Paper Issues week end

  Several people have asked me to post my layouts on facebook so that they can see them... somehow just don't like doing that... maybe because it opens me up to critique haha ...... So I thought I would put the 5 layouts I got done this week end for the Paper Issues online crop in this post and then post a link. I have fun cutting paper! There is so much talent on that site it is wonderful to be able to see all they can do. It is super fun to get to play along with them!
 Here is this week ends layouts....Lousy photo lighting too...ugh

yes it is the same picture... for 2 different albums....

Well there it is my week end.... haha and you should see the mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 Thanks for looking
Brenda

A stash busting week-end!

  Saturday the weather was supposed to be really bad... false alarm... but everything I had planned for the day was canceled. It just so happened that it was the same week end as Paper Issues on line crop.I have never really been able to participate in one so I decided that I would just scrap the time away. I had so much fun! I truly can not remember the last time that I got more than one layout done in a day! One of the challenges was to scrap a black and white picture with all bright colors. I found this picture on my cell phone and LOVED it in black and white. We were all at Amanda's for Trips birthday party and this praying mantis just decided to hang out for awhile. Zade is VERY animated when he sees a bug and this was a "big bug". I felt like this picture truly captures his reaction. I went searching for a sketch and found this interesting one at Scrap Our Stash. 

I then went digging and found this awesome collection from My Minds Eye called Collectable. I dug it out and quickly remembered how much I enjoy this paper and the embellishments too! I was really pleased with how it worked with the picture.

The challenge included using supplies to spell out the word leaf.
   L- Layered sticker and letters
   E-enamel dots
   A- arrow
   F-flair

 I am thankful for such a fun challenge to help me get my mojo going.
Today no scrapping as my craft cave is buried under piles of fun stash! I have to motivate to clean before I can play again. And the weather is good and several things from yesterday are rescheduled so it will be a full fun day!
Have a wonderful day filled with many blessings.
Brenda

Project

  I have the pleasure of picking Neal up on Wednesdays. The plan is for Adrienne to come down with the other boys for dinner and then all go to church. Zade had a fever so I got to have Neal all to myself on this Wednesday. We worked on his school project, bought Halloween pencils and ate at Taco Bell. Love Wednesdays.
  I used sketch #298 at Sketches in Thyme. I really like this sketch a lot!

And here is my layout.....

I used Studio Calico Snippets....I found it while looking for something else.... that I never found sadly, but happy to have found some old collections 
  Thank you so much for stopping by!
    Hope today brings you many reasons to smile.
      Brenda

Where does the time go?

 One last back to school layout. Yep Trip is already in pre-k..... I can hardly believe it. He is having so much fun! And Jack is loving one on one time with Mom! (layouts to follow!)

  I used the October 1st sketch at Sketches in Thyme. This was a bit of a challenge for me. But finally cut a template and am happy to get it done. I learned some tricks that work for me while doing it so it is not as intimidating... or frustrating!!

And here he is!

I used Miss Kates Cuttables School Days papers and some stash busting to get this one done! 

  Thank you for your time. 

Brenda

  

New School-Day 1

 Adrienne and Ben are fortunate enough to be able to get enough funding so that Neal can attend the Bedford School. It is a private school for children with learning differences. Now that he is 9 weeks in I am so very happy with the changes. He is so confident and happy within the school environment. He is making friends!!! And he is learning rapidly. He has always had a drive to learn but in a traditional environment was not able to get there. What a wonderful school for Neal. So very happy for this opportunity for my little buddy!
  I used this really fun sketch from Sketch N Scrap. 

 And here is my take.....

I know isn't that the best smile!
I used  papers from The Miss Kates Cuttables Back to School Basics pack. I did some real stash busting for the embellies. The book I did in MTC.

 Thank you so much for the time you have taken to share in my life.
Have the best day ever!
Brenda

Boys will play

  Adrienne recently went to Mom Con  which was a conference with christian moms in Kansass City. Ben had "The boys" duty. Neal had spent the night with me Friday night, Ben and I met half way and they all headed home. Ben stopped at a park on the way home and these are a couple of the pictures he took. They are all so blessed! I thank Ben for making it a fun day for my buddies!

