Coffee Filter=Design Element

Who knew!?! Right! Last month over at Practical Scrappers the design team inspired me to use coffee filters in my papercrafting projects.  I was at my local Creative Reuse store (A store that sells donated new and used  art supplies) and stumbled across a huge bag of filters and a clipboard.  This became the perfect birthday gift for my sister.  Shh...Her birthday is tomorrow and it is a surprise!  

I created the ruffles by folding the coffee filter in half 4 times and trimming the top and bottom edges off.  Then I opened it up and made one cut in the circle so that I had a strip.  I ran a line of adhesive about an inch from the bottom of the clipboard and gathered my first filter on the adhesive. I repeated this 4 times.  When I was happy with the ruffles I embellished the rest of the clipboard, added an adorable picture of the cousins and finished it off with a bow!  

I think it is the perfect birthday gift and I hope she does too!  I can't wait to give it to her!

Have fun taking everyday items and creating works of art!
p.s. stop by Practical Scrappers and see step by step directions for creating another project with coffee filters! 

A Card Sketch for this Wacky Wednesday!

WOWZAH!  The design team at Practical Scrappers has done it again! Some Amazing cards inspired by a sketch created by little old me! Why not create a card of your own inspired by the sketch and upload it to the Practical Scrappers Facebook page? 

Here is my take on the sketch

Have fun with it!  Hope you'll share your creative take on this sketch!  

p.s. try to create a card sketch of your own! It is amazing how easy it is!

Use those Paper Edges!

 One of the newer things the manufacturers are doing is making the edge of the paper where they place the barcode pretty! I LOVE this trend! I have started to collect these little strips of prettiness and this layout uses them to make the banners in the right hand side of the layout. 

 I adore the colors of the papers in this layout and they do such a wonderful job of showcasing this beautiful photo! 

To create the wavyh look of the banners, I used Zots and adhesive foam dots and alternated them across the paper strips. I curled the edge of them up to look like they are waving,  

My title for this layout was created with a variety of stickers and rub-ons and it hides my journaling!

I drew lines on a piece of solid green cardstock and wrote out my journling.  I used a brad to affix the title in place and the viewer can simple slide the title out of the way to read the journaling.

p.s. share your creative way to hide journaling or use those paper strips!!  

Double Layout Comeback!

 WooHoo! Double Layouts are making a comeback and I could not be happier about it! I mean what could be better than twice the beautiful creativity, Right!?!  

It is very true that the recent trends in scrapbooking have taken us away from creating double layouts.  It seems that we are headed back the way we came with this one though!  

It really creates an impression when you are looking through a scrapbook and it has double layouts throughout.  It gives it a continuity and consistency that it might otherwise lack.  

This layout has lots of fun little details:

A little paint, a little pen, and a little ink brings it all together nicely!

Next time you are sitting down to scrap, consider placing two pages next to each other and see what you come up with. you might be pleasantly surprised! 

p.s. Stop by Practical Scrappers to see what other amazing double layouts my design Teammates are sharing! 

Come on Over and Ditch Your Kicks TOO!

I created this layout and the color palette based on the colors of my girlie's Chuck sneakers!  Their Nanny bought each of them a pair and they each picked a different color, but the colors work very well together!  

You can find inspiration anywhere!

I had fun with the doodling and washi tape on this layout too!  I used clear blue letters and added washi to the back to add pattern.  My journaling is doodled around the edge of the one photo!  Lots of fun texture going on! 

p.s. Where is the most unusual place you have found color palette inspiration? 

Love is not just for Valentine's Day!

Just because Valentine's Day is over does not mean we should not continue to share the love! This card is created with a bunch of washi tape and that neat burlap tag from Little Yellow Bicycle!  

I also added some 3-D flowers which are actually bead but I love the spring feel of them!  I also love the notebook paper background!  

Happy Creating!

p.s. Create a layout/card using notebook paper and share a link to it in the comments! 

 I would love to see it!

Another day...

