Scraptastic April Kit

I am sharing two of the layouts I made *mostly* with the Scraptastic April Kit - Awake My Soul.  This was my first kit from Scraptastic, and I really enjoyed working with it.  I am not the best at just using the kit - but I challenged myself to try and stick to the kit as much as I could with the first layout.  I ended up doing OK with it but couldn't resist adding some washi, a tag, a doilie, and some stamps...

I also ended up *accidentally* challenging myself: I worked on these layouts at my parents' house when I was staying with my grandmother some when she was sick. I typically scrap at home and have only been to a crop one time, which was over 5 years ago. Needless to say, I am not used to traveling with my scrapbook supplies. I did fairly well with the amount of supplies - I think I brought 3 12x12 Iris Scrapbook cases and a few supplies in my bag - but I forgot one main item - My trimmer! Due to my grandmother's condition, I really couldn't leave the house, so I was stuck. I luckily found a ruler and I had my scissors, so I started with that.  A little bit into my first page, I was able to get a hold of my little brother who told me where a box cutter was - so I used the box cutter, a ruler and a mouse pad for my cutting. It worked out fine but was a little slower than just having my trimmer! All that to say, if you notice some uneven lines, please just ignore!

Here is the first layout I made:

And the second layout:

So far, I have made a couple other layouts using the kit as well as some of my other supplies. I will share those soon...Thanks for stopping by!

Megan

Friday Favorites

Here are my Friday Favorites for this week:

Studio G Stamp Set - available at Michael's

I picked up these stamp sets at Michael's for $1 and really like them. They are only $1 so they are not the best made clear stamps; however, they have worked great for me, especially with the Prima Chalk Fluid Edgers - These inks work great with all stamps, including the cheaper ones. They have some other designs too, but these were my favorite.


Ormolu Exclusive Flair Set Awake My Soul - Sold by Scraptastic

I got the Awake My Soul kit from Scraptastic (and will be sharing layouts made with it early next week) and it came with this exclusive flair set. I absolutely love the star flair and the woodgrain flair.

Anchors Away 12x12 Paper from Fancy Pants' Down by the Shore Collection - at Two Peas (currently sold out) and Scrapbook.com

I know some people are not really sure about the anchors, but I have to say that I really like them. My parents own a ski boat so I do have some boating pictures, but I have already used this paper and it was not on a boating layout. I think it goes well with everyday pictures if you do not have any with a boating theme.

Studio Calico Snippets Chipboard Stars - at Two Peas and Scrapbook.com

I really like Studio Calico's Snippets line overall, but my favorite piece of it has to be these chipboard stars. They are very versatile and can go with a lot of different lines. Also, being a mom of boys, stars are one of my favorite shapes to use.

Bow Ties 12x12 Alphabet Stickers by Basic Grey - at Two Peas and Scrapbook.com

This is not an alphabet I would normally buy myself, but I received it in the Scraptastic kit Awake My Soul.  Suprisingly, I loved using it, and it went great with the papers in that kit. Most of the papers were from Fancy Pants Trendsetter and Dear Lizzy's Lucky Charm, which are two of my favorite collections from this CHA release. I also like that the letters are thick enough to add foam squares underneath so you can get dimension if you want it.

Can you tell I am loving Fancy Pants' lines from this winter release?? They actually have two mid-releases that I love as well and I can't wait for those to come out!

Well, that is all for this Friday - I hope you had a good week and I hope you have an even better weekend!
Megan

PL Week 7 2013 - Crate Paper Party Day

I missed my Friday Favorites this past week as I was out of town due to my grandmother passing away.  I was not overly close to her, but it was still an emotional time.   It was not completely unexpected (she had late stage cancer), but she did go quicker than we thought she would.  I helped take care of her some near the end, and I am thankful that I got to spend some time with her before she passed away.  I am glad she is no longer in pain and finally home...

Well, back to scrapbooking - Today, I am sharing my Project Life Week 7 layout. I used a lot of Crate Paper Party Day for this week as it corresponded with my son's birthday party, as well as the Studio Calico February PL kit. I also have two 8 1/2 x 11 layouts between the two main pages in order to document more about this week.  I kept the 8 1/2 x 11 layouts fairly simple.  One has kind of a "bulletin board" design, and the other has a grid design. I made the photo grid in Photoshop Elements and printed it out on my home printer.

Here is my Week 7:

Layout with No Insert

Close Up - Left Side

Close Up - Right Side 

Layout - With Insert

Close Up of Insert - Side 1

Close Up of Insert - Side 2

I am linking up at The Mom Creative for PL Tuesday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Megan

Layout using Crate Paper

Today, I am sharing a layout I made using Crate Paper's Acorn Avenue and some of their On Trend. I really like how certain elements of these two collections mix well together. The chipboard pieces and tag and accent cuts are my favorite items from all the Crate Paper collections.

My son Eli really likes feeding the ducks at the lake behind my parents' house and I wanted to document that. Here is the layout:

Note that I will add a link to this layout once I upload it to Two Peas late today. This will show most of the products I used.

Thanks for stopping by!

