You’re Not the Boss of Me: Victoria Marie Sketch Challenge

So the great thing about scrapbooking is that it fosters the most supportive and congenial  social network. I joined a Facebook group sponsored by a fellow scrapbooker Victoria Marie. Besides having one of the best sense of humors I have ever encountered, she is incredibly talented. Link to Victoria Marie Blog. As part of the Victoria Maria FB Group we are given weekly challenges. A few months ago, we were given a sketch challenge. And I decided to play along using paper from one of my fall 2015 Scraptastic Kits and additional supplies from the fall inspired Simple Stories Pumpkin Spice collection. I grabbed my favorite photo from my recent Ireland trip, traipsing around the Whitlock Mountains and came up with a fun layout.

Sketch:

Layout: In order to work with my design story, I flipped the sketch 90 degrees counter clockwise. Other than that, I tried to stay close to the sketch but traipsed off the path when the inspiration hit me. Of course the floral paper in the Pumpkin Spice collection inspired me to pull out my floral stamps and die cut cuts that are used as embellishments in place of the circle detail in the sketch. My favorite part of the layout is the brown circle stitching underneath the floral embellishment clusters. It just added the perfect amount of texture and additional design element.

I hope you enjoyed checking it out as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Thanks for stopping by. More to Come, Celia!

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Title: love now. Cardstock: American Crafts (Rust); Stampin Up (Crushed Curry, Soft Sky, Coastal Cabana); Neenah Classic Crest (Natural White).  Patterned Paper: Simple Stories-Pumpkin Spice (Pick of the Patch, Acorn, Crisp Air, 3×4 Journaling Cards, 4×6 Horizontal Journaling Card Elements, 6×6 paper pad); Echo Park-Dots & Stripes (Mustard). Stamps: Stampin Up (Beautiful Bunch, Petite Petals). Die Cut & Punches: Simon Says Stamp (Stitched Circles); Papertry Ink (Happiness in Bloom); American Crafts Knockouts (.375 Flower); Marvy Uchida (5/8 circle), Stampin Up (Fun Flower Punch, Petite Petals, Banner Triangle, Flower); Martha Stewart Crafts (3 in 1 Hydrangea), EK Success (Swiss Cheese Edger), Fiskars (Scallop Edge, 1 inch circle); McGill (Star Flower Perfect Petals). Embellishments Simple Stories-Pumpkin Spice (Expressions Cardstock Stickers, Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers); Studio Calico (Gold Leaves, Enamel Dots, Gold Frame); Twine & Ink (Gold Puffy heart Stickers); American Crafts Thickers (Amy Tan-Grace); Bella Blvd (Little Bits- Bell Pepper), Misc. (Gems). Inks: Stampin Up (Crushed Curry, Coastal Cabana. Old Oliver). Picture: November 2015. Layout Completed: January 2016).

 

 

I’m In the Mood: Hip Kit Club October Mood Board

I am always in the mood to scrapbook. All the pretty paper and embellishments just puts me immediately in a happy place. I wanted to pop in and share with you all one of my layouts with the October 2015 Hip Kit inspired by the October Mood Board. I was immediately drawn to the leaves and butterfly images as well as the gold touches and woodgrain. With the jammed packed paper and embellishments in the Hip Kit along with some items from my stash , I was able to put together a layout that really captures the spirit of the Mood Board. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Mood Board:

Layout:

