Black and White

If you visit here much at all, you know that I love mixing colors, patterns and textures.  It is my favorite thing about scrapbooking. But sometimesa challenge helps nudge (shove) me out of my box.  This week I came across two challenges that would take color (mostly) out of the mix. 

One of the March "Layout A Week" challenges at Studio Calico asked that you make black and white the focus of your project.  And one of the challenges at the Paper Issues Spring Crop called for a monochromatic layout.  So I went for it.....

I limited myself to black and white (and a little gold) for a layout.  And to be honest, I kind of love it.

I focused on mixing patterns and textures while trying to maintain a "light" feel.  The black plastic grid was from an ancient Studio Calico kit and had been hanging on my peg board forever.  When choosing papers I used two vellums (because they add lots of texture without adding much visual weight) and patterns that were predominantly white.  A chalkboard shipping tag added a different texture and a pop of black.  And the black and white photo really pulled it all together.

I'm not giving up all those pretty patterned papers but this was a fun exercise with a great end result.  And that nudge out of my box is the reason I love creative challenges.  It pushes me to try something different I never would have tried.

I hope you're finding your own scrappy time.  Try something new the next time you sit down to play.  You might just love what you make.

Whitewash

Every once in a while a collection features a product that I fall in love with.  When American Crafts first introduced the Hazelwood collection (designed by 1Canoe2), the 12x12 sheet of wood veneer with the floral pattern caught my eye.  It was beautiful, but I just wasn't sure what I would do with it.

Naturally that didn't slow me down a bit - I got my hands on a piece at my first opportunity. My first thought was that I would use it as the base of a layout.  And honestly, I think that would be beautiful.  But in the end, I tried cutting it.  I used a box cutter in my craft room against a ruler to score it and then found it broke off quite nicely.  And that means I can use it as a unique layering element on my layouts - perfect to add dimension and texture.

But when I tried to use a piece on this layout, I found that the color didn't work well with the yellow patterned paper.  I was setting it aside when I thought about how Joanna Gaines is always treating wood and brick to maintain texture when refurbishing houses. (I am addicted to Fixer Upper lately and wish she would come fix up my house.) So I pulled out a tube of white acrylic paint and an old rag.  By squirting the paint directly on the piece of wood veneer I wanted to use and immediately wiping it off with a rag I created a whitewash look that made the veneer more neutral and a perfect layer for my project.

You still see the pretty floral pattern, but the effect is much softer.  After the paint was dry, I used a soft olive chalk ink on the edges to help add definition to my layers.  Here is the finished layout.

The wood adds all the dimension and texture I was looking for and still works well with the yellow tones in the patterned papers.  I knew all that time I spent watching HGTV would pay off.

I am planning lots of crafty time this afternoon.  I hope you find time to play today too. 

Layers and More Layers

I love the look of clean and simple pages.  But when I start to create a page, I just can't help myself - I want to add lots of layers and details.  And when I started following the Lovely Layers class at Big Picture Classes, I just wanted to create even more layers.

So when I saw this week's sketch at Studio Calico, my first thought was that I would pass.  The inspiration layouts (both the original by Mandie Pierce and the one Maggie Massey created using the sketch) are gorgeous, but they definitely fall within the clean and simple design perspective -- and that's just not my thing right now. 

But the sketch was stuck in my head.  So instead I challenged myself to use the sketch to create a layout that used all those layers I love so much.  I came up with this:

Both the inspiration layouts featured a black and white photo. I chose to use a black and white photo also - it was an easy connection to the inspiration pieces and I am increasingly drawn to the simplicity in black and white photos as a counterpoint to all the color and texture of the layers.  And, as a bonus, a black and white photo can be effective even when photo quality isn't as good as I would like.

Next I focused on the design and pulled out the elements that I liked.  I decided to focus on a relatively large rectangle as a base, building a layered element at the bottom corner, using a horizontal piece at the bottom of my photo bloc and creating an embellishment block to one side of my photo.

I started by creating some patterned paper layers on top of and under the large rectangle base to support my photo.  I tried to vary the colors, patterns and textures while keeping the feel light. The dark strip at the bottom of the page helped to balance all the light colors.

