Scrapping Is Life

Linky Love

2012-01-26T13:14:00.005-07:00

I'm always on the lookout for great scrapbooking products. I'm not quite the freebie collector I once was, but I can't pass up something that's beautiful and free. There are a lot of digital freebies out there, but I've found you have to be rather picky to find the good quality stuff. Some of the best stuff I've found lately come as exclusive gifts for liking designers' facebook pages. (Once you like their page you can click on the exclusive tab to find the download.) For example:

A full (gorgeous!) kit from Sahlin Studio:

Another big & beautiful kit from Secret Stash:

These pretty papers from Micheline Martin:

I also found this template that would work great for Project Life pages, or others, on Amy Jaz's blog:

And I found these sweet little stickers from Vinnie Pearce on her website:

So if you haven't already, go grab yourself these digital treats! And remember to say thanks! :)

xoxo,

Birthday Bash at The Lilypad!

2012-01-20T10:52:00.003-07:00

The Lilypad is turning 5! I just wanted to share some of the FUN stuff they have going on to celebrate.

First off, make sure you "like" them on facebook to receive this awesome Hoppy Birthday kit FREE. Yes, FREE.

And, the designers at The Lilypad are granting wishes all weekend! Just head over the the forum and post what product you wish for, and someone will get their wish! Each designer has their own thread so there are lots of chances to win. There are other fun games going on in the forum as well.

And of course, you can't beat a sale. Everything is 30% off!

I just wanted to share because I really, really love The Lilypad. I wasn't asked to post about this, or given anything in exchange for this post. I'm passing it along because think the designers and scrappers at The Lilypad are truly some of the most talented and nice people around digi land. So go get your party on!

xoxo,

Disneyland Album

2012-01-12T16:09:00.007-07:00

I finally made an album of our trip to Disneyland! This is so exciting, because I really have a hard time creating full albums. I tend to get sidetracked along the way. In fact I have several albums I've started by doing a few pages and they sit lonely in folders on my hard drive. Christmas was just the motivation I needed to get this done, as I wanted to give a copy as a gift to my brother and his family who joined us on our vacation. Overall I like how it turned out. I used a lot of Cindy Schneider templates (she usually has at least one available free on her FB page). It's definitely not a clean look, but I like them because there's a lot of spots for the fun digital elements I love to collect. I used other templates as well, and few of the layouts I even designed myself. :) I'm not going to put credits for these pages because honestly I was pulling stuff from everywhere, but I did use the Just Plain Fun kit by Britt-ish Designs a TON. That red and white alpha and cloud paper I especially loved and used on nearly every page.

Here are a few of my favorites. The cover and the last page I designed to sort of match:

These two go together for a two page spread:

I had the books printed at Shutterfly. I've found (after trying a few different places) they have the best quality for the price, and I can usually find some kind of discount or coupon when I'm ready to print.

xoxo,

2011 Stats & 2012 Goals

2012-01-07T09:07:00.008-07:00

2011 Stats

I was curious just how much scrapbooking I've done over that past year, so I started digging through my folders and counting things up. I'm pretty sure I've scrapped more this year than ever before. In 2011 I scrapped a grand total of 201 layouts or projects. (I'm including things like home decor projects or printable things I created in photoshop using my digital supplies as well.) Here's how it breaks down:

31 pages for Disneyland album (which I still need to share here on my blog)
51 pages for my Project: Love, Me album
20 hybrid/printable/decor things
99 "regular" layouts

Some of my favorites...

{created with Singin' in the Rain kit by Jenna Desai and Jacque Larsen; Pea Hayley Jo font}

{created with He Said, She Said collab by Lauren Reid and Sugarplum Paperie; 1942 Report font}

{created with "Dino-RAWR 2" kit and "Heart to Heart" kit by SuzyQ Scraps; "Quicksand" font}

{alpha from A Year in Review kit by Captivated Visions and SuzyQ Scraps; acrylic clouds from EarthWings by Julie Marie; journaling cloud from Sunshine 'n Showers kit by Happy Scrap Girl and Designs by Tater; everything else from Spring Field Trip by Clever Monkey Graphics; Pea Sarah's Skittles font}

{created with Bookmarked kit by The Tattered Pear; Franklin Gothic Book font}

{created with Come As You Are kit by Dunia Designs (no longer available); photo mask by Jenn Lindsay (no longer available); Pea Hayley Jo font}

{created with My Life, My Journey collab kit from The Daily Digi, with goodies from: JennCK, Jenn Barrette, Allison Pennington, Micheline Martin, Sabrina's Creations, Dianne Rigdon, Pamela Donnis, Katie the Scrapbook Lady, Connie Prince; PhoenixScript and Quicksand fonts}

{black & white papers from Halloween Papers by Jenna Desai; Candy Alpha by Jenna Desai; other paper & elements from 31 Wicked Way collab by Jenna Desai and Jacque Larsen; 1942 Report font}

{created with Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy kit by Dunia Designs; Stamp Act and Pea Sugar Noodles fonts}

{everything from Innocence kit by Wild Blueberry Ink; Perpetua and Callie Hand fonts}

{everything from Birds of a Feather kit by Dani Mogstad; Callie Hand font}

{duck from Bathtime Baby kit by GG Digital Desigsns; MTF Jotted, Smiley Monster, Rickels, and Pass the Chex fonts}

{heart shape by Michelle Coleman; DingMaps font}

{everything from iCreate kit by SuzyQ Scraps and Ziggle Designs; The Other Twin font}

2012 Goals

2011 was a great year! Going forward I want to keep the momentum I've had and simply keep creating. That is my main goal... and yes, a very broad one. I don't really want to give myself a lot of specific parameters because I feel like that might set me up for failure. I know a lot of people are doing project-based scrapbooking, such as Project Life (paper or digital), photo-a-day projects such as Project 365 or even Project 52, or something like Project: Love, Me. And while I really love the idea of them, I know that the time investment and rigidity of something like that isn't really what I want.

