Tangerine Tango

It's the Pantone color of the year for 2012. Tangerine Tango is bold and energetic. It was a part of my first assignment at Get it Scrapped. Along with my fellow creative team members, we shared a variety of pages in various hues of orange. To get the most of this vivacious color, check out the article over at Get It scrapped.

Supplies: cardstock: Colorbok; patterned paper: Echo Park and Basic Grey; mist: Maya Road; buttons: My Mind's Eye; other: Pencil, stencil, canvas, Kraft paper accents

I often choose orange when I scrap pool photos. The turquoise water pairs naturally with the orange to form a complementary color scheme.Since this color combo was already so energetic, I chose orange and neutral embellishments.

A pair of Boy's Shorts, part 1

  The shorts were ripped. Worn thin from frequent use, they were, at this point, beyond repair. Maybe some moms would be sad, but I saw an opportunity. Here in my hand was some of the coveted fabric appearing on scrapbook pages everywhere. Now, despite being on a limited budget, I had some fabric to use on my own pages. It might not be brightly patterned...but perhaps, I could change that with a little creativity. Perhaps, I thought, this one pair of boys shorts could go a long way. So here they are in their wrinkled glory, ready to use:

one very wrinkled, beat up pair of my son's shorts

I felt kind of lucky that they were khakis. I think it will make them easier to find uses for. I can envision myself cutting away the pockets, stamping on some of the spaces with paints, or using strips to make masculine looking flowers. There are a ton of possibilities.  Possibility number one was a simple one indeed. I noticed the drawstrings on the shorts were the right colour to be used as trim on a page that I was working on.

         Cathy Z sketch and journal spot, October Afternoon papers,
                              salvaged trim, Jillibean soup flowers-red with BG brads and misc. buttons,
            Maya road flowers- check, October afternoon checked alphas,
Cosmo cricket tiny type alphas

This was not an easy page for me to make. First of all, I had challenged myself to use up more of the patterened paper in my stash. I also endeavored to use up some cardstock scraps. That was not the hard part though. This is a page from the Cathy Zielske design your life series at BPC. The idea being to step into Cathy's simple style so that you learn more about page composition and design. Once upon a time, I was a more simple scrapper. Now I find myself reaching for paint, and though I do like how this page turned out, I am still thinking I should have splattered it up somewhere or somehow.
  Regardless of how hard page one might have been for me to complete, I still had page two to work with. I also had just one piece left of the drawstring trim. So I sort of replicated page one's design. The  drawstring

  

made for the perfect trim for both pages. Now, I still have quite a lot left of the shorts to use up. I can not promise you that will happen right away. I scrap where creativity takes me. I do promise to share the pages I do when I do use up those shorts...so stay tuned. 

Bringing Ju Ju Bee Home

     Recently, we were very lucky to open our home to a new kitten. When we first met her, she was full of energy and bold enough to jump right to the front of the kennel to play. We figured that she would be the perfect kitten for a home with an energetic little boy and a playful, older tabby cat. When I saw the Layout a Day prompt about home, I figured it would be a great opportunity to scrap about our new kitten's homecoming. It was not as smooth as we had expected. From carrier to car to house, she became quite frightened. She cried all the way home and remained quite timid  during almost the entire day. We were not sure where that brave kitten had gone.

Viva Pink and Electric Blue glimmer mist
Pink paislee paper and rub on house
OA alphas and brown rub ons
Sassafrass border
Maya road chipboard

Since I am participating in May Flaum's Curious Scrapbooker's field guide class and week one is all about misting, I used a chipboard house from a mini album as a mask( mini album pages make wonderful shaped masks). I carried through with the house theme by using the Pink Paislee house paper. I am no stranger to using mists, but I have still learned new things from May as I always do. I am sure you will see more fun, messy pages from me over the next few weeks as I follow along with this class. I am really excited to see what new techniques I can pick up.

   As for our kitten...she has settled in quite nicely. I don't think it took her too long to figure out that she has a good home. She is very playful and affectionate. Her name is Ju Ju Bee. How she got her name is another story. I am sure it's going to appear on a page I make somewhere in the near future.

