Sketchbook 4

On our Disney cruise we just adored our waiter and his helper.  They were both so sweet and kind hearted.  I know it's their job to be entertaining and fun and make your experience really outstanding, but these two guys went over the top.  They were always doing magic tricks and something silly to keep a smile on Halleigh's face at all times!

I was excited to get to take Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 4 class again this year.  After I started subscribing to Studio Calico kits last year, I won a spot in her sketchbook 3 class and just loved it!  I knew I wanted to take it immediately when I saw this class open.

This layout is roughly based on the first sketch from the class.

The paper from this comes from a kit I recently got - either City of Lights or Daydream Believer...I can't remember.  I splurged on this tissue paper patterned piece from Dear Lizzy - just loved it.  I added some die cut flowers from Stampin Up and some Dear Lizzy accents.  The scallop circle is a scrap of Pumpkin Pie I had die cut and there is also a sticker from an October Afternoon sheet up top.

washi, mist, & layering

I made this layout just last night.  I received my most recent Studio Calico kit yesterday and it had some great Washi tapes in it, so I just had to play with them!

On the SC message boards, there is a challenge to do Washi tapes, Misting, and Layering.  So I set out to do just that with my layout. 

Since I wanted the title to say Time 4 some Z's, I decided to purge all of the remaining Z's in my alphabet stash.  I placed as many z's on the page going across diagonally as I could find.  I then misted over those using my Calico White.  When it was dry (or mostly dry!) I removed my masks and had the background I was wanting. 

My daughter is at a Pluto's Pajama Party on the Disney Dream boat here.  She had so much fun playing a little game called "What time is it, Pluto?" that she still talks about it to this day!  It probably really didn't get her ready for bed, but she had a swell time, anyway.  Who needs sleep on a cruise ship anyway??!?! 

Atlantis....where I'd like to be!!!

Well, it is a rather dreary day around here - lots of rain, fog and gloomy outside looks.....this layout is where I'd much rather be right now! So....here's to daydreaming!

When we were on our Disney cruise, our first stop was Nassau, Bahamas. The ocean was a bit choppy, though, since a hurricane was close, so we opted to just take a tour of the Atlantis Resort. That place was massive! Wow - if we had lots of money, I think we would just stay there for a week! I think you could entertain yourself for days without ever leaving the place - pretty incredible. Lots of sea creatures to watch as well as a ton of pools and slides and fun things to enjoy with or without the kiddos!

For this layout I mostly used items from my Story Hour kit. It's kind of funny to me that I just fell in love with my Daydream Believer kit and I wasn't overly enthused about the Story Hour kit, but I've made 3 times as many layouts already using the Story Hour kit. In fact, I've probably almost killed that kit. That just goes to show you not to always judge a kit by it's cover! ;)

So, anyway, on the left edge of this page is the flip side of the green paper in the middle of the layout. I like both sides, so I wanted to accent both images, but I didn't want the chevron to take over the page.

I also loved this yellow horehound pattern on this paper - I think these papers are both by Echo Park. I love their products any day! I used a few Studio Calico Chipboard buttons and tags. I anchored the tag with Stampin' Up brads and letters from Simple Stories. The journaling spots are October Afternoon and the flourish sticker is from Basic Grey. I also loved the touch of bling this glitter ribbon from American Crafts adds to the border!

Here is the opposing page. More of the same - another border strip from the Basic Grey sticker page. The brown paper is from Studio Calico the Calico Collection. The accordian fold flower I made about a month ago when I decided I wanted to experiment with making these finally! I made it, but it was too big to fit on my card, so I stuck it on a Gluber and just waited until the right project came along. It fit magically with this page, so I added a My Mind's Eye brad on top, and it finished my layout!

Only 2 months behind!!!

I found this cute pic on the Studio Calico, so I thought since it's time for the BIG GAME....I'd say, GO CATS!!!!

I'm only 2 months behind on my Project Life Album, but I have been keeping up with my journaling and am trying to keep up with pics as well.  

Still haven't figured out the trick to capturing these in photos...but we're still going.

I used mostly Simple Stories paper and accents on this layout - they just seemed to work for these pictures and journaling.  I paper pierced a heart on the feb. card and stitched it with pink embroidery thread for anice little handmade touch.

Here I mostly used pictures and a few accents.  I had a card in my stash that has been there for years, so I added that at the bottom along with a clip from making memories. 

Now....I've got a team to root on!  GO BIG BLUE!!

Announcing.....Owen Patrick Durham!

We would like to announce the birth of our sweet new baby boy, Owen Patrick Durham, born Friday, March 23, 2012 at 9:04 a.m. He was 7 lbs 11 3/4 oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long.

He is the most darling little baby boy in the world!!!

Nassau

This is kind of a funny set of pictures to me.  It looks to be so luxurious...until you realize that these pictures are the closest we made it to the beach on this whole entire cruise!  It just so happened that a hurricane came through this area during our cruise, so while it was a beautiful day, the wind made for very choppy water...not so great for swimming! 

We ended up having a great time exploring the Atlantis resort, but our plans of swimming and beach days were getting ready to fizzle!

To make this page I started by placing my pictures vertically on the page where I wanted them.  I stuck some old letter stickers on the page in my space and then removed the pictures.  I spritzed the navy blue cardstock with Calico White mr. Huey.  After that dried, I removed the stickers and threw them away and proceeded with my page.   I tried to keep the embellishments sparse so the focus would be on the pictures.  Most of the supplies were from the Story Teller kit from Studio Calico.

3 more days!

Here is a picture of us at our baby shower at church this past week.  Only 3 more days until our little bundle is here!  Not that I'm counting...really!  ;)

In the late evening I've been allowing myself a few minutes to scrap.  This is one of the pages I scrapped this week.  These were just pictures of our daughter enjoying and admiring all of the beauty surrounding us on the cruise ship!

I love this paper - I think it is My Mind's Eye.  I really almost hate to use paper like this, but I also hate to waste it.  I have a really hard time figuring out how to use it and make it look beautiful without making it too boring or overwhelming the eye.  I'm still not completely sure I am pleased with the result....but with a baby coming in 3 days.....you just have to go on with life! 

Anyway, I used some scraps to mat the photos and added a few pieces of Washi tape and matching brads to the page to finish it off.  Nothing too special.