College Bound - Allison Davis Class Review

I know a few of you were wondering if the Allison Davis 6x6 paper pad class was worth it. In my honest opinion, yes!

First, let me say that I am NOT affiliated to them in any way. I just happened to see this class and wanted to give it a try. I own quite a few paper pads and I wanted to see if I could get my money's worth out of them. The class contains 11 double page sketches, plus samples. I downloaded the whole class handout as is to put in my online class binder. I also printed out just the sketches to go in my sketch binder. Yes, I have a lot of binders.

The layout below was created using one of the sketches from this class. As you can see, I only used one side of the sketch. I scrap mostly one page layouts and most all of her sketches from this month are conducive to turning into one pagers, which I love. I followed the sketch exactly as it is, even down to the stitching, so that you can get a feel for her layouts.

Like I said before, this is just my opinion of this class. If you were on the fence about getting this one, I hope this helps you a bit.

Thanks for visiting!

Dani

Just Add Water

Today, I created a two-page layout using a sketch from one of the Scrapbook Generations sketchbooks. I don't normally do two-pagers anymore, but I had more photos than usual that I wanted to include. I followed this sketch pretty closely because I really liked the clean lines of the design. I used Thickers for half the title and stamped the rest. I added the tag to give the journaling a place to rest and I embellished it with a bit of washi tape from my fast growing collection. I wasn't even sure how to photograph a layout this wide. lol...

While I was taking the above photo, I noticed how well the design of the first page would lend itself to a card. So, while the supplies were still out, I created this Celebrate card. Cute, huh? I substituted the sentiment for the photos in the sketch. And, of course, I had to add some stitching. The stamp was from the $1 bin at Wal-mart. I just cut out the parts I didn't want to give me a stamp that I liked. I actually do that quite often with cheaper stamps. It doesn't bother me to cut them up since I didn't spend a lot of money on them to begin with. Great way to build a collection of sentiments!

Card #16

Thanks for visiting!

Dani

Cousins

Yeah!! It's Friday and I actually made it through this week. We have a busy weekend ahead, with the baptism of little Sophia, and some other family obligations. I can't wait to hold the baby and see her wearing the same christening gown that all of the other 5 children have worn over the past 21 years. I hope you have some fun weekend plans and beautiful weather to boot.

My last project for this week is the Cousins layout below. I used a sketch from Kristine Davidson, The Creative Scrapper's sketchbook that I bought from here and printed out. This is the first one that I used and I followed it without much change. It did use a lot of pattern paper, which is good and bad, depending on how you look at it. I did miss the measurements that I usually get from the Sketch Support sketches, but I figured it out well enough. The ebook itself is nice if you do one page layouts and you don't mind printing it out yourself. Or I guess you can just save it to your computer, but I like to have a hard copy available when I need it. It also gave a variety of samples from different scrappers, which was good. I am sure I will be using it again, soon.

Have a good weekend!

Dani

Burlap and Buttercups Challenge

Okay, I think I made it in time. I said that I would try to get to this sketch challenge this month and I did. I finished it late last night, which is probably why the colors are a little dark, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

This challenge was not only a sketch one, but you also had to incorporate a cell phone photo or a pattern paper cutout. My daughter is always taking cell phone pictures of herself and it irritates me because I want to scrap some of them and don't know how to print them.

For this layout, I finally convinced her to help me out. And she did, reluctantly, but hey, again, beggars can't be choosers. Once it was on my computer, I printed it out, and cut it to resemble a polaroid photo. I had to reverse the sketch to fit the orientation of the photo. And of course, I had to add some stitching.

Thanks for looking!

Dani

Inspired Sketch

If you remember earlier in the week, I had said that I was inspired by Mary Pat. Well today, I have one last layout made from a sketch she designed for Burlap and Buttercups. The sketch was included in the November kit (which by the way, is still available), and is also available for viewing here.

I followed the sketch pretty much as is and I love the results. The colors are not coming through as well as I would of hoped in the photo, but the background is Bazzill's French Vanilla, if that helps you any. Everything on this layout came in the Nov. kit, except for the stamps. I punched the heart and tab from the leftover scraps.

If you follow my blog, you know that as of recently, I have been fighting an illness. I received tests back yesterday that show no kidney or liver failure, no diabetes, but bacteria is showing up in my system. I am going to start a month long course of antibiotics and be kept a watchful eye on for fever or other symptoms that may pop up. Please keep me in your thoughts if you can.

Sincere thanks!

Dani

Hello Friend

Good Monday morning to you all! We had a really busy family weekend, but I did manage to get some crafty time in last night. I had a couple of requests to see my card sketches, and while I am not sure how to make them look all fancy by designing them on the computer, I am more than willing to share the way I do mine.

I purchased a couple of hardcover, 4x5 inch spiral sketchbooks. I like this size because I can have one on my desk, one in my purse, and one on the coffee table. You can decorate the covers if you would like, but I left mine like I bought them. I told you, nothing fancy. Now, here is where the extremely technical part comes in. I made a 2x3 template and traced it on the front and back of each page. I did this while I was watching a movie with my family. I like having a perfect square or rectangle to work with. It makes the rest of the designing easier to do, at least for me. And that's it. I usually sketch while watching tv or waiting at appts. or other things like that. And I do sketch about 97% of what I create before I start a project. Sometimes the design works and sometimes it doesn't. Can't win them all!

So, below is a look at today's sketch.

And here is the card I made using it. Not quite the same, is it? I had the papers that I wanted to use out on my desk, I sketched what I thought would work, and when I started to put it together, the Polaroid squares were to big to include four, so I improvised. I like the finished card better than the sketch anyway. Funny how that happens.

Well, there you have it. I can share my sketches when I post my cards if you would like. Just leave me a comment letting me know if this is something you would be interested in.

Have a great week!

Dani