It's My Playtime. I Make The Rules.

I always talk about the pages that I make.  Who is in them.  What is going on.  Why these photos were important enough to be scrapped.  But one of the things that I don't talk about much at all and even then usually as a side note, is how any of my pages are built.  Today I'm going to switch it up and talk a little bit about how each of the pages was made.  Just my favorite bits of each so that the post doesn't grow out of control:).

Just to explain the title of this post a little bit.  I am a slow scrapper.  An average page takes me 3 hours to create.  Sometimes, I will work on a single page for days.  I'm okay with that.  Some of the pages that I share take days to create.  That's fine with me.  This is how I enjoy spending my downtime when I have downtime.  Rushing through pages does not make me happy.  I'd rather find time by streamlining my process or keeping my space clean.  That being said.....

This page was roughly 3 hours and although it is essentially very simple, there are lots of layers.  The layers are what take so. much. time.   Not to mention the Silhouette cuts or the machine stitching.  Geez.  The end result though.  It was worth it:).  Such a cute picture of my boys.....

Every page for today has lots of layers.  Plane, Trains has the simplest layers and they just get more complicated from here on.  This next page was a beast.  Everything had to be done in just the right order to get the layers right!  It took me about 5 hours to get the page the way I wanted it.  Insane!!  The banner border at the bottom of the page was so easy though.  

1. using a paper that has a graph print, cut different height & width fishtail banners to fit the width of the page
2.  lightly tack the banners down with wet glue
3.  washi tape about 1/4 inch of the bottom and 
4. lastly sew a line across..... 

If I dream it, my husband will eventually build it.  It takes a lot of convincing sometimes but he can build just about anything.  For this page, I had this blue & cream striped paper but I needed something with a little more pop.  All it took was some bright yellow watercolor and wala.  Instant pop.  The rest of the page was simple.  Looking at it here, I'm considering adding a piece of bright cardstock to border the entire page.  Hmmmm....

 

This last page is from my August 2017 Hip Kit.  I decided to make my own background paper.  Using different mist, paints, and stamps, I created what I think is a perfect backdrop for this photo of my daughter at my brother's wedding.  Love the look on her face:).......  

Thanks for stopping by!😊

Mile Long To-Do List

Planning for a big event can be so intimidating!  I am determined not to get overwhelmed and to stay on track.  I have Christmas planned to the letter.  If we can get the daily tasks done, no problemo.  We are 7 days into our plan and so far so good.  We just have to keep it up.  There are about 25 things left to do but I know that it is the little details that will kill a schedule so those are the ones that are most worrying me right now.  The task that can't be done in advance but that must be done in order for everyone to have a place to sleep and food to eat.  

Thankfully my family is so, so chill.  They will roll with whatever happens and they don't have a problem chipping in and helping when they see it's needed.  I'm the one that will need to calm down lol.  It is really important to me that they are happy that I guess I go a little overboard about making everything perfect sometimes.  

Maybe I should be clear about what I'm talking about?  We are hosting Christmas at our house this year and plan to have 30 loved ones for 4 days enjoying everything that DC has to offer.  Hopefully, that will include a few fluffy snowflakes:)  

Speaking of snow, check out the snow on this page!  This is probably one of my favorite pages of all time.  It's really simple but interesting all at the same time.  I LOVE the sequin border!!!!!  It was super easy to make.  All I did was run a short bead of hot glue and drop the sequins on it (after letting the glue cool just a little).......

Holy bright yellow Batman lol.  This page was another fun one.  It all started with the alphas that I picked up at Target.  They are so pretty!  This is exactly my kind of ride but I had chicken duty:) so had to sit it out and take photos instead.......

If you've ever been to DC cupcakes, you know that their treats live up to the hype.  They are so worth waiting in line for which is why my little guy looks so excited......

My daughter minored in Spanish in college which came in handy while we were on vacation.  Even though Spanish & Italian are different, they are similar enough that it is helpful to be able to speak Spanish.  She was able to understand this very nice couple when they were making conversation with us and eventually offering to take a photo of us all.......

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day tomorrow.  Especially since it's FRIDAY:)

Layout Share

How are you preparing for the upcoming holidays?  

Frantically in this house.  We will have 3 glorious days in which to enjoy a house full of laughter, cheer, food and conversation.  Not at all the quiet that we have so gotten used to now that all of our little chickadees have flown the nest.  

Our guest list has settled to about 30 people, big & small, and the logistics of that can sometimes be tricky but I think we've got it figured out and everyone should have their own little piece of the house that they can retreat to when it gets a little too loud or busy.  The real trick is to make sure that everyone is fed and exhausted:)  We've got plenty of activities scheduled (thanks DC for always having so much to do!) to keep boredom far away from this place.  

The menu is another story.  It came together quickly but I am a little worried that I was too ambitious and that I will not be able to pull it off.  The real key is going to be having most of it prepared ahead of time.  If I can have everything ready to go by Friday 12/22, it will be fun for me as well as everyone else.  If not, well, I'll be a busy girl lol.  Still happy though.  Still very, very happy with all my peeps around me:)  Giving me lots of photos for my pages next year HA!  Speaking of pages, I've got a few to share.  8 to be exact.  

I haven't forgotten about or dropped my budgeting thoughts or projects, I've just won't be talking about them today:)  With 8 pages to share there is not time for that lol.  Although thinking about budgeting did make me wonder about how much each of my pages costs, in real dollars, to make.  Do I really want to know that though?  Hmmmmm.....

This page will be getting the photos redone for goodness sake!  I still haven't figured out how to get Paintshop to print my photos decently if I edit them.  Gaaaaahhhhhh.  My nephew is so cute too.  Anywho.  This page is a favorite.  The blues with the bright oranges and green are perfect......

I purchased a class from Jen Schow and this is one of the pages that I completed for it.  The papers and colors just make me want to scream with joy!  The class is "Zap Your Scraps" and it is delightful.  I didn't use any scraps if that tells you how versatile her classes are.....

Hello September 2017 Hip Kit.  You were so fun and pretty lol.  This cute photo of my nieces and nephews at Disney worked well with all the things on this page.  Love how it came out..... 

This is me trying something different.  A long skinny photo.  My jury is still out on whether this type page is a keeper or not.  Although the photo of my peeps all lined up on this teeny, tiny sidewalk in Italy walking towards the Coliseum is a fave.......

Another Italy picture.  This layout I like much, much better!  Loving the 1/2 circles and the squares together.  And that photo.......

The sketch for this one was by Kristine Davidson on Creative Scrappers.  It was amazing and so fun to create with.  I literally kept 90% of the elements as is because she hit this sketch out of the park!  Loved it!!!!.......

This page is a little different.  These 2.  Oh my.  Sometimes they just do not get along.  My oldest and my youngest babies.  But here they are just being so sweet.  Q just jumped right off of the bridge onto the sand as boys do and my girl took it a little slower.  He turned around and reached his hand up to catch his sister and my husband snapped a photo of it as she was reaching her hand out to let him.  I had to scrapbook it even if the photo was a little strange looking and sweet hugs did not seem to fit at first glance......

On the other hand, these 2 get along most of the time and can usually be found close to each other love/hating:)

I know.  A lot of pages but I appreciate you stopping by to take a look at them.  

Happy Hump Day!!!

Tips That I Always Remember

Before I start talking about scrapbook tips, I want to dig into the buying habits stuff that was brought up in my last post.  My first topic was things that I buy a lot of but only use a little and let me tell you, Stamps!  I have so many stamps!!  In all shapes, subjects, sizes, and forms.  In fact, I just received 2 sets with my last Elle's Studio kit.  Yeah.  I might just want to tone that down a bit because they don't get used much at all.  As a matter of fact, I have to make myself use them when I do remember to take them out lol.  Not because they aren't one of my favorite embellishments.  They are.  Just because they can sometimes be a little overwhelming due to the how easy it is to ruin a page with a misplaced stamp and how hard it is to correct the placement if you don't like where it is.   

2 of my most favorite scrapbook/crafting tips

• Punch/Cut through aluminum foil to keep your punches/deco edge scissors sharp.  Tried and true tip that has kept my tools in tip-top shape for years and years:)
• Buy an ATG gun!  The adhesive lasts forever and sticks like a champ.  This is the best tip ever, especially since I can now find the refills on Amazon for a good price!

Love this page about my son.  I used his graduation shoot photos......

Last Christmas we were able to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for the first time and it was amazing.......

Hogwarts at Universal.  We were there when it first opened and this was as close as we got lol.  The lines were out of control!  I used my September 2017 Hip Kit Club for the supplies......

This is my favorite photo from this guy's photo shoot. He looks so happy and has such a genuine smile on his face.  Love it.....

Thanks for stopping by and have a happy Thursday everyone!

