September 27, 2015

I was really only intending to make one pocket page with the Elle's Studio Documented items. But once I started I couldn't stop! Here's the second spread I did using the [Documented Stamp] [Documented Journaling Tags] [Basic Journaling Tags-Gray] [Little Moments Wood Veneer] [Good Stuff Puffy Stickers] and [Little Moments Paper Stack].

I went into so much more detail on the [Elle's Studio blog] today so head that way if you want to read more!

cheers & besos,

Thirty at 30

Finally getting around to making this yearly page. My round up of xx facts on my xx birthday. This was for my 30th! Which was only….8 months ago. Hey, at least it's done! Here's my 28 at 28 and 29 at 29 pages if you want to go back and look.

Tessa interviewed me about this page over on the Scrapbook Circle blog. Be sure to head over and read more about my page, my process and my love of these dope Scrapbook Circle kits.

cheers & besos,

On My Mind

Hiya! I'm excited to share one of my latest pages. This was the first page I made this year and it was so much fun to do.

I used a Simple Scrapper Story Starter (releasing in the February Spark Magazine) as the starting point for this page, which is all about the daily things that cross my mind. All of the questions I ask myself in a given day, all of the random thoughts milling around up there.

I picked an assortment of Studio Calico Project Life cards (looks like a lot came from Penny Arcade) and just went to town creating my own configuration on a sheet of Kraft cardstock.

I started with a few cards (the pink Ashley Goldberg abstract and Kraft To-do) and created my color scheme from there. It meant flipping through my 3x4 Journaling Card box and pulling from the pink, kraft, yellow and orange sections.

I wrote a lot about being an anxious introvert. We introverts tend to be thinkers, which can take anxiety up several notches. Night time, just before falling asleep, is the worst. Coincidentally, twilight or early evening is my favorite time to think. When the sun has set and all of the city lights are on, I love driving home and getting lost in my thoughts.

I'm not planning to do much pocket scrapping this year. But I'm excited to make more pages like this, featuring all of these gorgeous 3x4 journaling cards.

De-kitting all but the last several months of kits has helped me to not get caught up in trying to make certain things work (i.e. the whole kit together). I feel like I have permission to just use exactly what I want!

In February, I'm planning to share my scrap space and how it's organized. This may be the first layout I made this year, but I've been doing so much scrapbook organizing and planning. I literally went through everything in my stash (I mean eve-ry-thing) chose to keep only the things I loved. I'm excited to share!

cheers & besos,

Peas & Carrots

I scrapbooked! And man did it feel good. I've been working on pocket pages for Project 12 and Week in the Life. But those take me soo much longer! I feel like they require much more planning & printing & photo editing. Basically, they aren't my strength, which is why it takes me twice as long.

So today, I decided to scrapbook. As in make a layout. 

   

I've been watching my Big Picture Classes videos & reading my handouts for Hello Story and Art + Science. They had me itching to jump into the Art + Science prompts and back into Hello Story. And of course, after taking Jill's Scrapbooking from the Soul class, my journaling has forever changed.

This page is a conglomeration of a few prompts. First, its for the right brained process challenge from Art + Science. Which was to think of a story I wanted to tell, find photos and discover the title & journaling. 

This was a bit of a challenge, which surprised me. The creative bit wasn't a challenge, but rethinking the order of things definitely was (i.e. the process...hence the challenge!). Originally I had a different title in mind. I kind of couldn't help myself! But the further into the process, my journaling & title evolved into something different.

Another part of this challenge was to include a pocket. I tucked some ephemera, a journaling card and typed notes into a vellum pocket I stitched directly to the cardstock.

Here's the view of everything pulled out from the pocket a bit.

I had a lot to say about these photos. So much, I included 3 different journaling spots!

I originally stapled a bit of scrap cardstock to the receipt, just to add stability. But it ended up being home for journaling about this past Saturday and how mama & I love to visit Hobby Lobby together. And how we bought a bunch of stuff to make a project.

Note how messy my handwriting is for this bit. I "wasn't on my best behavior" so to speak. I knew it wasn't going to mess up the design since it was in the pocket, so I just wrote. Didn't worry about the spelling, not so much the grammar either, just a stream of consciousness.

I loved this patterned paper with the page. I unearthed it from my scrap pile and thought the colors worked well with this fall-esque themed page. But knew it would be too busy to print my journaling on and I didn't really want to cover it with vellum. So instead, I added a label sticker indicating the journaling was on the back side.

I used a pointy finger stamp. Remember when those were so popular? I had them in a few different stamp sets and think this was the first time I ever used one. Since this is also slipped into the pocket, I don't want someone looking at this later down the road, to not notice the journaling on the back.

Here's where I incorporate the latest Hello Story prompt which is also about opposities. How my Mama & I are very different, but a little the same.

