Another quick PSA about 'Life Scripted

 The deadline to sign up for Kal Barteski's class over at Studio Calico is tonight at midnight folks, time is almost up! This is a class that I think is going to be BIG. I've been seeing script titles turning up all over Pinterest, on scrapbook pages, and in print ads. It's hot, it's hip, and you'll be learning from the best. Have I mentioned the guest teachers? Awesome.  Don't be kicking yourself tomorrow, go enroll, now!

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This is it...

Tomorrow morning I've got my friend and master organizer Sandy coming over to help me  purge at least 5 years worth of scrapbooking product. I am a little sad that my excessive American Crafts collection is about to bite the dust, but since it's just sitting there collecting said dust, it's time for it to go. I have a somewhat( ok, a big) emotional attachment to all of their product seeing as I was on that team for so long, and I truly loved everything I kept- letting go of it is going to be really hard. I've already given SO much away, but I just don't have room to keep it. I'm ready to have a clean, organized space, and that means really being ruthless and truthful about why I'm keeping stuff I will probably never use. It's hard though!!!

Wish me luck-I"ll post a few pics of the process next week. There may be one of me frantically holding onto all that beautiful AC paper while Sandy tries to pry it from my hands. ;p

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Sugar Rush reveal!

 February's Sugar Rush kits are completely lovely- so pretty and girly.  Even though I was at first a little bit scared off by the pink, I figured out how to make them work for me, and I"m super happy with the layouts I did this month. As always, I push and push and push paper around until I have something I like. My slow scrapbooking process is one I've come to terms with, but not really conducive to having a deadline and a full time job! Add to that a hubby who left for a week in Mexico in business, (we will not discuss it!)  and I was a little behind the 8 ball in terms of time. ( ***Note*** The links won't work until midnight tonight unless you're a subscriber!)

Here are my 2 main only layouts:

This beautiful baby boy is my friend Erin's 4th baby, and her 4th BOY, hence the title of my page. ;) I had the immense honour of seeing this little guy being born, since Erin had asked me to photograph the birth, and I went back to her house 6 weeks later to take the photo above, among others. I knew I wanted to use the hearts as a focal point on the photo, and I chose 4 of them to signify her 4 children. I was originally going to print out my text directly on the patterned paper, but decided to soften it up, and printed it out on vellum instead. Love the effect. The poem is one by ee cummings, and  is one of my favourites. I think it's so beautiful and moving, which is how I feel when I look at this photo- the vulnerability of this little guy snuggled on his Mama's shoulder. So precious. 

I really wanted to sew those hearts down, and the vellum as well, so once my machine is going, I will do so, and repost an updated shot. 

This layout uses an older but beloved photo of my son that I've scrapped before, but I was never completely happy with that layout. I decided to print it out big, and love how it looks grainy and gritty.( bad camera settings!) and the contrast of the b&w pic with the colour. I love his face in this photo, how he is holding that pug ornament with such care, and the story behind it. It was the start of his love affair with pugs, and he still keeps 'Paul' on a shelf beside his bed to this day. :) For the background, I used this cut file by Geralyn, and somehow managed to size it so that the only small circle punch I own fit perfectly into the grid. Total fluke, but I was pretty thrilled! I typed out the journaling on my typewriter on plain printer paper, punched them out, and just popped them in with a dab of glue. Super simple.

The 'Bobby-ism" layout uses a combo of the 3 add-on kits, Gumdrop, Jellybeans,  & Rock Candy. I've started throwing everything all together once I'm done with the main only pages, and I like the free rein of just grabbing stuff. The paper, the stars, and the wood grain were all more masculine feeling ( yay!), and I made this page in under 30 minutes, just adding the words in the speech bubbles and stamping with the main kit stamp.

This is my lovely Mama as a teenager. I have held onto this photo for a long time, waiting to scrap it, and when I saw the gold dipped leaves in the Gum Drop add on, I knew right away it was perfect. I've been dying to try incorporating script onto my layouts, so I typed out the verse on Neenah ( no texture) and used gouache to paint my title. I practiced a few times on printer paper, and then just went for it. Sort of scary,  but I love how it turned out. And an FYI about the gouache versus acrylic: I've tried both, and am not really a fan of the acrylic. It didn't give the opaque, bold black I wanted,  and I was super happy to get that with the gouache. I'm also going to try India Ink and see how that works.

This last page is hybrid, and ultra simple, trying my hand with some of the digital stamps in the shop. 

I wanted to keep the focus on the photo and let it take center stage. I printed out the layout, and decided to back it with some cardstock for a bit of bulk, and a wee strip of the arrow paper from the Jelly Bean add on.

That's it for this month's kits- thanks for visiting!

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Life Scripted

I've never gotten into the whole mixed media craze that is so ( or is it still?) popular right now. Give me white cardstock, a photo, and a bit of text, and I'm a happy gal. I'm not one for getting messy. However, I do adore text, type, script, and quotes, and I'm super excited about taking the Life Scripted class over at Studio Calico. I'm even willing to get a little ink on my fingers, if it means I will be able to replicate the kind of text she does. I love it. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd buy a big giant Kal canvas to hang in my big giant new living room. But since the likelihood of that is next to nil, I'm hoping after this class that I'll be able to make my own big canvas, for my tiny old livingroom. ;)

 Sign up is until the 31st, and class starts on February 1st. Come on over and get your scripty on!

