Clear Up-The Studio Challenges

Hey y'all! Hope you're enjoying your Saturday. We are staying warm inside as the temps are pretty chilly here! Trying to get things done around the house before we head out to dinner with friends tonight.
I was able to create a page for the current challenge at The Studio Challenges. It is to use what's on your desk at the moment and clear it up! I was lucky, as there is a lot of product and scraps laying all over my desk! Here is my page 

I used the remainder of the October Afternoon paper from the Farm Girl collection that was left from a previous page. The other papers are from my stash & were on my desk to punch from. I grabbed them & cut & scattered them around my photos. Before I laid anything down, I "painted" my cardstock with gold mist. I love doing this as the result is thin, not as thick as paint on my page.

The AC Thickers were laying on my desk, as was the "3" tag from Crate Paper. The stickers are all from an American Crafts Dear Lizzy sticker stack that has been laying on my desk for months  
because I love it so much!

 My snowflake punch from Martha Stewart is getting quite the workout this winter & I never do seem to put it away!! The glitter cardstock is also a seasonal favorite.
  

These sweet enamel shapes from My Mind's Eye were screaming to be used!!

These photos always make me smile! We had just gotten our puppy, Nellie & she was about 10 weeks old here. Ty, being a typical three year old, couldn't decide if he loved her or loathed her! On this day, when he was trying to build "snow castles" & she was eating them or knocking them down, he was very upset with her & definitely leaned toward the loathing feeling!

Hope you  have time to craft this weekend!!
~Stephanie     

Merry & Bright-The Crafty Pickle

Hey y'all! So Christmas is in 10 days! I hope you are ready cause I'm sure not! I have quite a bit of shopping left to do; the tree isn't completely decorated yet; we haven't baked cookies or made gingerbread houses & I have Ty's class party on Thursday to prepare for!!
But, as hectic as it is, I love it all & try to embrace the magic of the season. I love looking back on pictures from Christmases past and my project today shares a photo of the kids with Santa in 2009. They were just babies!! And this is my favorite picture with Santa, ever!

I have used the Winter Sequins Mix from The Crafty pickle, along with their Merry & Bright flair button from the December set. These are the perfect compliment to any layout, be it Christmas-themed or not!

I punched the snowflakes with my Martha Stewart punch & the deer head is a new punch from EK Success. The black paper & the "Enjoy every day" journal card are from 7Dots Studio.

  I used one of my favorite date stamps from Dear Lizzy to stamp the "I Love This" sentiment. And the fun pink polka dot paper is from Elle's Studio.
Be sure to stop by The Crafty Pickle shop to browse all of the great products that are offered!!
Thanks for stopping by today! I am gearing up for a fun night of scrapping & celebrating Christmas with friends!
~Stephanie

 

     

Christmas Magic-Stuck On U Sketches

Hey y'all! Today I am going to share my layout using the December 5 sketch from Stuck On U Sketches . They recently had some changes on the design team & did away with their Project Life challenge. This is my debut sketch layout for them!
Here is a reminder of the wonderful sketch created by Nanne!

What a great design! And here is my layout

I started with the "Deck the Halls" paper from Elle's Studio and added patterned paper layers, all of which are from Carta Bella. I distressed the edges of all my papers here.

I used die cut & vellum flowers and stars from Pink Paislee.

My doilies are from Martha Stewart. The date sticker & snowflake stickers that adorn some of the stars are from Echo Park. I love mixing & matching different manufacturers on a single project!

My die cut title is from Teresa Collins.

These photo were taken at a local hotel that goes all out on their Christmas decorations! We visit every year & take pictures. And yes, these are from 2009!!

 

We hope you find the time to play along! We love to see your creations. You have until December 18 to link up your layout.  

 

Thanks for stopping by! Make it a crafty weekend!!

~Stephanie

5 & 12

Hey y'all! Hope this Tuesday finds you well & (if you're in the US), getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday! It's such a great time for being with family & giving thanks for all that we are fortunate enough to  have. And then, it's time to gear up for Christmas! While I love the season & am really excited, we have some birthdays to celebrate first! My nephew has a birthday in November & my youngest nephew's birthday
is on December 12. Leah's birthday is December 10 & she will be 12 this year! Holy-time is flying!!!
So before I dive head first into the Christmas season, I made some birthday cards. Both feature flair & sequins from The Crafty Pickle.

I used the Birthday button flair set & the Winter Sequins mix for both of my cards. 

For my second card, I started with sketch #111 from Cardabilities and made Leah's birthday card

I love the shimmer of this "Happy Birthday" flair! It's great for a 12 year-old girl!!

be sure to visit The Crafty Pickle shop to see these products, and more! 

Now that these birthday cards are behind me, I can make more Christmas projects!! 

Have a good one!

~Stephanie

Supplies: 

cardstock-Bazzil

patterned paper-7Dots Studios

flower badge-Crate Paper

feathers-miscellaneous

chippie numbers-AC Thickers

ribbon-Lovebug Creations

balloon punch-Martha Stewart   

   

Thinking of You

Hey everyone! It's a busy Thursday here, trying to get the house clean & ready for Halloween tomorrow. We are having our annual pizza dinner here with family & close friends before we head out to trick-or-treat. I am so glad Halloween is on a Friday this year!! We don't have to rush & then scramble to get the kids to bed. We are gonna take our time & relax & enjoy it all!!
I am taking a little break from housework to share a card I made for a sweet lady that I play tennis with. She had surgery last week and was having a hard time. I hope she will only improve with each passing day! She is such a nice person.
I used Cardabilities  sketch #110
 
     
Here is my card:

I started with the kraft cardstock & added the scrap paper from my stash. I love the blue/turquoise against  the kraft!! The chippie flower is from Echo Park. The kraft butterfly is from Jillibean Soup &  the striped butterfly is from MAMBI. The wooden heart that I placed on the top of the chippie butterfly is from Studio Calico. 

I used my Martha Stewart craft punch to create the branches. And the green button came from my stash. 

I hope this card will bring Brenda a smile in a difficult time.

Thanks for stopping by.

Make it a crafty day!!

~Stephanie 

CSI #140

Hey crafty friends & happy Friday! It's a gorgeous day here & my cold is finally gone!! Yay-just in time for the weekend! It's going to be a busy one here again with riding lessons & baseball games tomorrow, a high school reunion tomorrow night (my hubs') & a trip to the pumpkin patch planned for Sunday. I also need to make some time to play tennis as I only played once this week because I was sick. So needless to say, the weekend will flyyyy by!

I was able to play along with the latest case file at CSI  recently.
  
I love the color scheme here & the fun "evidence" too! Here is what I created:

I started with the striped paper from Pink Paislee & added layers of other papers from Lily Bee & October Afternoon. Striped & dots were also one of the evidences. My tissue paper in green also has polka dots on it. I used a wood veneer speech bubble from Studio Calico & a wooden banner from Little Yellow Bicycle. I have some heart stickers from Crate Paper & a couple of cork hearts from Crate. 

I used the word "explore" for my title & journaled about my son's fire house filed trip adventure on my tag. 

Other supplies: 

-chipboard buttons; enamel dots-My Mind's Eye

-5c flatback; label sticker; kraft feather die cut-Jenni Bowlin

- epoxy stickers-Glitz Design

-cork "love" sticker; corrugated cardboard "4"-Jillibean Soup

-border sticker; "love you" sticker-Crate Paper

doily-Martha Stewart

alpha stickers-Basic Grey

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful weekend!!

~Stephanie 

  

Fall Card

Hi y'all! I hope this hump day is a good one for everyone. It's chilly & rainy here & I have a cold, so that makes for a perfect day to stay in & create!

I made a "thank you" card in working with the current color combo over at Color Me Scrappy
    
And I used this sketch from Cardabilities
 
Here is my card:

I started by inking the edges of the card with my Tim Holtz distress ink & then added some ink splatters using Studio Calico's Dark Calico mist. Some of the hexagons are fussy cut from a piece of My Mind's Eye paper & some are punched from other patterned papers using my Martha Stewart punch. I also used my MS branch punch here. 

The three small enamel dots are from BoBunny & the twine is from Jillibean Soup. I added an apple brad that has been in my stash for ages! 

Thanks to CMS & Cardabilities for the creative jump start &  thanks y'all for stopping by!  

Stay creative!

xo Stephanie 

Colorful Creations

Hey y'all & happy weekend! It's a nice one here & we are staying busy!!
last night was one of our favorite fall events-Field Day of the Past. It's a carnival/exhibit & my kids always love going. Last night was no exception! this was the first year though that we didn't watch the truck & tractor pull! Ty was too enthralled with the rides to be bothered this time!
Today is full of baseball games/riding lessons & then some girl time for me tonight! (I can't wait!!)