Then I dug into my ephemera stash to add detail.  My favorite thing about the whole layout is probably the embellishment cluster at the bottom of the layout.  Its a mix of some favorites that have been in my stash for a long time.  And I love that the stitched border echos the scallops in the original layout.

This was a great exercise for me - the trick with sketches is to make them your own. 

I'm hoping to spend some scrappy time this weekend.  I hope you find some time to play to........

It's All About the Feelings

I scrap for lots of reasons - and I often say that the biggest reason is that creating makes me happy.  It is essentially my substitute for therapy.  But sometimes life reminds me that the art of memorykeeping is really about capturing feelings - whether they are the feelings generated by little everyday moments, milestones, or even really hard things.

Recently my mom got some scary health news.  And while I am 54 years old, I have never imagined life without my mother (even when she makes me crazy).  I live several hours from her and when she called, my first instinct was to find a recent photo.  It made me smile and it made me cry.  But I knew I wanted to scrap it.

The photo sat on my desk for about a week while I thought about the story I wanted to capture.  I knew I wanted to create a pretty layout that featured a black and white photo, but I wasn't sure about the feelings I wanted to capture.  I finally just started - and then the message was clear:  "You Will Always Be Mommy To Me."

Most products are from the December Citrus Twist kits - added maggie holmes chipboard, alphas and cosmo cricket tissue

I didn't add a lot of journaling, but the act of making the layout helped me process everything I was feeling.  Because that's what it comes down to - she's my mommy and I will always need her.   (I really recommend using a creative project to help work through hard things.)

I had just finished listening to the first lesson in Raquel Bowman's class, Lovely Layers, at Big Picture Classes and put lots of things I'd learned to work on this project.  All the little details she suggested added so much impact to the design.

First I added a little bit of stitching to one of the layers.  I don't have a sewing machine and am not a great hand sewer, so I went for a bit of stitching on one layer instead of stiching a complete frame around one or more layers.

 I tried to add lots of textures to the layers - I used lots of patterned paper, some vellum with gold, a tag, and some old Cosmo Cricket tissue that I crumpled to my layers.  And I added a bit of chipboard between some of the layers to add dimension.

And I tried to create different edges on the papers used for the layers.  The doily obviously had a pretty round lacy edge.  I tore the edge on the vellum and tore the bit of tissue.  I distressed the edges of some of the layers and inked others.  And I don't have any border punches, so I used a corner punch to add a bit of extra detail to one of the layers.

I'm ready now to support my mommy in this chapter of her life.  I will no doubt be scrapping my way through it (even if the projects are unrelated) as a way to cope with the stress and worry.  And if you could find a minute to keep her in your prayers, I would sure appreciate it.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - I plan to create and appreciate little moments.  This weekend I want to "TRY" to find the joy in the everyday.  I hope you do the same.

Watercolor Splatters

Every Sunday Paper Issues posts a scraplift challenge on their facebook fan page.  The inspiration layouts are always amazing, but I'll be honest - I don't take the challenge very often.  But this week, the challenge was stuck in my head.

This is the inspiration layout by Michelle Arseneault Gallant - her design is simple but the color choices are really striking.



So I decided to do my own version of the layout.  - I had a single photo of my dog (one of my favorite subjects lately) and used this layout as inspiration for my own design.

I maintained the general design but added more layers under the photo - I love mixing patterns and colors in the layers under a photo. I started with the papers and embellishments in the January Citrus Twist Scrapbook and Pocket Life kits.  I found a neutral strip that worked well at the top of my page - no cutting needed.  I added a few extra embellishments (the blue heart clip, the gold heart, the too cute die cut and the wood stars) from my stash.

Then it was time for some ink splatters.  If you visit here much, you know that just about every project has some ink splatters.  I usually use spray inks on a round paint brush.  But I really wanted to match the dark blue in the paper and die cuts -- and I just didn't have an ink that worked. I pulled out my cheap set of watercolors from Michaels, got the brush really wet and picked a blue that matched the papers.  I used the paint to create the splatters and it worked perfectly!

