Experimenting with Distress Ink

Disclaimer: Yes, I know it's another pet page. I made it for LOAD. Today's prompt was to scrap about a conflict. So I scrapped about whether I was a cat or a dog person. I do love both. Lately though, the difficulties of caring for a VERY senior dog have left me loving the ease of caring for a cat. Both types of animals are great, but for a long time, I thought I would never have a cat. I had been told I was allergic. I am, in truth, slightly allergic to them. However, I REALLY like having cats. A few years ago, we rescued some kittens which I hand raised. Sweetpea is one of those pictured in the page below. We thought at first we would care for them and then give them to good homes. Happily, caring for those little fur babies allowed me to realize my allergies were not all that intense. Now our home is populated with 2 cats and 1 dog.

  This page was quite the experiment for me. I have a few of the Tim Holtz distress inks but really had not delved into using them. I saw a video over at Scrapbook News and Review magazines forum which inspired me to try using them with stamps and misted water. I also decided to pull out a stamp which I had hand carved about a month or so ago. My original intent was to stamp just a little. I ended up covering the whole page. I confess. I was having quite a fun time with the stamps and inks.

Which leads to me the page itself ( Pardon the photo.It's late here). It kind of reminds me of those times you go to the hairdresser wanting something different. It takes you a while to get used to your new haircut.Well, I'm still getting used to this page. I based my design on Paula Gilarde's Ad Inspiration challenge. I liked the grid design that challenge #49 provided. Grids are often  difficult for me since I can rarely measure anything straight( despite quite a lot of tools designed for that purpose). I felt that adding the artsy water color stamp effect might be a nice way for me to keep crooked lines a little less noticeable. Initially, I used a brown marker to make the grid lines. It was too bright, so I diffused it with some white acrylic paint.

Cardstock and alphas: Colorbok; background stamp: hand carved by me;
pet stamps: Basic Grey; ink: ranger; Jewel: Making memories;
 brads: Basic grey and Karen Foster; other: acrylic paint, google eyes

The stamped background added a bit of difficulty in finding the right embellishments for the page. I solved the problem by stamping a cat and dog directly onto the layout. I then used pen to outline the images and added small embellishments like brads, jewels and google eyes. Now my flat stamps had a little more character. I stamped a subtle border of circles with white acrylic paint. I then added some small punched circles to the border. The punched circles are simply made with  ink on photo paper scraps.
   Experimenting like this is not just for fun. It's a way for me to try out something that may become part of my regular arsenal of techniques. I am more likely to use a technique again in the future if I try it out on a page or tag. I don't recommend trying something new out a page with special photos. New techniques, at least for me, are done on pages which, though wonderful to have and part of my story, are not as important as say, wedding photos.
   I am off to submit my page to the Second floor challenge. I've been wanting to try one of these for weeks now. It's a wonderful challenge to try to inspire you to do something new. Check it out at Balzer Designs. If you need a little more inspiration, pop over to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. Inspiration is posted on the blog weekly.

Load 512 progress report

 So far so good. It always seems to start this way. I keep up just fine. This go around, I am really shocked that I have found a way to keep up with the daily prompts. I made it a point to have all of my page calls and assignments done for Scrapbook News and Review magazine.  Working on their staff has been awesome so far. it was a bit harrying at first, as is any job. Now I have a handle on the workload and am just enjoying being a part of the team. What did throw me a monkey wrench was life, as usual.On day one I was dealing with a sewage back up in the house. I haven't been feeling my best. The landlord asked me to show our house( it's for sale.) Little things here and there, but I have still manages to pull out pages.


Day one was to use a self portrait. I really dislike these type of prompts. Then I remembered I had a wedding photo of me prepping for the big day. So the issue of the self portrait became a non-issue. I used Paula Gilarde's ad inspiration challenge and was able to crank out a page with ease.

