Playing With Paper!!

Coney Island Aquarium

This past November, my kids and their grandparents went to the Coney Island Aquarium - they had a blast.  Sometimes I wonder if my family "get" my scrapbooking - do they think it is ridiculous?  And then they surprise me and I realize they do "get" it.  My MIL made sure she saved every ones tickets from the aquarium so I could scrapbook them.  The top part of the right-hand page are the tickets...cute huh?

My FIL also made sure to take loads of photos for me - he's so good.  Although the kids enjoyed the aquarium, I think their favorite part of the day was when they went to Nathans.  They couldn't stop talking about the french fries-they loved them!!  And I was thrilled I got to use this patterned paper from Jilli Bean-I knew I was saving it for a reason!

Project Life

So, I finally, FINALLY got some page protectors form Project Life.  I was told to not worry about having the page protectors and just start my album but I don't work that way.  I REALLY wanted the page protectors.  Through a nice person on 2peas and ebay...I got them!  I will post pictures of my first week once I finish it up!

It's not all about Project Life though...I did also make a card:

I saw a similar card online and I wanted to try it for myself.  To create the stars, I punched them out with a small star punch and then attached patterned underneath.  So cute don't you think.

Snow day share...

Winter has finally arrived-perfect way to spend a Saturday.  I am so happy that I had a chance to play in my office.  Wanna see what a did?

The patterned paper is from Me & My Big Ideas.  The pictures are from my sons birthday party-we went rock climbing-he had a blast!!  I got the idea for this layout from www.sketchesbysuzy.com.   My favorite thing about this layout is the color scheme-so bright and happy.

I love PageMaps2...

For Christmas I got Becky Fleck's PageMaps 2 and I am so grateful I did.  I have PageMaps 1 & love it but I really love the 2nd book.  I admit, I can never get enough of sketches and this book is one on my new favorites.  I used a layout on page 11 for my inspiration.  It is a 1 page layout that I converted for my own purpose.  What do you think:

I am so addicted to circles and when I saw this layout I new I could use it.  The photos are from my son Patrick's classroom on Halloween.  The patterned paper is from The Girls' Paperie (so stinkin' cute) and the cardstock is SU!.  I look forward to using this sketch again maybe with flowers or hearts?  Very cute, no?

Another awesome sketch site...

Last week I discovered this website: www.gotsketch.blogspot.comand I love it.  On the right side, down a bit on this page is their blinkie.   This blog has tons of great layout sketches and card sketches - you will have no problem finding inspiration!

For the layout below, I used the sketch 104.  On the blog, the sketch is only one page so I needed to modify it for a 2 page spread.  This is what I came up with:

The patterned paper is from We R Memory Keepers and October Afternoon.  I made the banner with chipboard from Jenni Bowlin that I sprayed with Smooch spray and the letters are from Me & My Big Ideas.  I can't  remember who made the tree and the bats (sorry).    I am really pleased with how this layout looks...and I am thrilled to have found another awesome sketch website.  Make sure to check out gotsketch...you will be so glad you did!

Missing summer...

My family & I had a lovely summer: 2 trips to the Cape, a membership to a local pool and loads of little adventures.  A highlight for the boys was a trip with their dad to the Little League World Series.  My boys had a blast!!  My husbands brother is a cameraman so they got to eat with the crew from ESPN and sit in the broadcasting space.   They even got VIP passes and seats - they were beyond thrilled.  When I was scrapping the pictures I wanted to keep the layout playful.  I used patterned paper from Me and My Big Ideas-it's bright and happy.  I used a piece of notebook paper to journal on - I just felt like it fit.  And because I love circles and I think they can be playful - I used them as my borders.

Cute layout...makes me smile.  And I am so happy that my boys had the chance to see the LLWS-they are still talking about how much fun they had!!!

Another card to share

I love the color combination of black, gray and red.  I tend to wear a lot of black, gray and red in my daily life and I love to incorporate those colors into my cards.  To me, it seems very elegant and classic.  I have been wanting to play with my new stamps set Circle Circus and finally had the chance.  This is what I came up with:

I used Basic Black, Going Gray and Riding Hood Red from SU! as my colors.  I used the scallop punch to punch out my little flower.  Super simple card but pretty - don't you think?

Sewing again

I am really thrilled about my new sewing machine.  Last night I finally had a chance to use it on a card.  The patterned paper is so old - Laura Ashley.  Card stock from SU! as well as the Big Shot Die I  used to create the butterfly.  So, what do you think?

It's hard to see in the picture (sorry) but I stitched around the edge of the patterned paper and I sewed the top layor of wings on with my sewing machine.  A very simple start but I had a blast working on this.  I am still getting comfortable with my machine.  I can't wait to get more creative.  I just wish I had about a million more hours a day to play!!!

I ment to say thank you...

When I posted earlier, I wanted to say thank you for the nice comments about my Cricut cover.  I am so happy with my little cover and appreciate you taking the time to comment.  If you think you might want to tackle this project...go for it.  It was easy and fun & I can't wait to make another one!!!

Photo Queen

Like most folks who like to scrapbook, I take a ton of pictures.  And I like to include as many photos on a layout as I can but I don't like my pages to look crammed.  I am always trying to figure out new ways to include all of my photos thus the layout below.  The pictures are of the kids carving pumpkins.  I had too many pictures for the 2 12x12 sheets so I came up with a new (new to me) way of including the photos.  This is the layout:

And this is how I included extra photos:

This page protector holds 4x6 photos.  I put 2 photos on each side and then 2 pieces of patterned paper to separate the photos (I had several photos but not enough to fill each 4x6 space).  When I put the layout in the album, it will look like this :

Does this make sense?  I love it!  Kinda unexpected and a great way to add extra pictures to the layout.  By the way, the patterned paper is Happy Days from Echo Park - it is so stinkin' cute I think I need to buy more!!