Not A Traditional Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Rome.  Rome!  The Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving so I had to keep reminding myself of the importance of the day while we were there.  Not to be thankful mind you.  That I never forget.  But how unique it is that an entire country takes the time to focus a single day on being thankful.  And has been doing it for many, many years.  It's a beautiful thing:)

It is very hard not to be thankful in Rome, the city is so, so beautiful!!  Here are just a few photos that I took on my phone.  They haven't been touched up or edited so I cannot wait to see the after photos on a page.....

The half-shadow, half-light photos are so intriguing to me.  Many of the pictures that I took are in that style.  

Rome was mad expensive so the trip has gotten me to do a few budget reevaluations since we've been back.  

Keeping it Thankful!  My motivation is not to stop buying things just to save money.  My motivation is to stop buying things for the sake of buying things.  I want to buy things that I will use and that will be useful to me and my family.  Saving money is a bonus:)  

I narrowed my categories down to a few that will work for me and think that I'm going to focus on things that I: 

• Buy a lot of - Use a little of
• Buy a lot of - Use a lot of
• Buy a little of -Use a lot of
• Buy a little of - Use a little of 
• Buy just right (the sweet spot)
• How to get everything to buying just right and save a little cashola

If I can find a happy balance between buying and using, that's what I'll consider a success.  I've already started doing this in other areas like the kitchen and nail polish and it really has worked.  

Before we left, I did a few pages that I didn't get to post.  2 from Big Picture classes and a couple just because.  

Most of these pages are just meh for me.  Mostly because of the stress of getting ready for such a big trip.  That kind of pressure just freaks me out and I can't relax until we are all landed and settled in at the hotel.  This page is about my nieces visit this past summer.  Loved having these girls here and the time went way to fast..... 

We have lived all over the place and our kids have really been good about adapting and making the best of the changes.  New schools.  New friends.  New weather.  New environments.  Never close to family.  Never any complaints from them.  So grateful for all of their support......

Paige Evans Big Picture Classes Paige's Pages 3

I used my September 2017 Hip Kit to create this page.  I loved how Magdalena let her numbers fall off the edge and pool at the bottom of the page and did the same with my stars....

Big Picture Classes Magdalena Hanell Creative Titles

Fall in Rome.  I have no other words for this page than those.....

Thanks for stopping by and happy Hump Day!!!!

Layout Share

Oh photos.  The most difficult thing that I deal with as a scrapbooker is not that I don't like the pages that I create, but that I don't like the quality of the photos that I can get out of my editing software.  I know, I know.  If I improve my photography skills I won't have to rely so heavily on editing to fix my pictures.  Most of the time the photos are better but they still need to be tweaked.  And many of the photos that I use are from years ago from before I even began to scrapbook or owned a digital camera so those are really crap!  

Why am I talking about this today?  

This layout.....

and this one...

in addition to these 2 other pages.....

Would all make me so much more happy if I could get my dang photos to edit right!  The last 3 aren't so bad but the first one ugghh.  The photos came off of Instagram and they were impossible!  My friends, I will be taking a photo editing class soon.  For reals because this cannot go on.  Anywho.  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a fantastic weekend!

Totally Doable Scrappy Ideas

Sometimes I look at my supplies or my inspiration and the first thought that comes into my head is "I can't do anything with that" or "I can't do that".  Most of the time I'm dead wrong!  So much can be done with the supplies and inspiration in front of me that it's mind boggling!!  And most of the time it doesn't require a ton of time or effort, just a little imagination.  That's something we scrapbookers have by the ton:) eh.

Create a fun pattern with your fun patterns.  Totally inspired by this page by Stacy Cohen.  I decided to use the striped patterned paper as my base.  I popped the circles up and turned the stripes sideways to make them stand out.  I really liked her column design so stuck closely to that.  The edges of each circle are inked with black ink to make them more noticeable against the dark background of the paper...

Mix white and cream to create interesting layers and help dark photos stand out.  These photos had a lot of people, movement, bright colors, dark backgrounds.  In other words, a whole lot going on!   It was a party at an arcade so there were not going to be any good pictures coming out with my point and shoot camera so we had to work with what we got right?  My nephew had the best time though:)  He thought it was the best party ever.  I took my cue from the paper and used both white and cream layered together to create some drama and to help brighten up the photos a bit.  The bright colors and stark whites really helped......

Use large elements as part of the background and as part of the title.  My husband and I have been together for more than 20 years and while they have not been 20 perfect years, they have been very good ones.  I just love how this page came out.  The "0" of 20 was the perfect place for our photo and some clusters of embellishments to highlight it.  The rest of the title also fits perfectly underneath the photo.... 

