Two posts in one day?!  And the occasion?  Just cuz I did this layout one evening this past week and I just love it and had to post it.   (Usually I do up several layouts and then photograph 5 or 6 of them at one time...trying to have a backlog of layouts ready to post for when I don't have access to scrapping materials.)  But, I love this one so much...could. not. wait.  

Now I don't know if it's the layout I love so much, or if it's the photo... Jacob absolutely hates this series of photos.  Had them done with one of the photographers that brings a slew of old timey clothes and props and then prints them in sepia, and sometimes uses some hand coloring to tint sections of the photos.  He just hates these pictures.  But, sorry, kiddo, Nana loves them and they're gettin' scrapped! 

I was watching a video the other day and watched this gal take scraps of paper and a pile of embellishment ephemera and put a few together, then she stapled the packet.  She did several of these packets and then just slid them in and around her photo and plunked the whole thing down on a 12x12 paper, titled it and boom, was done.  Now my take on this did not go quite as quickly, since I am old school and always start with the photo and slide things in and under till I am happy, then I try and take great care to not alter the stacks while I glue everything into place.  But I have to say, even though I did not do this as quickly as I saw it done in the video, it did come together pretty darn fast (for me anyway). 

I used a couple of ephemera packs from Crate Paper (Maggie Holmes Party Day and DIY I think), an embellishment pack from Amy Tangerine (the stitched heart, "favorite," and the layered "best" sticker), and a piece from Crate Paper Close Knit stitched embellishments.  I also added some paint splatters, a wood veneer piece, and a few of my homemade enamel dots.   

Something I've noticed is that I am doing a lot of white cardstock backgrounds.  I like, never, I mean n.e.v.e.r. used plain white backgrounds a few years ago.  Everything was patterned paper and I would use a colored piece of cardstock as a base.  But I am really liking the white backgrounds more and more (still loving my pattern paper---just using it differently now). 

So today, I find myself in need of more white cardstock... oh darn that means a trip to Hobby Lobby I guess... gee that's a real shame... not. 

Now I am off and running... 
Cheryl
  

Hello Saturday!  Hello Weekend! 

Hello paper and photos! 

Today I am posting a layout and blabbering about cutting up pretty paper.  I know, we cut up our pretty paper all the time, but I mean really slicing and dicing it up. 

I cut out the teeny little triangles, cut out the chevrons, cut slivers of the heart paper, cut slices off a 6x6 piece, cut the branding strips, and even cut the banner sticker.   Just basically chopped and sliced and cut up everything I used.  And then, reassembled it.  Stacked the chevrons, using just the colors I wanted.  Stacked the branding strip pieces up in a slightly crooked fashion.  Sprinkled on the tiny triangles.  Slid the cut pieces of the 6x6 piece under the matted photo and one piece up under the stacked branding strips.  And then arranged what was left at the top and bottom of the page.  Oh, yeah, I also decided to highlight the use of the little triangles by saving one to use as a template to outline a few times.   (I am telling you now that outlining a teeny tiny triangle is not as easy as I had anticipated...) 

Once all the slivers, slices, cut up triangles and chevrons (some of the chevrons are on pop dots) were in place, I added the striped banner (cut into two pieces of course) and just a couple of stickers--the #2 circle sticker, the yellow ampersand and the chipboard heart at the top of the page and the little tabs clustered at the top of the photo.  Alpha is an ancient Thickers set, the old vinyl ones in this bright school bus yellow that I just loved. 

All this slicing and dicing---and the occasion?  Just a trip to Costco! 

Best!
Cheryl

So, no prom layout today (not to worry, I do have several more...like I would really only do two layouts of our boy on prom court--she says with a nana smirk--he doesn't get off that easy). 

But I do have a page I did specifically for Jacob and his cousin Samantha.  Samantha is my niece, my sister's daughter.  Technically that makes she and Jacob, what--second cousins, I think.  They were born only months apart and they have always been like two peas in a pod. They have an uncanny ability to pick up right where they left off, no matter how long the time in between visits. 

