Let it snow...

So anyone in my area knows that it is snowing like mad outside so I thought I would share with you a layout I created when I was away a couple of weeks ago.

I am really in LOVE with these jillibean placemats. They are a lot of fun to work with and come in several different designs. I knew I wanted to use the circle one as soon as I saw this collection from Bazzill called 'Nordic Pines'

 I cut circles from various papers to fit behind the placemat. I strategically placed my title so I could use one of the circles as my 'o' in snow. I used glitter cardstock from Best Creation in white and red. This is THE BEST glitter cardstock as it has been treated so the glitter doesn't come off. It also cuts like butter on the Silhouette Cameo, just use the glitter cardstock setting and adjust your blade depth accordingly. Do you see how tiny and intricate the 'let it' part of my title is???

AWESOME machine!

 I love me some twine so I added 3 coordinating colours around my photo and tucked an acrylic snowflake underneath. I used up some wood veneer snowflakes and trees from my ever-growing hoard of wood embellishments. I also used some itty bitty maya road tickets and one Tim Holtz ticket, they complimented my colour scheme and hey, they are just cute!

When I was happy with my design I backed it with black cardstock to pop all the red.

This collection is so fun to work with and I adore the black, kraft, red combo. I cannot wait to take more snowy pics and play some more!!

I am so thrilled to be part of a new challenge blog called "Stick it Down" or SID for short. I will be designing double page sketches which I can't wait to share with everyone. Sketches have become a great tool for so many scrapbookers and I have to say I LOVE designing them.
Here's a bit about us:

We are a multi-challenge blog. There will be a new challenge posted each Tuesday.

1st Tuesday: Single page layouts based on the sketch.
2nd Tuesday: Card based on the sketch
3rd Tuesday: Single page layouts based on the sketch
4th Tuesday: Double page layout based on the sketch
5th Tuesday: Anything goes

There will be a random draw for a monthly prize. We will also be offering the chance to be a guest designer in future challenges.
We will be doing a little sneaky peek December 16 before we gear up in the new year. I hope you will take a moment to come and check us out here

Welcome to the Songs of Christmas Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends! You should have arrived here from the Two Scrapbook Friends blog.

Our Blog Hop is all about the Songs of Christmas and the inspiration for my project comes from the song "Joy to the World"

Of course we all find joy in scrapbooking so it wasn't much of a stretch to use this as my song! I will let you all know that I rarely scrapbook Christmas photos. I find that all my photos look chaotic, have awful lighting and are usually pretty terrible. When TSF received the 'Countdown to Christmas' collection from Bazzill I was, however, inspired to root through the few photos I have to make it work. I was actually so inspired that I created not one but TWO layouts using this line.

For my first layout I cut the word 'joy' out of the background and backed it with some green cardstock which made an easy title. I went for whimsy by looping some floss around the photo and added numbers punched from another sheet. It's a fairly simple layout to showcase my boys, who are indeed my 'JOY'

 For my second layout I used some embossed cardstock as my backgroud. It's hard to tell but it has little, raised dots all over. I added stitching, sequins and handcut stars to complete this layout. The journaling tells the story of how Holden wanted to bring treats to his class.

In a sense, bringing 'JOY' to others.

I hope you will be inspired by my creations and those of our other fabulous bloggers:

So remember, in order to be entered to win the special prize all you have to do is hop from Blog to Blog and leave a comment on each as you go. Then simply check back at the Two Scrapbook Friends blog on December 10th to see if you are the lucky winner!

Here are the featured blogs in our Blog Hop:

Your next blog will be: Joanne's.  Have fun hopping!

Shelby-You are here ;)

Joanne

Tracy

Jayne

Darcy

Jodi

Amanda

Christa

Audrey

Janice

Ann

Carolyn

TSF

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It's time again for another sketch challenge. These have quickly turned into my favourite kind of challenge so I hope you will play along. I had a chance to do some creating at our Fall Retreat in October and came up with this sketch for you:

And this is the layout that inspired the sketch:

I used some bits and pieces from Maya Road, Studio Calico, Echo Park and these great little tags from 'Chic Tags'.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this month. We have had great participation and it is so much fun to see what everyone creates. Plus, you will be entered into a random draw to win a $25 gift card for our store.
Just remember a couple of rules:
1. Create as many NEW projects as you like for each challenge! Each creation will gain you an entry in the draw to win. (Please enter a double page layout as only one entry.)
2. Projects can either be uploaded to the forum and gallery then linked to the TSF homepage
3. Projects must be entered no later than December 15th at 11:59pm. Have fun creating :)

Look I'm a guest designer...

