ScrapStreet Magazine

I totally forgot it was December and ScrapStreet magazine is out. I have a layout featured in the Sugar and Spice section. Click here to see it!

Altun-Ha Belize

Trying to scrap those cruise pictures from last spring. This is us at the Altun-Ha Mayan ruins in Belize. I learned an important lesson.....don't put your focal point picture on the line in a double layout. I cut that picture 3 times! Anyway, used DCWV Mocha Stack papers (I really like that collection....) Cricut ZooBalloo and Pooh Font for lettering, scalloped circles from Storybook, MS punch and ribbon, and a Tim Holz Alterations embossing folder.

Viva Las Vegas!

Sketches in Thyme has a fantastic sketch this week.....and I thought it would work well with some of my Las Vegas pictures from this spring. Base is Core'dinations cardstock......sanded with some argyle Tim Holtz grungeboard under it randomly...then inked with Versa ink....then sanded some more. Marquee is Bo Bunny.....strip is a piece of Stampin' Up paper. Behind the picture is a piece of scrap paper I had....trimmed with decorative edging blade on the paper trimmer. Title is Thickers attached to Tim Holtz grungeboard that was inked with Versa ink...more grungeboard in the corner with some distressed squares attached. They are embellished with some pieces of clear sticker border, cut to size. Few strips of Target ribbon and buttons to finish it.

Stingray City

Really trying to work on those cruise photos.....and these pictures fit into the Sketches in Thyme challenge for this week. We went to Stingray City on the Caymen Islands, and honestly, it was one of the best experiences of my life. (Not my daughters....check out her face!) We only have 2 pictures though...because of the water. I used Imaginisce paper, Thickers, painted chipboard, Martha Stewart border punches, and Making Memories Ribbon on this along with a little blingy arrow I had laying around. The stingrays were hard....no Cricut stingrays.....what to do???? Well, I found a sewing pattern.....trimmed it out on double cardstock (one side glittery white/one grey), and added details with my Sharpie. Lots of Versa Ink here there and everywhere and that's it!

Woo Hoo - this made the Sketches in Thyme Top 3 this week!

Welcome to the Jungle

Loved the sketch at the Scrappiest this week....and I really need to scrap the cruise we took in April. The photo is us going across a swinging bridge in Honduras...in a monkey park. The paper and ribbon is Imaginesce. Although the brown stripe ribbon is Offray. Title is Thickers, Amercian Crafts stickers, and Mickey Font. The tag is from Tags, Bags, and Boxes and the little flower is an EK Success punch with an Imaginesce rub-on. The little monkeys are wooden cut outs from Michaels....not what I usually put on scrapbook pages but they were just sooooo cute. Isla Roatan is American Crafts stickers.

Cutest Little Pumpkin in the Patch

The theme this week at Fantabulous Cricut is Leaves. I knew I had a cute picture of my littlest nephew with a pumpkin that would be perfect for this one. Used paper from DCWV Indian Summer....and a large, flocked houndstooth marquee cut from Recollections. Title is computer generated...then mounted to Storybook marquee banners (pop dotted the layers.) The bear is handpieced....I had a clip art image I loved and I re-created him with George, Paper Doll Dress Up, and added a Stretch Your Imagination pumpkin. Cuttlebugged the pumpkin with distressed stripes....made another I attached to a Paper Doll Dress Up fence...and sprinkled some silk leaves all around. This is for the Paper Playtimes Pumpkins or Spider Webs challenge and Frosted Designs Fall/Halloween challenge.

Gingerbread Men!

Haven't had time for layouts, although I wish I did. Been too busy making cards. But this set of pictures my sister took was tuggin' at brain, and I just had to scrap them.

Used JoAnn Fabrics Peppermint Forest for the papers and DCWV solid cardstock. Used the Martha Stewart snowflake and Joy punch and my new Purple Cow paper trimmer to get wavy edges on everything. Added little gingerbread men cut on Blackout off of From My Kitchen.....enhanced with various buttons, sharpies, ink, and buttons. A couple of them have a MS bow attached. Added some blingy rhinestones to the snowflakes. Title is Thickers....white felt that I colored with pink Studio G ink....and the MEN is from a Target $1 set of chipboard. Used Wright's white rick rack to tie everything together. I love when you can use so many pictures on a layout.

