Let's Get Sketchy 5th Monday of December

Happy Monday everyone! And welcome to another challenge for Let's Get Sketchy. Whenever there is a 5th Monday in the month, the challenge is usually is something a bit different and this time we are being challenged to use the below Bingo card.

I used the top row - misting, alpha, 2 photos, banner & mask to create the following layout:

The background paper was created with two different Crafter's Workshop masks and lots of Glimmer Mist. I then used a third mask and some white acrylic paint on the dark blue cardstock to add some texture & dimension. Even when I use Bazzill, which is a textured cardstock, I find that it's a little too "flat" for my taste. I just love everything to be distressed. Everything else is scraps and leftover tidbits from other projects. I think I've been saying for a couple years now that I am determined to use up my scraps, which I actually am quite good about doing, but the scraps just keep multiplying every time I cut into a new piece of paper lol.

Please make sure you check out what the rest of the Let's Get Sketchy Design Team created using the Bingo card. Since we didn't have a sketch to work with and there are twelve different ways to use the Bingo card, I am sure you will find a huge variety of very unique layouts to inspire you.

Sketch Inspired Magazine Christmas Edition

I hope everyone had a merry, merry Christmas! Ours was low-key, but I'm still exhausted. This was the first year that both kids totally understood the concept of Santa bringing gifts, which meant that neither one of them wanted to go to bed, and then Santiago woke us up at 2:45am to ask if Santa had come yet. We put him back to bed, but at 5am he was back in our room again. And every 10 minutes for the next hour. We finally gave up, woke Paolina and let the kids open their gifts. The rest of the morning was spent assembling an enormous Playmobil castle for Santiago and playing with Paolina's new dolls and dress-up. Later in the day my parents, brother-in-law and sister-in-law came over, and we had a very casual dinner of chicken enchiladas with flan for dessert

Needless to say I'm so glad that Paolina is at school today and Santiago is at his "Winter Camp" so that I can have a quiet day to recover. And of course I'm having a blast browsing through all the photos that we have taken over the last few days. Have you had a chance to do the same? Are you looking for some inspiration to scrap those Christmas photos? Well I have a great way for you to do just that. Let's Get Sketchy's online magazine Sketch Inspired has a special Christmas edition that is bursting with Christmas projects and ideas. Check it out here.

And here is the project that I have featured:

For this card I used papers from Kaisercraft Mint Twist collection and some older KI Memories Joyful collection. The giant Santa came from a package of Christmas gift tags I purchased on clearance at Sam's Club last year. I do that almost every year...the package usually has about 100 dimensional tags that I find work well on Christmas cards and layouts. Or I could even actually use them on gifts lol!

Thanks for looking I hope you find lots of inspiration with the rest of the projects in the special Christmas edition of Sketchy Inspiration Magazine!

Let's Get Sketchy December Week 4

Wowzahs! Not only is it already Monday again, but it's the end of December too! Good grief...is Christmas Eve really tomorrow? And next week will be a new year! I remember back in the day, hearing my parents talk about "time flying" and wondering why "old" people always talked like that. Seriously. As a child you think that time would just drag on and on, from birthday to birthday or Christmas to Christmas. Summer seemed to be the only time that went by too fast, and then back to school we had to go. Great. Apparently now I'm one of those "old" people, as I just can't figure out why time seems to go by so fast. So for that I'm grateful to be a scrapbooker...I can flip through my scrapbooks or pull out some old photos to use on a layout, and I can reminisce about sweet moments that literally feel like they were last month but in reality were three or five years ago. I hope my kids will look back at all the pages I've made with the same fondness.

So. Back to it being Monday. You know what that means...a new sketch at Let's Get Sketchy. Check it out!

I used just one photo and came up with this...

