We love riding with our Peloton and we have some wonderful and inspiring projects to share today!

How many of you are excited about The Super Bowl?  Do you have big plans to enjoy the day with food, friends and fun?  Well, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit our Get Your Game On collection and get all of our fans to start thinking about how to document Super Bowl Sunday for the special people in your lives who love sports and especially the Super Bowl.  That's right, we expect to see pictures of your friends and family dressed in team jerseys, eating hot wings and drinking...whatever goes with it.  We are pretty sure you can find this collection in your LSS or at online stores like Scrapbook.com, A Cherry On Top or Two Peas in a Bucket.  Below is a little inspiration from our Peloton to get the creative juices flowing.

Page by Marcia Dehn-Nix found on her blog One Scrap at a Time

Printer's Tray by Suzanne Sergi found on our blog

Page by Carolyn Lontin found on the Scrappin' Sports Stuff Blog

Page by Carolyn Lontin found on Scrappin' Sports Stuff Blog

Kickoff Gift Set by Kimberly Rae Forde found on our blog

Football Pennant  -  had to share one more project with our Canvas Colorables

We also wanted to announce our Fall/Winter Sketch Challenge Finalist.  Please congratulate Michelle Gallant for her take of my sketch with our Winter Twig collection.

Michelle, Ashley and Victoria - please email your address info to lizq@cthruruler.com and we will get your prize packs in the mail.

Remember - you can jump into our Jan/Feb Sketch Challenge right now.  And if you would like to see your projects featured on our blog, please post them online or send them to lizq@cthruruler.com.

Have a great day!

Liz

Hi everyone! Are you ready for another Sketch Challenge from Liz Qualman? I hope so! This challenge starts NOW, and will run through the end of December - to give you plenty of time to work on it during the busy holidays!

Liz used the perfectly sporty Get Your Game On collection for her sketch - but you can use ANY of our Fall and Winter collections:  Head of the Class, Get Your Game On, Hello Fall!, Wonder & Wishes, or Winter Twig!

Here's Liz to tell you all about it ... and be sure to read to the bottom for details on how to enter!

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I love how the Get Your Game On collection provides four different sports to capture your memories.  Even though my son is not old enough to play sports competitively, he still likes to get outside and kick the ball around.  It was great to use the soccer papers and embellishments to capture this moment of my son and husband playing together.

I especially like the idea of how you can use the Get Your Game On collection for any sports related memories.  Wouldn't it be fun to use the papers and embellishments for a memory about tailgating with the "MVP" being the last person standing (if you know what I mean)?  The stars are the limit with this super fun collection.  Can't wait to see what some of you create with my sketch!

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Here's the sketch:

Here's the rules:

1.  You may use the sketch any way you please (turn it upside down or on its side, or use it as is).

2.  You must use at least 75% Little Yellow Bicycle product, from any of our current Fall or Winter collections [Head of the Class, Get Your Game On, Hello Fall!, Wonder & Wishes, and Winter Twig].

3.  Your work must be your own! ;)

Here's how to enter:

1. You may enter by posting your layout to LYB's Facebook Page - please post it in the Album titled "Fall/Winter Collection Sketch Challenge". 

2. If you're not a Facebook user, you still may enter, by emailing a photo of your entry to peg@cthruruler.com. Please include your mailing address - so we have it in case you win!

3.  All entries must be received by midnight EST on Saturday, December 31, 2011.

Here's the fun part ... the prizes!

1.  Liz will select THREE finalists. All of the finalists will win a prize.

2.  We will post the finalists to our Facebook Page and Blog for you to VOTE on your favorites.

3.  You'll have a week to vote (one vote per person). Voting will end at midnight on Saturday, January 7, 2012.

4.  The grand prize winner will win $50 in LYB product. The runners up will each receive $25 in LYB product!

Sound good? OK everyone! Get creating!  

-Peg

[P.S. if you love sketches, be sure to follow the link to Liz's blog - she has tons of 'em!]

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you're finding some time for crafting this weekend! I have two awesome projects to share from our Game On Cycling Team members KimberlyRae Forde and Cari Locken.

First up is an adorable little mini album from Cari, for all you soccer moms out there. What a great way to save the memories from the soccer season? This perfect, simple little mini album is just right!