  I love the sketch at Stuck?!Sketches for October and it worked beautifully with these pictures. I had so much fun with my new Koretake water colors. I so love them. It really was a layout that the whole process brought me happiness. Thank you for the challenge. It was just what I needed!
  The sketch

And my take

Everything but the title was from Simple Stories Hello Fall. a fun collection to work with!
  Thanks for stopping by!
   Brenda

New Beginnings

  In my neck of the woods school starts next week. Even though I have no school age children in my home, I am blessed to be able to be active in my grandchildren's lives. Thus, my calendar flows with the school year somewhat. I always feel like buying new school supplies that are blank and clean signifies a new start. So I am starting off with my August calendar and setting some goals. I have a small group of scrappy friends and we have challenged each other to try to make 30 projects in the month of August. You guessed it, challenge is on the list of goals. Well, I am happy to say that I have gotten 2 layouts done so I am staying on target so far!
  I really am needing some help in getting my mojo flowing and am very thankful for this sketch from Creative Scrappers. I have had this picture  on my desk for months....... started a layout  before and I

can't even remember the paper collection I was going to use ugh.....Thank you for the sketch push!

And here is my take.....

I used Bella Blvd. Tiny Tots for this layout!
  Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have a truly wonderful day!
Brenda

A rare opportunity..... Craft Cave Time

  I have really struggled recently with whether or not to give up and stop scrapping for now at least. Then a friend motivated me to keep with it and suddenly  a very rare slow week end and a layout was created! I am thankful for Sketches in Thyme . I was struggling with trying to get started and this sketch got it going for me. These pictures were on my desk since May and now they are ready for the beach album! The layout was still a struggle but am so glad that "the funk" was held at bay just a little longer!
 Here is the sketch

And here is my simple layout

 Hope that it will not be 2 months until I am back!
  Thanks for stopping by!
Brenda

My beautiful daughters

  Last week end both of my daughters went to Mommycon in Chicago. They traveled together and truly had a wonderful time. There are many pictures of them together and they just look so happy! It makes my heart so light to see them enjoy each other. It truly is a gift to me as their interests have always been very different. Motherhood has definitely brought them together!
  I used the March sketch at Stick It Down. I honestly did not think I would use this sketch when I first saw it but really enjoyed working with it once I got started.
 The sketch....

 My layout...

I used the Simple Stories Posh collection. The leaves were stenciled on using Heidi Swapp metallic texture paste in teal..... I love this stuff!!! It looks wonderful in person!
  Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my layout.
Have a wonderful day!
Brenda

You got What for Christmas?

  The only big item on Skylers Christmas list was a chainsaw. So that is exactly what he got. Of course it does not get much use and this documents the first time he got to use it. We had the boys for the week end and  they brought it along to break it in. Jeff and I were a wreck but they all did great and truly listened to all the instructions,  with "Mr. Safety" as a Grandpa there were many!
  I used the March 1st sketch  at Let's Get Sketchy to document this most scary of days.
Here is the sketch

And here is my layout....

I used Simple Stories So Rad, my current go to for boys, for this layout.
 Thank you for stopping by I hope you are having a most amazing day!
Brenda

cheeze

  Well, I am still plugging along on moms book. This one really threw me. I absolutely loved the heart I created but when I got it on the paper I just could not embellish it. So in me fashion decided today was the last day to mess with it...just do it and be happy if for no other reason than it is no longer on my desk. I used sketch number 267 at Sketches in Thyme.

Here is the sketch...

And here is my layout....

I do still like the heart so I will eventually be okay with this one. I have pictures for one more for her book printed out and then I am going to take another break from it.
Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting my little spot in the world.
Brenda

A new challenge blog for me.....

I was searching for  a sketch challenge with just one photo to do a layout of my oldest granddaughter when I ran across this sketch at My Creative Sketches. I have not had much time to explore the blog as the dead line for this sketch was looming. But I love the sketch and it is a great prize!  And no this is not my granddaughter, it always takes forever for me to do Olivia layouts so since the dead line was today I decided to do one of Zade instead.
 Here is the cute one picture sketch.

And here is my take...

