"Out & About" layout

Can you believe it's already Wednesday? Time sure flies fast. 

Today's layout was based off of the following sketch from Sketch N Scrap blog

Can you believe that all of the papers in this layout is from my scrap bin? Yes I have to admit that I have way too much scraps and it felt good to get them used up on a page. Most of the scraps were put into my photo mat where I created a somewhat quilt type effect with them. I first cut them into squares then cut those in half to turn into triangles and then added to a cardstock with some space in between. I love how it frames the photo collage really well. I kept the rest of the page simple so that the viewer's eye can focus on the photo in the center. 

I layered some stickers to create a ribbon type effect here.

Hope you are having a good week so far.

Till next time,
Grace

"Walking Around Main Street" layout

Hello again dear friends. Today's layout share was inspired by the following sketch from Stuck?! sketch blog

I liked the three photos on the center of the page. I didn't have quite the same amount of pics but because mine was smaller, I was still able to use the sketch for my page. 

I don't seem to use much of my flowers and brads lately so I used this sketch and challenge to dug into my stash and make the most of the supplies I had on hand. It felt great to add some layers of flowers on a page. It's been far too long.

I also added some stickers and some of them I even placed where I messed up on the pen lined stitches.

Thanks so much for stopping by and make sure you visit again soon.

Till next time,
Grace

"Olympic Center" layout

Happy Monday dear friends. This week is my kids' Spring break. I'm a bit envious of them as my break from school is not till two weeks from today and I'm getting a little burnt out that I catch myself counting down the days. I've never had that feeling before. Any advice, especially from those that have juggled school and family life?

This week I'm loading this blog with a layout share every day. I haven't done that in a while and I hope all or some of my pages will inspire you as other blogs do for me. 

This first one was based off of a sketch from Sketches in Thyme blog. 

As my 'one little word' for this year is SUFFICIENT, I wanted to dive into some of my scraps for the next few layouts. I feel that I have "enough" scraps to last me a lifetime (or two) and they need to be addressed. I loved how this sketch allowed me to add an array of various paper strips, in different widths, to the background. 

I even cut out my blocks for title and journaling from paper. To make my photos stand out, I matted them onto white cardstock.

I added just a few more embellishments to dress up the page. The background was already busy to I didn't do lots of layering like I do most of the time.

I thought the "geotag" symbol was appropriate for this travel themed page.

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace

March *Stick it down challenge blog*

Hello friends. Today is the team reveal at Stick it down challenge blog. This month's double page spread sketch is this...

and here's my take on it...

I love double page sketches and the ability to add plenty of photos to my scrapbook page. This one was no exception. I tweaked the design a little bit because I had a few small photos to use but over all the design is pretty similar to the inspiration. 

I used some papers from the Memorandum link of Pink Paislee and some embellishments from Basic Grey. I also used some gold doilies that I got at Michael's during their Christmas clearance sale. 

The photos that I used are from 2012 at my son's 2nd grade party. I can't believe how long ago that was considering he is now in 7th grade. Anyone else working on photos from 5 years ago and older?

I used two different stickers for my title and love combining both script and serif fonts. The green letters were fairly old so I machine stitched it to ensure that it doesn't fall of my page later on.

I layered two 3x4 cards on here and used one to handwrite my journaling.

One of the papers had a bunch of clipboard images on it and I fuzzy cut them then arranged the on my layout adding my photos over them except for this one that was a fitting caption for my page.

Thank you for stopping by. Make sure you check out the rest of the team's pages here.

Till next time,
Grace

"Hello Beautiful Cameras" layout

The latest sketch over at GrandDiva's Creative Corner blog was a good starting point for my page about photos of me and my brothers along with our Nikon cameras. For some reason we all ended up with the same brands. I guess great minds, think alike!

I also created this page with the latest challenge at Rochelle Spears' blog. I chose to focus on the polka dots and chose some papers with different size dots. It was great rummaging through my scrap pile. This challenge reminded me to do more pages with my scraps. There's a reason why I kept them and so I need to revisit them once in a while. 

The title block was actually a 3x4 cut apart sheet that I turned into that specific shape using a wafer thin die. It was one of those nesting dies so I was able to use another piece of scrap to "mat" it. I added the whole this to my page using some foam adhesive. I added the word "cameras" to finish my title.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a look at my latest creations.

Have a great day.

Till next time,
Grace

"Make a Wish" layout

I love this sketch from Stuck?! sketch blog. It has layering, the image is in the center and there's more than one photo. My favorite components for making a page!

Since I had more than three photos, I had to include my fourth one. I also moved the title just a tad lower than what was on the sketch. 

I usually go through spurts when it comes to using my Silhouette Cameo and the title was cut a long time ago. I usually do some binge cutting on white cardstock so I can use my cuts later on when inspiration happens. I love the way the title was designed and I'm so glad I remembered to look into my pre cut die cuts stash while preparing for this page. What do you guys do with your die cuts? Do you cut as needed or binge cut too?

Thank you again for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace

"Remember this Moment" layout

Hello my dear crafty friends. 

I was drawn to the sketch below from Sketches in Thyme because of the diagonal background. I rarely do any diagonal page so I wanted to jump in the chance to try it. And to be honest...I really like it. It's so different from my other pages. I also liked the clustering around and behind the photo. 

I had some doily stickers (older product) from my stash and dressed up the corners of my elements, even my background with them. I even manage to use up all of the stickers in the sheet which was cherry on top of this page.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Make sure to stop by again tomorrow for another layout and inspiration.

Till next time,
Grace

"Celebration Cake" layout

One of my favorite things about challenges lately is that it gets me to use some items in my stash that I don't normally gravitate to. With this page, the design was inspired by the latest sketch at My Creative Sketches blog. Then I also made it for a stamping challenge over at Scrapbook.com. The challenge asked us to use some mixed media items along with stamping. It was a good excuse to bust out the gesso, gelato and stencil. 

I toned down the text paper with gesso then added a star burst stencil in the place where the circle goes on the sketch. I also added some subtle blue chevron stamping over the background paper. This page is definitely "not me" in many ways but I love the messy look. Very different from my normal page. 

I had a couple of flairs from Freckled Fawn that was perfect for this "celebration" type page.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Till next time,
Grace

"A Girl and Her Box" layout

Hello friends. I got some time recently to work on scrapbook pages and I will be sharing them with you in the next few days. I hope that they will inspire you, in some way, as you work on your own paper projects. 

My first share will be this layout based off of the sketch from The Studio Challenges blog. 

I really like the cluster of items in the center of the sketch but added a few more touches on two opposing corners of the page. 

I used a bunch of papers from my scraps and a homemade scrapbook kit that I put together for this month. I truly enjoy putting these kits together and they help me see my stash in a new light.

One of the group in my stash that never get love are my stamps and I used two of them in this page. I added some rhinestones to the centers of these flowers for a finished look. And ignore the off center rhinestone, I didn't notice it move when I was photographing it.

I handcut the flowers from a pattern paper. I love it when I can use paper for my embellishments. Make it worth buying paper everytime I go to the craft store. *wink*

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace