Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Thankful for Friends

The pumpkin pies just came out of the oven, old Tom the turkey has defrosted quite well in the fridge over the past couple days, the ingredients for artichoke dip are lined up ready to go in the mini crockpot, the bread cubes for stuffing have been seasoned and have dried out nice and crunchy, and the apple pie is set to go into the oven bright and early in the morning.  Potatoes-check, corn-check, dinner rolls-check.  All is ready for a Thanksgiving Day feast.  And of course I am thankful for family, which will be arriving (invading?) at about 11 a.m. tomorrow with even more food goodies.  But what else? 

Friends.  I am so grateful and fortunate to be able to count these two ladies as friends. 


The page?   I wanted to use white. White on white on white   I applied some white modeling paste on the background through a honeycomb stencil, used a whitewashed looking barn board paper, vellum and a piece of white handmade paper for layering.  I also used a piece of diagonally striped black and white paper (Crate, the DIY collection) as a photo mat.   Then added the white die cut (Sizzix, Stem and Leaves I think it's called), painted the wood veneer butterflies and "Laugh" with Picket Fence White stain, split a white doily in two, tied on some white (and gold) baker's twine, and added a scrap of off-white lace trim.  And because there is so much white, I repeated the black and white diagonal striped papers at the top and bottom of the page, curling up and bending the edges bit.

I saw a quote these words on a church message board the other day, "When you are down to nothing, the Lord is up to something."  I hope so.  I have to believe so.   In the meantime, we are warm and snug. We will be together.  We have family.  We have friends. 

Happy Thanksgiving all. 
Cheryl 





 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Favorites - The Last Installment - I Promise

Probably sick of my oldies but goodies, huh?  Well, bear with me through one more session while I get this out of my system... 

Favorite # 7 - a two page layout




This set of pages isn't that old, the papers are, but the layout I did just this past summer and it has become a favorite due to the contrast between the photos, papers and the black background page.  The photos, paper feathers, and title pops and I was able to include six photos across the two pages. 

Favorite #8  - a one pager



Another more recent layout.  Again, it's the simplicity and the colors I think I am drawn to.  The red and yellow plays off the colors of my Isabella's little shirt and it feels to me like a summer day, a play day.  Still not a ton of embellishments, but those that are on the page are sprinkled on to lead the eye diagonally across the page, so I guess while I really do love all the embellies that are out there on the market for us to play with, I really don't NEED a lot of them to make my pages work for me. 


Favorite # 9 - another one pager


This has to be one of the first pages selected as a favorite that is heavier on the embellishments.  But it's still not the embellishments that I think make me happiest with this page.  I think, for me, that it the embellishments would actually detract from the page if it were not for the monochromatic color scheme.  (and that little behind just makes me laugh)

And finally,

Favorite #10 - a one pager


This is the most recent of my favorites and it is embellishment heavy, but it really only works (for me that is) because the embellishments are the layers for the photo and are somewhat subtle in color.  If the ephemera stuff I layered up was brighter in color or more modern and not vintage in feel, I think it would have over-powered the photo. 

I've learned a lot by going back through layouts and selecting some favorites and then trying to view the pages objectively to determine what about them I really like.  It's not going to be the same for everyone...but for me I've learned that I can be really happy with simpler pages.  I should maybe quit struggling to include a bunch of embellishments (maybe just because everyone else is using them I've tried to use them too?) and focus on color, small tight clusters of embellies or tiny embellies sprinkled on in select areas. 

So, maybe go back through your pages and try to take an objective view of them to determine what you really are drawn to.  It's been a true learning experience for me.  I will still try new techniques, my style will still change and evolve, but I will try to pay attention to the core things that make me happy with a page. 

Done blabbing on this subject...blah, blah, blah and returning shortly to the posting of new pages and such... 

best,
Cheryl

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Favorite Layouts Continued

On with my blathering about some of my favorite layouts... 

Favorite #4 - a two pager




Again about the structure of the page itself... it's the simplicity of it, the linear placement of the photos, the colors that queue in with his little orange shirt, and all those fussy cut stars leading the eye across the page.  (and that happy little face...gets me every time) 


Favorite # 5 - a one page layout



This time it's the layers of paper that coordinate, but help detract from the garage background of the photo...the colors seem to help focus my eyes on my dancing-a-jig grandson.  small doses of embellishments tightly clustered, and the star paper clip clinging to the title (sticker).   