I have been casually taking pictures, usually one per day, on my phone. I'm toying with the idea of keeping that up and throwing them together into a layout each week or so. Which sounds exactly like Project 365, which I just said I wasn't doing, but maybe I am? I guess I just don't want to say I am because I don't want the commitment of keeping it up if I'm not feeling it. Sometimes what frustrates me about projects like this is that I miss a day (or week, or month...) and then I feel like I've failed. So I'm not giving myself any restrictions, whatever I end up doing is going to be fine and something is better than nothing. I also purchased these Paper Blocks 52 templates which I think will be really fun and helpful in scrapping these... if I do keep up with it ;)

As far as other scrapbooking goes, I have a few other specific things I'd like to do:

1. Finish Miles baby book (mostly just photos, with less journaling & embellisments)
2. Take more self-portraits and scrap them (I find myself missing a lot in our family scrapbooks)
3. Stay on top of my creative teams and produce quality layouts for them
4. Finish the December/Christmas 2011 album I started

And, overall, just keep scrapping! Which shouldn't be too hard as it's one of my favorite things to do. :) Here's to lots of layouts and happy scrapping in 2012!

xoxo,

December Layouts

2011-12-30T22:25:00.005-07:00

A few pages I've created this month:

{papers & elements from 100 things kit by Lauren Reid; Skimpy Skamp alpha by Lauren Reid; Pea Snow, Aresenale White, and Rockwell fonts}

{everything from Singin' in the Rain kit by Jenna Desai and Jacque Larsen; Pea Hayley Jo font}

{Sparkly Holiday by Jenna Desai; Holiday Frames & Wordart by Jenna Desai; Holiday Essentials by Jenna Desai; Christmas Waltz Alphabet by Rachel Young; Christmas Waltz Papers by Rachel Young; BeautifulEveryTime font}

{created with Hope collab by the Lilypad designers; Free Spirit alpha by CD Muckosky; template by Amy Martin; Spicy Sushi Roll alpha}

{created with Crazy Love kit by WM[Squared] Designs; wm2_wendy messy font by WM[Squared] Designs; template by Nanie's Designs}

{everything from the Everyday Project Bundle by Dunia Designs and Studio Basic; Arsenale White and Jenna Sue fonts}

{created with Christmas Wishes Bundle by WM[Squared] Designs; The Sidekick Kid font}

{template from Be Inspired - KimR - Vol. 3 by WM[Squared] Designs; Autumn Whispers bundle by WM[Squared] Designs; Lauren Script and Nothing You Could Say font}

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - THE END!

2011-12-30T21:45:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I scrapped my very LAST layout for Project: Love, Me. It feels so good to say that! It feels so good to have done a year-long project like this and actually stay on top of it. It wasn't always easy to complete all four prompts each month - and some months I didn't get them all done, but I caught up later, and now I can say it is finished! I spent some time going through my folder of finished layouts and I really love the collection I've created and can't wait to see all the pages together in an album.

Here are the final pages for December (created with the iRejoice kit), plus one more for a prompt in April that I skipped and finally finished this week. (That layout was created with the iLive bundle.)

I was also really excited to find out that Project: Love, Me will be continuing in 2012 and it's been revamped into a class format with some exciting changes! If you are interested check out the Project: Love, Me blog. I highly recommend this projcet to anyone - yes, even non-scrapbookers - as it is an amazing way to record and share your personal story.

xoxo,

Capture Your Holidays

2011-12-07T13:59:00.005-07:00

I'm taking an online photo class called Capture Your Holidays by Katrina Kennedy at Get It Scrapped. I've taken another class from Katrina and would highly recommend her photography classes, she's great. This class just started yesterday and the first lesson was about photographing lights to get a bokeh effect and a starburst effect. I had a lot of fun playing around with this and thought I'd share some of my results here.

Just lights:

Our elf, Fritz, with bokeh. Pretty magical, huh?

Here's the starburst effect. This look is achieved by leaving the shutter open for a long time so you have to have a steady surface or a tripod to eliminate movement. I don't have a tripod, so I had to settle for the angle I could get from my coffee table. I would love to play around with this more and get a closer shot with a different angle.

And one more bokeh, with my son in there too. I really like the look of the colored lights - we found these on a tree in the waiting area of a restaurant we were at this morning.

Have you ever tried shooting bokeh? I love the look, and it was a lot easier to achieve than I expected. I'm hoping I can keep up with all the lessons over the next two weeks, and get some really good holiday photos to scrap!

xoxo,

Curious Girl

2011-12-06T09:12:00.004-07:00

Dunia Designs is retiring a few of her older kits, but before they are gone you can grab them for just $2 each:

I made this layout with the fun Come As You Are kit:

{paper & elements from Come As You Are kit by Dunia Designs; photo mask by Jenn Lindsay (no longer available); Pea Hayley Jo font}

I haven't had a chance to create with any of the other kits, but hopefully I will before they are gone!

xoxo,

Alive & Scrapping

2011-12-03T14:13:00.007-07:00

I'm still here, still scrapping - a lot more scrapping than blogging going on. Aside from my usual creative team requirements, I've also been working on a big album that I won't say much about because it's a Christmas gift for someone... who may or may not read this blog. (Does anyone read this blog?!) Oh, and I added a new creative team - which I am very excited about - I am now creating for WM[squared]! This will actually just even things out next month when Project: Love, Me will be over. Here's the first layout I've created since I've been on her team:

{created with Fall Splendor - the bundle by WM[Squared] designs; template by Scrapping with Liz; Carnala font}

And.... here's a bunch more! In no particular order. Sorry this will be kind of long since I haven't posted in a loooong time.

