Hey, everyone!  Welcome to the Punky Scraps blog hop!  The design team is taking the time to give a quick introduction of themselves and their work and to welcome back the Punky Scraps challenges!  If you keep hopping, you may run into some pretty cool prizes, including a chance to win a spot on the design team.

So...a little about me: My name is Kat Benjamin.  I am a newlywed and just moved across the United States from Southern California to the Carolina coast.  I love both places.  As long as I'm by a beach, I am happy!  As far as creative stuff goes, I love scrapping.  Not only are embellishments and paper products extremely addicting, but I love that I'm preserving memories for my family.

Here are a few of my layouts:

That's it from me!  Here's the order of the hop.  Have fun!

Punky Blog www.punkyscraps.blogspot.com

Kat Benjamin www.kraftykat9.blogspot.com <--That's me!

Misty Russell www.myscraptherapy.com/

Leah Farqhuarson GUEST www.amusing-to-create.blogspot.co.uk/

Kerry Lambourne www.socksandscrapbooks.blogspot.com

Jaine Drake GUEST www.craftydrake.blogspot.com/

Marie Johansson www.gulavillanivallen.blogspot.com/

Lisa Saunders GUEST www.scrappyfairies.blogspot.com/

Michelle Hernandez www.myanaloglife.blogspot.com/

Tammy Wade www.mumto2angels.blogspot.com/

Wendy Morris GUEST www.scrapnspire.blogspot.co.uk

Sarah Pettersson www.snorsk.blogspot.com/

Celina Matthews www.scrapvamp.blogspot.com/

Sarah Hurley GUEST www.sarahhurley.blogspot.com/

Amy Lassiter www.sparklinggnome.wordpress.com/

Emilie Chamel GUEST www.emiliesscrapbook.blogspot.com/

Ashley Van Etten  www.ashleyvanetten.blogspot.com/

Jolanda Simons www.jolandascrapsels.blogspot.com/

Louise Nelson GUEST www.louise-justloolabelle.blogspot.co.uk/

Natalie www.njmacs.blogspot.com

A layout...and exciting news!

Hey, everyone!  I'm popping in super quick to share a layout...and some fun scrappy news.

First the layout, made using June's Studio Calico kit and last Sunday's Studio Calico sketch (hmmm..see a theme here?)

And then the news...I'm one of the newest members of The Studio Challenges design team!  I have always loved their challenges, so I'm super excited about this fun opportunity.  You can see the rest of the team members here.

Layout: Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye, Echo Park; Alphas: American Crafts; Die cuts, wood shape: Studio Calico; Twine: Studio Calico; Border: Heidi Swapp

Currently Craving...5 for Summer

I don't have anything scrappy to share, but figured I would still try to provide some fun summer inspo...here are the top 5 things I am craving for summer right now (courtesy of my Pinterest boards!)

Brazil on my Mind dress @ ModCloth

 Awesome shoes from Mystique



 What Color is it?  Pastel Prism Watch @ ModCloth

 Lighthouse It Going? dress @ ModCloth

Love Birds necklace via RoyalGoldGifts on Etsy

How about you?  What are you craving right now?  I bet I'd love to pin it...



Pure silliness.

Hey, all!  I have another layout to share that I made recently with this month's Studio Calico kit.  It came together quickly, but I still think it turned out fairly well:

Thanks for popping in...the weekend's almost here! ;o)

Layout: Cardstock: Recollections; Patterned Paper: Echo Park, Kesi'art, Basic Grey, Tim & Beck; Alphas: American Crafts; Die Cuts: October Afternoon; Wood Shapes: Studio Calico; Mist: Tattered Angels

Circles!

Hey, everyone!  I hope you managed to have a nice, relaxing weekend.  Mine was a bit short...I'm not incredibly excited to head back to work tomorrow...oh well, right?

I did have a quick layout that I wanted to share.  Studio Calico had a challenge this week that asked players to use circles in their layout, so this is what I came up with:

I also used the July Studio Calico kit to make the layout.  I'm sort of digging all the primary colors...

Thanks for popping in.  Have a nice week!!

Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Tim & Beck, Authentique, October Afternoon, Basic Grey; Alphas: Pebbles, October Afternoon; Diecuts, Flag, Washi Tape: October Afternoon; Bling: Queen and Company; Mist: Studio Calico

SC Sketch

Hey, everyone!  I hope all my American friends had a happy and safe holiday!  I got some scrapping done over my mini vacation.  I decided to play along with the current sketch over at Studio Calico.  Here is what I came up with:

All supplies came from the June Studio Calico kit.  The complete supply list can be found here.

