Believe in Yourself

My friend, Robin, came over last summer or fall to scrapbook and she brought a photo of a layout she wanted to do but she said she didn't have the paper. I looked at it and thought: I bet we could make something similar. So we gave it a try and I was so thrilled with how it turned out.

We started with white cardstock and added a couple colours of Distress Ink with an Ink Blending Tool. I made sure to leave some white space. Then I placed a large 12x12" stencil over and spritzed with water. I dried it with my heat tool and where the water was changes colour as it reacts with the Distress Inks. These are such cool inks because they are meant to react with water and I'm still always amazed by how it happens. After, I chose a different stencil and spritzed with glimmer mist. I think I might have used some old Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, but I've done this technique many times since, and have just created my own glimmer mist with one of the two colours of Distress Ink I've used; I prefer that since I know it will match perfectly. Then I just started layering on top of the background I've created by stamping in white pigment ink, then Silver Staz On and finally black. I loved how the background turned out and it didn't need much other than the photo (which I also love) and a couple rub ons.

I love this background technique a lot. I always look at it and am amazed that I started with white cardstock. There are so many different layers and it looks so much better in person.

Swinging

Here is a layout I actually made a few months ago. It's just a simple one that I did with a paper pack so it all matches.

By the Month

I saw this idea in some magazine and then saw an awesome layout. I photocopied the layout and put it in my envelope of photos so I'd remember when I came to do my layout. As I get more organized (and caught up), I'm going to start doing that more. Photocopying a layout if I have an idea of how I can adapt it and then putting it right with the photos I want to scrapbook. Of course, I'm still behind, so that's likely something for down the line.

Anyway, each month, I took a photo of Nathalie holding the same bunny so I could see how she had changed and grown. Then I created a layout with those 12 photos. The sample layout had some cool milestones recorded so I looked back and found some and did that too. I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Not Coming Home Outfit

My sister came over on Friday and we scrapbooked most of the day. We haven't done that in so long! And there was no pressure. We just played and created. Neither of us were trying to finish a project under a looming deadline and so I just putzed around more than I would have.

My mother has always bought the coming home from the hospital outfits for my kids. And since the first two were 9 lbs 3 oz when they were born, she figured a 3-6 month size would be fine for #3 since aren't they supposed get bigger each time?? Well, Nathalie was 6 lbs 13 oz, so the cute little dress was way too big and didn't fit her until she was 8 months old. But we had a fun photo shoot then.

I really like the look that some people can do with their titles using different fonts and different chipboard letters and stamps. I'm not very good at it since I don't have a huge collection of chipboard letters and it takes so much longer. But I attempted it with this layout and I love how it turned out. The NOT was done with chipboard. I wanted shiny white chipboard, but couldn't find the right letters in my white stash. So, I inked them with Versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder. Since I almost never emboss, I didn't have a nice white; it was more of an off white and I wanted it to be shinier, so I ended up adding some Irridescent Peacock Powder that added a bit of shine to it, so overall, I like how it turned out. Then the rest of the lettering was done with various rub ons that I had in my stash.



The collage I did in Photoshop so I knew that the pictures would be cropped exactly as I wanted them. And it's so much easier to make sure everything is even that way. Then I just upload it to Costco and have them print it.

Grandma's Love

This marks my 31st post this year (every day). I'm excited that it's turned into more of a routine and that I can share what I've been making.

I often look through magazines for inspiration when I'm scrapbooking. I will often find a layout where I like an element or two and that will give me a push to do my own. Sometimes, I create almost the same layout. I like to be creative, but sometimes I find it takes a few days of scrapbooking or stamping before I can just let go and create wildly. The past couple of weeks have been really stressful and so I've been copying layouts and ideas more.

This layout was one I saw in a magazine (and old Simple Scrapbooking magazine; man I miss that magazine). It was simple, but worked for the two 4x6 photos I had. I used a paper pack just so I could find a border that coordinated with the paper. The colours are way out of my comfort zone, but I'm happy with how it turned out. You have to have some brightness to a little girl's album, right??

Dinner's on Me

As with all kids, Nathalie made one heck of a mess when she ate. I had fun doing this layout and it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (although I can't remember now how I wanted it). I think that's a good lesson that even if it's not exactly how we had in our mind, then that's OK. We seldom remember what that image was, but rather, we cherish the memory that we did record.



The red and orange combination was really hard for me since I do mostly monochromatic. I'm trying to get outside my box, but it's really tough!

My Dad

I'm sick. It's been two days and I'm getting a little bitter and twisted about it. So, my post today will be short and sweet. Just a quick layout I did with a photo of Nathalie and Glenn. Overall, I liked how it turned out. So simple. The letters are done with Grungeboard that I coloured navy to match. It's been a few years since Grungeboard came out, but I still really like it!

