Nutmeg Love

Here is my first of many layouts using the Nutmeg line by Cosmo Cricket. This layout is based on sketch #46 from 52 sketches. I also used this layout for one of the challenges for the online crop at Personalscrapper which was to use a die cut or handmade accent on your page. I used these leaf die cuts that I got from a CM party way back in 1997, LOL! I really like the way this turned out. The "J" sticker is from one of those sticker books from Cosmo Cricket (the Christmas one I think) and as you can see the colors are almost a perfect match, which was fun find. I have had that sticker book forever as well, and it is almost used up. I am off to the Cowboys game right now, pictures to follow. So go Cowboys you gotta win if I am coming to watch you in person! LOL! Too bad I won't be able to use my Nutmeg to scrap my game pics...now that would be a challenge, anyone game enough to take me up on it??? Happy Sunday everyone!

sketch #45

Howdy all! Just wanted to check in with my take on last week's sketch over at 52 sketches! I went with a summer theme this time. This layout was super easy, but I think it turned out well, and I didn't even have to make a title, it was predone for me! Super simple! I just love the Snorkel line by Cosmo Cricket, but then again, I love almost anything Cosmo Cricket! Have you seen their new Nutmeg line? If not check it out here...I have some and I plan on using it this week at the online crop at Personalscrapper that starts today! Come join us if you have time, Erica just posted SIXTEEN fun and motivating challenges, in fact, I already have scads of ideas from them and can't wait to get some scrappy time! Have an awesome week and I will be back with more creations soon!

sketch #44

Here is my latest creation using sketch #44 from 52 sketches. I was SO lucky to get this shot of my son holding a DOG! He does not care for dogs, he isn't mean to them, he just does not like them licking him or jumping on him, so when my brother's dog Sprint came and sat on his lap, I was lucky I had my camera in my hands ready to go, so I got this shot! It is a one of a kind shot, and the dog is even looking cute isn't she? I LOVE those ears! LOL! These are the Dream Street papers called Superstition...and are meant to be Halloween papers! I got them in my October Personalscrapper kit, which I just adore and can't wait to play with more. I have two sketches to work on this week, one from Creative Scrappers and sketch #45 from 52sketches, so I hope I can squeeze in some time this weekend to scrap. Its a busy one, but hopefully I can make some time. Have a good week everyone and dont' forget to enter the voting for your favorite card, you could win some fun cards by casting your vote, you have until November 13th to do so here!

Giving Thanks

Today's layout is based on sketch #43 at 52 weeks 52 sketches. I used some older We R Memory Keepers papers from my June 2007 Personalscrapper kit. All my embellishments are from my OLD stash too...nothing new on this layout but the Thickers and this awesome stamped journaling box made with a new stamp set from my secret sis Amy (I told you she spoiled me)! I love it when it works out that way! This is my son in Kindergarten dressed as an Indian Chief when they learned about the first Thanksgiving. Just love his smile back then! How sweet is it?!!!
I am working on doing some of my older photos even as I scrap newer ones, trying to play catch up a bit. I will be back on Friday with a new featured blogger, if you know of anyone that you think is a great scrapbooking/papercrafting blogger, please let me know so I can feature them here! Later!

Here comes the sun....

Well, FINALLY, I have some sunlight to take pics of my layout! I thought I would never see the sun again! LOL! This layout was created from sketch #42 at 52 sketches 52 weeks. I used Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend line stickers and papers for this SIMPLE yet fun layout. I flipped the sketch as you can tell, to better accomodate my larger photos. These photos were taken in June while we were vacationing at Universal Studios. I am fast at work on sketch #43 and should have it done and ready to post tomorrow, so check back for that, and if you have time why don't you participate yourself in this week's sketch, I'd love to see it and even better you will be entered to win a FABULOUS kit by Work in Progress..it is lovely and I am keepin' my fingers crossed, I'd love to win this awesome kit! Good luck and if you enter leave a comment with a link to your layout so we can all view your wondrous work!

sketch #40

Wow! It's week #40 over at 52 sketches this week, that means only 12 weeks left in this year! Can you believe it????? This layout uses the Personalscrapper December 2008 kit featuring Basic Grey Wassail and Making Memories Fa La La papers. These are pics from our first ever Fort Worth Christmas Parade of Lights in 2006. It was such a nice evening, not too cool, not too hot! We had a great time seeing all the lights and watching all the fun floats as well as sipping on some hot chocolate compliments of Starbucks! YUMMY! Can't wait to enjoy a hot mug again this year! Hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Monday everyone!

