Touch of Red

Happy Thursday all...and day 41 of 100+ temps here in Texas. I don't know about ya'll, but let me just say, anything above 100 is HOT!!!!! I am so so ready for fall. The only good part about the heat is I avoid it by staying inside and scrapping. Which leads me to Touch of Red by Getting Scrappy with Britt, the kit I used for today's layouts. It is a great kit with rich colors and great elements.

My first layout is Cole and Dani. Aren't they cute!!!! I did this for a song lyric challenge and the song was "All you need is love" and I couldn't resist using the repeating "loves". I really love the mix of red, gray and cream.

My second layout is Ms. Ariella, and I have to say she is a real cutie!!! Normally you see baby photos with the pastels, but love her pictures with the gray and red. And you know me, any kit with lots of flowers is my friend.

Well that is is for today, but make sure you head over to Stuff to Scrap and pick up Touch of Red, it will be a great addition to your stash!!!!

Scattered Words

Happy Monday all, I hope everyone is have a wonderfully cool summer....I know you're not if you are in the DFW area, because it is just plain HOT here. I am totally thankful for air conditioning!!!!! Today I'm going to show you layouts I made using two new word art packs by Digi-designs by Nicole. They are Scattered Words Volume 1 and Scattered Words Baby Edition. Scattered Words are a fun way to add a little something more to your layout whether you are wanting to use it in place of journaling or with limited journaling, you can't go wrong.

My first layout is using Scattered Words Volume 1 and Nicole's kit Peace, Hope and Love. The photos are Cole and Dani, aren't they a cute couple.

My second layout uses Scattered Words Baby Edition and Sweet Sadie. The photo is the super cute Ariella, and she is simply precious!!!!

And this week only both Scattered Words are 30% off - this is a great price, even better than a $2.00 Tuesday price! Nicole has also created a bundle with her Infinity and Beyond and Round-up Kits and it has called it Friend in Me Bundle and it is on sale this week for $10, a great price. So head over to Stuff to Scrap and pick up some great goodies this week!!!!

A Little Bit Of Luck

Hi all, three posts in four days, bet ya'll are wondering what is going on with me. Well I'm trying to get better and hopefully this weekend I will have a big blog post or two, because I have lots and lots to show you. But for now I'm going to show you layouts I created with a kit called A Little Bit of Luck which is a Mega Collab from the Designers at Stuff to Scrap. This is a great kit with lots of green, but also blues, golds, and browns. It is perfect for you St. Patty's photos and so much more. I really love the color combination in this kit.

My first layout is my favorite kisser and he really loves to give kisses, lots and lots of them. Tucker's nickname is Sir Licks-a-lot, because he will kiss anyone and everyone.

My second layout is Cole and Dani, wrestling/playing. They do make such a cute couple. But then I might just be a little prejudice, ok a lot prejudice. But as you can see the kit works well for all kinds of layouts.

So make sure you head over to Stuff to Scrap and pick up A Little Bit of Luck soon. You will find a ton of uses for it.

Ohh Where to Begin

I have so many layouts to show ya'll I don't even know where to begin. It seems like forever since I've had a big blog post, but that changes right now. I'm going to cram as many as possible into this post...ok, I promise not to do more than 15, but I've got to get some out of my to post folder!!!! I think I'll show you challenges I've doing at Polka Dot Plum, since I am the Challenge Wrangler there, I do lots and lots of challenges.

The first up is one I did for an All About Me challenge, where I had to scrap something I use every day. I of course did my favorite new toy my Ipad and the cool little stylus I got for it. The kit I used is called Go for the Goals by Dawn by Design.

My next layout is one I did for a photo challenge. The challenge was to get a close up of some one's face. Well with the weather, I wasn't around too many people and Sharla refused to pose for me, so I used Tucker have he had been out eating the snow. The kit I used is called Softly Winter by Designs by Sweet Mesquite.

Now for a layout I did for a scraplift challenge. The photo is Zoey just sitting on my bed. She isn't fond of the camera, but every now and then she'll let me take her picture without a fuss. this kit I used is A Fresh Start by Sugar Pie Scraps.

Ok I have to show a layout with Cooper just to finish off the trio. This one was done for a twisty lift, you scraplift a page but change it in some manner. Doesn't Cooper look cute!!!! The kit used is Memory Lane by Jen C Designs.

Ok how about a layout with people in it? Hummmm Sharla is so fond of these pictures I took of her in the hospital. I did this layout for a one word challenge where I had to use the word "Time" on a layout. And for those who know Sharla she is doing much better, we are working on getting healthier, and she has come a long way since her second stay in the hospital. I used Sugar Pie Scraps kit A Fresh Start again for this layout.

I've gotten lots of comments in the gallery from other Angry Bird players when I posted this layout. The kit I used is Jangle by Sweet Tomato Designs. The photos where taken on Christmas morning when Tom, Cole and Callie were having Angry Bird races to see who could get through the levels the fasted. It was so much fun to watch because they did not take failure well.

