inspiration Monday [LCOM featuring Webster's Pages].

We went on vacation to the Bahamas a few weeks ago and that beautiful blue water, the feel of the sand on my feet, and the hot sun soaking into my skin is all that's getting me through the rest of this winter. The snow just won't stop! If you haven't vacationed down to the Bahamas you are missing out! Our cruise stopped at Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassua. I had been to HMC and Nassau before but GT was new and it was so beautiful! Two years ago we stayed at an all inclusive in Freeport and I would definitely recommend it over Nassau. 

Anyway, I put together a collage of some of our photos and I used it as a mood board to inspire my layout today.

#nofilter

 Live in the Sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.  -Emerson

I'm using Webster's Pages Composition and Color collection. This collection includes two cut apart 12x12 papers. I don't do project life but I am still able to include these on my regular scrapbook layouts. There is also a package of coordinating ribbon (five designs/1 yard each) and I used three of the designs on my page.

Here's my page:

Other supplies...
enamel dots: My Mind's Eye; Prima Anna Marie Sugardots
puffy stickers: Skipping5
stamps: Studio Calico; Melissa Frances (these are several years old)
ink: StazOn (onyx); Versa Color (turquoise)
washi: Freckled Fawn
date stamp: Amy Tangerine
chipboard: Creative Embellishments
labels/tags: Elle's Studio; Chic Tags 

love is all you need. [LCOM sketch 58]

We're revealing LCOM sketch #58 today and we used the Pink Paislee Secret Crush collection. Pink Paislee is one of my top five favorite manufacturers. I loved this collection. 

and here's my page:

I condensed this sketch into an 8.5x11 size page with one horizontal photo. The rest of the layout I kept pretty close to the sketch. I was glad to have some of the ephemera pack left in my stash from this collection, but I also used my ticket punch and punched out coordinating tickets from some patterned papers. Can you tell which ticket is from the ephemera pack and which two are mine?? 

I added three Studio Calico stamps and used onyx Staz On ink + raspberry pie Prima chalk ink. Lastly, I added Elle's Studio circle labels (You and Me Tidbits), Prima Say it in Crystals, and wood veneer birds (Freckled Fawn).  

This is my cousin and her husband, taken in 2013.

Be sure to visit the LCOM blog to see the other media team layouts.

Our February Prize - a beautiful assortment of embellishments from Bo Bunny's Love Letters collection! 

How to Play Along: 

1. Make a newly created project using the provided sketch and upload it to your blog or online gallery.

2. Then leave a link to your project using the Inlinkz widget HERE. Please use a direct link to your LCOM Sketch post and not just your blog address.
3. If you upload to online galleries, please also use tag/keyword LCOM58.  LCOM products are NOT required to participate, and you can enter as many times as you want. If you don't have a particular shape indicated in the sketch, feel free to substitute.
4. There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but the linking form will close on the last day of the month at 8:00pm (Atlantic Standard Time) to allow us to find a prize winner.

do more of what makes you happy [card]|My Stamp Box.

It's the last day of January 2014. How are you coming along with your resolutions? 

Here's an easy one for the remainder of the year: Do more of what makes you happy! Seriously. 

This card is for My Stamp Box and I used the Mini Pennant stamp set to make this flower. I stamped the image with Prima Green Grass chalk ink. The center of the flower is a Glitz rhinestone, the washi is from Freckled Fawn, and the quote ATC is by Chic Tags. This is a really simple (but pretty) card.

good dog.

Here's one I did before we left for vacation that I never got around to posting. This is an iphone photo, of course. After Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's my brother spread out on the living room floor and the dog curled up next to him and they took a nap. 

 I got my Studio Calico dog mini kit right before vacation and immediately had to do something with it. The washi and the stamp set are both from the kit.

chocolate babies|My Stamp Box.

I'm sharing a layout on the MSB blog today using three stamp sets from My Stamp Box. I used Mini Pennants, Sigh Gush Gasp, and Snapshot. This is an Instagram photo of our two chocolate boys in the family. My brother has a yellow Lab and I of course have a black Lab. My mom took Chocolate and he gets along really well with Hunter. [you can read Chocolate and Vanilla's rescue story HERE]

I first used the Mini Pennants to make a little border and then I used one of the photo corner stamps from the Snapshot stamp set. The black frame is also from the Snapshot stamp set - I stamped it onto a piece of cute yellow heart patterned paper. I used the 'love' sentiment from the Sigh Gush Gasp - I really love that font for the sentiments in this set.

I always say "hi baby" in a high pitched baby talk voice when I come home to my dog or go to visit the dogs at my mom's house. Of course, at my mom's I have to say hi to both babies.