{created with My Life, My Journey collab kit from The Daily Digi, with goodies from: JennCK, Jenn Barrette, Allison Pennington, Micheline Martin, Sabrina's Creations, Dianne Rigdon, Pamela Donnis, Katie the Scrapbook Lady, and Connie Prince; PhoenixScript and Quicksand fonts}

{created with So This is Christmas kit by Dunia Designs; template from iGive templates by SuzyQ Scraps and Ziggle Designs; More Than Enough and Pea Kar Kar fonts}

{Holiday Sparkles by Jenna Desai; Gold Print Papers by Jenna Desai; frame, gift doodles, star doodles, red button and tape from Birthday Wishes by Jenna Desai; green flower from Scrap Essentials No. 2; red paper from Togetherness kit by Jenna Desai and Micheline Martin; green button from 31 Wicked Way collab by Jacque Larsen and Jenna Desai; Sunshine in my Soul and MTF Hoo Rah fonts}

{created with Wicked Smart collab by The Lilypad designers;template by Amy Martin (Nov template challenge at The Lilypad);Courier New font}

{created with He Said, She Said collab by Lauren Reid and Sugarplum Paperie; 1942 Report font}

{created with Spunky Chick kit by Laura Banasiak; template from Bunch of Templates - Bundle by Dunia Designs; Pea Cammi Pea font}

{created with Photo Frames No. 7, Holiday Stamps & Bits, Flowers N' Swirls by Jenna Desai; template by Amy Martin from Hope collab kit; Callie Hand font}

{created with Someone Like You kit by Dunia Designs; template from Duo (Bundle)- Layered Templates by Dunia Designs; Harting font}

{created with Nov. BYOC goodies by Jennia Desai: Photo Frames No. 5 , Polka Dot Alphas , Scrap Essentials No. 2; background paper from Birthday Wishes kit by Jenna Desai; template fom Stuggy Collection by Simply Tiffany Studio; 2 Peas Platform Shoes and Myriad Pro fonts}

{background paper from Never Ending kit by Kaye Winiecki; green ribbon from Bookmarked kit by The Tattered Pear; green fabric flower, pink button, leaf doodle and purple lace from Scrap Essentials No. 2 by Jenna Desai; gray flower from 31 Wicked Way by Jeanna Desai and Jacque Larsen; orange ribbon, brown ribbon, and brown button from Togetherness kit by Jenna Desai and Micheline Martin; red button from Birthday Wishes kit by Jenna Desai; clock, tree and purple button from Follow Me kit by Allison Pennington; Markerific Alpha by CD Muckosky; MTF Dear Santa, Pea Nguyen, and Playdate fonts}

{created with Duo [2011 in review] - layered templates by Dunia Designs;
Addicted to Paper - Kraft by Dunia Designs; Pea Sarah's Skittles}

{created with Photo Frames No. 4 by Jenna Desai; Fall Frolic Papers by Jenna Desai; Autumn Flowers by Jenna Desai; Lobster and Century Gothic fonts}

{created with Duo [Squares] layered templates by Dunia Designs; background paper from Basic Neutrals vol. 3 by Dunia Designs; papers and elements from Take A Chance kit by Dunia Designs; alpha from Positive Vibration kit by Dunia Designs; Pea Jenny Script and Century Gothic fonts}

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - November Layouts

2011-12-03T13:36:00.004-07:00

Another month, more great prompts and yet another gorgeous kit. I really loved richness and colors for November's kit, iGive. You can find November's prompts... and since November is over, you can find December's prompts now, too! I just started on them last night. Hoping to get them done quickly since this is a busy month!

Here are my layouts for November, all using the iGive Bundle:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

For Week 1 and Week 2 I also used free templates that were available for different template challenges at Scrap Orchard during the month of November. I don't think they're still available, but each month there are at least two or three template challenges you can find in the Challenge Forum.

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - October Layouts

2011-11-01T22:57:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's already November!! Only two months left for the Project: Love, Me prompts. A few days ago I took a look back through all of my PLM layouts and I'm really excited to get them all put together in a book. It's going to make one awesome album, all about yours truly. :)

Here's a look at the layouts I created for the month of October. The theme this month was iCherish, and you can find the prompts on the PLM blog, and the iCherish bundle I used to create these layouts in the Scrap Orchard market.

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

And this month, I played along with an extra prompt. I think I used bits and pieces from just about every PLM kit!

xoxo,

Latest & Greatest

2011-10-30T15:27:00.005-06:00

Well, I'm not actually sure about the greatest part... but I do have a bunch of new pages to share. In no particular order...

{created with Wicked Smart collab by The Lilypad designers; The Teenage Dream font}

{created with Cotidiano kit by Dunia Designs}

{created with Big City kit by Chelle's Creations; template from Sweet Home templates by AnnaBV Designs; Century Gothic, Pea Nguyen, Deftone Stylus, and Ackbar fonts}

{black & white papers from Halloween Papers by Jenna Desai; Candy Alpha by Jenna Desai; other paper & elements from 31 Wicked Way collab by Jenna Desai and Jacque Larsen; 1942 Report font}

{paper and journaling strips from He Said She Said by Lauren Reid; doodle border from The Daily Digi Everyday collab by Lauren Reid; Tattered Clippers by Lauren Reid; Flaglets by Lauren Reid; Wonky Trims by Lauren Reid; Markerific alpha by CD Muckosky; 1942 Report font}

xoxo,

Scrapping Like Mad

2011-10-23T18:26:00.008-06:00

I've been scrapping like mad lately! Not sure what's gotten into me, but for whatever reason I can't scrap fast enough... too many memories and too little time I guess :) Here's a peek and what I've been creating.

