Just Two Midwest Girls Scrap Challenge Reminder and a Giveaway Winner

**Practical Scrappers Ombre post is below**

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I have a couple things on the agenda today.

1) Just Two Midwest Girls current scrap challenge is still going on!  This month's current challenge is this sketch...

The challenge runs until 8pm Thursday, April 3rd.  There's still plenty of time to play along!  Everyone that links up their take on our challenge has the opportunity to win these...

Tiny Word Stickers from Studio Calico's Wanderlust collection; Wood Dots from My Mind's Eye Record It! Splendid collection;  Gold Glitter Enamel Dots from Studio Calico's Essential line

So, show Kelly and me what you've done with this sketch!

--AND--

2)  Last Thursday, Practical Scrappers had a "scrap your stash" blog hop.  You can find what I made using my stash here.  I was giving away a prize and the winner is...**drum roll please**...JENNIFER HAGGERTY!  Congratulations Jennifer!  Please email me at heather(dot)sweet12(at)gmail(dot)com to talk logistics, shipping, etc.

Okay, that is it for me today.  Make sure to come by tomorrow for another Practical Scrappers project!

xoxo,
Heather

Ombre Love: A Practical Scrappers Project

Today, over on the Practical Scrappers blog, some of the lovely designers played around with the ombre trend.  I love the ombre trend!  We're seeing it everywhere in the scrapbook world.  I particularly love it because it's usually really colorful! 

I made some tags for this project.  I've only photographed one tag, but I made three in total.  What I did for each tag was use my new set of gouache paints (is that how you would refer to them? Gouache or gouache paints?) to make my colorful ombre tags!   

For those of you that have never played with gouache, it's kind of like opaque watercolors.  You can blend them out with water, but it doesn't have a transparent finish like traditional watercolors.  They are really fun to play with!

For this tag, I started with white cardstock.  Then, I used yellow and various amounts of white gouache to achieve various shades of yellow.  

And as you can see, I followed up with mist, layers, and embellishments!  I've been meaning to have a few tags in my stash for gifts or even to pop on top of card front panels for an easy card.  
Now, go check out some of the other Practical Scrappers ombre projects!

xoxo,
Heather

Practical Scrappers Scrap Your Stash Blog Hop!

Welcome to this month's Practical Scrappers blog hop!  You should have arrived from Claude Campeau's blog.  This is my first blog hop EVER!  I'm very excited!  I loved participating in this hop, as it gave me an excuse to use up my bottomless stash.  

As you know, this month's theme is scrapping your stash.  Those that follow me on Instagram (@hsweet12), know that I'm participating in 30 Days of Lists.  I decided to make my own mini album using my stash for my book of lists.

Look at how pretty?!  I had so much fun making this album.  And, it was all such a spontaneous decision to participate in #30lists.  

I didn't purchase ANYTHING for this project.  It was AWESOME!  

I used some of my new products (e.g. MME's Charmed 6x6 paper pad, October Afternoon's Daily Flash alphas).

I used paper scraps that had been sitting in my scrap bucket for many, many months.  I pulled out Thickers I forgot I had...

I used glassine bags and packaging from scrapbook kits.

I used a lot of Project Life and journaling cards.

I had so much fun putting this together, I wanted to create mini album like this!  

So, as part of my giveaway for the blog hop, I will be creating a similar mini album as a prize!  The title can be personalized (i.e. it doesn't have to say "30 Days of Lists") and I won't put "List..." on every page!  But there will be a mix of Project Life cards, patterned paper scraps, cardstock scraps, glassine bags, tags, envelopes, etc.  

If you want to win a mini album, comment below!  Let me know what projects you're in the middle of right now!  Giveaway open only to US residents.  You have until Sunday, March 23rd at 11:59PM CST to leave a comment.  

Now, go check out how Patty Selah used her stash!

xoxo,
Heather

Just Two Midwest Girls Scrap Challenge: Gettin' Sketchy!

Hello everyone!  Kelly and I are back with another Just Two Midwest Girls scrap challenge!  We've been on a little bit of a hiatus, but that's because we're trying to figure out a better schedule in order to give everyone a chance to play along.  As of this challenge, we're going monthly.  We will post each challenge on the first Friday of the month.  Then, you all will have a month to get scrappy with us!  Also, our types of prizes will be changing.  We're going to be giving away actual products now, sprinkled in with gift cards to various online scrappy retailers.  

