Flower, Layers, and Gold, Oh My!

So not my typical type of scrapping, to say the least! When I received the Maggie Holmes Open Book ephemera pack, I knew I had to challenge/force myself to use the shiny gold elements in it. It's not that I dislike gold, but I need it to make sense on the layout, if I'm going to use it. I am not known for layering, and I decided I would also give that a try.

Yesterday, I pulled out an album to search for photos waiting to be scrapped. *If you'd like to see how I store my unscrapped photos, click here.* I came across a few snapshots from our niece's wedding and knew the feminine elements from the ephemera pack would be perfect for the photos. I started playing with the layout and layering the pieces - it's harder than it looks! Once I was happy with the overall design, I took a quick pic on my iPad so that I wouldn't screw it up when it was time to attach everything.

I then had to let go and start layering. I have to admit it was fun trying to see how many bit & pieces I could tuck in and still maintain a semblance of my style. Even though flowers, layers, and gold are not my go-to looks, I was surprise how much I loved the end result!

Can you believe I still have a ton of the ephemera left? Those little packages are packed with goodies. What are the products or styles that you find challenging to use in your layouts? I dare you to go ahead and give it a whirl, you may be pleasantly surprised! :)

A Challenge and a Scraplift

Just a quick post today showing two of my latest layouts. This first was created for a challenge by Emily at Cocoa Daisy. She threw in some quirky things like folding your paper twice to create a grid as a background. We also had to use both sides of three patterned papers (easier said, than done!), and a few more fun things were thrown into the challenge.

The second layout was created from a scraplift. I lifted the lovely and talented Terry (Cocoa Daisy), I especially love the way she uses distressed edges on her layouts.

I love taking challenges/scraplifting - it forces you out of your comfort zone, creatively, which is always a good thing! The holiday season is fast approaching, so I'm planning to clean up my space and get ready for the wild (wonderful) ride. :)

Challenges = Quick & Easy Layouts

Just a short post today, sharing my latest layouts created for various challenges at Cocoa Daisy. I haven't had much time to scrap lately, and challenges are an easy way to get focused and complete layouts within small blocks of time.

I can't believe it's almost October - wishing you a fabulous fall, and the fun and cozy things that it brings! ♥

Strong Girls

This month's exclusive papers from Cocoa Daisy (Stephanie Wheeler), have to be my all-time favorite. As soon as I opened the box, I was inspired to create. The floral paper was my starting point, and although I love the printable by My Mind's Eye, I felt the gold was a little bright for the photo I wanted to use for this layout.

I decided to copy the printable onto vellum and I was pleasantly surprised how it turned out. The only problem was the paper was too busy showing underneath the vellum. I played around for a bit with layers of vellum, cardstock, etc. and then I layered the vellum over the printable and that's when the magic happened. I realized if I offset it just a bit, the gold came through and created the softest shadow.

I stitched the vellum onto the printable and fussy cut some of the paper to add dimension. I knew the quote, "She believed she could so she did" was perfect for this photo of me with my mom and daughter. We are strong-willed, determined, feisty girls! ♥

Finishing the Challenges

This is the first time I have ever completed all of the challenges from a Cocoa Daisy crop! Yay, me! It did help that they reduced the number of challenges, but I'm still proud of my accomplishment. The first one is a scraplift challenge - I scraplifted a gorgeous layout by Martha and here is my take. Nothing like a little Christmas in July project.

The next was a challenge by Anna to create a project about home, without making a photo of your house the focal point. I decided to take a different approach and show our humble abode throughout the seasons. It represents not only the actual seasons, but also seasons of life. It's a reminder to myself that although things change, it's important to embrace the change and enjoy the moment. After all, there is beauty in every season.

I started with a 12x12 mixed media paper and taped off the 4 squares with washi tape. I used PanPastel to create the background. To create the tree, I stamped directly on the backside of my template and used a brayer to make sure the image came through. The leaves were created with a fun, little stamp from CD.

I truly love challenges, they help me think outside my comfort zone and push me to be more creative. Thanks, Cocoa Daisy for another fabulous and fun crop! ♥

A Crop + Empty House = Productivity

Sometimes the scrappy stars align and make for the perfect time to create. This past weekend was one of those... I had an empty house and Cocoa Daisy was hosting an online crop. Seriously, how lucky can one girl be? :) The challenges the design team put forth were fabulous and (luckily), my mojo showed up for the party. The weekend was full of chats, fun, inspiration, and general craziness and I loved every second of it! There were 7 challenges offered and so far I've completed 4.