 

Project Life, January 2012

  Since the theme this month at Scrap Our Stash is all about taking a leap( and this is a Leap Year), I thought I would share something that I just ventured into. I never thought I would try Project Life. It seemed like a daunting task to add it to my long list of photos that I want to scrap. During the past month, I have been reading various designer blogs and admiring all of the neat little pockets and pages filled with  journal cards,photos, mementos and memories. I finally decided to take the leap and try out Project Life sometime in mid-January. I am not using it in place of my scrapbook pages, but rather, as a way to introduce and supplement each month. So the plan is to make the PL pages for each month, then later on, print out the best photos for the month so I can scrapbook those stories in more detail.
  So now that I had decided to begin project life, I was faced with the decision of what products I would use. Buying a project life kit was not an option for my budget. I can see how it would have made things a whole lot easier for me, but well...maybe next year. I was happy to find that I had a whole set of  those divided page protectors in one of my albums. I had always struggled to use them with my regular pages. So now, I am happy they will get some use. I decided that, for the cards, I would cut my own from my stash. Each month, I will make a kit from my stash of supplies. It might take me a little more time than reaching for an item from a pre-made kit, but it will sure be fun.

papers- My Mind's Eye
Pink paislee ticket, stickers, border and alphas by Echo park
Jenni Bowlin journal spot
MME chipboard journal spot, star, tag
MME border
Maya road sheer calendars and trim
October Afternoon buttons
Twinery twine in cappucino
Crate paper photo croners
Sassafrass alphas

   Though I may have gotten a late start, I am not too far behind. I have my title page and the first page for January. My PL pages will be more about monthly happenings rather than weekly ones. So I think it will be easy to complete each month.  I always like to make an introductory page for each album. However, finding the right photo for those can be a struggle. The PL pages will be a nice substitute and an easy way to divide up my albums in a way that makes sense. Hopefully, this will translate to more pages and more stories to be shared in my albums.

Twelve Tags- Day 5

  Mine is not really a tag at all. As i have for the other days, Day 5 is an improvisation using what I have on hand. Some of you know that I am a mystery box addict. One of the things I get in the Maya Road mystery boxes are acrylic shapes and mini albums. I am not one to make mini albums, but I do love to take them apart. I find I can use them directly on a 12x12 scrapbook page. So with that in mind, I chose some acrylic mini albums pages to play with.

ranger alcohol inks in expresso, latte and caramel
Th inking tool
Maya road Acrylic house

In addition to the house, I also chose a butterfly and a small paisley. As Tim suggested, you could also use product packaging.
  I started by covering the acrylic shape with the ink.

The house was my first attempt. I made the mistake of not letting it dry all of the way before I stamped on it. I did however, get the gist of what I was supposed to do and got a decent looking effect.I also did not have an archival ink. I used a dark brown pigment ink instead.

After the partial success of the first shape, I was keen to try more. My next attempt was a butterfly and a paisley. I also chose more appealing ink colours. I am now questioning the wisdom of purchasing brown inks. This time, I chose eggplant and stream colour inks.

As you can see from the closeup, the effect is subtle but stunning. The key to getting the image to come off is to one, let it dry well before stamping and two, blot gently with a dry tissue or paper towel.

I now have added more alcohol inks to my wish list. I am really glad I tried this out.I think it's going to add a lot to my pages, as far as texture and dimension. Keep your eyes peeled...this butterfly just might pop up on a layout soon.

Becoming Mr. And Mrs.

    Every once in a while, it's good to follow the step by step instructions in the making of a layout. Why? It introduces you to a new technique without the stress and guesswork of what to do with the rest of the page. During November, I took a free class at Miss Arts Paper Crafting School. The class led me through a series of steps to add texture and dimension to my page. It was an enjoyable experience and led to the creation of a page that, while not my usual style, is truly wonderful.
   I did not have all of the materials suggested to complete the Layered Layouts class. Rather than purchase the supplies, I made a kit, attempting to match the supply list as much as I could from my stash. By doing so, the page became unique to me, despite the fact that I was following a series of step by step instructions.

