Handmade accent

I don't normally paper piece, mainly because I have Stash, but the sketch at Sketch Support was so cute and easy, I had to do something with it!

Here's what I did:


I paired this camera with the photos of my sons playing with a classic Fisher Price camera at my Grandmother's this summer.

I also used an Amy Tangerine dimensional photo sticker, plus clusters of stuff in a visual triangle. I thought about adding another camera to the upper right, but it seemed like it was too much.

A fun, quick page with some basic paper piecing to make it even cuter! And how about that--I used pink! I don't do pink, so this was a feat.

Final Big Idea Festival layouts

I thought I would post the remaining Big Idea Festival layouts I did. It's been almost a month (!), and I finished them a while ago, so I thought I'd share.

Though the inspiration was just a word (and I download, but I didn't use those), words are my favorite inspiration. If you doubt me, check out my pins on Pinterest. Words give me ideas and make me think about my life in new ways. Here's what I did with the last few words:

FREE


I had these goofy pictures of Rowan,and the prompt FREE made me think of what I wish for him: to be fun and spunky as he grows up. My favorite quote: We never grow up, we only learn how to behave in public.

(The song "Free to be you and me" was running through my head when I made this page. Remember that song?)

EMBRACE

I had this page in mind for a while when I took this picture, so pairing it with the word EMBRACE seemed fitting. This is his nickname, by the way: Monkey Boy Cougar Bait Larson.

PLAY

This was the last prompt, and it made me think of how important it is to approach parenting with play. It's hard, especially when I have to be drill sergeant too (like now, when I'm nagging my son to work on his taekwondo essay), but play just feels right. I used unscrapped leftover silly photos for this layout.

LIVE


I don't really have anything profound to say about living, so I wrote about my goal to live healthy. I used this picture that I loved--I think my son took it?--of me with my new bike. And the song running through my head during this layout was this song by Queen, of course.

MOMENT

I've been obsessed lately with trying to appreciate every moment, even those that are hard to (cleaning the cat box, I'm talking to you!). I documented a day's routine moments to appreciate them for what they are and break myself from that nagging feeling I think we all get that the routines are tedious. I don't want to feel that way.

Thanks for reading about these final pages of mine! I enjoyed the Festival and I hope to do it again!

Early morning chat

My work day starts at 7:10; my boys' school day starts at 9:30. Because of the discrepancy, I drive the boys to a school program called Kidstop before I head to work.

These early morning drives have been special times for me, mainly because I get to chat with the boys. This past week we had particularly thoughtful discussion.

My son Dominic

asked me if we could go to Old Country Buffet. I told him probably never, since Derick doesn't like it. I told him he could ask Grandma and Grandpa when they come out next month. He asked me if I meant Grandma and Grandpa L, which caught me a little; I reminded him that Grandma L had died a year ago.

That sparked a conversation. Dominic said he wished he had an iron heart so that he wouldn't die. I told him no, Grandma L was in heaven. Rowan (who always gives me a goofy grin)

asked me what heaven was like, and how I knew she was there, so we chatted a while about prophets and Jesus. Big stuff to talk about before school!

I told them the most important thing was to live a good life like Jesus would want us to live. At this, Dominic nodded energetically. He said, "I am going to live such a good life!" This made me smile. Then he followed with, "And you know what would be a really good life for me?" I shrugged, and he continued:

"Going to Old Country Buffet."

Love it!

Ella digi winners!

My three men (Derick, Rowan, and Dominic) each picked a number for winners of the Ella List It! ebooks. Here are the winners:

Steffanie said...

It's my constant resource for all things scrappy. I use it to search for ideas, techniques, design. I also have done some hybrid and digi scrapbooking---but only a bit! I do journaling and sentiments. A little bit of this and that, I guess!

Jen said...

I consider myself a hybrid scrapper. I use my computer to manage and edit photos, obviously. I use it for some of my journaling or to print digital elements for my traditional pages. Sometimes I make a photo collage. And I have even done several completely digital pages (using templates). But I like to touch and move things around, so I don't see myself going completely digital. Thanks for the chance to win!

joel & ginny said...

