Celebrate 8 (Stuck Sketches)

Hello!  I've been saving sketches from Stuck Sketches for months now, but haven't had much time to play along.  I finally decided to commit to the 1 August sketch, because I love all of Laura's sketches, and I needed to make a dent in my April Hip Kit.  I decided to scrap photos from Azaria's 8th birthday.  I loved the sketch and stayed very true to it.  I did decide to scrap a smaller photo!

I love adding twine to my tags and stitching on my buttons!

I loved making this cluster with paper strips and puffy stickers!

And here is the awesome sketch.

Stuck Sketches Guest Designer (Merry & Bright)

Hello again!  I'm excited to share that I'm the Guest Designer over at Stuck?! Sketches for the January 2015 reveal!  I love Laura's sketches, and its an absolute honour to be her Guest.  My layout is about Brielle's first Christmas and opening her first stocking.

The sketch showed four square photos in a linear vertical row, but I decided to use 2x3 landscape photos and slightly stagger them for interest.  I used my November Hip Kit from last year, which was full of the Elle's Studio "Good Cheer" collection.  

I wanted to use the Merry flags to create a stitched banner on the top right corner, and the empty space was perfect for my journalling.  The background misting is with Heidi Swapp Colourshine, using both the packaging technique and splatters.

The silver rub-on stars were the perfect finishing touch, and added that magical Christmas feeling!

I layered a wood venner flag over a die cut frame - and of course using up products that contain the year on them is always a good idea!

Here is Laura's amazing sketch.

Thanks for looking and thanks Stuck?! Sketches for having me!

10 Months (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello from the last day of 2015!  I can't believe the year is pretty much over and tomorrow is 2016!  I've had some time to scrap lately, so I've been working solidly on Brielle's monthly baby album for the past two days.  I'm using Webster's Pages Sweet Routine collection for the entire album, with some other goodies from my stash.

The first layout is from a sketch at Stuck?! Sketches, and it's Brielle's 10 month page.  I had fun with the printed design already on the page.

And here is the sketch.

And now I have another 5 layouts to share with you from her album.  This first one is 4 Months.  I find primary colours very hard to work with, so the teddy bear in the photo was challenging!

This one is 5 months, and I kept this one very simple because I adore these photos.

This one is 8 months, and it was December so I took these cute photos in front of the Christmas Tree. I used an entire sheet of Crate Paper vellum for the background, and I stitched it onto white cardstock.

This one is 11 Months, and I used the acetate from the Websters Pages baby collection on the top of my page.  

And finally, her 1 year photo which I enlarged because I love it so much!  I did the packaging technique and splatters with Heidi Swapp Colourshine.  I was so happy to use that large chipboard floral - I've tried to make it work on so many layouts!

Thanks so getting to this far with me!  I only have a Christmas filler page and the cover page to go and the album will be done.

Open (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello!  I hope you had a lovely Christmas!  We had an awesome day, starting with Church and then lunch with family.  A few days before Christmas I felt like scrapping a Christmas layout that wasn't December Daily, so I pulled out last years November Hip Kit again, and some photos of Brielle last Christmas opening presents.  A first sketch for December at Stuck?! Sketches was perfect to scrap these photos!

The only item not from the kit is the star paperclip.  

I even used a scrap of paper that I had punched with my circle punch, and I actually used on the the cut apart Evalicious tags as a folded over tag!

The gold puffy stickers were the perfect finishing touch!

And here is the sketch.

Thanks for looking!

Shopping for Baby (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello, I'm back again so soon, and today its to share a layout I made for the latest sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches.  I haven't been able to play along for several weeks now due to work and prioritising Design Team commitments, so I was so happy to find some spare time.  I used my September Hip Kit again, and scrapped another photo for my pregnancy album of Sam and Azaria shopping for the baby.

I love all the navy elements in this kit, and the letter stickers from October Afternoon were lovely!  That ampersand paper from Dear Lizzy is so pretty, I almost didn't want to use it!

A close up of my doily and banners, and a die cut arrow by Amy Tangerine.

And here is Laura's lovely sketch.

Thanks for looking!

Noteworthy (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello!  I'm back again today, this time to share a layout I made for the latest sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches.  I've been super busy with work this week, so I've been a bit slow to get this layout made!  I decided it was time to use my homemade kit that I made for Sam's 8 year old birthday photos, and this sketch was perfect!

I started with this October Afternoon Sasparilla woodgrain paper for my background. I thought it worked nicely with the wooden furniture in the background of my photos of Sam opening his presents.  It is truly one of the most amazing woodgrain papers, it is so realistic!  Even Sam was commenting on it, he though it was a photo!

I built my layers very true to the sketch, and was able to use up some really old papers and stickers!  The products are a mix of October Afternoon, Studio Calico, Basic Grey, Elles Studio and Eco Park.

A close up of my left cluster, with a mix of paper and stickers!

I fishtailed two scraps of paper, and popped up the title sticker with dimensional adhesive.

I used the blue letter stickers to spell out his name, and to cover up part of a word on the underlying paper.

And here is Laura's amazing sketch:

I had so much fun with this sketch.  Thanks so much for looking!

Scrapbooking School Photos (Part 2) - School Photo Hop 2015 (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello!  I'm finally  back again with Part 2 of my Scrapbooking School Photos series on my blog (you can find Part 1 here).  Today I'm also contributing to a School Photo Hop organised by the fabulous Megan Blethen (Crafty Meggy on YouTube).  Its time to go back to school in the States, but here in New Zealand it's nearly the end of term 3 of 4.  But I always have school photos waiting to be scrapped so I was super keen to join in!  The Facebook page for the hop is here and you can join any time and share your school photo pages.

