Scraplift

Isn't it wonderful how much inspiration a single layout can provide? Take, for instance, this layout:

This layout really isn't my style. I rarely use a white background and even though it has a lot going on, it still seems kind of plain for me. But, I was attracted to the red hounds tooth pattern running vertically and thought I'd give it a go.....

The result was this layout, of Ryan's birthday cake! I used a mix of Sassafrass and Cosmo here, as well as some puffy stickers from Wal-mart.
3 things I like:
1) This layout was really fast to complete - thank you sketch!
2) The title - I feel fancy when I mix multiple letterings in one title.
3) I used a few supplies here I had been hoarding because I loved them so. Example: the music note paper :)

Then, I took a class of Crystal's at the scrapbook store. One of the layouts we made was this one here (click to see). The first half of the layout is based on the same sketch! All 3 look so different!

A day in DC and homemade rootbeer....

Today was a day spent mostly devoted to scrapbooking. My friend Jen picked me up at 10 this morning and we drove to Dawson to check out the scrapbook store there, Chocolate Clover. I like that she has a very different selection from in town, although not nearly as much to choose from. I got a few good finds, including Cosmo's Circa 1934 and some of Sassafrass' Indie Girl as well as a few other random bits and pieces. I was very pleased to find a magazine June has been searching for in the $5.00 clearance bin.
After a quick stop at the mall to pick up a lunch bag for Ryan from Marks (we were sold out in my store) we decided to be adventurous and have lunch in this 50's diner. (When I say we, I mean Jen, I was slightly nervous about what we were getting into entering a giant metal box). It was very cute in there and the food was inexpensive and fairly tasty. Luckily, Jen had her camera and she took some photos. (Layout to follow - I've already selected some pieces for it!)
We stopped at B&T, but that was a major disappointment. Everything was old, and the sales lady was clueless. Why ask me if I need help if you have zero concept about scrapbooking?
On the way back we went to Crafty Folks in Taylor and I got a few more things. I got a Christmas line from Echo Park that has ornaments all over it. I took some photos of my favourite ornaments this Christmas, so I will use it for that.
When I came home, I finished up this page that's been sitting around for a week or two. I was hung up on what to add for embellishments. After a while of whining and being generally non-productive I started to dig through my (fairly extensive) stash and found I had more than enough to finish it off. Here is the finished product:

I used a mixture of Earth Love and Nutmeg for papers - both by Cosmo Cricket. Three things I love about this layout are:
1) I used chipboard letters - I have been very bad about using those lately. I coloured these ones with brown Copic marker and heat embossed with clear powder to make them shiny. I was trying to go for the effect of the bottles.
2) The tiny bottle cut from my Cricut - it kind of looks like a wine bottle, but close counts. :)
3) Lots of journaling! I told the story and gave instructions for making your own root beer.

I said a while back that I would post the layout of us snow shoeing. That will come next as long as many other layouts I've been working on recently.

Altered scraplift

On the very last page of this month's Scrapbooks Etc was a picture of a pencil holder. It was so cute I just had to have my own. This is my version, it's fairly similar. I can't wait to go put it on my desk at school!

A couple baby book pages

I've been slacking on the blog posting lately. I have been scrapbooking, so really there is no excuse. Here's a couple more pages for my baby book.

I started this layout on Tuesday and finished it on Wednesday. I used a mix of supplies: some Studio Calico paper from their new line Documentary, Sassafras and old Cosmo (the green paper is from their Storybook line 4 years ago! Thanks June!) I love the mix of colours and patterns here and how my photos are arranged.

This one is actually a couple weeks old. It's funny because the only other page in my baby book with butterflies on it - I'm wearing the exact same dress. It's not really a butterfly dress, but then again, maybe it is.

3 layouts

I printed some photos yesterday, so I was able to finally finish this first layout! I can't even remember when I started it..... 3 months? 4 months ago? It was missing the photo of the Christmas tree, I needed it in 5x7. It is now complete and safely in the album! Always a great accomplishment.

I had to go back 3 albums to find the place for this page - and it's only from last summer! Perhaps I scrap too much. Maybe my mom is right. Haha, not likely. I left these photos for a really long time because I was set on having a Jolees lawnmower or some sort of lawnmower embellishment. I finally gave up that dream, and created a lawnmower mask.... it's not as great as I'd like, but best I could do. Crystal donated the few stickers from a father's sticker sheet by Bella Blvd. It's a fairly flat layout, but that's okay once in a while.

Canada Day! I struggled a lot with this one during our Friday night scrap session. Crystal had to hold my hand and guide me through it. Adding the arrows (which are very old, and exciting to use up) helped to remove some of the Minnie Mouse feel and make it more Canadian. Ryan, who on Canada Day refused to wear a red shirt, said that we ruined the layout by not wearing red. Oh, well look who is right! Me again!

