What's Wrong With This Page?

It's another round of critiquing my layout.  I did this page quite some time ago and never posted it.  Something was just not quite right with it.  I looked it over really well and then I knew what it was. This time it is a very small thing, but it is just screaming at me as I look at the page on the screen. 

I love the colors, even the goldenrod colored background paper (which took me f.or.e.v.e.r. to pick out).  I had all the burgundy, pink-y, magenta pieces selected, but the page sat untouched for month's because I just could not settle on a background piece.  Once the goldenrod piece was selected, by way of a happy accident of turning over a pink-y patterned paper, the layout itself went together rather quickly. 

Do you see it yet? Can you see what is just bugging me so?  What seems a tad askew, out of place? 

It's that doily on the right side of the layout! 

It is jutting out there just too, too far.  It seems slightly disconnected.  Like it was added as an afterthought.  It really needs to be tucked in further to the pieces under the photo, I think, to be made a part of the whole, rather than hanging out there on it's own. 

Does it really ruin the whole page?  No, not really.  But in this case, I have not gifted this page away.  I do still have it in my possession.  And it is an easy fix.  Were I not in the middle of packing for a cross-country move, I would pull the page out immediately and undo the doily, cut it down a bit and tuck it back in further under the photo layers.  But... I am in the middle of packing so this will have to wait a bit. 

OK, page details...  I just love the far way look in our Bella's eyes, so that's where the title comes from.  Most of the papers are Carta Bella, Beautiful Moments, I think the collection was.  Even the little banners and label stickers are from this collection.  The die cut paper on the left side of the page is old, old, old Making Memories.  Alphas used in the title are a mix of Bo-Bunny (old, old, old) and the pink glitter alphas are Thickers. The little stick pins are from Hobby Lobby (their own store brand) and the pink pearls are from Hero Arts.  I did add some torn pieces of washi tape to define the top and bottom of the page, as well as doing some outlining. 

And now back to packing, ugh.

best,
Cheryl

Easter Pickles?

Yep,  there she is all dressed up for Easter and slurping away on a pickle.  Nope, didn't want candy, no eggs, just pickles. 

Had to add a touch of pickle-green because...you know it's all about the pickle... and the little girl. 

Had a bit of a "pickle" (hahahaha I crack myself up)  trying to layer some papers under the photos.  I tried using my white tissue paper, nah, just didn't look right.  A big old hunk of cardstock was just too block-y looking.  So as I was picking through some things to be packed and thinking about what else to use as layering papers...a piece of embossed dotty paper slipped out onto the floor.  Eureka!  I snatched it right up slid it under one of the photos.  Liked it so well I grabbed another plain piece of white cardstock to run that through the Sizzix, this time using a swirly embossing folder, then cut each embossed piece in half.  After bending and crimping up the edges a bit, I had just the right layering papers.  . 

Also added a couple of punched border pieces in yellow and a doily.  The little green banners are from Basic Grey ( I snagged a bunch of these in various colors, patterns and sizes, several months ago from Tuesday Morning).  They are kind of a pain to remove from the packaging ---as they are sewn onto a piece of cardstock--- it is do-able---the stitching is quite strong!  Anyway, after cutting up the banner, I placed it in three places to aid in developing a visual triangle. 

The doily print paper is from Basic Grey (Nook and Pantry) and the background paper is the B side of an Authentique paper.  Other embellishments include a couple of buttons, a couple of wood veneer butterflies, and another piece of one of those Basic Grey banners--this time in yellow.  The chipboard letters used in the title are also from Basic Grey. 

So really that's it. Not a lot going on in this one.  Not a ton of layering.  It was indeed all about the pickle... and the little girl. 

best,
Cheryl

In Honor of Abby

I've posted this layout before.  But you see we've lost our Abby girl.  She quit eating last weekend...had her in to the vet and they had to send out some tests for conclusive results. Cancer.  She went rapidly downhill.  And yesterday was her last.  She laid her sweet head in my lap at the vets, and we stroked and petted her as she slipped into that special place. 

We will miss you pretty girl. 

Working Around Holiday Colors!

My grandkids are infamous (ok only infamous in my mind) for dressing in non-holiday coordinating colors during said holiday.  Hot pink during Halloween, magenta and orange during Easter, and this (an older photo series of my now 19 year old grandson) holding up a bright yellow vest received at Christmas. 

