My Favorite Sketch

Years ago I used to scrap by the seat of my pants... I would spend hours and hours moving the pictures around on a blank page with no idea where I was going. Then one day I was introduced to Becky Higgins Sketches... I was resistant at first, that's just copying, I thought. But then I saw how it wasn't just copying, it was just giving my scrappin pals somewhere to start, and speeding up their work by tons! I still occasionally scrap by the seat of my pants, but normally I plan a layout from my trusty dusty collection of layouts... a three ring notebook that I have created collecting page maps and layouts and sketches from every corner of the scrappin world. I have sorted the layouts by number of photos, so its fairly simple to count the photos I want to use, and go to that section of my sketch book, then its simply matching them up, or finding something that sparks my creativity.
   Some people are concerned that their pages would begin to look like carbon copies, others ask me have I ever used the same layout more than once? My answer is yes, I have found that using a sketch does not make my pages carbon copies of each other, becasue I just use the layout as a basic place to start and go from there with my theme and my photos. This way it creates a different look every time. The following layout is one of my very favorite sketches from page maps.com. A friend of mine posted it for a challenge years ago, but I still use this one over and over again, and it comes out different every time. I will try to find some more of them to post for you but here is a start.

 

baby's first Christmas

Okay just had to post this one because I love the way it came out!
A hint I have used many times for fixing patterned paper that is either not quite the right color , just plain boring, or a little out of date? Stickles. I love them. They have fixed up many a layout with their easy glitter like simplicity. The rings on this layout are cut from a plain patterned paper that "sort of " matched the theme of the other pattern in this layout, but once cut the pattern seemed to vanish a bit. So to make it pop a little I dressed them up with a little stickle magic.... For those of you who do not know, stickles are the acid free,scrapping version of glitter glue. It is a little thicker than regular kid friendly glitter glue so it doesn't run as often.
The fawn on this page is from the create a critter cricut cartridge dressed up with a google eye and a red nose of course. I also popped the layers up to give it a 3-d effect and added a cool holly brad.
I have to say this version is a far cry from my original layout 18 years ago. Hope you can find some christmas inspiration from it!

Christmas pages boring? No Way!

       I have said it myself.... I am tired of doing the same ol same ol christmas pictures....
       I have, however, discovered that it is easier for me to scrapbook Christmas pictures at Christmas, Somehow it gets me on the mood and helps me find my Christmas spirit again.
      This week I have found out that they can be fun when it comes to this challenge- think of all the things you can use.... glitter, stars, buttons, ribbon... just lots of fun things. One of my favorite, but yet least used supplies is liquid applique. Every time I do use it it wows me. Unfortunately, you can only use it when the effect it gives fits the profile of the page. Liquid applique is basically puff paint. It is so easy, but it does take a little patience because it MUST sit overnight before you can complete the process. Apply the thin line of the paint to the paper, wait overnight or 8 hours and then slightly heat it with your heat gun. It puffs up and makes a frosting or marshmallow like substance. The best part is something I have just discovered.... if you add glitter while it is warm, it is sticky like glue and holds the glitter!
    Then I had another problem on this page, I had an extra photo of the cookies that didn't fit into my layout, but I still wanted to try to use it. After some thought I cut the photo to the same size as a metal vellum tag I had, ran the tag through my xyron sticker maker, and stuck the photo to the back of the tag, so I could see the photo through the vellum, then embellished the tag. It was the perfect finishing touch and allowed me to use the extra photo!
      So as you approach the holidays with the thought of doing yet another year of holidays, keep in mind that there are lots of ways to make those pictures pop off the page! Think about the things that make the holidays special, the sights, the smells, the tastes. Take your pictures this year to fit your layout ideas, and spice up your pages with fun embellishments that can score you big points!

Texture fun

Today I was playing with the texture on this cardstock. It is a dotted swiss tone on tone embossed paper and you could hardly make out the fact that the paper has texture without touching it. So I started playing with it, inking it, then painting it then lightly sanding over the paint. I really liked the effect it left behind and thought I should post it just for fun.

If I only had....

