Caldey Island, Wales Layout

The Layout
This summer I visited Caldey Island near Tenby, Wales. It is a small island with 40 residents, 20 Cistercian monks and an Arts and Crafts style abbey. We walked to the southern point of the island which afforded spectacular cliffside views. I was twirling around like "the hills are alive" scene from Sound of Music. My Dad was reenacting the "It's..." scene from Monty Python and I don't know what the other two were doing, but we all had fun.

The Challenges
I used the September sketch from Life.Paper.Scrapbook. The main variation is instead of having thick strips of paper behind the photos, I made thin washi strips above and below the photos.

I chose my colors from their September Color Challenge, but muted them with vellum over the top. 

The Details
I chose some washi tape based on the color combo and placed it on white cardstock. I then placed a sheet of vellum over the top and stitched a seam down the middle of each strip. I cut out the strips in varying widths and adhered them on my layout.

On top of the strips below the photo, I placed my title with an embellishment cluster of stick pins and sequins. 

I placed some journaling spots on the side of one photo.

I toned down the colors of my background strips and embellishments so the photo colors would stand out. This layout came together quite quickly unlike some others that I keep altering and still can't get it right.

I'm also entering this in:
Ladybug Crafts: September Anything Goes
Crafting by Designs: Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Look What I Can Do! Scrapping with a 5 Year Old

His Interests
My 5 year old nephew had the flu so I babysat him for a week until his fever rescinded. So amidst the sword fighting, Transformers, paper airplanes, naps and reading of books with 3 letter short vowel sounds, I snuck in some scrapbooking and card making for him.

Re-enacting the final battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan on rocks in lava, dressing up as a knight king

My Interests

I remember reading a blog post on Sketch Support, which has since closed, where the designers used sketches and had their kids make layouts or cards. I thought I'd try the same technique with him. I had him look through an Allison Davis sketch book, and he picked out this 5 photo sketch. 

He chose 5 photos from one of my digital files and I printed them out in the various sizes. He chose his background and matting papers. Here he is positioning his photos. 

He used a tape runner for the first time and was wondering why the glue wasn't wet. The only thing I did was trim the two blue rectangles for him. 

He chose his own embellishments and adhered everything onto the background page himself. We used Best Creation's Loops and Scoops collection. I had won that collection but never used it and it was a perfect all inclusive pack which matched the amusement park theme of the photos.

He wrote, "I had a fun day" on the journaling tag and I added the location and date.

That was Isaiah's first layout and it took about an hour including choosing and printing the photos. After we showed his mom, she wanted him to make a Valentine's Day card for his kindergarten teacher. 

The next day, we worked on a card using Sketches for Cardmaking. Here is the sketch with the completed card. We used Basic Grey's Blush collection. I gave him an assortment of A2 sized cardstock and he chose the pink. He looked through the Blush 6 x 6 pack and chose the flower patterned paper. I asked what complementary cardstock did he want for the vertical strip and he said brown. I asked what color ribbon and he said white. Lastly I had a kit of Valentine embellishments and he picked out the finishing decorations. He had no problem choosing what he wanted. 

Here he is adding on the embellishments while dressed as a king that day. We also added a lollipop on the envelope for a finishing touch, as that is his favorite candy. 

After we showed his mom the Valentine, she hinted that she wanted one also. So the next day, Isaiah picked out this card sketch. 

He said his mom's favorite color was blue so he picked the blue cardstock background. For the patterned papers we used My Mind's Eye six by six Happy Day collection. He chose the hexagons which I told him were very trendy.  I asked him if he knew what hexagons were. He said no, only octagons. 

He used a T Square ruler to draw the line on which he adhered all the buttons. He also used a paper trimmer for the first time to cut the patterned papers. He liked choosing the buttons from my stash. He also wanted to add one extra pink one as the focal point.

The inside sentiment reads, "You are the best Mom in the world Isaiah."

The cards were a lot quicker, about 20 minutes each. If you pick out a collection or kit for the materials, then it isn't too overwhelming for the child. If you use a sketch, then they have a starting off point and can deviate from there. It was pretty fun and now he understands a bit more of what I do. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

News and a Single Photo Layout

ScrapStreet Magazine's Blog
Hey everyone! Hope you had a good weekend. I just wanted to share that I wrote a guest post for ScrapStreet Magazine's blog today. I shared three easy birthday cards I made based on the same sketch with a few variations that made them look totally different. Here is a sneak peek:

Trio of Birthday Cards on ScrapStreet's Blog

I hope you can head over and take a look!

Paper Made Bakery
My last project for February's Fresh Baked Kit will be revealed this Wednesday. I actually made 5 projects this month with my kit and I still have a ton of paper left. Then on Thursday we'll be celebrating Paper Made Bakery's new release for March with a blog hop and giveaway. I can't wait to show you what I made featuring my nephew Isaiah. Please come back for those fun events.

Trash to Treasure
I haven't really been working with trash, but have picked up a few items through an estate sale, thrift shops and craigslist for my craft room. I altered a few of the items and left some as is, and the outcome is super cute. I'll take some photos and share with you all soon.

