April Paper Trail Blog Hop - Victory

Welcome to the Paper Trail Blog Hop! This month we are celebrating with the Victory paper packet. If you've arrived here from Pineapple Paper Artist, Amy's blog, you're on the right track. (If this is your first stop, no worries, this hop is circular!)


When I first saw the Victory paper pack in the idea book I wasn't enthralled with it. (I think the camouflage paper threw me off.) I purchased the paper because I knew other people were interested in it and set to work. I fell in love! The colors - Outdoor Denim, New England Ivy, Chocolate and Bamboo - were perfect for so many layouts.




I used the paper here and the idea of a sketch by Allison Davis to create a layout about my son:

Here are some of the details:

Monogram letters with bitty sparkles for the two word title. (Cobblestone alphabet - retired)

Dimensional Elements Stars - paper covered and inked.

The journaling block was cut from the B&T ledger paper.
Did you notice the Color Ready Seam Binding tucked behind the embellishments? I had fun playing with the different colors and deciding where to include each.


In addition to this layout, I've already created two others 5 things and Missing CO and have another one in the works. I'm almost through the paper and in none of these layouts have I used the camouflage paper - but the plaid is very nice. Not bad for a paper pack I didn't like at first, huh?

Hop on over to Betsy's blog, Stamp Scrap Fever! to see what she has created. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

In one word...determined

Describe yourself in one word. When I first saw this challenge at Scrapping Everyday Miracles I almost laughed out loud. No way, I thought. I am wordy; I'm verbose. No way I can describe myself in just one word. But the idea had been planted in my head. Around the same time, I saw a sketch at ScrapFit and knew I wanted to use it.

Then I came across a photo that I like of myself in a 5X7. These three separate influences worked together to create this layout:

Once I had decided to take this challenge, I had to figure out what word applied to me. I pondered for a whole day and came up with a short list. When I asked a couple of friends, one of them responded quickly with 'determined' which had been on my list. I decided that was a sign.

I stepped outside my comfort zone in another way on this layout: I used my sewing machine.

I really like the pop that the stitching gives to the layout.

Again today I am very thankful for challenges that stretch me out of my comfort zone. These two led me to create a project I really like. What has challenged you lately?

Paper: CTMH Wings (retired), title stamps: CTMH A Typeface

5 Things

A couple of my favorite challenge blogs teamed up for a challenge recently. The Paper Variety and ScrapFit challenged us to list journaling numerically on a layout and use this sketch:

Although I missed the deadline to enter at The Paper Variety, I'm throwing my hat in the ring at ScrapFit!

While creating my hubby's 20 year book I found some photos from my student teaching. Seeing the faces brought back floods of memories. I knew I had stories to tell, but I was overwhelmed. I haven't created any layouts about this experience (it was before I was a scrapbooker.) I didn't have any clue how to approach the task. Enter this challenge:

The numbered journaling was brilliant because it helped me use the photos and narrow the story I wanted to tell. I  recorded 5 reasons that I loved working at that particular school.

There are still more stories to tell about my time student teaching, but at I have begun. I have recorded five things about the experience (and I have written down the names of the people while I still remember them!) I feel a sense of accomplishment for starting to tell these stories and I know it will be that much easier next time I want to work on this topic.

In addition to the numbered journaling, this sketch worked well for my layout. I was able to modify it to include two photos with no trouble. I really liked the row of pennants that border the photo block.

I couldn't help repeating the motif in the upper corner as well.

For me this layout exemplifies why I love challenges so much. I was inspired to create a layout I wouldn't have otherwise and tell a story I wanted to share. Thank you Paper Variety and ScrapFit!

Products:  CTMH Victory paper packet, button collections and stamps

Missing CO - A layout inspired by "A Sweethaven Summer"

I'm always up for a scrapbooking challenge. Courtney at Telling Stories has been hosting a challenge this month inspired by her book A Sweethaven Summer. She and other well-known crafters created projects based on ideas or themes from the novel. The challenge for her readers was to take one project or layout and use it as an inspiration piece for a creation of your own. I saw this challenge when Courtney first posted it and knew I wanted to play along. Somehow, the time slipped away from me and all of the sudden, all projects are due! Luckily, I found some time to work and hopefully I will get this in under the wire.