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Basic grey
alphas and Stickers: basic grey, trim: Maya road
stamp: glitz designs with colorbox gold ink
mist: tattered angels, other: pearls, button, DMC floss, tulle

I am not 100% in love with the page. I liked everything until I got a little experimental. I painted the vine design with glimmer mist in the hopes of mimicking a design on the BG paper is was using. I then stamped the frames to use as journal spots. I have received many nice compliments about that portion of the page. I personally feel like it's kind of flat. It's funny how the parts you love are usually a miss but others rave about the parts of the page you think look horrid. LOL.

Day 2: I worked on my project life pages for February. I am no where near finished with those. I will share the full February pages in a later post. I know I am seriously behind with PL. Quite honestly though, it's not worrying me in the least.

day 3: My favorite page so far.  I have these HORRIBLY grainy photos of my new kitten meeting the family dog. Since these photos were a one of kind/ time deal, I am using them. I cleaned them up with photoshop the best I could. I used a stencil to make a custom background. Then I just layered some paint and embellies. The page came together fast. It's a fun page and I adore it!

Patterned paper: Die Cuts with a View
paint: claudine hellmuth; Die cuts: the Girls' paperie and
iloveitall- etsy; Buttons: October afternoon
Stickers: October Afternoon Other: acrylic paint, stencil,
and heart button

For whatever reason, the Beatles song was stuck in my head while I made this page. : You say "goodbye, I say hello..." It's time for me to go make dinner now. Check back with me later for the Mother's day blog hop and more LOAD pages.

Easter is almost here

  My son is counting down the days. He is pretty spoiled. Last year we took him to the Easter Fair at the resort my husband works at. We might go again this year, since we all had a blast. They had a ton of crafts, games and of course, the usual fair foods like slushies and cotton candy.

Floral paper- cosmo cricket, polka dot paper- sassafrass, grid paper- october afternoon. Ribbon- MM, paperclip-MM, journal spot-Jillibean soup, flowers- sassafrass, waterfall stickles, glimmer mist in electric blue and viva pink, boy epoxy button- pink paislee, sweet acrylix button- KI memories, 7 gypsies red mini paperclip, October afternoon stickers, Martha Stweart background stamp with clear embossing powder, Webster's pages alphas with glossy accents, DMC floss
Inspired by Peppermint Granberg's "First Day"

I guess I need to get into the spirit of things. Easter sort of crept up on me this year. I don't even have our decorations up yet. I guess I better do that today. Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover, I wish you a wonderful holiday!

12 tags of 2012

  I must admit, that I did not do one for February. There was just too much going on. I decided that I MUST try the one for March. Quite honestly, tags are not my thing. I like making them. I just don't remember to use them on my pages. So, I decided to make a 4x6 card for my March Project life pages. I know it will get used!

Kraft cardstock base, American crafts stamp
Stazon ink, chipboard, stickles
various stickers, glossy accents
Making Memories Alphas

I ended up making four leaf clovers out of chipboard. I hand drew them, then cut up a few stickers. Since I did not have the same embossing powder Tim used, I substituted stickles. I think it will be a nice addition to my March Project life page. Now, I just need to finish the February PL pages so I can start March.

Raising Polliwogs

Last summer, we had a unique experience. We found some tadpole eggs in a local pond and were lucky enough to watch them hatch. We have raised tadpoles before, but they had always been caught just after hatching. This time, we had found the eggs, conveniently sitting on a lilly pad close to the water's edge. I scooped them up in an empty water bottle and we set up a habitat for them in our kitchen. Little did I know, our kitchen was the perfect environment for the polliwogs. Shortly after they came home, my son noticed the eggs wiggling and jiggling. Almost every egg hatched totalling about 30 of the tiny creatures! Of the thirty, most of them survived and were released back into the pond from which they had come.
  Now here is is a year later, and I am just getting to scrap those photos. Technically, I picked out the papers in this kit for my counterfeit kit challenge carnival kit. Yet when I saw this green print paper from echo park, it reminded me so much of frog eggs that I decided to use it right away.