I'm proud of myself for doing what is "decent" journaling...for me anyhow. Usually as far as I get is a title and date. And I've even been known to *gasp* not even use a title. I'm not the only one who struggles with the verbal aspect of scrapbooking right? Anyhow, this is a photo of Santiago just after he turned one. At this age he went through a phase when I knew it was his naptime without even looking at a clock because he would reach into his crib, pull out his blankie & binkie through the slats, and lay down on the floor with them. Then he would look up at me with his huge brown eyes and just stare, almost as though he was wondering what on earth was taking me so long to put him in his crib to go to sleep. Now we can hardly get him wound down enough to go to bed at night. And forget naps...he gave those up before he turned four lol.

Now as far as product, the background paper is Colorbok Homespun and the rest is Fancy Pants Trendsetter, Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm, and My Mind's Eye Life Stories. Thanks for looking...I hope you will take the time to check out the other girls' work at Let's Get Sketchy and play along as well!

Inspired Blueprints

We're still iced in...which means another day of no school for the kids. But at least we have power. And thank goodness for the internet, as Santiago has been able to do some online classwork. Being home with him an additional two days is also giving me a chance to work with him reading in English. In the short time he's been in kindergarten his reading (in Spanish) has really taken off, but unfortunately by the time I've done homework with him and we've eaten dinner it's practically bedtime, so I haven't had as much time as I would like to work on his reading in English. It's also been good for Paolina to sit beside him while he does schoolwork, as she's been picking up quite a bit. It hasn't all been work either...we built a dining room "fort" and wrote letters to Santa.

Well I've gotten quite off topic haven't I? I actually just wanted to pop in and post this layout that I did last week and didn't have time to put up until now. I used the following sketch from Inspired Blueprints...

And I came up with this...

We were truly blessed to have had the opportunity to live in Southern California for 10 years. The climate was amazing. But even there we did have a winter of sorts, and despite its reputation for being sunny we had rain as well. I took these photos of Santiago back in January of 2010, enjoying the rain as any toddler boy can...jumping in all the puddles and mud.

Thanks for looking...and for those of you who are also experiencing inclement weather please stay safe and sane!

Let's Get Sketchy December Week 2

Another Monday which means it's time for another sketch at Let's Get Sketchy! I seriously didn't think I was going to get this one up for the reveal. Last week we were enjoying some glorious weather...sunny and in the high 70s. And then out of nowhere an ice storm came through. Needless to say I couldn't go outside to photograph my layout, and I struggled to find a place indoors with the perfect lighting. Then to make matters worse we lost power so then even with my photos taken I had no way to get them uploaded to my computer. We're still pretty much iced in, but our power is back so here I am!

Here's the fun sketch we have to work with this week...

And here's my take on it...

This is one of my last photos of Santiago in his Halloween costume in 2009. He was just 19 months old. This was taken on our trip home after spending the day at the pumpkin patch which totally wore him out! Most of the supplies are paper from an older Basic Grey Halloween line and glitter chipboard from My Mind's Eye (also a few years old). Thanks for looking and don't forget to check out what the rest of Team B at Let's Get Sketchy came up with this week!

Sketchabilities

Happy Hump Day! I finally feel like I'm back in the swing of things after the Thanksgiving holiday. I will admit that I had my reservations about having Santiago home for the week, but it turned out he was less stir-crazy than I envisioned so we ended up enjoying our time together. It was also nice to sleep in until 7am since I didn't have to rush to get him ready for school in the mornings. However I would be lying if I didn't say I missed my scrappy time. Noé totally supports what (I know he thinks is my crazy hobby), but I'm pretty sure he doesn't realize how much my creative time is therapy for me. The last year and a half has been so crazy for our family, with two moves and Noé losing his job. There has been a large amount of that 18 months that my scrappy supplies have been packed or I just haven't had the time to use them. It's been good for my soul to get back to having a consistent hour or so, five days a week to escape into my creative world... and when that routine gets interrupted it makes me feel all off kilter. The only thing worse is when I do have time to scrap and I've lost my mojo. I'm fairly certain that only other scrappers know what I'm talking about here lol. Anyhow, this Monday was my first time to scrap for about a week and I got two layouts done...whoo hoo! The below page used the following sketch from Sketchabilities.

