Scrapbook Challenges' NSD Blog Hop!!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!! Welcome to the Scrapbook Challenges' National Scrapbook Day blog hop, which runs from today through Sunday! You should be arriving from Annie's blog. If you just stopped by and didn't realize there was a hop going on, visit Pamela's blog to start hopping!

First off, let me introduce myself. I'm Dani, and I'm new to the design team at Scrapbook Challenges this term. Chances are, if you are in the group already, you've seen me around (if you haven't joined yet, you definitely should!). I am a stay at home mom and wife. I've been married for nearly 4 years and we have a 9 month old son. I've been scrapping for quite some time now, but I wasn't "serious" about it until my son was born. Once he was born, it seemed more important to start preserving our little every day memories. When I'm not scrapbooking or crafting of some sort, I like to spend time outdoors either doing something active, practicing my mad photography skills (haha.. yeahhhh...), or hanging out at the beach or park enjoying the scenery. I'm super excited about joining this wonderful DT, and I can't wait to get into the full swing of things! And again, I urge you all to join in the fun at Scrapbook Challenges!

For the hop, we are all doing our take on this sketch.

(Pamela is awesome, and always provides a 2-page version of each sketch as well)


Here's my take:



But wait! There's more! (I've always wanted to say that.. haha) There's RAKs involved! Make that FABULOUS RAKs involved! One lucky lady (or gentleman) that comments on all of the blogs in the hop will win the April Scarlet Lime kit! Have y'all seen it?! It's amazing.. it has some of Lily Bee Design's Hello Sunshine collection, which I just LOVE. Also, everyone who does a layout based on the sketch above and posts it in the Hop On section of Scrapbook Challenges will be entered to win the "My Family" line from Fancy Pants Designs (also fabulous!!!). On top of that, there is a Prima RAK up for joining Scrapbook Challenges, and also a Prima RAK for inviting to Scrapbook Challenges.

I hope you enjoyed your visit at my blog! I would love for you to become a follower and stick around to see what else I have in store! Your next stop is Sarah Eclavea! I know you will LOVE her blog, so hop on over there and check it out!!

RAK Winner!!

So Saturday is finally here!! For those of you that have followed along for the past week, thank you! And you all know what today is then... dun dun dun... it's giveaway day!!

This morning I wrote out all of the names, cut them up, put them in a bowl, and drew! Yep.. old fashioned style. And the winner is...........

CHERYL KOSAKURA!!!

Cheryl, email me at tdsmith22@gmail.com with your address and I will get your prize out to you ASAP! =)

Day 5: Old News is New News.

Today is my last day of my Earth Week project posts. Wow.. I can't believe it's Friday already! And I'm sorry this post is a little late today. It's a pretty busy day around here. I've only got one project to show you today.. and it's a simple one. My wonderful dad always saves the local newspaper for me from our hometown so that every time I visit, I can catch up on everything that has happened. There's always a huge stack, and I never have the time to read them all during our visit. Sooo they end up coming home with me. I'm not complaining.. I love it actually! But I've always got lots of newspaper left over and nothing to do with it but throw it away. I like the look of newspaper though. So, I started using it to cover things and make embellishments with.


This is a frame I did with some newspaper and Modge Podge. Oh man! I LOVEEEE that stuff. In the past, I've also covered chipboard pieces and used them on my layouts. To take your recycling a step further, cut out your shapes from old cereal boxes AND then cover them with newspaper.

Well, I hope I've inspired some of you to think a little greener. It's always fun to use what you have around you to make something useful and beautiful. Embrace the challenge!

And don't forget the giveaway!!! I'm drawing for the winner tomorrow, so keep a look out!

Day 4: Use what you've got.

Wow.. I can't believe it's Day 4 already!! And today is Earth Day! Happy Earth Day! I'm going to show you a few layouts using things that I've found around the house and/or recycled from somewhere.


The ribbon (the striped one) came from the diaper cake from my baby shower. There's always ribbon from SOMEWHERE in my ribbon drawers. I've got ribbon from Christmas gifts, flowers, my baby shower... you get the idea. I love when I get gifts with ribbon.. it's almost like 2 presents in 1 because I know that I can always use it on my pages or altered items.


