Multiculturism at its best

Maybe that should be "multireligionism" at its best! When I snapped photos of the first night of Hanukkah last night, there was a big old Christmas countdown calendar in the background. Oops!

Here's the layout I created:

Credits: sketch by Christine Couch; journaling box shape, scalloped edge, photo turns and foil and distressed edge 2 actions by Atomic Cupcake; background paper overlay by Patricia Yochum; title and stars of David by Brandie Valenzuela

Brave Princess

I saw this kit - Story Castle - by Amanda McGee and I HAD to have it. It is so adorable. I also used Melissa Renfro's paper tearing action and a photo mask by Christine Smith on the layout. Hope it makes you smile!

Behind the scenes at the Nutcracker

These photos are from last weekend - we went to a really cool program sponsored by our local library system about how dancers are trained - then we saw some dances from the Nutcracker!


Credits: sketch by Charla Virkler, photo corners by Erica Hite, paper by Durin Eberhart, ribbon by Sarah Batdorf

Cookies, cookies, everywhere!

I don't know why I ever thought we needed to bake so many Christmas cookies - but we had fun doing it anyway! This layout is based on the sketch for Becky Fleck's current blog contest - although I love the sketch and this digi kit by Amanda McGee, I'm not sure if I'm actually going to submit it for the contest or not. I like the layout but don't LUUURRRRVVVEEE it, kwim??

Credits also to Melissa Renfro for the paper tearing action.

Completed gift mini!

Mom and dad - don't look at the gallery!!!

I did this album for my parents for Christmas - it features 2008 photos of each of their 5 grandchildren. I have a daughter and 4 nephews - so the paper line I picked (Black Market Society's Lucky 'n Love) was perfect - it is brown and blue (very boyish) but has some florals for my girl! I'm so very pleased with the way it turned out!! There was a smear of cookie making junk on my lens (and I didn't realize it) so the right hand side of the photos are kind of blurry, but hopefully you get the idea.

The holidays in full swing!

Oh, my. The last week has be I.N.S.A.N.E!! Alexa had her holiday show at school on Thursday (TOO adorable!!), and we went to a really neat program at Nova Southeastern University on Saturday called "backstage at the Nutcracker." We learned a lot about how ballet dancers train and prepare for productions, and then were treated to several dances. Sunday, my mom came over and we made cookies ALL.DAY.LONG!! Fun, but tiring!!

I also finished up a gift mini-album and created the foundation for a second. I'm hoping to finish it up tonight or tomorrow. Then I need to get caught up on my own projects! I still haven't even started my "December daily" album (although I have been faithfully taking a daily photo and jotting down things to remember to include) and I really want to pre-decorate my "52 Blessings" album for next year. I like the way the second gift album is turning out so much that I think I'm going to basically copy it for my Blessings album. Easy Peasy! But let's not mention all the layout ideas I have from all the festivities so far this month!

I hope this holiday season is treating you well!

I won! I won!

It is a big goal of mine for 2009 to begin submitting layouts to contests and for publication. Becky Fleck (whose sketches I ADORE and use all the time - just scroll through some of my layout posts and you'll see her credited often) has regular contests on her blog and I WON the "What I Am Thankful For" contest!!! I am so excited!

Here's the layout:

Credits to Paula Wright for her GORGEOUS Thankful kit (papers, leaf and button string), Sara Amerie for the journaling strips and Mandy Steward for the stitches and stitches and holes layer style and extra special thanks to Becky Fleck for being a continuous source of inspiration.

I really need to do those mini albums

Remember those mini albums I had to do? I still have to do them. Sigh. I planned to do them this coming weekend, but then I realized we are taking Alexa to see The Nutcracker on Saturday, I want to bake cookies on Sunday, and somewhere in between I'd like to take her to see Santa. Ack! I did find time to do a couple layouts (credits under each).
Credits: sketch by C.Couch, top background paper from a template by Melanie Johnson, distressed brush by Thao Cosgrove, Atomic Cupcake rough litho action, all other papers and elements from the Winter Wonderfull kit by Cinnamon Designs

Credits: quote by Brian Andreas, background paper (over which I put the photo) by Syndee Nuckles, swirls from a template by Diane Miller, Atomic Cupcake gold action

Happy Holidays!

We received our first holiday card yesterday (overachiever - you know who you are!) and I'm feeling woefully behind. I have several mini albums to finish/start as gifts, and I'm doing a December daily album that I've taken a daily photo for so far, but haven't started other than that. We have the tree and decorations to put up this weekend, and cookies to bake....but despite a to-do list a mile long, this is my absolute favorite time of the year.


Thought I'd share our holiday card with you all - it uses the Winter Wonderfull kit by Cinnamon Designs and is based on a sketch (and layout) by Juli at the Digi Chick. I've changed it around a bunch of times but I'm pretty sure this is the final version.

