More Pages from INSD...

Sorry, small break in blogging due to, well, I just wasn't feeling very good with the sudden upsurge in temp and humidity here and husband was on a "we are not running the air conditioning already" kick.  Yuk.  I don't do heat and humidity well.

But I'm back with the last of my pages to share from INSD weekend!  Below is a page that I did for the using up old stuff challenge "One More Time."  Papers are ancient Echo Park, Amy Tangerine, and Authentique.  Found and used a couple of old stickers from Basic Grey, chipboard pieces from MAMBI, as well as leftovers from past kit clubs.  I had tried for some time to use various gray-toned and printed papers... wasn't working for me, so I switched and went with blues! 

The next page was the second one for the Mood Board Challenge and I used the colors from the balloon print paper as my inspiration.   

I particularly loved the blue-y aqua in that first paper, along with a touch of pink and red!   Raided my stash again, even though that was not required for the challenge, it was great to put more older product to good use---love that!

This page was created specifically for the One More Time Challenge again, using old MME glittery papers from their Laundry Line collection and a piece from the very first Fancy Pants release!  Stamping, some sequins, wood veneer hearts, wound up thread, tags and a journaling spot cut in half completed the page. 

This last page is the only entry I did for another FB group over INSD weekend.  I got so wrapped up and was enjoying the challenges from the first group I was playing along with that I kind of never made it back to this group.  But I did so enjoy getting this page done.  I had struggled with the page due to the photo's bright pink background.  It would have been much easier to scrap if the photographer had used a soft white background.   I am happy with the results, and happy for the challenge of working with "brights!" 

There are a couple more pages from the weekend, but I think I will use them within the context of another topic...fixing or do-overs for pages.   Yeah, not so happy with a couple of pages, so I'll let them sit and go back to them in a bit.  I did take photos, so I can show a before and after of the make-overs.  That should be fun!! 

Glad to be back in the blog-o-sphere and back to playin' with paper!! 

best,
Cheryl

INSD Page Recap Continued!

This set of pages that I created over INSD weekend had me digging through old, old photos!  Participating in the challenges in an online crop, sometimes means you are not (ah--um, clearing throat) quite prepared for what the challenges might be asking you to include.  At least I wasn't.  Which for some I guess could be frustrating; but for me, I found it exhilarating!  It made for a good reason for me to dig through a box of old photos, old supplies, and tools that honestly I like, I'm just too, um, lazy to get up and find and use!  LOL!

This is my now, well-over 30 year old daughter, as a cute little witch one Halloween.  See those little bats stamped at the top of the tag?  Cute, huh?!  I have stamps; I just don't often think of incorporating them onto my pages.  I tend to think of them for card making and forget about them when I am making scrapbook pages.  One of the other things to try and use was a geometric element.  I added the two triangle punches (in purple) at the top of the page, and it totally helped balance out that purple from the left side!

Bingo Challenge is a favorite of mine... use the supplies, photos, etc. noted in the "Bingo" squares, by column, row, or diagonally.  I had to use a 6x6 paper pad, a 5x7 photo or larger, acetate or acrylic shapes, squares or rectangles, and punches. 

The challenge for me on this next page as to use a 6x6 paper pad.  Not much of a challenge you say?  Well, it is for me!  I'm not a big fan of 6x6 pads.  The few that I have, I've had for  couple of years.  The other part of this challenge was to incorporate squares or rectangles in the page design.  Ahhh, cut those 6x6 papers into rectangles, outlined them and added stitch marks.  And what do you know?  I ended up really liking this page!  (I might even purchase another 6x6 pad or two.) 

 This one was created for the Inspiration Board challenge.  There were four papers pictured, we were to pick on to use as our inspiration when creating our page.  So I used one of the papers that had lots of triangles, reds, and blues (plus beige and I think there was a gold color.)  And this was my result. 

 It's ok, but it seems not quite done to me.  I hand cut, thank you very much, most of those little, bitty triangles and also used a couple of enamel shaped triangles.  And I used several of the colors from the same segment of the board.  Back to the page itself, though; I do like the borders, I like the tag cluster... but it just doesn't feel finished to me.  This one I will set aside and look at again (hopefully with fresh eyes) in a few days.  

