Just One of the Guys

Hi, everyone!  This is the project I have on the Scrappin' Sports & More blog today!

For today's project, I was determined to use a photo that I'd already printed and just "had" to scrap, but hadn't got to it yet. I found the perfect one that was just begging for some SS&M papers to go with!

Unfortunately, my son was not able to play Little League, so we were on the lookout for an opportunity for him to continue his love and participation in baseball. And, the perfect opportunity presented itself when Colby was able to be the Bat Boy for the 7th Grade baseball team at the school that I teach at. The boys had been playing together since they were Colby's age, but took him in as though he'd been on the team all along. In the first practice that Colby went to, they boys were introduced to him and then started running laps. As they ran off, one of them turned around and said, Colby, are you coming?!" And, that's how it started!

The season continued and they taught him everything we need to know to be a part of the team-- what to do a bat boy, how (and when) to cheer for his teammates and, most importantly, how to spit sunflower seeds! I was so proud of my son AND my students for being a great team!

Enough yapping..... here's my layout! It's simple, because I wanted to focus to be on this fabulous picture of Colby on the bench with his team.

And, here's a close up:

(you may notice that there's no black line in the close up... I decided to add it after I took the first round of photos... it just needed "something else" and I forgot to take a closeup shot!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you were inspired!

~Nicole

Products Used:
#1337- The Sport Is.... Baseball (baseball strip)
#1359- School is Cool: 4th Grade (yellow)
#1370- Title Sports: Cross Country (green)

Altered Journal for Momenta

Hey, everyone! I'm sharing a fun journal that I altered for my son on the Momenta Blog today!  I made one a long time ago for my daughter and he's never let me forget that I haven't made one for him yet. I was given the notebook a while back and I instantly knew it was one that would be perfect for altering!

Here's what I started with:

Since it was for my son, I decided to use a collection that looks rather masculine. So, I decided on the Vacation Pyramid Pad. It's masculine textures and distressed look made it perfect for the job!

As I was working, I needed the right size and color sticker. These large, glitter alphas were perfect, but a little too bright. So, just a few dabs of a black ink pad toned them down just enough!
Here's a before and after photo of the stickers... well, technically it's "after" THEN "before," but you get the idea!

And, here's what I ended up with! He's so excited to journal about this summer's adventures!

Here is the back! Isn't this collection just perfect for an adventurous guy?!

This is the inside. I covered the pen in paper so it would match and even created a pocket to hold ticket stubs and other mementos of the summer!

And, of course, not my daughter wants ANOTHER journal because "his is cooler than hers"!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you were inspired to make a fantastic summer journal for your kids-- or even yourself! Have fun!

Momenta Products Used:
PA-2389 - Vacation Pyramid Paper Pad
ST-3204 - Mini Puffy Alphabet Stickers
ST-5263 - Puffy Alphabet Stickers Small
ST-2037 - Turqoise Puffy Glitter Alphabet

Beautiful

Hey, there everyone!  The sun is finally shining so that I could get a good photo of my layout!  It was for the Momenta blog featuring some yummy Basically Bare heart chippies!  I used Momenta's Kaliedoscope and Free to Be Me Collection for this project, along with some fabulous stickers and a sketch from Becky Fleck.  I just LOVE how it came out!

And, here are a few close ups....
Here you can see how I split the journaling to add the subtitle in the middle.

And, here you can see the flags- I used a square punch to make the ends.  And, you can also see the fabulous heart shaped chippies from Basically Bare!  I love these for so many reasons-- the biggest one being that they are symmetrical.  Why is that important?  Well, because if you are anal-retentive like me (big shock, I know) and you can't decide which side of the paper you want to use, it makes it easy to flip the paper over (and over and over) to decide which one you want to use before making the final decision.  I also really like that the packages came with three different thicknesses in them.  Truly yummy all the way around!  Thanks, Basically Bare & Momenta for a fantastic partnership!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!  I hope you were inspired and that you'll come back again soon!

Cool as Ice!

Could this guy get ANY cooler?!  Colby took a moment to pose in front of a Rolls Royce while he was all decked out in his suit at our cousin's wedding in July.  It was a hot day, but he was still the coolest guy around!