So today was a win - I finished a layout, tried something new with my current stash and fit in some crafty time for the seventh day in a row.  I'm feeling pretty good about sticking to my resolutions and "trying."

I hope you're having a good week too.  Thanks for stopping by.

Do Over

I wasn't very motivated or inspired last week - but I got up yesterday, determined to make something.  It was really early when I got back from walking the dog (about 6) so I was really excited to see that Citrus Twist had already posted their weekly sketch challenge.

I really liked the sketch and the CT take on it was very cool.  But I really struggle with layouts that use lots of circles.  And my goal was to make something - not get frustrated - so in my head I turned those circles into squares.

I used my May Citrus Twist kits - they are gorgeous with lots of Pink Paislee Fancy Free, Maggie Holmes Bloom and other coordinating supplies.  And made this.

It was close to the sketch, I photographed it and posted it for the challenge.  An hour later I walked by my scrapbook table, looked at it and didn't like it at all.  Am I the only one who does that?

So I started to pull it apart - but took a breath and thought about what I didn't like - and, being me, I decided there wasn't enough layer or detail in the layout.  So I dug through my kit goodies and got to work.  And ended up with this.

Same layout but with more layers and more details.  And I am so much happier with it.  This is the only thing I made yesterday, but I learned two things.

• When I don't like a project, starting over isn't always the only solution.  Take time tot hink about how to improve the first attempt.  Small changes can make a big difference.
• It's important to know your style - and rely on those elements when you are stuck.  Stretching and trying new things is important and fun - but going back to what you know and love is the best way to find your mojo.         

I wish I could stay home and put those lessons to the test this morning.  But I'm off to work.  Have a marvelous Monday.

Getting (A Little) Messy

I've been really lazy about writing here lately and definitely want to get back on track.  A lot has been going on with my family lately, and this seems to be one of the first things that doesn't get done.  But I've been busy creating and doing some reorganization, so I have lots to share. Hopefully this will be the week I get back on track.

One of my creative goals this year is to experiment more with mixed media.  I have the supplies, but almost never use them.  I've spent some time thinking about why I don't use those supplies more and can come up with a long list of reasons.

• I am too impatient to wait for things to dry
• I don't think of myself as artistic and don't have the confidence to experiment
• I love playing with papers and embellishments, and I am not sure how to incorporate mixed media into my style....

.... I could go on, but you get the idea.  So I am going to try and push out of my comfort zone by playing with a mixed media technique at least one or two times a month.  This month I tried a silkscreen (which I know is super easy) and ink splatters which I already use on almost all of  my projects.  The idea is to try something, not to get overwhelmed with the process.

I started with the current sketch from My Creative Sketches.

For my layout I stayed close to the sketch but dropped the large rectangle down into the bottom corner of the layout.  I also moved the strips of paper in front of that rectangle.

Papers and embellishments are from March Studio Calico kits - Homespun and addons

I also added a larger square of the bright green paper and covered most of it with white vellum to create additional dimension.  I wanted the pop of color but too much of that green was going to overwhelm the other papers.  I used a label and a project life card to extend the feeling of strips on the far side of the photo.  And that little woodgrain flag is a vintage studio calico color theory flag from my stash.

Because I don't plan well, I built my layout design and then went back to add the silkscreen leaf motif in the top corner.  The silkscreen was in the March scrapbook kit at Studio Calico and is just lovely.  After I stuck it to the top corner of the paper, I randomly added small bits of Color Theory acrylic paint in 4 colors - mint hint, limelight, blush crush and coral bay - until the design was well covered.   I pulled up the silkscreen and washed it right way. (This is an important safety tip if you want to use your silkscreen more than once.)  I was thrilled when I came back and looked at the way it turned out.  It picked up all the colors in the paper strips but was still soft and simple.  And it dried really quickly ........  I added a few gold spatters around the leaf and down at the bottom of the page and I was done.

At the end of the day, I called this experiment with mixed media a success - I pushed myself a little bit out of my box and ended up with a layout that still looked like I made it.  It's taken me a long time to develop my style and I don't want it to get lost in a rush to try all the new things.

