Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Stick it Down Design Team Call

Tuesday Sketch Challenge and a DT Call!

We are looking to add some talented ladies to our teams for our next term running July - Dec 2014.
We are also looking for sketch designers for our single page and card teams.

How do you apply?

You apply by playing along with the challenge below.  All you do is pick your favourite sketch and link up with us by May 26, 2014 at 8PM EST.

You will need to have the following:
1. an active blog
2. a facebook account (this is where the DT chats)
3. the time to comment on all submissions for your reveal

Anyone is welcome to apply! Please mention the DT call in your post and make sure you link back to us!
Good luck!

Now onto our challenge!


This is the first time there has been a fifth Tuesday since the beginning of our challenge blog. As such, we have a really fun challenge for you this week!

We are asking you to go back and pick the sketch that you wanted to play along with and ran out of time or life just got in the way of your scrappy time!

Find all you need HERE

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Inspiration Elevator~Guest Designer!

 May is here! Hopefully it means more sunshine and warmer weather.  More daylight hours means more time for me to be creative too! And at Inspiration Elevator, it means the start of our 3rd year as a challenge group - how exciting is that!!

We are beginning a new season of Inspiration Elevator, with some new designers, familiar faces and amazing challenges. Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level;  to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at our blog and catch us on Facebook and Instagram (soon!) too.

This month we welcome Shelby Dwyer (that's me!) to join us as a Guest Designer. Shelby is a very talented scrapbooker who is famous for her creations at Two Scrapbook Friends where she creates kits and other inspiration for the very busy store. We are so thrilled to have her joining us! ( I am thrilled to be here!)
This month's challenge is issued by the innovative Joanne Burton. Joanne's style is classically elegant blended with a touch of current trends, and garnished with her signature love for buttons. Here is her challenge for us, in her own words:

"Currently. That is the topic for our next challenge!
Social media and digital cameras inspire us and make it easy to capture the everyday and that is the reason for my challenge. It used to be that pictures were only taken of special events or during vacations. Now, photos are taken all the time. Whether or not we agree with the number of photos that people take now, it is fun to document an ordinary day. It is interesting to capture a moment in time and I am sure we will enjoy looking back on it someday.
So, I want you to pick a day, grab your camera and take a few pictures of your surroundings. I want you to document what you are currently: Eating, Reading, Loving, Wearing, Listening, and Hoping. I would like you to include the date on your design, the complete list and at least one photo. Otherwise, make it your own and have fun!"

As a guest of IE I really wanted to embrace their philosophy of stepping outside my comfort zone. I wanted to create something completely different than anything I had done before. I loved the challenge Joanne gave us as I am a big fan of chronicalling the every day. I chose my day, May the fourth, mainly because I was taken with the thought of including my son's Star Wars pyjamas on my layout!

   I approached my day by snapping everything in sight (pretty much what I do every day!) so I would have lots to choose from. In the end that made it super difficult to narrow them down and I used 8 photos on the finished product.


There are many reasons this layout is different than my 'norm' one of which is the serious lack of pattern paper. I used a sheet for my background and a card for my 'title' but other than that it's mainly cardstock and embellishments. Oh and LOTS AND LOTS of Silhouette sketch pens!

I used the 'Plus One' collection from Amy Tangerine, again not something I would traditionally go for but the fun and bright colours grabbed me.


I do love pink however, in a house full of boys, I rarely use it so I decided to use my new running shoes as inspiration for the colour scheme and matted all my pics in bright pink! 

I ended up including so many pics that there wasn't much room left for the complete list so I decided to underline each word in my journaling to honour that part of the challenge. I am LOVING flair buttons and the fact that so many companies are carrying them makes me happy :) 

 In case you were wondering I DID put the pyjamas and the date on there too..
 

I added some washi from my ever-growing stash, a few sequins and a sticker from Simple Stories that pretty much summed up my whole day.
 
 Thanks so much for the invite ladies and allowing me to delight in the everyday!
Here's a complete list of this month's participating designers, including some new faces! Please welcome Jayne Morgan, Katherine Sutton and Wendi Robinson as regular creators.  We sure are lucky to have them creating and challenging us this year! We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month, then come on back and give the challenge a try yourself!
Shelby Dwyer - Guest Designer (you are here!)
I hope you feel inspired to play along with our challenge this month.  When you do, please share it using the linky tool on our Inspiration Elevator Blog and/or our Inspiration Elevator Facebook page.
We would LOVE to see what you made!
We would also like to say goodbye and a heartfelt thanks to those leaving us this month: Laurel Seabrook, Cathy Harper and Laura Whitaker. We have been inspired by your challenges and your designs.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Two Scrapbook Friends National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop!

