A "S" layout and a Paper Secret

Excuse me for my technical difficulties. The official blogger upgrade is not compatible with my current system where I am......currently, lol. So I had to make some moves so that I could share my layout for the Paper Secrets September 15 Sketch Challenge (thanks for your help Mika).

I finally scrapped my nephews back to school photos from last year. I just love how my youngest nephew is looking up to his big brother. For my layout I used a few sheets from the Simple Stories Elementary Collection. The light blue stickers are from Collage Press and I was so bummed when I saw that I only had one letter "r" until a light bulb clicked. Don't tell anyone but the first R in the word Brother is actually just the outline of the other "r' on the sticker sheet, looks like that was intentional huh, lol.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!

I am just about to burst!!! I am so excited to announce that I am the October Guest Designer on the Sketch~n~Scrap blog. How exciting is that? Trust me it was welcomed news during a very trying week,  I am so grateful! Thank you to Lisa and the entire design team for selecting me, I promise some special "goodness" during the month, especially since it is also my birthday month! I also want to thank Brenda and Rochelle for introducing me to to Sketch~n~Scrap, the sketches are awesome and I am so inspired to create. Soooo my husband is taking credit since the layout I submitted is about him...............go figure! But there is something special I wanted to share about the layout.
As most of you know Mika is my best friend and we met online through our love of scrapbooking a few years ago. We have only been together in person twice and the first time we were together was at a weekend crop. We were comparing die cut papers and our desire to keep or paper forever and still use it at the same time when when got a bright idea. We traced the paper onto chipboard and cut it out to use as a template. Then when we want to use it we trace it onto our paper, cut it out and Presto!,  a very inexpensive solution that will last for a long time. And three years later I still use mine. Tomorrow I will add another layout with a special secret. Now I am off to get those creative juices flowing. I hope you will join me in the challenges as they are revealed.

Here is my raw chipboard template

Here is the finished layout

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Sketch n Scrap #17

Remember on the A-Team when Hannibal Smith would say, "I love it when a plan comes together"? Well I love it when a layout comes together. I was thinking about my daughter's prom photos and then poof! this layout came together in my head using the newest sketch featured on the Sketch-n-Scrap site. My paper collection of choice..........Echo Park's Victoria Gardens. It was funny when I purchased this I had no clue as to how I would use it, I just liked the colors. I started to fear that it would have a permanent place on my shelf but no way! This paper was made for these photos, which is good because I have lots more photos, lol.

So for this layout I used my Papertrey Ink doily die, which is becoming a regular go-to tool for me. The butterflies are from Making Memories and I love using them; I am going to be so sad when I run out of those :(. For the banner strips I wanted to do something different and since I was using double sided paper, I cut the three strips, punch one end with a decorative border punch and rolled the other end down to see the other side of the paper. Another special touch on this layout out is my white on white border strip the I made with a vine border punch near the bottom of the page. To top it off I added a generous amount of bling and Voila, you have a layout done in minutes.............okay 90 minutes to be exact but who is counting, lol.

Sketch and Scrap Monthly Challenge

Have you heard? Sketch and Scrap holds a monthly guest designer challenge and this month I decided to toss my hat into the ring. This is a Crate Paper Portrait layout of my husband. He looked so handsome in his tux for a work based fundraiser and art show.When  I snapped the photo of him crossing the street in center city, he said he looks like a robot but I think he looks very cosmopolitan, lol.  

There is still time for you to enter, but hurry because the link closes in two days, click below for more information!!!

Sketch-n-scrap Guest Designer Challenge

Such a Beautiful day!

A perfect day for participating in a challenge. First I challenged myself by going over to my paper shelf and just like random generator blindly selecting a collection to work with.I picked Bo Bunny's Sunkissed. I remember purchasing it from Scenic Route Paper's online shop but I never really looked at how gorgeous the colors were. My next challenge was to participate in Grand Diva's September Sketch Challenge featuring this sketch courtesy of Page Drafts.To increase my odds of winning I am also entering Rochelle's stash challenge. The row of purple dots was made using a border stamp and embossing powder.

Life Lessons - Sketch N Scrap 16

I am so proud of my mojo for hanging around lately. One of my goals this year is to participate in more challenges so when I saw the sketch challenge over at Sketch-n-Scrap I was happy to join in. So far since finding their site I feel like the sketches relate well to my style and I have a good time interpreting them my own way. I used the Reminisce Unwritten collection from my stash for this layout of my daughter. She had a few difficulties adjusting to ninth grade but I have faith that she will make great improvements this year. For my layout I punched several layers of butterflies and machine stitched one set together and held the other set together with twine to give them a more 3d effect. I fnally used my last Heidi Swappp transparent clock from my stash and I loved using my fabric thickers. This challenge runs until the end of the month so there is plenty of time for you to join in - click here.

My old soul - Woodland Park Layout

When we saw Woodland Park included in the August scrap-room kit my friends and I got so excited. The colors are so fun to work with and vibrant. So far this is the only layout that I have completed this weekend but we are anticipated a bad storm which will hopefully mean more time to scrap.

Jada in Preschool - October Afternoon Woodland Park

Craft fair on my Mind

Okay I know I do this every year but I think I am almost mentally ready to start getting ready for a few craft fairs. So far I am looking at two in October and hopefully I can do at least two more before Christmas. Although I haven't started builidng up a serious stock I did at least do this one clipboard and notepad set over the weekend. Only 99 more projects to go, lol. I need my girl Tiffany to stay on me for inspiration, she is a whiz at putting on magnificent craft fair displays.

To the Moon

I hope everyone in blogland had a great labor day weekend. Mine was good, not too eventful but not boring either. I spent a lot of time with my hubby and still I was able to get a couple of things done. Here is a layout of our grandson using October Afternoon Rocket Age. Sorry for the not so good pic, it has been rainy here for a couple of days and I had to take the photo indoors.