Masking with Stickers from My Stash

Time for  my monthly destashing post!  This month I focused on using up old stickers.  I made a scrapbook page inspired by the color prompt for week four of the Summer of Color. 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; enamel dots, alphabet stickers & patterned paper from October Afternoon; washi tape from Scotch/3M; die cut circles from Graphic 45; Candi dots from Craftwork; laser cut banners from Scrapmatts; square stickers from Bo Bunny; paint from Ranger; black ink from Hero Arts; metallic ink from Tsukineko; household mechanical pencil & bubble wrap; button, ribbon, & label holders from my stash.

I used some very old Bo Bunny stickers from my stash to mask off a checker board pattern.

I went over the masked areas with bisque paint, then removed the stickers.  After the paint dried, I stamped over the checker board pattern with bubble wrap, tore the edges of the cardstock, and built my layout.

From start to finish, this layout was fun to make.  I hope that you enjoyed seeing it.  By the way, please let me know if you have any chess tips for me--my son beats me every time!  :)

Big Adventures

I mentioned in my last post that I've been going on lots of fun summer outings lately.  I thought you might like to see a bit of what I've been doing.  Here is a page that documents some "big stuff" that I have seen on my outings.  This "big stuff" includes giant Lego sculptures at the local arboretum and Japanese spider crabs (the largest crab species in the world) at the local aquarium.
 

Supplies: patterned paper, alphabet stickers, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; corner punch from Creative Memories; decorative tape from 3M/Scotch; flower from Prima; pen from Zig; household pencil; button & thread from my stash.

Would you like to see a couple more photos of Lego sculptures from the arboretum?  Here you go.  The artist, Sean Kenney, took hundreds of hours and thousands of Lego bricks to build each sculpture.

These summer outings have kept me so busy that I have not had time to link up regularly with the Summer of Color posts.  However, I am finishing up with the color prompts slowly but surely.  The "Big Stuff" layout in this post was inspired by the color prompt for week five.  I'll be back soon to share my layouts for weeks four and six.  Until then, take care!

A Cat from the Past

Hi everyone, I hope that you are all doing well.  I have been enjoying summer to the fullest, spending time in the sun, and going on lots of outings.  This does not leave a whole lot of time for scrapbooking.  But, when I saw that Berry71Bleu's current challenge is to use die cuts, I decided to play along.  Those pre-packaged die cuts make scrapping quick & easy, so this is a perfect challenge for busy summer days.  I decided to make a page about Toby, the cat that Scott's grandparents had when he was growing up.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; floral paper from Crate; typewriter word paper from American Crafts; arrow die cut, round die cuts, tab die cuts, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; label & banner die cuts from Elle's Studio; alphabet stickers from Simple Stories; flower from Prima; pen from Foray; twine from my stash.

I used die cuts from two different packs.  The label and banner die cuts are from the "Everyday Moments--Bits and Pieces" pack by Elle's Studio.  The arrow, tabs, and round die cuts are from the "Public Library--Tidbits" pack by October Afternoon.  I layered together die cuts of different sizes to enhance my layout. 

I also added die cuts along the sides of the photos.  To complement the offset photos, I also offset my journaling.  It says: "One day Toby just walked into Scott's grandparents' house and 'adopted' them.  This spunky cat brought big smiles to many people, both young and old.  He knew how to be in the right place at the right time."

I enjoy hearing my husband's stories about Toby.  And I was glad that I could make this page for him.  I'll add it to the scrapbook that I'm making with photos from his childhood.  Thanks for popping by my blog today to take a look!

2015 Library Project: June Month-in-Review

Hello!  Wow, I got such a great response to my last post about my son's summer library project.  Thank you.  I thought it would be fun to keep you updated on the project on a monthly basis.  We visited seven more libraries in June.  These are highlighted in blue on the map below.  (The libraries that we visited last summer are highlighted in yellow.)

Since I'm linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth's virtual tea party today, let's begin our tour in north Minneapolis, where you can have an imaginary teatime at the cafe in the North Regional Library's play area.  The mural in the background is an accurate depiction of Lowry Avenue, the street where this library is located.  In the background you can see a bit of the Lowry Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River, with the skyscrapers of downtown Minneapolis beyond that.

In another part of north Minneapolis, we enjoyed the Sumner Library.  This gorgeous building celebrates its hundredth birthday this year!  I didn't get a photo, but Wikipedia has one for you to see.

The third library in Minneapolis that we visited in June was Central Library in the heart of downtown.  This enormous building has four levels!  I can't even begin to guess how many books are there.  Or how many stairs.  As you see from the photo above, the staircases there are reminiscent of M. C. Escher's famous drawing.  There are elevators and escalators, too, for which I was very grateful, since we visited all four floors.

Moving on to the suburban portions of our escapade, we visited libraries that varied greatly in size.  The largest of these was the Edina Library, where I checked out Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.  (My take: good, but not as good as Eleanor & Park.  Have any of you read Rowell's books?)  The smallest library we visited was the Osseo Library, which is just one room in Osseo City Hall.

Other charming, small libraries that we visited include the St. Bonifacius Library (pictured above), whose building will celebrate its one hundredth birthday next year, and the Long Lake Library (pictured below), which is conveniently located in a small shopping center.  There really is great diversity among all the Hennepin County libraries.

Before I go, I need to thank fellow T is for Tuesday participant and Twin Citian Halle, who pointed out to me that the Excelsior Library has moved to a new building since last summer.  My son and I visited the new library building, where we were greeted by a delightful wood carving of a book-reading beaver.  If you include the Excelsior Library, my son and I actually visited eight new libraries in June.  Not bad, eh?  I hope that you have also enjoyed this virtual tour of those libraries.