Megan

Project Life - Baby Boy Scrapbook - Max

A week or so ago, Becky Higgins tweeted about a blog post by Katie at Sweet Rose Studio. She is doing Project Life and keeping it simple. Even though I like to add a lot to our weekly pages, I still thought it was great that she was advocating the "keep it simple" approach. I decided to follow along with her and use that method with my son, Max's baby scrapbook. Her first assignment was to complete 2 layouts last week. I completed that "assignment" with Max's scrapbook and am sharing that today.  I have to admit that I did add a few embellishments here and there but kept it simple for the most part.  Here are the pages I completed:

Your Arrival

 Your Arrival - Left side

 Your Arrival - Right Side

 The Day You Were Born

The Day You Were Born - Left side

 The Day You Were Born - Right Side

To keep with the simple approach, I am mainly going to use Design A Page Protectors. I am also sticking to the Baby Boy kit from Becky Higgins, along with the coordinating cardstock.  If you have any questions about any of the other embellishments I used, feel free to ask.

I am linking up at The Mom Creative -

Thanks for stopping by!

Megan

Friday Favorites

Here are my Friday Favorites for this week:

Echo Park - Sweetest Girl Collection - Link to Two Peas

I bought the collection kit for this collection at Hobby Lobby this week. It was marked $9.99 and then was 40% off, so it was a deal. I am picking this because the paper and colors in this collection go great with the Blush Project Life kit from Becky Higgins - that many of us bought at HSN.  I am always looking for papers, etc. to compliment my PL kits so thought I would share this. I personally would probably buy the 6x6 paper pad if I had not found the kit at such a great deal (As a side note, if anyone has a good recommendation of paper that goes with the Jade kit, I would love to know!)

Simple Stories Let's Go - Urban Traveler Paper -Link to Two Peas

I love the fun chevron print of this paper - perfect for boy pages!


Lifestyle Crafts-Nesting Pinked Circle Dies - Link to Scrapbook.com

I have a big shot machine, and I mainly use these pinked circle dies and my circle dies with it. These cut really well and are great for cutting out circles to layer on a layout.

Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes Click - Link to Two Peas

I absolutely adore this paper! It is another paper that is great for boy pages. I may have bought a few pieces ;)

ALDO Crossland Purse in Turquoise-Link to ALDO website

I just bought this from ALDO and I love the color - so great for spring! Also, the cost - $50 - is great as I usually do not like to spend a lot on my purses...

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!
Megan

Layout - Shine!

Monday, I shared a layout I completed while taking the Bright Ideas class at Studio Calico. Today, I am sharing another layout I made while taking the class. It does not really correspond with any of the challenges (just like my layout on Monday) but was inspired by the video for the class about Titles by Nicole Samuels.

The picture I used is an instagram pic from my phone that I took of my son, Eli, outside playing one day. I love how the light is on the photo and thought it went perfect with the layout. I used a LOT of different letter stickers and such for the title. The paper and cardstock are from the Front Row kit by Studio Calico. I absolutely loved the colors in that kit!  Here is my layout and some close ups:

I first attempted to color the "Shine" with the Gold Lame from Heidi Swapp and it did not work too well - However, it did leave a little bit of Gold and so I added some Mister Huey in Powder Blue - I really like how it turned out...though not what I had planned!

I will try to add links to the products used at some point but if you have specific questions, please let me know...Thanks for stopping by!

Megan

Project Life - Week 6 2013

Today, I am sharing my Week 6 Project Life layout.  I had bought the Studio Calico Here and There stickers and arrows to use in Project Life and wanted to use them this week, but I did not buy any of the coordinating paper (in order to use-and not add-to my stash).  So before I got started, I went through my 12x12 and 6x6 paper, as well as my Studio Calico PL cards, and found items that went well with the stickers and arrows. I also set a goal of adding some more doodling/lettering this week. I used the Chromatix markers from American Crafts. I like these fine, but I also bought a few Copic sketch markers and I love those.  I really want to buy more but waiting until I can buy a big set....Anyways, here are is my spread for Week 6, with close-ups of each page (no inserts this week):

You can see a lot of the supplies I used HERE at Two Peas in a bucket.  In addition to those, I used the following items: Studio Calico February PL kit, Studio Calico Darling Dear Stickers, October Afternoon Mini-Market stickers in grey, labels from Studio Calico (printed and cut with Silhouette), labels from Martha Stewart/Staples, washi tape from various Studio Calico kits, and Chromatix markers.

I am linking up at The Mom Creative today for Project Life Tuesday!



Thanks for stopping by!
Megan

October Afternoon-Woodland Park

The layout I am sharing today I made back in February but have just not gotten around to sharing yet (like a lot of my pages).  I actually made it when I was taking the Bright Ideas class at Studio Calico. I watched one of the videos and read a few of the lessons, and it inspired me to make quite a few pages and this is one of them. The class was full of challenge,s but I really cannot pinpoint what challenge this related to...I think I do a lot better with general "tips" vs. challenges; however, I did do a few of the challengs.

