Friday, March 29, 2013

Use it or lose it

So far, I've not gotten as many pages done with my kits as I would like.  I've done four, two from each kit, but I want at least four from EACH KIT EVERY MONTH.  That was my challenge to myself when I signed up for these kits.  If I was going to spend the money, I had better use the suckers! If I don't reach my goal for two consecutive months, I am stopping the subscriptions.  I couldn't justify it, you know?

 I keep getting trying to add more and more projects on top of what I already intend to do.  I want to do it all, but I just can't.  Well, not and actually have a life that includes coming out of my basement.  I keep seeing so much inspiration on blogs and in the galleries and wonder how people find the time in their days to get it all done.  If I focus on creating a project, the dishes suffer.  If I try to catch up on blogs (or blogging), Becca watches Umi Zoomi for longer than she should.  If I stay up late to get my creativity out of my head, the next day I suffer, from lack of sleep.  How do you make it all work??  I'm sure there is a lot of advice out there on how I could manage my time better and how to do five things at once, but I think the solution is extending the number of hours in a day.  That wouldn't mess up the rest of the world or anything and would really help me out.  Okay, okay, maybe not.  Maybe I should learn to prioritize my projects, maybe it'll be okay if the dishes sit for a little longer, maybe it'll be okay if everything doesn't get done right this second or even today. Maybe I should stop stressing about it and just live.  Oh, wait.  There.  See?  If I ramble long enough, I can usually answer my own questions.

Now that I am done with my whining, I will post what I've done so far.  I had tried with the 1st kits to use only what was sent in the kit.  With these kits, I am adding things in left and right.  What's the point of my stash if I can't use it??

 Here are the layouts from the Gossamer Blue kit:


This 1st page is one of the two I entered in the Glitz design contest, using mostly what was in the kit.  I also posted this one already, but it's fun and pretty.  :)


 
This page was based on a member scraplift challenge.  So fun to browse through what everyone had posted and see all the amazing talent!! I chose a layout by Jill Keller.  She has great layouts.


Here are the layouts for Studio Calico:


So, this kit came with a mask and mist.  The mist I was okay with, but the mask is a little challenging for me.  I NEVER use them.  Don't really know why, I definitely like the results.  A little messy, just like me.  :)



I started thinking about how modern/cool/hip the masks design was and immediately thought of this pic of my brother.  You know, since he's playing Magic and it's so cool.  (sarcasm alert!!)  Though, who am I to judge when I have thousands of pieces of paper in my basement?  I wanted the layout to reflect the mask, though, hence all the geometric shapes and bold patterns.

There you go.  I will post the others as soon as I can get them done.  And I am going thru and doing a small spring cleaning in my scrap area and will show where I work soon.  

Thanks for stopping by :)

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Glitz and Gossamer Blue Challenge

I was so excited when I heard Gossamer Blue and Glitz were teaming up for a challenge.  I loved the Glitz product included in the March kit and had been drooling over all the gorgeous Glitz papers and embellies I'd seen on Two Peas.  So, when the challenge was announced, I was definitely in!

I used some stuff from the kit, some things I'd purchased and a few things from my stash.  I came up with 2 (YES 2!) pages to enter in the contest.  I was thinking I'd just do one, but, well I'll explain that in a bit.  Here is the first page.



It all started with that saying..."You can never have too much happy".   It just hit my life right on the mark.  Yes, we have bad days, but they are majorly outnumbered by the good.  My life is good and I am happy.  And when Becca was born, it just added a whole new heap of happiness onto my already full happy plate.  So of course I needed to use pictures of her on the layout.  I found these pics from spring last year and thought they went perfectly with the colors in the papers.

 I used a couple Glitz papers and some My Minds Eye (in the March kit) for the background.  Then I cut out lots of cute little embellishments from the papers and used the Glitz giant rhinestones (LOVE THEM!).  I added a Dear Lizzy die cut (happy), MME wood banner and enamel dots and a couple wood veneer arrows from Studio Calico.  Here are some close ups of the embellishment clusters.


 For the wood veneer pieces, I changed the color to match the woodgrain in the papers by adding some Tim Holtz distrees ink.  I knew I wanted to use those pieces and was just lucky that I had an ink that matched.


Now for the second page.

I'm kinda lovin this.  :)  So, as I was going through and using different papers from the 8x8 Glitz paper pack, I noticed how cute all the strips were at the top of the papers.  I needed to use them!!  I used a couple on the 1st page, but set a bunch aside to use later on.  I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with them.  Then I saw this and this on Two Peas and was totally inspired.


I knew, too, that I wanted to use up some of my Thickers on a long title.  I had to dig a bit, but I think these ended up working well.  I hope I did the math right.  :)  I used an older picture, but it was what I had sitting on my desk, so in it went.  This whole page was a kind of wing it and hope it works.  And, just so you know, sewing on the pages still gives me crazy anxiety, but I'm learning to cope.  :)

 

Well, that's it for now.  I'll post some more projects I did for All Ready Memories, soon.  Oh, and of course all the new stuff I'll make with my Gossamer Blue and Studio Calico kits.  Hope I can use them up before the next ones get here.

Thanks for looking :)



Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A New Venture

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing"


I'm sure somebody, somewhere could take credit for that saying, but I couldn't tell you who it was that said it first.  I just copied it from my new scrapbook paper :).  It certainly rings true for me however, because I am going on an adventure.  My friend is starting a new business and has asked ME to design for her company!!  So excited for what's to come! Definitely an adventure.