I'm not even going to lie. The fabric on this is from a pair of Daniel's boxers.. hahaha! The other day we were just sitting on the couch eating breakfast and watching cartoons. I heard a big rip, and looked over and he was ripping off his boxers. I was like "What in the world are you doing??!!!" thinking he's crazy and all. Anyways, I guess they were already ripped, and he just liked the whole surprise effect. He ended up ripping a pretty even rectangle piece by accident, and since they were my favorite pair of boxers, I asked for it. And here's my creation with it... =)


And finally some cardboard. This came from a package I got in the mail the other day. I'm not really feeling this layout very much, but I do like the cardboard. And it uses paper from the giveaway paper pad: the houndstooth and the birds and butterflies. And as you can tell, I'm still loving those mini alphas from the giveaway too.

Welp, y'all have today and tomorrow to enter into the giveaway! You can find all of the details HERE.

Day 3: Keep your stash from turning into trash.

Who's got a lot of these laying around?

I bet we all do! If not empty, at least quite a few that are nearly empty. I've always thought that there could be a good use for them. And there is.. I've used them for sending small primas or other small embellies for swaps. You can use them to store and organize brads, buttons, etc. However, you can do something even more fun with them. How about you make a mini album with them?!

Start out by taking the "paper" part of the packaging out and tracing it on printed paper. To save paper, try using double sided paper. Cut it out.

Then decorate both sides of all of your sheets of paper, and put them all in their respective packages.


Once they are all in, put them in order. Use eyelets to attach them, and finish it off by tying ribbon through the eyelets.

The inside


Also, don't forget about my giveaway! Check out all of the details HERE. You have until Friday night to enter. Winner will be announced on Saturday!!

Day 2: When the Music Stops.

We now live in the world of MP3s and satellite radio (unless I find myself behind the times yet again). Yet here I am left with all of these CDs laying around that I have nothing to do with anymore. All of my music is on my iPod and my iPod works in my car, so I have no use for them. And not only that, I have CDs that I had in Jr. High that have definitely seen better days. They don't even play anymore!

Even if you don't have CDs around the house anymore, maybe you've got an old free font disc like the ones you get for free when you buy scrap magazines sometimes. Or those free internet trial discs? Either way, there's plenty of things you can do with old discs and their cases!

Here's an altered CD.

These can be used for plenty of things! Gift tags, ornaments, gifts, etc. I've even thought of using them at Christmas as gift tags, and instead of putting the name, just put the picture of the person it is to. That's a fabulous idea for kids that can't read yet... and the best part is that they can keep the gift tag as an ornament for their tree. See, 2 gifts in 1!

I've also got a new way to display your cute little photos in your scraproom!

I know that it's not the "nicest" looking "picture frame", but it makes the perfect addition to my scraproom. I order wallet sized pictures a lot, and they always come in sets of 2 of the same picture. Since I use one on a layout, I always have one left over. This is the perfect way for me to display that left over picture!

To do this yourself, trace around the "booklet" or the track list sheet on to patterned paper. Cut it out and decorate. Remember not to get too bulky on the PP itself. If you want to add bulk, I suggest adding it to the outside. I also think that adding some rub-ons to the outside would be a nice touch!

Anyways, don't forget about my giveaway!! You have until Friday night to enter.. I'm drawing on Saturday!!

Day 1: Stop wasting those food containers!! =)

We waste a lot of food containers at our house. As I've mentioned before, we eat Chinese take-out (delivery, rather) A LOT. And my husband also has some weird obsession with chicken nuggets from McDonalds (those boxes would also be cute altered and I have some on my desk, I just haven't gotten around to it yet). The possibilities are endless really. You can turn old canned food cans into planters for herbs or other small plants. Use Egg cartons for paint cups. Cereal boxes make great cardboard for homemade embellishments. Anyways, you get the idea.

I've always thought that fry boxes were a little cute. Just slap some paper on there, and they would make VERY cute party favors, gift boxes, etc. From now on, I'm collecting every fry box we get when we eat fast food (which isn't very often now thanks to our new "healthy lifestyle".. phooey).



This is very simple. You will see on the back of the box that there are 2 flaps that can be easily undone (careful not to tear the box). Unfold the whole thing and cover both sides with patterned paper. Fold it back up and secure the 2 back flaps with glue dots or double sided tape. I always use Tacky Tape, and it works perfectly. Then just decorate the front!!

And here I've got yet another take-out box! This one is just in time for Mother's day.. it's the perfect little gift box for my mom!