I used the photo of Santiago and (part of) his soccer team that the league gave to Noé because he was the team's coach. The kids chose their team name on the first day, which was the Wild Animals. I've had the background paper for years...it's Flair All Star which was in my inventory when I still had my scrapbooking store. I'm not a sports fan, and I'm pretty sure Santiago wasn't even born yet when that line was on the store shelf, so I doubt I ever thought I would be using it for my own scrapbooking. Of course I used to think I would never use pink since I dislike it so much, but now I have a three-year old daughter who is obsessed with anything pink and/or sparkly so it appears quite often on my pages these days. And since Santiago loved playing soccer so much I predict getting more use out of those sports lines in the future as well. I couldn't resist using some animal print papers on this layout since I used their team name as the title. I don't often use themed paper but I feel like this layout really came together well without looking cheesey. Thanks for looking!

Sketch~N~Scrap

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. Ours was nice...it warmed up a bit (I didn't even have to wear a coat) and we had great food & fellowship with family.  Did any of you brave the stores to shop Black Friday today? I'm not usually a fan of doing that...I mean I'm all about finding great deals, but the crazy mobs that you usually encounter at the shopping centers are a bit much for me. However I have to admit I did hit one store today. Kohl's. Gotta love that place for amazing deals. I had a coupon that was only valid today, and I really needed to buy a gift for a birthday party Santiago & Paolina are going to next weekend...so I sucked it up and ventured out. Surprisingly enough it wasn't horrible...in fact, not only did I survive but I paid $13 for a $50 toy...so maybe I would be willing to do it again in future years.

Anyhow, I just wanted to pop in real quick to post this page that I made using a sketch from Sketch~N~Scrap.

I used some photos of the kids from this summer...I can't believe how tan Santiago was!! I have a great mix of product here...Crate Paper On Trend, Fancy Pants Down by the Shore, some older Scenic Route, Basic Grey & My Mind's Eye, and some of the brand new Pink Paislee Hey Kid. The ephemera pack was jampacked with fun little tidbits.

Thanks for looking...I'm off to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers with the in-laws!

ScrapMuch?

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone is enjoying their time with friends and/or family. What are you doing to celebrate? We will be having a late afternoon dinner at my brother-in-law's house, and it's potluck-style so I spent the morning making a few side dishes and an egg-free, dairy-free dessert for Paolina. Now I have a bit of time to post this layout before we head out the door. I used the below sketch from ScrapMuch?

I rotated the sketch and came up with this...

If you've been following my blog, maybe you will remember that at the end of October I posted a layout of some flowers Noé gave me for my birthday in 2009. The above layout is the adjoining page with the card he (and Santiago) gave me.

Thanks for looking...and again a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sketchabilities

Three days into Santiago's week off from school and we've been enjoying our time together. I thought he was going to be incredibly restless and beg to play computer games and/or watch cartoons all day. Instead he's been helpful when I've done chores, well-behaved when we've run errands, and we've had the opportunity to play some games & puzzles that we can't usually do when Paolina is home because she's still too small to play them. Of course he has spent some time playing his beloved Minecraft and also gone over to the neighbor's house to play, which I have been thankful for. I really do need about an hour or so of quiet per day or I'm just completely on edge. So I'm taking one of these rare quiet moments to post this layout that I did this past weekend using a sketch from Sketchabilities, one of my all time favorite sketch blogs. Here's the sketch I had to work with...

And here's my take on it...

I used this adorable photo of my boys napping on a Sunday afternoon a few months ago. It's funny how I sometimes don't notice minor things about my layouts until I'm staring at it on the computer screen. I'm just now realizing I didn't put a date on it....hope I remember to do that before putting it away in it's album!

Everything on this page (except for the background paper obviously) is scraps and other old miscellaneous bits & pieces. I love being able to do that! Anyhow, thanks so much for looking and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Let's Get Sketchy November Week 4

Happy Monday! Ok maybe not so happy for me. Remember how thrilled I was that we were having temperatures in the 80s...well my wish did NOT come true. The fabulous weather did not stay...in fact it's like winter here. Below freezing with sleet...and they're even predicting possible snow. SNOW?? I haven't seen the cursed stuff in 10 years. Oh I want to go back to California...

