For The Love Of Plaid

Hello friends! How has your week been? I've spent most of my week organizing and printing photos rather than getting my hands dirty crafting. I was able to carve away a small amount of time to create this fun layout... 

Every Sunday my family meets for lunch. On one of these afternoons, my father, brother, and nephew all showed up with plaid and blue jeans. I couldn't help but document the occasion. 

The only plaid pattern in my stash that matched the colors of my photos was the background page by We R Memory Keepers. I then added manly patterns and colors, distressing the edges of the paper pieces to give an even more masculine feel. 

The title was a combination of Studio Calico sticker letters, my handwriting, and letters cut on the Silhouette Cameo from patterned paper. Since the letters were the same pattern as the background, I added some faux stitching to help it stand out. 

The layout was completed with some real stitching and ink splatters.

Thanks for stopping by!  

SUPPLIES :: Studio Calico (Woodgrain Sticker Alphas, Dark Calico Mister Huey's), BasicGrey Clippings Paper & Stickers, We R Memory Keepers Partridge

TOOLS :: Silhouette Cameo, Brother Sewing Machine, ZIG Writer Black, CTMH Paper Distresser, Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, MyStik Permanent Adhesive

PS October Sketch : Love You Forever

Good morning! I'm here today to share a great sketch from Liz Chidester. You can find the sketch with lots of inspiration from my fellow Design Team Members on the Practical Scrappers Blog. 

I made the layout below using the sketch; however, I forgot about the fall theme our Design Team was trying to incorporate. Therefore, you won't see it on the Practical Scrappers blog. But the sketch is just too fabulous, and the subject of this layout is just too cute. 

I kept the three blogs of paper behind the photos, but chose to add an additional layer. I also extended the small line on the bottom right of the photo to anchor the photos. The stars in the sketch were transfered onto the page as I found a few wood veneers in my stash. I mixed them with hearts, die cuts, and stamps. StazOn ink is a must-have when stamping on photos! Here are a few detail shots of the layout... 

Thanks for stopping by. We'd love to see your take on the sketch! Head over to Practical Scrappers for more inspiration and information on how to share your very own creation. 

SUPPLIES :: Pink Paislee Daily Junque Map, BasicGrey Jordan, We R Memory Keepers Cloudy Cardstock, American Crafts (Cardstock, Daiquiri Thickers, A Muse Studio Winter Sky Splash, Studio Calico (Mister Huey's Dark Calico, Hearts & Stars Wood Veneers, Project Life Kit Stamp), Market Street Stamps, Chic Tags Doily

TOOLS :: StazOn Jet Black Ink, A Muse Studio Acrylic Block, CTMH Paper Distresser

Project Life with Practical Scrappers

Good afternoon! So glad you joined me today for another Project Life Feature with Practical Scrappers! Yesterday I shared an introductory post to today's layout. This spread documents a recent ATV trip with my extended family. Our cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin brings the whole family together. 

I'm using pocket protectors from American Crafts and Albums Made Easy Kits from We R Memory Keepers. All of the photos were taken with my camera (no cell phone pictures!). 

Love the above photo. It's my dad and his brothers. They like to cut him in half in photos and joke about the pun. Unfortunately, I had a few problems printing off these photos and it looks more like his 1/3 of a brother. Ha! But I just had to document the event! 

The Silhouette Cameo was used in a few spots, such as the 'let's go' cut above. I backed it with faux woodgrain paper to help it standout. The 'trail riding' title was then cut from the same paper.

I used a lot of stitching on this layout, securing sticker letters and adding a border to photos. I really love the extra texture it gave the project. My typewriter also got lots of use on this layout. I typed directly onto the 3x4 card - My Project Life cards from Studio Calico are a little too thick to fit nicely in my typewriter; however, the WRMK cards are thin and perfect! Additionally, I typed some journaling on to white cardstock, cut it into strips, and adhered it to a 4x6 card.

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to head to the Practical Scrappers blog to see more Project Life inspired posts. 

SUPPLIES :: We R Memory Keepers Memo & Tangerine Albums Made Easy Kits, Ormolu Made Pennants & Little Labels, Simple Stories (SN@P Icons, Letters, & Labels Stickers), BasicGrey (Hey You Flags, Fact & Fiction Chipboard Stickers), Tim Holtz Vial Letters, Chic Tags (Autumn Days Labels, 2 inch Circles Cut File)

TOOLS :: American Crafts Page Protectors, Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, MyStik Permanent Adhesive, ZIG 2-Way Chisel Tip Adhesive, Bic Mark-It Ultra Fine Point Black, Brother Sewing Machine, Smith Corona Electronic Typewriter, Silhouette Cameo

Hello My Dear

The finishing touches have been made to my nephew Hunter's baby album, at least in terms of his grand entrance into the world and his first few days. The last layout to be constructed was this one of my sister-in-law's parents meeting Hunter for the first time. 