This layout wasn't done for a challenge, it was done for a new designer at Polka Dot Plum called Farynar's Wings. She does wonderful kits and this one is called Mysterious. The photo is Cole and Dani on Christmas Day. Don't they make a cute couple!!!!

Now for another cute couple, Tom and Mecca. The photo is one of the series Sharla took at Thanksgiving in 2009 at Callie's house. It is one of my most favorite set of photos. I use them a lot because they look so good. I did this one for a newsletter challenge and the kit is Bee Mine by Bean Bunny Designs.

Here is one of Callie taken at Thanksgiving this year. She was laying on the floor posing and I just couldn't resist snapping a photo or two. I did this one for Dawn by Design for her to use as a sample in her shop. The kit is called Go for the Goals and I do love the colors in it.

And last for today, because 10 is a lot of layouts, I promise to try and come back tomorrow and Tuesdays and have big post days as well. This last layout is another one I did for Farynar's Wings for her to use as a sample. The kit is Mystic Mountain and the photo is Callie and Mom at Thanksgiving.

Hopefully I'll get several big posts done this week!!!!

Our Love Story & A Freebie

Happy Saturday all, I hope everyone is having a great day!!!! I know I am, because it is finally getting warmer here. The snow is fun to look at, but boy is it cold. And all the days off/working from home have really screwed with my scrapping schedule. But I'm getting back on track, now I've got to get into a better blogging mode. But for right now I'm going to show you some layouts I made with a new kit by Scraps by Andrea called Our Love Story and it is a wonderful kit. The colors are red, blue, cream and brown which work so well with all kinds of layouts.

My first layout is Cole and Danni at Christmas. They are on the couch playing Angry Birds, and all snuggled up together. I used the blues and browns on this one, because I love that color combination. I made did a photo treatment to make the photos match more.

My second layout is of Tom and Mecca on Christmas day as well. They wanted a family shot and then we did a couple of just the two of them. Of course it is hard to get good photos when your kids are outside of the camera range making you laugh!!! But I really like this one. I love the blue and red combination as well. Ok I just love the whole kit!!!

I took one of the clusters from the first layout and adapted into a freebie for you. The image below is linked so just click and download. I hope you enjoy the freebie and feel free to leave a comment.

Don't forget to check out Andrea's Blog so you can visit my other CT members and see what kind of goodies they may have for you. Also the kit is on sale for $2.50 this week, so make sure you head over to the store and pick up Our Love Story.

Another Big Post

I counted and I have 29 layouts that I've completed and haven't shown you yet. So I'm going to do another big post day to get some of them out of my to blog pile. Don't worry, I'm not going to do all 29, some are ones I've done for kits that have not been released yet, so I can't show them yet. And also I don't want to make the post too long. Today is going to be another Polka Dot Plum Day, with layouts I've created for designers at PDP or for challenges in the forum there. If you've not checked out the challenges you really should they are lots of fun and you can win gift cards and earn discounts.

My first layout is Angela and the newest addition to her family Molly. For some reason Tina (Angela's mom) calls that sweet little baby dog a monster, but when she brought her to see me, Molly was a perfect angel. She gave me puppy kisses and even fell asleep laying on my desk. I didn't see any monster tendencies at all. But of course get a girl and a puppy together and you definitely have trouble...which leads to the layout I made using Utski's kit Love the Piglet.

The next layout is one I did for the recipe challenge last week. I used the kit Sweet Summertime by Polka Dot Plum Designs. The photo is Callie, Cole and Mecca taken on Mother's Day this year. I'm not sure Mecca was ready to be the short one in the family (I think it has been a long time since that was the case for her).

I did a template challenge last week at PDP as well (in fact I think I did 5 or 6 challenges...I was on a roll). The template was really fun, and I used a kit called Anna Mae's Closet by Scraps by Ellay. I love the purple in that kit and just wanted to play with it over and over. The photo is Callie and friends at a birthday party (Callie is in green) and she made her mask, such a talented girl.

Now for my layout for the font challenge...the font is Sketch Block and is a great font, because is can be used for so many things. The kit is Love the Piglet by Utski Designs. The photo is Cole and Danni when they were over for dinner a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure he is going to hate that I posted this, but I think they are just too cute.

The color challenge from last week had a great mix of blue, green, orange and cream and I found the perfect kit to use call I Wuff You by Connie Prince and Bella Gypsy. The subjects are Tucker and Cooper just before they got a treat of ice cream. They were quite excited because they love ice cream.

The hardest challenge I've done in a while was the paper to digital challenge last week. I tried three times before I got a layout I liked. The paper layout had lots of roughed up paper and I just could duplicate that in digital. I also really struggled with the dimensions. I used a kit called Ambience by Digi Designs by Nicole because it had some worn papers in it that worked well. Cooper was willing to pose, as long has he got his snuggle time as well.