Butter Beer!

We got to visit Orlando last month....mainly to see the new Harry Potter World at Islands of Adventure, Universal Florida. They serve ButterBeer there....a butterscotch/cool whip concoction that is wonderful! These are my kids drinking it.....sloppily I might add!!

I used a cut out piece of cardstock from Cloud 9 with stars and moons over inked white cardstock. Added some teal and brown doublesided paper (just had one piece laying around...don't even know who it is by) trimmed with some teal rick rack. Added an interesting piece of paper with gold/pewter elements I got in a scraps trade with a friend and lettering is gold foiled chipboard. The Butter Beer is From My Kitchen, salt and pepper shakers cut on shadow, tops removed....embossed with dots folder and glazed with gold glitter glaze. The swirl is from the same cartridge, ice cream soda, embossed with swirls, and covered with clear glitter glaze. Stars are from George, on another piece of scrap paper. Wrapped them in twine and added a button or two......pop dotted them.

Inspiration for this layout was from the Sketch Friday at Practical Scrappers this week. Wonderful creation by Ann-Katrin!

Feed Me!

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Busch Gardens Tampa where the hightlight was feeding a giraffe. We had so much fun! My little giraffe on this layout is handpieced from a My ScrapChick pattern. Printed it - colored with pencils and gamsol - cut and put it together. Added some fibers for the mane. Paper is DCWV. Lettering is Pooh Font (Marker), and it's embossed with the Seeing Spots folder. Leaf border at the bottom is from Life's a Beach. The sketch is this week's fun one at Sketches in Thyme....and this layout works for Frosted Designs Circle of Rick Rack challenge too.

One Love

It's been so long since I did a layout, this one took forever. I like it though...

The great sketch is from Sketches in Thyme.....paper is DCWV 2009 Spring collection.....and the Cricut cuts are from Sweethearts and New Arrival. Rhinestones.....ribbons......and pictures of me and my sweetheart on vacation in Jamaica finish it off.

Splish Splash!

This week is the 1 year Anniversary at Practical Scrappers. I had the joy of serving 2 terms on their design team, and it was so much fun! That is a great group of girls, and the talent there is amazing. To celebrate, they asked all their former team members to create a special project based on "1". I chose a 1 photograph layout.

The picture is printed at 8 x 10, trimmed a little- kind of randomly. The paper is from DCWV Spring 2009 collection.......cut a rectangle 7 x 10, one 4 x 5, and one in embossed yellow cardstock(it's snow dots...but the flowers match the paper, and you don't notice the occasional flake) cut at 3 x 5. The bottom border is from that collection too....just cut and added some "blingy" red gems. The sharks are from Life's a Beach.....cut on border at 3 1/2"....I cut 2....backed the eyes with white paper....added silver metallic ink....added some white Jelly Roll details....and some black eyes. Layered the border up with pop dots. The sentiment is from H2O...cut twice (1 yellow, 1 red stripes) at 4 1/2" and glued them in an offset pattern after I doodled dots on the yellow. Added some Fiskars ZingZ splashes here and there....and finished it off with a pop dotted flower, cut from the DCWV paper.

Barbeque!

One of our favorite things to do on the Simmons' family vacations is eat ribs. Wanted to scrap those dinners....and the sketch at Stuck on U Sketches was just right for it. Used papers by Anna Griffin, KI Memories Bloom, and Making Memories. Cardstock is DCWV. Pig is Create a Critter (5") with an Everyday Paper Doll hat (RDS 3 1/2" - embossed with checkerboard folder) Added details with a Sharpie and some white detailing paint. Apron pockets are the bottom of the MS cupcake punch. Added some ric rack to it, and the title is From My Kitchen, cut at 3 1/2". This project works for Practical Scrappers use different items: 1) cardstock 2) patterned paper 3) ric rack 4) die cuts 5) embossing 6) detailing pens 7) punch......could add 8) pop dots and 9) glue!

Beach 2010

Well, I haven't made a scrapbook page in a LONG time. I have made lots of cards....and even started my own challenge blog, Jitterbuggin', but no scrapbook pages. A recent family vacation on wonderful Edisto Island, SC was just the push I needed to start scrappin' again. Other incentives were a great sketch at Sketches in Thyme and a vacation challenge at My Sheri Crafts.

