Using alphas as a background & a color palette

Happy weekend!  It looks like it's going to be a beautiful one here.  Last weekend we were battling Tropical Storm Debby, and it was nothing but rain, rain, rain.  Now there no clouds in sight, it's sunny and there's a wonderful breeze.  I smell pool time coming very soon today!

I wanted to hop on today and share two layouts I made for my monthly DT challenges at My Scraps & More.  The first one was for a {stash}challenge.  The challenge was to use some old alpha stickers to create some sort of background for your layout.  Back when I first started scrapping, I had to buy every single sheet of cutesy & colorful letter stickers I could find.  Usually, they came by themselves, so there was nothing that really coordinated with them.  I've had these for probably 5 years, and they just sit there in a pile of other old stuff.  So, I pulled them out and made them work.

I created my big background banner pieces with white cardstock & watercolor paints.  I used no patterned paper here at all.  I also pulled out that Summer title piece to use...I've had it for ages, too.

I saw this amazing sketch from the Lily Bee Designs blog and just had to use it!

My second layout for today is for a {color} challenge. I found this gorgeous color palette & color inspiration photo from the Fancy Pants blog.

Here is what I created. I started with plain black cardstock and just got messy with some acrylic paints.  A few pieces of patterned paper, a few buttons, and that was it.  I am really loving how these colors pop right off the black background!
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 Also, don't forget about the My Scraps Got Talent contest going on right now...it lasts all summer, and there are all kinds of awesome challenges going on.

 I also wanted to remind you about the Challenge Me Happy Hoopla going on right now...there are 7 challenges presented. You can play as much as you want. There are prizes up for grabs for each challenge, and a huge prize for one lucky lady who completes all 7 challenges! Click HERE for more details. Have a GREAT weekend, everyone! Thanks for stopping by :)

Final layout for Artful Delight June kit

I never thought the end of this kit would ever arrive...haha.  This is the last layout I created with the June Artful Delight kit.  Believe it or not, I still have product left over, and I will eventually dig back into it.  For this one, I used more Simple Stories Summer Fresh papers and embellishments.

I love these cool stick pins...I incorporated them behind my button & twine.  The "discover" title is almost like a flexible grungeboard type material.  I added paint and ink to give it some flavor.

I love these tags & tickets on some of the patterned paper...I just sliced the ends, added an eyelet & twine, and it gave it a little interest.

In case you didn't see the new July kit that's for sale, you must see my previous post, or click HERE. Lots of gorgeous summer colors in this one! You're going to love it :) Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

More Artful Delight June kit to share & July kit reveal

Yes, friends...I have yet another page created from Artful Delight's June kit to share today! (And it's still not even my last one...) Like I've said before, this was my first time scrapping with Simple Stories, and I just became obsessed! I love these huge titles, and I couldn't wait to incorporate them onto a page.

I love the sunburst here, and I wanted to use the open part for my journaling, which I stamped.  I also added in words from the sticker sheet.  The flowers in the bottom left hand corner are from a transparency that was included in the kit.  Love playing around with those!

 

I loved this "Summer" piece as is, but I wanted to give the banner a little boost, so I cut a few of the pieces and popped them up a bit.
 

Also, I wanted to share the JULY kit...check this out! There are FIVE different manufacturers included in this one!

Authentique - Delightful collection - 12x12 sheet (1 each) 

Lovely Sweet Beautiful Elegant Charming Cheerful Basic Grey - What's Up collection - 12x12 sheet (1 each) 

Constellation Studio Calico - Take Note collection - 12x12 sheet (1 each) 

Pink Pearl Fancy Pants - Time for Spring collection - 12x12 sheet (1 each) 

Short & Stout Flower Patch Honeycomb Echo Park - Sweet Day collection - 12x12 sheet (1 each) Journaling Cards Fancy Floral Coordinating Cardstock - Bazzill Basics - 12x12 sheet (2 each) 

Aqua Arizona Cantaloupe French Vanilla Sunflowers Medium Embellishments - sizes and color may vary per kit 

