Christmas craft!

Christmas is such a fun time to do crafts! There are always so many that I want to do and so little time to complete them all! One I have managed to complete was a countdown to Christmas calendar: there are little drawers and tasty candy in each one- I had fun making the small pieces and using buttons and other really bulky elements that wouldn't go well in my scrapbooks.

I made the numbers mixed up on purpose- looking for the number is part of the fun! 

Here is a close-up of a few drawers- I really liked getting to use that flower brad (on day 4)- I have had that embellishment for years but it was just too bulky for my scrapbook!

What crafts are you working on this Christmas??

Branching out for Christmas!

Since getting my "crafting legs" back, I've been playing with ATCs (artist trading cards) and Art Journaling- I'm still diligently working on my Italy scrapbook, but it's been fun just creating for the joy of creating! I don't really see myself as a "real" artist and have very little confidence in myself when it comes to drawing or painting. Lately, my darling husband has been encouraging me to draw more and to be confident about what I make- and so I decided to find other ATC swaps online! 

This swap was for making Christmas owls- I could have used a stamp or paper- but I really wanted to doodle it- so I did! I drew in pencil, then colored with acrylic paint, and then outlined the whole thing with a paint marker (my new favorite thing). Of course, I had to add some glitter! I was really pleased with how they turned out and by making them and sending them to complete strangers, I feel like that demonstrates confidence! 

Here are the owls- I had to make 3 of them- so there are slight differences- but overall I think are cute :)

Ok- so Blogger hates me and I can't flip this the right way- but you can really see the glitter on the lights on the tree- plus I think the painted background looks the best in this photo

Obviously, I have seen better owls and will lament again about wishing to be "that talented" but I am finally feeling like what I create is "good enough"- which is an empowering feeling :) I am trying to learn new things and create for the sake of creating- not just so that a page can be in my scrapbook :) What is your challenge for the end of the year?

Details details details....

Wow- time has just gotten away from me! I have been doing a bunch of crafty things in my cyber absence, though. :) One of the things I have loved doing is spending a lot of time on individual pages: less quantity, but a lot more detailed!

This top ten double layout took forever: but the details were so much fun to put together- plus I loved the fact that I could add these kinds of pictures to our album~ I often don't know what to do with random shots and this was the perfect solution! 

Here's page two: the bottom tag should have a die cut of a cruise ship- with tiny pics of chris and I on the helm...but it refused to be photographed (fell off and has to be completely reconstructed)! 

Here's a close-up of the title- plus those letters on the file folders were tiny individual letter stickers- they look awesome but took forever to place :)

 This next layout was for Chris' birthday: I had fun pulling tiny elements together for this page!

What are some things you like adding to your scrapbook pages?

Crafter's funk

Well, it's been awhile here- I've suffered from major "crafter's funk" where I have many ideas for projects but lack the incentive to actually get started/find materials/do something besides think about the cool stuff I could do :) Then the hubs and I took an amazing trip to Europe (I know my life is hard...) and I was very involved in getting ready- hence here we are! Since I didn't want to drop off the crafting bandwagon before going to Europe, I did an Artist Trading Card swap with Soul Scrappers- the theme was sewing and these were a TON of fun!:

I used muslin fabric instead of paper, sewed buttons on it, cut up a fabric measuring tape and glued/tacked it on to the card and had fun with my rubber stamps and Stayz-On ink (I LOVE that stuff! It's one of my "necessary" crafting items)- plus I added some glitter to add some color! I had to make 8 for the other lovely ladies involved in the Swap- but there was something freeing about making something so small and intricate (ATCs are only 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches) with a theme- which inspired me to make a few more cards about my interests that I might not want to make a full-sized 12 x 12 page about! (I started one about my love of Halloween...that'll be another blog entry)

I'm glad I went on that trip- I've returned invigorated and feeling much more creative! I have a ton of ideas for projects in my scrapbook and for various other paper crafts- It was the perfect way to get re-inspired after being in a funk- How do you get back into crafting after just "not feelin' it"???

Pages with a theme

Sometimes pages are easier to assemble when I am in a groove of a theme: say when I'm thinking Christmas, it's easy to do multiple years because that is what I'm excited about scrapping at that time. Well, the theme I have scrapped more recently has been my cousin (yes the cool one)- we have been friends forever now and so of course there are many pictures of the two of us together- recent ones and not-so-recent ones. Some of those pictures I have struggled with making a page because I wanted to tell some of the story of us and not just the events of the pictures...which I ignored completely in one of the pages!

So here is the page that started it all:

This page was based on my visit to Chicago this year...and I just wanted to highlight our friendship :)

Close-up of the embellishments on this page: it's hard to tell on the screen, but the grey paper is embossed with flowers.