I used a sketch at Jitterbuggin' to create the title block with Life's a Beach and some old 2008 DCWV Summer Stack paper.....ribbon, buttons, little embossing, etc. Details for the title block are on my card blog, Love, Laughter, and Creations. (click here) The picture is of my 91 year old grandmother....we were pleasantly surprised when she not only came on vacation with us but came down to the beach to sit as well. The palm trees around her are from Life's a Beach as well. Paper is DCWV Animal Crackers and some glitter paper from Target's $1 bin along with the DCWV Summer 2008 stack. Ric-Rac to finish it off. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of more scrappin'!

Just Add Water!!

Craig and Kati body surfing at Edisto Beach! I had this great teal and lime paper that said, "Just Add Water" and that was the inspiration for this layout. Title is from Pooh and Friends (marker) shadowed with Gold Metallic paper. I cut out designs from the flower patterned paper to embellish pictures and the wave border is from Life's a Beach. I used it to make a few more little flower embellishments too. For the sun, I took the cut from Life's a Beach....added some George circles....and lots of glitter!  For Fantabulous Cricut's Beach Challenge!!

Lil' Hunny

My National Scrapbooking Day entry to a great sketch at Sketches! by Tamara.   I used paper from a package I got at Big Lots (a whole pad for $3) and my MS eyelet and Drippy Goo punch.   The little bear is a pattern by My Scrap Chick with the honey pot from Pooh and Friends added to it.   Sentiment is stickers I had laying around.  Tied it off with a piece of light blue raffia. 

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

The NSD challenge #12 at My Pink Stamper was to create a scrapbook layout.   Fun, fun when Create a Critter is your new favorite cartridge!  For this one, I used the snake, snail, and puppy dog from that cartridge...paper from a Hobby Lobby Basics stack, and some rick rack along with stickers for the title.  Fun and cute.

This works for Practical Scrappers Stickers challenge too!~

Create a Critter Layout.....Frog and Dragonfly

I love, love, love the new Create a Critter cartridge.   I made a frog and dragonfly card, and it turned out so well, I decided to spin it into a layout.  Frog is 5" backed in black....cheeks are an MS punch.   Dragonflies are 3".  I adore green and love the way the colors and polka dots and rick rack blend on this one.   Title is Pooh Font.....Marker.   Now I've got find a picture.......

Sail Away

The challenge at Practical Scrappers this week is floss/fiber/ribbon.  I love all of these, but sometimes find them hard to use.  Check out the site for some great ideas from the Design Team.

I chose to scrap a picture of me and hubby as we sailed away from Miami.  I had some great papers from a Travel themed pad....cut them into strips for the background.   The plain cardstock has leaves embroidered onto it........then I added some jungle leaves from my Cricut (Life's a Beach).  To frame out the double matted picture, I used some great variegated yarn which picked up all the colors of the paper.  Title is Thickers.

Easter Fun

Great Friday Sketch at Practical Scrappers this week....hop over and check it out!  Here is my version!

We missed Easter at my mom's house because we were on a cruise.   But that doesn't stop me from getting some pictures, thanks to my sister.   Here are my little niece and nephew hunting Easter eggs.  Used KI Bloom papers for everything......added some crumpled flowers, some Stampin' Up border punches, and little hand pieced bunny and chick.  

This is for Ella's Pink Scrapbook - Challenge #3-Easter over at the Pink Elephant.

Got Cake?

I've made a layout of these pictures 3 times...can't get it the way I want.   The challenge for The Pink Elephant is to make-over a layout...so had to use this one.   For my creation, I took apart a cupcake chipboard album  and decoupaged one of the "pages."  I used patterned paper on the bottom, embossed (Swirls) white paper for the icing, and circle punch (Martha Stewart) for the cherry.  Glazed the icing and cherry with glitter glaze and added some beads for sprinkles.  Tied some blue ribbon around the base.  The other cupcakes are Jolee's stickers I've had forever.   Paper is Doodlebug (stripes) and Love, Else (the brown which is embossed with cupcakes...)    Added rick rack...and Thickers for the title.  Pictures are my niece on her first birthday. And I think I finally like this one!

