite a bit.  But I still had a problem with the "The" as it was so small that it was lost.  I decided to place them on this chipboard journalling piece which helped to anchor them and stand out a lot better.  Phew ... another problem solved!

This layout was based on this sketch.

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Basic Grey - Sulty Collection; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts Thickers and Making Memories Alphas; Embellishments: Basic Grey - Sultry Collection Chipboard Set and Glossy Accents; Sketch: Allison Davis - Sketches for Scrapbooking Volume 3; Tools: Creative Memories Corner Rounder.

La Musica

I really liked this chipboard journalling spot I got from a friend of mine and wanted to use it on this layout but I struggled with it.  I tried several different strategies with it but for some reason nothing worked.  I then decided to use it as the background for my title and went with the monochromatic look and it seemed to come together from there.  At the end of it all I really like how it turned out and I find it suits the layout quite well.  I'm so glad I decided to tough it out until I found something I liked!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Martha Stewart Crafts - Essentials Paper Pad; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts Thickers; Embellishments: Jillibean Bakers Twine and Brads; Tools: Typewriter.

Let's Get The Party Started

I love how this layout turned out! I was able to get a tonne of photos on it which meant I could show more of the party without the bulk of multiple pages dedicated to it!  With the exception of the two photos on the top left, which were printed in 4x6, everything else was a collage I made in photoshop.  It was really quite easy to do.  I opened up a new image in photoshop and then sized each photo I wanted to use into different sizes and like a puzzle, I put them on my new image.  I printed the collage in 8x10 size and had intended on just adhering that to the layout directly but I found the black background was just to dark so I decided to cut out each of the little photos on the collage.  I love how it turned out!

For the sake of clarity ... this is what my collage photo looked like before I cut it apart.

Supplies: Patterned Paper: SEI - On The Coast; Cardstock: Bazzils; Alphabet Stickers: Basic Grey, American Crafts Thickers; Embellishments: Basic Grey -  June Bug Chipboard Elements, Adhesive Pearls, Flower Soft, Stickles, and Brads; Tools:  EK Success Dotted Wave Border Punch and Photoshop

The Groom's Dudes

Have you ever used a Dymo Embossing Label Maker to do your journalling on your layouts?  If not, you have to try it!  I got mine at Michael's and I absolutely love it!  You can get the labels in several different colors and it makes journalling a snap.  I especially love it on guy layouts like this one.  Doesn't it give a more maculine look.  My pretty pinting sure doesn't!  Go ahead and give it a try ... I'm sure you will love it too!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Crate Paper - Restoration ; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts Thickers; Embellishments: K & Company Borders, Glossy Accents ;  Tools: Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Dymo Embossing Label Maker.

Mom's Day

When I scrapped these photos of the Mother's Day Run & Walk with my Mom, I decided to ignore the fact that the photos were grey and dreary and went with some pretty colors.  Even though most of the walk was in the pouring rain, our spirits were high and we had a great time and these papers reflected that mood perfectly.  I thought the name of this collection - Life Is Good by Echo Park was a perfect fit for the occasion. Doing events like this, that benefit the neo-natal unit at the local children's hospital, shows you how lucky we really are and not matter our problems Life Is Good!

This layout was based on a sketch you can find here.

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Echo Park - Life Is Good; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts - Thickers; Embellishments: Echo Park - Life Is Good Sticker Sheet, Adhesive Pearls, Glossy Accents, and Embroidery Floss; Inks: ColorBox Chalk Ink; Sketch: Sketch Support - One Page Sketch #2; Tools: Nestabilities Grand Labels Eleven, CuttleBug Machine, CuttleBug - Tiny Bubbles Embossing Folder, .

The Night Before

The moment I saw this line from Echo Park, I fell in love with it.  I loved it so much that for the last year it has sat in my too pretty to use pile.  But with my new resolution to use stuff instead of hoarding, I decided it was time for this paper to make its debut in my scrapbook albums.  The lucky photos were of the night before my brother and sister-in-law got married and this paper was perfect for them.  The birght and fun colors were a perfect match for the theme and helped to give this layout a fun party feel.

This layout was based on a sketch by Sketch Support that you can find here.

Supplies: Echo Park - Walk In The Park; Cardstock: Bazzils, Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts Thickers; Embellishments: Buttons and Embroidery Floss, Tools: Fiskars Extra Large and Large Circle Squeeze Punch, EK Success Large Cirlce Border Punch, and Dymo Embossing Label Maker; Sketch: Allison Davis - Sketch Week July

Featured Artist

I am so excited to be a Featured Artist again over at the Ideas for Scrapbookers blog today!  Hop on over to Ideas for Scrapbookers to check my neat ideas for personalizing your gifts!

Have a great weekend!

My Scrap Room

I was wandering through the Creating Keepsakes Blog, which this week is featuring fellow scrapbooker's  Creative Spaces, when I came across Thursday's featured Creative Spaces.  Was I ever shocked to find my name in the list of featured spaces!  I feel so honored!  If you are interested this is the link to it and if you comment on each days feature you will be entered to win a fantastic prize! 

Hve a great day!

Loyal Best Friend

If you are a dog (or even cat) owner like me, you probably have a hard time walk by any dog themed scrapbooking products.  That was the case when Bella Blvd came out with this collection at CHA 2010 (January).  I had to have it!  I loved the colors!  I always find layouts about my dog so much fun to do because I have a drawer full of dog embellishments and the layout seems to put itself together!

