calvinball: the last day

story: this is the second time i've scrapbooked this event.  the photos and story were just too good.

photos: taken with my canon rebel dslr.  i actually had the boys take a couple of them for me.

technique: i used watercolors on the white cardstock and didn't really like how it turned out.  i should practice more.  i then did circular swirls over it with white(ish) paint and it looked much better.  the cardstock was incredibly warped though, even after staying under a heavy tray all night.  i ended up stitching it down to a second piece of cardstock and it straightened out quite nicely.

i also glittered some clouds i cut out with my silhouette.  i love the chunky sparkly goodness.

design: i had fun with little bits of patterned paper on this one.  all the little bits together reminded me of my grandmother's quilts that the boy are lying on.

and the facing pocket page.  i went ahead and used some of the same papers and labels even though it wasn't the same event.  the pages look pretty side by side.  i also used some silver and gold sparkly things to mimic the sparklies on the facing page.

product:  these were also made with the patterned paper kit that i made for calvinball.  i am so stoked that i used up the last bits of those vintage checks and the martha stewart labels that i've been working through for forever, and the recent(ish) heidi swap glitter sticker purchase.  it feels so good to throw away empty product packaging and know i've used it all.

this is my last day for this round of calvinball.  i'm afraid i've petered out.  life is getting busy, busy, busy!  final totals coming soon . . .

using my stash: my how they've grown

another layout using the kit i built for calvinball!  i must get busy this weekend!  we're fast approaching the end of calvinball!  only four more days plus today after work!  ;)

design:  i went with a monochromatic color scheme for the background.  i randomly cut the yellow papers from my kit and layered them up the page.  i like how it helps reinforce the growth theme.

story:  these three planted tiny sunflower seeds earlier in the year and by july when g's two friends came to visit again they simple could not believe that these huge sunflowers were from those tiny seeds they planted.  they were almost 12 feet tall!

photos:  the sunflower was taken with my dslr.  the other two were with my iphone.  the tiny photo was edited with the pictureshow app and then resized with diptic before printing.

technique:  i stamped on the tag, but then covered most of it up.  i've been trying to use my stamps more lately.

product:  most of the time i do a layout first and then if there's a project life page next to it i'll use the same product for that.  this time i did the project life page first and i guess it's pretty obvious that i was trying to use my freckled fawn wood veneer stash.  i think all the embellishments are freckled fawn here.  i then used the patterned paper kit that i created for calvinball on the layout and made sure to include some wood veneer on it as well.

and the project life page and layout together in my album.  :)

using my stash: first harvest

design: i went with the wonky look and cut out pieces of patterned paper to mimic the veggies in the photo.  i like it!  it's edgy and hipster.  ;)

story: the first few veggies harvested from my garden last year.  precious.

photo: taken on my deck with my dslr.

technique: journaling always looks tidier to me when it's contained.  i boxed mine in on this layout with simple sketchy pen lines.

product:  i made my own patterned paper kit for calvinball and then started pulling some "archaic" product to score some extra bonus points.  i will never grow tired of my heidi swapp ghost letters, old foofala, and ki memories color theory.

and, of course, some project life pages to go with it.  these follow that same format of project life cards + freckled fawn embellishment kits with a few barcode strip words thrown in for good measure.

couterfeit kit club: jurassic park

i'm delighted to be joining in with the counterfeit kit club once more this month, and am happy to get this fun memory scrapbooked.  i found this random photo on my iphone one day and asked my son about it.  turns out he had been playing pretend.  he was in jurassic park and expecting a trex to pop through those trees at any moment!  notice my added teeth on the right. ha!

be sure to continue on the blog hop and see what awesome creations the other ladies have created!

next up ------- >  Jemma   http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Tina   http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com/

Lisa Harris   http://mykreativepursuits.com

Lynette   http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com

Gemma   http://thesteelenook.blogspot.co.uk

Margie   http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com

Virginia   http://celtichouse.blogspot.co.uk

Julene   http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Janine   http://rachauscratchpad.blogspot.com

Lisa   http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

counterfeit kit club: clearly, a challenge

today i am participating in the first challenge of the month with the counterfeit kit club.  the challenge is to use a clear element on the page.  let me tell you, having a kit AND being told what to do with it makes for some quick scrapbooking!