My message would be, if you decide to participate in an on-line crop, or a challenge for that matter, don't get discouraged if you wind up not truly prepared for a challenge.  Use it as an opportunity to dig into photos left behind, or tools that you typically overlook.  And if you, like me looking at this last page, are not quite satisfied, set that page aside and look at it again later! 

Take a chance, try an on-line crop when you have the opportunity.  Nothing beats a real time, in person crop; but this was fun, challenging, and I actually got a tidy little stack of pages done! 

have yourself a scrappy day!
Cheryl

And The Kit Club I Joined Is....

Just a teaser....  I'm gonna try and make you read through the basis for my choice and how to create your own process for choosing. 

To begin with you need to take some time to really think about a few things relative to YOU!

What do you typically scrap?
1.  children... male or female children... or both? 
2.  lots of vacation photos?  city scenes or outdoor-sy? 
3.  events?  weddings, holidays, parades, parties, sports?
4.  everyday, non-event moments... cooking, gardens, shopping, comic situations?

 
Analyze some of your own favorite pages!  (Go ahead, I'll wait, go find 'em...)
1.  do you like to use a lots of pattern paper, all on one page? 
2.  do you like to fussy cut paper and use it as accents too? 
3.  are you more drawn to pages that are chock full of embellishments?
4.  or, are you more partial to clean and simple with smaller touches of embellishments? 
5.  are there colors that you seem to gravitate toward? 
6.  do you turn most of your photos to black and white or do you use color photos more often?
7.  do you routinely re-size your photos, or more often scrap basic 4x6 photos?

Does it matter if supplies are club exclusives or products that are out in the marketplace? 

What's your budget? 
1.  are you ok with buying a main kit and lots of add-ons every month?
2.  or, do you see yourself buying mostly main kits and adding from your own stash? 
3.  are you more of a beginner scrapper with a limited stash? 
4.  or a seasoned scrapper with plenty of things to supplement a kit? 

Do you like to throw in some mixed media on your pages?

How interested are you in a kit clubs' blog, website, or facebook page?

Now, is your head already reeling?  Mine kind of was when I began looking at clubs. 

For ME (not you---just me now), this is what I came up with.
I scrap my grandchildren, my adult children (when I can get a photo of them!), everyday moments more than events, not a lot of vacation photos--but more outdoors shots.  

I am a pattern paper person.  I like to layer it, fussy cut, mix it all up.  I am not so concerned with receiving solid cardstock; I have a lot in my stash and it's relatively easy for me to find locally.  I'd rather receive more pattern paper. 

While I like embellishments, I tend to use smallish clusters, enamel dots, tags and labels.  I am not a cute-sy, pa-tootsie person.  That is, cartoon type critters, dolls, kids; not so much.

I also hate that white halo around stickers and die cuts...  sometimes it is useful to make the item stand out against a like colored background, but I am just not a fan.  I'll use them here and there, but more often than not I will place them against a plain white background so the white halo kind of disappears.  (Or I have been know to sit with scissors and cut the halo off altogether.  I know, I know... kind of nutty.)

I want a bit of what's new on the marketplace--not too interested in exclusives. 

I think I should be able to make several pages out of a main kit only.  I don't mind buying add-ons every so often, but I simply cannot afford to purchase all of that each and every month. 

I like to add some mixed media stuff in and I like simple easy and quick pages... so I have a split personality!!!

And since we moved out of our home state and out into the country... I look forward to a friendly FB page, sharing my projects and seeing other people's work. 

This was the criteria I used when trying out various clubs. 

Please remember,that your style may change over time.  A kit club's style may change too!  What works for you at one point in time may very well change.  And then you'll be right back to making another decision.  So what?  This is what keeps everything interesting folks!!! 

So, drum roll please,  I joined.....

Gossamer Blue!

I found things I truly loved about each club I tried on for size.  And I will probably go back and order kits, from several of the clubs, a la carte, from time to time.  But, for me, right now, Gossamer Blue seems to fit me, my style, and my subject matter. 

Your choice will (hopefully) be made based on criteria that you have chosen for yourself and I'd love to hear about your process and decisions!! 

best,
Cheryl

Kit Comparison - My Personal Decision Making Process

OK, settled in with a cuppa something good to sip?  Here we go. 

For purposes of comparison, I am not counting plain cardstock used for a page base or for punching or making die cuts. 