Speaking of prizes...here is the winner of our previous color challenge:  Jen!  Jen, please email Kelly.  Find her contact info on her blog.  She has won a Fancy Pants Blissful Blizzard 6x6 Paper Pad.  Come check out her project here.

For this month, Kelly and I are creating a layout with a sketch.  I love sketches.  They are a great way to get inspired.  I use them a lot when I'm trying to get my creative mojo flowing.  I also use them when I have a lot of kits piling up, like now.  

Here's my take on the sketch Kelly pulled from the Scrapbook and Cards Today calendar.  It's the sketch for March, how appropriate!

I used my Studio Calico Copper Mountain (January 2014) scrapbook kit.  This is the first project I've made with this.  And I only used this kit, minus the Project Life cards, the washi tape, small strips of paper and the jute.  

This layout is not nearly as embellished as many of my other layouts.  Which I honestly don't really like.  You all know me, I love embellishments.  The Studio Calico kits don't come with much embellishments, which I don't like either.  And these are colors I don't scrap with very often, so I didn't have too many embellishments from my stash.  So, it's a very un-embellished layout with lots of paper.

This is obviously about my cat, Darwin.  One of his pet names (pun intended!) is kitten baby, which is ironic because that was his name in the shelter when I adopted him; well, it was Baby, but you know what I mean.  I just had a few random pictures of Darwin that I thought went perfectly with the sketch.  

I've had Darwin since August 2007, right when I began my junior year of undergrad.  I adopted him from the Champaign County Humane Society.  I just moved into my apartment on the edge of campus.  I was living alone, so I knew I needed company.  Together, Darwin and I have moved 4 times:  back to my parents' house after graduation, into Michael's house, to St. Louis for grad school, and then back home with Michael.  I know he's a cat, but I literally could not imagine my adult life without him. 

He has such a personality.  And he's extremely social for a cat.  There's a little flair button in between those two smaller photos at the top of the layout.  It says "you can't tell me what to do."  That is so my cat!  It's like he knows what he can and can't do, but he'll do anything anyway and look at you like, "you can't tell me no."

I remember when I brought him home, he was only 4 or 5 months at the time. I still hadn't picked a new name for him.  I wanted it to be clever.  One night, I was sitting at my desk in my bedroom writing a paper, studying, or something and I looked over at my bookshelf.  On it, I had a couple of those books in the Darwin Awards series.  That's when it hit me, to name my kitten Darwin!  And it's clever because I was an anthropology major in undergrad, so perfect.  

Enough about my love story with my cat...Here's how you can play along.  Create a layout with this sketch!  Or, if you have a completed layout similar to this sketch, go ahead and link it up!

1. Link your project in my comments section on this post.
2. OR link your project in Kelly's comments section on her post.
3. OR link it up to our Facebook page

Remember, this does not have to be a new project if you already have a layout with a similar design.  Those of you who play along have the chance to win a prize!  This month's prize:  

Studio Calico's Essential Enamel Dots in Gold

***AND***

Studio Calico's Wanderlust Tiny Word Stickers

So, come play along with us!  Show us what you've made with this sketch.  You just may win those coveted gold enamel dots and oh-so-popular tiny word stickers!  The challenge ends at 8pm CST on Thursday, April 3rd!

Now, go check out Kelly's blog!  She is also working with a kit to create a layout using this sketch.  And, don't forget to link up your projects!

xoxo,

Heather

A Little Gallery Inspiration

I thought today I'd bring you all some scrappy inspiration from the Two Peas in a Bucket gallery.  We all love the well-known scrappers out there; there work is just gorgeous, but I wanted to highlight those other creative people that may not always get recognized.  Paper lovers like you and me.  

There are a TON of amazing projects in this gallery.  I'm only going to highlight some in this post.  I'd like to do a gallery inspiration post once a month.  I'll link up the project, the creator's personal gallery, as well as their blog (if they have one).  I think it will be a great way to "meet" other scrappers!  A lot of my inspiration comes from other people's projects, so I want to start highlighting those that catch my eye.

Life Moves Pretty Fast, created by 2Peas Member  Leslie Ashe

I LOVE this layout!  I, personally, do not scrap with white cardstock, but Leslie just makes this absolutely gorgeous! I like the kraft, gold, wood elements, and flair.  This layout is simple, but still uses lots of embellishments.  Also, the white cardstock is a wood grain texture!  I love the pennants/banners, the tag, and I'm pretty sure that is gold polka dot washi tape...LOVE!

lovely layers created by 2Peas Member limedoodle 

Do I really have to tell you why I like this card?  ALL THOSE LAYERS!!  And it's on a card without it being overwhelming.  I love the colors she used and that vellum tag just gets me all excited!  I literally am in love with every card she creates.  Check out her blog here.

