Italy - Busch Gardens

Ok, I did it! I had already cleaned me desk and was ready to watch the Emmy's when I decided to just do ONE more layout for the weekend! This layout is of the sites we saw in Italy, Busch Gardens. I used Prima papers and flowers, the word Italy and the red and white border sticker are also Prima. I outlined the bird and leaves in gold and green Stickles, added Cosmo Cricket mini letters for Busch Gardens, and the Ciao Bella was cut on my Cricut using the "Viva Italia" font. The layout is a scraplift for a challenge at A Cherry On Top.   Since its not MY layout, I won't post the layout I lifted but if you go to A Cherry On Top you can check out the challenge there.

Now I am going to get my dose of reality TV and watch the new episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians (I know, I know!!) and get ready for bed. My last week of summer hours....boy this Summer went fast. See you next Friday, if not before!

Masked!

I know I said next up was Italy...and well, it sorta is. These pictures were taken in a shop in Italy (Busch Gardens) where I had to try on all the masquerade masks. That is until I saw the price of the one in the lower left was $145! I didn't touch any more!! I did this layout for the last challenge I think I can get in for August at A Cherry On Top. Countdown Challenge:

5 - Circle shapes (I used 3 large round pearl brads and two more circles in the corners)

4 - Journal strips

3 - Pictures

2 - Papers (one solid and one patterned...I used My Minds Eye Laundry Line and the paper is really glittery like the masks but it didn't photograph well)

1 - Large circle shape (must be at least 8x8---mine is 10 1/2)

Added to the layout are pearl flourishes from http://want2scrap.com ($1 a package) and Glittery puffy Thickers letters.

Germany, Busch Gardens

I LOVE how this page turned out! I wasn't so sure it was going to work because I really don't have anything "German" looking for embellishments. I got the inspiration from this week's sketch at Sketch Inspirations but I admit, it doesn't look all that much like the sketch unless you count the orientation and number of photos! But it was my inspiration nonetheless! I used Bazzil cardstock and a piece of Jenni Bowlin patterned paper that I found in an old box of my stash...so its probably quite old! The clocks are leftovers from a package from K&Co. but they worked with the reds and the giant Cuckoo Clock in the bottom left photo. The key is also a leftover and also K & Co. and maybe doesn't "fit" the theme, but its old which is the feel I was going for, and it fit perfectly in that blank space! The journaling ticket is Tim Holtz and the small letters spelling out Busch Gardens are also Jenni Bowlin. I made the German flag out of cardstock (the colors aren't exactly right but they had to match my layout!!), the flower is Bazzil and I cut the GERMANY title on the Cricut using a free font I found online. I'm really happy with this layout and even happier that I got most of the Germany pictures on one layout! I have a few more so there will definitely be one more, but like I said with the Ireland one, if I can keep each "country" to two pages, I will be happy!! Italy is up next!!

A Beary Fun Trip!

When I saw this bear holding a camera in Busch Gardens, I had to make John pose in front of it! And of course, he then made me do it! I love the pictures but was really at a loss at how to work the bear element into it! So I just chose to keep it simple and use a play on words for the title. I used the new sketch just posted from Creative Scrappers and also made a ric rac circle for the Frosted Designs challenge. The papers are by Pink Paislee and Cosmo Cricket. Letters and saying stickers are Bella Blvd. Quite a simple layout for me!!

Ireland, Busch Gardens

Its really been a while since I did a two-pager! You can click the picture to see it bigger.  I really don't want to do a HUGE album for our trip to Busch Gardens considering it was just a long weekend. I have done a few single or two photo layouts already and decided that for the "country" pictures, I will get as many photos on a two-pager as possible, the rest will just go in photo sleeves. This layout is based on a sketch by Cheri at Let's Scrap. She is my GO TO sketch person for two page layouts!!! I used a mix of papers from Best Creations, Reminisce and Daisy D's. I found that I don't have much in the way of GREEN papers!! The shamrocks were cut on my Cricut using a free SVG file from Amy's SVGs and using Sure Cuts A Lot 2. I broke a plate to my Cuttlebug making this layout too!! The 3rd layer of the bottom right shamrock circle is embossed. Well I accidentally used the wrong "sandwich" combination and half way through I thought it was awful tight and then SNAP! Broke plate B clear in half! I actually thought it was pretty funny. I guess you had to be there! Anyway, the other stuff on this layout are doilies that I picked up at the Dollar Tree, the black letters on the wavy paper I THINK are by Recollections but am not positive. Not sure where the white trim came from either!! The small green flowers on the doilies are Prima and the gold coins on the shamrocks are actually tokens from Busch Gardens that the kids didn't end up using!! I thought they worked great on this layout!

