A third layout...

You might be tired of seeing my kids by now...(this is the last layout I will show for awhile, promise!)...and they aren't the only subjects I scrapbook. However, they are the focus of my most recent layouts so that's why you are seeing endless photos of the three girly-girls.

So what else do I scrapbook if not my children? My husband - myself - friends - trips before children - I did an album for my paternal grandparents - I'm currently scrapping my maternal grandfather's WWII photos (which are all straight from the original negatives!) - I did an album of gourmet dishes my brother cooked (he liked to really "do up" the food presentation and do a photo shoot of the dish) - I created an album a few years ago for the sole purpose of going through the grieving process.

Really, anything is material for scrapbooking. I've made layouts just because there was a certain color combination I wanted to try, or a word I wanted to use. I have a layout with nothing but song lyrics on it. There's a LOT of creative freedom with paper, ink, and your thoughts. You get the idea.

The page pictured above was made to celebrate a huge accomplishment for Caitlin, our middle daughter (who's turning 5 October 2! Yikes!). She'd been struggling with going to the dentist and our 4th visit was a winner! You can read the journaling by clicking on the picture.

I cut a couple squares of patterned paper (Creative Memories) and glued them down to my cardstock. I used rub-ons (Basic Grey) to decorate the corners and bring your eye to the photo. I then used Whisper White Craft Ink (Stampin' UP) to stamp the title (Ma Vinci's Reliquary) and to add some contrast along the edges of my page. To add the contrast, I just brushed my ink pad roughly against the cardstock edges. I didn't think about it and it was a very random, imperfect thing. To finish the page, I outlined my photo with a black journaling pen and wrote the story in the lower left quandrant. Caitlin was too tickled that I'd made a whole scrapbook page about her (successful) dentist trip - her smile was the best!

I'll have loads of projects to show you in the coming days. I've spent most of today participating in the Splitcoaststampers Virtual Stamp Night/Weekend (VSN). This was my first time and it was a blast! A different challenge every hour, only 45 minutes to complete it - man, did my creativity just flow! When I can really dig deep into my supplies and play for hours, everything comes so quickly and easily. So make sure to stop back to see what came from my day of being challenged.

Now go create!
-Nicole

The second layout...

This next layout is a very simple one - both in style and in the execution. Simple is unusual for me. I rarely scrapbook simple. I love putting all the details in my layouts, little bits and pieces that draw a person in, making them want to know what I'm trying to say.

So why did I go simple and easy with this one?

Well...it's not a fancy answer, I'm afraid. It's actually a rather practical answer. You see, I was planning a workshop for a hostess who was looking to get into scrapbooking. Nothing will turn a newbie off this hobby faster than throwing gobs of embellishments onto a page. I didn't start out that way and no one else I know did, either!

I decided to go with bright colors and fun pictures since those would make the layout visually stronger. Next, I planned out a simple but cute design using a Simply Scrappin' Kit (this particular kit, Friends & Flowers, was a hostess item in the previous Stampin' UP catalog). In this post here I talked about a class I had using one of the kits to make cards and a co-ordinating card box. This layout above shows how you can use them for their obvious purpose. And the Simply Scrappin' Kits really do make scrappin' simple! There are a LOT of fun choices in the current catalog. I especially like Winter Bright - how fast could you make up those Christmas cards? Each Kit's cover sheet comes with layout ideas for different sized scrapbook pages, cards, and 3-D items, so you have some help getting your creative juices flowing.

This entire layout is from the Friends & Flowers Simply Scrappin' Kit, except for the title. I used the On Board Simon Lower chipboard letters (I left them naked, but you could use Whisper White Craft Ink to stamp little images on them or tie bunches of Ribbon Originals around them). I had already used the "i" and "l" on another layout so, using the leftover punched out space as a template (otherwise known as negative space), I sponge daubered Certainly Celery ink. I tied some linen thread through a button (Fresh Favorites II) then adhered it with a glue dot as the dot of my "i".

