One Scrappy Gift

I posted this on my favorite Scrapbooking website, where it got rave reviews so I wanted to share it here also. This was for Vanessa's new scrapbooking room but you could easily make it for a child's room also.

It was made simply by creating a rainbow of scrap papers, rough cut, no measuring necessary. And I really wanted to impress her so I even got out the sewing machine and stitched across each row. The sign on hers says "My Scrappy Place".

Scrap Rendez-Vous #12

Time for another Scrap Rendez-Vous with my dear friend Alexandra at Art, Scrap & More. We were to use the number 3 in our creations.


Hope you come and join us!

Scrappy Monogram

You may have seen this sneak peek photo on my Shuttercal yesterday...


We had all sorts of fun things to do this weekend but instead I woke up to Diego throwing up in my bed at 7am Saturday morning. Luckily I had the makings for a project I had bought earlier in the week to keep us occupied at home.

To do this project you will need:

Mod Podge or something like it
Paintbrushes of some sort
Scraps of paper (always plenty of those in my scrapbooking stash)
A wooden letter of your choice

Simply apply Mod Podge adhesive with a paintbrush and arrange small scraps of paper as you like. You may want to check for wrinkles in the paper and smooth those out as you go. Work in small sections until you have your letter completely covered. Paper sticking over the edges is fine, you can trim it later. When you're done gluing the papers down go over the whole surface again with at least one layer of Mod Podge. Allow to dry completely, flip the letter over and use a cutting and razor blade to trim away excess paper from edges. Now go hang your masterpieces!

Mixed-Up Mini of 2003

Like many people, I did not start scrapbooking until I had babies. So all my pre-baby photos were still hidden away in the computer. I used this Ali Edward's mixed-up mini idea to quickly toss together all my favorite photos from our first year of marriage... our 1st apt, 1st cars, 1st jobs, our dog as a puppy, our kid-less adventures, etc. For the journaling I simply jotted down the things I remembered as I looked at the photos, each time starting with "Remember..." then just listing the things that came to mind. Example: "Remember... those hideous curtains, the borrowed futon & cheap ent. center, Huey watching out the windows"


There are some pages I didn't get pictures of since they are all double-sided and my camera battery died before I got them all flipped over. There are 30 double-sided pages in all.

Organizing MY Stuff pt 2

I came across a wonderful "Organize Your Stuff" challenge on Two Peas. It was created specifically for scrapbook supplies and focuses on one area each week. You can either search for it in the Two Peas Message Boards (they are currently on week 10 - Alphas) or visit Wookiemouse's blog where each week is already posted and you can work through it at your own pace.

Week 9 of the challenge focuses on Alphas and I have to admit I organized practically everything but Alphas last night. I am pretty excited about what I did do though. I built something, and it even involved power tools! Ok, one power tool (drill) but other hand-held tools also (hand saw & miter box).

You have probably seen the "Clip It Up" systems sold for a pretty penny online but one incredible person was kind enough to share her homemade version and it is unbelievably cheap and easy to make! For full directions, supplies, photos, etc. visit the Outta This Funk blog.

I'm sure I spent well under $10 just like her version and it was 100% complete in under 30
minutes, including going into the garage to find the right tools.


And once I did that I was on a roll so I tackled a few more problem areas...

Before: my in-progress Disney album, just stashed on an extra desk in the office.


After: All the supplies for my Disney album in one case, other various mini album supplies in the other. Plus that bottom shelf was just a big pile of random cardboard pieces and other junk I never used. Cleared out the junk and stacked up the cardboard nice & neat under the plastic cases. My largest paper cutter was stashed in the middle shelf although it didn't really fit, now I have my extra page protectors neatly stacked and the magazines I still need to go through. Top shelf is a basket of magnets, Xyron, plate I use for making circles :) and the bucket holds little tickets/maps/coins/mementos.


Before: my catch-all for my frequently used tools but was full of all other types of junk including photos.

After: photos all safe & sound in this tidy little case, plus I went through my whole "catch-all" basket and kept nothing but the essentials in there.

And in the process of all that, I found a grand total of 24 various rub-on sticks.

Organizing MY Stuff Pt 1

I came across this wonderful "Organize Your Stuff" challenge on Two Peas last week and although I had already started going through my scrapbooking stuff this was an even bigger motivator. It was created specifically for scrapbook supplies and focuses on one area each week. You can either search for it in the Two Peas Message Boards (they are currently on week 10 - Alphas) or visit Wookiemouse's blog where each week is already posted and you can work through it at your own pace.

I had already purged/organized my scraps and papers and organized my embellishments. Next they talked about storing "ideas" and I had already created my colorful "Ideas & Sketches" notebook but when they mentioned magazines Wookiemouse made an excellent point... "I found it was much easier to flip through an idea book essentially tailor-made for me, rather than several magazines that had a handful of what I was looking for."

So I started grabbing 2 or 3 magazines at a time, when I had time to just sit and flip through... Sitting in front of the tv, sitting by the tub while kids take a bath, sitting down to eat... Luckily I had already gone through each magazine as it came in and marked things with a red pen that caught my interest. Going back now though it was interesting to see how some things I had marked didn't interest me anymore and others that weren't marked did catch my eye.

I stashed the clipped out ideas in a big envelope then went through and separated them by number of photos, I also added a category for layouts that I liked specifically for the title/theme and a category for mini albums/other projects. Next step is to now glue each layout to an index card (I cut 5"x8" cards in half) and file them in a coupon-size accordian
file.