{created with Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy kit by Dunia Designs; Stamp Act and Pea Sugar Noodles fonts}

{created with Field Trip kit by Sahlin Studio; template by Zinnias & Swallowtails from Wicked Smart collab; Lobster and Pea Righton fonts}

{created with My Closet by Jenna Desai; template by Amy Martin for Oct template challenge; Playdate font}

{created with Bookmarked kit by The Tattered Pear; Franklin Gothic Book font}

{created with Freshly Baked kit by SuzyQ Scraps and Captivated Visions; template from Sassy Starters Inspired by Paper Bundle 1 by Nanie's Designs; Pea Noodles Girlfriend font}

{created with A Little Buggy kit by Ziggle Designs; text path from Along the Path by Down This Road Designs; template from Oct Member Spotlight challenge at Scrap Orchard; Times New Roman font}

{created with Togetherness by Jenna Desai and Micheline Martin; French Script MT font}

xoxo,

A New CT

2011-10-18T07:33:00.008-06:00

Last spring I stepped away from most of my creative teams because it was getting a little too overwhelming, but I guess I just can't stay away for long! There are just so many good designers out there and I really enjoy the opportunity it gives me to consistently scrap. So I applied for Jenna Desai's team and made it! Here are the layouts I've created so far with her kits:

{created with October BYOC collab using Fall Frolic papers, Autumn Flowers, and Autumn Stamps by Jenna Desai; Firefly Castle font}

{created with 31 Wicked Way kit by Jenna Desai and Jacque Larsen; Eight Fifteen font}

{created with Birthday Wishes by Jenna Desai; Cry Kitty and Franklin Gothic Bold fonts}

I'm still part of Dunia Designs' team, here's few new layouts using her gorgeous stuff:

{created with Take A Chance kit by Dunia Designs; template from Bunch of Templates - Bundle by Dunia Designs; 1942 Report and Elise fonts}

{background paper from Basic Neutrals Vol. 3 by Dunia Designs; Duo Paper Pieces template by Dunia Designs; papers and elements from Positive Vibration kit by Dunia Designs; Wicked Grit and Vtks Personal fonts}

I love these little desktop calendars she has, just drop in the photos and print!

{created with 2012 Calendar Vol. 2 by Dunia Designs}

Thanks for looking! Have a fantastic day!

xoxo,

Challege Me

2011-10-06T15:16:00.006-06:00

I really like being a part of the digi community, so I get a lot of my scrapping done by participating in various challenges. (Most of them are at Scrap Orchard, because I already have a lot of products from Scrap Orchard designers.)

This one was part of a Telephone Tag game:

{created with Spring Fresh kit by Lyndsay Riches; Lauren Script and Times New Roman fonts}

This is for a template challenge:

{created with Free Your Mind kit by Designs by Kat; Irish Spaghetti font}

This was for a scraplift challenge (except I don't love how it turned out):

{created with Easter Egg Hunt freebie collab by Scrap Orchard designers; Pea Kar Kar and Problem Secretary fonts}

This was for a speed scrap:

{paper (recolored), elements, and black alpha from Hey Mr. DJ Mega kit by Scrap Orchard designers (no longer available); white alpha from Music in Your Heart kit by SuzyQ Scraps and AnnaBV; purple word strip from Lucky Me kit by Miss Mint; red alpha from Laugh the Rainbow {Warm}; Spicy Sushi Roll font}

This was also a speed scrap:

{created with Reach for the Sky kit by Lyndsay Riches; paint splatters from Love Monster kit by SuzyQ Scraps; Euphorogenic font}

And this was for Digi Dare #246:

{created for Digi Dare #246 with Celebrate kit by Gina Miller; Pea Sarah's Skittles and Candara fonts}

And this was just for fun! I love this sidwalk chalk kit, and this photo was the perfect excuse to use it:

{created with My Sidewalk Art kit by Down This Road Designs; Harting font}

This wasn't for any challenge either, just because:

{created with Geek Chic by Micheline Martin; Playdate and The First Day of School fonts}

Phew! I feel like I have been in power scrapping mode lately... which is a good thing. I love it when I have lots of inspiration and mojo. :)

xoxo,

Scrapping An Event

2011-09-26T10:52:00.004-06:00

Today I decided to delve a little bit into the process of creating this layout, and "event" layouts in general. I tend to lean more towards scrapping the "everyday moments" pages, but the big "event" memories are just as important to me. I want that reflected in our family scrapbook albums. This summer our family took a trip to Denver for a few days. I knew I wanted to record this trip, and finally tackled it this weekend. Here are some of my thoughts and tips about it.

1. Dealing with lots of photos & stories. With big events, there's always a LOT of photos. I find it difficult to scrapbook these design-wise, but these are stories I really want to tell. There were lots of stories from this trip - the driving, visiting friends, going to the zoo, staying at the hotel, swimming, going to a baseball game, etc. I was toying with the idea of doing a couple of separate layouts to document this trip, but in the end I realized I just wanted to get it done and move onto other stories. So I decided a two page spread with a handful of my favorite photos from the trip + some journaling would suffice. Something I sometimes forget is that I don't have to scrap every photo! As long as the story is told, that's what's important. And I can always go back and tell a story in more detail - in fact, I created a layout a few weeks ago that focused on a specific story that occurred during this trip while we were at the zoo. (It's the Bad Day layout from this post.)