 Echo Park paper with white acrylic paint, Making Memories Chloe's closet leather frame cut into part, Webster' spages green satin pleated trim, K and CO. Transparency frame, DMC floss, KI Memories alpha stamps, Inkadinkadoo circles and dots stamps, Colorbox olive ink, Autumn leaves red ink
Submitted at Frosted Designs for the Fabulous Friday Animal challenge

I stuck with a sort of green theme, mixing and matching some of the textures that seemed to feel right for the page. Since I had many photos of this event, I used many of the same materials over the next few pages.

Sketch Inspiration #232, white acrylic paint, green water color crayon, Meadow green glimmer mist, echo park papers, colorbox ink: olive and chestnut roan, Autumn leaves ink:red, KI memories alpha stamps, inkadinkadoo circles and dots stamps, Fancy pants grid paper,Making Memories leather frame by Chloe's closet, webster's pages ruffles

My favourite part of both pages are the hand made alphas. I followed the tutorial at the counterfeit kit challenge to copy the design behind some Fancy pants alpha stickers. It's such a simple thing to do, however, it's one of those things that I never would have though of on my own. I love how they look and have a good feeling about using up my stash.
  Speaking of stash, the original intent of these kits for August were to scrap some very specific photos. I am glad I was inspired to get these frog photos done, however, I guess I really need to figure out where my honeymoon photos are. Off to look for those and hopefully scrap a bit more...

0001110101

   I have no clue as to what I may have said in the title's sequence of numbers. If you are not familiar with these types of number sequences, they are the language of computers. My son is sure getting curious as to how he might translate the way a computer speaks. So to that end, I bought a homeschool computer programming course for him last fall. I say it's for him, but truth be told, it's for both of us. This is all so new to me that I have to learn right alongside him. This has caused quite a few challenges for us in a short time( I am not very savvy with computer programming), though I do enjoy learning something new. It's nice that my son can see, first hand, that even adults learn new things. Learning should be something that does not ever end.
  As boring as programming may seem, I was stoked when my son programmed his first text box which proclaimed " hello world" as it popped up onto the screen. I took a lot of photos of the text box and my son working diligently at his computer. Now I needed an interesting way to document photos that, while a huge milestone for us, were in reality quite mundane. Page one was completed last fall.
                                                       

Sassy Lil' Sketch made for Sketches for All's Fall Sketch-a-thon
DCWV Tech generation Stack paper
Bazzill Silver CS
Pink Paislee alphas
DMC floss
MISC. ribbons stamped with colorbox white or black inks
Basic Grey Brads
Black magic glimmer mist

  DCWV had made this wonderful computer language paper in its' tech generation stack. Paired with the Metallic silver card stock, it perfectly symbolized computers and technology.I used some chipboard numbers to create a mask for some black magic glimmer mist. I carried the number patterns off the patterned paper using DMC floss to sew little ones and zeroes onto the page. I stamped more ones and zeroes onto ribbon. It varied the embellishments a little while at the same time, continuing the theme of computer progamming. In the end, I had a layout I loved. However, I still had enough photos and paper scraps for one more page.

  Those leftover photos and paper scraps sat waiting  until recently when I saw the Pagerize This #10 challenge at Scrap Our Stash. I decided to make a page which highlighted my son's dreams of becoming a video game programmer. In place of Lea's block of rub-on's, I used the chipboard numbers to once again make a mask. I chose to use 3 photos rather than just one. I had just enough white space on a photo of the computer screen to place my journaling.

 Scraps of paper and ribbon from the first page were arranged around the photos in such a way that they gave the appearance of creating a background of data strips behind the photos.

In reality, as you can see from the  picture above, the scraps are just sort of tucked in underneath the photo. This method is both a wonderful way to use scraps and a paper saver. I use this with papers of all sizes. It has allowed me to really stretch my stash just that much farther. From the photo, you can also see a close up of the stamped ribbon. Stamping on plain ribbon is another way to optimize the theme on your page. Plain ribbon can often be found in large rolls at the fabric store and is much less expensive than printed or fancier ribbon. It's something I plan to add more of to my stash in the future.

