Play Ball

A round layout! So much fun. It was a bit of a challenge working with the smaller canvas, but Pencil Lines supplied a fabulous sketch this week to help me work it all out.

I saw the round LO challenge, glanced down at my desk to see these two photos and immediately thought: what better way to use a round LO, than to make it into a ball? I traced my dinner plate (approx 11 1/4") onto a plain sheet of white cardstock and cut it out. I used the negative scraps to draw arcs on the circle. Then measured 1/2" tics along each arc and pierced with a needle. Eyeballed the stitches and alternately pierced to the left and right of each. A bit of red floss and the premade holes made it so easy my six year old could sew it!

The chipboard and PP is from Scenic Route; the PLAY letters are Heidi Swapp rub-ons, and the b-a-l-l letter buttons are some oldies from I think Joann's.

Yum in the Sun {ETA: Deets}

Time for week #4's layout from Dixie Pieces. This week's challenge was to use a Raspberry, Apricot, Green Apple color scheme and painting on your page. I love the color scheme for this layout: so fun, refreshing, and summery:

I painted the chipboard letters and dry brushed the edges of the white BG paper.

Lately I've been looking at books on Softies--they have the cutest little expression. This trend inspired my little popsicle guy cut from a corner-rounded rectangle of PP, and accented with felt eyes, a drawn smile, a mini popsicle stick, and a little ribbon.
The DCWV word strip paper was the perfect colors to complete the journaling on the page: it's the SIMPLE THINGS that make us BLISS-fully HAPPY. The flower's center is accented with super tacky tape covered in seed beads. I've been wanting to do some beading on my layouts for a while now. This was a simplified way to get some beads on my page.
I love working with color schemes to jump start my layouts. I go through papers, and accents (this is where my color jars come in handy) and pull anything with the colors. Then grab a sketch (like Paper Crafts Planet sb082309 used here) and the page pretty much builds itself!

Materials:
PP: Prima-Breathe Collection; DCWV Stack 6 and an older Stack (journaling words)
Cardstock: DCWV white; SU! Gable
GreenStickers: SEI ("in the sun"), SU! ("delight")
Chipboard: SU! ("yum")Paint:
Plaid (meadow green)
Ribbon: American Crafts
Punch: SU! flower trio
Flower: Making Memories
Other: buttons, seed beads, felt, mini pospicle stick, brads

Merry and Bright

I know it sounds crazy, but it's time to start thinking about handmade Christmas cards. Cathy over at Moxie Fab issued a challenge for a "fun and cute" card creation. Here's what I came up with:
She describes "fun & cute" as closely related to "clean and graphic." Given that, I went with a simply designed tree inspired by the one in SU!'s Merry and Bright set. Accented with a doodled trunk and polka dot branches, the tree is complete with a popped up star on top. A simple and "cute" sentiment finishes off the card. This little assignment will hopefully jump start the juices for our family holiday card this year. If you need some inspiration for your holiday cards check out the holiday galleries here.

Back to School

The beginning of a new school year is the perfect time to "take stock" of your children, so to speak. Here are some ideas of ways to document the first day of school to help you remember them at this very moment in time:

Journaling:

1. Record their first day: Have your child tell the story of their 1st day (who better to tell this story than them!). Use their words as the journaling for your page.


2. Record their favorites: food, friend, book, movie, tv show, musician, song, color, pastime, sport, etc. Older children can record these in their own handwriting.


3. Record their size: shoe size, clothing size, height weight, age


4. Write a letter to them.


5. Have them write about their hopes and dreams (for the year, or for their life)
   

Elements:

1. Trace their hand.


2. Have them write their name.

Photographs:

1. A full portrait of them standing in the same spot each year (we use our front door)


2. Their backpack


3. Their new school shoes


4. All of the school supplies


5. The front of their school (particularly if they are starting a new school)


6. A stack of the books they read over summer


7. Them with their siblings


8. Them with each of you, the parents


9. Standing at the bus stop


10. Them getting on the bus


11. The bus driving away

Do you have any back to school traditions you include on your pages? Please share them!

One of a Kind

A fifteen minute layout thanks to some coordinating product from My Mind's Eye Penny Lane papers and this sketch from YMBD. They paired perfectly with SU! marigold paper and a bit of trim I had picked up at Brimfield last month.