November Challenge by Monica

Hi there! I love using sketches when I scrapbook, in fact I almost always use them! I orginally picked a different sketch to use but as I was starting this page I changed my mind. This is the sketch that I used.

I have been wanting to scrap these pictures for a year now, I love them!! Daniel is always outside with his daddy and wants a screwdriver in his hand! I could not pick just one picture for this sketch so I used two! The black lettering is a little hard to see on the top of the picture but I didn't want to take it all off.
I was able to use lots of my stash for this lo. I bought this paper over a year ago at a Scrapbook store that no longer exists. Also I wanted to add stars but didn't have any but then remembered that I have a Slice!!! lol Sure enough one of my cards had a star! I really need to use it more often!!


It's not to late to play along, submit your layout for the challenge soon.  See all the details for the November Challenge below.

October and Pagerize Challenge

Design Team Member Monica submitted this layout for both the Pagerize This and the October Challenge.  She said, "I wanted to do both challenges this month but have been so busy that I decided to combine them into one.

I decided to scrap these pictures of my son and my grandma who passed away in Dec.2008. She passed away just a few days before Christmas unexpectedly. She was my last grandparent to pass away and was only able to see my son twice. After she passed away I knew I wanted to scrap the only two pictures I had of her and my son. I printed extra copies but just couldn't get myself to scrap them, until now. Thank you Kathy for this challenge. I can look at these now and not get so sad about her being gone but be happy that she was able to hold my son!!

I loved Joni's layout and lifted most of it! I haven't used paint on a page in a long time so I tried that. I felt like it was a little messy but most got covered up! Thank Joni for the inspiration!

Now it's your turn - Submit your layout to scrappinpsycho@live.com.  You could be chosen to be a member of the December Design Team.  See all the details below in October Challenge or Pagerize This Challenge.

September Challenge by Monica

For our September challenge Guest Design Team Member Monica  decided to share some baby pages she made for a recent baby book. She said, "I enjoy making these baby books for friends as gifts. They take a lot of work and I thought about not making them but I just can't seem not to! It is also a great way for me to use my stash!!! I usually make an 8x8 album with some pages for when the baby first arrives and then one page per month after that. I also try to include some first holidays! So I am sharing a few of the pages that included punches. I will post some other pages from the album on my blog if your interested.



I left this one for mom to fill in with some type of Christmas photo.
Hope you enjoyed these!! It's not to late to play along!"  See all the details of how you can play along with the challenge in the September Challenge post below.

August Challenge

This layout was submitted by Design Team Member Monica for the August Flower Challenge.  She said, "My flower is very simple. I cut out 4 circles all just a little bit smaller than each other and then crumbled them up a little. I then attached them to the page with a brad. This was my first attempt at any type of flower so I chose something fairly easy. I really like how the whole lo turned out"!

You still have an opportunity to get in on the August Flower Challenge.  Just submit your project to Scrappinpsycho@live.com and you could be chosen to be a member of our October Guest Design Team.  See all the details below in August Challenge.   And don't miss our "Pagerize This Challenge" - see all the details below.   

thanks, monica

$$Frugal Friday Tip$$

Design Team member Monica submitted the following Frugal Friday Tip. She said, "My frugal tip is a simple one that some of you may already do. I save almost all of my paper scraps, I hate to throw paper away. I use my scraps to make simple cards. I don't like to spend too much time on my cards, I like them simple. Making cards is also a good way to use up all these flowers you have or any other embellishment you haven't used in a while.
I keep my cardstock scraps by color and then have a folder for all my patterned paper scraps. I made all these cards one night when I couldn't sleep but didn't feel like I wanted to do a whole lo. What do you do with your scraps?

If you have a frugal tip to share - just email the tip along with a picture to scrappinpsycho@live.com. You could be featured as our next Frugal Friday tip.

Scrap Our Stash Sketch Challenge 2

Design Team Member Monica submitted this layout for the Scrap Our Stash Challenge 2. She said, "I really enjoyed using this sketch! I love creating pages with more than just one photo so this was perfect for me. I decided to use 3 pictures since they were hard to crop. In place of the fourth picture I put some journaling. I always have to have journaling, to me it's really important to document what the pictures are about. These pictures are of my son and neice in their Halloween pj's that my sister-in-law bought them both! Loved the pictures of the two of them"!