Sketch #39

Another week almost come and gone! WOW! We have been super busy here getting ready to go out of town for our annual Fall trip. It is going to be a cold one this year, we may actually get to see snow folks! It's gonna feel more like winter than Fall! Before I head out I wanted to share with you my take on sketch #39 over at 52 sketches. This is a fun picture of my son and nephew at my birthday dinner last year. It was a perfect pic for the Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend line. I am loving this line, the colors and everything about it are so 80's! It is a lot of fun and I can't wait to play with it again! If you haven't already picked yourself up some, you are really missing out. This sketch was so super easy to work with, it helped me make this layout in record time. I also used this layout for my challenge over at Personalscrapper for our CROPTOBERFEST LOAD (layout a day). Each day members take turn posting challenges. SO if you are at a loss as to what to scrap for that particular day, no worries, you will have lots of inspiration to jump start those creative juices! My challenge was on October 2nd and so I did a DOUBLE challenge. For my challenge you were to use doubles somewhere on the layout(s), like the word "double" in my title, 2 boys in my picture, etc. You could do a double page layout, anything really goes. The layouts done so far for this challenge have been super and a lot of fun! Well, off to pack...my least favorite part of traveling, but I don't want to freeze, so I've got to go pull out some of my winter stuff...well, as winterish as we Texans get I might add! LOL! Check back for my Friday's featured blogger, you're gonna love it!

Sketch # 38

I finally got a 52 sketches sketch done before the deadline! YEAH! Their sponsors offer such awesome prize packages it is a great incentive to play along every week. I haven't won yet, but if I do you will hear me far away in blog land cheering and jumping up and down! This week's sketch was a real fun one, and let me use FOUR photos! I love multiple photo sketches. I used my October Afternoon papers again, found in the Personalscrapper kit for this month. They are from the lines Night Light and Farm Fresh (which is still not in stores yet!) I took a ton of pics of the kids playing baseball in my parents backyard when my brother came to visit over the Labor Day weekend. Isn't that a hoot how he is lifting up my little nephew to retrieve the gutter balls?!! It's so fun to capture these simple everyday moments. I used Jillibean Soup letters on this layout for the first time, loving that font, need them in more colors! In fact, this layout was created for the Personalscrapper challenge called PUNCTUATION, we were to use punctuation on our page. Now, gotta start thinking about next week's sketch, its up and it is an awesome one..I think I have an idea for it...maybe I can get it done tomorrow, right now I am working on a two page spread that is giving me fits...so I'm putting it up for tonight and will look back at it in the morning with fresh eyes, hope I have one of those "aha" moments! LOL! See ya next week folks!

sketch #34

Still getting back into the back to school groove at our house. It would go more smoothly if I only had to work and scrapbook but now all these pesky housekeeping and yard chores keep wanting my attention and since we are expecting company this weekend I decided I better give them some attention or our guests will think they are visiting a pigsty not our humble home! Today's layout was completed for week 34 on the 52 sketches/52 weeks challenge website. Can you believe we are already on week 34?! I just LOVED this sketch...the multiple photos are really nice and its so easy to work with. I was able to create this layout in no time flat. I used papers from Pink Paislee and My Mind's Eye Breaking Free. The photos are of my son and his friend horsing around with his carpet slides he got for Christmas. They were pulling each other and falling down and just laughing and having a great time! The letters are from Basic Grey, the tag from My Mind's Eye and the button from Jenni Bowlin. I chose this title because one of the challenges for the Personalscrapper online crop was to use a song in your title and so I IMMEDIATELY thought of these photos (don't ask me why but I did)! I plan on using this sketch a few more times due to its versatility, but I have so many other challenges I need to work on it will have to take a back burner for now. Hope to be back in a few days to share my other layouts with you. Don't forget to check out the 52 sketches week 35 sketch, it is really fun and involves a circle, so it will be a hard one for me, but I already have my idea, just need the TIME to do it!

All good things must come to an end..

Yes, it's true as much as we love summer it is coming to an end. I have switched back from my fall mode to a summer mode making some more pages with a summer theme. Here is a layout I forgot to post. I did this last week for sketch #32 over at 52 sketches. It is from last year, showing my DS, me, my neice and nephew and BIL on an end of summer walk last September. I used my BRAND NEW papers from GCD that I won on their blog a few weeks back and let me tell you they are super awesome, the colors are crisp, the texture is really nice (they kind of have a linen like texture to them) and they are super fun to work with. The line I won is called Sunny Days and it is perfect for summer layouts, pool layouts, or really any outdoors or even birthday theme! The journaling block is from Jillibean Soup and the chipboard is from Scenic Route. I am working on a few more layouts with a summer theme and hope to finish them up and photograph them tonight, the Personalscrapper crop has been extended another day so I am still working on challenges over there. Come join us if you want!

School's back in session!