And here are Cari's easy instructions!

I created a mini album - with only the paper provided. NO chipboard album or pre-made album was needed.  This was a super easy & inexpensive way to create a mini album with just patterned paper & embellishments.

-  I cut 12" x 6" pieces of patterned papers (5 different papers).

-  I folded them in half so I would end up with a 6" x 6" album. After folding them I just simply put them together to form a booklet.

-  I embellished each page

-  When finished I opened up each page (to 12 x 6 wide) and then punched 2 holes down the center of each page approx. 1" in from the edges.  I then re-assembled the album & tied it together with green twine.  I added 2 smaller pieces of black & cream ribbon to embellish the edge of the album a little bit.

Thanks again for inviting me to help out with this.

It's been super fun!

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Love this album Cari! I think it is so cool, and I just may have to make one for all the pictures I took of my soccer team this fall!  Don't forget to check out more inspiring projects on Cari's blog by clicking the link!

My other favorite fall sport is football! And on those rare fall Sundays when I'm not out coaching a soccer game, you will find me at home with the TV tuned to one of my favorite NFL teams. So I definitely need this:

Coolest-ever Kickoff Gift Set created by KimberlyRae Forde!

Here's KimberlyRae to tell you about it!

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For my second project I choose a Football theme!


 
 Ingredients:

  Little Yellow Bicycle 'Get Your Game On' Collection

• eCraft personal cutter by Craftwell
• Acylic Large Salad Bowl
• Football slip Cup Adult size
• Ball Wide Mouth Canning Lids and Rings
• Fiskars Paper Trimmer
• Jewelers Wire 12 gauge
• Aleene's Collage 'Pauge Matte
• Cork board adhesive Paper sheet
• Hot Glue Gun

Snack Bowl Instructions :
1.  Choose and adhere stickers  and elements you want to show through around the bowl.  You can add the team's name here.
2. Measure from under lip of bowl down to the rim of the bottom.  Mine measured 6"  [I purchased the bowl from Dollar Tree].
3.  Select your papers and trim to 2-3" strips
4.  Modge podge one strip at a time and place at one end and work your way around the bowl.
5.  Modge podge the entire OUTside of the bowl, using your fingers to smooth out any bumps.
6.  Hot Glue Cork paper on the bottom [this will help keep from sliding].

You're done!






Cup Instructions :
1. Measure from just under the lip  of the top of cup down to where the cup rests and trim paper.

2. Measure around cup [mine measured 6"] and adhere paper to cup.

3. Add chip board elements and stickers.

4. Liberally, brush on modge podge.
5. Let Dry and add Banner [the 'football' banner was a perfect fit]!

6. Adhere cork paper and hot glue to the bottom of the base and  you're done!
 

Coasters / Cup Holder Instructions :
1. Hot glue all lids to the inside of the rings-upside down [this is your cup holder base] and set aside.
2. Cut 12" wire and curl with paint brush handle or a pencil.
3. Cut out 6" circles and clip the outsides about an inch around.
4. Liberally, brush on modge podge to the paper circle and place over your cup holder base [that you made earlier]
5. Press the paper inside  the base and smooth starting in the center and bring the pap
6. Now, shape one end of wire in an 'L' shape with the '_' part going underneath the base and hot glue in place
7. Choose a chipboard element and hot glue to the wire
8.  Cut 3.5" circle from the cork paper and hot glue to the bottom of the base and 
Now you're ready to place the cup in the cup holder and you're done!
 

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Wow. Now that's really thinking outside the scrapbook, isn't it? Click this link to hop over to KimberlyRae's blog for more cool projects!

What will the Cycling teams come up with next? You'll see next week, when we kick off posts from the Hello Fall! Cycling Team (did you get that little football pun there? hope so....)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

-Peg

Hello all! Hope you have lots of fun, family time, and crafting planned for the weekend. To inspire you, I'm back with another project from our Get Your Game On Cycling Team, this time the incredibly talented Carol Monson! If you haven't seen Carol's blog, go check it out! You will love her style - her stitching is really cool - and her photographs are amazing!

Here's Carol to tell you about her layouts:

GO Nathan

The subject matter of this layout immediately made me want to include a repetitive circle pattern somehow.