Take the Sketch Challenge - details are on the sidebar!

June Challenge

Sisters Reunited by Monica

Design Team Member Monica submitted this layout for the June Stitching Challenge. She said, "For my stitching I used a rub-on stitch along the striped paper. I also noticed after I finished that the frame that I used has stitching on it too! This is a lo from last summer when my mom's sister from Hungary came to visit, their first time in the US!



Now it's your turn to take the stitch challenge! Send a picture and description of your completed project to scrappinpsycho@live.com. You could be one of our next Guest Design Team Members. See all the Details below in June Challenge.

Scrap Our Stash Sketch Challenge

Happy Birthday by Monica

Design Team Member Monica did this layout for the Scrap Our Stash Sketch Challenge. She said, "I didn't follow this sketch completely but close. The pictures that I used were a little larger and so I placed the flower on top. I felt like it evened out the lo. These are pictures from my birthday dinner last year"!

Now it's your turn to take a Challenge. Just complete a layout using this sketch as your inspiration or do somthing "outside of your box". Email a picture to scrappinpsycho@live.com . Your layout will be posted and could win you a spot on the Guest Design Team. Check out all the details in Scrap Our Stash Sketch Challenge or May Challenge below.

May Challenge

Say Cheese by Monica

Guest Design Team Member Monica submitted this "Out of the box" project. She said, "I tend to scrapbook using one brand of paper because I always want my papers to coordinate. SO I challenged myself to use three different brands of paper and no card stock. I still managed to pick papers that went together very well. I used old Li'l Davis designs, 3 Bugs in a Rug and Making Memories. I also used a variety of embellishments on this page. I really like the way it turned out. These pictures were taken by my very talented friend Michelle Lanning."

Now it's your turn to "get out of your box" and accept the challenge. See all the details as to how to submit your project for a chance to win a spot on the Guest Design Team in May Challenge below.

Also, don't forget to get involved in the Follow Me contest to win the prize pack from our Sponsor A Little Dash of This and That. Don't forget to vote for your favorite in the Spring Cleaning Challenge. All the details are below.

Special Spring Cleaning Challenge

Before by Monica

Monica has accepted the challenge and here is what she had to say: "I am a little embarrassed to show off my mess! It's really bad at the moment! But this challenge is what I needed!! For starters I don't really have my supplies in one area. In fact I even have a few things hiding in a closet that I forgot to take a picture of.

When my son was born my office/scrap room also turned into a guest room. I had to move my scrapping table out and into the dining room. So needless to say I am limited on space.

So in my office/ everything room I have my jars of ribbon, well some ribbon. I also have the white shelves with buttons and other misc. small items. Then I have the three drawer rubbermaid with ribbons, which my son constantly pulls out, chipboard letters, paint and stamps.

In my dining room I have the table which started off being there just to scrap on but as you can see it is where I just stack stuff up. I now scrap on the dining room table. I leave my tool bag, journaling tags and baby embellishments on the table.

I store my scrapbooks on the top shelf. The middle shelf has my clear containers with all my letter stickers. The bottom shelf has old books. I think this is where I should start, I could use this shelf for scrapbooking stuff. I am thinking of ways to get all my stuff into one space, not sure if I can do that but I have all month!! I hope I can do it! Thanks Kathy for the start"!

Sometimes all we need to get started on doing something we know we need to do is a challenge. So here is your challenge. Send a Before picture of whatever it is you need to organize - and then an After picture when you complete the challenge. See all the details in Special Spring Cleaning Challenge below.

And while your accepting challenges - how about joining in on the March New/Old Challenge - see details below.

$$Frugal Friday Tips$$

Altered CDs by Monica

Monica recently went to a craft show and saw an idea using old CD's. They were very similar to this but they had 4 or more of them connected with ribbon for a wall hanging. Each CD had a picture on it and a letter, so for example some said LOVE, or FAMILY, etc. Monica wanted to make some for Christmas but ran out of time so she decided to make it simplier and just created an ornament out of the CD's. She made one for almost every family member on both sides of her family. They were a hit and really stood out on the tree! It's a great way to use old CD's or DVD's.

