Splash!

I love to use a sketch as a starting point.  But recently I realized that the way I use sketches has really changed.  I used to print the sketch and try to duplicate the design.  Now I tend to look at the sketch and then go to my desk and get to work.  This way I find that I pull some key elements that stand out to me and create (sort of) my own design. 

The sketch Citrus Twist kits published on Sunday is a great example. 

When I look at this sketch I focus on the square and rectangular elements layered down the page, the tag ('cause I love tags) and the cluster at the top corner.  So I used the June Citrus Twist kits and came up with this.

My design cascaded on a more horizontal or diagonal path when I was done.  And I used one photo instead of three. It turned into my own design inspired by that sketch. And one of my favorite parts is the mix of sparkly stars, sequins, and puffy dots with gold and white ink splatters. 

I attached the sequins using a fun technique I learned on someone else's blog a couple of years ago.  Instead of attaching the sequins with adhesive under them, I placed a drop of glossy accents on top of each sequin.  When the glue dries, the sequin is firmly adhered and it looks a bit like a water droplet.  It is a great technique for beach and water pictures!

You just have to make sure that cupped sequins are flat side down or the sequin won't be stuck to your page.  (I learned that the hard way on this project.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Christmas - but not Christmas product

When I first started scrapping back in the dark ages, I was obsessed with Christmas themed supplies.  And I still have a huge holiday themed stash.  But lately, my holiday layouts seem to be built with little or now themed products.  Instead I seem to gravitate toward classic patterns and colors when I am working with holiday photos.

This layout was inspired by last week's project life sketch at Studio Calico. 

And this layout goes back to one of my go to designs - a basic grid.  But I trimmed a piece of pale blue ledger paper and turned it on the side for the base.  Then I let the columns and rows on the ledger paper shape the grid.  It was a fun technique that came together really quickly - I will definitely try it again.

And that jillibean soup flash card was perfect for my photo!

I'm curous - are you still using lots of themed supplies or have you moved in a different direction too? 

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday Sketch, Roundabout and Favorite Embellishments (and BlogLovin)

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Sunday Sketch

Its July and I still have tons of product left from my June kits.  So this weekend, I really tried to use that product.  And since last week's Sunday Sketch was a grid pattern layout, it was a great opportunity to mix lots of bits and pieces.

Here's my finished layout.  I stuck pretty closely to the sketch for this one.

The papers are all from the Roundabout kits, but I'm just not a good kit scrapbooker.  I couldn't help myself, so I dug into my stash for some of my favorite embellishments.

 If you stop here often, you know that I've long been addicted to washi tape.  Those glittery stars that Studio Calico put out with Atlantic are seriously addictive.  And I love the little puffy stickers made by Skipping5.

Chalkboard finish products and cork are some of my favorite trends right now.  I love the cork circles printed in white and this tag is from the Martha Stewart office supply line sold at Staples.

This layout uses other favorites too - the stitched vellum embellishments Amy Tangerine does are long standing favorites and I love the word stickers Jillibean Soup put out this year.  Buttons are a staple and a great way to add shape and texture.  And arrows are one of my all time favorites.

Thanks for checking out my layout.  Have a great Monday.

Layouts Within a Layout

I'm working feverishly on my son's senior album (even if I probably won't get it done before graduation next week), and was seriously stuck on homecoming.  His high school has a week of events, and I had some seemingly unrelated pictures from those events.  And I had only a couple of pictures related to the dance (only from before they left).  I finally decided to treat each photo as its own mini layout.  Here's what I came up with.

It was a interesting chance to apply some of the lessons from Pop Off The Page 2 to a two page layout. 

The first page included two mini layouts.

 I used small alphas to label each picture and Martha Stewart tags from the office supply store to number the pictures.  The journaling block on that page used those numbers to link the journaling to the picture.  And it gave me the chance to document an event without a picture.  I simply added a piece labeled "Not Pictured."

The second page was about the dance - I had a few more pictures, so I treated that page as a full page layout.

 I added my layers along the border of the page at the top and in the block at the bottom of the page that included that round tag.  The journaling again referenced the number.

The embellishments on this layout were really simple - I had a small package of mixed stars from Jolee, cut a few more about scraps of POW paper with my cricut and mixed in the asterisks from my thickers pack.

Hope you enjoy your Memorial Day.  I'm looking forward to a quiet day at home with my family, but will certainly spend some time reflecting on the sacrifice the men and women in our armed forces make for us. Now that my children are older, I have watched many of them join our military with a sense of pride, and it has made it much more personal. 

Have a great day!