I was asked by my friend Darcy if I would guest on the 'Life in Details' challenge blog. They are a challenge blog that focuses on the divided page protectors or 'Project Life' style of scrapbooking. I am fairly new to this style but have been working away on my travel album using this style and I am REALLY loving it.
You can check it out here

Around the World Online crop with Two Scrapbook Friends

Are you ready to hop on a plane to somewhere exotic?? Ya, me too BUT for now you will have to settle for your scrapbooking desk! For my challenge I am asking you to create a project that has at least 3 arrows on it. I am very directionally challenged (read: GPS was invented for me) so I am always happy to come upon an arrow pointing me the correct way!

For my sample I added another layout to my travel album. I have been using the divided sleeves and I love this way of scrapbooking, especially for events with lots of pics. It is, however, a very difficult thing to photograph so I apologize for the less than fabulous pics!

 Here it is:

I am using several different collections from Simple Stories within my travel album, I love how they work so well together. I also decided to add some travel quotes and facts about each place I travel to.

 I used my Silhouette sketch pen to do all the writing, I will NEVER handwrite again!!

So, does that sound easy enough?? I hope you will play along!

Here are the facts:

1. Must feature a layout/card/altered item with a minimum of 3 arrows.
2. Must be created brand new for this crop (no recycling). Our Designers and Joanne & Carolyn (the Two Scrapbook Friends) are all issuing creative World inspired challenges to get your creativity going! There will also be games to play and prizes to be won.

Want to know more? Here are some of the specifics!

1. Each Design Team Member and the TSF are issuing an inspiring and creative World/Travel based challenge along with a great example.  The challenges will be posted in the Forum and on the TSF blog.

2. Once you have completed a challenge, upload a photo of your creation to our Layout Gallery or use the LINKY tool at the bottom of the TSF blog post (ALL LAYOUTS MUST BE CREATED JUST FOR THIS CROP to qualify for prizes).  Each project will count towards only ONE challenge. Be sure to upload no later than September 29th at 11:59 pm.

3. Now for the best part.........PRIZES!!!!!!!! There are three prizes to be won:

• A random draw for participation
• A random draw for completing all challenges
• A favorite overall winner voted on by DT and TSF.

The winners will be posted no later than October 1st on the blog and in the forum.

Around the World online crop!

Please join us at Two Scrapbook Friends forum and blog to be inspired and connect with other scrappers at our Around The World Online Crop September 20th at 3pm!

Our Designers and Joanne & Carolyn (the Two Scrapbook Friends) will be issuing creative World inspired challenges to get your creativity going! There will also be games to play and prizes to be won.

Want to know more? Here are some of the specifics!

1. Each Design Team Member and the TSF will issue an inspiring and creative World/Travel based challenge along with a great example.  The challenges will be posted in the Forum and on the TSF blog.

2. Once you have completed a challenge, upload a photo of your creation to our Layout Gallery or use the LINKY tool at the bottom of our blog post (ALL LAYOUTS MUST BE CREATED JUST FOR THIS CROP to qualify for prizes).  Each project will count towards only ONE challenge. Be sure to upload no later than September 29th at 11:59 pm.

3. Now for the best part.........PRIZES!!!!!!!! There are three prizes to be won:

• A random draw for participation
• A random draw for completing all challenges
• A favorite overall winner voted on by DT and TSF.

The winners will be posted no later than October 1st on the blog and in the forum.

I hope you will join us and be inspired, we look forward to seeing your creations!  Check back on the Two Scrapbook Friends blog and forum on Friday, September 20th to see all the challenges and inspiration from our Design Team.

Two Scrapbook Friends: It's All About You!

I'm hosting the September Crafty Challenge over at Two Scrapbook Friends and I hope that you will play along!  It's an easy one, it's all about you!

 

 



I'm linking this up with:
Red Carpet Studio - Anything Goes!
Get Creative - Anything Goes!

TSF sketch challenge

Have you seen our Facebook challenges over on the TSF BLOG Simply create, link up and you can win a $25 gift certificate to the store!

Christa posted this month's challenge and I was inspired to play along.

Here is her sketch

And my take on it

I used some papers from the Simple Stories 'I heart summer' collection along with a few from my stash. Great sketch Christa!

Progressive Blog Hop - Full Reveal!

Hopefully by now you have had a chance to hop around all the DT blogs to get a feel for what a progressive blog hop is. We all started with Joanne's fabulous sketch:

Then as you hopped along you found out what all the other designers added to our little mixing pot.
I added striped paper, Jayne added something wet like mist, paint etc, Christa added stitching, Carolyn asked us to distress our layout somehow, Ann asked us to add a quote and Amanda asked us to complete our layouts with 3 buttons.

And here is my final layout:

 

I distressed with ink and tearing around my edges for Carolyn's addition.

You can also see the red Mr. Huey's mist I splattered around to comply with Jayne's challenge

 

In this close up you can see the teensy buttons I used to fulfill Amanda's requirement.

