Combing The Beach

Hi all, I hope everyone is having a great Friday. I'm here to show you a couple of layouts I made with a kit by Growing Pains Scrapped called Combing The Beach. It is perfect for your beach/lake photos and so much more. A wonderful color combination and great elements make this an easy kit to use and enjoy.

My first layout is Cole on the beach at Nags Head, NC. I used lots of the beachy elements and I really love the surf board. When going through my photos looking for a beach one, I really wanted to go back to the beach, and just relax for a while. But unfortunately that's not going to happen anytime soon.

My second layout is Tom, Sharla, Ira, Hazelene and I and the photo was taken several years ago when they drove down to Texas for a visit. I will say I don't remember a time when the group of us got together that we didn't have a good time. I did this layout to show ya'll that the kit can be used for so much more than just beach photos.

Ok you should head over to Stuff to Scrap and pick up Combing The Beach soon. And I mean real soon because it is on sale for 40% off until May 8th, a really great deal!!

Big Post

Ok, here is the first big post to try and catch up on showing you my layouts. I'm going to focus on my Polka Dot Plum layout today. I don't think I will get through them all, but I will put a bunch out, just to reduce my backlog.

First up is a layout of sunflowers I did using a kit called Swirly Bundle by NBK Designs and a template from Tempting Templates Vol. 6 by BTA Designs. Sharla and I had been talking about not seeing many sunflowers this year, and then she found a small patch that was really on their last legs but I still thought they were beautiful.

Next is layout I did for a scraplift with a twist challenge. I had to scraplift a layout (which means use it for inspiration) and the twist was the photo had to have some photo treatment. I used a photo I had of Zoey with he orange squid toy. I loved how the orange popped against the b/w photo. The kit I used is Rocky Top Sweetheart by Polka Dot Plum Designs.

I love old photos especially if they are of someone else. I'm less fond of photos of me. This layout is for a theme challenge where the theme is back to school. I used a photo of Sharla from the first grade (at least I think it is the first grade...it has been a while). The kit I used is Making the Grade a collab by Modern June and Miss Mis Designs.

The next layout I did for a recipe challenge, and the photos are probably two of my favorites of Callie and Mecca. They were taken last Thanksgiving, and I just love how alive with laughter both of them were. The kit I used is called The Beauty Within by Valerie N Designs.

Journaling is not my forte, so I always struggle with journaling challenges, but this one said you had to journal inside a shape. Since my circle was small the journaling was easy. The photo is Ira Lou and Uncle King George when they came to visit in 2002, it is hard not to have a good time around them. The kit I used is It’s Not Easy… by Sir Scrapalot.

Next is a layout of Mecca, Tom, Callie and Cole, the photo was taken at Mother's Day. I did it for a product challenge, that is where they give you a pieces or parts to use and in this case it was the frame cluster. I like making the photo look like it was two different ones with that frame, but it really is only a single photo. The kist used is Sweet Summertime by Polka Dot Plum Designs.

Sharla and Tucker are the spotlight of this layout where I used pieces from a collab by the designers of Polka Dot Plum. Tucker was a wiggle worm and I was worried for a little while she was going to drop him. But she held on and he had fun sitting on her lap.

Now for a layout of two very special men. The photo is of Daddy and Uncle Clinton fishing. They loved to fish, and probably the only better than fishing was fishing together, at least for them. The layout was done for a color challenge where I needed to use blue, yellow, grey and black so I used a kit called Looptyloo by Connie Prince.

A non traditional challenge is where they give you something different as your inspiration, it can be anything an ad, a magazine cover, or just a "idea". For this one we were given a magazine cover that reminded me of a quilt, so this my take on it. The photos are Callie from her birthday several years ago, and as always she was making faces. The kit used is call Fern by Polka Dot Pixels.

I must be on a Callie birthday kick, because her is another one of her. This one I did for a recipe challenge. The challenge require the layout to have a birthday hat on it, and I just thought it looked so cute on her head (insert evil grin here). The kit is Make a Wish by Just So Scrappy.

Since is it a Callie Birthday theme, I'm got another one. This one I is her second birthday (I counted the candles on the cake). Mom made the cake and it had a hot air balloon on it. The kit I used is called It’s Your Day by Pixel Perfect Designs.

