Johnson Acres

Hi ~ Lori here from ScrappinMyStressAway!  It is always an honor to be a guest at TheBugBytes!!  

We went to my brother and sister-in-law's house to celebrate May birthdays and Mother's Day and the new trampoline!!  We also got to see their horses!  I took some great photos of the horses (more so than the kids) and wanted to showcase them in a layout.

I welded 5 fences from Old West together (each sized at 2.46 w x 1.40 h) to create my fence.  I copied it once as I was making a 2-page layout.  For the sign, I took the frame from Old West and sized it to 5.49w x 5.64h.  I took the shadow letters and welded them inside the frame along with some horseshoes.  My letters were 1inch tall.  I cut out two cowboy boots at 1.14w x 1.46h and flipped one of them to make the pair.

I started out with dark brown, but did not like the look.

Tried the lighter brown, but somehow my K and O became unwelded at the top.  The N was not welded either, but I worked around both!

I glued the light brown on top of the dark brown sign.

I then decided to use the dark brown letters and silver horseshoes.

This brown was too dark and hard to read.

I cut out the letters in cream colored paper and inked the edges with Vintage Photo ~ looks much better!!  Third time is a charm!!

I put my photos on a grid and pop-dotted the fence over the bottom photos.  The darker horse is Dakota and he has an awesome personality!!!  Sundae is a borrowed horse that might become permanent.  This was our first time meeting Sundae! 

I added a pair of cowboy boots (see below).

I put a little Stickle sparkle on the boots!

The first page has the trampoline.  I used two ovals from George and Basic Shapes to create the trampoline.  I cut out the blue one at 4.10w x 9.47h and the black one at 3.52w x 9.47h.  I added some silver stickled trampoline legs!!  I pop dotted the fence on over the trampoline at the same height as the fence on the horse page.

I cut out the letters from Old West at 1.71 inches tall and inked them with Vintage Photo (aka Dirt at my house)!  My brother named his acreage Johnson Acres so I thought that would be a good title.

I added pictures of my oldest son and my nieces jumping together on the trampoline.  He loves playing with the kids!

And here are the two pages together.  We love spending time out here!!  So glad to be here at TheBugBytes today!!

Kindergarten Round Up (Bug Bytes)

Hi!  Lori here from ScrappinMyStressAway and I am excited to be the Guest Designer today at thebugbytes!!  My youngest (and last) had kindergarten round up in May and I wanted to make a layout that was fun.

I am also submitting this for Made It Myself Monday!

I started with my idea sketched on paper.  I wanted to do something about the 6 stations the kids went to.  This time was so different from when my older two boys had round up ~ this time the parents were included!

I opened up a new project on my Gypsy with a 12 x 24 mat and put the lasso from Old West on it at 11.73w x 15.0h.  I opened another layer and put the words Kindergarten Round Up at 1.47h.  I first put the words on the mat, then grew the size until the words fit the page how I wanted them to.

I opened a third layer and put the sheriff stars on the page at 3.78w x 3.46h.  I needed six stars for the six stations.

I opened up another layer and put the words and stars on it all on half of the 12 x 24 page and I cut them all out of red paper.

For the lasso, I put two pieces of cream colored paper on my 12x24 mat and cut it out.  My paper slipped a little, but these were my last two cream cardstock papers, and I kind of liked the look so I went with it!

Here are the letters and stars.

I inked the top of the lasso with Antique Linen.  I outlined the rope and added the detailes with Vintage Photo.

I used my negative cuts to line up my words on the page.

Before I took the negative cut off, I inked the letters with Vintage Photo.  This was easier for me than holding the letters and inking them before I adhered them down.

I took away my negative cuts.

I inked the stars, then journaled about each station on them.  I used number stickers to note the order of the stations.

I added the stars around the loop and added some pictures.  Here is my complete layout once again.  I try to work at a balance of "cuteness" and letting the photos be the focus of my pages.

I have been working hard on catching up Tanner's album.  I am usually caught up by March, but this year did not quite make it!  I still have Disney, Halloween, Christmas and a few pages here and there to complete....not to mention my 16 year old's album!!

