Cricut Challenge

Challenge 11 in Super Stashbusters was to use a machine to cut things for the layout.  I used my Cricut Expressions 2 and the Artbooking cartridge for my layout.  I am thinking of doing this challenge again because it is so fun and the Artbooking cartridge has so many overlays to play with. I went with a hexagon pattern and use an old stamp set to add some color and pattern to my layout.

I loved our first home, it was perfect for us and sometimes I wish we still lived there, though I think all six of us would not fit as nicely as the three of us did.

Products used:

Wanderful X7191B

White Daisy Cardstock

Black Ink Z2109

Honey Ink Z2162

Crystal Blue Z2117

Smoothie Z2196

Gypsy Ink Z2190

Junebug Puffies Z3038

Silver Trim Z1799

Artbooking Cartridge Z1906

Everything listed above is available on my website at sharesa.ctmh.com

Punches

Challenge 10 in Super Stashbusters was hard for me because I do not have a lot of punches.  The challenge was to let the punches speak, well I have two a corner rounder and a heart.  So I used the corner rounder to make scallop borders and I used the heart to make umm... hearts.  Crazy I know.

My youngest was crazy and was crawling by 4 months and this layout is all about that.  It is kind of nice because I didn't need a ton of journaling to finish the layout.  

Products used:

Hopscotch Paper X7194B

Colonial White Cardstock

Silver Shimmer Trim !799

Junebug Puffies Z3038

Handwritten Print Alphabet E1030

Black Ink Z2105

Smoothie Ink Z2196

Vintage inspired

So the next challenge in Super Stashbusters was to use something that is vintage inspired. I do not have much that is vintage inspired, in fact I have nothing.  So another take on it was to do an older photo. So I dug through my old photos and found three that worked with the sketch.

I decided to use some of my Skylark Picture My Life cards for the background as well as the journaling and accents.  All the rest of the product I used is retired, sorry!

Speaking of retired/retiring here is a long list of retiring stamps.  These stamp retire on Saturday so get them while you can!

A1124 A Tree
A1139 Congrats Graduate
A1141 Be Still
A1154 Friendly Thoughts
A1156 Flower Confetti
B1418 Love Doily
B1423 Hoppy Easter
B1439 Dreamer
B1440 Fancy Fair
B1441 Buggy Love
B1444 Greatest Love
B1445 Happy Hive
B1450 Owls
C1571 You're the Best
C1573 Do Your Best
C1574 Believe in Yourself
C1577 Mother's Day
C1579 Coming Up Roses
C1583 Robot Family
D1547 Paper Doll
D1579 Windy Day
M1035 Newlyweds
M1036 Perfect Polka-Dot Day
M1037 Balloons
M1038 Shooting Star
M1039 Good Job Stencil
M1040 Parasol
M1041 Hi
M1042 Colored Egg

You can get these on the retiring section of my website.  You can also get the Skylark Picture my Life cards there as well.

Super Stashbusters old and new

Challenge 8 in Super Stashbusters was to use some of your oldest stuff with your newest stuff.  I dug around and found some fun metal embellishments that I got close to the beginning of my journey with Close to my Heart almost six years ago.  I have been having so much fun playing with the Hopscotch paper and it is really new to me so I picked that as my new thing.  I also wanted to play with the January stamp of the month so I pulled that out as well. Here is what I ended up with:

I have decided that I love to mix and match things!  One of the reasons I started with Close to my Heart was because everything coordinated which made my scrapbooking easier and faster, but I am loving that I can mix and match and stil create fun and beautiful layouts in a matter of minutes.  

Products used and available on my website:

Smoothie ink Z2196

Warm clay ShinHan marker

Colonial white cardstock 

Hopscotch paper X7194B

Teal shimmer trim Z1918

Aqua dots Z1853

Hopscotch assortment Z3016

Tags Z1684

This moment January stamp of the month S1501

Sharesa.ctmh.com

Altered embellishment

The bonus challenge in super Stashbusters week one was to follow a sketch and alter an embellishment.  Here is my final layout:

Here are some close ups:

This next picture shows a few embellishments that I altered. I colored the chipboard letters using the peacock green alcohol marker.  I also used some gold polka dotted washi tape to change the heart dimensional element.  For the banner chipped I used the pastel green ShinHan marker to give a little more color and to help them pop.

Products used:

Lagoon ink Z2195

Flaxen ink Z2642

Flight of the arrows D1578

This Moment ($5 with a $50 purchase) S1501

Year Noted (part of the National Papercrafting special this month)

Flaxen extra thick twine Z3036

Junebug Puffies Z3038

Snapshots dimensional elements Z1901

Teal shimmer trim Z1918

Gold dotted washi tape Z1920

Aqua dots Z1853

Paper is from the Hopscotch paperback X7194B

I am not listing the retired products, sorry!