Gesso
Pink Paislee glitter alphas
Glimmer mist in frost
Basic Grey paper clip
Tim Holtz metal tags
I-rock jewels
Basic Grey Wisteria paper
Making Memories shimmer flourishes-blue
My Mind's eye papers
Maya Road lace trim
Carboard
gauze from my first aide kit
Jenni Bowlin stick pins
Webster's Pages button sparkler
Maya Mist in Latte Metallic

 Though I may not use everything I learned in the making of this page, I will take parts of the process to incorporate into future pages.
  By completing the step by step instructions, I was able to learn the how and the why behind the page's design.I also learned that I love altering pre-made embellishments to meet my needs. I have always loved metal embellishments, for example, but never really liked the way they looked on many of my pages.They seemed to dominate aspects of the page. By altering them, I was able to give them a one-of-a-kind look and better able to blend them into my page's overall design.

The metal tags  have so much more character. I even think it's easier to read them now.
  This page will become the title page of my wedding album. Though it might not be my usual style, it's very special to me, both because of the amount of work I put into it and because of the end result.

Now it's your turn! Scrap Our Stash is celebrating it's birthday! Share a page or project you've made to help celebrate two wonderful years of using your stash in new ways!

Sneaking in Some Pink and Yellow

  I think everyone has a colour nemesis. Two of mine are pink and yellow. Yellow...I just don't care for a whole lot. Pink... well, I've talked before about how a male dominated household means scrapping with pink is not a regular occurrence. So I really surprised myself with this next LO for the November challenge at Scrap Our Stash.  I pulled out this plaid paper by Cosmo Cricket. The yellow and pink reminded me so of a cozy morning. It became the basis for the design behind Pancake Morning.
  While there is nothing wrong with pancakes from a box, it's really not hard to just make your own mix. My son loves helping me and so, when the challenge to scrap a family recipe was issued, it was the perfect excuse to make pancakes for breakfast. I should do this more often. I guess I am just more of a " let's have cereal" type of mom. Anyway, to make your own pancakes " not from a box", try this recipe"

Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup of sugar( yes I know it's a lot of sugar. We like em' sweet. You can reduce the sugar if you want to), 1 Tbsp. baking powder, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

- stir dry ingredients together
- in a separate bowl, mix egg milk and oil. then mix with dry ingredients
- spoon onto a heated pan, allow to bubble, then flip and cook until golden brown

It's such an easy recipe! It makes a lot more than we can eat. So I proportion the leftover pancakes into zip loc bags and freeze. I then have my own toaster pancakes!

paper- Cosmo Cricket
ribbon- unknown
BG paper clip
Sassafrass flowers
glass beads
 K and Co. chipboard- Let's eat
Pink Paislee pink foam alphas
Rusty pickle brown alphas
 glossy accents
Webster's pages sparkler button
knife and Fork- unknown
tiger lily glimmer mist
Plum pudding smooch spritz
maya road sheer journal spot- recipe card

  To make the page more quickly, I left the white edges from the photo paper.The smaller photos are all one sheet of wallet size photos, three to a row. Some of them printed in groups with the photos in those rows aligning the same direction. I kept one group of three and simply cropped away the excess white. I cut the two photos which were horizontal and left the vertical photos in groups of two. This allowed me to save time( and supplies) by having photos that were already matted and easy to place on the page.

  I don't have a lot of cooking themed embellishments in my stash. I had a Eureka moment when I discovered food themed embellishments in my travel supplies. Prior to this page, I might never have thought to look in my travel stash for such a thing. I noticed many of the travel themed collections had papers or items about places you had eaten. So next time I have a cooking themed page, I will also look to the travel themed papers.

 I am very happy with the title. Glossy accents is one of my go to adhesives. It allowed me to add dimension to the flat brown letters. Now they look more like epoxy letters and I was able to add some glass beads to add more texture.

