Friday, June 28, 2013

06/28/13 - SIWAS "Girl On Fire"

 
This week's song inspiration at "Scrap It With a Song" is "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keyes.
As always is the case w/ most of these song challenges I had no idea what I was going to do!
Honestly I don't even like the song! I'm not a fan of Alicia Keyes.
But I found some of the song lyrics actually fit in w/ my life at this moment.
The lyrics that grabbed my attention were: "Nobody knows that she is a lonely girl" and I included them on a sticky tab on my layout.
 
Before I explain further let me share my layout:
 
 "Lonely"
Journaling: "All my life I have felt lonely, like I didn't really belong anywhere.
At 37 years old this feeling caused me to make some difficult choices.
Still not sure were I will end up"
 
 
As the journaling reads I have always had to struggle w/ a sense of loneliness in my life. It's something w/in me that unfortunately no one can fix. I can be in a room full of people and still feel lonely . This caused me to make some very big mistakes in my life which unfortunately caused me more loneliness. This need to get "away" from the loneliness caused me to make difficult choices. And just 3 weeks ago I decided to walk away from it all to clear my head. 

I still don't know what's going to happen.
I wasn't happy, I'm still not, and to tell you the truth I don't know if/when I ever will be again.
At this point I'm just trying to survive and figure out who I am.

I don't want to turn this into a depressing post, so let me talk more about the layout itself.

I included some selfies I took on the first day of when I was away "clearing my head". You can see from one how sad I was and from the other how lost I felt. Not sure why one came out so orange but oh well I just went w/ it and used orange on my layout to help  highlight it. I used a lot of scraps as embellies and though I tried to stick w/ the orange color pallette I eventually branched out to other colors.  Sometimes when I do this it doesn't work but on this layout... I love it! BTW - the pink circle isn't just random - it actually says things like "quest" and "explore" on it which fits the theme of my layout.

Not all layouts are "happy" layouts and despite what happens, I am glad that I documented this time in my life.
 

Okay that's all from me today.
Please stop by the SIWAS blog and share w/ us how you were inspired by this weeks song pick! 
 
 

 
 
 

Thursday, June 20, 2013

06/20/13 - SIT Sketch #115

It's new sketch time over at "Sketches In Thyme"!
Whoot! Whoot!
 
Today's sketch is Sketch #115:
 
 
 
And here is my layout:
 
"4th Grade "
Journaling: Madison's 4th Grade school picture
Kelley Elementary
 
 
Sketches are a great way to jumpstart your creativity!
 
And you don't always have to follow the sketch exactly; just use it as inspiration.
Having said that, sometimes I look at sketches and the examples of layouts created based on those sketches and think..."that looks NOTHING like the sketch!".
Not to say that it's wrong, afterall, as I said above, sketches are to be used for inspiration.
Plus there are no rules to scrapbooking!
However, I sometimes think to myself "I wish I could see what parts of the sketch actually carried over to the layout."
It's a curiousity thing for me.
And a lot of times it's there, I just can't see it myself.
 
How 'bout you?
Do you feel the same?
 
Well, whatever your answer is,  I ask you another question: can you tell how I was inspired by the sketch?
 
If not, let me explain:
 >There was a spot for 6 pics. I only used 4 but filled up the remaiing space w/ a 4-blocked patterned paper to mimic the look of 6 pics.
> I used a banner at the bottom of the pics to take the place of the dotted line border at the bottom of the original sketch.
> Instead of a large scallop shape on the left, I included doodling around my banners (I left the one on the right off)
> The title placement is the same as the sketch although lower
> The hand written journaling is the same as the sketch, although a bit less
 
A little FYI:
I like to scrap multiples of the wallet pics that come in the school packages because I never give them away and then they just sit there. The reason I order the wallets in the first place is that the package choices never fit what I want and so I just order the package that's the closest.
 
I went really girly w/ the layout while still trying to keep true to  the school theme.
The "ABC" stencil PP, the composition paper journaling card, and the "learn" sticker all say "school", while the rest of the layout says "girly".
 
Overall I love the layout...just one thing that bothers me....I didn't realize how close to the edge I had stuck the composition journaling card! To me it ruins the whole balance of the layout! Ughhhh!
I hate when I make a silly mistake like that!
Next time I get a chance to scrap, I'm going to see if there is anyway to extend the layout slightly in order to make my mistake look a bit less awkward.

Well, perfect or not, please stop by the "Sketches In Thyme" blog and share your inspired creation w/ us!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

06/18/13 - Layout: "Corn Dog"

I scrapped this past weekend!
I created 3 layouts: 2 for Design Team challenges and one random one just for fun.
This brings my layout total for this year up to 63.
I'm just a little over half-way to my goal!

