Create!

Okay,.. I know I am not visiting all of you as much as I should, but I have a really, really good reason!! I got completely and totally wrapped up in this project I have been working on!! It has been a project in the making the entire month!!! Are you ready for it?!!! Well here it is!!

The Cricut Circle Blog has a monthly challenge and this month the challenge was to make something (LO, card, project) that "Celebrates Creativity!" Well, I started thinking about what I was going to do and then one day, while cleaning out the remaining boxes in my garage, I came across an old frame that I was going to throw away. Then the idea hit me!! I wanted to make something for my new office!! And so... I went to work on it!! The requirements are that I had to use the Cricut with at least 2 cuts and use the shadow feature, I had to use patterned paper and use an embellishment!! Check, check, and check!!

I thought it would be cool to make the word "Create" really big and then include the definition!! Clever huh?!! The word was cut out using the Storybook cart. I distressed the cardboard I was using for the background and popdotted all the letters. I added some pearls to jazz them up a bit!!

As for the definition, I did a lot of distressing, inking and stamping... even though you can't tell in the photos!!

The rest of it was soooooo much fun to make!! I turned each of the little squares into my own little scrapbook canvases to work with!! I wanted to use a variety of colors while still making it something that would look good in the house. I had to control myself from adding too much bling... my favorite thing to add to LOs!!!! lol!! I just didn't think it would look too good in my office if it was glowing from all the bling!!

What?! You would like to see closeups?!! Of course!! Here you go....

The bird in the cage was cut using the French Manor cart. I pop dotted the layers to make it look more dimensional... then of course, added some stickles!! I heat embossed the background and added the paper/ribbon stripe across the middle!!

Is my bird not the cutest?!! I cut him from the Home Decor cart and pop dotted the layers again. But this time, I added some crackle glaze to the top layer to give it a cool, distressed kind of look!!  I found that lovely branch right in my landscaping!! How lucky is that?!! My husband was thrilled!! I hand cut some cute little leaves and added a few charms!!

My favorite part is the way I included quotes that had to do with creativity!! Talk about clever!! They say...

* All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. - Pablo Picasso

* Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. - Martin Luther King Jr.

* The world is but a canvas to the imagination. - Henry David Thoreau

Aren't those the best?!! I also loved this square! The film strip is Tim Holtz that I had left over from one of my Lucky Girl Kits and the tickets came from the kit too. I just inked them with distress ink and then sprayed them with water!! Love how it gives it that instant worn look!!

Sorry this was so picture heavy... there was just so much to it, I wanted you to be able to see all the details!!

But before I leave, I have a few things to share with you!! My good friend and design buddy, Pat, has started this really cool new blog, Scrapping The Moments, that has a forum and will be a great resource of information!! I am so excited for her!! She is currently looking for some designers for this new blog. Please stop by and check it out!!  I'm sure she would like some blog love!!! You can get there by clicking HERE!!

AND.... one of my other design teams, Sketches in Thyme is also doing a design team call!! Click HERE to check it out!!

I will be back tomorrow with a new design for Sketches in Thyme and a much shorter post!! Have a great day!!

Barb  :)

I believe in Magic!

Happy Thursday everyone!! I hope you are all having a wonderful week! I am pretty excited because in a few short hours, my baby sister will be here for a visit!! Whoo Hooo!! We are going to get our annual fall shopping trip in after all!!

Sketches in Thyme has a new sketch for you this week and I decided to do my layout using some of my new pictures from our Disney Trip!! These are pictures of Matt and Lauren getting along!! Yes.. I said it!! They actually got along the entire week!! Which inspired the title... I believe in Magic! If you can read my journaling on the side, it says "Disney must be magic because Matt and lauren got along the entire week!!!" I wish everyday could be a Disney day!! lol!!

And here is the sketch we started with!! We would love to see what you can do with it!! Be sure to upload your project at Sketches in Thyme for a chance to win the monthly prize!

This project also qualifies for the challenge at the Cricut Circle Blog. This week they are asking for pink, ruffles, scallops, flourishes, glitter and jewels!! This LO has all of those things!!  I used the following carts: Stone Script, Storybook, Bloom, and Lovely Floral!!

Be sure to stop by Sketches in Thyme to see what the other Mavens did with this sketch!! Thanks for stopping by! I always love to read the comments you leave for me!!

