My "Second" Dad

Hi there,

I have a special layout that was submitted at Let's Scrap http://letsscrap.ning.com/

for their Book About Me Challenge Group (BAM#15, 5-5-10).

The challenge was to scrap about your father, step-father, adopted father, grandfather

that had a parenting role for you, etc, using a LS sketch from their gallery.

I chose sketch 5-5-10, left side only.

This is what I created:

It wasn't hard to figure out that I would scrap a layout about my step-dad, since he was my

father for 20 years after my biological father passed away when I was 18.  The hardest part

was finding the "right" photo!!!

This photo is of John, who stepped right into the role of father with my sister and I, helping us whenever we needed, giving us support and most importantly, loving us.

He would drop everything to help us and that meant the world to me, since I seemed to

always have some sort of "crisis" in my life!!!

Whenever he was asked how many children he had, he ALWAYS said he had 5, including my sister and I

along with his own three children. 

He was the kind of dad that everyone should have and was very special to me.

Supplies used:

Paper: DCWV

Font: Cricut Stamped

Cricut

Perfect Pearls Mists

Distressing Stain: Tim Holtz

Alcohol Inks: Adirondack

Recycled Cereal Boxes

Recycled Corrugated Cardboard Pizza Boxes

Sizzix Heart Dies

Sizzix Leaf Die

Big Shot

Twine

I peeled off the first layer of the corrugated cardboard, leaving "pieces" still attached.

All the die cuts were misted and to get the "color," I dripped alcohol ink onto a paper towel and

pressed it onto the cardboard pieces.

I've never really used this Sizzix "keys" die.  I've had it forever and it was good to "revive it!"  :)

I used distress stain to "color" the keys and then misted them.  A piece of twine was

knotted, holding the set of keys.

I used various items for the circles... basically anything I could find in my craft room, until

I got the different sizes I wanted to use.

Another view of the twine, hearts and leaves grouping. 

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Libby  :)

Fun Layouts

Hi there,

Wasted much of the day running errands.  Gotta go here, stop in there, drop off this,

pick up something there!  Ugh!

So, might as well take some time and check out the craft stores too!  Yup, that was

fun... got some really cool stuff to eventually use on my layouts!  Can't wait!!  :)

Today I'm sharing a few more layouts.

My first layout was a submission at Colorful Creations http://colorfulcreations.ning.com/

for their White PLUS 1 Challenge with the "1" being Purple (SEPTPLUSONE).

I chose a sketch from Ashley's Paper Doll blog.

Here's my cute little niece playing "dress up."  She had so much fun trying all sorts of

wigs and outfits and then hurried out to show me and wait for me to take photos!  So cute!

Supplies used:

Paper: DCWV, Colorbok

Purple Polka Dot Ribbon: Making Memories

Font: Cricut Stamped

Cricut

Self-adhesive Ribbons: Forever in Time

Chalk

Sanding Block

Sharpie Marker

Flowers

Leaves: Sizzix Leaf Die

Big Shot

The flower centers were cut from patterned paper and the edges sanded.

Can't get any better than self-adhesive trim!  So much easier to add to a layout! 

I tucked a flower under the photo, leaving just the end peeking out over the journaling block. 

The leaves were cut with purple cardstock and my Sizzix leaf die.  The leaves were

folded a bit.

A closer look at the ribbon and trim.

More ribbons and trim and a closer look at the flowers.

Another submission at Colorful Creations for their For Girls Only Challenge (FGO:September).

I chose a sketch from Let's Scrap (1-1-11)

We had so much fun walking around the stores, trying things on and just being silly!

Just my sister, my nieces and I, having a great time. 

Supplies used: 

Paper: DCWV, Colorbok

EK Success Corner Rounder

Sizzix Sidekick

Sizzlit Hawaiian Flower #1

Ribbons

Title: Sizzix Bounce Font

Sharpie Marker

Gems

I resurfaced my little Sidekick and brought out the Sizzlit letters and had some fun!