You don't always have to fussy cut to create impact.  Pretend that you did by cutting paper into shapes and using leftover embellishments to decorate.  I have these terrible Christmas morning photos of my littlest opening gifts and our tree.  These photos are important because it was our first Christmas in this house all together as a family again after living in 2 separate states for 2 years.  It was simple to make "presents" with Christmas papers than top them with bows and other decorations.  They take some of the attention away from how terrible the photos are while still keeping the focus on the purpose of the page (long journaling on the back of the page).....

Thanks for stopping by and happy Tuesday!

October by the Numbers

Not a bad month if the numbers tell the truth.  Along with everything that I was able to create, I also made a decision about how I am going to keep the number of completed albums in my house from getting out of control.  Since I don't love all of the pages that I create and there are some that aren't important to our family story, I'm going to keep scrap boxes instead albums.  The boxes will hold those pages that I don't love but don't want to toss or pages that have been redone but that I still like the original pages and want to keep them too.  

I rescrap photos all of the time so I have quite a few that are on more than one page.  Most of the time, when I reuse a photo it's because I didn't capture the story in the way I wanted to so I'm okay with redoing the page and archiving the duplicate or in some cases, duplicates:)  No shame in my game folks.  There are just some photos that I LOVE and will use over and over again!

OK.  The numbers.  In October I happily managed to:

• Complete 46 layouts 
•                      Use 90 pieces of patterned paper  
•                      Use 29 packages of stickers & embellishments  
•                      Use 44 pieces of cardstock  
                     Use up 2 - 6X6 pads and 1 roll of washi tape. 

That is almost as much as what I did for 3 months!  I think I did good:)  Let's hope I can keep it moving through the holidays eh.  

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday!  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!!

Assembling Inspiration That Works

Variety is the key for me.  Even when I pin things, if I am going to use a pin as inspiration for a page, I have to print it out.  Weirdo alert:) right?  But it works for me.  I like the feel of paper in my hands and that habit probably won't change anytime soon.  

About a year or so ago I realized that all of my things were spread out all over my different spaces and that if there was an idea or something I needed to get my eyes on, it was not going to be found easily.  Office supply store to the rescue.  A simple white binder + a hole punch + a little discipline = a much better approach to my elusive inspiration accessibility issue.  

My system is crazy!  It starts with a list of starting points that get used the most and ends with me sitting down at my computer for about 30 minutes each week printing out and compiling what inspiration is going to get used with what product.  See.  Crazy:).  But it works for me.  I'll talk more about it (with some photos of it) and how I use it in my next few post.  

Last time I posted I talked about how I need a starting point.  The blank page just paralyzes my creativity most of the time but since creating the inspiration binder I've really been able to keep my mojo flowing and my hands busy with projects.  Like this one using a random cute photo of my girl.  Most of my pages seem to be about my girl but she is the only one of my kids that gets me regular photos!  I really like this shot of her.....

Stitching, filling big letters and white space are nothing new.  My Pinterest boards are filled with layouts using these techniques and I wanted to give it a try.  I love the black and white washi border, the RGBIVish paper behind my letters and the simpleness of the page.  

This page was about a super, incredibly hot day at Disney.  By the end of it we were done with Summer and ready for some cool weather lol.  The kids didn't even want to go outside it was so freaking hot!  

I normally get my sketch inspiration from pagemaps but here in the last couple of years I've been branching out.  Pinterest makes it so easy to find and credit sketch sites that i've gotten away from Becky's sketches a bit.  I still print them out every month though and always will.  Loyal fan here!  The #over summer page was made with a Studio Calico Sunday sketch from 2013.  

This page was born because I wanted to use my colored pencils to color the edges of a scallop:)  Randomness.  Gotta love it:)  These 2 were so excited to spend an entire day in their costumes and they were absolutely adorable.......

I will go back and cover up that phone with some journaling or a banner.  Something.  My main editing software is still out for the count so my photo quality is not good if a photo has to be cropped or manipulated too much.  This will probably not change until my husband and I can agree on what type of computer to get next.  We are trying to decide if we should bite the learning curve bullet and just get a Mac.  

Is it wrong that I am in love with the Crate Paper Wonder Alpha's on this page and that is the first thing I think about when I look at it?  I'm sure that feeling will fade with time and the focus will go back to Q's decision to go to this college over all of the others he had to choose from.....

I seriously can't believe it's Wednesday already folks!  Thanks for stopping by and happy Humpday!!