  From the original page down to a wonderful scraplift made with, well quite literally, scraps, I have two wonderful pages documenting my son's dreams and one of the milestones he reached in getting there. There is still time to pagerize Lea's wonderful page. Pop on over to Scrap Our Stash to check out Lea's page and to submit your work. We'd love for you to share it with us!

                                                            

One Man's Trash is A Scrapper's Treasure

   Lately, I have been experimenting with a more artsy side in my scrapbooking pages. It's not one that works with every page I do, but in some cases, I think it lends a wonderful tone to the story of the page. This is one of those pages.
  I have the misfortune( or perhaps fortune) of having 3 pairs of jeans that have become worse for wear. So much so, that I retired them quite recently. Much to my husband's dismay, this did not mean I threw them out. On the contrary...they have found a new life as a scrapbooking supply. After all, he doesn't want for me to go out and BUY any denim for a page, right? So when I started pulling supplies for this page about my son and husband tossing a football around our patio, the scrap denim was one of the first things I chose.
   The next supply I gathered up was a small piece of bubble wrap. The previous inhabitants of our rented condo were gracious enough to leave me a roll in our top closet. I like to use it every now and again to stamp with paint onto a page. I think it was quite considerate of them to supply me with enough of it to last quite awhile.
   Now that leads me to the next supply. I am sure you are wondering about traditional things, like patterned paper or rub ons. We'll get there...just not yet. One man's trash is another man's treasure, right? Which leads me to my next choice....cardboard. I took a little of the box my recent scrappy goodness arrived in. USPS boxes have this wonderful tiny corrugated pattern inside, once you rip off the outer layers.
  If you are like my husband, you may have a strange look on your face, especially given that, when  asked about what I was doing, my response was that I was scrapbooking some photos featuring images of him and our son tossing a football around the patio.  I can't imagine what he was thinking as I ran around the house cutting up jeans, stamping them with paint and bubble wrap and then with the utmost precision, ripping cardboard. Perhaps, he is wondering why I ever bought traditional scrapbook supplies. LOL I am sure you are quite intrigued about what I created as well. So here it is:

Sketch Inspiration #223
Scrapfit Workout#45-around the house
Paper issues submission-for the guys
Fancy Pants rub ons
Cosmo Cricket football tag inked with colorbox chestnut roan
Colorbok star epoxy sticker
Basic Grey brads
Fancy pants dot border cut from a transparency
Basic Grey mini marks alphas
Homemade mist-walnut ink with silver paint
Candy Apple red glimmer mist
white acrylic paint
denim
cardboard
DMC floss

I splattered some Candy apple red glimmer mist along with some homemade mist onto the page.I used some staples to attach the denim scraps. I had a handy chipboard template for the bracket which I hand cut from the cardboard( after I sprayed it with archival mist). I then began applying the more traditional scrapbook supplies. It's a fun page. The cool part about it...these photos all show my husband facing left. When I make page two, they will be photos of my son will be facing right...just like they are IRL tossing the ball. I am not sure quite when I will get to page two though. My black evening bag broke this weekend. SO I am off to recycle the gazillion black beads and wonderful hardware off of the bag. Wonder what I can make with those things....

Summer is here!

 What can I say...summer temperatures are definitely here. It brings with it trips to the beach, time at the pool, and afternoon thunderstorms with cooling rain. I think it's time to break out the squirt guns and get some great summer photos. It all sounded so wonderful...until I realized I still had last year's summer photos to finish scrapping. Not only that...I still had last year's summer themed papers to use up! Time to pull out those summer albums and finish up the last few pages. 

   The page I am going to share with you today is actually page two of a layout I did last summer. I scrap in an odd pattern sometimes. While my albums are chronologically organized, I scrap the photos that I feel like here and there. Sometimes, I will complete a full  two page spread in one sitting, while other times, I will do one side of the two pages. I save the photos and papers I use right there inside the page protector. It's nicely organized and things don't get lost. The only disadvantage to this method is that, as my style and skill become more defined, there is sometimes a different look to the 2nd half of the page if I wait too long to scrap it.

