Scraplift Sunday

[Posted on the Paper Issues bog 1/12/20]

Yay for today...it's Scraplift Sunday! 

I wasn't much for scraplifting...until I began working 10 hour nights, a week on, a week off. Those "on" weeks were killer. I had no energy and little time for scrapbooking, but wanted to do something! Enter Paper Issues' Scraplift Sunday challenges. Boy were they perfect, a great jump-start for my drained brain. 

Here is my Scraplift Sunday page for today:

This amazing layout from Mary-Ann was my inspiration:

I LOVE how she incorporated all those papers and die-cuts from November's Swag Bag, grouping everything at the bottom of the page. The woodgrain background gives it white space without white! 

MY page uses papers and embellishments from Pink Paislee's Together for Christmas collection. I sorted through all the gorgeous die-cuts, and patterned papers in classic Christmas colors, then assembled a base for my photo:

Staying true to the original orientation, I placed it all on a background of gold dots on white, then started tucking in die-cuts and fussy cut flowers wherever I could. 

And there you have it. Who can argue with letting someone else do the design work, when all you have to do is pick out papers, photos, embellies, and assemble? 

If you play along, be sure to post your page on PIFF FB page for a chance in PI's monthly drawings, and on Instagram tag @PaperIssues and #ScrapliftSunday so we can oooh and aaah.

Can't wait to see what YOU create!

Use the code, MADELINE, in the Paper Issues store for 20% Off of your order.

Evolution of a Sponge

A year ago I had him matted and framed. Before that, there was this:

 

I thought it would be interesting to look back at his progression.

Who knew all those swim magazines, years and years of Splash and SwimSwam, 

would be put to such good use?!

Look closely and you'll see references to the sport, 

swimming words, the bottom of a pool, bits and pieces of lane ropes

...and the occasional fish. 

He has the most beautiful eyes! 

Forget that pineapple under the sea. I want him to live on my wall.

Spongebob! Squarepants!

Out Chasing Rainbows

When life gets hectic, scrap lift! Yes, I've become a scrap lift aficionado. Taking inspiration from a well designed page is a great way to get busy with paper!  

This page is inspired by a Scraplift Sunday page on the Paper Issues blog and Instagram. I LOVED the concentric circles design. I have plates; I can trace and cut their outline...LOL! But before I got out the dishes, I noticed that the PI Store had a cut file created for this very challenge. 

What could be easier?!

I used ALL the bright papers, rainbow embellishments and colorful vellum leaves for this one! 

I also noticed that the scraps from this project could be assembled for more eye-catching circle-designed pages. How cool!

That time the movie people came...

Do you love snow globes as much as I do?! Shake them up and you have your own little snowfall, any time you like. Here in south Louisiana it's probably the only bit of snow we'll see this time of year...or ANY time of year! So I was particularly excited to be able to create my own snow globe out of paper. I began with a woodgrain base, added a blue sky background circle, fussy cut house and wood veneer snowflakes, then embellished it all with glittery fiber and a layered paper flower. So fun!

What's really fun is the story this page tells...that time the movie people came to tour our house, location scout, producer, director, and someone else. It was about a week before Christmas when we got a postcard on our door. I was immediately skeptical:

After checking with the Film New Orleans commission, I got back in touch with the location scout and made an appointment for him to show our house...the next day! YIKES!

While we weren't chosen, I was still so very happy to have a sparkly clean home for Christmas! (All except my scrap space...sigh.)

Use Those Journal Cards (A Step-By-Step for MCS)

(This tutorial was first published on the My Creative Scrapbooks blog.)

Today I'm sharing a fun travel page, assembled using the July main kit from My Creative Scrapbooks. And believe it or not, the page was created with only two sheets of patterned paper: one for the background and a second for everything else!

Now I'll tell you exactly how I did it!

First, I gave my background a little spritzing with 2 colors of mist-one light, one dark:

Then I strategically cut a rectangle slightly smaller than my photo, in the exact spot where I would place the picture.

I placed my photo exactly where I wanted it to end up and pencil marked its outline:

Then I cut inward approximately 1/4 inch from the pencil marks, removed and flipped the rectangle of paper:

Now I had a rectangle of green print, the reverse of my background page. I thought it would make a great photo mat, but, being slightly smaller than the photo itself, I needed to place it off-center or somewhat askew as shown below:

Next it's on to fussy cutting. The sheet of travel journal cards holds so much potential; they just needed to be set free! So, after cutting apart each of the rectangles, I fussy cut various elements from them: the globe, heart, airplane, and camera. Then I created banners from some of the other pieces. 

 As you can see, even the smallest of scraps came in handy for the upper banner:

When I cut apart the map-print heart and phrase below it, I was left with a stencil which I used to cut a second heart for my page:

With baker's twine, I assembled my banners, gluing the flags on the upper banner, but punching holes and threading the twine on the lower one. Other details were added, including the fussy cut airplane and enamel dots.

 That second cutout heart became part of a cluster that overlaps the photo:

And finally, a title was created with the kit's alphabet stamp set:

Here it is again, all from two sheets of paper and elements from My Creative Scrapbooks July main kit. 

Boy Pages from the MCS June kit

So many patterned papers have pink...and flowers. Not really a problem when scrapping myself, except I also scrap boys: grown up boys, and an almost grown up (teen) boy. So this is how I handled creating two "boy" pages with a recent My Creative Scrapbooks main kit.

For the first, I went with a black, white, and yellow color scheme. I splattered white cardstock for my background, cut leafy wreaths (a My Creative Scrapbooks cut file) from off-white cardstock, used two patterned papers from the kit and added ticket stubs from my stash. The music-themed washi tape wrapped around the wood veneer jar added another touch of black. Finally-a white on white title. It's more minimalistic than some of my pages...but I LOVE it! These colors worked so well with my photo!

The second page, is truly monochromatic. Light blue, dark blue, any shade of blue was welcome here. And blue of course worked perfectly with a photo of my swimmer doing "what makes his soul happy"! Again I used mist to transform plain white cardstock for my background then cut papers into strips and banners, adding enamel dots and fussy cut clocks. A simple title from the kit's pack of Thickers completes the page.

Til next time...

Love My Life-Step By Step-MCS June Kit

My idea for this, the first page that I created with My Creative Scrapbook's June main kit, was to piece together a quilt-like center portion from all the beautiful patterned papers in the kit. But first, I created a background with a bit of spray and several splatters of mist on white cardstock:

Next I cut 2-inch squares from the patterned papers that I chose. A paper punch would have made this so much easier! ;)

I also wanted to use a couple of thin strips from this paper:

Specifically, these. (You'll see!)

 Here are my strips and squares, inked and arranged in the center of my background paper:

After adhering my photo to the upper right hand side,

I began my title on the lower left, using a wood veneer word from 1Canoe2,

then finished the phrase with Thickers (all included in June's main kit):

Layered chipboard pieces enhance the title,

and add dimension to the page elsewhere:

One of the patterned papers in the kit was made to be cut up into journaling blocks, embellishing strips and 2x3 inch cards. Here's how I chose to use them:

Fussy cut butterflies and enamel dots along with the words cut from the cards make a cute little cluster next to my photo:

The cut out phrase from one of the 2x3 cards was the perfect size for a banner:

The end result: a pretty uncluttered page. I actually find that I LIKE the white space along the top and bottom! Eventually, I 'll add a little journaling to the bottom left...when I think of what I want to say! ;)

And there's the finished page!