I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have for other mixed media techniques I should try.  I have gelatos, watercolors, acrylic paints, gesso, lots of spray inks and who knows what else tucked away here.  It's time to use them more .....and of course I've never been afraid to buy a new supply.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by.

Using a Sketch From Memory

I haven't been around  for a bit - mostly because we've been having computer and internet problems.  Thankfully, they are all fixed now and I can share some of my projects.  And the good news - the computer problems inspired me to use a sketch a different way.

This is the first sketch for the month at Stuck?!  I checked it out and then lost consistent internet connectivity.  Generally I print out the sketches and have them on my desk when I work.  As a result my design usually stays close to the sketch or I make conscious decisions about moving or replacing elements on the sketch.  This time, I worked from my memory of the sketch.

Here are the elements that stood out to me.

• circles
• vertical layers
• a horizontal layer
• embellishment clusters

So  I used those elements to build my design.  (I did go to my stash for some pieces.)  Here was what I came up with

So instead of working directly from the sketch, I worked with my memory of the sketch.  I used two circles but didn't layer them directly - instead my vertical layers acted more as a link between them.  And I really only had one embellishment cluster that i used in combination with the title to create the horizontal element in the sketch. 

It was a fun way to work with a sketch - I'm glad circumstances nudged me in a new direction.  And I was really happy with the  finished product - it was fun and unique.  I will definitely take this approach again at least some of the time when I am working with a sketch.

I have lots more to share - keep an eye out. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Together

On Monday the member challenge was posted at Studio Calico.  The challenge was to make a layout about a significant relationship in your life.  I knew I wanted to do a layout about my relationship with my husband - we celebrated our 25th anniversary in November.  And over he years he has made me crazy, supported me, helped me, put up with my crafting even when he doesn't understand it, and most importantly, never stopped loving me.

But we take most of the pictures in our family and I will be darned if I could find a recent picture of us together.  Then I remembered a picture I took of our feet when we were on a rare weekend trip alone to celebrate our anniversary.  And it was really perfect - even though it was from a weekend celebration, it captured the everyday support for each other that marriage means. 

I used the current sketch at My Creative Sketches to inspire my layout design.  I liked the chance to use lots of layers and fun patterned papers - I was trying to capture "that loving feeling" without going over the top romantic.

I started with papers from my February Citrus Twist Kits for my project - then added some green and the black and white stripes. 

The embellishments all came from the Citrus Twist kits and I love that there are so many textures in the choices this month.  The cork stars with the gold glitter are to die for and rub ons are always one of my favorites.  And I am a total sucker for rubber pieces so these Maggie Holmes tags and banners made my day.

The alpha this month was the biggest surprise in the kit.  It is from the new Crate Paper baby line and it wasn't even on my "maybe" shopping list.  But I seriously love it - the puffy alpha and the subtle gray lines are awesome - and the best thing - the letters are in two sizes which creates so many options.  I used the small size here.

I can't believe the weekend is almost over - I'm off to finish laundry.  Hope you found time to scrap this weekend.

Scrappin' My Snow Day Away

Yay!  It's a snow day - alright, I could have gotten to work but instead my husband and I chose to rain on our (teen-age) daughter's parade and join her in a snow day.  Because yesterday was a holiday for me this creates a 4 day weekend and I am having a ball in my scrap room - which brings us to this bonus blog post today. 

A new sketch went up at Stuck?! yesterday and I used it as inspiration for a layout this morning.  And I knew I would forget to link to the Stuck?! blog if I didn't go ahead and post today.  Anyway here is the sketch.

 I loved all the fun layers and couldn't wait to play. And I have to say that I really love my layout. 

Most of the papers came from the SC Savannah kits but I dug in my stash for some greens.  that matched the green dots in the polka dot paper framing the layout.  The title (actually gold but winter light stinks) was from the scrapbook add-on.  It is another one of those things I didn't think I'd use, but it was perfect for this.

