A New Toy

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that at the beginning of May I took part in the "Creative Crop" over at the bigpictureclasses.com website in celebration of National Scrapbooking Day. Each hour they would post a new "Challenge"... Challenge 10 was to "Use any cast-off object on your layout".


What does this mean... here is the description they provided: "Your challenge is to use any cast-off object on your layout. It could be product packaging or scrap papers from your studio, mesh fruit bag, bread tags, etc. from your kitchen, outgrown clothing from your closet, stray puzzle pieces…the possibilities are endless! Use your creativity to upcycle such items in your scrapbooking.".

First off let me say that this is not my best layout, in fact I really don't like it at all but I think that we all have layouts that don't turn out the way we intended for them too. 

That being said, let me see if I can remember everything I "re-used" in this layout...

1. There are 3 silver clips, I guess you would call them, located on the left hand page... these are actually taken from my husbands new dress shirt! Instead of pins, they used these clips!
2. The paper is all from my scrap box. In fact, if you look really close at the brown triangle edged paper, it had already been cut & I was able to find all the small pieces and tape then together tight enough that you can hardly notice!
3. Would you believe even the pictures on the right hand side should have been tossed! Only 1 or 2 of those pictures are actually square, the rest are all missing the bottom point, that is why I have overlapped the pictures with the paper!!
4. Lastly the letters... I know, some of you may be asking yourself "how can the letters be considered "cast-offs" as they are all from the same package"... well I guess I would say because they were left overs... they don't really go along with this page - colour wise I mean, plus I'm not one to use small and capital letters together like that. (However I don't mind the way that part of the layout turned out! I might even try it again!)

Would love to see layouts you create with your cast-off objects!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Back Again with "Introducing Wilson"

Do you find it hard to be "creative" when you are going through trials... when you are facing some sort of hardship? As much as I have wanted to spend time in my scrapbooking room creating a page or two, I just haven't been able to do it. Instead I sit on the computer and waste time surfing the net or playing mindless games on Facebook! OK there I admit it!! 


Well I finally told myself that enough is enough, life is passing me by & so many things have changed during that time that I need to get my camera back out & start taking pictures again! I can't turn back the clock & capture those moments but I can make sure I don't miss the next ones that come my way!


So on that note, let me show you a layout I made May 5th - National Scrapbooking Day... I had signed up for "Creative Crop" over at the bigpictureclasses.com website in celebration of the day! Every hour for 12 hours they would post a challenge. This was what finally got me to sit here and actually complete a page!!


Their first challenge was to "feature a photo with a fanciful frame".

Don't you just love the Pom-Pom ribbon! I've had it for awhile but I thought why not use it for my "fanciful frame"! Besides, it provides dimension to the page as well as colour! Both the pom-pom & ric-rac ribbons are from My Minds Eye "Fine and Dandy" line.


One thing that I found difficult when using this ribbon was that it kept releasing at the corners. To help secure it, I placed a small gold brad at each of the corners. Next time I think I would try using a glue gun!


I also made the circle embellishment located in the bottom right hand corner! The hardest part I found in making this was getting the glue to dry without loosing it's shape. Next time I will definitely use the glue gun!

The paper that I have used on this layout is from American Crafts "City Park Discovery Park" Collection from last year.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Run Jump Play

This is my baby girl... Cassie! Don't you just love the larger picture on the right hand side... What timing!! :-) I just had to use that as my main picture!

She's our 1st Golden Retriever. Her & I have spent many hours walking/hiking. We haven't done nearly as much walking over the past little while as we normally like too, but with all this rain we've been getting, who really wants to go walking in the back country and get all muddy... (That's what Quading if for!!!)

For this layout, I used Crate Paper's Brook Collection & would you believe I started this layout back on June 4th, 2010 when I was at a Scrapbooking Retreat that Scrapbook Parade hosted!! I pretty much had the layout all done, I just needed to do something with some of the pictures!

As you can see from the following pic, I used a bunch of brads to create a circle around a close up picture of Cassie. Because of the scalloped edge, I just didn't like the way it looked, it seemed to blend into the layout instead of popping, so I finally decided to add a circle just a little bit bigger than the picture. This just made the picture stand out a bit more. Also by creating the circle of brads, your eye naturally is drawn to that picture!

I did a similar layout of Cassie when she was younger & that time I used heart brads, with the bottom of the hearts towards the picture! I should pull that layout out sometime & post it for you as well!

I also used pop-dots, to add dimension, on the small squares across the bottom of the page that made up the title.

Once again I thank you for stopping by!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Wilson

This layout is a very simple one, with lots of "white space"... meaning that not every inch of it has something going on. I usually like to get as much into a layout as possible, but when I went to do this one, I only had the 1 picture of Wilson that was taken this day... so what do I do?

When looking through magazines or checking out different websites/blogs, I see quite a few layouts with only one pic, so this was my first attempt...

I'm going to share a little secret with you.... I like to save money... who doesn't these days! But did you know you could do it & still scrapbook!!??!! Honest!

One of the ways I have found to save $$ when scrapbooking is that when I plan on covering most of the cardstock with patterned paper, I cut out the centre of the page! That's right, the cardstock edge on this layout is only 2 inches wide! There is a big 8 inch square cut out of the back!! This is what I used to mat the picture on this layout as well as the larger pic on the last layout - Is it Bath Time?!! (FYI, I did the same thing on that layout as well!!)

Give it a try some time!! :-) And for those of you that are wondering... Yes, I have done this with double page layouts as well!!! :-) Let me know if you try it & how it worked out for you!!

Thanks once again for stopping by!!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

FYI - I completed this layout in under 2 hours... meaning that I beat my record, for creating a 1 page layout, by an hour!! Oh & the paper I used for this layout is also from the "Happy Together" collection by Fancy Pants!

