Scrapbook Layout with a Grid Design

I'm not sure why, but I rarely use a grid design on my layouts, but always love how clean and neat they turn out.

For this layout, I used my Studio Calico February Kits.  First, I chose this photo of my son Cole from 2011.  He is always smiling and happy since he was a baby.  Next, I cut a piece of black & white striped patterned paper down to 6x12 and used this as the base for the grid design.  I went through the  cards in the Project Life Kit and found these 3 that i wanted in my layout.  One card for journaling, one for a sub-title/quote, and one with a heart that I could embellish even more.

I layered a few pieces of plain white card stock behind my photo to help it stand out from the patterned papers.  I found the Crate Paper "Poolside" woodgrain paper in my stash and adhered it behind the layered photo.  I then added my title using the gorgeous peach puffy alphas from the Scrapbook Kit.    

I wanted to layer up the heart Project Life card to make it pop.  I used a wood veneer conversation heart from the kit and glued it to a blue heart that I punched from my scraps.  Behind that, i hand cut a couple more hearts out of a glassine bag and adhered it with pop dots.  

 The gold chipboard heart arrow is from the Crate Paper "Hello Love" chipboard sticker sheet.  I stuck that to a piece of scrap paper before gluing it down.  

I added my journaling to the project life card and added a charcoal banner sticker from the Planner Kit.

I added the date to the quote card with a Studio Calico Roller Date Stamp using my favorite Studio Calico Color Theory "Mint Hint" ink pad.  

I then used the Hello Forever Stamp Set in the Kit on a piece of white card stock and cut it out and stuck it in the layers behind my photo.  I also used a few vellum heart stickers above my photo to add a bit more color.  

I scattered and few tiny wood veneer hearts, added a couple word stickers, and splattered some gray ink to complete my layout.  

I hope you enjoyed this layout and would love to here about your techniques when it comes to grid designs.  I think I'm going to try and use grids more often.  They come together so easily and turn out so great.  Have a great weekend!

Island Life and a new Scrapbook Process Video

I absolutely love living on a tropical island.  I'm originally from the Philadelphia area and my husband is from the mountains in North Carolina.  He and i moved to the Florida Keys about 6 years ago and knew it was our forever home.  We are lucky enough to wake up every morning and see water surrounding our tiny island.  We truly appreciate our surroundings.  This got me thinking........what does Cole think?

He was born here and this is all he knows.  This is his normal everyday life.  I wonder if he will appreciate it when he's older.   

I made this page for my new Youtube Series: STUDIO CALICO DAY.  Every week I will use my current Studio Calico Kits and take inspiration from the Studio Calico Blog.

This week, I used a Sunday Sketch, a Weekly Challenge, and a Tutorial.

Here's the Sketch:

The Weekly Challenge was to use a bold, floating title.   I was very inspired by a Tutorial by Marcy Penner.  She made a Confetti pocket along the bottom of her scrapbook page.  She is awesome.  

I made a video that you can check out here:

A Scrapbook Page Inspired by a Song

Good morning fabulous people! (sung in my best opera voice)

Is your morning as beautiful as mine?  

I found this awesome challenge blog and just had to tell y'all about it.  It's called Scrap it with a Song and it blows my mind.  Every month they post a challenge involving a Pop Song and a Rock song.  The idea is to create a paper project using inspiration from one of the songs.  Inspiration can come from the lyrics, the title, the theme, or  whatever inspiration strikes while listening to the song.  I think this whole concept is genius.  I mean, music can alter my mood on any given day, so why not look to it for creative inspiration?

This month's Pop Challenge Song is Katy Perry's ROAR.

Here is my creation:

I was inspired by the title of the song. "roar".  Sometimes when my son, Cole, is not getting his own way, he lets out this ridiculous roar.  He is a total actor and does anything in public to get what he wants.  He's so cute though.  

 I also usedStudio Calico's Sunday Sketch for inspiration.  Here's a peek at their layout sketch:

Thanks for reading.  Do you get creative inspiration from music?  

Two More Holiday Layouts

Howdy Folks.

