The Best PJs Of All

Today, I'm sharing my take on this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch. I keep saying it, but it's true. I'm loving these sketches! 

Here's the sketch:

A couple of close-ups. 

I stayed fairly close to the original sketch, but I chose to use only two photos instead of four. I've had these photos in my pile for awhile now, and this sketch inspired me to finally scrap them. What I liked about this sketch was the layering of the paper along the side. I kept that and liked it so much that I also repeated it below the photos too. 

The page is about my Mom making pajamas for her grandkids for Christmas. She's been doing this since 2007. I think it's the coolest thing ever and the kids agree! These are wonderful gifts they will treasure forever. These pajamas are made with so much love. You can't help but sleep well wearing them. 

Looking at these pictures, I'm starting to get excited for Christmas. All the special time with family. All the delicious food. All the fun games played. All the wonderful memories shared. I can't wait. I admit though, it's still too early for Christmas music. At least for me. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Dance

Echo Park is having a contest where we need to create a project using its Dots and Stripes collection. This is one of my favorites of there's, so I was definitely in.

As I said in my post on Wednesday, I've been digging in my older photo files and scrapping stories that have been overlooked. This time, I decided to scrap about M&D's dance recital back in 2009. The bright colors and whimsical feel of the Dots and Stripes collection worked perfectly with the colors in their outfits. I look at this page and can't help but smile. It's so bright and happy. Feels good to get some of these other stories told too.

Just a quick post today. I appreciate you stopping by.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Breathe | Sketchy Thursdays Challenge

I'm back to share a page I made using a sketch from the Sketchy Thursdays blog. I'm really loving that I found this blog. The first time I participated, I was chosen as one of the design team favorites. I was thrilled! Totally made my day. I've enjoyed getting to know the team through their layouts and blogs. Such a nice group of women. Onto the sketch....

When I saw all the white space, the banner and the twine, I knew I'd participate. They are all favorites of mine. I used the sketch to the tee, except that I added journaling along the outside. I do this often on my pages. It's a great way to add words without disrupting the design too much. I wanted the photo to shine.

I used a black and white photo for the first time. How is that? Will definitely be using them more. I love how it looks. I actually made this one a bit sepia too and softened the edges. All just in iPhoto.

I used the Victoria Gardens collection from Echo Park. These papers are so pretty. I made a base for the photo with a few scraps of paper and then made different sized banners to peek out from underneath. I inked the edges of the paper to give them a bit more definition. I wrapped a few lengths of twine around the photo and added a few drops of Mr. Huey and called it done.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Fresh Face Designer | Echo Park

Hello Friday! I have a lunch meeting and this afternoon, my sister and I getting together to walk in the fall sunshine. Lovely. This weekend is jam packed with mostly volunteer stuff, but I'm sneaking a bit of other fun in there too.

Today, I'm sharing three projects I made with Echo Park products in the hopes that I am chosen as one of their fresh face designers. I love Echo Park. I've never come across a collection I didn't like.

First up is My Buds, Plus One.

This page uses primarily Country Drive. I love the soft colors in this collection. They worked perfectly with this photo of me with my nieces and nephew at the park.

I used a bunch of stickers from the collection. Each of Echo Park's collections come with a 12x12 sticker sheet and it's always full of very versatile stickers. I first decided to frame the photo using the yellow postage stamp frame sticker. Secondly, I used several word stickers along the side of the photo to aid in my journaling. Lastly, I used the alpha stickers to create the title.

To add some interest, I added a strip of the Birds on the Wire paper. I love those birds. They're so cute. I made a bow with some orange twine. On the top, I created a tag with some of the paper and a corner rounder. I added an Elle's Studio tag atop of that. I placed several buttons randomly about the page to add some whimsy and finished it off with the journaling.

Supplies|
Paper| Echo Park Country Drive{Little Ladies and Bird on a Wire}
Stickers| Echo Park Country Drive
Buttons| Basic Grey
Tag| Elle's Studio Lil' Snippets Date
Twine| My Mind's Eye

The second page is A Glorious Place.

I started this page by using mist to mask out six spots for photos and paper. I love using grids on my pages. I printed three photos and cut out three pieces of patterned papers slightly larger than the masked area to fill each of the spots.

Next, I cut a few strips of paper and tore the ends and added them to the paper and photos to mimic washi tape. I like how that turned out and it's much cheaper!

I created the title using stickers from the Country Drive collection. I also used a couple of stickers, (the pink banner and the scalloped tag) from the Dots and Stripes collection. I told you I loved their stickers. I use them on everything!

I punched a few butterflies, added an Elle's Studio tag, and typed up my journaling and called it done. I really love how this page turned out. I'm thinking about framing it.

