Curious George goes to the beach

I was in a scrappin' mood today, so I decided to use Rowena's sketch from Creative Genealogy Scrapbooking. I bought this George paper and die cuts a while back and I have been looking for an opportunity to use them. I need to use them up before my son outgrows Curious George. haha. I also entered this for the "Ribbons & Bows" challenge at WhoopsiDaisy.

 If you'd like to download the title, click below the picture.

Curious George Title

Monster Jam LO

Howdy folks! It's monday and I had the mojo to do a scrapbook page. I have said many times before how much I love Rowena's sketches, and today is no exception. Hop on over to Crop Diva's Destination to find your inspiration and participate in their challenges! I love love love the title on this page! I've never done one with tags before, but I followed the sketch as closely as I could and i love how it turned out! The cute little torn notebook page was cut using SCAL and my cricut. I gave the svg file away in an earlier post, but I'll post the link again. You can get the Torn Journal Page Here.  I created the little "lighting bolt" border myself to give it some flair. You can download it here.

A Graduation Card

I saw Lindsay's freebie this week and couldn't wait to make a graduation card. I'm not sure I know of anyone to give it to, but they are always nice to have on hand. Hop over to Lindsay's blog to snag the free paper! The cute little diploma came from the School Rules set.

I used this week's sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches for my inspiration.

I used a new Tim Holtz distressing ink pad that I got at HL this weekend. It is called faded jeans, and I love it! I also used my antique paper distress pad and a Q-tip to color in the diploma. I wanted it to be very subtle. As far as the background paper goes, I played around in Paint.net and combined two of the freebie patterns that Lindsay is giving away this week and made one that I thought would fit my card just right. That is the great thing about printing your own PP, you can play with the colors and everything to make it 100% custom to your project. I need to do that more often!

Inside:

Gone Camping Layout

Here is a layout I did today for the Crop Diva's Destination challenge. I love this site! I am always so inspired by their sketches! It always makes me want to scrap. If you haven't ever participated, you definately need to give it a try. They are a new site that is just getting started and needs some participation, so hop on over and check it out!

My Mother's Day Card

I have been needing some inspiration to get started on my mother's day card for my mom. I finally found it! It is national scrapbooking day tomorrow and over at Crop Diva's Destination, they are celebrating starting today. Their first challenge was to use a color combination (see below). Then I saw this sketch below on Mojo Monday and it fit perfectly!

I found this cute little photo of an elephant and her mama on google, made it black and white and cut it out. Then used a sentiment that I stole from a card at walmart (hehe, no creativity). The inside says: "How else could I have turned out so great?" I know it is a funny card and sometimes you need sentimental, but this time I decided my mom needed a little pick me up, so I made it funny. She's been dealing with sick loved ones for a while now and it gets her down in the dumps, so hopefully this will brighten up her mother's day.

Dustin Pike Birthday Cards

Here are some birthday cards that I created to sell in a local gift shop. They are all digi images from Dustin Pike. I used the sketch below from Inspirational Card Sketches.

A Couple More Layouts for Today

 As you can see I managed to get a couple more pages finished today for my Aunt's scrapbook. I used a couple more sketches from Crop Diva's Destination.

 

Bath Time & Owl LO

Hello everyone! I've been scrappin' again today. Hopefully I can get in a couple more pages before the day is out, but I just thought I'd take a break to share the first one with you and let you know just how excited I am to have discovered Crop Diva's Destination! The blog was formerly "Crafts by Rowena", which if you remember, I've used tons of her sketches. Well I haven't been scrapping for a few months until now and I just discovered that she's remodeled her blog, got a DT and is holding giveaways! What a busy gal! Anyways, I just had to get started using her sketches again, b/c let's face it, I just love them! (See the sketch below).

Here is another page I got finished with this afternoon. I just love that little owl. I cut him with my cricut. If you'd like the file. I shared it in a previous post, found here.

I used another sketch from Crop Diva's Destination.

Reunited-- Marine Corps Scrapbook

Ok one more for today and then I'm takin a break. These are the photos from the day my husband returned home from the 6 month boat deployment. (Before we had our son).

I dug through the archives to find a sketch that would work for my LO and this one is from 52 Sketches, 52 Weeks.

Honey & Pilots -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

My husband's job in the marines was to load ordnance (aka. bombs) onto Harrier Jets. He loved his job and he really enjoyed getting to know the pilots. He took this photo of a couple of his pilot buddies getting ready to take off. I couldn't think of a theme for this page, so I thought it would be funny to put "Always tip your Pilot" on there. The torn notebook page at the bottom is an svg file, you can get it here.



This was the sketch this week at Color Me Daisy. I am also participating in Frosted Design's challenge this week which is paper tearing/distressing.



Now I know you're probably wondering what this page has to do with the Marines, right? Well, my hubby and I dated long before he joined, so shortly after bootcamp, while stationed at Pensacola Beach, FL. I went down to visit for Valentine's Day. Well, this photo was taken just after he'd proposed to me on the beach. It was the day after Valentine's Day and it was very COLD! But nonetheless, it was romantic!

This is the sketch for this week at 52 Sketches, 52 Weeks. Only 1 week left before they shut down. :(

Daddy Is Home & On the Boat -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

I got a couple more pages squeezed in yesterday. My husband was busy assembling some christmas toys, that way my son didn't have to wait for them to be put together after opening them. So while he was occupied, I was too!

This page was made using this week's sketch at Sketch Inspiration (a new site!). They are trying to reach 200 members by Christmas, so go join in the fun! The little newspaper article at the bottom was about a missle narrowly missing my husband's ship while at port in Jordan. It was pretty scary. One soldier was killed and it made CNN headline news back in June of 2005.

