Another Birthday Layout

The Best Present

(Supplies: Patterned paper and stickers by Echo Park Paper. Letter stickers by October Afternoon, Basic Grey, and American Crafts. Stamps by Tim Holtz for Stamper's Anonymous. Ink by Tim Holtz Distress and ColorBox. Brads, button, and tape by My Mind's Eye. Twine by Doodlebug Design. Journaling paper by Making Memories. Design inspired by Shimelle Laine's Starting Points.)

One of my favorite things to do is bring supplies from different collections together on a page. When I got the photos adhered, the journaling added, and the title done, I was a bit worried that the page wasn't going to work. But then I added the block in the right corner and the row of clocks and worked from there.

I dig it. :)

Renewed - A New Layout

After a bit of a scrapbooking hiatus, letting my creative well get filled up again after the month-long 30 in 30 Scrapbooking challenge in June, I got back into the scrappin' swing of things and created this layout about the new hairdo I got for my birthday:

(Supplies: Card stock by The Paper Studio. Patterned paper by Studio Calico, Colorbok and Echo Park Paper. Letter stickers by American Crafts, October Afternoon, and Glitz. Ink by ColorBox and Glimmer Mist. Brads by Colorbok. Felt flowers by Stampin' Up! Decorative tape by My My Mind's Eye. Paper flowers by Making Memories. Flower die by Tim Holtz for Sizzix. Doilies, unknown manufacturer. Page design inspired by Shimelle Laine's Starting Point.)

Loving that cloud paper from Echo Park's Hello, Summer collection. I went with blue and brown to coordinate with the photos and used up some die cut flowers that were hanging around in my flower drawer.

Got this layout done just in time for a brand new haircut, too! :)

It's No Secret

I love Shimelle Laine's Starting Points. (I also love her coverage of CHA, but that's another story for another time.)

Here's my latest reason why:

(Supplies: Card stock by Bazzill. Patterned paper by Basic Grey. Letter stickers by American Crafts and Jilliebean Soup. Stickers by Little Yellow Bicycle and American Crafts. Die cuts by Making Memories. Twine by Doodlebug Designs. Doilies, unknown manufacturer.)

Not long ago, my friend April sent me a huge bunch of stuff she no longer needed, including quite the treasure trove of 6x6 patterned papers. Using Starting Point technology, I put together this page about my birthday dessert, and I pulled all kinds of supplies together, including lots of older stuff, bits and pieces of leftovers, and a remnant of a Cocoa Daisy kit. I love how so many disparate bits of stuff work so well together on one layout that makes me oh-so-happy!

And being able to use 6x6 papers, which are so popular and cost-effective, on a 12x12 page is huge win.

You give it a try, and be sure to share a link in the comments section so I can check it out.

You Are Cordially Invited

Someone special to me is having a very special birthday soon, and when I was thinking about creating some invitations, I was inspired by this tasty sketch at Art, Scrap, and More.

I loved the swirls in the background, and I love that butterfly stamp from Hero Arts, but before I went for the direct scraplift, I used the sketch with some October Afternoon supplies and some tags given to me by my good friend April, trimmed to fit the standard card.

(Supplies: Card stock and swirl stamp by Stampin' Up! Ink by Tim Holtz Distress. Numerals by American Crafts. Sentiment stamps by TPC Studio and Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday. Tags and brown twine, unknown manufacturers. Red twine by My Mind's Eye. Yellow twine by Doodlebug Designs. All other supplies, October Afternoon.)

My favorite is the one on the left, though all of them have their appeal. I liked how the sketch could be translated into distinct looks, and I really liked that I was able to use patterned papers as card bases so that the inside isn't so plain.

After playing around with all that October Afternoon yumminess, I created four additional invitations, scraplifting the original card inspiration with a few differences.

(Supplies: Card stock, marker ink, swirl and sentiment stamps by Stampin' Up! Inks by Tim Holtz Distress, Ranger, and Colorbox for Stephanie Barnard. Butterfly stamp by Hero Arts. Numerals by American Crafts and Target. Tags and ribbon, unknown manufacturers. Metallic ink by Gelly Roll.)


That butterfly stamp is one of my all time favorites, and I did a little sparkle work by outlining with one of those wonderful Gelly Roll metallic ink pens. Here's a closer look:

I always love some shimmer!