Phew, this layout took a long time! I've been working on this on and off since about 9pm and its almost midnight. Time for me to close the eyelids! Have a great night!

Therapeutic?

Phew, so this one threw me for a doozy. I have had this photo on my desk and love looking at it. Its of my oldest son, John, and my late husband, Michael, on Johnny's 6th grade graduation day. I was hesitant to put the journaling on it but decided that these are MY memories and my feelings and it was important. It could be that the anniversary of Michael's death is just over 2 weeks away and I have been thinking about him so much, but this layout...while happy and fun, just killed me inside. Michael was SO proud of Johnny. If I could have one moment that Michael missed out on since his death, it would be Johnny's graduation from High School. (Of course I think I will have that same thought on Matt & Susie's graduation, all 3 of their weddings, etc.) He was not Johnny's natural father, but his step-dad, but you would NEVER have known that. I have to believe that Michael has had a hand in the way Johnny has grown up. Its a struggle for all of us, but somehow knowing that he is up in Heaven watching over us gets us through.

I did this page for another challenge at A Cherry On Top. The challenge is to use product by Fancy Pants. The papers are all Fancy Pants and the chipboard star that I covered with FP paper is by Scenic Route. I edged the star with Faded Jeans Distress Stickles and the title letters are Thickers.

Last Minute August Challenges!

I'm working on getting a few more of the August Challenges done over at A Cherry On Top. The above layout is for the challenge to scrap something that is a summer tradition. For us, its naturally the beach because we live here, but more specifically is Grilling on the beach. This photo was from last summer and the grill in the photo is no longer with us. It WAS a boat grill that John adapted for use on the trailer hitch of his truck. But we've moved up in the world of beach grilling and now have a fancy Cuisinart grill that I got at a GREAT price at Kohls in the beginning of the summer!! Its a tradition for us and lots of others to get a permit to drive onto the beach and once there we set up shop! We are not as extreme as some....I swear they bring their entire kitchen with them and some of the food that is made on these grills is amazing...not your average burger and dogs! There are full racks of ribs, seafood in every form, steaks, you name it...its being grilled on the beach! And of course you can't forget the cocktails! I used nothing but leftovers on this layout. The paper strips are mostly Bella Blvd. All Inclusive except for the one orange strip which is WRMK White Out. The flip flops and sunglasses were leftover from a packagae of K&Co embellishments, the letters are leftover Bella Blvd. I didn't use a single full piece of anything! Love that!

This challenge was to use the word ALWAYS for your title. The photo is just a random snapshot I took while John was trying to fix the air pump for the kids bikes. I used a mish-mash of stuff on this. Most of the paper is My Minds Eye "So Sophie" with the exception of the white background one which is Basic Grey Oliver. The clock is by Jolees as is the journaling tag which was printed on the inside of the package of clocks! The brad holding the tag in place and the lettering is Basic Grey, the tiny bingo card I cut out of the packaging from a pack of JenniBowlin bingo cards, the leaves, key and butterfly are all K&Co.

Goofy Girls

This was such a fun layout to do. The bright colors of the papers along with the fun of the photo just made it come together so easily!! I did this one for the Supply List challenge at A Cherry On Top. You had to use 5 patterened papers, a button, chipboard and the color yellow. I knew this photo would be perfect and as I was going through my paper bins, this We R Memory Keepers White Out paper jumped right out! The rest was easy! The journaling card was a free download from Creativity Prompts. She has quite a few freebies so be sure to check her blog out! Letters are Thickers that I got from Crafty Steals . The photo is Susie and her bestie Emily in Busch Gardens. In every shop we stopped in they tried on all the silly hats. This particular one had me cracking up because they added coordinating sunglasses and stuck out their tongues which were BLUE from the Icees they had been drinking. Susie's hat had these crazy tube things all over it that lit up but you can't see that from the photo. Emily chose a lovely HOT DOG hat! LOL!

