Fun at the State Fair

A few weeks ago, I went to the New Mexico State Fair and had a great time.  I don't do rides, but enjoyed the performers, the food, the shopping, the exhibits, the lights.

After the fair, I was inspired to make a fair-themed mini album.  And what a great opportunity to use an awesome collection from October Afternoon, "Midway."  The colors and the design are spot on. The combination of photo-realistic pages and non photo-realistic (what is the real term for that) was perfect.  I bought this collection a few months ago, not because I knew I was going to the fair, but because it was a great deal at scrapbooksteals.com.  Which just proves my scrapbook purchasing theory - go ahead and buy it, because you'll never know when you'll need it!  Which contributes to my hoard, but I digress.  Super cute collection right?  And I only paid $25 for the entire thing.  Bargain.

From yet another bargain collection, I used a chipboard mini album from Maya Road that I got when I purchased their warehouse sale mystery box a few months back.  Also a great bargain.  For $50 I got over $175 in product varying from albums, ribbon, flowers, metal things, and more.  If there is another warehouse mystery box sale, I highly recommend you go for it.

So, I covered all of the pages of the chipboard in paper, using 3M paper glue.  Sanded and painted the edges and then went to town using all of the fun embellishments that came with the collection.  I just love how it turned out.  So much so that I'm torn on whether I should keep it or give it to my friend for her photos as I originally planned.  What?  It's cute.  There was so much of the collection though that there is enough for 2 albums!  Problem solved.

Hexagons

Still working on two albums at one time of when my sister visited me in NM.  I was feeling in a rut with my layouts and needed to do something different.  Thank goodness for Pinterest, after wasting three hours perusing various boards (and getting hungry looking at all the pictures of food), I found some "Pinspiration" from this layout that used hexagons (are these hexagons?  some sort of "-gon").  Cute right?

And a perfect opportunity to break out my Creative Memories cutting system and use a shape other than the circles.  I mean, I had to buy all the shapes right?  Might as well use them.  This is a great tool, one of the first things I bought when introduced to the scrapbooking world many, many years ago.  It is easy to use, doesn't weight 100 pounds like some die cutting machines, and cuts really smooth.



I used BasicGrey's "Hey You" collection because the colors are really great for the pictures we took in New Mexico - lots of earth tones.  And because I have a slight obsession with BasicGrey.  Perfecto.

 

It took a bit to get it all layed out and to figure out how to cut the shapes for the edge of the paper, but it wasn't too bad and I love how it came out.  Throw in a few random embellishments such as chipboard shapes, ribbon, and a metal title and viola!  One super hot layout! 

The hexagons cut with paper are the perfect spot for journaling or adding some memorabilia.  I'm leaving them blank so my sister can add her own thoughts to the album and make it her own.

The photos are from our visit to the Rio Grande Gorge State Park which is just breathtaking... literally.  The bridge is pretty scary, with no barrier on the side with traffic and the fence going across the gorge being pretty low.  The wind was whipping and my sister and I felt like we were going to be blown over!  Those aren't smiles of joy, those are smiles of "hurry up and get me off this bridge before I die!"  However, the view of the water and the cliffs were spectacular and worth the very (not) dangerous conditions!

Mini Time

Mini albums are not only very cute and very versatile, but also are satisfying little albums of joy.  Sometimes, when you're scrapbooking - especially a large event such as a trip or a wedding, you can get a bit of scrapper's block.  It happens, it is normal.  You get in a rut, you get tired of doing the same event over and over.  When this happens to me, I break out a mini project.  I love the feeling of accomplishment afterwards, not to mention how awesome my project is.

These are a few mini albums I've worked on lately.  One of the best things about mini albums is the versatility of album styles and medians.  Here, I've got mini albums made of paper lunch bags, acrylic, a keepsake box, and chipboard.

Mini albums get those creative juices flowing because you can get quite a bit done in a short amount of time, and the size limit may help you focus.  Grab a collection full of extra fun coordinating stuff like tags, brads, ribbon, buttons, etc. and you're ready - no need to spend a lot of time looking through your stuff to find embellishments, which can be distracting sometimes (especially when you're like me, and you have a problem - with buying scrapbook stuff, so you tend to have a lot of scrapbook stuff, and you spend a lot of time organizing/looking... but I digress.)

The ready-to-decorate style are fun, like the large Making Memories tabbed album pictured here.  I used SEI's "Bridgeport" collection for this album.  I still love this collection, after many years, and snatched up a bunch more of it when SEI had a really awesome internet clearance, something like 75% off!  Some of the paper is embossed, some is metallic, all of it is thick and delicious.  I love paper.  This album was easy and quick to create, I really just randomly added embellishments, made some tags and inked the edges.  I didn't have to over think it.

I usually like to create the cover first to inspire the rest of the album.  I like being able to get chunky with mini albums in a way you can't with traditional scrapbook pages.  Lots of layering with foam tape.  And the themed cover creates a focus for the rest of the album.  Minis allow you to create beyond the page, things can stick up and stick out.

