It's All About the Brads

I joined a "support group" on the Studio Calico website for my fellow crafters who are trying to spend no money or only a little money on crafting supplies this year.  Pam started the group and is really working to keep us on track with weekly challenges.  And this weekend she challenged us to use some of those brads in our stashes.

I totally bought into brads as an amazing embellishment and have a basketful - even after a couple of big purges.  They really can be a great way to add color, pattern and dimension to a layout.  But it turns out that I hate using them.  I move things around so much while I am putting a project together and don't want to create a hole for the brad (just in case I change my mind again) until I am absolutely happy with the way a page looks.  But without really attaching the brad it is really hard to see how it looks.

But I remember someone telling me you can take the prongs off  brads and use glue dots to attache them.  And you know what - it works like a charm.  I can move brads around to my heart's content and know how they will look.  I used 8 brads on this layout inspired by the Sunday sketch at Studio Calico.

Supplies from January kits at Citrus Twist kits and my stash.

The layout is bright and fun.  And the brads add lots of detail without a lot of fuss this way.  I just might be inspired to use up more of those brads.

I'm hoping to scrap some more this afternoon.  I hope you have some more creative time planned too.  Happy Sunday!

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.

Using a Transparency

Transparent elements are big in scrapbooking right now.  And I am a huge fan - I love that they provide opportunities to add color and texture but generally maintain a light feel.  But 12x12 transparencies are coming with lots more color and pattern than ever before - and I think they can be a bit challenging to use.  In fact, my stash is growing quickly - they are so pretty but I end up not using them. 

So when the Spoonful add-on at Studio Calico came with this Dear Lizzy transparency I was determined to use it.

I found the perfect inspiration is a sketch at Citrus Twist Kits. The diagonal design seemed to provide a great opportunity to incorporate the transparency to add color and pattern as a background element.

It turns out - that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  I ended up piecing together several patterned papers, including the transparency to create a custom background.

Once the background was done I worked on a photo block.  And I'll admit that I had a hard time with placement - the vertical orientation in the sketch just didn't work well.  I think I moved the block around for 15 minutes and it just didn't look right.  I added the pink and white striped paper from my scraps on a whim - and was really surprised that it seemed to work to anchor the whole thing. 

Because the design was busy and I had used a number of bold patterns, I kept embellishments to a minimum (a challenge for me).  But I thought it was really fun to add a second transparent element with the acetate word from Pinkfresh Studio.  And I was really surprised at how well the hot pink thickers worked on top of the transparency. Finally, I couldn't call it done without a few ink spatters.

So what's accumulating in your stash because you love it but can't quite figure out how to use it.  Challenge yourself to put it on a project this week.  You might just be surprised with the end result.

Have a great Sunday.

Jolly Holiday

My May Studio Calico kit - Jolly Holiday - came last week.  I have to admit that when I opened it, I was seriously underwhelmed.  It just didn't seem to fit my style well, I didn't think the "specialty paper" was special and it seemed light on embellishments.  But I have had it since Thursday and made 5 layouts so far.  Admittedly, I have mixed in bits from my stash with the kit (but I tend to do that anyway).  So I have to say that the kit has been pretty darn inspiring.

The first layout I made was inspired by last week's scrapbook sketch (May 8th) at Studio Calico.

 It is such a fun take on a grid design.  And I had a picture of some pretty macaroons on my desk that I had been waiting to scrapbook.  So between the sketch and Jolly Holiday, I came up with this.

I didn't try to copy the sketch exactly.  Instead I went to my desk and created my own design with the sketch in mind.  The elements that really stuck with me was the series of elements running horizontally across the page, the use of some circles, the strips above the main block of squares and the title placement.

Most of the bits here are from the Jolly Holiday kit and Spoonful add-on.  I am super excited by the bright pink thickers I used for the title.  I wouldn't have ordered them, but they are seriously the perfect pink.

I am still totally in love with the big acetate words from Pinkfresh Studio and was excited to get more of them.  But I tried attaching it with a liquid adhesive here and it didn't work well at all (as you can see) - so I am back to the tiny attacher or an adhesive roller.

