Life's Trivialities

Daddy Daughter Dance / Paper Secrets Sketch

I LOVE the sketch from the May 1st Paper Secrets challenge this month and had some time to play along! I did some manipulating with the sketch, clearly. I used one picture instead of two. I really wanted to use a full 6x4 picture so as to be able to show Mia's red rose. In some respects you could call that "hello" journal spot the second picture with my journaling directly onto the layout as a bonus, added by me to make the sketch work for my needs.

Part of the added challenge was to use the word SHOWER in your layout. So here's what I did;

S - splatter and Stickles, H - hearts, O - opaque element (flowers and charming banner, top left), W - washi, E - expoxy dots, R - ribbon

Love this collection from Pink Paislee! And though the theme of my layout had nothing to do with Pen Pals it certainly had elements that I could work into my layout as support.

I'm not sure if you can read the journaling but the theme of this year's Daddy-Daughter dance was "Dancing with Disney". The couples were encouraged to dress up. Can you guess who Mia was with her yellow dress and red rose? Michael wasn't so keen on being either the Beast or the eventual Prince so a sports coat sufficed for him!

Thanks Paper Secrets for another fantastic challenge! I sure miss playing along as often as I used to!

Paper Secrets May 1st Challenge

Playing along with another Paper Secrets challenge! I can't turn down a good sketch or, better yet, a sketch with a twist! I'm a sucker for such challenges. I worked on this one on NSD at a crop at my LSS (if you call local, an hour away!). If you're ever in the Central Virginia area, be sure to stop by Scrapdoodles! Tell them Suzanna sent you!

I flipped the sketch 90 degrees to make things work with my vertical picture. I used the polaroid "twist" as called for! My title went in a different spot as it stuck out like a sore thumb where otherwise directed. I added a the banner to tie things together.

I love that paper from Glitz with all the oldy, worldy textures. Though a flat piece of paper with no dimension, it adds such depth to the layout.

Note my braveness please! I stamped directly on the layout. Not once but twice!! Watch out stampy world, I'm on a roll!

I mixed up all kinds of scrappy goodness on this layout. No one manufacturer is used more than the other. There is some Core in there! Do you spy it? I use Core A LOT but now that my box of goodies has arrived I use it a lot MORE!! Loving the Whitewash collection!

Thanks PaperSecrets for another fantastic challenge!

MouseStash

Lol!! This silly girl and her antics. Not only is she full of theatrics but full of interesting words.

I created this layout using the lastest PageMaps sketch at PaperSecrets. I just love the strips of paper, ribbon, twine, washi, whatever else strikes your fancy.

My use of black and yellow really pops the pictures with the purple headband and shirt. (Recognize that headband I made for Imaginisce? she loves it!)

She had this obsessions with moustaches and needed one. In the middle of homework time. Her makeshift, until we found this one in my scrappy stash, was an upside down E... Where she got it from while working on spelling words... Yup...

The twist on the challenge was to use wood. Plenty of wood veneer in there; the star button from Prima and the girl and locator shapes from Studio Calico.

Another great sketch and challenge from PageMaps and PaperSecrets! Thanks for the inspiration! This came together so quickly with the right assortment of goodies. Give it a shot, you won't regret it!

Cat in a Box

Oops, almost missed getting this one up in time... I have a backlog of layouts to share and not enough time to blog. Somedays, the blog post creating feels like it takes longer than the creating of the layout.

PaperSecrets inspired challenge using a PageMaps sketch with a twist; using pennants. I love the new Basic Grey collections available at JoAnn's!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pennants, per the twist! I mixed and matched some of the Basic Grey collections older and new and threw in some other goodies for good measure.

I did up the brown paper with a Julie Fei Fan Balazar stamp by stamping at various angles for some added interest. A sublte effect that you may not notice unless you saw the close up or knew the paper line really well.

This silly cat LOVES herself a box! I can't get pictures of it because she's too black and too fast (nor is the camera ever in the right place at the right time) but her favorite boxes are Nikolas' Lego boxes. Now, she's not a big cat... But she's definitely bigger than the Lego box!!

I think the new Studio Calico wood veneers might look good on this layout... Need to order some of those.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Fabulous Fun

My Mind's Eye and Gossamer Blue are hosting tryouts for a Guest Designer spot. How could I NOT give this a shot? A chance to guest design for one of my all time favorite scrappy manufacturers?

