Layout Challenge Winner

I'm excited to announce that Belinda is the winner of this month's layout challenge. She didn't have much competition on this one...you all must be so busy! What I love about this layout is that she turned the second page. This layout was used for my recent scrap-a-stack and I keep hearing rave reviews from the attendees with how pleased they are that both pages can be easily turned to suit the photos that they have. The stamped horse, twill tape, and brads add beautiful embellishment to these great photos. Thanks so much Belinda for sharing this with us!

Joys of Easter

Here's a layout I quickly assembled using some Easter elements from one of my StoryTellers Club Kits. This layout captures some Easter activities that the kids enjoyed on Good Friday, including an outdoor Easter Egg Hunt. The title was created using my "Making the Grade" Cricut cartridge.

Fun Summer Card

Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange, and Green Galore are 3 colors that say "summer" to me. Here's a card that I made to play with the cute and funny "Just Beachy" stamp set. The faces on some of these fish crack me up! The black strip is embossed with the small polka dots Texturz plate and the Big Shot (not visible in photo). The greeting is from "Family Phrases" and is stamped on a circle punchout, framed with a larger green circle. An orange oval is placed behind the circles and black brads are used to anchor the label to the card. Black Gingham ribbon is used for an accent and the the patterned paper is from the Flock Together pack. The corner rounder is used to round off the background and the black strip.

Scrap-A-Stack Photos

Here are the rest of the photos from the Scrap-A-Stack, the first was posted on 5/17 for the Sketch Challenge. The intent of this class was to create 12 simple pages using the same sketch, but different colors, papers, and accessories. There are no titles and the pages are generic enough that they can be used for a variety of photos. Enjoy!

Classy Cards: Big Shot

This month's Classy Cards focused on using the Big Shot in a variety of ways, and also playing with some punches and rhinestones. This first card was made with the Manhattan Textured Impressions Die. The nice thing about this die (which is much like a Cuttlebug embossing folder) is that it practically mades the card. It's so elegant that you really don't need to add much else to the card. So for this, I just did some layering with Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip. The flowers are embossed on Very Vanilla. I added a greeting from "Short and Sweet" and layered oval punchouts. I used a Ticket corner punch on the corners of the Vanilla and added a blue rhinestone brad and Vanilla Satin ribbon for embellishments.

This next card uses Basic Gray, Going Gray, Whisper White, and Pixie Pink. I used the "Embrace Life" stamp set with Going Gray ink to add some pattern to the Going Gray cardstock. The White cardstock was "texturized" with the large polka dot Texturz plate and the Big Shot. I used the Simple Flower Embosslit die with some Pixie Pink textured cardstock to create the flower (so nice, embosses and cuts in one step). Pink grosgrain ribbon and a pink rhinestone brad finish it off!

This last card is an example of how pretty patterned paper can be used to quickly make a card in a pinch with minimal stamping. The patterned paper used here is from the Flock Together pack (keep in mind this month there's an awesome deal on patterned and textured papers!). I framed the patterned paper with some Garden Green and added a decorative So Saffron edge using my Eyelet Border punch. The greeting is from the "Great Friend" stamp set in the Occasions mini catalog, on a circle punchout framed with a scallop circle punchout. The base of the card is Tempting Turquoise.