My Creative Scrapbook day....

It's Wednesday and that means it's time to share another layout that I created with the My Creative Scrapbook April main kit. This month the papers are from Simple Stories Carpe Diem collection and I absolutely adore this collection with its bright colors and whimsical designs. I had just received my Shimmerz watercolors and decided to play with them a bit and make my background paper. These watercolors are beautiful and so much fun. I will be adding more to my collection when I have some extra scrappy cash. 

One day I went in to get Emily up from her nap and this was how I found her. She had undressed and then redressed herself. She had on two tops that were twisted around. I had to run and get my camera because it was so funny (these were the days when a phone camera was obsolete). This photo makes me smile every time I look at it.

I fussy cut this large floral from one of the papers. The florals in these papers make it pretty easy to fussy cut and I think that it makes a big impact on the page.

The sticker sheet contains a bunch of phrases and I love these phrases and thought that they described the photo pretty well.  I did not want to add much to this cluster because I wanted the layout to feel light and bright even with the pops of black.

I used some light modeling paste through a polka dot stencil to add a bit more texture to the background. Some areas are bright white and others took on the colors of the watercolor that I added afterwards. I'm addicted to adding black stitching with this collection...I might need an intervention :)

This kit includes the frames with this collection. I have a ton left and have used several on the layouts that I have created. It's nice to feel like you get your money's worth when purchasing embellishments. I have a process video if you'd like to take a peek. Everything used was from the kit with the exception of the mixed media. 

My Creative Scrapbook Guest Layout

My daughter is into softball...she would practice daily if there was a place I could take her. She loves every little thing about it. So you can imagine just how disgusted she was when she broke her thumb sliding into home. To make matters worse, she was called out by an umpire that clearly needed to get his vision checked...truly not being biased this time ;). Anyway, I finally took her to the doctor on Tuesday (the big incident occurred on Sunday) where x-rays revealed that she had a hairline fracture and they splinted it. On Wednesday evening I received a call from the clinic stating that the radiologist read the x-ray and that she needed to see a pediatric orthopedist. Fortunately I had the pleasure of working with a great one and was able to see him the next day where she bought a cast. At least it was a pretty one!! Yes, medical professionals truly make the worst of patients...this wasn't my first time, nor will it be my last.

I knew that the kit from My Creative Scrapbook would be perfect with all of the bright colors in Emily's cast. The frames make great embellishments to highlight her thumb and her cast. I stitched around the white cardstock with black thread and was so pleased with how it turned out. The yellow doilies are from Doodlebug which I had in my stash.

I fussy cut some flower clusters to use as embellishments around the frames. I left a small black border to make them pop.

The sticker sheet has three different alphas and I used two of them with this title. They are all good fonts and I found them extremely easy to use. Machine stitching is one of my favorite ways to add texture to a layout and the black thread really makes the layers stand out against one another.

 I love the dog and was determined to use him on a layout! Isn't he the cutest thing ever?! A 3x4 card was cut down and placed behind the black frame. The sentiment was absolutely perfect for these pictures and add so much to the story that I told. I added journaling underneath the title on the white cardstock.

I have a process video if you'd like to take a closer peek.

Scrap the Challenge

This week Mari and I decided to use a recipe to make our layout. The recipe is: any type of mixed media, 2 photos, 3 embellishment clusters, 4 patterned papers, and 5 different types of embellishments one of which needed to be washi. I decided to further challenge myself by making a birthday layout and using older products. I decided to use this sketch because I could not find my mojo...sketches are the bomb when it comes to lost mojo.

The different types of embellishments that I used were washi, enamel dots, die cuts, a chipboard sticker, stickers, and the pinwheel. 

I love the way the layered washi looks on the clusters. I'm definitely going to do this again.

You can see little mist droplets in the corners of my layout. I forgot all about that part of the recipe until the layout was finished...oops! It all worked out though in the end.

 I have a process video if you are interested. Mari and I are having a lot of fun and would love for you to join in the fun. If you post your layout on Instagram use the hashtag #scrapthechallenge.

Warning...long post ahead :)

Today I have a new video using the April kit from My Creative Scrapbook kit clubMy. This month the main kit was primarily comprised of Simple Stories Carpe Diem and I fell in love with the bright and playful papers. I decided to tackle some "problem" photos of my son when he was in first grade. I say that the photos are "problems" because they are a tad dark and he's wearing a neon green shirt. I don't do neon colors...didn't really wear them in the 80's and don't really know how to handle them. So, I decided to completely ignore the green and concentrate on the yellow and I love the end result! 

Everything that I have used on this page is included in the kit. I decided to outline the layers as well as the cardstock to give it a bit of definition. 

I'm also up on the Crafty Maven channel today with a layout that was inspired heavily by the mood board. 

I want those shoes in my closet!! The colors are amazing and I think that it would just make my day a bit brighter to wear those flats. However it was the bottom right hand photo that truly inspired me. I chose a Pinkfresh paper as my background solely for the design on the top of the page. How perfect is that?!

I love this cluster with the sweet bird and the flower. The saying is perfect as well considering that my son doesn't want his picture to be taken anymore. Ugh! Doesn't he know that momma needs to scrap!?

The green alpha is beautiful and one of my favorite fonts. I don't use a lot of green in my scrapbook layouts, but this color of green makes me want to use it more.

I have a process video up for both layouts if you'd like to take a peek.  Leave me a comment if you have any questions or if you just want to say hi. 

It's Time to Hop....

A YouTube video hop has been orchestrated by Tuesdae Hubbard and I am thrilled to be included with this bunch of talented scrapbookers. I've linked each of the channels to make it easier to follow along in the hop. Here is the line up:

Robin Voak

Tuesdae Hubbard

Kelly Barron *video linked below*

Gina Beth

Maggie Mylow

OhSnapGonzo

Tupelo Kidd

Sarah Swann

Hannah Lemieux

Our challenge was to use some type of ink or mist product and i chose to use my Shimmerz watercolors. They were a birthday present to me and I just received them and really had not had a chance to play with them very much. This set is the one that I chose to start with since it had a good variety of colors that I knew that I would love. I chose Coral Reef and Me & Blue to coordinate with the papers and embellishments that I chose for the layout (March Hip Kit).

Usually when I make a mixed media background, I start with a white cardstock as my base. However, I had recently watched a video of Missy's that inspired me to use my favorite paper of the kit as my background. I'm not going to lie...it was a huge step for me to put gesso on this page. I love the paper and my tendency is to hoard papers like this because they are just too pretty to cut up. While the end results of this layout are okay, it is not my favorite layout that I have ever made. You know what? I am completely fine with that and rather proud of myself for not only using the paper right away, but trying something out of my norm.

I love the layers of flowers in this cluster. I pulled out some wood veneer that I had leftover from a previous Hip Kit. The stamped hearts were added after I finished the layout because I missed that part of the suggested technique for the blog hop.

I need more of these sweet pink birds. I really wish companies would put more than one of my favorite die cuts in the pack or offer them for sale as a digital item. I would love to have more of these sweet birds and I have used both that were included in the die cut pack.

I cut down the word Loveliness to Love so that I could use it on this page. I didn't think that I would use the entire word and it is better to use it up while I can make it work instead of putting it in my stash.  

Here is a link to my video. Be sure and check out the other videos. Thanks so much and I hope that you have a great day!