Athletes Recorded

I've discovered that I don't do a very good job of documenting all of the different sports that my kids participate in. Although we have something each season, they are rarely commemorated. Since my older two had their school sport photos taken, I thought I'd splurge and have my youngest photographed for his soccer season as well.

I like the visual of the three wallet sizes side by side on the layout. I found a Page Maps sketch that I liked, and went with that for my three wallet sized photos.

I used an older Echo Park collection, A Boy's Life, for the layout. It had a lot of little stickers and extras that made for some great clustering. 

While there are some days that I feel a bit overwhelmed trying to get everyone where they need to be, I absolutely LOVE watching my kids play sports that they love. My daughter just started her basketball season as well so I am hoping to document that too. Love how easily this one came together! 

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy November...49 days until Christmas for those that need a countdown! I'm excited! :)

Scrap Happy~
Melissa

Simply Happy

Way back when, Simple Stories came out with the "Daily Grind" collection. In my opinion, it is geared toward Project Life-ers (which I am not). However, the color palette and the name (hello coffee reference!) made me fall in love with the collection.

So, like any good scrapbooker on a budget, when I saw Scrapbook Steals had it as a steal, I picked it up. However, knowing I was heading to Utah for their Scrapbook Retreat, I chose to do local pick-up. It felt like an eternity before I actually got it in my hands and OH MY, I was not disappointed! I think that these are my colors. (In the same way that those scrapbook girls I went to the retreat with are my tribe...but I digress). The collection really spoke to me. So, I made this.

I am a big fan of grid layouts but have never really tried my hand at one. The cute little cut apart cards in the collection just begged for this kind of layout though!

This coffee was seriously so yummy and the prettiest coffee I've ever had as well. See? This collection was made for my photo! :)

Also, I am not always very good at using the corner preprinted paper that comes in a collection so I was happy that I was able to use this paper! The collection seriously comes with some adorable stickers and prints.

Ah, the fun of creating something at a retreat with people who "get" your need to create. It was pretty wonderful! This was my fourth year attending the Scrapbook Steals Retreat and it was just as incredible this year as years past. Perhaps even more so! Yummy food, gorgeous state, fun times and amazing friends...can't ask for more!

Thanks for stopping by today! Until next time...

Scrap Happy~
Melissa

**HEY! I just realized that this is my 200th post! Wow! That doesn't seem possible. Just for fun...tell me what you would like 200 of! For me right now, it'd be fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies! Yum!**

Love This Girl

Anyone who knows my daughter knows that she is not a meek and mild child. She is fun, smart, adventurous, silly, spunky...and so many more adjectives! Since she doesn't have a smart phone, she often uses my iPhone or my iPad to take goofy selfies. Scrolling through them never fails to bring a smile to my face. I decided to print a few and scrapbook them for the sake of prosperity. :)

I used a collection that I loved since its introduction quite a while back, Hey Kid by Pink Paislee. It was perfect for some fun girlie looking prints (but has awesome boy prints too)!

The sketch that I used was this amazing one from the Pinkfresh Studio Blog. Quite the perfect way to use up some of those adorable embellishments!

And, of course, using sequins on the layout was practically a necessity! Loved this collection and I am anxious to try out some of the more "boy-like" papers as well! 

I have a question for you before you go that I'm hoping you'll take a moment to answer. I follow several blogs and I am always interested to see those that go outside of the "usual" blogging posts. I enjoy it...I always love a good recipe or a great new way to wear a cute cardigan, but I am wondering how you feel about that?

Would you like to see more than just scrapbook/crafty posts here or should I stick with paper and glue? 

I share recipes from time to time and in the past, I've done posts about "My Favorite Things" and such. I am just curious if you want to see anymore of that kind of thing? Let me know in the comments! I love to hear what you all have to say!

So glad you stopped by today! Thanks!

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Getting Into the Groove

Hello! It has been quite a while since I've blogged. It seems that my creativity took a bit of a hiatus for a while. I am trying to get it flowing again by doing some sketch challenges as I am able. That always seems to get me back on the right track. Does that happen to you? What do you do to get it moving again?

I created this layout based on a sketch from the Stuck?! Sketches Blog. Although the sketch is shown using many small photos, I used just one photo but kept most of the other elements the same.

I have so many Disney photos still to scrap and I loved this collection so I thought that would be a great way to get my creativity moving along again!