It's now on my shelf where I can see it.. and use it occasionally!  :)

These are the cutest little flowers!  I used various papers to cut and created a border

around the photos.  Gems were added in the centers and bows for the others.

A closer look at the flowers.  The edges were turned up ever so slightly so they

wouldn't be lying flat on the layout. 

Journaling reads:

All I have to do is take out my camera... and the fun begins!  My sister, nieces and I had a

blast laughing so much and being silly while walking around in the stores.  July/Aug 2010

This layout was a submission at Sketch Inspiration http://sketchinspiration.ning.com/

for their Sketch Challenge (#339).  I stumbled upon this site while blog hopping and

really loved their sketches... so I have it a whirl!

This is my darling daughter on her 28th Birthday.  

Supplies used:

Paper: My Mind's Eye

Ribbon

Satin Cording

Sheer Ribbon

Circle: Traced & Hand Cut

Title Letters: Clear Stickers by Miss Elizabeth's

Folk Art Paint

Metal Frame (unknown brand)

I pondered what to do with the circle.  I knew one thing.. that I didn't want to leave it a

plain circle.  I tried various things and finally found this strip of ribbon in my stash.  Only

one small strip... so I needed to make sure of what I wanted to do.. and couldn't make

any mistakes.  No stress there! 

Since it was a wide ribbon with cute markings on it, I decided to cut small strips into

a banner and tucked the ends under the circle. 

Love how this turned out!  Looks so cute behind the photos of that cute

smiling face!!

I brushed some paint over the raised edges of the metal frame.  I cut a small oval out

of paper for the center and used satin cording to hide the edges and topped that off with a bow.

Clear sticker letters were used for my daughter's name. 

Sheer ribbon was used under the strip of paper to soften it up a bit.

The sketch has three separate photos and since I didn't have three photos small

enough, I simply cut one photo into three sections.

A closer look at the "sun!"  :)

My last layout was a submission at Soul Scrappers http://soul-scrappers.ning.com/

for their Sketch Challenge (WC57).

Our son, snow blowing after a snowstorm.  It was late in the evening, but he still wanted

to get out there and clean our driveway.

He shouldered a lot of responsibility while my hubby was deployed and he did an

excellent job!  I was very thankful that he was old enough to snow blow, unclog drains,

put caulking around the outside garage door... all those yucky little things that

I had taken for granted... because my hubby would just do all these things.

We had several brutal snowstorms that would have Andrew snow blowing most of

the day.  I would do some shoveling or scooping once in awhile.  ALL hard work, that's for sure!

Supplies used:

Paper: DCWV, Colorbok

Sheer Ribbon

Fonts: Cricut Stamped & Cricut Opposites Attract

Silver Wire Garland

Garland Snowflake: Hand Made

Paper Snowflake: Cut from patterned paper

Stampin' Up! Border Punch

The whole title reads: "Snowblowing lots of snow late in the evening."

 

For this garland snowflake, I cut garland in strips, overlapping them and adhering 

in the center.  I cut a snowflake from the patterned paper and added this over the center.

For the center I snipped off a small piece of garland and scrunched it into a circle.  Because

the garland had wire in it, it was easier to manipulate.

A side view of the snowflake. 

Since I used a small scrunched up piece of garland for the center of the larger snowflake, I 

decided to follow through and add some to the snowflakes on the paper too.

A strip of sheer ribbon was used along the right side of the layout, with a strip paper

that was punched along one edge.

Garland was used along the left side of the photo.

Thanks for taking a look at my Blog and hope you enjoyed my layouts!

Have a wonderful day!

Libby  :)

Enjoying the Simple Things in Life

Hi there,

A little "set back" with my time schedule today.  

Ya see, yesterday I got the brilliant idea to back up my laptop for two reasons:

1.  It hadn't been done in awhile... and, 2.  I have thousands and thousands of photos on my

laptop and I was freaking out about the possibility of it crashing!