  This year, my goal was to learn how to take better photos of my pages. I am best at photographing one page LO's. Two pagers are very difficult given that they often have a warped or bent look to them. With this two pager, I think I finally found a trick to reduce the warped look and get a more flat, even photo. I placed the LO on a travel trunk which reached to my knees. I was then able to bend over the photo and I found that if I cocked my wrist as I photographed the page, the page came out more flat as I cropped in afterwards. So try finding something to lay your page on that is about the height of your knees and experiment with moving the angle of your wrist. 

  Overall, I really enjoyed making this page...from staging a photo shoot with a pancake breakfast, to adding the finishing touches on the page. Yes, it's true...I staged the photos. So now it's your turn. Find a recipe you like and stage your own photos to make a wonderful LO. Don't forget to submit it to Scrap Our Stash.

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.

Without a Doubt

Without a Doubt...life has been busy. First a hurricane, followed by a move,starting back to homeschooling then a sinus infection coupled with muscle spasms. Despite it all I have had a little time to scrap. So today's post will be short and sweet. I made it for September's Mother LOAD. The prompt was to scrap about an emotion. Going back to the title( which is for the blog post and the page itself)...it's a lyric from Scrappin the Music's current challenge. Without a Doubt, I can always count on my husband to act silly and get my son laughing...so much so, that my son's infectious laughter will get me to laugh. Then, full circle, all of us will be laughing and joining in on the silliness. My husband's since of humour always gets me through everything.
I think this page is a nice way to end the month.

Materials: Echo park For the record
 papers,stickers, borders
Sassafrass flower
Artsylicious brads
Maya Road Sheer Calendar
Basic Grey paper clip
DMC floss
Sketch Support 2 page sketch

A Kitty Comparison Part One

  Anyone who has pets will tell you that each pet has their very own, unique personality. My two cats are no exception to that rule. Each of my cats prefers to be held and cuddled in different ways. I decided this might be a good thing to document. So for once, the idea for the layout and the journalling to go with it came before the photos.  So last fall, I staged some photo ops with my son and both of our cats.
  I did get around to making one of the the pages last December. In the coming days, you will get to see that page as part of my post for Scrap Our Stash. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with seeing the page about Sweetpea, my female cat.

Sketchy Thursday's 8-4-11 sketch
Basic Grey max and Whiskers collection: Stickers,
papers and trim
Maya Road heart
Twinery twine in cappucino
Fancy Pants alphas
white acrylic paint
Smooch Spritz in spun sugar
DMC floss

  Sweetpea is one of those cats who can't get enough time to cuddle with you. You can hug her, carry her around the house in a basket, throw her over your shoulder...whatever the method, she just wants to be close to you and she is happy. Sometimes though, as in the photo, she can be a bit of a distraction during school work. She has a tendency of climbing onto you and then sort of draping herself over your shoulder like a scarf.
  In the next few days, you will see the post with the layout about Boo. He is a little more aloof than Sweetpea is. He prefers to hang out close by. When he does want to be held, he wants to be held like a baby being rocked. GO Figure! So stay tuned...

My August 2011 Counterfeit Kit

  I must confess that for this month's Counterfeit Kit challenge, I sort of just did a grab and go type of thing. I am in the middle of packing for a move. We are not moving far, but far enough. ;) Anyway, my hopes are to still be able to play with my stash while we await for our moving day. So I am trying to pack my supplies in such a way that I can still use them. Since I have been busy packing, I really did not have a lot of time to dedicate to making kits. I chose to grab some of my pre-packaged kits to which I then went overboard adding embellishments. I think I have enough variety in them to work with plenty of photos in various themes.

  I decided that it might be a good idea to work some more on my wedding album. I started it last year. I hate to admit it, but it's been a little over 13 years since I was married. I really didn't start scrapbooking until my son was born. His birth and the invention of the affordable digital camera really pushed my scrapbooking career( along with my husband's encouragement). Last year, I had gotten Basic Grey's periphery collection pack. Many of it's papers will be perfect for my main kit and for scrapping my special day.

