Messy Eater @ Artful Delight, plus a FITKit Sneak!

Howdy there!  It's Tuesday, which means it's my reveal day at Artful Delight.  This is my final page using the awesome August kit.  I was excited to make this one because I wanted to use a black background to make the other colors pop.  I really love the reds, yellows and blues in these BG papers.  I love smudging paint on black cardstock...it makes it look extra bold.

I fell in love with this sketch when I saw it and had to use it!  It's from Scrap Friends, and I'm dying to play along with one of their sketch challenges.  Isn't this one so cool?  I found this one after the deadline had passed.

September kits are coming soon...check out what's in store!  Lots of Kaiser Craft & October Afternoon...swoon!!  Click HERE for more details on this kit.

Here's the card kit... 

Speaking of sneaks, I also wanted to show the September FITKit from ScrapFIT and Paper Issues...it's full of awesomeness! Check it out...

You can still purchase and August FITKit and Low Cal FITKit, too! I promise, they're awesome!

Catching up with My Scraps & More, plus DT news!

It's the weekend...woo hoo!  That's the good news.  The bad news is that we have a huge storm headed our way :(  We're still in a "wait and see" situation here...everyone is glued to the weather channel to see the path Tropical Storm Isaac will take.  It will be a hurricane soon, no doubt.  The last time Florida was really hit hard was eight years ago with Hurricane Charlie.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that we aren't affected too badly by Isaac.  Such anxiety!  Sigh.

I'm playing catch-up today and sharing two recent pages I created for various challenges at My Scraps and More.  The first one was for a {lift} challenge.  We get to choose a layout from the gallery to lift, and I chose one by the ultra-talented Audrey Yeager.  Here is what I came up with.

I used some old Echo Park papers (the Playground collection).  I wanted to play off the reds and blues in the pictures.  I added my usual favorite embellishments...stitching, buttons & twine :)

My next page was another DT page for a {quote} challenge.  I wanted to do a friendship page, so I searched for a friend quote and found this one:  "Friendship isn't one big thing.  It's a million little things."  I loved it and it went perfectly with my photo.  It's of me and two of  my closest college friends.  Last year, we got together for a college Homecoming game (Go Gators!) and had so much fun!  We walked the campus and visited our old journalism hall...so much has changed!  I love UF and wish I lived in Gainesville...such a great place to be :)

I used several sheets of "Gator" paper that I found at my LSS.  The rest are just bits and pieces of random papers that I have in my stash.  I wanted lots of orange and blue :)  I also tried something new...modeling paste.  I've been seeing it a lot on layouts lately and decided to try it.  I love it!  I've used it on a few more pages that I have coming up.  It creates such an awesome texture, and it works so well with stencils or masks.  I created those diamond shapes on both sides of the layout using it.

I also entered this into the Creative Scrappers #220 sketch challenge.

I was inspired by this amazing Creative Scrappers sketch by Jenny Evans...she is so inspiring!

I do have more good news...I made the My Scraps and More Design Team again!  I'm SOOOO excited to be on board again with Tammi!  She is amazing :)  The two ladies I mentioned above, Audrey and Jenny, are also on the team along with a few more very talented girls.  I'm honored to be working with them.  Be on the lookout for this...

Thank you so much for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

I Love This Beautiful Girl

I hope everyone is having a great day :)  School has started here, so it's been a busy few days.  I have been doing lots of cleaning now that I don't my little "helpers" around...haha.  I am taking a much needed break from boring house stuff to post my weekly page for Artful Delight.  For this page, I used Prima everything.  That has never happened with me before...I'm usually not a Prima girl, meaning their flowers & embellishments tend to be a bit frilly for my style.  However, these papers were cute & funky, and the chipboard pieces that coordinate are so fun!  I even used the mini-stamp set included in the kit, which is also Prima.  The flowers & alphas are Prima, too...wow...I just realized the only things non-Prima here are my orange floss & Kaiser Craft rub-ons.  I really love how it turned out, and now I know that I can use Prima to fit my style :)

That's it...short and sweet and to the point :)  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

She Knows the Answer

Hey there...just popping on this afternoon to share another layout I created using Artful Delight's August kit.  I squeezed out five pages using this kit, and I still have pieces left!  This is my fourth one, and I really love the Paper Cottage papers by  Basic Grey.  Honestly, I wouldn't normally choose these papers...BG tends to be a bit busy for me sometimes.  However, once I played around with them, I loved them!

