10 favorites of 2010

I've seen wonderful blog posts of people's favorite layouts of the past year. I thought it would be hard to pick, but it really wasn't. I browsed through the PSE Organizer and made a list, and surprisingly, 10 jumped out at me. (Actually 11, but one is going to be published--yipee!--so I can't put that one up.) Here they are, in no particular order:

For this page, "Favorite Photos of 2010," I used a photo template from LOAD February made by Barb Wong--Loved this idea and am going to do it again this weekend. Seriously, it does not take long to pick the photos. They just jump out at you. I also used my favorite Studio Calico kit ever for this, Whodunit.

The journaling on this page, "More than Tolerance," means a lot to me. Click on the photo to read it better.

I did the journaling summer 2009 for this, but used the color scheme for the Color Room and a leftover photo to put it all together. This page still makes me laugh.

Plus, I love to stitch. That really became apparent this year.

Speaking of stitching...

Another leftover photo that inspired this somewhat sentimental page. I used some of my typical design elements--strips of PP plus a border punch, and clusters of embellishments.

A rare non-photo page for me. Funny, the page was inspired by the typewriter sticker, which I got with a Studio Calico kit, I think. People on their MB wondered how to use it, so I followed where it inspired me to go. More clustering, and really fun journaling for me. Click the photo to read it better.

I did this page as guest designer for Sketchy Thursdays. Love the happy pictures and colors. Plus it shows how much I started shrinking my photos onto 4x6 paper and using them regularly on my pages.

More misting, more stitching, more use of PSE 4x6 templates I created. Plus more yellow. I love yellow.

I did this page, ispired by Karen Grunberg, during the August BPS free class. This page makes me happy. and a little wistful for summer...

This page is hybrid, which I started dabbling in more. The photo used a grunge texture overlay as well as the flourish brushes, all masking a blurry photo. I was inspired by a sketch at Sketchy Thursday. I like how I mixed lots of stuff--that's paint I used to stamp those dots, and I like the stitching flourish row.

After we went to Disneyworld, my husband pointed out that this photo looks eerily similar to a photo taken when his family moved to Hawaii when he was young (he's the tall lad on the left). I had to scrap this when he said that; how often does my husband tell me something I should scrap? I used a color combo from The Color Room for this.

So here's my favorite 10 layouts of 2010, a year full of mist, DMC, subtle did touches, and a heap of yellow. Have a happy new Year, everyone!

Sketches and news!

I've been so busy with grading lately that sketches have been my salvation.

Right now I'm working on two 2-page layouts I got inspiration for from the new Ella book Double Page Design. I also finished up these two pages (click on the pages to see them bigger):



I used the sketch from Studio Calico for this one. Can I tell you how much of a salvation it has been for me to learn how to put together a photo collage on PSE? So much quicker and easier than cropping 4x6's. I also used the last kit, Napa Valley, for the LO.

I also used Napa Valley on this next layout:


I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays for this one. It had banners on it and with my boys, I don't get to use those too much (though I should--creative challenge!). I like this rubon from Fancy Pants--sort of banner-ish, but with stars, which are more boyish. I then added stars from the kit and stitched them on, sort of hanging like the rub-on.

And the news regarding sketches...go here. : - )

The guilt

I'm keeping up with my thankful album. Truthfully, it's made me reevaluate things that may otherwise be pains. Yesterday, for example, I forgot to give the boys their meds before school. I could have left my school during my prep, run them to the school, and then returned to work, but what stress! So I turned around and went home, thereby witnessing the most beautiful sunrise I would have otherwise missed.

And today? A woman at Leann Chin's let me cut because she had a long order. It's all about the small blessings sometimes.

On to the guilt: I scrap my younger son more than my older one. Truly, he seems to appreciate it more:


Still, I am lately making myself see the stories in my older boy's life, since his days are filled with (generally) less drama, so I notice them less. I am ashamed.

Here's a page I did about his life's passion right now, Legos.


I used Studio Calico's October kit for this and Sketchy Thursday's sketch.

Reusing photos

I am for the most part caught up with scrapping. (Don't throw anything at me.) I began scrapping when I was pregnant with my first. While pregnant, I scrapped my first years of marriage; everything else was in albums, so I am working on photos from last spring right now, as well as anything current that inspires me. (Note: I am gradually and gently harassing my mother for pictures of my childhood, which I have none of. I do want to scrap those via my 100 moments album, which I've blogged about. Visit Jen Mohler to hear more about that project.)

