May 2011

I’m still chugging along with getting my kids scrap albums caught up. I am having a really good time too. After not crafting for so long I forgot how good it makes me feel to play with paper and ink. It is calming and satisfying to create something pretty. I’m not getting complicated with any of these layouts which makes it easy to get them done and that ups the satisfaction quotient! Hope you enjoy these next couple of layouts.

We attend an annual homeschooling conference each May and these photos were taken of my middle child at the conference. It is a weekend full of whirlwind activity and I wanted to highlight some of the favorites.

I was tired towards the end of this next layout for my youngest so I just hand wrote a title. I gave a little more emphasis to the word MAY by using block letters and coloring it in with a very light brown ink. I am really a fan of photo collages with number journaling items and so took that approach with this 12-photos on one page layout!

This layout for my son captures a sweet and funny story. The only two photos I had for the event were blurry cell phone photos. In order to get the most impact out of these poor quality photos, I used repetition to indicate action. Then I emphasized the action with a bright, playful title. The title has even more impact since it is placed on a monochromatic background. You can use these techniques to draw more attention to the story when you have bad photos!

I’ll be back in a few days with more layouts. I’ve got a bunch of items already complete I just have to prepare photos and such for blog posts.

Playing catch up

Yes I am a chronological scrapper. I know there are so many “names” out there who say not to scrapbook that way. But I just can’t help it. It is my need for organization. In the past I have used scrap calendars for each of my kids to keep things manageable. It was just one layout per month per child for a total of 3 layouts each month. Sounds totally do-able, right? Well, even with that relaxed schedule, I did not get my pages done this past year. I made it to March and then dropped off the face of the scrapbooking earth.

Well, the change of the new year has got me motivated to get things done and I am happy to say that I have completed about 8 layouts in about 5 hours this past week. I will be posting photos of those projects over the next few days.

Here are my layouts for the month of April.

This one I posted back in September with the thought that I would be getting the rest of the series done shortly. That never happened.

So here are the next two for the series. This first one was made with a bunch of scraps from my stash. I just slapped down torn strips of pattern paper and boxed it all in with sheet of cardstock that had a hole punched out of the middle of it – cut out the middle and the pattern paper turns into a tidy frame.

This layout was super fast since I used a sheet of pre-layout-designed pattern paper with coordinating stickers and epoxies that have been hiding in my stash. Throw in a thickers alphabet and I was good to go.

Back to Scrapping

I got my scrap space cleaned up these past two weeks. It really was a massive disaster zone. It was so bad that I just couldn’t take any pictures. I was feeling motivated to scrap so that helped me get things cleaned AND getting things cleaned made me more motivated to scrap! So I have a binder full of ready-to-scrap photos with page layout ideas. When I have a few minutes here and there, things will be waiting for me to put together.

Here is the page I got done this week. I am working on my kids scrap calendars back from April. It really has been that long since I have done any scrapping. When I lost my mojo, it got really, really lost. Now I think it is back, and hopefully not just for a brief visit. And I think I can keep it hanging around by cleaning up my space as I go and not letting the mess get so out of control. That is my scrappy tip for all of you today!

Recipe

pattern paper: Fancy pants (background), Stampin’ Up and Basic Grey
punches: Stampin’ Up
journal marker: American crafts
other: bead chain, staples, wet adhesive, Photoshop Elements

For this one I pre-printed my main photo with some journaling (yeah I know one word is cut off a bit) and my title. I emphasized this photo with a border built in to the print. This saved me some time with title and matting. I went with some softer paper to go with my daughters softer personality. Throwing in some hard metal – bead chain and staples – helps support the dental theme. Using the bead chain for metal allows me to curve it and keep it softer and not too harsh. It felt really good to throw together a quick and lovely page. I hope I have more for you soon!

CKC: March Layouts

Like I said recently, I took a handful of basic supplies (pattern papers, ink and cardstock and alphabets for the most part) to my CKC crop. I wanted to simplify my preparations and this certainly did the job. I also simplified by going in knowing I was going to use the same basic layout for these 3 pages. My kids each got a gift certificate to spend at an online store. I had pretty much the same picture for each kid enjoying their booty from the package that arrived. So I thought, why not make pretty much the same layout for each one? These layouts are going in different albums so they will be viewed at different times. This will reduce the boring, repetitive factor (if you are worried about that kind of thing). So go ahead and make the same layout! It really isn’t a big deal.

The layout below is what I had in mind originally when planning for these layouts. I wanted the title to arch around a circular photo mat. I used my Cricut to cut my photo mats before leaving for the crop. That was the only special thing I did to prepare for these layouts. I used a combination of papers that came in my crop goody bag and older papers I had stuffed in my crop bag. I really planned to keep these pages simple to keep the focus on the story.

I just slightly adjusted things for the next layout, using up scraps of pattern paper from other projects.

And finally I made this one using up a bunch of older product, including these alpha stickers that I have had lying around for about a year.

CKC: February Layouts

At the Creating Keepsakes Convention I packed supplies to work on my kids calendars for the months of February and March. Here is what I came up with for February

First we have my oldest daughter’s page. I saved tags, buttons and other tidbits from a couple of her fashion shopping excursions to use on a layout. I think they fit perfectly here to capture the things that I see I see in her that are in between being a little girl and being a teen. It was a great photo and journaling for her ninth birthday.