I use my computer when making digi pages and sometimes for journaling on a paper LO. Of course I use it in sorting, purging, and uploading my photos. I also use it to scan heritage photos, but that is an ongoing process for me.

Thank you, ladies, for leaving comments! Please email me at jennyrahnlarson at yahoo dot com for your coupon codes!

Scrapbooking as Therapy

*Don't forget to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of THREE copies of any List It! of your choice. Comments are open until Friday at 9 P.M. CST.

My guest blog post is up at Simple Scrapper today. I wrote about using scrapbooking as therapy, specifically as a parent. Please go visit and read and explore the site, which is wonderful.

Here's one LO I included:


I used Studio Calico's July kit Mind the Gap, which is still available here. This topic is appropriate because I have yet again overbooked myself and my sons. When will I learn??? At least I'll get a lot of grading done.

Heritage photos, digital scrapping, and a giveaway!

My scrapbooking friend Alexandra asked me to do a post about scrapping heritage photos on a challenge blog she writes on called Scrap Rendez-vous. The page posted today, so I encourage you to go over and read it! Here's a page from the post using heritage photos:

(published in Create: Quick and Easy 2011)

The photos might not seem heritage, but they are almost 30 years old. They were also starting to fade, a problem I've see with photos I have from the 70s and 80s. I scanned these photos, did some color and lighting corrections, then added textures to mask inconsistencies between the photos. For kicks, I added them to a collage, added brushes, then stitched to connect the digi to the paper.

This past week I posted this LO on Ella Publishing--yes, it's full digi:

I'm not a digi scrapper, but I do like some of the effects that I can do with digi, so I make* the occasional project with digi; most of what I plan are photo books. I just prefer my own design to what online photo companies make.

So since today's post is about using the computer for scrapbooking, I'd like to share a giveaway connected to digital or hybrid scrapbooking thanks to Ella Publishing! I have THREE coupon codes to giveaway for the journaling product I used above on the digi page, from the List It! collection of Ella Fun. These products can be used on digital projects like I did or downloaded to use on hybrid pages. Here's a description of the collections (click on the collection titles to see the products in the shop):

List It! journaling guides make it easier than ever to capture important details about your everyday life RIGHT NOW.

List It! Childhood
Some of the 91 prompts in List It! Childhood Edition are obvious and universal, others are quirky and unique. But they'll all help you unlock important memories from your childhood—from school memories and family experiences to your childhood fashion and music tastes.

List It! Holiday
Many of the 94 prompts in List It! Holiday Edition are obvious and universal, others are quirky and unique. But they're all inspired by major events on the calendar, from winter to spring to Valentine’s Day to Christmas.

List It! Everyday Life
Of the 90 prompts in List It! Everyday Life Edition some are standard and universal, others are quirky and unique. But they'll all help you paint a complete picture of what your life is like—your schedule and routine, your goals and pursuits, the people you love, your home and surroundings, your possessions, and more.

If you want to be one of THREE winners, please leave a comment telling me how you use your computer when scrapbooking. I will draw three winners Friday, September 9 at 8 P.M. CST.

*When I say that I make digi pages, I'm exaggerating a little. I've made one other page and a photo book that used basically the same design and the same papers throughout. I have plans for more, so maybe I'm not fibbing.

Busy busy busy

This week school started for me--sort of. Since I teach, I spent the week readying my room, working with colleagues, and attending training. I am looking forward to teaching my students this year. It will be fun.

I also spent the week finishing up a few assignments, most of which I can't share yet, so I thought I'd share this one (click on the image to see it larger):

After my son "messed with" a bee last year and was stung, he is now pathologically afraid of them, a problem considering how many gardens I have around my house. This page is a bit of encouragement for him to be brave, and not to "mess" with them any more. I used Studio Calico's August kit Boardwalk for this.

I dipped into my Basic Grey Bloomers supply for the page. Love love love them.


Pardon the punny title.

I also dipped into an older kit for the bee stamp, which I stamped, embossed, colored and blended with watercolor pencils, cut out, and adhered with dimensional adhesive. I also hand drew the flight line and stitched it.


This layout is a bit of a farewell to summer. Time to shift from jewel tones into burnt tones on my scrapbook pages.