Sketch #111 – Creative Scrappers

Have to repeat how I love working with sketch’s and creating my own version. I’m also really enjoying using trims on my layouts at the moment. Yesterday Sketch #111 from Creative Scrappers arrived in my google reader and I knew I just had to play along but what with cleaning the house (yes I sometimes have to stop scrapbooking and attend to the daily chores) and having invited the neighbors to our “English” 4th July Celebration grill I didn’t have time to play yesterday. This is the first day in a while I haven’t created a layout, I really have been working on trying to allocate some creative time each day and missed it yesterday. I mean cleaning just isn’t as satisfying, especially with children in the house who seem to create a mess as fast as you clean it up!

Here’s my take on the sketch

The papers are all CTMH, rub on swirls Heidi Swap, Memories tag and butteflies CTMH, round letters misc old product (sorry had these about 5 years and no clue who made them). Trims I got from the local (or no so local scrapbook store). I used my i-rock tool again to add bling to the trim and butterflies – can I say how much I love that tool. Really make it easy to add bling  - well that is if you don’t tip the container over when its open!!!

Really happy with how it all came together in the end – note I even hand wrote my journaling. I hate to write on layouts as I don’t have fancy handwriting and always worry I’m going to make a mess but sometimes I make myself do it and today was one of those!

Fun layout for Saturday morning…..

Started the morning moving some pictures off my point and shoot and re-cataloging them so they were stored ready to print. I try and do this on a regular basis just incase the card gets corrupt or something. I know so many people who have lost pictures with lost cameras or corrupt card. So if you have done it recently get it done this holiday weekend!

Once I was had finished the family were still sleeping so I decided to play with PSE 8 again and try another layout. I recently had downloaded a free template from www.designerdigitals.com for a template challenge – the template was by Pattie Knox and had space for lots of pictures. Having just sorted my “snaps” I knew I had lots of guinea pig pictures and it would be a fun template to use with these.The kit I used with the template was LivEdesigns_AfternoonStroll-PPack from www.jessicasprague.com.

I don’t very often scrapbook using my pictures who would when they have a semi-professional husband. My pictures can’t compete with his but I’m still really happy with the results. I couldn’t get PSE8 to remove the guinea pig red eye. I’m guessing guinea pig eyes are different and I maybe need a different tool. I now have to create a second page for Galaxy our other guinea pig – I think I’ll try and flip the template so I have mirror image layout to go in the album.

Talking about albums – I gave up on chronological scrapbooking several years ago after reading the Stacey Julian book. Now I have themed albums. So Eleanor has a dance album and Philip a sports album. We have trip albums, everyday Eleanor and everyday Philip albums (these include school layouts) – then my favorite album is our special people album and this is where these layouts will go. Joining the page on Boris the hamster. If your still chronologically scrapbooking I highly recommend moving away from this – the freedom it has given me is great. I can just scrapbook what  I feel like – like this morning. The pictures of Slash just appealed to me at 9am on a Saturday morning. If I was a chronological scrapbook I’d have to wait until I got to that point.

Here are links to the two books by Stacey Julian which got me to change, highly recommend them both although I can’t believe how much copies are going for as they are out of print! If your in Fort Worth and want to read them you can contact me and loan them if your promise to return!

Part 2 – dimensional details

So I’ve decided to work my way through the dimensional details class again myself – why you may ask. Well I really think I need to go through all the material again so I make sure the things I’ve learned to do are now naturally part of my layouts and also to keep me scrapbooking. While I do this I also need to keep-up with the camp scrap challenges and stuff so where I can I will combine the two to create my layouts.

Yesterday at Camp Scrap it was “Artistic Thursday” and the idea to add into a layout was paint splatter. I have to say this was a little out there for me. I like to be in control of what happens on my layout and your not in control of paint splatter (my face and clothes are evidence of that) but part of doing these classes is trying different ideas out so splatter it was! Splatter on a heritage page as well – didn’t take the easy way out and do a page of the kids painting or something like that.

Technorati Tags: scrapbooking,heritage,ronnie crowley

The papers are from a set of papers I got from Costco a while back – not sure who made them but I bought them with the view to use them for heritage pages and they put them away and forgot about them. Came across the other day and thought I need to get using them – I mean there is only about 500 pieces of paper to be used. If you look at the cluster there is a tulip swirl – got this from Australia from one of the students, Rae,  in Dimensional Details class who has her own store www.scrapmatrix.com she offered us all a discount so I had to order some things. They arrived yesterday and I just use one of my new things on a layout. They are made of a very light product like chipboard which can be painted or colored in similar ways to chipboard. I used glimmer mist to color it this time and was very happy with the way the color set. Highly recommend these unique items especially for your heritage pages. The shipping wasn’t too bad from Australia and it took a little over a week to arrive which is no longer than some place in the USA.

The other thing I thought I’d share was the page I made at the start of dimensional details 13 weeks ago to show you how two very different pages can be made using the same instructions.

Simple Pleasure and the be-dazzler for scrapbooks.

Until you loose your health I don’t think we total realise what we have. Yesterday for camp scrap we had to create a layout about the everyday and the hear and now. Got me to thinking as I was looking at the pictures that I have printed ready to scrapbook about my Dads hear and now.