I used some of my January Studio Calico kit (Basic Grey patterned paper, Bella Blvd patterned paper, labels) + the dog mini kit (decorative tape). The letter stickers are very old and from my stash. The yellow puffy stickers are twine+ink and the wood veneer came from the Cocoa Daisy December kit. The cork house is Freckled Fawn :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Try to stay warm :)

she dances. [LCOM sketch #56]

Hey, hey! While you're reading this, I'm actually on a plane on my way home from vacation. If you arrived from the LCOM blog, you know the reveal of sketch #56 is happening. If you didn't see the LCOM blog post, this is the sketch: 

great sketch, huh? :)

You may remember my cousin who got married in October. I took these photos with my phone so they're  not the greatest quality. This is the first dance with her husband, Eric, and the father/daughter dance with her dad, Mike. 

We're featuring the Lucky Charm collection by Dear Lizzy/American Crafts. I used the 6x6 paper pad + some dark navy cardstock for the base. The striped paper allowed me to select coordinating embellishments in navy, pink, and teal. The pink enamel dots are Prima Sugardots and the navy stars are by twine + ink (December Cocoa Daisy). I used tags and labels from Chic Tags (Love Note) and Elle's Studio (You and Me Tidbits). The letter stickers are by October Afternoon (Daily Flash) and also came in the December Cocoa Daisy day in the life kit. The date stamp is Amy Tan and I used Prima chalk ink in teal damask. For a final touch, I sprinkled Mister Huey's in bazinga.

Our January Prize

Our January prize is a copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today's CardMaps 3! 

How to Play Along: 

1. Make a newly created project using the provided sketch and upload it to your blog or online gallery.

2. Then leave a link to your project using the Inlinkz widget HERE. Please use a direct link to your LCOM Sketch post and not just your blog address.
3. If you upload to online galleries, please also use tag/keyword LCOM56.  LCOM products are NOT required to participate, and you can enter as many times as you want. If you don't have a particular shape indicated in the sketch, feel free to substitute.
4. There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but the linking form will close on the last day of the month at 8:00pm (Atlantic Standard Time) to allow us to find a prize winner.

Hello Christmas|My Stamp Box.

Our ALL PLAY this month is sparkle. I love sparkle. I'll share the layout I made using silver + glitter.

I used silver embossing powder from My Stamp Box + the presents from the MSB Merry Mr Snowman stamp set. I used a green patterned paper from the Glitz Design Hello December 6x6 pad as "wrapping paper" and then the silver embossing as the ribbon. 

Then I stamped the 'Christmas" sentiment onto red cardstock and cut it into a pennant shape. This is one stamp (Merry Christmas) but I cut them apart. The red heart stamped around the 25 is from the MSB Holiday Monkey stamp set. I used Versa Color ink in cardinal.

To add more sparkle, I grabbed some silver glitter tape by American Crafts and a silver star overlay from Webster's Pages/Allison Kreft. The silver star embellishments are from Freckled Fawn and so are the wood veneer houses. I covered the houses with Glossy Accents and then sprinkled MSB sparkling fine glitter on the top.

I haven't done the journaling yet  but this is my first Christmas in my first home and I had two trees up. One in the upstairs living room and one in the downstairs/basement family room. Those are actually project life cards by Technique Tuesday/Ali Edwards.

I hope you'll check out the MSB blog today to see the other sparkle projects!

Sketch N Scrap: guest designer.

My January guest design work continues with Sketch n Scrap as I'm here to share the second layout sketch challenge this month. This is a great sketch! I followed it pretty closely this time. Here it is:

Please visit the Sketch n Scrap blog today to see what the design team members did with this sketch. Also, prize and entry details are available there as well. 

supplies
patterned paper: Heidi Swapp; Glitz Design (Hello December); Amy Tan (Cut & Paste)
decorative tape: Glitz Design
chipboard heart, label sticker: Pink Paislee
cork stickers, puffy stickers: Freckled Fawn

sit. stay. love.

I found this sketch at the 3 Scrappy Boys blog. I used my new January Studio Calico kit + the mini dog kit to make this page:

Highway 5k. [LCOM Media Team sketch #54].

I'm excited to share sketch #54 with you guys! This is our first project and by "our" I mean the new LCOM media team!! Here's our sketch:

Pagemaps

We are featuring the Finnley collection by Glitz Designon this sketch. I really am a huge fan of Glitz (since the beginning!) and I really liked the Finnley collection - I only have a couple of full 12x12 sheets left. I also used Studio Calico stamps with onyx StazOn ink, Elle's Studio Summer Lovin' note tags, Freckled Fawn washi, a Studio Calico mask + Mister Huey's (Hey Diddle Diddle).

