January 29 Sketch!

It has been such a pleasure to be back at Allyscraps this month! Thanks so much to Cathy and Dana for inviting me. I hope you have all been enjoying the sketches!

My last sketch this month is another multi-photo sketch, and really caters to the many paper lines out there now that include lots of coordinating little word/phrase stickers or embellishments! Here is the sketch:



And here is my page, 7th Heaven, featuring the fun and boyish Bella Blvd. Super Stud line.



There were so many fun little doo-dads in the Bits a Bella paper and also the label additions sticker sheet! I also used both the red and brown alphas from My Little Shoebox (how fun are they??) and of course (you guessed it!) the Nutmeg Thickers!

I was so happy that Morag played along this week and created this adorable page featuring October Afternoon's Farm Fresh collection! What a sweet page... I love the little pig and goose, and of course her adorable kiddos! Lovely take on the sketch, Morag!



Well, this is my last official January Guest Designer post, but it has been such fun being back with you all this month, don't be surprised to see an occasional random post from me! In the meantime, happy scrapping and enjoy the sketches!

- Debbie

All Kinds of Love

As this time of year is a time for romance, you might be thinking that everything should be hearts and flowers.  Well it can be, but we can also create projects using the very freshest of designs.

I saw this adorable idea in a French magazine and thought I have to make me one of those.  The little 'milk' cartons can be filled with favours or chocolates for your loved ones.  Lauren is rather inclined to think that she is going to receive it full of tiny chocolates!

Those fabulous papers are of course October Afternoon's Farm Fresh collection.  Those lovely spring colours are just what we need at this time of year.

I adore the cardstock stickers which are mounted onto foam tape and adorn the simple tags.

The cute little cow was hand cut from the journal cards because he was nice and dinky.

As love does come in all shapes and sizes, how about something more romantic? 

Fancy Pants vintage papers are just gorgeous!  The pretty patterns and colours will suit all your valentine projects.

I covered my heart shaped box with papers before layering up with vairous images and stamps from Pink Paislee.  The tiny frame by Melissa Frances is one of four in the pack.

The fabulous chipboard birdcage and birdie by Maya Road needed nothing more than a little ink.  Check out Maya Road's new line of inks here.

I hope you've enjoyed these projects.  Be sure to check back later this week for more inspiration.

Thanks for popping in.

Morag x

January 22 Sketch!

Welcome back for another sketchy Friday! Anyone who knows my scrapbooking and sketch work knows that I gravitate toward multi-photo layouts. But every once in a while it's nice to really highlight a single photo! So I wanted to share at least one single photo sketch this month:



My page features the fun Kaisercraft "Superhero" line, perfect for a photo of all these little boys!



Other supplies include Maya Road's Noah alpha, which I painted, and replaced the "a" with a fun little heart from this chipboard set. Of course I used my new favorite Nutmeg Thickers again, and that cute chipboard snail from the Maya Road Bugs set, just because it seems fitting with "boys" theme of the page.

I hope you enjoy the sketch, and I can't wait to see what you do with it!

- Debbie

I'm Cuckoo about Fancy Pants!

It's easy to go cuckoo over the new Valentine range from Fancy Pants which feature pretty patterns, soft colours (including my favourite duck egg blue). 

I have been wanting to make a faux cuckoo clock for ages so when my little pile of papers arrived from Ally Scraps I jumped for joy.  For there were the perfect papers and embellishments that I needed.

The house is made of sturdy card using a template.  I then covered the walls with paper and inks. I have mounted the house onto a dowel which is then pushed into an oasis in a tiny pot (hot glue is a must for this project).

I had the chipboard clock face for years so I'm glad to put it to good use.  You could stamp out a suitable clock and hands if you don't have one.  I like to 'sugar' my flowers and add a tiny stamped sentiment (Pink Paislee).  A clay bird cuckoos from his perch having popped out of the shuttered doors.

The beauty about shopping at Ally Scraps is that you can mix and match lots of different papers and embellishments.  The die-cut heart is Pink Paislee and the images on the pole are from Bo Bunny's Love Bandit. The  roof are layers of Fancy Pants paper which have been scalloped (curl the edges slightly for more dimension).