School is officially back in session in our neck of the woods! My son is growing up fast, he officially is a Middle schooler as of today! He had an awesome first day at school and was even able to manage his locker without any technical difficulties (a great feat by any standard!) Here is a layout I did last night for sketch #33 of 52 sketches. This is my son taken right before he started kindergarten! As you will see from the photos of today he has really grown up. This layout was also inspired by one of the great challenges over at Personalscrapper for the online crop. We were to use something old and something new on our layout. I used these Pink Paislee papers and embellishments (fletching line) that I recently got for my new stuff and my something old is that printed twill and my photo all from about 6 yrs ago! Can you believe I saved that twill that long?! The crop at Personalscrapper is still going on through tomorrow so I hope to finish up a few more challenges before it ends, so check back soon, hope to have more to share soon

Dreaming of Fall!

Are you ready for Fall yet? I hate to say it but I am. I am tired of the heat, and I am ready to stop mowing the grass! LOL! I can't wait to decorate my house with Fall themed things once again, watch some football, decorate pumpkins, visit the pumpkin patch, yes, I'm ready for fall! So when I started work on this weeks sketch over at 52 sketches I was in a Fall mood. I remembered a picture I had taken last Fall after I finished decorating my entryway and after much searching finally located it and this layout was born. Using sketch #31 it uses Fancy Pants Kraft and All Fall papers as well as Creative Imaginations letters and 7 gypsies stickers for embellishments. I really like the way it turned out. The flowers I had cut from a scrap of Pink Paislee Spring Fling paper and they ended up working well here. I am still busily working on organizing for the August 22nd crop I am attending, my goal folks is 12 layouts...that's a layout an hour...any bets, ya think I can do it? If so it would be a Lisa record. LOL! I am hoping to get to work on this awesome sketch this week if so that would make two layouts this week, as I like to try and do the 52 sketches sketch each week as well...but something about the Creative Scrappers sketch really caught my eye. Well gotta run, hi ho hi ho, it's off to mow I go! Now do you see why I am missing Fall?!!!

A sketch obsession

Should I call it an addiction? If so it is a healthy addiction at least, but I guess it is really more of an obsession....I am talking about my love of sketches! It seems like everytime I sit down to scrapbook I reach for a sketch to help me along the way. I especially love the 52 sketches 52 weeks sketch site, check it out here. It is so inspiring to at least do ONE layout a week based on one of their sketches, many times I use the same sketch over and over, and startling enough the pages are different each time. This week's sketch over at 52 sketches is #30 (can you believe the year is now over half gone!) I love the way it incorporates so much layering (more than I have done here actually) as well as mulitple photos. These photos are of my nephew, isn't he a great acrobat? He was showing off his moves one June day when we visited him and I snapped these pics of him "just hangin' out!" For this layout I used Fancy Pants Summer Soiree from my July Personalscrapper kit as well as a strip of Cosmo Cricket Snorkel! I also used this layout to fulfill another challenge on the Peronsalscrapper site which was to journal on patterned paper, what a fun look, but one I don't do very much! I know I will use this sketch again and again so keep an eye out, I have another idea for this sketch I hope to work on this weekend! See you back here tomorrow for Friday's Featured Blogger!

Sketch #29

I FINALLY finished sketch #29 from the 52 sketches 52 weeks site this weekend, well over 24 hours before the deadline too! HA! Last week it was 3 minutes before the deadline! It's just a little game I play with myself, no real reason to impose the deadline except the prizes which are usually super fantastic! LOL! Now that's a good reason I would say. This layout shows my dad and son on Father's Day looking at the fire wallet my son gave my dad. We had a good time with it, it is really a funny prank! It makes a great gift for someone who has everything! I used some older Cape Town paper by Scenic Route for this layout, so that I could also use this layout for a challenge over at Personalscrapper to use up things that have been in your stash for over a year! Everything on this layout I have had for well over a year ( even the Scenic Route chipboard letters and embellies!) I love the way it turned it, Scenic Route is still one of my fav companies, just wish they would release more new stuff...I think I have everything they make now! LOL! Sketch #30 is now up over at the 52 sketches site and it is awesome, using FIVE pictures this time! WOW! So hop on over to check it out and play along with me, I'll be back to share once it is completed, hopefully that will be before the end of the week, but hey, around here you never know! Happy Monday everyone!

Sketchy goodness!

After a long absence from the 52 sketches site I got back in on the sketchy goodness this week completing sketch #28. This sketch was really a fast one, very easy to do and fun to! For this layout I used my July Personalscrapper kit featuring Fancy Pants' Summer Soiree line. Can't get enough of this line, it is my FAV Fancy Pants line to date. The pictures are from a beautiful spring day in March of this year when I took the three kids to the park by my sister's house to play. They loved climbing on the rock wall, as you can see even little Katie got in on it too! She was not to be outdone by those big boys! LOL! Well, I'm off to start on sketch #29 maybe I can complete it by the deadline for the prize drawing this week, I'm feeling lucky!

It's almost that time of year again!

