Embracing the Pink

Here is the second page I created Scraptastic's October kit, Never Tear Us Apart. Although it features a photo of three boys, my son and his cousins, I didn't hesitate to use pink.

A large swath of pink woodgrain paper was layered over the background sheet of kraft. Corners of the paper are turned in to expose the pink and grey chevron print on the reverse. I love how the mix of soft colors compliments my photo.

A cross-stitcher from way back, I couldn't wait to punch holes and stitch over the heart shape on the woodgrain accent card (cut from one of the patterned papers in the add-on). Thread was chosen in a blue color pulled from the other patterned papers. It really stands out against the dark woodgrain print.

 

Do you see those colorful "diamond" print strips that run across the top and bottom of the pink woodgrain patterned paper? They weren't originally diamonds.

The strips were strategically cut from the hexagon print paper in the kit. The hexagons were too big and busy for what I wanted to do with them. Cutting them down into diamonds was the perfect solution!

When scrapping the guys in your life, do you embrace the pink?

Top Chef

I cook...so we can eat...so that we live. Although I'm a good cook, it's not my favorite thing to do by far. Tommy, however, LOVES to cook. He enjoys the process as well as the results. And yes, he is a good cook, a very good cook. But even if he wasn't, it wouldn't matter, because any meal I don't have to make is a good meal as far as I'm concerned!

The layout I'm sharing today celebrates my husband's love for cooking. I nominate him Top Chef:

A creative title was fashioned by inserting a mason jar wood veneer in place of the letter "O":

Various stickers and cut-apart papers were assembled into a fun little banner that was pop-dotted off the page:

 

This page was created with Scraptastic's October kit, Never Tear Us Apart, and its add-on, including lots of goodies from Crate Paper's Close-Knit collection.

Model Behavior

These boys are such good sports. On this particular day, walking through the French Quarter with my mom and sisters, we were constantly asking them to stand here or there, posing in front of various scenic spots. It could be an interesting wall, an old weathered door, a stately column, etc. They always obliged. Here is Kevin and his cousin in front of a particularly interesting set of doors. Were they set in Europe, I'd swear they dated from medieval times!

Supplies: Patterned paper and chipboard frames-AC Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party, Stickers, chipboard elements, stitching template-AC Amy Tangerine Cut & Paste, Thickers-American Crafts, Mist-Studio Calico.

Now that the weather has cooled off a bit, I'm ready for another photo walk in the French Quarter. Who wants to come along?!

Crazy Days

What happened?! I thought I had everything under control. But then things got a bit out of hand. Sorry about letting this blog go stale. I have excuses. 

First off, I decided to look for a J.O.B., a job that pays, something I haven't really had for over 13 years, since the youngest was born. Yikes! Not fun, especially since I let my medical technology license expire in 2004. Ooops.

Secondly, I am the sole "school bus" driver as we were not able to find a carpool for Kevin this year. It feels like I'm ALWAYS in the car. When he had exams last week (half days) I didn't even bother going home. I dropped him off each day and went to a nearby park to read...or walk...or take pictures, then picked him up a few hours later. 

And there's our crazy evenings...2 hours of swim practice followed with hour after hour of homework. Yes, homework involves me. You wouldn't believe how much science and history I've relearned this year. And math. I'm getting pretty good at algebraic word problems!

So, that's my story. 

I might not have done much in the way scrapbooking...but I have pictures from my walks in the park! Enjoy!

 

Done Is Done

Back in August, Susan Stringfellow created this wonderful design for the sketch challenge at Scraptastic. I loved all the layered papers, the fun little banner and the circle elements, and decided I would use it for one of my kit layouts. 

I kept my page very close to the original sketch, horizontally flipping a few of the design elements, but otherwise following Susan's prompts for the rest. 

My favorite part of the page is the little cluster of elements below the photo: a paper frame, cut apart tags from Elle's Studio, and an exclusive Scraptastic flair.

What I am not so wild about is the cardstock background. Sigh...I should have added mist, paint, or stamping. But done is done! It now has journaling and is in the books...literally.

When you have a scrapbook page that doesn't meet your expectations, do you let it go and just move on? Or do you try to "fix" it?

The Chalkboard Trend

The chalkboard look has become a popular trend. The September Scraptastic kit, Everybody Talks, includes many of these chalkboard inspired pieces and I used several on a recent beach layout. Yep, chalkboard isn't just for school anymore!

I love the contrast of the black chalkboard with bright blue and green colors. A smattering of gold mist and gold-toned die-cut elements add a little shine to the page.
 

 

Turquoise cardstock flowers were created with Susan Stringfellow's Hibiscus Cut File. Curling the petals and popping up their centers gave a nice bit of dimension to the paper flowers, which also mimic the tropical design on my son's swim suit.

Don't you love that hashtag flair!? It's colors are gorgeous!

Chalkboard is such a fun trend, and combining it with vivid colors worked out nicely. I will definitely be trying this again.

Embellishing With Paper

Today I'm sharing two pages that were featured on the American Crafts blog last week. 

On this first page, I took clues from the photo for my color scheme, and ended up with lots of blues, as well as a few distinctive pops of red. A fun accent is the garland that runs across the page, where hearts, punched from one of the patterned papers, were sewn together and popped up with adhesive dots. The title combines a negative die-cut with corrugated Thickers that were embellished with a brushing of glitter glue.

Supplies (all by American Crafts): Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm patterned paper, Zazz glitter glue, twine, Knock-Outs border punch, Precision Pen, and corrugated Thickers.

The second page combines one photo with two decorative elements.

Supplies (all by American Crafts): Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm patterned paper, 5th and Frolic patterned paper, twine, Knock-Outs border punch, Precision Pen, and Thickers.

A layered circular accent features a fussy cut mason jar with heart, branch, banners and twine, a punched border and lots of machine stitching to hold it all together.

The bottom half of the page holds a fringe of woven paper, whose colors bring out those in the photo.

Both of these layouts demonstrate ways to embellish a page using nothing more than patterned paper!