Collages

I love to take pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. I probably take too many pictures. And I know you don't have to scrap all your pictures, but sometimes I want to scrap them all for certain things. But I don't want to make 6 or 8 layout pages for one event, either. Enter Scrapbooks Etc digital collages. These digital templates are fun and easy to use, if you are familiar with Photoshop Elements or other photo editing software that uses layers. They have many styles and formats in their templates, so each creation can look different. After getting all your pictures in place, you can print your collage out at home or send it off to be printed. Many online printing services offer odd size prints, like 10x10 for printing the square templates. My favorite is Mpix. No worries if you don't know or have Photoshop Elements, tho; you can create your own collage in many photo editing software packages. Laurie and my favorite is PhotoElf and Rick gives the BEST customer service!

I created this layout using one of the square Scrapbooks Etc collage templates. I made it  8x8, so I was able to print it out right at home. Patterened paper is Rusty Pickle and We R Memory Keepers. The adorable paper piecings were made by my good friend Judy by hand. Check out her other awesome stuff on her blog Pieces of Me.



Have a fabulous Friday and wonderful weekend!

The Hulk

Happy Thursday! Well, I am happy to report that the Angry Birds die cuts were a hit! As a matter of fact, my daughter's friend asked if I would make her a red one. Gotta love it when the friends help make you look cool.
Today, I am sharing a layout that was fun and quick to make. It was for a sketch challenge on the message board that I visit. This is my son, pretending to be The Hulk (with donut all over his face). He used to tense up his little body and shake when we would ask him to do it. Cracked us up every time. I think that this was the only picture I ever got of him doing it, as he caught on to us laughing at him pretty quickly and stopped doing it after a few times. I am so glad that I got this picture, tho, so we can show him what a ham he was. All supplies from my stash. I think the cool background paper is from a Me & My Big Ideas stack, but I don't don't know the name. The title is chipboard Thickers, painted with acrylic, as it the chipboard T. The Hulk image was printed from the internet. Have a great day!

Die Cut Fun

I am a fun mom. OK, I think so anyway. I think nothing of jumping out of the car in the driveway if there is a good song on the radio and dancing on the front lawn. The children run onto the porch in horror, but I see them watching and laughing at me from up there. I do random silly things, like tackle my children and blow a big ol'e  bronski on their bellies. I will get down in the sand at the beach and make a sand castle with them or dig for worms in the back yard. I also love to put notes in their lunch boxes for school (much to the chagrin of the 11 year old - "Moooommmmm! My friends saw it!") Both my kids love Angry Birds, so, when I saw Norma's Angry Bird Treat Bag at PinkBlingCrafter, I knew what the next fun mom thing was going to be! I don't have all the punches that she has, but I do have a Silhouette and Google. (Laurie has dubbed me Google Queen. I can find anything on it.) I found some cute Angry Bird SVG files over at The Lady Wolf's Free SVGs, very stealthily asked the children which bird was their favorite and got to creating these cute little guys. I wrote a note to each of them on the back of the birds in white Signo pen. (THE best white pen evah!)

I hope they bring smiles to their little faces today. They sure made me smile!

Totally Hip

Good Tuesday morning! It is feeling like summer again here in the NorthEast; 80 degrees yesterday and in the 70's today. My poor mums are so confused; they like the cool weather and don't know whether to pop open or not! You can see them in the picture that I used for a challenge over at  Use Your Stuff. This is a fun new blog that my friend, Lynne, contributes to. For this challenge, you had to use Orange, Pink, Green, Yellow and Blue all in the same layout. My DD dressed as a hippie for Halloween last year and her costume had just about every color in it! I used paper from the We R Memory Keepers Nonsense stack that was a perfect match to her costume, embossed the orange paper with the Cuttlebug Bloom Dots folder and inked it, then added a transparency flourish (I think from Fancy Pants?) and a few retro buttons from my stash. I cut the flower shape on the Silhouette by enlarging it to 10" and then used the cutting tool in the software to chop it in half before actually cutting it out. I can't wait for the 12" Silhouette to come out to be able to cut full 12" shapes! Hope everyone has a Terrific Tuesday!

Live Out Loud

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Ours was super busy and too fast, as usual. I did get some scrappy time in, so not all was lost. :) Of course, scrappy time means that there was a mess to clean up afterwards. I love cleaning the scrap room and finding things that I forgot about. Like this LO that I started in a Quick Quotes Class at CKC Manchester last spring. There was a challenge on a message board that I visit to use the word "flounce" and there is a challenge at Frosted Designs to use mixed fonts on a project. (Can you tell that I love challenges? LOL!) The end result has several different fonts on the title, the subtitle, the journaling block, plus my handwriting:

All supplies from Quick Quotes except for the letter stickers spelling out "flounce", which were in my stash.

