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.

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.

From Card to Layout

Every Sunday Studio Calico publishes 3 sketches - a layout sketch, a card sketch and a project life sketch.  A member of the Creative Team shares a project inspired by one of the sketches.  This week Celine Navarro used the card sketch to inspire a two page layout.

And she challenged everyone to take a sketch for one project type and use it to inspire another kind of project.  I found her layout really inspiring so I tried a layout with the card sketch as an inspiration.

Most of the supplies for this layout came from the Wink Wink scrapbook kit and the scrapbook add-on.  that black and white paper I used to create the angle is my favorite thing in the kits.  (I really don't care for the kits and think this is the only project I will be making with them, but I am really happy with it.)  I rubbed a gold ink pad lightly over the white embossed tag to add a bit of dimension and used one of the frames from the add-on to create a the base for the cluster at the bottom of the page.

Hope you've been finding time to play lately.  Thanks for stopping by.

Quick and Easy

I've been complaining for a while now about missing mojo.  It's not back yet, but I think its getting close.  This week I experimented with simple grid designs.  I often find them the easiest to put together.  I shared my favorite yesterday, but here are a couple more quick layouts that came together in the past week.

Products from Studio Calico and Citrus Twist Kits

This one was inspired by a Friday night challenge on the Paper Issues facebook page.  I had to feature patterned paper, die cuts, flair and enamel dots.  (You could use other products too.)  My favorite thing about this grid was the way I let little bits hang off the edges so that it wasn't perfectly rectangular.  I also like the combination of bright colors and a black and white photo.

Products from Studio Calico, Citrus Twist Kits and Pinkfresh Studios.

Here's the second one.   I started with the two long strips on the side and grew my grid from there.  The colors really are my favorite thing.  And that pink square with the large gold circle - its a piece of the scratch off paper in the Studio Calico Pop Art kits - I love the look without scratching the dot.

Tomorrow is a me day - I took the day off as a birthday present to myself.  I'm hoping to spend some concentrated hours in my scrap room in search of that elusive mojo.  I have a feeling I will be scrapping like crazy when it makes an appearance. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Inspired by Paper

I don't think it would surprise anybody to find out that my "go to" for inspiration is a sketch.  But sometimes I find a piece (or 2) of patterned paper that I love and that serves as my design inspiration.  This piece from the Crate Paper Craft Market Line  is one of those papers.

I loved that sparkly gold corner and that rich green color.  And it came is the Jupiter add-on this month at Studio Calico with these papers from Shimelle and Dear Lizzy.

Shimelle - English Breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Lizzy - Gleeful

I loved the way these three sheets worked together.  The pink really popped against the green and gold.  And the paper from Shimelle really tied them together.  But I couldn't figure out how to put to them into a layout together.  So I got them out and put them away and go them out and - you get the picture.

Then I decided to play off that diagonal design on the crate paper layout.  I cut a strip from the striped paper on the diagonal - it created a great pattern.  And I placed it where the gold and green met.  And I was off and creating!

I used the pink Dear Lizzy paper to mount my photos and built my photo block from there.  The B side of the Shimelle striped paper worked really well as I layered too. From there it was quick and easy - a couple of embellishment clusters a title and some white ink splatters and I was done.  And I love that I have a bright, fun layout that still looks a little girly - perfect for volleyball and Elisabeth.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you have a great day.

Pink and Yellow

I'm still spending most of my free time (which has been limited) on "The Big Purge."  But I am trying to squeeze in a bit of scrappy time too.  Yesterday I put together a quick layout pulling peices from the new Galileo kits at Studio Calico and my stash. I wanted to try a color combination that was out of my comfort zone so I pulled inspiration from the Pink Paislee Bella Rouge line - pink, yellow and black..

I pulled a piece from my stash that had all those colors and then looked for papers to add - I used the pink and gold from Dear Lizzy that is in the Saturn Add On at Studio Calico, a bright yellow sheet from the Elle's Studio Let's Eat line and a black and white stripe from my scrap pile.  I pulled a piece of white cardstock for my base.And then I was stuck - literally.

When I'm stuck I usually look for a good sketch.  I found this one at Stuck! sketches.

I cut my papers based on a loose interpretation of the sketch.  But I really wasn't loving the look.  So I switched to a subtly patterned sheet for the base - which helped a lot.  Then I shifted the design to one side and ended up with this layout.  It offered room for me to play with all those bits and pieces I love. 

Now I need to get back to my scrap room purge and reorg.

One more thing - I picked a winner for my paper giveaway a while ago. But I haven't heard from her.  If I don't hear from her this week, I will be picking a new winner on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.


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