End of Summer Fun!

XOXO DT has been busy enjoying their families and making memories!

I don't know about all of you but our Summer started off crazy and school wasn't even out yet!

Up here in the Northern part of the continent it took us some time to get that Summer weather...

We got the chance to get a family trip in!

Got a new sport captured for my son...He started T-ball this year. My daughter went back into Soccer after taking a season off. So, I will have some more scrapping to get in!

I am welcoming...well this Jersey Girl doesn't want to welcome the end of Summer!

But I am excited for Back to School...

every time I see school supplies lining the aisles. 

I get that jingle from that Staples commercial a few years ago! 

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

Anyway, I am going to get us started with a page! 

I did this page using pictures from one of our favorite stops on our New Jersey broadwalk before our move to Canada!      

Wendy's DT Reveal For April

At XOXO Scrapbooking, we are fortunate to have Renee Johnson from Australia to provide us with a great two-page spread!  Renee's page is very artistic with great feminine elements.

Unfortunately for me, I could not simply copy/lift her page as is.  I had more masculine photos on hand.  However, I enjoyed referring to Renee's work to get me started.  First, I reduced the size to just one page.  I lifted the paper layers.  I also added twine trim (instead of the banner) and simple brads (instead of the tulle).  Overall, I am pleased how my page turned out.  Thanks Renee for the inspiration!

 I can't wait to see what you come up!  Be sure to link up your work by April 30th.

Materials Used: Bazzill cardstock, Fancy Pants Design Inc - Blissful Blizzard papers, Paper Trunk - Benny alphabet (white), Prima - twin trim, brads, Simple Stories - Harvest Lane alphabet (blocks), and Close To My Heart - cocoa ink.

April Challenge... Its a good one.

Here we are, now in April, and the year is slipping away from us already. This month we have a great challenge for you. Can you be inspired by a double page layout? We hope so.

 

Introducing Renee Johnson, our guest designer for April.

 

 

My name is Renee Johnson, and I live in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. By day I coach gymnastics and look after my three children, whilst my nights are mostly for scrapbooking.
Whilst I have always been into journalling and trying to record those precious moments and hilarious comments the kids come out with, I fell in love with scrapbooking whilst trying to find a gift for the family member who has absolutely everything. When I saw how much better the photos looked rather than drably sitting in my album I became very hooked, and am still on a crazy mission to get through those albums and piles (and piles and piles) of photos.

After several years now of copying layouts in magazines, trawling the internet for inspiration and trialling new products  I am finally 'getting there' and will greatly enjoy sharing my work with others and discovering new styles and trends. I am so excited to join XOXO as a guest designer and I hope you find something in this layout to inspire you!

 

To see more from Renee, please call past her blog and make sure you leave some love.

Renee has put forward a layout that can inspire you in many ways. Remember that the aim is to scraplift the challenge layout or use the elements from it as inspiration on your project.

We would love to see what you come up with from this one. Will it be a double too, or will you use the colours, the general design or embellishment ideas as your project base. Whatever you do, don't forget to come back and upload it to our linky in the sidebar, so you to may have a chance to be our guest designer.

 

If you don't have a blog, please link it to our facebook page.

 

We look forward to seeing your awesome projects this month.

My Kids on the ROCK!

This month I used colors! OK, OK and Black, but everything goes with black!

I tend to go to earthy tones and use distressing a lot in my crafting. But this month, our guest DT, Kerry gave us an awesome layout to lift!

So, since my son had on a red t-shirt and overalls. My daughter in white with a black sequined skirt. I found the perfect papers in my stacks! I turned the direction of the sketch/layout to fit my pictures.

I didn't journal yet! The lighting could have been better! But this month was flying by and I wanted to make sure I got this post up! 

The photos were taken before my son's 3th birthday photo shoot. 

It was the 1st studio pictures my kids had done together on the Rock! 

To Newfoundlanders, they proudly call the island of Newfoundland the "ROCK"! 

And how fitting that the prop for this occasion was a rock! Which was totally coincidental!

Here is Kerry's page:

There is still time to play along! Just link your layout on the sidebar!

Another DT Reveal for March

It is my turn to reveal my take on this month's challenge at XOXO Scrapbooking!  Our guest designer, Kerry, created a beautiful layout for us to lift this month!  I enjoyed working with the triangles and all the little details Kerry used on her page.  Here is Kerry's work:

This is what I created:

It is funny to me that after I take a picture and then upload it that I realize I need to fix something.  In this case, it was my banners (too big) and my title (just off).  So I adjusted my layout to create this:

Better.  However, since I lifted and moved my letters, I left behind a bit of distressing.  So to even out the look, I grabbed those orphaned sticker letters in my stash and applied them all over the white background paper.  Then I removed them.  Now the white paper is evenly distressed and nothing looks out of place.  A new use of alphabets - AND the best part was that I was able to toss an empty alphabet sheet in the trash!  YAY!

I hope that you are able to join us in this challenge.  The links close on March 31st.

