Sketchy Challenge

Hey!  I thought I'd play around with the May sketch at Creative Scrapbooker Magazine... It's been awhile since I took part in one of their monthly sketches and I had a picture of my boy that was begging to be used....

I decided with the bright, fun colors of Imaginisce Sunny to make a good punch of color against the white background, especially since my photo was less than stellar in quality and lighting. lol

Thanks for checking in!!!

Printables from Paper Issues

So there's these things, at Paper Issues, called printables.  Best part, is that they are FREE.  Second best part, is that they are super cute!!  You can find them HERE in the shop along with the downloadable cut files.  Which I can't use, since I don't have a machine with which to use them.  Yet.  Fingers are crossed for my birthday. lol

The printable I used belonged to this collection called Eat All The Things.  I found the ONE picture I knew I had of my daughter eating an ice cream cone during a Disney break, and went to work!

On this layout I used Crate Paper's Little You, diving into both of the Little Boy and Little Girl papers.  I added a few embellies from Shimelle Starshine and called it a day.  I thought the blues and pinks were perfect for matching the photo of her beloved Elsa sweater she bought herself.

I highly recommend checking out all of the free files at Paper Issues, something for everyone!

Scraplift Sunday!

Who doesn't love a good lift??  And this layout from Cassie Box was a great starting point!!

I was playing around with Pink Paislee's Fancy Free collection by Paige Taylor Evans.  The yellow background paper is Maggie Holmes, and I still don't know why I chose that to throw behind the pink but it's starting to grow on me. lol

Come on over to PIFF and play along!!  So many monthly challenges to take part in, and there's gift cards to be won at the end of every run!!

Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith 'She Blooms'

What a beautiful collection the PI team is showcasing on the blog today!  I don't do the bible journalling, if that's what it's even called... but I had to grab this line anyways because of the beautiful florals, the stark black background, and the sweet clear cuts!

Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith 'She Blooms' is gorgeous.  And I knew it was perfect for the pictures I took at La Reve in Las Vegas.  I layered distressed strips going down the page, and used 4x4 photos which fit perfectly across the page.  Fussy cut some of the flowers and adding some of the chipboard embellies finished it off just right.

Please check out the Paper Issues blog to see what the other ladies created using this beautiful collection!! They rocked it!!

Save the Drama for your Mama

Hello and welcome to my drama!!  Actually, I must admit my mama has no drama.  She is quiet, calm, and strong as hell.  A year to the day that we lost my sister to cancer, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  A long hard year of surgery, radiation, and chemo finished up recently with her smiling through it all, thankful that she is still with us and that her story so far has turned out good.

The theme of 'Save the Drama for your Mama' could have encompassed a lot of things.  Large photos, large titles, dramatic elements, tv dramas, a layout about your mom and what she has taught you, etc., or just using the super cute llama card from Paper Issues.  I chose my mom.  Because she honestly deserves the spotlight!

She has some very dear friends who helped her through the battle, and this one in the picture with her was at the top of the list.  They are camping buddies (hello happy hour!) and I know that with her, my mom always has someone to count on.....

Details for entering this months issue can be found HERE on the PI blog!  Check it out!

Recognize the fossilized papers?  Scenic Route, baby.  I'm depleting my stash to make room for new goodies!  The enamel dots and wood veneer however, came from the PI store, and you can shop 'til you drop with 20% off for using the code 'Chelsea'.

Sketchy Saturday!

Happy Weekend!  I hope the weather is beautiful enough to be enjoying some outdoor time this weekend... I always secretly hope for a bit of rain so I don't feel bad about spending a few hours at the scrap table but shhhhhhhhh.  Don't tell anyone.

It's Sketchy Saturday at Paper Issues Friends and Fans, and Amy has put together a nice, clean, easy sketch to get your mojo flowing.  Easy sketches are GREAT because there is so much you can do with them!!  You can add more embellishments, add a bigger title or journalling, add in more photos or fill those spots with pretty paper... it's all up to you!

Here's the fantastic sketch from Amy Coose

And this is my take on it using the Pinkfresh Life Noted that you can find in the PI store. 