  Anyhow, here I sat with scraps from page one...papers and embellishments from the Fancy Pants Rusted Sun collection. I had 4 photos all 3 1/2 x 5 in size. I think part of the reason I had not gone back to this page is that I had been struggling with how I wanted to place these photos onto the page. For whatever reason, I wanted something more than a usual grid with 4 photos. I just didn't know what I wanted to do exactly, until I came upon a wonderful sketch from Sassy Lil Sketches. I saw the circular element on the page and instantly knew I wanted to cut one of the photos in a circular shape.

Sassy Lil Sketch 5-21-11

  Once the photo was cut, I realized the page needed a little something more. I wanted to continue with the sun and beach theme, but did not have the lovely yellow paper from the rusted sun collection. I chose to use a Martha Stewart plaid style stamp and some orange ink on yellow paper. It closely resembled the pattern found on the suns in paper I had already chosen to use. I then decided to add some detail with white opaque marker and brown pen. I remember using pens and markers more often in my early days of scrapbooking. I have happily found them once again. They are such an inexpensive and quick way to add just the right something to many a page.

  Since the two sun shapes seemed to be such a large attention grabber, I chose not to add a lot of other design elements to the page. I am rather pleased with the way it brings your focus right to the photo of my son. Now…I must go and try to finish off some of those other albums. It seems I have several that need just a few pages here or there to be called finished

Happy Armed Forces Day!

  When I saw the challenge over at Frosted Designs to scrap something Patriotic in honour of the day, I knew at once what photo to use. Just yesterday, I had come across a photo of my husband receiving an award during his service.

Sketch Inspiration #220

I have had some K and CO. patriotic papers and stickers in my stash for years. I had gotten them with the intent of making a series of pages about my husband's time in the Air Force. There was no time like the present to use them.Since I didn't have much of these papers and wanted to replicate the look of the text printed in the white stripes of the flag, I used a tattered angels text stamp on cream paper. I then cut a variety of stars from it and inked them with Colorbox chestnut roan. Since my husband can not recall the exact reason for this award, I chose a quote by Franklin Roosevelt for the page.
  I am very happy about getting part of my Husband's time of service into my scrap album. I am sure my son will appreciate having it there in the years to come. I only wish I had done this much sooner. Now I have to locate the rest of his service photos. I think that, prior to having my son, I was a lot less organized with photos and that his birth has lent far more importance to them. So now I am off in search of more of those photos to scrap and stories to tell.

Sketches for You Spring blog hop

Spring has sprung! To celebrate spring and the Merry Month of May, we are having a blog hop until May 18th. there is also a plethora of challenges over at Sketches for All! If you have arrived here first, please stroll on over to Stacy's blog. She'll get you going on the right path. If you follow along the blog hop trail correctly, you will have the chance to find some secret words and a challenge. Find all of the words and you will be entered into the drawing for a chance to win a $10 Gift certificate from Scrappy Jo's. Find all of the words AND complete the challenge for a chance at first prize! How awesome is that!

FIRST PRIZE!!!!

As for me, I will also be hosting a challenge. You may find it by surprise, like a pair of roguish eyes... over at sketches for you in the group's forum. Hmmm....sounds like I left you a few hints about my "Spring is in the air" challenge. Now to throw you off just a bit...some people celebrate Bicycle week during the month of May. I have a little challenge going which is all about transportation. We've been heading around the world in 8O layouts, but this month we changed things up a bit. Rather than focus on a country for inspiration, we are focusing on how we get there. Speaking of how we get places, and the month of May...did you know  that this Friday( Friday the 13th) is National frog hopping day? Quirky huh? Kind of like this post! Well, in honour of such a hopping good day, I made this page:

page maps sketch
basic Grey paper
prima flowers with e line pearls
acrylic paint
Studio G stamps
Paper trunk stamps
SEI alphas
handmade alphas
hampton arts flock

Last year around this time, my son and I raised tadpoles. He was like a mother hen( or should I say frog?) in caring for the little guys. We released 30 of them! That's a lot of hopping!

