Flower Garden Card

This is one of my favorite sentiments I have.   So I decided to just add a garden full of shiny spring flowers to it and call it a day.   :)

I'm going to enter this card at the challenge #38 at "Scrapping 4 Fun" - Spring or Easter.  
I don't have any Easter pictures yet to scrap and don't have my spring flowers planted yet.
So I thought this was just the perfect springtime themed card.

Check out the challenge at "Scrapping 4 Fun"    HERE.   You can enter through April 2nd.

Cruising

One more layout of the grandkids in Florida over Spring Break.    I decided to go with the bright colors from the  My Minds Eye - Kate & Co. collection for pictures on a sunny day in Florida.    

I used this fantastic sketch at "STUCK?!SKETCHES"  it was perfect for these two pictures I had of the kids with Grandpa Don in his golf cart getting ready to go cruising around the neighborhood.

You can see the sketch below and click  HERE  for more info on the challenge at "Stuck?!Sketches"   There are still a few days left to enter.

SILAS

I've been waiting for the right male pictures for the layout at "BOY'S RULE"  and  last night I got the perfect ones.   My niece who lives in Sydney, Australia had her first child, a little boy named Silas.
Her Dad, my brother, has been over there for 3 weeks now waiting for the arrival of his first grandchild.   So I made this layout using this great grid sketch at "BOY'S RULE"    It's been a long time since I got into my stash of baby papers and embellies.   But I had this perfect background paper.
I also had the baby bottles die cuts left from a swap I had been in.   I had pink and blue ones.   So was just the right size to put in one of the squares.     I'll add the sketch below and you can read all the details of the  "BOY'S RULE"  challenge   HERE.

Pool Views

I've been working hard on finishing the pictures from my Jamaica trip with my brother back in 1997.   I didn't have the pictures until last year when I got them from him.   I have no idea what happened to mine I could only find about 5 so now I'm playing catch up on an old trip.    But its inspiring me to look back at other vacation pictures and kinda fill in the blanks.

These pictures are the ones of the pool at the house we rented, top one going down the walk from back porch to the pool and then the table in the gazebo behind the pool where we had a couple of lunches, then the view of the ocean behind that.   It was an awesome spot, I would love to go back.

I used week #2 sketch at "Let's Get Sketchy"   I just cut the pictures down a little bit to make them fit.
I thought the butterfly embellies would work great with this.   Even though I don't have any pictures there were butterflies all the place

Check out the "Let's Get Sketchy" info   HERE  and you can see the sketch below.

Siblings & Pals

I've never seen two siblings get along so well.   They share everything, toys, friends and all they do.
This picture was the perfect one to use for "Lasting Memories" challenge #234 of this months Friendship theme.   This last week was "Anything Goes with the Friendship Theme"

I chose the sketch for week 3 at "Let's Get Sketchy" it was a fun sketch to work with.  I only printed the picture in 4x6 size but with this sketch it seems to look so much bigger.

Be sure and check out both challenges as there is still time to enter them both before the end of the month.

Go  here for "Lasting Memories"   and  here for   "Let's Get Sketchy"

A Young Pilot

I used sketch reveal #141 at "Sketches in Thyme" for this layout.    I had this photo frame sitting on my desk and I've been wanting to use it, so decided to use it with this picture and then try this sketch at  "Sketches In Thyme"   I went with red and blue color scheme but didn't know what to do for the circle.   I cut it out on white card stock and then just blotted first with red ink and then blue on top of it and that took away from the stark white look.   Added my title, some wood veneer stars and airplanes and decided to do my journaling on the circle for something different.

Check out the details at "Sketches In Thyme"    HERE

"Just Married"

When I was looking for sketches to work with this morning I saw this one from
"SKETCHES IN THYME" and to me it just screamed 'wedding'.    I really thought the other day I had finally, yet sadly, finished all the wedding layouts.     This picture was on my computer desktop and I just love their smiles.   I may have already scrapped it but I have wedding papers left and embellishments so I had no problem if it is a duplicate picture.

I really did like this sketch and I can see myself using it again for other than a wedding layout.
Be sure and check out all the details   HERE    at  "SKETCHES IN THYME"

Thanksgiving 2014

Here is my layout using sketch #36 at "The Memory Nest"  it was a great sketch to work with.
My goal lately is to use up a lot of old papers and embellishments and this is exactly what I did today.
These papers I used are many many years old.   The Poem I had made for a Thanksgiving swap I was in 2 to 3 years ago, I just remitted it, then the journal box was a swap item I recieved and I just dressed it up with the turkey diecut I had also gotten in a swap several years ago.
I'm really pleased with how this turned out and I got another Thanksgiving layout made for my holidays album.    I can't complain about that.

