It's Time for a Throwback Thursday(An Evolution in Scrapbooking)

Just for today, I thought that it might be fun to re-share the first layout that I shared on my blog. It was an 8x8 layout, that I shared in February of 2009, and I am not really sure where it is now.

I still think that I like it, even though my scrapbooking style has taken many swings in many different directions since then.

I went through a diecut heavy phase, back when I used to scour the internet searching for hours for the perfect free file:

(I posted that one in May of 2010) Which also was the beginning of a flowery phase-I didn't like a layout unless it had some sort of flowers on it!

October 2010:

February 2011:

April 2011:

During April of 2011 sometime, I realized that bigger pictures=a good thing on my blog, so my pictures got bigger, and my layouts just kept getting heavier. 

I still love this page, though!

September 2011:

(more flowers)

November 2011:

(My layouts for that year or two were very heavy, and filled about 2 scrapbook albums very full each year!But, that's what I loved right then, and I didn't care)
After that, I went through a phase for about a year where I used a sketch for nearly every layout or card that I made. Partly because I wanted to enter a bunch of the contests that the websites ran, partly because I felt that I could scrap more quickly that way. Until I discovered Shimelle's classes/Glitter Girl videos on 2Peas, and I finally started to find a style that just flowed for me. I loved layering, I loved using up my bits and pieces, and she was just so easy and inspiring to listen to. Here is the first Glitter Girl inspired layout that I shared on my blog:

One from Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class:

One of several that I made inspired by her Scrapbook Remix Class:

One of many inspired by Shimelle's Return to the Collection class:

Shimelle got me interested in watching all of the other garden girls videos on two peas, as well, and then I fell in love with Wilna's dreamy, artsy style.
Here's one of my favorite pages inspired by her Art and Design class:

And finally, one of my most recently completed pages, using my April Fantastic&Fabulous kit:

I definitely used bits and pieces of inspiration that I have gathered from both Wilna and Shimelle in this page, but it just sort of flowed out for me. No sketches, just me, some fun products (the flowers were printables from Wilna's Art and Design Class, and the lightbulbs on the previous page were cut files from that same class-so I guess this falls in the "sharing my homework" category as well).

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you have been inspired as I have reminisced through at least my online scrapbooking history today!

12 Tags of Christmas ...Day 2

Tim had another gorgeous tag today, of course! Here is Tim's tag:

 And here is mine:

Looking at them side by side, I realize that I forgot to distress/ink the bottom border...oh well! I still like the way my tag came out! I started with just a scrap of kraft cardstock (plain old kraft). I stamped the sheet music with a Unity Stamps Music Of My Heart stamp and black Staz-On ink. I then stamped the "Merry Christmas" with a Martha Stewart stamp and Versamark watermark ink, and heat embossed with UTEE. I used a homemade white shimmery water color paint and a foam brush over the whole tag, then allowed it to dry as Tim suggested. I then dripped homemade white shimmer spritz on the tag and dried with my heat gun. I inked the edges of the tag with Martha Stewart Sea Lavendar pigment ink, distressed the edges with my Cutterbee scissors, and then inked the edges of the tag with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I used a border punch from Fiskars and a scrap of cardstock for the bottom border, and painted with my gold paint dabber. I added brushed silver brads that I "distressed" with an ice pick along the bottom. For the reindeer, I die cut a reindeer from cardstock with my Cricut and SCAL, and then I glued a scrap of canvas to it, and used it as a template to cut it out  by hand with my Cutterbee scissors, then distressed it with my fingernail and Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap Distress Inks. I made the little wreath for his neck with a bit of tinsel and a Making Memories metal star, and added a die cut piece of holly  (leftover from yesterday), that I painted with Rock Candy Crackle Paint, brushed the edges with Peeled Paint Distress Stain, and finished off with red rhinestones. The "Memories" plaque is an ancient metal word from DCWV, which I attached with distressed brads.
Now, gotta get to work on my other December projects!

12 tags of Christmas...Day 1

I said I wasn't going to even attempt it...Lord knows I don't have the time...but when I saw Tim's tag today, I was inspired! So I just had to do one more thing in addition to the other swaps I am in, my December Daily, and of course, three kids in basketball (so we are at the gym every.single.night.).