1 package - Dear Lizzy Thickers - Serendipity - Aqua 

1 sheet - Prima - (Mist)-A-Ble Canvas sheet -Butterflies and Flowers 

1 bottle - Mister Huey's color mist - Water Cooler 

2 yards - Baker's Twine 1 mini stamp set - Prima - Sun kiss clear stamps - Sunshine 

1 package - Prima Flowers - Lucerne Song Bird 

1 sheet - Authentique Delightful collection - Delightful Details sticker sheet 

1 sheet - My Minds Eye - Miss Caroline - Howdy Doody Lovely Stickers


Here is the CARD KIT:

Authentique - Delightful collection - 6x6 sheet (2 each) 

Lovely Sweet Beautiful Elegant Charming Cheerful Basic Grey - What's Up collection - 6x6 sheet (2 each) Constellation Studio Calico - Take Note collection - 6x6 sheet (2 each) 

Pink Pearl Fancy Pants - Time for Spring collection - 6x6 sheet (2 each) 

Short & Stout Flower Patch Honeycomb Echo Park - Sweet Day collection - 6x6 sheet (2 each) Journaling Cards Fancy Floral Coordinating Cardstock - Bazzill Basics - 8 1/2x11 sheet (2 each) 

Aqua Arizona Cantaloupe French Vanilla Sunflowers Medium Embellishments - sizes and color may vary per kit 

1 stamp set - Lawn Fawn - Sunny Skies 

4 pieces - Prima - (Mist)-A-Ble Canvas sheet -Butterflies and Flowers 

1 bottle - Mister Huey's color mist - Water Cooler 

2 yards - Baker's Twine 1 package - Prima Flowers - Lucerne Song Bird 

1 sheet - My Minds Eye - Miss Caroline - Howdy Doody Lovely Stickers

Wow...all that scrappy goodness! I love the colors and can't wait to play with it! Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful Tuesday!

My Scraps Got Talent contest

Hey there, scrappy friends...hope you're having a good weekend.  We have been bombarded with so much rain this weekend.  We've been stuck inside, and it's just so dreary outside.  Hurricane season just brings so many tropical storms & so much rain down here in Florida.  The kids are getting cabin fever, and I'm needing some fresh air.  On the other hand, being stuck inside gives me more time to scrap...and that is always a good thing!

I wanted to remind you about the summer-long scrappy contest going on over at My Scraps & More.  The Got Talent competition is overflowing with fun sketches this year.  Right now, there are several challenges up.  They are all sketches with a twist added in.  These aren't just any sketches...they are Kristine Davidson sketches!  Coming up later this summer, we'll have Julie Bonner & Jana Eubank sketches as well.  Talk about the scrappy sketch jackpot!  It doesn't get any better than that.  There are prizes given away every week, and the more you participate, the better chance you have at winning even more.

I wanted to share a page I created for one of the pre-contest challenges.  It's based on one of Kristine's sketches.  I used an older Echo Park line, Life is Good, for this one.  Yep, I hoard every single piece of paper and pull it out at later dates to use again.  I love this picture of Paige...we stuck her in the Outback takeaway bag one night...haha.




I hadn't used these cute little houses on a layout yet, and I thought since Paige was essentially "takeout" (haha) that the houses fit perfectly. Hey...you bring take-out home, right? Maybe it's a far stretch, but I liked it anyway :)
 
 
Head on over there and join us in the fun! You won't be disappointed :) Have a safe, fun and dry rest of the weekend!

More My Scraps & More pages

Happy Friday!  I'm just popping on this morning to share a few more pages I created for the My Scraps and More June DT reveal.  These are from the Fancy Pants Summer Soul line...such fun patterns & colors!  And I have a ton of summer pool pictures to scrap, so this line worked so well.  I've already shared my first two, so these are my remaining layouts.

For this page, I dirtied up a piece of kraft cardstock with some paint drips.  I also used a bottle cap as a circle stamp and used paint as my ink pad.  I didn't want to add a lot more blue to the page since the majority of my photos contain the bright blue that I love.  I added just a few pieces of patterned paper.  I added some punched circles, and I also punched a few holes out of the cardstock and pop dotted the paper behind it to give it some dimension.



I really wanted to use this really busy flowery paper for this page...but not for the entire background. So I tore it and added some solid light pink to the middle. I was also in the mood to make a few lollipop flowers, so I added those. I also used the coordinating chipboard banners...so fun & easy to use!

