Friday, February 22, 2013

02/22/13 - Ugly Papers Need Love Too

Happy Friday to you!

I'm here today to extend some love to "ugly papers" and share a layout that I created 2 nights ago that I had a lot of trouble starting.
The reason for my troubles was that the dominant "color" in the picture I was scrapping was my husband's plaid shirt and I was having trouble finding a BG paper that made me happy.
The shirt is a mixture of orange, black, and white.
Sure I could have gone w/ just one of the colors and called it a day, but I just wasn't 'feeling it' when I laid my pic against each of the them. The 'one color' BG was just too boring and since I was scrapping a one-pic layout,  I really wanted something w/ a little "oomph"! 
 
It took me a while but eventually I gravitated to a "Fall Stack" paper pad I have had in my stash for about 4 years (maybe more!).  When I bought it I just "had to have it"! But when I got it home and tried to work w/ it. I found that only a small portion of the papers actually worked for me.  In fact after flipping through it I found a lot of the paper's to be pretty darn ugly, LOL!
So there it sat, with only occassional use.  After 4+ years it still looks as full as when I bought it depite the fact that I did use some of.
 
Anyway, I digress...back to my story.
As I was flipping through the stack I came across a piece of paper that I remember thinking was  hideously ugly the first time I saw it, however, this time I was drawn to it. 
Yes, it was still ugly but the colors and design perfectly matched my husbands shirt.
(Funny thing because my husband's shirt is not ugly, it's actually one of my favorites!)
 
I decided to use it, but I still had my doubts because I did not like the paper by itself.
 
Since I was also following a sketch...



 
I decided to put the BG paper aside and work on the other elements first.
I thought that the strips of paper on the side would be a good place to use the solid colors I was originally trying to use as my BG. I wound up needing one extra strip to really make it work and I substituted tan for white because the white was just standing out way too much!
Then I dug into my "Fall" embellie stash and another embellie stash that just happened to include a lot of Fall colors and arranged them around my picture to help draw the eye in. I also punched out a large circle in one of the coordinating colors, as per the sketch, and worked it in amongst the other embellies.

In the end this is what I came up with:



I am really happy w/ it!
I never thought that the paper I once hated would help me create a layout I truly love!

Now, go tell your "ugly papers" you love them!
LOL!


Thursday, February 21, 2013

02/21/13 - SIT #103 & SIWAS


Hello!

I'm here today to share w/ you a layout created for the current challenge over at Scrap It With A Song. The song that we are inspiring you w/ this week is "We Belong" by Pat Benatar.

I used one of the lines from the song as the title to the layout I created w/ pics of my hubby and me!
Love this man!!
 
BTW - My husband hates to take pictures so these are VERY special to me!
 
"We Belong Together"
Journaling: "David and I have been through a lot in our
almost 13 years together but I have no doubt that
We Belong Together"
 
 
FYI - I used  sketch #16 from My Scraps and More to help inspire my layout.
 
 
 
Speaking of sketches...
 
Sketches In Thyme has a new sketch up today!
It's the 3rd sketch of the month so it's a 2-pager: 
 
 
 
 
I almost attempted to create a 2 page layout but then I though....Nah!
My mind just can't seem to scrap that way...
Maybe someday, but for now here is my 1-page layout inspired by the 2nd page, flipped sideways:
 
 
"Fall Fun - Oak Glen 9/12/10"
 
Hope you like what you see and that it inspires you to create something to share w/ us!
Don't forget, if you do, and your layout is chosen as a fave on either blog, you will be asked to join us as a Guest Designer for a future month!
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

02/13/13 - Childs Play Challenge

Morning! 
 
Just stopping by really quick-like to let you know there is a new challenge up at the Child's Play Challenges  blog which, BTW, is my first DT assignment for the blog.
This weeks challenge is an "art supply" challenge. 
And with Valentine's being tomorrow, it was only fitting that the challenge involve hearts.
 
 
Here is the inspiration photo:
 
 
 
 
And here's what I created:
 
"Luv U" 

As you can see I was very much inspired not only by the hearts but the doilies as well. I actually went a little doily crazy! LOL!
The doilies, both the red hearts and the white "circles", were actually purchased from the $1 bin at Target.  Each set was $1 and they each had 25 doilies in them. Wow! Talk about economical!
The flowers I made w/ a flower punch (love my punches!) and I used eyelets to make their centers (I remember when eyelets were all the rage in scrapbooking!) The cherubs are resin embellies that I won from SB.com. They're not my usual style and I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to make them work on a layout, but they wound up being perfect for this one! I created a small scallop border at the top w/ my small circle punch, cutting the punched circles in half and outlining them w/ my black zig marker (I also outlined everything else on the layout w/ my zig). The banners at the bottom were created out of red cardstock and glued down at different levels in order to just slightly peek out of the cluster of doilies adding extra visual interest. Finally I created my simple title out of white Thickers, using a couple of asterisks from that same set to help tie in the giant red hearts at the top  to the white doilies below.

This layout is not my normal style but I love it!
Proof that working outside of your comfort-zone is not such a bad thing afterall!

Hopefully the pic inspires you as well.
If so please stop by and share your creation w/ us!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

02/07/13 - SIT Sketch #101 AND SIWAS

Happy Thursday to you!

Today is double the fun!
I have 2 layouts going live on 2 different blogs!

First Layout:
It's time for a new sketch over at "Sketches In Thyme"!

As always, I will show you the sketch and then I will show you what I created from it!

