Happy Birthday Dear Cathy!!!

It's Cathy's birthday here at AllyScraps... and we're sending her big HUGS and Happy Birthday wishes to her for an awesome BIRTHDAY! :)





Hope you have a great day Cathy!

~ Dana and Morag

Wow, Jana Eubank!!!

Jana! You're the best. :) Love this layout, it has so many wonderful features. That big block of photos is an amazing part of the design, and all of the circles draw your eyes directly to the focal point. Love the letter stickers right on the photo too, super cool. Jana mixed papers from Jillibean Soup and Scrap Within Reach for her page. She also used Jenni Bowlin letter stickers and flowers from Jillibean Soup as a fun addition! Here's Jana's layout, Guppy Island.



This is Jana's last project with AllyScraps this month, but we know you'll want to keep an eye on her amazing work... so be sure to check out her blog! Thanks so much Jana, we've SO enjoyed having you at AllyScraps and you're always invited back.

~ Dana

Halloween is almost here!

Hi everyone, Halloween is almost here, less than a week! We are all decorated, pumpkins picked and costumed arranged. We are ready, hope you are too. I've been working on some Halloween projects at my house. Just wanted to take a minute to share them with you.

The first one is of my daughter and her good friend doing a school party "mummy wrap". You know... the toilet paper wrap! It was loads of fun. I used My Mind's Eye Boo to You collection for my layout. I think that the die cut sheet is SO super cute. Love that it had a mummy on it, so perfect for my page.



I did this quickie layout while I was on my last scrappy trip. Pulled some old Basic Grey from my stash... it was fun using some non-themed papers for my Halloween pages. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Halloween paper, but it's fun to change things up once in a while.



Hey, did you notice what's been going on in the AllyScraps store??? Cathy's been busy uploading TONS of new products. Crate Paper, Paper Loft, WeRMemory Keepers, Lily Bee, October Afternoon, Reminisce and lots more. Hope you'll pop over to the store!

Hey, don't forget about our sketch challenge this week. Take a look HERE for all the details! Thanks for stopping by, keep your eyes open for more Jana Eubank inspiration soon.

~ Dana

Free to be me.....

Kary has a whole new attitude, and it's a great to see! Love this new layout she made for AllyScraps, so rich and full of color and texture.





She used Basic Grey's brand new line Eskimo Kisses for her page. I loved that she used a "Christmas" line for a non-holiday layout. The colors and patterns work perfectly for her project. Just SO pretty. Do you love the flowers that Kary uses on her layouts? I do, and I am really excited that Kary will show us how to make them next week on the blog. I hope that you'll check back to see how to make them too. Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

~ Dana

A SKETCH by Jana Eubank!

I'm always up for an awesome SKETCH, and when I was asked Jana Eubank if she could make us one at AllyScraps this month, she agreed! Love that it's a multi-photo sketch... and love that her design is in perfect balance.



Well, of course since I'm always asking for something, I asked Jana to make a layout from her sketch too. Being the sweet girl that she is, she again agreed, and here is her awesome layout.



Jana used papers by Jillibean Soup and Scrap Within Reach to make her layout. What an awesome combination of papers. She used chipboard buttons by Jenni Bowlin and thickers from American Crafts. (Loved that she used flowers on her boy layout!) Super cute layout Jana!

Well, you know me... and I had to get in on the act too. So, I made a layout with Jana's sketch too. Here's what I came up with.



I used October Afternoon Cherry Hill supplies. (Hey, did you notice all the awesome, brand new October Afternoon while you were checking that last link out??) I love that my layout was quick and easy, because I didn't have to do the hard part... the actual page layout. Jana did that for me with the sketch.

So, do you want to play along???? You can. Just do a layout based on Jana's sketch above. Post your finished product in our sketch gallery at AllyScraps, tell us you posted yours in the comment section here and we'll put you in a drawing for an awesome Halloween prize! You need to have finished your layout, posted it in the gallery and commented on this post by Midnight Eastern Time on Halloween night, October 31st to be eligible for the prize drawing. Hope that you'll play along. See you soon!

