Number 3 and last numbered layout....

Ben risked his iphone to take this wonderful shot. The boys absolutely LOVED everything about the beach. They truly could not get enough of it. So this really captures vacation for them. I loved working with it. I used a sketch from Let's Get Sketchy. And am going to add it at Jo's Scrap Shack. She allows 3 entries and with the inspiration pic of the sea I have plenty of photos to work with!

Here is the inspiration photo

Here is the sketch

This is my layout

I told you it was a fun picture.
All the papers are from the Fancy Pants Nautical collection.
All the cuts are from Miss Kates Cuttables. She always has a freebie of the day and also many adorable reasonably priced cut files. take a minute to check them out.

thank you so very much for spending time with me.
I hope that today your blessings are many.
Brenda

Vacation Layout Number 2

   I am going to have to eventually stop numbering these layouts as I am still getting pictures sent to me from others. I know that when they send me a picture they are thinking it is layout worthy. This may be quite the volume.
  This is one of 2 pictures that Ben took that absolutely were my favorites of all vacation. With all the great cameras there these were both taken with his iphone. I was so lucky to be able to watch the sunrise with dear Zade as he is  a morning kinda baby. And I am so very happy to have a layout to help me remember those special times.
   I was inspired by the challenge at Kraft+ mustard explosion. Since yellow is my favorite color and this is my favorite vacation picture I just had to go for it. I love to see all the amazing entries in their challenges. The talent that is there is very inspirational. I can not begin to create at that level, but I always find that I step way outside my box when I attempt the challenges. So though mine are a hot mess, I am learning and growing and ultimately I have a layout that I like.
  I am alsogoing to enter this at Jo's Scrap Shack. for Fun-Day Friday challenge. This is a new blog for me a nd I look forward to following along.

  Here is the inspiration piece 

Isn't this a wonderful picture. I really enjoyed doing this layout though it is definitely the product of many mistakes but ultimately it achieves  my goal:  to showcase this wonderful picture. I really love the sunburst and will use that method again for sure. Also learned that I have much to learn when stenciling on a layout. But I am armed with some youtubes and ready to try again another time. And found that if the paint drops just are not right you can always smear them everywhere while trying to clean up the mess.
Thank you for the challenge and inspiring me to stretch and learn.
 I hope that your day is full of inspiring moments.
Brenda

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First Vacation Layout

  We were totally blessed last week to be at Cape San Blas Florida. Adrienne's in laws go every year for a family vacation. This year they had an extra bedroom and graciously invited us to go along. I am amazed at their awesome generosity. And it was such a blessing to have a weeks vacation with 3 of my grandsons. Right before I left my keyboard decided that I no longer needed some of the letters so I had to order another one. Thus I came home from vacation to a new computer with Windows 8.1 (which is new to me)and none of my files and my new camera had 600 photos to download. I finally have managed to get the new computer set up enough to edit photos and use my cutter, let the crafting begin!! Really got my fingers crossed that it will not take me another week to get the second vacation layout done.
   Without further ado, I used this sketch from The Memory Nest

 And here is my take

 This was the last day there and Jeff was catching fish fast and furious. This was the very first fish of the day. I love seeing the body language of the boys when they get excited to see the fish.. It wasn't long until he had caught so many they didn't even notice.
  I used MTC to draw the fish background and also to cut the lure and the sign for the title. The papers are Lori Whitlock " A Perfect Summer". It really felt good to finish a layout.

 Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing a moment with me. I am honored.
Hope today is filled with bright moments.
Brenda

Wedding Banner

  I think that banners have become my favorite thing to create. I especially like to make them for showers. I love that each one is customized to fit the person that it is made for. It is just fun to make it as personal as possible.  I recently made this one for a precious couple at church. They both are runners, so I was able to incorporate pictures of them running in this shower banner.I started with frames with a single heart and ended with 2  hearts pierced with an arrow.  I did the simple squares and sentiment in their wedding colors. I used MTC to create the polaroid frames. I wish that I had taken pictures before the shower so that I could add a better pic.

 

 The bride loved it and that always thrills me!  

Looking forward to starting on the next one!

Thank you so very much for stopping by!

 I hope that you are working on something that truly makes you happy!

Brenda                                                                            

Hooray for the red white and blue

 It is a linky party at Paper Issues.  I immediately wanted to do pictures of Adrienne and crew at the recent Braves game. I just love this picture of her with all her guys! I combined it with a scraplift Sunday also at Paper Isssues.
Here is the layout to lift

I LOVE it unfortunately this just totally kicked me.... I just could not get it to a point that I was happy..... And it was keeping me from moving forward with any projects..... Why do I fall in that trap??
   Here is my Red White and Blue layout!

Definitely will not go down as one of my favorites but It is behind me and I can move on! LOL hoping to learn from this funk and not fall into the trap so quickly any time soon.
  Hope today finds your mojo flowing!
Brenda

Scapping Our Stash May Blog Hop

  I love using up my stash. It always gives me pleasure to find hidden treasure in my craft cave. I am currently unemployed so right now my stash is my friend! You should have arrived here from Kelly Jeans blog. If not you need to go back and check out her wonderful take on pocket pages!
 I recently took two of  my grandsons to the local animal sanctuary called Noahs Ark. It was truly a special day. They are homeschooled this year and will be attended school next year so I am trying to spend every moment I can with them . This day gave me many special memories to document.

I absolutely love the picture in the tree so it had to be front and center. They started climbing the tree to get to the peacocks that had flown up there. always fun to see a peacock fly! I used picmonkey to help me get my pictures to a 2x2 size.
    Products used... Recollections... Today Tomorrow and Forever 12x12
                             Crate Paper... the Pier 6x6 pad    
                             K& Company... dimensional stickers
                             Prima.... wire thread

 Thank you so much for stopping by this month. It was good to get in my craft cave and to be able to share with you. Next up is Cathy you are going to Love her gorgeous layout!

 Just in case you got lost along the way here is the entire line up

Audrey http://audreysreflection.blogspot.com/
Becki http://beckiadams.blogspot.com/
Alison http://alisondaydesigns.com/
Juliana www.17turtles.com
Katrina http://paperscissorsandglue.blogspot.com/
Kelly Jean http://www.kelsterjean.com/
Brenda http://simplybrenhavingfun.blogspot.com/
Cathy http://alteredplayground.blogspot.com/
Wendi R http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.com/
Suzanna http://lifestrivialities.typepad.com/
Cheryl http://patchesandscraps.blogspot.com
Wendy C www.stampingrules.com
Kristy http://alwaysaworldaway.blogspot.com
Lee-Anne http://lee-annelovethejourney.blogspot.com
Susie http://mytime2play.blogspot.com/
Christine http://scrappingwithchristine.blogspot.com


 Hope today is filled with smiles and joy for you!
Brenda

Still kicking along

  It just seems like I am spending less and less time in the craft cave. Currently all of my grandchildren are home schooled. Next year which in these parts begins August 5th, 3 of them will be attending school. This is going to drastically impact my life. And I must say this Grandma does not like change. So I am making every effort to spend EVERY minute I can with them. that being said I have lots of pictures that I can scrap while they are in school...sniff sniff...
  Paper Issues had a scrap and chat with a challenge on their facebook page last night. I made this layout for their mood board challenge. I used sketch # 80 from Sketch-N-Scrap. I have been going through older photos for a project I am working on. I found these from 2011 and decided to play with them. That is always fun for me since I generally am a current scrapper.
  Here is the sketch

And here is my take

Thank you for stopping by.
Hope today is filled with laughter and joy!
Brenda