LOAD512 progress report

I know I said I would check in after the weekend. Here it is, Friday already. It may seem as though my week went fast. In reality is felt slow but busy.  As far as how last weekend went, we beat Diablo 3. We had a great time but all of us lamented upon how short the game was. I did manage to keep up with the LOAD prompts. I am still keeping up in general, though I must admit that I am tiring out a little. Part of that may be how the week went. Nothing bad happened. We took our car in to get bodywork done. It's now repaired. I had the usual housework to do ( which I LOATHE). I worked on assignments for SNR mag.My son finished off last year's homeschool curriculum. This was really the big event of this week. He has been working so hard. Both of us are a bit mentally exhausted. So, I declared we should take a little break before summer term sets in. We homeschool year round and allow for flexible breaks as needed.

What I am now looking forward to is a nice long weekend with my husband. He has a three day weekend. It's still raining here. It has been steadily for days. So more than likely, we will watch a movie or two, play games and I will scrapbook. Sounds delightful to me!

Now I will share a LOAD page with you before I go bake some blueberry bread with my son.

Not every page you make during Load is stunning. Many are quick, but fun. That was the case with this page. This was based from a sketch we were given and it came together pretty quickly for me.

Patterned paper: Basic grey, Fancy pants and Crate paper
twine: twinery; chipboard: Crate Paper
other: cork, sequins, tickets

Part of the speed of making the page came from the pre-made kit. The paper had been grouped together in a game themed kit with a few matching embellishments. I was then able to add quick touches like the cork and twine. All of which supported the theme of my son shooting cork guns at the Easter fair. The cork letters were simple to make. I have thin sheets of cork which I got from an office supply store. I did hand draw the lettering, but you could easily use a stencil. The cork is thin enough that I was able to cut it with scissors.

The moral of this LOAD page...making pre-made kits is not a bad thing. I store much of my paper this way. It allows me to choose items quickly and get down to the business of making pages. Consider making some of your own kits this weekend and see how far they take you!


BTW,If you haven't had a chance to check it out, the latest volume of Scrapbook News and Review magazine is available. My first ever article is inside along with some wonderful pages from yours truly and fellow staffers. I saw some great tutorials to try my hand at, some of which include  mixed media techniques I hope to adapt to my pages. Stay tuned to see what unfolds on that front.

LOAD 512 progress report and NSD

 Day 11. I am still hanging in there though I have no idea how. People often ask me how I can even think about making a page a day. I really attribute it to time management and a good creative habit. LOAD pages are not always my most detailed pages. The idea is to get the story captured, after all. Sometimes on weekends, I do manage a more detailed page.
 As far as NSD, well, I just did not get a whole lot of time to do the challenges. I made two pages. So not bad, but nowhere near what I was expecting to do. I had no internet on Saturday and a Power Outtage on Sunday. So I had no clue as to what the challenges were. Regardless, at the end of the day, pages were made.
  So I guess now you are wondering exactly what these pages look like....

Die cuts: scenic route, Alphas: Pink Paislee, Echo park and Sizzix
Flock: Hampton Arts; Buttons: Basic Grey
Jewels: Making memories and Prima; arrow: Sizzix
badge: Making memories; ink: SEI and Ranger
stamp: bubble wrap; Mist: Tattered angels and homemade

I made Fluffed and Dangerous for today's LOAD challenge. The idea was to use the sense of touch as inspiration. So I chose to add flocking to the word Fluffed. I also chose spiky elements to add to the theme of dangerous.

Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned Paper: Basic grey and WE R Memory keepers
Ribbon: Making memories; Alphas: Sassafrass
other: Brads

Getting to know you was a page for LOAD. We were given a sketch and told to alter it.

Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned paper: Crate paper and American crafts
Flowers: Prima; Brads: making memories
Rub ons: Maya road; Chipboard: Sassafrass
Alphas: Basic grey; Badge: October Afternoon

This was a LOAD page inspired by sound. Around 3 pm we always here our kitten reminding us to feed her.

Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned paper: My Mind's eye
buttons: Basic grey, twine: twinery
alphas: Paper trunk, Other: Brads, button

This was an NSD page for Big Picture Classes. I love how I made this with a 6x6 paper pad.

I'll have more to share later. I'm off ot create just a little bit more. It's good therapy.

January's Counterfeit kit

 I started participating in these challenges at the Counterfeit kit challenge about a year ago. While I could not participate in every month, I sure did enjoy partaking in them. I have become more aware of the contents of my stash. I have found new ways to use my supplies. I have also learned a little more about why some patterns go together and how to pair papers from different lines. So if you have never tried counterfeiting a kit, I really encourage you to do so. You may be surprised about the things you learn about yourself and your supplies.
  As usual, when I make my kits, I tend to go a bit overboard. That's the terrific thing though, about using your stash. It's not like when you are in the store and you overspend. There is no real penalty. I chose to lift three of the Cocoa Daisy kits suggested for the January challenge. The first is based on the cocoa and marshmellows kit.

