In The Scrap: June Challenge

Hello! This past month I officially joined the design team at In the Scrap--a challenge blog based in Spain!

This invitation came to me at a really good time-you see, I had been feeling a little lackluster creativity-wise. I wanted to scrap, but my brain felt a little dried up.  What I had been doing just wasn't working anymore for me. Surely, I am not alone with this feeling?? This little slump really had me thinking that maybe I needed to revisit some of the things I used to do, such as participate in online scrapbooking challenges--something that I used to do on a regular basis. I Then along came the invitation....Funny how things work out sometimes!

Like I said earlier, In the Scrap is a great place to find lots of scrappy inspiration. For example, on the first of the month a new challenge is issued and the design team provides their takes on it. This month the challenge is a mood board type of challenge:

When I saw the "My Celebration" themed images I was excited! There were so many ways to take the theme and I was super excited to look through my stash to find products. When I create a project based off of this type of challenge I always start with making a list of all the things that stand out to me and here is what I wrote down:

Celebrate; gold foil; lights, wood grain; pink thread; ballons; 

blue, ruquoise, and pinks; banners; string lights; hearts; and arrows.

Having a written list really helped me zero in on specific products as I was looking for things to use. It's always nice to shop your stash!  Here is what I came up with:

When it came down to putting the inspiration from the image to use, I really embraced the whole theme of celebration. From my photos of my daughters on the youngest's birthday to the birthday themed embellishments, it's is obvious I went pretty literal. 

I love the little details that this challenge inspired, such as the addition of the pink thread and the foil hearts. These were two things that I probably would not have thought to add if not for the challenge and I just love what these minor details brought to my page!

One of my favorite parts about scrappy challenges is seeing what others do. There are just so many possibilities and I invite you to head on over to the blog to see what the rest of the design team did with the challenge :). 

Michelle 

The Cut Shoppe: The Sweet Life

Hello! Today I want to share a new layout featuring the A Way with Words cut file set from The Cut Shoppe.

This cut file set has to be one of my faves for the simple reason that I love cursive writing. This set mimics a natural written alphabet and it is just plain pretty.  When I sat down with these two pictures of my daughter a lady bug, I thought this cut file would be a good compliment to this sweet story. Here is what I did:

When cutting out words and phrases that are in a thinner font, I find it almost imperative to cut it out of a bold or dark color. Something light could have definitely gotten lost on this busy layout, but since I chose a black polka dot paper the title is able to stand out.

I really had a lot of fun putting this layout together. I went and pulled out some "older" papers and mixed them with some newer embellishments. I so enjoyed this that I am going to double up my efforts to use more of my stash. 

Wishing you all a great day!

Gossamer Blue: June Kits

Hello! Is anyone else completely confused about how we ended up in June so fast?? Really, it feels like time fastforwarded three months! My brain is still in March! Ha ha.

One of the only benefits of time moving fast though, is that it always seems like I am getting a new scrapbooking kit and today I am wanting to share my latest creations with the new June Kits from Gossamer Blue.

This month the kits are a mix of Simple Stories, Fancy Pants, and Pink Fresh. The products in the kits had me creating in no time and even though I am finished with my DT projects, I still have loads leftover and am looking forward to getting back to kits:).  Here are a few of my projects:

This is my FAVE. I was one of those confused people who really did not see the potential or relevance of pie charts when they started making an appearance in scrapbooking supplies. Now though, I am a believer! First off, they are circles which I am pretty comfortable with and second, they are a good medium for displaying all the beautiful patterned paper. Yup, I will be using pie charts again.

This black floral paper from Simple Stories is the BEST. It is so pretty and I refuse to part with the little scraps I have left of it! I also love the bits of green in this layout. Lately I have really been drawn to this color and I was so happy to find lots of it in the June Kits.

As I was creating with these kits, I found that they were really working well as a kit that will lead you from Spring to Summer. I scrapped photos from this spring, but I also was able to feel in some gaps in photos from last summer. I love it when a kit does double duty like that!

Wishing you a great day!

Michelle

Reading

Hello! Reading is my number one hobby. I couldn't imagine a life without a shelf full of books. I always have something going. Of course, with the arrival of the girls my reading time shrunk a little and when I do have the time, I am almost always too tired.

My solution for reading more is to sneak it in and take advantage of any free time that pops up. This means I always have a book or two in my bag, ready to go. This really comes in handy for the time I spend waiting in my car for kiddos to get out of school or finish practice. Not to mention the heavy bag full of books could come in handy if I am ever in a situation where I need to defend myself ;).

Once in a while though, I will have a very rare few hours without any small children or chores to distract me and then I am off and running to my books! This next layout shows you just how I can ready anywhere, anytime.....

