Friday, February 28, 2014

LOAD214: in Review

The results are in. I completed well more than 28 layouts this month. However, I technically did not complete the LOAD challenge. In the last week, my family got sick and I just couldn't get my page posted by the midnight deadline. That's ok though. I don't participate in LOAD for a prize. I participate just to see if I can complete one page a day and to push myself or find other stories through the daily prompts. It's also a wonderful way for me to use up supplies. Here are just a couple of the layouts I made specifically for LOAD.

CopyCat by Christy Strickler| Supplies Patterned Paper: Studio Calico, Crate Paper, Amy Tangerine; Letters: American Crafts; Patch, Jewels: Freckled Fawn; Tape: October Afternoon, Freckled Fawn; Wood Veneer; Studio Calico;Frames: Dear Lizzy for American Crafts; Other: Button

When Momo was a kitten, he would often mimic what our older cats were doing. He especially liked following Boo around. When Boo napped, so did he.





Swingsets Wear You Out! by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper,Vellum: Amy Tangerine for American Crafts; Letters: American Crafts; Die Cut Frames: Dear Lizzy for American Crafts; Tags: Elle's Studio; Tape: Gltiz Designs, Freckled Fawn; Stickers: Freckled Fawn ( Oh Deer Me Kit!); Enamel Dots: My Mind's Eye; Scraphappy Inspiration for Feb. 2014

I could have easily just made this a layout about my son sleeping. However, it will be placed next to several layouts of him playing on his new swing set. I love how the title came together for me.



I was really happy to use up more of my supplies this month. I had a great time during LOAD 214 and I am looking forward to the next round. Did you participate in LOAD214? How did you fare?

Supply Options
from Simon Says Stamp and Freckled Fawn's Oh Deer Me Kit.










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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

LOAD214 and Project Life

Over the course of February, I have been participating in Layout a Day, also known as LOAD. Some days, I stayed on target with the prompts. Other days, I had very little time. I decided that pocket pages and working the prompts into my PL spreads would help me save time while getting pages in my album.

This will be the title page for my January 2014 album. I saved the vintage postcards expressly for my January pages. I found them in my JBS Mercantile December Antiquarian kit. The Antiquarian always sells our fast since it's chock full of vintage treasures. I used some of my January Main kit along with the January Artisan and Historian kits to complete the page.

The vintage postcards were not quite 4x6 in size, so I mounted them on patterned paper.





This was one of those quick pages I created for Load. We were to journal in incomplete sentences. List journaling worked well for that and allowed me to get a lot of photos on the page. I documented some of our errands and the sites we see as we drive around Nassau. Photo number three was a bit of a triumph. I finally got a nice photo of the chickens that live on one of the cities side streets. I also documented how we don't pump our own gas.There are almost no self service stations here. It's something I put on my list after participating in the Give your Stories Podcast about posing with Cars.




During Janaury, we had lunch with one of the resident rat catchers. A local resident lets this sweet little calico cat live in it's outdoor patio. She visits the customers and helps keep rats away. We also went up to the resort for the buffet. My sona nd I both had our first macarons. When we saw them, I knew what paper I would use. I had this macaron print paper in a Webter's Pages 6x6 paper collection.









Unfortunately, we also had our first sick day in Janaury. The vintage pill box from the January Antiquarian kit came in handy for this layout. I really don't mind adding dimensional elements to my layouts. I also discovered an easy way to use up some of the 2014 cards. I have ended up with several of them. I simply added a bit of washi tape and used some small letters to write 1st illness of over the top. I plan to do the same thing with number cards and other firsts for us this year. This was completed for LOAD 214 as well. We were to document something unpleasant in our lives.




Each month, I take a variety of wildlife photos as we walk the island. Finding a way to document something that is pretty much repetitive can be difficult. For this page, I decided to document how the local birds catch fish. And yes...that is another vintage label in the title. The small silver fish is a German foil fish which was part of the JBS Mercantile August Mini Album kit.









Despite being sick in January, I had a lot of page spreads to create. In fact, I am still not done. I still need to add the fireworks and finish a couple more pages. I really enjoyed mixing my PL spreads into the LOAD prompts. I also enjoyed working on the spreads throughout the month, versus sitting down to do it all at once.

