#3 Birthday

I'm catching up the last few days on the sketches for June over at  "SKETCHES IN THYME"
Being out of town for a full week and a couple other weekends during June really put me behind on the challenges that I love to work with every month.

So for this layout of my Granddaughter Dylan's 3rd birthday I used Sketch #282, the last one for the month of June.   I did use a horizontal picture instead of the vertical one that is in the sketch, but it still working out great this way too.

Here is the link to   "SKETCHES IN THYME"   and the sketch.  

5 months old

Where does the time go.   I swear it was just a couple of weeks ago I was in the hospital room getting to watch my granddaughter be born.    But I get to watch her change day by day in pictures when I'm not in town with her.  Although only living 2 hours away I do get to see her in person many many times and I love every one of them.

Obviously this is the picture taken of her on her 5th month birthday on the 26th.   I'm glad I got it and get to used the great sketch #281 at   "SKETCHES IN THYME"     It was perfect to use with this picture.

Here is the link to   "SKETCHES IN THYME"   and also the sketch, still a couple of days to play along.

Princess Addisyn

I love when I get pictures of my granddaughter Addisyn modeling some of the dresses her Mom has made for her.   Here is another example of my pretty princess all dressed up today.

I used the sketch at  "SKETCHES IN THYME"   Challenge sketch #280.    Here it is below.

Bev is offering a great prize for the month of June a Just Imagine Crafts Kreaxions Circle Cutter.

The Boys in Lahanai

My son, my Dad, my brother and my nephew all went together on a vacation to Maui back in 2014.
I just decided the last few weeks that I should make some layouts of the pics they posted on Facebook for my son's album.   So I have gotten started now.   Plus this layout will now work in three different challenges.

I used the June Jumpstart sketch at  "THE SCRAPROOM GROUP" to make this layout.  It was so fun cutting different pattern shapes with the angles on the top half that I don't usually use on layouts.
Here is the sketch.

I was also inspired by the latest prompt at  "LASTING MEMORIES" when I was pulling out papers for this layout.   The prompt is...
LM #350 - June 25th - Log Cabin Day - create a layout that is a bit rustic and simple.  Use neutral colors or a woodsy look to your layout.
Since I had pictures of theses huge trees my son and Dad were looking at I wanted to use some wood like look to a lot of my papers and mostly neutral colors.


Next was the new challenge today at  "USE YOUR STUFF CHALLENGE BLOG"

Challenge #269 - Road Trip!

The guys of course had to fly to Hawaii, but they took many road trips on this vacation to see different areas of Maui for the day.

Ride the Ducks

This is the challenge I made my layout for.    "SCRAP OUR STASH"  June Sketch + Word challenge.

The word is Summer and here is what I used on my layout.

S = Shiny (the gold shiny dots on my patterned paper I used for my two tags.
U = Uniball pen (for my journaling in two spots
M = My Minds Eye (paper used on two triangles and the Bakers Twine on tags is MME)
M = Metal (Sun paper clip over pictures)
E = Echo Park (the green strip of palm leaf paper)
R = Recollections & Red  (Recollections card stock matting triangles & red journal strips

PL double for girls trip

I just got home yesterday after a 6 day girls trip with us all meeting up in St. Louis.  We had so much fun and did so much, from kids at play to fine dining.  We had a blast and didn't waste anytime.    We stayed up late and talked and slept in when we wanted to.   One time it was breakfast for lunch but otherwise when you are staying up till after 3 a.m. you don't get up to have breakfast at any regular time.     When I got home and checked out the latest  PL card sketch at "SKETCHES IN THYME PL STYLE" and saw this sketch.  I knew I could use it for the title page of my trip pages.    I love using memorabilia also on my PL pages when I can and these two pages have lots of that.

Check out the challenge at  "SKETCHES IN THYME PL STYLE"

Fun in the Sun

I'm entering this in two challenges.  

First off I used the June 15th sketch and the awesome moodboard at   "COLORFUL CREATIONS"   For the mood board I was inspired by all the colors and by the watermelon plus the word sun.   I used mostly papers from Echo Park -Summer Dreams but then also the yellow paper and the sunglass paper from Echo Park - Summer Fun.   I had to use the sunglass paper to go with the sunglasses Addisyn is wearing.    This picture was taken while they were on a long weekend at Branson for a little get away.   She was enjoying hanging out at the pool having a little snack.

