My Attempt at Blog Organization

Hello, all! I have been neglecting my blog for a while now. When I first started blogging, I made a new entry at least 2 or 3 times a week, if not more. Now I don't post for more than a week! I thought it would be a good idea if I motivated myself by setting guidelines for posting and this is how I am going to do it: So that I post my pages and such on a more timely basis, I will have designated days when I will post.

Monochromatic Mondays - I love creating monochromatic pages! They are fun and for me, it makes it easy to combine a whole mess of papers and embellishments from different companies and lines. The Monochrome Challenge over at scrapbook.com is one of my favorites and was the inspiration for this day. Be sure to check the Monochrome Challenge over at sb.com, hosted by GentlewoodFarms (Pat). Every Monday I will share a Monochromatic page (or project) that I have created. I'll post the colors for the month with my first page of the month. Feel free to leave a link to your own monochromatic pages by leaving a link in a comment here any time! I would love to see what you've created!

Tea Time Tuesday - Some of you all ready know this, but I love anything and everything to do with Alice in Wonderland! My house has decor that reminds me of the story and my scraproom has a Wonderland theme! So I decided that I would set aside a day for my Wonderland-y projects or interesting things I discover about Alice along the way. Feel free to leave a link to your own Wonderland-y pages or projects by leaving a link in a comment here any time! I would love to see what you've created!

Whatever Wednesday - This day will be a sort of catch-all for me. There will be no rhyme or reason to the things I share on this day. Sketches, challenges, cards, projects;  it could be anything!

Thursday and Friday - These days will be my unofficial days off from blogging (unless I have something I just have to share, lol!) so that I can concentrate on school work. Blah, I hate homework!

Saturday Steampunk - Saturday will be my Steampunk day! I love the Steampunk style in everything from clothing and jewelry to scrapbooking and altered art. So I picked Saturday to share any Steampunk inspired pages and projects that I've created. I may throw in anything interesting I find that is Steampunk related! Again, feel free to leave a link to your own Steampunk pages or projects by leaving a link in a comment here any time! I would love to see what you've created!

Sunday - Will be another day off to spend with my family.


So all this starts tomorrow, February 1st, in my attempt to organize myself a bit online. I hope you'll stop by and visit, at least from time to time!

Sketch Layouts

Hello, all! I've been working with some sketches from different sites lately. Whenever you feel like you are having trouble coming up with a page, take a look at some sketches for inspiration. They sure help me when my mind is coming up with a blank. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sketchy Thursdays 1.20 Sketch.

Outdoors layout. Here is a page I completed for the Monochrome Challenge at scrapbook.com. Week 4's color was Mango (orange) and has a couple of twists: resolutions and altered chipboard. The resolution part is that I want to take my family outdoors, to experience nature more often and the altered chipboard is the chipboard letters that I covered in Orange Stickles. I used Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks around the edges of all the papers.

Magistical Memories January Sketch.

Adventure Time layout. When I saw the Magistical Memories January Sketch I instantly thought of the Land of Ooh from my son's favorite cartoon, Adventure Time with Finn and Jake. It so happens that my eldest daughter bought my son a Finn hat and t-shirt for Christmas, so I used those photos for this page. The background and the characters are paper pieced and the chipboard letters are inked with Distress Inks in Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Faded Jeans, and Dusty Concord. My son got a real kick out of this page! lol! So all the time I spent cutting each piece out was definitely worth it!

Twisted Sketches - Sketch #085

American Soldier layout. This is my hubby, my American soldier. He is getting ready to deploy again very soon and while I am saddened by it, I know it's something he must do. I used papers and stickers from a Creative Inspirations page kit, printed the lyrics to American Soldier by Toby Keith on the side (This song is so close to home that it was the perfect one to use), and I used Thickers for the title. I wanted to show through one of my pages that I know he sacrifices so much.

Been a Busy Bee...buzz...

Hello, all! As a friend over at scrapbook.com said, there must be creativity in the air because I've been creating up a storm! I have quite a few layout and one card, all of which are for various challenges. I'll post them and their will follow each one. I hope you all have felt the creative spark recently and that it stays with you (and me) for a whole while longer!

Stand By Me layout. This layout is for the Lasing Memories-Pages in Time Thursday Sketch Challenge and the Scrapping The Music Challenge. You can see the sketch directly below this photo. This is my son and our dog, Attila. They are growing up together and I have this feeling that no matter what, Attila will stand by him. I recently bought the DCWV Mariposa paper pack (yes, I know it's been out for quite some time but something always kept me from buying, until now). I used stamps for the flourishes and covered them in Turquoise Stickles, added a bunch of Prima flowers in many colors, and used yellow Thickers for the title.

Pages in Time Thursday Sketch for 1/13/2011.