For this album I used a little keepsake box.  Cute right?  The cover says "happy birthday," and the colors are bright and fun.  The pages on the inside are actually one page that has been scored and folded for an accordion effect.  For this album, I used a 6x6 paper pad from American Crafts that was birthday themed.  I purchased it at Tuesday Morning for a whopping $2, but it didn't have coordinating embellishments.  Not a problem, with the fun colorful paper, just about anything I had worked with it.  Random eyelets and ribbon, butterflies, misc. titles and tags.  It all worked!  This album, like all the others, makes a great little homemade gift for the person who has everything. 

Paper bags are one of my favorite mediums for mini albums.  Use the classic kraft color, or hit up the local craft store for the colored ones in the party section.  There are tons of paper bag tutorials on the web, but basically:  get 5 paper bags, fold them in half, punch holes with the Crop-A-Dile and decorate!  I usually fill the pockets of that are created 

when folding the bags with tags that coordinate with the paper.  If you want the covers to have more structure, cut a piece of chipboard from your stock about 1/2 larger than the paper bags.  Punch holes with the Crop-A-Dile.  Use binder rings or ribbon in the punched holes.  I used BasicGrey's "Hipster" collection for this paper bag album, and thought the kraft color was perfect for the collection.  For the pocket pages, I used a small circle punch as a cut out for the tags.

So if you're feeling like you want to create something, but also feel stuck in a rut, try a mini-album!  At the next convention, take a mini-album class.  Even though I've taught tons of classes, I always learn something new when I take a class.  Some of my favorite classes at the CKC are given by The Button Farm or Embellish It!  The instructors are great and the projects are always awesome.

I've got a good size pile of mini albums right now, but they are great to have around for last-minute gifts.  And when my pile gets too big, I will rent a table at a craft show, sell some off and start again!

A Productive Day!

Today was a productive one in terms of scrapbooking for me.  I created three different layouts, for three different events!  Hello!  I know people who spend an 8-hour crop on one layout!  No pressure, okay - but that is a bit too long!  No matter what you do, it can only be better than a plain, undocumented photo!  You can't go wrong in scrapbooking is my moto!  So don't obsess, if you aren't having fun why are you scrapbooking?

So yeah, I'm feeling good about doing a few layouts on a lazy Saturday, with an afternoon nap thrown in there to boot.

First, is a layout of my niece and I at Santa Fe Pride.  Unlike the Pride Parades in Washington, DC or Philadelphia, this one was so short I scrambled to get my camera out and didn't get any decent shots!  Too funny, I have to remember I'm not in a big city anymore!  But we still had some nice shots of us hanging around the plaza.  I used a My Mind's Eye collection, "Collectable," along with a chipboard butterfly, a bit of bling, and some random flowers from my stash.  The pictures are arranged in a pinwheel design, simple but cute.  One down!

Next up was a layout style that I don't usually do - the one photo.  The picture of my baby boy, Tyrone, was so cute that I had it printed as a 5x7 and felt it could handle the one photo per layout style.  Who only takes one photo of an event?  I don't like having to choose, that is why multi-photo layouts are my style of choice.  The single style works here, he is so cute right?  For this layout,

I used another My Mind's Eye collection, "Lush," which perfectly describes the elements of the collection.  The paper is thick and creamy, with a beautiful navy velvet design; and velvet rick rack ribbon.  I used some BasicGrey sticker letters from my stash to create the title, and outlined it with a navy glitter pen.  The swirls were cut with my Cricut, using the Art Philosophy cartridge.  That cartridge is the bomb, it is so versatile, I've used it to create accents for so many different layouts.  Two down!

My last layout of the day is a two-page spread, my personal favorite, with lots of photos!  I used BasicGrey's "Indie Bloom" collection for this layout and visited Pinterest for some sketch inspiration, man I love that site.  I found some old school BasicGrey velvet ribbon that I've hard for a long-time!  I love using old stash, but then I panic because I know that I probably won't find anymore of it!  These pics are from my good friend Ashley's graduation.  So proud of her.  This layout was done after my nap, sometimes you need to re-charge your creative batteries!  Third layout is the charm.

So yep, I spent my Saturday scrapping and napping, and I'm pretty excited about it!  Now I am sipping on a cocktail, listening to the PBS special about the Roosevelts, and writing this blog entry.  Cheers!

Walk On The Wild Side

I'm not a big card maker, however, I do enjoy making invitations.  And when my sister asked me to make invitations for her first grandchild's baby shower, with an animal theme, I was looking forward to a different project, since I usually stick to scrapbooking.

I did a lot of searching on pinterest, but couldn't really find anything that inspired me, which is unusual.  Everything was either too "cutesy" which is not my sister at all, or had to be done digitally, which I'm not into.  So, I hit the stores to get some inspiration, and not a lot of luck there either.  Michael's paper selection was "eh."  Nothing much animal themed at all and the one pack that was were pinks and purples, and they're having a boy.  What was going on?


