#Look - and a challenge (and a prize)

I haven't been scrapping as much lately and I certainly haven't been spending my 30 minutes a day in my scrap room.  But for the last couple of days I have been thinking about scrapbooking and what it means to me.

While I scrapbooked (is that a word?) on and off starting in high school, I got serious when my children were little.  I've been playing with paper pretty seriously for more than fifteen years now.  Somewhere along the line, almost all the pictures from my childhood got lost or thrown away.  It was important to me that I preserved those memories for my children so that the same thing didn't happen to them.

When I started scrapbooking it was all about the event and big moments in their lives - birthdays, holidays, the big game, the first day of school.....But over time, and especially in the last few years, my focus has shifted to more of the moments and things that make up everyday.  And the act of creating became way more important to me.  In fact, I know - and my family knows - I am a much happier person if I find at least 30 minutes to create every day.

That focus on the everyday little things is the biggest gift I have received from scrapbooking.  It makes me much more aware of the world I live in and helps me look at things differently.  So last night I decided to try and capture that in a layout.

I found a black and white photo of a tree trunk in box of random photos.  I took it during the Snapshot class at Studio Calico last September.  I think the prompt was "Texture."

I used a grid design that allowed me to use a lot of small details that seem unrelated but really went with my theme.  Plus it was a great way to use up lots of bits sitting on my desk. I really like all the bright papers and embellishments with the black and white photo too!

So I am going to focus on the things I love about scrapbooking and hope my urge to create comes roaring back.  In the meantime, I am going to try to remember to look at the everyday things. I thought maybe you all could help me too.  So here's the challenge:

Pay attention to the things you see everyday (you probably already do this if you are a scrapbooker).  Take a photo, make a layout and link me up.  I will pick one person at random to receive a $10 gift certificate at their choice of Paper Issues, Studio Calico, Citrus Twist or My Scraps and More.  All entries have to be posted by August 1 at midnight. Your layout should be a new project.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.  And I can't wait to be inspired by you.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Repetitive Stamping

I want to use my stamps and my ink pads.  I have all the Studio Calico Color Theory stamp pads and the colors are gorgeous.  And I get stamps in my kits each month, so my stamp collection is a little out of control.  But I have to admit that using my stamps is not my first instinct.  So I almost never buy a stamp set outside the kits.  I just don't use them enough.

But a few months back, I couldn't resist this stamp set offered at Studio Calico as an add-on to the card kit.  It is called the Circles set by Splendid Finn,


I couldn't tell you exactly why, but I fell in love.  And it turns out that so far the solid circle is my favorite stamp in the set.  I am a little addicted to using it for repetitive stamping, mixing colors to create custom backgrounds.  Earlier this week I needed a quick retirement card for a friend at work.  I pulled out inks in color theory, blush crush, flamingo, lavender soda and purple rain - and that circle stamp.  I randomly stamped circles in different colors to fill in a piece of white cardstock.

After that it was easy.  I used a Pebbles tag that said celebrate and edged it with gold brilliance ink.  I added gold glitter embossing powder to a wood veneer "m" to create a monogram to make the card more personal and finished with a strip of gold glitter washi from My Minds Eye.  And then just for a little sparkle, I added lots of tiny pink star sequins.  Mitali deserved a lot of sparkle.

I used the same technique to create a quick and easy Christmas card.  This time I used inks in the green and aqua color range - emerald city, lime light, yes peas, mint hint, and glass slipper.

I added a red holiday banner sticker and a gold star from my stash (both from old Studio Calico collections) and I was done.  If I had more of  those banner stickers, I might just mash produce this card.

If you try this, don't forget to stamp multiple times with your stamp before you re-ink.  This creates lots of variety in the colors you het for your circles (or whatever image you stamp.)

Thanks for stopping by.

Cake with Life Paper Scrapbook

I loved this month's sketch at Life Paper Scrapbook when I first saw it.  But I tried to put a layout together several times and just couldn't get the pieces to work.  I finally figured out that it was the proportions that were getting me every time.  And I liked the sketch enough to keep trying.  And then tonight I got home from work and knew just what I wanted to do. 

I wanted to play with a monochromatic look and use a picture of a lemon strawberry cake I made for my son.  I wanted to stick mostly with shades of yellow and white ( and maybe a little pink.) 

Tonight the layout came together in about an hour - it doesn't follow the sketch exactly, but it clearly was inspired by the sketch. and it was the perfect chance to use that amazing pink and yellow washi from Outer Banks.  What do you think?

I used just one photo on my layout with lots of laying to emphasize it.  And this slide frame from The Pier with the pink wash was the perfect finishing touch.