My parents joined us at Disney a few years ago for their very first visit to the Magical place. We had so much fun with them and enjoyed showing them our favorite things. I took more photos than I care to admit so I still have many left to scrapbook!

I am also linking up this layout to the Paper Issues "Admit One" Challenge! Though, we did admit all seven of us on this trip! :) I am glad that you took the time to stop by today! Thanks!

Scrap Happy~
Melissa

So lucky to have you

My hubby and I celebrated our 19th anniversary yesterday! While the day was crazy busy, it was fun recalling all of the moments we'll remember forever 19 years earlier. I made him this card for the occasion.

I used the sketch from the CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge. I love their sketches! When it comes to card making, clean and simple is my go-to look!

I loved this stamp from Elle's Studio and I thought that it was perfect for an anniversary card.

I am happy to say that he loved his card! I got some pretty little daisies (one of my favorite flowers) with tiny pink roses in a vase from him as well. It was a good day! :) Thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Traveling on a Journey

I love vacation photos. They don't even have to be mine. I just love to see different places and "explore" destinations even if I will never go there. Fortunately, I did have the chance to explore a little piece of the Caribbean last year!

My husband and I had the opportunity to go the the Turks & Caicos islands for a vacation with five other neighborhood couples. Once we figured out we could make it work, we were very excited. I had been there before but it would be my hubby's first time!

Having the chance to go with such great friends was just the icing on the cake. This Jet Set collection from We R Memory Keepers is absolute perfection to document this trip (which I am determined to do)! 

I love all of the pieces that can come together to capture exactly what I need it to say! Nothing fancy schmancy here, just a good time crafting, using a great collection and documenting those important moments! Thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Birthday Hurray!

Although I don't scrapbook chronologically, I do try to get the kids' birthdays scrapped each year with one of the cakes we had for them. I love this We R Memory Keepers collection, Hip Hip Hooray because it is good for my sons and my daughter scrapbook pages and it has so many fun pieces.

I created this layout of my son's 15th birthday using a combination of the 6x6 sides and the 12x12 sides of the paper. I love the 3x4 cards to this collection as well. Since I am not a Project Life scrapper, I enjoy using them on my regular layouts.

A 4x6 card on the left (the numbers one) helps in layering the papers to achieve the look that I wanted. 

I still have so many pieces of this collection left to use so I have a feeling you will be seeing more of it in the future! Such a fun and celebratory collection! Thanks for looking!

Scrap Happy~
Melissa

Happiness

I wanted to share a layout that I created using the new Pretty Little Studio collection "Marigold." The vellum bokeh paper was what first caught my eye in this collection. Then, I was the random winner of the pretty butterfly diecuts so I knew it had to be mine! :) I wanted to scrap this photo of my Grandma & I on Mother's Day of this past year and thought that the butterflies would be perfect!

Although it is difficult to see here, the word "happiness" in the title is shiny gold and also part of the collection.

The bright butterfly triangles around the photo worked well with the other more subdued, watercolored paper as well.

And, a few sequins peeking out from behind the triangles completed the embellishment on the page. 

Thank you for stopping by today and for the comments many of you have left recently! I love reading them and getting your feedback on some of the questions that I ask. Enjoy your day!

Scrap Happy~
Melissa

Memory Recorded

Dealing with grief is not exactly something that I really want to talk about on my blog. However, I do want to recall my thoughts and feelings in the years to come, about how I felt during this time after losing my Grandpa in January. I found a sketch from Creative Scrappers which was perfect for recording the memory of a dream I had of my Grandpa recently.

I like that it didn't require a photo. I could simply write what I wanted to say and not worry about if I had an appropriate photo to match.

The Elle's Studio Serendipity collection had the perfect words for what I wanted to relay on this layout with a lot of "remember this" and "memories" references.

A simple but very meaningful layout, all without even a photo. I am so glad that I made time to create this one! Thanks Kristine Davidson for another incredible sketch!

Cute Cards

I made a couple of cards recently that I wanted to share. I found a lot of inspiration out there from various sources so continue reading for the inspiration links! Here is the first card:

The sketch is from Page Maps, July 2014 collection and I closely followed the card that Jen Shults made.

I also got the color inspiration from the Fusion Card Challenge. I used the color but not the sketch for both cards. Here is the inspiration:

And here is the other card that I made: 

This card used the same color scheme as the Fusion Card Challenge but I used the sketch from Sketch-n-Scrap for this one! 

Well how is that for various places of inspiration? :) I love following a variety of different blogs! It is always fun to find a sketch that works for me or a color combo I wouldn't necessarily have considered! 

