November page for Simple Scrapper: Scrapbooking photos across time

I'm here with my second layout for this month's Simple Scrapper, this time using a sketch and an old story starter. 

I had started taking photos of the boys next to the big movie displays when we went to the theater. I never tagged them, and I unfortunately deleted at least one from Muppets Most Wanted (argghhh!), but I got a good representation of these posers across the years and put them together onto a page to celebrate this family tradition.

I took color inspiration from the photos, using yellow, teal, and purpley-pink.

What a gift it was to find the viewfinder in my die cuts! Most of the other embellishments I dug out of stash, either die cuts or puffy stickers or enamel. (Note: I've been able to use my die cuts more since I rearranged my storage system. I'll share that this month.)

The vinyl title letters were losing some stick, so I sewed them down.

Thank you for visiting! I'll come by later this week to share more pages I made on my retreat. Please visit Simple Scrapper to check out the other inspirational content available, and consider a membership!

January 2016 pages for Simple Scrapper

Hello! The new year is upon us, and I wanted to share the pages I made for Simple Scrapper. Here's my first, which uses an old story starter and a new sketch:

If, like me, you took photos of the eclipse that were poor, this sketch was a nice one--lots of white space to demonstrate the theme with a good piece of patterned paper since the photos didn't capture what I wanted.

This was a little bit of a kitchen sink page. I picked up do-dads and scraps I had lying around that seemed to fit. and how happy was I to use these glistening Thickers I had gotten long ago that fit the theme?

And then my next page, which used an old sketch that I stretched to two pages with a new story starter:

I tend to do a page like this every winter when my soul languishes for color. I mixed Pink Paislee and October Afternoon mostly for the bright hues to match the photos.

Thank you for visiting my blog! Please go check out Simple Scrapper for ideas this new year to make your scrapbooking more inspired and manageable.

CHA Winter 2013: trends and must haves

Here's take-two of trying to post the trends I noticed at CHA and the products I loved and want to get. Hopefully SAVE will work this time.

Trends

This project by Basic Grey is filled with many of the trends I noticed:

Here's what I saw a lot of:

1. Mustaches

Teresa Collins had a nice line that would work for both men and women called He Said She Said. On the left side you can see a sheet of paper with a 'stache of fun! (Sorry, couldn't help myself.) Lots of designers had mustache products. I know people have mixed feelings about mustache designs, so this trend could be a little hairy for some of you, but I think it will grow on you. Hee!

2. Arrows

These too were everywhere. Stamps, wood veneer, papers, and so on. Sorry if you don't like arrows, because it seems like they'll be on many, many lines this year. Since I'm a mother of boys, I'm OK with them--they're a nice accent for them.

3. Little bags

I saw these at a few places--these by Crate and in Webster's Pages too. Not sure what they are--glassine envelope-like bags with cute patterns.

4. Ombre

Not sure if this is the right term, but there were several places I noticed Ombre patterns, subtle gradations of hue. Like here with the Amy Tangerine latter stickers:

And these Thickers and stickers from the Studio Calico Sundrifter line:

And this line by Cosmo Cricket:

When used on a page like this:

The gradated color seems to add a hint of distressing, just achieved in a significantly less messy way than by misting or inking.

5. Speech bubbles

This is another trend that you either love or hate. Lots of companies had speech bubble patterns on their papers, in their stamps, in their dies. I like them--they are nice as a base for a title or  embellishment cluster. This page by BoBunny has sweet and not-so-sweet phrases to use when scrapping all areas of your life.

6. Instagram/polaroid frames

Many companies--American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, Crate Paper--had papers or products with vintage-type frames on them, especially Polaroid and  Instagram-ish filters. Fun.

7. Wood veneer

Studio Calico has had nice, unpainted Wood Veneer for a while; this time I also liked seeing it at Basic Grey and Prima. Also: note the arrows and speech bubbles. This year we will all be going places and talking on the way.

8. Acetate/acrylic

People were talking about Pink Paislee/ Heidi Swapp's return to the acrylic letters; I also saw this clear trend in other places, like Crate Paper and Basic Grey. I'm glad I never got rid of my vellum adhesive.

