Scrap Much?! Heart This Man Layout

So last year, when we still lived in Spokane, Becky Higgins Hide and Seek came to our town! I went out and about with Max that day, hoping that I'd be close by to wherever the stash was announced. My husband thought I was mildly nutty, and told me he had a busy morning of meetings so he could not "help me cover downtown." Ahem. Of course, when the post went live, I was fifteen minutes away at Michaels on the east side (priorities), and the drop was like 2 blocks from his office. I texted him my wail of grief, then set off for downtown in case no one else in Spokane was a) a scrapbooker and b) an instagrammer. John hopped off his meeting to trot over to the park and nabbed the prize. Even better (perhaps not in his world view, but still..) he got to meet Stacy Julian, who said that she knew he must be a scrapping husband by the way he entered the park (in his engineer wear) headed in a beeline for the Big Red Wagon with no child in sight. That's him on the Becky Higgins Insta feed, and he graciously shared "his" prize with me! 

I used so many lines for this week's new Scrap Much? sketch. There's some Crate Paper Confetti in there, some Simple Stories Heart, a bit of Authentique Woodgrain, plus gold foiled dot and chevron washi tapes. That diagonal woodgrain with the hints of aqua is so gorgeous! I'm linking this page up to the Paper Issues Into the Woods Issue.

My new favorite gold BoBunny Glitter paste joined in the fun too - it looks fab against that textured black cardstock! The Simple Stories stickers look like gold glitter too. I trimmed that diamond motif out of a 4x6 card. I also added some gold and black Fundamentals stickers. I used white pigment ink to stamp tiny letters onto the black glitter circles to complete my title. I finished off with a scattering of the teensiest gold Pretty Pink Posh sequins. 

Here's the sketch - now go forth and create!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 156

New sketch time! Sorry so brief, but the app I'm trying to blog with is freezing every ten seconds.

I used Penelope papers, April SOTM, and Zoe complements. I added a couple gold glitter hearts, too. You can play along with this sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

Heart 2 Heart Turning One Layout

My laptop hard drive is dead! ((Sob!)) So please bear with me and my cell phone blogging while I work out my technical issues.

I'm sharing my layout for the Heart 2 Heart Photo Op Challenge. I had these pics from Gabe's 1st birthday and since he's turning ten on Wednesday it seemed a good time to look back on him as a baby. I used a lot of watercolor wash, some glitter paste spread over a hexagon template, and Regatta papers and Complements. The sketch I used is the new cuteness from Scrap Much?. I'd write more and add detail pics, but this tip tapping on my iPhone 5 is not so super fun. I'll come back and update once I'm functional again. Press contact me or leave a comment if you have a question, and wish me luck!!

My Gilmore Girls BFF

This is another page I did in my Gilmore Girls Crush Book swap. This book is the Bluebird book, and a lot of the My Crush line is less than five bucks on my website right now.

I added a big swipe of gold BoBunny glitter paste under the pre-printed photo frame. Then I layered on my journaling strips (1/4" strips are my fav!) and lots of doo dads from Zoe, Penelope, and the City Limits Instalife cards. 

I used my flat brush to add gold glitter paste around the edge of the photo, and lined the photo edge with teensy tiny Pretty Pink Posh sequins. I bought these bitty guys in black and gold up in Seattle, and I needs all the colors now! I've got scrapper's remorse now (sob!). When in doubt....buy the sequins, ok? 

Heart 2 Heart Smile Polaroid Birthday Card

Happy Monday! The new challenge this week over at the Heart 2 Heart blog is a cute card sketch.

I decided to go with the April SOTM, and my card was inspired by this Lawn Fawn card I saw on Pinterest. I cut some 1/4 inch strips of cardstock to piece the rainbow band together. The Polaroid frame and camera are from the April SOTM. 

I don't know if you can see it that well, but the white background is embossed with a heart embossing folder. I added some Fundamentals gold glitter  hearts and a scattering of teensy mini Pretty Pink Posh black sequins. I trimmed out the slot on the Polaroid and inserted the SMILE! sentiment, popping up the edge with thin foam tape. You can find this cute sketch over at the Heart 2 Heart blog if you want to play along! 

Scrap Much? Snow Much Fun Layout

It's time for a new sketch from Scrap Much? and don'tcha just love it when you have just the right pics for a sketch? 

I got to use up the rest of my Simple Stories Snow Patrol papers on this cute sketch, I had these three random pics of the boys being super silly on top of the South Hill of Spokane as the snow was melting. I grabbed some pearly Bazzill Cardstock for the base. I layered on the striped paper, then I swiped a thick layer of silver Bo Bunny Glitter paste around the edges of the layout and across the diagonal. 