Papers: October Afternoon: ducks in a row-sleep tight( yellow) and
Fly a kite-sprinklers, Sassafrass- Vintage yummy- darling dear
K and co. jeweled brads-wild saffron
October Afternoon- farmhouse flower sack
October Afternoon- 5 and dime found alpha
ribbon- webster's pages fabric

I am still not too sure about using the darling deer paper. I like the pattern, but I am trying to think about what I might use a deer with in my photos. So that's why I chose the OA blue paper pattern as well. it will be a nice alternate if the deer paper does not work.
  The second kit is based on the Sunshine and Snowflakes kit. I plan to use my Martha Stewart snowflake punch if I make any winter related pages. I also added a touch of blue. I am not a huge yellow fan. I am ok with it as an accent colour but am not fond of it in large doses.

Papers: Sassafrass sunshine broadcast-static( grey polka dot)
all other papers are from the Pink Paislee house of three soiree collection
Pink paislee Printed tissue
Pink Paislee soiree wood shapes
American crafts thickers-forest
Ruby Rock-it summer house bitty buttons
misc. ribbon

The last kit I chose to lift is the Amber Snowflake kit.

Papers: Crate paper- farmhouse( ruler) and Restoration-cents( die cut)
sassafrass- life is beautiful- Piccadilly( rose print)
all others- October Afternoon farmhouse( black print) and Thrift store
Misc. white doily, wood banner pieces
Sassafrass alphas-goldenrod
Prima button pieces

I know some people have mentioned to me that they would be frustrated to not be able to match each exact piece. I know that when I first started counterfeiting kits, I felt the same way. I have found though, that it is very satisfying to find a similar pattern that works. I feel like I get more from my stash this way. I hope others try this challenge in 2012. It's very budget friendly! Now...since it's a Saturday, I hope to play with some of these kits!

Christmas Is Not Too Far Away!

  If you are like me, you may already have Christmas on your mind. My son is already accumulating his list of things he might like to get. Which only serves to remind me of last Christmas' photos waiting patiently to be documented. For whatever reason, I always struggle with getting those holiday photos on a page. So as I shuffled through my small stash of pre-printed and stamped quotes, I thought it just might be the right time to get out those holiday photos. I had come across a stamped quote which I had received in a stamped image swap. It's a quote by Washington Irving which reads " Christmas is here- Merry Old Christmas, gift bearing, heart-touching, joy- bringing Christmas." Definitely a wonderful quote for a holiday page!
  With quote in hand, I pulled out my holiday paper pack. It's chock full! I have promised myself not to buy any more holiday paper until I use some of it up. We shall see how that goes. Anyhow, awhile back, I had begun scrapping the 2010 Christmas photos with a crate paper kit.I decided to carry on with the same paper in order to keep the similar look to all of the pages.

PageMaps Sketch
jillibean Soup gift wrap paper
all other papers Crate paper
Crate Paper chipboard peices and stickers
Maya Road trim-brown velvet
MM trim- red
Foofala buttons

While I did add part of a sheet of Jillibean soup, the rest of the paper used is all scraps. Even the ribbon used are pieces of scraps. With careful thought, scraps can really compose a wonderful page.

To See My World Before My Eyes

   This was one of those incredible photos that just begged to be scrapped in a special way. It captured my son as he beheld the beauty of the mountains around him, something that a kid raised at sea level could really be amazed by. I feel very lucky that I got this shot. I would like to say it was intentional. However, it's one of those pictures that are discovered and coveted, hidden like a treasure amidst the photos on the camera's memory card.
  So now, with this awesome photo in hand, came the job of figuring out just how to scrap it. I wanted it to stand out from others in my album. While I love the myriad assortment of winter themed papers and embellishments in my stash, they did not quite capture the spirit of the photo. This then, leaves me with an argument I find myself facing all too often lately...why buy such themed papers? I guess I will address that later. After all, I rarely let go of anything in my stash. I was drawn to it, and so, I eventually find a use for everything. Anyway, back to the photo...
  I have long been drawn to winter themed paper kits with unusual colour palettes. Sadly, I have none in my current supplies. Given a colour challenge at Club CK to use orange, brown and pink, I chose to reach for my Crate Paper Pink Plum collection. I figured that I could use my Martha Stewart snowflake punch as a way to theme the papers as needed. I also had some word art in mind for the page. The only problem...it was yellow and orange. The yellow completely clashed with everything else I wanted to use.

Original Marcella K chipboard word art before I altered it.

