Sketch Support One Page Week

I have the honor of being the Guest Designer over at Sketch Support this month! You can download and print this sketch for free right here.


I've enjoyed working with all the sketches this month! They are fabulous and so versatile, what's not to love? For this 1-page sketch, I made some significant changes to the original design, using what Allison calls an enhanced or extreme approach.

Variation #1 - flipped the sketch
Variation #2 - added an extra border at the top and moved the banner to the bottom

Variation #3 - kept the photo groupings, but adjusted their size and orientation

Variation #4 - mounted each photo on white cardstock

Variation #5 - kept the title vertical, changed the orientation of the journaling strips

Variation #6 - changed the embellishments and their placement on the page

Variation #7 - omitted the sewing and added more embellishments

SUPPLIES (place cursor on photo for description, click on photo for link)

InLinkz.com

Other: American Crafts Remarks Paradise dimensional stickers; Thickers

Friday Picks

Friday Picks is a regular blog feature, showcasing my favorite scrapbooking finds for your surfing pleasure.  Clicking on the thumbnail photo of each pick takes you to the link. Enjoy!

Click on photos for links

Pick #1 10/28/11

Pick #2 10/28/11

Pick #3 10/28/11

Pick #4 10/28/11

Pick #5 10/28/11

InLinkz.com

 

#1 What's not to love about autumn? Simple Scrapper offer some tips, inspirational layouts and a selection of available supplies to entice you into  Scrapbooking Autumn.

#2 The only thing more exciting than a new collection from Echo Park is three new collections from Echo Park! Can't wait for these to hit the stores!

#3 Have you ever been in a scrap slump? Pam over at Ideas for Scrapbookers shares 7 tips and some recent layouts that helped her get her mojo back.

#4 Maybe you have a scrap room or dedicated craft space in your home, but how about a gift wrapping area? After seeing this Inspired Holidays post, I think I've found a weekend project!

#5 Ali Edwards is offering a new self-paced workshop called Storyology / Techniques for Sharing the Stories of Life. She describes it as a process-based presentation showcasing her favorite techniques to get words into scrapbooks. You know this will be good!

Here is the October Challenge for Scrap Our Stash.

Here is the October Challenge for Scrapbookers Anonymous.

Here is the October A to Z Challenge for Scrapbookers Anonymous.

The end of October marks the end of my term on the Design Team of Scrapbookers Anonymous. Hard to believe a whole year has gone by since I was first chosen by Theresa and Lea to be part of this terrific team! I've enjoyed every challenge and wish them and Scrapbookers Anonymous the very best. Thanks, ladies!

Two-Page Tuesday

This month, I challenged myself to use circles as a design element. Circles can convey a fun, energetic, playful mood - perfect for my 4th of July photos. We traditionally go to Greenfield Village's "Salute to America" concert featuring the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The evening always concludes with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and a fantastic fireworks display. High energy indeed! 

Step 1 - Selecting, cropping, and placing 8 photos on a white cardstock background.

Step 2 - Selecting patterned paper: a stripe, a 12x12 red dot for my largest circle, single color patterns and multi-colored patterns from 6x6 paper pads for smaller circles.

Step 3 - Cutting the circles. For the biggest one, I use this magnetic mat and circle cutter from We R Memory Keepers. For the smaller circles, my Creative Memories Circle Cutting System will do.

Step 4 - Laying out the basic design with the larger circles first, inking the edges so they pop off the page. My smaller circles and some buttons will fill in the rest of the design.

All finished! The circles give the page a festive atmosphere, just like I wanted!

Next week I'll post the November edition of Two-Page Tuesday, where I've created two more layouts using circles as a design element. One is an outdoor page with embellishments created from circles. The other uses circles as symbolism. Hope you'll check back on November 1st!