So, in the early afternoon, I began the painstaking process.  Well, it took almost 12 hours

and 8 discs later for the completion.  That puts the time at 3:30 a.m.!  Yup, I was up that 

long!  Wowzers... it was almost 4 a.m. before I went to bed!

Needless to say, I slept most of the morning!  

But, I did begin the process of "dumping" all my photos onto a thumb drive today.

This should free up a lot of space on my laptop and give it room to breathe!

Today I have a few layouts and a card to share with you.  Hope you enjoy checking them out!

The first layout was a submission to Colorful Creations http://colorfulcreations.ning.com/ 

for their Word Challenge (SIWW: September).

I used a sketch from Let's Scrap (4-29-09) http://letsscrap.ning.com/photo/4-29-09?context=album&albumId=2186252%3AAlbum%3A630432.

Here's what I created:

The Allagash Waterway.  Such a beautiful place.  The Boy Scouts went here for their canoeing,

camping trip, exploring all that nature has to offer. 

The huge tarp was set up because our first day there nature decided to dump buckets

of wind and rain on us!  It didn't matter that we all had rain gear on.... we were all

drenched!  Because the wind picked up, making canoeing a nightmare, we had to stay

close to the shore... and camp at the first available site.  A fire was started so we could

all warm up and get our clothes dried.  By afternoon, the sun came out and everything dried

completely.  The rest of the trip was rain free!

Supplies used:

Paper: Autumn Leaves, DCWV

Computer Font: Adorable

Flowers: Prima, Forever in Time, Other

Leaves: Sizzix Leaf Die

Big Shot

Ribbons

Border: EK Success Stencil

Ink: A la mode Brown

The leaves were tucked just under the photo and each leaf folded to create some dimension.

You also get a closer look at the border, which was inked with the edges turned up a bit.

My flower grouping.  The tiny flowers were purchased with gems already in the centers, which

was cool.  I layered a couple of the larger ones and added a knotted twine for the center.

The quote for my layout.  Leaves were also tucked under the page a bit.  A strip

of light blue with brown polka dots ribbon was added along the bottom of the page.

My next layout was a submission to Sketch Inspiration http://sketchinspiration.ning.com/

for their Sketch #337 Challenge.

http://sketchinspiration.ning.com/photo/sketch-338?context=album&albumId=4597656%3AAlbum%3A107166

Here's what I created:

Love this photo of my "guys" gaming.  They were so focused on the game they didn't even

know I had peeked around the corner and took this photo!  That's some serious

concentration!

Supplies used:

Paper: DCWV, White Cardstock

Ribbon

Sanding Block

Sharpie Marker

Font: Cricut Stamped

Cricut

Sticker: Doodlebug Design

The circles were sanded as well as the strip of paper along the bottom.  Ribbon was added along 

the paper strip.  Found this cute sticker to add on the page too.

The journaling was written on strips of paper that I previously arranged the way I wanted

it before hand, then they were adhered in place.

This small banner was sanded along the edges before the date was written.

This layout was a submission to Let's Scrap http://letsscrap.ning.com/

for their Sketch Challenge (10-10-12).

http://letsscrap.ning.com/photo/10-10-12?context=latest

Here's my layout:

Boy Scout meeting.  Occasionally I bring my camera to document what we do at the 

meetings or to just have it on hand in case we do something that's pretty cool!

Well, at this particular meeting, they snatched my camera and I was so involved

in taking my notes and working with a few boys on advancing, I didn't even know they

took SO MANY photos!  When I got home and checked... Oh my word... I couldn't believe

the funny photos they had taken!  And they had a BLAST... and I guess that's all

that really matters anyway, right?  I was happy to provide them an hour and a half

of FUN!  :)

Supplies used:

Paper: DCWV

Twill Ribbon

Self-adhesive Foam Letters

Twine

Ribbon

Sanding Block

EK Success Corner Rounder

Ink: Adirondack Hazelnut

Folk Art Paint

Sharpie marker

Silver Brad

Bracket & Hinge: Hand Made

Sanding was done on most of the paper pieces.  This cute hinge was traced and

hand cut, sanded and a silver brad added for the end.  Twine was threaded through

the brad holes.