I mention I'm caught up because I scrapped my Easter 2010 photos already. The photo of my boys in the bunny ears is already on a page. However, I recently came across that photo as I was printing spring photos, and it made me think of my nickname for them: bunny. So I printed it again without shame (why stage a photo shoot for a story when I have a perfectly good photo?), used this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch, pulled out my Studio Calico kit On the Easel for the first time, and produced this:


I only got one kit this month--I had a lot of the product already--so I only need to make 6-8 to get my money's worth this month. The kit seems kind of soft to me--maybe gentle is a better word--so I guess it's good that I'm working on spring!

As a bonus, here's a card I made yesterday for a birthday Rowan went to:


I'm trying to develop my card-making comfort level, which is nowhere near as strong as my scrapbooking comfort. And BTW, Rowan's favorite part of the card is the monster, of course.

Random thoughts

1. Rowan can now reach the cereal on top of the refrigerator. Milestone!
2. I have been LOVING watching the story of the Chilean miners. The guy who led them in cheers when he got to the top? Awesome. Every time I think about this story, I cry with happiness.
3. I love the insanely beautiful weather we've been having. A year ago, right about now, it was snowing and the leaves were falling off the trees green.
4. I just got a page picked up for Scrapbook Trends. It's maybe my favorite page I've made recently, so I hope I don't sound pathetic when I say how thrilled I was that it was picked up. It seriously made my day.
   
5. It's impossible for students to focus on other students' presentations when box elder bugs are crawling all over the room.
6. The Nobel prizes have been awarded over the last couple weeks, which sparked a thought in me that I followed to create this layout. I used the Color Room colors this week and a Sketchy Thursdays sketch:

Start of School

We're two weeks into school, and it's a mixed bag for the boys.

Rowan is very excited for his new teacher and appears to have developed a new passion for reading.

Dominic is up and down; he'll be excited and happy, telling me everything he's done that day, super excited for his first day of homework, then crushed to discover the next day that he has more homework--it's not a one-time deal! Ah, well. Once the transition gets more routine, I'm sure we'll go back to excited.

Here's a few pages I did for the boys using BoBunny's Learning Curve, which I adore:



Dominic's unhappy day 1 LO also made use of The Color Room's color scheme and the Sketchy Thursdays Sketch.

On to week three for school!

Waiting...

The computer is still being fixed, so I am continuing my scrapping without the ability to post pictures or print my computer journaling. *sigh!* Oh well.

Try to visualize this:

1. A page about my son called "7 almost 8." Filled with adjectives, August Studio Calico, and this week's color scheme from The Color Room.
2. My August Project 12 page. Again I used the August Studio Calico, plus many pictures of the boys, most of which included trees.
3. A page about me using last month's Studio Calico kit and this week's SC sketch called "Not a Dress Girl." I love this page. I used the dress chipboards (which I would never be able to use otherwise in this family of Y chromosomes!) and covered them with the paper whimsies from Sassafras.
4. A page about Dominic using last summer's Fancy Pants collection Rusted Sun. His page is called "Swim Fan."
5. A page about Rowan's swimming lessons, again using FP's Rusted Sun and last Summer's Summer Soiree, called "Conquering the Deep End."
6. A page I made for this week's Sketchy Thursdays challenge (which I can't post) called "Watching Baseball." Derick may divorce me when he sees it. Pray for me.
   

These pages are done or close to done. I'll need to computer journal and put some finishing touches on them, then post. As soon as my computer comes home.

First Sketchy Thursdays page

While I was at Disney, I received the sketches for this month that I get to play with this month as Guest Designer for Sketchy Thursdays. When I got back from Disney, I also got a box of goodies to play with from Scrap Attack Scrapbooking--thanks, Diana and Heidi!

Here's my first page:


I played around a lot with paint and glitter on this one, trying to evoke something a little mysterious, seen though the clouds of memory. I used Studio Calico's July kit Continental for this.

I just finished the next one--you'll see that one next Thursday! That sketch was super easy and fun for me to play with. I'll give you a hint: bright colors.

Thank you again for everyone who voted for me!

Vote!

I am up for Guest Designer at Sketchy Thursdays--if possible, I would really appreciate your votes! Here's my project:

And here's the link to vote:

Sketchy Thursdays design team vote

Voting is through this Tuesday.

Thank you!

New summer pages

I just wrapped up four new layouts. Here's the first two, both using Sketchy Thursdays sketches:


The first is for this week's challenge. I also used Stacy Julian's color combo for the week and the Studio Calico challenge to scrap vacation photos using their collection Documentay. Love the map paper. I did a lot of stamping for this layout: see the hints of grid around the photo block? Also some Ali E stamps (this one and this one) on the journaling and the title comes from half of a Unity stamp. I left out the RV image.

