Scrapping a Little Love

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Mama

I have been getting my crafty on these days and have managed to finish another scrapbook page for 2011. Hey, I’m already into February folks, so at least I’m making progress. I used a couple of challenge sites for inspiration on this one, including the June Stuck?! challenge for the sketch and the June Scrap Our Stash Tic Tac Toe challenge for a few of the elements. I tried a few new techniques for this layout and added all kinds of stuff that shimmers and shines, although some of the metallic elements like the foil heart, metal “together” embellishment, and glittery paint don’t translate well in the large photo.

I tried a couple of new techniques for this scrapping page, including paint and metallic texture paste. . . both of which scared me to death. These were the only two sheets of this paper combination I found in my stash so if I messed it up I would have been back to paper hunting all over again. Thankfully my paper didn’t warp too badly under the paint and my texture paste rose and leaves turned out pretty cool. Thankfully “untidy” was the look I was trying to achieve.

The Stuck?! sketch was a fairly simple one to follow this month (my first time for this challenge site, I might add), and I just happened to have the perfect pictures for this page. Picking and placing the elements was the time-consuming part, because I’m so new to this layering technique and the whole balance thing can be tricky. In fact, I didn’t have an appropriate flower to go with the large rose on the background, so I finally decided to make my own. It’s a simple process and I really like the look of these less than perfect little flowers; plus, if you create them loosely enough, you can really squash them down so your page isn’t too crazy bumpy.

As far embellishments go, some of those were dictated by this month’s SOS Tic Tac Toe Challenge. I chose the top row across to complete my page this time, which included the color red, buttons and ribbon. Although my page is mainly pinks, I added a couple of red hearts to the mix. The ribbon dressed up the top tag and I scattered some white buttons about the page to top it all off.

I think the finished product is simple but sweet, which is the look I was going for so I’ll count it a success. I also hope you get inspired to do some scrapbooking of your own and maybe even join me at one of these fun scrapping challenge sites.

One (Very Cute) Photo Trashed My Craft Room

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Mama

Okay, I had so much fun with the Scrap Our Stash layout challenge that I decided to jump right into their Tic Tac Toe challenge for this wonderful month of May. I used the row across the middle which consisted of the color yellow, clouds and a paper clip. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. . . or not so much. I spent hours on this freestyle layering technique (something I haven’t done much of) and completely trashed my craft room to create this one little scrapbook page. While it may be just one picture and one page, it’s one that will warm my mama heart for years to come.

I’m still cropping the year 2011, so my now six-year-old son was just three months old in this picture. Wasn’t he (and still is) precious!! Surrounding the photo are several layers of paper from Authentique’s Be(you)tiful 6×6 bundle (absolutely one of my favorite collections) and a plethora of embellishments from stamped tickets, washi tape, misted clouds, twine, a tab, buttons, a big old yellow sun and of course a paper clip. All this fun stuff is mounted onto a backdrop of cloud paper from DCWV‘s Sky’s The Limit stack. The two separate paper clouds on the bottom right and the one up top weren’t originally intended, but as I was putting the finishing touches on this labor intensive layout I discovered that I had unknowingly sliced open my pinky finger and left bright red drops of DNA as proof that I had put at least my blood and tears into this one little page (there might have been a little bit of love in there also).

The “Mother” of All Scrapbook Challenges

Posted on May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 by Mama

It’s no secret that I love creating cards and I often take part in various creative challenges to boost my stash of salutations, but last week I stumbled upon a couple of sites that offer monthly scrapbook challenges that look like a whole lot of fun. And let’s face it, I really need to crop more if I ever hope to make a dent in all my memories stored out there on Shutterfly.

So this weekend I decided to take a stab at the Scrap Our Stash May Sketch Challenge, because not only is it a sketch challenge but also a creative brain teaser. They provide visual inspiration but I had to incorporate elements for each letter of the word “MOTHER” from my stash of scrapbooking supplies, which proved a bit more difficult than I had originally thought. Regardless, I did it! And I had a lot of fun raiding my supplies and figuring it all out for this one-page layout for 2011.

I used Signature’s Family collection for most of my paper choices, but the black/brown paper came from Prima’s Engraver collection. To fulfill the acrostic portion of this challenge I added the following items from my scrapbooking stash:

M: I spritzed green Glimmer Mist on the background.

O: I placed an ornamental brad that says “Oh Boy” at the top right.

T: I used two photos, twine and a tab (I got this one covered).

H: There is a small metal heart at the bottom left of the layout. It started out shiny white, but I sanded it a bit to take off the shine and reveal the silver around the edges.

E: This one was tough for me, but luckily my son’s name starts with an “E” and he is in both pictures. Is that cheating?

R: The word “precious” is a white rub-on that I didn’t even know I owned. See, this scrap your stash thing is already working out for me.

If you’re looking for a little creative cropping motivation, I suggest you join me at Scrap Our Stash and give one of their challenges a go. They also have a Tic Tac Toe challenge that looks like a lot of fun.

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