I took my inspiration from a layout by Linda Barber (check it out on Courtney's blog). I took the challenge to create a layout about a place that has captured my heart; I took my design from Linda. Here is the layout I came up with about my home state:

The page came together fairly quickly after I had decided the topic and design. All papers are CTMH's Victory.

Thanks Courtney and Linda for the inspiration. This page was fun to create!

Be Still

I'm currently taking a class over at Big Picture Classes called Scrapbooking Your Faith. This is something that I've had the desire to do for a long time, but it seemed an intimidating prospect. I didn't know what to include, how detailed to be, where to begin. This class has given me an excellent starting point.

The teacher, Courtney Walsh, had us begin by choosing a Life Verse (at least for right now) and creating a layout surrounding it. For me this was the perfect first step into creating a faith book. It forced me to focus on what matters right now and took away some of the pressure I had been putting on myself about this album. This is my life verse:

The design is based on the layout Courtney did for the class, but I did change it up a bit so that it fit my style. The papers are a cobbled together assortment including: CTMH Victory, CTMH Passages (retired) and SEI Moravia (quite old). 

I stamped the verse using CTMH's A Typeset. Just got this alphabet, but I am loving it!

I used buttons and scraps of the patterned papers for my embellishments. I'm really having fun with little flags and scraps cut to look like ribbons lately.

Although we are into the third week of the class, this is the only project I have completed. I hope to get some more work time soon to try out some of Courtney's other fun ideas.

What are you working on?

Favorite Place

What's your favorite place? My kids' is our local zoo. Anytime we have a family day, vacation day or Saturday with no plans they ask to go. Their favorite exhibit? The penguins! The water was perfect for this week's Paper Thrills challenge to Go Green!

Here are some details:

 

Since it is the kids' favorite place, we go to the zoo often. And I take pictures, often. I'm getting fatigued with the same old zoo pages so I decided to journal here about their frequent requests to visit the zoo rather than the trip to itself.

Head on over to Paper Thrills to see what the other designers have created. While you're there, why not play along?

While I was away...

Sorry that I've been absent for a bit. Some other elements of my life conspired to interfere with my blogging. Although I haven't been posting, I have been creating. In fact, this month I've taken on a little experiment. My goal for March is to do something scrappy every day. (Creative things specifically, not cleaning, organizing or blogging.) So far I have done pretty well - I've only missed one day. On my girls' scrap nights I sometimes complete whole layouts. Many nights, however, I complete something much smaller and less time consuming like stamping a title or creating a journaling card. Here's a look at what I have done this month:

 Embellishment and journalling on my January Project 12 Layout:

 Completed over the course of three days

Journaling on one layout and journaling cards for another:

 

Selected the photo an products for a layout:

Scrap night: products, design and photos for two layouts.

Stamped journaling verse:

More work on those journaling cards:

and embellishment cards:

this attempt didn't work out so well:

Layout (products chosen above) now finished:

And another one done:

So far this month - seven finished layouts, two more in the works and at least three more floating around in my head. I like the results of this experiment!

Jump!

The Paper Thrills challenge this week is to create a layout that involves leaping. Last summer we camped with friends at a KOA with a bounce pillow. Kids and adults alike had fun jumping - as is evidenced by the photos:

I sat down to create my layout and then realized that I hadn't actually printed the photos yet. CTMH and Studio J to the rescue. Although I can't imagine giving up my paper and tape runners altogether, I loved how quickly this layout came together (less than an hour) and how easy it was to switch out papers, ink colors, etc. It is definitely a different way of scrapping with its own tricks, but I'm glad that I was reminded that I enjoy it too!

 

Interested in Studio J but haven't tried it yet? Let me know! I would be happy to help you get started!

Recap of Last Weekend's Crop

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Crop N Time event last Saturday. The big project I worked on was the mini-album for my husband (I'll share more photos later.) That meant that I finished fewer layouts than I typically do, but it was still a very productive day.

I used a page kit Karen and Rene created to make both of these layouts (and earn chances for a prize!)
 

A few of my favorite things (as of 2/26/12). I used a CTMH background stamp (now retired) to create the pattern on the base page. This layout came together quickly, but I really like the way it captures some of the "right now"

I also created this one about a much older memory.

I found these photos of my cousin's wedding (about 10 years ago) while I was working on the book for my husband. We don't get this many cousins together very often and we certainly had a good time that day! This celebration was perfect for Lasting Memories current challenge to document a celebration. I used a few buttons and some hemp as well as a couple of other retired stamps as accents.