How is everyone out their in Blogland?

I'm doing just fine.  I lost the bedtime war with my son this evening.  

I waved my white flag and surrendered.

He was way too smart and powerful for me tonight.

Looking back, I never had a chance.

Complete Defeat.

Oh well, tomorrow is a new day.

On to other news, I made a couple more Holiday layouts over the weekend.  The first layout I made is of a sweet little family we met shortly after we moved to the Florida Keys.  They are so awesome and I'm grateful to have them in our lives:

I used a sketch from a blog I found while browsing called Let's Scrap.  They have lots of inspiration and post new sketches all the time.  I used Sketch Challenge # 12-31-14:

It's the first double page sketch that I've ever worked with, but it was so much fun to change it to suit my style.

   The second layout is of my son and I hanging ornaments on our tree this Christmas.  The holidays were so fun now that he understands Santa Claus and was filled with holiday spirit:

I used Studio Calico's Sunday Sketch:

Thank you for visiting me today.  Happy Scrapping Homies!

My 2015 Scrappy Happy Resolutions

Happy New Year!

Before I go any further, I need to be honest.  I have never been a big New Year person.  I think because I'm still partially in a Christmas mode and sort of frustrated with the holiday decorations, trees, and boxes that need to be filled and stored. However, this year has been a little different.  I found myself thinking back over 2014 and realizing what a great year it has been for our family.  I think scrapbooking literally shows me everything we have done together and how much my son has grown.  I now can honestly say that I appreciate the New Year and the fresh-start-feeling it brings.

Yesterday I started making a few "New Year Resolutions Lists" including: Our Home Cleaning & Decluttering, Blog Goals, Scrapbooking, and Our Home DIY Projects.  I'm only sharing one with you today. Here they are in no particular order:

My 2015 Scrappy Happy Resolutions

• Put finished layouts in page protectors then into albums.
• Journal more. 
• Try a 2015 "Keeping up with the Joneses" album.
• Stick with a monthly Project Life approach.
• More Mixed Media and Artsy stuff.
• Scrap more about me & my childhood.
• Scrap more about my husband & his childhood.
• Scrap more family members, near and far.
• Make Youtube process videos.
• Make my own sketches.
• Go through my Studio Calico online classes again, start to finish.
• Use more stash items.
• Budget my purchases
• Schedule my creative time.
• Apply for design teams.
• Use more Project Life cards on my layouts.
• Organize my scrap area.
• Build a shelf for my albums.
• Organize photos on computer.
• Print photos at the beginning of each month.
• Learn more about photography.
• Actually send out cards and mini album gifts ON TIME!
• ALWAYS HAVE FUN!!!

This this seems a little intimidating, but I keep telling myself that I have an entire year to complete these things.  And even if I don't do all of them, at least I may improve with a few new ideas.  What is your #1 Scrappy Happy Resolution for 2015?

Working with a Sketch

Every Sunday,  Studio Calico has a Sketch Challenge.

Every Sunday I participate in the Sketch Challenge.

Here is the layout sketch from last Sunday:

When I first started scrapping, I rarely used sketches.  I thought of it as cheating, like it meant that I wasn't being creative enough or something.  Truth be told, maybe I am being less creative when I use a sketch, but I don't really care.  If I am being too critical of myself and my creativity, I suck all the joy out of my favorite hobby.  What I like to do is keep it simple.  When I sit down to create and I don't have a clear vision of what I want to do, I reach for my folder of sketches.  I refuse to sit there and rack my brain for an original idea for hours.  I simply flip through my folder of sketches a pick one.  That's it.  Simple.

Here is my take on the sketch:

For this layout, I stuck to the ordinal sketch pretty closely because I loved it.  Sometimes when I use a sketch, it looks nothing like it.  I normally use sketches for inspiration instead of a blueprint.  But because I liked last week's sketch so much, I used it more like a blueprint for my design.  

Do you like to use sketches? Or do you think of sketches as cheating?  

