wild card!

Hi everyone! Here is the cute little card I was working on today. It is for the 2 sketches 4 you challenge this week, as well as the Outdoors challenge at If The Shoe Fits...Scrap It! blog. If you aren't playing along on these sites, check 'em out!

I love how this turned out. Here's an up-close shot of the details.


Supplies: DCWV Green Stack (pp), Cosmo Cricket (rub ons), twine

believe and magic happens

Happy Sunday! This is my page for this week's Sketchy Thursdays weekly challenge. The pictures are from this past Easter. My son sat down at our kitchen table and proceeded to write a note (as well as he could in 2-year-old scrawl) to the Easter bunny. It said, according to him: "Dear Easter Bunny, Here's your carrot, leave the basket (especially the jelly beans)."

He was very serious about it and even went to his room to get his stuffed rabbit for inspiration. I just love this moment. It will be a great contrast to when he's a pre-teen and tells me in his best moody voice that he is way past believing in the Easter bunny.





Supplies: Imaginisce (pp), Cosmo Cricket Earth Love (pp), K&Co. (chipboard letters), Making Memories (sticker letters), Half Full Martini (journal spot), Pink Paislee (chipboard tree)

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Are you playing along with Sketchy Thursdays yet? Using the sketch in the right sidebar, create your page and then upload it using Mr. Linky right below the sketch in the right sidebar. This week you can win a FAB prize from Jess and her Krafty Kates Etsy store.

Sketchy Thursdays is having a Design Team call. Check out the details here and send in your entry. The DT will receive sketches in advance and a small RAK, as well as the opportunity to receive items from future sponsors.


Do you love Sketchy Thursdays? Well, it's about to get even better!!!! Stay tuned and be sure to sign up to follow. Why? Because you may miss the big, HUGE, MULTI-SPONSORED announcement in September if you aren't following along!

got evidence?

Happy Friday! In my forum hopping on Scrap Freak, I happened upon Bree's blog, Get Meaningful. She posts challenges that get you up and out of the norm. Her focus is on journaling and writing about topics that you don't usually think about, let alone scrap.

This past topic was EVIDENCE. The idea that you leave behind a trail that explains who you are and what you are about. Deep, huh?! I love the idea of it. I have read each of her past few prompts and was never able to get one done. Until this one. I felt compelled since the idea of our own evidence was intriguing.

This page is about my coffee. I really do love coffee, and I'm one of the few people that can drink a cup at 9 p.m. and still sleep like a rock. Coffee is soothing to me and just oh so tasty! But as some of my friends and loved ones know... don't you dare put sugar in my coffee! The best way to drink it... Dunkin Donuts iced coffee with caramel flavor and cream. YUM!! I'm probably sipping one right now as you read this!



Supplies: My Mind's Eye (pp), Prima (flowers), American Crafts (Thickers), Karen Foster (letter stickers), Creative Chaos (journaling spot), random vintage buttons from an antique shop (thanks, mom!!!) and twine

the next sketchy thursdays sketch

Hi there! Here is the new sketch for you to play along with. Use your imagination with this and remember to have fun. You don't have to use stitching, but here is a great way to try stitching if you are interested.

Please post your entry to Mr. Linky in the right sidebar or the comments section of this post by 11:59 p.m. (EST) Wednesday Sept. 2nd. I will post all of the layouts as well as announce a winner Thursday, Sept. 3rd.

Thanks for stopping by and for playing along!

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Next week's winner will receive a prize from Jessi W. and her Krafty Kates shop Visit the store and check back to meet her next Wednesday! The shop has a blog, too. Keep up-to-date with the shop at kraftykates.com.

a sketchy thursdays winner!

Thank you to all of the new and veteran players this week. Your participation fuels this blog (...and makes sure that I can continue to have prizes each week)! Let's take a scroll down through all of the players' entries.

submitted by Tonia

submitted by Theresa

submitted by Tessa


submitted by Terria

submitted by Tami

submitted by Pat

submitted by Noey

submitted by Nicole


submitted by Maureen

submitted by MissBliss

submitted by Mary


submitted by Loree


submitted by Kristin

submitted by Kristen

submitted by Kim

submitted by Jess

submitted by Jennifer

submitted by Heidi

submitted by Emily


submitted by Deanne

submitted by Dana

submitted by Brenda


submitted by Amarilys

And now for this week's winner!

The winner is Emily! Congrats! You will receive the mini album from Tonia. Thanks again, Tonia! Remember to visit her Etsy store, she's been stocking it with some wonderful items! Send your shipping address to me at dianadesigns@rochester.rr.com

Check back later today when I will post a new sketch and the next week's sponsor. Some of you here know her and her shop!

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Somehow I missed Angie's layout. So sorry Angie, Mr. Linky seems to have had a hiccup. Here is Angie's page. I wanted to still share it because it's so dang cute!

submitted by Angie

meet tonia!

Happy Wednesday! Today we are going to get to know Tonia Rhodes, our scrappy Etsy seller and Sketchy Thursdays sponsor for this week!

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Hi! I'm from North Carolina and I miss it! I do love living in Tenn., too, though!

My favorite thing about paper crafting is color! I love to create drama with different, and sometimes unexpected, color combinations. I like to keep it fresh and funky. You can really convey emotion with color.