I combined this sketch with the LOAW challenge Carson Riutta posted yesterday - finish something on your project.  I finished a pack of white rubber stars and those Pinkfresh wood/enamel chevrons were all by themselves in a package.  So I finished two things.

And finally, a quick tip - That polka dot paper was the perfect frame for my layout, but I kind of love it and it's a kit exclusive.  It was going to be hard to get more and I hated the idea of wasting the whole sheet to create the border around my layout.  So I cut the middle out - I have most of the sheet for another project or projects.

I'm going to go start another project - I have another layout idea and extra time to play.  I hope you are having as much fun as I am today.  Have a great Tuesday!

Valentines Day Stash Busting

I don't make cards very often - but once in a while I really get in the mood.  Last Sunday I made this Valentine for a Super Bowl challenge at Paper Issues.  (Well to be honest, I made a Valentine, got up the next day, didn't like it and added some more bits and pieces - this is the end result).  The ombre fabric tag from Pinkfresh Happy Things was perfect and added lots of texture.  And lets be honest - the gold glitter thickers from Maggie Holmes that said "be true" are beautiful but were probably never going to end up on a layout.  So a Valentine was the perfect solution.

When I was done, I'd been bitten by the bug - so most of my crafty time this week was spent digging through scraps and embellishments for bits to use to make Valentines.  The papers all came from my "small scrap basket."  I didn't open anything new, but I didn't finish anything either - so we are going to call the process a stash busting draw.

The mint green paper that serves as the base is from the Open Road Collection by Crate Paper.  The stickers I layered were mostly "vintage" Crate Paper too.

The next one mixes pieces and parts from lots of old supplies - the pink and white papers were in Studio Calico kits, the stickers and die cuts were Maggie Holmes and that black paper - its from an old October Afternoon Halloween collection.

This one mixes scraps from Pink Paislee and Crate paper with stickers and die cuts from Crate Paper.  The globe with the sentiment is from the Crate Paper Wonder collection and the "adorbs" die cut is from Hello Love.  And the tiny gold puffy hearts - those are from the Pink Paislee Memorandum collection.

And last but not least - my favorite.I love the stickers with a vintage feel from Crate Paper combined with more modern papers from Studio Calico kits.  And adding the blue paper at an angle created an unexpected element.  The gold glitter hearts are from Sevenpaper.

Now if only I had remembered to mail these cards to some of the special people in my life.  I guess I will save them for next year. 

Have a Happy Valentine's Day. 

My Creative Sketches - January edition

My Creative Sketches posted a new sketch this week and its a good one.

When I use a sketch for inspiration, I often look at the elements and move them around to fit my photo and the products I have readily available.  This was one of those times.  Here is the layout I ended up with.

While the placement of the basic layers stayed pretty close to the sketch, the embellishments moved around a bit.  When you are moving elements in a sketch, the trick is to stay focused on the visual balance in the design.  For example, if you move an element from the bottom to the top of the layout, look for an element at the top of the sketch to shift to the bottom.  The same goes when you move an element from the left side of a project to the right side of the project.  Here are the shifts I made:

• The sketch uses an embellishment cluster anchored by a tag at the bottom of the photo block - I moved that element to the top.
• The embellishment cluster to the side of the photo moved to the other side on my project.  I was using that fun transparency phrase element as a layer and didn't want the embellishments to cover it up.
• I used the garland sticker under the photo instead of the row of hearts at the top of the layout.
• Those two hearts at the bottom of the photo block on the sketch - they moved to the other side and became arrows and stars.

Hope this makes sense - it provides a ton of flexibility and the changes mean you can use the same sketch for multiple projects (that all look really unique).

This is Friday - I am really excited to have made it to the weekend.  I am planning to do some organizing, some scrapping and lots of recovering over the next couple of days.  I hope you have some fun things planned.

Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas - Last Year

Is anyone really caught up and scrapping current photos because the old ones are all in albums?  I can't imagine - so when I had the urge to pull together a Christmas layout, I dug out a favorite photo from last year.

My husband has read The Night Before Christmas right before bed on Christmas Eve since our oldest son was 6 weeks old.  He uses the edition I had when I was growing up with Grandma Moses illustrations - this is one of my favorite holiday moments each year (and the reason this photo will show up in my December Daily, my family album and my daughter's album).  Last year only my daughter showed up to hear the story.