2. Find a kit or products you love. I have been eying this Leavin' on a Jet Plane kit by Laura Banasiak and Jenn Barrette ever since it was released. The first thing that caught my eye were the colors! And being by two of my favorite designers I of course loved the patterns and elements. I can't get enough of that map paper! Earlier in the week I participated in a speed scrap at Scrap Orchard sponsored by Laura and was lucky enough to win a coupon to her store. I snagged this kit along with the Watercolor Alpha I used for the title - I love a painted alpha. Just having this kit made me want to create something with it... without it this page would probably still be un-scrapped. (I'm pretty sure that's not a real word!)

3. Mix up the design. For these types of layouts, I almost always choose a linear blocked design. I think it works best with so many photos. To change it up a bit, I put everything slightly tilted on a diagonal. I think it adds just a bit more interest and whimsy. I also think mixing up the title with different alphas (or fonts) and making it big adds to the design.

I hope you found this little peek into my process of scrapping this event helpful. How do you approach big events or too many photos? I'd love to know!

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - September Layouts

2011-09-21T22:25:00.004-06:00

I cannot believe it's already September 21. Fall is upon us - hooray! I just finished up my Project: Love, Me layouts for the month. The theme was iInspire and you can find the prompts on the PLM blog. And of course all these layouts were created with the iInspire bundle.

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

xoxo,

This Week...

2011-09-18T00:45:00.003-06:00

... I got a few pages scrapped.

This first one I like because it's that minimalist look I love, and I did all on my own - no template! I also created my own title using a font and adding a white stroke and a drop shadow. I'm really liking that look for text, and have been seeing it a lot in digital kits lately.

{created with A Perfect Day kit by Designs by Anita; Lobster and Lucida Console fonts}

Here's one I've had in my mind for a long time - over a year since I took these pictures! I knew the photos would match the colors and them of this adorable kit perfectly. And I used that same trick I mentioned before for the title work.

{created with Bathtime Baby kit by GG Digital Designs; flowers from Berry Merry kit by GG Digital Designs; template by Cindy Schneider; Love Ya Like A Sister and Lauren Script fonts}

This is another memory I've been wanting to scrap for a long time - my daughter's baby blessing. Dunia came out with this great set of templates, and I loved the idea of incorporating word strips from a kit into the journaling. I think it turned out simple and sweet.

{created with Embrace Simplicity vol. 3 templates by Dunia Designs; More Than Words kit by Dunia Designs and T for Me; Susie's Hand font}

I also did one for the Telephone Tag game (a scraplifting challenge) going on over at Scrap Orchard, but I can't reveal it just yet... you'll just have to check back! :)

xoxo,

Behind the Pages

2011-09-10T22:53:00.008-06:00

I've been thinking about some better ways to go about posting on this blog, even questioning why I keep posting here. I'm not trying to sell or market anything... I'm not really a part of the whole "blogging" world in that I don't really follow a lot of other blogs or get involved in any sort of blogging community... and as I thought about it, it just comes down to this: I love scrapbooking. I'd like to share that love and passion with others, and hey, maybe it'll even inspire someone.

I'm not one to spend a lot of my time writing up tutorials or making videos... I just don't have that kind of time! Honestly, I'd rather just be scrapping. :) But instead of just posting my layouts like I usually do, I've decided to add a little blub with each of them explaining the "why" and "how" behind them. Just a peek into my thought processes, the trends I like, and products I use... basically how these layouts came to be! How I scrap. So here we go...

As soon as I saw this silly, monster-themed kit by Dunia, I knew exactly which photos I wanted to use. I captured these last month and I just think they are priceless. So much so that I had to blow it up to take up half the page! I'm really loving that look lately.

{created with Some Kind of Monster kit by Dunia Designs; MTF Playtime font}

I did a similar design for this layout of my son learning to ride a bike. This layout was actually done for a speed scrap at Scrap Orchard - they call it their Make It Snappy or MIS challenge - and it was a lot of fun. I had never done a speed scrap there and wasn't sure I'd like it but I ended up LOVING it. One hour, six directions, and you get a fun prize if you finish and upload your layout in the hour following.

{created with I'm Outta Here kit by Captivated Visions; Problem Secretary Normal font}

This layout was born out of feelings I have about my daughter, and it felt really good to get it out on a page! Man I love this girl so much, but she has been a difficult little thing... I really liked the idea of using a soft and sweet kit to illustrate how adorable she really is, but adding the little scribbles and relying on the words to express my frustration.

{papers and elements with The Sweet Life kit by Faith True; scribbles from Milkshake Scribbly Splatters by Laura Banasiak; stitching from Stitch Hiccups 1 by SuzyQ Scraps; MTF Playtime, Pea Hayley Jo, and Slab Tall X fonts}

This family layout was done for the MSA Newsletter challenge. I think this Dani Mogstad kit is so scrumptious! The challenge was to scrap a family photo which worked well because we had family photos taken last year but I've never scrapped them. I was really inspired by all of the beautiful wordart in the kit, so I put most of it on there to sort of look like a photo wall. This kit is perfect for fall, too.

{papers and elements from Birds of a Feather kit by Dani Mogstad; Love Ya Like a Sister font}

Hope you enjoyed the little peek into my brain and the inspiration for these layouts! Thanks for stopping by, and happy scrapping. :)

xoxo,

Addicted to Templates

2011-08-29T17:12:00.004-06:00

I've gotten a lot of scrapping done lately! WOOHOO! I was starting to feel like I was only accomplishing layouts for my creative teams - which is great - but I had really been wanting to use some of the other fun kits I've collected and get more of our stories told. By using templates, it really helped me speed up the process. Plus, I really like trying on different scrapping styles.

These first three layouts were created using templates by Scrapping with Liz. I love her stuff because it usually features medium/big spots for photos, and usually room for more than one photo, while still offering lots of room to embellish. She's definitely one of my favorite template designers.