This was by far our favorite meal while in Vegas.  Guy Fieri's, one of the places I insisted that we go to, and it didn't disappoint, so I turned into one of 'those' people who was taking pictures of our food.

 Thanks for popping by!

NSD Hangover

A belated post about last weekends NSD crop over at Paper Issues!  I hope everyone who joined in had a great time, I saw a lot of amazing layouts and some new faces too!  Congratulations to the girls who won a PI gc!

This was my full layout for the challenge I issued to layer it up!!  I wanted everyone to layer whatever they could on their project to add texture and depth.  It makes a big impact!  I used the wonderful Sunny collection from Imaginisce and it is so bright and cheerful, perfect for summer pics!

I also took part in Jen Boumis' Tic Tac Toe challenge as well, with a few of my Las Vegas pictures.  The Fancy Free from Paige Taylor Evans for Pink Paislee is gorgeous, no doubt about it.  I had a hard time deciding what papers to use from this line but loved the way the darker teal contrasted with the lighter papers.

Hoping to get crafty this weekend, I hope you take some time to do what makes YOU happy too!

Monochromatic Monday at PI

Monday Monday Monday.  I have a love/hate relationship with Mondays.  Love that the day goes by SUPER fast because I'm catching up on all of the weekend stuff that gets left on my desk, but hate that I can't have one more morning to NOT hear my alarm clock.

I chose to do a Monochromatic theme for my blog post at Paper Issues today.  It's a great way to use up scraps of various manufacturers... it's so easy these days to just stick with ONE line on the entire page because it all gets matched up so well when you buy it!  I know I'm super guilty of that!

  I would love to see your take on creating a monochromatic layout or card!!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!!

Hello!!  Are you getting crafty today?  I am making time, in between the painting of my livingroom, to help put on the Paper Issues NSD Scrap & Chat, taking place today from 9am - 7pm EST in the PIFF group on fb.  There are ELEVEN challenges being posted on the hour, with PI gc's up for grabs for the winner of each challenge!!!  There is also going to be a grand prize of this fantastic we r memory keepers crop tote!

Here's a sneaky peek of my 5pm EST challenge!!

If you aren't already a member of the fb group, please join up and check it out... you won't regret it!

Can't wait to see the layouts, cards, and inspiration to pour out into the challenge album!!

May Take 5

Hi there!  Another challenge is up at PIFF called Take 5, and I threw a little something together to add to the inspiration.  Pulled out some Simple Stories Say Cheese from the bin and used one of my favorite pictures of my youngest son that I've ever taken.  He's hysterical.

My picks from the list were: 3 papers, title, circles, red and black.  I could have added each and every thing from Mary Ann Jenkins list, but I didn't want to overcrowd my page!!

Hop on over to PIFF and check out this challenge and take part!  And if you aren't part of PIFF yet, what are you waiting for?  Awesome ladies with some amazing talent!!

And remember, you can get 20% off of the Paper Issues store every single day using the code 'Chelsea'

Have a wonderful day!

Totally Rad!!!

I didn't get my hands on as much of the Cocoa Vanilla Totally Rad as I had wanted to, I mostly got embellishments and maybe 4 of the papers.  It was sold out, I tried! LOL!  This is such a cute and fun line, while it's perfect for little boy layouts, it very much will work for girly layouts as well, I've seen quite a few online that rocked it!!  

I cut out my own chevron shapes from the papers and layered them with the amazing embellies... die cuts, flair, wood veneers... I liked the idea of doing a diagonal strip instead of the usual vertical or horizontal, love how the end result came out!

You can find SOME of this line (the parts that aren't sold out!) in the shop, or if you want to check out any of the other new lines Cassie has brought in, check out the Paper Issues Store and as always use 'Chelsea' in checkout for 20% off of your entire purchase!

Looking forward to spending next weekend scrapping away, hope to see some new faces pop up in the Paper Issues {Friends & Fans} FB Group to check out the challenges!

Who wouldn't want to win a gc to the store?

Til next time!!