Scrapping Our Stash Blog Hop - Giveaway Alert!

Welcome to the Scrapping Our Stash Blog Hop

We've taken a couple months off because of the busy holidays but we are back at it this month with the Scrapping Our Stash Blog Hop!  This month (and from here on out) we are inviting anyone who's interested in joining the stash busting hop to join us.  If you want to join us next month email me at practicalscrappers@gmail.com

Here's this month's Hop List:

Cathy http://alteredplayground.blogspot.com/

Juliana http://www.17turtles.com

Charity http://menemenetekeluniversity.blogspot.com/

Laura http://scrapaddict4life.blogspot.com/

Sandy http://itsafamilyaffairwithscrappynana.blogspot.ca/

Christine http://scrappingwithchristine.blogspot.com ***You Are HERE***

Alison http://alisondaydesigns.com/ 

Wendi http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.com

Suzanna  http://lifestrivialities.typepad.com/

Lee-Anne http://lee-annelovethejourney.blogspot.com

Bobbi http://vintagemusedesigns.blogspot.com/

Wendy C www.stampingrules.com

Monica http://scrapinspired.com/

Kristy http://alwaysaworldaway.blogspot.com

Jennifer http://livethemoment-jen.blogspot.com 

Majken  http://chocoscrapaholic.blogspot.com 

Kim http://rydenkim.blogspot.com/

When I think stash I tend to also think back to pictures that I still need to get to - this little guy is almost 2 1/2 so it's high time I finish his month by month pictures!  I'm close...and thanks to this hop one month closer!

Whenever I do these I like to base it on the colors of his month sticker. So this month I went with the Red, White, Blue, and Gray color scheme.  That led me to some of Pebbles Inc's releases from last year.  Of course the colors are easily found in a patriotic line and then they had a great baby line with grays too!  I added journaling to the back because I just didn't have a place on the layout that I loved for it!  I definitely need the journaling so I can remember all the fun things he did at this age!

Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper: Pebbles Inc

Stickers: Bella Blvd

Felt: Pebbles Inc

Enamel Hearts: Pebbles Inc

GIVEAWAY

As a Thank You for stopping by today I am going to do a special giveaway of a $10 gift certificate to the SRM Stickers Store! I am on the design team at SRM Stickers and love the products there - you will be able to find plenty of fun choices from stickers to doily to vinyl to packaging!

You can do any or all of the following to enter:

1) Become a follower here

2) Like my Scrapping with Christine facebook page

3) Pin the layout picture onto Pinterest

And lastly leave me a comment to let me know which you have done!

This giveaway will remain open until 11:59 pm on February 8th!  I will announce a winner within a couple days!  

Now Hop on over to the talented Alison's Blog!

Baseball Layout Inspiration - SRM Stickers

It's going to be a busy sports week here on my blog - I have at least 3 sports related projects to share!  Mom to three boys and sports lover = sports paper crafts :).  SRM Stickers has always had awesome sports stickers and this year they have added several new ones in the Take 2 by the Dozen line that are simply fabulous and perfect for a variety of sports crafting!  Today I have a layout to share using the new baseball ones!

It doesn't matter which team you love - these new baseball stickers are perfect for all fans!  They are neutral enough to make them work for everything from Little League to Major to League Baseball - you will not be disappointed!  I used the Take2: Stickers By the Dozen/Baseball to create this layout.  As indicated by the name it comes with 12 Baseball stickers and some borders. 

Swing on by the SRM blog to check out some detail shots on the layout and get some additional sports inspiration from last week!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions, Core'dinations

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Sketchy Saturday - Winter Wonderland

Usually on Sketchy Saturday I share an original sketch of my own but this week I stumbled onto a sketch that I liked and decided I'd feature it this week instead! I am using a sketch from the kit club My Creative Scrapbook.  They also run a sketch site called My Creative Sketches and I am playing along there this month! I am also going to link this up to Paper Issues current issue "Say it Ain't Snow." Okay on to the sketch - here's the January sketch:

I like the simplicity of the sketch. You can access the blog post to play along with this sketch here. Now on to my interpretation:

I do not take a lot of horizontal pictures so I opted to keep the sketch as it was but use a vertical picture instead.  I used the Doodlebug collect "Frosty Friends" and between that and the sketch this layout came together super fast!  I love when that happens!

I wasn't coming up with an option for scallops along the bottom of the picture that I liked.  But these triangles meant to be corner stickers worked perfectly and added a unique touch to the layout.

I also didn't do scallops up above but went for a bigger cluster of elements than the sketch called for.  Part of why I enjoy sketches is they give you a jumping off place but let you run with it and make it work for you!  