When I'm done with each magazine I stick them all in a box that I will be able to donate or giveaway when I'm done with them all. I'm doing the same with my stack of cooking magazines also, but those will be sorted into a 3-ring binder later.

Arts Fest

I had so much fun working on this layout as you can probably tell! I was inspired by this Aquarium layout on Two Peas, but if you take a peek at it you'll see mine turned out quite different!

I printed all the photos I really wanted in a 2"x3" size. Then I cut scraps of paper to represent the size and orientation of each photo. That way I could easily play with the placement before committing to anything.

And when it came time to fill in my journaling block I simply went right here to copy & paste the important parts into my word processor.

Security Envelopes

My friend Alexandra at Art, Scrap & More has issued a new Scrap-Rendezvous challenge: use the inner lining from all those business envelopes you get in the mail! What a great way to get me to dig through the mail.. not one of my favorite jobs. Someone should have told me a long time ago to look in there for scrapbooking papers!

Happy Birthday

Just wanted to wish my dearest husband a very Happy Birthday today and do what I can to send my love across all those miles. I love you forever Davey.

Ella's 6 Weeks of Sketches (#3)

Ella Publishing Company is posting 6 weeks of sketches on their blog. Try out the current sketch for a chance to win a free ebook or even a Cricut Expression! I did Sketch #3 last night. I loved that I could use 5 photos. Inspired by color combo #94 from Color Combos Galore.

Scrap Rendez-vous

My wonderful friend Alexandra is welcoming everyone to join in her fun Scrap Rendez-Vous challenges. This month (from Jan 15th to Feb 14th) you simply need to alter something.. anything.. just make sure to use your scraps. I really liked her scrapbooking sketch book so I picked up a blank journal on clearance at B&N today (for $2.02) and made it my own. The fun, rainbow background was existing. I added handcut letters, buttons, and rub-ons. The quote at the bottom says "Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine." - Anthony J D'Angel


I've already put it to good use writing a list of favorite sketch inspiration sites, future title ideas and drawing out sketches of favorite layouts I find online. It's definitely better than my previous system of writing ideas/sketches on random scraps which just inevitably get lost.

2 Cute/Remember

It's always so nice to get back to my scrapbooking table after I've been "too busy" for awhile. I thought I was too tired to scrap tonight but I sat at the computer and started finding inspiration all over.

This page was inspired by the "Bookmarks" Challenge at Two Peas. You simply go to your list of bookmarked "favorite" layouts and use this week's specified page and layout # as your inspiration. You can see my inspiration page here.

Then, while browsing the Two Peas gallery I found this beautiful layout which led me to the very inspiring Color Combos Galore network.

And yes these are older photos. When I gave myself the freedom to scrap without rules (like not having to do every photo chronologically before moving on to the next) I ended up with gaps in my albums. But not to worry, there are no rules. I can just do them as I feel inspired!

Thankful for YOU

I had the opportunity to spend some time at my favorite craft store sans children this weekend and grabbed a stack of new papers. I used 7 different new papers on this Thanksgiving layout inspired by this LO by April Mensik at pink sketches.

Grow!

I had the rare luxury of nearly 4 hours home alone yesterday while David took the kids on a date to Chuck E Cheese. I happily spent that time editing photos and scrapbooking.


Paper by Fancy Pants, rub-ons by Love Elsie, clear "grow" and butterfly by Deja Views (a gift from my wonderful friend Alexandra). Inspired by a Julie Bonner LO titled "Dreamy".

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

We actually got a taste of winter down here in TX. Heard reports of actual snow in some areas but here we just saw it spit the tiniest amount of flakes possible. Had to really look close to even see it in the sky. Had a hard frost last night though so the yard was white and kids couldn't wait to finish breakfast and go explore it all.

Also I made time to scrap today, which involved allowing Cali to scrap across from me and putting a movie on the computer for D. Pretty quick layout since I already had the pictures printed, the sketch chosen and everything arranged before they actually came into the office. This is sketch #19 from 52 Sketches... 52 Weeks

Friday Scrapsketch

A few little tweaks and I worked in 5 photos instead of two. I love using my home Kodak printer to print the sizes I need when I want them! See the sketch here.

#45

Realized I had done a few layouts featuring Cali recently and also that D has been a lot more difficult to get on camera lately. He's just way too busy playing and exploring. I made sure to get some good shots out at the park yesterday and put them to use on the latest sketch from 52 Sketches ...

#44 - You Make Me Smile

This by no means should indicate that I am "caught-up" on my scrapbooking, that will NEVER happen. I just loved this picture so much I was eager to scrap it and went to work on the latest sketch from 52 Sketches.

#37 - DIY Dad

I love being married to such a handy guy! He amazes me with the things he can build. The kids and I are all very lucky :) A loose interpretation of #37 from 52 Sketches.s

Scrap Night

I can't recall quite when it started but I know its been at least a year, maybe two that I've had a weekly scrap night with friends. Fantastic motivation to scrap at least once a week and of course a great source of some much-needed, grown-up, adult, girl talk!

Sometimes we talk more than scrap, but this week I was really on a roll... maybe it helped I worked on some little bitty 6x6 pages and also that I always find a great sketch at 52 Sketches to work with but I got 4 pages done!


Sketch #12 from 52 Sketches, to go with the 6x6 "Photography 101" layout posted just prior to this.

A 12x12 of sketch #36 from 52 Sketches. Vanessa said I could have this journal tag and I immediately thought of these pictures to go with it.

I still had some time so I flipped through some pictures until I found some that caught my eye and created two more 6x6 pages. I've always loved this picture of D. So much so that it was even on our Christmas cards last year.