Sparkle and Shine

  I love this challenge blog and am so happy to have had time to play along. I was told last night that my job has come to an end. I am sad but relieved all rolled together. But I know that God has a plan and if I seek after him it is all going to be great.
So today I got to spend lots of time with my grandsons and even stole a little time in the craft cave.
  I am so excited to find time to create a card for the challenge at Sparkle and Shine. I really loved all the inspitration from the design team at Winnie & Walter.
Here is the sketch

And here is my take

This is the first time I have used a lawn fawn die and I am so happy with it. I loved the stitched look so much. May have to invest in more!!!.... LOL maybe it would help me use up some of this paper.....

Thank you for taking a moment to visit me.
Have a blessed day!
Brenda

Kraft Plus

  I absolutely love this site!!! The challenges and the inspiration from the DT are awesome. But to me the greatest thing about this challenge blog is the quality of the entrants work. I was blown away by the amazing layouts last month  in their first ever challenge and so far the month of March has not disappointed. I hesitate to even add mine because it is a hot mess... some by design some by frustration. But it is mine and the day is documented!
    Amanda had sent me a picture of this banner for Trips half birthday and I never got one made so decided to make it for a layout. The picture of the banner was the color inspiration. And then just kept adding. And of course the challenge this month is glitter so I got to bling it up!!!  Here is the sketch

And here is my take.....

Thank you for taking a moment to see my take on the challenge. Don't I have the cutest grandchildren!!!!!

Hope for you a day filled with many wondrous moments!
Brenda

A LAYOUT!!!!!

  I have so struggled recently trying to get a layout complete.Just nothing I did made me happy enough to add adhesive to it.  I had a block of time that was not designated this morning so decided to re visit it with fresh eyes. Still not in love with it but I find often they "grow on me". But the fact is I have another one for the books and hopefully the mojo will stay with me this time lol. I am also linking it up at Paper Issues Enamored with enamel link up party
  I followed sketch #114 at Let's Capture Our Memories. Here it is

And here is my take... This is my beautiful youngest daughter Amanda and her precious boy Trip. It was taken at my house at some point during Christmas. She just looks so happy!

I used mostly Authentique Hope collection papers.
The flowers are all Paper Studio and the hearts are Teresa Collins.
And of course my MTC for the frame and the title.

Thanks for taking the time to look.
Hope your day is sunny and bright!
Brenda

Mojo Monday 386

   Wow it has been forever...years.. I think since I have participated in a card sketch challenge, but lately mojo has been uber hard to come by and I want to so badly get it back!! So trying things that I have never tried or that I have left behind to try and get back in the craft cave.
  Here is the sketch it is "Tall and Skinny"

And here is my card

I got these burlap flowers at Hobby Lobby recently and could not wait use them. Added burlap on the back layer and all papers are from a Pebbles pad called Family Ties.. I have no idea when or where that got added to my stash but I love the blues and yellows!

  Thank you for stopping by.
I hope today finds you smiling.
Brenda

Double Birthday

 Welcome to the Scrap Our Stash bloghop from Practical Scrappers! ! I hope you arrived from Kristina's blog Mamas Sanity.
 If not you need to go back and check out the blog hop from the beginning! HERE
Things as usual have been beyond crazy hectic.... but after much ado and should we or shouldn't we for the party due to illness and weather forecast. It is now one for the history books. Due to Adrienne's surgery and Zade and Skyler being sick it is a for sure scaled back version and a much more low key party than originally planned. 
  The theme that Skyler wanted was how to train your dragon. Adrienne decided to go with a store bought cake which was a great idea considering the month really just fell apart.
   So on to a few pictures of the few things that I created for the party.
    First off the photo spot for the smash cake. She took white plastic tablecloths and taped them up them we taped on the banners. (disclamer... I had to buy a few sheets of paper for this as there were not enough in my stash)  It worked beautifully and I have a great place in my house to execute it. Zade has been really sick so not his usual jovial self and really was not in to the cake. So the pictures do not show his personality. I loved the photo spot though and know that it will be repeated.
  

His nursery is Pooh so since he did not have a party themed I made the card Pooh themed. I still can not believe that I am making a first birthday card for this precious little guy!

The pooh is from the classic pooh collection... yep way back in the stash. The shaker balloons were a relatively new addition to my stash. I saw them and had to have them and they definitely worked on this card. The sentiment was drawn on using MTC. And believe it or not the bakers twine is from Dollar Tree!

Now to the "How to train your dragon" portion of the  party.

Here is the store bought cake.

And here are the banners. They were originally suppose to be outside so up against my curtains was not the best showcase.....

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Believe it or not All this paper was from my stash.... I am a sucker for the stacks on sale at Michaels. The jewels on the helmet are from way back. the ribbon is part of a huge roll that I bought 3 years ago for Adrienne's wedding Thank you notes

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And my fav His birthday card. I am so in love with box cards

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I am truly not sure what I was thinking when I bought that green glitter paper!!! It was bought when I first started playing with paper and I am glad to finally have a chance to use it! I used some print and cut figures and then everything else from stash including some of the first colors of distress ink I bought!!!

I hope you have enjoyed a brief glimpse into my crazy, hectic wonderfully blessed life. I hope to see you here again soon. Now you must leave and head to  Ruth's blog. She is a personal friend of mine and so very talented.  I know she is going to have something wonderful to show you!

I you have managed to stick it out this for I have a little giveaway. I had hoped to make it out to shop but it was not on the agenda so I am offering a 10 gift card.. winner can chose Hobby Lobby Joanns or Michaels. To be eligible just leave me a comment telling me something crafty that just makes you smile, a favorite product, something you created or a memory for example.

Have a wonderful week end , do at least  one thing that makes you truly happy!

Brenda

I LOVE to scrapbook.

Life has been very crazy lately, surgery,  sickness, er visits dead cars.......... have barely had enough time to do the necessities no time at all to scrap. But God is good and we have waded through and are stronger and happier on this side of all of it. So today I was determined to get back in the cave and clear a little space to create a layout! It was so much fun!
  I dug through my stash and found lots of things that I liked together and decided to use this sketch from Stuck on U Sketches.

And here is my take....

I had a really rough time getting a good photo... I used lots of glossy accents on the frame and it was SO shiny in most of the pictures!

  Thank you for stopping by and visiting me. I am blessed by each and everyone of you.
Brenda

First time at Paper Issues

  I am so excited, I think I have finally found away to remember the challenges I would like to enter.... yes it is always way more than my time but, one can dream. I started a board on pinterest for challenges and whenever one comes along I pin it. Then when I start thinking "Where did I see that sketch:" I won't spend forever tracking it down. That being said I am entering a sketch challenge at Paper Issues   from a sketch that I pinned. I am very excited because I won an $80 gift certificate to spend in the Paper Issues shop in a 52 week challenge in a yahoo group. Can't wait to go shopping!!
So here is the sketch

And here is my take

 I watched the boys on Friday for Adrienne and Ben to go to a funeral. It was such a fun morning I am so enjoying watching Zade learn to be a "big boy." These 3 truly have some brotherly love .I am so very blessed.  I felt like tinkertoys fit the round theme perfectly so scrapped these pictures quickly!
The paper is from Studio Calico Snippets collection.
Once again got to play with the new sewing machine! 
I used MTC and my Zing to cut the circles. 

I hope that today brings many smiles for you.
Thank you for your time
Brenda