"The Memory Nest" has a new sketch every Monday, go  HERE to get the details on this one.  You still have a couple of weeks to enter.

My Scooter

Dylan got a scooter for Christmas this last year and I got a series of pictures of here outside riding it.
Luckily we had a warm Christmas day or I'm sure she would have been out riding anyway.
She wanted a scooter because all the boys in her neighborhood have one and now she will be able to keep up with them.     So when I saw the double page sketch for March at "Stick It Down"  I thought
of all these pictures and new it would be perfect.   I even had room to add one more small square picture on the pages.     This was such a great sketch to work with and I'm sure you will love it as much as I do.
Just go  HERE  and you can read all the details at "Stick It Down"

Ready to Ride

       I made this layout of the kids on a couple of the rides at Legoland using the sketch at
"Stuck on U Sketches"    My favorite picture is the center one of Mylan checking to see
if she is tall enough for one to the rides.  Since she has a big smile I'm guessing she was.  :)

   I'm also going to enter this layout at "Frosted Designs"  the challenge posted on Friday was
THINK PINK.  you could either have the word Pink in your title or the main color used is Pink.
So I went with the color as there are pink flowers in my background paper and I used 2 pink doilies
and then the main color for the matting of my title is pink.

Be sure and go  HERE  and get all the info of the challenge at "Stuck on U Sketches"  and see what the design team has made as inspiration.   They always do such a great job.

So also be sure and check out the Pink challenge at "Frosted Designs"   HERE.

Travel Ornaments

When I first saw this sketch at "Let's Capture Our Memories" the other day I've been trying to decide what series of pictures I might have that would work with it.   I couldn't think of anything until today when I decided not to make 6 pictures bur 12 square pictures and put them together like they were 6 in the sketch.
These are pictures I took this Christmas season of some of the ornaments on my tree in my scrap room.   For that tree I used mostly ornaments I've collected over the years from different trips.  I always like to buy an ornament as a memento from special places.
You can check out the details for Sketch #115 at "Let's Capture Our Memories"    HERE  and I
have the sketch below this post.   I hope to see how other people interpreted this sketch.

In A Boat

Using up some older papers today and making another Legoland layout.   Here are the Kai and Mylan going for a little boat ride on your own.   They had so much fun this day and got to do so much.  
But thats all good because it meant I got to see lots of pictures to make layouts from.

For this layout I used the March 1st sketch at "Stuck?! Sketches"  I had 3 perfect pics for this to print in a smaller size but still show the fun they were having.

Check out all the details  HERE  and see the "Stuck?! Sketches" sketch below.

Big Lego Fun

I'm still scrapping pics from the grandkids in Florida at Legoland.   I wasn't with them but luckily they posted lots of pictures so there is going to be lots of layouts to add to their albums.

For this layout I used the single page sketch at "Stick It Down"   Kept it clean and simple and used a variety of flair for my embellishments.

Check out the sketch below and  click  HERE  for all the details at "Stick It Down"

Lego Fun

I loved the books "50 Shades of Grey"  and you are probably wondering what that has to do with making a layout.    But at  "RED CARPET STUDIOS" challenge #94 is called 50 shades of grey and you are to use different shades of grey, a touch a red and a special technique.

I pulled out a dark grey piece of card stock and then in a very old pad of paper DCWV Holiday Stack, which I think I've had since 2009 and found these 3 different shades of grey patterned papers.
My touches of red are the brad on the flower and the 2 red sequins on the circles and a little red pen edging on the white swirl.   My technique is what I do for a lot of my patterned papers that overlap.  I've started to always mat them and make them stand out and separate them some.

Check out the challenge  here   "RED CARPET STUDIOS"  and be sure and play along.

GIRLS BEST FRIEND

I took these pictures of Leslie and her dogs a few weeks ago when I was visiting.  She just loves these pups.   Chopper the one on the left they adopted from the shelter in October when they lived in DC, it took a lot of work to be able to have one in their apartment but they did it.   Then they moved back to Missouri in December and Leslie took a part time job at the humane society there while looking for something full time.   It is there she fell in love with Malcolm (the dog she is sitting with).  Malcolm had been adopted twice and returned but Malcolm has now found a forever home along with his fur brother Chopper.

I get to enter this layout in three challenges, something that rarely happens.   But I love it when it does.    I started out with the thought of entering the challenge at "Lasting Memories"  Challenge #233-Best  of Friends.   These pictures really show Leslie with her two best furry friends.

