Category: Layouts

CKC Bonus Challenge

It is challenge time AGAIN over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog. Normally we have just two layout challenges a month, but since our fearless leader Lisa is hosting this month — in her birthday month! — we get a bonus birthday-inspired challenge. We are going to play with bows or ribbons.

So I grabbed my CKC kit. Here is a reminder of that…

Then I grabbed a bow die from my stash. This little bow came from a Doodle Bug holiday stamp and die set that I got as part of an online event. If I can find. Then I got to work building little bows. I lined them up and built the rest of my page around that.

And here is the full process…

You can find more takes takes on this challenge over at the CKC blog! Don’t forget to play along with this challenge and show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge. We love to see your work!

Until next time, have an artful day.

Mixed Media, Nov ’22

I love a bit of mixed media every now and then. There are two mixed media inspiration groups I play along with once or twice a month. More info on those down at the bottom of the post!

This time around I’m sharing layouts from both groups. First up I played with the Mix It Up Monday group. We had a sketch with plenty of circles. I stretched it to two pages and created a Halloween layout.

A scrapbook layout sketch featuring lots of sizes of circles in the background.
A scrapbook double page layout about halloween skeleton decorations.

You can catch the video if you want to see how I created my circles with masking, spray inks and stamping.

Next up is a layout process with Mixed Media Mayhem. Our inspiration was from Janet Fritz of Galaxy Girl Creations. You can find her at her YouTube channel. My interpretation focused in on the pattern of her mixed media as opposed to any other elements.

And of course I have a process video for that too. This video also includes some experimentation I did with a new-to-me color product.

So if you are inspired to play with mixed media, you can join in on the fun with either group.

  • Piece Craft Love Facebook group offers the Mix It Up Monday challenge (aka MUM) on the second Monday of the month.
  • Mixed Media Mayhem Facebook group is for all the love of mixed media. There is plenty of weekly inspiration over there and a once a month hop that let’s members play along.

CKC Challenge #2, Nov ’22

It is challenge time over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog. Our hostess for the month, Lisa was inspired by all the harvest festivals that incorporate gratitude. So that is our theme this time: Gratitude stories! First off, let’s remember how all our kits started off with an inspiration image. That was offered by a German company called Scrapbook Werkstatt, but it has since been taken down. But we always try to give credit where credit is due!

If you haven’t seen my kit build yet, head over to check that out.

With kit stuff out of the way, back to the challenge… Challenge accepted, with a bit of a twist. I am scrapping Christmas photos with more of a Thanksgiving/Fall color vibe. But since this story is very homey and has to do with food, it all works for me!

This layout included some hidden journaling behind that little “living room scene” (center photo above). The red banner is stapled to a small card to pull out for the words. The other things about this embellishment cluster that I was a little too pleased about. See that butterfly button? In my little scene, the green pattern paper is “wall paper” on the “wall” behind that armchair, and that button is “art” hanging on that wall! It is an embellishment with a larger purpose.

So if you want to hear more about my goofy thinking here is the full process video.

I hope you can check out the other designers takes on this challenge! Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge. We love to see your work!

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED

Disclaimer: I offer affiliate shopping linked products when possible. This shopping won’t cost you anything extra, but I get a small kick back from the companies for sending business their way. It is an easy way to tell me “Thank You” for the content I provide. I appreciate you using my links!

Mix It Up Monday Hop

For this month’s participation in the Mix It Up Monday (aka MUM) hop hosted by Piece Craft Love Clubhouse Facebook group. We take a sketch and add in our mixed media touches. This time the sketch is from Lanette Erickson on the Scrap Our Stash blog.

Notice the sketch already has some mixed media qualities to it. I took that idea and expanded on it.

My layout used shimmery spray inks over circle masks to create my circular shapes. I think filled in the circles with some stamped Halloween images. A bit of pattern paper and a few stickers and the layout is good to go.

See all the details in the video!

I hope you will go and check out all the creatives on this hop. Most of them are on YouTube, but we have a couple of Instagrammers joing in too. Find the details below.

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED^^

^^ Disclaimer: I offer affiliate shopping linked products when possible. This shopping won’t cost you anything extra, but I get a small kick back from the companies for sending business their way. It is an easy way to tell me “Thank You” for the content I provide. I appreciate you using my links!

Two Interactive layouts!

Last time I showed you some tip-out elements to make for creating interactive layouts. Tips out are simple small paper elements that are adhered to the page in a way that they can tip or flip open to reveal more space. I’ve been obsessed with this technique for a couple of weeks now, so I’m bringing that obsession right to you!

Layout 1: Uses one of the tip outs I made with only a bit of adjustment to it.

Layout 2: Creates a tip-out from scratch using slightly different techniques! I had lots of lots of journaling and a few more photos, all while still allowing “white space” on the front of the layout.

I hope you enjoy these interactive layouts. Until next time, have an artful day.

Freebie Friday, Nov ’22

I love learning, creating and sharing. That is why I offer freebies up to you each month. I have both a layout sketch (in printable pdf as well as editable psd) and an electronic cut file (in svg). This month I was inspired by a photo I took out my kitchen window of a lovely fall tree.

You can see all the details in my reveal video, or read on for the short version.

Here is a closer look at the sketch and the project I created based on this sketch. This one is in 8.5×11 size format.

If you don’t do 8.5×11 sizes, I also have the 12×12 expanded version of the sketch for you. Notice it is pretty simple with the base 8.5×11 added to a 12×12 and then extra embellishments included with that.

