Altering/Stretching Your Stash

Just a quick post today showing my latest layout. Yesterday I found myself with some (forced) free time and thought I would make the best of it. As I was deleting phone pics the other day, I came across several that I wanted to scrap. I love these fun shots of my kids, having a sweet moment together. My daughter actually had her arm around her brother (doesn't happen often here!), and I just love the silly, candid expressions on her face.

I love how the colors in the photos work so well with my Hip Kit stash! A few tips regarding the rub-ons and the die cut ephemera packs: To make the rub-ons go farther, I cut the circles so I could use them in different spots on my layout. I also layered the "love" circle rub-on onto a die cut, which gave it some added interest. The "Life is Better With a Smile" diecut had yellow letters, so I took a couple of Faber-Castell brush pens and changed the color to match my layout. I also added machine stitching to some of the die cuts and the background paper for a special touch.

It's always a fun challenge to alter embellishments to make them work for a layout, don't you agree?

Documenting Random Phone Photos

This past weekend, I realized a had 599 photos on my phone! Since most are backed up on DropBox, I decided to do some deleting. As I was scrolling through several years of fun, random moments of my life, I came across many little gems that I have not documented. This photo of my daughter, in Target, was one of them.

She loves to grab a cart, take off running, and ride through the aisles. The look on her face as she's sailing is pure joy, meanwhile, we're both laughing through the whole ride. This photo is almost two years old... How much longer will she not care what people think about her having such a carefree moment? (Sniff-sniff) Disclaimer: I typically do not let my children act with such wild abandon, and we always make sure the aisles are clear. ;)

This week's challenge at Hip Kit Club was a sketch challenge, it's basically a grid with some circles. The Target logo was the obvious choice for the circle embellishment. I Googled (is that a word?) printable Target logos, printed a few, cut them out, and added Glossy Accents to them to make them pop and shine. The Dear Lizzy Serendipity patterned paper was the perfect backdrop with its tiny red/pink dots. With just a few more embellishments from my kit and stash, this simple layout was complete.

I've decided I'm going to do a few Project Life style layouts this year, documenting these random little gems from my phone. After all, I would hate for these precious moments to be forgotten. Get it scrapped, my friends! ♥

Gelatos - From Epic Fail to Fabulous!

I started to title this post, "How NOT to use Gelatos", but I thought I should offer some hope. This week's Hip Kit Club challenge was to create a layout from a mood board. The mood board had several watercolor images that spoke to me and that was my starting point. The photos from Paige's birthday were perfect because of the colors and the balloons with dots. I grabbed a sheet of watercolor paper and my gelatos and got busy. Initially I thought I would try to mimic the bright, bold colors in the balloons. This photo is gelatos directly on dry watercolor paper.

Now is when the magic is supposed to happen, right? Not so much... As soon as I started adding water, it looked like a grainy, horrible mess. I tried to add more color while wet and it was obvious this was an epic fail.

Okay, let's take a deep breath and start over! I scribbled all the various colors onto a palette and added water with my paintbrush. Wow, what a difference a change in technique makes. The magic did happen... I was able to add more color to add some dimension. I also let a few of the circles dry then overlapped with a different color and the result is beautiful!

When the background dried, I was ecstatic, it's so soft, subtle, and the colors are so yummy they look like sherbet! I completed the layout with goodies from my kit and the challenge was complete.

Don't be afraid to try (and fail), it's how we learn new things. I'm glad I pushed through, these beautiful watercolor circles make me happy!

YouTube for Inspiration

I don't know about you, but I'm addicted to YouTube videos. This week the lovely and talented Wilna uploaded a layout/tutorial that instantly got me inspired. Hip Kit Club's January kit was perfect for this tutorial. Part of her tutorial was painting white, die cut words with gelatos and using ribbons to match the selected colors. The Jan kit came with watercolor words (Dear Lizzy), it was a scrappy sign, for sure! :) I found a beach pic that I love and pulled out some Gelatos and paint to match the colors in the photo.

I then painted the words with the gelatos and some watered down paint. Just a quick tip, try not to over-saturate the words, they can tear quite easily. The paint color I chose to represent the sand was a little to warm, so I toned it down with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I decided instead of matching ribbons, I would color my own using Pink Paislee's Mistables ribbon. I didn't want my ribbon to have any sheen and the linen texture of the Mistables ribbon is fabulous.

With just a few more embellishments from the kits, my layout was complete! If you haven't checked out YouTube for inspiration, you don't know what you're missing. Warning - It will be habit-forming. :) If you'd like to see Wilna's video, click here. If you are a YouTube junkie like me, please share some of your favorites.

First Layout of 2015!

Now that my December album is complete, I can move forward to new projects. Speaking of new things, I recently discovered Hip Kit Club (HKC) and it was truly love at first sight. I heard of HKC several months ago, but never really took the time to check them out. When I happened upon the November kits, I was blown away!

Needless to say, I signed up immediately and jumped right on to the Facebook group. There are weekly challenges (you know how I love those), and there's lots of inspiration and participation within the group. This week's challenge was to make a layout with a grid design and to highlight things from 2014. The funny thing is that this concept has been in the back of my mind for quite some time because 2014 was a year full of milestones for us. I pulled out my December kit with all the lovely Amy Tangerine Stitched collection, and the layout practically made itself.

The three milestones I chose were our 30th Anniversary, our son becoming a teenager, and me, turning 50. The photo of us from our anniversary had the perfect colors to go with the patterned papers but the other two photos clashed terribly. I simply converted those to black and white and I really love the end result. The first layout of 2015 is complete and it's my new favorite! lol

Be sure to check out Hip Kit Club, I know you'll love it like I do! A few of my favorite things about HKC are the fabulous kits (obviously), card-stock is an add-on, they have a "color kit" every month with inks, paints, etc., the initial subscription is only 3 months! For more inspiration, be sure to check out their blog and videos, the Design Team is amazing! ♥

Favorite Layouts 2014

I truly can't believe how quickly 2014 flew by, I must be getting old! Last year, when selecting my favorite layouts of the year, I actually struggled finding 10 that I LOVED. At that moment, I decided to really put some effort into what I was creating. After all, I have all these beautiful photos and products, why was I being so lazy in creating layouts? This year, it's hard for me to choose just 10!

Looking forward to 2015 and it's possibilities. Happy New Year to you and yours! ♥

December 2014 Album

Wasn't it yesterday that I got all my supplies for my December 2013 album? I know I can't be the only one that feels this way. Ready or not, it's time for 2014's album and I must say that I'm extremely excited about it. The album I chose is Teresa Collins Studio Gold Dot (We R Memory Keepers) 8.5x11. The gold on white polka dots with the aqua binding is so pretty, fresh, and festive - I LOVE it! For the front of the album, I used my favorite wreath stamp from Wplus9 (Woodland Wreaths) and their Merry die (Hand Lettered Holiday) along with some embossing powder, to create a simple embellishment.

For my cover page, I used Hip Kit Club's weekly challenge (Elle's Studio sketch), and really love the end result. Simon Says Stamp's Falling Snow stencil, with some Faber Castell Whipped Spackle was used to created the top portion of the layout. I machine stitched ribbon to divide the page and used AC glitter tape on top of it for a fun pop of red. The gorgeous patterned paper and fun embellishments are from Elle's Studio.

It's been a busy week of errands, soccer, and life. It's not always easy to squeeze in scrapping in December, but it's so worth it, don't you think? Wishing you all a lovely, fun-filled December, with many beautiful moments, big and small. ♥