2 Water Dogs

This layout is a total mishmash of stuff. I pulled papers for this page based on colour. I was just looking for colours that went well with the photos. The sassafrass embellishments came last, because I was looking for some border strips. I think you can't use sass embellishments and papers all at once, it's just too much.

These are photos of the dogs swimming at Moberly Lake on May long. Steve LOVES to swim. He is really funny too, and makes this odd snorty, wheezing sound. He keeps the whole front end of his body out of the water, Adam calls him a motor boat.

I've never used a banner on my page before. It's a pretty big trend lately, and I had to try it out. I think I like it :)

Valentine's Cards

I really wanted to save my Valentine's cards from the students. I had no idea how to showcase them on a page.... after browsing 2 Peas I came up with this idea. It ended up being really fast!
I selected 3 cards to showcase and used removable adhesive on them so I can still pull them off and see who they are from if I choose. The rest are tucked in an envelope. I received an assortment of random kraft envelopes in a Studio Calico kit and this is the first one being put to use. The two strips of black border are also Studio Calico - these are their fabric rip strips. The letters and journal spot are SEI, from a kit Crystal gave me for Christmas a few years ago. The paper is Cosmo Cricket - Hey Sugar!

Some layouts finally

These are still layouts I completed at crop in September..... I do have a growing stack of layouts here that need to be scanned for me to share. I'm debating not scanning more of my baby book layouts until they are all done, so I get them all on the same disk. I have 12 pages otherwise, so it's not enough to fill a disk, but I may do it anyway.

This layout is of my first birthday party! I had so many photos to use and really wanted to use this crazy Sassafras paper. It turned out well, but looks much better in real life. You lose all the dimension in the scan.

I struggled so much with the placement on this one. I like it in the end. I'm happy I have so much of mom's handwriting in this book.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this one. I love the colours, I think it is just missing a little something... maybe a flourish in the bottom left. I don't know. Done is done.

Watersliding

If you looked outside today, the sky would look just like these pictures. Bright and sunny. I recommend not looking at the ground though, as it is lumpy and icy. I wish we could live in a place where it is always sunny. Although, then I would miss snow, and I would most definitely need to perfect my swimsuit body.
I love these photos of Erin and I. They may be some of my favorites from my baby book. I purchased Cosmo Cricket's snorkel line again for this page. See here and here and here for other Snorkel layouts. 6 pages with Snorkel! A record for me! I used to never use paper a second time, but I'm finding now, I love it so much, it just has to be used!
I'm off to go work on my homework. I've procrastinated enough of the day away. Steve and Mack are under my desk, nose in my armpit, trying to get me to play with them.... Anyone want to borrow two very cute dogs long enough for me to write a yearly overview?

Close Knit

I've been getting in trouble for not blogging. So this is just for you Junie :) Another layout from crop. I think this one is possibly my most favourite. It just turned out perfectly. Normally I have one thing I'd like to change on a page, but not this one. I finally used these Heidi Swapp chipboard hearts with embossing on them. They added just a little extra texture and dimension to the page.
This is a photo of my Uncle Charlie and myself. I don't think there are too many of those. It's amazing how much him and my dad look the same.

2 Cute Secretaries

This is another layout I completed at crop. I really like this one! The things that attract me to it most are
1) I used Christmas paper - the stripe - can you believe it?
2) My mix of products - thanks June for selecting the MM butterflies
I am excited for the completion of my baby book - although it seems to have been set aside. So many christmas projects to create! I have already finished two minibooks and a calendar and am currently working on my cards! I haven't even decorated my house for halloween yet (maybe tomorrow) but already am excited for the holiday season! It's been so cold and snowy that I've just been put in the mood for mittens and hot chocolate!

A wintery day....

It's cold and snowy here today, and I'm still not quite ready for it. The mitts and toques have been calling to come out of the closet for a while. Maybe today will be their day. I thought I'd share this layout today because it fit with the weather.
This is one of many you will start to see from my baby book. That's right - that is me! I created this layout with Cosmo's new Jolly by Golly line. I love this stuff! I am always a sucker for snowflake paper, so it's nice to actually use some of it. The clear snowflakes are Heidi Swapp, rubbed in white ink, embossed with glitter powder.

Guest Designer: Crystal Dutchak

This is Crystal's second layout using the sketch mentioned in my post below. I feel that since I gave her this product it is okay for me to post this layout on my blog before she posts it on hers. This one is a lot more true to the original sketch than any of the others.
If you'd like to see more of Crystal's work visit her blog here. She now has many scanned layouts and will be posting very soon!

A "Family" Photo?

Again, I have fallen in love with Cosmo Cricket. Basic Grey used to be my number one, but I'm sorry, I think they have been bumped. Julie and Lindsay, I'm not sure which one of you I can side on this one: Girl Friday or Snorkel.... I've used them both so many times. What great work you have done designing fresh, unique paper.
Here's yet another layout using Cosmo's Girl Friday....

Camping!