Supplies|
Paper| Echo Park Country Drive{Petunia, Raspberry and Clover, Border Strip, Little Ladies, Sundress}
Stickers| Echo Park Country Drive and Dots and Stripes
Tag| Elle's Studio blank pennants

The third is a home decor project. I have a frame that I have by my bed that I change out quite frequently. I've been making these little tags for another project and I love them so much that I decided to make a few and put into this frame.

I used Victoria Gardens for this project. These papers are so, so pretty and perfect for this project. This was super simple to make. I used a tag from an office supply store, punched a small circle and butterfly and layered each piece together. I typed out several inspiring words on my typewriter and added a pearl brad as the finishing touch. I chose two element stickers from the collection to frame two of the corners. I am really happy with how this turned out.

Supplies|
Paper| Echo Park Victoria Gardens{Cheerful Words, Rose Garden, Garden Trellis, Windchime, Picket Fence, Delightful Doilies}
Stickers| Echo Park Victoria Gardens
Brads| American Crafts

If you made it through all of that, thank you so much! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and that you're able to do something creative.

Stretch Your Sketches No. 9

This week, life has been very complicated and very busy. A good complicated. A good busy. But I haven't been able to do a lot of blogging, which I'm bummed about. I am happy though to have found time to write a quick post with my layout for the Stretch Your Sketches Challenge on the Ella Publishing blog.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on the sketch:

I moved everything to the center. I used two photos to make up the one 4x6 on the right. But the journaling and the title match the sketch. I used a bunch of scraps from the Life is Good line from Echo Park. I also used a couple of Elle's Studio tags. I am totally hoarding these. They are so cool. The little banner was scraps too from the Lime Twist line from My Mind's Eye. I really enjoy using up little bits from here and there. It's very satisfying.

You can find my other layouts based on these sketches here.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Here's to a relaxing weekend!

Echo Park Fresh Faces Campaign

Hellloooooo Friday! I am so happy to see you. This has been a rough week, so I'm very much looking forward to relaxing and regrouping this weekend.

Today, I'm excited to be showcasing three layouts made with Echo Park collections. Echo Park is having a monthly design team call, which I think is a fantastic idea. It's difficult to "break" into this industry and offering this opportunity on a monthly basis is awesome. I am a huge fan of this company. Each collection is always full of awesome patterned papers and fun alphabet stickers. Two of my most favorite things!

My style tends to be linear, clean and structured. I enjoy mixing different patterned papers on my pages and Echo Park papers are always perfect for this. I'll be showing off two of their more recent collections, For The Record and Dots and Stripes--Candy Shoppe.

Layout No. 1 | Resting

You can definitely see my love for linear on this layout. And also my love of white space. I knew I wanted to use a lot of different bits of paper and embellishments, so an easy way to do this is to create a grid. This way I can put a bunch of goodness in each space. I used twine to make the grid. Then I used a square, circle and butterfly punch to punch out various pieces of patterned paper from the For The Record collection. I moved them around until I was happy with where everything was and ta dah, first layout done. Super simple page. 

Here's a close-up.

SUPPLIES
CARDSTOCK | Bazzill Basics
PATTERNED PAPER | Echo Park For The Record
EMBELLISHMENTS | Jillibean Soup
STICKERS | October Afternoon

Layout No. 2 | Things I'd Like To Tell My 18-Year-Old Self

I decided I wanted to make a layout from this blog post. I knew that I wanted an 18-year-old photo, a photo from today and all the journaling, so I built a background for it all to "sit" on.  Since red was common in both photos, I decided to play that color up. I took a big piece of fun patterned paper from For The Record and used it as my base. Then I took a subtler pattern and used a scallop punch to create a fun border. After this, I knew I needed a bit more color and more interest, so I used two different circle punches to create layered homes for an embellishment. I added a bit of washi tape, a few labels and called it done.

SUPPLIES

CARDSTOCK | Bazzill Basics

PATTERNED PAPER | Echo Park For The Record

EMBELLISHMENTS | The Girls' Paperie 

Layout No. 3 | You Love Ponies

I always start with my photos when constructing a page. I had these two of my niece playing with Pretty Ponies. I also knew I needed some space for journaling. I decided to create a base for the photos and then mirror that for the journaling. 

I used the Dots and Stripes collection. Since yellow and blue are worn by my nieces, I chose those two colors to use primarily. I cut a square sheet of the blue stripes a bit bigger than the two 4x6 photos and made a mat. I love yellow and I love dots, so I cut out a strip of this dot paper, but I'm also a hoarder, so I didn't want to use up the entire sheet! Below that I added a scalloped border sticker from the element sticker sheet. 

To add a bit of interest and create a visual triangle, I added a star banner from the sticker sheet to the top left. Then I added a series of banners cut from the patterned paper to the top right. To those, I added butterflies and a letter sticker from the sticker sheet. Lastly, I added half of a circle journaling spot from the element sticker sheet to the bottom middle, where I also added the date. 

