FROSTED DESIGNS GUEST DESIGN PROJECTS

I got wonderful news back in January when the talented crafters at Frosted Designs invited me to be a Guest Designer for their blog this Spring.  One of the reasons I like Frosted Designs so much is because their design team not only produces amazing scrapbooking projects, but also creates paper craft items that can be used for a variety of occasions.  I am a teacher by trade, and recently in my class, we finished studying about Western Expansion.  Sometimes the strangest things inspire me, and with all the discussions we were having about the Wild West and the Gold Rush, I decided to create projects with a "western theme" using paper and stickers from the October Afternoon "Sasparilla" line.  In addition, upon looking at my calendar, I realized that Teacher Appreciation Week is on the horizon; May 4-8, 2015 to be exact.  So I decided to create projects to be used as possible Teacher Appreciation Gifts.  Because I'm a busy working Mom, I wanted to create gifts that would be easy to create for any level of crafter.  For my first project, I created a "Wanted" scrapbook 8x10 picture frame featuring my students in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington DC last year.  For the second project, I designed a gift card "pocket" similar to what a sheriff would wear in the Wild West.  I created the pattern myself, added a gift tag pocket, a few embellishments to make the pocket look authentic, and then added a Starbucks gift card.  The final project is a mason jar filled with trail mix.  Of all the projects, this one was the easiest to create.  A mixture of M&M's, raisins, peanuts, a small square of a red handkerchief, a western tag, and some jute had this project created in no time.  (And as a teacher, I will say this would be my favorite of the gifts; nothing like a little chocolate and protein to get you through the day!)  Overall, I had a lot of fun creating these projects for Frosted Designs.  And if you have any questions on how I created any of these projects, feel free to leave me a message.  Enjoy!

LITTLE MERMAIDS

Here is my third official double page layout for Let's Scrap.  I've always called myself the "seasonal scrapbooker."  If I tried to be a chronological scrapper, I would've given up on this hobby a while ago.  I scrap the mood that hits me at the time.  And this time around, it was beach.  I'm pretty sure I have salt in my veins.  How I ended up in a landlocked state is beyond me...But for this double page layout, I was inspired by pictures of my girls playing in the sand in Panama City Beach, Florida.  My oldest is highly creative.  (And I'm not just saying that because I'm her Mom...she just is).  So I'm sitting in a beach chair reading a book letting the view of the emerald water overcome me, and I get a "Hey Mom look!"  And next thing I know, she's covered in sand and made herself a "mermaid tail."  My younger daughter of course was in on the action finding seaweed and other stuff to decorate the tail.  So when I saw the sketch and the "flourishes" at the bottom, this is what I wanted to recreate in this layout.  And the Graphic 45 "By the Sea" line was perfect to bring this all together.

ENCHANTED PARTY

This is my latest creation for Red Carpet Studios where the inspiration was the Disney movie "Enchanted."  I love that movie....it's probably one of my favorite Disney movies ever!  I love the innocence of Giselle, the "Happy Little Working Song..."  And my oldest daughter absolutely LOVED all things Princess when this movie was released.  She was a Girly Girl with a capital "G" & still is for the most part.  For her birthday one year, we had a princess party where all her little friends wore a princess costume and got to hang out with Cinderella & make princess crafts.  So a picture of her at that "enchanted" party was the inspiration for this layout.  To pull this layout together, I used a sketch from one of my FAVORITE sketch blogs "Sketches in Thyme."  Finally, in my daily surfing of scrapbook.com, I discovered that Simple Stories just released an adorable Disney inspired line called "Enchanted;" perfect timing for this reveal!

SPRING

This is my latest creation for Stick it Down Challenge.  Being the seasonal scrapbooker that I am, I knew that spring would be my focus for this sketch.  When I saw the Doodlebug "Hello Sunshine" paper line, I knew exactly which pictures I wanted to showcase. These snapshots were taken on the ultimate spring day in Ohio.  It was warm, the world was turning green again, and my girls were so happy to be playing at Mound Park; our favorite park.  (Yes, that is an Indian Mound in the third picture over).  Not only did we play on the park equipment, but we also climbed to the top of the Mound and enjoyed the view of our town waking up after a long, harsh winter.

