SBC Sketch 333

This week's sketch release at Scrapbook Challenges turned out to be quite a challenge for some of us!  But, if you're a storyteller, this is right up your alley...

If you click over to the SBC Blog, you can see what the other DT members have done with the sketch, but I'm warning you that we're a sappy bunch this week!  This quantity of journaling seems to have brought out our collective sentimental side.  Which is cool...some photos require that kind of treatment.  Here's my take:

5 Days in September digital scrapbook layout by Chanell Rigterink Credits Digital Paper, Tape, Arrows: Little Boy by Pure Scrap; Stethescope, Thermometer, Bracelet, Red Cross, Word Art: Bumps & Bruises by Miss Mint; Brads, Ribbon, Ink: This Life: September by Penny Springmann; Paper Tears: Gunhild Storeide; Sketch: 333 by Scrapbook Challenges; Fonts: Impact, Underwood Champion

This is a long-awaited redo of one of my first paper pages.  I got as far as taping down the photo and some word bits, but never wrote the story...which is kind of the important part of this layout.  You can click to enlarge it if you care to read the journaling.

And then, because I can be kind of an over-acheiver, I decided to whip up a second page!   I went way less literal on this take, but honestly, it shows the range that you can acheive with a sketch like this:

100 digital scrapbook layout by Chanell Rigterink Credits Digital Paper, Flower: With All My Heat by Juliana Kneipp; Journal Card, Bird Card, Glasses, Leaf, Lace, Tag, Tea Stains, Alpha: This Life: September by Penny Springmann; Bingo card: Fly Away With Me Collab by Sweet Shoppe Designs; Tickets, Buttons: This Carefree Day by Sahlin Studio; Sketch: 333 by Scrapbook Challenges; Font: Underwood Champion

If you look closely, the structure of the sketch is very much present in this layout.  I've just subbed out some of the journaling with extra (granny-chic!) embellishments.  That, to me, it the joy of sketches, especially very minimal ones like this...being able to play on the elements that grab your attention and letting your own creativity do the rest!


P.S.  SBC didn't miss Sketch 332...I did!  I hadn't done a layout with is, so I forgot to blog it!  You should still check it out, though!

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The Daddy-Daughter Dance

Hubs and Banana attended their very first Daddy-Daughter Dance tonight.  It was much anticipated by Banana...she got a new outfit (complete with sequined skirt and shoes), picked out accessories, and planned hair and makeup.

And, then, about two hours before the big date, she went sledding with her brothers.  And ripped open her chin, attempting to "get a running start" down the hill.  So, off to urgent care we went for stitches, hoping to Heaven that the wait would be brief and the dance could still happen.  We took the makeup with us to pass the time.  No girl has ever left an ER sporting four stitches with better looking eyes than tonight...

They made it for the last 45 minutes of the dance.  According to hubs, it was a perfect amount of time to hit the photo booth, eat cupcakes, squeal with little girlfriends...and even dance a bit!

It was a little nuts trying to get them out the door quickly, so we took a couple pictures (in cruppy lighting) when they got home.  I *think* they like each other.  And I *hope* he ruins her for all the boys she meets in the next ten years.

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SBC Sketch 331

Our normal Monday sketch release was postponed this week because a tornado touched down in the town where SBC owner Brynn Marie lives.  Thankfully, her family is safe and her home was remarkably undamaged...but many in Hattiesburg were not so fortunate.  As we enjoy our weekend, let's please remember those trying to salvage and rebuild.

* * *

It is perfect, however, to release the lovely Sketch 331 for Valentine's Day!  Frilly and dainty in its details, this sketch only needs a single, special photo to complete it.

Click over to the blog and see what the talented design team has done...but in the meantime, here's my page!

Anna at Four digital scrapbooking layout by Chanell Rigterink Credits Digital Kits: This is Why Collab by Design House Digital for Persnickety Prints; Kinda Awesome by Jennifer Barrette; Stitching: In Stitches by Robyn Meierotto; Sketch: 331 by Scrapbook Challenges; Font: Carbon Type

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Our 2013 Valentines

Last year we made our Valentines for the first time and had so much fun that we did it again!  Here's the round-up...

