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.

Magazine Challenge

Each week Paper Crafter's Corner hosts a Magazine Challenge.  I only discovered this unique challenge a few weeks ago.  After several weeks of observation I finally decided to try my hand.  This week's magazine cover inspiration piece:

I was really intrigued by the embellishment in, through, and around the title.  What a neat idea!  As I began thinking of a project for this inspiration another idea hit me.  What if this was a TITLE PAGE?  I NEVER make title pages in my albums. I usually make the album pages, page by page but never return to create a title page.  I certainly do not BEGIN with a title page! 

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the letters and embellishments.  I am so thankful for the ability to turn on and off the cut feature.  I first created his name and then offset the words for unity. As I added the embellishments I placed and sized them appropriately on screen.  This allowed me to get all my embellishments the right size for my page BEFORE I cut them all out!