Some "Thankful" Layouts

We spent Thanksgiving in Virginia with my brother's family and my parents and we had a wonderful, relaxing time. My 2 nephews (one less than a year older than Alexa and one 2 years younger) are a joy and the kids played together constantly! As a special treat (hee hee), I actually did TWO double page spreads! I have a couple more layouts of the trip to go. Credits under each photo....
























Credits: sketch by Becky Fleck (last Saturday's sketch challenge at Sisterhood of scrap); Atomic Cupcake ric rac template, messy foam action, sponged edge action, inked edge action and torn cardboard action; background paper by Melissa Bennett; paper template by Ursula Schneider; staples by Elizabeth Quintana.















Credits: loosely based on sketches by Becky Fleck (RHS from October 2008 and LHS from November 2008); background paper by the Scrappin Cop (recolored); leaves by Paula Wright; stitched frame from a template by Thao Cosgrove; paper template by Ursula Schneider; Atomic Cupcake edged plastic action.
















Credits: layered sketch template by Yin at Yin's Designs; all papers and leaves by Paula Wright; tag and twine from a template by Amanda McGee

Some new obsessions

Oh. I am in love. I found TWO new things to be obsessed with.
1. A kit called "Forever" by Jopke - available on Scrapstreet. I did the layout below with this kit and little else (except the embed layer style by Mandy Steward) - the layout was heavily inspired by a layout sample also posted on Scrapstreet.
2. Poetry and artwork by Brian Adreas. I'm taking a little mini class with Stacy Julian on Big Picture Scrapbooking and one of her layouts featured a snippet of his. I ran right to the site and found about 10 I am going to use over time. In case you can't read it, the quote is,"She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful & life was so short."

The last of Sketchapalooza

Oh, I am SO sad that Sketchapalooza is over - BUT!!!! Sketchapalooza 3 will run the month of March - even though we'll be on a fantastic trip for part of the month (Spain, Morocco and the Canary Islands), I am definitely going to sign up.

Before I post my final layouts, I wanted to mention that Sisterhood of Scrap is having an online crop this weekend and there are lots of great challenges and prizes. Come on over and join the fun!

Credits for each layout under the photos!

This might be one of my favorite layouts, ever! Credits: sketch by Stacey Lokovic; papers from the Smattering collection by Mandy Steward; chipboard and inked edge action by Atomic Cupcake; ribbons from a template by Brandy Murry; embed layer style also by Mandy Steward

Credits: sketch by Jayne Jones; papers and embellishments from the Autumn Blooms kit by Kelley Mickus; rub on and inked edge actions by Atomic Cupcake

Throughout Sketchapalooza, a number of people commented that my digital layouts look a lot like paper. So, for the two graduation sketches, I decided to use the same photo and make one layout very paper-like, and the other very digital!

Credits: sketch by Jayne Jones; papers and embellishments from the Wild Sorbet kit by Michelle Coleman; scallop template and inked edge action by Atomic Cupcake.

Credits: sketch by Stacey Lokovic; paper by Paula Wright (Thankful collection); word tags by Erica Hite (recolored); swirls by Obsidian Dawn

My Second to Last Sketchapalooza Post!

It's so hard for me to believe that this is the last week of Sketchapalooza. I've done every sketch and, although I will really miss the group and all the talent there, I am just about sketched out. I am just about out of photos that haven't already been scrapped (although I can always find ways to scrap the same photos in different ways) and I need a break so I can finish one mini album for a Christmas gift and start another. But I'll continue to do my favorite challenges (listed on the sidebar)! Here are my Sketchapalooza layouts from this weekend - credits under each.

Credits: sketch by Amy Bell; paper tearing action by Melissa Renfro; flourishes from a template by Diane Miller; paper templates by Patricia Yochum, Amanda MGee and Ursula Schneider; rub on action by Atomic Cupcake; word art by an unknown designer (sorry!!)

Credits: sketch by Jayne Jones; ric rac template, torn inked action and messy foam action by Atomic Cupcake; embed layer style by Mandy Steward; journaling stamp from a brush set by Ariadna Wiczling; paper templates by Syndee Nuckles and Ursula Schneider

Credits: sketch by Stacey Lokovic; button flower template by Syndee Nuckles; cardstock texture by Ariadna Wiczling; flower and stems from a brush set by Angie Briggs; paper templates by Ursula Schneider, Patricia Yochum and Erica Hite; cardboard frame by Paula Wright; plastic action by Atomic Cupcake

Sketchapalooza!

I really can't believe how quickly the four weeks of Sketchapalooza at Feeling Scrappy are flying by - we only have a week left! Here are some of the layouts I completed in the last week (I'm not sharing all of them because some of them were created for others for a Scrapshare trading pages swap). Credits under each photo. Thanks for looking!

