Stash Bash Vol. 2

Hiya! I'm coming to you live from my latest toy: a brand new Macbook Pro! It's been 9 years since I last purchased a computer. It was totally time. So I splurged (quite a bit) and finally purchased the laptop I've been dreaming about. LOVE IT! I use to spend so much time waiting on my computer to catch up with me. Now it's waiting for me to catch up with it. What to do with all of this extra creative time....?! 

Well this weekend, I sat down to scrapbook. I wanted to be sure to jump in on a Stash Bash challenge or two!! This is for Challenge No. 7-The Leftover Meatloaf. I used my Ms. Pacman kit because it had all of the supplies I needed to complete this challenge. 

It's a just for fun page without any journaling. I don't do this very often but the title says it all. These are the 4 creatures that live in my house. I'm now thinking I should have incorporated a little house a la Ashlii Oliver! But oh, well. I like this page.

The background paper was solid white cardstock until I used a background stamp and some gray ink to create this design. I need to do this more often!

I really did have so much fun playing with this kit. Here are the three pages I made with it:

cheers & besos,

Stash Bash Vol. 1

I have two things to share today. Yesterday, I was on the Paperclipping Rountdable! It was Episode #257-The Prospect of Paper. We were chatting about shopping! I'd love it if you listened. 

Secondly, I wanted to share my first layout from Stash Bash. Yay Stash Bash! We're having a party over at Simple Scrapper and I'm already having some fun. I completed Challenge #1 using the Ms. Pacman kit I assembled and also, with the help of the latest sketch from Scrapbook Circle. 

I pulled this kit and that sketch and knew I wanted to use it with this photo of me and Jennifer Wilson. I was allocated 30 minutes to complete the page and I think it came together in nearly that amount of time. I spent a bit more tiding up the sewing and taping all of the rough edges to the back of the layout.

I think my favorite bit is the "hey girl" stamped on the background. I used gray ink on the kraft cardstock and really like the look! My second favorite is this medley of colors. I'm loving this combo!

Jennifer released all of the Stash Bash challenges today so I'm excited to really jump in on this this weekend! But for now at least, I've started!

cheers & besos,

Ms. Pacman Challenge

My friend Jill revived the Ms. Pacman challenge on her blog last month. I thought it sounded awesome so I decided to jump in. I'm really into orange this month! And I'm loving it mixed with the cooler grays, teals and blues. Here's the kit I put together.

And the contents….

(1) Eight scraps of patterned paper: My Mind's Eye x2, Basic Grey, Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, Studio Calico x3; four pieces of specialty/other paper: gold heart vellum, white chevron vellum, gold foil, kraft corrugated
(2) Trim: Gray & teal seam binding, gray baker's twine, orange lace trim
(3) Sticker sheet (with missing sticker): Teresea Collins
(4) A pre-2013 alphabet: Crate Paper from 2011
(5) Opened product: Studio Calico wood veneer words
(6) Unopened product: Making Memories Embellishments
(7) One roll of tape: Studio Calico
(8) One item or package of product from a company that no longer makes scrappy products: Jenni Bowlin Studio gold feather rub-ons
(9) Six journaling and/or PL cards: from the Sunshine & Jade core kits, plus one from Studio Calico
(10) Unlimited cardstock, adhesive, and "technique-type product"
(11) A wild card item: CD Muckosky for Studio Calico stamps
(12) A nearby item: Studio Calico postage stamp book. I also added a package of cork shapes I found.

I've already made two pages with this little kit! The first was a just for fun page of Dixie and her crazy Yoda ears (which we love!) I had an idea with the title that just didn't pan out. So I recycled the letters outlining them in black pen and then adding in a gray highlighter just for fun. I'm totally doing this again!

I'll share the second page tomorrow. I used this kit for my first Stash Bash assignment. So fun to work with!

cheers & besos,

Color Swipe Cards

Quick share tonight yall, I'm anxious to get some scrapping in since I won't be around this weekend! 

I made some quick thank you cards for a few of the Studio Calico CHA crop challenges. I was inspired by Eyoung Lee's lovely cards. They're a bit similar but mostly different. I had fun making those color swipes! The color combo came from the Color Challenge.

I'm so excited that I got to use these awesome Evalicous stamps that Studio Calico put out this past month. I loved that little typewriter. I stamped it on the envelope and used a gelato to add some color.

For the card itself, I used a blue and pink gelato, some spray mist and paint for the swipes. Then I sprinkled some gold mist over the top. I made 12 of these cards in under an hour while watching the Golden Globes. They were so quick and so easy! And I love the bright cheery color. It really was a fabulous color combo to work with.

On the inside, I used that Evalicous stamp again and some neon pink ink to add a quick sentiment. I'm planning to handwrite thank you and include my note.