And to make matters worse...Santiago is off school all week. Don't get me wrong...I enjoy spending time with him. But we're talking about being cooped up in the house all day because it's too cold to play outside. I am so not used to this. First we spent most of the summer indoors because of the extreme heat...and now the cold. I really really want to go home...

Well enough of my pity party...on to actual fun stuff like scrapbooking. Maybe you live somewhere cold too and will have time indoors this week to spend getting some done. If so, here's another sketch from Let's Get Sketchy to inspire you.

And my take on it...

I thought it appropriate to scrap some Thanksgiving photos since here in the States we will be celebrating later this week. These are from 2008 when my mother & father-in-law came out to visit us...Santiago was just 7 months old. I used the same produce as I did with my Thanksgiving Dinner layout posted last week....mostly older stuff like KI Memories Grateful & SEI Poppy, but a tad bit of newer Studio Calico Sundrifter. Oh and I actually got out my Sizzix Sidekick to do the title. I'm embarrassed to say it's been years since I used that thing. Anyhow, thanks for looking and have a wonderful week.

Let's Get Sketchy "Inspired" Magazine

I was so excited when the founder of Let's Get Sketchy announced that she was going to release an online magazine. I was even more excited when she told the LGS design team that she wanted us to design for the magazine as well. The first issue was released on November 1st...have you had a chance to check it out? The magazine is aptly titled "Inspired" as it is absolutely pages full of scrappy inspiration! Readers also have a chance to be published. Check out this link for more information.

Below are the layouts that I had featured in the magazine.

If you haven't yet had the chance you should go check it out here. We're all so proud of the work that was put into this issue. And coming soon will be a special Christmas publication which will be filled with Christmas layouts, cards and other projects. They are looking for submissions for the magazine as well as a special layout to grace its cover...for more information on having your layout appear in the magazine you can go here, and for more information about being featured on the cover you can go here.

Stuck on U Sketches

Happy Hump Day! Well what's left of it anyway. I had to actually put thought into what day it was this morning, as my week has been a bit topsy turvy. I woke up early Sunday morning feeling sick, went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until two in the afternoon. I proceeded to sleep the remainder of the day, only awake long enough to eat once. I slept almost all Monday morning...until 11:30am to be precise. I guess I had the flu. My only symptoms were an achy body and extreme fatigue. I'm pretty sure I haven't had the flu for well over 10 years. So I'll cross my fingers and hope I'll go another 10 without coming down with it again. Today I feel fully back to health, but needless to say I am now behind on housework and still disoriented as to the day of the week.

This past Friday I did a layout using a sketch from a new blog that I recently discovered called Stuck on U Sketches, and as I was going out the door this morning I remembered I had never photographed it. And then I panicked that I had probably missed the deadline to link it up to their blog. Once I got home I realized I still have another day before the link closes so I breathed a sigh of relief. I know that getting my scrapbooking done is really just a personal goal I set for myself, but when I use a particular sketch, I really want to give credit where credit is due in regards to my inspiration, so it's always a disappointment to me if I miss a deadline to link my layout up to the originating blog. Anyhow, here's the sketch I had to work with...

And here's my take on it...

Except for a few more photos I have of him at his newborn photo shoot, this was the last I have to scrap of Santiago as a newborn. Bittersweet! I'm pleased with myself in terms of accomplishment but sad that I won't have any more photos of him so tiny to reminisce over while I'm scrapping. Oh wait! I can look through the actual scrapbooks to reminisce...that is what they are for right lol? Well thanks to those of you who took the time to look at my page, and have a great remaining week.

Scrappy Friends

Happy Saturday everyone! Sooo just when I was getting super homesick for the amazing climate back home in California...Dallas went and gave me a sweet gift for the weekend! Yesterday started to warm up, today it's about 80 degrees and tomorrow is supposed to be 85. Ahhhh....finally feeling at home. The only thing better than wearing shorts in November is wearing them come winter too. So if we can just keep these temps for Christmas I will be one happy girl!

