Ice Cold Snowballs

For about 8 months now, this place with the bright orange paint has been taunting us, windows closed, umbrellas packed away. But when the flags started flying and the menu board was placed outside, it was time. Kevin and Julie got their first snowballs last week, but I recently scrapped a couple of pictures from last summer. The layout was shared on The Cut Shoppe blog:

I used the Abstract Angles cut file from The Cut Shoppe Etsy store to create my fun and colorful background:

There were two great photos that I wanted to include on the page. To fit them both, and not cover up too much of the cool background, I cropped and mounted one on a tag, placing it strategically over an empty spot in the larger photo:

I'm still addicted to banners, so of course I had to make one to mimic the one draped on front of the stand:

Cardstock letter stickers spell out the title:

I can't wait to try out this cut file again: monochromatic with shades of the same color or with a riotous mix of color, with all the openings filled in or with only some of them backed by patterned paper. There are so many options, I'll have a hard time deciding...kinda like choosing a snowball flavor! ;)

Happy Together

Because my firefighter son was on duty Christmas Day, I missed taking the annual family photo after dinner at my parents' house. When I realized all five kids were present for Easter this year, I didn't hesitate to round them up for that belated snap. A spring themed cut file was the obvious choice for my scrapbook page:

The wreath of flowers is part of the Spring Fling cut file set from The Cut Shoppe on Etsy. Backed with a pretty pink floral and leaf green print, then embellished with yellow enamel dots, it beautifully frames my photo and page title:

I loved that we were all dressed in fresh spring colors: lots of teal and blue, and a peck of pink. To bring all these colors to my background paper, I enlisted gelatos in pink and blue, and finished it off with white mist. I forgot how much fun it is to play with paint!

Whatever You Do-Scraptastic Cherry Pie Kit

The following was up on the Scraptastic Club blog last week. Instead of writing an entirely new post, I thought I'd just repeat a few of the highlights. ;) 

The colorful quote on this exclusive paper from the Cherry Pie add-on brought to mind just one thing...how hard my youngest works at his sport. So it was natural for me to scrap about swimming. 

I couldn't bear to cover up the quote, so I cut down the paper just slightly, framed it with a bright yellow patterned paper, and added 4 small photos grouped in the corner.

"His thing is swimming...

"...and he gives it his all!"

The beautiful background paper makes such a statement by itself that very little embellishing is needed. I added a few chipboard stickers, heart stickers and enamel dots, and called it done!

What do YOU work at with all your heart? ;)

Scottish-Irish Bagpipe Troupe

I've got a patterned paper obsession. Love it and use it...lots. But over my many years of scrapbooking, I have accumulated more than I'll ever need. I give away boxes full to friends, but it also makes me happy when I can put some of my old stash to good use. Here's a background that had me pulling out all of the green:

This cut file is called Have A Heart, but I see four-leafed clovers, with each of the clover leaves composed of a heart. I used the 8.5x11 inch version of The Cut Shoppe's file for my page:

Here are two closeups:

A small cluster of goodies fills a frame at the bottom of the page next to my title. This group of bagpipers is becoming a familiar sight in the Rex parade on Mardi Gras Day. I love their music AND their unique dress!

Sweet 16-Scraptastic Cherry Pie Kit

The most recent Subscriber Challenge over on the Scraptastic Club blog was an easy one for me, to use cut files from the kits. Seriously, this is one of my favorite scrapbooking techniques, so I set about meeting the challenge in a big way. I used 3 cut files from 3 different kits! 

First up is the background from the Cherry Pie scrapbooking kit for April. I eliminated some of the smaller central openings and saved quite a bit of time...and my blade! Besides, that area would be mostly covered up when I'm done.

Then I used the file folder and number tickets from two different This Life Noted kits. Again, I modified the files a bit, enlarging the number on the tickets and using only the outline of the file folder:

I printed my photo in black and white and embellished with mostly black clips, flair and clear stickers, all of which pop against the vivid colors of the papers beneath. Pen-stitching around the cut file openings helps to define them as well. Everything on the page is from Scraptastic's Cherry Pie scrapbooking kit for April.

This challenge was not a challenge at all. ;)