I must admit, I am kind of sick of digging through the scrap bin.  For the past month I've been yakking on and on about using scrap pieces  

Here's what's left in the scrap pile. 

There were two such scrap bins, when I started and this is what I am down to.  However,  I am really itching to play with some newer (well, newer to me anyway) papers. 

But being everlastingly obsessed with organizing and using up as much of my stash as possible caused me to sort though what was left.  Not sure, if anyone but me is interested in the organizing, page-kitting, sorting process (is this a sickness--cuz in a weird sort of way I truly enjoy doing this...)


Anyway I went from the "pile" to several smaller piles. 

card sized cuts

red, white and blue



cardstock cuts

aquas and greens

Christmas themed

little pile of pinks


 



and a garbage bag



 

And so it went, until all I had left was little coordinated piles, clipped together, ready to go .  The bin is now EMPTY!!!!!!  

 

And that was all I accomplished tonight. 

 

xoxo

Cheryl

 







No scrappy phobia to report on today, but I was still working on the pics of the grandies that were taken on that phony beach backdrop.  For Jackson's photo I chose to pretty much ignore the background and concentrate on just the color scheme and the funny little expression on his face.  He just looks so like "you want me to do what?

Again papers from the scrap bin (although I am STARTING to run out of print papers in the bin---yeah!).  I did add wooden arrows (from a clearance pack I got at M's) The little camera sticker,  xoxo sticker, and banner(s) are from an Amy Tangerine sticker pack, the potty person and clouds are from a Jillibean Soup die cut pack and I cut the title from my Cricut.  Went back in and did some outlining (a la Mercy Tiara--she's the one that got me started outlining stuff!). 

On little miss Bella's page, I concentrated on orange and some peachy pinks.

 And kind of like the Door County page that used only tags to back the photos, I cut out tickets from one of the papers in the $5 Maggie Holmes/Dear Lizzy papers I grabbed a couple of weeks ago (also at M's).  The orange and navy papers at the top and bottom edges of the page were still from the scrap bin. The orange arrow sticker is from a Heidi Swapp pack, cut the camera out of the backside of an Echo Park paper (from the This and That collection---and yes it was in my scrap bin!).  Punched a bunch of little circles using my hand punches to scatter about, cut the title using my Cricut again and used up a couple of orange flower stickers (only one or two left on those packs, double yeah!).   

Journaling on this page is about Miss Bella's rather "adventurous" nature.  Like getting up pre-dawn, unwrapping a box full of gifts my daughter was getting ready to mail.  She was found at the dining room table, not a stitch of clothing on, but she had bracelets and scarves and necklaces on (after all, it is important to accessorize...) or again getting up super early in the a.m. and chopping chunks from her almost waist length hair.  Yep, she is worth the price of admission, that one! 

Gotta run.  Got a long week in front of me. 

best to all,
Cheryl

Trying out my gelatos this week.  I don't think I quite have the hang of it---yet.  I do like them.  Liked playing with them.  In fact, I just kept playing till I had filled up the whole sheet with color and that's where I think the technique of s.t.o.p.p.i.n.g. needed to be applied!

 Plus, these are not my favorite photos of my grandies.  Don't know why exactly.  Maybe because I'm not fond of overly posed pictures or the phony backdrop of beach... come on, we live in Wisconsin.  Not too many beaches here with starfish and seashells and  such.  Uh, like none.  But I wanted them scrapped anyway, so I forged ahead. 

And if it is a fakey, fake backdrop, then why not call it what it is?! So I did!  But I do think I would be happier with my background had I left some white showing through or more variations in depth of color.  Ah, another lesson, but I will definitely continue working with the gelatos. 

I used watercolor paper for the background, but went to the scrap bin for the layering papers.  Still felt I needed some more definition around the photo area, so I added some tone-on-tone stamping using a Tim Holtz flourish stamp and punched a couple of hearts in aqua so they would stay with the tone-on-tone thing.  The title letters are cut with my Cricut, but they seemed a bit flat--so I cut a duplicate set in aqua and intended to use them as a shadow, slightly offset from the peachy orange.  That didn't look right either.  I ended up gluing the two sets together to give them just a bit more thickness and that did the trick.  Added some Heidi Swapp stickers (and arrows), a button and some washi tape.  The watercolor paper is a bit smaller than 12x12, so I centered it on an orange piece of cardstock.