photos: i am starting to work with the photos from our trip to visit my sister and fam on vacation in north carolina.  the photos are all so gorgeous and easy to work with.  i am really just going in order through the stack as each set i have pulled is so inspiring.

story: g had to explore the creek right away and riley was there for every step of it, she just didn't want any part of the crawdads g found except for this teeny tiny baby one.  she declared it cute, carefully put her finger on it for a half second, and then said she hoped it would never grow up.

design: i went with an oversized title on this one to help immediately draw attention to the tiny subjects in my photos.

technique: for the clear element of the challenge, i scattered some sequins in a 4x6 page protector and stitched it to the page.  i think it goes so nicely with the title.  i love when the design of a page helps to tell the story so well.

product: a hodgepodge of really old and really new items from my stash that i pulled together as guest designer with the counterfeit kit club.

counterfeit kit club: february's guest

this month i am delighted to be guesting with the counterfeit kit club.  the premise is simple.  look at a kit you find and love and recreate it by shopping in your own stash.  this is just a brilliant way to get yourself using up your product.  i think i have mentioned many times before that i struggle to scrapbook without a kit anymore.  and yet, i have so much stuff!  making my own kits is the perfect solution.

here is a list of other designers who are joining me in the february blog hop:

Margie: http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com

Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Julene: http://julenebydesign.blogspot.co.uk

Stephanie: http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.ca

Jemma: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com

Susanne: http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

Lesley: http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Angela: http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk

Lynnette: http://www.sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com

Leslie: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

i'll first share a little about my layout and then give you some insight into how i go about curating my own kits.

photos:  these are from our trip to visit my sister and her family on vacation in north carolina last summer.  they are the first of that set that i've scrapbooked and i can tell you that i'm going to thoroughly enjoy working with them.  all that beautiful nature and cute little girls to boot.  happy, happy.

story:  this was just a few minutes after we arrived.  riley wanted to take g exploring the creek at the rv campground.  g was eager to oblige.

design:  i was going for bilateral symmetry on this one (sorry, science teacher talking), something i rarely do.  it's fun to shake things up a bit from time to time.  you can see the two photos are aligned along the center with a gutter in the exact(ish) middle of the page.  i also mirrored the flair on either side.  that's about as far as i went with that.  you can see that the rest of the embellishments are scattered loose-y goose-y across the page.  this made for a nice structure, but still an organic design.

technique:  i was watching a pretty intense movie while scrapping and really could hardly take my eyes of my computer screen.  i was thus very haphazard with my patterned paper cutting.  luckily, that look seems to work for me.  ;)

my favorite part of the layout is the confetti words.  i always snip off good words from the bar code strips of my patterned papers before i throw them away.  words scattered across a page is simply the best.  i love the way my salvaged scraps made this page.

product:  this is the kit i pulled together (you can see the sample kit at the very bottom of this post).  patterned paper is the most important part for me.  it really helps to set the stage.  i didn't try to match the sample kit piece for piece.  instead, i looked at it and got a general feel for what it contained:  blues, reds, and golds; clouds; transparencies and vellums; and a travel theme.

next i pulled in alphas and embellishments.  another good rule of thumb is to mix "something new" in with your older product to give it all a fresh feel.  i had just gotten the kit for ali edward's "one little word" class and chose to include it, mainly for the alphas and stamp set.

the rest of the embellishments were then chosen by type.  i have little jars and tins of goodies all over my craft room and simply chose a few of these to include based on what i saw in the sample kit: sequins, flair, label stickers, tiny flowers, and wordfetti.

i love how this first layout turned out and am eager to dive into the next one tomorrow.  stay tuned!  i'll have another counterfeit kit post to share on friday!  :)

sample kit

diy kit: smile

i always want to share more thoughts about my layouts, but alas i am lazy.  recently, i have been contemplating this dilemma and came up with a five area system that i could try.  photo, story, design, technique, and product.  maybe writing a sentence or two about each of these areas would be a nice compromise.  also, using the header/colon system eliminates the need for segues.  seques are just painful to me. 

let's give it a whirl . . .

design: i've been into playing with patterned paper mixes lately.  this has been especially fun when working with patterned papers that I've pulled from my own stash (as opposed to working with a kit that has been mailed to me aka chosen by someone else).