To keep things moving and fun I decided to punch a bunch of circles and then punch out the middles on most to keep things light.  

I pieced them together before attaching them to my layout so I could stitch around some of the circles.  I find it easier to sew a circle pattern on smaller pieces rather than on the layout as a whole.  Once those were done I glued them down to my finished layout and topped them off with a few chipboard stars.

He's our All Star

This product line has so many fun elements and papers in it that I really wanted to highlight a few of my favorite things.

I loved the sunburst patterns on the sports themed papers so I cut a portion of one out and emphasized that theme with stitching along each ray.  I had one really great picture that needed to shine on its own and I thought that was a great way to do it.  

I also loved all the different chipboards and sticker elements.  I took one of the banners apart and switched things up by adding stickers and different paper patterns to it.  I finished things off with several of the chipboard pieces layered together to make my title.

Thanks again so much for giving me this opportunity......I so appreciate it!!!

Loved working with your products.

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Thanks so much Carol for sharing your beautiful layouts with us! Don't forget to check out her blog!

Tomorrow I'll be back with two more projects from the Get Your Game On and Head of the Class Collections and next week .... it's all Hello Fall!

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Peg

Hello folks! Thanks for your comments on our crazy fall storm. Believe it or not, it was in the high 60s here in CT today and most of the snow in my back yard is gone!

Today I have some more fantastic projects from our Head of the Class and Game On Cycling Teams to share with you! 

First is this adorable "Team Mom Scoreboard" from KimberlyRae Forde. Speaking as a team mom who is also a coach (pardon me while I brag that my U13 boys soccer team just won their league championship...even though our last game was snowed out ... ahem!) ... this is a MUST HAVE!!!

What a super gift for the coach, team manager, or team mom! Here are a few close ups!

Love this! For more inspiration from KimberlyRae, check out her blog by clicking this link!

Next up is Amanda Johnson, who made this adorable keeper for her daughter's kindergarten projects. So cool!

Here's Amanda to tell you how she made it:

My oldest daughter will be going off to kindergarten next year, and I wanted to make something bright and fun to store all of her papers and drawings in...the Head of the Class collection was absolutely perfect for this!!

Supply List:

Head of the Class Dimensional Pop-Up Stickers, Chipboard Shapes, Journaling Cards, Stick Pins, Mini Banners, Clear Cuts Shapes, and Patterned Papers.

Additional Supply List:

Acrylic Paint, Bakers Twine, Chipboard Portfolio

Here's the how-to:

Start by taking apart the portfolio so that you can measure the sides. Next select and cut your favorite Head of the Class patterned papers. Adhere and then sand all of your edges. (I used Modge Podge to adhere all of my papers.)

Next Choose your embellishments, and layer as desired. I chose to keep the embellishing on my project fairly simple, I know my daughter, and this will get opened and closed tons of times, this is also why I chose to only embellish on the bottom half of the portfolio.

Next put your portfolio back together. I chose to use the dimensional stickers for my closures instead of putting the originals back on.

Finally go through and paint all of your seams with a coat of acrylic paint and let dry.

This is a super easy project!! You can of course embellish more or less depending on the look you are hoping to achieve...I wanted mine to be functional and I also wanted to let the fabulous designs on the Head of the Class patterned papers stand out.

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What a great project. For more inspiration from Amanda, follow her blog by clicking this link!

Thanks Amanda and KimberlyRae for today's inspiration! Tomorrow we will be announcing the Cycling Teams for our Wonder & Wishes and Winter Twig collections. Have you submitted your work for consideration?

Have a great evening!

-Peg

Phew! What a week it has been here in Connecticut. Don't know if you have heard, but much of the state was without power for a week or more, and many (including our headquarters in Bloomfield, CT) are into their 11th day without power. As you can imagine, it hasn't been easy! We appreciate your patience as we get things moving as quickly as we can!