Credits: sketch by Stacey Lokovic; background paper from the Lily Divine kit by Gillilan Hurst; stitching and holes layer style by Cheryl Barber; cardstock texture by Ariadna Wiczling; flower templates by Christine Smith; swirls brush by Obsidian Dawn; buttons by Atomic Cupcake

Credits: sketch by Amy Bell; papers from the Vintage Fall collection by Mari Koegelenberg; swirls from a brush set by Obsidian Dawn; shape templates and distressed edge and messy foam actions by Atomic Cupcake

Faces in class photo blanked for privacy reasons (clearly I don't have that issue - lol).

Credits: sketch by Jayne Jones; papers and buttons from the Cutest Pumpkin kit by Jan Hosford; spider from a blog collab kit (unknown designer); matchbooklet template by Shalae Tippetts; journaling box by Kelley Mickus; Atomic Cupcake chalked, distressed and plastic actions and pinked edge template

Credits: sketch by Jayne Jones; papers by Kristy Valshan; folded paper template by Theresa Kavouras; snowflakes by Jamie Heyl; heart tag by Cherise Oleson; Atomic Cupcake edge template and velvet and rub on actions; cardstock texture by Ariadna Wiczling

ACK! Behind!

Ok, so I'm now behind on posting my Sketchapalooza layouts and I decided I will do one big catch up round up after I complete the sketch for tomorrow. But here's a layout I did for the 11/10 sketch challenge at The Digi Chick - credits:

Photo corner from the Autumn Blooms collection by Kelley Mickus

Word art by Michaele Burkhart

Flowers by Atomic Cupcake and Christine Smith

Flourishes by Anna Aspnes

Crystal flowers by Digital Chaos

Ribbon wrap template by Amanda Sok

Paper overlays by Cida Merola and Patricia Yochum

Killing two challenges with one stone!

Today's Feeling Scrappy challenge is to create a page about someone or a group of someones and list at least 10 things that you love (or feel grateful for) about them. Today's DigiChick color challenge is to create a layout using greens and browns. This kit (Autumn Blooms by Nicole Seitler) really spoke to me for both challenges so I decided to combine them. I also used Atomic Cupcake's painted wood action.

Mid Week Sketchapalooza Layout Roundup

I planned to do one weekly Sketchapalooza post but since we are getting 5 new sketches a week (wow!), I decided to split the week. Here are my layouts from the first half of week 2! Credits are under each photo.

This is one of my new favorite layouts - credits to: Sketch by Jayne Jones; papers, postcard template and beach stamp by Valerie Randall; notepaper template by Amanda McGee; rusty words template by Patricia Yochum; tie back templates by Melissa Renfro; stitching and holes layer style by Cheryl Barber; Atomic Cupcake heavy chalk and messy stitches actions.

Credits: Sketch by Amy Bell; papers created with templates by Cida Merola and Patricia Yochum; swirls by Gillian Hurst; Atomic Cupcake button and flower templates; Atomic Cupcake curled and sparkle actions.

Credits: sketch by Stacey Lokovic: paper tearing action and lifted photo templates by Melissa Renfro; epoxy action by Atomic Cupcake; monkeys by Ariadna Wiczling; papers by Amanda Sok and Erica Hite (both recolored).

Weekend Silliness

We had a day of football and cleaning at our house - Alexa helped! This layout is based on a November 2008 Becky Fleck page map - credits under the photo.
Papers and most embellishments from Peppermint Creative's Kindergarten Crafts kit, Atomic Cupcake rub on action and ric rac template, paper tearing action by Melissa Renfro, string wrap template by Amanda McGee, notepaper by Valerie Randall

Weekly Sketchapalooza layout roundup

I can't believe the first week of Feeling Scrappy's Sketchapalooza 2 class is over! We had 4 great sketches to work with this week - my interpretations are below!


Credits: Sketch by Stacey Lokovic, papers and pumpkins by Jan Hosford, Atomic Cupcake's pinked edge template and felt action, tag template by Amanda McGee, string template by Thao Cosgrove

Credits: Sketch by Stacey Lokovic, Atomic Cupcake crayon and torn cardboard actions and wave template, paper tearing action by Melissa Renfro, paper textures by Ariadna Wiczling, string frame template by Thao Cosgrove, papers from the Scrap Girls "Refresh" collab kit


Credits: Sketch by Jayne Jones, papers and decorative flower center from the Spontaneous Delight kit by Carrie Stephens, Atomic Cupcake embroidery, heavy chalk and distressed edge 2 action and scalloped edge template, rhinestones from a template by Syndee Nuckles, stem/leaf brush by Angie Briggs


Credits: Sketch by Amy Bell, Atomic Cupcake frosted glass, sponged edge and distressed actions and wave templates, background paper adapted from a paper by Shalae Tippetts, papers created with templates by Diane Miller, Keri Schueller, Durin Eberhart and Thao Cosgrove

I've been tagged!