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Doodlebug Design

Stickers: Doodlebug Design

Enamel Hearts: Doodlebug Design

Hope your weekend is off to a fabulous start! We finally have a calm Saturday and I am looking forward to some relaxing!

Core'dinations Tags Layout - CHA Booth Project

Core'dinations tags are one of my favorites of all their products.  Today I have another CHA booth layout to share with you that highlights their tags!

These shaped tags are some newer ones that they carry that also have embossing on them already.  All I had to do was a little sanding to bring out the embossing.  Because I really wanted the tags to take center stage I kept things very clean and simple. 

 I definitely had a different mindset as I created for CHA for Core'dinations vs normal.  My style is still there but definitely on a cleaner level :).  I did some die cutting for the flowers and title and then embossing for the white framing.  

Coming up next will be some cards from the Core booth - we'll see you again soon :)

Core'dinations CHA Layout using Tim Holtz Kraft-Core

Last week I shared my CHA projects from Paper House Productions and today I have a Core'dinations layout to share that was also for their CHA booth.  I have several projects that I did for them also but I'm gonna be spreading out that sharing a bit.  This layout was done to focus on the Tim Holtz Kraft Core Cardstock Collections that Core'dinations makes and is a super clean and simple layout.

My background is made of the Tim Holtz Shattered Collection.  I love this cardstock line because it adds a lot of interest without overwhelming the rest of the layout.  I also used tearing and embossing to bring out the kraft core throughout the layout.  

I also used some of Core's small tags as a grid style embellishment.  I added wood hearts and enamel dots in coordinating colors to help break up all the white.

For my title I cut out letters on my Silhouette Cameo and then embossed each with a different folder. 

If you haven't seen them already you should check out the new Core'dinations stuff with Tim Holtz - the metallic collection has me real excited!  You can catch a sneak of them here! 

CHA Projects - Paper House Productions

It's no secret how much I love Paper House Productions so when given the chance to do some extra creating for them for the CHA Winter Show of course I jumped at the chance!  One of their new collections is called ColorWays and they are producing three colors of it this year Emerald, Sapphire, and Noir.  I got to work with Emerald!

I made both this card and the Ampersand.  The Ampersand is made from individually rolled pieces of paper.  I did each one by cuting a 1 1/2 inch tall strip and then rolled it around the pencil using quick drying glue to secure it.  It was tedious and messy but I was soooooo happy with it! 

I also created this layout using all the different pieces from the line (rub-ons, foam stickers, accessory pack).  It's going to fun to play more with these lines and try out the other colors!

Here's what that portion of the booth looked like:

I also had several other older items in the booth and Paper House shot a couple of pics of some so I thought I'd share those as well!

My tailgate box card was one I made for them last spring and...

My Pray frame that has gotten some serious mileage from Joann stores to CHA :)  Love it just as much now as when I created it!  And check out the new Faith cardstock stickers below it!  

If you want to check out more pictures of the booth be sure to hop by the Paper House Facebook Page - you won't be disappointed!

Sketchy Saturday using Teresa Collins "Studio Gold"

Welcome back to another Sketchy Saturday!  This week the sketch is a two picture sketch!

What do you think are you getting some ideas???  Here's my interpretation:

Would you believe I took these pictures and scrapped them within 4 hours???  I had this new Teresa Collins "Studio Gold" line that I was itching to play with and it was just screaming snow pictures at me! As you can see I built my layout up from the sketch - adding in some vellum to the background.  That is what I love about sketches - they give you a jumping off point but then room to make it your own with embellishing and extra layers!

The title needed to fit the situation so I used some letter stickers and then cut out the "Selfie" word with my Silhouette.  The various elements from the Studio Gold line are fabulous - you've got vellum, foil, glitter, chipboard, enamel dots....all things fun in my book!  

If you create something with this sketch I would love to see it!  Either link me up in the comments of on my facebook page!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Teresa Collins

Stickers: Darice

Chipboard: Teresa Collins

Die Cuts: Teresa Collins & Heidi Swapp

Enamel Dots: Teresa Collins

Vellum: Teresa Collins

Giveaway Winner

A huge congrats to Brook Boyd!  You are my winner from the Imaginisce, Twinery, Samantha Walker giveaway!  Email me at practicalscrappers@gmail.com and I will get those out to you!

Snowmen in a Tube

I love versatile packaging? And SRM has you totally  covered in that department and today I am going to show you how I used the clear tubes to create some fun packaging!  I used the mini tubes and original tubes from SRM in combination with their punched pieces to create snowmen!

