Timeless and Camping Adventures

My favorite designers each have new kits out this week. Danyale released "Timeless" on Thursday (which I guess I still technically today), and Isabel released "Camping Adventures" on Monday. I had a lot of fun playing with each, for completely different reasons!

First, with Isabel's fun camping kit:

Fam Camp and @ Night
created with Camping Adventures by Crisdam Designs

I had fun remembering this particular camping trip with our good friends.  We went a couple times together, once we even got to see the Thunderbirds practicing for graduation at the Academy!  On the trip these pictures were taken, we discovered that cheap Croc knock-offs were not good camping shoes.  While walking down to the stream near our campsite, Maggie managed to step on every cactus growing, and the spines went straight through the soles of those foam shoes.  :(

I also used one of Isabel's kits to make this page from our recent trip to Idaho.  We had so much fun visiting with old friends and spending time with family.  I actually rode a mountain bike. On a mountain. I may have to scrap that one in the future, because there is photographic evidence!  But in the meantime, I made this sweet page of my son and sister-in-law.

Bubbles
created with Project April by Crisdam Designs
Kit, Alphas, and Bits & Pieces
Template by Mye de Leon

I'm pretty sure I could find a similar pic of my daughter and SIL if I looked through my collection.  She's such a great aunt.  The kids love to play with her.

I have been drooling over Danyale's new release from the moment she started posting previews in the team forum.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one!  The colors are absolutely gorgeous, and I love the large scale paisley patterns.

All Dolled Up
created with Timeless by Etc by Danyale
Kit, Frame Walls, Wedding Add-on

I love the candid photos I've seen online of weddings and events that include these frame walls that I had to mimic the looks with my page. Mmmm....and that chandelier, LOVE it!!

I also took some time to be hybrid with this kit.  Well, I guess I really didn't go fully hybrid (on this project anyway), but I printed out a card with some of the other pieces of the kit and add-on. I have a wedding coming up that I might just use this card for -- unless I hit another creative streak!

Congratulations Card
created with Timeless by Etc by Danyale
Kit, Wedding Add-on (see photo above for links)

In the next couple days I'll be back to show off the other hybrid creation I made. This one was as a gift for a friend who is moving away. It makes me sad that she is moving, but I'm excited she is able to move closer to family.

Until then, Happy Scrapping!

Play Ball - Make a Wish - and Power Scrapping

I just finished up another class (and signed up for a few more...but that's a whole other story) at Big Picture Classes called Power Scrapping - Digi-Style. Over the course of the 4 week class, Katie Nelson shared her techniques for "power scrapping," or batch scrapping. I can't say I will be using the whole work flow she taught, but I did pull a few things that I might implement in my scrap-flow. This is one of the pages I created as a result of the class. I love the look of joy on John's face in the lefthand picture, as he knows Stella is close on his heels.

Play Ball
All Supplies by Crisdam Designs
Make A Wish Kit
Project 2011 Alphas
Stitch It Up Vol 2

I have a few other pages from this class as well, and a few in progress that I haven't found the perfect touch for. (Yes, I know the ideas are supposed to make scrapping faster, but I think I've gotten so used to scrapping for CT requirements that I am actually faster if I start with the kit and find pictures to fit, rather than starting with the pictures and finding a kit to match.) Call me crazy. Go ahead. I do it all the time!

This one uses some of my favorite new pictures of John. I'm sure I'll make other pages with these pictures because I love them so much.  And I made it a two pager...I don't do those often, but these seemed to fit together well (and large!). 

I've already posted this page on the blog, but it was also inspired by the workflow from this class.

For credits, see original post here.

And this page is still a work in progress.  I am not sure I like the premade cluster, and may go back to make my own title cluster.

Remember This Moment
Everyday Life Collab Kit from The Daily Digi

And now, I have some new kits to play with and dream about! Can't wait to show off what's coming up from Etc by Danyale in the next couple weeks...there is some fabulous design work to show off!

Crazy things are wrapping up at Gotta Pixel.  It was Gotta Grab It weekend, which means the designers all used the same color palette to whip up some delicious coordinating paper and elements packs. Isabel and Danyale both came up with some gorgeousness to play with, and they are on sale for a few more hours only!

Here are some pages I made with these packs:

Sweet Dreams
All supplies by Etc by Danyale
Summer Sherbert Paper Pack
Summer Sherbert Gumball Alpha

 I kept this page simple because I loved this picture. She has just a touch of a smile, though I don't know what she is thinking of. I have a hard time getting pictures of her where she is looking happy, let alone showing a bit of a smile, so this is a nice one for me. I love the sweetness of the alpha, and that gumball machine was too cute not to use!

