iNSD 2014 Recap: Unmotivated to Scrap

About a month ago, I was sitting in a live on-line crop with friends from Get It Scrapped. While I was excited to have the day with my friends, I was also very unmotivated to scrapbook. How was I ever going to be productive on International Scrapbook Day? The answer for me was to turn to sketches.

A Boy and His Cat by Christy Strickler |Supplies
Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Elle's Studio, Pebbles, American Crafts; Letters: Jillibean Soup: Tag: Studio Calico; Flair: Fancy Pants; Enamel Dots: October Afternoon; Mist: Heidi Swapp; Sequins: Crate Paper;German Foil: Jenni Bowlin: based on a Get It Scrapped Sketch; JBS Mercantle February kit

I logged into my Get It Scrapped Membership and opened up the sketches. I chose a Sketch that would work well with scraps. My goal was to use up some of my past kit club packs. I was happy with the results, but still, not really feeling motivated to create a layout on my own.

Catch by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper: Studio Calico, Crate Paper; Confetti, Stamp: Studio Calico; Letters: American Crafts; Ink: Ranger; Doily: Freckled Fawn; Frame; Crate Paper; Other: Glossy Accents, Tickets, Tags;based on a Sketch from Get It Scrapped

Once again, I called upon a sketch. Having the sketch meant that I could just create with very little thought needed. It made it easier to chat with my friends and finally, I was beginning to feel a little more motivated to create.

Call Me by Christy Strickler | Supplies Patterned Paper: Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon; Tape, Button: Jenni Bowlin; Sticker: Prima; Wood Veneer; Elle's Studio; Sequins: Crate Paper; JBS Mercantile April kits

Now I felt a bit more motivated, but I needed to create something simple and easy. I found a photo that made me want to scrapbook, then it was easy to find the right supplies to go with it.

Skinny Cat by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper: One Little Bird, Tim and Beck; Studio Calico; Letters: Jenni Bowlin; Flair: A Flair for Buttons; Stickers: Hello Forever; Wood Veneer: Studio Calico; Based on a sketch from Studio Calico

 I was ready to tackle some iNSD challenges. Since sketches were working well for me, I tackled a sketch challenge for Studio Calico.









I ended up making a total of 6 pages for iNSD. That's a lot considering I started out my day so unmotivated to scrap. The key to becoming more motivated was to make things easy. Using sketches and kits allowed me to work without having to put too much thought behind what I was doing. Simplifying your process doesn't have to mean you create ugly pages. Sometimes, quite the opposite happens and you find the urge to get even more creative after the fact.

Additional resources

sketches from the Get It Scrapped membership
Click here to view more details

Related articles

• Celebrating iNSD
• Get It Scrapped: Text in Layout Design
• NSD Prep and Let's Sketch It Out! for SNR Magazine
• Creative Practice
• Tales of a Craft Class Junkie: Style is Leverage

Celebrating iNSD

National Scrapbook day came and went last weekend. In years past, it was a flurry of one day events with layout challenges and short deadlines for a chance at a prize. That's not true anymore. As memory keeping has grown, so has the event. The little i in front of NSD reminds everyone that it's an international activity and we now see challenges which last throughout the week after.

Speaking of challenges, iNSD might be over, but there is still one more day to submit your layouts to Shimelle.com. You will need to scroll through to see all of the challenges options. Shimelle really pulled out the stops when it came to providing ideas to inspire you.

I am very honored to be a guest for Shimelle's iNSD party. This layout was featured for the Power of Three Challenge.

Squinty Eyes by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye; Letters; American Crafts; Wood Veneer: Studio Calico; Brads: October Afternoon, Basic Grey; Eyelets: Making Memories; Other; Denim,trim

I also managed to create several layouts during a crop with some friends. I combined some of the challenges from Two Peas in a Bucket and Big Picture Classes with Shimelle's Challenges. This layout was inspired by some I statements I created for a BPC challenge.

I.Photograph by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: LillyBee Designs,Amy Tangerine; Letters: American Craft; Tape: Webster's Pages; Flair,Stamp: Amy Tangerine; Brad: Making Memories; Glitter: Ranger; Wood Veneer: Freckled Fawn; Mist: Pink Paislee; Other: Button

It's a perfect submission for Shimelle's challenge to scrapbook about yourself.

Two Peas in a Bucket and Shimelle challenged me to scraplift one of my own layouts. I decided to use a design that is a little unusual for me. Using clusters in scrapbook design was an assignment for Get It Scrapped. I loved the layout I created but until now, I had never revisited the design.

Dance to the Beat of Your Own Drum by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: Sassafrass, Basic Grey; Letters: My Little Shoebox,Hand lettering; Tape: My Mind's Eye; Sticker: Creative Memories; Buttons: Basic Grey; Embossing Powder: Ranger; entered in Whimsical Wednesday at the Memory Nest






I had a great time participating in the iNSD challenges. If you haven't had the chance, you still have time. Shimelle's challenges are open until tomorrow night. 

