Get It Scrapped: Using Large Floral Patterns

Floral print papers have personality. Some are big and bold while others are small and delicate. If you don't use flowers often, then you may find them difficult to use on your layouts.

Floral patterns work well on layouts about nature. They can also be used to soften the tone of a layout. This works well on pages about children or relationships between friends or family. If you have a pattern that is large and bold, it may be helpful to cut them down to a smaller size. Your craft knife is a great tool to create delicate looking embellishments from floral patterned papers.

Nap Time by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper, Chipboard: Jenni Bowlin; Stickers: Pebbles, Dymo Label Maker; Alphas: Webster’s Pages; for Get It Scrapped

When I created Nap Time, I fussy cut a large floral pattern from a piece of paper, then I cut it apart and used it throughout the layout. It adds a sift touch to a page about my cats napping. I added small clocks to add to the theme of nap time.

You don't have to think of a flowers as the main motif for your story. Use them as an accent to create a soft touch to any layout.

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Scrapbooking a Treasured Friendship

Yesterday, the Get It Scrapped Creative Team shared layouts about friendship. We've talked before about how often we  document events. Though this is important, it's also very important to document the relationships we have with the people in our lives.

She is Like a Sister to Me by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye. Jenni Bowlin; Cosmo Cricket; Studio Calico; Alphas: My Little Shoebox, Pink Paislee; Badge: Jenni Bowlin; Stickers: Stickopotamus; Tape: My Mind’s Eye; Flowers: Sassafrass; Button: Basic Grey

This photo was snapped while my best friend and her family visited us on their vacation. While the overall event was the vacation itself, I was able to take this photo out of that context and document my relationship with my best friend.

It's not necessary to stage a photograph to document a friendship. Look for photos that you can use out of their normal event context. You can always scrapbook a photo more than once. Use it with the event, then reprint it to document another perspective. While it's important to document your relationships with others, don't forget your family members. Make sure you include the relationships your spouse and children have with their friends and loved ones as well.

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Game On! Count on it!

It's been a lovely weekend spent with my family. I have found  a lot of time to craft as well. I have several creative team project to work on, but I found a little time just to play around with some of my supplies. After all, creativity is one of those things just grows exponentially.

I am tackling another Centipede Challenge today...use a new technique. I have for a long time seen embossing and resist techniques. However, for some reason, I just never use them. On Friday, I read fellow SNR staffer Marjolaine Walker's blog post in which she laid down a very easy resist technique using chipboard and I thought  I should give it a go.

You can Count on it! by Christy Strickler Supplies| JBS Mercantile April Artisan kit, March kits; JBS Mercantile inks from Ranger in Seed Packet, Spiced Tin and Lemon Drop; Punch: Fiskars; Stamps: JBS Mercantile exclusive, Club Scrap;Embossing Powder: Tsukineko;Tape: JBS Mercantile; Other: White acrylic paint; Submitted to Simon Says Stamp background challenge











I used the large piece of chipboard from this month's JBS Mercantile Artisan add on kit. The kit also came with a large package of vellum bags. I decided to gently pull the bag apart and cut it in half. It makes for some unusually large banners, especially when you add a bit of Jenni's washi tape to the top. I also used one of my new favorite punches to create an extra pinwheel for the bottom corner.

Here is a close up of the background stamps. I used the Club Scrap stamps to create the base layer, then stamped with versamark ink and the JBS Mercantile stamp. The clear embossing powder helps create the resist effect adding a subtle pattern to the background.








Overall, this layout is quite a bit different from my usual composition. When I first had received my kit, I didn't know what I would do with the large piece of chipboard. It created a very nice matter for my photos, especially after I dressed it with paint, stamps, ink and embossing powder.

Have you tried something new? Share it with us over at the JBS Mercantile community.

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Game On! Planted

Spring is beckoning and so it would seem, are the requests for layouts about growing plants and gardening. It's just not something I do. I have never had a green thumb unless I had green ink or paint on it. I did however, come across some older photos of my son during one of our homeschool cooperative classes. They should do the trick!

With photos in hand, I set out to cross off a couple of the Centipede challenges issued by Doris over at the JBS Mercantile Community. First and foremost, I decided to check off the challenge for book papers and stamping. I found a plant book page inside the Magpie kit and I also printed off a damask style pattern from the Haven Kit. Believe it or not, but that piece of damask paper you see on this layout was only printed to a 4x6 size. I cut it apart and simply tucked it under the photos.



The ribbon was a little too wide. I cut it in half which gives it a  more rugged look. Don't be afraid to cut apart your supplies. It's always ok to alter them to fit your project.