Scrapbook Circle
This is a kit club I was totally unaware of until I heard mention of them on one of the facebook groups I belong to.  So I hopped on over to their website and took a look see at past kits they had offered, looked back through their blog and then checked out their facebook group.  Really loved the kit  that was currently being offered and jumped on it. 

It was really unlike many other kit clubs in that it was not all froth and pastel.  And I have grandsons to scrap for folks,  pastel and frothy goodness is nice, but doesn't bode well for football, wrestling, soccer and super heroes!!  I need a little bit of earthy goodness, a touch or two of bright primary color, you get the idea. 

Papers 
I received eight - ten patterned papers in each kit, sometimes a specialty paper such as a corrugated sheet, no solid color cardstock (which is fine for me--I have a ton of cardstock in my stash).  Papers were well coordinated without being too matchy-matchy (a difficult task sometimes). 

Embellishments
 Each kit contained two whole packs of embellishments such as die cuts, leather patches, chipboard, as well as partial packs of some items, such as a partial pack of sequins. Also included in each kit was an exclusive acrylic word or phrase and a separate assortment of small acrylic stars, hearts, etc.   Some kits contained a sheet of stickers, some did not.  Again, the items chosen for each kit were well coordinated with the patterns/theme of the papers.    Some goodies such as fibers or sequins came packaged in tiny decorative gift bags (which I gladly also used on my layouts). 

Alphabets
Some kits contained two choices of alphabets, usually Thickers or puffy alphas and a small typeset sheet that was a part of a larger sticker sheet.  Some kits contained a Thickers set that was words/phrases instead of an alphabet set; one kit contained an awesome mirror set of words, plus a sticker sheet with phrases and tiny alpha.  Truly all easily workable on my pages. 

General
Kits arrived on time, no shipping damage.  Their facebook group seemed at first a little odd to me in that not a lot of subscribers were posting, although more folks seem to be sharing their work now.  Their blog has awesome, useful ideas, created by some very supportive designers. 

Any questions you may pose are quickly answered and any issues seem to be easily and quickly acted on. 

I was really happy with their kit content, the variety between the kits (meaning not every kit looked too overly similar to every other kit).  In fact, happy enough that I stayed on with them for four month I think rather than just the two month kit trial I set for myself. 

The club has only a two-month membership requirement in order to have discounted membership available. 

My favorite page from one of the Scrapbook Circle kits I received...

The only additions from my stash were the gold alpha (My and Girl) and several big snowflakes punched from plain white cardstock.  (The pink-ish puffy sticker circles I think were from a prior Scrapbook Circle kit).

If you want a club that offers a variety in style and feel, includes a few more patterned papers than some (keep in mind you do not receive solid cardstock sheets -- which for me is fine)  and a comfortable quantity of embellishment and titling options, then this club would be a grand choice!  

Coming up:  Citrus Twist

best,
Cheryl 

Crashin' My Stash! -- A New Halloween Page Using Old Halloween Paper!!

As I've said before I have very little in my stash for holiday themed papers.  One pad of Crate paper Christmas themed and a miscellaneous cut sheets from various manufacturers, and some old Basic Grey.  For Halloween and 4th of July, I have even less.  It isn't that I don't scrapbook holidays, I don't make many Halloween, 4th of July or even Easter pages... just a couple.  I do make Christmas pages, but still not more than maybe 5 or 6 in any given season.

No, my biggest issue is that I don't care for cute-sy holiday paper with gnomes or witches or big-eyed deer.  I prefer to use things with more subtle patterns, in the colors that represent the season without being a-typical.  When I do find papers that I love for the holidays, I buy a few and stash them in sorters by holiday.  And this is the one time that I save almost every little scrap.

In this case, I've had this particular Halloween paper (by Creative Imaginations) for several years.  The overall design of the paper made it unsuitable for slicing it all apart.  And the blue color of the flying ghosts and bats always stymied my attempts to use the paper.  That pretty blue was just always  glaringly out of place with any photo I put next to the paper.  But ah-ha!  I finally have the perfect photo!  Those pajama pants my little granddaughter is wearing are the perfect blue!

After I layered a bit of orange and some leftover vellum pieces under the photo and laying it atop the paper, I could see that it still seemed to not fit.  Hmmmm, in order to make the layered photo seem more a part of this paper all I needed to do was to cut the top edge of that one blue bat with a craft knife and slide the lower right corner of the photo and layers under the cut edge. 