Supply Options
Many of the supplies used came from JBS Mercantile kits. I mixed in some of the Becky Higgins Project Life Core kits. Some embellishments came from the Freckled Fawn Oh Deer Me Kit.











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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Tales of a Craft Class Junkie: March Classes








The month of March is almost here and I am super excited about the classes that will be taking place. I will be a guest teacher for Get It Scrapped. The topic for this month's Masterful Scrapbook Design e-zine is Photoplay. I have yet to see what my fellow teachers have contributed. I am looking forward to seeing their take on the subject so that I can expand my ideas of playing with photography and photo editing.

 I was also excited to see a new event launch for March. It's called Style is Leverage. It has taken me awhile to become comfortable with my own memory keeping style. At times, I still feel a little undefined. The more one knows about themselves and how they work, the faster they scrapbook. Confidence is key. It allows for better product choices and less time fussing about with a page( most of the time anyway). It will be interesting to see how much more I learn about myself after I participate in this event!

Would you like to join me in these classes? Style is Leverage is being offered individually, however, it's also a part of the Get It Scrapped membership. I have been a member since the beginning. The program has really helped me come a long way. If you aren't sure about it, you can read my complete thoughts and see how my pages have evolved by clicking here.













Want to participate in just the 5 day event?   Click here to view more details












Want to participate in the 5 day event and enjoy the Masterful Scrapbook Design e-zine?You must be a registered member before March 21st to get access.
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Stay tuned. I have several layouts to share from this month's Masterful Scrapbook Design topic. We've been breaking the rules with Scrapbook Coach lessons!

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Friday, February 21, 2014

Get It Scrapped: Valentines and Woodland Animals

I have noticed that often, I have a tendency to collect a specific theme, pattern or motif. Sometimes, this is due to manufacturers flooding the market with specific images. It ends up in some of my kit clubs or I pick up a few items on my own. If you aren't careful, you can accumulate a large amount of one particular motif in a very short span of time.

The question with any motif or pattern  is whether or not you will actually use it. Some trends, like chevrons, have been easy for me to use. They are in many ways a neutral item and can be incorporated into the telling of a variety of stories. Others, I just like but find that they have a more specific meaning and therefore, don't get used often. Woodland creatures fall into that category. I adore all of the cute animals but realistically, I have to ask myself how often can I or will I use a woodland creature on a layout. My goal is, after all, to create layouts and not to just hoard supplies.

Using a motif can be as simple as remembering you own the supplies. I try to make it a point to re-kit items or shuffle through stamp sets to make myself aware of what I own. Doing so brings awareness and helps me remember to grab the items and make use of them. I have been organizing my stamp sets recently, which brought some very cute birthday themed stamps featuring woodland animals. At the time I saw them, I wasn't too sure I would use them. I was even contemplating giving the set away. However, when it came time to document my son's first ever Valentine's Day party, I realized I had an opportunity to make use of them.

created for a Get It Scrapped article
Valentines by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper, Flair, Button, Die Cuts: Lilybee Designs; Letters: American Crafts; Stamps: October Afternoon; Pens: Ranger, Pilot Frixion; Ink: Tsukineko;Punch: Fiskars; Jewel: Making Memories;Twine: Jillibean Soup; Other: Cork














Using a motif doesn't mean you have to take it at face value. Sure, these stamps are intended for a birthday celebration. That doesn't mean they can't work for something else. By simply omitting portions of the stamps with birthday theming, I was able to use them here.The fox, for example. is pulling a wagon with a birthday cake inside. I cut off part of the stamp so that you can see a small part of the cake in the wagon. I chose a raccoon playing music and animals making invitations. Recoloring some of the items to match a Valentine's day theme makes these stamps work for this layout.

I didn't take a lot of photos of my son's classmates that day. He is almost always the focus of my attention.  Both my son and his classmates made their own Valentines collection bags. I am able to tell the main story about my son while supporting it with the woodland animals. The animals take the place of the missing classmates in the photos.

I still have quite a few different motifs in my stash of supplies that I want to use up. Several are woodland animals. Cameras also have a large presence in my stash. It's going to take a combination of awareness, intent, and the ability to think about the supplies outside the box. Are you hoarding any specific motifs?

Supply Options



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learn design concepts with the Get It Scrapped Membership
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On a Bicycle Built for Three
stash busting the bicycle motif












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