   Which leads us back to the Blog hop, as it were. It's time to Hop on to Michelle! Happy hopping everyone! I'll see you over at Sketches for All!

P.S> please don't forget to email your words to: scrapmiep2@hotmail.com

The Process of Creation

It is something we all experience, especially as scrapbookers. We each have our own unique way of capturing what we want in our work. I was lucky enough to capture my son's creative process. Every year, we try to make a new decoration. This year, we made ceramic ornaments. As my son has gotten older, his process has evolved and become more precise.

Scraphappy.org January Sketch
7 Gypsies journal stamp, Crate Paper North pole collection papers
glimmer mist splatter background: electric blue and meadow
Pink Paislee Old school Glitter Alphas

His hands were literally a blur of motion. I realized I had captured this in several photos. So I used one to zoom in on his blurry hand. The rest of him is however, quite still and serious. he takes each step with complete, yet haphazard precision. It resulted in a gorgeous poinsettia ornament that I am proud to showcase.

1-11 Sketch Challenge from Frosted designs
Crate paper North Pole collection chipboard and papers
twinery cappuccino twine
buttons-unknown
Pink Paislee Old school glitter alphas
Glimmer mist in meadow and electric blue
Holly stickles

I enjoy capturing these moments with him. I know his creative process will continue to evolve. However, as he gets older, I wonder how often I will be privy to it. Either way, I will always enjoy the results of his labors.

Climb: an exploration of inspiration

   Paint can be a tricky medium. It looks awesome on a page but yet, it is such a permanent thing to commit to. It takes a little getting used to when you are trying it out on a page. I find that the more I use it, the more comfortable I am becoming with it.

For " Climb" I felt that paint was just the thing to use on the page. It's a page I completed for a combination of challenges at Sketches 4 All. One challenge being a scraplift and another being an ad inspiration challenge. I also added the challenge to use circles on the page and my own posted challenge...to make a hand made embellishment. Here are the 2 inspirational pieces from which I created my own page:

by Stacy R.

ad inspiration challenge photo

The basic design of Climb is a very close scraplift of Stacy 's page. I have been wanting to go back to basics...back to when I frequently used pens or markers on a page as part of the design. I did that a lot when I first started scrapbooking and somewhere along the way, I forgot that pens were for more than journaling. I used my new Bic Marc it's to draw a border around the white paint on the kraft paper. Overall, I placed many of my page's elelments the same way she did.

From the ad, I took the color. I love the bright splash of green and orange on the white. Those colors instantly drew me to the trees in the Jillibean Soup papers. However, the black base was too much, too strong. So I chose a more organic approach with the kraft paper and the browns. It also better matched the outdoor photos. I loved the repetitive circles of the trees. So I fussy cut some more Jillibean paper and made the circle into scallops. I used papertrunks circle pattern from the Batik collection to stamp some white circles onto kraft. Layering this trim over the scallop provided a more finished look to the page. I fingerpainted a circle onto a piece of scrap kraft. Some handstitching and painted rays made a sun. However, the sun was still flat. Stitched swirls similar to the splashes of paint in the ad provided a more complete and interesting  sun. A Handstitched title and date ad to the homespun/natural tone. The bird( from K and company) completes the nature imagery.

I am definately more comfortable with the paint than the times I have used it before. It's easy to combine challenges and inspiration into one page. It can leave you with a wonderful page that you love and enjoy sharing.

Scrap our Stash Frugal Friday tip: stamping with found items

Stamping is something I would like to do more of. However, being on a limited budget means I can only add to my stamp collection slowly. I also like recycling, so I am always on the lookout for items that I can re-use. I buy glue sticks for my son in bulk. After he used up the last one, I realized that part of the packaging would be perfect for a background stamp. It had a black stand to which all of the sticks were attached.