Siblings

I was on a roll scrapbooking last week (which has since come to a grinding halt, but hopefully next week I can get back to it. I am down to the last few layouts of Nathalie's first year, and I'm so close I can taste it. OK, not really, but I'm really excited that I'm only a few layouts away. I did a page with two pictures of the three kids. I cut a couple papers and really struggled with what I was going to do with the paper and the pictures. I ended up moving the pictures up quite a bit on the page and liked it so much more, so yeah. It's very simple, but I still like it.


I thought it probably needs a title, but I wasn't feeling very creative and so I figured it was pretty obvious. I used my Kioshi paper pack from Basic Grey; this was the first pack I ever bought and I'm still using it years later. These things last forever. It had a great journaling box sticker too, so that part was really easy.

The Cat's Out of the Bag

My sister and I have been frantically working on an album for our parents to recognize their 40th Anniversary. It has consumed us for the better part of a month, but we gave it to them last weekend, so the cat's out of the bag now.

It was a huge album and I loved some of the layouts. Unfortunately, because they all had pictures of other people on them, I don't feel right sharing them here. And as a result of my time and energy being spent on this album, I haven't had time to create as much to share here. The good news, though, is that now I can!

I wanted to share a quick layout I did for Nathalie. It was so simple. I just cut out a background, mounted photos and cut out a title. Overall, I like the simplicity though.

So Sad

I saw a layout like this in a magazine and loved the simplicity. Normally, the most difficult thing would be to find 4 matching, but different, but coordinating papers to use for the strips. But nope! I grabbed my Basic Grey paper pack (Out of Print) and chose four papers that I liked. I cut them into strips, tore the ends and then glued them down and stitched across the top. Mounted Photos, cut out a title, a quick journal and I was done. And I loved it which was good because the layout before this one (which shall not be named, nor seen) didn't end up in the I love it pile.

Sweet

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding Nathalie's scrapbook. The pile of photos is going down and I've set a goal to be done layouts to her first birthday by the end of 2011. That may not seem too difficult, but I just don't seem to ever have enough time. So, I'm just going to push hard and see what I can get done on her album.

I saw a layout in a magazine which inspired this Sweet layout. It's very simple; just a 12x12" piece of patterned paper, a scalloped frame which I cut from my Cricut (but you could just cut if you wanted) and 3 small embellishments. So simple, but I love it.

Camping

A couple of years ago, I decided I needed to deal with the plethora of magazines which were taking over my craft room. I almost never looked through them and so they were taking up space which could be used for more product! I kept a couple of magazines that I really liked (Take Ten) and went through all my scrapbooking magazines and ripped out pages with layouts and ideas that interested me. Then I put the pages in a drawer. When I'm not feeling inspired, then I go through the drawer and rifle through the pages.

When I told people what I was doing, they looked at me like I was crazy. How can you get rid of those magazines, they asked? For me, the answer was simple. I wasn't looking through them. I'd get overwhelmed looking at all of them, so now I just have some pages to flip through. I did keep all my Simple Scrapbook magazines since they're totally my style and I decided I'd keep one years worth of Creating Keepsakes magazines. After a year, I'd go through and rip out the pages that I liked. That way, I'd never have a ton of magazines doing nothing.

I went to scrapbook the other night and grabbed an inspiration sheet and it was a cool paper piecing camping type one. I don't normally do paper piecing, but one in awhile, I really like it. This one was quite quick to put together and while it's somewhat cute, I still really like it.

Bathtime

It's funny to go back and scrapbook these old photos. They're only 2 years old, but I have already forgotten what Nathalie was like as a baby.

This layout is so outside my colour zone. It's done in lime green which is not a colour you would find in my favorite palette. Not by a long shot, but I'm trying to branch out. The paper is from a paper pack (Dots & Stripes) by Echo Park Paper. There are 3 or 4 packs, each with different colours. Again, it was easy to grab two pieces of coordinating colours, but different patterns and know that they would go together.

Creating in Chaos

I've been scrapbooking a bit lately. I actually finished a layout and have started on another. The problem, however, is the clean up in between projects. I still haven't cleaned up from the anniversary card prototype project and now it's just daunting. I know that if I just started, I could probably have it all cleaned up in 15 minutes, but I just don't feel like doing it. I'd rather create.

But creating is hard when you can't find anything and there are piles everywhere. I am in the middle of a layout, but I swear that when I finish, I'm going to clean and organize. I really am.

In the meantime, here is a glimpse into the chaos which is my craft room at the moment.