I used my August Hip Kit, and decided to scrap Sam's official 2015 photo.  Because I've been struggling with my creative flow I used the latest sketch over at Stuck Sketches.  This layout is made of Pink Fresh Studio's Happy Things collection (papers, cut parts, and puffy stickers), and Crate Paper's Wonder collection (specifically the ephemera).  The Thickers and chipboard balloon are from Dear Lizzy.

I especially love my title on this page!  The sketch showed three photos, but as I only had the one photo I used the two cut aparts which were perfect for Sam's personality. 

Our dear sweet boy at age 8, in year 4 of school!

I built this cluster totally around the Crate Paper camera.

Here is the fantastic sketch:

Here is my video, you can also watch it on YouTube here.  

Make sure you check out the layouts made by the other talented and lovely ladies that are playing along:

Megan Blethen

Blog: www.craftymeggy.com

YouTube: (craftymeggy) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt3wJx4jIOfIuqITbht7jPQ

Hannah Lemieux

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsFOS-ppvPeFoExVzo-mO8Q

Katty Miranda

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVTHwKrwq8LO9_FTaAXsVg

Christy Harriman

YouTube (Christy's Beautiful Life) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4zHSberz5_f79YhdVIIUWQ

Alyssa Hurzeler

Blog: http://justmeandmyasdf.com

YouTube: (Alyssa H) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Qx8CDiMDJZFvtiw0-7ZdQ

Jennifer Cambridge 

YouTube: https://youtu.be/oNBaAw2Fr1k

Kelly Wells Barron 

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCiMbKy8p0ib5wug27fd9v1Q

Thanks for watching!  Happy school photo scrapping :)

Summer & You (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello!  Spring is nearly here and I'm so excited!  The nights are starting to stay light for longer, and today Brielle and I even dug up some of the garden!  She helped me with a little spade.

Today I'm sharing a layout I made for the latest sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches.  I've said it so many times, but Laura's sketches are so much fun, and I'm always inspired when I use them.  This one was no exception, and I took the opportunity to make my final layout with my July Hip Kit.  I had to pull in some extras, including the gorgeous black and white floral from Studio Calico.  This is all i had left of it, and I'd been hoarding it in my scrap bag for the perfect layout!

This layout features my beautiful Azaria at the Queenstown Gardens earlier in the year.  I just love that its a side profile of her looking at the pond with Sam.  I kept this layout very simple to focus on the photo and the floral paper.

This layout was also my last opportunity to use that beautiful ampersand.

I put Azaria's initials on the corner of the photo, and under it I added a feather that I cut with my Cuttlebug on adhesive woodgrain paper.

And here is the sketch:

Thanks for looking!

Enjoy the Simple Life (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello again!  August is flying by and I'm here today sharing a layout I made for the latest sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches.  I used my July Hip Kit again because it was perfect for the photo of Shaun and Brielle.  

This layout started with that gorgeous stripe by Fancy Pants, and then I knew that I wanted to hand stitch the circles on the sketch.  I had put a filter over my photo in PicMonkey, and the other papers suited the design perfectly.  I did my misting and stamping before I stitched, and I used a really old Studio Calico stamp for the "+" sign.  I kept my embellishment to a minimum on this one.

The chipboard is from Crate Paper's Poolside collection, and I added some leaves cut with my favourite Stampin' Up die on my Cuttlebug.

That Simple Stories Summer Vibes cut apart was perfect for my title.

This months kit had October Afternoon Pop Drops, which are perfect because they include enamel shapes too!

And here is Laura's fantastic sketch:

Thanks for looking!

Poolside (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello again!  I'm back with another sketch challenge layout, and this time I played along at Stuck?! Sketches with their latest.  I used my June Hip Kit again, and this time I used one of the most gorgeous papers I have ever seen as my background.  It's called Shine, and is from the Simple Stories Summer Vibes collection.  I really wanted to feature it, so it was perfect for this sketch. 

This layout features a photo of Brielle and I, enjoying her first time in the paddling pool last summer.   I cut the photo in half, and I love how it turned out!  The colour of my top and the blue of the pool were perfect for the papers and feel of the kit.  I was actually nervous as I was sprinking my colour shine, because I didn't want to ruin the paper.  I limited the colours that I used, with gold in all three places, and then colour matching the blue with blue and coral with the orange tones etc.

The Poolside title chipboard was perfect for the layout!



I made some more epoxy stickers with the triangle Fancy Pants paper from the kit.

 I toned down the top left cluster so as to not overtake the shinning rays, and stamped the tag with my Dear Lizzy phrase stamp.

Here is the sketch:

Have a fantastic weekend!

Just Add Water (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello!  I'm playing along over at Stuck?! Sketches today, and I'm not sure if I've already shared, but I'm on a real sketch kick at the moment!

This sketch was awesome, and I made it work for 4 photos of Brielle being cute in the bath!  I used my May Hip Kit and had a blast using all the fun embellishments!  

I went a bit full on with mist splatters on this one, I almost didn't know when to stop!

And yes those home made epoxy stickers are from patterned paper, totally inspired by Adele from Inkie Quill (on YouTube)!

I'm really into outlining and stapling at the moment!

And here is Laura's super fun sketch.

Thanks for looking!