Throwback Thursday - Bright Sunshiny Day

One of my goals this year is to use some of my stash of old supplies - and to find ways to incorporate them with my new supplies. Even thought we are only days from the premier of the new CTMH catalog, I dug into my old stash at the Crop N Time event this past weekend to create this layout.

For this layout, I started with the large piece of blue paper from Sarita that I had cut with the Cricut. Then I went to my scrap bin. I pulled papers had pink and salmon colors as well as some that coordinated with the neutral kraft base page.

Tip: When choosing papers from multiple packs or collections, use one color or shade as your guide.

I ended up including strips from Claire, Sonoma, and another paper so old I can't remember the pack! The three strips coordinated with each other and provided contrast to the large Outdoor Denim die cut and kraft base.

When it came time to embellish, I dug deep into my stash again. Both the pin on the title tag and the die cut arrow have been hanging around in my bag for a number of years. I only found these particular embellishments because I recently reorganized my entire collection.

How do you store your embellishments so that they end up on layouts not in bags? This is an area where I could use some help, and I would love to hear your ideas!

Happy crafting!

Throwback Thursday - Buddies

I have a confession. I am a bit of a paper hoarder. In the spirit of using some of my stash, I've decided to make an effort to use older papers (and other products) and share them.

This layout features paper from CTMH's Elemental pack from winter 2012

Do you see the stamps on the tag and the title? Another throwback! All of the images are from an old CTMH set called Childhood Boy.

 

I love this paper and these stamps, but I didn't want them to look dated. I washi tape, baker's twine and epoxy bubbles to help update this throwback layout.

Tip:  Use current products along with your old favorites to update your layouts!

I'm off to Crop N Time this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have another throwback to share next Thursday!

Happy Crafting!

Fondue and Kids

Fondue and kids. It's a scary thought. And yet at our house, it worked!

This layout was inspired by two totally different sources: the Babycakes paper packet I've been creating with for my layout club that met last night and a sketch at Simple Sketches.


















I've missed the deadline to submit my layout for the challenge, true. But I'm still very excited about what I've created!

I love the look of these messy layers. They include lots of fun paper, but still let me get three large photos and a large journaling block on my page. This layout is heavy - with four layers of paper plus photos. If I had it to do over again, I would cut out the centers of the middle layers to conserve paper.

Because there were multiple patterns and colors, I kept the embellishments simple. Thickers, washi tape and a few Mocha Opaques.


I don't split my titles very often. This sketch called for a title and subtitle and I like the results.





Do you notice the date at the bottom of my journal block? It reads "photos winter '12; journal 1-14". When my journaling tells more about my feelings that the events of the photo, I often include the date of the story as well as the photos. Just as I want to record - and date - what we are doing using our photos, I want to record - and date - my feelings and stories. It is the stories, after all, that keep me scrapbooking.

For the love of Coffee

This fall I ended up at a crop planning to work on Christmas layouts. I had Christmas papers, Christmas stamps, Sparkle and Shine washi tape. I was ready. Except I forgot my photos. I was at a loss. I had half a day of scrapping ahead of me, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Enter the photo-less layout. I know that these don't fit with everyone's style. They don't bother me because the primary focus of my scrapping is telling the story. If I have a story with no photos, I still tell it! This one certainly fit the bill for me that day.

I have been saving paper coffee sleeves for some time. There is some paper hoarder part of me that wants to keep them. Two on this page are from special coffee dates. The third I cut apart for the perfectly shaped title block.

Since this was a layout about the story, with no photos, I wanted the journaling to be the major focus of the page. The long journaling block on the right  balances the three coffee sleeves on the left.








 
In addition to my coffee memorabilia, I used three different retired CTMH papers on this page. Can you name any of them? The first commenter to correctly name any of the three paper packs will get a prize!

Sneak Peak!

Check out a couple of photos of the layout for next Thursday's club night! We'll be creating a double page layout using the Babycakes papers, the January stamp of the month and some dimensional elements!

 

Are you interested in creating this layout? Why not join us at layout club next Thursday?

National Papercrafting Month Cloud Nine Cardmaking Kit

It's National Papercrafting month, and boy do I have a special for you! 

Would you like to earn almost $100 in Close to My Heart products for just $55? Here's how:
1. Place a $35 order from the Autumn/Winter Idea Book
2. Add the Cloud 9 Card Making Kit for just $15.
3. Add the stamp of the month for just $5.

Viola! You have ordered almost $100 of product for only $55!

In addition to all of these fabulous products you will receive, buying the Cloud 9 kit reserves you a seat at my February 12 Cloud 9 workshop! You'll get a fun night out crafting and you'll leave with all 10 cards completed!

What does the Cloud 9 Card Making Kit involve? I'm so glad you asked!



If you are interested in any of these products, you can order via my website or contact me. You are going to love these cards!

A hoarder's creative use of scraps - Xmas pjs

I'm a papercrafter, and I'm also a hoarder. I know some of you may be with me on this. I have a very hard time throwing scraps away. My problem has only gotten worse since I began cutting for workshops. Now I often have scraps already cut into useful sizes and off cuts from my Cricut sitting right on my desk. Sometimes I get inspired and turn them into a layout. This is one such layout.

