BECOMING FRIENDS

When scrapping, I try to do challenges when I can, but since I frequent a good many digital sites, I am usually overwhelmed by the magnitude of possibilities each month. One challenge that I do try to do each month is the template challenge. I love templates, although I usually change them up so they are often times far removed from the original template, but it is great seeing what I come up with compared to all the other scrapper’s doing the challenge. This is February’s Template Challenge at http://www.the-lilypad.com.

Here is my take on the template:

I knew as soon as I saw the template, I wanted to create a page, and after a bit of searching in my digital photos, I found the one I had wanted to scrap for a while, but just hadn’t. I also immediately knew the background paper, because again, I had seen the paper, and was holding out to use it on the right page. This also is a page where as a Creative Team member of Amy Wolff at the-Lilypad, I was wanting to use her newest product, a great set of kraft paper date cutouts:

I just really fell in love with this background paper: I am usually taking a page, and modifying the main paper, adding grunge, adding folds, inking the edges, etc., but this paper was perfection.

For this page, the original template had loads of layering. This is something I find I can struggle with, as I can spend hours staring at the page, and slightly tweaking the elements until things look perfect. For me it is the right amount of layering. I often feel that people add way too much in the way of layered and clustered items on their pages that it can often overwhelm the photograph. I want to make the photo shine, and to hopefully have the elements lead your eye to the photo. The photo I chose was of my daughter walking our horse Dusty on the day we took delivery of him. He was getting acquainted with his 3 new owners, and checking out his new surroundings. Such a mellow horse – even though not quite 5 years old in this photo, nothing bothered him – he is always interested it checking out new things – never afraid, but ready to reach down and sniff, or gum any new item he comes along. We chose him for this reason, and we think it was a great reason to buy him, as he has turned into being a great horse – I think mainly because of this trait.
I also feel that I tend to be quite the traditional scrapbooker – seldom doing the unexpected – by adding that one quirky element. I am trying to add those items when I can, so for this one, I worked in the zigzag stitching with the button. I think it works, and it adds a bit of interest.

In the end, it is quite a bit removed from the original template, but like I said, I seldom stick with the template without modification. I am so happy with how it came out. I love the softness of the colors, especially the muted taupe colors on the background paper, and how I carried the color throughout the page.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Well we all know that Valentines Day is coming up.  As a scrapper, it is about this time that we are flooded with wonderful Valentine themed kits.  I am highlighting one of the kits just out.  It is a collaboration by Erica Zwart Designz and Anita Designs at Mscraps called Stuck On You.  The papers are wonderful, full of pinks of different hues, a wonderful variety of cardstock, a soft mix of patterned papers, and a great variety of elements.

 

 I had been wanting a kit with soft muted colors for a favorite photo of my daughter when she was a toddler.  This kit looked perfect.  
Some of the techniques I used on this kit were custom shadows all of the elements that had height, so the rolled flowers each had a custom shadow as did the ribbon.  I took the paper which was made of rows of hearts in all different colors:

I cropped out a few rows, the length of the paper, thinking I would use it as a horizontal element under the lower portion of the photo grouping. I didn’t think it looked right, so I then decided to extract only the row of deep pink hearts, and use them. I used the magic wand tool, selected the pink hearts, I wanted to keep, then did an inverse selection, and hit the delete key. This allowed me to get rid of everything but the pink hearts.

The kit included a column of repeated text which was just of XOXOXOX, of varying lengths. I placed in on both sides of the top background paper, but blended it into the paper, and then used a mask to use it to add an almost grunge feel to the paper. I wanted more grunge, so I used two of Erica’s grunge border overlays, and recolored one to a deeper pink, the other I place just to the inside of the first and made that one white, to provide the look of another frame – each overlay has a blend mode used on it so that it looks like it is part of the paper, and not on top of the paper. I placed the repeated LOVE word art under my photo/element block. Although it was not long enough to go from top to bottom, I placed one at the top, copied it and dragged it to the bottom. I used the blend mode “linear burn” on it so that the texture of the paper would show through. I liked having a vertical element in contrast to the horizontal hearts. I place a swirling scribble underneath the photo, and at the tail end placed both a photo glow, and a flower from the it. Around the large loop of the swirl, I placed a quote which reads: I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for all days. As long as I’m Living, My baby you’ll be.

I love how it turned out. It was an old film photo I had been wanting to scrap for years. Any comments would be appreciated – especially any positive constructive criticism of things you would have done differently, and why. It is the best way to grow. Thanks for stopping by.

Finally Home

Last year I made the decision to push myself in the areas of photography and digital scrapbooking. That decision caused me to venture outside my scrapping world, and checking out the multitude of wonderful site out there with some really fabulous designers. There is certainly not a shortage of wonderful designers out there, and my stash has increased quite a bit. I have also ventured out into the world of being on designer creative teams (CT). I applied and was accepted to become part of two teams. I will try to showcase new products when I can for both of these designers, as well as an occasional product I may run across from time to time that I think are especially awesome. Like I said – there is no shortage of great designers out there, and boy, does it make scrapping so much more enjoyable.

I became a member of Amy Wolff’s CT back in mid-November 2011. Her products range from very traditional to funky, so it gives me the ability to go in any direction with my pages. These two kits were released on January 13:

I went back and pulled from my old photos, one that was 20 years old – from when we bought our home. We were so excited about our first home that we asked our realtor to take our photo by the sold sign. Amy’s kit worked perfectly with the photo. I loved greens in the kit as well as the complimentary colors in the kit, but it was the fence from the element pack that immediately led me to the sold sign photo. The only thing I needed other than these two kits was an alpha.