Main Kit contents:
Basic Grey Periphery collection pack
pink paislee  Parisian anthology trims
crochet doily- from a thrift store
unknown ribbons
Pink Paislee Queen bee flip notes
My Mind's Eye clock die cut
American crafts chipboard shapes thickers
Studio Calico Journal card
Prima say it in crystals
beads- from the craft store
K And Co. Elizabeth Brownd metal art frame
maya road chipboard album
sassafrass vintage brooch

And while I am at it, I might as well have a go at my honeymoon photos. I have not yet touched my Treasure Box Club kit from last month. It has the Basic Grey Out of Print line in it. I figure that it's whimsical patterned papers might be a fun way to scrap our trip to New Orleans. I did add a few items to the kit. I can't help but add stuff sometimes. ;)

Limited Edition kit contents:
Basic grey's out of print papers: 2nd edition, daily news, reprint
publication, bits n pieces, special feature, batik and giclee
Amer. crafts mini jewle brads
Fancy pants die cut- damask Floral
7 gypsies metal tags
Amer. crafts pink check ribbon
Amer. crafts thickers- by the yard fabric letters
music fabric
Prima Flowers
7 gypsies Numero tissue paper
K and Co. chipboard frames
Making Memories Sabrina frame-pink
7 gypsies foldover stickers in classic black
7 gypsies train tickets
Studio Calico journal card
Prima say it in pearls
Pink paislee bayberry cottage cork buttons
Twinery twine in carribbean
Making Memories simply stated alphas
Glitz designs metallic rub on- damask
Webster's pages fabric flowers

For the album kit, I decided to just use last month's Fourth of July kit. I loved the kit I had made and I still have a few photos I did not get to scrap with it. I could have made a birthday kit similar to what was shown, but  the Fourth is America's Birthday...right? So to save time and scrap the photos I am motivated to work with, that's what I chose to do.

Album kit content:
Sassafrass papers and cardstock stickers from the cherry delicious line,
also from anthem and Life is Beautiful
October afternoon paper- from modern homemaker and road map
Cosmo cricket garden variety paper-sunshine
Basic Grey sticker trims-basics
Webster's pages flowers
Jenni Bowlin bingo card
prima flowers
K and Co. transparencies
Unknown ribbons
twist ties-recycled from my husband's dry cleaning
My Mind's Eye lost and found die cut
Simple Stories die cuts

Since life right now is going to involve a new home and also because I still have Easter photos to scrap, I chose Crate paper's neighborhood collection for my Creative kit. I felt it gave me a nice variety of papers for various topics. Finding embellishments to match it also came quite readily for me.

Creative kit contents:
Crate Paper's Neighbourhood collection pack
unknown die cut
Making memories Paperie greenhouse felt clips
Webster's pages princess petals
Craft Affair brads
Webster's Pages Designer threads
Making memories Chloe's closet frames
Making memories Spring pebble clips-butterflies
Maya Road felt badges-birds of a feather

When I saw the Theme park/fair add on kit, I knew exactly the one to use...my new echo park Summer days kit! I have some photos I have been wanting to scrap about us at a small fun park. I can't wait to see what the challenge will be for this kit!

Theme park kit contents:
echo park Summer days kit pack, chipboard and rub ons
doily- from Ikea curtain section
making memories Chloe's closet stick pins
sassafrass felties
Sassafrass in stiches clossoms in: kelly green, orange and kraft

Last month, I managed to make 7 layouts with my kits.I had so many ideas for more pages, but life had other ideas for me. I have managed to add past kits and past kit items to my August selection of supplies. I hope I can use up some partial packages and add to my page count for this month.