I Wonder....

When I sat down to do some more scrapping, I had intended to print some more photos from our trip to Busch Gardens two weeks ago and do one or two layouts from that trip. Instead, I came upon these two photos of Matt that I snapped while we were standing in a long, hot line waiting to get on the Roman Rapids ride. I stopped and stared at them a few minutes and started wondering about things. So I decided to print the photos and put down on paper a few of the things I was wondering about. I'm not a big journaler....more of a "who, what, where and when" kinda gal, so this is very different for me. But now that it's done I think it will be a wonderful page to have to look back on years from now.

Papers are all Basic Grey....Oliver and Basics. The "Someday Comes Real Fast" and the chipboard star are both by Scenic Route. The letters are Basic Grey. I used the Distrezz-it-All to distress the edges of the papers on the left side. No sketches or challenges for this one!

That's gonna be it from me tonight. I'm fighting with my eyelids and they are winning!

Creepy!! & Some News!

I'm in a great mood right now!! Its Thursday night....that means....ITS THE WEEKEND! Unfortunately, its almost my last long weekend of the summer. After next Friday I'm back to working Monday through Friday from 8am-4pm. Grr....as much as I will miss my Friday's off, it will be nice to be home by 4:15 everyday. The house is quiet right now with Susie up in her room with a friend, Matthew at football practice for another hour and John is out golfing with his buddies! Ahhh.....bliss! (Edited....it has taken me 2 hours to get this posted...house is no longer quiet, everyone is home and I am totally frustrated with Comcast.)

This layout I did for two separate challenges! The first one is Stacy's Weekly Stash Challenge at Sketches For You. The challenge was to scrap a holiday page. I had JUST finished Christmas 09 when she issued that challenge so wasn't sure what I was going to do and then I realized that I haven't scrapped Halloween 09 yet! I had this great My Minds Eye kit that I got at Crafty Steals and decided to use that, adding only some leftover flourishes from a sheet of Cosmo Cricket Blackboard and a few screw brads from Karen Foster. For the title I used some WackyTack to temporarily adhere the Maya Road Sheer letters to my background paper and then I misted the letters with Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist. I love the effect and since one of the August challenges at A Cherry On Top was to create a layout with masking on it, I got double duty!!! I really like how this page turned out...it does have a creepy feel to it! The journaling reads: "Every year there is a house in Absecon that goes all out for Halloween. Its fun but scary at the same time. This year there were zombies with chainsaws and this live man hanging there giving candy."

And now for my news....I've known for a few days now but haven't had the time to sit down and write a bio and send a picture off and wanted to do that before I announced it. One of my favorite sketch challenge sites for the last few months since they started has been Sketches In Thyme. The site is led by Kim Sparks and her team of "Mavens". I just LOVE that...Mavens!! LOL! Anyway, Kim emailed me that one of her mavens had to step down and she asked if I would fill that position. I struggled a little making the decision because of the way things have been going haywire here at home with my mom's health, kids activities, etc. but ultimately decided that I would LOVE to be a Maven. Part of my decision to join this team is because the commitment is not as heavy as on some site, but most of all because several of the closest blog friends I have made since I started my blog are also Mavens so I almost felt like I belonged there! So I will be joining Debbie, Barb, Brenda and Fern whom I already "knew" from blog-land and looking forward to meeting and getting to know Dawn, Diana, Penny and Tanya, as I become a Sketches In Thyme Maven.

Mid-Week Scrapping!!