One things I love about the BG papers is the strips at the bottom of each page...they have the coordinating patterns on them.  I cut them off and added them to the top & bottom of my page.  I smudged a little paint behind my cluster, and then I added some fussy cut embellishments, a chipboard birdcage and some Prima flowers.  Those little teeny red rhinestones are even included in the kit.

There is also a Prima stamp set & chipboard set included in the kit, as well as matching Paper Cottage buttons!  So much to play with :)  Also, don't forget about the August sketch challenge...there are still 4 days left to play along.  You could win one of these awesome kits!

Thanks for stopping by...tomorrow is the first day of school for us already.  It got here fast!  Have a great week!

ScrapFIT #74 & Challenge Me Happy #28

Hello there, scrappy friends!  I hope you're having a great Wednesday.  I have two new challenges to share with you today from two of my favorite challenge blogs...ScrapFIT and Challenge Me Happy.

ScrapFIT #74 is a sketch by the amazing and talented Diana Fisher.  She's our Creative Trainer, and she created this awesome sketch just for us!

Here is what I created using the August FITKit from Paper Issues.  You can still buy one if you'd like...I promise it's full of scrappy goodness :)  My funny child used to like to bounce up and down on our big couch pillows, and it looked like she was trying to do push ups...so we started calling them Pillow Pushups :)

Check out the prize you could win for this Workout...the new Low Cal FITKit! 

Be sure to link up your project on the blog for a chance to win!  This fabulous kit is also available for purchase in the Paper Issues Store, and if you use the code FITKIT at checkout, you'll get 20% off!

Challenge Me Happy #28 is up today, also, and it's a Book of Me challenge.  Your title needs to include the words, "When I Grow up..."

I love this picture of me, my stepmom and my little sister.  The year was 1986...I was 10 and my sister was 3.  I hate to call Trisha my stepmom because she is just like another mom to me.  She and my dad married in 1986, so she has been a part of my life for 26 of my 36 years.  So technically, the term "step" doesn't even apply here.  When she began dating my dad, she had this 3-wheeler, and I LOVED going for rides on it!  I couldn't wait to grow up and drive it, and I love how my sister is on her little baby 3-wheeler...so cute!  It was long after this that my dad got me my own 3-wheeler, and I was in heaven!  I used Echo Park's Everyday Eclectic here...omg!  One of my absolute faves!

The winner of this challenge will receive TWO 6x6 paper pads from Studio Calico! Link up on the Challenge Me Happy blog HERE...and remember, your layout needs to be created for this challenge ONLY.

 Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT day!

She is Almost 4 (well, almost 2 years ago)

Are you confused yet?!  Haha...this layout is from two years ago, right before my firstborn love, Reese, was about to turn 4.  In real life (not scrappy pages life) she is about to turn 6.  She has just recently lost her two bottom teeth and is just growing up right before my very eyes.  She will start kindergarten on Monday!  I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown...such a bittersweet moment for me!  I'm excited for her yet sad that she really isn't baby or a toddler anymore.

Anyway, before I start crying and going down memory lane with you, I will share my layout of the day.  It's my reveal day at Artful Delight, and this page features some of the ultra-bright Bo Bunny included in the kit.  I immediately swooned over the yellows & oranges!  Super fun.

These bright yellow fabric flowers are Basic Grey and they are SO soft! I normally wouldn't buy these, but I'm so glad they were in the kit because I LOVE them! That's what I love about designing with kits...sometimes you get stuff you wouldn't ordinarily use or buy or even like, but once you play with it, you wind up loving it!

Don't forget about the August sketch challenge going on right now...you could win one of these awesome kits. Or you can just go buy one if you'd like :) Click HERE if you want to grab one up.

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

My Scraps & More August Reveal

I hope everyone has had a great weekend!  It's currently raining here...it's kind of nice because I can hear distant thunder, and it's a nice steady rain.  I do hope it lets up at some point so we can go swimming.  In the meantime, I wanted to share my August DT projects at My Scraps & More.  This month, the team is featuring the mini-theme collections from Echo Park.  I got the pleasure of working with Birthday Girl, and it is SOOOOO adorable and fun!  The colors & patterns are right up my alley :)

I scrapped some photos from Reese's 4th Birthday (she's really about to turn 6!!  What!?)  I love the pretty pinks, blues & yellows in this collection. I printed my journaling on a transparency...I love doing that sometimes!  Changing it up from strips or handwriting...