 That Dear Lizzy chipboard tag covers up some primary colored candles that just didn't go with my layout. 

Because the layout used such a uniform color palette, I had to use other design elements to add interest.  One of those was repeating elements.  I used slide frames, sequins and stars to tie the layout together.  You can see one star peeking out behind the photo block and more scattered at the top and bottom of the layout.

 Texture was also an important element.  I love the stars from the Planetarium kit and the sequins and ink splatters also had visual interest.  And the Thickers I used to add a title are some of my favorites because they have so much texture.

Try the sketch - it was fun and challenging.  And have a fantastic Friday.

Scraplift

I love scraplift challenges - I see so many layouts that are full of inspiration, and the push to put my own spin on some of those great layouts is awesome.  But I never think about lifting myself.  So on Monday I was surprised and excited to see this layout of mine posted as the scraplift challenge at My Scraps and More.

It just so happened that I was sitting at my desk with three sheets of patterned paper and three rolls of washi trying to get started on a layout when I saw the post.  I wanted to do something for this week's washi challenge at Chic Tags.  And I immediately had an idea for this two page layout about a special breakfast I cook for my son on days when he has a big challenge - a big game, a big test, college boards. 

Here's what I came up with.

This layout is so different from the first layout.  I replaced the sequin cluster at the top of the page with a larger embellishment cluster.

 

The cluster is a combination of Amy Tangerine paper, Crate Paper die cuts (The Pier), sequins, ink splatters, enamel dots, wood veneer and basic grey die cuts.  And because I converted the layout into a two page layout, I wanted to balance this cluster with a cluster on the second page of the project.  I used this horizontal cluster.

 

This cluster included transparencies from Glitz and Basic Grey, the same Amy Tangerine paper, sequins, wood veneer and enamel dots.  The vellum heart is "vintage" Amy Tangerine.  I will be finishing this off with some journaling about making these special breakfasts for my son.

This layout was lots of fun - and I learned an important lesson.  When I'm stuck, I don't always have to go online or look at the work of others.  Just looking at layouts I've done in the past can be enough to give me that push. 

Have a terrific Tuesday.

Poppy!

I read lots of challenges - looking for inspiration - but don't have time to do many of them.  And I read lots of design team calls - looking for courage to apply, but always chicken out.  This week has been no exception.

In the last few days I saw a sketch using lots of  tags. I loved the sketch, but can't find it back.  (I know - I need a better system, but I will share it with you when I find it.)  Then I read the Chic Tags Sunday challenge - incorporate gold into your project.  And then, to top it off, I saw a DT call from Little Yellow Bicycle looking for team members for a new line.

Then I happened to be in my LSS and saw the new LYB line, Poppy.  The colors are so bright and fresh, but still have a softness about them.  They really were my perfect summer palette.  I bought almost every piece of the collection they had.  Then I came home and made this layout.

I used papers from the collection and almost the entire package of these journaling tags - they were so much fun to layer. I used gold ink on some of the edges to help make them pop.   And I used the cardstock stickers to embellish one of the cork tags from the LYB Naturals line.

But my LSS didn't have the full line and since I am have tons of fun with transparent elements lately, I especially missed the clear cuts.  Fortunately I was able to add pieces from the clear cuts for the Just Because and Hello Fall Collections.

The colors in the Hello Fall pack were really perfect.

I also played with the vellum tape strips (a new product for me) and added some gold sequins and some MME Boy Crazy enamel dots (because who can do a layout without sequins and enamel dots).


Now I'm off to find that sketch and to read that DT call again.  Maybe this will be the time I enter?

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Non Traditional Pages About Places I Want To Visit

A while back, I did two non traditional pages for my This Is Me project, and last week I realized that I never shared them.  They were both simple and could be adapted for a lot of themes.  Today I'm sharing my page about travel dreams. 

The first was for a class challenge.  I chose to do a page about all the places I wanted to visit.  But I wanted to do more than a list - I wanted to document why I wanted to go visit those places.  I started with a glassine bag, printed a world map on blue handmade paper to put in the bag, and added pockets on the front and back to create the base of my page.  And then I added embellishments to make a bright, fun page.

The front

The back

To finish I used individual Project Life cards to document the places I wanted to go and the reasons why I wanted to visit those place.

Now the truth is, there are more than 10 places I would like to see, but this is a great start.  And I ended up loving this approach because it's so flexible.I can easily add other cards in the future for different places.

• If (hopefully when) I visit some of these places, I can create a similar page for places I have visit and I can use the back of the same cards as a brief documentation of taking the trip (at least when and a brief summary.)

•  I can easily add more cards to the page as other places make my priority list of places to visit.

