I have to admit, when I am out of ideas, can’t figure up what to scrap and how to scrap it, I turn to sketches.  There are so many great sketch sites out there with so much inspiration, I get lost browsing page by page.  Sketches are a great way to get the ideas flowing.  Sometimes I find that my final layout looks nothing like the original sketch, but I believe that a sketch is to get you started, get the juices flowing, and can be the beginning of a great layout, whether or not it turns out to look exactly like the sketch.

For this layout, I used this sketch from the Pencil Lines Sketch Blog. I loved the simplicity of the sketch and the fact that it gave lots of room for creativity.  I adapted the sketch to fit my 12X12 preference and used the white/negative space on the left side to house my title, stamped using the Pink Paislee Vintage Pop Alpha stamps.

Product links: label stamp, date stamp,  alpha stamps, woodgrain rubon, circle sticker, chipboard element, patterned papers: Graceful, Tender, Lovely, Beautiful, Adorable, and Bewitching.

So, next time you get stumped on starting a layout, try out a sketch to get you started!

It’s that time of the week: time for us to focus on a popular trend in scrapbooking!  When I first got into this hobby, I was drawn to punches.  All sorts of punches… circles, squares, hearts, stars, butterflies.  But, it seems that after their initial use, they just sat there in the drawers of my craft room for years.  More and more over the last several months, I’m seeing punches popping up in everyone’s work.  So I figured it was high time that mine saw the light of day again!  I dusted ‘em off, and created this quick little card for you…

This card was inspired by this project that has been pretty popular in crafting circles lately. I still want to give this project a whirl. But if you’re as time-strapped as I am lately, this card is a quick alternative.

The bold colors from the Fascinating line were perfect for the look I wanted on this card. Just punch out your little butterflies, bend their wings up a bit, and adhere them to your card with some Pop Dots over the top of some beautiful swirling jewels.

Who wouldn’t love to see one of these cards fluttering into their mailbox?  Happy Thursday!

Today is “Tasty Tuesday” and I have created a Birthday Banner to share with you today.  I used lots of cupcakes, yummy colors and sugared candy beads in between the banners.

I have had this project in the back of my mind for about a year…and when I was assigned the ”tasty” blog post, I knew that it was time to make my birthday banner.

I mostly used the Sweet Cakes collection, but did add in the pink 5th Ave paper from TinselTown, The Bewitching paper (of course I had to have some gingham) from the Fascinating line, the turquoise chipboard letters , Office Lingo Fast Track paper and some Pleasant pink paper from the Enchanting line.

I used wire to string the beads and banner pieces on and added crepe paper for some fluff….finish off with a bunch of tulle and ribbons and you have yourself a cute birthday decoration to use throughout the year when you celebrate birthdays!