Document Life: It's so Sweet!

Today brings us another inspirational challenge from Document Life Workshop. Sweet can mean many things. It could be a tender moment between you and someone you love or watching your child interact with a friend.  My immediate thought was about food! Originally, my goal was to document my son and I baking for the holidays. However, I ran across some photos of him on a field trip to Auntie Anne's Pretzal store.

Pretzal Perfection by Christy Strickler Supplies| Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper, Stickers: October Afternoon; Letters: American Crafts; Stamps: Jillibean Soup; Die Cuts: Elle's Studio; Acrylic, Flair: Freckled Fawn: Jewel: Hero Arts: Other: Button













I had been meaning to scrapbook this field trip for awhile now, but I always struggled with the right supply choices. I wasn't wowed by the color palette of blue, white and brown that the photos offered. I really wanted to capture how much fun we had that day. As I thought about the pretzals, I realized I often associated them with being at the fair. Once the association was made, it was easy for me to select papers from October Afternoon's Midway collection. The bright, carnival like papers added a fun element that I desired.

If you are struggling with supply choices, take a moment to consider what associations you have with objects or activities in the photos. Are there sights, sounds or emotions that come to the forefront? Use your associations as you choose your supplies. Whether your choices are literal or figurative, your associations will add more depth to the layout for you and your family. They may even spark ideas for a title or provide a more in depth story than the event itself.

How will you interpret the challenge? Share your take of Sweet Inspiration with us at Document Life Workshop.

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Scrapbooking with Everyday Objects: Wrapping paper

If you have been following my blog, you know how much I love to work with everyday objects from around the house. When Document Life Workshop issued a challenge to use wrapping paper, well, you could say I jumped at the chance. We had just given a gift for a baby shower and I had some adorable wrapping paper left over.

Dream by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup; Wood Veneer: Studio Calico; Tape: Glitz Designs; Coloring Medium: Gelatos by Faber Castel;Wood Burning Stamp: Purple Cows; Other: Wood Blank

The grid pattern of this paper made things very simple for me. I placed a section of patterned paper over several blocks to create one larger block. My goal was to bring more focus to the photo. The background is very strong, so I felt it wasn't necessary to use a lot of embellishments.





Tips for Working with Wrapping Paper:
- Wrapping paper is often very flimsy. Mount it on a sheet of cardstock to keep it from wrinkling and to add support.
-Many patterns can be very busy. If you choose to use it as a background, embellish less.Or punch shapes to create custom embellishments.
- If you are concerned about the archival quality of the wrapping paper, use an archival mist before creating your layout.

As the holidays approach, consider keeping pieces of your wrapping paper for use on scrapbooking projects. You can easily customize your layout with paper or embellishments that match the photos. Don't forget to share your wrapping paper projects with us at Document Life Workshop!

Some of the Supplies Used Include:



I used the Craft Iron to stamp hearts on the wood blank.

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Document Life: They Says It's Your Birthday!

If you are looking for the Fall Inspiration blog hop, click here or scroll down.

I am betting some of you are singing the Beatles' tune right now! In case you can't tell by some of my posts, November is a big month for me. First my anniversary and then my birthday. This year November has been chock full of good news. Earlier this month, I announced that I had joined the Document Life Workshop team. Today,I am very excited to be sharing my first project. I think it's fitting that it's all about fall colors, especially given that I love Autumn so very much.

Hello Autumn Birthday by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper, Stickers, Chipboard, Die Cut, Letters: Basic Grey; Tape: Jenni Bowlin; Enamel Dot: Freckled Fawn; Punch: Fiskars; Pens: Signo Uniball, Pilot Frixion; Other: Doily, kraft: based on a sketch from SimpleScrapper.com












Scrapbooking older photos can be a little difficult when you don't know the full story. Even though I am in this photo, I really don't know all of the details. Instead of making this a typical birthday layout, I chose to document how, every year, no matter what day my birthday fell on, we celebrated it at Thanksgiving. Not that it's a horrible thing to have your birthday celebrated this way, mind you. It's just that sometimes a girl wants her pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and her birthday cake on another evening. In my journaling, I talked about how this was a common event in my family until I met my husband. He always made sure I had a non-Thanksgiving birthday every year after I met him.

The next time you decide to document a birthday, take a step back and look at the story from another angle. Is there something about the way your birthday is typically celebrated that you love? Is there something about the season it occurs in that makes you really think about your birthday? Whether your birthday is in Autumn or another season, we'd love for you to share your Autumn color layouts with us at Document life Workshop! And if your birthday is in another season, well, try one of the past prompts to get your inspiration fired up.

Supplies
Most Supplies used are from the JBS Mercantile October Kits, available while supplies last. Alternative supplies can be found at Amazon.com.

