The Boy Within Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! It's time for a new challenge over at Color Combos Galore (CCG). The inspirational challenge was to scrap an incredible kid in your life--the designer's challenge was to journal about what makes your chosen child so incredible.

Well at first, this posted a bit of a challenge for me since me & the hubby do not have kiddies of our own yet. Then when I started thinking about it--we're pretty kiddie free! None of our close friends have kids yet & the few kids we do mingle with we do so on only very rare occasions. So I thought a bit 'outside of the box' as they say & scrapped the inner boy living within my husband.

So this is him at approximately 11 years of age. The middle photo is him today. My husband is still very much a kid at heart & that little boy still lives very much within him. My journaling focused on how keeping 'the boy within' a live has kept him young at heart & even a little innocent/naive at times.

Here's the color palette my page is based on. The various hues of browns/tans with a splash of blue just screamed 'boy' to me. So I knew it had to lean more towards a masculine page.

The photos are matted with some Tim Holtz glassine that I wrinkled up & then randomly inked with Walnut distress ink--a bit of torn up corrugated cardboard that I spritzed with some light brown glimmer mist and inked the edges with some dark brown chalk ink and a bit of cheese cloth.

The crochet doily is from my stash. I tucked a small glass vial full of blue beads from my stash. The black flourish is a stamp. I stamped the image on a transparency with black Staz On--cut out the image & then adhered as shown.

I tucked a Tim Holtz ticket into my large brown flower. There's also just a bit of brown tulle peeking out from behind the large flower to slightly soften the page. The brown beaded vine is by Prima. It was one vine that I cut into two pieces.

The film strip is also by Tim Holtz. I gave it a small loop on top for a bit of added dimension.

I tucked my journaling behind the first photo on top and keep it in place with a Tim Holtz clip.

The pen nib is also by Tim Holtz & the old fashioned car is a glimmer glass by Tattered Angels.

I based the overall design of my page on a sketch by Nadia Cannizzo. This sketch is being used for the March sketch challenge going on over at C'est Magnifique.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit. Do swing by the CCG blog and check out the other talented DT's take on this challenge & to play along if you can!

Puppy Love Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! I'm a bit late in posting this page. This was done for Color Combos Galore (CCG) Challenge #221.

This would be me & my fur-baby Toby. Toby was barely 4 months old here! Sometimes I can't believe that he was this tiny. Now he weighs a whopping 16 lbs! No matter how much he grows though...he'll always be my 'little boy'.

Here's the CCG challenge my page is based on. I used all the colors from the palette & incorporated a few wooden embellies & a couple of owls as inspired by the wooden owls in the challenge.

The background of the layout was hand cut. I just traced a large scallop mask I have over plain ivory card stock and hand cut it out. I then inked the edges with a bit of Peeled Paint distress ink.

The half heart circle is made out of wood. The flocked pup is from my stash.

You can see a bit of the hand stitching in this screen shot. I once again combined the zig-zag stitch with the straight stitch to add a bit of texture.

The brown flourishes going straight down my page is actually a stamp by Hampton Art.

The corner grunge stamp is by Stamp Enjoy. I first stamped the image onto a transparency with black Staz On and then cut it out. This way I was able to place the image exactly where I wanted it.

The triple owls is a stamp by Sideshow Stamps. Like my corner stamp--the owls were stamped onto a transparency with black Staz On and then cut out. TIP: stamping images on transparencies allows you to place your images wherever you wish. Just remember to use a permanent ink like Staz On or else your image will smear.

The large owl sitting in my vine is a glimmer glass by Tattered Angels.

The vine is a Color Me vine by Petaloo...it was spritzed with a bit of blue glimmer mist & then randomly inked with some Weathered Wood distress ink. Finally, I further decorated the flowers on the vine by lightly adding a bit of clear Star Dust Stickles along the edges of the flower petals.

A close up of the flourish border stamping.

The little fence is also made out of wood. I added a bit of tulle to the large flower (by Prima) in order to soften the layout a bit.

The script seen here is a stamp by Donna Salazar called 'All My Love' & the mulberry flowers are from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by & do pay CCG a visit to see the other DT's interpretation of this challenge and to play along for a chance to win some goodies!

CCG Challenges #220 & #222

Good afternoon fellow scrappers! It's card week over at Color Combos Galore (CCG).

Check out these fabulous color palettes and challenges.

First up Challenge #220. Such a sweet combination of pinks with a touch of green & cream.

Challenge #222 combines blue, brown, green and cream.

Make sure you pay CCG a visit and see the talented DT's interpretations of these challenges. Do play along if you can!

Pieces of Me II Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers and bloggers! Today's page is one I did for the latest Once Upon A Sketch (OUAS) challenge. The challenge was to scrap yourself.

I realize that for many this can actually be a difficult task--but to be honest--scrapping myself comes very easy to me. I'm a very strong believer in leaving behind a legacy for the generations that will follow. What better way to do that than by scrapping yourself! Your quirks, your talents, your strengths & weaknesses. What makes you...well, YOU!

This is a part two of my first page 'Pieces of Me' done back in 2010 about myself. It was also very cool to see how much my scrapping style has evolved since then. One of them being my choice of color. I'm definitely more into brighter/happier colors now and don't do as many dark/vintage pages as I used to. For this page, I followed the same concept as my first page & made the main photo into a puzzle by utilizing Photoshop. As for the journaling--my first page consists of many bullet points each representing a 'piece' that composes the puzzle that is me. For this page, I concentrated on one main 'piece' or personality trait of mine which is my love for being a kid at heart and challenging those around me to do the same.