In the past, I would have sighed and put the word art away. I would have kept it for another day when I found the right paper to go with it.Now that I have figured out there are no rules with my stash, I grabbed some pink paint and a detail brush. Three coats later, the word art is looking more like it belongs with the papers I chose. The paint was a little dull and the orange was lost in the pink. So I used a woodsy brown bic mark it to edge the letters and then covered the whole thing in a coat of glossy accents.
  The page itself took form quickly thanks to the kit and a Sassy lil Sketch. Inspiration from Scrappin to the Music's challenge #178 shaped the title. I ended up with a page I loved. One with a variety of texture and tone which perfectly match the story I wanted to tell.

Sassy Lil Sketch 8-16-11
Crate paper pink plum collection-papers, brad, die cut and sticker
Making memories ribbon and trims
Martha Stewart snowflake punch
colorbox chestnut roan ink
American crafts rub on alphas
Acrylic paint-baby pink
clossy accents
Marcella K chipboard title

The warm, vibrant colours match my son's snow suit as well as conveying a bright happiness. The texture of the trims remind me of my son bundled into the snow suit. Snow flake embellishments remind me that we were in the snowy mountains. Best of all, despite the pink in the colour palette, I don't find the page to be feminine. I love when I get to use pink on a boy page!

Safe as Houses

Any Depeche Mode fans out there? If you are a fan, you may recognize part of a lyric from one of their songs. I felt it worked well as the title here. I am sure some of you may remember me blogging about our cat who we almost lost a few months ago. These photos are part of the time when we knew he'd be ok. Boo was  now well enough to not have to separated from our other cat. One of the first things he did, was to stay close by my son. Where my son went, Boo went. So for many nights in a row, I tucked the cat into bed with my son and our dog. I think Boo wanted to feel safe and being near to his family helped him feel that way.

Pencil Lines sketch 248
Frosted Designs Fab. Fri. challenge for 8-5-11: colour on it
Crate Paper Neighbourhood Collection papers,die cuts, stickers
Dew Drops
Craft Affair heart brad coloured with Bic Mark it in Desert rose
Bic Mark it in woodsy brown
American crafts rub on alphas
Basic Grey Life of the Party alphas

I chose Crate Paper's Neighbourhood collection for this page because the papers reminded me of soft, warm blankets. The colours are sweet and gentle. They perfectly convey the mood of being wrapped up safely at home in your bed.
  While my son cuddled Boo, I snapped a close up of Boo's paws. When Boo is very happy, he flexes and curls his paws. I thought it would be neat to show some signs of a kitty who was happy once again.

Scraphappy.org August sketch
Crate Paper Neighbourhood collection papers, stickers
K and CO. pink frame, cut apart
Foof a la button with Prima e-line Pearl
dew drops
Craft Affair heart brads colourd with Desert Rose Bic Mark it

So while the events of Boo's illness may not have been one of the happiest parts of our life, I am grateful for a happy ending to document.

The Beauty All Around

For the counterfeit Kit blog hop, please click here.

  Well, today has been a busy day for posting. Can you tell my internet was out earlier this week?!?! It's amazing just how much one can rely on such a thing. Especially since that somebody remembers a time when there was no internet! Anyhow, after a hectic week and no internet, I finally got a chance today to sit down and play with my stash. I have been wanting to make a page for Scrapping the Music's current challenge. Music Lyrics make the best titles! Initially, I had intended to use the phrase " as big as the Ocean blue"...however, I switched things up and chose to use " the Beauty all around us." It was the perfect fit for these photos of last year's summer flowers.
  The funny thing about scrapping the flowers is that the current challenge at Scrap Our Stash is all about flowers. Earlier this month, I had been struggling with finding photos or a topic to use flowers with. I sure wish these flower photos had been found earlier! Either way, I shall be posting this page over there for show and tell Sunday. BTW, there's just a few days left to post flower projects over there and then a fun new challenge will begin! Now...for my layout...
  Months ago, I received this lovely mask in an RAK from Club CK. Today was the first time I got to play with it! As many of you know, I mostly scrap my son and husband. So I rarely scrap with pink or flowers. These flower photos afforded me the perfect opportunity to do just that. I chose to use Crate Paper's pink plum collection because the pink's mixed perfectly with the browns and oranges for a wonderful summer inspired palette.  I fussy cut the butterflies from some of the paper and added antennae made from curled wires. Adding the wire antennae and 3-d foam to the butterflies added some wonderful dimension to the page.

Pencil lines sketch 238
viva pink glimmer mist
Spun Sugar smooch spray
mask by Crafter's Workshop
Paper, brads, stickers, and chipboard from Crate Paper's pink Plum collection
wire for the antennae
Making Memories noteworthy alphas

The heat of the summer months may be upon us, but as you can see, the beautiful flowers and birds make up for that. So if the heat has you down, don't stop to complain. Instead, stop to search for some of the beauty around you.

Some Belated Mother's Day Inspiration

  This month, Artastic's challenge involves a Mary Cassat painting in honour of Mother's day. While I am a big fan of Cassat, I found it a little difficult to find just the right photos for this challenge. I scoured everything I have. Mom and baby photos of my son and I have long since been scrapped. I did find some vintage photos which I have been meaning to get into albums, so I chose one of those. It's a photo of my grandparents holding my uncle.