Easter Haul
All supplies by Crisdam Designs
Project June Paper Pack
Project June Element Pack

 I had been meaning to scrap with these pictures I took at Easter this year, and these colors were a perfect match for the candy-hued (and filled) baskets that arrived on Easter morning. Journaling reads: The Easter Bunny brought a whole lot of fun Spring toys this year. Maggie got a garden themed basket, with gardening tools and a strawberry plant, in addition to candy and an iTunes gift card. John got a car track, and a summer outfit. You two got quite a haul!

When You Were 1
Layout inspired by Week 24 Challenge at Log Your Memory
Kit: You Make Me Happy by Nikki Epperson
Alpha: Time 4 Presents (recolored) by Etc by Danyale

This challenge was to compare the people in my life. It is super easy to compare these two sweeties, as there are so many things that are opposites! I listed some of the things I remember Maggie doing when she was one, and compared (or contrasted) the same things with John. These are two of my favorite pictures of each of them at about a year old. I can't believe how fast time flies!  Just this week, John has had his first visit to a swimming pool, and Maggie has shown her grandma how to use an iPad. A lot has changed in such a short time!

Blog hop at Foosa Moon Creations!

As part of the Art of Digital Designs class at jessicasprague.com, the students put together a collaboration to raise money for earthquake relief in Japan. This kit is being celebrated by a blog hop, and my portion is over at my new blog: http://www.foosamoon.blogspot.com




All the details are there...check it out!

Crisdam Designs

Yes, it may have been a quite six weeks on the ol' blog, but it was a busy time at home and in Photoshop. I was inspired by Crisdam Designs' kits to make these pages:

Books: An Interview with Myself

Project February Kit

Project February Bits & Pieces

Project February Cardstock

Project February Alphas

 This one came together pretty quickly, and was inspired by a challenge from the logbook from Log Your Memory. It was also noticed by the ladies at the Gallery Standouts blog, which blew me away. I don't know. I expect to see my pages on the designer's blogs, but when they are noticed elsewhere it gives me warm fuzzies.

Not A Puppy
Fluffy Kit

 I'll be honest. I have been waiting for this kit to be featured on Pixel Tuesdays pretty much since I started on Isabel's team. I have several other sets of pictures with John inside Stella's crate, and was just waiting for the chance to use this kit to show some of them off. I could easily make a righthand page to coordinate with all the photos I have!

Mama
Mom's Kitchen Kit

 This page was also inspired by a Log Your Memory challenge, to describe myself with one word. I took Isabel's retro kitchen kit, Mom's Kitchen, and made a very non-kitchen page with it. I think it is an important story to tell, and was reminded once again why I love this hobby so much, because these are the things I want to remember to share with my kids. Without my scrapbooks and the chance to record the memories as they come to me, I wouldn't remember the details (or the story at all, 'cuz let's face it, my memory is faulty!).

Waiting for Spring

Project May Kit

Project May Alphas

Project May Shabby Papers

 I love the look on John's face in this photo and the title says it all. Well, actually, if we could see through the window, he's watching Maggie and the dog play in the backyard...but he couldn't play because it was too cold.  So sure, he's waiting for Spring. Making the photo B&W against all that bright color really reinforced the longing to me. (And the color of his shirt just wasn't working.) These are my favorite colors, and I think the Project May kit is my favorite so far of the Project 2011 series.

Spring Ride
Spring Dream Kit
Spring Dream Alphas

Yes, the date on the photos is February, but it felt like a Spring Day. The weather has been so strange here this year that I could have a page called Winter Delight and the photos could be from May. But I had to take the chance to photograph Maggie doing what she loves, riding her bike, especially after a long winter without riding.

I *think* that catches me up on pages. I'm sure I'll find something missing in the coming days, but you get the idea of what went on creatively over the last 6 weeks.

I'll have a new post up later today directing you to my new side-blog-project-adventure-whoknowswhat. I took Jessica Sprague's Art of Digital Design class this Spring (also part of why I neglected my blog so badly), and some of my classmates put together a collab kit to raise money for the earthquake relief in Japan. Since we are all new designers, it took a little time to get the ball rolling and get pieces made (as evidenced by the fact that I didn't even have time to put anything together for it!), but it is now available in the store at jessicapsrague.com. There will be a blog hop starting tonight, and while I didn't contribute to the kit, I did get to make a quickpage from the pieces that were submitted. I will be hosting my portion of the hop at my new blog: www.foosamoon.blogspot.com. There is already some teaser information over there if you want to check it out.

As always, happy scrapping!

Etc by Danyale

So catching up on a month of layouts might take a while, but if I chunk it the task will happen much faster. After yesterday's smattering of favorite layouts, I thought I'd finish up a review of the month's pages by designer, since most of my pages are created for CT requirements (though I tweak my CT requirements to fit my personal scrapping needs!).

