EMS Sketch Challenge #125 + Christmas Eve Layout

I haven't done a sketch challenge since August, so here's a new one that hopefully lots of scrappers will enjoy and use. It houses 8 photos plus still has room for some embellishing. I especially love the 2" x 2" squares, which are perfect for those little cut apart cards you often get in a paper pack. As always, feel free to adapt the sketch to fit your photos, use only one page, rotate it, etc., but be sure to leave a link in the comments so I can admire your finished layout!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my layout, staying pretty true to the sketch except I split the title and cropped the top two photos into squares and added a little bit more patterned paper below each.

Recipe:
Stardust papers & stickers
Cashmere, Moonstruck & White Daisy cardstock
Moonstruck, Topiary, Cranberry & Chocolate ink
Moonstruck marker
The Holiday Life stickers and cut apart cards (Simple Stories)
Cranberry conchos
Simply White Nuvo Drops
Spray pen
Cricut Design Space: Eve, scalloped borders
Challenges: Inkspirational #353 Seeing Stars - 6 star stickers plus some more stars on the patterned paper; Little Red Wagon #831 Candle in the Wind - my light source was the stars; Crafter's Cafe #324 Anything Goes with optional Christmas theme

The Truth About Me Layout

Kristin over at A Cherry on Top hosts the Picture Yourself challenge, and this month the challenge was to scrap about a little known fact about yourself. Mine is that, despite trying really hard to be outgoing and friendly, I am really an introvert. Part of the challenge was to include a picture of just yourself, so I dug one up that I don't absolutely hate (LOL!), and that inspired me to also play along with the Challenge YOUrself blog this month and create a black and white + one color (mine is pink) layout.

Recipe:
Story FYI stamp set
Modern Christmas paper (SU)
Spring 2020 Mix In paper
My Happy Place paper (Doodlebug Designs)
Molly paper (Bella Blvd)
Oh Happy Day paper cut apart card (Simple Stories)
Flamingo, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Flamingo, Raspberry, Smoothie & Black ink
Black & Watermelon markers
DE Monograms chipboard - M, E
Bubblegum embroidery floss
All Aflutter Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
White acrylic flowers
Oh Happy Day sticker (Simple Stories)
Spots & Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: camera
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #321

Challenges: Challenge YOUrself  #142 Black and White + one color - I chose shades of pink; Can You Handle the Pressure - added embossing to the big circle and the paper strip on the left; NBUS #79 - my never before used schtuff is the loopy background paper from a kit I just bought from SU; The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Anything Goes with twist of All Tied Up - I tied an embroidery floss bow onto my chipboard and used some more floss to add stitches to the top of the layout.

Family Photos Layout

We spent Christmas 2018 with my extended family, and it was a great opportunity to get photos of  the different family groups with my parents, in addition to a rare one of all my siblings with our parents. The scan didn't come out well, and as I mentioned in my journaling, nobody thought to plan ahead so we all wore matching colors, but I still love the photos because they preserve the memory of my family, imperfect but so precious to me.

Recipe:
Traditional Christmas papers (KI Memories)
Believe papers
The Holiday Life papers - cut apart tags (Simple Stories)
Topiary, Ruby & Black cardstock
Topiary, Ruby & Black ink
Black marker
DE Framed Fun chipboard
Tulip sparkle flowers and sparkles
White Daisy grosgrain ribbon
Silver thread (from my stash, source unknown)
Black glitter enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: hearts
Cricut Design Space: title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #107

Challenges: Paper Rocks Scissors #9 - used scissors to trim ribbon ends and cut silver thread; Crafter's Cafe #324 Anything Goes with optional Christmas theme;  The Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone

I {Heart} This Layout

These pictures were all taken during the week my sister and her family visited So Cal for my nephew's graduation, but other than that, they seemed to have little in common. But then I happened across a challenge over at A Cherry on Top and decided to use the quote "I wish we could stay here forever and ever and ever" to tie them together. FYI: I added some buttons to my layout, and the bulk made it hard to scan, so sorry about the not-great quality of the page.

Click on the layout for a close up of the journaling.

