It is all negative! H2H Challenge

This is one time being negative is a good thing. Our challenge this week at H2H is to use the negative space on a cut out. For this challenge I used my Cricut Artbooking and cut out the tree in Colonial White card stock and backed it with background paper. 

I used an old retired paper pack called Twitterpated, I have had it for a few years and just felt it was the right paper for this project. The pictures going on this layout will be of our daughters at our cottage with the full fall foliage in the background behind them. I try not to post older products but it just worked so well for this project and I really need to use up some of my stash. 

Products used:

Paper:

- Twitterpated (retired)

- Colonial White (retired), Sorbet, and Chocolate card stock

Embellishments:

- Brown Gems

Tools:

- Cricut

- Cricut Artbooking

Ink:

- Chocolate

Stamp:

- A Thankful Heart (retired)

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my project. I cant wait to see how you use the negative space of your project. Please feel free to share your project over at H2H challenges. 

Until next time, happy crafting!

Brandi

Last Day of School - A H2H Challenge Sketch

Happy Monday! 

This week Heart 2 Heart challenges is bringing you a sketch challenge! I decided to use this sketch and make it into a scrapbook layout, I really love cards but I really need to get some photos scrapbooked too! The sketch is pictured below. This is actually only one page of the layout, the second page is below the sketch. 

Products used:

- Paper -  

- Chalk it up

- Card stock - Flaxen, Sorbet, Lagoon, and White Daisy

Cricut:

- Artbooking

- Art Philosophy

Ink:

- Black, Lagoon, and Honey

Stamps:

- B1407 - School is here

- D1556 School Years

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my project for H2H challenges this week. To see the rest of the design teams work, please stop by H2H to see some awesome projects!

Until next time....

Brandi

You are my sunshine....H2H Challenge

Yippee! Another layout, I am really loving that I have been spending more time in my scrapbook area, I am getting layouts done and I love that. I love making cards, but I have so many pictures to develop. I am not that far behind compared to some, I am scrapbooking 2013 right now, but I take an obscene amount of pictures, so I am behind. While I am behind, this layout is actually for a picture I took just last week. I got a self photo (that is what us old people call Selfies) of my daughter and I. There was just something about the look on her face in this picture that I knew this challenge was just perfect for it. I have not developed the picture yet and since I can not publish her image anyway, I am leaving the picture off. 

Products used:

Paper:

- Splendor

- White Daisy and Goldrush card stock

- (the green and blue card stock is actually White Daisy, inked with Heavenly Blue, Moonstruck and Topiary ink)

Inspiration Book:

- Pattern 26 from the Make it from your Heart vol. 2 inspiration book

Die Cuts:

- Artbooking (the sun)

- Silhouette (not CTMH)

     - You are my sunshine quote by Kollette Hall 

Thanks so much for stopping by, I would love to see your take on out "Good Day, Sunshine" theme this week. 

Love Ya Silly! - AHSC #91

Hello! Happy Tuesday to you!

Today I am brining you the last of my Valentine workshop cards. I just had to do one cute card for a little one or someone silly in your life. This card is based off AHSC Sketch #91 and I think it turned out super cute for a little one in your life. 

For this card I used a stamp set I just "HAD TO" have! I really had no need for this set at all, but I just loved it so much, those little monsters are super cute and adorable and the sayings are so cute. I will most likely use this set to make our girls Valentine cards now that I have it but it really was a wanted set not a "needed" set. Here is a look at the whole set:

Aren't they just the cutest little things?

Products Used:

Paper:

- Heartstrings 

- White Daisy card stock

Stamp:

- B1470 Love Ya Silly

Ink:

- Lagoon and Hollyhock

Embellishments:

- Z3037 Stuck on You Puffies

Cricut:

- Artbooking

Please join us over at AHSC, we would love to see your take on our sketch!

Keep on creating!

Brandi

My Aim is True - Fusion Card Challenge

While looking around today for some inspiration today I came across a new to me challenge site. It is called Fusion Card Challenge. 

They give a sketch, a picture, and suggestions and you can use one, both or all and fuse them together. It was kind of interesting to play along. 

