More trip layouts...

I am still plugging along on vacation layouts...I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the European trip. Today I am sharing more layouts.

Design credit to Page Maps
I love the picture of the lady crocheting, so I cut doilies on the Cricut to embellish this layout.

Design credit to Allison Davis

Allison showed cutting hexagons for the background.  Ha!  I cheated with paper with the shapes already done! 

Design credit to Becky Higgins
Not seen on the picture are gold sparkly gems on some of the dots of the stamped images.  They add a lot.

Design credit to Allison Davis

This one was fun and easy because it used all 6 x 6 inch squares for the background.

With the Covid cases increasing everyday, I hope you are all well.  I am planning on spending most of my time at home for the near future.  It is a good thing I have a sizeable stash of paper making supplies to keep me busy!

Take care and keep safe!

Sue

Vacation Scrapping

 It has been over a year since our Eastern European trip and I am still trying to get it scrapped.  I tend to scrap for awhile and then make cards for awhile. Scrapping can be stressful for me at times as I struggle to find the pictures that best tell my story.  And then it is deciding on a design and papers.  Finally, there is the journaling, title and embellishments.  Whew!  So why do I do it?  Because I love to tell my story...be it about travel, the grandkids or just everyday life.

So while I tend to overthink what I do and set my creativity bar a little high, I want to emphasize to you that there is no right or wrong way to scrapbook.  If you just want to mount your pictures and add some journaling, that is perfectly OK.  Another option is to do pocket scrapbooking or select a small album and select your most memorable pictures. The important thing is to tell your story!

This layout tells the story of our visit to the Dohany Street Great Synagogue in Budapest. I found it to be a very moving experience.

Design credit goes to Close to My Heart.  I did some stash diving for my papers and I love how they blend. The title and embellishments were cut on the Cricut.

I will be submitting this layout to the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge.  Please visit there to see more ways to use color in your paper crafting.

I have a few more layouts going...I will try to share them soon.

Until then...

  

Back to School

 Here is another submission to the Heart 2 Heart Anything Goes challenge. (Look at the older posts to see the first).  The inspiration came from a Scrapbook and Crafts Today class I am enrolled in.  The Cricut files came from SCT  All the cardstock and embellishments are from Close to My Heart.  The patterned paper is from my stash...pretty sure it came from Michaels, but several years ago. I think these layouts may be a little busy, but aren't they fun?

Just wondering...how are your littles doing school?  These kids are doing remote school.  Their parents have set up individual areas for each of them, and so far it is going well.  They are missing their friends though. 

For more projects from Heart 2 Heart, click here

Take care...talk with you soon.

Sue

Something to Smile About!

 I am participating in the Heart 2 Heart challenge again this week.  That in itself is something to smile about,but my entry is even more reason.  I am plugging along with my 2019 vacation scrapbook and decided to create a layout to submit to this challenge. There is not much that can make me smile more than a European vacation, art and beautiful music.  I hit the jackpot here in Kovacica, Serbia!

Everything here is Close to My Heart.  The design credit goes to Allison Davis.  I will say that the piecing, stamping, and just trying to figure out my embellishments made this a time consuming project, but I think it was worth it!  

For more projects that will make you smile, please visit Heart 2 Heart Challenges.  

Talk with you soon...Sue

Adventure Awaits!

Oh boy...I love this heart 2 Heart Challenge!  In a little over a month, another couple and my hubby and myself will be embarking on an Eastern Euopean riverboat cruise preceded by three days in Vienna.  What an adventure! We booked this trip a year ago last spring and I can't believe the time has almost come!

As "Adventure Awaits" is this week's theme, I decided to create the cover page for my trip album.    I scanned the two guide books I have purchased and downloaded the map of our cruise itinerary. I added a September calendar with the trip dates circled.  The title was cut on the Cricut from a CTMH file and the sentiments were stamped with the Escape to Paradise stamp set (D1847).

What adventures do you still have planned for this summer or what adventures have you already participated in?  I hope you will create a project, be it a layout or a card and link it Heart 2 Heart.  You will have until the end of August to do so...just remember to use at least one CTMH product.

For more inspiration, please visit us at Heart 2 Heart!

May all your adventures bring you joy!

Sue

For the Love of Pets!

We love animals...we really do.  We have a grand bulldog named Sophie and a great-grand mix named Bailey.  They are both sweet girls and we enjoy them.  For now, we have chosen to not have pets.  But a long time ago, we had a wonderful golden retriever named Rusty.  He was the best dog...so gentle with the kids.  When he tired of playing with them, he simply walked away.