You can find the tutorial that I posted a few weeks ago for take-out boxes here. The only difference with this one is that it's smaller. You will only need 1 sheet of pattered paper for the smaller boxes like this one. At our local restaurant, this box is the one they send the crab rangoon and egg rolls in, whereas the other box in the tutorial is the rice box. I'm not sure if there's any other way to explain the sizes to you..lol!

Don't forget about my giveaway!! Try one of these projects mentioned here for an extra entry! You have until Friday night to enter, as I am announcing the winner on Saturday!

An exciting Sunday as promised!

Lately I've been on an altered item kick. I've enjoyed slapping some paper, paint, and embellishments on just about anything. Nothing is safe in this house (the dog just ran away whining..lol though I don't believe it's related to my altering..haha)! Anyways, so I thought.. "Hmm.. it'd be cool to do a week of posts with examples of ways you can use stuff laying around the house to make something BEAUTIFUL. Hmmm... maybe for Earth Week??" The only problem with this epiphany I had is that I had it this past Monday. Soooo I've been a busy girl this week, and I've got a week's worth of project ideas to show you guys!

Also, to go along with the projects I'm posting, I'm having a giveaway!! I just bought these products for me the other day, and I'm LOVING them!

Here's what it includes:
K & Company Handmade Collection - 12x12 Specialty paper pad - Lofty Nest
K & Company Handmade Collection - Mini Alphabet Stickers
K & Company Handmade Collection - Wood Art (16 pcs)
K & Company Blossomwood Collection by Tim Coffey - Flower and Twig Charmers

This is a layout I did using the paper, stickers, and charmers. Also, the handmade collection also has fabric swatches that I used in this layout with I LOOOOOVE!


And another layout I've done using the mini alphas (I love these.. so much that I have 4 packs.. all in black!!):


I love these products, and I can't wait to share them with one of you!!
These are the ways you can get an entry (you can get more than one entry):
1) Become a follower and comment this post to tell me you have done so.
2) Post this giveaway on your blog, facebook, etc and leave the link with your comment.
3) Try any one of the projects that I post through the week and link it in that project's post.

I will announce the winner on Saturday. Happy Scrapping everyone! Stay around for the projects coming up this week!!
-Dani =)

What's in a name?

That's the new prompt up at Scrap That Baby. When I saw this prompt, I squealed with excitement!! I've been meaning to make a mini album listing all of the little nicknames that we call Jonah, I just hadn't had the motivation/inspiration. As soon as I saw the prompt, I knew it'd be perfect!!!



All of the inside pages are based on the same simple design, so I won't bore you will all of them but here's one.



The other nicknames I included were Bone, Bean, Babysaurus, and Big'un. Looks like we may like B's a little. Butttt I can't believe I forgot the one that we use most often, Mr. Baby/Mr. Baby Sir. So I suppose that one will have to have it's own 12x12 page soon.

Everyone on the DT rocked this prompt! Head on over there and check out the inspiration... and join in the challenge!!

In other news, I'd like to hint that on Sunday I'm going to post something exciting!! =) I can't wait! For now, I'm busy preparing for it though.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Thursday!!

Where have I been?

Well.. my parents were in town for 9 days. It was a great 9 days, even though it was a little chilly out here on the central coast. They're back safe and sound in Alabama now though.

Since things have returned back to normal in the Smith house, I finally got a little scrapping done this morning. I did a sketch for Sketchy Thursday's sketch challenge this week.

Here's the sketch:


And here's my take:


Hope everyone is having/had a great weekend! =)
-Dani

Oh, the day Jonah was born...

I don't think I will ever forget that day. I mean, with the pain, long hours of labor, and no food, who could? Oh, and of course my beautiful baby boy... weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz. Aside from my own happiness, another thing that I will never forget is how insanely happy my husband was. He's such a natural Daddy.

Anyways, to the point.. yes, Scrap That Baby's second prompt. The first prompt of April is "On the day that you were born...". This was the very first prompt that the DT got to work on.. and let me tell you, there are tons of creativity and talent over there! Here is my layout:


I almost forgot to mention the best part!! If you do this prompt and post it before April 13, you could win a prize! That's right.. we have a sponsor! Up for grabs is a $10 gift certificate to In A Scrap Creations. So y'all get busy scrappin' those babies!

Well, I'm off to San Francisco to pick up my parents at the airport! Woo! I haven't seen them in 6 months! I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!
-Dani