I'm so happy I have actually scrapped last night and again tonight! OK so its just one page each night but I sure get bummed on Sundays knowing that I probably won't be scrapping again until the following weekend! But yesterday I was trying to think of a layout design for a challenge on A Cherry On Top to scrap a page with a Children's Song as the title. I knew I had the perfect picture and with a little help from Google, found the perfect song. I came home from work last night and immediately got this going! Since John was making dinner last night I had only a couple interruptions when I had to take and pick up Matt from football practice. The above layout was what I completed! I have wanted to scrap this photo of Susie and Matt forever but just never had the right inspiration until now. Look how sweet they are sound asleep in the rental stroller at Hersey Park! The good ole' days! Now they don't DARE even sit that close to each other and 12 and 13! LOL! Papers are all BoBunny, brads are Basic Grey, letters are Basic Grey and Bo Bunny and the flower is Heidi Swapp.

If you visit my blog regularly you will know that I have already scrapped the photos but honestly I didn't like the first layout anyway and when I saw the sketch contest on the Imaginisce Blog, I knew had the perfect papers to go with these pictures....the Splash Dance line! I had already use some of the glassy stickers on another layout but still had just enough left to finish this one! I LOVE when I actually use every single sticker or embellishment that comes with a package. Its not often that I do that!! I put my journaling all around the large circle using a white Signo Uniball pen.  Love my white pen!!!  The the letter stickers are Doodlebug.  All else is Imaginisce. 

I have dinner in the oven and a few more things to get going tonight so will hopefully see you all in blogland tomorrow with some exciting (well, exciting to me anyway) news if I can get my butt in gear!!

Wishing you all a GREAT week!

This is my last layout of the weekend. Overall I am happy with the scrapping I got done this weekend. Tomorrow starts another work week so I doubt I will get any scrapping in until Friday. This week brings a lot of worry for me. My mom is still in the hospital, doing her best to bounce back but she's not coming along as I have become accustomed to her doing. So that weighs on my mind. But mostly right now is my best friend's sister, Cynthia, who is commencing on the fight of her life. Cynthia is in her mid-50's but is mentally challenged and realistically is about 12. She has a heart of gold and is the sweetest person you would ever meet. About two months ago she began coughing and thought she had a cold but could not shake it. After a few more tests and x-rays, the diagnosis through us all for a loop. Lung Cancer. She never smoked, didn't work so was not exposed to anything other than her home. Tomorrow she is having surgery to remove part of her lung. Please keep her in your prayers. See why I'm cranky sometimes?? If its not one thing, its another here! One good thing is I don't have too much running to do this week. School shopping is mostly complete, Susie has no activities until school starts and Matt just has football every day but that's here in town so its not a big deal. Other than visiting with Cyn hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday, and at least one trek up 3 hours round trip to visit my mom, the only other thing I would like to do but not sure if it will happen this week or not, is visit my friend Lisa. Lisa and Jason are the proud parents of baby Ryan (you might remember me whining about making a baby album for her shower!!) who was born 8-9-10. Isn't that just the COOLEST birth-date!

This layout was done for the weekly sketch challenge at Sketch Inspirations as well as the Monthly Bonus Challenge at Practical Scrappers -- use water...I have water in my pictures and I cut the paper to mimick a splash. It struck me as I was working on it that I have been using my circle cutter a TON lately! There was a time that I used it so infrequently that I could never find it when I needed it and for the past few months it hasn't left my desktop! There are lots of circles on this one....using BoBunny Pina Colada Popsicle and I can't find the name of the other paper (striped/dots) but its also BoBunny. I really put a dent in my BoBunny papers today! I think that was all I used other than some scraps from other manufacturers! The title letters are these new cool foil rimmed letters by Cloud Nine. I bought them a few weeks ago but haven't done anything that they would work for until now! The yellow fishies is a wood shape that I got at Michael's.

I'm off to watch the end of Fool's Gold with John and have some warm crab dip! Hope you all have a wonderful week! I plan to do some blog visiting this week to catch up on what everyone else has been doing!

World Travels - Ireland Busch Gardens

So now I am kicking myself for wasting most of today doing nothing. The last two layouts I did from our recent trip to Busch Gardens just flowed together so easily. Now that its Sunday evening, I know that I will not be able to do much more scrapping until Friday. :( That's a total bummer. And being Sunday evening I'm starting to think about work again and dreading going in tomorrow. More drama, more b.s., more crap that I just don't feel like dealing with anymore....oh and there's the work too!

