Sketchy Thursday

On Sketchy Thursday they are having a sketch challenge for a guest designer on their blog.  The sketch for this challenge is here . . .

I had a lot of fun with this one!  Along with using the above sketch you had to include the following:

• A summer topic
• The colors Red, Orange, and/or Yellow
• A journal spot

To distress the edges of my layout I used Tulip Ink with a sponge applicator.  Since discovering distressing with ink last fall I have not stopped using it on my layouts, photo mats, titles, and cards!  It is safe to say I LOVE this technique!!

Notice that I stamped the trees across the bottom of my page.  I stamped them in Chocolate Ink first directly onto the paper.  Then on another piece of paper (green patterned) I stamped the same image using New England Ivy Ink.  I then cut out just the tops of the trees from this green paper and using 3D foam tape placed them on top of the stamped image on my layout.  I love the clear stamps because I was able to stamp directly over the image three times to get the dark green color that I wanted.

My layout with the tree stamped directly onto the paper.

The layout with the green treetops taped to the page with the 3D foam tape.

Here is a view of me stamping over the image a third time.  Sorry about the distorted look of my hand, it is difficult to stamp and take a picture at the same time -lol  

After I was finished I thought it needed something else.  Now I usually craft in the afternoons when my two youngest children are napping.  Instead of doing what I should be doing (like dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc.) I craft!  So I asked my oldest who was playing in the room while I was crafting, what else I should put on my layout.  He said it needed stitching, red stitching (red is his favorite color).  So I hand stitched the circle and LOVE how it turned out!  I have a pretty smart 4 year old!

And because I usually do layouts instead of one page I added to this page and here is my layout!  

I'd love to win the challenge and be a guest designer but even if I don't win I had a lot of fun with this layout - and made some memories.  To me that is what crafting is all about (or at least supposed to be about).