A card & Disney Pictures

Here's a card I made over the past 2 days. I ended up sick Monday & today. Some sort of stomach bug that kept me at home. Still not 100%, but life does go on. It did zap me of all energy & mojo. I came up here, sat & stared. I guess that's why it took me 2-days to complete this card. Anyway, more Sassafrass papers..............yum!!

The rest of these pics are from our trip to Disney/Epcot/Hollywood Studios/Animal Kingdom. I'm REALLY lovin' these pics & I emphasize "really" because I didn't have to take them:) For once, I'm in more than 1 picture................WOOHOO!!! Not that any of you care, but it will make scrapping these pictures more fun for me.............proof that I actually do exist.................there is a real person behind that camera lense!! I hand-picked a select few, as there are way too many to post & bore you with, but some of these will be definite 1-page layouts because they command such. Take the picture of Allan & Camryn laughing in the stroller. They were laughing hysterically!!! I mean.........come on..............what would two 3-year olds be laughing hysterically about? I don't know, but the picture is definitely scrap worthy!! And then there's the one of us in line. Isn't that what these trips are all about? Hurry up & wait!!! Boy..............we got that down pat & this picture is proof!! And the last picture............isn't that the sweetest? I know it's not for William & Brian, but those two were so tuckered out & they were so dang cute. I'm glad we got this picture too. Good times folks..............really good times!!

So, that's all I have. Hopin' the mojo comes back, but if not, that's fine. My week is usually busy from Tuesday through Friday, so not much time to scrap anyway:( TFL & have a great night!!

CPS, Pencil Lines & Basic Grey

I've been productive today & would do more, but Spring Break is over & I need to get back into some sort of sleep routine. No more staying up until 1:00 & sleeping in until 9:00:)

This first card is from CPS's current sketch, which is hybrid. Betcha didn't know I dabbled............did you? Yep, I have a simple HP program that allows me to do some digi stuff & from time-to-time, I'll dabble. Charity Hassel, a designer for CPS came up w/the hybrid idea & when I saw her card, I immediately realized........I have that same kit by Jessica Sprague. So, when I opened my software program, it happened to be the kit uploaded, so I worked with it. I realize it doesn't look too much like the sketch, but the ribbon is like the arrow & I only used 2 flowers, instead of 3. The Bazzill Kraft cardstock, buttons & Heidi Swapp chipboard letters are my "non-digi" embellies.....thus making it hybrid. I'm happy with it.

This card is CPS 58. I had a different idea originally, but LOVE how this turned out. My "pot" is a label holder I cut in half.

This layout is of pictures I just took Saturday night. Yes, my almost 8-year-old does not know how to ride a bike. But, in her defense, she's a dancer and a dancer can't risk falling & breaking a limb! Okay.................so that might not be true, but it sure sounds good. This is based off of Pencil Lines sketch 77. This worked out perfectly as I took a ton of pictures & picking 5 wasn't hard. I think I have all the new Sassafrass papers too, so I'm not finished with them:)

This layout was based off the sketch in the current Basic Grey newsletter. I didn't realize when I took the picture, I took it crooked. I used several techniques on this, such as painting the edges of my Heidi Swapp ghost heart, using my Fiskar border punch & paper tearing. I only mention this because I don't think I normally do this many on one layout.........I'm a pretty simple scrapper.

So, that's all I have for one-day...............now back to my regularly scheduled life!!

Why I scraplift & use sketches...............

My brain is very random today.
Full of all kinds of thoughts.......more specifically.............random thoughts
Ever have one of those days?