This one was made using last week's sketch from 52 Sketches, 52 Weeks. The font in the title is called "Captain Howdy" I love it! It cut really well at about 1" high.

The Tour -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

Here I am with yet another layout. I've discovered a few new (well, new to me) scrapbooking challenge blogs. I have been scrapping so much lately that I ran out of challenges and sketches. So I went hunting for fresh blood. haha. This sketch is from Magpie Club. It is designed by Julie Bonner (also designer and owner of 52 sketches). I just love her sketches. They are so easy to follow.

This page has several pictures of the tour that my hubby gave me and our family of his squadron. A couple of these pics are kinda comical to me, so I added speech bubbles to give suggestion to what we were thinking. hehe.

Well I'm almost finished with the album, only 13 LO's to go! This album is really big. I think it probably holds about 30-40 pages. And seeing as how I only started it about a month or so ago, I'm having to cram them all in quickly.

Initiation -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

Let me tell you, this was a fun layout to make!!! I made my own paint splatter paper! It was so easy too (but messy). First I put a little bit of black paint on a paper plate, added tiny bit of water to thin it out, then I got a paint brush and swirled it in the paint really well. Then I just shook it above the cardstock. If that didn't work well enough, I'd hold the paint brush in one hand and tap it with the other. It was a blast! I am definately going to be doing this again! It didn't take long for the paper to dry either since the paint was watered down, it soaked up quickly.

The skull die cut was one that I cut out a long time ago. I used to have it in my store for sale, but today I'm giving it away for free! You can download it here.
The font for the title is Jacob's handwriting (from Twilight). It is called Almagro.


I got the inspiration for the entire layout from the Sketchy Thursday's challenge this week.

Saying Goodbye -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

Horraaaay! This is my second page today! I used the sketch at Sketch Inspiration for this week. If you haven't checked this site out yet, you should! they are up to 100 members.

Anyways, this photo is the final one taken just before I had to kiss my hubby bye so he could leave for Iraq. My son was only 4 months old at the time. He's not very happy in this photo, although, who could blame him? I was putting on a brave face for the both of them. I can sigh with relief now though, as he's back home and out of the Corps. Even though he's joined the Guard. No deployments yet...keeping my fingers crossed.

Brothers -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

If you didn't know already, Twilight Tuesday is beginning a bi-weekly scrapbooking challenge that is inspired by different aspects of the books. This week's challenge was inspired by the "wolf pack" and the brotherhood that exsists between the boys. As you already know, I've been trying to complete my husband's Marine Corps scrapbook. I've had this photo sitting in my stash since I started and I have had a hard time deciding what to do with it, but when I saw this challenge, the inspiration hit. So I got started!



The cool sketch came from this week's challenge at Sketchy Thursdays.

Zig-Zaggin Across the Pond -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

Well my husband is out working in the yard, so I snuck in another opportunity to scrap! Here it is! I used another great sketch from Sketch Inspiration (the new site I was telling you about earlier). Right now, you can play along for fun, but in January they'll have prizes!

26th MEU -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

Well my husband dozed off early on the couch tonight, so I was able to squeeze another layout in. Since Christmas is fast approaching, I have to seize every moment I can to work on this.


thanks to another great sketch from Crafts by Rowena, this one was quick and simple. I did it in under 30 minutes flat! And I was stopping to watch SNL (Taylor Lautner was on!) in between. So I guess you could say I did this one between commercials. haha. I got the cool Bingo card from Lindsay. I just altered it in inkscape to make it say 26th MEU instead of bingo. the brackets I cut with my cricut. If you'd like the file, they are here.

The Desert -- Marine Corps Scrapbook

I snuck in my craft room to complete another layout today. My husband was at home but outside cleaning out the gutters, so I had to be sneaky to get this one done. It's pretty simple, but I love it anyways. These pictures were taken while my hubby was on the 26th MEU over in Saudi Arabia. He went on a desert safari while he was there.


Of course, the fabulous sketch came from Crafts by Rowena. I just loved the little journalling tear out. So I created one just like it to cut with my cricut. If you'd like the file, it's free. You can download it here. If you're wondering how I got the journalling printed directly on it, I printed it on white copy paper first, then I used double stick tape to line it up over the one printed on copy paper. I taped it down, and ran it though the printer again. The cute little ticket was a part of the kit that I won from 52 sketches.

Golfin' in Dubai --- Marine Corps Scrapbook

I'm back with another one. While my husband was on a boat deployment in the mediterranian, he was able to stop in Dubai, Saudi Arabia for a little R&R. So he decided to participate in a little golf tourney with some of his fellow Marines. He got to play at the world famous golf resort there. He was in heaven. Here is the group shot.

I created the title and golf balls using inkscape and cut them using SCAL on my cricut. I just found a picture of a golf ball that I liked on google, then I created one very similar to it. If you'd like the files, they're free. Golf Ball & Tee.



For this layout, I used the sketch from Sketch Inspiration. It is a new scrapbooking sketch site that is just getting started. This week is their first sketch. They are going to have prizes from sponsors starting in January, so go sign up! Everyone is so friendly and nice!

24 Hours on Duty - Marine Corps Scrapbook

Yet another page for my hubby's Marine Corps scrapbook. I took these pics of him one night when I went up to his squadron to visit. He was having to work a 24 hour duty shift. He was exhausted, so I went to keep him company for a while. He worked several of these, one a month I think, but this is the only time I every photographed him on duty. So this one page is a tribute to all of those times he had to stand post on his own.

Here is the sketch that I used from Crafts by Rowena.