Using paper outside the theme

There are few things I like more to do with my scrapbook paper than to take a beautiful themed line and throw the theme out the window and use the papers for something outside the box. The BasicGrey line Mon Ami worked perfectly with these Halloween photos I've been holding onto for months! Granted that's because my boys are dressed in very summery types of colors but doesn't it just work?!

You ready for some close-ups?

The left page: 

The right page: 

This photo is from the left page, I ran my WRMK Sew Easy around the circle several times and then used the reverse side of the circle so I'd get the pregnant chads (thank you election coverage for teaching me that valuable description!). 

Some of the layering on the right side of the spread. 

The small cluster grouping on the far right bottom. Staples were my friend on this layout, what can I say? And what about that Fancy Pants cork arrow, I love it!

The black stamping here was done with some shapes from the Silhouette store and Silhouette stamping material, black pigment ink, and black embossing powder. 

And another of layering, this is from the far left.

Other products not mentioned: 

• cork stars from my scrappy friend Denise
• Studio Calico wood veneers
• embroidery floss

Leftover alphas

Remember a couple of days ago when I said that I'd gotten bitten by a need to use up my alpha stash? Well, here's the second installment. 

I managed to finish off all but the numbers from three alpha sets. Woot Woot! 

You'll notice that I again used my current favorite, BasicGrey Mon Ami. Thankfully, with all those alphas on the background I really didn't use much so I was able to stretch the line just a teeny bit further. Sweet. If I'm remembering correctly, there's another four pages and a couple of cards that I made using the line. 

Anyway, as I said on Monday, using up alphas like this isn't something new to me but I was really inspired to use them up because of a post on Becki Adams' blog last week.  

Vance Summer School

In our community, students entering kindergarten in the fall may attend the summer school session preceding, so we decided to enroll Vance as a way to help him adjust to a more structured life. Not that we don't have routines, but let's just say that nothing happens at.the.same.time.every.day. Ya know?! Well, summer school starts today so I'm probably having to help Rylan figure out how to entertain himself for hours on end without a big brother to play with - guess Vance isn't the only one who needs an adjustment period. 

As part of my mental preparation for this important week I created a layout using my current favorite line, BasicGrey's Mon Ami and all I still have to do is print off a photo and slap it onto this layout about his first day.

Good planning, no? 

This page is actually the leftover bits and pieces from a variety of layouts I've been working on, including one that'll be a class at Soul Sentiments this summer. 

How about using part of the alphas sheet as a background element? Totally cool for a "school" themed page! Not gonna lie, while I have done it before it wasn't mentally on my radar until I read Becki Adams' post about using some of her mismatched alphas. Oh, the things with alphas that I'm gonna be trying in the next several weeks. 

Memorabilia mini album

I made this one a few months ago and never shared it! GASP! So here's some shots of a free-standing mini album that I made with Teresa Collins' Memorabilia line and some Heidi Swapp pennants that I picked up Archiver's last day of business. 

Those of you who've witnessed one of my mini albums are prepared for the photo onslaught coming your way. 

Page 2, or maybe page 1. The book is at my LSS until we have the class and since it's been a while since I made it the pages here are in something close to the right order. 

I may have over done it with the flaps in this book!

Oh! Look another flap page. 

This page is sooo lame by comparison. Just kidding, look at all that dimension. Are you noticing how many things poke out on the sides?

This "page" needs three shots to do it justice because of the flaps: 

And the last page - you've almost made it to the end.

And from the side so you can see all the layers and dimension.

Now to get it back and fill it with fun photos and memorabilia.

Packing for a crop

I know, I know, it's been a few weeks since National Scrapbooking Day, but here's the only other layout I did to participate in the festivities.  This one featured challenges from Studio Calico NSD 3 and 4 which were to use washi in three ways and create a background from stamps. 

I don't know if you can tell, but the upper stamped sentiment states that "creativity take courage" and in the bottom right I wrote that "packing for a crop takes valor." All that stuff for a day trip to my local store. Granted, I rarely lack for anything and now that she has her Cameo out and ready to play with I don't have to bring mine but I still get overwhelmed when deciding what to pack. So much easier to just craft at home, but I love the social aspect and sometimes just being there sets off creative ideas.

The background paper is My Mind's Eye All is Bright with a Tim Holtz stamp and a variety of distress inks. 

The flowers are from American Crafts and BasicGrey and the butterflies are Pink Paislee (white mistable ones that I left plain) and Studio Calico (canvas and covered with washi). I also made a partial washi floret and used a BG one to hold it together. 

Right Now

I don't even remember when I did this layout but I super love it, and know it is less than two months old because I haven't had that stitching template for very long. I *think* the page was based on a Scrapbooksteals MWM sketch but yeah...

I also remember that I used Silhouette stencil material to make those hexagons. I'd made a larger stencil for something else and then used the inside pieces as a mask.

Lots of scraps and leftover bits. 

Such a Silly

Mixed media is a major focus at my local scrapbook store and some of the ladies who've gotten into the techniques are wanting ways to incorporate them into their layouts. We've done a few other themes, but this one is using masks to create the title. 

For the background I paintedFaber-Castell gelatoes through a Prima stencil and let it dry. Then I adhered my Hazel & Ruby alphabet masks and placed a The Crafter's Workshop stencil over the letters. I smeared modeling paste over the stencil/masks and let it dry, then dripped a whole bunch of green Studio Calico mist over the title block. I used modeling paste and the same green on the corrugated cardstock on the left side of the page. 

In the bottom right, I built up layers of embellishments to highlight the silly photo of Vance when he was two.