Sometimes I can just ignore the colors and go with the standard holiday color combos.  Sometimes, I make the layout about something other than the holiday during which the photo(s) were taken.  But sometimes (blast it all),  I really want those non-coordinating photos, just as they are and on a page about whatever the holiday is/was.  So there (she says, stamping her foot and pouting.) 

So here is grandson No. 1 holding up his very bright yellow vest... and I wanted this done as a Christmas page. 

It was that clear, bright yellow that threw me off.  I am forever scrapping things that are years old.  But I have a few Christmas photos that have never found a home due to the colors that people are wearing (or holding...).  This time, I used a white and beige-y print background page and chose papers (scraps) from an old My Mind's Eye Christmas collection that had a yellow tone to them.  Plus, the red that is printed on the papers is a subdued red.

While I am not excited, jumping up and down over the page,  I am not displeased with it.  The only thing right now that may still change is the title.  The red is also subdued, but the dotty pattern on top of the print is kind of a bit much.  But I'll let it be for a few days and look at it again.  Sometimes that clears things up for me.  Just to walk away and re-visit. 

Papers are all My Mind's Eye, tabs are from Basic Grey (25th and Pine) and the border pieces are all from a K&Co. pack that I am on a mission to use up. 

Turning That Stash into Christmas Pages (yes still)

Yep, still scrapping the stash and yep, still scrapping another Christmas page! 

The story (in Reader's Digest form):  between the two of us, we have been laid off for several years (cumulatively) and since money was so tight, I would not spend it on a Christmas tree when it was going to be hard enough to do gifts for children and grandchildren.  (We have not had an artificial tree for probably 20 years---one of husband's bug-a-boos.) But this year, even with money being tight, he went out and came home with a tree. 

You know what? Going without one for several years, really made this one so much more beautiful to me.  I left it up longer than we ever had in the past.  I just enjoyed it being lit up every night for as long as I could. 

Used papers from the Pink Paislee Snow Village pad again, except for the white distressed background paper--that's the B side of an Authentique paper (again from a pad, the one I used so much of on my eldest grandson's graduation album).  The "happy" title is a Doodlebug sticker (from the set that I forgot I had -- for um, like y-e-a-r-s).  The wood veneer snowflakes are from Michael's (got them on clearance last November and there are only a couple left--so those have been well used!).  The only other embellishments are really the sequins and the tissue paper.  And even those items have been repurposed from my sewing box and the gift wrap box! 

I am finding that not having nearly the stash of scrappy supplies that I used to has made me appreciate the supplies I have on hand even more...just like with the Christmas tree.  I don't need racks and stacks of paper; it is far less overwhelming now to select papers and embellishments.  And I think I may even love these pages more than ever! 

have yourself a scrappy good day,
use up some of that stash,
you'll be glad you did!

Cheryl

Flat Layouts---the saga continues

And here we are again with another "flat" layout...and it has title placement issues to boot!  Poor baby.  And again, I remind myself (and others) that the story is told, it is not an ugly page, and the recipient loved it.  Mission accomplished! 

That being said.  Let's start with the title.  Once again, when I look at the page on the computer screen, I see that I would be happier if I had cut the title slightly smaller and placed it below the photo, right on the navy print layer.  Bah... live and learn.  Always learning! 

Then the flatness.... I have an ongoing battle with myself.  I love giving some dimension to a page, using pop dots and dimensional accents. But, in this case, my practical side won out.  I simply had to make some of the pages for this project flat.  I simply did not want to venture into a third album for this project. 

Papers for the page were from Authentique (the B side for that nice distressed background), old Creative Imaginations, Basic Grey, and more pieces from Authentique.  I cut the title using my Cricut and three different cartridges to make a wack-a-mo looking title for this crazy bunch of wack-a-mo boys.  Stickers were from Lily Bee, Simple Stories and Basic Grey. 

This was the last day of school, Junior year.  Some sort of dress-up day...not sure the look they were going for (Daisy Duke?), but they were funny! 

As for me..still have to be happy with a page that makes the recipient happy. 

and better yet, still learning
Cheryl 

Every Layout Does NOT Have To Be Perfect - GASP!