Wedding Day Sandcastle

    A few years ago, We were invited to attend a beach wedding. It was a lot of fun, though I will admit it felt very odd to attend a wedding dressed in a bathing suit and beach attire. My son thought it was awesome. He hates to dress up. The bride also made sure all of the kids who attended would receive a backpack of sand toys. The sand toys kept all of the kids( and my husband) occupied while we awaited for the wedding to start. It was a definite win-win scenario!
   I left my camera at home since the wedding was at a beach. I opted for some disposable waterproof cameras as I had no idea what we might encounter in regards to sand and water. When I began scrapping these pictures, I decided to try some of the 4x6 pocket sleeve style page protectors rather than the traditional 12x12. I had received a package of them for free with an album purchase.I figured this would be a great opportunity to use them since the photos were all standard 4x6 prints. I found there were a lot of pro's and cons to using these page protectors. You really need to plan where these will go in your album as the pockets are on both sides of the page protector. Using the photo sizes the pockets are intended for makes things a lot easier. I think If I had used one of the kits, like the simple stories line, which are designed for these types of page protectors, I would have had a much easier time. Once I got going though, it made for a quick and easy page.

Items from my July counterfeit kit:
Fancy Pants Paper and rub on's
Making Memories alphas
not from kit:
Jillibean soup twine
dmc floss
DCWV chipboard bird
Studio G stamp in white inke with clear embossing powder
Coredinations CS embossed with swiss dots folder and sanded
Colorbok CS
Maya Road Acrylic starfish coloured with eggplant and ginger alcohol inks

I did crop the 4x6 photos down. Not cropping them would have allowed me to just slip them in the pocket. I also chose a Pagemaps sketch, which meant it took a little more time and thought. For a faster page, I could have just decorated 4x6 cards and journal spots and slipped those in. On a positive note, I was able to use scraps for almost the entire page!

Shown above, are the backs of some of the 4x6 blocks. The white sections are the photos. You can also see how I covered page scraps that would otherwise have had gaps or sections missing with other pieces of paper layered over it.
 I could have left the tan paper and white clouds plain. However, embossing them gave just a tad more texture to the page. The sand coloured Coredinations cardstock was embossed with swiss dots using my texture boutique. I lightly sanded it to reveal the slightly darker core colour. I chose to use white ink in a cloud shaped stamp with clear embossing powder to add a subtle lining to the clouds. While these would have been just fine plain, this tone on tone embossing gives it a more finished look as does the hand stitching under the sand castle rub on.
 Now that I have the hang of working with these type page protectors, I will certainly consider using them more often. I think I will try some soon with one of the kits that are designed for these. Maybe then, I will find I like them even more than I do now.
 

Cool...Like a Fool in a Pool

  It's a fun title. The rhyming sing song chant of it sort of gest you amped up for a fun scrapbook page. It's one of the rub on titles from Fancy pant's beach bum line. It was perfect for these shots of my son and husband in the pool. My son was actually being quite the silly fool on this particular day. Apparently, it's quite fun to swim underneath a waterfall...which he then decided to do over and over again. I guess it's a kid thing. My favourite part about these photos is how my husband is always nearby and smiling. He's not one to pose for photos very often ( partly because I take too many photos). Quite truthfully, these are candid shots of him watching our son...which makes the shots all the more special to me.
  I went a little out of my comfort zone for this page. I chose to try some free collage software recommended by Club CK. It's called Photovisi.You just go to their website, pick a collage and add photos. Then you can move your photos around and edit it.After you are done editing, you save the collage to your computer and print.The only downside is that when you print your collage, there is a small watermark on one corner. I cleverly hid it with the ric rac trim and swimsuit style banner.

Making Memorie sabrina frames, cut and painted turquoise
dmc floss
twinery twine in carribbean
Fancy Pants paper and rub on
maya road Ric rac
Basic grey brads

The rub on and swimsuit trunks are from my July Counterfeit kit. I fussy cut those swim trunks from some of the fancy pants paper. The photo corners were my son's idea. I had scraplifted this page from Kathleen Summers ( see her page here- Fabulous 4th). Her page has photo corners. looking through my stash just did not reveal the right thing. I had this MM frame from the Sabrina collection and my son made the comment that it was a shame it wasn't blue. This gave me the great idea to paint it with turquoise acrylic paint. I cut it apart and did just that. It left enough pieces for use of my second, complimentary page.

