Stuck?! Sketches

I didn't think I would actually get a chance to share this layout with you. We've had ice and snow since Monday, and I don't usually have much luck photographing layouts indoors. We just don't have very good lighting in this rental house. If I don't use the flash the page looks blurry, but if I do use the flash then there is reflection on the photos. A no-win situation. Fortunately this page has no photo, just some memorabilia, so even though the colors are a little off at least I can share.

I was inspired by the February 15th sketch at Stuck?! Sketches

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

A challenge over at My Scraps & More to use memorabilia on a layout prompted me to use the "thank you" from Paolina's 2nd Birthday party favors on the title page of her 2nd Birthday Party album.

Thanks for looking! Hope you're staying warm and safe.

Product List:

Dream Street Papers The Menagerie patterned paper

My Mind's Eye patterned paper

Scribble Scrabble patterned paper

Basic Grey patterned paper

SEI patterned paper

Bazzill cardstock

Doodlebug doilies

Recollections enamel dots

Crate Paper ephemera

American Crafts Thickers

Crate Paper chipboard number

The Crafters Workshop template

Tattered Angels glimmer mist

Shimmerz spritz

Stuck?! Sketches

I recently bought a paper pad from Me & My Big Ideas called Paint Palette. It's absolutely gorgeous...full of bright pastels, pops of black, and faux watercolor effects. I've been really wanting to work on my kids birthday party photos...between the two of them, the parties (uncreated layouts ) are really starting to pile up. As soon as I saw this line, I knew that many of the papers would be perfect for Paolina's 2nd birthday which had an "Under the Sea/Little Mermaid" theme. In other words, lots of sea green, lavender and various shades of blue & turquoise. I think the watercolor effect also looks beautiful with an underwater theme.

To create the below page I was inspired by the February 1st sketch at Stuck?! Sketches. Laura's sketches are one of my favorites to work with!

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

These photos are of me and Noé with Paolina just before she "blew out" the candles on her cake. Isn't that background paper perfect with her Ariel tutu??

Product List:

Me & My Big Ideas Paint Palette patterned paper

Scribble Scrabble patterned paper

Bo Bunny doily

My Mind;s Eye & Crate Paper diecuts

KI Memories felt flower & button

Chatterbox artsy.licious button

The Crafters Workshop template

Liquitex gesso

Faber-Castell gelatos

Tattered Angels glimmer mist

Let's Get Sketchy February Week 4

Happy Monday! Our kids are off school due to inclement weather, which in Texas means that there is a little ice on the ground and everyone is terrified to drive in it. That's fine with me though. I hate cold weather, snow and ice. So if having the kids home means that I don't have to leave the house to take them to and from school, then I am all for it! It also means sleeping in late, snuggling up in our PJs all day, drinking hot cocoa and having homemade soup for lunch. Definitely no complaints. Just don't ask me to shovel a driveway or scrape ice off the car!

Anyhow, can you believe that this is the last week of February? Also fine by me...it's just all that closer to spring! Are you snowed in too? Then take advantage of that, as well as this brand new sketch from Let's Get Sketchy and get working in your craft space!

And here's my take on it...

I hope you will take the time to head over to the Let's Get Sketchy blog and see what the rest of Team B did with Brenshevia's sketch. I'm sure who will find a ton of inspiration! And don't forget to get any layouts you did this month linked up by midnight CST on February 28th for a chance to win this month's prize.

My Scraps & More Sketch #100

Sketch #100...how exciting is that?! It's been such a pleasure and honor to serve on the design team for the My Scraps & More Sketches blog over the past year. But most good things must come to an end...so this is my final layout as a team member. I love participating with the sketches as well as the challenge forum, so you better believe that you will still be seeing me create layouts inspired by My Scraps & More!

Without further ado...Sketch #100

And my take on it...

For this page I used a photo of Paolina and me taken at her 2nd birthday party. The party had an

"Under the Sea/Little Mermaid" theme so I'm trying to do the entire album in coordinating colors.

I hope you have the opportunity to play along with this sketch too! As always, you will have the opportunity to win a fun prize from the My Scraps & More store. Just link up your layout by February 28th to be entered in the drawing.

Product List:

Dream Street Papers The Menagerie patterned papers

Flair Designs patterned paper

My Mind's Eye Laundry Line patterned paper

Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Signature patterned paper

Basic Grey tags

American Crafts Thickers

The Crafters Workshop template

Liquitex gesso

Tattered Angels glimmer mist

Faber-Castell gelatos

Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! Just a super quick post to share the card I made for Paolina and Santiago's teachers.

I'm entering this into the S.W.A.T. Drill #49 to create a Valentine card.