I used Echo Park Bundle of Joy. the green stars and the wood hearts are from my stash. The cork pieces are from Fancy Pants.
  I am looking forward to seeing what the next sketch is like!!
    Thank you for the inspiration!

 Thank you so much for stopping by.
 I hope for you a blessed day!
Brenda

Can hardly believe it is true

 Saturday was a double birthday party Skyler was 9 and Zade was 3. I thought and thought about what to get Zade and the day before the party decided on a bike. I don't think I thought about it because I simply can not believe he is that big.It was a perfect choice as he loved it! I loved all the stars on this sketch at Clique Kits I just tend to really like stars on my boy layouts.

And here is my take

I know isn't he just the cutest !!!
Thank you so much for taking a few minutes with me.
I hope your day is filled with many smiles
Brenda

Another for the book......

  I saw this sketch at the Scraproom earlier this month and it intrigued me. I am not a great photographer and don't think about getting both landscape and portrait orientations so I just was not sure if I could make it work. Then I decided that I would use one of the penguins off the banner as my second "pic".This is the cake that Adrienne made for the party. It was adorable and tasty! Really had some trouble with liking the finished layout. But I decided this morning to just finish it up and move on.
Here is the sketch.....

and here is my take.....

Thank you for your time.
Brenda

Isn't he too sweet

  Jack my youngest grandson is absolutely so photogenic..... I know I am a bit partial, but his face just makes me happy. Amanda sent this one to me a couple of days ago..... Just because. I just had to honor it!  I bought some metallic texture paste by Heidi Swapp at Michaels the other day.... and decided to give it a test run. I have a bit to learn but it is fabulous. I used the  February week 1 sketch at Sketches in Thyme. What a fun sketch!

And here is my sketch......

Isn't he the cutest thing!   The navy sheet is from my stash.... just love navy and silver.... I used the silver metallic texture paste and the Tim Holtz burlap stencil to create the background. The papers, enamel dots, washi tape and chipboard are all from Simple Stories So Rad. The wire thread and silver stars are stash busters!

  I so appreciate you spending a few minutes with me today.
I hope your day is full of happiness and good memories.
Brenda

What a Process

  I am still really struggling getting back into the groove of scrapbooking. I just really do not "love" any of my pages. I just do not seem to be able to get a hold of  a vision and follow it through. That being said...... I am forcing myself to share my work anyway as that is part of the process for me. I start with this one that is for the sketch at Let's Get Sketchy. My 60th birthday was Sunday and my husband had the flu, so what was to be an exciting day was kinda blah. My precious daughter and her husband took me to lunch and truly brightened my day. I had the cutest dates ever!!
Here is the sketch... 

And here is my take

I found a Studio Calico kit Snippets in my stash. It had gotten buried  and totally forgotten about. I really enjoyed working with it and I will keep it close at hand to use again. I used a cut file from Paper Issues  and I used sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

  Thank you so much for  stopping by!
Brenda

Just plugging along...

  One more done for Moms book... This one was a bear!! Just could not be happy with it. Messed with it for a couple of days then walked away. Then this morning decided I would finish it and just be happy! Well, I am happy it is no longer on my desk!! I am ok with the finished product..
 I had never visited My Creative Sketches before but saw the sketch on another blog. I thought it was the perfect sketch to use for one of the balloon pictures.
Here is the sketch

And here is my take

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and don't forget to head over to My Creative Sketches and check out the challenges and their kits!
Have a wonderful day!
Brenda

Cousin time!

  The boys so enjoy cousin time! It was gorgeous for Moms party so after we ate it was outside for the afternoon. This was the 3 older boys learning that 3 is not always tons of fun......Emme bowed out to  be a big kid with Olivia.
  I did a pretty good purge this week and gave away a huge box!!  I need to do more but....not there yet. While going through stuff  I dug out some very old papers that I liked for these pics! This was a true Stash busting layout the only thing I used that was under a year old was the heart dies!
I used the sketch at Sketch-N-Scrap and the Tic Tac Toe board at Scrap Our Stash as a starting point for this one.

I used the top row The color red, Polka dot paper and a tag

And her is my take

Thank you so very much for stopping by!
 I truly home you are having a wonderful day!
Brenda

 

A Day with Zade.

