The Big Yes

One of the November kits I received from Studio Calico was the kit curated to go along with the Marcy Penner mini book class.  I have the class waiting for me, but decided that I was going to use this kit for traditional layouts - mostly because I couldn't wait to use that giant acrylic "YES" on a project.

And when I saw last week's scrapbook sketch at Studio Calico, I thought it was the perfect layout design.

Here is the layout I put together using the sketch and the "yes" as inspiration.

The papers and embellishments (except that light blue alpha) are all from the November Studio Calico kits.  The papers and colors were perfect for this picture of fish my daughter took on a trip to the conservatory.  She has really started to experiment with photography and my husband's "big camera" over the past year.  And I am having lots of fun documenting her journey experimenting with photography in her albums.  If she sticks with photography as a hobby, I think she will like the opportunity to look back at some of her early photos in later years.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Baby Collection For My Teenager

My baby is going to be 16 this month.  So when the Citrus Kit add-on featured the newest baby collection from SevenPaper (Clara) I thought it was something that I could pass on. 

But it turns out - I couldn't really resist the kit.  Included some products from other lines that weren't so themed, the b sides of the papers were generally very versatile, I loved the phrase stickers and who could pass up those amazing vellum star die cuts.  And it turns out that some of the first products I used from my Citrus Twist November kits were from that add-on.

I started with the November 15th sketch at Stuck?! Sketches.

As usual, my layout seemed to take on a life of its own.  I started with an idea that was pretty close to the sketch, but the elements that stood out to me were the horizontal layers under the phtoo and the embellishment clusters.  And I ended up here.

 But I think that is why I love sketches so much - they provide a ton of inspiration and give you lots of room for creativity.

The stars, the text paper, and both the pink and white phrase stickers all came from that baby themed kit.  And they were perfect for this homecoming dance photo of my daughter and her friends.  (I love that she is willing to share photos she and her friends take so that I can include them in her albums.) 

So don't forget to check out those baby products - you might be missing out on something that is perfect for your next project.

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.

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.

Using Old Rub Ons

Rub-ons are one of my favorite embellishments.  But sometimes I keep them too long.  (You know - saving them for the perfect project).  And then they crack or some of the images stick to the paper backing that is supposed to protect them.  I hadn't had this package of Amy Tangerine rub-ons that long - but when  opened them they looked like a supply I had hoarded too long.

 But these were really pretty and I am a frugal scrapbooker - I hate throwing away any supplies.  So I used them to make a fun background for this layout.

 First I created the two photo blocks and attached them to the base paper.  Then I added gold and teal ink splatters - cause I can't make a layout with splatters.  I used a couple of rub-ons for another package that were still in good shape to start to build the backgournd.  Other embellishments went next.  Then I randomly place the sheet of damaged rubons on the layout (trying to create a connection between the two photo blocks) and added bits of color and pattern.  I didn't worry about overlapping the rub-ons with themselves or with ink splatters.  The title went next.

And there you have it - a beautiful mixed media background using supplies that were headed for the trash.

Sharing Handmade Kindness

I came across a challenge on Jennifer McGuire's blog that I have to share.  Its the Share Handmade Kindness challenge.    She is posting challenges to help inspire us all to share things we make this month. 

I love this idea - after all I have a basket full of handmade cards that I never send or give to anyone.  And I love to bake but everyone at my house is trying not to eat a lot of sweets.  So I decided to play along.

The challenge this week is to share handmade kindness with friends and family.  So last night I whipped up a batch of my "famous" championship chocolate chip cookies.  I put them in little cellophane bags to share with friends at work - because homemade cookies make everything better.....

My original plan was to make cute little tags to attach to each bag.  But honestly, by the time I worked all day, walked the dog for an hour and made the cookies I was tired.  So first I thought that I would set the cookies aside and make the tags tonight.  Then I thought that I would just put the cookies in the cookie jar.  After all - no one knew I was making them so no one would be disappointed.

And then I watched Jennifer's video about the challenge again.  The purpose of the Jennifer's challenge to share things we make is not to impress people with how pretty the gift is.  And it's not to give the prettiest thing ever.  The purpose of the challenge is to do something kind.  And a little bag of homemade cookies on your desk would make you smile - you would know that someone cared about you. 

So the handmade tags with pretty ribbon didn't go on the bags.  The silver twist-ties that came with the bags worked perfectly.  Handmade kindness doesn't have to mean fancy - it just means thoughtful. 

So I am excited to see what the next challenge is.  And I am challenging myself to focus on the act of giving and not the act of making the prettiest card or the most elaborate gift.  Instead this is a great opportunity to remember the joy that comes with giving.

If you are playing along, I'd love to see what you made. 

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.