Egg Hunt

Dala and I had a crazy plan a few weeks before National Scrapbook Day, I would create a few easy layouts that we would pre-cut and kit up and have stations in the store for participants to put together in a snap. So I took home a pile of random loose papers that had haunted the store for a while and set to work. Because of the nature of the papers chosen (ones that had multiples that she wanted to clear through) I know brands but not paper names or lines, sorry guys.

And check out my way fun usage of my pony beads/enamel dots. I sort of thought they were perfect with the plasticity of the eggs. 

A little twine looping and curling never hurt either. Though I'd love to figure out an easy way to give directions for that one!

I don't know if this is normal or not, but my students on NSD thought it was unusual to incorporate the transparency into the bottom layers and have photos on top like I've done. What can I say? I like to make them think outside the box. ;)

Supplies:

Jenni Bowlin green, yellow, and birds papers

Fancy Pants transparency

White cardstock, stash

Heidi Swap mistable tags

Faber Castell gelatoes

Blue pigment ink

WRMK twine

Glossy Accents

Pony Beads

Page Maps sketch

Party Set Up - another Dec Daily post

I joked when I started my Dec Daily project that it might take me until February to finish that mini, and I might have been right. But here's one more for that project - Dec. 21. Vance's birthday, which we spent waiting for grandparents who were due in town at any moment, while we waited we decorated for his party.

My page was inspired by Let's Get Sketchy: January Week 3 Challenge.

I'm also linking this one up on: 

Use it Tuesday: Warm it up Red, Orange, Yellow. Hoarded items include Jenni Bowlin alphas and Imaginesce dotted ribbon are over a year old. The American Crafts Chap papers and yellow ribbon have been in my stash since last April. Paper clips are over 3 years old.

Paper Girls Challenge Blog: Wood/wood grain. I misted the wooden buttons to complement my page colors.

Dec 18 Cookie Baking

I avoid glitter like the plague. It gets everywhere, but when Use It Tuesday decided it was time to "make it sparkle" I knew that I really needed to bust out some Martha Stewart glitter that I'd had since I started scrapbooking! I used the glitter to make a little flourish in the background of the page (and still have way to much of just that one bottle). Also hoarded/seldom used, I don't think I've used that Sew Easy head since right after I bought it, about a year ago. The Jenni Bowlin mini alphas are about a year old as well.

For sketch inspiration I used Let's Get Sketchy's week 2 challenge.

Dec Daily - December 18 Cookie Baking

The papers are from the Authentique Festive and Peaceful collections. I inked them up with Ranger Distress Ink Peeled Paint.

One more page done in my December "daily" album. Only 23 more to go. ;)

Not while I'm eating!

So this week I have jury duty. Now in my county that means that the night before you have to call in to see if you go to the courthouse the next day. Monday and Tuesday, didn't have to go in, so I dedicated the day to getting ahead on some things (like blogging and Christmas present making)- just in case I get to spend a couple of days doing my civic duty.

Without further ado, I present my December week 2 Let's Get Sketchy interpretation! 

I started with two groupings, like in the sketch. The elements just sort of morphed themselves. They're still sort of there. Sort of.

I used a bunch of mismatched Fancy Pants Designs papers, American Crafts Thickers, Jenni Bowlin Designs mini alphas, several Kiwi Lane Designs templates, a Lifestyles Crafts embossing folder, my sewing machine, and of course some good ol' inking. 

Let's Get Sketchy Dec. wk 2 sketch

And don't forget to checkout the Christmas present (aka giveaway) I have for one of my followers. 

Pearl 9a - Orca

Seriously. Why is it that when I go to pack up scrappy stuff for a weekend at mom's that I always end up making something first? It's sort of obnoxious that I'm that easily distracted by pretty paper. 

For your viewing pleasure I bring you my interpretation of Pearl 9a from Scrapbooksteals.com. The sketch was created by the fabulous Erica Bass (one of my scrappy idols, and let's be honest, I have a lot of them!).

I also tied this into the CSI: color, stories, inspiration challenge 35.

The background paper is Authentique Gathering. The doily is a Silhouette file from MME Oooh La La, as are the brown polka dots, the hexagons, tickets, photo corners, and journaling die cut. The mini alphas are Jenni Bowlin. The Thickers are Amy Tangerine. I used Ranger Distress Inks. The rhinestones and shell stickers are stash. The book page is from the viewing guide that all the tourists got, I coated it with gesso and then applied a mixture of gesso and Zing Butter Embossing Powder and then heated it before stitching the Thickers on. Some of the shells have Crackle Accents applied.

Close up of the "sand:"

Guess-o it's gesso time

Before, during, and after completing my first "case" over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration (a scrapbooking recipe challenge site) I was in awe of some of the techniques the ladies used. I randomly clicked on a tutorial that had Prima paper in the title, and learned that some of what I was liking had been created with gesso. For any who don't know, gesso is traditionally used with canvas as a primer, but these ladies were using it to create awesome textures and mixing it for soft colors. Which took me on a Google Search.