My son’s layout came out of one of the CKC classes I took focusing on using sketches. I took the sketch and the supplies provided to create this layout. I had this photo of my son in the back of my mind when I made this project in class so I used a larger amount of orange pattern paper and kept the pink to a minimum accent. The pink works on this boy layout since my son is holding a glass of pink “snow cone.” When I made the project in class I left off the recommended title and added in my own titling later. Don’t be afraid to mix it up, even when taking a class. If something different works for you, then go for it!

And finally, my youngest’s layout. I used pattern paper that came in my goody bag at the evening crop at CKC. I didn’t have any plan for this layout going into the evening, but when I saw this energetic paper I thought it would be great for the photos of my daughter “building” at the science museum near us. The paper was a very stark contrast and I inked the paper just to tone down the white a bit. This is one of my favorite techniques to use paper that otherwise is just a bit to bold or busy. If you tone it down, you can make it work. You don’t have to stress out over layouts, just use what you have on hand.

CKC: Paper Variety challenge

I took my Paper Variety Challenge and some sketches with me to my Creating Keepsakes Convention event this weekend to use during the open crop time. Here is what I ended up doing with Paper Variety’s Tic-Tac-Toe challenge.

I used the far left hand column and made a layout using some flowers about my youngest daughter’s first birthday. I packed really simply for the crop and will tell you about that in a later post. The tags I made using my Cricut/Gypsy and I cut a ton of them to keep in my stash. I packed a whole handful of these tags to do different things with. Yes tags are widely available but I didn’t have any so I just made my own. Know that you can make lovely pages without spending a ton of money but packing simply and making your own embellishments when you need to.

Recipe:
cardstock: The Paper Company
pattern paper, cardstock stickers, small alpha: Echo Park
title alpha: American Crafts
ink: Ranger
die machine: Cricut/Gypsy (tags)
flowers: stash

January layouts

Here are my kids scrap calendar pages for January.

For this one I kept things simple. I added texture to the carstock using a piece of old plastic fencing and some Glimmer Mist. I stamped the fruit images on pattern paper to give them more texture and depth. Finally I used Staz On to tone down unimportant ares of the photograph that were distracting from the focus. These are all easy tips you can use on your layouts too!

Recipe:
cardstock, stamps, ink: Stampin’ Up
pattern paper: stash scraps
journal stickers: October Afternoon
alpha: stash
spray ink: Tattered Angels
other: stitching, plastic fencing as mask

I thought I had shown you this next one already but I couldn’t find it in my image gallery. So here it is. For this one I used a sketch from Sketch Inspiration. In order to balance some poor photos I added a clear photo of my daughter’s face. To enhance the subject (her love of archeology) I used paint. I’ll have to admit that it was a bit more paint that I intended, but I think it works just fine.

Recipe:
pattern paper: Scenic Route, Fancy Pants (I think)
paint dauber: Ranger
punch: Stampin’ Up
stamps: Technique Tuesday
ink: Staz On
alpha rubons: stash

And this one you’ve seen before.

9th Birthday

I know my blog was quite last week. My craft room was busy though! Here is one project I worked on. It is from my daughter’s 9th birthday. She chose a pool party for the 5th year!

When I started this page I knew I wanted to use the leftover paper umbrellas from the party on the page. I also wanted to incorporate those small photos. Those I took from a cheap under-water camera I picked up a couple of years ago while on vacation (for the pool portion of the party). I actually went to the store in search of real, live film. I haven’t done such a thing in years! The photos came back of poor quality, but it is a fun addition to the party layout.

Don’t be afraid to use less than perfect photos and those party decorations to bring some spark to your layouts!

Recipe
cardstock: stash
pattern paper: Echo Park, scraps from stash
alpha: American crafts
stamps: Technique Tuesday
glue ink: Tsukineko
other: glitter, umbrellas
note: if you are worried about archival quality, be sure to spray the umbrellas with deacidification spray.

Finishing 2010

Sheesh. I finally got to finishing the last two layouts for my kids scrap calendars. I just wasn’t feeling motivated to get them done. But I finally found the energy. Part of the problem was that I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with the photos for my son’s layout. Then I saw the current sketch over at Sketch Inspiration and thought that it could work. And while I was working on my son’s layout I decided to just go for it and finish my daughters. I kept everything really simple so I could just get it done. It feels good to finally get those all wrapped up!

Showing off

I’m gonna show off in this post. This layout is all about how I made my own wedding dress.

I learned to sew in high school and took to it right away. I made several clothing items and at the end of the year I made my prom dress. Years later when I was getting married, I decided to make my own wedding dress. It was a wonderful experience. I really had a lot of fun doing it (despite the fact that my sewing machine died right in the middle of things!).

I’ve been married for almost 17 years and these are the first photos from the wedding that I have scrapped. All my photos are tucked into a photo album since those pictures were taking in my pre-scrapper life. Someday I will get to scrapping a few more of them. But for now I was feeling motivated to scrap something I feel very proud of.

Recipe:
pattern paper: Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon
vellum: Stampin’ Up
alpha: Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon
punch: Fiskars
paper tape: 7 gypsies
stamp: Technique Tuesday
bling: Want2Scrap
markers: Marvy
paint: Delta
inks: Ranger, StazOn

This layout was inspired by two things. First I used a sketch from Sketch Inspiration and I also played with “get darling with decorative tape challenge” on Moxi Fab World. I took the large background heart from the sketch and worked it with decorative tape. I also recolored the same decorative tape with alcohol ink and made some flowers. I’ve been using more and more tape on my layouts and I am really loving it.