Single Photo Layout
I am a multi-photo gal at heart, but wanted to try a single photo layout as it seems like all the rage. I had to ignore so many photos just to pick the final one. I settled on a group shot of my family's trip to Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Patara Elephant Farm layout

I used several collections from Bella Blvd. and picked out the colors that reminded me of the jungle and the bright sky. I did a color block in the background, but the colors looked too busy directly next to each other so that I matted everything in a dark brown to balance the bold colors. 

Title

For my title, I chose colors from the Thai shirts we were given to wear during our trek, and outlined the alpha stickers with a black pen to make them stand out a bit from the patterned background. 

Handmade embellishment

For my embellishments, I didn't want to use elephants as that tends to be associated with baby themed layouts. I went with the jungle theme and cut some thin strips of patterned papers and distressed the edges to simulate the tall jungle grass we traipsed through. 

Journaling Block

For the journaling, I used a sticker and just filled in the basics. The layout was looking pretty full at this point so I just let the photo do the talking. I finished things off by adding a few more little stickers and jewels, and machine stitched each block. 

In the end, I like the balanced look of the layout and the bright colors really reminded me of my Thailand adventures. But I really missed putting in the little photos that would have supported the main photo. I tried, really I did, but it will be back to a multi-photo page next time. 

Thanks for stoppin' by,

"What Lurks Beneath?" Layout

Featured Card:
I was informed by my fellow DT member, Ryann, that my A Penny for your Thoughts card was featured in the Two Peas Stamp Gallery. Thanks for the heads up, as I would have missed it. I was quite surprised since I thought they only showcased their own designers or contest winners. I took a screen shot to show you as the project has since changed, but it was an honor just to be nominated, I mean, featured. You can see Ryann's circular heart card in the picture too.

Two Peas Stamping Gallery

The Reveal:

My friend Becky was over and mentioned that she hadn't seen this layout before. 

What Lurks Beneath? layout

I forget to post projects that I make just for fun rather than for a design team. This was from my family's trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand last summer and we were taking photos in the hotel pool. My dad didn't want to pose underwater so we placed the camera underwater while we stood above the water for the photo.

Pool Photo

The Details:

I wanted to create an underwater scene with strange creatures peering into a ship's porthole. 

Raised Porthole and Main Photo

I cut the photo into a circular shape and placed a piece of transparency over it to look like glass. I trimmed a piece of metallic silver cardstock to go around the edge as a metal frame. I used gold accents from Imaginisce Glam-rocks to look like the screws. I popped that up over the background. 

Supporting Photos

I printed up three smaller photos of the three of us who actually took underwater photos. I arranged that as a small cluster with a few sea themed stickers. 

Title

I interspersed the title with more aquatic stickers and tied the anchor with some baker's twine.

 Come by again tomorrow for another PMB reveal. 

Thanks for stoppin' by,

My Ol' Kentucky Home

The Challenge:
This is my first of six reveals with Sassy Lil' Sketches. I'll be posting a new layout on the 4th Tuesday of each month, so be on the lookout. Today's layout from the design team is based on a sketch by Cherie Averill.

The Prize:
There is a new layout sketch and two new card sketches released each week, along with DT samples, so be sure to check out Sassy Lil' Sketches if you want some design ideas. If you made your own project based on a sketch, just link it to the bottom of the post for a chance to win some great prizes. There will be two winners chosen each month. Here are the two sponsors for August:

Paper Sponsor

Digital Sponsor

Layouts must be uploaded below by September 5th, 11:59 P.M. EST to be eligible for the August random prize drawing.

My Layout:

August Week 4 Sketch - My Ol' Kentucky Home

Kevin and I visited his family in Kentucky during the week of July 4th this year. I wanted to capture the down home feel of life in the country so I went with a quilt theme. I made a patchwork quilt with diagonal pattern of red-yellow-green-green-yellow-red. For half of the quilt, I choose photos with the color I wanted and enhanced them, and for the other half I used patterned papers. I then machine stitched the squares, hand sewed tiny buttons on each corner and added a border to complete the quilt. 

Quilt squares

To tie in the quilt theme to the title, I added some buttons tied with twine for the Os. 

My Title

The Variation:

My main variation from the sketch was that I used the background squares for the photos, and I used the one photo space for my journaling. I turned the 4 x 6 photo space into a post card and wrote a note to Kevin's parents in Kentucky as the journaling spot. I made a little postage stamp and stamped a postmark stamp on top of that. I had to research postcard stamp prices since I don't usually send postcards, it is 29 cents. 

My Journaling

The Paper:

I have to say that this is the first time I used anything from Simple Stories, and this collection, "100 Days of Summer" was perfect for the antique look I wanted. One thing that is different about them is that the papers and page protectors come in varying sizes, so you can just slide a picture into a pocket and cut out a title to put in another pocket and not have to scrap anything if you just want a fast page. I just used it like a regular piece of paper because the colors and style matched, but it seems like an interesting idea. 