And now for an evening of Project Life-ing and some Downton Abbey. Tata!

 cheers & besos,

Big Heart

I love my lil mama. She's so cute and giggly! We had so much fun in Chicago and I'm happy I got to make this page. This is the first full layout I made from our trip photos. 

I had so much fun playing with my newest goodies. This is for the 2Peas CHA [Two People] [Six Layers] and [Seven New Products] Challenges. I combined a bunch of fun colors and some of those great Amy Tangerine rub ons. Love the colors in that great floral print by Pebbles.

I totally channeled my inner Lilith Eeckels for this one. It's varied and colorful. I started with the heart and just played.

cheers & besos,

Macclesfield

I scrapped! For the first time in what feels like forever but has really only been about a week. It's the first layout I've done in a while, that I sat down and finished all in one go. Life with this wee lil one has been busy, as you may have seen.

This is her first page! It goes into my family album along with all the other pet pages I make.

I used inspiration from Ali's Hello Story class as the basis for the page. Plus a whole slew of Two Peas CHA Challenges: [One Color] My fave, yellow! With mixes of gold and the white + black + brown neutral that was allowed [Eight Straight Lines] This was an accident. I didn't think about it applying until the end, but once I did, I noticed I was only missing 1 line. I added the stitched black thread at the bottom. [Nine Older Products] This is all from at least the last CHA release and includes a whole variety of washi tapes, some rub-ons, that cute Pebbles tag and some of the darker wood veneer.

I added a lot of twine/thread to this layout since I've never met a kitty that doesn't love some string! Plenty of hearts because we've only had her for a week but she's already loved.
And all the yellow/gold I could manage since it's my fave.

That felt good. I might just scrap another one =)

cheers & besos,

NSD: Small Photos

Last NSD layout to share! This was for: Shimelle's Smaller Photos, Shimelle's Add some Sparkle, and 2Peas Focus on Photos.

I've been carrying around this tiny photo strip in my wallet since the wedding. So glad I finally got to put it on a page! And that Ki Memories paper was so perfect for it.

I had fun mixing bright colors into each cluster and onto the page. 

I added sparkle with those glitter thickers and the hexagon sequins I love. They're purple in real life but the light caught them as blue for some reason.

The final touches were the chipboard cameras with the star accents.

And done! So tired and ready for bed. But thoroughly happy to have scrapped my day away. It's good to be back!

cheers & besos,

NYC in November

I scrapped! I scrapped! I spent my entire Saturday holed up in my room, gloriously cutting paper and pasting photos. This was the first chance I've had to just play. Not make a present or card. Just having fun working on my own stuff. 

I'm watching the Golden Globes so this is gonna be brief but I wanted to share a few pages of my November in NYC. Well really it was a weekend ;) but a long one! 

I also made a play at some of the 2Ps CHA challenges. This was for the 5 photo challenge and I was directly inspired by Glitter Girl's post this week. I used my Studio Calico Block Party kit, my last kit for the year (which I purchased in 2012 mind you!). 

This page also works for a few of the Studio Calico Challenges, like Use Multiples of the Same Embellishment, More than 3 Patterned Papers, and create a 2 Page Layout. 

This next page is for 2Peas Challenge No. 6. I used 6 wood veneer banner pieces to finish off the page. It's also good for the Use Multiples of the Same Embellishment, More than 3 Patterned Papers, and Dress Up your Veneer Studio Calico challenges.

It's been awhile since I've made a page totally from my stash. I went to my paper bin, picked what I thought worked best, grabbed a set of Thickers and some embellishments and just played! Look for more pages like this, I'm scrapping my stash!

And that's all folks. Thanks for dropping by. I'll update later this week with more CHA challenge projects.

Back to Golden Globes watching I go.  Yay Lena!! Amy & Tina F, my girl crushes on you have just got bigger.

cheers & besos,

3x5x30

Sharing 3 cards made in 5 minutes and blogged within 30 minutes. This is live people! =)

I'm short for time these days. Between work travel, work, the new mentoring program I'm starting at work, being sick and now studying for my PMP exam, the days...well they aren't getting any longer.

Yet, somehow I still have time to kill hours on the internet :P Which is how I came across Ellie's 5 Minute Card Challenge.

Knowing I needed to make something, I've been itching to do it! And knowing I needed to update the good old blog. I figured I could squeeze in a 30 min activity. 

I grabbed 3 card blanks and my Roller Rink Card Kit. I quickly gravitated to the printed vellum speech bubbles. I paired them all up and went through the paper pad to find coordinating colors.

Loved the green, red and gray together! So I tore 'em out and ran them through my Big Shot using the Papertrey Ink banner builder dies.

For dimension, I added either a Amy Tan sticker or an MME enamel dot. Then, I snipped a piece of twine (not included in the kit) for each card and tied knots on both ends. Glued them to the top of the banner and finished with a sprinkling of Mister Huey in Clay.

