Blast from the Past!

Aside for the occasional piece of cardstock, I haven't spent a dime on scrapbooking supplies since the middle of last year. And it's not a problem. After several years of DT work, my stash is overflowing with papers and embellishments perfectly suited for today's pages. I am out to prove that you don't have to have the latest and greatest to put together fun and pretty layouts. Here are a few of my favorite recent creations.

White space. Always a problem for me...because I want to fill it up! The clean and sparse style is not my forte. But looky here; I did it! And I've put to good use a trio of fabric rosettes given to me by scrapping friend, card-maker extraordinaire, Nancy Thomas. Thanks Nancy! Papers,journaling cards-October Afternoon. Chipboard letters-American Crafts. Ticket-Jenni Bowlin.


Believe it or not, the bright rainbow colored background papers are from an old MME Christmas collection! Topped with overlapping strips of various sized Sassafras papers they take on a brand new look. Sheer letters-Heidi Swapp. Fabric letters-American Crafts.


Assembling this page was a real blast from the past! At the bottom of a drawer of supplies, I found those old acrylic Junkitz letter discs and the metal art dragonfly. The distressed metal was coated with acrylic paint and rubbed off slightly with my fingers. The flowers are a combination of ancient artifacts from Prima, Heidi Swapp, Imaginesce, and a flower punch. Remember those HS sheers?! The mini brads are from one of those famous LM swaps. Sigh. Good times. Patterned paper-My Mind's Eye, Scenic Route. Fabric letters-American Crafts


My old scrapping friends might remember some of the elements on this page. Most are repurposed from old design team work: the Christmas tree and poinsettia from a card, the woven paper heart from an ornament! LM projects reborn!


I can't even remember the company name, but the patterned papers and coaster board elements on this page have to be 7-8 years old. Yikes. Why did it take me so long to use them?!




Stay tuned. You never know what I am going to find and use next!

Top Ten

Thanks for the memories! For over six years, my home on the web was LifetimeMoments.com. Getting to know the wonderful owners of the scrapbook superstore, being invited to be a part of their design team, and working with the other very talented members of the team was was an awesome opportunity. With the sad news that the Lifetime Moments store, message board and gallery would be closing, I spent many hours perusing the site, revisiting my favorites gallery (filled with inspiration from other members of the DT and board), and transferring work of mine (scrapbook layouts, cards, and other paper art projects) back to my computer. I could hardly believe all the pages that I've done throughout the years! I picked out 10 of my favorite projects for 2009 to share once more:

Looking Back

Kevin, the last of five, came into this world on a frigid January morning in 2000. Boy was that life changing...again. The diapers, the colic, the middle of the night feedings!

Julie graduated from Mount Carmel Academy, spent a semester at Ole Miss, and returned home to finish her education. Home sweet home.

We took the kids to Disney World where all 7 of us crammed into a Wilderness cabin! The Murphy bed, waiting at the rope, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear again...and again...and again, Rockin' Roller Coaster with my eyes shut, Laura winning at Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Good times.

Kevin and I attended I to I (Infancy to Independence), a moms and baby/toddler play group. He loved their marble maze, snack time, and swinging and sliding outside. Field trips included the zoo and Sesame Street Live.

We discovered Christian Brothers School, and their motto, "Your sons into young men, young men into Christian gentlemen." We couldn't have chosen a better middle school for Christopher. Go Falcons!

I discovered scrapbooking, and had many of my pages published in various books and magazines. For over 6 years, I designed for Lifetime Moments scrapbook store, while my supply stash grew and grew. :)

Elmwood Fitness Center. Spinning class. Cafe Zucchini. Swim lessons for Kevin.

Tommy discerned and was accepted into the Diaconate formation program for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He attended classes twice a week.

Kevin attended preschool at St. Ann. He returned for his first two days of Kindergarten and then...

Hurricane K atrina devastated New Orleans. We couldn't go home for 3 weeks. 5 kids at 5 schools...all affected. Luckily, we got Kevin into St. Rita's kindergarten class. Christopher attended Christian Brothers' afternoon program (noon-6) held on the Rummel campus until they went back to their City Park campus in November 2005. Brendan was registered for Rummel's morning platoon (6-noon) until Brother Martin returned to New Orleans in January 2006. Laura and Julie signed up for the University of New Orleans internet classes...and liked them so much that they continued to schedule online classes for most of their studies!

I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. I filed, wrote thank-you's, processed applications, and solicited donations of materials for the Construction Manager.

Award trip travels: a Caribbean cruise, Puerto Rico, a Mediterranean cruise, an Alaskan cruise, and the Bahamas! Such luxury at a great price...FREE!

