I'm a Scrappy FOOL!

I was on a roll last week getting caught up on all of the MWMs I've missed. I've got about 6 more left before I'm all caught up and at the rate I'm working, they'll be done in NO TIME! :) Here are the layouts I completed last week:

MWM #11:



And my layout:



I didn't follow this sketch as closely as I usually do, so that was a big change for me! I have to say that it was COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone to do a layout at an angle, but I'm in love with the way it turned out! This Fancy Pants "My Family" kit has certainly gotten good use while scrapping the pictures I had from this photo session! I even got to use my newest Scrapbooksteals steal...the i-rock! With two girls, I knew I HAD to get one! There's going to be bling on EVERYTHING! :)

MWM #17:



And my layout:



Here are a couple close-ups of details:



While I'm not 100% pleased with the way this turned out, I still think it's pretty cute. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the background cardstock was pink with blue scratch marks all over it. This is why I chose the pink and blue pallate for the layout. The second page seems kind of plain to me, but I still like it.

MWM #18:



And my layout:



I LOVE THIS LAYOUT! I didn't know how to make a layout gender neutral when there was a daddy and a baby girl in the pictures. I took a frilly, dark cardstock and placed it over a plain white cardstock. Adding pinks, blues and greens helped neutralize everything. My husband really likes this layout, so I guess I did something right! :)

MWM #19:



And my layout:



This layout is just so precious! The browns from the papers complement the sepia tone of the picture so well. I also decided to use pinks as they all seemed to go together so well. Of course, I'm addicted to my Basic Grey "Bittersweet" papers and they just *happen* to be in the pink/brown category. :) I used a glittered pink cardstock for the background of this layout. It's just a cute, girly layout and I love it!

MWM #21:



And my layout:



The pictures of my layouts never turn out well, so some of the details get lost in translation. I did this layout on glittered cardstock that seemed to have the same green tones as the layout. This layout has easily made it into my top 10. :)

MWM #22:



And my layout:



This layout CRACKS.ME.UP! When I saw the title in this My Mind's Eye "Merry Days of Christmas" paper pack, I just KNEW I had to use it. What would Christmas pictures with Santa be if there weren't a few hilarious, crying baby pictures? :) Another one of my top 10 layouts!

And last but not least...MWM #25:



And my layout:



Here are some close-ups of details:



Here we go with the Basic Grey "Bittersweet" collection again! :) I just had to use it because it tied together the colors in all of my pictures so nicely! I made the journaling in this layout a letter to my daughter. Hopefully she'll love to see how silly she was when she was little. :)

This is not the end, my friends. :) It's just a goodbye until next time. Hope you've enjoyed looking at my mojo's as much as I enjoyed making them! Until next time!

MWM Time!

It seems I've gotten my "mojo" back, as this is the third week in a row that I've completed the MWM the day the sketch was posted. I had fun with this layout and I'll definitely be using it again!

Here's the sketch:



And here's my layout:



I love the cute little sun that I created and I love how the ribbon and button coordinate. It's the little things. :) The blue cardstock has a little shimmer to it, which is pretty fun. Aside from the cardstock, all of the other papers I used, including Mr. Sun, were all scraps. Way to go me! :)

It is now completely past my bed time, so until next time...

Layouts, Layouts, Layouts!

As I mentioned last night, even though I haven't updated my crafty blog in a while, that doesn't mean I haven't been creating! I've made some cute layouts that I'm really proud of. Three of the five layouts were Midweek Mojo's from scrapbooksteals.com! After being guest sketcher in October, I took a creative hiatus from MWMs and finally decided to get back in the game! :) I'll start with my non-MWMs first...



I usually rely on sketches or other layouts for inspiration (see the following four layouts!), but this one was done in my own head. (That's pretty big for me.) And for the most part, the layout matched what was in my head. Anyway, if only you could have seen what this layout looked like when I completed it...the first time. I had hand-written the journaling to the right of the top picture but I HATED the way my handwriting turned out. Thank goodness for the big flower I cut out of some paper and the polka-dotted paper! I covered up my original journaling and you wouldn't even have a clue unless you look *really* closely.

For this second layout, I used a sketch I found. Here is the sketch:



And here is my interpretation:



How. Cute. Is. That?! Not that I'm biased or anything, but I absolutely LOVE the way this layout turned out. This definitely makes it into my personal top 5. It helps that I LOVE this paper. It's Basic Grey's Bittersweet line. I got it for free from my local scrapbooking store and I have to say, it's the best money I never spent! :) I love how the colors of the flowers, papers and floss coordinate so nicely. The stitching was done with one of my other Christmas presents, the Sew Easy by WRMK. I've done stitching on my layouts before, but the Sew Easy takes some of the leg work out of it. It's taking me a while to get the hang of using it (getting it to roll out straight lines, etc.). I love it when layouts come together this effortlessly.