My first completed "case."

I took the plunge. I bought gesso. Here's the first project I made on the day I bought it:

And here's how I cracked the case for Case 33:

You'll notice that this time the gesso is on thick, and has more texture. Much of the texture I created by swirling spray inks into it, one layer at a time, and then squishing it outward from the center. I really like the effect!

I'm still deciding if this is going to be a regular part of my style, or just a random artistic element I use sometimes. 

Holiday papers used in the "off season"

I haven't often done it, but I do shop for holiday themed papers based on how useful they could be in a regular scrapbook page. Mostly because things that can't be used that way tend to be overly busy for my style. But at the end of the season I tuck them away and don't think about looking at those Christmas or birthday papers again for a long time. 

The second August challenge at My Mind's Eye was to bust those papers out and apply them to a project that is not what the paper was "designed" for. The DT used Christmas and Halloween papers which for some bizarre reason got me to thinking about my birthday papers and how awesome Hip Hooray would look with this Instagram picture of my guys playing together. 

Banners and tags are fairly common all year so it was mostly easy, I only had two real modifications. The back red paper has "Happy Birthday" strung with some of the blue banners so I had to sort of hide that. And then the "Make a" end with "Wish" so I covered it with a tag from the kit, added "train" and for safe measure tucked the word "Choo" under the edge. 

All the papers are from Hip Hooray, the thread is Lost and Found Union Square, and the blue ric rac was in my bin of MME ribbons but I don't remember which collection it's from. The eyelets are WRMK, tiny alphas are Jenni Bowlin, Thickers from American Crafts, Ranger Distress fired brick all over pretty much everything. A little machine stitching, foam dots, and paper rolling finished off the look of this page.

I'm also entering it in the Scrapbooksteals MWM - Pearl 6. Kristy Lee's sketch was a perfect fit for this collection! 

Action Heroes

Some layouts come together nicely, following a predesigned path. Sometimes that path takes it's own twists and turns. In the case of my Authentique August Challenge page that's exactly what happened. I am so happy that I followed the "new" path though.

A new thing for me on this page was how I used the mists. I was inspired this weekend by the Scrapbooksteals Blog Hop to pull those messy little bottles back out.  I "misted" one piece and then proceeded to dry brush the leftover ink onto the other pieces instead of inking with my stamp pads.

I seriously am in love with this page. It is decidedly a new favorite of mine!

Authentique products:
Uncommon Original
Blissful Pleasant
Journey Noteables
Journey Headlines
Journey Icons
Miracle Boy Tabloids
Bi-Fold Foundations

Other products:
October Afternoon Mini Market Pink and Black alphas
October Afternoon Sprinklers Set Sail
Jenni Bowlin Embellished Butterflies
American Crafts Thickers Shoe Box and Amy Tangerine Lovely
Studio G Glitter glue
Silhouette Studio/Cameo
Stash gems

Renewed Challenge

Things have been crazy at work and the Scientist is really needing to finish up his PhD which led me to make a tough family choice - continuing being a huge stress ball and rarely see my hubby -or- make a change. Considering we couldn't afford for me to quit, I chose to demote myself within the company and work fewer hours so he can work more. While not common, this does happen at times (IMO, more people just quit but benefits are good). For the first time in over 6 years I am no longer a manager of any kind. I worked three shifts as just an employee last week and it was so weird, novel, refreshing. I'm sure at some point the joys of it will unnerve me, but for now I'll revel in it's glory.

I'm not already reveling in is the $$$ part. Demotion = pay cut = less money for scrappy fun.

The bonus of "less money for scrappy fun" = a new challenge. There just isn't money to buy a lot of gifts and things so I'm going to be making as many Christmas presents, home decor items, birthday party decorations (you get the idea), the big challenge being that I need to figure out how to customize it to the individual/event from my current stash.

I've known for a month that this was coming and sort of loaded up while I could! LOL. The only thing I didn't buy that I know I need is some black vinyl for redecorating the boys' room. Their Christmas and birthday from us (unless grandparents chip in!) is a bunk bed, bedding, and theme change. Right now it is mostly decorated with leftover decorations from Squirrel's Cars party last year, some of those will stay as I'm switching it to a Toy Themed room (sort of Toy Story-esque, but less focus on just those guys and more just on toys). Hence the vinyl, I want to do large silhouettes of some recognizable toys to hang on the wall. Hoping to see some on SS before November so I can whip them up in time for a birthday party with the same theme (and just relocate as I did last year).

