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.

Shades of Blue

I have this picture of the harbor in Ashtabula, the town where I grew up, that I seem to use in layouts over and over.  Its not that I don't have othr pictures printed.  I just am drawn to this photo.  I've used it in color and in black and white.  I think it just goes to show that the things we love are inspiring when we get ready to create.

This time I started with a black and white 4x6 print.  I knew I wanted to play with layering and use a soft color palette.  The first thing I did was choose the Amy Tangerine base paper and soften the pattern at the edges with gesso (boy, have I come a long way).  Then I hit my scrap pile for pieces of paper in blue, gray or white and played with the layers-  I added some project life cards, an SC Sundrifter journal card, some shipping tags, a small envelope and a transparency from Basic Grey.

After I attached the major pieces I added a title using naked chipboard thickers, a piece of Dear Lizzy flair, some arrows, some vellum hearts and sequins.  It still needed something at the bottom to balance the layout so I added a Cosmo Cricket fabric sticker, more vellum hearts and some sequins.

I have more projects from this weekend's festivities to share later this week.  Hope you have a great monday!

Everybody Loves A Parade

I love the holidays and can easily get consumed by them.  But in past years I quit making progress in my other albums and had a hard time getting started back up in Januray.  So this year I am making a concious choice to take time once in a while to do a page in a "regular album." 

One of my current projects in Elisabeth's 5th grade album.  One of the first things I wanted to capture was the Labor Day parade.  This week's sketch at the My Scraps and More Sketch Blog provided a great starting point.  I added lots of bright colors and a little sparkle to capture that fun spirit.


Here's what I ended up with.  It's bright and fun (and two pages).

Both the yellow paper and the chevron paper are from Crate Paper.  Thye other patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket.  Then you can find some October Afternoon, some Jillibean Soup (those journaling cards have been in my stash forever), some Elle's Studio, some Studio Calico, Some American Crafts, some Paper Play Studio and some Basic Grey.  and I did some different things (for me) on this layout.

• I used some of those brads I accumulate but never use.  These wer from the October Afternoon Midway collection.
• I used sparkly thickers.
• I spread my journaling across the layout.  You can find it in three places.
• I added the picture mounted in pink with pop dots so it became a focal point.

Are you working on anything besides Christmas projects?  Let me know and enjoy your Sunday.