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Title: SAY YES. Cardstock: American Crafts (Storm, Peach); Stampin Up (Coral Calypso); Neenah Classic Crest (Natural White, Dessert Storm).  Patterned Paper: Pebbles-Jen Hadfield- DIY Home (Blue Skies, Wood Floors, 6×6 paper pad); American Crafts-DIY Shop (Thick Gold Stripe on White Paper); Chickaniddy (Gold Foil). Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Vintage Linens). Die Cut & Punches: Papertrey Ink (Vintage Linens); Stampin Up (Itty Bitty Accents); Nicole (Leaf Punch): Fiskars (Scallop Punch); Studio G (Mini Flower Punch); Crate Paper-Maggie Holmes (Confetti-Flower Die); Memory Box (Arched Stems); Impression Obsession (Layered Floral Set); Silhouette Design Studio (Design ID# 78459-Rose Decoration). .Embellishments: Pebbles-Jen Hadfield- DIY Home (Printed Chipboard Shapes); American Crafts- Thickers (Amy Tangerine-Grace); Queen & Co (Pearls Sunflower Yellow). Inks and Color: Stampin Up (Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral); Versamark (Watermark); Simon Says Stamp-Embossing Powder (Ultra fine Gold).  Picture: September 2011. Layout Completed: October 2015. Kit-Hip Kit Club (October 2015).

 

Scrapbook Therapy: Stitch Witchery

For all of you that are joining me here today are probably well ensconced in the world of scrapbooking and all of the various techniques. And for those crafty people who use scissors and glue as tools, extending those basics to a sewing machine is not a huge leap. It is actually come so popular to sew on scrapbook pages that it’s not even innovative anymore. And why, most crafty people probably already sew anyway and it is the PERFECT way to add that little bit of texture to your pages.

So this Scrapbook Therapy session will deal with my want to sew on my pages in a unique way that not only creates texture by another design element.  So I dug back into my scrappy supplies for a fun and happy Echo Park collections, some stamps and some cardstock, printed some phots and my handy dandy Brother sewing machine. Since I knew I wanted the stitching to be an integral design element, I laid out my pictures with some paper layering and embellishment clusters in the third quadrant of the layout. I also left a pocket space for my journaling to tuck in behind the pictures.  That left the rest of the page available to experiment with tone on tone with a pop of color and texture by stitching cardstock strips that match the background with red thread that matching the rest of the colors in the collection.

I have to admit that I was very pleased with the outcome. So let me show some shots of the layout and I hope you are just as pleased.

Cover:

Details:

Thank you for joining me on the couch for another Scrapbook Therapy session. See you in group again soon! Celia.

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Title: thirty 9. Cardstock: American Crafts (White, Cricket). Patterned Paper: Echo Park- We Are Family (Star Slides, Hot Air Balloons, Family Stripe, Small Floral, 6×6 paper pad); Fine And Dandy (Blue/Teal, Red/Orange), Dots & Stripes (Peony Small Dots), Photo Freedom-Volume I (Red Stripe, Be Kind). Stamps: Kelly Purkey (Happy Birthday). Die Cut & Punches: Silhouette Design Studio (Design ID# 58872- Echo Park Flowers); EK Success (Swiss Cheese Edger Punch). Embellishments: Echo Park- We Are Family (Alpha Stickers, Element Stickers); Misc. (Paper Clip-Office Depot). Inks and Color: Prima Chalk Edger (Ladybug, Black Coal, Blossom Tree, Blue Jay, Worn Jeans, Olive Vine).  Picture: June 2015. Layout Completed: October 2015.

You’re Not the Boss of Me: Scraptastic September Sketchy Thursdays

I have been sitting on a couple of layouts that I need to share with all you all– my small scrappy  but very loyal  following! And yes, I know it is January 2016 and I am sharing a September 2015 sketch challenge but I sometimes really suck at this #aboutthisbloglife. I endeavor to force myself to get better about sharing as part of my 2016 scrappy goals. Coming back to this space to be creative helps to calm the left brain beast that is my adult grown up work life. So thank you to my small following – which I am pretty sure mostly includes my scrappy friends and my mother! Here is to hoping for more followers of other crazy addicted crafters in the upcoming year.

Since I have become enamored with sketches, I get super excited to stretch my creative legs and add to this scrappy improv of sketch with and some’um else- whether it be limiting myself to a color scheme, a kit or, in this case, a collection, just a little something something to spice up this sketch game. For this turn on the improv wheel, I stuck with the sketch design and made use of the very popular I Am Collection from Simple Stories. With some pictures thrown in from my first day of my Stockholm travels last May, this was super fun layout to make. So sit back and I hope you enjoy the show.