We R Memory Keepers chipboard sign
Maya road chipboard brackets with yellow acrylic paint, gold pen, and diamond stickles
We R Memory keepers eyelets
ATD sticker
American crafts rub on alphas
basic grey brads

  This is a page of my own design. I placed the photos, in what seemed to me, a pattern that reminded me of the slide's shape. I also chose the road sign for that reason. I used scraps from the previous page with more fussy cut swimsuits. I wanted brackets to match the sign, so I painted them yellow and used gold pen.
  I can feel really good about these pages because I used up several things from my stash that, before now, I had no clue what to do with: the frame, bathing suit patterned paper, and the road sign. Combining the travel and beach theme in my counterfeit kit really helped me see these products in a new way.

* also submitted at Scrapfit for WWU#9

Lunar Eclipse

  Sometimes we experience a wonderful moment in our lives but don't have a photo to document it. Last December, my son and I went outside in our Pj's, all wrapped up in blankets just so that we could witness the Lunar eclipse. The Eclipse itself was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I lack the skills and the camera equipment to properly photograph it. The next morning, my son drew a picture of the event so that I could still scrapbook about it. In some ways, the drawing is almost better than a photo. Not only does it preserve the moment, but it also shows how considerate my son is.

papers and brads from my June counterfeit kit:
pink paislee 365 degrees paper, making memroies poolside brads,
Maya road ribbon, brackets-American crafts forest thickers
items not from counterfeit kit: vellum, star brads ( doodlebug ?),
Making Memories noteworthy alphas, moon button, blue button
and ephemera from October Afternoon
Sassy lil Sketch 6-14-11

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...

A Sort of Gypsy Life

  I was a very lucky kid. I came along in that time of life when my grandparents were able to travel. They loved having me with them. That meant lots of weekend trips to explore nearby camp grounds...at least one cmaping trip a month if not more. On the last day of school for summer break, they would pick me up in their RV. We'd drive as far as we could that day and then spend the summer exploring the United States. They only brought me home again when I had to go back to school.

Ella Publishing 4-18-11 sketch

I used October Afternoon papers from my April Counterfeit kit. The RV die cut is by Lil Davis Designs. it's been in my stash for 8 years! It's a good thing to finally use it on a page. I dressed up some Maya road chipboard with burgandy paint and diamond stickles. It's a sort of retro camping page with a little gypsy flair.

Scraphappy.org April Sketch

I really had a lot of great experiences with my grandparents. I wish I could travel more. I'd love to share some of the places I went with my son. As it is, we enjoy every opportunity to travel when our budget allows. I only wish it allowed more.

April's Counterfeit Kit

  I know...I am a bit tardy to the party this month. However, I have a good excuse! AND...I have photos to prove it. Though you may not see the photos until a bit later. We have been traveling. I am glad to say we are safely home. As with any adventure, there is bound to be uncomfortable situations. There was no lack of those due to what a person must endure when one flies nowadays. Where were we flying to and from? Aspen, Colorado. My wonderful husband took us along on his recent business trip. My son and I enjoyed the snow and the mountains. My husband did manage to slip away now and then for some family time. Getting there and back was not fun, but that's another story for the scrapbook.
 Anyway, the only thing bad about traveling is that you can not take your scrapbook supplies with you. AT least not easily. So I missed making up my kit this month. I finally got the chance in the past day or so and now I get to share it. This month's Counterfeit kit challenge threw me for a loop. The vintage colors and some of the designs were hard for me to replicate from my stash...especially given the photos I am hoping to scrap this month. I tried my best to keep with the bird theme. There are some birds in there, but some other forest creatures came along too. It seems now may be a good time to get out some older camping trip photos as well as some of the recent ones that go with these papers. Maybe some fall photos will get scrapped as well.

