Red, White and Blue with Practical Scrappers

This week is all about the Red, White and Blue at Practical Scrappers. I just had to share a layout with you that I did last year again. You might remember it, but I just love it so much I wanted to show it to you again.

This is a layout that I did at the end of last year to celebrate my husband's amazing military life. After 33 years of service, he retired last October. I could not be more proud of him!!

Please join us over at Practical Scrappers and see what other great Red, White and Blue creations are being featured!

Something Old, Something New with The Kraft Journal

This week The Kraft Journal has a fun challenge! "Something Old, Something New"

So many things came to mind with that prompt. I decided to start a, much begged for, recipe album for my daughter. I decided on 8x8 for the size, I thought that would be perfect for the kitchen. Here's a look at the page I created,

I used a combination of Old and New items along with an Old recipe to create the 8x8 album page. The base of the page is created from Brown Kraft Cover Weight Cardstock. The recipe is hand written on a White Library Card and sits inside of a Library Pocket. This one is for my homemade Spaghetti Sauce that we refer to as simply...Sauce.  The bow is tied from Twill Tape and the little heart embellishment is attached with a Tiny Wooden Clothespin. The paper I used is from Cosmo Cricket and I thought is was just perfect for the Sauce page. I'm not sure if I will stick with the same collection for every page or not, we'll just have to see how it goes along. 

Today is a big day for me. As you read this I am having a much anticipated surgery (if you are reading this Monday morning that is). After several years of suffering with sinus issues, we finally know what is wrong and it's being fixed! I'm not exactly excited about having surgery, but I am excited about being able to breath correctly again. 

I hope you will come and visit us over at The Kraft Journal and join in on this fun challenge. Just remember to follow the rules to qualify for the prizes, either use items from Kraft Outlet or use kraft on your project. 

Stamping on Layouts with Practical Scrappers

Today Practical Scrappers is featuring Layouts with stamping on them. I've done this a few times in the past, but stamps are not the first thing I grab when I'm making a layout. I'm not sure why, I always really like the way they turn out!

Here is a look at a layout I made using some stamping as the background,

I wanted the stamping to be have a more faded look, I didn't want it to be bold or crisp. I used the "stamping off" or "second generation" stamping technique to create an owl and tree background for this adorable picture of little William. The owl is from Hero Arts, the tree is from For the Luv of Art and the stitched line is from Sassafrass Be sure to head on over to Practical Scrappers and see what else has been published in the Stamped Layout catagory posted today, lots of different and inspiring ideas!!

Welcome Summer with The Kraft Journal

It's time to Welcome Summer at The Kraft Journal!

Along with summer seems to come a lot of parties. I decided to create this adorable gift card holder for a birthday party that we recently attended.

I started out using one of the  Small Kraft Pillow Boxes from Kraft Outlet. I decorated it with the Pretty Bird Paper Tape collection. The stripes, leaves and butterfly were all made with the paper tape. The center of the flower is one of my Kraft Outlet fav's, a  Silver Bottle Cap topped off with a button from my collection. A faux stitch line created with my white gel pen finishes it off.

I hope that you will visit us at The Kraft Journal this week and play along with us. Create your "Welcome Summer" inspired project with either items from Kraft Outlet or kraft products to qualify to enter and win prizes.

Father's Day with The Kraft Jouranl

It's all about Father's Day this week at The Kraft Journal. Use items from Kraft Outlet or Kraft Cardstock on your project to join in on the fun! This week I made a layout of my husband and son. I used a TON of items from Kraft Outlet, check it out.

I started out by using an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of  Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock  as an anchor for the layout. It's decorated with Silver Bottle Caps, Tim Holtz Journaling Tickets and Gaffer Tape (Venice). I also used a few buttons from my stash.  A White Library Card and Pocket were inked up with Old Paper Distress Ink and used for journaling. The pocket was stamped with the 7gypsies ATC Write It stamp for added interest. I also used the little tab punch from Stampin Up  for a few spots that needed that little "something". I surrounded the picture with some lime green stitching on my sewing machine to create a frame since I did not mat the photo. I just adore this photo of my two guys and I really like how the layout turned out. I'm slowly (very slowly) feeling more confident about doing more masculine layouts. Practice, practice and more practice.

I hope that you will join us for the challenge this week at The Kraft Journal. Be sure to visit the blog and see what the other designers created for this theme.

Thanks for visiting and have a fantastic day!

Bargello Tutorial for The Kraft Journal

Today at The Kraft Journal I am sharing a tutorial on the Bargello technique I used on this project,

Please visit The Kraft Journal and check out the tutorial!
Also, there is still time to enter this week's challenge, here are the details...

Use this week's "It's a Guy Thing" theme to inspire you to create a project and then link it up at The Kraft Journal before 6:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Sunday June 12, 2011. All participants in our challenges for the month of June have a chance to be featured on our "Feature Me Fridays" posts as well as be entered to win a $15.00 Kraft Outlet Store Voucher! The more challenges you enter this month, the more chances you have to win!



Have a fantastic day!!

Summer Kickoff Blog Hop

Welcome to the Summer Kick-Off Blog Hop!


Practical Scrappers has assembled a great line-up of Blogs for you this week, each with a variety of different ideas to share with you!   Some of the blogs change content daily, so you'll want to check in throughout the week for your chance to win prizes!  The Twinery has provided a giveaway for one person who visits each blog!  Here's all you have to do to qualify:  Visit each blog and then send Practical Scrappers one email telling them a topic that is currently or has recently been featured on each site.  Not hard and it gives you a chance to really check out these great blogs!  To enter send the email to practicalscrappers@gmail.com

Here's the order for the Blog Hop:

Practical Scrappers (Start There)

Papercraft Star (Giving away a Stamp Bundle from TradeFish Designs!!)

Pile It On

Stuck on U Sketches

Getting Cricky

Frosted Designs

Amy Chomas

PCS Challenge and a visit from Beth!

What a fantastic day here in Colorado! Beth is here with me and we visited the oh so beautiful Garden of the Gods today. Here is one of the pictures that we took this morning,

Isn't that just gorgeous!?!

I am so loving having Beth here at my home. We took a few moments to look over some scrapbooks that I completed back in the 90's. It's so funny to look back and see how much scrapbooking has changed over the years. I have some layouts with at least 10 pictures on them and you would never catch me doing that these days!!

For this week's dual challenge we had a beautiful white photo for inspiration and fabulous stamps from our sponsor Trade Fish Designs to use. I created a mostly white and black Father's Day card for this challenge. I created a banner of out neck ties and used a basic Happy Father's Day sentiment. On the inside of the card I used a stamp from the Father Quotes stamp set from Trade Fish Designs. I could not agree more with who ever the "unknown" author is! 

You still have time to join us at Papercraft Star for this dual challenge! Just link up your project by 9pm (eastern) on Sunday, after that the voting will begin.

Memorial Day with The Kraft Journal

It's all about Memorial Day at The Kraft Journal this week!!

You still have time to join in on the fun, just visit the blog and link up your Memorial Day project by Sunday, June 5th by 6pm (eastern). Just be sure to use items from The Kraft Outlet or kraft cardstock to be eligible for prizes.

I chose to make a red, white and blue Thank You card for this challenge. I used Brown Kraft Coverweight Cardstock for the card base and used Decorative Paper Tape as a guide for the stripes. Barn Door distress ink was used to color in the stripes and highlight the red flower. It's all finished of with a shiny silver bow.

I hope you will visit us at The Kraft Journal!