Sketch/Template #20

I’m running late posting today’s sketch because I haven’t been feeling well, so this will be a short and sweet post! This is the sketch. Please feel free to pin it, or save it to your computer for later use.



The sketch is based on this page that I created with the Scraptastic Club June kit called “Oh Snap!”, and I also used the add on that I couldn’t pass on purchasing.

(OUT FOR PUBLICATION! SORRY.)

My amazing design team (The MMD Divas) created some really beautiful example pages to inspire you all. If you have a spare minute, you should definitely click through to visit their blogs.

At This Moment
By: April Walker



Just Because
By: Lesley Walker



Super Bunny To The Rescue
By: Ali Krogsgaard



11
By: Nancy Keslin



Bob (A Beach Bud)
By: Mitra Pratt



Up, Up, & Away
By: Sharon Fritchman



Watters-Fritts Family Reunion
By: Melissa Birlem



Beep Beep
By: Marlene Murphy



I also made a digital page with the sketch.
Explore
By: Heather Landry



For credits click here.

If you’re a digital scrapbooker, you can download the layered template freebie that I created in Photoshop Elements here.

Think Inside Of The (Hybrid) Box

Because it’s Monday again, it’s time for me to post my latest scrapbook projects. I have quite a few to share, and I even have some readers’ pages as well. Let’s get this party started!

1. Picture Perfect

I've been following along with the Photoshop Top Five Class over at Jessica Sprague's site to celebrate their fifth birthday. One of the classes was about how to use quickpages, and this is the completed project that I put together.

Supplies:
Jessica Sprague's Photoshop Top Five Class

2. Don’t Judge Card

I've been working on using some older scrapbook supplies, and I had some scraps left over from making my "Not A Toy" layout. I couldn't just throw them in the trash so I made two nearly identical cards. (Don’t worry, I won’t bore you by posting both of them.)

This card features an October Afternoon sticker and a finger pointing stamp that I stamped and cut out. Special thanks to Holly from The Sampler kit club for the stamps, and to Mitra for the beautiful layered flower.

3. Embellished Circle Purse

I fell in love with Samantha Walker's Circle Purse digital die cut file the minute I saw it. This is the project that I created. I used some older SEI papers and embellishments to accent the assembled die cut file.

Supplies:
Samantha Walker's Circle Purse Digital Die Cut File

4. Petal Box

This is my take on Samantha Walker’s petal box digital die cut file. I used more of my older SEI goodies from my paper stash to make this project.

Supplies:
Samantha Walker's Digital Die Cut File: Petal Box

You all know how much I love to share the pages that my readers send me. My dear friend Vija has been scrapping lovely photos of her son’s wedding. She sent me this layout and told me she was inspired by sketch #19. I was so impressed by the elegance of this page. She did an amazing job!

Chez is another scrappy friend of mine, and she sent me this layout of her absolutely adorable grandson. It was also inspired by sketch #19. I love her punching and the little robot embellishments make this a perfectly classic little boy page. Isn’t it awesome?

Thank you ladies! I really appreciate your use of my sketches and your generosity in letting me share your pages with my readers.

Beauty Everywhere

This is my last set of projects with the June Oh Snap! kit from Scraptastic Club. I can honestly say that I used this kit down to the last scrap with these two cards. I even stamped on cardstock scraps so I could add a little more detail to my design. These cards were inspired by some PageMaps sketches from Becky Fleck. On the card below, I fussy cut more of those fabulous flowers from the patterned paper. I know I've been a little obsessed with those this month, but can you blame me?

I used foam adhesive dots to create dimension on my card. I added a sticker sentiment, a stamped accent, and a tiny piece of bling to finish the card. The banner that I used was hand cut. I eyeballed it and tried to get the sides as even as I could. I found the artsy style of this kit very forgiving.

I also used the same adorable heart patterned paper on the next card! The big doily was printed on a different piece of patterned paper, but I cut it out to use it on my card. The papers in this kit really worked well for fussy cutting. I cut the doily in half and used it on the top and the bottom of the card. The pink doily was stamped onto cardstock and cut out. The sentiment is another sticker from the kit. I wanted to add some dimension, so I adhered it to pink cardstock and cut a thin border around the edge.

This is a closer look at the doily and the stamping. I layered the two together and I put a bit of bling in the center.

Have you seen the Scraptastic Club sneak peeks for July? They are really awesome!!

Under Construction

Hey everyone! I’m sorry for the delay in posting my Scraptastic Club projects. I’ve been reworking my blog design for the better part of the day, and I’ve finally got it all changed around. What do you all think? I’m off to cook dinner, and my project post will be up later this evening.

A Less Epic Photo Update

I am so, so, so excited! My awesome husband is buying me my dream DSLR camera and I can not wait to play. It should be here next week sometime, and I’m already planning to sew a camera strap cover for it tomorrow so I’ll be ready to go! I’ve never had a DSLR, so I’m a little worried about the learning curve. You all will have to be patient with my photos if they’re a little blurry at first!