Guess what I was reminded that today is? It is SIX months until Christmas! WOW! Is time flying or what? In honor of this fun day Jenn's challenge over at Personalscrapper for today was to create a Christmas layout! Fun huh? I love Christmas but have a hard time scrapping my Christmas photos for some reason, but I immediately thought of this picture you see here as it was my fav from last Christmas of my son and myself. It was taken in front of our tree on Christmas Eve after all our guests had left with the self timer on my camera and my camera on a bar stool, which as you can see really worked out nicely. This layout is based on sketch #25 (here's that number again! LOL!) from the 52 sketches site. Papers,snowflake and alphabet stickers are from Making Memories and the other stickers are from 7 Gypsies. So ladies, get your Christmas hat on, cuz its just around the corner....hmmmm......maybe I ought to start working on my Christmas cards! LOL!

My Challenge!

It was my turn today over at Personalscrapper to post the challenge for the June layout a day contest. I decided to go with a the challenge called NO ALPHABETS. For this challenge participants were not to use any alphabets die cut, sticker, chipboard or otherwise on their layouts. Most people who participated used a premade chipboard word, rub on or die cut quote/title for their titles. One participant even used paper with a preprinted word on it for her title! I found that I was able to really get my layout done in record time by using a premade title. For my layout,I used a rub on by Stampin Up for my title that says "LIVE EVERY MOMENT/ADVENTURE". Easy peasy...and even more so as I used Sketch #21 from the 52 sketches website for my layout! The papers I used are from My Minds Eye that were featured in the August 2007Personalscrapper kit. I am now down to scraps for this kit...look for maybe one more layout or a few cards using those scraps coming soon! So are you brave enough to accept this challenge? If you are please post a link in the comments so we can all have a peek! Hope you decide to play along!

More sketch goodness!

I just realized I hadn't shared my layout inspired by sketch #18 from 52 sketches/52 weeks. I am really becoming a circle lover because of this site! I love October Afternoon papers and embellishments and knew just what I wanted to do with this Home Sweet Home sticker when I first saw it, it just took me a few months to actually Git'R dun! The letters and swirls were cut on the Cricut using the Graphically Speaking cartridge. What inspired me to get this layout done finally was the Mother's Day crop at Personalscrapper. The challenge was to use a definition on your page, and I immediately thought of these stickers and voila! I was inspired to put thought to paper! Off to go work on some cards tonight, gotta get them in the mail for some upcoming birthdays and anniversaries before I leave on vacation! Keep checking in, I'll try to share them here soon!

Use your stash Tuesday!

For today's use your stash Tuesday I created a layout based on sketch #20 from my fav sketch site . This sketch was a real simple but versatile sketch, so many ways to interpret it. I choose some of my fav photos of myself and my son from 2008 (actually I think these are THE ONLY photos of us together in 2008). I used Pink Paislee papers from the Spring Fling line that I purchased well over a year ago when the line first came out. I really loved them, but was hoarding them for some reason, probably waiting for "JUST THE RIGHT" photos LOL! The other older things from my stash which I was excited to use were the round bingo tiles...I covered the middle of two of them with a 1/2 punched circle and used a heart sticker for the middle of the flower and the "LOVE" in the "Love U". I have had these for well over 8 or 9 yrs and just never used them, don't you think they look great like this? I especially loved the one in the middle of the flower. The quote is one I got free at a Quick Quotes class I took 4-5 yrs ago, I thought it was fitting for this page. The word "MOMENTS" is a fabric sticker that I got 3-4 yrs ago and never used, but now have used almost the entire lot of them. The chipboard under the flower is from my winnings from Emma's challenge. I LOVE using up my older stash...trying to destash so I can purchase some of these and some of this and a little bit of that! Can you tell I'm gearing up to scrap some awesome summer pics? I just love scrapbooking my water pics. We are leaving for vacation to sunny Florida in just 10 days, so I will have plenty of uses for these yummy goodies! Plus we are gearing up for another LOAD (LayOut A Day) contest over at Personalscrapper so I hope to get a LOT of scrapping done and use up some more stash during this month long contest in June! Hope you will be able to play along with me!

Use your stash Tuesday!

For today's edition of Use your stash Tuesday, I used up some more of one of my older Personalscrapper kits from August of 2007. I also threw in some paper and stickers from Scenic Route's Grafton line found in my June 2008 Personalscrapper kit. This layout is based on sketch #19 from this WONDERFUL site! I loved this sketch, it is very versatile and allows you to use anywhere from one to four pictures depending on your take on the sketch. Notice on this layout I didn't use any letter stickers to make my title. It's so easy to look through your stash of stickers, die cuts etc and just use them as your title..especially when you can't find just the right color or size of sticker letters as was my case here. So if you have some extra time or just need to jumpstart your mojo go check out the 52 sketches site and see for yourself all the wonderful inspiration there. I'm off to work on sketch #20 so check back soon for my version of this fun sketch.