I didn't have much time, so I knew I wanted to use a sketch as my starting point - it makes everything faster.  I started with the current sketch at My Creative Sketches.

It had lots of layers so I knew it worked well with my style.  And I really liked the banner detail.  I used papers from a basket of small scraps on my desk - I'm not sure why but more and more I prefer using papers without a holiday theme on my layouts.

 I finished my layout off by layering some vellum banners from an older Pink Paislee collection.

The last detail was the title.  One of the Christmas caroling challenges at My Scraps and More asked that you use words from the Night Before Christmas poem as your title.  This was the perfect inspiration here and I chose "The Night Before." 

 Hope you had a great holiday.  I really enjoyed all of our celebrations, but have to admit that I am looking forward to the new year and having more time to scrap.  Thanks for stopping by - I will have more to share soon.

When A Circle Becomes A Square

The sketch this month at My Creative Sketches is great.  The design has lots of layers and is really versatile. 

But that big circle behind the photo block really challenged me.  I have lots of tools to make cutting the circle easy, but I was feeling super lazy.  So I made it a big vellum square - this anchored the layout without adding a lot of weight.  I layered frames, labels and tags under the squares to add some of the visual interest the circle added to the original design.

The papers are mostly pink paislee - a mix from the Cedar Lane and Memorandum collections.  They are two of my favorite collections ever!  The colors and patterns are really versatile.  And that paper that is all the patterned stripes adds tons of dimension and interest.

If you use the sketch, link me up - I'd love to see.

Thanks for stopping by.

Two Colors

Mixing patterned papers might be one of my favorite things in the whole world.  But, for me, that usually means 4-5 colors on a layout.  So when I saw a challenge that said "use one color and an accent color" I wondered if I could do it.

I am down to the scraps from my October Citrus Twist kits.  But I had several black and white papers left - and a great teal stripe that I loved and somehow hadn't used.  So game on.......

design inspired by sketch at Stuck?! and 3 to inspire prompts at Citrus Twist Kits

The current sketch at Stuck!? provided a starting point.  They are partnering with Scrap It With A Song - this is a new challenge blog to me.  Scrap It With A Song offers songs as an inspiration point.  This month one of the songs was the Beatles' Octopus Road.  I took inspiration from the context of doing things together and used a picture of my son with his cousin. 

I  ended up really loving the final result (I treated gold as a neutral which might have been cheating....)I think what really made this work was the embellishment clusters which allowed me to add bits of teal to tie in with that striped paper.

This is the first time I played with thread this way and the gold really popped against the other colors.  And mixing the teal and gold splatters (no layout is done without splatters) tied it together.

So do you mix lots of colors or keep it simple on your projects.  I'd love to see .........

Thanks for stopping by.

A Photo On Vellum

I almost always order my prints - for the past 18 months or so it's been from Persnickety Prints.  But I've been wanting to experiment with printing photos on vellum (I think it might be a great technique to incorporate into a December Daily.)  So when we went apple picking, I decided to give it a try.  (I have a fairly basic inkjet printer.) 

I picked a photo of two apples and gave it a go.  The ink was visibly wet when it came out of the printer so I set it aside to dry for about an hour.  The end result was definitely worth waiting for - it have a beautiful soft feel that I wouldn't have achieved on cardstock.

products from October Citrus Twist kits.

I did run into a problem when I started to build my layout.  If you visit very often, you know that I like to layer lots of patterned papers.  And I found the patterns showing through my photo and changing the look of the image.  (In some instances I think this would be a great effect, but not what I was going for here.)

 I tried placing it on white card stock, but I lost a lot of the translucent feel the vellum brought to the table.  So I ended up layering a second piece of plain vellum under the photo and that worked perfectly.  And you can see where I used my tiny attacher to add the photo to my layout.  (I didn't want the adhesive to mar the image.)