LUCKY CHARMS

This is my first official layout for my new DT "Let's Scrap."  With the date of this reveal being so close to St. Patrick's Day, I had no choice but to reach into my stash of pictures of my girls getting their green on!  My husband has Irish ancestry in his family tree; I don't.  However, I hate winter. WITH A PASSION!  I was designed for shorts and t-shirt weather; not sub-arctic temps and ice. Needless to say, I will look for anything to celebrate to break up the monotony of March.  So I would dress my girls in matching shirts, silly hats, and, of course, snap lots of pictures.  But one of my favorite things to do was have the leprechaun cause "mischief" around our house.  He would unroll toilet paper down the stairs, make messes of shoes around the house, dump toys on their beds...The girls always had fun trying to see what kind of antics the Leprechaun would cause.  I thought the Doodlebug "Happy Go Lucky" paper line perfectly captured the fun times we had celebrating St. Patrick's Day when my girls were little.

EARL GREY

This is my latest creation for RCS where the inspiration this week was the recently released, much anticipated movie  "50 Shades of Grey." Obviously, we were asked to use "grey" in our layout, along with a touch of red, (get it those of you who read the book/saw the movie) and a "technique" of our choice (mine was paper layering).  This one was a no brainer for me...my inspiration was my cat Earl Grey named after the tea because of his luxurious grey coat.  He was my first four legged love.  My husband and I adopted him seven months before our wedding. During this time, Earl Grey lived the ultimate bachelor life at my husband's apartment by himself until we were married.  Needless to say, Earl Grey really enjoyed his independent lifestyle. Once I moved in, Earl Grey tried to "assert his dominance." It was a rough road complete with an ambush in the bathroom one evening where Earl Grey tried to attack me.  After a long drawn out power struggle,  I won. During that first year of living together, Earl Grey and I slowly became friends and snuggle buds.  Although over the course of that year, I began to call him"Nugget" because he was such a butt nugget to me.  Two years after we became roomies, my furry friend Earl Grey/Nugget met the love of his life when my first born daughter came home from the hospital.  He never left her side.  I'd find him lying under her crib, on the edge of my bed watching her sleep in her cradle...No matter where she was, he was close by.  As she got older, she would dress him up, carry him around like a doll, use him as a pillow... Then in 2005, another woman entered the picture which is what is featured in this layout.  I think Earl understood that these little girls needed a protector, and he did his job well.  When they were sick, he would only leave their side to eat and use the litter box; otherwise he was right there.  When it was time to go to bed, he graciously would give the girls slivers of  their beds so he could stretch out and get his beauty sleep.  Sadly, Earl Grey went to the big bachelor pad in the sky in October 2008.  He truly was the greatest cat friend a girl could ask for; despite his need to "dominate."

SPOOKY LITTLE GIRL

So I got the GREATEST news a few weeks back!  And now I can share!  Right at the start of the new year, I found a DT call for an adorable blog spot called, "Let's Scrap."  The designs were gorgeous, and I loved how the designers took double page sketches and tweaked them for their needs.  Some people made cards; other's made

one page layouts.  So I decided to apply.  I love being on sketch teams!  I love taking the guess work out of where to place pictures.  And I love fresh ideas on how to use lots of pattern papers on a layout. I learned the first week of February that I was one of the fortunate people slected to join the Let's Scrap DT!  I was so humbled and thrilled!  I can not wait to play around with their sketches!  Not only are they beautiful, but because they are double pages.  I can get even more pages done for my children.  "Spooky Little Girl" was my submission for the DT based on the sketch below.  I have a slight addiction to Doodlebug brand Halloween paper, so I loved how the sketch used pseudo paper ribbons at the bottom of the page.  It was perfect for my overabundance of Halloween paper that needed to be used.  If you haven't yet, go check out Let's Scrap; it's a great place to surf around and check out fun, easy to replicate projects!