Sweet Girl

I finally scrapbooked yesterday. My room is a disaster because I haven't cleaned up from all the anniversary prototypes, but I just pushed it aside and sat down. I want to try to do 15 minutes a day of something related to stamping or scrapbooking; whether that be actually stamping or scrapbooking, or cleaning my room or sorting photos. I haven't been very successful lately though. We were camping and it's taken me awhile to get caught up from being gone.

Last night, however, I decided that I would just sit down and do it. I had a hundred other things to do, but I figured that if I don't make it a priority, I'll never do it. It's always hard to get back into the groove after I haven't created in awhile, and last night was no exception. I struggled a lot. I think part of it was the paper pack I was using. I wanted to use one of my new ones, so I chose Sweet Threads by Basic Grey. There are lots of pretty papers, but it was just a bit outside my comfort zone, so I struggled a bit. When it was all done, I think it turned out OK and sometimes OK is good enough. It was certainly better in the end than I thought it would be when I was in the middle!

Hallowe'en

I know it's very early for Hallowe'en, but I did this layout awhile ago and it's just been sitting in my folder to post, so I thought today would be a good day.

I took three pieces of light brown cardstock and embossed them with three different embossing folders and accented the raised portions with brown ink. I mounted them on dark brown cardstock and then just added my photo and title. The title is grungeboard inked with brown ink.

Very quick and so simple.

More Kioshi

My cousin, Debbie, came over to scrapbook last night. It was a great motivation to get going again. I had so many photos left over from the sleeping layout that I wanted to create a second layout with just a title and pictures. I found some paper and matching cardstock and then sat and stared at what wasn't coming together.

I gave up on that combination and tried another. Still nothing. Finally, I put it all away and grabbed my Kioshi pack and got something down. I was sort of copying a layout, except that mine looked nothing like the one I started out to copy which made me laugh. The only thing that I ended up taking from it was four paper squares. It was easy to get matching papers since they all match in the package.

Then I felt like I was on a roll, so I created another quick layout of Nathalie's smile. I used the same paper package. I wanted to share both layouts so you could see how I've used the Kioshi packages on another 2 layouts.

Jolly Jumping

Another quick post so I can check it off my TO DO list for today. I set it up as a recurring task each day so I wouldn't forget to post. I often ignore it, but at least I can't forget.

I did this layout last month and it was a very quick one. It's just a few pieces of paper from a coordinating paper pack (Basic Grey) and then the photo and a title. So simple.

As always, I love how the papers go together. This layout is so simple because you just grab papers that match.

I scrapbooked tonight and wasn't working from a kit and I struggled to find papers to put together. I know I can do it, but when I'm creating in the evening (three kids home because it's summer tends to make stamping during the day difficult) I'm often too tired to have to think a lot. I finally put it all away and grabbed one of my kits. I ended up using Kioshi by Basic Grey (which is what I used on this layout too). This is the first kit I ever bought and I still have a ton of the paper left. These kits really go so far!!

Hush Little Baby

It's been forever ...

I do think that I might just have that as my first line permanently on my blog since it seems to be true.

I keep thinking that I will do something to do with stamping or scrapbooking every day, but unfortunately, three kids and a business seem to get in the way most days. So, I will just do what I can do I guess.

To start out, I'll just keep it brief and post a layout I did of Nathalie sleeping. I love watching babies (and kids) sleep, so I had way too many photos for one layout, so I think I have to do another one since the photos are too cute to not use.

For now, though, here is the layout.

I broke my cardinal rule

For those who know me, they know my cardinal rule is keep it simple. There are many sub-rules such as:

1. No embossing
2. No cutting
3. Do not ever use glue because it is messy sticky stuff that gets everywhere and makes your fingers stick to everything

Those cover just about any circumstance, but the keep it simple part generally covers it all.

I hate glue (can you tell??) and I'm too lazy to emboss and I am cutting challenged. So, really, the rules are out of necessity.

That said, I created a layout the other day that broke my cardinal rule about keeping it simple. I was doing a Santa layout for Nathalie and my new Cricut cartridge (Life's a Party) had a Santa you could cut out. It looked cute and it seemed like such a good idea at the time. Well, to make that work, you need to cut out 455646546 different layers and make sure the cardstock all goes together. Then you need to piece it all together and glue it down. Major infraction of the rule.

Of course, once I started, I wanted to see if I could in fact do it and I did and I actually kind of like how it turned out. I have all these Cricut Cartridges and mostly just use them for letters which is a bit of a waste. So, I am going to try to cut out other things too and actually get some good use out of them. But I'm going to have to wrestle all of that with the cardinal rule. It might just need some adapting.