My FAM - a Lasting Memories challenge

Happy Easter, friends!

Today is the start of a new month, so 4 new challenges are coming your way from Lasting Memories challenges! This month is all about Paper - our real true love.

Today's challenge is to use a new paper technique on your layout. I LOVE this idea!

I have been wanting to try folded quilting circles for a while, so this was a great challenge to do that. I found a fun 6x6 paper pad with double sided designs for our beachy photo and folded my circles into diamonds!

I used watercolor crayons on the background paper, so it shimmers like a mermaid.

I filled in gaps between diamonds with some circles - not folded and accented with these cute puffy stickers!

Take me back to that day on the beach, please! haha

I cut this anchor with my Big Shot & used some Thickers for a simple title. I didn't want to distract from the super busy background going on with a long title.

I had so much fun making this page with a paper technique I've been meaning to try for a while. It was a great way to add interest to my page, and I will definitely be trying it again. It was fairly easy!

 I hope you will go play along with Lasting Memories this month! I can't wait to see what you create.

Happy Easter & thanks for looking!

Wild Whimsy - GDT @ Wild Whisper

Hey friends!

I'm super pumped to announce that I am the guest designer over at Wild Whisper Designs for March and April! I am so honored the girls are having me, and the entire group is so welcoming and sweet, not to mention crazy talented! I love meeting new people that share my passion.

I want you to see all the details on the Wild Whisper blog, but here's the finished product!

This Wild Whimsy collection is something else! I love how unique the color pallette is, and the whimsical mermaids are my fave.

I highly suggest grabbing the collection for your spring break or upcoming beach trips! Head on over to the WW blog for details and a small photo tutorial on how I made the waterfall feature on the layout - you pull the tail & the photos flip!

Thanks for looking!

Reckless abandon - a LM challenge

Happy Sunday, friends!

Today I'm bringing you another Color me Happy layout from Lasting Memories challenge. I have been on a roll creating white background 8.5x11 layouts, so I decided to stick with that style for an entire album of beach layouts from our last beach vacation. I'm really happy with how today's layout turned out.

Here's the mood board from which I drew inspiration:

I used papers from Pink Paislee's Citrus Bliss collection - they're one of my favorite companies and this is one of my favorite collections! I'm a sucker for kelly green these days. It's always been one of my favorite colors.

I used Recollections shimmer watercolor crayons  and some alcohol packaging technique to creat the yellow background. Then I stamped with a lemon stamp and made some green splatters with another watercolor crayon and alcohol.

I wanted a big title to convey how much FUN we had this day. It was probably one of the best days of our lives so far. It was glorious and perfectly tempered. We just played in nature and enjoyed one another and I almost tear up just thinking about it. I know it's just a first of many to come - it's one of the first, if not the actual first trip the 4 of us have taken together without any other company.

I had a poll going on my Instagram stories about sequins being the new enamel dots, but there actually some who don't agree?! I'm aghast! Haha

It's always nice when a die cut you've been saving turns out to work perfectly on your page! This little "be grateful" bit was the perfect shade of yellow and sentiment for such a great memory.

I'm so glad God blessed me by being his Mommy! My sweet, fun-loving, adventurous, gorgeous boy who cooperated with my seemingly endless photo taking in exchange for  jumping cold cold waves this day!

I hope you will all go over to Lasting Memories and play along with this week's green and yellow challenge. It's a unique color board, and I love it! I can't wait to see what you make.

Thanks for looking!

High Tides & Good Vibes - an IRS layout

Hey hey hey - another twice on Sunday blog post here again!

Today I'm over on on the Ink Road stamps blog with a bright, sunny layout to combat this rainy, cold February day in Tennessee.

I used the super fun Full Circle stamp set to create this bold beach layout & it was SO fun!

You can read more details over at The Ink Road & see more fun photos of this layout. Don't the patterns have such a fun, Saved by the Bell vibe? Hahha That was my JAM when I was a kid.

Go check out the versatility of these great stamps!!!

Beach Vibes, My Tribe - A Challenge YOURself layout

Happy Friday!

So so glad it's the freakin' weekend!

I'm also very happy with how my layout for today's post turned out! I used a lovely prompt from the wonderful blog, Challenge YOURself, to use sewing on a layout, as well as include a picture of myself.

Well, amidst all this fall crafting going on in my house, I have snuck in a pic from our recent beach trip!

I actually mentioned earlier in the year that one of my scrappy goals was to use more sewing on my pages, so this challenge was perfect for that #goal! Here's a close up of my sewing. I just ran lengths of wooly lime twine into my sewing machine as I zig-zag stitched around the border & I love the texture it added!

Originally the title was "My Tribe," but Beach Vibes just hit me & I had to go with it!

A few ephemera, some strategically placed to cover a body bit that was not so flattering, and boom - page done! I even used a negative from the cute little sun tab cut file I cut for my TN for this trip. I'm really enjoying my layers lately!

Supplies:
Striped patterned paper and vellum - Studio Calico
all other Patterned paper - Pink Paislee Citrus Bloom
Paper ephemera - Pebbles
Twine - Michaels
glitter alphas - Heidi Swapp
Transparent alphas - Amy Tangerine

Thanks for looking!

Lil' Studs - a Stuck?! sketch

Happy Monday everyone!

Today I'm bringing you a layout from our recent trip to the beach. I didn't get too many good ones of my boys together - they're just at difficult ages for that right now, but I love this one!

I used ths month's lovely sketh from Stuck?! sketches.

