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Inspiration: June 2019 Page Maps Sketch + Lasting Memory Layout Challenge #651 (patterned paper + 1 picture + doily)

The Gingham Garden collection from My Mind's Eye has been in my stash untouched for quite a while now and as I was picking new pictures to scrapbook, I realized they might work well with a picture taken after we successfully solved the Piccadilly Cabaret escape room. The flowery patterns and soft colours worked well with the pictures so that was the inspiration for the page.

I picked which patterns I wanted where and started assembling the base. What I struggled with the most was where to put my title. I placed the letters I wanted to use on acetate pieces and moved the words around until I finally found a way to work the words into the design that was pleasing with the overall design. I have to say that I am shocked that I managed to use the Tinsel Town Thickers twice in a week with other papers than the collection this set was released with. I'm always wary of colorful alphabets as the colours might not all work with another collection and you might not have all of the letters you need in a selected colour. Here, all four colours totally worked with the papers, even the reddish foam peeking from the sides. I have been doing a lot of combined alphabets on all the pages I've put together this month. It does give me an additional point for the Calvinball challenge, but aside from that, I like how much personality carefully selected fonts gives a layout.

Inspired by the sketch, I glued the picture using three lengths of foam tape, creating a pocket to slide an oversize tag in. This in turn allowed me to include longer journaling without having to squeeze it somewhere on the page. I used the larger die of the Framed Tags set from Tim Holtz. It was my first time inking the edges before die-cutting. I first tried out with grey Archival ink, doing direct to metal. The result was disastrous. I cleaned the die and tried again, adding Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide ink with a brayer. This worked really well. I was not planning on doing the inking all that often because it looked like too much trouble, but this went pretty well, so I might reconsider and use that technique more often. I added a hole reinforcer made out of glimmer paper and thicker baker's twine.

I made a banner as per the sketch, but I found a leftover punched chevron on my desk, so placed it inside the dovetail and added an enamel dot. When I last pulled my wax seal tools out, I had made an extra seal to test my Peach wax beads and the colour was perfect to work into this design. I highlighted the design with a gold foil pen and I overlapped the swallow die-cut image over it.

The die-cut pack offered a lot of inspiration. At the bottom, I placed a flower punch, a leaf and a bee (extra point!), then added a date label, on which I stamped the date the picture was taken. I took the two houses and the "find joy in the journey" banner to place where the small photos would have been on the sketch. I added a star eyelet to the banner, and enamel dots in matching colours to the houses.

I die-cut a doily out of vellum, to represent the circle from the sketch and I slid a little heart die-cut over it. For the picture mat, I had die-cut a tab using My Favorite Things dies, but I found tabs in the die-cut set, so I glued two in place, and added little words to it using the Planner Stickers. While looking at the Calvinball list, I remember about the clear stickers, so I pulled the ones I have nearby from a Maggie Holmes pack and I added a few black elements around the page. This is where I see the value of the Calvinball challenge - it pushes me to "shop my stash" and get out items that are generally overlooked. I have been using those little clear stickers all month so they are finally getting used! (And the sheet was brand-new when this challenge started...)

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: White Smoke (My Mind's Eye); Vellum, Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!);
Sparkle Classic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Ink: Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Patterned Papers, Planner Stickers, Mixed Bag, Enamel Dots: Gingham Garden (My Mind's Eye)
Thickers: Tinsel Town, Courtyard (American Crafts)
Dies: Darling Doily (Stampin' Up!); Framed Tags (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Chevron Border Punch, Stampin' DImensionals, Calypso Coral Glimmer Ribbon,
1/8" Gold Ribbon, Thick Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Peach Wax Beads (DIY & Cie); Mail Wax Seal (Honey Bee);
Gold DecoColor Marker (Marvy); Corner Chomper, Star Eyelet (We R Memory Keepers);
Clear Stickers (Maggie Holmes for American Crafts)

 

Love You to the Moon and Back

Inspiration: June 2019 Page Maps Sketch + Just Add Ink #653 (Pastels + Baby)

I like how the Boho Baby collection from Simple Stories breaks out from the usual baby line mould. The use of mustard yellow and browns is definitely a departure from the usual look, and I like that it has that Crate paper look that Simple Stories has put out for a couple of years now.

For this one, I fussy cut a large "Love You to the Moon and Back" image from the 4" x 6" cut-apart page, popped it on dimensional adhesive and used it as my title. I double-matted the picture with navy cardstock and the pink floral paper, which edge I distressed. I love this sweet picture of my oldest niece, curiously looking at herself in the mirror. Look at those chubby cheeks! 