The Sketch:

The Layout:

Thanks for joining me. More to come. Celia

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Title: I AM HERE. Cardstock: Coordinations (Mandarin); Stampin Up (Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Coral Calypso, Bermuda Bay); Neenah Classic Crest (Vanilla).  Patterned Paper: Simple Stories-I AM (Fabulous, Beautiful, Journaling Cards, Grateful, 2×2 & 6×8 Elements, 2×12, 4×12, 6×12 Elements, 6×6 paper pad). Stamps: MFT (Modern Blooms); Stampin Up (Pictogram Punches). Die Cut & Punches: Stampin Up (Itty Bitty Accents); MFT (Modern Blooms). .Embellishments: Simple Stories-I AM (Expressions Cardstock Stickers, Fundamentals Stickers, Enamel Dots, Chipboard Frames, Interactive Elements); Twine + Ink (Puffy Stickers). Inks and Color: Stampin Up (Daffodil Delight, Old Oliver, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry).  Picture: May 2015. Layout Completed: September 2015

 

Throwback Thursday: Let’s Go Back.

Let’s go back. Let’s go way back. Throwback Thursday is about highlighting old pictures or old scrapbook collection or in this case: Both! I have this picture of Brad and I from 2007 (seems so long ago now but I remember squeezing him tight for this photo like it was yesterday).  It has been sitting in a photo frame on my desk in my office for years. I realized that I had never scrapped this photo.

And since I was throwing it back, I thought I would also pull out an older collection. And the first thing that called to me was this beautiful collection by Fancy Pants.  The collection did not quite sing– love me, love me, say that you love me. BUT, it had this fantastic black with white hearts paper and I decided to just built a layout around it by die cutting a bracket from an old Quickutz. Of course, I could not help but add some gorgeous florals colored with Prismacolor pencils.

Thank you for joining me in this flash in the past. Come on back for more. Celia

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Title: love. Cardstock: American Crafts (Black, Vellum); Bazzil (Desert Coral); Coordinations (Mandarin, Poseidon); Stampin Up (Tip Top Taupe, Coastal Cabana); Neenah Classic Crest (Gray).  Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants Designs-True Friend (Little Things, Forever Friend, I Heart You, 6×6 paper pad). Stamps: Heartfelt Creations (Delicate Asters, Striped Sun Kissed Fleur); Stampin Up (Groovy Love); Papertrey Ink (Tag-Its #11). Die Cut & Punches: Impression Obsession (Heart Stems); Heartfelt Creations (Delicate Asters, Sun Kissed Fleur); Memory Box (Stitched Heart Layers, Tulips Tops); Ellen Huston (Bold Blossoms): Stampin Up (Banner Triple, Sweetheart Punch); Simon Says Stamp (Holiday Shapes); My Favorite Things Die-Namics (Fluttering Hearts, Boy Meets Girls); Quickutz (Bracket). Embellishments: Fancy Pants Designs-True Friend (Patterned Photo Frames, Label Stickers); Gossamer Blue (On My Desk); Misc. (Gems). Inks and Color: Stampin Up (Poppy Parade); Momento (Tuxedo Black); Prismacolor Pencils. Picture: November 2007. Layout Completed July 2015.

Wrapped Up Wednesday: Pretty Tasty Tags

I watch A LOT of  Food and Travel television programming. In my mind, I always envisioned myself as this cross between the Pioneer Woman and Anthony Bourdain. And every now and then I try to channel my foodie and travel icons and whip up something for my family and friends. I threw myself a birthday party (yes I am one of those people who thinks their birthday should be a national holiday) and served a signature strawberry ginger cocktail. As gifts for my guest, (besides playing Ben Harper’s cover of the Beatles Strawberry Hill way too many times) I made these batches of the ginger syrup I used for my cocktails. There are a couple of ginger syrup recipes out there. I just used this one but with larger quantities.

