Challenge Eight

Oh, this challenge was, as Shimelle says, "right up my street"! I truly do dig incorporating stamping into my scrapbook pages, and I've been trying to do more of that lately.

Our challenge? "Feature a stamp you should use more often." Hmm...which one? Fishing through my stamp baskets was kinda fun, and I wound up selecting a Hero Arts set I bought awhile back with clocks and a couple sayings. I even used two of the stamps from the set.

(Supplies: Card stock by Stampin' Up! and The Paper Company. Stamps by Hero Arts. Ink by Ranger. Patterned paper and tie cut by Basic Grey. Letter stickers by October Afternoon and American Crafts. Flowers by Prima for Archivers. Gems by K&Company and Me & My Big Ideas.)

I really dig how those clocks look, and I'll definitely be looking for more opportunities to use them.

More challenges to come...

Challenge Seven

This challenge gave me pause at first. The sort of embarrassing truth is that, while I do keep memorabilia, I do not organize it in any way. It all goes into a box, one of many, and I couldn't possibly put my hands on any particular item to include in a pocket on a scrapbook page without a desperate search that would take hour upon frustrating hour.

So...what's a scrappin' babe, especially one pressed for time,  to do?

Then, I read that the item in the pocket could be hidden journaling, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do:

(Supplies: Patterned paper and blue tab sticker by October Afternoon. Title sticker by Little Yellow Bicycle. Question mark by American Crafts. Other stickers by Echo Park. Brads by Joann, Etc.)

The journaling is kept tucked away inside that envelope, sealed by brads that nobody's going to want to fuss with taking out, especially when the page is in its page protector.

Although very little of my scrapbook journaling needs to be kept private, this challenge reminded me of that option and at least one cool way to make it work.

Ready for challenge eight?

Challenge Six

The sixth challenge from Shimelle Laine's scrapbooking weekend was all about scraplifting. Our scrappin' mission was to create a new project by borrowing the design of a page we liked and changing something dramatic. Shimelle provided links to pages we could choose from, and I selected this one at Two Peas.

It didn't occur to me until just now, that page is digital, so out-of-the-gate, mine is dramatically different because I used paper!

Ready to see?

(Supplies: Patterned paper by Scrapworks, October Afternoon, Crate Paper, K&Company, Echo Park, and unknown manufacturer. Buttons by Crate Paper and La Mode. Card stock and stamp by Stampin' Up! Flowers by Prima. Brads and tag, unknown manufacturer. Letter stickers by Pebbles. Spray ink by Glimmer Mist. Twine by Doodlebug. Ticket by Making Memories.)

Another fun layout, pulling together a lot of different bits from different manufacturers.

On to the next challenge!

Challenge Five

The last couple of days, I've been working feverishly on the challenges from Shimelle Laine's scrapbooking weekend. Number five was to draw inspiration points from this page by Wilna Furstenburg, and here is the page I created:

(Supplies: Patterned paper and stickers by Basic Grey. Punches by Marth Stewart. Paint by Adirondack. Mist by October Afternoon. Markers by Stampin' Up!)

The inspiration points I took from Wilna's layout:

a larger photo, in my case a 5x7 for an 8.5x11 page;

border punched photo, mine along the top, rather than the bottom, and a single punch of that border on the bottom of the page, rather than at the top;

fussy cut border, halfway cross the photo;

journaling along the bottom of the photo, though mine doesn't span the page;

multiple butterflies punched from the same color paper as the background;

and splatters of paint, in my case mist mixed with paint.

Wilna is a very talented scrapbooker, and I enjoyed taking inspiration from her page, creating something similar of my own.

On to the next challenge...

Challenge Four

For our color adventure, we were challenged to scrap with grey, yellow, and one other color.

Hmm...

Now, I know that the grey-yellow combination has been all the rage, but it's not really my cup of tea, so this challenge was a bit, well, challenging for LaLa. :) I managed to make it work for me, though, taking cues from Shimelle, who mixed purple in with her grey and yellow.

My page:

(Supplies: Card stock and ribbon by Stampin' Up! Patterned paper by American Crafts and Echo Park. Letter stickers by Making Memories and American Crafts. Stamp by Stampology for Autumn Leaves. Ink by Tim Holtz Distress. Spray mist by Mister Huey for American Crafts and October Afternoon. Die cut paper, unknown manufacturer. Brads by Making Memories.)