Hope you're having a great Tuesday!

Atlantic and Arrows

 Mothers Day Giveaway here

I love the new Atlantic collection by Studio Calico.  And my favorite part is the soft pinks, yellows and peaches used in some of the patterned papers.  This totally connects with my girly side.  So I was thrilled when the weekly designer challenge at Studio Calico was a color challenge focused on those colors.  And since I am currently loving arrows, I was equally excited to see that the Sunday challenge at Chic tags was to use arrows.  So I thought I would try to combine the challenges.

I dug out an old photo of my daughter at the beach for the layout and went to work.  I pulled patterned papers in the colors I wanted to use to get started - mostly from Atlantic, but the heart paper is from Lily Bee.  I used pink and gold spray ink to soften the background paper and emphasize the colors.  I used the same inks to color arrows from Pink Paislee.  Here's what I came up with.

 I even painted the sunrise thickers with some gold ink to add that glimmer.  Here are some close-ups of the embellishment clusters.

This cluster uses the Atlantic vellum die cuts, sequins and enamel dots from the Theresa Collins Summer Stories line/  The vellum die cuts are the perfect soft touch for this color scheme.

The pink pasilee arrows took the gold and pink colors perfectly.  And by layering the inks, I was able to get different shades with just two ink colors.  I attached my sequins with mini glue dots.

The mix of pink and gold inks on the page with ink spatters, sequins and enamel dots reminds me of sunrise on the beach.  (Wish I was there.)

I'm loving these papers and have a pile of scraps on my cropping station that I keep going to. I think I'm going to have to print more of these old beach pictures.  I love the way they work with these papers.  Working on these layouts is bringing back memories of those lazy beach days when my daughter was young.

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday.

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!

The Best Day of the Year

I have some Glitz washi to share and an assortment of sequins (I have to admit that my sequin collection has grown to an embarrassing size, but I'm willing to share. 

I told a friend that National Scrapbook Day was the best day of the year - better even than Christmas.  She doesn't scrap so she thought I was nuts.  But you know what I mean.

There are so many fun challenges, great deals on the newest supplies and lots of chances to win prizes that add to your stash.  It really is the best day of the year!

And this year I want to get in the spirit in a big way.  Of course, I will be doing challenges as fast as I can - I've got lots of pictures and paper to play with.  But I want to be one of the people giving a prize for NSD for a change.  I've won so many great things over the past several months - and its time to give back. 

So I am going to give a couple of my favorite things to play with to one lucky follower who leaves a comment. 

I have some Glitz washi to share and an assortment of sequins.  Washi and sequins seem to show up on most of my layouts these days, so I thought they made a perfect prize in honor of NSD.  So if you want to enter, just make sure you are a follower and leave a comment before midnight on Sunday May 5th.  I'll pick a winner on Monday.

Happy National Scrapbook Day - I hope you celebrate in style!

Chic Tags Color Challenge - and A Non-Traditional Halloween Layout

Chic Tags posts a challenge every Sunday.  I don't always have a chance to complete them, but I always check in for some inspiration.  This week's challenge is a color challenge - full of springy colors.  So I did a Halloween layout - I think it is so much fun to use unexpected colors on seasonal layouts.

 My layout is a two pager, but each page can stand on its own from a design perspective.  I accomplished this by using a common paper for the center block that runs across each page and using a uniform paper and ribbon border across the bottom of the design.  Here's the first page:

And here's the second page:

I also used common embellishments across the pages to tie them together - rubons, wood veneer, and sequins.  I especially like the way the rubons worked when I applied them across multiple papers.

 

 Do you have tricks for creating two page layouts?  I'd love some tips.  Hope you had a marvelous Monday!

This Is Me

There are almost no pictures of me in the albums I do.  In fact, there are almost no pictures of me at all.  If you look at our albums it looks like I don't exist.  That's the reason this month's Studio Calico class originally attracted me.  It was going to force me to document my existence.

But I have to say, its turned into much more than that.  I haven't gotten many pages done, but thinking about what to include and how to organize the album has turned into a journey where I am learning about me. And I'm experimenting with things that I might not try in my albums ordinarily, taking the opportunity to play with feminine colors and products, and generally stepping out of my creative box.  This might be the best class ever!

So I thought I'd share the start of my album.

I chose a SNAP album for my project, but am using it with a landscape orientation.  I'm really liking this format.  I decorated the cover with Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Prima wood veneer, October afternoon washi, divine twine, and Amy Tangerine.  Those Amy Tangerine alphas are my all time favorite.