At the back of the house I have used another fabulous die-cut which is layered onto a conertina circle. That wonderful key hole is Melissa Francis

Finally a little love note on the last wall with more Pink Paislee stamping a tiny heart and birdie.

I hope that I have inspired you to make something special for Valentine's day. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Morag x

January 15 Sketch!

It's Friday Sketch Day! I hope you enjoyed the last one and are ready for some more fun! I have another multi-photo sketch today (you know how I like multi-photo pages!). Here it is:



My page was so fun to do! Featuring another Fancy Pants line, Rough and Tough, this page is all about how my littlest guy lost all four of his front teeth in just a little more than a month!!



I also used my new favorite Nutmeg Thickers, as well as these cute little Maya Road chipboard letters.

Dana played along again this week, and shows you an awesome variation that gets even more photos on the page!



Dana used some adorable Crate Paper and alpha stickers by Sassafras Lass.

Now it's your turn! We would love to see your takes on the sketch! And be watching the blog for more inspiration from Dana and Morag next week, and another sketch next Friday! Have a great and scrappy weekend!

- Debbie

What do you love???

Pizza?? your ipod?? scrappy time?? cuddling?? all of the above?? Well, my daughter LOVES gelato. She went to Italy last summer, and came home with a love of all things Italian, especially gelato!



This time of year, there are SO many cute Valentine/Love scrapbook products out there to scrapbook pictures of your sweeties. But instead, why not scrapbook a page about WHAT you love, instead of WHO you love! :)

I used Pink Paislee's gorgeous Cupid Collection of papers and embellies. The "postcards" paper is SO cute. Love how you can cut out all of those little blocks, great for journaling, titles and highlighting embellishments too. The punchouts and bella brads are also adorable, a perfect match.

That's all for today... but be sure to check back on Friday, for a brand new sketch from Debbie, and my version of the sketch too! Have a great week.

~ Dana

Love is in the Air

Or at least it will be soon. I'm so lucky this month to be a guest designer here at Ally Scraps when there are so many lovely new products to play with.

Bo Bunny Love Bandit is simply divine!  These sweet characters and gorgeous colours are irresistable. I have used Love Bandit background paper - how cute is that?!! (Just click on the photo for a larger picture).

I have teamed up the paper with the matching Cut Outs. Pink Paislee punch outs and stamps co-ordinate beautifully. 

The Love postage stamp has been inked and crumpled for a little dimension. The tiny Melissa Frances frame displays a stamped sentiment.

Lastly, I added a tiny bird house to hang from the tree.

Thanks for popping in.  I know Debbie and Dana are back later this week with more inspiration, so be sure to pop back soon.

Morag x

January 8 Sketch!

Hello, Allyscraps fans! I can't tell you how good it feels to be back at Allyscraps for the month of January! I'll be sharing a new sketch and page with you each Friday this month. To kick things off, here is a fun multi-photo sketch for you:



And my page, featuring the rich colors and gorgeous patterns of the Fancy Pants - Trick or Treat line. I love the colors and patterns in this line, and as you can see in my page below, it isn't just for Halloween layouts!



Along with the Fancy Pants, I used some of these new Nutmeg Thickers that I adore! You will be seeing more of them this month, for sure!

By the way, in case you are very picky about the little things, like I am, I wanted to share a tip that I figured out as I was working on this page. Notice how the journaling is aligned? Here is a close-up view:



I wanted it to be justified for very clean, graphic look. However, when I typed it in Word and simply picked "justified", the partial last-line was aligned to the left margin. I wanted the partial line to be aligned to the right instead, so that the "straight edge" of the text was with the photos, and the "indented edge" was with the rounded corner. Here was my solution: I inserted a string of periods, just before the word "the" at the beginning of the last line, until the periods "pushed" the text over to the far right margin (actually, I let it push the text down to a new line, and then deleted the last period). Then I selected the periods and changed the text color to "white" so that they were invisible. Viola! This gave me exactly the alignment that I wanted. Perhaps there's another way... but this worked for me, and I wanted to share it!

