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!

Summer/DT Call/Inspired by

Its summer at last! School is out and the pool is open! I love summer! If you love summer as much as I do, then check this out from the Paper Variety!

I'm sure you already have plenty of summer pictures waiting to be scrapped! If you play along you could win any available past kit and a free class from:

Unfortunately, this is my last project for The Paper Variety. So sad. I've had such a great time over there! Everyone there is soooo talented and sweet! There is a Design Team call going on right now for The Paper Variety! Go check it out HERE and try out! (after you finish reading my blog ofcourse!)

I want to show you how this layout came to be! First of all these are pictures of my youngest during field day this year, I love field day, it means summer is almost here !
So, I was inspired by THIS layout on the October Afternoon blog. I made a sketch of the layout I had in my head!

I loved the small pictures and banner, so I worked them in, but pushed the majority of my layout to the top of the page. I also loved how the paint/mist was splattered all over the page too. So, I created a star stencil and misted and splattered all over as well! I wanted to include a picture of the whole class so instead of the flashcard embellishment I added another photo. So, that's how this layout came to be!

Cosmo Cricket

Cosmo Cricket is sponsoring a chance to be published in Scrapbooks Trends Magazine! One of my scrappy goals is to be published in at least one magazine. Since I've never submitted anything to be published, I guess now would be the perfect chance! So, here goes....
Cosmo posted a sketch to use and this is my interpretation of it...........

click photo to enlarge

I used Social Club for this layout, probably not the usual line for outdoorsy pictures, but I love the colors in that line and they went so well with the picture! Sometimes you just have to think outside the box!  Here is a close up of the hidden journaling behind the photo:

If you would like to try out too or if you would just like to see the sketch,  go to Cosmo Cricket and check it out! Wish me luck!

Creative License

I thought I would try my hand at Sketchy Thursdays Guest Designer challenge again. This time there is a sketch and 3 inspiration pictures:

I instantly thought of the pictures I have of all the Holiday treats my son and I made last year. I know, most people look at these pictures and think: summer, fourth of July, I have always danced to my own beat! I guess it was the sprinkles and the yumminess of all the pictures that inspired me! We can just call it creative license! Whatever it was, I love the layout it conjured up!

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy Scrapping!

Camo and Guns

The Paper Variety is at it again! Another awesome challenge is ready for your interpretation!

What could be more manly than camo and guns? Well, around my house, there's a lot of manliness! My hubby and 2 of our 3 boys went turkey hunting last fall and these are the goofy pictures of my boys being manly men before the "Big Hunt"!

I used papers from American Crafts "Campy" line, lovin' that line! This layout is also loosely based on one of the sketches from Sketch Support. You really have to play along with us this week because there is an incredible prize to be won! You could win this:

From.....................

Wooooooo Hoooooo! Get goin' girls! With Father's day coming up, I'm sure there are lots of "masculine" projects just begging to be made!

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!

School Days!

YAY! School is almost out here! I LOVE summer! No homework, sleep in late, go to the pool! LOVE IT!! I hope you play along with us at The Paper Variety! You can scrap this years school portrait or maybe you have an old one laying around, like I did! This is my brother and sister circa 1966 all ready for their first day of school! Don't you just love their shiny, innocent little faces?!!

I used a sketch from October Afternoon and pretty much all the supplies are from October Afternoon as well!

If you create a project by next Tuesday you could win....

Fresh Faces Design Team Call

My life is pretty awesome. I am a stay at home mom to 3 amazing boys with a husband who loves me despite all my quirks! What else could I ask for? Would a spot on the Echo Park Design Team be too much to ask for? I don't have to be bribed to tell you I LOVE ECHO PARK! "For the Record" is by far my favorite line (by anyone!) ever. During my stint as Guest Designer over at Back Porch Memories I received a kit chock full of "For the Record"~EXCITING! You may have seen some of these layouts before, but Echo Park always bears repeating!

This page is undoubtedly one of my very favorites. First of all these papers are soooo perfect for vintage or black and white photos, and second this is my very favorite picture of my mom and sister. For this layout I used  the "Borders" paper to create the strips on the side and then sewed along the edge of the strips to add a little extra "homeyness".  Next, I layered a couple punched strips under that adorable picture. I love border punches and use them on any and every layout I possibly can, they always seem to add that extra oomph! I don't often get to use flowers on my pages, so when I do get the chance I like to really "do-it-up"! I made the rose using my cricut, (you can find a tutorial for it here) and then added German Glass Glitter to some of the edges. The blue scalloped circle at the top of the layout, was cut out of the packaging from some stickers I had laying around. I always keep the packaging from different items for this purpose! In addition to the pieced flower I also "fussy cut" some roses from the "Tablecloth" paper. The hot air balloon and lables are ofcourse from the Elements sticker sheet.