My Love...

Hello!!  Happy Saturday!  I love the weekends...and even though I have to work tomorrow, I'm not dreading it too much since there's a fun holiday week coming up.

I did want to pop in and share a layout that I did today. I just decided to have fun with it and throw a bunch of stuff down on the paper.  I actually like the way it turned out...and I've always loved the orange and turquoise combo:

Thanks for stopping in!  I hope all my American readers have a safe, fun and happy Fourth!

Layout: Patterned Paper: American Crafts; Transparency: Hambly (I will miss them!); Alphas, Label stickers, heart sticker: Heidi Swapp; Washi tape: Queen & Co; Wood person: Studio Calico; Banner sticker: Jillibean Soup; Tag: Pebbles; Wood banner, Twine: My Mind's Eye; Paint: Apple Barrel; Sequins: Doodlebug Designs

Wedding Album 2

Hello!  I'm popping in real quickly to share another page of our wedding album:

I love the page protectors with the little pockets.  They are so much fun to work with.  I am surprised at how long it takes me to make one of these pages, though.  You think it would be quick, since it's such a simple thing, but it is certainly not a quick process for me!

Patterned Paper: Echo Park; Alphas: Lily Bee; Printables: Miss Tina's;Tags: Paper Source, American Crafts; Labels: Heidi Swapp, Jillibean Soup; Journaling Spot: Elle's Studio

Wedding Album

Hey, everyone!  So, I decided to embark on a big project: our wedding album.  We have a lot of pictures that I love and I knew that I wanted to put them all in one place, so we can flip through them for years to come.  I also knew that I wanted the book to be somewhat creative, but not totally "scrapbook-y."  I decided to organize the weding album much like Project Life.  Here is what I've come up with for my first 2 pages:

Lots of pink and orange, huh?  :o)  I know this project will take me a while, but I will keep plugging along at it and will share pages as they are complete.

Thanks for stopping by!

Page 1: Patterned Paper: Echo Park, Paper Source; Alphas: Jillibean Soup (black letters from an unknown manufacturer); Labels, Heart sticker, mistable banner: Heidi Swapp; Wooden flag: My Mind's Eye; Twine, Page protector: We R Memory Keepers; Journaling Spot: Miss Tina's; Punch: EK Success; Word sticker: KI Memories

Page 2: Patterned Paper: Echo Park; Alphas, flower border: Doodlebug Designs; Twine, page protector: We R Memory Keepers; Wooden banners: My Mind's Eye; Punch: Martha Stewart;Washi Tape: American Crafts; Sticker: Jillibean Soup; Clothespin: Pebbles

Fifty Shades of Pink

Hey, everyone!  I hope you had a nice weekend!  Crate Paper has a fun color challenge this month called "Fifty Shades of Pink."  I do love my monochromatic layouts from time to time!  Here is what I created:

Very, very pink!
Thanks for stopping in!
Layout: Patterned Paper: Crate Paper; Twine: My Mind's Eye; Alphas: American Crafts; Paint: Apple Barrel

June Already?!?!

Can you believe it?  This year is going by so fast.  Geesh.

I do have a quick layout to share with you.  Eric was wearing our niece's tu-tu on his head...cuz that's totally how tu-tus should be worn. ;o)

I hope to get more crafting done this weekend...what fun projects are you working on?

Layout: Patterned Paper: Studio Calico, Basic Grey; Envelope, Alphas: Pebbles; Journaling spot: Elle's Studio; Doily: Martha Stewart; Date sticker: Evalicious; Paint: Apple Barrel

Wedding kicks

I bet you are getting super tired of my wedding layouts...unfortunately, I'm not anywhere close to being done, so....yeah.  Lots of pink and orange to come on my little 'ol blog.  The layout I'm sharing today is of our wedding shoes:

And a close-up shot:

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day and was able to have fun and stay safe.

Layout: Patterned Paper:Lily Bee Design, Crate Paper; American Crafts; Alphas: Lily Bee Design, American Crafts; Stamps: Studio Calico, SandyLion; Tag: Paper Source; Paint: Apple Barrel

Just Married...

