2 new layouts...

I actually got some scrapping time in yesterday so I decided to try out my new Basic Grey goodies. I am in LOVE! I used the Sugared Collection on both layouts and it is so girly and it all matches wonderfully!! I may have to start saving my pennies and get some more packs. ;)

The first one is a picture I got of Emily in the early morning when she was still all curled up and just looked so beautiful. :)

To start, I took out my trusty dinner plate and drew a circle onto the patterned paper, cut it out and inked the edges. Next, I took the picture, sanded the edges and also inked them. Once I put the circle and picture in place, I added some beautiful Prima flowers and journaled around the edge. Very simple and I think it looks great!

The second one is Madison helping me make a cake for Emily. I went in the kitchen to start getting the stuff out and she came running in asking if she could help me. Of course I said yes!! ;)

I had 3 pics I wanted to use for this layout but thought they would cover up too much of the patterned paper if I left them all full size so I cut 2 of them down and left the last one full size. Next I took a template that I have (a square with rounded corners), used it to make the corners of the pictures rounded, and then inked the edges.

Once that was done, I took the pink piece of cardstock I wanted to use, placed the pictures on it where I wanted them, and trimmed the rest. Then I inked the edges and placed the entire piece in the center of the patterned paper.

I felt like it needed a little something else, so I decided to do a title. These letters are Basic Grey chipboard letters (Hip) and I reallllllly like them. They were raw to start with and I thought about inking them but realized they would just blend into the background so instead I painted them white. This was the first time I painted anything for a layout and I really like how it turned out! I'll definitely be doing more in the future...

So there you go! I did a layout for each of my girls that I'm really happy with and also tried something new. That's a pretty good day in the scrapping world, huh? ;)

Nature...

I did a layout yesterday with Mark and Emily on it. The picture is from a trip we took to Looking Glass Falls in Brevard, NC back in May of 2007. It's about 40 minutes from where we live and it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL there! Here's what the layout looks like...

This one was so much fun to do! The patterned paper is actually not patterned paper at all. I took the back of the packaging that my Basic Grey chipboard albums came in and cut them into 4 matching squares (isn't that a great way to reuse something you might have just thrown away?). I took some brown ink and my Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink (which is a little darker than my brown) and inked the sides of all of them. Next I took a matching brown piece of cardstock, inked some of it with the brown ink to give it a little texture, and then took the squares of my homemade patterned paper (lol!) and placed them in the corners...

I decided that I wanted to put something in the middle to draw the pieces together. I used a piece from one of the chipboard albums as a template, drew it onto some white cardstock and cut it out. Then I took the same 2 ink colors and inked the edges and all over the surface to make it the color I wanted. It came out just right!

For the picture, I sanded the edges of it and inked them, again with both colors of ink. I wanted the edges to blend with the background color. Then I chose a vellum quote (love this one!) and matted it onto another piece of white cardstock that I had inked with only the darker color ink. It came out the perfect color behind the vellum and matches the edge of the picture really well.

I'm really happy with my results here and I truly wish I had more of this packaging to make some more layouts with...it's so beautiful!

Sweet...

I actually got a layout accomplished today! I wasn't planning on scrapping but you know how those supplies call your name all day?? Well, I gave in! :)

My sweet girls (hence the name of the layout, lol) sharing some kisses...they are so lovey!! The funny thing about it is that the picture I started with was actually a different one. I tried to put it on the layout about 4 times in different ways and it just felt off, you know? I looked through my pics again and saw this one and once I tried it, it felt right so I went with it...

This was a very simple layout to do. I took a dinner plate and traced a circle onto the back of my patterned paper and cut it out. Next I distressed the edges with my scissors and inked them brown. Then I went to choose some cardstock for the background and guess what? I didn't have the right color! I know, I know...you should be sure of these things before you start right? Well, I was already in the middle of it and not going back! I just decided to go with a baby pink color that matched the patterned paper pretty closely and inked it brown in spots to soften it some. I'm pretty happy with the results, but next time I'll make sure I match the papers first, lol... ;)

Another layout for today...

I had some more scrapping time today so I did a layout of Madison. This was last year on Mothers Day when we were over at Mark's Nanny's house. She has some really beautiful flowers in her yard and Madison just loved them. She walked around smelling them for almost an hour, and since she was a VERY active almost 2 year old at the time, I was amazed! I snapped this shot of her and really loved it...