 


Welcome to the Two Scrapbook Friends National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Christa's blog. I am sure she inspired you with her fabulous use of patterned paper!
My letter is 'Y' and my technique/element is Y-our favourite embellishment.  This was an absolute no-brainer for me, it had to be wood veneer shapes. You see I have amassed quite the collection over the last few years and I don't seem to be slowing down at all.  I love wood veneer for its versatility; ink it, paint it, mist it or leave it plain. No matter how you use it, wood always works!

Here's a peek at my collection

For my layout I used wood veneer from Studio Calico, Freckled Fawn and
a big arrow from Basic Grey. I love how so many companies have jumped on this trend.
 
Carolyn and I enjoy this 'Happy Moment' often throughout the summer.
 Here's my ode to Dollar Drink Days at McDonald's.
 I used my Silhouette to cut out the 'happy moment' mat and layered it over some great new papers from the 'Americana' collection by Pebbles. I LOVE that white washed WOODgrain background!
The polaroid and 'smile' sticker are from Simple Stories and the 'favorites' banner is from a Queen & Co travel paper. It's always fun to pull bits and pieces from different manufactuers together.
 
I hope you've had a wonderful time hopping around and feel inspired to create some of your own SCRAPPY projects! Just remember to leave a comment on each blog as you go. This way you will qualify to be in a draw for a fabulous Blog Hop prize.

   Amanda
Jayne 
Tracey
Joanne
  Carolyn
Christa
  Shelby (You are here)

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Sketch challenge

Looking for some fun challenges? Check this out
Stick it Down

Saturday, March 1, 2014

It's March 1st which means it's time for another Sketch/Craft challenge. I know many of us have been hibernating from this long, cold winter and can't wait for Spring BUT it also means more time spent indoors creating.
For those of you in warmer climates...I AM SO JEALOUS!!!
 
Here is this month's sketch:
 
 
The crafty part of this challenge is to use at least one 'natural' material on your layout. This could be: wood, linen, cork, burlap etc.
Woodgrain paper does not qualify although I did use some on my layout!
 
Here is my creation:
I used some papers from Amy Tangerine's Cut&Paste collection and
a woodgrain paper from Pebbles.
 
 I added some linen banners from Maya Road
 
 Some burlap (we sell sheets in the store) and wood embellies
from Basic Grey and Studio Calico
 
 I also used some cream jute twine as my 'banner' string
 then wrapped some around the heart on the paper.
 
 
To qualify for the gift certificate from Two Scrapbook Friends please remember that your creation must not only represent the sketch but it must also have the 'crafty element' included.
 
We are really looking forward to seeing all the different creations that our scrapbook friends come up with. Everyone interprets the challenge in their own unique way.
 
In order to qualify, we just have a few simple 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 must be linked up using the tool below to be entered to win.

3. Projects must be entered no later than March 31, 2014 by 11:59pm

You can go HERE to link up with the post!

Friday, January 24, 2014

Reason #163 why I love my Silhouette



I love my Cameo. I am not a card maker but I often need cards so I turn to my trusty machine to do most of the work for me. Holden is going to a video game birthday party this weekend. I grabbed this image from the online store, mirror image copied it, welded and voila...a card! I used my sketch pens to do all the text which is one of my favourite features of this amazing machine! Then I used the envelope punch board to create a custom size envelope and I was done.
I think I will be making a bunch of these for all the boy birthdays this year!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Crafty challenge at TSF

It's time for our first challenge of 2014! I was cropping recently and I went back to something I used to do a lot and then veered away from..distressing. I had this great paper from 'Chic Tags' that had what looked like coffee cup stains on it. I love when the paper does the 'work' for you!

Here is what I came up with:
 
I added to the stains by spritzing a bit of brown mist and lots of  'vintage photo' distress ink around the edges of the background. This colour is by far my favourite ink to use and I reach for it often.
 

 
I crumpled and ripped strips of paper that fit the distressed feel of the layout and layered them up as a backdrop for one of my favourite pics. I used canvas letters, jute twine and wooden bits that I inked with vintage photo again. I love how all the different textures add to the outdoorsy theme.
 
SO for this month's challenge let's see lots of distressing!
 
You could win $25 to use at the store or online.

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 TSF gallery or linked up using the tool on the TSF blog post to be entered to win.
3. Projects must be entered no later than January 31st at 11:59pm.