These square cutouts from Studio Calico were the starting point for the layout. From there, I layered patterned papers and other embellishments in the same color scheme. 

The SMASH Date Stamp from K&Company is one of my most used tools. The open box is perfect for journaling a word in a different color ink. To balance out the amount of red located at the bottom left corner of the layout, I added the word "love" in red pen to the box.

Not much journaling was needed as many of the layouts in this album were from the same event. Therefore, I added the word "grandson" to an arrow die cut from Chic Tags to complete the page.

Thanks for stopping by today!

LAYOUT SUPPLIES
Cardstock: American Crafts
Patterned Paper: Studio Calico (Temple), October Afternoon (Paid In Full), BasicGrey (Fact)
Embellishments: American Crafts (Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Buttons & Accents, 5th & Frolic Large Tags), K&Co (SMASH Date Stamps), Chic Tags (Birthday Cake Labels)
Inks: StazOn (Jet Black), Bic Acid-Free Markers

Happy Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day to all! I have to take a moment to say I have one crazy father. He's nuts. Funny and adventurous, with a dark sense of humor and a wild, young at heart spirit. He's caring and compassionate and helpful. He's available, active, and present in my life... Always has and I trust he always will be. It's been exciting to watch him pass all those qualities down to my brother who celebrated his first Father's Day today. It was so cute to see him play with his 2 month old son today. Generations of awesomeness. 

Here's a card I created for my favorite dads... Because, let's face it, I can't not be crafty ;)

I created the card using all BoBunny papers and embellishments from their newest Trail Mix collection. The edges of the papers were all torn with a distressing tool. I love the masculine, rough look it gives. The dimensional embellishment did all the work for me! I just added some black floss to complete the tag before adhering it to the card front. And of course, I added just a few brown paint splatters with Studio Calico Mister Huey's. 

I hope you had an amazing day. 

Time To Use It :: Masculine

Hey there folks! It's time for a new challenge at Use It Tuesday... This week's theme is MASCULINE. Remember, all of our challenges call for hoarded supplies. We want to see what you create! Link up your masculine themed project by Friday, June 21st, making sure to let us know what products you're using up! As always, one lucky participant will be randomly chosen to be a featured guest designer in an upcoming challenge. 

I had every intention of making the most manly page ever when I grabbed the papers that I did for the layout below. I'm not sure what happened. As I grabbed embellishments and put the page together, I'm not sure I made the most masculine themed project! But don't worry... I have many more manly pages and cards coming your way on the blog this week leading up to Father's Day!

I'm all about baby Hunter, my gorgeous nephew. This is the first family picture my brother and his wife took with their newest addition. So precious. 

Let's talk about hoarding. One, these Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper embellishments and papers are to die for, and I just never ever wanted to use them. They're used now! What I don't want to admit to you all is that I only used small portions of each, so I could still technically hoard them! WOAH MOMMA THIS IS BAD! 

Second, I have these adorable paper polaroid frames that I never seem to use. This one in particular worked well for the color and theme. 

Lastly, this Studio Calico border stamp has gone un-inked for many months. Broke it out for this special occassion and put it to work. 

Please join us this week for the masculine themed challenge. I can't wait to head over to your blog and check out your entry! Thanks for stopping by.

Birthday Fun

Today I have a few spreads to share with you all relating to my father's surprise 50th birthday party. His birthday was on the same day the world was expected to end, which would have made for a convienent "over the hill" party. However, my dad's the type of guy to embrace old age. He's really looking forward to that senior citizens discount. This guy is all hobbies - fishing, hunting, building all kinds of things for me, fixing cars - Retirement will be anything but boring and bland. He's teaching me contentment and joy. With an exciting life, a loving family, and a good head on his shoulders, how could a guy not celebrate 50?! It was that attitude that caused us to decorate in bright colors - the same colors featured in BoBunny's Surprise Collection. I grabbed most of the collection in anticipation of documenting this fun event. 

I used a Project Life Design A photo sheet for the smaller details of the party and included two traditional 12x12 layouts to highlight the bigger moments. I love using a combination of protectors to create custom albums that work for me. 