Winter Wonderland layout. I created this page for the Colour Challenge over at scrapbook.com which was to use red, green, and white, and for the Twisted Sketches Challenge #084 with a "Winter" twist. The sketch will follow below. This is my son when he was about 1 year old and a couple of photos of when he saw his first snow. I used some My Mind's Eye papers, did some fussy cutting and added a Thickers title. Pretty simple.

Twisted Sketch #084.

Easy Breezy layout. This is for the Monochrome Challenge Week 3 - Coral at scrapbook.com. I am not going to lie, I had a lot of trouble with this color. I drew a blank when it came to using this color and finally thought of a coral sky with clouds. I used Shimmerz mists in Mango and hand cut the clouds from white and coral cardstock. I also doodled some swirls for a "breeze".

Growing So Fast layout. I completed this for the sketch from Sketch Inspirations for the week of Jan 16 - Jan 22 and for the (Paper) Trail Makers Challenge. This is my son in his very first school portrait. I can remember when he was still a baby. He's growing so fast! I used the Meadowlark line of papers and some Thickers for the title. The stitching is doodled on and the pearl flourish and buttons are some things  I had in my stash.

You Are Mine!!! card. I love this card. If you know me, you know I have a soft spot for anything Alice in Wonderland, especially the Queen of Hearts/Red Queen. This is a little Valentine's Day card I made for the Oh! Alice Challenge which was to choose which royal court I prefer. Of course, I chose the red side! I used some card suit stamps on the red background and misted a doilie with Black Soot reinker.  I added Prima flowers, a metal heart and key, and a sentiment heart. The checkerboard ribbon is something I have in my stash.

Scraps of Darkness January Release!

Hello, all! Here we are again on another Scraps of Darkness release day! This month's kit is called White Magic and it's beautiful and full of luscious Pink Paislee and Webster's Pages papers. The theme seems coincide with glamour and I really love the versatility of this kit. Most of the papers are white or light in color and at first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to work with them because they are different than what I am used to but they are just perfect for some inking and misting! And that is just what I did to most of them! First, I'd like to share the Scraps of Darkness sketch and my take on it. Then I'll share the other layouts I created with January's kit. This one was a bit challenging but oh, so fun to work with!

Scraps of Darkness January Sketch created by Craftysprinkles (Mandy).

Glam layout. This is my mother-in-law, Angelina. When I saw this photo of her, I thought 50's glamour and that is what I went for in this page. These papers are fabulous! I loved fussy cutting pieces of these and combining them. I used Distress Ink in Black Soot and a Tattered Angels Glimmer Screen to create  the film strip at the side. I used some flowers and bling that I had in my stash and let the papers show. I also added stars that I tinted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze from the kit and some turquoise Stickles in a circle to frame the photos.

Dream layout. This is my son when he was a couple of weeks old. I thought he looked sweet dreaming away here and wanted to scrap the photo in a page that gave a light and airy feeling. The resist paper is from Pink Paislee. I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze to color the paper blue. The ribbon blossoms are from Tim Holtz and the flowers from Petaloo. I also colored the Prima butterfly with the same blue glaze. I added the bling word, dream, as my title because I thought it fitting. I also added some stars from the kit, heart buttons and pearl brads from my stash, and a feather from my December Scraps of Darkness kit.

Meeting Jack Frost layout. These are photos of my daughters (and our dog) playing in the snow for the first time ever. I used Pink Paislee paper for the background and inked and stamped it to death with Broken China Distress Ink. The snowflakes were cut with my Cricut Expression and the Joys of the Season cart, inked with Broken China and covered in Stardust Stickles. I used Thickers from my stash for the title. I plan to enter this page in the Monochrome Week 2 challenge at scrapbook.com.

Out of an Old Movie layout. This is my father-in-law, Gil. I thought he looked like he had just stepped out of an old movie in this photo and transfered that onto the page. I used the Tattered Angles Glimmer Screens to create the film strips and border punches to make the borders on each strip of paper. The film strip ribbon and journaling ticket are from Tim Holtz and I used my Dymo and some Thickers for the title. I hand cut the movie camera and movie reel. Then I splattered some Shimmerz mists in Sea Monkey and Licorice on the entire page. I also added some gold embossed stars that I cut with my Cricut.

Alwayz & Forever layout. This is my handsome husband. I used some Pink Paislee notes inked with Broken China Distress Ink to make a block pattern on the background paper. I added some Basic Grey Sparkling Rub ons, flowers and bling from my stash, a Prima flower from the kit, and Cricut cut butterflies. The title is Thickers Rainboots in black. Then I splattered and misted the page to give it a more masculine feel.

Like Magic layout. These are my two daughters. I scrapped these pictures because I was in awe of how my daughters' relationship has changed since my eldest moved out. They used to fight like cats and dogs and now they get along so well. That's where the title for the page came from because their relationship changed as if by magic. I used my Distrezz-It-All on the edges of the papers and inked them with Dusty Concord Distress Ink, added some Tim Holtz ribbon trim, flowers and bling, and a Thickers title. I will be entering this one in the Monochrome Week 1 challenge over at scrapbook.com.