I'll be sharing the DT layouts later, but today I'm sharing my "random" layout:
 
 
"Corn Dog"
Various journaling: "Yummy!", "My favorite fair food - Doreen",
"Date Festival, 2/23/13, Riverside County"
 

My favorite food at the fair is the corn dog! They have been my favorite since I was a child.
I can't really explain why...I just think they are so tasty!
So when we visited the Date Festival in February, the first thing I did is eat a corn dog!
Yummy!
My kids and hubby got one too and as we were waiting in line for our order, I just had to take a picture of the golden delicious stacks of corn dogs in the window.
I also got a picture of my daughter eating hers.
Doesn't she make it look so yummy?!
If I had thought a little more about it I would have gotten a picture of ME eating it, after all it's MY favorite food, not hers!
But I didn't...
Must have been all that deliciousness that distracted me!
Either way, I captured the moment and made sure that when I journaled about it, I included my name so that all future generations know who this layout is really about!
 
The layout is a mix of colors and patterns to help capture the fun of the fair!
It was a lot of fun to create as well as I kinda just threw it together! Not a whole lot of thinking on my part, just the creative juices flowing w/ my scrap supplies!
I also mixed old and new product.
I just received a new Scrapbook.com kit and I used that w/ some old items: scraps and leftovers, to create my page.
My favorite part is the washi tape strips! Because they are chevron patterned I was able to create a banner-like shape by following the chevron design w/ my scissors!
 
It felt great to create again and for it to be fun!
 
And BTW, if you're wondering, corn dogs must always be eaten w/ mustard, not ketchup!
If there is no mustard around, then plain, cuz I do not like ketchup! Ewwww!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

06/13/13 - SIWAS: "Cruise"

"Heidi-ho there, neighbor!"
Do you remember what show that's from?!
I don't even know why it popped into my mind cuz I haven't watched "Home Improvement" in forever but there it was and I chose to use it.
 
Today I am sharing w/ you the latest challenge over at "Scrap It With a Song".
This weeks challenge is "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line and Nelly.
Never heard of the song or group before this!
But luckily the title of the song works for scrapping pics of the Disney Cruise we took in October 2011.
 
"Disney Cruise"
Journaling: "October 2011. Our family goes on a Disney Cruise. Fun was had by all!"
 
I have tons of pics from that cruise but they are all tucked away in a nice "Disney Cruise" themed photo album. And since I couldn't scrap every pic even if I tried, I decided to select 2 pics from the cruise that 'summarizes' the event: a picture of the ship and a picture of all of us taking a picture w/ a Disney character.
So I summed up a 7 day cruise in 2 pics! Which is much better than scrapping 200 + pictures!!! Yikes!
 
The colors on this layout are a litle...ummm... "weird", for lack of a better term.
I mixed bright colors w/ dark colors and alternated them to go w/ the bright colors of the top pic and dark colors of the bottom pic. I also carried on the bright/dark colors theme w/ the yellow letters on the bottom pic. The yellow letters spell out "us" to go w/ the "4" therefore spelling out "Us 4". Then to break up the mass amounts of colors, I added some white elements: the journaling tag and the heart. And finally I added some self-adhesive Mickey Mouse embellies to help round out the whole Disney theme. 
 
Okay that's all from me today.
Please stop by the SIWAS blog and share w/ us how you were inspired by this weeks song pick!
 
 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

06/12/13 - CPC: "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"

Hi there!
Today I am sharing w/ you the latest challenge over at "Child's Play Challenges".
This week we are inspiring you w/ a children's television show: "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse".
Here is the inspiration picture:
 
 
Despite my many pics of our trips to Disneyland, I decided to go another route w/ my layout and just use the colors from the inspiration pic.
 
"Cuteness" 
 
As you can see I also went really simple w/ my design. I used up some old scraps to create banners, a medium-sized circle, and a heart.  I also dug out some white adhesive flowers I've had in my stash for years as well as the self adhesive "note" tag and the red letters. Other than the black cardstock BG everything on here are leftovers that have been in my stash for years!
A simple layout for simply cute pics!!!
 
Please join us and share w/ us what you were inspired to create!!
 

Thursday, June 6, 2013

06/06/13 - SIT: #113 and SIWAS: "Suit and Tie"

 
Hi!
I'm here to today to share 2 challenges and my layouts based on those challenges...
 