Product List:
My Mind's Eye Love Me Do patterned paper & diecuts
Doodlebug doily

Boys Rule Scrapbook Kits

Happy Friday! I just wanted to pop in real quick...I have an hour in between Paolina's and Santiago's school Valentine's Day parties and figured I would make good use of the only "alone time" that I have today. Anyhow, I wanted to share the layout I created using one of the sketches from the current challenges at Boys Rule Scrapbook Kits.

Here's the sketch designed by Laura Whitaker...

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

Santiago has always adored getting pushed in a swing. I love that I was able to capture the pure joy on his face as he was swinging!

Thanks for looking and have a great Valentine weekend!

Product List:

Echo Park Note to Self patterned paper

Crate Paper DIY Shop patterned paper

Dream Street Papers patterned paper

My Mind'e Eye & Basic Grey tags

Doodlebug doilies

American Crafts Thickers

Scenic Route chipboard star

Tattered Angels glimmer mist

Red Carpet Studio

I've pretty much gotten to the point where I never create a layout without a sketch. When I can't find one to suit my needs, I design one myself. And now I'm starting to find that I really need prompting from sites that have recipe challenges or some other kind of suggestion for use of product to really dig into my stash. I'm definitely not complaining...otherwise my pages would probably be stuck in a rut and the size of my stash would never diminish! I used to use a ton of bling on my pages, but somewhere along the way I just stopped. So when I saw Challenge #87 at Red Carpet Studio I just knew I needed to look for something sparkly to add to my next page.

Paolina really, really loves taking selfies with me. For awhile there, her favorite face to make was "tongue sticking out." When she starts Kinder next year I'm really going to miss these days that she and I spend together just the two of us...

Anyhow, it's impossible to tell from the photo, but some of the patterned paper is glittery, including the heart that I fussy cut. I also splattered some glimmer mist and used a sparkly pink button.

Let's Get Sketchy February Week 2

Happy Monday! Where on earth did the weekend go? Ours flew by, but that's ok...isn't that what the weekend is for? A break to get you re-energized for a new week. Are you ready for a new sketch from Let's Get Sketchy too?

Instead of using four photos, like in the sketch, I substituted four squares of patterned paper behind my single photo.

When creating this page I was also inspired by Challenge #85 at Red Carpet Studio, which is to use stars and something new. The "something new" is my hairstyle!

Thanks so much for looking! I hope you take the time to head over to Let's Get Sketchy and see what the rest of Team B did with Laura's sketch. I'm sure you will find lots of inspiration!

Product List:

American Crafts Amy Tangerine patterned paper

My Mind's Eye patterned paper

Basic Grey patterned paper

Echo Park patterned paper

Doodlebug doily

My Mind's Eye brad

Chatterbox artsy.licious Splendid Treasures

Prima alpha stickers

American Crafts Thickers

Scenic Route chipboard star

Liquitex gesso

Diamond Glaze

Faber-Castell gelatos

Craft Hoarders Anonymous

Happy Saturday. This is going to be a super quick post as our day is jam-packed. Mostly for Santiago, but of course it inevitably involves the entire family. He just left for an art camp this morning and then leaves the camp early to head out to his first soccer game of the season (if I had had the schedule I never would have enrolled him in the camp...but isn't that just how things go!), and then we leave the soccer game to have a Game Night with a bunch of friends. Between three of the families, our kids range in age from 4 to 9 and get along super well, so it's really just lots of fun when we get together like this. I have a feeling we're going to have some exhausted kids tonight...ok, ok I probably will be too!

On to scrappy matters...I finally got a chance to play along with Craft Hoarders Anonymous...it's been awhile! Their January challenge is to pick (1) from each category from the below chart.

Coloring Medium	Fiber	Technique	Texture	Embellish
Ink	Twine or Cord	Coloring/ Watercolor	Sandpaper or Distressing Tool	Ephemera or Found Items
Markers or Colored Pencils	Fabric or Lace	Stamping	Embossing (heat, dry, paste, etc.)	Buttons
Spray Mist	Ribbon or Seam Binding	Die Cutting or Punching	Chipboard	Flowers
Paint	Burlap or Canvas	Folding and Scoring	Wood or Glass	Brads or Eyelets
Chalk or Pastels	Yarn, Thread, or Floss	Mixed Media	Metal or Wire	Bling**

And here's my layout...

From the chart I used Spray Mist (splattered on the background), Thread (on the buttons), Punching (the banners were made from a Punch), Distressing Tool, and Buttons.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your Saturday!!

Product List:

Studio Calico Lemon Lush patterned paper

My Mind's Eye Laundry Line patterned paper

Echo Park patterned paper

American Crafts Amy Tangerine patterned paper

SEI Jocelyn patterned paper

Doodlebug doilies

My Mind's Eye buttons

KI Memories felt flower

Tattered Angels glimmer mist

The Paper Studio punch