I did not come up with this layout all on my own. I saw a similar one in Stampin' Success, the magazine I receive as a Stampin' UP demonstrator. I loved how large the title was and how the photos could really pop on this design. I knew it would be perfect for a workshop.

It really is ok to "steal" inspiration! When I look at just about everything I've created, it almost always began with a technique or color combination or stamped image or something that I saw on someone else' s project. I take that one little idea and it snowballs for me into my own creation. In this case, I had to break out of my usual style and so I turned to trusted sources for ideas - and I really really liked it! Who knew simple could be so nice?

Now go create!

-Nicole

The first scrapbook layout...

(Click any photo for a more detailed view).

Our family room was finally finished about a month ago (after 15 months of being under construction!) and my husband did such a fabulous job of it that I actually want to hang out there now. Pre-remodeling it had this ugly dark brown indoor/outdoor carpet and a hideous wall color (I did a bad job choosing the paint color years back) and it was dark, gloomy, and...well...the room gave me a creepy feeling.

When we remodeled, I told Brian that I wanted a room that "felt cozy" - those were my only directives! And he did it! We kept all the old furniture but the new carpet and paint color and removal of a chair rail and some other finer details have made this a room I WANT to be in!

Even better, Brian said I could move my craft table out here!!!! What does this mean? I craft more! I get to hang with Brian at night AND stamp and scrap at the same time. Before, I was sitting down at my desk maybe once a week because I didn't want to "leave" Brian upstairs (yes, I chose my husband over stamps and ink LOL...I feel so noble LOL). Now I have the best of both worlds!

And I have been stamping of some sort every night (well, I got into a super good book recently and just had to finish that so I did take 2 nights off). My creative mojo is slowly coming back to me...ahh...

I've been waiting to scrapbook this picture of Caitlin for over 2 years. I took it when we were in Vermont for my brother's wedding. I don't scrap events too much...I prefer having something to say with my photos....and so I tend to let my photos sit until I'm verbally inspired. I was determined to use my Scallop punch on a layout and some new paper I'd gotten and so I began flipping through my photos. When I came to this one, "Live out loud" popped into my head.

I just love the doodling trend right now and a white gel pen works wonderfully for that. It allows me to have more creative freedom, too, since I can journal on dark-colored cardstock. This Uniball pen is my favorite because it writes very smoothly with no skipping. When I pick it up, my hand just flows over the page and it's so easy to doodle!

The Well-Worn Alphabet set is another favorite of mine. I got this set during last winter's Sell-A-Bration (a great demo perk: we earn free sets during SAB, any of them from the current catalog!). It's GREAT for masculine cards (and we all know how hard those kinds of cards are to make!). The rough, distressed edges appeal to me, too. Styles like that make it much easier to stamp, since there are no worries about things looking "perfect" - the image itself is not supposed to look perfect! If you've been looking for a great masculine touch to your projects, you can't go wrong with the Well-Worn Alphabet.

I'll have some more scrapbook pages in the next few days so be sure to stop by!

Supplies: textured cardstock (Stampin' UP); Scallop Circle Punch; Lavendar Lace, More Mustard, Pink Passion cardstock (Stampin' UP); patterned paper (Die Cuts With A View); Doodle This set; Well-Worn Alphabet set; Real Red Classic Ink (SU); Whisper White Craft Ink (SU); Uniball White Gel Pen (SU)

Now go create!

-Nicole

Scrapbooking is fun!!!

I've been a scrapbooker for a few years longer than I've been a stamper. I was introduced to stamping not by making a card, but by stamping on my layouts. It amazed me that I could hand make my own embellishments, dress up pre-made embellishments, and stamp out titles and journaling.

Recently, though, I've found myself stamping on everything BUT a scrapbook page. So, I had a couple hours yesterday afternoon and I decided to scrap Alaina's 7 month journaling (I've said many times that I scrap "backwards" - rather than start with photos, I start with what I want to say). You can click on each photo to see it in more detail.

