Happy Halloween!

In honor of the day, I've made a couple Halloween cards with the Union Square kit from Noel Mignon.

It's not a Halloween kit per say.

BUT there are a couple stickers in there and some fun patterned papers that make it work!

Who says Halloween has to be just orange, black, and purple anyway??!

Don't you just love the sparkle that these Thickers have?!

One more!

I did throw a little orange on this one just for fun!

:)

What am I going to do if this twine trend ever dies??!

Thanks for stopping by today!

And I hope your Halloween is fun and a little bit spooky too!

Sharing some cards

Morning!

Just sharing a couple of easy, super-girly cards using new KI Memories goodies!

And one more!

Short & sweet!

That's all I've got. 

Happy Tuesday!

:)

gretchen

Muddy Mess

Hi!
This morning I thought I would share the layout that I had up on the Creating Keepsakes blog a couple weeks ago!
*****Have you seen the new November/December issue yet?! Well there is a fun feature in there called “Scraplift Challenge.”
In this article traditional scrapbookers are challenged to scraplift digital layouts and, in turn, digi scrappers scraplift traditional pages.
What a cool idea, right?!So I decided to give it a whirl!
I remembered a cool layout in the September/October 2013 issue that I had bookmarked and decided to scraplift it.
It is the “Favorite Photos” layout by Mandi Buchanan on page 27 of the issue.
Hers is a digital Halloween layout and I loved how she lined up her photos and used white space.

Favorite Photos by Mandi Buchanan from Creating Keepsakes September/October 2013

Using her layout as inspiration, this is the
traditional layout I made:

Supplies:

Patterned paper: Elle’s Studio, Creative Memories, Simple Stories

Cardboard letters: Jillibean Soup

Chipboard embellishment: Little Yellow Bicycle

Brads: Simple Stories

Tape: Bella Blvd

Punch: Elle’s Studio

Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

Font: Courier New

Pictures printed by Persnickity Prints

Of course my page turned out a bit different than the original. Obviously mine is not a Halloween layout. Hey, her design is super cool and versatile enough to use for all kinds of pages!
I am a journaler so I added some journaling to the page.
I still tried to leave a lot of white space though!
And I added my title above all the pictures instead of mixing it between the photos like Mandi did.
Scraplifting is fun because it gives you a jumping off point but then you can add your own personal touches to your page!
*****
Here are a couple detailed shots of the layout: 

Well that was fun!
Try giving this kind of scraplifting a whirl if you ever get stumped!
And Creating Keepsakes is full of all kinds of great ideas, traditional & digital, for you to scraplift! 

Thanks for stopping by today.
Have a great one!

:)
gretchen

Smile!

Just a couple of fun cards to share this morning!

I made both of these using my "Union Square" kit from Noel Mignon. 

I love the variety in this kit and you can really see it in these 2 cards!

I started off making these cards with the same basic design.

Somewhere along the way I got off track!

:)

Have an awesome day!

:)

Fall trip

OK I have another layout to share from the 

Creating Keepsakes

"Mixed Media Scrapbooking Vol. 2". 

This one is all about a mountain trip I took last fall. 

Supplies: Patterned paper (DCWV, Bella Blvd), Ink (ClearSnap), Stickers (Bella Blvd, Fancy Pants), Chipboard (Little Yellow Bicycle), Bling (Little Yellow Bicycle), Buttons (Bella Blvd), Plastic Embellishments (Queen & Co.)

My assignment was to do something interesting with ink pads.

So I made these fun flowers with a cat eye ink pad!

I've made these before with an ink pad from one of my Noel Mignon kits.

And I have a tutorial on how to make them on {this post here}.

I added a mix of bling and buttons and stuff to make a fun center for each of the flowers.

*****

And a couple more close ups for your viewing pleasure!
:)

Oh man, that trip was a whole year ago!

Time flies!

OK happy day y'all!

:)

gretchen

Lost & Found

Good morning!

OK for some reason I am just now getting around to sharing a couple layouts I have in the latest special issue from Creating Keepsakes. 

This issue is "Mixed Media Scrapbooking Vol. 2"

I made this layout about finding our dog who had been missing for a whole week!

Supplies: Patterned paper (DCWV, Imaginisce, Creative Memories), Stickers (Bella Blvd, Jillibean Soup), Chipboard (American Crafts, Studio Calico), Bling (Little Yellow Bicycle), Brads (Basic Grey, Bazzill), Glitter (ClearSnap), Tape (KI Memories), Plastic embellishments (Queen & Co.)

*****

The technique featured in this layout is how to jazz up brads with a little glitter. 

Basically I just added an adhesive dot to the top of a brad and then rolled the brad around in glitter. 

And a sparkly brad is made!

Then I combined the sparkly brads with bling, fun plastic embellishments from Queen & Co., & some plain brads to make a giant heart to hold my journaling. 

Here are a couple more detailed shots of the layout. 

OK I'll share another layout tomorrow
And happy Monday y'all!

:)

gretchen

One last hoorah

Last Friday I got to do a guest post over at Shimelle.com.

My post was about different ways to use 6x6 paper pads in your scrapbooking. 

{you can see my post here}

I use 6x6 pads a lot when making cards, but I end up with lots of paper left over!

No need to let it go to waste!

Here is one of the ideas I shared over at Shimelle.com:

Layer 6x6 sheets to create a background for a layout. 

Combine a couple or several different 6x6 sheets to make the background for your scrapbook page. 

One fun thing about these pads is that all the papers usually coordinate. 

