An SRM Stickers Layout: Make a Wish

I got to have my page featured on the SRM Stickers blog yesterday and happy to share it here with you today. I used a variety of SRM but the focus was on the new 'We've Got Your Border' stickers. I used them in a few places but especially in the corners:

I used some Elle's Studio tags in my title and pulled out some really old blank page pebbles to use with the number "7" sticker and the 'make a wish' sticker. I love the combo of SRM stickers with the page pebbles buy only have a few left. What a bummer. I hope Close To My Heart starts making them again so I can stock up.

I used one of the border strips that says 'celebrate' and applied it to small strip of paper then trimmed it into a banner shape. Below you can see it layered on top of a butterfly die cut, along with the 'make a wish' page pebble accent. The paper is Simple Stories - Endless Summer (I was dying to use that paper - one of my all time faves - it was perfect with the colors in the border stickers.). I punched out some of the circles and replaced them with other elements and stitched around some: 

Here you can see a close up of the SRM new Border Stickers along with some strips of the Simple Stories paper and an Elle's Studio tag:

Thanks for stopping by today! It's going to be a rough one as I stayed up really late to watch the Daytona 500. I've never waited so long to watch a race and wow - it was pretty extraordinary. My driver didn't win but was happy no one died. It was a pretty fiery affair. On the bright side, I was up late enough for the 2nd Studio Calico reveal so I managed to grab the second add-on that I wanted. Can't wait to get that box this month!
Have a great day!

Elle's Studio Inspiration Gallery II

Another page to share today from the new Elle's Studio Inspiration Gallery:

I mixed in some Studio Calico Memoir papers with the current kit to make this project.

Something I'm loving right now - pieced and stitched borders. Forgive me while I abuse this 'new to me' technique in the weeks to come:

...adding these staples I was thinking how great it would be if the Tiny Attacher had a longer reach. I love that little stapler!

Did you know that the Elle's Studio Blog hosts a sketch challenge each week? With an Elle's Studio prize for the winner? You can check it out right here.

Two things I'm loving right now, besides the aforementioned Tiny Attacher and borders...project kits and Elle's tags. Now that I'm back in school & my crafty time is extremely limited, I've started to rely heavily on my Studio Calico subscription. To think I was about to resign in the Fall! I'm so glad I didn't because I had no idea how pressed for time I was really going to be. Those kits bring already 'mixed and matched' fresh product into my house each month - saving me hours of driving time back & forth to my LSS or shopping online. (Not that I will ever give up those 2 things - I've just had to put them on pause for now...) And so far, I haven't met a kit that didn't play really nice with Elle's Studio tags. Thank goodness for both of these companies for making it possible to still enjoy this hobby while juggling the rest of my life. 

Have a great Saturday everyone - who's watching the Daytona 500 with me tomorrow?

Elle's Studio Inspiration Gallery

The new Elle's Studio Inspiration Gallery went live on the 22nd - if you haven't checked it out you should. It's a great source for layouts and cards. Here's one of my pages, along with a couple of details. My daughter loves cats, especially plush ones. She has hundreds and these are 3 of her faves du jour. When we were heading out for the day a few weeks ago, she tucked them into bed. I had to take a photo to remember the cuteness.

I used a mix of my Studio Calico Handmade & Country Fair kits, along with the stamp from my Elle's "It's a Love Story" kit from last month:

I love how Elle's tags add another layer of detail without bulk - especially the ones with the faux stitching.

Stop by tomorrow and I'll share another page. Hope you have a great Friday - so glad it's here!!

Scraplifting at Pebbles, Inc.

My assignment for this week at Pebbles, Inc. was to scraplift a DT member. I saw this page from Laura Craigie a few weeks ago and knew this would be the one. Love the way Laura keeps things simple but not boring with her mix of pattern & layers. I didn't stray far from the original with my page:

Here are some close ups...I stitched my letters down like Laura:

For a complete list of the Pebbles, Inc. products I used, stop by the blog. All week Pebbles, Inc. is featuring lifted pages. Love seeing all the different interpretations.

It's been a quiet week on the crafty front because school has started to get a little challenging. This weekend, I plan to make up for lost time.
Be back tomorrow with some pages for Elle's Studio!

A Little Tag

Keeping it simple today with this springy little tag:

I used my favorite sheet of Simple Stories paper for the flowers, a Studio Calico tag and some SRM Stickers for the sentiment, the tiny red scallop border, and the little bee. I love how those stickers look like they are printed right onto my project. I picked up the kraft tags at Paper Source.
My inspiration to make the little flowers came from here:

my shoes. In fact, the reason I bought these shoes was because I thought the flowers would be cute in paper and didn't want to forget. Now I wear the inspiration on my feet at least 3 days a week!
Do you do that too? Imagine everything made out of paper? I have a feeling I'm not the only one.