 


Don't forget about the My Scraps Got Talent contest going on right now and throughout the summer. I have more pages from there that I will be sharing soon...the inspiration just keeps coming over there! You really don't want to miss out on all the fun! Have a great weekend :)

Another Artful Delight page + a makeover!

Happy Thursday, scrappy peeps!  I have yet another layout to share today featuring the Artful Delight June kit.  Like I said in my previous post, it's the kit that never quits.  It's one of those kits you can stretch and stretch...and still have plenty left over.  Before I share it, I wanted to state the obvious...my blog got a makeover!  I've been wanting to do it for a while, and I finally bit the bullet and went for it.  Kristine Davidson designed it for me, and I'm so excited at what she created.  I am so in love with the bright colors...if you know me, then you know I LOVE anything bright.  When I saw this cute digi kit, I knew it was perfect for my blog.  I love the pinks, blues & greens, and those frogs!  The rainbow!  The sun peeking through the clouds...I could go on and on...haha!  I'm so thrilled with it, and I hope you like it, too!  THANK YOU, Kristine!  You did an amazing job.

Now, onto my page...I really love how Simple Stories has their 12x12 papers designed in these little "card" type shapes...the mats for both photos were just cut out...already made.  There was also a sheet that had smaller "cards"...like I used for the title.  There are SO many to choose from...the possibilities of combining it all are endless.  Some of the 12x12s are halved...like the text print I have behind the photos.  Simple...just cut it in half and it's ready.  I love how easy it is to use this stuff...the hardest part is deciding which sides to use.



I splattered & smeared a little paint...


Lots of edge distressing...I am addicted to roughing up edges :)


I still have three more layouts featuring this kit coming up...I can't wait to share them! I also will have more from My Scraps & More coming up as well. Thanks for checking out my blog, and have a fantastic day!

Artful Delight layouts x 2

I'm so excited to share these two layouts using my June Artful Delight kit!  I wound up making seven pages from this one kit, and I still have paper left over.  These two pages are my third and fourth ones...I'm telling you, this is the kit that keeps on going!  I'm so in love with Simple Stories now.  I had never worked with them before now, and I'm now a huge fan.  I love the pre-sized images and strips, and the colors & patterns are just awesome.

I was apprehensive about starting out with a bright yellow sheet of cardstock, but I love how this turned out.  I fussy cut the kite & cloud, and the rest was pretty much already "made."  So many of the papers are just ready to cut, and they are gorgeous as is.

I decided to get a little messy with this one.  Lots of paint & mist splatters and distressing...again, lots of beautiful patterns & colors.  So many cool shapes just begging to be cut out :)

Thanks for stopping by today...I hope you have a great Tuesday!

My Scraps & More June DT Reveal

I hope everyone is having a nice relaxing weekend.  The weather here is gorgeous...we've been in the pool today, and it just feels so good.  A nice breeze, cool water...all I was missing was nice cold pina colada :)  I wanted to share two of my four DT pages I created for My Scraps & More this month.  Tammi sent me the Summer Soul collection from Fancy Pants, and I had so much fun creating with it.  The colors are right up my alley :)

This one came together pretty quickly for me.  I started out with white cardstock and went to town with some paint...smears & drips everywhere.  I wanted to use several of the patterns, so I decided to use small squares.  The matching chipboard banner pieces make it so easy to add little bits here and there.  I added a punched border, a few buttons, and that was it.

This one I love simply because of the photos :) We were all down by the pool one evening and Paige was dying to get into the pool. She didn't have her suit on, so we improvised and let her go naked. Talk about cutey buns!  This background paper was pretty on its own, but I added a little bit of pink paint.  The banner was from another piece of patterned paper, so all I did was cut it out...so easy!

I have two more pages that I created using this line, but I'll share them later. I don't want to go overboard on one post :)  Don't forget, this line, along with tons of others, are available in the My Scraps & More shop.  Take a look...you won't be disappointed!

Thanks for visiting me...I truly appreciate it. I hope you have a great weekend :)

ScrapFIT # 70 - Polaroids!