.  I created these little snowmen to be treats for my kids on a snow day.  I curled the punched pieces and slid them into the tubes.  The original tubes (for my big kids) got three pieces and the mini tubes (for my little kids) got two pieces.  

I used the following sticker sets to create these snowmen:

Eyes: We've Got Your Border Wedding

Nose: We've Got Your Border Halloween

Mouth: Sticker Stitches - Black

Buttons: Sticker Stitches - Black  

And then I used the following for their bodies:

Bodies: White Medium Punched Pieces & White Small Punched Pieces

Each snowman got a scarf in their favorite color using Striped Bakers Twine in Maraschino, Midnight Blue, Peapod, and Lilac.  

Last step was to add some candy - I added little chocolate balls but pretty much anything would work! Aren't these the cutest???

You Are My Sunshine - A Scraps Layout

Yesterday I shared with you the goal of scrapping more holiday pictures.  Today I am going to share another goal I have for 2015 - using up some of my stash that I have held onto because I love it! With the new year I have been busy doing some organizing, including organizing in my Scrapping Studio.  That is an ongoing thing and I have needed to get to scraps for awhile.  Today as I was tackling scraps I piled up pieces from this older line from Pebbles Inc - I believe it was released 2 years ago at CHA.  It caught my eye and I decided to pull it together into a quick layout!

My daughter and her godmother always take beautiful pictures together and this one was no exception.  The bottom of the layout is the bottom of a piece of patterned paper from the Party by Amy Locurto line.  I then added the You Are My Sunshine and picture with a matte. 

I pulled out the stickers from this line and started building a cascade up from one corner to the opposite side.  I love using this technique - it goes quick and pulls the eye towards the picture!  I topped the whole thing with a little washi tape to bring some color across the top.

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Pebbles Inc

Stickers: Pebbles Inc

Enamel Dots: Simple Stories

Wood: Studio Calico

Santa Claus Layout

Okay so I know Christmas is over and I know the "industry" says it's time to move on to Valentine's Day and Spring.  But here's the thing...I have been following the industry's unspoken rules for a few years now and I have news for you, I have a lot of unscrapped holiday pictures.  Not just Christmas but from all the holidays.  Basically whatever I haven't gotten done by the deadlines gets shoved to the side and may or may not get documented later.  And if it does get documented later it isn't with the freshness of memories still close in mind.  So this year, I am bucking that trend and you are going to see me documenting holidays year around - regardless of what season we are actually in.  I want to make sure I am capturing all the moments before I forget them!  Today I am kicking things off with a layout from this past Christmas and it tells the story of what my kids told Santa they wanted for Christmas.

It is not the best picture of the whole group but when is a Santa picture ever good - there's always someone making a goofy or terrified face!  I used 3D Stickers from Paper House Productions in combination with some of their patterned paper.  I also used some new nesting star dies that I got from Technique Tuesday.  Those are going to get a workout!  Core'dinations cardstock helps make up the base and the background for the picture.  I hadn't written down all the kids Santa requests yet, so I am glad I took the time to do this because chances are, by next November when I got back to this picture I would have forgotten!  

Do you stick with holiday schedules when scrapping or are you working on them year around too?

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: Paper House Productions, Teresa Colins

Favorites from my terms with Imaginisce, Samantha Walker, Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine, and The Twinery - GIVEAWAY!

With the new year comes changes in design teams.  I've recently wrapped up my terms with several design teams and I thought it would be fun to go back and highlight some of my favorite projects that I did with them! I also thought it would be fun to bless one reader with a prize package with goodies from these companies! Read on to find out how to qualify!

First up are some projects from
The Twinery!

I tried to do a string art style card here!  You can see the whole post here


I just did simple outlining with my twine on this layout - love the effect it had.


This layout was for a blog hop with the Twinery & Chic Tags.

Next up are some projects from 
Imaginisce 

Fall cards that I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut and patterned papers, stamps, and the I Rock tool from Imaginisce


A layout making use of the I Top tool and the fun Little Princess line!


My first ever box card - love doing them!



Easter Embroidery Hoops decorated with paper you can check out the whole tutorial here!


Say Cheese layout using stamps.

Valentine's Card for Her


Valentine's Card for Him


Winter Card


Birthday Card

St. Patrick's Day Subway Art

Now on to 
Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine

This was for a challenge to use a faux technique - I did faux stitching.

This card was for an Old Skool challenge - I went with using an old tool (decorative edge scissors)

And last up I have some favorites from my time with
Samantha Walker:

This layout has a tutorial with it on how I made the Silhouette Cameo do the work on cutting out the detailed flower.


