What a Catch! ~ ScrapFIT Workout #36

This is such a fun photo of Elizabeth and Maria at Morrow Mountain State Park in North Carolina.  We were taking a hike along this meandering stream and the girls couldn't resist playing on the fallen logs.  Elizabeth's walking stick became a "fishin' pole."

I created this layout for ScrapFIT Workout #36.  The challenge is to use paper strips from at least two manufacturers and to include a strip or row of embellishments.

I pulled out this kit of paper and embellishments received from Cheryl at Scrap-Friendzy from my participation in Scrap-University back in September.  These Basic Grey papers were the perfect backdrop for the fun and quirky photo.  The punched butterflies and acrylic arrow were also from that gorgeous package of goodies.

I had just the right paper strips to form a background for the photo.  I placed a thin strip on the center of each of the wider strips, then stitched down the edges, which were inked and distressed (All four strips were from different companies).  

I have four additional "strips" of embellishments on this LO: the inking on two sides of the page; the strip of lace that I altered with Walnut Ink; the layered flower and butterflies which I  freehand dry embossed with a stylus, shaped, inked and created the bodies out of paper clay; and the fussy cut strip on the bottom.

Here is a close-up of a portion of the fussy cut border and flowers:

And a close-up of one of the butterflies:

This sketch from Scrap-Friendzy's January Scrap-a-thon #6 was used for inspiration.  I flipped the sketch, put the paper strips on a diagonal, and added embellishments around the edges.

 

I also entered this in the Southern Girl's Dry Embossing Challenge - the butterflies were freehand dry embossed with a stylus.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

Justin ~ Family and Birthday Card

I enjoyed working with this wonderful photo of Justin and his family for the Reeds (for more layouts celebrating Justin's life go HERE):

I used Ingeborg Dijkstra-Verbeek's wonderful January sketch:

 

Paper, letters, remember ~ K and Company

Stamens ~ McGill Starburst Punch

Flowers ~ EK Success Retro Flower Punch

Ranger Stickles ~ Crystal

Sizzix Sizzlits die ~ Scribbles Swirls

Once punched, I water distressed the flowers and added stickles to the edges, stamens, swirls, and circle edges along with a rhinestone in the center of each flower:

I created this card for our daughter, Grace's birthday coming up next month.  Shhhh ~ don't let her know.

I used the 1-19-11 Let's Scrap Card Sketch by the talented Cheri O'Neill:

 

Paper ~ Bo Bunny Winter Joy Line

Ribbon ~ from my stash

Rubber Stamp Sentiment ~ Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder ~ White

Border Punch ~ EK Success - Double Crochet Lace

Glass Pebbles ~ floral department

Ranger Alcohol Ink ~ to color pebbles

I also entered this card in the Flourishes Boutique Timeless Tuesday Challenge 102 to use hardware on a card - my hardware is the alcohol inked glass pebbles.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

Remembering 9-11

These photos were taken the spring following the 9-11 attacks on our nation.  Although we didn't go into NY City, we drove to the Jersey side and took the ferry across NY Harbor.  The hands of the clock are positioned to 8:46 ~ when the first tower was hit.  

This layout is based on the beautiful sketch from the MCS Dec. Big Sketch Contest:

Items used in the creation of this page:
Basic Grey paper
Tim holtz clock face and hands
Deer hide strips from my friend, Brenda (her husband, Damen, is a hunter and the entire deer gets used.)
EK Success Border Punch
My trusty Husqvarna sewing machine
Metal word embellishments and chain from my stash
Chalk ink - to modify the color of the deer hide
Black marker to distress the metal embellishments
Title and journal font ~ Papyrus

I also entered this in the Creative Cowgirls Challenge #5 to use turquoise and brown.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Blessings ~

Florida Aquarium ~ Shannon's Sketch Challenge

I've been wanting to scrap our visit to The Florida Aquarium since our February 2001 vacation.  When I saw Shannon's gorgeous sketch, I knew it was perfect for these photos.