Polka Dot Plum is celebrating their first birthday this month, so a lot of the challenges are themed around birthdays as well as several of the new kits. So I must just have birthday's on the brain. My next layout is another Callie birthday...next post I'll move on to Cole's birthdays. I used the kit Celebrate by Kalo Designs.

Time for another old photo, this one is Sharla, Aunt Sallie and Uncle Clinton way back in the day. We went back to see daddy's family every summer and it was a time filled with lots of hugs (they had to get a year's worth in two weeks). The kit I used is called Heritage by Connie Prince.

Ok it can be officially called a Callie post, I must have just had her on my mind lately, because I am certainly doing lots of layouts with her. This photo I believe was taken on her birthday, she was modeling some of the clothes she had received. The I used is called Tea with the Queen by Secret Stash.

And last for today....I know I made this post extra long, but I didn't even get half of the layouts I have completed posted. But I have new kits releasing the first part of next week, so I'll have more to show you soon. But now for layout using a kit called Swirly Bundle. The photo is my Tucker Boy, and I had fun with the selective coloring on this one.

In case you were counting that is 15 layouts, and I probably have at least 20 more if not more to show you. I'll be back tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday with new releases, so make sure you stop by because there will be some freebies as well.

Monday, June 15th

Hello everyone, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was ok. Saturday we got our fence replaced....yeah, the dogs are very happy about it. Cole was over and he got the yard moved. We had to get up at 4:00 am on Sunday to get Cole to the high school so he could go to ROTC camp. Sharla was a good aunt and even cooked some biscuits for him to take with him, so he wouldn't be "starved" before they stopped for breakfast. After we made sure he was off, we drove around and took some photos and then headed to church. I was so tired when we got home, I changed clothes and took a nap. Yeah I know, I lead an exciting life.

Ok here are some pages I've done recently. The first is my final assignment for Gingerscrap's boot camp. I really love the photos, because this is what happens when ever we get together with family. Laughter is just part of the experience and you can't be with them without having a good time, it just isn't possible. I would say they are my favorite cousins, but it might get me in trouble with other cousins, but I can honestly say they are in the top five (and I have about 25 first cousins).

The next layout I did as an element challenge at Digi Scrapbook Mania. The challenge was to use the element chicken wire. The funny thing was I had just done another layout with chicken wire for the font challenge. It is an element I really like. I did this one of Cole on Christmas morning. I found the word art and it seems to be his phrase lately, so I couldn't resist using it.

Ok this is another challenge at Digi Scrapbook Mania and it is called "Leaving a Legacy". It was hard because you scrap about yourself, and I want to scrap about others. This month the challenge was to do a page with 10 random things about you. And yes I'm in the picture (hehehe). Maybe you'll learn something about me.

This layout was done for a speed scrap and I was in a very simplistic mood. The photos were taken Friday night as we sat on the back porch and watched people through the hole in the fence. Sharla took the photos, and I thought they were just so cute.

This last layout is one I did for a speed scrap, but I have to say it is not one of my favorite ones. I had to use 10 pictures and 13 papers, which to me makes the layout too busy. I prefer layouts with much fewer pictures, but that is just my preference.

Ok that is it for today...more later.

Caught Up.....Yeah

Ok with what I'm posting here, I will be caught up on all the pages I have completed up to now. Hopefully from now on I will be posting the ones I do each day.

This layout was done as part of my scrapbooking bootcamp that I'm doing. It's main purpose was to teach me clustering and positioning on the page. I still need to practice more, but I can see improvement over my first layouts.


I love this picture. It is Cole and Ira on Mother's Day 2007. She was in town with Dolly and so she got to spend a little time with us. She was picking on Cole and he was picking right back.


I guess I could have called today my Tucker day since most of the layouts are of him. This was one of my first layouts, but it has been on the bottom of the pile because it was named Tucker.


YEAH with this layout I wil have posted all of the pages I have completed so far. I did this one last night. The picture is Tucker's first experience with snow.


My goal today is to work on my blog background and header. I just don't care for the one I have now, but haven't been able to make one I like better. I'm not sure I will get it finished today, because Mom has a doctor's appointment, so a big chunk of the day will be getting her there and back. And for those who want to know, she is doing so much better, she now only sees the doctor every other month rather than once or twice a month. So that is a great improvement.