Unfortunately, Green Bay was hit with a massive snow storm the day of the party. I can't believe I even made it to work, where the party was to be held. We would have closed the shop, since most of town was closing anyway, but we had to stay open for the surprise to work! The whole thing made for an interesting afternoon of preparation and execution. I'm so grateful for the friends and family that braved the weather and came out to celebrate with us. 

I used a lot of cut outs and chipboard embellishments to decorate the two pages.

There was an emotional and sentimental moment that evening that I wanted to journal about and capture, but didn't want out for the everyday eye to behold. Therefore, I adhered a kraft pocket to the outside of one of the photo sleeves and included my journaling and an additional photo. 

And I can't leave out the two 12x12 layouts I created...

I felt so bad for my momma - The cake turned out to be nothing like what she ordered, but it was delicious and served its purpose! 

Combination of paper stickers and chipboard accents from BoBunny and felt and fabric embellishments from BasicGrey were used to add lots of different textures to the layout.

The cake was a 4x6 cutout from a patterned piece of paper from BoBunny. I added the sticker alphas, stitching, and doodles.

Lastly, we have the gift opening. He opened quite a few gifts that evening, but this was by far his favorite. A good friend gave him a baby pacifier. The series of pictures captured his reaction perfectly, and it screamed to be documented! 

The 'remember' die cut was created with the Silhouette Cameo, and a variety of sticker alphas were used to complete the title. 

Thanks for stopping by the blog today! 

You Can't Touch This

Good afternoon, paper crafting friends. Today is the first Use It Tuesday challenge of May. Not only do we have a great challenge for you (we'll get to that soon), we also have a Design Team Call! Be sure to check it out! 

All challenges at Use It Tuesday call for you to use your hoarded supplies. In fact, a challenge requirement is that you tell us in your post what you used. This challenge goes beyond the hoarded items, asking you to use a beloved item that you love so gosh darn much you avoid using it at all costs. That's right - "You Can't Touch This!"

Now don't worry... I have faith in you. You can do it! Along with my fellow design team members,  I was able to dig into my own stash and find a collection of papers from BoBunny that I never wanted to use. The Country Garden collection is full of the most beautiful paper designs. How could I ever cut them to create a card... Or cover up its beauty with photos and embellishments?! Well I sucked it up, called myself ridiculous, and got over it to create this layout below.

The large background paper is from the Country Garden collection. I actually forced myself to create a few different layouts with the pieces that will be shared over the next few days. This layout documents the first time my mom and dad met my nephew. I wanted it to be soft, but to still have boyish elements. Therefore, I layered 6x6 patterned papers from the large collection of 6x6 paper pads I have laying around. Pulling together the oranges and light blue helped keep a masculine feel among the floral elements. 

I opened my May Studio Calico Project Life Kit right before starting this layout and found a few things to use right away, including this adorable paper clip with fabric flag. Included in the kit was a fun stamp set from Amy Tangerine. I used the ampersand stamp from the set and stamped it directly onto the page using Galaxy Gold Brilliance ink. I added some sticker alphas over the top. 

I stamped it a second time onto white cardstock and adhered it to the page. Using the cut out image allows me to layer the pieces and have added movement. A few additional embellishments from around my craft room complete the layout. I just love those bird shaped wood veneer's from Studio Calico! I had yet to open them, so I'm counting that as an additional hoarded item. I used two large birds and one small to stay within the theme of the page. I plan to make copies of all of my nephew-related layouts and print them off for my mom as a gift. Therefore, I haven't added any journaling yet. I'll let her add her own personal thoughts to each page. 

Thanks for stopping by to see my take on the challenge. We love looking through all of your fabulous entries, so please link up to the Use It Tuesday site by noon EST on Friday, May 24th. One lucky participant will be a guest designer on an upcoming challenge! 

Excited for Baby :: Card & Update

If you've found your way here from Practical Scrappers, keep scrolling to find the On Trend post. This is my second blog post for the day :)

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my nephew; therefore, my mind has been stuck on all things baby. Here's a cute picture of my brother and his beautiful wife... 

Ah! Baby, Baby, Baby! You can come any day now, little guy! With all that said, here's a cute card I created with him in mind.

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: American Crafts, Paper Cut

Patterned paper: We R Memory Keepers (For The Record Collection)

Stamps: Lawn Fawn (Plus One)

Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Ribbon: A Muse Studio (Onyx Sheer)

Bling: Kaisercraft (Gold)

Punches: EK Success (Scallop Edger, Corner Rounder Large)