May I present to you, THE layout?! LOL!

I absolutely LOVE (have I mentioned how much I really, truly love MME and everything they produce?!) this "Boy Crazy" collection! I don't have a toddler any more, nor is he a "little" boy. He's ALL boy and deserves to have fun backgrounds that reflect his zany, quirky self. JUST like this line. It's perfect, the perfect boy line.

I wanted the stary paper to pop a tad more upon the busy phrase ladden background, A little distress ink went a long way in accomplishing that task!

I combined this entry with a PageMaps sketch and a twist challenge over at Paper Secrets. The twist was to use chevrons somewhere. I think there might be a chevron or two, don't you?! I doubled up the washi tapes to make banners that didn't stick to the layout but rather had some "flapability".

I think I have just about every button pack that My Mind's Eye produced... I probably use at least one My Mind's Eye button on just about every layout I create too! Thought the starburst of twine added a fun twist to the explosion of activity going on in this layout.

I also bought just about every one of the little label sets too...

It's no secret I like to fussy cut. A fair number of the elements are goodies that I fussy cut from a sheet of the patterned paper. Nor is it a secret that I love my Cameo and use it on just about every layout. There's a spot of die cut there too!

That's a lotta love there, I know. I hope you feel the love! Thanks for stopping by!

Dear Santa, Part 2

Not too long ago, I shared with you Mia's "Dear Santa" page from our trip to Great Wolf Lodge last year. Today's "Dear Santa" will be the opposing page of Nikolas. Titled the same. Original, isn't it?! What can I say?

The first of half of the month's sketch over at Paper Secrets is the inspiration for this layout. If you used October Afternoon, you're eligible for double the money! So, some October Afternoon it is! My pack of Holiday Style was unopened and just waiting for this very moment. As was that punch from Martha Stewart.

It's quite a coincidence (or co-inky-dink as we say around here) that both pages feature a large banner and a string of somethings. I didn't realize that until just now. I was perturbed by the "white" open space in the top left corner of the page so used some Stickles for a little bling. Not liking that or feeling it sufficient space filler, I opted to put the title there.

Unlike the last page I posted, I journaled where the hidden journal spot was. The front side is a picture of Nikolas' letter (rather, postcard) to "the man in Red" and my journaling is on the back. No, there's no picture of it. I promise it's there! You'll have to take me on my word!

Does anybody else who visits here participate in the Paper Secrets sketch challenges? I never see any familiar faces in the Mr Linky thingy... I challenge you to play along! The sketches are always inspirational to me, they may be to you too.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Giddy Up

Around this time last year, a PT friend of mine invited the kids up to the barn where she works as an animal and human PT to ride her horse. Mia was ecstatic! The whole affair actually morphed into a bribe of sorts. She had a string of days were she came home on yellow for misbehaviors of various levels of atrocity... Unacceptable. So we bribed her. If she came home on green for a month she could ride Ms Molly's horse.

Nikolas couldn't have cared less. He got to ride but the enthusiasm was no where near that of his sister. In fact, I believe scared may have been the prevailing emotion on his part. He rode Daegen (sp?) and did well but might have been a bit intimidated by the size of the horse.

This layout is of Nikolas in his riding helmet (on the horse but you can't see that). I used a Paper Secrets sketch as the inspiration for this layout. I flipped the sketch and used two horizontal picture slots instead of the four. The bottom horizontal became my journaling/embellishment cluster rather than a picture.

I used the multi-cut Tim Holtz font die to create "giddy" in two tones. The inner color, brown, is sanded Coredinations. The "u" of up is a laser cut! Tricky font play, howzabout it?!

The montage of goodies was fun to create and layer! I have a stash of cowboy/girl goodies that I have acculumated over the years and digging into it was exciting. There was more from the October Afternoon line that I would have loved to use but it all began to look rather busy and took away from the layout.

I even put bling on the Sheriff's badge star that I fussy cut from the paper (by Adorn It - ages old!).

Have you been roped into anything you didn't really feel all that enthusiastic about lately?

Team Hermit Crab

Ahhh... Love me my Jillibean Soup!! I really struggle with these kraft paper lines. I like bright, vibrant colors and that just doesn't exist in the kraft. Now, don't get me wrong, I use kraft paper. A fair amount. As a background. The color printed on the kraft gets muted me thinks. Despite those feelings, I have managed to do a lot with the Game Day Chili collection.