Here's my page:

I can't believe I never did a race recap back in October on the Highway Half & 5K race. This race was hosted in my city and really marketed and amped up as a historical event because it would only be done ONCE so if you wanted the chance to be included, you had to DO IT! I think there were over 3,000 participants. I had a goal of running another 5K race in 2013 and this one inspired me because it truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I wasn't really in 5K shape, but I'd been running 2 miles about 3x/week for several months so I was ready enough. It was a little chilly but we warmed up quickly once we started running. We had to park about a mile from the start of the race. I didn't feel like it was very well organized. Packet pick up was the night before but we had no idea where the start line was and people were just milling around everywhere. They also didn't stagger the start time which was horrendous because I was literally tripping and running around little old ladies, wheelchairs, and strollers. Not the way you want to start a race. All in all, I was glad to do this, to be a part of history, and to finish with a time of 32:25 which was in no way a PR but at least I finished!

Stop by the LCOM blog to see what the other media girls did with the Finnley papers and to upload your own creation!

Our January Prize

Our January prize is a copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today's CardMaps 3! 

How to Play Along: 

1. Make a newly created project using the provided sketch and upload it to your blog or online gallery.

2. Then leave a link to your project using the Inlinkz widget HERE. Please use a direct link to your LCOM Sketch post and not just your blog address.
3. If you upload to online galleries, please also use tag/keyword LCOM54.  LCOM products are NOT required to participate, and you can enter as many times as you want. If you don't have a particular shape indicated in the sketch, feel free to substitute.
4. There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but the linking form will close on the last day of the month at 8:00pm (Atlantic Standard Time) to allow us to find a prize winner.

congrats! card|My Stamp Box.

Hello there! Today I'm sharing a card I made for My Stamp Box. I used the Mini Alpha stamp set. 

I heat embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder from My Stamp Box. The twine is October Afternoon and the chipboard stickers is Crate Paper. 

Be sure you stop by the MSB blog all month for lots of projects from all the DT girls!

saved|Whimsical Twist.

This is a story about a time I saw two 8 year old Lab brothers at a shelter while browsing online at petfinder.com and two days later adopted them. Meet Chocolate and Vanilla. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving with mom on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. That night,she and I were browsing online actually looking for a dog for my brother. Up popped a photo of these two and it was over. I didn't know how I was going to do it with three dogs. I didn't know if my brother would want them or one or if my mom could take one. I just knew they were eight years old and suddenly found themselves in a cold, noisy shelter and it hurt my heart. The following day was Thanksgiving and I worked but when I got off at 7a.m. on Friday, my boyfriend and I drove to Ft Wayne. We got there a little early; they didn't open until 11a.m. We got to meet them and they were the sweetest boys. Only about 60 lbs which was quite a change for us - Bentley is 80lbs! Around 2pm the adoption was finalized and $50, they were mine!

The chevron background patterned paper is Studio Calico (Print Shop) and the woodgrain is Glitz Design (Hello December). I added tags, labels, and other embellishments from Glitz Design, Elle's Studio, and Heidi Swapp (gold rub ons and "happy.) The paw print is from the Etsy shop A Flair for Buttons.

Check out projects from the other DT girls and how they  mixed manufacturers on the WT blog HERE.

Sketch N Scrap: guest designer.

I particpate in the sketch challenges and Sketch 'n Scrap quite often so when Heather asked me to guest design, I was thrilled! You can view the sketch and the DT reveal HERE. Here's the first sketch: 

I converted this sketch to an 8.5x11 for some old photos from a junior high Christmas dance. Using the smaller size meant squishing the sketch and losing a photo. 

I remember velvet dresses being all the rage in seventh grade - that's what all the girls were wearing to the dance.

I used a sheet of Polka Dot Party (American Crafts) for the background + the silver star transparency from Webster's Pages. So pretty! I added labels from Chic Tags, MME, Jillibean Soup, and Dear Lizzy. The wood veneers are from the December Day in the Life Cocoa Daisy kit - I don't do project life but I got this kit because a lot of the embellishments will be great for my album I'm starting about my home.

Thanks so much for checking out my page today and be sure to visit the Sketch N Scrap blog for details about the challenge/prize. You must link up your project on their blog by January 30.

snapshot card|My StampBox

I have one last card to share for 2013. I used some older papers from my stash + 2 stamp sets from My Stamp Box. The pennants are from the Mini Pennants stamp set and I embossed them with MSB white embossing powder. Then I used the Snapshot stamp set with black embossing powder for the film strip.

Merry Christmas wine tag|My Stamp Box.

We made a trip to Chateau Thomas Winery a couple weekends ago to do a wine tasting and pick up some wine. I made a cute wine bottle tag for one of the bottles of Moscato that we gave mom.

I used the Merry Mr Snowman stamp set + black embossing powder from MSB. I love the shiny black look for this snowman.