Where have I been?

I just looked at this blog & realized that I have not posted anything in over a month. Life just takes over, I guess. I really haven't been scrapping much, probably because I am on a scrap diet, so I can't get all the new lovely stuff that's coming out. I guess the best way to not be tempted has been to avoid it altogether. I have also been obsessed with a couple new things as of late as well- couponing is what has been taking a lot of my time. It sure is a thrill seeing what new bargains I can get, though. Hopefully once I really get the hang of it, I will save enough to be able to come off my scrap diet and splurge. Until then, I hope to be able to get some new pages done and posted.
My other endeavor that has been consuming some of my time is my new challenge blog: Paper Thrills. I am posting a weekly challenge & we're having lots of fun over there! Come on over and try some of the challenges :)

Pencil Lines Sketch #233

I know I've been dong a lot of these lately... I love them! This one gave me a chance to use my G45 Le Cirque papers, some ticket stamps from Cloud 9 Design (I've been using these things all over the place!), some vintage lace & rikrak, a metal star from who knows where and this awesome circus chipboard that I got from my sister, but I don't know who makes it...

I haven't had many sketches offered on here lately because I have been trying to step out of my comfort zone and using inspiration from other sources... that means, all those links in my challenge sites section are getting my attention. And, I just haven;t had as much time as I would like. Please check out the challenge sites, though- they're awesome!

Happy Scrapping!

Pencil Lines Sketch #232

I loved this week's sketch so much I had to do 2 different versions of it!
For this first one, I used plain white cardstock and painted a neon rainbow with acrylic paints, then I misted it with Lilac Walnut Ink to dull it down just slightly. I cut the flowers out with my Cricut using paper from DCWV Rock Star Stack. I stamped the title with some tiny letter stamps I bought at JoAnn's a while back.

For this next one, I wanted to do something totally different, so I decided to go a little cleaner. Everything on here is Echo Park. I used mostly "Playground" with a little smidge of "Springtime" mixed in. I am really loving how all of their lines play well together!

Hopefully be back with more, but until then, happy scrapping!

One of Those Days...

I really wanted to get more done today, but I guess I was just uninspired today. I did manage to get one layout done... did this one using Sketch #231 at Pencil Lines. For this layout, I used papers & stickers from Sassafras, a chipboard flower from Colorbok, some stamps from Cloud 9 Design (I think), and some Spanish Moss Glimmer Mist. The rikrak and trim are from JoAnn.

I hate it when I get into these uninspired times... hope to get over this block soon :)

Pencil Lines Sketch #229

I know this is from earlier last month, but this is the layout I did for this sketch... just took me a while to post it :) I used paper from BoBunny on here along with some BoBunny swirls. The Flowers are Primas that I painted and the frames are from Making Memories. I bought these butterflies at Dollar Tree and am seriously thinking about going back and getting a ton more- I love them! The Sister sticker is from Scrapworks.

Hopefully I will be able to post more later. Until then, happy scrapping!

Some fun

1. March is National Women's History month. Talk about a historical woman you admire or maybe just a woman in your life.- I really admire my sister because she is one of the strongest and most creative people I know :)

2. Blog about one of these "special" days:
- March 14th - National Potato Chip Day
- March 15th - Dumbstruck Day
- March 16th - Everything You do is Right Day
- March 17th - Submarine Day
- March 18th - Goddess of Fertility Day
- March 19th - National Quilting Day
- March 20th - Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
I don't think I've actually heard about any of these days... The Goddess of Fertility Day should rightfully be Easter, or for us Pagans Eostre or Ostara... look it up if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

3. Saint Patrick's Day is this week as well! Do you do anything fun to celebrate? Do you wear green? Have you made any fun crafts? Why do you feel lucky right now? I really don't celebrate it- it wasn't snakes St. Patrick drove from Ireland, it was witches.

4. If you were only allowed to use a) all patterned paper or b) all cardstock which would you choose? If you could only ever use three types of embellishments what would they be? I think I would choose cardstock because you can paint it and stamp it all you want & make your won patterned paper. As for embellishments, I think that I would stick with chipboard, stickers & flowers. Those are mostly what I use anyhow.

5. Write about your creative process. What part of scrapping do you start with first: the photos? the paper? the journaling? Where do you usually get stuck? My creative process usually starts with the pictures. I choose the paper to match the colors in the photographs and any journaling I do usually comes last because sometimes I feel the pictures say enough.

6. Do you tend to scrap only the happy things in your life or do you try to portray a more balanced picture on your pages? How do you feel about reading personal stories on scrapbook pages? I will scrap pretty much anything. Of course, I prefer the more personal & happy stuff, but we have pages about messy rooms, people being goofy, any of that. It's part of life and I am capturing it. In fact, I even scrap about special objects- I just finished a page about a teddy bear.

Another Pagemaps Contest

Have I told you how much I love PageMaps? I do! Anyhow, the sketch contest this month involves winnings from Webster's Pages (which I don't have enough of... but it's sooooo pretty!) Here's the sketch we have to use:

And here's my take on it (sorry the pic seems a little pixelated)

I used Webster's Pages for the background (because it was perfect for this!) I used some Prima minis for the flowers and a Fancy Pants journal card, and alphas from Echo Park. To make the butterflies, I used some Perfect Pearls Medium on a butterfly stamp and then brushed it with some of the Perfect Pearls, then cut them out. The journal spot at the bottom is also stamped and then cut out. I got the pretty lace at JoAnn's. It was white, but I wanted a different color, so I sprayed it with some lilac walnut ink.

Pencil Lines Sketch #228

This layout kind of took off on its own... I used Sassafras Paper Crush for this one along with some Colorbok Chipboard & some miscellaneous pieces of ribbon. 

Challenge Blog DT Call

New challenge blog : Paper Thrills challenge blog is having an open DT call... snce this is a new blog, I thought I would pass it on. Please pass it on as well!

Getting back in the game

I didn't get on the G45 Design Team, sadly. I guess that means that I am just back to scrapping for me. So, here's a cute page that I did from one of the sketches on Pencil Lines (no word on their DT yet...)
I used Sassafras for this one (of course!) With some flowers from Making Memories and a ticket from Jenni Bowlin.