Summer!

Happy Monday to you!

 
Today's layout looks more like today, that's for sure.

This is actually of the last two days of school this past May. I helped at what was supposed to be a beach-theme party, but I was the only parent who signed up that day (they had a LOT going on and other parents signed up for other things, just not that day). I decided to sort of "dress up" like I was at the beach to help make it a little bit more fun. That meant I had to go to the store and buy a floppy beachy sort of sun hat, and exaggerated sunglasses. I didn't find a shirt or skirt... Mostly I just felt like an idiot, but that's how I remember class parties when I was a kid, so whatever, ha. The kids were seated on their beach towels instead of desks, and we played several rounds of bingo. I had bought prizes and the teacher had some too, and I think they all got two, maybe three, lol. 

The second page was the last day of school which was done at noon. I had bought some surprise treats to kick off summer, and I also went to the thrift store several times during May looking for some new-to-her books (contributing to incomplete series' we own) that she enjoys. She got 21 chapter books that day, ha! That would make a serious impact on summer reading! And I always let my kids choose a special treat after the first and last days of school. I used to make a treat, but this week was too busy, so she got a donut and "special" milk, and was more than happy with that, ha. 

Everything on this page is long retired, except a couple markers, and the white card stock, ha. 

Supplies:

Stamps: ABC-123 Sketch Alpha (retired), Sunny Fun (retired)   

Ink: Bermuda Bay (retired), Memento Black

Markers: Pool Party, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay (retired), Cucumber Crush (retired), Watermelon Wonder (retired), Tip Top Taupe (retired)

Paper: Bermuda Bay (retired), Basic White card stocks, Cherry On Top DP (retired)

Accessories: Misc Paper Pumpkin

Christmas Baking!

Do you like to bake at the holidays? This year we have seven kinds of treats that someone or other in the house has requested..! Mostly cookies, but also a super simple "fudge". (it isn't a true fudge, but it IS yummy, and it is fast, so that's good enough for me!)

I scrapped this page for my daughter in January and also saved this one to share in December. The photos are very old, because she had a shoe box of all sorts of photos I'd printed over the span of many years and just hadn't gotten to... She had 31 "old" events fully printed, waiting to be scrapped in January, and since she graduated in May I was cramming. So here was this one! 
...The photos are older than the DP and might be older than the stamps too! 

Supplies:
Stamps: A Merry Little Christmas, ABC-123 Sketch Alpha
Ink: Real Red, Mossy Meadow marker
Paper: Basic White, Candy Cane Lane DP

Current Scrapping!

The Retired Products list was released yesterday, for both the main Annual Catalog and for the Jan-April Mini Catalog. You can view them by clicking the titles, or let me know if you'd rather have the links emailed to you.  

While many demonstrators quickly sell off their retired inventory to make room for new, I typically keep what I've purchased and I often use it for my scrapbooking! I've had so much fun working on our Disneyland Trip and finding so. many. perfect stamps or DP to use! But today, I used current products for this page! Crazy talk....! 
...although...this stamp set along the side is about to retire. So if you love it, hurry and order it!! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Nothing's Better Than, ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet (retired)
Ink: Poppy Parade, Memento Black, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Tahitian Tide, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Parakeet Party, Balmy Blue
Paper: Basic White
Accessories: Crystal Effects (retired)

This page is of my daughter's first job, at a very small soda and cookie shop, which are a huge deal around here. Seriously, there are six different shops within ten minutes of my house! They serve things like flavored sodas, hot chocolate, a variety of cookies and other treats like nachos, churros, cinnamon rolls and ice cream. This page shows her first day and last day, and then when we visited once in the middle. 

What are you making today?

Frontierland

Well, I am not having creative time, like I hoped, now that school has started. I feel like I'm actually busier! And more tired. But I do have a lot of Disneyland pages I haven't yet shared so there's that! I really need to finish making these pages, but in the meantime...  

This is actually one of the first layouts I did of this trip. In fact, Cinnamon Cider has retired between me making this page and today, haha. But that's okay- I love using retired product on my pages! 

Stamps: ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers, Yeehaw (retired! 2003)

Ink: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Cinnamon Cider (retired), Pacific Point, Real Red, Delightful Dijon (retired), Tangerine Tango (retired)

Paper: Sahara Sand card stock

Font: Giddyup Std

What are you making? 

Spiders!