This next layout is a scrapbooksteals.com MWM. This is MWM #24, I believe. Here's the sketch:



And here is my take on it:



This is another one of my favorite layouts. It's the first time I made a layout solely using one collection. The only things on this layout that *aren't* from the Fancy Pants My Family line are the thickers and the two different cardstock colors (red and white). Good for me, right? :) I love how well everything coordinates on this layout. It turned out super cute, if I do say so myself. :)

This next layout is scrapbooksteals.com's MWM #26. Here's the sketch:



And here's my take on it:



Here is a close-up of some of the detail:



Now some layouts look better when photographed in the natural light and some look alright when the flash is used. This one definitely looks better in the natural light, but I took the picture on a cloudy day and the flash had to be used. The browns and reds coordinate much better in the natural light. I'm proud of this layout and it showcases one of my best friends. I still miss him dearly.

This final layout is scrapbooksteals.com's MWM #27. Here's the sketch:



And here's the layout I created:



Here's a close-up of some of the detail:



It's not often that I see a sketch posted on Wednesday morning and instantly get the inspiration to complete the layout THAT DAY. This sketch and last week's sketches were exactly like that. When this sketch posted yesterday morning, I instantly knew what picture I wanted to use, what papers I wanted to scrap with and what flourishes I wanted to add. It all came together so quickly and I'm so pleased with the result.

That's all I have to share for now! I have 14 MWMs to catch up on, so I'm sure I'll be back with more to post shortly! :) Until then...

Have Some Cards!

So it's been three months since my last post. That's really sad. Never fear, though. I have been crafty during my absence!! I've gotten into cardmaking recently. I mean, why not make my own cards when I have TONS of scrapbooking paper and supplies, right?

Anyway, here are some of the cards I've made in the past few months:

First is a card that I created to give my best friend for her birthday...



I was very pleased with the way this turned out. Although I have a ton of it, ribbon freaks me out. I never know what to do with it. This is one of the first cards I've ever made with ribbon on it.

Second is a card I created for my nephew, who just turned 2...



I never know what to do for boys. Probably because I have two girls and lots of girly supplies. This My Mind's Eye collection ('Lil Robots) came through again!

Here is a close-up of some of the detail:



After taking about a month off from cardmaking, I created this beautiful card with one of my Christmas presents...my Silhouette! One of my uncles passed away on Christmas Eve, so I made a sympathy card for my aunt.



To be perfectly honest, I almost didn't want to send this to my aunt. Is that bad?! It was the first time I'd made something with my Silhouette and one of the first times I'd ever used flowers and actually LIKED the way they turned out. Plus, it's just really pretty and coordinates SO well. :)

The next two cards were the second and third things I made with my Silhouette. I LOVE the card kits that you can buy for only 99 cents!





Here is a close-up of some of the detail from the second card:



The Silhouette almost makes cardmaking *too* easy! :)

Next are some cards I made to thank people who gave my girls Christmas presents:







Not as exciting as the ones above, but definitely a step up in my cardmaking game. :)

That's all I've got for you tonight! Stay tuned because tomorrow I'm going to post some of the layouts I've done in my absence! :)

Guess who's today's Midweek Mojo guest sketcher?!

ME!! After a frazzled Kristy from Scrapbooksteals posted that day's mojo, I sent her a message saying I would love to help her out sometime if she needed me. To my surprise, she said yes on the spot! I was so excited to be able to create the sketch for today's mojo! Lucky #13, no less! The Christmas kit from KI Memories had a lot of fun stuff to work with!

Here is MY (!!) sketch:



And here is the layout I created based on MY sketch:



I must say, creating a sketch and then a layout from that sketch was super hard for me! I need a visual aid (a sketch, a layout, etc) to be able to create my own pages, so starting from scratch was a challenge. Once I figured out what I wanted my sketch to look like, everything else fell into place!

Once I completed my layout, I decided I wasn't done working with the kit. I wanted to make a card with some of the other elements from the kit...the "placemat-like" sheet mostly. I used it for the background of a card, then used my i-top and another sheet from the kit to create berrys for the holly. Still being a novice with the i-top, I think the berries could have turned out better, but I think it was a valiant attempt. :)



I'm so excited to see how other ladies interpret my sketch this week!

Back in the saddle again...

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've blogged, but fear not. I've been crafty since the last time I wrote. I made a card for my husband's birthday that was borderline manish...



I used My Mind's Eye's 'Lil Robots collection. It had various bolts and tools, so I figured it would make a good birthday card for a man. He liked it. :)

Also, I completed a mojo page a couple weeks ago. Here is the sketch:



And here is my take on it:



I love how the papers (all MME!) are not Easter-themed, but the soft pastels work for the theme. Plus, I love how I was able to crop a bunch of pictures in one layout. That's always helpful when I have a lot of pictures to choose from for one event.

That's all for now...exciting news coming tomorrow morning!