Thank you for stopping by to take a look today! I have a question for you as well...

If you had to choose between the two, which do you enjoy seeing more of on blogs: cards or layouts?

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Happy Little Layout

This collection from WRMK, Farmer's Market, is one one of those collections that you look at and it just makes you happy. The colors, the sayings on the cards and stickers, everything...it is all just really cheery! And I am needing cheery these last few days. Rainy, foggy and cold...barely hitting 60º is not the way I was envisioning the summer with my kids. But look at that bicycle! How can that not make you smile? :)

I came upon this bicycle while on vacation with my hubby in San Diego. And although I really, really wanted to ride it, we just didn't have time.

For this layout, I used this awesome sketch from Scrap 365 as a starting point for my layout.

I added a few more layers than the sketch originally calls for but I really love how it all came together! Such a great starting point!

There is also a Farmer's Market Instagram Albums Made Easy option for this collection which is perfect for creating those layers! 

Thanks for stopping by to have a look today. Feel free to leave a comment. I read every one of them! I hope you are enjoying your summer! Until next time...

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Going Places!

Amazingly, I have a nephew who is turning 18 today! Yes, time just keeps on ticking by doesn't it? I thought that the Jet Set collection from WRMK was a perfect collection for a kid young adult who is really going places in his life!

I used this sketch from Sketch~N~Scrap as the basis for my card and I stuck very close to the design. I like a card with a more basic design for men for some reason. (I have a hard time layering and fussy cutting on men's cards.) So, this sketch was perfect! 

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week ahead!

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Adventure Layout

Just a quick blog post today to share a layout that I made using the new WRMK Jet Set collection and utilizing a sketch from Creative Scrappers, using two photos instead of one! 

I have so many Disney photos to scrap and I have been putting it off for a while but this Jet Set collection was too perfect for these photos not to use! This page is a bit more simple than my usual but I am hoping to turn it into page one of a two page layout (something I haven't done for a while now)! 

The colors of this collection are really great to match up with any photos...blues, oranges, yellows, etc. I am hoping to get page two done soon! When I do, I will post that as well! (It is dreary here again today so again, I apologize for the lighting on the photo.) 

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Also, be sure to check out this gorgeous album and generous giveaway from my friend Traci! The giveaway starts today and ends Sunday. Winner announced Monday. Here is the link to her blog post:

http://www.artsyalbums.com/2014/06/a-brand-new-mini-album-kit-giveaway.htmlhttp://www.artsyalbums.com/2014/06/a-brand-new-mini-album-kit-giveaway.html

Summer Fun

This month, the challenge over at the Ribbon Carousel blog is "Dads, Grills and Summer Fun." I am sharing a layout that I made today which focuses on the Summer Fun portion of that theme!

I loved using some of the Pretty Little Studio papers and embellies that I have been hoarding saving for a while! This layout of my youngest at the cottage last summer is definitely him in his element!

I love this woodgrain paper with the pop of color that the triangle paper provides. And, the blue of his eyes is my favorite part of the page!

But seriously, how cute are those little pennants with the critters on them? I loved using them on this page.

And who doesn't love a cute little owl family? The vellum heart paper is from the Sheer Metallic WRMK collection. 

My boy loves being outside so it was really fun to create a page which focused on his nature loving tendencies! 

I hope that you will take some time to play along this month with the Ribbon Carousel Challenge! Create your own project using the theme "Dads, Grills and Summer Fun" and be sure to link it up on the Ribbon Carousel Blog. You just may be the winner this month! Check out the Ribbon Carousel Blog for all of the details! 

Thanks for taking a look today!

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Liebster Award

Happy Memorial Day weekend to my US friends! Something a little fun and different on the blog today! I've been nominated by Elizabeth Gardner from My Scrappy Life for this little blogging award. Thank you so much for thinking of me Elizabeth! Since I regularly stalk visit her blog, it was a fun surprise! 

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less that 200 followers.  Is is a way to bring attention to these blogs and build the blogging community.  The meaning of Liebster in German means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

It's easy!  Here are the rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and answer the 10 questions he/she asks of you.
• Nominate 10 bloggers (with less than 200 followers) for the award and link to them in my post.
• Ask these 10 bloggers 10 questions of your own.
• Let the nominated bloggers know they have been nominated.

(These are the requirements for the peoples whom I nominate as well) So, seriously, how fun is this? 

