I am a little sad to be giving my last weekly challenge as a Design Team member over at Memorable Seasons. I have really enjoyed working with Jill and the other team members. I've enjoyed seeing the amazing layouts and inspiration that has been posted by all our board members on a regular basis. But don't worry...I'm not going anywhere...I'm just taking a break. :) So without further ado, here's my challenge...

For this week's Design Team challenge, I want you to shape up! :) LOL

No, really, the challenge is to hand-cut or die-cut a shape from paper and include that on your layout.
 

In my example, I used a piece of a die cut circle paper that I had sitting on my desk and it reminded me of a cloud. So then I drew some smaller cloud shapes on pattern paper and cut them out with scissors and attached them to my layout with foam squares.

I stamped the title, the stars, the border on either side of the photos and several words on the layout. My journaling is written on the back of the layout with all the details. The title was stamped on plain vellum with dark brown ink and I embossed it with some iridescent embossing powder...love the look this gave to the title.

You have until the end of May to complete this challenge to be entered into the random drawing over at Memorable Seasons.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for your layouts!

National Scrapbook Day Crop Challenge... "Mama Says"

Over at Memorable Seasons, we are holding an online crop from Thursday-Tuesday to celebrate National Scrapbook Day. Since it's also Mother's Day weekend, we are focusing our challenges on the theme of moms. 

Here's my challenge I posted for the crop:

I know for those of us who are moms, there are so many things we set aside to focus more on our kids. We write down funny things they do and say and scrapbook those, but often neglect to scrapbook things we say to our kids or things our mothers said to us. I want both of my kids to remember important things I tell them and have some insight into my reasoning behind those phrases. So my challenge is to create a layout that records some of those things you've said to your kids or your mom said to you. If you don't have a saying, then you can use a quote about moms.

Here's my sample layout for this challenge:

My inspiration for this page was this paper by Glitz (from Love Games Collection):

The image at the bottom that said "Play fair or lose" reminded me about the saying I always tell my kids: "Fair isn't always equal". When I was going through some of my recent purchases from Memorable Seasons, I saw this multi colored paper by Prima and LOVED how it brought all the colors together from the photos, so I had to combine the two papers on this layout. So I decided to tear away the bottom corner of the striped paper and let the saying peek through that torn area.

I also used a small piece from the top of the Love Games paper on the top edge of my layout, and I inked around the torn edges. It said "score card". My kids are always keeping "score"...who got more than the other, etc. Drives me bonkers. :) Guess it's a kid thing??

My title was created with a mixture of several alphabet stickers:

 I stamped several areas on this layout too b/c it just wouldn't be a layout of mine without a little stamping. :)

I stamped the areas under the title and the journaling (ledger stamp), the circles that have the card suites are also completely stamped (text and suites), and I stamped the date label. The circles and date stamp are popped up on my layout with foam squares.

I can't wait to see how you create your layout focusing on the theme of "Mama says"! :)

To be entered in the challenge, your layout must be completed, posted to the gallery and then linked to this board thread over at Memorable Seasons by Tuesday night 5/9 by midnight CST.

Supplies Used:

Glitz Designs Love Games Collection Paper: Score Card

Prima Madeline Collection Paper: Parsley Place

Brown Cardstock, Tan Cardstock

Glitz Designs: Woodgrain Teeny Alphabet Stickers

Making Memories: Red Puffy Alphabet Stickers

American Crafts Thickers/Dear Lizzy: Fancy Glitter Foam Alphabet Stickers

My Minds Eye: Date stamp

Fancy Pants: Heart Stamp

Studio G: Card Suites stamps

Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz: Curiosities Stamp Set (ledger)

Glitz Designs: Laced with Grace Stamp Set (text)

Stampin Up: Bermuda Bay Ink Pad

Ranger Distress Ink Pads: Walnut Stain, Fired Brick

EK Success: 1.5 inch Circle Punch

We R Memory Keepers: Corner Chomper

Foam Squares

*All products were purchased personally by me.

Random Winner for Spring Blog Hop RAK...

Just wanted to update with a quick post with the Spring Blog Hop winner from last Wednesday.

The randomly chosen winner was KW.  Please email me at stampingwithheart@yahoo.com so I can get your goodies out to you.