I like the freedom to create, as many of us know. Sometimes scrappers start out thinking that matting the photo and "stickering up" the page is what to do. (I know when I started out, I did!) What's perfect about this scrapping thing is the ability to personalize every page or every project. Beyond that, even using your own vision to utilize store-bought items and really make them your own, or to even make handmade items for your own work. A great color palette is what draws my eyes to a page.

I started scrapbooking several years ago, but over the past year or two, I feel as though I have honed my craft. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how artsy scrapping has become. I love that pages don't have to fit some standard of perfection to be great. I'm a big fan of stamping, and I'm absolutely adoring the mini-album right now.

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Thank, Tonia! Here are some great items from Tonia's Etsy shop.

And, here is what tomorrow's winner will receive from Tonia. Just a quick peek at the cover of the fabulous mini she made for Sketchy Thursdays!
Pretty sweet, huh?!

Don't forget to get your entries in for this week's Sketchy Thursdays challenge. Upload your link to Mr. Linky in the sidebar. Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Don't forget about the DT Call for Sketchy Thursdays. Also, I have some VERY, VERY big prizes and announcements coming in Sept., so you'll want to stick around here the next few weeks and see what I have cookin' for ya.

pile those challenges on!

Taking a moment to plan my page allowed me the opportunity to play a few different challenges with one page. (Heidi isn't the only one that can do this, but I think she holds the record! Check out her latest post.)

This page is a picture of me when I was a toddler with my first dog, Sandy. The picture is one I have had in my possession for a little more than 5 years and haven't had a chance to scrap yet. Along comes Pink Ninjas and the Old Skool prompt. I changed the title, but trust me, this really is OLD skool for me!



It might be difficult to see in the picture, but this page also has a mask on it (the word "me" to the right of the border-punched teal strip I used my Glimmer Mists over SEI chipboard letters). That goes with the Tuesday Techniques Challenge at Memories Always - Forever.

The layout is for the Scraplift Challenge at MAF. ... AND the title is for the Wacky Wednesday Challenge at MAF (mess up your letters).

Have I intrigued you yet? Are you ready to see what we are doing over at MAF? Join me and the rest of the DT for the challenges we have going on. Trust me, there's plenty to do!



Are you ready for one more? The colors I used go with this week's SPCC colors. If you aren't playing over there yet, you are missing out! Sam is giving away a set of Copic markers, and the talent over there is amazing inspiration. This color screamed Girl Friday from Cosmo Cricket to me right away.


OK, I guess that's it for now. Don't forget to come back tomorrow and meet Tonia, our Sketchy Thursdays sponsor this week. She has a very cute Etsy store and has cooked up something amazing for this week's Sketchy Thursdays winner.

say it without words

Hello! I made this card after seeing a few posts and challenges to make something using only punctuation. I sort of cheated though. This card has "I remembered your birthday" on the inside of it.

I don't know if it makes a whole lot of sense to anyone but me (lol), but I thought it was cute nonetheless. And I got to use some glitter Thickers, so it makes me smile.

Leave me a comment to let me know if you "get it."


And, I wanted to shout "YEAH!" because my little elephant card (the one with the polka dots) made the SPCC top 5 this week! Check my sidebar to see the banner, click on it and it'll take you to SPCC where you can play along, too. Who knows, maybe you'll make Top 5 next week!

my sketchy page and a DT announcement

Happy Monday! Here is my page for this week's Sketchy Thursdays weekly sketch challenge. I love how this turned out! I used pictures of my son and his little girlfriend, Karissa.

I am so excited that my BFF Darlene is coming to visit this weekend. We live four hours apart and have been BFFs since elementary school. Karissa is her daughter and she is three months older than Nate. They make the perfect little pair!


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love (pp and fussy cuts), Karen Foster (letter stickers), American Crafts (Thickers hearts)

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And now for my DT announcement!

I am one of the newest members of A Scrappy Design's Design Team! Heather runs a great shop on Etsy and has color inspirations on her blog. Stop by and check them out. Here are links to the other DT members as well as links to Heather's shop and blog. Hope to see you stopping in!

A Scrappy Design (store)
A Scrappy Design (blog)
DT member Susan
DT member Tessa

more early bird love

One of the challenges this month over at Memories Always - Forever was to use stamps on your layout. Only stipulation was that you couldn't use black ink. The challenge goes through until the 28th, so we'd love to see you playing along at MAF.

I also used fancy borders on this page for the Finally Friday SPCC challenge. Take a look over there and see if you want to gussy up your pages with some fancy trim!

This page uses a picture of me and my son that we took on one of our usual Saturday mornings. My husband works odd hours and there were many Saturdays where he would sleep all day after having worked overnight. Nate and I loved our Saturday PJs days and often took pictures like this.


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Early Bird (pp and fussy cuts), Creative Chaos (brown journaling spot), Heidi Grace (oh happy day stamp), My Mind's Eye (bracket stamp), Stampin Up (quote stamp)

SPCC cards

I'm on a roll with these stamps from Hero Arts. I made these for the SPCC challenge this week. Click here to see what everyone else has been submitting. This week's prize is amazing: a set of Copic markers. Are you playing yet?


Supplies: Kraft paper, Hero Arts (stamps), Sassafras Lass (flowers), American Crafts (ribbon and the pp for the first card), Perfect Pearls (elephants on the second card)

Thanks for looking! Don't forget about my Design Team call. For more details, check this post here.