Sunday, February 19, 2012

Not Quite Straight and Even

 I have always had a problem with lining things up correctly. I can sort of eyeball something and cut it fairly close to the dimensions I need. However, despite rulers and various scrapbook tools, I somehow always end up with pages that are somewhat skewed. I guess I could let it bother me, but the frustration of constantly taking pages apart( over and over again) just to find that I have put them back together, yet again, slightly off kilter has led me to believe I will never be a straight, on the grid kind of scrapbooker. It's ok. I guess it's just a part of my style that is inherently me. Besides, if I never told you I meant for this page to be nice and even, set  in the center would you have ever known? it looks like it was meant to be this way.
All products are OA with the exception of DMC floss,
glimmer mist in spring rain and perfect pearls mist in Biscotti
Someone told me it adds to the character of the page. Maybe it's a happy mistake. Maybe my sub-conscious did this on purpose. Who knows?!?! Either way, I chose to accept how I made this page and I really do love it just the way it it!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Bringing Ju Ju Bee Home

     Recently, we were very lucky to open our home to a new kitten. When we first met her, she was full of energy and bold enough to jump right to the front of the kennel to play. We figured that she would be the perfect kitten for a home with an energetic little boy and a playful, older tabby cat. When I saw the Layout a Day prompt about home, I figured it would be a great opportunity to scrap about our new kitten's homecoming. It was not as smooth as we had expected. From carrier to car to house, she became quite frightened. She cried all the way home and remained quite timid  during almost the entire day. We were not sure where that brave kitten had gone.
Viva Pink and Electric Blue glimmer mist
Pink paislee paper and rub on house
OA alphas and brown rub ons
Sassafrass border
Maya road chipboard
Since I am participating in May Flaum's Curious Scrapbooker's field guide class and week one is all about misting, I used a chipboard house from a mini album as a mask( mini album pages make wonderful shaped masks). I carried through with the house theme by using the Pink Paislee house paper. I am no stranger to using mists, but I have still learned new things from May as I always do. I am sure you will see more fun, messy pages from me over the next few weeks as I follow along with this class. I am really excited to see what new techniques I can pick up.
   As for our kitten...she has settled in quite nicely. I don't think it took her too long to figure out that she has a good home. She is very playful and affectionate. Her name is Ju Ju Bee. How she got her name is another story. I am sure it's going to appear on a page I make somewhere in the near future.
 

Project Life, January 2012

  Since the theme this month at Scrap Our Stash is all about taking a leap( and this is a Leap Year), I thought I would share something that I just ventured into. I never thought I would try Project Life. It seemed like a daunting task to add it to my long list of photos that I want to scrap. During the past month, I have been reading various designer blogs and admiring all of the neat little pockets and pages filled with  journal cards,photos, mementos and memories. I finally decided to take the leap and try out Project Life sometime in mid-January. I am not using it in place of my scrapbook pages, but rather, as a way to introduce and supplement each month. So the plan is to make the PL pages for each month, then later on, print out the best photos for the month so I can scrapbook those stories in more detail.
  So now that I had decided to begin project life, I was faced with the decision of what products I would use. Buying a project life kit was not an option for my budget. I can see how it would have made things a whole lot easier for me, but well...maybe next year. I was happy to find that I had a whole set of  those divided page protectors in one of my albums. I had always struggled to use them with my regular pages. So now, I am happy they will get some use. I decided that, for the cards, I would cut my own from my stash. Each month, I will make a kit from my stash of supplies. It might take me a little more time than reaching for an item from a pre-made kit, but it will sure be fun.

papers- My Mind's Eye
Pink paislee ticket, stickers, border and alphas by Echo park
Jenni Bowlin journal spot
MME chipboard journal spot, star, tag
MME border
Maya road sheer calendars and trim
October Afternoon buttons
Twinery twine in cappucino
Crate paper photo croners
Sassafrass alphas
   Though I may have gotten a late start, I am not too far behind. I have my title page and the first page for January. My PL pages will be more about monthly happenings rather than weekly ones. So I think it will be easy to complete each month.  I always like to make an introductory page for each album. However, finding the right photo for those can be a struggle. The PL pages will be a nice substitute and an easy way to divide up my albums in a way that makes sense. Hopefully, this will translate to more pages and more stories to be shared in my albums.