A huge thanks to everyone who left comments on my blog! :)

It's my turn to host a challenge over at Memorable Seasons and this week's challenge is a really easy one! :) You have until the end of April to submit a project and you will be entered in the monthly drawing. Here is the thread you need to link your cards to when you are finished.

So here's my challenge:
Create a card with a circle background. You can create the circles from anything you'd like: stamps, pattern paper punched circles, etc. Just use your imagination!

Here's my card:

And here's how I created it:

I stamped a circle image stamp in pink ink on my card base. Then I stamped the same image with blue and green ink too. I punched out the image with various sized circle punches and layered them onto the pink image. I punched some of the circles smaller than their original size so that the stamped pink circles would be larger and frame them. This was an easy way to combine the three colors on the background.

Then I cut out a larger circle from pattern paper to frame my focal point and added a photo on top of that. My title is stamped with a small wooden alphabet stamp. I also added jewels to the centers of the circles.

Can't wait see what you all come up with for this challenge! :)

Supplies Used:
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamps: Psychedelic Grunge
Ranger Distress Ink Pads: Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans
Marvy Uchida: Marvy Matchables Black Ink Pad
EK Success: Antique Typewriter Alphabet
McGill: Word Tags Punch
WeR Memory Keepers: Corner Chomper
The Paper Studio: Clear Gemstones
Crate Paper: Restoration line
Foam Squares
White Cardstock
Photo Credit: Made By Design.

* All supplies were purchased personally by me.

Step into Spring Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to my blog! Today we are celebrating the beginning of a new season with the Step into Spring Blog Hop brought to you by the Design Team from Memorable Seasons! 

If you did not start your hop today on the Memorable Seasons blog , please jump back over there so you do not miss anything. Today we are looking at the word S-P-R-I-N-G and taking you through all the steps for creating a fabulous layout using an exclusive sketch created for this blog hop by Liz Chidester, which was the first step! You have already hopped through the letters S, P and R, and now you are here for the letter I.

The letter "I" will stand for the technique of "inking".

I love adding ink to my layouts--it gives the paper layers so much depth and allows you to customize your layout completely. You can add any type of ink to your layout (ink pads, paint, mists, etc), but I chose to just use ink pads on mine. And you can use as little or as much ink as you'd like...you just have to include it on your layout as part of this challenge. 

To add depth to the edges of your paper, just use a foam applicator and an ink pad and lightly flick the ink on the edges. This gives a really soft look to the edges and helps tie multiple colors together on your layout.

The photo above is the paper with no ink around the edges and the photo below shows the difference a little ink makes.

Another way to add ink is to use stamps. On this layout, I created a stamped border with several stamp sets and ink colors. I started with a ruler and a pencil to draw a line, then I used the protractor stamp and watermark ink to add a line of semi circles to the layout base. Then I added the turquoise doily stamped layer, followed by the red doily stamped layers in between the turquoise doilies.

Here is my layout up to this point. 

I also used ink in an unexpected way on some accents and for the title on my layout. Be sure to follow the blog hop all the way back to the Memorable Seasons forum post to see how else I used my inks and to see the layout completely finished.

Be sure to leave me a comment here on my blog telling me what you think about this step. By doing so, you will be one step closer to a fabulous Memorable Seasons prize as well as getting your name entered in for a RAK from me!  Also, be sure to hop all the way until the end, where you will be taken back to the Memorable Seasons forum, where you will see a complete reveal of all the Design Team's finished layouts and the full details for this challenge! 

Now it's your turn to head on over to Tami's blog , where she will be giving you the 5th step in S-P-R-I-N-G 

(the letter N)!

Have a nice day!

Here are a list of the blogs and in the correct order:

Memorable Seasons blog: http://www.memorableseasons.blogspot.com/

Joni's blog: http://joniparkerstuff.blogspot.com/

Kristin's blog: http://memoriesbythepageful-kristin.blogspot.com/

Megan's blog: http://www.made-by-design.blogspot.com/  **(You are Here now)**

Tami's blog: http://tami-lifeinthewhitehouse.blogspot.com/

Telah's blog: http://bamabuttercupscraps.blogspot.com/

Memorable Seasons Forum: Blog Hop Challenge Thread

Layout Share: Drink Dr. Pepper

Here is the last page I created with the monthly kit I purchased from Memorable Seasons for January.