I had previously done a bunch of buttons with my button press, so I pulled out the one I had done with the lion face from a piece of patterned paper and added it to the corner of the picture. I handwrote my journaling on one of the pieces from the Journal Bits. From the chipboard stickers, I picked a camera, the teepee tent and the word Sweet. From the Bits & Pieces, I pulled out the hanging clothes and I die-cut a piece of ric rac from the navy patterned paper. I added a few decorative brads around the page, a few foam stickers and enamel dots. To finish embellishing, I added sequins and a gold puffy sticker, plus a couple of clear stickers and iridescent rhinestones.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: In the Navy (Gina K)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Sticker Book, Chipboard Stickers, Enamel Dots,
Decorative Brads, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Pieces: Boho Baby (Simple Stories
Dies: Stitched Ric Rac (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Distressing Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals, Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels.
Perfect Layers (Stampin' Up!); Pastel Dreams Sequin Mix (Buttons Galore & More);
Clear Stickers (Maggie Holmes for American Crafts); Button Press (We R Memory Keepers);
Gold Heart and Star Puffy Stickers (Elle's Studio)

 

Odd Birthday

Inspiration: Tic Tac Toe #209 (decorate envelope + texture + blue)

I was really excited to finally have to new Stencil Butter colours on hand. Of all the textures pastes I've purchased so far, they have been my favorite ones, but I think the bright colours from the original palette had prevented me from using them as much as I was hoping I would. I feel like the softer, more muted colours that just got released will be easier to incorporate into my projects. I realized that the CAS colour challenge fit two of the new released colours, Watermelon and Seafoam. For the third, I pulled out Denim.

I started by cutting a piece of mixed media art paper from Vicki Boutin and I smooshed ink on an acetate to create my base on the white cardstock. I layered Flirty Flamingo, then Pool Party and dried the paper with my heat tool. I then used Stencil #6 from Autour de Mwa (Aall & Create) to add details with the Stencil Butters.

While the pastes were drying, I picked Mini Oddball Has a Present as my main image. I stamped it in Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Polychromos pencils in matching shades. I fussy cut the image out and popped it on dimensional adhesive.

For the sentiment, I used a new score: Des mots pour te dire #1 from Carabelle Studio. I hadn't realized this was a single stamp, but the words are really easy to cut apart, so I stamped the words in Night of Navy ink on Pool Party cardstock and fussy cut the "Happy Birthday" words. I also popped those on mini Stampin' Dimensionals.

I made a card base out of Pool Party cardstock and added a Night of Navy mat for better definition. I added Spring Abstract Say It in Crystals embellishments to finish the card off.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mini Oddball Has a Present (Stamping Bella); Des mots pour te dire #1 (Carabelle Studio)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Pool Party (Stampin' Up!); Mixed Media Cardstock (Vicki Boutin for American Crafts)
Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Night of Navy, Pool Party (Stampin' Up!), Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); A2 Nautical Blue Linen Envelope (Envelopes.com);
Polychromos Pencils (Fäber-Castell); Stencil #6 from Autour de Mwa (Aall & Create);
Denim, Seafoam and Watermelon Stencil Butter (The Crafter's Workshop);
Spring Abstract Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing); Project Life Nesting Dies (American Crafts)

 

Giant Etch A Sketch

Inspiration: March 2023 Page Maps Sketch + Tic Tac Toe #209 (Patterned Paper + Free + Anything but a Card)

Seaside Summer is one of my favorite collections that Doodlebug has come out with in recent years. I have been sitting on it for a while and finally pulled out some pictures from our trip to Wasaga Beach to pair with it. My niece had seen us write Wasaga Beach in the sand and she wanted to to that herself as well. She was going on 5 at the time and starting to learn how to spell and write, so we see her mom in the pictures spelling the word to her and showing her how to trace the letters. 

It took me a long time to finish that page. I got the page set up following the sketch and then the result felt a little boring (and it was getting late), so I had to put it aside and revisit it later. I think I finally landed in a place where I'm happy with the design. Adding sticker tabs to the folder piece at the top helped give it more colour and interest, and I also layered a torn paper piece underneath the main picture for a bit of texture.

I wasn't sure where to place the second part of my title and I tried a green banner, which I kept moving around. Once I realized the palm tree enamel shape was just the right height to put on its left side, I liked how it hid the seam and I was able to fit the whole word using Elle's Studio puffy stickers. The first word was die-cut out of yellow sparkly textured cardstock using the Tall Skinny alphabet dies from Scrapbook.com. I love this alphabet, as the tall letters fill in the space on a 12" x 12" page, but the fact that they are narrow still allows space to fit a longer word, like we can see here with the 11 letters total.