The first page I did was the title page - I originally started with the gray and white Heidi Swapp paper just because I like the bold gray and white stripes.  After I cut the page to size, I had a scrap left.  I sprayed it with some mint color shine and silver Mr. Hueys just to see what would happen.  I loved the end result and ended up using pop dots to apply it to my page for an interesting dimensional effect.  I added some of my favorite embellishments - shipping tags, flair (from Fancy Pants) and sequins plus some Glitz giant rhinestones. One of my biggest challenges is letting go of control, so I pushed out of that box and used random squiggles of glossy accents to attach sequins - they landed where they landed.

I'll share more from my album later - its slow going but lots of fun.  I'd love to know what fun projects you are working on.  Have a great Tuesday!

Organizing My Stash

As my husband likes to say, it seems like I'm always trying to come up with a better way to reorganize my stash.  This weekend the spring cleaning bug hit and I was at it again.  I'm really happy with the end result, so I thought I'd share what I ended up with along with some pictures of my scrap space (with lots of pictures).  (This post is kind of long but I tried to use headings in case you were looking for a particular section of it.

My Desk
Last fall my husband built me a great custom desk made so that I can work comfortably while standing (since I seem to do most of my scrapping that way).  It has cubbies down both sides of the front and shelves along both sides.  Technically, it can be used by two people (like a partner's desk) but I really use the whole space by myself.  The fun stool came from World Market

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The top of my desk is my primary workspace.  I use a magazine holder on its side to hold file folders with inspiration pieces and memorabilia related to current projects.  And I have two spinning racks to hold small embellishments and adhesives that I use frequently.

The Spinning Racks
Just before Easter I asked my husband about making a run to Harbor Freight to get a Harbor Freight spinner.  We didn't have a chance to go before the holiday, but on Easter morning I found six round divided trays in my Easter basket.  I call the poor man's Harbor Freight Spinner.  They are each divided into six compartments and are stackable.  I divided mine into two sets of three and love them. He got them at Home Depot where each tray was only $2.50. Roll of washi  that are current favorites sit on the top post of the spinner And the best part is that I can easily add additional tiers if my stash grows (not that anyone can see that happening :))

 Thickers
I have a real weakness for alphas and my collection of thickers might be out of hand.  They were taking up tons of space, I couldn't keep track of what I had and they were everywhere.  Because they are so bulky, my alpha storage was totally inadequate.  Organizing my thickers was a priority this weekend and I ended up with this basket where they are sorted by color.  A few other favorites are along the side and mini alphas sit in front.  The basket fits perfectly on one of my shelves so the thicker problem is solved - they are organized and accessible - and there is room for a few more.

Cardstock
I'd been keeping my cardstock mixed with patterned paper (sorted by color).  But as my paper collection has grown, this has become less functional.  When working on a layout and looking for coordinating cardstock, it was cumbersome to dig through those piles.  And it was difficult to know what colors I had.  This was a problem because I like to stock up when cardstock is on sale and I want to be able to identify what colors I need quickly.  A smaller version of the thicker basket now holds cardstock, sorted by color.  I can find what I need quickly and get a quick idea of colors I need when cardstock goes on sale.  This basket sits nicely on the same shelf as the Thicker basket.

Embellishment Tray
I made a brief attempt at Project Life and had acquired this melamine tray to hold my supplies for that project.  But I'm a project life failure, so the tray was just taking up space.  I filled it with baskets holding some of my favorite embellishments - tags, envelopes and bags, sequins, PL cards, and enamel dots.  The tray serves two functions. First, it is deeper than my shelves so it extends my shelf space.  And when I'm working on a layout I can pull the tray out on my desk and have my "go to" supplies easily available.  It makes cleaning up after a project easy too.

Sequins
My newest addiction is sequins - they are inexpensive, so much fun and add so much interest to projects.  But I like to keep them sorted by color.  I bought these clear plastic tubes on etsy to hold my sequins.  (The tubes are intended to hold seed beads but they work perfectly.  The tubes fit neatly into a basket (see above).  I can see the colors, check out different combinations and not worry about my colors getting mixed.  (I do use one of the compartments on my spinner to hold a mix of my sequins too because sometimes a random selection works better - and they are so pretty.

Wood Veneer
Wood veneer is my other addiction - I can't resist.  But I like to take it out of the package and store in a way that is easy to use and sort.  I found these divided plastic boxes at the container store.  You can get them in a variety of sizes and with different compartment sizes. (I have four now and need to add one more.) They work perfectly to store wood veneer.

The Rest of My Space
I'm not showing you here, but I have a cropping station along the wall behind my desk.  My most commonly used tools sit along the top and it holds my patterned paper, other tools and less frequently used supplies.