As soon as I saw Little Yellow Bicycle's Winter Twig collection, I knew it was perfect for this photo-- the colors, the patterns, everything!  And, then the sketch from Aphra Bolyer pulled everything together.

There is a challenge over on the A Walk Down Memory Lane's Blog based on this layout-- Use themed paper to create a layout where the theme is something OTHER than what the paper was intended for.  For instance, I used winter papers to create a layout about a hot summer day.  You can check out the challenge and lots of other scrappy inspiration every day on the AWDML Blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Be sure to come back for more inspiration soon-- Hopefully I will even get the nerve to post some of my work using my brand new Copic Marker Certification!!

Flower Wreath Tutorial {Momenta}

Hi, everyone!  I have a really cute and easy wreath project to share with you that was shared on the Momenta Blog today! I used the Chloe's Garden paper collection to make my wreath, but this would look fabulous with many of Momenta's collections!
First of all, gather your materials:

Momenta papers of your choice, a floral foam wreath, pearl-headed pins (roughly 200), hot glue gun, flower punch, scissors, two spools of wide ribbon, mouse pad (not shown).

Next, start punching flowers! The number of flowers you need will depend on the size of your wreath, but I needed about 400 by the time I was done. I decided to bring in some help-- he's easily bribed with Power Rangers on Netflix and some icecream sandwiches! (and he's cute, too!)

While he was punching, I wrapped the wreath with the ribbon. I used the hot glue gun to secure the end and then just started wrapping. It doesn't need to be perfect, so just go for it!

Here's what it looked like after it was wrapped with ribbon.

Now, add a loop for a hanger. This piece of ribbon is about 10" long. I glued one end down with hot glue, made the loop and added a 1/2 turn and then secured the other end with hot glue.

Now, on to the flowers! Layer two flowers on top of eachother and lay them on the mouse pad (you don't have to use a mouse pad, but it sure does make it easier to push the pin through without stabbing yourself in the finger!). Push the pin through the center of the flower.

Now, gently bend the flower petals up toward the center to give the flower some dimension.

Now, push the pin into the wreath. And, start on your next flower.

Keep adding flowers to the wreath giving a random appearance to the pattern of the flowers. Put the flowers close enough together to cover the ribbon.

Just keep pinning flowers until you have gone all the way around your wreath and you are happy with how it looks. And, that's all you need! Isn't it pretty?

Here's a closeup of the flowers as they go around the wreath. I just love the way the pearl-headed pins look as flower centers.

This project is easy, but a little time consuming. But, you can easily walk away and come back to it. It took roughly four episodes of "Power Rangers" and two ice cream sandwich breaks to punch all of the flowers out. And I pinned here and there throughout the day until it was done. The kids are really excited with how it looks and want to hang it in the entryway of the house!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed the project and are inspired to try one for yourself!

Momenta Products Used:

PA-2384- 12X12 Pyramid Paper Pad: Chloe's Garden

Duffy's First Birthday!

It's so hard to believe that sweet Duffy is already a year old.  He was kind enough to pose for a few birthday photos.  And, of course those photos became a layout!  I LOVE the new Echo Park Mini-Collection called "WOOF."  It's so hard to find "nice" dog themed papers and embellishments.  Echo Park hit a home run with this line (and darn near every line they create!)  You can get this line (and a ton of other scrappy goodies at A Walk Down Memory Lane!)

Here's our sweet boy on his birthday!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you were inspired!  Be sure to stop by again soon for more scrappy goodness!

It's a Dress Card!

I have a fun card to share with you today!  I used Echo Park's Dots & Stripes Soda Fountain Collection  for these and I love the way they came out!

These are SO easy to make!  I even made a video tutorial on how to make them-- just check it out HERE on the AWDML Blog!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you were inspired to try one of these fun cards!

New Sketch = New Card!

It's the 15th of the month, and that means that it's time for a new card sketch from the wildly talented Lucy Chesna at My Sketch World!

Here's the sketch! 

And here's my take on it!

