June 2015 Pep Rally Featuring Dream Quest!

Welcome to the Pep Rally everyone! If you've come from Megan's blog, you are right on track, if you are just stopping by to see me, be sure and follow the blogroll below and comment on everyone's projects for your chance to win! The best part about being a member of the Clique is that EVERYONE who wants to can be a part of the monthly Pep Rally!!!!  This was our challenge this month:

The challenge:  Use three or more photos on your next project. We want to see lots of fun photos this month!

Based on this challenge, I decided to scrap some photos of my 20 year high school reunion (it was in 2013.) It fit my own criteria of using photos I've already printed or had printed to scrap, and I had three from the same event so I did it! 

I really love how this layout came out, I used  those Mommey Lhey stamps from the Clique Kits store, (I stamped them with the Hero Arts Ombre Inks that I picked up there as well)the letters from the Pretty Little Studios selections from the store (I actually bought those to use in my planner, but the colors were WORKING with the kit, so... I just used them! Everything else came from the kit, I cut up the cut-apart sheet and used that awesome chalkboard of the USA and put a star on Alabama (because that's where I went to High School), I repeated the stars in two other clusters of  embellishments, I included one of those thick wood veneer pieces and (gasp!) I even cut apart the acrylic sheet of tags, ephemera that came with the kit so I could add some tags from it as well. The only thing I added from my stash was the white tag, I stamped the pink ombre ink on it and glued it to the clear tag to make my title stand out. Those flag shapes were stamped on a piece of white cardstock from my stash then added to the clusters, SIGH, Crate Paper just knows what it's doing with ephemera! I loved making this layout with the kit, but I can't wait to turn the rest of it into a travel minibook! 

JUNE 2015 Line-Up
Clique Kits https://cliquekits.wordpress.com/
Lacey  http://laceybugcreations.blogspot.com/
Annelie http://www.swewi.wordpress.com/
Tyra* http://justtyra.com/
Brenda Smith http://lillylanephoto.blogspot.com/
Kim A. http://kimsscrappyblog.blogspot.com/
Aliza* http://peopleofthescrapbook.blogspot.com/
Sandy G.*  http://www.thepinkcamera.com/
Donna* http://scrappydonna.blogspot.com/
Sarah http://sarahmoore4.blogspot.com/
Marcia* http://www.onescrapatatime-bymumsie.blogspot.com/
Mariah www.fun2scrap.blogspot.com 
Megan Blethen http://www.craftymeggy.com/
Charity Donaldson http://www.scrapfaire.blogspot.com/

Happy Card

I played with my new Fuse tool again today, this time to make a shaker card! Here is a still shot and the video showing the process is below.

Check out SpiegelMomScraps Etsy shop and use code: Charity10 to save on your total order... 

Products I used in this card: Fuse, Fairytale Mix Sequins, Cork Butterflies, Doily

Celebrate Love!

This month marks 6 months of newly wedded bliss for me! I needed a card to celebrate, and I NEEDED to play with my new FUSE TOOL from SpiegelMomScraps!! (She still has some in stock and they are already $2.00 lower than retail but you can use code Charity10 to save another 10%.)

I started with the fuse pocket, I freehand drew the top and side of my heart, then I pushed in some sequins, then I made the bottom line... I will make a video, I'm still practicing using this tool. I did find out that you can NOT use a soldering iron as a homemade Fuse! Then I grabbed a medium shipping tag, and cut a bit off the bottom. I stuck one of those lovely Cork Hearts on my fused heart. I broke out my latest Paper Issues Swag Bag and used bits of those papers and some lovely Maggie Holmes Chipboard that I picked up from their store. I finished the elements on the tag, then decided on a black cardstock background. I didn't cut my cardstock evenly so I grabbed some SMS green wave washi to cover my "mistake" I love the added pop of green.  I added some of the mixed sequins that I got from SMS a few months ago, but you add your favorite sequin mix! Thanks so much for peeping at my card today! I can't wait to get time to video a fuse project for you! Don't forget you can use Charity10 as the code for a 10% discount on your total order at SpiegelMomScraps!