Sometimes we just have to learn how to think outside the box. Much of this challenge between my friend Wanda and I has been about using the old diecuts and stickers and other supplies that we have held on to forever. But the reasons we have held on to some of it is because it is just plain outdated or not as "fancy" as our scrappin style has "stepped up" to. This challenge has rekindled the creative juices inside of me to think about how I can use my outdated supplies in a new way. I have carried around this corn stalk diecut for years... like many years. Mainly because it didn't have corn cobs, it was just the stalk portion, and it was also a dark green. Most of the photos I would try to use it with were Halloween corn maze photos- and of course the stalks in the photos were always browned by the season, and so it clashed with my photos. One of the main reasons I have been reworking my son's book is that I had only included a single picture of each Halloween, and let's face it folks, what is more fun to scrapbook than the themes surrounding your child's Halloween costume?  My son was the Tinman when he was three and I had been dying to use that cool new Wizard of Oz paper! I found a challenge on The Scrappy Patch that required us to use Corn or corn stalks... fortunately for me- the old corn stalk diecut I had matched the color in my patterned paper perfectly. However the one thing that really bothered me was that there were no cobs. So I opened my cricut cartridges, and found another corn stalk, found the perfect tan mulberry paper, and cut two more stalks out to go with my diecut, but these stalks had the same trouble- no cobs. I thought surely there would be a cob to go with them on my cartridge, but alas it was not to be. This is where I began to think outside the box. I looked around my scrap room and thought, what can I use to make corn cobs? It wasn't long before I discovered the perfect large leaf punch. But I took it a step further, wishing I could make it textured, I remembered I had a quikcuts embossing folder that had tiny dots on it...hmmm. The diecut may not have had cobs to begin with but it does now! I love the way this page just fell together. Sometimes we just have to make our inner creative muse think about the tools we have at our disposal, and step up the old diecuts to make them new again.

Let's Get Messy!

Sometimes we just need a little push over the edge to explore new techniques and have fun with our art. There are certain techniques I have always avoided doing because they are messy artsy type of things. I don't generally use acrylic paint to paint my background or make my own paper with it. It has always seemed too scary for me to do things like that. What if I mess it up? I had to stop myself there... There is no right or wrong in art.... There are no mistakes in scrapbooking, only opportunities for more embellishments!

One of the challenges on the Scrappy Patch required us to make a mixed media border and included misting and painting. So I took a deep breath, took out my empty misting bottles and jumped in. And guess what? I  loved it! Yes it was messy..but it was easy! The patterned paper I had chosen for these pictures has kind of a artsy grunge look, and that made the layout perfect for the techniques in that challenge. The red cardstock was just slightly too bright for the paper, so I misted it to give it the grunge look that matched the patterned paper.

In order to make my own misting solution, I used a mister from close to my heart, water, a reinker, and close to my heart's pearlized create a color paint. (The instructions come with the mister bottles) Make sure you hold the mister away from your project and mist the paper far away from your pictures- (like on another table) Also, do cover your work area with some type of newspaper or cardboard because there will be overspray.  The paper does curl just slightly, but the ink dries in a few minutes and then the paper will lay flat.

I also dry brushed a little paint behind my stitched border and added some printed tape and ribbon with the banners to create my mixed media border.
 
Yes it was a little messy- but nothing a little soap and water couldn't fix. But it was fun and I do love the look it gave that page! So get a little messy.... be brave little artists!

Masking with background stamps

Something I don't do as often as I should, is stamp. I have plenty of stamps, I know how to use them, but do I get them out? Nope. This week, I found a challenge to use masking on a layout. I had some thinking to do, since I only have the pealized mist, and it does not show up very well on white and it tends to curl thinner background paper. After some thought, I decided to do the masking with a cutout and a background stamp. The result was a an awesome teen grunge look!

Negative Shadow box

 Want to get more bang out of your chipboard purchases? Save those negative pieces after you pop out those chipboard shapes and letters. They make a great shaker box!
Its really easy and adds a bit of interactive fun to your layout!
I used the negative square of chipboard with the number one punched out. First I traced the number one on a piece of patterned cardstock and cut it out with an exacto knife. Then I layered a piece of magic mesh over the opening, on the front side of the chipboard piece. Next I glued the square of card stock with the cutout number one over the magic mesh and the chipboard. I sprinkled confetti into the back of the number one and sealed it by gluing a piece of the same color cardstock as my background over the hole. Just turn it over and voila you have a shaker box!  
In the spirit of fun titles, I also wanted to point out on this layout that I discovered that I did not have any matching chipboard E's for my halloween title, I substituted a bookplate with rub on ee's... and made my title pop!