Dancing

I used the Jumpstart Sketch from The Scrap Room  for this layout of Landon dancing with Belle. I’m trying to knock out my Disney album and this was a special moment. He was such a handsome Prince!

A Cup of Tea

Zoey looked adorable so I couldn't resist scrapping this photo!   I used a  Paige Evans cut file, and the sketch from The Scrap Room.  The papers and embellishments are from the  Alice in Wonderland collection (except the green leaf paper, which is from Field Notes). I was really surprised how well this collection worked on a layout that wasn't Alice in Wonderland themed. I used Aged Mahogany distress oxide ink for the background and splatters. I added Nuvo drops in Autumn Red and Silver lining.

My first official Design Team layout!  I'm so excited to be creating layouts for Scrappin in the City! 

Mighty Cute!

I'm trying to catch up on literally YEARS of pictures of my children as they were growing up. My "plan" has been to scrapbook my pictures seasonally for the time being. Last year I organized my photos, embellishments, and paper by topical themes. The idea was that I would be able to quickly select photos, papers and embellishments to coordinate. This layout of my daughter was one that I was able to pull together from my summer theme. I loved her smile in this photo and I tried to capture her love for summer.

I followed the sketch for The Scrap Room's August Jumpstart Sketch Challenge.                               

                  

                                                                                                                                                                  

 I also entered this layout in the CSI Challenge Case File #260.  I have stalked their challenges for awhile now, and I finally mustered the courage to enter the challenge. For this challenge.  I used the color theme with sky blue/buttercup yellow/navy; flowers; and added a camera. I didn't focus a whole lot on the travel theme, although we were on a trip when the photo was taken. I had a lot of fun creating this summer layout! 

Let the Celebration Begin!

We arrived in Lynchburg on Friday afternoon. It began to feel like a real celebration with all the fun stuff Liberty had set up. This photo was taken at a photo booth and I loved the balloons so I used the balloon cut file from Paige Evans. I kept with the patriotic theme papers I am using for the Commencement layouts to back the cut file. Most of the embellishments are from Paige Evan's Turn the Page.  I am playing around with some mixed media, but haven't used much in my layouts. I added a touch here with oxide inks and stencils. This was a fun layout and I hope it captured the festive feel of the day!

My Graduation

In May 2017, I completed the last step in my Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy- Graduation! Last fall when I ordered my photos, I decided I wanted to scrap my Commencement with a Fourth of July theme. (Since I graduated from "Liberty," it seemed appropriate.) The colors from this month's (gorgeous!!!) Independence Day collection by Photoplay looked perfect, so I decided to use these papers for July's Jumpstart Sketch challenge from the Scrap Room.  I used  a set of graduation embellishments from Paper House Productions, then added some Nuvo drops, and star brads from my stash.

There's This Boy

I just got the May Flavors of the Month kit. When it's Mother's Day and you're missing your boy that's serving in the military half way around the world, what's a Mom to do?  Why, scrap memories of him, of course!   I liked the masculine feel with the gears, so I used some cut files to make the gears on my cricut and added some
ephemera, then placed them at the top. For the title, I used one of the 3x4 journal cards included in the kit. I used some of the ephemera and puffy stickers to embellish the side and bottom.  I really like the colors in this collection!

Scrapbooking is My Superpower: Citrus Fruit 4/22

I literally scrap lifted this from Shimelle's Friday Live (April 20) in which the request was to use 6 x 6 papers, and multiple photos. However, I didn't use multiple photos, but turned the photo around so that it is vertical rather than the 2 horizontal photos she was going to use in 3x4. This was a fun layout to do with totally random things. I was able to incorporate a hamburger into the embellishments which was fun and did give it a little cohesion. Adam had just turned six, and he looked so cute there with Ronald McDonald!

#'Scrapbooking is My Superpower Random Challenge: Bears

For Shimelle's Random theme challenge this month, April 21 is Bears. I came across this photo and thought it was perfect (although maybe not "random"). I used the Simple Stories "Cabin Fever" collection, and the background was a old paper from my stash. I always try to incorporate an old  paper somewhere to help use up my stash. 

In this photo, Carrie and Lili went with us to the Wilderness in the Smokies.  They had a cute bear statue and Lili liked the bear so we got a Mommy-Daughter shot with the bear. We had a fun trip and this photo reminded me we need to do more weekend getaways. 

Stronger Together

This picture was taken for our church's Mother's Day banquet in May 2003. The men served, even Isaac! This was the last year Candice was home before leaving for Argentina in the fall.  I used the arrow paper as a border strip on the bottom, as our children have always been referred to as our "Seven Arrows".  The layout is mostly from the Spring Market collection. The top butterfly and gold leaf strand are from Maggie Holme's Flourish; and the "Stronger Together" title is in the "Family" Thickers, and the gold family sticker at the bottom is in last years Jen Hadfield collection. I gave it a little bling with the gold sequins from Pretty Little Studio. The doily and black cardstock are from my personal stash.

Little Gardener

Today I have a layout using Carta Bella Spring Market. All the items are from the collection except the gingham and the dark green dot which are from my stash. The "ADAM" Thickers are from Maggie Holmes Flourish collection. When Adam was five, he saw me planting flowers and wanted to help. It was so sweet to see my active little guy making constructive use of dirt! I tried to focus on the darker colors to keep it a little more masculine.  It's a busy layout, (but then, so was my son!) but hopefully I maintained the focus on the photos.

