Go (Scrapbook Sketch Fun)

Sometimes you get a set of scrapbooking papers and you absolutely cannot wait to use them. Such was the case with My Mind's Eye marvelous new Lime Twist papers that I bought recently while shopping with my fellow scrapbooker and BFF Alissa.

I am a sucker for anything with hot air balloons, and papers that have hot air balloons I can fussy cut are even better! I wanted to draw as much attention as possible to my fussy-cut balloons and clouds, so I slightly curled the edges of everything I glued down. I then used pop dots under one balloon to add a sense of depth to the layout. Finally, I added bling accents to each of the balloons, for no other reason than...well...I like bling.

I did simple strip journaling (using the cut-out back of a Sassafrass package containing journaling cards. That's right, I haven't yet used the actual cards IN the package, but I sure have cut the packaging itself up for journaling on a couple of my layouts now! LOL!) I really like the effect adding pop dots to the back of the journaling strips has.

I used Sketch 84 from LCOM to create this layout as time seems to be at a premium lately. If you have limited time but need a scrapbook fix, I highly recommend the following sites which contain wonderful sketches that are frequently updated and are always so much fun to play with!

Sketchabilities
Let's Capture Our Memories
Pagemaps
Flying Unicorn
Pencil Lines
Nuts About Sketches

and last, but certainly not least, the wonderful Beggahuna!

Do you know of any good sketch sites I didn't mention? If so, please feel free to let me know. I am always on the look-out for more!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, today is my birthday. And what is the best way to celebrate??? Well, a good start for me has been by munching on some delicious boiled peanuts that my stepson, The-Chef-In-Training, made for me. (You thought I was going to say scrapbooking, didn't you? I will, but that comes later...)

For those of you who are wondering what the heck boiled peanuts are, they are a Deep South delicacy snack made by using the same peanuts you find at any ball game; however, instead of being roasted so that they are crunchy, the raw, green peanuts are boiled in very salty water for hours until they become soft. The trick is to take them out after they have softened but before they become mushy. Most people who try them for the first time as an adult hate them, mostly due to the texture of the peanut. But for Southerners like me who grew up eating them every summer, they are SCRUMPTIOUS!!! I have sorely missed them in Texas as I haven't been able to find green peanuts so I could make them myself. But my wonderful stepson managed to procure them in bulk and cooked them to perfection for me!!!

While filling my stomach full of boiled peanuts, I have been marveling over the fact that today I not only have a blog posted over at LCOM, but today is reveal day at SKETCHABILITIES! Double the scrapbooking fun today makes one of the best birthday presents ever!

So, let's start with LCOM - I have been having a great time all month playing with Pink Paislee Hometown Summer papers and embellies that I got from the LCOM STORE. Here is the latest layout I made using an incredibly fun line of papers and using wonderful photos taken by the extremely talented Houston photographer, Kristine Canterbury.

Next up is Karan's wonderful Sketch #48. I don't know how she continues to come up with so many varied, detailed sketches month after month, but she does! And I am so grateful because I LOVE working with sketches!!!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it using a picture of my sweet niece giving her daddy a kiss:

Please stop by Sketchabilities to see the superb takes on Karan's sketch by the rest of the Design Team. They are all remarkably good, and no two are alike!

Until next time...

Sweet Peach Fun!

As many of you know I am the May Guest Designer for Sweet Peach Crop Shop, a "sweet peach" of a kit club that began with three friends at a neighborhood crop. My requirement was to create 4 projects using their May kit for posting on the Sweet Peach Blog. Let me tell you, I received so many papers and cute embellies, I ended up making three layouts, an altered picture frame and a card. I had enough left over that I could have easily made another layout or a couple more cards! The papers were full of bright, summery patterns that were fun to mix and match together! And, it even contained coordinating card stock, which came in quite handy!

I wanted to be able to stick primarily to the items contained in the kit - because that is the test of a truly good kit (in my opinion). I ended up using a few brads of my own and some tiny type letters (because I'm a nut about super small alphas) - but other than that, it was all Sweet Peach items! Sweet Peach Crop Shop and I will be revealing the other projects made with the May kit later this month, so be sure to check back! AND - if you want to check out their May kit or for a sneak peek of their upcoming June kit - head on over to the Sweet Peach BLOG!