I am a big proponent of keeping it real.  It gets me into trouble sometimes!!!  But I wanted to include pages that probably would not be blog worthy on a designers blog or a company blog... They are pages that are complete, they tell the story, they are not ugly.  But they are perhaps, more plain...perhaps more flat (without all the popping up or dimensional embellishments). 

This is one of those pages.   More importantly though, the recipient of this page (and others) loves this page.  His face lit up reading it.  And that makes me smile. 

Jacob got this page in his graduation albums and just the memory of his face when he was reading it makes me so happy. 

I used the "B" side of a My Mind's Eye paper for the stripe... and the large photo corner-y triangles were cut from old scraps of Basic Grey (haven't a clue as to the name of the collection anymore though).  The dotty paper is also Basic Grey, The navy print is Authentique.  I added the arrow from a Jillibean Soup ephemera pack and the camera was cut from a Dear Lizzy paper.  His quoted phrases, I hand printed onto a grid patterned paper, cut then out and outlined the boxes. 

In seeing the page on the screen now...some of the quotes could/should have been popped up.  But in reality, when you are assembling a massive amount of pages into albums, not all of them can be dimensional folks.  And in my memory of his face reading the page, it is just right. 

keeping it real (or trying to)
Cheryl

Bold and Bright = A Winter Layout?

Yes! Yes, bold and bright colors can equal a winter layout.  Given the sunny, bright day, and the bold colors in my little lady's coat and hat, bright colors worked really well on this page!  The content of the page isn't really about winter, or the parade we were at... it's all about Bella's "Bring it On" attitude. 

Instead of a white cardstock base for the page, I used a very pale blue.  (A, I am running out of  my favorite white cardstock; and B, the stark contrast between the bright colors and the white was a bit much...the softer, paler blue almost looks white against the brights.) 

Papers are from Echo Park's Little Girl collection from several years ago. The papers are just tucked in layers under the photo, so that a bit of each is peeking out.  The pieces of each of the papers are lined up along one side, adhered and the edges ruffled and bent.  I added a three punched hearts and hand stitched them into place (so wanted that line of stitching through the hearts, but not so sure if I would opt for hand sewing again--it was a pain).  The star stickers are from an Amy Tangerine sticker pack, flair badge is Basic Grey, Hey Girl, and the buttons are from my stash.  Title letters are Thickers, one of my favorite fonts--I think have these in black, this teal, red and silver metallic!)  Oh, and that one fabric covered brad?  It's one of several I've been hoarding from K& Co!  I am breaking the barrier!  I am using my stash!  Wa---hoooooo!   

Still happily scrapping my stash!
Cheryl

Scrapping the Christmas Stash!

Just a quick post...  Jackson was so patient and contemplative about opening his gifts.  And check out those eyelashes!  I just love a photo of a child with their eyes cast down, intent on whatever they are doing. 

Really wanted this page to have a light and airy look, rather than the usual Christmas colors, so I went with whites.  There's a lot of older product that got used on this page!  The white tone on tone polka dot background paper is super old Heidi Swapp.  It was part of a resist line that was intended to be used with inks, mists, paints.  After applying the color and wiping it off, the polka dots ( in this case) would have remained white.  But on this page, I just wanted the white on white look. 

After trimming the polka dot paper down, it got centered on a beige-y gray snowflake patterned paper (from Pink Paislee--Snow Village pad).  Then tissue paper and pieces of a music patterned paper (also from the Pink Paislee--Snow Village pad), a doily and a gray and white chevron were used as layers under the photos.  And old?  That title "believe" is also ancient...a sparkly pretty sticker from Doodlebug.  I've been hoarding this set of stickers for so long, I forgot I had them! 

For embellishment, I added a couple of wood veneer snowflakes, some gold and white sequins, and two small white paper flowers (that just happened to be sitting on the corner of my desk). 

As much as I love all the new papers and goodies that are out there...I am almost as excited to dig into my stash of papers and stickers and be able to put together a page that looks as up to date as if I had bought a bunch of new supplies. 

I'm certainly not advocating we all quit purchasing scrapbook supplies!  But what I am advocating is:  if you bought it, use it! 

best,
Cheryl