This layout is a photo of me that John took standing by the gate entering Ireland in Busch Gardens. I used the sketch done by Liz Qualman which is the challenge this week at Stuck On You Sketches. I used a mish mosh of manufacturers to complete this! The background paper is glittery but the photo didn't pick that up...its by BoBunny. The circle with the print is Basic Grey Basics, the circle that the photo is mated on is Basic Grey Capella but it was too pastel-y so I gave it a spray with Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist and got the look I was hoping for! The flowers and birds are by K&Co. as is the pearl brad in the center of the larger flower. The letters are both Basic Grey and Pink Paislee. The dot cardstock is from Oriental Trading and the ball trim I have no idea! I really like the way this layout came out!

Going Wild

Haven't done much this Sunday except be lazy. The house has been quiet....Susie had a friend sleep over and when John woke up at 7am, the girls were STILL up. So needless to say, at 3pm they are still sleeping! I am going to wake them up shortly though! Matt had a birthday party to attend and John is helping a friend with his car. So I've had ALL DAY to scrap....but nope. I played on Facebook, did the last of the week's laundry, played some more on Facebook, changed the look of my blog, added more stuff to my wish list at A Cherry On Top, read email, cleaned up my scrap desk, blah blah blah! I finally got some inspiration when I saw this sketch at Sassy Lil Sketches. It worked perfect with these pictures of the animals we saw at Busch Gardens. The kids were totally uninterested in the animal area but John and I really enjoyed reading about them and watching them in their habitats. So while they were off on the roller coasters, we strolled through the animals and got some amazing photos! Isn't that wolf picture awesome!! And there is just something amazing about being this close to an American Bald Eagle. They are so majestic! And SERIOUSLY...a Porcupine? In my 42 years and all the zoos and animal sanctuaries and displays I have seen, I have NEVER seen a real Porky-pine! Soo cool!! Anywhoooo, I used the Sassy Lil Sketches sketch, BoBunny Roughin' It papers and Jenni Bowlin and Basic Grey letters. There wasn't much room for embellishing and I don't have much in the way of animal stuff that I could think to use anyway! Its simple but I love that it focuses more on the photos and less on the doo dads on the page!

Blog Design Help!!

So this is where I WISH that I knew how to digi-scrap.  I was really tired of my blog look and tried to update it using the free layouts that are out there.  I like this one but not crazy about the font color.  I am blind as a bat and I really think it would look better with black text but I cannot figure out for the life of me how to change the font of my blog!  Does ANYONE have any ideas??

Summer Vacation

Most of the evening I have been over at the Sketches for You site catching up with the August challenges. Fia hosts the monthly sketch challenge and as soon as I saw this sketch I knew it would make the perfect cover page for our trip to Busch Gardens last weekend. The sketch is a PageMaps sketch, which makes it even better...I love PageMaps! I used BoBunny Block Party papers, Fiskars edge punch, vacation ticket is unknown but I picked it up at CKC last month, the flowers are from the Dollar store and I glimmer misted them Candy Apple Red but after I did that I sorta wished I had kept them white. Oh well! LOL! The title letters are Basic Grey and I cut apart a silver pick of stars for the silver things shooting ou behind the rick rack...which came from Walmart! I'm gonna try for at least one more tonight but we will see! Getting a little sleepy. Plus I did a lot of my errands today and John has plans to go help his friend fix the brakes on his truck so I know I have most of tomorrow free to scrap too!!

Dinner At Cracker Barrel

I love scrapping photos right after they are taken. It doesn't always happen that way but so far I have done two layouts using photos I took last weekend when we went to Busch Gardens. This was our dinner on Friday night, after having left New Jersey at 3:30am, driving for 5 hours and then spending 6 hours in the park. We were all tired and hungry and Cracker Barrel was right next to our hotel. The kids aren't big fans of Cracker Barrel although John and I like it! I used the sketch by Stacy at Sketches for You for her weekly Stash Challenge. I had to use the sketch and buttons. Mission Accomplished!! The papers are My Minds Eye, lettering is JenniBowlin for the little round letters and Basic Grey Capella for the bigger ones. The Old Fashioned ephemera is by K&Co. that I got on clearance at M's two weeks ago during a major K&Co blowout they had! I think it was like 99c for the big pack that was normally $4.99!