For this challenge the rules are:

• Goal Completion Date of Dec. 31, 2012
• Spend no more than $15 per boy birthday party on decorations/flair (August and December birthdays), excluding vinyl
• Spend no more than $20 per month on other crafty fun, not including adhesive
• Spend no more than $40 while at Scrapbooksteals warehouse while there in October
• Create 100 projects: Pages = 1, Cards = 1, duplicated cards of 3 or more = 2 per set
• Continue creating cards for OWH

Notice I'm not trying to spend "no money until ## done." That didn't work so well, and this is really about correcting a spending habit as much as about using up hoarded materials. :)

To get the crafting party started off right, here's my first set of projects. These are the last of the cards I could make before needing to ship off a box for the We Are Memory Keepers card drive for Operation Write Home. All of these cards feature American Crafts Campy Trail papers and Ranger Ink Distress Inks - Walnut Stain and/or Broken China, additional products used are in captions.

Studio G Green Glitter Glue
Brilliance Black Ink
Stamp - stash

Paper Studios Square Eyelets
Jewelry Cord

Jewelry cord
Jenni Bowlin mini alphas

Crackle Accents (on "Christmas" shaped tree)
Machine stitching

Jewelry Cord
Glossy Accents on "Christmas" tree
Paper Studios White Eyelets

WRMK Sew Stamper
Machine stitching
Glossy Accents on patch

BasicGrey Blue Brads
WRMK Sew Stamper
Stamp - unknown

Project Goal 100
To date: 7

Authentique July Sketch - Magic Moments

We happened to be at my mom's house on Palm Sunday when I got a call from my sister saying they were coming for a visit the following weekend. They live 17 hours away (longer with kids!) and since the last time I'd seen her we'd both had babies so we quickly changed our Easter plans in order to make the trip again the following weekend. We were all so busy socializing that I forgot to take a lot of pictures of the four cousins playing together, there's a couple more but these are the best of the bunch, and two of them were taken at The Magic House (hence the title)! I'm thinking I'll do a couple more pages and then pick one to frame as a Christmas present for my sister and her hubs.


The sketch I used was from Authentique's July Sketch Challenge. I did flip the sketch to use horizontal pictures but tried to stay true to the feeling. ;)

Authentique Product List:
Gathering Tabloids
Gathering Grow 12x12
Gathering Together 12x12
Petite Type Circle Blue
Blissful Pleasant 12x12
Blissful 6x6 pad

Other Products:
Jenni Bowlin Dimensional Butterflies
Paper Studios Affinity Ribbon
Studio G Glitter Glue
American Crafts Amy Tangerine Thickers - Lovely
Distress Ink - broken china and walnut stain
October Afternoon Sprinklers - Set Sail
BasicGrey Paper Ribbon Doilies - Kioshi
Prima Say It in Pearls - Vintage Branch

Father's Day

Now normally the Scientist and I just sort of ignore the "hallmark" holidays, but I went to great efforts to make our moms cards this year, so I made some for the dads too (and didn't get those in the mail on time, oops!) so I felt like doing a little card "from" the boys would be appropriate.

This one is CAS, just a MME card with some Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks 6x6 woodgrain, Authentique Blissful (ruler) and Jenni Bowlin mini alphas and all the edges inked with Colorbox Chestnut Roan. The inside is stamped with a stamp I picked up in the clearance bin the other day at Hobby Lobby (used Chestnut Roan again).

And then I let the boys color messages inside for Daddy.

MWM Turquoise 7

Sometimes a sketch speaks to you. Well, to me. I don't know if they ever speak to you, but this week's Scrapbooksteals MWM screamed at me - I almost instantly knew what papers, pictures and techniques I'd use to get this one done. I also knew that with just a little fussy cutting I could also enter into the MME first June challenge. I love when I can get two for the time of one. 

Here we have mostly MME Miss Caroline Dilly Dally, but there's a teeny bit of 6x6 Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks. All of the flowers are fussy cut from Dilly Dally - the big ones were layered over themselves and then over a "shadowed" fussy in the same shape, after layering I used glossy accents to give them a bit more punch (can't tell from the pic though, sorry). The mini alphas are Jenni Bowlin and the larger alphas are AC Thickers Typo. There's a lot of distressing from the actual papers, some twisting/crumpling, and then some from inking and using the Imaginesce D-stress. 

MCM 85, 86 plus one

Father's Day is next weekend so in honor of our dads I made some masculine cards. So hard. Every time there's a guy card to make I struggle. But these ones sort of make me happy, and I even managed to make an extra to have in my stash for a birthday, thank you, whatever. Excellent.

For MCM 85 (a sketch by Cyndee Kawa) I used a Paper Studio card base and papers with MME Abbey Road die cuts and a Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts sticker with Jenni Bowlin mini alphas.

For MCM 86 I used another Paper Studio card, ribbons, and cardstock, MME Good Day Sunshine papers and die cuts, some MME Indie Chic Nutmeg Washi, and inked all the edges with Color Box Chestnut Roan or Pumpkin Spice

The other card I made used Paper Studio card base and cardstock, a MME Abbey Road journaling card and chipboard tag, Jenni Bowlin mini alphas, a little bit of cord, some paper ribbon that I bought ages ago (so probably Paper Studio) and the Sew Easy Stamper.