Now Rusty had a very strange habit...call it an addiction if you will.  When he was a puppy we gave him water in a galvanized bucket.  He started working his way into the handle and carrying the bucket around his neck.  I need to say that we monitored this situation and he was never in any danger by doing this. Rusty had several adventures with his bucket.  The funniest came about when he decided to make a trip to town from our farm home.  He obviously left with his bucket as I never saw it again.  However, when our cousin saw him and brought him home, Rusty now had two buckets around his neck...neither of them ours.  To the unknown owners of the pails, I send apologies!

So this week at Heart 2 Heart, we are celebrating the love of pets.  I have been wanting to scrap this story about Rusty for while, so it was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Design credit to Susan Stringfellow

For my layout, I used Into the Wild, a new paper packet from the Close to My heart Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog.  I love the muted colors and the outdoor look.  I also used the light side of Sapphire cardstock as well as Heather and Mink cardstock.  The dog was stamped with Espresso onto Almond cardstock.  The dog is from the Faithful Friend set which is retired.  The wood embellishments are from the Into the Wild Wood Shapes and are new in this catalog.  The title was cut on the Cricut.

I hope you enjoyed this layout and hearing about Rusty.  For more inspiration for creating projects honoring your pets, please visit Heart 2 Heart Challenges 

Until next time,

Sue

Scrap our Stash Challenge

I have been following this challenge for awhile and finally decided to make an entry.  When I saw the theme "Saturday Cartoon Inspired Stash Challenge",  I knew that I had the perfect pictures and the perfect papers in my stash.

All products used are from Close to My Heart.  The patterned papers except the lemon are retired. The lemon paper is from the "Something Fierce" paper packet in the current Seasonal Expressions book.

Please visit the Scrap Your Stash Challenge blog for more inspiration and information.

Happy Scrapping,
Sue

Duly Noted!

What so you think of when you see the phrase "Duly Noted"?  The design team at Heart 2 Heart was a little stumped over this week's theme also, but then came up with some great suggestions.  One was to use the Documented paper line in the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog while other ideas were to use Cricut cuts of notebook paper, create mini books or maybe journal covers.  Perhaps the most original idea was to use musical notes in a creation.

Along about that time Close to My Heart published an article titled "Telling Your Story in Lists".  You can read this article here.  It was suggested by a team member that this journaling idea may be appropriate for our theme, so that is what I went with.

Design credit to CTMH--Make it from Your Heart, Vol 3

I carried out my Noted theme in a couple ways.  First, I did my journaling by creating a list of some of my granddaughter's activites during her second year in FFA.  Secondly, I used several of the words from the Documented--Scrapbooking stamp set to create the gold patterned paper in the middle of the page.  This was done by positioning all the selected stamps on a block and stamping repeatedly on a retired patterned paper from CTMH.

Documented--Scrapbooking D1772

Other supplies used were:

• Toffee cardstock (note both the light and dark sides were used)
• Sapphire cardstock
• Retired Honey Fundamental papers
• FFA specialty paper from my stash
• Retired Stargazer enamel dots

I hope you are inspired to create a "Noteworthy" project and then share it with us at Heart 2 Heart!

Till later,

Sue

Birthday Boy!

I am in total love with the May layout for the the Scrapbook and Cards Today SCT 365 Online Class.
And all the better that it works wonderfully for the layouts I am doing for my grandson's birthdays.  You see, he is already 20 years old and I am struggling to finish up his scrapbook.  So to make things go a little more quickly, I am combining 2 or 3 birthdays on each layout. This one celebrates years 7, 8 and 9!  I am anxious to see how I can make this layout work for at least one more project.

All the papers are from the Central Park paper packet plus White Daisy, Pacifica and Poppy cardstocks.  Isn't the Central Park fun? The suite also features fun city buildings and catchy geometric designs. It is one of the beautiful collections in the new Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea catalog. The title was cut on the Cricut and the embellishments are CTMH except for the green dots...had to search my stash for those.

I will be posting this at Heart 2 Heart Challenges National Scrapbooking Month.  I invite you to visit this site and then maybe link your own layout.  I, along with the entire Design Team, love being inspired by your creativity!

I will back early next week showing you a card or layout (haven't made up my mind) that uses a triadic color scheme.  I love color so I am excited about this!

Until then,
Sue

Workin!

Another month of the Scrapbook and Cards Today Online Class is in the books!  I was inspired by the sketch to create this layout about our 2018 Mission Trip to St. Augustine, FL.  Because it was such a successful and rewarding week, I decided to document it.