 

Here is my striped paper with the stitching Christa asked for

 

And lastly here is the quote for Ann's challenge.

 

This was such a fun and challenging way to complete a layout!

I used Simple Stories for most of this layout, the background

paper is from the Basic Grey 'Hipster' collection.

 

I hope you enjoyed the TSF Hop and get a chance to play along!

Progressive Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook friends

Never heard of a progressive Blog Hop before?  Well, its brand new for us too!

All you need to do is move from blog to blog and see how our progressive layout challenge unfolds.  We will begin with a stunning sketch from Joanne Burton, and then each designer will incorporate the previous elements and then add a new element to the challenge requirements in her own creation.

If you complete the entire Hop, and you leave a comment on each Friend/Designer’s blog and the Two Scrapbook Friend's blog by 11:59 pm on May 6th,  you will be entered in a random drawing for a great prize! In addition, if you accept the challenge and create a design of your own and upload it to the Two Scrapbook Friends Gallery by 11:59 pm on May 31st, you will be eligible to win ANOTHER fabulous prize!

Finally, all the FINISHED TSF/Designer creations will be revealed on the Two Scrapbook Friend's blog on Monday, May 6th. 

The hop began with Joanne's sketch:

So I took Joanne's sketch and added STRIPED paper. I started my layout with some basic elements to get a feel for how I would interpret the sketch. Of course I had to use the new Simple Stories "24/7" collection for this challenge!

Now you can head on over to Jayne's blog and see what fabulous element she has added to the sketch and striped paper.

Here is a list of all the Blogs in order:
 

 Joanne
Shelby
 Jayne
 Christa
Carolyn

Ann

Amanda

Two Scrapbook Friends

The Bigger Picture

I generally get my pictures developed at Walmart. Their online ordering is easy and I can pick them up close to my house. Every now and then they run promotions where if you print 100 4x6s then you get 3 8x10s for free. I usually take a bunch of smaller pics and print them out on the 8x10s but the last time I printed I decided to get a couple as just one picture. When I got the pics back I thought, great, now what do I do with them. I often scrap single pages but an 8x10 takes up pretty much all of a 12x12 page so...wait for it...I scrapped them on double page layouts! I know, shocking.

For this one I cropped the picture down a bit

I cut out the sign free hand, added some Silhouetted letters and a couple of screwhead brads 



I found this button with real straw inside so I HAD to incorporate it 

 

On this layout I chose to keep the picture it's full size

 

I added lots of wood accents

 

 I thought this quote was perfect for all the cottage memories

 

It was fun to go back to double page layouts. I create them all the time for the store but not for myself! I will use BIG pictures again as I love the impact they make.

 



Get Connected Online Crop- A really 'TWEET" challenge

Are you ready to get connected?? When the idea for a social media based crop was suggested I kind of scratched my head a bit. Um, exactly how does one create a layout based on Facebook or Email??? Well, always up for a challenge, the design team has come up with some FABULOUS ideas that will stretch the bounds of your creativity. For my social media tool I was given "TWITTER". I don't tweet and really wasn't too sure what Twitter is all about but the first thing that came to my mind was to use a bird on your project. Simple right? So that's what I did! I even found a photo that was centered on the bird theme:

I popped up my owl and tree for some dimension (gotta use those foam dots!!)

 

 

I thought using the '@' symbol added a bit more of that techie feel LOL

 

SO, to participate in this challenge there must be a bird somewhere on your card, layout or altered project. Also, just for fun, keep all letters (title, journalling etc) to under 140 characters because that's the rule for a Tweet.

Once you have completed each challenge, upload a photo of it to our Layout Gallery and link it back to the appropriate challenge thread in the Forum. (ALL LAYOUTS MUST BE CREATED JUST FOR THIS CROP to qualify for prizes. ) Finally, each layout will count towards only ONE challenge. Be sure to upload no later than February 18th at 11:59 pm. There is a special category in the Layout Gallery for each challenge and participants MUST post a photo of their project under the correct category in the Gallery to be eligible for any prizes

There are so many ways to get connected to the world of scrapbooking!

Twitter, Facebook, Email and Blogs are just a few! Two Scrapbook Friends invites you to join them and their wonderful Design Team and be inspired by all the ways we can get connected during our Online Crop in our Forum. Our Designers and the Two Friends will be issuing creative Social Media inspired challenges to thaw your Winter creativity! There will also be games to play and prizes to be won. So get yourself organized......the fun begins this Friday!

Want to know more? Here are some of the specifics!

1. Each Design Team Member and the Two Friends will post an inspiring and creative SOCIAL MEDIA based challenge with a great example in the Forum. Once you have completed each challenge, upload a photo of it to our Layout Gallery and link it back to the appropriate challenge thread in the Forum. (ALL LAYOUTS MUST BE CREATED JUST FOR THIS CROP to qualify for prizes. ) Finally, each layout will count towards only ONE challenge. Be sure to upload no later than February 18th at 11:59 pm.