On to scrappy things! I got a chance to play along with the the Scrappy Friends challenge this month. This is one of my favorite monthly challenges as it combines a sketch with several challenges that typically help me use up my stash and/or try a new technique. So along with the below sketch by Brenda, Rochelle challenged us to use a "family" theme for the layout and Kristi B challenged us to incorporate dots & chevrons into the page.

I used a photo of Noé with Santiago when he was only 3 months old. Doesn't it just make you smile? I used lots of Crate Paper The Pier product, the last of the Fancy Pants Roadshow scraps siting on my desk, along with some Carta Bella Alphabet Junction that I received as a prize from S.W.A.T. Thank you Lanette! And thank you for looking...have a wonderful weekend!

S.W.A.T.

Before moving out to Dallas from Southern California, I was serving on four different design teams. With all the craziness involved in packing & unpacking, I knew that it would be impossible to keep up with my duties for so many teams so I made the difficult decision to resign from two of those teams. And then of course several months later, after attempting to take on the administrative duties of one of those four sites I closed that blog. I truly miss the challenges and the other ladies on those teams though! And now that life has finally fallen into more of a predictable routine, I try to go back and visit those sites and play along with their challenges. Last week I was able to join in with Boy Meets Girl and this week I have made a page for S.W.A.T. For Drill #19 we have been challenged to create a layout that featuring photos of food or a recipe.

In keeping with the current season, I used a photo of our dinner table from Thanksgiving back in 2008. The product is older too...some My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, SEI and KI Memories from years passed. I tried to update the older product by painting the background paper and adding in a few scraps from more recent collections...Studio Calico Sundrifter and Crate Paper Maggie Holmes.

Thanks for looking and have a fabulous weekend!

Let's Get Sketchy November Week 2

Happy Monday! Time for another sketch over at Let's Get Sketchy! It seems like team A usually works with my sketches but this month my team was given one.

And here's what I did with it...

I've been feeling a bit homesick so I thought I would pull out some pics from our photo shoot at Crystal Cove Beach back in 2011. None of the photos quite worked with the sketch so I decided to rotate and flip it to accommodate the photo I wanted to use. I will always love love baby feet! I used mostly scraps sitting on my craft table and was thinking that I haven't used flowers on any of my layouts lately so I dove into my Prima stash. I've never been much for using rub-ons yet I seem to have a plethora of them...so it made me feel good to use three on this page.

Please go check out how the other girls at Let's Get Sketchy used the sketch and hopefully you will be inspired to join in!!

Thanksgiving Inspired Page

With Thanksgiving right around the corner I was inspired to pull out some photos of Thanksgivings past that I had yet to get scrapped. When I saw that Boy Meets Girl is running a challenge for the first part of the month to create a page with a fall theme and a male subject, I knew I should scrap a photo from Santiago's first Thanksgiving. To make the page I used sketch #53 from the My Scraps & More Sketches blog.

And this is what it inspired me to create...

I love that at that age Santiago always had this same surprised look on his face when I took photos of him. 

The background paper of this page is Basic Grey Clippings and the scraps are Fancy Pants Road Show (sitting on my desk after the last two layouts I made), Sassafras Lass My Dearest (also sitting on my desk from an altered autumn banner I made for a client), Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm and Crate Paper The Pier. The ephemera is Echo Park Fall Fever and Crate Paper Lemon Grass. Isn't it great to use up scraps that haven't even been put away yet?

Sketchabilities

After finally scrapping that photo from our friends' wedding on a page last week..I was motivated to scrap one more photo from the reception...which also helped me to use up more of the Basic Grey Capella & Fancy Pants Roadshow product that I have been hoarding for way too long! And it was all thanks to the stunning sketch that is currently running at Sketchabilities. Here's the sketch...

And here's what it inspired me to create...

Thanks for looking!