Those Eyes

I snapped this picture of Susie using my Blackberry while we were on vacation last week. When I looked at it after I had printed it out, it was just like looking into her father's eyes. Maybe its just that the anniversary of his death is nearing that really hit home with me, but she definitely does have her daddy's eyes. Both of my boys and myself have blue eyes, she has the exact shade of brown that her father had. Sometimes she doesn't like that she is the only one without blue eyes and I just remind her that its part of what makes her special. And special she is. As the journaling reads: "Every time I snap a picture of Susie I am surprised and amazed at how much of a beautiful young lady she is becoming. This photo was taken at Busch Gardens and is proof that she has her daddy's eyes." I used the sketch posted today at Practical Scrappers and used some new Melissa Frances papers and journaling spot, Thickers glitter chip letters, and the pearls, gems, butterflies and gem brads are Creative Charms. If you like them, I suggest you keep an eye out on Crafty Steals as you NEVER KNOW when something like that could arrive! I have also created this layout for the Color Challenge at A Cherry On Top. The challenge was really NO color....as in background. Your background had to be 50% white. Easy Peasy for me as I am still a fan of a white background!!

Pot of Gold

This was a fun layout to do! The background started out as plain white cardstock until I started layering on different colors of Glimmer Mist in an attempt to mimic the colors of the bricks behind me in the photo, which was taken this past weekend in "Ireland" at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I had a hard time getting a decent photo of it...where it looks a little brown, it really does look like a golden yellow in real life! You might want to keep an eye on the Crafty Steals website if you like the crocheted butterflies, sequin flowers, big jewel brads and graduated green gems. I'm just sayin'! 

Layout: Christmas 09

Now that Christmas stuff is starting to appear in the stores, I figured I had better get these photos from Christmas 09 scrapped! Its a simple page, no sketch or challenge used. Little Yellow Bicycle papers, Thickers letters, Paper Bliss Christmas Tree and Jolee Poinsettia stickers. I'm so bad at taking pictures on Christmas morning. I do great in the beginning but then always seem to have my attention on the kids, or getting breakfast made or something else and the next thing I know, its over and just the mess is left and I only got a few pictures! Oh well, I guess a few pictures is better than NONE!

TGIF!

TGI my Friday is all I can say. The past few weeks have just not been on my side. I was so excited to come home and scrap tonight but apparently my scrapping mojo is lost somewhere! Hopefully it will just be one "eh" layout and it will return! I did this layout using the sketch by Helen Croft which is the challenge this week at Sketches In Thyme. I love the papers which are My Minds Eye that I got from a steal at Crafty Steals a while back and I love the pictures of my Valentines Day traditional breakfast and candy for the kids, but I DON'T so much love how the layout came out once I put it all together. I almost feel like I am trying too hard and nothing is coming together. I have so much on my mind....my mom is still in the hospital and not doing much better but seems to be taking all of her frustration out on me, I'm having major work related issues which have been weighing on my mind and will probably come to a head on Monday so I am not looking forward to this weekend ending, my kids are busy with the startup of Fall sports and I just feel overwhelmed, like there is not enough hours in the day to do what I need to get done. I haven't scrapped in what feels like forever....probably close to 2 weeks! Man am I a whiner or what! Phew...I feel better now! I knew I could count on my blog buddies to let me vent! What? You didn't have a choice, you say? Sure you did....you could have stopped reading at the first set of whines but you are still here and I and thankful for that! I need to refocus my brain on things that I AM thankful for and stop the woe is me! OK I think I got it all out of my system! At any rate, here is the first of what will hopefully be several layouts and challenges completed tonight! Miss you all!!

All caught up!

With this blog posting, I will have caught you all up with what I've created since the last time I blogged. As I mentioned, this past weekend was the Summer Crop over at A Cherry On Top. I participated in the games on Friday and Sunday (we had other plans for Saturday) and have been slowly working on the challenges which are due Tuesday. Because I had off today I was able to work on a few this morning before heading up to the hospital to be with my mom. I don't see myself getting any more done this week though. I have a bunch of stuff to get done with the house before we leave early Friday morning for a min-vacay to Busch Gardens, VA. So don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me again until middle of NEXT week! Good news is I will have lots of new photos to scrap!