A faux chalkboard wall art project using sketch pens.


A bus shaped card along with a tutorial on how to make your own shaped card.


A shaker card using sequins.


Decorations for a Frozen themed Birthday Party - see the whole post here


Using Samantha's flowers to create a flower pen bouquet - see the whole tutorial here

So here's the deal - I have been blessed with tons of great products from my time on design teams.  I would like to share that with one of you!  I will be putting together a prize package that includes patterned papers from Samantha Walker, a variety of products from Imaginisce (paper, stickers, die cuts etc.), some twine from The Twinery (winners choice of five colors), and some misc goodies from Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine.

Here's how you can qualify:
1) Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite project (or 2 or 3 :) from this post is.
2) To get an extra entry become a fan on my Facebook Page (leave me a comment here or there so I know you did that)

And that's it!  I will leave this contest open until January 15th at 11:59 pm CST.  Look for a winner to be announced the next day!

Blog Hop Winner

Thanks so much to all of you that popped in for the blog hop!  The randomly chosen winner of the $25 SRM Stickers gift certificate is Mandi Holmes!  And the winner of the $75 Paper Issues gift certificate was randomly chosen and ended up being from Laurel's blog - she will be announcing the winner there :)

A New Monthly Installment in my Scrappy Routine

Every year around my birthday I think about how I really should scrap more about myself.  I am in lots of pictures and layouts - but I don't do a lot about who I am.  Well today is my birthday so it is the perfect time to finally follow through on that thought!  Each month around this date I am going to try to scrap a page that tells a little about me.  I want something that I can look back at in ten years (and beyond) that shares a little about my day to day life and the things that I do and love.

I recently picked up the collection Through the Year Collection from Echo Park by Jennifer Gallacher.  I decided to make this collection my base for this monthly series - it's perfect because it has stuff for each month!  So without further adieu, here's January!

I fussy cut the diamond shapes from some patterned paper in the collection and used those to create my background.  I then simply added some stickers, enamel dots, and wood.  For the journaling/topic this month I just decided to do things I Love.  

I wanted to do day to day things that I love, not like the big obvious things like God, my hubby, kids, family, etc...but more the stuff I might forget :)  Here's my list: hot baths, good devotions, cookie butter, silly kids (those giggles from my littlest boys are the best), cheese pizza, Forever (the tv show), hazelnut coffee, popcorn, loud music (in my car by myself ;)), facebook, Bible Study, Fitbit, IPhone, and Daniel Tiger (not looking forward to the little boys outgrowing that show).  

Do you scrap about yourself too?  I'd love to see how you are documenting your own history!  

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Echo Park

Stickers: Echo Park

Wood: Cosmo Cricket

Enamel Dots: Simple Stories

Sketchy Saturday - Week 1

It's been awhile since I've done a Sketchy Saturday and I thought the first week of the year was the perfect time to get started again!  Here's the sketch for this week!

And here's my sample to go with it!

I am working with this line for The Scrapbooking Studio! Legacy is a beautiful heritage line but can also work great for family layouts and because I don't have a lot of heritage photos, that is what I went with.  I have had these pictures sitting and waiting to be scrapped for a couple years and was so glad to finally have the right line to match them up with.  This is my three oldest children with one of our stand-in Grandma's at our old home in Missouri.  Her and her husband are godparents to Cooper and this is when we took him down to meet them.  Barbie isn't a huge fan of having her picture taken so I treasure this pictures even more knowing that.

This layout and sketch are both clean and simple - make use of a little patterned paper and a few embellishments and you can knock it out quick and easy!  Simple Stories is awesome for products that mix and match perfectly and make the creating process less stressful!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Simple Stories

Stickers: Simple Stories

Enamel Dots: Simple Stories

Die Cuts: Simple Stories

Let It Snow - A Winter Layout

Happy New Year!  Today I am the blogger at SRM Stickers!  I love how their sticker make it possible to create for any season and mix and match with the patterned papers you love.  Today I have a snow layout to share of Bo from last year!

Making use of the Sentiment Winter stickers made adding journalling and thoughts throughout easy.  I love to be able to use stickers to tell the story because it can often add to the design of the project. I am also not a huge fan of my handwriting - so when I can let the stickers do the work then I definitely do!  We haven't had our first snow yet here - but I am waiting with my SRM Stickers in hand to document it when it shows up! To check out close-ups of this layout head on over to the SRM Stickers blog!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Simple Stories

Stickers: SRM Stickers & Simple Stories

Punched Pieces: SRM Stickers