Nap time craftiness

Patryk actually napped! Highly unusual, but seeing as he was up at 3:30 this morning, I figured it would happen. Of course, I locked myself in my craft room, ignoring the dirty floors that need to be mopped and the mountain of laundry in the hamper.

Made these for the back to school Sketch-a-thon, card sketch #7 and layout #8.

The card is almost all Nikki Sivils stuff, the Tree Love collection. I am just loving the fun designs and cute little finishing touches. The only thing NOT Nikki is the Studio G stamp I used for the sentiment, and the glitter applied to the Nikki die cut square. I tried to color the sun yellow with a gel pen, but apparently it is all dried out so I'll have to go get some more pens I guess :)

The layout was fun to do, I used My Mind's Eye papers, MM Just Chillin' Girl Glitter Die Cuts, MM Jumbo Pebble Brads, and Thickers Darling in chestnut, outlined with white gel pen to help them stand out against the dark part of the picture.

TFL, and I hope to get to more layouts tomorrow, although I am attending my high school reunion (our 13th...we were an odd class!) so I don't know how much time I'll have. It is potluck, so I'm making cheddar and bacon stuffed shells tomorrow before I go. YUM.

Oh, and stay tuned...I have some great ideas in store for October! Some craftiness that is NOT scrapbook or card related! I know, so strange!

Another great giveaway!

Head on over to Christy's blog...she is having a spectacular giveaway! Head on over to enter to win but hurry. You only have until 9/30!

Changes are good.

I really thought updating my blog's design would be simple and quick. Not so. It appears blogger has changed how it is all done since the last time I did it, and it took all morning to find the old CSS info. It is now done, but I have to update my list of DT members *AGAIN* and don't have the patience! Off to have a snack and go for a run to clear my head and then it's time to get back in the craft room for some more sketch fun!

Have you signed up yet at sketches4all? DO IT! Nikki Sivils released her sketch today, and I know you'll love it. Did I mention she is choosing 2 people who complete her sketch challenge some fantastic Nikki goodness :) I bet that got your attention! Hope to see you there, and watch for some more creations showcasing Nikki's Tree Love paper collection. It is so stinkin' cute!

In love...

...with Tree Love! So if you haven't been to sketches4you, GO THERE! Nikki Sivils is one of our GDT for the Back to School Sketch-a-thon and her sketch has been released!!!!!

Us DT members lucked out and received incredible goodies to play with and create our take on her sketch, and let me say, it was easy! The papers are fantastic...the hardest part was deciding which one to use first! Fantastic details as well, such as the burlap buttons I used on my layout, or the little plastic tag, very much like the tag on a bread bag, which I used on my card. I just love the designs on the paper. The beaver is the cutest!!!!

So I have to get to bed, but had to share my layout and card based on Nikki's sketch before I do so. TFL, and have a great night! (And go sign up at s4u and participate in the contest Nikki is having...if you do a layout based on her sketch, you can win some fabulous Nikki prizes!!! What are you waiting for?)

A couple of pages

Made one of these yesterday and one today, just never had time to post them until now. It's been busy here with a house full of sick people.

These are both creations for the back to school sketch-a-thon going on at sketches4you. I am having so much fun with it :)

This first one is a photo taken in the White Mountains, and of course I didn't record the name of the waterfall on the picture. Regardless, it is beautiful, and I am so lucky to live so very close to visit as often as I wish!