Have a fabulous Monday!

Haunted Design House Challenge

A Saturday post to get a challenge in on time! I just love Halloween. There is something about dressing up as whoever or whatever you want that just makes me smile. And oh, all the great decorating possibilities! Imagine my delight when Kelly told me about the Haunted Design House blog. All Halloween, all the time! The talent of the DT minions over there is incredible! I usually just oogle and comment on the challenges over there, but this week, the starts aligned on one of their challenges for me. This week's challenge, Appalling Apothecary looked so fun and it just so happens that the free Silhouette file of the week was a jar! Add to that that Silhouette just put out some new print and cut Halloween labels, and I was in. Here is the card that I came up with:

Details:
Silhouette Files used:
www.silhouetteonlinestore.com/v2/viewShape.aspx?id=21430
www.silhouetteonlinestore.com/v2/viewShape.aspx?id=21216
Cuttlebug Divine Swirls folder
Gold and black embossing powder
iRock bling
Basic Grey coordinting fibers

Hang In There

It's Friday!!! Hooray!!! It sure took it's sweet time getting here this week, didn't it?

Today, I am entering a card over at Squigglefly. If you haven't visited them and love digi stamps, you need to go get over there soon! They have the most adorable little images that are fun and easy to color. Try one of their freebies and I promise, you will want more of their stuff!

All supplies are from my stash, except for the Squigglefly Balloon Cat image, of course, which I colored with Copics. This card will be going out to a friend who needs a little "pick me up" right now. 

Hope everyone has a scrap-happy weekend!

Born This Way

Good Thursday morning!! It is a rainy morning here in New England, but still warm. I loved sleeping with the windows open last night and hearing the rain.

So, you have heard Laurie and Kel talk about "it is all about the story". I agree; journaling is very important in scrapbooking so that when future generations look at your albums, they not only know the who, what, where and when, but the why. But sometimes, just the picture tells the story. That was the case with this shot of my son at soccer practice. Anyone who knows him, knows what I am talking about. :) I made this LO for a lyrics challenge on a message board that I visit and used lyrics from Lady Gaga's "Born This Way".

I'm beautiful in my way

'Cause God makes no mistakes

I'm on the right track baby

I was born this way.

And really, that is all that needed to be said for this layout. Family and friends will know exactly what I was trying to say when they look at this picture. And they will smile.

I am also entering this layout into Frosted Designs Sketch Along Tuesdays Sketch #24 challenge. What an awesome sketch, no?

Have a fabulous Thursday!!

Back To Basics

I used to be a chronological scrapper. I had to finish May 2003 pictures before I could start June 2003 pictures, finish June 2003 before I could start July 2003, etc. But recently, I have found myself grabbing my newer pictures, inspired by the picture itself or by something I saw in a magazine or online for which I knew I had just taken the *perfect* shot. I also realize that I remember a lot more about the pictures or the event if I scrap right away. But I also have a LOT of older pictures that I want to make sure to get in albums. So, last night, I decided to work on a layout that I had put into a page kit for a crop eons ago. I already had everything cut out and ready to go, I just needed some inspiration to complete it. The cool fall weather did the trick, I guess! These pictures are from Thanksgiving 2006. I can't believe how little everyone looks and that it was just 5 short years ago. So many things have happened and changed since then. But it was fun to scrap these and think back to that Thanksgiving. It makes me all warm and mushy. I think I will grab a nice glass of apple cider, some more old pictures and settle in for more mushy scrapping soon. After all, I still need to scrap Christmas 2006! ;)

Details:
Chipboard leaves: Maya Road inked with Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks
Fall embellishments: Studio G
Patterned papers, bling, cardstock, chipboard circle: stash

Christmas Wall Art

I attended a class over the weekend on making a Christmas Wall Art, based on the work of Lynette Carroll. The girl who taught it had been to one of LC's classes and wanted to show us how to make one. She had everything all precut for us, so I can't give you details on sizes and such, but oh, this was sooo fun and easy to make and it came out gorgeous. I know she said the papers were from GCD Studios. I ran to Michaels with my coupons Sunday night to get the frame for it and will be making another one on my own for my mom for Christmas. I will share deets when I do!

Anniversary Card

Happy Monday and Happy Anniversary to Laurie and her hubby! Well, it was yesterday, but I didn't get to post, so I am announcing it today! :) I made this card for them with my Silhouette with papers from the DCWV Immortal Love stack, which Laurie had given me for my birthday! Love giving back!