That makes it easy to use a few different sheets together on a page! On this page I used (4) 6x6 sheets: 2 sheets of the starry paper, 1 purple sheet, and 1 orange sheet. 

Supplies: 6x6 paper pad (KI Memories), Patterned paper (Bella Blvd), Chipboard (Bella Blvd), Foam alphabet (American Crafts), Stickers (Bella Blvd, My Mind’s Eye), Brads (We R Memory Keepers), Pen (American Crafts), Adhesive (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L)

*****

Here are a couple detail shots of the layout...

Another tip: I used another 6x6 sheet of the purple paper to make the photo corners on this page. 

I just cut 3 of the corners off the 6x6 sheet and had 3 easy photo corners to add to the page. 

Just another way to not have to “waste” a 12x12 sheet!

*****

Happy Friday y'all!

:)

gretchen

You & Me

Hi there!

I've got another layout to share with you using my "Union Square" kit from Noel Mignon.
I really tried hard to embrace the white space on this page. 

It's tough for me though!

Literally I had to just walk away to keep from adding more stuff!

:)

I used the American Crafts "&" stamp with the gold ink from the kit.
This gold ink is awesome!
This pic doesn't do it justice but it is really radiant and shimmery.
Just what you want in gold ink!

I did  a bit of fussy cutting on this page.
I cut out the flowers & hearts from different patterned papers in the kit. 

I had forgotten how much I love rub-ons! 

And these rub-ons from Jenni Bowlin are to die for!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Guest posting

I am posting over on the Creating Keepsakes blog today.

Here is a little sneak of the layout I have up over there. 

I did a little scraplifting for this one.
I took a digital layout from the Sep/Oct issue and scraplifted it tradition-style.

Go check it out and tell me what you think!

:)

gretchen

Want to see what my new most favorite hobby is??

So you've heard of road biking & mountain biking, right??!

But have you heard of cyclocross??

Cyclocross is kind of a cross between the two!

{get it??!}

It's kind of like biking on an obstacle course.

And I love it!

I mean I love mountain biking, but this is just plain fun!

And kind of painful!

See a cyclocross course is 1-2 miles long & a race involves laps around the course as fast as you can for a set amount of time.

The length of your race depends on what category you are in {like beginner, intermediate, expert, etc). 

Right now I am still "beginner" so I only have to race 30 minutes. 

But woah! It's a hard 30 minutes!

A cyclocross course is usually over grass, dirt, & gravel.

There might be a little paved road along the course but that's a luxury.

There are tight turns, quick hills, maybe a sand pit or 2.

And barriers!

Part of cyclocross involves getting off your bike and carrying it over obstacles. 

Sometimes you even have to go up or down stairs with your bike!

I actually look like I know what I am doing here...excellent photography!

;)

The environment during these races is super fun. 

Because the course is pretty short, it is easy to spectate and see a lot of action.
And there is quite a bit of heckling that goes on!

It's all in good fun, but I have had to thicken my skin a bit!

:)

So who wants to come play with me??!

:)

gretchen

Winner Winner!!

Thank you for all the nice comments y'all left me over on Shimelle.com!

Want to know who wins the 6x6 paper pads??!

:)

*****

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

6

Timestamp: 2013-10-14 23:17:38 UTC

which means that the winner is:

ConnieC said...

I came from Shimelle's blog. Great ideas on using those pads. Somehow a huge amount of them have ended up at my house. They are so cute, I keep bringing them home like puppies.

It's funny that I have never thought to use them as a mat for my square photos. I use a ton with 4x6 photos.

October 13, 2013 at 1:29 AM

*****

Yay Connie!!

Email me (gretchenmcelveen at yahoo dot com) your address and I will get your paper pads out to ya!

Thanks again for leaving me comments!

:)

gretchen

Scrapbook with 6x6 paper pads!

Last week I got to be a guest blogger over at Shimelle.com. 

**pumped!!**

I shared 5 different ways to use 6x6 paper pads in your scrapbooking. 

I thought I would share one of the ideas here today but go check out my full post {here}. 

AND the giveaway I have going on here {see post below} is still open.
I will pick a winner tonight!

*****

OK so my first idea for your 6x6 paper pads: 

Use them as photo mats for your Instagram photos. 

6x6 paper pads make perfect photo mats for your square Instagram photos. 

Supplies: 6x6 paper pad (Die Cuts with a View, We R Memory Keepers), Patterned paper (American Crafts, We R Memory Keepers), Chipboard (Bella Blvd), Cardboard letters (Jillibean Soup), Bling (Creative Memories), Twine (My Mind’s Eye), Pen (American Crafts), Adhesive (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L)

I used the entire 6x6 sheet to mat the photo on this layout. However if you want less mat, just crop the 6x6 sheet to 5x5 or even 4 ½ x 4 ½!

Here are a couple more close-up shots of the page. 

I used to use paint on my pages a lot.

Not so much lately though.
So it was fun to get a little dirty & pull out the red paint to jazz up these cardboard letters a bit.  

Ok so go check out the post below for giveaway details. 

I will hook you up with a few 6x6 paper pads if you win!

:)

Happy Monday!

gretchen

Well this is exciting! {+ a GIVEAWAY!!}

I have a post up at Shimelle.com today!!

It's all about ways to use 6x6 paper pads in your scrapbooking!

Go check it out {here}.

And of course there is something in it for you if you do!

Check out my post over there, leave a comment there, & then come back here and tell me that you did.
I will randomly choose 1 comment-leaver to win a fun assortment of 6x6 paper pads from KI Memories!

Good deal, right??!

OK so go check out Shimelle.com today!

And happy Friday!!

:)

gretchen