The company is a papercrafting kit business called All Ready Memories.  You will be able to purchase kits with supplies (and instructions) to make different projects.  I will be designing mostly scrapbook pages, with a few cards and other projects thrown in here and there.  One really cool thing she came up with was having different "levels" for the kits.  For example, I did a couple pages that have three different designs, but all with the same pics and papers.  One was simple, with very little embellishment, that would take someone about 5 minutes to put together.  One was intermediate (I guess that's the right word) with the same kind of layout, but more attention to detail.  The last was advanced, with lots of details and techniques and a more modern layout. So, anyone from beginner to full-time scrapper could get these kits! I know there are a couple of other people designing for her too, and I am excited to see what they come up with.  

I will post a link to the site and pics of the projects once it is up and running.  We are looking for a kick off date of April 6th (so soon!).

Yay fun!!

and because no post is complete with out a pic...

My little lovely with her princess book and her beads.  

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Project 12 February

I really struggled this month.  I don't know quite why, but this layout took FOREVER.  I kept changing my mind on which papers to use, then once I had (mostly) decided, I kept moving things around over and over again.  UGH!  It probably didn't help that I was sick and trying to do this layout, either.  BUT, I did finish it.  And I like it, so it was all worth it.  :)


Here's the whole two page spread.  I'm not crazy about the title block, but the rest I'm good with.  It took some looking to find a white based paper to go with this Photo Freedom Echo Park line, but I finally found this pink pattern from Amy Tangerine Yes, Dear.  I added in a couple of yellows from the new Sweet Girl line, too (also by Echo Park...I kinda love them).  Those were more cream based, but didn't look too bad with it.  Lastly I added in some fun die-cuts from Maggie Holmes.


I wanted to add a lot of journaling this month, so I took my friend Amy's idea and added in a 6x12 insert.  It really let me say everything I wanted to say.  I may have to do this every month.


I used the back of that 6x12 insert to add even more pics of Becca.  I had a lot of cute ones of her this month.  Yes, I'll probably scrap them on a layout, but wanted to include them here, too.  And since it is the month of love, I included a list of what each of the kiddos loves right now, plus pics from this month.

So that's it.  A struggle, like I said, but done.  Thanks for looking!  :)

Monday, March 11, 2013

Sign me up, Scottie

I signed up for the Gossamer Blue monthly kit! :)
I didn't really clear it with hubby, but he'll understand, right?  When I start filling up my albums with gorgeous pages for our future grandchildren and great grandchildren to ooh and aah over, he'll get it.  I'm hoping anyway.  For now, I'll just have to control my impulse spending when I go into Heaven (aka Archivers) and any other store really. Spending $200 a month on scrapbooking supplies just isn't something I can justify, but $100 I can swing.  (covers both kits and a few extras).  We'll see how he takes it.
I, on the other hand, am super excited!!! I know that the kits will be awesome and a challenge.  That's what I do to keep my brain from turning to mush.  Creatively challenge myself.
In other news, I've lost 6 pounds since the beginning of lent.  :)
I'll attribute that to no fast food, no candy, and A LOT more water.  Today, I thought I'd start adding in some exercise.  That should help.  At least it would help more than that nap I wanted to take.   Here's my proof! 

Friday, March 1, 2013

I'm Challenged

But you knew that already

I've been soaking up every challenge I've had time to read about.  Some on Gossamer, Studio Calico and on Two Peas.  I've got sketches and notes all over the place, scribbled on anything I could reach at that moment.  One may have been on a bill and another on one of the kids', luckily already graded, homework.

I am in the middle of a "hobby-life" reboot, I think.  Things just seem to grab a hold of me and don't let go until I get them down on paper.  I have dreams about how my layouts should look.  It'd be nice if Ryan Gosling showed up every once in awhile, but no...all about paper.  It's almost like scrapbooking is my job now.  When I have 5 minutes to spare, I'm down at my desk.  I work on something EVERY DAY.  And...I like it.  I like the way I feel; like I've accomplished something important.  I know, I know...it's not like I'm just sitting on my ass normally.  Raising this beautiful little girl does take some work.


But I have something tangible.  Something I can show to someone else and say, "look what I did!"  My work with the kiddos won't be done for years yet.  :)

Anyhoo, I was trying to use up the last little tiny bits of my Studio Calico kit, and was bombarded with ideas about a completely different page inspired by several challenges for the 213 in 2013 on Two Peas.  Love this series of videos, btw.  They are just awesome inspiration.  It really helps see how just a couple prompts spark something amazing.  And, not that I think my stuff is amazing, but this is prally a good place to show my page.


So, a few of the prompts were:  use bright colors, use water color or mists in a new way, and use gesso on your layout.  Celine Navarro showed how she uses a plastic card to apply the gesso, no brush strokes.  So I tried it, with mixed results.  I was probably doing it wrong, though.  Then I used water color paints to add the green/aqua to the bottom right of the page.  That I had fun with.  I can see me painting on many more layouts.  :)  And finally, you can't get brighter colors that Amy Tangerine Sketchbook.  Neon bright, love it!  Oh, oh!! I almost forgot the best part...I, me, all by myself, sewed on my page, with my own flippin sewing machine.  I threaded it all myself and everything.  HOORAY!!!  I only had a slight panic attack doing it.  So proud of myself!  (Working on trying to overcome my fear of the sewing machine.  I wanna make cute stuffs!! )

So there you go...in between a sick baby girl and running all over this city this week, that's what I've done so far.  I'll post it on Two Peas, too.  I worked to hard for other peeps not to see it.  :)