Gatefold Album

I got this album idea from Lain Ehmann's Scraphappy.org site. She used a 9.5 by 20 cardboard piece but I just couldn't find a piece of cardboard that big. So the creative juices got flowing (probably because of a less than stellar work day). I pieced together 2 10x6.5 patterned paper pieces using a corset look. Lain's book also only has the smaller booklets in the middle. I decided to add some more patterned paper to the inside and outside covers of the album and inked any areas that were too white to better match the black and white patterned paper (MME Meadowlark).

It was a fun and easy album to put together.

Pictures of the Week

My son is just naturally silly and comedic and attention seeking. He also loves to spread his toys out everywhere.

    

Ok, so this is just my new shower curtain. But I absolutely LOVE the pattern and color scheme. Looks like patterned paper, NO?

What is with the tongue?

Serenity Created with Christine - Card Challenge

My friend and fellow cropper, Christine, is hosting her first challenge over at Serenity Created. I wanted to support her and here's my creation. The challenge:

to create a card using some kind of embellishment you purchased over a month ago but have yet to use. We all have purchased something we "had to have" then watched it for a week then two, meaning to use it but just somehow can't.

Everything I used on my card was purchased over a month ago AND I've been wanting to use it. It took Christine's challenge to get me using my stash. Thanks Christine. The card foundation is basic Kraft paper. The patterned paper is Daisy D that was sitting in my scraps basket. I was happy to finally  use it b/c I love the look of it. The white ribbon is from Michael's. The green ribbon I received from a ribbon swap among Memory Works consultants. The flowers are prima and the Happy Birthday tag which is probably what I've wanted to use the most and felt was a must-have at the time is from Elle's Studio online shop. Not sure who makes the nylon butterflies. I got those at the Scrapbook Expo in Somerset, NJ. You can't tell in the photo but I spritzed the flower with some clear, but shiny Iridescent Gold glimmer mist. The inside of the card is blank. I hope you like it. 

All over the internet

I am all over the web lately. I'm participating in all kinds of challenges and taking classes here and there. I can't even keep it all straight. Memory Works has just launched it's new Simple Stories kit called El.e.men.tary. It's gorgeous and I can't wait to get my hands on it. My son is going to parochial school PreK starting in September and I know I am going to go nuts taking photos of him in his little uniform. I am so excited for him to be in school officially. Memory Works is having a great sale going on. Just email me if you are interested in any product or having a party. They're doing great things over there.

I've been participating in Lain Ehmann's Scraphappy "club."I really like it. She had a special offer for LOAD alums and I took advantage of it. But once that offer is over, I'll need to make a decision. But so far so good. If you know Lain or checked out any of  her web pages or blogs, you know that lady really loves Hugh Jackman. LOL!

I'm also playing along with Big Picture Scrapbooking's BIG IDEA FESTIVAL. That's been really cool and the projects and layout ideas, along with the prompts, are awesome.

 

Ohh and after listening to the last Paperclipping Roundtable I checked out Dedra Long's blog and joined her "One Weekend 2 Shots" flickr group. It started back in June, but I'm sure I'll catch up soon enough. If I look hard enough, I'll probably find photos I shot from the weekends I missed. Hmmm.

Here's my first installation of Dedra's flicker group:
King of the Toy Explosion.

Of course, Paperclipping is one of my fave scrapping sites. Noell Hyman has a great video out, her latest, on her system of creating mini books which works on both traditional and digital. I also participated in the August Challenge. I am getting a lot of mileage on the wedding album i just completed. Check out my last post for a slide show of the mini book and layouts.

Elle's Studio is hosting a free Journaling class and that has been really interesting. Seeing how other folks process the idea of journaling is encouraging and helpful. The ideas are all over the map, but the key is to get something down. Write the basics - date, time, location, event. Write the emotion - what feelings does the photo or event conjur for you? Record words - did anyone in the photo say anything of interest or fun that could be included. Every once in a while, I even refer to a quote book or idea book to really capture the story. Anything goes!

This weekend, I got my very own copies of Photo Focus and The Big Picture by Stacy Julian. I am absolutely loving those reads. I have been wanting to take her BPS class called Library of Memories, but now I may not have to b/c I own Photo Focus. I'll be finished with it by the weekend and ready to implement some of her great organizational techniques.

I love scrapbooking and wish I could make a living out of it. For now it's just a hobby that I love. That is certainly good enough for me.

Wedding Mini Album

I found this "Mini" Album at my local scrapbook store (not just scraps in LI) by AdornIt.com. It's actually a pretty big and sturdy chip board book.This is the completed wedding mini book that I showed sneak peeks of last week. The wedding was a red, white and blue theme but it was in August and it was a beach theme so picking colors was a challenge. I wanted to make sure that teh blue pages had a red accent and vice-versa.

Here's the finished product. I used paper from my stash. I used the Lush Line from MME and a wedding line from Stampin Up. I used papers from the open stock at the lss. The products are all over the map.

Scrapfit Challenge

Scrapfit turns 1 this month and I've decided to  enter their layout challenge using the recipe on their site. Check them out and they have a blog hop running to - www.scrapfit.blogspot.com. The recipe calls for
1 brad (the bling over the letter I), 1 photo (my doggie), 1 ribbon (over the photo), 1 button (above the ribbon) and 1 rub-on (the dog's name, Chewy, on the actual photo. They also wanted to see some confetti in the form of mist. Yep, check - the upper right hand corner has some clover green and candy apple red glimmer mist.

This layout is out of my style on a lot of levels. The diamond shape die cut for one is not something i would normally do, but I couldn't resist the reference. I also don't use a lot of red and green together, even at Christmas time. But hey, it's ok to step out of your comfort zone once in a while to try new things.

Paperclipping Roundtable - God Bless Ikea

I'm a big fan of the Paperclipping Roundtable. By far today's show was my favorite. Second was the show with Tim Holtz, "How Vintage Are You?" For me, the shows go hand in hand. The discussion about family and genealogy and family stories are part of being vintage, at least in my process.

Ali Edwards was on the show and she discussed her Big Picture Scrapbooking class. I took Yesterday/Today at the end of 2009 and decided to revisit the projects I created for that class. The class let me really think about my personal stories and the idea of  scrapping MYSELF. Who would have thunk it. It allowed me to be reflective and really pay attention to myself. Considering I started this hobby when I had my son, this was a concept that was foreign to me until I took this class. It was FREEING

There was a lot of discussion on the show about the importance of telling the story, even without photos.

Finally, there are other ways to scrap where it's really just about the feelings the photos conjure up for you.

I highly recommend the class if you are ready to think outside the box.

Picture of the Week

Wedding "Mini" Album

I'm currently working on a not so mini Mini Album. The chip board base is pretty big. I am creating a wedding album for my cousin's first wedding anniversary. They had a really nice wedding, but because they didn't have a professional photography studio do their wedding, I borrowed the cd-rom with the photos and took advantage of a Snapfish sale....99 prints for 99 cents. Perfect. I am mixing it up a bit by adding some 8x8 layouts that came with the AdornIt.com chipboard album. Here is sneak peak.

So Sophie from My Mind's Eye