Here is my take:

 

On Shannon's gorgeous sketch:

I cut a piece of 16 gauge aluminum sheet metal, glued round chipboard pieces on the bottom and embossed around them.  I then used Ranger Alcohol Inks to add the water-like color.  The glass pebbles were also alcohol inked and adhered with Glossy Accents.  The chipboard letters were painted a sandy color, brushed with Mod Podge and sprinkled with craft stand.  Once dry I sprayed them with a fixative so I won't have sand migrating through my scrapbook.

 

Be sure to stop by Shannon's blog to see all the beautiful entries.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

Petting Zoo ~ ScrapFIT Workout #35

Maria is feeding a goat at the Cabarrus Count Fair.  Aren't they cute?

I was so excited to see the challenge over at ScrapFIT to create a layout using a sheet of card stock and scraps.  I save my scraps and go to them frequently when I need a bit of paper.  I used five different scraps on this page.

Yes, my background paper is a sheet of plain Jane light gray card stock.  I used clear embossing powder to rubber stamp the image randomly across the paper, then rubbed two colors of Distress Ink over the page - more heavily at the edges.  The embossed areas don't take the ink, so the background paper shows through.  I watched a video earlier this week about inking on the Pink Paislee resist paper and thought to myself, why can't I do my own embossing?  This was my first attempt, and I am so happy with the way it turned out. 

The larger flowers were cut on my Gazelle from scraps, shaped and chalk inked.  The stamens were punched from another scrap with my new McGill starburst punch.  I was thrilled to find this gem of a punch on my last trip to Archivers.  I put a dot of Distress Stickles on the end of each stamen, and had just enough of these pearls left to put in the center of each flower.  The smaller flowers were left-over from a previous page and started out white.  I spritzed them with left-over home made glimmer mist then chalked the edges to coordinate with the page.

I rarely use stick-on letters, so I didn't have any in my stash that would remotely work, so I cut the title from a scrap using two different fonts.  The blue paper started out white and is something that I had inked and had left-over from another layout.  The doily was a summer garage sale find that I landed for a nickel. 

I used sketch #10 from Scrap-Friendzy's January Sketch-a-thon for my inspiration.

I also entered this in the Creative Cowgirls' Something New Challenge #4

The something new is the embossed and inked background paper and use of my new punch to create the stamens for the larger flowers.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.

~ Blessings ~

Elizabeth Smile and prize from ScrapFIT Workout 34 arrived

I am playing along over at Scrap-Friendzy's January Sketch-a-Thon and created this layout of Elizabeth from one of their gorgeous sketches.  When Elizabeth was younger she enjoyed being in front of the camera, and the expression on her face in this photo is so sweet.

The flower border is a Martha Stewart border punch
Dragonfly - a die from my LSS (Scrapbooking By Lisa)
Stamp - from my LCS (Pat Catan's)
Paper - Basic Grey
Tag - made by me
Fiber - stash scrap
Stitching

Bonus Sketch #2 ~ Scrap-Friendzy Scrap-a-thon

I was so thrilled when this package arrived at my door this week:

My Christmas Stocking layout was selected as the winner of ScrapFIT Workout 34.  ScrapFit is such a great site.  They offer two challenges a month, sometimes a sketch and sometimes another type of challenge.  Workout 35 has been posted, and you can enter through Jan 14th.  Go check it out.

This gorgeous collection of scrapping goodies came from their sponsor, Tidbitz in Time, a monthly scrapbook kit club.  If you like kits, you'll love their offerings!  I can't wait to use all the gorgeous stuff that came in this kit!

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings~

A New Beginning

I would like to start off by welcoming all my new followers, and thank you Feline Playful for the fun hop through all those wonderful blogs.  Can't wait to see what everyone does this year!

It's the first of the year and resolution time.  My goal this year is to copy at least 10 verses a day into my Scripture journal and to memorize at least one verse a week.  I have gotten out of the habit of doing this on a regular basis, so I really want to start over doing things right this year, and please ask me how I am doing.  The accountability would be fantastic!

I was inspired to create this page by the All New Things Challenge at My Paper Treehouse.

My layout is about my commitments for 2011.  Isn't it wonderful that we have a God of mercy and Grace who takes us as we are and where we are?  The verse in the corner is 2 Corinthians 5:17.  When I read this verse it reminds me of the caterpillar metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly, so I chose this wonderful paper from K and Company with the butterfly theme.