The full page of cut out circles was the original inspiration for this layout. I completed the background before I had any idea what the design would be like (unusual for me.) In addition to the circle background, I used scraps of Frosted B&T and Crystal Blue cardstock to "fill in" some of the circles. The only piece that started out as a whole 12X12 was base page.

I feel very frugal when I use scraps like this. It is not as if I don't have other paper, but it feels good not to waste the bits and pieces as well as the time I spent cutting them. I stamped the title on a clear frame using pigment ink. (I then let it dry for about two days.)

Because the background was quite involved and eye-catching, I kept my embellishments to a minimum. I used some buttons, flax and ribbon in three different places on the layout to create a visual triangle.

If you have been following me very long, you know that the story telling aspect of scrapbooking is very important to me. I had many snipits to include on this layout rather than one long story. It turned out, I had just enough snipits to fill all but one of the Crystal Blue circles. To continue the pattern, I included the year in the final circle above the photo.




On this layout, I think my hoarding paid off, but there are still more scraps on my desk. It is a good thing there are still more stories to tell!

What do you do with your scraps? Are you a hoarder? Do you organize? Or do you throw them away?

Designing a Four-Page Layout

Earlier this week I shared a four-page layout I created using a the Sarita paper pack and a True Fit Folio. Today, I want to share some of my thoughts about designing in this four-page format. When I design a layout with a folio, I turn the pages lots. I consider how the page will look with the folio open and with it closed. I think about my canvas as a two page layout (closed) and a three page layout (open).

As I turn the pages, I make similar design choices to those I would with any multiple page layout. I try to use similar organization - in this case photos grouped mostly in the center of the page with cardstock and pattern paper covering much of the base page. I try to include the same papers on each page of the layout - although in different proportions to keep it interesting. On each page in this layout I used two different pattern papers - the Outdoor Denim and Lagoon pattern and the multicolored textured pattern. I also used two colors of cardstock - Outdoor Denim and Gypsy.  I try to include the same types of embellishments on each page of the layout - although I vary the size and placement. On this layout I used mostly stamped embellishments and Lagoon washi tape. In short, I try to use similar elements to create unity over all four pages.

The left page - always visible.
I included the title here so that it would be a part of the layout open or closed. I used a photo that encapsulated the theme of the layout and one photo of each of my kids. This page gives the main idea of the layout.

Elements that will repeat:
Title and many accents stamped in Gypsy ink
Small starbursts in Goldrush ink
Washi tape stamped on Gypsy cardstock.

Notice all four papers on top of the base page.

Right page - visible when closed.

I used a couple of my favorite photos here since this page will be visible on first viewing the layout.

Repeating elements:
Word accents stamped in Gypsy ink
Stamped image in Goldrush ink near the bottom
Washi tape stamped on Gypsy cardstock.

Inside page top - visible above and to the right when Folio open.

The photos here focus on one event - the first gift of the season. The journaling on this page tells that story as well.

Repeating elements:
Word accents stamped in Gypsy ink
Washi tape stamped on Gypsy cardstock
Notice, there is no Goldrush stamping here except for the washi. This page just got too full. Although I set out to include these elements on each page of this layout, this exclusion doesn't bother me because there are so many other repeating elements.

Inside page bottom - visible next to left page when Folio open.

The photos here cover a range of events from the season. This collection of photos may seem random on its own, but combined with the other three pages, it works to tell the story.

Repeating elements:
Word accents stamped in Gypsy ink
Washi tape stamped on Gypsy cardstock

Notice, I broke my stamping pattern again using Outdoor Denim for the ornament accents. This was purely a practical choice. It was the only color that would show up on the dark pattern paper!

The Folio and coordinating products allowed me to create one unified layout that tells the story of our entire Advent season using 12 photos.

How do you record seasonal memories? What about events with many photos? 

Paper Trail Blog Hop with Sarita

Happy New Year and welcome to the Paper Trail Blog Hop! This month we are hopping along with Sarita. You may have arrived here from Betsy's blog, but if not, don't worry our hop is circular. Toady, I have one layout made up of four pages to share. One layout made up of four pages? How? I used a True Fit Folio - a 12X12 folder - to create an interactive page. 

Here is the main part of my layout - what you would see when you turned the page in the album.

And here are the other two pages hidden behind the right hand page above. 

I love the number of photos I can include in one layout with a True Fit Folio. The colors of Sarita reminded me of Advent - we use purple, blue and pink in our church. With the True Fit Folio and Sarita papers, I was able to capture many moments from our Advent season.

And here are some details. The title using the retired Cocktail alphabet.

I stamped in colors that coordinated with the paper pack - Gypsy, Goldrush, Outdoor Denim, Lagoon and Cotton Candy. In addition to the Lagoon washi tape, I used the hostess rewards stamp set Washi Wonder to embellish this layout.


The only embellishments I used on this layout were stamps. I feld that there was enough going on with the patterns of the paper, number of photos and variety of washi tapes.








Since my layout focused on the Advent season, I used some holiday stamps as accents.










Thank you so much for stopping by! If you would like to read more about creating with True Fit Folios, stop back on Friday. I'll be sharing some of my thought process when creating this four page layout. Until then, I hope you'll continue on to Lynn's blog; I'm sure you'll love what she has created.