Speaking of photos, I have a few to share. Brandon and I get pretty bored when we have to wait two hours for Jordan to finish her occupational and physical therapy. We end up goofing around and taking photos or building structures with the foam shapes in the waiting room. Last Thursday, we built towers and a cave. See if you can find the kid in this photo!

We got bored with building stuff after about an hour. I took him outside so we could see what the ducks were up to in the pond by the therapy center. We were really excited to find a gaggle of geese with babies. The parents were less than thrilled to see us, and they hissed at us every time we walked around the trail.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this, but I really hate grocery shopping. I can’t imagine that there are many people out there who love it. Grocery shopping gets worse in the Summer when I have to bring the kids with me. I always end up with random things in my cart. Exhibit A: Brandon made me buy this coffee cup because it had his nickname on it. I needed a new travel cup because I broke the old one. I was going to buy a pretty flowered cup, but nope. Vetoed!

Brandon has tons of opinions now. He’s never cared how I dressed him, and he used to go with the flow. Not anymore! Lately, he’s really interested in “matching”. Enter his Angry Birds t-shirt, and his Angry Birds Winter hat. He insisted that he needed to wear the hat outside in 90+ degree weather. It wasn’t worth the disagreement, so I just let him wear it.

A few days ago, I had a really bad craving for ice cream. I’ve completely changed my lifestyle and diet, but every now and then I have to have a treat. I’ve made sure to work these things into my diet and I haven’t felt deprived. So far, I’ve lost 45 pounds since November 2010. Cold Stone is my kryptonite... I love their coffee ice cream!

Jordan asked me to take these photos. She wants to scrapbook a layout about getting her braces made. She outgrew her last pair, so it was time to get cast for a new set. First, they put on a wet sock-like covering on her leg so the cast won’t stick to her. She says it tickles!

Then they wrap her leg in the cast, and form it while the material firms. We call it her free foot massage. She chose the hot pink cast material. She also got to choose the color of the future braces and the pattern. I won’t have photos of them for a few weeks, but I’ll post one when she gets the new pair.

Once the cast is hard, they cut it off of her leg and send it in for her custom braces. She really doesn’t like the process of cutting it off. Even though they use safety scissors, it still makes her REALLY nervous. I can’t say that I blame her either.

See? This post was MUCH shorter than my last photo update. I’m trying to update more frequently! I’ll be back tomorrow with some Scraptastic Club scrappy projects to share.

Unfinished Business

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Flood Wood Care for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We have a huge wooden playset in our backyard, and it's so big that we nicknamed it the Taj Mahal. We bought the Taj Mahal seven years ago when the kids were really little. I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but we paid an absolute fortune for it. 

I've noticed lately that the wood has faded, so I began researching wood stains. It seems a little crazy to spend that much money on a playset without protecting our investment for the future. I realized that if we keep sealing it, we'll probably have the same structure for our grandchildren. I decided that it's worth the time and hassle to get the ladder out so I can refinish our Taj Mahal. The only problem with that decision was that I didn't have the first idea what type of product I should use to seal it.

During my search, I came across the Flood® Wood Care website. They have a wonderful tool where you can enter the type of wood you need to refinish. I also loved the fact that they showed pictures that you could choose to describe the condition of your project. After you click on the images, they suggest products that would work for the finish you want to achieve. They recommended Flood® Wood Care Cleaner/Brightner Concentrate to clean the wood and get rid of the grey in my playset. A Chestnut Semi-Transparent Wood Stain was recommended based on the color I wanted to achieve as well. 

Through all of my research, I found out that Flood® Wood Care products deliver quality results that last a long time. The Flood® Wood Care company was formed in 1841 by a family of painters. They are experts on wood care so you don't have to be! 

Currently, Flood® Wood Care has a Take it Easy Sweepstakes open on their website. You can get your deck refinished, and win enough money to throw a rockin' deck party. All you have to do is click on the Take it Easy Sweepstakes link and enter your information. Good luck! I'm going to enter right away, and I'm going to add those recommended Flood® Wood Care products to my list for the next time I go to the home improvement store. 

Free Blog Hop Kit + More!

There's a ton of good stuff going on at JessicaSprague.com this week!

1. Birthday Sale – Includes 20% off of all classes currently open for registration (excluding Candice's classes), 20% off Project Life digital supplies, and 40% off of digital products.

2. Birthday Contest :

In honor of our 5th birthday we want to know what 5 things you love. Create a page that somehow incorporates the number 5 and upload it to the birthday contest gallery here and be entered for one of our great prizes.
Grand Prize: One winner will receive a Lifetime Subscription to all of Jessica's Classes! That is right, you will get access to all of Jessica's classes... forever!

First Prize: 5 Winners Will Win the Becky Higgins Digital Project Life Kit of Their Choice and an $80 gift card to Scrapping Simply.

Second Prize: One winner will receive a 12 x 12 Digital Book Printed by Scrapping Simply, and a Samantha Walker Spellbinders Die Set.