Here is my version of the Day 1 tag:

I didn't have the Kraft Core cardstock, so I used a piece of teal Co'ordinations Color Core cardstock, dry and heat embossed with American Crafts Zing Embossing powder with a technique  similar to Tim's, then lightly inked the raised snowflakes with Tea Dye Distress Ink to distress instead of sanding. I designed the Noel title in SCAL and cut 3 times from cardstock, which I layered together, and covered with silver Stickles.I don't have the tattered banner die cut, so I hand cut a banner from a piece of music note paper and inked with Tea Dye and Walnut Stain Distress Inks. The holly leaves and greenery were all cut with svgs and SCAL. I brushed the holly leaves with Rock Candy Crackle Paint, and brushed the edges of the holly and greenery with Moonlight Smooch. I made the pinecones using Tim's technique and a 3D Circle Flower svg- of course his were better, but I think I am pretty happy with mine, too! I used some Co'ordinations Graphic 45 cardstock for mine, then brushed the edges with Moonlight Smooch and sprinkled a little bit of Martha Stewart mica flake glitter while the ink was wet for "snow". I wanted to make the pearl dangles, too, but it was getting late, the kids were home from school, and I had to get dinner on the table so that we could go to basketball! (Which, I might add, went really well! My kids' teams all won, and all three of them scored 4 points each for their teams!!Woohoo!! Proud mama!)
Thanks for looking-it was fun to get out my crafty supplies and just play!

Imitation is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery...

At least, so they say! The Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog is imitating Studio Calico this month. And I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the color palette of this kit! I love the original kit(which apparently sold out in 5 or 6 hours,anyway, so probably would have missed it, lol), so I replicated it as closely as possible with my stash.

The only thing I bought this week to add to these kits was the brown and white striped ribbon, on sale half-off at HL. So, I only spent $2.00, and I shopped my stash, which is mostly comprised of stacks, and papers and other items that I got at HL on their 40 or 50 % off sales, the clearance aisle at WM or Target, Big Lots finds, or goodies that I received as blog candy or from swaps. I rarely order off the internet, and I rarely buy items at full price, I usually wait for a sale, unless it's something I REALLY want or need right away.

This month's main kit from Studio Calico, "Into The Woods":My version:I tried to match the papers pretty closely! It includes:

Patterned Papers:

• Basic Grey Basics ledger
• Heidi Grace brown shimmer with green and cream flocked circles
• DCWV Wild Life Butterfly Multi in green,brown, orange, and cream
• Pink Paislee orange print
• Cream and Olive Green Glitter cardstock sheets from WM
• DCWV Wild Life Brown Woodgrain print
• Ruby Lemonade flocked yellow floral print from Tapestry by CR Gibson
• Making Memories Die-cut ledger paper
• a sheet of white corrugated cardstock (oops, I cropped it out of the picture)
• And I matched the cardstocks as closely as possible from my stash (it's a mix of American Crafts, Bazzill, Paper Studio, and Walmart)

Embellishments:

• 2 partially used packages of green fabric Thickers
• 1 package of Making Memories white flocked title stickers
• a few journaling spots from Jenni Bowlin and Making Memories
• A sheet of Daisy D's journaling stickers (This is OLD!!It has been in my stash for YEARS!!)
• Jenni Bowlin orange vintage buttons
• A mix of chipboard and Grungeboard stars, some finished, some raw.I also had a few Heidi Swapp star shaped journaling spots that are AGES old that I threw in there
• A couple of KI Memories Chipboard titles/sayings
• A sheet of round stickers (they're meant for bottle caps, but I just plan to use them as is)
• A little package of ribbon, twine, and trim
• A package of Studio G Stamps

I also love the add-on kits that Studio Calico offered with their main kit, wonderful names, and they add such variety and beautiful colors.My favorite add on kit was the "Wildflower" kit. It has such beautiful, soft colors, and I knew exactly what I wanted to pull from my stash as soon as I saw the kit!

The Studio Calico Add-on Kit, "Wildflower":

My version:

Patterned Papers:

• 2 from the Girl's Paperie (the border strips and blue ledger)
• My Mind's Eye (glittered rose print)
• DCWV Mango Frost (light blue grid)
• Die Cut sheets:
• 1 Basic Grey Doily (from Big Lots!)
• Die Cut Roses paper (I cut this with my Cricut and an svg file!)

Embellishments:

• Vintage ephemera that I downloaded and printed
• pink and cream buttons from my stash
• pale pink ribbon roses (from the Walmart clearance section)
• Some really cool (IMO)pink and white polka dot foam letter stickers by the Paper Studio
• partial sheets pink glitter letter stickers by Making Memories
• Making Memories green flocked title stickers
• REALLY OLD K&Co chipboard words and sayings (they came in a metal tin, I must have gotten them about 7 or 8 years ago)
• Basic Grey Woolies (another Big Lots find)
• a cream colored intricate heart charm from the Wal Mart clearance aisle

The Studio Calico Add-On Kit, "Babbling Brook":

My version: (Wow, sorry for the crappy photo, I took these last night at about 1:30 am, so my eyes were a little blurry, and the lighting sucked!)