Pages

Page Protectors

Stop by Sassy Lil' Sketch if you get a chance. I hope you are inspired to make some layouts and interpret sketches in your own way. 

Take care and happy scrappin',

A Banner ScrapFIT Reveal

The Workout

This is my first reveal with ScrapFIT. I'm really excited to be a part of this team since each challenge or workout is so different every time. I never know what to expect, and it gives me an opportunity to really think and utilize my creativity. This is the current challenge #49 - Put a Banner on IT! The details are as follows:

Banners of all kinds have become popular in the scrapbooking world.  They can be pre-made or hand made, big or small. You can show case your title on it or just decorate it to go with your layout.  Lets see how you showcase your banner creativity!

You can link your layout to today's post at ScrapFIT for a chance to win a prize from Perfectly Precocious Paper. Here is the prize:

Prize for Workout #49 from Perfectly Precocious Paper

The Layout

Here is my interpretation:

Go-carting in Kentucky

Dad and Lynda bought a go- cart for our two nieces and I took some pictures of the first time out. Of course, Kevin had to get the action shot of me screaming. In my defense, it was really fast and two of the wheels do come off the ground on turns.

Here are some details:

The main banners

Since the main assignment was to create a banner, I wanted to emphasize that aspect. I was thinking what else could be done with banners and I thought about racing flags. I didn't have black and white checkered paper, so I made the design on the computer and printed it out in the size I wanted. Then I cut out the individual flags. For added dimension, I popped up the longer string of flags so they would be in front of the shorter string of flags.

The racing exhaust

To interact with the title more, I used some Memory Thread to curl some smoke tendrils after the last go. Then I added some raindrop shaped metal gems for an added accent.

The errant banner that blew away and got caught

I wanted to tie in the banner theme to the top of the page so I wrapped a partial banner to the top strips. It is suppose to simulate a banner that ripped off its original site and got tangled up somewhere else.

The journaling

I used some black and white metal gems to tie in with the metal go cart and the racing flag colors.

Come & Join In the Workout

If  you want to join in the fun and create something with a banner on it, just link your project to today's post on ScrapFIT. Here are some more details about ScrapFIT:

Our 'Workout Challenges' are issued on the 1st and 15th of each month and you will have until the last day of each month to add your layout to each challenges Mr. Linky! We have 2 fabulous prizes each month from either sponsors or from ScrapFIT its self! We will select the winners of both challenges at the end of the month! If you participate in both challenges you have double the chance of being a winner. 

Join in and stay scrappy active with us!

If you don't like banners, then check in after two weeks and see what the next challenge could possibly be.


Take care,

Sketchabilities Reveal Day

Sketch #47 from Sketchabilitites' Blog:
It has been two weeks since the last Sketchabilities post, how time does fly. A guest designer was chosen from the members' gallery and her new layout is posted in today's blog along with the rest of the design team. If you want to play along with this week's sketch, you might be chosen to be the next guest designer. There is also a kit from WeScrap that will be a prize for one lucky participant.

Here is my take on today's sketch:

A layout of Jenn

Here is the original sketch:

Karan's current sketch

If you want to see 20 variations on the same sketch, take a look here.  If you want to join in, then post your layout in the members' gallery. If you want to be a part of the team, there is a call for designers for the a three month term beginning in July. The term goes by very quickly and the team is very supportive. Read about the call here if you are interested in applying.

The Layout:

I kept to the layout of the sketch this time, unlike last time where I changed it to a lemonade tag. I've been wanting to make a tree filled with butterflies with a few flying off, so when I saw the sketch I knew it would be perfect. I punched out a bunch of butterflies with a small Fiskars punch. I arranged them in a curvy flight path starting from the title, journeying through the photos, the tree and then off the page, to match the theme of having your dreams also taking flight.

My butterfly tree

The Background:

My sister, Jenn, has been taking acting classes the last two years and let me tell you about the latest scene she did in her acting class...sorry, I can't or she'd have a fit. Anyways, she took some head shots as recommended by her acting teacher and then posted them on Facebook. I downloaded them and scrapped them, hee hee, so be careful of what you post to cyberspace. I did ask her permission after the fact and she didn't care. So the photos, title and butterflies all work in conjunction to express an idea of striving towards your goals and isn't just to look pretty. Good luck kiddo and you can count of me to scrap your journey and provide plenty of color commentary along the way. 

Here is the only performance I've seen of Jenn. It was an improv soap opera as part of an acting workshop called, "Scandal Harbor". This layout was a make and take we both made at a Scrapbook Expo.

Jenn's Scandal Harbor performance

In case you don't know which one she is because she is wearing a wig and a Madonna outfit, here is an individual photo of her. 

Jenn's character

Of course, after the performance we all had to try on the wig. 

I know not to highlight my hair.

Kevin thinks the wig looks
like Bon Jovi hair. 

Surprisingly, this look
suits Dad the best.

Take care and thanks for reading,