Playing With Paper!!

Is it Friday yet?

Man, this week is dragging...I am so glad it is finally Wednesday!  Half-way to the weekend!!  We have been super busy around here but I have had the chance to do a little scrapping.

The pictures are from my sons birthday party and the wonderful Lego cake my friend Jamie made for the occasion.  I used a sketch by www.sketchesbysuzy.com as my starting point.  I love this sketch and look to it often for inspiration.  The patterned paper is from October Afternoon and card stock by Bazzill.  I painted the chipboard letters with regular paint and then used an eraser to create the dots. 

I am working on Project Life and may share a layout tomorrow...PL takes time and dedication.  I love it but it definitely takes patience.  I am trying to come up with the best way to organize everything-it is a work in progress.

Two days in a row...

Sorry this picture isn't the greatest...not sure what I did.  I found this stamps set at Homegoodsa few weeks ago - it was $1.99 (can't believe it).  I used the color coach to pick the colors - they are Bravo Burgundy, More Mustard and Old Olive.  Such a simple card but really pretty.  I love the new SU! color coach - just wish I remembered to use it more often.

I have a question...where do you buy your Bazzill card stock?  I am running low and need to purchase some.  I feel like it is getting harder and harder to find.  Am I wrong?

So glad it is Friday!

Not happy that summer is ending but I am sure happy this week is done.  I haven't been able to play in my office as much as I would have liked but I did get to manage a little time:

 
I borrowed the idea for this layout from my friend Jen Peel's sketch book.  I used patterned paper from Chatterbox and the buttons are from October Afternoon and Joann's.  The card stock is from Bazzill and ribbon from SU!.  I am very pleased with how this layout turned out.  The pictures are from when all the cousins were together last spring.  I think this layout is playful - just like the pictures and subjects in the pictures!

Wow! It's Wednesday already...this week is flying by.

Yesterday I had the urge to clean my office so I started with the closet (re-organized and got rid of a bunch of stuff), dusted every surface, cleaned the floor and it felt great!  Then I got to play in a clean space and make a mess again!  I may have mentioned once or twice that I just got the Big Shot from Sizzix and I may have mentioned how much I love it - so much fun.  But I only have the one die Top Note (which I also love!).  My neighbor Jamie has several dies so last night I borrowed some - I just have to say it again: I love my Big Shot!  This is what I came up with last night:

 
The pictures are of out visit with Brendan last spring - the kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousin.  The patterned paper is from SU!; the paper ribbon is by Bazzill as well as the card stock and the flowers were cut with the Big Shot.  So stinkin cute...makes me want to stay home and play all day!!

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

 
The above layout is made with pictures from our Annual St. Patrick's Day party.  We have been hosting this party for several years but I have never taken pictures before - what a dork!  We invite friends & neighbors-no kids-and it is a blast!!

 I just used cardstock from Bazzill and Thickers for the title.  I took a ton of photos and wanted to include as many as possible -what to do?  I used another pocket from Becky Higgins I'd ordered years ago and made a giant tag. 

 
I was able to put pictures on both sides and it easily slides out the top of the pocket.  I think it's pretty cute.  I love finding a new way to add more pictures to a layout!!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Hmmm...I think it's time-

To do some re-organizing (insert my sister's laughter here because I am sure she will laugh when she reads this).  I am always re-organizing but I think I want to make some big changes.  I am thinking about how I can re-organize my acrylic stamps and punches.  I've got loads of ideas rolling around my head - if you have any good ideas, please feel free to share.

This is a layout I finished last week:
 
Last month, my son was asked to speak at a Board of Education meeting about a new reading program introduced to his class.  He was so cute...this little 7 year old, speech in hand, presenting to a room full of adults.  I couldn't wait to scrap the pictures!!  I used patterned paper from October Afternoon, cardstock from Bazzill and I was inspired by a layout from www.sketchesbysuzy.com. 

I hope you have a wonderful day.  I am off to browse blogs for some organizational inspiration!!