Recipe:
This & That stamp set
Boom-di-Ada papers
Olive, Autumn Terracotta, Barn Red & Buttercup cardstock
Autumn Terracotta, Barn Red & Olive ink
White gel pen (Sakura)
Boom-di-Ada stickers
Olive & Autumn Terracotta baker's twine
Olive & Autumn Terracotta embroidery floss
Autumn Terracotta spiral clips
Craft buttons
Irresistibles Frames chipboard
Farmhouse Collection - Love This Shape Sprinkles hearts (Doodlebug)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers
Challenges: Love Those Pretty Papers; Heart's Quest Challenge Blog #79 Brown or yellow/gold hearts

Off to School Layout

I've been working on my daughter's school album this week, but since I don't have any more photos printed for her, I switched to my son's album. I'm starting his 5th grade photos, so almost done with elementary school. He's 20 now, so I am a little behind - LOL! Here was first day of school. I had fun making the little composition notebook with his name on it and framing the piece of cork paper with woodgrain paper to create the bulletin board with my first day of school letter on it. I also tried out an ink splat stencil that I had never used before, and I love the slightly messy look it adds to the page, perfect for my ADHD kiddo.

Recipe:
Take Note stamp set
Smarty Pants & Woodgrain papers
Black & White Daisy cardstock
Desert Sand, Sunny Yellow, Candy Apple, Sapphire & Juniper ink
Black marker
Smarty Pants stickers
School Is Cool Ephemera Icons (Bella Blvd)
Enjoy #Life journaling card
To Go Sentiments rub-ons (K & Company)
Tape measure ribbon (Offray)
Ink splat stencil (from Amazon)
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #3 (I'm trying to use it four times this month for a challenge over at Scrapbook.com, so you will probably see this sketch again!)

Challenges: Colorful Options - I don't have any Halloween photos to scrap for the orange and black option, so I went with the rainbow of colors instead; Inkspirational #353 Seeing Stars -  a star border plus lots of little stars scattered around; Stencil Fun - pulled out a new ink splat stencil to add some messiness to the layout.

Brianna's 2nd Grade Class Layout

Yesterday I created a layout with my daughter's 2nd grade class portrait on it, and now here is the companion page with her whole class. I used basically the same supplies so the two pages would coordinate well. The Sketch-n-Scrap throwback sketch was my inspiration, but I had to make a few changes since the photo is an 8x10 instead of the smaller ones from the sketch. Super happy to use most of the burgundy floral paper, which has been in my stash since at least 2006! I have a little bit left, so I might need to make a card just to finish it off.

Recipe:
Color Kaleidoscope & Vicki Boutin Mixed Media paper (American Crafts)
Burgundy floral paper (from my stash, source unknown)
Black cardstock
Lagoon, Ruby & Blush ink
School Is Cool Ephemera Icons (Bella Blvd)
Beetle Black & Bon Bon Heart Assortment puffy stickers (Doodlebug)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: filmstrip
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap 12th Birthday Bash Sketch #3

Challenges: A Cut Above Anything Goes with a die-cut; Heart's Quest Challenges #78 Anything Goes with orange or black hearts; The Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone

2nd Grade {Brianna} Layout

Today, I cranked out a layout for my daughter's elementary school album. My goal is to finish this album before she graduates high school, so I am running out of time! Anyway, I have most of her 2nd grade photos scrapped, so just three more years to go. This layout was for her school portrait, which for some reason I skipped over when I was scrapping the rest of second grade. No big title and no journaling, since all the information will be on the facing page with her class photo.

Recipe:
Color Kaleidoscope & Vicki Boutin Mixed Media papers (American Crafts)
Burgundy floral paper (from my stash, source unknown)
Black cardstock
Lagoon, Ruby & Blush ink
Chocolate ribbon
Staple
Magnolia - Sundance Imagine rub-ons (MME)
School Is Cool Ephemera Icons (Bella Blvd)
Beetle Black & Bon Bon Heart Assortment puffy stickers (Doodlebug)
Gift Tag Thinlits (Sizzix)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: camera
Pattern: TN Time Sketch #9 with Lisa and Lori (originally for a traveler's notebook, but worked well for a 12x12 layout as well)

Challenges: Cut It Up Challenges #341 - must use a die-cut and embellishments (mine are the puffy hearts); Paper Rocks Scissors #9 - used scissors to trim the ribbon plus fussy cut the background paper for the die-cut camera; NBUS #79  - my never before used schtuff is the Sizzix tag die that was a prize that I finally managed to use; Neglected Stuff - mine is the burgundy floral paper that's been sitting in my stash since 2006 and the two rub-on flowers that are probably the same age as the paper; Love Those Pretty Papers - anything goes with lots of pretty patterned papers.