The first project I am showing is an altered "S". Dontcha just love my "S"? HAHAH!! These letters are on clearance at Michaels (along with a ton of Prima and K& Co. stuff so if you haven't been there lately, check out your local M's! I think I paid 99c for the MDF letter. I used Girls Paperie paper and added some ball trim, flowers, glitter pearls, half pearls and flowers. It matches the colors in my scraproom for now. When we move I intend for it to be bubblegum pink and black! LMAO....we'll have to see....John says no but I say YES!

This next layout is a combination of challenges!! For ACOT you had to use a photo that was more than 5 years old. This is of Matthew's first day of Kindergarten! Can you believe I have never scrapped them yet!! I used Sassafrass Lass papers and chipboard letters from an upcoming steal at Crafty Steals. Make sure to check them out daily to see what the Steal of the Day is! And check them out on Facebook too!! Stephanie, the owner of Crafty Steals, is amazing and she has been such a pleasure to work with! I look forward to creating lots more during my term as Guest Designer for August! And finally, I used the weekly sketch Trisha at Sketch Inspirations posted. If you've followed my blog for a while, you know that there are a few sites that I consistently participate in. Sketch Inspirations is definitely on that list. Trisha always does a fantastic job inspiring me each week with her sketches!

And last, but certainly not least is this layout of Susie on her 12th birthday. I had printed the photo out back in June to use on a Sketchy Thursday sketch but ended up using a smaller print as this is a 5x7. So you may have seen the photo before but instead of going with the pink pulled from the photo, I went completely off of a choice of papers first. I used the sketch by PageMaps for Stacy's Stash Challenge at Sketches for You. I used SEI Happy Da

y papers, Doodlebug Flowers and white buttons and ball trim. This layout also qualifies for a challenge for the crop at ACOT. The challenge was to use a large number as a focal point. I used the "12", with no other journaling.

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Phew, that's it....you are now caught up on all of my creations!! I hope to get a little scrappy time in this week but I'm really not sure if I will or not. If not, I will see you all NEXT week after we return!!

Guest Designer at Crafty Steals

Have you heard of Crafty Steals? Its a "deal a day" site that offers great deals on scrapbooking supplies at a great discount! But act fast, once the deal of the day is gone, its gone! I am so happy to be the Guest Designer for the month of August! My first assignment was actually for TODAY'S steal!! American Crafts Blue Skies collection. Make sure you check it out before its gone! Here are some layouts I created with this line and I have a TON of paper leftover for more!! Stay tuned for more layouts using upcoming steals and make sure to stop by the Crafty Steals website!!!

Sketches In Thyme! (Post 2 today)

I love these photos of Susie! I took them two weeks ago while she was sitting with me in the playroom/scraproom playing on her laptop. I just kept snapping away and she started laughing because I was embarrasing her! There are at least 20 photos in the series but these three just stood out. I hope that she always keeps the sweetness she has right now. She's such a pretty and happy little girl who has just amazed me with her inner strength. Some of you may not know that their dad passed away suddenly a few years ago and I am so proud of the way my kids came through what will hopefully be the hardest time of their lives. I may be biased, but I have the BEST kids in the world!!

Anyway, I saw the sketch over at Sketches In Thyme using a sketch from Helen Croft. I have used Helen's sketches quite a bit over the last 2 years but don't think I ever did this one! I think it worked great with these photos! If you haven't visited Sketches In Thyme yet, you really should! The "Mavens" over there do some awesome work and several of them happen to be my very favorite bloggers as indicated in my post below!! The site is run by Kim and Debbie, Barb and Brenda are all Mavens there! I also created this layout with a Challenge over at A Cherry On Top in mind. The Summer Crop was this past weekend and while I couldn't be there for most of it, I am working on the Challenges. This one was to take inspiration from a piece of clothing. I used my daughter's Hollister t-shirt as inspiration.  Here's the shirt: