The Magic of Play

Happy Thursday everyone! Have a layout here that I've made based on three different challenges:

First up, I started with this sketch from Sketchabilities:

I absolutely love this sketch! I had 4 photos to use instead of 3, but I think I made it work ok.

Next up was the word "magic" that I incorporated in my title for the challenge at Bird is the Word". Had some great foam stickers I used for the main letters, and then wrote the rest of the title on white cardstock and cut out each letter individually.

The 3rd challenge was at The Paper Variety. They're having a 1-2-3 challenge, so I used 1 ribbon, 2 photo corners and 3 staples. Pretty simple layout, and with the help of these great challenges it took me just 20 minutes to complete! =) T

a New Sketch Blog Coming Your Way!

There's a new sketch blog in town, Once Upon a Sketch, and they are giving away a fabulous prize:

ooh- just loook at all those goodies! today's the last day to get in on the action, so be sure to hop on over there and check out this fabulous new challenge blog! =) T



Finally Finished my Scrap That Poetry Layout!

Finally getting my layout in for this month's challenge at Scrap That Poetry. The challenge runs through tomorrow, so just under the wire! The poem this time around is "Spring Pools" by Robert Frost, and I used a lovely line as my title, "the total sky almost without defect". You can't really tell from the pics, but they were taken on a gorgeous crisp fall day and the sky was absolutely beautiful.

I also combined this assignment with 3 other challenges: 1-I used the sketch and the twist of "swirl" from Twisted Sketches. 2- The color scheme and glossy accents are suggested by the The Lollipop Ladies. 3- Distress ink, flowers and clear bling from this week's challenge at If the Shoe Fits =) T

Playing Catch-Up on Xmas Pictures

Yup, still playing catch-up on my xmas pictures. I sort of avoided scrapping any xmas pics for several years, and am now finally chipping away at them, challenge by challenge. Here's my latest, featuring Santa pics from 2009:

This layout was so quick and easy, and I am very pleased to be adding it to the Xmas album! I started with this fabulous sketch that is this week's challenge at Lasting Memories:

A few fun things to note: 1-My 3 circles down the right were punched out of kraft paper that came as packing material in a recent shipment I received. I drew in some dotted edging, crumpled them and added staples to "dress them up". 2-The line across my photos was done with my handy-dandy Dymo, I punched in a few of the kiddos wish list items that xmas. 3-The adorable holiday images were printed on the paper and seemed a bit flat, so I stitched around the tree to help it stand out a bit!

I hope you'll have a chance to give this great sketch a try, and then link it up at Lasting Memories for your chance to be in the top 3! =) T

"4 Xmas I'd Like" is entered in the following challenges:

-Lasting Memories DT Sketch

-Crafty Creations stitching

-Corrosive Challenges stars

-Scrap Our Stash pagerize challenge

-ABC Challenge Q is for quilting

2 Sisters Challenge

This weeks challenge at 2 Sisters is to make your own embellies. The DT was given some really sweet images from Craft Sentiments to use, here's what I came up with:

I'm sad that my new camera is still in the repair shop, so I am once again using my old camera, and as you can see it just REFUSES to take a clear picture! Anyway, few fun things to note about this card:

1- My DIY embellie is 2 circles of felt, inked with black, layered over a silk leaf and stitched with a little olive button, easy easy!! 2-I used pumpkin, olive and marina  as suggested by Color Throwdown 3-and a sketch from this week's challenge at Outlawz. 4- I colored my image with chalk and then glitzed up the little bear's dress with orange stickles for the bling challenge at Pile it On. 5-My sentiment is a cute little rhyming verse I made for the Paper Playtime critter and rhyme challenge. If you'd like to use this sweet little phrase I've made it into a digi you can buy here. 6-I'm also entering this in Card Makin Mamas animal challenge! Whew- that's it! =)T

I'm a Guest Designer at Frosted Designs!!!

WooHoo!!! I'm Guest Designer at Frosted Designs this week and boy am I among some talented ladies over there!! The challenge that they have going on right now is getting you prepped for Earth Day- to reuse or repurpose something you have around the house. How fun!!! Since I am a crazy pack-rat, this challenge was PERFECT for me!

I have a whole bin in my craft room of items I've been saving, metal juice lids, fun packaging items, gift tags, all sorts of things I'd just HATE to throw away, they just might come in handy some day! For my very simple "By The Sea" layout I repurposed a mesh bag from the packaging of some water toys- this just seemed so "beachy" to me! I also used a coaster from Starbucks as the circle behind my journaling strips. I just loved the pea-green color and couldn't bear to part with it when my coffee was finished! I hope you'll have a chance to visit the rest of the Frosted Designs  Design Team and see what fabulous projects they have up for inspiration. Here's a hint on a few crazy items that were repurposed by the DT: a coffee sleeve, a bathroom mirror, the zipper to an old skirt and a dryer sheet. Sounds like a crazy scavenger hunt! =) T

Captain Underpants!

It's time for another open challenge at Sketches in Thyme! This challenge is so great because you can link up any new project, just as long as it's based on a sketch! For my sketch, I hopped on over to Twisted Sketches for inspiration. They had a fabulous sketch along with a twist, to add brads. Here's what I came up with:

A few fun things to note about this layout: 1-the banner along the left side is just a bunch of handcut triangles i overlapped and outlined in black ink. 2- and the scallops around the journal spot are circles punched out of pattern paper that was covered in travel words. Once punched out you can't event tell! 3- I used black puffy paint to outline the jumbo shape in the center. 4-my "captain" title is handwritten, cut out and covered with glossy accents for a little shine.

I hope you'll have a chance to visit the other DT girls of Sketches in Thyme and check out all the other great inspration they have to offer! =) T

Part Two From the Weekend O' Crafting!

I promised I'd show off a few more layouts from my weekend of craftiness...so here goes! First up is my DT entry for challenge #30 at Lasting Memories. This week it's a recipe challenge, and we had to cook up layouts using (1) die cut, (2) brads and (3) layers. I started with fabulous sketch over at Paper Variety. Used a great jumbo circle diecut, and layered on 2 other pattern papers. Attached 2 Stampin Up corderoy brads I ordered from my friend Mari. I am absolutely in LOVE with these brads! Finished up with a handwritten title, and there ya have it!

Next is a layout I created based on the latest sketch at Lets Capture These Sketches, incorporating a color scheme as suggested by If the Shoe Fits. You can see I've been holding on to these pics for a looooong time! It was fun to walk down memory lane putting together all the pics of proms past, this one's going in my "Old School" album that's dedicated to all the "vintage" pics of me and DH I dig up! Also, a big old thank you to We Scrap Kits who sent me this kit as reward for being the Feb winner at Creative Prompts. I am THRILLED with all the goodies in the kit, and have barely begun to dig into it all!

But wait! There's more! Well, for another blog post though- I'll be back with more tomorrow! =) T

Somebunny Special!

This week's challenge at 2 Sisters is furry friends! Our sponsor is The Crafty Pad and we were given two adorable little bunnies to use. I decided to print the two bunnies all over, creating a pattern paper out of the images, what do you think? I hope you'll get a chance to visit the other DT members and see all the fabulous projects featuring these cute bunnies. Be sure to link up your wn furry friends projects by March 25th for your chance to win the sponsor prize! =) T

"Somebunny Special" card being entered in the following challenges:
-2 Sisters furry friends
-Pile It On glitter
-Wild Orchid diecuts/punches
-Stamping Vacation glitter
-Stamping with the Dragon spring
-Paper Cutz anything goes

-Scrap Creations anything goes

A Very Productive Weekend in the Craft Room!!!

Happy weekend everyone! It has been a warm and sunny spring weekend here in my little corner of the world, but I really wouldn't know much about that because I have been in my craft room the whole time- and it has been heavenly!! My sister came Friday night (after we went out to dinner) and again Saturday (after we went out to breakfast) and we just crafted, crafted, crafted!!! Here are a few of the projects I've been working on, more to come in the next few days!! =) T

"Closer to Fine" entered in the following challenges:
-Craft Garden introducing myself
-Scrapping the Music closer to fine
-Scrap Budz color scheme
-ABC Challenge Q is for Quote
-Design Dollies all about you

"Picture Day" entered in the following challenges:
-XOXO scraplifting Kimmy
-NVS Girls color scheme
-Totally Papercrafts buttons

I was lucky enough to get to participate in a fabulous Lift Me Up Challenge over the weekend. 38 amazing and talented scrappers, all scraplifting eachother- it was so cool, but not without a few glitches! I actually lifted 2 other scrappers before finally lifting the CORRECT one! But, great things come out of mistakes, and so that meant I created 2 other pages I hadn't planned on!