Next I'll enter this at the latest "LASTING MEMORIES" challenge #349.     The challenge worked great for this layout.      I have a summer themed layout and I have long stripes of patterned papers across the layout under my picture.

LM #349 - June 20 is the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year). For this challenge use something long on your layout - like a border - or make a summer layout.

Walk

Jason took all three of his dogs out for their walk and also added one more by walking Dads dog, the smallest one of the group.     Leslie pushed Elle in the bike stroller and for part of the time Otis walked with her.  Even though this picture might look like Elle is taking Otis for a walk.

I finally broke out my only piece of specialty burlap paper for this layout.   I have had it for awhile and wondered when I would use it.    In my yahoo group that I'm in we have a challenge going on to mostly use brown on a layout.   Then there is one going on at  Paper Issues - Friends and Fans called Try It Tuesday to add texture to your layouts by using fabric, yarn, lace etc.    So this burlap paper would work for that too.     But mainly I  wanted to find a great sketch to use and that is where
"SKETCH AND SCRAP"  came in.   The newest June 15th sketch was perfect.   I got to use a big piece of my burlap but save some for another layout.

Here is the link and the sketch at  "SKETCH AND SCRAP"

Elle at Four Months

I can't believe my granddaughter is growing up so fast.   I'm actually behind on making her 4 month layout.    In 10 days she will be 5 months old.

I thought the single page sketch at  "STICK IT DOWN"  was perfect for this picture.

Here is the sketch.

Day at the Farm

As soon as I saw the new sketch at  "LET'S SCRAP"  I knew I had a lot of pictures I had been saving from when the St. Louis grandkids went with their parents to Purina Farms for the day.  They had so much fun and they got to milk a cow and just see farm life.   So I'm glad this double page sketch would work for exactly every picture that I had.

Here is the link to the challenge  "LET'S SCRAP"  and the sketch.

I  am also entering this layout at  "PAPER ISSUES (FRIENDS & FANS)"   for the Add it Up challenge.  I have 61 points from this months Add It Up list.

At the Park

My grandkids just had 4 days on vacation in Branson, MO and I have a lot of pictures to scrap.  
These were just while they were out on a playground playing, but I love that they got pictures of all three of them.   With Bryce getting older he is out doing something different than Addisyn and Gibson sometimes.

I used the sketch #307 at  "CREATIVE SCRAPPERS"  to make this layout.    I used mostly papers from a Recollections stack.

I am also going to enter this layout at   "USE YOUR STUFF"   for challenge #267 -
"Use Warm, Summer Colors"   I have deep yellows, orange, greens, blues and reds.   I think these colors and the patterns are all very summery.

Here is the sketch and the links are above.

Fishing in Hawaii

I was going through photos on my computer this morning and found some my brother and son had sent me via FB when the two of them along with my Dad and nephew went on a "Boys Trip" to Maui, Hawaii.     My son LOVES to fish  so he fished every spare moment they had while on their trip.   The top picture was taken of him down on the shoreline by my brother from the balcony of the condo they had rented.     He did do well and brought in fresh fish that he cooked that night for dinner.

I made this layout with three challenges in mind.     I started out with "LASTING MEMORIES"
"THE SCRAPROOM GROUP" and "PAPER ISSUES FANS & FRIENDS"

"LASTING MEMORIES"  LM #348 - June 14th is Flag Day here in the US, for this challenge use red, white, and blue on your layout.    For this challenge and my pictures I went right to the DCWV stack - Seaside Yacht
as I knew they had both red and blue papers I could used.   the only papers not from the stack is the
white 6x6 square anchor paper.   I then used blue Thickers for my title and some red and white fishing themed embellishments and both blue and red card stock to mat one piece of patterned paper and my pictures.

"THE SCRAPROOM GROUP    I used the Freaky Friday challenge.   It's always so much fun to work with and make your own design.   How I do it is to take a piece of white 12x12 paper and then cut out the dimensions listed in the formula and then start placing them around till I find something I like.   I usually always have my pictures printed to so I can move them around to see how they will work with my design.   Here is the formula.