Hi, everybody!!  Tomorrow is FRIDAY!  Hip, hip hoooray!!!  And, if you're like me, you have a long weekend because of the upcoming holiday.  Double hip, hip hoooooooray!  :o)

I have another layout to share tonight.  I had fun making this one...just threw random things down on a paper until it felt "done." 

Love the soothing colors of May's Studio Calico kit.  The kit also includes lots of hexagons...which I have not figured out how to use yet...but I will.  ;o)

Layout: Patterned Paper: Studio Calico, Echo Park; Banner, Rubons: Heidi Swapp; Fabric: Pink Paislee; Sequins: Doodlebug Design; Bling: Prima; Twine: We R Memory Keepers; Clip: K & Company (Smash); Mist: Tattered Angels

May Creative Type

Hi, all!!  It was my team's turn to post on The Creative Type blog today.  This month's challenge: scrap about empowerment.  Here is the layout that I whipped up (you can probably tell that it was done in a bit of a hurry):

You must go check out what the other ladies created.   There are some seriously talented ladies over there!  And this month's prize is awesome: a tutorial from Vee Jennings!

Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Studio Calico, Echo Park; Die Cuts: Studio Calico; Alphas: American Crafts; Paint: Apple Barrel; Badge: Marcy Penner

A Scraplift!

Hi, everyone!  Aren't I terrible at keeping my blog updated recently?  So sorry!

I do have a quick layout that I would like to share, though.  My layout is a scraplift of Shannon Zickel's layout found on page 53 of the June Scrapbooks, Etc. issue:

Thanks for stopping by!!
Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Echo Park; Alphas: American Crafts, October Afternoon; Label Sticker: Heidi Swapp; Sequins: Doodlebug Design; Star sticker: Sassafras; Mist: Studio Calico; Tag: Paper Source; Calendar: Jenni Bowlin; Flowers: Recollections, Sassafras

Wedding Pinspiration

Hey, everyone!  I am stopping by to share a picture of my wedding boquet.  I used inspiration from my 'Wedding Ideas' board on Pinterest.  Here is the exact pin.  And here is what I made:

Photo by Kathy Cobb Photography

I bought the ribbon and all the butterflies from Michaels.  You can find the butterflies in the floral section.  It was actually a really easy process to make this boquet.  The butterflies already came on long wires, so I arranged them how I wanted and then taped them together with floral tape.  I then went on YouTube and found a video about how to wrap a boquet (although, I can't remember which one I used)...and ta-da!  Something unique!

P.S.- Like my sash?  I bought it from this AMAZING Etsy shop, which I coincidentally first found out about on Pinterest.

Creative Type - April

Hey, everyone!  Happy, happy weekend!!  I wanted to pop in and share my layout for The Creative Type this month. Our prompt: be inspired by one of our favorite scrappers.  It was really hard for me to pick just one.  I have so many that I love and am inspired by: Antonia Krajicek, fellow Punky Scrapper, Michelle Hernandez, and Maggie Holmes, just to name a few.  However, I finally settled on the super-creative-and-inspirational Janna Werner.  I fell in love with her layout found here.  And here is my layout:

There is a lot of inspiration on The Creative Type blog this month, so hop on over and check it out!
Layout: Patterned Paper: Lily Bee, American Crafts; Alphas: October Afternoon; Rub-ons: 7Gypsies; Clip: K & Company; Mistable banner: Heidi Swapp; Fabric Banner: Pink Paislee; Paint: Apple Barrel; Twine: My Mind's Eye

Wedding Balloons

Hey, everyone...I'm popping in quickly to share a new layout. This picture was taken on our wedding day.  I love ballons (see my Pinterest board here) and definitely wanted to find a way to work them in to our professional wedding photos.  I am so glad that E's Dad got this great shot of him carrying the whole bunch around...i LOVE it!!

Although, that picture was not as great as this picture, taken by our wonderful photographer, Kathy Cobb:

Oh...giggle.
Layout: Cardstock: Recollections; Patterned Paper: Lily Bee; Mist: Tattered Angels; Alphas: Jillibean Soup; Rubons: 7Gypsies; Sticker, Frame, Banner: Heidi Swapp; Twine: We R Memory Keepers

Creative Scrappers #125

Hey, everyone!  Guess what I did today?  I played along with Creative Scrappers!  I haven't done that in FOREVER!  It used to be something that I did every Sunday.  So glad to get back into with this layout:

And I used my Scrapbook Circle kit again.  I still love how colorful it is :o)
Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Lily Bee, American Crafts; Mist: Studio Calico; Alphas: American Crafts; Sequins: Doodlebug Design; Sticker: Jillibean Soup Punch: EK Success

Get Picky - April!