The chipboard umbrella is actually from the Crate Paper pack I pulled apart recently, and so is the coral banner at the top. The colours were matching nicely, so I jumped on the opportunity to put those pieces to good use. I added a little lifesaver from the enamel shapes over it to dress it up. Underneath, we have a pocket that was done with a Elizabeth Crafts die out of patterned paper.

I auditioned different elements from the die-cut pack and the stickers for the bottom of the page, but I was really drawn to the little beach houses and the die-cut ones were too big, so I used the Icon stickers ones instead.

For the journaling, I could have put a tag in the pocket and added my journaling there, but I wanted the journaling to be visible when the page would be in the protector, so I drew lines with a grey pen and handwrite my text with a teal gel pen. I had found some coral sticker letters from a Simple Stories collection that matched nicely, so I used the numbers to add the date, squeezed in the center of the journaling and I added the little "summer" cardstock stickers from the collection pack. I added a little enamel dot from the Shape Sprinkles.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up!); Seaside Summer Cardstock Pack (Doodlebug Design);
Fruit Punch, Aquarium and Buttercup (Martha Stewart)
Patterned Papers, Icon Stickers, Puffy Stickers, Cardstock Stickers: Seaside Summer (Doodlebug Design)
Patterned Papers: Basics Kit - Woods (Simple Stories)
Dies: Tall Skinny Alphabet (Scrapbook.com); Curved Library Pocket, Sidekick Essentials 16, General File Folder
Set 2 (Elizabeth Craft Designs); Banners (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Summer Assortment Sprinkles, Seaside Summer Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design);
Grey LePen (Marvy); Teal Sarasa Gel Pen (Zebra); Coral Puffy Alphabet Stickers (Elle's Studio);
Chipboard Pieces (Crate Paper)

 

 

Cool as Can Be

Inspiration: Scrap Our Stash May Sketch

I have been wanting to use the cool May sketch from Scrap Our Stash and I finally paired it with a cute picture of my niece wearing her sunglasses in the house. Even though I just acquired the new Retro Summer collection, I still went back to last year's Summer Lovin' because I felt the colours would work well with my picture.

The title is based on a French song title. It kept popping back into my head every time I looked at this picture, so I decided to go for it, even though I knew that fitting a longer title on my page would require some planning. I lucked out and was able to find smaller alpha stickers in matching colours to Thickers collections that also went with the papers. After each larger word, I added a puffy sticker in the matching colour.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Project Life Une date (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Puffy Stickers, Decorative Brads, Chipboard Stickers, 
Sticker Book, Enamel Dots, Basics Kit: Summer Lovin' (Simple Stories)
Ink: Misty Moonlight (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Cross Stitched Circle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Orange Twine (Lawn Fawn); Sparkle City Enamel Stickers (Shimelle for American Crafts);
Diamond Stickles (Ranger); Treasure Thickers (American Crafts);
Newberg Navy Alphabeans (Jillibean Soup); Teal and Red Little Letters Stickers (Queen & Co);
Holiday Magic Chipboard Alpha, The Best Day Puffy Alphabet (Pinkfresh Studio)

 

Little Santa Claus

Inspiration: June 2019 Page Maps Sketch + Lasting Memory challenge #650 (Stitching + Brads + Chipboard)

I found this older picture of my niece taken on her first Christmas Eve. We were opening gifts and we place the Santa pants and Santa bucket on her to dress her as a little Santa. I was looking through my Christmas collections and I decided to pick out Holly Days because the pink and red fit the colours of the picture, and so did the whimsical style.

I started my design with a chipboard frame and picked papers that would complement it. I fussy cut a gift image from the 4" x 6" cut apart page to continue the packages from the frame. Then I tucked two tags behing it - one with a Santa image to go with the theme and another one to add my handwritten journaling on.

I couldn't help myself and stacked tickets from the Ticket Essentials boxes from 49 and Market once again. I got quite those boxes in quite a few colours when they first came out and I've been loving using them on various projects. I stapled them in place, for ease and to get a Calvinball point for staples.

