Together Life is Good!

Happy Hump Day!!  I had a little extra time this afternoon that was unexpected so I ended up doing a quick layout and playing along with one of my favorite challenge sites Scrappy Friends!!!  I always drool over their challenges, the sketches are so easy to use and the other challenges are just plain fun!  Here is what I made:

 Supplies Used: Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd & We R Memory Keepers; clear sticker: SRM;

die cuts- word together, thankful quote & flower- Simple Stories; die cut leaf- Basic Grey, die cut

postage stamp- Fancy Pants; wood veneer- Studio Calico; enamel dots- Teresa Collins & MME

And here is the sketch I used which was Brenda's challenge:

And here is the color challenge my friend Kelly had for us:

  

I also did Rochelle's Tic Tac Toe challenge.  I used the third row straight down: the color gold, 3+ patterned papers and die cut (flower, leaf, live laugh love piece & word together).  Using this fun sketch my layout came together very quickly!  I had a great time with this challenge, there is still a bit of time left to play along, but if you don't have time at least check out their great examples.  Thanks Brenda, Rochelle & Kelly for such a fun challenge!!!

Card sketch #42

January seems to be flying by!  I have actually been pretty productive so far this month, created a lot of cards, a few scrapbook layouts and re-organized all my paper and embellishments which gave me a better grip on what I want to use up in the upcoming year....it was fun to see things I forgot I had, felt like Christmas all over again!  We have our last sketch up at Sketch N Scrap today for January. It is a fun but easy sketch to help you make a few cards you might need for birthdays or even the upcoming Valentine's holiday!  Here it is:

Here is my take on the sketch:

Supplies Used: Patterned paper: Echo Park Head over Heels; ink: Stampin Up- Strawberry

 Slush, Basic Grey & Soft Sky; stamps: Stampin Up Hearts a Flutter & All Holidays;

 Brad: Stampin Up; Cardstock: Stampin Up Very Vanilla & Basic Grey.

I made this card a birthday card for my SIL whose birthday is in February kind of a good theme for a February birthday don't you think?  I hope she likes it!  Make sure and hop on over to Sketch N Scrap's blog to see what the talented DT has done with the sketch, you will be pleased to see this heart sketch used for MUCH more then just love themed or Valentine's Day themed cards! You have until January 31st to play along with us and link up your card based on this sketch for a chance to win TWO fabulous rolls of GOLD washi tape (swoon!!)

Twistback Thursday~ new challenge at Sketch N Scrap!

We have a brand new challenge for 2015 at Sketch N Scrap up today.  Twistback Thursdays will be the second Thursday of each month throughout 2015.  We will feature an oldie but a goodie sketch from our archives but add on a "twist" to make it more interesting.  This is a great way to play along with older sketches you may have missed!  This month's challenge features this sketch from May 2012 by me: 

And now for the TWIST: Out with the old and in with the new in 2015: use something old that is a year or more old on your layout as well as something that is new. 

Here is my take on the sketch:

For my something old I used patterned papers by Bella Blvd from their MR BOY line.  This is a line from 2011 that I have been "hoarding" for some time now! I also used a journaling card from the Scoot line by Echo Park that I have had in my stash for a long time as well as one from Basic Grey (under the two pics).  The alphabet is from Doodlebug is very old as well, I'm down to just a few letters on this one (hate trying to figure out words to use them all, it's so hard!) and my final "old" items is the "smile" sticker at the top of the pictures from the That's My Boy line by Echo Park.  For the new things I used a few newer embellishments I got in my September Scraptastic kit called We Will Rock You! The little doggie with the glasses is by Jillibean Soup and is from the Cool Cucumber Soup line. The numbers cut out is a kit exclusive by Kaitlin Sheaffer and the little circle in the bottom right is by Heidi Swapp and is from the kit as well!  I also used a new pack of My Mind's Eye enamel dots and a pack of clear words (the word smile at the top left) by Heidi Swapp!  It was fun mixing up some older papers with some of my newer embellishments!   I think this challenge is a great example of how you can use the same sketch over and over again and no one will be the wiser...you can easily change up the look of it depending on the papers and embellishments you use OR you can flip or rotate it to give it another look.  Here is a great example, my take on this same sketch from way back in May of 2012:

Fun huh?  I don't think they really look that much alike and I bet if I had just posted them both without mention of the sketch you wouldn't have known it either!  Ahhhh...the beauty of sketches!  Please hop over to the Sketch N Scrap blog and check out all the wonderful layouts the DT has created with this sketch I know you will be inspired!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2015!  I can't believe another year has rolled around!  I hope everyone is ready to get their craft on this year, I know I have some crafty goals which all involve having more time to actually craft!!!  Here's to finding more time to do what you love whether it is crafty or not!  I have a new sketch up at Sketch N Scrap today:

And here is my take on it:

Supplies Used: Patterned paper: Fancy Pants Timbergrove; letter stickers: Fancy Pants

Timbergrove & American Crafts Thickers; wood veneer: Studio Calico; felt snowflakes:

Stampin Up; chipboard snowflake: Fancy Pants; sticker: Fancy Pants Timbergrove.

These pictures were taken in December of 2013 as we tried to dig out of 3 inches+ of ice on our very sloped driveway!  It took us all working most of the day to scrap it off, then afterwards we went sledding (on ice not snow) and that was a pretty fun way to reward ourselves for all our hard work!  I hope you will find time to play along with us and the brand new 2015 design team this month!  You have until January 31st to link up your layout created with this sketch!  Make sure and visit us at Sketch N Scrap to see what the DT did with the sketch!  Enjoy your day, hopefully you can ring in the new year with some crafty time today!