Thanks so much to Alexandra at Art, Scrap and More for her wonderful sketch, which is so versatile and inspired me to get these invitations finished and into the mail. The party's not far away, now. I can hardly wait!

In Progress

There's a little sneak peek of what's been on my scrappin' table the past couple of days. I'm using the Hello Summer collection by Echo Park Paper and keeping it simple. I still need to order some of the prints, but there are occasions that will generate photos coming up this week, so I'll wait to do a print order until after those.

I'm also working on ideas for the next installment of 30 in 30 Scrapbooking, which will be happening in September, and I'll do a post soon to officially launch that adventure, including some giveaways.

So...stay tuned!

Inspiration Sunday - July 15

Lots and lots of new products coming out as the Summer of CHA gets underway, and I'm starting to get inspired by a couple of new collections previewed at Scrapbook Update.

First, my friend Suzanne called to my attention a delicious collection by Simple Stories called Harvest Lane. I love the name, I love the papers, I love the accoutrements. I want it all, and I'm practically drooling to get it into my hot little hands. There are so many pieces to this collection, it was hard to choose a favorite, but I really like this sheet of card stock stickers:

(photo from Simple Stories blog.)

Bella Blvd. also has an adorable autumn line debuting this year:

(photo from the Bella Blvd. blog)

Some of the colors don't say traditional fall to me, but the designs look playful and fun, as well as versatile.

Another collection that caught my eye was Lily Bee's Autumn Spice. I love the colors and tones of these papers, which look like they'll be great mixed with other collections.

(photo from Lily Bee blog.)

American Crafts' Pumpkin Patch is a fall collection that mixes in some Hallowe'en themes, too.

(photo from American Crafts blog.)

I love the pumpkins and the oak leaves and acorns papers.

But my very favorite of the new autumn collections, hands-down, is the absolutely gorgeous one from Bo Bunny, called Apple Cider.

(photo from the Bo Bunny blog.)

It's like these papers and accompanying embellishments were made for me, and I have no idea how I'm going to wait to get my hands busy creating with them.

Of course, all of these images and colors so reminiscent of my favorite season are just making me hanker for cooler weather and everything that goes with it even more.

What new collections are inspiring you?

A Good Book

I'm lucky to have several friends who are writers, including one of my closest friends, Janet.

She wrote a book called Girl in the Mirror, which is available for Kindle at Amazon.com.

Not only is Janet a wonderful friend, she's an awesome storyteller, so if you like a good story, click here for more info and to buy it.

Inspiration Sunday - July 8

After that surge of creativity last month, my first week of the new month, I've been kicking back, taking a breather from scrapbooking.

But I've also been reading prompts from a class Shimelle Laine created called Pretty Paper Party, and it's jam-packed with all kinds of inspiration I've been ruminating.

You can find all the details right here.

Shimelle inspires so many people, and I've learned so much from her about scrapbooking. I'm really enjoying this self-paced class, complete with prompts and sketches and videos. If you haven't already, go check out her blog. You'll be amazed at how much is there to get your creative engine running.

One Nation, Indivisible

Happy Independence Day!

May it be a day full of fun and remembrance.

12 Days of Summer - Day 12

listening: music I used to love.

making: dinner with Daniel.

eating: Daniel's meat loaf - so tasty!

drinking: more passion tea lemonade Daniel brought me home when he ran errands.

wearing: tank shirts to keep cool.

feeling: a bit strained and conflicted.

weather: Hot. 95 degrees.

enjoying: Friday Night Lights on Netflix with the family.

wondering: where to go when we can.

Moth on Cement

Pumping gas one day last week, I looked down and saw this:

Amazing what crosses our paths on normal every days.

Inspiration Sunday - July 1

Today, I have a quick recommendation to inspire you, Lain Ehmann's website, Layout A Day.

Specifically, I recommend you check out her podcast, which you can find at the website, or you can subscribe to in iTunes.

Lain is always full of great ideas and great discussions about all things related to this memory-keeping hobby, and I've been getting a lot out of listening to her chat on her podcast as I do my neighborhood walks. She's also got articles and giveaways and all kinds of other great stuff on her website.

Definitely check it out!