Just to give you a quick glimpse, I'm going to share a couple of photos from my town. We received between 1-2 feet of snow on Saturday 10/29. The entire town (and many others) lost power. Any street that had overhead power lines lost at least a few. Branches came down. Trees came down. Telephone poles came down. Here are some pics:

About 2' of snow in my back yard:

Branches and trees down everywhere (taken from my car) - most streets looked like this for several days after the storm - you just drive under the tree, gun it and pray:

Lots of destruction:

These poor people just replaced their roof last spring! Notice also the branch went right through the front window:

Even trick-or-treating was cancelled due to dangerous conditions.

Snow-covered pumpkin:

Snow pumpkin:

Once the power is restored, there will still be a huge clean-up job but we are hardy New Englanders and I believe we are up to the task.

A few things I have learned:

1) Neighbors are a blessing. Neighbors who have generators are a greater blessing.

2) I can never thank my husband enough for purchasing the generator!

3) No matter how often you tell yourself "The power is still out," you will still always flip the light switch when you go into the bathroom.

4) After a week without power, even vacuuming and doing laundry is "fun," and almost nothing beats the sound of a toilet flushing.

5) Each of us, some day, may be dependent on the kindness of strangers. This is important to remember when we have an opportunity to be kind. Be kind. You never know.

On the positive side, because we had a generator, I had the opportunity to spend wonderful quality time with my kids and get to know many of my neighbors better.

Sometimes it's the little things. I ran into a friend who hadn't had a warm shower in 3 days - so I invited her over to shower. I know I made her day. But interestingly, being able to invite her made my day too.

On the negative side ... I am SO BEHIND with blog posts! So today I am going to post Suzanne Sergi's final Guest Designer post featuring the Get Your Game On collection ... and I'll be back with more projects from the Cycling Teams for the rest of the week!

Here's Suzanne!

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Hi, everyone!

Suzanne here with another scrapbook page using the Get Your Game On Collection. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed working with these papers. They make creating your pages so simple. The canvas has already been decided, and with a few added details you can complete your sports pages in no time! I have so many sport photos that need to be scrapbooked, so this collection helps me to document them quickly.

I used the Baseball Collage paper as the background to document this photo of my son holding the coveted Game Ball! I cannot tell you how his eyes would light up as the coach would begin his speech as to who the lucky recepient would be! He was secretly wishing each time, it would be him! On this day, he was the lucky one, and I wish I had been quicker to document his expression. It was priceless! However, he did agree to pose for a photo afterward.

Plus here's a bonus football card from Suzanne!

So cool.

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Thanks Suzanne! So nice to think about WARM things like baseball and paper crafting...maybe by the fire...

You can follow Suzanne's blog by clicking here.

See you tomorrow with more inspiration ...and don't forget our call for NEW Winter Twig and Wonder & Wishes Cycling Team Members! If you haven't sent your stuff in, THERE'S STILL TIME! We'll announce the new team members on Thursday, Nov. 10!! Send your submissions to sharon@cthruruler.com!

Have a happy day!

Peg

Hello everyone and welcome to the fifth and final day of our fabulous blog swap with our friends over at The Twinery! I guess it's true what they say, all good things must come to an end. We are sad to see this week end. But hey ... before it does, I have a couple more projects to share with you from the Biker Chicks, prizes to give away (later today) ... and next week I'll be back with more inspiration from our wonderful Head of the Class, Get Your Game On, and Hello Fall! Cycling Teams!

So I promise ... the fun never ends here on the LYB blog!

Let's get to the projects!

First up is Biker Chick Tania Willis with a layout featuring the Hello Fall! collection and, of course, some baker's twine from The Twinery!

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The colorful bundle of twine in the assortment pack had me at hello!  The colors are so fun and playful and just the right shades of color.  For my “I Love Fall” layout, I wanted to play off the Fresh Verse Cardstock die cut that says “piles of smiles” and literally piled a bunch of snapshots in the middle of the page. 

From there, I started adding pops of color in clusters by layering several types of embellishments from the collection, then kicked it up a notch with the addition of the twine. I love that the twine is a playful twist of light and dark, as the white is twisted with a color.  It keeps the embellishment light and not too dense for the eye. Love that. 

For the next cluster, I layered Fresh Verse die cuts, a journaling tag, flowers from the layered flowers pack and a chipboard button from the Fabric Pieces.  Before adhering the button, I pulled off the foam dimensional tape and strung two layers of twine through the eyelets.

