Life is Sweet (and so is this stamp!)

Another layout with some stamped accents today.

On this one I used a fancy sentiment stamp for the title. I love this title because it can be used on so may different projects. Talk about economical!

 

I also repeated a small stamp as a border on the top of the blue paper. I love how easy it is to line up My Acrylix stamps. I stamped my journaling lines and included the "real everyday" subtitle. Again, it was easy to line up the subtitle on the lines in the journaling box with the My Acrylix stamps.

I hope you're enjoying National Stamping Month.
Remember, every comment this month will be entered into a drawing for a free stamp set!

Someday - Using Picture My Life Cards on a 12X12 layout

Someday. It is a word full of promise. I recently created a layout about one of my dreams of “someday.” The design was inspired by Shimelle.

The journaling that was the genesis of the layout is brief, but it captures an important dream of mine right now. Since I was documenting my dream, I included a photo of myself. 

I emphasized the time elements that started with the title by not cropping the clock out of my photo and using a pocket scrapbooking card with the months of the year. I used other cards to emphasize my dream of feeling free.

I ended up including six different cards on this one page (five are from CTMH's Avonlea Picture My Life). I cut the cards for the cluster on the bottom of the page which allowed me to use both sides of one card in smaller pieces. I loved combining the cards with papers from Timberline and Balloon Ride.

June Jubilee Paper Trail Blog Hop

Come celebrate with us on the Paper Trail Blog Hop! This month we're featuring the Jubilee paper pack. If you've arrived here from Tracey's blog, you're on the right track. If this is your first stop, I hope you'll follow the links through our circular hop to see what we've created with this fun paper pack.

I love the vibrant colors of this paper. They seem like the perfect way to celebrate summer and what says summer more than the last day of school?

I wanted a simple design to focus on the photos. I used to of the pattern papers as well as Indian Corn Blue and Kraft cardstock.

I added a bit of flare to the title are using one of the adhesive badges from the Jubilee Assortment.



The bold patterns are also perfect for using as background papers as I did in this layout about our home.  I started with one of the more embellished pieces of paper so that I only had a to add a few touches.

 I matted my photo with another patterned paper from the pack and stamped my title.

I added the journalling tag tied with some twine to tell the story.

With a few more badges from the assortment to support the title and theme of the page, this was a quick and simple page, and I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by. Won't you leave me a comment and then be sure to continue on to Trisha's blog. I'm sure you'll like what she's created!

Challenge week - why take the challenge?

I challenged myself this month with my scrapbooking. I wanted to create 31 pages - one for each day of May - even though it was a school month, and a busy one at that. I am about 10 pages short. I know there are still a few hours left in May, but I also know with my calendar today I won't complete 10 pages.

When I realized earlier this week that I probably wouldn't meet my challenge I was disappointed, and then I looked at all of the layouts I have created this month. More than 20 pages. How can I be unhappy about that? I've shared photos and stories and also played with paper and stamps. Seems like a win to me.

Also as a part of my challenge to myself, I started visiting challenge blogs again. I was totally inspired by what I found! Some layouts I shared earlier this week and entered into the challenges. Some, like this one,are too late to be entered.

This page was inspired by a sketch at Stuck?! I captured this memory because of the sketch challenge.

I love the way the white space in the design emphasizes the photo. A photo that has been in my box for about three years.  So, although I'm sad I missed the deadline, I am so pleased that I was inspired to create this page and share this story.

Why do I take challenges? Because they motivate and invigorate me. Because I get ideas and inspiration from them. Why do I take challenges? Mostly because they help me to share photos and tell stories. For me, that is what this all about!

Challenge Week - Sketch N Scrap

I decided to celebrate May as scrapbooking month in a big way. I've set a layout challenge for myself (more about that later in the week.) I know that one way I get inspired to get pages started and finished is to participate in challenges from other sites.

Today's layout was inspired by this sketch from Sketch N Scrap.

Here is the layout I created:

I liked the triangle elements on the sketch, but the triangles I cut didn't work as well. Instead I substituted tags. I used paper and fabrics from the Jubilee pack by CTMH.

I love that this layout uses small pieces. All of my scrappy work this month has left me with a big scrap pile!

And the title and embellishment area. I love the flare badges in the Jubilee Assortment!

Thanks for the challenge! Check back tomorrow to see what other challenges I've taken on this month.

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!

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?

We Write in Cookbooks

Another day, another challenge. I love having time to create pages and share them! This is the current color challenge over at Color Me Scrappy. The twist was to highlight food in some way.

 

There is a story I've been meaning to tell for almost two years now about my daughter and cookbooks and it seemed to fit the bill.

*Note: The winter daylight here has distorted the colors of my layout a bit. In person they look much more like the challenge colors, really!

In addition to recording a story and participating in a challenge, I got the chance to use my new Cricut Expression 2 and the CMTH Artbooking cartridge. In fact, I used only cardstock on this layout!

I am so glad I finally recorded this story. Thanks for the challenge and the inspiration!

I am a teacher

A couple of weeks off from school with plans that mostly involve hanging out around the house has led to some fun layouts! Even better, I'm home in the daylight right now to photograph them! I'm thrilled to be playing along with Stuck?! sketches this month! Check out this fun sketch:

This sketch worked perfectly with my current school photo to tell a story that occurred to me while doing holiday baking with my kids.

The journaling reads: I am a teacher in the classroom - but also in the kitchen, craftroom, grocery story. Teaching is part of who I am; it is how I approach others and the world.