And the acrylic bits I added - they were perfect and from a recent haul from Colorcast Designs.  It was hard to part with the asterisk (I get a gold star for not hoarding), but it was just the thing for this layout.

I'm super excited about the kit now - hope you are finding inspiration in your supplies too.

Thanks for stopping by.

All the Colors

Sometimes I get stuck in a color rut - lately its been all about blue and yellow.  But the April kits from Citrus Twist had lots of bright, fun colors.  So I went looking for a picture that would work with a layout that uses all the colors.  I found an old one of my daughter looking through her haul on Halloween.

Then I hunted down a sketch that provided the chance to use lots of layers and bits so I could pull out the colors in the photo.  The April sketch at Paper Issues was perfect!

I focused on the layered horizontal elements, the large circle, the banner and the tag for my layout. 

I started with papers from the April Citrus Twist kits - the green, the black and white stripe and the small piece under the tag.  Then I went to my scraps and stash to pull out other pieces.  .  I was excited to used the acrylic "hooray" from a recent haul from Colorcast Designs.  Then I kept adding bits from both the Citrus Twist kits and my stash til I felt like the layout was balanced.  The bit of black and white polka dot paper was the last thing I added - and it made all the difference - it seemed to ground the whole layout.

I hope your Tuesday is filled with all the colors - thanks for stopping by.

Those Words

Every so often I read a blog post where someone is talking about being inspired by product.  And I never quite understand - I love all my pretty paper and embellishments but they don't really inspire a project. 

But then I got my hand on these acetate words from the Life Noted Collection by Pinkfresh Studio. 

I had a pack in my stash but haven't cracked them open.  But a partial pack came in my April Citrus Twist kits - And they are amazing.  The colors are bright and fun, but the translucent nature of the product adds a certain lightness. I immediately tried to use as many of them as I could on a single layout.

My first idea was to use them to create a patterned paper feel across the bottom of my layout - and that looked pretty awesome, but I couldn't figure out the rest of the layout.  So I ended up with a basic grid design.

Products from April kits at Citrus Twist kits

They were so much fun and really framed the photo perfectly.  I was also excited to see how well they worked with other embellishment pieces - especially the Amy Tangerine Better Together rubber bits. 

I've just about used up the ones that came in my kit - now the challenge is to keep myself from hoarding the pack I have in my stash.  Oh - and when I was looking for a product photo for this post, they were gone at most of my favorite online stores.  But it turns out they are on sale at Scrapbook.com.

Hope you have a great Monday. 

Turn It

My Creative Sketches is one of the first places I check when I need a little inspiration.  But this month I really struggled to make the sketch work for me.

I really don't know why - the design seemed to provide for lots of layers and embellishments - my two favorite things.  But I was stuck.  Then I turned the sketch on its side - literally.  I printed it and turned it on its side.  The layout practically flew together then.

Most supplies from April kits at Citrus Twist kits

After I created the basic design with the circle shapes and paper strips I played with embellishments.  My favorite thing here is the large Pinkfresh Studio acetate word that layers over the photograph and several of the patterned papers.  I feel like it really brings the whole thing together.

Hope you're having a great Sunday.  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.

Tool Talk - Distressing

I don't have any Workspace Wednesday Hints this week, but as I've been slowly cleaning and organizing in my craft room, its lots of fun to find some of those forgotten items (both tools and supplies) that were past favorites.   And sometimes those old favorites work with new goodies to provide inspiration for the perfect layout.  This is a big advantage over a big purge with help from my daughter - she's great about pushing me to purge and keeping me focused,  but she doesn't give me the time to appreciate finds and put them to work.

So last week I came across my Creative Memories distressing tool.  It is really just a blade in a handle with notches that makes it easy to pull along a sheet of paper for fun distressed edges.

 As soon as I saw it, I knew all those pretty papers in the Studio Calico Savannah scrapbook kits just demanded to be used on a pretty "shabby chic" layout.  So I pulled a bunch of papers and scraps and cut rough squares and rectangles in a  variety of sizes.  I ran each piece through the distressing tool on all 4 sides.  I wanted to run an ink pad along the distressed edges for added dimension.  But the charcoal I started with appeared to dark in many instances - so I used gold to accent the distressed edges.