Last but not least, if you are thinking to yourself, "Love that kit - wish I could design for Sweet Peach,"...well...HERE'S YOUR CHANCE! Sweet Peach Crop Shop is having calls for both a sketch designer and a new design team! Interested? Then GO CHECK OUT THE SWEET PEACH BLOG!!!!!! *SMILE*

Until next time...

Fun Problem to Have

So, I've got a little bit of a fun dilemma - all the good scrapbooking things going on in my little part of the world are all being revealed at the same time!!! And I don't want to give any of them less credit than they deserve because the people I have had the honor to work with are all fantastic! So, I guess I will be sharing one reveal today and one tomorrow.

I'm going to start with Let's Capture Our Memories since I worked on my blog that is currently up over a week ago (yes, for once I got something completed well in advance of the deadline!). This month I am having an extraordinarily fun time playing with Pink Paislee Hometown Summer papers I got from the LCOM Store!

This layout stars my favorite niece, Audrey, sharing a drink with her BFF, Lillian (hence the title). What cuties, and the picture was absolutely perfect for the fun, bright PP papers!

I really enjoyed creating the flowers for this layout, too!

Normally, I will use a flower punch or fussy cut flowers from paper (or use pre-made, store bought flowers), but when I saw this VERY SIMPLE flower-making technique in a recent scrapbooking magazine, I just had to try it. Am I glad I did! It's very easy, and I think the result is fantastic! All you do is punch out eight small to medium circles. You fold seven of them into a "V" shape and then adhere the seven folded circles onto the eighth one. You top it off with a button or, in my case, a brad.

To get more details about the papers I used and for more close ups, head over to the LCOM BLOG! I'll be playing with more of the Pink Paislee papers and blogging for LCOM again on the 23rd and 30th (my birthday), so stay tuned...

And...just because I am so very far behind on posting here, I have included another layout, this time using scrumptiously beautiful papers by Glitz Design that I purchased at the LCOM store!

Seriously, the Glitz papers were almost TOO PRETTY to cut!!! I used a sketch to create my layout, which was designed by my wonderfully talented friend, ALDA. She's got some seriously cool sketches which she reveals on Mondays, so please go check those out and be sure to leave her (and her new design team) some love!

Until tomorrow...

And I'm Back with More Sketchabilities

I cannot believe I haven't posted one single thing on my blog for almost a month! Have you missed me? I have MOST DEFINITELY missed you!!!

Anyway, over at the Sketchabilities website Karan has outdone herself AGAIN with Sketch #47, which looks like this:

Isn't that incredibly cute?!? I certainly thought so! I cannot get enough of her sketches!

I didn't follow the sketch to the "t" this time because not too long ago I designed a layout which ended up looking somewhat similar to Karan's current sketch. So, I wanted to do something a little different. But you'd better believe her sketch has been saved to my favorites and I will be copying it exactly in the very near future!

If you think my layout is cute, or if you just want more inspiration, please head over to the Sketchabilities blog for 19 more fabulous takes on Sketch #47, including one by Janet Zeppa, the Sketchabilities guest designer.

Sketchabilities has so many wonderfully cool things going on right now, I want to take a minute and make sure you know all about them!

First, if you decide to create a layout using Karan's sketch and upload it to the Sketchabilities gallery, you will be entered into a random drawing and qualify to win the current kit from We Scrap.
. Super easy right?

Second, this is MAJORLY EXCITING to me - after each reveal a new guest designer will be chosen from the layouts uploaded in the gallery. This means that in addition to your chance to win a We Scrap kit, you MAY BE CHOSEN TO BE THE NEXT GUEST DESIGNER FOR SKETCHABILITIES!!!

Third, a new Design Team call is coming up for Sketchabilities! Interested? The deadline for submitting your entry is June 10th, and the new design team will be announced on June 15th. Want more details? You know where to go...SKETCHABILITIES, of course!

Happy scrapping, my friends!