Ahhhh, young love, there is just nothing better! This layout depicts my mom and dad before they were married, they were sooo cute! And soooo in  love (married 53 years!!)! I'm thankful to have had them as a model for a happy marriage! On this layout I mostly used the  Elements sticker sheet. That 12X12 sheet of stickers from Echo Park has soooo many little details on it, I challenge you to use them all! Some strips of luscious paper, a little misting, ball fringe and a simple but elegant layout is done!

Sometimes it's the simple things that make the most impact I think. I don't make a lot of cards. But I love this one! It's so simple, but just perfect in my opinion! This paper from Echo Park (Tablecloth) adds just enough of a feminine touch, and of course ball fringe adds a whimsical feel. I am in love with this typewriter, so vintage, so graphic! I actually learned how to type on a typewriter very similar to this one! (boy does that show my age! LOL!)
Well, there you have just a few of my very favorite Echo Park projects. I hope you have been inspired by something here. I believe inspiration is everywhere, you just have to open your eyes and heart to it!

Ride baby Ride!

Another fantastic sketch from Twisted Sketches is ready for you to play with! I hope you had a wonderful National Scrapbooking Day and got lots of scrapping done! Jump over to the blog to see the sketch and for even more inspiration!

My oldest son on his new moped! Journalling reads: "You worked so hard to save the money to buy this moped. We are so proud of you! Can't wait to see what you accomplish next!" Using up all I can from my stash!

School Photos

Here's a quick one I did with the sketch at Sketchy Thursdays.

I loved this sketch! To incorporate the "circle" elements on the left side of the sketch I used some chipboard letters as a mask and misted over them onto graph paper. It was as visible as I wanted it to be, so I traced around each letter with a brown pen to. I used several different companies on this layout, basically I've been trying to use up my stash whenever possible! Supply List:  Blue background~not sure of company. Strips on the side~Crate Paper. "School" letters~October Afternoon. "photos" letters~Scenic Route. Small sticker letters~Karen Foster. Chipboard pieces~DCWV.

Movie Night

Hmmm interesting, don't you think? The Paper Variety has the most creative challenges! This week was Teacher Appreciation Week at my sons school. I put together a little night on the town for my 3rd Graders very appreciated teacher.

Twizzlers, Junior Mints, microwave popcorn and Gift Card for our local movie theater! She deserves a night out!
Check out the blog for more inspiration and play along. You could win a prize from....
Designs by Diana etsy store!

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!!!

Are You Twisted?

Are you twisted?  Do you like paint? Yes?!! Then you are gonna love this weeks sketch and challenge over at Twisted Sketches! Here is my take on the sketch, it's me at about 18 months!


click picture to enlarge

Make sure you check out the Twisted Sketches blog to see the sketch and play along with us!

New at the Paper Variety

Doesn't this sound fun?! Who doesn't love polka-dots?!! My layout is of my sister and our Grandparents in 1964. I used a subtle dot background (sorry, I don't know which company it's from) with a diecut paper from Making Memories with purple dots around the outside and ofcourse no layout is complete without ribbon so I gathered up some polka-dot ribbon along the bottom of the pictures. The diecuts birds, flowers, borders and sticker title spot are all from K&Co.

One lucky person will win.........

So, please check out The Paper Variety blog to see the rest of the Design Teams layouts/cards/projects and play along with us!

I made the Top 5!

Have you seen this new sketch site? Get Your Sketch On! They have a fantastic sketch every week and great prizes too! This week I decided to give it a try and I made the top 5! Pretty exciting! Be sure to hop over there and check it out!

1 Sketch 2 ways!

There is a sketch challenge at October Afternoon. Thought I would give it a whirl! I actually did two layouts from the same sketch, but only one has October Afternoon papers on it, the other uses Cosmo Cricket. Hope you have a blessed Easter!

My brother and sister in 1969

My brother and our Grampa Art in 1958

Can You Dig It?

Here's a little something I did for the May Guest Designer tryouts  at Get Your Sketch On. It's a picture of me in 1972, apparently I was looking for a place to dig, to no avail! Jump over to Get Your Sketch On and give it a whirl!