 The papers were really pretty but I wanted to add more details and layers.  I had added two sheets of stickers from the Basic Gray Dear Heart collection to my box and they were perfect for this.  I used the distressing tool and ink on the stickers too - but the gray seemed to work better this time.  I added the stickers between the layers and in a cluster at the bottom of the photo. 

The title is from the Pinkfresh Studios Happy Thing collection and is another goodie I rediscovered recently - I still have a couple of words left there to use up.  (I have determined that the reason my supplies appear to be so out of control is that I never finish anything - so I am trying to finish at least one partial pack of something every week this year.  I don't figure I will do it every week, but I do think I will finish some things if I work on it.)

 I finished the layout with a couple of distressed pieces of paper at the top of the page and added a small embellishment cluster.  The pink rubber banner was from the November Studio Calico kit and the color was perfect for this Thanksgiving layout. 

And the distressing tool - it is now in the tool caddy on my desk - I wouldn't want it to get lost again. 

Hope  you're having a great week. 

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!

Saturday Morning Inspiration

I try to schedule some crafty time every weekend - and the more the better.  Most Saturdays I start my weekend by checking out my favorite sites for inspiration.  I let the things I see "sit" in my head while I do some chores and errands.  Then when I have some time, ideas are ready. 

Yesterday I found two of my favorite starting points in my browsing.  It was Sketchy Saturday at Paper Issues......

and 3 to Inspire at Citrus Twist Kits.  The 3 to inspire prompts were using frames, ink splatters and repetitive stamping.  And my first layout of the weekend was inspired by both of those starting points.

I really loved the sketch at Paper Issues and it inspired by design. I used one 4x6 photo and a cluster of frames in place of the three photos.  Otherwise I stayed pretty close to the sketch.  And I love the way the Crate Paper Hello Love papers work perfectly for Christmas.

The 3 to Inspire prompts definitely led me in the direction of the frames.  The pink and gold frame is from the Hello Chipboard and the others are from my stash I backed them with neutral papers to create layers and dimension.  Then I added a large acrylic phrase from Color Cast Designs to the cluster of frames.

I added some other acrylic pieces from the Pinkfresh Christmas collection and we were good to go.

Hope you're having a crafty weekend too.  Thanks for stopping by.

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. 

Using Scraps

No secret - I love patterned paper - and I hate to throw even small pieces away.  They are great for making cards, for layering and for my occasional foray into pocket pages. And sometimes its fun to challenge myself to pull a layout together from just scraps - other than the layout base, no cutting into new papers allowed.

The first sketch of the month at Stuck?! was perfect for a "scrap only" layout.  It used several papers and showed three photos.  Since I rarely use three photos on a layout, some of those photos provided opportunities for adding more scraps.

I started with the paper scraps I had left from my January Citrus Twist kits.  Then I went to my scrap baskets to find some other papers to add - using the heart paper as a guide, I chose a piece of red and a piece of navy left from other projects.  From there it was just a matter of using the sketch as a a guide and pushing the scraps around until I layered them in a way that appealed to me.



Because there is so much going on with all the patterned papers, I needed to keep the embellishments pretty simple.And you can never go wrong with hearts and arrows, right?

Do you through your scraps away or hoard them?  How do you store them?  I'm planning a Workplace Wednesday post that focuses on storing scraps but I'd love to hear your ideas.  You know organizing supplies is almost as much fun as using them.

Have a great Superbowl Sunday!

A Different Look

One of the best indicators of a great kit is the ability to create layouts with different moods from the same set of supplies (at least in my opinion).  The first two layouts I shared from the January Citrus Twist kits were bright and fun.  The third layout I made with just supplies from my January box has a totally different feel.

My daughter took a selfie of us together at dinner a couple of weeks ago.  I love that we are close and that she likes to post pictures of us together on her social media accounts.  And those pictures are some of my favorite to scrap. 

We were both wearing shades of black and gray and the photo was pretty neutral - I was afraid all those bright colors would overwhelm the picture.  But I found lots of papers in blues and greys in the kit.  They kept the focus on the photo and the story. 

It's hard to believe these products came from the same set of supplies that I used to create the last couple of layouts I shared.  But I love that the kits gave me the option of bright and fun or soft and pretty. 