****If you are here for the Challenge Me Happy Anniversary HOOPLA challenges, go HERE****


It's Friday...yay!  It's also the 15th, which means it's reveal day at ScrapFIT.  I can't believe we're at workout #70 already!  This one is fun and easy.  Do you remember when Polaroid photos were the hot new way to take photos?  Well this workout is a tribute to the Polaroid!  We want to see a layout with a Polaroid photo. Don't have a Polaroid photo?  Don't worry... you can create a fake Polaroid just like I did in my layout :)

I was in the mood to create a really messy background, so I smeared some paint and did some stamping.  The orange dots are from a stamp...I just smudged in some orange paint to fill in the circles.  I also created some messy paint drips...why am I so addicted to paint drips?!  I also added some layers behind my photos and distressed the edges.

The winner of this workout will receive a $25 gift certificate to: 

My Favorite Things 

http://www.mftstamps.com/

Hop on over to the ScrapFIT blog and check out all the different Polaroids...there are lots of ways to interpret them :) Have fun, and thanks for stopping by!

Challenge Me Happy Anniversary HOOPLA!

Welcome to the Challenge Me Happy One Year Anniversary HOOPLA!!!

It’s hard to believe, but Challenge Me Happy has been dishing out fortnightly challenges for a year today. This is something to CELEBRATE of course, and we hope you want to celebrate with us!!

You will have SEVEN challenges to complete in FOUR weeks. You can participate in however many challenges you want, and there are prizes to win in EACH challenge. 

Aaaaand – something we are VERY excited about – if you upload a project to EACH of the seven challenges, you will be in the DRAW to win a BIG SHOT machine + two Tim Holtz dies. This has been generously sponsored by Adrienne at Scrappin’ Patch (http://scrappinpatch.co.nz) – she is one amazing lady!

So – how does it work? 

Each Challenge Me Happy designer is presenting their challenge in detail on their blog (see list below). You will also find all links on the Challenge Me Happy blog – and the inspiration project to go with it. Each designer is offering a prize for their challenge – the winner will be chosen by vote. Each designer will ALSO draw a RAK amongst the uploaded projects.

Upload ALL your projects to the “inlinkz” page at the bottom of the hoopla post on the Challenge Me Happy blog. Please name your project with YOUR name AND the name of the designer who’s challenge you have interpreted. 

Here is the list to all of the design team blogs:

 

1.       Norine - http://thevelvetlemon.blogspot.com/

2.       Missy - YOU ARE HERE

3.       Michelle - http://harbourgal.wordpress.com/

4.       Marie - http://gulavillanivallen.blogspot.com/

5.       Lisa - http://lisadorsey.blogspot.com/

6.       Hannah - http://blairsboys.wordpress.com/

7.       Annelie – http://swewi.wordpress.com/

 

One more thing before I reveal MY challenge. If you have ANY questions, please email challengemehappy@googlemail.com OR ask us on our Facebook page (which you have liked already – right?). 

 

OK, so here is MY CHALLENGE:

Create a BOM page...or a "Book of Me" page.  This is simply a page about YOU.  The title or journaling must include these words:  "Someday, I hope to..."  That is all!  I know we mostly scrap our own children, so it's nice to break away from that sometimes and scrap a memory about ourselves.  Here is what I created using this prompt...a page about my husband and me on our honeymoon back in March 2000.  Someday I hope to visit Lake Tahoe again and relive our fun honeymoon memories!

I can't get enough of these awesome sketches from Sketch Savvy!!

And MY PRIZE is Two Authentique 6x6 paper pads!!!  Remember, the winner of MY challenge wins this prize, a randomly selected person will win a RAK from me, and one lucky lady who enters a page in ALL 7 challenges is eligible to win the BIG SHOT!!  Go for it!!

Glass Taster @ Artful Delight

Haha...what a silly title, right?!  Well, it's the title of my latest Artful Delight project :)  I created this using June's kit, and let me tell you, I'm STILL creating with it!  I've made five pages so far and I still have tons of goodies left.  I'm going to keep on going...it's such an amazing kit!  There are a few left, so hurry on over and grab one!  You will not be disappointed!