I definitely will play with this technique again - it is so much fun and creates a unique look for the photo.  If you have any tricks you use to print photos on vellum, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Blurry Photo

Sometimes (a lot of the time) it seems like the photo that captures my imagination is blurry or otherwise poor quality.  I used to discard those pictures, but I've come to realize that those photos might best tell the story in my heart.  So I've given myself permission to use them.

This photo of my 15 year old daughter swinging is a great example.  I love that she still appreciates the joy and freedom that can be found when you "swing high" and I felt like the blurry feel gave a sense of motion that helped tell the story.

I printed it as a 4x4 with a white border in black and white for my layout.  Printing in black and white is one of my best tricks with blurry photos - somehow it makes the blurry feel seem intentional.  And the white border helps the picture pop and adds a bit of a vintage feel.

design inspired by sketch from Citrus Twist kits

This layout is also put together using the October Citrus Twist kits (I added the sequins and vellum from my stash).  I was so excited to get those Dear Lizzy rub-ons .  I used them in two ways on this layout - first too help add depth to  and to stretch an embellishment cluster.  And the second is a recent favorite - I love layering a large rub on over patterned paper.  The word "love" is so soft and pretty and seems to belong on that pretty floral print.

So how do you feel about photos that aren't great quality - do your trash them or treasure them?

Thanks for stopping by

A New Kit from Citrus Twist

I started playing with the October kits from Citrus Twist Kits this week.  And I have to say that they are probably my favorite ever from any kit club - seriously gorgeous and super versatile.  I have knocked 5 layouts out so far and still am inspired by the products I have left.

This is one of the first layouts I did.  It was for a scraplift challenge at Paper Issues.  The inspiration layout (below) was by Jen Boumis.

I was really taken by the vertical block in the center with two photos layered horizontally over it.  But I only had one photo, so I substituted lots of layers for the second picture.  I used a transparency for the vertical block to keep the layout from feeling heavy.

When I was done playing with layers I realized I couldn't find a good place to add journaling.  I used a label sticker at the bottom of the vertical block.  It served two functions - both a place for journaling and it helped to adhere the transparency.

I am off to play some more - I hope you find some time to scrap this weekend.  Thanks for stopping by

Oh No - I Don't Have A Kit to Play With.......

For years, my favorite part of scrapbooking was building a diverse stash and mixing and matching products for each layout.  Then I became a kit subscriber.  I was still mixing and matching, but from the kit (already curated by someone very talented).  And, for the most part, my stash just sat.

Currently I sub to 2 kits - Studio Calico and Citrus Twist Kits.  I feel like I am in a period of transition - the Studio Calico kits have not been clicking with my style lately and I have been experimenting with the Citrus Twist kits (for quite a while now).  For whatever reason,  I am having a hard time canceling my SC subscription. 

So last week I received my SC kit - and I mostly hated it.  I made one layout and then incorporated it into my stash.  (Maybe I will finally cancel?)  But my Citrus Twist kit is still on the way.  And on Thursday, I was home with time to play -

So I had to go to my stash and mix product from scratch.  I ended up pulling a piece from Dear Lizzy Documentary for my base.  Then I added bits from studio calico kits, seven paper, pinkfresh studios, pink paislee and crate paper.   And I made this......

design inspired by sketch at Citrus Twist kits

I had a great time picking papers and embellishments to use.  And I love the final project.  It has exactly the bright, fun, pretty feel I was going for.  And I used lots of bits from my stash. 

So Thursday I remembered how much fun it is to mix products all by myself.  Maybe I need to scrap this way more and rely on kits less?

Thanks for stopping by.

Those Thickers

One of my favorite things in the Crate Paper Wonder line was those oversized thickers. 

I love the mix of colors and patterns, and the font is just fun!  But boy have I had a hard time using them.  So when I came across a challenge to use a big title, I was determined....  and here is what I came up with.

Most of the products came from my September Citrus Twist kits.  It's lots of  products from Wonder but there is some Pink Paislee mixed in - and that great yellow paper is from Basic Grey.  And of course, I can't finish a project without ink splatters.  I started with gold, but when they didn't really pop, I added some black too. 

Thanks for stopping by.