Using Flowers and Pink on BOY Pages

 In the beginning of my scrapbooking hobby,  my BOY pages were kept masculine.  However, I am drawn to girly crafting supplies. I love pink papers, flowers, hearts, diamonds, glitter, basically.........anything that screams girly girl.  So, here's the problem with that:  I live in a house filled with boys. Well......except for one of our dogs.  Those beautiful girly papers and dainty little doilies would call my name and beg for me to use them.......but I resisted the urge because I thought it just wasn't right to use them with pictures of my son and husband.  And I usually only scrap photos of them because I'm behind the camera 99% of the time.

I don't remember the exact date that I caved in.  I threw all my rules out the window and just went crazy.  The photos of my husband and son were no longer safe.

They were getting GIRLI-fied.  (sorry boys):

Let me just tell you:  I've been having so much more fun with my new "NO RULES" mindset.  My creativity took on a whole new meaning.  I didn't feel trapped in a "boring masculine-only" box.  I am finally free.

The Studio Calico Blog has Challenges hosted by members  in their Message Forums.  For December's LOAW #4  (use pink) I made a layout:

Do use use feminine touches on your boy layouts?

Studio Calico Blog: a Sketch and a Challenge

I played along with two Studio Calico Blog challenges this week.  First up is the Sunday Sketch  challenge:

I choose the scrapbook sketch to inspire me this week:

Now, this sketch is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I went for it anyway:

Though not my normal style of scrapping, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I like how nothing really makes sense with my layout, but for some reason, comes together perfectly.  Funny how that works out.

Studio Calico's Weekly Challenge is to use tons of layers.  I am the Queen of Layering, well, self-appointed Queen.  

Here is my take on the Weekly Challenge:

I went crazy with my layering.  Behind my photo, I used: copy paper, patterned paper, project life cards, doilies, and die cuts.  I don't follow any design principles when I scrap.  I just stick stuff in places where I think it looks good.  To finish off my layout, I added wood veneer, enamel dots, white mist splatters, and a few other embellishments.  

For both of the challenges I used Studio Calico's Park Ave. Kits.  This has been my favorite kit since Camelot. I love how every piece works together.  

What challenges have you been taking part in?  I would love to here all about it.

Layering with Transparencies

This month's Studio Calico Kits were overflowing with transparencies.  I love transparencies, but I sometimes have trouble using them because I love to layer so much and it usually ends up looking to cluttered.  But this time, I did something a little different.   Here is a page I created with this months Studio Calico kits.:

To get the clean, layered look I was after, I simple backed some of the transparencies with copy paper and layered away.    The layer directly on the background I left alone, no copy paper needed.  I added a few buttons, sequins, and a title and my layout was finished.  Very Simple.  

Do you like to layer with transparencies?  Do you have any tips or tricks?  I would love to here from you.

WARNING: My Cat Used My Layout as Her Bed!

I know, I know.......it's my fault, not my cat Lilly's fault.  I left my finished page lying on the dining room table and apparently it looked too cozy for her to pass up.  Lesson learned.  So after I dusted all the white fur from my masterpiece, this is what I'm left with:

It could have been worse.  She could have used it for a scratching post I suppose.  I can deal with a few wrinkles.  Just try to ignore them if at all possible. Okay, moving on..........

I used my Studio Calico Park Ave Kits to create my layout.  It's my favorite kit so far. 

I made this layout with a challenge by Marcy Penner  and Stephanie Bryan called Creative Jumpstarts 05.  They are some of my favorite scrappers ever!  The challenge was to use a BIG title.  Big could mean large letters, many letters in your title, and I suppose you could just use the word BIG.  

Have you used a big title for a project lately?  

Adding Dimension with Paper

I love adding dimension to all of my layouts.  My favorite way to do this is to add a bunch of layers behind my photo.  The first set of layers I add is actually 2-4 sheets of white copy paper behind the photo.  I like this method because it doesn’t take away from the photo and it creates more white on my layout.  I love white.  Then I like to pick a patterned paper to mat the photo and copy paper on.  In this case it was the lime green paper that came in the Studio Calico's Park Ave. kits. After that, I like to have fun and find ways to be creative!  