{papers & elements from "Silly Silly Bo Billy" kit by Jady Day Studio; Myriad Pro font}

{paper and elements from Hugging and Loving kit by Laura Banasiak; alpha from Sweet Caroline kit by Meredith Cardall}

{paper and elements from Apple Jacks kit by Lyndsay Riches; Myriad Pro font}

This one was created with a template by Dunia Designs. (Yes, I am on her creative team, but the kit I used is from a different designer.) I loved the option for so many photos. In the center of the original template was a cutout of the year 2010, but I just deleted that layer and put my title there instead.

{paper and elements from A Monster of a Day kit by Band Geek Designs; Rough Typewriter font}

This last one is by Zinnias and Swallowtails (aka Sara Gleason). I really like her layering style with lots of space. It makes for a very clean look, which I'm always drawn to, but it's a style that I'm not that good at recreating myself. So a template is perfect for me.

{paper and elements from Techno Girl kit by Pixel Gypsy; Century Gothic and Luna fonts}

Do you use templates? What's your favorite source for templates? Not sure what a template is? Here's a good video tutorial. Here's to creating more layouts!

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - August Layouts

2011-08-23T15:24:00.004-06:00

Still keeping up with my Project: Love, Me layouts. I love the colors of the kit this month! You can buy the whole bundle, or you can get the kit, templates, wordart and clusters separately. All of my layouts were made using the bundle. The theme this month is iRenew, and you can find all of the prompts here. Here are my layouts:

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Bonus Prompt- since August is a long month, there's an extra prompt. I think it will be posted later this week on the Project: Love, Me blog.

xoxo,

A Week in the Life : THE ALBUM

2011-08-16T09:14:00.005-06:00

Well hello there...

I haven't updated in a while or blogged about this project yet, but I'm pleased to say I did it! And even more pleased to say that I finally compiled the photos and words into a completed album. Just last night I uploaded the pages and ordered my photobook from Shutterfly.

Here's a look at a couple of the pages:

This is pretty much what the spread for each day of the week looks like, just with different photos, and more or less words.

A few thoughts about this project:

1. I really like how the focus is entirely on the photos and words. As I was trying to decide how to put the album together, I ultimately decided I liked the clean look of a white background with no digital papers or embellishments. I really like how the photos take center stage. Also, the simplicity of the design meant it came together more quickly that it otherwise might have.

2. Taking photos and recording all the details of a day can be quite exhausting. The first couple of days I started off strong, but by the last few it started to feel more like work. It definitely shows... I had less photos to choose from and much fewer words to work with for the latter days of the week. I'm totally ok with it though... something is better than nothing. And I really like having the full week to capture as much of our routine as possible.

3. The idea of this project is to capture the mundane, daily routines that make up our lives, but in fact the last three days of this week were anything but. We were traveling those days and spent time in a new city. This may also be why I didn't get as many photos or words for those days... but I'm ok with this as well. I chose to go ahead with the project because I knew if I didn't just do it like I had planned, I might not ever get around to it. I actually like the mix of the first half of the week being very ordinary, and the last half being a fairly good documentation of our trip.

4. I LOVE this project. I can safely say this is probably my most favorite album I've ever done, this and the Week in the Life album I put together back in 2008. There is something so satisfying to me about capturing all the little details and having them all in one place. In looking back at my 2008 album, I'm always struck by how much life changes, even just a few months from now our routine will look very different. There are so many little things I would never remember if it weren't for this project.

You can find out more about A Week in the Life at Ali Edward's site.

xoxo,

Iron Scrapper

2011-07-22T23:26:00.004-06:00

I love participating in challenges to keep myself scrapping... sometimes I need that little bit of motivation with a deadline and some guidelines to get me going, otherwise I just stare at that blank canvas and it can be pretty daunting. So I've been participating in the Iron Scrapper 2011 challenges over at Scrap Orchard the past couple of weeks... here are a few layouts I've put together for it:

{created with Iron Scrapper Grab Bag: Week 1 by Julie Bullock, Irene Alexeeva, Designs by Kat, Fiddle-Dee-Dee, Nanie's Designs, and Scrapping with Liz; Rough Typewriter font}

{created with Blustery Fall kit and add-on by SuzyQ Scraps; Oopsie Doodle Borders 1 by SuzyQ Scraps; Pea Kar Kar font}

{created with Snow-licious kit and add-on by SuzyQ Scraps; Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Warm} by SuzyQ Scraps; Problem Secretary Normal font}

xoxo,

A Week in the Life

2011-07-17T21:55:00.005-06:00

After waffling a bit, I've decided to take the plunge and participate in A Week in the Life along with Ali Edwards. Not sure what that is? Rather than try to explain it myself, you can find out more on Ali's site. Anyway, I'm really excited. I participated back in 2008, and it has been my most favorite scrapbooking project to date. It is a lot of work and can tend to be overwhelming, (which is probably why I haven't attempted it again) but the end result is so worth it. I'm really excited! Last time I did it I uploaded my photos at the end of each day and posted the daily happenings on my family blog. I then went back after the week was through and used those blog posts as an outline for my album. Not sure if I'll go that route again, but it seemed to work pretty well so I'm leaning that way. I'll be sure to post the finished album here. I'm so excited! Anyone want to join the fun?