Stuck?! Sketches

It's always a privilege & honor to have an opportunity to guest design for a challenge site or blog, especially one that has cool sketches and an amazing design team. And that's just what I am doing for Stuck?! Sketches this week. Check out the awesome sketch I had to work with...

And this is what I did with it...

This page has a mix of Fancy Pants Down by the Shore, Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm and Crate Paper Maggie Holmes and Sundrifter. I love that manufacturers usually have color trends that carry across lines released at the same time. Makes it all that much easier to mix and match, especially I'm down to just scraps.

I encourage you to head over to the Stuck?! Sketches blog to see what their talented design team did and to join along as well! You have until November 29th to link up for a chance at a prize from Linnie Blooms.

Stuck?! Sketches

Yesterday I was commenting about how I am thrilled when I am able to get more than one challenge done at a single site. I was actually able to do that TWICE this month. Here's a second page I got done for Stuck?! Sketches.

I've also commented in the past about my penchant for hoarding scrappy supplies. This layout is a classic example! I put aside a bunch of my Basic Grey Capella and Fancy Pants Road Show product specifically for scrapping photos from our friends' wedding that was back in 2008. I had honestly forgotten that I even had some of it! And talk about an old photo too...I'm embarrassed by my chubby face in this photo! I suppose my excuse is that I had had a baby six months prior and was still holding on to a lot of the pregnancy weight.

My Scraps & More Sketches

I love taking part in challenges & sketches at my favorite blogs & scrapbooking sites, unfortunately there are so many cool sketches and fun challenges out there that I can never find the time in the month to play along with all of them. So when I am actually able to link up with more than one from the same place all I can say is "Yay!" Below are two pages, both using October sketches from My Scraps & More Sketches

Coincidentally these layouts are also adjoining pages in one of our family's 2009 albums, thus why they color coordinate with one another. I often wonder if other scrappers are as particular as I am in this respect...do your adjoining layouts "match" in color schemes? Are they in chronological order? "Yes" to both for me. Anyhow, both pages feature product that's mostly Bo Bunny Mamarazzi 2, with a few miscellaneous scraps from Fancy Pants, My Mind's Eye, Dream Street Papers and Sasafrass Lass.

Let's Get Sketchy October Week 4

Hello everyone! Hope each of you had a good weekend. Ours was busy but so much fun. I just love this time of year...cooler temperatures and fun fall activities. On both Saturday and Sunday we went to fall festivals. One was out at a ranch and since we're urbanites the kids got to experience some things they had never seen or done before...goats, pot-bellied pigs, pony rides, hay rides and paddle boats. And of course both events featured bounce houses, face painting and BBQ. We're totally geared up for Halloween this week!

And can you believe that Halloween and the end of October are actually already here? Next stop Thanksgiving and Christmas, which we all know come fast once the holiday season gets into swing. Hopefully you are still finding time to scrap. My scrappy time might slow down a bit, but for now I've still been able to work on some pages. In fact I have one to share with you for this week's reveal at Let's Get Sketchy...the last sketch of October and your last chance for a chance at the monthly prize.

Here's the sketch...

I rotated it and used only 2 photos. Don't you love how sketches can be interpreted in so many different ways?

Since I've recently had the chance to scrap some more updated photos of the kids I thought it would be fun to pull out some "older" pictures and reminisce. These were taken when Paolina was just 12 days old.

Make sure you head over to the Let's Get Sketchy blog and see how the rest of the design team interpreted the sketch. I'm sure you will find lots of inspiration to create your own page!

Sweet

It's already been a jam-packed weekend and we're about ready to head out the door again so my post will be brief. Just wanted to make sure I shared this page with you before the last few days of the month got away from me! I lost track of time and didn't get a chance to play along with the first challenge at Boy Meets Girl so I made a special effort to work on a page for the second one. For the second half of the month the subject must be a girl and this challenge was to use texture. This was so easy for me...I love dimension and texture! I roughed up my papers with a distressing tool, did some handstitching, and added embellies like brads, buttons and jewels. To create this layout I also used a fabulous sketch from Sketchabilities, which I rotated and changed the number of photos from three to one.