technique:  the cards on the right were originally manila colored.  i used an ink pad and blender tool to color them.  i then decided to add a few splats.  i guess it's been a while since I've splatted.  my first attempt was with my reinkers and a few strong blows.  that went totally wrong.  i then remembered that perfet splats are achieved with the dabber tips of distress stains.  i used this method plus some well placed sequins to hide my distressing splats.  good save, doris.

photo: a copy of one my mom snapped of me when i was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding.  don't you just love the muted tones, blow out, and white photo border?  (totally not being sarcastic, i really do love those things).

story:  while the photo is from my cousin's wedding, my journaling is mostly about my personality.  i was a very serious child back then.  i was often perceived to have a frown on my face, but in actuality i was just a very deep thinker.  i still am, but i've learned to relax the facial muscles so as to be less intimidating.  ;)

product:  here's a quick snap of the patterned paper i pulled together for my own little kit.  i based them off of american crafts diy shop paper pad.  i actually had so much fun pulling these together that i added an extra row or so.  so far, I've made three layouts with this kit that all look completely different even though they use some of the same papers (you can see another i posted from this kit HERE).  i plan to do at least one project life page with it as well before i disband it.

for the two pages I've posted from it so far, i also pulled extensively from my glitter box.  this is where i keep stuffing all my leftover tags, label stickers, and diecut bits.  you can see it's getting crowded in there and needs to be used more.  i'm hoping to make more of my own kits like this, so i can whittle down my stash.

project life: finally using those core kits

my friends and i have been swapping project life core kits over the past year.  i probably have portions of six kits.  maybe more.  i love them, but i just don't use them.  until now.  i've finally figured out the problem.  i've gotten so used to scrapping with a kit that it's hard to work without one.  doh.  i know the project life core kits are indeed kits unto themselves, but for an embellishment driven scrapper, it's just not enough.  well, a couple months ago, i joined freckled fawns embellishment kit club, oh deer me.  it's the perfect merger!  these pages were all done with the sunshine project life kit and bits from oh deer me (mostly the february kit).  yay!

i'm also pleased to note that i'm making progress in using my stamps.  i used  five stamps from the febraury kit here.  woot!  the little gold crowns above were made with embossing powder.  they actually say "he" and "she."  so cute.

once again, it worked out that i had a layout to work on next to a project life page.  i challenged myself to use the same set of products on it, the sunshine core kit and the freckled fawn february kit.

i ended up using one 3x4 card and three 4x6 cards.  major bonus as the 4x6 cards always seem harder for me to use in my project life pages.  i think i tend to fill those slots up with pictures mostly.

and now i must get back to scrapping!  i think i've gone two weeks without doing anything.  eeps!

jbs mercantile: smithsonian

this layout is about my grandpa eck (left in photo) and the shell he discovered that was named after him and resides in the archives of the smithsonian (i shared the story HERE earlier).  the photo of my grandfather is one that my mom let me have in my teens.  it's a random photo taken at a time when i didn't even know him. once i started scrapbooking, i never imagined i'd ever have a call to use the photo, but it really seems fitting with this story.  the photo of the shells i found and downloaded off the internet.  i printed the journaling straight from my blog post and attached it to the back of the "read this" tag stuck behind the second photo.

the layout was created mostly with the april mini-album and antiquarian kits.  i wanted to get some centipede action in, so i decided to go with christy's challenge of making your own kit from leftover bits from past kits plus my challenge to add stamping on text print papers (from my stash).  i love the way it came out.  it has the feel to me of a smithsonian archivist's desk, full of bits and pieces of information and treasures to be cataloged and recorded.

it was really nice to challenge myself to dust off my stamps and actually use them (instead of just letting them continue to collect dust).  i used three of my old rubber stamps on this page.  the label to the left of the shell photo (stamped in jbs ink pad), the swirl on the tag (stamped in jbs speckled egg), and the circle frame behind the right photo (stamped with american crafts gold embossing powder).  

i included lots of bits on this that might not make sense on a page about shells until you pull in the idea of a museum of natural history.  i went with the idea of collections which is where the butterflies and botanicals come in.  i also used the vintage envelope to highlight his extensive travels, the vintage map to spotlight his time in central america, and the little anchors for his high seas adventures.

