8 is Enough

For the July cover interview I mentioned my favorite Ella ebooks: Design Workshop, A Year in the Life, and Stretch Your Sketches--but that was before I read 8 is Enough.

What a great book! I decided to see what I could do with the challenge. Here were my supplies:

• 3 pieces of patterned paper: The Girl's Paperie On Holiday, American Crafts Abode, and Studio Calico Documentary.
• Karen Foster turquoise Scrapper's Floss
• Autumn Leaves Stampology journaling spots
• Fiskars Threading Waters punch
• Quickutz Studio alphabet
• 7gypsies naked photo labels

And here are the four pages I made:


The first I used this week's Studio Calico sketch on. The idea for the page came from my sons fighting in the back of my car. I was listening to MPR news while they said that today, July 1, texting is now illegal while driving! Now, I've never texted ever, let alone while driving, but I wondered how much more distracted I could be while my sons were in the back seat? Ergo my LO.

I do want to point out the "brads" I made with the scrapper's floss. They are in the holes of the punched border. I made them by stitching French knots.

"Free" items used: cardstock (kraft, 2 blue), pen (black), and a paper piercer. (I used the paint side of the pen to ink the stamp.)

This was the second LO. I'm least satisfied with it. It records an important story, though, about my son's latest lost teeth. I liked the way I did the title, and I really liked the magic sparkles I stitched.

"Free" items: cardstock (brown, white, blue), pen, and paper piercer.

This next LO is my new favorite. I didn't use the stamp anymore, nor the yellow paper here. But I LOVE the stitching. Very happy with that. I also used the "remnants" of the punched border for it. I have seen other scrappers do that, but I used it here, since I was limited and wanted a change.

"Free" items: cardstock (brown), pen (white and brown), paper piercer.

I like this next one. It masked a not-so-great backlit photo. I didn't use the stamp again. I think maybe I should have made the title with yellow paper? I like the stitching on this one too. And I love the sentiment: as long as the crying child is not ours, we are on a date. Sweet.

"Free" supplies: cardstock (2 blue), pen, paper piercer.

So what do I think of this process? For me, I stretched my creativity but I was WAY slower. Seriously, I normally finish 6 LOs at a Mania, and I only did 3. I'm glad I did it, though. It made me look more closely at my pages for creative opportunities.

Note: I used a ruler to figure the stitching. Not always evenly, unfortunately.