There's nothing like a crafty weekend to feed your creative soul! There is still time to participate in the challenges, so head over here and check them out!

Challenging Myself

This week at Cocoa Daisy, we've been discussing stamps that we would love to own. I love laurel wreaths and found a chalkboard image on Pinterest with several styles and shared it on the forum. Would you believe a couple of days later, Wilna posted a YouTube video creating a layout with a chalkboard laurel wreath?! After watching the video, I decided that I would make my own laurel wreath cut file. I could have used Wilna's file, but I thought it would be fun to have my own.

The number one thing I learned with this personal challenge: If you're using a photo of your own drawing, draw really crisp, tight illustrations, otherwise you'll spend HOURS trying to clean up the image and closing gaps to make a clean cut file. You can thank me later for that little gem. :) The July Cocoa Daisy sketch was the perfect design to give my laurel wreath vision a try.

I started with a simple drawing and converted it to a Silhouette cut file. A sketch pen was used to created the background image. I then used gelatos to softly color the background image. I scaled down the cut file to make it a little bit smaller than the background image and cut it out on the Silhouette. I then painted the cut wreath. I used 3-D Foam Squares to raise the cut wreath, to give dimension to the layout. To get my journaling even around the circle, I lightly traced around my photo and added the journaling.

Wow, sometimes I even amaze myself! lol I love learning new things and pushing myself creatively. Getting involved in an on-line scrap community is such a great way to learn, share, and be inspired. Thanks to everyone that inspires me on a daily basis!

I'm Not Defeated, I'm Determined!

This week has been wild and woolly in the scrap community. Two Peas In A Bucket announced they were closing and sent scrappers across the globe into a panic. How would we survive without our beloved Message Board (yes, even the NSBR!), and all the wonderful inspiration we find there? I will admit that it put me in a little bit of a funk because 2P's has been a daily stop for me, for at least 10 years. I have now accepted the fact that they are closing. Peas are gathering in different locations on the Internet, reconnecting, so all is well in my scrappy world. Rather than putting my head in the sand to accept this scrappy apocalypse, I am digging my heels in, and finding my passion for this hobby all over again. Disclaimer: During my panic phase, I may or may not have overspent on scrappy supplies this month. Thank goodness, the panic only lasted a couple of days! :)

This week I've had some forced downtime, so I decided to attempt to use my own handwriting to create a cut file on my Silhouette. I watched this video on You Tube and gave it a shot. If you haven't give it a try, you should. I just love that it's my own handwriting, it's so personal and unique! The challenge at Cocoa Daisy this month from Nicole, was to use strips of paper on a layout. I took strips of paper and made fun stars to start my layout. I took my "love" cut file and painted it with a Jenni Bowlin paint dauber to make it pop off the page. Since the handwritten cut files are pretty delicate, I just machine-stitched it to one of the stars. I added a few stamped stars and a few more extra strips/pieces of paper and my layout was complete.

My tip of the day is, focus on why we love this hobby and the reason we started it in the first place. Scrappy sites will come and go, but my love of documenting life moments will never fade. Thanks, Two Peas, for a fun and fabulous 10+ years. I learned so much, and grew as a scrapper because of the community you created. ♥♥♥

May Madness

I have decided the month of May surpasses December in regards to schedule overload. Thankfully, I survived it and I'm now slowly relaxing into our summer schedule. Even though I didn't have big blocks of time to spend in my scraproom, I still managed to do a few challenges from various sites and want to share them with you today.

I realized that even when I'm pressed for time, it's not that hard to squeeze in a layout or two. Scrapping (for me), is also a stress reliever, so I must scrap for health benefits. :) Challenges are a quick and easy way to get a layout going, if you haven't tried them, you should!

Kit Inspiration

As soon as I received Cocoa Daisy's April kits, I was inspired to create. Take a look at this photo and you'll see why.

Here are a few layouts I've created with the kits.

Today it's cold and rainy, a perfect excuse to hang out in my scrap room. I still have tons of goodies left from these kits and some fun photos that are waiting to be scrapped.