On a personal aside, we are still in major clean out and purge mode at my house.  But I cannot seem to get DH to go through his many (and I mean MANY) boxes of photos (of cars--not people, not family, c.a.r.s., really?).  Or the car parts all over the basement---or to clean out the garage.  I mean he has painted and dutifully hauled the stuff to Goodwill I have asked him to and he has put in a new tub surround and is now mudding that before he can paint---but he has this block about really cleaning and purging...  is this a scrap-able moment?  h-m-m-m-m.  Have to think on that one. 

Thanks for stopping by! 
Cheryl 

A tag background as a base for photos, not a scrappy phobia, just a little self-induced challenge. 

 I know I saw this idea somewhere and for the life of me, I could not find it again.  It wasn't on any of my pinned pages. But I know I saw it done somewhere.  It really was fun little challenge to use only the tags instead of layers of papers behind my photos. 
 

The tags were cut-aparts from two different sheets, one was a Crate paper and the other was an Echo Park paper.  Since there was a hint of red  and yellow in the photos (on my boys' ties) I wanted to use those colors for sure and the rest I chose for their neutral colors.  The hardest part was gluing everything together, once I found it's best home!  But, lifting one corner at a time, you just kind of work your way around the bundle until everything is secure and then adhere the whole bundle to the page!  I did outline the tags for a little more emphasis and added the "seems like yesterday" sticker, plus the little wood veneer hearts (love those things!)

Journaling went around the perimeter of the page, since I really wanted a clean uncluttered look, plus it gives the appearance of a border around the page.  I had left the date at the top tag for Jacob's mom to fill in the date---I know it was the last weekend in October---but the actual date escapes me.  The title stickers are from Lily Bee and that was it. 

Well off to get ready for work (hooray, it's Friday!!!!)

Go forth and make some memories this weekend!   
Cheryl

Facing another scrapbooking phobia...  It's #3 I am up to (for whomever is counting).  Scrapping on brightly patterned paper.  Yeah, I admit it.  Me, who loves pattern and color and layering... I have an issue scrapping using a brightly colored and patterned background paper. 

I like it when I see it on other peoples pages... but not so much when I've used a bright colored pattern paper as the base for my page. 

But I am facing this and working through it.  It's just not something I will ever be totally comfortable doing.  I think we all have color combinations that we like more than others and patterns and such--- and a bright background is just not something I am probably going to reach for a whole lot. 

So here it is, my take on using a brightly colored background paper.  It's my Isabella girl from last summer.... her and her sidewalk chalk.  These photos seemed strong enough to hold up to brighter colors and I also found it was more appealing to my eye to group the photos tightly together making them bolder than the papers. 

 

The background paper is from the Little Girl collection from Echo Park.  The layering papers were from a couple of bargain packs I got (of all places) at  Michaels.  They had some sort of super duper deal of the day ($5) on some 8-1/2 x 11 pattern paper packs (one was Dear Lizzy and the other from Maggie Holmes so they are fairly recent and are actually cardstock weight!) 

I placed the photos as a block on a small floral pattern (it's a pattern I am not likely to use all on its own--but the navy color was good behind the pictures).  And I cut up a sheet that had strips of patterns on it so that I could use just the strips I wanted.  Placed all the pink and navy patterned strips above and below the photos.  Cut a couple of banners from another pink patterned paper from the bargain packs, colored a "hello" wood veneer with a pink and then a red ink pad to get it to be a bold pink.  The journaling piece was a cut-apart from the same Little Girl collection.  "Cuteness" is a sticker from Heidi Swapp, as is the hello arrow.  The flowers are from a really old pack of Sandy Lion flower stickers--I did peel off a green layer on a couple of them to keep to my hot pink and navy color theme.  Punched a few little hearts from a scrap of navy cardstock and that was it.  I did not add paint splatters or such--was really afraid it would be just too, too much. 

The journaling really isn't about Bella; the photo of  her squatting down to color on the sidewalk reminded me of my mom and how tickled she would get to see the little ones playing like this.  She always used to say it looked as though they were sitting on an imaginary little stool.  I want Bella to know some of these funny little things about her great-grandma.  And how better, than to include these anecdotes on some scrapbook pages!

It's early evening, so I think I will try to sneak off to my little room and do some scrapping. 

Cheryl

Continuing to work through my scrappy phobias and my pile of scraps!

Once upon a time paper companies produced a line of papers, some (usually very themed) accompanying stickers and there you were.  The papers were mostly one-sided.  If you didn't like a particular pattern, you could buy sheet-by-sheet.  But now, since most of the smaller scrapbook stores have all bit the dust, we are left with ordering papers on-line, joining a kit club, or purchasing pads or collections as a whole package via a big box store. 