And then I got inspired to pull out some pictures from ten years ago: I have scrapped this Christmas, but I was struggling with what to do with these great shots- I didn't want to make them more Christmas pages but I didn't have a plan or an idea of what I wanted to do! Then, I got into the "cousins" theme and saw a bunch of fun pages in this month's issue of Creating Keepsakes- so I modeled this page after one from that magazine! I really liked the way it came together with the grey, orange, and blue elements :)

Note: the number "1" fell off somewhere after I painted it in my craft room somewhere...I plan to locate it before I put the page in my scrapbook :)

30 minutes...yep, that's a page :)

Sometimes I over-think things....ok, I over-think EVERYTHING! And scrapbooking is no exception: I will spend literally hours pouring over magazines, idea blogs, and making plans for all my pictures. Unfortunately, once I have done that, I seldom turn that energy to actually crafting a page! I will plan multiple things, write up checklists and put aside products to put on those pages...and then not ever scrapbook. 

So today, I decided to give myself a challenge of sorts: I would put 30 minutes on a timer, pull out some random paper, gran an idea from a magazine that I wanted to try, and scrapbook a page! I ended up grabbing a random photo from my "need to crop" pile and did this page :)

I grabbed some random kraft colored paper, some coordinating card-stock (even though I ended up with red and green I decided that it looked ok), and some random embellishments :) I used the chevron-making technique from the magazine (this was a difficult technique....it almost made me go over my 30 minute limit) and a stamped banner- Overall, I'm happy with the way it turned out! 

Here is a close-up of the chevron technique...as you can see it's not perfect- but I really liked the way it looks on the page.

I tried doing a mini version of the chevron pattern for the title...again, it could be neater but I like the piece-meal look it gives to the page :)

Not bad for 30 minutes and NO PLANNING! It was so exhilarating to do this- I'll have to try it out with the rest of the Chicago trip pictures :) Challenge for you: if I can do this in 30 minutes, you can do it too...just throw the thinking and planning out the window :)

Dark and White Space

I usually scrapbook in waves...leaving "white" space on a page or trying to fill every single crevice of the page with some kind- but this time I seemed to be jumping from one extreme to another! And of course, both of these pages were inspired by some one else's sketch: but I still tried to make it my own :)

This page is definitely a case of a lot going on: first I'm obsessed with Graphic 45 paper so even though I had no circus pictures, I had to have the paper....so the flaming lips concert seemed a great way to use it! The left side page is actually 2 different papers: the border I cut very carefully around the clown and put the black dot paper under it. The rest of that paper is on the right side page (the busy elephants)

 

This is the "white" space page: even though I tried to leave a lot of negative space on my page, I still had to dress it up :) I love all the yellow and purple and the random light blue...but I DID keep myself from filling in all the empty space :)

Picture-less Memories

 One of the challenges of scrapbooking for me is recording memories that have no corresponding pictures. However, the story is important and I want to be able to document it in a visually appealing way. This page was a lot of fun: I love these colors and bold patterns with special journaling blocks. I intend to slip a tag with more details about my experience in the pocket near the top of the page (It didn't photograph well)

This is a close up of the sideways pocket on the page: also it's a great picture of the hand-made card that a third grader made for me :)

My goal this year is to try to document as many picture-less memories as I can! 

Dogs and Hexagons

I love going elsewhere to crop: I may have a great room that houses all my creative paraphernalia, but there's just something very inspiring about leaving my house and cropping! Of course, planning to go on these crop outings take almost as much time as the crop itself: packing the paper, storing and organizing the embellishments, picking and printing the pictures...sometimes I think of converting to digital just to minimize the amount of stuff that I have to transport! But then I start cutting and pasting and playing and I just can't imagine how digital scrapbooking could be as right-brained fulfilling :)

Another thing I love doing is taking challenges: I find it very stimulating to try other people's sketches- especially when they are proposed in a challenge. It reminds me of when you were a kid and you would do things not normal to your personality when taunted with the words: "I dare you!" So, it's like a cropping dare!

So this is a page I did over the weekend in response to a friend's sketch challenge: hexagons :) Joy Anderson  (who is in fact, a cool person) posted this challenge on her blog: http://imjoy-iscrap-imhappy.blogspot.com/ and so I had to give it a try :) 

I loved the way this turned out: I am usually opposed to so much white space on a page...it could have been more bare, but I couldn't do it. I also increased the size of the hexagons (which by the way are a pain to free-hand) to showcase the pictures better. Joy's sketch was for digital scrapping, but I love the way this turned out in my book! Plus, by getting me out of my comfort zone, I made a really visually interesting page that I definitely wouldn't have done otherwise! 

What inspires you to get creative?

What to do with white paper

Well, when it comes to my creativity, sometimes the one thing that can kill my creative mood is a sheet of blank, white paper. You know, the way it stares at you so starkly and taunts you: haha, you can't cover me! And then, there are times that a blank sheet of white paper is the perfect way to start a page! Especially when I happen to have a really cool skeleton stamp and amazing paper that would be just a bit too much on its own...