"PAPER ISSUES FANS & FRIENDS"    Their Take 5 Challenge is also always fun to play with and you can enter as often as you like during the month.    Just be sure and pick at least 5 things from the list.   I used 7 this time.   Red, Blue, Date, Title, Stripes, 2 or more Photos and Patterned Paper.

Best Friend Best Dad

This last weekend was my Dad's 94th Birthday.  My brother brought him to our house in Kansas City  on Friday for the weekend.  We ate out Friday night and then Saturday we stayed home and had a big BBQ or smoked ribs, his favorite potato casserole, slaw and grilled pineapple.   Dad LOVES chocolate and ice cream so I made a chocolate cake for his birthday and had vanilla bean ice cream

Thanto go with it.  After we had Brunch Sunday at his favorite brunch place here in KC we drove to my brothers house in Columbia, Mo for the rest of the day and overnight.   We spent the time there with my daughter and son-in-law and with his #1 person his newest great granddaughter Elle.   We had a great dinner outside at a favorite restaurant in town.   Then Monday we drove him back to his home.    The pictures in my layout are from his home, the 4x6 one and the small one is at my house, both taken over the weekend.  

I made this layout with the 'SCRAPPY FRIENDS" Challenges in mind.   I used the great Rewind Sketch at "THROUGH THE EYES OF ROCHELLE SPEARS"  and then I used the June
Subway Art challenge at "GRAND DIVA'S CREATIVE CORNER"   I loved the subway art so much I printed an image of it as one of my pictures, plus used part of it as my title.   Both choices
in the challenge.

The papers I used were from an older collection.  Bella Blvd - Family Forever.    It was perfect for the sketch and for my pictures and feelings for my Dad.   The background paper was called Mom & Dad, but I thought it was perfect for picture of the Dad and I.

Here are the links to the challenges.
"THROUGH THE EYES OF ROCHELLE SPEARS"   June Rewind Sketch

"GRAND DIVA'S CREATIVE CORNER" - Subway Art Challenge

Thanks to both challenges for the great inspiration and the opportunity to scrap about the best Dad in the world and my best friend.

My Little Buddy

My 20 month old nephew from Sydney Australia was in Missouri with his Mom's for 3 weeks in December, so I got to meet him for the first time.   My brother was over there when he was born and also for his first birthday and I think one other time.  But this was our first in person visit even though we did watch him grow on Facebook.  

I love this picture of him out for a stroll downtown in Columbia with him Grandpa or as he calls him
his BamBam.  I've been saving it to make a layout.    The new sketch at "THE MEMORY NEST"  was perfect for this one picture.  

Here is the sketch and link to this second challenge in June at  "THE MEMORY NEST"

Amazing Grand Canyon

We took an awesome road trip for 10 days in the spring of 2015 from Kansas City to Las Vegas.   We took the direct western route going out through the Rockies and then coming home we took the southern route through Arizona and New Mexico and one stop was at the Grand Canyon.    I had already made a lot of layouts from this trip.  But I still have so many pictures and also a lot of memorabilia so I have decided to make more for that trip album as we saw and did so much.

I didn't follow any sketch for this one, just worked on a placement of everything on my own.   But I am getting to enter it in two different challenges.  

"SCRAP OUR STASH"  June Tic-Tac-Toe    I used the left vertical row,  the color red, camera and wood.   Red card stock for the punched border on the left,  red matting on 3 of my quotes on page two, one small picture on left matted in red and I used a red pen for my journaling.   I have 3 wood veneer cameras on 2nd page and I have wood veneer title also for more wood.  I always love doing a tic-tac-toe challenge.   So many choices and ways to go with your layout.

"CHALLENGE YOURSELF"  Challenge #42 is 'Inspired by Art'     To me there is nothing
more beautiful than the beauty of nature and the Grand Canyon surely represents that.
I know beyond stand and staring out into the vastness of it all and looking at the beauty I also managed to take probably close to 100 pictures so I wanted to make the double layout and use more of it and always be able to look back on this album and see the art of nature whenever I want.
Also for the challenge you have to be sure and include a picture of yourself in your layout and I have two pictures of me.