Yes, I am at a NASCAR race reading The Magicians :). Now I go to watch the races, but we are at the track three days in a row and there is a little downtime between practices, qualifying, and races. I take advantage of this time every year and always pack several books. I also read on the way to and from the track, but this might be more because I am attempting to ignore how fast my brother is driving ;). 

Now in all my trips to the races, I have never seen another person reading a book. At least that was until this trip. I gave a mental high five to the lady when I spied the book packed in her bag!

I made this layout using the leftovers from my May Citrus Twist Kits. The colors in this this kit are pretty great, but the real gem is the pack of ephemera from Becky Higgins that is in the now sold out, PL Kit. 

I loved this entire pack of diecuts. First, they are printed on a bright white cardstock which is a fave. Second, they are so "useable." Really, I can see myself using the entire package (the "reading" title that I used is from this pack.)  And I love the silver foil!

Thanks for letting me share my project with you!

Michelle

The Cut Shoppe: These Days

It's confession time:  I totally stink at coming up with titles. Honestly, I am awful at it. So you can bet when The Cut Shoppe comes out with a new set of titles, I am all over it! Today I want to share a new layout featuring the Daily Grind cut file set from The Cut Shoppe which includes some fun and creative titles!

Most of the time when I am using a title cut from my Silhouette, I like to adhere it with pop dots. My reason for this is that since I almost always cut the titles from patterned paper, the added dimension provided by the pop dots helps to create more definition which makes my title easier to read. This time though, I tried something different. Instead of using pop dots on each word, I only did one word and slightly layered it over the second word.  This is what it looks like:

I really liked the difference between the two words and thought that it added a nice bit of interest. It also placed a little more emphasis on the "these," which quite acurately reflect my thought regarding this particular picture and time. Time is moving at lightening speed with this guy and boy am I soaking in "these" last few years with him at home. 

Here's a look at the completed project:

Next time you are working with a title or phrase, try varying the dimension and see what you can come up with. I can imagine all sorts of possibilities! 

Wishing you a great day!

Michelle

Gossamer Blue: Here + Now

Hello! Today I want to share a new layout featuring the beautiful May Kits from Gossamer Blue. Before I can go any further though, I must admit that when it comes to my creative process, I am very happy working inside my comfort zone. I know what I like and I like what I do, so why try something new, right?? Every once in a while though, I actually get the wild idea to go a little outside my box and create something that isn't quite so typical of my usual projects and today's layout is a such an example.

Circles. I am a little obsessed with this fabulous shape and it makes regular appearances throughout my scrapping. However, despite my love for all things round, I have NEVER once cut a photo into a circle. Now, this certainly isn't a ground breaking technique, but it definitely requires a little more thinking than just printing the photo as a square or rectangle.

When it came to cutting my photo into a circle, I went with my manual diecutter. My first thought was to use an app to make my photo into a circle and then cut it out with scissors after printing. However simple and quick this method is, I don't have the greatest scissor skills. Using a metal die would guarantee a perfectly round circle, so this was the method I went with.

To continue the circle theme of my layout, I cut two similarily sized circles out of patterned paper from the Bit's and Pieces Add On Kit and used them to create a visual triangle. Using the triangle as a guide is a simple, surefire way to get good placement. With the bigger elements in place I went to work on the embellishing.

Cutting my photo into a shape was a pretty simple technique, but I sure felt bold doing it! While it's certainly okay to hang out in your comfort zone, I really believe we need to push our limits a little from time to time. Anytime I try something new, I never have regrets for doing it even if things don't turn out as planned. 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope I have inspired you to try something new!

Michelle

The Cut Shoppe: Yes

Good morning! Today I am excited to share my latest layout featuring an oldie but goodie cut file--the Pie Hearts Cut File--which is probably my most favorite and most used cut file from The Cut Shoppe!

What makes this my most used cut file, is that it makes a good embellishment.  Whenever I  feel like a project needs a simple and classic embellishment to help make a focal point, this set of hearts almost always comes to mind. They are also super versatile. I can enlarge one and back with patterned paper to make an impact or I can use them in a smaller sizes to move the eye around the page like I did in this layout:

Now, the only challenge I have when using these hearts is adhering them. If I want them flat on my page--no problem--however, I usually want at least one popping off the page and this requires some sort of foam adhesive. Most of the time I only have foam squares available, which are too big. What I do though is simply cut them up with my scissors into small strips to layer underneith the thin lines of the hearts as you can see here, in this photo.

How about you--Do you have any special method for making your cut files dimensional or do you roll like me and alter foam squares??  Whatever gets the job done, right? Wishing you a happy day!

Michelle