Simply Adorable, created by 2Peas Member MichelleWedertz

I love simple, but gorgeous layouts such as this one.  I love the layers with the doily and the tag.  I like the pink washi tape.  And those mist splatters are awesome!  

Relax by 2Peas Member catherine brancieq

I love that this layout's main paper elements are pocket style journaling cards!  I'm always looking for new ways to use my bajillion Project Life cards.  And I really like the royal blue with silver.  And oh, those stars!  Love, love this layout.  Check out more of Catherine's projects on her blog (in French) here.

Daisy Frame  by 2Peas Member marilou64

I am always in awe when I see all the different decor pieces made by paper crafters.  And this daisy frame is just something else!  I see something like this in stores all the time.  And I could make that!  This piece is definitely inspiring and makes me want to put my Cameo to work to create some lovely spring decor pieces for my home.

All this inspiration makes me want to be at home creating and not at my day job!  Looks like I need to start planning out some projects and using up my stash!  I hope you found today's post just as inspiring and creatively motivating as I have!  I'll be back Friday with a Just Two Midwest Girls scrap challenge.  Remember, there's still time to link up your take on our color challenge.  Find all the details here.

xoxo,
Heather

Make It Monday: Watercolor Background Paper

Happy Monday all!  I'm starting a new series on my blog, Make It Monday.  It's inspired by Kristina Werner's Make A Card Monday video series on her YouTube channel.  My plan is to use this series to show off techniques and how I do them.  This will not be a weekly series, but more of an every other week post.  I plan to showcase all sorts of projects.  Today, I do have a card I made using a watercolored paper technique.  This card was inspired by Kristina Werner ; she's made a few cards lately using this technique.

**Warning:  Photo Heavy!**

I started out with my supplies:  kraft card base, blue cardstock, watercolor paper, Distress markers, and my craft mat.  In the end, I don't use the blue cardstock.  And the watercolor paper I haven't cut down yet.

I scribbled my Distress markers onto the craft mat.  I made sure that the colors didn't touch.  And I put each color in more than one spot, trying to disperse color all over my paper.

Next, I took my mini mister and sprayed water all over my Distress markers scribbles, until the color beads up.

I took my watercolor paper and smooshed it into my scribbles.  I wiggled it around a bit and swiped it across the color spots to get this...

It's so pretty!  I took my heat gun to it before I added more color to my paper.  

Here's my end result after a couple more times of smooshing the paper into some more color and drying the paper.

I wanted to die cut my sentiment using my own paper, so I found a "hello" sentiment in the Silhouette library.  If you're curious about the settings I used for this watercolor paper, I set my Cameo to the cardstock setting, but turned my blade a number higher because this paper is a bit thicker than regular cardstock.  It cut like butter!

And here's my finished card!  I hope you found this post helpful and inspiring.  Next time I try this technique, I want to try it with Gelatos.  I have more colors of those than Distress Markers.  The possibilities are endless!

I'm looking forward to this new series.  If you have any suggestions for me, let me know in my comments section!

xoxo,

Heather

Just Two Midwest Girls Scrap Challenge Reminder!

Kelly and I are dropping in today to remind you that our current Just Two Midwest Girls scrap challenge is still open!  In case you missed it, it's a color challenge using the beautiful colors above.  Click on the link to go to the original post and share your project.  And just a reminder: 

• Your project can be a current or previously created project.
• It can be a layout, mini album, card, anything!
• You can link up to either mine or Kelly's blogs or our Facebook page!
• We are giving away a 6x6 Fancy Pants paper pad to the winner!

{photo taken by Jen}

We also wanted to feature one of our entries for the challenge.  This layout was created by our fabulous friend Jen about the excitement of arriving at Disney.  I love how she took this winter-inspired color palette and used it on a warmer weather page!  Looking at Jen's layout reminds me that I need to start scrapping my Disney World honeymoon...  Make sure you hop on over to her blog and leave her some love!

You have until Thursday, March 6th at 8:00 p.m. to link up your challenge.  Can't wait to see what you create!

xoxo,

Heather