Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Meet Mickey!

Hey hey hey!

I'm bringing another layout with mostly Simple Stories today! I first used this brand with the Say Cheese line. And we all know that scrapping Disney is my favorite type of scrapping, so of course I love it! You can search Disney and probably 90% of my blog layouts about Disney use this collection!


I loved creating this page! I just combined a bunch of bits and pieces to make it interesting.


I had created this little Mickey banner in my Cricut projects the last time I scrapped a Disney album, and was glad it came in useful again.


I loved these little frames from the Say Cheese collection, but I don't typically print photos small enough to fit inside, so I used them to layer!


I seem to be into fussy cutting lately - I fussy cut these balloons, and used (almost) the last of my sticker sheet from this collection.


These washi sheets from the collection are super fun. I've been using them a ton, especially in my pocket pages. They were great for filling in small spaces on this page.


Mickye had quite a time keeping up with this moving baby, so Heath was trying to help out! haha! Photopass/Magic Memory maker is so perfect for those with small children because you can focus on the children's experience with the character and not trying to get them to look at a camera and take a photo simultaneously.

I also did some pocket pages with this collection from our first day in Epcot.


There was a funny story to go with the top, large photo, so I created a tab on a second pocket card, which is easy to remove and read the journaling.


We had so much fun traveling around the world in Epcot, so  had to document what we did in each location - like having dessert in Germany & buying light up ears in the UK!


The stamped card is a mix of stamps from Echo Park, Studio Calico & the Target dollar spot!

Here's the backside of this page, more around Epcot at Christmas!


Those little boys were so exhausted from our busy day, the fireworks couldn't even wake them!

I just love scrapbooking Disneyworld, and I have about 5 more days left from our Christmas trip, so I have to get my hands on the new Say Cheese 3 collection to finish me out!

Thanks for looking!

Monday, February 27, 2017

Simple Stories layouts!

Happy Monday, friends!

Today I'm bringing you part of a project I've been pouring my heart into - my submissions for the Simple Stories Design Team application.

I love Simple Stories brand - my favorite being the Say Cheese collection, of course. I completed an entire Disney album almost exclusively with this line. Unfortunately, our local craft stores do not carry much of any of the larger brands... but I recently found some of their Life in Color line & I love it.

Side Note:  I recently purged a ton of my scrapbook paper and stickers - some probably from about 10 to 15 years ago!? This and working with these products that all go together well and I love got me to seriously consider buying more of my supplies online. I'm definitely going to be more intentional in my crafty buying, instead of picking up just clearance that I end up never or only half-heartedly using!

So back to the matter at hand - my Life in Color layouts! I am pretty proud of them & the subjects couldn't be cuter, if I say so myself! ;-) I made them too - haha!


I wanted the striped background to show diagonally from behind. And boy did I have a fit with my sewing machine the day I did this page, but it's back in working order now! I had fun using it to create these little embellishment clusters. I fussy cut some flowers and circles, as well as used ephemera from the SN@P! pack. The yellow bits are pieces of embroidery thread tied around the cut file.


My little angel boy looked like he was giving a piece sign, so I used this great cut file from Paper Issues and altered it to a peace sign.


I am all about the puffy alphas lately! I especially love these green ones from Amy Tan I scored at Tuesday Morning recently.



I also created a corresponding pocket page because we took another round of photos one morning & they just cracked me up!


I am loving how the colors worked out so well with what they just happened to be wearing to school that day. I feel like this page is pretty clean & simple, and  had fun creating it. I really like the diagonal cards. I also like how the journaling card has a place to record the date, it was perfect to tell the story of their "Olan Mills" photo haha!

Supplies - basically almost all Simple Storys Life in Color!

Please say a little prayer for me as I perfect my application for submission today! It would be a dream come true to work with such an amazing company.

Stay tuned for some Disney pages tomorrow!

Thanks for looking!

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Wishmaker Extraordinaire! - a LM challenge

Happy Sunday, friends!

I can hardly believe we're starting the month of March this week! My friends over at Lasting Memories have a great month of birthday themed challenges headed your way.

This week's challenge is to use a fabulous sketch from the talented Laura Whitaker, and create a birthday themed layout with it.


Here's the original sketch:


My boys had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party last November, so that inspired my green color scheme.

I won this 6x6 paper pack - Crate Paper Party Day - a while back, and it was so perfect to include a bunch of different shades of green. 

I gessoed the page, and tinted my texture paste with some Heidi Swapp shine. I used my cricut to cut my shapes.


I picked up these Amy Tangerine little puffy letters at Tuesday Morning the other day & I adore them! I wish they had 10 more packs!