For me scrapbooking is, at its heart, about recording stories. Although this journaling is brief, it captures an integral part of my personality, something I need to be reminded of and that I hope my kids will remember as well.

This layout seemed to come together on its own. I had some pieces that I had cut while playing with CTMH's Artbooking Cricut cartridge in the fall. They seemed to fit well with the story I discovered while baking. A school picture was just the right evidence for the story. Thanks, Stuck?!, for the sketch that provided a perfect canvas for this layout!

Babycakes and a Dragon

Welcome! If you've arrived here from Linda's blog, you're on the right track. If this is your first stop, welcome to the Paper Trail blog hop! This month we are featuring the Babycakes paper packet. Don't let the name fool you, though. This paper packet is fun and versatile!

The alphabet paper inspired me to create this layout featuring my daughter and a story she wrote:

In addition to Babycakes, this layout features a Flip Flap from the large assortment to protect my daughter's original story. This way, you can read the story in its entirety.

 

The page beneath the Flip Flap gave me a spot to record my thoughts on her writing, without competing with it for space on the page.

I stamped my title directly on the polka dot pattern paper. I like the way the Chocolate Ink looks on this paper, but if you want a darker shade using dye ink you can always double stamp - stamp your image once then re-ink the stamp and stamp again in the same spot. This technique gives a bolder version of the same color.

The heart stamp (as well as the stamp near the top of the journaling) is from the Workshop on the Go kit. I love that each workshop includes an exclusive stamp set because stamps are reusable! Often the stamp sets are what inspire me to purchase the workshop kits.

This kit also included the bronze shimmer trip I used to embellish. I have to confess, this was the first time I used the shimmer trim. I was impressed! What a fun and easy way to add a bit of sparkle to a project!

The shimmer trim also inspired me to pull out these retired (read "been in my stash for years") glittery brads. I thought they did a nice job of tying together the sparkle and the circles.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you'll be back on the weekend to check out some more projects. Until then, hop on over to Amy's blog. I know you'll be impressed with her "baby"!

I believe...in challenges - two of them!

What do I believe? That seemed like a heavy question to deal with in the summer - a time I associate with light-hearted fun. Still, I love a challenge. When I saw the word "believe" at Use Your Words, I decided to play along. As I started thinking about this layout, I remembered something that I have said to my kids many times - so many times that they now repeat it to me: 

I found a fun photo of my two kids and me and then I found this sketch at Let's Get Sketchy 

And it clicked.

I kept the embellishments simple using chipboard and coordinating ink.

Thanks for the challenges!

Joy - Two layouts for Two different challenges

I love challenge blogs. There. I said it. I follow them. I check them. Once in a while I even create layouts to go with the challenges. I'm often inspired by sketches and product challenges. But many times the inspiration has to ferment. I tuck ideas away for the right day, the right photo, the right layout.

The August 5th challenge at Stuck?! was not like that. I liked the sketch and thought I could work with it, but it was the extra challenge of a quote by Abraham Lincoln that sucked me in. "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." I read the quote and knew that I was going to create a layout for this challenge.

I have already created a layout about the day on the bounce pillow. I've told that story. Still, this photo drew me in. I can see the life in my daughter's face. It seemed perfect with Lincoln's quote.

As I created the layout, the word that was constantly on my mind was joy. Joy is what I can see in her eyes. So I decided to add another quote (this one by Wagner) and use the word "joy" as my title. 

 

I included the Lincoln quote on a journaling tag to cover some distracting images in thebackground of the photo. I used the "m" monogram for my daughter's name.

And last but not least, some joyful embellishments for the page. (These pinwheels are fun and easy!)

The first joy layout, the first challenge.

It was such fun creating a layout about my daughter's joy, when I found this joy-filled photo of my son from the same summer, I was inspired to do a layout with a similar theme.

This one is based on  the August 1 sketch at Let's Get Sketchy:

The background strips caught my attention immediately. (Especially since I had been cleaning off my desk and discovered many long and narrow scraps of paper.) I used blue and green paper to bring out the colors in the photo rather than compete with it since I was using lots of different pattern papers.

I chose the same title, but for this one I paraphrased the Wagner quote as my journaling to include some of the things that my son finds joyful.

I decided to include a monogram as I had on the first layout (even from the same set of Thickers) and stamped onto chipboard stars for a bit more whimsy.

Creating two layouts that were thematically connected was a new challenge for me. I'm glad I've captured the joy of both of my kiddos in the summer of 2011. Thanks for the challenges, Stuck?! and Let's Get Sketchy! These two layouts were a joy to create!

Journaling? Its in the Pocket!

Sometimes I have too much to fit on a page. Between the photos, pretty papers, embellishments and title, I don’t always have enough space for the journaling I love. And if I have any memorabilia, well you can forget space for that! What is a storytelling scrapping girl to do? Add a pocket - or an envelope, or a folder!

I was inspired recently by a note I mailed to my (now) husband when we were in college (more than a year ago, to say the least). This note is one of many I have saved. I decided to create a layout to save these cherished notes and letters. I wanted something with a large pocket that would be easy to add to as I found others. This file folder that has been in my stash at least a year seemed like the perfect solution!

I sealed it with washi tape on both sides (leaving a bit of give so that I could add items to the folder safely).

For this layout I did include some visible journaling, mostly to explain what was in the folder.

Check back tomorrow to see some other tips for including hidden journaling on your layouts!