Thanks Pam for having me on your blog today!!  You are such an inspiration to us and it is an honor that you showcase so many other desigers!!

Gifford Farm Field Trip LO

Tanner went on a field trip to Gifford Farm.  It was raining the day we went, so the field trip took place inside the barn.  I wanted my layout to show the rain outside, and the activities inside the barn.  I used some paper that had lines going down in red, yellow and blue.

I started this layout during play time while the kids were playing.  I sketched out an idea for this page knowing how many photos I wanted to use.  I typically scrap in 2 page increments, so my photos either fit on 2 pages or 4 pages, etc.

I was able to design a little on my Gypsy before nap time, and was able to complete it while the kids slept.  I took the barn from Old West and hid all of the inside cuts with my Gypsy.  I made it as tall and wide as I could on a 12x24 mat and then centered it.

Here is the cut minus one side of the barn so you could see.

Then I layed out the remaining pieces on a 12x24 mat in order to get the size I needed for the title and pieces. 

I copied and pasted the pieces on a 12x12 mat according to color of paper I wanted to use.

The paper I used for my words was textured, so I flipped the words and the paper.  The back of the paper was smooth, but a lighter color.

Here is the letter "G" after it was cut on the wrong side.

My red paper was a bit too thin and the cut fell off the red paper.   No worries, I just trimmed the other side to match!

I inked my rope frame and dirtied it up a bit.

I did the same with my letters.

I used my negative piece as a template to glue down my letters perfectly straight.

I used pop dots on the rope frame to add some dimension.

I framed Tanner on his "horse" with Ride 'Em and Cowboy.

I journaled on the smaller red barn and tied some twine around it.

The highlight of the day was when the goat pooped and the farmer picked it up with his bare hands!!!

Here is the completed 2-page layout from sketch to completion in one day!!

Gifford Farm layout

Tanner took a field trip with his preschool class last spring to Gifford Farm.  I am working on paring down the number of photos I put in his scrapbook as I tend to take way too many!!  Here are the top 7 photos!

I used Cherry Limeaid for the font.  I use Heritage for the windmill and the barn & tractor on the next page.  I used Old West for the wagon wheel.  In the photo, I put the wagon wheel right over the one on the cart.  I used it to ground the three photos together.  I cut out the windmill in red and silver with the intent of creating a layer, but ended up just gluing the silver on top of the red.  The boot and cowboy hat were cut out from scrapbook paper.

In this layout you can see the paper.  It came from a paper pad called All About Boys (I think) and I found it at Michaels.   

There was no shadow feature for the barn, so I cut out a second barn in black and used Hide Contour to hide all of the inside cuts.  In order to ground the barn with the photo mat, I used two different greens from my scrap pile to create this fringed grass.  I inked them with a brown stamp pad.

I am working hard at using some of my non-go to carts!!!

Pumpkin Patch ~ Gypsy Challenge

This week's Gypsy challenge is to create a layout or card using:  At least 3 cartridges, 1 word, 1 weld, 2 pieces of art, 1 squeezed image and 1 stretched image.

I used Don Juan for the title (word and weld), Pumpkin Carving for the pumpkin border (I stretched one pumpkin and squeezed one pumpkin) and Old West for the barn.

My son Tanner has a field trip tomorrow to the pumpkin patch!  We go to a pumpkin patch near our house that has a huge barn with a pumpkin painted on it that you can see from the interstate.  In order to make this, I had to cut out the barn 3 times.  For the brown barn, I used Hide Contour to hide all of the inner cuts.  I hid some of the cuts above the door on the red barn where the pumpkin will go.  I cut out the roof line and the door from the white barn. 

I cut the handle off of the orange pumpkin and glued it to the green one.

I did not want to waste a ton of green paper, so instead of making two sets of borders (one orange and one green) I used stamp ink to color the stumps.

Here is the barn assembled and glued down.

The scarecrow is from October 31 (the 4th cartridge I used).  Like the pumpkins and barn, this cut has no layers to it.  I cut it out three times, one in brown (with the inner cuts hid) once in blue and once in creme.  I just snipped the parts away that I did not want to use and assembled.

Here are the finished pages once again.  I will add a journaling box under the barn and stick the pictures on.