JBS Mercantile papers often work well with each other. I mixed in some of the new Modern Mercantile.  I did experiment a bit with a JBS Mercantile stencil and some Spiced Tin ink. I don't think I did the stencil justice, as most of the butterflies were covered with my photos and patterned paper.

I seem to be less heavy handed with  my embellishing this week. In this case, I felt like the bold metallic green and gold accents were more than enough.  It was very hard to match the German Foil daisies. I used some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in mint green to paint the wooden letters. I used portions of the Wheat Flower stamp with gold embossing powder to add some details.The gold embossing powder and lovely German Foil met my own challenge to add something shiny to your project.

Planted by Christy Strickler Supplies| All items are from JBS Mercantile kits except- Letters, Mist: Pink Paislee; Buttons: Maya Road; Embossing Powder: Ranger















Maybe I don't have any Spring gardening endeavors this year. I do have some nice memories of trying to garden every once in awhile with my son.  Do you have something to share? If so, head on over to the JBS Mercantile Community. You can even issue a Centipede challenge of your own.

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Project Life and the Scrapbook Layout

For a long time, I resisted buying into Project Life. The little cards were very cute, but time and time again, I heard other ladies regretting that they had so much of a kit left over. Then I discovered digital project life. No, that doesn't mean I made digital pages. It means that I could choose which cards to print and use.

Digital project life kits also offer another advantage. I can print them in various sizes to use for scrapbook layouts. One of my current favorite kits is Project Mouse by Sahlin Studio. We used to live near Walt Disney World. So as you can imagine, these kits have a lot to offer the Disney afficianado.

The Monorail by Christy Strickler Supplies| Cardstock: Bazzill; Hybrid Project Life Cards: Britt-ish Designs and Sahlin Studio’s Project Mouse; Flowers: Boxer Scrapbooks; Tape: K and Company; Jewels: Prima, Queen and Company; Other: Electrical Tape; Created for Get It Scrapped- article about using PL products on non-PL layouts

Project life supplies are also great for quick to make scrapbook layouts. You can use some of the PL style grid sketches. The supplies are all coordinated. It's simply a matter of grabbing some photos and PL cards to create a layout in about 30 minutes.






If you need a little Project life Inspiration, check out my Pinterest Board. There are PL layouts ideas as well as some free printables I have found around the internet and via Pinterest. 

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Printed Kraft

I love kraft cardstock. I especially love when it comes printed with unique designs. While it's easy to add stamped images to Kraft paper, it's even more simple to print directly on it.Today, I have some quick tips about creating your own printed Kraft paper over at the Scrapbook News and Review blog.

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Game On! A Sort of Recipe

Today, I am doing something unusual. I am blogging about food. Doris issued a centipede challenge to share your favorite recipe. This is quite a challenge for me since I am not much of a cook. I decided to share one of our simple, but healthy meals that has become a recent family favorite. I like it because it takes very little time to prepare. This means I can spend more time with my family or scrapbook to my hearts content. This meal is even so easy to make, that sometimes, my son cooks it for us.

Ingredients:
Cindy's Roasted Red Pepper dressing and marinade
rice or pasta
chicken- 1 large, or 1 small chicken breasts
peppers- green, red, orange or yellow
sliced mushrooms

Our supermarket packages a medley of green, red and orange peppers. This is a timesaver for me. You might ask if your local supermarket will do the same for you. Sometimes they even put mushrooms in it.

Another time saver: if you plan to grill chicken, grill up a few chicken breasts without seasoning, you can dice them and freeze them for this recipe later in the week. Then you can skip step one. You can also use any leftover pasta or plain rice should you have any in the fridge from a previous meal.

1. dice some chicken breasts and brown them in a pan. Or grill them then dice them.
2. While the chicken is cooking, saute the peppers and mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil. Cook the rice or pasta if you don't have any leftovers.
3. Mix the chicken and the peppers, then serve over the rice or pasta. Pour a little of the red pepper dressing over the top.

Yes, it's that easy. Like I said, I am not much for cooking. Cindy does make other dressings and marinades which you can substitute for the red pepper dressing. I found her dressings in a refrigerator in our produce department. This is a very budget friendly meal. It allows me to use up a lot of leftovers. You can feed 3-4 people on it. Add more chicken if your family is larger.

This adds another segment to my centipede. If you would like to play along with the JBS Mercantile crew, head on over to the community forums to see the list of challenges. Many of them are super easy like this one. If you play along, you have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from JBS Mercantile. See the details here.

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