Lastly, I wanted a bold punch of color in the center of the layout to draw the eye to the photos first.  I just added several loops of twine to the felt flower, near the felt leaves to resemble another leaf on the flower. Such an easy addition that helps add more visual weight to the flower embellishment.

I want to give a HUGE thanks to The Twinery for the generous supply of twine that was sent for our team to complete these projects this week!

Tania

Supplies:

Lemondrop Baker’s Twine by The Twinery

Mandarin Baker’s Twine by Twinery Twine

Honeydew Baker’s Twine by Twinery Twine

HF – 104 Walnut Knit Paper

HF – 220 Fabric Favorites

HF – 140 Fresh Verse Cardstock Die-cuts

HF – 135 Favorite Pieces Cardstock Die-cuts

HF – 223 Felt Flowers

HF – 134 Journaling Cards

HF – 305 Paper Flower Kit

HF – 277 Stick Pins

HF – 308 Favorite Things Pocket

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Thanks Tania! Love this layout! And YOU can catch more ideas from Tania by following her blog ... just click this link right here to get there!

Next up - another layout from Liz!

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Naughty or Nice Page

Just a funny page of my daughter hamming it up for the camera.  It reminded me of how she is always thinking about what is going to be on her list for Santa and how hard she tries to "make it happen."  Adding pop dots to the cardstock stickers is a great way to give them dimension and accent the page.  I cannot help but tuck a decorative edged cardstock piece on all of my pages and the patterns on the Wonder & Wishes pices are lovely.

Wonder and Wishes Collection Materials:

WO-104 - Christmas Plaid/Dots on Green

WO-133 - 6" x 6" Decorative Edge double-sided textured cardstock with glitter accents (5 pieces)

WO-279 - Chipboard Shapes - with glitter accents (20 pieces)

WO-165 - Chipboard Stickers - Words - with debossing (16 pieces)

WO-276 - Corrugated Shapes (22 pieces)

WO-135 - Cardstock Stickers - Favorite Pieces - with glitter accents and matte foil (28 pieces) WO-140 - Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse - with debossing (28 pieces)

WO-197 - Jewel Stickers (96 pieces)

WO-219 - Flower Button Dots - layered with buttons

Twinery - Maraschino Twine 15 Yards

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Thanks Liz! Here's the link to Liz's blog too!

Now go on over to The Twinery's blog, to see what they've made for you today! As usual, don't forget to leave comments here, there and everywhere (LYB's Facebook Page, The Twinery's Facebook Page), for more chances to win! I will be choosing two winners of a LOVELY prize pack from our Hello Fall collection, plus a sampler pack from The Twinery!

Thanks for visiting and GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

-Peg

Hello all! It's Peg back again with two more inspiring projects from our Get Your Game On and Head of the Class Cycling Teams! And how about Jamie's projects yesterday? Pretty cool, huh?  If you missed it, be sure to go take a look! Everyone's talking about the Jamie's Crayon Collage. Amazing...

Today we're sharing Samantha Taylor's Get Your Game On Canvas Colorables and a layout from Rhonda Van Ginkel. Let's get right to it.

Samantha Taylor's Canvas Colorables

Hello! I so excited to share my project with you today. One of my favorite things about LYB is how amazing the embellishments are that go with a line. When I got Get Your Game On, I knew I wanted to find a way to used the fun Canvas Colorables and play with all the embellishments at the same time. I decided to make a trio of framed art for my son's bedroom wall.

If you're not someone who works a lot with canvas or altered art, have no fear: Game On Canvas Colorables are really easy to work with. I experimented a lot to find out what would work (and more importantly what wouldn't) and here's what I learned. Anything permanent (paint, paint pens, alcohol inks, mists, alcohol base markers (think Copics), even Sharpie Markers) seem to work really well. Anything not so permanent (water based inks and markers) tend not to work, as they don't dry completely or smear when touched.  The plus side to using Copics is that they cover very well, give nice bright colors, and allow the original print work on the canvas to show through.

If you're looking to do the same thing with a more antiqued look, I would suggest trying to sponge or brush on alcohol inks. Paints, paint pens, and Sharpies work well, but don't allow the underlying artwork to show through. If you're not sure if an ink will work, flip the canvas over and test it out on the back side first. 