Craft Room/Office Renovation, Finally!

After raising seven children, I finally have a space I can call my own. My last daughter living at home, moved to Haiti in early February to serve as a missionary. I didn't waste any time starting the renovation! I was sad to see her go, so this was my pick-me-upper. I'm a work-at-home Nana so I needed a space that serves as office, craft room, and area where I can maintain the grandchildren when I keep them. My craft stuff has been discombobulated for several years. I was on a hiatus for about 4 years while I completed my master's degree. It was time to get everything back together in one place. Last spring, my hubby suggested I take an area of our sun room so I worked all last spring to set up a "spot." I was able to reunite a lot of my stuff, but there were still items stashed in closets. I pretty much have most of it out now. What I don't have out, I have a place for as I am able to bash the closets and organize/get rid of the rest.

I had already accumulated a lot of storage items, so I decided to lean on the frugal side, and made do with what I had for the most part. My biggest investment was the IKEA Kallax shelf unit that I have wanted for some time now. I used tables, cabinets, shelves that we accumulated from school auctions and thrift store finds.  I also invested in the Fintrop rail/hooks from IKEA. Although I'm still tweaking here and there, I pretty much have everything arranged where it ended up functioning best for me. So, ready for the tour?

Here is where I keep my scraps. They are in rainbow order from pink to purple/brown, top to bottom. I am keeping my Cuttlebug here, and the plates are in the hanging pocket on the side, along with my most-used dies. The rest of the dies and embossing folders are in a bin on the Kallax shelves.

To the right of the drawers, I have a pocket folder hanging where I
keep paper/photos that I plan to scrap in the future, or I'm in the
process of scrapping. This is a dormer closet that stores stuff for one of my kids that lives out of the country.

Here's where you can see most of the wall. Just to the left of the drawers, is my Kallax cube shelf. I have all sorts of stuff stored here from paper, albums, projects, flowers, ribbons, etc. I also have office supplies stored in here, so it holds a wide range  of items. Further down, you can see my paper rack. I've this rack foreeeeeeever!  On the left is my cardstock in rainbow order, and at the bottom and right are papers organized by theme or designer. Last year I went through photos, embellishments, and paper and came up with theme names and they are all categorized under those theme names. This way I can easily gather my pics, paper, embellishments.

                                                                                     

 At the end of the wall, I have two cabinets stacked that I acquired at a school closing  auction. These were from the art room.  On the top, I have my ink pads, a basket with my 6x6 paper pads, large paper trimmer and drawers that hold stencils, and misc. large embellishments. I have a little thing on the top that holds brads and old eyelets. Well see........

 Inside the cabinet I have containers that I've had for a long  time. I decided to keep them since so much of my stuff was already there. Inside I also have a unit that has my basic white and black paper, and on top is my Copic markers. The blue drawers hold my reindeers.

I have two carts. One with drawers my mother gave me years ago that serves as an embellishment cart. The top bin is where I keep embellishments that I have categorized by theme once I've used them up in a kit. The other is a RASKOG cart from IKEA that has tools and media supplies. I have a basket in the top that I got at Hobby  Lobby that has been great to just drop stuff in as I need when I'm scrapping.  

Here is an overview of the room. Now to the left side of the room..... I made a "U" shape with my tables so that I can pivot and have plenty of workspace. I'm quite a mess when I'm crafting! I finally have my Cricut and computer united on one area so I'm hoping to use it more now.  On the top right is a letter holder where I keep my papers and embellishments I'm currently using. I have storage items under my tables to keep stuff I use a lot, or just a place to set things down off my tables.

This is an acrylic shelf unit I purchased when Goody's was closing in our area. I have a hook that holds my Cricut mats, and some of my clear stamps, as well as heat tools and this is a place to set my ATG gun down when I'm not using it.   I have a box in the corner that I use to place paper to do any spraying that might get too messy for my desk. Under another table is a bin that holds kits I still need to kill.

Here is a view of my desktop. This corner is dead space because I can't reach the far corner. My center worktable is 35" deep, and I sacrificed the corner for a deeper work area. I think my printer will work out ok there. The  empty wall spaces will be filled with new creations yet to come!  Sitting on my desk, I stacked 2 drawer units from Lowe's that hold frequently used small embellishments.

Here is a view of the left side of my desk area. I am keeping my 8 1/2 x 11 Cardstock here because I am trying to remember to use this paper for matting  my photos instead of using up my 12x12. My Thirty-One file holds some of my office paperwork.  Here is where I ended up placing the Fintrop rail so that I could reach it lol. I have Thickers in one of the Thirty-One pocket.

 At the end of the desk, is the shelf unit I purchased at the Goodwill a few years ago. As soon as I spotted it, I KNEW it was perfect for punches!  I mentioned earlier that I have a small space where the little ones can play. My son was testing out the play space with one of my granddaughters!  On the back wall is a love seat. So, there  you have peek into my creative space!

I plan to be better about posting my layouts in the future.    I'm on a mission to bash my stash this year. My goal is to complete a layout a day. I've managed to accomplish 45 layouts so far. I'm hoping to get my mojo back in my new craft space. I would love for you to join me on this new crafting journey! Thanks for looking!