I mostly used papers from Basic Grey's PB&J line.  At first, I was very intimidated and didn't know where to begin.  BG always has such wild & crazy patterns and I couldn't pick a starting point.  Once I dove in and started, the rest just flowed.  Some papers just scare me, and BG tends to do that for some reason.  But once I overcome my fear of really busy patterns, I just go with it and make it work :)  Paige was inside and wanted to come out, so naturally, she did what every kid does at a sliding glass door...haha! 

These awesome flowers are part of the kit...there is a whole package of BG flowers. Some are canvas & some are paper, and they coordinate perfectly. There are also two big felt flowers included in the kit, as well as two different types of twine.

I just had to use this amazing sketch the moment I saw it! It's from Sketch Savvy.  I find the greatest sketches there...one of my favorite places.

I have one more thing to share...if you haven't already, you need to check out my friend Erin Blegen's new blog. I'm sure you know her from Scrappin' Sisters, where she shares a blog with her amazing sister, Kelly. These talented ladies are becoming so successful in their scrapping endeavors that they have decided to split their blogs. Erin has started a new one and needs to build her follower base. Kelly will be staying at Scrappin' Sisters, but will be giving it a new name & face lift. Best of luck to these amazing & sweet scrapper friends!!

Thanks for popping in! Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday :)

Another My Scraps & More Layout

Hi, everyone! It's officially summer...yay! Even though it's that relaxing time of year, it's still busy around here. Mondays are always the days for cleaning up after the weekends. I just don't ever feel motivated to clean a lot on Saturdays or Sundays, so once Monday rolls around, it's time! I wanted to pop on right quick and share a page I made for a {play} challenge at My Scraps & More last week. The challenge was to use layers or the illusion of layers on your page.

I used some fun papers from an old Me & My Big Ideas paper stack. I distressed most of the edges, fussy cut some flowers & trees, and threw on some paint. I wanted to use the negative space from a die-cut in my title, so I did that using my Cricut. 

I used this awesome sketch from Sketchabilities: 

Feel free to check out our forum at My Scraps & More...we have a super fun summer-long contest going on right now! Lots of fun sketches & inspiration!

ScrapFIT Warm-Up #28 & more

We are off to a very rainy morning here in Florida.  Lucky for us, the kids didn't have to get up to go to school, so we were able to sleep in while it rained.  The perfect morning -- laying in bed, listening to rain & thunder, and not having to get up and get out in it!  It's still going out there, so it looks like a great day to work on some scrappy pages :)

I wanted to share this month's Warm-Up over at ScrapFIT.  The challenge is to use stickers on your project...you know, the ones you bought a long time ago that you probably have hidden in your stash somewhere.  I used some fishy stickers that I've had for sooooo long.  They finally made their way onto a layout!  I backed them with cardstock and then used pop dots to give them some dimension.

 A close-up of my cute little fishy :)

I created my background with some simple water color paints...I used a cup to create the big circles and just let the paint run .

The winner of the Warm-Up will be featured in the FITGirl Spotlight on June 26th! I hope you find the time to play along with us. You can also be featured by taking our Step Class, too...it's being posted tomorrow on the ScrapFIT blog.

I also wanted to share a few layouts I've made recently for My Scraps & More. We have just started a summer-long contest called My Scraps Got Talent II. They did this last year, and it was a big hit. There have been two pre-contest challenges posted so far, and I am hosting one of them. They are all based on sketches by some amazing women. I was able to work with a sketch by Kristine Davidson from Creative Scrappers.  Check out the forum to see the sketch!

Here is my layout...the twist added was to include some stitching on your page. I used the Lily Bee Designs Buttercup collection. It's available at the My Scraps & More online store. Paige had just snatched off her sun hat, and her hairdo reminded me of Justin Bieber...haha!

One more layout for the day...this one was for another challenge at My Scraps & More. Every Monday is {scraplift} day, so I was able to choose a page from the gallery to lift. I went wild with the bright colors (haha...as usual) and wanted to bring out the colors in Reese's shirt.  I used totally random papers from my stash...no rhyme or reason whatsoever.  I also grabbed several different ribbons that matched.  Sometimes I love the challenge of not working with a specific collection.

Well, if you made it this far, I thank you! I always appreciate you coming to visit my blog. I love sharing my work with you! I hope you have a wonderful day!