Sketch me happy

I hit a major slump in my scrapping a month or so ago...no juices flowing, no energy and no creativity.  What got me out of my slump was trying some sketches to kick start me and they worked.  I tried several sites and one of my favorites, Sketches in Thyme, was having a DT call.  If doing the sketches at the site could get me motivated, just think what doing one for the site would do, so I applied.  I am happy to say I've been accepted and will be doing a Smash layout of any or combos of the sketches each month (1x a month).

Thanks, Sketches in Thyme...head on over and meet the rest of the new Mavens and say hello.

Place d'Armes courtyard

I used sketch 161 from Sketches in Thyme to add another page to our New Orleans album.  We love the courtyard at Place d'Armes on St. Anne Street for its shade, peace and serenity.  The courtyard has several areas that are perfect for our breakfast and, later in the day, our happy hour pool side.

A couple more in the works.  As always, thanks for looking.

Go fly a kite...

I am pulling photos from here, there and everywhere to scrap these days...no rhyme or reason...just whatever strikes my fancy.  
Last summer, while we were all at the beach, Linda Adams' son, Bryan, found a kite that had been discarded as the string was all tangled.  He patiently untangled it and launched the kite, letting all the little kids have a turn.  The twins, in particular, were having the time of their lives.  Here is Colvin.  It was hard to capture both the kite and Colvin so I improvised.

I have a couple more in the works...one of Leighton's dedication day at church and another based on the Week 3 sketch at Sketches in Thyme.  Watch this spot.

Hey Clare and Lisa

My layout of the lily pond in the Rotorua Gardens was

Thank you Sketches in Thyme.

Fallen in love with...

Maja Design Papers.  My order arrived from Funkie Junkie Boutique just two days after I placed my order.  And I could not wait to play.  I ordered the 12x12 packs of Summer Crush and Coffee in the Arbour and you can bet these will not be my last order.  I love the soft colors, the weight of the paper and the fact that the strip along the bottom (meant to be cut off) has a design on one side that runs the entire length of the paper and makes for great trims and borders on layouts.  So, without further ado...

I used the strip from one of the papers to serve as the title "Enjoying the moment".  Thanks for looking.  Going to carve out more time tomorrow to play with these luscious goodies even more.

While he is sleeping...

I've been scrapping.  Gene takes a couple of long naps each day which is just what the dr. ordered for him to recover from his back surgery.  For my therapy, I have been scrapping.  Most helpful have been the sketches from Sketches in Thyme.  There are two a month on this challenge sketch board and this is the second one.  This one is by Rochelle Spears and can be viewed here.

This is my take on the sketch and it was such fun to do.  Thinking of you, Lisa and Clare, our friends in New Zealand.

What I love about doing the sketches is that, for some reason, I feel freer to use up older papers and to repurpose embellishments.  Using up my stash has been a primary goal of mine for a few months.  On to another layout while I have a some free time.

Inspired

by doing the sketch yesterday and completed two more layouts before I heard the couch call my name...

Landon on 4th. of July at the Tarpon Springs Family Picnic.  I've been trying to teach the kids the words to the old Perry Como song as they all love their hot dogs!

And, rummaging through some old photos of the twins, I came across these from their first b'day that I had never scrapped.  About time...they turned 5 last June!

Hoping to keep on this roll...too many photos and too little time!

Catching up....

with the help of sketches.  Since we got home from the beach, we've been busy setting up E's back surgery.  If the surgeon is correct, we'll have more down time than I believed once E is home from the hospital.  Looks like my job is going to be keeping him from lifting and bending and over exerting.  Once I have him firmly bound to the bed (just kidding), I plan on doing as much scrapping as I can.

I found this sketch by Bev Code, with whom I have had the honor of designing elsewhere, on Sketches in Thyme. 
 Thanks Sketches in Thyme and Bev for jump starting my joyous return to scrapping.

Check out Bev's sketch on the blog and happy scrapping!