I used a little red paint, and stamped directly onto the paper. I love the effect it produced. Ink could also easily have been used with it. I splattered some red paint on the page as well. I also was able to use some leftovers on this page. I had some chipboard circles left over from a minibook project and some thin strips of papers from my DCWV green stack and Stampin up paper pack. For added effect, I used pens on these for a simple accent, though it's a little hard to see in the photo. The simple pen borders give new life to old scraps.

The colors I chose were based on the Tortuga rum cake sign. These are sold here in Nassau. I was recently in a challenge about scrapping local foods. I had never thought about that before. I realized it could be very important. Places change, even if we don't move around a lot. My Dad still lives in the town where I grew up, but a lot of the favorite places we ate are out of business. On the flip side, it could just be nice to record a restaurant and see it recorded in our albums as a family tradition years later.Especially if it's a place you and your family frequents. Anyhow, I am on a mission to scrapbook local treats and foods that we eat while living here. I just need to get DH on board so we can go eat some conch down at the fish fry. Local foods and family recipes have become one of my many projects to complete. They may take a little time, but I do also hope to scrap some of my grandmother's recipes.

I hope you'll take the frugal Friday challenge or get "that" project scrapped. You can submit them to Scrap Our Stash.                                                                                                                                        

Halloween Bonanza

  If you don't know by now, I love Halloween. I love the costumes, the trick or treating, carving pumpkins...well everything! Sadly, I am WAY behind in documenting the photos that go along with this holiday. So, with many recent challenges focusing on this spooky holiday, I took the opportunity to use some of my new BG Eerie paper to get those photos onto paper.

Let's Scrap sketch 10-13-10

Pumpkin carving is a favorite family pastime, so I wanted a fun, pumpkin theme page. Add to that the fun of incorporating your senses into the page...for carving pumpkins is a very touch based experience. Orange Cardstock set the mood and I loved the textured feel of the embossed felt pumpkin trim from Recollections Autumn collection. To add to the sense of touch, I used Chatterbox corduroy brads to hold twine and handmade felt banners. I found the poem on-line,printed and stamped a tree onto the background, then used colorbox inks in chestnut roan, olive and creamy brown to mimic the tones in the BG paper. I did the same with the title. Hand stitching added a warm cozy feel while i-rock jewels and orange peel stickles added a little glitz to the pumpkin stamp.

To scrap the trick or treat fun, I used Eerie papers over a DCWV purple Cardstock base. This is a hybrid page. I used a printed title from CLUB CK which I fussy cut and distressed with colorbox inks. I also distressed a prima flower with black ink, then added an Eerie brad for the center. This was the first page I had made with my new I-rock. I love how easy it is to put on jewels. The trim is from my local fabric store. I have been finding some great deals on trims and lace there.

completed for Sketches for All Sketch-a-thon

I love how the many challenges out there get me in the mood to scrap. There's a ton of Halloween challenges right now from the Halloween party at Sketches for All, Workout #30 at Scrap fit, to the Halloween/Fall challenge at Frosted.  Also, don't forget to submit to Scrap and Stamp Saturday if you use a stamp on your page. So go on out there...find challenges, make pages!

Inspired by Children's Books

  I have always had a love of reading. I share that with my son. Even at the age of ten, he still enjoys our nightly reading...from novels to him now being the one to read to me. So, when Challenge Masters issued the week 4 challenge to scrap with a Favorite kid's book as your inspiration, it was a snap for me. The most difficult thing actually proved to be deciding which book to use, as I had several ideas.  I finally settled upon using " The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf.

The colors fit some of the ones in a set of photos about my son using a wheelchair. We had been at a science center, and he got to experience an obstacle course that a disabled person might have to navigate through on a daily basis. He learned a little empathy that day. When I think of the character of Ferdinand, I think of him as stoic, strong in himself, yet gentle and full of compassion. So the book seemed like a good fit.

I chose to use the colors from the cover and to add floral designs to the page. I used SEI's black orchid paper along with Pink Paislee 365 degrees on a Bazzill cardstock background. I chose to ink the photos and the papers in Colorbox black ink to help them stand out. I used basic grey stamps in White Frost ink to mimic the look of the white flowers on the cover. A few sequins added a fun tough to the page. To make the title match, I selected some CM stickers on which I used a Martha Stewart opaque chalk pen to add a white design. I then used some glossy accents on the stickers to add dimension.