The kids enjoyed vacationing at the beach with their cousins. Riding the waves, kayaking, surfing, sunning, eating, playing Chicken Foot and Balderdash. Poker tournaments late into the night. Uncle Chris' beach hikes.

Two university diplomas showed up in our mailbox during this decade. Neither Laura nor Julie were interested in attending their graduation ceremonies. No matter...they did it!

I emailed and called my congresspersons. I wrote letters to the editor and had a couple published in The Times Picayune. I co-facilitated a social justice "formation class" and the "graduates" formed a Social Justice Committee in our parish. Our first venture was a Fair Trade Fair.

Christopher, while at Jesuit High School, joined the Cross Country team and spent most fall afternoons at practice, Saturdays at meets. He took the PSAT as a sophomore and college mail filled a shopping bag. He took it again as a junior and we're waiting to hear...

Tommy was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate and was assigned to our parish of St. Ann, and to Holy Cross High School as a co-chaplain.

Brendan graduated from Brother Martin High School. He volunteered and trained with the Third District Fire Department and now hopes to get into an upcoming NOFD recruit class. WTG!

Kevin tested for Christian Brothers School in December of 2009. Crossing fingers...

And that's the decade in a nutshell.

Here's to a healthy and prosperous new decade for our family and friends!

Mini ME Albums

I made a these little booklets a couple of years ago to give to my girls. It has pages to record their favorite things in life, people they admire, favorite songs, movies, TV shows, and places to shop, as well as dreams they have and places they'd like to visit. The pages are slipped into little name badge holders which act like tiny page protectors, then they are tied together with ribbons.



A fun little album!

Gift Tags

My friend Wendy made these tags a couple of years ago, and I have been planning to make some of my own. The corrugated cardboard base gives it such great texture! Then pair that with the pretty embellishments and a bit of sparkle and it couldn't be more special! Now to tear up some old priority boxes...

Give Yourself Wings

When Debbie V. first posted her canvas art class, "Give Yourself Wings", at Lifetime Moments, I was intrigued. She claimed that anyone could create these beautiful works for themselves, and that it required no artistic talent or special training, nothing but a willingness to play with paint, paper, brushes, corrugated cardboard, and bubble wrap. Yes, bubble wrap!

Yet, I was so skeptical about my ability, that I created my first piece NOT on an artist's canvas board, but on the back of a priority shipping box! LOL!



My next painting was my own interpretation of Debbie's class sample, with a quartet of whimsical trees. The most amazing part of the painting is the background. I just love the mix of colors, their translucency, and how they show just a hint of the patterned papers beneath the paint. So cool. Can you see the bubble wrap in the trees? :)



Now, I was on a roll and had it in my mind to attempt a portrait, a la Kelly Rae Roberts' style. But once I had that beautiful background, I was really intimidated and thought I was sure to ruin it once I tried to paint a face! Sketching the face out on paper, I found it wasn't that hard. Now...to just transfer it to paint! To make things easier, I cut out the oval face and traced it onto the painted canvas. Filling it in with flesh-colored paint was a bit tedious as the lighter colors take sometimes 3-4 coats to cover well. But once it was done, it was easy to add eyes, lips, a simple nose, eyebrows, and hair. And to my surprise, she actually looked pretty! One of the best tips I took away from Debbie's class was to use charcoal pencil to shade. Here I used it on the face and neck of my portrait. Oh my...that was so easy! And the way the charcoal settled in the ridges of the paint gave such a neat effect!



A cityscape was next.



And I can't wait to do another one. (I think I need an intervention.)

Christmas Planner/Journal

(LM Archives)

30 Days of Gifts 2007 - DAY 9:

Christmas Planner & Journal

by Madeline Fox, LM Design Team



The turkey is but a carcass. Black Friday shoppers have gone and conquered. As December bore down on November, it became clear that I needed a plan. Better yet, I needed a planner! This was my favorite holiday season and stress was not going to get the better hand!




I began with a 7-gypsies Composition Book Naked Journal and patterned papers from Basic Grey’s Figgy Pudding, Dasher, and Blitzen collections. After adhering papers to the chipboard cover, I used book tape to reinforce the corners and spine. My book would become a combination Christmas planner/holiday journal and pages were designed to hold an assortment of journaling boxes, pockets, tags and booklets. The double-sided papers from the Figgy Pudding line were perfect for making library pockets. One design shows on the outside of the pocket with a complimentary design peeking from inside! With so many additions, my planner/journal became quite plump. An elastic cord closes it neatly.