~ Dana

Glitz Girls!

Hey! It snowed here last night... YEP, you read right... SNOWED... so I'm thinking that it's time to heat things up around here, and show you some awesome "glitzy" projects with the Olivia line by Glitz. Super fun color combination, awesome patterns and a cool distressed look.

First up, our wonderful guest designer Kary Lewis took a turn. She's a real Glitz girl at heart, and has always made such awesome pages using products from Glitz. Here is her project with the Olivia line.




Love the way Kary used her flowers, wow, those are pretty. Super cool stitching around the layout in a zig zag too. She also added the rubons that matched the Olivia line and they add so much to the layout.

I took a turn with the same Glitz papers, and this is what I came up with.



Besides lots of the patterned paper, I used the title stickers (all cut up) and the journaling stickers too. I loved adding a little glitter to my layout too.

I'm sure you'll want to see much more of Kary's work, so be sure to check back next week. She is just SO talented! I know I'm really looking forward to seeing what else she has in store for us this month.

Thanks so much for taking a look, be sure to check back on Monday for a sketch by Jana Eubank and a challenge that you can ALL get involved in. Stay warm!

~ Dana

First Day of Preschool.

It's early in the week, and that means that we are treated to another awesome layout by Jana Eubank. This layout tells us about her daughter's first day of preschool this year, and what a cutie she is! I love how Jana made the pictures stand out, BUT made the journaling the special focus of this layout. As usual, her textures and layering are gorgeous, and every detail is exactly in place.

Jana used paper from October Afternoon's Ducks in a Row, die cuts from Fancy Pants Krafts Kuts 2 (love how these perfectly coordinate), a journaling block from Jenni Bowlin and her alphabet is from Amerian Crafts, cinnamon thickers. She added buttons and string from her stash to complete her layout.





Hey, I'm sure that you'll want to check out more of Jana's work, so be sure to check here next Monday for another awesome layout along with a bonus SKETCH!! You can also check out Jana's blog for much more inspiration. And, coming later this week, watch for another awesome project by Kary Lewis, and some more Halloween from me! Have an awesome day!

~ Dana

Halloween costumes!

Hi everyone! One of my favorite scrappy things to do during Halloween is to make a layout of last's years Halloween costumes. My daughter was Edna from the movie "the Incredibles". Love that she was wearing black, SO easy to match to my choice of Halloween themed scrappy products. (hee, hee) The papers and embellies from Pink Paislee's Twilight collection, are some of my very favorite Halloween products EVER. I used several pieces of the patterned papers, the punchouts, the borderline stickers, a bella brad and the glitter alphas. The only things I added that weren't from this collection were a small Prima flower and the tiny letter stickers from Jenni Bowlin. Halloween projects are SO much fun to do.... hope you are working on some too.



Thanks so much for taking a look, enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

~ Dana

"Haunted" Halloween.....

I'm seeing Halloween decorations everywhere, our neighborhood is filled with ghosts and Jack 'O Lanterns already! We are featuring Halloween at AllyScraps in October, I know that I'm loving it so far. Our 2nd special guest designer this month is Kary Lewis, and she's going to help us to celebrate Halloween too! Kary's not a new face to AllyScraps, she served a couple of terms on our regular Design Team a while ago, and we are so excited to have her back. When you see her work, you'll ceratinly know why! Here's a little bit about Kary...



Hi everyone! My name is Kary Lewis and I am thrilled to have been asked to be this month's guest designer for Allyscraps. I've had the honor to have been on the AllyScraps Design Team before and am just overjoyed that Cathy and the girls asked me back for this month--like Cathy, Halloween is my favorite holiday and I have been given some amazing papers and embellies to work with for this month!