Here's a couple of detail shots:

My little studs!

supplies:
Patterned Paper - Studio Calico
Ephemera - Bella Blvd & Project Life
Alphas - Studio Calico

Thanks for looking!

those eyes though...

Today we have another lovely sketch from Scrapbook Challenges.

I kept it fairly simple because I love this photo & didn't want to take away from it. This was taken on our hotel's pier at Gulf Shores, Alabama last summer. He is constantly getting comments about his eyes, from family, friends, and strangers alike. I thought this title fit perfectly for how beautiful they looked by the ocean!

Here's a detail shot:

Supplies:

Paper from the Atlas collection by Pink Paislee
Rain Dots by Cloud 9 Design, Multi Stardust
Title cut by Cricut, Gypsy cartridge & Cricut Outline Font
Paper ephemera by Bo Bunny, Noteworthy Collection
Stamps by $1 spot at Target

Thanks for looking! Go play along at Scrapbook Challenges & be inspired!

Summer with an Auntie - A Stick it Down Sketch

Today I am working on the last of my beach vacation photos from 2015! I used a great single photo sketch from Stick It Down.

I had some new, fun, Amy Tangerine letters to use that just screamed summer, so I designed around those letters!

This is a photo of my boy with one of his aunties last year on the beach. He is ready to go back and reminds me every day! Me too, son!

Supplies:

Cardstock - DCWV
Pattern Paper - Atlas by Pink Paislee
Clips - Around the Block
Paper ephemera - Pebbles
Staples - We Are Memory Keepers
Letters - Amy Tangerine for American Crafts
Metallic dots - Joann Craft Essentials

Thanks for looking!

Sandcastles on the Beach

This month over at Scrapbook Challenges, they're featuring each of us new Sketch Crew members with a Liftapalooza Challenge! It's super fun to get inspiration from the styles of my fellow Crew members. Today's Challenge was to lift a sweet little layout done by Ali Gage!

I super loved the paper curls she had going on, so I had to mimic them.

I still like her's better!

Here's a couple of detail shots:

That sweet baby had so much fun castle-smashing! Definitely ready to go back to the beach soon - he asks me all the time when we will go back.

Products:
Patterned Paper - American Crafts, Bookshelf, Kipling
Striped Paper - Echo Park Paper Company, The Story of Fall, Dots
Heart Paper - Amy Tangerine, American Crafts
Sandcastle Die - Cricut, Create a Critter
Chipboard Stickers - Me and My Big Ideas

I hope you will play along with us as Scrapbook Challenges this month - it's tons of great scrapbook inspiration! Thanks for looking!

Hi, North Shore: Sketch & Pattern Challenges

I'm competing in a fun, new-to-me challenge this month from Challenge YOUrself where you're supposed to include in your scrapbook page a photo of yourself! This month's pattern they wish you to use is Chevrons, so I've incoporated that into a page for (at least) the second time this month.

I'm also using a sketch from My Creative Sketches. I rotated their lovely March sketch for my landscape photo.

This is a photo of me, pregnant with my firstborn, at the North Shore on Oaha, Hawaii, where my husband was born & lived as a baby. It was unreal how beautiful this place was!

This is my adaptation of the sketch from My Creative Sketches:

Some details:

Apparently the Easter Bunny needs to replenish my alpha sticker selection! I wanted to say "hi north shore" (hi, a play on the acronym for Hawaii). I had to make the i from a j ... the n from an m, second o from a q and second r from a p! Gotta be resourceful with pretty glitter letters!

I actually used a ton of glitter on this page, which is appropriate since it's supposed to be about me over at the Challenge YOUrself blog. I love all things sparkly. I had recently been reviewing an old cruise album where I'd used all these bright DCWV papers & I have some left, so they needed to be brought up again!

Supplies:
Orange glitter cardstock - DCWV Coral Couture
Patterned papers - DCWV Citrus Stack
White chevrons leftover from my chevron challenge earlier in the month at Scrapbook Challenges
Chipboard Flowers from Me and My Big Ideas
White glitter stickers - American Crafts Thickers
Aqua glitter stickers - Heidi Swapp

Thanks for looking!

Toes in the water, Toes in the sand - a SBC sketch

Today we have another great sketch to start your week over at Scrapbook Challenges!

I love a good 4x6 photo layout, so this was right up my alley. I used my cricut to cut the title. I have had the plastic storage circles for forever & was excited to finally use one to hold some seashells we found on our trip. The little flower came from a cute scrapbook store in Maui (back when we did cool things like that before children...), and I used my trusty old dictionary to stamp the boat at the bottom.

Thanks for looking & go try out the sketch!

Beachy Smiles - a sketch challenge

I am wrapping up last year's beach vacation in the scrapbook & found a great sketch to use for one of my photos over at Grand Diva's Scrappy Place. I also participated in the Scrappy Friend's Bonus Challenge by adding the "This or That" element from Rochelle Spears.

I used a "polaroid" frame & Pink Paislee Atlas paper. Cut some dies from my Cricut, of course.

Good Challenges - go play along!

Thanks for looking!

Dig in - a mood board challenge!

I completed a beach layout for the January Mood Board Challenge over at Scrapbook Challenges!

I like the idea of using these colors which would traditional probably not be used in a beach layout. But I felt like they went well with the filter on my photos. I loved these pics of my boy playing with my dad, his Papa. He has the sweetest expression of pure joy on his face!

Gosh, Isn't vacation wonderful?! It's like non-stop playing for week when we're at the beach.

I used a couple Studio Calico kits to create most of this page, with a few other items from my craft room stash. You can check out most vendors tagged in the photo on my Instagram account.

Thanks for looking!