Materials Used: We R Memory Keepers cardstock, cardstock, scrap paper, silk flowers, glitter brads, My Mind's Eye - Lush 2 Turquoise rhinestones, Snap - Flair, Paper Trunk - Carson alphabet, unknown manufacturer of sticker, and metal hearts.

Welcome to March

Our March challenge has been set, and the sample layout is stunning. Our guest DT member Kerry is back again setting the challenge for us.

 

Remember the challenge is to scraplift this layout, or be inspired by something on it. It could be the colours, shapes, papers or photos.

 

Isn't it beautiful?

 

Don't forget to upload your take on the challenge by the end of the month to the linky in the sidebar.

 

Thank you Kerry for being our guest DT. Its been fun and we hope you play along with us again soon.

Say hello to....

our gorgeous guest designer for March

 

Kerry Bruce

 

 

Hi everyone my name is Kerry Bruce, I live in the East of England and have been scrapbooking for about nine years.

I also run a scrapbook club locally, enjoying the company of like minded crazy crafters!

My three girls are usually the subject of my pages so most of my layouts are feminine and flowery with added bright colours. 

I love to travel - armed with camera of course! Any opportunity to get more photo's and I'm a happy bunny.

My worst habit is not adding journaling straight away and my favourite thing to do on my page is to fussy cut flowers from patterned paper for my embellishing. Hope you enjoy my layout. xx

 

Call past Kerrys blog and check out her work. Don't forget to leave some love.

 

Here is Kerrys take on Kimmys February challenge layout.

And here is Kimmys original. You have a little bit of time left to get your layouts uploaded to be in the running to join the DT, like Kerry. Get scrapping and uploading, we want to see your stuff. 

 

Join us soon for Kerrys guest DT layout will be shared in March.

2nd reveal for this month's lift

Here is the 2nd page I created from this month's lift. I used pictures of my daughter from a photo shoot about 6 years ago! So, they needed to finally find a spot in her album! Especially, since today she turns 8!

I love using Webster's Pages, because you can fussy cut out elements so beautifully!

Come on, get your layouts posted! We love seeing what you come up with!

Halloween for my February Lift

The picture I had of the kiddos from their annual Halloween Event at school. After digging through my Halloween themed stash I pulled a felt Halloween embellishment, a journaling box and some extra elements I had cut with the Cricut or punched but never put them to use! The felt Halloween embellishment, worked as a title and a great substitute for the extra pic.

This month my page was one of those layouts that you start with a sketch and elements. But it comes into something of it's own! I am happy that I got my page completed but it ended up being it's own creation not much of a lift! But that is the fun of starting out using a lift you never know where it might lead!!!!!

Here is a bit of what happened: I started out placing my picture like the lift and used the felt Halloween embellishment like a picture. Reversed the placement of Kimmy's "Life is Good" element by putting my "Black Cat" on the other side of my photo. Since I had the fence below I did want to add more to the opposite side (Kimmy had the black chevron).

Here is Kimmy's page for this month!

Join us this month and add your lift to the side bar linky! 

Check back tomorrow for another reveal of a 2nd lift I did from this month's page!

Another Reveal For February's Challenge

Hello!  Wendy here and I am excited to share with you my lift of DT member Kimmy's colorful and layered layout.  First, let me show your the original work - "The Shard."

I think Kimmy did an excellent job layering all those pieces and, in my humble opinion, her title work is soo much fun!  

This is what I created from her page:

I made some minor adjustments to accommodate an extra photo and the materials I had on hand.  I hope you are able to join us - we would love to see what you come up with!  Remember the link up tool closes on February 27th.

Materials Used: Bazzil cardstock, Crate Paper - Fourteen papers, buttons, twine, Scenic Route chipboard, and Doodlebug Design Inc - Love Letters alphabet.

February 2015

Here we are now commencing February. I hope the cold blizzard like weather isn't being too harsh to everyone in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

This months layout to scraplift is brought to you by DT member Kimmy.

 

Remember that the aim to the game is to scraplift. Use it as a sketch, scraplift colours, scraplift elements, its up to you, but we want to see it!

 

The Shard

 

 

The linky is set up and ready to go and waiting for your entry. The winner is judged by the design team and gets to join us as well as guest design for us as well.

 

We cant wait to see your take on this one.

Two More Days to go!!!!

There is still two days to get in on this month's lift. If you step back a bit and look...this layout is clean simple but you can add your elements! Scroll down and see how much variety can come from it!

My son is really into to trucks and has been since a baby! I had three "good" pictures from a day that my son got to see his Uncle and Poppy logging. So, here is my take on this month's lift:

Here is Wendy's page that we all started from for this month's lift:

Double Take with Kimmy

Where has January gone? We are not far off the end of it now and I wanted to get these up for a last bit of inspiration for the downhill run to the end.

I have put two pages together based on Wendys layout, one with a landscape photo and the other with a portrait.

 

 

 

And if you are still thinking about getting your layout completed for the change to join the DT as a Guest, here is Wendys layout for January.

 

Only a few days left to get yours added to the linky tool in the sidebar.

