Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Tales of a Craft Class Junkie: The Scrapbooking World Series

It's safe to say my scrapbook slump has ended. I just wish I had more time to work now that I am inspired to do so. I have really been enjoying the Scrapbooking World Series. I appreciate that it's self paced, other wise, I might just be in trouble. The videos are short and to the point, however, they are chock full of simple ideas to spark a layout. I must also confess that I find it very amusing to see Tami's son narrating scrapbook challenges. I wish him and his team the best of luck in their upcoming games. Meanwhile, how about I share a couple of layouts I have made inspired by the challenges.

Summer SnoCone by Christy Strickler 
|Supplies Patterned Paper: Studio Calico, American Crafts, Pebbles, Cosmo Cricket; Letters, Button: Jillibean Soup; Labels: Freckled Fawn, Chic Tags; Die Cut: Chic Tags; Stickers, Flair, Paperclip, Chipboard: Freckled Fawn; Mist: Dylusions; Glitter Glue: Ranger; Twine: October Afternoon; Enamel Dots: Twine and Ink   









Layout one started with my choice of product. One item in particular, actually. I had a sno cone flair badge from my Freckled Fawn kit and I was determined to use it. Alas, I could not find any sno cones for my son this summer. It just so happened that I came across this photo of my son when he was three. Perfect. Now my warm up layout was complete.

You & Me by Christy Strickler |Supplies Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper, Die Cuts, Chipboard, Tape: Basic Grey; Sequins: Crate Paper; Wood Veneer: Studio Calico; Enamel Wood Dot: My Mind's Eye; Button: Jillibean Soup













I started layout two listening to the challenge and prompt. I think though, that somewhere along the way, my layout headed out to left field. No worries though. I love the way it looks and am happy to have a page done, despite not exactly meeting the challenge parameters. I used some of my supplies from my July Counterfeit Kit to complete the layout.

As I mentioned, the challenges and prompts are simple. Yet, they offer a bit of a challenge while teaching you a little about baseball. If you are interested, it's still not too late to take on the challenges.

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Saturday, July 26, 2014

Tales of a Craft Class Junkie: My December Story, 2013- finished

Last November, I set out to work on a project that would document the whole month of December.The class was called Your December Story. It's comprised of a series of prompts, both for journaling and visual storytelling. It's not a December Daily which was perfect for me. I wanted something easy that I knew I would complete. Most of the layouts were finished by January. All except for two which I just finished today. I have to say that I find this very fulfilling. This is the first December in which I have managed to document all of the events that took place.


My introduction to my December story actually began in November. Prompts from the class had me searching for the first signs of Christmas to appear. I purposefully tinted the photos to help convey the changes. I started with black and white photos of our living room prior to decorations. I then moved to a vintage tint which keeps the color muted while showing the very first decorations we had observed this year.


Page two documents where we would be spending Christmas, current events, holiday wishes and our first holiday treat purchases. Now that I am thinking of the holidays, I have switched to brighter patterned papers and supplies.



Page three was dedicated to Holiday Decorations we observed around town. These included holiday murals and a variety of Christmas trees.



Page four documents the process of decorating our home. It also allows me some space to write about how this Christmas is different than past years.



There isn't much to do around the holidays where we live. To make things more special, we ate out every weekend which was a real treat for us.



Page six documents other holiday treats such as a trip to the movies, hot cocoa, sampling new candy and receiving a gift certificate from my husband's job. All little things to help make our December Merry.



Page seven documents typical everyday events that would have been documented in my monthly pocket page spreads. This includes the weather and what our cats were up to. I also did a recap of what I liked and didn't like about 2013.


Christmas Day fit entirely onto one layout. For whatever reason, I didn't have a lot of great photos of my son opening his gifts. Documenting it in PL style allowed me to highlight the full story with just a few photos.


Page nine could have been a layout. However, with the large number of boat photos from the nighttime Christmas parade, I felt pocket pages would suit it better. I strayed away from the holiday paper to include a constellation print. Perfect for a nighttime photo shoot.



Page ten could have also been a full 12x12 layout. However, I needed a back side to page nine so I made it into a pocket page instead. This page documents how we made a rice krispy treat holiday train.

Once again, I find myself liking some of the pocket pages and others not so much. What I did like was using the Your December Story class to document my Christmas. I was able to include so many details both large and small about the things that happened throughout the month. I also didn't have the stress of doing a Decemeber Daily. I didn't use all of the prompts. Some were a bit difficult for our small family of three. However, I did find that many of the prompts guided me into finding additional stories that may not have been told. I plan to use Your December Story again in 2014.







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Friday, July 25, 2014

Get It Scrapped: Inspired by Kim Watson

Is scraplifting ok? I say yes. It's a powerful tool that can help you learn more about your own process by examining how another scrapbooker does things on her layout. It's always important to give credit where credit is due. However, you need to consider the type of scraplifting you are choosing to try.

Scraplifting can mean a variety of things. It can mean you directly copy a layout almost exactly as it was made by the original designer. It can also mean you take a lesson from a piece of that layout. This lesson can be in the form of color, the way motif is used, how designs are incorporated into a layout or how the designer has layered product. Recently, I channeled some ideas inspired by Kim Watson to create a scrapbook layout.

Adventures in Puerto Rico by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper; Fancy Pants, My Mind’s Eye; Letters: Jillibean Soup; German Foil: Jenni Bowlin; Other: DMC floss, glass beads; appears in an article for Get It Scrapped













As I looked over Kim's layouts, I was really struck with the way she used color. Kim seems to choose a specific set of colors which she then layers into her layout in different hues and patterns. My layout doesn't specifically copy one of Kim's, but it does pull in the idea of layering color. I pulled out a JBS Mercantile kit from last year. Using the kit made it easy to stick with the idea of layering colors and patterns. I was using scraps from the kit, so I allowed what I had left to direct the design of my page.

You don't need to look at just one layout at a time to scraplift a concept. I looked at a gallery of Kim Watson's work and looked for consistent use of technique, color and pattern. I took away just a small piece of Kim's process. I can always look back and make observations which will lead to me trying other concepts. What will you take away? Take a look at Kim's layouts, make a page inspired by her work and share it with us in the Get It Scrapped Gallery.

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