Focus on Titles

This weeks homework for my class was about titles and different ways of incorporating them. The lesson looked at different ways to alter letters you may already have which is what I chose to focus on. I’d never really thought about altering all those odd chipboard letters I have left over. Occasionally I’ll mix letters up and use them in a title so they look funky but had never thought about actually changing the look of them so they work with the layout I’m doing. So for my layout this week I took chipboard letters from two sets and painted them blue. Coated them in liquid glass and sprinkled with prisma glitter. To complete the title I took a random sticker I had left over from another kit which completed the title True Bff.
 
The blue flowers I made using a punch and layering two flowers and added the sparkle in the center. The blue in both the title, flowers and there is a little piece just below the picture to the left is intended to pull out the blue in the photograph on Eleanor’s dress. All the papers are CTMH, as is the green felt vine and leaves. The white flowers I got at Hobby Lobby sorry can’t remember the make I think its K & Company but not 100% sure.

Eleanor was really happy with this addition to her album – I have to say I was happy with it as well. I’m also really happy about the amount of scrapbooking Nic Howards class at Big Picture Scrapbooking is getting me to do. I don’t think the bank manager is that happy though as I keep going to buy more embellishments. Yesterday I found some really cool Prisma Flowers on clearance at Michaels - $30 later I left with a whole selection. In my defence they would have been $90 full price. I can’t wait to learn some more later in the class about making my own flowers as these things are way too expensive. I know several ways but hoping to learn something new.

Brave - and design with lines

My homework this week was all about - Lines. They are really important in scrapbooking helping provide balance and focus to a layout. The most obvious use of lines is the addition of borders around the page edge or the photos. Other time lines are created using the meeting points of papers on your page so these ones are less obvious but still working the magic in your design. This layout uses lines to draw the eye to the one picture and is based on a layout provided as an example in my big picture scrapbooking class by Nic Howard.



There are several sets of lines the most obvious being the strips of papers - I inked the edges to give more definition. They help frame the picture with the addition of the felt scalloped frame. Initially I didn't have the lines of pearls but I added the pearls to add more lines and to help complete the frame around my picture. I even added my journaling to the lines. Papers are Basic Grey, Felt Scallop CTMH, Flower center Basic Grey - flower unknown.

A quick and simple one picture layout but effective still I think.

Jumping Jack

So as promised in my last post an alternative take on the same idea. Very different look with the colors. The silver rings are from a necklace I purchased at Kohl's. Inspiration can be found everywhere if you look hard enough. The Jack is made from Tim Holtz grunge board letters which I've painted. Grunge Board is one of my new favorite products. On Tim Holtz's website you can get lots of ideas on what to do with it. Take sometime to watch some of the video's under the demo section and you won't regret it. I got my grunge board from of all places Tuesday Morning - it was really cheap. I don't know if they still have any as this was a few weeks ago but you could check your local one out and see. Its always worth a trip to look at their scrapbook section as you never know what they may have.

Champs - male pages

Embellishing pages for Philip is really hard. I love the way the Nic H in my current class does all these embellishment clusters but they are always so girlie with flowers etc. So for this weeks homework I decided I was going to do a page for Philip's album and there would be a cluster but no flowers.

The page is very 3 dimensional with lots of layers and then the embellishments on top. I added a border with the sewing machine and then I removed the thread and added another board around the scalloped edge. The white paper was painted with texture paint and then sponged with inks to give some color and texture.

The embellishment were a mix from the box of soccer scrapbooking supplies I have. (Well when I know I have so much soccer scrapbooking in my future I have them sorted in one spot! Same with basketball and dance).

The scallop edge was meant to be handmade using 50 one inch circles which I didn't have the patience for especially when I knew I had a stack of scalloped square from CTMH from a special they had a while back. So I took the easy option and went with that.

I'm really happy with the final product and I'm now working on another layout using the same basic layout. I'll share when I'm done just to show you how two very different layouts can be done using the same basic design.