January's Challenge!

Hello Friends!  First, let me wish you a Fantastically Rockin' New Year!  I hope that your new year is  filled with peace, health, and happiness.

I am here to bring you January's challenge.  I created this layout below for you to lift.

Since I am still on holiday and still ignoring my duties around the house, I found that I had a bit of free time to get a little creative.  I discovered a poem online that I felt was perfect for this photo that was taken at the end of a busy day on the river, so I typed it up and printed it.  Then I decided to sew a flower for an embellishment.  Sewing is an easy way to add a personal touch to your work.

With that said, I hope this layout inspires you to create your own masterpiece.  Feel free to lift the design, print a poem, and/or sew an element on your page.  Please link your layout using the tool in the sidebar by January 31st.

I can't wait to see what you create!

Cheers!
Wendy

Materials Used: Bazzill cardstock, Fancy Pants Design Ince - Be You paper and photo corner, Thickers - Lullaby alphabet, Sew Easy fancy floss, Close To My Heart embroidery floss, and sequins.

Shelter Dogs

Kimmy here with my take on Wendy's colorful, fun page.

I used horizontal photos instead, but I loved her journaling cluster on the corner of the photos and the sideways title with a sprinkling of embellies, and the bright colors of course! Mine is composed mostly of Heidi Swapp products from the September Skies line. 

The subject of my page is near & dear to my heart. I've been volunteering at the local shelter, photographing the animals and posting them on their Facebook page to try and increase the adoption rates and it's working! We have adopted out almost 30 animals since October and no adoptable animals have been euthanized. Our shelter only has so much space so moving these animals quickly is priority. In the past they were adopting out 1 or 2 PER MONTH, you can imagine what that meant for the rest of them. So our newly formed Friends of the Shelter group (started by my best friend Rachel) has really made a difference. We are working towards becoming a nonprofit so we can apply for grants and expand out shelter which currently only has 12 dog kennels.  

The dogs in these photos Rocket (top) & Lola were both adopted. Rocket was adopted by one of my 4th grade students after I shared his photo at school. This type of work is hard (I want to cry every time I leave the shelter) , but brings joy to my heart when I know I've made a difference. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Here's Wendy's page again for more inspiration!

Please play along and share your work with us! 

                                                                     ~Kimmy

November Lift - Happy American Thanksgiving!

1st I want to wish all you a Happy Thanksgiving!
Canadian Thanksgiving was back in October before Halloween. It is still hard for me to get me head around that, since I have always had the Parade on TV while preparing or helping to prepare for the feast.
We are planning to celebrate here in Canada with the American Thanksgiving. That way I can get the mindset and start our Christmas season right! It sneaked up on me last year....

Anyway, on the this month's challenge...you still have some time to link up before the month is up!


I loved Wendy's layout...bright and colorful squares and buttons. I will more than likely pull from this layout again!

I was working on some pages of a day trip we took with the kids over the summer. Since, I had a great shot that I enlarged of my husband with the kids at one of the scenic stops/lookouts! I wanted to include part of a travel map about the scenic drive and stops along the route. The travel map worked out as my photo mat. Even those, the photo and the mat had blues/greens. I went with more neutrals, earthly tones since it reminds me of heritage pages, family and outdoors. Plus, all my accent elements blended well!

Here is Wendy's layout...

Remember to link up on the sidebar for your chance to be our next Guest Design Team Member!

Welcome to November

Hi XOXO fans and welcome to our new challenge for November, albeit a bit late.

 

Firstly I would like to announce that we have recently added a new member to our DT. Can you please welcome Wendy Brassart to the team.

 

 As Wendys first assignment on the team, we have asked her to set the page to scraplift for November and it is adorable.

 

Here it is

We are loving Wendys use of colour on this one.

 

All you need to do is complete a scraplift of this page. You can use the page as a sketch, or be inspired by a particular design element or colour.

 

Have your project uploaded to the blog by the end of the month to join us as a guest DT member for December. We cant wait to see what you come up with. Remember, for more inspiration, keep checking back through the course of the month and see what the rest of the DT have to share.

To see more of Wendy, please head over to her blog and say hello
www.w2.blogspot.com

Do Not Open 'til Christmas

This month I pulled out the Christmas pictures! I had an awesome page to lift from! Used the sketch mainly to start, loved those layered diamond shaped pieces. I created mine using a Square punch and Creative Memories diamond shape cutting templates.
 Here is my page:

Here is Kimmy's page that I used to lift from.

You still have time to play along for your chance as a Guest Design Team Member!

October Lift

The month got away from me, but here's this month's page to lift. 

More inspiration coming from the team later this week! :) 

~Kimmy

September Scrap-Lift...

Hi!  Kim here to help get you motivated to join in our September challenge before it's to late!  I was inspired by Tess's layout by using tattered Angels spray mist on my background and followed her basic design.

Here's Mine.

Here's Tess's Scrap-Lift page!

Hope you'll join us, just link up on the side panel by September 30!

~DT Kim