First and last

I've been working to finish up some kits. For me, I love diving into a new kit, using any supply I want  to make the perfect page. I've always struggled with the last page I make from a kit, though. My biggest problem is that I try to use everything up, instead of picking my favorites then digging into my stash to supplement. Here's a recent page I did to use up a kit that I DO love:

I dug into my stash for the foam letter stickers. I just didn't like the letters left over or didn't have enough. I also added buttons from my stash. The buttons were just lying on my table and I thought they'd look good.

Once I finished that kit, I got started on a new one, one I put off using until I had used up the old one. Here it is:

I still dug into my stash for this: those sequins come from an American Crafts set of Halloween sequins, of all things.

I love kits because they are preselected to match, and they are a way to build my scrap stash which allows me to supplement my pages when my kit starts to run dry. I tend to set scrap goals for myself with kits--6-9 are my goals for a kit, depending on how many add-on kits I get.

Now here's an important note: My Scrapbook Circle kits rarely run dry of supplies before I make my goal of 6-9 pages. I want to mention that because a special is going on this weekend, and there's still time to get in on it:

You can buy the wonderful February scrapbook Circle February kit AND get an in-stock past kit for free. This is a great way to build your stash and enjoy wonderful coordinated kits monthly.

I'll be back soon to share a page I've been struggling with.

My February pages for Scrapbook Circle

It's February, which means it's time for the reveal for my pages for Scrapbook Circle! I loved the colors in this kit--so rich and playful. Here's my first page:

Next is a small page commemorating my husband's first batch of mead:

The next page is one that's a bit more playful, remembering our wonderful New Year's day trip to the mall:

One of my favorite papers was this moon phase one. I accidentally used part of the B side on another page. After some mild internal cursing, I decided to find a way to use what was left in an interesting way. Here's what I did:

Finally, this page may be my favorite, a sweet one about my cat who loves water:

Thank you for checking out my pages! Please go to the Scrapbook Circle site and check out this lovely kit and the inspiring ideas created by the design team.

February pages for Simple Scrapper

The new month approaches, and I'd like to share the pages I made for Simple Scrapper. Here they are:

The story starters this month may be my favorite yet. This was the first one I made, plus an old sketch that I accidentally made upside down, but I liked anyways.

This next was an older sketch but an interesting story that I think of any time I use these measuring cups. (Please note: I am on a doily roll these past few months.)

Finally, the February sketch, plus an older story starter. I was delighted to discover that we still had the original game, and I enjoyed taking semi-artistic photos of the game.

Thank you for checking out my pages! Please stop by Simple Scrapper to see the full gallery February next week.

Using dramatic patterned paper

Most of the patterned paper I own is pretty nondescript--muted patterns, even in design. Sometimes, though, I get a piece of paper with a big, dramatic pattern on it. How to use that type of paper?

I thought of this when I got a cityscape paper with a large yellow three in a kit last fall. I liked the city and thought I'd cover the three, but then I decided to use it on a page about the Turkey Day 5K I ran with my two boys. The three seemed important for the theme, so I let it stand out in the front.

To keep the page from getting too dark with the city in the background, I took another dramatic piece of paper, the happy clouds with words. Neither piece is meant to be covered up, so I left a lot of white space to let the paper shine. Here's the page:

In essence, if you have dramatic paper, don't use it in layers; instead, use fewer photos to let the patterned paper stand out. Here are some detail shots:

You can see I trimmed some of the clouds out of the paper with my Exacto knife to sort of hug the photo.

You can see that I sewed down the journaling strips just for some extra reinforcement.

Thank you for checking out my page! I hope it gives you some ideas for using those big patterns in your stash.

Stuff on the table

I love to put lots of stuff on my pages. I mostly make use of the kits I get, plus digging into a basket in which I keep my most recent embellishments before I put them away into my stash files. Sometimes, though, I keep something on my scrap table (lap desk) for a while because it didn't make it onto a page, and I forget to put it away.

Eventually, though, these little embellishments start to bug me. I really should use them or put them away! At that point, I dedicate myself to putting them on the next page I make. No matter what.

Here's one of the earliest pages where I did that:

This was back when Simple Scrapbooks was still published and had a challenge blog. I think it might have been a challenge to use stuff lying around your table. See those strips and ribbon? They were on the table, along with the flowers, pins, and sequins. I love this page. The rub-on is Hambly--I think I still have some of those, and I did the cut out with my Coluzzle, which I still have and use. Sigh. *nostalgia!*

Lately, I had some wood veneer birds I thought about using on a page, but I never did. These birds stared at me as I scrapped until finally I put them on a page. Here it is:

 

(Sorry the color is a bit off. This was during dark December, and I had to tweak the lighting on my computer.)

I had made this page using up last bits of a fall kit. I had laid the vellum over cardstock, put the patterned paper on the bottom, used Project Life cards to frame the photo, and used wood to back the title. I then added the hearts and thought I needed more wood, but had no more hearts. And thus came the birds onto the page. It has nothing to do with birds, unless you think that there's two of them, and they represent my boys, but that's a stretch. They just look cute because they are wooden birds and they complement the other accents.

Here's some details:

Thank you for checking out my pages! If you haven't ever, try using something lying around on a page. It's fun sometimes to make it work!

Nontraditional colors

Hello! January has started, and started COLD. We had a day cancelled due to cold already, but the next week is looking up, temperature-wise. So there's that.

I have a post up at Scrapbook Circle on how to use a mask to add glitter to a page--please visit and get an idea for using your mask in a way other than misting! Tomorrow I will also have a post up at Write Click Scrapbook to give you journaling ideas for year-in-review pages I hope you go there too and get inspired!

Today I wanted to share a couple pages I made last month about my boys using nontraditional colors. I know most people think brown-green-blue when it comes to boy pages, but I love color, period, so I don't like certain colors of the rainbow being under a padlock for boys. When I got some heavy duty pinkish-coral in a kit, I decided to use it on a page about my son overcoming his fear of bees.

Here's the page:

(Quick side note: I had to take these photos about 3 times in December, it was so dark! I just could not get it white enough for the background paper.)

I started with the picks on the white paper, then dug around my stash for some yellow and red to add some warm joy. Again, I used a frame to draw attention to my son in the glorious flower field.

This next page celebrates my other boy's favorite event last summer: riding the high-speed boat across Lake Michigan. My husband had taken a pretty good photo of Milwaukee at dawn with his phone, so I blew it up for the background. It had lots of violet in it, so I pulled a lot of the violet and pink products in another kit:

I added the sequins to sort of draw together the top and bottom of the page. Plus they were sitting on my scrap table and seemed to go color-wise. More on that later this week.

I've been using a lot of Project Life cards on my layouts recently.

Finally, my younger boy also visited the bees at the same time as my older boy. His story was a little different, so I focused on his overall love of nature. Here's the page:

I used Scrapbook Circle's January kit for this page. I loved the add-on Shine Bright for this page; the 6x6 paper was just enough to frame the photo and create the tag banner.

Thank you for checking out these pages! I hope it inspires you to explore some nontraditional color palettes.

It was a dark and scary decade...

Hello, and Happy New Year! The start of a new month is the start of a new gallery at Write Click Scrapbook. The theme for this month is Decades, and my page shares a story that took me back to a favorite pastime growing up in the 80s: watching horror films.

I used some Project Life cards, which I've been using a lot on my scrapbook pages for journaling and decoration.  Here are some details:

Thank you for checking out my pages! Go visit the gallery at Write Click Scrapbook for further, less scary inspiration!