Finally, I added my title and my journaling. I outlined "love" in brown ink to make it pop against the white background. Easy peasy. 

Here's a close-up.

SUPPLIES

CARDSTOCK | Bazzill Basics

PATTERNED PAPER | Echo Park Dots and Stripes

EMBELLISHMENTS | Echo Park Dots and Stripes Letter and Element Stickers 

ALPHABET STICKERS | October Afternoon

I'm looking forward to the releases from Summer CHA, especially Happy Days.

To see more of my layouts using Echo Park product, look here. 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a fabulous weekend.

Stretch Your Sketches No. 5

I'm back today with Sketch No. 5 from the Stretch Your Sketches challenge over on the Ella Publishing blog.

The sketch is a two-pager, but I just don't do two-pagers. Not sure why, but everytime I try, I get a mental block. But, what's great about sketches, is you can adjust it to work for you. I made a one-pager instead. I added the journaling around the edge of the paper, which is a technique I use often. Love the look. I used several Echo Park lines and a bit of October Afternoon. I also finally snagged a Smash date stamp! I'm using it on everything. Love it.

The page is about attending my niece's school performance. We all asked for her autograph following the performance. She signs the program. A tradition we started last year. She loves it. On the way to the car, she was ahead of me a few steps, and I ran up to her asking if she was the famous Diana who just performed. She played along beautifully. Love these moments.

I'd love to see your take on the sketch. Leave me a link in the comments with your take.

Happy Scrapping!

Stretch Your Sketches No. 4

Today a quick post to show you a page I created for the Stretch Your Sketches challenge over on the Ella Publishing blog. I am addicted to sketches lately, so am loving the consistency of this challenge.

I stayed fairly close to the sketch, but used all the same size photos. I've wanted to scrap about "pancaking" for a long time, so I'm so glad to finally have it done. I enjoyed using a bunch of tags as part of the title. I picked these tags up the last time I was at Office Max. Who knew you could find scrapbook supplies there?!

JOURNALING| The kids love to pancake Stephan, since Megan was little. Essentially it means pouncing on him, pancaking him to the ground. Fun for the kids...not sure if it is for Stephan.

Ten on Tuesday will return next week. 

Stretch Your Sketches No. 3

Today I'm sharing my take on sketch No. 3 for the Stretch Your Sketches challenge on the Ella Publishing blog.

My page is exactly like the sketch, except I used four square blocks of patterned paper instead of photos on the right hand side. I used primarily product from the Walk in the Park collection from Echo Park. This is such a fun, colorful collection. Perfect for documenting the relationship between my two nieces, who are cousins.

My whole family spent the last two weekends together and it was so neat to watch their relationship grow and strengthen. My youngest niece, A, thinks D hung the moon. She wanted to be where D was, doing what D was doing. D loved every minute too. Very cute and fun to watch.

Sketchbook 3|Week 1

To continue with my sketch obsession, here are the layouts I made from the first week of Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 3 class.

I've been trying to experiment more with paint. I think I need to keep working at it. But I'm enjoying the pop of yellow.

The page is about how suddenly my niece has become a young woman. Well, of course, it hasn't been sudden. But it sure feels that way to me.

JOURNALING | I'm not ready for you to be 12, to be a tween. I'm not ready for you to be going out with friends without any adults around. I'm not ready for you to have a cell phone. I'm not ready for you to be crushing on boys. What happened to your 6 lb. self? But you are ready and I'll be there through it all.

I'm loving the different layers of this layout with the little photos tucked into each one.

Our family spent a long weekend together in Galena, IL a couple of years ago. We went to see the balloon festival, which was really beautiful. I got so many wonderful shots that I've been doing pages from that quick trip for two years now. Love when that happens.

I like the clean, graphic design of this page. I like the white title against the white cardstock. I continue to love the Stella Rose collections from My Mind's Eye. Lovely patterns and colors.

I traveled to Seattle a few years ago and it was one of my favorite trips. I loved Pike Place Market. I'd love to go back and spend more leisurely time there. I loved our day trip to Mt. Rainier. An awesome sight. I loved traveling by ferry to Bainbridge Island. So many great, new experiences packed in one trip. Love that.

This is my 200th post! Thanks so much to my readers for stopping by and spending time here. I always love hearing from you! Starting this blog has been one of the best decisions I've made. 

I Love Being An Aunt

I realized when I was going through my albums that I didn't have a layout about how much I love being an aunt. I had to remedy that quickly!

This page is really simple. I used smaller pieces of patterned paper. I used variety in the title. I spread out the journaling. Three things I don't do very often in my pages. I like how fun and colorful it is. Exactly like my nieces and nephew.

JOURNALING | I love them with all that I am. They bring me such joy and peace and fun. They are the best and I am thankful for them everyday.

I am very happy to finally have this part of my story documented.

Have a wonderful weekend. It should reach 70 here tomorrow. I. can't. wait.