This last tiny journaling card is just a guide to the photos I used on the page. It was a mix of photos from a few different places and occasions. I also included the dates. I think it makes it look a little like a library card & I absolutely love that! Especially since one of the things Mama and I have in common is that we love to read.

Oh and about the background paper. That's also part of Ali's prompt, which was also about contrast. I repeated "for the love of fall...for the love of pumpkins...for the love of orange...for the love of skeletons and crossbones" over and over again using the best white gel pen in the world!!! It is a lift of a background paper she made and used on one of her page prompts.  I obviously loved it so much I wanted to lift it. But I love how my page is different enough from hers and that it also feels very me. 

I love love love the colors in this! Probably because I love fall. I love the gray mixed with the orange and the green and the warmer tones in the photo.

And that title, it definitely came last. I think I had originally wanted to title this page "For the love of Fall..." to talk about how much Mama and I enjoy this time of year. But after writing the journaling, I thought peas & carrots would make a better one. And, I couldn't help but get excited that the colors so perfectly matched my page!

Me and Mama, we're a lot different. But a little the same.

I'm loving taking classes lately, in case you can't tell. I'm learning so much and totally enjoy being a student. What about you? Have you taken any classes lately, that you love? Share in the comments!

cheers & besos,

NSD: Scraplift Yourself

....and I'm back! Apologies, apologies, that wee hiatus ended up last so much longer than expected! But I'm game to share some pages if you're game to keep coming back =)

I finally got to jump in on a few NSD challenges! It bums me out to no end that I miss this fab "holiday" every year. But I'm happy I broke my scrappy rut and got to create some pages.

This is for a whole slue of NSD Challenges: Shimelle's 4x6 photo, 2Peas Scraplift yourself, Shimelle's Scraplift yourself, Shimelle's Fabric, Studio Calico's 5 Different patterns, Studio Calico's Button.

I scraplifted myself on this page, taking inspiration from my Hello Berlin page. I loved that Heidi Swapp (background) paper. It was just decorative enough to add interest to the bits of the background that could actually be seen!

I mixed so many lines & collections on this page. Heidi Swapp for the background (obvs), Amy Tangerine vellum stickers...

...Whisper Graphics bags, a Studio Calico tag, tape & patterned paper...

....Basic Grey banner/flags, Fancy Pants buttons & paper. And chevron tulle!

I don't care one bit that these two pages are in the same album. I love them both! And especially the color combo in this one.

cheers & besos,

LBD March Wrap-up

The kit is in the bag so to speak. Well literally, the remaining bits and baubles are packaged up in a Hefty Jumbo ziplock.

For my first month as a Little Black Dress design team member, I think I did good by this kit. I managed to make 3-12x12 layouts, 6 Cards, 3-8 1/2x11 layouts, and 1 mini book!

I can't promise it will be like this every month. But I can promise a few staples projects/posts that you can expect from me!

I've really been thinking about the concept of the Little Black Dress and how it applies to my scrapbooking. The handy wikipedia article I just linked describes the LBD as "long-lasting, versatile, affordable...considered essential to a complete wardrobe...can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion."

I think all of these concepts can be applied to your approach to design. And so I'd like to take each month to focus on my own LBDs. These can be techniques, tools, design principles, etc. etc. But basically, they're wonderful concepts that can be repeated time and again. No matter the kit! No matter the color scheme! No matter the layout/project size!

Here are just a few of the LBDs I definitely plan to challenges myself to every month:

The black cardstock challenge! Every month my goal is to create a kit layout with a sheet of black cardstock. I don't often turn to this rich hue in my scrapbooking and it's a shame. The color adds great elegance to design and most definitely to my scrapbook. Perhaps this is entirely too literal but I'm pinning away great black color schemes anyway! Check out my inspiration board here.

The black and white photo challenge! Because no matter the kit, no matter the colors, a black a white photo will go with just about everything!! It's one of my often turned to LBDs. If I can't get the colors to work, converting the photo to b&w instantly solves this problem.

Less of an LBD and more of a personal challenge to myself, I'd really like to attempt a card making tutorial using each kit. I'm always looking for ways to stretch my supplies. Using die cuts, punches and scraps is the perfect way for me to make not just one card but several, using the kit.

As you can probably tell, I'm a tad excited to be part of this design team ;) And I'm SO excited to share all these crazy ideas with you! And I promise, it won't be Little Black Dress kits 24/7. There's so much in my stash just begging to be played with. But, I have to add, my scrapbook LBDs aren't going anywhere. They're here to stay! 

Can anyone guess one or two of my LBD approaches? (Besides the ones I've listed here) There just might be a teeny tiny prize for someone who can correctly name one of my LBDs.

But what about you?! What are you LBDs? Those handy tools, techniques, color schemes that you find yourself turning to over and over again. I'd love to hear about them so please comment and share!

cheers & besos,

P.S. I recognized the boo-boo I made when putting together the image of all of my March kit projects. The kit is actually called A Chance for Luck! Whoopsy =/