Monica just traced the CD onto her patterned paper and cut it out then sanded the edges a little and attached the picture and some stickers. Her husband drilled the holes for her but, she recently got a BIG Bite and it works well too!

What a great way to recycle those old CDs and DVDs. If you create an altered CD we would love to see it. Send it and a description to scrappinpsycho@live.com. We would love to post it.

If you have a frugal tip to share - please send it along with pictures and a description to scrappinpsycho@live.com and it may be chosen to be posted as a future $Frugal Friday Tip$.

March Challenge

Meeting Cousin Eva by Monica

Design Team Member Monica submitted this layout for the March Old/New Challenge. She said, "This lo has more old than new on it.

For the NEW I used my new Martha Stewart punch that my mom gave me for Christmas, I love it. Also the buttons are farely new, they came in a MM page kit.

For the OLD I used some old paper. I bought it over a year ago and had been saving it for who knows what? :) I thought it worked perfect with the colors that both kids have on. The stickers are old too. I actaully got them at a yard sale!! The lady owned a scrapbook store she closed, I got tons of great stuff.

The pictures are also from one year ago. My cousin came to visit from Florida and it was the first time our kids met! I used a NOV.09 pagemaps sketch for this lo."

Now it's your turn to take the challenge. See all the details in the March Old / New Challenge post.

New Design Team Member

Monica has been asked to continue as a full Design Team Member here at Scrap Our Stash. She has been very active here at the blog and I'm sure she will be a great addition to our already awesome team.

If you haven't yet taken a moment to go by each of the DT's blogs and check them out you may want to...

Special Valentine Challenge

Multiple Layouts by Monica

Guest Design Team Member Monica had the following Valentine / Love items to share.

My forever valentine- is a lo she created a few years ago. It is a picture of her and her husband that was taken at a friend's wedding.

Swak- a fun picture or her and her husband that she also made a while ago.

Valentine's 09- is a picture of the tulips her dh sent to her at work last year. She said she had to document this because it was the first time he sent her flowers to work! She loved it!

This frame was a gift she made for her cousin. She got the frame from Michael's for $1 and she used some old paper and a few embellishments! She said this was a very cheap but fun gift idea!

Ok now it's your turn. Check out all the details in the Special Valentine Challenge post below. Remember, your projects do not have to be newly created! Let's see them!

February Challenge

You are the Sonshine of my Life by Monica
For the February Challenge Guest Team Member Monica created this layout of her son. In response to the "10" prompt she used 5 buttons and 5 stars for a total of 10.

She said she really loves how this layout came together. She had bought a Making Memories baby boy pack and it made scrapping these pictures easy. She did include other products as well. She also can't believe that these pictures are almost a year old. She and her son were enjoying a lazy holiday at home. She snapped so many cute pictures that she had a hard time choosing which ones to scrap, so she did a two page layout to be able to use more pictures.

Now it's your turn to take the challenge - see all the details below in February Challenge. We can't wait to see and post your project.

January Challenge

Wacky Hair by Monica
Last year for Christmas I asked for the Making Memories Slice. I used it once or twice right after getting it but haven't dug it out since. I decided to take it back out. I cut out the orange square that my title is on with the Slice. I also used a Pagemaps sketch for this layout. This is on of my favorite pictures of my son from this summer. His daddy got his hair wet and was spiking it all up!!

Now it's your turn! Let's see those Christmas Gifts being put to work! See all the details in January Christmas Gift Challenge - details below.

December Challenge Winner

Thanks to all who participated in this our first Scrap Our Stash Challenge. I hope you enjoyed completing your project as much as we enjoyed having you a part of our challenge.

I decided to choose two winners this month.

Our winner for her layout "Christmas 06" is Monica.


















and our winner for her Card "Celebrate the Season" is Rachel

Both Monica and Rachel will be offered the opportunity to be on the Scrap Our Stash Guest Design Team for the month of February. I'm sure they will both be great contributors to our blog.

Now, for the January Challenge - see all the details above We can't wait to see your projects.