I used a lot of October Afternoon-Woodland Park on this layout. This was one of their summer releases, and it is one of my favorites. I remembered that the line had a the "LAUGH" in the chipboard, so I thought it would be perfect with this page. The background of the layout was created by cutting a design with my silhouette cameo and then misting over it with Mister Huey-Honor Society. I actually stamped the title (excluding laugh) with the Stepping Stone alphabet stamp from Studio Calico in white. It didn't show up very well so I traced the letters. As I was tracing, I messed up one of the letters, so my solution was to add the Heidi Swapp Color Magic letter stickers-colored with green ink over some of the letters...I actually really like how it turned out.  You can see most of the supplies I used HERE.

I created a "visual triangle" with the butterflies, and I used 3 butterflies in one spot, 2 in another spot and one in the last spot. I use that kind of grouping a lot when doing visual triangles.  (Did you notice the random white piece of paper on the left side of my layout? Nice, huh? :) I didn't have it in me to go find the layout and re-take a picture - I took this pic weeks ago - or edit it out so it stayed... )

I got the chipboard banners from this collection in one of my Studio Calico kits and loved how the banner pieces look in the corner of this layout.

I love butterflies and I use them quite often - I mean, who says you cannot use pink and butterflies on a boy page?? My favorites are the wood veneer butterflies by Studio Calico (you can also find these at Michaels now under the Recollection brand) and this butterfly punch by Martha Stewart.

At first, I just had the yellow die cut behind the bunnies, but I ended up adding the green patterned paper. I think it helped "ground" it and it reminds me of grass, while the die cut reminds me of the sun...(Aren't these bunnies so cute??? I have been semi-hoarding them and glad I found the perfect page to put them on!)

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are having a Happy Monday!

Megan

Scraptastic Card Challenge-Crate Paper Party Day

Yesterday, I saw a thread on Two Peas message board about Scraptastic kit club. I had heard the kit club mentioned before but did not know much about them, so I went to their website and was really impressed with their kits. I absolutely LOVE that you have the choice between two kits each month and the reasonable price - $25 a kit for subscribers. I also really liked their stamps...so very cute. The current month's kit "Wake My Soul" kit was my favorite, but it was sold out earlier yesterday. Well, I ended up checking last night, and they are restocking it...I was surprised as I didn't know kit clubs did this but thought it was great. I ended up buying the kit this morning and signing up for the kit club. I also bought the "Everyday is Like Sunday" stamp set. I resisted buying any other stamps but all of their stamps are super cute!

I made it over to their blog and saw they had a Happy Birthday card challenge. I happened to have just finished a birthday card for my sweet nephew, Will, who just turned 2. (Will, if you are reading this, don't look so you will be surprised by your card ;) ). So I thought I would link up to the challenge. I used Crate Paper Party Day for the card and my favorite pop dots (you can see those HERE.)

Thanks for stopping by!
Megan

Friday Favorites

I thought I would start sharing some favorite products of mine on Fridays.  These will mostly be scrapbook related but I will throw in some non-scrappy stuff at times as well. Here they are:

Black 3D Foam Squares by 3L/Scrapbook Adhesive - Link to Two Peas & Link to SSS

With the upcoming Pop off the Page 2 class at Studio Calico, I have been thinking a lot about my supplies for that class and a MUST is pop/dimensional dots/adhesive. I have tried quite a few pop dots and I really like these the best - in black...  I actually bought the black because Two Peas was out of the white and ended up loving them. When you look at your layout or card lying flat the white pop dots show up but the black are a lot less noticeable. Also, whether you prefer black or white, these, to me anyways, have the perfect amount of dimension. A lot of the pop dots are really thick, and these are thinner - put still add dimension and depth. They come in a multi-pack of small and large squares or just the larger squares. I personally use the larger squares more but both are useful. If you like to buy them locally and are in the US, I have seen the black and white at Hobby Lobby and Archiver's and the white at JoAnn's. 

Fancy Pants Trendsetter 6x6 Pad - Link to Two Peas & Link to SSS

I actually love this whole line but if I had to pick one item, it would be the 6x6 pad. I just love the colors in the line and the cute basic patterns.

Websters Pages Allison Kreft COMPOSITION AND COLOR Rubber Stamp Set Snap And Click-Link to BMS

I just got this stamp set and absolutely love it. It is actually rubber, not clear but they are individual rubber cling stamps and they work with acrylic blocks or the Fiskars Stamp Press (which I also love). (Note this set is not currently at Two Peas or Simon Says Stamp and is unavailable at Scrapbook.com so I included a link where I bought it - Blue Moon Scrapbooking).

Prima Chalk Fluid Edger Ink Pads - Link to Two Peas & Link to Scrapbook.com

I absolutely love all of these inks. The price is great and so are the colors. Scrapbook.com even has a 40 piece set on sale right now. These are great inks for clear stamps and even work well with ones that are not the best quality. My favorite colors are Blue Jay and Teal Damask.

Ranger Inkssentials water-based Stamp Cleaner - Link to SSS

This is my favorite item to clean stamps. I occasionally use baby wipes but this will really get your stamps clean. I usually buy it at Hobby Lobby when it is on sale, and I have also seen it at Archivers (if you are looking locally and live in the US).

Happy Friday!
Megan