In Joanne's I found some super cute, glittery giraffe washi tape which got me going.  Glittery without being girly.  I decided the rest of my supplies needed to have a more natural vibe.  Even though my sister wanted a animal/jungle theme, I didn't want animals on the invite, so I was really happy when I found zebra paper and rafia.  Finished up with some kraft envelopes from David Tutera that were on clearance for 50%.  Score.

I used some Making Memories glitter stickers from my stash for the word "wild" and some glittery thickers for the word "joy."  I outlined the small black words "we're" and "wild" with a white pen to make give them some definition on top of the patterned paper.

 The inside really pops!  I used a die from Art Gone Wild that creates these little pop-up templates for you.  My friend and fellow crafting buddy, La-Vie, and I attended a rubber stamp show last spring, taking a class from Art Gone Wild and used this tool to make super-cute birthday cards.  I immediately thought about using it for these invites because it really creates a unique look.  In class, we used plain white cardstock, for my little pop ups, I used a textured, colored paper, and I have to say, it was a little tricky finding the scored marks.  It worked, but in the future I'll use untextured paper.

I attached the word "boy" on each of my little pop up "trees," added some leaves I cut out with my Cricut, and tied on a bit of rafia.  As on the cover, I outlined the small black letters with a white pen, as well as the leaves.  I also lightly inked the card with some blue chalk ink.

My sister will fill in the bottom with the time and location of the shower, so I'm done!  I think they are awesome.  Contemporary, not cutesy, but still with a wild vibe. 

 

Twice the Fun

When I turned 40, my girls took me to Las Vegas to celebrate and we had a great time.  Afterwards, I wanted to create an album for each person of our time there.  Making 8 albums was a huge challenge.  It took forever, and I got burnt out doing the same photos 8 times.  I still have never done MY album from the trip... maybe when I turn 50.

My sister came to visit recently and we took some beautiful pictures of the fun times we had in New Mexico.  I didn't need to make 8 albums this time, only 2, but decided that I would do both albums at the same time.  This way I can get both albums done at the same time and not get burnt out.

My sister's page - using the Close to My Heart collection

First I separated my pics by each event/activity we did, making sure I had two of each photo.  Then I just grabbed a pile and got to work.  I went to Pinterest for my layout inspiration of course.  My sister likes earthy, toned down colors - I like bright and bold.  So even though I'm using the same photos and same sketch for each layout, I'm using different paper collections for each of us.

For my sister's layout, I used a great collection from Close to My Heart, called Balloon Ride, that my mother bought for me once she heard we were going on a hot air balloon.  The design and colors were perfect my for sister's taste and look great right?

Here is my page using BasicGrey

I used BasicGrey's "What's Up" collection for my layout.  The colors are a bit bolder, and I love it.  Plus I'm a BasicGrey ho... purchasing just about every collection they've ever had.  The paper is so smooth and thick and delicious.  I'm a BasicGrey hoarder, and not ashamed - so I'm happy I actually used it here!

Both layouts include metal corners on the photo, using We R Memory Keepers Main Squeeze - I love that thing and love that I've found tons of corners at Tuesday Morning for .99 a pack - hello!

I outlined all the photos and papers in black ink, and inked the edges of everything on my layout with a silver ink pad.  For my sister's layout I inked everything with blue.  There are also some super cute rub-ons on both layouts about the word "bucket."

We've always wanted to take a hot air balloon ride and it was awesome.  I used the title "Crossed Off the Bucket List" on both layouts, mixing up the fonts and using foam squares under the "crossed off" title.  Too fun.  Almost as fun as the balloon ride.

At this rate, I'll have both albums done in no time!

Doing My Own Challenge

Not doing any challenges today, except my own that is.  A co-worker, Terry, asked me to do a scrapbook for her of pictures from her son's wedding.  We're swapping craft skills - she is working on sewing some cushions for me.  Nothing like a good barter.

There aren't many pictures and they are all 4x6.  Terry had already purchased some scrap booking items from Michael's including the album and some green paper.  She also had some memorabilia from the wedding (invitation, seating cards, etc.) that I can incorporate into the album.

The challenge for me?  Terry leans towards simple, I love to bling it up!  The other issue is that since they're aren't a lot of photos, I would have to try to "stretch" out the album, so to speak, and use only one or two pics on most of the layouts, I'm not a big fan of that.

But I think I'm making it happen!  My first layout is a bit more my style, but I figured I could get it away with it since it is the opening layout and there is a page for the bridge and the groom.   I went simple on the next layout, I still feel like it is missing something, but I want her to make is personal so I will leave titles and journaling up to her which will help fill in some of the spots.

Two two-page layouts down, a few more to go.  Now I'm going to go work on a super loaded mini album to keep my creativity flowing!