So, for a couple of weeks now, my brain keeps going back to why I use sketches & scraplift and I have this urge to explain, though I really don't know why, because it doesn't matter to me what others think, but here goes:

I like to scraplift for a ton of reasons. For me, scraplifting is rarely an exact lift. In fact, I usually take a layout & when all is said & done, you can't tell I used another as a guide at all. In these cases, the scraplift is more of a "sounding" board for my ideas. Regardless, some of my reasons are listed below:

1) I like the color scheme used
2) I need to use the same number of photos on my layout
3) I have those same products & boy do I need to use them. This has been my biggest one of late. I don't think people grasp exactly how much product I truly have. In fact, it's border line obsessive & to think there are starving countries & I don't say this lightly. So, as I see layouts in mags using products that are collecting dust in my scrap room, I want to dig them out, use them & move on.
4) I love the technique or embellies used, which means I really scraplifted the use of embellies, but not necessarily the layout.

Sketches...............these are a whole new animal in themselves. I used to have the hardest time w/them, but I find them liberating. I know lots of people have a hard time w/them, but once you get "used" to using a sketch, it can be very liberating. Take my layout I posted last night, using the Sketch This sketch. If you look at the sketch, it might be hard to see their sketch in my layout, BUT, it was my sounding board. You will be amazed at how easily the ideas start to flow once you have an idea & that is the wonder of sketches. They provide a wealth of ideas, whether it's the photo placement, number of photos, embellie ideas, techniques you don't normally use, etc. If you haven't tried your hand at sketches, check out my links on the right. My favs are Pencil Lines & Sketch This, but there are a TON of them out there & I'm not here to advertise for any one or other. Even ScrapBooks Etc. has some in every issue, as does Valerie Salomon & Basic Grey.

So, now that you know why I scraplift & use sketches, please sleep better tonight. I know these thoughts have caused much tiresome nights. In the meantime, while you are sleeping better, I have a house to clean & maybe some scrapping to do. And for those that wonder.............."how the heck does she find time to scrap?" That answer is simple: I make time for what I want to do & I'm a VERY efficient person:)

Sketch This & Scraplifting...........

Weather here has been stormy & rainy.....perfect scrappin' weather. Ashlyn's been at her bf's since last night, so just me & lil' Camryn. Poor thing:)

Since I'm not trying out for the Sketch This design team (not that I would make it), here's my take on their sketch. It was for either a card, which I posted yesterday, or layout.....here's my layout using my Label Tulip kit, which was full of new Sassafrass stuff. This is out of my comfort zone, especially with the colors, but if it all came together in a kit, it's supposed to match...............right?

These next 2 are scraplifts. I'm pretty brain-dead still (vacation will do that to you) & even scraplifting was a challenge for me. Both were lifted from the current Scrapbooks Etc., with this first one being a lift of the cover. I really do like the new Wild Saffron by K&Co & already have this entire line of papers & matching embellies. Once I was finished w/this, I realized I had already scrapped this photo *sigh*

This is a lift of one by Robyn Werlich. I condensed mine to a horizontal 8.5x11 & made a few minor changes, but the overall look is the same. I had the HARDEST time w/this one & I don't know why. If you look closely, there are no embellies..........just paper & cardstock?

I'm hoping to get a little more done tonight. I wanna work with 2 Pencil Line sketches, a Basic Grey sketch & some cards? We'll see:) TF stopping by!

Sketch This Card sketch

I'm home from Disney & exhausted!!!
I'm unpacked, house is clean & currently doing laundry.
I'm efficient that way.

As hard as it might be to believe, I, personally, didn't take a lot of Disney pictures. I opted to take my 75-300 lense & just didn't like having to lug it around everytime we went on a ride. So, after Day 1, I tucked it away in the truck, never to be removed again. The friends we went with took pictures, so I'll be getting a CD & wishing I had taken more pictures, but for now.............I'm fine.

In the meantime, here's my take on last week's Sketch This card sketch, which is actually for their design team call. Contemplated submitting, but decided against it, as I'm getting ready to get real busy with Summer almost here. Lovin' the new Sassafrass papers & YES, I realize my owl's eyes are crooked, but can't fix it now.

I'm hoping to scrap tonight. I've got 2 kits waiting to be played with & I missed scrapping while we were gone. In the meantime, I'm going to take a nap & will post Disney pictures later.