The King & Us

It is two-page sketch week at Sketch Support. And my layout just went up yesterday and I'm already blogging about it! Yay! ;)

I had so much fun with this sketch. I have a feeling this will be one that I will use again and again. That is if I find the time. One thing I love about this sketch is how you can use so many different patterns on it. Trying to figure out which patterns I should use and which ones should be next to each other took me forever! I'm so slow. (To see the layout in more detail just click on the photo.)

"The King & Us"

Supplies - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper, Cardstock Stickers, Pearls, Circle Embellishments: My Mind's Eye; Alphabet stickers: American Crafts; Chalk Ink: ColorBox

These pictures were taken in 2009 when Kari and I went to see New In Town for the second time. We loved it so much and wanted to share it with our moms and so we went a second time. This statue of Elvis can be found in front of the Battle Ground movie theater. I'm always looking for photo opportunities and who wouldn't want to pose with the King of Rock & Roll. :)

My Mind's Eye September Newsletter

My Mind's Eye sends out a newsletter each month. They typically showcase one of their newer paper lines. The design team shares layouts, cards, home decor ideas, etc. I have been getting them for the last few months and I really enjoy all of the inspiration.

I was asked to take the one-page sketch that was shared and turn it into a card and a two-page layout. At first I thought it would be a piece of cake because of all the projects I've been doing for Sketch Support. I take sketches almost weekly and manipulate them for my different projects. Well I really struggled with the layout because Sketch Support has spoiled me! Allison's sketches list all of the dimensions and most other sketches do not. So I finally had to ask for Tom's help to figure out what sizes every part of the layout should be to make it work. So THANKFUL for Tom and his support of my crazy hobby! :) He also helped me write up the instructions to make the card and layout.

These pictures are from last Halloween. Like I mentioned in the post below we make sure to carve a pumpkin every year. I guess that this would be pumpkin #6. :) We used a pattern from a book though I'm thinking this year we should come up with our own deisgn.

This card was much easier to put together than the layout. As you can see I used the witch again. :) I mailed this card to my sister, Brittany, earlier this month. She loves the witch too! So she is being enjoyed all month long by her.

If you are interested in seeing the newsletter let me know and I will send it to you via email.

It's Your Day

Last week was two-page sketch on Sketch Support. I just love working with the two-page sketches and I loved this one!

I followed this sketch exactly except that I did not use the heart embellishments. Love the hearts but they didn't work with my birthday theme. :)

"It's Your Day"

Supplies - Cardstock: Unknown; Patterned paper: BoBunny, Scenic Route; Floss: DMC; Border Punch: Fiskars; Letter Stickers: American Crafts, Making Memories; Pop Dots: EK Success

Bryce turned 5 this past June and invited Tom and I to his birthday party months in advance. As the day drew closer I wasn't sure if he would really care if we were there or not. I helped Paige with a few of the preparations while watching the kids and could tell that he had a fun dinosaur birthday planned.

Tom and I were planning on heading to WA before his party and Paige said we were welcome to come to his party but not to feel like we had to. Well I decided I should see what Bryce thought. I started to tell him that Tom and I were going to go visit my parents and thinking of leaving before his party. He immediately teared up and wanted to know if we would make it to his party. Needless to say we headed up to WA later than we planned. :)

Bryce had a very fun party with tons of friends to enjoy it with. We didn't interact a lot with Bryce but at least he knew we were there. We ended up helping out with Jos and making some of the other kids we knew there feel comfortable. Tom and I enjoy any chance we get to spend with such cute kids!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Sawyer turned one on July 6th. Hard to believe that he is that old now! Christina stayed with Tom and I for a week in May and then spent another month with my parents in Battle Ground. Tom and I were able to go up to BG and stay for a week to hang out with Christing and Sawyer some more. We decided to celebrate Sawyer's birthday a little early and throw a cake smash party. My cousin is a professional photographer and so I got a lot of the ideas from some photos she took of her daughter's cake smash.

When I saw this two-page sketch I knew that it would be perfect to capture my favorite photos that my dad took of Sawyer and his first cake. I love how it has a focal photo and then tons more photos.

To get a copy of the sketch go visit Sketch Support. Lots of great examples are being shared this week of how to use this sketch.

