Who's Who? | Giveaway! Practical Scrappers - Scrapping Our Stash Monthly Blog Hop

Hello and happy weekend-eve to you!  It's that time again....Practical Scrapper's Monthly "Scrapping Our Stash" blog hop.  You probably arrived here from Bobbi's blog and project. Keep reading to see my project today, then enter for your chance to WIN a $20 giveaway, and keep on hopping!

My inspiration for this layout are my kids.  How cool to find two near-identical photos of them in the same bathtub with the same shampoo curl around the same age, but seven years apart?!  So....who's who?  There are some clues...

I dipped into My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste collection using the "Presh" papers and embellishments....such a fun collection!  And, yes, I have *much* more MME paper where this came from.  Houston, I have a problem.  ;) 

I used the lined neutral paper from C&P "Charm" as my base and splattered some Indian Corn Blue ink around the edges.  I chose the polka dot paper as my large photo area base and layered the diamond, hashtag, and multi-patterned paper until I liked how it looked.  I inked the edges of all but the diamond, which I distressed instead.  While the photos weren't yet on there, I sewed in blue around the edge of the polka dot paper, over the multi-patterned paper just underneath my photos.  I chose the pink paper to mat Presley's photo and blue paper to mat Paxton's, but I left a spot to insert tags behind each, which has a strip of the inked paper and two brads as toppers:

Clever, yes?  

At least, I felt clever. :) Next I used the arrow card to draw attention to the kiddos.  I snipped a few of the hashtag words, inked them, and popped them up.

Next I created my title.  My alpha stickers sadly didn't come with punctuation <queue sad trombone>, but I was clever again.  Cleverness prevails!  I cut the bottom of a number 2 off to make the question mark and used the small cut piece to fashion the dot for the question mark and an apostrophe!  #winning!

I felt that the top was a little bare after putting my title down, so I created a little embellishment spot using a strip of inked paper, a vellum heart, another brad, and an arrow stamp.

To complete my layout, I wrote the journaling, stamped a few more spots, and voila!

I hope you liked my layout, and I truly hope it inspires you to get into that paper stash you have and use it!  Ready for the giveaway?  Yay!

***Giveaway!***

  

I'm giving away one $20 e-gift certificate to the My Scraps & More online store!

All you have to do is:

1. Become a member of my blog with Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin AND
2. Leave a comment on this blog post

Easy!  You have until Monday, June 2, 2014 at noon CT to enter for your chance to win. International entries are fine!  I will randomly choose one lucky winner and announce it here on my blog on Tuesday, June 3rd.  Good luck, and thanks for hopping along with us!

Next, head over to Marcia's blog to check out her project.  

Have a scrappy weekend!

Practical Scrappers http://practicalscrappers.blogspot.com
Christine http://scrappingwithchristine.blogspot.com

Lee-Anne http://lee-annelovethejourney.blogspot.com

Melissa http://theprofoundbrunette.com

Bobbi http://vintagemusedesigns.blogspot.com/

Majken  http://chocoscrapaholic.blogspot.com/           ***  You are here ***

Marcia  http://www.onescrapatatime-bymumsie.blogspot.com/

Suzanna  http://lifestrivialities.typepad.com/

Cheryl http://patchesandscraps.blogspot.com

Krissy http://krissyclarkmckee.blogspot.com

Wendi R  http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.com/

Erin http://girlpaperscissors.blogspot.com

Kelly www.kelsterjean.com

Monica http://scrapinspired.com

Laura http://scrapaddict4life.blogspot.com/

Deborah http://scrappinthelittlethings.blogspot.com/

Wendy C www.stampingrules.com

{Oh Baby} - CMS and MSAM challenges

Hi everyone!  Popping in today to post a layout I created for the Color Me Scrappy challenge #61 and My Scraps & More sketch #80.  When I saw the CMS color scheme, I knew I had to use it...my absolute favorite color is purple, and I don't get to use it often since it's not usually part of collections these days.  <Insert sad face>

But I pulled out a Basic Gray collection called Kioshi!  Here's my chunky monkey at 5 months old:

Here's the sketch:

And here's the color scheme:

I followed the sketch pretty closely except I only had one photo to use.  The base is CTMH Smokey Plum.  I used the Basic Gray Kioshi collection, apiece of vellum to mat my photo, some CTMH Grey Wool CS, and some light green Bazzill textured cardstock.  

