Flashback Friday-using up my stash

Hello! I haven't done a flashback in a while, even though I'm always trying to use up what I have before buying anything new.  I recently went shopping for supplies and was so proud that I only bought adhesive, cutting blades, and some xyron sticker refills!  Not saying this will happen next time, but it did this time!

My two pages aren't connected; actually they're for two different albums.  The first is for my oldest one's album.  She transferred school last year and we helped her move.  She is doing so well and we are so proud of her!  The background is all one page.  It came blocked off like this and I've had it for quite a while trying to figure out what to do with it...  A little trimming of photos, cutting letters, and punching flowers and that was it!

This page is part of the goal album for DD2.  The page is actually one I made at a class years ago. Long, long ago!  I finally dug the container out that held all of my ready to go pages and decided to use this one.  Since it was finished, I just needed to add the photo and journaling.

I can't remember everything from the second page, but I think the DSP is Lap of Luxury. Most of the supplies are listed in the labels section.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Throwback Thursday-A little page mapping

Hi and welcome to another Throwback Thursday where I dig into everything old to complete a project! I don't think I used a single thing that was less than three years old, so this definitely qualifies!!  I also pulled out a binder that I started years ago with different page maps and page inspirations.  This was started before the invention of Pinterest, and I have to admit that I probably pull out that binder more than I ever go back and check my sketch pins... Sometimes 'old fashioned' just works better!  Both layouts were old Page Maps designs.  I don't know if Becky Fleck is still creating new ones, but I love using her sketches!  I also like Creative Scrappers, but I don't have as many of those in my binder.

I pulled out an older pad of K & Company paper, some really old chipboard pieces that by pure chance went pretty well with the papers, a fabric tag, three different flower punches, and some pearls to complete my two pager.

The photos were taken in 2011 when the girls and I went to our county museum.  It really is a cool place to spend the day, especially if you're into history!  We are fortunate that so many people in our community donated and organized for the displays.  There are sections that show the immigrants and origins of our county, a tribute to local veterans and the parts they played in various battles and wars, a section dedicated to various athletes and school programs, and even a walk through mural display sharing the history of each town and city in our county.  They even have a working model train room!  But our favorite section by far was the children's area.  There were pioneer dress up clothes, a supply boat that could be loaded and unloaded, an old time school house, and a lot of older games like Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, and checkers.  We had a great time and have made several trips back over the years, often taking newbies with us.  The best trip was this past year when we finally took my parents with us.  Dad had a blast sharing military stories and pointing out all of the antique farming equipment and tools.  It was a great way to link our personal history with public history.

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you find some time to check out a local treasure!  Maybe you'll be inspired to scrapbook the event too!  Have a wonderful day!!

A New Challenge Blog!

It never ceases to amaze me how you can find so many amazing challenge blogs just by reading other crafty people's blogs.  Makes life so much easier than aimlessly searching!  Through two different blogs, I located Twisted Tuesday Challenges.  This site is brand spankin' new and they are having a DT challenge.  Since I only found it last night, I am squeaking my entry in at the very last minute!!  The DT challenge was to use pastel/spring colors with black added somewhere and the twist is the creation must be square.  Well, I don't often do square cards and I was rolling ideas around in my head when the word creation popped out at me.  It did not say it had to be a card... So here is my scrapbook layout meeting all of the requirements!

                                

I used the sketch from Simply Stampin' Challenge.  See the pretty daffodils?  I learned how to make these from  Amanda.  Just use the 5 petal flower  and the Boho Blossom punches!  I inked the edges of the cup with pumpkin pie ink for a little contrast.  The pics show off the beautiful blooms on our trees. I love the color that bursts out in spring!!  It makes it so easy to find inspiration! Well, it was a little last minute, but I'm pretty happy with it and I have another page completed! YAY!! Wish me luck!