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - July

2011-07-17T15:32:00.003-06:00

The theme for this month is iCelebrate. You can find all the prompts here. All my layouts were creating using the iCreate bundle which includes a kit, wordart pack, template pack, and cluster pack. And right now I'm patting myself on the back for having finished them all so early in the month!

xoxo,

Catching Up

2011-06-30T09:28:00.007-06:00

First, a few new layouts:

{papers and elements from Somewhere Over the Rainbow collab kit by Dunia Designs and Studio Basic; Howser, Century Gothic, and Love Ya Like a Sister fonts}

{Embrace Simplicity Vol. 2 template by Dunia Designs; alpha from Alphabet Soup - girly by Dunia Designs; papers and elements fromOne Love collab by Dunia Designs and Sugar Fancy; Century Gothic font}

{Duo (Stripes) templates by Dunia Designs; papers and elements from A Boy's Diary kit by Dunia Designs and Ju Kneipp; Pea Sarah Cute and 4990810 font}

{stripe paper from Walkin on Sunshine by Traci Reed; red paper from Celebrate by Gina Miller; graph paper from Celebrate kit by Digital Scrapbook Memories; dotted paper (recolored) from Somewhere over the Rainbow by Dunia Designs; Crayon, Crayoff alpha by Denise Beatty originals; label from School Rules kit by Something Blue Studio; leaves from Fruity Fizz by Flergs; crayons from Creative Minds by Sherry Ferguson; flowers from Story of Everyday Life collab kit (from the Daily Digi) by Misty Cato; template by Jenn Lindsay; Century Gothic font}

Second, I'm still keeping up with most of the Project: Love, Me prompts. This month I made three pages, and I'm hoping to squeeze in the fourth soon. The theme for June was iCreate. Prompts for July have just been posted, with the theme iCelebrate. They've also changed it up so that all the months prompts are posted at once which gives a bit more time to get them done. Here are my iCreate layouts, everything used is from the iCreate bundle:

Third, I have really been enjoying listening to podcasts of The Digi Show (formerly The Paperclipping Digi Show). I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but I really enjoy them. They make mowing the lawn go by a lot faster! And best of all they're free. You can find out how to subscribe and listen here.

And now I think I'm caught up here.. phew!

xoxo,

Projects

2011-06-01T10:53:00.007-06:00

I always have a million ideas floating around in my head... and every now and then I follow through and make one or two of them! Here's a few things I've recently completed. First up is some cute (digital) button art:

{background from Fairy Tale Ending kit by Kelley Mickus (recolored); stitching from Social Butterfly kit by Megan Mullens; yellow button from Creative Minds by Sherry Ferguson; red button from Love Bug kit by GG Digital Designs; blue button from Sunshine 'n Showers collab kit from Designs by Tater and Happy Scrap Girl; orange button from Going Green kit by SuzyQ Scraps and Amanda Heimann; green button from Just Like Dad collab kit by Sarah Bennett and Connie Prince; Harting font}

I've been seeing some really cute button art on Pinterest lately. (Speaking of, have you looked at Pinterest yet? Are you as addicted as I am? If you haven't, and you're interested, let me know and I'll send you an invite!) I'm not really into sewing - I don't even have any real buttons - but I have a huge digital stash so I decided to give it a try with Photoshop. Now I just need to print and frame it! I have the perfect spot for it in my entry way.

Next up: teacher gifts. These little apples have nothing to do with scrapping, or Photoshop, but I had to share because they are so cute! I used this tutorial from The Crafting Chicks.

I packaged them up in little treat bags, and I made this treat topper in Photoshop. Unfortunately I left it all 'til the last minute so I didn't photograph the finished product!

{paper from Love Life freebie by Sahlin Studio; apple from Creative Minds by Sherry Ferguson; crayons from School 101 by Leora Sanford; star from School Rules by Something Blue Studio; rubber band from A Boy's Diary collab kit by Dunia Designs and Julianne Kneipp; chalkboard from MSA's Celebration collab kit by Chris Greiser; Love Ya Like A Sister and The Teenage Dream fonts}

And, now that it's June and summer is officially here, we made our family summer fun list. You might remember the one I did last year... we loved it so much we had to do another. It's already printed off and hanging on the fridge!

{banner from DIY Stitched Pennant freebie by Chelle's Creations; flowers Fresh Blooms by Kitschy Digitals; stitching from 3 Ring Circus kit by Valorie Brown Designs; 1942 Report, MTF Jotted, and The Teenage Dream fonts}

What do you think? Have you made anything fun with your digi stash lately? I already have a couple more in the works!

xoxo,

More From Dunia

2011-05-31T23:18:00.003-06:00

I've had some fun playing with new stuff from Dunia Designs. I love the really bright colors in her Positive Vibration kit. I made these two layouts with it:

{template from Duo (Paper Pieces) templates by Dunia Designs; papers & elements from Positive Vibration kit by Dunia Designs; Pea Breathe Easy font}

{everything from Positive Vibration kit by Dunia Designs; Pea Missy with a Marker and Harting fonts}

And her new collab kit with Sugar Fancy Designs, One Love, is perfect for scrapping my baby girl:

{template by Janet Phillips; papers & elements from One Love collab kit by Sugar Fancy and Dunia Designs; 1942 Report and Callie Hand font}

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - May Layouts

2011-05-23T21:27:00.003-06:00

The theme for Project: Love, Me this month is iGrow. All of these layouts were created with the fabulous iGrow bundle which includes a kit, wordart , templates & clusters. I'm loving this project and am pretty impressed with myself for sticking with it and doing the prompts each week!

xoxo,

On A Roll

2011-05-19T18:41:00.003-06:00

My creativity, my "mojo", comes and goes but lately it's been missing more often than not. But happily, it's back for the moment so I've taken advantage and created four new layouts.