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My Copper Mountain layouts

The gallery at Studio Calico is now live, and you can see all the awesomeness that the DT has created with these gorgeous kits. I mean, really... I can't even believe that I'm a part of it. I could see the pages being added this past week and was like 'WOW. Why didn't I think of that?!' Seriously a talented team.
I'm not a big horn tooter. In fact, I think I'd rather curl up in a corner than have to wax on about myself and my work, so I'm going to make this short and sweet, and feel free to shoot me any questions you may have!

Here's the first 2  pages I made, using only the main Copper Mountain kit:

I can't even tell you how great it is when you see a kit in person and know automatically that you have photos that will work perfectly. I love how the woodgrain & the inky blue from the kit were an ideal match for what my son is wearing in these pics- total fluke, I tell you. I'm very partial to pages like this. And I love these photos taken of him last week. Love him. Such a great boy.

This is also a main kit only layout, and turned out to be my fave of the month. I was kind of giddy when I saw that veneer die cut, and I knew I wanted to fill it with a few pics and paper. I took my cue for this layout from the 'HOME' die cut circle and just built on it from there. I also fell in mad love with the October Afternoon feather paper and ended up using it on 2 layouts by fussy cutting them and using them as an embellishment on the page. I always fidget with adding and subtracting when I make a layout, it's almost like a game of chess.  I knew when I added the house (cut from one of the papers in the kit) that I was done my page. I decided to add the tiny title there, and I was completely happy with it.

I had this cookbook photo printed out for my DD, but after an extremely tiring week with my new job, I came home on Friday to a house that seriously looked like a bomb went off. And I'm not even kidding. I wanted to cry. So when I found this pic while looking through my photos, I found it too ironic not to scrapbook about how I am SO not a Martha (even though I didn't journal about my terrible housekeeping skills. ;) even though deep down, I still adore her. This page uses the High Point  add-on along with the main kit- that striped paper is also so beautifully colourful!

This is probably the simplest page I made this month, but I really adore it. The gold letters in the Fremont Glades add-on were pretty much my fave thing in all the kits. They're a beautifully burnished, old gold colour and so, so pretty. The stamp is from the High Point add-on, and is really fun to use with the bullet numbers & cute cameras.

And then, there's those feathers again. :) Also, once again professed my obsession with sequins here by sprinkling a few throughout the page.

I did this quickie layout this morning ( Boxing Day) in my pjs,  and it came together in about 20 minutes, which is super fast for me, as I usually take forever and a day. I had printed my photo to an 8x10, back it with that beautiful woodgrain paper from the main, and then basically just embellished my photo with the 'cheers' cork diecut from the Slingshot kit, and used the banner tag from Fremont Glades as a little subititle.

Thanks for taking a peek! I can breathe easier now that this one's under my belt. :)

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My first ever Studio Calico sneaks. (deep breath)

I'm super excited for tomorrow's Studio Calico reveal. I was crazy under the gun, having started a full time job the past few weeks, and seriously didn't think I would be able to come up with anything decent. Throw Christmas into that mix, and you can see where I'm going. NUTS. Thanks to an understanding husband who let me sit and scrapbook all last weekend, I think I did okay. Reveal for subscribers is tomorrow at noon, and for those of you who don't subscribe ( and you really should!) you'll be able to purchase kits at midnight on the 27th. The Copper Mountain scrapbook kit is right up my alley- full of beautiful bold colours, and has a very masculine, outdoorsy feel which I love. I'm also a subscriber to the PL kit, and it looks completely amazing, but I haven't yet seen that one in person.

Here's a few sneaks to whet your appetite- I'm very nervous for tomorrow, but I'll be at work and won't have time to sit and press the countdown button, which is probably a good thing!

this one uses the main kit & the Slingshot add-on.

My main kit layout, and my fave this month.

and another using the main kit only... also really love this page. :)

I'll be posting these pages in their entirety tomorrow. Fingers crossed they don't boot me off the team. ;)

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Big news deserves a blog update

So, I said a few months ago that I'd be back in a few days, but now I'm back for real, and with a very, very good reason:

Seriously!!! I have no idea why I've had such amazing luck in the scrapbook world throughout the years I've been scrapbooking, but I'm very grateful for this opportunity. I have to say,  I was really shocked when I received a very flattering email from Samantha at Studio Calico a while back, asking me to join the team, and although I'm feeling overwhelmed by everything right now, ( starting a new full time job 2 weeks before Christmas is a great way to throw a monkey wrench into things!) I am confidant that I'll find some kind of rhythm as I stumble through this coming month. It's going to be a bumpy ride, but a really fun one. :)

Here's a few layouts I've made in the past few months that I think helped me land this gig:

Joining Studio Calico last year was probably the best thing I've done for my scrap mojo. The kits are beautiful, innovative, & on trend, and the community there is extremely supportive & close knit. I can't say enough good things about it. I hope you will visit me there, and join in the fun. Just don't blame me when your wallet starts getting skinnier, okay? ;)

Thanks for reading and sticking with this much neglected blog! 

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