Life

So I am work all by myself for an entire week as all of my co-workers have left me for their respective cottages. It is very busy trying to wear all the hats that we normally share and I have resorted to self-medicating with dark chocolate M&M's!!

In the meantime, I am also really missing my niece, Sarah, who stayed with us last week. It was soooo much fun to have a teenage girl around! As I am normally the only female in the house it was great to have some serious girl time for a change. It was also interesting to note all the paraphernalia that accompanies a young girl! She had a huge suitcase full of clothes (and, yes, she changed at least a couple of times a day) and all of the cosmetics & toiletries... let's just say if she lived with us she would need her own bathroom! lol

I really wanted to do a photo shoot with her and finally on Friday we had the chance. Here are a couple of the photos that I took...

Such a beautiful young girl! I am sure you will be seeing some of these photos on my scrapbook pages in the near future. Until then, M&M's anyone?

ATC from CHA

While I was at CHA I had the opportunity to make a little Artist Trading Card in the Prima booth. We started with a canvas tag that we 'painted' with the fabulous Gelatos from Faber-Castell! That product is soooo much fun and you will be seeing it in the near future at Two Scrapbook Friends!

Then I added bits and pieces of paper, ribbon, buttons, gems, etc. and I did some stamping on the background as well. Then I added a paper mat that I used a border punch on. I sanded the edges to give it a really distressed look.

It was so much fun to work with the Gelatos and to create something so pretty! Thanks for looking ~

Little Red Wagon #143

It's Wednesday! And Wednesday means another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon :)

This week Rosanne has challenged us to use chevrons on our project. Chevrons are everywhere and I have used them on many of my cards and layouts. It is always fun to try something different though, so this time I created my own chevrons using pattern paper. I used a simple score and cut technique that worked out really well!

I kept my card really simple so the chevron pattern would take center stage.

In addition to the chevrons, I added a simple sentiment and that was it! (I have to admit though, that every time I look at my card I think of Charlie Brown's shirt! lol)

If you love chevrons, then you have to check out all the great creations at Little Red Wagon. See you there!

CHA, CHA, CHA!

So I just returned yesterday from the Craft & Hobby Association Summer Show in Chicago and it was amazing!

Going from booth to booth, I always feel like a kid in a candy store! There are just so many great products that are so pretty to look at and I totally loved all the layouts and altered items that the manufacturers displayed. It was truly a feast for the eyes!

Here are just a few of the things that I saw and loved!

This is just a small sampling of the awesome displays that are in each of the booths! Now I can't wait for all the new products to arrive in our store!

Inspiration Elevator July 2012

You may recall from last month's challenge that the purpose of Inspiration Elevator is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.

This month our challenger was the very talented Audrey Yeager. Audrey noticed (as you may have too) that most of us are single 12 x 12 inch page designers. So Audrey has challenged us to go outside our comfort zone and create a double page layout! We have also invited a valued guest designer to join us this month; her name is Scarlett Salamone.

Here's a bit of what Audrey had to say about her challenge this month:

"I take a lot of photos. Right now, I have been using 2 or 3 smaller photos on my layouts. But truth is, I have a lot of events where I would like to include a lot of photos on a larger spread so that you can see the details in the photos too. So I print out the photos with the intention of putting them on a 2-page spread. And they start to pile up, simply because…..I hate doing 2-pagers. I just can’t get it. I feel like I have a certain style, yet when I sit down to create a 2 pager, it feels nothing like “me”.

I have decided that the only way to overcome this is to practice making 2 pagers. I have to remember what techniques I love and how I would layout my photos if I were doing a single page LO. I have to say that I am starting to feel a bit more comfortable, but double pagers still are a challenge.

SOOOO, your next challenge is to create a double page layout. And I don’t mean just any double page. I want you to really think about your style and your design practices for single pagers (the first assignment helped us define our style, so think about those elements). Then take those ideas and try to apply them to a double pager."

This was an awesome challenge! I always used to do double-page layouts, but then I totally became a single-page scrapbooker over the past couple of years. The single-page canvas is small enough that I can take just one or two photos, use my favorite techniques and work with a few fun embellishments to create a design. For me to develop a double-page layout now seems to take me totally out of my comfort zone! That is why I love Inspiration Elevator. It truly does make us stretch and grow as scrapbookers!

This is my double-page design:

My first thought was that I wanted to do something bright and colorful! With all the fabulous summer collections out now, I also knew I wanted to do something summer themed. I chose to work with MME's On The Sunny Side. It is such a cheery line!

I began by flicking some Mister Huey's Color Mists on my background cardstock. I kept it simple as I did not want the ink to take your eye away from the papers and photos, but just add a bit of interest to the background.

I also wanted my photos to be the main focus, so I kept the papers to a minimum.

I did want to create a banner cluster on my layout and I had fun doing a layered banner! I cut some of my own strips of paper and then added some die-cuts from the collection. I strung the banner on bakers twine and I added a clip for fun!

I originally had another photo on page one, but then I could not figure out where to put the title! So off came the picture and out came my alpha stickers. It was fun rooting through my bin looking for the right color and size of alphas. I enjoyed combining a couple of different fonts - one from Basic Grey and the smaller ones from Echo Park.

While I chose not to add journaling to my layout, I did add some banner tags with the names of my nieces and son on them. I used a fabulous font called Crushed - one of my favs! Then last, but not least, a bit of machine stitching was added to my pages ♥

Here's the list of my IE friends, who have been working all month to create gorgeous and inspiring designs. I do hope you'll pop by each of their blogs to see what they have created and perhaps take a moment to leave a comment for them.

Ann Jobes

Audrey Yeager

Cathy Harper

Christa Uttley

Joanne Burton

Laura Whitaker

Laurel Seabrook

Lisa Moen

Lisa Spiegel

Sue Sykes

Scarlett Salamone - July Guest Designer

If you would like to take on this month's challenge, please do so! Just leave a link in the comment section below and I will be sure to take a look :)

Little Red Wagon #141

It's Christmas in July! At least at Little Red Wagon it is! Judy has challenged us to create a Christmas card for this week's challenge.

I realized when I went to create my card that I am truly a seasonal scrapper. All of my summer themed items were close at hand, but I had to dig really deep into my wagon to find anything Christmas related. I finally found a very old package of papers and die cuts that I could use.

I embossed a piece of white cardstock for my background and then I kept it fairly simple.

Now I have one card for Christmas 2012 all set to go! Thanks for a great challenge Judy!

Head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the other Girlfriends have created. And be sure to join in the fun :)

Little Red Wagon #140 & Authentique Paper's Color Challenge

Our challenge this week at Little Red Wagon is brought to us by Tammy. She wants us to create something with a beach theme.

When I saw her challenge I immediately knew that I wanted to use Authentique's Fresh line. The red and teal colors are simply gorgeous and perfect for summer projects. One of the papers has the most amazing beach themed post cards on it and I knew it would be perfect for a card!

I cut out one of the post cards and matted it with cardstock. Then I layered it onto a couple of other papers from the collection.

I used a border punch to create an scallop across the bottom and I added some red twine that I tied into a bow.


I am also submitting this card for Authentique's Color Challenge on their blog.

I hope you will play along with the challenge at Little Red Wagon - we would love to see what you create :)