We've had such a fantastic time this month using Liz Chidester's excellent sketches. She inspired all of us so much. The design team also did an incredible job of inspiring us to create.

On Tuesday 7/23 - Embossing 
Tracy challenged us to do some embossing. Wet or dry embossing or a combo. Along with the sketch.

Here is her sample layout.


On Wednesday 7/24 - Summer Gone By -
Barb challenged us to scrap all those photos of past summers. Using the new sketch and some of the new colors  featured in the color cards for this year. A bit of old & new.
Sketch

Color Combo Cards 


Here is her sample


On Thurday -7/25 - Anything Goes 
Jan challenged us to be inspired by the sketch and bust out those older papers & embellishments and mix them with some new paper & embellishments.
Sketch    

Here is her sample



On Friday 7/26 - Designer's Choice aka Scraplift a Member -
The Design Team challenged themselves and you to find inspiration in the gallery and scraplift a fellow member and create a beautiful project.

Here are the layouts by the design team.
Annie chose to scraplift Patti aka KSj351:

This is Annie's version


Barb chose to scraplift Jan.

This is Barb's version


Beth chose to scraplift Bev.

This is Beth's version


Bev chose to scraplift Jeaunes Viljoen.

This is Bev's version


Cassy chose to scraplift Kimmer.


This is Cassy's version



Tracy chose to scraplift Cassy (Altered Diva).

This is Tracy's version


The design team did a fabulous job. We can't wait to see your scraplift in the gallery. Now that the design team is done for the month issuing challenges you have a few more days(until the 31st) to complete as many challenges as possible. Remember to post them in the thread and in the gallery to be entered in this month's prize drawing. Thank you for always creating and inspiring us.

Make Up Monday 07/22/2013

Are you enjoying our "Mad About Sketches" month as much as the Challenge Team members are? Because we're having a blast! Thank you to Liz Chidester for providing us with such wonderful layouts! 

On Tuesday, Jan brought us this sketch and asked us to use jute or twine in our project:



She gave us this wonderful example:



Wednesday, Jan was up again with another sketch:



This time, she challenged us to use wood veneer or woodgrain print in our project. And here's her example:



Annie was up on Thursday, with this sketch and a challenge to use vellum, stitching, and black and white in our project:



and here's her beautiful layout:



Friday's challenge was brought to us by Barb. This was the sketch:



And we celebrated the anniversary of the Breyers Ice Cream trademark by using the colors in the Breyers Birthday Blast ice cream as our color inspiration. Here is Barb's layout:



Cassy challenged us to "grunge it up" on Saturday, with this sketch:



And here's her delightfully grungy layout:



We ended the week on Sunday with Bev. She brought us this sketch:



Bev posted a photo to inspire us. And here is her inspiring layout:



Mad About Sketches continues this week on the Cookin' Up Creations forum; and you will have a few days to complete the July challenges. Each completed challenge earns you a chance in the prize drawing. So come on and play!

Layout of the Week 7/17/13

Beth is unable to post this right now. So, I offered to help her out.  I know that she would love this layout just as much as I do.

This week I choose this layout by Ina. She did an amazing job with the sketch. I love her use of color combo, layering and die cuts work so fantastic together.


Congrats Ina. You can see her gallery here --> http://cookinupcreations.com/cpg15x/thumbnails.php?album=78

Make Up Monday July 15th

For Technique Tuesday, Jan challenged you to use this amazing sketch and add Paint to our project.

In What's New Wednesday, Barb challenged us to use dies with the sketch.

In Toss up Thursday, Cassy inspired us with this sketch and a theme from the poem.

 In Focus Friday, Bev wanted to focus on shapes and use at least 3 different ones.

For Sketchy Saturday, Barb wanted us to focused on the banner and use 4 different papers on it and only 1 of which could be cardstock.

And finally for Inspiration Sunday, Tracy inspired us to grab our vacation photos with water and be inspired by them.

