April Paper Trail Blog Hop - Victory

Welcome to the Paper Trail Blog Hop! This month we are celebrating with the Victory paper packet. If you've arrived here from Pineapple Paper Artist, Amy's blog, you're on the right track. (If this is your first stop, no worries, this hop is circular!)


When I first saw the Victory paper pack in the idea book I wasn't enthralled with it. (I think the camouflage paper threw me off.) I purchased the paper because I knew other people were interested in it and set to work. I fell in love! The colors - Outdoor Denim, New England Ivy, Chocolate and Bamboo - were perfect for so many layouts.




I used the paper here and the idea of a sketch by Allison Davis to create a layout about my son:

Here are some of the details:

Monogram letters with bitty sparkles for the two word title. (Cobblestone alphabet - retired)

Dimensional Elements Stars - paper covered and inked.

The journaling block was cut from the B&T ledger paper.
Did you notice the Color Ready Seam Binding tucked behind the embellishments? I had fun playing with the different colors and deciding where to include each.


In addition to this layout, I've already created two others 5 things and Missing CO and have another one in the works. I'm almost through the paper and in none of these layouts have I used the camouflage paper - but the plaid is very nice. Not bad for a paper pack I didn't like at first, huh?

Hop on over to Betsy's blog, Stamp Scrap Fever! to see what she has created. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

5 Things

A couple of my favorite challenge blogs teamed up for a challenge recently. The Paper Variety and ScrapFit challenged us to list journaling numerically on a layout and use this sketch:

Although I missed the deadline to enter at The Paper Variety, I'm throwing my hat in the ring at ScrapFit!

While creating my hubby's 20 year book I found some photos from my student teaching. Seeing the faces brought back floods of memories. I knew I had stories to tell, but I was overwhelmed. I haven't created any layouts about this experience (it was before I was a scrapbooker.) I didn't have any clue how to approach the task. Enter this challenge:

The numbered journaling was brilliant because it helped me use the photos and narrow the story I wanted to tell. I  recorded 5 reasons that I loved working at that particular school.

There are still more stories to tell about my time student teaching, but at I have begun. I have recorded five things about the experience (and I have written down the names of the people while I still remember them!) I feel a sense of accomplishment for starting to tell these stories and I know it will be that much easier next time I want to work on this topic.

In addition to the numbered journaling, this sketch worked well for my layout. I was able to modify it to include two photos with no trouble. I really liked the row of pennants that border the photo block.

I couldn't help repeating the motif in the upper corner as well.

For me this layout exemplifies why I love challenges so much. I was inspired to create a layout I wouldn't have otherwise and tell a story I wanted to share. Thank you Paper Variety and ScrapFit!

Products:  CTMH Victory paper packet, button collections and stamps

Missing CO - A layout inspired by "A Sweethaven Summer"

I'm always up for a scrapbooking challenge. Courtney at Telling Stories has been hosting a challenge this month inspired by her book A Sweethaven Summer. She and other well-known crafters created projects based on ideas or themes from the novel. The challenge for her readers was to take one project or layout and use it as an inspiration piece for a creation of your own. I saw this challenge when Courtney first posted it and knew I wanted to play along. Somehow, the time slipped away from me and all of the sudden, all projects are due! Luckily, I found some time to work and hopefully I will get this in under the wire.

I took my inspiration from a layout by Linda Barber (check it out on Courtney's blog). I took the challenge to create a layout about a place that has captured my heart; I took my design from Linda. Here is the layout I came up with about my home state:

The page came together fairly quickly after I had decided the topic and design. All papers are CTMH's Victory.

Thanks Courtney and Linda for the inspiration. This page was fun to create!