More Dimensional Details

So this week my homework for my class was to make a layout where you used a technique to get your picture to pop off the page. Using the instructions provide I created this layout which is of my mother, sisters, my niece and myself at my youngest sisters wedding. To ink around the placement of the pictures you first position the pictures and lightly mark with a pencil where they are going to go. Then remove the pictures and ink a border around the edge. I used the Close To My Heart texture tool with the foam head and Tim Holtz distressing ink. You can use other things to provide this "halo" such as paint and glimmer mist. Then I sanded the edges of the pictures to give a white edge to make them pop out of the darker background they were now on.
The other special item on this page are the roses. I made them myself. The cream rose is made from cardstock. To learn how to do this check out this utube video on Betty's blog. Betty is taking the same class and shared the video. The flowers are really easy to make - you just have to be patient and wait for them to dry! The deep red rose I made using wired ribbon. I've been making a lot of roses like this for some dance costumes for my daughters school production of Sleeping Beauty and I've become quite an expert at it. Here's the link on how to do this.

The final home for this layout will be my Hatch Family album which I've been working on. I'm trying to scrapbook some of the pictures my sisters rescued from my parents home when we sold it. This will be a very special album when its finished as it will be a record of my childhood and some of my heritage. I just doing a layout here a layout there in no order to add to it as I know every page is more than I have currently. Keeping up with the kids current life is a higher priority and there is no pressure to get this one done. The backlog isn't increasing or anything like that.

A longtime not blogged

Well I haven't blogged since August 2009 so its getting on to be nearly a year. Why not well I need a break and I wondered what was the point of me blogging when I did have a scrapbook business. Well I'm back!

I have been busy since January taking lots of classes with Big Picture Scrapbooking and have learned a lot of different things and made lots and lots of scrapbook pages. Currently I'm doing a class with Nic Howard called Dimensional Details. We're only on week 3 and I'm loving it. Each page is taking a life of its own and I'm using all sorts of techniques I don't take the time to use normally. Take this layout for instances. The eyes on the skull are from a necklace I purchased at Kohls just for those two beads! I now need to find a use for the other beads as the necklace won't work any longer.

The special technique on this layout is masking. I used a Tom Holtz Spider web mask and some silver glimmer mist. I did this over the background paper and the black patterned paper. I then added the color to make the whole layout pop off the page!

The skull and the hinge are both Tim Holtz grunge board - which I'm now in love with. So easy to use. I found it at Tuesday morning at a really great price. I even gone back and bought more after using it. If you have a Tuesday morning I recommend going and seeing if they have it. He has some great video's on his website on how to use it. How to Use Grunge Board

Well blog readers that's my first post in a while but I promise to be back more regularly!

Points of View

Well the last assignment for my class was to look back at your life and journal about things you miss or don't do. Or to look at the differences in life. I found it hard to find the picture I wanted to use. My journaling about the differences in Christmas would have worked for this week as well but I wanted to push myself to do something else. So out came my recipe box. The box contains all those pictures that didn't make it into the scrapbook. I was flicking through the pictures, having a few laughs along the way when I found a not so great picture of Eleanor at dance. I had already looked through the pictures I had of my childhood and this prompted my page. I have so few pictures from when I was growing up - a few school pictures and that's about it. The picture that hadn't made it into her album could make it into mine to record that I did dance although there isn't a picture of me dancing.


I think sometimes we are afraid to put cream and white together but you know it actually works on this layout. You make have to click on the picture to see it but the title of the page is on the picture "Inspire to affect, to guide, or influence".

The goal of the page is to tell the children how important I feel recording their lives is for them. So that they will have something to look back on, to help them remember everything they have done as they have grown-up. The journaling reads "This may not be the best picture of you at dance but I just wish I had one picture of when I danced. I remember taking dance at the local community center and a dance about a bird but I’ve never seen a picture and don’t think they exist. I sometimes wonder why - I know my parents had a camera. It’s too late to ask now as there’s nobody left to answer the question. It’s not just dance, which I know I didn’t do for long, but also hockey. I played for five years but all I have is a school team picture. When I think back I don’t have any memories of my parents at the games. It’s very different in our household and I feel guilty when I have to miss something. What I do know is that you will appreciate looking back at these pictures, even the not so good pictures. I hope they will inspire you to take lots of pictures as you grow older of events we can’t be at. For us being part of your life and there on the side cheering you on is one of the most important things we as parents can do. Would I have been a different person if my parents had been there? I’m not sure…… but I would appreciate having the pictures to look at."

I hope I have inspire you as I was by this class to look at your pictures in another way and see beyond the obvious.

Happy Scraping...........