I cut apart a bunch of tickets and little tabs from a Maggie Holmes paper (out of the $5 bargain pack---really getting some mileage out of that one!!!).  I also used up some stickers that were left on an old Crate paper sticker sheet (Emma's Closet was the line).  Then it was just snippets and strips left from other projects that were lying about on my desk, a doily, a little washi tape, and some pretty pastel buttons.  Cut the giant ampersand out with my Cricket and used one of my favorite Thickers alphas (just love these--they're foam and tall and skinny.  Per-Fect!)  Background paper is the B side of an Authentique paper -- white, but distressed--love that. 

This came together fairly quick and it is one of my favorite layouts.  I did a different take on this photo for my album(s), since this page went into Jacob's album.  But I may have to take that one apart and try to recreate this one, I like it so much better.  (yeah, that's what I need to do---a b-jillion other photos that need to be scrapped and yes, let's take apart a layout that is done and do it again... I'm such a dork.) 

Cheryl

Another prom layout today. 

Jacob and his date posing for the customary photos... Ah, don't they look sweet?  I just love prom pictures; the girls all done up and their pretty dresses, the boys all cleaned up and looking so grown up in their tuxes. 

I used some grey prints (the stripe and the damask) that had no markings on them to tell me who made them.  I wanted just small touches of yellow to pick up on her dress, but didn't want an entirely yellow layout, so I used a soft grey cardstock for the background and the grey prints, then tucked in small pieces from a cut apart sheet from Crate paper, the yellow check (from Lily Bee), a punched piece of yellow cardstock, small pieces of a doily, and flowers from Prima and Petaloo,  The alphas are silver glitter Thickers (Dear Lizzy); banners were hand cut from the grey print papers. 

 It's early... gonna hit some scrappy blogs this morning with my coffee, give the house a quick once over in case we get a call for a showing, then sneak in a little scrapping before the grandies come over. 

What are you doing today?  Hopefully a little paper is involved!
Cheryl

It's fall and all, but I think I better get these prom pages posted --- before the boy graduates from college.  Har--dee-har-har. 

Jacob was on prom court and the boys all went for tuxes together.  They picked out fairly traditional suits...except for their vests.  The vests were, um.... camo print.  Yep, camouflage print tuxedo vests.  They were then trying to talk the girls into wearing work boots -- yeah, not happening. 

What actually took the longest to do on this page was the title, getting it all lined up, nice and straight.    I didn't want a lot going on in the way of background, so I only used a small print to mat the three photos.  And then started arranging strips of washi tape horizontally as a base to lay the matted photos on.  Sticking with a monochromatic black, grey and white helped tone down the busy feeling that having so many people in a photo can create. 

The boys were really pretty good about getting their pictures taken, they posed again and again and were having a good time hamming it up for the camera(s).  And, yes, that would be my grandson in the middle photo being held up by his comrades in tuxes.  

It's Thursday already and I am looking forward to spending time with the little grandies this weekend.  We'll bake, maybe break out the watercolors, and there might be pumpkins involved. 

Happy Fall, Ya'all.
Cheryl

Oh boy, today is Sunday.  DH is gone all day, no showings, the only couple of things I have to do outside the house today is drop off some goodies at a friend's, pick up some photos at Walgreens, and get dog food.  And the rest of the day is mine, all mine...gonna spend it up in my little room, scrapping away! 

But before I get going, I thought I'd post a layout. 

Bella and Jackson (and Nana) spend loads of time with the Thomas the Tank train tracks, getting it all set so multiple trains can run at one time...So much fun to see the two of them so engaged (and kind of playing together...) 

Papers are from a little 6x6 Simple Stories pad I picked up on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  It was falling apart, held together with a rubber band, but the price was right so I didn't care if it was missing a sheet or two.  Even the phrases and the little arrows were cut from sheets in the pad.  The star stickers and the camera sticker are Recollections also purchased on clearance.  The alphas are from a Webster's Pages sheet (one of those that had multiple colors and sets of alphas on one sheet---loved those!).  The diagonal black strip at the top and bottom of the page are from Crate Paper, the DIY collection pad I picked up on clearance a month or so ago).  And the enamel dots---homemade! 

Best!
Cheryl

Making up for lost time I guess, because here I am again with another post and another page! 

