Feeling Sketchy

I love to use sketches as a starting point when I create pages! I tend to stay fairly true to the sketch, as I usually use the number of photos it calls for, their size and orientation.

In the following sketch on Paper Bakery, it called for 3 round elements or doilies. I used 2 misted doilies and a transparency.

Then, there was a Club CK sketch challenge. I created the banner by folding over part of a punched circle and adhering them with a brad and a pop-dot on black wire.

Father Like Son

When it's baseball season, I see the similarities in my husband and son. They both LOVE hitting the baseball! John, my husband, began playing baseball as a kid and continued past college in a semi-pro league. JJ's autism limits his level of ball, but it doesn't stop him from having a terrific time and learning teamwork fundamentals. He loves his hour of baseball on Saturdays!

To show their similarities, I created a layout with both of them batting at one of JJ's games. It's so funny to see John playing with a plastic bat to show JJ his form.

This layout followed a sketch from Scrap our Stash blog. It made it so easy and fun!

I used three different brands of pattern paper, but they came together nicely! Crate paper, Basic Gray, and pebbles.

Why Blend In When You Can Stand Out

This phrase has been used a lot in conjunction with spreading Autism Awareness. It came to mind after taking pictures at the Bellagio Gardens. In a field of purple tulips, there was one little section of yellow tulips. It was so striking. In a challenge at Color Me Scrappy, it said to use two of the same picture and put butterflies on the layout. I printed the photo twice, and cropped one of them to the central section and adhered it with pop-up dots. Here's the resulting layout:

A close up of the double photo:

The color combo used:

Be inspired, and use those spring photos with this color combo!

Breathtaking ...Vacation Layout

This is my first challenge entry for Paper Issues, Frosted Designs, and Paper Bakery blogs. This layout uses Instagram photos, a sketch, and has a travel theme.

I had a lot of fun putting this together...on a Wednesday night! This is very  unusual for me! I am 99.5% a weekend scrapper due to working full time. I was just too inspired from my blog searching over the weekend to leave challenges on the table. Loving it!

The sketch used from Paper Bakery:

I hope you have a wonderful week! Scrap whenever you can and inspiration hits!

Circles, Stars and Stripes

Dots and stripes are common patterns in our papers, but they are often the ones left in our stash because they aren't as fancy or "hot" as the new stuff. At least it's that way in my stash! They liven up when they are paired together, and I need to remember that. I recently followed a scrapper's link to a blog Scrap Our Stash that has a challenge to use stripes and dots together on a layout with a bird, butterfly or bee accent. I think I'll be coming back to this site to find ways to use my extensive stash!

I applied the use of stripes, dots, and butterflies to a sketch and color scheme on Color Me Scrappy! In my stash, I had the Dots and Stripes book of patterned paper by Hot Off the Press, so I had coordinated papers handy. The sketch was a window pane of 4 small pics. I just got 4 wallet sized photos of my niece from my sister. Instead of putting them in our wallets, I decided to use them for a layout.

I couldn't help but think about how much she's grown! I had a toddler picture of her in my wallet, so I decided to make this a then/now layout, too! There just happened to be a Issue challenge on Club CK for this! To add the journaling, I used a journaling spot, but I cut out the inside of it. I let my striped paper provide the lines to write on.

Sometimes I'm surprised where inspiration can come from so many things at one time!

Circles and Stars

Another staple in my stash is stars. I've had some Heidi Swapp credit card stars for a while, but I just didn't have a layout call for them. While blog surfing, I found a sketch on Creative Scrappers that highlights circles and stars. Thinking of using older stash items, I brought out some circle stickers my memories complete, my chipboard stars, and some star brads.

Here's the sketch:

Thanks for looking, and I hope these challenges inspire you to use your stash, too!