Happy Presidents Day everyone - I'm off today so I can attend a Cub Scout field trip with my son. Then it's homework time for me. Hope you have a great day!

Sunday at The Studio

Its the start of a new term this week at The Studio Challenges. We have 3 new talented team members and are off to a great start. This week we've got a sketch challenge & I hope you will play along! Here's the page I made:

materials: patterned paper: Crate, Bo Bunny;fabric circles: Basic Grey; letters: American Crafts; stamp, arrows: Studio Calico; journal spot: Elle's Studio; grid paper: Post It; date stamp: office supply

The sketch had a lot of circle shaped elements - as soon as I saw it I knew I'd use this photo that been sitting on my desk, of my son and his Magic 8 Ball.

 I used a Studio Calico stamp for the number strips, and stamped them right onto a grid patterned pad of post-its. Very handy and already sticky! The rest of the page is a mish-mash of my last few Studio Calico kits and some BoBunny for that grey dotted background. (Picked that up last week at Scrapper's Cove - wish I had picked up a few more sheets.)

Stop by and take a look at the sketch and be inspired by our talented team! Link up and you could be our guest designer next month!

So, last Sunday was the 12th and I totally forgot (despite several reminders) to take my 12 pictures. This Sunday, I will re-group, re-organize and take my 12. In 20 years from now, no one will care if I took them on the 12th or the 19th, right? It can be our little secret.

Free For All At Pebbles, Inc.

a.k.a. The little cake box....

Here's a little project I whipped up for the Pebbles, Inc. blog for Free For All Friday. It's a little gift box (about the right size to hold a gift card or small item) made from a round chipboard box turned upside down. I used boxes similar to these, which I found at my local craft store (my project measures about 5" x 3"):

They were piled on my desk when I realized that turned upside down, they looked like little layer cakes. I had a few sizes and settle on a slightly larger size for this project:

I covered the box with a variety of Pebbles product and an SRM sticker on the little flags.

I made those green leaves by punching circles, scoring them down the center and bending them up a little:

When you lift the cake off it's base, you reveal the 'happy birthday' message. These cakes could easily be adapted as favor boxes for weddings or any other kind of party, for that matter:

Used some big dies to cut the scalloped base for the cake - a doily could be cute too!

Also made this card to go along with my cake box:

For a full list of the Pebbles, Inc. products I used, stop by the blog.

It's 'basketball Saturday' here in NJ - 2 basketball games at opposite ends of the day. Be back tomorrow with my page for The Studio Challenges - our first challenge with the new design team mates. Hope you will stop by!

Sketch Thursday

Today I've got a page I made for Elle's Studio Sketch Thursday. This week we used a sketch inspired by a page from Rahel. I love how Rahel uses white space and little strips of paper. I tried to incorporate both in my page:

I used the remains of my "It's a Love Story" kit for this page (I can not believe that kit is still available!), with the addition of that pink toile from a Studio Calico kit. 

You can check our Rahel's sketch on the Elle's Studio blog. If you make a project, upload it in the comments there and you can win a cool prize!

Thanks for stopping by today. Has everyone been cranky this week or is it just all the people in the state of New Jersey? Sometimes it feels like we are all in the same boat. Possible Nor'easter this weekend - maybe that will change people's attitudes. Anyway, Friday is here and I have a project on the Pebbles, Inc. blog today. Hope you will stop by and check it out. Will share it here tomorrow.

Happy Friday!

Random

So glad it's Wednesday. I've been working hard on DT projects and soon I get to share it all. Tomorrow I've got a page from a sketch on the Elle's Studio blog. On Friday it's my 'Free for All' project on Pebbles, Inc. (love that, can't wait to share it) For now, I've got to sit tight. Just so this isn't the most boring blog post ever, I've got a couple of tiny Elle's sneaks:

I failed miserably on Sunday taking my 12 on the 12th. I'm bummed because I did a bunch of photo-worthy stuff before it occurred to me it was the 12th. So now I'm scrambling to fill in. I've got about 6 photos from the day, then I'll fill them in with photos from the day before and after. I guess the whole point is to capture some everyday moments. If they are on or around the 12th, that will be good enough for me.

I'm so sick of this winter. And it's hardly been winter here. I'm starting to think we are not going to see a flake of snow this year. I'm not a huge fan of snow but would like at least one 'take a day off, stay inside and drink hot cocoa' day. My kids keep asking when it's going to be winter. That's how warm it is here. One more month and I call the pool guy to get us on the schedule to open the pool. Can't wait to see that blue water again.

Be back tomorrow with my Elle's sketch layout. Hope you are having a great week!