Next I looked for a sketch to use for these pictures.   That took me to  "Sketch-N-Scrap" where I found this awesome sketch #77 that I have at the bottom of this post.

Then I remembered that one of the other challenges I had read about yesterday was the one at
"Picture This!!"  the challenge was to use 2 pictures + dark background + butterfly.

Put all three together and I came up with this layout.

Check out all the different challenge details and enter one or all.

"LASTING MEMORIES"   Challenge #233 - Best of Friends
"SKETCH-N-SCRAP"    Sketch #77
"PICTURE THIS!!"    March 15th challenge, 2 pictures + dark background + butterfly

LEGOLAND

This is a layout I made first thing tomorrow.  It easily qualifies for the new challenge at
"The Studio Challenges"    The challenge for March 15th is - 'Old Stash' and this all qualifies for that.
The only thing semi new is the white and black card stock that I used the double mat the big picture.  Even the green card stock I used to mat the 4 smaller pictures and around the other two strips of patterned paper are a crinkled green card stock that I've had for two years.   The main background paper was a single sheet of Nikki Silvis paper that I bough probably 6 years ago. and the patterned paper that is behind the small pictures and across the top is a piece of Crate Paper - Little Bo Peep collection from 2012.   The alphas I used I got as a RAK from a scrappy friend at least 6 years ago.

It's my goal to not by anymore patterned paper till I make a major dent in the HUGE stash that I have here,  I also shouldn't have to buy card stock for awhile either, other than basic colors, black, white and brown that I use a lot of for matting.  

So just click  HERE  and check out all the details at "The Studio Challenges" and see what the design team used from their stash.   I know you all have some oldies but goodies out there you need to use up too, so here is your chance at "The Studio Challenges"

Family Fishing Day

Today is my 2nd reveal on the DT at "Let's Scrap"    This was such a great to work with.   Having so many pictures to use in the sketch I remembered I had all of these great pictures from my son and daughter-in-law taking the two grandkids out fishing.   They live in a suburb of Dallas and with good weather there most of the time, they got to spend a day in January at a local lake and go fishing.
My son LOVES fishing and he is passing on the love to his kids.   And from these pictures you can see that everyone had a great day fishing and caught a lot.  In fact they even had fresh fish for dinner that night.        You can check out the details of the 3-15 challenge at "Let's Scrap"  HERE.   There is a great sponsor this week and  you can see the sketch below. 

Friendship Card

I needed to make a card and use a butterfly on it.    So I was looking for sketches and I found this great sketch at "Sketch n Scrap" and I thought it was perfect to use.    I just added an epoxy friendship sticker as my sentiment and the butterfly that went with my paper colors as my embellishment.

Just go  HERE  and you can read all about this challenge at "Sketch n Scrap" 

So Happy Together - Papa & Mylan

Kai and Mylan are having a fantastic spring break in Florida visiting their Grandpa.    They spent one day at Legoland and the pictures are any indication they had a blast.     I just loved this picture of
Mylan and her Papa Don walking through the park, map in hand, to the next attraction.

I thought this was the perfect picture to use with the "Lasting Memories" challenge #232 'So Happy Together'     As these two when together are best buds and happy together !!!

All month at "Lasting Memories" the challenges are Friendship related with this second weeks challenge called 'So Happy Together'       Just click   HERE  and see all the inspiring layouts the Design Team made and see what the challenges are for the month.

Papa and the kids

Everyone in the family, young and old gravitates to Papa whenever he is around.   This picture is from Thanksgiving 2014.   I used the challenge at "Picture This" when I made this layout.
The challenge was to use one picture, tilt and circles.   What a fun challenge, there are so many ways you can go with it.
Check out all the info here at "Picture This" for the challenge.   You have until midnight March 29th to link your layout.   There is a great prize from "Picture This" with an Authentique prize kit.

LOVE

I 'm really happy with this layout.  I love the progression of the pictures of Leslie and Jason after the ceremony and walking away down the aisle.    I had these 3 pictures together on my computer so the sketch I used for them just was a natural to go with these pics.  Plus I got to go with my go to of matting everything, pictures and papers.  

This is my DT reveal for this latest sketch and challenge at "Scrap Much?!"      I have the sketch below and I hope a lot of you will love it as much as I do and join us at "Scrap Much?!"
Check out all the details   HERE.