The sun is out...it's a beautiful Monday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend.  It rained here all weekend but it turned out to be good thing.  Almost all of our games and activities got cancelled so suddenly my weekend was open.  It has been a long time since we had a weekend with nothing to do.  My husband & I cleaned the house Saturday and yesterday my sister came - we shopped!  And we laughed...and I needed that.  I have had several layouts to share but not the time to do it so this morning I am determined to post.  Right now, many of my layouts are focused on baseball & my boys-here is one of my youngest:
 
The pictures are from open day of the baseball season.  I was inspired by a layout from Becky Fleck's 1st Pagemaps book - the layout is on page 87.  The patterned paper is from Colorbok (I bought a paper pack at Marshalls for about 3.00 bucks & I have used almost all of it!  One of my most favorite bargains!!).  The cardstock is Bazzill, tiltle Thickers and I can't remember who made the little metal circles???  Cute, simple layout for a sweet boy on an exciting day!

Don't you just love Allison Davis and her sketches?

I discovered her sketches about a year ago and I love them.  I have only one of her books (I really need to get more) and use it often for inspiration.  The great thing about sketches are that they give you a starting point to get your creativity going.  I love how you can follow a sketch completely or change it up a bit to fit you pictures.  I followed a sketch from Allison Davis' Sketches for Scrapbooking Volume One for the layout below:

 
My husbands brother and his family moved to Florida a while back so to keep in touch with them, we Skype (alot!).  I took these pictures last fall.  The patterned paper is from Basic Grey; card stock is Bazzill and the title letters are Thickers.  I made the little rosettes.  I am very pleased with this layout and I owe it all to Allison Davis - thank you!!

I so need this...

I'm going scrapping this weekend - and I can't wait.  I just need to get through the week.  Every Spring, my kids school holds a bingo & tricky tray as a fundraiser.  My friend Jamie is in charge - it is a TON of work.  Somehow Jamie manages to make it look easy but man it is a huge effort.  I help her with decorations and I run the instant raffle.  I have put my Cricut to good use this week - I have been cutting out daisies in all sizes for days.  On top of that, I have a big project to complete for work this week and it's going to rain all week - so my kids are in the house and bored.  I love my babies more than anything but I am looking forward to 2 days of not hearing "MOM" every 5 minutes.  Do you know what I mean?

I need to start packing for the weekend & thinking about what layouts I want to work on.  This time our crop space will be on the 2nd floor of the hotel. This means we will be  super close to the business center so I will be able to get to a computer which means Suzy and her sketches will be easy to access.  Can you tell how much I love her blog and sketches?  Here is another one of my interpretation of one of her sketches:
 
I used patterned paper from Echo Park (Playground - my current favorite paper) and   from Bazzill.  The chipboard for the title is from Tim Holtz and I left it unaltered - big time thinking out of the box for me!  I just love when a layout comes together easily and quickly.  Thanks Suzy!!!

Ahhh...Friday!

I am so glad it's Friday.  We have the usual stuff happening this weekend-baseball for the boys, my husband has to work, etc but we are also going to try and get some planting done.  We have a family run nursery right down the road.  I have been driving by all week, wanting to stop but I haven't had the time so tomorrow after all the baseball games - I'm picking up some flowers.  I LOVE to plant my flowers!  My favorite are Gerber Daisy's and Dehlia's but I am pretty much open to everything.  My plan is to get the kids to help me weed the back garden & then plant so when my husband comes home from work he walks into a beautiful backyard.  We are suppose to get rain Sunday so I am thinking that will be a great day to scrap!!  What are your weekend plans?

Have you ever had a layout almost done but needed one small, simple touch to finish it (and it took you days to get it completed!)?  That was this layout:

 
Currently, my thought process with most of my layouts is just getting them done.  I have so many pictures to get through and I am not feeling overly artistic so I am focusing on simple layouts.  This one fits that perfectly.  The patterned paper is October Afternoon and the cardstock is Bazzill.  I had no problem putting the pictures down, figuring out what to do with the patterned paper, painted the chipboard for the word "bike" but then I wanted to add the work "new" and all my creativity stopped.  This layout sat on my desk for several days and I over thought it.  Sometimes I get too caught up in myself - it's a layout not brain surgery!  So, finally I covered a piece of chipboard with cardstock, used some rub ons and it looks fine.  And another layout is done!!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!