The Wishmaker word is Studio Calico rub-ons on vellum. I thought they helped tie in the corals, yellows and oranges well.


I added a fun piece of acetate paper over one of the photos because the green banners were too good to pass up on this page, and it helps break up how closely the photos resemble one another.


I had fun creating this page, but I wish this boy would stop growing! 

Supplies:

Gray cardstock - Craftsmith
Green texture paste - Heidi Swapp color shine
Green and white border paper - Becky Higgins
 Birthday circle and tag papers - Crate Paper party day
Rub on alphas & stickers - Studio Calico
Green alphas - Amy Tangerine
Perfect stick - Me and my Big Ideas



Thanks for looking & I hope you will join this week's challenge over at Lasting Memories!

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Pressed Penny - a Stick it Down sketch

Happy Saturday!

I just finished a page, and I wanted to get it logged before I miss the deadline, as that has unfortunately happened to me before!

I used a great sketch from Stick it Down, and I really love how it turned out.


My son & husband love to find a pressed penny machine wherever we go. I had these photos of them pressing a penny at the Chattanooga Aquarium last year, and thought it was a good idea to document their little tradition. The paper theme came from me wanting to use a copper metallic accent (pennies, get it?!), and these were some of the only options in my stash! I'm glad though, b/c the color scheme is perfect, especially since Heath has decided his favorite color is blue just like his Dad.

Here's the original sketch:


I like how the sketch has us to do the journaling around the circles!


I used some Stampin' Up PearlEx for the triangle, and I think it added the perfect amount of copper to finish off the page.


I love the background paper too, it says Father in many languages.


Supplies:
Blue and copper papers - Tags and More Stack from DCWV
Background paper, Vellum and copper round tags - Studio Calico
Blue purple and gray paper - the Paper Studio
Triangle Stamp - Heidi Swapp

Thanks for looking!

Thursday, February 23, 2017

How to Start Scrapbooking

I have created this informational blog post to help anyone who is interested in starting a scrapbooking hobby, but perhaps does not know where to begin. I've tried to address as many options as I could explore, but this post is not exhaustive. The beauty of scrapbooking is there is NO wrong way of doing it. So, this post may not be comprehensive, but I hope you find it informative. Feel free to comment with any all questions you may have, and I will try my best to have the answer.

Please note: There is an entire world of digital scrapbooking out there, of which I know nothing, so we won't address that here!



Do your homework

Since there is no wrong way to scrapbook, there are many options for scrapbooking. I suggest doing a bit of online research to find the best option for you before you begin.

Instagram is my go-to source for scrappy inspiration. There are so many amazing creations out there. You can use Instagram as a spring-board to discover amazing blogs or online communities to follow and learn more information.

Additionally, you can find great information on Pinterest, although it is likely that the original source may be a bit more difficult to track down.

Some hashtags I suggest searching include #scrapbook, #scrapbooking, #scrapbookpage, #memorykeeping, #documentlife #scrapbooklayout, #layout, etc.

While viewing these inspiration sources online, you can get a feel for the FORMAT and STYLE of scrapbooking you may want to try initially.

Pick a Project

With the ready availability of cameras, especially on our phones, it is likely you have *MANY* photos. The thought of printing them all and trying to decide what to do with them could easily be overwhelming. Scrapbooking should be FUN! The best option is to start small so as to not be overwhelmed.

Personally, I chronologically scrapbook our life in a yearly 12x12 album. I would not suggest that as a starting point for someone dipping their feet in the waters of scrapbooking, as it is an ongoing process in my life forevermore!

My suggestion for beginners is to pick a project for which you can envision a completion fairly soon. This could be a mini album of a particular event, a single month of project life, an album of one particular vacation - any project for which you have a finite amount of photos.

Completing a scrapbooking project can be immensely satisfying. After your first project, you will have a feel for things you enjoy doing and things you would rather not try again. You will know how you would like to continue on in the hobby.

Find your FORMAT of scrapbooking

For this topic, when I say format, I'm speaking of the type of album you plan to use. This will dictate your page choices.

Traditional Album

If you choose 12x12, you have the options of a D-Ring binder or a postbound scrapbook. There are pros and cons to each type.

If you plan to create double page spreads, the postbound albums allow essentially no space between the pages, so the double page spreads may flow together well. However, a D-ring binder does not prevent you from creating double page spreads!



The D-ring albums are VERY easy to rearrange your page protectors and add more pages. The postbound albums, in my experience, are pains in that department.

I also feel like I can fit more page protectors into a D-ring album than a postbound album without making the album cumbersome to carry and hold in your lap.