The second is for a chance at August guest designer at Sketchy's. I was to use yellow and make my own embellishment. The homemade embellishment may be a stretch, but here's what I did:

1. I misted the October Afternoon paper with yellow then green, using a sunburst as a mask.
2. I painted inside the masked sunburst, then outlined it with a pen.
3. The sunburst became the home for my title and journaling.

It's hard to see, but I also distressed the page's edges. It looks good, roughing up something otherwise just plain cute.

The next one is a photo I had to scrap before the story went away:

I had found a ton of receipts cleaning out my purse last month, so I took a photo and wrote about what they revealed. Miracle of miracles, I apparently only went to Archiver's once that week! I like the little bits of pink, which I so rarely use. I used Studio Calico's July kit.

The final one is this week's Color Room challenge:

Yet again it has purple, X%&#! I own several purple shirts, but I own even fewer scrappy supplies in purple than in pink. Thank goodness for Primas, which have an endless supply of purple. I also used a purple core paper, sanding it a little to reveal some of the hue. I also sanded it to rough up what was otherwise a fairly neat LO. These kids don't really play neat together, so a little rough is good.

New layouts

I have been plugging away at a few layouts, spending a lot of time on them to add the details I like. Here's the first:

I used this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch for it:

The photo is one I love, taken in Idaho when we went to Derick's mom's funeral. Though the photo was lovely, it was a wee bit fuzzy, so to mask that, I added a few grunge layers take from Fudge Graphics. I also added some flourishes just because. The effect reminds me a little of an Andrew Wyeth painting, especially the barn in the back. Makes me feel like home. The journaling is a little haiku-ish--no great meaning behind the page, just I love the feelings his photo evokes.

The next is this month's Project 12 layout, using Studio Calico's June kit:

Here's the sketch:

Just in case the blog cuts off the right side, you can see the whole sketch here.
I added more photos for it, using the 4x6 template for 2.5 inch square photos. I think it works well. (An interesting note: I just got a new camera, and I had a little trouble with the second picture: the camera kept telling me I wanted to focus on Dominic's face in the lower right and set it on portrait mode, which made it a little fuzzy except his face. Sometimes smart cameras are a little too smart.)

Finally, I did last week's challenge at the Color Room a little late. Here it is:

I took some of my "journaling" from some random thoughts and Facebook posts. A fun idea for what to do with Facebook postings, I think. I also relish getting some good use out of those number brads: how long have I had them? Job well done when old supplies can be used, I think.

Thanks for looking! I had a lot of fun making these pages, different in story as they all were.

Neglected

A few things have reduced my scrapping:

1. lack of photos
2. closet cleaning
3. prepping for publication in a couple places (Woot!)
4. getting ready for Derick business travels

As a result of these "impediments," I haven't used last month's Studio Calico kit much recently. Which is bad, since the new kit comes out this weekend. So I needed to get to work. Irrationally, I like to have used up much of my past kit before I get started on the new one.

Here's three I did these past few days:

This one came together quickly. I used all the blues and browns I could find to scrap about my boys' love of waterfalls. I get it--I loved them too. I almost put the papers in a downward fashion, but it was too literal, so I made it horizontal.

This one is for The Color Room--I am not a pink gal and ignored the last time I saw pink (I think it had purple too, so I can be forgiven, I think). This time I went all out--little girl explosion all over the page. Two weeks ago 2 peas had a sale on Jenni Bowlin Chipboard, and I got them all, thinking to use them as misting masks. And so I did. I loved journaling on the inside of the mask; it added a nice definition.

This is the Sketchy Thursdays sketch for the week. I challenged myself to use the summery kit on a Thanksgiving LO. I think it worked. I added some extra fancy Prima flowers, and I did some typical stitching.

BTW, this LO shows another trick of mine for bad photos--print them small. One of the most helpful things I've done as a scrapper is create wallet photo templates on a 4x6 document to make it easy to print smaller photos. I use them again and again, as You'll see sometime later this week.

Another things this week? Like, how old I feel after cleaning out my closets and rediscovering relics from my youth....

Techniques

I plan on posting some of what I learned about my style doing this May's LOAD, which was super fun. One thing I learned was that I'm not a techniquey gal. I prefer pretty paper and clustered accents to figuring out how to build a flower from my supplies.

Still, every now and then I get all techniquey on a LO. Nothing fancy, mind you, but a little. Take this LO:

I did this one using a sketch at Sketchy Thursdays. As soon as I saw it, I wondered if all the strips of paper had to be paper. I pulled out my fabulous flourish template from Bazzill and used that, then pulled out a new dot stamp from Unity Stamp that I hadn't used yet; I slathered on some paint and added a "strip" of paint.