I used Copic Markers to color the canvases, and then sponged on a very light shade of alcohol ink to add a bit of age to the canvases.

I especially concentrated the alcohol ink on the edges of the canvas and the figures of the players. If you're not terribly artistic when it comes to things like coloring and shading (and I'm one of those people who's not), this is still a really easy thing to do. There is a pre-printed shading on the canvases already. I just followed where the players were already shaded and enhanced it a bit.

After I colored my canvases, I layered them on an 8" x 10" piece of matching Game On paper. Then, I added embellishments (stickers, chipboard, and banners) to the paper and canvas. You can attach embellishments to the canvas really easily with a nice sticky adhesive like Glue Dots®. The artwork then went into an 8" x 10" shadowbox style frame.

I added more embellishments to the frame and glass.

I like adding embellishments to the outside and inside of a frame as a way to add extra depth and interest to the project.

Then all you need to do is find a wall to hang them on. My son is thrilled to have these for his room!

Supplies:

Frame - 3 - 8 x 10 shadowbox style frames

Canvases - Get Your Game On (Football, Baseball, Basketball)

Paper - Get Your Game On (Football Collage, Baseball Collage, Basketball Collage)

Accessories - Get Your Game On (Stickers Favorite Pieces (Basketball, Baseball, Football), Chipboard Shapes, Mini Banners (football)), Copic Markers, Alcohol Ink

Tools - Sponge Daubers

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Wow...love these Samantha! What young sports fan wouldn't want them for his room? I think they'd also look great in a rec room, or as a gift for a special coach. Thanks so much. You can follow Samantha's blog by clicking this link!

And now for Rhonda's "Spare Me" Layout!

I love how one designer can look at a collection and create something beautiful ... and then another designer can look at the same elements and see something completely different. I think that's one of the coolest things about this hobby!

So tell me ... how many of you look at the Head of the Class collection and think "sports"? I know I didn't, but check out Rhonda's layout!

Wow. Love it! Here's Rhonda!

I absolutely loved the Head of the Class collection!  The bright fun colors of the papers and classic design made this such a joy to work with!!!  Thank you so very much to Little Yellow Bicycle for the honor of designing for you.

The moment I saw the fun diamond shaped pattern paper with the number "10" in the headpin position, I knew I was going to turn this collection into a bowling page!  I always enjoy looking beyond the intent of a collection and try to use it in a different or unusual way.

For my project I had a series of three photos, but I didn't really want to crop them too much to compromise their composition.  The solution:  Create a built in flip book built on the page.  It was very simple, I just stitched the left side down.  I attached the bottom photo leaving a pocket to tuck in my Good Job journaling spot.

Keeping my banner theme for the page, I added a few horizontal banners into the main photo mat.  I created a few custom star buttons using the papers and my Epiphany Star 25 tool.  For my bowling ball and pin, I used my Cricut Expression and the Nifty Fifties cartridge.  A little glossy accents on the bowling ball was the finishing touch.

Thanks for coming along with me for a little cycling tour of my Spare Me! page today! 

~ Rhonda

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Thanks for joining us today! You can see more of Rhonda's work by clicking on this link to her blog!

I'll be back later this evening with the winners of my Sweet Summertime giveaway (finally, right?)...and we'll be inspiring you all weekend long with more Game On and Head of the Class projects. And all next week...blog swap with the Twinery! Woot!

-Peg

Hello friends! I'm back with another inspiring project from our Get Your Game On Guest Designer Suzanne Sergi!

But before I show you the project, I am embarassed to admit, I forgot to include Suzanne's photo with her first blog post! Oops! So here she is, along with a little LYB Q&A so you can get to know her better!

LYB:  What is your "go to embellishment?"

SS:  My go to embellishments are tags, or labels. They are fabulous to stand alone, or to emboss, journal, or ink.

LYB:  Do you prefer cardstock or patterned paper?

SS:   I am a big fan of patterned paper! I am usually inspired by color, so I always begin my design with patterned paper. I do use cardstock, but mainly to add small details to the page.

LYB:  What kind of music gets you in the scrappin' mood?