These pages I did this past week (I'm still catching up on years past...the plight of every scrapper): I LOVE the way my makeshift border of anatomical skeletons look on this white piece of paper (thank you Tim Holtz..) Also, the white paper anchors the colored patterns much better than black paper, which is usually my go-to color for Halloween layouts! 

Chris went as the Devil's Advocate and I went as the Corpse Bride..hence the clever title meant to capture both our costumes.

Since we were going to a costume party, I wanted it to have a fun sort of feel: so I brought out the dancing skeleton ribbon :)

More of a close-up of the fun elements- it's hard to see the serious glitter on the orange enchantment card, but trust me, it's glitzy. (Especially the spider web: normally I am opposed to spiders but for Halloween layouts, spiders and I are friends)

Pages to share

Yikes these random thunderstorms here have been wrecking havoc on my sleep schedule! However, I have been able to complete some awesome pages during my internment at home :)

I love using funky bright colors for Christmas layouts!

Nothing like alliteration and hand-made trees to make a great title!

Wedding Photo Book...

These amazing photos were taken by a seriously cool guy named Chris (not my husband)- and my bestest cool friend Nicole arranged it! I made this book to showcase the pictures and show off that I can look pretty darn cool in pictures!

Because blingy angel wings are always in style...

This awesome tag is compliments of a Tim Holtz Design class...I fell in love with the vintage goodness!

This page is one of my favorites: the butterfly on the clock was done using a mask technique and paint- the stamps were colored using my new distress markers :)

How is a raven like a writing desk? Or a typewriter?

Engagement Book

Despite not being cool myself, I do make some pretty cool things: like this book I made for Chris and my engagement photos:

I had to scrapbook my awesome shoes :) 

The amazing design Chris drew for our invitations...he is definitely the cool one between the two of us!

How I determined that I just wasn't going to be cool

July 2011 is when I first began to get the glimmers of the idea that no matter what, I will just not be cool in this lifetime.
The setting: the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Concourse C. I was flying to Chicago to visit my cousin (who is, despite her repeated denials, cool) and I decided to obtain ice cream. Ben and Jerrry's ice cream to be exact.

Well, of course my gate was at the farthest point from where I stood- so I had to get ice cream before making the long walk down the concourse. I settled on mint chocolate chip on a sugar cone- sounds tasty, right? Well, if you are a klutz carrying all your luggage since you were determined NOT to check a bag but don't own a small enough roller bag...ice cream in a cone is a poor choice. I had 2 bags (purse and carry-on) slung over one shoulder, snoopy jacket around my waist (for the cold of the plane), and the ice cream cone in the one hand. I had planned to sit there and eat my treat, but while I was ordering, the empty area had filled to the brim with people who had laptops and lattes.

So, I decided to walk to my gate.

Bad idea.

The ice cream, while nice and soft, immediately started running down the side of the cone- onto my hand. As I walked, I had to dodge dozens of people because again, the terminal magically became the most popular place to be!
As I walked and saw perfectly good ice cream drip to my hand, I thought, "let me just lick that up before it hits the ground." And as I did, someone darted in front of me, causing me to startle and mush the ice cream onto my face. So I can't see out of one lens of my glasses- it is covered in green minty goodness- and my nose is freezing for the same reason.

People are slowing to stare at me now- and of course I chose to walk in the very center of the terminal so more people can see this show. I reach up to wipe my face with the arm laden with bags while at the same time steering myself closer to a gate, any gate so that I can stop walking.

As I wipe my nose, my carry-on bag loses its grip and slides down off my shoulder- followed by my purse. I can't pick them up off of my elbow because the other hand is occupied with the ice cream...and I still can't see out of one eye and my nose did not get thoroughly wiped. So here I am, hobbling down the terminal no longer eating the ice cream but letting it melt freely down my arm, my bags hitting my knees, and I have sticky green stuff with black specks all over my face.

Not a pretty picture.

I finally make it to a bathroom- yes, my ice cream came to the bathroom....and dumped my bags and gave myself an ice cream headache as I scarfed down the ice cream that you can see peeking over the cone. Once I got to the cone part, I had to move- I was blocking the line you see, so I inched to the outside of the bathroom, acting like I was nonchalantly waiting for someone in there while eating a cone. Once the cone was done, I mopped myself up and re-positioned the bags on my shoulder (which hurt after improperly getting them across the airport). I emerged from the bathroom able to see out of both eyes and no longer had green stuff running down my cheek, feeling victorious.

That feeling subsided, however, when a random kid pointed to me at my gate and said, "hey mommy! lookit- it's the lady who had snot on her face!"

Sigh. This is how I KNOW that cool and me just don't mix.