No such luck with the new design team but that's okay! I have had a ton of fun this weekend creating some beautiful layouts and other crafty projects!  I will share them all eventually... Today I want to talk about crops and the layouts I created at one I went to recently.  I had never been to a crop before...I still think that in and of itself is pretty CRAZY!  Anyway, went to one with a close friend who was visiting last week.  I was excited to meet some new scrappers in my new hometown area and the get some serious scrapping done...Well let's start by saying it was not exactly as I expected.  The women we sat with at our table for 4 were very nice..well, one of them was!  And let's just say I do not have the same style as either of them!  I started my first layout:

As I was creating I saw the woman next to me...The nice one, eyeing it.  She did not say anything until I began working on the layers for my next layout, the opposite page to my first:

She looks at my beginnings of the second page and says to her friend, "She's one of those scrappers" I look at her a little funny and she says, "The ones who only put one photo on a  page." Well, her friend basically goes off..."Oh my gosh, I could never do that.  I have only ever used one picture on a page once in all the years I have been scrapping. I usually get 30-40 pages done at a crop.  Tonight will be no different....."   The nice friend says "I love it, I think it is really impactful.  I do not think I would ever do it, but I do love how much of an impression it leaves."  I love my single photo layouts and it is only in the last year or so that my scrapping has evolved to that.  But, I started thinking,  if I am ever to catch up, maybe I should try to put more photos on my pages.  Maybe see what I can come up with:

 This one came out pretty cute, and another:

I like this one too.  And finally:

I think these pages came out pretty good.  Certainly not stellar or submission worthy, but I am happy with them.  The photos are on the page and the memories are documented.  I did what I could with my limited supplies at the crop and had every intention of coming home to finish them off, add finishing touches, jazz them up quite a bit more but decided against it.  I decided to leave them as they left the crop as part of the memories behind them!  

The ladies got me thinking that I need to get more photos on the page but without sacrificing my style. My friendly co-scrapper did a one photo page that night too!  So I guess we rubbed off on each other! It was fun and I look forward to going again soon.  It would be nice to scrap with someone who shares my style though:)  

Happy Scrapping!  

p.s. Share your crop stories with me! I know you have some of your own!  

Design Team Hopes!

I absolutely love the design team I am on over at Practical Scrappers. It is such a nice group of super talented ladies who I feel privileged to be considered on the same creative level with.  I love it so much that I have decided to look into other design teams who are looking to add some members. I came across a brand new blog called 2brokegirlsscrap who is looking for a design team.  I figured why not give it a shot!  They provided a sketch.:

I provided a layout:

I find that the design team I am currently on, the challenges I participate in, and the design team & publication calls I attempt really encourage me to get my photos scrapped.  And in my opinion that is what it is all about! Getting motivated to get those memories on the page for generations to share! 

The design team call ends March 9th, so why not give it a shot yourself!  

Even if I do not get on the design team, I got another page done, and another memory preserved!!!  

4X2=FABULOUS!

 Back in the 1990's when I began scrapbooking it was about getting the pictures on the page and writing about them and adding a title and you were done.  The more pictures on the page, the better.  Scrapbooking as an artform has evolved so much over the years.  Now it can be a much more creative and artistically challenging endeavor.  The trend has become that less pictures on a page is more.   Most of the time I agree with that and most of my current layouts only have 1-2 photos on them.  I think these pages are more impactful and make more of a statement.  With that being said, I have a trilllion pictures to get on the page and if I only do 1-2 pics on every page I will never catch up!!!  So this week at S.W.A.T. Drill #3 challenges us to use 4 photos on a layout.  I was so excited about this that I did a double layout with 4 pictures on each page!  

I fell in love with the My Girl collection from My Mind's Eye when I first laid eyes on it!  It was perfect for this fun layout!  

I made a tiny little pinwheel for the center of the 4 photos on this side.

Simple, yet perfect title "Girl Time"

This was my first attempt at these trendy little bows! So glad I gave them a try, they were the perfect compliment!

Such wonderful Brads in this collection I could not choose so I created a trail from the journaling to the title!  

I hope this inspires you to get more pictures on some of your pages.  

Follow me for more great scrappin' ideas! 

Ribbon Roses

Look how pretty these roses are!! What a great tutorial I followed on S.W.A.T. Basic Training!!

This is the very first layout I have ever done of vintage photographs from my childhood.  I thought theses great roses were the perfect compliment to the feel of the photo.

I was amazed at how easily these roses came together.  And they give the layout such a rich feel.

Check out S.W.A.T to check out the tutorial.  F.Y.I: I used my Scotch Tape runner instead of liquid glue and it seems to be holding very well as long as you press firmly!

Here Come 2 Layout Sketch Layout

This layout was created from an amazing sketch on S.W.A.T.

My journaling is in the form of a little letter to my daughters as she turns two.  I think she will cherish things like this as she grows up and becomes a woman herself.

I just love the finished feel girly feel these gemstone flourishes gave the layout.