I loved playing with some Jillibean scraps and an SRM sticker for this one!

 Check out what the rest of the team did on the MSW Blog, and be sure to join us at the forum for fantastic monthly challenges, a contest, inspiration and tons of fun!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll be back this week with some more fun cards to share!

Super Easy! Super Cute!

Hey, there everyone!  This is the card I have featured on the Momenta blog today!  I made a wedding version of the card, but it can easily be adapted to any occasion, especially birthday, graduations, anniversaries or Mother's and Father's Day!

First, make your card base. This one is a 4" by 6" card, so my card base is cut at 6"x 8" and scored and folded at 4".

Then, I matted some of the beautiful textured/embossed white cardstock from the "Black Tie" pack on some black cardstock from the same pack. Then, I adhered that onto the front of my card.

 

Next comes the FUN part! I cut my a piece of patterned paper from the "Black Tie" pack at roughly 2" by 3 1/4". Then I used one of the die cut border pieces from the same pack along the top of the "bag."

Then, I turned by "bag" over and attached some tissue paper and a ribbon (the handle) with some adhesive. I also added some foam tape to the back.

Lastly, I added a foil treated sticker (so the sentiment has a great metallic shine!) to the front of my back. I removed the backing from the foam tape and stuck the the whole "bag" to the front of my card!

So easy! So cute! So versatile! Aren't those the BEST types of cards?!

 

Momenta Products Used:

PK-2147: Black Tie/Foil Treatment 12X12 Scrapbook Pad

ST-3055: Black Tie/Foil Treatment Chipboard Word Sticker

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you were inspired!

 

AWDML Blog Hop!!

Can you feel the excitement! All over the world, fellow paper crafters are creating today! So what are you doing today? Are you at a crop? Or enjoying the solitude of your own scrap space? Are you ready for a fun weekend with A Walk Down Memory Lane? I know I am!

Would you like to win a Gift Certificate to AWDML online store? How do you win it?  Just hop on over to our Design Team's blogs and post a comment. They will be showing you layouts and cards celebrating on how we cherish this day in our lives. When you have visited and commented on all seven blogs then your name will be entered for the prize.

You must post your comments by 9pm EST on May 6th. We will select a winner on May 7th.

AWDML Blog

Nicole (YOU ARE HERE!)

Suzanne

Shelly

Amarilys

Lucy (DT Coordinator)

AWDML Blog

Here are some more ways to be involved this weekend with AWDML!

1. Stop by AWDML's FACEBOOK PAGE and post a comment on the QOTD to recieve an extra entry toward the NSD GC Prize. Then post a picture of something you made on NSD. You will have till May 6th Sunday at 12AM PST for an additional entry.

2. For every five dollars you spend at the AWDML store, your name will be entered into the drawing for the Gift Certificate.

3. One order total during NSD weekend will magically vanish. Yep, you read that right...one order placed Friday at 12:01am through Sunday 11:59pm (Eastern Time) will be FREE!

4. SPECIALS:

• Adhesives are 25% off
• Hero Arts Stamps are 50% off
• Any Carded Ribbon is 35% off
• Rub-ons are 75% off
• Idea Books are buy 1 get 1 free (free idea book is of equal or lesser value. We will adjust your total before shipment)

Now I get to share my scrappy project with you!  I was supposed to create a card based on who or what I cherish today.  Well, it just so happens that TODAY (also NSD and Cinco de Mayo) is my Husband, Chris's Birthday!!!  So, this was an easy call for me-- I made his birthday card!

I find it easy peasy to make "girly" frilly birthday cards.  But, I find it a challenge to create more masculine cards.  So, I set out to make a simple, no frills, masculine card for him.  I love the look of Kraft of Kraft and I wanted to play with my new star dies, so here's what I came up with:

Products Used:
Jillibean Kraft Paper
SRM Birthday Stickers
Doodlebug Twine
3M Quick Dry Glue
Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Star Dies
ATG Adhesive Gun

Thanks so much for stopping by today-- I hope you were inspired!  Now, hop on over to SUZANNE'S Blog for your next stop!

Have a great National Scrapbooking Day!!!