Unscripted Sketches #173

This Saturday's sketch from Unscripted Sketches was very versatile - great for either a card or a layout.  I haven't scrapped anything for awhile, so this was great inspiration to get going again and I made both!

Halloween will be here before you know it!  These stamps are from Unity Stamps and the striped paper is from Bella Blvd.

When we were on a motorcycle trip earlier this summer, we made a point of stopping to eat at the Loveless Cafe, on the outskirts of Nashville.  Yummy - especially their pies! 

PP: Pebbles

Alpha stickers:  Authentique

Ribbon: Stampin' Up

"Loveless":  Cricut Cursive 101 cartridge

Pie & Rolling pin:  Cricut Country Life cartridge

Fabulous Friday chipboard challenge @ Frosted Designs

This week's Fabulous Friday challenge @ Frosted Designs is all about using chipboard, one of the long time staples of scrapping supplies.   For my project, I decided to alter these chipboard letters that have been in my stash for a couple of years.  I loved the style of the letters, but had trouble using them because of the color and pattern.

I started by sanding the letters to roughen up the smooth surface and remove some of the color.  Then I basecoated the letters with white acrylic paint, and once that dried, I added a layer of Antique Linen crackle paint.  Once that coat had dried and crackled, I lightly spritzed the letters with white mist to get the "beachy" look I wanted for this page.

I also used some old chipboard slide mounts that were printed with seashells and sand, distressing them with sandpaper and Antique Linen Distress Ink.  I cut the slide mounts in half, added some twine, and tucked them under the left edge of the photo.

We'd love to see your chipboard projects this week.  Just link them up to Frosted Designs for a chance to win a great  prize by this week's sponsor, Quick Quotes!

Want to get some use from your scoring board?

Check out the projects @ Practical Scrappers.  Today we're featuring 10 ways to use your scoring board.   Besides the purely practical reasons, like scoring folds for cards and envelopes, there are lots of ways to use your scoring board for decorative accents and embellishments.

On my page, I took a piece of kraft cardstock approx. 5" x 7" as a photo mat and scored it diagonally.  Instead of placing one side of the cardstock against the top edge of the scoring board, place one corner at the top of the scoring board, and line up the opposite corner along the length of the same score line.  I flipped the cardstock around to line up the other corners and scored to make the diagonal scoring pattern.  To add a little bit more texture, I used white thread and a machine zigzag stitch along a few of the scored lines.  Here's a closeup of the photo mat.

And here's the finished layout, with the photo placed offcenter on the mat.

I hope you'll check out the projects @ Practical Scrappers and be inspired to get out your scoring board!

Sweet baby boy!

Today's feature article on Get It Scrapped is about scrapbooking baby photos.  My kids are grown, but I have two grandchildren and have already accumulated hundreds of photos of them (thanks goodness for digital photography or I'd go broke from buying film, LOL!)

Here's a page I did with two photos of my new grandson:

I broke out of my ‘norm’ for this page and used themed paper with a border at the bottom (from Fancy Pants). To give the animals a little more dimension, I used colored pencils and gamsol to add a bit of shading and highlighting. I trimmed the patterned paper about 1/8″ all the way around; not enough to destroy the symmetry of the border but enough so the brown backing paper could show. The banner was cut from another patterned paper, and I stitched bakers’ twine along the top.

Be sure to check out the Get It Scrapped site for some fabulous ideas for scrapping those baby pages!

Check out the ideas for watercolors......

....@ Practical Scrappers today!   The theme is using watercolors or watercolor pencils and there are lots of cool ideas posted.  

For my project, I used Twinkling H2O watercolor paints to make the background on the stamped image and also to "paint" the white satin ribbon to make a matching shade of blue.  I stamped the image and embossed it with black embossing powder, then lightly brushed the background with two shades of blue and a tiny bit of lavender.

Twinkling H2O's are solid watercolors that come in little tiny lidded pots.  You spritz them with water and then use a paintbrush to apply them to your project.  (You can also use a waterbrush if you prefer.)  You can control the depth of color by the amount of water you use, and the colors have a nice subtle shimmer to them.  They're a nice way to add a little "extra" to your project, if you just want a little bit of shine and shimmer. 

We're scrapping Road Trips @ Get It Scrapped!

Do you take a lot of vacation photos and then struggle with scrapping them?   If so, check out the Get It Scrapped website for today's article on scrapping on those "road trip" photos.  You'll find digital and paper layouts with wonderful inspiration for scrapping those photos.

When my husband and daughter made the drive from Ohio to Alaska, they came back with hundreds of photos.  I used some of the photos of signs along the way, and used them to make this page.  It's a nice way to use some of the random photos that might not otherwise find their way into an album, and the signs are a neat reminder of scenic spots or highlights along the trip.

Fabulous Friday Fabric Challenge!

This week's Fabulous Friday challenge @ Frosted Designs is to use fabric in your project.  I had been trying to think of a way to use some leftover quilt blocks we found in my Grandma's basement, so this challenge seemed like the perfect time to create with them.   I had three wooden embroidery hoops that I no longer used, so I put one block in each hoop, tightened them up and tucked the ends behind the hoop.  On the two smaller hoops, I tied baker's twine across them and hung some old photos with small clips.  For the larger hoop, I diecut a heart and the word "family" and attached them to the center of the quilt block with a tape runner.   Nothing is permanently attached, so I can change the photos around, and remove the quilt blocks if we ever want to use them for another project. 

We would love to see your fabric projects this week.  Please link them up to the Frosted Designs website - you could win a prize from this week's sponsor!



This is you @ 3

To finish out our third anniversary celebration @ Practical Scrappers, we're featuring projects with the number "three"!  (Sounds like Sesame Street, doesn't it?)   I made this page featuring three photos of my three-year-old granddaughter that show some of different sides of her personality @ three.  She is such a sweetie, with her own fabulous personality!


Check out the awesome projects @ Practical Scrappers - brought to you by the number three!

Celebrating our 3rd anniversary @ Practical Scrappers!

As part of the 3rd anniversary celebration at Practical Scrappers, several of us "old timers" (based on time with the team, not on age, of course, LOL!) were asked to share our three favorite projects we've created during our term as DT members for Practical Scrappers.

Here are my top three:

this was for a "share a Christmas project" post

this was for a challenge to use five or more stamps on a project

this was for a challenge to make a "quilt inspired" project

I hope you'll join us for our anniversary celebration at Practical Scrappers!