(Please pardon the picture quality.  It was late and low-light when I was shooting them and no amount of post-processing is making them any sharper, hahaha!)

Hope your day is Starburst-ing with happiness!

These are tiny treat bags with eight little Starburst candies, stapled closed with the note.

Inspiration

You're such a Cutie!

Son #2 is an orange-a-holic, so naturally he chose these.  He's getting a little sophisticated about the whole process, though...he wanted to know if I was violating copywrite since I downloaded the logos for these and the Starburst cards!  Geeze...he's not even ten yet.  I assured him that we were fine, but that's why you all don't get them as free downloads!

Inspiration

You are so sweet! / You make my heart melt!

Banana came up with these all by her lonesome!  She desperately wanted these bags to be filled with chocolate hearts, but we couldn't make that work in the budget (more on that later).  So, Little Debby saved the day with her seasonal heart-shaped cakes!  Banana also insisted on two sentiments: one for the girls and a different one for the boys.

You've got all the write stuff!

Pup's valentines were drama this year.  He originally planned to give out party poppers (the kind that shoot out tiny streamers) with notes that said "You make my heart POP!"  But at the last minute (read: February 13 at 6 p.m. after they were already stuffed and stapled), the big boys got him all freaked out about taking "explosives" to school.  So, Hubs and I decided not to tempt the ripped-from-the-headlines possibility of a kindergartener getting suspended on Valentine's Day and did a emergency regroup.  So, pencils went to school instead!

Inspiration

The Budget.  Ummm.  It turns out that spending even $.25 per kid adds up kinda quickly when there are 25-28 kids per class and you're doing it times four!  Let's just say that I've already told the offspring that we'll be returning to simple suckers and the like for Valentines 2014, hahahaha!  Oh, well...

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SBC Sketch 330

Yeah, so I'm really out of practice with the blogging thing.  Like I totally missed the Monday sketch reveal at SBC.  #fail

And it's a super awesome one, too!  Check this out:

Right?  How sweet are all those tags?  Honestly.  There are so many ways you could take this, it's just amazing.  You should click over here and see what the Sketch Crew did with it, because I think they had fun!  Here's mine...

Crazy Boy digital scrapbooking layout by Chanell Rigterink Credits Digital Kit: The Stache by Creations by Rachael B; Tags: Cool Change by Mye deLeon; Journal Card: Favorite Things 2 by Gennifer Bursett; Word Bubble: Photo Booth Fun Photo Props Add-On by Digital Design Essentials; Flairs: Fun Flairs: Rad by Megan Turnidge; Brushes: Stamp Sheet {Boy} by Karla Dudley, Fun & Fancy Splatter Brushes 1 by Pink Reptile Designs; Sketch: 330 by Scrapbook Challenges; Font: Underwood Champion

I've had this 'stache kit just chillin' in my...well, stash!...waiting for the perfect page to come begging.  Yup.  This was it.  There are several different kits and designers that all mashed up here, but it's about that crazy boy of mine.  Lurve that child...

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A Progressive Layout

Occasionally, SBC hosts progressive challenges...and, man, do I find that challenging!  I'm the kind of scrapper that sits down and powers through a page until it's done.  I have a very hard time leaving a layout undone, even if it's not going well.  I've never been able to walk away for perspective or to get reinspired.  I tend to grit my teeth, delete everything I've done if necessary, and just work 'til I'm happy with it.

So, when I progressive challenge truly makes me only do one step at a time (with a whole day in between), I suffer.  No joke.  But, I've done two of these now...and I kinda starting to like it!

SBC's fabulous Social Coordinator Tabitha hosted a nice, quick three-day challenge during the Blog Hop weekend.  And, here's what I did with it!

Day 1

Choose a patterned background.

Use another patterned paper, cut to approximately 6x10.

Use a third patterned paper, cut to approximately 7x8.

Day 2

Choose a photo and mat.

Use a punch, stamp or diecut to create seven or eight shapes.
Arrange shapes from left to right across the page to create a border of sorts.