Patterned papers:

• Basic Grey Basics
• DCWV Grade School-graph print with a green flourish
• Aqua Print-(I think this was by Luxe Designs)
• Orange print by Pink Paislee
• Yellow Glazed Bazzill
• Die-cut paper-Vintage Moon Collection by October Afternoon

Embellishments:

• Apple Blossom Studios Honeycomb print stamp (the bee in the main kit immediately reminded me of this stamp, and I thought it would be the perfect substitute for the circle print stamp included in this kit!
• light blue pom-pom trim
• embellished chipboard butterflies that I received from a swap
• Cosmo Cricket brown Tiny Type stickers
• a KI Memories light blue chipboard "doily"
• a couple of Anna Griffin journaling spots
• an envelope with a window from my stash
• yellow chipboard letters-these have been in my stash so long, I forgot that they were there!! I got a huge pack of chipboard punch out letters at Hobby Lobby a long time ago...
• various leftover bling

I cut some Envelopes/folders out of Basic Grey Basics papers for this add-on kit, using my Cricut and some svg cutting files:The Studio Calico Add-On Kit, "Mossy Knoll":

My version:

Patterned paper:

• SEI Dill Blossom
• Sassafrass Lass (2 different)
• yellow-Basic Grey Origins
• Black and white striped from a Love, Elsie stack (remember those?)
• teal crisscross lines print by Cosmo Cricket
• Die-cut tan scalloped cardstock by Bazzill

Embellishments:

• Dark aqua chipboard Thickers
• A die cut printed cream frame from 2006 that I found while digging through my stash
• A 7Gypsies journaling card
• Basic Grey Bling It flower (from Big Lots)
• vintage bees printed from the Graphics Fairy
• feathers
• American Crafts glitter buttons
• flower rhinestones
• A couple of Tim Holtz journaling tickets, and a couple of the smaller ones as well
• And an assortment of yummy textured ribbons:tiny cream pom-poms,black pleated grosgrain, creamy butter colored velvet, burlap, striped brown and white wide grosgrain, and a sheer black ribbon with embroidery and sequins (it's so pretty when you hold it up to the light!)

I really love my ribbon, and I can't wait to use these yummy trims on some pages(I must confess that I bought this striped ribbon after seeing some in the Studio Calico kit. But Hobby Lobby has their ribbon spools on sale 50% off this week, so I couldn't resist!).I just love the texture that it adds to a page!My favorite part of my Mossy Knoll add-on: these AWESOME feathers that I found at Hobby Lobby in the Craft Dept for a $1.00 each (they were on sale 50% off)!!I have some plans for these in my head for sure!

The next kit feels warm and fresh, like springtime, and I do love the yellows and pinks of it!
The Studio Calico Add-on Kit, "Sunny Clearing":

My version:

I was immediately reminded of the Sassafrass Lass Sunshine Lollipop Collection, which is where I pulled alot of this kit from, including:

The yellow and pink patterned papers, the journaling sticker sheet, and the yellow cardstock letter stickers.

The other patterned papers:

• yellow print and green vintage ladies from Cosmo Cricket Material Girl
• green herringbone from Basic Grey Nook And Pantry
• Die-cut yellow scalloped circle by Bazzill
• white paper doily

Embellishments:

• Light blue polka dot Puffy Thickers
• a yellow diecut frame that I found in my stash-probably about 10 years old
• Chipboard butterflies and doiles from KI Memories
• more of the embellished chipboard butterflies from the 2Peas Swap
• light green diamond print Artisan Tape by Pink Paislee
• and a card of ribbons that I matched as closely as possible with my stash to the Studio Calico kit

And, since the main kit and several of the add-on kits include stamps, these are the 3 sets that I pulled to use with these kits:An Autumn Leaves journaling stamp set, Hampton Arts stamp set (I plan to use that cute ladybug in place of the bee in the main kit), and a Basic Grey set-all closeout finds from Walmart and Big Lots! I think I only paid $4.50 for all three sets (total!).But I haven't used them yet, and I think that they will work perfectly with this month's kits!

Since taking these photos, I have also decided to add an alphabet stamp set, some Maya Road Chipboard tiny trees, and a sheet of light aqua Making Memories letter stickers to my main kit.

I also want to make some of those banner flags and maybe a few other embellies. If I do, I will share them on the March Mr Linky!

Whew!Thanks for stopping by today...And thank you for sticking with me through this long post! Now to get some pages made!