Now if only I could get motivated to organize the rest of my house.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear your storage tips for supplies. Have a great Monday.

A Soccer Layout and a Song Title- With a Little Flair

I do tons of soccer layouts.  Sometimes it feels like that is all I do.  So I was especially pleased when a friend told me that they were impressed because my soccer layouts all look unique.  That might be the best scrappy compliment I've ever received.  But it made me think about how I could make my soccer layouts more unique.

So when I had a chance to play this week, I put together this layout with a photograph I had sitting on my desk.

 

Here are some things I did that made this different from other soccer layouts I've done.

• I used a bold pattern as my base.  I often start with a subtle pattern, but almost never use a bold pattern as my foundaytion.  The stripes from Fancy Pants  provided a really fun starting point.
• I limited myself to my scrap pile for the remaining sheets.  That led to an interesting mix of papers.  I even had a scrap of corrugated paper in the pile - who knew that would make a comeback?
• I played with blue and orange ink to add dimension and accent layers.
• I mixed base embellishments from my stash and used nothing that had a soccer or sports theme.  I used a vellum tape strip from Basic Grey and other embellishments from Studio Calico.
• I added a piece of flair from my stash - it added dimension and was a great accent.
• I avoided a sports themed title and used a song title instead.
• And I succumbed to my latest obsession and added sequins.  

I'd love to hear the ways you keep layouts fresh.  Thanks for checking in.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Crate Paper, The Color Red and Using Texture

Crate Prper is featuring work using their products and the color red this week on their blog.  Red isn't a color that I'm drawn to very often, but I was inspired to check out my stash and see what I could put together.  (I generally don't have a lot of red.)  I was surprised by the number of things I pulled out of my stash that were from CP with the color red.  It turned out to be challenging to narrow down my choices, but I ultimately decided to do a birthday layout that combined some older products with some new Party Day embellishments.

I also wanted to incorporate some of the ideas from the Studio Calico Bright Ideas class.  One of the lessons and challenges was about adding texture to your layout.  The class reminded me that I could add texture without adding lots of bulk and in small ways.

I tried to add texture in several ways.  The textured cardstock used as the base was a great starting point and the different doilies provided contrast and softness.  I also sprinkled sequins diagnonally through the layout - because they catch the light, they add tons of visual interest inexpensively and without a lot of fuss.  Here they resemble confetti.

The vellum bag from the Party Day collection added another texture and the numeric title in super glittery thickers  created a great title on top of the bag.  The hidden journaling and the chipboard candle finished the top cluster of embellishments.

When I think of texture, I also think of dimension.  By folding the corner of the patterned paper over the picture and doily, I added an additional pattern and more dimension to my layout. 

I finished the layout with an embellishment cluster at the bottom of the page where the sequins ended.  I wrapped the die cut with twine,  adding more visual interest.

I'm hoping to have more scrapping time tonight.  Hope you enjoy your Thursday.

One Little Word Title Page

A few weeks back I talked about trying to do One Little Word for the first time.  I chose "focus" as my word - focus on the positive and things you can impact and let go of things you cannot change.  But ultimately the class wasn't in my budget.  As a result, I've had a hard time getting started. 

But this weekend My Scraps and More had a One Little Word crop on their forum boards (the challenges are still open this week) and it gave me a little kick in the butt.  I put together my title page for my album/journal for one of the challenges.

My album is an old 8x8 ditto album my daughter has discarded and the size presents a challenge all its own.  I've never done anything that size before.  But I have to admit, I was pleased with how this came out.  It isn't quite like anything I've done before, but it still feels true to my style.

Here's a bit about the elements of my page:

• The background is from the Bo Bunny double dot line - I love all the great colors the ledger paper comes in.  It is one of my go to products and I try to keep a range of colors in my stash at all times.
• I broke out the Mister Huey's (in silver again) to create the large "My Life" element and the spatter effect.  I also used it to color a white paper doily.
• I used a Fancy Pants stencil card with the Mr. Hueys and love the impact of those large words.  I then layered a vellum scrap over the top to soften the look.
• The sequins and vellum arrow are from Studio Calico kits and have been hanging out in my stash as things I love but wasn't sure where to use.  Their sequins are the yummiest colors!
• The small alphas and the flair are from Basic Grey.  The sparkly jewel is from a Websters Pages warehouse box.
• The polaroid frame is from KI Memories (yuoget a whole 12x12 sheet of them to break apart - all with different words and patterns.
• The last piece is a Dear Lizzy die cut.

Are you working on your OLW effort?  Any pointers/ideas to start really working on the issue would be much appreciated.  Enjoy your Monday.