Sorry - I've been missing!

Hey crafty friends! I am sorry I have been out of commission for over a week! I was so blessed to be able to attend the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Charlotte! My best friend, Holly and I attended 4 classes and a crop, and were able to view so many beautiful samples of papercrafting projects at the vendor fair booths! I hope to post some of our fun pics very soon. Also, I am thrilled beyond words to have been chosen as part of the Fabulous Friday Design Team for Frosted Designs! You can visit their blog at http://frosteddesigns.blogspot.com. Be sure to visit Frosted Designs blog often, as you will find sketches, tutorials, challenges and lots of inspiration from very talented papercrafters from all over the world! You'll be able to see my first project this Friday, September 2nd

Fan Fam

I loved this sketch, and had a really fun time creating this layout! Doesn't it look like fun? I was thrilled to use some supplies and techniques I don't often use, and that always makes for fun in the studio! I created this layout based on Pencil Lines Sketch 250! You can visit their site here: http://www.pencillines.com/ *** Please enter my very FIRST blog challenge! Click the green tab at the top of my blog that says "Monthly Challenges!" ****

I also enjoyed using a banner on this football fan layout for the Scrappin' Chics August Challenge! You can visit their site here: http://scrappinchicschallenge.blogspot.com

Sunshine In My Life

This layout has my NEW favorite background: A sheet of 12 x 12 FABRIC! This one I purchased at the chain craft store in town, and in case it is hard to tell, is the white/aqua polka dotted piece! Up close it has a lot of texture! The brand name is Recollections!

These FABRIC materials were chosen for the Creative Belli Challenge #123 Non-Paper! Check out their site: http://bellichallenge.blogspot.com

I chose my stamped image from Inkadinkado, and colored with Close To My Heart colored pencils. The SUMMER theme and stamped image are for the Stamp Something challenge: Dog Days of Summer Somethings 8-12-11 Challenge. You can find their site here: http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com

Don't you just love circles on water and pool layouts? I do! It just speaks water droplets to me! I chose all of the circle paper die cuts, button embellishments, polka dots, and other die cuts for the Totally Gorjuss Challenge #93 Round and Round. You can find their site here: http://www.totallygorjuss.blogspot.com

Splash

I completed a second layout about all the fun we have at Thanksgiving in Nana's pool! This layout is based on Frosted Designs Sketch #21: I had a lot of fun with this sketch, and got a little carried away with all of my patterned papers! LOL! I used products from Echo Park, DCWV, Close To My Heart, Sassafras, American Crafts, and Cricut Life is a Beach! **Please become a follower and enter my 400 Follower Contest, and my August Challenge! Details are on the green tabs at the top of the blog!***

I Love Water

I just completed this layout for Sketchy Thursdays 8.11! This was a great layout to work with, and I may use it again! We love to visit Nana at Thanksgiving each year, and one of our favorite things to do is swim! For this layout I used products from Close To My Heart, Fancy Pants, and My Mind's Eye! For the waves, I used Cricut cart: Life is a Beach.

Delight

I really love this layout I completed for the Sketchy Thursdays 8.4 Sketch Challenge!

I used a new technique for this layout, and it was super-easy and inexpensive! I whitewashed my background paper with acrylic paint, and I like it so much I plan to do it again!! It took all of 2 minutes, and just a minute or 2 to dry! I did use my embossing heat gun to speed up the drying time.

A simple styrofoam cup, a dab of acrylic paint, and a fan brush from Close To My Heart! The cup was what I had handy, but I would have rather used a reusable container!

Here is a close-up of my simple rough painting technique. I like the texture it added to my layout, and I didn't need to layer as many sheets of paper!

Here is the finished painted background sheet! Let me know if you try this technique! I would love to see your creations! **Please hop over to my Monthly Challenge Page, and enter my August 2011 challenge! **

Reach for The Stars & Little Brother

I missed the deadline for entering this layout at Sketchy Thursdays, but I wanted to post it for you anyway!

And here is the cute little turtle I cut from "Four Legged Friends" on my Cricut! I love using scraps of paper! I set my size dial at 2.5 inches.

Here is the companion layout to Reach For The Stars, based on sketch #167 from Creative Scrappers! I love to sew on my layouts, and I wrote a quote about my son's complete joy when he is at any playground! My other favorite technique is to distress the edges of my photos with my sanding block from the hardware store!

Here is a diecut title I purchased in 2005? at the Creating Keepsakes Convention! I colored the too dark blue letters with a Recollections opaque marker in Snow. For both of these layouts I used Martha Stewart Classic Woodland brown patterned paper, and all other papers are from DCWV Baby Boy Stack.