And if you are a paper crafter you use any excuse to whip out your paper and die cut supplies. So I made these cute adorable tags to go on my thank you for coming and making a big deal out of my birthday guest gifts.

The tags were cut from some older Dear Lizzy products. I layered an ornate die cut made with my Cricut and Close to My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge with matching stamp set. My favorite part was the strawberry made with a Quickutz die from cardstock and then I traced around the die cut on the Charlie cardstock from Bazzil (the most wonderful heavy weight shiny brown cardstock EVAH!) to mimic chocolate. Did I mentioned that I served chocolate dipped strawberries?

As you can see, this was a very fun (and tasty) Wrapped up Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by. More to come. Celia

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Eat Drink and Be Merry. Cardstock: Bazzil (Charlie); American Crafts (Rouge); Nenah Classic Crest (Solar White). Patterned Paper: American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan (6×6 paper pad). Stamps: Close to My Heart (Art Philosophy). Die Cut & Punches: Cricut (Art Philosophy); Memory Box (Pocket Gift Tag); Die-Namics (Fishtail Flag Stax); Quickutz (Flirt). Inks: Momento (Rich Cocoa); Stampin Up (Pear Pizzaz). Misc: Twinery, Ribbon, Pier 1 Imports glass bottle.

Manic Diecut Monday: Ruling scrapbooking with an Iron Fist

Thanks for joining us on another episode of Manic Diecut Monday. This time we are talking manual die cutting. Like I said in our last episode, the advent of electrical die cutting machines have added other options to this secret hip subculture of scrapbooking. But there is nothing like going Old School. For my layout share today, I pulled out my cuttlebug and dies from Papertrey Ink, Ellen Hutton, WPlus9, Impression Obsession just to name a few. Wrapped my fist around the Cuttlebug handle and kept turning until I had scrappy happy on a page.

What inspired the die cutting on this page was the vibrant floral paper from the Fancy Pants Summer Sun collection. Those scribble circle flowers in particular was the theme I wanted to enforce. So I dug around my die collection and pulled out the Scribble Flower Die Cut from Ellen Hutson and the Scribble Dies from Papertrey Ink. And since Scrapbook Therapy does work- I used a coping mechanism of tone on tone for the background and layered the scribble dies cut in white cardstock on the white cardstock background. The entire layout was then mounted on a 12×12 corrugated white paper from Fancy Pants.

I hoped you enjoyed this episode of Manic Diecut Monday and get inspired to pull out those old dies for some scrappy fun. Thanks for stopping by. More to Come. Celia!

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Title: embrace LIFE. Cardstock: Fancy Pants (White Corrugated Paper); American Crafts (Fountain); Coordinations (Bright White); Stampin Up (Blushing Bride); Neenah Classic Crest (Gray).  Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants Designs-Summer Sun (Just Beachy, Summer Floral, Gold Foiled Paper, 6×6 paper pad). Stamps: WPlus9 (Fresh Cut Florals); Stampingbella (Jane Girl); Technique Tuesday-Ali Edwards (It’s Ok). Die Cut & Punches: Impression Obsession (Tulip Set, Layered Floral Set, Pine Pair); Memory Box (Leafy Foliage); WPlus9 (Fresh Cut Florals); Ellen Hutson (Bold Blossoms, Bold Blooms). Papertrey Ink (Circle Scribble); Martha Stewart Crafts (Heart Confetti). .Embellishments: Fancy Pants Designs-True Friend (Patterned Photo Frames, Label Stickers); Studio Calico (Clothespin); Gossamer Blue (On My Desk); Bella Blvd (Little Bits-Punch); Starform (Glitter/Gold); Freckled Fawn (Enamel Dots). Inks and Color: Stampin Up (Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait); Versamark (Watermark); Simon Says Stamp (Gold Embossing Powder).  Picture: May 2008. Layout Completed: September 2015