First Grade {Brianna} Layout

I was putting my daughter's school layouts in an album when I noticed I was missing her first and second grade school portraits and class photos, so my goal this week is to scrapbook those. I played along with several challenges (see below) that gave me fun inspiration for my choices of papers and embellishments, so thank you to all those blogs and scrapbooking sites!

Recipe:
State of Mind stamp set
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media, Color Kaleidoscope & Reasons to Smile paper (American Crafts)
Cotton Candy & White Daisy cardstock
Cotton Candy, Gypsy & Desert Sand ink
Watermelon marker
Reasons to Smile Ephemera & puffy stickers (American Crafts)
Juniper paperclip
Free Spirit brads & enamel dots (Prima)
Telling Our Story adhesive brads (Echo Park)
Warm & Cozy enamel dots (Altenew)
Charmalong word charm (Bead Landing)
Cricut Design Space: title using Austin Hearts & BFC Foxy fonts
Pattern: Stick It Down October Double Page sketch (from Facebook group) - changed up the right side due to needing to include the 8x10 class photo

Challenges: Inkspirational Challenges #352 Seasonal - Fall always includes the fun of back to school and those infamous school portraits, so I scrapped those and included thematic embellishments like a backpack and books; Little Red Wagon #830 - Not a card;  Park Hopping My Happy Place - inspired by the bright colors and the painted flowers!

Songs of the Season Layout for LM #773

Good morning! Hope you all are having a great month and getting lots of scrapping done. It's been kind of slow for me this month, so I really needed today's Lasting Memories' challenge to boost my creativity. Design Team member Maureen has been sharing some mood boards with us, and today's board instantly made me think Christmas, although it could be used for a variety of themes. Anyway, here is what I came up with. Hope it inspires you to hop on over to Lasting Memories to play along!

Recipe:
Triangle Trees, Harmonious Patterns, White Pines & Stocking Style stamp sets
Stitched Journaling Panels stamp set (Autumn Leaves)
Evensong & July/August 2021 Mix-In papers
Garden Green, Sweet Leaf & Cranberry cardstock
Desert Sand, Olive, New England Ivy & Cranberry ink
Black marker
Monograms 2 Chipboard alphabet (Mintay Papers)
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon & baker's twine
Merry little Christmas Ephemera - Words (Bella Blvd)
Lace (Michaels)
White glitter enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet)
Tissue paper
Flower punch (EK Success)
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #681 (from Facebook group)

Challenges: Crafter's Cafe #324 Anything Goes with optional Christmas; Paper Rocks Scissors #9 - used scissors to cut all the triangle trees plus the ribbon , lace, and twine;  Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes with lots of patterned paper; Neglected Stuff - the papers from a super old pack I haven't used for ages and I can't remember when I last used the circular journaling stamp;  NBUS #79 My never before used schtuff is the lace trim across the page.

Let's Go for a Walk Layout

For this layout for my son's school album, I pulled out an old paper pack that I only have scraps of left. I wanted to  match the grey in them but had very little of that cardstock left, so I improvised by brayering ink onto white cardstock. I actually love the texture it added, so it was a win! The title was inspired by a children's book of the same name, and I also used the wavy journaling because that is is in the book. For the die-cut tennis shoes on the left page, I kept finding shoe soles in Cricut Design Space that were the reverse of what I have there, but I didn't want to glue all those tiny pieces on a layout, so I used the slice function on a oval to get the outline, then trimmed some excess cardstock off with scissors. I probably could have gotten a perfect outline eventually on the Cricut, but sometimes it's just easier to do it by hand the old fashion way!

I forgot to add the date and don't want to scan this again, so for my reference, this event took place on 4/22/15.

Recipe:
Later Sk8r papers
Lagoon, Outdoor Denim, Whisper & White Daisy cardstock
Pear, Lagoon, Outdoor Denim & Whisper ink
Outdoor Denim marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Later Sk8r PML pocket card
Outdoor Demin, Pear & White Daisy frames and brads
Colonial White ric-rac
Primary & Halloween Mix epoxy stars (Bella Blvd)
Journaling Genie #3 - Funky ((Chatter Box)
Cricut Design Space: tennis shoes, title
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #78

Challenges: Neglected Stuff - I pulled out a paper pack I haven't used since 2019, the navy blue brads were unused since 2022, and the frames have languished in my stash since I bought them in 2011; Let's Craft and Create #224 Anything Goes + Things with Wings (the tennis shoes); Time Out Challenges #299 - I was inspired by the circles and frames plus the wings on one of the hearts.