Building Houses

This year we added gingerbread house building to our fun Christmas activities! We bought kits from Michael's and spread everything out to make sure we were set. I took bunches of pictures and was super excited when I found the cute gingerbread house sticker on the sticker sheet from BoBunny's Mistletoe collection! BoBunny's layout inspiration for December featured this photo which again reminded me of the gingerbread houses...

It also worked out perfectly for the December Child's Play Challenges December challenge using a gingerbread house as inspiration!

I used a sketch from Scrap Much? for inspiration on my layout to take advantage of using strips of the fun colored papers...

and created this layout...

A Winter's List

Having caught up with printing photos, I was super excited to get some new winter papers including Echo Park's Winter Wishes line.

I used a sketch from Scrap Much?...

to inspire my layout...

I also did the scrappy friends NOEL challenge..
for Kerys's blog I did N-number in the title
for Kristi B's blog I did O-used an oval
for Rochelle's blog I did E-used five eyelets
for Brenda's blog I did L-used lined paper and a list

The Paper Loft Sketch Challenge

I picked up some adorable bicycle paper from The Paper Loft at CKC Seattle and I have so many bike riding pictures I was excited to use it! The line is called Everyday Life and features pretty colors of blues, yellows, and red.

This month on The Paper Loft blog, they are hosting a sketch challenge. Of course I love a sketch challenge to get me inspired.

I used the design for the base of my layout and I added photos on top. I featured photos of Jack riding the modified bikes at Lattin's Cider Mill.

I pleated the paper to make it look ribbon like, added some buttons and fabric Thickers for the title.

Frosted Designs Twelve Days of Christmas

This month I have been participating in Frosted Designs 12 Days of Christmas challenges! With fun winter and Christmas inspiration, I was able to complete all twelve challenges!
The First Day of Christmas: Use on bird on your layout
I also used the sketch for December at C'est Magnifique Kits here.

The Second Day of Christmas: Use two stamps on your project

The Third Day of Christmas: Use three mists/inks/paints

The Fourth Day of Christmas: Use four different patterned papers

The Fifth Day of Christmas: Use five gold things ( I used two gold pearl flourishes, one gold rhinestone accent, gold paper in the background, and the gold frame.)

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Use six washi tape strips

The Seventh Day of Christmas: Use seven snowflakes

The Eight Day of Christmas: Use eight brands/products on your pages
(I used Bo Bunny paper, My Mind's Eye paper, Colobok cardstock, DCWV cardstock, Little Yellow Bicycle corrugated pieces, American Crafts Thickers, American Crafts stamps, Heidi Swapp star)

The Ninth Day of Christmas: Use nine pearls/sparkles

The Tenth Day of Christmas: Use ten buttons

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Use eleven banner flags

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: use twelve brads
For this layout I also used the Midweek Mojo sketch at Scrapbook Steals found here.

Sketch N Scrap

December at Sketch N Scrap featured some elegant and simple layouts for inspiration.
I used Sketch #237...

to inspire this layout of Luke and Hannah on our Santa Train ride:

This sketch, #239...

inspired this layout of Hannah & Hannah getting ready for their recital:

Bo Bunny Mistletoe

I've been trying to keep up with this year's Christmas photos so I won't get further behind and was inspired when I picked up some new papers.
BoBunny's Mistletoe line has a playful childlike feel to it which was perfect for photos of the kids.

I used a sketch from Sketch N Scrap here for inspiration...

for this layout...

My Creative Sketches December Sketch

I am working on getting some of our Christmas photos scrapped now, rather than waiting as long as I usually do! This week I was inspired by a sketch on My Creative Sketches...

and used papers I just got in my Webster's Warehouse Box that just arrived!

The Sampler Kit Club November Challenge

I have been loving using the Original line from Authentique. The blues are reminiscent of denim and make wonderful boy pages.
Inspired by this sketch from The Sampler Kit Club...

I created this layout of Jack, who had combined some dress up stuff to make his own superhero, SkiBat!

I also took part in Frosted Designs 12 Days of Christmas Challenge and for Day 4, it was to use four different patterned paper. I cut and pieced together four pieces to create the background for the layout.
From the Authentique line I used...
Compound 12X12 paper
Secure 12X12 paper
Artistic 12X12 paper
and the details sticker sheet

I added brads and twine for dimension.

PageMaps Sketch Challenge

I am a huge fan of PageMaps and their beautiful inspirational sketches! This month they are hosting a sketch challenge using this sketch from their site:

One of my favorite things about their sketches is that they put the dimensions of the photos which gives you a great jumping off point to use the sketch. I used photos of Jack playing on the beach featuring little closeups of him.

I used more papers from Authentique's Original line including:
Artistic 12X12 paper
Compound 12X12 paper
Organized 12X12 paper
and the details sticker sheet

Original Boy

The Original line by Authentique has all the flavor of all American blue jeans, just perfect for boy pages.

The Authentique blog challenge reflected this line's colors in their color challenge for November.

I created this page of Jack who has this fun habit of trying everything dipped in ranch.

From the Authentique Original line I used:
Compound patterned paper
Details 12X12 sticker sheet
and I embellished with washi tape, twine, and flowers.

Paper Secrets December Color Challenge

It was a nice change to break away from traditional Christmas pages for a fun color challenge over at Paper Secrets!

I loved the natural tones of green and brown and it inspired this page:

I also used this sketch from Scrapbook Steals:

You can give their Midweek Mojo challenge a try here: Scrapbook Steals Midweek Mojo

My Creative Sketches November Challenge

I am loving doilies right now and recently picked up a bunch at the dollar store! Now when I run across layouts like this one from My Creative Sketches, I pull out a doily to alter or add as-is to my layout.

For my layout, I scrunched up my doily then added a bit of ink, giving it a distressed look which works well on boy pages.
I loved these Scrabble looking Thickers and they went well with the warm tones from the My Mind's Eye paper.

Color Me Scrappy #19

This was actually a very challenging color challenge for me! While I loved the combo, I had a hard time finding just the right mix. I actually walked away from it, then came back to finish it the next day. A fresh look made for an easier time and I felt more inspired the second time around!

My solution was inspired by Scrapbook Steals Monday Craft Madness, which challenged scrappers to use two or more paper collections. I broke away from my usual habit of sticking to a collection and instead mixing lines from Pebbles Happy Go Lucky and My Mind's Eye Six by Six Darling Dear paper pad.

Check out this color challenge over at Color Me Scrappy and check out the Monday Craft Madness at Scrapbook Steals!

MidWeek Mojo Jade #1

It's time for a new series at Scrapbook Steals for MidWeek Mojo! The first sketch is a fun banner sketch which is festive and fun for December!

I did this layout of our family at the Santa Train, an annual family tradition for us. I used cute papers from Creative Imaginations with fun little Christmas owls!

A Spotlight Kind of Monday!

I was super excited when Tabitha from Colorful Creations asked me to be the Member Spotlight for this week! If you haven't checked out their site before, it's a wonderful community of scrappers with fabulous inspiration, a great forum, and wonderful challenges to keep you scrapping!
The sketch I was challenged to use was a one pager with one-photo, right up my alley!

I had just purchased some pretty new papers from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 3 Oliver line.

I love the combo of yellows, greys, and blues and used a black and white photo to keep the subtle tones.

I hope you get a chance to check out their challenges and join in on this sketch challenge here: http://colorfulcreations.ning.com/events/member-spotlight-andrea-eason