Today's page is simple, but definitely captures the idea behind the ride! And then I wished I hadn't done it! Ha! I am really not a fan of this spider image. My mom owns the stamp set, and it was my idea, but ewww....!!! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfully Wicked, ABC-123 Sketch 
Ink: Real Red, Pacific Point, Smoky Slate 
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red 
Journaling Font: Astonished

Band Competition

Today I'm calling this the end of my son's band pictures, til I scrapbook from previous years, haha... 
This one's a three pager! Sheesh! haha..... of course it is- it's his final Marching Band event ever! This is at the state competition, which is an overnight trip for our school. As with most of my band pages, the photos are the main point, leaving little room for anything else. Which is why I ended up not choosing to share most of the band competition pages after all, haha. 

Stamps: Number of Years, ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers
Ink: Seaside Spray, Night of Navy
Paper: Seaside Spray, Crushed Curry, Misc SB Store DP
Font: The Hand Extrablack
2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes

And here are some closeups! 

April Fools!

I really don't do anything for April Fools Day. One year that my son told me he was really looking forward to it "tomorrow" I made him a weird lunch, haha, But that's it. This year, being quarantined, I thought it might be a good and simple "break" from everything. So I had to scrap it for my son too!

I used these strips of this old, but fun and bright DP (so old I don't know what it was called...) and I mixed up some alphabet stamps for the title to keep the silly feeling. Then the journaling is my instagram post. Super simple, and something fun.

Supplies:

Stamps: Peachy Keen, ABC123 Sketch alphabet, Whimsical Upper alphabet, Taffy Alphabet (all long retired)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Sweet Taffy DP (retired)

Journaling font: Kristen

and a couple close ups...

Scrappy Saturday!

I have SO many scrapbook pages, I'm posting on a Saturday too! Which- yeay!
The scrapbook group I'm a part of on splitcoaststampers.com is having a Virtual ScrapBook "Night", and I issued a challenge for it! We were supposed to base the challenges on our "home" since we're all "Staying Safe At Home" right now. Some challenges are of the state or town a person lives in, but my challenge was based upon my actual house. We built our home about 3 years ago and one of the fun parts was choosing the materials. So my actual challenge was this:

My house has a black roof, dark gray stucco, light gray stone work and white trim. And a red door! It makes me happy every time I pull up to it!CHALLENGE: Make a page that is monochromatic with a pop of a color from the other side of the color wheel--- OR ----Make a page that is grayscale with a pop of red!

And here's what I created for this particular challenge! I picked monochromatic blues with a pop of orange, and the photos fit that too!

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch Alphabet
Ink: Blueberry Bushel
Paper: Blueberry Bushel (base), Bashful Blue (retired) (thick strip), Seaside Spray (title strip), Balmy Blue (photo mat)
Accessories: Dapper Denim ribbon (retired!), Peekaboo Peach enamel shapes (retired!)
Font: Enviro

Autumn Scrapping!

Happy Monday! Did you know that this past Saturday (two days ago) was international scrapbooking day?? Did you happen to spend it scrapping?

I actually did...sort of. I needed to make a small gift scrapbook so I spent Saturday finding pictures, organizing them, and creating a book on Shutterfly. Personally, I do not find Shutterfly books all that easy to maneuver and maybe that's because I'm used to customizing all of a page or book myself? So, after most of the day wasted fighting with a book I didn't love, I gave up and started compiling the book in my much-loved, long-retired MDS program! I got half of it done Saturday and then I had to go to bed. It was like 1am... Sunday afternoon I finished it up and got it ordered! So, yes, I spent the weekend "scrapping"...

okay, okay enough whining! I have been cruising along, trying to scrap all the things for my son before he graduates. And no, we don't yet know what "graduation" will look like for him... Since I have plenty to show off, and tons more to do still, hahaha, today I have a three-fer. Three layouts from last fall! Hooray!

Here's the first one. One of our solid traditions- going to a pumpkin patch that has a bunch of other activities too!

And a couple close ups.... I realized, it's hard for me to get decent pictures of a double page layout because I usually order glossy prints. And then it reflects EVERYTHING back, like, my shadow hanging over the photo or whatever else...

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch Alphabet (retired)
Ink: Cajun Craze
Paper: Mint Macaron & Cajun Craze card stock, Come to Gather DP (retired)

Carving pumpkins last October...

Supplies:
Stamps: September 2016 Paper Pumpkin
Ink: Old Olive, Memento Black, Only Orange (retired), Tangelo Twist (retired)
Paper: So Saffron & Basic Black card stock, Halloween Night DP (retired in 2006!)