Next I did the lyric challenge and I used a photo of Cole in the pool from several years ago. The song had a line about big pool partys and it just reminded me of the times we got to use my old bosses pool while he was on vacation. The I used is Nolan by Sweet Tomato Designs. I love the blues in this kit they work for so many different things.

The all about me challenge this week was to scrap your house (current or past), so I dug out some of the photos we took when the house was being built. We visited every day, and took tons of photos. I wanted to show just a few of the changes we saw during the process. The kit I used is Housewarming by Bella Gypsy.

Ok we're getting close to the end for today. This layout was for the font challenge I did this week. The font is Pea Lauren America and is a great hand writing font. I used photos we took the day we brought Tucker and Cooper home. They were camera shy, so it was hard to get good photos, but these aren't too bad. This kit used is Nolan by Sweet Tomato Designs.

The last layout for today (and I reduced my to blog list by 1/3) is one of the easiest layouts I have ever done and you'd never tell by looking at it. I used a bundled kit called Swirly Bundle by NBK Designs. The kit comes with paper and elements like all other kits, but also includes glitters, word packs and something called "toppers". The toppers are FANTASTIC!!!! The clusters that look like they took me hours to create are just one of the toppers. Yep all I had to do was size them the way I want, place them and add the photos. It was even easier than templates and more fun than a quick page (because I controlled where they went). The photos are Trey, Callie and Cole, doing that they do so well...mugging for the camera.

I hope you've enjoyed my walk through the challenges of Polka Dot Plum and I hope you visit the forum soon and join in on the challenges you find there. Also check out the links to the kits I've given you, they are all great kits and you'll have fun using them I'm sure.

More Layouts

Ok, I have lots to show you today, and it is a mixed bag of things, but I'm trying really hard to get caught up on showing ya'll everything I've done. It has been a slow couple of weeks, the heat is taking a toll and by the time I get home, I'm just not good for nothing. But I have a stock pile that I need to get through.

I'll start with the four challenges I did for the DSM Summer Getaway. I didn't win....poor poor me...but I did win a prize for one of the workshops I showed you a couple of weeks ago. So that was fun. The first challenge had to be about vacation, your favorite from the past, your favorite place to go, etc. I chose our vacation from 2000 where we all went to Nags Head. The pictures were taken from the top of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. In the photos are Sharla, Mecca, Callie, Cole, Kathy, Hazelene and me. It was a hard climb, but the view was worth it.

The second challenge was to do a layout about ice cream, it could be anything about ice cream. Sharla and I decide to get pictures of the babies eating ice cream. And boy do they like ice cream. I had totally completed my page when I realized it looked almost exactly like the page I had done for the previous challenge, so I redid it totally. I like both, so I thought I would show you both.
First Pass

Second Try

The next challenge was to do a layout based on summer song. I really struggled with this one, because I just couldn't pick a song. If I liked the song, I couldn't come up with photos to use with it. I finally decided on my current favorite song, which is American Honey by Lady Antebellum. And I picked Callie to be the subject. I really like this layout.

The last challenge was very hard because they gave you no direction except to use as many of the skills you learned in the workshops as possible. I chose a series of photos of Cole. I got to use selective coloring, extraction, clustering, white space, shadows, and journaling.

So that completes my layouts for the Summer Getaway. I also did a scraplift challenge for July at DSM. I used CT Appreciate Week 2010 collaboration kit and a photo of Cole and Danni. They had come over for dinner and he was messing with her and she was giving as good as she got (you go Danni!!!!). It was so much fun just watching them horse around.

Ok next up is a layout I did for the Use It or Lose It challenge at Stuff to Scrap. Digi-designs by Nicole created this mini kit and it was a lot of fun to use. I found an old picture of Callie and thought it matched the kit perfectly.

Next is one I did for the Color Challenge at Stuff to Scrap. You can pick lots of mini kits and use them or you can use any kit that matches the colors chosen for that month. I used several of the minis to create this layout of Tucker. I really love the color combination and this photo.

During CT Appreciation Week, they had lots of challenges and speed scraps and games. I did a speed scrap lead by Mandy of Mandy Made Digi Bits and created a fun layout of Mr. Cooper Bob. It was hard for me because it had been a while since I did a speed scrap and getting it done in time was a lot of pressure, but I liked the results. I used Stars and Stripes by Scrappin' Daisies Designs.

Ok the last one for today was my entry into the White Space Challenge at CT Appreciation Week. The photo is Sharla and I taken in 2006 and the kit is the collab given away during the week. The kit is just amazing and is just packed with great stuff.

Ten layouts, that helps reduce the backlog quite a bit, but I still have more. So hopefully I'll be back soon with more.