Scrapbook Therapy: Messy Cluster

With all things in life- we sometimes can make a mountain out of an anthill. I love scrapbooking. It is fun. It is therapeutic. But most importantly, it is a hobby. And one that is basically paper, scissors and glue with a little bit of glitter thrown in. So WHY do I spend an insufferable amount of time trying to make the perfect Messy Cluster. You know what I mean, that pile of papers and embellishments that appears to have just fallen on the page. The whole point is that its supposed to be messy, unorganized and organic. (Yes, I used the word “organic” while discussing scrapbooking. Somewhere a hipster just got his wings.) Yet – I will debate and agonize over each piece of paper, each layer, each color and each angle.  With this layout, I was determined to get off the practiced mess carousel and literally just let the chips fall where they may and achieve an actual Messy Cluster.

The Layout: For the focal layers, I cut three rectangle shapes from the Peebles Happy Day Collection 6×6 paper pad, inked up the edges and at the last minute decided to stitch around them in coordinating thread. Then I cut a longer rectangle from one of the 12×12 patterned papers and grabbed an embellishment from the ephemera pack. Then I piled all of these pieces in my hand, shuffled them around and dropped them on the page. Whether it was luck or I secretly have an inner dealer in me but the papers and embellishment fell in a way that not only highlights the picture but the color and graphics of this bright and happy Peebles collection.

To build on the Messy factor, I decided to use literal white space with haphazard mist splatters. Then I added a  collection of die cut and stamped florals clustered (not so messily) that mimic the patterned paper strip on the top. So all things considered you get a fun layout with a Messy Cluster (almost). Scrapbook Therapy is all about baby steps people!

Thanks for stopping by for scrappy group therapy. More to come. Celia.

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Title: Hello Life. Cardstock: American Crafts (White); Bazzil (Desert Coral); Neenah Classic Crest (Solar White).  Patterned Paper: Pebbles-Happy Day (Garden Walk, Sunday Paper, Blooms, Hello There, 6×6 paper pad). Stamps: WPlus9 (Spring Blooms); Papertrey Ink (Mini Blooms, Bigger Blooms). Die Cut & Punches: WPlus9 (Spring Blooms); Papertrey Ink (Mini Blooms, Bigger Blooms); Memory Box (Norland Flower, Bitty Blooms); Essentials by Ellen (Wild Garden); Stampin Up (Hello You, Itty Bitty); Recollections (Starburst); Fiskars (Flower). .Embellishments: Pebbles-Happy Day (Tag Frames); Studio Calico (Stickers); American Crafts Thickers (Dots); Misc. (Gems). Inks: Stampin Up (Pumpkin Pie, Peach Parfait, Calypso Coral); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ripe Persimmon, Tattered Rose, Abandoned Coral, Chipped Sapphire); Momento (Tuxedo Black); October Afternoon-Sprinklers (Twilight). Picture: September 2011. Layout Completed: June 2015.

You’re Not the Boss of Me: March Scraptastic Sketchy Thursdays

First things first. Mea Culpa. Life and the day job gets in the way of scrapbooking and blogging. I am finding the balance and that means coming back here and sharing my scrapbook rantings, ravings and reveals. So I just wanted to pop in today to share a Sketch Challenge layout. I just knew I needed to find the perfect layout inspiration to pair with the beautiful On Trend My Mind’s Eye Collection purchased from the Scraptastic online store. I decided to pair with a very fun Scraptastic Sketchy Thursday challenge designed by the incomparable Susan Stringfellow. So sit back and enjoy the reveal!

Sketch:

Layout:

This color combination of mint green and coral with pops of gold is sooo addictive and paired with an inspired sketch that allows me to showcase stamped and die cut florals was just a wrap for me. Hands down one of my favorite layouts and I had a bunch of fun making this layout. Thanks for looking and I promise, more to come. Celia!