Here is what I came up with:

Paper:
- Heartstrings
- White Daisy, Cranberry card stock

Stamp:
- S1501 - This Moment

Embellishments:
- Stuck on you puffy
- Sequins
- Teal Shimmer Trim

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

Crazy Hair Day - H2H Challenges

Anyone who knows me knows that I like things in their place, I lie everything neat and tidy and done right. So it should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me that it was a challenge for me when the girls announced that it was crazy hair day at school. While I went all out as the pictures will attest, it secretly killed me to have the girls looking so dishevelled for school. The girls loved every minute of it; I think they fed off the fact that I was secretly tormented. 

To commemorate (continually torture me) I decided to scrapbook the joy (horror) of their hair that day. This layout is my entry into the Heart to Heart Challenges (H2H) Tic Tac Toe Challenge. The idea behind this is to select any 3 in a row either across, down, or diagonal.  I went diagonal; my project is based off a sketch, has ribbon, and is a scrapbook page. On a side not, I did also have Cricut and Stamping as well, but they are not in order so don't count. The sketch is from the CTMH Make it from the Heart volume 2. 

Products used:

Paper:

- Sarita (retired)

- Colonial White, Outdoor Denim, and Gypsy card stock

Cricut:

- Artbooking

Ink:

- Cotton Candy

- Goldrush

- Outdoor Denim

- Lagoon

Stamps:

- B1430 - Happiness Lives Here

- CC1020 - It's your day

- A1159 - LOL

- S1501 - This Moment

- S1505 - Just Sayin'

Misc:
- Ribbon - both unknown from Michaels
- Alphabet stickers (crazy & day) - unknown from Walmart

Thanks for stopping by, I would love to see your take on our Tic, Tac, Toe challenge!

Until next time,
Brandi

Love - AHSC - Sketch 88

Christmas has come and gone for another year and while the kids are off school for a few more days we have been spending some quality time in our basement where all the craft supplies are. My girls love to scrapbook with me and when they are not helping me they are at their craft table making cards, writing books and drawing pictures, we are definitely a creative and crafty group here!

While we were enjoying some down time from our normal school routine and the busyness of the holidays I decided to get some design team work done and I love when I am not rushing to finish my projects because it allows me the time to work on layouts rather than quick cards. I also love that when working on layouts I get to reminisce about our journey with our girls. I love that many of the sketches at AHSC are so easily converted into layouts rather than cards, makes getting my pictures scrapbooked so much easier!


This picture is one of those many moments I love to think back on. Our girls have come to use through an adoption journey that is still ongoing, we are hoping to finalize our adoption sometime this year. In this picture, our youngest was just 18 months old and had only been living with us for a few weeks and we invited my husbands parents over to meet their 3 newest grandchildren. They only stopped in for a minute, we did not want to overwhelm the girls who were still getting to know us. My in laws were being so patient and we knew it was just killing them but they were so wonderful and waited to meet their girls. The minute my in laws got in the house and my father in law sat down, out youngest, who had never met him before climbed right into his lap with a toy and started playing. She never left his during that short visit and has not left his side since. Our youngest and her grandpa have a special bond. 

The girls love hearing stories and seeing pictures of themselves and they really love it when they are the subject of one of the scrapbook pages. They have had a lot of loss and turmoil in their young lives, I think it makes them feel super special to be featured in our scrapbooks. My oldest asked me today why I scrapbook and I answered honestly, because I enjoy it. She said she likes it because it makes our pictures pretty. Whatever the reason, it is a great way to reconnect and relive those amazing moments in time!

Now, about this layout, here are the products used:

Paper:
- Brushed
- White Daisy, Cotton Candy, and Juniper card stock

Ink:
- Cotton Candy and Juniper

Cricut:
- Artbooking

Stamp:
- S1501 - This Moment

Here is a sneak peek at the January SOTM

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this memory with me!

Until next time, keep on scrapping!

Brandi

NO-vember Fun at Heart 2 Heart

This month at Heart 2 Heart Challenges it is all about the NO - NO ink, NO Stamps, NO B&T (patterned papers), etc. 

This weeks challenge is NO INK!

This is a layout I did of my daughter's first attempt at doing her own hair and she chose pig tails! She did awesome for a first time!