This flower looking embellishment is actually fussy cut from one of the patterned papers in this collection.  I really wanted to embellish it so I took some baker's twine and wrapped it around all the groves and then I adhered a little fire hydrant in the middle.  I really liked how it looked but when I placed it on my layout it got lost in the other background papers.  So I broke out my Cuttle Bug, my Nestabilities scalloped circle die and some felt and created a background for it to sit on.  It turned out awesome!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd - Tail Waggers and Cat Naps; Cardstock: Bazzils; Embellishments: Bella Blvd - Tail Waggers and Cat Naps Chipboard, Jessie James Buttons, Making Memories Charms, Jillibean Bakers Twine, and Felt; Tools: Nestabilities Large Scalloped Circle, We R Memory Keepers Stapler; Sketch: Page Maps.

Grandma's Favorite Photo

When I saw this paper line by Echo Park called For the Record, I absolutely fell in love with it!  I made a pact with myself that if I were to buy it that I would use it right away, not file it away in my absolutely love it and don't want to use it pile.  I found this old photo of me from when I was a child.  It was my Grandma's favorite photo of me and I must admit I love it too in spite of the 19070's style jumper I was wearing!  Over the years the little fishing boy has changed colors and since my Grandma's passing I do not know where he ended up.  I sure wish I had thought to ask for him when my Grandpa was going through things but alas I did not.  I sure hope that where ever he went, there is another little girl telling him secrets!

The "remember this" strip was actually cut from the border sheet but I didn't want it to lay flat so I randomly placed some pop dots under it to give it a wavy appearance.

I wanted the year to have some dimension.  I used the stickers from the collections sticker sheet and then covered them with 2 coats of glossy accents (allow drying in between).  Now they look like they are under glass!  I also snuck a little glossy accents onto the birds eye!  Sure hope you enjoyed this layout.  Both the layout and the memories make me smile!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Echo Park - For The Record; Alphabet Stickers: Echo Park - For The Record Sticker Sheet Alphas, American Crafts Thickers; Embellishments: Echo Park - For The Record Sticker Sheet, Glossy Accents, Embroidery Floss, Brads and Button; Tools: Nestabilities Large Oval; Ink: Color Box.

I Love My Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mother's out there! I had a great day with my Mom and I sure hope that you spent a great day with your Mom and/or children!

This card was made using this sketch on the Sketch Support blog.  I apologize that the I Love My Mom sticker did not show up well in the photo ... a translucent sticker does not photograph well.

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Close To My Heart - Sophia; Cardstock: Bazzilz; Embellishments: Relections Mother's Day Stickers, Felt, Embroidery Floss and Ribbon; Tools: Nestabilities Scalloped Circle; Sketch: Sketch Support - Card Sketch #4.

Parents of the Groom

This was a difficult layout for me as the colors in the photos were a little difficult to work with. I know, you don't have to match but I find the photos pop better if they do. Luckily, I had this line from Cosmo Cricket in my stash that worked great! Once I had that it came together quite easily! And yeah for me, another layout created from my stash!

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket - Earth Love; Cardstock: Bazzils, Alphabet Stickers: October Afternoon, American Crafts Thickers; Embellishments: Cosmo Cricket - Earth Love Elements Sheet, and Brads, Tools: Creative Memories Corner Rounder.

At the Salon

I love how this layout turned out!  I was planning on it being so fancy (with the swirls) but I found when I was done that the journaling block seemed like it was lonesome!  I think the chipboard swirls (thanks Kim ... they're from your stash I raided) tie it all together perfectly!  I love all the little phrases, which came from a sticker sheet from 7 Gypsies and the flower was just a paper flower I had in my stash that I pop dotted and then put the chipboard phrase in the center.  Once again I was able to do this entire layout from my stash ... yeah two layouts in row from the stash!  Does this mean I can go shopping now?!

Supplies: Basic Grey - Sultry, Dear Lizzy - Enchanted; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts Thickers; Embellishments: American Crafts Thickers, My Mind's Eye Flower, Ribbon, and 7 Gypsies - 97% Complete Journal Stickers - Photography; Tools: EK Success Border Punch - Dotted Scallop.

Just Us Girls

I can proudly say that everything used on this layout was from my stash!  I am trying really hard to use up some up my stash I have been hoarding for years.  There's a lot ... honestly!  When I buy a new paper that I love I always keep it for the perfect project, but then that perfect project doesn't happen and my stash continues to grow.  Sure it's nice when you are working on a layout to have lots of choices but when it takes you more time to pick your supplies than it does to do the layout ... there is a problem!  So my mid New Years resolution is to try to use what I have.  We'll see how well I do!

Supplies: Basic Grey - Lemonade; Embellishments: Me & My Big Ideas - Just Us Girls Title, Ribbon, Embroidery Floss and Buttons.

The Best Thing in Life Is Love

This is another layout I did using a sketch from Page Maps.  I love how pretty this layout turned out!  The soft pinks and aquas worked perfectly with the photo.  And that rose ribbon is too cute for words!  I have used every inch of what I bought and this is the very last bit of it.  I might have to go and buy more!

Supplies: Basic Grey - Olivia, My Mind's Eye - Breaking Free; Embellishments: Dear Lizzy - Enchanted Exquisite Phrases Sticker Sheet, American Crafts Just Write, AmericanCrafts Rose Ribbon, Ribbon, Pebles and Button; Sketch: Page Maps.