Pagemaps sketch
papers-Cosmo Cricket and October Afternoon
Crate paper rub on and chipboard border
Jenni Bowlin stick pins
vintage buttons
lace unknown
title-fancy pants rub on
K and Co journal tag

I love that I was able to use vintage buttons from my great-grandmother's button box on this page!I feel it's kind of a nice touch and adds a little memorabilia as well.

A Journey into the Past

  If you are Looking for the Sketches For All blog hop, hop to this link...or scroll down, if you are feeling in the mood to read along.

  Almost 20 years ago, a tornado destroyed my Great grandmother's home. She survived and came to live with us. She brought with her a few things she had managed to salvage including some very beaten up photos. As you may have guessed, this was one of them. The photo matte was beaten and bruised with part of the photo missing. I had no idea how, or even if, I should scrap these until a recent NSD challenge at Let's Scrap inspired me to do just that. The challenge asked for us to scrap photos cut on the diagonal. Mother nature had already done the job of cutting the photo. So I scanned it, then set about to scrap the original. I matched the papers to the original scroll work on the matte. It's a wonderful black embossed leaf print over the chipboard style base.

Let's Scrap Sketch NSD#1 from 4-30-10
papers-Jenni Bowlin, Creative Memories, Basic Grey
Acrylic paint-buttermilk
walnut stain, alos used as a spritz
prima flower
making memories tag witj Jillibean Soup twine
DMC floss
7 Gypsies brads
Lace- unkown
Crate Paper banner
Basic Grey Stamp in paint-leaves
submitted to Let's Scrap, Punky Sprouts, and Sketches for All

The wonderful thing about my paper selection today is that each one was a paper I was not sure when I would ever use. The base is a piece called feed store by Jenni Bowlin which I received with a scrap kit. I liked the vintage look and so I chose to use acrylic paint to cover the feed store name, date and location. The red paper has been in my stash for at least 3-4 years. It's by Creative Memories. I liked the way it and the brown tones of the Basic grey paper made the photo pop out.  I am very happy to have made another page for my son to see in our family heritage album. I hope someday, he is able to share it with his kids. I invite you to scrap your old photos, no matter what their shape.
 Now, on a less serious note, I am off to submit this to a banner challenge over at Sketches for All and to Punky Scraps. I absolutely LOVE their cat button!

May's Counterfeit Kit

  Here we are in May...already! Boy this year is flying past. This will be my 3rd counterfeit kit. I am very happy to be participating in this challenge. I am definitely enjoying shopping my stash, trying new ways to make my own embellishments and just making pages with my monthly kit. May's Counterfeit  kit was an easy one for me to make up. I think it's going to be easy for me to use a lot more from it as well. This month, the kit is a fun, summer kit with a  playful childlike tone from Work in Progress. So without further ado, here is my version:

papers: Fancy pants- It's your day(stripe)
Cosmo Cricket-Chaplain ( large black page with number)
My Mind's Eye- red polka dot
Basic Grey- life of the party-confetti cake polka dot
Basic grey- life of the party- how you' ve grown-rulers
basic grey- life of the party- noise makers-green with plaid dots
Sassafrass-anthem
Sassafrass anthem-translate

Alphas;  Basic Grey life of the party
Cosmo Cricket- flour sack

MISC: Basic Grey life of the party brads
Sassafrass paper whimsies cards
Fancy pants yellow ric rac
Lil' davis designs castaway rub ons
Maya road chipboard stars
Sassafrass cardstock stickers

Of course, as many of you know, I simply can not resist a good add on. Really, there is no excuse not to since I am shopping my stash. So I jumped in with both feet when it came to making up a boy inspired kit. For whatever reason this month, the number theme seems to really be a big thing for me. I used a lot of papers and embellishments with numbers of various shapes and sizes. It will be interesting to see how these gets used on pages throughout the month.

Paper: Crate Paper-Toy Box-playdate
Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe- playhouse
Crate paper Toyr box-build
Echo Park Sweet Summertime- raspberry delight
Echo Park Sweet Summertime sunny spots
All other papers-Sassafrass

Alphas- K and Co. Brenda Walton chip box
Sassafrass pocket full of rosies
Sassafrass Woodland Whimsy

Misc: Crate Paper toy box borders
Crate paper toy Box chipboard
Studio Calico numbers card
Sassafrass Paper whimsies-flowers
ribbon and trims-unknown
Maya road wood bongo numbers
Fancy pants it's your day buttons
Sassafrass in stitch blossoms-deep blue
Sassafrass brads-vintage gems
Crate Papers restoration collection brads
Sassafrass felties-June bug
Basic Grey woolies-wonder
K and. Co ticket border remnant
K and Co. frame

You might recognize a few things from previous kits. I decided to challenge myself yo use things I put into past kits but never used. So let's see how I do. I am off to play...