Sketches by Tamara Guest Designer - All Boy

I was asked to be a guest designer at Sketches! by Tamara this week - how exciting!!!   The second Tuesday of the month is always a recipe challenge and mine was to use blue (easy), buttons, and brads.  The blue made me think of little boys, and I just got the most precious picture of my sweet little nephew Bo.  Bo is All Boy- and there's my theme.

I used New Arrival and Everyday Paperdolls for the little vehicles on this layout.   The sketch was a card sketch from Totally Papercrafts, but it translated very well into a layout.  The paper is from Oriental Trading.  Buttons and brads added the details to the little vehicles.  The title is painted chipboard.

Whatever!?! - Practical Scrappers Rub-On Challenge

The challenge at Practical Scrappers this week is to use rub-ons - one of my favorite crafting tools.  I chose a great "Whatever" rub-on title from KI Memories Pop Culture collection, added some Flip Flop and SEI papers, some George stars, and scattered some buttons here and there to create this simple layout.

Daddy's Little Girls - The Return of Chirper Challenge

Chirper Challenge is back!!!  Dany Poupet, a very talented scrapper from France, is now heading the design team, and there are going to be some wonderful fun challenges coming up!   Check it out!!

My DT submission for the *new* Chirper Challenge is "Daddy's Little Girls".   We were asked to use chocolate brown and pink....lovely combo.  I chose to scrap a vintage photo of my mom, grandfather, and aunt.  I love taking vintage photos and using them in modern layouts....neat feel.   I cut a large (10") flower using the button feature in Paisley.   Added a 7 1/2" circle from George...punched holes...and laced brown ribbon through it.  Added two 6 1/2" semicircles (George) and adorned the seam with an EK Success punch strip (Daisy Chain) and some ivory paper ribbon (Oriental Trading.)  Embellished the flower with more flowers (George), buttons, and butterflies (MS punch.)  The picture has Thickers photo corners added.   The journaling is computer printed on an ivory paper strip in brown...framed with more of that Daisy Chain punch.  Title is American Crafts Remarks stickers for "Daddy's" and "Little"....."girls" is Doodlebug stickers.

AWW.....Scrappin' Disney!

A year later, I'm starting to scrap those Disney pictures.  I chose one to use for my DT submission for Practical Scrappers.   The challenge this week is to use something you've had in your stash for over a year....well, you know we've all got that.  Hop in and play along!!

I used Prima's Dude collection for the paper, with a generic black/white polka dot background. I love the way this paper just does the work for you.   Used the Goofy from Mickey and Friends, cut at 6", and the title is Thickers. 

The Simmons family does Disney! (SOUS March 19 and Paper Popsicles.

After a year, I'm finally working hard on my Disney album. Paper Popsicles has a challenge to use vacation themes this week, and it was the right inspiration.   The sketch at Stuck on U Sketches this week seemed perfect for the title page.  Easy....just some Disney paper (background is Doodlebug), lots of bright color photo mats, some decorative edge scissors, and lots of odd/ends black stickers.   Added a Mickey and Minnie (cut at 3 1/2") for embellishments.  "Disney" is from Mickey Font.

Pretty as a Daisy

Ann-Katrin made this week-end's sketch at Practical Scrappers, and what a beauty it is.   At first, I wanted to make a sun, but then it struck me as looking like a daisy....and off I went to create.  The daisy is from Walk in My Garden, daisy cut at 8" 9" 10"....I cut the petals apart, inked them, and fit them onto an 8" oval (thanks George!).   The pictures are framed on square nestabilites and I added some dimensional daisies with some "blingy" centers.  Title is American Crafts Thickers and a few other leftover stickers thrown in.  Paper is Urban Prairie.   Pictures are of Kati going to her 8th grade dance last spring. 

Mistletoe Memories

Challenge day at Practical Scrappers and this week's focus is ink/chalks. I really wanted to create faux burnt edges with inks on a piece of music and the old picture of me fit in quite well.  This is probably my favorite baby picture of myself and my cousin Scott.  We were 2 and 4, and obviously, he wasn't too enthralled with me. 