I am choosing Happiness

Clique has another great summer workshop going this year, it's called I Am Gold. They have a lesson every week on what a different designer did with their special I am gold kit (sorry it sold out quick). But they are providing the class content for sale on their site and I have started what will be a mini album for me (specifically a 6x9 Simple Stories black and natural chevron burlap album).  The purpose of this workshop is to get you to put you in your scrapbook more. My scrapping is already very much about me and my life (I have no kids), but this is a big year for me (I turned 40) and my father passed away, so this book specifically is dedicated to how 40 is going and how I'm dealing with that big change in my life.

I'm having a little trouble photographing the pages in the protectors, but this is the first one I finished. I have dug into my stash to add my favorite washi tape (I'm so scared I'm going to run out of it soon) and some AWESOME cork hearts, which I am also moving to my stash of stuff for this album. The stickers and papers came from the kit. I also added a gold doily and some sequins to this spread. It's going to be HEAVY on the journalling, because it is! And I like it that way. That's me in that top pic all the way on the left. A happy shot with my sisters, my Daddy and me! Thanks so much for checking in on me, to see what I'm up to... 

You Mean the World to Me

My mojo has been with me, I just couldn't find a spot to sit and scrap because I haven't been cleaning as I go... My table hath overfloweth with stuff. So I "found" my table while I was off work today and made the layout that had been on my mind. I found this photo with the other photos of the my Daddy's retirement party. I was going to scrap it first, but got stuck, so I scrapped all the other photos from that party which I've already shared. I LOVED using the May Clique Kit ,Carnival for these layouts.
I actually thought I had lost the photo. I kept moving those photos around with the kit, and when I decided I wanted to work on this one, I couldn't find it, until today. It had fallen off the table and under a shelf where I store some of my scrappy supplies. As soon as I found it, I sat down with the kit leftovers and scrapped it! I made a background paper similar to it's "sister" pages and did a lot of journalling. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

 The title card is one of the Clique Kits exclusive 4x6 cards that come in the kits.  It was my favorite card in this kit, and I'm so happy to have it on my layout rather than taking up room in my stash and not getting some layout love! I'm trying so hard not to hoard my things, but get them used. I made an error in my journalling, I left the "n" out of the word and, and pretty much stopped writing when I did that. Sometimes I keep going and just decide to leave the mistake, but since I noticed it while I was doing it, I picked up a scrap from some of my paper layers and correctly spelled "and" and glued it over my error. I really love the look of that painted doily, I'm so glad I saved it for this layout! 

More good news, I found some Project Life albums on steep sale over the weekend and picked up a couple, the albums I have here were getting overly crowded and I have some layouts just hanging out in page protectors. NOW they can go into albums as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. 

If you haven't seen my latest video, it's of my most recent KIT HAUL!

Little Unicorn Birthday Card!

I've still got some of that awesome April Kit left from Clique Kits, I've really been stretching out the Pinkfresh Studios goodies that came in that kit, they really really appeal to me and all of the lovely softness just makes me smile. I made this card with stamps from Sweet Stamp Shop. I just stamped the image on some watercolor paper, embossed her in gold and then blobbed some watercolor around the image. Then I sprinkled some Mr. Hueys Shine mist for those lighter shiny bubbles, The Happy Birthday is stamped in Simon Says Stamp Doll Ink, Papers, Washi and Rub-ons are Pinkfresh Studios. The unicorn who got this birthday card seemed to enjoy it!

Have any tips for stretching out your favorite items from your stash? I used a leftover piece of a 3x4 card layered behind my focal image, see those gold hearts, I kind of can't believe I cut a 3x4 card apart to use it on more stuff, LOL! That pink paper behind my main image has been through several projects, it started as a 12x12 sheet. And that polka dot paper? I still have enough to either use it on a layout or make a couple more cards.

You With Us

Keeping with my depressing themed layouts (well it was a sad reason we were all together, but I don't think that my layouts are depressing.  I was really really happy to have the support of my new hubby during all of the visitation/funeral stuff. It meant so much to me, and I wanted him to know.

I kind of fell in love with the Bella Blvd recent releases, if you can't tell. Those colors were really just speaking to me, and I've used almost every little piece on these two layouts. I also ordered some chipboard elements from Bella Blvd and was LOVING using those. The Bella Blvd goodies I got from Paper Issues, and I have to suggest if you are looking for something and she has it, their shipping is super quick! This is another one of those layouts where I'm saving a memory that is kind of bittersweet, it's not a particularly happy time, but it speaks to the theraputic part of scrapping for me. Do you ever scrap difficult subject matter?