Mad Libs...the Scrapbook version

 Mad libs are so much fun! I used them to help teach my son the parts of speech. What child wouldn't want to do school work when it's mad libs? So, when the chance came to play a scrappy version of the game I just could not resist trying it out. To play the scrappy version, you send in a list of paper colours, embellishments and a one word title. The hostess mixes up everyone's items and then sends a list back to you. I received the colours green, blue and purple. My embellishments were ribbon and brads. The title word was "happy". At first, I was very stumped. The colours seemed to me to be too strong if I used them as Jewel tones or too feminine if I used them in lighter tones. I began to flip through my papers searching for the right ones. I finally settled on K and Co.'s Poppyseed line. The colours were perfect and the hint of charcoal in them gave me the idea to use a Black and white photo.

K and Co. poppyseed papers
title and birds cut from K and CO. borders
Crate paper ribbon
all papers inked with SEI ink blue ink
Playful purple Bic Mark it
Basic Grey Brads
Scrapbook Challenges Sketch 250

  I love the results of the colour combo, so much that I made a second page. Stay tuned to see it later on.The base card stock is actually a little more white, but shows as a light purple in my photo. I love it when a hard challenge comes together in a good way. I often find I love the page because it's so different from what I usually make.

Phrases Can Be More Than Meets the Eye

  Every so often, the kits I choose come with a pre-made word or phrase that I find difficult to use. These will often then sit, unused, as I don't have a clue what to do with them. In this particular case, I had the word "girly" in the form of a rub-on. There is nothing really girly in my house ( other than me and my female cat). Everything else is well...very much male dominated as I have a son, my wonderful husband and 2 other male pets. So the question was " when will I ever use this?!?"

Crate Paper Seasons rub-ons

The answer arrived while making my latest page. It's probably not new to some, but it's new  for me. I could simply cut the word apart and use sections of it in the title!

Scraphappy.org March Inspiration Scraplift of Maggie Holmes'
" I Absolutely love your Laugh"

Using the rub-ons and a variety of letter stickers made the title more interesting and allowed me to use up an otherwise unusable item in my stash. I invite you to also think a little more out of the box with the words and phrases in your stash. You just might like what you end up with.

Angry Birds

  No...this isn't anything to do with Alfred Hitchcock. As I am writing this, I am also wondering how many people out there know who Hitchcock is. ( My son had no clue) Which makes me feel a bit old...but then I digress. This is about a silly little phone app. You see, last fall, my husband got me a new android smart phone. After which, we searched the app store to see what fun games we could find. Angry Birds was one of those games. If you have never played, the object of the game is to shoot various types of cartoon birds at some green pigs who hide themselves in strange looking buildings. Sound ridiculous? Well, it is...but, it's also fun and addicting. Which leads me to my next scrapbook page. Both my son and my husband liked the game so much, that at first, I barely got to use my phone. I snapped these photos of my son's cute facial expressions as he was playing the game.

Practical Scrappers March Sketch

I went on-line and found a photo of the game which had the name of the game in it. This enabled me to print it and then fussy cut the title. All of the papers, chipboard and stickers are from Crate Paper's Seasons collection. I chose them because of the birds. I only had one chipboard bird and I wanted to give the impression of the birds flying across the page. So I used the chipboard shape to trace and then cut out additional birds from the paper.  I used a white gel pen and a Martha Stewart white chalk marker to add the bird's details. My sew easy left a series of holes which simulated the birds' movement.

Scrapfit workout#40 - sketch

Having a little green pig on the page was a must. So I cut a small circle, added a green chipboard button and hand cut some ears. With some google eyes added, I now had a cute pig for my page.
 So...if you have a smart phone and have yet to try it, I highly recommend angry birds. If your family catches on and steals your phone, well...take some photos and scrap them while you wait to get your phone back.
 

Scrap Our Stash Pagerize Challenge #8

When I was a child, I learned my times tables by rote memorization. I recall hating it! While it did work for me, when it came time to homeschool my son, rote memorization was just not his way. He is always in motion, constantly chattering and just seems to need to "do" to learn. So we opted for some multiplication games. I think maybe it takes him a little longer this way than if I made him sit down and memorize everything. Then again, maybe not, because he'd fight me the whole way. Either way, we are having a ton more fun together. I documented it with this page. We are playing multiplication UNO. It's the same as regular UNO only you choose a multiple and work through it as you play. For example, every number card you draw is multiplied by 3. So if you  play a four then you multiply it by three. When we first start out, my son gets to use a chart. As we advance, the chart goes away. He sees the problem, hears the problem and says the problem and his hands are active. It's a win- win scenario!