SS:  I am from Texas, so I am a huge fan of country music! However, I do like to mix it up, from time to time. My library playlist includes pop music, and a bit of classical, too.

LYB:  Do you like to go to crops or prefer to scrap alone?

SS:  I absolutely love going to crops! I love being with friends. However, I find it difficult  to pack my stuff for a crop. I do the majority of my scrapbooking at home. However, anytime the opportunity arises, you will find me at a crop. I am okay to simply sit, and chat! I guess, I love the social aspect!

LYB:   What are your favorite types of projects...pages, mini albums, cards, altered projects, etc.?

SS:  This is a difficult question! I love to scrapbook any type of papercraft! However, if I was to answer it is a toss up between mini albums, and altered projects. I throughly enjoy the creative process of a mini album, and of course, love altered projects especially around the holidays! I scrapbook for my family, so creating pages is definitely important to me. You might see a card from me, from time to time. However, as hard as  I try, they take me longer to create, than a page! 

LYB:   Do you have a favorite scrapbooking snack?

SS:  I rarely snack when I scrapbook at home. You will definitely find a large diet coke with extra ice nearby! (maybe Hot Tamales, too!) If I am at a crop, well that is a different answer. lol

LYB:  Any unique tips or techniques you use?

SS:  Two techniques you will find me using over and over are embossing and inking. I love the instant texture that embossing can give to a premade embellishment, sticker, or diecut. It is an easy technique, and  can add so much detail to your projects. I do love stamping on my projects, too. An easy, and inexpensive technique to embellish your projects.

And now...let's make this fun photo tray!

Hi, Everyone! Suzanne here, to share a project with the new Get Your Game On Collection! I love photo trays for displaying some of my favorite photos.  On my list was to alter one for my football player! I wanted to include a few special highlights of his football season. The new Get Your Game On Collection included everything I needed to create this football photo tray! A few pieces of patterned paper were all I needed to begin. The chipboard embellishment pack included the perfect football details to create fun embellishments in each individual panel!  In a couple of hours, I was able to complete this keepsake, that my son will enjoy for years to come.

Here are a few more pics!

Thanks Suzanne! I just love this! What a great way to capture a bunch of photos from the season ... or even a special game!

We'll be back with more from Suzanne next week ... and meanwhile, be sure to check out her blog by cliking HERE!

Have a BALL!

- Peg

Hi folks!

It's Monday again and that means it's time for another LYB Training Reel featuring the always amazing Biker Chick Tania Willis and the perfectly sporty Game On collection (which happens to be available at your LSS now)!

You are going to have so much fun making this layout and learning new painting techniques (wait 'til you see what Tania can do with bubble wrap. SAVE THAT BUBBLE WRAP people! Don't be tempted to pop it!!) There are a lot of kids in my area playing "Fall Ball" ... and this layout is perfect for those of you with baseball-playing kids.

But here's what I love about the Game On collection. You can take any layout (like this awesome one right here), and just "swap out" the materials to make the layout you want in the sport you need! My son is not a baseball kid ... but I do coach his U13 Travel Soccer Team (Go Canton Warriors!) So if I need a soccer layout...no problemo! I'm going to scraplift this layout and use the soccer papers and embellishments, and make a soccer one with it. Maybe I'll even show it to you when I'm done!

So here we go people. Pick a sport ... any sport ... we have four of them for you...and GET YOUR GAME ON with Tania!

Here are a few more close-ups of Tania's layout:

(bubble wrap!!!)

(more bubble wrap!)

What will this Biker Chick come up with next? Who knows, but I'm sure of one thing ... it will be CREATIVE!

Here are the instructions for this home run of a layout:

Download PDF Baseball Layout Instructions by Tania Willis

We have so much more to share with you this week ... we'll have a BRAND NEW Sketch Challenge from our very own Liz Qualman, plus more from Game On Guest Designer Suzanne Sergi!

And in case you missed my Summer's Last Hurrah post last week, head over there and leave a comment for your chance to win some Sweet Summertime! I'll be picking a winner later this week!

Have Fun!

Peg

OK, OK I know Lowri McNabb is already rockin' the Guest Designer blog for LYB but what can we do? We're shipping the brand new Get Your Game On collection as we speak (actually as I type...) and so, since it's so perfectly sporty ... we decided to Double Team you!!! That's right ... two Guest Designers for a little extra inspiration. And who can't use a little extra inspiration? Gotta love it!