Favorite #6 - another two pager





Gotta say, I really like the fussy cut paper, the colors, and again the simplicity of the photo placement.  I truly am drawn to order and simplicity, much as I love all the quirky and fun embellishments that exist for us to play with...I keep being drawn back to simpler pages. 

all for now,

Cheryl

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

My Favorite Layouts

A fellow scrapping buddy and I were talking about favorite layouts and what made them our favorites.  Now lots of time, the most recent layout I have finished is my current favorite.  But when looking through albums (or when I page way back in my blog), I found I have favorites that are not current at all...not current materials...or styles...or even current photos.  Happily, most of the time, it's the photos and the memories they evoke.  But if I look at the page as a whole, I'm surprised at some of my favorites. 

So here are some of my all time favorite pages...and a little bit about why. 

Favorite Layout #1 - a two pager


I love the colors and the little accents of aqua gemstones (reminds me of water droplets).  It feels like a bright, hot summer day at the pool when I look at these pages and I love that they make me feel like this.  I love the mix of patterns, and the dash of clean white here and there and that even with the inclusion of 5 photos, I I can still see the paper patterns.   



Favorite Layout #2


What makes this one a fave?  That look on my boy's face!  Now about the layout... the paper layers, sitting on the stacked strips and a title tucked in, nice and tight (also that little bunny-- that silly little bunny).  

and one more for today

Favorite #3 -- another two pager




Always love red, white and blue... what else makes this a favorite?  The buttons and stars and the layers of border pieces with that piece of pleated fabric, and I am still loving that title in various fonts, but word and color coordinated.  The linear photo placement appeals to me...much as I like pattern and color, I crave order (split personality, perhaps?). 

I used to do almost all two page layouts; I do them now sometimes, but I no longer feel as though I absolutely must have two pages together in an album.    I am a work in progress and so are my pages, my style evolves and changes. But, there are things that I can see that I gravitate toward; linear placement of photos and border strips, color speaks strongly to me, scattering small embellishments to lead the eye, leaving some clean or open spaces to let the eye rest. 

to be continued...
 Best! 
Cheryl

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Not So Traditional Baby Page

OK, I know baby photos are typically all soft and ethereal or cutsie-patootsie (technical term, cutsie-patootsie--you know all bunnies and toys and such).  But Jackson was seated in a child's leatherette wing chair, looking rather like Winston Churchill...um, just did not really lend itself to said cutsie-patootsie. 


So I went with a distressed (Paper Loft) background paper and layered up the photo with coordinating papers in blues and browns, some tags, wood veneer butterflies, tiny paper clip and several small red accents (the baker's twine, the tiny red game pieces...love me a tiny red accent or two or three!!!). 

The tile letters in the title are Thickers, the other alpha is from Basic Grey, the Clippings collection.  I also added a little more stamping, the "love your face" and the arrows. 

Bubba-Lu is what we often call Jackson.  He's a big boy.  Always been a big boy.  Hence "Bubba."   A while ago, at lunch, I prompted him, "Come on Bubba Lu, let's eat", when his sister admonished me, in her ever so prim and proper 4-year old voice, "His name is Jackson Daniel."  To which he knitted up his eyebrows, pursed his little lips, leaned over the table and replied, "I a Bubba-U!"  Cracked me up!   Had to get this on a page.  Yes, Jackson, we do indeed call you Bubba-Lu. 

Love you, Bubba-Lu.
Nana

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Scrapping Not-So-Great Photos

We've all got 'em.  We all hold on to them for various reasons.  And we all struggle to scrapbook them.  Poor photos.  Or in my case, just plain bad photos (not misbehaved---although I may have a few of those too!). 

The photos I used in this layout are old film-based photos.  Sometimes you can scan the photos into your computer and muck about with the colors  and sharpness and such, but you know what.  I just didn't want to spend that kind of time.  (I've said it before--I am a lazy scrapper!)  Plus, these were not photos of a significant event or of a great uncle Harold who no one seems to have photos of (whoever great uncle Harold is--I just figure we all have someone in the family that no one has photos of).  They are just photos I want to keep. 


To somewhat combat the poor quality of two of the pictures, I arranged the one "better" one over the top of the  other two and matted only that one (in a buttery yellow to queue in on the yellow jacket).  The two poor-er (is that even a word?) photos kind of fade to the background and become supporting photos.  It's ok, not great.  But it gets the photos on the page. 

Looking at the layout now, I kind of wish I had matted the whole layout on a navy piece of cardstock, not brown.  I used non-competing background patterns---a piece of autumn leaves patterned paper, a bit of navy print (to pick up on the jeans), an off-white notebook-y paper.  Added a couple of stamped embellishments (in navy), a coppery leaf die cut that was lying about on my desk, a couple of wood veneers (the camera and the love pieces), the yellow "Life" layered embellishment (that one is from Amy Tangerine--a pack I picked up at Tuesday Morning for a whopping $.99).   Tucked in a couple of tags and did my journaling on a speech bubble sticker.  But I needed another navy blue element to complete the visual triangle---and I just like things in threes.  So I added the finger with a string sticker (Heidi Swapp). 