Additional Resources

Seasons: Autumn Awesome Pinterest board
Prompts, Sketches and templates for Scrapbooking the Month of November from Get It Scrapped
Free Fall Quotes and Word Art from Get It Scrapped

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Document Life Workshop

Today, I am excited to announce that I have joined the Document Life Workshop Creative team! Document Life Workshop is a creative challenge site designed to get memory keepers inspired. It's a creative space filled with prompts and sketches.

I was first introduced to Document Life Workshop earlier this year when I participated in the 30 days of Lists challenge. I was looking for a way to step up my Project Life spreads. Both Document Life and 30 Days of Lists provided me with ideas to really motivate me. The prompts are open ended which really allows me to move forward in any direction my thoughts take me. I can also easily combine them with the monthly sketch. Best of all, there is no time frame to complete a prompt. This allows me to work on my own time with the prompt that inspires me right this minute. I can also easily revisit older prompts.

If you are looking for some no stress challenges to add a little more oomph to your memory keeping, then I think you will like Document Life Workshop as much as I do. I am looking forward to all of the awesome challenges. If you play along, I would love to see your work. Join us...at Document Life Workshop!

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A Creative Spiral

Creativity has the power to grow exponentially. Yes, we are all busy. School just started back into full swing and many of us have other things on our plates. While I am very lucky that many of the things on my plate are very creative in nature, I do admit that I need a quick start every so often. There are times when you are working on a bigger project in which that very project begins to lose it's luster. In those moments, it helps to just do something for the fun of it.

Yesterday, I had one of those moments. I decided to grab a photo and some supplies. Then I set out to search the internet for a challenge. Something not too hard and that could be done fairly quick. I settled on the latest sketch from Document Life Workshop and ended up with a layout completed in short order.

Kid + Cat =Love by Christy Strickler Supplies| Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Amy Tangerine; Letters, Vellum Pocket: American Crafts;Ink: Tsukineko; Confetti, Tape,Stamp: Studio Calico; Other: Sequins, Glass Beads

I was struggling with a title, so I went back through some of the Ali Edwards Hello Story prompts. The class itself may have moved onward, but I still enjoy going back and using something I have learned more than once. If it's something I like, it becomes part of my regular techniques. You could say that creating titles is a technique of it's own.





I was able to create this layout quickly because I chose supplies and stuck with those choices. The sketch became a jumping off point. Once the layout was finished, I was able to return back to my larger project with renewed interest. Creative play inspires more creative work to be completed. The more you create, the more you want to create. When you feel like a project feels stale, put it down for a bit and try a new,quick project. It doesn't have to be a layout. It can be a tag or a hand made embellishment. After all, creating things should be fun and should never feel like a chore.

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The Weekend Update: Time to be Challenged

It's been awhile since I posted a weekend update. Not that weekends change a whole lot around here. Island living is pretty quiet. I anticipated an early start to this weekend and took the opportunity to challenge myself a bit. Despite the hubbub of back to school, things are quieting down around here. This means time for creative play. I know many of you will be scrapbooking this weekend. If you are looking for something that's fun, easy, and gets you to the heart of your story then you will want to check out the challenge archive over at DocumentLife.com.

The first challenge I undertook involved making more use out of my kits. I get monthly scrapbook kits from JBS Mercantile and Studio Calico. Over the summer, I used little bits of those kits, but mostly, they just occupied space near my feet. Both of the layouts I will be sharing today use supplies from those kits. I have also set myself the goal of re-kitting some older supplies and reorganizing my desk space to make some unused embellishments more visible.

Why Did the Ducks Cross the Road by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: Echo Park, LilyBee Designs; Button, Jewel, Stencil, foil ducks: JBS Mercantile; Pen: Sakura; Ink: Ranger

This was the perfect opportunity to capture a recent conversation with my son. We were out walking in the rain when some ducks crossed the road to walk along the sidewalk ahead of my son. It prompted my son to crack a series of " why did the ducks cross the road" jokes.

I Love Our Morning Routine by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper, Die Cut Card: Studio Calico, My Mind's Eye; Stencil: Heidi Swapp; Modeling Paste: Liquitex; Letters: Basic Grey, American Crafts; Other: Paint

I decided to take on the most current challenge at Document Life- " What I Like About You." The challenge is fairly pen to interpretation. I initially wanted to document what I like about each of our cats. Instead, I chose to document how our cats spend part of the morning with us. I know these are not the best photos. They are the first shots I ever took with my new Fuji Instax 8.  I am learning a bit about the camera's capabilities. Never the less, they capture something I love.


The weekend is officially here for most of us. It's time to grab some unused supplies and some inspiration. I hope you enjoy some awesome time with friends and loved ones while still finding some time in your creative space.

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