It Hurts... Photographing and Scrapbooking Unhappy Events

How do you photograph a situation that you really don't want to? Photograph a beautiful detail. One small, probably insignificant element that can sum up the entire story without oversharing. I really feel that this photo, with the journaling does just that. Papers and elements are from my October Shop Your Stash kit.

I altered the PageMaps November 2014 sketch HERE and changed up a few things. I really wanted to focus on the one photograph, print the journaling with my Silhouette, and then really play with a few Silhouette cuts.

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Randall Hall... (How I Miss Thee)

September and October always remind me of going back to school. I know this sounds funny since I actually am a teacher, but I don't mean September 1st "going back to school"... I mean college. Leaving when the leaves are just starting to turn as you cross Snoqualmie Pass on your way to Central Washington University (GO WILDCATS!).

This last summer, we took the kiddos on a trip to Ellensburg and as I always do... I walked through Randall Hall just to reminisce. Room 117 was the room that I took most of my Art History courses in, and the top story includes the painting studios that I spent much of my time in college. It still smelled the same: a mix of oil paint, Gamsol and linseed oil. Seriously, some of my happiest memories are wrapped up in those smells. Hint, hint Scentsy!

Anyway... For this lovely layout, I had some inspiration, but I cannot figure out where from. Maybe the PageMaps 2 book? I'd totally give credit, but cannot for the life of me remember. I guess that's what I get for blogging something I made in August... Sigh. At least the My Mind's Eye Market Street papers are sure pretty... And I had to use some Heidi Swapp Gold Lame spray and random sequins. Pin It

Scrapping Along with My Scrappy Sisters (From Afar)...

Last weekend was a little rough for me as I had a ton of scrappy friends all congregate at the fabulous ScrapbookSteals Mad Scrapper Retreat. This year, I had a perfect storm of personal and work obligations that just made it really difficult to sneak away and play with all of them. There's always next year, and I know that it will be even bigger and better than before! If you haven't checked them out, make sure that you do.

Anyway, since I couldn't join my crafty pals... I figured I would at least pretend. I grabbed my little girls, let them play upstairs with me, and crafted the day away. I found myself drawn to a really vertical aesthetic, and just played with my September Homemade "Counterfeit" Kit which I'm now going to rename "Shop Your Stash Kits". The reality is, I don't want to step on anyone's toes and call them something that has already been taken. Totally proactive, I swear.

This layout used a lot of inspiration from Audrey Yeager's version of this PageMaps sketch.

For my second layout, I started with using some Golden Light Molding Paste with a Silhouette Online Studio cut. Once that was dry, I took a couple of inks that I had, and blended them together to add some color onto the dried paste. I didn't want all of the white to go away, so made sure that a little still showed. Then layered on a photo and a few embellishments. The veneer butterfly was inked to match the enamel dots.

The last of the three was really fun. The Sassafras Lass paper that I used is one of my favorites, and I'm glad that I finally used it. To be honest, I think I've had it in my stash now for over five years. That's a long time to not use something pretty.

I used one of the September PageMaps sketch for this one, and really liked it. I moved up the bottom border to better frame the photograph.

These last two were created sometime in September, but I wanted to finish sharing my wonderful September projects that were created using my September Homemade "Counterfeit" Kit. I really loved the yellow and all of the bright colors in this layout. I didn't want to make a matchy-matchy pink layout just because both of the girls were wearing pink. I did love the small pops of blue in Miss I's shirt, and the yellow in Ro's, so wanted to highlight those colors. I love using my Silhouette to make die cut shapes from small remnants of my favorite papers, so used the last of some Crate Paper to make this ampersand.

This last piece really didn't have a story... Just a sweet, lazy dog. I wanted to keep the colors fairly muted, so grabbed a couple of light patterns and created a large background cut. The original layout of the cut is pretty vertical, so I squared it out to mimic my photograph and paper. I couldn't resist adding a couple of Lawn Fawn stamps to the mix however.

Hope you enjoy the works of September! I already have my October Homemade "Counterfeit" Kit created... Hopefully I will share this with you tomorrow! Pin It

Using my August "Faux-Kit"...

I've been making some fun stuff lately. It's almost a relief "shopping" my stash sometimes. I like seeing things leave my studio, without the receipts entering it. Here are my first three layouts using my "kit", and I'm sure that I'll have a handful of cards to finish it off. 

This first layout was pretty fun. I loved these two pic, but hadn't found the right papers or anything to use with them. I really loved pulling the pinks together with the blues, as it complemented the photos well. I also really loved this Gossamer Blue pie chart from the July 2014 Life Pages kit. Sadly, it's the only thing I've used from that month so far... The paper edge is a Silhouette cut, and the banner was just hand cut. To be honest however, the back of that pie chart is a hot mess. Thankfully you cannot see it. I totally broke out my Xyron 9" Creative Station on it though. Seriously, those intricate die cuts are killer to try to glue down all the little bits... This way, it's glued in one pass. Simple.

This layout was inspired by one of the PageMaps sketches from the August 2014 set that worked with Scrapbook Circle DT. I really loved the pie chart shape, and had to include it! I have to admit however, this layout kicked my butt. I had to put it aside and come back later to complete it. I added the title die cut and stitching the next morning. I think it came out okay in the end.

The next layout used quite a bit of the patterned papers from Authentique, My Mind's Eye, Stampin' Up and a little bit of the leftovers of that Crate Paper woodgrain. I will seriously use every last scrap of that stuff! I also used my DIY Simple Stories envelope to place a die cut with hidden journaling. And, if you want the recipe to the most amazing (gluten free) chocolate molten lava cake... It's here. You can thank me later!

I used the ScrapbookSteals Mid-Week-Mojo Pansy 4 Sketch by Brenda Smith. Brenda always does amazing work. I'm always in awe of all of the fun details she uses in her work.

Sometimes you have that one picture that doesn't go with anything else... This pic was just that. I had previously gotten my hair bayalage'd by my lovely hair stylist who works at The Parlor. This place is adorable. Like, all industrial and woodgrain and aqua. LOVE! I really wanted to "highlight" the highlights, so the woodgrain follows the streaks in my hair, along with the streaks in the sky Sass paper, and the dark cloud chipboard pieces. And those chipboard buggers, pull out your Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker on those bad boys and BAM! Done. I'm a much lazier scrapper than I appear, I promise.

I used the ScrapbookSteals Mid-Week-Mojo Pansy 5a Sketch by Brenda Smith.

Hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my latest creations. I swear I will be caught up with the Pansy Series before #10.

If you want more details on the specific papers and embellishements I used, I listed them all out on the previous post. Thanks!

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