I want to share some information about Colorful Creations' design team call! They host bi-weekly sketch challenges that are so fun! Have a peek at the call info here.
I created this layout based on their sketch & prompt to use fall colors:
   

I started with the kraft cardstock (it screams fall to me!) & added layers of patterned paper from My Mind's Eye. I chose the orange polka dots & stripes from their Lost & Found collection. I love mixing manufacturers and prints, which is exactly what I did here.

The pennants were cut from a piece of Pink Paislee paper, from their Prairie Hill collection.
The leaf border is old from my stash. Love when I can use older items and "clean out"!!

The heart sticker and chippie buttons are from My Mind's Eye's Market Street collection-love it!
I also used a die cut leaf stem from Fancy Pants. My alohas are, of course, Thickers!

 My doily is from Martha Stewart. The flatback is from Jenni Bowlin and the "happy days" sticker is also from My Mind's Eye's Market Street coltection.


















This sketch was great fun to play with! If you get a chance, give it a go! The dt call is open through September 23.
Scrap on!!
~Stephanie

Guesting at Stick It Down

Hey y'all!
I am excited to share that I was chosen as a guest designer at Stick It Down! I was able to create with this amazingly fun sketch

Don't you just love all the small squares?! The possibilities here are endless!
Here is my layout:

 I started with the background paper from October Afternoon that I swear I have been hoarding for years! On top of that, I placed four squares that measure approximately 3x3, on a piece of cream cardstock.

 I splattered some black mist on the cardstock. The chipboard butterflies are from Heidi Swapp & were misted with Jack Frost mist from Tattered Angels.

The photo is from summer of 2011 on our trip to Williamsburg. We took the kids to Jamestown for a few hours & they were both bored to tears (literally for Ty)! This is one of a few decent pictures I was able to get that day-ha!    

I had a blast creating this page & love the way it turned out! Thanks for having me as a guest designer SID!!
Maybe you can find the time to play along with this great sketch also!

Supplies:
-patterned paper-October Afternoon; Fancy Pants; Crate Paper
-burlap pieces-Little Yellow Bicycle
-cork embellishments-Fancy Pants
-doily-Martha Stewart
-chipboard butterflies-Heidi Swapp

Thank y'all for stopping by! I really appreciate it!!
~Stephanie

Using Stickles

...is the latest PL challenge over at Stuck On U Sketches. You know you  have some, I think every crafter does! At least one bottle-right?! Here is my page:

I used stickles to fill in the pre-printed heart on this card

 I love the sparkle they add & the fact that the card had the white splatters already printed on it. It looks like the glitter is spreading from the heart!

 All of these cards came from the Paper Camellia Everyday Life kit and are from My Mind's Eye. The glitter alphas are Thickers from American Crafts. Both tickets that I used are also from MME but are older from my stash. I used my beloved Fiskars star & Martha Stewart heart punches also. These photos are from when Leah was 8-she is now 11!! 

I hope you get the chance to play along for a chance at this month's prize

 

Be sure to  link up your pages here!

If you want to be entered into my giveaway, go here!! 

Thanks for stopping by & make it a great day! (We are off to the pool to keep cool!) 

~Stephanie 

Sunshine & sandcastles (& a coupon)

Hey guys & happy FRIDAY!
In exactly one week, my sweet Leah will graduate from elementary school. She has made us so very proud these past 6 years & she amazes us constantly with her strength, kindness & wisdom. She has had an awesome experience at  her school & hates to leave. And I constantly find myself wondering, where has the time gone?!?!!

Anyway, I do have a layout to share today. I played along with the current challenge at Scrap Our Stash  which is to make a monochromatic layout & to use at least 5 pre-made embellishments.

Obviously I chose to go monochromatic with the color yellow/gold. 

   I started by pouring yellow mist on my cardstock & letting it run all over. I then splattered mist around the page. I went through my paper scraps to find yellow! My five embellishments are:
1. sequins
2. washi tape (gold dot)
3. journal sticker (from Crate Paper)
4. doily (Martha Stewart)
5. "shine" die cut (Heidi Swapp)

I love using my stash so this was a fun challenge for me to play along with!  I also used 4 different punches on my smaller scrap papers!

AND I have a coupon to share with you all for The Memory Nest

Get 10% off through the month of June when you enter code Stephanie at check-out!! Go shopping today for some crafty supplies without the guilt!

Have an awesome weekend y'all! 

~Stephanie