Supplies:

DCWV Immortal Love Stack

Silhouette files:
Heart Flourish

Phrase

Ribbon and bling: stash

It was a beautiful weekend here in New England, full of fun family stuff. I hope you got to get out and enjoy it in your neck of the woods!

Have a fantab Monday!            

ETA: Entering in More Than Favors Anniversary Challenge                            

Frosted Designs Card Sketch Challenge

Happy Friday!!! It really felt like it wasn't going to get here this week! The cool, crisp fall air has rolled into New England. It felt fabulous to sleep with the windows opened last night.

Speaking of cool, Frosted Designs is having their very first Card Sketch Challenge. I needed to make a card for a friend's birthday today, so I thought it would be fun to create one for the challenge at the same time. She loves the beach, so I went with that theme for her. It was my first time using the Tattered Angels Glimmer Screens that I got at CKC Manchester this year. Very fun!

Supplies:
Sentiment: SU! Sincere Salutations
Charm: The Card Connection
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist: Riptide
Tattered Angels Glimmer Screens: Seaside
Patterned paper, buttons, ribbon, bling: stash

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!

Silhouette Cameo!!

I love, love, love my Silhouette machine, so you can imagine how excited I was when I heard that they are coming out with a new 12" machine at the end of October!! Have you seen this??

Oh ya. It will have to be both my Christmas and birthday presents, but I am soooo getting my hands on one of these babies as soon as they come out! You can learn more about it at Silhouette America.

Our friend Susan has invited Laurie and I to participate in a Christmas Shoebox swap. I had to ask what it was, but I am always up for anything to do with Christmas and swapping! The idea is that you make a card and then cut and supply enough parts for each participant to make your card. At the end of the night, you will walk away with as many different cards as there are participants. Sounds like fun to me!

I used my Silhouette to make my card for this swap. I originally used this first design, but I decided it was going to be too difficult to make 15 tree cuts after trying to cut and weed the trees at such a small size. More trees ripped than came out whole. I have the original Silhouette machine and some of the newer files are just too intricate for it at smaller sizes. Can't wait to try them with the Cameo!

So, I changed the design a little and went with this one instead. I still like it, just not as much as the first one. I hope the ladies in the swap will like it! I still think it needs a little something else, but I don't know what yet. I would love any suggestions! Thanks in advance!

Details:
Silhouette files:
Christmas Card kit
Tree Flourish
Cuttlebug folder: Snowflakes

Inspirational Swap

Good morning and Happy Wednesday! We are half way to Friday! I am in an "Inspirational Swap" on one of the boards that I visit. For this swap, we have to make 2 different 4x4 layouts, each with an inpirational quote and each with at least 2 different techiniques. There are 6 people playing, so I have to make 6 of each design. You would think that such a small layout would be easy to create, wouldn't you?!? I found it difficult because I had so many ideas in my head and only a small space to create in! Here is what I came up with:

#1:
Quote:
To see an angel, you must see another's soul.
To feel an angel, you must touch another's heart.
To hear an angel, you must listen to both.
- Unknown

Supplies:

Patterned paper: DCWV Old World Stack

Glimmer Mist: Coffee Shop

Angel stamp: Paper Inspirations

Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip ink

Gold Magic Mesh

Viva Peark Pen: Ice White

Brads and ribbon: Stash 

#2:

Quote:

You are a child of the Universe

No less than the trees and the stars;

You have a right to be here.

And whether or not is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

- Desiderata

Supplies:

Patterned paper: DCWV Glitter Stack
Glimmer Mist: Garden Fairy
Stampin' Up! In the Sky stamp set
Versamark ink
Ranger Turquoise Embossing Glitter
Dream charm: Making Memories
Bling: stash

Altered Clipboard

Happy Tuesday! I thought I would share a fun project that I did for a "Pay It Forward Swap" that I am in. In this kind of a swap, the first person on the list makes something for person #2, #2 makes for #3, #3 makes for #4 etc. The girl that I had on the list loves to make and collect ATC cards, so I thought I could make her something to display her favorite card du jour. I already had everything I needed in my stash! 

I started with a mini clipboard from Oriental Trading. 

I removed the clip and painted the entire clipboard with blue acrylic paint and then added Tim Holtz's Crackle Paint - Weathered Wood over it. Next, I adhered my patterned papers with my ATC gun, sanded the edges and then sealed all sides and edges with Mod Podge. Once the MP was dry, I reattached the clip and added the shaker box, ribbons, chipboard letter and bling. It was fun and pretty easy to do!

Details:

Mini clipboard: Oriental Trading

Chipboard glitter letter "t": Making Memories

Bling: Basic Grey

Papers, ribbons, shaker, acrylic paint - stash

Mod Podge

Monday and Our Challenge Winner!