A corner rounder was used on each top and bottom of the strips of papers.  Two strips

of ribbon were added under the photo.

The bracket was traced onto cardstock, cut and the edges sanded.  I used a strip

of twine along the edge of the photo block.  I twisted the twine tighter so it would keep the

curves in it.

A couple strips of twine were added along the smaller photo block.

I'm starting to get the hang of banners.  I love how this one turned out!

I used twill, cutting the ends of each one to wrap around the twine.  A knot was

added at the ends of the banner.  For the letters I chose foam.  They were thin enough and 

multi-colored, so I painted them and when that dried I adhered twine onto the letters with hot glue. 

Here's a closer look at the banner.

This photo gives you a view of the ribbons and twine.

And now for my card, which was a submission to Soul Scrappers http://soul-scrappers.ning.com/

for their Card Challenge (CC9).

There were two challenges included into the one.

1.  Make a card using the recipe that was given for the example.  It's a simple recipe

that can be altered in many ways.  And it doesn't have to be a Christmas card.

2.  Make up your own recipe for your card, post it so others might be able to use different recipe

and make another batch of Christmas cards (or other cards).

I chose to post my card using the following recipe shown below as the example.

http://soul-scrappers.ning.com/forum/topics/cc9-card-challenge-christmas-is-coming

Here's my card:

I swayed a bit from the sample and I really like how it turned out.

I "toned down" the dark blue strip through the center by adding wide sheer ribbon

over it.  I used half of the paper doily to peek out from behind the cardstock.  The edges

of the doily were inked.  I found the dimensional snowflake in my stash and added

it to the center and a couple of smaller snowflakes were also added.

The greeting was added last.

My final layout was a submission to Soul Scrappers http://soul-scrappers.ning.com/

for their Monday's Child Poem Challenge (THC54).

Here are a few requirements:

1.  Use any version of the Poem on your layout.

2.  Use a 4x6 photo or smaller.

3.  Use bunting/banners.

4.  Use ribbon/twine.

Here's the Poem, which can also be found here: 

http://soul-scrappers.ning.com/forum/topics/thc54-monday-s-child-poem

Monday’s child is fair of face

Tuesday’s child is full of grace

Wednesday’s child is full of woe

Thursday’s child has far to go

Friday’s child is loving and giving

Saturday’s child has to work for its living

But a child that is born on the Sabbath Day

Is fair and wise and good and gay.

The last line can also read :- 'is bonny,blithe, good and gay' .

Here's my layout:

The sketch layout was my own creation.

Love this photo of Andrew when he was a little tyke.  Such a ham for the camera!

I opted to use the whole poem since I didn't like what was said for Saturday's Child.

Supplies used:

Paper: DCWV, Colorbok

Ribbons

Computer Font: Parisienne

Fiskars Border Punch

Bubble Letters

Brads

Folk Art Paints

Glitter

String

I added several layers under the title block.  Thin ribbon was added along the bottom

and a bow in the upper corner.

These bubble letters are the cutest!  I added them on top of the ribbon.
The only thing that's annoying about them is
that the letters inside the bubbles move around!  Some of the letters are now turned
upside down... and they won't right themselves no matter what I do!  Grrrr!

Here a couple photos of the cutest banner ever!  I had these rather large brads that were
odd colors.  The prongs were folded under and tapped with a hammer to flatten them out.
I started off by painting each one colors that matched the polka dot paper and
before the paint could dry I added clear fine glitter.
When they dried, I cut a piece of string and adhered the very top of each brad to the string.
That's it!  Isn't it cute?

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend and were able to get some crafty stuff done.

A HUGE thank you to all my followers and everyone who pops in for a visit!

Libby  :)