And finally, our Thanksgiving...and the day before, haha.

Supplies:
Stamps: September 2015 Paper Pumpkin, other Paper Pumpkin
Ink: Mossy Meadow, Early Espresso, Blackberry Bliss, Tangelo Twist (retired)
Paper: Old Olive, Baked Brown Sugar (retired) card stocks

And there's six more pages for my count (listed at the bottom of my sidebar if you're curious) and six more for his books!

Valentine Scrapping!

I really am determined to make a dent in my scrapbooking to-do list. I counted and I have 51 events worth of pictures already printed for my son's book, so that's where I started!
This page was created for a challenge. It required three patterns of DP, three photos, a three word title and three embellishments. Done! And the layout is inspired by THIS page on Pinterest.

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet (long retired)
Ink: Real Red
Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe (long retired), Stacked With Love DP
Accessories: 1/8" Real Red ribbon (retired), Washi Tape (retired), Hodgepodge Hardware (retired!)

and a bit of a close up on the embellishments... Pages are tricky to photograph.

Scrapbooking!

I have been missing scrapbooking, so today I decided to work specifically on that! However....maybe because it has been so long, it was a challenge to get going. None of the pictures were really speaking to me. I looked for some challenges as a jumping off point and decided the color combination from Nacho Average Challenges would work with these photos pretty well....then I had to figure out what else to do...haha! I ended up picking THIS Stashbusters Challenge (meaning I used old stuff, haha) to add to the page, and I picked #3 brads, #4 3D item, #6 stamp something and #8 ribbon.
And here's how it turned out:

Supplies:
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, ABC123 Sketch (retired)
Ink: Garden Green, Tangerine Tango, Cucumber Crush marker
Paper: Marina Mist, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Brads (retired), Marina Mist polka dot ribbon (retired) and fabric leaves (unknown), Piercing Mat, Glue Dots, stapler

I started another layout...maybe it will be done tomorrow! *grin

A Paper Page!

At my workshop, I displayed and discussed plenty of MDS products- calendars, an 8x8 book, pages, and cards. But I demonstrated a traditional paper page to emphasize stamping in scrapbooks and the extra versatility of stamps. Using a sketch found on Pinterest (from Cheryl, haha, whose page sketches I use often!) here is the page I made-

Supplies:
Stamps: Papillion Potpourri
Ink: Real Red, Basic Gray
Paper: So Saffron, I Am Me DP
Accessories: Itty Bitty Butterfly punch, Dimensionals

The DP and the letter stamps are retiring- grab them soon!! The butterflies and punch are sticking around tho.... Yeay!

And the story behind the pictures? When my daughter was little she loved to eat pickles with her Daddy. She would ask for pickles with Daddy. I'm glad I thought to snap these pictures one afternoon, because suddenly one day she didn't like them anymore on anything and still won't eat them, silly girl!

A water page!

Its kinda late in the day, but since I finished a stamping project I thought I'd better get it posted! *smile

I have had this layout sitting on my workspace for close to two weeks now...it was time I got it glued down!! The pictures are a little old and summery, and it is not feeling summery right now so that's a welcome change, haha! The lined paper is actually a journaling tag from the Retro Fresh journaling tags. Love how handy that is!
Be sure to click on the photo to see it better...

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch, Remember Rotary
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar marker
Paper: Very Vanilla, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar & So Saffron card stock, Retro Fresh DP
Accessories: Hung Up Cute Clips, Retro Fresh Washi Tape, Retro Fresh Journaling Tags, On Film Framelits, Big Shot

And here's a few close-ups so you can better see the details...
The cute dies...

 And the tag with the clip! I think its a fun touch!

Graduation!

Here's a second layout from my scrapping night. The pics are of my sister's high school graduation, and all the nieces and nephews managed to attend! (and no I am not the shortest...the bottom right photo is my parents children. I'm the oldest, but my sis is wearing reeeally tall heels and I was in flats, lol!)
This time I used Cheryl's EMS 47 sketch as my base, but I didn't quite follow it exactly. I used three different packages of DP and I think they blended very well. I colored in the butterfly and the flowers on the retired First Edition DP, and stamped the butterflies on the current I Am Me gray chevron print DP. I love it!

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch, Creative Elements
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Blushing Bride Marker
Paper: Pink Pirouette card stock, I Am Me DP, First Edition DP (retired), Sycamore Street (retired)

Wax Museum!