What do you think makes a great kit?  I'm currently subscribing to both Citrus Twist and Studio Calico and have to admit to loving them both.  But this year is supposed to be one where I use more than I buy in my scraproom.  So I keep trying to choose (so far with no decision made.)  I'd love your thoughts.

In the meantime, I will just keep getting both and splitting the month.  And at least I am (mostly) not shopping outside my monthly boxes from SC and Citrus Twist. 

Hope you're having a great week.

Off The Edge

Every once in a while, it sems like my layouts all start to look alike.  And lately, it seems like I've made lots of layouts with pretty papers layered under a photo right in the middle of the page.  I like those layouts, but I don't want all my projects to look alike. 

So, for my second layout with my January Citrus Twist kits, I really challenged myself to try to create a layout that was true to my style, but a little different too.  It turned out to be easier than I thought it would be - and I love the finished product.

I started by choosing some patterned papers that I thought worked well together - I initially pulled the heart vellum, the yellow paper from SevenPaper, the Pink polka dot paper from Maggie Holmes and the sheet of paper with different patterned pieces to cut apart from SevenPaper.  I added the floral and text papers later.

I decided to move my layers to one side as an initial break from the photo in the middle of the page.  I cut a wide piece of vellum to go from top to bottom on the page to anchor my photo block on the edge of the page.  Then I started to build the layers.  Angling the pink polka dot paper off the edge was another attempt to take my usual layers and make them just a little bit different. 

I actually added the paper and the photo on top of it and attached it to my layout before I trimmed the pink paper.  Then I turned the layout over and cut the pink paper along the edge of the cardstock base.  That's when the happy accident happened.  I didn't realize the photo also overlapped the edge of the cardstock (maybe it was the cold medicine) but that turned out to be my favorite feature of the design.  Running the photo off the side of the layout created a really different look.

I angled pink paper on the opposite side of the layout, and placed my title to finish the basic design.  I added some puffy "x's" to link the different components together, and then stitched some other "x's" to finish embellishing. 

Am I the only one who feels like they get in a scrappy rut where everything starts to look alike? What are your tricks for breaking the mold on your projects?  I'd love to hear.

I hope your Monday starts out great - thanks for stopping by.

January at Citrus Twist Kits

I finally seem to be about over the January crud (otherwise known as bronchitis) and am getting back to all things scrappy - YAY!  Last Friday I unpacked my January Citrus Twist kit box and boy was it pretty.  I had the scrapbook main, the add-on, both patterned paper add-ons and the sprinkles kit to play with (and a couple of shop extras).  In between naps, I cranked out three layouts I really loved.

The first one was based on a Citrus Twist sketch and gave me a chance to layer lots of the patterned papers I found in my box.  The papers are bright and fun and perfect for holding off the winter blues.

Here's the sketch I started with.....

And here's the layout I ended up with.  I chose a photo of my son with out cat from his holiday visit for my layout.  He had a tough semester at school and was pretty down on himself when he got home.  But he and Taffy have long had a special bond and she spent lots of time cuddling with him - a definite mood lifter!  And since she is getting old, I wanted to take the opportunity to document their relationship.

I chose the bright yellow paper to serve as the main block in my layout and added other papers on top and behind it to capture the elements in the sketch and create some dimension.  But the photo block seemed to float awkwardly on the base paper (a Citrus Twist exclusive - I loved the grid with pink splats), so I added a branding strip from the bottom of one of the papers.  It really seemed to anchor the photo block and from their the layout came together quickly. 

The Heidi Swapp wood veneer word came that pretty aqua color and was perfect for my layuot.  A few die cuts, some puffy stickers and some ink splats and the layout was done.

I will be sharing at least 3 other layouts using these kits this week - I hope you'll come back and check them out.  In the meantime, have a great Sunday.

Squeezing in Some Scrap Time

I love the holidays but there never seems to be enough time.  Still, I managed to make a few layouts this month and am hoping to share a few this week.  Since I only had a bit of time, I used a sketch to get me started.  This one from Stuck?! is awesome.

I turned the sketch on its side and put together a quick layout for a Christmas Caroling challenge at My Scraps and More.