Simple Valentines

Quiet week on the blog this week. I'm making stuff, lots of stuff. Stuff I really like. I just can't start sharing it until next week. This weekend I have 6 layouts to make. If I can get them done between now and Sunday night, that will be a miracle, as I am an extremely slow scrapbooker. Luckily for me, one is a scraplift project, and two are sketches, so that will shave off some time on at least 3 of them. I might just do them first so I can get into a groove...

Here a 2 very simple Valentines I made way back when (rejected projects if I recall correctly). Since the holiday is right around the corner, thought I'd share them today:

I used the Pebbles, Inc. 'All My Love' line for these cards. The heart shape is an Amy Tan/American Crafts shape for Silhouette. The string is Martha Stewart. I embossed with my Big Shot. (BTW...there's a giveaway on the Pebbles, Inc. blog if you comment by Monday!)

So, it's time to hit the photo library and get the photo printing going. If you've got time today, stop by my pal Amy's blog - she makes amazing mosaic art and is having a 100th post giveaway. She's giving away a really cute mosaic creation.
Happy Saturday!

The Take 12 Project

I've been working on my album for Ella Publishing's Take 12 Photo Challenge - I'm determined to have a complete album by the end of the year and promised myself I'd get my layout for the month finished before the next 12th of the month arrived. This month I kept my promise. I started making a 12 x 12 layout but then decided to go with a smaller format. For a few reasons but mainly because I have a spare 8 x 8 American Crafts binder sitting on the shelf. (I'm actively trying to use up my stash!)

Here's a close up of the album cover:

 

 and here's my cover page:

and here's a close up of the title block. Navy and taupe is my all time favorite color combo - orange and navy is close runner up:

My first layout - a simple grid using the same papers and design elements of the cover and cover page:

 Journaling tucks in behind the photo grid on an Elle's Studio journaling card:

The pictures are small at 1 1/2 square. I thought at first they seemed too small but then decided I didn't need huge photos to tell this story. Going forward, I will not zoom in so close on my subjects so I can crop them down easier. I plan to keep the pages consistent - so 11 more just like this, only with the borders on opposite sides depending on their location in the book. Here's the' kit' I put together - I'll stick with these items until the album is complete:

patterned paper: Studio Calico, Pink Paislee; month sticker: SRM; journal card, date tag: Elle's Studio; tape: American Crafts; letters stickers: American Crafts, Heidi Swapp; cardstock: Bazzill, Wausau; date stamp: Staples; twine: Divine Twine.

So, I can't believe it's Monday again. A happy day in New Jersey thanks to the Giants win last night, but still Monday. Hope you all have a good week ahead!

Sunday at The Studio

This Sunday's challenge at The Studio is to make a page about love that doesn't include any hearts. I knew as soon as heard it I'd use the photo below. It's my favorite of my mom and my daughter - when I see it I'm reminded of their special bond. I've had it printed and ready to go for ages, but just never got around to making a page with it. I used my Elle's Studio "It's a Love Story" kit for this one and added in the page pebbles (because I'm addicted to them at the moment) and a little Jenni Bowlin paint.

The frame around the photo, made from scraps, was a necessity. When I trimmed the photo, some of the emulsion started to flake off at the edges, making for a weird distressed look. (As I mentioned above, this photo has been printed for a long time, and even did a little time on the fridge.) The frame covers the damage.

The little envelope, held open by a staple and that little circle embellishment, holds wallet sized versions of my favorite photos of these two.

I hope you will think about playing along with us this month. It's easy to link up and this month we've got a guest designer spot up for grabs. Stop by the blog for some more inspiration. Lot's of fun stuff in store over at The Studio in the months to come!

A random layout...

A few changes going on here at the blog this week. I'm a little late to the game but finally figured out how to change the width of the blog last night. Of course, now everything looks a little weird to me. Bear with me while I get it all sorted out....

Today I've got a page I made with an Elle's Studio sketch a few weeks ago - it's actually my reject page. I wasn't going to share it because I thought it got a little crazy pattern & color-wise - but I do like some of the details, so here it is!

The photo is kind of somber, and the design is a little too 'happy' (I think) so I'll probably make another page with this picture. It depicts my daughter at the Disney stables this past fall, when we realized she was too tall to ride the ponies. I almost cried when I saw her stand next to the measuring pole, because this is our annual Disney tradition and her heart was broken. Nothing a little trip to the gift shop couldn't fix...

I used a lot of new Elle's Studio tags on this page. (Collected Large Journaling tags & Daily Tidbits) and the Handmade Studio Calico kit from November. I've got to start using up those kits. It won't be hard since I have not had time to purchase a single scrapbooking supply since last fall.

If you are a Disney World fan and haven't been to the stables at Fort Wilderness, you should check it out. It's so peaceful and quiet there and the horses are beautiful.
Happy Wednesday everyone!