"Drink Dr. Pepper"

It was a really quick layout to create. I just used one of the photos for my title.

The journaling was written with the slick writer pen that came in the kit. I love these coated cardboard elements that I wrote the words on...so pretty and give a bit of dimension to the layout.

Buttons were also stitched and added around the layout for small pops of color.

Supplies Used:

Memorable Seasons January Kit: Petals and Polka Dots

(Pink Paislee Sweetness Papers, Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology elements, Brown Slick Writer)

Making Memories Buttons

White Crochet Thread

All products, including the January kit were purchased by me personally.

Layout Share: Vintage Love

I have another layout to share today--this was created on the backside of the layout from yesterday. I just loved the backside of this paper, so I had to use it too! I will just slip the double-sided layout into a single page protector so both sides can be viewed easily.

My journaling was written along the right side of the photos. The paper had some lighter patterns printed in that area, so it worked out perfectly with being able to easily read the words.

I used the stamp set that came in the kit to add the flower accents around the page. They were just stamped on white cardstock, colored in with colored pencils, and blended with a blending stump and gamsol (odorless mineral spirits). The flowers and leaves were cut from the larger heart image. I love that I can get both looks from one stamp! I also added some stickles glitter glue around the outlines of the stamped images along with the green alphabet stickers I used for my title. The yellow lace borders were cut from a piece of coordinating pattern paper.

 

Supplies Used:

Memorable Seasons January Kit: Petals and Polka Dots

(Pink Paislee Sweetness Papers, Unity Stamps: Hello Friend set, EK Success Alphabet letters)

Ranger Stickles: Diamond

Uchida: Marvy Matchables Black Inkpad

White Cardstock

Zig Brown Marker

Colored pencils

Gamsol, Blending Stump

All products, including the January kit were purchased by me personally.

Layout Share: Days Like These Make Me Smile

This is another layout I created with the January monthly kit from Memorable Seasons, "Petals and Polka Dots".

My larger photos were matted on a piece of white cardstock, then onto the kraft cardstock base. I used a film strip transparency to mat my smaller photos in the middle. I used a light grey paint dauber to lighten an area on the background pattern paper so I could stamp my title in that area. The border above the title was stamped with a dark brown StazOn inkpad, and I added the green sticker letters and stamped the words for the title above the stickers, and the word "smile" was stamped on top of the stickers that spelled out the word "smile". A grey copic marker was used to outline the green stickers to help them stand out a bit more from the background. The yellow lace border was hand-cut from some more of the pattern paper that came in the kit.

Then I used a notebook tab page to include my journaling.

Supplies Used:

Memorable Seasons January Kit: Petals and Polka Dots

(Pink Paislee Sweetness Papers, EK Success Alphabet letters)

Creative Imaginations Photo Negative transparency
Kraft Cardstock (DMD Inc) and White Cardstock (CTMH)
Tsukineko Inkpad: Timber Brown StazOn
Heidi Swapp: Border Stamp
Technique Tuesday: Word stamps
Copic Marker: C1 Cool Grey

Ranger Paint Dauber

Zig Brown Marker

All products, including the January kit were purchased by me personally.

Layout Share: A Taste of History

This layout was created with the January kit that members could purchase from Memorable Seasons. This month's kit was called "Petals and Polka Dots" and had so many pretty papers and embellishments.

 To create this layout, I covered the brown pattern paper background with the paint dauber to soften the colors. Then I used strips of the lace paper from the kit and cut them out along the edges, following the pretty lace pattern. Circles were punched from several pattern papers to anchor my embellishments and title. I added some of the beautiful crochet flowers made by Julie, some of the pink velvet ric rac ribbon and the buttons for my embellishment clusters.

The title was created with green alpha stickers, and I added some clear glitter glue (stickles) on top. I also added dots of glitter glue in between the green seed beads I stitched to the bottom border of my page.

Supplies Used:

Memorable Seasons January Kit: Petals and Polka Dots

(Pink Paislee Sweetness Papers, crochet flowers, EK Success Alphabet letters, May Arts Pink Velvet Ribbon)

Making Memories Paper Flowers and Buttons

EK Success Circle Punch

Green Seed Beads: Craft Stash, unknown

Ranger Stickles: Diamond

Ranger Paint Dauber

Zig Black Marker

White Crochet Thread

All products, including the January kit were purchased by me personally.