The title was created with three different alphabet collections, and I think the scale and colours work pretty well. I handstitched with red floss around the striped circle to define the edge a bit.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Decorative Brads, Puffy Stickers, Enamel Dots,
Chipboard Frames: Holly Days (Simple Stories)
Alphabet Stickers: White Banners (Elle's Studio); Warm & Cozy Thickers (American Crafts);
Holiday Magic Chipboard Alpha (PinkFresh)
Accessories: Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler,
Garden Green Ribbon, Glitter Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!);
Eucalyptus, Blossom and Fern Ticket Essentials (49 and Market); Needlepoint Floss (DMC);
Red Baker's Twine (Recollections); Stickers (Maggie Holmes for American Crafts)

 

Celebrating with Christmas Pudding

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #606

I pulled out some paper scraps from the Falala collection from Crate Paper that I was trying to use up and paired them with the Mini Oddball Christmas Pudding image, which I colored with Polychromos pencils. I based my card design on the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch. I added black glimmer paper to create a scalloped edge, and I stamped my sentiment using the Des mots pour le dire #2 stamp set from Carabelle Studio. I had a piece of patterned paper big enough to make a matching envelope with as well.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mini Odbball Christmas Pudding (Stamping Bella); Des mots pour te dire #2 (Carabelle Studio)
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Black Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!); White Cougar Opaque 80 lbs. (The Paper Cut)
Patterned Papers: Falala (Crate Paper)
Ink: Poppy Parade (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Slim Ornate Banner (PinkFresh); 
Stitched Mini Scallop Square STAX (My Favorite Things
Accessories: Polychromos Pencils (Fäber-Castell); Candy Cane Lane Say it With Crystals (Prima Marketing);
Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

10 Reasons

Inspiration: November 2021 Page Maps Sketch

A few years ago, my oldest niece was going through a difficult patch so I put together a mini-album in which I stated 10 reasons why I loved her. I gave her the album and told her than when she was feeling down, she could pull it out and remember that she was loved. I had used the French Kiss collection from Doodlebug as she especially loves this company's products, and so I pulled out the same collection to make this layout here.

This was the last creation I had time to squeeze in before the Calvinball challenge came to an end and I made sure to include as many elements from the list as possible. The stickers themselves had quite a few elements that were part of the list: food/drink, dog, key and lock, bird, and scalloped border. And I fussy cut an airplane and clouds from the patterned papers. The sketch I drew inspiration from was 8½ x 11, but I stretched it to a 12" x 12" layout.

This collection is arguably one of my favorites from Doodlebug. I love the red, pink and aqua against the navy and I find that the patterned papers are a little less busy than Doodlebug's usual patterns, which helps me design with it more easily. The fact that it includes French words only adds to my love for it.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: This & That Date Stamp (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Sparkle Classic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Papers, Mini Icon Stickers, Cardstock Stickers: French Kiss (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Land of Wonder and Fernwood Thickers (American Crafts);
White Distress Paint, Twinkle Stickles (Ranger);
Puffy Stickers (Dear Lizzy for American Crafts); Stampin' Dimensionals, Wood Elements,
Sparkly Brads, Gems, Antique Tags, Mini Stapler, Rub-Ons, Mini-Buttons (Stampin' Up!);
Mini-Heart Enamel Stickers, Baker's Twine (Doodlebug Design);
Metal Clock (Unknown); Markers (Copic); White Roughly Sewn Rub-Ons (49 and Market)
Font: Typewriter Rustic RNH

 

Birthday Girl

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #43

I found some Cocoa Vanilla paper scraps and decided to make a card to finish using them up. I revisited the Mini Oddball has a Present stamp and colored her with Stampin' Blends markers this time (and found as I was coloring her that the cardstock she has been stamped on is feathering, so I kept the blending to the bare minimum). That cardstock is Cougar White cardstock from The Paper Cut. It was my first time testing it for coloring, so I guess it will have to be relegated to pencil coloring.

The sentiment was created with the Des mots pour te dire #1 stamp set from Carabelle Studio. I stamped the words in Dapper Denim ink and poured clear embossing powder on it, on the woodgrain patterned paper. Then I cut the words apart and put them on dimensional strips to raise them. 

To decorate, I added two buttons at the top, a few sequins stars around the image and a few opal rounds as well. I repeated the same polka dot paper for my address block on the metallic envelope to finish the set.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mini Oddball Has a Present (Stamping Bella); Des mots pour te dire #1 (Carabelle Studio)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); 80 lbs. Cougar White (The Paper Cut)
Patterned Papers: Unknown Collection (Cocoa Vanilla)
Ink: Dapper Denim (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn); Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); 
Layering Ovals (Stampin' Up!); Foundation 4 (Queen & Co);
Stitched Mini Scalloped Squares STAX (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Foam Adhesive Strips, Stampin' Dimensionals, Opal Rounds,
Stampin' Blends Markers, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Pear Pizzazz Glimmer Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); 
Buttons (Foof-A-La, Buttons Galore & More); A2 Blonde Metallic Envelope (Envelopes.com)