Products used:

Paper:

- Laughing Lola (retired)

- Gypsy and Colonial White Cardstock

Cricut:

- Cricut Artbooking

Thanks for stopping by today, be sure to check out the rest of the Design Teams creations at H2H Challenges!

Thanks!

Brandi

Some like it hot! - H2H Challenges

I love warm weather, I hate cold weather! So this weeks theme is right up my alley. This week at H2H - Heart 2 Heart Challenge is "Some like it Hot" that is all the information given to us, so go with what ever inspires you around the theme "Some like it hot." For me I instantly thought of hot weather and the things we love to do in the warm / hot weather and I instantly thought of the pool. We have a summer membership to go to any of the pools in our city any time they are open and we have been spending a lot of time there so far this summer. I designed this layout to showcase some of the many pool and swimming pictures we have taken already this summer. 

Products used:

Paper:
- Surf's Up

Embellishments:
-Surf's Up assortment
- Sparkles Assortment - Blue and Green
- Shimmer Trim - Teal

Cricut:
- Cricut Artbooking

I typically order all my prints for a year at a time and I am waiting for a good deal on prints, once I get the prints I will add them to my layout and do the journaling. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

AHSC - Cousins

One of my goals when I decided to join some design teams it was to motivate myself to get my work done and this week I was able to get another layout done. I have to admit, I need someone eeping me honest and working on my stash of pictures and when I can get some pictures scrapped it makes me happy. I love making cards but I am a scrapbooker at heart, it is who I am. 

This weeks sketch lent itself to a layout so I took advantage and did another 1 page layout. As I have said before, I typically you do not scrapbook one page layouts but there are a few events that I only have 1-2 pictures for so I am allowing myself to break out of my own biases and did what was right. 

This is a layout from when out girls met her cousins for the second time but really it was the first time. They did meet one other time but the girls were not living with us yet and they were coming over for one of their pre-move in visits and my husbands cousin and his family was visiting from Illinois. Since even being with us, meeting these additional people was a lot and they did not realize the significance of it. So when our family came back up to Canada for Thanksgiving and we got together for a play date it was like the first time they all met. The kids all got along famously and played so well together. In all the catching up and visiting it dawned on me that we did not get any pictures of the kids together and playing so at the last minute I snapped this picture, the one picture from our visit!

Products used:

Paper:
- Colonial White card stock
- Grace (retired)

Cricut:
- Artboooking
- Art Philosophy

Embellishments:
- Burlap ribbon
- Tan opaques

Adhesives:
- Liquid Glass
- Herma Dotto (non CTMH)

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out other great designs from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

Until next time!
Brandi

PS...I am sorry about the quality of the picture, we were in the middle of a storm and I just could not get enough light anywhere to get a good shot to show off the deep rich colours of the papers. If we get a nicer day I will reshoot the picture!

Happy Father's Day - AHSC #54

This week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge we have a very different and unique sketch for you and let me tell you it kind of rocked all of the design team when we saw it but we all agreed to step up to the challenge and out of our comfort zone! I spent quite some time thinking about this one and there are really so many ways you can go with it:

• Layouts - a layout with a picture on it...challenge done!
• Cards - any card with kids to colour or even animals. 
• Cards - put a picture of someone on your card (my initial thought a picture of my MIL and my girls for her Mother's Day Card)

That was just a few ways you could go with this sketch! I chose to be a bit different, I still have people on my sketch but I went with a Father's day card. I used the Artbooking cartridge to cut out the cute couple (representing me and my hubby) and then I cut it out again 3 more times in a smaller size. I surgically removed the men from the couple and added dresses to the girls (3 girls representing our daughters) and blinded them out with some pearls. I used an old tool that has not seen much action lately, my edge distressed. I saw it sitting in my distressing case while I was digging around waiting for the Cricut to finish its work and thought, lets give this bad boy a go and whoola! I used the Holdiay Tags set for the Happy Fathers day and stamped it in Pacifica ink. The paper pack is our retired Dakota (again, using up my scraps stash!)