Just a little bit about myself--I am a single mom to four amazing kids. I have two adult age children (who live away from home right now to attend school) and two middle-school aged boys at home with me. I am currently in school full-time to get my pre-req's for a nursing or ultrasound tech degree. If a very long process, but one that I am determined to finish! In my few-and-far-between spare moments, I try to get my creative juices going by scrapping. I have been on several design teams over the past two years and have been published in several scrapbooking magazines and publications. This past year, I've been on hiatus from scrapping, but am ready to get back into it and start creating art again--it's definitely a theraputic way to release whatever it is that is going on in your life, don't you think?

My style is eclectic--I go from vintage style layouts to funky. You could call me the "embellishment queen" because I love make my own from the paper or just having fun with whatever is in front of me. I'm challenging myself this year to use more photos on my layouts. It seems as though I use just one the majority of my work, so I am trying to "step out of my box" and use more photos. I hope you will join me this month and do something out of the ordinary from your usual scrapbook style and challenge yourself to try something new!!

Happy Scrapping!!

~~Kary

Here's Kary's layout, I just adore it!





Kary used the My Mind's Eye "Spider Web" paper and accessories kit for this along with Maya Road's mini chipboard scroll set. She also used Glitz Frosting rubons, Prima flowers (which she sprayed with Glimmer Mist and then scrunched and layered to make the burgundy colored flowers), smaller Prima flowers with the same technique and a Hambly Rubon.

Wow Kary, this is SO awesome, thanks so much for helping to inspire us. Check back this weekend, I'll be posting a layout using Pink Paislee's Twilight line, LOVE that stuff! Happy Haunting!

~ Dana

October already!

Hi everyone, I can't believe October is upon us... and boy the weather is telling us so. I love this time of year, fall decorations and fall food and little trick or treaters at our doorstep! October is going to be great month here at AllyScraps too. We are going to focus on Halloween. Halloween cards, Halloween layouts, Halloween projects and a Halloween technique or two. Of course I couldn't do all these projects on my own, so I've enlisted some fabulous help! We have two awesome guest designers with us here at AllyScraps this month. Our first special guest is Jana Eubank. We've been lucky enough to have Jana here with us at AllyScraps before, and we're so excited that she's agreed to come back again this month. She's always such an inspiration and such a sweetie too. Here's a little about Jana.



I love scrapbooking! It is my one-and-only crafty hobby and my passion. I enjoy the creative outlet it gives me, but I also love taking the time to reflect on family memories and seeing my kids' eyes light up as they look through our family albums. I have been scrapbooking for about 12 years in one form or another. I mostly create pages, but I also enjoy creating the occasional card or altered project. My scrapbooking style is eclectic with clean lines, with a little shabbiness thrown in. If I'm not scrapbooking, I'm perusing interior design magazines, hanging out at scrapbook message boards and galleries, or celebrating life with my family. I'm hopelessly addicted to chocolate, Diet Coke and Peach Fresca. My favorite comfort food is mashed potatoes with lots of butter and salt & pepper. I love to listen to Pandora radio to help me get in a creative mood while I scrap. If you'd like to see more of my work stop by and visit me on my blog www.janaeubank.com. I am a stay-at-home mom to 3 daughters and 1 son and have been married to my best friend, Kevin, for 12 years. We live in Bountiful, Utah. I am so excited to be here at Ally Scraps this month! Thank you so much for having me!

Want to see what Jana made for our blog this week?? I couldn't believe this layout when I saw it. It's PERFECT, the layering, the colors and the amazing details. WOW!





It made me want to go right out and buy the papers from the Fancy Pants Trick or Treat Collection, which is the paper line that Jana used for this project. She also had fun with American Crafts thickers, she used the cinnamon foil thickers in robins egg and the nutmeg thickers in spinach.

Thanks so much Jana for your continued inspiration! We can't wait to see your next project. Hey by the way, don't miss the blog on Wednesday, as we'll announce our other wonderful guest designer and look for posts from me on Fridays too. Also coming up this month, is a special SKETCH designed by Jana and a giveaway based on that sketch. So much to look forward to! Enjoy your weekend, thanks for stopping by!

~ Dana