October Afternoon Campfire 6x6 pad with matching chipboard,embellishments and stickers
Cosmo Cricket's Earth love in relive and repeat
Scrap Within reach carnival ride
Basic Grey Basics( for that ledger paper look)
K and Co. Diecuts with flowers, birds and various insects
Making Memories Passport alphas( canvas stickers)
Basic grey Life of the party micro mono alpha stickers
K and CO. Actopus to zed wood alphas
American Crafts rub on alphas-brown purkey
Maya Road felt badges- birds of a feather
Maya Road Crochet lace- cream
Fancy pants ribbons and ric rac trim
Maya road chipboard birds and alphas
Artsylicious splendid treasures in chocolate( felt leaves, flowers and buttons)
Bazzil chip- garden flowers
Maya Road Postage stamps-sheer
7 Gypsies postcard and insect cards
Making Memories tag

It's sort of an eclectic kit, but I still hope to put it to good use this month. Now I am off to print some recent photos and find my camping pics. Stay tuned for some new layouts....

The Wave Machine

   For me...sunshine means getting outside to play in the pool! Living in a warm climate means that I have tons of poolside photos to scrap.So, I was very excited to see that Scrap Our Stash's April challenge revolved around the sun. I started off by pulling out my pool and beach theme project folder. It is bursting at the seams with paper and embellishments perfect for scrapping water based activities. However, the more I looked at the photos I had chosen for this project, the more I knew that these were not the right papers to use this time.
   Sometimes the story behind a page takes precedence over a traditional theme. This two page layout was just such a case. In the photos I had picked, my husband is pushing a raft up and down in the water to create waves for my son to play in. My son has come to refer to this as the Daddy wave machine. So rather than use traditional papers with a sun or pool theme,I decided to make things look a little more mechanical.

I chose a metallic silver card stock as the base. Splattering it with Sapphire blue glimmer mist gave the appearance of water. I staggered the photos in a diagonal line across both pages... giving it the appearance of movement, like waves moving up and down.I painted some Maya road gear shaped chipboard pieces with silver acrylic paint. I used a tuxedo black bic mark it to outline the cogs and gears. This gave it a little more detail and helped them stand out from the page a bit more. To make the word " wave", I hand cut some letters from the cover of a paper pad, then wrapped them in foil. I used Stream alcohol ink( from ranger) to give the turquoise color. I visually anchored the photos to the page using strips of recollections paper. and hand stitching. To make the appearance of waves in the machine, I used a template to trace a wave border onto a piece of blue textured carstock. it's been in my stash for awhile and was actually the only thing I used out of my project pack.

I used the same border template to make the journal strips. I traced it on a scrap sheet of white card stock, then moved the template down a bit and tracing the border again. I do recommend journaling before you cut out the strips. It makes it easier to write.

Frugal Friday Tip: Tin Can Recycling

  Last November, I got a Sizzix Texture Boutique. While I love what I can do with it, I really have not used it to its fullest potential. When I saw a recent tutorial about using soda cans and punches, I had the idea to dust off the texture Boutique and embossing folders to see what I could come up with. The results were quite wonderful!

Materials: Embossing machine and folders
               soda cans, rinsed out
               old scissors
               a Bic Mark it or other permanent marker
              optional: a child ( My son likes to use my embossing machine. So I cut the soda cans while he worked      
                 the machine.My son thinks this is great fun. )

You will need to carefully cut a slit into the can. Then remove the top and bottom. You are left with a curled piece of aluminium. Then it's just a matter of placing this into an embossing folder and putting it through the machine. I would just advise caution since the can is a little sharp after you cut it.

We experimented with a variety of designs. Some look better than others. You can use some punches to create your own shapes or use the permanent marker to draw a design of your choice.Then use old scissors to cut it out. The marker also comes in handy to draw an inked look to the edges of your cut shape.

I found glue dots to be the best way to adhere the shapes to my page. It's also very easy to punch holes  for brads with your paper piercing tool. You could also conceivably choose to hand stitch on your metal embellishment. I plan to dust off my alcohol inks to see how well they would look on my newly embossed designs.

Sassy Lil Sketches 3-14-11 design
Cream Acrylic paint
MME paper
Maya road Chipboard motif inked in Colorbox black ink
Paper Trunk Carson, black alphas
Black paint stamped with a round lid
DMC floss

All in all...a wonderful and inexpensive way to make your own page embellishments and recycle. If you have a Frugal Friday tip like this one, please share it at Scrap Our Stash.

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.