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Title: Love This Life. Cardstock: American Crafts (Vellum); Bazzil (Desert Coral); Coredinations (Peach Fuzz, Forest Moss, Bundled Sage; Roasted Pepper, Pesto); Neenah Classic Crest (Solar White). Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye-On Trend (Sweet Scroll, Awesome, Party Confetti, Happy, 6×6 paper pad). Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Bitty Bouquets, Label Basics); Stampin Up (Flower Shop, Beautiful Bunch); Technique Tuesday-Ali Edwards (Weekly Review). Die Cut & Punches: Papertrey Ink (Bitty Bouquets, Label Basics, Leave it Be); Stampin Up (Pansy Punch, Petite Petals); EK Success (Embossed Curve, Flowers); Fiskars (Flower); Studio G (Flowers, Butterfly, Swirl). .Embellishments: Crate Paper- Craft Market (Puffy Stickers); Doodlebug Designs (Sprinkles-Tangerine); Freckled Fawn (Enamel Dew Drops); Basic Grey (Basics-Candy Buttons); Little B (Washi). Inks: Stampin Up (Certainly Celery, Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Evergreen Bough); Versamark, Simon Says Stamp (Embossing Powder-Ultrafine Gold).

 

Scrapbook Therapy- Typical Predictability

Thanks for joining me on the couch (or chair or bed basically where ever you read these ranting of this crazy scrap addict) for another Scrapbook Therapy session. Today we are talking predictability. Now, don’t act you don’t know what I am talking about. Holiday themed layouts tend to have the same Color Schemes: red, green, blue with either gold or silver thrown in (although hats off to Chickanddy Crafts Jolly Good Collection for throwing in a little orange) and Graphics: trees, ornaments, stars, snowflakes and the more recently added deer head.  Now, if the amount of Christmas collections that I purchase every year is any indication, I totally heart Christmas! Working my way through a December Daily album (that ummm sometimes does not get finished until January) and all the various festive Holiday layouts, I am always trying to find ways to make each layout fresh and unique- because the most important part of paper crafting is the creativity, right?  The predictability of the color scheme and graphics can either make for the typical predictable layout design that puts Mistress Creative in the blahs or it forces you to be on your S game (for scrapbookers- not an A game- it’s a Scissor Game).   SO how do you change it up- make the page visually interesting but also tell the story? I try to make each Holiday layout different and this time, I just went for Overkill! The story is about my first real White Christmas and so I went all out on the snowflakes. Now, snowflake overload could make the eyes hurt but if you go Tone on Tone overkill can work!  Tone on Tone is my favorite method for making an impact on a theme but keeping it visually pleasing.

The Layout: I threw in one of my signature layout moves of slanting the design so your eyes travel across the page. But check out those Tone on Tone snowflakes. I used three separate snowflake punches of various sizes and a MFT Die-Namic that makes great star confetti. I used the same cream paper for the base and snowflakes and stars. To distinguish the diecuts from the background paper, I spritzed them with Mr. Huey’s Shine so you get a little sparkle and frost.

 

Hoping this little scrapbook therapy session was as good for you as it was for me! Thanks for stopping by. More to come. Celia

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Title: Dreaming. Cardstock: American Crafts (Crimson). Patterned Paper: Echo Park Paper- Christmas Cheer (3×4 Journaling Cards, Green/Cream, Christmas Phrases, Christmas Countdown, 6×6 paper pad). Die Cut & Punches: Lawn Fawn (Stitched Snowflakes, Stitched Scalloped Borders); Martha Stewart Crafts (Glacial Snowflake); Recollections (Snowflake); Studio G (Snowflake, Christmas Tree); My Favorite Things Die-Namics (Peek a Boo Stars).Embellishments: Echo Park Paper- Christmas Cheer (Decorative Brads, Element Stickers, Alpha Stickers); Misc. (Enamel Dots). Inks: Studio Calico (Mister Huey’s Shine).