 Last Thursday Adrienne got the opportunity to work at a Grand Opening of a baby boutique as a babywearing consultant. Therefore it was a Grandma and Zade day!!  We had a really fun day just putzing around. We went to the Chic-fil-a dwarf house for lunch and he was absolutely thrilled to get to go through the little door. I so loved seeing the joy on his face. Oh to be a child and such simple things would make our face light up.
   I use the sketch at Let's Get Sketchy for Feb 1st.

 They also have a mood board to go with the sketch.

And here is my take......

 I was inspired by the red paint and the puffy heart balloons. What fun to combine the two challenges!

This is a hodge podge of things that I had in my stash. I am in the middle of a purge so trying to use some of it up and make room for more!!!

Thank you for your time.
Have a most wonderful day!
Brenda












2

Had so much Fun

I decided that I needed a break from Mom's book to see if I could jump start my mojo a bit. I had so much fun doing this layout, I am so glad I took the break!
  I try to take the boys to the movies often. Zade is too little so it is hard for them to go as a family so it is a Grandma thing. Our theater has great comfy recliners so it is always a hit.  This is the first 3D movie we have seen so had to document it!
  I recently ordered a kit of Simple Stories Rad from Peachy Cheap. I absolutely love it and it just works with these two guys! I only got a 6x6 pad so will be a little challenged with it but this sketch was perfect. This was also the first time I have ever layered with 3x4 cards. I am so pleased with how much fun that was! I with definitely be doing that again and this kit has some really great ones.
 I used the February sketch at Stick it Down

And here is my take

 I used a Tim Holtz stencil and Gorgeous Grunge stamp set from Stampin Up for the background.
I also added a few wooden embellies from my stash!

  I really appreciate you taking the time to visit me.
Have truly blessed day
Brenda

Sketches in Thyme # 258

  I got a little behind on my goal for Mom's book, and knowing that there really is not time for getting behind I rushed through this one a bit... that and I wanted to get it posted before the deadline and I have to work the next 2 days  haha I really am having trouble getting back into a groove with scrapping. I am just not loving my layouts at all. The great news is my Mom is one of my biggest fans so she will love them all...
Here is the Sketches in Thyme Sketch

This is my take...... 

  It is really a challenge to get to know my product all over again. So tempted to just purge it all and start over.  Instead I will just trudge through and enjoy the process until I get back in the swing of crafting again!
 I appreciate the time you spent with me.
Thanks
Brenda

Mojo Monday #481

  Oh my goodness it has been SOOOOOO long since I have done a card from a sketch. Life has been so hectic that I have just been winging it and making super quick cards. But I wanted this card to be a little more special. So I even dug out my 6x6 pads for this one! My soon to be 9 year old super sensitive, big hearted grandson Is having a rough time a school. His best friend has a girl friend and now the two of them have  started teasing and belittling him. Yesterday he cried the whole afternoon until he cried himself to sleep..... yep he needs some encouragement so I set out to do just that. I had seen the mojo Monday sketch and decided to use that as a starting point...

Here is my take on the sketch

Thanks for taking your time to visit, it is truly appreciated!
Brenda

Laughter

  My cousin Sharon and I are the sisters to each other that we never had. We have been separated over many years and each time we get together it is like we were never apart. I am so thankful to have her in my life. You truly know that if you invite Sharon to the party it will be a barrel of laughs.  So when I got this wooden title in a grab bag I knew that it would go on a layout about Sharon. This is the next in the layouts for Moms book from the party. My goal is at least 2 a week and I got a bit bogged down with this one so I need to pick up the pace. I just kept coming back to it and feeling like it isn't finished..... Finally this morning I glued everything down and decided to call it done and move on!!!
  I used the Januarty single page sketch from Stick it Down

And here is my take.....

As you can see I used this as a bit of a stash buster. I inked up the back ground, the journaling strips and the title using Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Teal and I dug out some really old Key Lime Pie Glimmer Mist for the background.... yes I did have to work to unclog the sprayer.
Tons of washi tape from stash and some ancient sequins and I am calling it done. Now it is on to the next one!
  

Thank you for stopping by.
My blessings are many.
Brenda