I've never been a big proponent of pads of paper.  The few times I had purchased them, I found I only used a select few and the rest sat unused.  But last year, left with fewer purchasing choices, I bought a pad of Authentique paper (I think Loyal was the collection name).  The colors were perfect for use in Jacob's albums since his school colors were a royal blue and white and the papers were all denim blue pattern, navy blue, some antique-y looking gold color and distressed whites.  PLUS, the pad was two-sided paper!  Lots of solid, distressed back sides to use as the base for pages.  I used darn near that whole pad.  So, in other words, I have gotten over scrapbooking phobia #2, which was purchasing or using pads of paper.  (Scrapbooking phobia #1 was two page layouts versus one page---ummmm, think I've conquered that one...) 

On to the layout (which prompted my thoughts on using pads of paper)  The base for the page was the backside of one of those Authentique papers (f.r.o.m.   a    p.a.d.).  I really like using a distressed solid, a grid, tone-on-tone, or ledger print as the base for pages---it's a pattern, but subtle. 

Jacob's mom snapped this photo (with her phone I think) from a moving bike---and obviously the bike that Jacob was riding on was moving as well.  Pretty cool shootin' there!  This was taken during Jacob's "I don't want to pose for a picture period", hence the stuck out tongue and the title!  This, by the way is Jacob's other grandma.... she rides a Harley.

I had wanted to do a layout without layers of paper, but using multiple strips of washi instead. These metallic washi tapes I purchased on clearance after Christmas were perfect for this.  Mounted the photo on an off red and another taupe-y tan paper, bent and tore the edges a bit and before it found its home on the washi background.   Added some black and metallic gold paint splats, a couple of tags, buttons and some phrase stickers from My Mind's Eye (gotta get some more of those).  The title alphas are Thickers.   Done and Done! 

If you've come back to check on the blog after my hiatus or just recently found me, thanks for stopping in! 

Have a wonderful day! 
Cheryl

aaaaannnnnd    I'm back with a layout of Jacob.  No big surprise there, huh? 

Well, what was a surprise for me is that I totally scraplifted this layout .  Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with scraplifting ideas (as long as you are not submitting them for publication or that sort of thing).  But I have a confession to make.  I usually cannot scraplift a page or a card.  Oh I start out ok, but somewhere along the line, my design takes a U-turn and just goes it's own merry way.  And even this is ok... I mean so what if the page or card ended up being my jumping off place or inspiration.  But I soooo saw this page and the photos practically jumped off my desk into my hands. 

So here's my page. 

and I think (hope) this is the link to Carol Monson's page for Chic Tags that I scraplifted.  http://blog.chictags.com/search?updated-max=2014-02-04T05:00:00-08:00&max-results=7&start=111&by-date=false

My paper strips are a bit wider I think than in the original page and she sewed her strips down (I drew in stitch marks because I don't have a working sewing machine right now).  Anyway, I loved Carol's page, and these photos (in my mind) were just perfect. 

I did hit the scrap bin again, although just using strips of papers did not use up a whole bunch!  Letter stickers are from Basic Grey (Ambrosia collection), brads are from a My Mind's Eye, miscellaneous stickers are from Bella Blvd--a summer collection from several years ago and a pet collection (believe it or not---hey they were the right color, what can I say!  After that I just added a few aqua gemstones and that was it. 

Have a happy day. 
Cheryl

One thing that has occurred to me while on my "use up the scraps" mission, has been the overall change in my own scrapping style.  I do love my patterned paper and I love mixing up patterns and piling it on.  But, like styles change in everything else, I guess my own personal style has evolved such that I am using less patterned paper or maybe just smaller pieces of patterned paper.  I still love my patterns and love putting a mix of patterned paper together.  I just no longer feel the need to have three whole pieces of a pattern I love.  The other thing that I've noticed is that I am using a lot more white cardstock as a base for my pages.  That rarely happened in the past.  I almost always reached for a colored piece of cardstock as the base. 

And as styles change over time, I'm sure this will evolve to the next "thing" in the future.  What's neat about this, is that since I do not scrap chronologically, there is a nice mix of various styles throughout my albums.

The Dancing with Mom page is Jacob and his mom at a wedding she stood up in years ago.  And there is that white cardstock base page, but plenty of patterns in the layers under the photo and in the cluster at the right side of the page. 