The end result, IMO, makes the photos pop and have more meaning. I have a few other kid's books I think I may use in the near future. It was certainly a fun challenge that brought more meaning into the page than might have otherwise been there.

***Update: this project was highlighted as a top 3 pick at Frosted designs!

A Sassy Lil' Sketch

As you know by now from my previous post, Cherie from Sassy lil' Sketches is a guest at Sketches for all. We are so excited to have her there as part of the sketch-a-thon. I thought I would share my take on her sketch with you.

Yes, I rotated the sketch...and you can too. ;)

Since the sketch-a-thon is all about school and Fall,  I decided to do a page about my son learning computer programming. I used paper from DCWV's Tech generation stack. Since computer language is all 1's and 0's, I used them all over the page. I used Black magic glimmer mist and chipboard numbers to create a mask for the background. I stamped numbers on ribbon. I even was crazy enough to stitch them as a border on the page. All in all, I love the effect it made.

There is still a few days left of Cherie's contest. The sketch-a-thon goes on all month and we will soon be visited by Nikki Sivils. So pop on over...you have plenty of time to play!

If I could Change One Thing...

 That's the title I have to think about and use for round 5 of the Ms. Scraptastic 2010 competition. When looking through my photos, I chose some photos of my son's first orthodontic consultation which center around yet another change in our lives.When I first thought about scrapbooking these photos, they were simply going to be about him getting braces. Now, using the title as a prompt, they have become a deeper exploration of how I wish he would not have had to go through so much. These braces are what will hopefully be the last in a series of procedures and events occurring  b/c of my son's premature birth. He looks so frightened in this photo! His eyes are so wide and he is making that weird face. They wanted him to smile so he could show his teeth and this is the best he could do at the time. My thoughts about his fears and my feelings became what the journaling centered around...all sparked by that title prompt.

  For part of the challenge, I was asked to use paint. I chose a silver metallic paint b/c it makes me think of his braces. I took a mesh style ribbon, painted it and stamped it on the page. If you try this, I highly recommend practicing a bit on a scrap piece of paper before using it on your cardstock.

I also chose to paint the title letters silver. I wanted them to blend into the background. The letters on the left were also painted sloppily. I wanted them to have a rougher texture. While the words on the right of the triangle are smooth.

The only word that's different is the word "change". I wanted it to pop. This page is about the change of getting the braces but on a deeper level, it's also about the changes my son has experienced. Triangles are often used in chemistry to symbolize change. So I cut out a triangle shape and then rolled the paper back. I stitched it to hold the rolled edges and then adhered some Sassafrass PP behind it. The PP has a triangle background to reinforce that symbolism for me. I used a wire pen to make a base for the word "change" I painted the letters with Smooch Azure ink and adhered them at intervals on the wire over the triangle.

The challenge required 3 photos. Two of the photos I chose were of my sons xrays. They were so stark across the page in comparison to the rest and drew the eye away from the photo of him. So I added a sheet of vellum over them. On the vellum, I used a word processor to add quotes about change, courage, strength and love. I also wrote in my own thoughts about these quotes. I can still lift the vellum to see the photos of his teeth.

* I placed the paper over the photos on purpose to obscure them a bit for privacy purposes..

I don't own a lot of stamps. In fact, I pretty much only have 1 set of journal stamps that a friend gave me for a RAK. So I had to get creative for the stamping portion of the challenge. I chose to use the lid from my oil of olay tube. It was pointy and easy to hold and stamp with. In fact, I enjoyed experimenting with a variety of lids and will keep some at my disposal. I finished things off by hand stitching triangles and a border.

A variety of effects can be created with lids found around your home.

This was definitely a tough challenge. As I work on future pages regarding my son's braces, I hope to change the pages to show the metamorphosis that took place.