Related articles

• JBS Mercantile Kits and iNSD
• Happy iNSD!
• NSD Prep and Let's Sketch It Out! for SNR Magazine
• NSD Continues
• Show & Tell | 05/05/2013

JBS Mercantile Kits and iNSD

What's the point of being in  a kit club if you don't use the kit? I really strive to make the most of my kit club subscription every month. In April, I received a brand new kit from JBS Mercantile called the Historian. It's a brand new kit concept, designed for those who like Project Life. I decided I wanted one to spice up my PL layouts. Instead, I ended up using it for regular layouts. The kit is just that awesome! Vivid colors paired with bits and baubles for your layouts.

I really didn't want to cut up this 12x12 dreamy rainbow patterned paper. I decided it was perfect for a background canvas. I did add some flags from my March JBS Mercantile kits along with some extra jewels. I had enough denim scraps from my guest layout for Shimelle.com that I was able to cut this circle and the hand cut title. I used a Signo Uniball white pen to outline the title letters.

Dream Sweet Dreams by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: Studio Calico; Tags: Elle's Studio, Studio Calico; Stickers: American Crafts; Flags: My Mind's Eye; Pen: Signo; Letters, Tape: Jenni Bowlin; Jewels: Making Memories; Other: Denim, ribbon; Most supplies from JBS Mercantile April kit; Sketch from Two Peas in a Bucket INSD challenge 


Both the journaling and the title were inspired by Shimelle's iNSD challenge to write with repetition. I started with the word Dream and repeated it throughout, letting it guide the path of my thoughts. If you would like to play along with this challenge, you have until May 12th to submit a project.

I still have a few iNSD challenge layouts to share. Stay tuned.

Related articles

• Game On! Playing Centipede on a Rainy Day
• Happy iNSD!
• Calvinblogging with a Bunny Nose
• jbs mercantile: smithsonian
• get it scrapped!: gardening and yardwork

Happy iNSD!

International/National Scrapbook Day is almost over. I have spent a wonderful day cropping with friends I made through the Get It Scrapped Guided Study Critique. We shopped online together and made layouts together. It was an awesome time!

Though the day is done, there is still time to participate in some of the challenges. I am honored to be a guest over at Shimelle.com. Shimelle has a wonderful array of challenges with videos, sketches and layouts to inspire you. You have until the 12th of May to participate. You can find all of the prompts on Shimelle's website. She has some fabulous prizes up for grabs. The full details are found within Challenge Number One.




I have been playing along with challenges from Shimelle and Two Peas in a Bucket. It's getting kind of late, so I will post those within the next few days. Meanwhile, I think I will scrap just a little while longer for iNSD.

Related articles

• Pixels & Company's iNSD 2013 Creative Team Blog Hop!
• The Paper Bakery National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop
• Digi Friday: Vintage Buttons
• Layouts in 30 Minutes?

NSD Prep and Let's Sketch It Out! for SNR Magazine

It's Friday! NSD is coming up tomorrow.I think they need to change the name from National Scrapbook day to International Scrapbook day. I have a crop planned with some friends and I am so excited. Today, I will begin my prep work. I need to print some photos, make a few mini kits, and stock up on a coke or two (because I know at least one of my friends will want one, then I will want one too!). I also like to gather some sketches. When I am busy chatting with everyone, I find I don't have a lot of time to make design decisions. Having the sketches and the mini kits ready allows me to chat without worrying about the planning part of the layout.

If you need some sketches, Scrapbook News and Review has a ton. Every Friday, they share a sketch and a color palette for you. I have a layout featured with this week's sketch.

First Swim of the Season by Christy Strickler Supplies Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper, Letters, Sticker: Echo Park; Other: Button

You might notice how this layout is very simply done. Remember, there are a lot of NSD challenges out there. It's ok to keep things simple. 






If you don't have time to gather some sketches of your own, here are a few resources for you:
- My Sketches board on Pinterest: I have all of the sketches pinned from Scrapbook News and Review magazine. Plus there are others I love from around the web.
- The Get It Scrapped Pinterest Board
- Shimelle.com has a sketch of the week. You can find them here.

I do find that I have a hard time journaling when I crop with friends. To save myself time, I often gather my photos and write the journaling ahead of time. This also helps me choose the right products for the layout and sketch to go with it before I even set foot in the crop.

There are going to be a lot of challenges over this weekend. Remind yourself that it's ok to not complete every single NSD challenge. Prepare some things ahead of time, especially if you are going to a crop. It's ok to scrap simply. The most important thing is to have fun and get stories onto layouts.

Related articles

• Layouts in 30 Minutes?
• Caution: Not Quite Caught Up!
• Prompts, Sketches and Templates for Scrapbooking the Month of April
• Friday! NSD! Good times!
• Sketch It Out! Club CK April Edition

NSD Challenges

I've done a lot of scrapbook challenges over the weekend for National Scrapbook Day. Here is  my last one:

I made it for a challenge on The Scrapbook Challenges page :http://scrapbookchallenges.ning.com/

I really like the sketches they have for their challenges. They are very easy to use and translate to some

great LO's. I first learned about the group on Pamela's blog:

  http://www.pamelasworldofscrap.blogspot.com/

I really enjoyed participating in the NSD blog hop and found a lot more talented Ladies to follow.

And lastly, here is the sketch I used from Pamela's Blog:

I hope everyone else had a fun and productive NSD. For a little more fun HOP ON Scrapbook Challenges here: http://scrapbookchallenges.ning.com/forum/topics/nsd-hop-on