Mylan's Field Day

I had a lot of pictures of my granddaughter, Mylan's Field day so the new 6-1-17 sketch at
"LET'S SCRAP"  was perfect to use a large selection of them.  These pretty well cover the
majority of the events she was in, plus pictures with her friends.

Here is the sketch and the link to    "LET'S SCRAP"

I am also going to enter this layout at "PAPER ISSUES FRIENDS AND FANS"
For their Product Spotlight: Echo Park.   I used everything, except beige background card stock, from the Echo Park  Summer Fun collection that I bought a couple of weeks ago at Paper Issues.

Family

I'm going to be making 3 different layout using family pictures I took this Memorial Day.   I finished this morning the layout I'll keep and this one will be for my daughter since baby Elle is in it.
Then I still need to make one for my son's album.

I used the June 1st sketch at  "LET'S GET SKETCHY"   This was such a fun sketch to work with.
I'll save it to use again sometime.

Other than the green card stock for my background I used all papers from a new DCWV stack I bought last week.   It's called Pocket Blossom and other than  the pattern of words and a couple that are dotted, all papers are a variety of floral prints.   It will be fun to mix and match these papers in more layouts.

Here is the link to  "LET'S GET SKETCHY"  and the sketch.

Family - Happy Together

This picture was taken this Memorial Day while my son was in town and first time all together with his sister/my daughter and my Dad.   First time since Christmas so I wanted to be sure and get some group pictures.

I made this layout combining two challenges.   I used  sketch #130  at "SKETCH N SCRAP" and also the June 1st Something Old, Something New challenge at "COLORFUL CREATIONS"

I took a little liberty with the sketch because I really wanted to use my background paper about family with this picture.

For the Something Old Something New,  all the paper is old single pieces that I had in my pile of odd and end papers, then my wood veneer butterflies are all I got just 2 weeks ago.   Plus a brand new white gel pen I bought to replace my old dry one.  First use today.  LOL''

Leaving Cancun

I'm catching up on layouts from a family vacation we took to Cancun back in 1995.    I just found some more pictures I didn't have a few weeks ago at my Dads house.   So its been fun to work with these old pictures.

This is my reveal for the June 5th sketch challenge at   "THE MEMORY NEST"    When I started working on this I had just bought Shimelle - Go Now Go collection stack so that is what I used for my background paper.  I thought it was perfect for a layout of pictures of a trip outside of the US.

Here is the Sketch and the link to the  "THE MEMORY NEST".     I hope a lot of you will play along this week.   There are always a couple of sketch challenges each month and also a chance to win a great prize from  "THE MEMORY NEST"

First June PL page

I just finished my first PL page for June.    Not a lot going on these first few days, but will be more to document next week so wanted to get this first page made.

I used sketch #73 at   "SKETCHES IN THYME PL STYLE"   for my June title card.    It was a perfect sketch for a title.

Here is my full page using this card.

Here is the card sketch and the link to the challenge @  "SKETCHES IN THYME PL STYLE"

1st Swim

It was brief but Mom and Dad got in the pool for the first time with Elle.    She didn't mind it at all.
The water was warm enough for her but was a little windy out so didn't keep her in for long.
But the first time in the pool was documented with pictures and videos.

I used the new June sketch at  "STUCK ?! SKETCHES"    It was perfect to combine three pictures.
I'm always looking for sketches for multiple pictures so I'm sure I'll save this one and use it again.
Plus it really lets me highlight pictures through the middle and show my background paper.
As always they have multiple great prizes and also a chance to be a guest designer.  You have until
the end of June to join the two challenges for the month.

I'm also adding this over at  "PAPER ISSUES FANS & FRIENDS"  for their Product Spotlight challenge for June to any of the new releases at Echo Park.    My background paper and green matting paper is from EP - Summer Dreams and the Hello Summer tag is cut from a journal block from EP - Summer Fun collection.

This is also my entry at  "COLORFUL CREATIONS"  for their  "I Love Summer Blog Hop"
I made this layout to show what I love about summer and I am looking forward to more time in
the pool with my granddaughter.

Here is the sketch and the link to  "STUCK ?! SKETCHES"