Barb  :)

Ice Skating!

It's a new week and that means there is a new challenge at Practical Scrappers!! This one is easy peasy.... are you ready for it?!! The challenge this week is to use loose glitter or flocking!! Now... I have to be honest... the glitter part was easy, but the flocking is something I have in my supplies but have NEVER used!! So... I am always up for a new challenge and this is what I did!!!

Yes... I do realize that it is summer and no one really wants to think about snow and ice skating.... but I HAD to use these pictures for this challenge!! Where I live we do not have very many exciting things, but ONE cool thing that we do have is a park with a pavillion that they turn into an ice rink each winter. So, on a day off from school, my sister and I took our kids ice skating and had so much fun!!

For the loose glitter AND the loose flocking, I used some double sided Martha Stewart snowflake stickers. At first I found them hard to work with and I didn't like that when I followed the directions on how I am supposed to use them that I ended up with random glitter all over my LO!! But... after a bit I figured out my own system and the process became easier!! I use clear, pink and blue glitter for some snow flakes and blue flocking for other snowflakes. I use them more as a subtle background sparkle and layered dimensional snowflakes I had in my stash on top!! I added a few Prima crystal flourishes and some silver ribbon from my stash. I chose not to put a title on this one.. I liked it just like it was and to put "ice skating" on the LO seemed insulting to those looking at it since that is clearly what we are doing!!  LOL!!

The sketch is from Stuck On U Sketches from a few weeks ago... I didn't have time to play with the layout that week but it worked perfectly for this challenge!! And since their challenge this week is embossing, I can submit it now!!  (If you look at the border of the pink paper it is embossed with little snowflakes!!) Paper used is from DCWV Holiday Collection and Old World Stack. I also used the Storybook cartridge. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.... be sure to create something sparkly and glittery and you can actually link your project up to 2 challenges.... Frosted Designs and Practical Scrappers!! Both design teams have some amazing examples to share with you so be sure to check them out!!! Have a fabulous week and happy scrapping!!!

Love Ya Chicky

I have to admit... I am excited to be sharing my first official Practical Scrappers challenge with you as a design team member!! This week the challenge is to use stickers! How easy is that one?!! So... I guess there is no reason why all of you can't participate!! Get out that overflowing crate of stickers, use them on a project and be sure to share them with us at Practical Scrappers!! And also be sure to check back each day as new Design Team projects are revealed!!

These pictures were taken during a visit to the zoo in Aug. of 2006. Yes, the same zoo visit as the goat pictures... and there are still plenty more from that visit to scrap... guess I was in a snap happy kind of mood!! And can I help that I think they are all adorable and want to scrap them all?!! LOL!! So... we were in the farm area where (back then) we were allowed to pick up baby chicks! Lauren loved to do this and would squeal with delight every time one would try to escape her very tight grasp!! She must have given them 3000 kisses that day alone!! The papers and stickers I used in the title are from We R Memory Keepers Over the Rainbow pack. I LOVE this pack!! The papers are all so bright and cheerful and summer like!! Perfect for my zoo pictures!! The flowers are stickers I have had forever!! And yes... I really do mean forever!! I added a few stickers to the tops of buttons and even managed to add some stickles to the centers of a few!! I hand stitched some floss around the border of the marquee shape.

Thanks for stopping by... I love hearing from you... it really makes my day!! Have a great week and happy scrappin'!!
Barb :)

Grandma

Can we just take a minute and yell... "YIPEE!! FRIDAY IS FINALLY HERE!!" Don't some weeks just seem longer than others?!! This is one of those weeks for me!! But the good news is.... there is a new challenge at Frosted Designs! This week it is a color challenge... brown, aqua, and lime green!! So... get out your scrappy goodies, make something fab, and link it up over at Frosted Designs!! We love to see everyone's creations!! And, check out what my design sisters created for you... you won't be disappointed!!!