Once that was done, I trimmed the page down a bit and placed it on a purple piece of card stock.

Then it was just a matter of highlighting the pattern that was already there.  White penned lines around all four sides of the pages, a little white penwork to highlight the ghosts, bats and faces in the jack o' lanterns.

I used small orange/cream alphabet stickers to place my title right down the side of the photo and then found a bit more room to add a tab, a cut piece of ephemera that looked kind of like a piece of candy to me, and a small "so happy" circle sticker.

The only other items added were a few white ink splatters and a sprinkle of star sequins.  Journaling was done using my white pen and fit rather nicely following the curve of the jack o' lanterns.  

This makes me almost stupid happy to use up this sheet of paper that has sat in my stash for the last couple of years!

crash your stash,
sort out that holiday paper!

Cheryl

My Little Halloween-ie Queen-ie! - A Crash Your Stash Page

A bit of a diversion here from the kit research and comparison(s), and a word or two (or three) about holiday themed papers.

I don't have a lot.  Of holiday themed papers that is.  And those that I do have are from y-e-a-r-s ago.  Yep, years ago.  I have a little Cosmo Cricket, Creative Imaginations, Rusty Pickle, and Scenic Route Halloween paper.  I mean a very little, like half sheets of Cosmo, two sheets of Creative Imaginations and Rusty Pickle, plus maybe a half sheet or two of Scenic Route.  That's it.  I really only do a page or two of Halloween for any given year.  And I really like these papers, am not big on cute-sy styled papers, so the little bits I have will probably last me for another couple of Halloweens!

When I got this photo of my granddaughter last year, I was kind of on a scrapbooking hiatus... my things were not unpacked from our move, so I am first getting to them now.  But I loved this picture!  My daughter caught her getting into her goodie bag---wearing  the Groucho nose and glasses and gobbling up her popcorn!  Gotta love a girl who accessorizes!

I used some of the Scenic Route paper, trimming the diamond pattern to use as a base for the photo.  Now I needed something under the base as the plain white, really was too plain and too white, so I chose a piece of paper that was kind of beige-y off-white and had some pattern printed on it that would not be obtrusive (it was actually a sewing themed paper printed with pieces and parts of sewing patterns.) 

Then I pulled out one of my favorite border punches to punch a black lacey strip to use as another border over the top edge of the diamond strip.  It still did not look finished to me, so I cut a thin strip of black with an antique-y white polka dot.

Next was to layer up some papers under my photo and get that in place.

I was naughty the other day and indulged myself by purchasing a small sewing machine (it works ok...but at some point I am going to have to get the real deal).  Like I said, it works well enough to allow me to add some stitching to my paper, which I did across the border strips.

And I sewed myself a little cluster of papers, a punched strip, and a banner!  (I've wanted to make up a bunch of these for a long time!).

Before I got too carried away, I thought I had better do my ink splatters and once those were dry I added the black stars (from a Heidi Swap sticker set) Then to accent the photo I dug into my button jar and pulled out the colors from lil missy's Halloween skirt, orange, golden yellow and black, plus a little white heart shaped button that I didn't even know I had!  I tied some pieces of Tim Holtz paper floss through the buttons,  black in most, but light tan in the big black button.   

Next thing to be added was my title.  I've had those black sparkly Thickers for like ever too, in fact they were purchased with the thought of using them on a Halloween page due to their kind of gothic styling.

Journaling went right up on the banner that was stitched in that cluster.

Since I do not have a lot of holiday  papers for any holiday, I tend to keep all the pieces and parts in a project sorter...I have a Christmas one, Halloween, and 4th of July sorter.  Anything that I think will be used with that assortment (Thickers, stickers, ribbon, etc. goes in the sorter).  Then I am not digging through everything looking for some odd cut pieces of paper or partial sheets.

While I am no longer a hoarder of paper--I do throw away scrips and scraps now (gasp!)-- I simply do not have the space to keep everything-- but I do keep small strips and pieces of holiday themed papers.  I know it will be harder for me to find papers that I truly like for holiday use, so these little scraps I allow myself to keep.  They go right back into the sorter, saves me time and money.  At least that's how it is working right now for me.  When it doesn't work anymore, I'll change it up.  Maybe I'll run out of scraps in a year or two!!!

best to all,
Cheryl