How I Scrap "Less Than Perfect" Photos

In August, my son started middle school; I won't get sidetracked with emotion, I'm here to talk about photos. :) The start time for middle school is very early and I couldn't get my camera to cooperate with the bad lighting. After all, it was 6:45 a.m. and my brain wasn't functioning properly at that point. So I took less than perfect photos and converted them to black and white and suddenly those same bad photos looked pretty good!

I sat the photos aside waiting for some inspiration. As I started looking through my stash, I found Citrus Twist's September kit and knew it was a perfect match.

The Thickers from the kit were the first thing that caught my eye because of the color and stitching. It reminds me of stitching on backpacks. I also loved the scalloped circles cut from book paper. I folded them in half to mimic clouds and stapled them to the page with my Tiny Attacher. The title needed to pop, so I used a torn out piece of paper from an old book and used my Fiskars punch to create the notebook paper embellishment. I love the little CT arrow stamp, so I took two colors of Zing embossing powder (white and charcoal) and made a pattern to highlight the journaling.

Sometimes bad photos happen, but rather than tossing the memory aside, embrace it, scrap it, and be happy that it's documented.

Fun Christmas Card

After celebrating a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family, we arrived home safely last night and I was in the mood to create!

I decided to make a Christmas card using Crate Paper's Sleigh Ride 6x6 paper pad from Cocoa Daisy's Christmas add-on kit. I love the look of square cards, so I trimmed a piece of cardstock to create a 5x5 square. I trimmed a piece of patterned paper to 4.75" and attached it to the card, adding machine stitching to the edge to frame it. I then took several pieces of patterned paper and cut little strips to create my tree. I began with a piece 2.75" for the bottom row of the tree. Reduce each row by 1/4" to create the graduated tree. To create the rolled piece, I simply wrapped the paper around a pencil and rolled it up. A little strip of adhesive on the edge holds the roll in place.

A small piece ribbon was used to create a tree skirt. I simply glued the little rolls down from largest to smallest and added some My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland enamel dots to mimic ornaments. (I'm truly obsessed with these little dots!) I took a piece of raw chipboard and used VersaMark and Zing embossing powder to create the star for the top. The adorable "joy" stamp is from Citrus Twist's December Daily kit and I think it's the perfect little touch to complete the card.

Creating little paper rolls is a great way to use a mix of patterned papers (esp. scraps) and get lots of impact! This sweet card makes me smile, I'm not sure I'll be able to give it away! Thanks for stopping by, happy holiday crafting to you!

December Album 2012

One of my favorite things about the holiday season, is preparing my December album. There are so many "December Daily" kits offered, that choosing can be a little overwhelming. This year, I chose Citrus Twist's December Daily kit along with Cocoa Daisy's Christmas add-on because they complimented each other perfectly.

I have to share the lovely presentation with you from Trina at Citrus Twist. Even the Grinch couldn't resist digging into this treasure! I'm sure that tag will make it's way into my album! Be sure to click on the photos so you can see it up close. :)

Check out this fabulous stamp set that came in the kit...

Once I touched the pretties in the package, I couldn't resist the urge to get started on my album. This year I decided I wanted to add lots of bright colors to my album cover, this adorable Crate Paper was the perfect starting point. I decided it would be fun to make the album cover look like a gift, so I wrapped the patterned paper with washi tape. With just a few more touches, I ended up with a simple and festive album cover.

Sketch Inspiration & Fall Layouts

A few months ago I created a Pinterest board for scrapbooking sketches. One sketch I pinned was by Cherie Averill via Sassy Sketches. I'm not sure this site is still in existence but thanks to the Internet and Pinterest, this sketch is still floating around the web.

Thanks to my friend Steve for taking these adorable photos at the pumpkin patch. I typically use a sketch as a starting point and end up doing my own thing. On this particular layout, I followed it exactly because I love the design. I did make a 2-page layout as you can see.

I was on a roll with fall photos and ended up with two more layouts. I used the banner stamps from Cocoa Daisy's Nov. kit Navy Pier to create this cute little banner.

How adorable are these little leaves created from Cocoa Daisy stamps and a Kaleidacolor stamp pad - so fun and cute! I also got crafty with my sewing machine and did a zig-zag stitch to frame the layout.

All of the layouts were created using Cocoa Daisy's October kits Aspen Grove and Switchback.

Feel free to share some of your favorite sketch sites, I'm always on the hunt for great inspiration! Thanks for visiting!