This one I did today, and it was one of Cherie Averill's sketches from Sassy Lil' Sketches (I just love her sketches so very much, she is so talented!) I just love her take on it, check her blog or sign up with s4u to see it. Here's her sketch:

and here's my take (the 2 out of place holes on the left side of the layout are the holes to put the page in the album, someone gave me a scrapbook and although it isn't the type I would normally use, I can't resist the urge to use it anyway!) :

These are old pictures from 2000, my oldest when she was my only child! I came across these photos years ago when my grandmother passed away, and have been saving them to use in my own album. TFL! Off to make dinner and wipe more boogers :/

Sketch-a-thon assignment #3, a bookmark

I thought this would be nice for my 10 year old, who seems to forget that reading 20 minutes each night is required by her teacher! She will love the colors of this, and that adorable owl! This is assignment #3 in the sketches4all Sketch-a-thon. Paper is random scraps in my stash. Colorbok Friendly Forest foil rub-ons and Glitter alpha stickers in pink. Miss Elizabeth's Vintage Type alpha stickers. Hearts are cut out of sheet metal. TFL!

Sketch-a-thon in full swing!

So I haven't really been good about posting lately. My son had croup and had to go to the hospital for breathing issues a few nights ago, and now hubby and myself are infected with the virus. It feels awful! Bonus: I need to rest, meaning I need to scrap hahahaha! What better place to rest than in the chair at the desk of my craft room? Patryk can play in his room and I can catch up on the sketch-a-thon layouts. We are up to sketch #8, and each sketch, whether card, layout, or bookmark, has been such an inspiration!

I'm especially excited to complete the layout for our GDT Cherie Averill's sketch, revealed the first day of my son's illness. You should head over to sketches4all and check it out, her take on the sketch is amazing! So rich and full of texture, and I can't wait to play with it! Hoping to have some layouts posted, but until then, I'll show you a card from sketch #4 of the sketch-a-thon.

I used paper purchased especially for this event, DCWV Grade School Premium Stack. The papers are fantastic...glittery, bright, and absolutely adorable! Letter stickers are White Blossom. Thanks for looking, and get your tushie over to s4a already...lots of great prizes up for grabs!

Monday!

The day after a weekend from hell...well, I guess not really, but I certainly feel tired, unmotivated, and for some reason uninspired today. The kids are back in school, and I had a yard sale yesterday (in the cold, as fall weather has decided to arrive), and I couldn't be more exhausted from the whole experience. I certainly wish my son wasn't maxed out at full speed today, otherwise I might be able to squeeze in a nap!

I sat down with the first two sketches4all Sketch-a-thon layout sketches, one released on Saturday by our DT member Val and another released yesterday by our DT member Stacy. They are both fantastic layouts/examples, but as I sat there staring at both, trying to decide which to tackle first, I drew a blank. What's a girl to do when she can't overcome her scrapper's block? Well, I went through all of the challenges I had written down in my challenge notebook, looking for the first thing that jumped out at me. Then I went through my pile of pictures to be scrapped directly on my desk. A light bulb went off when I came across Challenge #14 from Sketches in Thyme and this pile of old Christmas pictures, the next page to be completed in my 10 year old daughter's album.

Here's the sketch:

and here's my take.

I wanted to incorporate the circles, but as my photos were bigger, I used them a little differently. I loved the shiny foil stars on the MAMBI paper, so of course I *had* to cut out the star on the upper strip of MAMBI flocked paper, so that it wouldn't be hidden behind the strip. I then used a star punch to punch stars out of sheet metal. My Dymo label writer made the name strips, and the title (cut out of random paper from my stash) is adhered with foam squares for added dimension. Journaling reads: "Hanging out with Honey's giant, animated Santa at the annual ornament swap, Christmas '06." (Two things you should know if you don't know me: 1>Honey is what my kids call my mom instead of grandma or nana 2>I am actually that far behind in the kids' albums. My son is off-the-wall active, and I don't get the opportunity to sit down in the craft room.)

Now, let's see if I can go knock another couple of layouts off of my list :)

Saturday's layout

Went out to buy some posterboard and stickers to price stuff for a yard sale I'm having tomorrow, and of course, I decided to go to Michael's. I went WAAAAAAY overboard, but I got so much cool stuff, including what I've been wanting, an adhesive stamp pad so that I can stamp images and use glitter on them. Can't wait to play with it! I found a Making Memories Chloe's Closet paper pack on clearance for 4 bucks!!!!!!!! With it, I made the following layout for Colorful Creations biker babe challenge and Teresa's sketch challenge over at sketches4all. I'm quite pleased with the results! It is a layout of my mother on her motorcycle years ago on a trip with my father and their friends to Lake George.

