Rainy day in Georgia

  I have been working absolutely ridiculous hours for months now so that leaves very little time to play in my craft cave. I got home from work at 9:30 this morning and declared a me day until 5:00 when I go back to work ugh....... So decided to actually  work on a challenge or two......  maybe. we will see......
   This is a Halloween card to satisfy my 52 week card at SNC my awesome yahoo group. I will be sending this to Olivia with goodies soon.
   I used the sketch at Stick it Down and had some fun with digital paper. Ruth a friend from the SNC group did a layout last week using lots of digi papers. It really got me thinking about how little I do with that resource. So this morning I decided to play. I started out with a sentiment in MTC and then layered digi papers to fit the sketch. I know I am slow getting to the party but it was such fun to get to see what the card would look like with different papers without ever cutting or printing so I did not waste as much as I often do. I so enjoyed making this card this way I look forward to trying this method on a layout!

 Here is the sketch.....

And here is my take.....

The papers are all from the Halloween collection at SheryKDesigns
 The twine and the banners are Recollections... thank you Rhoda
The candy corn are Jolees boutique


Thank you Ruth for the inspiration!
Hope you all have a wonderful day and have a few moments to be creative in some way!
Brenda

Practical Scrappers July Blog Hop

  Thank you so much for stopping by hope you found your way here from Kristys blog.. I hope you are enjoying seeing all the creative uses for things we have hoarded.
  This is a true dig out the stash layout. I am in a yahoo group that was doing a Christmas in July card challenge. I decided not to participate thinking that I really did not have enough Christmas papers to do it and not wanting to buy more right now. So when this challenge was given I dug out my Christmas papers and what was I thinking!!!!. I have a ton of tired old papers. And a good dose of embellies too.
So I dug up this picture and decided to do something with it. This was in 1995 and I love that the facial expressions truly fit each of my children. The girls did and do adore their big brother who at the time could have cared less.LOL
 I used the July week 1  sketch from Colorful Creations

The papers are all from an old recollection stack that I bought my first year scrapping.The chipboard snowflakes and the flowers came from Michaels grab bags 2 years ago. Hmmm now that I have all this stuff drug out I might make a card or 2!
  I have not done a blog hop in forever so I would love to give away a little treat. Just leave me a comment so that I can find you and I will use random,org Sunday evening to pick a winner..... Please shipping in the US only.

  Thank you so much for stopping by and head on over to Majkens blog to see her wonderful creation!
Brenda
   

My sweet Zade

  Adrienne posts a picture of Zade every morning on facebook. I so look forward to seeing his precious smile each and every morning. I am so very thankful for the technology that allows me this happy moment.
  This particular morning found Zade hanging out on the beach. Now is he not too adorable in his big boy hat!!!!! This picture has laid on my desk for a week but alas no time and even less motivation were a big  problem......
I am in a 52 week layout challenge in my yahoo group... and this is the first time that Friday morning rolled around and I did not have something to show for it..... so decided to get rocking and create something. LOL. Loved this sketch from Memory Nest and thought it would be a quick one.

    I am sad to say that I probably only have one more layout from my hoarded Martha Stewart Playful Blue collection. I have had it for several years and still love the fresh colors so much.... I am sad to see it all used up. Here is my super quick layout.... can not remember the last time I pulled out the stickers.

Thanks for taking the time to let me share my life.
I hope for you many smiles today.
Brenda

Weird Animals

  Today I share the rare 2 pager! This is a the June 24th sketch at Stick it Down. I immediately went to VBS pictures. There are sooooo many to scrap. I think the lady that was doing the photography this year was under Neals spell as there are TONS of great ones of him. So without further a do
The sketch

And here is my take.

I am experimenting with different ways to add some texture to my layouts. I did heat embossing with UTEE and Stampin Ups Gorgeous Grunge stamp set, then water colored over it. I have so much to learn but am determined to continue to scrap even if my results are not what I wanted..... I will get there if I keep at it (or at least close lol) and I know I will become discouraged if I do not use some of the experiments along the way.
Thanks you for stopping by and I hope you have an amazing day!
Brenda

New addiction

  Next to box cards I think this is my new fav thing to do..... and this is so much quicker. Adrienne asked me if I would make a onsie for Zade to give  Ben on fathers day. With a quick google search for a piece of bacon and MTC  print and cut voila.

With 2 baby boys in the family I need to stock up on onsies!
Thanks for dropping in.
Brenda

Took a Mental Health Day

  This past week was beyond hectic. Luckily, I knew it would be so planned accordingly... the grands were here a lot and I was working a lot so subsequently my house is a WRECK! I got home from work at 11 this morning intending to clean some but decided instead that a little playing was the order of the day. So hours later I have a layout and a still messy house and  a very messy craft cave ..... now it is time to cook dinner and make even another mess. UGH!!
   I used this sketch # 84 from My Scraps and More

I was determined to add texture to my page. I see all these awesome layouts and they all have texture in common so I am on a quest to learn how to do it and make it work.

I made my own texture paste and tinted it brown. I tried cutting a template but it was not turning out the way I wanted so ended up using my Heidi Swapp stencil.

I used MTCand a google image for the tree trunk cuts.
The title is also Heidi Swapp epoxy.

I added Stampin up rub ons to some wood banners and also the Birds of a Feather papers are Stampin up..... and once again the gorgeous grunge stamp set.
  Thank you so very much for stopping by and watching me try to use texture paste lol the adventure continues.
Hope today your blessings are many!
Brenda!

Woodland Animal Baby Shower

   Adrienne gave Bens cousin Amanda a baby shower and I helped......Shechose a Woodland Animal theme and it was adorable. I took as many pictures as I could though in true us fashion there were a few hiccups at set up time.  Here is a quick rundown of this simple but adorable shower theme.

Can it get any simpler than pine cone food card holders!

pine cone cheese ball...

Adrienne soaked the tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, added to the stem of string cheese and spread pesto on the platter. It was adorable and a huge hit!

I designed a woodland scene and then used print and cut to cut it out and apply to the 2 buckets for trail mix and "sticks" ...pretzel sticks.

I think these were my favorites I just thought they were adorable.Hersheys kiss, mini nutter butter cookie and a peanut butter chip.

Yummy birds nest with jelly bean eggs. They were sooooo cute! I just realized that I did not photograph the Black Forest cupcakes they were absolutely decadent.
It is wonderful as a mother to see my creative daughter put together such a wonderful event. She has a great eye for detail and she makes it look easy!

It is hard to see in this picture so added another shot of the animal letters.

You can see a couple of the animals on the diaper cake. I made one for each end of the banner.and 5 for the diaper cake. They are all from files at Miss Kate Cuttables. They were beyond precious.
  I continued the theme for the card and also made her month stickers using the woodland theme. Here are the first 6 months. Sorry for the washed out picture...one of these days I am going to take a photography class so that I can make a decent blog post pic.....

   Well there you have it a relatively simple shower that is super cute. There is so much you could add to this that could be used in a nursery. We are helping with another one with the same theme in a few weeks and she is going to have a nursery so I am looking forward to expanding the theme.
Thanks for stopping by have an amazing day.
Brenda