Now, enjoy the sketch and be sure to show us what you come up with! I would love to see how it inspires you! And I'll be back with another sketch next Friday!

- Debbie

Hey Debbie!!!! Love, love, love your layout and new sketch. I've set myself a personal goal, and that is to complete a layout inspired by every single one of your sketches this month. Here's my take on #1.



I used paper and embellishments from the Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg line and my very favorite letters of all time, Loopy Lou by Doodlebug. Thanks for the inspiration Debbie!

~ Dana

Jolly Holiday

OK, I know, I know! Christmas is over... but it's still on my mind. I need to keep scrapping Christmas while I'm still feeling it, as I must have pictures to make at least 20 more Christmas layouts! Here's one of my favorite projects from this past year, Jolly Holiday, my daughter is such a cutie.



I used some gorgeous October Afternoon Very Merry scrapbook products. Love, love, love these stickers. Used these awesome thickers too.

Have a great day... and be sure to check back on Friday for some sketchy goodness!

~ Dana

Remembering December

What a great layout title! I took pictures this weekend when we were taking down our Christmas decorations and my daughter was so sad. Linda Albrecht's layout really reminded me how we can remember the joyous month of December in a layout. Now, just to document it like she did, with such beauty.



Linda used the Fancy Pants Christmas Magic line of papers and embellishments for her layout. The background paper is Chestnuts Roasting , and the main papers are Carol and Good Cheer. She also used the glitter cut Hanging Ornaments as a wonderful embellishment. Love her use of tinsel and lots of glitter to add sparkle and lots of texture to her layout. Do you see her hand stitching too, love the blue pop that adds! Oh, by the way, those little blue letters are by October Afternoon.



We were SO fortunate to have Linda Albrecht with us this month at AllyScraps. Her beautiful projects brough us inspiration every week this month... and if you want to see more, don't worry! Linda promised that she will return to AllyScraps, so keep your eyes open and I bet you'll see more of her VERY soon! Thanks Linda!

Have a great week!! Dana

Happy, Happy New Year!

Good morning everyone. The girls and I stayed up until midnight last night to ring in the New Year! DH went to bed at 10, bah humbug.... the girls fell asleep around 11:00, so I woke them up at 11:50 to watch the ball drop. Blew our New Year's horns and went to bed by 12:05, hee, hee.

Hey, guess what! I've been scrapping. I think 2009 was an off scrapbooking year for me, so one of my 2010 resolutions is to scrapbook more often! (love that resolution.) I finished 3!, yes 3 layouts over the last few days, and one more is almost done. Do you have a New Years scrappy resolution? If so, let us know... post it in the comment section, we'd love to see it.

AllyScraps has lots going on for 2010, and January will be full of great inspiration. First of all, Cathy has decided to restore the AllyScraps message board, hurray. I have to say that I'm super excited about this, as I really miss my scrappy friends on the board. So, look for the new message board this month! Also, we'll be having TONS of fresh design inspiration from some brand new scrappy friends and some old friends too.

Feeling sketchy this month? I bet you are, and guess what? we aim to please. Debbie Gaydos, our favorite sketch designer will be back! Hurray. She'll be inspiring us with 4! sketches this month. So be sure to check those out. And, Morag Cutts will be focusing on Valentine's day, to get you all ready for February 14th. She will be working on cards and paper crafts using pretty Valentine products, can't wait to see what Morag comes up with.

So, do you want to see what I've been working on?? I love to keep scrapping Christmas for the month of January, I always feel so inspired by all of the Christmas scrapbook products.



I used Pink Paislee's Mistletoe & Co. collection for my page about my daughter not wanting to visit Santa Claus for the first time. Love how the paper is Christmas themed, but the colors are not so traditional. I especially liked using the punch out tags and glitter alphabets. I really sparkled up my page with stickles and lots of gems and pearls too.

Well, that's it for today, thanks so much for stopping by, and a big Happy New Year to you from AllyScraps!

~ Dana