Click on the photo to see it in more detail.

Variation #1 - Instead of stitching lines across the pictures and embellishment squares I just stitched around each embellishment square. That took more than enough time!

Variation #2 - I omitted the brackets on the embellishment squares. My paper strips take up quite a bit of room so the brackets would have been lost.

Variation #3 - I stitched around the large bracket on the left side of the page. I think it adds some subtle definition.

My strips list 10 things about Sawyer at age one.

Lunch In Astoria

Last week was one-page sketch week at Sketch Support. I made the layout in the blog post below using it. Many of the Creative Team Members take the one-page sketches and turn them into two-page layouts. I decided to give it a try with this sketch.

"Lunch in Astoria"
Supply List - Patterned Paper: DCWV; Cardstock: Wausau Paper; Ink: StazOn; Letter Stamps: Studio G; Border Punches: Fiskars

While Tom and I were in WA earlier this month we took a trip to the beach with my family. My good friend Kari told us about the Bowpicker and we thought it would be the perfect place to get some lunch. This little boat was just sitting in a parking lot in Astoria. I thought the fish and chips were delicious. It was quite the dining experience. I'm glad that I've already captured this memory on a scrapbook page.

Two Page Week @ Sketch Support

I prefer to scrapbook two page layouts. It is a wonderful way to scrapbook more pictures and be able to cover a day or an event with just two pages. I get a lot more scrapbooked this way.

When I saw the sketch this week I was so excited! Love it! Make sure to visit Sketch Support and see all the wonderful ways the Creative Team has used this sketch. I know that I'm inspired!

I was hoping to get this assignment done before leaving town (over a week ago) but something important came up and I put off finishing it. I actually didn't finish it till last Sunday night. I had to take pictures at night so they don't look too great on the Sketch Support site, but once I got back home I took better pictures to post here.

"Soak Up the Sun"

Supply List - Patterned Paper: Echo Park, Fancy Pants Designs, American Crafts; Die Cut Sun: Little Yellow Bicycle; Letter Stickers: American Crafts; Ink: ColorBox Chalk Ink, Inkadinkado; Floss: DMC; Pop Dots: EK Success; Other: White Cardstock

Variation 1 - I added an extra line of waves since they were all about the same height.

Variation 2 - I loved the idea of the sun on the layout and thought this would be the perfect page for the die cut sun I've had in my stash for a year. I love how it turned out.

Variation 3 - I was short on pictures so decided to dedicate one of the spaces for a 3x3 photo into a place to write my journaling.

Variation 4 - I decided to add clouds to the right side of my sketch. I really struggled with what to put there instead of the big waves.

Variation 5 - I added more fish. They were just too fun and couldn't help but add a couple more.

A New Sketch & A Giveaway!

There is a new sketch up on the Sketch Support website! I have to admit that this is one of my most favorite sketches so far! It was so much fun to work with. This is my very first time having a layout up on the website and I am so excited! Visit Sketch Support to print the sketch and to see my two seconds of fame. ;)

Here is the sketch:

Here is my take on the sketch (if you click on the picture you can see it in more detail):

The pictures are of my newphew Saywer. Isn't he a cutie? :) His mommy is my awesome sister Christina. These are pictures that my dad took while my sister was visiting in June. Great pics Dad! Just looking at the pictures makes me want to cuddle him. Too bad he is miles away in AZ.

When I came upon this patterned paper by My Mind's Eye I knew it would work so well with this sketch. I pretty much followed the sketch with a few variations.

Variation #1 - I hand stitched a border around the star to add some definition.

Variation #2 - Because I stitched around the star I felt that it would be too much to stitch across the smaller stars. The smaller stars by themselves seemed to just float on the page so I added small star brads to help ground them.

Variation #3 - I didn't edit my photos to allow the smaller stars to go over the photo so I omitted those stars. I may reprint that bottom photo so that I can add stars over the top of it. Not sure if I really will or not.

This sketch is from the new sketch book "Sketches for Scrapbooking" Volume 8 that was just recently released. I have a copy and it has some really fun sketches. I've already started editing a ton of photos for them. Make a comment on this blog post and you will be entered to WIN a copy of this amazing book! I will pick a winner on Saturday, July 16th. Good luck!