From Etc by Danyale products last month I also made these pages:

All Smiles
Almost Neutral Grab Bag

 I made this page up with Danyale's neutral grab bag for iNSD. I wanted to use as much of the pack as I could, and thought the pops of orange in John's shirt was a perfect compliment for all the neutral papers and ellies. I had a lot of fun using the paper swirls, and made my own mask to mat the detail work.

Currently 16 Months
My Little Guy Kit
My Little Guy Word Art

 This list of things John does right now was compiled spur of the moment.  They are all things that were on my mind at the time I was putting the page together. He is growing so fast, I can't believe it!

Cap'n Moo
Sugar Sands Beach Kit
Sugar Sands Beach Word Art
Sugar Sands Beach Wood Paper

 This picture of Maggie driving a 70' sailboat from a few years back is one of my favorites. She was so excited to get to drive the boat...and then when the captain stepped away from the wheel she was even more thrilled!  I thought of this photo immediately when I saw those great sailboats, and then rest of the page fell into place from there.

The Story of a Bicycle
Sugar Sands Beach Kit

 This was another page that came together when I saw a piece of the kit. The bicycle paper (which I blended with the sunburst paper) made me think of this photo I had taken of my mom's old bike, which now sits in her backyard. Keeping the embellishments simple keeps the focus on the bike and the story.  I haven't shown this too her yet, and hope this doesn't spoil the surprise! I had intended to print and frame it for their anniversary...but I missed it.

Summer Fun
Summer Fun Quilted Paper Pack
Summer Fun Words Pack
Summer Fun Quilted Alpha Pack

This was just a fun page inspired by the colors in the paper pack. I used the quilted paper as if it was a quick page background and just added a few other pieces from the collection to finish off the page. A really quick example of what can be done when pieces come prepped like this.

Coming tomorrow, I'll catch up on my pages from products by Crisdam Designs, which should also catch me up on Log Your Memory Challenges too.  Tomorrow night, I'll be participating in a blog hop with a kit from JessicaSprague. So lots to look forward to in the next couple days! Happy scrapping. :)

Back from the Dead, it seems

That second half of April, and all of May, really tried to kill me. Finishing up the school year is always stressful, and this year I added getting sick to my list of things to do during the last month. As a result of the magical combination of stressors, my poor blog was completely neglected.  I'm sorry, Blog. :(

But I was scrapping during my silence here, so I'll share a few of the pages I made and we can forget the giant black hole of posts that might have happened in May.

Follow Me

All supplies by Crisdam Designs

Project May Kit

Project May Alphas

Project May Bits & Pieces

 I'm taking a class at Big Picture Classes right now called "Power Scrapping Digi-Style" taught by Katie Nelson, and Follow Me was inspired by the process Katie is teaching. I had already decided I wanted these photos on one page, and when I saw this template, the rest just fell into place.  I love the Project May kit, and have another layout I'll post with it later, but when I used it on this page, I only used the green, yellow, and black pieces, to compliment the photo. What I left out are the gorgeous teal and purpley pieces that are actually my favorites.  To me, this looks like a completely different kit without those pieces. But I love this page. We were on our way to the park, and it struck me how Maggie has adjusted to being a big sister.  She is such a big help to me and her little brother absolutely adores her.

Grow
Old Garden by Etc by Danyale

I took this picture while practicing for Portraiture 101 at Jessicasprague.com (um, yeah, I like to take a lot of classes).  I didn't quite get the lighting the way I was supposed to for the assignment, but I loved the moody look it gave to the photo.  I don't get many pictures of Maggie with pleasant looks on her face, as we are entering the moody-preteen phase faster than I could have imagined, but I liked the softness here. She was actually pretty excited to get to model for me.  I wanted the photo to have center stage on this page, so kept the embellishments pretty simple. This kit had the perfect colors for the photo, and I acutally blended a paper into my photo, erasing it from only her face (so she didn't look like her skin was peeling), which gave the wall behind her some great texture. I was super excited to open my email the day after I posted this page to find it had been chosen as layout of the day at Gotta Pixel.  Yep...super excited.

So Fast
My Everday Kit by Mye de Leon

 These are photos from that same shoot, and I actually put this page together before Grow. I used a template from Mye de Leon as part of Gotta Pixel's iNSD celebration that lasted through the month of May. The journaling refers to a similar topic as Grow, only it is more of me talking about how fast she is growing up. I don't know where the last 9 years have gone!

Sick Day

All supplies by Crisdam Designs

Sick Day Paper Pack

Sick Day Elements

Sick Day Bits & Pieces

I made this page shortly after having to take three days off of school due to a missing voice and yucky cough. It was perfect timing, since Isabel released this only days after that whole episode happened. I had to keep it photoless, because let's face it, there are few photos of me anyway...I'm not taking one when I feel like crud.

Now that everyone in the house is healthy, and school is out... Bring on the scrapping!