Can I tell you how much that I have missed sharing my scrapbooking pages with you all? Because I totally have. There’s just nothing like getting to share what you love with others, now is there.
This week I got to work with products from several different Sweet Shoppe designers, and best of all – with their 2014 Mystery Grab Bag, a promotion that the store hasn’t done in several years!
Like most people who do creative things (is there anyway to not make that opening sound pretentious…?) Pinterest has become my go-to destination to look for a little inspiration. I mean, hello, isn’t that what the site is for? Actually, I have no idea what the site’s real primary function is – that’s just what I use it for.
I’ve been done with February’s pages for weeks, but just never got around to blogging them. Actually, I’m almost done with March’s now too!
For February, like January, I used Traci Reed’s Pocket Life collection to make my pages. I also use her Stitched Grids and Libby Pritchett’s 2014 Calendar 3x4 card templates to create the calendar cards for each month.
Oh, the 2013 Project Life tab at the top of the blog has been replaced with one for this year. If you want to look through my pages for last year there is an icon on the side of the blog that says “2013 Project Life Pages” it takes you to the same place the old tab did.
Now… for the pages!
So I am going to tentatively try this idea out. I’ve attempted similar things, mainly in providing templates and offering prizes, without much success. Which makes me wonder why I would even think this would work… especially since I don’t plan on offering any sort of prize. But hey, who knows? Maybe this time you’ll all bite.
Each month I’ll offer a sketch version of one of my more popular recent pages for you to use as inspiration. I will also make a new page – but more than just that, I’ll do a video of me making it (sort of like I did on this post). If there’s ever a particular page of mine that you would like me to do just let me know in the comments, or email me.
The sketch (you can click on it to get the full 12x12 version to save):
And I will try to get my page and video up before next Sunday!
The inspiration page is my layout “Swee Sie” made with goodies by Jenn Barrette from Sweet Shoppe Designs.
I was going to blog yesterday, but instead I spent a good chunk of my morning doing this instead:
I am, like, so totally and completely in love with that. In case you can’t tell, it’s Zach. I did it based on a current favorite picture that I have of him. Only in the picture he has an awesome mustache as well. You can see it at the bottom of the post. But no, in love. I keep coming back and staring at it. It captures him so well. And he loves, loves, loves it too. As I was drawing it he would offer the occasional bit of advice, and he was tickled that I remembered to add his curl between his eyes (he trained it to lay that way). His only request was that I please NOT make him look girly, what with the freckles and the hair and the lashes. He said his lips (which are really light and thin) made it look girly, so I left those off, but kept the lines I did for the boy’s super dry lips.
I did all of that to make this:
And that I made for the March 2nd Think Outside the Box challenge at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I used Studio Basic’s Go To Elements: Art Journal #3 and Beyond Basics Paper Pack #1 digital scrapbooking packs to create the page. I did the drawing, the hair coloring, and the writing all with my tablet and in Art Rage.
And here is the drawing with the original photo.
he dreams.
and there he lay;
his head softly pillowed,
his mind off on adventures.
his dreams taking him off
to lands so far away.
he sleeps and he dreams.
he dreams and he flies.
he dreams
and he builds worlds
and futures
so bright.
he dreams.
(digital scrapbooking supplies from Sweet Shoppe Designs)
I am planning to get this blog back on its regularly scheduled program. So here’s to hoping. And first thing first, lets start back with a new edition of the New Releases that I got to work with this week.
I have several things to get done today – including a few more scrapbook pages, some laundry, and countless knitting and crocheting projects that need to get done as they are Christmas presents. Instead of my usual break down of each product, I’ll just link the product to where you can buy it, and then show you my pages with them.
How ironic. I take time off from the blog to relax and give some thought into reorganizing it and planning more for it and what is the first thing I do in my return… a post that doesn’t go with the calendar I mapped out. (Yesterday’s Edit like this…. doesn’t count since it was planned a bit back and scheduled.) Of course, you the reader, don’t know the new schedule of posts, so I’m just ratting myself out, but I just thought it was a funny tidbit to share.
I’m part of a digital Project Life group on Facebook and a question was asked about how to create Project Life pages that had a strong art journal feel, but were still noticeably Project Life. The question was asked with this page linked as an example: mumkaa_’s Project Life::week11 on Flickr. Now, I don’t necessarily consider myself to be an expert on Project Life or art journal pages, but I am really good with messy pages. If you’ve ever seen my Project Life spreads you’re probably aware that they are very simple with more of a focus on photos and journaling and color, the pages generally don’t have a ton of extra stuff on them. However, if you’ve ever followed my regular scrapbooking pages you would know that messy pages and I go way back.
This week I got so many pages done. Seriously. The image shows seven but… I got NINE done, and that’s not counting the five weeks of Project Life pages I did. But honestly there were so many amazing products to work this week that it was so easy to get swept away and lose so much time in Photoshop. Make sure you stop by Sweet Shoppe and check out this week’s new releases to see the ones that I didn’t get around to using.
Sweet Shoppe has a whole ton of awesome new releases this week! But here are some looks at the three products that I worked with this week by Sugarplum Paperie, Mari Koegelenberg, Lauren Grier, Studio Basic, and Darcy Baldwin.
I know, I promised it like a week ago, but then, you know, life happened. It just has the habit of doing that you know.
Anyway, enjoy!
When it comes to scrapbooking I spend a lot of time and thought on my shadows. It gets kind of weird obsess-y. Anyway… I spend a lot of time on them. I want them to look as near perfect as I can get them. Mind you, they aren’t perfect, but, if I may so, they are pretty dang good. Converting my layouts to web size I think sometimes takes all that hard work that I did, and it kind of tones it down.