The coppery leaf didn't have any detail to it, looked a little blah, so I used my stylus to outline and put in the veins and then traced over the de-bossed lines with a black pen. 

Alphas are from Thickers (another Tuesday Morning steal).  They are kind of a strange peachy beige color with not glitter on them, but more like mica pieces. 

And there it is, my not so hot photos, scrapped.  We may re-visit this whole topic of scrapping bad (or misbehaved) photos again...I have more!!

Scrapping on...
Cheryl




Friday, November 7, 2014

Water Water Everywhere

Took another stab at a watercolor background.  I sure do enjoy sloshing the paint around, but I must be a bit of a control freak because I tend to want to put the paint where I want it, but I'm pretty sure that control is not supposed to play a big part in this technique...



I just used  American Crafts white cardstock instead of watercolor paper this time.   Tried out the watercolor on acetate technique. 

Step One.  Mix up some watercolor on a piece of acetate (in my case I used an old Thickers wrapper)

Step Two.  Turn acetate over directly onto to the cardstock

Step Three.  Smoosh paint around a bit. 

Repeat...

Layered the photo on top of several pieces of plain white tissue paper, then a few pieces of patterned paper and a piece of vellum with gold metallic hearts.  (I found a partial sheet of this vellum cleaning out the closet---must have had this for years!  So what was old, is new again!)  Cut out a few of the gold hearts and then used some more gold chipboard hearts from that Heidi Swapp Project Life kit I picked up a few weeks ago and just a couple of stickers.  Really wanted to keep the page light and airy so didn't add much more.  Alphas are gold metallic Thickers---love this font and have bought them in gold, red and silver metallic, plus a black and a teal set. 

psssssst.  It's the weekend....
Happy weekend! 
Cheryl 

 

Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Why's and How's of One Photo and One Page Layouts

I was talking with a friend the other day about why I have so many one-photo pages and many more one page layouts.  When I started scrapbooking years ago, it was for me.  But as time went on, the albums became for my adult children, then for my oldest grandson for graduation, and yes still for me.  So now when I view a stack of photos--I kind of mentally plot out--- this page about Jackson will eventually go into his album(s).  The page I did about Bella and frosting ( "Frosting!") will go into her album(s) and the photos I have of them both with frosting in hand (and in mouth and on face, etc.) will stay with me. 


Gotta give a little equal love to my youngest grandie, Jackson.  Just like his sister, Jackson has decided that frosting is a very good thing! 

Used some old Basic Grey Life of the Party papers, as well as some ephemera from Jillibean Soup, Maggie Holmes, and a couple of tab stickers from Simple Stories SNAP!.  The alphas used in the title are super old Heidi Swapp (yeah--I still have several packs of these...loved them then, love them now.  I'll be sad when they are gone.)  I punched a little star or two or three, and used some of my homemade enamel dots.  That's about it.  This page went together much more quickly than did Bella's frosting page---mainly because I had been hunting about trying to find just the right color and size alpha for the title on that page. 

 Best!
Cheryl

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Snow.  It's a four letter word... for a reason.    And guess what was blowing about the other morning when I woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:00 a.m.  It didn't last or accumulate, but there it was. 

So with the cold beginning to set in, I found these photos of Miss Isabella taken at last year's homecoming game.  (The story... very small town, no baby sitters available--because, duh, it's homecoming... so daughter of mine hurries home, hurries the kids through dinner, potty, and re-bundles them up to bring them to the big game...never thinking to check feet for socks~!  After all, you send them to daycare with socks on...pretty much thinking they will come home that way...) 



So we notice midway through the game when Bella is sitting on my lap, that she has no socks on.  And it was c.o.l.d. 

I used a piece of paper for the background that came in a pack of Lucky Charm paper from Dear Lizzy.  It happened to be one of those designs that I kind of shook my head thinking I might have to just ignore the design and use it for the pale pink color.  But it happens that it worked out really well for this page!  I used some water colors for the purple and hot pink background to coordinate a bit with Bella's coat.  And the title took care of itself; used a Thickers set in purple that I never thought I'd be able to use up!  But I ended up having to piece a few of the "e"s together because I ran out, so I'm thinking I've pretty well exhausted this set! 

Photos are matted on vellum and a purple and white polka dot paper that had no branding on it whatsoever; I've had it for years.  Glad to finally use it!  Rub on leaves were from Basic Grey, added a purple felt flower and dark maroon button, the Just Believe tag from Heidi Swapp, a couple of strips of another pink dotted paper and a branding strip from the Lucky Charm collection, some bits of washi tape and some pink and purple sequins and called it done.  

Happy Saturday everyone! 
Cheryl