 Studio Calico's Weekly Challenge was to add dimension using paper.  After my basic layering techniques, I then added more patterned paper from the kit, a PL card, I cut flowers from a patterned paper, cut-out some banners from copy paper scraps, and even used a branding strip as a border along the top.  This challenge was right up my alley.    

A Little Boy's First Christmas

Cole was 9 months old when he celebrated his first Christmas Holiday.  So, of course he had no idea what was going on, but that didn't stop me from decorating every square inch of our home, putting cookies out for santa, and singing Christmas carols through the entire month of December.  It is, by far, my absolute favorite holiday.  I want Cole to experience Christmas the way I did when I was young; the magic of walking down the stairs Christmas morning and seeing the stockings full of goodies and the tree surrounded with a pile of beautifully wrapped packages.  Yes, I am well aware that this is not the meaning of the holiday, but they are my childhood memories.

Cole's first Christmas morning experience was in 2011.  My husband, Kendall carried him down the stairs, where i was waiting impatiently with my camera ready.  He saw me and gave me a smile, not even noticing the huge baby pool next to me, surrounded by presents.  We sat down with him and showed him how to tear the paper off to get to the toy inside. He figured it out pretty quickly and had more fun ripping the paper than anything else.  I look forward to many more holiday years to come with this adorable little boy.

For this layout, I used Studio Calico's Walden Kit and the  Walden Project Life Kit.  The November kits were full of soft colors and gorgeous embellishments, perfect for a winter layout.  I used Studio Calico's Sunday Sketch to create this page.  

New Layout

Hey scrap happy homies!  Do you know what my absolute favorite day of the month is?  It's "New Kit Day"!  Yesterday was  my Studio Calico "New Kit Day"and my family and friends know all about it.  When I see that beautiful cardboard box sitting outside with all the gorgeous postage marks, I squeal and sprint to it.  I tear it open right away and skim through the goodies.  As soon as I have 20 minutes to spare, I open every little embellishment pack, stamp set, and paper pack and organize it in my "current kit" drawer.  After that, I scrap to my hearts content for the next three days.  What does this means for my family, pets, and friends you might ask?  It means that I completely ignore them if at all possible.  I get in the "scrap zone".  Laundry gets backed up, the daily chores are put on hold, and I hear absolutely nothing going on around me.  My family is lucky if I cook, its much quicker to order out when I'n in the "zone".  The Studio Calico's Park Ave Kit for December is my favorite so far.  This month I got all the main kits, plus ordered two add-on kits: Helmsley and Grand Central.  Yeah, I splurged a little.  But I couldn't help it.  I needed them!  (I have problems)   

Here's my very first layout with this month's kits:

I had so much fun with these die cuts flower that cam in the kit.  Obviously, I have no problem using flowers, doilies, or the color pink on a layout of my son. I also noticed that this year, I'm compelled to use non-traditional colors for Christmas.  Last year I was a pretty festive holiday scrapper.  

Since I'm on this new "scrapbook challenge blog obsession" I used the 9th November- Sketch from The Studio Challenges. I loved this sketch.  It's my style, it's colorful,  and it was really fun to work with

Here's the sketch:

Now,  I need to stop wasting time and get back to my three day "scrap binge".  Have a great weekend!

Studio Calico Kit Club

I've been a loyal subscriber to Studio Calico's Kit Club since November 2013 and LOVE it!  I have never been disappointed with my monthly gifts to myself and wait with anticipation for it to arrive.  I originally started getting their main Scrapbook Kit, but by January, I subscribed to the Card Kit too.   On top of that, I recently started getting the Project Life Kit.  Now, no sane person would logically purchase 3 kits a month and think that it's not enough, but I'm crazy.  I also purchase at least one add-on kit each month to coordinate with the current month's kit.  Lock me up in an asylum, with all my paper goodies, and I would be the happiest person ever.  Just scrapping away and documenting my life in a straight jacket.  A girl can dream.......can't she?

Here are just a few projects I've created with my Studio Calico Kits:

Check out my gallery and thanks for stopping by.

My Studio Calico Gallery