I used postbound albums in the past, and have changed to D-ring in the recent few years, so I may be partial - but check them out in a store and see which you prefer!

Similarly, you can also buy postbound or D-ring in 8.5x11 and 8x8 sizes. I have seen D-ring 6x8 and 9x12 sizes, but I do not know where you can find them in postbound form.

I suggest hitting up your local craft stores and comparing sizes. Envision a pound or two of paper within the covers, flipping through the album, and view papers in each size to see upon which size you prefer to create.

Alternative formats

Recently, the scrapbooking world has welcomed a new trend in the form of travelers notebooks. The original intention of this Japanese based trend was to have a hand-held notebook or set of notebooks temporarily bound within a leather cover to carry around for whatever purposes one sees fit. Many a scrapbooker has embraced this trend and turned the TN into a personal, mini album. This is a fun, and likely very quick format to complete.

Additionally, art journaling is a popular hobby. While this format may not be necessarily meant for scrapbooking, one could certainly add photos into an art journal as another type of mini album.

You can find small, bound paper albums or chipboard flip books in many hobby and craft stores. Basically anything in a book form could be transformed into a scrapbook if you try!

The planner trend is wild these days, and many people have incorporated their scrapbooking into planners. Heidi Swapp has a great example of this with her memory planner.

Determine your STYLE of scrapbooking

This is the most important determination when you begin scrapbooking, but just know that you can switch up your style, and put them all together (for the most part).

Traditional pages

A traditional scrapbooking page or layout would be considered a full page of paper which contains your photo & other papers or embellishments. This is the way scrapbooking began (at least in the current, modern sense of the word), and is possibly the most common type, although the popularity of pocket pages is growing rapidly.




If you are itching to play with paper and pretties and you have creativity flowing out of your fingertips, this style is probably for you - jump on in! It is likely that this style of scrapbooking could require one to obtain a larger stash of products. However, that would depend on the look you're going for, as simplistic is beautiful and stylish.

If you are not too sure about your creative abilities, or just want to start more simply (a 12x12 or 8x5x11 canvas of blank paper CAN be intimidating), perhaps another style is a better starting point.

Pocket Pages

I *think* pocket pages can be attributed to the wonderful Becky Higgins originally. She started the Project Life photo storage system, but you can now find basically every other manufacturer creating pocket pages and filler cards.

The idea is brilliant and quite do-able.

Most pockets are 4x6 and 3x4. You can fill them with photos or cards, in whatever amount you want. If you don't have cards, you can cut up scrapbook paper and use that. It is probably the easiest way to create a pleasing-to-the-eye page of photos and pretty paper.


Pocket pages now come in all sizes. The most popular are probably 12x12, 8.5x11, 6x8, 9x12, and 6x12. However, with the ingenious fuse tool from We R Memory Keepers, the possibilities for pocket pages are endless!

While the original intention of this system *I think* was to do a weekly spread of your everyday life (Project Life) and end with 52 weeks of scrapbooking layouts, they are used in a variety of different ways. I suggest you decide your desired outcome and figure out how they can work for you.

Personally, I like to use almost all of the photos I take in my scrapbooks. I know it is unrealistic to create traditional layouts with all my photos, especially since I typically only use one or two on a traditional layout; therefore I combine my traditional layouts with pocket pages.


Mini albums

Another form of scrapbooking is a mini album that does not fit within page protectors. Travelers notebooks fall within this category.

Mini albums are typically quick projects that focus on a single subject and can be quickly completed. Many times a mini album is made of chipboard, or is a small, bound book with a finite amount of pages.

I do use a travelers notebook as my planner/memory keeper in a monthly format. While I would not classify taking a month to complete a project as "quick," I can work on it a few different times within a month during a short time and it is easily completed.

While mini albums are fun, and possibly a good place for a beginner to start, storage of multiple minis could be a problem, as they typically don't fit on a regular bookshelf.

Minis are fun, and can be created with basically anything you can think of; tags, an old book, a deck of cards, cardstock, etc.

 

PRINT your photos!

For physical scrapbooking, you must have some photos printed. There are many schools of thought on how to store, manage, edit (or not) and print your photos.

If you typically use your phone for photography, the best way to accomplish this task would  be to simply upload the photos to a print service app on your phone. You can download a myriad of photo editing apps, or use the one iPhone comes with.

I upload my phone photos to the Walgreens app, but there are plenty of other companies you can use. These include  Persnickety printsSnapfishShutterfly, or Sam's Club - just to name a few. Make sure to google a promo code before you order!

If you use your camera, you can use any of these services by uploading to their websites as well. Photoshop has a free editing app in the Windows store.