Most of these came from the scrap bin and from a stack of papers I "found" when I did my last paper purge.  I wanted a softer edge on the layers, so I tore the layering pieces using my ruler to keep the edges somewhat even.  Added a doily, some black and white washi tapes, a few red "raindots" (remember raindots?--I didn't have any more red enamel dots, so the raindots worked!).  Pulled out the old Cricut for the title and highlighted them using my glitter gel pen, glued on a few wood veneer hearts and doodled around the edge of the page. 

I'm not totally in love with the letters in the title, but this worked better than anything else in my stash.  The red Thickers I had were too big and bulky or too glittery.  So there you have it!  Another page done with older supplies, but more in keeping with my "today's" style. 

Off to get ready for work.  Have a great sunny, scrappy day! 

Cheryl
 

Hey!  I'm on a roll...  Another layout...not about Jacob!  Equal time for my other little grandie, Miss Isabella. 

I snapped this photo last summer when her mommy, daddy and uncle were installing their play-gym thing-y.   My daughter got it from a daycare that closed---it's this huge Little Tykes looking thing with stairs and slides.  Gotta give that girl kudos, it took one day to dismantle the thing and haul it home and another whole day to put it back together again.  Anyway, Nana here was watching the kids whilst the three of them were doing the some (lots) of assembly required. 

While I was cleaning out and purging a lots of stuff in my scrap room, I came across some specialty papers I forgot I even had.  One was this red mesh and I knew just the page for it!  So fun to come across something you didn't even know you had---Like getting things brand new!    The red diagonal stripe is from Echo Park's It's a Boy's Life (out of my scrap bin--yeah!), the red mesh type print and the polka dot triangles are from Basic Grey (ummmmm, can't remember the collection name--again from the scrap pile and if anyone is out there is reading this and wants to know I can probably dig up the name).  The yellow check pieces are from Lily Bee (from the scrap pile). 

Added a doily, the yellow Thickers, a couple of punched hearts, red enamel dots, a red button and baker's twine.  Then colored the veneer butterflies with a Distress ink pad (although I may not do that again--left them to dry overnight, uh, but they didn't, wiped them off with a towel to take off excess ink AND still had to use my heat gun on them.  I do like how they turned out though.  Oh, and the flower sticker is A.N.C.I.E.N.T.--might be Cloud 9. 

Have a great scrappy weekend!  I'm off to my room now to play. 

Cheryl

Thought I'd post a layout about... NOT Jacob!  (Plenty more Jacob layouts... but I don't want to totally disregard the younger grandies...) 

Jackson always gets this thoughtful, pensive look when he knows he's getting his picture taken.  He is surprisingly funny, for as serious as he seems to be in photos.

Again, using a bunch of leftover papers, straight out of my scrap box.  The multi colored polka dot is from Basic Grey's very first collection (yes, I've had this paper for  t.h.a.t.  long, sigh).  The orange woodgrain is Basic Grey, the yellow with orange polka dot that the photo is mounted on is from Bella Blvd's first collection, the orange pattern paper the layout is mounted on is Basic Grey's Picadilly collection, as is the small piece of the same pattern right above and below the photo (truly it's the branding strip),  The long navy blue piece is a leftover from some of Jacob's pages (I had used almost the whole pad of an Authentique collection called Loyal on his high school pages).   The grey piece with the little red dots is from a pad--but I have not got a clue as to who the manufacturer is. 

As for the embellishments: "Charming" and the "Mischevious" are cut-outs from Echo Park's A Boys Life.  Ampersand, and small cut-outs at the left side of the photo are from a Simple Stories journaling pack.  (I am not a huge Simple Stories fan, but since they were marked down 1/2 price, I knew there was something I could use in there!)    The little chipboard heart is from a partial pack of both red and pink hearts from Heidi Swapp (had those for several years) and the wood veneer  "Love" is actually from the $1 bin at Michaels (I know, go figure!).  The orange gems are from a partial pack of Hero Arts gems. 

And the pile of scraps is shrinking, day by day, layout by layout... 

Thanks for visiting! 

Cheryl

I was trying to scrap last night and it just wasn't coming together.  You know when you just keep looking at what you've done and the colors of the selected papers are right, the background paper seemed right when you started... but it just doesn't feel right and the more things you try, the more it doesn't feel right...  Yep, that's where I was. 

When this happens... I walk away.  Usually when I come back to the page in the next day or so, something will click and it's usually something as little as a change in the background paper.  But, what got me thinking, was how wonderful this makes those times when it IS all working and pages just come together.  Love that! 