one last thing (besides the amazing dear lizzy glitter thickers) before i go.  the washi tape.  i swoon.diagonal gold stripes from freckled fawn and grey chevron from jbs.  love and love.

kit building: centipede style

so christy has laid down a centipede challenge of building a kit from leftover kit bits.  i don't quite have those as i'm pretty current right now, but i have had it in my mind that i want to do a little stamping on vintage paper.  i'm planning on using my ink pads, obviously, they're all in that vintage receipt holder bottom left.  then i might use some embossing powders or distress stains or paints or mists or stickles even from that 3-tiered pottery barn tray that a sweet little birdie gave me for a house warming present.  there are some rubber stamps in that far left basket there; i might use those.

or i could use some clear stamps; three of these bins have those.  they don't get used much.  hoping this challenges jogs my interest in them.

and i'll be flipping through my 12x12 file of lovely vintage pages.

and pulling the leftover bits from my may kits in once i've finished a couple more pages with them.  fun times ahead!  :)

kit building: roy g. biv

i decided to make myself a little kit from my own stash to scrapbook with and it turned out to be quite a brilliant idea.  i sat down that night and created three layouts.  THREE.  i can't remember the last time i scrapped that fast.  it was a festivus day miracle!

speaking of miracles.  this is just the cutest story.  i know it's a horrible pic of my baby, but you can still see how way cute he was (he still is way cute - just making sure we have that straight).  anyhoo, this weekend when he was two-ish his gma and aunty gmas and aunty cousins had all come to visit us.  we had gone to the zoo and gone to the outlet mall.  it was at the outlet mall that we stopped in the toy store and tiny g was just mesmerized by the battery operated pig flying in circles, attached to a sting coming from the ceiling.  g's eyes got HUGE and he kept saying, "pig fly??  pig fly?!  pig fly!!"  over and over again all afternoon, all day, all weekend.  it is burned into our collective memory.  so when i saw these pig lights at kroger this christmas i had to buy us all a set.  oh the memories.  aren't they delightful?

this is the little kit i built.  i decided to go with a roy g. biv theme.

the kit contained:
one sheet of patterned paper from each of my color families, three thickers alphas, 2 sticker alphas, 5 more sticker/rub-on type things, a pack of vintage paper clippings, and a tin of random embellishment bits that had somehow ended up all tangled together.

several of the pieces i pulled because i was hoping to use them up.  i like to clear out my stash from time to time.  

here is a fun tip for you from my scraproom.  changing tables convert into fabulous scrapbook storage.  i changed many a gman diaper on this piece.  i kept those diapers and assorted essentials in those two baskets on the bottom shelf.  now those baskets hold my thickers (left bottom) and punches (right bottom).  the middle shelf is miscellaneous stuffs.  the top shelf holds mostly patterned paper and stickers.

of course the patterned paper is kept in roy g. biv order.  from left to right i have cardstock scraps, vintage papers, a variety of specialty papers, multi-colored paper, neutrals - black based, neutrals - brown based, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, cardstock.  notice there is no violet in my world, lol.  right in front is an accordian folder with patterned paper scraps, roy g. biv-ed, of course.

this basket i got from my old lss when it closed.  i made many a shopping trip with these baskets.  g and i were reminiscing today about how many of his bffs and mine (their moms) were made from this lss.  it was a magical place and i still miss it.  but back to what's in the basket.  lots of stickers and a few rub-ons (we all know those things don't like me) some border-y type things and such.  my sticker alphas are also in here.  while they're not roy g. biv-ed, they are divided into colored and neutrals.  behind the basket is a 12x12 accordian folder with my jbs papers and stickers in it.

and here is my thickers collection.  definitely a roy g. biv scene with this one.  i was fortunate enough to work for american crafts for a couple years, so my thickers collection got beefed up then.  i have an unwritten policy of not letting this collection exceed the container that currently houses it.  thus the reason there were three sets of thickers in my roy g. biv kit above.  i deliberately chose thickers sets that i thought were close to done.  i have another unwritten policy of letting myself discard a pack of thickers when all the e's are gone.  can you believe that even after making three layouts i still had e's on all three of those sets?  doh!  back in the stash they went.

i've been thinking to kit build for so long.  i'm glad i finally did it and i think i'm addicted.  tomorrow i shall build another.  i wonder what my theme will be?  hmmm.  decisions, decisions . . .