Baby Book...Month 2

I started this layout so long ago, I can't even begin to tell you what site I took the layout from.  It's a little rough, but, I got it done is the important part!!!  Hopefully, they'll all improve from here.  I should mention, I have no idea what pictures my sister will want to put on her pages.  I just steal them from anywhere I can as long as they fit the time frame and some are less than ideal quality!!  I figured my sister can print the pictures she prefers once she gets the whole album.  This page actually looks a lot more cohesive in person than in this picture.  I REALLY miss daylight/sunshine! 😉⛅

Patterned Paper and Stickers:  Echo Park Bundle of Joy
Cardstock:  CTMH Glacier, Blush, Flaxen, and Cocoa 
Ink:  CTMH Blush (to color banner) Cricut Cartridge: Create a Critter, Plantin SchoolBook (title)
Accessories:  Recollection Adhesive Rhinestones, Stickles, Heidi Swapp Banner, and Art Chix Studio wood cloud.

Baby Book..Month 1

This is another super simple layout, but, it helped me get started.  I really love it though, but, I think it has more to do with the super sweet picture than anything!  I copied the layout almost exactly from the cover of Close to My Heart's Summer 2010 Idea Book.  They used the Cherry-O paper pack, it was super cute!

Patterned Paper and Stickers:  Echo Park Bundle of Joy
Cardstock:  CTMH Glacier, Blush, Baby Pink, Pear, and Cocoa
Ink:  CTMH Glacier and Blush
Cricut Cartridge: Flower Shoppe (leaves) and Plantin SchoolBook (Circles on flowers, tag, and title)
Accessories:  Stitch'z Bazzil Floss, CTMH paper flower, Martha Stewart border punch, Icicles Stickles, CTMH ribbon and chipboard flowers.

Baby Book...Cover Page

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm trying to put together a baby book for my beautiful niece Lizzy.  I'm ridiculously behind the eight-ball as she's already a year and a half old, but, sadly, I'm further along for her than my own kids!! 

Please excuse the poor lighting, but, there's not a lot of natural light to be had lately with all of our snowfall so that makes for a lot of adjusting!!  I used the "Backstage" layout template in Close to My Heart's Magic book to get me going.  I was really struggling to get my scrapbooking mojo back and the templates in the book are a great way to get started!!

Patterned Paper and Stickers:  Echo Park Bundle of Joy
Cardstock:  CTMH Glacier, Blush, Baby Pink, and Cocoa
Stamp Sets:  CTMH Playful Flourishes (Sorry been too long, not sure which flower stamp I used)
Ink:  CTMH Hollyhock and Pear
Cricut Cartridge: Create a Critter, Plantin SchoolBook (heart and title) and Flower Shoppe
Accessories:  CTMH and Recollection Adhesive Rhinestones, Stitch'z Bazzil Floss, CTMH paper flower, Martha Stewart flower punch, Icicles Stickles, Fiskars Border Punch, and  (title is done with stickers that came with the paper pack).

Two in ONE MONTH!

So, completing two layouts in one month is probably not all that impressive for most, but, kind of a big deal for me considering my long hiatus!!   Although, I've actually scrapped more than you might think, just didn't post.  Anyway, this layout was so much fun and went together so fast, that never happens for me!

I combined several challenges for this one which I hope is o.k.!  First and foremost, the sketch came from Let's Get Sketchy.  Such a fun site and they do a new sketch challenge weekly, so amazing and so much great inspiration on their blog!!  

The second challenge that I used for inspiration was the Tic Tac Toe Stash Challenge from Scrap Our Stash.  For their challenge you had to dig through your stash and use three items in a line from their tic-tac-toe board.  This challenge blog is new to me, but, I LOVE it because I have SO much stuff to use and they encourage you to add more to your layouts...I may not have been a prolific scrapper during my time away from my blog, but, I was definitely still a good shopper! 😜 I chose Paint/Mist, Winter Theme, and The Color Blue.  I've had this picture of my son and pup for a year now and just think it's too cute.  Max is getting older and not doing well, Owen will be devastated when we have to say goodbye, they've been inseparable since the day we brought Owen home from the hospital.

The final challenge that I came across when looking for new inspiration was on the scrapbook.com challenge forums.  MarciLB challenged us to scrap a pet using a winter theme....I live in Alaska and have plenty of pets, so, maybe not much of a "challenge" after all, haha!!  The forum has quite a few challenges and I am looking forward to playing along with more soon!

Patterned Paper and Stickers:  Little Yellow Bicycle Winter Twig

Cardstock:  CTMH Sky and Twighlight

Stamp Sets:  CTMH Snow Flurries and All Decked Out

Accessories:  Paint and Dauber from CTMH distressing kit, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black, Comic Markers, Versa Mark and CTMH embossing powder, Fiskars border punch, Maya Road Mini Chipboard Snowflakes, Martha Stewart Glitter (used on snow flakes...hard to see in pic), Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge, and Zig pen.

Belated Baby Book...Month 3

I cannot believe it's been SO long since I last posted.  I think having a little princess in the house was kind of my crafty undoing, I don't get the "alone" time I had before with just a boy in the house!!  She's my constant companion and NEVER stops talking!! 😊  But, I can't blame her for it all, I've been struggling with back issues since she was born and would rather lay down and take a nap than sit to scrapbook or post a layout on the blog.  Fortunately, I think, I finally have had someone take a closer look with xrays/MRI and determined I have three tears in my lumbar disks...turns out I'm not just a whiner!  I'm currently working with a chiropractor that seems to be helping.  I've gotten actual quality sleep the past couple weeks!!  It's amazing what a difference being rested does for your entire life, I'm SO thankful and hopefully, will be on here more often.

Anyway, enough about me!  After being away for so long, I realized, most of the challenge blogs I used to follow have called it quits.  So, I went on a search for some new ones!!  I'm trying to do a baby book for my sister's now 18 month old...nothing like being behind!!  So, I was especially looking for layout challenges.

I've always loved the Stuck?! sketches, but, this may be the first time I was able to play along and submit on time!  I'm still trying to get back into it, it's amazing how hard it is to put a layout together when you haven't done it in forever.  Scrapbooking is definitely a skill that takes practice to make it look good like the design team on Stuck?!.  I had hoped to participate in the second challenge this month too, but, thats not going to happen this time!!  I had fun with this one though!

Patterned Paper and Stickers:  Echo Park Bundle of Joy
Cardstock:  CTMH Glacier and Blush
Cricut Cartridge: Create a Critter, Plantin SchoolBook (heart and title)
Accessories:  Fruit Punch and Icicles Stickles, Wilton Heart Doilies, Recollection Adhesive Rhinestones, Stitch'z Bazzil Floss in Geneva Brown and stitch guide, Recollections Embellishment-flower button (that's really all the packaging says), paint/brush from CTMH distress kit, and lace by the yard from local scrabpbook store (no brand available).