This is a picture of my grandmother... isn't she just precious?!! I love this photo of her! I found the papers (Colorbok - Woodhaven) and knew they would work great for the LO I had in mind!! Most of the embellishments are from K&Co. The flowers are Prima, some of which I chalked a bit with light brown and added a pearl center. Pearls are from Recollections. Key is Making Memories. Cricut carts used are Mini Monograms, Mother's Day & Storybook!! I stamped the cute little pocket/envelope with an Autumn Leaves Stampology. I wrapped a ribbon around it and added a pin that I had from my Paper Poppy March kit! The title "Grandma" was cut using the Mother's Day cart. I painted the flowers with Smooch Pearl paint and added some details with my Souffle pens. On the tag I tucked in, I wrote down some information about my grandmother that I want my children to know someday; things like her full name, married names (she was married twice), birthday, where she lived, school she attended... you know - stuff you never think to ask but wish you knew!!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a closer look at my LO... It means so much to me that with so many blogs out there,  you would take the time to stop and visit mine for a bit!! I have the bestest bloggy friends out there!!
Barb :)

Once Upon A Time

First of all... want to share some good news... my LO "How Wonderful Life Is" won an award over at Scrap It With A Song! It was in the top 5!! Yeah!! Now I have a new little award to add to my sidebar!! Yipee!! It's always fun to see that someone else likes what you create!! Thanks to the wonderful team over there that left me such nice comments!!

Now... there are just so many challenges out there... and I really do want to play along with all of them!! This darn full time job is really getting in the way!! 6 more weeks... !! LOL!! So... I have figured out that I can combine a few challenges and play with a few of these challenge blogs all at one time!! Look at me! I can be a problem solver!! LOL!!

These pictures were taken when my baby girl was 2 years old. My husband's niece insisted that Lauren was going to be in her wedding.. I personally thought she must be crazy... there was no way we were going to be able to get her to walk down the aisle, drop petals, and smile all the way!! But guess what... she was amazing!! The only thing we over looked was her love of being on a stage... she tried to climb right up on it!! But it did manage to add some humor and relax everyone so it was all good!!!

I started with the sketch over at Stuck On U Sketches!! The sketch is from BeggaHuna and I knew it was going to work perfectly for these pictures which also went so well with the challenge over at Scrap It With A Song. This week they have a song from the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty. When I started the LO, I had planned to use the line "I walked with you once upon a time" but when Lauren came in and saw the LO, she insisted that she only wanted it to say "Once Upon A Time!" Now... if you know Lauren (being the baby of 4 children) you would know that she typically gets her way... and this was no different!! She has always been into princesses and she certainly felt like one the day this photo was taken! So I figured, why not let her give it the title!! So.... those words are in the song so it still qualifies for the challenge!!

I used a lot of different products on this one:

Flowers were Prima and some misc. silk ones I had laying around. I sprayed some of the silk flowers and leaves with Glimmer Mist to give them a little sparkle! It looks great in person but doesn't show up so well in the photos! I also added some Smooch pearl accents to some of the lighter flowers. I added some Prima flourishes, some bead leaves (Xyron) and some left over ribbon I had laying around! I LOVE the way this corner of the LO turned out!! 

The main background paper is from the DCWV Mariposa stack. If you haven't seen this stack yet, check it out... it has some gorgeous papers in it. When I couldn't find the coordinating papers I liked, I made my own!! I stamped the large circle and the paper behind the torn spots and used Tim Holtz Distress Powder in milled Lavender to heat emboss. I used Autumn Leaves Stampology stamps for the stamping. The picture below shows it a little better! The butterfly is also Prima.

I used the Storybook Cricut cart for the title and Mini Monograms for the large circle. I thought it would also be fun to join the challenge at The Pink Elephant! This week they have a recipe challenge  to use chipboard and paint on a LO. The frame around Lauren is a chipboard frame left over from an SEI kit. The photo corners were also from that same kit. These I painted and then covered with Glossy Accents. Now... people who know me know that I am not always the most patient person. So, instead of letting the glossy accents dry on its own, I had the great idea to dry it with my embossing heater!! Now... if you have used one of these before you realize how hot it gets... soooooo before long I look at these cute little photo corners and notice how the glossy stuff is bubbling up... you know, like it is boiling!! Well now they were no longer smooth... but have no fear!! I still had my stamps out so I stamped the image into the photo corners! And guess what.... I LOVE it!! You can't completely see the image but it did give it some pretty cool texture!! I love it when a mistake turns out great!! And finally, this also works for a challenge over at Wee Memories... which is to use flowers!! Certainly  have that covered!! Lots of flowers here!

And this photo is just because I think Lauren is totally adoarble!!! Thanks for sticking with me and my long explanation to this project!! I love how it turned out... hopefully you do too! I would love to hear from you!! Barb :)

The Hunt is On!