Is it Bath Time?

This is the newest addition to our Family! He's name is Wilson & he LOVES water!! I call him our water dog! Anytime he can play in water, he does. We learnt this very quickly... I use to fill their water dish almost to the top. All I can say is that it's a good thing we have the water dish in the laundry room, on the linoleum floor... Whenever he goes for a drink, he has to put both front paws in the dish. Then when he's done, he walks forward so that his back paws go through the dish as well. Of course this leave a trail of water all over the house! There are even times when he decides to DIG through the bottom of the water dish. This causes water to get all over the place... even up the wall!

The night before these pictures were taken, Wilson got rather dirty outside, so when we brought him in, I took him straight to the tub for a bath. The next day he came inside & went straight to the tub, trying to get in!! I guess he figured it was Bath Time!! :-)

I had fun doing this page... it just all came together & within 3 hours it was complete!! For me that is a record!! One page layouts don't normally come very easy for me... guess that's why I don't seem to do many of them! :-)

I've been experimenting with new things lately or by trying something new... this layout is no different!

1. In the centre of this page you see the striped patterned paper with the brown strip... well when I scalloped the edge of the striped piece, it left me with a very thin strip of paper which I put right up against the brown edge... this give it the impression that the brown piece is on top of the striped patterned paper.
2. You will also notice the triangles going across the brown stip... this was also something new. Those are actually rub-ons & are actually suppose to be joined the other way, creating a larger, thicker triangle strip. It was just too thick & not long enough to use in this narrow space... so first I marked the paper with a very thin line so I would know where to place the triangles, so that they would all be in a straight line. Then I cut the triangles into smaller pieces & lined them up along the line. I really like the way this turned out. It filled in the brown strip so that it isn't so bold!
3. The strip paper was blending into the other paper & I wanted the edging to stand out more. As I had already attached the paper to the layout, I wasn't able to ink the edge... so I took one of my copper pen & went along the edges!
4. Lastly, I used pop dots on the 2 smaller outside pictures that are on the bottom half of this layout!

Oh I almost forgot... The paper I used for this layout is from the "Happy Together" collection by Fancy Pants! (If you click on the Happy Together link above, you can scroll down & see the triangle rub-ons that I used!)

Thanks a lot for stopping by!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Our Little Lady

Here's the final 2 page layout I completed this past weekend! If truth be told though... I finished this layout first - yet I'm posting it last... & the one I posted first, was the last one I finished! Oh well... if I wouldn't have said anything, you would have had no idea!!! :-)

Out of all the layouts I did this weekend, this one is my favourite! :-) Again you can see that I still need to journal, but that will come!

There are a couple of things on this layout that I don't normally do... I don't usually group a lot of embellishments together in one general area as I find that it has a tendency to look crowded and takes away from the pictures. I like simple layouts!  And truthfully, I think that this is a simple layout as I don't think that I over did it with the grouping of the embellishments. Probably because I didn't use large embellishments!

I actually used 2 lines of paper for this layout... the "Neighborhood Collection" from "Crate Paper Inc" as well as "Countryside Collection" from "Studio Calico".

One of my favourite embellishments on this page are the Wood Veneer Hearts (& Buttons) also from Studio Calico! I also really like the gem accents that I added to the page! I might have to start using those more often!

I hope to get more layouts completed next week as I have the week off!! :-)

Till next time - Happy Thanksgiving!!

Playin' Around... Gotcha

Hey All,

As promised here is another layout I did this weekend!

I love the way it turned out.... even though it's not quite finished. As you can see I haven't been able to write anything on the card yet & there are a couple other things I will probably add over time.

This was a tough layout to work on... not because of the layout itself but because of who this layout is about... These pictures were taken roughly 2 months before we lost Mia torenal dysplasia (which is a type of Kidney disease). She was only 7 months old.

The line of paper I used was the "Neighborhood Collection" from "Crate Paper Inc". I inked the edges of the large square & then roughed up the edges. I then inked the edges again but this time with a darker shade of the colour. I also used this technique on the mat. I find that by doing this, it just give the page a bit of texture.

The layout I plan on showing tomorrow is a variation on this layout.

Well till then, Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Lazy Days

Hey there! What a summer... lots has happened, created some happy memories as well as some very sad ones... :-(

With Summer coming to an end, all the regular fall business seems to have taken over. That means that I'm back in school... so between work, school, housework & all the other things that come with being a "Mom", I was finally able to sit down this weekend and get my creative juices flowing again!! :-)

I was able to get three 2 page layouts done this weekend but I won't have time to post them all today. Hopefully in the next day or two...

This first layout is actually a very easy one & as you can see, you can use a number of your photos!!

I like to take lots of consecutive pictures (I like to call them "Action Shots")... so this layout worked really well!

The inspiration for this layout came from "Sketch Support". As you will see when comparing my layout with their sketch, I used only 9 photos instead of 10.

The paper I used is the "Sweet Summertime" line from Echo Park Paper Co.

Well I should get back to studying... so till next time… Happy Scrapping!! 

Fast Friends

I've been cleaning up some of my scraps and came across this patterned paper which was all left overs from the Basic Grey POTM. The layout was inspired from a website I recently came across called "Sketch Support by Scrapbook Generation Publication".

A number of months ago we decided that Cassie needed a playmate as the boys are just too old and don't want to play anymore... So we decided to get another Golden!

These pictures were all taken the evening we brought Mia home - March 1st, 2011! As you can see Cassie & Mia became "Fast Friends" (hence the name of the layout!). Cassie even let Mia play with one of her toys - something the boys sure wouldn't get away with doing!! We sure are glad that they get along so well!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)