Name Change

I am working on a name change for the blog.  It just hasn't felt right.  I want this blog to be a reflection of me and all the craftiness I enjoy.  Mostly scrapbooking but I like a lot of different crafts and DIY projects. I want to feel free to write about more than just scrapbooking....also I am not a "designer"....and it felt pretentious to have my name in the title of the blog...

So this is a work in progress and as you can tell by the new name it will be about the process not just the pretty finished project.  I hope you will join me on this adventure!

Blog-spiration - week of 10/27

Blog-spiration - week of 10/27

This past week around the web I found lots of inspiration.  Here are my top ten that I hope to implement in some way this coming week:

1. Burlap trees – Top This Top That This also got me thinking about other burlap projects maybe cutting out a tree and stuffing it with plastic bags – paint before?
2. Art Journal Every Day - Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
3. Over at Get It Scrapped Tami Taylor has posted a page round up from the last three years.  I want to do this to look back on a single event and the changes over the years (think weight, hair color, kids)
4. Border Punches with Decorative Tape by Tegan Skwiat on Shimelle’s Blog
5. Books to read – Over on Shimelle's Blog there is a guest post on Scrapbooking with Vintage Books by Martha Bonneau
6. Mixed Media Monday - Packing Tape image transfer tutorial from Paper Crafters Corner
7. Priorities Discussion from Fitting It All In series on Purplemailbox.com

                  God, Family and Everything else…where do I breakdown “everything else?”

8. Cathy Zielske kicked off this week with a great iPhoto tip.  I would also like to try a digital project life page.  Not sure if I want to go digital in 2014 with project life or go back and do 2013 Week in the Life as digital?  Or both? Or neither?  But I do want to give it a go!  **Also really liked the typeface used on Nichol Magouirk’s page here
9. Cathy has also kicked off her 30 Days of Thankful Album Project…I think we are going to do this as a family.  This morning Caroline was thankful for the monkey (the sock monkey she took for show and tell today, that is). But you know, I am thankful that when I asked what she was thankful for she asked if we were going to pray.  We did.  I am thankful I have a daughter that thinks to pray when she is thankful. 
10. Lots of talk about December Daily by Ali Edwards I am really getting excited about Christmas but certainly do not want to overlook November and this “season of gratitude” we are given IF we take the time to reflect. 

 

The Usual’s:

PaperClipping – Member video, Multiply your Color Mediums – Relationship Class Sneak Peek

Challenges: Simon Says Stamp –Anything Goes and Paper Crafter’s Corner – Magazine Challenge

One to Watch:

Katie Scott has 30 days of Scrapbooking Videos –

Inspried by a little guest post

Over on May Flaum's blog she recently had a "wee guest post."  It inspired me to share my own.  Like I said in an earlier post, Curly certainly has an "eye" for design.  I am amazed what she creates when I leave her alone and not stand over her telling her "how" to do something. 

Last week, I was creating and organizing in my studio.  Curly, not capable of taking naps, decided to join me.  She wanted to make something and began to look for "that sunshine thing."  Soon enough we found this Hero Arts stamp I picked up a couple of months ago for .75! 

 

She loves to embellish, play with product and add sparkle.  Since she was working with a stamp I gave her a baby wipe for cleaning up her fingers and table.  Wouldn't you know she took the baby wipe and attempted to smudge her pen work on her paper? WHAT?  I think I paid money in a class to "learn" that technique. 

After an hour or so, this was the final product: 

I really like that this is all her ideas and creation. Who knew stickles could work like glue and why have I never thought to use stickles as a layer on my page...I can learn so much watching this FREE year old create.

This got me thinking, what if I didn't research how things are supposed to work?  What if I just played with something and enjoyed that part of the process? 

I was bummed to have missed last week's challenge over at PaperCrafter's Corner.  I wasn't able to create something in particular for this weeks challenge but it certainly brought to mind a project I did for a friend...and I cannot wait to share it with you.  Here is the magazine cover:

A friend of mine was preparing for her daughter's first birthday party.  The theme was Minnie Mouse and she came up with some CUTE ideas.  I was so excited when she asked me to help make papercrafts ranging from the invitations to the goodie bags.  Of course I got to work laying out ideas in Silhouette Studio.  First up a little Happy Birthday Banner.

 

How about some stickers (this is a print and cut file) as a thank you to seal up the goodie bags? The Waltograph font just put it over the top!

 

I had a really fun time Mouskercising!  We had several scraps of hot pink and black in white polka dot.  I was feeling inspired and wanted to create something cute she could use to display photos from the party.  I also wanted to play with stamps and my sewing machine.

 

Maybe a little black ink and clear embossing powder.

 

Some distress ink and washi to hold the photo mats in place (I didn't know if she would want this orientation)

 

 

Had this been a scrapbook page I could have used the empty spaces for more pictures or a journaling block.  Because this friend is not, YET, a scrapbooker I placed the invitation in the upper left corner. I love the way the final product turned out! I placed it in a 12" frame so she could hang in her daughters room.  I think she loved it as much as I did. 

 

 





 



Project Life JUNE

Its once again time for the magazine challenge over at PaperCrafters Corner.  I have really enjoyed playing along with these challenges and thinking "outside the box." 