Hey, everyone!  For those of you that have Blogger, isn't this new set-up weird?  I'm not sure if I like it or not....and I definitely want my dashboard back.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll love it once I get used to it.
Anyways, it's Friday, so it's Punky Scraps day!  Today's challenge was a "Get Picky" challenge, so we worked off a recipe.  I used a few of the recipe items: something brown, a butterfly, mesh/burlap, paint splatters, 5 different patterned papers...and had a lot of fun with it:

Thanks for popping in!  Go check out Punky Scraps to see what everyone else did!
Layout: Patterned Paper: Pebbles; Alphas: October Afternoon; Twine: We R Memory Keppers; Rub Ons: 7Gypsies; Banner: Pink Paislee

Neon Love

Hey, everyone! I am popping by to quickly share a layout that I made recently. I am lovin' the neon trend and so when I saw this month's Scrapbook Circle kit, I had to buy it. It's so, so fun and colorful! And here is the layout I made of my husband and I {YES, I said husband...we got married this past weekend :-) }

Thanks for stopping by!Layout: Patterned Paper: American Crafts; Stickers: Heidi Swapp; Jillibean Soup; Paper Heart: Paper Source; Marker: Sharpie; Rub-ons: Heidi Swapp; Letters: Jillibean Soup

Punky Sketch...

Hey, everyone! There is a new sketch challenge on the Punky Scraps blog. Here is my take on it: Go see what the other lovel ladies created! ...And hopefully i'll be back with a better blogpost soon! :o)

Layout: Patterned Paper: Lilybee; Doily: Target; Alphas: October Afternoon; Wood letters, Arrow sticker: Studio Calico; Envelope: American Crafts; Washi Tape: K & Co

Hey, everyone! It's Friday, which means there's a new challnege over at Punky Scraps today! For this week's prompt, we had to take inspiration from a fun, colorful image (go check it out here). Here is what I created:

And here are a few close-ups, since the picture is a bit hard to see:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Go check out Punky Scraps to see what the other fabulous ladies created!

Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Pebbles; Tag: Paper Source; Punch: EK Success; Paint: Apple Barrel; Chipboard Frame: American Crafts; Paper Border: Doodlebug Design; Stamp: American Crafts

Happy April!

Hey, all! Happy, happy April! Where is the year going? My goodness!

I have a quick layout to share with you. I made it using a recent Studio Calico kit. I love that Pebbles paper (the bright-colored wavy lined paper), so I'm trying to ration it out and use it on as many layouts as possible...
Thanks for dropping in. My goal is to be a bit more active on the blog this month...last month was an epic fail in that department :o)

Layout: Cardstock: American Crafts; Alphas: Pebbles; Patterned Paper: Pebbles, American Crafts; Trim: Pink Paislee; Ticket: Tim Holtz; Stamp: Hero Arts; Mist: Studio Calico; Twine: My Mind's Eye

March Creative Type

Good morning, all! Team B's layouts are now up at The Creative Type! The challenge this month: take inspiration from a magazine cover. I chose this lovely little cover:
I adored the colors...and liked the random splattering of rings. Here is what I created:

Not my best work...but I'm getting back in the "scrappy saddle," so there will be a few misses here and there. :o)

Go play along with this month's challenge at The Creative Type!

Happy Thursday!!

Layout: Patterned Paper: K & Company, Basic Grey; Alphas: American Crafts, Sassafras, Jenni Bowlin Studios; Bling: Recollections; Punch: Martha Stewart

Pinterest inspired art...

Hi, everyone!!! As you well know, I just recently moved across country. And while moving can sometimes be hassle, there are some positives, too: getting rid of stuff you don't need anymore, getting organized, and re-decorating! I do love the re-decorating part a little bit more than the throwing-a-bunch-of-crap-away part. :o)

In my re-decorating quest, I turned to my beloved Pinterest account, of course. This is one of my recent pins, and I knew I had to try it out:
I knew that I was nowhere near talented enough to create the complex herringbone pattern, so I stuck to a more simple chevron pattern. Taping off the canvas in the pattern I wanted was the longest phase of the project. It would probably be a lot easier if you decided to tape off stripes or a random geometric pattern.

