DCWV Sketch Challenge

I recently celebrated my birthday (29, again!) and as a treat, I went out and bought myself a few new stacks.  My picks were "The Delightful Stack," "Juniper Berry," and "White Ginger."  Whoo hoo! 
For February's Stack-a-Holic Challenge, I used my new "Delightful" stack (perfectly named, by the way).  I know the hexagon trend has been around for awhile now, but I still love it and I love it for paper collections because it's easy to incorporate many different patterns into a layout.  I think this is a sketch I can use over and over again.

Here's my entry layout:

I tried to highlight the blowing of the dandelions with a few elements from the large dandelion cut in the Lyrical Letters Cricut cartridge.  I just cut the "sprays" from the large flower and placed them around the page.  The scalloped border is from "Ribbons & Rosettes" and I created the title using the font from "Cindy Loo."  All the papers are from DCWV's "The Delightful Stack."  I inked most of the elements with some "Milled Lavender" Distress Ink from Tim Holtz.  It's not a color I use too often, but it was absolutely perfect for the colors in this stack.

Christmas Mantle Sign

So excited to finish this yesterday!  I love how easy the project was (and I didn't spend a dime!) and it makes such a statement (literally) on our mantle.  I first saw the idea on Pinterest - thank you Red Letter Words!  - and wanted to make my own version.  First thing I did was rummage around in our garage for a suitable piece of scrap wood.  I lucked out and didn't even have to cut anything as I found a perfectly sized piece of luan.  I brushed it off (ewww- it had been in there awhile) and brought it into the house.  It sat on my mantle for a week or so before I finally got to bring it up into my craft room for its makeover.  I found some acrylic paints in my stash to use - a charcoal grey, country blue, and metallic gold.  I simply squirted the grey on first and brushed away! I kept it pretty dry and thin, so the wood shows through a little, too.  I added a little blue and gold, using the same brush.  It all blended together nicely for a weathered look.  I painted the star with more acrylic - a mustard gold - again with the dry brush technique.  I added a bit of yellow and crystal stickles for a bit of glimmer.  I cut my letters using my Cricut - Sophisticated (for "love") and Lyrical Letters.  I used some pages out of an old hymnal - Christmas hymns of course.  Then I laid them out on my board and mod podged them all in place.  The manger scene can be found it the Inspired Heart Cricut cartridge.  Love this project and love that it's a big reminder of the reason to celebrate Christmas!

Linking up to:

            

Challenges, Challenges, Challenges

Practical Scrappers is having a Blog Hop involving lots of challenges. I answered their call for Glitter & Bling on the post below, and also have completed a few more. The first layout "Easter Flower" is based on a Practical Scrappers sketch. The paper scraps behind the photo reminded me right away of the LCMS cross. I incorporated the poem inspiration from the Scrap That Poetry challenge. It also meets the Cuddle Bug Spot "bling" challenge and the Pile It On "no stamped image" challenge.

When I went over to Sketchy Thursdays for the blog hop, I was inspired right away by their sketch. I really like banners, lately, so it was another excuse to create one on a layout.

The final destination on the blog hop is 365 cards. So, guess what I'm doing next? Yep! It's off to make some cards for their weekly challenge.

TIRE layout

I had this photo from last summer's trip to Wisconsin waiting to scrap. When I saw the challenge sketch on another blog (I can't remember which one!) I knew this photo would be perfect. It was a sketch from several weeks ago.