Just a quick post

This week's card sketch is up over at the LCOM Sketch Blog.  It is one designed by Jerusha Borden and the challenge is to use a stamped image -- my favourite type of challenge since I get to dig out my Copics.

Materials used:  Bazzill cardstock, Graphic45 paper, KaiserCraft pearls, Copic Markers, Memento ink, Ranger Stickles, Distress inks and pop dots.

The sketch and the rest of the cards are posted over at the Sketch Blog.  I would recommend popping over and checking them out.

I must be off....I am heading over to Grandparents Day at my kiddos school.  Since the Grands all live quite a distance from us, I get to go and give my best impression.

A Productive Weekend....

Well, it was a productive weekend from a scrapping point of view but from a housework vantage point, not so much.  I ignored all but the basic house cleaning to concentrate on getting a few scrappy projects completed.  I finished my card for this week's sketch reveal at LCOM which will be posted tomorrow on the sketch blog.  I completed a mini-album for the 3rd challenge for the the Big Brother Contest and I even did a layout just because I wanted to.

Materials used:  My Little Yellow Bicycle Twig pattern paper, Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey pattern paper, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Ranger crackle paint, Paint daubers, May Arts ribbon, Tim Holtz clock face & charm, misc. brads, American Crafts thickers, and pop dots.

The birds and the bird cage are three new Marianne Design dies that I picked up recently.  I love these dies.  They are so intricate and different.  The one design flaw that  I noticed in some of my older dies has been corrected.  They have added a poke hole to allow you to easily pop the die cuts.

It is back to work and school today for everyone.  No one really wanted to move this morning.  All I heard was grumbles and growls.  At least, it is short week and the weekend already feels like it is in sight.

I think I will take a break from scrapping tonight.  I really should clean up my living room and fold some laundry...

So Far So Good

I made it through the second round of LCOM's Big Brother competition and I am impatiently waiting for the third challenge to be posted today.  Mojo is flowing and I am looking forward scrapping all day.  Gotta love holiday weekends when you have no plans but to relax.

The layouts from the second challenge were revealed yesterday so I can finally share what I did for the challenge. :-)  We had to create a layout around someone that we loved.  We had to include the word love, hearts, bling, some misting and some journalling.

Materials used:  Bazzill cardstock, Heidi Swapp Invisibles paper,  My Mind's Eye Lush paper, Just Crea8 stamp, Tim Holtz stamps & die, Great Impressions stamp, Basic Grey rub ons, Riff Raff chipboard, Prima flowers, Dollar store hearts, The Girl's Paperie letter stickers, American Craft Thickers, 7 Gypsies Rub on, Chenille Kraft Glitter, Distress ink, Perfect pearls, Maya Road Trinket pins, and miscellaneous ribbon.

As you have probably noticed, there is not much in the line of journalling on this layout.  The journalling is on a tag which is attached to a pocket at the back of the layout.  It slides out to allow the reader to view the text.

I am not much for including journalling on the front of layouts.  I find it distracting to the overall design.  If I want to add more detail than my title or the couple of lines of journalling that I have added to the front, I will often put a sticker on the back of the layout that will further expand upon the layout's subject.

I think I am off to see if the third challenge is posted.  If not, I have a few small touches to finish off a layout that I was working on yesterday.  I picked up some My Little Yellow Bicycle Twig paper on Thursday and it is the perfect paper for some pictures of I have my son doing his imitation of Huckleberry Finn.

Happy Lazy Sunday.

Just waiting....

I am sitting here waiting for the second week challenge in the LCOM Big Brother Challenge to be posted. 

I am keen to start a layout today but I know that I will probably only be able to get one completed.  I am the type of scrapper that has to finish one project before I start another.  Since part of this contest is complete the layout as fast as possible to be able to win the Head of the House, I don't want to be stuck in a layout that I need to finish first.  Crazy, I know but it is how my creative process works.

I can finally share with you the layout from the first challenge.  We were suppose to make a winter layout using the colour blue, a picture, something stitched, and some kind of snowflake embellishment.

Materials used:  BoBunny pattern paper, American crafts glitter paper, Prima flowers, American Craft thickers, Bazzill cardstock, Celebrate It Christmas picks, Spellbinder dies.