I decided, earlier today, to participate in one of my first challenges at Two Peas in a Bucket – mind you – Two Peas is a primarily paper store and gallery. I am not a paper scrapbooker. BUT. My goal is to make my digital pages look as realistic as possible. So, it seemed like a good idea.
My page for their 213 in 2013: Me - May 8:
(for a full credit list see here: http://scrapstacks.com/scrap/66408)
Project Life is this scrapbooking thing that’s been going on for several years now. I can’t be positive, but I think maybe it was started by Becky Higgens and made super popular over the past few years by Ali Edwards. But please, don’t quote me on that or bash me if I’m wrong. (I recommend checking out the Becky link to find out more information on it.)
For the first time in forever I actually got to buy some things! Yay!! I think I had more fun just going through the stores and thinking “Ohh… isn’t that cute! I could get that, should I get that? But, oh! Look at this one!” And even though I hadn’t set myself a limit – NOT that unlimited was an option – I still was extremely strict with myself on not only how much I could spend, but also would I actually use what I bought.
Here’s what I got:
plus this alpha set: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Whoop-de-doo-Alpha-Brushes.html
I didn’t get a ton of pages done, but I did get five pages done, these being my favorite three of them:
Now that iNSD is over I can get back to the rest of my life and blog about more exciting things… like poopy diapers.
Don’t forget to grab my free gifts while you can, and be sure to enter for the Michelle Godin gift certificate!
Like this post? Well, make sure that you go and vote for us on Top Mommy Blogs!
I wanna get my scrap and fun time on so all I have for you is a little gift.
--->DOWNLOAD THEM HERE<---
And get this set on the Free Gift tab on the blog’s Facebook page.
Last, don’t forget about the template challenge going on here on the blog.
I hope all you scrapbookers are enjoying interNational Scrapbooking Day! I plan to have some major fun and scrapping time! See you all Monday!
Going to type as fast as I can to get this post done as fast as I can to get my free blog and Facebook gifts done in time for tomorrow!
(Of course Mason coming to get in my lap as soon as I typed that is not speeding things up at all. The turd.)
I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but I spend weekends like iNSD scrapping, scrapping, scrapping to try to win, win, win since I’m always broke. And if you’re anything like me, at some point during the weekend your creativity is going to go kuhplooey. To help you out I have a little template challenge for you!
But if just a template isn’t enough (which it should be…) I’m giving you a little prize that’s going to go to a random commenter that links up their page made with the template… a gift certificate to MICHELLE GODIN’S STORE @ THE LILYPAD.
--->DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATE<---
For extra chances to win, link up where you have shared this post, but you must link up your layout with the template for your extra entries to count.
Pages must be linked to this post BEFORE Wednesday, May 8th to count!
Don’t forget to stop by and pick up the two free iNSD template sets while you can! The links will be going away on Friday, May 10th!
Like this post? Well, make sure that you go and vote for us on Top Mommy Blogs!
Like cancer. Children starving in Africa. Inspirational kitty posters.
But having a desire to make scrapbook pages, but not liking them, that just sucks. I mean what kind of cruelness brings that? It’s one thing to lose you mojo – your want or inspiration. To just stare blindly at Photoshop (or actual paper if you swing that way) and think “Dang, I got nothing.” But, to have an idea, a page setup that you can see in your mind from start to finish, then to get half way into it and just stop, look at it, and go “eh… no,” who allows that?! Everything lately I feel like I just have to finish because I started the page. Generally, in the past, if I don’t like a direction a page is going in I just plow on and keep removing and adding things, and in the end I look at the page and think “Way to go, you showed that page who the boss is.”
Now, nope. My pages are looking me in the face and going “B****, please.” They’re lacking that spark, that little bit of me that takes a messy page from just mess to art. It’s been like this for about a week now.
I thought I had the problem in hand. When I first brought up the issue (after refusing to own up to it for several days) I later went on to create two pages that I really liked. Loved even. Speed scraps and time limits (like say getting a page done in time to still have time to get the speed scrap page done on time) always work well for me.
But here I sit once again, the victim in this senseless crime. The freaking week before International Scrapbooking Day and I got NOTHING. I’m told to step away, take a break, take pictures, use templates, and such; but how can I do that when I am so full of all of these ideas? *sigh* The unfairness of this all is killing me.
Now I guess I’ll just have to get back to working on my gift for the blog on iNSD.
Like this post? Well, make sure that you go and vote for us on Top Mommy Blogs!
Here is the page I made to go along with the April Scrap-A-Long.
Credits: Life is Beautiful by Traci Reed and Zoe Pearn, Lost in Reverie by Traci Reed and Studio Basic, Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Julie Billingsley and Jady Day Studio, Messy Machine Stitches Alpha by Emily Merritt, and The Hannah by Heather Joyce
(like the post and blog? well, take a moment to click the banner below! you can vote once a day)
I figured that I’d have a little fun and we could all do a little scrap-a-long. It’s basically just a recipe type challenge, or well, a speed scrap – only you have until the end of the month instead of 2 hours. Everyone who links up there page that they create will get a brush set that is inspired by the brush work that I created for this page and this page. Products, store, designer are non-specific. The only rules are follow along to the directions and link you page here before May 1st.
Your page may contain only, and must have:
I hope to see some people play along! I can’t wait to see your pages.
(list font is DJB Bailey by Darcy Baldwin)