All the supplies are from Close to My Heart.  The patterned papers are from the retired Jack packet. The arrows and the title were cut on the Cricut.  I actually cut the title four times...one with patterned paper (this is from No Worries) and three times with White Daisy cardstock.  I glued all the layers together to create a title with dimension.  Yes, it was a little bit of a pain in the rear, but I love the results.  I hope you can see the dimension in this picture:

So are you inspired?  No Cricut to cut your letters?  You may want to consider the Thin Cuts Alphabet from Close to My Heart.  It is 25% off until the end of March!  Visit my website or contact me for ordering information.

Until next time...

Sue

Got the blahs...

Winter blahs...it has been days since I have even thought about being creative. So I thought I would share my last project and maybe just talking about it will get me back in the mood!

I have previously shared how challenges spark some mojo with me.  I especially like the sketch and color challenges...they give me somewhere to start and from there I can usually add my personal touch.  Other challenges I like include themes or particular paper packets. The CTMH design books and the Idea books provide sketches and design ideas. Being on the design team at Heart 2 Heart Challenges has also been very inspiring.

So, with all that being said, let me talk about my latest source of inspiration.  I signed up for a monthly online layout class with Scrapbook and Cards Today.  The email I received included a picture of a completed project along with all the instructions (measurements too) and cutting files. Suggestions are also made for those that do not use a cutting machine.  Here is my interpretation of the January layout:

I used paper and Complements from the retired Hello Lovely packet and last year's Color of the Year, Sea Glass.  While I thought of using paper from the new Chelsea Gardens packet, this was the paper I have had in mind for these photos, so I went with it.

My new papers and supplies from Close to My Heart came the other day, so I hope to have some new projects for you to see really soon.

 Now if someone would just prod me into finishing my cleaning and sorting project in our home office...and cleaning kitchen cupboards...and cleaning the closets...

Fighting the blahs,
Sue

So Lovely!

I'll make this post short and sweet.  I was so happy with this layout I did today that I just had to share.  I think, mostly I am happy with the subject matter...my granddaughter's first prom and how beautiful she looked.  Her dress, her hair, flowers...everything was perfect for her.

A few design details:
Design credit to Cheryl Even
Used the Hello Lovely paper packet (retired)
Journaling block is a Picture my Life card
Used floral zip strips as accent
While not seen on the photo, I used the Shimmer Pen to accent the title
I had intended to use some Complements, but they would have made the layout too busy; used Gold Glitter Gems instead

Enjoy!

I will am posting this at Heart 2 Heart Challenges

Heart 2 Heart Challenges--Oh the Places You'll Go!

Life is Good!

The challenge from Color My Heart Color Dare this week is to create art using the colors from the Little Dreamer  packet.  Such happy colors!  So I chose to create a layout using photos of our favorite people from the riverboat trip we took last summer. These people also make me happy!

In addition to the Little Dreamer paper, I used White Daisy and Glacier cardstock.  The embellishments other than the "friends" stamped image are from the Good Life Complements. Bling is provided with Little Dreamer Glitter Gems. Design credit goes to Donna Cosgrove. 

X7219B

Z3264


For more inspiration, please visit:

Color Dare #245

Some Kinda Wonderful!

This week  Color My Heart Color Dare is challenging us to use at least four of the colors in the Some Kinda Wonderful paper packet. By using three of the patterned papers and a pair of the zip strips, I was able to use all the colors listed.  I used the Some Kinda Wonderful--Scrapbooking stamp set for all the stamping on the bottom, the title and the embellishments.  The sequins are from the retired Magical set...they made me "a whole lot of happy"!  The paper packet and stamp set will also be retiring on April 30th...I hate to see them go!

Design Credit--Pattern 09 Make it From Your Heart,Volume 1

To find more inspiration using these fun colors please visit:

Color Dare #240--Some Kinda Wonderful Colors

This is also posted at 

Heart 2 Heart What a Wonderful World

All Creatures Great and Small

I love the theme for this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge...All Creatures Great and Small.  I chose to highlight one of the smaller creations in our world when I created this layout.  I really like these little partridges.  This Stamp of the Month features all five of these little loves along with the hearts and sentiments used.

Because this layout features a picture of my husband and myself along with our children and families at Christmas, I chose to use retired White Pines on the side border.  The background paper is the ombre pattern from Sugar Rush.  I added strips of Sweet Leaf and Saddle cardstock as well as Poppy Shimmer Trim. The stamping was done with Saddle and Poppy inks.

Flock Together, the April Stamp of the Month, is available for $17.95 or only $5.00 with a $50.00 purchase.  Contact me to order or visit my website, www.suebruch.closetomyheart.com, to order online.