Thanks so much for joining me for January's Scraps of Darkness Kit Reveal! Make sure to visit the Scraps of Darkness blog for the release and the other Design Team Members to see what they've created with this kit. I hope you enjoyed these layouts and are inspired to create!

(Paper) Trail Makers and Twisted Sketches

Hello, all! I have been on a penchant for scrapbooking challenges lately! I just wanted to pop in to share one that I created for the (Paper) Trail Makes Challenge Blog. The challenge was to make your own embellishments and I am not one to make my own embellishments most of the time. I tend to go gaga over packaged embellishments at the store (So sparkly and pretty, lol!). I do make my own flowers on rare occasions and so I added a handmade lace and paper rose to my page and I even added glitter!

Angelina layout. This is my mother-in-law, Angelina. She was sure a knock-out! When I was thinking about what to do for this page, I kept thinking her name and Angelina Jolie would pop into my mind. Now, I am not a huge fan of that Angelina but when I think of her I think seductive and dark. Then I thought of my Darker Side challenge over at scrapbook.com and the topic for this month is "Blood and Roses." Well, I put all that together and came up with this page! "Blood" in the red color and a ton of roses! I used rose and damask papers that I have had in my stash for over a year and some lovely Primas. I also inked the background paper with Black Soot Distress Ink to darken it up a bit. The strips near the photo are border punches and velvet ribbon and the mat behind the photo was cut with my Cricut Expression. I also added some red pearl embellishments to the frame.

I have another page that I completed for a Design Team call over at Twisted Sketches but since I don't know if I am allowed to post it here before they make their decision I will just post it another day. The 15th fast approaches and I'll have plenty of layouts to share with you for the January Scraps of Darkness release!

New Years Resolutions

Hello, all! I have finally gotten back into my scraproom after the holidays and have begun creating again. It feels good to get my hands on some paper after such a long hiatus. I've been working on some DT projects for Scraps of Darkness and a couple of other pages that I can share with you today! The first is a page I entered in the Spellbinders DT Call but alas I did not make the cut! Maybe next time! The second is one that I made for this week's sketch over at Twisted Sketches.

I Remember You...layout. This is a layout I completed for the Spellbinders DT Call. I didn't make it past the first round but maybe next time or another team. This page is about my mother, who passed away when I was 5 years old. I still remember her even after all these years. I used Glitz Design Love Nest Polka paper for the background and a ton of Prima flowers in yellow, red, and black. The two larger flowers are Prima flowers that I used Black Soot reinker to color black. I used a Spellbinders Nestabilities die for the yellow mats of the photos and stamped them with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and various stamps. I also used some rub ons that I had in my stash from a long time ago.

Twisted Sketch #038. The twist for this sketch is "Time" any which way. Plenty of inspiration at Twisted Sketches.

Resolutions layout. I created this layout as the example for my Steampunk challenge over at scrapbook.com. I used sketch #038 from Twisted Sketches for this page. I used some vintage photos to illustrate what I want to accomplish this year. I used my December Scraps of Darkness kit, my Cricut Expression for the gears, Distress Inks in Black Soot and Fired Brick, some metal and chipboard clocks from my stash, and various Thickers in red, white, and black.

A New To Do List

Hello, all. Sorry that I haven't posted much these past weeks but with the holidays and visiting family, I haven't had much time to scrap. I even missed a couple of the Compendium of Curiosities challenges and you know I love those! Well I am writing today because a friend of mine, Becky aka AuntJo at scrapbook.com made a post on her blog, Becky's Bits N Pieces, about unfinished projects and getting them done. If you want to see her specific post, click here. I want to write out a list of projects that I want to complete this year.... well maybe we won't go that far. How about "projects I want to complete in the near future?" lol. I agree with Becky that if we support and encourage each other, we may be able to get the things we put off completed. And I think if I write out this list of mine, it will solidify them in my mind and I may not forget about them so easily. Well, here goes.

2011 Scrappy To Do List

1. Finish at least three of the incomplete scrap albums I have on my shelf
2. Complete aTim Holtz Configuration project
3. Make a quilted bulletin board for my scraproom
4. (Try to, since I don't know how to sew) Make a Cricut cover for my Cricut Expression
5. Purge my unneeded/unwanted scrap supplies (This may not ever happen!)
6. Create a Valentine ornament (before Valentine's day)
7. Complete a few of The Color Room pages I wanted to do
8. Enter the Scrap to the Music Challenge (at least once)
9. Put up some shelves in my scraproom

I think I will leave it at that. I don't want to overwhelm myself! lol!

I hope that you will feel inspired to complete those unfinished projects you may have hidden in the corners of your creative space.