layout leftovers

Following my own advice, I made a card from my "Making Cookies With Mom" layout leftovers. I had pulled the flowers out while working on the layout, but didn't end up using them.

As I learn more about interior design and fashion, I begin to see its influence on my scrapbooking and cardmaking. I love how Candice Olson on Divine Design creates sophisticated spaces by using texture and pattern in various shades of the room's colors. I've also noticed that I'm drawn to rooms, outfits, and layouts that add a contrasting, possibly unexpected, "pop" of color. (The pop is in quotes because it's become such an HGTV/TLC buzzword that Keith has started joking about it.) Black and white dress with kelly green shoes? Done! (Stacy London would be proud.) Chocolate, taupe and cream living room with steel blue accents? Thinking about it. So when it was time to add centers to the flowers on this card, I quickly decided on fun aqua pearls rather than matching pink or brown centers. The card is more interesting that way, don't you think?

Bazzill cardstock; Scenic Route patterned paper; Prima paper flowers; Basic Grey adhesive pearls; vintage seam binding tape; Fontwerks alpha stamps; Versamark ink; Stampendous! embossing powder; Fiskars corner rounder

making cookies with Mom

I remember how I coveted these letter stamps for some time before I finally asked to get them for Christmas a few years ago. Since they came as unmounted rubber stamps on a single sheet I also asked for the EZ Mount starter kit. When the stamps came I mounted them on stamping foam and very carefully cut around each letter with my new special Kai scissors. It was a lot of work, but I finally had my Steelfish Outline letter stamps! A couple of months later I was in a scrapbook store and came across a set of clear Steelfish Outline letter stamps, meaning they didn't have to be mounted on foam, they didn't have to be cut out, and they would be easier to line up. Well, crap.

I couldn't find letter stickers in the right color/size for this layout, so letter stamps with Versamark ink and clear embossing powder were the perfect solution. I didn't have any letter stamps small enough for the "making" and "with," so I wrote out the words with my Quickie Glue Pen (after 4 attempts each of writing them in pencil, of course) and embossed with clear embossing powder. Worked out pretty well, if I do say so myself!

Bazzill Basics cardstock; Scenic Route patterned paper (stripe and dot); Autumn Leaves patterned paper (pink); Making Memories tag stickers; Paper Studio brad ("C"); Recollections tiny brad; Fontwerks alpha stamps; Versamark ink; Sakura Quickie Glue pen; Stampendous! embossing powder; Fiskars apron lace border punch

I have a problem

I think I have OCCCD. Never heard of it? It's Obsessive Candy Corn Consumption Disorder. Sure signs you have OCCCD:

• You go through the motions of hiding the candy corn in the back of the pantry...and then go get some 45 seconds later.
• When you come across an opened bag of candy corn in a cabinet at work in August (and realize it's 10 months old), you still eat some.
• For portion control, you pour about 4-5 pieces of candy corn out into your hand and then put the bag back up before you eat them. You then repeat this process 6 times in immediate succession.
  
• You consider packing a little container of candy corn to take with you to work. 9 hours is too long to go without it.
• You sneak into the kitchen to eat candy corn when your husband isn't looking. It keeps him from judging you...and eating the candy corn.
• You plan to make a special trip to Wal Mart (where you hate shopping) because their Sunday flyer shows that they have a sale on candy corn.

going simple with die cut paper

Did you notice that the last layout had nothing but cardstock, photos, die cut paper, letter stickers and journaling?  I find I often reach for my die cut paper when I'm wanting to create a quick and simple layout. Here's another one using the same formula.

Hasn't Keith gotten quite good at the dual self-portrait? Pretty handy when no one's around and you're too lazy (or cold) to bust out the tripod. It's important for me to have lots of photos of us together.

Bazzill Basics cardstock; KI Memories die cut paper; American Crafts velvet letter stickers; Fiskars corner rounder

making the most of bad photos

Sometimes I take photos at an event and when I get home there's not a single shot that I would be proud to show someone. It happens. Therefore, I deal with it (but I don't have to like it!)

When the Dallas Mavericks had their training camp at UNT, staff and students were able to attend and bring a guest. Keith and I took lots of photos, but a combination of a dim coliseum, fast action, and people who kept sticking their stupid camera phones in the way (but I'm not bitter) resulted in a stack of disappointing photos. The overall experience was neat, though, so I decided to make a layout with a collage of photos. I feel like this focuses on the photos as a whole and not on any one particular (stinky) photo. And as much as the photos are busy and cluttered, the clean and streamlined layout design makes me totally happy with the final result. That, my friends, is considered a victory.

Bazzill Basics cardstock; KI Memories die cut paper; American Crafts foam letter stickers; Delicious font

No Waste Wednesday: reusing the rejects

If you're like me, then sometimes when you're working on a project you have an element cut out and ready to go, but then it just doesn't work. Wrong color. Wrong size. Sometimes you don't even know why, but you know you're not happy with it. Instead of recycling the rejected piece, challenge yourself to put it to good use on a card!

The blue frame on this card was originally created for a journaling block on a layout. I ended up doing something else on the layout, but instead of tossing the frame, I used it as the perfect starting point for a card. All the other supplies are also ones I had sitting out after finishing my layout, so the card came together very quickly.

Bazzill Basics cardstock; American Crafts patterned paper (brown) and felt flower; Rhonna Farrer for Autumn Leaves patterned paper (pink); Prima paper flower; Making Memories brad; Glue Dots International vellum adhesive; vellum; MigraineSerif font

Interested in seeing the layout the blue frame was originally supposed to go on?

I had planned for the cardstock frame to go around the journaling (see how it was going to complete the visual triangle with the blue title and blue felt flower?). However, once I actually cut it out and laid it on the layout, I felt that it was too visually weighty and threw off the design of the layout. I still wanted to repeat some blue there for design purposes, and I already had my journaling printed on vellum, so I used a blue Prismacolor pencil and drew a border around the journaling. Perfect!

I'm gonna be in CK!

I'm super excited because I received an email from Creating Keepsakes Magazine letting me know that they want to publish one of my layouts in their February 2010 issue. It's been a little while since I've had something picked up for publication, so I the encouragement comes at a great time. Now I NEED to scrapbook more so that I have more work to submit!