Well... I barely got this done on time, but I did get a LO done for this weeks Stuck On U Sketches!! Whew... nothing like waiting until the last minute!

So, over at Stuck On You Sketches, Liz Qualman designed a sketch specifically for this weeks challenge! How fun!! I decided to do a LO from last Easter of my youngest daughter doing the Easter egg hunt! I know... she looks so sweet and innocent... but believe me, you do not want to get between her and a new found Easter egg!! She WILL win!!

I know, I know... this page looks like it was attacked by Stickles... and it was!! LOL!! I decided I wasn't going to chalk or ink any of the edges so I had to use something else!! Actually this is so Lauren... the more sparkles the better!! The Easter eggs were made with printed paper that I embossed with my cuttlebug and then outlined the designs with stickles.... I love the way they turned out!! I just wish the colors showed up better in the photos... they are so much more vibrant in person!

I also did something fun with the title... I used Glossy Accents to cover the letters that I had detailed with a Souffle pen!! Aren't they so cool?!! This is my new favorite product to play with... you will also see it on my Frosted Designs LO that will be posted in the morning!!


Products used:
Paper: My Mind's Eye - Magnolia Stack
Cricut: Storybook, Easter, All Mixed Up, Happily Ever After
Stickles: Lime Green, Star Dust, Cotton Candy, Waterfall, Yellow, Orange Peel
Glossy Accents: Ranger
Misc. gems, flowers, button, and ribbon
Martha Stewart border punch



Thanks for taking the time to look at my LO... and thank you for all the kind words of encouragement all of you leave for me! Barb :)

Lauren

Not even going to lie... I have some serious bling on this project! I had a total blast with this LO!! When I saw the sketch over at Stuck On U Sketches, I knew instantly which picture I was going to use. It is a picture of my youngest daughter when she was about 3 years old and is my favorite! Seriously, How precious is she?! (I know... I sound so much like a mother!) I used so many supplies on this one, I really should have written down as I went... but that probably would have impeded my creativity and we can't have that now can we?!! (Trust me, once it gets going, you don't want to stop it! It may be a while before it comes around again!)


But before I get that list going... thank you to Sandy for your amazing creativity! You are so amazing and talented... and for that, I stole one of your ideas! I love the way you use the pages out of books as embellishments on your LOs... so I did the same! I used it on my butterflies and I totally love the way they turned out! If you have not checked out Sandy's work, hop on over to Details by Sandy and check it out!


Alright...now we will see what kind of memory I have....
I started with papers from SEI (Keepsakes), We R Memorie Keepers (Tiffany's), DCWV (Metallic Stack), and DCWV (Neutral Cardstock Stack)

Cricut Cartridges used were: Stone Script, Storybook, Hannah Montana, Plantin Schoolbook, Walk in My Garden


For the title, I cut out Lauren using Stone Script and covered it with German Glass Glitter (silver)... Love this stuff... it adds serious BLING to a project! And we all know how I like bling!


The Flowers were cut using the blackout feature for one of the leaves. I then emobssed the white and dark pink ones with my Cuttlebug, wrinkled them all up, stretched them back out and chalked them with Cat's Eye fluid chalk in charcoal and a random pink one that I no longer have a label on! (Sorry about that!) The light pink flowers were sanded around the edges, wrinkled up, stretched back out and sanded some more. I liked the way the white core of the cardstock was showing so I did not chalk these. I thought they needed a little bling so I did a quick shot of Opalescent Spray Glitter (Flora Craft)on them. I finished them off with some small pearls from Recollections. I tucked some ribbon (random stuff in my stash) behind some of them then I pop dotted a few of them and layered others.


The butterflies were cut using the Hannah Montana cartridge then I Stickled them with black diamond. After that dried, I decided it didn't have enough bling for me yet, so I added some Star Dust Stickles to the base of the body! (Much better!) The bottom layer of the butterflies are pages from a random book that I will never read! (Which is a good thing since it has some missing pages now!!) I put some pearl strands behind to make them look like they are flying. (A little symbolism for my sweet baby girl... )

Other random supplies used included: Pink gemstones (The Paper Studio), Embossing Tinsel (Ranger) which I know is kind of hard to see on the layout... it is stamped on (with stamps that no longer have a label either!) in the upper and lower corners on the left side of the page.