Here's Teresa's page...she wanted us to choose one of her layouts and scraplift it.

And here's mine:

MM Chloe's Closet for all papers except brown dotted rectangle from my box of scraps, and the strip on the bottom where the title is came from a DCWV Mini Stack #3. Marcella by K Sabrina fabric brad, which I must say I love! White Blossom flower jewel stickers. Thickers Darling in Chestnut. MM eyelets. Flowers are SEI Claire, except for the blue one on the bottom, which is Prima, all held together with an MM brad.

With all of the new stuff, I'm certain I'll have a lot of great layouts on the way, not to mention I picked up a DCWV school themed 8X8 paper pad, so there will be lots of options for the Back to School Sketch-a-thon. If you haven't headed over to sign up at s4u, please do so. It's just starting up, and there have been a lot of great pre-challenges. Oodles of RAK's and of course the chance to be crowned queen at the very end and win an excellent pack of goodies! Hope to see you there!

Paper Poppy September sketch

I'm trying to get into the craft room more lately now that we are settled into the school routine again. After sitting down with Patryk this morning to practice writing the letter A, I was able to make this layout for the Paper Poppy Kit Co's challenge, which was to use 3 different edges on our layout. I tore/rolled the bottom, and cut 2 different edges out of the papers with my pinking and scalloping shears. I inked them to make them stand out, and used my favorite glitter rub-ons for the title. I love how this layout came out :)

My Mind's Eye Complete Boy paper collection. Tim Holtz Philosophy metal tag attached with twine. K&Co Little Tyke Adhesive Glitter Rub-ons. K&Co Hopscotch chipboard bracket. DCWV Vellum Quote Stack.

Woo hoo, can you say productive?

Here's yet another layout I've been able to tackle today, and it isn't even 2pm! Unusual for me, as my son typically demands WAAAAAAAAY more attention.

This one is for Stacy's scraplift challenge at sketches4all. I loved her version of it, and didn't want to change a lot, except for the fact that I used a great piece of MAMBI flocked black and white paper. I combined this with a Colorful Creations challenge, a color combo of my choosing. I kind of let the outfits dictate the colors here.

Stacy's layout:

...and mine.

I had received an RAK from Cindy, and it included the flowers and chipboard circle you see here. Another fantastic item on this layout (my personal favorite) is the Tim Holtz swivel clasp received from Stacy H-W. It is attached to the paper with a heart shaped brad, and clasped around SEI Claire ribbon. Green flowered paper is unknown, as I pulled it out of my scrap box. Blue paper w/green flowers: Bo Bunny Calypso. Blue paper behind it: K&Co Girl Scout paper pad. Bracket, heart, sticker letters, and chipboard letters are We R Memory Keepers Teen Angst collection.

Thanks for looking, stay tuned as I am attempting the sketch-a-thon card sketch as we speak :)

Sketch-a-thon pre-challenge madness begins!

Yesterday was day one of pre-challenge excitement over at sketches4all. Sketches for a layout, tag, and card have been released, and I started with the layout sketch. It was a fun one! I loved the "chalkboard" in the sketch and just had to carry that element over, I added a piece of chalk (acutally rolled paper), and have even grown to love my stray adhesive that is around the eraser, as it has the look of a blackboard with chalk on it!

K&Co Roam paper. Coredinations cardstock for eraser. The rest of the paper are from my scrap box. The flower pieces were received in an RAK, with a MM pastel brad holding it all together.

The tag sketch is from pagemaps, and I loved this one, combining it with Stacy H-W's challenge to use staples on a creation.

Paper is SEI Claire, as is the ribbon. Studio K transfer for sentiment. MM flourish foam stamps. Versacolor umber ink.