Adhere everything to your background paper.

In all fairness, I didn't start my layout until Day 2's steps had already been posted...so I did all of this in one fell swoop.  One of my papers has a very slight pinstripe to it, so that's a pretty loose interpretation of "patterned" paper, but whatevs.  These are guidelines, right?  

I really wanted a bubble effect as my repeating shapes border.  I must have tried a dozen different things, from cut papers to acrylic shapes, and finally struck on "foam-stamping" them.  These circles are actually the bottom part of an exclamation point from an alpha set!  It was just what I had in mind.

Then, the dreaded waiting.  I think the hardest part is the wondering if the next steps are gonna completely mess up the mental image of the completed layout that I've already formed at this point.  I mean, what happens if there's supposed to be another patterned paper worked in there somehow?!

Day 3

Decorate the shapes border.

Add title and journaling.

Customize!

Splash! digital scrapbooking layout by Chanell Rigterink Credits Chevron Paper, Journal Cards, Flair: Ocean World by Quirky Twerp; Blue Paper, Ribbons: Waterpark by Just Jaimee; Scallop Paper, Waves: Seaside Retreat by Mommyish; Word Art: Splash Time Word Bits by the Cluster Queen; Alpha: Foam Stamp by Sahlin Studio; Staple: Gunhild Storeide; Fonts: Stamping Nico, Chanell's Handwriting, Traveling Typewriter

I totally lucked out on this one.  The finishing steps were very open-ended, so I really got to do what I wanted.  I added:  flairs (to decorate the border) and two journal cards from the kit that contained the chevron paper; some waves and water-themed word bits; some ribbon to balance the left side of the page.  The stamped title ties in the "bubbles" with an S from the same alpha set and the remaining letters done in a stamped font.

I really like the way this turned out.  I think my favorite part is the stamping...and that's exactly the part that I probably wouldn't have come up with on my own!

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SCB Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Scrapbook Challenges Blog Hop! You're going to have a wonderfully inspiring trip through the interweb with this one...we have a fantastic sketch for you and the new Design Team has done amazing things with it!  If you get lost along the way, just  click back over to SBC for the full list of stops.

In case we haven't met, I'm Chanell, the Sketch Coordinator for SBC.  This marks my fifth term here, and I'm loving every minute of it!  If you ever have questions about what we do or how it happens, just holler...I'm around the site quite a bit. 

Seems this is also marks my {totally unremarkable} return to blogging.  Apparently, I haven't posted on this poor blog since, like, JUNE.  So, I'd love it if you wanted to follow me...and I promise to actually update content again!  Hahahaha!

OK, back to business.  THE SKETCH.  Is awesome.

I love everything about this sketch, done by our fearless leader Brynn Marie, especially how she layered the center bands.  You could do such funky things with that!  I actually went the "pretty" route with it this time, hauling out an old photo...

Love One Another digital scrapbooking layout by Chanell Rigterink Credits Digital Kit: Happy Celebration by SMJ Designs; Lace, Stitching: Shabby Sweet by BZB Designs; Alpha: Foam Stamp Alpha by Sahlin Studio; Sketch: Scrapbook Challenges; Fonts: Stamping Nico, Chanell's Handwriting

Look at those baby faces!  *Sigh*  These three are now 11, 9 and 7... Crazy.  This was a really fun page to scrap, though, and it fell together in a snap.  I love doing layouts that play on the balance of masculine (geometric shapes, dark colors) and feminine (curves, florals, pastels).

And now, for the *really* fun stuff: THE PRIZES!

1.  The HOP ON PRIZE for completing a layout based on the hop sketch and posting it to the Hop On thread at SBC.  Such gorgeousness...

2.  The NEW MEMBER PRIZE for one randomly chosen member who joins SBC this weekend!  Wowza!

3.  THE INSTAGRAM PRIZE for one follower and an additional IG user they tag. Oooh! Aaah!

Swoon.  I know you're excited now!  So, off with you!  Hop on, scrappers!  I can't wait to see your work in the galleries!

Your next stop is with Kristine.

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