The clock clip is on my hidden journal block that is tucked into the pocket I created under the butterfly.  I wrote out my commitment/goals and can pull them out for a reminder.  Also written there is what I hope to happen as a result - a life walked more in tune with God's plan for me hopefully resulting in being a better wife, mom, and friend.  The key is an antique from my wonderful friend, Kelly!  "Dream" is alcohol inked and then the raised portions wiped off with a bit of alcohol.  Ditto for the little metal flowers and butterflies on the other side of the page.

The letters were cut on my Gazelle and then cut again in the shadow mode.  I ran them through my Xyron to adhere them together and then on the page.  To get the lined up nicely, I used the paper I cut them out of as a template to place the letters on my page.  I found just the right spot for this Tim Holtz clock piece.

 

I used this gorgeous sketch by Cheri O'Neill inspired by a layout by my scrap-friend Michelle.  It is the 1-5-11 left-side sketch from Let's Scrap:

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

~ Blessings ~

Snow Tower and Great Start to 2011

2011 is off to a great start.  

My Christmas Stocking LO was selected for ScrapFIT Challenge #34 to scrap a tradition.  They have Challenge #35 up to scrap your scraps.  You can enter any kind of paper craft, not just layouts, so head on over and join this fun challenge.

I also won the drawing for Bette Ann's fabulous blog candy.  We play together over at Let's Scrap.  Come join us for their fabulous layout and card sketches.  Thanks Bette Anne!! Here is what I won:

Now for my latest layout.  Scrap-Friendzy is having their January Sketch-a-thon with a layout a day including a card layout each Sunday.  Even if you aren't planning to do a sketch every day, you should stop by and try one of their fabulous sketches.  Here is my take on sketch #1 by Susan Stringfellow.

Joseph spent most of his growing up years in North Carolina, so the snow was a lot of fun for him when we moved to Ohio.  He decided to build a snow tower that was taller than he was that first winter in the snow.  These Basic Grey papers were so fun to work with for this layout.

I tried some new techniques on this one.  I cut the snowflakes on my Gazelle and then heat embossed them with holographic embossing powder.  They really sparkle.  The fabulous snowflake files came from Monica Björk.

 Then to give the letters a shiny, snowy feel, I heat embossed them with white embossing powder.

I stitched around the photo and papers, then used the edge of my scissors to distress them.

I also entered this layout over at Creative Cowgirls Challenge #4 - Something New.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

~ Blessings ~

Window to the World

Happy New Year to all my dear friends.  May the Lord bless your 2011!

I went out of my comfort zone on this layout.  You know I just love to fill up a page with all kinds of goodies.  When I found this photo of Joseph from 1998 looking out the the window we put in during our attic renovations in North Carolina, I knew it would be perfect for this kind of page.

 

 

I was inspired to keep it simple with Scrap-Friendzy's Scrap UR Stash Challenge #6 to start with a sheet of cardstock and for the rest of the page use paper from the scrap pile.  I had this wonderful little scrap that gave just the pop of color I was looking for.  The photo mat paper was sitting in my scraps already crimped.  I just had to trim and ink.  (Of course I had spent all kinds of time exploring how I could frame that little photo, when it hit me to just use this crimped scrap - oh the time I could save if I just saw these things right away - lol!)  I used home made glimmer mist left over from another project on the Kraft paper.  (Alcohol ink, Perfect Pearls, and water in a Mini Mister)  I received the stamps from my scrappy friend, Lisa, a few months back.  I am so blessed to have a large format printer, so I was able to print the journal/title right on the Kraft paper.

Here's a scrappy hint for you.  When using glimmer mist, use a repositional adhesive spray to attach your paper to a 12 x12 piece of chipboard or cardboard before misting.  This will help keep your paper from warping.  Mine still warped a little bit, so next time I am going to try drying the glimmer mist between color applications. 

I am also entering this at a new site for me - Southern Girls ~ Challenge #9 - Anything goes

Don't forget to head on over to Scrap-Friendzy to check out their January Sketch-a thon.  They are giving a sketch a day this month and prizes too!  The first one is up and it is gorgeous.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

~ Blessings ~