Page Recipe: Cardstock-wisteria wonder base, basic black, whisper white, certainly celery, barely banana, Lap of Luxury DSP (ret), Ink-whisper white (craft), pumpkin pie, daffodil delight, certainly celery, Stamp Set-Broadsheet Alphabet, Extras- 5 petal punch, Boho Blossom punch, eyelet border punch, certainly celery ribbon (ret), dimensionals

A Sneak Peek Valentine

In an effort to actually have my Valentines finished before Valentine's Day, I'm trying to make a few each week.  I don't send out a lot of cards for this holiday, so if I can keep with this plan, I should be ready!

Today's card is a CAS sneak peek at the Sale-A-Bration's Catalog.  The inspiration for my card came from the catalog itself.  I changed the flower and instead of stitching the stem and leaf, I used one of the sentiments from the stamp set to create them.

The stamp set is called Outlined Occasions and both stamped images you see are from this set.  If you would love to own this set, it can be your's for FREE during Sale-A-Bration (starts January 24th) with a purchase of $50 or host a workshop or class and get it free with a qualifying total!

I punched 3 flowers using the 5 petal punch and sponged the edges, then attached them together with a glitter brad.  The Love tag was created by rolling one side of the tag and threading white bakers twine through the curl before tying a bow.  It is hard to tell from the picture (in hindsight, I should have went w/ a darker ink), but the stem and leaves are made with the sentiment 'be mine'.

Card Recipe: Cardstock-crumb cake, pretty in pink, whisper white, Ink-pretty in pink, certainly celery, Stazon black, pretty in pink & wisteria wonder markers, Stamp Set-Outlined Occasions, Accessories- 5 petal flower punch, pretty in pink glitter brad, white bakers twine, corner rounder punch

The little lamb

Surprise!! Another post from me in less than a day!! I had decided that no matter what, I was going to get some crafting time squeezed in this week.  Luckily, the girls were playing outside most of the afternoon and I managed to get several scrapbook pages finished.

As a Stampin' UP demo, I almost always use SU product on my creations, but I have only been a demo for a little less than a year and a scrapbooker for almost 13 years.  Needless to say, there is a lot of other goodies in my stash that are non SU.  Today's page uses a bit of my stash goodies and more of the lovely ribbon from the wonderful Sherry.  I apologize for the slightly crooked picture.

These pictures are several years old and were from my girls' years at daycare.  We brought one of my parents' lambs to the center to show the children.  Since the playground was fenced in, I thought the lamb could run around and the children would be able to see it in action. Well...the kids thought it would be a much better idea to carry the lamb around instead!  My oldest DD kept a close eye on things to make sure no one was hurting her little buddy!

The base and DP are from my stash.  The letters were cut w/ my cricut using pacific point cardstock.  When I finished the layout, the lower left corner was a little empty so I made a punch art sheep to finish it off.  Pretty basic, but I really like the way it turned out.

Page Recipe: Cardstock- whisper white, pacific point, basic black, Ink-baja breeze (to shade the edges of the sheep), white Signo gel pen (for the sheep's eyes), Accessories-large scallop circle punch, 5 petal flower punch

I hope everyone has a happy new year full of health, happiness, and plenty of crafting time!!

a scrapbook page

I had grand plans of making lots of scrapbook pages during my break, but of course, there are always many other things that demand my time as well. For some reason, my family thinks they need meals, clean clothes, and various other frivolous things! But I did manage to squeeze in some scrapping time and completed a few pages.

This page uses lots of retired things, but the product is not quite as old as the picture, so I think I'm still ok ; )

Although it's hard to see, I stamped the butterflies from Sprinkles to break up some of the 'white space' on the base.  And don't adjust your screens or rub your eyes...yes, you are seeing actual stitching on this page!! I broke out one of my piercing patterns and poked the holes before using white bakers twine to cross stitch the page. I love the texture it added to my page, but I'm being completely honest when I admit that I probably won't use this technique too often! I'm generally pretty CAS when I'm paper crafting.
The title and center of my flowers are some chipboard stickers from my stash and that beautiful pink ribbon is from my blogging friend, Sherry (Button Junkie). I won a selection of her hand dyed ribbon as blog candy and loved this fun color with the paper. You really should check out the beautiful colors she makes!

