Best Of 2011

Happy New Year! Wow, can't believe it's 2012! I know everybody is saying it, but really, are we in a time warp or something, because time is going faster every single year!

Over at my favorite sketch blog TWISTED SKETCHES we are doing a "Favorites of 2011" all the design team members have submitted their favorite layouts and the sketch from the last year. My favorite was sketch #120 with the twist "buttons". I not only loved the sketch, but it really is one of my very favorite layouts from the past year. First because I love the picture, it isn't often I get a picture of all 3 of our Patricks together. Second I did the layout with my favorite line of the year "Rocket Age" from October Afternoon! You may have seen the layout before, but I will post it again, just because I love it!

Now go check out the TWISTED SKETCHES blog and see everyone elses favorites!

Special Olympics

My son is in the Special Olympics. One of the best programs EVER! We have been so blessed to be a part of this amazing group! I've done many pages about his sports accomplishments and I'm sure I'll do many more! This is the first time he has ever been on a horse and he was very nervous at first, but quickly loosened up and enjoyed himself! I used the sketch from Twisted Sketches and a mix of scraps, mostly from Cosmo Cricket. Make sure you jump over to Twisted Sketches and see what else the Twisted Sisters have to inspire you!

Miss Mariyah

My great-niece is a spit-fire! But absolutely ADORABLE! And, since I have 3 boys, I don't get to use much pink. So, I used as much as I possibly could on this layout! The twist this week at Twisted Sketches is CHIPBOARD. I used several different chipboard letters to do my title and a Basic Grey chipboard piece that says "in my heart". Jump over to Twisted Sketches to see the sketch and play along!

A little Q&A

Every now and then I like to do a page where I ask my boys questions about themselves. Basic questions like what's your favorite book? or what's your favorite food? It's fun to look back and see the different answers from year to year! I used the sketch from Twisted Sketches for this Q&A from my 19 year old. Ask someone you love a couple questions, you might be surprised by the answers!

Missing Mojo

Does your Mojo ever disappear? Mine sure has lately! Usually I can make 8-10 scrapbook pages a week. Wanna know how many I've created over the last 2 weeks? 3. Pretty sad! I don't know if it's the weather, or the fact that for some reason I can't sleep at nite or just what the problem is, but I just can't seem to find my "niche" again! I had to do use this sketch from Twisted Sketches 3 times before I finally got one I was willing to share with you! And to tell the truth, it's still not my best work! Wow, am I in a funk! I think I'll pick up a chocolate cake and possibly a bottle of wine on my way home from work, that oughta' fix anything right?!?!! I hope you have better luck using the awesome sketch from Twisted Sketches! Here's to finding your Mojo!

I used mostly things in my scrap box for this. The "circle" is a 4 inch strip that I pleated and smooshed flat. My "ENVELOPE" is in the bottom left corner under the GCD chipboard sticker. And I made my own bird on a limb mask for a little added interest!  Happy Scrapping!

Rain Rain Go AWAY!

Im not usually a complainer, but come on! Here in Virginia it's been raining for 2 weeks! Enough already! Fall is my favorite season, and we can't even go outside and enjoy it!So, you will have to excuse the terrible picture, it's hard to get a good picture of a scrapbook page with no natural light!!  Alright, enough ranting.... How about a sketch and a layout? It's my turn at TWISTED SKETCHES again this week! The twist is PUNCH. Usually there's a lot of punching going on around my house with 3 boys! But instead of brotherly love I did a layout of my middle son testing for his first degree black belt in Hap Ki Do. I took a few liberties with this sketch, but I think you can still see it in there!

Off to a Good Start!

School started here the week before Labor Day. We've settled in pretty well, now it's time to start scrapping the pictures! Idid this layout for Twisted Sketches. The twist this week is START. So, go get STARTED!

aahhhh the LONG days of summer

It's time for Twisted Sketches again! I don't know about you, but I have a ton of pictures to scrap from this summer! We went to Michigan and Wisconsin to visit family and celebrate my mom's 80th birthday! So, you will be seeing many of those pictures! Today, is a picture of me, my Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law floating away the afternoon on the lake! Check out the Twisted Sketches blog to see the sketch I used for this and everyone else's layouts! I used some old (really old) Doodle Bug stuff on this one, I love using up my stash!

Clearly

I'm still here! Still on on the Twisted Sketches design team! I'm so happy to continue with Twisted Sketches! Be sure to hop on over to the blog to see the rest of the team and what they have done with the new sketch and the twist!

This is a picture of my adorable niece and her boyfriend. They are in that sappy, snuggly, lovey-dovey stage of their relationship. I got a tooth ache being around them! LOL! They are very sweet and cute together and CLEARLY in love!

FUN on the FOURTH!

TWISTED SKETCHES! So love these sketches! This weeks twist is FUN! What's more fun than sparklers? This picture is of my sister in 1971!

Do you love the flowers/stars on the side of the picture? I'd love to take credit for them, but Amy Heller at October Afternoon is the genius behind them. You can find directions for them HERE I used Rocket Age from October Afternoon again (I am soooo loving that line!) Check out TWISTED SKETCHES to see all the other interpretations of the sketch and don't forget to check back next week for the new team too!