I was assigned to browse through Tronesia Derrico's gallery and select a layout to use as inspiration in my scraplift. Wow- what a challenge this was to choose one layout out of all her amazing examples! I finally decided on this layout and here's what I came up with:

"Queen for a Day" entered in the following challenges:
-Tronisia Lift me Up
-Frosted Designs banners
-Scrap Fit glitter and glam
-City Crafter crowns
-Stamping for the Weekend for mum
-Craft your Day Away for mum
-Dream Valley for mum

My 1st Tutorial- Sky's the Limit!

This week it was my turn to post the Saturday tutorial at Sketches in Thyme!! This was something I've been avoiding out of pure fear, but I finally decided to give it a try. So I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if you popped on over there and checked it out- I show you 2 fun and simple ways to create clouds for your projects. Here's one of the layouts I offered up as an example:

Few fun things to note about this layout: 1-You can see how I made my clouds here. So very easy to do, but aren't they sweet? 2- I created the banner with double-sided PP cut into diamond shapes and folded over bakers twine. 3-

I am entering "Sky's the Limit" in the following challenges:
-Creative Prompts banner

Ooh- and a bit of exciting news to share...My layout "Shine" was chosen as one of the top 5 at Scrap It With a Song! I always love their challenges, you can see the posting here!!

My layout "Hold Your Horses" was chosen as the February winner at Creative Prompts. I am so excited because this one comes with a prize- a kit of my choice from We Scrap. I chose this kit! Thank you thank you!!!

The Scrappin' O' the Green!

Today's the day for a new challenge at Lasting Memories, "Green and White". Now this was truly a challenge for me- to step out of my usual kraft and blue box?? How would it be possible for me to scrap green? Well, I gave it a go, and I'm pretty happy with it!

It helped that I had a couple of adorable pics of my son in this green shirt (it seems that he wears this shirt a LOT, I think I scrapped another layout with this same shirt a few days ago!). I also had this pretty cute felt shamrock I picked up for $1 at Joann fabrics, wasn't sure how I would use it, but for $1 who could pass it up right?

A few fun things to note about this layout: 1-My kraft circle I freeform cut and inked up, and then dresses up the edges with white circles adhered to the back to look like scallops. 2-I wanted the title to be printed directly onto the background paper, but since I don't have a 12x12 printer, I trimmed my CS to 8.5" and ran through the printer. I then pieced the 2 pieces of green CS together with good old scotch tape and covered the seam with a black scalloped border. 3- And speaking of that title, what do you think of it? If it's something you'd like to use, here's the jpeg as my little St. Patty's Day gift to you!

I hope you'll head on over to Lasting Memories and see what fabulous green and white layouts are up there for inspiration from the rest of the DT. Be sure to link up your take on the challenge for your chance to win a lucky prize pack from DT member Leisa! =)T

"You Are Oh So Lucky" is being entered in the following challenges:

-Lasting Memories green and white

-Sisterhood of Crafters st patty's day

-Get Your Sketch On sketch

-Moxie Fab World oh so lovely prompt

-Allsorts Challenge Blog luck o' the Irish

-Scrap It Forward lucky & green

Oh Baby and Blog Candy!!

This week's card challenge at 2 Sisters is Oh Baby!! We had an adorable little sleeping baby image to use from Patties Creations, here's my card:

This card is SOOOO much cuter in person! Sadly, my brand new camera is not working well, so I had to use the old one that, as you can see, is not taking quality photos anymore. I apologize that the image isn't clearer, if I can troubleshoot the new one, I'll update with a better pic. Be sure and visit 2 Sisters to see the rest of the DTs adorable baby cards, and link up your creation by March 18th!

Oh and I'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday to one of my fellow DT members at Lasting Memories, Ashley! She is celebrating with a fabulous day of scrapbook shopping, but she also has some great blog candy to give away too. Stop on by and wish her happy bday, and you might just win the candy!!