Today, a bit of a break from all of the graduation album pages... 

This one is Jackson and Bella from Halloween last year.  I had to dig for Halloween papers...just don't have a lot of them.  So this was made up of scraps I had from a years old K & Co. Halloween collection. 

Did a little stamping for the background, some fussy cutting (the bats and the jack o' lanterns) and added some dippy dots of black stickles.  I did also use some green and purple cardstock strips, and added two different dot patterns.  I'm thinking that the orangey dot is the backside of a WeRMemory Keepers paper and the other dot pattern is Basic Grey.   The title is a Thickers alpha set, and I added some white pen work in the way of outlining and dots (to mimic the dots in the jack o' lanterns' mouths). 

This year Mr. Jackson has chosen a dinosaur ensemble and we don't know what Miss Isabella will be yet (although I expect a liberal dose of glitter in whatever she chooses...). 

Happy October!
Cheryl

P.S.  It was indeed the starter on the car--and I, tonight, am doing little to nothing this evening.  Ahhhhh, today life is good. 

Just when you think you are free and clear, with critical matters handled... the car decides to break down.  Had another house showing late this afternoon, made it home from work with enough time to change out of work garb, grab the dogs and leashes, then was going to move my car to the street, when.... it wouldn't start.  Wouldn't take a jump...but electrical stuff works.  DH thinks its the starter.  Now I know this is not a huge thing, in the grander scheme of things.  But I truly just want to be able to come home from work and, I don't know...do nothing?  But onward we go.  Because, what else can we do? 

Onward... 

Today's layout is, once again, one that I did for Jacob's grad album.  I did a similar one of his high school photos, but this page went into album #1 (he actually received two albums from me--one was his younger years and the second one was all high school stuff). 

I wanted a representation of him as a baby, but not a bunch of baby photos.  So again used a grid type arrangement and wallet size photos like I did with his high school pics.   Papers were from Lily Bee (I think--it's that piece of aqua floral behind the photos), Maggie Holmes (from my $5 bargain pack) and a piece of...I truly have no idea where it came from...hahaha---I really haven't a clue--gotta start writing this stuff down--now there's a novel thought. 

The numbers are wood veneer pieces I bought at Michael's--actually bought a couple of packs because numbers are kind of hard to come by.  The month and days after the numbers are Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type.   The layered banner is Heidi Swapp, although I added the "love you" with October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket alpha stickers.  Then did a little outlining and my journaling and left well enough alone. 

And here we go, onward, right?
Best!
Cheryl

woo, hoo!  Back in the saddle again...I'm back in the saddle again... 

My cold hopefully is nearing its end.  A real bugger, this one was.  I'm at least not going though a half a box of tissues every day.  And I got my little ole' laptop back today!  Plus, we had a home showing last week and an open house today and have another showing tomorrow afternoon.  And.... all the deep cleaning is done, the purging, and staging has been done and all I should have to do from here on out is stay in maintenance mode.  Thank goodness. 

So here is a layout to celebrate! 

Another homecoming page done for Mr. Jacob's graduation album. 

Papers are from Basic Grey, the  Plumeria collection.  The colors were good with Jacob's plum colored dress shirt, but I didn't want so many flowers...  To downplay the florals printed in the corners, I dry-brushed a bit of white craft paint across them and then added a few strips of coordinating papers with torn edges.  Matted the photos in one of those same prints, roughed up the edges of that paper and then laid this atop a base of irregularly cut rectangles and squares, also with roughed up and curled edges.  Cut a couple of banners and tucked those in, did my journaling with white4 pen around the photos.  The title (not too original, I'm afraid) was from the Plumeria alpha set  that came with the collection pack. 

This was the collection of papers that I had pieces laying about on my desk that ended up on the layout that was posted last Sunday. 

And even though his mom re-cut his hair (to get rid of that stripe cut down the center of his head for game night), you can still see where it was shaved down the middle---hence the red baseball hat in the first photo and that big cheesy grin with a thumbs up (gosh I love this kid, can you tell?).  Also gotta love the background of the teen room complete with  pile of clothes leaking out into the doorway...

So glad to be blogging again. 

Happy Sunday all. 
Cheryl