Here are the questions that I got from Elizabeth along with my answers.

-What's your favorite dance move? Anything that involves the assistance of my husband! I have no rhythm to speak of but, if he is leading, we can get a good swing going! Thankfully, my children have inherited his skills!

-Describe your ideal day. Waking up to a clean house after a solid eight hours (or more!) of sleep. A run, a shower and flavored coffee. A bit of scrapbooking, reading a good book on my back deck, hanging out with my family playing games and such, a relaxing massage, coloring in coloring books and then a fun event with our neighborhood friends in the evening sounds perfect!

-State one thing you love about yourself. Through the years I've come to realize the value of kindness. I try to follow this motto: 

 source

 And, my effort toward that is something that I've come to love about myself!

-How many photos are saved on your computer? (Be honest) ;) Though I really hope I am looking in the wrong spot on iPhoto, I have 18,228! Good thing I just gave my hubby external portable storage for an early Father's Day gift! Yikes!

-What are you wearing… right now. Jeans, pink sparkle slippers (it's still chilly today), 3/4 sleeved Gap striped shirt (99% of my shirts are striped so this is not a surprise!) and earrings. Always earrings.

-What's your tv guilty pleasure? That show that you don't want to admit that you watch. I have been known to watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette a few seasons back. I'm not a big TV watcher so I pick and choose pretty carefully!

-If you could have any job what would it be? I have always wanted to be a mom, but for a job that earns money would definitely involve something creative. I love to write and I love to create, so something that combines those two would be perfect!

-What is one thing you'd change about yourself and why don't you change it? I'd change the fact that I take things too personally. Why don't I change it? Hmm, I guess I try but that is a hard one to change! I'm a work in progress!

-What was the last nice thing you did for yourself? I ordered a Starbucks Venti when I finished my masters thesis! 

-Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us. About three/four years ago I decided to try losing some weight and I lost about 55 lbs. I still work every day on keeping it off and I don't talk about it much, but I am pretty proud of that accomplishment! 

So, thank you Elizabeth for the questions! That was really fun to do! 

Here are my nominees for the Liebster Award. These are blogs that I visit pretty regularly and/or who I subscribe to in my reader feed. I admire their work often! (And, if you have more than 200 followers already, please forgive me, it is hard to tell sometimes with all of the different ways to follow!) 

Brenda from The Imperfect Scrapper 

Venetia from Atomic Venetia  

Van from Van Like the Car 

Cristine from One Scrappy Novice 

Erica from Stamping Starlette 

Heather from Goldie Car Designs

Cathryn from Cat Scrap Creations 

Julie from Crafty Goodness 

Melissa from Melissa Joy Fanciful Cookies 

Sue from Kewl Beans 

I hope that you ladies are able to participate! Thanks for being such a great source of inspiration for this blogger! Here are your questions...

1) If you could create your own personal Woodstock/Lollapalooza, which three groups/individuals (dead or alive) would you choose to perform?

2) Best scent in the entire world is...

3) What is your favorite font?

4) Best dream you've ever had? 

5) Who is the most influential person you've ever met and why?

6) You get to eat one food, one sweet and one drink for the rest of your life. What three items do you choose? 

7) Why is your blog named what it is? 

8) If you could spend your favorite holiday celebrating, in any location, with your immediate family, which holiday do you choose and in what location are you celebrating? 

9) What is the best compliment you've ever received?

10) If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? Do you think you'll ever try? 

Gift Giving Season

Other than Christmas, this time of year seems to be one that I give the most gifts. With so many family friends graduating, birthdays, end of the year teacher gifts, etc., it is easy to have several events to give gifts for. Gift cards are always an appreciated gift, however, just popping one in a card doesn't always work for me.

One of the reasons that I love my Silhouette is for the cute ideas that I can use to make even a gift card more fun! Here are a few gift card holders that I made today.

I used the WRMK collection Inked Rose (one of my favorites!) for these gift card holders. The cut file is #60414 by Lori Whitlock. It was such a pretty and easy cut file to put together.

I also wanted to make a couple that were not as feminine as these so I used the cut file # 23581 by Lori Whitlock to create these gift card holders using Authentique paper.

For these two, the gift card slides into the slits on the smaller tag inside of the larger tag. The center of the one above will be personalized for the recipient. Simple, but a bit nicer than the envelopes that come with the gift card! :) Thanks for looking!

So glad that you stopped by today! Have a great week!

Scrap Happy~

Melissa