Nadya tagged me (thanks, Nadya!) and so I'll play along!

The Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you - Nadya
2. Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading).
3. List 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

Random things about me:
1. I am wearing a purple t shirt right now
2. I have one brother and one sister
3. I grew up just outside Buffalo, NY (Go BILLS!)
4. I'd rather be cold than hot
5. I love to read
6. One of my goals within the next year is to take a photography class

I am tagging Colleen, Melissa, Jessica, Karen, Candace (hoping she will actually post to her blog! LOL), and Rene.

Now I have to remember to tell them I tagged them!

Finished my mini album!

I mentioned a few days ago that I was still working on my first week's mini album from The Big Picture Scrapbooking's Product Playground 2: The Albums class. I finally finished! The album has 46 pages, so I won't subject you to all of them - lol - but here is a sample.

Last year, our wedding photographer called us and asked us if we wanted all our wedding proofs - apparently he was cleaning out his files and 9 years was long enough for him to keep them. Even though we have a traditional professional wedding album and I did some layouts in our family album, I have been wanting to take a bunch of the proofs and put them into a little album - so that is my topic!

Almost everything (papers, chipboard, die cuts, most rub ons) are from Crate paper's Blue Hill collection. I also used some Bazzill cardstock with an edge, a bunch of miscellaneous ribbons and rub ons, and I created the clear pages from regular ink jet transparencies, and embellished those with MORE rub ons. I love the way we were encouraged to use papers of different shapes and sizes.

Enjoy!

Superstar Dad

Alexa has been a bit...well, challenging...lately. I love the way this photo captures Adam smiling even when she has attitude. I did this layout for today's challenge at Sisterhood of Scrap.

Credits:

Doodles by Amanda McGee

Canvas photo mask by Amanda Sok

Worn threads brush set (used to create denim look background paper) by Brandie Valenzuela

Doodles, doodles - everywhere!

I did this layout for this week's Color Challenge at The Digi Chick (black, white and yellow). Credits:
Papers from the "Night and Day" kit by Beth Rimmer
Canvas photo mask by Amanda Sok
Doodle pad paper and elements by Amanda McGee
Pen/ink quote and mat by Cherise Oleson
"Worn threads" and "grungelle" brush sets by Brandie Valenzuela
Paper tearing action by Melissa Renfro

Fall is my favorite season

Today's challenge at Feeling Scrappy is to scrap your favorite thing about fall. Here is mine!

**Disclaimer - I am in a creative frenzy but I'm not able to take photos today, so I pulled a couple photos off the web.

Credits: The majority of papers and elements are from Keri Schueller's Falling collection - isn't it gorgeous?? The notepaper is from Valerie Randall's Journaling 2 Biggie collection. I also used a paper tearing action by Melissa Renfro.

I am in love!!

Cheryl from the DigiChick posted a super cool photo technique called "Sassy Sepia" on the DigiChick blog this week and I just had to try it!!!
Credits:

Swirl and tag elements from the Vintage Fall kit by Mari Koegelenberg
Papers and other elements from the Moments Like These kit by Kelley Mickus
Atomic Cupcake felt and crumpled actions
Stitching and holes by Mandy Steward, including layer styles

Woo hoo! A paper layout!

This year, I switched to scrapbooking "Big Picture style" and a lot of the layouts I would have put in my Book of Me are now going behind the "Tracy" tab in our "Who We Are" album. However, I am wrapping up my BOM and still put the occasional layout in it, and I will continue to do so until the album is full (another 6 or 7 layouts). My BOM is strictly paper (no digital!) so this layout had to be traditional! I just love this paper by My Mind's Eye.

The journaling is from an old blog challenge (I think by Stacey) and was originally posted on my now-defunct first blog.

Feeding my mini-album addiction

I'm taking the Product Playground 2 Mini Album class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and I love it so far! It's structured to use the supplies you have to make lots of mini albums. This week's theme was "the softer side." This was a really challenging book for me for a lot of reasons:

• The album is small and awkward - not much room for anything other than photos
• My photos span 10 years and the earlier ones are not digital - and not terribly high quality (in composition and print quality)
• I am doing most of my scrapping digitally these days and have very little in the way of "soft" supplies

Although I didn't have any felt or fabric to use, I did stick to the guidelines around patterned paper (number of patterns and manufacturers) and I also punched the corners of my photos and used other punches in a couple places. I tried to use plenty of "soft" ribbon!
I'm still working on my album from the first week (On the Edge) because it has many more pages than this one!