I inked the edges of the pieces using CTMH Smokey Plum and Slate ink.  I machine stitched using gray thread on the Smokey Plum cardstock and purple thread on the flower pattern strip as well as the top right corner of the polka dot piece.

I was lucky to find this cut file that had a flower that matched the flower on the paper.  I used my Cameo to cut several sizes of the flower from different matching papers to put on the top left and bottom right of the layout.

For the title, I used white chipboard letters for the "OH" and cut the banner and "baby" using my Cricut Imagine and the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.  I topped the banner with light green tabs which I stapled on with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (*love* that thing).

I used Hero Arts Pearls & Gems for the flower centers, and journaled using an opaque white pen.

I hope you like my rendition of these challenges...see you soon!

Majken

Everything Here is Wonderful - CMS / Scrap & Play challenges

Happy, happy Friday everyone!  So excited to be posting this week...work has been H-E-C-T-I-C and I'm ready for my 3-day weekend!  But...I'm sad for the reason we have this weekend so I plan on explaining to our 5-year-old why our American flag will be in the front yard Monday, and we'll have a moment of silence to honor our fallen brave men and women.  I'm making some cards to share with current military via Operation Hugs, too, so I'll share those when they are complete!  

Today I'm sharing a layout I created about my mom and her new horse.  Since my dad passed away, my mom decided that she'd fulfill a lifelong dream she had of owning a horse.  It took awhile to find the right one, but she's had Holly now almost a year, and since this horse makes my mom smile, she makes *me* smile.  :)  Presley and I got to meet Holly in December.

I saw this color challenge on Color Me Scrappy and immediately thought of these photos!  Since the rules say you can add a little of another color, I brought in a little of the red that matches Holly's bridle.

And then I saw this challenge at Scrap & Play and put them together.

For this layout, I pulled out an Echo Park collection called "Note to Self" since the colors really fit nicely with the challenge.

I turned the sketch sideways for my rendition, and used the brown as my base layer.  Then I took the tan grid paper and used my Cameo to cut three identical rectangles out.  I inked the edges of the rectangles, and then layered three different papers in each rectangle. You can see a close up of the blue polka dot paper below.

I matted the photos using the blue polka dot paper and with the top one I sewed to create a pocket to put a pull-out journal tab on, which I used for some private journaling.  I cut a tab out, inked the edges, and then used letters from the collection to spell "pull", which I then sewed over in gray thread.  I adhered the tab to my journal piece and tucked it behind the photo.

I created the title area on the lower left following my turned sketch.  I had a gray pocket page piece with "Everything here is wonderful" that I trimmed to use for the title.  I layered it over several of the Note to Self pieces, including a piece with a negative star that I cut for the bottom right of the layout.  And then I sewed over this section as well.

Finally I created a journal area to put my "public" journaling on.  To finish, I stapled several stars that I cut using my Cameo and Fiskars punches (inked in orange-red to help them pop).  I love the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher...I even created some chevrons using the staples in the top right of my page!  A couple of bronze star stickers complete the layout.

I hope you enjoyed my layout today, and I hope you are inspired to create something in earth tones, too.  If you do, share with me!  

Happy, chocolate-filled Friday, y'all!

Majken

#TBT - Too Cute

Ah, sweet Thursday...also known as Friday eve.  Well, not really, but that's how I like to think of it.  ;)  The gateway to the weekend.  And today, I'm happy to share with you part three of my Throwback Thursday series.  Today's layout comes the distance all the way back from 2004.  It's a simple 2-page layout but I think its simplicity is definitely part of its charm.  Check out my daughter at 2 1/2 years old (such a cutie pie, but I'm not biased at all):

I featured photos of Presley after she was ready for school (i.e. with neat hair, no crumbs or stains on clothes or face, etc....lol) on the left hand side of the layout and journaling on the right-hand side.  

