Guest blogging on ScrapbookSteals!

Wow -- it has been a long time since I've blogged! A lot has changed in recent months, and I feel very honored to now be the buyer for ScrapbookSteals.com! As you may know, I've had a long time love affair with all of the Steal Network's daily deal sites, but never in my wildest dreams when I first found them did I think I'd ever be buying all those amazing products that come up for sale on my favorite website! It's been a few months now, and I feel like I'm finally in a groove.

That was when Kristy asked me if I'd guest blog. :) How could I say no?

Bo Bunny's Blast Off collection is so cute! It was perfect for Brock's Halloween pictures when he dressed as an astronaut monkey. The papers have all these cute little monkeys floating around in space. It also has so many cute layered and chipboard stickers that are prefect for adding dimension. This layout may be a little busy (much like Brock), but I really like it!

Then, I saw this picture from a few years ago at Lagoon (our local amusement park) with Jack and Brock on one of their favorite rides. The colors and the space ship could not have gone better with this collection. I love when after years of searching, I finally find the prefect collection to scrapbook a favorite photo!

The take note journaling tags are such a fun part of the kit. I love the torn edges and the cute shapes. And it forced me to hand write some journaling, which I'm not always good at doing, but I think it will be a special memory for my kids down the road.

I really fell more and more in love with Blast Off the more I worked with it. Thanks Kristy - it was my pleasure! This collection can be purchased today on scrapbooksteals.com!

Time for cards! (Monday Card Madness)

My dear friend and co-worker at Steal Network, Krisy, asked me if I'd like to do the sketch for Monday Card Madness for this week! Creating sketches for others to follow is always nerve wracking - but I like how this one came together! The kit I used was Pebbles Mr. & Mrs., and I was a little worried that with such straight lines and the stripes, it might seem too informal for a wedding themed kit. I think it worked out well, though!

Here is the sketch I came up with:

There were so many cute embellishments in the kit that I had a hard time deciding which to use - so, I made several cards and used a little bit of everything! :)

I made one other, but forgot to take a picture of it before I sent it off! I hope it brings my friend a little joy for her upcoming wedding!

Just add Water (Topaz #3)

I love guest sketcher week at ScrapbookSteals! It's always so exciting to find out who the next guest will be and see what their sketch looks like! And having become pretty good friends with most of the girls makes it that much more fun!

Here's the sketch Kristina came up with for Topaz #3:

I immediately found these pictures from one of our visits to the pool this summer and wanted to use them! What better papers than Echo Park's Splash collection! I finished the left hand page, and decided I wanted to make it a two page layout, so I made some slight changes and added the right side page. It feels a little flat and I wish I could think of a way to add more dimension. I love the colors though and am happy with it!

A day with the animals (SS Topaz #2)

 This is the second ScrapbookSteals layout of year 2!

As I was flipping through my pictures, deciding what to scrap, I found these pictures from a couple of months ago and had the exact right number of pictures - so I decided to go for it based on that! The papers seemed obvious for a zoo layout, but I still had a hard time deciding which of the My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup papers to use. It feels a little plain, and isn't my favorite page ever, but I'm happy to have another completed layout!

Happy Together (SS Topaz #1)

The start of a new year of scrapbooking as begun! And what a gorgeous layout to begin with!

I just picked up the My Mind's Eye Stella & Roze Hazel collection off ScrapbookSteals and couldnt' wait to use it! I love this picture of my mom and daughter and have been wanting to scrap it for quite a while. It went beautifully with these papers, and it all flowed and came together so easily! The most difficult part of this layout was coming up with the right thickers to use! 

I've seen these beautiful zipper trim flowers on Maya Road's facebook page and watched their youtube tutorials several times - and was completely delighted with I realized that some zipper trim was included with this kit! I knew immediate that I wanted to make a zipper trim flower with it - and I love how it came out! I am in love with this collection and with this layout!

we love Swoop! (MWM 52)

I can't believe it's been a year of ScrapbookSteals' Midweek Mojo! I've completed all 52 layouts (and then some)! I love that they started this weekly sketch challenge, and am so happy about the amount of finished pages I have becuase of the inspiration!

This sketch was done by Erin Colby! Her layout was so so cute!

Here's my take on it! I used a mix of Echo Park Country Drive, Echo Park Playground, & Echo Park For the Record! And I found those Thickers with "stitching" around the edges of them a couple months ago and am in love with them! So much fun!

It's my party! (mwm 51)

I wasn't sure how I felt about this sketch at first (sorry Kristy!)... but I'm so glad I did it! I changed a couple of things, and really like how my layout turned out.

A friend was talking about Echo Park's Life is Good, and I mentioned that I have the collection, but hadn't ever touched any of it! At that point, I decided I was going to use it - even though it isn't normally what I would use. I really like how it all came together! And I don't think it looks that different from my normal style! I really do like these papers! (How could I not, after all - they are Echo Park!!)