A Luxury Competition was posted last week as well.  It was an optional challenge.  We were suppose to create a Valentine card using traditional Valentine colours, some bling, something with a heart and a pin of some sort.

Materials used:  BoBunny pattern paper, Bazzil cardstock, miscellaneous ribbon, Maya Road pins, Prima bling.

This one I am a bit more nervous about since the winner of the challenge will be decided by the member of the forum voting on the participants' entries.

I feel a little lost in this contest since I have never watched the TV show but I decided to join up because I really need a kick in the pants to get my mojo started.  I am not sure if it is all the grey weather but I have become something of a couch potato this last month.  It also doesn't help that there has been some great TV on as well.

There is nothing like a bit of healthy competition to get you going.

I love these....

I absolutely adore these.  They are so yummy.  If I could write poetry, I would write a haiku devoted to them.  But alas, my writing sucks.  My spelling is at best interesting.  I am sure that my attempts a an ode would be even worse than Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Sussex.  My geekiness is now showing.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming soon.....

This Week's Card Sketch

This week's card sketch is up over at LCOM Sketch blog.  The Card Team has moved over to join the Sketch Team on the Sketch blog; so, there will be lots of wonderful sketches for both cards and layouts to inspire you.  The other change is that the Card Team will be posting their sketch and cards on Wednesdays instead of Monday.

This week's sketch is a Valentine themed sketch provided by Anita.  Once again, I decided to go with  a more streamlined version of my style.  The BoBunny's Valentine paper makes doing up a quick card very easy.

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Materials used:  Bazzill cardstock and swiss dot cardstock, BoBunny pattern paper, BoBunny cardstock stickers, KaiserCraft bling, miscellaneous ribbon, Martha Stewart baker's twine, Spellbinder dies and pop dots.

To check out the other team member cards and the sketch, hop on over to the Sketch blog.  I am sure that you will find lots of inspiration. :-)

A Quick Valentine

I don't have much to share today.  I have been scrapping quite a bit the last few days but I am afraid that it has to be kept under wraps a little longer.  What I can share is a quick little Valentine card that I made for the kiddos.  Instead of going for the overly embellished card, I decided that I want something more streamlined and quick to put together.

Materials used:  Bazzill cardstock and swiss dot cardstock, BoBunny pattern paper and cardstock stickers, unknown ribbon, Spellbinder die, and Distress ink.

I am loving this line from BoBunny.  I love the bright reds and pinks with the black and white.  I was getting so tired of the pink and brown combinations that have been so prevalent the last few years.

LCOM has started its next series of challenges today.  This one is based on Big Brother.  I have never watched the show...actually, I have never really watched any reality TV.  It is not my thing but this contest sounds like it will be a blast.  It will also give me some motivation in the gloomy days of February to work on some layouts.  Lately, I have been finding that challenges really get my creative juices flowing and I have been producing some of my best work due to them.

I have already completed the layout for the challenge and submitted it.  I was quite please with what I was able to come up with.  I will share later on in the week.

Now, I am off to make haggis....yep, you heard that right.  I made it for Robbie Burns Day so the kids to could experience a bit of Scottish food that is part of their heritage only to find out that they really like it.  It is rare that I find something that both of them will eat.  I guess I will be making haggis more often. :-)

Happy Sunday.

Playing with Pink

Pink is not one of my favourite colours....I wouldn't say I hate it but I am not particularly fond of the colour.  To my mortification, it just happens to be my daughter's favourite.  She would surround herself in pink if I would let her.  She wears it on a regular basis.  This tends to create a bit of a problem when designing layouts.  I always have to incorporate pink or a complimentary colour when playing out a layout.

Today, I just decided to embrace pink so...here is a predominately pink layout:

Materials used:  Bazzill swiss dot cardstock, Pink Paislee pattern paper, Melissa Frances crepe paper, DCWV glitter cardstock, Distress ink, Art House glitter, pearl cotton, Archival ink, Maya Road chipboard, Martha Stewart bakery twine, Prima butterflies, Cosmo Cricket letter stickers, cupcake wrappers, miscellaneous button, puffy hearts and pearls.

The large flower is made with Melissa Frances crepe paper, a cupcake liner covered in glitter and a glittered button tied with Martha Stewart bakers twine.

I think I need to do a layout about my son now -- blue or perhaps green is calling out to be used next.