Good Monday morning! I know ... those words shouldn't be together in the same sentence. I hope everyone had a great weekend! Thank you to everyone for all your wonderful comments on my layouts and projects. I have been having fun filling in for Laurie and Kel! I was so happy to see that Laurie posted this weekend. We all had a blast on Friday night!

On to our winner! Thank you to all 3 ladies that entered the New Challenge ... you all did a great job! I used random.org to pick a number between 1 and 3 and the winner was ..... #2 - Rhonda at BumbleBee Creations! Congrats, Rhonda! Please email your info to bonkdawn @ comcast . net (no spaces) and I will get the prize pack out to you. Janet and Carrie - please email your info, too! I have a little something for both of you for entering!! Thanks for playing, girls!!

I am entering into a challenge myself over at Creative Cutter Room. The challenge is to create a new project with a sports theme. I must have a million soccer and baseball pictures, so this was a goodie for me! I worked on this Friday night when the girls came over. 

Details: 

12x12 overlay: EZ Laser Designs (I got it at CKC Manchester last year!)

Soccer brads: Eyelet Outlet

Soccer Ribbon: AC Moore

Soccer stickers: stash - I think I got them in the clearance section at Michaels ages ago)

The overlay really made the page come together easily and quickly. I have another one with a baseball theme that I can't wait to try now! Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Yet another challenge

Hello Again!! Boy it feels good to be blogging again. I miss seeing everyone's work. I saw a baby boy card challenge over at http://myshericrafts.blogspot.com/. and said, I just finished a baby album and a card for my cousin's wife, who is having a baby boy in a few weeks! So here is my card. Most of the card came from a Paper Stack I got from Dawn, I used a lot of this stack throughout the album. The stork was cut from the Creative Memories Cartridge.

The letters came from the stack and the fit perfect going down the side of the card. This card was really easy to make and I hope it will be a big hit.

I hope everyone is doing well!! I will sign on later to see what everyone is working one!!! Have a great week and thanks for checking in with Dawn, it means a lot to me and Kel!!

Hello Everyone - A Challenge

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start! Boy have I missed everyone! My new job is going well. The people I work with are great. It is good to be back out in the working world, although I am NOT enjoying the commute!! I am not getting home until like 5:30 and then it's time to make dinner, picking up children at sports, hw and make lunches for the next day and then bed!! I will get used to it I am sure!!

Had a great time last night a Dawn's house stayed over there until 1:00 am! Time flies when you are scrapping!! I am entering this card in a challenge at our good friend Janet's blog

http://ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/ So you can do a card or layout it has to be Birthday or Anniversary and has to have fall colors. The prize is a stamp set from Ms. Emma! Love, love her stamps. I used her stamp on this card.

I made this card for my older brother, his birthday is next month. Everything is from my stash!! I love using my stash!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! I will most likely be on tomorrow to show you another challenge I entered!! I really need that scrap therapy last night!!

Thanks, Janet for a fun challenge and Happy Birthday and Blog-aversary!!!

Life is what happens while your busy making other plans ...

So, I was all ready to create something new for you last night for today's post. Pictures were printed, embellishments and papers were picked out. I was just waiting for the magical hour where the children were in bed. And then my daughter caught her hand in the front door. Ugh. After an hour of ice, she still couldn't move her right index finger, so off to the ED we went for xrays. I do love the hospital that we go to; in and out of there in 2 hours, even though they were quite busy. There were no fractures, thank goodness; just some real good contusions and swelling. So, in lieu of something new, I decided to show one of my fave layouts of the little girl that is now a big girl. She does love her daddy! I did this layout so long ago that I cannot remember any manufacturer details. I do know that I used acrylic paint on the back of quote transparency so that it would stand out on the background paper. It is a very simple layout, but I wanted it to be all about them.

Kel, Laurie and Susan are coming over my house to get some scrap therapy in tonight. I am so excited! It is always many laughs when we get together!

Check out the Sports Theme challenge over at Creative Cutter Room that Carrie from DoubleClick Connections and the girls are having! This is what I was going to work on last night when life happened! I will work on it tonight with the SS girls!

Speaking of challenges, don't forget that you have till tomorrow night (Saturday 9/10) at midnight to post your entry for our New Challenge to win this Prize Pack. 

Have a great day!

More Rain and Back to School

Still raining here, but the weekend promises to be beautiful, so we will deal! Back to school for all the Serenity Scrappers Littles!. I didn't get any scrap time in last night, so, to celebrate back to school and to appease my daughter that she is getting fair blog time, I am sharing some layouts of her first days of school.

