The Constant Scrapper

If I'm not scrapbooking I'm thinking about scrapbooking!

Sketches

Frosty winter walk: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

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Frosty winter walk

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our first challenge of February. Grab the sketch and play along for prizes from Accent Scrapbooking and Scrapbook Nerd.

Stuck?! Sketches February 1 2018 sketch

The story

All I know about this photo is that it’s 15-year-old me out on a winter walk. I don’t know exactly who I was with or where we were. But I like it, so I scrapped it.

Product/technique notes

I used patterned paper and stickers from Echo Park’s Wintertime collection. The snowflake circle is a cut file from the Silhouette store, and I designed the title to cut on my Cameo, as well.

Close knit: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

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Close knit

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our second challenge of January. Grab the sketch and play along for prizes from Creative Embellishments, DCWV, and Victoria Marie.

The story

During my visit to see Mom and Phil in North Carolina last November, I asked Mom to teach me again how to knit. I’ve been able to crochet since grade school, but knitting has always sort of intimidated me. We have tried before, but it didn’t really stick then. This time I think it may have “gone in.”

I know I could learn by watching YouTube videos, but I really wanted to learn the basics from my mommy.

Product/technique notes

I used patterned papers, die cuts, and flair from various Crate Paper/Maggie Holmes collections and cut the title on my Silhouette.

2017 highlights: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

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2017 highlights

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our first challenge of 2018! Grab the sketch and play along for prizes from Scrapmatts and Spiegel Mom Scraps.

The story

I’m not gonna lie: I found 2017 to be extremely stressful. I am so ready to start a new year, even though I don’t think there’s much chance of the stressors abating, given our country’s leadership and direction…

No matter the difficulties life hands us, though, there are always things to celebrate. The four photos on this page represent some highlights in our lives in the past year (from left to right):

  1. In February Cecilia burst into our lives and instantly made them more delightful. Matt opened our front door to go out to his car for something and saw this kitten running pel mel past our house toward the heavily trafficked street that intersects ours. He called out to her, and she miraculously turned and ran to him. He picked her up and carried her into our hearts.
  2. Matt and I run a yearly computer security conference, and this year’s event was the largest ever with more than 600 attendees. We’re quite proud of this effort.
  3. I flew to North Carolina in November to spend 10 days (including Thanksgiving and my birthday) with my mom and brother. So much fun.
  4. On December 7th we had a beautiful Christmas snowfall. While this may not be a big deal to some, when you live in central Texas you count it as a highlight! I was just sad for Matt that he was out of town for work and had to miss it.

Of course, there were many other wonderful moments in our lives this year. And I am thankful for every one. Here’s (raising a glass) to so many more in 2018.

Happy new year, my friends!

Product/technique notes

All the patterned papers I used for this layout came from the Pink Paislee Moonstruck collection.

Santa Claus is coming to town

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Santa Claus is coming to town

The story

Every year on a Saturday morning before Christmas our neighborhood is treated to the strains of Santa Clause is Coming to Town blaring over the loudspeaker of a vintage fire truck with SANTA CLAUS sitting on top! It’s a sweet tradition.

Product/technique notes

I created this layout with products from the Echo Park Tis the Season collection and American Crafts Deck The Halls Joyful die-cuts. I also followed this sketch from Let’s Get Sketchy:
Let's Get Sketchy December 1 2017 sketch

The Melodeon: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

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Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our second challenge of December! Grab the sketch and play along for prizes from Creative Embellishments and Scrapbook Nerd.

The story

One of our family holiday traditions that I cherish was having Daddy select and read a Christmas story to us. He sat in a comfy chair, and we all piled near him on the couch to listen. It usually took a few nights to complete one, and he always tried to time it so the last installment fell on Christmas Eve.

Over the years we heard some delightful tales. But our favorite by far was The Melodeon by Glendon Swarthout. The description of this book on Amazon is so simple:

A youngster relates how his grandparents donated a valuable family heirloom, their melodeon, to the church in an unselfish act of giving one Christmas during the Depression when they had nothing to give each other.

The story is so beautifully told, detailed, and emotional that it made our hearts swell. We felt we were with them in the deep cold of winter during the Depression. And the feelings it evoked have stayed with me all these years.

Product/technique notes

I die cut diamonds from the Pink Paislee Snow Village 6×6 paper pad, inked the edges with iced spruce distress ink, and placed them against a background paper from the Bo Bunny Christmas Collage collection. The die cuts are from both the Snow Village and Simple Stories Classic Christmas collections. To create a cut file for the title, I found an image of the book cover and traced it in the Silhouette software.