I wanted to play with both rounded and straight edges, since the speech bubbles reflect both those designs so well. Corner rounding the one edge was the last step.

And done!! 3 cards, made in 5 minutes (or thereabouts) and blogged within 30.

Deep breaths....and now I head off to study. Happy Saturday!

cheers & besos,

BOYS Challenge Layouts

I've been stash busting lately and man does it feel good. The Blow out your Stash (BOYS) Challenges over on the Studio Calico message board are what's getting me through. They even helped me finish up my Japan pages.

This is for Challenge No. 6, the recipe one. I used brads, ribbons and twine, a stamped skyline (a new Kelly Purkey), letter stickers and asterisk cardboard thickers. Those asterisks were the best find, they're basically open triangles all pointing to the middle. It reminded me of the cross walk and all of the streets coming together at this one crossing.

Color color color!! This is for Challenge No. 4, the color one obviously. I cannot think of a better use of Amy Tangerine paper than for a layout about the Hirajuku district in Japan. It's definitely colorful. So happy I got to use these awesome products. They've been sitting around collecting dust!

I've been a Studio Calico subscriber off and on for 2 years now. Brooklyn Flea was one of the kits I missed out on when I cancelled my subscription. But lucky for me, the kit didn't sell out and was available for a deep discount at one of the Last Call sales. Hence, it was as yet unused.

For Challenge No. 1, I decided to get it out and cut into it. And as part of the challenge, I decided to lift a layout from Ali Edward's gallery. Her, You are so You, to be specific. I loved the look of those tags.

Finally, I tackled Challenge No. 2. I hand stitched and played with ribbon, trim, twine and fabric, all in one go!

I've always been a fan of challenges. They push to step away from my comfort zones and I always end up loving the results. Mainly because they're usually so different from my norm. What about you, do you use challenges for inspiration?

And, if you're in the market for some other fun challenges, please check out my 4 Challenges post. Two winners will each get a $10 gift voucher. Free money, new pages to add to your album or a new card to send to a friend, what's not to love?

cheers & besos,

4 Challenges

That's right! I'm issuing a challenge! Or 1 or 2 or 4 =) It's been awhile since I've given away a RAK and with that 400th post rapidly approaching I wanted to do something special!

Lately I've been so inspired by various challenges and today I'm hoping to do the same for you.

Here are the PHP challenges:

1. Theme Challenge-It's my birthday month! And I'm planning a whole host of birthday themed projects and surprises. So this challenge is for you to do some birthday scrapping. Or make someone a birthday card! You always have need of one of those. Balloons, candles, confetti, wishes! Get into it and have fun!
2. Technique Challenge-Inking is my favorite technique. I love paint splatters, stamping, distressing, the works! I'd love to see your inky creations, the better for inspiration for me! 
3. Stash Challenge-We all have so much in the way of products, what better way to be inspired than with stuff you already own. Personally, patterned paper is my weakness. I have so much of the stuff! So I'm challenging you to figure out what product you have the most of, and use it! Are you a sucker for buttons or brads? Are you wacko for washi? Or have tons of diecuts laying around? Get them out and put them on a page! I'm planning to bust into some of those 6x6 paper pads I love to buy but seldom use.
4. Class Challenge-Raise your hand if you bought a class, printed out all of the handouts and then did nothing with them. Yup, me too! We spend all of this money and don't get out what we financially put in. I do this ALL the time. So today I'm vowing to scrounge up those handouts, watch those old videos and get down to some serious scrapping. Won't you join me?

I'm happy for you to combine any challenges and if you can somehow work a layout to include all 4, then hats off to you! Mostly, I hope you're inspired to make some fun pages to add to your scrapbooks. Or a card or two to send to someone you love!

So what's the prize you might ask?

Two winners will receive $10 gift vouchers to the online retailer of you choice. Two Peas in a Bucket, Studio Calico, Simon Says Stamps. You name, it will be yours!

All you have to do is post your completed challenge project(s) to either a blog or an online gallery and link it up here! And, if you wouldn't mind mentioning my blog and the challenges, so other people can get in on the fun too =) Simples!

I'll pick and post the winners on September 27, my birthday! Dive into it. Have fun!
Can't wait to see those projects!

cheers & besos,

Car Seat Kid

Hiya! Two posts in one day, I'm on a roll! But really just trying to get all of these pages blogged by the end of the week.

This was for Shimelle's Scraplift Jamie Warren challenge. I loved the central design of Jamie's page and all of the fun details and clusters. I had assembled the page kit for this layout months ago and had a general idea of what I wanted to do. Jamie's page just brought it all together for me.

It also works for the From one to Another challenge. The featured pages were both very girl and had very bold colors. This one is boy inspired and has a much softer feel to it.

I used some Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, old Studio Calico & Sassafras. Plus some bling & wooden buttons thrown in for good measure. Oh, and the background was misted just along the sides with Dewey Mister Huey.

cheers & besos,