Third Prize: One winner will receive a 500 MB External Hard Drive.

3. Birthday Bloghop - Starts today. The first stop is at Jessica's blog. It includes 9 stops. Each stop has a Beach Party mini-kit created by that designer. All downloads will be available until Sunday June 24th at midnight Eastern.

http://jessicasprague.squarespace.com/blog/2012/6/20/its-our-5th-birthday-blog-hop.html

4. Speed Scraps - Our 5 speed scraps to celebrate our 5th birthday starts tomorrow at 9am Eastern time. The speed scraps will be hosted at 9am/12pm/3pm/6pm/9pm Eastern. Each speed scrap will be hosted by a creative team member. Each participant will have 20 rewards points added to their account. If you participate in all 5, you will have 100 points by the end of the day which means they will be half way to a $10 gift certificate to the store.

NOT A Toy

Summer is still kicking my butt and I’m completely sick of driving in circles! Summer school is over at the end of this month so I’m trying to hang in there. Alexis seems to be working really hard and we’re getting good reports from the teachers. I’m hoping that she manages to pass the LEAP test this time. She’s going to be devastated if she has to repeat the fourth grade.

Even though life has been chaotic, I did manage to fit a little bit of scrapbooking in this week. I’m here to share the pages I finished! I have a few more partially finished projects in piles around my space. I’ll post those as I get them finished. (Hopefully.)

1: Maa Maa

I used one of the latest Photoshop Friday episodes from Jessica Sprague to create this page about visiting the new baby goats at my grandparents' house last Easter. The human kids were having a conversation about what goats say.

Supplies:
Sweet Day Full Collection
Photoshop Friday: Add Tint To A Photo

2. NOT A Toy

When my baby brother was born, my Mom and Stepdad wanted to take photos of the three of us together. As you can guess, we were less than cooperative. I can distinctly remember being told that he was "NOT a Toy". Ha! I'm submitting this page to the Darker Side challenge on Scrapbook.com. I don't usually distress and scrap with darker colors so this page was quite hard for me!!

My design is based on a Creating Keepakes sketch. I swear it's straight IRL, my photography is just off. Ugh!

3. Tread Softly

I loved the colors in this kit so I paired it with a photo that I recently took of Alexis. I wrote her a little letter in the journaling to let her know how I feel about her and her dreams.

Supplies:
Jessica Sprague's Photoshop Friday "Add A Title To A Photo"
Audrey Neal's Softly Digital Kit
The journaling font is called Legion Slab.

4: Family Rules

I combined the gorgeous Family Rules digital kit and the 3 Strips Template by Audacious Designs to create this page. I loved the word art so much that I used it as journaling. (I’m not on Audrey’s creative team, I just really like her designs.)

Happy 5th Birthday!

JessicaSprague.com is turning 5 and they are having a HUGE party to celebrate. Trust me, you do NOT want to miss a single day of the festivities. Of course, I have the inside scoop! This is the basic schedule, but you can find out more information by clicking here or on the image below.

You will definitely see me there! I hope you can make time to participate too.

Sketch/Template #19

I’m back with another sketch and free digital template to share with everyone! If you would like to save the sketch for later use, please feel free to right click on the image then click “Save As”. You can also pin it to Pinterest.

The sketch is based on this layout that I made with the Scraptastic Club Oh Snap! kit and add on. I was thrilled that the colors in the paper matched Jordan’s shirt. I thought they worked perfectly!

I also have several wonderful pages from my design team to share! I’m always so very thankful for their help.

First, Alison Krogsgaard made this super sticky layout about her daughter getting into a jar of peanut butter. I definitely don’t envy her for having to clean all of that up, but I think it’s awesome that she scrapped about it!

April Walker flipped the sketch so it would work better with her photo. I love the bright, happy colors on this page and the heart border around the circle is a lot of fun. The title is perfect for the layout too!

I received this delightful page from Lesley Walker. She always does the most amazing pages and her fussy cutting is beyond lovely. On top of that, her granddaughter is completely adorable.

Melissa Birlem made this stunning heritage page to share with everyone. The metal accents really stand out and they help tie everything together. The photos she used are absolute treasures!

The next layout is by Mitra Pratt. The title she used on this page totally cracks me up, and the way she edited the photo to show the pop of red from the cup really puts it over the top. She also used flowers on a masculine page and yet it still looks masculine. That can be really hard to pull off but she did it!

Nancy Keslin is the queen of shabby chic! I love the soft colors on her layout and the big doily really adds so much to the design. I think it’s really neat that she used two smaller photos in one of the photo spaces.

Last but not least, this whimsical layout was created by Sharon Fritchman. I really admire the way she set a scene with this page. The splashes, the sea creatures, and her title work… it’s all just fantastic!

If you’re a digital scrapbooker don’t forget to download the free, layered template that I made in Photoshop Elements!

https://www.box.com/s/efab9f11f44b6299e5c5