 

 

I gravitate towards scrapping "on a grid."  It's my go-to layout.  So, I spent much of the week wondering how could I do more.  After seeing the cover on Monday, I thought and thought about this image all week.  In my mind, however, this image was much more blue?  It is interesting to me that the upper left photo is what stuck out in my head.  I imagined the whole cover to be clean whites and crisp blues...on a grid. 

The grid design this week prompted me to get back to my Project Life album.  I do not keep up with it weekly, but monthly works for me.  This album satisfies my need for chronological scrapbooking and allows me to scrapbook in a more "Library of Memories" approach in other albums.  Oh and I love how quickly a page comes together. 

 

I recently ordered a bunch of photos off my phone from Shutterfly. (I really like how their app keeps up with the photos I have and have not uploaded.)  I sorted through all the photos and realized June's photos were very much in with the blues I remembered from the challenge cover.   The page was coming together so quickly I decided to add a bit of stamping to the page.

 

The Brilliance Ink in Moonlight stamps really nicely on photos. It dries really quickly too.  Rounded the corners on the photos, added some journaling cards from the Dear Lizzy Project Life line and VIOLA!  One month documented in a two page Project Life spread. 

 

 

Products used: Becky Higgins PL pages, Heidi Swapp Month Stamps, Dear Lizzy PL cards, mini car punch from Creative Memories, Smashbook Black Ink pen, Brilliance Ink in Moonlight White and Image Tree Make a Wish Stamps.

 

Never Gonna Beat This Summer

 

The Magazine Challenge over at PaperCrafters Corner immediately inspired me to scrapbook a memory from this summer; one I look forward to cherishing for a long time.   Take a look at this week's inspiration piece:

 

 



I have never been to London, but the Ferris Wheel and the idea of a music festival got me!  Music can take me back to another place in time.  I think this summer's theme song for me will be Brad Paisley's "Beat This Summer."  The Lyrics open with "Like a Ferris Wheel goes around and around, the trouble with up is there is always a down..."  That has been my Summer 2013. 

 

 

 

 Typically my brother and I are lucky to see each other once or twice a year. We just live too far from one another.  This year, however, he had job training that allowed him to stay much nearer to me for six months of the year.  It was so great to see him every other weekend or so. One weekend we decided to go Whitewater Rafting!  We had a fun road trip, a great guide and a "quiet" trip down the river, HA! As fun as that was, my favorite part was the trip back home.  The sun was setting and I got to ask a bunch of questions of my husband and brothers.  The questions were taken from this blog post written by Amy Sorenson over at Write.Click.Scrapbook.

 

A beautiful sunset and conversation that didn't go too deep but allowed each of us to reminisce back to the summers of our youth.  "I ain't ever gonna beat this summer..."       

 

 I played around with my page elements for a while this week. I loved the inspiration and immediately wanted to scrap this memory, BUT how can I get all these ideas to go together.  I guess I usually scrapbook events.  They are relatively straightforward with colors and themes provided.  This was different though.  I was really trying to scrapbook this memory and the feelings I had of being with my brothers and hubby! 

 

 

I found going back to the inspiration piece really helped me.  I kept in mind all the text and the "smushy" way they all mixed together.  I also liked how tight all the elements felt, so as I designed my page I kept thinking "words, tight, and summer" in my mind.

 

 I am really happy with the way the final product turned out!

The products used on this page include cardstock and vellum from Creative Memories, Gold Colorshine by Heidi Swapp, Fibers from American Crafts, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade, and the Ferris Wheel by Jamie Koay available in the Silhouette Online Store.

Hello Birthday

Finally, the Birthday invitations are ready to go.  I had a lot of fun putting this Hello Kitty birthday invitation together in Silhouette Studio.  Lots of welding, converting to a path and even releasing the compound path- OH MY!  

Along the way, I encountered something crazy with my Silhouette Cameo.  I made this file into a print and cut.  The first cut just fine but the next three gave me fits.  My Cameo was off on each one of the cuts and it would not read the registration marks.  I tried to "go over" the registration marks thinking maybe it just wasn't dark enough but that didn't work. Frustrated I went to bed.  My sweet hubby asked if I needed to recalibrate the Cameo.  Good thought. 

The next day I awoke DETERMINED to finish Curly's invitation. I went searching for an answer.  I asked for help on the message board at Two Peas.  It got several views but no replies.  A Google search turned me onto a Pinterest Board with a bad link - GRRRR!  But now I had a couple key words to aid my search. 

Finally I found a FAQ link on the Silhouette America Store. Now why didn't I think of that? Sure enough directions to recalibrate your machine!  EUREKA!  That hubby of mine is so smart...maybe if I would just listen to him, right?  At any rate, it worked and the invitations are now complete. 

I think they turned out adorable.  Curly thought it needed some glitter, sure enough some Crystal Stickles on the Kitty's hair bow are the perfect accent!  Curly sure has an eye for design!  Off to work on more scrappy goodness for the Birthday Party! 

The Hello Kitty image used here is not my image.  I did not create this image. The image came from a Google Search from the following site:http://kittypalace.tripod.com/kitty.html