As I create these layouts from our holiday I keep seeming to be faced with way too many photos! As a result I'm using little embellishment. I'm always trying to have my pages look different from one another so I guess that's okay once in a while. Here I used some of my last bits of Mr. Campy by Cosmo from last year. I love this paper line! No one seemed to come out with any really amazing camping lines this year (at least not that I saw). We're hoping to go camping again next week and I just don't have any more embellishment to use really. I'm going to have to be on the hunt from some different takes on camping pages.
Every year Ryan's family does a Family Camp on Texada Island. It's a lot of fun. Being that we live so far away now, it's great for us to get down there and visit everyone all in one spot. I keep saying that next time we go down we should just camp and make everyone come to us. It'd be so much more relaxing that way.

2 High Quality Dog Layouts

I haven't posted in a while because I knew I'd be scanning my layouts and I much prefer posting them scanned. The quality is so much better and you can see all the edges. Sometimes in photos I cut stuff out by accident. I'm planning on posting a few a day so stretch it out because I'm sure it won't be long until I have another CD of scanned layouts. I've also gone back and updated some trip layouts to scanned versions as well. Here's two layouts of curious dogs for today:

Steve had never seen crabs before. He was all about them. This is really old (and by that I mean, last year) Cosmo paper. I wanted this robot paper so badly but had no use for it. Glad its used up. I cut the title and the crabs with the Cricut. I traced another journaling spot to make this one. I also did a ring of Stickles around the crab in the large photo to highlight it. Those little crabs really do a good job of blending into the rocks.

Mack is so silly! Here he is peeking into Craig's tent. What a nosy little dog. The "Fragile" paper is Making Memories from last year. The red stuff that kinda looks like tents is exclusive Studio Calico from a couple of kits back. I added a couple of MME green rubons to the title strip for a bit of extra detail.

More trip layouts to come soon. Dont' forget you can click on them to look at a larger photo and read the journaling!

Not Doing it Right

This layout is from Mack and Steve's first time swimming. I created it to go beside the "I Wish I Wish" layout posted here. It's not really a double pager, but they are made with the exact same products.
This layout was really easy to create. No special techniques here - I just used up all my Snorkel scraps! I had such a hard time with the left hand side of this, it just looked so plain. I then turned over my 2 scraps of red paper to find the cute dots just the perfect size to tuck behind the photos and the page was complete!

Cosmo Cricket Design Team Application

Cosmo Cricket is looking for some new design team members. They are one of my favorite scrapbook companies! They by far have the best sense of humour, that's for sure. Their products are so easy to use, and have tons of accessories. I'd love to be a part of such a great team. Here are my application layout entries. (Julie, Eric and Lindsay, please use my "labels" on the side to see other Cosmo layouts I have done.)

Family Always
Cosmo Products Used:
Paper ~ Everafter (Something Blue, Something True, Something True, Everafter Elements)
Chipboard~ Everafter Ready Set Chipboard
Non Cosmo Products Used:
Gems ~ Prima
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Letters ~ American Crafts Thickers
Punch ~ Stamping Up

Tide Pool
Cosmo Products Used:
Paper ~ Snorkel (Current, Borders)
Non Cosmo Products Used:
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Chipboard ~ Making Memories (for masks)
Spray ~ Glimmer Mist Sugar Cookie
Letters ~ American Crafts Thickers
Sticker ~ Making Memories
Ink ~ Ranger Distress Ink
Pen ~ Zig

I Wish, I Wish
Cosmo Products Used:
Paper ~ Snorkel (School's Out, Carbonation, Current, Boardwalk, Borders)
Non Cosmo Products Used:
Ink ~ Ranger Distress Ink
Pen ~ Zig

Q & A
Cosmo Products Used:
Paper ~ Early Bird (Ribbon Sandwich, Brunch), Chemistry (Wink)
Stickers ~ Earlybird Cardstock Stickers
Chipboard ~ Vintage Mix Blackboard, Buck Naked Alpha
Non Cosmo Products Used:
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Gems ~ Basic Grey
Pen ~ Copic


Nothing But Trouble
Cosmo Products Used:
Paper ~ Lil' Man (Dapper Dan, Cheerful Charlie, Handsome Henry, Borders)
Rubons ~ Doodle
Stickers ~ Lil' Man Cardstock Stickers
Non Cosmo Products Used:
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Letters ~ Making Memories

Nana

Gotta love the colours of Cosmo's new Early Bird line. The teal and red is so striking! This layout is a near perfect copy of one seen here. The layout was so beautiful and I had these pictures that fit so well. Sometimes it's nice to cheat a little and borrow some inspiration.

Girl Friday AGAIN!

A second Girl Friday layout! I usually don't work with the same paper line twice in a row like that, but it just worked out that way. I have nearly any of this stuff left. That's rare, but good. These photos are Mackie's first day home. He was such a little baby then! This was a fun page to do, used a lot of cartoon-y elements here. I also finished off some old KI Memories paw print paper. I think that might be from 2 years ago, so it's good to get rid of. Hope you like it!