{papers and elements from Your True Colors kit by Captivated Visions; alpha from Spring Fresh kit by Lyndsay Riches; template by Cindy Schneider}

{everything from Positive Vibration kit by Dunia Designs; Harting font}

{background paper from Celebrate kit by Digital Scrapbook Memories; flower border from Color My World freebie by Rhonna Farrer; alpha from Slice of Summer kit by Down This Road Designs; white circle from Thank Ya Kindly freebie by Jessica Sprague; stitching & journaling tab from Love Story kit by Something Blue Studios; brown circles from Any Given Day kit by Kelley Mickus; yellow butterfly from Playful Sunshine kit by Quirky Twerp; green butterfly button from The Daily Digi's Story of Everyday Life collab by Vinnie Pearce;staple from And Many More {Bright} kit by SuzyQ Scraps; Sedona Script and The Teenage Dream fonts}

{template from MSA Celebration collab by BioGraffiti; papers and elements from Details in the Fabric collab by 9th and Bloom designers; The Teenage Dream font}

xoxo,

Dunia Designs

2011-05-10T22:31:00.005-06:00

I scored a guest spot on Dunia Designs creative team for May and June. She's got beautiful stuff and Mscraps and DigiScrappersBrasil. Here are a couple of layouts I've done using her templates and kits.

{A Year in Review templates by Dunia Designs; A Boy's Diary collab kit by Dunia Designs and Julianna Kneipp; "1942 Report" and "MTF Playtime" fonts}

{Duo Blocked Templates by Dunia Designs; More Than Words collab kit by Dunia Designs and T for Me Designs; Century Gothic font}

xoxo,

Happy Flowchart

2011-05-05T21:41:00.003-06:00

It's no secret I have a little (ok, big) crush on photoshop. I find non-scrapping uses for it ALL the time. I make a lot of invites, cards, fliers, etc. A while ago I found this cute little flowchart somewhere online - unfortunately I didn't bookmark it so I can't remember the source - but I loved the concept. So I recreated it using happy colors.

I just printed it 8x10 at Costco and it now has a home on my kitchen window sill. :) Thanks, photoshop!

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - April Layouts

2011-05-02T08:43:00.004-06:00

The theme for April was iLive. The huge bundle created by Suzy and Kami was so bright and fun! I used it to create all my layouts. The prompts all had to do with living life. The first week was about what life looks like right now:

Week two focused on what life was like as a child:

I actually haven't completed week 3 yet, which is all about the flilpside of life - death and loss. I just need to get some pictures and then I'll get that one done. Week four was a bucket list:

xoxo,

April... Layout

2011-04-29T17:08:00.004-06:00

Only one layout this month... heh. Since I've dropped all my creative teams, aside from the Project: Love, Me team, my scrapping sort of took a dive. I have felt like my mojo was gone, and I was working on some other projects around the house. But I did do this one layout - just to make sure I still could!

{red flowers from "Happiness" kit by Kelley Mickus; celebrate wordart from "Simple Pleasures Birthday Add-on" by Leora Sanford; papers, brackets flowers & swirl from "Carefree" by Captivated Visions and Genia Beana Scraps; alpha from "Follow Me" by Allison Pennington; 1942 Report and Lobster fonts}

xoxo,

March Layouts

2011-04-13T23:25:00.004-06:00

Since April is almost over (!) I thought I should at least post my layouts from March. I love how this layout about my son's birthday party turned out; I used the same kit & alpha for it that I used for all the decorations.

{alpha from "Black Comedy" alpha by SuzyQ Scraps; papers & embellishments from "Monster" kit by Digital Scrapbook Memories; Pea Missy font}

{template from "Circles of Fun" by Crystal Livesay; alpha, orange button, & pumpkin from "Plentiful" by Shabby Princess; stitched circles from "Mod & Classy" by Down This Road Designs; check, stripe and brown papers from "Funky Fall" kit by Kelley Mickus and Amanda Heimann; green splatter from "In The Graveyard" by SuzyQ Scraps and DeCrow Designs; overlay from "Thank Ya Kindly" freebie by Jessica Sprague; Pea Jenny font}

{alpha from "Laugh Out Loud" alpha by SuzyQ Scraps; papers & elements from "Day at The Dentist" by Twin Mom Scraps; Pea Kar Kar and Eight Fifteen fonts}

I also got a couple more of my Philly layouts completed - it's been a while!

{background paper & white dotted paper from "Beautiful You" kit by Kelley Mickus; plaid paper and string from "Heavenly Peace" kit by SuzyQ Scraps; frame & cardboard from "So Happy Together" by Emily Merritt; button from "Crooked Creek" by Lazy Cow Designs; welcome blocks from "My New Neighbor" by EH Studio; stitching from "Year in Review" kit by SuzyQ Scraps & Captivated Visions; Teletype font}

{background paper from "Simple Pleasures Birthday Add-on" by Leora Sanford; large folded frame freebie by Gunhilde Storeide; flowers from "Free Your Mind" kit by Designs by Kat; circle stamps from "Spontaneous" kit by Sabrina's Creations; Jane Austen and Teletype fonts}

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - March Layouts

2011-04-13T23:16:00.003-06:00

Playing catch-up a little bit. I made these layouts for Project: Love, Me for the month of March. All of the prompts were about laughter. For all of these I used the iLaugh bundle by SuzyQ Scraps & Ziggle Designs.

xoxo,

Easter Subway Art FREEBIE

2011-04-11T11:25:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I've posted anything here! Life has been busy and I haven't been scrapping as much, although I do have several layouts I just haven't posted yet. I've also been talking Katrina Kennedy's Your Life Through The Lens photography class at Get it Scrapped!, which has been great but has taken some of my scrapping/blogging time.

I did want to quickly share something fun I made yesterday, this Easter subway art. I've been seeing subway art around on various crafting blogs, and it seemed like fun so I tried making one.

I like how it turned out. If you do too, you can grab your own right here. It's for an 8x10 frame. Enjoy!

xoxo,