"Welcome Baby" is being entered in the following challenges:
-2 Sisters Oh Baby
-Fussy and Fancy sketch
-Flourishes deco edge
-Stamping Vacation green, ribbon, gel pen
-Stamp Something cream and green
-Alphabet Challenge stripes
-Really Reasonable Ribbon green
-Corrosive Challenge green

Sketches In Thyme- Team Spirit

It's time for a new sketch over at Sketches in Thyme!

and here's my take on it:

Notice I flipped it? I didn't have the right vertical pics to use, so I made it a horizontal layout instead! Few fun things to note on this page: 1-My jumbo scalloped circle was made with a hand-cut white CS circle- I roughly cut it out, didn't want a perfect circle for this one. Added a ton of orange circles around the border underneath to create a faux scallop, drew a few uneven lines with a grey marker, and inked up the edges. 2-used the same-ish technique for the centers of my flowers- uneven grey lines drawn on white circles. layered on top of larger green circles I punched out and cut little notches out of to create a flower effect. Added some great Stampin Up corderoy buttons too! 3- My "spirit" title is handwritten in fine black and filled in with grey, "team" and "fall 08" is with the Dymo. 4- I went crazy with the tape so if you look VERY closely, you can see that my white CS background is actually misted. 

I hope you'll get a chance to see what the rest of the Design Team has come up with using this sketch, and link up your take on it for a chance to win this lovely prize package from Pizzazz Aplenty! =) T

"Team Spirit" qualifies for the following challenges:

-Sketches in Thyme sketch

-Chop Suey tape

-Alphabet Challenge Blog S is for Stripes

Smeared and Smudged member blog hop

It's time for the Smeared and Smudged member blog hop, and I am lucky enough to be one of the stops!! If you're a new visitor to my little corner of the blogosphere, welcome, I hope you'll stay for a while! If you're someone who has been by before...hello again, it's always nice to see a friendly face!

If you're following along in the hop, you should have arrived here from Alex's blog. If you want to start the fabulous hop from the beginning, start at Tori's blog . Oh, and if you happen to lose your way, I've posted the whole blog roll at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!!!

The theme of this Smeared and Smudged blog hop is a color combo...Brown and Green! Any shades of either color and no other special rules other than the always-present S&S rule that there needs to be a stamp somewhere!!! And here's what I've come up with:

Oh my adorable little 9 year old boy- he absolutely LOVES the song "Mr Brightside" by the Killers- this kiddo has great taste in music! And since he is always brightening the day of everyone he comes across, I thought the song title would be perfect for this sweet photo.

Few fun little things going on on this layout. 1-I used walnut ink to smear and smudge my plain old white cardstock. 2-the title is printed in black ink on chocolate CS and then cut out. 3-the green flowers on side of photo and the mini one standing in for the period after "mr" are cut from the reverse side of the striped pattern paper and then covered with a layer of glossy accents for a little shine. 4-for stamping I used a stampin up wheel to create a number border on kraft paper. I filled in the "9" with cinnamon stickles and added a green circle to highlight his age. Cute huh?

Now...I have a fun news to share with you! Strange Skin, one of our monthly sponsors, has offered to give two digis for one lovely winner of this blog hop!!! All you have to do to qualify is leave a comment on each participants blog...it needs to say something about the project...not here's my comment or anything!!! So be sure to visit all the blogs and give 'em a little love! And you might just win these lovely digis. Thanks for stopping by and now you're on to Jane. =) T

Smeared and Smudged Blog Roll:
Tori
Alison
Kelli
Ladybrayton
Sugar
Black Dragon
Monica
Kapree
Alex
Tiffany ***you are here***
Jane
Meredith
Dianne
Judy
Lisa
Kimberly

Toot Toot!!! Exciting News to Share!!

happy Wednesday everyone! So exicted to share 2 things with you today...First off, I've been chose to be part of the new Design Team at The Craft Garden. We'll be getting started on April 1st, so be on the look-out for some fun new challenges coming your way!

And second, I'm participating in the Smeared and Smudged blog hop tomorrow, so be sure and visit here to see my fun project, visit the other stops on the hop, and have your chance to win some great digis. See you tomorrow!! =) T

Music Gives a Soul to the Universe

I love to use quotes on my layouts as titles. For one, there are just so many times you can use "Fun in the Sun" and "Fun with my Friends"...those kinds of generic titles get old QUICK!!! But, sometimes I'm just not clever enough to come up with a title that sums up the photos without being too corny or sugary sweet. Quotes to the rescue!!