I used papers from Bo Bunny's Enchanted line.

This is the sketch provided to us by OUAS and what I used to design my page.

I took some inspiration for this page from a recent layout Irene Tan (Scrapperlicious) just made with the 'Enchanted' line titled 'Whisper'. The 'Enchanted' papers by Bo Bunny is all in black & white. I added color to mine by utilizing the tip Irene provided on her blog. With a small brush I 'painted' the large swirl in by swiping Worn Lipstick distress ink on a non-pourous area and then spritzing a bit of water on it. This mixture created a water based paint that I can then use to color my pages.

I then further added more pink to my page by randomly spritzing a bit of Pink Sprinkles Smooch on my page.

The butterflies on this page were handmade. You can find more butterflies like these in my small Etsy shop. Feel free to visit it here if interested.

I used a Prima vine and then randomly added a bit more flowers from my stash to it. I also intertwined a light pink pearl around it.

The charm hanging from the large mulberry flower I bought from an Etsy shop titled Beyond Charms. This store has several cute little dangle charms like this one that add a very cute touch to any project.

I once again stored my journaling in the form of a scroll. I think I'm in love with this scroll concept! I've used it in several recent pages. I just find it to be a really convenient way to store lengthy journaling and it also adds a really cute embellishment to your project.

Here's a photo of the journaling un-rolled. TIP: Always remember to leave at least one side unobstructed when utilizing a scroll to store your journaling. This way you can slide your scroll in & out whenever needed. For more details on how I made this scroll, you can refer to my "It All Began With a Promise" layout here.

The title was made with my Dymo caption maker. Most of the random mulberry flowers are from my stash. The resin cabochon is by Webster's Pages. The pen nib & glass vial are by Tim Holtz.

Finally a close up of the main photo--here you can better see the puzzle effect. I love my Photoshop!

Before wrapping this up--I'll share my journaling. It reads:

I consider myself quirky; most would call me simply crazy. What can I say? I simply love to have fun! I don't embarrass easily & I'm still a kid at heart. This personality trait is just one of the many pieces that make up the puzzle of who I am. I challenge those around me to stay young--to keep the child at heart--to remind them to laugh once in a while 'just because'--to be able to laugh at themselves & not take life so seriously.

So what if I challenge you to race down a flight of stairs with me--or to play a brief game of tag--how about we watch cartoons for a bit? I'm old school though--you can't beat toons like Bugs Bunny or Tom & Jerry in my book--how about I ask you to dance because...well...do you really need a reason to dance!?

Most don't take my 'challenges' seriously. But the few who have end up considering that moment of silliness the highlight of their day!

Random question: When was the last time you thumb wrestled? For me it was last week.

So what if we are no longer children...yeah, yeah...I get this whole concept of us having to be role models once we are no longer children & have children of our own. But who's to say you can't be a little silly when they're not looking?

So I challenge you to stay young my friends & to be able to laugh at yourself once in a while. After all--life is so very short. Might as well enjoy it as much as we can--& let's face it, our most carefree time in life was when we were kids...

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit & enjoy the rest of the weekend...

Completely Loved Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! Today's page comes with an announcement. I'm very happy to say that I've been asked to join the Color Combos Galore (CCG) DT! I've definitely been expanding my experimentation with color lately so when Janet extended an offer to join her DT--I was quite happy to do so. These color palettes take me out of my comfort zone & challenge me to create pages I normally wouldn't. If you look at my earlier pages, I mostly scrapped in browns/tans & earth tone/grungy colors. But as you can see with this debut page for CCG it's anything but earth tones!

This is none other than my fur baby Toby. Even though he's a boy the way he posed for this photo just fit the overall happy colors of pinks, greens & cream. Most of the papers used & a couple of the embellishments were from the February kit called "Roses & Chocolates" by Funtoolas--a very cute Etsy shop specializing in flowers & kits for scrapbooking.

Here's the CCG challenge my page is based on. I took inspiration from the photo to create some of the elements on my page. For example, the spiral fabric flowers reminded me of the lollipops and the stripes in the green ribbon are for the striped mountains and also for the design on the lollipops. In addition, the photo is so very 'child like' which is also why I decided to scrap my little boy for this one. Sure, Toby is a pup but his personality is so very much like that of a child that it really does feel as if he's a little boy instead of a little dog.

The splatters of paint were made with a stamp set called 'Splat' by Recollections. I bought this stamp set at my local Michaels & use it frequently on my pages. I tucked a small velvet dog embellie I've had in my stash for the longest alongside the Prima vine.

I intertwined a rhinestone flourish also by Prima around the vine. I cut around the transparency the flourish was packaged with. This is how I was able to wrap it around the vine.

The journaling was printed on vellum & then cut out into strips. I tucked a bit of light pink tulle on either side of my floral clusters.

The green ribbon was adhered in the form of a 'wave' in order give it some 3D dimension.

Thanks to all of you who take the time to visit. Please do stop by CCG in order to see the other DT's take on this challenge & to play along. These colors are perfect to scrap those belated Valentine's Day photos!