Pagerize this Scraplift #8- of Helena

White acrylic paint with doodled black pen made a great border for this page.I then cut some K and co. ticket style border strips apart and used scraps of Sasafrass and crate paper as accents. The brown ribbon is unknown. The scallop was a scrap of a crate paper border. I inked a Sassafrass paper whimsy card. It reminded me of the symbol for multiplying. I added some patina glimmer mist for some fun flair.

Waiting for the World Record

  Last summer, we enjoyed the opportunity to witness a Guinness world record.That was something I thought we'd never get to do  and quite honestly, not something I thought to ever seek out. However, when a local resort heralded the opportunity to watch Nick Wallenda break his own world record, we decided it would be a nice family outing. We chose to sit at one of the resort's outdoor cafes. We enjoyed a pizza and some virgin frozen daquiris while we waited for the main event. After about a half an hour, Nick Wallenda made his appearance. He first walked across the tight rope about 260 feet in the air without a safety net. After which, He rode a bicycle across, thereby breaking his own world record.
 To commemorate this event, I chose some of Crate paper's restoration line from my Counterfeit kit  challenge March kit.I liked the bright fun colors and the vintage feel. I went on-line to Vintage Printables and found some wonderful vintage style circus posters.

submitted to Artastic Inspiration challenge blog
note the small bear riding a white horse on the vintage poster
also submitted to the Chopped Challenge for week 2 at Challenge Masters

I drew scallops and then filled them with white paint. The white paint with Bic mark it's Fandango pink and Summer melon reminded me of circus clown make up. I hand made the flowers using cardstock scraps, a prima flower and artsylicious brads. The tutorial for those can be found here at the Making Memories blog. Twinery lemondrop twine was stretched across both pages to symbolize the high wire.

Sassy Lil Sketch 3-7-11

Overall, it was a fun page for me to make. The colours are somewhat feminine and ones that I do not normally get to use. Yet here, with both the circus theme and the resort setting, they serve as a fun accent to the story of watching a world record in the making.

Simple Can Be Stunning

  With so many embellishment options, it's no wonder that I often will sit and tweak a page to the umpth degree. It's so easy to become lost in my stash as old embellishments become new found, exciting ones. Which items will make the page look the best? Sometimes though, I am reminded that less is more and simple can be stunning. This was the case with a recent piece of inspiration from Etsy. As I perused the multitude of possibilities, I came across this simple advertisement for a set of paintings:

Love Birds sitting on a Branch by Shannacreations

Looking at it, I was struck by the way the paintings looked against the background. I wanted to replicate this look on a page. I chose some bright green Bazzill cardstock and 3 photos of my cat playing.

made with items from March's counterfeit kit challenge

I placed the title in the spot where the painting description was placed on the photo. Simple, easy and fast. I really liked the way it looked! I imitated the design on the second page, improvising a bit by adding a second set of photos.

The bright green paper really helped the photos stand out. Simple lets your photos be the star of the page...as they should be.

Winter Sunshine

  Spring is pretty much here, although, where I live, it feels like summer. We haven't really had a spring this year. Nor did we really have fall in 2010. The weather has been either really hot or really cold with no in between. The only reason that I know it's spring is because of the calendar, tax season and the time change. All of which has left me feeling tired and overworked. I find myself falling asleep during homeschool or down about things in general. Spring is supposed to be about renewal. So when did spring become all about taxes and time? As my son says, " the older you become, the more the magic and wonder of childhood goes away." He wonders at adults who end up constantly being serious and he tells me he does not want to grow up. I really can't say I blame him for feeling as he does. However, as I told him last night, as he lamented the fact that he was not sure there were real leprechauns( he recently discovered that his parents play the part of leprechaun and Easter bunny), sometimes we have to find our own magic and wonder amidst the daily grind of life. For me, the magic and wonder lies in the relationship I have with my husband and son. I see it when I am with them and then relive it through the pages I scrapbook.
   Speaking of which...today I have chosen to revel in the remembered warmth of some winter sunshine. I live in a tropical climate. That means, on one day, you may find yourself snuggled in a jacket for an overcast day with 50 degree weather( I know that's not cold to all of you, but it is to me). Then on the next day, the weather is warm and sunny enough to go for a swim at the beach.

Two Peas in a Bucket Stretch Your Sketch

I captured these moments last December and chose to scrap them using my counterfeit kit.The Sassafrass paper reminded me of the sun. I chose a pink cardstock to lend the page a tropical feel. The brown brought back a stronger, masculine touch.
    For " Down by the harbor", I again chose the Sassafrass papers. I reversed my Cosmo Cricket papers to reveal a brown, sea gull like pattern. We were eating out at a harborside restaurant and my son wanted to see if sea gulls liked onion rings.Since gulls are not present in the photos, the imagery of the patterned paper was perfect.