2. There is a special category in the Layout Gallery for each challenge and participants MUST post a photo of their project under the correct category in the Gallery to be eligible for any prizes. Just be sure to resize the photos to less than 500 pixels (width and/or height). Its super easy but you must be registered on the Gallery before you can post. Please let TSF Joanne or DT Christa know if you need help...

3. Now for the best part! There are three prizes to be won: A) random draw for participation, B) random draw for completing all challenges, C) favorite overall winner voted on by the DT and the Two Friends.

4. In addition, the Two Friends and the DT will be choosing a favourite from her own category and that winner will be awarded 50 buttons!

The winners will be posted no later than February 20th on the Forum.

We hope you will join us and be inspired, we look forward to seeing your creations!

Oh My Word Blog Hop

Welcome to the Oh My Word! Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends! You should have arrived here from Jayne’s blog. If you didn’t, you might want to start at Two Scrapbook Friends, so you can read all about it and you won’t miss any of the great inspiration along the way!

My word for 2013 is right up there in the blog header. It's CHANGE. CHANGE can be a big, scary word for a lot of people, myself included. This year, however, I have decided to embrace it. About 8 months ago I embarked on making a physical CHANGE by adopting a healthier eating plan. I finally came to the realization that a big CHANGE had to be made and found a tool that helps me every day to make better choices. This word CHANGE is not just about outer appearance though, I want to apply this to all areas of my life. I want to CHANGE many things in this coming year.

For my project I did choose to focus on the physical CHANGE I have made. I have had many people comment on my weight loss and although I noticed my pants getting bigger I had a hard time seeing it in the mirror. Then, I came across the picture on the left, taken exactly one year before the one on the right. It was the night of my husband's work Christmas party. These are the pictures that really made me say "WOW, I have made a CHANGE"

I used a line called "Documented" from Simple Stories. The line is all about keeping track of everyday things and the neutral colours worked well with my photos.

There's that word again! I cut the big C out of the paper and used some alpha stickers to complete it. I also cut the little 'happy chart' out and added an eyelet to the box for delighted.

I layered banner pieces, popping random ones up for dimension. I added a few word stickers that really complimented my theme. Of course I had to add a bit of stitching and you can see the light misting I did here and there on the background paper.

Up above the picture on the right you may notice a little tag that says "100% True Story". I thought this was the perfect place to hide some handwritten journalling. I say HIDE, because I just can't handle my handwriting on my layouts!!!

Well there it is, BLECH!! LOL. It reads:

"These photos were taken exactly 1 year apart in Dec. I started using a fitness app in May and lost 55lbs. I finally made a change and will make more in 2013"

I plan to hang this layout on the wall right by my treadmill or maybe on the fridge! I want to be reminded of the commitment I have made to myself. Maybe this time next year the picture on the right will be the BEFORE pic!

So remember, in order to be entered to win:

1. Leave a comment on all the blogs as you go and then go back to the Two Scrapbook Friends blog and leave a final comment there.
2. To have a second chance to win, send YOUR special word that inspires you in 2013 in an email to 2friends@execulink.com. Put "Blog Contest" in your subject line.
3. Create your own design based on your special word and upload it to our Gallery and Forum before February 28 at 11:58 pm, and receive 10 Forum Buttons towards gift certificates in the store!
 4. Check back at the Two Scrapbook Friends Blog on January 22nd to see if you are the prize winner. (Winners will not be contacted personally.)

Be sure to stop by each of the following blogs and leave a comment! Enjoy the Hop :)

Two Scrapbook Friends 

Carolyn 

Ann 

Christa 

Jan 

Amanda 

Lynn 

Laureen 

Jayne 

Shelby 

Joanne 

Two Scrapbook Friends

Wood has become a very hot trend in scrapbooking. Almost all manufactuers have released woodgrain papers and wooden embellishments have become very popular too. Studio Calico has released a ton of awesome little wooden embellies in everything from snowflakes to cameras to typewriters (and I have snatched them all up!). I find I use a lot of wood in my scrapbooking, more than I realized until I started looking through my layouts so this week let me see some wood on your layout or card. For this challenge woodgrain paper DOES NOT count. I want to see the real thing!

Here is my latest layout incorporating wood:

On this layout I used wooden alphas from Pink Paislee, Flags from Little Yellow Bicycle and the boats are from Studio Calico which gives you an example of how many companies have jumped on the 'wood'wagon!

Here are a few little snippets from other layouts I have used wood on:

Love these little clothespins and they are only .15 cents each at TSF!

 

 

Even something small, like a wood button, can add some texture to your projects.

 

I hope you will play along this week and if your stash is lacking in the wood dept I know where you can get some great embellishments ;)