To make the music, I printed "Silent Night" out on plain ivory paper, tore around the edges, and attacked it with my ink.   I used 4 shades of brown.  Starting with the lightest shade, I lightly rubbed the ink toward the midde....then I did the same wiith the next shade, stopping about an inch for the center.  Then I chose the next darkest shade, concentrating on the sides and blending toward the middle.  Finished with a dark (almost black shade) of brown around the torn edge.   Paper is Debbie Mumm...holly leaves are Stretch Your Imagination cut at 2 1/2" and enhanced with MS glitter.   Title is written on an inked Stampin' Up marquee punch.

Parental Advisory - Stuck on U Sketches

Loved the sketch at Stuck on U Sketches this week.  I've had this picture of DH for a long while...wanted to do "He was too old to rock 'n' roll. But, when I saw this great Parental Advisory cut on Indie Art, I couldn't resist.  Added stars from that cartridge as well.   The guitars and all the paper are from DCWV's rock star pack.   Added some MS ribbon at the borders.  Almost everything (all three types of guitars, title, etc.) are hand-cut from the patterned paper. 

Hey World!

Sketch time at Practical Scrappers and there is a fantastic one there from our very own Heidi!   Loved the sketch and immediately thought of this crazy picture of Craig.  And what better to use on a layout of a guy than The Dude collection from Prima.  I have bought every pack of this paper I can find....if I ever run out, I don't know what I will do.  The paper does the work for you.  Cut out some embellishments from the paper, added some Aster flowers from Walk In My Garden, added a big oval frame, entwined with embroidery floss, and a few brads, buttons, and a star punch.  The ribbon is from the Dude collection, a great secret sister surprise (How did she know how much I loved this set?!)  Title is American Crafts Remarks stickers.

Flower Power

The challenge at Practical Scrappers this week is stamps.  I chose to use a cute little digi stamp bee from Cute Creations Designs.   I made a page full of these little guys, colored them with watercolor pencil, markers, and glitter glaze....then cut them out.  I used my MS Loopy Loo punch for borders around the pictures, title, and papers.   The flowers are made from the button feature  (perfume bottle) on the Paisely cartridge.  I cut 2 of each, staggered and layer with pop dots.  Details are with my white gel pen.  Title is stickers.  Paper is DCWV Butterflies and Blossoms.

Dinomite!

Still scrappin' those Disney pics!  For this one, I used the sketch at Stuck on U Sketches, well....I sorta used the sketch....I cannot follow sketches no matter how hard I try!!  The basic layout of paper is the SOUS sketch anyway.

I used PDDU for the dinosaur and palm trees as well as the bone (aged with ink) for the title bar.  Used Thickers for the title, and the little triceratops was hand pieced by me from a clip art image (I printed it out and cut from it.)

Bath Time

Here is my version of the sketch at Stuck on U Sketches this week.  You were supposed to use the sketch and red or pink.  I had an old picture of my daughter and niece in the bathtub and enhanced it with my own bathtub from New Arrival.  I added a little handpieced teddy bear to the tub and some glittery bubbles too.  The title is from New Arrival as well.  The girls didn't want to be embarassed so I used George circles, enhanced with glitter glaze,  to make a bunch of bubbles to cover the picture.

My Grandmother-Practical Scrappers Flower Challenge

My grandmother will turn 91 this month so I chose her as my subject for the Practical Scrappers challenge this week.  The challenge was to use flowers.   I started with a vintage photo of Grandma at 20, found a great older sketch from SOUS, and chose Sassafras Lass Life is Beautiful-Felicity paper.   I thought the bold purple and red were a great match with the old picture.  The flowers were hand pieced with different cuts from Walk In My Garden and George.   I added a rhinestone to the center of each and used some glitter glaze to some of the petals for sparkle.  To finish the sketch, I framed the picture with an 8" circle, purple ribbon, and a metallic black border cut with the MS doily punch.

Pirates of the Gift Shop

To get my mind off of all the snow, I've been scrappin' Disney pictures (finally!)  My crew loved to go around trying on different Mouse ears...these pics were at the Pirates of the Caribbean.  I used the pirate map from PDDU, cut at 10" real size, inked well, for the background.  Matted the pics..added a skull and crossbones from Indie Art and a title from stickers.   I like this one....and it only took 30 minutes!