Planner Pages:

* Do You Hear What I Hear? (pocket pages hold CDs of favorite Christmas music)
* Books (pocket page holds booklet listing favorite Christmas books, checklist of those we own)
* Movies (pocket page holds booklet of favorite Christmas movies, checklist of those we own)
* Traditions (library pocket to hold tag(s) for listing and/or journaling about favorite seasonal activities)
* Christmas Card Checklist
* Party List (menus, who’s bringing what)
* Gift Lists (pocket page)
* Receipts (pocket page)
* Holiday Decorating
* Favorite Ornaments
* Favorite Foods (journal box, library pocket)
* Christmas Eve (tag to journal what we did, who visited/where we went, favorite memory, funniest thing that happened)
* Christmas Day (tag to journal what we did, who visited/where we went, favorite memory, funniest thing that happened)

Page embellishments include Basic Grey rub-ons, stickles glitter glue, Queen and company felt fusion, alphabet stickers, ribbon and fiber.

Favorites Book

(LM Archives)

30 Days of Gifts 2007 - DAY 21:

Scrapbook Favorites Book

by Madeline Fox, LM Design Team

Since beginning to scrapbook several years ago, I’ve accumulated quite a few albums filled with bulky layouts. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t get to share these pages with my parents or extended family as often as I’d like. The weighty books are not easy to carry around, so they sit, gathering dust on a bookshelf. I thought it would be nice to share prints of my favorite pages in a more compact and easily portable manner by using a Maya Road 4" x 8" Chipboard Binder Album.



The landscape orientation allows me to display either two layouts side by side or a two page spread on each page. The chipboard pages are thick, and the sturdy binder just begs to be decorated. I chose fun, colorful papers from KI Memories Pop Culture for the cover and embellished it with ribbon, a Magistical Memories Chipboard nested star shape, Fancy Pants Fashion Sense heart pins, and American Crafts Thickers chipboard letters. A little sparkle was added to the title with Stickles glitter glue.



Instructions:

1. Paint edges of chipboard binder with paint to match or coordinate with the patterned papers for the front and back covers. Let dry.
2. Cut patterned paper for front and back covers, 4 ½ inches x 8 ½ inches, and adhere.
3. Cut 1 inch x 4 ½ inch strip from coordinating patterned paper and adhere near spine.
4. Cut patterned paper for title, 2 inches x 6 inches. Mat on contrasting colored paper and trim.
5. Cut a 3 x 7 symmetrical rectangle from lace cardstock. Adhere title block to this rectangle and attach to front of album. Stick heart pins under title block.
6. Tie ribbon around front cover.
7. Paint chipboard star and attach with beadchain to the ribbon.
8. Cut various patterned papers, 4 inch x 8 inch, and adhere to chipboard pages.
9. Mat prints of favorite scrapbook layouts and add to album pages.
10. Apply stickles glitter glue to title chipboard letters on cover and set aside to dry.

Holiday Memory Book

(LM Archives)

30 Days of Gifts 2008 - DAY 8:

Holiday Memory Book

by Madeline Fox, LM Design Team



Easily put together by you and your child, this Merry and Bright Christmas memory album is made from one collection pack of My Mind's Eye "Be Merry" patterned papers with plenty left over for cards, layouts, or other projects. Plain or lined papers provide copious amounts of journaling space (or a place to add photos). Page embellishments are either die cuts from the pack or images cut from the papers, with ribbons, and a couple of chipboard embellishments thrown in. The 3 ring "quarter pint" chipboard album by Basic Grey measures 6 inches by 6 inches. It includes front and back covers and 6 interior pages. I was having so much fun that I cut and added four more! Older children can create this project completely on their own, but younger ones don't need to be excluded. They can paint the chipboard edges of the album, tear papers, glue elements, and provide their adorable handwriting for the page titles.

This book could easily be adapted to using many of the cute holiday paper collections in the store. Visit our Christmas Themed section for ideas!













Basic instructions:

1. Paint white border around all chipboard pages, and around grommets in front and back cover.

2. For interior pages, cut background papers 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 (or piece patterns to make a 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 sheet.

3. For exterior pages (front and back covers and their insides), cut background papers 4 3/4 x 5 3/4.

4. Adhere papers to chipboard pages of album.

NOTE: When adhering papers to pages, adhere only one page at a time so as not to cover up the prepunched holes in the chipboard. Adhere paper to front of page, punch holes, adhere paper to reverse and punch holes again.

5. Add die cuts and other embellishments from your stash (chipboard, ribbons, glitter, etc.) Additional images can be cut from the patterned papers (Christmas trees, snowmen, and squares for presents).

6. Label pages and fill with memories!

Campout Snapshots

(Archiving LM Blog-October 24, 2009)

Over the last few years I've taken all the requisite camping photos...the tent, the campfire, the boys in their Cub Scout uniforms. This year I tried to be less conspicuous and more observant at the same time, and came out with some wonderful shots of my son and his friends. I particularly like the one where three of them are huddled at the end of a dock overlooking the lake, immersed in talk. I would have loved to hear what they were saying!