Button, Button, who's got the Button??

The twist over at Twisted Sketches is BUTTON! I had such a great time with this one! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Rocket Age from October Afternoon and used a ton of it on this layout!

 The photo is of my hubby, oldest son and my father-in-law, all of them are named Patrick! Gets a little confusing when they are all together, but whatcha gonna do?!!
Be sure to check out the sketch and play along, I know you will love the sketch, I sure did!

Day Late & a Dollar Short!

Maybe it's that I've been cleaning and packing so much lately to get ready for our month long trip "back home" that I've missed a week. That's my excuse anyway. LAST Wednesday was my week to post for Twisted Sketches and I totally forgot to post my layout here on MY blog....DUH! So, here is my layout from LAST week.......

This is my little family of 5 on Easter this year. Can't believe how much my boys have changed from last years Easter picture! I just hate that! The twist this week was FLOWER. I don't get to use many flowers since I have 3 boys, so when I do, I do it big!! I have had these Prima flowers for ages, love that I finally got to use them! Anams sketch called for a big circle, which I replaced with a heart and a "bracket" shaped piece on the bottom which I replaced with my banners. That's what I love about sketches, you can use them any way you want. If you look, you can still see the basic sketch, but I made it my own! Be sure to check out Twisted Sketches to see LAST weeks sketch and another fantastic one from THIS week!

Time Flies

If you have come here from the Twisted Sketches blog, you may have noticed I spelled flies wrong on my layout there. Well, even English Majors such as my self make silly mistakes, fortunately once I saw it on the blog I said to myself "you dummy, that's not right!" So here is the corrected one:

All I can say is thank God my father the editor wasn't here to see it! LOL! Anyway...... Please check out the Twisted Sketches blog to see Anam's awesome sketch, the twist this week is TIME, and play along with us! Just be sure to use spell check, before you post anything for the whole world to see!

It's SUMMER at Twisted Sketches

It's that time again at TWISTED SKETCHES! A new sketch is up and ready for you to play along! This weeks twist is very fitting ~ SUMMER!! I chose to use the amazing sketch to scrap a favorite picture of my brother when he was little! The photo was taken in 1964 at my aunt and uncles cabin, those were the days...  I hope this inpsires you to scrap some of your summer photos and play along with us!

For this layout I used a new company (at lease new to me!) called Simple Stories. The line I used is called, appropriately enough, "100 days of Summer"! I also used some October Afternoon and the large piece of blue and brown is from American Crafts "Campy" line.  Now go check out the blog and see everyone's interpretation, then grab some paper, glue and pictures and have fun!

Don't Stop Believing

Twisted Sketches is up and ready for you to play along! Another awesome sketch (as always!) and the twist this week is STOP! So many ways to interpret that! I had this picture of my DS that was waiting for the perfect opportunity, and this was it! He was just recently diagnosed with ADHD and has had a tough year. But, he is overcoming many obstacles and we are so proud of him! Not the least of which is his grades. He has gone from failing most of his classes to getting all A's and B's! I can't wait to see what his future holds! (excuse the bragging from a proud mom! LOL!) "Don't Stop Believing in Yourself"

papers are "Twig" from Little Yellow Bicycle

Be sure to play along with us!

100 SKETCHES!

WOW!! Twisted Sketches has hit 100! Celebrate with us! Leave a comment on the BLOG and you could win a $25 gift certificate to your favorite store! The theme this week is CELEBRATE! I did a layout celebrating me and my hubby!

Happy Mothers Day to all you mommys out there! Especially mine!!!

Another great reveal from Twisted Sketches! Please go to the site to see the sketch and play along with us! I flipped the sketch around for this one. It's a picture of my mom and dad on their 10th wedding anniversary in 1964! The twist is "card" so I used the litttle love birds playing card from Fancy Pants.

The Fun Goes On and On

I have another reveal for you today! Today is with Twisted Sketches! I so love being a part of this team. Not only does she have awesome sketches but there is the added twist Anam always adds to it! This week the twist was "brads". Easy! I used my handy dandy I-Top to make a few matching brads and voila! Here is what I came up with:


click photo to enlarge

 Gotta love that outfit circa 1970! The papers from October Afternoon are perfect for many photos I have of my mom from that era! Jump over to the blog to see the sketch and all the ymmy-ness there and be sure to play along!

Twisted Sketches!

Yay! It's my first reveal at TWISTED SKETCHES!!  The twist this week is SOFT. Go to the blog to see the sketch and link up your version! Here is what I did with the sketch and the twist. This is a picture of my oldest son (now almost 19) the day he was born. Seems so long ago, but then again like it was just yesterday!


click photo to enlarge



Twisted Sketches #86

Even though it's not "my week" at Twisted Sketches (mine will be up the week of Feb 16) I just had to do this weeks sketch! I loved the sketch and as soon as I saw the TWIST I knew exactly what I was going to do! So here is my take on the sketch with the twist "FRESH"!


click photo to enlarge

Go check out Twisted Sketches to see the sketch and play along too!