So allow me to introduce our OTHER Guest Designer - for Game On - the awesome, fun, and of course talented Suzanne Sergi! I was introduced to Suzanne at CHA-W by our very own Biker Chick Liz Qualman. As I recall, Liz told me something like "You have to check out her work..." and so I did, and knew then and there we needed to ask her to guest design for us (click the link above to her blog and you'll see why as well!).

Suzanne hails from beautiful Orange County in Southern California, where she lives with her husband Steven and three children Gabriela (almost 13), Roman (8) and Macie (6). Suzanne has been scrapbooking for about 12 years. Like many of us, she tripped into this hobby when Gabriela was born when she ventured into a scrapbook store to look for an album ... and fell in love with all the possibilities. Suzanne scrapbooks mostly about her family and the special moments in their lives. She loves papers and embellishments and tells us she is "all about the details on (her) papercrafts ... (her) favorite part of the scrapbooking process." She designs for several manufacturers, and has been published in Scrapbook Trends magazine... and we are so lucky to have her!

And now... here's Suzanne!

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Hi, everyone! Suzanne here, and I am very excited to be one of the guest designers this month! I love papercrafting, and I am a big fan of Little Yellow Bicycleʼs products. One of my favorite things about their products is that you will not see only paper, and a few embellishments. No, you are going to have so many possibilities, and a wide variety of embellishments to choose from. A couple of my favorites are the transparency overlays, and I love their journaling notebooks. Their product fits my style of scrapbooking, and makes designing pages fast, and fun to create with.

I had the opportunity to work with the Get your Game On collection. With a few athletes in our household, I am always inspired to document their special “winning” moments. Today, I have my first project to share with you. A scrapbook page featuring my son with a couple of his teammates. My son seems to enjoy all sports from football, soccer, baseball, to basketball. Luckily, LYB has paper for all of these fun sports. I decided to create a basketball page to slip into my sonʼs sports album. This page came together very quickly.

I began with the basketball collage paper for my background. This paper has the large graphic in the upper right hand corner, so it needed very little extra paper. I used a small strip from the grey Bleachers patterned paper, layered on top of the red All Star paper. I also used one of the tear-out tickets for my title. I loved it, and thought it told the story of the photo perfectly. I did cut it so I could use the top portion at the top of the photo. The bottom half of the ticket holds my journaling that I ran through the computer. Love it when you can get more out of an embellishment! Here is a closer look at the cluster of embellishments I created in the lower right hand corner of the page.

I used two more tear-out tickets (these are starting to become my favorite). They are perfect to stand alone, when your page just needs a little something. They are also great to layer more fun embellishments underneath or on top of them. I punched different size circles to layer on top of the tickets. I used some of the chipboard embellishments as well. The #1 element I left alone, but I did add more texture to the chipboard basketball by running it through an embossing folder. This page has a bit of grunge to it, so I used my embossing folders to the circles, too. I simply love texture on my pages, and embossing is definitely my “go to” technique every time I scrapbook! This cluster of embellishments helped to add movement to the page.

Another item that I really enjoyed were the ticket stickers. I used one as an added detail on one of the tear-out tickets. They reminded me of a decorative tape, and I adhered it with a small staple on the page.

In this final detail photograph, you can also see a cluster of the chipboard stars, and do you recognize the brad?

It is from the Zachʼs Life collection, and this is still one of my favorites. Thought it tied well with the page!

Supplies Used:  

- Get Your Game On Basketball Collage/Basketball Court

-Get Your Game On Game Day Words Blue/Grey Bleachers

- Get Your Game On All Star Red/Field Dirt

- Get Your Game On Chipboard Shapes

- Get Your Game On Tear-Out Ticket Book

- Get Your Game On Stickers

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Thanks so much for this fun layout Suzanne! I'll be back during the next few weeks with more projects from Suzanne, featuring the Game On collection ... plus some fun LYB Q&A with Suzanne!

For now, if you haven't already, why not go check out Suzanne's blog for some more inspiration, and tell her how much you love her work (tell her we sent you ;P)

Peg