SUPPLIES (place cursor on photo for description, click on photo for link) 

InLinkz.com

Other: Jilllibean Soup Corrugated Alphas

Pretty Paper Party #2

This past weekend I indulged in a little Creative Stash Diving, which basically involves the following steps:

1. Choose your patterned papers and cardstock
2. Decide what stays as 12x12 background sheets and set them aside
3. Cut the rest up into squares, rectangle and strips
4. Assemble page backgrounds; keep scrapping until there is no paper left
5. Choose photos and add to each page
6. Add titles and journaling
7. Embellish

Does anything seem a little wonky about that list? Like, the photos are not included until Step #5, after the paper has been chosen, cut and adhered to the page? Honestly, I was going to pass until Shimelle explained further. You see, this is a great way to scrap photos leftover from an event, pictures that do not bring a story to mind, but photos that still deserve to be included in a scrapbook album. Okay, I can buy that. By combining this process with the prompts from Week 1 of class, here's what I came up with:

My pile of papers, all cut up and ready to assemble. Dug into my stash and pulled My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose Collection (Hazel) that I bought at the beginning of the year. I'm not overly attached to this paper, so I didn't mind cutting it all up without knowing exactly how it was going to be used. (can you sense I'm still a little resistant?)

Background #1: a patterned paper background using the rule of thirds, with a striped paper covering where the two larger patterns join.

Layout #1: a few postcards of the rooms in Biltmore - no photography allowed inside the house! Matting the photos on white cardstock and using raised adhesive helps them stand out. Phil is only slightly miffed that I scrapped photos not taken by him.

Background #2: another patterned paper background, this time adding 6-inch paper strips cut to various widths. I used a recent purchase: MME's Six by Six Collection paper pad that coordinated with the Stella and Rose paper.

Layout #2: a leftover photo from our already-scrapped trip to Lexington, Kentucky.

Journaling reads: " We were in the heart of the historic district of downtown Lexington, Kentucky, but when I saw this house, I instantly was transported back in time to the Civil War and "Gone with the Wind". I thought I was standing in front of Tara!"

Background #3: out came the border punches for this one! No piece of patterned paper escaped unharmed. Now I'm back to more familiar territory with kraft cardstock.

Layout #3: our trip to the Warren G. Harding house in Marion, Ohio from last summer. I never felt inspired to scrap this event, but at least having a photo of the house in our Places We Go album seems appropriate.

Background #4: I was getting down to the last scraps and decided to ink the edges. I like how this looks against the white cardstock.

Layout #4: a leftover photo from our Spring Break trip to Biltmore. The whole story is there in my long title and single journaling strip:

"We Do Not Go To Wine Tastings Anymore... ...we've tried enough to know we don't like wine!" 

(and yes, there is an inside story here between Phil and I)


Will I ever attempt anything as crazy as like this again? You betcha! How about you - willing to give this process a try?


See more of my Pretty Paper Party posts HERE!

Sketch Support Add On Week

I have the honor of being the Guest Designer over at Sketch Support this month! You can download and print this sketch for free right here.

When I started playing with this, I had no idea if I was going to make a card or a layout. I decided to create some balloons I liked and see where it would lead me. What I ended up with seemed too large for a card, but got lost on a 12x12 page. But when I found the cloud background paper and went with 8.5x11, things fell into place quickly.

Here's where I ended up, but something was missing. I liked the black border around the page and on the balloons, but the right side of the page lacked that unifying accent color. My title, photo, and journaling, are the last thing your eye notices.

After lots of experimenting, I finally added 2 black punched border strips. Now the eye sees the right side of the page as a large rectangle block and gives my title, photo and journaling more importance.

I only adjusted the original sketch slightly.
Variation #1: the smaller balloons are cut slightly larger to accommodate the sizes on my Creative Memories circle cutter
Variation #2: the smallest circle on each balloon is a pre-made embellishment
I ended up really liking this page. Have you ever built a layout around an embellishment?


SUPPLIES (place cursor on photo for description, click on photo for link) 

InLinkz.com

 Other: Creative Memories Circle Cutter, Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Butterflies & Doilies, American Crafts Thickers