First Day of Pre-School:

First Day of  Kindergarten: (that's Laurie's 2 boys with her on the right hand page!)

First Homework: (OK - who scraps that??!?! I need help.)

First Day of 1st Grade: (Laurie's boys again .. we love living across from each other!)

I am so far behind in my scrapping that is all I have and she is now in 6th grade! This does make me think tho, how cool all these would look in one book, as opposed to the chronological books that I have now. Hmmmm .... I may need to go shopping for a School themed album!!

Don't forget that there are a couple of days left for our challenge! Hope you will join in!

Rainy Days

Good morning! Another rainy day here in New England, but that is OK; my mums are going to look fabulous! So, the second part of the Labor Day challenge from the message board that I visit was to create something showing someone "resting after laboring". These pictures of my son sleeping on Daddy after a hard day of playing fit the bill! The boy can sleep anywhere, I swear, but snuggled on mom or dad was always (and still is ♥) his favorite place.

Details:
All paper, rubons, stickers, letters and chipboard embellies: Basic Grey Archaic line
Tim Holtz journaling ticket
Dad & Me sticker: K&Co

It has been brought to my attention that I have been favoring the males of the house, so I am going to have to come up with some girly posts for my daughter. We will see what I can cook up for tomorrow.

We have a couple of entries for our New Challenge. Please check the awesome entries out and leave the ladies some lovin' on their blogs! You have till this Saturday the 10th at midnight to get your entry in!)

Marvelous Monday .. oh wait, it's Tuesday!

And that's how the rest of the week will be for me! I will not know what day it is all week. Love the extra day off, but why are short weeks always so lllloonnggg?!?! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I got to visit with Laurie, Kelly and Susan on Friday night to see Kel's new place. She is going to have an awesome area to scrap in; I can't wait to see it done. Hopefully, she will be back to blogging here soon! My family was very busy with a beach day, a Renaissance Faire day and a cookout with the grandparents. All in all, a great photo op weekend! I did manage to get a little scrappy time in to create a couple of layouts. This one was for a "show someone laboring" challenge on a message board that I frequent.

The pictures are of my son and husband putting together a pitchback that he had gotten for his birthday. He was so excited to be able to help Daddy! ♥

Details (all in my stash - go me!):

Core'dinations : Cosmo Cricket paper

Making Memories rub on letters

Chipboard letters - Heidi Swapp

Baseball stickers - Current, USA

Chipboard arrow - Junkitz

Don't forget about our "something new" challenge: New Challenge

Go forth and make it a great day!

Tis the Season!

It's coming!!! Only 60 days left .... till Halloween! I bet you had visions of sugarplums dancing in your head, didn't you? Well, that is coming, too, but we have to get through a couple of other things first, LOL. I made a prototype for my Halloween cards this weekend. I send out about 15 to family and friends, so I try to keep the design simple and easy to mass assemble.

Details:

Ghost and pumpkin stamp: Stamp Oasis

Copics: YR15, YR18, T1
Crystal Stickles
Purple pearls: Queen&Co
Ribbons: stash
Patterned papers: Making Memories and DCWV ..... I think ... Laurie and I split quite a few Halloween stacks last year. :)

Speaking of Halloween, you HAVE to check out Haunted House Design.!! If you are a fan of Halloween, you will love it. I drool over there every day. Barb and her minions are such a talented bunch!

Hope everyone has a spectacular long weekend!

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Our six year old son lost his first tooth last night. He has been waiting forever to get his first loose tooth and the last 3 weeks have been filled with "Is it loose enough yet?" "Can I just bite an apple so it will come out?" when he realized that one was wiggly. It happened at school and the teacher gave him a cute sticker to wear on his shirt for the day that said. "I lost a tooth!" (I will have to work it into the layout when I do it.) He was so excited when he got off the bus yesterday. At bedtime, we got the tooth fairy pillow out that our wonderful neighbor, Miss Cheryl, made way back when for our now 11 year old daughter, tucked the tooth inside it and talked about how the tooth fairy got in the house and how little, pretty and sparkly she was until he fell asleep.

Then it hit me. He's not my little baby anymore. I just did this layout of him this weekend, having his first sleep in his new toddler bed when he was two and a half. How can he be such a big boy already???

The cute tag border was made by Laurie for a border swap that we both participated in quite a while ago. Everything else has been in my stash forever. I think I got the shaped pattern paper at CKU Manchester 2 years ago!!! The "Home" letter stickers have been with me for longer than that. It feels really good to be using supplies that I had forgotten were there. It's like shopping in my own house!

Hope everyone has a great day and don't forget about our latest challenge!!