SIT sketch


"Birthday Pie"

Journaling: Madison's Birthday landed on a Thursday, but we took her to Oak Glen
the following Sunday for some hot chocolate and a slice of their extra crumbly-crust
apple pie; her request. We also hoped to see snow but there wasn't any.
1/27/2013 (11 years old)
 
 
Supplies: SB.com kit - Cozy Winter, Zig Pen Black, Basic Grey 12x12 Chronicle, small circle punch
 
 
Although there wasn't any snow in the pics, I thought the snowflake accents would be a fun addition! The tiny blue "snowflakes" are actually the asterisks off of the same alpha sheet my title letters came off of.  I don't ever use my asterisks, or some of the other punctuation marks, from my alphas so I thought I might as well find a way to use these ones or else they will go to waste (again!).  I am thinking of trying this more often!
The scallops on the side were created by using a small circle punch to make circles out of white paper. I then cut them in half, outlined them w/ my black zig pen, and adhered them along the row of PP! It's a trick I use a lot and I always love how it comes out!

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Second Layout:
Is for the "Scrap It With A Song" challenge; my first DT post on their blog!
The song choice for this week is Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This".
I decided to use the song title as the title for a layout I created about 2 of my furbabies and how they don't normally like each other but wound up "cuddling" together one day!
"A Moment Like This (...doesn't normally happen!)"

Journaling: "Ivanna and Panini don't like each other. Ivanna doesn't like Panini because at 13 years old Ivanna gets irritated by Panini's kitten behavior. Ivanna growls and snaps at Panini when ever she tries to play w/ her; this makes Panini not like Ivanna. On this day, they wound up snuggled together by accident. Ivanna who is my "baby" likes to sit behind me on my chair while I am at the computer. Panini jumped into my chair not realizing Ivanna was already there. Perhaps they were both too tired to care because neither of them tried to go somewhere else to lie down"

Supplies: Nikki Sivils' Sugar Cookie, Echo Park Hello Summer sticker sheet,

This layout has lots of journaling as there is a whole story behind the two of them and the way they interact w/ each other. I struggled to figure out how to fit it all on my layout but then I can across a scrap of PP that I had stashed.  I had stashed the scrap because of the other side, it's grey w/ white polka dots, but found that the side w/ the lines was perfect for fitting all my journaling! Just goes to show you really shouldn't discard your scraps as you never know when you will have use for it!
  
Okay that's it from me!
Now it's your turn to stop by each blog and show us how you are inspired by the challenges!
Looking forward to seeing what you create!

Monday, February 4, 2013

02/04/13 - The Same...But Not

This past weekend I created a layout that is reminiscent of a layout I created a couple of years ago.
When I started the layout I didn't plan to make it similar. But as I stared at the pics and tried to think of a title I realized how fun it would be to carry the original concept over to the new layout!
I was right!
Not only do I like the layouts on their own, but together they provide a fun comparison!

The first layout was created in 2011 w/ pics of my daughter and her cousin, my nephew, at Christmas time in 2010.  Like most young kids, they think its funny to make faces when they have their picture taken. I was able to get a 'good' picture and a picture of them being silly. I wanted to use both pictures and came up w/ a title to capture both 'moods'.

Here is the original layout:


"Naughty or Nice?"

Fast forward 2 years later. Same kids, and same attitude towards picture taking! LOL!
Again, I had a 'good' picture and silly picture. When I finally decided I wanted to take the same approach to the layout as the original I had a little trouble thinking of a title...finally one came to me and I think it's just as fitting as the original!


"Sweet and Sour"
Journaling: Madison and Adrian allowing me 1 good picture before going back to playing.
11/22/12"
 
 
When I showed my daughter the new layout of course she thought it was hilarious! But she had a different title in mind, one that was actually really good! But I'm not going to share it w/ you right now because I am sure I will be sharing it w/ you when I scrap the next set of pics like these..as I am sure there will definitely be more in my future! LOL!

Friday, February 1, 2013

02/01/13 - Stacking Challenges

Happy February first to you all!
 
It's the second month of the New Year and I have already discovered that I am going to have to do something I don't want to to do as far as my scrapping goes...
Oh, it's nothing serious...   
  just something I have always challenged myself NOT to do: "stack"challenges.

For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that you create 1 project for a multitude of different challenges.
As you know I LOVE participating in challenges!
And almost all challenges are A-Okay w/ "stacking"
But I have always tried so hard to create one project for each challenge that I join.
It was my own personal goal and it has always worked out for me.  But that was before I started discovering all these amazing inspirational blogs! 
Oh and before I became a part of 3 Design Teams! LOL!
 
I created a layout today that is the perfect example of "stacking" in action!
 
"Snug As A Bug"
Supplies: Nikki Sivils' Sugar Cookie Collection, DCW's Green Woodland Collection,
My Minds Eye
Sweetest Thing Collection BlueBell Buttons, Jenni Bowlin Skinny Alpha Red,
Bazzill Basics In Stich'z Floss and Needle - Pebbles
, Heartpunch,
Whale of a Punch Large Circle punch, Zig Pen Black
 
I created this for 3 Challenges over at Scrapbook.com:
1. "ScrapYou Pet" - including the twist to use hearts on your layout
2. "4 Categories" - I selected category #1-Buttons and included the twist of stitching your buttons on
3. "PageMaps and More" - Sketch #5

I guess for the most part it will be okay.  I mean, as long as I am still creating and keeping up w/ my goal of at least 10 layouts a month, does it really matter how I get there?? Nah!

BTW - In case you haven't looked at my statistics on the right-hand side of the blog,  I created 16 layouts last month; that's 13% of my goal! :0)
 

03/27/23 Planning with Urban Journal Season Ink

My printer was having issues and I fixed it but during the interim I was not scrapping and lost my mojo ::le sigh:: But I've still been ...