This was one of those pages that just came together so effortlessly I couldn't believe it. 

I am  once again using a lot of older product on the page.  (My goal is to get through my box of scraps and turn it all into pages, cards or page kits!) 

The papers are from a page kit that was distributed at a crop... and I did like the page the pieces were designed for (I designed it...hopefully I liked it, right?).  But it didn't suit the photo I now had in mind to use.  So, a little snip here, a quick trim there, laid the pieces down on a different background paper and ka-boom, it was done!  Love it when this happens!! 

The papers were from Little Yellow Bicycle. I think the collection was called Twig.  The polka dot piece was an older K&Co. paper that just happened to be laying there and it fit, so there you go. Background paper is a super old EK paper, I think.  Anyway, I cut the leaves out and used pop dots to apply them, added some enamel dots and some bakers twine.  The title was an older alpha sheet from Cloud 9 and there was open space right on the photo, so that's where the title landed. 

This was our boy Jacob, with his dog, exploring the lake.  He was ten then.  Gosh, that photo had been sitting around a l.o.n.g. time.  Glad to have it scrapped.  And I am loving the simplicity of the page. 

Hope everyone has a great scrappy day! 

Cheryl 

I'mmmmm back!  See.  Another post.  I'm back.  Feels good. 

Another day, another layout (of Jacob, of course).  He's the very handsome one with his arm around the little blond girl, Delaney.  He wasn't sure if his circle of friends was even going to prom this year, but we all told him, they should go, one more time.  It would be one of the last times the whole group would be together... they should enjoy each others company. 

I used some really old papers, the tiny polka dot is the back side of a My Mind's Eye collection, the dark taupe and aqua print layering pieces are from Lily Bee (again---old, old papers).  I cut some banners from scraps, outlined all the pieces with a Micron pen, added a couple of little punched hearts, some tiny sparkly flowers (from Hobby Lobby) and tab, starburst and ticket stickers are from Basic Grey's Printery collection and I think a Lily Bee sticker sheet.  I trimmed the page down slightly and mounted it on a piece of aqua tapestry print from a pad of DCWV paper.   The letters in the title are from Basic Grey and Lily Bee. 

I'm sorry I don't always remember the exact paper collections of some of the older papers and things... but I have been on a real mission to use up the things I have.  For lots of reasons, a practically non-existent scrapping budget for starters.  But beyond that, I hate the waste; I bought the stuff, I should use up what I can.  And, I needed to lighten the load---clear things out, purge.   That's been an ongoing theme for some time, but I believe I have finally done it and accomplished a sorted and organized room.  (When the curtains go back up, I'll take some photos).  So, now that it's all been sorted, what doesn't go to friends and family, will be going to a women's shelter. 

All for now...

Cheryl

wow.  Talk about a neglected blog.  If you have even been checking in here for me, well, bless you.  Over a year has gone by since I posted anything.  And truthfully up until a couple of months ago, I had not even set foot in my scrap room. 

My RA kicked up b.i.g. time.  Don't really know if it is the work environment or if it just was coincidental, but it was all I could do to get to work, get home, eat, sleep, and get up and struggle through another day at work.  Just really, really bad.  Finally got in to see a rheumatoid specialist (took six months to get the appointment) and am feeling much better on the meds, not perfect, but much better, I am happy to report.  So, that's where I have been. 

Lots of other things to share, but will get to them in future posts. 

The most recent news is my oldest grandson, my most special Jacob, who has appeared in so many of my pages just graduated high school!  That's just not right... they should stay little for much longer don't you think?  But, since I was feeling better, I had lots of scrapping to catch up on to complete his albums so they could be out and on display at his graduation party.   So I got to scrapping. And it felt so good, was so much fun.  I did take photos of some of the layouts, but not all of them. 

So here goes...  A layout of guess who?  r.i.g.h.t.  Jacob and his little brother Jackson.  This photo just makes me smile all over...    They just make me smile all over...

For this layout I used a piece of Echo Park paper, I think from the About a Boy collection, which I smeared some gesso on,  Then layered the photo with pieces from my scrap bin, some washi tape, a button and a star sticker, plus a couple of word/phrase stickers.  Trimmed the page down just a bit to layer onto a plain white piece of cardstock to frame it.  But, that's it.  One of the fastest layouts I've ever done (other than waiting for the gesso to dry, which really wasn't too long) and I love it!   Hope you like it too!

Have a wonderful day! 

Cheryl