On January 7th 2007 my Dad had a major stroke. He had been living alone since my Mum died but was active and involved in the local community. Since the stroke he has been living in a nursing home with 24 hour care. The hear and now for Dad is what you would expect in a nursing home and the limitation there are of that. The home is great and my sisters visit as regularly as they can. Myself being on the other side of the world finds it harder but my in-laws visit about once a week for me. When I do visit I try to take him to the local pub as often as the weather allows as this is one thing I’m 100% sure brings him pleasure. He is now a man of few words but that pint is nectar from heaven as far as he is concerned and if I can bring him joy but taking him for one I will. So the pictures I scrapped are taken on one of those walks to the pub – recording that simple pleasure of a pint of beer, a good newspaper on a summers day in England.

Technorati Tags: scrapbooking,i-rock,big picture scrapbooking

All the papers used other than the base page were from my scrap supply! To make the title I cut the word PLEASURE using my gazelle and sponged the edges. I then adhered to the cardstock prior to sewing with my machine several lines of stitches. Then added the word simple in alpha foam stickers on the top. The coppery swirls in the cluster I made myself using my tool I-ROCK

Can I just say I love this new tool – the be-dazzler for scrapbooking. So easy to use and add some dazzle in your layouts. See the movie below for a short intro to the tool. Let me say I will be ordering myself some more bling to use with this tool – I only ordered limited colors. The tool itself costs less than $10 and the cheapest place I found to buy it was www.scrapbooking-warehouse.com but that may not be true still or you maybe able to find it somewhere you can use a coupon!

Blue Bird - My first digital layout without a template

Well Eleanor has gone off to see the new movie Eclipse, without me at the last minute so I’m trying to prop my eyes open till she gets home. Decided to try my hand at some more digital scrapbooking and set myself the challenge of cutting an image out of a photo and using it one a page. Its only taken me 2 hours but I’m done. The magic extractor tool in PSE 8.0 is really cool! Made it really easy to do when I worked out it was the right tool to use! I know I’ve already traditionally scrapped these layouts but I wasn’t expecting to like the resulting layout so much – don’t you like the blue bird in the corner! Wasn’t planning a second blog post today but was so excited to have done this I had to share!

Technorati Tags: digital,scrapbooking

Quote from Ballet Brushes n Stamps by Jesse Edwards
Dance Sticker - ArtWHSE_DanceRubons-n-Brushes - Danelle Johnson and DesignerDigitals.com
Lace - Copyright©2009 Digital Fingers by Louise Williams Choco Mint
Bird - porta prince set

Happiness is……

So last night when I blogged I said I was off to make another page – well this is it. This page came together in a little over an hour which I was happy with it. Its based on a sketch from Creative Scrappers Blog Sketch #110

I subscribe to this blog in my google reader and love all the sketches they do but this one especially stood out for me. If you don’t use google reader I highly recommended it for keeping up with blogs you like (mine especially!).

Most of the layout is based on the papers from Basic Grey – just the cardstock which is CTMH and the added bling is CTMH as well. The That Thing You do – is a rub-on that I’ve had for an age. Its just went so well with what I was trying to record in this layout that I think it was made for it. So in Cathy Z words – old product alert!! The layout is my record of my baby boy and how he makes me so happy when he gives me those random hugs!

Well its raining again in Texas – strange third day on the run. Warm rain but still rain which makes taking pictures of my layouts harder as I usually do it outside. Hope it dries up soon as I have to drive for an hour.

Technorati Tags: scrapbooking,basic grey,creative scrappers

Not my favorite thing to do in the rain. Also like for a few dry days before Hurricane Alex (or what is left of it) comes through!

Another Dimensional Layout or two…..

Been hard at work over the weekend trying to keep up with the pace of class and make my layouts. I have a weeks overlap of the two classes which means two sets of homework. This weekend I finished the last two layouts for the dimensionals class. That isn’t to say they are the last last as a group of us have decided to start at the beginning of the class again from next week and see what new layouts we can come up with. Big Picture Scrapbooking has even created us another gallery in the classroom for post class layouts  - how cool is that! 

The first layout I created is another dance once. I really found these pictures hard to work with as the color of the tutu didn’t work with any blue papers I had or could find so I went for a paper which had more pinks and just a hint of blue in the background.

The flags are all the rage at the moment if you follow online scrapbook sites and magazines and we learned how to make them this week so had to add my own to the layout. I stamped in the dark purple colors on some patterned paper to bring out the color from the background patterned paper. First time I’ve stamped in a while! Each triangle was inked and then stuck in place prior to me sewing three runs of stitches across. Just above the flags is a overlay I printed at home – it ties in the border of the layout which is the outside edge of a paper I used earlier in the class and had kept. Don’t you love the dragon fly – I found him at the scrapbook shop in Waxahachie last week. Going again tomorrow so I may bring another one home. The hearts and chipboard frame I sprayed with glimmer mist and inked. In the end I wasn’t totally happy with it but given the response on the class gallery I think that’s just me!

The second layout I did this weekend for class was the result of an inspirational email that Nic sent out. As soon as I saw the email I knew I had to do this one! Love Love it – if I say so myself. The circle of brads with a string through it – brilliant idea – wish it was mine but no that was on the layout in the email and I just replicated it. Still I love it and will do that again.

 

Don’t you love the look on Philips face – he was making butter from cream – lots of physical effort to do that when you just shake it in a jar!

Well I’m off to keep creating for camp scrap I have another layout I want to get started tonight. I’ll share it when its done!