Scraplifting for Inspiration and FUN!

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a scraplift game at Cocoa Daisy. It was so fun to see how the layouts evolved from one person to another. The layouts were so different, but I could still see glimpses of the original inspiration in each page. Here was the layout I created for the game.

We also had to add one non-scrap item to our layouts. I wanted to use the map from our travel guide but the colors didn't work with my page. I copied the map (in black and white), onto a transparency and I love how it turned out. If you have creative block, scraplifting is a great way to get your mojo flowing again!

Our Girl and Her Cat

It's been a couple of weeks since I've done any scrapping, and I'm starting to go scrap crazy! I'm hoping to do some scrapping tonight, but until then, I will share my latest layout. This layout was created for a sketch challenge at Cocoa Daisy. I really love the end result.

Creating with a sketch is such a fun and relaxing way to scrap. There's a new sketch challenge at CD, and I'm planning to tackle it tonight! Have a lovely weekend!

Prepping for December Album

I finally have all my goodies gathered to begin creating my December 2013 album. I'm going back to an 8.5"x11" format because it's the perfect size for me, not too big and not too small. I ordered Cocoa Daisy's December and DITL (Day In The Life) kits for my basic foundation. Of course I had to purchase a few things that caught my eye, added some things from my stash, and I'm ready to create!

Just seeing all these festive products together puts me in the mood for the holiday season and creating. :)

Crop Mojo

There's nothing like a Cocoa Daisy crop to get my mojo running. The design team has 14 amazing challenges to choose from, the hardest part is deciding where to start! Yesterday I was able to complete three challenges and I'm planning to do more this week (in between a crazy-busy schedule, of course!). First up is Emily's stitching challenge. I machine-stitched the title to the page and used the gorgeous twine from CD's October kit to stitch the heart. This beautiful photo was taken by S. Hankins, how lucky am I that a professional photographer just happened to be trick-or-treating with us?

Next up is Stephanie's challenge to scrap about you. I don't do many layouts about me, so I took this opportunity to write a little note to myself and tucked it away in the glassine envelope.

My last project for the day was Alissa's Project Life style of scrapping. This was the most challenging to me because divided page protectors freak me out! lol This little two-pager took much more time and energy to create than I could have imagined. Hats off to all the PL style of scrappers, it's hard work!

The crop was so much fun (I finally won the Bingo game!!), the creative energy on the board is amazing. If you're still interested in completed the challenges, you have until Nov. 8th to get the uploaded at CD.

Fall Mini Album

When I received the October Cocoa Daisy kit, I had to create something right away. I thought I would be fun to make a fall mini album and just add snapshots throughout the season. I stated with a Simple Stories Snap album, stamps (Cocoa Daisy and Studio Calico), inks, and embossing powder.

I like for my title page to set the tone and feel of the album so I wanted to include all the gorgeous colors from the kit (and fall, of course!). I still had some items in my stash from last year's fall kit and it blends perfectly with the brand new product.

For the October divider page, I used a leaf stencil and several shades of Mister Huey's to capture all the gorgeous fall colors. I then used a Zig embossing pen to highlight the veins of the leaves and various shades of embossing powder. I LOVE how this page turned out.

Now all I have to do is kick back and enjoy my favorite season! There are lots of fun, fall activities coming up and I can't wait to experience and capture those moments. It's gorgeous, but cold, here this morning. When it warms up a bit, I plan to get out and enjoy the sound of crunchy leaves. Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

Blast From the (Scrappy) Past

If you've been scrapbooking for a few years, you may remember the Making Memories Tag Maker. It's one of those tools that I "had" to have and used only a couple of times. The other day I happened upon this forgotten tool in my drawer along with all the neglected tag shapes. Since frames are all the rage these days, I thought it would be fun to use the tag shapes as frames. Currently Cocoa Daisy has a challenge to create a layout using Alissa's style. As I was looking through her gallery, I was inspired by a layout she created using stamped frames. I decided this challenge would be a perfect match for me to use the tag maker. Here are some of the shapes. Initially I thought I would spray paint the tags, but as the layout started coming together, I realized the silver looked great with the color scheme I had chosen.

Talk about falling in love with something all over again. I now need to search the web to acquire more of these little cuties. I have lots of ideas spinning around in my crafty head. :)