Stars and Stripes

Today, I finished another one hour challenge over at Club Creating Keepsakes. At first, I wasn't too sure about it, but in the end, I think I really like the results. The other nice thing...it completes several challenges from several different places. For the one hour challenge, I had to make a 12x12 LO with a Handmade fireworks embellishment. So I cut a star on my cricut, folded it to make it dimensional, then added some unfolded paper clips and some EK success fibers. I had in mind the sketch from the Club CK weekly challenge, so I used that. I cut the borders on my cricut using SCAL. I cut the title using CK's beantree font. I had a few photos that would not fit on the page. So I placed them on my cricut mat and cut the title. The ribbon was from my stash...I loved the striped pattern with the stars.

If you are looking for places to submit your patriotic LO's, try:
http://sketchesforyou.ning.com/
http://www.stuckonusketches.blogspot.com/
http://scrapdivas.spruz.com/groups.htm

I hope you enjoyed your holiday. Happy Birthday, America!

My Mad Martian Maker

I made this layout for the Brads and eyelets challenge at Scrap Our Stash Blog spot. You can check out their challenge here:
http://scrapourstash.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-challenge_03.html

This is one of those pages that I just love. It came together so easily and came out in such a way that I just love it. The bright colors and the photos pop on the black background.

I chose the Sassafrass patterned paper because it reminded me of stars. it also had a retro feel that reminded me of the "my favorite Martian" show. I chose green ribbon from Cosmo Cricket's Jack's world collection as a border. I wanted a space theme, So I used chipboard stickers from K and Company. I made the stars myself. Flat stars would have worked fine, but I really wanted to add dimension. I had just viewed a tutorial about making folded stars on the Scrapbook and cards Today blog. I added brads to one of the stars as an accent.

TIP:
when doing this, make sure your the tabs on your brads are not pointed at a crease...they will poke through if you aren't careful. To adhere the stars to my page in such a way that they would not get crushed, I glued pieces of cotton balls inside of them. I cut the title on my cricut using CK's Jolly Elf font. I love using brads on a LO. They are such an easy way to add a little dimension and interest to your layouts

Owls and BellBottoms

I was recently challenged to scrap a graduation day photo( a challenge over at Sketches for You). I don't have any of my own. My Dad has those. I have a few of DH and none of DS( who is too young for high school). I do have this one of my mom...which caught my eye and got me to thinking. I was thinking, not of her graduation day ( I obviously was not there), but of growing up in the 70's. Seeing her photo brought back memories of Brown and orange furniture, the Macrame Owl she made for the living room, and the outfit she made me wear. It was all white with Blue and orange owls all over it. AN owl T-shirt and white bell bottoms(literally plastered with owls). So, inspired by these thoughts, I created an LO all about her day. I'll have to call my Dad for the specific details(my mom is no longer with us), but I must say, I really feel like I captured the feelings of the era quite well.

I used mostly Sassafrass PP. I fussycut the owl, stitched on his belly and added real buttons for eyes( he had printed ones). I used more yellow DMC floss around the mat.The brown PP is Recollections. I loved how the blue diffused the brown and yellow tone of the older photo. The flowers are also Sassafrass. The title was cut on my cricut using CK Far Out font.

 This was a Scraplift project on Scrapbook Challenges. I am proud to say it was one of today's featured photos.