I used all Close To My Heart materials (Barn Red cardstock, Autumn Terracotta cardstock, and Sweet Leaf background & texture paper as well as CTMH alpha and flower stamps).  I sanded the AT cardstock pieces for some texture, and I matted the photos and journaling with opposing colors of cardstock for added depth.  I kept embellishments to a minimum as was the style back then...bows with stamped, fussycut flowers on the left:

And eyelets (remember those?!), twine, and stamps on the right:

I hope you enjoyed the journey back in scrapbooking time with me!  Stay tuned in two weeks for a re-do of one of my very first layouts from 1999!  I can't wait...until then, any TBT layouts you share with me would be awesome.

Thanks for visiting today, and have a happy Thursday!

Hugs and chocolate,

Majken

Happy Bird-day - Practical Scrapper Card Sketch

Happy Tuesday fellow chocolate-lovers and scrappers!  Today I'm popping in to show you a quick card that I created for the last Practical Scrappers card sketch (all but the monthly blog hop will go away after this week).  ((Waaaah!))

I went all the way back to 2010 in my Basic Grey stash for these materials!

Here is my card:

And here is the sketch by Christine Meyer that inspired the card:

All materials used are from the Basic Grey "Life of the Party" collection (with the exception of one yellow Maya Road star pin and a strip of CTMH Sunflower organdy ribbon).

I hope you have a fun week!  

xoxo,
Majken

You Are My Spring - Color Me Scrappy Challenge

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers of human kids and/or fur-babies all the world over...and here's to a fresh new week in Spring 2014!

Today I'm sharing a layout highlighting the girl who made me a mom for the first time over 12 years ago.  She's 6 weeks old in this layout, and I created this layout as inspiration from this Color Me Scrappy color scheme:

When I saw this color scheme, the Simple Stories "Fresh Air" Simple Set collection immediately popped into my mind.  Here's my layout:

When I was thinking of spring, I was thinking of sunshine and flowers.  I like the popular "rays" look but instead of straight rays, I wanted swirled rays to also connote flowers.  I went to the Silhouette store and chose this peppermint file.  I expanded it to fit within a 12 x 12 frame, and adjusted it to fit where I wanted the center of my swirls to be (slightly lower to the right than center).  I cut each swirl out in my chosen paper, and I inked the edges using various inks: CTMH Crystal Blue, Smoothie, and Seafoam.  After spattering a piece of white cardstock using Crystal Blue reinker, I adhered my swirl rays to the page and then sewed in light blue along the sides of each swirl (my photo will cover the points that don't exactly match up so I wasn't concerned about them not touching - you can adjust using your Silhouette software if you want them to touch):

Next, I layered my 5x7 photo with my favorites from the Fresh Air collection - I inked or distressed the edges as I layered.  I added a few of the elements from the elements #2 and sticker sheets.  I love the heart next to the cloud, but I added a sticker with four hearts on it, flower sequin and green brad to create an embellishment cluster.

Next, I created my title "You are my spring".  I used the green alpha stickers from the collection for the "You".  The sticker sheet had the phrase "you are my sunshine", so I trimmed the "are my" from that and matted it.  To create "spring", I used CTMH D1481 "Vintage Type".  I stamped the flowers in Smoothie and the letters in Crystal Blue and then fussy cut them out and adhered with 3D foam tape.

Next, I created an embellishment cluster on the top left of my photo area using lace tape, a fussycut flower with a yellow enamel dot, and a bow.

Finally, I created a journal spot using the Elements #2 paper and a couple of the stickers.

The challenge also included instructions to use things that started with the letters that spell "NEW".  Mine are:

N = "N" stamp in title
E = Elements #2 paper in Fresh Air
W = Whimsical flowers

I hope you are inspired and enjoy your week!  I am still working on some chocolate cake I got as part of an early Mother's Day dessert from a fabulous place here in Houston called The Chocolate Bar (thank goodness it's not near my house, or I'd be in.......
T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!)...and I hope you got some chocolate too.  :)

Chocolate, scrappy hugs,
Majken

Mister Carwash

Hello everyone and welcome May - National Scrapbooking Month!  So many fun things happen in May - Mother's Day, my husband's and my anniversary, Memorial Day, our neighborhood swimming pools and water parks open...and the sunshine is usually here to stay in the Houston area.  :)

Today I'm sharing my take on the Practical Scrappers May sketch, and it's focused on my son, Paxton.  Our favorite car wash place is Mister Carwash, and it has a water gun that the kids can spray at the cars as they go by!  So fun for him.