The challenge was to use a large number on your page and the "2" from Pebbles was perfect for this title.  I had fun with my journaling too - I used my new typewriter (yay!) to create a conversation I thought my daughter and her dog might be having - way out of the box for me but lots of fun. 

Hope you squeezed in some crafty time during the holidays.  Thanks for stopping by.

A Title Page

I like to start each of my kid's albums with a year that ties it to a year in school.  But I dread these pages - for whatever reason, they are almost always a struggle.  And my daughter's sophomore album is no exception.  I've been adding layouts but the first page is blank.

When I saw this month's sketch at My Creative Sketches, I decided to use it as inspiration for the layout I kept putting off - and I still put it off til the sketch link-up is almost closed. 

But I took the time for one tradtional layout last week and this was it.  I took lots of inspiration from the sketch and the opportunity to play along with one of the Christmas Carol challenges at My Scraps and More.  (These challenges are fun because they are inspired by Christmas carols but don't require holiday layouts.)  The O Christmas Tree Challenge was to use a tree, branch or leaves on your layout.

 I used bits from my Canyonlands kit from Studio Calico, my November kits from Citrus Twist kits, and other bits from my stash.  The end result was a fun page using one of her school photos. 

I think it is going to work perfectly as a title page.  And the sketch gave me a chance to use lots of bits from my stash - both old and new.

I am going to try to sneak in some more scrap time this week.  Hopefully I will have some layouts to share and some pages from my December Daily finished.  Hope you are having a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

So This Is Christmas

The holidays started in earnest with Thanksgiving at our house so I haven't had much time to scrap.  But the decorations are up, the shopping is well underway and some gifts are even wrapped.  So last night I took a little bit of time to scrap.  And -- of course -- just to maintain that Christmas spirit -- I chose a photo of our tree last year. 

But I hit a little bump in the road - when I scrap everyday, layouts generally come pretty easily.  But when it's been a few days, I often have a hard time getting started.  So I started looking for a sketch and found this one at Stuck?!

I really liked all the horizontal layers, but I was using one vertical photo.  So I had some work to do.  I cut a number of pieces of patterned paper for layers and just played with them til I came up with my design.

supplies are from November Citrus Twist kits and my stash

I used some tags from the Fancy Pants Christmas collection to add additional layers.  I especially loved the striped one and the way it tied my other papers together.  So I cut the bottom off the tag so I could repeat the pattern on the other side of my layout.  And those red letters from SevenPaper might be one of my favorite alphas ever - but you only get one of each letter which just isn't very practical.  Luckily I had stocked up since it took two packages to spell Christmas. 

I hope your holidays are going well.  Thanks for taking a minute to stop by.

Repeating Shapes

Paper Issues sponsored an online crop over the weekend that was filled with great challenges.  (If you want to play along, the challenges aren't due til midnight Saturday, so there is plenty of time.)  One of those challenges was to use at least 10 circle, triangle or square shapes on your layout.  Now this sounds pretty easy, but I was stumped.  (And yes, I know I do a lot of grid design, but nothing was working.)

I decided to use squares and knew I wanted to vary the size of the squares on my layout.  And I picked a picture.  But I spent more time than I want to admit staring at the piece of paper I thought I wanted to use as my base.  Finally I pulled out some scraps of white cardstock and cut them into 3, 2 and 1 inch squares.  Then I moved them around on the base paper until I was happy with the design.

Next I replaced one of the 3 inch squares with my photo.  Then I started digging through my basket of small scraps for papers that coordinated with my photo.  (The photo was of beach glass, so I was looking for a "beach-y" mix of colors.)  Each time a scrap caught my eye, I pulled it out and cut it into a square.  Then I would replace one of the white cardstock squares I had used to develop my layout.  I repeated this process til all the cardstock squares had been replaced with patterned paper.

I used some Evalicious puffy alphas - these are white with gold polka dots - to fit my title into the grid.  Next I added a few trips of washi tape and a puffy rectangle sticker to break up the squares just a bit and link to the rectangular title.  I added just a few embellishments to finish off the project, trying to coordinate with the colors in the patterned paper.  Some gold splats and I was done.

How do you use your scraps?  Link me up to your projects - I can always use some new ideas.

Thanks for stopping by.