And in case you can't tell, this is a hybrid LO. I added a few grunge layers to my photo, as well as some flourishes. I mentioned yesterday that changing a photo to black and white helps save many of my blurry photos; I'm also discovering that adding grunge layers masks a blurry photo too. As in this case.

Rainy days

Last week I woke up, looked outside and thought, "Holy cow! We got hail!" Ever the photo documentarian, I took my camera outside, only to discover that what I thought was hail were only really big weeds:

These mushrooms came about because we've gotten a heck of a lot of rain. How much rain? Here's the rain gauge for last week:

Yes, in one week, almost 4 inches. I heard on the news last night that we got 12 days of rain in 14 days of June. (Can I be arrogant and point out my coralbells in that picture? They look so gorgeous.)

Two things happen with rain, aside from a hard time getting out and mowing. One is beautiful gardens:

The other is indoor scrapping time. Here I got started on this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch:

I don't buy themed products much anymore, but I am a slave to Making Memories and October Afternoon's travel papers and Christmas stuff. Here I also used some Collage Press.

This next one is fully inspired by product. The paper has a bird flying in to feed two hungry babies. My mother-in-law was named after a bird, Phebe. I had two photos from summer vacation left over of her feeding my two boys. Perfect combination of product and story.

Honestly, during LOAD I almost killed myself trying to fussy cut paper, but here I am doing it again. With such gorgeous paper, I don't want to cover it up, so to make it shows when I'm using 4x6 photos, the only option is fussy cutting. I'm glad I did, though. It's a pretty LO for my wonderful MIL.

Getting ready for summer

My new Studio Calico kit came in the mail Monday, so I dug in and made a page using this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch.

I used more techniques than I normally do. A short list:

1. I misted, using a chipboard sun as a mask.
2. I misted the chipboard title.
3. I stamped a photo.
4. I stamped starbursts using paint.
5. I added fabric and paper clouds. (Note to self: use less glue.)
6. I stamped the banner border and used watercolor crayons to fill them in.

I love the color. Can't wait for more summer shots.

Vote for me!

Small post tonight--I submitted the following layout last week for guest designer at Sketchy Thursdays:

I am in the running! If you like my layout, please go to the site and vote for me (the poll is in the side bar to the left). Voting closes Tuesday sometime (I'm bad about times--I think it's the evening?).

Regardless, the sketch and challenge left me with a nice layout for my son's birthday.

Big stories, little stories

Since I'm an English teacher, I love to write. Journaling is always important to my layouts, though I don't think I need to write a lot to make the journaling important.

Here's a layout where the story inspired the layout (and the design was inspired by Studio Calico's April kit and Sketchy Thursdays' sketch):

When my friend told me what Dominic had said about the cartoon, it made me chat with him about what he could and could not watch on TV. His lengthy response immediately made me think "We don't need a v-chip, we've got him" and the story came together into this layout.

If you struggle with journaling, I suggest a basic pattern to make it easier (and more meaningful):

1. Detail the story--the who, what, when, where, why, how. You don't need to detail all, just what is important to you.
2. Explain why you want to remember the story. What does it make you think of? Why is it important? What do those details show about you and yours right now?

If you click on my LO, I hope you can read the story and see how I applied those two rules.

Sometimes the stories aren't big, but they are still stories. One day, for example, I was trying to get the boys organized enough to leave and go to taekwondo. Readying the boys was a chore, so I told my husband, "Raising boys is like conducting an orchestra." He laughed and said, "Where no one is looking at you." I knew then that I wanted to record the story, but I didn't think I needed the whole story. Our combined conversation was enough, so it turned into this layout, again using SC's April kit:

I picked a random goofy photo of the boys to go with. Perfectly, they're wearing musical instrument glasses. I call that serendipity.

And sometimes, the story is the photos, so I don't really need journaling at all. Case in point:

I used Studio Calico's Sunday sketch from their blog for this. Not my usual design. I used the multiple photo spots to cut circles from landscape photos from our vacation at Olympic National Park last summer. I usually do a landscape/detail layout with leftover vacation photos. This one worked perfectly with Basic Grey's Origins collection. I think the photos tell a story of what our vacation was like last year, so I did no more than label the photos--with this awesome new punch from EK Success. I almost got my money's worth on that punch just with this layout.

If you have dreaded journaling, try the two steps I gave--give the details and explain why you want to remember them. I think you'll find it's much easier to write, and easier to write well.