Everything listed is available on my website: Sharesa.ctmh.com

Repeating design

The third challenge in my Super Stashbusters class was a layout with a repeating design.  The sketch had washi tape as the repeating design and I loved it so I followed the sketch and got this as my final layout:

I used a bunch of different CTMH washi tape (some expired), some glimmer trim, and a hostess reward stamp from the last idea book that had a bunch of fun washi tape designs. I used a bunch of expired embellishments to add a few fun touches. I also used stay on ink to stamp the arrows on to the washi tape. The arrows and the journaling spot came from the Chalk It Up workshop on the go stamp set.  I am loving having scrapbooking challenges that use my stash and push me to try new things.  Today I am going to work on a challenge to alter an embellishment or I might try doing a layout on my New Year's Resolutions sponsored by CTMH. To find information on this challenge you will need to visit the Close to my Heart Facebook page or Instagram page.

Grid design

The second challenge in Super Stashbusters was to use a grid design on a layout. Once again I had a sketch to work with and since I enjoyed the "fly by the seat of your pants" scrapbooking from the last challenge I thought I would try it again. I couldn't do it! I tried I really did, but after cutting one picture I knew I needed to map it out. So here was my plan: 

I knew I wanted to use the rest of my burlap ribbon and some brown  and colonial white ribbon, so I measured those out and followed the sketch. The sketch had three rows with five boxes in each row. I knew my pictures would need to be small in order to fit them all in.  I started with this map above and then cut everything out and played around with it.  Here is my finished layout:

I ended up changing a few things from my original map and the sketch but I am loving it!   I used a ton of retired product (burlap ribbon, brown and colonial white ribbon, skylark assortment, colonial white rosette ribbon, and the pin clips).  Talk about stash busting!  I used two skylark picture my life cards for the title and journaling.  Next up is repeating an element on a layout. Super excited about trying this challenge!

Rule of Odds

I had 45 minutes to craft yesterday so I pulled out my first challenge from the Big Picture Classes Super Stashbusters class and got to work. I am a "follow the rules and steps" kind of scrapbooker and today I tried the "fly by the seat of your pants" way and really enjoyed it. I had a sketch to follow, along with the challenge of three clusters of embellishments following the rule of odds. The Rule of Odds, according to Aly Dosdall,  "states that a visual composition is more pleasing to the eye when things are grouped in groups of odd numbers."

Here is what I came up with:

I also wanted to try out the white on white trend that I have been seeing on Pinterest.  I did not use any patterned paper and I am really liking the way this page came out. I am thinking about adding some metal brads just to try and use my stash a little more.  Let me know what you think.  This post also comes with a challenge: 

Follow the rule of odds on your next card or layout.  If you do come back and post a picture or a link to a picture.

Product used:

White daisy cardstock 

Lagoon ink Z2195

Honey ink Z2162

January stamp of the month ( arrow)

C1575 True to Life

C1521 Approved 

E1030 Handwritten Print

Honey triangles washi tape Z1933

Teal shimmer trim Z1918

Flamingo dots Z1934

Cotton candy dot washi tape retired

To get any or all of these product just go to my website.

Big Picture Classes

I LOVE taking scrapbooking classes from Big Picture Classes.  They are all online and I have learned a lot from each class that I have taken.  Yesterday I got an email that they have a ton of their more expensive classes available today only for $10.  I quickly signed up for the Super Stashbuster class. This class has a bunch of challenges that will use up your stash, no buying new product is allowed! I am pretty excited about starting it probably next week.   I also signed up for Scrapbook Outside the Pocket class, I have a ton of pocket scrapbooking cards from CTMH and here is a class that will teach me how to use them for other than pocket pages.  If you are new to Big Picture Classes be sure to use my reference (http://my.bigpictureclasses.com/register.php?refer=67875594) to get 10% off your second class (so you have to register and buy a class then you will get a code for 10% off your next class).

Also I have been having a hard time finding the list of 10 classes that are $10 on their site, so you here is the link I received in the email: http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/10-for-10?utm_source=bigpicture&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=big_picture_classes&utm_content=LAST+CHANCE%3A+10+Classes+for+%2410+Sale%21.

Also today is the last day for the Deal of the Decade and the December Stamp of the Month.  So check those deals out on my website (sharesa.ctmh.com).

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and I can't wait to see you in 2015!