 

Inspired by a sketch over at Paper Secrets. Instead of the two horizontal pictures, I made that bottom picture a combination of picture and goodies. A bit of collage. That green is really difficult to photograph. You might see some color inconsistency in the pictures to come. Depending upon the angle you view the paper at, it takes on different hues.

Creating the title was a challenge! I wanted a matching banner for "hermit crab" to place underneath the one I fussy cut from a journal spot. Of course, despite the store of goodies I own (shh, don't tell!), no such thing existed in my stash. Off to the computer I went and scanned in the original. Blew it up some and then cut and shaded the perfect match. This is one of the very few occasions I wish I had Copics. That really pale grey would have been perfect...

Originally, that star was going to have a different paper behind it. I liked the kraft star peeking out from behind.

A fun little collection of circles with lots of layering. I pulled in the blue and white polka dots from the birthday collection, whose name escapes me right now.

Parade

No, no. No parades recently. Not that I recall... A layout of Nikolas riding his bike in the local neighborhood parade 3 July 4's ago! I used the Paper Secrets sketch challenge as the inspiration for the layout. A very loose interpretation of the sketch at that. That's the beauty of sketches, isn't it? You can pick and choose what you want to use and what doesn't work for the layout.

Do you remember a recent post where I spoke of those awesome Jenni Bowlin journal tags? Well, here you go. Yet another! I'm telling you, there are really diverse in their uses! I took a strip of the BINGO numbers and ran it through the Big Shot to make the pleated circle. Looks cool! I'm a fan, anyway!

I used the banner across the right hand side of the page as the sketch had, only I used a different shape and size. Again from a BINGO item (also of Jenni's),  I punched out the letters which are pop dotted upon the banner. Tie some twine bows and voila! Festive!

The right hand side of the page needed some balance with all the goodies situated on the left so I embossed the Coredinations (aptly) with a July 4th embossing folder from Tim Holtz. No more LSS therefore no more big machine so a rolling pin had to suffice. Works in a pinch!

LOL! Now that I'm looking at it, there's a lot of Jenni Bowlin Studio's product on there! Love it!

Speaking of holiday's, have you begun any planning yet? The kids have decided what they want to be for Halloween. I need to order costumes. No plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas just yet. There will be no family around this year, just us. It will be quiet. The calm before the storm; I'm going to Paris to visit my sister!! Can't wait!

Winter @ Clearwater

... Or Spring break @ Clearwater Aquarium... LOL! I wanted to write "(or Spring Break)" under the title but I couldn't make it work without looking too crowded. And don't worry, I did notice the back to front "a" in the title and have fixed it. That's what happens when you apply the letters upside down. Don't ask, I don't know! Edited; I had to re-take the picture and re-post. The "a" just looked WRONG and was immensely troubling! Incidently, the lighting is better (later in the day, go figure...).

This layout has two combined challenges and sources of inspiration; the latest Case File over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration (#35) and the September sketch challenge at Paper Secrets. The color combination is sublime though cruel and evil that there is no pink in the mix!! I kept finding myself reaching for the pink and having to slap my own wrist, gently, of course. I might just have to use this sketch again! I really like how the meat of the layout is at the top and bottm rather than the center, as most layouts happen.

EVIDENCE used includes

• paint - mixed into the molding paste and to stipple the yellow flower
• hearts
• wood - woodgrain? does that count? I had a wooden element sitting on my desk, apparently it didn't make it in there...
• photo corners
• tilt your photo
• flowers

TESTIMONY used includes

• Inspiration Words: random, piece(s), happy -- Use these as inspiration for your journaling, not just as a title.
• Journaling reads; The bits and pieces didn't come together until we walked to the ticket counter - surprise!! You weren't happy, you were ecstatic!! And you thought we were on a random drive, destination unknown."

How was your Labor day? Did you get outside and do something fun? This was my labor of love for the day!! The rest of the fam went to a Cubbies game up in DC. With the prospects of humidity and rain, I decided to forego said event. Baseball is not my thing, especially when the weather is not cooperating. Hope you had a wonderful Labor day! We're back to school tomorrow!!