I pulled my title from the coordinating sheet of Pocket Scrapbooking cards mixed with the sticker letter sheet. I topped off the stickers with Doodlebug glitter dots. 

Here you can really see the glitter paste. I used a flat brush to add a light edge of glitter paste around the banners too. It's my new favorite thing!

Here's the full sketch!  I hope you'll hop over to Scrap Much? and play along!

Why I Became Close To My Heart Blog Hop

Welcome to this month's special hop, Why I Became a CTMH Consultant. We have 18 consultants sharing their story this month in honor of the Baby, I'm Worth It special. You might be arriving here from WENDY'S BLOG. Here's my story...

I made a scrapbook page with some of my favorite pics from Convention last summer (and one from the first convention) my team traveled to Disneyland with me. Each year we travel to Convention in a big group, having adventures together, and these ladies make the whole experience so much fun! I love our monthly team meetings too, but there's a special spot in my heart for traveling on these big trips together every year. I based my layout on the fab new sketch at Stuck ?! Sketches. 

I combined some Penelope line with the April SOTM and City Life Instalife cards. I did some hand stitching details using a combo of yellow and gold threads. I also added some fat swipes of my new BoBunny Glitter Paste, which I got on a field trip my team took to a scrap store before dinner in Seattle when we were there for a CTMH event recently. The background is watercolor paper splattered with lots of colors of watercolor paints. 

My journaling is reflecting back on how I joined CTMH. I never meant to be a CTMH consultant. I just wanted to buy extra paper, so the discount sounded great. I wasn't going to go to meetings or sell anything or (are you kidding me?) start a team. I only knew like three people since we'd just moved to Oregon. My first party was a disaster - not even the hostess showed up. I ended up stamping with the hostess's friend and her big, burly biker roommate dude who took pity on the poor nervous wreck trying to teach to a class of one, so he joined in for fun! Fourteen years later it turns out that the paper discount (while sweet!) is the least of what I've gained in joining CTMH. 

CTMH has given me confidence - in myself, my leadership skills, and my craft. It's also given me some of the best friends a gal could ask for, from my team, from my sidelines, and a whole community of amazing people who love crafting and making as much as I do. These ladies are my peeps. They craft with me. They laugh with me. They help me when I move, love my kids, and are always there for me. I am there for them too, because helping others to achieve their dreams is the best part of having a team. For me, CTMH is not about the dollars (though I'm super proud of them when they reach their goals), it's about the lasting connection we've built, all because we like to hang out and make pretty stuff together.         

That's why I'm happy to be CTMH, and my life is immeasurably better because one day fourteen years ago I just wanted to buy pretty paper at a discount. If you'd like to chat more about the extra rewards of joining the CTMH family this month, talk to your personal consultant or send me a note. Next up on the hop is MELINDA'S BLOG. Happy hopping!

H2H Under My Umbrella Card

I was so honored to be chosen as a Heart 2 Heart Sweetheart in January. Now I get to play along with the challenges this month as a guest designer!

The first challenge this month is FOUR. For my card, based on the new sketch from RetroSketches, I used four kinds of patterned paper, four little hearts, four glittery triangles, and four applications of watercolor paints. I also stuck to the four colors from the new ColourQ color challenge. 

I did a light wash of blue over the background. Then I came back and splattered the background while it was still damp so the dots would spread a bit. I used my paints to color in the stamped images, using a paper towel to wipe paint off the boots and create a lighter color. Then I came back after the boots were dry and used very little water to add the orange dots on the boots with a fine brush. I'm linking this card up to the Just Us Girls Word Week inspiration: Raindrops. 

I hope you'll hop over to Heart 2 Heart to share your FOUR-spiration, too!

Watercolor Polaroid SOTM Card

Happy Monday, Stampin' Friends! I had a little fun with my watercolors today for the new sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

I missed out on the SOTM Blog Hop, but I still wanted to play with this cute new set called Life in Pictures. I masked off the edges on the top of my card with washi tape and stamped on one of the camera images using second generation Lagoon Ink. Then I went back in with full Lagoon ink to add the CLICK! sentiment. When I peeled off the washi it had preserved that nice crisp white edge around my card.

I stamped the Polaroid onto some watercolor paper and filled in the photo with my watercolor paints. I free handed the heart image in the center, choosing to blend some green and yellow watercolors to get the right green to go along with this week's Color Throwdown challenge. When it dried then I stamped the sentiment over the top with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. 

If you love retro camera images, be sure to check out the full April Stamp of the month here.