Tigger-ific

There is a wonderful sketch posted at Practical Scrappers this week, designed by the amazing Ann-Katrin.  I used it to finally scrap some of last year's Disney photos.  We took our kids once as children and then again as teenagers, and it is so amazing the different things you do.   I had great pictures of Kati with Tigger on both trips and wanted to make a "Then and Now" layout. 

This is my first attempt at a character although I have owned the cartridge for a while.  It went together really easily...probably because he is cut at 5".  The vines are from Zooballoo and the flowers are the "Blossom" cut from Walk in My Garden, cut incremently from 1" - 2", inked, petals folded up, and layered together with a button center.  We found the layered, glittery Kathryn sticker while shopping a while back.  Edged out the borders with MS ribbon.

Prom

Craig, all dressed up and ready to hit the town at Prom!  Used MS eyelet punch with rhinestone ribbon to make the side border, metallic silver foil embossed with Swirls, on the Cuttlebug, metallic blue for matting, and stickers for the title.  Added some silver metallic photo corners and flourish from Thickers.

Beach Baby (SOUS) Jan. 29

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The Stuck on U Sketches design for January 29 really caught my eye as a beach layout.   As I am behind on vacation photos (as usual), I pulled out the Edisto pictures and scrapped away.   I used a 9" circle from George as the background, trimmed with rick rack.  Added some lime green ribbon and Imaginesce flowers with button centers. The little sandcastle was a sticker from the "closet."   Title is Pooh Font (marker) and New Arrival.  All papers are from 2009 DCWV Spring Stacks.

Cricut Chirp

My layout, Live, Laugh, Love was featured in the Cricut Chirp Newsletter this week!   I'm so excited as this is probably one of my favorite layouts!

Woo Hoo!

I wanted to scrap this cute picture of my kids and my niece, taken on vacation this summer.   I used a great sketch by Lucy Chesna at My Sketch World and papers by White Out.  The little owl is cut from Paisley, and the title is from Pooh and Friends.  Used MS scalloped circle punch for all the little circle pieces.  Embellished with ribbon, buttons, a few rhinestones, and a little bit of paint.

Admit One - Frosted Designs Chipboard Challenge

The challenge at Frosted Designs this week is to use chipboard.  I took a chipboard ticket from an album, decoupaged paper and letters onto it, added some star and brads.  The paper is cut in a semi-circle, edged with different knotted ribbons. Background paper is Prima Dude collection (my last piece....must find more!!)   The stars are George o's and stars,layered with pop dots and with little sticker 3's on them (one for each 3 pts shot Kati hit that game..)  Added newspaper clippings and a title from the Basketball solutions cartridge (cut at 6 1/2)

My Little Love Bug!

Wednesday is my reveal day at Practical Scrappers, and this week's feature is patterned paper (not a tough one for me..........I LOVE patterned paper!) I made a sweet little layout of my niece using Paisley. Following a past sketch at Stuck on U Sketches, I used many different papers and backed the whole layout with a lace cut cardstock with flowers and bugs. The aqua flower is one of the button cuts...added George ovals in yellow polka dots and some bling. The polka dot flowers are layers of the same button cut, and the ladybug is from Paisley too! Hop on over to Practical Scrappers and join the challenge this week!

Live, Laugh, Love

I love the set of pictures my husband and I took of us while at the Waterfront Park in Charleston, SC on our anniversary last May.  I've tried to scrap them before and ended up throwing the page away.   (The only layout I've ever given up on......)   When looking at them again, I realized they fit the "Live, Laugh, Love" title really well, and so printed in black and white, they became this layout.

At Practical Scrappers this week, the theme is embossing.  And I used this layout as an opportunity to do some of that.  The blue flowers are from Walk in My Garden, embossed with Swiss Dots, and rhinestone added.  The purple metallic flower is from Storybook. 

 The pink flower is white and pink flocked circles made with an MS scalloped circle punch.  The orange flower is from Walk in My Garden with pop dots, embossing with stripes and swirls, prima flower, rhinestone, and white doodling added. 

The grey strip of paper behind is punched with MS eyelet border punch.  "Live" is from Opposites Attract, "laugh" is Paisley, and "Love" is New Arrival.  Accent pieces are a little heart punch from the Dollar Tree.   I think that is the most cartridges/punches I've ever used in one project!