Challenges this Layout is being used for:
Stuck on U Sketches: Sketch design
Practical Scrappers: Embossing (Powder embossing and Cuttlebug embossing)

I really think that covers it... Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my layouts... I sincerely love to hear your comments...

Surf's Up

I was on Practical Scrappers site when I saw a sketch challenge that I couldn't help but play along with! I decided to do something I don't do often enough... scrap a page of my son doing something! (Boy pages are just so much harder for me!) So, I picked some photos of him when he took his first surf lesson last year on Spring Break in Maui. He found a local instructor that he thought was the Bomb! This guy (in my son's opinion) was the greatest thing ever... if fact he would like to have his life... surfing all day long with a little place of his own on the beach.... can't say that is sounding too bad!! :)

So, I grabbed some papers from DCWV - Fun in the Sun Summer Pack and Cardstock Pack. I used Life's A Beach, Lyrical Letters, and Storybook along with my Cricut and Design Studio. The green was a little too bright for me so I chalked it with ColorBox (Creamy Brown). I also used fluid chalk (Chestnut Roan and Blue Iris) around the larger background pages. The paint around the picture mats and surfboard is Delta Acrylic Paint (Pumpkin). The eyelets were some I had laying around and I tied some twine to connect the photos together. The brown leather frame is from Memory Makers.

Would love to hear any comments you have! Barb

Cabo

Thanks to the ladies at Stuck On U Sketches for a great sketch. The heart was a little difficult for me to get a good shape on... but I did finally manage to get it a little less lopsided! Yipee for that! I loved the flowers I cut... they reminded me of some we saw on our visit to Cabo. But the flowers on their own were getting lost on the busy patterns in the background papers. So, I thought I would place some wide brown ribbon behind the flowers. It helped because it gave it some texture and lifted the flowers off the page a bit. After sanding some of the flowers to "roughen" them up, I added some stickles. (Sometime I like to add a little bling to distressed elements!) After fussing over it the past few days, I decided to leave it alone and go ahead and post it. :)

Supplies used:
DCWV Papers - Mi Casa (Perfect for a vacation in Mexico!)
Stickles - Lime Green
Story Book Cartridge
Stone Script Cartridge
Wild Card Cartridge
Design Studio
Stamps - random ones I have had so long, I no longer know the brand
Chalk - ColorBox - Dark Brown
Brads - Recollections
Embossing Powder - copper
Pop dots - EK Success
Adhesive Dots - Zots

My Girl Rocks!

I am so excited about this LO! It was designed using the sketch at Stuck On U Sketches (Thanks Aymee for a great sketch!) This is one of my favorites for many reasons: #1 I actually had the page designed BEFORE the event! That never happens in my world. #2 I think it turned out great! I love everything about it (And there are not too many of my LO that I feel that way about! #3 The picture featured on this page is of my darling 7 year old daughter at the Miley Cyrus concert in Indianapolis on Nov. 16th. She was sooooo excited and we had so much fun! #4 This is going to be an easy LO to add to. I plan on adding a second page with some of the pictures we took at the concert! (Clearly I didn't have that part done before the concert!) :)

As for the details:
The paper is DCWV Metallic stack, We R Memory Keepers, DCWV The Glitter Stack
Bottom layer is stamped and embossed
Cut outs are from Hannah Montana Cartridge and Storybook
Glitter is Stickles - Star dust
Ribbon and gems are misc. supplies I had laying around!
The frame was distressed using sand paper.
I also used a lot of Pop Dots! I liked the layered effect of it!

I hope you enjoy this LO as much as I do! Thanks for looking!

Cousins

I realize I am a little behind with this post but I really liked the way the page turned out so I decided to post it anyway! This LO is based on a sketch at SOUS on October 30th. I think all of their sketches are so amazing, I wanted to work back to be sure to do them all.

This is a picture of my daughter on a camping trip with her cousins last summer. I used Storybook for the scalloped edges on the background paper and the flourishes. I used walk in my garden for the flowers. The paper is from MME (Magnolia - love this stack!)The letters are chipboard from Colorbok that I chalked. I added distress stickles to the letters for a little bling. The ribbon and buttons are some that I have had sitting around for a very long time! By the time I was finished, I realized that my LO looked very little like the original sketch but I guess that just means that I made it my own! I hope you enjoy it!