Layout Share: Family Memories

Starting in March over at Memorable Seasons, we are choosing a member to highlight and each of the design team members use a layout of theirs for inspiration. Tracy was chosen for the month of March. This is the layout of Tracy's that used as my starting point: "Rain, Rain".

I really like how she had the photos arranged on her page and the title nested in the photos. I also loved how she added the pattern papers in sections.

Here's what I came up with:

I stamped the red labels and added some direct-to-paper inking in a cream color to age them a bit. Then I stamped the title in the center of the largest label with a turquoise inkpad and a brown marker. I love these little silverware embellishments and I added them with brads to work with my Thanksgiving theme.

The other two labels were stamped in the same manner as the larger title, and I used them for my journaling and the date.

You can also see some of the faux stitching I added with a brown marker.

Supplies Used:

WRMK:  Maple Grove Pattern Papers

Jenni Bowlin: Labels Acrylic Stamps

Scrappy Cat: Family Memories Stamp

Stampin' Up Inkpad: Baha Breeze

Ranger Distress Inkpad: Fired Brick, Antique Linen

Zig Brown Marker

Making Memories: Antique Copper Brads

Gold Silverware Embellishments: unknown

Heidi Swapp: Paper Edge Distresser Tool

Sandpaper

Brown and White cardstock

All products used were purchased by me personally.

Sketch Share: Oven Fresh

This is a sketch designed by the talented Kristin over at Memorable Seasons.

I loved this sketch by Kristin and this is what I came up with.
I added a few more photos, but I really love how this layout turned out!

I stamped the images to create my title. The frame was stamped in black, then I added glossy accents to it for emphasis. The words "oven fresh" were added to the center of the frame, then I stamped a flourish in a lighter turquoise ink in the background of the frame. I also used stamps to add swirls on the page, and even the little silverware images were stamped, then covered in glossy accents.

Supplies Used:

Echo Park: For the Record Collection (all pattern papers)

Purple Onion Designs: Silverware stamps

Autumn Leaves Stamps: Swirls

American Crafts: Oven Fresh stamp and Frame

Studio G: Flourish stamp in center of frame

Ranger Distress Inkpads: Pumice Stone, Barn Door, Black Soot

Stampin' Up Inkpad: Bermuda Bay

Bazzill Basics: Black Gingham Ribbon

Bazzill Die Cut Cardstock: Cream Scallop

Darice: Black Gems

Ranger Glossy Accents

Zig Black Writer Pen

WRMK Corner Chomper

All supplies used were purchased personally by me.

Challenge and Layout Share: Summer Surprise

Just wanted to share another layout I created in March as my sample for the Crockpot challenge I posted over at Memorable Seasons.

I love to cook from scratch, but sometimes I need an easy, no-brainer meal for busy days. My "go-to" tool for easy meals is my crockpot. So think of my challenge this week as a crockpot--you just dump in the main ingredient, add the spices, stir and let it cook until it's done.

Megan's Crockpot Creations:
Prep: 10 min
Cook Time: 1 hour
Serves: Many

Ingredients:
Main Dish: 3+ photos (photo size is up to you)
Spices: Sanded Photo Edges, Something Stamped, and Handwritten Journaling.

Mix all four ingredients together with your choice of papers and colors, and stir.



Sanded photo edges:

This is a quick way to help your photos stand out from your background. I use a wide emory board.

Something stamped:

I also stamped the receipt background for the journaling block and the red labels.

Handwritten journaling:


So for this challenge, you need to use the following ingredients:
* 3 or more photos
* Sanded photo edges
* Something stamped 

(if you don't own any stamps, then use some item around your house to create an image)
* Handwritten journaling.

This recipe is one of my favorites and can easily be personalized to fit your own taste. I can't wait to see what you come up with for this challenge!

Supplies Used:
Echo Park: For the Record Collection (papers, border sticker, and alpha stickers)
Jenni Bowlin: Label Acrylic Stamps, Register Stamp
Purple Onion Design: Star Stamps
Ranger Distress Inkpads: Fired Brick, Antique Linen, Weathered Wood
ColorBox Fluid Chalk Inkpad: Prussian Blue
Black Cardstock
Zig Black Marker
Sandpaper

All products used were purchased personally by me.