Scraphappy.org March 15 minute LO

Though I like grid style layouts a lot, I am usually not very proficient with them. I can measure with all of my tools, but somehow, I am always a little off kilter. I have learned to be ok with that. On this particular page, I used journalling strips to hide my slightly off balanced sections of the grid.
  Now I am off to hide my son's shoes before he wakes up. After all, it's what a leprechaun would do. Just because he knows I am the leprechaun doesn't mean the fun has to stop, right? Happy ST. Patrick's day!

Counterfeiting and Catnip

  Catnip...who knows why a cat loves it so much?!?! I know my cats love it, but I sure hate the mess! We recently discovered the catnip ball. I love it almost as much as my cats do...almost. I captured these photos of my cat. She knew the catnip was in our suitcase for her, and once we gave it to her, she immediately commenced coveting her newest treasure. She rolled around with it, cuddled it, and then proceeded to lick it. It's messy, but not nearly as much as the sprinkle kind. So I foresee more of these in her future.

Scraphappy.org March 2011 Sketch
Submitted for Scrapfit's Workout#39

As far as the pages I created regarding Sweetpea's love of the catnip ball. Well, I used items from my counterfeit kit.I decided to use yellow cardstock. Yellow is my least liked and thus least used paper color. It however, seemed to beckon me as I checked my cardstock stash. It was the perfect base color, adding some bright flair to the earthy, catnip type tones I had chosen.

  You may recall a circle stamp in one of the Studio Calico add on kits. Well, sad to say it...but I don't own said circle stamp. I set out to find something in my collection to come close to it.The best option I came up with was to stamp circles. I don't have circle stamps...but I do have a collection of lids in varying sizes.

Three sizes worked best for the pattern I chose here. I used lids from my Oil of Olay eye cream tube, a water bottle and a hair spray bottle. I recommend keeping an eye out for usable lids in your home. There are some neat shapes out there...like the oval from my deodorant,or the oddly rounded squarish shape from my dog's food container, the flower shaped lid from my son's juice... I admit. I am a lid collector. I do recommend washing your lids thoroughly with soap and water before using them on your page. Or, if you are lazy like me ( I like to think of it as spending time on more creative endeavours), you can stick them in your dishwasher. The lids are great for stamping with paint or ink onto paper. In this case, I chose to paint onto the cardstock and then to use the lids to stamp brown circles onto the page.

Pencil Lines Sketch 228

I rather like the effect of these stamped circles. It adds a fun organic feel to the page and corresponds to the theme of a catnip ball. I wish my photo editing brought out the true yellow tone of the base Cardstock. I enjoyed using fussy cut flowers from the Crate Paper Season collection along with the matching chipboard accents, embellishments and stickers for a whimsical, feminine touch. Christmas red stickles added a little flair on both of the pages.

I really love my first two pages. However, I can't stop here...I have a ton of other items in my counterfeit kit to use up. Off I go...

March's Counterfeit kit- Into the Woods

  I will be the first to admit that I went WAY overboard with this kit. I am finding that while shopping my stash, the same "must have" impulsiveness that sometimes hits me while shopping in real life scenarios is very evident here. It's a good thing it IS my stash...or hubby would be broke! Looking at what I chose this month, I know there is NO way I will use it all...but it's going to be fun trying to!
  This month's Counterfeit kit challenge  was inspired by Studio Calico's Into the Woods Kit. For my main kit, I chose to mimic the colour and nature theme as closely as possible. I have a lot of Sassafrass, so this was a wonderful opportunity to use some of that paper up.many of the papers I chose were double sided so I can get more bang for my buck, so to speak.

Papers: Cosmo Cricket- earth Love/Recycle,Artsylicious fine illustrated paper in chocolate
sassafrass-apple jack/translate, life is Beautiful/intertwined, Serendipty/chirp, chirp, brown paper
and cherry delicious
alphas: K and co. actopus to zed( loved the wood grain) and pink paislee in chocolate
tags from scrapbook ID in tangerine
Frames from k and co.
K and co. transparency
K and co. journal spots
My Mind's eye chipboard journal stickers
K and co. green stack chipboard ( for the owls, mushrooms, birds and wood grain pieces)

Since money is no object, I chose to have ALL of the add on kits. Why not?!?! Right? For the Babbling Brook add on, I thought some of my Basic Grey papers would closely match the pattern and colour. I chose Crate Paper's showers since this matched the water theme of the kit. Since I had a lot of the matching embellies, those popped into the kit as well.

Basic Grey papers: offbeat's nonchalant and casual
Crate paper: Season collection winter and showers, die cut paper- cloudy
Making Memories Passport alphas ( as a substitute for the handwritten paper)
Kaiser craft mini alphas in chocolate and white
American crafts mini marks rub on alphas in purkey
ribbon-unkown
K and co. brads
Artsylicious fabulous brads in chocolate
7 Gypsies foldover sticker book in Bureau ( as a substitute for the office pockets)
Marcella K adhesive chipboard in Sabrina
Crate Paper Season title stickers and borders

  I don't have anything quite like the circle stamp in the kit.I think I might be able to use my cricut to cut a mask or perhaps some recycled bottle lids to make my own stamp. I shall have to experiment with it.