Another option for printing is a personal photo printer at home. I have tried a few, but I always prefer the quality of photos printed in a store. However, many scrapbookers I know indicate that printing at home is the key to success, especially in a Project Life style scrapbook.

I like to print some of my photos in 3x4 size to fit in that size pockets. To do this, I download a collage app and choose the option with space for 2 photos. Ensure it is in a 4x6 rectangular ratio, and include two photos you wish to print at 3x4. You can do this to obtain any other size photo as well.

BUY supplies!

Some of the most popular scrapbooking options are presented above. Now a choice must be made! After you have chosen your project, format and style, printed your photos, it's time to do the best part - SHOP!

You don't need to run out and buy all the things. Most people regret doing so, actually. However, there are some necessary supplies.

The most basic of items would be scissors, some type of scrapbooking double-sided tape, page protectors, album, pretty papers and/or pocket page cards and a pen.

Cutting

Many people would insist that a guillotine or paper trimmer is a necessity for scrapbooking. While not required, it could help your sanity.

There are many types of die cut machines. The electronic machines can be a pricey investment, but the manual machines can become just as pricey when you add in the cost of buying multiple dies. These are fun to play, but I would suggest ensuring you're in the hobby for the long haul before this investment.

There are many punches available in lieu of die cuts. Basic punches of shapes or borders could be the most useful.

Adhesive

Back in the dawn of modern scrapbooking, there was a huge emphasis on everything you place in your scrapbook being acid free. While most supplies are now acid free, you can choose from a myriad of adhesives.

A clear tape is best in case you encounter transparent elements. A glue pen is also a good idea for tiny bits.

Paper

SOOOO many options!

For a single project, I would suggest finding a specific line and buying coordinating items. A paper pad is the most economical way to get all the pieces of a line. It is also easiest to find all items in a line by online shopping.

With local scrapbook stores becoming few and far between, online scrapbooking boutiques are your best bet. A few options are Paper IssuesA Cherry On TopElle's Studio, and Pretty Little Studio.

Additionally, there is Scrapbook.com.

You can find plenty of options at your local craft store; Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's or Michaels. Tuesday Morning also has a good, inexpensive selection, but you never know which brands or items they will have. Michaels and Hobby Lobby have a majority of items of their own brands, so they tend to carry less of the top brands, at least in our area.

CREATE!

Now you have gathered all your supplies, and you are ready to create your scrapbook.

Some important things to remember:

  • There is no wrong way to scrapbook!
  • Creative time is important! It is important for our souls and sanity to allow creative juices to flow. Do not feel guilty for carving "ME TIME" into your day to do something for you. 
  • Join the online crafty community! I have made some wonderful friends through crafty resources online, and there is unending inspiration. Specifically, I adore my interactions in The Scrap Gals Facebook community. The owner creates two weekly podcasts about our hobby, and there is constant inspiration, scrappy chat, and help with any crafty problem which may arise. Being in this group has really changed the way I scrapbook, and helped me to be more mindful about my hobby. You can learn A LOT here!
Find me on Instagram @scrappinhappy. Feel free to message me for any information regarding the hobby, how-tos, or even the best accounts to follow for the Style of scrapbooking in which you're interested.

I hope you have found this extraordinarily long blog post informative and helpful. If you are already a scrapper, feel free to pass it along as a crafty evangelist to bring more into our fold!

Thanks for looking!

Thursday, February 16, 2017

A new NATURE project

Hello friends!

Today I'm bringing you the beginning of a new project I am starting. I love to snap nature photos on our family hikes & I think my growing collection of them calls for their own album. So I'm choosing my favorite nature photos to include in a 6x8 mixed media album. Whenever I feel the urge to get messy, I'll get out a nature photo for my little album.

Here's my first layout!


This is one of my fave photos I've taken recently on a hike.  I found these little guys growing on an old picnic table.


My plan is to just put the place I found the photo & the month and year.


I've been researching my mixed media, and they use a lot of chipboard. I do not have a ton, and I've looked in my local stores, but couldn't find much either. But then I thought, why not use my cricut on some cardstock? So I did that here with the leaves and branches.


I used some brown ink to color some cheese cloth for more texture, as well as to color my woodgrain stencil.


There's cork paper under there too, as well as some corrogated cardboard. Who needs chipboard?

So far I'm with my little project, and can't wait to see what becomes of it! Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Have a HAPPY baby! - A SID sketch

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm bringing you a quick card today that I created with a sketch from Stick It Down.


I gave this with a small scrapbook and pocket cards as a baby gift to record some baby memories.

Here's the original sketch


Supplies:

Paper - Chickndiddy
Chipboard - American Crafts

Thanks for looking!