As usual I have used a mish mash of supplies including Crate Paper, Fancy Pants, Basic Grey, Prima, My Mind's Eye, Glitz, Colorbok and Sassafras Lass. The photo is of Paolina posing in her party dress just before the guests arrived to her third birthday party. I tried taking some quick photos of her with my iPhone which in my opinion didn't come out that great, but I played around with this one using a photo editing app and I'm pretty happy with the results. What on earth did we do before digital cameras and photo editing software??

Thanks for looking and have a fabulous Sunday!

Stuck?! Sketches and Scrap Our Stash

Just when I thought the busyness of summer had ended, and I could breathe a sigh of relief...fall and winter events have begun to fill our calendar. It usually starts to get hectic mid-October as our wedding anniversary is the 18th. This year Noé and I celebrated 10 years of marriage (At this point I have to fib and tell people I was a "child bride" lest they think I'm old lol). I used to always think that for this milestone we would do something amazing like renewing our vows on the beach, getting me a replacement wedding/engagement ring for the one I lost 7 years ago, and possibly taking a romantic 2nd honeymoon. But alas, life had other plans for us. We did however, pass the kids off to my in-laws Saturday night so we could go on a dinner and movie date.

We also kicked off the autumn season with a trip to the pumpkin patch, and I got some of the BEST photos of the kids courtesy of my sweet hubby.

Beginning this weekend we will be inundated with harvest festivals, Halloween parties and trick-or-treating. Which of course leads to the rest of the end-of-the year holidays. I love this time of year though! Cooler weather and tons of fun activities =)

Thankfully I am still finding time to get some scrapbooking done. Yay for kids being in school and Paolina still taking an afternoon nap! One of the pages I've done this past week was for Stuck?! Sketches, and I also am linking it up to Scrap Our Stash's challenge to use the below Tic Tac Toe board. I used the top row...washi tape, 3+ buttons, chipboard

 

Noé is so good about always giving me flowers on my birthday and our anniversary. After getting a beautiful bouquet this past Friday it made me want to get out photos of flowers I've received in the past and get them scrapped! He gave these to me for my birthday back in 2009.

In keeping with this time of year, I pulled out some photos of Paolina in her first Halloween costume. I was inspired by a color challenge at Colorful Creations as well as the below PageMaps sketch

Thanks for checking out what I've been working on...more to come soon!

Let's Get Sketchy October Week 2

It's Monday and time for a new sketch at Let's Get Sketchy! As I was working with this one I was thinking about how when I first started using sketches, I would follow them exactly. But as I have become more comfortable with my own work I have found myself rotating & flipping them, using a different number of photos than the sketch, and even adding/eliminating elements. And that is exactly what I did for this sketch. Not because it wasn't an awesome sketch...because it is and I actually plan to hang onto it for when I have a trio of small photos to scrap. But I had a single small photo and paper in mind that I thought would work perfectly with it after a few minor adjustments. Basically I rotated the sketch and then substituted a frame & tag for the 2nd & 3rd photos. So keep this in mind when you are working with sketches. They are just blueprints for your pages...you should feel free to let your creativity (or necessity) take over and then go from there!

Here's the sketch...

And here's what I did with it...

This past January Sears Portrait Studio offered us a free sitting & photo package. Normally I'm not into those chain photography studios that do the ridiculously posed photos...but hey who says no to "free". Especially if you're a scrapbooker and it's free photos right? And we hadn't done a family photo shoot for two years so I really really couldn't say no. Anyhow, for a "posed" photo it didn't come out too badly. I love how happy the kids look. And this is a great memory as it was taken a month before we left California...sort of a documented photo of how we looked before moving out to Texas. The paper came from a pad I picked up on clearance at Wal-Mart. If you haven't done so before you should really pop in there every once in awhile and check out their paper pads. I've found some really great deals on some unexpectedly cool paper. And speaking of checking out cool stuff...don't forget to head over to Let's Get Sketchy to see what the other designers did with the sketch. And while you're at it please join in and link up your page!