9. Project Life as an industry standard

I don't do Project Life, but after having visited the Project Life booth and checking out the lovely kits (hello, Jade), I admittedly found myself succumbing to the Siren-call of Project Life. Most companies must have heard the call too because they seems to size everything to fit those cards--the 4x3 size is standard for die cuts, mini-frames, page protectors, stamps, dies, and so on. In addition, companies like We R Memory Keepers and BoBunny have come out with smaller and cheaper Project Life-like kits. The WRMK set on the left has half the cards as PL but cost $10; the Misc Me line from BoBunny can see a wonderfully decked out smaller album for around $26.

Must-Have Products

1. 2-page page protectors

Lots of interesting combinations of page protectors, but this one, showed to me by Donna Januzzi, is clever: it's a two-page on by WRMK. Stitched together on the left side, it  keeps your two-page layouts together even in 3-ring binders. Here it is in action:

2. EK Success Doily punch

As a mother of boys, I don't have much use for doilies, but I do love circles, and this punch by EK Success/ Martha Stewart was super easy, allowing you to punch various sizes. Can you picture this as the base for a wedding centerpiece?

3. 3x4 punch

This punch by WRMK is really perfect. True, you can size photos to 4x3, or you can use your trimmer, but a punch is quicker and easier. This is a prototype; it's expected in June, which should be just in time for when the new PL official kits arrive (heh).

4. Teresa Collins mini-albums and portable adhesive kits

 

Teresa Collins makes  nice products, but it's not a line I tend to frequent, mainly because I think it tends toward the feminine. Someone told me I should check out the booth before I left, and I'm so glad I did. Lots of cool embellishments and unique products like these two mini albums and this portable adhesive kit:

 I thought it would be cool to pack a mini in this sturdy box and take it with me the next time I travel.

 5. Jenni Bowlin Punches

I know that some people think punches are dead since the Cameo is so convenient, and ubiquitous, but punches can go everywhere and are quicker and easier to use. I cannot wait to get the two-tab ones on the lower left and upper right.

6. Trimmer

How much would you pay for a trimmer that never dulls and always cuts straight? It's an interesting question about to become not-so-philosophical. This Fiskars ProCision Rotary Bypass Trimmer can do both, and it costs about $120. If my current Sure-Cut trimmer dies again (no pun intended), I might need to save up.

So this concludes my picks from CHA! What are you excited about? How do you feel about Project life? And how much would you spend for a trimmer that never dulls and always cuts straight?

End of Summer, day three: Elle's Studio and Pink Paislee pages

This summer I was blessed to be chosen for the Elle's Studio design team. If you know my style, you know I like to layer embellishments. The tags have been a perfect addition to my pages this summer.

Here's a page I did using an Elle's Studio Thursday sketch this month:

 

  

(My son will someday kill me for recording and publishing this story. Maybe not; I didn't use any names!)

This page made use of a photo taken by my friend Jennifer from Junglefish Photography. We went to St. Anthony Main for the photos and ran into LOTS of photo shoots that day.

This might have been the first page (second?) from the June Studio Calico kit So Cal. I love the orange and aqua combo. Who knew it would be so cute?

Misting tip: spray close and ugly, then cover the ugly with photo and paper, leaving just a light mist showing. Makes it look all purposeful and delicately done. :-)

I also was blessed enough to be able to use Pink Paislee's latest Portfolio and Artisan collections as a Guest Artist! You can see my full pages, projects, and cards, as well as the product and technique details, here. These were the two pages I made:

(I got that "Five Guys" envelope at a Five Guys burger joint when I went there at a crop with some friends.I knew I'd make a page called Larson Family Men and use it on that page!)

 

I mixed some old and new products here, dipping into Pink Paislee wood veneer in particular for titles.

Here's a funny thing: I made the two-pager at a crop with friends. The part they were most impressed with? The yellow polka dot paper I lay across the bottom. Of course, that's part of the paper design. Heh. I added the cross stitches to make it look like I did it myself. :-)

So these are obviously two of my favorite companies right now that have so generously shared their products with me so that I could create with them. What are some of your favorite scrapbooking companies? What do you love putting on your pages?