   Now, for the Mossy Knoll kit... sounds a bit ominous. Or maybe mysterious. If I were buying this kit in real life, this would have been the point at which my budget would have been lost amongst the proverbial tall grasses. I actually made this add on kit before I made the others. I was searching to find a page with the blue stripes similar to the actual Studio calico kit. This is when  had my Eureka moment. The crate paper season kit was a perfect set to incorporate with  the sassafrass papers and nature theme.It had the right colours and a fun whimsical tone which went well with the Sassafrass papers.

Crate paper:  restoration ruffles( as a substitute for the calendar die cut)
Crate Paper die cut- restoration-Cents
Crate paper: seasons- Fall and Love papers
Sassafrass; Life is Beautiful-golden love and apple Jack
Crate Paper Season chipboard accents, plus restoration bicycle
Crate Paper Seasons art brads
Making Memories Chloe's Closet green leather frame
Making Memories Chloe's Closet clips-2
Prima lace
Webster's pages lace
ribbon unknown
Crate Paper Prudence Glitter borders
Crate paper prudence Alpha twist
K and co. Borders
Making Memories Paperie Greenhouse felt clips

I added some of the crate paper restoration papers to add the vintage feel of the original kit. I don't have any circus theme pages planned. If I change my mind, I might go out on the world wide web to find some vintage images to print off. One of my favourite sites for free vintage printables is found here.

  The sunny Clearing... The name connotes warmth. So I set out to duplicate the warm feeling of the original kit as best as I could. I noticed that Studio Calico used some Cosmo cricket paper. I don't have the fish tales paper, but I  do have Snorkel. I chose a sun and a bicycle from that collection. There is less paper here, b/c the gingham papers I have do not coordinate well with the other papers I have chosen. So I compensated with extra embellies.

Crate Paper: Season- friendly paper
Crate paper; restoration- fringe( has a wonderful orange pattern on the back)
Sassafrass: Life is Beautiful- rose thicket( a wonderful warm rose pattern on the back)
Pink Paislee Old school glitter alpha
Crate Paper restoration border stickers
Cosmo Cricket: snorkel collection- bicycle/lazy days and sunshine
Crate Paper chipboard flower border
Artsylicious deluxe brads
red crochet flower- from Ikea, it's a curtain decoration
Fancy Pants write now rub on's
Making Memories Chloe's closet square gem stickers
Fancy pants ric racs-red, yellow and cream
homemade red flower
crochet lace- unkown
Sassafrass in stitch blossoms-orange
Jillibean Soup clear stamps- top ten
Making Memories Chloe's Closet tags- 3
Making Memories Chloe's closet paper clips and clips

And now for the final kit.... wild flower. Since I have a boy, the original was too floral for me. I toned it down a bit with the more masculine colours and whimsical flowers of the crate paper Season collection.

Sassafrass paper- yellow hearts
Crate paper : Seasons- Spring and Summer
Crate paper; prudence-discretion paper
Crate paper Season journal stickers
Crate Paper Seasons rub ons
Maya Road Fresh chipboard-motifs
Artsylicious Splendid treasures in chocolate
Making Memories ribbons and trims
Cosmo Cricket lil. man ribbon

I had more trim than I originally intended. I just could not decide which one to pick...so I picked them all!
Now it's time to see what I can create with this kit. I already have a few pages in mind and with my husband having a three day weekend, I have plenty of time.

Someday

   As part of a recent writing assignment, my son was asked to illustrate and write about places he would like to visit. One of those places was France...or more specifically, Paris. I was struck by how passionate my son became as he talked about what he thought Paris was like. I felt like this would be a great moment to capture...one of my son's dreams. I think someday it will be neat to reflect back upon this page...especially if we ever get to visit Paris.

Sketches 4 All January Gallery girl Scraplift

  To capture the romance of Paris, I chose this older, cream colored paper from my stash. I don't know who makes it, but I do love the look of the white on cream words and phrases printed on it. For a Masculine vibe, I chose to go with a black, green and blue color palette. The Making Memories and crate paper patterned papers were a perfect fit. I mixed in some Crate Paper die cuts with Restoration border stickers, along with pink paislee chipboard, making memories flowers, and some office supplies. I must admit, that when I received the package of Pink paislee chipboard, I never thought I would find a use for the Eiffel Tower!

Scrapfit,workout#36
Scrap Whispers challenge #86
Frosted designs 1-25-11 Sketch

 The journaling was done on a Maya Road sheer ticket. A Tim Holtz compass mask with black magic glimmer mist adds to the travel theme. A fun set of pages, and a fond memory...and maybe Someday, there will be some photos of us in France.