 OMG what amazing inspiration this week... hope your enjoying all the sketches.. and having some fun creating.

Layout of the Week -- 07/10/2013

I have the pleasure of choosing this week's Layout of the Week. It's always a treat to go into the Cookin' Up Creations gallery and see all of the awesome projects our members have posted.

Today, I chose this layout by JAN as Layout of the Week. As soon as I went into the gallery, it caught my eye. I love her choice of patterned papers, her positioning of all her elements, her misting, and of course, that wonderful photo of one of her beloved dogs.

Congratulations, Jan, on Layout of the Week!

Be sure to visit our Gallery and see all of the inspiration from our members. We also invite you to play along with our daily Blue Plate Special challenges on the Cookin' Up Creations forum. This month, we're celebrating "Mad About Sketches"! Each Blue Plate Special challenge includes a sketch by Liz Chidester. Each completed challenge earns you one chance in the Dessert Tray prize drawing at the end of the month. Come on over and check it out!

Make Up Monday - First Week of July Challenges

Happy July everyone!  This is one of my favorite months!  Sun, fun, friends, family, fireworks, grilling, and scrapping!  This month at CUC, we have been blessed to have Liz Chedester create a month's worth of sketches and awesome inspiration for us!  What could be better??  Well, we also add our own little twist to each sketch to challenge you even more.  Here are this week's Blue Plate Special Challenges:

For Technique Tuesday, Cassy challenged you to use this amazing sketch and add a little technique with watercolor markers and spritzers to create a background: 

In What's New Wednesday, Bev challenged us to use punchinella or something similar and this sketch to create a one of a kind layout as she did:

For the Fourth of July, in Toss up Thursday, Barb inspired us with this sketch and challenged us to use Stars and Stripes to create a layout:

In Focus Friday, Tracy wanted to focus on Summer Treats and this awesome sketch:

For Sketchy Saturday, Jan asked us to use a Polaroid frame and this sketch:

And finally for Inspiration Sunday, Annie inspired us to use bows on a layout and this sketch as she did here:

How could you not be inspired by this amazing scrapping????  I hope we filled your inspiration board this week!  Come join us for family and fun too and even get some scrappin done! 

Layout of The Week

This week I have chosen Petra's layout - Celebrate 25 Years

I love how she featured her hubby, herself & their beautiful children as part of this layout. I really like Petra used soft colors on this layout. Also, How Petra used some gold & pearl touches.

Make Up Monday 07/01/2013

Can you believe it ..... this is July 1 already! That means the year is half over; summer is just getting rolling; and the Fourth Birthday Bash Celebration at Cookin' Up Creations is coming to an end. 

We had a brand new challenge EVERY day in June to celebrate the forum's fourth birthday. Although the month is over, you still have a couple more days to finish up the challenges and get your name into the  Dessert Tray prize drawing.

Here are just a few of the 30 challenges offered through the month:

Tammy started a fun extra challenge -- design (and model) your own party hat! Forum member Petra made one fantastic creation:

On day 5, Cassy gave us a great tutorial for a "banner on a banner" card design. Here are her fun examples:

What's a party without balloons? On day 11, Barb asked us to create something using balloons. Here's her layout, using balloons she cut on her Cricut:

On day 16, Jan offered something completely different: use leftover paper and other scrapbooking supplies to wrap and decorate a package! Here is her lovely example:

In the tradition of cutting the birthday cake, Annie's "Cut Me a Piece" challenge on day 24 asked us to use die cuts on our projects. Here's her beautiful layout:

On day 29, Tamara reminded us that a good birthday gift recipient always says thank you, and asked us to make thank you cards. Here is her fun example:

You can check out all 30 of the challenges on the Birthday Bash Celebration forum here.

And join us starting TODAY on the Cookin' Up Creations Forum for "Mad About Sketches"! Each challenge in July will feature a sketch by the talented Liz Chidester. You won't want to miss this!