After my canvas was taped off, I just began randomly painting it in the colors of my choice. I'm not gonna lie...at this phase I was concerned. I thought my color choices were terrible and the whole thing was going to look awful.

However, after I pulled off all the tape, I was pretty happy with the results. And now my bathroom has one-of-a-kind artwork that didn't cost a billion dollars.

God bless Pinterest and all of its wonderful ideas. :o)

Have you created anything inspired by Pinterest lately? Leave me the link...I'd love to see!

Weak...

This past weekend, E not-so-politely (ahem) informed me that my blog had gotten "weak." And, unfortunately, he's absolutely right. Yes, I've been busy (moving across country, figuring out new job, planning wedding to the super-polite one...and the list goes on). However, I love to create...and it makes me sad that I haven't done much of it recently...so I sat down and threw something together quickly....like super quick...like, I made this layout in 10 minutes. But at least I made something :o)

Hopefully, I can get back to creating on a regular basis again soon...because I really do miss it...What have all of you been up to recently?

Layout: Cardstock: Recollections; Alphas: American Crafts; Tags: Elle's Studio; Plastic Flower: Jenni Bowlin; Brad, Stamp: American Crafts; Patterned Paper, Twine: My Mind's Eye; Punch: Martha Stewart; Mist: Tattered Angels

Leap Year/Day!

Hey, everyone! Happy Leap Year (Leap Day?)! I should have suggested to E that we get married today, since we would then only be responsible for remembering anniversaries every 4 years.

However, that is not really why I'm stopping in...I am stopping in to share a quick layout. I really wanted to do something with pinwheels and I thought the fun colors and papers in January's Studio Calico kit were perfect:

Thanks for dropping by...enjoy the rest of your work week...

Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Pebbles, American Crafts; Sequins: Pebbles; Alphas: American Crafts; Mist: Studio Calico

Creative Type...February

Hey, everyone!! So, I've been gone for a bit I know (I moved across country!)...but I'm back now and hopefully will be blogging/sharing again on a regular basis.
Tonight, I just wanted to quickly share the layout I made for this month's challenge at The Creative Type. The prompt this month is to scrap your celebrity crush and use the color red. I took this opportunity to scrap some photos from a trip to the wax museum in Las Vegas:

Thanks for popping in!Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants; Alphas: October Afternoon, American Crafts; Mist: Tattered Angels; Chipboard: Maya Road; Transparency: Hambly; Label: October Afternoon; File tab: American Crafts

Punky Scraps Share

Hi, everyone!! I know I'm a bit late on this, but I did want to pop in real quickly and share a quick layout I made for this month's Punky Scraps "get picky" challenge:
Head on over to Punky Scraps to see all of the requirements for this week's challenge and to see the other fabulous projects!

Enjoy your week! Hopefully I'll be back to regular sharing/posting soon.

Layout: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Echo Park; Alphas: basic Grey, Studio Calico; Mist, Banner sticker, Wooden shapes: Studio Calico; Twine: My Mind's Eye; Tissue Doily: Fancy Pants

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!

As I mentioned on Sunday, E & I do not really celebrate Valentine's Day, but I still think it's kind of a fun, cute holiday. And while we will not go out to a fancy dinner or buy each other gifts (we did gifts one year, but it wasn't really our thing), I still decided to make him something special. E actually really likes my scrapbooking hobby, so I decided to make a layout just for him:

I hope you all enjoy today...if you're like me, you will celberate by eating chocolate and gummy hearts...yum! :o)

Layout: Patterned paper: Crate Paper; Chipboard frames, tab: American Crafts; badge: Evalicious; Doily: Target; Tickets: Tim Holtz; Alphas: October Afternoon; Phrase sticker: Cosmo Cricket; Mist: Studio Calico; Flowers: Petaloo; Border sticker: Sassafras

Love*

Hey, everyone! I wanted to pop in quickly and share a layout with you that I made recently. I made it to play along with this week's Studio Calico sketch challenge. Also, since Valentine's Day is just a few days away, I thought it was appropriate to make something mushy :o) E & I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, but I still use the holiday as an excuse to make paper hearts and eat lots of candy :o)
Enjoy your week!

Layout: Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Pebbles (American Crafts); Alphas, Mist: Studio Calico; Tag: Ormolu; Flag: Pebbles (American Crafts); Filter doily: Fancy Pants; Phrase stickers: Cosmo Cricket; Heart Punch: EK Success