What a wonderful time I had, playing with colors and words and images! I love how anything goes in this hobby: there are no rules, there are no scrapbook police who are going to come "get" me for mixing patterns and writing sideways. Ironically, I never did stamp on this layout (that's another thing about me - I rarely plan the end result of a project - I just go with the flow and am usually pleasantly surprised when I'm finished LOL!).


To make the journaling more interesting to read, I wrote it with my Uniball Signo Gel Pen, following the curve of the lemon on the paper (yes, my cardstock had a lemon image on it). When I ran out of room (I'm wordy, you know LOL) I started writing in the margins of my layout. I love my Gel Pen for writing on darker colored cardstock. It really pops and makes the words much easier to read.





Doodles are popular in the papercrafting industry right now. Of course there are stamped images available (Doodle This and Double-Line Doodles are favorites of mine) if you are convinced you can't doodle or just don't want to. But for this layout, I glued down some paper flowers and used my Uniball Signo Gel Pen to draw swirls and dots between the flowers. To illustrate how much I do not plan my projects, I grabbed a handful of the paper flowers, tossed them on my page, and glued them where they fell.









Here's another page element I wanted to show you. I received a tutorial the other day from another Stampin' UP demo, Erika Martin, on embossing shelf liner. I used the technique to make a card (that will be in my next post) and since I had some scraps leftover, I decided to use them on my layout.

To make these embellishments, I pressed the shelf liner into my Versamark pad, coated it with embossing powder, then melted it with my heat gun. I attached a paper flower to it with a brad, then glued it down with a mini glue dot. Don't you just LOVE this look?

This weekend I challenge you to find something ordinary around your house and find a way to incorporate it into your craft project. Maybe you have some old keys lying around - press them into acrylic paint and then "stamp" on your paper with it. Use kitchen string to create a fun photo frame. At this Tuesday's Technique class, we'll be using wax paper on our cards to make a cool resist.

Now go create!
- Nicole

God's Little Blessings

Once you read far enough into this post, you may be scratching your head at what, exactly, is God's blessing in all this. But you'll see at the end!

We had MAJOR rain all morning - several inches in just a couple hours. In the past, our basement would have flooded but since waterproofing it 15 months ago, we'd had no problems. Well, we'd spent the time and money turning it into a family room and now we were waiting for the carpet to be installed.

I suddenly remembered I'd left the phone downstairs and as I dashed down to get it, that's when I saw a trickle of water coming in under the baseboards. While I'm panicking, two more trickles stream out and it soon becomes a puddle. I look up and see our window wells filled with about 8 inches of water. Now the water is seeping in through the sill and streaming down the brand new walls!

To further complicate matters, I had to pick up Caitlin and Alaina from Mother's Morning Out.

Here's where God's blessings come in - Melissa, the woman in charge of MMO, was so very sweet and kind enough to offer to drive the girls home. I felt very thankful for the relationships I'd formed at St. Stephen's Church over the past three years. Here's another of God's blessings - I didn't really need to go downstairs to get the phone, yet God sent me there so that I would catch the water coming in just as it started, preventing costly damage and more hours of remodeling. And here's yet another blessing - yes, I spent an hour in the midst of the heaviest downpours, using a bucket to bail out our window wells, butEmma, my oldest, was a HUGE help and when the heavy rains ended, so did our water leakage. Praise the Lord!

Did you all have a great Fourth of July? We had a cookout at our home with friends and it was so fun, I wished it wouldn't end! Here's a layout I did about a Fourth of July from 3 years ago.

If you have Stampn' Pastels, they are a great coloring medium for highlighting text, journaling, and titles.

And don't discount the beauty of your own handwriting! I see so much computer-generated journaling and it's far less interesting than handwritten words. If a total stranger is enthralled with your handwriting, imagine how treasured your own words would be to your family!

Now go get creative!