Instead of trying to get the entire pack during their tug-o-war contest, I focused in on a smaller group to capture their expressions. They were having so much fun.



And Kevin requested this last shot. He remembered posing exactly so a previous year and wanted to recreate the picture. I think he had a great idea! With the rails acting as a yardstick, comparing the two photos will give us an idea of his growth from one year to the next.



Now comes the fun part, deciding on scrapbook papers. There's Camped Out by Bella Blvd., Nutmeg by Cosmo Cricket, and Autumn Bliss by My Little Yellow Bicycle, to name a few. Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Journaling Cards

(Archiving LM Blog Post-October 17, 2009)

They might be called "Elements" by Cosmo Cricket, "Postcards" by Amber Road, "Journaling Cards" by Collage Press, "Cut-Outs" by Bo-Bunny, or simply "Cards" by Fancy Pants. Whatever you call them, these cut-apart cardstock accessories have become one of my favorites when building or embellishing scrapbook pages. Often they are double-sided with one side reserved for journaling...the perfect size for a date and a sentence or two. (And that's just fine for a scrapbooker like me that doesn't always have a lot to say.) Other cards are decorated in designs that coordinate with the patterned papers in the line, sometimes with words or phrases, or a fitting image, the perfect layering accent. Group a few together or use them as a grounding point for flowers or other embellishments. Larger cards can form a base for your title. For more dimension, try roughing them up; distress the edges with ink, tears, and creases. One page of "elements" can dress up several layouts. And they are perfectly sized for cards.

These two pages are embellished with elements from the Cosmo Cricket Snorkel collection:

No Photos, No Problem

(Archiving LM Blog Post-October 9, 2009)

I am too reserved and shy when it comes to taking photos in a restaurant. Not only am I not comfortable, but I'd get serious groans from the kids. Still, when we stopped for lunch on our way to Florida, I should have at least pulled out the camera to capture a picture of the restaurant sign. Unfortunately, I failed to remember until we were bumping down the street away from Felix's...and there's no going back when the beach is beckoning. No problem! Even without accompanying photographs I scrapped a page, a DOUBLE page, about our road trip to the beach, and had a GREAT time being creative without the constraints photos would bring. Try it! Use a large title or an elaborate paper piecing, and tell your story with journaling. Having such a unconstrained area in which to play can unleash your creativity! But next time, I WILL try to get at least a couple photos of our stop.

DIY Flower Leaves

(Archiving LM Blog Post-August 17, 2009)

There was something missing. I had layered three patterned papers with a journaling block, ticket stub, tag, big plaid heart, little bird, and three flowers. And in the middle of each bloom were fancy flower centers: a Maya Road chipboard button, a Jenni Bowlin milk cap, and a star sticker, each brushed with a generous amount of KI Gloo. Pretty flowers, yet there was still something missing! Then it came to me. Why not add leaves? Never mind that I didn't have any ready made ones on hand. Dimensional leaves would add a bit of extra color to the page and finish it off nicely. I had the perfect paper at hand. The backside of one of the sheets in the Collage Press collection that I had used for my layout was a nicely muted green. I went about cutting several little leaves and defined their edges with inking. Then I creased each one down the middle, tucking them underneath the flowers, adhering only the inner edge to the page so that they would remain dimensional. There you go! A quick and easy homemade flower accessory!

Cross Craft Inspiration

(Archiving LM Blog Post-August 7, 2009)

Quilting was a hobby I dabbled in during my pre-scrapbooking days and my biggest project was a queen-sized, hand-pieced, hand-sewn Dresden plate quilt for our bed. I loved sorting through the quilt shop's printed fabrics, picking out just the right ones for my design. After I cut the various fabric into the hundreds of "petals" I then had the task of arranging them into individual sets of 19. I would play with the pieces until I found that "perfect" arrangement, stitch them together, and then go on to the next plate and find another harmonious pattern, each one different from the last. I had the same sort of feeling as I arranged and rearranged patterned paper squares for a recent scrapbook page. After punching out dozens of squares from scraps, I placed two rows of five across the top of a piece of cardstock. I went through so many combinations and arrangements, shuffling them around until I had what felt right for my photo...then hurriedly adhered them to the page (before I rethought the arrangement and changed them around again)!



Pleased with the finished project I then tried a variation on the design and created a total of 4 pages using that same little square punch! It was sort of like quilting again, but without the needle and thread! A fabric design also became the inspiration for the cute little crab on my page. The piece de resistance were it's button eyes! I knew that I could create something similar with paper. Forgoing the sewing machine, I gave my paper squares and paper crab pen-stitching to achieve a similar look. It was so much quicker using the pen. ;)