A little break today from class cards...I'm not in love with the third card so I may try something else, lol. In the meantime, here is a scrapbook layout using one of the challenges from the brand new 1-2-3 Get Scrappy blog! Incase its not obvious (giggle) I picked "hexagons, color red and brads"...but I used Candy Dots instead of actual brads...

This page is from the wax museum the school held this past spring. The kids my son's age were assigned a person from American history (alllllll over Am History) and then were supposed to memorize some facts about the person, which they would recite to anyone who asked. Parents came and then the rest of the school took turns coming in. My son was Jimmy Carter! Fortunately we had this gray suit, he had a red, white and blue tie, and we sprayed white hair spray on his much-too-long hair to make it grayish, haha! He did a great job memorizing and reciting, but his facts were mostly not true...I don't know where he got his information, they did the work during class, but he got a good grade for effort! I took a video clip of him reciting, and I need to type up what he said and add it as journaling on the second page in the white space.

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch
Ink: Pacific Point
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red & Pacific Point card stocks
Accessories: Hexagon Punch, Candy Dots

and a bit of a close-up for details...You can even see the sign he made for his station!

Old pictures, Old supplies

Today's project is a brand new page, made of retired product and old pics. I haven't printed off pictures for a while, so I went thru what I had to find something I felt like scrapping. I had 6 little stacks of photos ready to go...but spent all my "free time" looking for when the photos were taken! lame.... lol... So I only got this page put together so far.
I used the newly retired Certainly Celery for the base, but found an old Simply Scrappin' Kit for the DP and stickers. I also used THIS sketch for the layout!

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Paper: Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise & Whisper White card stocks, retired Simply Scrappin' Kit from 2011? Sale-A-Bration

More Scrapping!

Today I am off making more memories with my kids and some friends, enjoying summer. But I took some extra time yesterday and got these photos scrapped! Its about time, they're getting old, haha... I used Cheryl's June sketch, and I also used a VSBN challenge to "go green!". What are you up to?

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch
Ink: Basic Gray
Paper: Epic Day DP, Old Olive, Pool Party card stocks
Accessories: Epic Day washi tape

A Layout

Since my computer still hasn't been fixed, I needed to show a traditional page at my workshop. This one is super simple, but I really like it. I featured three prints from the Epic Day DP, the Epic Day washi tape, and the brand new ABC set that I am loving!
I love how easy the Epic Day DP is to use, and how much it adds to any project- it looks like I did a lot of work when really I just cut two strips, a square, and some of the hexagons!
(And yes, you've already seen these pictures, her layout is HERE and his is HERE. This layout is for my book. however, this allows me to show how the same pics can create complete different pages. Same goes for stamps.)

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch
Ink: Basic Gray
Paper: Epic Day DP, Basic Gray card stock
Accessories: Epic Day Washi Tape

Blog Hop: You're The Man!

Yep, its time for another Blog Hop!
Today's theme was selected by Cathee, and its all about celebrating the men in our lives! Be sure to stop by everyone's blog for plenty of masculine inspiration!

Many people struggle with masculine cards, I think because we crafters want to put ribbons and other pretty things on the cards that guys aren't really in to. *grin. I took this challenge and ran with it- I was surprised with as many of my favorite masculine sets retiring that I still had so many current! Hooray for that!

Today is also Day 1 of the new catalog so you know I'm going to have new products to show off!!
Starting with the alphabet set on this scrapbook page for my son, doing a manly project (re-shingling a roof!) with his dad, uncle and adult cousin! haha! Can't get much more masculine than that!

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers, Lovely As A Tree
Ink: Gumball Green, Basic Gray
Paper: Basic Gray, Epic Day DP
Accessories: Natural Ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, Staple

Next up, I have a very simple card using a recent Freshly Made Sketch. I love the woodgrain with the acorns, and of course Linen Thread has got to be one of my favorite guy accessories, hee hee. This features two of the new In Colors. I gotta say, the Baked Brown Sugar shade is a good brown. Its "warmer" and a bit gold-ish.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Linen Thread, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Big Shot

Finally, we have this card which was, ahem, inspired by a recent Retro Sketch. haha! I thought the map paper from the Epic Day DP went well with this ship! And the Natural Trim is another perfect-for-guys accessory. Its ribbon without being girly.

Supplies:
Stamps: The Open Sea
Ink: Basic Gray
Paper: Epic Day DP, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Natural Trim

That's it for me, but I hope I've helped spark some ideas for the Father's Day cards, or birthdays, or whatever you may have coming up for the men in your life too!
Now go see what Julie has created!