I saw this super cute sketch on the Basic Grey blog and borrowed it for my page.

I love the banner paper...and I knew I wanted to use it for a background.  I usually don't use such a busy page for a background, so I tried to break it up by adding some yellow paint.

I also added a few buttons & some cute loopy loop border stamping.

I used this sketch from Page Maps.

My final page again features the adorable & fun banners...they are so easy to cut from the patterned paper!  I added some paint drips and some border punching.  There is also a fun journaling blog page...perfect for documenting those fun birthday memories.

I also made a card. I'm SOOOO not a good card maker...obviously. But I had a few odds & ends left with the kit, so I put this together. I think it's just fine for a 6-year-old...haha! I have to admit, I'm kind of embarrassed to even put it on my blog!

Check in with My Scraps & More all week to see what the rest of the DT created with their Echo Park kits. Have a GREAT day, and I'll be back later this week with more from Artful Delight, ScrapFIT and Challenge Me Happy!

A few pages for My Scraps & More

Good Thursday morning to you!  I have a few layouts to share today...both are pages I created for my weekly DT challenges at My Scraps and More.  Each day a different challenge goes up, which is one reason why I love being a part of the team.  There is always a new challenge happening.  Don't forget there is a DT CALL going on right now!!  Check it out HERE.  It's such a great team to be a part of...you get free product every month and you get a VERY generous discount to use on anything in the store!  Give it a shot :)

Now, on to my pages.  The first one is from the {play} challenge I posted last week.  The challenge was to use at least FIVE photos on your page.  I still have lots of July 4th photos that I'm working on, so I printed out four of them really small.  My goal was to use the five pictures without making the page look cluttered.  The key to using lots of pics on one page is to make them small.

I loved this fun sketch from Page Maps, so I used it as my guide.

My next layout went up today, and it's another {play}challenge.  I really love this page...I used papers from Crate's Little Bo Peep collection, and I am so in love with the colors!  The challenge was to use TAGS on your layout...easy, right!  There is a whole page of tags in this collection, so it was a perfect challenge.

I am a big fan of Jenny Evans, and I love this sketch she created! I just had to play with it :)

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit. Don't forget about the DT Call...it really is a lot of fun! If you don't think you'd want to be on the DT, you can still join us and play along with all of the fun challenges over there. Fun things are in the works...you won't want to miss it!

1st August page @ Artful Delight

Good morning, everyone!  It's the first Tuesday of the month, and that means it's my reveal day at Artful Delight :)  This month's kit is so fun...it's full of Basic Grey's Paper Cottage, which is primarily what I used on my page.  It's also based on the August sketch.

I loved this black sheet with multi-colored patterned circles, and I wanted to use it as my background.  It's usually hard for me to start with such a busy sheet as my background, but I saw it as a challenge :)  I broke it up by adding the pretty blue and then adding some yellow paint smudges.  I didn't want to go overboard with embellishments since it was rather busy.  I love how it turned out!  These pics were tough to edit because of the way the sun was coming in behind Paige's head, but she still looks cute :)

These buttons are part of the kit (Basic Grey), and the orange alphas are Prima, which are also in the kit.  One of my layouts for later in the month is filled with one of the new collections from Prima!

Hurry on over and grab up one of these kits before they're gone! You won't be disappointed...the colors and patterns are to die for!  And don't forget that you can WIN one of these if you play along with the monthly sketch challenge.

Have a great day :)

ScrapFIT Warm-Up #30

Hellllo there!  I hope you're enjoying your Monday.  I am here to share the latest Warm-Up at ScrapFIT, and it's fun and easy one.  All you have to do is create a project with DOODLING on it!  I was inspired by the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook line from American Crafts...this has to be my ultimate favorite line ever!  I love the ultra-bright colors, the watercolor effect, and the doodling.  Your project can have doodled paper, or you can create your own doodles.  Here's what I came up with:

If your project wins, then we'll feature you in the FITGirl Spotlight later this month. It's a great way to show off your stuff and let everyone know a bit more about you. Give it a go! Click HERE to link up. Have a GREAT day, everyone!