While I may not be 100% in line with the sketch, that is the awesome thing, you can interpret it how you want...I saw people and added my family, my wonderful family of 5! My poor hubby, as you can see there are a lot of dresses and only one male in this...even our dog (not shown) is female....poor guy in oh about 6 years or so when we hit the tweens and teens

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

Artbooking Made Easy: Cross-Cartridge Collaboration (S01E11)

Enjoy these cute layouts using multiple Close to My Heart cartridges.

Artbooking Made Easy: Freedom Layouts (S01E10)

This edition of the Artbooking made easy is great for scrapbooking any patriotic pictures you might have. With the summer months coming up, these keys are great for scrapbooking your layouts!

Artbooking Made Easy: Festive Mini Albums (S01E09)

This would be a great gift for family and friends to enjoy the memories of the holidays!

Artbooking Made Easy: Everyday Layouts (S01E08)

I use my Artbooking cartridge al the time, it is one of my 3 go to cartridges thanks to the ability to make adorable and simple layouts such as these!

Artboooking Made Easy (S01E02): A+ School Layouts

Artbooking is a great tool to create some fun unique school layouts!

Oh Snap! - Heart 2 Heart Challenges

It is time for another Heart 2 Heart Challenge! This week it is all about the Cricut! Our challenge, should you decide to accept it is to use a Cricut die cut in a unique or different way! I will admit that I am not one who can look at a shape of say a heart and see endless possibilities of things you can create, I see a heart! So knowing that about me I was worried about this challenge to be honest. I poured over all my cartridges looking for that divine inspiration and guess what I came up with....a big whopping NOTHING! So then I decided to stop looking for shapes and just looking and then I got it, our over lays. In the Artbooking cartridge is a lot of overlays and I have seen people use them to make stencils and such so that is what I turned my eye too. 

I love this chevron trend right now so I gravitated to this one and I took my ink out and some sponges and I went to work. I used the help of my friends over at Color My Heart for the colours I was going to use, because again, why think about it they will do it for me and hopefully force me out of my comfort zone! I was thrilled, the colours of the rainbow. I will add my 6 year old was too, she loves anything and everything rainbow so I had an audience once she realized what I was doing. 

So any hoots, I put a bright pink overlay down and sponged the colours on in the colours of the rainbow (thanks to the leapfrog picnic basket that sings red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple its a rainbow for reminding me of what order the colours went in...LOL!

So products used were:

CTMH Ink:
- Smoothie, Sunset, Buttercup, Sweet Leaf, Lagoon, and Gypsy

Stamp set:
- Sightseer

Cardstock:
- White Daisy and Sunset

Here are a couple of pictures of how I masked it and as you can see I did not aim for perfection, I wanted the messy imperfect look!

Just another reason to LOVE the Cricut Artbooking cartridge!

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

Clearly the Best: Party Favor Flavor (S02E12)

OMG this so up my alley with 3 little girls and a ton or birthday parties in my future! Such cute ideas and I already have all the cartridges needed (they are my go to for scrapbooking!)



Do you make your own party favours? I would love to see them, share the link in the comments and show off your great designs!

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

Clearly the Best: Create the Date (S02E11)

I love desk top calendars and the great thing with this is that is something you can start and add to, it does not all need to be done at one time and you can start it any time of the year, it does not need to start in January and end in December…it lets you be creative. 



I love my Artbooking cartridge and this is just another great, creative and fun project to work on. I can't wait to make my own…how about you?

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

Sweet - AHSC #42

It is time for another great sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. I really enjoyed working with this sketch. I did leave off the bow but only because I am probably one of the very few scrapbookers who is not completely addicted to ribbon and as a result I have very little ribbon and none of it worked with the papers I was using. I considered using the bows you can but out on the Cricut but they just did not look right so I left it off. Again, the great thing about sketches is that you can follow it exactly or you can adapt it to suit your needs. 

For this one I broke out the Lovely stamp set that comes with the Cricut Artbooking cartridge. I loved how soft and delicate it is and felt it just worked so well with this paper. I also broke out an older paper pack called Amore and it just screams Valentines and love to me so obviously I had no issues with making Valentines cards with this paper. 

I had a great time working on this card. I hope you will join us over at AHSC and check out the other the work of our great design team and all of the very talented participants. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Brandi