Here's my layout:

And it's based on this Practical Scrapper sketch created by Christine Meyer:

Because of how I wanted my photos to appear, I flipped the sketch like in the mirror.  I love the boyish patterns and colors of the Echo Park "That's My Boy" collection.  My base is the dark blue patterned paper.  The photo base is white cardstock with different colors of paint spattered on it, and I also used some of my favorite Studio Calico Darling Dear chevron vellum.

I applied the plaid strip at the top and sewed along the top and bottom of it.  My bottom strip is the blue patterned paper covered with a strip of the patterned white and light blue paper, which I also stitched through the middle.

One of the shapes in the collection is a slightly elongated hexagon (you can see a small strip of this paper in the top left of my layout under the "Car"), so I found and used that shape in my stash as a journal tag after inking the edge in dark blue.  I grounded the layout by cutting a corner of orange and stitching to the bottom right, and then I added a few embellishments from my stash as well - a vellum star, a button, and a badge.

For my title, I used a retro-looking font and cut "mister" using my Cameo and the white and light blue patterned paper.  I inked the edges in red.  For "Carwash" I used a different font on my Cameo, and because I wanted to use the same dark blue patterned paper, I also cut a mat for it in the white and light blue paper.

A few staples and the layout was done!

I hope you were inspired by my rendition of this sketch...I certainly enjoyed capturing this memory with my son.  :)

Have a wonderful week!

Majken

Summer Kickoff Layout

Happy weekend everyone!  I'm participating in the My Scraps & More April Sketchathon - they had a sketch a day all month long!  I wanted to do even more (where does the time go??), but I have a third MSAM Sketchathon layout to share with you today (sketch #6).  Almost a year ago to celebrate Memorial Day, we went to Splashway, a local water park.  We had so much fun with the kids and my daughter's friend who joined us.  I'm looking forward to summer!  Here's my take on the sketch.

I had three photos that I wanted to capture which fits the sketch nicely:

And the twist is to use one of the words/phrases that were given.  I chose "right now", which you can see on the bottom right of the photo area.

The first thing I noticed when I pulled the photos together were the colors.  Such nice, summery colors!  The paper I gravitated to was the Dear Lizzy Day Dreamer.  I used "Dodge Ball" as the main area behind the photos.  I decided to bring in more black...so that is my main "canvas".  I also decided on a MME Now & Then "Izzy, Smile Bloom" because the green matched so nicely...and I felt the smaller polka dots complemented the large circles on the Dear Lizzy paper.

I trimmed the MME paper slightly and then stitched a thin line as a border, creating zig zag stitching around the top left and bottom right corners.

I created the border underneath the photos by trimming the scallops in the Dear Lizzy Day Dreamer "Flying Kites" paper and a thin strip of black cardstock.  I cut six chevrons from the back side of the Dear Lizzy paper and stitched in black through the border.

For the title area, I used black Fancy Pants alpha letters for "summer" and used my Cameo to cut out "kickoff".  Strips of the scallop negative and the Dodge ball paper were used to frame the title and provide a base for the journal spot.

To finish the layout, I punched confetti from the Dodge ball paper, used a corner of the same paper in the bottom right to anchor, and used stickers to spell "FUN" on the top left.

I hope your weekend is fabulous and full of scrappy time...and chocolate, of course!

Enjoy,
Majken

Positively Cool

Hello Friday, and hello paper crafts people!

My nephew had a birthday a couple of days ago, so I made him a square card using one of my very favorite Echo Park collections "All About a Boy".  I *love* the colors in this collection. This stamped 6x6 card is going to be on the Practical Scrappers blog today highlighted stamped projects.  I used Close To My Heart stamps S1204 (sentiment) and A1150 (chevron).

This was a relatively simple card.  I stamped the chevron in several blue inks to create an ombre effect, and then sewed in orange across the middle of the chevrons and over the various patterned papers.  I outlined the blue patterned paper with stitching as well.  

I stamped the sentiment "You are positively COOL!" and popped it up with 3D foam tape. 

Now I just need to send my nephew the card!  I did text him to wish him happy birthday, but it's not the same as getting something in the mail....even if belated.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Chocolate hugs,
Majken