 First-
 
Sketch #113: 
 
 
 
  
Here is my interpretation:
 
"Remember When...Happy Day"
 
These pics were taken during Spring Break of this year. We went up to the San Jacinto mountains to go hiking and my hubby took these pics of my daughter and I. My daughter rarely takes pictures w/ me... and I am rarely in pictures so I love these pics!
 
I had a lot of fun with the "cluster of circles" part of the sketch! And I am still LOVING those self adhesive kraft shapes! I really need to get to Target and see if they have any more!
 
 
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*
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Second-
 
First off, let me tell you... it is not my Teams week to complete a layout, but when I saw what song was chosen as this week's inspiration I just had too make one anyway!
 
The song is....drum roll please...."Suit and Tie" by Justin Timberlake.
But of course, if you actually read my post title you already knew that! LOL!
 
I have loved JT since he was in *NSync, and when he went solo I followed him and he did not disappoint! I have continued to be a huge fan of his and his lastest CD is my obsession right now! So when the other half of our Design Team was assigned his current hit as their inspiration, I just had to jump in and create something as well!
 
 
"Dressed Up In Black and White"
Journaling: "David and Madi dancing in the lobby before dinner 10/24/11"

The song actually was an inspiration in many ways for this layout:
> The title, "Suit and Tie" (see my hubby's clothes)
> the fact that the song is about dancing (self-explanatory)
> the line "And you're dressed in that dress I like" (see my daughter's dress)
But I finally settled on another lyric from the song for my title: "All Dressed Up in Black & White"..
although I took out the word "All" because those little letter stickers are a pain to work w/! LOL!
They are both wearing black and white, hence the title choice,  and although it may be difficult to tell my daughter's dress also has pink on it... that's why I went w/ a lot of pink on my layout! Besides the  being happy w/ the look of the layout, I am also happy because I used a lot of leftover items on this!

The pics were taken when we were on our Disney Cruise in 2011. We were waiting in the lobby to be seated for dinner and they were playimg music so my husband grabbed my daughter and started dancing w/ her.  It was the first time they had ever done something like that and she was a little startled at first but later on she got into it and she really enjoyed it! It's hard to tell but in the picture on the right, she actually has her eyes closed as she rests her head on her daddy's chest. Such a precious moment!!!

Okay, that's all from me today!
Don't forget to stop by either or both blogs to share you're inspired creations!
You have until June 30th!

Monday, June 3, 2013

06/03/13 - Just a Couple of Layouts...

Hi!
As you know I've been kinda MIA a bit.
I have been trying to figure some stuff out in my life and part of that is whether or not to give up scrapbooking.
I'm not sure if it's just cuz of the stresses of life, but I just haven't felt the desire to scrap.
I have been keeping up w/ my DT commitments, and I will be sharing some layouts for those later in the week and in the weeks to follow, but as far as scrapping just for fun...it just hasn't felt..."right".
 
But I challenged myself to create a  "just for fun" layout this past weekend and I am here to share what I came up w/.
 

 
"Getting My Scrap On"
Journaling: "I usually scrap in my scrapbook room but on this particular day
I was in the kitchen. Regardless of where I scrap it always ends up the same: A Mess!!"
 
I created this one  because it was a fairly simple layout.  The paper was already pretty much ready to go (see top layer):
 
 
 
I just added some doodling, journaling,  a mutltiple stamped date, a punched photo corner, one chipboard embellie and a pic. 
 
BTW - did you notice my scrapping companion?
She's kinda hard to see so here's a close up!
That's Panini snoozing in the box of one of my scrap kits. And there were supplies in there but she didn't seem to care! LOL!
 
 
Since I felt pleased w/ the way the first one turned out I tried creating another one.
This one wasn't as easy!
 
 "PaniniTude"
Journaling: "I know all cats have attitudes but Panini's seems worse than most!
Sometimes this makes things difficult but we love her no matter what!"
 
This one took a while to grow on me.  In fact it took a while after I was done for it for me to feel like it was completed.  I kept going back and adding things to it! I think I added to it 3 times before I declared it finally done!!! In the end I was pleased w/ it too!
 
The fact that I completed 2 layouts I was happy w/ is a big step for me right now because in all honesty, out of the last 8 I have created I have only really liked 3 of them! :0(
 
BTW - I discovered something about myself. I don't really like chipboard letters. I like sticker letters much better! I think chipboard letters are too bulky and less clean!
 
Well, here's hoping these 2 are a jumpstart back into my love of scrapping!
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 

03/27/23 Planning with Urban Journal Season Ink

My printer was having issues and I fixed it but during the interim I was not scrapping and lost my mojo ::le sigh:: But I've still been ...