So that large title block I designed specifically to fit my cut file for this month.

While I did cut that title at a small(ish) size, it is designed to fit a full 12×112 layout if you want to go large with it.

Download Files below…

Or… head over to my Freebies Page to peruse the catalog of files I have offered in the past. And if you have any ideas for sketch or cut files, I’d love to hear your ideas. I can’t make promises but I can take suggestions!

Until next time, have an artful day.

LOAD 1022, Week 3 & 4

Well it has been a bit since I posted week 2 of LOAD, and here we are already in November! So let’s get to the final LOAD layouts for October.

Week 3 saw more work in my COVID album, as well as some design team work. I’m also trying to finish up pages from late 2021 and early 2022 so my story binder doesn’t over lap months! I usually have about 8 months or so of stories saved up in my binder, but I have not been wholly inspired to tell some of the holiday stories I’ve had sitting around. LOAD is a good time to get some of those older stories checked off the to-do list…

…That is if you don’t get distracted by the interesting prompts each day brings! I often get distracted, but this time around I’m trying to keep my focus on progressing on some specific projects!

On to week 4 (and beyond)..

I relied some more on the Project Life app on my phone as well as a fully digital page to get me through some days. Digital really does help on those busy days. You’ll notice that some of my stories are “unfinished” but I designed them that way. Since some of these stories were “right in the moment” I included empty space to allow me to fill in more details as time moved forward.

That it is for this final LOAd of 2022. I’ll be back with more other creations soon and more LOAD in Ferburary. Until then, have an artful day.

LOAD 1022, Week 2

Week 2 of LOAD has come and gone already so this post is a bit behind real time! For a look at week 1, head over here. I’m still on track for “finishing” this LOAD month. Whew! If you need more info on LOAD, or the LayOut A Day project, follow the link to get the details. Briefly it is a project just like the name implies… we create a layout each day for a month (or in the case of the link I provided, we have a one-week option each summer). October LOAD is for ScrapHappy members only, so you won’t find this month’s challenge as a buy-in option. (If you choose to get a membership, please use my link as I get a very small kick back as a thank you for sending people over the ScrapHappy!)

With business out of the way, let’s look at some projects! Because of the busy times, I did need to rely on my phone camera and editing software to upload some of pictures. They are hastily taken and not the best quality!! But that is a reality of LOAD. Sometimes I can take smooth photos of my project and edit them nicely, and sometimes not so much! Hope you appreciate me keeping it real!

I’ve taken some of this LOAD time to seriously organize my COVID album plans and set to work getting progress made on it. I had done a few odd layouts here and there. I also had the “bones” in place from a pocket page class I took that I knew would go towards this album. So that was a solid start, but it needed just a bit of emphasis on the timeline of the pandemic. So I started gathering those tidbits both from news sources, which I has saved in real time, and my own journal. Here in the US, the CDC has a timeline of COVID events, that I relied heavily on for the Before page you see above. I feel like this helps pull the pieces together to tell not only our family story of the pandemic, but a broader idea of the pandemic. You’ll be seeing more of those layouts next batch!

That it is for this time. I’ll be back with more creations soon. Until then, have an artful day.

October CKC Challenge #2

It is challenge time over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog. Our challenge this time is to “Go Big or Go Home”! So I am putting together my layout using a large photo frame. I created the frame as part of my design team work over at the Counterfeit Kit Blog for the Forgery on the Fourth project. (It’s at the bottom of the post so be patient and scroll down!) But here is a quick peek at the frame.

And here is how it made it onto my layout!

Here is the full process video if you’d like to see the layout come together.

I hope you can check out the other designers takes on this challenge! Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge. We love to see your work!

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED

Disclaimer: I offer affiliate shopping linked products when possible. This shopping won’t cost you anything extra, but I get a small kick back from the companies for sending business their way. It is an easy way to tell me “Thank You” for the content I provide. I appreciate you using my links!

Freebie Friday, Oct ’22

I love learning, creating and sharing. That is why I offer freebies up to you each month. I have both a layout sketch (in printable pdf as well as editable psd) and an electronic cut file (in svg). This month I was inspired by an organizational project I was working on. I needed my own specifically sized file dividers and I turned to Illustrator to get what I needed. Plus, it can make fun layouts as well!. You can see all the details in my reveal video, or read on for the short version.

Here is a closer look at the sketch and the project I created based on this sketch.

If you are a cut file lover, I’ve got you covered! I’ve actually got two files for you, the frame on the left, and the file cards, folder and tabs on the right. The video talks about how to use the first file card to layer over the file folder if you want to layer it will different pattern papers.

The photo frame on the left was described as part of my design team work over at the Counterfeit Kit Blog. It’s at the bottom of the post so be patient and scroll down! Plus I used the finished frame in a recent YouTube video, so you can check it out there as well.

Download the…

  • Sketch pdf version here
  • Sketch psd version here
  • File Frames cut file here
  • File Cards & Folder cut file here

OR… head over to my Freebies Page to peruse the catalog of files I have offered in the past. And if you have any ideas for sketch or cut files, I’d love to hear your ideas. I can’t make promises but I can take suggestions!

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED**

** Disclaimer: I offer affiliate shopping linked products when possible. This shopping won’t cost you anything extra, but I get a small kick back from the companies for sending business their way. It is an easy way to tell me “Thank You” for the content I provide. I appreciate you using my links!