Scraplifting 101

Scraplifting does not always mean that a layout is copied exactly.  Most of the time when I scraplift, it is through placement, technique or color scheme.  Sometimes an idea is so brilliant that it has to be copied exactly and that's okay but the reason that most people share what they do is to inspire others.  And this girls always inspired lol.  I have about 25,000 pins on my Pinterest board that I want to try:)

I have a serious "fear of the blank page syndrome" and many times will get stuck if I try to start with just supplies.  But if I have a plan to start with, it goes much easier for me.  Usually, my scraplifted pages look nothing like their parents.  And that is because it is truly about a color idea or a placement or maybe how someone used an embellishment or technique in a certain way.  

Of course, I do have my own ideas and use them all the time.  But I make so many pages and have so many pages to make that I really want to create as many layouts as humanly possible before I go to the big LSS in the sky.  Just sayin....

This page was just a simple L shaped design with clusters.  A classic design that requires no thought for me.  This design works with most papers and most embellishments.  No scraplifting required.......

This page was scraplifted.  The original is pinned here and is by Sasha Farina.  Her hand stitching is fantabulous and I have been wanting to get better at that.  Yeah no.  I ended up ditching the hand stitching attempt and just machine stitching.  But her placement, circles and embellishment clusters were exactly the thing for this layout.  She does not do mixed media and her pages are typically clean and simple so you can really see in the differences between what I did and what she did on the original page, how you can pick and choose which ideas from a page you will use and how.......

All of the supplies came from my August 2017 Hip Kit Club.  

I had never done a mixed media sketch before.  It was kinda fun.  This is the sketch I used.....

This is my page.....

The supplies are from my May 2017 Hip Kit Club.   

My final scraplift of the day.  This page is by Vicky Chrisman I think and I really liked how she placed the orange paper and the photo.  That's what I lifted.  I know right!  Not a lot but a perfect example of how just having a starting place can get you moving and result in what turned out to be my favorite page of the day.......

Used more stuff from my Hip Kit.  This time all the things came from August 2017.

Hubby had an eye appt yesterday so being that I am an amazingly fantastic wife.  Yes, I had errands to run;)  I got to stop at Michael's and pick up a couple of things.  Like this tape runner border thing that is very new to me but looks cute and easy to use......  

Has anyone tried it?  If you have I would love to hear your thoughts good bad or ugly.  

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Hump Day!

We saw so many cute ghouls and goblins last night and it was so nice to see kids out filling the night with laughter and life.  Hope you had a great Halloween too:) 

Using Too Pretty To Use Supplies

I don't know about you but I find myself putting aside bits, bobs, paper and pretties all the time because they are so "pretty" that I KNOW there is a better project to use them on than the one that I am working on right now.  Really Shere?  What Project is that?  Guess what, the pretties don't ever get used or even looked at again most of the time.  They just get shoved back into the stash lol.  That habit is a changin:)  I am making a pinky swear to use all of the pretties right away from now on out!  No more hoarding!!

To give myself credit, I am much better about this than I used to be.  When my new orders come in they go straight into the rotation instead of straight into the stash!  Saving for later used to be my thing.  Now, it's not unusual to see 1999 Basic Grey on a page with some 2017 Paige Evans.  

Like on this Christmas Page.  It has some really old Basic Grey along with some classic My Minds Eye, October Afternoon and Little Yellow Bicycle (a little Shimelle too:)) sprinkled with the brand spanking new Pink Fresh Studios and Fancy Pants Christmas collections.....

I love that about most of the pages that I'm sharing today.  They have supplies on them that I had been holding on to because I still loved them and wanted to use them.  At the time that they were purchased my mindset was to wait for the perfect project to use that collection/paper/embellishment/whatever.  

This page has a beautiful fussy cut rose from a really old Basic Grey paper.  I used 3 different washi tapes layered under my patterned paper strips on this page for a fun effect.  Love the thread peeking out from under the rose too.......

Purple paint.  Purple is my favorite color but I don't use it much.  Except I have about 25 bottles of purple acrylic paint.  Not even joking here.  Thankfully it is turning out to be a really good neutral color when it's thinned and used to splatter like this.  Who knew?  Not me when I bought it all lol.  Again, very old products mixed very well with very new.  Can you spot the new stuff?  This is not a favorite page but guess what?  It's going into the album.....

I did lots of layering on these pages.  Love it!  This one is from my July 2017 Hip Kit.  I like the fun sprinkle of embellishments down the side of the page.  Seriously.  That typewriter was definitely going into the donate bin but as I was making this page it caught my eye.  I think it looks great on this page and that spot is the perfect place for it......

I did it yall!  I updated this page with the journaling:)  Love it even more....... 

So glad you could stop by and see me on this beautiful Tuesday!  Hope you are having a lovely day😊