Spring Time Prep

The sign that spring is approaching at our house is when we go out and cut down all the prairie grass.
We leave it in full growth during the winter because even when not green it is very decorative out in the beds.    But then pre spring is the time to cut it all back so during the spring and summer growing season it grows up taller and fuller each year and turns nice and green once again.   As much as I
love the look of the grasses year round, I'm so glad we only planted 3 of them because they do get bigger and each year its a bigger back breaker to cut them down and clean up and get ready for spring.    Yesterday the temp got up into the 50's so it was the right day to go out and get it all done.

For this layout I used the sketch at "Let's Capture Our Memories"  I used a textured beige yardstick for the background to go with the look of the grasses in the winter.   And then I just went to my scrap drawer to pull out papers that were a little more colorful and would represent the color we start to see in the spring.   A couple of embossed butterflies for embellishments and I was set.

In one of the yahoo scrapping groups I'm in one of our monthly prompt challenges this month was to use 3 different alphas for our title on a layout so that is why I did the title this way.

Just click  HERE   and you will be at the "Let's Capture Our Memories" blog and you can read all the details on the challenge and check out what the design team did and see the other entries so far.

Cupcake Inspiration - Color Challenge

I'm always in need of Birthday cards so i used the color challenge at "Cupcake Inspirations" for the 300th challenge anniversary.    Sorry about the color, the card stock background is really while although showing a little pink here.    I just went through my scrap drawer and got lucky and found card stock that matched the colors in the challenge.

Check out all the details at "Cupcake Inspirations"   HERE.

Sparkle Birthday Card

Over at "Cupcake Inspirations" they have had their 300th challenge and having some special challenges including this first one of the sparkle inspiration.   I made this card with this die cut cupcake and the the frosting is all 'sparkly'

"Cupcake Inspiration" has all of these special prizes for this anniversary challenge.   So many fun challenges and prizes.    Check it out  HERE.

Scrap Time

A few weeks ago I took Leslie her wedding album, actually it became 3 albums, since I had so many layouts.    But while we were there we went through all the memorabilia she has been saving and I brought home another plastic container full of things to bring home and start scraping more for her.
So her hubby took this picture of us so I could make a layout of it.   They know how I am on documenting all kinds of things.  :)
I had looked at this sketch from week 1 at "Let's Get Sketchy"  and knew it would be one I would be using.   It turned out perfect for this one single picture, plus I was able to print it as a square and it looked fine.

I am also entering this layout at "Lasting Memories" - March 1st challenge - Partners in Crime.
I thought this picture of Leslie and I together scrapping is perfect for this theme as it was Leslie that got me started in scrapping.   So we are the perfect partners in scrapbooking crime.

I am going to enter this layout at one more blog because I love a scrapbook layout about scrapping.
Challenge #37 at "Scrapping 4 Fun Challenges" is an anything goes challenge.    So I thought this would be perfect to enter there.  You can create a layout, card, canvas, mini album etc.   So go for it like I did.

Check out challenge 37 at "Scrapping 4 Fun"  HERE   because who doesn't like an anything goes challenge, we can all do something so  join in the fun.

Check out the details for the "Lasting Memories" challenge  HERE and go back every Sunday for the latest of the March themed 'Friendship' challenge.

Be sure and check out the challenge at "Let's Get Sketchy"   HERE   plus  7 Dots Studio is the sponsor with a really great prize.   You have until March 31st to enter, so plenty of time left.

Together

I have been in a purple theme today.   All the layouts I've worked on today with these pictures of the cousins have all been with different as the dominant color.

I made this layout for my step daughter-in-law with these pictures of all the kids together.   All there but the 6 month old baby.

For this layout I used the sketch at "Sketch-n-Scrap"   I really liked it a lot and of course got to do all the matting of the papers and pictures like I love to do.   This sketch was perfect for that.

Check out all the details   HERE for the challenge at "Sketch-n-Scrap"

Big Smiles and Cousins

March 4th was International Scrapbook Day but "Feeling Sketchy" and "Let's Scrap" are having a month long celebration together.    To be eligible for the prizes that each blog is offering you have to enter  BOTH challenges.     The prize sponsor at "Feeling Sketchy" is " Jiggery Maker digital stamps and the prize sponsor at "Let's Scrap" is Lilybee Design.    I have the sketches below.   The sketch at "Feeling Sketchy" is for a card but you can use it as a layout sketch like I did,  the top layout above.   And the sketch at "Let's Scrap" is a double page scrap but you can use it as a single page and thats what I did, I just used the right side of the sketch.

Go to  "Feeling Sketchy"  to see all the details
and go to  "Let's Scrap"  to see the details there.