For this layout, I tried to keep it really simple but still add a little bit of elegance to it. The paper is absolutely gorgeous and I didn't want to take away from it, so I decided to use only cardstock with it instead of any other patterns...

To start, I traced a circle out of some green cardstock with a small dinner plate and cut it out by hand. I then distressed the edges with my scissors and inked them with Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut Stain). Next I cut out a photo mat from a tan color cardstock and inked it all over with a plain brown ink (I didn't have the right color cardstock so I made it myself!).

I wanted to add something else to it and figured it was the perfect opportunity to use one of the oval doilies I just found last night at The Dollar Tree (24 for only $1!). I cut the end off of the doily, inked it with the same ink as the green cardstock and then glued it to the back of the photo mat. Once I decided where to put everything on the page, I was done! I really like how it all came together...

My sister again...

I made another layout for my sister...this time for her birthday (which is today!). I took this picture of her with my girls and my niece (so all 3 of my sister's nieces) on Thanksgiving. When she saw it, she really loved it and immediately asked me for a copy. I figured there was no better way for her to display it than scrapped! ;)

Pretty much all I did was cut some paper out, distress and ink the edges, and throw a picture on there. Very simple, but I'm sure she'll really like how it turned out and that's all that matters, right?? :)

One of my all time favs...

I've got another layout I want to share with you today. It's one of my all time favorites that I've done and I just look at it over and over because I love it so much...

It's not so much the layout I think, but the picture itself that keep drawing me back to it. Madison is only 3 days old here and Emily was constantly wanting to hold her. I guess I can understand that...I mean she waited years to have a baby sister, lol! Mark was always really good about sitting down with her so that she could snuggle with "her baby" anytime she wanted to though, and this was one of the first times she got to after we came home from the hospital...

A priceless picture, isn't it? :) Oh, my heart is so full! Thank you God, for my beautiful family...

My Sister

I've decided to share this layout that I did for my sister for Christmas. She's had a really rough couple of months and alot of days she seems really down. Well, on Thanksgiving, I got this picture of us and I loved how happy she looks in it. I wanted to make her something with it to remind her that I love her and that God is always with her. I think it worked because she really loved it and even teared up a little. ;)

I did alot of distressing/inking on this one because I really wanted each layer to stand out. I also sanded and inked the edges of the picture to soften it a bit. For the vellum, I used my scissors to rough up the edges, made some small tears, and then I inked the entire surface. Lastly, I inked the flowers a little bit and I was done! I think it all came together great...

Me!

I just had to share this layout I did last week. The picture is of my mom and me, back in 1978! I was recently able to get a copy of the picture made so I that could scrap it and I had lot of fun with it. I think the quote fits the picture perfectly!!

"Our todays and yesterdays are the blocks with which we build."

I did some distressing and inking on the picture mat and the paper under the mat. I also distressed/tore the edges of the vellum and inked the entire surface of it to make it stand out more...

Scripture Challenge

I'm going to be doing a Scripture Challenge this year. It was done last year by Patter Cross and she's decided to repost it this year for those people (like me!) who would still like to participate. I know that doing it is going to be such a blessing in my life and I hope that some of you may join in also...

For details about Patter's Challenge, you can visit her blog here. Oh, and if you look through her posts from last year, you can see the cards she made herself, and they are wonderful!

Most Recent Layout

This is the most recent layout I've done. It's my youngest daugter Madison when she was 5 1/2 months old. She's 3 1/2 how, so you can see that I am not a chronological scrapper by any means! I usually just look through a stack of pictures and whichever one gives me an idea first is the one I go with...

For this one, I kept it really simple. The paper I wanted to use was so beautiful that I didn't want to take away from that, but I also wanted the picture to be the main focus. In order to achieve that, I sanded the edges of the picture and inked them brown. I then matted it onto a neutral color of cardstock after I distressed the edges of it and inked them the same color brown. After that I added a flower, journaled around the picture and that was it! I purposefully didn't add a title because I just didn't think it needed one...

Hello!

Well, since it seems like everyone has started blogging, I figured I may as well jump on the boat too, lol. I don't know how much I'll have to say or if anyone will want to read any of it, but I figure either way, I can at least use it to record some moments in my life that are important to me...

The main thing I'll be writing about is scrapbooking! I love to scrap and love learning all of the new techniques...and the old ones I know nothing about! Maybe by posting a layout and telling how I've done parts of it, someone out there may learn a new technique themselves...

So that's it for now. I'll post some more in a little while with some layouts I've done. Thanks for visiting me!