Here's a layout I did with just one sweet pic of my son playing his trombone for the very first time-note that NONE of us knew how to hold the instrument correctly!! For this layout I found a beautiful quote by Plato to go along with the photo, "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." =) T

"Music" qualifies for the following challenges:

-Punky Scraps recipe challenge

-How Much is Too Much case of the Mondays

-Artful Delight sketch

A Blog Award!!!

Oh such exciting news to share! I have been awarded the Liebster Blog Award from the very talented Crafty Dragons Blog!!! I am thrilled to accept this wonderful honor from Ali, she is a very talented scrapper, and one of my fellow DT members over at Lasting Memories.

As a recipient of this award there are a few "rules" I have to follow; I have to share the love and pay it forward by:

1.Creating a post where I blog about the Liebster award and reveal my 3-5 blog picks

2.Let them know they've been chosen
3.Copy and paste the blog award on my blog

4.Have faith that my followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those I awarded

5.Have fun!

I chose a few of my favorite blogs to pass this award to, please stop by and see what wonderful inspiration they have to share! Oh, and tell them I said hello!! =)T

1-Me Time
2-I Could Be Scrapbooking Instead
3-Finally Scrappin

Lasting Memories Challenge

This week's theme at Lasting Memories is "You're the Boss". Yep, YOU! Show us your unique style. We can't wait to see all the entries. We also have another sponsor this week! Each one of our DT layouts showcases a digital image from Tiffany Doodles, and we'll have 3 winners that will get to choose some great digis to work with! I chose to use an adorable butterfly image to go with the sweetest photo ever of my daughter bringing her Monarch Butterfly project in to school:

She was SO PROUD of herself, and it was so cool for all of us to experience those catterpillars transforming into gorgeous butterflies in just a few short days! I hope you'll have a chance to go visit Lasting Memories and se what the rest of the fabulous DT has come up with. Hopefully you'll link up your project for a chance to win some wonderful digis from Tiffany Doodles too. Remember, you're the boss this week so show us what you got!!! =) T

2 Sisters Card Sketch & a Freebie From Me!

This week's challenge at 2 Sisters is this great sketch from DT member Annette:

and here's the card I came up with using an adorable image from Stitch Bear Stamps:

Aren't those little Raggedies cute? I paired it with one of my own digi titles, "Old Friends". If you like it and would like to use it on your own projects, just scroll down and it's yours!!! 

I hope you'll visit 2 Sisters  to see all the great DT cards based on this week's sketch, and then give it a try yourself. Link up by March 11th for your chance to win this week's prizes from Stitch Bear Stamps and Pizzazz Aplenty!! =) T

"Old Friends" qualifies for the following challenges:

-2 Sisters sketch
-Alphabet Challenge Blog R is for Ribbon
-Frosted Designs recipe challenge
-Lets Get Shabby denim and lace
-Anything Goes distressing

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Put together a cute layout yesterday, as inspired by a few different challenge blogs:

Started first with 2 pics of my neice playing with Playdough last month- she had the best time! I paired the photos  with bright yellows and blues as inspired by this month's art prompt at ARTastic Challenge Blog and put it all together based on this sketch from Scrap with V. I embellished with lots of flowers thanks to the suggestion at Scrapbookers Anonymous, along with a bunch of buttons  and textured corrugated letters covered in stickles as prompted by The Stamping Boutique and ScrapFIT. My final addition was to brush the dust of my old fibers and metal-edged tags and put the 2 together for Scrap Our Stash. Oh, and the idea for the title? That came from Scrap It With a Song and their "Lucky Star" song prompt! Lots of ideas from many different places, but they all fit together and helped me create one adorable (if I do say so myself) layout! =) T

A Few Giveaways to Tell You About!

A very talented crafter has a wonderful giveaway over at her blog, Scraplifter Designs. Even more wonderful than the giveaway is the story behind it- so inspirational, I invite you to go on over and take a peek!

There's a new challenge blog up I just stumbled across today, and she has some delicious blog candy she's giving away at Little Miss Muffet Challenges. With a name like that, who can resist?

Oooh, now what about some lovely chipboard? You can enter to win a lovely chipboard package from For Scrapping Out Loud.

Don't ya just love chances to win yummy goodies? good luck everyone!! =) Tiffany