For more "Creature" inspiration, please visit:
Heart 2 Heart Challenges--All Things Great and Small

Budapest

It is not typical for me to wait so long after a vacation to start scrapbooking it.  We saw and experienced so many marvelous things on our riverboat cruise, that I am feeling overwhelmed by the number of pictures I have (did I mention 1600?).

I like to create folders on my computer for each of the cities or major sites we visit.  I then move my digital photo files to the appropriate folder. Working with one folder at a time makes it easier to choose the best pictures.  Even so, it is so hard to decide what pictures to scrap!  No easy answers here...maybe take fewer pictures (like that is going to happen!).

So as our brief stay in Budapest was the beginning of our trip, so will the layout be the first of my trip album.

Here is a close-up of the panel with the umbrellas.

The red umbrella I am holding was my main focus on this layout and I was inspired by this Pinterest card to design the panel on the left side and the trio of umbrellas on the right.

I used patterned paper from the Jeepers Creepers packet and White Daisy, Poppy, Slate and Whisper Cardstocks.  The layout design is from Make From Your Heart, Volume 2.

I hope you enjoyed this one!

Later,
Sue

New Layout

I actually finished a layout this week! These pages were created with current cardstock, retired CTMH paper and paper from my stash (the Eagle Scout paper). The title on the top of the right hand page was created in Photoshop Elements and printed directly on the 12 x 12 paper. The stamping was all done with retired stamps. This layout created by Shelly Nemtiz was really fun...it is the second time I used it and am sure I will be using it again!
Of particular interest is the Memory Protectors Pocket Plus that is new this year in the Annual Inspirations book. Add extra photos or artwork to your layouts with these protectors. When placed between the two pages , they become a cohesive part of your layout. With their full gutter they will work with both the D-ring and post bound albums. They come in four layout designs and can be found on page 12.

This is the basic layout

Design Four of the Memory Protectors Plus...4 x 12" holds four to eight 4 x 3" pictures

The protector will be sandwiched between the 12 x 12 protectors in the album.

Talk to you soon!

Spike!

It has been a little while since I posted on my blog...so sorry!  I am not sure where my time goes.  I do know that I have been busy with my kids and grandkids and that is a good thing.  Next week looks a little slower so I may soon have more projects to post.

Today I am showing you a layout celebrating Emily's 8th grade volleyball season.  I took most of the game pictures with my phone...not a good idea. Because I was in the bleachers and because of the action, the pictures did not crop well.  I had a regular camera at a couple games and was able to capture these shots.

As for this layout, I was inspired by Laura Fairbrother of www.foreverscraps.com.  I really liked the artwork on the right hand side created with the 2 inch squares.  I opted to use the stamps from Play Hard--Volleyball B1502 (currently available) on some of these squares. The other stamps are from Team Player D1652, a retired CTMH set. The gold and white polka dot was from Craft Smith (found at Michaels) and the rest of the papers are Close to My Heart.  This layout was time consuming, but worth the effort!

Play Hard-Volleyball B15012

Talk to you soon,

Sue

More Pathfinding!

I am thinking Pathfinding might be my favorite paper packet in the new catalog, but I will probably say that about the next one I use too!  Truth is, the paper choices in this catalog are just awesome!  So anyhow, here is another layout using Pathfinding. This time, I highlighted the print with the Olive background.

The patterned papers and the Champagne cardstock came from the packet.  I added a sheet of Chocolate for the matts, etc.  The background behind the titles was stamped with Distressed Backgrounds (D1544) in Goldrush ink and the wood embellishments came from the Pathfinding WOTG or from my stash.  The washi tape is also from my stash. The titles and the die cuts were cut on my Gazelle Die Cutter. 
While I had already decided on my basic layout, I was inspired by Becki Adams' title on this layout. Thanks, Becki!

Pathfinding

 

 

Pathfinding is one of the great new paper pack selections in The Annual Inspirations Catalog.  Most of the examples have a Fall theme and while I think they are gorgeous, I decided to use the papers to document our visit to Theodore National Park.  The design inspiration is from Creative Sketches, Volume 2 by Becky Higgins.  The journaling and title were done in my Word software.  All the papers are Close to My Heart and the embellishments are from my local store.  CTMH carried the wooden accents in the past..maybe you still have some on hand.

 Pathfinding is available as a paper packet, a Workshop on the Go and a Workshop on the Go Card Kit.  Take a look at the catalog at www.suebruch.ctmh.com to see embellishments and coordinating stamp sets.