Rehearsal Dinner layout

And guess what? I used my Kit for this one too! I used the lined Creative Imaginations scalloped paper for the background, part of the scrap of Glazed black Bazzill for a photo mat/pocket for the to go menu and beverage napkin that I had from the restaurant. To add a little something extra to the page, I cut these awesome scrolly "clock hands" from the Glazed Bazzill cardstock, using the Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Steampunk SVG File set (so many uses for this fantastically cool set!) I attached the "clock hands" with little BoBunny I Candy Brads. I also used the "Love Bingo" card, painted black doily, Red Making Memories Puffy Alphas, and the black and cream Handmade flower, all from my kit, also! That handmade flower was one that I made using Lindsay's Stamp Stuff 3-D Posies SVG set, shown below:

I am linking up to the MyGraphico Crafts Anything Goes Challenge with this Layout!

Thanks for dropping by today, be sure to check out the rest of the Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Design Team for more crafty inspiration and a freebie:

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Leanne Garner
Margie Visnick(me)
Micki Harper
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tracey Allen
Tamara Bennett

Ooh La La...

Is the name of the svg file set from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff that I used to create this sexy Valentine's Day card for my hubby! But- it could also be used for a bachelorette party invite, or a lingerie shower... Anyway, I cut it out of black Swiss Dots Bazzill Cardstock for the outer layer, wedged half of a white doily that I ruffled for the white peek-a-boo lace and cut red cardstock for the inner layer, and punched holes with my Crop-A-Dile Big Bite (any hole punch would work), and "laced up" the corset card with sheer red ribbon. The background you see in the photo is from Lindsay's Bold Black And White digipapers, printed out on red cardstock.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today, now head over to Lindsay and the rest of the DT's blogs for a freebie and lots of eye candy!

The challenges that I am linking up to are:

• Papers, Scissors, and Rocks- use Red in a card
• Bunny Zoe's Crafts- Love is In The Air
  Cardmakin' Mamas- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
• CCeeStampers- Wild Card Or Shaped Card
• Craft Your Days Away- Anything Goes
• Crafty Cardmakers- Use Red And a Die Cut
• Createalicious Challenges-Use Ribbon and a Love Theme
• Lexi's Creations-Say it With Love
• Ladybug Crafts Ink-Anything but a Square
• Let's Ink It Up-Anything Goes
• My Grafico Crafts-Anything Goes
• Paper Issues-Valentine's Day
• Pile It On Challenge-anything goes

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Leanne Garner
Margie Visnick(me)
Micki Harper
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tracey Allen

Airplane Fun

Since I made my counterfeit kit, I have gotten ALOT of scrapbooking done (for me)! I have gotten 3 pages done in the last 2 days-and a lot more quickly, too! And, I must admit that I am one of the messiest scrapbookers ever-I usually have to pull out everything I own to make sure that I don't forget something, or that I use all of the right products, etc.If I limit myself to using only the kit, this really helps with that! For the page I am sharing today, I made myself use only my kit, with the exception of the paper scraps that I used to cut out my airplane, the letter stickers, and the white brads. I used the current sketch from the Page Maps blog, the polka dot paper is the back of the Making Memories Battenberg sheet, mounted on the label shaped packaging from the Jenni Bowlin Chipboard buttons, which I also used on the layout, mounted with red baker's twine, along with red Glazed Bazzill, lined Sassafrass paper, a border sticker strip from the Creative Imaginations sheeta Jenni Bowlin journaling spot, and a couple of the Martha Stewart labels. And the best part-I got another great memory recorded!!The airplane cut out is an svg file from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Up, Up, And Away clip art and svg file set.While you are in her shop, be sure to look around, she has lots of new files and freebies!
Thanks for stopping by my blog today, be sure to come back tomorrow to have a look at another layout that I made with my Counterfeit Kit!
Now hop on over to Lindsay and the other designers' blogs for tons more crafty inspiration!

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Laurel Seabrook
Leanne Garner
Margie Visnick(me)
Micki Harper
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tamara Bennett
Tracey Allen

Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Thursday...

Today, I am sharing some little mini banners with you that I made using Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Pretty Banners svg file set .

They are so versatile and fun to use! I made them tiny, to be used on cards or scrapbook pages, but you could make them larger, for party decor, etc! Check out Lindsay's Stamp Stuff today, she has all sorts of new digi goodness-check out some previews below:

Check out Lindsay and the other designers blogs for more inspiration and a freebie!

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Laurel Seabrook
Leanne Garner
Margie Visnick(me)
Micki Harper
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tamara Bennett
Tracey Allen