Thanks for looking, and stay tuned for my take on the card sketch (along with adding pics of the original sketches, I am bad at remembering that!) You should pop on over to s4a and join in the sketch-a-thon fun!

What a busy day!

Between getting 4 kids off to school with 2 more in tow, hitting the grocery store and Target, filling prescriptions, and taking Rileigh to an appointment, it's been crazy. Luckily, I found some time to play with a Sketches in Thyme sketch, #13.

I really liked this sketch, and was glad to use these 3d butterflies I've had in my stash for about 7 years now! I've been trying to make a conscious effort to use up what I have if I can, and keep purchases to a minimum. So far, all I've bought for the last few months is adhesive! Woo hoo me! I know, however, that I'll have to break down and get some paper soon. I've seen some great stuff, and it's taken all I have to not buy some! (The start of school and all related expenses have helped me fight my urge to fill my cart right up!) Now it's off to make dinner...thanks for looking!

Have you joined up at sketches4you?

I'm just checking, as if you haven't, you should!

Tomorrow is the start of pre-challenges for the Back-to-School Sketch-a-thon, so it would be in your best interest to do so! It will be a fun, challenge filled month, with guest designers Nikki Sivils and Cherie Averill from Sassy Lil' Sketches joining in the fun. Come play every other day with a new sketch posted by our wonderful DT, and get ready to win some fantastic prizes! Hope to see you there, have a scrappy day!

Friday

Blah. Kids started school on Tuesday, and they have today off. Why even bother starting until after Labor Day?

It has been tough to get into my craft room lately, and for some reason, today more than ever, though I was determined to walk away with at least one layout under my belt. So here it is, based on a challenge from one of the DT over at sketches4all, Danette. She challenged us to use pink, purple, and lime green on a layout, and to use 2 paper clips, 3+buttons, and 3+ flowers. I also used this for Denise's Let's Ink! challenge, asking us to use ink in the title.

Paper is Creative Imaginations Marah Johnson. Took the heart/wing/tatoo looking piece and cut it right on out of the paper, adhering a piece of lime green paper behind the hole it left, and sticking it back where it belonged with pop dots. Didn't like that the bottom was so 3dimensional, and the top wasn't. Bo Bunny Calypso flower, inked. Butterflies were part of a blog candy giveaway I won, and I just love them. The buttons were in the same bag as the butterflies. The lime green button at the top of the butterflies is part of my stash, don't know where it came from, but isn't it cool? MM Scrapbook Stitches Brights for the thread attaching the buttons to the page. Random paper clips from my stash. MM pink flower brads. Studio G stamp for "September." "first day" and the date/year are stickers from Miss Elizabeth. EK Success alpha stickers for "preschool". "princess" part of title is a masking technique: I used CM letter stickers and inked over them, removing the letter stickers and revealing the purple paper beneath all of the ink. Dotted bracket is an MM diecut - Just Chillin.

TFL!

Join me at sketches4all for the Back to School Sketch-a-thon!

Sketches4all, a fantastic sketch challenge site (which I happen to design for *ahem, ahem*) is pleased to announce the start of their Back-to-School Sketch-a-thon! Pre-challenges September 8th, with regular challenges starting September 10th: what better way to sit and enjoy the newfound silence in your home with the kids back in school than to compete for RAK's and prizes in numerous challenges every other day, creating layouts with a fall/back-to-school theme?!

There is a great variety of challenges, be they card, layout, or even bookmark, a new one released every other day, each challenge leading towards the grand finale, when the1st place winner is crowned queen of the sketch-a-thon!

Biggest news: GDT's have been announced and I am SOOOO excited: Nikki Sivils and Cherie Averill!

What are you waiting for? Join up if you haven't done so already, and watch for more details and the release of the first pre-challenge sketch on September 8th, and to play along all month! Of course, you can always participate in any of the other challenges we normally offer as well! Hope to see you there :)