I had one small scrap of patterned paper with grey in it. Just one, and that came as part of a kit. It's difficult to see in the photo, but I sprayed the die cut card stock with Mister Huey in Shine before putting the page together, and I mixed that with yellow spray ink for the sprinkles.

So, I can't say that I'm sold on the yellow-grey combination, but I like this page, and it's always good to push against the creative comfort zone a bit. You never know what you might discover!

Challenge Three

Good morning, sunshine! After yesterday's parade of clouds and wind, today we've got bright sunshine, so perfect for a day of paper-crafting!

What a whirlwind of a weekend, creating pages for Shimelle's challenges. I put the finishing touches on two more yesterday, bringing my grand total up to four, but thankfully, Shimelle knows how busy we all are, and the challenges remain open throughout next weekend.

Challenge number three, Mixing Styles, was so much fun! As soon as I read that challenge, I thought of Amy Tan's style that is so different from my own, and I had just bought some adorable tags from her latest Amy Tangerine collection. Serendipity, right? I created this page:

(Supplies: Card stock by The Paper Company. Patterned paper by Kelley Panacci for Sandylion. Mask by Crafter's Workshop. Spray ink by Glimmer Mist. Black ink by Ranger. Blue ink by Tim Holtz Distress. Shimmer pen by Gelly Roll. Stamps by Hero Arts, Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, Close to My Heart and Cocoa Daisy. Markers and green buttons by Stampin' Up! Tape by Queen & Company. Die cuts and tags by Amy Tangerine for American Crafts. Brads by Making Memories. Letter stickers by Basic Grey. Glitter by Stickles. Vintage and other buttons, unknown manufacturer.)

 That's a lot of stuff! I really had fun putting this layout together. Click here to see the Amy Tan pages that served as inspiration. This page is definitely so different from my usual style, and it felt good to stretch my creative muscles, trusting the process of letting go, playing, and doing something different. Thanks, Shimelle, for getting me to think a little more out of the box.

The Paper Variety - Guest Designer

The Paper Variety is a challenge blog that's been inspiring a lot of paper crafters for awhile now, myself included. There are talented designers, inspiring challenges and drool-worthy prizes, along with a whole bunch of nifty tutorials to try. The creative energy just sizzles, and I know Abby and Suzanne put a lot into making it all work so well.

So when I was invited to guest design for the current challenge, I jumped at the chance!

Isn't that a great challenge? I scrolled through so many awesome tutorials and lovely projects, finding it difficult to choose my inspirational jumping off point. Finally, I settled on this page by Caroli.

I dug the variety of patterned papers she used, the simplicity of the design, and I had the perfect 5x7 photo of me and my Dad I've been wanting to scrapbook for months.

Here is the page I created from this inspiration.

(Supplies: Card stock by Recollections. Patterned paper and stickers by Bo Bunny. Letter stickers by American Crafts. Gems by Me and My Big Ideas, Kaiser, and K & Company. Glitter by Stickles. Shimmer pen by Gelly Roll.)

To anchor the photo to the banners, I matted it on patterned paper from the same collection. I added a border sticker, and I exchanged those cute little flags on Caroli's layout for a chipboard element. My journaling is written at the top of the photo, rather than to the side, and reads "Me and my Daddy, 10-12-2002." Instead of splattering paint--which is one of my favorite techniques EVER, by the way--I "scattered" gems, which fit the tone of my page a bit better. I embellished with glitter and one of my favorite tools, an orange Gelly Roll pen that adds a delectable shimmer to the chipboard and banners.

I had such a blast creating this page, and I want to say a hearty thank you to Caroli for inspiring me!

Isn't inspiration groovy?

Now, it's your turn. Go to The Paper Variety and cruise through all the tutorials and projects posted there this year. Pick one you love and be inspired. Not only will you have the joy of creating, but you could win this kit from the sponsor of this challenge, Studio Calico.

To enter your project to win, click here. I can hardly wait to see all the delicious, crafty goodness inspired by this challenge!

Thanks to the talented scrappin' babes at The Paper Variety for selecting me as guest designer. I had a great time!