I'm hoping that the next few days will allow me so extra crafting time so I can get a few cards made and make an attempt to catch up on scrapbooking! Wish me luck!! Maybe that can be a new year's resolution...

Page Recipe: Cardstock-Tea Party DSP (ret), whisper white, Stamp Set-Sprinkles (ret), Inks-wisteria wonder marker, almost amethyst ink (ret), Accessories- white bakers twine, 5 petal flower punch, scallop border punch

No Really...Scrapbook Pages!!

In case the title didn't give it away, I am extremely far behind on my scrapbooking. I don't even want to admit how many unfinished projects are sitting on my shelf right now... But, this weekend, due to both rainy weather and a change in schedule, I was able to set aside some crafting time. As much as I wanted to make cards, I am ahead of schedule on my birthday and anniversary cards so I decided I had better tackle some scrapbooking.
My husband's nephew is getting married later this month. His fiance's family made the bridal shower invitations, so I gave her a very pretty unfinished photo album, thinking she might want to make the pages herself.  After seeing the card I made for her shower, she asked me if I would do the pages for her instead! So I am in the process of working on their wedding album.  Since I am including some pictures from the wedding on the pages, they are not expecting the album to be finished by the wedding date, but I would like to have the majority of it completed before then! Two down, 18 to go...
The bridesmaids are wearing latte colored dresses and the flowers are in a variety of fall colors. I decided to go with a more monochromatic color palette with just a few splashes of color.  Here are two of the pages I finished (minus photos).

I used up a lot of retired DSP on these pages. Since I went through all of my DSP to find papers with the right color scheme, I didn't think to chick which packs they came from but I think these are Woodland Walk and Elegant Soiree. I used Sahara Sand as my base and the photos will be mounted on the Early Espresso cardstock. Other supplies used were vintage flowers (ret), early espresso ribbon (ret), brads (some ret.), Four Frames and Notes & Details stamp sets, decorative label and 5 petal flower punches, pear pizzazz marker and cardstock, crumb cake and early espresso markers, log cabin and vanilla shimmer Smooch Spritz.  I also used some non SU letter brads and some prima flowers (thanks Kelly!)

Love is in the air...

Although June is the 'traditional' month of weddings, it seems like our part of the country prefers fall weddings. I was an August bride and it was HOT!, so I can see why brides would choose fall for their special day. I never seem to have bridal shower or wedding cards on hand when I need them, so I decided to get a jump start on the fall weddings that we are invited to attend.  I used the sketch from Clean and Simple Stamping as a starting point. Here is the sketch...

I changed mine a little, and it is not the most CAS card I have ever made, but I decided that the card theme required a little extra dressing!  I also went through my 'stash' and used up some of my non SU goodies too. You will notice that while basically the same layout, my accessories have changed.

Card Recipe: Cardstock-certainly celery, perfect plum (also DSP), Ink-certainly celery, perfect plum

Stamp Set-Word Play, Accessories-very vanilla seam binding, basic rhinestones, vintage flower, 5 petal flower punch

Pajama Party!

I found more preschool pictures of my youngest (now going into 4th grade...) that somehow were missed while scrapbooking her preschool years.  This was the day that our class had a pajama party (learning the letter p) and her Daddy, Pat the Policeman, came to visit.  She was so proud to be able to show him off and loved it when he let the children try on his hat.
I saw the sketch at Stamping 411 and I decided to adapt it to a scrapbook layout and finally get those preschool pictures into their album! The pink top note will hold the journaling that will be done tomorrow.

Layout recipe: cardstock-very vanilla, Lap of Luxury DSP (ret.), ink-concord crush, stamp set-Delight in Life (ret.), accessories-pretty in pink satin ribbon, top note die, 5 petal flower punch, decorative label punch